Lou Jing was beaten half to death by his father, then forced to enter the Eastern Palace. Becoming the Crown Prince’s Consort meant that he was no longer the Duke’s heir apparent. His future was ruined! The only thing Lou Jing could do? Help the Crown Prince, and protect the kingdom… Emperor: “My Empress, please note that I’m technically the husband here.” Lou Jing picked up the person dressed in Imperial dragon robes and laughed, saying: “I know, I know, this loyal subject definitely won’t tire your Majesty out in bed!”
I think the title 'The Submissive Emperor' is not the direct translation of the Chinese title and this title is actually kind of misleading when it comes to the actual plot. The emperor might be the bottom/uke in bed, which was not common in historical danmei novels, but he's never submissive. I don't know how they got that English title, though. Regardless of the misleading title, I enjoyed this novel a lot.
Seeing both capable and smart MC and ML teaming up together always brings me joy. I always loved power couples. And a power couple who loved each other unconditionally? Yes! They have such selfless love towards each other and I loved seeing them using their own competence to have each other's back. Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun's relationship is definitely my favorite part of this novel. There are also a lot of likeable characters here, like Lou Jing's hilarious best friend and also the badass male empress and it's good to see adept allies in a political struggle.
The overall political aspect is nothing new where the fight for the throne is very common in historical danmei. The refreshing thing about this is that the ML is already the crown prince but he never showed his real capabilities to make the enemies lower their guards against him so the novel starts with his status as a crown prince declining and he was deposed in his position only a few chapters in. Most of the story revolves around the MC and ML amassing allies secretly away from the eyes of the enemies to get the crown prince position back. I found the whole journey very entertaining to follow and also adding the fact that both MC and ML couldn't get enough of each other (so expect some NSFW scenes), I really enjoyed reading this a lot.
This was a solid 4.5 stars read for me, but I thought the plot points were resolved too quickly and cleanly at the end, hence why I'm rounding down to 4 stars on Goodreads.
I had this novel open in a tab for ages and didn't look too closely at it, but I was in the mood for a historical story and the reviews mentioned there was a lot of political intrigue, so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! It was right up my alley and had me staying up till 2-3 am every night until I finished.
The setting of the story, that the Emperor and Crown Prince must have a male wife/empress, was a bit out there, but once you get accustomed to this idea, the rest of the story flows well. We follow our MC, Lou Jing, as he's beaten by his dad (the Lou family dynamics aren't very healthy as per the usual) and subsequently sent off to the Eastern Palace to wed the Crown Prince, Xiao Chengjun. Despite their forced circumstances, they get along pretty well right from the beginning and recognize each other as a tentative allies. After working together and recognizing each others' talents, the feelings quickly build and the romance starts not too long afterwards.
As with any historical novel set around the throne, the story follows LJ and XCJ's journey to become the emperor/express, with a whole lotta obstacles in their way. Their main opponent is the Chen consort, who is mother to the Third Prince, and her powerful family, which includes one of the emperor's most trusted ministers, the Minister of the Right. There's a lot of political scheming from all parties, and it was such a pleasure to see LJ and XCJ's plans come to fruition and the Chen family getting screwed over on all accounts. To be fair, the Chen family has done a lot of shady things, so it's only fair they get what they deserve. One of my favorite moments in the book came right at the end when Chen Shichang is expecting a loyal army to come to the capital and fight on his behalf but instead the army is lead by Lou Jing instead. GG Chen Shichangi.
I also particularly enjoyed Lou Jing getting back at his family, especially over the splitting of the family assets in his favor and pretty much ensuring all of the family power falls into his hands rather than his dad's.
XCJ's strategy to the throne was an interesting one, and I loved his plan to strategize from afar and bide his time away from the capital until he could rise from the ashes again. Good thing he had some loyal and smart people in the capital, like his younger brother and Zhou Xi, working on his behalf.
The only complaint I have with the story is that the ending felt rushed and the open plot points were resolved in a way that was too convenient for the main characters. Other than that, I have zero complaints about the story and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Tengo dos grandes problemas con esta novela que me impiden darle una puntuación más alta.
El primero es la relación de los protagonistas; no es que sea mala, tienen muchos momentos dulces, pero se da demasiado rápido para mi gusto.
El segundo problema es que los antagonistas se me hicieron muy caricaturescos, ningún plan les sale bien y son bastante tontos, por lo que no hay ningún sentido del peligro, es imposible preocuparse por lo que le pueda pasar a los protagonistas porque a ellos a diferencia todo les sale bien.
Such a wonderful story. This is the first novel I’ve read where the Emperor is actually the wife. Hahaha 🤣 This novel was well-written in my opinion. There wasn’t much character development but the status quo of the characters were just right. There are a lot of political plots going on and I wasn’t so interested in it but it was great to feel how smart the ML and MC are, presumably the exact purpose of the author for the readers. Thumbs up for this one! Truly a gem!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I really liked the dynamics between Lou Jing (MC) and Xiao Chengjun (ML). They're both powerful in their own right and even though their relationship started with an arranged marriage, it developed quickly as they learned more about each other and weathered through storms together. The only thing that kind of surprised was how young they were, like they were only 17 years old. Given the time period and all, I got used to it quickly although I did catch myself thinking 'I could have never done what they're doing at their' whenever I read some of the feats they managed to pull off.
The pacing of this story was great and there wasn't a single dull moment. The plot was solid and the politics were heavy but very entertaining, as someone who enjoys such stories. The side characters added a lot of dimension to the story too, especially with all the different relationships and their nuances. LJ's friendship with Zhao Xi was hilarious and the reactions of the people around LJ and XCJ whenever they got together were so funny too.
The ending was good and the author left no stones unturned, tying up all the loose ends nicely. Everyone got the ending they deserved, and I was so happy when Ji Zhuo and Xu Che finally reunited. I was hoping that XCJ would pass an edict that gay marriages were permitted but unfortunately that didn't happen, so it was only the Crown Prince/Emperor who had the right to marry a man. The extras were sweet too and that reincarnation AU was the perfect end to the story, honestly because it shows readers just how much LJ and XCJ love each other, that they had engraved each other in their hearts and they would find each other, no matter the time or place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Ngl, there's so many name and title and idec to remember. Also, dislike the way the story was told because 1. The flow of story suddenly change, no reminder, no new section no what so ever. Like, currently talk about the emperor and conflict in the palace but the next paragraph change to ML and MC. There's no word like 'meanwhile in ML and MC part..' or '--------' to show it's a new part. Like, oh ok. Got it. 2. The passsword, omggggggggg. Damn ihateit but wtd 😭
Other than that, its all good. I like that ML and MC didnt really care about those bad people and kinda follow the flow? They are not OP but aahhh idk. The author did a good job for sure writing all those characters.
Es una buena novela, la trama no es realmente pesada, lo que te puede confundir son la cantidad de nombres, tanto de ciudades como de personajes, al igual que otras novelas del autor, son de tema suave, enfocados en el romance de los protagonistas.
De la trama en general se puede resaltar lo ruines que son los otros personajes del ministerio, lo bajo que pueden llevar por tener algo de poder y los planes y peleas por el poder que son algo típico de las novelas ambientadas en esa época.
Fácil de leer, fácil de disfrutar y aparte, como experiencia personal, me quitó el bloqueo de lector que tenía desde hacía casi un año, así que mega recomendada.
4.3 Starts. Even though I'm not a big fan of court drama, I really like this book. I normally favor novels with early romance plots, when the characters evolve together instead of fighting with each other and this book is a good example of it. I laughed and I cried and I liked that not everything went smoothly for the characters. It was a very enjoyable read.
Wow. I just discovered another author with the caliber of Meng Shi Si and Cang Wu Bin Bai when it comes to writing court politics (Priest would have been on this list if she wasn't so obsessed with branding Filipinos as maids that I finally got sick of her). Except this one has papapa. And gong's morality isn't black and white.
xiao chengjun: you're the most jealous general i know lou jing: you know other general?
-
not necessarry the worst book i've read, but also not necessarry the best book i've read either. it was an okay read for me. i enjoy some parts and i love some characters as well (the father empress really has my whole heart), but other parts simply did not do it for me.
there were definitely times the story was a bit slow and I wanted it to pick up the pace. I liked the story and the politics were easy to understand and comprehend unlike other books. I wished there was more romance and fluff but overall it was a great story
Solid 5 stars. Easily one of my best reads of 2025.Very well written and surprisingly, the political part was also very interesting.I can't believe this one has only 89 ratings.
Father empress Ji was my most favourite character and my heart aches for him. Truly deserved the ending he got and FUCK CHUNDE EMPEROR for treating him like shit. Glad he at least realised it when he was dying.
This is actually my first novel where the emperor is the wife. LC, you cunning bastard 😂
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Rating: 3.5/5 - I really enjoyed this! The political intrigue was captivating without getting overly complex and boring.
I loved the main couple as they were both smart and interesting with very specific goals.I think overall it was a very pleasant read.
I did feel there were some mild plot holes here and there but it isn’t a long read so for the number of chapters I think everything did come round full circle.