My favorite character is Song Shizhao. I swear, he had more presence than the ML, Chen Baisong. He has a charm as a character and his end was more dramatic than Lin Yuan or Chen Baisong, which was not mentioned much. I cried when Song died.

I think I especially liked his ruthlessness. Even though he cared about the masses, if they disobeyed, they were properly punished in a way that inspired fear and improved discipline. With his officials, even people he knew from the very beginning of his journey knew he wouldn't give them any chances if they truly failed his trust. He could give them more opportunities because he knew them early, but he also wouldn't let them off if they failed him. That fear was also very conducive to his reign being peaceful and his officials being obedient to his radical reforms. He was definitely a tyrant but again it was completely necessary because of the turbulence in his era as well as the extremely radical reforms (for that time period) he wanted to carry out.

When I read about Chinese history, many of the most famous emperors were ruthless in order to achieve what they wanted so it was very satisfying to see an MC that does what is necessary and the whole situation isn't painted over unrealistically like no one will ever betray or let down MC.

1. MC isn't actually as*xual and what he wanted from the very beginning was a true partner. -≫ He was unwilling to sleep around not because he HAS NO TEMPTATION TO HAVE s*x but because he wants to only have ONE PARTNER. It's different. It is way more admirable to me that the guy stayed single and CELIBATE because he didn't want to carelessly sleep around even though he easily could have. He wanted a partner he could genuinely trust and who he cared about, and who wanted him because of him and not because of his power and authority. And that person was ML.

2. MC is pretty calm and rational compared to ML but that doesn't mean his feelings for ML weren't genuine -> firstly that's just his personality from the beginning. Secondly, MC's focus in his first or second life has never been love and at the point that he and ML struck up their relationship, he was in his late 30s and also an emperor so yeah it's normal to not be head over heels and to be more clinical and level headed about his feelings for ML. But his actions show his love for ML.

1. 1. He didn't sleep with a single person (in his first or second life) until ML

1. 1. he lived the rest of his life with ML only

1. 1. he didn't bother to hide his relationship with ML (officials knew about it and his family knew about it)

1. 1. he admitted ML into his own family (he said his own niece and nephew are ML's as well).

1. 1. he ordered that he would be buried in the same coffin as ML when they both died because ML cared about it (even though MC himself wasn't superstitious and didn't think it mattered)

1. 1. He trusted ML with his secrets (like who was next in line to the throne)

1. 1. He gave ML genuine authority throughout ML's life (he allowed ML to keep his army even when ML was living in the capital. It's mentioned in the novel that ML returned to his training camp after he slept with MC. This shows he kept his army and his army was situated very close to or within the capital itself. And no other military general had this right.).

So yes he was cool and calm about his feelings but he also genuinely shared his life with ML and expressed his feelings in his own way.

3. They weren't equal in their dynamic in that MC is clearly the one in control throughout the relationship but again that doesn't mean their relationship wasn't genuine -> Every relationship is different, and a relationship doesn't have to be one of equals for it to be genuine, and it's ok for one party to be more dominant as long as both parties are happy with this dynamic.

I laughed, and I cried, especially when Song Shizhao passed away due to old age."You are my one and only prime minister" OH GOD! This sentence really pieced my heart. I cried so hard on this part. I also wept alot when I thought back to the time when Lin Yuan first met all these important characters to where they are right now.

Every characters are likeable in his/her own way. Moreover, I really love Chen Baisong and Lin Yuan's relationship. Actually, I LOVE all the relationships between Lin Yuan and all those important individuals.

The journey has been wonderful! Words couldn't express how much I love this story, the MC, ml, and all the important people! Out of thousands of novel that I have read, I haven't seen a novel that can make me love all the characters like I did with this story! COULD YOU IMAGINE IT? Oh how I wish there were more extra chapters or chapters which all these characters could reincarnated in the modern world.

PS: This might not be your cup of tea and some parts may become a bit boring. However, once you started reading, I hope you enjoy reading it til the very end.

that he refused to create a harem or have lovers. Maybe even thought of being considered an asexual.

Where the MC finally became emperor and you could see his struggles and successes. I adored the last chapters where we saw what happend after our MC passed

And tbvh when I first read it I thought MC would never take this route, since the title have a 'charity' I thought he might become rich dude who support the king and wisely can escape the tragedy of king's distrust. But look at the progress of how he started from farmstead to attack and acquire the cities (･ั﹏･ั) just say you want to be Emperor, ok?

Wild guess, I think MC must be working in HR department or something in his original life ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ