Recaps

After learning that the Lin Family had nearly killed his younger sister and injured his aunt, Song Tianyao decided to mortgage his companies and escalate his fight against them despite Angie Pellis’s warnings. The chapter left Michael Sandberg holding a rejected loan application as Morse summoned him.

• Song Tianyao told Angie Pellis he would mortgage all his companies, meet Michael Sandberg at HSBC, and later see Lu Wenhui with Chu Xiaoxin.
• Song Tianyao explained that the Lin Family’s attack on his aunt and younger sister had made him abandon his plan to stop targeting them.
• Angie Pellis urged Song Tianyao to separate business from emotion and reminded him of their promise to visit her family at Christmas, but he refused to back down.
• Michael Sandberg received his loan application and saw that Morse had returned it for recalculation instead of approving it.
• Hart told Michael Sandberg that Morse wanted to see him in five minutes.

Michael Sandberg met with HSBC chief executive Arthur Morse to learn why he had rejected Manifest Glory Trading Company's loan application. Morse defended the decision as a matter of favoring the Lin Family, while Sandberg challenged him to put HSBC's interests before personal connections.

• Michael Sandberg went to Arthur Morse's office after learning that Morse wanted to see him.
• Morse explained that he had rejected Manifest Glory Trading Company's thirty-million-Hong-Kong-dollar loan because Angie Pellis was pursuing a hostile takeover of Xizhen Properties and the Lin Family had asked him to intervene.
• Morse told Sandberg to cite incomplete documents as the reason for the rejection and offered him the post of deputy general manager of the Sai Wan branch.
• Sandberg asked whether Morse had rejected the application because of the Lin Family's call, and Morse confirmed that interpretation.
• Sandberg argued that HSBC should judge borrowers by their credit and business prospects, not by their nationality or personal ties.

Sandberg argued that HSBC should lend to Song Tianyao rather than favor the Lin Family, and Morse threatened to transfer him to the Sabah branch. Sandberg told Song Tianyao that his loan application was delayed indefinitely, while the Lin Family planned to borrow fifteen million Hong Kong dollars from HSBC.

• Morse rejected Sandberg's argument for lending to both Song Tianyao and the Lin Family, insisting that the Lin Family held special privileges among Chinese clients.
• Sandberg condemned HSBC's class-based treatment of Chinese people and warned that favoring the Lin Family over ordinary businesses would hurt the bank.
• Morse ordered Sandberg to resign or accept a transfer to HSBC's Sabah branch in Malaya, and Sandberg left after defending his position.
• Sandberg met Song Tianyao at the Dulles Hotel café and reported that the loan application would be delayed indefinitely.
• Song Tianyao told Sandberg that the Lin Family planned to borrow fifteen million Hong Kong dollars from HSBC against undeveloped land in Causeway Bay, and Sandberg confirmed that he faced resignation or transfer.

Song Tianyao learned that the Lin Family had blocked his attempts to secure loans from several banks, but he refused to back down. Chu Xiaoxin arrived to urge him to meet Chairman Chu, while Song insisted on seeing Mr. Lu first.

• Song Tianyao gave Michael Sandberg a notebook of information about Chinese merchants in Sabah and wished him well before his transfer to Malaya.
• Song Tianyao told Sandberg that the Lin Family had already spoken to the banks he had approached, and Sandberg grew angry about the banks’ apparent favoritism.
• Chu Xiaoxin arrived and asked whether Song Tianyao was going up against the Lin Family; Sandberg then left.
• Chu Xiaoxin explained that the Lin Family had warned the Cai Family against helping Song Tianyao and that Chairman Chu wanted Song to meet him.
• Song Tianyao said he would meet Chairman Chu after seeing Mr. Lu, and asked what the Lin Family had told the Cai Family.

Song Tianyao told Lu Wenhui he wanted legal advice, revealing that his aunt was Lin Xizhen’s sixth daughter and might challenge the Lin Family over her inheritance. The chapter left Lu Wenhui alarmed by Song Tianyao’s plan to confront the family through a high-profile court case.

• Song Tianyao explained to Chu Xiaoxin that the Lin Family had blocked his access to bank loans to provoke him into wasting his investment funds.
• Chu Xiaoxin took Song Tianyao to Lu Wenhui’s office, then left to pick up Peiying and handle other matters.
• Lu Wenhui warned Song Tianyao that the Lin Family was too powerful to fight with his current resources.
• Song Tianyao asked Lu Wenhui about inheritance rights when a man died without a will and the cost of hiring prominent barristers from London.
• Song Tianyao revealed that his aunt was Lin Xizhen’s sixth daughter and wanted to build a legal team to pursue her inheritance from the Lin Family.

Song Tianyao told Lu Wenhui about his plan to combine the stock acquisition with Lin Jing’s lawsuit against the Lin Family, and Lu agreed to inform Sir Lu and offer legal contacts. At the Lin brothers’ dinner, Lin Xiaohe condemned his younger brothers for mistreating Ah Jing and insisted that the family should welcome her home.

• Lu Wenhui realized Song Tianyao had told him about the plan so he could pass it to Sir Lu, and he agreed to do so.
• Song Tianyao told Lu Wenhui he was leaving for Macau that evening, and Lu offered to connect him with barristers in London.
• Lin Xiaohe criticized Lin Xiaokang for making life harder for Ah Jing and urged Lin Xiaoze to visit her at the hospital and apologize.
• Lin Xiao qia questioned whether Lin Xiaohe had overreacted by involving the banks against Song Tianyao.
• Lin Xiaohe rebuked Lin Xiaoda, Lin Xiaokang, and Lin Xiaojie for treating Ah Jing as less important than their other siblings and warned that they could not defeat him and Lin Xiaosen in a fight over the family fortune.

The Lin brothers disciplined Lin Xiaojie, Lin Xiaokang, and Lin Xiaoda, then discussed Lin Xiaohe’s plan to lure Song Tianyao to Macau and have their uncles deal with him. Song Tianyao arrived at the Silver Moon Dance Hall to meet an angry Chu Xiaoxin, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Lin Xiaohe sent Lin Xiaojie, Lin Xiaokang, and Lin Xiaoda away after Lin Xiaokang apologized for bullying Sister Jing.
• Lin Xiaohe reproached Lin Xiaosen for secretly giving their mother cigarettes, and Lin Xiaoze revealed Lin Xiaosen’s role.
• Lin Xiaohe told Lin Xiao qia that he had contacted banks to push Song Tianyao toward borrowing money in Macau.
• Lin Xiaohe explained that he had asked Fifth Uncle and Sixth Uncle in Macau to settle the problem by dealing with Song Tianyao.
• Song Tianyao met Chu Xiaoxin at the Silver Moon Dance Hall, where Chu Xiaoxin waited with a dark, conflicted expression.

Song Tianyao refused to back down from his fight with the Lin Family, while Chu Xiaoxin offered to mortgage his shares to support him. Song Tianyao decided not to take Chu Xiaoxin’s money, and Huang Liu told him that Mr. Lei’s boat was ready to take him to Macau.

• Chu Xiaoxin told Song Tianyao that Chu Yaozong would only help after Song Tianyao lost, and asked whether he had to keep fighting the Lin Family.
• Song Tianyao explained that the Lin Family had harmed his third aunt and Yunzhi and that he intended to strike while the family was vulnerable.
• Song Tianyao confirmed that he would not stop, and Chu Xiaoxin offered to mortgage his shares in Likang Company and the Pharmaceutical Factory to raise money for him.
• Song Tianyao refused to use Chu Xiaoxin’s money because it could damage his ties with the Chu Family and the Lu Family.
• Huang Liu told Song Tianyao that Mr. Lei’s boat had reached the pier and that arrangements had been made for a hotel in Macau.

Song Tianyao arrived in Macau to ask He Xian to arrange a meeting, while others assumed he had come to borrow money. After cannon fire erupted near the Border Gate, He Xian came to Song Tianyao’s hotel room and said he needed a quiet place to spend the night.

• Lei Yingdong told Song Tianyao he had sent three million in cash to the wig factory as a loan, but Song Tianyao said he had come to Macau for a person, not for money.
• Song Tianyao and Huang Liu reached Macau and went to the New Asia Hotel, where He Xian was expected to meet him the next morning.
• Cannon fire boomed from the direction of the Border Gate, startling Song Tianyao before it stopped after a few minutes.
• Huang Ziya arrived at Song Tianyao’s room with He Xian and several bodyguards, and He Xian said he was borrowing the room for a quiet night.

Border Gate artillery fire forced He Xian to protect mainland associates and use Macau’s supply routes to pressure the governor. In Hong Kong, Lam Kong and Yan Hung worried that Song Tianyao would lose against the Lin Family without the Chu Family’s support.

• Huang Ziya told Huang Liu that the black soldiers and the People's Liberation Army had exchanged gunfire and artillery at the Border Gate, which was now closed.
• He Xian ordered Huang Ziya to escort the mainland comrades from the South China Company out of Macau by speedboat.
• He Xian directed Macau’s vessels carrying daily necessities to leave for the high seas and threatened ships that unloaded cargo without his orders.
• He Xian postponed meeting Pedro Lobo, saying he would wait for the governor’s spokesman to approach him during the crisis.
• Lam Kong told Yan Hung that he feared Song Tianyao would lose to the Lin Family because the Chu Family would not support him.

Yan Hung persuaded Lam Kong not to cooperate with the Lin Family and to tell Song Tianyao about their approach. Meanwhile, Lu Wenjin realized Song Tianyao’s trip to Macau could draw Pedro Lobo, the He Family, and the Lu Family into a concealed alliance against the Lin Family.

• Lam Kong told Yan Hung that the Lin Family had approached him and urged him to choose between them and Song Tianyao.
• Yan Hung advised Lam Kong to ignore the Lin Family’s offer, warning that Song Tianyao might survive the conflict and punish those who betrayed him.
• Lam Kong said he had not planned to help the Lin Family, and Yan Hung urged him to contact Song Tianyao about the approach.
• Lu Wenhui told Lu Wenjin that Song Tianyao had announced he was going to Macau.
• Lu Wenjin reasoned that Song Tianyao intended to enlist Pedro Lobo and draw in the He Family and Lu Family as hidden allies against the Lin Family.

Song Chengqi considered Song Tianyao’s fight with the Lin Family while Qi Weiwen worried that it would hurt Lin Yujing. The chapter ended with Song Chengqi questioning why Song Tianyao had chosen to make the Lin Family his enemy.

• Lu Wenhui and Lu Wenjin discussed Song Tianyao’s plan to approach Pedro Lobo and considered whether he could serve as a blade against the Lin Family.
• Lu Wenjin explained that Lobo wanted to restore the reputation he had lost after failing to take Lin Xizhen’s opium monopoly.
• Qi Weiwen told Song Chengqi that Song Tianyao’s plan to mortgage the factory suggested he wanted more than to help Lin Yujing claim family property.
• Song Chengqi asked whether Song Tianyao could have done business with others instead of using his third aunt as a reason to fight the Lin Family.

Lou Fengyun learned that Scribe Hui could not provide Song Tianyao with money, then grew suspicious when he claimed he was rushing to the airport. In Macau, Lin Xiyuan heard that the young man sent by A He had been found and taken to the New Asia Hotel.

• Qi Weiwen wondered whether Song Tianyao had another reason for targeting the Lin Family after hearing Song Chengqi’s remark about his third uncle.
• Lou Fengyun called Scribe Hui to ask whether the Tianming Company could lend money to Song Tianyao, who was considering mortgaging the factory.
• Scribe Hui said the company had no available cash and promised to find a way to help within a month before hanging up to catch a plane.
• Lin Xiyuan asked Jiang Mingcong whether he had found the young man A He had asked him to accommodate in Macau.
• Jiang Mingcong reported that the young man had arrived by cargo ship with one of He Xian’s bodyguards and was staying at the New Asia Hotel.

Lin Xiyuan planned to kill Song Tianyao in Macau, while Song learned the Lin Family was plotting against him and prepared to use the crisis at Barrier Gate to help the poor. He Xian left to mediate the standoff, leaving Song in Macau with a possible escape route by speedboat.

• Lin Xiyuan ordered Jiang Mingcong to sabotage the New Asia Hotel’s water and electricity, then have Big Tin Yis kill Song Tianyao and silence them.
• Lam Kong told Song Tianyao that the Lin Family had approached him and warned that they might want him to give false testimony.
• He Xian said he would try to meet Pedro Lobo after dealing with the crisis and suggested Song find ways to pass the time.
• Song Tianyao proposed buying grain for Green Island’s poor while Barrier Gate was closed, and He Xian approved the plan and offered publicity.
• He Xian told Song to find Chen Wuhei at Black Sand Bay Pier if he needed to leave Macau, then departed with his men.

Lin Xiao qia recruited Su Wenting to arrange a false murder plot against Song Tianyao, using four underworld figures as scapegoats. He promised to protect the men from serious consequences, leaving Su Wenting to decide whether to carry out the plan.

• Lin Xiao qia met Su Wenting and reminded him of the Lin Family’s past ties with On Lok Hall.
• Lin Xiao qia told Su Wenting that Song Tianyao would be dealt with and asked him to send several He-prefix gang members to Macau.
• Lin Xiao qia explained that the men should carry murder weapons and confess to Song Tianyao’s killing to divert suspicion from the Lin Family.
• Su Wenting warned that Lui Lok and the three younger gang figures might resist taking part.
• Lin Xiao qia promised to arrange protection and rewards for Lui Lok, Handkerchief Qing, Shar Pei Dog, and Chu Yau-chai if they agreed to the scheme.

Lin Xiao qia arranged for three gangsters to be sent to Macau to kill Song Tianyao and planned to frame the murder as a jianghu revenge killing, unaware that Lam Kong’s warning had already alerted Song. In Macau, Song Tianyao handed out rice to Green Island residents and played with their children.

• Lin Xiao qia hired Su Wenting to send three men to Macau and offered him four Jordan shops as payment.
• Lin Xiao qia explained to Uncle Bing that Lam Kong would serve as a witness to support the story of a jianghu revenge killing.
• Lin Xiao qia reflected on Lin Yujing’s losses and the repetition of the Lin Family’s past ties to violence.
• Song Tianyao distributed rice to Green Island residents as Macau Chamber of Commerce staff told them to thank him.
• Song Tianyao played hopscotch with children waiting with their families, and a resident wished him a long life.

Song Tianyao distributed rice and red packets in Green Island District before four gunmen attacked him. Huang Liu and disguised veterans captured the surviving attackers, while Song Tianyao was left with a painful chest wound.

• Song Tianyao handed out five thousand catties of rice to the poor and gave red packets to the Chamber of Commerce workers who helped him.
• Song Tianyao told the workers he planned to distribute more rice in South Bay that afternoon.
• Four gunmen emerged from the crowd and opened fire on Song Tianyao, and Huang Liu used a worker as a shield while returning fire.
• Huang Liu and the disabled veterans of the Huang Family's Taishan Squad shot the attackers and captured the survivors for interrogation.
• Song Tianyao was struck in the chest, and Huang Liu had him escorted to a Wolseley sedan after arranging for the wounded gunmen to be taken away.

Song Tianyao survived the ambush and asked Huang Sen’s men to interrogate the surviving gunmen. After Jiang Mingcong killed the enforcers he had hired, a group of cars surrounded him on Green Island Road, where a stern middle-aged man confronted him.

• Song Tianyao recovered in the car and asked Huang Sen’s scar-faced subordinate to keep the three surviving attackers alive for questioning.
• Yufu and a young enforcer planned to gather their men and attack Huang Sen’s residence, blaming him for betraying the Kuomintang.
• Jiang Mingcong stopped Yufu and the driver on Green Island Road, then shot them both after Yufu promised to continue the job.
• Several camouflaged cars boxed in Jiang Mingcong, and a middle-aged man in a black Zhongshan suit stepped out and confronted him.

Jiang Mingcong killed himself rather than betray Old Six Lin after Lee Kuen caught him, and Lee Kuen identified Lin Xiyuan as the mastermind behind the attack on Song Tianyao. Pedro Lobo then confronted He Xian and Mao Wanqi about the South China Company’s sudden departure from Macau, leaving its connection to the unfolding crisis in question.

• Jiang Mingcong shot himself after refusing to tell Lee Kuen anything, and Lee Kuen’s men killed Jiang’s men.
• Lee Kuen ordered Old Six Lin’s mistresses and children taken to the casino and demanded that Lin Xiyuan confess publicly or risk his family’s lives.
• Lee Kuen told Huang Sen and Song Tianyao that Lin Xiyuan had ordered the attack and that Jiang Mingcong had tried to take the blame alone.
• Song Tianyao realized that Lin Xiyuan’s involvement gave Pedro Lobo an opportunity to act against the Lin Family.
• Pedro Lobo told He Xian and Mao Wanqi that the South China Company had left Macau for Guangzhou, and accused He Xian of arranging its departure during martial law.

He Xian and Mao Wanqi agreed to meet the Chinese representative at Gongbei after Pedro Lobo explained Macau's crisis and the governor's position. Before they could leave, they learned that a chamber staff member had been killed while distributing rice and that the gunman had been caught.

• Pedro Lobo told He Xian that China wanted He Xian and Mao Wanqi to negotiate, while Governor Nobre de Carvalho wanted the border reopened without further escalation.
• He Xian smashed his coffee cup and refused to help the Portuguese unless Macau acknowledged that its side had opened fire first.
• Mao Wanqi said he would accept the border staying closed rather than negotiate without an explanation from the governor.
• He Xian agreed to meet the Chinese representative at Gongbei but refused to speak in favor of the Portuguese.
• Pedro Lobo arranged for He Xian and Mao Wanqi to go to Gongbei as soon as possible.
• The villa's housekeeper reported that a chamber staff member had been killed during a rice distribution in Green Island and that Mr. Song's bodyguard had caught the gunman.

Sun Zhizhong offered Su Wenting a supply of heroin refined at his Malaysian factory, hoping to partner with Wo On Lok to sell it in Hong Kong. Su was tempted by the prospect of expanding the gang’s opium business and considered sending trusted men to verify the factory.

• Xia Mao Ming brought his old friend Sun Zhizhong to meet Su Wenting at On Lok Teahouse.
• Su sent his underling A-De to take Xia Mao Ming away for new clothes so he could speak privately with Sun.
• Sun explained that he had once been a Blue Lantern and now wanted to sell heroin in Hong Kong through Wo On Lok.
• Sun showed Su a sample of his factory’s heroin and invited Wo On Lok leaders to visit his plantation and processing plant in Malaysia.
• Su became interested in the deal and considered sending trusted followers to confirm Sun’s supply was genuine.

Lin Xiaohe revealed that he had arranged for Fifth Uncle Lin Xishen and Sixth Uncle Lin Xiyuan to die to shield the Lin Family from the fallout of the assassination attempt on Song Tianyao. As Lin Xiaohe prepared to protect the family’s hold on Xizhen Properties, Lin Xiao qia feared he could be blamed for the leak; the chapter ended with Song Tianyao hearing that Lin Xiyuan was dead.

• Lin Xiaohe told Lin Xiao qia that Sixth Uncle Lin Xiyuan’s assassination plot against Song Tianyao had failed and that the captured gunmen could implicate the Lin Family.
• Lin Xiaohe ordered the others out and told Lin Xiao qia that both Lin Xiyuan and Fifth Uncle Lin Xishen had swallowed opium and died.
• Lin Xiao qia tried to strike Lin Xiaohe, then condemned him for sacrificing their uncles, but Lin Xiaohe defended the deaths as necessary to protect the Lin Family from Pedro Lobo and the He and Lu families.
• Lin Xiaohe said he had sent A-Sen to contact Jardine, HSBC and the Bank of East Asia so the family could borrow money and buy back Xizhen Properties shares.
• Lin Xiao qia worried that Lin Xiaohe might suspect him of leaking the plot to Song Tianyao.
• Huang Liu brought Song Tianyao news of Lin Xiyuan’s death, and Song Tianyao reacted with surprise.

After surviving the shooting, Song Tianyao learned that Lin Xiyuan and Lin Xishen had died and that three armed Hong Kong gangsters had arrived in Macau. He pieced together a possible two-part plot against him, but remained unsure which Lin family member had arranged each part.

• Huang Liu told Song Tianyao that Lin Xiyuan and Lin Xishen were dead and that Handkerchief Qing, Shar Pei Dog, and Chu Yau-chai had arrived in Macau armed.
• Song Tianyao mapped the people and events connected to the shooting, Lin Xiyuan, and Lam Kong, but could not identify which Lin family member linked them.
• Song Tianyao suspected the three gangsters had been brought in to falsely confess to killing him, with Lam Kong providing false testimony to make the shooting look like a revenge killing.
• Song Tianyao concluded that the Lin family might have had two separate plans: Lin Xiyuan's attack and a fabricated gangland explanation arranged by another Lin brother.
• Song Tianyao suspected Lin Xiaohe might have ordered Lin Xiyuan to kill him in Macau after forcing him to seek a loan there.

Tang Boqi warned Lin Xiaosen that Song Tianyao was quietly building a position in Xizhen Properties for a hostile takeover, despite appearing too weak to challenge the Lin Family. He urged the Lin Family to buy more shares and drive up the price, leaving Lin Xiaosen to consider how to counter Song Tianyao.

• Lin Xiaosen asked Tang Boqi why he believed Song Tianyao was targeting Xizhen Properties and how the Lin Family should respond.
• Tang Boqi explained that Song Tianyao had been buying shares and could draw on cash and assets to borrow enough to threaten a takeover.
• Tang Boqi described how Song Tianyao had previously exploited others’ greed and underestimated circumstances to defeat his opponents.
• Tang Boqi advised the Lin Family to increase its stake in Xizhen Properties and raise its share price to make a takeover harder and more costly.

Gao Minghui and his secretary Wei Meixian traveled from Hong Kong to Japan, where his penny-pinching and helplessness frustrated her. On the way to Tokyo Station, Gao worried over Song Tianyao’s decision to mortgage his business and wondered why he had not borrowed money from his acquaintances instead.

• Lin Xiaosen told Tang Boqi that the Lin Family planned to buy back Xizhen Properties shares and believed Song Tianyao could not seize control of the company.
• Tang Boqi considered whether other shareholders might demand a higher price, then concluded that Jardine would alert the Lin Family before selling its shares to Song Tianyao.
• Wei Meixian accompanied Gao Minghui through Haneda Airport, where he clung to her and asked how they would reach Niigata Prefecture.
• Gao Minghui tried to avoid buying lunch by pointing out how much food he had eaten on the plane and the food he had packed away.
• Wei Meixian took Gao Minghui by taxi to Tokyo Station while he struggled to write in his notebook and worried about Song Tianyao mortgaging his business.