Drinking in the Tang Dynasty
In the fifth year of the Zhenguan era, Li Yi emerged from Mount Mao, ready to create a different kind of brilliance amid the first signs of the flourishing Tang Dynasty. With thoughts transcending a thousand years, he painted a grand and immortal masterpiece upon the canvas of history. The Merchants’ Alliance, banks, charities, institutes of technology, military police, stage plays, special forces—Li Yi was determined to forge a modernized Tang Dynasty that fused the ancient with the contemporary. Here you will find humor and lightheartedness, intricate mysteries and suspense, the heat of military passion, and the spark of invention. The Tang Dynasty is the same, but its splendor is reimagined; the old wine is familiar, yet the vintage is entirely new. Drink deep from the cup of fantasy, and lose yourself in the magnificent glory of Tang! All the myriad flavors of life await within “Drunken Tang”—come, be intoxicated!
Drinking in the Tang Dynasty
In the first year of Wude, Yang Guang was slain by Yuwen Huaji in Jiangdu. In that same year, Li Yuan kicked aside the Sui Emperor Yang You and founded the great Tang dynasty, which would last for three centuries. It was also in this very year that, somewhere in the Central Plains, an unexpected visitor descended from the heavens, turning the world upside down.
After a fresh rain upon the empty mountains, the air was tinged with the coolness of autumn as evening approached. Endless peaks stretched beyond sight, and the chill of the season carried a faint sorrow. On an unnamed summit, which should have been alive with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, an unusual stillness prevailed today. Suddenly, a group of uninvited guests shattered the peace without warning.
There were two parties—one of five people fleeing, the other, a hundred in pursuit.
Abruptly, the five riders fleeing ahead halted their horses.
“Young master! Take the young lady and escape quickly! The three of us will hold them off for a while!” one of the guards, dressed in the livery of a retainer, urged the young man beside him, who wore the uniform of a general.
The young man narrowed his eyes, glanced at the enemy nearly upon them, and made a swift decision: “No! If this goes on, none of us will escape! Their true target is me. My lady, take our son and go—I'll stay behind and cover your retreat!”
Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she cried out, “No! Brother Jiang, we promised to live and die together!”
The young man smiled resolutely. “My lady, wha
