The glorious day when my disciple ascended to the throne as the Emperor. What he handed to me, his master, was poison.
At first, there was not a suspicious aspect to be seen. Civil and military officials bowed and saluted to the disciple, and the disciple strode proudly to the resplendent jade throne.
The many brothers and sisters who survived the quiet and cruel competition had to stare, wideeyed, as the disregarded thirteenth seized victory.
Having ascended to power, he was no longer the lowborn palace maid who was once disregarded and looked down upon. Now those who would disregard him as a lowborn would have to put their own lives and the lives of their families at stake.
Ascending to the jade throne, he smiled at me, and the people murmured quietly. I followed suit with a faint smile and nodded to him.
As the banquet began and the atmosphere relaxed, the observant ones came to flatter me.
“Now you, sir, have nothing left but to soar.”
“You are His Majesty’s only teacher, and His Majesty is a man who respects his teacher, is he not?”
“Yes. His Majesty has always treated you well, sir.”
“Your future is the brightest among us. How enviable.”
Historically, the emperors’ teachers were mostly very old and lacked the energy to wave the name card of the national teacher.
But the disciple and I were different. Neither of us were very old. Since I was younger than most of the ministers who flocked to me, it made sense that they would flatter me.
I was summoned by the disciple in the midst of enjoying the banquet while listening to everyone’s praise.
“Sir, His Majesty wants to see you alone.”
The disciple sent his confidant to call me, and I followed him. The confidant took me to a vacant room not far from the banquet hall.
It was a strange place. There was nothing but a table and no other furniture.
On that table, there was a white bowl, and a dark brown medicinelike substance was contained in it.
My disciple, now the Emperor, was standing in front of that table.
“You called, Your Majesty?”
Why had he called me to such a place, I wondered, but the Emperor smiled softly and handed me the bowl of medicine.
“Please drink, Master. It’s a medicine that I have specially prepared for you.”
There was no further explanation. Why he called, why he suddenly gave me the medicine.
But the moment I saw the bowl of medicine, I felt an uneasy energy at once.
How much blood had flowed for my disciple to ascend to the throne? How many times had a household been ruined overnight?
Each time, I, who had criticized the disciple, could not but feel something was strange in this situation.
If it were a nourishing or soulreviving medicine, there was no need to prepare it separately and give it here. Then…
I looked at the disciple instead of taking the bowl.
“This is…”
Is it poison? I could not spit out those words and trailed off.
But the disciple must have understood. Our eyes met, and he answered softly, smiling.
“Yes. It is poison.”
A chill ran down my spine, and the urge to turn and run away surged. I actually looked at the door.
But I know. I can’t run away. Not ever. This palace was no different from his grasp.
My hands began to tremble. Looking at him with disbelieving eyes, the disciple spoke with a voice not like one urging me to drink the poison, but a gentle one.
“Now, drink quickly, Master. You are the only national teacher after all. You must save face on your way out. If you run and are dragged back, what a disgrace that would be.”
Still, I did not take the medicine, so the disciple took a few steps closer and brought the poison right up to my nose. The bitter smell of death came first.
“You seem to need a lot of care, my Master. Should I feed you this myself?”
“…Your Majesty.”
“Drink quickly.”
“YoYour Majesty.”
My voice trembled miserably. I took the bowl of medicine and looked up at him.
The disciple, at least three heads taller than me, looked ready to pour the poison into my mouth if I didn’t drink it willingly.
His expression was gentle, but his will was evident in his cool eyes, devoid of warmth. Seeing that look, a feeling of injustice welled up in my chest.
“Why do you want to kill me?”
His disciple asked.
“What do you think?”
“Is it because you believe… I’m an obstacle to your reign, young minister?”
I had always been one to criticize the disciple’s cruel and cold decisions. When he was the prince, he put up with my nagging.
But now that he’s the emperor, does he think he doesn’t have to endure it anymore?
The disciple laughed loudly at my words.
“First, take this. After you take the medicine, I will tell you about your journey to the afterlife at leisure.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Although I can’t be your comrade in arms, as a disciple, shouldn’t I see you off on your journey to eternal rest?”
Tears welled in my eyes, but since he had decided my death, the choices were limited.
According to his words, I could either die disgracefully or accept it meekly.
When male lead is the homewrecker
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
I’ve read the novel below twice already. Girls, I’m highly recommending it to you!
The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.
Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.
The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.
I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.
There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.
For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.
I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.
Here’s the story synopsis:
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Intro 1:
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.
Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.
In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.
Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…
Intro 2:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
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Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
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