Picked Up a Beast, Turns Out He's an Emperor (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 26
Once every three months. Precisely thirty minutes.
The time the Emperor dedicated to members of the imperial family connected to him by blood or marriage.
‘My predecessors wasted this useless ritual twice a month for over two hours. Enduring it this modestly is only reasonable. After all, isn’t that what makes a wise ruler?’
Maxwell thought this as he looked at the eight imperial relatives gathered in the palace’s Second Audience Chamber.
With a faint smile on his lips and his cool red eyes revealing no emotion—as always—he greeted them.
The moment those assembled today sat down on the chamber’s sofas, they launched into a fervent debate over a single topic, speaking passionately for over twenty minutes.
Normally, they would spend these brief thirty minutes competing for the Emperor’s attention, but this time they had united with one voice and clamored together.
“She’s a noblewoman who doesn’t even belong to the regional council of elder nobles. How utterly incompetent must one be to hold a title yet possess not even a single house, let alone an estate?”
“And what of Lady Arabella’s aunt’s family? The Cander Barony has been practically ostracized and ignored by noble society for years. For an entire family to live crammed together like that…!”
“Have you heard? She never even held her debutante coming-of-age ceremony—her pigs fell ill with plague! Ha! Just how poor must one be to miss such a basic ceremony over sick pigs?”
“What debutante? It’s said she never even attended Madame Beaujolais’s etiquette lessons, which every high-born noblewoman must complete. Can she even dance properly at a ball? If the future Empress has never attended a proper imperial banquet, she’ll surely become a laughingstock among foreign courts.”
“She can’t even speak a word of Agrete, the language every high-born lady learns fluently. Agrete has long led the continent in art and culture. If the Empress doesn’t know the language, they’ll dismiss her as culturally ignorant. How could such a woman possibly set trends among noble ladies or promote the arts? She’s an utterly unsuitable candidate.”
“She lacks the capacity to be Empress. Lady Arabella simply isn’t fit to support His Majesty.”
Without responding, the Emperor lazily turned his gaze toward the teacup before him. At that moment, the Empress Dowager, wearing a mask of gentle benevolence, spoke up.
“His Majesty’s wisdom surely guided him to choose Lady Arabella for profound reasons. Yet, seeing her compared so unfavorably against the ten finalists causes us great concern. If Lady Arabella were to abandon the contest out of shame midway through… it might tarnish Your Majesty’s reputation. Wouldn’t it be wiser to quietly remove her before the competition begins?”
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (1)
The Emperor’s shamelessness continues to astonish me. Just how long can he get away with this?
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Aelthia
Is she not concerned because the emperor told her she wasn’t going to become the empress regardless? He explicitly stated she only needed to break his curse & that she wouldn’t become the empress as she wasn’t qualified (I don’t recall his precise wording).