Indulging in Wine

乘风破浪的猫Jun 2022

3.1

Word count: 121K words
Chapters: 57

Summary

A modern girl transmigrates into Lu Shu, the legitimate daughter of the Fan Yang Lu clan, and before she can even rejoice, she realizes this is the Xuanzong era, when the An Lushan Rebellion is destined to break out. The rebellion's place of origin is precisely Fan Yang, and for her country and her family she must prevent the An Lushan Rebellion.

Lu Shu knows well that the root problem lies in land annexation and the separatism of military governors, but simply killing An Lushan would only intensify the conflict. Lu Shu tries, through her father who serves in the Ministry of War, Xuanzong's own son the Prince of Zhong, the reigning chancellor Zhang Jiuling, and others, to persuade Xuanzong to curb increasingly severe land annexation. Yet in his old age Xuanzong is addicted to pleasure and consistently unwilling to reform misgovernment.

In despair, Lu Shu conceives the idea of forcing him to abdicate, but has no concrete plan. She can only first travel with her childhood sweetheart Li Bi to Beiting to persuade Guo Ziyi, the great general who will one day put down the An Lushan Rebellion, to relieve Tong Pass first.

On the way they meet Zheng Wei, an ambitious scion of an aristocratic family, and travel together to the Turks, who will later join the rebel army. Lu Shu succeeds in getting the Turkic khan to promise to maintain lasting harmony with the Tang. She then successfully persuades Guo Ziyi to march straight to Tong Pass to rescue the emperor.

Meanwhile, trouble strikes again at the Fan Yang Lu household: Lu Shu's father is targeted and framed by Li Linfu. Rushing home, Lu Shu exposes the framing plot and nearly falls into danger herself, while Li Bi is repeatedly targeted and slandered for assisting the crown prince. Lu Shu decides to set aside her misgivings and persuade Zheng Wei to aid the crown prince. Yet before the crown prince has enough power to launch a coup, the An Lushan Rebellion has already broken out.

Editor's review

This is a work that binds the time-travel premise tightly to real historical dilemmas. The author does not let the protagonist coast on modern knowledge; instead she confronts the deadlock of Emperor Xuanzong's later years—land annexation, swelling regional commands, and court factionalism: remonstrance fails, reform has no path, and even self-preservation is hard. The novel's greatest strength is its respect for historical logic—killing An Lushan only intensifies the conflict, the great clans' interests are deeply entangled, and the crown prince's faction is not yet strong enough for a coup. These judgments keep the plot moving along the grain of the historical record. Lu Shu's interactions with Li Bi, Zheng Wei, Guo Ziyi, and others carry both the tension of political maneuvering and the layered warmth and coldness of human relations in a time of chaos. Suited to readers who enjoy historical extrapolation and watching a protagonist maneuver through the cracks of the system. While reading, note how the author breaks the fundamental problem of land annexation down into concrete people and events—that is the most substantial part of the book.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy historical novels set against the An Lushan Rebellion
Readers who prefer intellectual and political maneuvering over martial wish-fulfillment
Readers interested in Tang institutions, regional commands, and clan politics
Readers who like a female protagonist making her way in the crevices of history

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting light wish-fulfillment with a smoothly successful protagonist
Readers completely unfamiliar with Tang history who are unwilling to look things up
Readers who prefer pure romance with history as mere backdrop

Reading tips

Before reading, learn the rough timeline around the An Lushan Rebellion to grasp the situation faster.
Note why each of Lu Shu's remonstrances fails; the failures reveal the institutional deadlock better than successes would.
Compare the words and deeds of real figures such as Li Bi, Zhang Jiuling, and Li Linfu with the historical record for extra interest.
Take brief notes when the crown prince and An Lushan threads appear to keep the multi-threaded pacing clear.

版权信息
第一章上元
第二章西市
第三章酒肆
第四章劝说
第五章志向
第六章前尘
第七章出发
第八章辩论
第九章念起
第十章佛寺
第十一章顾况
第十二章醋意
第十三章唐使
第十四章郑维
第十五章突厥
第十六章押注
第十七章试探
第十八章许诺
第十九章表白
第二十章郭映
第二十一章姻亲
第二十二章家书
第二十三章装病
第二十四章除夕
第二十五章实施
第二十六章说服
第二十七章返回
第二十八章再遇
第二十九章盛宴
第三十章归家
第三十一章撞破
第三十二章初见
第三十三章表明
第三十四章留下
第三十五章购礼
第三十六章摔玉
第三十七章赠玉
第三十八章东宫
第三十九章约会
第四十章诬陷
第四十一章作证
第四十二章心结
第四十三章自荐
第四十四章劝说
第四十五章脱身
第四十六章文思
第四十七章针对
第四十八章华山
第四十九章老道
第五十章成亲
第五十一章叛乱
第五十二章逃难
第五十三章怨言
第五十四章说动
第五十五章归隐
第五十六章天梯

FAQ

Can I understand this book without having read Tang history?

Basically yes; the author explains the background at key points. But the book involves real figures such as Zhang Jiuling, Li Linfu, Li Bi, and Guo Ziyi, as well as institutional issues like regional commands and land annexation. If you know the general course of the An Lushan Rebellion beforehand, you will feel the weight of the protagonist's every choice more deeply.

Does the protagonist coast on modern knowledge?

No. Lu Shu's advantage is knowing where history is headed, but the author deliberately constrains her with reality: Xuanzong refuses to reform, each clan has its own calculations, and the crown prince's faction is too weak. Her efforts repeatedly fall short; the plot advances through reading people's hearts and political negotiation, not technological superiority.

Is the ending a tragedy?

According to the source material, the An Lushan Rebellion breaks out before the crown prince has the strength to launch a coup. In other words, the protagonist's core goal of preventing the rebellion is not achieved, and the plot leans toward helplessness under historical inevitability; readers should be prepared for an imperfect ending.

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About the author

乘风破浪的猫 Author

Chengfengpolangde Mao is a Chinese web-fiction author about whom relatively limited public information is available. Two works can currently be confirmed: This Strategist Is a Bit Cold and Indulging in Wine. Judging from these two representative titles, the author's writing mainly falls within the categories of otherworldly continents and time-travel alternate history, using the historical flavor of an imagined world and a time-travel premise to develop narrative tension and character relationships. The words "strategist" and "indulging in wine" in the titles also suggest a fondness for intelligent, scheming characters and a free-spirited storytelling atmosphere. Because the author's real name, nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name have not been made public, little can be said about personal background or the full scope of the writing career. Readers can only approach the author's experiments in otherworld and time-travel fiction through the two available works, and look forward to more public information in the future that may help clarify this author's creative path.