Recaps

Shen Tang rebuilt Shang Nan, prepared to conquer Gao Country, and learned the fate of Consort Mi as the kingdom collapsed. Just as victory came within reach, Shen Tang was pulled into a dream after Gu Chi’s uncontrolled Way of the Scholar overwhelmed her power.

• Shen Tang reached devastated Shang Nan, learned how He Shu’s transformed fighters had destroyed the city, and recruited He Xin while keeping He Shu alive.
• Shen Tang used her Word Spirit to build homes, roads, and drainage for Shang Nan’s displaced residents, then left Qi Shan behind as she returned to the campaign.
• Shen Tang rejected Gao Country’s demands and ordered her armies to advance after its court and military fractured.
• Bai Su took a city without a fight, fed its residents, and punished profiteers while Shen Tang drove local families from their lands.
• Consort Mi and her son fled as Kang Country neared Gao’s capital, but a fire trapped their party and Shen Tang’s forces rushed to rescue those inside.
• Wei Shou explained that Consort Mi had turned the nobles’ betrayal against them and died asking Shen Tang to spare her surviving children.
• Shen Tang choked on a fish bone and fell unconscious, and Jimò Qiu discovered that Gu Chi’s uncontrolled Way of the Scholar had carried her consciousness away.
• Shen Tang woke in a dream resembling her first transmigration, where she killed constables and learned that Kang Shi’s affliction had dragged her into the dream of someone near death.

Shen Tang traveled through Qu and Qi, encountered old allies and political plots, and returned to Kang Country after You Li controlled her body. Back in Kang, she supported research into parasites and planned to use the Gongxi inheritance to address the kingdom’s financial troubles and promote a new book honoring its officials.

• Shen Tang escaped the dying body’s dream, met Zhai Le in Qu, and recruited Xiahou Yu and Gu De after rescuing them from attackers.
• Shen Tang and Zhai Le discussed Quqing Academy’s influence and its destruction, then Shen Tang set out with Xiahou Yu and Gu De for the central continent.
• Shen Tang woke in a slave market, escaped after killing her abusers, and joined Cui Hui’s party while traveling through Qi Country.
• Shen Tang revealed her identity to Cui Hui and helped her navigate tensions with Cui Zhishan and their sons, while Miao Ne entered the Sovereign’s court to pursue a marriage alliance.
• Shen Tang returned to her body in Kang Country and learned that Zixu, Xiahou Yu, and Gu De had rescued captives and gathered supplies while she was absent.
• Shen Tang supported Qi Miao’s investigation into parasites and learned that the High Priest had gone to the Gongxi Clan Land to retrieve an inheritance for her.
• Shen Tang told Xun Zhen about the inherited wealth and planned diamond production and medicine, then discussed printing an illustrated book of Kang’s officials and notable practitioners with Chu Yao.

Shen Tang strengthened Kang Country through public works, new officials, commerce, and the biographies while confronting local power and supporting Kang Shi and Yu Zi through their Perfection Ritual. The stretch ended with new scholars arriving to serve Shen Tang and a biography volume circulating with her defiant preface.

• Shen Tang planned the Biographies of Famous Ministers and Scholars, honored overlooked contributions, and welcomed Jimò Qiu’s wealth, though Heaven took most of the treasure he offered.
• Shen Tang addressed poverty and public health in Wuyou, investigated the Xu family’s marriage misunderstanding, and backed medicine and deworming candy for children.
• Shen Tang took up her Wuyou post, challenged the Cui Lineage over taxes and land, and recruited wandering knights by making challengers sign labor contracts.
• Gu Chi presented the first draft of the biographies, while Shen Tang learned that Yu Zi and Kang Shi’s Perfection Ritual had become a deadly Prisoner’s Dilemma.
• Through Jimò Qiu’s Dream Induction, Shen Tang and the others witnessed Kang Shi and Yu Zi’s memories as they confronted their past and refused to regret their choices.
• Kang Shi and Yu Zi revived after appearing to die, and Yu Zi learned that her Perfection Ritual required an impossibly vast area of farmland.
• Shen Tang resolved a dispute between the Li and Wang families, recruited their daughters as clerks, and offered the families a trading partnership.
• Scholars and former officials arrived to serve Shen Tang, who prepared to expand her forces, while a Dragon Scale Binding copy of the biographies circulated with her rebellious preface.

Shen Tang’s new biographies stirred public interest while Kang Country strengthened its forces and secured support from the Martial Gall Warriors. After Qian Yong conquered Zhen Country, Shen Tang considered how to manage its neighbors and welcomed Tan Ting into her service, leaving him in Qi Shan’s care.

• Shen Tang published biographies of notable figures, and Li Lianghua’s honored life helped reassure officials and clans of her rule.
• Shen Tang recruited the Martial Gall Warriors with spirit wine, paid work, and cultivation guidance, while Liao Jia found his nephew Liao Qian through their matching Jade Pendant.
• After Li Wan’s scheme sparked a conflict with Zhen Country, Shen Tang barred the officials who had encouraged her from fighting and appointed Qian Yong to lead the campaign.
• Qian Yong led thirty thousand troops into Zhen Country, captured its Sovereign, and ordered his soldiers to maintain discipline in the conquered capital.
• Qian Yong used the former Princess to pursue his plans against her father, while Shen Tang accepted the Sovereign’s reported death and considered how to respond to neighboring states.
• Shen Tang met Tan Ting, rejected his demand that Qi Shan change himself, and encouraged Tan Ting to accept his own body and nature.
• Tan Ting thanked Shen Tang and sought to serve her, and Qi Shan recommended the Ministry of Rites because Tan Ting opposed war.
• Shen Tang returned to Fengluo and arranged for Tan Ting to stay with Qi Shan, where Tan Ting and Qin Li discussed the Way and Word Spirits.