Explanation: No court like a royal court. Throughout China’s many dynasties, the imperial court, where all the toadies, lickspittles, liars, backstabbers, opportunists, and lunatics vie for the Emperor’s attention, has pretty much always been a miserable affair. Honestly, that misery applies to any sufficiently large royal court.

Press X to pay respects to the few officials (or Emperors) trying to keep the country from falling apart while the latest huckster promises an elixir of immortality to anyone with money and a high tolerance for mercury.