Chapter Summaries

Zhao Wei arrived with Shen Youli’s envoys and revealed herself as Zhao Feng’s daughter as she tried to stop Wu Xian’s faction from punishing him. After Zhao Feng completed all one hundred strokes for killing a fellow officer in revenge, Cui Xiao revealed that Shen Tang was a woman, leaving Wu Xian and his followers stunned.

• Wu Xian questioned Zhao Wei’s identity until Zhao Feng confirmed she was his daughter, while one of Wu Xian’s generals challenged her right to intervene.
• A hostile general pressured Zhao Wei, but Gongxi Chou stepped in to protect her and warned that Shen Tang’s forces could leave.
• Wu Xian initially called off the remaining thirteen strokes, but Zhao Feng admitted killing the officer in revenge, and the generals demanded that the punishment continue.
• Cui Xiao restrained Zhao Wei as Zhao Feng endured the final strokes, then Zhao Feng declared the matter settled and left to recover.
• Wu Xian recognized Cui Xiao as his former subordinate Cui Shanxiao, and Cui Xiao revealed that Shen Tang was a woman and should be addressed as Sister Shen.

Wu Xian learned that Shen Youli was a woman while facing pressure to punish Zhao Feng, and Cui Xiao endured pointed accusations at a banquet before visiting Zhao Feng with Zhao Wei. The next day, scouts reported that the enemy had withdrawn, while Qin Li and Cui Xiao waited for an opportunity.

• Cui Xiao confirmed that Shen Youli was a woman, and Wu Xian privately wondered whether Zhao Feng and Xu Xie had concealed what they knew.
• Wu Xian ordered Zhao Feng caned to appease the Tianhai faction and angry soldiers, damaging Zhao Feng's standing in the army.
• At Wu Xian's banquet, Cui Xiao explained that he had resigned after the Miao River flood and joined Shen Tang after meeting her among refugees.
• Zhao Wei persuaded Cui Xiao to take her to see Zhao Feng, who reassured her that his injuries were not serious.
• Cui Xiao and Qin Li exchanged a written message agreeing to wait for an opportunity, and scouts reported that the enemy had withdrawn overnight.

Wu Xian learned that Huang Lie’s forces had withdrawn and joined forces with Shen Tang at Chaoli Pass. As Shen Tang organized flood repairs and put Martial Gall Warriors to work, she explained her approach to Qian Yong, who began to settle into the army’s labor and daily routines.

• Wu Xian confirmed Huang Lie’s retreat, discussed cooperating with Cui Xiao, and ordered his camp to march to Chaoli Pass.
• Wu Xian’s troops encountered Zhang He’s forces on the road, but Zhang He withdrew before they could fight.
• Shen Tang focused on repairing flood damage and condemned Huang Lie and Zhang He for abandoning their allies and leaving her to deal with the aftermath.
• Shen Tang persuaded Wei Shou and his men to clear waterways for higher military pay, and Qian Yong joined the work crew after Wei Shou challenged him to rebuild his personal troops.
• Shen Tang explained to Qian Yong that labor gave Martial Gall Warriors an outlet for their energy while helping the region recover and easing food shortages.
• Qian Yong shared a meal with his troops, then went to investigate a young woman arguing with the kitchen staff.

Shen Tang discovered that a box of seeds mistakenly taken by the army’s cook contained corn, a crop that could help Yanzhou recover from its ruined spring planting. After dispatching the seeds for cultivation, she welcomed Wu Xian’s reinforcements and hosted a banquet.

• A Household Administration Office clerk confronted the cook after he took her treasured seed box, and Chu Yao ordered the logistics crew seized when female soldiers found the box among the ingredients.
• Shen Tang recognized a seed from the box as corn, learned it grew in the region, and sent the clerk and a military escort to gather more for Lin Feng and Shen Zhi to breed.
• Shen Tang sent a batch of corn seeds along with them so they could begin selecting varieties while traveling.
• Wu Xian’s troops arrived, and he told Shen Tang that her reinforcements had helped drive Huang Xiguang away before they could suffer heavy losses.
• Shen Tang and Wu Xian exchanged apologies and welcomed him with a banquet.

Shen Tang and Wu Xian agreed to wait for Huang Lie’s forces to grow overextended while their troops helped reclaim land and fight an epidemic. Meanwhile, Shen Tang’s evil thought confronted her to settle their conflict, and Shen Tang tried to escape by seeking Xun Zhen’s aid.

• Shen Tang and Wu Xian agreed to cooperate against Huang Lie, with Shen Tang proposing they wait for his expanding army to suffer from supply and command problems.
• Wu Xian agreed to lend troops for Shen Tang’s reclamation work, and Shen Tang used the added manpower to organize epidemic relief across the territories.
• Shen Tang’s officials collected medicine, treated sick commoners, and punished a medicine-shop owner who hoarded supplies and refused to cooperate.
• Shen Tang’s evil thought appeared while she was sleeping and attacked her with the Kind Mother Sword, forcing Shen Tang to flee through Chaoli Pass.
• Shen Tang called for Gongxi Chou and then Xun Zhen’s help, and Xun Zhen used his Way of the Scholar to grant her a sudden flash of inspiration.

At the Sibao Prefecture government office, Liao Jia and Qi Shan received reports of upheaval at the front and a letter from Shen Tang asking for help with a summer crop to feed Yanzhou and Ganzhou. Meanwhile, three-year-old Shen Tang confronted her malicious self after waking in the middle of their fight, and the two clashed as Wu Xian watched from the city wall.

• Liao Jia received a battle report confirming Gu Ziyi had died, and he persuaded Qi Shan to quietly take in the Gu brothers' widows and orphans.
• Liao Jia discovered Qi Shan had been wounded through Shen Tang's shared injuries, and Qi Shan stabbed Liao Jia after he joked about the bloodstain.
• Tu Rong delivered Shen Tang's letter explaining that Yanzhou and Ganzhou needed jade wheat seeds for a summer harvest, so Qi Shan summoned Lin Feng and Shen Zhi to go to the front.
• Qi Shan and Liao Jia arranged medicine and sent a reply with Tu Rong, while Lin Feng left the Office of Revenue in their care and Bei Jiu became its acting head.
• Three-year-old Shen Tang woke during her fight with her malicious self, saw the blood on Kind Mother Sword, and attacked her for hurting You Li.
• Wu Xian arrived to investigate the shaking and saw Shen Tang and her malicious self collide amid smoke, dust, and thunderclouds.

Shen Tang’s benevolent and evil thoughts fought as she advanced toward the Sixteenth Rank, and the evil thought summoned a High Priest’s phantom before sealing both of them. The phantom was struck through the heart, while a youth elsewhere collapsed and encountered visions that revealed a connection to the High Priest and the gods.

• Xun Zhen announced that Shen Tang was breaking through, and Gongxi Chou explained that she was confronting her evil thoughts as the onlookers watched.
• Three-year-old Shen Tang severed her connection with You Li, and the evil thought summoned a High Priest’s phantom to help seal them both.
• The phantom cast the Seal the Gods formation, trapping Shen Tang’s benevolent and evil thoughts and weakening their powers.
• The benevolent thought pierced the phantom’s heart and declared that anyone who opposed You Li had only a dead end ahead.
• In the central part of the continent, a youth collapsed with blood spreading across his chest, then followed a green light to visions of a High Priest being killed and a woman pursued by countless things.
• A glowing figure told the youth to return and said it would come when he called with devotion, explaining that it was undergoing a tribulation and rescuing people from the mortal world.

Shaobai woke after nine days unconscious, and the elder explained the oracle that foretold a god would join ordinary people to help save the world. Meanwhile, Shen Tang survived the battle between her good and evil selves, though she was badly battered by the heavenly thunder.

• Shaobai woke beside Thirteen and told Lin Si Shu that his chest had started bleeding without anyone hurting him.
• The elder and Lin Si Shu discovered Shaobai’s wound had vanished, leaving a Gongxi Clan crest on his chest.
• The elder told Lin Si Shu that an oracle had foretold Shaobai would serve as the Divine Envoy of a god who would descend into the mortal world, and explained his own hope that people would unite to overcome darkness.
• The elder secured Shaobai a place at a well-known academy and a future place at the Mountain Sea Sacred Land before leaving the valley with his party.
• After the heavenly thunder dispersed, Shen Tang emerged from the crater battered and swollen, and complained that her evil self had hit her too hard.

After advancing to the Sixteenth Rank Grand Shang Zao, Shen Tang endured injuries and lost her hair, then emerged from seclusion and resumed governing. She learned that the Huang and Zhang families were allied and awaited Lin Feng and Shen Zhi’s return from Sibao Prefecture.

• Shen Tang discovered that heavenly lightning had burned off her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, and she hid away while her injuries slowly healed.
• On the fifth day, Shen Tang left her room bald, reassured Chu Yao that she did not mind her appearance, and asked for news about Huang Lie and Chaoli Pass.
• Chu Yao reported that Huang Lie might seek troops from a neighboring country, but internal strife there made borrowing them unlikely.
• Shen Tang thanked Gongxi Chou for helping protect Ji Shou and the others, then learned that his hair had regrown because abundant martial qi encouraged hair growth.
• At the morning assembly, Shen Tang wore a wig and listened to reports from her officials, then asked when Lin Feng and Shen Zhi would return from Sibao Prefecture.
• An envoy returned from Sibao Prefecture sooner than expected after making the exhausting journey without rest.

Shen Tang brought Cui Xiao into the effort to breed high-yield corn, and his [Turn a Blind Eye] helped increase the kernels on each ear. As Shen Zhi ate at the temporary mess hall, she was recognized by a man from her past.

• Shen Zhi explained that her [Spring Scenery Fills the Garden] could not improve the corn, disrupting Shen Tang's breeding plan.
• Shen Tang summoned Luan Xin and Cui Xiao, revealed that she knew Cui Xiao's [Turn a Blind Eye], and asked him to use it to prevent poor-quality traits from being inherited.
• Cui Xiao agreed to try, and after several failures he found a way to use his ability; the corn kernels became more numerous and plump.
• Shen Zhi recorded each generation's growth and seed harvest, then encountered a man who recognized her as Azhi at the mess hall.
• Shen Zhi gradually recognized the man from her past, while his companions wondered whether she was related to Prefect Shen.

Shen Zhi reunited with Li Lang, the former lover who had abandoned her, and rejected his attempt to rekindle their relationship. After confronting him with the truth of his past choices, she left him humiliated and determined to return to his relatives rather than enter Shen Tang’s service.

• Li Lang sat with Shen Zhi and asked how she had fared, and she learned that his wife and child had died in childbirth and that his family had suffered further losses.
• Li Lang touched Shen Zhi’s hand and asked whether their shattered relationship could be mended, but Shen Zhi told him she would rather melt the broken mirror down.
• Li Lang blamed his family for preventing him from marrying Shen Zhi, and she challenged him to answer truthfully under her Literary Heart Sigil whether he would really have chosen her.
• Li Lang stayed silent under Shen Zhi’s questioning, and she condemned him for treating her as if she would welcome him back after he had abandoned her and their child.
• Shen Tang and Qian Yong watched from nearby as Shen Zhi ended the confrontation, and Li Lang decided he could no longer seek a place in Shen Tang’s service.

Shen Tang explained why she opposed casual romances between colleagues but saw no reason to ban serious relationships, then sent Gongxi Chou to search for Luan Xin’s missing family. Meanwhile, the Luan family survived an attack with help from Yun Ce, whose refusal to tolerate Huang Lie’s soldiers abusing civilians drove him into conflict with their command.

• Shen Tang argued to Qian Yong that spouses serving together posed no greater threat than fathers, sons, or brothers serving together, and Qian Yong abandoned his plan to match Shen Zhi with someone.
• Lin Feng told Shen Tang that Luan Xin seemed troubled, and Luan Xin explained that his elder sister and the rest of his family had not arrived after he sent for them.
• Shen Tang promised to send help to find Luan Xin’s family and assigned Gongxi Chou to the task.
• Near the Miao River, the Luan family tended their wounded after a battle, while their benefactor Yun Ce accepted medicine from one of the women’s maids.
• Yun Ce recalled that he had attacked soldiers for looting and killing civilians, then learned that Huang Lie had permitted their abuses and clashed with a veteran general over it.

Yun Ce killed the soldiers who had harmed a blind woman, then escaped Huang Lie’s camp and fled toward Yanzhou. After rescuing Luan Xin’s relatives, he learned that Lord Shen’s people considered his actions righteous and found support for his choice.

• Yun Ce argued with Huang Lie’s veteran about the soldiers’ abuses, but agreed to give him an answer the next day.
• Yun Ce killed the soldiers he had injured, broke through the camp’s checkpoints, and escaped while Huang Lie’s men pursued him.
• Yun Ce used his snowy owl Martial Gall Totem to fly away, fought off pursuers, and resolved not to seek refuge at his master’s sect.
• Yun Ce encountered a personal guard serving Luan Xin and learned that the people he had rescued belonged to the Luan family.
• Yun Ce told the personal guard why he had fled Huang Lie, and the guard praised his decision to oppose the soldiers’ abuses.

Yun Ce learned how Shen Tang protected commoners and became interested in serving her, while a guard revealed the hardships his family had endured. Gongxi Chou arrived to find the guard and invited Yun Ce to join Shen Tang; Yun Ce then connected him to his teacher’s old acquaintance, Jimò Xing.

• Yun Ce thanked the guard for helping him see that accepted customs could still be wrong, and learned that Luan Xin had taught the guard.
• The guard told Yun Ce how Shen Tang defended commoners from powerful clans and described the danger and assassinations she faced.
• The guard revealed that his family had been forced to work as human draft cattle until Luan Xin took him in and Shen Tang later challenged the system.
• Gongxi Chou appeared on the carriage roof, identified himself, and said he had come to find the guard.
• Gongxi Chou invited Yun Ce to serve Shen Tang, and Yun Ce recognized him as the person who had rescued Xianyu Jian.
• Yun Ce told Gongxi Chou that his two-hundred-and-one-year-old teacher had once met Jimò Xing and still wanted to cross hands with him.

Yun Ce learned that Jimò Xing had died defending the Gongxi Clan during the Clan Annihilation, while Shaobai and his companions reclaimed Shaobai’s Mountain Sea Sacred Land place in Qi State. After the old man explained the Gongxi Clan’s history and warned of dangerous elders watching Shaobai, a mysterious white-haired youth-faced man appeared at their lodgings.

• Yun Ce asked Gongxi Chou about Jimò Xing and learned that the old High Priest had died during the Clan Annihilation after Tang Guo gravely wounded him.
• A group led by the old man reclaimed Jimò Qiu’s stolen Mountain Sea Sacred Land place through the Qi State Sovereign, and the responsible minister was demoted.
• The old man told Lin Si Shu and the others that the Gongxi Clan’s High Priests had sacrificed themselves to stop the Wu State Gu Calamity, leaving the clan weakened.
• Shaobai woke feeling watched, and the old man warned the unseen elders to leave him alone.
• After Shaobai returned to the academy, a white-haired man with a youth’s face appeared at the lodgings, and the old man said he had finally come after more than a hundred years.

Jimò Yu revealed that the Gongxi Clan had been nearly wiped out and explained why he had abandoned the gods, while the visitor learned that Jimò Yu was the twin brother of the Wu State Sovereign. The visitor remained trapped, the Qi State royal mausoleums were struck by lightning, and Gongxi Chou returned to report to Shen Tang.

• Jimò Yu told the visitor that only Shaobai and Gongxi Chou remained of the Gongxi Clan, and that he and Jimò Can had betrayed the gods and lost their divine power.
• Jimò Yu revealed that he was the twin brother of the Wu State Sovereign and said the Gongxi Clan had been destroyed after the Sovereign’s rebellion brought disaster upon it.
• The visitor learned that the clan had failed to gather five High Priests and complained that the promise to free him had been broken.
• The visitor proposed having Jimò Qiu father many children to rebuild the clan, but Jimò Yu warned him that the gods might punish him with lightning.
• Lin Si Shu reported that lightning had struck the Qi State royal mausoleums, and Jimò Yu warned Shaobai not to help anyone unlock something in a remote place.
• Gongxi Chou returned with the Luan Clan’s group, handed them to Luan Xin, and went to report to Shen Tang.

Shen Tang learned from Gongxi Chou that Yun Ce had joined her forces after betraying Huang Lie, but his heritage and ties to the Ten Crows could bring danger from powerful figures once their imprisonment ended. After Gongxi Chou left, Luan Xin reunited with his sister and nephew at a distance, while Yun Ce went to find his junior martial brother.

• Shen Tang fed ants and discussed their view of the world with Gongxi Chou before they played marbles.
• Gongxi Chou told Shen Tang that Yun Ce had betrayed Huang Lie and likely had ties to a high-ranking figure, and warned her that Yun Ce and Xianyu Jian might become dangerous.
• Gongxi Chou revealed that Yun Ce was descended from the Ten Crows and that a powerful enemy connected to the Gongxi Clan remained imprisoned but might soon be released.
• Gongxi Chou left Shen Tang to handle the Luan Clan's group, and Luan Cheng reunited with his mother.
• Luan Xin briefly spoke with the Lady of the Luan Clan, who accepted that their old family wound kept them from reconciling.
• Yun Ce went to find his junior martial brother in the wasteland.

After offending Huang Xiguang, Yun Ce joined Xianyu Jian to inspect Shen Tang’s orderly farmland and villages, then shared a meal with the army and accepted Shen Tang’s offer to stay. The chapter ended with Huang Xiguang learning that Yun Yuanmou had wounded the garrison commander and fled.

• Yun Ce explained to Xianyu Jian that he could not safely return to the mountain gate after offending Huang Xiguang, and Xianyu Jian invited him to see Shen Tang’s work in Yanzhou.
• Xianyu Jian showed Yun Ce the numbered fields and newly built villages, explaining that Shen Tang had ordered the land cleared and organized for commoners to rent and cultivate.
• Xianyu Jian brought Yun Ce to the canteen, where Yun Ce was astonished by the army’s hot jade wheat meal.
• Shen Tang arrived with Gongxi Chou after losing their marble game, greeted Yun Ce, and offered him a place with her until he decided what to do.
• Yun Ce accepted Shen Tang’s offer to stay, while Huang Xiguang learned that Yun Yuanmou had wounded the garrison commander and fled.

Huang Lie learned that Shen Youli had taken the grain from Zheng Qiao’s hidden granary, while Shen Tang’s forces seized a grain convoy sent by Zhang Yongqing. Shen Tang prepared for Huang Lie and Zhang He to act desperately and went to discuss troop deployments with Wu Xian.

• Huang Lie raged over Yun Ce’s defection but ordered his officers to leave the matter alone and focus on finding Zheng Qiao’s granary.
• Huang Lie welcomed Zhang Yongqing’s envoy as their forces faced grain shortages and needed each other’s support.
• Huang Lie learned that Shen Youli’s forces had emptied the granary weeks earlier, and Zhang Yongqing’s envoy left to report the loss.
• Jiang Sheng used his divination to find and seize Zhang Yongqing’s grain convoy, and Shen Tang ordered its leaders sent back with a mocking message of thanks.
• Shen Tang went to discuss troop deployments with Wu Xian, while Zhao Wei explained that Wu Xian’s public caning of her father had damaged his standing in the army.

Shen Tang visited Wu Xian’s camp to discuss the intercepted provisions and tried to learn why Zhao Feng and Qin Li were absent. Gu Chi suspected Qi Yuanliang was manipulating the factions, and Qi Yuanliang’s letter confirmed he had engineered a scheme to make Qin Li’s position under Wu Xian miserable.

• Zhao Wei told Shen Tang how Zhao Feng had avenged the death of the uncle who raised her, and Shen Tang resolved to check on Zhao Feng’s recovery.
• Shen Tang met Wu Xian, reported intercepting Zhang Yongqing’s provisions, and discussed their coming opportunity to attack as the enemy’s supplies dwindled.
• Shen Tang failed to see Zhao Feng or Qin Li at Wu Xian’s camp, then learned from Gu Chi that Xu Wenzhu had stopped supplying grain amid rumors of a death in the Xu Family.
• Gu Chi suspected Qi Yuanliang had manipulated the conflict between the Xu Family, the Tianhai Noble Family, and Qin Li’s faction to weaken Qin Li’s standing with Wu Xian.
• Shen Tang received Qi Yuanliang’s letter, which detailed his schemes to provoke the Tianhai Noble Family, disrupt Xu Wenzhu’s grain deliveries, and turn Wu Xian against Qin Li.