Chapter Summaries

Young Master Shen stopped Ning Yan from torturing him by revealing that he could diagnose and treat her mysterious urinary illness. He identified her condition as kidney stones and began treatment with the help of the powerful Ning Jie.

• Young Master Shen discovered that Xiao Bing was pregnant, but Ning Yan arrived and ordered her Female Warriors to restrain him for insulting her.
• Young Master Shen revealed that he knew Ning Yan suffered from severe pain and blood in her urine, then diagnosed her with kidney stones.
• Ning Yan promised to reward Young Master Shen if he cured her, and he said he could treat her within an hour.
• Young Master Shen asked Ning Yan to summon Ning Jie, a supreme female Martial Arts expert, to help break the stones safely.
• Ning Jie arrived, Ning Yan lay on the bed with her waist exposed, and Young Master Shen began treating her.

Marquis Su Nan ordered his family to manipulate public opinion and sabotage Jin Zhuo’s pending title, while Shen Lang cured Princess Ning Yan’s kidney stones. The chapter ended with Shen Lang learning that Jin MuCong had been arrested for allegedly assaulting a respectable young woman, with the evidence said to be conclusive.

• Marquis Su Nan told Su Jianting to arrange impeachments accusing him of attacking the Jin Family, so he could control the resulting rumors, and ordered him to disrupt Jin Zhuo’s expected marquis title.
• Shen Lang diagnosed Princess Ning Yan with kidney and bladder stones, and Ning Jie used his instructions to crush all ten stones with a steel needle.
• Princess Ning Yan drank water, passed the fragments without pain, and celebrated her recovery before promising to protect Shen Lang and help him find an official post.
• A eunuch from Ning Zheng’s manor told Shen Lang that Jin MuCong had been arrested by the Wan Nian County Yamen for allegedly forcing himself on a respectable young woman.
• Shen Lang questioned whether Jin MuCong had been framed, but the eunuch insisted that he had been caught at the scene and that the evidence was conclusive.

After Yu Fang framed Jin MuCong for assaulting Chen Shi, Wan Nian County Magistrate Wang Qike refused Fifth Prince Ning Zheng’s demand to release him. Young Master Shen arrived and devised a plan to turn the attack against the Jin Family into a larger political crisis, then headed to confront Wang Qike.

• Yu Fang drugged Jin MuCong and framed him for assaulting Chen Shi, after which the Wan Nian County Yamen arrested him.
• Ning Zheng confronted Wang Qike, but the magistrate refused to release Jin MuCong and threatened him with castration if convicted.
• Young Master Shen visited Ning Zheng and concluded that the Su Family had orchestrated the scheme to prevent Jin Zhuo’s elevation to marquis.
• Young Master Shen rejected the plan to prove Jin MuCong innocent and instead proposed redirecting public attention, accusing their enemies, and killing Yu Fang’s family and Wang Qike.
• Young Master Shen left for the Wan Nian County Yamen to confront Wang Qike while his people prepared a shocking incident for the capital.

Su Jianting and Wang Qike prepared to use the law and political pressure to crush Young Master Shen and Jin MuCong, but Shen turned the midnight hearing into a startling counterattack. The chapter ended with Shen accusing Chen Shi of assaulting Jin MuCong, while Princess Ning Yan went to carry out a separate, potentially explosive plan.

• Su Jianting learned that Jin MuCong had been jailed, approved plans to impeach the Jin Family and discredit Su Nan, and ordered the Qiang Kingdom Envoys to behave themselves.
• Young Master Shen visited Wang Qike to plead for Jin MuCong, but Wang refused and revealed that he was acting for the Su Clan.
• Wang Qike ordered his men to drive away whoever beat the grievance drum, then led warriors out to arrest Young Master Shen after his runners were beaten.
• Princess Ning Yan admitted she had beaten the runners and insisted Wang hear Shen's complaint overnight; she then left to handle the matter Shen had arranged outside court.
• At the hearing, Young Master Shen accused Chen Shi of defiling Jin MuCong and demanded justice for him, stunning everyone in the courtroom.

Young Master Shen defended Jin MuCong in court by turning the accusation against Chen Shi and Yu Fangzhou, then used a manipulated blood test to discredit their family. With the courtroom battle settled for now, he prepared an explosive move for the next day’s court session.

• Jin MuCong saw Young Master Shen arrive and regained his confidence, while Young Master Shen argued that Chen Shi had taken advantage of him.
• Young Master Shen accused Yu Fangzhou of being unable to father children and claimed Chen Shi had sought Jin MuCong’s noble bloodline; Yu Fangzhou agreed to a blood test with his daughters.
• Ning Zheng helped oversee the test, and the blood drops failed to mingle because Master Lang had arranged for the result to be manipulated.
• Young Master Shen declared that Yu Fangzhou’s daughters had different fathers and accused Chen Shi of framing Jin MuCong, leaving Wang Qike bewildered.
• Young Master Shen turned his attention to the next day’s court session and planned a scheme meant to ignite the capital, satisfy the Monarch and Princess Ning Yan, and provoke the Su Family.

Shen Lang’s scheme led the Qiang Kingdom envoys to burn Yue Kingdom’s Sacred Temple, diverting public outrage from Jin MuCong and implicating the Su Family. The fire shook the capital, and an enormous political storm awaited the court the next day.

• Shen Lang arranged for Princess Ning Yan to confront the Qiang Kingdom envoys, while his agents prepared to exploit their anger and drunkenness.
• Princess Ning Yan defeated more than a dozen Qiang Kingdom warriors in a contest at Spring Breeze Tower and taunted them before leaving.
• Ning Yan’s sturdy female warriors drugged the envoys’ wine and guided them toward the Sacred Temple.
• The Qiang Kingdom envoys killed the temple guards and set the Sacred Temple ablaze before dawn.
• The fire shocked the capital and set Shen Lang’s plan to implicate the Su Family and redirect attention from Jin MuCong into motion.

Shen Lang exposed Yu Fangzhou’s scheme to frame Jin MuCong, then set a plan in motion to derail the political attack by burning the Sacred Temple and drawing in the Great Yan ambassador. The chapter ended with Yun Mengze raiding Tianfeng Bookshop over a forbidden book, prompting the Monarch to order the bookseller’s family killed.

• Wang Qike detained Jin MuCong, Yu Fangzhou, and Chen Shi pending trial after Shen Lang challenged their unequal treatment.
• Yu Fangzhou admitted he had framed Jin MuCong in hopes of becoming a ninth-rank official, while Chen Shi urged Wang Qike to arrange an attack on the Jin Family Residence.
• Shen Lang told Ning Zheng that the Sacred Temple had been set on fire by the Qiang Kingdom Delegation, then planned to kill Yu Fangzhou’s family and protect his daughters.
• Princess Ning Yan persuaded Yun Mengze to raid Tianfeng Bookshop for selling The Erotic History of Dongli, and his team seized three hundred copies.
• The Great Yan embassy complained to Monarch Ning Yuanxian, who ordered the bookseller’s entire family killed.

Zhang Xun and Grand Censor Wang Chengchou prepared to impeach the Jin Family, but Qiang Kingdom Warriors burned the Sacred Temple, shifting the court’s attention to the envoys and implicating Su Nan. Princess Ning Yan denied that Young Master Shen was involved, while the Monarch summoned Shen under guard and ordered Su Nan to keep kneeling.

• Zhang Xun tore up his mild impeachment memorial against the Jin Family after learning Qiang Kingdom Warriors had burned the Sacred Temple, then wrote a furious memorial denouncing the Qiang Kingdom.
• Wang Chengchou abandoned his impeachment memorial against the Jin Family and prepared to condemn the Qiang Kingdom envoys instead.
• Su Nan realized the Sacred Temple fire had been a setup, then disguised himself as a frail old man and went to the palace to plead guilty.
• Princess Ning Yan admitted to confronting the Qiang Kingdom envoys but denied that Young Master Shen had anything to do with the Sacred Temple fire.
• The Monarch ordered Young Master Shen brought in under guard and told Su Nan to keep kneeling outside.

Young Master Shen provoked the Su Family outside the palace gates while the Monarch prepared to exploit the Sacred Temple’s burning to weaken Marquis Su Nan. Young Master Shen turned the scandal into a court-wide impeachment campaign, and the Monarch ordered him brought inside.

• Ning Yuanxian planned to use the Sacred Temple’s burning to force Su Nan to pay a heavy political price, and Consort Su failed to persuade him to receive her brother privately before court.
• Su Nan and Su Jianting waited outside the palace gates, where Young Master Shen taunted them and claimed he had arranged the Sacred Temple’s burning to frame the Su Family.
• Young Master Shen urged arriving officials from both the Crown Prince’s and Third Prince’s factions to impeach Su Nan, and Su Nan realized he was escalating the crisis to serve the Monarch’s interests.
• A Little Eunuch reported Young Master Shen’s conduct to Ning Yuanxian, who raged at the report but allowed Young Master Shen to continue rallying officials.
• Ning Yuanxian ordered Young Master Shen seized and brought inside, and the Great Eunuch hurried to carry out the order before the Little Eunuch could.

After the Sacred Temple burned, the Monarch’s court condemned the Qiang while maneuvering to punish the Su Family. Su Nan blocked the impeachment by accepting blame, then turned the court against Young Master Shen by recommending him as envoy to the Qiang Kingdom; the chapter ended with the Monarch ordering the little eunuch beaten to death for falsely accusing Shen of molesting Princess Ning Yan.

• Young Master Shen admitted to the Monarch that he had plotted to burn the Sacred Temple to save Jin MuCong and harm the Su Family, while Princess Ning Yan helped him fake the thirty lashes.
• At court, the Monarch and officials performed their outrage over the Sacred Temple’s destruction, then turned to deciding how to respond to the Qiang Kingdom.
• Su Nan accepted responsibility for failing to stop the fire and offered to resign, forcing the Monarch to defend him and halting the princes’ factions from impeaching him.
• Su Nan proposed killing the Qiang delegation and sending Young Master Shen to demand reparations from the Qiang King, and officials across the factions endorsed the appointment.
• After court, the little eunuch accused Young Master Shen of molesting Princess Ning Yan, so the Monarch ordered the eunuch dragged out and beaten to death.

Young Master Shen secured the Monarch’s approval to serve as envoy to the Qiang Kingdom, then set out to free Jin MuCong while Big Fool arrived at Xuanwu Gate and faced Ning Yan. The chapter ended as Ning Yan charged her horse straight at Big Fool.

• The Monarch had the little eunuch beaten to death after Li Zhun accused him of stealing palace goods and passing messages for the Crown Prince.
• Ning Yan told the Monarch that Young Master Shen had cured her illness and wanted an official post, prompting the Monarch to threaten him and warn him not to cross the line again.
• Young Master Shen predicted Su Nan’s strategy and agreed to carry the Qiang envoys’ heads to the Qiang Kingdom, seek an apology letter, and demand a Sacred Temple there in exchange for the Monarch’s support.
• The Monarch sent Li Zhun with Young Master Shen, who went home to check on Xiao Bing before heading to the county yamen to secure Jin MuCong’s release.
• Wang Qike planned to torture Jin MuCong with leeches, but his aide reported that Young Master Shen had led warriors in an assault on the county yamen.
• Big Fool arrived outside Xuanwu Gate, where Ning Yan charged at him on horseback and ordered him out of her way.

Big Fool reunited with Princess Ning Yan, who took him to the Jin Family Residence to find Young Master Shen, but Shen was away. Meanwhile, Young Master Shen staged a prison break to free Jin MuCong, and Great Eunuch Li Zhun revealed the Monarch’s verbal edict, turning the tables on Wang Qike and Yu Fangzhou; Shen punished Yu Fangzhou and Chen Shi with the leeches they had intended for Jin MuCong.

• Big Fool stopped Princess Ning Yan’s charging horse with his strength, and she recognized him as Young Master Shen’s brother and took him to the Jin Family Residence.
• Big Fool arrived at the residence calling for Second Fool, but Xiao Bing told him Young Master Shen was not home.
• Young Master Shen led his warriors into the Wan Nian County Yamen prison and forcibly carried Jin MuCong out while Wang Qike summoned soldiers to surround them.
• Great Eunuch Li Zhun announced the Monarch’s verbal edict clearing Jin MuCong and ordering Yu Fangzhou’s clan exterminated for selling The Erotic History of Dongli.
• Chen Shi confessed to framing Jin MuCong and implicated Yu Fangzhou and Wang Qike, but Young Master Shen had Shen Shisan pry her mouth open and fed her and Yu Fangzhou the leeches they had brought for Jin MuCong.

Shen Lang dealt with Yu Fangzhou’s family, reunited with Big Fool, and learned that Grandmaster Zhong Chuke was arranging a marriage for him with Grandmaster Xueyin’s disciple. At the secluded residence, Big Fool’s first blow sent Princess Ning Yan flying, while Xueyin revealed that she was dying and refused Zhong Chuke’s offer to seek help.

• Shen Lang confronted Wang Qike over defying the edict, then went with Jin MuCong and Eunuch Li Zhun to Yu Fangzhou’s home, where Shen Shisan killed Yu Fangzhou’s mother.
• Jin MuCong reunited with the two little girls, and Shen Lang returned to the Jin Family Residence, where Big Fool greeted him and explained that Zhong Chuke had gone to fight the Snow Mountain Old Demon and arrange a wife for him.
• Huang Feng learned that Big Fool’s master was Zhong Chuke, while Shen Lang discovered that Big Fool had trained for half a year without learning swordsmanship or internal cultivation.
• Princess Arunana fled the snowy mountain after learning that her master, Xueyin, had arranged a fiancé for her; Xueyin told Zhong Chuke that she was dying and could not be saved.
• Ning Yan challenged Big Fool at Ning Jie’s secluded residence, but Big Fool blocked her full-strength sword strike and sent her flying.

Big Fool defeated Ning Yan and was recognized by Ning Jie as a powerful martial artist, while Young Master Shen bonded with Yun Mengze before volunteering for a perilous mission to the Qiang Kingdom. After ten days of travel, Shen’s party was surrounded by Qiang cavalry, and he called on Princess Arunana to recognize Big Fool as her husband.

• Big Fool repeatedly blocked Ning Yan’s attacks, and Ning Jie explained that Zhong Chuke had drawn out his innate strength through months of brutal training.
• Ning Jie gave Big Fool her Auspicious Cloud Jade to show that she would protect him, while Ning Yan begrudgingly accepted how formidable he was.
• At Yun Mengze’s banquet, Young Master Shen and Yun Mengze discovered they shared a roguish outlook and vowed to meet often.
• Young Master Shen volunteered to confront the Qiang King, secured the rank of Recommended Man and court titles, and set out as the lone chief envoy with a hundred cavalry escorts.
• After ten days, Young Master Shen’s party entered the Qiang Kingdom carrying the Qiang warriors’ heads, and a female general ordered them seized and Shen skinned alive.
• Young Master Shen called to Princess Arunana and told Big Fool to meet his wife as Qiang cavalry charged.

Shen Lang reached Qiang Kingdom with Big Fool and faced Princess Arunana, who challenged Big Fool to three blows before rejecting him and ordering the delegation killed. Grandmaster Xueyin secured Shen Lang’s audience with King Aruguang, but the king revealed that someone else had cured his son’s smallpox and forced Shen Lang to choose which of his two guards would die; Shen Lang refused to choose, and Aruguang ordered both guards executed.

• King Aruguang accepted gold from the Su Family to delay his attack until he could kill Shen Lang, then sent Arunana’s cavalry to intercept the Yue Kingdom delegation.
• Big Fool fell in love with Arunana and endured three of her attacks, earning the right to meet her for marriage, but she quickly rejected him and resumed her attack on Shen Lang.
• Shen Lang claimed he could cure smallpox, and Grandmaster Xueyin arrived, stopped Arunana, and promised to ask Aruguang to spare him.
• Arunana escorted Shen Lang and his delegation to the palace, where Aruguang said someone had already cured his youngest son’s smallpox.
• Aruguang confronted Shen Lang about arranging the attack on the Sacred Temple and brought in Huang Feng and Shen Shisan, demanding Shen Lang choose one to die.
• Shen Lang refused to choose either guard, so Aruguang ordered both men dragged away to be killed.

Shen Lang used extravagant gifts to secure the release of Shen Shisan and Huang Feng, then offered to save the Qiang Kingdom from smallpox. The Qiang King rejected his help and threatened to enslave him and execute his companions, while Shen Lang faced off against the suspicious Daoist Zuo Boyu.

• Shen Lang presented the Qiang King with a glowing glass statue carved in his likeness and cigarettes, and the Qiang King accepted the gifts and freed Shen Shisan and Huang Feng.
• Shen Lang offered to treat the Qiang Kingdom's smallpox outbreak, but the Qiang King refused and ordered the execution of Shen Lang's other companions while keeping Shen Lang as a slave.
• Zuo Boyu arrived, and Shen Lang recognized him as a likely Hidden Origin Society enemy who had earned the Qiang King's gratitude by treating an unknown illness.
• Zuo Boyu accused Shen Lang of spreading poison and urged the Qiang King to kill him, prompting Shen Lang to accuse Zuo Boyu of seducing the king's wife.
• The Qiang King and Zuo Boyu demanded punishment for Shen Lang, and Shen Lang and Zuo Boyu became locked in a deadly confrontation.

Young Master Shen exposed Daoist Zuo Boyu’s secret connection to Luo Yan, but their claims of being siblings left the Qiang King uncertain. When Princess Arunana contracted real smallpox and Zuo Boyu staged a fake cure for Third Prince Aruhan, Shen arranged for Huang Feng to care for the princess while Aruhan died from carbon monoxide released into his isolation room.

• Young Master Shen used the embroidered love poem on Zuo Boyu’s silk undergarment to accuse him and Luo Yan of an affair, but they claimed to be siblings and presented matching birthmarks as proof.
• Luo Yan accused Young Master Shen of arranging the Qiang envoy’s death, and Shen offered the Qiang King an annual payment of one hundred thousand gold coins and a giant mirror to win his favor.
• The Qiang King ordered Shen detained and demanded a thousand mirrors each year, while Zuo Boyu persuaded him to let both men treat the newly infected Aruhan and Arunana.
• Big Fool rushed to Arunana’s isolation room and held her hand, while Young Master Shen sent Huang Feng inside to care for her and secretly gave her instructions.
• Zuo Boyu applied ointment to Aruhan’s fabricated pox and left the guarded isolation room after a maid summoned him to the palace.
• After Zuo Boyu departed, a thin tube released carbon monoxide into Aruhan’s room, killing the prince in his sleep.

Huang Feng killed Third Prince Aruhan with carbon monoxide while Young Master Shen exposed Zuo Boyu’s conspiracy against the Qiang King. After Zuo Boyu was killed, the Qiang King imprisoned Young Master Shen, who waited for the king’s concealed fake smallpox to erupt so he could bargain for his freedom.

• Huang Feng pumped carbon monoxide into Aruhan’s isolation room and sealed the wall while Big Fool stayed beside Princess Arunana.
• Young Master Shen deduced that Zuo Boyu planned to infect the Qiang King with a virulent fake smallpox and use the threat of death to control him.
• The Qiang King rejected Young Master Shen’s accusations, and Zuo Boyu persuaded him to have Shen executed if Aruhan recovered overnight.
• The guards found Aruhan dead, and Arunana killed Zuo Boyu with Big Fool’s iron staff after accusing him of treating the prince to death.
• Young Master Shen demanded that the Qiang King apologize to the Yue Kingdom before he treated Arunana, so the king had him chained in a prison cage.
• Young Master Shen waited for the Qiang King’s fake smallpox to erupt, expecting the king to beg him for treatment.

Young Master Shen used the Qiang King's sudden, terrifying illness to force him to choose between his life and his pride. The Qiang King agreed to write a confession to the Yue Kingdom, while Young Master Shen remained responsible for proving he could cure him.

• Luo Yan accused Young Master Shen of killing Zuo Boyu and urged the Qiang King to punish him, while Crown Prince Arutai reported that smallpox was killing thousands across the Qiang Kingdom each day.
• Young Master Shen learned from imprisoned Yue Kingdom slaves that the Su Family’s supposed bandits had abducted them and sold them to the Qiang Kingdom, with local officials covering up the raids.
• At sunset, Arutai brought Young Master Shen to the palace and threatened him, while the Qiang King demanded that he kneel and apologize before treating Arunana.
• The Qiang King awoke covered in blister-like sores caused by poison Zuo Boyu had implanted, and he begged Young Master Shen to cure him.
• Young Master Shen demanded that the Qiang King kill Luo Yan, and the Qiang King strangled her after suspecting her and Zuo Boyu had conspired against him.
• Young Master Shen then demanded a written confession to the Yue Kingdom; after Arutai tried to stop him and the Qiang King ordered his son out, the Qiang King agreed to write it in exchange for treatment.

Young Master Shen treated the Qiang King’s smallpox and fever while using the crisis to secure permission for a vaccination facility and the return of Yue Kingdom slaves. After the Qiang King agreed to build a temple, Shen left the palace and found Goddess Xueyin feverish and begging him not to look at her.

• The Qiang King wrote and sealed a confession letter, then drank Shen’s medicine and let him apply ointment to his smallpox sores.
• Arutai agreed to let Shen vaccinate Yue Kingdom slaves and build a facility for protecting Qiang Kingdom citizens, though he warned that a Sacred Temple could provoke rebellion.
• The Qiang King’s symptoms improved, and Shen secretly implanted tiny cyanide-filled pellets in him while treating his fever.
• The Qiang King agreed to build a great temple so Shen could vaccinate the Qiang people, and Shen moved to the embassy residence.
• Shen recognized Goddess Xueyin’s fragrance and discovered that she had a high fever; she trembled and told him not to light the candle or look at her.