At the height of the Kaiyuan era, the Tang empire shines like the midday sun, unaware that shadows are quietly growing where its light is brightest.
On the grasslands north of the desert, a blood-red moon hangs low. A shaman's prophecy, like a curse of fate, foretells that a Hu man named Yoluoshan will throw the realm into turmoil. Rising from the lowly rank of sheep thief, he becomes the Tang dynasty's most dazzling frontier general. His boisterous charm and valor win him entry to Chang'an's palace, where he becomes the adopted son of the Consort and a favorite of the emperor. Yet behind his hearty, guileless smile lie the wolfish ambition instilled in him by his mother and the deadly game laid out by powerful ministers.
Li Linfu promotes the policy of "using Hu to control Hu," Yang Guozhong closes in step by step, and Xuanzong grows ever more extravagant... The vortex of power in Chang'an finally forges its own gravedigger. Then the war drums of Yuyang shake the realm, and the Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat is shattered at Huaqing Palace.
This is more than the story of a rebel. It is the bloody collision of personal ambition and the fate of the state amid the surging tides of an age; a tragic song of how a golden age takes one step after another toward its own destruction; and an epic of loyalty and betrayal, gratitude and ambition, love and political intrigue.
With its distinctive perspective, grand scale, and solid historical foundation, The Dust of Tianbao is a richly layered historical novel full of dramatic twists and turns, and a work well worth anticipating.
