For the Tang Dynasty, Prince Shou Decides to Rebel

Prince Shou's life used to be like this:

His father doted on him, his mother cherished him, and he was close with his siblings. He was clever and talented, just one step away from becoming heir to the throne. It was the kind of life that seemed destined for a young man ready to embark on a tumultuous adventure.

Prince Shou's life now:

His father treats him coldly, his mother is dead, and his brothers mock him. He can't even protect his wife, and his life hangs by a thread in the emperor's hands.

At twenty-one, Li Mao never thought he could take on a hell-level challenge like this high-stakes ordeal, until...

He witnessed the An Lushan Rebellion in a dream.

What was the An Lushan Rebellion like?

The land torn apart, smoke and fire everywhere, rivers of blood, corpses strewn across the fields. From then on, the Great Tang never recovered...

When the young Prince Shou awoke from his dream, he could still smell the carnage in the air.

Did he want to stop the An Lushan Rebellion?

Of course he did.

But, setting everything else aside, his imperial father alone made the task that much harder.

That day, Prince Shou, Li Mao, sat motionless in his study for a long time.

Only after night fell did he finally settle on his first step!

He decided to visit the wise and mighty Heavenly Khan, his grandfather Emperor Taizong, in a dream.

A little scene:

"Rebellion! Usurping the throne and forcing your father to abdicate! You wretch, have you ever thought about what posterity will say of you in the history books?!"

In the fourteenth year of Tianbao, as the aging and frail Emperor Xuanzong pointed at his unfilial son and berated him, Li Mao, formerly Prince Shou and soon to be the new emperor, merely curled his lips into a smile and said gently, with heartfelt sincerity, "Perhaps Emperor Gaozu once asked His Majesty Taizong the very same question."

1. Li Mao's age is an estimate, roughly twenty-one.

2. I wrote this story because my blood pressure shot up after reading about the An Lushan Rebellion in the Great Tang. I'm not a history major, so most of the story is written in plain language.

3. After learning about the An Lushan Rebellion in advance, the furious Er Feng visits his descendants in their dreams to beat some sense into them.

Theme: Life offers few chances to fight for what you want. If not now, when?