Chapter Summaries

Yang Jian enlisted Li Yuan to propose deposing Crown Prince Yang Yong and appointing Prince Yang Guang as Crown Prince, making Li Yuan a target in the court’s factional struggle. The next morning, Li Yuan made the proposal, and an official immediately condemned him.

• Yang Jian told Li Yuan he planned to depose Yang Yong and asked which prince should succeed him; Li Yuan named Yang Guang.
• Yang Jian asked Li Yuan to raise the matter at the next Court Assembly, and Li Yuan agreed despite realizing he was being made the villain.
• Li Yuan returned home and learned Verdant Green Maiden had gone to Dragon Treasure Garden; she later explained to Hong Luan that Yang Jian was using Li Yuan to make enemies among the court factions.
• At the Court Assembly, Li Yuan urged Yang Jian to depose Yang Yong and appoint Yang Guang, citing Yang Yong’s offenses.
• An official angrily denounced Li Yuan’s proposal as a threat to the foundations of the state.

Yang Guang became Great Sui’s Crown Prince after Yang Jian deposed Yang Yong, then visited Verdant Green Maiden with gifts and left when she dismissed him. Back at the Eastern Palace, he killed an attendant who had heard him speculate about marrying the Goddess and lied about the death; Verdant Green Maiden later gave Yang Guang’s gifts to Li Yuan.

• Yang Jian declared Yang Yong unfit to remain Crown Prince and appointed Yang Guang, despite ministers’ objections.
• Verdant Green Maiden watched Yang Guang’s appointment and mocked the dejected Golden Dragon of Auspicious Fortune.
• Yang Guang visited Dragon Treasure Garden, presented gifts to Verdant Green Maiden, and left after she accepted them and sent him away.
• Yang Guang told an attendant he hoped to marry Verdant Green Maiden and asked whether that might hasten his accession to the throne.
• Yang Guang shot the attendant dead, ordered the guards to remove the body, and claimed the man had died of illness.
• Verdant Green Maiden took Yang Guang’s gifts to the Li Family and gave them to Li Yuan.

Verdant Green Maiden gave Yang Guang’s gifts to Li Yuan, then left Dragon Treasure Garden after Yang Guang’s persistent pursuit of Bird Sister wore her down. She moved into Li Yuan’s residence in Chang’an, where she learned Dou Shi was pregnant again.

• Verdant Green Maiden brought Yang Guang’s gifts to Li Yuan’s home, held Young Li Shimin, and told Li Yuan that Yang Jian and Yang Guang had sought her blessings.
• Li Yuan apologized for questioning Verdant Green Maiden, and Yang Jian persuaded him to remain in Chang’an for two or three years.
• Yang Guang repeatedly visited Dragon Treasure Garden and pursued Bird Sister despite her beating him, until Bird Sister urged Verdant Green Maiden to leave.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Bird Sister vanished from Dragon Treasure Garden overnight, and Yang Guang reported their departure to Yang Jian.
• Yang Jian told Yang Guang to let the Goddess go, while Verdant Green Maiden moved into Li Yuan’s residence and discovered Dou Shi was pregnant again.

Verdant Green Maiden settled at the Li Family home and taught Li Shimin and Li Xiu Ning, while Dou Shi urged her to teach Li Jiancheng too. Verdant Green Maiden challenged Li Jiancheng to give her a reason to take him on, and he left determined to answer her.

• Li Yuan welcomed Verdant Green Maiden into his home, and she assured him that the royal family would not recognize her.
• Li Shimin finished his assignments quickly, impressing Verdant Green Maiden, who let him practice martial arts with Li Xiu Ning.
• Dou Shi brought mung bean soup and asked Verdant Green Maiden why she was leaving Li Jiancheng out of her teaching.
• Verdant Green Maiden explained that she had not taken on several other Li children either, then asked Li Jiancheng why she should teach him.
• Li Jiancheng could not answer, but vowed to give Verdant Green Maiden a reason to take him on.

After Li Jiancheng asked Verdant Green Maiden to take him as her disciple, she agreed and wrote him a startling new textbook filled with claims she attributed to the Sage. She then declared that Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning would all become her disciples, leaving them shocked when Hong Luan revealed her human form.

• Li Jiancheng told Verdant Green Maiden he wanted to become stronger to support the Li Family, and she asked him to return the next day.
• Li Jiancheng told Li Yuan and Dou Shi that Verdant Green Maiden had accepted him as her disciple, and they celebrated.
• Verdant Green Maiden admitted to Hong Luan that she had agreed impulsively and began writing a textbook for Li Jiancheng.
• Li Jiancheng questioned the textbook’s claims about the people and rulers, but accepted Verdant Green Maiden’s insistence that the Sage had said them.
• Verdant Green Maiden announced that Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning would all become her disciples, then Hong Luan transformed into a person before them.

The Verdant Green Maiden accepted the three Li siblings as disciples and revealed the history of the Ghost Valley Sect. After Li Yuanji was born and abandoned, she arranged for Chen Shan Yi to raise him in Shu, then learned that the emperor was gravely ill.

• Hong Luan oversaw Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning’s apprenticeship ceremony, making them disciples of the Verdant Green Maiden.
• The Verdant Green Maiden revealed that she had founded the Ghost Valley Sect and named its past disciples, including their living seniors Yang Jian and Yang Chan.
• Li Xiu Ning asked about becoming an immortal, while Li Jiancheng asked the Verdant Green Maiden’s age and quickly withdrew the question.
• After Dou Shi gave birth to Li Yuanji, the Verdant Green Maiden learned that he had been thrown out and found him in Chen Shan Yi’s care.
• The Verdant Green Maiden urged Li Yuan to let Chen Shan Yi raise Li Yuanji in Shu, and Li Yuan agreed and sent them with Hong Luan as their guide.
• Li Yuan told the Verdant Green Maiden that the emperor was gravely ill and unlikely to live much longer.

Yang Guang murdered the gravely ill Yang Jian, concealed the killing, and ascended the throne after presenting himself as a grieving son. He then confined Yang Yong and taunted him, leaving the new emperor in control and his elder brother imprisoned.

• Yang Guang arrived at Yang Jian's bedchamber before Yang Yong could answer the summons, then admitted the palace was under his control and the messenger had been killed.
• Yang Jian threatened to depose Yang Guang, who suffocated him with a quilt and disguised his death as peaceful.
• Yang Guang struck himself in the chest, spat blood, and cried out as if overcome by grief, convincing those who entered that Yang Jian had died naturally.
• Li Yuan returned home after the funeral and warned his household to keep away from other ministers while the succession remained unsettled.
• Yang Guang ascended the throne and ordered Yang Yong confined, puzzling ministers who saw no threat in the deposed Crown Prince.
• Yang Guang visited Yang Yong in confinement, demanded that he bow, and mocked him as Yang Yong struggled against the attendants holding him.

Yang Guang had Yang Yong killed and used a supposed imperial edict to justify the execution at court. He sent Li Yuan to Loufan alone, leaving Li Yuan’s family in Verdant Green Maiden’s care, then visited the Li residence and asked about her courtyard.

• Yang Guang ordered guards to strangle Yang Yong after Yang Yong accused him of killing Yang Jian.
• At court, Yang Guang claimed Yang Jian had left an edict ordering Yang Yong’s death, and Li Yuan confirmed that the handwriting was Yang Jian’s.
• Yang Guang appointed Li Yuan Prefect of Loufan and ordered him north without his family; Verdant Green Maiden agreed to protect them and gave him a Jade Token blessed by a Bodhisattva.
• Three days later, Li Yuan left for Loufan, and Yang Guang visited the Li residence and asked why Li Yuan’s youngest son was absent.
• Dou Shi explained that the youngest son had been sent to the Shu Region after a fortune reading; Yang Guang then asked whose residence Verdant Green Maiden and Hong Luan’s courtyard was.

Yang Guang provoked Verdant Green Maiden by commissioning statues of her, and Heaven stopped her from killing him. Heaven explained that Yang Guang could not die yet because his actions had shaped history and the Book of Fate still governed events.

• Dou Shi told Yang Guang that Verdant Green Maiden had once saved Shi Min, while Verdant Green Maiden watched from a nearby rooftop and complained about him.
• Yang Guang pursued a glimpse of Verdant Green Maiden into a dead-end alley, where she and Hong Luan pelted him and his attendants with stones.
• Yang Guang recovered at the palace, suspected Verdant Green Maiden had attacked him, and ordered a temple and Jade Bodies made in her likeness.
• Verdant Green Maiden went to the palace intending to kill Yang Guang, but Heaven blocked her and said he could not die before his role in history was complete.
• Heaven urged Verdant Green Maiden to think of a way around the Book of Fate, and she accused him of insulting her.

Qing Nü weighed Heaven’s advice about hastening Yang Guang’s downfall and chose to torment him with nightmares rather than act rashly. Yang Guang then began the Daye era by ordering the Eastern Capital built with mass conscription and preparing an imperial tour of Jiangnan, while Qing Nü looked ahead to the children she was raising.

• Heaven urged Qing Nü to use the Mandate of Heaven to bring Yang Guang down, and reminded her of Heaven’s Way: everything had a price.
• Qing Nü sent Yang Guang a nightmare that tormented him for two or three months, then encouraged Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning to grow up and take on great deeds.
• At the New Year’s Grand Court Ceremony, Yang Guang declared the Daye era and ordered officials to conscript as many laborers as possible for the Eastern Capital’s construction.
• Yang Guang ordered the Labor Department to build great ships and dragon boats for his planned tour of Jiangnan, and the ministers bowed without protest.
• Yang Guang privately declared that he would make the entire realm do as he pleased.

Verdant Green Maiden brought Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning to Luoyang to witness the laborers’ hardship and consider what they could do. After they ran out of money helping the workers, they began to understand the limits of charity and the emperor’s dependence on the people; Chunyu Tiying arrived with her disciples Sun Simiao and Meng Shen.

• Verdant Green Maiden showed the three siblings the suffering of the workers building Luoyang and urged them to question unjust imperial decrees.
• Li Shimin proposed using their money to provide food and medical care, and the siblings spent what they had on the laborers.
• After their funds ran out, Verdant Green Maiden explained that no household or emperor could support everyone and that people fed themselves through their own labor.
• Li Jiancheng, Li Xiu Ning, and Li Shimin said they understood, but Li Xiu Ning asked what would happen to the workers.
• Chunyu Tiying arrived with her disciples Sun Simiao and Meng Shen and introduced them to Verdant Green Maiden.

Chunyu Tiying treated the sick at the Eastern Capital Construction Site with help from Hong Luan and Verdant Green Maiden’s disciples, Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning. After Verdant Green Maiden returned the children to Chang’an, Yang Guang punished officials who failed to find Chunyu Tiying and announced new imperial examinations to weaken aristocratic opposition.

• Verdant Green Maiden introduced Chunyu Tiying to Li Jiancheng, Li Shimin, and Li Xiu Ning, and Chunyu Tiying explained that she had come to help the people.
• Hong Luan joined Chunyu Tiying, and Verdant Green Maiden sent her three disciples along to assist with free medical care and gain experience.
• After three months, Verdant Green Maiden took the three disciples back to Chang’an, where Dou Shi welcomed her children home and thanked Verdant Green Maiden.
• Yang Guang ordered his officials’ right hands cut off and their positions stripped after they failed to find Chunyu Tiying, despite He Ruobi protesting the punishment.
• He Ruobi and several Guanlong aristocrats admonished Yang Guang, who announced that he would establish the Imperial Examination Subject and the Ming Jing Subject and personally oversee the examinations.

Yang Guang established the Imperial Examination and Ming Jing subjects despite opposition from the court, prompting poor scholars to head for Chang'an. Verdant Green Maiden rushed off to find her missing cabbage, while Liu Yan Chang lost his way on Mount Hua and reached a strange mountaintop farm.

• Yang Guang rejected the ministers' objections and ordered the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of Revenue to issue notices for the examinations.
• Yang Su advised the Guanlong Aristocrats to prepare for a possible move to Luoyang and warned them against joining forces with the Yong City Qin Clan.
• News of the examinations spread, giving poor scholars hope and sending candidates toward Chang'an.
• Heavenly Lightning startled Verdant Green Maiden, who realized her cabbage was in danger and flew away, leaving Hong Luan to watch the house and the Li Family.
• Liu Yan Chang continued climbing Mount Hua after losing his way and discovered farmland and a Wooden House near the summit.

Liu Yan Chang met Yang Chan on Mount Hua while seeking water, and she helped him continue his journey to Chang'an. After he left, Verdant Green Maiden appeared and greeted Yang Chan as the Third Holy Mother.

• Liu Yan Chang found Yang Chan's spring, paid her for water, and learned her name.
• Yang Chan encouraged Liu Yan Chang to be more confident as he traveled to Chang'an to answer the Son of Heaven's call for scholars.
• Liu Yan Chang accepted the local title Third Holy Mother for Yang Chan and rested until the spring restored his strength.
• Yang Chan took Liu Yan Chang to the foot of Mount Hua, pointed him toward Chang'an, and vanished after he thanked her.
• Yang Chan returned to her garden, where Verdant Green Maiden appeared and greeted her as the Third Holy Mother.

Verdant Green Maiden reunited with Yang Chan and heard how lonely she had become on Mount Hua. She discouraged Yang Chan from seeing Liu Yan Chang again and asked whether she wanted to find her brother, leaving Yang Chan’s answer unknown.

• Yang Chan joyfully embraced Verdant Green Maiden, then told her how she had settled on Mount Hua and sent Xiao Tian to Luoyang to investigate the eastern capital.
• Yang Chan admitted she felt lonely because Mount Hua’s residents treated her like an Immortal rather than a friend.
• Yang Chan mentioned meeting someone unusual, and Verdant Green Maiden used her knowledge of Heaven’s Secrets to identify him as Liu Yan Chang.
• Verdant Green Maiden urged Yang Chan to leave Mount Hua and said she did not want her to see Liu Yan Chang again because they came from different worlds.
• Verdant Green Maiden asked Yang Chan whether she wanted to see her brother, whom she had not met in hundreds of years.

Verdant Green Maiden promised Yang Chan she would bring Yang Jian to Mount Hua and persuaded Heaven to protect Yang Chan from Liu Yan Chang while she was away. She found Yang Jian, Bai Susu, and Sun Huo Wang in Shu, learned Yang Jian and Bai Susu had become a couple, and set out with them to visit Yang Chan.

• Yang Chan said she wanted to see Yang Jian, so Verdant Green Maiden promised to bring him to Mount Hua.
• Verdant Green Maiden asked Heaven to keep Liu Yan Chang away from Yang Chan, and Heaven agreed after explaining that Yang Chan's tribulation was decreed by the Book of Fate.
• Verdant Green Maiden searched for Yang Jian, Sun Huo Wang, and Bai Susu in Dujiangyan and found them near Yang Tianyou and Yang Jiao's graves.
• Verdant Green Maiden learned that Yang Jian and Bai Susu had gotten together and heard that they had spent years making amends to the villages they had tricked.
• Yang Jian rejoiced when Verdant Green Maiden told him Yang Chan was the Third Holy Mother of Mount Hua, and the group prepared to go see her.

After Yang Jian and Bai Susu reunited with the Yang family, Verdant Green Maiden pushed them toward marriage and named Yang Jian Erlang Shen. She brought the group to Chang'an to arrange a grand wedding, where the Yang siblings learned Li Shimin was the Ziwei Great Emperor reincarnated.

• Heaven warned Bai Susu about her relationship with Yang Jian, but left after Verdant Green Maiden defended her and reassured him she understood her duties.
• Verdant Green Maiden insisted Yang Jian and Bai Susu hold a wedding, and declared Yang Jian Erlang Shen when he worried he was unworthy of her.
• Yang Jian admitted he doubted mortals could attain divine positions, and Verdant Green Maiden told him about Aunt Chunyu, who became a god through incense and faith.
• Verdant Green Maiden took the group to Chang'an, introduced Yang Jian and Yang Chan to Li Shimin and his siblings, and revealed that Li Shimin was the Ziwei Great Emperor reincarnated.
• Dou Shi offered the Li Mansion as a wedding venue, but Verdant Green Maiden declined and said she had already prepared a place.

Verdant Green Maiden arranged Yang Jian and Bai Susu’s wedding at the Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple, where aristocratic guests and Dragon Tiger Mountain’s Daoists gathered. The ceremony began after Verdant Green Maiden received a farewell letter from Liu Boshi and Liu Boyuan and revealed her identity to Dou Shi.

• Verdant Green Maiden arranged extra rooms for the wedding guests, and representatives of several Aristocratic clans came to the Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple.
• The Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion arrived, and its leader asked for Senior Shao Dian.
• The Daoists delivered a letter from Liu Boshi and Liu Boyuan, who had died in Kaihuang Year 9 after failing to become Immortals.
• Verdant Green Maiden confirmed to Dou Shi that she was Qing Xiao Jade Maiden and assured her that the Son of Heaven would not learn about the gathering.
• Yang Jian and Bai Susu arrived in wedding clothes, accompanied by the Li Family Siblings, and the wedding began with Verdant Green Maiden in the seat of honor.

After the wedding, Verdant Green Maiden left Sun Huo Wang on Mount Hua with Yang Chan so she could teach him human relationships. Yang Chan made him behave with Xiao Tian’s help, while Verdant Green Maiden punished him with repeated lightning strikes for insulting her.

• Verdant Green Maiden asked Yang Chan to teach Sun Huo Wang about human emotions, and Yang Chan agreed.
• Sun Huo Wang tried to persuade Yang Chan to let him leave Mount Hua, but she threatened to tell Verdant Green Maiden and summoned Xiao Tian.
• Sun Huo Wang agreed to behave when he saw Xiao Tian, and Yang Chan reassured him that they were family.
• Verdant Green Maiden watched them and called on Heaven to strike Sun Huo Wang with lightning for insulting her.
• After Sun Huo Wang was struck by lightning for several days, he asked Yang Chan for peaches, and she promised to plant peach trees for him.

Liu Yan Chang returned to Mount Hua to tell Yang Chan about his appointment, but Sun Huo Wang drove him and his attendants away. Back in Chang'an, Heaven told Verdant Green Maiden what had happened, and Hong Luan brought Li Shimin to bow to him.

• Liu Yan Chang climbed Mount Hua with his attendants and asked Sun Huo Wang to find Yang Chan, but Sun Huo Wang refused and chased him down the mountain.
• Liu Yan Chang warned his attendants to keep the encounter secret and said he would return to Mount Hua.
• Yang Chan brought Sun Huo Wang peach seeds to plant and asked about the footprints, but he denied anyone had visited.
• Heaven told Verdant Green Maiden how Sun Huo Wang had chased Liu Yan Chang away, and she praised the result.
• Hong Luan brought Li Shimin to Heaven and told him to bow.