The Pearl of the Tang Dynasty and the Rebel An Lushan

(Major rewrite of the entire novel in progress. Chapters 1-12 are getting minor edits, and everything from Chapter 12 onward is being rewritten. The new chapters directly replace the old versions. Current progress: 87/116.)

This is a story about a devoted admirer who keeps fawning until, in the end, he gets everything he could want.

(A mischievous, clever, wise, universally adored Tang princess × a ruthless, cunning, calculating mad dog, loyal dog, and attack dog)

She transmigrates as the daughter of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji, and his beloved consort, Yang Guifei, Yang Yuhuan. Her name is Li Wanning.

Her father created the Kaiyuan Golden Age, and her mother was loved above all others.

As for her? On the day peonies bloomed throughout Chang'an, she was born with a jade in her mouth. Her father was overjoyed and immediately gave her a title: Princess Chang'an.

Chang'an was the capital of the Tang dynasty, a city that embodied the dynasty's glory. Naming her after the capital made the depth of his affection plain.

Newborn Li Wanning blew a bubble, already leaping for joy inside. Holy cow, what a dream start!

Everyone in the Tang dynasty knew that Princess Chang'an, Li Wanning, was the daughter of Yang Guifei: a precious princess, breathtakingly beautiful, and showered with love.

An Lushan had prepared himself to meet the emperor in the capital, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous consort and her daughter.

But when that bright little figure, radiant as the sun, came smiling up to him and offered him the flowers in her hand, he knew:

From that moment on, he would be the princess's dog, her blade, and would gladly give everything for her.

Everyone said An Lushan was an old dog prostrate at Princess Chang'an's feet. Even he thought so.

Once, as he held the little white dog Li Wanning had adopted, An Lushan sighed. "We're both dogs, but I'm so jealous of you. You can follow the princess wherever she goes, climb into her lap, and lick her palm."

Of course, he didn't dare say the last two things aloud.

He was only a lowly dog. To even dream of the princess was a capital offense. How could he ever speak of it?

[Reader Advisory]

1. This novel tries to follow history as closely as possible, but some changes are inevitable. Readers who require strict historical accuracy may wish to steer clear.

2. The leads are not each other's first. The male lead is a virgin until Chapter 34, and takes concubines for political reasons, but the romance is strictly one-on-one. He still has his first kiss, and he will dismiss his concubines in Volume Two. Readers who require both leads to be completely inexperienced may wish to steer clear.

3. The male lead doesn't have the aloof or gentle appearance common in romance novels, but I don't consider him ugly either. In my opinion, he has a rugged, imposing look, like a Central Asian heartthrob. See item 6 for details about his features. He's not slender, but powerfully built, with a thick, heavily muscled frame. Readers who mind this may wish to steer clear.

4. The male lead's personality is a selective reimagining of the historical An Lushan: some aspects are faithful, others are different. More importantly, I want readers to see An Lushan not as the fat, greedy caricature from history, but as a real person stripped of one-dimensional labels.

5. At first, the male lead's feelings for the heroine are admiration, like a believer's devotion to a god. Their romantic storyline won't begin until she's fifteen. This is not a story about an adult pursuing a child!

6. The male lead is white. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Turkic descent, a mix of Caucasoid and Mongoloid ancestry, classified as Turanian. In modern terms, his features would be similar to those of the Uyghur people, so he's white! Claims that he was dark-skinned come from later theatrical portrayals and sour scholars who vilified him! Please stop saying he was dark-skinned TAT

7. The novel has four volumes: Volume One, A Minister at Her Feet; Volume Two, The Tianbao Golden Age; Volume Three, The Empress; and Volume Four, an alternate-history An Lushan Rebellion. The whole story is outlined, so don't worry about an abrupt ending~

Coming soon: Wang Mang, the Han Empress's Chosen Consort:

A story of a narcissistic double and mutual misunderstandings, of ruler and subject, teacher and student, who end up as sworn enemies.

(A female-disguised-as-male, frail, iron-fisted and wise crown prince who is a teacher × a master of public opinion, pure-hearted, shy, obsessive, and extreme student who becomes a powerful minister)

P.S. The blurb is a little long. If you don't want to read it all, skip to the final sentence for a summary.

She transmigrates as Liu Ao's daughter. Her birth mother is Zhao Hede, her adoptive mother is Zhao Feiyan, and she is named Liu Ye.

As Liu Ao's only child, even though she's a girl, all she needs is for her two mothers to coax him a little. She can dress as a boy and be named crown prince without any trouble.

Her birth father is a spineless nobody, and her birth mother is controlling, but she never thinks inheriting the family legacy will be a problem.

Until, at the age of twelve, she meets an idiot.

The other person is wearing coarse, patched clothes and standing among a group of spoiled young nobles, laughing foolishly even as they mock him.

She kindly comes to his rescue, then hears him say, "I am Wang Mang. Thank you, young master, for stepping in."

Wang... Wang Mang?! The traitor who overthrew the Han dynasty?!

Guards! Drag him out and execute him!

The first time Wang Mang visits the imperial palace, he meets a palace maid from the Eastern Palace.

She has just gotten her first period, is in unbearable pain, and is curled up in a patch of grass.

As a gentleman, he must observe the separation between men and women, but he cannot leave someone in need to suffer.

So he covers his own face with his outer robe and carries her back to the Eastern Palace.

The girl in his arms is curled into a ball. The lower half of her face is white as snow, her flowerlike lips drained of color, and a black mole shows in the hollow of her collarbone.

Wang Mang looks away, his cheeks gradually turning red.

S-She's so beautiful...

Later, he enters the imperial court and becomes fast friends with the crown prince.

Though the prince is eight years younger, his character and vision leave Wang Mang in awe.

He takes the prince as his teacher and learns how to govern, working alongside him to build a world of great unity.

He is willing to be the prince's sharpest blade and most useful pawn, cutting down every corrupt official and cancerous growth.

The prince also promises that once Wang Mang has risen high and made a success of his career, he will arrange a marriage for him.

But later, after the crown prince ascends the throne, he joins forces with corrupt officials and betrays their dream of a world of great unity.

Worse still, the person Wang Mang loves and longs for is poisoned by the emperor because of him and dies a tragic death.

Ha... It doesn't matter.

So what if he's the new emperor? So what if he was once my teacher? He's nothing but a sickly weakling, no threat to me.

Wang Mang gradually takes power away from the new emperor and assumes control of the court. He will reclaim, with his own hands, the world of great unity that His Majesty owes him.

The whole court knows that Wang Mang is the crown prince's most prized student and sharpest claw.

So when the prince takes the throne and Wang Mang secretly strips him of power, not a single court official notices.

Not until Wang Mang forges an imperial edict, gains power over the entire court, and leaves officials terrified, the people in misery, corpses strewn across the land, and the living starving.

When he kneels beside the new emperor's bed, his eyes fall on the black mole at the emperor's collarbone. He begins to tremble, and at last he understands.

Your Majesty... You never changed.

I... I was the one who was wrong.

So the teacher he followed, the wise ruler he served, the new emperor he plotted against and stripped of power, the enemy he hated with all his heart, and the beloved he thought of night and day had always been one and the same person.

Core theme: To portray the rise and fall of the dazzling stars beneath the Tianbao Golden Age.

[The print edition is now available at major online retailers.]

The day Yu Wan met Xu Qingsong was nothing special.

She transferred into a new class in her senior year of high school, where everything was unfamiliar. Whether in class, at lunch, or during sports, she was always the one left out.

So Yu Wan turned her attention to Xu Qingsong.

He was a lonely boy who, like her, was always left out. His face was utterly cold, with proud eyes that kept everyone at arm's length.

That day, she summoned her courage and reached out to him.

"Let's be friends."

*

On the first day Xu Qingsong started dating a new girlfriend, Yu Wan asked him, "Then what are we?"

He turned his head and said, "Friends."

How should I define the relationship between you and me?

It was as if I were the only one singing in this one-person show.

Bad ending. Short story.

If you're interested, you can save the short bad-ending story Rewind in my collection. Here's the blurb:

Short story | Bad ending | Mutual unrequited love | School life

A registered letter from the post office in her hometown brings Sheng Guanxia's memories back to the summer she was seventeen.

That summer, she was seventeen. There were the college entrance exams, summer vacation, and the seaside.

She and Jiang Su met each other's eyes as waves crashed on the shore, then hurriedly looked away. Back then, she was timid, afraid her secret feelings would show.

Later, Sheng Guanxia regretted it countless times. If only she could go back to when she was seventeen.

She would ask Jiang Su to his face:

"Did you like me?"

Core theme: Work hard and find your way to happiness.