Kangxi's Courtier: The Story of Nalan Xingde

The Dragon Comes to Life: I, Zhang Sengyou, is currently updating A painter, Zhang Sengyou, striving to make his mark but caught in a love affair x Ying Pingting, a virtuous young lady from a distinguished family who refuses to follow worldly conventions The next book will be The Lotus in a Low Kiss: Crown Prince Xiao Tong or The Son of Heshen ·Please add the upcoming books to your collections. To all the little angels who have been following this story, please rate the completed work~ ·Thank you for cherishing every bit of love and companionship. I look forward to meeting you all again in my next book. 【A complete account of the Nalan family across the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns】 【Historical drama · Verifiable historical facts · Please collect and read】 Blurb: Nalan Xingde, courtesy name Rongruo, the greatest literary talent of the Qing Dynasty. His life lasted a mere thirty years. He wore his hat jauntily, drank from a ladle, gambled over books, and splashed tea, yet remained lost amid the bonds between ruler and subject, father and son, friends, and lovers. As a child, he was already impressive in literature, exceptional at riding and archery, and impeccable in conduct. He attended the emperor, reading with him and answering his questions. A twist of fate dashed his hopes of earning distinction. His dream of entering the Hanlin Academy was shattered, and he became a palace guard serving at the emperor's side. He fell into love, and the two made vows to one another. Autumn sorrow haunted his painted fan; the magnolia buds were crushed, and his yearning turned to silence. Caught in the ebb and flow of factional strife, he remained loyal and filial, yet could not dispel the emperor's suspicions. Who could understand the tangled worries in his heart? He rode through vast clouds of dust, unable to return to his old home. Lamps burned in a thousand tents, and his life flickered before finally breaking apart. Nalan's life was full of things he could not help, yet he always lived in this world as a graceful gentleman amid a debased age. Over the Qing Dynasty's centuries, many remarkable figures came and went, but Nalan's “bright passing that stirs sorrow” and “purity and resilience” leave a particularly deep impression. Come closer to Nalan the courtier, and devise a plan to capture Ao together, plot the campaign against the Three Feudatories, and help support a wise emperor. Come closer to Nalan the young gentleman, and admire the twin lotuses by the Green Water Pavilion, and watch two swallows fly beneath the clearing sky after rain. Come closer to Nalan the poet, and seek a kindred Han Chinese friend, search for a few lines of paper to hold his sorrows, and find two people who belong together for a lifetime. Notes: 1. I originally planned to write The Nalan Poetry Case: Dorgon’s Eagle, about Shen Wan and Rongruo investigating the true cause of Dorgon's death together. I later decided to broaden the scope and write about Nalan Rongruo's whole life. The cause of Dorgon's death will be revealed in Volume Six. 2. Poetry and romance, along with the greater good of the nation, unfold on parallel tracks. 3. Nalan's romantic relationships, including confidantes Yan Xiuyun, Lu Erxuan, Guan Yunci, Shen Wan, and Nalan Hui'er, also known as Consort Hui, receive equal attention alongside his relationship with his father, Mingzhu, and his bond between ruler and subject with Kangxi. 4. Nalan loves the Bodhi tree, with its 108 seeds. Throughout the book, 108 schemes, large and small, help his father rise to prominence, secure the realm for his ruler, and show compassion to his friends. This is the fulfillment of the young gentleman's life. Come explore and enjoy the story. 5. To drive the plot forward, the book features 128 original poems. 6. Nalan's clothing, daily necessities, food preferences, and appreciation of the arts in this book are based on historical fact. 7. The Eighth Prince has a contrasting personality: immature in his youth, but later a truly virtuous prince who gives everything for his country. 8. The mysteries surrounding Yongzheng's seizure of the throne, Consort De Wuyashi's suicide by striking a pillar, and the suspicious deaths of the Eighth and Ninth Princes have been revealed. The complete manuscript is ready. Updates are steady, with 10,000+ words daily, at noon or 11 p.m. The book has eight volumes: A Young Man's Worries + Entering Officialdom + Love's Difficult Pass + The Impeccable Courtier + The Contest Between Ruler and Subject + Soul's Return to the Azure Heavens + Though Dead, Still Alive: The Nine Sons' Struggle for the Throne + The Yongzheng and Qianlong Eras: The Glory of the Yehenara Clan Divider 【Upcoming Book 1】The Great Qing's Top Imperial Son-in-Law / The Son of Heshen (The story of Fengshen Yinde, the only son of the powerful official Heshen, during the Qianlong era. Catherine the Great and Louis XVI will also appear. Please add it to your collections, dears =3=) My name is Fengshen Yinde. People call me the Great Qing's top imperial son-in-law, a man who owes everything to his father and wife. My father is Heshen, a favorite of the Qianlong Emperor and the most handsome man in the Great Qing. Father is a master of political maneuvering and psychology, and he knows how to amass wealth. Taking Nalan Mingzhu, the richest man of the Kangxi era, as his role model, he managed to make himself the richest man in the Qianlong era... no, in the entire Great Qing. I married the Qianlong Emperor's daughter, the Tenth Princess, a strong-willed woman blessed with both beauty and intelligence. I was broad-minded and patiently put up with her capricious ways, while smiling as I watched her hurry back and forth between Imperial Father, the Fifteenth Prince, and the Heshen household, unable to voice her grievances. Later, Father Heshen fell from power, but the Tenth Princess stayed by my side. She even pleaded for me before the Jiaqing Emperor, and I survived. I was filled with emotion. To prove I was no coward, I resolutely asked the Jiaqing Emperor for permission to help develop the frontier, even though I was under house arrest. From then on, I balanced firmness with flexibility on the border, earning great military honors and leaving behind a legend about building snowmen. Yet the record keeper of the princess's household took revenge on me, accusing me of crimes that included, but were not limited to, meeting a woman during the national mourning period, neglecting my duties, avenging my father, and neglecting the princess. The Jiaqing Emperor flew into a rage, stripped me of my post, wiped out all my accomplishments, and read out “Fengshen Yinde's Ten Great Crimes” before the assembled court. Fortunately, Fu'en, the adopted son of the Tenth Princess and me, proved himself. He wrote a plea for me in his own blood, turned the tide, and cleared my name. After I had escaped death for the third time, I began dreaming of Nalan Xingde, the greatest literary talent of the Great Qing. I asked him, “My lord, why has my life been so bitter? How did it become such a mess?” Rongruo said, “You haven't figured out how to live. You put the greater good first and mediate between rulers, so you can't show off what you're capable of. That's why you suffer.” I asked again, “My lord, why has my life been so full of ups and downs, rights and wrongs, only to be swallowed by the history books?” Rongruo said, “Between ruler and subject, and between husband and wife, it is taboo to owe nothing to each other. If you sort things out as I did, you'll understand.” I suddenly saw the light. Since loyalty and filial piety are hard to reconcile, I might as well be an easygoing young man who evolves into a scheming one! In this life, I'm going to turn the tables and make a comeback 【Upcoming Book 2】The Lotus in a Low Kiss: Crown Prince Xiao Tong (The story of Xiao Tong's life and the romance and turmoil of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.) (Please add it to your collections, babies =3=) Where has the Crown Prince gone? Your Highness, Your Highness... Shen Yue searched the reading pavilion several times, sweating with anxiety. Could it be that Li Daoyuan's words had come true, and the Crown Prince had truly died as foretold? “An annotation to the Water Classic reveals Heaven's secret; by the Lotus Pond at Luoyang, a boat bears him home to be buried. A low kiss upon a lotus, a body falling into clear waves.” Shen Yue was horrified He should never have listened to the Crown Prince and concealed the visit of Li Daoyuan, the Northern Wei “mystic geographer,” from Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang. The man who called himself a “farmer” and was best at tilling fields, Jia Sixie, was probably in league with Li Daoyuan too! “Grand Tutor, what are you looking for me for?” Xiao Tong asked with a smile. “Your Highness, where have you been?” Shen Yue composed himself. “I met an interesting young woman. Her surname is Yuan, and her given name is Huiru. She is a distant older cousin of Yuan Ziyou, who later became Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei. I asked her why she had come to Liang and why she was living in a temple under the name Huiniang.” “She answered me like this: ‘Who says everyone staying in a temple is a nun? I'm a laywoman. Your Highness, what are you puzzled about? You have four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, but we in Northern Wei aren't allowed to change our clothes and customs? Or do you find my Liang-style women's clothing strange?’” Our story begins when Crown Prince Xiao Tong of Zhaoming accompanies his tutor Shen Yue to Wuzhen to study, where he first meets Li Daoyuan, Jia Sixie, and Yuan Huiru. It continues until Emperor Yuan of Liang, Xiao Yi, burns 140,000 books and weeps for Xiao Tong, and ends with the fall of the Liang Kingdom. Let us return together to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, where romance and upheaval existed side by side, and experience the Most resolute: Xiao Yan enters the Buddhist clergy (Emperor Wu of Liang) Most remembered: Xiao Tong compiles the Literary Selections (Crown Prince Zhaoming) Most lamented: Xiao Gang inherits the throne (Emperor Jianwen) Most tragic: Xiao Zan and Yuan Ziyou (if they could not live together, they would die together) Most heartbreaking: Xiao Yi destroys books and poems (Emperor Yuan of Liang) Most unforgivable: Hou Jing and Erzhu Rong (later generations' Li Zicheng weeps as he offers a memorial sacrifice) Most beautiful: Noble Consort Ding Lingguang (mother of Xiao Tong and Xiao Gang) Most helpless: Ling Ying sits through a cold night (mother of Xiao Yi) Most outrageous: Lady Xu's half-face makeup (Xiao Yi's wife) Most poignant: Huiniang admires red beans (Xiao Tong's confidante) Thank you to everyone who clicked on, collected, read, or subscribed to Nian-chan's stories, and to every dear reader who has met, accompanied, supported, and followed Nian-chan. Theme: Focusing on the famous poet Nalan Xingde and promoting Chinese poetry and verse.