The Libertine Prince

The Libertine Prince is an alternate-history time-travel novel by the web author Hainiu Xiaobai. It was first serialized online and completed in 2007, and was published in print by Inner Mongolia Literature and Art Press in January 2010. The story is set in an alternate age of chaos: a Tang dynasty ruled by the Bai clan unified the realm, the empire then fractured, and north and south divided along the Yangtze. The Han house rose, Liu Qian, King of Han, proclaimed himself emperor, and the realm fell once more into strife among the feudal lords. Liu Yuan, a time traveler from Earth, becomes the ninth son of the Han emperor, but his status is merely that of a neglected prince in difficult straits. Unwilling to accept his appointed fate, he uses his talents in letters and martial arts to maneuver between the jianghu and the court, successively building two hidden forces, the Misty Rain Tower and the Startling Spirit Tower, then escapes by faking his own death, ultimately seizing the title of Prince of Shu and being drawn into the great contest for the realm. The novel runs two parallel threads, political intrigue and emotional entanglement: the main line advances through key episodes such as 'The Reincarnated Prince,' 'The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell,' and 'The Battle of Jingling,' while the emotional line revolves around women such as Murong Qingxue, the foremost talent of the capital, and Tian Rou, weaving a complex picture of the struggle for royal power and harem relations. The book closes with 'Grand Finale: Toiling Until Death,' and is a typical early male-oriented time-travel conquest epic, combining the pleasures of running jianghu factions, court machinations, and the transformation of ancient society by a modern mind.