Recaps

Chao Lian reunited with Fang Yan and learned how Shao Chong and Jimò Qiu were faring, while Lin Si Shu received letters from his family but chose to remain in Qi. Five years later, Jimò Yu brought Jimò Qiu and the others to meet a man imprisoned for a century and promised to set him free.

• Chao Lian returned to Qi, reunited with Fang Yan, and told him that his sister-in-law and nephew were safe in Longwu Commandery under Shen Youli's protection.
• Fang Yan told Chao Lian that Shao Chong still had the mind of a six-year-old and that he and Jimò Qiu had become mischievous companions.
• Chao Lian gave Lin Si Shu gifts and Family Letters from his clan, but Lin Si Shu chose not to return home because he had promised to stay beside Jimò Qiu until his Wisdom Aperture was unsealed.
• Five years passed, and Jimò Yu led Jimò Qiu, Lin Si Shu, Fang Yan, and Shao Chong to a remote mountain while Chao Lian stayed behind for work.
• Jimò Yu revealed a hidden bamboo grove and told the imprisoned old man that he had come to set him free.

Jimò Yu brought Jimò Qiu and the others to the underground palace, where he revealed his plan to free his disciple by using the Che Hou’s body. The chapter ended as Jimò Yu began an Anointing ritual with Jimò Qiu, while the Che Hou struggled to stop him.

• Jimò Yu persuaded the Che Hou to take them to the underground palace, claiming that Shaobai had received guidance from the forebears and that he wanted to see his wish fulfilled before he died.
• The Che Hou transformed into his youthful form and led the group underground as Jimò Yu gave Jimò Qiu final instructions and clashed with the Che Hou over the Gongxi Clan’s history.
• At the palace gate, Jimò Yu revealed that the passage, palace, and mountain were all one tree and that the figure carved into the gate was his mother, Jimò Shuang.
• Jimò Yu asked Jimò Shuang to lift the seal, and she restrained the Che Hou while Jimò Qiu seized his hand.
• Jimò Yu used Borrow Flowers to Offer to the Buddha to control the Che Hou’s body, opened the palace gate, and climbed onto the altar with Jimò Qiu.
• The Che Hou realized Jimò Yu was reversing his martial energy to perform an Anointing ritual and shouted for him to stop.

Jimò Yu drained the old marquis’s cultivation through the Anointing, then confronted him about the conspiracy behind the Gongxi Clan’s destruction. Jimò Yu died after asking Lin Si Shu to protect Jimò Qiu, who awakened with his Wisdom Aperture open and honored his teacher’s last wishes.

• The old marquis failed to stop the Anointing or escape the underground palace’s protections, and Jimò Yu drained his cultivation until he died of anger.
• Jimò Yu revealed that someone had colluded with the Assembly of Gods and questioned the old marquis about the deaths of the High Priests, the Gongxi Clan, and his elder brother.
• Jimò Yu used the last of his life force to control the old marquis’s body, then died after asking Lin Si Shu to take Jimò Qiu away from Qi State and help him live well.
• Jimò Qiu awakened an hour later with his Wisdom Aperture open and recognized Lin Si Shu as his Fourth Uncle.
• Jimò Qiu knelt beside Jimò Yu’s remains, said he was not sad because they would meet again, and clothed his teacher in a High Priest’s robe of light.

After Jimò Qiu cremated Jimò Yu and planted the seed that remained, Lin Si Shu’s group prepared to leave Qi and helped him train. A grieving Gongxi clansman arrived too late, then heard rumors about Jimò Qiu’s humiliating victory over a County Marquis and rushed to find him.

• Jimò Qiu cremated Jimò Yu with the Gongxi Clan’s ritual, and his remains became a seed that sprouted beside the underground palace gate.
• Jimò Qiu destroyed the old man’s corpse and used it as fertilizer, while Lin Si Shu’s group decided to flee Qi before the royal family discovered his death.
• Lin Si Shu said they needed to help Jimò Qiu absorb the remaining Anointing, and Chao Lian tried to train him before retreating after Jimò Qiu blasted him away.
• A young Gongxi clansman found the sprout and mistakenly believed his Big Brother or nephew had died, then left a hidden gravestone and scraps of clothing behind.
• After hearing Jimò’s name at a teahouse, the young clansman tracked down the County Marquis and learned that Jimò Qiu had defeated him and taken his signed bull token.

Gongxi Chou searched for his eldest nephew by challenging powerful Martial Gall warriors and spreading his name, while his Fundoshi trophies accidentally started a wandering-knight custom. He learned his sister Gongxi Lai planned to marry Xun Ding, so he publicized a challenge in Kang Country and gave anyone named Young Bai priority.

• Gongxi Chou forced the County Marquis to reveal that Young Bai and Thirteen had beaten him, then learned they were traveling around challenging powerful people.
• Gongxi Chou made the County Marquis sign and seal a Fundoshi proclaiming Chou invincible, then spent two months defeating warriors and taking Fundoshi or other keepsakes as proof.
• A party including Thirteen and Fang Yan heard that wandering knights had adopted Fundoshi in place of heads, and Chao Lian persuaded Fang Yan to accept the custom.
• Gongxi Chou repeatedly missed Young Bai, once arriving a day after Young Bai had challenged the same opponent, and worried that he would not find his nephew.
• Gongxi Chou received a letter from Gongxi Lai saying she wanted to marry Xun Ding and asking him to preside over the wedding.
• Gongxi Chou publicly declared himself invincible and invited challengers to Kang Country, giving anyone named Young Bai priority.

Shen Youli used trade, work, and settlement policies to draw Ten Crows’ people toward Kang Country and weaken the old tribal order. By early summer of Yuanhuang Year Five, thirteen tribes led by Su Shi Yilu submitted, Ten Crows became Wu Province, and Shen Tang secretly toured the territory.

• Shen Youli offered Su Shi Yilu a path to submit Ten Crows, released him, and appointed him to help bring tribes into Kang Country’s system.
• Su Shi Yilu and other tribal leaders sent slaves and poor people across the border to test Kang Country’s promise of work, food, and lodging.
• After six months, the returnees brought goods and stories of their improved lives, and their children’s experiences stirred interest in Kang Country among the tribes.
• Shen Youli allowed settled workers to bring elderly relatives into Kang Country, while restricting their residence and travel.
• In early summer of Yuanhuang Year Five, thirteen tribes led by Su Shi Yilu submitted to Shen Tang, Ten Crows was renamed Wu Province, and Shen Tang secretly toured it with the mobile royal court.

Shen Tang discussed Kang’s strategy for assimilating the Ten Crows and dividing Wuzhou’s military forces, while rejecting officials’ efforts to arrange a consort for her. The chapter ended with her learning that Supervising Censor Zheng Yu had sent a final letter after a granary robbery in Kunzhou was blamed on a Yin Ghost.

• At Yonggu Pass, Su Shi Yilu learned that Kang was dispersing more than twenty-five thousand Ten Crow youths across its regions, and Old General Jiang warned him about the coming Zhechong Mansion exercises.
• After Su Shi Yilu left, Shen Tang told Old General Jiang she planned to assimilate the Ten Crows over time while supervising them and establishing multiple Zhechong Mansions in Wuzhou.
• Shen Tang rebuked officials for trying to offer her potential consorts, and Old General Jiang confirmed that the candidates had not been forced.
• Gu Chi gave Shen Tang a creased secret letter from Zheng Yu, a Supervising Censor who was inspecting Kunzhou.
• Shen Tang learned that a granary in Jinli Commandery had been robbed and the case had been closed as Yin Ghost Steals Grain, then questioned whether Zheng Yu had been silenced.

Shen Tang ordered officials to investigate Jinli Commandery’s Yin Ghost Steals Grain case and changed her inspection route to travel there. Meanwhile, Chu Yao discovered that a Longwu Commandery shrine modeled on Shen Tang had become a popular place to pray for children before he and the officials were summoned to hear the new plan.

• Shen Tang ordered the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Tianquan Guard to arrest officials involved in Jinli Commandery’s grain case, then decided to travel to Kunzhou and handle the matter herself.
• Chu Yao met officials from the capital while touring Longwu Commandery and learned they had joined a guided tour to visit an Immortal Shrine.
• Chu Yao followed the group through sites associated with Shen Tang’s past and discovered the shrine’s statue resembled Shen Tang as a young woman and was worshiped for fertility.
• The officials bought overpriced waterskins said to preserve the shrine’s blessing, while Chu Yao decided he would discuss the shrine with Qin Gongsu.
• The officials received Shen Tang’s summons, and Chu Yao used a Word Spirit barrier before joining them as they heard that Zheng Yu was missing and the tour would set out incognito for Jinli the next day.

Shen Tang investigated reports that Yin Ghosts had stolen grain from a granary in Jinli Commandery, traveling there undercover with her officials. Locals described seeing ghostly figures carrying away the grain, and Shen Tang began probing their account.

• Ministry of Rites officials whispered about Jinli Commandery’s case, and Shen Tang overheard them and ordered them to write five-thousand-word self-criticisms.
• The officials used Three Hearts, Two Minds to finish their essays overnight, but Shen Tang caught them copying one another and sent the papers to Gongsu.
• Shen Tang considered assigning idle Ministry of Rites officials to the Bureau of Astronomy, which used Qin Li’s abilities to forecast weather and guide the allocation of National Fortune.
• Shen Tang and her trusted ministers disguised themselves as merchant caravans and traveled to Jinli Commandery, where the region appeared bleak and sparsely populated.
• At a waystation, Shen Tang asked about buying grain, and locals claimed that hundreds or thousands of Yin Ghosts had emerged from a graveyard and carried grain away from the commandery granary.

Shen Tang investigated rumors of corruption in Golden Chestnut Commandery and learned that merchants were being forced into corrupt official loans, while flower boats on Canal River Lake might be tied to the missing inspector censor. She enlisted the Zhechong Commandant to help investigate and then asked who the tea drinker had met.

• Shen Tang paid a tea drinker for information, and he claimed that the Sovereign secretly killed people and used official loans to squeeze merchants.
• The tea drinker explained that merchants needed official patrons to avoid having their goods seized, then directed Shen Tang toward a flower boat on Canal River Lake.
• Shen Tang told her people to investigate the tea drinker and traveled secretly to the Zhechong Commandery.
• The Zhechong Commandant explained that flower boats had once been cracked down on and denied knowing anything about Zheng Yu's disappearance.
• Shen Tang asked the Zhechong Commandant to help investigate the flower boat and returned to her room, where she asked who the tea drinker had met.

Shen Tang uncovered a local scheme in which brokers lured merchants into borrowing at predatory rates through a pleasure boat, and she ordered Gu Chi to investigate the broker. Disguised as a widow, she boarded the boat to meet its top courtesan and ask about borrowing money, where the chapter ended with the courtesan asking how much principal she wanted.

• Gu Chi told Shen Tang that a broker was directing merchants to borrow money through a pleasure boat, with local officials secretly profiting from the loans.
• Shen Tang ordered Gu Chi to keep watching the suspicious broker and planned to impeach officials involved in the scheme.
• A guard reported that the broker had visited a grave at night and spoken to it, while strange will-o'-the-wisps appeared nearby; Shen Tang called off the surveillance and suspected a staged ghost show.
• Shen Tang and her companions boarded the pleasure boat on Qujiang Lake using a grain-trading permit and requested an audience with its top courtesan.
• The madam told Shen Tang that meeting the top courtesan required a night together, but made an exception after Shen Tang claimed to be a recent widow.
• The top courtesan asked Shen Tang how much principal she wanted to borrow, and Shen Tang asked how much would keep her business from running into trouble.

Shen Tang sought official protection for her grain-buying venture, but a flower-boat inspection led to her and her officials being jailed. After regrouping, they connected a suspicious joss-paper purchase to the grain theft investigation and learned the broker’s grave held a murdered young woman; Shen Tang was secretly investigating whether officials or a neighboring power had taken the grain.

• Shen Tang told the Courtesan she planned to buy local grain and offered gold so the Courtesan would relay her request for strong official protection.
• The Courtesan described being sold to the flower boat as a child, and a Zhechong Mansion inspection arrested her, Shen Tang, and Shen Tang’s officials.
• Qi Shan and the Zhechong Captain collected the group, and they reunited with Kang Shi, who reported that Niu Zhong had bought a large quantity of joss paper for an official’s gatekeeper.
• Shen Tang connected the gatekeeper Niu Zhong’s original name, Niu Er, to the broker and learned that Niu Er was dead and his wife’s supposed madness seemed suspicious.
• Kang Shi reported finding no traces at the mass grave and shared accounts that the Yin Ghosts seemed insubstantial, while Gu Chi revealed that the broker’s grave contained a murdered young woman.
• Shen Tang’s investigation focused on whether officials had embezzled the grain or a neighboring power had taken it, since the latter could threaten Kunzhou’s security.

Shen Tang secretly questioned the Zhechong Captain and uncovered how Chancellor Liu drew officials into a predatory lending scheme that helped merchants pass through checkpoints. The Captain denied helping steal the granary, but revealed that merchant caravans had left Jinli Commandery around the time of the theft, and Shen Tang suspected the stolen grain and investors’ savings had both been sent away.

• Shen Tang rejected a broad investigation into Literary Scholars and waited for Wei Heng to bring in the Zhechong Captain, whom she suspected after the Captain recognized her identity.
• Shen Tang used a Word Spirit to question the Zhechong Captain, who admitted Chancellor Liu had told her Shen Tang was coming.
• The Zhechong Captain confessed that she and other officials invested in Chancellor Liu’s official loan scheme, which offered merchants loans at exploitative rates and paid dividends from new investors’ money.
• Shen Tang explained that the lending scheme was a Ponzi scheme and questioned whether the officials had sold the granary’s grain to cover its losses.
• The Zhechong Captain denied helping steal the grain but recalled that merchant caravans had passed through the checkpoints and left the commandery around the time of the theft.
• Shen Tang concluded that the grain and the savings of officials who had invested in the scheme might both have been shipped away.

Shen Tang uncovered the scale of Jinli Commandery’s government bond scam and ordered a wider investigation and strict punishment. After officials found the Chancellor had vanished and been appointed through a rebel connection, urgent reports sent Shen Tang rushing to a Ministry of Justice room, where she struck a clerk disguised as the only living person there.

• Shen Tang explained how greed and repeated dividends had drawn officials and others into the government bond Ponzi scheme, while Chu Yao urged severe punishment and she ordered bribery statutes clarified.
• Shen Tang’s forces sealed Jinli Commandery, detained thousands of people connected to the scheme, and began investigating as Qian Yong listened to prisoners curse her.
• Investigators discovered Chancellor Liu had disappeared, his background and official records were fabricated, and the Jinli Commandery Governor had appointed him on the recommendation of a rebel acquaintance.
• Shen Tang read urgent reports, released a brief surge of pressure, asked where a body had been taken, then kicked open a room and struck a Ministry of Justice clerk who was the only living person inside.

Shen Tang exposed the Ministry of Justice clerk as Chancellor Liu, a Northern Desert agent behind the stolen grain and money, and learned the white bones belonged to the Courtesan, whose sister had replaced her remains with Zheng Yu’s. The chapter traced how the Courtesan and a Female Soldier became entangled in the official-loan scheme and Zheng Yu’s murder, ending with the Female Soldier discovering Zheng Yu’s token on a dead man.

• Shen Tang captured the disguised Chancellor Liu, revealed the real Ministry of Justice clerk’s murder, and suspected the stolen supplies had been routed through Gao Country to the Northern Desert.
• Chancellor Liu taunted Shen Tang about her elder sister’s death, while Shen Tang ordered her taken alive for interrogation and learned the Courtesan had been killed after helping Zheng Yu escape.
• Shen Tang explained that the Courtesan’s younger twin had replaced her body in the mass grave with Zheng Yu’s, and Kang Shi identified the true clerk’s corpse.
• The chapter recounted how the Courtesan warned the Female Soldier that official loans were dangerous, helped Zheng Yu investigate them, and was murdered after distracting Chancellor Liu’s search party.
• The Female Soldier later helped the younger twin conceal a killing, then recognized Zheng Yu’s Court of Judicial Review token on the dead man.

The Female Soldier revealed how she had concealed the Courtesan’s crimes and switched the bodies, then died by suicide, leaving a letter that helped Shen Tang and Kang Shi piece together the mystery. Shen Tang blamed the Northern Desert for Jinli Commandery’s troubles and prepared for war, but an unfamiliar, immense aura appeared nearby as she sensed danger.

• The Female Soldier discovered that the Courtesan was a mole who had killed Zheng Yu, stayed silent out of fear, and secretly switched the bodies before the Sovereign’s inspection.
• The Courtesan told the Female Soldier that she blamed Shen Youli for separating her from her elder sister, while the Female Soldier refused to flee with her and later took her own life.
• Kang Shi read the Female Soldier’s letter, and Shen Tang suspected the Rebel Army had murdered the real Courtesan to frame her.
• Shen Tang identified the Northern Desert as the greater threat, planned to prepare for war, and asked Kang Shi to summon Gongxi Chou.
• Kang Shi explained that Xun Ding had gotten Gongxi Lai pregnant before marriage, and Shen Tang worried Gongxi Chou would kill him for it.
• Shen Tang sensed a huge aura that did not belong to Gongxi Chou, manifested the Kind Mother Sword, and rushed toward it.

Gu Chi extracted crucial memories from Chancellor Liu before Gong Cheng rescued her from the Ministry of Justice and escaped Shen Tang. Shen Tang learned that Northern Desert sleeper cells were supporting the rebellion in Kunzhou, while Gong Cheng and Chancellor Liu encountered Gongxi Chou in python form.

• Chancellor Liu endured the Ministry of Justice’s Soundless Torture until Gu Chi touched her forehead and forced memories from her mind.
• Gong Cheng broke into the prison to rescue Chancellor Liu, but Shen Tang arrived and stopped his escape with a sword strike.
• Gong Cheng teleported away with Chancellor Liu, and Gu Chi warned Shen Tang that pursuing them could lead into an ambush by Northern Desert assassins.
• Gu Chi told Shen Tang that Northern Desert sleeper cells were hidden in Jinli Commandery, so she agreed to focus on rooting them out before they reached Kunzhou.
• Gong Cheng and Chancellor Liu reappeared in a clearing, where he criticized her for exposing the Northern Desert’s involvement in Jinli Commandery.
• Gongxi Chou, transformed into a python, confronted Gong Cheng and Chancellor Liu after overhearing their conversation.

Gong Cheng tricked Gongxi Chou into revealing himself, then fought him with a Horned Eagle Martial Gall Totem. Their battle shook the mountains, drawing attention from a nearby relay station, where a young man recognized Gongxi Chou’s totem.

• Gong Cheng fabricated a story about a hunted man surnamed Jimò to test Gongxi Chou, then identified him as Gongxi Chou and said someone had hired him to kill him.
• Gongxi Chou transformed into human form, manifested the Twin Crescent Serpent Halberd, and confronted Gong Cheng.
• Gongxi Chou unleashed his serpent totem, but Gong Cheng summoned a Horned Eagle to counter it, leaving Gongxi Chou alarmed by his natural bane.
• At a relay station, a courier’s warhorse panicked as the distant battle shook the ground, and people rushed outside to see two giant Martial Gall Totems fighting among the mountains.
• A common-clothed young man and his brothers recognized the serpent totem as Gongxi Chou’s and saw that he appeared to be losing.

Retired caravan guards recognized Gongxi Chou as he fought Gong Cheng, and Gongxi Shaobai intervened after learning Gongxi Chou was his lost clan member. Gongxi Chou recognized Shaobai as his nephew, leaving Shaobai bewildered as the two faced Gong Cheng together.

• The caravan guards recognized Gongxi Chou and sent one of their number to alert the local Zhechong Mansion.
• Gongxi Shaobai learned from Uncle Lin Si that Gongxi Chou was his lost clan member and flew toward the battle despite Fang Yan's warning.
• Gongxi Shaobai interrupted Gongxi Chou and Gong Cheng's fight, and Gongxi Chou protected him when Gong Cheng attacked.
• Gongxi Chou and Shaobai realized they were uncle and nephew, while Uncle Lin Si recalled that their Life Lamps had been close together.
• Gongxi Chou called Shaobai his nephew and told him to stand back, and Shaobai asked whether Gongxi Chou was really his second uncle.

Gongxi Chou and Jimò Qiu escaped Gong Cheng’s attack, then recovered together as Gongxi Chou tried to settle into his new role as Jimò Qiu’s uncle. Jimò Qiu accepted him as family but began wondering whether his late teacher had been his father, while Gongxi Chou’s search for another nephew ended in disappointment.

• Gongxi Chou declared that he was Jimò Qiu’s second uncle, and Jimò Qiu accepted their family tie.
• Jimò Qiu revealed his High Priest’s robes and used a Word Spirit to escape Gong Cheng’s attack with Gongxi Chou and nearby Martial Gall Warriors.
• Gongxi Chou crashed into a mountain after the escape, and Jimò Qiu’s companions dug him out before he shed his skin to recover.
• Around the fire, Gongxi Chou asked whether Jimò Qiu and his elder brother had been well, leading Jimò Qiu to wonder whether his late teacher had been his father.
• Gongxi Chou promised to treat Jimò Qiu as his own, and Jimò Qiu agreed but struggled to call him second uncle.
• Gongxi Chou asked about Thirteen, then realized Shao Chong was not the nephew he had hoped to find.

Gongxi Chou reunited with his nephew Jimò Qiu and tried to persuade him and his companions to hide from their powerful enemies, but Jimò Qiu chose to face the world with them. Gongxi Chou agreed to join a faction and decided they would seek out Mama after dealing with Xun Ding.

• Gongxi Chou learned that Thirteenth was Gu Ren's sworn younger brother, while Shao Chong openly disliked Gongxi Chou and demanded more snake soup.
• Fang Yan asked about Gongxi Chou's enemy, and Gongxi Chou said he would protect Jimò Qiu; Shao Chong then declared that he and Shaobai would defeat Strange Hero Chou and claim his Fundoshi.
• Gongxi Chou proposed taking Jimò Qiu away to live in seclusion, but Lin Si Shu, Fang Yan, and Chao Lian refused to abandon him; Jimò Qiu calmed Gongxi Chou when bloodlust rose in him.
• Fang Yan urged Gongxi Chou to enter public service and use the secular world's power, and Jimò Qiu persuaded him that they could evade their enemies or trap them later.
• Jimò Qiu gave Gongxi Chou perforated pearls to braid into his hair, and Gongxi Chou decided they would find Mama after dealing with Xun Ding and Xun Yong'an.

Gongxi Chou told Jimò Qiu about his soulmate Mama and defended his aunt Gongxi Lai against criticism over her pregnancy by Xun Ding, prompting the group to head for Fengluo to learn the truth. Meanwhile, Shen Tang's forces purged Northern Desert agents and rebels across Kunzhou, while Chancellor Liu and Gong Cheng escaped; the chapter ended with Shen Tang considering an alliance with Gao Country to recover her losses and destroy the Northern Desert.

• Gongxi Chou praised Mama, explained that Gongxi Lai was his adopted younger sister, and insisted that Xun Ding was unfit to marry her.
• Lin Si Shu and Chao Lian questioned Gongxi Chou's assumptions about Xun Ding, but Fang Yan proposed that the group go to Fengluo and see what had happened for themselves.
• Shen Tang ordered the Seven Guards and Four Divisions to arrest Northern Desert agents and Kunzhou rebels, sealing cities and passes as the Ministry of Justice investigated their networks.
• Chancellor Liu and Gong Cheng discussed their losses while hiding from the patrols, and Gong Cheng left to attend to private matters despite Chancellor Liu's anger.
• After the turmoil lasted more than half a month, Shen Tang reviewed the financial damage from the official debt scam and asked whether Gao Country had replied to her letter.

Shen Tang punished the rebels and Northern Desert agents behind the Kunzhou uprising while tensions with Gao Country remained unresolved. At court, Xun Zhen and Jiang Sheng clashed over control of the profitable post-station system, and their argument escalated into a fight and a threat against Xun Zhen’s household.

• Shen Tang ordered the Court of State Ceremonies to monitor Wu Xian’s response and prepared to punish the captured rebels.
• Shen Tang executed 797 Rebel Army soldiers and their private troops, 261 Northern Desert sleeper agents, and 2,112 other involved people and relatives, then ordered the agents’ heads sent to the Northern Desert for one copper coin each.
• Gongshu Wu proposed turning the sleeper agents’ heads into rattan balls for soldiers to kick, and Qi Shan tried to rein him in.
• Xun Zhen demanded that the Ministry of Revenue take over the post stations’ civilian-business accounts, prompting Jiang Sheng to defend the Ministry of War’s authority.
• Jiang Sheng and Xun Zhen’s dispute escalated from insults to a physical altercation, and Jiang Sheng threatened that Xun Zhen’s household would suffer a bloody disaster.

Shen Tang learned that Gongxi Chou had returned to Fengluo and might endanger Xun Ding, so she rushed the royal entourage back toward the capital. Gongxi Chou arrived in Fengluo with his companions and, unable to attack Xun Ding inside the city, planned to beat him outside it the next day.

• A chaotic Court Session ended in a brawl between Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue officials, and Jiang Sheng warned Shen Tang of a blood calamity at Xun Zhen's residence.
• Jiang Sheng clarified that Xun Ding would suffer the blood calamity, while a delayed Zhechong Mansion report revealed that Gongxi Chou had been badly injured in a fight with Gong Cheng.
• Shen Tang realized Gongxi Chou might be in Fengluo for Gongxi Lai's wedding and ordered the returning entourage to reach the capital in one day.
• Fang Yan, Shao Chong, Chao Lian, Jimò Qiu, Lin Si Shu, and Gongxi Chou explored Fengluo while searching for the Gu and Xun residences.
• Gongxi Chou said he could not attack Xun Ding in Fengluo and planned to drag him outside the city to beat him the next day.

Gongxi Chou and his companions reunited with Lin Feng in Fengluo, where Lin Si Shu discovered she was his niece and learned she had become the Lin Clan Leader. The group stayed at Lin Feng’s residence, and Gongxi Chou asked her about his former subordinates.

• A girl dropped a straw grasshopper onto Gongxi Chou, who recognized Lin Feng as his benefactor when she came over to retrieve it.
• Lin Feng invited Gongxi Chou and his companions to tea, and Gongxi Chou introduced Jimò Qiu as his eldest brother’s child.
• Lin Feng recognized Lin Si Shu as her Fourth Uncle after he introduced himself as Lin Chao, courtesy name Yanchao.
• Lin Feng told Lin Si Shu that she led this branch of the Lin Clan and explained that Shen Tang had provided her residence as repayment for confiscated clan property.
• Lin Feng settled Lin Si Shu and the others in her home, where Gongxi Chou climbed over the wall and asked whether she knew where his old subordinates were.