A blade is at his throat from the start, but he uses technology to carve out a path to survival in the Tang dynasty! Li Xuan, an unlucky engineering graduate, has barely transmigrated when he discovers he’s shackled as a condemned man in the execution grounds of the Tang imperial palace! Worse still, the original owner of his body was an “impostor eunuch” who had never been castrated and had sneaked into the imperial compound. That’s a crime that would get his entire clan executed! As the executioner’s blade is about to fall, Li Xuan has a flash of inspiration: “I can make ice!” The sweltering heat is unbearable, and the crowd erupts in astonishment. To stay alive, Li Xuan has no choice but to go all in, using modern knowledge as leverage and scientific principles as weapons. Now that he’s here, why not change the era completely? And so the “impostor eunuch” begins to make his mark in the shadows and the light of the Tang dynasty: he improves papermaking and revolutionizes printing, making knowledge no longer the preserve of aristocratic clans; he smelts steel and forges iron to craft superior weapons, quietly upgrading the military; and when the first crude but thundering steam engine model takes shape in his hands, the industrial dawn of the Tang dynasty is lit by a condemned man! From death row to imperial favorite, from the secrets of the palace to the intrigues of the court, powerful nobles seek to win him over, enemies close in, and danger lurks everywhere. Empress Wu Zetian ascends the throne with his help, yet when he marries Pei Qingwan, her eyes redden with tears: “You once said you’d be the fake eunuch who belonged only to me. Why did you break your promise?” Caught between a deeply devoted empress and a female physician who would face death by his side, where will Li Xuan’s technological empire and emotional turmoil lead the Tang dynasty? Technology will strengthen the Tang, and the Industrial Revolution will arrive early! See how an “impostor eunuch” uses science to reshape history and, caught between power and love, creates a legendary golden age of his own!
