Chapter Summaries

After the New Year celebrations, Yang Zhengshan planned an ambitious network of waterways and roads to develop Chongshan Town, despite the enormous cost. He revealed that the Glass Workshop would help fund the projects and appointed Li Dahai to lead it as an official of the new Engineering Department.

• Yang Zhengshan celebrated the New Year by playing in the snow with the Yang Family children while Yu Qingyi and the women watched and joked.
• After the Lantern Festival, Yang Zhengshan assigned the Regional Commander's Mansion's departments to recruit soldiers and train the Zhenbiao Five Battalions.
• Yang Zhengshan presented plans to open the Yinghe for shipping, build docks, and repair five major official roads across Chongshan Town.
• Lu Wenhua warned that the projects would require tens of millions of taels of silver and substantial grain, but Yang Zhengshan said he would find a way to raise the money.
• Yang Zhengshan introduced Zhu Dahai and announced a new Engineering Department, placing the Glass Workshop under it and appointing Li Dahai as Right Chief Clerk and Lu Wenhua as temporary Left Chief Clerk.

Yang Zhengshan organized glass production, military recruitment, and infrastructure projects in Chongshan Town while news arrived that Prince Cheng had become Crown Prince. He sent gifts to the ailing Emperor Chengping, then saw Yu Qingyi and much of the Yang family depart for the Capital, where he hoped his grandson Yang Chengye would learn and prepare to manage the family.

• Yang Zhengshan instructed Li Dahai to expand Thousand-Mile Mirror production and ordered Lu Wenhua to establish the Engineering Department and survey the Yinghe riverway.
• The Regional Commander's Mansion and Zhenbiao Five Battalions recruited workers, apprentices, and soldiers, while Pang Tang advanced plans to build Heiyun City.
• Yang Zhengshan learned Prince Cheng had been invested as Crown Prince and given command of the Imperial Guard, then sent Emperor Chengping ten Thousand-Mile Mirrors and three jars of Bee Queen Honey.
• Yang Zhengshan saw Yu Qingyi, Yang Mingcheng, Yang Chengye, and other family members depart for the Capital alongside Lin Zhan and Zheng, giving them advice and errands.
• As the convoy headed south, Yang Zhengshan watched Yang Chengye ride Wanjun and planned to have him enter the army for training after his return.

Emperor Chengping received Yang Zhengshan’s Thousand-Mile Mirrors and Bee Queen Honey, and the honey briefly improved his spirits. He rewarded Yang Zhengshan with a Three-Yellow Plum, while the Crown Prince recognized the mirrors’ military value and ordered them sent to the military authorities.

• Eunuch Chen showed Emperor Chengping a Thousand-Mile Mirror, which he used to inspect the garden, and then served him Bee Queen Honey.
• Emperor Chengping drank the honey water, felt more comfortable, and ordered a Three-Yellow Plum taken from the treasure vault as a reward for Yang Zhengshan.
• Eunuch Chen arranged for someone to request more Bee Queen Honey from Yang Zhengshan and decided to deliver the Three-Yellow Plum at the same time.
• Nan Sheng told the Crown Prince that Emperor Chengping had drunk the honey and bestowed a Three-Yellow Plum on Yang Zhengshan.
• The Crown Prince examined a Thousand-Mile Mirror, recognized its usefulness for observing enemy forces, and ordered the remaining mirrors sent to the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions Office.

Yang Zhengshan asked Luo Shang to help sell Thousand-Mile Mirrors and discussed limiting the Luo Family’s expansion by supporting other merchant families. He arranged for Luo Shang’s grandson Luo Bo to train alongside Yang Chengye, giving the Luo Family a path into military service.

• Yang Zhengshan told Luo Shang that he would support the Shang Family, Wang Family, and Lin Family in Chongshan Town, but exclude the Zhang Family because of its ties to the Liaodong Shipping Office.
• Yang Zhengshan gave Luo Shang a stock of Thousand-Mile Mirrors to sell at a suggested price of fifteen taels each.
• Yang Zhengshan proposed that Luo Bo train in the Elite Guard Battalion with Yang Chengye for two years, then serve as Yang Chengye’s personal attendant if he became a martial artist.
• Luo Shang gratefully accepted Yang Zhengshan’s arrangement for Luo Bo and left eager to tell his family.

Yang Zhengshan inspected the Glass Workshop’s new products and learned that a Directorate of Ceremonial attendant had arrived with an imperial reward. After Yang Zhengshan handed over the Bee Queen Honey requested for the emperor, Ma Rong departed in haste, leaving Yang Zhengshan suspecting the Old Emperor was near death.

• Luo Shang bought all three thousand Thousand-Mile Mirrors from the Glass Workshop for thirty thousand taels of silver, and Yang Zhengshan toured the workshop with Zhu Dahai.
• Zhu Dahai showed Yang Zhengshan the workshop’s glass ornaments, including a golden glass Buddha statue, and said craftsmen were developing more products.
• A soldier reported that Ma Rong and seven attendants from the Directorate of Ceremonial had arrived, and Ma Rong presented Yang Zhengshan with a Three-Yellow Plum bestowed by the emperor.
• Ma Rong asked Yang Zhengshan to send all his Bee Queen Honey to the emperor, and Yang Zhengshan handed over the three jars he claimed remained in his residence.
• Yang Zhengshan offered Ma Rong three thousand taels of silver and escorted him out; seeing Ma Rong hurry away, Yang Zhengshan suspected the Old Emperor was close to death.

Yang Zhengshan delayed using the Three-Yellow Plum while confronting Chongshan Town’s urgent shortage of funds and deciding to borrow from merchants. In the Capital, Yu Qingyi arrived at the Jing'an Marquis Mansion, marveled at its grandeur, and began arranging its household while worrying about its expense.

• Yang Zhengshan decided to wait three months before using the Three-Yellow Plum, then faced a flood of requests for silver and resolved to hold a lending conference for merchants.
• Yang Zhengshan sent invitations to merchants in Chongshan Town and Liaodong as Yu Qingyi, Yang Mingcheng, Lin Zhan, and the others arrived in the Capital.
• Yu Qingyi explored the Jing'an Marquis Mansion and learned that Yang Zhengshan had assigned Wutong Courtyard to Yang Mingcheng.
• Yu Qingyi discovered the mansion had less than one thousand taels of silver left, gave Lu Shou ten thousand taels, and ordered him to hire more servants.
• Yu Qingyi worried that maintaining the mansion would cost around twenty thousand taels a year, while Green Mist reminded her of the eight thousand mu of bestowed fields.

Yu Qingyi visited Marquis Changping Mansion, where Lady Liang Han tried to match Yang Chengye with her niece, and reunited with Yang Yunxue and her newborn daughter. The next day, Yu Qingyi visited Duke Ning Mansion and found common ground with Zhou Lan.

• Yu Qingyi visited Marquis Changping Mansion and exchanged warm greetings with Lady Liang Han, who praised her youthful appearance.
• Lady Liang Han proposed introducing her fourteen-year-old niece to Yang Chengye, and Yu Qingyi agreed to discuss the possibility with Mingcheng and his wife.
• Yu Qingyi and Wang visited Yang Yunxue, met her newborn daughter Liang Qingqing, and heard that Yunxue had reached the fourth layer of Post-Heaven cultivation.
• Yang Yunxue laughed and chatted with Yu Qingyi and Wang, easing the gloom that had troubled Liang Jinyan during her confinement.
• The next day, Yu Qingyi and Wang visited Zhou Lan at Duke Ning Mansion, where Yu Qingyi and Zhou Lan drank and talked happily.

Yang Zhengshan hosted Liaodong merchants at Chongshan Pass and offered them three-year debt notes to raise three million taels for the Regional Commander's Mansion. The merchants registered loans totaling 1.83 million taels, and Yang Zhengshan prepared to sell the remaining notes through Chongshan Bank while taking note of which families had supported him sincerely.

• Yang Zhengshan told the assembled merchants he wanted to borrow silver for three years through debt notes bearing three fen monthly interest.
• Wang Zhenze pledged 200,000 taels, Zhang Qingsong pledged 300,000 taels, Lin Qi pledged 150,000 taels, and other merchants offered additional sums.
• Lu Wenhua recorded the merchants' commitments, which totaled 1.83 million taels, and Yang Zhengshan noticed the Jing'an Zhang Family had pledged only 10,000 taels.
• Yang Zhengshan instructed Lu Wenhua to offer notes to households inside the city, reserve 50,000 taels' worth for the Marquis Mansion, and place any remaining notes in Chongshan Bank.
• Chongshan Bank began operating quietly on South City's main street, with its received silver transported daily to the Regional Commander's Mansion's vault.

Yang Zhengshan raised more than 1.8 million taels through debt bonds, prompting Pang Tang to buy bonds and encourage officials to do the same. As Chongshan Town faced mounting costs, Yang Zhengshan agreed to give the Governor's Office 200,000 taels and proposed preselling Heiyun City's properties and surrounding land to fund construction.

• A bailiff told Pang Tang that the Regional Commander's Mansion had raised more than 1.8 million taels, and Pang Tang ordered his aide to spread the news and buy 10,000 taels of debt bonds.
• Officials and clerks flocked to Chongshan Bank to buy debt bonds after Pang Tang promised to help them claim repayment from the Marquis of Jing'an if needed.
• Pang Tang visited Yang Zhengshan and asked for one million taels for Heiyun City, but Yang Zhengshan explained that Chongshan Town had too many other expenses.
• Yang Zhengshan proposed preselling Heiyun City's residences, shops, and nearby farmland to raise funds before construction began.
• Yang Zhengshan agreed to give Pang Tang 200,000 taels to start building Heiyun City and demonstrate the project's viability.

Yang Zhengshan sold out Chongshan Bank’s Debt Bonds and prepared to print more while arranging to dredge the Yinghe riverway. In the Capital, Yu Qingyi rejected a proposed match for Yang Chengye and accepted an invitation from the Crown Princess to visit Dacheng Temple.

• Yang Zhengshan agreed to issue another million taels in Debt Bonds after Song Dashan and Luo Shang reported that their men and families had missed the first sale.
• Yang Zhengshan sold four million taels in Debt Bonds, allocated funds to the Assistant General’s Shogunates, and began preparations to dredge the Yinghe riverway.
• Yang Mingcheng accompanied Lin Zhan through the Spring Imperial Examination, and Lin Zhan said he thought he had done well.
• Wu Zheng told Yu Qingyi that Second Miss Han was notorious for her arrogant and ruthless behavior, so Yu Qingyi ruled her out as a match for Yang Chengye.
• Green Mist delivered an invitation from the Crown Princess, and Yu Qingyi agreed to attend the visit to Dacheng Temple.

Yu Qingyi attended a Buddha-worship gathering hosted by the Crown Princess and was invited to tea with her. The Crown Princess praised the Yang Family and hinted that her niece Zijin might be a match for Yang Chengye, leaving Yu Qingyi to consider the proposal.

• Yu Qingyi arrived at Fuhua Mountain and joined the officials' female relatives climbing to Dacheng Temple for the Crown Princess's gathering.
• Yu Qingyi completed the Buddha-worship ceremony, then rested in a secluded pavilion until a female official summoned her.
• The Crown Princess invited Yu Qingyi to share pastries and tea while asking about the Yang Family and praising Yang Yunxue.
• Yu Qingyi noticed that Zijin, the Crown Princess's martial-arts-practicing niece, had calluses on her hands.
• The Crown Princess brought up Yang Chengye's marriage prospects and hinted at a match with Zijin, and Yu Qingyi took her leave without answering.

Yu Qingyi asked Yang Zhengshan whether the Yang Family should pursue a marriage alliance with the Yu Family, whose ties to the Crown Princess could bring both influence and danger. Yang Zhengshan decided the match would depend on Miss Zijin’s character, while he managed spring preparations in Chongshan Town and spent the evening with his family.

• Yu Qingyi considered the risks and rewards of becoming imperial in-laws, sent Wu Zheng to investigate Miss Zijin, and wrote Yang Zhengshan for his opinion.
• Yang Zhengshan allocated silver and damaged weapons to Ning Qinghe for spring farming and arranged to borrow blacksmiths for the Regional Commander's Mansion after planting season.
• Yang Zhengshan replied to Yu Qingyi that the Yang Family did not need the Yu Family’s political benefits and that Miss Zijin’s character should determine whether Yang Chengye married her.
• Mingzhao told Yang Zhengshan that he missed Yu Qingyi, and Yang Zhengshan reassured him that she would return after the Spring Imperial Examination.
• Jiang Miao asked for the Snow-Treading Horse, and Yang Zhengshan gave her the young horse to ride when it turned three.

Yang Zhengshan broke through to the Innate Realm, and the Spirit Spring Space expanded dramatically, prompting him to reorganize it and begin developing its new land. By mid-April, Chongshan Pass had entered a busy period of spring plowing and preparations for Heiyun City and the Yinghe dredging.

• Yang Zhengshan broke through to the Innate Realm, gained the ability to project Yi Wood Everlasting True Qi, and tested its reach with a spear-shaped strike.
• Yang Zhengshan entered the Spirit Spring Space and discovered it had grown to roughly six or seven hundred mu, gained a hillside and wind, and developed a larger spring pool with twelve lotus buds.
• Yang Zhengshan planned new medicinal fields, an orderly orchard and tea garden, and a hillside courtyard, then built five wooden houses and scattered seeds through the space.
• Yang Zhengshan tended precious medicines such as the Golden Thorn Blood Vine, while continuing his official duties by day and working in the space at night.
• By mid-April, Chongshan Pass began spring plowing and preparations for Heiyun City and the Yinghe dredging; land and future city properties raised more than a hundred thousand taels, supplementing Yang Zhengshan's earlier contribution.

Lin Zhan earned a Second Rank Jinshi placement and received an appointment in the Ministry of Revenue's Bureau of Operations. Meanwhile, Yu Qingyi and the Crown Princess agreed to begin arranging Yang Chengye's marriage to Yu Zijin, and Yu Qingyi, Lin Zhan, and their companions left the capital.

• Lin Zhan learned he had ranked twenty-fourth in the Palace Examination and rode in the Jinshi street parade, where Yu Qingyi and the Yang family watched him pass.
• Yu Qingyi visited the Crown Princess to ask about Yu Zijin, and the Crown Princess told her to send a matchmaker to Dongping.
• Yang Mingcheng took a matchmaker to the Yu Family, where Yu Yuanzan welcomed the proposed marriage and both families agreed to proceed.
• Lin Zhan received an appointment as a Principal Sixth Rank Director in the Bureau of Operations, then prepared to return home to worship his ancestors.
• On the third day of May, Yu Qingyi, Lin Zhan, Yang Chengye, and their companions left the capital.

Gu Yunjian arrived at Chongshan Pass to deal with Star Moon Sect’s former Yuheng Star Hall leaders and planned to demand them from Yang Zhengshan. Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan celebrated Lin Zhan’s success in the imperial examinations and discussed the booming trade in Thousand-Mile Mirrors and glass ornaments with Luo Shang.

• Gu Yunjian met Kou Rong in Chongshan Pass, learned that Luo Jinsong, Li Chengguo, Qian Zhonghe, and Ji Zhengfei were under military protection, and decided to ask Yang Zhengshan for them.
• Gu Yunjian claimed he had once fought one against five and hinted that Yang Zhengshan’s reputation as the First Person Under Xiantian would not deter him; he planned to visit the marquis that night.
• Yang Zhengshan learned that Lin Zhan had made the Gold List and reflected on Lin Zhan’s years of study and martial training.
• Luo Shang told Yang Zhengshan that the Luo Family had sold nearly all three thousand Thousand-Mile Mirrors, and Yang Zhengshan offered him another thousand despite orders from military offices.
• Yang Zhengshan invited Luo Shang to choose glass ornaments for sale in Jiangnan and planned to involve several merchant families, while excluding the Jing'an Zhang Family from his support.

Yang Zhengshan sent glass ornaments and a plan for selling them to the Crown Prince, then inspected the troops and replenished their wells with Spirit Spring Water. That night, Gu Yunjian infiltrated the Marquis Mansion, wounded Wu Zhan, and waited for Yang Zhengshan as guards and soldiers surrounded him.

• Luo Shang took a thousand glass ornaments from the Glass Workshop, and Yang Zhengshan sent another hundred with a glassmaking process and money-making plan to the Crown Prince.
• Yang Zhengshan inspected the Town Garrison Camp's training and poured Spirit Spring Water into wells at the camps and in the city.
• Gu Yunjian slipped into the Marquis Mansion while Yang Zhengshan was in the Spirit Spring Space, where Yang Zhengshan heard the disturbance outside.
• Wu Zhan spotted Gu Yunjian at the Inner Ceremony Gate, but Gu Yunjian wounded him with a swift sword strike.
• The Marquis Mansion guards and soldiers gathered around Gu Yunjian, and Luo Jinsong led the Elite Guard Battalion inside to help guard the residence.
• Gu Yunjian refused to flee and waited for Yang Zhengshan to appear.

Gu Yunjian broke into the Marquis Mansion to demand Luo Jinsong and the others, but Yang Zhengshan killed him before he could speak. Yang Zhengshan kept his Innate cultivation secret, and Luo Jinsong concluded that the Marquis was the true First Person Under Xiantian.

• Luo Jinsong recognized Gu Yunjian at the Inner Ceremony Gate, while Yang Zhengshan and the household came out to face him.
• Yang Zhengshan refused to hear Gu Yunjian's demand and attacked him with a short spear.
• Yang Zhengshan used Innate True Qi to deflect Gu Yunjian's sword, then pierced his heart and killed him.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Ding Qiu to take Gu Yunjian's body to the Mass Grave and sent Luo Jinsong to calm the soldiers outside.
• Luo Jinsong marveled that Yang Zhengshan had killed Gu Yunjian in one move and privately regarded him as the true First Person Under Xiantian.

Yang Zhengshan learned that Star Moon Sect’s Tian Quan Star Hall had sent assassins to Chongshan Pass and reported the incident to the Imperial Court. After Yu Qingyi returned, Lin Zhan thanked Yang Zhengshan for raising him and prepared to visit Anning County, while Wang Mingzhe tried to join him to avoid his usual duties.

• Luo Jinsong told Yang Zhengshan that Gu Yunjian had come to demand the Star Moon Sect members held by the Yang family, while Kou Rong remained at large.
• Yang Zhengshan declined to seal the city and ordered an official report sent to the Ministry of Justice.
• Yu Qingyi returned to Chongshan Pass after a fast journey from the Capital.
• Lin Zhan thanked Yang Zhengshan for helping him fulfill his late father's wish and said he would return to Anning County the next day.
• Wang Mingzhe asked to accompany Lin Zhan to offer incense to his parents, but Yang Zhengshan arranged for Wang Yunqiao to take him along.

Yang Zhengshan sent Wang Mingzhe to Anning County with Wang Yunqiao and Lin Zhan, then learned that Emperor Chengping might not survive the month. In the Capital, the Crown Prince recognized the wealth glass production could bring and dispatched Wang An with three hundred troops to Chongshan Pass to follow Yang Zhengshan’s orders.

• Yang Zhengshan refused Wang Mingzhe’s plea to stay and ordered him to travel to Anning County with Wang Yunqiao and Lin Zhan.
• Yu Qingyi told Yang Zhengshan that Emperor Chengping might not live through the month, according to Yunxue’s information from Marquis Changping.
• The Crown Prince examined Yang Zhengshan’s memorial and glass ornaments, realizing that inexpensive glassware could earn the court enormous sums.
• The Crown Prince summoned Wang An and ordered him to go to Chongshan Pass, obey Yang Zhengshan’s arrangements, and keep the mission secret.
• The Crown Prince sent Wang An with three hundred personal troops and warned that anyone who leaked news would be executed.

Yang Zhengshan handled Chongshan Town’s affairs, sent half the Glass Workshop’s skilled craftsmen to the Capital for the Crown Prince, and received a delegation from the Snow Spirit Palace seeking trade. He learned that the Snow Spirit Palace ruled a large portion of the Harawen Mountains and offered valuable Snow Plains herbs and furs.

• Yang Zhengshan wrote to comfort Wang Bin, who was dissatisfied with his limited authority under Duan Qifeng in Beiyuan Town.
• Yang Zhengshan agreed to meet the Snow Spirit Palace delegation at Chongshan Pass after receiving Yang Mingzhi’s report about its request to trade.
• Yang Zhengshan arranged for Wang An to take half the Glass Workshop’s skilled craftsmen to the Capital so the Crown Prince could establish a workshop there.
• Yang Zhengshan sent invitations to merchant households after Wang An’s party departed, preparing to expand glass sales.
• Xue Zhongjin introduced the Snow Spirit Palace as a major power with three thousand disciples and eight hundred thousand believers, and asked Yang Zhengshan to permit trade in exchange for Snow Plains herbs and furs.