Chapter Summaries

Chongzheng borrowed 180,000 taels from the Capital City’s officials and wealthy families, then sent Cao Wenzhao and Shen Lian to resist Li Chuang’s forces. Cao Wenzhao and the Tongguan Pass commander were defeated, and Gao Qiqian surrendered the Capital City, leaving Shen Lian isolated in Bazhou.

• Chongzheng collected only 180,000 taels in contributions, while Empress Zhou sold her jewelry and Zhou Kui pocketed half the 10,000 taels she sent him.
• Chongzheng gave the money to Cao Wenzhao, who led 10,000 elite troops against Li Chuang’s 400,000-strong main force and fled back with only 2,000 survivors.
• The Tongguan Pass commander surrendered after a day of resistance, and Chongzheng ordered Shen Lian to lead the Flying Fish Guard and 30,000 Capital Garrison troops into battle.
• Shen Lian held Bazhou as Li Chuang’s 500,000-strong army approached, but Li Chuang left 200,000 troops to besiege the city and sent the rest toward the Capital City.
• Gao Qiqian opened the Capital City’s gates and surrendered, leaving Shen Lian’s forces isolated in Bazhou.

After awakening to find the Capital City overrun by Chuang Army rebels, Qin He used Dream Illusion Art to save Hou Xiaoliu from three pursuing soldiers. He learned Hou Xiaoliu was sharing stolen buns with the orphaned daughter of a woman who had once saved him, then left without intervening further.

• Qin He awakened as prayers and Thought Power reached him and discovered that the Chuang Army had taken the Capital City.
• Qin He stopped three rebel soldiers from catching Hou Xiaoliu and made them bark like dogs with Dream Illusion Art.
• Hou Xiaoliu escaped to an abandoned residence and shared two warm buns with the little girl hiding there.
• Qin He confronted Hou Xiaoliu and learned the girl was his deceased benefactor’s daughter, whom he was caring for out of gratitude.
• Qin He questioned Hou Xiaoliu about his hardships, then hesitated to help him and left.

Qin He visited retired scholar Li Huai'an to seek his views on rulers and asked what he thought of Li Chuang. Li Huai'an judged that Li Chuang did not follow the path of a ruler.

• Qin He revealed that he was Great Immortal Green Ox, and Li Huai'an recognized him and welcomed him into his home.
• Qin He asked what made a good emperor, and Li Huai'an said a wise ruler understood people’s treachery and hardship and upheld kindness and righteousness.
• Qin He asked about an emperor who rose from humble beginnings, and Li Huai'an said such an upbringing could suit the path of a wise ruler, though becoming a Sage Monarch also required fortune and imperial arts.
• Qin He asked Li Huai'an what he thought of Li Chuang, and Li Huai'an said Li Chuang did not walk the path of a ruler.

Qin He entered the Imperial Palace, where the Golden Dragon of Fortune had nearly vanished and a black Python of Fortune dominated the sky. He found King Chuang passed out drunk at a banquet, while Imperial Historian Zhang Heng recorded the emperor’s repeated drinking and neglected duties.

• Qin He reached the Imperial Palace and saw the black Python of Fortune displacing the weakened Golden Dragon.
• Qin He entered after the gate guard, General An, mistook him for his father and obeyed his command to open the gate.
• Qin He asked where King Chuang was, and General An directed him to Yongshou Palace.
• Qin He found King Chuang drinking with rebel generals, and King Chuang collapsed after losing a drinking contest.
• Zhang Heng recorded King Chuang’s drunkenness and misconduct in the Imperial Daily Records.

Qin He entered the palace unnoticed, read Zhang Heng’s Imperial Daily Records, and then went to the Corpse Burning Bureau, where Chongzheng’s body disappeared. The chapter ended with the guards discovering the corpse was gone.

• Zhang Heng recorded Emperor Shun’s drunkenness and worried about the realm’s uncertain future.
• Qin He took and read Zhang Heng’s Imperial Daily Records, then left without being challenged.
• Qin He entered the guarded Corpse Burning Bureau, where Chongzheng’s corpse was kept.
• After Qin He left, someone cried out that Chongzheng’s corpse had disappeared.

Li Yan learned that Chongzheng Era's corpse had vanished and ordered a false corpse burned to conceal the disappearance and prevent Liu Zongmin's forces from plundering the Capital City. He then pressed his men to find Zhu Ci, who was still missing inside the sealed city.

• Li Yan weighed Great Shun's political and military troubles, including Emperor Shun's suspicion, Liu Zongmin's growing power, and the threat posed by the Liaodong military clans.
• Li Yan ordered his subordinates to conceal the disappearance of Chongzheng Era's corpse, dress another corpse in the former dynasty's dragon robe, and announce that it was Chongzheng Era's remains.
• Li Yan asked whether Zhu Ci had been found, and his subordinate reported that neither Zhu Ci nor the Crown Princess had been traced.
• Li Yan ordered his men to find Zhu Ci before he could escape to Jiangnan and claim the throne.

Qin He burned Chongzheng’s corpse, which briefly rose in resentment before he suppressed it, then watched the emperor’s life through the Shadow Play Performance. The judgment awarded Qin He the Imperial Heart Technique.

• Qin He reviewed the Merit, power, and three techniques he had gained from burning the False Gods, including Intermediate Alchemy, Obsession Technique, and Buddha's Palm.
• Chongzheng’s corpse sat up and cried that his ministers had misled him, but Qin He struck it with a Corpse Suppressing Seal and ordered Wang Tie Zhu to burn it.
• The Shadow Play Performance showed Chongzheng’s unhappy childhood, unexpected rise to the throne, and political missteps as he trusted the Donglin Faction and eliminated Wei Zhongliang.
• The performance revealed Chongzheng’s final plea that the rebels spare the common people, and the Black Robed Man judged his tragic reign.
• Qin He received the Imperial Heart Technique as a reward.

After learning the proficient Imperial Heart Technique, Qin He reflected on how Chongzheng’s poor rule had led to his downfall. Qin He arranged for Chongzheng’s ashes to be buried with Empress Zhou’s and ordered the Underworld emissary Shen Yu to give Chongzheng a better reincarnation.

• Qin He learned the proficient Imperial Heart Technique and recognized the danger of ruling through suspicion and indiscriminate killing.
• Qin He told Wang Tie Zhu to bury Chongzheng’s ashes in the small cemetery and asked Hui Miqiu to obtain Empress Zhou’s ashes for burial beside him.
• Qin He summoned Shen Yu and asked how the Underworld would handle Chongzheng’s Lost Soul.
• Shen Yu explained that Chongzheng would otherwise be reborn into a family in hardship because of his failed reign.
• Qin He ordered Shen Yu to find Chongzheng a good family to be reborn into.

Liu Zongmin reveled in the wealth amassed in the Capital City Silver Vault and set his sights on collecting enough to make his fortune reach one hundred million taels. After Niu Jinxing told him that Li Yan was concealing the missing corpse of Emperor Chongzheng, Liu Zongmin headed to the palace to confront him and ordered the Immortal Green Ox Temple torn down for its riches.

• Liu Zongmin woke in the silver vault as another bloodstained shipment of treasure arrived, bringing the total to nearly eighty million taels.
• Niu Jinxing told Liu Zongmin that city officials and princes had nearly exhausted their wealth, while Prime Minister Li Yan opposed extracting more from merchants and wealthy households.
• Liu Zongmin became enraged at Li Yan, and Niu Jinxing accused him of hiding Emperor Chongzheng's missing corpse and deceiving the sovereign.
• Liu Zongmin praised Niu Jinxing and went with him to the palace to make Li Yan pay.
• Liu Zongmin ordered the Immortal Green Ox Temple at the docks demolished so he could seize its gold and silver.

After the Shun Army looted and burned Immortal Green Ox Temple, Qin He decided to strike back against Li Chuang’s regime. As the Capital City awaited Great Immortal Green Ox’s response, news arrived that Niu Jinxing had killed the Great General.

• The Shun Army looted Immortal Green Ox Temple and set it ablaze before Qin He learned what had happened.
• Hui Miqiu told Qin He that Liu Zongmin was staying at the Ministry of Revenue’s silver vault and revealed that the former dynasty’s Crown Prince, Zhu Ci, was hiding in an old eunuch’s home.
• Qin He grew furious over the temple’s destruction and asked whether there was any news from Li Chuang.
• Old Master, Li Yan, and Wei Yuanji watched the blaze from different parts of the Capital City, while Wei Yuanji sent a carrier pigeon south.
• A cavalryman rode through the streets with an urgent report that Niu Jinxing had killed the Great General.

Wei Yuanji believed the Shun Army’s growing troubles could give the Flying Fish Guard a chance to resist, while Great Immortal Green Ox struck at Liu Zongmin’s camp after the burning of his temple. The camp blamed Niu Jinxing for Liu Zongmin’s death and killed him and his son, leaving no witnesses.

• Wei Yuanji considered the Flying Fish Guard’s prospects favorable because Shen Lian held Bazhou, the Nine Borders commanders were waiting, and Dou Lao Liu commanded a growing force near Gubeikou.
• Wei Yuanji expected Dou Lao Liu to turn against the Shun Army after Li Chuang’s forces burned Immortal Green Ox Temple.
• Great Immortal Green Ox confronted Liu Zongmin at the camp gate, admitted he had burned the temple, and killed him with a wolf-tooth club.
• Niu Shuan told the Shun Army soldiers that Great Immortal Green Ox had impersonated Niu Jinxing, but the soldiers accused Niu Jinxing of murdering Liu Zongmin.
• The enraged soldiers killed Niu Jinxing and Niu Shuan, leaving no living witnesses.

After Liu Zongmin’s death, his generals suspected Emperor Shun of arranging the murder and prepared to preserve their troops and fortune. Emperor Shun learned of their movements and ordered Liu Camp surrounded, bringing both sides toward conflict.

• Liu Zongmin’s generals questioned how the weak Niu Jinxing could have killed him and suspected Emperor Shun.
• Liu Camp’s generals chose Liu Biao as their leader and resolved to keep their troops and eighty million taels of silver.
• Liu Camp sent the silver back to camp, seized the Capital City’s eastern and southern walls and gates, and deployed troops outside the city.
• Emperor Shun learned of Liu Camp’s mobilization and grew alarmed that he might lose its two hundred thousand troops and silver.
• Song Xian Ce urged Emperor Shun to act decisively, and Emperor Shun ordered Liu Camp surrounded and any resisters killed.

Emperor Shun’s forces trapped and absorbed part of Liu Camp while letting Liu Biao lead the rest south under an official cover story. Though the internal conflict ended without a public battle, Emperor Shun was left wondering who had killed Liu Zongmin.

• Liu Camp fled when Emperor Shun’s army mobilized, but his cavalry trapped two and a half camps and fifty thousand soldiers inside the city.
• The trapped Liu Camp troops surrendered, while the other one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers scattered south in seven groups.
• Emperor Shun declared that former-dynasty Flying Fish Guard remnants had assassinated Liu Zongmin and said Liu Biao was leading troops south to support Bazhou and avenge him.
• Emperor Shun granted Liu Biao and the other generals titles and rewards, and both sides kept the internal conflict secret.
• After losing Liu Zongmin and one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, Emperor Shun questioned whether the assassin had been a Flying Fish Guard remnant or Prime Minister Li Yan.

After learning that Great Immortal Green Ox had killed Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing, Emperor Shun feared the Land Immortal’s retaliation and rejected Song Xian Ce’s suggestion to leave Li Capital. The chapter ended with the report that the army’s seventy million taels of seized gold and silver had disappeared.

• Emperor Shun learned that a Land Immortal was likely behind the mysterious deaths and disturbances in Li Capital, and identified Great Immortal Green Ox as the threat.
• Song Xian Ce warned that Li Capital was in danger and suggested Emperor Shun return to Xiangyang.
• Emperor Shun angrily rejected Song Xian Ce’s suggestion and considered ways to appease Great Immortal Green Ox.
• A messenger reported that the seventy million taels of gold and silver seized by the army had all vanished.
• Song Xian Ce repeated that Li Capital was in danger.

After escaping the fallen Imperial Palace, Crown Prince Zhu Ci and Ming Wan sought refuge with Zhu Ci’s maternal grandfather Zhou Kui, who seized them to claim merit from the Shun Army. As Zhou Kui’s carriage carried them toward the Chancellor’s residence, a mysterious man appeared and offered Zhu Ci a chance to live if he gave up his identity and name.

• Zhu Ci and Ming Wan fled the Capital City’s patrols after the Eastern Palace Attendant who sheltered them and his family were killed.
• Zhu Ci went to Zhou Kui’s mansion, hoping his maternal grandfather would protect them.
• Zhou Kui ordered his servants to capture Zhu Ci and Ming Wan so he could claim merit and recover his confiscated wealth.
• Zhou Kui gagged the pair and rushed them by carriage toward the Chancellor’s residence.
• A mysterious man appeared inside the carriage, removed Zhu Ci’s gag, and offered him survival in exchange for forgetting his identity and living as another person.

Qin He offered Zhu Ci and Ming Wan a chance to live as ordinary people, and Zhu Ci reluctantly stopped insisting on restoring Great Li. When Zhou Kui brought an empty carriage to the Prime Minister’s residence, the Bazong killed him for claiming he had captured the former Crown Prince.

• Qin He told Zhu Ci that Great Li could not be saved and offered him a chance to become an ordinary person.
• Zhu Ci asked about the ordinary family’s home after Ming Wan expressed her desire to live, and Qin He described a distant place of fertile fields, plum groves, and wine.
• Zhou Kui rushed to the Prime Minister’s residence, hoping to exchange Zhu Ci and Ming Wan for the family fortune he had lost.
• The Bazong stopped Zhou Kui and became excited when Zhou Kui claimed the former dynasty’s Crown Prince was in his carriage.
• The Bazong found the carriage empty and beheaded Zhou Kui.

Qin He offered the battered street thief Hou Xiaoliu a lifelong assignment that would provide food, and agreed to let him bring Xiu Ying. He then knocked Hou Xiaoliu unconscious, saying he needed to give him a new face.

• Hou Xiaoliu survived a beating by three Shun Army soldiers by pretending to be dead, then ate one of his two steamed buns.
• Qin He revealed he had watched Hou Xiaoliu being beaten and offered him an assignment with food but no pay, warning that he would have to do it for life or die.
• Hou Xiaoliu asked whether Xiu Ying could come with him, and Qin He agreed.
• Qin He told Hou Xiaoliu to prepare for an assignment that might begin in a few days or months, then knocked him unconscious to give him a new face.

Li Chuang fled the dangers of the Capital City by leading an expedition north toward Jizhou City, while Shen Lian’s forces continued to hold Bazhou. A message confirmed that the Tiger had left its den, giving Shen Lian the opening he had awaited.

• After discovering that seventy million taels of gold and silver had vanished, Li Chuang grew afraid that the Capital City was unsafe.
• Song Xian Ce persuaded Li Chuang to lead an expedition to pacify the Nine Borders, and Li Chuang approved the plan.
• Li Chuang left fifty thousand troops to guard the Capital City, assigned Li Yan to rebuild the Immortal Green Ox Temple, and marched north with five thousand cavalry ahead of the main army.
• At Bazhou, Shen Lian’s defenders repelled another Shun Army assault, though the city remained besieged by two hundred thousand troops.
• Shen Lian received a letter bearing the message, “The Tiger Has Left Its Den!”

Dou Lao Liu led the Dou Army in a surprise night raid on the Capital City, where they defeated the Shun Army with help from the city’s residents. The Capital City was recovered, and the routed Shun troops fled through the East City gate.

• Dou Lao Liu brought his ten-thousand-strong army to the Capital City and sent scouts ahead to prepare the attack.
• Old Striker heard the inner and outer city gates rise at night and fled as the Dou Army charged into the city.
• The Dou Army attacked the Shun Army camps, captured the southwestern camps, and fought Shun reinforcements in the streets.
• Wei Yuanji and citizens, including Green Ox Disciples and retired soldiers, joined the battle against the Shun Army.
• The Shun Army collapsed and fled through the East City gate, while the Dou Army drove the remaining troops out and reclaimed the Capital City.

After Dou Lao Liu’s forces recovered the Capital City, rebellions against Great Shun spread across the region. Li Chuang turned to reclaim the city, but Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao kept his army tied down before abandoning the Capital City and racing south toward Shen Lian’s battlefield in Bazhou.

• Dou Lao Liu purged the remaining Shun Army in the Capital City, restored order, and recruited twenty thousand defenders as its people rallied to Great Li.
• Chang Minglang, Li Weixiong, Hao Zhengye, Zhao Sen, and Su Jinghui led officials and troops in recovering cities and prefectures from the Shun Army.
• Li Chuang learned that Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao had entered through separate passes with thirty thousand cavalry, and he led forty thousand cavalry to attack Cao Wenzhao.
• Cao Wenzhao avoided direct battle, harassed Li Chuang’s army, and ambushed Shun infantry before Cao Bianjiao’s arrival forced Li Chuang onto the defensive.
• Li Chuang abandoned the fight with the Cao family forces and marched toward the Capital City, but rebellions had spread across the south by the time he returned.
• As Li Chuang prepared to attack the Capital City, Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao instead rode south toward Bazhou to join Shen Lian’s battlefield.