Chapter Summaries

Wang Xuan improved his Spiritual Sense, succeeded in making peachwood Disease Expelling Talismans, and used one to cure Mi Zhen. After pretending to collapse from exhaustion, he let Mi Zhen help him onto her bed, leaving Mi Fang torn between gratitude and jealousy.

• Wang Xuan failed several times to draw a talisman on peachwood before cultivating the Pang family's mental technique, which increased his Spiritual Sense scan range from ten meters to 103 meters.
• Wang Xuan used his improved control to make a peachwood Disease Expelling Talisman and then drew four more, exhausting himself in the process.
• Wang Xuan pressed a talisman to Mi Zhen's forehead, curing her illness and restoring her energy.
• Wang Xuan acted as though he was about to collapse, and Mi Zhen helped him onto her bed while Mi Fang watched, unable to object.

After the emperor died, Wang Xuan calmly told Mi Fang to delay their journey to Luoyang until the political situation changed, then began explaining how the Mi Family could profit from what was coming. The chapter ended with Wang Xuan and the others gathering in a study to discuss his plans.

• Mi Zhen teased Nie Xiaoqian by praising Wang Xuan for curing her, while Wang Xuan rested at Mi Zhen's residence before returning to his courtyard.
• Wang Xuan learned from Dian Wei that a martial artist's inner force could transform a weapon over time, and he discovered that the Pang family's soldiers carried weapons far stronger than newly made ones.
• Mi Fang returned with news that the emperor had died, but Wang Xuan remained calm and urged him to consider how the Mi Family could benefit from the coming turmoil.
• Wang Xuan told Mi Fang they would eventually go to Luoyang, but should travel slowly and wait for the situation there to change, and he suggested Mi Zhu might profit from the opportunity.
• Wang Xuan led Mi Fang, Mi Zhen, and Nie Xiaoqian to a study, set Dian Wei to guard the door, and began explaining the events he expected to unfold.

Wang Xuan guided Mi Fang’s preparations for the coming chaos and led the convoy toward Luoyang, where bandits ambushed them on the road. Dian Wei overwhelmed their second-in-command, who ordered his men to flee and warn their leader, Pei Yuanshao, as Dian Wei approached.

• Wang Xuan persuaded Mi Fang to travel toward Luoyang, sell luxury goods, stock up on grain and weapons, and send intelligence to Mi Zhu.
• Mi Fang organized the purchases and surveillance in Changyi, then departed with Wang Xuan, Dian Wei, over a hundred guards, and more than a hundred carts.
• A bandit force of about four hundred ambushed the convoy, and Wang Xuan mocked their leader’s claim that he had built the road and planted a nearby tree.
• Dian Wei charged the bandit leader and knocked aside his blade before striking him with a punch that sent him flying and spitting blood.
• The injured bandit leader told his men to flee and warn Pei Yuanshao not to seek revenge, then braced himself as Dian Wei approached.

Wang Xuan’s group defeated Zhou Cang after Dian Wei fought him, then kept him alive and made him join their camp for food. Zhou Cang learned that Wang Xuan did not care about his Yellow Turban past, but Wang Xuan reminded him that he had tried to rob their convoy.

• Wang Xuan recognized Zhou Cang and told Dian Wei to capture him alive rather than kill him.
• Dian Wei’s ninth punch sent Zhou Cang flying into a pit and left him unconscious.
• Wang Xuan’s group made camp by the river, where Zhou Cang woke and eagerly ate their roasted boar.
• Wang Xuan asked Zhou Cang about his past in the Yellow Turban Army and said he did not care about it.
• Zhou Cang asked why Wang Xuan had captured him, and Wang Xuan pointed out that Zhou Cang had tried to rob their convoy.

Wang Xuan persuaded Zhou Cang that Dian Wei’s fights would help him improve, then welcomed him to stay at his side and treated his injuries with a talisman. Zhou Cang accepted, and Wang Xuan explained to Mi Zhen why he believed the former bandit could become a capable general as the world descended into chaos.

• Wang Xuan convinced Zhou Cang that surviving Dian Wei’s training would help him advance, and Zhou Cang thanked him for saving his life.
• Wang Xuan gave Dian Wei the courtesy name Elai and Zhou Cang the courtesy name Yuanfu.
• Zhou Cang offered to follow Wang Xuan, who welcomed him without making him a servant and promised to help him find a path forward.
• Wang Xuan used an Essence Cultivation Talisman to restore Zhou Cang’s energy and speed his recovery.
• Mi Zhen questioned Wang Xuan’s decision to keep a former bandit close, and Wang Xuan defended Zhou Cang’s character and martial potential.

Wang Xuan went fishing with Mi Zhen and Nie Xiaoqian, caught a giant snakehead, and shared it with his companions. After returning to camp, he decided to recruit Zhou Cang and turn surviving Yellow Turban bandits into an army, recognizing that even powerful fighters could be overwhelmed by elite troops.

• Wang Xuan took Mi Zhen and Nie Xiaoqian to fish by the Sishui River while Hu Zi and Doggy followed, and the two women caught several small fish as he baited their hooks.
• Wang Xuan hooked a giant fish, lost it when it bit through his ice-silkworm line, then leaped into the river and killed it with his ring-pommel saber.
• Wang Xuan and his companions roasted and ate the enormous snakehead for dinner.
• The next morning, Dian Wei tried to make Zhou Cang train, but Wang Xuan called Zhou Cang aside to discuss his plans.
• Wang Xuan decided to use Zhou Cang to help recruit surviving Yellow Turban bandits and build an elite force, since armies could overwhelm even powerful individual fighters.

Wang Xuan persuaded Zhou Cang to bring his mountain stronghold’s people into his service, offering roles for its leaders and work for the rest. Zhou Cang returned with Pei Yuanshao and Liao Hua’s agreement, then joined Wang Xuan’s camp for breakfast.

• Wang Xuan asked Zhou Cang about the people at his stronghold and promised to arrange a place for them, moving Zhou Cang to swear lifelong loyalty.
• Zhou Cang told Wang Xuan that Pei Yuanshao and Liao Hua led more than six hundred Yellow Turban soldiers and refugees; Wang Xuan proposed recruiting the leaders and settling the others with the Mi Family.
• Wang Xuan told Mi Fang to take in the stronghold’s people and said they could be presented as elite guards after changing clothes.
• Zhou Cang returned to the stronghold and told Pei Yuanshao and Liao Hua about Wang Xuan’s offer; Pei Yuanshao trusted Zhou Cang’s judgment, and Liao Hua agreed after asking questions.
• Zhou Cang descended the mountain and reached Wang Xuan’s camp the next morning, where he happily joined them for breakfast.

Wang Xuan began turning Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, Liao Hua, and their bandits into a disciplined force, ordering the stronghold cleaned and setting rules for military conduct. The next morning, he started selecting guards through a running test that also assessed the bandits’ character.

• Wang Xuan arranged for uniforms and supplies, then followed Zhou Cang and the bandits to their stronghold.
• Wang Xuan met Pei Yuanshao and Liao Hua, accepted their allegiance, and ordered them to enforce military discipline by cleaning the stronghold and building latrines.
• The bandits cleaned the stronghold and received a filling meal, while Wang Xuan promised that those unfit for guard duty could settle and farm in Donghai Commandery.
• Wang Xuan announced that the able-bodied men would be tested for guard duty, while the others would be sent to reclaim wasteland and farm.
• Pei Yuanshao, Zhou Cang, and Liao Hua led the men on a run as Wang Xuan watched and ate breakfast, testing their endurance and character.

Wang Xuan trained the bandits into disciplined soldiers, improved their strength with new cultivation methods, food, and medicinal herbs, and arranged for them to learn to read. After half a month, his party left the stronghold and continued toward Chenliu, where Wang Xuan hoped to join the Lords Punish Dong campaign.

• Wang Xuan selected roughly two hundred men for stricter, heavier training and let the others rest after their first morning drill.
• Wang Xuan gave Zhou Cang and the other two a cultivation manual, discovered they could not read, and offered to teach them while arranging literacy lessons.
• Wang Xuan had the selected men hunt for meat and the others gather medicinal herbs to support their training.
• Mi Fang delivered a thousand sets of clothing and three accountants who could manage supplies and teach the soldiers to read.
• After half a month of training, Wang Xuan's newly uniformed force left the stronghold and headed toward Chenliu.

Wang Xuan recruited and trained a large force on the way to Dingtao, then established a camp outside the city and sent scouts to investigate wealthy families whose reputations could justify his planned raids. After entering Dingtao, he relaxed in a bath as Nie Xiaoqian nervously offered to scrub his back.

• Wang Xuan treated villagers, irrigated fields, and had his forces wipe out nearby bandits as they traveled toward Dingtao.
• Wang Xuan’s recruited force grew to nearly three thousand, so he chose a stronghold outside Dingtao to house them and address their food shortage.
• Wang Xuan ordered Pei Yuanshao and Zhang Bo to expand the stronghold and keep training the troops, while Zhou Cang and Liao Hua investigated local families.
• Wang Xuan dressed up his plan to raid wealthy households as eliminating evil for the people, while Mi Fang recognized the scheme as robbery.
• Wang Xuan entered Dingtao and bathed, where Nie Xiaoqian shyly offered to scrub his back.

Mi Zhu decided to support Wang Xuan’s plans amid the coming chaos and left Xuzhou with money, provisions, and guards. Meanwhile, Wang Xuan prepared a raid on the Qian Family estate, positioning his forces to seize its grain and stores.

• Mi Zhu read Mi Fang’s accounts of Wang Xuan saving the siblings and curing Mi Zhu’s sister, then decided to meet Wang Xuan and join the coming struggle.
• After learning Wang Xuan had recruited Yellow Turban leaders and six hundred bandits, Mi Zhu tripled the money and provisions he would bring and departed for Chenliu with three hundred guards.
• In Dingtao, Wang Xuan had Liao Hua identify the Qian Family as a target and ordered Mi Fang to host a conspicuous banquet as a diversion.
• Wang Xuan met Zhou Cang, Zhang Bo, and Liao Hua outside the Qian Family estate and assigned them positions to seize its granary and storehouses while leaving the west open for escape.

Wang Xuan led his forces in a surprise attack on the Qian Family manor, using Yellow Turban disguises and slogans to conceal their approach. The gates and walls fell, Zhou Cang pushed toward the granary, and the frightened steward struggled to dress as the manor was overrun.

• Wang Xuan sent Doggy into the manor to quiet its dogs, then led his men toward the main gate and shouted the Yellow Turban slogan.
• Liao Hua led three hundred elite soldiers in a charge and smashed open the main gate with his greatsword.
• Zhou Cang and Zhang Bo rallied their former Yellow Turban troops, broke through the manor wall, and led their forces inside.
• Zhou Cang killed the leading household guard and continued toward the granary as his soldiers overwhelmed the defenders.
• The Qian Family steward woke to the attack, panicked at the Yellow Turban cries, and repeatedly failed to put on his trousers.

Wang Xuan’s forces looted the Qian Family estate and returned to their stronghold with its stores and supplies, while Wang Xuan went back to Dingtao City to keep a low profile. In Luoyang, Zhang Rang and the other eunuchs plotted to seek the empress’s help against He Jin, whose actions were being steered by Yuan Wei and Yang Biao.

• Qian Hong and his household troops’ commander fled west as Yellow Turban bandits surrounded the estate.
• Wang Xuan and Zhou Cang seized the estate’s grain, coins, tools, salt, cloth, and other supplies, then withdrew at daybreak.
• Wang Xuan returned to the stronghold, ordered continued troop training and cultivation, and went to Dingtao City to lie low.
• Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, and the other eunuchs decided to make one last appeal to the empress and threatened to act against He Jin if she refused.
• Yuan Wei and Yang Biao continued using He Jin to pursue their aims, while He Jin believed the Scholars supported him.

He Jin rejected Empress He's plea to spare the eunuchs, and Zhang Rang's group killed him before seizing control of the palace. As the eunuchs fled with the Emperor, Dong Zhuo rescued him and intimidated Cui Lie, awakening his ambition to dominate the court.

• He Jin argued with Empress He and refused to trust Zhang Rang and the other eunuchs, who abandoned plans to negotiate with him.
• Zhang Rang and five other eunuchs cornered He Jin in a corridor and killed him, then took control of the palace guards and forged an order to seize the Xiyuan forces.
• Yuan Shao recognized the forged order as proof that He Jin was dead, ignored Cao Cao's objections, and led troops toward the palace as Yuan Shu attacked it.
• The palace burned as troops slaughtered the eunuchs and abused palace maids; Zhang Rang's group fled with Liu Xie and Empress He, but Lu Zhi recovered the Empress and Dong Zhuo seized the Emperor.
• Cui Lie tried to claim credit for rescuing the Emperor and insulted Dong Zhuo, who threatened him with his sword until he fled in terror.
• Dong Zhuo saw the court officials scatter and began to believe that he could rule them through force.

Yuan Wei asked Dong Zhuo to carry out the deposition and enthronement, revealing that the Yuan and Yang families intended to use him as a scapegoat while consolidating their control of the Han court. Dong Zhuo consulted Li Ru, who warned him that the families planned to exploit and possibly eliminate him, leaving Dong Zhuo to decide whether to defy them.

• Yuan Wei proposed that Dong Zhuo carry out the deposition and enthronement, shocking him with the scale of the Yuan and Yang families' ambitions.
• Dong Zhuo realized that the families had chosen him to take the blame because of his humble background and limited influence at court.
• On his way home, Dong Zhuo became thrilled by the prospect of controlling the Emperor and the power that came with the act.
• Dong Zhuo told Li Ru about Yuan Wei's proposal, and Li Ru asked whether he still had the courage to act.
• Li Ru warned Dong Zhuo that the Yuan family was using him and could purge him after he carried out the deposition and enthronement.

Li Ru persuaded Dong Zhuo to exploit the Yuan Family’s plan, bring in his Xiliang forces, and seize Luoyang’s military power, prompting the lords to flee and begin the campaign against him. After reading the lords’ proclamation, Wang Xuan rejected Mi Fang’s suggestion to raise an army and pointed out that Mi Fang secretly wanted to depose and install an emperor himself.

• Dong Zhuo realized the Yuan Family intended to use him for the emperor’s deposition and then abandon him, but Li Ru urged him to follow Yuan Wei’s wishes while secretly summoning troops from Xiliang.
• Li Ru proposed plotting Ding Yuan’s death and taking the Bingzhou Wolf Riders, while using the Yuan Family’s influence to keep Dong Zhuo’s plans concealed.
• Lu Bu killed Ding Yuan and joined Dong Zhuo, who then brought 30,000 Xiliang cavalry to Luoyang and forced the Western Camps to surrender.
• Dong Zhuo seized control of Luoyang, suppressed the Yuan and Yang Families, and drove Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and others to flee as the campaign against him began.
• Wang Xuan read the proclamation announcing the lords’ alliance, and Mi Fang asked whether they should raise an army against Dong Zhuo.
• Wang Xuan refused and teased Mi Fang for secretly wanting to depose and install an emperor himself.

Wang Xuan explained his ambitions to Mi Fang, then led his forces from Dingtao toward Chenliu after training his army and winning its loyalty. Before leaving, he had Dian Wei and his troops raid another wealthy estate, leaving Mi Fang convinced by Wang Xuan’s dubious justification.

• Wang Xuan urged Mi Fang to be bold if the Mi Family wanted to rise, while Mi Fang feared and admired Wang Xuan’s control over his trained soldiers.
• Wang Xuan taught selected junior officers battle responses by rote and arranged literacy lessons, winning the gratitude of the army.
• Wang Xuan decided to leave Dingtao for Chenliu and consider joining Zhang Miao’s forces without truly pledging allegiance to him.
• Dian Wei led a thousand soldiers in smashing into a wealthy estate while Wang Xuan and Mi Fang watched with two thousand more troops.
• Wang Xuan told Mi Fang that the robbery could benefit the estate’s family later, and Mi Fang accepted his reasoning and repeated Wang Xuan’s saying about weathering storms.

Wang Xuan’s force looted a wealthy estate without harming its workers, then continued recruiting bandits as they traveled toward Chenliu. After Mi Zhu caught up near Jiyang, Wang Xuan welcomed the merchant and considered how he could help build wealth and stability.

• Wang Xuan’s three thousand men took twenty thousand dan of grain and other supplies from Li Tong’s estate, leaving most workers unharmed.
• Li Tong learned that the raiders had taken the estate’s grain and supplies but caused few casualties, and he chose to investigate rather than immediately seek revenge.
• Wang Xuan pursued and captured bandits along the route, recruiting them into his force while local people spread his name.
• Mi Zhu caught up with Wang Xuan near Jiyang after traveling from Qu County.
• Wang Xuan welcomed Mi Zhu and valued his practical experience in commerce and regional prosperity.

Mi Zhu met Wang Xuan and agreed to help settle most of his people in Qu County, while Wang Xuan assigned Pei Yuanshao to lead them. Mi Zhu stayed with Wang Xuan to attend the Lords Punish Dong campaign, and Mi Fang and Mi Zhen had to return, with Mi Zhen distraught at leaving Wang Xuan.

• Mi Zhu realized Wang Xuan’s rapidly assembled army could rival the Mi Family and sincerely addressed him as Young Master Wang.
• Wang Xuan asked Mi Zhu to take most of his people to Qu County, and Mi Zhu eagerly agreed to provide money, grain, and supplies.
• Wang Xuan ordered Pei Yuanshao to lead four thousand five hundred people to Qu County, reclaim wasteland, and continue training under the Mi Family’s support.
• Mi Zhu decided to stay with Wang Xuan for the Lords Punish Dong campaign, so Mi Fang and Mi Zhen were assigned to escort the people back.
• Mi Zhen cried and clung to Wang Xuan when she learned she had to leave, while Mi Fang realized his younger brother’s claims about her feelings were true.

Wang Xuan settled his army near Junyi and planned to join Zhang Miao’s forces for the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Zhang Miao, frustrated by his lack of troops, considered how the coalition could help him gain greater power in Yan Province.

• Mi Zhen and Nie Xiaoqian left with the army, while Wang Xuan continued his march with the remaining troops.
• Wang Xuan’s forces captured bandits along the route and recruited them, then occupied a stronghold near Junyi.
• Wang Xuan told Mi Zhu he would wait near Suanzao and seek Zhang Miao’s support, arguing Zhang lacked troops and needed his strength.
• Mi Zhu used the Mi Family’s commercial network to spread Wang Xuan’s name among the middle classes and common people.
• Zhang Miao learned that Chenliu had fewer than eight hundred commandery troops and recognized the coalition against Dong Zhuo as a chance to pursue higher office in Yan Province.