Li Xuan, a doctor of Tang history, wakes up in the body of Li Guo'er, Princess Anle, remembered in the history books as a spoiled princess who brought down a dynasty.
She puts away her dazzling brilliance and quietly lays her plans.
With Shangguan Wan'er as her political mentor, she learns how to navigate the court. With a kindred spirit in Shuofang, she glimpses the vast deserts of the Western Regions.
While everyone in the inner palace is consumed by the struggle for favor and love, she takes on the post of chief supervisor of the Longmen Grottoes. Armed with her achievements, she makes her place in the court and the wider realm.
When the Turks threaten the border and the court is deadlocked over a marriage alliance, an imperial edict breaks the impasse: Princess Anle is appointed a special envoy to the Western Regions, tasked with negotiating peace and securing the northern frontier through diplomacy.
She wields conciliation as a blade, turning swords into plowshares.
She opens Longmen, clears the Silk Road, outmaneuvers political schemers, and brings peace to the borderlands. As a woman, she pursues the lifelong ambitions of a scholar-official.
Her title is Anle, meaning peace and joy, yet what she seeks is neither favor in the palace nor glory. She wants safe trade routes, an end to the fires of war, and a prosperous life for the people.
She has no desire to dominate the court or rise above the throne. She only wants to create a new world beyond the rigid pages of the history books.
“I only hope that a thousand years from now, when people speak of Li Guo'er, they will remember not the palace's depravity, but the Buddha's light at Longmen, the moon over the Silk Road, and the peace and prosperity of the far-flung western frontier.”
With the realm as her canvas, she rewrites history.
From the slander that branded her, she steps into a legend.
Male lead: Wang Heng of the Langya Wang clan.
I just read the beginning. The author's writing is very good, but it lacks some historical research. But there are too few novels based on writing about Anle, and the author has written so many words, so I will give it a perfect score.