[Physical transmigration, an immortal life spanning centuries of upheaval, from the founding of the Tang dynasty onward]
During the Siege of Yanmen, he secretly delivered a letter in blood, teaching seventeen-year-old Li Shimin how to decisively defeat the Turks.
During the Jiangdu coup, he watched with his own eyes as the tyrant was strangled to death, then risked his life to save Princess Nanyang amid the chaos.
During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he witnessed the brothers who had founded the Tang dynasty fight to the death, then silently wept as he walked away.
When the Turks threatened Chang'an and forced the Treaty of the Wei River, he left Li Shimin a message: "Be patient. Give me a few years, and I'll help you wipe them out root and branch."
When Shan Xiongxin was executed, he brought a jug of wine to see him off: "Let us share this golden cup, though the blade won't spare you."
In the prosperous Zhenguan era, with envoys from every land paying tribute, Li Shimin hosted a grand banquet for his ministers at Lingyan Pavilion. But when he turned around, he saw that his fifth younger brother, who had once followed him everywhere, still looked twenty years old.
The years passed. His old brother ascended the throne, while the woman he loved became a lone lamp in an ancient temple.
Only Li Wangchen remained ageless, witnessing three hundred years of Tang prosperity and absurdity.
A thousand years later, archaeologists opened his tomb and found nothing inside but a stone tablet engraved with a single line:
"Stop digging. I'm really not dead. I still haven't finished avenging Yang Guang."
I finished reading his previous book set in an alternate Northern and Southern Song Dynasty, but didn't pay much attention after that. Several other books I was following also ended, and I couldn't find anything good to read, so I flipped through some of the authors I'd read before and found this new book. His previous stories have ended, so I'm looking forward to new tales from Shanshui Uncle. It's definitely worth reading.