Chapter Summaries

Chen Yi and Xiao Jinghong received Guiyun Academy’s teachers at Marquis Dingyuan’s birthday celebration after Mr. Yue Ming sought out the author of a calligraphy copybook. As they headed for the central courtyard, an Imperial Edict arrived.

• Chen Yunfan planned to present a matching calligraphy copybook to Old Marquis to provoke the Mountain Tribe girl who had toyed with him.
• Chen Yi and Xiao Jinghong greeted visiting officials and prominent Shuzhou families while waiting to enter the central courtyard.
• Mr. Yue Ming arrived with Li Huaigu and five other Guiyun Academy teachers, then asked Chen Yi whether he had written the calligraphy copybook.
• Xiao Jinghong told Chen Yi that Mr. Yue Ming had once loved her grandmother, who later married Old Marquis, creating an old grudge between him and the Xiao Family.
• As Chen Yi and Xiao Jinghong walked toward the central courtyard, someone announced that an Imperial Edict had arrived.

On Marquis Dingyuan's sixtieth birthday, Feng Erbao delivered an Imperial Edict honoring Xiao Yuan and a separate Oral Decree for Chen Yi. The emperor offered Chen Yi special permission to sit the next Imperial Examination, leaving Chen Yi trying to decline while Feng Erbao refused to carry his answer back.

• Xiao Jinghong arranged for the Xiao Family to receive Feng Erbao and the Imperial Edict, and she asked Chen Yi to accompany her.
• Feng Erbao announced that he had brought an Oral Decree for Chen Yi alone, prompting Xiao Wang to apologize after being told to leave the decree's contents unheard.
• Feng Erbao read the Imperial Edict granting Xiao Yuan birthday gifts in recognition of his service guarding Shuzhou.
• Feng Erbao relayed the emperor's praise for Chen Yi's talent and offered him special permission to take the next Imperial Examination.
• Chen Yi claimed his learning was ordinary and tried to decline, but Feng Erbao said he would not carry a reply back.

After the Emperor issued an oral decree allowing Chen Yi to take the Imperial Examination, Chen Yi tried to persuade Xiao Jinghong to let him remain an idle son-in-law, but she refused to believe he lacked talent. As rumors about the decree spread through the birthday banquet, Pei Guanli secretly drugged guests who spoke ill of him, and Chen Yi rushed out to confront her.

• Chen Yi asked Xiao Jinghong to let him avoid the Imperial Examination, official service, and hard labor, but she agreed only that he could remain idle and said Eldest Sister had already arranged for him to help her.
• Guests at the birthday banquet heard about the Emperor's decree, and Chen Yunfan, Li Huaigu, and others discussed Chen Yi's learning and his words about water carrying and capsizing a boat.
• Xiao Wang told Xiao Qiuyun that Chen Yi's marriage into the Xiao Family had changed the family's fortunes, while other guests gossiped about Chen Yi's past.
• Pei Guanli secretly gave delayed-acting powders to guests who disparaged Chen Yi, prompting Chen Yunfan to warn him that she was poisoning the guests.
• Chen Yi hurried out of the main hall and called Pei Guanli over after she cheerfully identified herself among the crowd.

At Old Marquis Xiao’s birthday banquet, Chen Yi managed Pei Guanli’s poisoned guests and exchanged guarded words with Chen Yunfan. When Chen Yi presented his calligraphy copybook, Mr. Yue Ming insisted it be opened, and its radiant characters astonished the guests.

• Chen Yi learned that Pei Guanli had poisoned guests who gossiped about him, then persuaded her to give them antidotes and avoid causing trouble at the banquet.
• Chen Yi spoke with Chen Yunfan about His Majesty’s oral decree and suspected that his elder brother was concealing his martial abilities.
• Pei Guanli and Chen Yunfan presented identical calligraphy copybooks, and Chen Yi realized they had met the previous night.
• The guests presented birthday gifts to Old Marquis Xiao, and Chen Yi offered his calligraphy copybook.
• Mr. Yue Ming asked Old Marquis Xiao to open Chen Yi’s copybook, and its bold characters shone with a jade-like glow, prompting a guest to exclaim that the characters revealed brilliance.

At Marquis Dingyuan Xiao Yuan’s birthday banquet, Chen Yi’s New Style Calligraphy Copybook stunned the guests and won him widespread admiration, though the attention worried him. On the way back to Chunhe Garden, he gained an Earth Rank Spear Technique and Fortune, while Xiao Jinghong announced that Pei Guanli would return with her to the Mountain Tribe.

• Chen Yi’s Calligraphy Copybook amazed the guests and Guiyun Academy’s teachers, and Xiao Jinghong quieted the crowd so the birthday feast could continue.
• The guests praised Chen Yi’s talent, while Pang Xuan warned Li Changqing to keep his thoughts to himself.
• Chen Yi helped Xiao Jinghong and the Old Marquis see off the distinguished guests, promised Li Huaigu he would attend his wedding feast, and spoke with Chen Yunfan before the banquet ended.
• The Light Screen awarded Chen Yi the Earth Rank Spear Technique—Falling Dragon and Fortune, which he decided to save until he had practiced the technique.
• On the way back to Chunhe Garden, Xiao Jinghong said she would take Pei Guanli back to the Mountain Tribe in a few days, and Pei Guanli clung to Chen Yi while Xiao Jinghong told him to step aside.

After the birthday banquet, Chen Yi considered the attention his calligraphy had attracted and returned to fishing, while Old Master explained the Xiao Family’s strained relationship with the emperor and its duty to defend the Central Plains. Xiao Jinghong and Xiao Wan'er took charge of the manor and army until Xiao Wu Ge returned, and Jinghong said Chen Yi had agreed to help Wan'er.

• Xiao Jinghong and Su Zhenyue left to handle business, while Chen Yi sent Xiao Wuge and Xiao Die to rest and reflected on the banquet’s consequences as he fished.
• Old Master directed Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Jinghong to sort the birthday gifts and explained that the Xiao Family needed funds for the Dingyuan Army’s Mutual Market with the Mountain Tribe.
• Old Master told Xiao Jinghong that the emperor was wary of the Xiao Family and had been restricting the Dingyuan Army’s resources, but reminded her that the family defended the Central Plains from the Barbarian Tribe.
• Old Master placed the Marquis’s mansion and Dingyuan Army in the hands of Xiao Jinghong and Xiao Wan'er until Xiao Wu Ge returned from Jinling, and said he would hold on for another ten years.
• Xiao Jinghong told Xiao Wan'er that Chen Yi had agreed to help her and promised to find him another position if he performed well.

Chen Yi practiced with Pei Guanli, demonstrated the Earth Rank Falling Dragon Spear Art, and discovered it drained his Qi because he lacked the cultivation to use it safely. He planned to train with the Mysterious Turtle Breath Concealment Art and remembered to ask Xiao Jinghong to let Pei Guanli stay; a new intelligence notice revealed Xiao Wan'er would reprimand a pharmacy manager at noon.

• Chen Yi agreed to try persuading Xiao Jinghong to let Pei Guanli remain, after learning Pei Guanli did not want to return to the Mountain Tribe and her parents had been away for years.
• Chen Yi used Playful Dragon Teases Phoenix footwork to strike Pei Guanli during their sparring and advised her to reserve some strength for adapting.
• Chen Yi performed the eight stances of the Falling Dragon Spear Art with a Purple Bamboo staff and learned the Earth Rank technique, but exhausted his Qi.
• Chen Yi used Fortune to raise his Spear Dao and realized the spear art drew on Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi, making it unsuitable for his current cultivation level.
• Chen Yi decided to test the Mysterious Turtle Breath Concealment Art while practicing the spear, then received intelligence that Xiao Wan'er would reprimand a pharmacy manager at Jiaxing Garden the next day.

Chen Yi heard that his calligraphy had become the talk of Shuzhou City, then spent the morning fishing unsuccessfully while Xiao Wuge caught one Golden-haired Carp after another. When Xiao Qiuyun and Zhang Heng arrived to take their leave, Chen Yi exchanged barbed remarks with them before the elders settled in to fish.

• Xiao Die told Chen Yi that Shuzhou City’s aristocratic sons had been visiting the Marquis’s mansion to copy his Calligraphy Copybook.
• Chen Yi took Xiao Wuge’s fishing rod when she hooked a Golden-haired Carp, but the fish escaped as soon as he took over.
• Chen Yi prepared to visit Jiaxing Garden, but Zhang Xuan, Sun Fu, Xiao Qiuyun, and Zhang Heng arrived in Chunhe Garden.
• Chen Yi greeted Xiao Qiuyun after she prompted him, then learned she and Zhang Heng were leaving for Guangyue Prefecture and would pass a message to Xiao Jinghong.
• Zhang Heng called Chen Yi a shameless runaway groom as he left, and Chen Yi told Zhang Xuan and Sun Fu they were even.
• Zhang Xuan spotted Xiao Wuge fishing and went with Sun Fu to join her, while Chen Yi left for Jiaxing Garden.

Chen Yi attended a meeting where Xiao Wan'er disciplined several Medicine Hall managers and appointed him to replace the corrupt Shopkeeper Wang. After learning the Imperial Court had disrupted the Dingyuan Army’s finances and threatened the Xiao Family’s plans for a Mutual Market, Chen Yi left the larger troubles to others and went to fish.

• Xiao Wan'er reviewed the five Medicine Halls’ accounts, praised two managers, reprimanded two for harsh prescriptions, and had Wang Ji removed for stealing.
• Xiao Wan'er named Chen Yi as the new Medicine Hall shopkeeper, and Chen Yi accepted the position.
• Xiao Wan'er told Chen Yi that the Dingyuan Army lacked money and grain and that Grandfather had sold many birthday gifts to help Xiao Jinghong build a Mutual Market with the Mountain Tribe.
• Chen Yi concluded that the Imperial Court was obstructing the Xiao Family’s plans, but decided the family’s powerful members could handle it.
• Chen Yi called to Xiao Die and ordered her to find Zhang Fishing Net so he could go after trash fish.

Chen Yi watched Xiao Wuge’s uncanny fishing success and began managing the Medicine Hall accounts, while Xiao Jinghong prepared to travel to the Mountain Tribe to negotiate a Mutual Market. The chapter ended with Xiao Jinghong telling Pei Guanli she would leave the next day, despite Pei’s protests.

• Xiao Wuge tossed a ruined net into the pond, and the Golden-haired Carp crowded into it, astonishing Chen Yi, Zhang Xuan, and Sun Fu.
• Sun Fu left Chunhe Garden with Duke Zhang without asking Chen Yi for a calligraphy copybook, deciding to delay his departure from Marquis Dingyuan's Estate.
• Shen Huatang delivered the Medicine Hall accounts that Xiao Wan'er had prepared for Chen Yi, and Pei Guanli thought Shen seemed familiar.
• Xiao Jinghong refused Chen Yi’s request to let Pei Guanli stay, explaining that she needed Pei’s help negotiating the Mutual Market with Granny Shan.
• Xiao Jinghong told Pei Guanli she could return with her after the negotiations, then announced that she would leave for the Mountain Tribe the next day.

Chen Yi learned that he had been appointed shopkeeper of Jishi Pharmacy and spoke with Xiao Jinghong about her upcoming months away overseeing the Mutual Market. Before she left, he wrote her the poem “Magpie Bridge Immortal,” giving her something to keep so they would not feel like strangers when she returned.

• Pei Guanli lamented that she had to return to her clan, while Xiao Jinghong took her and Su Zhenyue back to the Wooden Tower after dinner.
• Chen Yi read the regulations and accounts for Jishi Pharmacy, learning that its former shopkeeper, Wang Ji, had cheated customers and falsified the books.
• Xiao Jinghong told Chen Yi she would leave after the Mao hour to oversee the Mutual Market, possibly for several months, and said she had asked the Xiao elders not to treat him too harshly.
• Xiao Jinghong asked Chen Yi for calligraphy to keep for herself, explaining that she did not want them to feel like strangers when she returned.
• Chen Yi wrote “Magpie Bridge Immortal” for Xiao Jinghong, who read the poem and was deeply moved by it.

Xiao Jinghong left Chunhe Garden with Pei Guanli and a large escort to negotiate with the Mountain Tribe, while Chen Yi remained behind. Uncle Gui later reported to Harrier Eagle that Xiao Jinghong had departed and Chen Yi had been assigned to manage a pharmacy, prompting Harrier Eagle to consider giving Chen Yi another task.

• Chen Yi watched Xiao Jinghong prepare to leave, noticing that she had carefully packed the calligraphy copybook he wrote for her.
• Xiao Jinghong, Pei Guanli, Su Zhenyue, and their escort departed in five carriages for the Mountain Tribe after Xiao Jinghong asked Xiao Xuanshuo not to test Chen Yi's Martial Path.
• Xiao Wan'er returned to Qingjing Residence and told her grandfather that Xiao Jinghong had set off.
• Uncle Gui met Harrier Eagle in an underground chamber and reported Xiao Jinghong's departure and Chen Yi's new pharmacy-shopkeeper position.
• Harrier Eagle remarked that Chen Yi's talent was being wasted and decided it was time to find him something to do.

Chen Yi dealt with Sun Fu’s attempt to recruit Xiao Wuge as a student, then practiced martial arts and confirmed he could train the Falling Dragon Spear without drawing on Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi. A midnight intelligence alert revealed a Hidden Guard had hidden a secret letter in Sifang Zhai, and Chen Yi decided to investigate the next night.

• Sun Fu tried to persuade Chen Yi to help him take Xiao Wuge as a student, while Duke Zhang struggled to follow their conversation.
• Chen Yi agreed to write Sun Fu a Birthday Ode in exchange for peace and quiet, then brought Xiao Wuge back to Chunhe Garden with Xiao Die.
• Chen Yi practiced the Great Spear Stance Cultivation and Falling Dragon Spear, using the Mysterious Turtle Breath Concealment Art to prevent the spear from connecting to Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi.
• Chen Yi received intelligence that a Hidden Guard had concealed a secret letter in Sifang Zhai, Xiao Dongchen’s residence.
• Chen Yi wondered why the Hidden Guards appeared after Xiao Jinghong left and decided to investigate Sifang Zhai the next night.

On a stormy day, Chen Yi visited Xiao Wan'er and learned that a shipment of medicinal herbs had been delayed by rain and threatened by bandits. As Shen Huatang rode out to meet it, Chen Yi discussed the Xiao Family’s medicine halls with Xiao Wan'er and realized the family’s finances were strained.

• Chen Yi practiced calligraphy while Xiao Die asked whether he worried about Xiao Jinghong, and he said his wife could handle herself.
• Chen Yi took Xiao Wuge to Jiaxing Garden and saw Xiao Wan'er send Shen Huatang and several Armored Soldiers to meet a troubled shipment of medicinal herbs.
• Xiao Wan'er explained that heavy rain had blocked the water route to Shuzhou and bandits threatened the land route.
• During lunch, Chen Yi asked how the Xiao Family’s five medicine halls were managed and learned that their shopkeepers handled routine decisions independently.
• Chen Yi estimated that the family’s medicine halls brought in modest profits and that little remained after the Xiao Family’s expenses.

Chen Yi secretly watched Xiao Dongchen hide an encoded letter and discovered that he was a Hidden Guard. On his way back, Chen Yi ran into Xiao Wan'er awake alone in a pavilion.

• Xiao Wan'er asked Xiao Wuge what he had learned from Chen Yi, and he listed practical chores before agreeing to ask for lessons in poetry or calligraphy.
• Chen Yi cultivated the Great Spear Stance Cultivation and the Mysterious Turtle Breath Concealment Art, then dressed in dark clothes and sneaked into Sifang Zhai.
• Chen Yi hid in a tree and watched Xiao Dongchen place a cloth bundle in its hollow to protect it from the rain.
• Chen Yi retrieved the bundle, memorized the encrypted Secret Letter, and realized Xiao Dongchen was a Hidden Guard.
• Chen Yi returned toward Chunhe Garden and encountered Xiao Wan'er sitting alone in a pavilion; she recognized him as her brother-in-law.

Chen Yi spoke with Xiao Wan'er about the Medicine Hall and tried to explain the poem, but she fled after insisting it never be mentioned again. Back in his room, he failed to decode Xiao Dongchen's Secret Letter with Liu Si'er's codebook, then found a likely key among books he remembered seeing in Xiao Jinghong's study.

• Chen Yi entered the pavilion and asked Xiao Wan'er about the shortage of Medicinal Herbs and the risk to the Medicine Hall's profits.
• Chen Yi offered to find money for the manor, then asked Xiao Wan'er more questions about the Medicine Hall.
• Xiao Wan'er said she had destroyed Chen Yi's poem and hurried back to the Wooden Tower when he tried to explain it.
• Xiao Wan'er secretly kept the Brocade Box containing the poem, while Chen Yi returned to Chunhe Garden and copied the Secret Letter from memory.
• Chen Yi failed to decipher the Secret Letter with Liu Si'er's codebook and searched for books he remembered from Xiao Jinghong's study.
• After an hour of searching, Chen Yi found a book that could serve as the Secret Letter's codebook.

Chen Yi deciphered a Hidden Guard letter and concluded that the group was targeting the Xiao Family while treating him as a potential recruit or pawn. He resolved to hide what he knew, strengthen himself, and went on with his plans as he prepared to visit Jishi Pharmacy.

• Chen Yi interpreted the letter as evidence that the Hidden Guard was obstructing the Xiao Family and had arranged an official post for him as a fledgling.
• Chen Yi considered that the Hidden Guard might use him to frame the Xiao Family or influence Xiao Jinghong, then burned the letter and decided to conceal his knowledge.
• Xiao Die found Chen Yi outside in the rain after he had practiced Stake Training, and she helped him wash and change.
• Chen Yi concluded that he needed to grow stronger and planned to act as though he knew nothing about the Hidden Guard.
• Chen Yi told Xiao Die he would visit Jishi Pharmacy and asked Brother Xing to bring men to accompany him.

Chen Yi visited Chunyu Tower with Liu Si'er and Ge Laosan, where the notorious Liu Lang caused a commotion and earned Chen Yi a cultivation reward. Chen Yunfan recognized Liu Lang as the Mad Saber of Mobei and grew wary of his arrival in Shuzhou, while Chen Yi left without finding the person he sought.

• Chen Yunfan left Chunyu Tower and told Chunying that he planned to make a bold start in his new post, then spotted Chen Yi heading into the pleasure house.
• Chen Yi entered Chunyu Tower with Liu Si'er and Ge Laosan, saying he had come to find someone but had brought no silver.
• Liu Lang fled Chunyu Tower after refusing to pay, boasting that his name could protect its women from bullies.
• Chen Yi received a Great Spear Stance Cultivation upgrade and Fortune for witnessing Liu Lang, then left with Liu Si'er and Ge Laosan without finding his target.
• Chen Yunfan recognized Liu Lang as the Mad Saber of Mobei and told Chunying to prepare a modest wedding gift for Li Huaigu.

Chen Yi investigated Jishi Pharmacy and uncovered a medicine-reselling scheme run by Wang Ji and a neighboring shopkeeper. After taking the shopkeeper’s confession, Chen Yi shut down the pharmacy and sent Liu Si'er to bring Wang Ji in, intending to deal with him himself.

• Chen Yi inspected Wudong Street and found patients leaving Jishi Pharmacy to buy their prescribed herbs at a neighboring shop.
• Chen Yi ordered Liu Si'er to bring the neighboring shopkeeper inside, where the man confessed that Wang Ji had directed the scheme.
• Chen Yi examined the shop’s records and herbs, pressed the shopkeeper for the truth, and had Liu Si'er obtain a full account with the man’s signature and fingerprint.
• Chen Yi entered Jishi Pharmacy, ordered Ge Laosan to close it and turn away customers, and sent Liu Si'er to fetch Wang Ji.
• Chen Yi introduced himself to the pharmacy’s staff as its new shopkeeper.

Chen Yi exposed the embezzlement at Jishi Pharmacy and forced its staff, including Wang Ji, to confess in signed statements. He offered to let them avoid punishment if they returned the stolen profits and continued running the pharmacy as before, leaving Wang Ji and the others stunned by his second condition.

• Chen Yi confronted the physicians, apprentices, and accounting clerks with evidence of their embezzlement and ordered them to write and stamp truthful statements.
• The accounting clerk tried to justify the theft as a share of the Medicine Hall's profits, but Chen Yi threatened to take the matter to the Yamen, and the staff agreed to confess.
• Liu Si'er brought in the bound Wang Ji, whom Chen Yi questioned about the consequences for Xiao Wan'er and the Xiao Family.
• Wang Ji admitted his actions and wrote a statement detailing how he and Boss Yan had profited from the neighboring medicinal herbs shop.
• After collecting the matching statements, Chen Yi offered to let the staff go if they returned all their profits and continued operating Jishi Pharmacy as before, leaving them bewildered.