Great Tang: Your Majesty, I Really Don't Want a Promotion

After dying suddenly from working overtime, Liu Hong wakes up as the son of a county duke in the second year of Zhenguan. He’s overjoyed: At last, I can retire! He lays down his “Rules for Surviving as a Couch Potato”: stay out of politics, don’t pick sides, and quietly enjoy life.

But whenever he casually comes up with a little invention to make life more comfortable, the emperor takes notice.

He treats his younger sister’s chills and brings the Medicine King, Sun Simiao, to discuss bacteria and viruses; he treats the empress’s asthma and is forced to become the royal family’s health adviser; he goofs off at the Directorate of Works and invents an assembly line that doubles production, causing a stir at court; even the mahjong he makes out of boredom manages to mend the relationship between Li Yuan and Li Shimin.

Li Shimin: “Liu, you have repeatedly distinguished yourself. I’m promoting you to Deputy Director of the Directorate of Works!”

Liu Hong: “Your Majesty, I caught a chill by accident yesterday…”

Li Shimin: “Oh? Perfect. The imperial physicians say the palace just received a hundred-year-old ginseng root. Take it to build up your strength, and be sure to attend court on time tomorrow.”

Looking at the imperial edict granting him a promotion and a raise, Liu Hong clings to a pillar and wails: “I just wanted to be a couch potato. How did I end up being forced into a 996 work schedule?!”