Hello readers, I'd like to know what translation of 朕 you prefer and doesn't disrupt your reading flow. Feel free to correct me or give tips!
"We". It precisely conveys the proper sentiment, and you can have it so that only emperors and people claiming that title are the only people who use it. It's also distinctive enough that readers won't mistaken it with anything else, and anything that avoids untranslated honorific is a good thing.
We though you might want to inform unknowing readers with a note that royal we is a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_we
I accept only Zhen and nothing else :v the rest sounded so wrong (for me, in case anyone wanted to start an unwanted argument).
Thank you for your answers everyone! Personally, I like the royal We because it reduces the amount of pinyin. But I also think that most readers are familiar with Zhen and it's ok to use it, especially if the novel has royal titles and familial addresses that can't be translated. Keep everything consistent, I guess?
Yes ; for the novels I read till now each everyone of them has used Zhèn but well do as you wish ig^^
My pick is 'zhen' but I have no problem with 'we', or even 'This Emperor'. Something I am still not used to is seeing 'This Loneliness' for a crown prince, it's too long! Oh and I don't really like 'This Palace', in my mind she should be an elegant and most likely pretty regal woman, yet 'Palace' makes me think of big, grey, square massive building.
"Palace" isn't a title; it's a rank. Empresses, highly ranked Imperial Consorts, and usually the Crown Prince get assigned their own palace inside the Imperial palace complex, and their rank derives from this privilege.