[Qing Transmigration] From Junior Banner Officer to Regent Prince

I'm currently updating my alternate-history novel, Embracing the Azure Sky. Blurb: During the Jingtai era of the Great Zhao dynasty, natural disasters and man-made calamities were rampant, the court was in constant disarray, and bands of refugees rose up in revolt to overthrow the corrupt regime. Wang Zhong was born and raised in this time. After all his struggles, all he wanted was a meal. I hope you'll support the story! Blurb for this story: A zuoling is a grassroots administrative unit within the Manchu Eight Banners, responsible for the household registrations, land and homes, military records, and legal disputes of the banner people under its jurisdiction. Within the Eight Banners, even if you hold one of the Three Ducal titles or serve as a chancellor, you still have to be courteous when dealing with the low-ranking zuoling of your own banner unit. It's said that when a zuoling's family held a funeral, even the third-rank court officials in his unit had to wear mourning clothes and sit outside his home, beating funeral drums and helping receive visitors. Aisin Gioro Deheng was the actual eldest son of one such low-ranking zuoling's family... Why “actual” eldest? Because his three older brothers and two older sisters all died before the age of two. So by the time he came along, as the fourth child, he had become the actual eldest son, and, for now, the only son. You can see how cherished he was. His surname, Aisin Gioro, tells us Deheng was a minor member of the imperial clan, though one from a thoroughly fallen branch. His father, Aisin Gioro Yeqin, was the eldest son of a concubine. His mother's family was low-ranking, and his own father died early. His stepmother had children of her own to raise, so she had little time for him. Yeqin himself had no ambition. He spent his days loafing around, avoiding work, and indulging in idleness, making him one of the most carefree members of the imperial clan. Unfortunately, their branch had fallen into decline long ago, or perhaps had never risen at all, going back to his great-grandfather Abai. By Yeqin's generation, the family had no spare money to fund his extravagance, much less to buy favors and connections for a salaried position. So he could only stay home, too proud to admit his poverty, wasting away until he died. But who could blame him for having such a wonderful son? His youngest boy, Deheng, had an extraordinary knack for making money from a young age. Thanks to his efforts, the family not only had enough to cover its expenses, but even had money to secure him a position as a zuoling appointed by the imperial court. He went from the Plain Blue Banner, one of the Lower Five Banners, to the Bordered Yellow Banner, one of the Upper Three Banners. That was a huge step up! Deheng wandered through the crisscrossing hutongs, large and small, with the other children in his zuoling unit, learning where everyone lived. Ah, this is Lord Wang's Hutong, this is Bailin Temple, and this is Wait, could that be Yonghe Temple up ahead? No, sorry, the Fourth Beile's residence? P.S. The male lead eventually becomes a regent. Since there were no regents during the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong eras, this is alternate history. Please don't nitpick! Check out my completed stories: Farming for the King of Qin, The Heir Can't Stop Thinking About Me, and The Bell Tolls in the Red Chamber. Visit my profile to read them! This story is expected to go premium on August 23, 2024. I'll post over ten thousand words that day, so I hope you'll keep supporting it! Theme: Knowing what to do is easy; doing it is hard. Dare to dream, but dare to act even more.