Chapter Summaries

Song Qingshu went to the Jin Imperial Palace to rescue Song Yuanqiao and the others, but discovered Wanyan Ping had forced them into a scheme involving an aphrodisiac and three Song princesses. He watched them being taken inside and was left unsure how to intervene.

• Song Qingshu recovered through meditation and went to the Huan Yi Yuan at night, intending to rescue Song Yuanqiao and the others.
• Wanyan Ping led Song Yuanqiao, Zhang, and Yin into another part of the courtyard under guard by Pusan Hutu and Pucha Shijie.
• Wanyan Ping demanded they cooperate with the Great Jin Dynasty and had guards force them to take Yin Yang He He San.
• Wanyan Ping warned that they and three Song princesses would die unless they found partners within two hours, using the princesses' danger to pressure the three men.
• Wanyan Ping ordered the guards to keep silent and planned to use the scandal to force the men to submit, while Song Qingshu remained hidden and pondered what to do.

Song Qingshu rescued Song Yuanqiao, Zhang Songxi, and Yin Liting after Wanyan Ping's aphrodisiac scheme, but they refused to flee without the Princesses in Huan Yi Yuan. The chapter ended with Song Qingshu protesting that he could not possibly rescue all the Princesses held there.

• Song Qingshu decided to wait until Song Yuanqiao and the others recovered from Rouge Intoxication before rescuing them, and he watched from a beam as the poisoned men succumbed to the three Princesses.
• Song Qingshu returned after the incident, sealed the Princesses' Sleep Acupoints, and pretended he had arrived too late to prevent what happened.
• Song Yuanqiao tried to kill himself out of shame, but Song Qingshu stopped him and urged the three Wudang men to deny the incident and escape.
• Song Yuanqiao refused to abandon the Princesses to the Jurchen and proposed rescuing them from Huan Yi Yuan as well.
• Song Qingshu objected that there were at least ten or twenty Princesses there and he could not possibly rescue them all.

Song Qingshu agreed to help the Wudang men rescue the Song princesses and began considering how to free them from the palace. He visited Xiao Xingguo's residence in disguise and found the injured Yellow-robed Woman, leaving them trading barbs.

• Song Qingshu persuaded Song Yuanqiao, Zhang Songxi, and Yin Liting to pretend to cooperate with Wanyan Ping while he planned a rescue.
• Song Qingshu freed the three princesses' acupoints and left Huan Yi Yuan before the guards arrived.
• Yin Liting asked Song Yuanqiao and Zhang Songxi to keep the day's events secret from Buhui, and they agreed.
• Song Qingshu considered how to contact the princesses and get them out of the palace and city.
• Song Qingshu disguised himself as Xiao Xingguo and went to Xiao Xingguo's residence, where the Yellow-robed Woman attacked him.
• The Yellow-robed Woman questioned how Song Qingshu recognized her, then rebuked him for staring at her and making a remark about eunuchs.

Song Qingshu met with the Yellow-robed Woman, who released one set of fatal acupoints but sealed another and demanded his help. The chapter ended with her ordering him to take her to the Empress's bedchamber.

• The Yellow-robed Woman questioned Song Qingshu about his absences, revealed her surname was Yang, and released the fatal acupoints she had previously sealed.
• Song Qingshu clung to Yang's legs, and she threatened to cut off his hands before offering to spare him if he did her a favor.
• Yang asked whether Song Qingshu knew the way to the Empress's bedchamber.
• Yang ordered Song Qingshu to take her to the Empress's bedchamber.

Song Qingshu brought the Yellow-robed Woman to Empress Peiman’s chambers, where they hid as she returned with two unfamiliar young palace maids. Their meeting was interrupted by Prince Wei, whose arrogance and the Empress’s careful response left Song Qingshu wondering why she feared him.

• Song Qingshu agreed to lead the Yellow-robed Woman to Empress Peiman’s chambers, and she carried him through the palace to avoid patrols.
• Finding the chambers empty, the Yellow-robed Woman hid with Song Qingshu on a roof beam when Empress Peiman returned; she sealed his acupoints after he licked her hand.
• Song Qingshu noticed the Yellow-robed Woman reacting with suppressed excitement to two beautiful young palace maids accompanying Empress Peiman.
• Prince Wei barged into the chambers, kicked a eunuch, and claimed he had the right to visit the Empress.
• Empress Peiman concealed her anger and ordered the eunuch punished, prompting Song Qingshu to wonder why she was wary of Prince Wei.

Prince Wei provoked Empress Peiman and tried to take two palace maids, prompting the injured Yellow-robed Woman to attack him. Song Qingshu secretly wounded Prince Wei to help her escape, and Prince Wei summoned Wanyan Tes to investigate the assassin.

• Prince Wei visited Empress Peiman, mocked her authority, and demanded that she give him two palace maids.
• Prince Wei tried to seize the palace maids, and the Yellow-robed Woman attacked him with her sword.
• The Nameless guard fought the Yellow-robed Woman and began to overpower her as palace guards closed in.
• Song Qingshu secretly struck Prince Wei with sword qi, distracting the Nameless guard and allowing the Yellow-robed Woman to escape.
• Prince Wei accused Empress Peiman of involvement, but she countered that the assassin might have been one of his romantic debts.
• Prince Wei ordered his men to summon Wanyan Tes, who arrived and paid his respects to the Empress and Prince Wei.

Song Qingshu watched Prince Wei use an imperial plaque to punish Wanyan Tes and take control of Taihe Hall. He returned to Xiao Xingguo's residence, where the wounded Yellow-robed Woman asked him to remove an arrow from her back.

• Prince Wei ordered Wanyan Tes beaten, but Wanyan Tes refused to submit and prepared to leave to pursue the assassin.
• Prince Wei displayed the Emperor's golden plaque, forcing everyone to kneel and allowing him to order Wanyan Tes punished.
• Prince Wei replaced Taihe Hall's guards and servants with people he would choose, while Empress Peiman could only object weakly.
• Song Qingshu slipped out of Taihe Hall and returned to Xiao Xingguo's residence, where he found the Yellow-robed Woman badly wounded.
• The Yellow-robed Woman asked Song Qingshu to help remove an arrow lodged in her back.

Song Qingshu treated the Yellow-robed Woman's arrow wound after she asked him for help, teasing her as he removed the arrowhead and applied medicine. Before leaving to return to the palace, he arranged for nourishing food to be sent to her, and she asked why he was so good to her.

• The Yellow-robed Woman explained that an arrowhead remained lodged in her back and asked Song Qingshu to help her.
• Song Qingshu prepared supplies, tore open her clothing to reach the wound, and began removing the arrowhead while she endured the pain.
• Song Qingshu extracted the arrowhead and applied his own scar-preventing medicine, while the Yellow-robed Woman questioned what it was.
• Song Qingshu said he had to return to the palace and promised to send food to help restore her blood and qi.
• The Yellow-robed Woman asked Song Qingshu why he was so good to her.

Song Qingshu grew closer to the Yellow-robed Woman while trying to learn about her mission, then accepted Wanyan Liang’s invitation to Qiuxiang Tower. On the way, a young female assassin attacked the carriage, mistook Song Qingshu for Wanyan Liang, and escaped; Wanyan Liang later offered him a Courtesan Queen as compensation.

• The Yellow-robed Woman questioned why Song Qingshu helped her, and he invented a tale about being a Han Chinese eunuch to explain his loyalty.
• The Yellow-robed Woman promised to take Song Qingshu out of the Jin Imperial Palace after finishing her mission and said she would support him, but she refused to explain her connection to two palace maids.
• Song Qingshu returned to Tang Kuo Manor, received Wanyan Liang’s invitation to Qiuxiang Tower, and learned it was Daxing Prefecture’s largest brothel.
• A poisonous golden snake attacked Song Qingshu’s carriage, and a young female assassin rushed in before realizing he was not Wanyan Liang and fleeing past the guards.
• Song Qingshu continued to Qiuxiang Tower, where Wanyan Liang thanked him for surviving the attack and offered to give him the Courtesan Queen who had arrived that day.

Song Qingshu accompanied Wanyan Liang to Qiuxiang Tower, where they met Yang Guo and the newly appointed Minister of War, Xiao Yu. Wanyan Liang revealed that four elite bodyguards were protecting him from the masters who might target him, while Yang Guo openly doubted their strength.

• Wanyan Liang brought Song Qingshu to a private room at Qiuxiang Tower, where Yang Guo was drinking alone.
• Yang Guo insisted that his name was Yang Guo, and Song Qingshu addressed him that way instead of calling him Wanyan Bingde.
• Wanyan Liang introduced Xiao Yu, a high-born member of Liao’s Xiao Clan who served the Jin Dynasty.
• Song Qingshu asked why Ouyang Feng and the other masters were absent, and Wanyan Liang explained that the Courtesan Queen affair made their presence unsuitable.
• Wanyan Liang pointed out four hidden bodyguards—Tudan Alihhu, Tudan Zhen, Yelü Yuanyi, and Xiao Tanggudai—and claimed they could defeat Ouyang Feng or Murong if they fought together.
• Yang Guo scoffed at Wanyan Liang’s claim that so many formidable masters existed.

Yang Guo left Qiuxiang Tower after asking Song Qingshu about Wanyan Ping, whose eyes reminded him of Xiaolongnü. Song Qingshu then spotted the injured Yellow-robed Woman disguised as a man, while Wanyan Liang revealed that he planned to give him Qiuxiang Tower’s Courtesan Queen.

• Yang Guo was overwhelmed by four of Wanyan Liang’s experts in a cramped room, but his internal energy forced them to release him.
• Yang Guo privately asked Song Qingshu who Wanyan Ping was and explained that her eyes reminded him of Xiaolongnü.
• Song Qingshu told Yang Guo that Wanyan Ping was his wife’s younger sister and said that he and Wanyan Ping were in love; Yang Guo denied having feelings for her.
• Song Qingshu saw the Yellow-robed Woman disguised as a young gentleman enter a private room upstairs at Qiuxiang Tower.
• Wanyan Liang told Song Qingshu that he intended to buy Qiuxiang Tower’s Courtesan Queen for him and described how a woman’s status could make her especially desirable.

Wanyan Liang told Song Qingshu that the Courtesan Queen was the former Fifth Princess of the Song Dynasty, captured when the Jin army conquered Tokyo and later confined in Huan Yi Yuan. Song Qingshu learned that she was to be displayed as a prostitute to humiliate the Song, leaving him with a chance to find her and help the women held there.

• Wanyan Liang recalled several women he desired, including Wanyan Ge Bi and Wanyan Chongjie, while Song Qingshu asked about the Courtesan Queen.
• Wanyan Liang explained that captured Song princesses and imperial women had been kept in Huan Yi Yuan, and that the emperor had released one as a deliberate humiliation of the Song.
• Song Qingshu questioned whether the Courtesan Queen was young or beautiful, and Wanyan Liang insisted she was a peerless beauty with a special identity.
• Wanyan Liang recounted how Wanyan Zongwang had demanded women as collateral for peace and chosen the Song Dynasty’s Fifth Princess first.
• Wanyan Liang revealed that the Fifth Princess had been Cai Jing’s daughter-in-law, a prince’s secondary consort, and later a favored woman of the Jin emperor.

Wanyan Liang offered Song Qingshu the Northern Song Fifth Princess as a reward, but Song Qingshu suspected the prince was using gifts and the Courtesan Queen contest to manipulate him. As the auction began and the bids climbed, Wanyan Liang waited to make his move.

• Wanyan Liang offered Song Qingshu the Fifth Princess and promised him a woman from his residence if the gift fell through, while Song Qingshu accepted cautiously.
• Song Qingshu suspected Wanyan Liang planned to use his concubines to win his loyalty and might ultimately target Ge Bi, Tang Kuobian's wife.
• The old procuress introduced the contest and presented the Fifth Princess playing the zither behind a beaded curtain.
• The old procuress set the starting bid at five hundred taels of gold, and Song Qingshu decided to wait before bidding.
• The bidding rose past three thousand taels of gold before a fat man bid five thousand.

Song Qingshu watched the bidding for the Courtesan Queen escalate as Wanyan Liang entered the contest, only for Prince Wei to outbid him. A mysterious bidder then raised the price to two hundred thousand taels, leaving Wanyan Liang wondering who dared challenge Prince Wei.

• The Yellow-robed Woman bid six thousand taels for the Courtesan Queen, but gave up when the fat man raised his offer to ten thousand.
• A bidder from the Tudan family and other nobles drove the price to around sixty thousand taels before Xiao Yu bid one hundred thousand taels on Wanyan Liang's behalf.
• The room fell silent after Wanyan Liang's bid, but Prince Wei outbid him with one hundred and fifty thousand taels.
• Wanyan Liang told Song Qingshu he could not compete with Prince Wei and offered him a night at his residence instead.
• An unknown bidder called out two hundred thousand taels, startling Wanyan Liang and the crowd.

At Qiuxiang Tower, the Ever Victorious King challenged Prince Wei’s bid for the Courtesan Queen and accused him of accepting bribes from Yellow River officials. Prince Wei withdrew, while Song Qingshu learned how powerful nobles could avoid paying their debts and wondered who would suffer if the palace did not receive its share.

• The Ever Victorious King revealed himself and rebuked Prince Wei for failing to address him as Imperial Uncle.
• The Ever Victorious King questioned how Prince Wei could afford his bid and suggested that he had taken bribes from officials overseeing the Yellow River flood-control works.
• Xiao Yu told Wanyan Liang and Song Qingshu that Prince Wei’s punishment of Wanyan Tes had angered the Ever Victorious King.
• Prince Wei denied taking bribes, but the Ever Victorious King trapped him with the prospect of either paying the full bid or abusing his authority, so Prince Wei left.
• Xiao Yu explained that the Ever Victorious King could pay in installments and likely avoid paying most of the bill.
• Song Qingshu wondered what would happen if the palace failed to receive the Courtesan Queen’s income.

Song Qingshu attended a gathering with Wanyan Liang, who tried to bring him to his residence, but their conversation was interrupted by the Ever Victorious King. Wanyan Yuan discussed his wife Taoyao’s past and the emperor’s lingering feelings for her, leaving Song Qingshu to piece together the tangled history among the Jin nobles.

• Wanyan Liang invited Song Qingshu to his residence, and Song struggled to refuse without offending him.
• Wanyan Yuan arrived and greeted Song Qingshu as family because he was Ge Bi’s brother.
• Wanyan Yuan said he had given Wanyan Liang the Courtesan Queen because he had no interest in her and feared Taoyao’s reaction.
• Wanyan Liang recalled that Taoyao had once been a famous beauty and had received the title Lady of Peach Blossoms from the emperor.
• Wanyan Yuan reminded Wanyan Liang that Tudan Jing had chosen him, and Wanyan Liang hinted that the emperor still desired Taoyao.

Wanyan Liang accepted Wanyan Yuan’s gift of the Courtesan Queen and sent Song Qingshu away so they could speak privately. Wanyan Liang then urged Wanyan Yuan to use Taoyao to appease the emperor, but Wanyan Yuan angrily rejected the proposal.

• Wanyan Liang apologized to Wanyan Yuan and accepted the Courtesan Queen as a gift.
• Wanyan Liang offered the Courtesan Queen to Song Qingshu, who left to question the Fifth Princess about Huan Yi Yuan.
• Wanyan Liang told Wanyan Yuan that Song Qingshu’s weakness for women could help draw him away from the emperor’s side.
• Wanyan Liang warned Wanyan Yuan that the emperor’s interest in Taoyao put him in danger and proposed that Taoyao spend nights in the palace under the pretext of serving the Empress Dowager.
• Wanyan Yuan slammed the table and condemned Wanyan Liang’s suggestion that he offer up his wife for political favor.

Wanyan Liang warned Wanyan Yuan that Prince Wei threatened his survival and hinted that he could claim the throne by invoking Taizu and Taizong’s precedent. Song Qingshu met the Fifth Princess, Zhao Fujin, and began probing her past, but left their conversation with her in his arms.

• Wanyan Liang persuaded Wanyan Yuan that Prince Wei would kill him if he became emperor and suggested he follow the example of Taizu and Taizong.
• Wanyan Yuan realized the precedent could justify his own bid for the throne after Taizu’s son had been passed over for Taizong.
• Song Qingshu decided to observe the Fifth Princess before revealing his plan to rescue the Northern Song Princesses.
• Song Qingshu met Zhao Fujin and learned that she still resented her husband, Cai Tiao, for failing to defend her when the Jin Dynasty demanded her.
• Zhao Fujin remarked that Song Qingshu treated her differently from other Jin Dynasty men, and he pulled her into his lap.

Song Qingshu learned that the Courtesan Queen was a Song princess who had endured abuse from successive Jin emperors, then discovered her wine had been drugged and resisted taking advantage of her. As he tried to purge the aphrodisiac, an attacker burst through the window and struck at him.

• Song Qingshu questioned the Courtesan Queen about her past, and she revealed that Wanyan Zongwang had taken her by force before she was sent to Huan Yi Yuan.
• The Courtesan Queen said Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xizong had also forced her to serve them, then blamed the Jurchen for controlling the princesses through cruel means.
• The Courtesan Queen recognized Song Qingshu as the Jin Dynasty's Imperial Son-in-Law and began seducing him after drinking wine secretly laced with an aphrodisiac.
• Song Qingshu carried the drugged Courtesan Queen to the bed and prepared to expel the poison with his inner energy instead of taking advantage of her.
• An attacker smashed through the window and stabbed at Song Qingshu's back, shouting, "Die, rapist!"

Song Qingshu, disguised as Tang Kuobian, clashed with the Yellow-robed Woman while she rescued the Courtesan Queen from Qiuxiang Tower, then tracked them to the imperial palace. After posing as Xiao Xingguo and offering them shelter, he was recognized as an impostor by the Courtesan Queen, who began warning the Yellow-robed Woman.

• The Yellow-robed Woman attacked Song Qingshu after finding him beside the drugged Courtesan Queen, then escaped with her when guards approached.
• Wanyan Liang arrived, and Song Qingshu pretended to be shaken before leaving Qiuxiang Tower under guard.
• Song Qingshu returned to the palace disguised as Xiao Xingguo and found the Yellow-robed Woman and Courtesan Queen hiding in his residence.
• The Yellow-robed Woman introduced Song Qingshu as a trusted friend, and he brought food while the women spoke privately.
• The Courtesan Queen questioned Song Qingshu and recognized that he was not a eunuch; after he left to fetch water, she began telling the Yellow-robed Woman who he was.