In the fifth year of the Kaiyuan era, the Great Tang is flourishing beyond belief. Even the night-market pancake stalls are taking orders from foreign merchants! Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, is as busy as a spinning top, reviewing memorials until the third watch of the night, yet still finding time to go incognito to the night market and hear the people's voices, and to teach musicians at the Pear Garden. Zhao Xiaoyi, a low-ranking seventh-grade official, is as unlucky as an overworked office drone. He copies official documents until his hand cramps, only to be dragooned by fate into becoming the "emperor's paparazzo." Delivering a memorial, he stumbles upon Yao Chong and Zhang Yue arguing; copying a poem turns him into a plagiarist, and he even has to dodge Li Linfu's smiling blade! Zhao Xiaoyi's gripe-filled notes are practically a "survival guide to the workplace" in the Great Tang. From the lantern-lit night markets to the battles at court, prosperity hides dangers. How long can Xuanzong's dream of the Pear Garden last? Open this book and laugh your way through the Great Tang's journey from peak prosperity to a world turned upside down. You won't be able to put it down!
