The Dragon on the Wall and the Chile Song (Northern and Southern Dynasties)

Dear readers, please add this to your library and light up a little star to keep my brush supplied with ink =3=

Love | With a lovely woman by my side, I can paint the world in color.

Loyalty | A dragon on the walls of the southern lands, the Chilechuan song beyond the northern frontier; all under heaven united in the Sui and Tang dynasties.

A painter from a humble family, an artist who takes up his brush and strides into battle, Zhang Sengyou

A noblewoman from a distinguished family, a beauty who holds her own in a chaotic age, Ying Pingting

Inspired by the moving story of Zhang Sengyou and his wife, the Ying family lady, who stayed together for a hundred years, this tale recounts:

The century of blood and passion spanning the Southern Liang and Northern Wei, Northern Zhou and Northern Qi, and the Sui and Tang.

[Blurb]

01

Zhang Sengyou, the painter who "put the finishing touch to the painted dragon."

From a minor official of humble birth, to the Administrator of Wuxing, to the fortunate son-in-law of the distinguished Ying family of Jiangzuo, his whole life can be summed up in just four lines of history:

Flowers in relief, the Zhang style, twenty-eight stars stirring the Purple Palace.

The moon over Taicheng, the ashes of Jiangling, tears for Ji'an and Xiangdong.

He knew the art of painting, but dared he question Heaven? Three thousand scrolls, one dream at its end.

Beneath yellow dust, tears in Jiankang; they fall not from the parasol tree, but with the temple bell.

02

"Prince Gao, take us for one more charge at Yubi!"

"The golden crow is wounded, the sun eclipsed. Is this for my sake? What have I to fear in death!!"

A thousand cavalry broke through Guang'a, Jinyang changed the fate of the realm, and Shawan was left with its regrets.

Han women mourned at Linzhang, Hu children grieved for the Three Qins, all for Shenwu.

The song of Chilechuan was sung to its end; Tongguan was so near, yet seven thousand heroic souls were lost.

"If only the world were at peace, Hu and Han could marry, and the people could farm and sit together as one. If the song of Chilechuan rang throughout the world, what joy that would be!"

"Yuwen Tai, tell me: rebel minister, great ruler, mad tyrant, hero. Which are you and I? Which are we, in the end!!"

On that day, Gao Huan died in Jinyang.

Yuwen Tai fell silent for Prince Gao.

03

Yang Lang's sorrow, Xiao Niang's tears; the Sui plum branch is cold, and the dream cannot return.

The poplar blossoms fade, the plum blossoms flourish; fair faces and jade-like beauty are of no use.

The opening of the Grand Canal brought endless splendor. They once mocked the Son of Heaven for not ascending the Chanyu Terrace.

In Yangzhou, snow-white jade grew desolate along unfamiliar roads; only then did they see how an empire's ambitions had been broken by too many diverging paths.

Amid the mortal world, Yang Lang and Xiao Niang: most parted, most reunited, most lost in sorrow.

In a fading dream, the Southern Liang and Northern Wei become drifting catkins, fall into the Sui mirror, and usher in the Li of Tang.

Note:

1. A complete account of the rise and fall of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui.

2. Love and vengeance in a time of chaos, Eastern aesthetics, scholars and generals, and a cast of emperors and nobles.

3. A serious historical drama, with verifiable historical details. Dear readers, please support it with library adds, comments, and encouragement =3=

4. The dragon breaking through the walls of Jiangnan, the Chilechuan song on the frontier, and the eventual unification of a chaotic age. Familiar historical figures from the timeline will all appear, ending with Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang.

5. A million-character epic, updated at noon or after 11 p.m.

6. All of the author's historical novels are registered as intellectual property.

[------Divider-------]

❤️ [Coming Soon 1] "A Kiss to the Hibiscus, Crown Prince Zhaoming Xiao Tong"

(A tale of Xiao Tong's life, and the romance and upheaval of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.)

(Dear readers, please add it to your library =3=)

Where has His Highness the Crown Prince gone? Your Highness, Your Highness... Shen Yue searched the reading pavilion again and again, frantic with worry.

Could it be that Li Daoyuan's words had come true, and the Crown Prince had really met his end as foretold?

"A note in the Commentary on the Water Classic reveals Heaven's secret; by Luoyang's lotus pond, a boat returns to its burial. A kiss to the hibiscus, a fall into clear waters."

Shen Yue was appalled.

He should never have listened to the Crown Prince and concealed the visit to Liang of Li Daoyuan, the Northern Wei "geography mystic," from Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan.

And that Jia Sixie, who called himself a "farmer" and was supposedly best at tilling the fields, was probably in league with Li Daoyuan too!

Grand Tutor, what did you need me for? Xiao Tong smiled.

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 elder sister of Yuan Ziyou, who later became Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei. I asked why she had come to Liang, and why she was living in a temple under the name Huiniang."

"This was her answer: Who says everyone staying in a temple is a nun? I am a laywoman. What are you puzzled about, Your Highness? 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 woman's dress strange?"

Our story begins when Crown Prince Zhaoming Xiao Tong accompanies his Grand 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, weeps for Xiao Tong after "burning one hundred and forty thousand books," and the fall of the Liang kingdom.

Let us return together to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, where romance and turmoil went hand in hand, and experience:

Most resolute: Xiao Yan enters the Buddhist clergy (Emperor Wu of Liang)

Most remembered: Xiao Tong compiles the Wen Xuan (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 poetry and books (Emperor Yuan of Liang)

Most unforgivable: Hou Jing and Erzhu Rong (Li Zicheng would weep and pay tribute in later generations)

Most wonderful: Noble Consort Ding Lingguang (mother of Xiao Tong and Xiao Gang)

Most helpless: Ling Ying endures the cold night (mother of Xiao Yi)

Most absurd: Lady Xu's half-face makeup (Xiao Yi's wife)

Most wearisome: Huiniang admires red beans (Xiao Tong's confidante)

❤️ [Coming Soon 2] "The Qing Dynasty's First Imperial Son-in-Law, He Shen's Son"

(A tale of the life of Fengshen Yinde, the only son of the powerful minister He Shen. The Qianlong era features Catherine the Great and Louis XVI too. Dear readers, please add it to your library =3=)

My name is Fengshen Yinde, known as the Qing Dynasty's number-one imperial son-in-law, a man who made it big thanks to his father and wife.

My father is He Shen, a favorite of Emperor Qianlong and the most handsome man in the Qing Dynasty.

Father is a master of political maneuvering and mind games. He is also a gifted money-maker, taking Nalan Mingzhu, the richest man of the Kangxi era, as his role model. He managed to push himself all the way to the top of the Qianlong era's... no, the entire Qing Dynasty's wealthiest men.

I married the Qianlong Emperor's daughter, the Tenth Princess, a strong-willed woman with beauty and brains. I was broad-minded and constantly indulged her spoiled, headstrong ways, while smiling as I watched her shuttle between the Emperor, the Fifteenth Prince, and the He household, unable to speak of her troubles.

Later, my father He Shen 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 overwhelmed with emotion.

To prove I was no coward, I was kept under house arrest, but I resolutely petitioned the Jiaqing Emperor to let me go support frontier development. From then on, I balanced firmness with flexibility on the frontier, earning a distinguished record of military service and leaving behind the legend of my snowmen.

Unfortunately, the record keeper of the Princess's residence took revenge on me, accusing me of all kinds of crimes, including meeting a woman during the national mourning period, neglecting my duties, avenging my father, and neglecting the Princess.

The Jiaqing Emperor was furious. He stripped me of my post, erased all my achievements, and read out "Fengshen Yinde's Ten Crimes" before the assembled officials.

Fortunately, Fu'en, the adopted son of the Tenth Princess and me, proved himself. He wrote a blood petition on my behalf, turned the situation around, and cleared my name.

After I had saved my life for the third time, I began dreaming of Nalan Xingde, the Qing Dynasty's greatest poet.

I asked him, "Young master, why has my life been so hard? How did it become so absurd?"

Rongruo said, "You never learned how to live. You put the greater good first and navigate the ruler's moods, with no chance to show off your abilities. That's why you suffer."

I asked again, "Young master, why have the ups and downs, rights and wrongs, and merits and faults of my life been swallowed up 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 can sort that out as I did, you'll understand."

I suddenly understood.

Since loyalty and filial piety cannot both be fulfilled, better to evolve from an easygoing young man into a cunning schemer!

In this life, I will turn the tables and rise again.

Thank you to everyone who clicked, bookmarked, read, or subscribed to Nianjiang's stories,

and to every dear reader who met, accompanied, supported, and followed Nianjiang.

Theme: The painted scroll holds the world within; heroes emerge in chaotic times.