Chapter Summaries

Verdant Green Maiden arranged to take Zhao Qingyu away from the palace to cultivate, with Madam Zang’s consent. After leaving Bianjing, Zhao Guangyi ordered Cao Bin and Pan Mei summoned, while Zhao Qingyu’s remark about the scenery being beautiful “at this time” puzzled Verdant Green Maiden.

• Verdant Green Maiden asked Zhao Guangyi to find Madam Zang, who returned and learned that Verdant Green Maiden had saved Zhao Qingyu.
• Verdant Green Maiden introduced herself as Shao Dian Qing Nü of the Xuanyuan Clan and asked Madam Zang to let Zhao Qingyu become her cultivator; Zhao Qingyu and Madam Zang both agreed.
• Ten days later, Verdant Green Maiden returned to take Zhao Qingyu, and Zhao Guangyi had promoted Madam Zang to consort.
• Zhao Qingyu bid farewell to Consort Zang and Binghong, then left the palace with Verdant Green Maiden in a Carriage provided by Zhao Guangyi.
• After the Carriage departed, Zhao Guangyi ordered Cao Bin and Pan Mei summoned to the Imperial Palace.
• Outside Bianjing, Zhao Qingyu admired the mountains and rivers and said they looked different “at this time,” prompting Verdant Green Maiden to question her.

On the way to Guanzhong, Verdant Green Maiden confronted Zhao Qingyu about her unusual knowledge, and Zhao Qingyu revealed she came from a thousand years in the future. Verdant Green Maiden explained that history differed because of her own long life, while dark clouds gathered overhead and the pair stopped for the night.

• Verdant Green Maiden told Zhao Qingyu they were going to Guanzhong to visit old friends, then pressed her to explain her unusual knowledge and behavior.
• Zhao Qingyu admitted she was a female high school student from a thousand years in the future, and Verdant Green Maiden questioned her about her origins.
• Verdant Green Maiden revealed that she was not human and could tell fortunes, then asked Zhao Qingyu to recount the history she had learned.
• Verdant Green Maiden said the history of their world differed because of her, and revealed that she had lived for three or four thousand years, causing Zhao Qingyu to faint.
• When dark clouds gathered, Verdant Green Maiden agreed to stop for the night; Zhao Qingyu woke and asked why she had fainted.

Verdant Green Maiden brought Zhao Qingyu to Guanzhong and asked what kind of life she wanted to lead; seeing the hardship of farmers, Zhao Qingyu considered building a city to protect people. They reached Verdant Green Maiden’s family fields, where she introduced Zhao Qingyu as the Princess of Great Song and Zhao asked the farmers to treat her as family.

• Verdant Green Maiden said she had once been able to summon Heaven, who could no longer hear her call, and promised to save Him.
• As they traveled toward Guanzhong, Verdant Green Maiden asked Zhao Qingyu what life she wanted, and Zhao admitted she had little useful knowledge from her arts studies.
• After half a month, Verdant Green Maiden and Zhao arrived in Lantian County, where Zhao saw farmers working and learned that a person needed at least eight mu of land to support themselves.
• Zhao asked whether she could build a city and protect people when she grew up, and Verdant Green Maiden encouraged her to learn.
• At the Li Family fields, Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian welcomed Verdant Green Maiden, then froze when she introduced Zhao as the Princess of Great Song.
• Zhao asked Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian to treat her as family, and Verdant Green Maiden affirmed that nobody with her was nobler than anyone else.

Verdant Green Maiden and Zhao Qingyu settled in at Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian’s home, where the couple welcomed them and learned Zhao Qingyu was a princess. After a few days of teaching and observing farm work, Verdant Green Maiden received a letter from Li Yu and sighed over its contents.

• Verdant Green Maiden sent Yue Qiu to sell the carriage and buy a plow ox, then returned with him and Old Yellow Ox to the family home.
• Old Li welcomed Verdant Green Maiden, and she gave the family local specialties from several regions.
• Old Li learned Zhao Qingyu was a princess, but Zhao Qingyu asked Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian to call her Qingyu and shared their meal enthusiastically.
• Liu Cailian showed Verdant Green Maiden her preserved room, and Verdant Green Maiden said Zhao Qingyu would sleep with her.
• Verdant Green Maiden told Zhao Qingyu how she had met Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian, then taught her classical texts while Zhao Qingyu watched the family work in the fields.
• A letter from Li Yu arrived, and Verdant Green Maiden sighed after reading it; Liu Cailian told her Zhao Qingyu was in the fields.

Zhao Qingyu learned that Zhao Guangyi had granted her the title of Defender of the State Grand Princess, and Verdant Green Maiden celebrated by buying and cooking a cow. Months later, Liu Cailian became pregnant, but Old Li’s health suddenly failed, and he asked Verdant Green Maiden how much time he had left.

• Verdant Green Maiden told Zhao Qingyu that Zhao Guangyi had granted her the title of Defender of the State Grand Princess and sent her the seal.
• Verdant Green Maiden paid Yue Qiu to buy a cow, then butchered it and ate most of the beef.
• Several months later, Liu Cailian became pregnant, delighting Yue Qiu and Old Li.
• Old Li collapsed, and Verdant Green Maiden sat by his bedside as he asked how long he had left.

After Old Li died and Yue Qiu struggled to support his family, a doubled autumn tax threatened their livelihood. Yue Qiu enlisted in the Provincial Army to spare his household the tax, leaving his pregnant wife in Verdant Green Maiden’s care.

• Verdant Green Maiden told Old Li that the Five Decays of Heaven and Man left him only three days to live, and he asked to be buried in the fields.
• Old Li died, and Verdant Green Maiden and the others buried him in the fields as Yue Qiu mourned and promised to care for his family.
• Verdant Green Maiden stayed to help care for Liu Cailian, while Zhao Qingyu joined Yue Qiu in the fields to learn farming.
• A Lantian County official announced that the autumn tax had doubled, and a decree later offered tax exemption to households whose men enlisted in the Provincial Army.
• Yue Qiu refused Verdant Green Maiden’s offer to pay the tax and asked her to protect Liu Cailian, then left home to enlist in the Provincial Army.

Zhao Guangyi led Great Song’s armies into the Hexi Corridor to destroy the Uyghur Khaganate and avenge an earlier defeat, while Yue Qiu marched with the Provincial Army. By the following spring, Yue Qiu had not returned, and Liu Cailian safely gave birth to a boy.

• Zhao Guangyi promised rewards to the generals who conquered the Huihe and ordered the Song Army to attack through the Hexi Corridor as the Imperial Guard struck Liao from You Zhou.
• Yue Qiu told young Provincial Army soldiers about the previous western expedition and promised to keep them alive as they marched toward battle.
• Zhao Guangyi stayed in Jingzhao Prefecture while the Provincial Army bore heavy losses fighting the Huihe forces and their fortified strongholds.
• By the following spring, Liu Cailian went into a difficult labor while Yue Qiu remained away, and Verdant Green Maiden prepared medicine to help her.
• Liu Cailian safely gave birth to a boy, and Verdant Green Maiden sent Zhao Qingyu outside while the midwife tended to the room.

Verdant Green Maiden helped Liu Cailian celebrate her newborn son Yue Huan’s one-month birthday while Liu Cailian waited anxiously for news of Yue Qiu. A messenger announced a great victory in Hexi, leaving Liu Cailian hopeful that her husband would soon return.

• Verdant Green Maiden visited Liu Cailian after she gave birth and suggested naming the boy Yue Huan, with the courtesy name Buxi.
• Verdant Green Maiden arranged a large one-month celebration for Yue Huan and reassured Liu Cailian’s parents that she would care for mother and child.
• Liu Cailian’s parents gave Yue Huan a protective charm from the Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple and asked Liu Cailian whether she had heard from Yue Qiu.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Liu Cailian’s mother managed the celebration while Zhao Qingyu helped see the guests off.
• A mounted messenger announced a great victory in Hexi and the fall of the Royal Court, and Liu Cailian wondered whether Yue Qiu would soon come home.

After hearing the Hexi Victory had brought hope to families across Guanzhong, Verdant Green Maiden visited the Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple and discovered its keeper was concealing a scheme involving the temple’s talismans. She confronted him and his men, then entered the storeroom with Zhao Qingyu and offered to teach her martial arts before she turned sixteen.

• News of the Hexi Victory spread through Guanzhong, and families lit lamps while waiting for their loved ones to return from the Provincial Army.
• Verdant Green Maiden admitted to Zhao Qingyu that she was the Frost God and told her how she had received her Divine Position.
• Verdant Green Maiden found hundreds of ordinary talismans in the temple storeroom and suspected something was wrong when the temple keeper threatened them and claimed the talismans had been consecrated.
• Verdant Green Maiden refused to leave, then threw aside the men the keeper brought to stop her from entering the storeroom.
• Verdant Green Maiden teased Zhao Qingyu about her acting studies and offered to teach her martial arts if she decided before turning sixteen.

Verdant Green Maiden exposed the Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple’s overpriced protective charms and confronted Peng Dian, the acting magistrate of Wan Nian County. After revealing Zhao Qingyu’s identity as the Defender of the State Grand Princess, she sent for Zhao Guangyi and kept Peng Dian waiting at the temple.

• Verdant Green Maiden crushed several protective charms and concluded that the temple steward was selling them at an outrageous markup, with others likely backing him.
• Peng Dian arrived with the temple steward and challenged Verdant Green Maiden, but she defended her right to intervene and frightened him with a near miss from her Rich Flower.
• Verdant Green Maiden knocked Peng Dian’s men to the ground and ordered the temple steward to summon Zhao Guangyi from Jingzhao Prefecture.
• Verdant Green Maiden borrowed Zhao Qingyu’s seal of authority, stamped a message for Zhao Guangyi, and sent the temple steward to deliver it.
• Peng Dian accused Verdant Green Maiden of impersonating a princess, but she broke one man’s leg and ordered Peng Dian to stay and wait with her.

The temple keeper brought Zhao Qingyu’s seal and token to Zhao Guangyi, who recognized the claim and hurried to Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple. There, Verdant Green Maiden ordered Han Sui to punish Peng Dian and prevent corruption at the temples from happening again.

• The temple keeper presented Zhao Qingyu’s seal and token at the temporary palace, and Han Sui recognized it and brought him before Zhao Guangyi.
• Zhao Guangyi ordered Han Sui to prepare for a journey to Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple and went there with the temple keeper.
• Zhao Guangyi and Han Sui found Verdant Green Maiden beside the sleeping Zhao Qingyu, while Peng Dian knelt before them.
• Verdant Green Maiden told Han Sui to sentence Peng Dian under the Great Song Code and warned him to prevent similar abuses at Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple and Shunde Heavenly Maiden Temple.

Verdant Green Maiden confronted Zhao Guangyi over the deaths of Provincial Army soldiers and demanded equal death benefits, then revealed she had once served in the Provincial Army herself. After Zhao Guangyi left, she roused Zhao Qingyu, who asked her to teach practical cultivation techniques.

• Zhao Guangyi ordered Peng Dian and the temple keeper removed, and Verdant Green Maiden demanded he prevent similar abuses during his reign.
• Verdant Green Maiden revealed that Qing Xiao Jade Maiden and Shunde Heavenly Maiden were both her, astonishing Zhao Guangyi.
• Verdant Green Maiden questioned Zhao Guangyi about the Hexi Victory and the roughly one hundred thousand Provincial Army soldiers who died.
• Zhao Guangyi admitted the Provincial Army had been treated as expendable, and Verdant Green Maiden demanded equal death benefits for all soldiers.
• Verdant Green Maiden revealed she had served in the Provincial Army during the western expedition of Taiping Xingguo, and Zhao Guangyi promised to oversee compensation personally.
• After Zhao Guangyi departed, Verdant Green Maiden woke Zhao Qingyu, who asked to be taught meditation, Zen contemplation, cultivation, and enlightenment.

Zhao Qingyu received scriptures from Verdant Green Maiden, who revealed her dragon form and explained why she could not use magic. After Verdant Green Maiden distributed free protective talismans and Great Song reclaimed Hexi, Liu Cailian waited anxiously for news of her family until a knock sounded at the gate.

• Verdant Green Maiden gave Zhao Qingyu two scriptures and showed her Dragon Horns and Dragon Pearl, explaining that they were parts of her body while magic was external.
• Verdant Green Maiden told the commoners at Qing Xiao Jade Maiden Temple that protective talismans would be free from then on and distributed the temple's stored supply.
• Verdant Green Maiden carried Zhao Qingyu home, where Liu Cailian welcomed them and prepared to make dinner.
• A month later, Great Song took control of the Hexi commandery cities, and the remaining Huihe people fled north toward Liao.
• Liu Cailian spent her days watching the gate for her family, and someone knocked on it.

Yue Qiu returned home after the Hexi campaign, having lost an arm, and reunited with Liu Cailian and their son. Verdant Green Maiden learned that Yue Qiu’s military accomplishments had been taken from him, but he did not want to pursue them, leaving her and Zhao Qingyu uncertain whether to intervene.

• Yue Qiu returned to Liu Cailian after more than a year away, and she embraced him before realizing he had lost his left arm.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Zhao Qingyu watched the reunion, then Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian came inside.
• Yue Qiu met his infant son Yue Huan, praised the name Verdant Green Maiden had given him, and thanked her for caring for his family.
• Yue Qiu told Verdant Green Maiden that he had entered the Ganzhou Royal Court first and killed the Huihe Khan, but she questioned why he had received no recognition.
• Yue Qiu declined to pursue his stolen merit and went inside, prompting Verdant Green Maiden and Zhao Qingyu to debate whether she should respect his wishes or intervene.

Verdant Green Maiden persuaded Yue Qiu to fight for the military merit stolen from him and brought him to petition Zhao Guangyi. The emperor halted the reward ceremony and ordered Cao Bin to investigate, leaving the ceremony suspended until justice was determined.

• Verdant Green Maiden urged Yue Qiu to claim the merit he had earned, and Liu Cailian promised to stand by him.
• Verdant Green Maiden told Yue Qiu she was the Imperial Tutor and said they would visit Zhao Guangyi the next day.
• Han Sui interrupted the reward ceremony to announce the Imperial Tutor’s arrival, and Zhao Guangyi welcomed Verdant Green Maiden into the hall.
• Verdant Green Maiden submitted a petition describing Yue Qiu’s battlefield achievements and his lost arm, and Zhao Guangyi demanded an explanation from Cao Bin.
• Cao Bin promised to investigate within three days, and Zhao Guangyi suspended the reward ceremony and rescinded the rewards already granted.

Verdant Green Maiden exposed Hu Dong for stealing Yue Qiu’s military merit and learned that they had once served together in the Provincial Army. Hu Dong was executed, while Zhao Guangyi restored Yue Qiu’s reward and named him a Founding Marquis.

• Cao Bin reported that Hu Dong had claimed Yue Qiu’s merit, and Verdant Green Maiden recognized Hu Dong from the Grand Hall.
• Verdant Green Maiden confronted Hu Dong and recalled that he had served under her during Taiping Xingguo’s western campaign.
• Hu Dong admitted stealing Yue Qiu’s merit because he feared being cast aside again and wanted to rise through the ranks.
• Zhao Guangyi ordered Hu Dong beheaded, and Hu Dong laughed bitterly about Yue Qiu’s sudden rise and his own wasted years.
• Zhao Guangyi promised Yue Qiu Hu Dong’s recovered rewards and the title of Founding Marquis, which Yue Qiu later received at the grants and bestowals ceremony.

Zhao Guangyi appointed Yue Qiu as Great Song’s envoy to the Western Regions, relying on Verdant Green Maiden to protect him. After Verdant Green Maiden accepted the task and judged Zhao Guangyi to have passed as an emperor, she asked Zhao Qingyu whether she wanted to go to the Western Regions.

• Zhao Guangyi declared that Great Song would keep troops in Hexi and appointed Yue Qiu as envoy to the Western Regions.
• Zhao Guangyi explained to Verdant Green Maiden that he chose Yue Qiu because she could protect him, and she agreed to help.
• Verdant Green Maiden told Zhao Guangyi he had passed her standard for a good emperor, leaving him relieved and pleased.
• Verdant Green Maiden found Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian sharing a tender moment, then teased Zhao Qingyu about being single.
• Verdant Green Maiden asked Zhao Qingyu whether she wanted to go to the Western Regions.

Zhao Qingyu agreed to accompany Verdant Green Maiden and Yue Qiu to the Western Regions, while Verdant Green Maiden warned Yue Qiu about the power his descendants might gain. The chapter left Yue Qiu stunned by her prediction and the threat she made against any descendants who oppressed the people.

• Zhao Qingyu questioned Verdant Green Maiden about her other disciples, then agreed to travel with her and Yue Qiu to the Western Regions.
• Verdant Green Maiden told Yue Qiu and Liu Cailian to pack before the group returned to Lantian County.
• Yue Qiu found villagers gathered around his farmland, congratulating him and asking him to look after their households.
• Verdant Green Maiden walked along the fields with Zhao Qingyu and Yue Qiu, then predicted that Yue Qiu's lands would grow and the villagers would become his tenants.
• Verdant Green Maiden warned Yue Qiu and his descendants not to oppress the people or seize land, threatening to punish them if they did.

Verdant Green Maiden warned Yue Qiu to keep future generations of the Yue Lineage from abusing their status, then joined Yue Qiu and Zhao Qingyu on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions. As the mission crossed the Hexi Corridor, they encountered Xu Su among a group of convicts being relocated.

• Verdant Green Maiden made Yue Qiu swear that he and his descendants would not commit evil, and then accepted his vow.
• Half a month later, Yue Qiu's diplomatic mission departed with Wang Yande as deputy envoy, and Binghong reunited with Zhao Qingyu.
• Verdant Green Maiden recalled Fengxiang's past as the old capital of Great Qin as the mission prepared to enter the Hexi Corridor.
• The mission traveled through Hexi, passing battle remains and settlers sent to cultivate the region.
• Verdant Green Maiden recognized Xu Su among the shackled convicts, and Wang Yande arranged for the group to stop and speak with him.

Verdant Green Maiden led the Western Regions mission toward Kucha City while Xu Su’s convict party continued toward Yang Pass. Seeing Tang banners still flying over Kucha’s walls, she sighed as the delegation reached the city.

• Verdant Green Maiden learned that Xu Su was being taken to Yang Pass for the remainder of his sentence, then wished him well as their routes split near Dunhuang Commandery.
• Verdant Green Maiden urged Yue Qiu to ride in the carriage, but he insisted on keeping pace with her.
• Wang Yande used Xuanzang’s old map to guide the delegation west toward Kucha City.
• Zhao Qingyu asked whether Verdant Green Maiden had met Xuanzang, and Verdant Green Maiden said she had found him companions but pushed Zhao back into the carriage when she pressed for details.
• Verdant Green Maiden and the delegation reached Kucha City and saw Tang banners flying above its walls, prompting her to sigh.