If You Yusui had died completely, he would have been just an ordinary crown prince in the history books who failed to seize the throne, lying in a small grave with the terrible posthumous title given by his father, left to be gossiped about by future generations.

But he was reborn! And kept being reborn repeatedly.

In his first life, he failed in the power struggle and was sentenced to death by his own father, with the posthumous title “Crown Prince Li*”.

(TL: “Li 厉” meaning difficult to endure, terrible, or aggravating)

In his second life, he was diligent and cautious, but eventually died from serious illness.

In his third life, he bided his time and gathered talented people, but was ultimately executed by his third imperial brother’s army, without even leaving a complete corpse.

….

In his fifteenth life, he was extremely careful and only sought to survive, but was sent to pacify refugees and ended up hacked to death.

In his sixteenth life, the deposed crown prince opened his eyes and thought, ‘I’m tired. Whoever makes me unhappy, I’ll make even more miserable. To hell with respecting the worthy and being gentle and kind.’

So, upon awakening, You Yusui’s first move was to commission the most expensive nanmu wood coffin for himself. Then, he began acting without restraint—insulting the emperor’s favorite concubine, punishing his younger brother, beating officials, and constantly testing the limits of his father’s tolerance.

As the court and harem wept, You Yusui sat on his palanquin with a long-stemmed pipe, chuckling. ‘A person should live up to their posthumous title.’

He had assumed that with such defiant and troublesome behavior, his father would promptly depose him and offer him a cup of poison. Instead, he became the apple of his father’s eye.

You Yusui: “My father probably has some issues.”

And those officials who hadn’t yet adjusted to the crown prince’s change from gentle and kind to troublesome: “The crown prince has probably gone mad.”