Chapter Summaries

Shen Tang and her allies struggled to treat a growing epidemic in Fugu while searching for its source, but medicine failed to improve the patients and no culprit was found. Gu Chi went to investigate an outbreak from years earlier as Shen Tang organized containment measures and pest control.

• Shen Tang turned the administrative office into a hospital, separated patients by severity, and arranged protective equipment and literary-energy support for the caregivers.
• Elder Physician Dong adjusted his prescriptions as patients worsened, while Shen Tang, Qi Shan, and Kang Shi used literary energy to keep them from deteriorating further.
• Gu Chi reported that he had found no culprit or suspicious visitors, so Shen Tang agreed to have him investigate the two villages affected by a similar outbreak years earlier.
• Shen Tang assigned Lili to escort Gu Chi and left Bai Su to watch the observation area while she organized the remaining staff and children.
• Tu Rong and Captain Yang followed Shen Tang’s orders to kill rats and insects and burn contaminated materials and carcasses.

Gu Chi and Lü Jue investigated the abandoned Zhou villages and uncovered who had caused the plague in Fugu City. The two captured conspirators were exposed as fugitives who had poisoned the water supply, and Gu Chi began questioning them.

• Gu Chi and Lü Jue searched Lower Zhou Village and found no signs of anything unusual.
• Two disheveled men emerged from hiding after Gu Chi and Lü Jue left, and one berated the other for not attacking Gu Chi.
• Gu Chi confronted the men about causing the plague, then he and Lü Jue caught them as they tried to flee.
• Lü Jue restrained the captives while Gu Chi used a Word Spirit to extract their secrets.
• The men confessed that they had fed plague-tainted remains to rats and thrown them into a well connected to the administrative office's water supply.

Gu Chi discovered that Gu Worms had caused the outbreak in Upper Zhou Village and Lower Zhou Village, while Shen Tang tried to draw them out with her blood. The crisis remained unresolved when Xu Xie reported that the same plague had appeared in Tianhai.

• Lü Jue tortured the captured Literary Scholars, and Gu Chi ordered him to take them back so the lord could decide their fate.
• Gu Chi examined the mass grave and found Gu Worms on the corpses, then ordered the remains and nearby bird carcasses burned.
• Gu Chi returned to Fugu City and explained that Gu Worms had caused the outbreak; Elder Physician Dong said they needed to draw them out within two days.
• Shen Tang cut her palm and gave blood for the physicians to test as bait for the Gu Worms.
• Shen Tang ordered the contaminated wells cleared and sealed, then Xu Xie arrived and reported that the same plague had appeared in Tianhai.

Shen Tang and Elder Physician Dong discovered that the outbreak involved both Gu Worms and a genuine epidemic, then shared treatment records with Tianhai and Shang Nan. Heyin contained its cases, but Shang Nan’s sealed village continued to suffer deaths as residents tried to flee.

• Xu Xie told Shen Tang that cases had appeared across Tianhai, and she revealed that Gu Worms were responsible for part of the outbreak.
• Elder Physician Dong reported that Gu Worms had been drawn from some patients, while others had a genuine epidemic that his prescription was beginning to treat.
• Shen Tang asked Xu Xie to copy the prescription and case records for Tianhai, and she had Gu Chi prepare another copy for Shang Nan.
• Gu Chi removed rotten rats, sealed and guarded the contaminated well, and arranged notices ordering Fugu residents to kill rats and drink boiled water.
• Elder Physician Dong tested how the Gu Worms reacted to different people’s blood, and Heyin’s cases declined until no new epidemic patients appeared by the fourth day.
• Tianhai and Shang Nan received the treatment records, but Shang Nan’s sealed village continued to lose people as residents tried to escape.

As the epidemic overwhelmed Shang Nan, Gu Ren received Shen Tang’s prevention guide and treatment records from Heyin. He ordered drastic containment measures, leaving the response underway as reports showed Tianhai had already brought its outbreak under control.

• Soldiers guarding the epidemic zone killed a fugitive who tried to escape, then stopped a rider until Chao Lian recognized him as Gu Ren’s Ninth Brother.
• Ninth Brother brought Gu Ren a letter and epidemic records from Shen Tang, who had contained a similar outbreak in Heyin and identified the disease as an epidemic combined with a Gu Worm.
• Gu Ren learned that the records included treatment methods and detailed prevention measures, and he ordered the bodies burned, patients isolated, rats exterminated, and only boiled water used.
• Gu Ren assigned Chao Lian and his other sworn brothers to make protective supplies, remove and burn buried corpses, and clean the epidemic zone.
• Wu Xian reviewed reports that Shang Nan faced a severe outbreak while Tianhai had contained its disease, and told Minister Qin they owed Shen Tang’s side a great favor.

Wu Xian accepted Shen Tang’s help against the plague as proof of her sincerity and moved to strengthen their alliance, while Gu Ren suppressed unrest after the epidemic measures damaged his reputation. Once the plague zone reopened, Gu Ren and Wu Xian suspected Zhang He of causing the outbreaks, but Shen Tang went to confront him directly.

• Wu Xian admitted he had judged Shen Tang by his own standards and ordered a generous gift sent to her after the plague disappeared, intending to deepen their families’ alliance.
• Gu Ren’s third father-in-law scolded him for digging up and burning bodies, but Gu Ren defended the measures and decided his lenient reputation had encouraged people to challenge his authority.
• Gu Ren traced the leak of news from the quarantined epidemic zone to someone violating disease-prevention orders, then acted forcefully to secure his position.
• After twenty days, Gu Ren reopened the epidemic zone, where the population had fallen by nearly sixty percent, and continued to wonder where the plague Gu Worms had come from.
• Gu Ren and his sixth younger brother considered Zhang He the main suspect but agreed not to accuse him without evidence; Wu Xian likewise held off on acting against him.
• Shen Tang went to Zhang He’s doorstep to demand an explanation.

Shen Tang traveled to Yiru with Gu Chi and Yu Zi to investigate rumors of another illness and Zhang He's possible involvement. At a roadside teahouse, Gu Chi suddenly spotted something that startled him.

• Shen Tang rode toward Yiru with Gu Chi, Yu Zi, and guards, singing until the summer heat forced them to rest.
• Gu Chi explained why Yu Zi had joined the trip and said they would learn the truth about Zhang He when they met him.
• Shen Tang discussed reports of another illness in Yiru and hoped to discover whether Zhang He was involved.
• Shen Tang and her disguised companions reached a busy teahouse at Yiru's border, where she proposed recruiting Martial Gall Warriors to build roads.
• Gu Chi suddenly spotted something at the teahouse and nearly choked, prompting Shen Tang to follow his gaze.

Shen Tang encountered Gongxi Chou on the road to Yiru, discovered he was also seeking Zhang He, and traveled with him. At their inn, Gongxi Chou revealed that the ragged young man he had rescued had come looking for Shen Tang.

• Shen Tang and Gu Chi spotted Gongxi Chou at a teahouse, where he asked about Heyin and recognized something familiar in Shen Tang.
• Gongxi Chou and Shen Tang discovered each other’s identities and agreed to travel together toward Yiru.
• Shen Tang told Gongxi Chou that she was investigating Gu Worm epidemics, while Gongxi Chou said he was going to see Zhang He and doubted Zhang He had caused the outbreaks deliberately.
• Gongxi Chou and Shen Tang discussed their reasons for visiting Zhang He, and Gongxi Chou agreed to spar with her after she said she had grown stronger.
• At an inn, Gongxi Chou told Shen Tang that a young man he had rescued had asked about Fugu in Heyin and followed him because he promised to take the man to her.

Shen Tang learned that Xianyu Jian had sought her because his dying sister believed Shen Tang had saved her son, only for Shen Tang to reveal the child had already died. Xianyu Jian joined Shen Tang, and she and Gongxi Chou then visited Zhang Yongqing, who stared at her in apparent recognition.

• Gongxi Chou explained that Xianyu Jian had been asking for Shen Tang, and Shen Tang called him over to learn why.
• Xianyu Jian asked about the nephew Shen Tang had supposedly bought for forty coins, and Shen Tang remembered burying the dead child after his mother offered him.
• Shen Tang told Xianyu Jian the truth about his nephew, and he grieved while explaining how his family had died amid famine and hardship.
• Shen Tang invited Xianyu Jian to join her, and he accepted, introducing himself as Xianyu Jian and placing himself at her disposal.
• Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou arranged to visit Zhang Yongqing, who received them and stared fixedly at Shen Tang.

Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou confronted Zhang He, whose memories linked Shen Tang’s appearance to a supposedly dead person and the Gongxi Clan’s lost Sacred Object. Zhang He revealed that the body had been stolen from its grave, leaving Gongxi Chou furious and Shen Tang wondering how the story could involve her.

• Zhang He explained that Shen Tang’s crystalline Literary Heart Sigil and similar bearing reminded him of a young person he had seen dead in a coffin.
• Gongxi Chou recognized Zhang He as a former Imperial Physician and demanded the Gongxi Clan’s Sacred Object, but Zhang He denied possessing it.
• Gongxi Chou accused Xin Country of receiving the clan’s Sacred Object and Wu Kingdom Gu Worm records after Geng Country destroyed the clan.
• Zhang He revealed that he and others had mistaken the Sacred Object for a Gu Worm and the person in the coffin for a young Gongxi Clan member.
• Zhang He said grave robbers had stolen the coffin, and Gongxi Chou angrily pointed out that his clan cremated its dead, making the burial suspicious.
• Gongxi Chou connected the plagues in Tianhai, Heyin, and Shang Nan to the clan’s stolen research, while Shen Tang wondered how the supposedly dead person could be alive as her.

Shen Tang questioned Zhang He about the Gu Worm plagues and learned that he claimed to have left the experiments before they caused the outbreaks, while Gongxi Chou warned him not to investigate the Gongxi Clan further. Shen Tang negotiated to buy medicinal herbs from Zhang He, who set an exorbitant price, and she ended the chapter wondering about the clan’s connection to ancient Wu State after Gu Chi asked who had founded it.

• Gongxi Chou accused Zhang He of complicity in the Gongxi Clan’s destruction and warned him against probing the clan’s secrets, while Zhang He denied causing the Gu Worm plagues.
• Zhang He explained that he had opposed using commoners as Gu Mother hosts, fled an assassination attempt, and later treated Lingzhou’s plague partly to restore his reputation.
• Shen Tang asked Zhang He to sell her medicinal herbs for Heyin, and he named a price that left her feeling robbed.
• Gongxi Chou left to search for the Gongxi Clan’s Sacred Object, which Shen Tang described to Gu Chi as a coffin.
• Shen Tang and Gu Chi dismissed the idea that she was the body buried in the coffin, then Gu Chi asked about Wu State’s founder and the royal family’s clan emblem.

Shen Tang and Gu Chi traced the Gongxi Clan’s connection to the fallen Wu State, while Zhang He agreed to trade medicinal herbs for Heyin’s spirit liquor and secretly ordered Shao Chong eliminated. At a farewell banquet, Gongxi Chou revealed the origins of his clan’s Sacred Object, and Shen Tang realized its buried coffin might still contain a preserved corpse.

• Gu Chi explained why the Gongxi Clan might be connected to the Wu State’s royal line, and Shen Tang concluded that the connection had helped doom the clan.
• Gu Chi suggested bartering spirit liquor for medicinal herbs, and Shen Tang sent Zhang He a proposal that evening.
• Zhang He accepted the trade to use it as a chance to improve relations with Yiru’s Lineages, then ordered his adviser to quietly deal with Shao Chong and discussed using Gongxi Chou against Geng Country.
• Shen Tang held a farewell banquet for Gongxi Chou and asked why he was searching for the clan’s Sacred Object.
• Gongxi Chou said an immortal benefactor had entrusted his ancestors with the coffin and promised to return, and he revealed that the Wu State’s founder had been a clan traitor who stole the Gu books.
• Shen Tang learned the coffin had been buried for over two hundred years and questioned how the corpse inside could still be fresh, while Gongxi Chou insisted the Sacred Object could preserve it.

Shen Tang realized her identity might belong to the Gongxi Clan’s centuries-old Sacred Object, then left Gongxi Chou behind after their drunken farewell. On the road, Gu Chi explained how Zhang Yongqing and Wu Zhaode had used them to strengthen their positions among powerful families, and Shen Tang wondered whether she had any clans left to challenge.

• Shen Tang connected the clues and feared that the identity she was wearing belonged to the Gongxi Clan’s resurrected Sacred Object, but she kept her suspicions from Gongxi Chou.
• Gongxi Chou and Shen Tang drank and wept together while Gu Chi and the others watched; Gu Chi reflected on how Shen Tang and her followers might change over time.
• Gongxi Chou woke at the inn and learned Shen Tang had left, then decided she had departed early to spare him a painful goodbye.
• Shen Tang admitted she had rushed away to avoid Gongxi Chou catching up and confronting her after she dragged him back to the inn.
• Gu Chi explained that Zhang Yongqing had used the spirit-wine and medicinal-herb deal to build ties with Lingzhou’s powerful families, just as Wu Zhaode had gained advantages through similar dealings.
• Shen Tang considered whether to imitate their political maneuvering, but noted she had already stripped Heyin’s prominent families of their estates.

Shen Tang and Gu Chi debated how a ruler should balance competing factions, and Shen Tang argued for expanding opportunities and resolving disputes openly rather than suppressing loyal ministers. Back in Fugu City, Xianyu Jian learned Shen Tang’s identity and was unexpectedly put to work farming before he stayed to train with Gongshu Wu.

• Gu Chi questioned Shen Tang about balance between rulers and subjects, and she argued that rulers should create more positions, judge people by ability, and mediate conflicts instead of suppressing factions.
• Shen Tang told Gu Chi that she would never use Heart Peeking’s countermeasure on him, and Gu Chi silenced her after she teased him about being moved.
• Shen Tang and Gu Chi returned to Fugu City with Xianyu Jian, who learned that Shen Tang was the lord he had been recruited to meet.
• Gongshu Wu took Xianyu Jian to the fields, where Zhao Feng recruited him to help puppet soldiers and other troops farm.
• Xianyu Jian stayed in Fugu and trained at dawn, and Gongshu Wu challenged him to a spar.

A charcoal seller traveling through Heyin encountered prosperous fields, generous villagers, and policies credited to Lord Shen, leaving him considering moving there. At the market, he misunderstood a bamboo tally for payment and learned that outsiders were treated differently from locals.

• A teahouse helper gave the exhausted charcoal seller warm water, food, and directions, then helped water his old mule.
• The charcoal seller saw Heyin’s smooth roads and abundant millet fields, where tenant farmers praised Lord Shen and offered him sandals.
• A villager hosted the charcoal seller overnight and explained Heyin’s boiled-water rules, charcoal-buying program, and rewards for cats that caught mice.
• The charcoal seller traveled on through welcoming villages, where people fed his mule because they admired Lord Shen’s white mule, Motorcycle.
• At the market, the charcoal seller grabbed a customer who tried to pay with a bamboo tally, and a clerk explained that tallies could not be used to pay outsiders.
• A neighboring vendor reassured the charcoal seller that outsiders often faced confusing market customs and would learn them over time.

As Heyin’s millet ripened early and abundantly, Shen Tang recalled Gu Chi to help manage the autumn harvest and began planning ways to improve food security. The chapter ends as Shen Tang prepares to begin the Autumn Equinox sacrifice.

• Gu Chi returned to Fugu and learned that the early millet harvest had overwhelmed the commandery office, so Shen Tang assigned him harvest work.
• Shen Tang discussed the shortage of grain and proposed expanding wheat cultivation, asking Xu Wenzhu to find suitable seeds.
• Shen Tang inspected her papermaking workshop and told Gu Chi she planned to publish an art book.
• Shen Tang gathered her officials for the Autumn Equinox sacrifice and prepared to offer thanks before harvesting the first sheaf of millet.
• Shen Tang brought Zhao Feng and the others back to Heyin to help with the harvest.

Shen Tang led a harvest ceremony and oversaw the weighing of the millet, which yielded far more than anyone expected and gave the people of Heyin hope for a comfortable year. As she prepared to share the grain with her companions, everyone began bleeding from the nose and Heaven-and-Earth qi surged.

• Shen Tang offered prayers over the grain while the people of Heyin prayed for a good harvest.
• Shen Tang and the others harvested millet as clerks recorded and weighed the yields.
• The measured fields produced around four shi per mu, while fields outside Fugu City yielded roughly three shi per mu, prompting the commoners to cheer and weep with joy.
• Kang Shi reminded Shen Tang that Heyin still owed provisions to the Alliance Army, and Shen Tang said she would repay them once the granaries were full.
• Shen Tang decided to share the harvested millet with Qi Shan, Chu Yao, Gongshu Wu, Zhao Feng, and the others, but everyone suddenly got nosebleeds as Heaven-and-Earth qi surged.

Lin Feng formed her Literary Heart after drawing golden lights from the sacrificial fields and crossing a bridge of visions toward a distant palace marked Agriculture. She celebrated her success with Shen Tang, while the others wondered what rank her Literary Heart would be.

• Lin Feng began forming her Literary Heart, and Bai Su recognized the breakthrough as the others gathered to watch.
• Shen Tang saw golden lights rise from the fields and converge on Lin Feng, while Lin Feng heard a voice and entered a vision of a palace marked Agriculture.
• Lin Feng crossed visions of abundance, famine, and war before a fierce wind returned her to the sacrificial fields.
• Lin Feng realized that a Literary Heart had formed in her Dantian and tearfully celebrated her success with Shen Tang.
• Qi Shan, Chu Yao, and Kang Shi speculated about Lin Feng's Literary Heart rank.

Lin Feng formed a Second Rank Upper-Middle Literary Heart, which Qi Shan disguised as Ninth Rank Lower-Lower, and described seeing a mysterious hall that might be connected to an Agricultural Academy. After Shen Tang and her staff discussed literary and martial cultivation, the autumn harvest finished quickly, and Xu Xie arrived while Shen Tang was working in a foul-smelling workshop.

• Lin Feng formed a Second Rank Upper-Middle Literary Heart, and Shen Tang praised her achievement.
• Qi Shan warned that Lin Feng's rank could attract danger, so Shen Tang asked him to disguise it as Ninth Rank Lower-Lower.
• Lin Feng told Chu Yao about a towering hall marked with the character for Agriculture, and the group wondered whether it was a Literary Heart Palace or an Agricultural Academy.
• Shen Tang learned that Martial Gall Warriors had a Martial Gall Hall, then argued with her staff after realizing they had forgotten she cultivated both civil and martial arts.
• Zhao Feng and the Martial Gall Warriors helped finish Heyin Commandery's autumn harvest in five or six days, and Shen Tang ate millet porridge made from the harvest.
• Xu Xie arrived at Shen Tang's workshop, where the smell drove him outside before Shen Tang came out to greet him.

Shen Tang told Xu Xie about her plans to make paper and build irrigation works to support wheat farming, while Xu Xie brought her wheat seeds and struggled to grasp the scale of her ambitions. He then warned her that Zheng Qiao’s forces were driving more than two hundred thousand starving rebels toward King Zhi, leaving Shen Tang furious.

• Shen Tang explained that she was making paper from bamboo and other materials because she needed hundreds of thousands of sheets for her planned books.
• Xu Xie delivered wheat seeds and learned Shen Tang planned to build a reservoir and irrigation system with Martial Gall Warriors and Literary Scholars rather than corvée labor.
• Xu Xie warned Shen Tang that Zheng Qiao’s generals were pushing rebels from Gan and Yan Provinces toward King Zhi’s territory in Kunzhou.
• Xu Xie estimated that more than two hundred thousand starving commoners were being driven toward Kunzhou, and Shen Tang smashed the table in anger.