Chapter Summaries

Le Yu returned to Red Moon Fortress and urged the prisoners to keep hoping while preparing to help Yin Minghong assassinate Jing Zhengwei. When Jing Zhengwei arrived, Le Yu was presented as a captive for sale, and the mysterious black-haired woman accompanying Jing Zhengwei insisted that he buy him.

• Le Yu returned to his cell clean and rested, alarming the starving prisoners and prompting Feng Zhen to ask him for hope.
• Le Yu promised Feng Zhen to wait and hold on, while planning to assassinate Jing Zhengwei with Yin Minghong’s help and save the captives from Boss Huo’s traffickers.
• Yin Minghong welcomed Jing Zhengwei to Red Moon Fortress, where Jing arrived with the veiled black-haired woman Weiwei and asked for bathwater.
• Boss Huo brought Le Yu before Jing Zhengwei as a captive, revealing that he had been starved and intended to sell him.
• The black-haired woman encouraged Jing Zhengwei to buy Le Yu, then stroked his hair and told him he had caught her attention.

Le Yu arrived at Jing Zhengwei’s room intending to kill him and escape, but his attack failed when Jing Zhengwei dodged and Weiwei revealed herself as Jing Zhengwei. Weiwei aimed a gun at Le Yu and identified him as Assassin Le Yu.

• Mi Die examined Le Yu, then argued with him about freedom, duty, and the need to accept one’s fate in Dongyang.
• Mi Die brought Le Yu to Jing Zhengwei’s room, where a veiled black-haired girl named Weiwei told him to wait while she bathed.
• Seeing Jing Zhengwei alone and unguarded, Le Yu transformed his iron bracer into the Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword (Replica), broke his handcuffs, and attacked.
• Jing Zhengwei dodged Le Yu’s sword and begged for his life, while Le Yu realized that Jing Zhengwei’s voice sounded like a woman’s.
• Weiwei knocked down the screen, aimed a long gun at Le Yu, and revealed that her name was Jing Zhengwei.

Qian Yuya and her friends learned that they had all passed the Royal Academy entrance examinations and prepared to celebrate. After returning home to settle in her new rabbit, Qian Yuya heard Nai Qingni say she had something very important to tell her.

• Li Ying spotted Lin Xue's name on the admissions list, and the group confirmed that Qian Yuya, Lin Xue, and Kui Nianruo had also passed.
• Lin Xue pointed out that Li Ying had passed too, and Li Ying excitedly declared herself a genius scholar.
• The group headed toward Yuqing Restaurant to celebrate, while Qian Yuya went home first to settle her new rabbit, Xiao Liu.
• Qian Yuya found Nai Qingni at home, told her everyone had passed, and prepared to leave with her for the restaurant.
• Nai Qingni stopped Qian Yuya and said she had something very important to tell her.

Le Yu fought Jing Zhengwei, who revealed a second shotgun and killed him. In Flame Capital, Qian Yuya learned that Yin Yinyin had betrayed and killed her brother, and resolved to kill him; the chapter ended with Le Yu discovering Yin Yinyin’s corpse.

• Jing Zhengwei explained that his cross-dressing had helped him survive the assassination attempt, then advanced on the wounded Le Yu with a shotgun.
• Le Yu used the Illusionary Cloak to close the distance and cut off Jing Zhengwei’s shotgun barrel, but Jing Zhengwei dodged with Ethereal Combat Arts and drew a second shotgun from beneath his skirt.
• Nai Qingni told Qian Yuya that her brother Qian Yuliu had died after a White Night member betrayed and attacked him from behind.
• Qian Yuya learned that Yin Yinyin was the suspected traitor and secretly vowed to kill him after hiding her grief from Nai Qingni.
• Le Yu examined a corpse killed by a close-range shotgun blast and realized that Yin Yinyin had died again.

After Yin Yinyin’s death, Le Yu dealt with the aftermath at Red Moon Fortress and discovered that he could still use her Saint’s Relic. He suspected Boss Huo’s people were involved in the assassination and ordered them brought in for questioning.

• Le Yu spared Qing Lan, told her to call people to clean up, and watched her flee in terror.
• Le Yu took the Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword Replica and found that it still transformed into a bracer at his command after Yin Yinyin’s death.
• Le Yu checked his system panel and saw that he had zero Available Points, while Yin Yinyin’s Calamity remained incomplete.
• Mi Die and Lisan arrived, and Le Yu agreed that the Second Boss was suspicious but suggested Boss Huo’s people were even more suspect.
• Le Yu ordered his people to bind Boss Huo’s followers and bring them to him.

Le Yu interrogated Boss Huo and learned that Feng Zhen suspected Yin Minghong had conspired with the assassin, but the evidence did not support the accusation. Le Yu chose to execute the human traffickers anyway, leaving Feng Zhen and Boss Huo to be dragged away while he enjoyed his new sense of authority.

• Le Yu shot Boss Huo in the leg and demanded an explanation for the assassin, prompting Boss Huo to offer Feng Zhen as a witness.
• Feng Zhen said Yin Minghong had arranged for the assassin to be sold to Le Yu and might have conspired with him to kill Le Yu and take control of the imprisoned New Tea.
• Yin Minghong and Lisan brought back a bag of the assassin’s belongings, and Le Yu realized its Swift Blade Boots were a decoy rather than the assassin’s real escape gear.
• After Mi Die found no supporting evidence, Le Yu rejected Boss Huo and Feng Zhen’s testimony and admitted he had wanted an excuse to punish the traffickers.
• Le Yu ordered the guards to hang Boss Huo and the others, then told them to whip Boss Huo before the execution.

Le Yu interrogated Yin Minghong about the assassination attempt at Red Moon Fortress, then ordered him to work in the mines and manage the dead Boss Huo’s New Teas. After Qing Lan’s massage reminded Le Yu of Jing Zhengwei’s nightly “Qinri” instruction, he realized Jing Zhengwei had learned a second Beginner Combat Art and recoiled at what it implied.

• Le Yu questioned Yin Minghong about the assassin, and Yin Minghong denied harming him while promising to bring back the heads of the other Young Masters’ officials within five days.
• Le Yu spared Yin Minghong but ordered him to dig in the mines until Le Yu left and to take charge of Boss Huo’s New Teas.
• Qing Lan checked Red Moon Fortress’s account book and confirmed the figures were correct.
• During Qing Lan’s pre-bed massage, Le Yu stopped her when she reached for his waistband and ordered her to remove the final “Qinri” step from the routine.
• Le Yu remembered Jing Zhengwei’s “Qinri” instruction and noticed that Jing Zhengwei’s status panel listed Beginner Harmonious Qi Qinri Combat Arts alongside Beginner Ethereal Combat Arts.

Le Yu realized that Jing Zhengwei’s extreme emotions had begun to influence him, so he resolved to distinguish himself from Jing Zhengwei while keeping the combat art’s useful defenses. After spending the night with Qing Lan, Le Yu left for Profound Candle Prefecture.

• Le Yu understood that Harmonious Qi Qinri Combat Arts had twisted Jing Zhengwei and that Jing Zhengwei’s memories had nearly made Le Yu reckless and volatile.
• Le Yu recalled people from his past to steady himself, then agreed to sleep beside Qing Lan and held her without going further.
• Le Yu decided not to practice Harmonious Qi Qinri Combat Arts again, but to keep its defensive benefits and monitor his state of mind.
• The next day, Le Yu saw Boss Huo’s dead men hanging from the city tower and said he would make future punishments less gruesome.
• Le Yu boarded the carriage with Qing Lan and ordered it to return to Profound Candle Prefecture.

Le Yu arrived at Profound Candle Prefecture and began settling into Jing Zhengwei’s wealthy household, enjoying its comforts and learning about the city’s entertainment. His attempt to live peacefully was shattered when Steward Shen executed Shuangye for helping Rongyao flee.

• Le Yu chose to return to Jing Zhengwei’s Outer City residence instead of Jing Garden and enjoyed the city’s lively markets and Combat Arts Card matches on the way.
• At home, Le Yu accepted help from Zilan and Shuangye while bathing, then asked Qing Lan to join him for dinner and describe Profound Candle Prefecture’s amusements.
• Le Yu examined Jing Zhengwei’s assets and decided he could abandon the family struggle and live as a wealthy idler.
• Le Yu heard Steward Shen accusing Shuangye of helping Rongyao escape and rushed into the courtyard to intervene.
• Steward Shen ignored Le Yu’s plea and beheaded Shuangye as Zilan and the other servants watched.

Le Yu confronted the meaninglessness of Shuangye’s execution, ordered her buried properly, and broke down crying that night. Four days later, Yin Minghong learned that Yin Yinyin was wanted for treason and received a letter addressed to her.

• Steward Shen explained that Shuangye had been executed for conspiring with Rongyao to steal a Grace Key and escape, and Le Yu ordered that her body be buried properly.
• Zilan told Le Yu she did not blame him for Shuangye’s death, and Le Yu murmured that the matter had nothing to do with him.
• Le Yu returned to Qing Lan, secretly checked her Grace anklet, and cried silently beside her as she pretended to sleep.
• Four days later, Yin Minghong met a medical officer, who told him Jing Zhengwei had killed Shen Hong and another guard under arbitrary pretexts.
• The medical officer gave Yin Minghong a wanted notice for Yin Yinyin and a letter addressed to her, leaving him dumbfounded.

Yin Minghong met Yin Yinyin after following a letter that redirected their meeting, and learned more about the White-Haired Assassin and Yin Yinyin’s past. Yin Yinyin revealed that he wanted to see Heavenly Street paved with the bones of nobles.

• Yin Minghong disguised himself as a dockworker and went to meet Yin Yinyin at Radiant Bell Tower, trusting the assassin who had once saved him.
• A child delivered Yin Minghong a letter from a masked person, sending him through alleys to a secluded path and warning him with a reference to Wen Hong.
• Yin Minghong spoke with Yin Yinyin through a wall, questioned him about Wen Hong and the charges against him, and learned that Yin Yinyin had murdered Qian Yuliu.
• Yin Yinyin said the White-Haired Assassin Yin Minghong had met was his friend, who had yearned for White Night’s recognition and was later killed by human traffickers.
• Yin Yinyin revealed that he had come to make his wish real: to see Heavenly Street paved with the bones of nobles.

Yin Yinyin offered Yin Minghong intelligence and resources that could help White Night establish a base and challenge the Silver Blood Society, though Yin Minghong remained wary of trusting him. Yin Yinyin explained that he opposed the Society because he could not accept a world where a murdered maid was treated as if she deserved it.

• Yin Minghong rejected Yin Yinyin's offer, arguing that White Night could not topple the Silver Blood Society and had no reason to trust a traitor.
• Yin Yinyin revealed his skills as a spy and showed Yin Minghong a map to Jing Zhengwu's hidden supplies and information about the Shi Family Merchant Guild's factory for sale.
• Yin Yinyin explained that White Night could acquire the factory as a new base, while Yin Minghong questioned whether the offer was a trap.
• Yin Yinyin proposed arranging a safe way to communicate and left Yin Minghong to decide whether to trust or capture him.
• Yin Minghong asked why Yin Yinyin hated the Silver Blood Society, and Yin Yinyin said he could not accept a world where a sixteen-year-old maid was killed for trying to escape.

Le Yu returned to Jing Zhengwei’s maritime trading company after meeting Yin Minghong, reflecting on how easily privilege could corrupt him and hoping White Night might save him from that fate. Qing Lan then revealed that Manager Bai’s fleet might be involved in the slave trade.

• Le Yu and Yin Minghong agreed to meet again in five days after discussing whether White Night would accept Le Yu’s help.
• Le Yu visited the Combat Arts Card Ladder Hall, where he heard that Yin Tianshen had risen to fortieth place in Everlasting Glory.
• Le Yu went to the maritime trading company, checked on its crowded warehouse, and met Qing Lan in his office.
• Le Yu reflected that his wealth and privileges could turn him into a hedonist, and that he wanted White Night to help keep him from changing.
• Qing Lan told Le Yu that Manager Bai might be hiding the fleet’s involvement in the slave trade.

Le Yu and Qing Lan discovered that Manager Bai and the fleet had secretly used Jing Zhengwei’s maritime trade to transport slaves to Scardy, disguising the scheme in the accounts. Le Yu suspected Jing Zhengwei had known about it and left to enjoy himself while awaiting the fleet’s return.

• Qing Lan explained that the slave trade between Profound Candle Prefecture, the Skyline District, and Scardy was profitable but risky and temporary, and that Jing Zhengwei had avoided entering it.
• Qing Lan showed Le Yu that Manager Bai had increased grain and fruit shipments, reduced daily necessities, and added Grace Locks to the cargo.
• Qing Lan pointed out that the fleet carried fewer Photonic Energy Rechargers even as Grace Lock shipments grew, leading Le Yu to realize the locks had likely been attached to slaves.
• Le Yu suspected Manager Bai and the fleet had colluded in the slave trade and considered that Jing Zhengwei might have known about it.
• Le Yu asked when the fleet would return, then left to have fun instead of confronting Manager Bai, and asked Qing Lan where he could buy coconut milk.

Bai Yulan admired Jing Zhengwei’s management while preparing to meet the returning fleet, as Le Yu and Qing Lan drove to intercept him. Le Yu recruited a sword-wearing man as an accomplice and asked whether he was happy to see him.

• Bai Yulan received word that the fleet had returned, wore a black ring, and continued his work at Weiling.
• Bai Yulan praised Jing Zhengwei’s decision to let Qing Lan handle business, then went to the harbor as three merchant ships approached.
• Le Yu made Qing Lan drive to Damen Stone Street and explained that he planned to catch Bai Yulan meeting the fleet.
• Qing Lan warned Le Yu that confronting the fleet could provoke a deadly fight, but Le Yu got out and knocked on a residence door.
• A sword-wearing man and a young martial artist opened the door, and Le Yu asked the man whether he was happy to see him.

Jing Zhengwei arrived at Warehouse Seventeen while Weiling’s captains and sailors were dividing their profits, and his guards seized control before anyone could resist. Bai Yulan welcomed Le Yu, saying he had come at exactly the right time.

• Bai Yulan questioned Old Man Wu about Ship Two’s grounding and ordered the captains to claim an extra three hundred Gold Coins while keeping Grace Locks’ reported profits at the highest price.
• Baolong protested the losses to the Silver Blood Society, but Black Flag struck him and warned him not to intimidate Bai Yulan.
• Old Man Wu and the other captains began distributing the sailors’ pay from a chest of Gold Coins.
• Jing Zhengwei revealed himself by asking how much money the owner of Weiling received, then clapped open the warehouse gates as Mi Die, Lisan, Yin Minghong, and Jing’s guards entered with firearms.
• Jing Zhengwei told the frightened sailors he had come to inspect their situation, and Bai Yulan stepped forward to welcome him.

Le Yu confronted Bai Yulan and his fellow sailors over their secret slave-trading operation, while they mistook his actions for a carefully planned scheme. The group ended with Bai Yulan convinced that Jing Zhengwei had orchestrated every detail, though Le Yu knew he had largely stumbled into the confrontation.

• Yin Minghong speculated that Jing Zhengwei had brought him to the operation to prevent collusion among the Jing family’s businesses.
• Le Yu ate and drank while giving Bai Yulan time to explain himself, then revealed he had monitored Bai Yulan since the Grace Locks were proposed four months earlier.
• Bai Yulan admitted that he, Black Flag, Baolong, and Old Man Wu had used the Grace Locks to control slaves and had earned nearly ten thousand Gold Coins through slave trading.
• Bai Yulan accused Le Yu of letting them trade so he could later seize their wealth and sacrifice them to protect the Jing family, but Le Yu neither confirmed nor denied it.
• Bai Yulan concluded that Le Yu had acted early to prevent the group from quitting with their profits, and declared himself convinced by the Young Master’s calculations.
• Le Yu privately realized that he had ambushed the group after Qing Lan uncovered their secret and had invited Yin Minghong simply because he considered him a friend.

Bai Yulan persuaded Jing Zhengwei to back his plan to use the slave trade to build a future Radiant Skyline regime in Scardy, but Le Yu killed him and ordered the other ringleaders slain. The sailors turned their weapons toward Le Yu’s guards as Jing Zhengwei refused to explain his decision.

• Bai Yulan offered to keep the slave trade running behind Jing Zhengwei’s back and argued that he could later help an exiled warlord liberate the Skyline people in Scardy.
• Bai Yulan rallied the sailors by describing his past and urging them to risk their lives for a chance to live with status and dignity; the sailors, including Baolong, knelt and pledged to serve Jing Zhengwei.
• Le Yu accepted the sailors’ pledge, introduced Yin Minghong to the group, and drew Yin Minghong’s saber to behead Bai Yulan.
• Le Yu ordered Yin Minghong to kill the ringleaders, and the guards raised their guns against the sailors.
• Black Flag demanded an explanation, but Le Yu said Jing Zhengwei did not have to explain himself as the sailors and guards faced off.

Yin Minghong reported Jing Zhengwei’s actions to Wen Hong while she treated his wounds, and White Night assigned him a new operative with a blood feud against Jing Zhengwei. Meanwhile, Le Yu headed back to Jing Garden, dreading meeting Jing Zhengwei’s father.

• Mu Qingmei found Yin Minghong at Wen Hong’s clinic and panicked when she saw his injuries.
• Yin Minghong recounted his fight with Black Flag, Baolong, and Old Man Wu, and explained that Jing Zhengwei had punished sailors while keeping the fleet operating and apparently abandoning the slave trade.
• Mu Qingmei suggested Jing Zhengwei might be a good person, prompting Yin Minghong and Wen Hong to laugh before Wen Hong told them an assassin’s meeting was set for three days later.
• Wen Hong introduced Frost Assassin, a new White Night operative who revealed that he had been a servant in Jing Zhengwei’s residence named Rongyao and held a blood feud against Jing Zhengwei.
• Le Yu traveled toward Jing Garden with Qing Lan, Mi Die, and Lisan, dreading the prospect of meeting Jing Zhengwei’s father.

Le Yu attended the Jing family banquet because Jing Zhengwei’s power depended on the family’s backing. After arriving at Jing Garden with Qing Lan, he encountered relatives and then met his younger brother, Jing Zhengwu.

• Le Yu reflected that Jing Zhengwei’s authority came from the Jing family and that he had to follow its rules to keep his position and resources.
• Le Yu’s carriage passed through Cape Gate into the clean, orderly Inner City, where he thought of Bai Yulan and the lives of its residents.
• Le Yu arrived at Jing Garden with Qing Lan, who was nervous, and reassured her that no one would bully her.
• Le Yu greeted several Jing family relatives and grew more determined to destroy the Silver Blood Society.
• Jing Zhengwu approached Le Yu and called him Elder Brother.