Chapter Summaries

Wang Xuan exposed the Southern Shaomu leaders’ crimes and brought the temple’s upper ranks to ruin. He seized its manuals and classics, then returned to camp with dozens of Shaolin skills that could fill gaps in his martial arts.

• Wang Xuan entered Southern Shaomu Temple with soldiers and confronted the Old Abbot about the temple’s abuses.
• Wang Xuan revealed the Old Abbot’s crimes, and the Old Abbot killed himself after Zhengdu learned the truth.
• Wang Xuan urged Zhengdu to leave the temple, but Zhengdu died after asking him to spare Buddhism; soldiers took the remaining monks away.
• Wang Xuan ordered Yu Leyou and the soldiers to search the temple, collecting its classics, manuals, and hidden texts before sealing the mountain gate.
• Wang Xuan returned to camp with forty-six of Southern Shaomu’s Seventy-Two Supreme Skills and began organizing his gains.

After destroying Southern Shaomu, Wang Xuan reorganized its surviving monks, imposed taxes, and launched major construction and resettlement projects across Fujian and Little Liuqiu. He focused on mastering the captured martial arts before a message from the capital drew his attention.

• Wang Xuan used the system to analyze the Evil Warding Swordplay and other Shaomu arts, then assigned the manuals’ practical use to Qinghong Zaobai and Ye Huo.
• Wang Xuan selected a little over a hundred devoted Buddhist monks to form a new Buddhist core, while sending the other captives to labor or into the army.
• Wang Xuan completed the eradication of Southern Shaomu, secured Fujian, and began collecting taxes and building roads throughout the province.
• Wang Xuan lent ten thousand soldiers to Fujian’s wealthy families so they could escort people back from the north, accelerating resettlement and construction.
• Wang Xuan practiced Shaomu’s ultimate arts and planned to create techniques suited to himself while strengthening his body with the Golden Bell Shield Iron Cloth Shirt and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill.
• A message from the capital caught Wang Xuan’s attention as he focused on cultivation.

Wang Xuan learned how Li Shantang had secured the Minister of War post and directed him to recruit Hong Chengchou and Yuan Chonghuan. He then tasked Liu Wenju with buying and relocating Liaodong's commoners beyond the passes, ending as Liu Wenju burst into tears at Wang Xuan's dubious display of concern.

• A guard from the Special Operations Team delivered Li Shantang's coded report, and Wang Xuan learned that Li Shantang had secured the Minister of War post and quietly courted the Crown Prince.
• After Li Shantang asked how much to reveal about Wang Xuan, Wang Xuan told him to share most of the information and recruit Hong Chengchou and Yuan Chonghuan into the Ministry of War.
• Wang Xuan received Liu Wenju and praised his profitable trade transporting livestock and timber from the Jurchen people.
• Wang Xuan ordered Liu Wenju to meet Yang Hao and buy every commoner living beyond the passes in Liaodong for five taels per person, moving whole families to Fujian.
• Liu Wenju listened to Wang Xuan claim that concern for the people had inspired the plan, then suddenly burst into tears.

Wang Xuan oversaw Little Liuqiu’s rapid settlement and cultivation while arranging for Li Shantang to support Hong Chengchou and Yuan Chonghuan in the capital. The chapter left the two men beginning their careers under Li’s patronage, with Hong suspecting Wang Xuan had arranged it.

• Wang Xuan paid the Liu Family Head six taels of silver per person to carry out his task, and the man pledged his loyalty with extravagant praise.
• Wang Xuan focused on Little Liuqiu’s development as ports, towns, roads, and villages expanded and more than a million mu of land was cultivated.
• Wang Xuan stationed troops to guard against conflicts with mountain tribes and sent intermediaries to encourage trade or settlement.
• Li Shantang introduced Yuan Chonghuan and Hong Chengchou, explaining that someone had asked him to cultivate and look after them.
• Hong Chengchou accepted Li Shantang’s offer to transfer him from the Hanlin Academy to the Ministry of War, while Yuan Chonghuan received a promise of a post if he passed the Jinshi examination.
• Hong Chengchou suspected Wang Xuan had arranged their support but kept his guess to himself.

Liu Wenju persuaded Yang Hao to arrange the relocation of Liaodong civilians in exchange for silver, hoping to resettle them in Fujian. Yang Hao’s greed led his soldiers to seize and abuse the villagers, leaving Liu to compensate the survivors and return with his mission in ruins.

• Liu Wenju offered Yang Hao five taels per person to move civilians from beyond the Daling River defenses, and Yang Hao agreed to discuss the plan with his generals.
• Yang Hao reduced the payments and allowed soldiers to seize villagers by force, resulting in deaths, looting, and the abuse of women.
• Liu Wenju discovered that only a fraction of the expected civilians had been gathered and cursed Yang Hao for ruining Wang Xuan’s assignment.
• Liu Wenju promised the captives safe lives and work in Fujian, then paid them compensation for their losses until they believed his intentions.
• Liu Wenju left Liaodong having lost several thousand taels of silver and vowed to have Wang Xuan pursue Yang Hao.

Wang Xuan sent two thousand soldiers and craftsmen north to establish a base on Juehua Island and secure a route for bringing Liaodong commoners south. His forces swiftly took the island’s pier and naval camp, while the Ming commander prepared to flee and then froze at the doorway.

• Liu Wenju admitted that his mishandling of the Liaodong mission had caused resentment, and Wang Xuan decided to recruit commoners directly while sending two thousand troops to Juehua Island.
• Wang Xuan ordered winter supplies prepared and personally led the fleet north with soldiers, craftsmen, and construction materials.
• The fleet arrived at Juehua Island, where Qi Xuefeng’s troops disarmed the six patrolling Ming soldiers and advanced toward the naval camp.
• Qi Xuefeng’s forces broke through the camp gate, surrounded the camp, and pressed their attack as its soldiers panicked.
• The Ming commander ordered his guards to prepare to flee, shoved aside the two women with him, and froze when he opened the door.

After Liu Wenju reported that his plan in Liaodong had angered the people, Wang Xuan sent troops to seize Juehua Island as a base for bringing them south. The island’s Ming garrison surrendered almost immediately, and Wang Xuan sent Liu Wenju and Bi Yongshou to negotiate with Zu Dashou while warning that Yang Hao would not be a problem for long.

• Liu Wenju admitted his Liaodong plan had gone badly, and Wang Xuan decided to send two thousand troops to establish a port and garrison on Juehua Island.
• Wang Xuan’s fleet reached the island, where Qi Xuefeng led an assault that quickly captured the dock and surrounded the naval camp.
• The Ming soldiers and their commander, Bi Yongshou, surrendered, and Wang Xuan assigned the prisoners to construction work on the island base.
• Wang Xuan learned that Bi Yongshou spoke Jurchen and Mongolian because he had practiced surrendering in those languages to survive defeats.
• Wang Xuan sent Liu Wenju and Bi Yongshou to meet Zu Dashou and arrange to bring people out of Liaodong, while warning that Yang Hao would soon be dead.

Bi Yongshou brought Liu Wenju to Zu Dashou with an offer to buy civilians, while Liu Wenju warned that Yang Hao would soon die. After Qinghong Zaobai killed Yang Hao and escaped, Zu Dashou helped move civilians to Juehua Island, where Wang Xuan put them to work; the chapter ended with Wang Xuan ordering Qinghong Zaobai to undertake another mission.

• Bi Yongshou told Zu Dashou that Wang Xuan would pay five taels for every civilian and that Yang Hao would not live much longer.
• Qinghong Zaobai used a staged seduction and apparent suicide to kill Yang Hao, then escaped after the authorities found the scene.
• Zu Dashou disciplined his troops and helped drive civilians toward the coast, while Qi Xuefeng bought and transported them to Juehua Island.
• As rumors spread among the arriving civilians, Wang Xuan sent troops to put them to work building up the island.
• Wang Xuan heard Liu Wenju's report that an investigation was nearly complete and told Qinghong Zaobai to act.

Qinghong Zaobai abducted Fan Wencheng and his family from Fushun and brought him to Wang Xuan, who beat him until he confessed that he had defected to Nurhaci for status and power. Wang Xuan then ordered Liu Wenju to develop Juehua Island as a trading port and prepared to travel to Beijing.

• Wang Xuan sent Qinghong Zaobai to bring Fan Wencheng and his family out of Fushun, warning her to watch for Jurchen experts.
• Qinghong Zaobai captured the Fan brothers and their family, then escorted them out of the city to Liu Wenju's caravan.
• At Juehua Island, Fan Wencheng claimed he had infiltrated the Jurchen to serve the Ming, but Wang Xuan beat him until he admitted he had sought power and position.
• Wang Xuan ordered Liu Wenju to turn Juehua Island into a trading port linking the Guan Ning Army, Jurchen, Duoyan Three Guards, and Mongols.
• Wang Xuan explained that trade could influence a country's strategy and way of life, then decided to travel to Beijing.

Wang Xuan traveled to the capital, met with Li Shantang to discuss Liaodong policy, and secretly arranged for six young eunuchs to enter the palace. Impatient to wait for them to find Zui Hongchen, he broke into the palace with Qinghong Zaobai and grabbed a eunuch to force him to give directions.

• Wang Xuan left Juehua Island, traveled through Tianjin, and arrived in Capital City with Fan Wencheng and his companions.
• Li Shantang welcomed Wang Xuan, who praised Hong Chengchou and discussed Liaodong defenses, Guan Ning Army finances, and keeping Ming troops from intervening beyond the pass.
• Wang Xuan spent several days in Capital City and arranged through the Imperial Guard for six young eunuchs to enter the palace and serve Zui Hongchen or gather intelligence.
• Wang Xuan and Qinghong Zaobai entered the palace at night, lost their way while searching for the Eastern Palace, and seized a lone eunuch to ask for directions.

Wang Xuan infiltrated the Eastern Palace to visit Zui Hongchen, arranged for her to gain more allies, and left the palace. At Shaomu Temple, Abbot Fang Zheng considered publicizing Wang Xuan’s actions in Fujian as a calculated move.

• Wang Xuan forced a eunuch to guide him to the Eastern Palace and killed another eunuch who revealed its layout.
• Wang Xuan and Qinghong Zaobai used sleeping drug to enter Zui Hongchen’s chambers, where they found her with Crown Prince Zhu Changluo.
• Wang Xuan told Zui Hongchen he would send more Hundred Flowers Sect members to support her and urged her to prepare for the Crown Prince’s succession.
• Wang Xuan left Zui Hongchen to manage the unconscious servants, then removed the eunuch’s supposed gu worm and departed the palace.
• Fang Zheng and the monks of Shaomu Temple discussed how to respond to the destruction of Southern Shaomu, and Fang Zheng proposed publicizing Wang Xuan’s actions.

Wang Xuan visited Zui Hongchen in the Eastern Palace, then returned to Fujian and announced an invasion of Annam. He ordered thirty thousand troops to destroy Thang Long Citadel and leave no survivors.

• Wang Xuan threatened a eunuch into guiding him to the Eastern Palace, where he secretly entered Zui Hongchen's chambers with Qinghong Zaobai.
• Wang Xuan gave Zui Hongchen plans to place more of his people in the palace and warned her to protect herself around the Crown Prince and Imperial Concubine Li.
• Fang Zheng decided Shaomu Temple would spread rumors about Wang Xuan to provoke conflict between him and the Jiangnan great families.
• Qi Hongliang received Wang Xuan's warning as Wang Xuan convened his officials in Fujian.
• Wang Xuan announced that he would send thirty thousand troops by sea to attack Annam and ordered them to destroy Thang Long Citadel without survivors.

Wang Xuan launched his expedition to Annam, secretly assembling thirty thousand troops at a forward base before sailing up the Red River to surprise Thang Long Citadel. The fleet reached Nanding City, where its unprecedented size stunned the defenders, as Yu Sheng’s Special Operations Team worked to prevent warnings from reaching the capital.

• Wang Xuan sent Yang Xingwei and Fan Wencheng with two thousand soldiers and craftsmen to establish a forward base at Gusu County.
• After the base was completed, Wang Xuan gathered his army and explained his plan to bypass Nanding City and sail directly to Thang Long Citadel.
• Wang Xuan ordered Yu Sheng to lead interception teams against couriers and take part in opening Thang Long Citadel’s gates.
• Wang Xuan’s fleet reached the Red River estuary, and he ordered the Annamese fishermen there killed.
• The thirty thousand troops transferred to river vessels and advanced toward Nanding City, whose soldiers gaped at the enormous fleet.

Wang Xuan’s fleet passed Nanding City as its defenders mistook it for an attack on Thang Long Citadel. Liang Biyou decided to rush to the capital to prove his loyalty, while Chen Xinyuan helped steer him toward that choice and Gong Mo'an’s cautions were rejected.

• Liang Biyou raised the highest alarm after a huge fleet appeared on the Red River, and the city’s defenders panicked.
• Wang Xuan and Fan Wencheng approached Nanding City, where Fan praised Wang Xuan and his army as the fleet continued upriver.
• Liang Biyou and Chen Xinyuan concluded that the fleet was likely heading for Thang Long Citadel, and Liang ordered messengers to warn the capital.
• Chen Xinyuan flattered Liang Biyou into ordering his troops to prepare to march to the capital that day.
• Gong Mo'an urged caution and reconnaissance, but Chen Xinyuan portrayed his advice as dangerous to Liang’s reputation, prompting Liang to reject it and resolve to prove his loyalty.

Wang Xuan’s forces captured Thang Long Citadel in a surprise night assault and began slaughtering the city’s disorganized defenders. As the army overwhelmed the military camp, Annamese officers rode in, but their leading officer turned and fled instead of fighting.

• Wang Xuan divided his forces among the citadel’s gates and sent Tian Boguang and Miss Ding Yi to secure the imperial palace and block escape routes.
• Yu Sheng led the Special Operations Team across the moat, scaled the wall, killed its guards, and opened the eastern gate for Wang Xuan’s army.
• Wang Xuan ordered the gates shut behind his troops and led them to attack the citadel’s chaotic military camp, where thousands of unprepared Annamese soldiers were stationed.
• Wang Xuan’s forces overwhelmed the camp and seized the other gates, while his inexperienced soldiers gained their first battlefield experience amid the slaughter.
• More than a dozen Annamese officers rode into the camp, and their leading officer urged his men to fight for Lord Zheng before turning his horse and fleeing toward the entrance.

Lord Zheng’s court faced the collapse of Thang Long Citadel as Wang Xuan’s Ming army seized the gates and attacked the Grand Drill Ground. Lord Zheng’s breakout attempt failed when his forces met Wang Xuan, and his officials urged him to surrender to the Ming as the chapter ended.

• Lord Zheng learned that the east gate had fallen to an enemy force reported to number at least twenty thousand, while Tian Boguang and Ding Yi watched from the roof.
• Messengers reported that the west, north, and south gates had also fallen and that the Grand Drill Ground was ablaze.
• Lord Zheng rejected his commander’s suggestion to flee north and ordered the palace troops to break out and fight their way to the west gate.
• Wang Xuan gathered his troops and intercepted Lord Zheng’s retreating army, whose soldiers were overwhelmed by the Ming formation.
• Lord Zheng’s officials recognized the enemy as the Ming army and urged him to meet its envoy and surrender.

Wang Xuan rejected the Annamese leaders’ surrender and ordered the complete massacre of Thang Long Citadel, then prepared to destroy another Annamese force approaching the city. The chapter left Shi Kui leading five thousand troops to ambush Liang Biyou’s army while Wang Xuan considered the remaining forces in northern Nan’an.

• The defeated Annamese princes, ministers, and soldiers surrendered outside Thang Long Citadel, but Wang Xuan killed three ministers and ordered his army to slaughter everyone, including Lord Zheng and the Le emperor.
• Wang Xuan enforced his order to wipe out Thang Long Citadel, and his thirty thousand troops spent three days killing more than three hundred thousand people.
• A report informed Wang Xuan that Liang Biyou’s ten-thousand-man army was still forty li from Thang Long Citadel, so he assigned Shi Kui five thousand troops to ambush and kill it.
• Wang Xuan noted that a hundred thousand Annamese troops remained scattered across northern Nan’an and warned that their combined advance could cause Ming casualties.

Wang Xuan’s forces ambushed and destroyed Liang Biyou’s exhausted army while looting Thang Long Citadel’s immense wealth. With 60,000 Annamese reinforcements expected in ten days, Wang Xuan ordered Di Jianjun to sail to Nanding City and massacre it.

• Wang Xuan ordered Fan Wencheng to send false requests for reinforcements, hoping to divide the remaining Annamese forces and defeat them piecemeal.
• Shi Kui’s 4,000 soldiers ambushed Liang Biyou’s rear guard, routed the exhausted troops, and killed or captured nearly all of them.
• Chen Xinyuan avoided execution by claiming Ming ancestry and was bound and taken to the military camp.
• Wang Xuan’s forces looted Thang Long Citadel, including grain and valuables worth at least 40 million taels, and Wang Xuan ordered the wealth guarded for transport.
• Di Haokuo reported that the 60,000 troops on the Guangnan front would arrive in about ten days, so Wang Xuan ordered Di Jianjun to take 15,000 men by ship to Nanding City and massacre it.

Wang Xuan destroyed the Annamese army returning from Guangnan with a four-sided fire attack, then chose Chen Xinyuan to help govern northern Annam and form a local auxiliary army. Chen Xinyuan eagerly accepted his role as a collaborator and performed like a dog for Wang Xuan.

• Wang Xuan waited for the sixty-thousand-man Annamese army and prepared an ambush based on a fire attack.
• Ming soldiers surrounded the Annamese camp at midnight, set it ablaze, and suffocated its soldiers with thick smoke.
• Chen Xinyuan, imprisoned for nearly half a month, demanded to see Wang Xuan and claimed he had helped the Ming army.
• Chen Xinyuan told Wang Xuan that he had passed information to a Ming spy and persuaded Liang Biyou to march toward Thăng Long Prefecture.
• Wang Xuan spared Chen Xinyuan and permitted him to recruit Annamese collaborators into the Wang Auxiliary Army.
• Chen Xinyuan barked and mimed a dog when Wang Xuan asked why he was acting like one.

Wang Xuan’s army swept north through Annam, prompting the Nguyễn clan to brace for an invasion while fleeing elites avoided resistance. At the border, Wang Xuan targeted Siming Prefecture, where three commanders agreed to fight but secretly plotted separate ways to surrender and claim credit.

• Wang Xuan sent ten thousand troops back to Fujian and led the remaining twenty thousand north, conquering towns and expanding the Wang Auxiliary Army.
• The Nguyễn lord’s council learned that Thang Long Citadel and Nanding City had been massacred and that Lord Zheng’s forces had been destroyed, then resolved to strengthen defenses.
• Wang Xuan reached Annam’s northern border and chose to attack Siming Prefecture, a key pass defended by about fifteen thousand troops.
• Huang Tong and his two deputy generals agreed to fight the Blood Slaughter Army, each secretly planning to betray the others and surrender for personal gain.