Chapter Summaries

Su Fei exposed Governor Li Qinghe’s theft of relief grain and had him arrested. He found tens of thousands of shi of grain in Chen Dayou’s granary, and the displaced people welcomed the news with renewed hope as volunteers prepared to move it.

• Su Fei confronted Li Qinghe with an official grain sack and Chen Dayou’s confession that Li had sold him fifty thousand shi of relief grain.
• Li Qinghe denied the accusation and invoked his rank and ties to the crown prince’s faction, but Su Fei ordered the Imperial Guards to arrest him.
• Su Fei told the displaced people that Chen Dayou’s granary held enough grain to feed them for months and asked for volunteers to move it.
• Su Fei selected fifty able-bodied men and gave each a dry ration, convincing the crowd that food was on its way.
• The displaced people cheered, knelt, and thanked Su Fei for saving their lives.

Su Fei brought grain from Chen Dayou’s granary to feed the refugees and prepared to investigate the flood embankment’s collapse. The next morning, he learned that Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou had died in the Heavenly Prison, and he hurried there to investigate.

• Su Fei reassured the refugees, promised ongoing relief, and sent fifty men with Imperial Guards to collect grain from Chen Dayou’s granary.
• The first carts arrived at the relief camp, where the refugees helped unload grain and prepare porridge.
• The men hauled all the grain from Chen Dayou’s granary through the night, and the refugees ate until they were full.
• Su Fei returned to the commandery governor’s offices and planned to question Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou the next morning.
• A junior clerk told Su Fei that Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou had died after biting off their tongues in the Heavenly Prison.
• Su Fei ordered the coroner to wait and hurried to the Heavenly Prison, forbidding anyone to touch the bodies or cells.

Su Fei discovered that Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou had likely been murdered and their deaths disguised as suicides. Zhou Bo'an visited and tried to shift blame onto Chen Dayou, while Su Fei remained unable to confront him without evidence.

• Su Fei examined Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou's bodies and concluded that someone had forced or helped them sever their tongues before staging their deaths as suicides.
• Su Fei suspected the two men had been silenced to hide secrets about the embankment breach and the sale of disaster-relief grain.
• Zhou Bo'an visited Su Fei, expressed feigned grief, and portrayed Li Qinghe as misled while blaming Chen Dayou as the main culprit.
• Su Fei told Zhou Bo'an that the investigation was unfinished and that responsibility would be determined after the facts were established.
• Zhou Bo'an left believing the lack of witnesses would let him evade scrutiny, while Su Fei watched him go without evidence to challenge him.

Su Fei ordered raids on Chen Dayou's and Li Qinghe's homes, but the searches uncovered far less silver than their grain fraud should have yielded. Suspecting the missing money had been transferred to powerful allies, Su Fei sent Lei Wu to investigate money-house records and Li Qinghe's contacts, and Lei Wu returned with a promising account sheet.

• Su Fei ordered Lei Wu to raid Chen Dayou's and Li Qinghe's residences and search for evidence of their dealings.
• Su Fei reviewed Kuaiji Commandery's officials and learned that relief-grain distribution was proceeding calmly at the resettlement site.
• Lei Wu reported finding thirty thousand taels and valuables at Chen Dayou's home, but only about five thousand taels and no relevant letters or ledgers at Li Qinghe's.
• Su Fei suspected Li Qinghe had transferred the missing silver to Zhou Bo'an or someone farther up the chain, and ordered Lei Wu to check money-house records and trace Li Qinghe's final contacts.
• Three days later, Lei Wu returned with an account sheet after investigating more than twenty money houses in Kuaiji Commandery.

Su Fei traced Li Qinghe’s suspicious transfers to the East Island Medicinal Herb Estate and led fifteen Imperial Guards there to investigate. At the estate, its armed guards denied him entry, but their fortress-like defenses and strange behavior strengthened his suspicions.

• Lei Wu showed Su Fei records of Li Qinghe sending more than twenty thousand taels to the East Island Medicinal Herb Estate in three months without any herb deliveries or visits.
• Su Fei concluded the estate was laundering Li Qinghe’s stolen silver and ordered Lei Wu to gather fifteen armed Imperial Guards.
• Su Fei left a guard behind to oversee grain distribution and report emergencies, then rode with Lei Wu and the others toward the estate.
• Su Fei and the Imperial Guards found high walls, armed men, and numerous horses at the estate, which looked unlike an ordinary herb business.
• The estate guards claimed they were honest traders and asked Su Fei to leave, but he challenged their story by pointing out their weapons, defenses, and well-worn horse saddles.

Su Fei exposed East Island Estate as a Japanese pirate stronghold tied to Li Qinghe and led the Imperial Guards in an assault. After killing the guards at the gate, he entered the compound and began cutting down the pirates gathered there.

• Su Fei caught the estate guards contradicting themselves and struck down their chief when the guards reached for their sabers.
• A guard cried out “Baka,” revealing that the men were Japanese pirates, and Su Fei killed the remaining five with a single blade slash.
• Su Fei ordered Lei Wu and the Imperial Guards to storm the estate, keep a few pirates alive for questioning, and kill the rest.
• Su Fei shattered the gate and found a martial training ground stocked with armor and weapons, where nearly two hundred Japanese pirates were practicing.
• The pirates charged after their leader declared an attack, and Su Fei summoned the Crimson Firmament Sword and killed the first group with a streak of Sword Qi.

Su Fei and Lei Wu led the Imperial Guards in slaughtering Japanese pirates in a courtyard, then confronted Yamamoto Ichiryu and his stronger warriors. Su Fei began a duel with Higashimura Ichiro, who resorted to a concealed weapon after realizing he was outmatched.

• Su Fei and the Imperial Guards killed the Japanese pirates in the courtyard, sparing five who surrendered.
• Yamamoto Ichiryu arrived with twenty warriors and vowed to kill Su Fei and his men.
• Su Fei denounced Yamamoto and the pirates, while Higashimura Ichiro challenged him with Yamamoto's approval.
• Su Fei blocked Higashimura Ichiro's attack with a powerful sword strike, leaving the older warrior shocked by his strength.
• Higashimura Ichiro reached into his robes and pulled out a cylindrical object to use an underhanded attack.

Su Fei killed Higashimura Ichiro after turning the pirate’s poisonous smoke against him, then confronted Yamamoto Ichiryu and vowed to kill every Japanese pirate at East Island Estate. Yamamoto Ichiryu, uncertain he could defeat Su Fei, sent Qiandai Li to attack him with her hidden weapons.

• Higashimura Ichiro released Bone-Corroding Smoke, but Su Fei gathered it with Dragon Catching Skill and fired it back at him.
• The poisonous smoke corroded Higashimura Ichiro, and Su Fei killed him with a Flame Blade that cut him in half.
• Yamamoto Ichiryu and the other Japanese pirates were shaken by Higashimura Ichiro’s death, while Yamamoto Ichiryu weighed whether to advance or retreat.
• Su Fei condemned the pirates for plundering Yuezhou and colluding with Li Qinghe, then vowed to kill everyone at East Island Estate and challenged Daimyo Kuroda to come to Great Xuan.
• Yamamoto Ichiryu sent Qiandai Li to fight Su Fei and avenge Higashimura Ichiro.

Su Fei killed Qiandai Li after her poisoned concealed weapons failed to pierce his defenses, then faced Yamamoto Ichiryu, who attacked with the Shadow Flow Saber Technique and unleashed his ultimate Sea-Splitting Saber. The chapter ended as Su Fei's immense sword intent surged to meet the incoming saber energy.

• Qiandai Li attacked Su Fei with poisoned darts and kunai, but his Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt deflected them.
• Su Fei killed Qiandai Li with Dragon Appears in the Field after she tore his brocade robe.
• Yamamoto Ichiryu used Shadow Escape, but Su Fei found him in the northwest corner and struck him with Sword Qi.
• Yamamoto Ichiryu unleashed the Sea-Splitting Saber, sending a massive blade of energy toward Su Fei.
• Su Fei released a heaven-shaking sword intent as Yamamoto Ichiryu's saber energy bore down on him.

Su Fei killed Yamamoto Ichiryu and questioned the surviving Japanese pirates, uncovering their role in the Kuaiji Commandery dike collapse and evidence of another powerful official behind Li Qinghe. The chapter ended with a pirate drawing a portrait of the unidentified scholar.

• Su Fei defeated Yamamoto Ichiryu with one sword strike, killing him in front of Lei Wu and the Imperial Guards.
• Su Fei ordered Lei Wu to kill some of the remaining Japanese pirates, but they all knelt and begged for mercy.
• Su Fei questioned the pirates and learned that Li Qinghe had hired them to blow up the Kuaiji Commandery dike using plans he provided.
• A pirate revealed that a tall, dark-skinned scholar had accompanied Li Qinghe and appeared to hold authority over him.
• Su Fei ruled out Zhou Bo'an as the scholar and ordered the pirate to draw the man's portrait.

Su Fei confiscated the East Island Medicinal Herb Estate’s valuables and escorted its Japanese pirate prisoners through Kuaiji Commandery City to the government offices. The townsfolk pelted the prisoners with rotten food, and Su Fei ordered them locked up under strict guard.

• Su Fei kept a portrait of the middle-aged scholar and ordered Lei Wu to search the estate while he watched the Japanese pirate prisoners.
• Lei Wu’s men seized more than a hundred thousand taels of silver, along with jewels, medicinal herbs, armor, and Japanese swords worth at least three hundred thousand taels in total.
• Su Fei made the Japanese pirates carry the chests and push carts of weapons back toward Kuaiji Commandery City under Imperial Guard escort.
• Lei Wu announced to the townsfolk that the prisoners were Japanese pirates, prompting the crowd to pelt them with rotten eggs, vegetables, and fruit.
• At the government offices, Su Fei ordered the Japanese pirates confined separately in the rear courtyard and placed under rotating guard.

Su Fei questioned the clerks of the Kuaiji Commandery government office about the portrait of a middle-aged scholar and learned that the man was Mr. Hu, a trusted adviser to Yuezhou Governor Zhou Bo'an. Su Fei concluded that Zhou Bo'an was behind the crimes and began considering how to seize Hu.

• Su Fei ordered the captured pirates’ valuables and military supplies inventoried, then displayed the portrait of the scholar he was seeking.
• Su Fei gathered the government office’s clerks and servants and asked whether anyone recognized the man in the portrait.
• Two clerks hesitated, so Su Fei offered five thousand taels to whoever identified the man and warned them against concealing information.
• The clerks identified the scholar as Mr. Hu, Zhou Bo'an’s trusted personal adviser who handled important documents.
• Su Fei rewarded the clerks and realized that capturing Hu could expose Zhou Bo'an, but he doubted the governor would surrender his adviser through normal procedure.

Su Fei infiltrated Zhou Bo'an's residence to capture Mr. Hu and obtain evidence against the governor. He found Mr. Hu in the advisers' courtyard, where the supposed scholar was having an affair with one of Zhou Bo'an's concubines.

• Su Fei decided he needed to capture Mr. Hu and secure evidence before confronting Zhou Bo'an.
• Su Fei entered the Zhou Residence at night and questioned a sleepy servant boy about Mr. Hu's whereabouts.
• The servant boy directed Su Fei to the first room in the east wing of the advisers' courtyard and said Mr. Hu had no guards outside his door.
• Su Fei reached the room and discovered Mr. Hu was having sex with one of Zhou Bo'an's concubines rather than reading.

Su Fei broke into the Zhou Residence and caught Hu Qiuming in bed, then forced him to confess his role in Zhou Bo'an’s crimes. Hu Qiuming revealed how Zhou Bo'an orchestrated the dike explosions and relief-grain fraud, and arranged the deaths of Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou.

• Su Fei confronted Hu Qiuming and subdued him when Hu Qiuming lunged with a dagger.
• Su Fei identified himself as an Imperial Guard thousand-household commander investigating Kuaiji Commandery and incapacitated Hu Qiuming’s concubine.
• Su Fei threatened Hu Qiuming with the Crimson Firmament Sword and cited the Japanese pirates’ confession about the dike explosions.
• Hu Qiuming confessed that Zhou Bo'an had recruited him as an adviser and put him in charge of contacting the Japanese pirates.
• Hu Qiuming said Zhou Bo'an ordered the dikes blown up, arranged the disaster-relief grain scam, and sent an expert to kill Li Qinghe and Chen Dayou in the Heavenly Prison.

Su Fei obtained Hu Qiuming’s account book proving Zhou Bo'an’s crimes and prepared to arrest the Yuezhou governor. By dawn, he had gathered Imperial Guards and constables to surround Zhou Bo'an’s residence.

• Su Fei learned that Zhou Bo'an colluded with Japanese pirates and sent Zhang Xiucheng one hundred thousand taels each Lunar New Year's Eve.
• Hu Qiuming revealed that he had secretly copied Zhou Bo'an’s account book and led Su Fei to retrieve it from his bedroom.
• Su Fei examined the account book and confirmed that it recorded Zhou Bo'an’s payments to the Japanese pirates and plans to destroy the Kuaiji dike.
• Su Fei told Hu Qiuming to keep the affair secret and serve as a witness, then returned to the Kuaiji Commandery office with the evidence.
• At dawn, Su Fei ordered Lei Wu to assemble nineteen Imperial Guards and more than fifty constables, then directed them to surround Zhou Bo'an’s residence and arrest anyone who tried to escape.

Su Fei led Imperial Guard and constables to arrest Yuezhou Governor Zhou Bo'an over the dike collapse and the resale of relief grain. Zhou Bo'an was confronted with a ledger detailing his crimes and called on Senior Li for help.

• Su Fei ordered Lei Wu and the constables to surround Zhou Bo'an's residence and arrest him if he resisted.
• The Imperial Guard surrounded the Zhou Residence, and the old steward rushed inside to warn Zhou Bo'an.
• Zhou Bo'an left breakfast and confronted Su Fei at the gate, insisting the case against him had already been closed.
• Su Fei displayed the ledger and read entries accusing Zhou Bo'an of colluding with Japanese pirates, blowing up the dikes, reselling relief grain, and sending Zhang Xiucheng annual payments.
• Zhou Bo'an panicked and ordered his servants to summon Senior Li, while Su Fei let them go so he could see who arrived.

Su Fei confronted Zhou Bo'an’s powerful ally, Li Shengtian, after Li demanded that he surrender the incriminating ledger. The two unleashed opposing palm strikes, leaving their clash unresolved.

• Senior Li emerged from Zhou Bo'an’s residence and demanded that Zhou arrange more concubines for him.
• Zhou Bo'an asked Li Shengtian to help subdue Su Fei and recover the ledger, explaining that Su Fei was an imperial commissioner with the Imperial Sword of Authority.
• Li Shengtian threatened Su Fei and released the pressure of his martial saint realm second-layer strength, but Su Fei remained calm and declared Zhou Bo'an guilty before the gathered guards.
• Zhou Bo'an offered Li Shengtian twenty concubines, and Li decided to seize the ledger and help protect their shared crown prince faction.
• Li Shengtian attacked Su Fei with Heaven-Destroying Palm, and Su Fei countered with Dragon Ascending to Heaven as a golden dragon surged toward the purple palm.

Su Fei defeated Li Shengtian and arrested him alongside Zhou Bo'an, then ordered the Imperial Guards to search the Zhou Residence. The search uncovered a detailed ledger documenting Zhou Bo'an’s corruption and payments to Zhang Xiucheng.

• Su Fei shattered Li Shengtian’s attacks and sent him crashing into a wall, leaving him badly injured.
• Su Fei declared that he would arrest Li Shengtian and Zhou Bo'an, and ordered the Imperial Guards to bind them and search the residence.
• Lei Wu and the Imperial Guards found chests of gold, silver notes worth three hundred thousand taels, and other valuables in the Zhou Residence.
• An Imperial Guard found a hidden ledger in Zhou Bo'an’s study, and Lei Wu delivered it to Su Fei.
• Su Fei read the ledger and found records of Zhou Bo'an’s dealings with Japanese pirates, payments to Zhang Xiucheng, and fraud involving military funds.

Su Fei exposed Zhou Bo'an’s crimes, seized his wealth to fund relief for the displaced people, and prepared to escort the prisoners and evidence to the imperial capital. As Su Fei oversaw the relief work, Old Zheng secretly sent a message by carrier pigeon.

• Su Fei found Zhou Bo'an’s ledger, and Zhou Bo'an fainted after realizing his crimes had been exposed; Su Fei ordered a physician to keep him alive.
• Lei Wu reported that Zhou Bo'an’s valuables totaled about six hundred thousand taels and that his storeroom held armor prepared for Japanese pirates.
• Su Fei ordered some of the illicit funds used to buy building materials and construct wooden houses for displaced people in Kuaiji Commandery.
• After a physician revived Zhou Bo'an, Su Fei secured the ledger, prisoners, and confiscated goods at the Zhou Residence and planned to stay until relief construction was underway.
• Old Zheng secretly sent a written message by carrier pigeon, while Su Fei continued traveling between the Zhou Residence and the settlement site.

Su Fei helped displaced people move into newly built wooden houses while Crown Prince Zhao Yan and Zhang Xiucheng learned that Su Fei had uncovered their crimes in Yuezhou. They arranged for Kuroda Domain to ambush Su Fei at Blackstone Ridge and eliminate the evidence against them.

• Su Fei hired workers and organized displaced people to build wooden houses, then ordered the elderly and young to move into the first completed homes.
• A carrier pigeon brought Zhao Yan and Zhang Xiucheng news that Su Fei had arrested Zhou Bo'an and Li Shengtian and seized account books implicating Zhang Xiucheng.
• Zhao Yan decided to use Kuroda Domain to kill Su Fei, recover the captured Japanese pirates and valuables, and destroy the evidence.
• Zhang Xiucheng identified Blackstone Ridge as the unavoidable, isolated route for Su Fei's return to the capital and proposed it as the ambush site.