Great Tang: One Poem Stuns the Sage, Princess Gaoyang, Show Some Respect

[No System / alternate history / Tang Dynasty / author-transmigrator]

Lu Yue, a modern-day office worker in the twenty-first century, wakes up as a minor member of the Fan Yang Lu clan during the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty. He spends his days slacking off at his post in the Imperial Guard, hoping to coast peacefully through life.

Then, at a poetry gathering in Hanyuan Hall, the aristocratic literary talent Pei Xingjian publicly challenges him. Using the theme “Meditations,” he intends to humiliate Lu Yue, this “mere soldier,” and ruin the Lu clan’s good name.

With nowhere left to retreat, Lu Yue takes up his brush, and the timeless masterpiece “Farewell to Secretary Shu Yun at Xie Tiao Tower in Xuanzhou” bursts into being.

“Those who leave me cannot be held back; yesterday is gone. Those who trouble my heart bring me endless sorrow today.”

“I draw my blade to cut the water, but the water flows on; I raise my cup to dispel my grief, but my grief only grows.”

“When life goes against my wishes, tomorrow I’ll let my hair down and sail away in a small boat.”

His verse rings out like a sword in the wind, stunning everyone in the hall. The powerful nobles in their crimson and purple robes fall silent, but his performance catches the attention of Princess Gaoyang, Li Shimin’s most beloved daughter.

When the princess bluntly asks, “Chang’an is so vast. Where will you stand?” Lu Yue answers honestly, “I can’t find anywhere to stand.”

Princess Gaoyang beams, the gold ornaments in her hair chiming softly. “Then stand by my side from now on. I shall be your place.”

From that moment on, the game of power in Chang’an quietly shifts.

A soul from the future enters the fray with timeless masterpieces, stirring the winds of change in the Tang Dynasty as spring draws to a close.