Chapter Summaries

Chen Yi enlisted Pei Guanli to watch a planted Secret Letter, hoping to identify the Hidden Guards operating in the Xiao Manor. She spotted a stooped man entering Jiaxing Garden to collect it, while Chen Yi remained cautious about acting until he could speak with Xiao Jinghong.

• Chen Yi asked Pei Guanli to watch the Secret Letter and identify whoever came to take it, warning her not to follow or confront them.
• Pei Guanli hid in Jiaxing Garden as Chen Yi returned to Chunhe Garden and considered investigating the Hidden Guards through Liu Si'er’s trail.
• Wang Lixing told Chen Yi that the intruder had escaped after using knockout drugs to slip past the guards, and Chen Yi concealed his own progress in training.
• Pei Guanli watched a hunched man push a handcart into Jiaxing Garden, circle the grounds, and approach the pavilion; she recognized him as the person coming for the letter.

Chen Yi wrote a Birthday Ode for Xiao Yuan, exhausted himself using qi to guide his brush, and sent Xiao Wuge to tell the Old Marquis about it. Meanwhile, Pei Guanli reported that a servant had collected the Secret Letter, and Xiao Wuge began reciting Chen Yi’s lyric before Xiao Yuan and the others.

• Chen Yi composed a Wei Qing Style lyric praising Xiao Yuan and titled it “Yongyu Le: Ode to Marquis Xiao.”
• Xiao Wuge learned the lyric, promised to keep it secret, then got Chen Yi’s permission to tell Xiao Yuan about it.
• Pei Guanli told Chen Yi that a servant who hauled refuse had collected the Secret Letter before dawn, and Chen Yi instructed her to keep hiding in Chunhe Garden.
• Xiao Wuge visited Xiao Yuan, Xiao Qiuyun, Zhang Heng, and the other elders, where Zhang Heng called Chen Yi a runaway groom.
• Xiao Wuge began reciting Chen Yi’s lyric to Xiao Yuan and the gathering.

Xiao Wuge recited Chen Yi’s birthday poem for Xiao Yuan, moving the old marquis and impressing Sun Fu and Zhang Xuan. The gathering ended with Xiao Yuan forgiving Chen Yi for his earlier elopement, while Xiao Wuge and Zhang Heng were sent to Chunhe Garden.

• Xiao Wuge recited Chen Yi’s poem, and Sun Fu praised its literary power as Xiao Yuan recalled his military campaigns.
• Zhang Xuan tried to obtain the poem for his own birthday, but Xiao Yuan refused and Xiao Qiuyun suggested he ask Chen Yi to write one instead.
• Sun Fu lamented that Chen Yi’s talent might go unused because he was a son-in-law of the Xiao Family and could not enter official service.
• Xiao Yuan ordered a large meal to prove his appetite and told Xiao Wuge to tell Chen Yi that he forgave him for his earlier elopement.
• Xiao Qiuyun sent Xiao Wuge and Zhang Heng to Chunhe Garden and warned Zhang Heng to behave politely, while Xiao Yuan reminded her that Heng’er should be studying.

A Hidden Guard shopkeeper decoded a warning about the Xiao family and sent a report to the Silver Banner Officer. Meanwhile, Chen Yi adjusted to Zhang Heng’s stay at Chunhe Garden and began examining Pei Guanli’s martial arts, where he found flaws in her training.

• A shopkeeper in Shuzhou decoded a secret message about a young man at the Xiao manor and unknown thieves, then sent his report to the Silver Banner Officer by carrier pigeon.
• Chen Yi asked Xiao Wuge about the Old Marquis’s reaction and learned that the Old Marquis forgave him and the family liked his birthday ode.
• Zhang Heng and Xiao Wuge bickered during his stay at Chunhe Garden, while Chen Yi advised Xiao Wuge not to let the heir apparent push him around.
• Chen Yi continued his daily training, and his Mystic Grade Playful Dragon Teases Phoenix body movement technique broke through.
• Pei Guanli asked Chen Yi to teach her, so he watched her demonstrate her stake training and techniques before pointing out flaws in her foundation and practice.

Chen Yi guided Pei Guanli in her martial arts, accepted some knockout medicine, and learned her palm and movement techniques. After discovering intelligence about Li Huaigu’s mother breaking up his romance, Chen Yi decided to visit the Old Marquis, whose household had been praising Chen Yi’s birthday ode.

• Chen Yi corrected Pei Guanli’s training, and she gave him knockout medicine and its antidote.
• Chen Yi practiced Pei Guanli’s techniques and reached Initial Glimpse in Hundred Flower Palm and Meteor Butterfly Steps.
• Chen Yi read intelligence that Li Huaigu’s mother would break up his romance and resolved to visit the Old Marquis.
• Xiao Die told Chen Yi that his birthday ode had spread through Shuzhou and inspired a song performed by courtesans.
• Chen Yi asked Xiao Wuge to accompany him to greet the Old Master and seek an end to his confinement.

Chen Yi visited Old Marquis Xiao and learned how Duke Zhang’s old feud with Chen Xuanji began, while the elders schemed to obtain a poem from him. After returning to Chunhe Garden, Chen Yi spotted Uncle Gui leaving Jiaoxing Garden and suspected the old servant had received a reply to the Hidden Guard’s secret letter.

• Chen Yi heard Wang Lixing explain that Uncle Gui was a wounded Dingyuan Army veteran whose military merits had been overlooked, and suspected he might resent the Xiao Family.
• Chen Yi met Old Marquis Xiao, Duke Zhang, and Sun Fu, then calmly answered Zhang Xuan’s hostile remarks about his late father.
• Old Marquis Xiao told Chen Yi that Chen Xuanji and Zhang Xuan had fallen out over delayed food supplies to Jiaozhou six years earlier.
• After Chen Yi left, Zhang Xuan revealed that he wanted a poem from Chen Yi, and Old Marquis Xiao said Chen Yi had agreed to write one.
• Chen Yi returned to Chunhe Garden, saw Uncle Gui coming out of Jiaoxing Garden, and suspected the Hidden Guard’s secret letter had received a reply.

Chen Yi arranged an outing with Xiao Wuge and secretly retrieved a coded letter before sending Pei Guanli to investigate Liu Si'er’s quarters. Pei Guanli disguised herself as a maid and reached his room without raising suspicion, but the chapter ended before she searched it.

• Chen Yi left Chunhe Garden, retrieved a coded paper hidden in Jiaxing Garden, memorized its cipher groups, and returned it to its hiding place.
• Chen Yi asked Pei Guanli to investigate Liu Si'er’s room while he took Xiao Wuge and Xiao Die out of the manor, warning her to avoid the hunchbacked accomplice and not cause a scene.
• Pei Guanli disguised herself as a maid and slipped through the mansion, while Zhang Heng arrived at the emptied Chunhe Garden calling for Xiao Wuge.
• Pei Guanli reached the stable-side rooms, told two grooms that she was looking for something in Liu Si'er’s room, and persuaded them to lead her there.

Chen Yi rode through Shuzhou City with Xiao Die and Xiao Wuge, observing the local people and hearing about a Third Place Scholar’s parade. As they reached the crowded road, a smiling young master in red rode by on a white horse.

• Chen Yi saw enslaved barbarians being driven toward the East Market and listened to onlookers discuss their sale.
• Xiao Wuge told Chen Yi about the Third Place Scholar’s parade, and Chen Yi said he only wanted to watch the festivities.
• Xiao Wuge offered to arrange Chen Yi a military post through his sister, but Chen Yi firmly refused.
• Liu Si'er and Ge Laosan discussed the crowds of scholars and maidens gathering along the road.
• Chen Yi looked out at the procession and saw a young master in red riding a white horse while thanking the crowd.

Chen Yi watched Li Huaigu return to Shuzhou as Tanhua and wondered why the court had sent several high-ranking exam graduates there. After Chen Yi’s literary reputation silenced two mocking scholars, he observed Li Huaigu exchanging glances with a plainly dressed maiden and wondered whether he would choose her over his family’s expectations.

• Chen Yi stopped his carriage to watch Li Huaigu’s procession and questioned why the Zhuangyuan and Tanhua were both heading to Shuzhou for office.
• Xiao Wuge praised Chen Yi’s ability, prompting two scholars to mock him until they recognized the Xiao Family banner and Xu Nian identified Chen Yi as the author of a celebrated Birthday Ode.
• Chen Yi told Xiao Wuge that a true man of letters possessed both talent and virtue, then joked that he wanted to avoid being sent to the military camp.
• Li Huaigu completed the procession through Shuzhou and exchanged congratulations with the scholars who had followed him.
• Chen Yi noticed a plainly dressed maiden watching Li Huaigu and wondered whether Li Huaigu would choose his childhood sweetheart or obey his family’s expectations.

Chen Yi attended a gathering with Xiao Wuge and met the newly named Tanhua, Li Huaigu, who took them to witness his reunion with his childhood sweetheart Yunxiang. After Li Huaigu’s mother rejected Yunxiang and the two parted, Chen Yi resolved to find out whether a hunter had truly offered betrothal gifts and help them.

• Chen Yi impressed Li Huaigu and Prefect Liu Si with his insight into the Metropolitan Examination question, while learning that Chen Yunfan’s Zhuangyuan placement had hidden circumstances.
• Li Huaigu brought Chen Yi, Xiao Wuge, Xiao Die, and their companions to his home and introduced Yunxiang as his unwed bride.
• Li’s mother rejected Yunxiang because she was uneducated and beneath Li Huaigu’s new status, and Yunxiang ran away with Li Huaigu chasing after her.
• Yunxiang told Li Huaigu that a neighboring hunter had proposed with a betrothal gift, urged him to find a suitable match, and left him holding her jade.
• After witnessing Li Huaigu and Yunxiang’s separation, Chen Yi declared that man could conquer nature and asked Xiao Die to investigate whether the hunter had truly offered betrothal gifts.

Chen Yi staged a mock abduction of Yunxiang to provoke Li Huaigu into overcoming his hesitation and rescuing her. Li Huaigu reunited with Yunxiang, announced their coming wedding, and Chen Yi returned to the Xiao Manor unsure whether they would stay together.

• Chen Yi enlisted Liu Si'er, Xiao Die, and Ge Laosan to stage Yunxiang's abduction and draw Li Huaigu out of his home.
• Ge Laosan raised an alarm outside Li Huaigu's house, and Li Huaigu defied his mother's objections and rushed to find Yunxiang.
• Chen Yi, Xiao Die, and Liu Si'er released Yunxiang and fled when Li Huaigu and the neighbors approached.
• Yunxiang showed Li Huaigu Chen Yi's note urging him not to regret failing to act, and Li Huaigu announced that he and Yunxiang would marry soon.
• Chen Yi and his group returned to the Xiao Manor, while Xiao Wuge asked whether Li Huaigu and Yunxiang would end up together.

The Xiao family debated punishing Chen Yi for his intervention in Li Huaigu's affairs and confined him to the estate pending Jinghong's return. Liu Si'er discovered orders warning that he had been exposed, while Chen Yi used Pei Guanli's copies of hidden letters to identify the playscript needed to decipher them.

• Xiao Wang demanded fifty strokes and banishment for Chen Yi, while Sun Fu argued that helping Li Huaigu had gained the Xiao family a useful connection.
• Old Marquis Xiao deferred the final decision until Jinghong returned and ordered Chen Yi to remain in the estate with guards outside Chunhe Garden.
• Liu Si'er learned that a maidservant had visited his room and hurried back to check his hidden secret letters.
• Liu Si'er decoded a message ordering him to kill whoever had exposed him and informing him that the fledgling had been taken over by another.
• Pei Guanli told Chen Yi that she had searched Liu Si'er's room, copied the hidden papers, and returned them to their original places.
• Chen Yi checked the copied information against books in the study and identified a volume of Huangmei opera scripts as the cipher source.

After decoding three secret letters that concerned him, Chen Yi learned that hidden guards in the Xiao Manor had exposed his identity and planned to kill him, but he chose to watch them while he and Pei Guanli grew stronger. Training in the Purple Bamboo Grove, Chen Yi broke through to Ninth Rank · Upper, stunning Pei Guanli.

• Chen Yi decoded three secret letters identifying him as the “fledgeling,” questioning who had caused his aborted marriage, and warning that he had been exposed and should be killed.
• Pei Guanli realized the letters concerned Chen Yi and proposed attacking the hidden guard, but Chen Yi decided to wait and uncover the guards’ purpose while keeping their advantage of knowing the guards’ identities.
• Chen Yi led Pei Guanli to the Purple Bamboo Grove to train, checked his status panel, and practiced the Great Spear Stance Cultivation.
• Chen Yi broke through to Ninth Rank · Upper and learned how qi circulated through the two qi seas at that stage.
• Pei Guanli said her cultivation was nearing a breakthrough to Eighth Rank, then reacted with disbelief when Chen Yi revealed that he had already advanced.

Chen Yi continued studying medicine while Shuzhou’s rumors about his supposed attempt to abduct Yunxiang upset Xiao Die, though he calmed her with jokes. After defeating Pei Guanli in their daily sparring, he received an intelligence notice about Duchess of Qian Xiao Qiuyun disciplining Zhang Heng, then encountered Liu Si'er late at night.

• Shuzhou’s people spread rumors that Chen Yi had tried to abduct Yunxiang, despite Li Huaigu and Yunxiang clarifying what happened.
• Chen Yi reassured the tearful Xiao Die and continued advancing his medical knowledge by studying the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders.
• Chen Yi expanded his medical dao to minor accomplishment by spending eleven points of fortune.
• Chen Yi defeated Pei Guanli in two sparring matches, using his ability to read her moves and Qi.
• Chen Yi received intelligence that Duchess of Qian Xiao Qiuyun would discipline Zhang Heng, then met Liu Si'er at Chunhe Garden’s entrance.

Chen Yi deflected Liu Si'er’s suspicion after he intruded into Chunhe Garden, then realized Liu Si'er might be tracking Pei Guanli and warned her in writing. Pei Guanli read the note and became convinced Chen Yi had seen her while she was barely dressed.

• Liu Si'er entered Chunhe Garden at night to investigate a noise, and Chen Yi claimed he had been practicing; Wang Lixing arrived and reprimanded Liu Si'er for breaking the rules.
• Chen Yi offered to have Liu Si'er rewarded, then sent him and Wang Lixing back to guard the gate; Liu Si'er later accepted Wang Lixing’s explanation that Chen Yi practiced at night.
• Chen Yi suspected Liu Si'er had followed Pei Guanli’s movements and decided to warn her, while also wondering who the Hidden Guard planned to send in Liu Si'er’s place.
• The next morning, Chen Yi told Wang Lixing he would excuse Liu Si'er’s intrusion but warned him to prevent a repeat, then declined Wang Lixing’s offer to watch his training.
• Chen Yi slipped Pei Guanli a note warning her to be careful around Liu Si'er; after reading and burning it, she realized she had opened the door wearing only undergarments and feared Chen Yi had seen her.

After reaching the Ninth Rank, Upper Stage, Chen Yi accompanied Xiao Wuge around the marquis’s mansion and heard servants gossip about his scandalous reputation. He secretly watched Xiao Qiuyun punish Zhang Heng for breaking a cup, then learned Xiao Jinghong was returning with the Old Marquis’s birthday gift.

• Chen Yi showed off his increased strength, brushed aside Liu Si'er’s apology, and went with Xiao Wuge to look for Zhang Heng.
• Ge Laosan told Chen Yi that Zhang Heng was kneeling in Qingjing Residence, so Chen Yi and Xiao Wuge went there.
• Chen Yi overheard Zhang Heng falsely blame him for breaking a cup, then watched Xiao Qiuyun beat Zhang Heng after the lie was exposed.
• Chen Yi left Qingjing Residence with Xiao Wuge, judging Xiao Wang eager to find his weaknesses and Xiao Qiuyun harsh in her discipline.
• Yan Hong told Chen Yi that Xiao Jinghong was returning to the mansion and had sent ahead the birthday gift for the Old Marquis.

Chen Yi continued his quiet days in Chunhe Garden as Xiao Jinghong approached Shuzhou, while a secret message about her return and Chen Yi’s growing connections reached a masked figure in the Capital Prefecture. The figure ordered that Chen Yi be offered a taste of power and wondered why he showed no hatred after being suppressed for five years.

• Yan Hong delivered Xiao Jinghong’s elaborate tortoise-shell birthday gift, and Chen Yi asked Xiao Die to check on the progress of the birthday ode before returning to fish with Xiao Wuge.
• Yan Hong and Wang Lixing discussed how Chen Yi had changed, recalling his escape from the wedding procession and his later misadventures outside the manor.
• Liu Si’er secretly passed a message to Uncle Gui, who copied and destroyed it before sending the information onward by carrier pigeon and harrier eagle.
• A masked figure in the Capital Prefecture received a report that Xiao Jinghong would return for Marquis Dingyuan’s birthday, that the emperor’s bestowed cup had shattered, and that Chen Yi had met Li Huaigu.
• The masked figure ordered his agents to offer Chen Yi a taste of power and ask the palace whether the emperor would bestow a seven-colored glass cup on Marquis Dingyuan.
• After praising Chen Yi’s calligraphy, the masked figure wondered why Chen Yi did not hate him after being suppressed for five years.

Chen Yi discovered that the mounted birthday ode was a poor imitation, so he rewrote it with a spiritual Artistic Conception and sent it back to be mounted under guard. Xiao Jinghong returned to Shuzhou and heard rumors accusing Chen Yi of abducting a woman and visiting brothels, leaving her suspicious of him.

• Chen Yi learned the original birthday ode had disappeared and that the mounting shop had replaced it with calligraphy by Mr. Yue Ming; Xiao Die angrily confronted the shop owner but could not recover the original.
• Chen Yi rewrote "Yongyu Le: Ode to Marquis Xiao" in running script, infusing the characters with a pearly Artistic Conception that Xiao Die saw glowing.
• Chen Yi sent Xiao Die to the mounting shop with armored soldiers to guard the new calligraphy.
• Xiao Wan'er met Xiao Jinghong outside Shuzhou City, and the sisters rode back together in a carriage driven by Shen Huatang.
• Xiao Jinghong overheard rumors that Chen Yi had forcibly seized a woman and patronized brothels, and she judged him the most shameless husband in history.

Xiao Jinghong returned to Shuzhou with Xiao Wan'er and heard the city gossip about Chen Yi’s poetry and reputation. At a roadside mounting shop, they found Mr. Yue Ming arguing with Xiao Die over a calligraphy copybook, and Xiao Wan'er recognized its extraordinary calligraphic artistic conception.

• Xiao Jinghong listened to scholars praise Chen Yi’s poetry while condemning his conduct, then asked Xiao Wan'er whether he had changed for the better.
• Xiao Wan'er told Xiao Jinghong that Chen Yi had obediently copied family rules and read books after she left the Marquis's mansion.
• Shen Huatang stopped the carriage when Xiao Jinghong spotted Mr. Yue Ming trying to obtain the birthday calligraphy from Xiao Die.
• Xiao Die told Mr. Yue Ming that Chen Yi had written the calligraphy, and Xiao Wan'er confirmed that it was her brother-in-law’s work.
• Xiao Wan'er began unfolding the calligraphy and saw its characters emit a jade-like glow, realizing it displayed Calligraphy Artistic Conception.

Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Jinghong returned to the Marquis's mansion after seeing the extraordinary calligraphy Chen Yi had written, and Xiao Jinghong grew curious about how he had changed. When she finally met him again in Chunhe Garden, their first long gaze left her flustered and Chen Yi admiring her beauty.

• Mr. Yue Ming questioned whether Chen Yi had written the calligraphy, and Xiao Jinghong promised the Xiao Family would answer him later.
• Wang Lixing confirmed that Chen Yi wrote the characters, while Xiao Die recounted his recent deeds to the two Xiao sisters on their way back.
• Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Jinghong studied the glowing calligraphy, and Xiao Jinghong glimpsed a gentle, leisurely figure that reminded her of Chen Yi.
• The Xiao sisters returned to the Marquis's mansion, where the old marquis welcomed Xiao Jinghong's return and discussed the family's future with Zhang Xuan and Sun Fu.
• Xiao Jinghong and Xiao Wan'er entered Chunhe Garden and found Chen Yi joking with Zhang Heng and Xiao Wuge while digging for earthworms.
• Chen Yi and Xiao Jinghong gazed at each other until she looked away and said she would change clothes, while he silently admired her.