Chapter 2, The Beautiful Life of the Tang Dynasty

However, Li Yin had only enjoyed a few days of freedom when his cheap old father, the Heavenly Khan, issued a decree, confining him to the house for three months and arranging a marriage for him. Being confined was not a big deal; having just arrived in the Tang Dynasty, there were many matters to sort out, and with so much delicious food in the residence, he wouldn't feel bored even if confined for a year. However, the engagement posed a bit of a problem. Considering his age, Li Yin was only fourteen, and he still had plenty of youth to squander in the future. Wasn't it a bit early to get engaged now? But when he heard from the servants that his future princess was a renowned beauty in Chang'an, he immediately thought that getting engaged might be a good idea after all! As for the issue of being born of a concubine or not, Li Yin, a soul from the 21st century, did not care at all.

In fact, Li Yin has somewhat misjudged the original Prince Liang, as the current social norms dictate that girls are considered adults at the age of fifteen, and it is not uncommon for them to marry as early as eleven or twelve. Boys, on the other hand, are deemed adults at twenty, yet it is rare for a boy to still be a novice at that age, especially for noble youths like Prince Liang, who typically lose their virginity to their maidservants around eleven or twelve. Therefore, such situations are not uncommon in Li Yin's household.

Regarding this matter, Li Yin is filled with anger. The original Li Yin was simply a scoundrel. At just fourteen years old, he was no longer a virgin, having already taken four or five attractive maidservants to bed. The youngest among them was merely eleven or twelve years old, truly worse than a beast.

Your Highness, it is time for your medicine! While Li Yin was lost in thought, a young girl in palace attire entered, holding a bowl of dark, thick medicinal liquid. The girl appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old, with bright eyes and a beautiful smile. She was sent by Li Yin's mother to serve him, as he had dismissed the maidservants who originally attended to him.

"Do I have to take medicine again?" Li Yin covered his head with both hands, his face contorted in pain and bitterness as he said, "Goodness, my illness is already cured. Can I skip it today?" In his previous life, although he had received injections and taken medicine when he was ill, he had never consumed this kind of bitterly brewed traditional Chinese medicine. The taste was simply too bitter for Li Yin's discerning palate to endure.

Li Tian is not particularly fond of any hobbies, except for one: he has a strong craving for delicious food. Whenever he encounters tasty dishes, he always tries his best to sample them. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints and his dislike for cooking, he rarely has the opportunity to indulge in a feast.

What left Li Yin even more speechless was that just after he had sent away several of his maidservants, Consort Yang sent over Wen'er and Hua'er, along with a message. The gist of the message was that it was fine if he did not like the previous maidservants, as Wen'er and Hua'er were both trained by her since childhood and were more beautiful than the previous ones. She had originally planned to wait another two years before sending them, but since he currently had no one to attend to him, she decided to send them over early.

However, when it came time for the meal, Li Tian immediately felt that his life had become exciting. Due to his injury, the imperial physician forbade him from consuming greasy and meaty dishes, so the few side dishes served were quite light, such as stir-fried vegetable hearts, cucumber with eggs, and cold mixed mushrooms. Aside from the wood ear mushrooms, the other ingredients were quite ordinary (wood ear mushrooms were very precious during the Tang Dynasty, and most people could not afford them). Yet, the flavors were exceptional. In his previous life, Li Tian had eaten many fine dishes, but none could compare to these few side dishes, truly worthy of the chefs from the Liang Wangfu. Especially the silver ear and lotus seed soup, which made Li Tian nearly swallow his tongue in delight. This also led Li Tian to make a decision: from this meal onward, he would be Liang Wang Li Yin, no longer the ordinary Li Tian of his past life.

Thinking of this, Li Tian, no, he should now be called Wang Li Yun, felt a surge of pride in his heart. What does it matter if his reputation is poor? I am a prince; who am I afraid of? Relying on my identity and appearance, I can charm a few exquisite beauties and then savor the delicacies of the world. This is the life I have always dreamed of! With this thought, Li Yun couldn't help but touch his own face. The genes of the old Li family are indeed excellent. He had already met Li Ke, who was undoubtedly a valiant young man. Although he was still underage, he was already quite the handsome young man himself. Hmm, it seems not much different from his previous life! Li Yun couldn't help but narcissistically compare his looks from both lives, finding that he still preferred his original appearance, after all, he had been looking in the mirror for over twenty years. Remembering the more than twenty years of life in his previous existence, Li Yun couldn't help but feel a wave of melancholy and confusion.

Upon discovering that he had traveled through time, Li Tianyi was unable to accept it and fainted again. However, he quickly regained consciousness. The thought that he would never see his family and friends from the 21st century again filled him with despair. He realized that he could no longer enjoy the conveniences of industrial civilization, such as televisions, computers, cars, and even everyday items like toothbrushes, mirrors, and mobile phones. Li Tianyi felt that his life in the Tang Dynasty would be shrouded in darkness

Your Highness, the King of Shu has come to visit you. At that moment, Hua ran in from outside, calling out, perhaps because she was running too fast, she was a bit out of breath, and her round little face was flushed red, looking exceedingly adorable. Wen and Hua, being the personal maids sent by Consort Yang, are both of the highest caliber of light beauty; however, Wen is more quiet and delicate, while Hua leans towards being lively and cute.

In the Tang Dynasty, a period that placed great emphasis on social status, although Xiao Wenxin was a renowned beauty, she could at most marry a nobleman of similar background, with absolutely no chance of becoming a princess. After all, no matter how unruly Prince Liang was, he was still a prince of high status. However, Emperor Taizong has now betrothed a daughter of a concubine and a scholar to Li Yun as his wife, which immediately turned him into a laughingstock among the entire noble class of the Tang Dynasty. This also made many people realize the Emperor's disdain for the son of Prince Liang.

Hehe, this won't do. The imperial concubine specifically instructed that before your condition of losing your soul improves, you must take your medicine every day; otherwise, I will be punished. Wen'er said with a smile. During her time in the palace, she had heard of the Liang Wang's misdeeds. When Yang Fei sent her to serve Li Yin, she had secretly cried a few times over it. However, she did not expect that after the Liang Wang fell ill with the loss of his soul, his previous arrogance and tyranny had completely vanished, and he had instead become humble and courteous, even treating them, the servants, with kindness. After a few days of interaction, both she and Hua'er had become much bolder, sometimes even playfully teasing His Highness the Liang Wang.

In his previous life, Li Tian was a typical member of the post-80s generation. He worked tirelessly for over a decade to complete his education and finally managed to enroll in a third-rate university. However, due to various reasons, he resolutely dropped out and entered society. Despite the opposition from family and friends, the stubborn Li Tian continued to pursue his own path.

On the very night that Wen'er and Hua'er arrived, the two girls put on a performance of undressing to serve the bed, which startled Li Yin so much that he nearly rolled off the bed. He quickly intervened to stop their further 'harassment', as the consequences would have been quite serious. This frightened the two girls to tears, thinking that His Highness, the King of Liang, did not like them. In the end, Li Yin exerted considerable effort to turn their cries into laughter. With such a mother who indulged her son infinitely, it is no wonder that the historical King of Liang was so unruly and unmanageable.

"Why has Third Brother come? Didn't Father Emperor forbid anyone from visiting me?" Li Yin muttered to himself in confusion as he set down the empty medicine bowl. Li Shimin had confined Li Yin for three months and had also prohibited others from visiting him; even Concubine Yang was not allowed to see her son. Given that Li Ke had come here today, did he not fear being punished by Father?

The engagement between Prince Li Yin of the Liang dynasty and Xiao Wenxin, the granddaughter of Duke Xiao Yu of the Song dynasty, immediately caused a stir throughout the city of Chang'an. Although Xiao Wenxin was renowned as a beauty in Chang'an, her father, Xiao Cuo, was born of a concubine of Xiao Yu. Despite being favored by Xiao Yu, this did not change her status as a child of a concubine. Furthermore, it was unfortunate that Xiao Wenxin was not born of Xiao Cuo's legitimate wife, but rather was also a daughter of a concubine, making her a child of a concubine of a concubine, thus placing her status even lower.

Hahaha, I never expected that after teasing a beautiful woman, I would end up marrying her. Such a stunning beauty is quite a bargain for me. Is this the benefit of the wicked feudal society? Liang Wang Li Yun, or as modern people call him, Li Tian, laughed heartily while gnawing on a bear paw. He thought he was doomed to die from poisoning, but unexpectedly woke up to find himself in the Tang Dynasty, during the tenth year of the Zhenguan era, the most prosperous period in Chinese history. His identity was even more remarkable; he was actually a prince. Although his reputation was poor, at least he lived in luxury and no longer had to worry about housing prices exceeding ten thousand per square meter. While gnawing on the bear paw, he laughed heartily, thinking he was doomed to die from poisoning, but unexpectedly woke up to find himself in the Tang Dynasty, during the tenth year of the Zhenguan era, the most prosperous period in Chinese history. His identity was even more remarkable; he was actually a prince. Although his reputation was poor, at least he lived in luxury and no longer had to worry about housing prices exceeding ten thousand per square meter.

Although he was well aware of the dangers, Li Tian, this remarkably thick-skinned fellow, still enjoyed eating it. As a result, he quickly faced a tragedy: first feeling nauseous, then experiencing a tingling sensation in his tongue, followed by numbness in his fingers and limbs. Li Tian managed to call for help by dialing 120, but by the time he lost consciousness, the ambulance had still not arrived. Harboring resentment towards the medical system of the Celestial Empire, he found himself waking up over 1,300 years ago during the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, having become Li Yin, the son least favored by Emperor Li Shimin.

However, Li Yin, who is from the 21st century, feels an indescribable awkwardness every day facing so many young girls with whom he has had intimate encounters. In the end, he directly ordered them to leave the residence, giving each of them a sum of money sufficient to ensure their financial security for the rest of their lives. However, this left him without any close maidservants. Upon hearing this, Yang Fei immediately sent two maidservants named Wen'er and Hua'er, and it was Wen'er who came in to deliver the medicine.

One day, a friend of Li Tian, who works as a chef, gifted him a pufferfish. It was initially agreed that this friend would come to his house to cook it that evening. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, he was unable to come. As a result, that night, Li Tian could only drool over the lively pufferfish. Eventually, his craving got the better of him, and he could no longer resist. After finding the processing methods for pufferfish online, he decided to handle it himself. However, a qualified pufferfish chef must undergo at least two years of rigorous training and pass an examination to obtain a license before being allowed to operate. Given that he rarely cooks, it would be strange if the pufferfish he processed did not pose a danger to him.

Upon entering society, he quickly realized that life is not always beautiful. Lacking education and experience, he found it nearly impossible to secure a decent job. To make a living, he had no choice but to lower his pride and take on various labor jobs, having cleaned toilets and moved bricks. After all, he was young and strong, and he wouldn't starve no matter where he went. Thus, he worked for three years, and with the money he saved, he opened a wooden carving craft shop. While it did not make him wealthy, it ensured he would not go hungry.

Although I have yet to meet the enigmatic Yang Fei from history, I can already sense the indulgence this mother has for her son. For instance, regarding Li Yin's teasing of Xiao Wenxin, he was immediately reprimanded by Li Shimin upon waking and placed under house arrest. However, Yang Fei, as a mother, not only refrained from scolding him but also sent someone to comfort him, stating that she would find a way to cancel the engagement, assuring him not to worry. In Yang Fei's view, marrying a daughter of a concubine would bring shame to her son, making it impossible for him to hold his head high among other royal families in the future. Therefore, she was determined to find a way to annul the engagement.