Chapter Summaries

Empress Xia was sent to the Cold Palace after being declared mad, and Zhou Yi cared for her while suspecting she was feigning it. After she swallowed filth in front of the imperial physician, the palace accepted her madness, and Emperor Hongwu brought back the Deposed Crown Prince to stay with her; Zhou Yi continued tending her and chose to study secret massage techniques.

• Eunuch Yuan brought Empress Xia to the Cold Palace and ordered Zhou Yi to keep her confined.
• Old Lu told Zhou Yi that madmen he had known all ate their own filth, and Zhou Yi learned that Eunuch Chu had done so to survive and take revenge.
• When Empress Xia refused food, Eunuch Yuan brought an imperial physician to examine her, but she swallowed excrement in front of them, convincing the witnesses that she was mad.
• Emperor Hongwu summoned the Deposed Crown Prince back from the northern frontier to stay with Empress Xia, while Zhou Yi diligently cared for her and kept her clean and comfortable.
• After the New Year, Zhou Yi used his accumulated guard duty to choose secret massage techniques instead of studying qinggong, and Old Lu warned him against pursuing power without the ability to retreat.

Zhou Yi gained Empress Xia's trust and was ordered to protect the Deposed Crown Prince, Zhao Ye, as he returned to the palace. After Prince Qi fell from power, Zhao Ye was poisoned, and the investigation led to Consort Hua's downfall and Prince Wei's departure for his fief.

• Empress Xia revealed that she was not mad and recruited Zhou Yi to protect her son when he came to the Cold Palace.
• Old Lu told Zhou Yi that family ties offered no protection in palace struggles, and Zhou Yi asked whether cultivation could restore what he had lost.
• Zhao Ye arrived at the Cold Palace, but he recoiled from Empress Xia's apparent madness and soon left; she told Zhou Yi to protect him.
• The Eunuch Bureau uncovered a curse altar at Prince Qi's residence, and Emperor Hongwu stripped Prince Qi of his title.
• Zhou Yi found Zhao Ye poisoned to death, and Empress Xia calmly told him to report the murder.
• The Eunuch Bureau identified Consort Hua's palace maid as the murderer; Emperor Hongwu stripped Consort Hua of her rank and ordered Prince Wei to leave for his fief.

Emperor Hongwu revealed that he would name the Imperial Grandson as heir and ordered Eunuch Wei to end Empress Xia’s life in the Cold Palace. Zhou Yi tried to stop Eunuch Wei but arrived too late, leaving him to wonder how Emperor Hongwu had uncovered Empress Xia’s scheme.

• Emperor Hongwu woke after two hours and learned from the imperial physician that he might not survive the autumn.
• Emperor Hongwu told Yang Si and Chen Shen that he planned to name the Imperial Grandson as heir and ordered them to support the new sovereign.
• Emperor Hongwu asked Eunuch Wei to send Empress Xia ahead to the Imperial Mausoleum, and Eunuch Wei left for the Cold Palace.
• Zhou Yi heard footsteps, rushed to Empress Xia’s room, and fought Eunuch Wei, but Eunuch Wei escaped after their palm strike.
• Zhou Yi found Empress Xia dead and later asked Old Lu how Emperor Hongwu had discovered her scheme; Old Lu suggested he had inferred it from who benefited.

After the Empress’s death, Zhou Yi learned more about Eunuch Wei and the Innate realm from Old Lu, then waited for the new emperor to take power. Emperor Zhengtong later promoted Zhou Yi to Superintendent of the Directorate of Palace Attendants, where Old Lu warned him to beware of hidden dangers and seek help from experienced eunuchs.

• Zhou Yi asked Old Lu about the assassin, and Old Lu identified him as Wei Shitou, later known as Wei Yingfu, and told Zhou Yi how he had once saved the Former Emperor from a beating.
• Old Lu explained that Wei Shitou had been close to becoming Innate and described the realm as a fetus breathing precelestial qi, though he admitted he knew little about it.
• Emperor Hongwu died, and the Imperial Grandson Zhao Kai ascended the throne as Emperor Zhengtong.
• Zhou Yi spared two eunuchs who had neglected his bedding, then continued cultivating while waiting for his position to improve.
• Eunuch Yuan delivered Emperor Zhengtong’s decree promoting Zhou Yi to Superintendent of the Directorate of Palace Attendants.
• As Zhou Yi prepared to move, Old Lu warned him about dangers in the new post and mentioned several experienced eunuchs who could help him.

Zhou Yi took command of the Directorate of Palace Attendants and read the old eunuchs’ political signals as he settled into his new power. He began assigning posts and chose Eunuch Miao as the first target of an anti-corruption search, leaving Miao begging for mercy.

• Zhou Yi entered the Directorate of Palace Attendants with Eunuch Wen and other palace veterans, ignoring the gray-robed eunuchs waiting outside.
• Zhou Yi sat in his former godfather Eunuch Xu’s chair and welcomed the senior eunuchs, then heard that Little Gui had died after framing him and that Eunuch Wen had cast Little Gui out.
• Zhou Yi recognized Eunuch Wen’s request for a registrar post as a political test and approved it.
• Zhou Yi summoned Eunuch Miao and accused him of embezzlement, threatening to search his quarters and punish the false accuser if nothing was found.
• Eunuch Miao realized he had been singled out, admitted to embezzling gold and silver, and offered to surrender it to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi seized control of the Directorate of Palace Attendants through a brutal purge, replacing officials and recovering three million taels in stolen wealth. Summoned to meet Emperor Zhengtong, he learned from Eunuch Yuan that the Emperor was in poor spirits and that he must not mention the north.

• Zhou Yi killed Eunuch Miao, appointed Wen Dianbu as registrar, and reassigned the other senior eunuchs while executing Eunuch Ji.
• Following Old Lu’s advice, Zhou Yi purged the Directorate, killing or removing hundreds of palace attendants and establishing control over its posts.
• Zhou Yi’s officials uncovered two million taels in palace loot and identified another million taels’ worth of residences and shops; Zhou Yi ordered the stolen wealth transferred to the imperial treasury.
• Eunuch Yuan escorted Zhou Yi to Qianqing Palace after news of the recovered funds reached Emperor Zhengtong, and Zhou Yi gave Eunuch Yuan a stack of banknotes.
• Eunuch Yuan warned Zhou Yi that Emperor Zhengtong was in poor spirits and told him not to mention the north.

Zhou Yi won Emperor Zhengtong’s trust by taking credit for cleaning up palace corruption and received permission to enter Qianqing Palace at any time. He then recruited eunuchs as foster sons, ending with eighteen who could help him monitor the palace and expose embezzlement.

• Emperor Zhengtong praised Zhou Yi for uncovering embezzlement, promised to promote him, and granted him a palace-entry waist token.
• Emperor Zhengtong ordered Zhou Yi to put the confiscated silver in the imperial privy treasury.
• Zhou Yi made Little Qu his foster son and ordered him to report daily on everyone entering Qianqing Palace and what they said.
• Zhou Yi decided to recruit foster sons to track who embezzled and how much they took.
• Over the next half year, Zhou Yi took in seventeen more foster sons, bringing their number to eighteen.

On New Year's Eve, Zhou Yi and his eighteen godsons plotted to expose Eunuch Zhu's corruption by spreading nursery rhymes outside the palace. After the ballads reached the Pacification Office and Emperor Zhengtong, Zhou Yi was summoned and defended his actions while admitting he had a personal grievance against Eunuch Zhu.

• Zhou Yi learned from Little Qu that Eunuch Zhu had embezzled at least five hundred thousand taels and stored gold in his residence.
• Zhou Yi ordered his godsons to spread news of Eunuch Zhu's wealth beyond the palace so the Pacification Office would report it to Emperor Zhengtong.
• Zhou Yi's godsons composed nursery rhymes about Eunuch Zhu's riches, and the songs spread through the capital.
• The Pacification Office's spies investigated the rhymes and sent their report to Qianqing Palace.
• Emperor Zhengtong summoned Zhou Yi, who knelt for an hour before explaining that he had exposed Eunuch Zhu because ordinary methods could not bring him down.
• Zhou Yi admitted that he also acted out of personal resentment because Eunuch Zhu had taken his silver and failed to keep his promise.

Zhou Yi secured Emperor Zhengtong’s order to investigate Eunuch Zhu and realized the emperor was preparing for a western campaign. He confronted Eunuch Zhu and demanded two million taels, leaving the Directorate of Palace Affairs’ eunuchs trapped between surrendering their wealth and facing death.

• Emperor Zhengtong ordered Zhou Yi to investigate Eunuch Zhu’s alleged embezzlement and warned him against making a false accusation.
• Zhou Yi learned from Little Qu that Emperor Zhengtong had questioned ministers from the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of War, and concluded that the emperor needed funds for a western campaign.
• Zhou Yi led dozens of martial eunuchs to the Directorate of Palace Affairs and demanded two million taels from Eunuch Zhu to spare him and his men.
• After Eunuch Zhu agreed, Zhou Yi killed a godson who pleaded for his life, and Eunuch Zhu threatened the remaining eunuchs’ families and hidden sons.
• Several eunuchs offered Zhou Yi their silver and loyalty, but he killed them and warned his own men that he could not tolerate betrayal.

Zhou Yi killed Eunuch Zhu, seized his wealth, and earned appointment as Superintendent of the Directorate of Palace Affairs. As his influence grew, he forced Eunuch Jing to help him find a method to break through to the Innate Realm.

• Zhou Yi exposed Eunuch Zhu’s golden wall, survived his ambush, and killed him before threatening to destroy his clan.
• Zhou Yi’s men seized 1.7 million taels from Eunuch Zhu’s holdings, then arrested other eunuchs and confiscated their wealth to reach two million taels.
• Emperor Zhengtong praised Zhou Yi for delivering the money and appointed him Superintendent of the Directorate of Palace Affairs.
• Zhou Yi gained influence across the palace and began plotting to take control of the wealthy Directorate of Imperial Supplies from Eunuch Zhao.
• Eunuch Jing came to beg Zhou Yi for mercy, and Zhou Yi demanded that he find a martial arts method for reaching the Innate Realm.

Zhou Yi forced Eunuch Jing to explain the origins and breakthrough method of the Innate Realm, then questioned him about life-shortening techniques and the origins of the Ephemeral Bloom Manual. Eunuch Jing revealed the religious sects’ hidden arts and left Zhou Yi with a clearer view of the martial world’s secrets.

• Zhou Yi threatened Eunuch Jing with the deaths of his family unless he revealed the Innate Realm’s secrets.
• Eunuch Jing explained that the Innate Realm was modeled on ghosts absorbing the qi of heaven and earth, and that cultivation required refining Innate qi such as the cold qi found in a pool near the palace.
• Zhou Yi learned that Eunuchs Hai and Wei likely guarded the palace to cultivate from the cold pool, then asked Eunuch Jing about life-shortening martial arts.
• Eunuch Jing named the Great Dismemberment Art and Blood-Burning Secret Technique, and said the Ephemeral Bloom Manual came from the Sun Moon Demon Sect, which the Grand Ancestor had destroyed.
• Eunuch Jing revealed that the Grand Ancestor had seized Buddhist and Daoist martial arts, including the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, while the sects kept their other secret arts hidden.

Zhou Yi strengthened his alliance with Eunuch Jing and learned how Eunuch Zhao profited from the Directorate of Imperial Supplies. After quietly planning around the corruption, Zhou Yi received leave to return home and raced toward Wannian County.

• Zhou Yi declared Eunuch Jing his sworn brother, and his adopted sons named Jing their godfather.
• Zhou Yi ordered his men to monitor Eunuch Jing’s reading and court his adopted sons, then heard the charges against Eunuch Zhao.
• Zhou Yi learned that Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, a business tied to Eunuch Zhao, supplied rarely used tribute rouge and decided the matter required his personal attention.
• Two months later, Zhou Yi received permission from Eunuch Yuan to visit his family and left the capital in ordinary clothes.
• Zhou Yi identified himself at the eastern city gate, then used his true qi to hurry toward Wannian County.

Zhou Yi returned to Anhe Village after ten years and learned that his family had moved to a grand estate in Wannian County, where his influence had brought them wealth and power. He forced his way into the estate and reunited with his parents, while his arrival set the household rushing to welcome him and summon his elder brother.

• Zhou Yi found his family’s old house abandoned and asked Uncle Liang where his parents had gone.
• Uncle Liang explained that Magistrate Tian had moved the Zhou family to Zhou Family Estate and punished Sun Laocai’s family after Zhou Yi rose to prominence in the palace.
• Zhou Yi hurried to the estate, condemned its grand gate and plaque as dangerous overreach, and killed the guards who tried to stop him.
• Zhou Yi recognized Father Zhou and Mother Zhou in the main hall, knelt to greet them, and reunited with them.
• Father Zhou ordered a feast and sent servants to notify Eldest that Zhou Yi had returned.

Zhou Yi secured influence over his family and collected lavish gifts from Wannian County’s powerful residents. After Emperor Zhengtong was poisoned by rouge, the Emperor ordered Zhou Yi to identify the poisoner and whoever was behind the plot within three days.

• Zhou Yi won Mother Zhou’s support, reproached Tian Xu over the family residence’s excessive size, and encouraged Zhou Xiong and his younger half-siblings to study.
• Zhou Yi drank with Wannian County’s officials and gentry, then secretly slipped out of his room during the night.
• Local elites presented Zhou Yi with property and gold, which he eagerly accepted and admired.
• Emperor Zhengtong fainted during an encounter with Virtuous Consort and learned that poison had been put in her rouge.
• Emperor Zhengtong summoned Zhou Yi and gave him three days to find the poisoner and the person behind the poisoning.

Emperor Zhengtong dismissed suspicions against Zhou Yi after reviewing his movements, then ordered punishment for the officials and households linked to the rouge case. Zhou Yi prepared to target the Directorate of Imperial Supplies, reconsidered how to treat Eunuch Zhao after the Empress advised him to spend time with Yu, and confronted Zhao about his tea.

• Eunuch Yuan called Zhou Yi suspicious, but Ji Yue presented a report showing Zhou Yi’s movements outside the palace and his rebuke of County Magistrate Tian.
• Emperor Zhengtong stripped Tian Xu of his scholarly title and post, ordered the Zhou family residence and farmland confiscated, and promoted Zhou Xiong to Heavenly Prison camp warden.
• Zhou Yi followed Wen Dianbu’s plan to give patrons of tribute-goods merchants two days to send notes before their households were confiscated.
• The Empress stopped her phoenix carriage, addressed Zhou Yi as Little Yi, and told him to spend more time with Yu.
• Zhou Yi wondered whether Eunuch Zhao’s surname indicated imperial kinship, ordered an adopted son to investigate the Empress’s maternal family, and went to confront Zhao.
• Zhou Yi entered the Directorate of Imperial Supplies and asked Eunuch Zhao why he was not drinking tribute imperial tea.

Zhou Yi uncovered Eunuch Zhao’s Prince Jing lineage and destroyed a ledger that could have given him leverage over court officials; after the rouge-case purge, Emperor Zhengtong appointed him superintendent over three directorates. As Zhou Yi weighed the emperor’s motives, he heard the Empress had once saved the imperial family and suspected she had orchestrated the attack that put her beside the emperor.

• Zhou Yi confronted Eunuch Zhao, who revealed his Prince Jing heritage and offered a merchant ledger implicating court officials; Zhou Yi crushed the ledger, and Eunuch Zhao died from poisoned tea.
• Palace attendants found Prince Jing’s immunity gold plaque beneath Eunuch Zhao’s bed, and Zhou Yi used it to commute the implicated family’s punishment to exile.
• Zhou Yi reported the rouge-case investigation to Emperor Zhengtong, who praised the confiscation proceeds of fifteen million taels and appointed him superintendent of the Directorate of Imperial Supplies.
• Eunuch Yuan warned Emperor Zhengtong that Zhou Yi’s authority over three directorates was unprecedented, but the emperor said he needed Zhou Yi as a blade.
• Zhou Yi questioned why the emperor had granted him so much power and learned that the Empress had supposedly saved the imperial family from bandits; he concluded she had likely arranged the attack herself.

Zhou Yi strengthened his hold over the palace by using tribute contracts and household confiscations to send illicit silver to Emperor Zhengtong. After punishing the Cui Family and dissenting palace eunuchs, he accepted Minister Cui’s payment and agreed to send only the finest goods to Yi Chun Palace, while hinting that Consort Cui’s fate remained uncertain.

• Zhou Yi decided to serve as Emperor Zhengtong’s blade while secretly considering Crown Prince Zhao Yu as a possible successor to the throne.
• After Feng Wei conquered the Great Moon Kingdom and returned victorious, Zhou Yi ordered the Wu Family of Jiangning to receive the imperial cloth contract at an inflated price, intending to confiscate its household later.
• Zhou Yi ordered Little Qu to investigate the Cui Family and prepare an account of illicit silver for the Emperor, then learned that Little Heng, Little Chun, and Eunuch Sun had criticized him and rewarded Little Qu with a steward post.
• Little Qu arranged the confiscation of the Cui Family pastry shop and the punishment of palace eunuchs who had taken its bribes, restoring Zhou Yi’s fearful authority in the Eunuch Bureau.
• Little Qu reported that the Cui Family and related criminals had yielded five hundred thousand taels of illicit silver, including two hundred thousand taels from Minister Cui, who asked that spoiled tribute goods be kept away from Consort Cui.
• Zhou Yi agreed to send only the finest tribute goods to Yi Chun Palace and suggested that some things should not be forced, lest people die.

Zhou Yi established the Surveillance Bureau to oversee the land survey and monitor the King Who Pacifies the North, while Emperor Zhengtong issued an edict to abolish the poll tax. The bureau violently crushed scholars who gathered to oppose the new policy, and the author ended with a note about struggling to write after an illness.

• Zhou Yi reported a Directorate of Imperial Supplies embezzlement case to Emperor Zhengtong and was ordered to establish the Surveillance Bureau to supervise land measurements.
• Zhou Yi and Wen Dianbu organized the bureau, chose an abandoned prince's residence for its office, and assigned eunuchs to watch the Pacification Office and the north.
• In the third year of Zhengtong, the Surveillance Bureau was established, and Emperor Zhengtong ordered farmland measured as he prepared to abolish the poll tax.
• The head of Yuntai Academy gathered scholars to oppose the new policy, but Zhou Yi led agents into the academy, killed the head, and ordered the scholars arrested.
• When the scholars resisted, Zhou Yi ordered the agents to kill them, leaving the academy stained with blood.

Zhou Yi tortured scholars from Yuntai Academy into accusing officials of plotting against Emperor Zhengtong’s land survey, then presented the confessions at court. Emperor Zhengtong read the testimony as Zhou Yi’s factional rivals watched, leaving the officials’ fate unresolved.

• Zhou Yi ordered Cui Ke threatened with the arrest of his family until he signed a fabricated confession accusing Minister Cui of conspiring with the academy head.
• Zhou Yi had Li Chao torture a defiant scholar, after which Lin Fu accused Grand Tutor Sun and informed on his classmates in exchange for a post at the Surveillance Bureau.
• Scholars rushed to give accusations, and Zhou Yi received word that Minister Cui and dozens of officials had submitted memorials against him.
• Zhou Yi confronted Minister Cui outside the Hall of Diligent Governance, then admitted fault to Emperor Zhengtong while presenting the confessions as evidence of a plot against the land survey.
• Emperor Zhengtong read the testimony and condemned factionalism, while Eunuch Yuan observed that Zhou Yi’s rising power threatened the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs.

Zhou Yi punished Minister Cui’s faction, learned that Consort Cui’s madness might have been caused by sorcery, and visited Old Lu in the Cold Palace. After Little Qu was killed on his return from Jiangnan, Zhou Yi led the Surveillance Bureau to confront the Pacification Office, where he demanded an explanation from Ji Yue.

• Emperor Zhengtong ordered Minister Cui and the other officials imprisoned, while Zhou Yi staged his punishment and earned the Emperor’s approval.
• Zhou Yi sent Little Qu to Jiangning to target the Wu Family after Consort Cui miscarried, and ordered his men to watch Yi Chun Palace.
• Zhou Yi visited Old Lu in the Cold Palace, who warned him that Consort Cui’s madness came from a disruption of her Spirit Soul and cautioned him about the Empress.
• Little Qu was killed by bandits on his way back from Jiangnan, and Zhou Yi suspected the Pacification Office had arranged the attack.
• Zhou Yi led over a hundred operatives to the Pacification Office and threatened Ji Yue unless he explained Little Qu’s death.