Li Shimin, the architect of the Zhenguan era of peace and prosperity in the Tang dynasty, is stripped of his memories and divine power because of an ancient prophecy concerning an imbalance in Heaven's Mandate and a promise he made to a woman who has passed away. Reborn in a modern city under the name Li Er, he retains only a vague fixation on “a certain kind of warmth.” At first, he keeps an emperor's keen instincts, decisiveness, and innate desire for order, but knows nothing about modern rules, technology, social relations, or the law, often coming across as clumsy. As his search continues, he gradually sheds his authoritarian mindset and learns equality and empathy. At the heart of the story is the clash between Li Shimin's hazy memories of the person he loved and the realities of modern society, as well as his divided sense of self: a “historical figure” versus an “ordinary man named Li Er.” Amid the fantastical whirlpool of past and present colliding, the novel explores the dialectic between “eternity” and “the moment.” Once master of an empire stretching for thousands of miles, Li Shimin loses the aura of an emperor and rediscovers the essence of love amid the glamour and alienation of the modern city: it has nothing to do with power, status, or time and place, but is a resonance between souls that pierces every disguise through the flood of time. Suspense threads through the story as it follows the eternal human search for belonging, revealing that true “possession” lies not in owning, but in understanding; true “immortality” lies not in the throne, but in the warmth of being remembered…
The plot of this novel is bizarre, twists and turns, confusing, thrilling, fierce fighting, and the characters have distinctive personalities; the language is beautiful and catchy; the feelings are strong, the emotions are delicate, the climax is constant, and it is wonderful! This is a rare and good novel, worth recommending!