Chapter Summaries

Lin Feng learned that the scattered text of Qi Min Yao Shu could limit her Way of the Scholar, while Shen Tang accepted Bai Su’s lifelong loyalty and discussed helping women gain power. Gu Chi received news that Ren Shu was coming, leaving Shen Tang excited.

• Gu Chi explained that few fragments of Qi Min Yao Shu had survived, and Chu Yao, Qi Shan, and Kang Shi sent agricultural texts they remembered to help Lin Feng.
• Chu Yao told Gu Chi that the complete Qi Min Yao Shu had ten volumes, but its surviving copies were probably lost when Chu State fell.
• Bai Su asked Shen Tang whether she could condense a Martial Spirit, then swore loyalty to Shen Tang for life.
• Gu Chi showed Shen Tang the copied fragments of Qi Min Yao Shu and Nong Sang Ji Yao that he and the others had assembled.
• Gu Chi received a bluebird message from Wuhui and announced that Ren Shu was coming.

Shen Tang received the appointment order and Seal Ribbon naming her governor of Heyin Commandery, delivered by a messenger who probed Chu Yao and Gongshu Wu. After the messenger left, Gongshu Wu identified him as Yan An, whose dangerous reputation prompted Shen Tang to reconsider her joking threat to kill him.

• Shen Tang worried that Gu Ren and Wu Xian might have arranged a trap, but Gu Chi concluded they were unlikely to betray her and wondered whether Gu Ren's Way of the Scholar influenced people's feelings toward him.
• Gu Ren and Wu Xian received their rewards and hurried away from Ganzhou Qu Mountain Commandery to return to their territories.
• Yan An sent a messenger carrying Shen Tang's appointment order and Seal Ribbon to Heyin, where the messenger questioned Chu Yao about his identity and Literary Heart Sigil.
• The messenger tried to recruit Gongshu Wu, who refused, then gave Shen Tang the appointment order before departing quickly.
• Shen Tang suggested that they could arrange an accident for the suspicious messenger, and Gongshu Wu revealed that he was Yan An, courtesy name Xingning, whose Way of the Scholar could supposedly kill at a distance.

Shen Tang learned that Yan An’s Way of the Scholar might be far more dangerous than he had publicly claimed, and her group prepared to avoid drawing his attention. Meanwhile, Yan An returned to the Capital City and struggled with Zheng Qiao’s rule and the court’s obstruction, ending by asking Wuyou how much longer he had to wait before snow fell around Shen Tang.

• Gongshu Wu explained that Yan An’s apparent Literary Qi Incarnations might conceal a Way of the Scholar that he had not fully revealed, so Shen Tang’s group kept a low profile and devised secret passwords.
• Kang Shi told Captain Yang that Yan An’s power might overturn reality, illusion, and Karma, though he admitted this was only his guess.
• Yan An’s envoy group left without provoking Shen Tang, while Yan An’s distant original body continued handling government affairs in the Capital City.
• Yan An challenged Zheng Qiao over the court’s delays in opening granaries, and Zheng Qiao warned that the ministers might make Yan An pay if he killed anyone.
• After Zheng Qiao left, Yan An asked Wuyou how much longer he had to wait, then said that two years would be enough.
• Two days later, Shen Tang woke to find fine snow falling and the air sharply colder.

Shen Tang arrived in Fugu with her people and discovered that the commandery seat was even poorer and more dysfunctional than she had expected. After surveying the city, she noticed a wealthy enclave and learned that its residents belonged to powerful local families.

• Shen Tang led her troops and the commoners along the snowy road to Fugu, using Word Spirits to keep them warm.
• Fugu's officials told Shen Tang that the treasury was empty, and Gu Chi revealed that several officials had gone thirteen months without pay.
• Shen Tang found the commandery seat filthy, unsafe, buried under unfinished paperwork, and nearly broke, then began planning repairs to the city.
• Shen Tang climbed the city wall and spotted a luxurious cluster of buildings amid Fugu's poverty.
• The officials told Shen Tang that the buildings belonged to wealthy local families, while carefully avoiding details that might offend them.

Shen Tang assessed Fugu’s poverty and the wealthy families’ abuses, began gathering evidence against them, and paid the local officials three months of overdue wages. As she considered ways to aid the starving commoners, she realized that work relief would require more grain and money than she had.

• Shen Tang heard about Heyin’s wealthy families and said she would visit them, while secretly planning to squeeze money from the Zhang family.
• Shen Tang learned that Fugu had stopped registering newcomers to conserve ink and writing slips, then used her supposed search for an older cousin as cover to check the household records.
• Kang Shi and Qi Shan searched the dusty archives and found piles of old cases documenting abuses against the commoners.
• Shen Tang paid the officials three months of wages from her own funds, and Gu Chi confirmed that none of them appeared to be spies.
• Shen Tang’s desk collapsed while she reviewed the accounts, then she discussed work relief with Gu Chi and Lin Feng and lamented her shortage of grain and money.

Shen Tang explained to Lin Feng that commoners’ poverty stemmed fundamentally from their lack of farmland, while wealthy clans benefited from keeping them landless. She kept Lin Feng away from dangerous street work, planned to secure the Zhang clan’s resources for relief projects, and began tackling Fugu’s overflowing administrative files.

• Shen Tang and Gu Chi discussed their shortage of money, and Lin Feng suggested raising donations from wealthy families for disaster relief.
• Shen Tang explained that charity and temporary relief could not solve the commoners’ plight because they lacked land, and that wealthy clans profited from this arrangement.
• Shen Tang sent Lin Feng away and told Gu Chi she would not expose the nine-year-old to the dangers of learning among Fugu’s commoners.
• Shen Tang set aside the account books and planned to act before the Zhang clan caught on, hoping to fund work-relief projects with their resources.
• Kang Shi and Qi Shan sorted the accumulated files overnight, while Shen Tang repaired the administrative seat’s roof; the next morning, soldiers brought in barrels full of files and bamboo slips.

Shen Tang read records of the Zhang clan’s abuses and decided to attack the clan before it could prepare, while carefully planning the operation to protect Fugu City. She arranged for Zhao Feng and disguised Bai Su to scout the Zhangs as her forces gathered in the city.

• Shen Tang read a dossier about a widow who was punished after cutting open her son to prove the Zhang clan’s accusation was false.
• Shen Tang and Kang Shi reviewed other cases tied to the Zhang clan and agreed that the clan should be taken down soon.
• Shen Tang decided to move against the Zhang clan before it learned of her plans, partly because she urgently needed resources for Fugu City.
• Shen Tang considered the risks and planned to learn the Zhang clan’s strength before launching an attack.
• Shen Tang enlisted Zhao Feng to help scout, while Qi Shan disguised Bai Su as an older servant so she could investigate unnoticed.
• Shen Tang settled most of her people in a remote, impoverished part of Fugu City.

Shen Tang and Chu Yao discussed how to shelter Fugu City’s displaced commoners and rebuild its damaged southwestern district despite their lack of money, grain, and labor. Shen Tang decided to ask Zhao Feng and Gongshu Wu to help with the heavy construction, leaving them to hear her request.

• Chu Yao presented Shen Tang with a plan to organize Fugu City into residential, commercial, and leisure districts, and she approved it after questioning whether the marketplace would be large enough.
• Chu Yao explained that the city lacked the money, grain, labor, and shelter needed to rebuild the damaged homes before winter.
• Gongshu Wu requested funds to repair Fugu City’s crumbling walls, and Gu Chi also asked Shen Tang for funding.
• Shen Tang asked Zhao Feng whether a Martial Gall Warrior could split mountains and divide seas, then recruited him and Gongshu Wu to help with a difficult task.
• Shen Tang said she planned to tear down and rebuild the southwestern corner, since the elderly, women, and children among the commoners could not manage the heavy labor.

Shen Tang assigned Zhao Feng and Gongshu Wu to help rebuild Fugu City, then planned a surprise operation against the Zhang clan and other powerful local families to punish wrongdoing and establish the authorities’ credibility. She left the chapter preparing to seal off Fugu City and launch coordinated raids that night.

• Shen Tang persuaded Zhao Feng and Gongshu Wu to use their martial strength to clear ruins and help rebuild homes for Fugu City’s commoners.
• Shen Tang decided to raid the Heyin Zhang clan that night, using the operation to punish its abuses and restore the people’s faith in the authorities.
• Shen Tang expanded the plan to target several other powerful clans before they could unite against her, relying on Bai Su’s scouting and maps.
• Shen Tang assigned Qi Shan, Chu Yao, Zhao Feng, Gu Chi, and Gongshu Wu their roles in the coordinated raids.
• Shen Tang gave Kang Shi her Seal Ribbon and ordered him to seal off Fugu City.

Shen Tang visited the Zhang Clan to seek help finding her third elder sister and borrowing supplies for Fugu City, while the Zhang Clan Head mistook her motives and tried to dismiss her requests. She exposed the clan’s unpaid taxes, leaving the Zhang Clan Head facing her sharp accusation.

• The Zhang Clan Head accepted Shen Tang’s visit after deciding her presence could complicate Wu Xian’s ambitions in Heyin, while Madam Zhang and his younger brother discussed marrying off his eldest daughter.
• Shen Tang met the Zhang Clan Head and his younger brother, whose leering attention and crude marriage proposal she rejected.
• Shen Tang said she had come to find her missing third elder sister, and the Zhang Clan Head promised to have his servants search for her.
• Shen Tang asked the Zhang Clan Head for a loan to repair the government seat and provide for the winter, but he claimed the Zhang Clan had no money or grain to spare.
• Shen Tang revealed that the Zhang Clan had paid no market taxes and had drastically underpaid land taxes, then confronted the Zhang Clan Head with a sharp stare.

Shen Tang confronted the Zhang family head over his clan’s hidden wealth and tax evasion, then led a surprise assault on the Zhang Clan Land. She captured the family head and asked what to do with him.

• Shen Tang accused the Zhang family head of concealing fertile land and evading taxes, and declared she meant to take grain without repaying it.
• The Zhang family head ordered his guards to attack, but Shen Tang shattered his force with a sword strike while Gongshu Wu restrained the guards.
• A Literary Qi barrier sealed the Zhang Clan Land as hundreds of armed attackers overwhelmed the clan’s people and seized key passages.
• Shen Tang dislocated the Zhang family head’s younger brother’s jaw while Gongshu Wu captured the Zhang family head and brought him to her.
• Shen Tang asked Gongshu Wu what they should do with the captured Zhang family head.

Shen Tang launched surprise raids on the Zhang and Zhou families in Fugu City, using Word Spirits to silence captives and quickly overwhelming their defenses. As Kang Shi sealed the city gates and raised its defenses, escaped family members found themselves trapped inside.

• Shen Tang incapacitated the Zhang family patriarch and his brothers, then subdued the Zhang estate and ordered her men to guard the captives without abusing them.
• Shen Tang led Gongshu Wu and Qi Shan to attack the Zhou family, silencing people and even the family's guard dog to prevent alarms.
• Shen Tang and her companions defeated the Zhou family's defenders, while the patriarch escaped and Shen Tang left his pursuit to Ji Shou as they moved on to another target.
• Kang Shi closed Fugu City's gates, imposed a curfew, and raised the city's defensive barrier after receiving word that Shen Tang's operation had begun.
• Escaped members of the raided families tried to flee Fugu City but discovered the gates and defensive barrier blocked their way.

Shen Tang’s forces captured most of the fleeing clan members and foiled attempts to attack her base during the night. She returned safely to the administrative offices at dawn, where officials who had feared she was dead saw her wearing newly acquired New Year goods.

• A fleeing patriarch and his followers found Fugu City’s gates guarded, and Lili ambushed them, capturing the patriarch and beating his men.
• At the other gates, Shen Tang’s forces captured most of the fleeing families, though a few escaped.
• Some escapees tried to raid the administrative offices and attack Shen Tang’s vulnerable companions, but Gu Chi overheard their plans and Bai Su captured two groups.
• Officials arriving at dawn found blood and disorder at the offices and feared Shen Tang had been killed.
• Shen Tang arrived unharmed with Qi Shan, wearing a Jade Pendant from the seized New Year goods, and greeted the astonished officials.

Shen Tang celebrated the wealth she had seized from Heyin’s powerful families by promising the officials their remaining salaries. After news spread that she had captured seven family halls in one night, the officials prepared case files and the people gathered to hear the announcement.

• Shen Tang told the Heyin officials she had acquired a large batch of “New Year goods” and would pay their remaining salaries once the goods were tallied.
• The senior official recognized Shen Tang’s jade ornaments as treasures associated with the Zhang, Zhou, and Miao families, but she casually called them part of her haul.
• Shen Tang ordered the officials to sort the case files and invited Fugu City’s people to gather at noon for important news.
• A messenger reported that Shen Tang had seized seven family halls overnight and that their captured occupants filled the government office’s dungeon.
• The officials hurried to prepare the cases for trial, while a crowd gathered around a hastily built platform; Shen Tang arrived after catching up on sleep.

Shen Tang held public trials for the Di and Zhang families, sentencing and executing their members for numerous crimes. As the executions ended, Gu Chi detected surviving clan members plotting revenge and ordered Gongshu Wu to find them.

• Shen Tang put Steward Di on trial, and he confessed to his crimes after Lin Feng read the charges.
• Shen Tang sentenced Di one offense at a time, then ordered his execution and punished his family members as well.
• Shen Tang tried the Zhang family, whose crimes warranted severe capital punishments, and their executions satisfied the watching crowd.
• Surviving members of the fallen clans watched the executions and plotted to take revenge on Shen Tang.
• Gu Chi noticed the survivors' plans and summoned Gongshu Wu to locate and kill them.

After Shen Tang’s public executions, fugitive members of Heyin’s families learned that her hunt had begun because the Zhang family had tortured her relative to death. Gongshu Wu’s soldiers captured the fugitives before they could plan an escape, and Gu Chi and Qi Shan disagreed over whether to seize every survivor or use them to expose hidden followers.

• A messenger told the fugitive family members that Shen Tang had begun with the Zhang family, leaving the others to fear that their own clans would be punished next.
• The messenger explained that Shen Tang had come to Heyin searching for a relative who had been tortured to death in the Zhang household, and the Zhang survivors denied responsibility.
• The fugitives argued over how to escape the city and were interrupted when Gongshu Wu led soldiers into their hideout.
• Lili and the soldiers captured the fugitives, broke their legs, and brought them to reunite with their relatives in custody.
• Lili praised Gu Chi for locating the hidden fugitives, while Qi Shan criticized Gu Chi for capturing them all instead of using them to uncover more followers.

Qi Shan told Shen Tang about Gu Chi’s family tragedy and the hardships behind his colleagues’ single lives, while Gu Chi reassured her that he would not betray her. The chapter ended with Gu Chi handing Shen Tang the recovered wealth and explaining that Fugu City needed more farmland, repairs, and residents.

• Gu Chi left after Qi Shan’s suggestion to eliminate the fallen country’s remnants provoked his Killing Intent, and Qi Shan explained that the remnants had destroyed Gu Chi’s family.
• Qi Shan revealed that Gu Chi had once been engaged, while he, Chu Yao, and Kang Shi were all unmarried for different reasons.
• Shen Tang asked Zhao Feng about his family and learned that his previous lord had arranged his marriage.
• Gu Chi buried Shen Tang in official documents and corrected parts of Qi Shan’s account, telling her she was different and that he would not betray her lightly.
• Gu Chi gave Shen Tang ledgers recording the wealth recovered from the seven clans and said Fugu City needed repairs, reclaimed wasteland, and more residents.

Shen Tang struggled to organize land reclamation, bookkeeping, and relief for Fugu City while dealing with the powerful families’ crimes. After seven exhausting days, a series of violent tremors and flashes of martial energy struck the city, leaving her to investigate.

• Gu Chi calculated that Shen Tang’s people needed far more farmland than they had, and Shen Tang introduced a table-based bookkeeping system using numbers for characters.
• Shen Tang decided to rent confiscated land to commoners, ordered Gu Chi to measure and grade it, and told Kang Shi and Lin Feng to redo the population registers.
• Shen Tang and her advisers debated the fate of innocent women and children connected to the condemned families, then spared them from execution while restricting their future opportunities.
• Over seven days, Shen Tang’s forces dealt with the seven powerful families, executing the guilty and assigning lesser offenders to forced labor; the prefectural office also offered bounties and seedling relief.
• As Shen Tang ate, the ground shook repeatedly, and she saw flashes of martial energy in the distance before leaping onto a roof.

Shen Tang watched Gongshu Wu and Zhao Feng demolish the ruined buildings in Fugu City's southwest, but their fighting also brought down the administrative office's main hall. As the cleanup began, she learned how few men remained in the city and asked Gongshu Wu whether a Word Spirit could conjure carts for hauling debris, prompting Zhao Feng to darken his expression.

• Shen Tang realized Gongshu Wu and Zhao Feng had caused the apparent earthquake while demolishing buildings, but the administrative office's main hall collapsed beneath her before she could stop them.
• Shen Tang confirmed that no one had been injured and sent officials to check whether any other buildings in Fugu City had collapsed.
• Shen Tang visited the demolition site, where she saw the destruction and learned from Kang Shi why women outnumbered men in the city.
• Gongshu Wu reported that he and Zhao Feng had cleared much of the southwest corner, but the rubble still needed to be hauled away in wooden carts.
• Shen Tang asked Gongshu Wu whether a Word Spirit could conjure a war chariot and horses to move the debris, and Zhao Feng's face darkened.

Shen Tang raced chariots with Gongshu Wu and Zhao Feng, then arranged paid relief work to rebuild Fugu and help its people. Seeing the city’s hardship, she proposed a sports meet for the New Year to give soldiers and commoners a chance to gather and trade.

• Shen Tang challenged Gongshu Wu to chariot driving, learned quickly, and was eventually left behind when Zhao Feng joined the race.
• Shen Tang ordered Kang Shi to recruit commoners and displaced people for paid construction work using wealth seized from Fugu’s gangs.
• Shen Tang learned that officials had recovered her paperwork from the rubble while other officials’ belongings were still buried.
• Shen Tang and Kang Shi walked through Fugu’s narrow lanes, where Shen Tang saw that many commoners remained poor despite the gangs’ defeat.
• Shen Tang proposed a New Year sports meet with competitions such as horse racing and archery, and Kang Shi recognized that it could attract commoners and support a market.