Chapter Summaries

Shen Tang’s surprise force and Wei Shou’s cavalry attacked Zheng Qiao’s army during a storm, using Luan Xin’s literary energy to evade detection. Wei Shou’s troops broke into the enemy camp, and he spotted a disturbance in the rear that threatened his opponent.

• Shen Tang ordered her force to hurry through the rain and rest before launching a surprise attack on Aoshan Commandery.
• A general serving Zheng Qiao dismissed the danger of an attack in the storm, but a messenger reported that the enemy was approaching.
• Luan Xin used [Silent Nurturing] to conceal Wei Shou’s army from the enemy’s scouting Word Spirit creations.
• Wei Shou led the cavalry through the enemy defenses and into the main camp, where they clashed with a much larger force.
• Wei Shou fought Zheng Qiao’s general and noticed trouble breaking out at the rear of the camp.

Shen Tang’s forces attacked Zheng Qiao’s camp from the front and rear, defeating the defenders and capturing their surviving soldiers. After counting more than six hundred casualties, Shen Tang ordered a short rest and a rendezvous with the troops from Cunshan City before facing Zheng Qiao’s main force.

• Shen Tang’s rear attack used the [Fire Bull Formation] to scatter the camp’s defenders, while Xun Ding and Bai Su fought enemy generals and Martial Gall Totems.
• Bai Su’s fish totem helped Xun Ding defeat the leopard totem, and Bai Su claimed the enemy general’s head before Xun Ding could.
• Wei Shou forced Zheng Qiao’s general onto the defensive and continued attacking after the general survived a devastating blow.
• Shen Tang trapped fleeing soldiers inside a barrier while Xu Quan and the other commanders killed enemy leaders, and Yun Ce cut down defenders with his icy spear.
• After half a shichen of fighting, the two forces joined in the camp’s center, leaving the enemy dead or captured.
• Wei Shou brought the head of the enemy’s leading general to Shen Tang, who ordered a half-day’s rest and called for the troops from Cunshan City to gather before the campaign against Zheng Qiao’s main force.

Huang Lie’s alliance confronted the rapidly rising Miao River and decided to freeze it so their army could cross and attack Zheng Qiao. As the river froze, Zheng Qiao chose not to interfere and pointed out that a resulting flood downstream could devastate Yanzhou because of the allies’ own neglect.

• A messenger told Huang Lie that the Miao River was rising rapidly, and Kang Shi pressed him for a plan while the allies debated whether to retreat or fight.
• Huang Lie proposed freezing a stretch of the river, and Kang Shi warned that an ice jam could cause flooding downstream; Gu Ren objected to sacrificing the people, but the alliance accepted the plan.
• Kang Shi’s and Gu Ren’s forces declined to contribute Literary Scholars, citing a shortage of capable people, while the other allies pooled enough power to freeze the river.
• Zheng Qiao heard that the river was rising after waking from a nightmare, recalled his painful childhood in Xin Country, and later slept peacefully in the rain.
• Zheng Qiao learned that the Miao River was being frozen by a Word Spirit, decided not to try to stop it, and prepared to fight the alliance on land.
• Zheng Qiao noted that a Miao River tributary flowed into Yanzhou and mocked the allies for neglecting flood defenses while accusing him of corruption.

After the Miao River froze, Zheng Qiao’s army challenged the Alliance Army to a duel, and Wu Xian’s general lost to Zheng Qiao’s seasoned fighter. The next opponent Zheng Qiao sent out was another Fifteenth Rank Shao Shang Zao, leaving Old General Jiang and Chu Jie suspicious of the enemy’s strength.

• Wu Xian’s soldiers chanted that Heaven’s Mandate belonged to them, while Zhao Feng and his old friend discussed their willingness to stop hiding their strength.
• Zheng Qiao chose a seasoned general to fight, and Wu Xian’s Fifteenth Rank Shao Shang Zao general stepped forward to meet him.
• The generals fought across the frozen river, but Zheng Qiao’s fighter overwhelmed his opponent and forced him to retreat badly wounded.
• Wu Xian comforted his defeated general, while the Alliance Army considered whom to send into the next bout.
• Zheng Qiao recalled his fighter and sent out another Fifteenth Rank Shao Shang Zao, prompting Old General Jiang and Chu Jie to suspect something was wrong.

The Alliance Army tied the general duels at one win apiece, but Qi Cang’s overwhelming strength threatened to decide the third battle. Just as Huang Lie’s black-clothed guard prepared to answer Qi Cang’s challenge, Gongxi Chou arrived and confronted him.

• A martial officer under Huang Lie volunteered for the second duel and defeated Zheng Qiao’s fighter, but Qi Cang crushed the wounded man’s skull and drove the victor off the field with a giant phantom palm.
• Qi Cang revealed himself as a Sixteenth-Rank Grand Shang Zao and challenged the Alliance Army, leaving Huang Lie and Wu Xian struggling to choose someone for the third duel.
• Huang Lie’s black-clothed Martial Gall Warrior volunteered to fight Qi Cang, while Wu Xian and Gu Ren suspected he was Huang Lie’s hidden trump card.
• Qi Cang’s laughter caused soldiers’ palms to bleed, and the black-clothed Martial Artist sensed someone approaching.
• A dark green light streaked toward the battlefield, and Qi Cang met its arrival with a punch; after their clash, Tu Rong recognized the newcomer as Gongxi Chou, who taunted the crowd.

Gongxi Chou arrived at the riverbank, revealed that he had advanced to the Sixteenth Rank, and exposed Huang Lie’s concealed strength as the Alliance Army’s hidden general fought Qi Cang. The duel escalated as Qi Cang unleashed a devastating attack, and Gongxi Chou summoned a colossal serpent to block it.

• Gongxi Chou confronted Qi Cang, then told Kang Shi that he had come to find Mama and that his injured eyes would recover in time.
• Gongxi Chou confirmed that he had recently advanced to the Sixteenth Rank and said he could match Qi Cang in a fight.
• The Black-clothed Martial Artist revealed an aura equal to Qi Cang’s, prompting Gu Ren to accuse Huang Lie of hiding a powerful general while Shao Chong risked his life for the Alliance Army.
• Huang Lie claimed his general had been unable to fight because of the trials of advancing, and Gongxi Chou explained the trials while calling Huang Lie’s excuse a coward’s move.
• Qi Cang unleashed a massive sword attack toward the Alliance Army, and Gongxi Chou summoned a colossal serpent to shield the riverbank.

Qi Cang defeated the Black-clothed Martial Artist in the final generals’ duel, but Gongxi Chou’s presence kept Qi Cang from joining the ensuing battle. Zheng Qiao watched the armies clash and hinted that he had arranged a deadly surprise for his enemies.

• Gongxi Chou revealed his enormous Martial Gall Totem, and Qi Cang used his own hidden totem to ambush and badly injure the Black-clothed Martial Artist, who escaped alive.
• Gu Ren warned the Sixth Brother that Huang Lie might become a threat after the dragon-slaying, and they resolved to prepare for war against him and Zhang He.
• Zheng Qiao and Huang Lie ordered their armies to attack, and the two forces collided across the frozen Miao River.
• Gongxi Chou kept Qi Cang from joining the fighting, and Qi Cang eventually returned to Zheng Qiao’s formation.
• Zheng Qiao told Qi Cang he had arranged a good show, while the battle continued and he anticipated his enemies’ reaction to his gifts.

After the Alliance Army pursued Zheng Qiao across Ganzhou, rumors of destroyed granaries caused his troops to rout, and the pursuit resumed once the truth emerged. Zheng Qiao repeatedly evaded the encircling armies, leaving Huang Lie’s forces to capture only an attendant dressed in his clothes.

• Qi Cang intercepted the Black-clothed Martial Artist, while Gongxi Chou pulled him to safety during the fighting at the Miao River.
• Zheng Qiao’s troops suddenly broke after rumors spread that their granaries had been breached, and Gu Ren and Kang Shi led a pursuit despite Huang Lie’s doubts.
• Kang Shi interrogated captured soldiers and learned that the rumors of burned granaries had caused the rout; Gongxi Chou urged them to find Shen Tang and secure the Sacred Object.
• Wu Xian’s troops captured a fleeing palace attendant carrying treasures and Zheng Qiao’s personal seals, while the Alliance Army resumed its pursuit of Zheng Qiao.
• Zheng Qiao led his dwindling troops through Ganzhou as the Alliance Army split up to block his escape routes.
• Huang Lie’s forces cornered an attendant dressed as Zheng Qiao at a dead-end cliff and ordered the pursuit to continue after discovering Zheng Qiao had escaped.

After learning through Kang Shi’s Way of the Scholar that Zheng Qiao was fighting the Alliance Army, Shen Tang’s forces burned supplies near his granaries and helped break the enemy’s morale. Shen Tang joined Ning Yan and Wei Shou in tracking Zheng Qiao to an abandoned school, where their confrontation ended with him recognizing Shen Tang and mocking her for coming after him.

• Shen Tang’s bad luck from Kang Shi’s Way of the Scholar revealed that Zheng Qiao and the Alliance Army might already be fighting, so she and her allies chose to raid his rear and set fires near his granaries.
• The fires sent Zheng Qiao’s troops fleeing, and the Alliance Army swept through Ganzhou, but Zheng Qiao escaped and led his pursuers on a wild-goose chase.
• Ning Yan said she could guess where Zheng Qiao was headed, and Shen Tang insisted on accompanying her and Jiang Sheng despite their objections.
• Zheng Qiao visited the abandoned school where he had studied and remembered his teacher, his classmates, and the peaceful years of his youth.
• Ning Yan revealed herself to Zheng Qiao, who questioned her identity after seeing her familiar face and Literary Heart Sigil, while Wei Shou and Shen Tang also emerged from hiding.
• Shen Tang admitted she had come to support Ning Yan and answered Zheng Qiao’s taunt by saying his previous gift had not satisfied her.

Shen Tang confronted Zheng Qiao about his rule and the suffering he used to justify his cruelty, while Ning Yan sought revenge for Yan Xingning. Zheng Qiao died from poison and Jiang Sheng beheaded him, but Qi Cang warned that Zheng Qiao’s real scheme was only beginning.

• Zheng Qiao realized Shen Tang had possessed the National Seal and questioned why Yan Xingning had chosen to help her.
• Shen Tang explained that she would have guarded Longwu Commandery even without the National Seal, and Zheng Qiao allowed Qi Cang to leave with the carved bird and fish.
• Zheng Qiao revealed he had taken poison and argued that his suffering justified his deeds, while Shen Tang challenged his excuses and asked whether he had any regrets.
• As the poison overwhelmed him, Zheng Qiao invited Ning Yan to take revenge, but Ning Yan gave her sword to Jiang Sheng, who beheaded him.
• Qi Cang returned to collect and bury Zheng Qiao’s body, then told Shen Tang, Wei Shou, Jiang Sheng, and Ning Yan that the real excitement had only just begun.

Shen Tang learned that Zheng Qiao had scattered the National Seals to provoke the factions into fighting, then left Qi Cang to carry out his final scheme. As the seals ignited conflict across Ganzhou, Chu Yao and Xie Qi discovered that Zheng Qiao had also trapped former Xin Country officials in a pit to be buried alive.

• Shen Tang rejected Qi Cang's offer to inspect the stone carvings, tested him, and vowed to set the chaotic world right before leaving with her companions.
• Ning Yan recalled that Zheng Qiao had carved the bird and fish as a gift for his mother, and Qi Cang later released Zheng Qiao's hidden message directing the last National Seal to a new recipient.
• The scattered National Seals appeared across Ganzhou, making their bearers sense one another and stirring hostility among the factions.
• Kang Shi ordered his force to withdraw while Huang Lie assembled troops to hunt for the other seals.
• Chu Yao and Xie Qi learned that Zheng Qiao had imprisoned former Xin Country officials and planned to bury them alive as a sacrifice after his death.

Xie Qi and Chu Yao rescued Xin Country’s former officials from being buried alive, and Luan Xin discovered that one of the survivors was his adopted nephew, Ah Cheng. The rescue ended with Luan Xin recognizing a haggard former colleague and confronting him as Ah Cheng backed away.

• Xie Qi offered to save the fleeing officials, and Chu Yao agreed after learning their captors were nearby.
• Xin Country’s former officials discussed Zheng Qiao’s declining fortunes and speculated that Shen Tang had tricked the enemy out of Cunshan City.
• Chu Yao’s troops reached the burial pit, drove off the guards, and pulled the surviving officials out before giving them food.
• Luan Xin recognized the scholar as Ah Cheng, his adopted nephew, who had believed Luan Xin was dead and told him his mother offered incense for him.
• Luan Xin used his literary qi to stop a haggard man from slipping away, then confronted the former colleague as Ah Cheng recognized him as his elder brother.

Luan Xin confronted the man who had crippled him and buried him alive after he insulted Luan Cheng. He then explained Luan Cheng’s complicated birth and arranged protection for his sister, while Shen Tang’s allies weighed their next move in dangerous Ganzhou; the chapter ended as Kang Shi encountered an enemy.

• Luan Xin kicked his former tormentor into a pit and ordered his men to bury him alive after the man insulted Luan Cheng.
• Luan Xin told Luan Cheng that his mother had been coerced by his biological father and that the man had insisted she give birth to his only biological child.
• Luan Xin asked Chu Yao to provide an escort for his sister, and Chu Yao agreed that the journey was risky.
• Gu Chi told Chu Yao he watched Luan Xin because Luan Xin’s loyalty could lead him to harm himself.
• Chu Yao’s group discussed whether to avoid Ganzhou’s conflict or confront their opponents as Kang Shi worried about reuniting with Shen Tang’s forces.
• Gongxi Chou urged Kang Shi to flee before enemies found them, but Kang Shi suddenly pulled the reins, and Gongxi Chou realized they had run into trouble.

Kang Shi and Gongxi Chou fought off an ambush by forces that turned out to be Shen Youli’s enemies, while Chu Yao’s group decided to seize a nearby granary. Shen Tang’s party failed to find them and traveled disguised among refugees, where they witnessed allied soldiers preying on civilians; the chapter ended as one of the soldiers dragged away a pregnant woman.

• Kang Shi and Gongxi Chou defended their outnumbered troops against a cavalry charge and discovered their attackers were forces allied with Shen Youli’s enemies.
• Xie Qi urged Chu Yao’s group to seize a nearby granary, and they agreed before their former allies could claim it.
• Shen Tang’s party arrived after Chu Yao’s group had left and decided to head toward Chaoli Pass to reunite with them.
• Shen Tang, Jiang Sheng, and the others disguised themselves among refugees to avoid patrols searching Ganzhou.
• Shen Tang’s group watched allied soldiers extort refugees, then saw a soldier drag away a pregnant woman after knocking down her husband.

Shen Tang and her companions traveled with refugees, killing bandits who preyed on them and witnessing the suffering caused by the chaos. After reaching a camp for the night, they met a disheveled scholar whose clothes had been stolen but who still carried a fan.

• Shen Tang secretly killed a squad of bandits as they tried to assault a pregnant woman, while Wei Shou disposed of their bodies.
• Shen Tang, Jiang Sheng, and Ning Yan encountered another bandit group, killed the soldiers who threatened them, and had Wei Shou remove the bodies and clean up the blood.
• The companions continued through the refugee crowd and discussed the rising death toll and the harm caused by Zheng Qiao's legacy.
• A disheveled middle-aged scholar asked to warm himself by their fire, and Jiang Sheng questioned why he carried a fan despite having lost his clothes.

Jiang Sheng recognized the middle-aged scholar Cui as a former retainer of Wu Xian, and the scholar later offered to hide the National Seal from the wounded Qian Yong. Shen Tang tried to take the seal, but it rejected her before Cui concealed it with his Way of the Scholar, helping Qian Yong and his surviving soldiers escape.

• Jiang Sheng read Cui’s bad fortune and learned that he had served under Wu Xian, while Shen Tang suspected he might have recognized them.
• Cui disappeared during the night as Qian Yong and his wounded soldiers fled their pursuers with the National Seal after a disastrous battle with Zhang He’s forces.
• Cui found Qian Yong and offered to take the National Seal, but Shen Tang emerged and Qian Yong threw it to her instead.
• The National Seal transformed into a small dragon but rejected Shen Tang, and Cui offered to take care of it.
• Cui used his Way of the Scholar to bind the little dragon to his knife fan, allowing Qian Yong and his soldiers to escape more easily.

Shen Tang escaped Zhang Yongqing’s pursuit with Qian Yong and his scattered troops, while Chu Yao’s force moved Zheng Qiao’s grain toward Cunshan City. Kang Shi’s National Seal fused with another seal, and he learned that floods had devastated much of Yanzhou as his army traveled toward the Miao River.

• Shen Tang helped Qian Yong and his men recover, then disguised them as refugees and led them away from Zhang Yongqing’s forces.
• Zhang He searched the area where Qian Yong’s National Seal had vanished but found only blood and armor fragments.
• Chu Yao’s force moved Zheng Qiao’s hidden grain into Cunshan City and planned to transport it across the Miao River before shifting toward Yanzhou.
• Gongxi Chou brought Kang Shi a National Seal, and it fused with Kang Shi’s seal after two small dragons emerged and merged.
• Kang Shi’s scouts reported that floods had inundated nine of Yanzhou’s ten commanderies, and Kang Shi said Longwu Commandery should avoid the worst effects.

Refugees fleeing Yanzhou learned that Sibao Prefecture offered relief, paid work, and a path to renting farmland, while officials worked to keep village groups together. At the Household Administration Office, Lin Feng identified a practical obstacle to expanding cotton cultivation: the lack of a way to separate seeds from harvested cotton.

• Widow Zhuo brought a group of refugees to a clerk, who registered them and issued bamboo slips that let them claim rations and seek work.
• Widow Zhuo explained Sibao Prefecture's paid labor, temporary housing, and farmland rental system, easing the refugees' fears about settling there.
• The village head learned that the government tried to settle refugees with their fellow villagers and agreed to consider making Sibao their home.
• Shen Zhi asked Lin Feng about cotton seeds, and Lin Feng said the planned expansion of cotton farming raised the problem of removing seeds from the harvest.
• Lin Feng recalled that harvesting cotton was manageable, but no one could feasibly remove its seeds by hand, so the government needed a specialized tool.

Lin Feng searched for farming-tool designs and spent the evening with Shen Zhi before meeting a penniless traveler named Bei outside the Revenue Office. Lin Feng let Bei sleep there for the night, and Bei said she had come to Xiaocheng to seek guidance from a master smith and could earn money somehow.

• Lin Feng and Shen Zhi searched the Revenue Office's farming-tool books and blueprints but found nothing useful, while Lin Feng waited for the office's fifty-tael reward offer to draw out a solution.
• Shen Zhi treated Lin Feng to dinner, a massage, a bath, and two plays at Xiaocheng's popular theater.
• On her way back to the Revenue Office, Lin Feng found Bei studying a notice and let her stay in a dormitory for the night after learning she had no money or lodging.
• Bei told Lin Feng she had come to seek guidance from a master smith and planned to visit the shelter the next day.
• When Lin Feng suggested copying texts for money, Bei said her handwriting was poor, then struck her wooden chest and claimed she had another way to earn money.

Northern Lady Monarch made a cotton gin overnight and won the Revenue Office’s fifty-tael reward. Lin Feng learned that she was searching for a smith named Bai and invited her to stay until Bai Su returned from war, then asked about her craft inheritance.

• Lin Feng sent cotton and supplies to Northern Lady Monarch after she asked for them, and Northern Lady Monarch mistook Lin Feng for a woman.
• Northern Lady Monarch used the cotton and timber to build a small gin that separated cotton fibers from seeds.
• After enjoying breakfast at the Revenue Office, Northern Lady Monarch presented the gin to Lin Feng and demonstrated how it worked.
• Lin Feng praised the device, paid Northern Lady Monarch the reward, and offered to introduce her to Bai Su when he returned from war.
• Northern Lady Monarch agreed to stay at the office and told Lin Feng that her skill came from her sect, whose teacher had died and whose only successor was herself.