Chapter Summaries

Chu Yao and his companions reached Yonggu Pass, where Chu Yao’s arrival brought him face-to-face with Chief Clerk Yu, a former Imperial Attendant of Chu State and an old acquaintance. General Chu arrived and recognized Chu Yao as a childhood friend he had believed dead.

• Lü Jue and Xu Quan tried to look imposing as they entered the Yonggu Pass garrison camp with Chu Yao.
• Chu Yao learned that the camp’s banners had been written by a clerk surnamed Yu and waited while the visitors were kept in the tent for nearly two hours.
• Chief Clerk Yu came to meet them, but froze when he saw Chu Yao, who drew his sword and challenged him as Imperial Attendant Yu.
• Chief Clerk Yu recognized Chu Yao as Wuhui and asked when his Literary Heart had returned; Chu Yao confirmed that Yu had once been an Imperial Attendant of Chu State.
• Chief Clerk Yu sent for General Chu, who rushed into the tent and fell silent when he saw the childhood friend he had thought dead.

Chu Yao reunited with his childhood friend, the commander of Yonggu Pass, and ended their personal relationship while seeking military authority on behalf of Shen Youli. The commander refused to hand over control of the garrison and challenged Shen Youli’s strength.

• The commander-in-chief joyfully recognized Chu Yao, while Chief Clerk Yu recalled how the Chu household had raised Chu Yao and how the Crown Prince’s faction had taken his Literary Heart and led to his exile.
• Chu Yao asked whether his childhood friend would accept being killed, and the commander offered his left arm as repayment for the past.
• Chu Yao returned the dagger and said he held no further personal debt or friendship with the commander.
• The commander mistakenly thought Chu Yao served Zheng Qiao, but Chu Yao clarified that he was Shen Youli’s secretary and had come to inspect Yonggu Pass and arrange supplies.
• Chu Yao sought control of the troops, but the commander refused and asked whether Shen Youli had what it took to command them.

Chu Yao negotiated with the commander of Yonggu Pass, who distrusted Shen Tang and refused to surrender his troops without seeing her for himself. The commander held Chu Yao as a guest while Lü Jue rode to summon Shen Tang, leaving a possible alliance dependent on her arrival.

• The commander warned Chu Yao that he would not let Shen Tang take control of Yonggu Pass and feared that the National Seal might draw Ten Crows into an attack.
• Chu Yao argued that Shen Tang could protect the National Border Barrier, and the commander asked whether he needed Xu Quan and the other witness killed to keep the seal secret.
• The commander ordered Lü Jue to tell Shen Tang that Chu Yao would remain at Yonggu Pass for months unless she came in person; Chu Yao threatened that detaining him and Lü Jue could leave the pass vulnerable to Ten Crows.
• Lü Jue rode off with the message, while Chu Yao and Xu Quan stayed at Yonggu Pass and endured the garrison's scarce provisions.
• Chu Yao explained that Shen Tang needed to win over the commander and his more than twenty thousand troops, and said he expected her to persuade him once they met.

Xu Quan learned that Chu Yao’s restored Literary Heart could expose Shen Tang’s possession of the National Seal, while the commander of Yonggu Pass demanded thirty thousand Ten Crow heads before yielding his troops. Shen Tang rushed to the pass after hearing Chu Yao had been detained and confronted the commander with a sword.

• Chu Yao told Xu Quan that only a few trusted confidants knew the lord held the National Seal and explained that Wen Zhu would keep the secret if he guessed it.
• The commander showed Chu Yao old maps of Ten Crow territory and demanded thirty thousand heads as proof Shen Tang could command Yonggu Pass’s veteran troops.
• After Lü Jue reported that Chu Yao had been detained, Shen Tang chose to travel to Yonggu Pass with Gu Chi, Jiang Sheng, Yu Zi, Xianyu Jian, and a thousand men.
• Shen Tang and her party reached Yonggu Pass ahead of schedule, and the commander rode out with Chief Clerk Yu to meet them.
• Shen Tang pulled Chu Yao behind her, pointed a sword at the commander, and demanded to know whether he had detained her people.

Shen Tang arrived at Yonggu Pass to negotiate and, after learning its commanding general had detained Chu Yao, challenged him to a duel while drunk. She overwhelmed him with her fighting skill and revealed a weapon radiating martial qi, leaving him suspecting she cultivated both the literary and martial paths.

• Shen Tang admitted she had drunk wine from Qi Shan and refused to put down her sword when Chu Yao tried to calm her.
• The commanding general accepted Shen Tang's challenge, and Chu Yao's warning made him her opponent in a time-limited duel.
• Shen Tang met the commanding general's opening saber strike and traded nearly a hundred blows with him in moments.
• The commanding general manifested his martial armor and fired arrows at Shen Tang, but she blocked the attack with literary qi and pressed him back.
• Shen Tang transformed her sword into a silver dragon bow and unleashed a barrage of arrows that forced the commanding general to retreat.
• The commanding general recognized that Shen Tang's bow carried martial qi and wondered whether she was a dual cultivator of the literary and martial paths.

Shen Tang ended her bout with the commander-in-chief at the time limit, then entered Yonggu Pass with her party after impressing its officers. Chief Clerk Yu arranged their lodging as Chu Yao began drawing him into conversation while keeping an eye on Yu Zi.

• The commander-in-chief called time when the incense burned out, and Chu Yao persuaded Shen Tang not to continue fighting him.
• Shen Tang told Chu Yao to stay close and away from the commander-in-chief, while Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng argued over how much had been concealed about their lord.
• The commander-in-chief told Chief Clerk Yu that Shen Tang was extraordinary and asked him to handle what came next.
• Chief Clerk Yu invited Shen Tang and her party into Yonggu Pass and arranged their lodgings after the officers' hostility eased.
• Chu Yao watched Yu Zi and struck up a friendly conversation with Chief Clerk Yu, who suspected he had an ulterior motive.

Chu Yao revealed that Yu Zi was Chief Clerk Yu’s great-grandniece, and Chief Clerk Yu learned of the abuse Yu Zi’s mother had suffered. Shen Tang then negotiated for command of Yonggu Pass, accepting the demand for thirty thousand Ten Crows heads and reminding the officers why Zheng Qiao had sent her there.

• Chu Yao asked Chief Clerk Yu about his twin brother and introduced Yu Zi as a possible relative from his brother’s family line.
• Yu Zi recounted her mother’s suffering, leaving Chief Clerk Yu furious before he accepted her as his great-grandniece.
• Chief Clerk Yu joined Shen Tang’s meeting and explained that the officers had mistaken her actions for the Sovereign’s orders while questioning whether her six thousand soldiers could defend Yonggu Pass.
• Shen Tang demanded command of more than twenty thousand troops, and Chief Clerk Yu set thirty thousand Ten Crows heads as the condition for their cooperation.
• Shen Tang agreed to the demand and asked the officers to recall why Zheng Qiao had sent her to Longwu Commandery.

Shen Tang agreed to use the princess’s escort as cover to scout Ten Crows, then drank heavily at a dinner with Chief Clerk Yu and the general. Chief Clerk Yu asked to take Yu Zi in and teach her, but Yu Zi revealed that she was the surviving daughter of his niece, not a boy, leaving him stunned.

• Shen Tang told Chief Clerk Yu she would use the escort party to learn about Ten Crows and prepare for the coming war, rather than stir up civil unrest.
• The general hosted Shen Tang’s party for dinner, and Shen Tang drank bowl after bowl despite Chu Yao’s attempts to stop her.
• Chief Clerk Yu asked Shen Tang to let Yu Zi stay with him so he could teach her and help restore their family’s standing.
• Shen Tang asked Yu Zi what she wanted, and Yu Zi declined before admitting she had a secret she could tell only her great-uncle.
• Yu Zi told Chief Clerk Yu that her mother’s surviving child was the girl, and that she herself was a woman; Chief Clerk Yu was shocked while Chu Yao and Shen Tang watched from afar.

Chief Clerk Yu questioned Yu Zi about her unprecedented Literary Heart and learned that she suspected Shen Tang’s influence, while Gu Chi secretly guided their conversation. Shen Tang then received orders to meet the Princess’s wedding procession and supply a thousand more young women for its dowry.

• Chief Clerk Yu explained the status attached to high-grade Literary Hearts and asked whether Chu Wu Hui had reacted with hostility to Yu Zi’s Literary Heart.
• Yu Zi suggested that Shen Tang might be behind women gaining Literary Hearts and said female martial artists could also be hidden among Shen Tang’s soldiers.
• Chief Clerk Yu realized Gu Chi had been guiding Yu Zi’s answers, warned her to be careful with Shen Tang’s secrets, and privately guessed at Shen Tang’s intentions.
• Gu Chi complained that Chief Clerk Yu was difficult to ensnare, while Chu Yao said the old man could be a valuable ally.
• Shen Tang received word that the Princess’s wedding procession was nearing Longwu Commandery and was ordered to gather a thousand young women to complete its dowry.

Shen Tang faced the royal court’s order to send a Princess and over a thousand young women to Ten Crows, and considered how to prevent the forced “dowry” from becoming a slaughter. She settled on a plan involving Bai Su’s women soldiers and assigned Xu Quan an unexpected role.

• Shen Tang woke after blacking out and learned Gu Chi had stopped her from attacking Yonggu Pass, while Wuhui’s visit had tested the prospect of cooperation.
• Gu Chi told Shen Tang that the Princess would arrive in half a day and that they had seven days to gather a thousand young women; Shen Tang and Xu Quan condemned the order.
• Gu Chi hinted that Qi Shan’s disguise skill could help, but Jiang Sheng denied knowing anything about it.
• Shen Tang received the marriage-alliance procession, ignored the eunuch’s demand for a bribe, and returned to the commandery seat without seeing the Princess.
• After Qi Shan said he could not disguise a thousand people, Bai Su assured Shen Tang that her women soldiers could fight, and Shen Tang told Xu Quan she had an important mission for him.
• Shen Tang planned to add a female martial gall warrior to Bai Su’s force, and Xu Quan protested that he was a man.

Shen Tang prepared a disguised force to travel to Ten Crows, assigning Xianyu Jian to command its elite troops and arranging support for the dangerous expedition. After assembling a thousand women as part of the bride tribute, she told the Ten Crows envoys they could set out whenever they were ready.

• Xu Quan agreed to use Qi Bu Shan's Way of the Scholar to disguise himself as a woman, and Qi Bu Shan advised him to study women's habits to maintain the disguise.
• Shen Tang selected Xianyu Jian to command one thousand elite troops, explaining that Half-Step needed to defend Longwu Commandery and that the Ten Crows mission called for speed and flexibility rather than a formal battle.
• Shen Tang assigned Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng to accompany Xianyu Jian, named the scholars who would defend Longwu and Yonggu Pass, and ordered Lin Feng to join the army to help supply it.
• Shen Tang gathered a thousand young women for the bride tribute while refusing to let the Ten Crows envoys take advantage of them.
• When the Ten Crows envoys asked when they could depart, Shen Tang said they could leave whenever they were ready.

Lin Feng sought advice from Chu Yao on the eve of her journey to Ten Crows, where she would escort the princess for a marriage alliance. Chu Yao revealed that his Way of the Scholar had warned him of a young Ten Crows heir who might endanger their lord, and Lin Feng promised to kill him.

• Unable to sleep before departing for Ten Crows, Lin Feng visited Chu Yao and found him troubled by his Way of the Scholar.
• Chu Yao said he needed to complete his Way of the Scholar, though he disliked the internal affairs it involved.
• Chu Yao told Lin Feng to kill a handsome, glib young man in Ten Crows, whom he believed was the Queen Mother's only son and heir.
• Chu Yao explained that his dream showed the young man contaminating a river while their lord's troops marched downstream, and later Lin Feng saving him before soldiers developed red rashes.
• Lin Feng promised to kill the young heir herself and bring Chu Yao his head.

Lin Feng worried about the deaths she might witness in war, so Chu Yao took her to collect severed heads to prepare her for the battlefield. After Shen Tang and her party set out, the Princess summoned Shen Tang.

• Lin Feng admitted to Chu Yao that she was nervous about the casualties of war, and he told her to focus on protecting her own people and killing enemies who stood in their way.
• Chu Yao took Lin Feng to collect the heads of Ten Crows bandits, leaving her shaken and nauseated by dawn.
• Shen Tang realized what Chu Yao had done and warned Gu Chi to keep the story private, while teasing him about his jealousy.
• Jiang Sheng joined Shen Tang and Gu Chi after meeting the Princess, and the Princess sent word that she wanted to summon Shen Tang.

Shen Tang was pressured into meeting a princess traveling to Ten Crows for a political marriage, only to discover that the princess was pregnant. When the princess asked for help with her worries, Shen Tang pretended the pregnancy was an ordinary figure issue and suggested exercises for anterior pelvic tilt.

• A female official insisted that Shen Tang visit the princess, claiming the princess was frail and needed Shen Tang's yang energy to lift her spirits.
• Shen Tang brought Gu Chi to the meeting after the marriage procession set up camp, and they followed the formal protocol before entering the princess's lavish tent.
• The princess revealed her face, and Shen Tang and Gu Chi noticed that she was visibly pregnant.
• Shen Tang wondered whether the princess had been harmed or had secretly conceived a child, and considered why the Ten Crows envoys were ignoring her condition.
• The princess asked whether Shen Tang was surprised, then admitted she was troubled by her figure.
• Shen Tang told the princess that her bulging belly was caused by anterior pelvic tilt and recommended daily exercises to correct it.

Shen Tang learned that the Princess was pregnant by her former lover and had claimed Zheng Qiao was the father to protect herself. Gu Chi explained that she was trying to win Shen Tang over both as a potential witness and as a way to secure her safety on the journey.

• Shen Tang complained to Gu Chi after the Princess's attendant escorted them out of the tent.
• Gu Chi revealed that the Princess's unborn child belonged to a lover she had met at the Flower Festival.
• He explained that the Princess's lover had abandoned her and quickly married someone else after she was ordered into a political marriage with Ten Crows.
• The Princess claimed that Zheng Qiao had fathered her child, and the Ten Crows envoys apparently believed her.
• Shen Tang suggested the Princess wanted to use her as proof of the child's identity, and Gu Chi added that the Princess also wanted Shen Tang as a kept man for protection.

Shen Tang’s party continued its marriage-alliance journey, passing through the tense Yonggu Pass while the Ten Crows delegation confronted General Chu. The party left the pass under armed escort, as Shen Tang and the defenders exchanged a promise of future victory.

• Shen Tang and Gu Chi returned to camp and discussed Princess’s schemes, while Bai Su told Shen Tang that Lin Feng had taken fifty men on night patrol.
• Lin Feng completed two patrols without finding anyone and told Gu Chi she wanted to prevent a dangerous stranger from slipping into camp.
• The marriage-alliance party traveled to Yonggu Pass, where General Chu and Chief Clerk Yu treated the Ten Crows envoys with hostility.
• Su Shi Yilu mocked General Chu and tried to recruit him to serve the Ten Crows’ Great King, but General Chu vowed they would meet again in battle.
• Chief Clerk Yu verified the delegation’s identities and ordered the gates opened, then escorted them out with the army on alert.
• As Shen Tang rode through the pass, Chief Clerk Yu wished her martial fortune, and she promised victory.

Shen Tang recovered from a fever while leading the matchmaking party beyond Yonggu Pass, then faced Princess’s advances and hurried off when a dispute broke out. She reached the confrontation on her Motorcycle and fired an arrow to stop one man in his tracks.

• Shen Tang fell ill from the harsh climate beyond Yonggu Pass, and Lin Feng made sure she drank only boiled water.
• After her fever eased, Shen Tang had Jiang Sheng record the route and the two tribes the party encountered.
• Princess summoned Shen Tang alone and tried to seduce her, but Shen Tang politely refused and urged her to protect her pregnancy.
• A messenger alerted Shen Tang to a violent dispute between two groups, so she left Princess’s tent to investigate.
• Shen Tang arrived on her Motorcycle and shot an arrow past one man’s cheek, leaving a red welt.

Shen Tang punished Ten Crows guards who tried to violate the women traveling with Princess, then sent their furious envoy back with a warning. The incident unsettled the delegation, including Su Shi Yilu, whose night was interrupted by the commotion.

• Shen Tang arrived after the Ten Crows guards were subdued, and Bai Su and Xu Quan claimed the men had sneaked into their tents to assault the women.
• The Ten Crows envoy defended his guards and insulted Shen Tang, so she beheaded one guard and ordered her soldiers to kill the rest.
• Gu Chi bound the envoy while Jiang Sheng silenced him, and Shen Tang framed the killings as a defense of Princess and Geng Country’s dignity.
• Shen Tang ordered Jiang Sheng to escort the envoy back and repeat her explanation, then discussed the risks of letting him go with Jiang Sheng.
• That night, Su Shi Yilu was startled from his evening with his concubine by the wailing outside his tent.

Su Shi Yilu restrained Ten Crows after Shen Tang killed ten personal guards, wary of provoking Zheng Qiao before the political situation became clear. The Princess privately told Shen Tang that she feared for her life because her unborn child could not protect her once Ten Crows discovered the truth.

• A Ten Crows envoy complained to Su Shi Yilu that Shen Tang had killed ten personal guards, but admitted they had been killed after interfering with the tribute women.
• After investigating, Su Shi Yilu ordered his people to leave the women alone and warned that it was not yet time to provoke Shen Tang or Zheng Qiao.
• Shen Tang learned that Su Shi Yilu had sent an apology, then resumed traveling with the marriage-alliance procession.
• The Princess summoned Shen Tang privately, apologized for her earlier conduct, and explained that she wanted to find a way to survive.
• The Princess told Shen Tang that Ten Crows would eventually discover that her unborn child was not Zheng Qiao’s, leaving her vulnerable to death.

Shen Tang negotiated with the Princess, who offered intelligence on the Ten Crows’ defenses in exchange for help surviving. After receiving a detailed map, Shen Tang began considering how to use it and the tribute women to disrupt the Ten Crows.

• The Princess asked Shen Tang for help and offered the Ten Crows’ defenses as payment.
• Shen Tang agreed to consider the deal if the Princess provided a down payment, then left with a handkerchief from her carriage.
• That night, Shen Tang warmed the handkerchief over a candle, revealing a detailed map of Ten Crows tribes, populations, and fighting strength.
• Shen Tang told Jiang Sheng and the others that the map needed verification and that they should make arrangements before reaching the royal court.
• Shen Tang decided she would keep the thousand tribute women rather than send them to the Ten Crows, and saw the Princess’s offer as a chance to create an opportunity for them to escape.