Chapter Summaries

Xu Xie reunited with Senior Sister Ning and learned how she had disguised herself as a man to study alongside Yan An, whom she later married. She explained that Yan An had died after securing the borders against Ten Crows and the Northern Desert, while Xu Xie struggled to understand her connection to Zheng Qiao, who resembled him as a boy.

• Xu Xie discovered that the scholar he knew as Senior Brother Ning was engaged in an intimate relationship with Yan An, and realized Yan An was Master Yan’s son.
• Xu Xie accepted an invitation to go boating and found Senior Sister Ning dressed as a woman, with Yan An beside her.
• Senior Sister Ning explained that she had disguised herself as a man to study, and Xu Xie realized he might have been the Liang Shanbo in her story.
• Xu Xie recalled that he had missed their wedding while doing business in Ten Crows, then lost contact with them as Xin Country fell into turmoil and war spread.
• Senior Sister Ning told Xu Xie that Yan An had completed plans to protect the borders for at least five years and had died for their shared cause.
• Xu Xie asked whether Zheng Qiao had killed Yan An, then wondered why Senior Sister Ning was not angered by Zheng Qiao’s resemblance to her husband’s murderer.

After Yan Xingning’s death, Xu Xie took in Senior Sister Ning, her daughter, and the young man who had saved them, while Senior Sister Ning planned to teach the young man and find a way to support herself. When she learned Xu Xie was short-staffed, she offered to enter his service, leaving him stunned.

• Senior Sister Ning accepted Xu Xie’s offer to stay in Fugu with her daughter and the young man who had saved them.
• Xu Xie provided the three with rooms, mourning clothes, food, and money, and Senior Sister Ning decided to teach the young man.
• Xu Xie’s wife asked about the mother and daughter he had taken in, and he explained Senior Sister Ning was an old friend from his sect.
• Senior Sister Ning noticed the administration office was short-staffed and offered to enter Xu Xie’s service.

Ning Yan asked Xu Xie to take her into his service, arguing that she wanted to support herself and her daughter through her own abilities despite the prejudice female advisers faced. Xu Xie was about to agree when a letter from his cousin claimed that Shen Tang was a woman, leaving him in disbelief.

• Ning Yan told Xu Xie she wanted to enter his service so she could secure a place for herself and her daughter through her own abilities.
• Xu Xie warned Ning Yan that society would slander a woman serving as an adviser, but Ning Yan said she would endure the rumors.
• Xu Xie accepted Ning Yan's decision, but an attendant arrived with a box of Family Letters from his cousin Wen Shi.
• Xu Xie read Wen Shi's boasts about fighting the Ten Crows and his plans to dye his hair green and make a necklace from enemy nobles' heads.
• Xu Xie read the final letter, learned that Shen Tang was supposedly a woman, and shouted that it was impossible.

Ning Yan learned that Xu Quan had claimed Shen Tang was a woman and decided to travel to Longwu Commandery to find out for herself. Xu Xie agreed to send her with grain seeds, while the chapter revealed that Chu Yao’s tailor-made clothes for Shen Tang had helped start the rumor.

• Xu Xie told Ning Yan that his cousin Xu Quan had written that Shen Tang was a woman who looked beautiful in women's clothes.
• Ning Yan recalled that Shen Tang possessed a National Seal and considered whether it could explain her having a Literary Heart despite being female.
• Ning Yan decided to visit Shen Tang, saying she would return if Shen Tang was a man and enter government service if she was a woman.
• Xu Xie arranged for Ning Yan to carry grain seeds to Longwu Commandery, insisting Shen Tang would have to pay for them.
• Chu Yao had a tailor make new clothes for Lin Feng and Shen Tang, and Shen Tang asked whether Wuhui was having a skirt made.
• Outsiders began claiming that Shen Tang loved women's clothes after seeing the new outfits.

Shen Tang received a custom red dress and wore it to the government offices, hoping to surprise her colleagues. The officials barely reacted, while the commandery remained overwhelmed with the aftermath of her crackdown on powerful landowners.

• Chu Yao measured Shen Tang and said she could still grow, though he estimated she would reach only about seven chi and five or six cun.
• A tailor finished Shen Tang's red dress, and she tried it on with a simple unmarried woman's coiffure and matching velvet flowers.
• Shen Tang's officials worked to register hidden tenant farmers and organize confiscated fields after she uprooted the landowning families who had tried to buy her cooperation.
• Shen Tang visited the government offices in her dress, but Xun Zhen and the others stayed composed, frustrating her attempt to surprise them.
• Kang Shi praised Shen Tang's appearance in red, prompting glares from Qi Shan and Gu Chi, while Xun Zhen asked what the phrase meant.

Xun Zhen learned that Shen Tang was a woman and, after arguing with Qi Shan, accepted the revelation and returned to work. Shen Tang visited the drill grounds, where Xu Quan mistook her for a young woman and whistled at her, then provoked her by commenting on her appearance; she thrust her sword at him.

• Kang Shi told Xun Zhen that Shen Tang was a woman, and Qi Shan argued that her gender did not diminish her ability to lead.
• Xun Zhen called Qi Shan vulgar, then composed himself and continued working.
• Shen Tang went to the military camp’s drill grounds and watched Xu Quan defeat Tu Rong.
• Xu Quan mistook Shen Tang for a young woman, whistled at her, and boasted to Tu Rong about his appeal to women.
• Tu Rong warned Xu Quan that the woman he had whistled at was their lord, and Shen Tang revealed herself.
• Xu Quan commented on Shen Tang’s outfit and figure, prompting her to thrust her sword toward his face.

Xu Quan learned that Shen Tang was a woman after she beat him for flirting with her and insulting her figure, then wrote a long complaint to his cousin Xu Xie. At Zhao Feng’s farewell banquet, Shen Tang offered to accompany his song as he prepared to leave.

• Gongshu Wu learned from Tu Rong that Shen Tang had beaten Xu Quan after he flirted with her and criticized her figure.
• Gongshu Wu told Xu Quan that Shen Tang had always been a woman, leaving Xu Quan stunned and mortified.
• Xu Quan wrote more than twenty pages of complaints to Xu Xie and included a request for extra grain seeds for Shen Tang.
• A Second-Class Shangzao carried Xu Quan’s letters toward Heyin, while Shen Tang asked Xu Quan to seek grain seeds from his cousin.
• At Zhao Feng’s farewell banquet, Zhao Feng began to sing, and Shen Tang offered to accompany him.

At Zhao Feng’s farewell banquet, Qi Shan prevented Shen Tang from singing, and the guests drank late into the night. Shen Tang found Shen Zhi waiting by the bathhouse and learned that she feared she was an aberration because she could retain Heaven and Earth Qi; Shen Tang suspected the change was connected to Yonggu Pass.

• Qi Shan took the chance to accompany Zhao Feng’s farewell song, sparing Shen Tang from singing before the guests.
• Zhao Feng sang a folk tune, and the banquet grew noisy as the Martial Gall Warriors drank heavily.
• Shen Tang found Shen Zhi dozing outside the bathhouse after Shen Zhi had arranged hot water and hangover soup for the guests.
• Shen Tang insisted Shen Zhi return to her room and pressed her to explain what was troubling her.
• Shen Zhi said she was a woman who could now retain Heaven and Earth Qi, and Shen Tang wondered if the change was linked to Yonggu Pass.

Shen Tang learned that Shen Zhi could refine and store Heaven and Earth Qi, reassured her about her pregnancy, and wondered whether other women might gain the same ability. After seeing Zhao Feng off, Shen Tang called her officials together for a serious meeting.

• Shen Zhi told Shen Tang she had discovered her ability shortly after Shen Tang's surprise attack on the Ten Crows' capital.
• Shen Tang confirmed Shen Zhi had brought Heaven and Earth Qi under control, calmed her fears, and urged her to rest and carry the child safely to term.
• Shen Tang wondered whether Shen Zhi's new ability came from her service to Shen Tang or from being a subject of Kang, and stayed awake until dawn considering the possibilities.
• Shen Tang joined her officials to bid farewell to Zhao Feng, who thanked her and led his men and provision-laden carts away from Ru Yao City.
• Shen Tang turned back with her officials and called a meeting, while Gu Chi signaled that the matter was serious and Jiang Sheng anticipated more work.

Shen Tang revealed to her officers that she was a woman, then told them Shen Zhi had begun cultivating and warned that other women might be able to do the same. She asked the group to devise a discreet way to find and guide talented women in Longwu Commandery while keeping the discovery secret.

• Shen Tang convened a meeting with her trusted staff and disclosed to the two officers from Yonggu Pass that she had always been a woman.
• Chu Yao explained that Yu Zi was also a woman and suggested Chief Clerk Yu likely knew Shen Tang's secret.
• Shen Tang told the meeting that Shen Zhi had begun cultivating, possibly after the National Border Barrier restarted.
• Shen Tang worried that women across Longwu Commandery might also be able to cultivate and that their growing numbers could expose the commandery.
• Shen Tang asked her staff to find a quiet way to gather and guide these women so they could cultivate without attracting outside attention.

Shen Tang and her advisers devised ways to identify talented women in Longwu Commandery by establishing a school and hiring older women, while debating how to fund the effort. The chapter left Shen Tang proposing free medical checkups for the entire population as cover for screening, alarming her advisers with the scale of the plan.

• Chu Yao reported that the census had registered 23,333 households and 42,114 women, with many more likely to be found through a full census.
• Xianyu Jian proposed recruiting girls through a wandering knight sect, but the scholars rejected the idea because of the sects' poor reputation.
• Lin Feng suggested establishing a private school, and Shen Tang proposed admitting selected girls while offering their households schooling and practical benefits for boys.
• Shen Tang suggested using smuggling with the Ten Crows to raise funds, and Gu Chi persuaded the generals that the money could support their soldiers.
• Jiang Sheng proposed hiring older women for the Prefectural Government, and Shen Tang suggested free medical checkups for everyone in Longwu Commandery to screen for talent without drawing attention.

Shen Tang ordered commandery-wide medical checkups for Longwu’s hundred thousand people, despite her staff’s concerns about money and manpower. After preparations and a chaotic launch, a guarded convoy carrying Ning Yan and a young man entered the commandery and noted its desolation alongside improving security.

• Shen Tang insisted on screening Longwu Commandery’s population and won Gu Chi’s support by using Jiang Xian Deng’s Way of the Scholar to help identify people needing further checks.
• Shen Tang’s administration mobilized soldiers and county officials to deliver notices while Elder Physician Dong agreed to provide free consultations and medicine funded by the Prefectural Government.
• After five days of preparations, the commandery-wide checkups began, drawing crowds of commoners eager for free care and placing the heaviest workload on Jiang Sheng.
• A guarded convoy entered Longwu Commandery as the checkups proceeded, and a young man traveling with Ning Yan remarked on the region’s barrenness and improved security.

Ning Yan and her party entered Longwu Commandery, where they discovered Shen Tang’s government had organized farmwork and a free clinic. Elder Physician Dong found unusual pulses in Ning Yan and her daughter and sent them to a bamboo shed, where a weary-looking scholar waited.

• The youth noticed that fields near Longwu Commandery had been plowed despite the shortage of men, oxen, and tools, and Ning Yan explained that Shen Tang had dispatched Martial Gall Warriors to help farmers.
• A crowd gathered for a government-run free clinic, and Ning Yan joined the line after a soldier invited the travelers to be examined.
• Elder Physician Dong examined Ning Yan’s daughter and said her pulse was unusual, then asked that she be taken to the bamboo shed for further examination.
• Elder Physician Dong examined Ning Yan too and said her pulse also needed closer attention, so she accompanied her daughter to the shed.
• Ning Yan saw a weary middle-aged scholar inside the guarded bamboo shed and doubted that he looked like a physician.

Ning Yan and her daughter met Jiang Sheng during a talent examination, and he recognized their unusual aptitude before learning she was carrying seed grain for Shen Tang. Kang Shi recognized Ning Yan and welcomed her daughter, while Shen Tang returned to the village with a herd of piglets.

• Jiang Sheng examined Ning Yan's daughter and tested Ning Yan with literary energy, prompting her to confront him about what he was doing.
• Ning Yan explained that she had come at Xu Wenzhu's request to deliver something to Lord Shen, and Jiang Sheng brought her and the youth to his village lodging.
• Kang Shi recognized Ning Yan, gave her daughter a Jade Pendant, and learned that Ning Yan had brought enough seed grain for the spring planting.
• Kang Shi and Jiang Sheng prepared to report the seed grain to Shen Tang, who arrived nearby arguing about an overpriced piglet purchase.

Ning Yan brought Shen Tang seed grain from Xu Xie on favorable business terms and then privately asked whether Shen Tang was a man or a woman. The chapter ended with Shen Tang asking what Ning Yan would do if she were a woman.

• Shen Tang returned with piglets and greeted Ning Yan, who introduced herself as Yan An’s widow and explained she had come to help with Longwu’s seed-grain shortage.
• Ning Yan said Xu Xie had sent seed grain on the condition that Shen Tang pay for it, and Shen Tang signed the contract.
• Shen Tang arranged for Kang Shi to care for Ning Yan’s daughter and for Jiang Sheng to count and store the seed grain.
• Ning Yan privately asked Shen Tang whether she was a man or a woman, saying that if Shen Tang were a woman, she would be unmatched under Heaven and peerless in this age.
• Shen Tang asked Ning Yan what she would do if Shen Tang were a woman.

Shen Tang questioned whether Ning Yan had chosen to serve her only because she was a woman, while Jiang Sheng tried to reassure her. After more than ten days away, Ning Yan returned to her daughter with a Literary Heart seal, showing she had acted decisively to become a Literary Scholar.

• Ning Yan pledged her devotion to Shen Tang, explaining that her late husband had admired Shen Tang and that she had come because of what Shen Tang represented as a woman.
• Shen Tang told Jiang Sheng she worried Ning Yan had made a rash choice based on her gender and might regret it.
• Kang Shi cared for Ning Yan's daughter while Ning Yan was away for more than ten days on important business.
• The girl cried in the night, fearing Ning Yan had left her as her father had.
• Ning Yan returned and took her daughter into her arms, and Kang Shi noticed a Literary Heart seal at her waist.

Kang Shi learned that Ning Yan had forcefully condensed a Literary Heart Sigil to overcome her fading talent and pursue a chance to regain her sight. The next day, Shen Tang began planning how to educate the talented women according to their abilities.

• Kang Shi confronted Ning Yan about her genuine Literary Heart Sigil and questioned why she had chosen such a dangerous path.
• Ning Yan explained that age had worn down her talent, that she could not bear to keep waiting for a chance to see, and that she refused to rely on her late husband’s inheritance.
• Ning Yan said condensing a Literary Heart was the only way to prove she was no mediocrity, then took her daughter inside.
• Kang Shi noticed Ning Yan’s sigil closely resembled Yan Xingning’s and reflected on their relationship before going to sleep.
• Shen Tang reviewed the roster of talented women and ordered them sorted into categories so they could be taught according to their abilities.

Ning Yan arrived at Shen Tang’s official offices as a newly condensed Literary Scholar, and Shen Tang asked her to head an academy for seventy-two girls with cultivation talent. Ning Yan accepted the importance of the mission, but the academy still lacked teachers, so Shen Tang asked her for recommendations.

• Jiang Sheng welcomed Ning Yan to the official offices and introduced her to Shen Tang’s principal confidants, including Qi Shan, whom Ning Yan recognized from their youth.
• Shen Tang summoned Ning Yan and appointed her to lead an academy intended to teach female students with cultivation talent.
• Ning Yan hesitated because she lacked practical cultivation experience, but Shen Tang explained that all seventy-two prospective students were girls whose lives might be changed by the opportunity.
• Shen Tang revealed that the academy could be built cheaply beside the official offices, while Chu Yao clarified that finding teachers—not funding—was the real problem.
• Shen Tang asked Ning Yan to recommend suitable teachers, preferably from Xu Xie’s circle.

Shen Tang planned a school for girls and asked Ning Yan to recruit reliable female teachers, since male teachers might face resistance. With the students and location settled, construction was ready to begin, though Qi Shan took over the school’s design before Shen Tang could show off her artistic skills.

• Shen Tang turned to Ning Yan and Yan An’s social circle for teacher recommendations after the local gentry’s flight and hostility made ordinary teachers hard to recruit.
• Ning Yan proposed hiring educated female teachers to teach the students their rudiments and reassure parents, and Shen Tang assigned her to find suitable candidates.
• Ning Yan said she could ask old friends and Junior Brother Xu to help recruit female teachers.
• Shen Tang added the school’s construction to the agenda, but Qi Shan volunteered to handle the design to spare Gongshu Wu and the others from having to redo the building.
• Shen Tang decided to reuse materials from the abandoned gentry estates to build a bright, spacious school.

Xu Xie learned that Ning Yan had stayed in Longwu Commandery to raise her daughter near her late husband’s final resting place, and he began arranging support and female teachers for her. He discovered that Tianhai families were stirring trouble through his household and ended the chapter meeting the similarly sidelined Zhao Feng.

• Xu Xie read Ning Yan’s letter and learned she planned to stay in Longwu Commandery with her children, so he arranged to send money and find female teachers.
• Xu Xie explained to Madam Yan that Ning Yan might be planning an academy for girls, but the couple argued over Madam Yan’s suspicions and she left in distress.
• Xu Xie learned that families from Tianhai had been influencing Madam Yan in an effort to disrupt his household and gain influence in Heyin Commandery.
• Xu Xie visited Tianhai and indirectly warned Wu Xian about the families’ schemes, but Wu Xian gave no clear response.
• Xu Xie encountered Zhao Feng, who had been excluded by his former colleagues and faced being sent to lead troops in farming.