Chapter Summaries

Yang Zhengshan prepared Lin Zhan for his appointment in Yuzhou, then oversaw Zhai Yunhu’s graduation from the Martial Arts Pavilion and recommended him for service in Beiyuan Town. The chapter ended with Emperor Yanping enraged over the sea bandits’ attack on Yuzhou and ordering the crime investigated and punished.

• Yang Zhengshan gave Lin Zhan several pills before Lin Zhan left to take office in Yuzhou.
• Jiang He told Yang Zhengshan that Zhai Yunhu had reached the Fourth Layer of Postnatal Realm and could graduate from the Martial Arts Pavilion.
• Zhai Yunhu asked to serve in the Border Army to earn military merit, and Yang Zhengshan recommended that he go to Beiyuan Town rather than Chongshan Town.
• Yang Zhengshan wrote Zhai Yunhu a letter of recommendation and urged him not to forget his original intention as he set out on his journey.
• Emperor Yanping flew into a rage over the sea bandits’ attack on Yuzhou, and Chen Zhongshu urged him to investigate the crime and punish those responsible.

Emperor Yanping ordered Wang Zhongzhi to investigate the Sea Bandits’ links to the Star Moon Sect, Jiangnan households, the Maritime Trade Office, and the Weaving Bureau, with help from the Martial Temple. Newly appointed Yuzhou Prefect Lin Zhan arrived amid the devastation, took in an orphan as his disciple, and began assessing the city’s defenses and lack of support.

• Wang Zhongzhi reported that Sea Bandits were connected to Jiangnan households and possibly the Star Moon Sect, while four Haizhou Weaving Bureau workshops had burned during Yuzhou City’s fall.
• Emperor Yanping ordered Wang Zhongzhi to continue investigating without arresting the Maritime Trade Office officials, and Wang Zhongzhi obtained help from Zhang Luan before heading to Jiangnan.
• Lin Zhan found villages plundered and corpses scattered across Yuzhou, then took a surviving infant as his disciple.
• Lin Zhan reached Yuzhou City, presented his appointment papers to Li Boran, and entered the damaged city to establish himself at a makeshift office in an inn.
• Zhang Yu told Lin Zhan that the former prefect and many officials had been killed, the yamen’s money and grain had been looted, and the city relied on a limited force of guards, constables, and civilian braves.
• Lin Zhan learned that the Haizhou Guard had not sent a force to clear the Sea Bandits, while its commander remained in Haizhou Prefecture.

Lin Zhan arranged for troops and martial artists to be sent against the sea bandits in Yuzhou, while Yang Zhengshan trained the crown prince and other disciples in the capital. After Yang Zhengshan denied that anyone in his household had harassed Zhou Ningwei’s young daughter, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture came to his mansion to pursue the matter.

• Lin Zhan recovered Zhang Yu’s official seal and dispatched requests to the regional and provincial yamen, the Haizhou Shangwu Division, and Haizhou Guard to send forces against the sea bandits.
• Yang Zhengshan instructed the crown prince, Prince Dai, and An Chenhui in their martial cultivation, then received a memorial accusing a boy from his household of molesting Zhou Ningwei’s ten-year-old daughter.
• Yang Zhengshan questioned the young men in his family, and Yang Chengyou and Mingzhao said they had stayed together and had not gone out.
• Yang Zhengshan replied to the memorial that none of his sons or grandsons had committed the offense and set the matter aside.
• The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture came to Yang Zhengshan’s mansion three days later to address Zhou Ningwei’s complaint.

Zhen Shijie investigated Zhou Ningwei’s accusation that Jiang Feng had behaved improperly toward his daughter and found that Jiang Feng was only seven, but Zhou continued to attack the boy. After Wu Zheng uncovered Zhou’s family’s history of exploiting such accusations, Yang Zhengshan ordered him to ruin Zhou’s reputation, and Wu enlisted Liu Dashan to arrange a public scandal.

• Zhen Shijie visited Yang Zhengshan to investigate Zhou Ningwei’s accusation and showed him a portrait of the servant who had accompanied the boy at the bookstore.
• Yang Zhengshan recognized the servant as Danian, who served Jiang Feng, and learned that seven-year-old Jiang Feng had only helped Zhou’s daughter when she was about to fall.
• After Zhen Shijie accepted that the incident was a misunderstanding, Zhou Ningwei submitted another memorial condemning Jiang Feng, angering Yang Zhengshan.
• Wu Zheng investigated Zhou Ningwei and reported that he had a history of using his daughters’ reputations to pursue advantageous connections, and that his youngest daughter had taken a liking to Jiang Feng.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Wu Zheng to destroy Zhou Ningwei’s reputation, and Wu directed Liu Dashan to arrange a conspicuous Zha Huotun.
• Liu Dashan consulted assistant prefectural magistrate Zhuang Feiyu, who recognized the plan’s danger but told him to carry it out.

Yang Zhengshan retaliated against Zhou Ningwei, whose arrest led the Secret Martial Guard to investigate his corruption, while Emperor Yanping also ordered an inquiry into Jiangnan silk merchants suspected of colluding with sea bandits. Yang Zhengshan then used a True Origin Pill and found that his Ice Heart Fruit trees had bloomed, leaving him hopeful of making another Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill for Yu Qingyi as she approached the Innate Realm.

• Wu Zheng reported that Liu Dashan had exposed Zhou Ningwei in public, and Yang Zhengshan wrote a memorial accusing Zhou of corruption.
• Emperor Yanping laughed at Yang Zhengshan's memorial and ordered Zhang Mingzhong to have the Secret Martial Guard investigate Zhou Ningwei.
• Chen Zhongshu reported that Jiangnan silk merchants were angered by rising raw-silk prices and a major Imperial Merchant Bureau contract, and Emperor Yanping ordered the Secret Martial Guard to investigate their suspected collusion with sea bandits.
• The Secret Martial Guard arrested Zhou Ningwei, and Zhen Shijie asked an attendant to contact Zhen Yang Shi.
• Yang Zhengshan took a True Origin Pill in the Spirit Spring Space and saw that his Ice Heart Fruit trees had bloomed.
• Yang Zhengshan hoped to make another Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill for Yu Qingyi, while she still had not reached the Innate Realm.

Yang Zhengshan grew anxious about finding a suitable husband for Yang Wanqing and searched among the Martial Arts Pavilion disciples. He brought several candidates’ files home, but Yu Qingyi rejected each one, leaving him with no choice settled.

• Wang urged Yang Zhengshan to help arrange Yang Wanqing’s marriage, and he agreed to look for suitable young men.
• Yang Zhengshan visited the Martial Arts Pavilion and inspected its disciples as marriage candidates for Yang Wanqing.
• Jiang He accidentally announced Yang Zhengshan’s search, prompting the disciples to discuss whether anyone could match Yang Wanqing’s talent and status.
• Yang Zhengshan collected files on several unmarried disciples and brought them home for Yu Qingyi to review.
• Yu Qingyi rejected each candidate because of his family status, religious rules, distance, or household customs, and Yang Zhengshan despaired over the search.

Yang Wanqing rescued Qu Shaogong and Qu Shaoshang when assassins attacked them at Cangyuan Lake, then fled with them to the capital. After learning of the attack, Yang Zhengshan sent people to investigate and went to check on Yang Wanqing.

• Yang Wanqing spotted an assassin aiming at Qu Shaogong and leaped from a teahouse window to deflect the first arrow with her whip.
• More than a dozen assassins attacked Qu Shaogong and his companions, so Yang Wanqing judged they were outmatched and led her friends and guards to flee on horseback.
• Yang Wanqing pulled Qu Shaoshang onto her horse and escaped toward the capital with Qu Shaogong and the others.
• At the capital gates, Qu Shaogong thanked Yang Wanqing and rode to the Martial Temple to seek help for the victims; Yang Wanqing took Qu Shaoshang home.
• Ding Qiu told Yang Zhengshan that Yang Wanqing had encountered the attack but was unharmed, and Yang Zhengshan sent him to investigate before going to check on her.

Yang Zhengshan accepted Qu Shaogong’s gift of a Flame Red Lotus after Qu Shaogong thanked Yang Wanqing for saving his life. As Qu Shaogong grew closer to Yang Wanqing, Yang Zhengshan secretly followed them and realized they seemed to have feelings for each other, leaving him uneasy about a possible marriage to the distant Duke of Xing Mansion.

• Yang Zhengshan learned that the Cangyuan Lake assassins had left few clues, and Qu Shaogong suspected they had been sent by the Jinlong Dynasty.
• Qu Shaogong thanked Yang Wanqing for saving his life and gave Yang Zhengshan a gift list that included a Flame Red Lotus, whose seeds Yang Zhengshan set aside for Xue Qiao’er and planted in his Spirit Spring Space.
• After the Secret Martial Guard and Martial Temple captured the Jinlong assassins, Qu Shaoshang began visiting Yang Wanqing, while Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi struggled with the many matchmakers seeking a marriage for her.
• Yang Zhengshan decided to let Yang Wanqing choose for herself and told Yu Qingyi to focus on cultivating for her breakthrough to the Innate Realm.
• Yang Zhengshan saw Qu Shaogong repeatedly taking Yang Wanqing and Qu Shaoshang out, then secretly followed them along Zhengyang Main Street and noticed the affection between Qu Shaogong and Yang Wanqing.

Yang Zhengshan learned about Qu Changkong’s ruthless campaign against the Jinlong Dynasty while discussing Yang Qingwan’s possible marriage. An Yuxing proposed that his great-grandson An Chenhui marry Jiang Miao, and Yang Zhengshan brought the match to Jiang Miao’s parents, who were open to it.

• Yang Zhengshan met An Yuxing outside the teahouse and learned that Qu Shaogong was Qu Changkong’s grandson.
• An Yuxing described how Qu Changkong had weakened the Jinlong Dynasty by sending criminals there and building up Southern Frontier Town’s forces.
• An Yuxing suggested An Chenhui marry Yang Qingwan, but Yang Zhengshan said the two lacked romantic feelings for each other.
• An Yuxing proposed Jiang Miao instead, and Yang Zhengshan said he would consult her parents before deciding.
• Yang Zhengshan asked Yang Yunyan and Jiang He about the match, and Jiang He agreed that An Chenhui would treat Miao'er well.

Yang Zhengshan arranged Jiang Miao’s marriage to An Chenhui after she agreed to trust his judgment. In Yuzhou, Lin Zhan confronted Haizhou Guard soldiers making trouble for provisions and pay, then revealed that he was a disciple of the Marquis of Jing'an when Wang De'an challenged him.

• Yang Zhengshan asked Jiang Miao whether she would marry An Chenhui, and she agreed to leave the decision to him.
• Yang Zhengshan told An Chenhui about the match, learned that he liked Jiang Miao, and informed An Yuxing.
• Lin Zhan learned that Haizhou Guard soldiers were gathering at the official granary to demand provisions and pay, so he summoned Yu Shengze and Li Boran.
• Wang De'an arrived, apologized for the soldiers, and faced Lin Zhan’s accusation that he was exploiting his connection to the Duke of An.
• Lin Zhan told Wang De'an that he was a disciple of the Marquis of Jing'an.

Lin Zhan killed Wang De'an and Zhang Bei in Yuzhou, while Yang Zhengshan arranged for An Huairen to handle the political fallout. Yang Zhengshan then discussed the Empress’s proposed match between Qu Shaogong and Yang Wanqing, but decided to wait for Wu Zhan’s report before agreeing.

• Lin Zhan executed Wang De'an and Zhang Bei, then ordered Li Boran to control the soldiers and sent guards to report the incident to Yang Zhengshan.
• Yang Zhengshan sent An Huairen a letter and a jar of Hundred Herb Brew, and An Huairen reluctantly went to clean up the consequences for Lin Zhan.
• Lady Wang pleaded with An Huairen to avenge Wang De'an, but he ordered her sold and refused to challenge Yang Zhengshan.
• Yu Qingyi told Yang Zhengshan that the Empress had asked her to discuss Qu Shaogong’s marriage to Yang Wanqing.
• Yang Zhengshan admitted he was reluctant to let Wanqing marry, but agreed to discuss the match after Wu Zhan returned with his report on Qu Shaogong.

Wu Zhan was discovered gathering information in Nanhua City and revealed his identity to request an audience with Qu Changkong. After learning that Qu Shaogong intended to marry into the Yang Family, Qu Changkong pressed Wu Zhan to support the match and forced him to accept a Three-Yellow Plum.

• Wu Zhan subdued the general who confronted him, then identified himself as a steward of the Jing'an Marquis Mansion and requested to meet Qu Changkong.
• Qu Changkong questioned Wu Zhan about his visit, but a letter from Qu Shaogong revealed that he planned to ask the Emperor and Empress to arrange his marriage to Yang Qingwan.
• Wu Zhan said he did not know the Marquis of Jing'an's attitude toward the match, and Qu Changkong asked him to speak in Qu Shaogong's favor.
• Qu Changkong gave Wu Zhan a Three-Yellow Plum and used his killing intent to make Wu Zhan accept it.

Wu Zhan returned to the Capital with the Three-Yellow Plum and told Yang Zhengshan about Qu Changkong’s pressure and Qu Shaogong’s conduct. After Wang Zhongzhi revealed that the Star Moon Sect had ordered the attack on Yuzhou and that Jiangnan silk merchants had colluded with sea bandits and officials, Emperor Yanping ordered a thorough investigation and called for the sect’s destruction; the court began debating which naval forces could fight it.

• Qu Changkong escorted Wu Zhan out of Nanhua City and gave him and his companions gifts, including a Three-Yellow Plum.
• Wu Zhan hurried back to the Capital and told Yang Zhengshan that Qu Changkong had pressured him over the possible marriage between Qu Shaogong and Yang Wanqing.
• Wu Zhan reported that Qu Shaogong was fairly proper, though two female cousins had long been interested in him, and Yang Zhengshan said the Empress had already acted as matchmaker.
• Wang Zhongzhi told Emperor Yanping that sixteen Jiangnan silk-merchant families had colluded with sea bandits, and that Yan Wushang had attacked Yuzhou under the Star Moon Sect’s orders.
• Emperor Yanping ordered the Censorate, Ministry of Justice, Grand Court, Secret Martial Guard, and Martial Temple to investigate the Jiangnan officials and declared that the Star Moon Sect must be destroyed.
• The ministers discussed naval forces for the campaign, and Liang Chu proposed using the Jiujiang Naval Force after training it and supplying it with larger warships.

The imperial court prepared to attack the Star Moon Sect and asked Yang Zhengshan to command the campaign. He accepted the appointment, saying he had a seventy to eighty percent chance of victory, and agreed to attend court to arrange the expedition.

• Minister of War Wang Lu supported sending the Jiujiang Naval Force to sea, and Minister of Works Jiang Wei said warships would take a year to build.
• Liang Chu proposed converting merchant ships, so Emperor Yanping ordered Jiang Wei to modify eighteen large Fuchuan within three months.
• The ministers struggled to find a naval commander, and Wang Lu and Zhou Mao suggested asking Yang Zhengshan to lead the campaign.
• Eunuch Zhang Mingzhong summoned Yang Zhengshan to the palace, where Emperor Yanping asked whether he could command naval warfare.
• Yang Zhengshan assessed the forces and accepted command, estimating that training would take three months and the campaign half a year to a year.
• Emperor Yanping entrusted the battle to Yang Zhengshan, who promised to attend court the day after tomorrow to arrange it.

Yang Zhengshan studied the Star Moon Sect and considered how to weaken it before the Imperial Court’s planned campaign. After Emperor Yanping appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Four Seas Naval Force, Yang Zhengshan began organizing the force’s move to Zhaowu Guard and preparing for war.

• Yang Zhengshan reviewed the Secret Martial Guard’s files and asked Luo Jinsong about the Star Moon Sect, learning about its family factions, its treatment of child recruits, and possible ways to persuade some commanders to surrender.
• Luo Jinsong identified Lady Deng as a possible contact and confirmed that Yue Hongyi, Nan Haiyan, and Qu Fusheng were Innate Martial Artists.
• Emperor Yanping appointed Yang Zhengshan Commander-in-Chief of the Four Seas Naval Force, with Yu Tonghai and Bai Yuanxi as his deputy commanders and Zhaowu Guard as the force’s temporary station.
• Yang Zhengshan summoned the General Management Yamen officials and ordered Yang Jinhe, Sun Yunfeng, and Xue Chang’an to prepare offices, barracks, grain, and fodder at Zhaowu Guard.
• Yang Zhengshan assigned Zhang Ruifu and Zheng Yang to coordinate weapons, funds, and grain with the ministries, then sent Luo Jinsong to deliver a letter to Yu Tonghai at the Tenglong Guard.

Yu Tonghai and Xue Ping received orders transferring the Tenglong Vanguard to the Four Seas Naval Force, then learned from Yang Zhengshan that he had been appointed its Commander-in-Chief. The force prepared to join Yang Zhengshan’s campaign, and he chose several younger members of the Yang family to accompany him as they set out for Jinhai Guard.

• Yu Tonghai and Xue Ping discussed how to spend the Tenglong Vanguard’s surplus silver and agreed to replace ships with great fuchuan and test the southeastern waters.
• Yu Tonghai received an appointment as Regional Commander and Deputy General Administrator of the Four Seas Naval Force, along with an order transferring the Tenglong Vanguard to Zhaowu Guard.
• Two guards from the Jing'an Marquis Mansion delivered Yang Zhengshan’s letter, which told Yu Tonghai to bring the Tenglong Vanguard’s elites to Jinhai Guard.
• Yu Tonghai and Xue Ping met Yang Zhengshan in the Capital and reported that they had brought warships and more than five thousand six hundred soldiers.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Luo Jinsong and several younger members of the Yang family to join the campaign, then prepared to leave for Jinhai Guard the next morning.

Yang Zhengshan arrived at Zhaowu Guard and found its harbor, city, and garrison woefully unprepared to host the Four Seas Naval Force. He began building a temporary camp and harbor, ordered an audit of stolen military farmland, and enforced military discipline as more guards arrived.

• Yang Zhengshan reached Zhaowu Guard on September twenty-eighth and found that its dock could not berth large warships and its dilapidated garrison lacked adequate housing.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Sun Yunfeng and Xue Chang'an to audit Zhaowu Guard's military farmland and punish those who had seized it.
• Yang Zhengshan pressed Prefect Lin Jisheng to recruit paid laborers, purchase timber, and send experienced clerks to support the naval force's preparations.
• Yang Zhengshan selected sites for a temporary camp and harbor, arranged for wells to be dug, and continued receiving arriving guards.
• Leizhou Guard arrived on the first day of the tenth month, followed by Haizhou Left Guard and Quanhai Guard on the fourth day.
• Yang Zhengshan had nearly a hundred unruly soldiers executed to enforce military law among the arriving troops.

The Star Moon Sect debated how to respond to Da Rong’s approaching Four Seas Naval Force and chose a plan to attack Songhe Prefecture and draw other sea powers into the conflict. Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan sent Luo Jinsong to Star Moon Island with recruitment letters designed to sow discord among the sect’s leaders and instructions to approach Deng Yuehe if it was safe.

• Yue Hongyi gathered the Star Moon Sect’s leaders, who argued over whether to attack Da Rong or avoid a direct battle.
• Qu Fusheng proposed attacking Songhe Prefecture and using the plunder to draw sea bandits and rival island powers into a wider conflict with Da Rong.
• Yue Hongyi approved Qu Fusheng’s plan and made him responsible for carrying it out.
• Yang Zhengshan gave Luo Jinsong recruitment letters for the Star Moon Sect’s leaders, with enhanced offers for Si Yulou and Cheng Wuji meant to sow suspicion among them.
• Yang Zhengshan told Luo Jinsong to deliver Cheng Wuji’s letter directly, let Si Yulou’s letter be accidentally discovered, and cautiously seek a meeting with Deng Yuehe if she seemed worth recruiting.

Yang Zhengshan received Secret Martial Guard intelligence that Star Moon Sect was gathering troops and warships, then ordered precautions and accelerated the Four Seas Naval Force’s preparations. The chapter left him demanding weapons from the Ministry of War and threatening Minister Wang Lu with tearing down his family’s residence if the armaments were delayed.

• Ning Qi told Yang Zhengshan that Star Moon Sect’s New Moon Army and First Quarter Army were gathering troops and warships, and introduced Zhuang Jiuhai as the centurion responsible for intelligence on the sect.
• Yang Zhengshan consulted the Guerrilla Generals and learned from Qian Manyi that Dongyang Island was a key sea route between Star Moon Island and Da Rong, though Star Moon Sect could bypass it.
• Yang Zhengshan sent Yu Tonghai and the Tenglong Vanguard to guard Dongyang Island, ordered patrols near Zhaowu Guard, and required the soldiers to undergo half a month of basic training.
• Yang Zhengshan ordered Zhang Ruifu to arrange weapons for the Four Seas Naval Force and threatened to tear down Minister Wang Lu’s residence if the Ministry of War failed to provide them.

Yang Zhengshan secured more money and grain for the Four Seas Naval Force and oversaw its training as the Tenglong Naval Force sailed to Dongyang Island. There, Yu Tonghai’s fleet unexpectedly encountered two Star Moon Sect divisions, and both sides prepared to fight.

• Yang Zhengshan demanded one million taels of silver and one hundred thousand shi of grain from the Ministry of Revenue, then assigned his guards and the Yang youths to train the soldiers.
• Yu Tonghai led the Tenglong Naval Force to Dongyang Island, where Zhu Ming refused Xue Ping’s request to patrol the waters.
• Xue Ping spotted Star Moon Sect ships approaching from the east and hurried back as Yu Tonghai ordered his fleet to prepare for battle.
• Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian chose to test Da Rong’s fleet, while Yu Tonghai split his ships to seize the upwind position and meet them.