Chapter Summaries

Zhai Le and Zhai Huan infiltrated the Rebel Army camp disguised as herders and debated whether Shen Tang had joined the rebels. The chapter recounted how Zhai Huan persuaded Captain Yang to raid small Rebel Army groups for supplies, and ended as Zhai Huan planned a major score after encountering a gang of fake recruiters.

• Zhai Le and Zhai Huan entered the Rebel Army camp while driving cattle and sheep, then discussed why Shen Tang had appeared there.
• Zhai Huan recalled that Captain Yang’s troops were nearly out of provisions, while soldiers deserted during their retreat toward Xiaocheng.
• Captain Yang insisted they hurry to reinforce Xiaocheng, but Zhai Huan argued that exhausted troops would only die if they marched straight into the Rebel Army.
• Zhai Le used his aura to pressure the soldiers, and Captain Yang accepted Zhai Huan’s plan to raid small Rebel Army groups for supplies.
• After the raids replenished their supplies and morale, Zhai Huan encountered soldiers posing as recruiters and devised a plan to make a big score.

Shen Tang visited the young man's tent, where she interpreted his homesick composition and learned he understood Elegant Speech despite his heavy accent. The young man, Shen Tang, and Qi Shan began playing music together, leaving Qi Shan enduring the performance at the enemy's headquarters.

• Shen Tang entered the young man's cluttered tent and listened as he showed her his handwritten composition.
• The young man offered Shen Tang his treasures after she joked that his description of them as worthless junk had hurt her poor feelings.
• The young man apologized for his elder sworn brother's insults and explained that he had studied Elegant Speech since childhood.
• Shen Tang interpreted the composition as a wanderer longing for his mother, and the young man grew teary because she had understood its inspiration.
• Shen Tang asked Qi Shan to join them in making music, and he reluctantly took a Jade Flute while the young man played the drum and Shen Tang plucked the pipa.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan befriended a young man in the Rebel Army camp and suspected he might be hiding his true intentions. Rather than contact the Zhai brothers, Shen Tang proposed using other means to create chaos near the army’s provisions.

• Qi Shan recalled how the young man’s tribe had once frightened him with its bold courtship customs, while Shen Tang and the young man bonded over music.
• The young man invited Shen Tang to Geng Country, but she declined and asked him to look for her supposed family members in Xiaocheng.
• After the young man lodged them beside the Rebel Army’s livestock and supplies, Shen Tang and Qi Shan questioned whether he had placed them there deliberately.
• Shen Tang and Qi Shan decided not to risk joining forces with the Zhai brothers and planned to disrupt the Rebel Army from outside its camp.
• Shen Tang proposed using other “weapons” to cause a major disturbance, and Qi Shan recognized what she meant and approved.

The bearded general’s rear camp descended into chaos when the cattle and sheep caught fire and stampeded, while Zhai Huan and Zhai Le tried to escape. A powerful young warrior confronted the brothers and called Shen Tang over, leaving the brothers unsure whose side she was on.

• The bearded general dismissed concerns about the young warrior’s arrangements and ignored his father’s favoritism while relaxing in his tent with his concubine.
• A messenger reported that the rear camp was on fire, and the bearded general found burning, stampeding cattle and sheep destroying tents and supplies.
• Zhai Le realized a hidden force had started the fire, and Zhai Huan pulled him toward an escape route through the chaos.
• A young warrior attacked the brothers, and Zhai Huan and Zhai Le fought back before the young man overwhelmed Zhai Le with his strength.
• The young warrior called for his “Mama,” and Shen Tang and Qi Shan appeared; Zhai Le wondered whether Shen Tang was truly allied with the young warrior.

Shen Tang and the Zhai brothers fought the young rebel commander while Qi Shan and Zhai Huan supported them with their Word Spirits. Shen Tang unleashed a spectacular fire attack that reignited the rebel camp, then the group escaped in the confusion.

• The young man attacked Zhai Le, but Shen Tang blocked his strike and joined forces with him.
• The young man summoned his snake-scale martial armor and barbed whip, while Shen Tang and Zhai Le attacked with sword and arrows.
• Shen Tang stalled the young man as Qi Shan and Zhai Huan replenished her literary aura with their Word Spirits.
• Shen Tang unleashed a barrage of sword strikes and used her Word Spirit to rain sparks across the rebel camp, reigniting fires and spreading chaos.
• Zhai Le carried the exhausted Shen Tang away as Zhai Huan helped Qi Shan, and the four slipped out of the camp.

After Shen Tang’s fire devastated the Rebel Army’s supplies, the Bearded Man blamed the Young General, who deflected responsibility and was confined to his tent. Shen Tang and her allies escaped to safety and reunited with Captain Yang, while the Rebel Army’s main force arrived and the Young General was summoned to his adoptive father.

• The Bearded Man learned that the fire had destroyed most of the Rebel Army’s provisions and siege equipment, then raged at his subordinate for failing to catch the criminals.
• The Young General argued that he was only partly responsible for the escape and challenged the Bearded Man to let his adoptive father judge the blame; the Bearded Man ordered guards to keep him in his tent.
• The Young General learned that the Rebel Army’s main force had arrived and was summoned to meet his adoptive father.
• Zhai Le carried the injured Shen Tang to safety, where she coughed up clotted blood and rested until her dizziness eased.
• Captain Yang arrived to meet Shen Tang, Qi Shan, and Zhai Le, and invited them to leave the unsafe woods with him.

Shen Tang woke outside Xiaocheng and learned that the Rebel Army had received twenty thousand reinforcements, leaving the city’s defenders facing likely defeat. In the Rebel Army camp, the bearded general’s father punished him by having his concubine boiled alive, then claimed she had been a spy from Xiaocheng.

• Shen Tang woke in a mountain hollow outside Xiaocheng, learned that Chu Wu Hui and Gongshu Half Step were still missing, and refused meat porridge after recalling the previous night’s burning camp.
• Captain Yang told Shen Tang he planned to attack the Rebel Army if it withdrew, but a scout reported that twenty thousand reinforcements had arrived.
• Shen Tang suggested Captain Yang sneak into Xiaocheng to rescue his family, but he refused to abandon the soldiers who trusted him.
• In the Rebel Army’s main tent, the old general reprimanded his bearded son while the son accused A Nian of coveting his concubines.
• The old general’s men restrained the bearded general and boiled his concubine alive, then told him she had been a spy sent by Xiaocheng.

The adviser and envoy ordered the Rebel Army to besiege Xiaocheng and spread an epidemic inside it, forcing the young man to capture civilians for the scheme. Xiaocheng’s defenders waited through a quiet day, then spotted movement in the Rebel Army camp at midnight as the final battle approached.

• The old general forced the Bearded Man to eat the spoiled meat and broth, then sentenced the young man to eighty military cudgels, postponed until after Xiaocheng was taken.
• The adviser and envoy ordered the Rebel Army to surround Xiaocheng instead of attacking, then proposed sending plague-stricken people into the city to spread an epidemic.
• After the Bearded Man questioned the plan, the adviser and envoy silenced him and ordered the old general to capture elderly and weak civilians to increase the number of plague carriers.
• The adviser and envoy assigned the young man to capture civilians, and he accepted despite the Bearded Man’s jealous glare.
• Gongshu Wu and the defenders received news of the Rebel Army’s reinforcements, but no attack came that day, and they remained unaware of the epidemic plan.
• At midnight, Xiaocheng’s watchtower spotted movement in the Rebel Army camp, and the soldiers on the walls prepared for battle.

Chu Yao’s Way of the Scholar revealed that the Rebel Army planned to besiege Xiaocheng and spread plague to uncover the Xin Country National Seal. Gongshu Wu admitted he was Gong Wen, the seal’s guardian, and the chapter ended with Shen Tang worrying about the sick, emaciated people the Rebel Army had hurled into the city.

• Chu Yao’s Way of the Scholar activated in his sleep and showed him a vision of the Rebel Army starving Xiaocheng and spreading plague with infected corpses.
• Chu Yao told Gongshu Wu that the Rebel Army intended to expose the Xin Country National Seal by draining the country’s fortune through a plague.
• Chu Yao revealed that he and Qi Yuanliang had guessed Gongshu Wu was Gong Wen, and Gong Wen admitted the former Sovereign had entrusted him with the National Seal.
• A dying, emaciated man was thrown over Xiaocheng’s wall, and Chu Yao ordered Gongshu Wu to burn the corpse to limit the spread of disease.
• The Rebel Army withdrew its siege engines after throwing more sickly people into Xiaocheng, and Shen Tang worried about their condition.

Shen Tang realized the Rebel Army might be deliberately sending sick civilians into Xiaocheng to trigger an epidemic, while her companions debated how to help the besieged city. She proposed using the possibility that Xiaocheng held a National Seal to force Zheng Qiao to send troops against the rebels.

• Shen Tang warned Zhai Le that the bodies hurled into Xiaocheng could spread an epidemic through contaminated water and food.
• Shen Tang felt helpless about Xiaocheng’s plight, but Qi Shan interrupted her gloom and urged her not to give up on pacifying the realm.
• Shen Tang, Qi Shan, Zhai Huan, and Captain Yang discussed plans to harass the Rebel Army or warn Xiaocheng’s commander, but they disagreed on their options.
• Shen Tang proposed that the National Seal might be in Xiaocheng, which could compel Zheng Qiao to send troops if the rebels threatened to seize it.

Shen Tang persuaded Qi Shan to help spread a rumor that the National Seal was in Xiaocheng, hoping to draw Zheng Qiao’s forces into conflict with other factions and save the city. As Qi Shan proposed seeking Gongshu Wu’s help, he and Chu Yao met Gong Cheng at the Prefectural Government, where Gongshu Wu recognized his nephew but remained unrecognized.

• Shen Tang insisted that provoking a wider conflict could save Xiaocheng, despite Qi Shan warning that the National Seal was truly there and that the plan could put her in danger.
• Shen Tang admitted she had forgotten her own National Seal but maintained that risking herself was worthwhile to protect Xiaocheng’s people, and Qi Shan agreed to help.
• The group considered sending Captain Yang or using Wolf Smoke to reach Zheng Qiao, but ruled out both options because they were too risky or unlikely to work.
• Qi Shan said they needed to enter Xiaocheng and seek Gongshu Wu’s help, while Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu went to the Prefectural Government to find someone.
• Chu Yao showed the gatekeeper his Second Rank Upper-Middle Literary Heart Sigil and was brought to Gong Cheng, whom Gongshu Wu recognized as his nephew.
• Gong Cheng welcomed Chu Yao and asked which righteous hero had offered a strategy to save the city, and Chu Yao said he had.

Chu Yao joined Wu Yuan’s defense council and laid out a plan to hold Xiaocheng until reinforcements arrived, while Gu Chi recognized him despite his transformed appearance. In the guest courtyard, Gongshu Wu grew closer to Gong Cheng and learned he planned to seek work in the Northern Desert, but a stone and a clumsy cuckoo call interrupted his response.

• Gong Cheng brought Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu to the prefectural governor’s residence, where Gu Chi recognized Gongshu Wu and questioned whether Chu Yao was Qi Yuanliang.
• Wu Yuan welcomed Chu Yao, who warned that the Rebel Army’s use of civilian bodies served a sinister purpose and gave detailed advice for defending Xiaocheng.
• Chu Yao told Wu Yuan that Xiaocheng could only hold out for reinforcements, since its forces could not defeat the much larger Rebel Army.
• Gu Chi escorted Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu to the guest courtyard and asked to speak privately with Chu Yao.
• Gongshu Wu watched Gong Cheng practice swordplay, then learned that Gong Cheng planned to go to the Northern Desert for work after Xiaocheng’s crisis ended.
• Gongshu Wu began to stop Gong Cheng from going to the Northern Desert, but a stone flew over the courtyard wall and an awkward cuckoo call interrupted him.

Shen Tang reunited with Gongshu Wu and Gong Cheng in Xiaocheng, then learned that the Rebel Army planned to cause a plague to expose the National Seal. She chose to stay and help the city, while Qi Shan proposed using Gongshu Wu’s National Seal to alert Zheng Qiao, leaving Shen Tang as the one who might activate it.

• Gong Cheng mistook Shen Tang for a masked intruder before recognizing her as his wife's elder brother, and Gongshu Wu was stunned by the claim that she was his nephew’s in-law.
• Shen Tang reunited with Qi Shan and Chu Yao, learned Su Shang had been found but Lin Feng was still missing, and accepted Gong Cheng’s offer to stay at the governor’s residence.
• Chu Yao warned that the Rebel Army planned to spread a plague and weaken the National Fortune to reveal the National Seal, but Shen Tang insisted on staying to protect Xiaocheng’s people.
• Shen Tang explained that she had planned to draw Zheng Qiao toward Xiaocheng, and Qi Shan said he could make that happen by activating Xin Country’s National Seal on Zheng Qiao’s territory.
• Gongshu Wu resisted the idea of lending the National Seal until Qi Shan pointed out that Shen Tang might be able to activate it.

Shen Tang questioned Gongshu Wu about the Xin Country National Seal and learned how it could be transferred and what its fading National Fortune meant. When she tried to sense the seal, its Azure Dragon bit her and drained her literary qi, prompting the golden dragon on her summoned sword to attack it.

• Shen Tang asked how Gongshu Wu had received the Xin Country National Seal, and Qi Shan explained abdication and entrusting a successor.
• Shen Tang urged Gongshu Wu to claim the seal and restore Xin Country himself, but he firmly refused.
• Gongshu Wu revealed the National Seal hidden inside his Martial Gall Tiger Tally and warned that its Azure Dragon was losing color as resentment consumed the remaining National Fortune.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang to use her literary qi to sense the seal, and the Azure Dragon bit her finger and drained her Dantian.
• Shen Tang's sword appeared in her right palm, and the golden dragon on its hilt attacked the Azure Dragon.

Shen Tang and Gongshu Wu awakened their National Seals, revealing two dragons and alerting forces across the region. As the Rebel Army rushed to gather people for the envoy, the Young General discovered a massacre among the captives and a boy desperately shielding a dead man.

• Shen Tang’s golden dragon subdued the little Azure Dragon before the dragons fought in the sky, exposing the National Seals’ power to people across the region.
• Gongshu Wu recalled Xin Country’s National Seal, and Shen Tang withdrew her Literary Qi as the dragons returned to their respective objects.
• The envoy was injured while investigating the unknown National Seal and ordered the Rebel Army to find people urgently, fearing intervention by Zheng Qiao or other forces.
• The Young General learned that his foster brother had captured and abused more than two hundred people, then returned to find many of them dead or wounded.
• A boy threw himself over a stout man’s corpse and begged the soldiers not to touch him.

The young man discovered that the boy he had spared was Tu Rong, a relative Shen Tang had asked him to find, and learned that Tu Rong’s family had been killed or scattered by the rebels. He took Tu Rong to search the cliff where Lin Feng had jumped and found her alive, hanging among the trees.

• The young man stopped Tu Rong’s attack, spared him, and ordered his father’s body cremated so Tu Rong could receive the ashes.
• Soldiers found a longevity lock bearing Tu Rong’s name, and the young man recognized Tu Rong as the boy Shen Tang had asked him to look for.
• Tu Rong confirmed his identity and told the young man that his grandparents and mother had been killed, while Lin Feng had jumped from a cliff to avoid capture.
• The young man brought Tu Rong to the cliff and searched below for the bodies of his family.
• The young man heard a faint breath and found Lin Feng alive, hanging among vines and branches.

A young Rebel Army commander rescued Lin Feng and Tu Rong after their families were massacred, then kept them in camp despite his Adopted Brother’s suspicions. As the commander waited for events to unfold, a dragon-shaped celestial phenomenon over Xiaocheng seemed to fulfill the rumor about Ziwei in the northwest.

• The young man rescued Lin Feng from a cliff, and she learned that Shen Tang had sent him to save her.
• Tu Rong and Lin Feng mourned their murdered families while the young man arranged for the bodies to be buried and gave Lin Feng medicine for her injuries.
• The young man’s Adopted Brother taunted him over bringing Lin Feng back, then watched her and Tu Rong with suspicion.
• Tu Rong vowed to avenge his family, and the young man let him stay in camp and train while telling him not to cause trouble.
• The old general accepted the young man’s decision to keep Lin Feng and Tu Rong in camp, while the rumor about Ziwei resurfaced after a dragon shadow appeared over Xiaocheng.

Zhai Huan and Zhai Le discussed the growing turmoil in the northwest and Zhai Huan encouraged his cousin to consider a marriage proposal from the Xunnan Zhao Clan. Meanwhile, Wu Yuan’s rumor failed to make him the Ziwei Star, and Zheng Qiao erupted at his ministers over mounting threats to his rule.

• Zhai Huan warned Zhai Le that the dragon apparition would draw ambitious powers to the northwest and make conflict inevitable.
• Zhai Huan told Zhai Le that the Xunnan Zhao Clan had proposed marriage to him because their third young lady had long liked him, and Zhai Le agreed to consider it.
• Zhai Huan assured Zhai Le that he would not use his cousin’s marriage as a political bargain, and Zhai Le said he had no one else in mind.
• Captain Yang overheard the cousins and wondered whether Zhai Huan and Zhai Le might help bring their homeland’s troubles to an end.
• Wu Yuan regretted that the dragon apparition had not made people regard him as the Ziwei Star.
• Zheng Qiao berated his ministers for failing to recover Xin Country’s National Seal and allowing a ninth-rank Wudafu, King Zhi, and his companion to gain power.

Zheng Qiao sought a way to suppress King Zhi’s rebellion and punished a terrified elderly minister while demanding countermeasures from the court. Yan An proposed issuing an edict that would lure rival rebel forces into conflict, and Zheng Qiao agreed; the chapter left the ministers realizing that Yan An had once studied alongside Zheng Qiao under Yan An’s father.

• Zheng Qiao asked his ministers for countermeasures and frightened an elderly official by claiming long-lived elders stole their descendants’ lifespans, then ordered a rusted blunt sword given to him.
• Yan An stepped forward and proposed an edict promising promotion, ennoblement, land, and kingship to anyone who helped defeat the rebels.
• Yan An explained that the promise would turn King Zhi’s Rebel Army against the other rebel factions, and Zheng Qiao praised the plan.
• Zheng Qiao revealed that Xin Country’s National Seal and another unfamiliar seal were in Sibao Prefecture, but agreed to proceed with Yan An’s proposal after discussing their depleted National Fortune.
• After the court session, officials identified the young adviser as Yan Xingning and recalled that he and Zheng Qiao had studied under Yan An’s father.

Yan An confronted Zheng Qiao in the palace gardens, trying to persuade his former junior brother to stop his destructive rule, but Zheng Qiao rejected his counsel and defended his actions. Yan An left determined to try to change him, while urgent decrees from Zheng Qiao stirred the factions into turmoil.

• Yan An met Zheng Qiao and warned that he could not afford to give military power to rebellious forces or suppress both factions outright.
• Zheng Qiao told Yan An that he refused to return to the right path and insisted that, as Sovereign, his chosen course was right.
• Yan An asked why Zheng Qiao had poisoned the Princess, and Zheng Qiao argued that her past cruelty toward a palace servant made her no better than him.
• Zheng Qiao rejected Yan An's appeal to control his temper and declared that the people had to live or die at his command.
• Yan An left the palace gardens resolved to try to reach Zheng Qiao, while urgent decrees spread through the realm and tempted the factions with the prospect of gaining power.