皇子奋斗日常 (The Prince Struggles Daily)

Tags: Complex Family Relationships, Politics, Schemes and Conspiracies, Male Protagonist, Slice of Life, Harem, Polygamy

MC is a common woman who died in her thirties after their country was ruined by war because of an extremely incompetent emperor. She reincarnates as the four-year-old twelfth imperial prince born in the cold palace decades before the war in her past life happened. Unaccustomed to his new identity, he muddled through for a few months before deciding to embrace the new life he was given. His consort mother had been banished to the cold palace while pregnant with him, so he lived there until he was four. He was then given to a high-ranking concubine for adoption so he could leave the cold palace and start his studies.

This is honestly just a slice-of-life story about an ancient woman reincarnated in the body of a prince, and then coming to terms with her new identity. He also gets entangled in very complicated relationships in the imperial harem, while at the same time trying to figure out which prince to support to prevent the war that ruined the country in his past life. Along the way, he realizes that he's more passionate about the country than he had expected and gets embroiled in political intrigue, eventually realizing that the only one he can rely on (to assume the throne) is himself.

Just a warning, it has no romance. It has a pretty realistic harem. It does have excellent characterization. MC himself experiences a lot of inner turmoil, especially accepting his new identity and the new relationships along with it. Having once been a woman, he's quite sympathetic to women's plights but is still resolute in his decisions.

It's a different and interesting read.

Edit: I like this so much I decided to translate it. Check out "Wishing You Eternal Happiness".

Untranslated Suggestion:

表妹万福 (Eternal Blessings to Biaomei)

表 (biao) refers to relatives of different surnames (could be maternal relatives, cousins born from your father's sisters, etc.). 表妹 (biao mei) refers to a younger female cousin, lit. biao little sister.

FL is from a rich merchant family, and her mother has a sister who married into a ducal family. In her past life, she married her second biao brother. Due to some circumstances, the emperor had fallen in love with her at first sight, and her cowardly husband gave her up. She tried to ask help from her eldest biao brother (ML), who did help her, but she still eventually ended up in the emperor's clutches. In the palace, as she was already married to someone else, she wasn't given any status or power, and survived merely on the emperor's favor. As the emperor was dying, he asked her to be buried with him, to which she complied. She was then reborn just before she was to be married to her second biao brother, but schemed to escape from the engagement. In this new life, she somehow crossed paths with the past life's emperor, who was currently still the heir to a vassal prince, but he still fell in love with her at first sight and tried to seize her using shady means. To escape from his grasp, she sought shelter from her eldest biao brother (as she had in her past life), who also had considerable influence and was able to repel the other man away... There are several twists along the way, and it gets pretty political. Happy ending with some angst.

(they're not blood-related)