Recaps

Shen Tang and Qi Shan traveled toward Xiaocheng, with Shen Tang selling green plums and other food to earn money along the way. They reached a devastated Sibao Prefecture and found Xiaocheng’s lively streets sharply contrasted with the desolation outside its walls.

• Qi Shan bought Shen Tang two sets of ready-made clothes, then found her selling green plums across the street.
• Shen Tang earned several dozen copper coins, reclaimed her Literary Heart Sigil, and bought salt, wine, and pickled side dishes.
• Qi Shan questioned why Shen Tang had given money and flatbreads to Tian Zhong and his injured companions, and then used Word Spirit to hurry ahead.
• Shen Tang sold flatbreads, green plums, and malt candy as she and Qi Shan continued toward Sibao Prefecture.
• Qi Shan explained that Geng Country's conquest had devastated Sibao Prefecture, where famine, funerals, and mourning marked the streets.
• Shen Tang and Qi Shan reached Xiaocheng and found bustling crowds and revelry inside, in stark contrast to the corpses and barren land outside.

Shen Tang was struck by the contrast between Xiaocheng’s prosperous interior and the impoverished people outside its gates, then waited while Qi Shan went to ask around. A local thug tried to lure her away by pretending Qi Shan had sent him, and Shen Tang quietly considered how to deal with him.

• Shen Tang questioned Qi Shan about the stark divide between the city’s poor outskirts and its prosperous interior, and he told her to travel more.
• Qi Shan left Shen Tang by a tavern while he went to ask around, warning her not to wander off.
• After Qi Shan was gone, Shen Tang rented a stool and waited, pleased that a middle-aged man addressed her as a girl.
• The man falsely claimed that Qi Shan had asked him to take Shen Tang to an inn, while onlookers recognized him as a child trafficker and kept silent.
• Shen Tang played along with the man because he was the first person to correctly identify her gender, but resolved to kill him if he tried to abduct her.

Shen Tang let a thug lead her away from the tavern while concealing that she could defend herself with a Literary Heart Sigil. A Moonlit Pavilion kitchen hand bet the butcher she would return safely, and the chapter ended with the butcher learning why the thug was in danger.

• The thug tricked Shen Tang into believing he was a helper from Fanghua Inn and led her away on Motorcycle.
• The butcher watched Shen Tang leave but held back from intervening after his elderly parents stopped him.
• A Moonlit Pavilion kitchen hand bet the butcher that Shen Tang would return safely within half an hour.
• The kitchen hand explained that Shen Tang possessed a colorless, transparent Literary Heart Sigil that could handle an ordinary person.

A customer recognized a Literary Heart Sigil and discussed the butcher’s hopes for his child, while Shen Tang was lured to a remote courtyard by Lai Tou and nearly sold to the Moonlit Pavilion. Cornered by three traffickers, Shen Tang dropped her fearful act and fought back.

• The customer confirmed that the ornament was a Literary Heart Sigil, and the butcher wagered that he would lose.
• The butcher said he wanted his child to learn enough characters to handle accounts, but doubted the child could become a nobleman.
• Lai Tou led Shen Tang through deserted alleys to a filthy courtyard, where a man and woman revealed they planned to sell her to the Moonlit Pavilion.
• Shen Tang tried to escape and called for Qi Yuanliang, but the three traffickers cornered her.
• Shen Tang stopped pretending to be afraid, kicked off the wall, and launched a sweeping kick.

Shen Tang captured three people who had abducted women and forced them to confess where they had sold their victims. She brought them back to town to hand over to the Xiaocheng Prefectural Yamen, but a customer warned that they might soon be freed, making Shen Tang reconsider whether to kill them.

• Shen Tang interrogated Lai Tou and his two accomplices about the women they had abducted and sold.
• The woman tried to justify their crimes by claiming the victims had been bought from their parents, but Shen Tang threatened the three until Lai Tou agreed to confess.
• Shen Tang returned to the tavern with the three captives tied together, made them kneel, and explained that she planned to turn them over to the Xiaocheng Prefectural Yamen.
• A customer warned Shen Tang that the captives might be released soon, and she wondered aloud whether she should take them outside the city and kill them.

Qi Shan waited for Shen Tang and spoke with a mysterious elder who offered ruthless advice about military Word Spirits. Shen Tang returned after dealing with evildoers, and she and Qi Shan continued on, with Qi Shan suspecting the elder had once possessed a Literary Heart.

• Qi Shan returned to find Shen Tang gone, then learned from an elder that she had left the city to uphold justice and would be back shortly.
• While waiting, Qi Shan discussed military Word Spirits with the elder, who proposed a lethal alternative to Self-Entrapment and rejected the idea of holding back against a cornered enemy.
• Shen Tang returned on a mule and told Qi Shan that the evildoers were likely already on their way to the afterlife.
• The elder declined Qi Shan's invitation to play chess and left with parcels of meat.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang the elder was no ordinary man and suggested he might once have had a Literary Heart.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan investigated Old Mr. Chu and learned that he had been sold as a slave to the Moonlit Pavilion after a plague. Qi Shan suspected Chu’s unusual abilities and connected his surname to a destroyed state, then brought Shen Tang to stay with an elderly couple he knew in Xiaocheng.

• Shen Tang told Qi Shan that Old Mr. Chu had been sold to the Moonlit Pavilion about five years earlier and had worked there doing kitchen chores.
• Qi Shan observed that Old Mr. Chu’s Literary Heart and Word Spirit were unusually strong despite his lowly circumstances.
• Qi Shan recounted the story of a Chu princess who died after miscarrying in Xin Country, whose ruler later destroyed her homeland.
• Shen Tang wondered whether Old Mr. Chu belonged to the ruined state’s royal family, while Qi Shan said his identity remained uncertain.
• Qi Shan led Shen Tang to a small residence owned by an elderly farming couple he had known for five or six years.

Shen Tang explored Xiaocheng and searched for a way to earn money after deciding to postpone confronting a Gong Clan woman until the clan’s Fifth-Rank Grand Master was caught. She spotted Zhengguang Bookstore accepting illustrated manuscripts and came up with a promising business idea.

• Qi Shan paid the old woman for their lodging and meals, though she initially refused the money out of gratitude.
• Shen Tang asked Qi Shan about Xiaocheng’s Entertainment Quarter and explained that she wanted to find someone connected to her escape.
• Qi Shan warned Shen Tang that approaching the Gong Clan’s exiled women could draw the attention of informants while their Fifth-Rank Grand Master remained at large.
• Qi Shan urged the restless Shen Tang to explore the streets, and she took her savings and went out alone.
• Shen Tang spent much of her money on street goods, then noticed Zhengguang Bookstore was accepting illustrated manuscripts and thought of a way to earn money.

Shen Tang agreed to draw sensual portraits of a popular male courtesan at the Moonlit Pavilion and went there with the bookshop owner to meet him. On the way, she learned that brothels filled several streets in Xiaocheng and that the Prefectural Government encouraged their construction.

• Shen Tang persuaded the bookshop owner to let her try illustrating portraits for a Moonlit Pavilion courtesan, despite his initial doubts about her age and experience.
• The shopkeeper explained that the client wanted tasteful erotic portraits, and Shen Tang agreed to go meet him that day.
• Shen Tang asked how much it would cost to buy a servant from the Moonlit Pavilion, privately considering buying Old Mr. Chu.
• The shopkeeper led Shen Tang through Xiaocheng's brothel-lined streets and told her the Prefectural Government encouraged their construction.
• The shopkeeper brought Shen Tang to a courtyard house, where they learned the courtesan had just woken up, and suggested waiting for him at a teahouse.

Shen Tang learned why Xiaocheng’s Prefectural Government encouraged brothels and entertainment houses, then accepted a commission to draw an erotic illustration. She finished a rough draft, leaving Qi Shan stunned by her crude and suggestive artwork.

• Shen Tang asked the shopkeeper why the Prefectural Government promoted brothels and heard that poverty, war, taxes, and the sale of children had driven the policy.
• The shopkeeper said male brothels made up seventy percent of the businesses and credited their popularity to Zheng Qiao’s rise from Xin Country’s favored concubine to ruler.
• A veiled client arrived with two guards, dismissed Shen Tang as too young, then agreed to let her try the commission using his materials.
• Qi Shan brought Shen Tang some manuscripts and found her rough erotic drawings spread across her desk.

Shen Tang argued with Qi Shan over her painting skills and revealed that she had accepted a commission to draw an erotic illustration for a courtesan at Moonlit Pavilion. After seeing her work, Qi Shan warned that the courtesan might react violently when Shen Tang submitted it.

• Shen Tang challenged Qi Shan to paint, and he quickly produced a landscape that far surpassed her drawing.
• Shen Tang added a sequence of explicit little-figure scenes to her picture, revealing that she was making an erotic illustration.
• Qi Shan realized Shen Tang sincerely believed her drawing was good and tactfully suggested she see a physician.
• Shen Tang explained that a bookseller had hired her to draw a portrait for a courtesan at Moonlit Pavilion without testing her skills.
• Qi Shan warned Shen Tang that the courtesan could summon Moonlit Pavilion's brawlers if she submitted the illustration.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan tried to figure out how she could fulfill her painting contract after Qi Shan judged her work poor. Qi Shan grew suspicious of the young male entertainer and his insistence on supplying the materials, and the chapter ended with Shen Tang suggesting Word Spirit might explain it.

• Shen Tang insisted that her paintings were good until Qi Shan reminded her that the client had to approve them.
• Shen Tang revealed she had signed a contract and accepted a deposit, so Qi Shan offered to paint the portrait for her if necessary.
• Shen Tang described the young male entertainer, and Qi Shan questioned why he had hired her without checking her painting skills.
• Qi Shan grew uneasy about the entertainer’s insistence on providing the brushes, ink, and paper, then tested the paper for hidden writing.
• Shen Tang suggested the materials might be connected to Word Spirit.

Qi Shan explained how Ten Crows had secretly aided Zheng Qiao in conquering Xin Country and how Sibao Prefecture's prefect served as their informant. As Ten Crows prepared to exploit Xin Country's weakness, encrypted words appeared on the paper.

• Qi Shan investigated the paper with literary qi and told Shen Tang that Zheng Qiao had allied with Ten Crows to attack Xin Country.
• Shen Tang learned that Sibao Prefecture's prefect had Ten Crows parents and secretly worked as their informant while serving Zheng Qiao.
• Qi Shan explained that Ten Crows could use Sibao Prefecture as a strategic route south and might cross the mountains because Xin Country's National Seal was lost.
• Faint words appeared on the paper, and Shen Tang read aloud, "Viewed from the front, it forms a ridge; from the side, a peak?"

Shen Tang discovered that the hidden word spirit on the drawing paper led into a military chess formation, but she failed to break it after repeatedly trying through the night. By dawn, Qi Shan handed her the finished drawings and confirmed that neither of them had solved the formation.

• Shen Tang and Qi Shan identified the line on the paper as an encrypted military formation word spirit, and Qi Shan said he was not afraid of being drawn into trouble.
• Shen Tang entered the word spirit through her sketch and found herself facing a shadowy youth on a chessboard where black and white armies were fighting.
• Shen Tang made a move, but the opposing black forces routed her white pieces and forced her consciousness back into her body.
• Shen Tang repeatedly tried to break the formation through the night while Qi Shan sensed her restless literary qi and finished drawing the erotic illustrations.
• At dawn, Shen Tang demanded the drawings from Qi Shan, who told her the formation’s creator was an expert and admitted that he had not broken it either.

Shen Tang delivered the paintings Qi Shan had completed to Zhengguang Bookstore, where the shopkeeper was dazzled by them and urged her to publish an art collection. She claimed her brother had painted them and asked when they would be delivered, hinting that she wanted to meet the handsome male courtesan.

• Qi Shan warned Shen Tang to be cautious because the person behind the paintings might be connected to Sibao Prefecture's prefect, then returned to the endgame and resumed playing against the mysterious figure.
• Shen Tang rode Moto to Zhengguang Bookstore and submitted the four paintings.
• The shopkeeper admired the paintings, praised Shen Tang's skill, and suggested she publish an art collection.
• Shen Tang said she had not painted the works and that her brother had finished them, then asked when the shopkeeper would deliver them.
• Shen Tang hinted that she wanted to see the male courtesan, and the shopkeeper cautioned her against falling for someone from a brothel.

Shen Tang went to the Moonlit Pavilion to meet the client who had commissioned a painting, only to discover that the sickly young man there could hear her unspoken thoughts. The chapter left them face to face as he remarked on her blazing literary energy and joked about his long life expectancy.

• Shen Tang waited outside the Moonlit Pavilion with Motorcycle, then followed the shopkeeper inside when he called her upstairs.
• Behind a screen, Shen Tang claimed that her older brother had painted the desert sunset artwork for her.
• The young man began coughing, and Shen Tang mistakenly assumed he was a sickly customer seeking pleasure at the Moonlit Pavilion.
• The young man revealed that he could hear Shen Tang's thoughts and advised her to keep her emotions off her face.
• The young man emerged from behind the screen, and he and Shen Tang studied each other; he sensed her powerful literary energy and said a fortune-teller had predicted he would live another twenty or thirty years.

Shen Tang discovered that the sick young man hidden at the Moonlit Pavilion was Gong Yun Chi, an exiled member of the Gong Clan. Gong Yun Chi recognized her as his wife's brother, leaving Shen Tang stunned by the revelation that he had married into the Shen Clan.

• A young man who could read minds overheard Shen Tang's thoughts while she settled a debt with the shopkeeper at the Moonlit Pavilion.
• After hearing someone collapse behind a screen, Shen Tang learned that the rent boy was caring for a sick man named Yun Chi.
• The young man confirmed that Yun Chi's surname was Gong and explained that he had brought the crippled Gong Yun Chi to the pavilion during his exile.
• The rent boy helped Gong Yun Chi leave the room, and Gong Yun Chi recognized Shen Tang as someone he had seen before.
• Gong Yun Chi bowed to Shen Tang and apologized to his wife's brother, revealing that he had married a woman of the Shen Clan.

Shen Tang questioned Gong Cheng about the original owner of her body and learned that the Shen and Gong Clans had joined Consort Chu in a failed plot to kill Zheng Qiao. The Shen bride had died during exile, and Gong Cheng could not explain why Zheng Qiao later ordered the Shen Clan’s extermination.

• Shen Tang challenged Gong Cheng for calling her his wife's brother, then asked him where his bride was.
• Weng Zhi and Gu told Shen Tang that Gong Cheng’s bride had not been found among the women sent to exile and was presumed to have died on the journey.
• Gong Cheng revealed that his father and Lord Shen had conspired with Consort Chu to kill Zheng Qiao, but their plan failed and the conspirators were punished.
• Gong Cheng said his father had arranged for Lord Shen’s eldest daughter to marry into the Gong Clan in hopes of preserving part of the Shen family, but Zheng Qiao still destroyed the clan.

Shen Tang reassured Gong Cheng that Zheng Qiao was responsible for the Shen Clan’s destruction, then left after asking him to stop calling her his wife’s elder brother. Gong Cheng learned that the Shen Clan’s erotic paintings had been made by the person Shen Tang called her elder brother, leaving him stunned.

• Shen Tang told Gong Cheng not to blame himself for the Shen Clan’s destruction and urged him to direct his hatred at Zheng Qiao.
• Mr. Gu questioned how Shen Tang survived the massacre, and Gong Cheng defended the Shen Clan’s honor.
• Shen Tang said she had heard that Gong Cheng’s second uncle, Weng Zhi, was still at large, giving Gong Cheng hope.
• Shen Tang introduced herself as Shen Tang, courtesy name You Li, and Gong Cheng promised to help her if she ever needed him.
• After Shen Tang left, Mr. Gu asked Gong Cheng about the Shen Clan and showed him erotic paintings said to have been made by Shen Tang’s elder brother.
• Gong Cheng opened the paintings and recoiled in shock.

Gong Cheng recovered enough to discuss his rushed marriage and the mysterious Shen Tang, while Gu and Weng Zhi questioned how much he knew about his supposed wife’s family. Shen Tang then tried to buy back Old Chu from the Moonlit Pavilion, where the person in charge recognized him.

• Gu and Weng Zhi teased Gong Cheng with erotic paintings until he began to act like his old self again.
• Gu asked Gong Cheng what he knew about the Shen Clan’s eldest daughter and her brother, Shen Tang, and Gong Cheng admitted he knew almost nothing about his bride.
• Gong Cheng explained that the marriage had been rushed to avert disaster and preserve the family bloodline, and he expressed relief that Shen Tang was still alive.
• The bookstore shopkeeper assumed Shen Tang wanted to buy back a young relative and offered to help her bargain at the Moonlit Pavilion.
• Shen Tang clarified that she wanted to buy Old Chu, a gray-haired kitchen servant, and the person in charge recognized him.

Shen Tang bought Old Chu’s contract for three taels and invited him to leave with her, while a courtesan ordered an investigation into Shen Tang and said to kill her if she proved a threat. Old Chu agreed to go with Shen Tang, and the courtesan’s faction began watching her.

• The manager agreed to sell Old Chu to Shen Tang for three taels, and she paid for his contract.
• Shen Tang declined to transfer Old Chu’s registration and decided to restore his freedom after he tutored her.
• The manager told Old Chu that his granddaughter had come to take him home, leaving him confused when he met Shen Tang.
• Shen Tang asked Old Chu to come with her, and he agreed to gather his belongings.
• After Gong Cheng fell asleep, the courtesan ordered Mr. Gu to watch Shen Tang and have her killed if she posed a threat.
• The courtesan also ordered his men to look for news about the Gong Clan’s Wudafu.

Shen Tang freed Chu Yao from the Moonlit Pavilion and brought him away, while a suspicious young man began asking questions about her. Chu Yao revealed that he had been waiting for Shen Tang to pay three silver coins for him.

• A young man questioned a servant about Shen Tang buying Old Chu and ordered the Moonlit Pavilion's manager to come to him.
• Shen Tang met Old Master Chu outside the Moonlit Pavilion and invited him to ride her Motorcycle, but he insisted that a servant should not ride while his master walked.
• Chu Yao introduced himself by his name and courtesy name, and Shen Tang explained that she had paid three taels to free him.
• Shen Tang asked why Chu Yao had not bought his own freedom, and he answered that he had been waiting for her three silver coins.

Shen Tang asked Chu Yao about the three taels of silver and learned how his exceptional Literary Heart had been stolen and replaced. Chu Yao explained the secretive Way of the Scholar, leaving Shen Tang to realize how coveted and dangerous a powerful Literary Heart could be.

• Shen Tang asked Chu Yao whether the three taels had to come from her, and he admitted he did not know the reason.
• Chu Yao told Shen Tang he had condensed a Second Rank Upper-Middle Literary Heart when he first learned to read, though he considered it a curse.
• Chu Yao explained that scholars had different kinds of Literary Heart talent, including the Way of the Scholar, which could be used without a Word Spirit.
• Chu Yao revealed that his Literary Heart had been stolen and replaced before his Way of the Scholar could develop.
• Chu Yao said the Way of the Scholar reflected a scholar's private nature and was usually kept secret, and Shen Tang recognized the danger of such abilities.

Chu Yao told Shen Tang how his teacher betrayed him and arranged for his Second Rank High Literary Heart to be exchanged for the Crown Prince’s low-ranked one. He also explained his ruined Scholar’s Way, leaving Shen Tang doubtful about the strange prescription it had produced.

• Chu Yao explained that his teacher had kept him as a fallback for the Crown Prince and coerced him into exchanging his Second Rank High Literary Heart for a low-ranked one.
• Shen Tang condemned the teacher’s justification and the Crown Prince’s promise to reward Chu Yao after taking his Literary Heart.
• Chu Yao recounted how the Crown Prince drowned in a pit during the Curse Disaster, his faction was purged, and Chu Yao was later sold and passed between owners until he reached Xiaocheng.
• Shen Tang asked Chu Yao about his Scholar’s Way, and he described its uncontrollable ability, Willow Dark Flower Bright, and the prescription from his dream.
• Chu Yao revealed that the prescription called for three taels of moonlight to reveal the Mandate of Heaven and cure stubborn illnesses, and Shen Tang doubted its credibility.

Shen Tang and Chu Yao discussed his prophecy and her encounter with a mind-reading scholar as they traveled toward Xiaocheng. Shen Tang decided to focus on earning money and proposed buying wine jars wholesale.

• Shen Tang told Chu Yao that relying on his prophecy had made his life difficult, and he explained why he had kept believing in it.
• Shen Tang interpreted the prescription’s Four Treasures as a reference to Sibao Prefecture and wondered what fate and illness it described, while Chu Yao said he did not know.
• Shen Tang told Chu Yao that a scholar at the Moonlit Pavilion had read her mind, and Chu Yao described the burdensome Heart Peeking Word Spirit and warned her to stay away from the scholar.
• Shen Tang considered the danger of being drawn into Gong Cheng’s affairs, then decided she needed to earn money and suggested buying wine jars wholesale.