Chapter Summaries

Zhou Yao ordered Wuying to build a loyal female bodyguard force, rescue Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian’s family, and investigate his enemies and the court. He taught her the Lonely Nine Swords and Clear Breeze Art, then sent her to carry out his orders while keeping his martial arts secret.

• Zhou Yao told Wuying to recruit and train more female bodyguards, and gave her a hundred thousand taels to fund them.
• Zhou Yao ordered Wuying to bring the women of Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian’s family from the border, and to punish anyone who had abused them if they were dead.
• Zhou Yao ordered Wuying to surveil Zhou Xian, Pei Yuanli, and the imperial court, and gather information on the princely residence’s former connections and those who had betrayed his family.
• Zhou Yao taught Wuying the nine forms of the Lonely Nine Swords, and she was astonished by the technique.
• Zhou Yao taught Wuying the Clear Breeze Art, gave her manuals for both techniques, and ordered her to memorize and burn them while keeping his martial arts secret.
• Wuying promised to obey Zhou Yao and left to carry out his orders.

After Wuying left, Zhou Yao returned to the bedroom and spent his wedding night with Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian. The next day, he cared for his exhausted wives, and the chapter ended with the three of them going to sleep after he promised to be gentle.

• Zhou Yao returned to the bedroom, where Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian had been waiting for him.
• Zhou Yao spent the night with Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian, and they fell asleep in his arms.
• Zhou Yao cooked poached eggs and fed them to his sore and exhausted wives, then tucked them in to rest.
• After the sisters slept until evening, Zhou Yao carried them to the toilet and served them dinner.
• Zhou Yao helped Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian wash up and promised they would sleep that night, and the three of them fell asleep together.

Zhou Yao used back pay and generous promises to win the loyalty of more than twenty thousand soldiers and make them his personal imperial guard. He appointed Zhang Fei and Chen Dao to train its heavy cavalry and heavy infantry, then sent them back to the barracks with military manuals.

• Three days after Wuying brought the senior officers to the hills, Zhou Yao thanked them and promised generous pay, provisions, family compensation, and a share of future spoils.
• Zhou Yao divided the force into ten thousand heavy cavalry and ten thousand heavy infantry, declared them his personal guards, and restricted future recruitment to their families.
• The officers swore loyalty to Zhou Yao and vowed that they and their families would serve him.
• Wuying introduced Zhang Fei and Chen Dao, and Zhou Yao appointed Zhang Fei to train the heavy cavalry and Chen Dao to train the heavy infantry.
• Zhou Yao gave the two generals military manuals and promised to equip the army before the New Year, then ordered them to return quietly to the barracks and train the soldiers.

Zhou Yao arranged token control for the heavily armored cavalry and infantry, then shared his plan to buy up Happiness Village and turn it into a market and base for trade, intelligence, and business. He ordered Wuying to purchase the village land and begin the project.

• Zhou Yao gave Zhang Fei and Chen Dao tokens for mobilizing the cavalry and infantry, while keeping two Imperial Guard tokens for himself.
• Wuying told Zhou Yao that the provincial Brocade Guard chief heads would arrive in about three days.
• Zhou Yao proposed buying all of Happiness Village and turning it into a private estate and trading market that would earn money, gather intelligence, and stock supplies.
• Zhou Yao ordered Wuying to buy every piece of land in the village, compensating each household with a hundred taels of silver and a hundred jin of millet.
• Zhou Yao planned inns, gambling houses, restaurants, escort agencies, and other businesses for the growing market, and Wuying promised to carry out his orders.

Zhou Yao met the Brocade Guard’s eleven provincial chief leaders and challenged them to test their strength against him. He easily defeated all eleven, leaving them convinced of his overwhelming skill and acknowledging him as their leader.

• Zhou Yao hired Damao and his two brothers to build several houses before winter.
• The Brocade Guard’s eleven provincial chief leaders arrived at Happiness Village and met Zhou Yao in the woods.
• Zhou Yao provoked the leaders into attacking him together, and he dodged their strikes without being touched.
• After dozens of exchanges, Zhou Yao attacked and struck all eleven leaders’ acupoints, leaving them unable to move.
• The eleven leaders and Wuying were stunned by Zhou Yao’s skill, and the leaders accepted that they could not defeat him.

Zhou Yao won the eleven great chiefs’ submission and laid out the Brocade Guard’s duties, funding, salaries, and organization. The chiefs accepted their new authority and pledged to serve him and the Great Zhou State.

• Zhou Yao defeated the eleven great chiefs by sealing their acupoints, then won their loyalty when they submitted to him.
• Zhou Yao defined the Brocade Guard’s duties as intelligence gathering, assassination, arrest, and interrogation, with the organization answering only to him.
• Zhou Yao gave the chiefs funds to recruit personnel, set salaries, and required loyalty from everyone joining the Brocade Guard.
• Zhou Yao appointed the eleven chiefs as provincial first chiefs and gave them authority to staff their provinces, while requiring them to register all recruits.
• Zhou Yao assigned chiefs near neighboring countries to gather foreign intelligence, and the eleven pledged to serve him and the Great Zhou State.

Zhou Yao taught the eleven Brocade Guard chief officers ultimate martial arts, and they became utterly devoted to him. After ten days of training, they returned to their provinces with money and orders to expand the Brocade Guard.

• Zhou Yao gave the eleven chief officers a collection of rare martial arts and offered to teach them.
• The chief officers studied and practiced the techniques for several days, while Zhou Yao guided Wuying in Lonely Nine Swords and Clear Breeze Art.
• After the chief officers chose their preferred techniques, Zhou Yao demonstrated them and taught each officer by hand.
• Ten days later, the eleven chief officers had learned their chosen techniques and received instructions from Zhou Yao.
• The eleven chief officers returned to their provinces with large sums of money and began recruiting men and buying horses to expand the Brocade Guard.

Zhou Yao had six rooms, beds, and furniture built to prepare for his four additional wives, while Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian recovered and made clothes and quilts. After discovering how warm cotton clothing was, the sisters looked forward to life with Zhou Yao.

• Damao and his brothers hired many workers and finished Zhou Yao’s six rooms, beds, and furniture in ten days.
• Damao and his brothers paid the workers and expenses, kept their profit, and took home enough money to buy grain.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian recovered after more than ten days of nourishing food and felt happy living with Zhou Yao.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian made clothes and quilts for the household, including cotton outfits for themselves and Zhou Yao.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian tried on the cotton clothes, found them warmer than fur, and gazed at Zhou Yao with affection.

Zhou Yao wrote the first ten chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, hoping the novel would win him prestige among scholars and officials and provide extra income. Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian discovered his writing and grew curious about it.

• Zhou Yao decided to write a novel to build his reputation and appeal to wealthy, educated readers.
• Zhou Yao chose Dream of the Red Chamber and wrote its first ten chapters in one sitting.
• Zhou Yao organized the pages and checked his finished work with satisfaction.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian came to see Zhou Yao after finishing their needlework and asked what he was writing.
• Zhou Yao told Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian he planned to take the novel to a county bookshop to see if it could be printed and sold.

Zhou Yao let Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian read the ten chapters he had written of Dream of the Red Chamber, and the sisters became engrossed and eager to know what happened next. They praised the novel and asked him to continue writing before joining him for dinner, while Zhou Yao planned to reward them later.

• Zhou Yao gave Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian the pages of Dream of the Red Chamber to read.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian finished all ten chapters, admired the characters, and reread parts of the novel.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian asked Zhou Yao when he would write the rest, and they praised his novel as the best in the world.
• Zhou Yao teased Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian, then led them to dinner and decided to reward them at bedtime.

Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian eagerly asked Zhou Yao to tell them what happened next in Dream of the Red Chamber, and he made them agree to his request before telling them. The next morning, Zhou Yao woke refreshed, kissed his sleeping wives, and went to make breakfast.

• After dinner, Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian washed up and climbed into bed to wait for Zhou Yao.
• The sisters cuddled up to Zhou Yao and asked him to continue Dream of the Red Chamber.
• Zhou Yao said he had no inspiration, then asked the sisters to agree to something before he would tell them more.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian blushed but did as Zhou Yao asked, and the three spent the night together.
• The next morning, Zhou Yao kissed his sleeping wives and went to make breakfast.

Zhou Yao traveled to Stone County to sell his novel, observing the hardships caused by the drought along the way. After paying one copper coin to enter the town, he ate at a tavern and packed roast chickens for Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian.

• Zhou Yao set out for Stone County on foot, leaving Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian asleep at home.
• An old man heard Zhou Yao say that common people suffered whether a dynasty rose or fell and tried to catch up with him, but their carriage passed him while he stopped to relieve himself.
• Zhou Yao reached Stone County at noon and paid one copper coin to enter.
• Zhou Yao ate a costly meal at a tavern and ordered two roast chickens to take home to Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian.

Zhou Yao visited Liusheng Bookshop to offer the first ten chapters of his unfinished storybook, Dream of the Red Chamber. Yan Liusheng began reading and was so captivated that he declared it the best storybook in the world.

• Zhou Yao bought a carriage and purchased four laying hens and four roosters at the market.
• Zhou Yao arrived at Liusheng Bookshop, tipped the attendant to watch his carriage, and met the owner, Yan Liusheng.
• Zhou Yao told Yan Liusheng he had written ten chapters of a storybook and planned to write ten more every fifteen days.
• Zhou Yao handed Yan Liusheng the manuscript titled Dream of the Red Chamber.
• Yan Liusheng read the first chapter and became astonished and delighted by the story.

Yan Liusheng praised Dream of the Red Chamber and sought exclusive distribution rights for Liusheng Bookshop, believing the novel would become a sensation. Zhou Yao considered the offer and asked how they would divide the profits.

• Yan Liusheng finished reading the ten chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber and praised Zhou Yao's writing.
• Yan Liusheng decided to secure the novel's distribution rights for Liusheng Bookshop and considered offering Zhou Yao a generous share of the profits.
• Yan Liusheng proposed that Liusheng Bookshop receive exclusive distribution rights to Dream of the Red Chamber.
• Zhou Yao asked Yan Liusheng how they would divide the profits.

Zhou Yao and Yan Liusheng agreed that Liusheng Bookshop would publish Dream of the Red Chamber, with Zhou Yao receiving seventy percent of the proceeds and three hundred taels upfront. After signing the contract, Zhou Yao left for Happiness Village while Yan Liusheng anticipated the book’s success.

• Yan Liusheng offered Zhou Yao a seventy-thirty split in Zhou Yao’s favor for publishing Dream of the Red Chamber.
• Yan Liusheng gave Zhou Yao three hundred taels of silver as a token of the bookshop’s sincerity, and Zhou Yao accepted.
• Zhou Yao and Yan Liusheng signed and fingerprinted a contract giving Liusheng Bookshop exclusive responsibility for publishing the novel.
• Yan Liusheng expected the novel’s success to bring profits and raise the bookshop’s reputation.
• Zhou Yao chatted with Yan Liusheng, then left by carriage for Happiness Village.

Zhou Yao returned to Happiness Village with a horse, chickens, and roast chickens for Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian, and promised to take his wives to the county town. He tended his livestock and new vegetable plot while the sisters prepared dinner, content with their ordinary country life.

• Zhou Yao arrived home with a horse and carriage and told Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian he would take them to the county town next time he went.
• Zhou Yao showed the sisters four laying hens and four roosters, asking them to keep the chickens and eat an egg each morning once the hens began laying.
• Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian put the chickens in the coop and began preparing a rooster for dinner while Zhou Yao cared for the horse and other livestock.
• Zhou Yao checked the growing lambs, pigs, and vegetables, pleased with how well they were doing.
• Zhou Yao brought Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian two roast chickens from the county town, and the sisters sent him out of the kitchen while they finished dinner.

Zhou Yao dictated two more chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber to Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian, while Yan Liusheng prepared to sell the first ten chapters at a steep price. When scholars and passersby erupted in outrage and called for a boycott, Yan Liusheng was pleased because the uproar was part of his plan to make the novel a hit.

• Zhou Yao dictated two chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber to Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian before going to bed with his wives.
• Yan Liusheng ordered his staff to print a thousand copies of the novel’s first ten chapters and set the price at two taels each.
• Yan Liusheng advertised Dream of the Red Chamber outside Liusheng Bookshop, drawing scholars who asked about its price.
• The scholars condemned Yan Liusheng as a greedy merchant and declared a boycott of his bookshop.
• Passersby joined the crowd in cursing Liusheng Bookshop, while Yan Liusheng watched with satisfaction, knowing the commotion served his plan.

Yan Liusheng addressed the growing crowd outside the Liusheng Bookshop after people condemned him for charging two taels of silver per ten chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber. When he confirmed that price would continue for every volume, the crowd demanded an explanation.

• The crowd around the Liusheng Bookshop grew, and Yan Liusheng came outside with a homemade megaphone to quiet everyone.
• Yan Liusheng warned the crowd that causing trouble at the shop violated Great Zhou State law and could lead to arrests.
• Yan Liusheng confirmed that each ten-chapter volume of Dream of the Red Chamber would cost two taels of silver.
• Scholars sent by rival bookshops denounced Yan Liusheng and urged the crowd to boycott the Liusheng Bookshop.
• Yan Liusheng called the accusations misunderstandings and asked for a chance to explain, and the crowd agreed to hear him.

Yan Liusheng defended Zhou's unfinished novel, "Dream of the Red Chamber," by inviting five skeptical scholars to read its first ten chapters. The scholars were captivated and declared it the best novel in the world, praising Zhou as a remarkable author from Stone County.

• Yan Liusheng told the townsfolk that Young Master Zhou had brought "Dream of the Red Chamber" to Liusheng Bookshop and said it was the world's best novel.
• When people challenged Yan Liusheng's praise, he offered to apologize if three of five readers found the novel unworthy.
• Five scholars, including one sent by rival bookshops to cause trouble, entered Liusheng Bookshop and received printed copies of the novel's ten chapters.
• The five scholars read the chapters in one sitting, becoming increasingly engrossed and praising the novel's passages.
• After finishing, the scholars unanimously praised "Dream of the Red Chamber" and expressed pride that Young Master Zhou came from Stone County.

Boss Yan Liusheng asked five scholars to judge Dream of the Red Chamber, and their praise persuaded them to buy the volumes they had just read. They left Liusheng Bookshop delighted, while the onlookers remained puzzled.

• Boss Yan Liusheng reclaimed the five scholars' copies of Dream of the Red Chamber, fearing they would keep them.
• The five scholars praised the novel as an engrossing masterpiece but objected to its price of two taels of silver.
• One scholar paid Boss Yan Liusheng two taels for a volume and left with it.
• The other four scholars each paid two taels and took their volumes from Boss Yan Liusheng.
• The five scholars left Liusheng Bookshop laughing and holding their books, confusing the waiting onlookers.