Lighthearted, funny, heartwarming, and satisfying, with no System. The timeline may differ, so don’t take it as history. Just enjoy the fun!
Li Xiang, a graduate student in history, wakes up to find he has become the five-year-old eldest son of Li Chengqian, crown prince of the Tang dynasty.
His father is only seventeen. Li Shimin just berated him in public for being “frivolous and lacking virtue,” and now he is hiding in the Eastern Palace, crying. Meanwhile, fourth uncle Li Tai has presented the Comprehensive Geography of the Realm, and the entire court is praising the Prince of Wei’s brilliance.
According to the history books, in two years this father will rebel, be deposed, and have his whole family exiled.
Li Xiang clenches his tiny fists. No way. He has to save him.
So he brings a lump of mud to the birthday banquet, charges into the bedchamber with an ice pack, and launches into a wildly irreverent version of the Analects:
“Grandpa Emperor, ‘Isn’t it delightful to study and practice what you’ve learned, and not go bald?’ Look, Grandpa Kong studied so much his hair all fell out.”
Li Shimin: ???
Kong Yingda: This old man would like to retire and return to his hometown.
Li Chengqian: Son, say a little less. Your father’s heart can’t take it.
Later, Li Shimin boasts to everyone he meets: “My grandson can fix drainage systems, and he’s only five!”
And later still, the ministers all understand: it seems this Tang empire is about to be rebuilt, block by block, by a toddler.
