[Dream of the Red Chamber] Li Shimin Reincarnates as Prince Zhongshun

In the twenty-third year of the Zhenguan era, Li Shimin died in Cuiwei Palace. When he opened his eyes again, his soul had somehow fallen into another world, where he had become the dissolute, useless Prince Zhongshun in the eyes of all.

The officials looked down on him, and the emperor feared him.

Even his own father treated him as a pawn to keep the court in check, using him as he pleased.

Across the realm, corrupt officials held power and government was in disarray. Natural disasters plagued the provinces, bandits ran rampant, and the northern tribes watched hungrily from beyond the frontier as war raged along the borders.

None of that was a problem. Could things get any worse than the end of the Sui dynasty, when the land was devastated, the Turks pressed at the borders, bones stretched for a thousand miles, and fewer than three out of every ten people survived?

He'd managed to clean up a crisis like that. What was there to fear now?

Still, he missed Guanyin Bi.

She had said she'd wait for him in the afterlife. Now they were separated in different worlds. What was he supposed to do?

What? Guanyin Bi was here too, and she was his princess consort?!

After meeting Prince Zhongshun's consort, Daiyu realized that women didn't have to depend on men to survive. They could have careers of their own and live freely and openly.

She agreed to marry Xiao Jingyao not because she coveted his status as heir, but because he promised not to clip her wings after they wed. She would be free to pursue whatever she wished and go wherever she wanted.

Only years later did she discover that he'd lied. As the crown princess, she was expected to set an example for the realm. How could she do as she pleased?

Many years later, Daiyu gazed at the solitary smoke rising over the desert and the sun setting beside the long river, leaning against Xiao Jingyao's chest as she sighed softly. "So you really weren't lying to me back then!"

Theme: Who else but us can pacify a troubled age and save its people?