The Crown Prince Is Unmatched

Ji Yan gets dealt a terrible hand from the start.

He transmigrates into the body of a timid prince whom the emperor has cast out to fend for himself.

His predecessor was used by his sixth brother to anger the powerful Third Prince, and ultimately chose to hang himself from a branch in the southeast!

Confronted by the Third Prince's relentless aggression, Ji Yan strikes back with force.

Knowing the consequences, Ji Yan heads to the imperial palace to beg forgiveness. On the way, one of his poems draws the attention of the long-vanished Retired Emperor.

Thanks to the Retired Emperor's recommendation, Ji Yan escapes the loss of his royal status and gets off scot-free.

He even becomes an unlikely friend of the Retired Emperor, never realizing that the man before him is actually his own grandfather.

Only after Ji Yan steadily makes his way to the throne does the old man, now in his twilight years, finally say with a leisurely wave of his hand:

"Grandson, wasn't your grandpa reliable?"