Recaps

After Shen Jingchuan drank himself unconscious at the Phoenix Perching Tower, Bai Ruoli took him to her private room despite Qinghe's warnings. He woke the next morning in bed beside Bai Ruoli, realizing they had shared the night but unable to remember what happened.

• Shen Jingchuan recited drunken verses and urged Zhou Tong to keep drinking until Bai Ruoli called an end to the gathering.
• Bai Ruoli and Qinghe escorted Shen Jingchuan to Bai Ruoli's private room instead of the guest courtyard.
• Bai Ruoli dismissed Qinghe's concerns about her reputation and stayed beside Shen Jingchuan through the night.
• Shen Jingchuan woke with a hangover beside Bai Ruoli and struggled to recall the events of the previous night.

Madam Liu barged into Bai Ruoli’s room and demanded compensation from Shen Jingchuan for Ruoli losing her virginity. Zhou Tong took over the negotiation, and Madam Liu demanded two thousand taels, insisting Ruoli’s status made her worth far more than an ordinary girl.

• Madam Liu forced her way into Bai Ruoli’s room and berated her and Shen Jingchuan for ruining Ruoli’s reputation and value.
• Zhou Tong dragged Madam Liu out of the inner room and confronted her about making a scene.
• Shen Jingchuan reassured Bai Ruoli, dressed, and joined Zhou Tong in the outer room.
• Madam Liu demanded compensation for her losses, and Zhou Tong stopped Shen Jingchuan from negotiating directly.
• Madam Liu demanded two thousand taels and defended the price by citing Bai Ruoli’s fame as one of the Eight Beauties of Great Qian.

Shen Jingchuan offered five thousand taels to buy Bai Ruoli’s freedom after Madam Liu refused to release her, and Bai Ruoli’s despair turned to hope when he stood by her. Madam Liu agreed to prepare the sale papers, leaving Shen Jingchuan poised to free Bai Ruoli at an unprecedented price.

• Bai Ruoli overheard Shen Jingchuan and Zhou Tong bargaining with Madam Liu and believed they only meant to pay compensation, so she dressed in tears.
• Zhou Tong asked Madam Liu how much she wanted for Bai Ruoli’s freedom, but Madam Liu refused to sell her.
• Shen Jingchuan offered five thousand taels, and Bai Ruoli emerged to urge Madam Liu to accept three thousand instead.
• Madam Liu threatened Bai Ruoli and raised her hand to strike her, but Shen Jingchuan slapped Madam Liu and demanded the sale contract.
• Madam Liu reconsidered the enormous offer and Shen Jingchuan’s influence, then agreed to prepare the papers and settle the payment.
• Bai Ruoli tugged at Shen Jingchuan’s sleeve and worried about the cost, but his resolve left her hopeful that she had chosen well.

Shen Jingchuan paid five thousand taels to free Bai Ruoli from Phoenix Perching Tower, and Bai Ruoli secured Qinghe’s freedom as well. The women left with their indentures while news of Shen Jingchuan’s lavish ransom spread through the brothel.

• Bai Ruoli offered to contribute her savings and jewelry, but Shen Jingchuan insisted on paying the ransom himself.
• Madam Liu presented Bai Ruoli’s indenture and an emancipation document, and Shen Jingchuan paid five thousand taels and signed the papers.
• Shen Jingchuan returned Bai Ruoli’s indenture, and she went to pack her belongings.
• Bai Ruoli asked Madam Liu to release Qinghe too, and Shen Jingchuan passed Qinghe’s indenture to Bai Ruoli.
• Bai Ruoli gave Qinghe the indenture and told her she was free, then the two women left with their belongings.
• News of Shen Jingchuan’s ransom spread through Phoenix Perching Tower, leaving the other courtesans envious and regretful.

Shen Jingchuan returned to the inn with Bai Ruoli and Qinghe after buying their freedom, then introduced them to Lin Qingyao. Lin Qingyao hid her hurt at seeing him bring another beautiful woman home and wept after he left her alone.

• Lin Shan and Lin Yue found Shen Jingchuan and escorted his carriage back to the inn.
• Shen Jingchuan recalled his drunken night and worried he might have revealed his secret, then drew Bai Ruoli closer beside him.
• Lin Qingyao hurried to greet Shen Jingchuan, but stopped when she saw Bai Ruoli and Qinghe with him.
• Shen Jingchuan introduced Bai Ruoli and Qinghe and explained that he had bought their freedom from the Phoenix Perching Tower.
• Bai Ruoli greeted Lin Qingyao modestly, and Shen Jingchuan had Zhou Hu arrange rooms for her and Qinghe.
• Lin Qingyao turned away and silently cried, feeling hurt that Shen Jingchuan had brought Bai Ruoli home before proposing to her.

After Lin Qingyao saw Shen Jingchuan bring Miss Bai home, Lin Yue confronted him about his intentions toward her sister. Shen Jingchuan agreed to marry Lin Qingyao and follow the proper rites, while Lin Qingyao listened behind the door and was reassured by his confession that he liked her.

• Lin Shan and Lin Yue returned to the courtyard and realized Lin Qingyao was upset after seeing the two women Shen Jingchuan had brought home.
• Lin Yue comforted Lin Qingyao, then asked Shen Jingchuan what he intended to do about her.
• Shen Jingchuan agreed that he would marry Lin Qingyao, but insisted he would not abandon Miss Bai.
• Lin Yue said Shen Jingchuan could have other wives but that Lin Qingyao had to come first, and Lin Shan offered to arrange the betrothal rites in Yuxi Prefecture.
• Shen Jingchuan explained how Miss Bai had ended up with them, and Lin Qingyao listened behind the door as he said he liked her and agreed to marry her.

Shen Jingchuan prepared to leave Chang'an after his poems and the ransom of Bai Ruoli became the talk of the city, while Xiao Mingxuan plotted to ambush him on the road. At a farewell dinner, Shen gave Zhou Tong, Xu Mo, and Su Yan watches, and Zhou Tong recognized their potential as a business opportunity.

• Lin Shan told Shen Jingchuan that their escort job to Yuxi Prefecture would depart the next morning.
• News spread that Shen Jingchuan had paid five thousand taels to ransom Bai Ruoli and written new poems at the Phoenix Perching Tower.
• Xiao Mingxuan learned Shen Jingchuan had ransomed Bai Ruoli and agreed to Wang Biao and Feng Shaoxian's plan to attack him after he left Chang'an.
• Shen Jingchuan met Zhou Tong, Xu Mo, and Su Yan for farewell drinks and thanked them for their help in Chang'an.
• Shen Jingchuan gave the three men watches and demonstrated how to read them.
• Zhou Tong saw that the watches could become a profitable novelty for Chang'an's young masters.

Shen Jingchuan arranged for Zhou Tong to sell a hundred watches in Chang'an, earning twenty thousand taels, then set out with his companions for Yuxi Prefecture. The journey paused at a roadside tea stall, where Shen Jingchuan called Lin Qingyao over.

• Zhou Tong agreed to sell Shen Jingchuan's watches, and Master Zhou advised pricing them at eight hundred to a thousand taels each.
• Zhou Tong arrived the next morning, collected a hundred watches, and paid Shen Jingchuan twenty thousand taels in silver notes.
• Shen Jingchuan bid farewell to Zhou Tong, Su Yan, and Xu Mo before his party departed for Yuxi Prefecture.
• Lin Qingyao rode beside Shen Jingchuan and admired his horses as the party traveled toward Yuxi Prefecture.
• Lin Shan stopped the party at a roadside tea stall, and Shen Jingchuan called Lin Qingyao over.

Shen Jingchuan helped Lin Qingyao bond with Treading Snow and took her riding, but their quiet ride was interrupted by an ambush on the mountain road. He broke through the attackers’ formation and escaped with Lin Qingyao and the horses.

• Shen Jingchuan gave Lin Qingyao apples to feed Treading Snow, and the horse accepted her and let her ride.
• Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao galloped together along the official road while Little Black followed.
• Shen Jingchuan heard arrows from the woods, was protected by his armor, and urged Lin Qingyao to follow him out of range.
• More than twenty armored riders blocked the road as armed men emerged from the woods to surround Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao.
• Shen Jingchuan charged through the enemy riders with his spear, and Lin Qingyao followed him out of the encirclement without striking anyone.

Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao turned back to protect the escort convoy and fought through the ambush, aided by their powerful horses. After Lin Shan and Lin Yue joined them, the ambush leader faced the choice of retreating as his remaining men urged him to flee.

• Shen Jingchuan told Lin Qingyao the attackers had targeted him and turned Big Black around to fight back toward the convoy.
• The enemy leader rallied his riders, and Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao charged into them, killing several riders.
• Shen Jingchuan and the three Whirlwind Horses overwhelmed the black-clad foot soldiers, sending the survivors fleeing into the woods.
• Scouts warned Lin Shan and Lin Yue of the ambush, and the two escort chiefs rode forward to join Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao.
• The ambush leader counted his losses and heard his men urge him to retreat as Shen Jingchuan's group advanced.

Shen Jingchuan, Lin Qingyao, and the Lin brothers stopped the bandits from escaping and captured six wounded survivors. After reassuring Bai Ruoli and Lin Qingyao that he was unharmed, Shen Jingchuan approached the captives as Lin Yue demanded to know who had sent them.

• Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao pursued the retreating bandits, while Lin Shan and Lin Yue intercepted two who fled into the woods.
• Shen Jingchuan’s group killed or captured the mounted bandits, leaving six lightly wounded men alive.
• Bai Ruoli and Xiaoyue hurried to check Shen Jingchuan and Lin Qingyao for injuries, and Bai Ruoli confirmed Shen Jingchuan was unharmed.
• Shen Jingchuan washed the blood from his hands and face while Lin Shan reported that the bandits carried no identification tokens.
• Lin Yue kicked one of the six captives and demanded to know who had sent them.

Shen Jingchuan learned that the Pan Household had ordered the ambush and continued toward Yuxi Prefecture, where he and the women made a goose tomb inspired by his invented story. Their work was interrupted by a large group of refugees, led by the wounded Chief Hu, who had come to thank Lin Shan.

• Lin Shan told Shen Jingchuan that guards from the Pan Household had been sent to kill him, and Lin Yue said they had killed the captured attackers.
• Shen Jingchuan, Bai Ruoli, and Lin Qingyao discussed his false story about burying two wild geese, and Shen Jingchuan confessed that he had only heard it from someone else.
• Shen Jingchuan and the two women built a goose tomb beneath an old scholar tree beside the Fen River.
• Two refugees spotted Shen Jingchuan and ran off, then returned with two or three hundred ragged people carrying the wounded Chief Hu on a stretcher.
• Lin Shan and Lin Yue recognized Chief Hu, and Lin Yue asked whether he had come to rob them again.

Shen Jingchuan offered Hu Tieniu’s band of impoverished villagers a way to earn a living without robbing travelers, proposing businesses around Wild Goose Tomb. He promised to provide the startup capital, leaving Lin Yue surprised and Lin Qingyao reconsidering what kind of man Shen Jingchuan was.

• Hu Tieniu recognized Shen Jingchuan, knelt to thank him for saving his life and giving his men grain, and promised to repay his kindness.
• Shen Jingchuan warned Hu Tieniu that robbing travelers would eventually bring the authorities down on his group, while Hu explained that hundreds of villagers depended on them.
• Shen Jingchuan proposed that Hu’s men run a tea stall, maintain Wild Goose Tomb as a place for visitors, and build a tavern for travelers and merchants.
• Hu Tieniu worried that his people had no money to start the businesses, so Shen Jingchuan offered to provide the capital.
• Lin Yue was stunned by Shen Jingchuan’s willingness to help, and Lin Qingyao realized his kindness was not motivated by her appearance.

Shen Jingchuan gave Hu Tieniu silver to establish tea stalls and taverns, buy grain, and support the refugees, provided they never robbed travelers again. After returning to Yuxi Prefecture, he welcomed Bai Ruoli and Qinghe into his household and ended the night alone with Bai Ruoli in his bedroom.

• Shen Jingchuan explained that he wanted the refugees to build a lasting livelihood instead of relying on handouts.
• Shen Jingchuan gave Hu Tieniu silver notes to start tea stalls and taverns, restore the wild geese's grave, and buy grain, while warning him to stop robbing travelers.
• Hu Tieniu and the refugees knelt and thanked Shen Jingchuan for his help.
• Shen Jingchuan and his companions entered Yuxi Prefecture, where Lin Shan, Lin Yue, and Lin Qingyao returned to the Zhenyuan Escort Agency and Shen Jingchuan took Bai Ruoli and Qinghe home.
• Shen Jingchuan introduced Bai Ruoli and Qinghe to the Su sisters, and Xiaoyue encouraged Qinghe to eat with the household as Shen Jingchuan's younger sister.
• After dinner, Shen Jingchuan drew Bai Ruoli toward the bed and joked that he would review what had happened the night he drank too much.

Shen Jingchuan returned to the modern world while Meng Ke was ambushed in a parking lot and escaped by driving away. She called him for help, and the chapter ended as he noticed her missed call.

• Shen Jingchuan told Bai Ruoli he needed to meditate in the study, then crossed back to the modern world.
• Meng Ke sensed someone approaching her car and found herself blocked by two attackers.
• Meng Ke locked herself inside her car, drove at the attacker in front, and escaped after one assailant cracked her window with a baton.
• Meng Ke called the police and tried to reach Shen Jingchuan, but his phone was unavailable, so she sent him a message and waited for help.
• Shen Jingchuan checked his phone after returning and saw Meng Ke's missed call from more than twenty minutes earlier.

After Meng Ke was attacked in a parking lot, Shen Jingchuan comforted her and helped her give a statement to the police. He suspected the attackers might have been targeting him, and Professor Wen and Elder Yang helped bring pressure for a swift investigation.

• Meng Ke called Shen Jingchuan after two people blocked her in a parking lot and smashed her car window; she escaped and contacted the police.
• Shen Jingchuan rushed to the scene, comforted Meng Ke, and joined her in speaking with the police and criminal investigation team.
• After giving statements, Meng Ke stayed with Shen Jingchuan, while he privately wondered whether the attack was connected to his recent jade dealings or a conflict with Huang Zeyu.
• Professor Wen called Shen Jingchuan the next morning, learned Meng Ke was safe, and then informed Elder Yang about the attack and Shen Jingchuan's suspicion that he had been the target.
• Elder Yang told the Capital's chief constable to personally supervise the case, investigate it thoroughly, and produce results quickly.

Veteran detective Yang Cheng traced an attempted kidnapping to three employees of Brilliance Group’s security company and went to search their building with a valid warrant. After the guards blocked him and Deputy Director Wang urged caution, Director Zhang ordered Yang Cheng to proceed with the investigation and promised to take responsibility.

• Yang Cheng and his detectives traced surveillance footage to three suspects from Brilliance Group’s security company, who had attacked someone in a parking lot.
• Yang Cheng led six detectives to Brilliance Group headquarters with an approved search warrant.
• Security captain Li Minghui and more than a dozen guards blocked the entrance and refused to allow the search without the company boss’s approval.
• Deputy Director Wang called Yang Cheng and urged him to wait for conclusive evidence before searching Brilliance Group.
• Director Zhang backed Yang Cheng’s investigation, ordered him to follow the law, and promised to take responsibility.

Police arrested three Brilliance Group security employees for plotting to kidnap Meng Ke, but their investigation found no evidence of a mastermind and the case was sent to the procuratorate. After Meng Ke reacted uneasily to the group’s name, she told Shen Jingchuan she had something important to confess.

• Yang Cheng called for SWAT reinforcements after the security guards refused to let the police enter, and the officers subdued the guards and arrested the three suspects.
• Investigators used surveillance and vehicle records to disprove the suspects’ claim that they had acted on impulse; after meeting separately with Brilliance Group lawyers, the three confessed to planning a kidnapping for ransom.
• The police found no hard evidence of anyone directing the crime and transferred the completed case file to the procuratorate for review and prosecution.
• Shen Jingchuan stayed with Meng Ke and arranged major orders for his work in the other world while the investigation continued.
• When the officer told Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke that the suspects worked for Brilliance Group, Meng Ke grew pale and remained quiet.
• Back at West Mountain Separate Courtyard, Meng Ke asked Shen Jingchuan to promise not to act impulsively before she told him something.

After learning that Huang Zeyu had arranged an attack on Meng Ke and was planning another, Shen Jingchuan tracked him to a restaurant and confronted the people behind the plot. The chapter ended as Shen Jingchuan entered their private room.

• Meng Ke told Shen Jingchuan that Huang Zeyu was the son of the Brilliance Group president and warned him not to act rashly.
• Shen Jingchuan drove Meng Ke to collect her repaired car, then went to the Brilliance Building and waited for Huang Zeyu to leave.
• Shen Jingchuan followed Huang Zeyu to a private-kitchen restaurant and changed his clothes in a nearby restaurant’s room to conceal his identity.
• Shen Jingchuan learned from outside room 308 that Huang Zeyu had hired men to abduct Meng Ke and kill her lover within three days.
• Shen Jingchuan opened room 308 and walked in to confront Huang Zeyu and the two men with him.

Shen Jingchuan killed Huang Zeyu after confronting him over the plot against Meng Ke, then carefully concealed his actions and returned to the West Mountain Separate Courtyard. He expected the Huang Household and police to pursue him and began cultivating.

• Shen Jingchuan entered Huang Zeyu's private room, knocked one man unconscious, and killed another with his Tang saber.
• Shen Jingchuan confronted Huang Zeyu over his plans against Meng Ke, then strangled him and stored his corpse in the space.
• Shen Jingchuan left the restaurant and returned through the window to clean up and make it appear that nothing had happened.
• Shen Jingchuan returned to the West Mountain Separate Courtyard, washed away any traces, and changed into pajamas.
• Shen Jingchuan accepted that the Huang Household and police would investigate him, then sat down to cultivate.

Police investigated Zhou Hu’s murder and uncovered a suspect’s unusual route between Brocade Garden and Fortune Comes Smoothly, along with Huang Zeyu’s unexplained disappearance. Their findings led Yang Cheng to summon Shen Jingchuan, who calmly agreed to go with the detectives.

• A waitress and the shift supervisor discovered Zhou Hu dead and Zhang Lei unconscious in room 308, and the police launched an investigation.
• Yang Cheng’s team identified the masked man who entered and left the room, but surveillance showed no one leaving the alley and no footage of Huang Zeyu departing the restaurant.
• Forensics found a fresh hole in the alley pavement and concluded the suspect had used a long pointed pole to vault between the second-floor windows of the two restaurants.
• Police traced the suspect to room 203 at Fortune Comes Smoothly, which had been opened shortly before the murder and paid for at 7:42.
• At dawn, Yang Cheng and four detectives arrived at Shen Jingchuan’s villa and summoned him to assist with the investigation; Shen calmly agreed.

Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke were released because investigators could not prove their involvement in Zhou Hu’s murder or Huang Zeyu’s disappearance. As Yang Cheng reviewed the case’s impossible evidence, he feared it might become the first unsolved murder in the Capital in more than a decade.

• Shen Jingchuan and Meng Ke denied involvement during questioning, and the task force released them while listing Huang Zeyu as missing.
• After leaving the station, Shen Jingchuan hinted to Meng Ke that he had no alibi because she had stayed at her own home.
• The task force found that Zhou Hu had been killed with a long blade, but investigators could locate neither the weapon nor the pole used to reach the second floor.
• Surveillance showed Huang Zeyu entering private room 308 but never leaving, while neither he nor his body could be found.
• Yang Cheng reviewed the contradictions through the night and feared the case would break the Capital’s long record of solving murders.

After being released from the police station, Shen Jingchuan stocked up on supplies and brought wild ginseng to Elder Yang and his comrades. During their meeting, Elder Yang asked about Shen Jingchuan’s family and questioned him about the police investigation into Huang Zeyu’s disappearance.

• Shen Jingchuan bought food and household supplies so he could avoid making frequent trips out while the police kept him under suspicion.
• Elder Wen told Elder Yang, Elder Li, and Elder Wang that Shen Jingchuan had found two exceptional roots of wild ginseng and was bringing them over.
• Elder Yang and his comrades welcomed Shen Jingchuan at the gate, thanked him for the ginseng, and invited him inside for tea.
• Shen Jingchuan told Elder Yang that his parents had died when he was young and that he had heard about the past involving Xiao Meng.
• Shen Jingchuan explained that Huang Zeyu had been suspected of arranging Meng Ke’s kidnapping and had later disappeared after a murder at the Brocade Garden Private Kitchen; Elder Yang listened in silence.

Shen Jingchuan secured Elder Yang’s guarantee that Meng Ke would be protected, then told her he had to leave for a few days. He returned to Yuxi Prefecture in the other world, where seeing Bai Ruoli and the others together left him feeling guilty about leaving Meng Ke alone.

• Shen Jingchuan reassured Elder Yang that he had nothing to do with Huang Zeyu’s disappearance but worried that Huang’s family might target Meng Ke; Elder Yang, Elder Li, and Elder Wang promised to protect her.
• Shen Jingchuan presented two wild mountain ginseng roots, and Professor Wen judged them to be over two hundred years old and exceptionally valuable.
• Elder Yang saw Shen Jingchuan off and offered to help if anything came up; outside, Shen Jingchuan spotted people positioned near Meng Ke’s jewelry store to watch over the area.
• Shen Jingchuan told Meng Ke he would be away for several days and that Elder Yang had arranged for her safety; they shared a kiss before he left.
• Shen Jingchuan arranged for Factory Director Zhou to deliver the finished carriages to his warehouse, then prepared to travel to the other world.
• Shen Jingchuan arrived at his courtyard in Yuxi Prefecture and found Bai Ruoli, Su Qingshu, Su Qinghua, Qinghe, and Yue'er gathered there, prompting him to feel guilty about leaving Meng Ke alone.

After spending the evening with his household, Shen Jingchuan advanced in his cultivation by breaking through a barrier in his Dantian and entering the first layer of Qi Refinement. His overnight practice left his body covered in foul-smelling impurities, and he asked Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua to prepare a bath.

• Shen Jingchuan asked Liu Zhong to look into buying the neighboring properties and gave him two thousand taels for the purchase.
• Shen Jingchuan returned to the bedroom with Bai Ruoli, then went to the study after she fell asleep to practice the Everlasting Spring Breathing Instruction.
• Shen Jingchuan gathered his Qi and broke through the barrier in his Dantian, entering the first layer of Qi Refinement.
• Shen Jingchuan practiced through the night, felt his senses and strength improve, and found blackish-brown grease covering his skin by morning.
• Su Qingshu and Su Qinghua noticed Shen Jingchuan's foul smell, and he asked them to prepare hot water for a bath.