Chang'an's King of Slacking

When he wakes up, Li Mu, an overworked office drone trapped in the 996 grind, has become Li Kuan, Prince of Chu in the Tang Dynasty: a forgotten prince who died young in the history books. It's the first year of the Zhenguan era. The bloodshed at Xuanwu Gate has barely faded, and every look from his father and brothers is unfathomable.

Li Kuan makes a decisive choice: a grand imperial destiny? A place in the history books? No, thank you. This royal family is far too competitive. He just wants to lie flat! Keep a low profile, save money, and stay alive. That's the way to go!

But even lying flat takes skill. He means to use modern knowledge to start a little “cake economy” and quietly make a fortune. Instead, his cakes catch the empress's attention, his filial piety “moves” his father, and even the future tragic crown prince gives him a sidelong look and asks, “Second Brother, you seem to have plenty of time on your hands while you're sick?”

More absurdly, during an ordinary bargain hunt in the Western Market, he buys a bronze plaque covered in strange symbols. It's impervious to blades, spears, water, and fire. And, damn it, it even moves on its own!

When mysterious Sogdian merchants show up at his door with a broken “Sacred Casket,” when ancient mechanisms hum into motion as the plaque clicks into place, and when the merchants all drop to their knees and cry, “The Keybearer!”...

Li Kuan finally realizes that something about this Tang Dynasty seems a little off!

At court, undercurrents swirl as fathers, sons, and brothers each harbor their own designs. In the streets, strange relics appear, and secrets from the Western Regions tie into a prophecy thousands of years old.

He only wanted to be a contented loafer, but fate has shoved a new map into his hands and forced him to unlock it!