Chapter Summaries

Young Master Shen struggled to identify the poison killing Xueyin while Zhong Chuke left to seek an antidote, and he helped Big Fool care for the smallpox-stricken Princess Arunana as the epidemic worsened. As Shen prepared to begin vaccinating the Qiang people, Snow Mountain Temple monks attacked Xueyin and Shen during one of her painful episodes.

• Xueyin endured a severe attack, revealed her frozen, expressionless face to Young Master Shen, and told him Floating Pagoda Mountain had poisoned her.
• Zhong Chuke said Xueyin had fewer than ten days to live, entrusted her care and Big Fool's future to Shen, and rode off to demand an antidote from Floating Pagoda Mountain.
• Shen gave Big Fool instructions to wash and medicate Princess Arunana, and Big Fool devotedly cared for her while she suffered from smallpox.
• The Qiang King authorized a giant tent to serve as Shen's vaccination temple, and the Heavenly Dao Society delivered mirrors and materials for its construction.
• Xueyin continued isolating infected civilians and protecting them from slaughter while Shen searched unsuccessfully for a cure and worried that she had only days to live.
• When Xueyin's condition worsened, she asked Shen to help her bathe and dress; more than a dozen Snow Mountain Temple monks burst into the house and charged toward her chamber.

Shen Lang and Xueyin survived an attack by Snow Mountain Temple monks, but her poison worsened and Shen Lang could not find a cure. As Xueyin’s final poisoning began, Bitter Sea Monk arrived to avenge his monks and confront her.

• Xueyin used an ultrasonic shriek to disable the attacking monks, and Shen Lang killed them before she shattered the bath barrel with her feet to save him from their leader.
• Shen Lang cared for Xueyin through her poison flare, while she explained that Chou Yao'er and Big Fool were stronger through overwhelming force.
• Xueyin managed more than a thousand Yue Kingdom slaves who received cowpox inoculations and built the Sacred Temple, where they raised a statue of her as their Saintess.
• Shen Lang spent Xueyin’s final days searching unsuccessfully for a cure, while the slaves created and installed a statue of her in the Sacred Temple.
• Xueyin’s final poison flare left her completely frozen as Bitter Sea Monk entered the courtyard and declared that he had come to seek justice for the monks she killed.

Bitter Sea Monk declared war on Young Master Shen’s Sacred Temple, while Shen identified the gu worms poisoning Xueyin and prepared a treatment from Big Fool’s Golden Bloodline. After cowpox inoculation proved effective and drew thousands of Qiang citizens to the temple, the Qiang King and his allies secretly plotted to kill Shen and profit from the vaccine; 2,500 bald warriors marched on the Sacred Temple as Shen set out to fight and save Xueyin.

• Bitter Sea Monk demanded that Young Master Shen demolish the Sacred Temple and surrender his smallpox treatment method, then left after threatening a holy war when Shen refused.
• Shen examined Xueyin’s blood and discovered that Floating Pagoda Mountain’s gu worms were paralyzing her, then refined Big Fool’s Golden Bloodline into an experimental remedy as her life faded.
• The first fifty people inoculated by Shen resisted deliberate exposure to smallpox, prompting thousands of Qiang citizens to kneel at the Sacred Temple and seek vaccination.
• Bitter Sea Monk’s warriors formally declared war on the Sacred Temple, and Shen accepted the challenge while promising to save Xueyin and fight that night.
• The Qiang King, Crown Prince, Su Mo, Bitter Sea, and Su Yong agreed to charge citizens for vaccination and arranged to kill Shen; 2,500 bald warriors then charged toward the Sacred Temple.

Shen Lang used Big Fool’s Golden Bloodline essence to draw the parasitic insects out of Xueyin and revive her as Snow Mountain Temple’s warriors surrounded the Sacred Temple. He redirected a lightning strike through a wire mesh to annihilate the attacking force, and Xueyin awakened as the battle turned.

• Princess Arunana learned that Big Fool was leaving, then discovered her family planned to let the Sacred Temple be attacked and chose to fight beside her husband.
• Shen Lang drained the parasitic insects from Xueyin with the Golden Bloodline essence, removed their mother insect, and saved her life.
• Bitter Sea Monk led 2,500 Snow Mountain Temple warriors to surround the Sacred Temple and charge its defenders.
• Shen Shisan connected the wire mesh to the iron pillar, and Big Fool severed the pillar’s grounding connection as Shen Lang’s plan prepared to channel lightning into the surrounding ground.
• Lightning struck the pillar and surged through the wire mesh, killing many attacking monks and setting others ablaze.
• Xueyin opened her eyes and awakened inside the Sacred Temple.

Shen Shisan defeated the Snow Mountain Temple attack, established the Sacred Temple in the Qiang Kingdom, and returned toward Yue Kingdom with Princess Arunana staying behind to protect the refugees. In the capital, Ning Yuanxian learned that Consort Bian was pregnant and that Shen had completed his mission.

• Shen Shisan used lightning, landmines, and the Qiang people’s uprising to repel the Bald Warriors, while Xueyin killed Bitter Sea Monk.
• Shen displayed Bitter Sea Monk’s head, and the Qiang King decided to have Shen ambushed after he left the kingdom.
• Shen’s delegation departed under the protection of tens of thousands of Qiang people, thwarting Arutai’s ambush plan.
• At the border, Shen persuaded Arunana to stay and protect the refugees by founding a tribe and providing free smallpox inoculations; she left with Big Fool and the people.
• Ning Yuanxian learned that Consort Bian was pregnant and that Shen had completed his mission, secured the Qiang King’s confession, and established a Sacred Temple.

On his journey back to the capital, Young Master Shen studied Goddess Xueyin’s transforming gu worms, survived a tense encounter with Three-Eyed Fiend’s bandits, and drew attention from rival political factions seeking his glass-mirror formula. He reached Lang Prefecture, where He Wanwan came to see him and MuLan unexpectedly appeared while he was hiding beneath Xueyin’s blanket.

• Young Master Shen theorized that Goddess Xueyin’s gu worms transformed Golden Bloodline essence and might someday be used to improve bloodline aptitude, though he had no way to test the idea yet.
• Three-Eyed Fiend surrounded Young Master Shen’s delegation with thousands of horse bandits but let them pass through the valley after Young Master Shen taunted him.
• Goddess Xueyin told Young Master Shen that the Crown Prince admired him, while Zhaoyan offered him three million gold coins for the glass-mirror formula; later, a Third Prince’s aide also tried to recruit him in exchange for the formula.
• News of Young Master Shen’s success in the Qiang Kingdom spread through the capital, and the Monarch promoted it as a major diplomatic victory while the Sha Barbarian war threatened to worsen.
• In Lang Prefecture, Young Master Shen hid beneath Goddess Xueyin’s blanket when He Wanwan arrived, then recited a poem to her from the room.
• MuLan unexpectedly arrived and praised Young Master Shen’s poem, leaving him terrified of being caught beside Goddess Xueyin.

Shen Lang returned from the Qiang Kingdom to a hero’s welcome, but he and Ning Zheng planned to bring down Su Nan rather than accept a mission to the Sha Barbarians. At court, Zhu Wenhua accused Shen Lang of conspiring with Xueyin to overthrow the Great Yan Dynasty, leaving Shen Lang facing a grave charge.

• MuLan reunited with Shen Lang, then left to return home, while He Wanwan visited and questioned him about the famous lyric he had sold her.
• Yun Mengze warned Shen Lang that officials were promoting him as an envoy to the Sha Barbarians, and the Crown Prince’s camp discussed using Shen Lang’s rise to pressure Su Nan.
• Shen Lang returned to the capital in a grand procession, presented the Qiang King’s confession and the Sacred Temple’s Ten Thousand People’s Illustration, and reminded the Monarch of his promise to ennoble Jin Zhuo and grant the Jin Family Raging Tide City.
• Shen Lang told Ning Zheng he would force Su Nan from office and join Ning Zheng in carrying out the New Policy against the Su Family.
• At court, Grand Censor Wang Chengchou presented Zhu Wenhua’s accusation that Shen Lang intended to overthrow the Great Yan Dynasty, and Zhu Wenhua demanded his execution and Xueyin’s arrest.

Shen Lang turned Zhu Wenhua’s accusation that Xueyin was a Great Yan Empire wanted criminal against him, securing Zhu’s arrest after the Yan envoys and Ning Yuanxian denied her identity. As the court moved to reward Jin Zhuo for taking Raging Tide City, a minister accused the Jin Family of plotting rebellion with Wu Kingdom.

• Zhu Wenhua presented a witness who claimed Shen Lang had associated with Xueyin, and demanded that Shen Lang’s nine clans be exterminated.
• Shen Lang attacked Zhu Wenhua in court, was caned, and watched as Li Zhun arrested Xueyin and brought her before the Monarch.
• Yun Mengze and four Great Yan envoys identified Xueyin as not being the wanted criminal, and Ning Yuanxian dismissed the accusation.
• Shen Lang struck Zhu again after Zhu continued to protest, and Ning Yuanxian stripped Zhu of office and ordered his imprisonment.
• Ning Yuanxian proposed investing Jin Zhuo as Xuanwu Marquis for taking Raging Tide City, but a minister accused the Jin Family of conspiring with Wu Kingdom and called for Jin Zhuo’s arrest.

Young Master Shen exposed a plot to frame Jin Zhuo for colluding with Wu Kingdom, securing Jin Zhuo’s enfeoffment as Xuanwu Marquis and the Jin Family’s control of Raging Tide City. After Xueyin left for Floating Pagoda Mountain, Jiang Ming appeared and claimed to be the son of her former king.

• Yu Chengzhu accused Jin Zhuo of treason and urged the Monarch to detain Young Master Shen and Jin MuCong as hostages.
• Young Master Shen presented Wang Chengyan’s head and revealed that Jin Zhuo had captured two other Wu Kingdom officials, convincing the Monarch of Jin Zhuo’s loyalty.
• The Monarch enfeoffed Jin Zhuo as Xuanwu Marquis, confirmed the Jin Family’s administration of Raging Tide City, and sent Ning Qi to deliver the decrees.
• Young Master Shen accused Yu Chengzhu of conspiring with Wu Kingdom, and the Monarch ordered Yu Chengzhu imprisoned in the Blackwater Directorate Prison before stripping Young Master Shen of his court post.
• Yu Keke and Yu Cece caused a scene over a torn portrait of Xueyin, who then departed for Floating Pagoda Mountain and told Young Master Shen to send Big Fool to Sword King Li Qianqiu if she and Zhong Chuke did not return.
• Jiang Ming arrived as Xueyin was leaving, called her Aunt, and claimed that his father had been the king who died twenty years earlier.

Shen Lang learned the truth about Ying WuMing and Xueyin’s hatred of his family, then planned with Ning Zheng to bring down Su Nan. As Zhang Chong’s health failed in prison, the chapter ended with the Monarch hearing that he might die that night.

• Xueyin attacked Ying WuMing but stopped when she recognized him as Jiang Li’s adopted son and her nephew, then warned Shen Lang to avoid him.
• Xueyin told Shen Lang that she would settle the affairs in Lang Prefecture and revealed that her gentle appearance concealed a violent past she was trying to atone for.
• Shen Lang told Ning Zheng that they would replace Zhang Chong as standard-bearers of the New Policy and that Su Nan’s downfall was near.
• Crown Prince Ning Yi refused to prioritize rescuing Zhang Chong and ordered Zhaoyan to retrieve the plaque he had given the Xu Family.
• Zhang Chong remained imprisoned because he refused to plead guilty, while his son Zhang Xun continued kneeling outside the prison.
• Grand Eunuch Li Zhun told Ning Yuanxian that Zhang Chong was dying and might not survive the night.

Young Master Shen operated on the dying Zhang Chong, and Zhang Chong woke after the surgery. Meanwhile, Kutou Huan threatened Xu Qianqian, intending to use her as leverage in a trade with her husband.

• Monarch Ning Yuanxian ordered Zhang Chong released and sent imperial physicians, but they declared his intestinal carbuncle incurable.
• Young Master Shen arrived at Zhang Chong’s home and performed emergency surgery, removing his inflamed appendix while Zhang Xun and the family prayed.
• Monarch Ning Yuanxian learned Young Master Shen had gone to visit Zhang Chong and reflected on his compassion.
• Kutou Huan entered Xu Qianqian’s room and threatened to take her head, but Xu Qianqian urged him to use her to bargain with her husband instead.
• Young Master Shen stayed overnight at Zhang Xun’s home, and Zhang Chong finally opened his eyes at dawn.

After Young Master Shen saved Zhang Chong, Zhang Chong agreed to join his coming court battle against Su Nan and the Monarch reinstated him. With the decisive showdown two days away, Yun Mengze drugged Young Master Shen and Ning Yan and locked them together in a room.

• Zhang Chong awakened after Young Master Shen cured his intestinal abscess, then learned that Young Master Shen planned to bring Su Nan down in a decisive court battle in thirteen days.
• Zhang Chong offered to support Young Master Shen, citing evidence and a righteous cause against the Su Clan.
• The Monarch ordered Zhang Chong released and reinstated, and the court learned that he had returned to his post as a Right Grandee.
• The Monarch departed for the border hunt with the Wu King while Young Master Shen's showdown with Su Nan drew near.
• Kutou Huan failed to kill Xu Qianqian, took the plaque bearing Xu Embroidered Tiannan, and left after she urged him to seek Young Master Shen's help.
• Yun Mengze drugged Young Master Shen and Ning Yan, carried them into a room, and locked them together.

Young Master Shen left Yun Mengze’s residence after he and Ning Yan agreed to treat their night together as an accident, while Zhang Chong began targeting Su Nan in court. Ning Yuanxian returned from the disastrous border hunt in a fury, and He Wanwan’s suicide note accusing Young Master Shen of plotting against him prompted the Monarch to order his arrest.

• Ning Yan beat Young Master Shen after he tried to reject her first, and they agreed to remain good brothers.
• Yun Mengze explained that Ning Yan’s manly persona had begun as an act and that he had brought her and Young Master Shen together.
• Zhang Chong asked the Crown Prince to investigate Su Lin and Su Nan’s family, and the Crown Prince approved the investigation.
• Ning Yuanxian returned to the capital after Yue Kingdom’s crushing defeat at the border hunt and learned that He Wanwan had committed suicide.
• Ning Yuanxian read He Wanwan’s note accusing Young Master Shen of manipulating her and ordered Blackwater Directorate to arrest him.
• Blackwater Directorate Warriors stormed the Jin Family Residence, while Su Nan said Young Master Shen was doomed.

After He Wanwan’s death, Ning Yuanxian ordered Shen Lang transferred from the Blackwater Directorate to the Great Court of Revision for trial, while Shen Lang’s allies tried to protect him. Yan WeiYi prepared to torture Shen Lang, but Shen Lang revealed that Yan WeiYi’s family had already been killed and threatened the survival of his remaining household.

• Ning Yuanxian raged over He Wanwan’s death, then ordered Jin MuCong made a Recommended Man and transferred Shen Lang to the Great Court of Revision for trial with Blackwater Directorate specialists assisting.
• Jin MuCong sent Jin An to tell his father that the family might rebel if Shen Lang was killed, while Ning Yan gathered warriors to break Shen Lang out of prison.
• Ning Jie refused to help Ning Yan, who broke down in tears before Yun Mengze agreed to accompany her in making a commotion at the Great Court of Revision Prison.
• Ning Zheng pleaded unsuccessfully with Consort Su and Consort Bian to protect Shen Lang from torture.
• Yan WeiYi threatened to burn Shen Lang with a branding iron, but Shen Lang warned him that his family had been killed and his other household would also die if he harmed him.
• A fire consumed Yan WeiYi’s household, killing all fifteen people there.

Shen Lang faced a joint hearing for allegedly deceiving the Monarch and cursing the Crown Prince, while Yan WeiYi blamed him for his household’s deaths and the disappearance of his sons. As the Monarch ordered Shen Lang’s honors stripped and torture prepared, Zhang Chong revealed that He Wanwan had been murdered, launching a counterattack.

• Yan WeiYi learned that fifteen members of his household had died in a strange fire and that his wife and sons had been taken for ransom, then threatened Shen Lang but hesitated to torture him further.
• Wang Jinglun, Zhang Chong, and Yan WeiYi convened a joint hearing, where Wang accused Shen Lang of grave crimes and tried to link Jin An’s journey to a plot by the Jin Clan to rebel.
• Third Princess Ning Yan arrived with her warriors and attacked the Great Court of Revision, while officials sent urgent memorials to the Monarch about the escalating crisis.
• The Monarch read Zhang Chong’s account of the Su Family’s slave trade and smuggling with Chu Kingdom, then sent Li Zhun and the Third Prince to question Shen Lang.
• Shen Lang admitted writing and selling “When Will the Moon Be Clear” to He Wanwan but denied the other accusations, as the officials prepared to strip his scholarly honors and torture him.
• Zhang Chong announced that He Wanwan’s body showed she had been murdered, not driven to suicide.

During Young Master Shen’s trial, the autopsy initially confirmed He Wanwan had died by arsenic poisoning, but Zhang Chong uncovered clues that her death was staged as a suicide. The Monarch ordered her abdomen opened, revealing a hidden message accusing Su Jianting of harming her and forcing her to frame Young Master Shen.

• At the joint trial, Young Master Shen admitted selling He Wanwan his poem to show off, pursue her, and spite Li Wenzheng, while denying he had plotted against Li Wenzheng.
• At Far Suppressing Marquis Manor, Su Jianting revealed that he had poisoned He Wanwan with arsenic after she believed she was drinking Soul Dissolving Powder, and Su Nan ordered plans to ensure Young Master Shen died if convicted.
• The female medical officers ruled He Wanwan’s death a suicide, but Zhang Chong pointed out that the arsenic should have caused agony and noticed suspicious marks on her suicide note.
• Zhang Chong and Young Master Shen argued that He Wanwan’s peaceful death suggested Soul Dissolving Powder, and Zhang Chong drew attention to a marked line in her note asking for her abdomen to be cut open.
• The Monarch ordered He Wanwan’s abdomen opened, and Li Zhun found a wax pellet in her stomach containing a message in her handwriting accusing Su Jianting of harming her and forcing her to frame Young Master Shen.
• A female medical officer confirmed that He Wanwan may have been defiled before her death, leaving Su Jianting’s role exposed.

Young Master Shen’s scheme exposed the Su Clan’s plot to frame him, prompting the Monarch to order Su Jianting’s arrest while avoiding a direct confrontation with Su Nan. The chapter ended as Blackwater Directorate Warriors stormed Far Suppressing Marquis Manor to seize Su Jianting and summon Su Nan to the palace.

• Xueyin’s covert operation revealed that she had planted a forged suicide note inside He Wanwan, implicating Su Jianting in her death and the plot against Young Master Shen.
• Yan WeiYi accidentally exposed his knowledge of He Wanwan’s death, and Li Zhun reported his suspicious words to the Monarch.
• The Monarch ordered Yan WeiYi’s family executed and commanded that Yan WeiYi be tortured and killed, while deciding to arrest Su Jianting but leave Su Nan’s power intact for now.
• Su Nan realized Young Master Shen had turned his own scheme against the Su Clan, but resolved to continue his assault on Young Master Shen and the Jin Family.
• Blackwater Directorate Warriors broke into Far Suppressing Marquis Manor to arrest Su Jianting and summon Su Nan to the palace.

Su Nan resisted the Monarch’s attempt to arrest Su Jianting and challenged him over court appointments, while the Monarch’s effort to punish Young Master Shen and Ning Yan was exposed at court. A Wu Kingdom force then threatened Shangye City, and Su Jianting joined the Qiang King’s plans for war as the poison inside the king neared its deadly end.

• Yu Wanting searched Far Suppressing Marquis Manor for Su Jianting, but Su Nan told him his son had left for the Qiang Kingdom and went to meet Ning Yuanxian.
• Su Nan denied that Su Jianting had attacked Xuanwu Earl’s Manor, then recommended Wang Jinglun and Wang Qike for posts in Baiye Prefecture and Zhenyuan City.
• Ning Yuanxian discovered that Ning Yan had protected Young Master Shen from further lashes, sent him to the cellar, and ordered Ning Yan confined after Lin Bingzhong exposed their affair and her troop deployment in court.
• A military report announced that thirty thousand Wu Kingdom troops were advancing on Shangye City, and Ning Yuanxian asked Su Nan how Yue Kingdom should respond.
• At Aruguang’s birthday banquet, Su Jianting urged the Qiang King to demand Young Master Shen’s death, while the poison balls inside Aruguang were close to releasing their cyanide.

At his birthday banquet, Qiang King Aruguang died after his wild sword display triggered the cyanide in his body. His death shattered Su Nan’s plan to use a Qiang invasion to pressure Ning Yuanxian, while Young Master Shen remained imprisoned and Princess Ning Yan was placed under house arrest.

• Qiang King Aruguang ordered Aruchuo to take three thousand men to Arunana’s tribe and demand that she kneel before him within ten days.
• Aruguang negotiated with the Chu envoy for three hundred thousand gold coins, then killed five Sha Barbarian experts with one saber strike.
• Aruguang destroyed the treasures Young Master Shen had given him and suddenly froze before blood poured from his seven orifices; a eunuch announced his death.
• Young Master Shen and Ning Yan were found under the same quilt, but Grand Justice Ning Yu recorded that their relationship was innocent; Ning Yan was confined and Shen remained in the ice cellar.
• Ning Yuanxian kept Shen imprisoned while turning his attention to the threats posed by the Wu King and Su Nan.
• Su Nan received a coded message from his son stating that the Qiang King had died suddenly, and he froze in shock.

Young Master Shen warned Ning Yuanxian that Su Nan might be plotting a new Yan Province Change, but the Qiang King's sudden death plunged Qiang Kingdom into civil strife and changed the balance of power. Ning Yuanxian ordered Su Nan arrested, only for Li Zhun and Yan E to discover that the man in Su Nan's courtyard was an impostor.

• Young Master Shen urged Ning Yuanxian to prepare for Su Nan's possible alliance with Qiang Kingdom and recommended arresting him, but Ning Yuanxian instead ordered the Blackwater Directorate to monitor Far Suppressing Marquis Manor.
• After the Qiang King died, his sons began fighting over power while a Blackwater Directorate spy sent news of his death and Qiang Kingdom's turmoil to the capital.
• Su Nan reacted to the Qiang King's death with fury, then ordered the plan set in motion as Su Yong lit candles on the manor's high platform.
• Yan E delivered news of the Qiang King's death to Ning Yuanxian, who ordered Li Zhun and Yan E to lead three thousand Blackwater Directorate Warriors in arresting Su Nan.
• Li Zhun and Yan E confronted the old man in Su Nan's courtyard, but Li Zhun realized that the man was not Su Nan.