Ruling the Realm: From Playboy to the Empress's Husband

Li Yun, a history student, was reborn in the first year of the Tianshou era as the foolish son of the Minister of War, back when ruthless officials held sway. To save his own skin, he pretended to be insane, but used modern knowledge to improve farming tools and become Luoyang's richest man. During the imperial examinations, his essay “On How Women Can Rule as Sages” shocked the court, and Empress Wu Zetian personally named him the top candidate. When the Turks invaded the border, he offered a gunpowder formula that turned the tide of battle and was promoted to Vice Minister of War. At a nighttime banquet in Shangyang Palace, one drunken remark, “The white plum blossoms at Your Majesty's temples are lovely,” earned him a place by the empress's side to attend her with ink. When Li Yun finally reached the pinnacle of power, he whispered to the empress on the dragon throne: “Let me watch over this realm for you.”