Chapter Summaries

Shen Tang poisoned the Geng Country soldiers who bullied a teahouse couple, using her Word Spirit to contaminate their tea. She and Qi Shan followed the soldiers to watch what happened, while Qi Shan accepted that helping her could make him an accomplice.

• Shen Tang denied Qi Shan’s suspicion that she was connected to the Xin Royal Family, and Qi Shan said he understood.
• After Geng Country soldiers bullied the teahouse owners, Shen Tang helped fill their waterskins while secretly poisoning the tea.
• Shen Tang told Qi Shan she had used a Word Spirit line about a green bamboo snake and a wasp, along with Strychnos.
• The soldiers left after paying the teahouse owner only three copper coins, and Shen Tang led Qi Shan after them to see the poison take effect.
• Shen Tang warned Qi Shan that poisoning the soldiers was a serious crime, but he said he was no good man.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan caught up with the soldiers transporting the Censor-in-Chief and rescued the prisoners. Qi Shan greeted the rescued Censor-in-Chief as “Teacher Tian,” leaving both him and his son confused about their connection.

• Shen Tang sang badly on the road, and Qi Shan teased her before using a Word Spirit to race ahead.
• Shen Tang reached the soldiers' resting place and found the prisoners suffering in the heat and from their injuries.
• The soldiers who had drunk poisoned water collapsed, while the remaining guards prepared for an attack.
• Shen Tang used a Word Spirit to confuse the guards, cut them down, and free the prisoners from their carts.
• Qi Shan greeted the Censor-in-Chief as “Teacher Tian,” but the Censor-in-Chief and his son did not recognize him.

Qi Shan learned that the man who had blocked his entry into office was now governing Xiaocheng after betraying Xin Country. After Shen Tang finished fighting and joined the survivors, Qi Shan asked whether she wanted to go to Xiaocheng.

• Qi Shan told the Imperial Censor that he had failed Xin Country’s special examination after someone gained leverage over him by exposing his falsified background.
• The Imperial Censor revealed that the man was now governor of Sibao Prefecture in Xiaocheng and had secretly helped Zheng Qiao seize Xin Country’s fortresses.
• Shen Tang returned after killing the soldiers and poisoned prisoners, then questioned Qi Shan for chatting instead of helping with the aftermath.
• Qi Shan refused to help bury the corpses, claiming he could not bear the sight of them.
• While Shen Tang worked, Qi Shan asked whether she was interested in going to Xiaocheng.

Shen Tang agreed to go to Xiaocheng after Qi Shan eased her fears about being recognized, and she learned that the original owner was tied to the Gong Clan through a betrothal. Tian Zhong revealed that the Shen Clan had been exterminated, leaving the original owner’s family situation uncertain and apparently without survivors.

• Shen Tang agreed to travel to Xiaocheng after Qi Shan assured her that the officers were unlikely to report her escape or have a recognizable wanted poster made.
• Shen Tang buried the bodies while Qi Shan roasted her conjured flatbreads, and later Tian Zhong joined her by the fire.
• Tian Zhong told Shen Tang that she resembled a woman who had been betrothed to Gong Cheng, his sworn brother’s son.
• Tian Zhong explained that the Gong Clan had been exiled before Gong Cheng and the woman could complete their wedding ceremony, and that Gong Cheng might be dead or on the way of exile.
• Tian Zhong revealed that the woman belonged to the Shen Clan, which Zheng Qiao had ordered exterminated down to the ninth degree.

Shen Tang learned that the Shen Clan had been exterminated without any known reason and chose to continue with Qi Shan to Xiaocheng. After discussing their mutual usefulness and Qi Shan’s plans to collect an old debt, the two parted ways with Tian Zhong and Tian Shouyi at dawn.

• Shen Tang questioned Tian Zhong about why Zheng Qiao had exterminated the Shen Clan, but Tian Zhong could recall no feud or reason.
• Tian Zhong wondered whether Shen Tang was connected to the Shen Clan, but Shen Tang avoided answering.
• Qi Shan returned, sent Tian Zhong away, and guessed that Shen Tang came from the Shen Clan.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang she had no need to go to Xiaocheng, but she insisted on accompanying Yuan Liang to learn useful skills.
• Shen Tang asked what Qi Shan planned to do in Xiaocheng, and he said he was going to collect an old debt.
• At dawn, Shen Tang and Qi Shan parted ways with Tian Zhong and Tian Shouyi, who left to seek refuge with relatives and friends.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan traveled toward Xiaocheng, with Shen Tang selling green plums and other food to earn money along the way. They reached a devastated Sibao Prefecture and found Xiaocheng’s lively streets sharply contrasted with the desolation outside its walls.

• Qi Shan bought Shen Tang two sets of ready-made clothes, then found her selling green plums across the street.
• Shen Tang earned several dozen copper coins, reclaimed her Literary Heart Sigil, and bought salt, wine, and pickled side dishes.
• Qi Shan questioned why Shen Tang had given money and flatbreads to Tian Zhong and his injured companions, and then used Word Spirit to hurry ahead.
• Shen Tang sold flatbreads, green plums, and malt candy as she and Qi Shan continued toward Sibao Prefecture.
• Qi Shan explained that Geng Country's conquest had devastated Sibao Prefecture, where famine, funerals, and mourning marked the streets.
• Shen Tang and Qi Shan reached Xiaocheng and found bustling crowds and revelry inside, in stark contrast to the corpses and barren land outside.

Shen Tang was struck by the contrast between Xiaocheng’s prosperous interior and the impoverished people outside its gates, then waited while Qi Shan went to ask around. A local thug tried to lure her away by pretending Qi Shan had sent him, and Shen Tang quietly considered how to deal with him.

• Shen Tang questioned Qi Shan about the stark divide between the city’s poor outskirts and its prosperous interior, and he told her to travel more.
• Qi Shan left Shen Tang by a tavern while he went to ask around, warning her not to wander off.
• After Qi Shan was gone, Shen Tang rented a stool and waited, pleased that a middle-aged man addressed her as a girl.
• The man falsely claimed that Qi Shan had asked him to take Shen Tang to an inn, while onlookers recognized him as a child trafficker and kept silent.
• Shen Tang played along with the man because he was the first person to correctly identify her gender, but resolved to kill him if he tried to abduct her.

Shen Tang let a thug lead her away from the tavern while concealing that she could defend herself with a Literary Heart Sigil. A Moonlit Pavilion kitchen hand bet the butcher she would return safely, and the chapter ended with the butcher learning why the thug was in danger.

• The thug tricked Shen Tang into believing he was a helper from Fanghua Inn and led her away on Motorcycle.
• The butcher watched Shen Tang leave but held back from intervening after his elderly parents stopped him.
• A Moonlit Pavilion kitchen hand bet the butcher that Shen Tang would return safely within half an hour.
• The kitchen hand explained that Shen Tang possessed a colorless, transparent Literary Heart Sigil that could handle an ordinary person.

A customer recognized a Literary Heart Sigil and discussed the butcher’s hopes for his child, while Shen Tang was lured to a remote courtyard by Lai Tou and nearly sold to the Moonlit Pavilion. Cornered by three traffickers, Shen Tang dropped her fearful act and fought back.

• The customer confirmed that the ornament was a Literary Heart Sigil, and the butcher wagered that he would lose.
• The butcher said he wanted his child to learn enough characters to handle accounts, but doubted the child could become a nobleman.
• Lai Tou led Shen Tang through deserted alleys to a filthy courtyard, where a man and woman revealed they planned to sell her to the Moonlit Pavilion.
• Shen Tang tried to escape and called for Qi Yuanliang, but the three traffickers cornered her.
• Shen Tang stopped pretending to be afraid, kicked off the wall, and launched a sweeping kick.

Shen Tang captured three people who had abducted women and forced them to confess where they had sold their victims. She brought them back to town to hand over to the Xiaocheng Prefectural Yamen, but a customer warned that they might soon be freed, making Shen Tang reconsider whether to kill them.

• Shen Tang interrogated Lai Tou and his two accomplices about the women they had abducted and sold.
• The woman tried to justify their crimes by claiming the victims had been bought from their parents, but Shen Tang threatened the three until Lai Tou agreed to confess.
• Shen Tang returned to the tavern with the three captives tied together, made them kneel, and explained that she planned to turn them over to the Xiaocheng Prefectural Yamen.
• A customer warned Shen Tang that the captives might be released soon, and she wondered aloud whether she should take them outside the city and kill them.

Qi Shan waited for Shen Tang and spoke with a mysterious elder who offered ruthless advice about military Word Spirits. Shen Tang returned after dealing with evildoers, and she and Qi Shan continued on, with Qi Shan suspecting the elder had once possessed a Literary Heart.

• Qi Shan returned to find Shen Tang gone, then learned from an elder that she had left the city to uphold justice and would be back shortly.
• While waiting, Qi Shan discussed military Word Spirits with the elder, who proposed a lethal alternative to Self-Entrapment and rejected the idea of holding back against a cornered enemy.
• Shen Tang returned on a mule and told Qi Shan that the evildoers were likely already on their way to the afterlife.
• The elder declined Qi Shan's invitation to play chess and left with parcels of meat.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang the elder was no ordinary man and suggested he might once have had a Literary Heart.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan investigated Old Mr. Chu and learned that he had been sold as a slave to the Moonlit Pavilion after a plague. Qi Shan suspected Chu’s unusual abilities and connected his surname to a destroyed state, then brought Shen Tang to stay with an elderly couple he knew in Xiaocheng.

• Shen Tang told Qi Shan that Old Mr. Chu had been sold to the Moonlit Pavilion about five years earlier and had worked there doing kitchen chores.
• Qi Shan observed that Old Mr. Chu’s Literary Heart and Word Spirit were unusually strong despite his lowly circumstances.
• Qi Shan recounted the story of a Chu princess who died after miscarrying in Xin Country, whose ruler later destroyed her homeland.
• Shen Tang wondered whether Old Mr. Chu belonged to the ruined state’s royal family, while Qi Shan said his identity remained uncertain.
• Qi Shan led Shen Tang to a small residence owned by an elderly farming couple he had known for five or six years.

Shen Tang explored Xiaocheng and searched for a way to earn money after deciding to postpone confronting a Gong Clan woman until the clan’s Fifth-Rank Grand Master was caught. She spotted Zhengguang Bookstore accepting illustrated manuscripts and came up with a promising business idea.

• Qi Shan paid the old woman for their lodging and meals, though she initially refused the money out of gratitude.
• Shen Tang asked Qi Shan about Xiaocheng’s Entertainment Quarter and explained that she wanted to find someone connected to her escape.
• Qi Shan warned Shen Tang that approaching the Gong Clan’s exiled women could draw the attention of informants while their Fifth-Rank Grand Master remained at large.
• Qi Shan urged the restless Shen Tang to explore the streets, and she took her savings and went out alone.
• Shen Tang spent much of her money on street goods, then noticed Zhengguang Bookstore was accepting illustrated manuscripts and thought of a way to earn money.

Shen Tang agreed to draw sensual portraits of a popular male courtesan at the Moonlit Pavilion and went there with the bookshop owner to meet him. On the way, she learned that brothels filled several streets in Xiaocheng and that the Prefectural Government encouraged their construction.

• Shen Tang persuaded the bookshop owner to let her try illustrating portraits for a Moonlit Pavilion courtesan, despite his initial doubts about her age and experience.
• The shopkeeper explained that the client wanted tasteful erotic portraits, and Shen Tang agreed to go meet him that day.
• Shen Tang asked how much it would cost to buy a servant from the Moonlit Pavilion, privately considering buying Old Mr. Chu.
• The shopkeeper led Shen Tang through Xiaocheng's brothel-lined streets and told her the Prefectural Government encouraged their construction.
• The shopkeeper brought Shen Tang to a courtyard house, where they learned the courtesan had just woken up, and suggested waiting for him at a teahouse.

Shen Tang learned why Xiaocheng’s Prefectural Government encouraged brothels and entertainment houses, then accepted a commission to draw an erotic illustration. She finished a rough draft, leaving Qi Shan stunned by her crude and suggestive artwork.

• Shen Tang asked the shopkeeper why the Prefectural Government promoted brothels and heard that poverty, war, taxes, and the sale of children had driven the policy.
• The shopkeeper said male brothels made up seventy percent of the businesses and credited their popularity to Zheng Qiao’s rise from Xin Country’s favored concubine to ruler.
• A veiled client arrived with two guards, dismissed Shen Tang as too young, then agreed to let her try the commission using his materials.
• Qi Shan brought Shen Tang some manuscripts and found her rough erotic drawings spread across her desk.

Shen Tang argued with Qi Shan over her painting skills and revealed that she had accepted a commission to draw an erotic illustration for a courtesan at Moonlit Pavilion. After seeing her work, Qi Shan warned that the courtesan might react violently when Shen Tang submitted it.

• Shen Tang challenged Qi Shan to paint, and he quickly produced a landscape that far surpassed her drawing.
• Shen Tang added a sequence of explicit little-figure scenes to her picture, revealing that she was making an erotic illustration.
• Qi Shan realized Shen Tang sincerely believed her drawing was good and tactfully suggested she see a physician.
• Shen Tang explained that a bookseller had hired her to draw a portrait for a courtesan at Moonlit Pavilion without testing her skills.
• Qi Shan warned Shen Tang that the courtesan could summon Moonlit Pavilion's brawlers if she submitted the illustration.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan tried to figure out how she could fulfill her painting contract after Qi Shan judged her work poor. Qi Shan grew suspicious of the young male entertainer and his insistence on supplying the materials, and the chapter ended with Shen Tang suggesting Word Spirit might explain it.

• Shen Tang insisted that her paintings were good until Qi Shan reminded her that the client had to approve them.
• Shen Tang revealed she had signed a contract and accepted a deposit, so Qi Shan offered to paint the portrait for her if necessary.
• Shen Tang described the young male entertainer, and Qi Shan questioned why he had hired her without checking her painting skills.
• Qi Shan grew uneasy about the entertainer’s insistence on providing the brushes, ink, and paper, then tested the paper for hidden writing.
• Shen Tang suggested the materials might be connected to Word Spirit.

Qi Shan explained how Ten Crows had secretly aided Zheng Qiao in conquering Xin Country and how Sibao Prefecture's prefect served as their informant. As Ten Crows prepared to exploit Xin Country's weakness, encrypted words appeared on the paper.

• Qi Shan investigated the paper with literary qi and told Shen Tang that Zheng Qiao had allied with Ten Crows to attack Xin Country.
• Shen Tang learned that Sibao Prefecture's prefect had Ten Crows parents and secretly worked as their informant while serving Zheng Qiao.
• Qi Shan explained that Ten Crows could use Sibao Prefecture as a strategic route south and might cross the mountains because Xin Country's National Seal was lost.
• Faint words appeared on the paper, and Shen Tang read aloud, "Viewed from the front, it forms a ridge; from the side, a peak?"

Shen Tang discovered that the hidden word spirit on the drawing paper led into a military chess formation, but she failed to break it after repeatedly trying through the night. By dawn, Qi Shan handed her the finished drawings and confirmed that neither of them had solved the formation.

• Shen Tang and Qi Shan identified the line on the paper as an encrypted military formation word spirit, and Qi Shan said he was not afraid of being drawn into trouble.
• Shen Tang entered the word spirit through her sketch and found herself facing a shadowy youth on a chessboard where black and white armies were fighting.
• Shen Tang made a move, but the opposing black forces routed her white pieces and forced her consciousness back into her body.
• Shen Tang repeatedly tried to break the formation through the night while Qi Shan sensed her restless literary qi and finished drawing the erotic illustrations.
• At dawn, Shen Tang demanded the drawings from Qi Shan, who told her the formation’s creator was an expert and admitted that he had not broken it either.

Shen Tang delivered the paintings Qi Shan had completed to Zhengguang Bookstore, where the shopkeeper was dazzled by them and urged her to publish an art collection. She claimed her brother had painted them and asked when they would be delivered, hinting that she wanted to meet the handsome male courtesan.

• Qi Shan warned Shen Tang to be cautious because the person behind the paintings might be connected to Sibao Prefecture's prefect, then returned to the endgame and resumed playing against the mysterious figure.
• Shen Tang rode Moto to Zhengguang Bookstore and submitted the four paintings.
• The shopkeeper admired the paintings, praised Shen Tang's skill, and suggested she publish an art collection.
• Shen Tang said she had not painted the works and that her brother had finished them, then asked when the shopkeeper would deliver them.
• Shen Tang hinted that she wanted to see the male courtesan, and the shopkeeper cautioned her against falling for someone from a brothel.