Fulfilling Your Dream of Becoming Emperor [Historical Crossover]

Are you still troubled by your humble birth? Still struggling because you're neither the legitimate heir nor the eldest? Still sighing and longing to beg your siblings for a bowl of leftovers? Still fretting that you might become the ruler who loses his kingdom?

If you have any of these worries, join us today! We have the most luxurious faculty in the world and the finest mentors! If you don't believe us, take a look at our school profile:

School name: Modern Imperial Academy

Founded: Year 4096 of the Age of Creation

Board of Trustees: Chairman Yao; Executive Principal Shun; Head of Discipline Yu

Liberal Arts Faculty (specializing in statecraft and political strategy):

1. Ying Zheng (Master Teacher)

- Subjects: Centralized government and the rule of law; the art of ruling as king.

- Teaching style: Stern, authoritarian, and a perfectionist.

2. Liu Bang (Professor)

- Subjects: The art of employing people; psychology in adversity; the art of being shameless.

- Teaching style: Carefree, incisive, and prone to skipping class to drink.

3. Wu Zetian (Senior Mentor)

- Subjects: Women's leadership; political psychology; control of public opinion.

- Teaching style: Commanding presence, balancing leniency with strictness, and setting high standards.

4. Zhu Yuanzhang (Specially Appointed Instructor)

- Subjects: Anti-corruption crackdowns; rising from the bottom; the history of grassroots entrepreneurship.

- Teaching style: Hot-tempered and strict, with zero tolerance for waste.

Military Arts Faculty (specializing in warfare and strategy):

1. Li Shimin (Combat Instructor)

- Subjects: Blitzkrieg; tactics of the Black Armored Army; fratricide and seizing power (crossed out); coups and counter-coups.

- Teaching style: Brilliant and mighty, witty and humorous, with extremely high standards.

2. Genghis Khan (Visiting Coach)

- Subjects: Nomadic warfare; mounted archery; governing a multiethnic empire.

- Teaching style: Rugged and free-spirited, passionate about field exercises, and obsessed with fighting all the way to the Danube.

More guest lecturers coming soon:

Liu Che (Guest Lecturer), Liu Bei (Guest Lecturer), Cao Cao (Guest Lecturer), Li Yuan (Guest Lecturer), Bai Qi (Guest Advisor)...

*

Who am I? Ha! I'm this famous academy's permanent teaching assistant, a willow tree spirit who has cultivated for eight hundred years.

Why did I join the academy? Because Principal Yao said he'd help me apply for a place among the immortals if I could help all the students graduate successfully!

But at the same time, I also received the student roster: Fu Su, Liu Shan, Cao Zhi, Sun Hao, Yang Yong, Li Yu, Zhao Ji, Zhao Gou, Zhu Youjiao, and a group of would-be emperors from dynasties nobody can identify.

*

Just as expected, a major teaching disaster occurred on the very first day I led morning study.

At four thirty in the morning, I pressed myself against the classroom's rear window and took a look at the students. Good grief. Some were drawing, some were sleeping, and some were whispering...

I strode to the lectern and slapped the desk hard. "Some of you just can't keep your mouths shut, can you? You know how fierce the competition for the throne is. The moment you let your guard down, hey, that could be the difference between making it into the official records and being mentioned in the histories of noble families! One more slip-up, and you might not even make it into unofficial histories!

"I've told you all eight hundred times: status doesn't matter, whether you're legitimate or a concubine's child doesn't matter, and neither does your age! Look at Teacher Yuanzhang, Teacher Shimin, Teacher Zetian. They still managed to get the empire, didn't they?"

Heartbroken, I continued, "Why do I keep lecturing you so earnestly? Is it for my own sake? Do you think you'll let me sit on your thrones someday? I'm doing this for your own good!"

I pointed at them. "Liu Shan, Sun Hao, what are the two of you whispering about over there? Mumbling away. Come up here and say it so everyone can hear!"

Liu Shan shakily got to his feet. He didn't dare meet my eyes and scratched his head as he said quietly, "But Teachers Shimin, Zetian, and Yuanzhang aren't in the Records of the Grand Historian either..."

My vision went black. I suddenly realized that the online saying, "Respect other people's fate," was indeed the ultimate wisdom.

*

By my third month as a teaching assistant, I, a willow tree spirit, had gone bald, and grown stronger.

Teacher Ying thought my haggard appearance was a disgrace to the academy, so he quietly handed me several large boxes of the imperial family's secret beauty pills.

As I applied one to my face in front of the mirror, I listened to this emperor for the ages speak slowly. "Little Willow, our Fu Su..."

I immediately picked up where he left off. "Fu Su! Our Fu Su is one of the rare good kids in class. He's learned, upright, and kind. He stands firm in what's right. He..."

Teacher Ying clutched his heart in exasperation. "It's precisely because he's too upright that I'm worried! Little Willow, I know you always cut corners and talk nonsense. Think of a way to make my Fu Su a little 'wicked'!"

Me: Huh? Huh! Huh!!! Principal Yao, I don't want to become immortal anymore. Please let me leave!

#Modern means breaking with tradition and turning it on its head.

#The main story is also told in first person, observing the academy through my eyes.

#No historical figures are vilified; their personalities are kept as close to history as possible.

#Around 100,000 words. If you like it, please add it to your library. If you don't, just close it.

Theme: Strict teachers produce outstanding students.