Late Ming: Posing as the Emperor, Starting by Winning Over the Ice-Cold Imperial Consort

In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Lu Ming, a minor actor, opened his eyes and found himself cast as the substitute emperor chosen by Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi. He had no place in the history books, and death awaited him at every turn. Lu Ming pinned Noble Consort Feng onto the bed and said: “Your Highness, you wouldn’t want the Ming Empire to fall into the eunuch faction’s hands, or the imperial bloodline to be wiped out, would you?” With one sentence, he drew the harem into the game. With one performance, he left the Grand Secretaries stunned. Wearing Tianqi’s face, he wielded imperial power: To eliminate Wei Zhongxian, he needed no imperial edict, only his painstaking knowledge of Ming history. To end factional strife, he relied not on compromise, but on an iron fist, game theory, and modern political ruthlessness. Survival had never been his goal. He would transform the Ming Empire from a broken ship into an ironclad vessel that could crush the oceans. When the surrender petitions of every nation covered his desk, Lu Ming kicked it over and looked down at his ministers: “Wherever the sun and moon shine is Han territory!” “The Ming Empire will never fall. Its unbroken reign begins with me!” At that moment, the entire court prostrated itself like a surging tide, and the historian’s hand trembled around his brush. The whole world was left with only one will.