Chapter Summaries

MuLan rejected Zhaoyan’s invitation and reunited briefly with Young Master Shen on New Year’s Eve as the pirate forces gathered for war. As armies moved toward Raging Tide City, Young Master Shen prepared a secret plan, while Chou Yao’er remained unaware of the threat to her and her city.

• MuLan refused Zhaoyan’s invitation, and the eunuch warned that the Jin Family’s troubles were near.
• On Wangya Island, Young Master Shen teased Shen Shisan and Jin Hui before sharing a brief New Year’s Eve reunion with MuLan.
• Chou Tianwei ordered Chou Hao to guard Jinshan Island, but Zhang Chunhua urged him to prepare to seize Raging Tide City.
• Zhang Chong sent six thousand troops toward Jinshan Island to disguise themselves as reinforcements and attack the Jin and Chou families.
• Young Master Shen met An Zaitian aboard a merchant ship and confirmed that he had identified the person who poisoned Chou Yao’er with sea salt.
• Chou Tianwei entrusted Raging Tide City to Chou Yao’er, warned her about Xu Qianqian, and she worried that her period was late.

Chou Tianwei and Tang Lun assembled their forces to attack Wangya Island, while Chou Yao'er secured Raging Tide City and confined two people she suspected of being planted by Young Master Shen. The allied fleet reached Wangya Island, and Chou Tianwei ordered the invasion to begin.

• Tang Lun promised his three thousand troops gold for killing Jin Family defenders and sent them to rendezvous with Chou Tianwei's pirates.
• Chou Tianwei paid his pirates and urged them to seize Wangya Island's gold and kill the Jin Family, while Chou Yao'er returned to Raging Tide City with her trusted warriors.
• Chou Yao'er sealed the City Lord's Manor and confined Xu Qianqian, then questioned An Zaitian about her possible pregnancy and placed him under house arrest.
• Chou Tianwei's nearly thirty thousand pirates joined Tang Lun's three thousand troops and surrounded Wangya Island overnight.
• Chou Tianwei ordered his army to land on Wangya Island and slaughter its defenders.

Xuanwu Earl Jin Zhuo’s forces lured Chou Tianwei’s pirate army to Wangya Island and retreated into the mine pit, where Chou Tianwei chose to surround them rather than risk a suspected trap. Meanwhile, Young Master Shen returned to chaotic Raging Tide City and prepared to attack the City Lord’s Manor.

• Xuanwu Earl Jin Zhuo’s recruits fled before the pirates, while five hundred Jin Family elites held the defensive line and then withdrew toward the mine pit.
• Chou Tianwei’s pirates marched to the mine pit, saw the gold-bearing ore below, and surrounded the defenders instead of descending because he suspected a trap.
• Jin Zhong worried that Chou Tianwei would refuse to enter the trap, but Xuanwu Earl Jin Zhuo trusted Young Master Shen’s predictions and plans.
• Young Master Shen entered Raging Tide City, where robberies and murders had spread as Chou Yao’er kept the City Lord’s Manor shut.
• Young Master Shen ordered the warriors lying low in the city to assemble and prepare to attack the City Lord’s Manor.

Chou Tianwei held his thirty-thousand-strong pirate coalition above the mine pit while greed and anger grew among his men. After Xuanwu Earl’s forces vanished and the pirates rushed down to seize the apparent gold, Young Master Shen’s explosives trapped them and opened a tunnel to the sea, leaving Chou Tianwei facing a flood and Xuanwu Earl’s four thousand soldiers.

• Tang Zong and the pirate leaders urged Chou Tianwei to attack, but Chou Tianwei executed a pirate who accused him of hoarding the gold.
• Chou Tianwei ordered pirates to provoke Xuanwu Earl’s army, and their abuse of Jin MuLan, Su Peipei, and Young Master Shen enraged the defenders.
• The pirates discovered the mine pit empty and rushed down to loot its gold, eventually drawing the entire coalition, including Chou Tianwei, into the pit.
• Young Master Shen’s explosives destroyed the pit’s exit roads and blasted open a tunnel to the sea, trapping the pirates below.
• Seawater flooded the mine pit as Xuanwu Earl’s four thousand soldiers appeared above, and Xuanwu Earl declared Chou Tianwei finished.

Young Master Shen’s carefully prepared flood trap annihilated Chou Tianwei’s pirate army in the flooded mine pit. Chou Tianwei died trying to reach the surface, while Xuanwu Earl Jin Zhuo waited anxiously for news of the attack on Raging Tide City.

• Seawater flooded the mine pit after Xuanwu Earl Jin Zhuo’s forces opened the tunnel, and the pirates struggled to climb the icy cliffs as defenders struck them with arrows and rocks.
• Tang Zong reached the surface but Jin Zhuo’s men captured him, crippled his limbs, and kept him alive.
• Explosions sealed the tunnel and stopped the rising water, leaving the pirates trapped in freezing seawater while Jin Zhuo’s forces killed those who tried to climb out.
• The pirates froze and drowned, and Chou Tianwei learned from Jin Zhuo that Young Master Shen’s supposed Ancient Gold Vein was a costly decoy designed to draw the allied army into the trap.
• Chou Tianwei climbed toward Jin Zhuo to challenge him, but the defenders poured sulfuric acid and fish oil on him and set him ablaze with fire arrows.
• Jin Zhuo watched Chou Tianwei fall back into the pit and wondered how Young Master Shen’s battle for Raging Tide City was going.

Tang Lun sent men to raid the Jin Family's fief while Zhang Chong moved toward Raging Tide City, where Shen Lang, Chou Yao'er, and Zhang Jin's forces formed a standoff. As Shen Lang prepared to kill Chou Yao'er during an attack on her fortress, Xu Qianqian revealed that Chou Yao'er was carrying his child.

• Su Jianting left fifty mute Western Region experts with Tang Lun, who sent them and 200 warriors disguised as Kutou Huan bandits to attack the Jin Family's fief.
• Tang Lun sailed toward Wangya Island and saw Chou Hao's fleet carrying Zhang Chong east; Zhang Chong said he believed Chou Tianwei had already lost and focused on the battle for Raging Tide City.
• Shen Lang's 2,000 warriors seized White Castle, while Zhang Jin's government troops occupied Black Castle and Chou Yao'er held the main fortress, creating a three-way standoff.
• After three days, Shen Lang ordered his warriors to surround Chou Yao'er's fortress, and Zhang Jin readied his troops to exploit the coming battle.
• Shen Lang prepared to launch special black stones at Chou Yao'er, but Xu Qianqian rushed forward and revealed that Chou Yao'er was pregnant with Shen Lang's child.

Tang Lun arrived at Wangya Island expecting to claim the Ancient Gold Vein, only to learn that Jin Zhuo had destroyed Chou Tianwei’s pirates and Tang’s troops. At Raging Tide City, Xu Qianqian revealed Chou Yao’er’s pregnancy and pleaded for peace, while Shen Lang exposed Chou Tianwei’s plot to poison her; Shu Shu confirmed the accusation.

• Tang Lun landed at Wangya Island with two hundred men, believing the Jin Family had been defeated and hoping to claim a share of the gold.
• Jin Zhuo revealed that Chou Tianwei’s thirty thousand pirates and Tang Lun’s three thousand private troops had drowned in the flooded mine pit, and Tang Lun collapsed in despair.
• Xu Qianqian told Shen Lang that Chou Yao’er was pregnant and begged them not to kill each other, prompting Shen Lang to enter the castle alone to negotiate.
• Shen Lang admitted he had planted poison inside Chou Yao’er, then told her that Chou Tianwei had ordered Shu Shu to poison her because he feared her power.
• Chou Yao’er summoned Shu Shu, who confirmed that Chou Tianwei had directed her to poison Chou Yao’er’s food for two years.

Tang Lun helped Jin Zhuo destroy the pirates who had patrolled the sea, then learned he was also expected to help retake Jinshan Island. At the Xuanwu Earl's Manor, MuLan rode out to rescue villagers as Su Jianting's men infiltrated the castle, while Chou Yao'er decided to leave Raging Tide City and surrender it to Shen Lang.

• Tang Lun lured the sea patrol pirates into a smelting workshop, where Jin Clan soldiers trapped and burned them, and Jin Zhuo demanded that Tang help retake Jinshan Island.
• MuLan chose to lead three hundred cavalrymen to save the fief's villagers, leaving Su Peipei to defend the castle with the remaining soldiers.
• Su Jianting led a hundred Far Suppressing Marquis Manor experts into the Xuanwu Earl's Manor to seize an object while MuLan was away.
• Tang Yan followed the middle road toward the Xuanwu Earl's Manor, hoping Shen Lang would decipher an ancient sword manual.
• Shu Shu explained that Chou Tianwei had forced himself on her and that he had planned to kill Chou Yao'er; Chou Yao'er released her and offered her a place with her family.
• Chou Yao'er told Shen Lang that Raging Tide City and its castle were his, then said she would leave with her people and never meet him again.

MuLan rescued villagers from Tang Family and Su Family forces, while a masked Kutou Huan turned the battle and killed the Tang brothers. At Raging Tide City, Chou Yao'er refused to act out Young Master Shen’s plan but was caught in his staged attack, prompting Zhang Jin to march his six thousand soldiers toward the castle.

• MuLan led three hundred cavalry to save a village from Tang Fourth Young Master’s disguised bandits, but Su Jianting’s Western Region Experts put her forces under heavy pressure.
• A masked Kutou Huan arrived with a small band, routed the enemy, killed Tang Fourth Young Master, Tang Fifth Young Master, and Tang Seventh Young Master, then left without accepting MuLan’s thanks.
• Young Master Shen removed five poison balls from Chou Yao'er and asked her to fake her death so Zhang Jin would attack; she refused and threw him from the castle wall, where his men caught him.
• Young Master Shen ordered trebuchets to bombard Chou Yao'er with Meteorite Magnets, and she blasted away the powder before falling stiffly as though dead.
• After an inside man opened the main castle gates, Young Master Shen led two thousand troops inside, and Zhang Jin believed Chou Yao'er had died and rushed out with six thousand soldiers to attack.

Su Jianting infiltrated Xuanwu Earl's Manor to seize a secret letter, taking Xiao Bing hostage and forcing Su Peipei to hand over a forged copy. After Tang Yan arrived and turned the fight against him, Su Jianting fled, while Su Peipei vowed that Lang'er would destroy the Su Family.

• Jin Xia led the manor's defenders in firing bows and crossbows, holding off the Su Family's assault at the front walls.
• Su Jianting used an abandoned sewer to enter the manor and searched the library for a wooden box, where Xiao Bing attacked him with Rainstorm Pear Blossom needles.
• Su Jianting took Xiao Bing hostage and forced Su Peipei to give him the wooden box containing a secret letter, then burned the letter after recognizing his grandfather's handwriting and seal.
• Su Jianting ordered his experts to kill everyone in the great hall, but Su Peipei fought him while Xiao Bing's poisoned needles killed several attackers.
• Tang Yan arrived and killed several of Su Jianting's men, forcing Su Jianting to retreat with the survivors.
• Su Peipei mourned the loyal servants killed in the hall and vowed that Lang'er would wipe out the Su Family.

Jin Zhuo abandoned his chance to seize Jinshan Island and hurried to Raging Tide City after learning Chou Hao had taken four thousand pirates there, fearing for Shen Lang. Chou Yao'er then single-handedly overwhelmed Zhang Jin's army and ended the battle before Shen Lang's forces could join in.

• Tang Lun revealed that only a thousand pirates remained on Jinshan Island because Chou Hao had taken four thousand men to Raging Tide City.
• Jin Zhuo gave up taking Jinshan Island, sent grain ashore, and ordered his fleet to race toward Raging Tide City to protect Shen Lang.
• Zhang Jin led six thousand elite troops toward the City Lord's Manor, while Chou Yao'er ignored Shen Lang's call to defend the fortress and charged out with two thousand followers.
• Chou Yao'er tore through Zhang Jin's soldiers, then punched his charging warhorse aside and caught Zhang Jin as he flew from the saddle.
• The Battle of Raging Tide City ended within a quarter of an hour, before Shen Lang and his army had a chance to fight.

Young Master Shen set a trap at Raging Tide City's docks for Zhang Chong's fleet while Xu Qianqian confronted Zhang Jin about the Xu Family's destruction. Zhang Jin died trying to warn his father, and Zhang Chunhua recognized the trap and begged Young Master Shen to spare him; Zhang Chong remained on Tianfeng Island, waiting for news.

• Young Master Shen killed two Nujiang Army officers and forced Fang Wanshan to lure Zhang Chong's fleet toward the docks under false banners.
• Xu Qianqian asked Zhang Jin why he had destroyed the Xu Family, and Zhang Jin admitted he had not regretted it.
• Zhang Chunhua realized the cheering soldiers at the docks were part of Young Master Shen's trap and ordered Chou Hao's fleet to turn back.
• Zhang Jin leaped from White Castle in an attempt to warn Zhang Chong, but he died without the fleet seeing him.
• Xu Qianqian let go of her revenge and wept in Chou Yao'er's embrace as Chou Hao's fleet withdrew.
• On Tianfeng Island, Zhang Chong waited for news and wept while playing chess alone.

After Shen Lang’s victory in Raging Tide City, Chou Yao’er prepared to sail away, leaving Xu Qianqian to return home and rebuild her family business. Zhang Chong learned that the city had fallen and planned to meet Shen Lang to settle the conflict.

• Shen Lang reviewed the merchants’ gifts while Huang Tong managed Raging Tide City’s commercial affairs, and Shen Lang wrote the Su Clan and Xue Clan on his list of targets for revenge.
• Chou Yao’er prepared to leave Raging Tide City with her fleet and invited Xu Qianqian to go with her.
• Shen Lang gave Chou Yao’er copies of Journey to the West and Battle Through the Heavens before she sailed away.
• Xu Qianqian declined Chou Yao’er’s invitation, choosing to return home and rebuild the Xu Embroidery Trading Company; she wept as Chou Yao’er’s fleet departed.
• Zhang Chunhua mourned her brother’s presumed death, but Zhang Chong told her not to seek revenge and said he would meet Shen Lang the next day.

Shen Lang and the Jin Family secured Raging Tide City but failed to take all the Leizhou Islands because Zhang Chong had prepared a fallback. Shen Lang and Zhang Chong agreed on a public account of the victory and awaited the Monarch’s judgment, leaving Zhang Chong’s fate uncertain.

• Jin Zhuo arrived at Raging Tide City and embraced Shen Lang, while Shen Lang warned Tang Lun that the Tang Family faced destruction and advised him how to preserve some of his family.
• Shen Lang explained that Zhang Chong had seized Tianfeng Island and other islands as a fallback, leaving the Jin Family with only part of the Leizhou Islands.
• Zhang Chunhua saw Zhang Jin’s body and invited Shen Lang to meet her father at sea.
• Shen Lang and Zhang Chong agreed to portray their forces as allies who had defeated Chou Tianwei, while Shen Lang asked for the Tang Family’s punishment, recognition of Jin Zhuo’s gains, and the return of Zhang Chong’s captured soldiers.
• Zhang Chong revealed that he had sent a secret memorial to the Monarch, and he and Shen Lang parted while awaiting the Monarch’s decision.

After returning to Xuanwu Earl's Manor, Young Master Shen found the household battered by the Su Family's attack and resolved to destroy the Su Clan, with Fifth Prince Ning Zheng as his fulcrum. Meanwhile, Tang Yun exposed his father to Governor Zhu Rong, and Monarch Ning Yuanxian reacted to Zhang Chong's report by denouncing the Jin Clan as rebels and ordering preparations to suppress them.

• Young Master Shen returned from Jinshan Island, negotiated with Xu Qianqian over the Dye formulas, and then found Xuanwu Earl's Manor strewn with the dead and wounded.
• Young Master Shen stitched Su Peipei's back wound and treated MuLan's bruised back, then decided to destroy the Su Family and identified Fifth Prince Ning Zheng as the key to doing so.
• Earl Tang Lun urged Tang Yun to report him to the Governor's Manor so Tang Yun could survive, and warned him not to make an enemy of Young Master Shen or Xuanwu Earl's Manor.
• Tang Yun denounced Earl Tang Lun before Zhu Rong, who took him toward the capital to respond to the political crisis.
• Monarch Ning Yuanxian tore up Zhang Chong's secret memorial, called the Jin Clan rebels, and ordered Zhang Chong brought to the capital while summoning Zhu Rong and Nangong Ao to prepare an army.

The Monarch rewarded Zhang Chong for helping destroy Chou Tianwei, then ordered him arrested after an investigation exposed his embezzlement. As the Tang Family was taken to the capital and Tang Yan left the Xuanwu Earl's Manor with a deciphered sword manual, Zhang Chong's apparent rise collapsed before he could take up his new post.

• Su Peipei held belated New Year celebrations at the Xuanwu Earl's Manor as heavy snow briefly fell, while the Monarch's anger at court passed just as quickly.
• The Monarch praised Zhang Chong and the Earl of Xuanwu for defeating Chou Tianwei, rewarded Zhang Chong's family, and ordered the Tang Family arrested and stripped of its titles.
• Zhang Chong and the Blackwater Directorate seized Tang Lun and more than seven hundred Tang family members, while Zhang Chunhua was told to leave for Horizon Sea Pavilion.
• Su Peipei denied that Tang Yan was still at the manor, and Young Master Shen gave Tang Yan the deciphered Snowfall All Over The World sword manual and disguised clothes before he departed.
• Zhang Chong accepted officials' praise before his son Zhang Jin's memorial tablet, then lamented his fate after the banquet.
• The Monarch ordered an investigation into Zhang Chong, and officials uncovered tens of thousands of gold coins in embezzlement; the Great Court of Revision arrested him before he could assume his new post.

As the Jin Family developed Raging Tide City and Leizhou Island, the Monarch appointed Jin Shiying as Raging Tide City Lord and ordered Young Master Shen to come to the capital. The chapter ended with Shen preparing to leave MuLan and set out for an audience.

• Officials across the realm denounced Zhang Chong, but after a Chief Registrar submitted a bloody confession and was arrested, the impeachment memorials stopped and Zhang Chong remained imprisoned.
• Jin Zhuo offered to hold another wedding for Young Master Shen and MuLan, but Shen refused to give up his live-in son-in-law identity.
• The Jin Family moved residents to Leizhou Island, borrowed heavily to fund settlement and construction, and Jin MuLan lent Xu Qianqian fifty thousand gold coins.
• Jin Zhuo asked Shen whether to leak rumors of negotiations with Wu Kingdom, but Shen refused and said the Monarch was waiting for the Nan'ou war and the Jin Family's reaction.
• After the Tang Family was punished for treason, the Monarch appointed Jin Shiying Raging Tide City Lord and Chou Hao Tianfeng City Lord; Jin Zhuo accepted the decree after Shen agreed.
• Jin Shiying swore loyalty to Young Master Shen, and the Monarch then summoned Shen to the capital for an immediate audience.

Shen Lang agreed to answer the Monarch’s summons, explaining that the ruler was testing the Jin Family rather than preparing to attack it, and he also vowed to avenge the Su Family’s assault. After helping Shen Jian overcome his doubts and become engaged to Lin Yinyin, Shen Lang left for the capital and requested an audience with the Monarch.

• Shen Lang persuaded Xuanwu Earl and the others that the Monarch’s threats were meant to test the Jin Family, then declared he would go to the capital and avenge the Su Family’s attack.
• MuLan worried about Shen Lang’s departure, and he asked her about a legendary internal arts manual called the Hell Marriage Art.
• Shen Lang learned that Shen Jian had rejected Lin Yinyin because he felt unworthy of her, and he brought the two together so they could confirm their feelings.
• The Shen Family and Lin Family formally arranged Shen Jian and Lin Yinyin’s engagement.
• Shen Lang departed for the capital with a large escort, and MuLan and Mother-in-Law saw him off.
• Three days later, Shen Lang arrived in the capital and went to the royal palace to request an audience with the Monarch.

Young Master Shen met Monarch Ning Yuanxian, openly declared that he intended to kill Su Nan, and was thrown out of the palace. Afterward, Ning Yuanxian questioned Zhang Chong about Shen’s character and ambitions, and Zhang Chong advised him not to kill Shen because he could be a valuable weapon.

• The Great Eunuch reported Young Master Shen’s arrogant behavior in the capital, including his insults toward Princess Ning Yan, to Monarch Ning Yuanxian.
• Young Master Shen waited all day at Benevolence Pavilion before meeting Ning Yuanxian and declaring that he planned to kill Su Nan to avenge his family.
• Ning Yuanxian ordered the Blackwater Directorate experts to throw Young Master Shen out of the palace.
• Young Master Shen returned to the Jin Family Residence, reassured Xiao Bing that his meeting with the Monarch had gone well, and said he missed MuLan.
• Ning Yuanxian had Zhang Chong assess Young Master Shen’s motives and ask whether Shen might rebel.
• Zhang Chong said Young Master Shen would rebel if driven to it and advised Ning Yuanxian not to kill him, calling him a sharp blade.

Young Master Shen planned to secure the Xuanwu Marquis title, destroy the Su Clan, and ally with Princess Ning Yan, while Jin MuCong’s novel became a sensation. Princess Ning Yan charged toward the Jin residence to confront Shen, who learned Xiao Bing might be pregnant and eagerly awaited the princess’s arrival.

• Young Master Shen reasoned that the Monarch would not kill him, planned to oppose the Raging Tide Marquis title, and chose Princess Ning Yan as his first ally against the Su and Xue families.
• The Monarch ordered Jin Zhuo’s decree as Raging Tide Marquis to be issued the next day, while Jin MuCong’s Battle Through the Heavens became a hit and made him famous.
• Princess Ning Yan repeatedly read Jin MuCong’s novel, threatened the bookseller and Jin MuCong over its sequel, and set out to confront the man who had insulted her.
• Xiao Bing told Young Master Shen that her missed monthly cycle and nausea might mean she was pregnant, and Shen Shisan reported that Princess Ning Yan had arrived at the Jin residence with dozens of knights.