Recaps

Ying Zheng entrusted Li Si with the Han State’s cession agreement and planned to return to Xianyang, while Ji Wuye hired the Web to target Wei Zhuang. Qing Mo took Yan Lingji, Zi Nu, Jing Ni, and the Tide Enchantress to a secluded Pacific island, where they learned to swim and shared a seafood feast.

• Ying Zheng gave Li Si the cession agreement and asked him to invite Han Fei to see him off before he returned to Xianyang.
• Ji Wuye, enraged by Straw Cloak’s death and Han Wang An’s protection of Han Fei, ordered Jade Tiger to contact the Web and arrange Wei Zhuang’s assassination.
• Qing Mo brought Yan Lingji, Zi Nu, Jing Ni, and the Tide Enchantress to an uninhabited Pacific island for a seaside outing.
• Jing Ni taught Zi Nu to swim while Qing Mo taught Yan Lingji and the Tide Enchantress, and the women practiced in the water throughout the day.
• Qing Mo prepared a lavish seafood dinner, and the women eagerly ate together beside the beach bonfire.

Qing Mo explored an island with Jing Ni, then took her and the other women diving before the story shifted to Xinzheng, where Han Fei learned that Han Wang An had ceded Nanyang’s inhabitants to Qin. Ji Wuye arrived at the Purple Orchid Pavilion to search for a fugitive as part of a plan to draw out Wei Zhuang and ambush him.

• Qing Mo and Jing Ni explored the island, caught a coconut crab, and returned to prepare breakfast with the other women.
• After breakfast, Qing Mo led the women underwater and showed them the sea life and coral.
• Han Wang An agreed to transfer Nanyang’s inhabitants to Qin, leaving Han Fei frustrated as he faced both his father’s concessions and Ji Wuye’s threat.
• Han Fei sent Wei Zhuang to meet Tian Ze in secret before Ji Wuye made his next move.
• Ji Wuye brought soldiers to the Purple Orchid Pavilion and claimed a fugitive had taken refuge there, while his allies prepared to lure Wei Zhuang into an ambush by Bai Yifei and a Heaven-Class First Rank assassin.

Ji Wuye used a false fugitive search to lure Wei Zhuang from the Purple Orchid Pavilion, where Wei Zhuang killed many Hundred Birds members before Bai Yifei and Black and White Xuan Jian ambushed him. Tian Ze joined the fight, while Qing Mo and Zi Nu returned to Xinzheng and hurried toward the burning Pavilion, leaving Wei Zhuang still under attack.

• Ji Wuye entered the Purple Orchid Pavilion claiming to hunt fugitives, while Wei Zhuang prepared to fight the Hundred Birds members sent to draw him out.
• Wei Zhuang killed many Hundred Birds members in the rear courtyard, and Mo Ya led the survivors in retreat as the fighting started a fire.
• Ji Wuye used the firefighting effort to remove Hundred Birds' bodies and persuaded Hong Yu and Nong Yu that the fugitives had caused the blaze.
• Bai Yifei and Black and White Xuan Jian ambushed Wei Zhuang together, wounded him, and pressed their attack until Tian Ze arrived to help.
• Qing Mo, Zi Nu, Jing Ni, and Yan Lingji returned to Xinzheng, spotted the fire near the Purple Orchid Pavilion, and rushed toward it.

After the fire at the Purple Orchid Pavilion, Qing Mo learned that Ji Wuye’s men had targeted Wei Zhuang and made Ji Wuye pay two thousand gold for the damage. He then told Zi Nu to move the pavilion to Xianyang, leaving her startled by the prospect of leaving Xinzheng.

• Zi Nu returned to the burning Purple Orchid Pavilion and confirmed that Nong Yu, Hong Yu, and the other women were safe.
• Qing Mo stopped Zi Nu from pressing Ji Wuye and privately made him accept responsibility for the fire, demanding two thousand gold within five days.
• Qing Mo explained that Ji Wuye and Nightfall had sent Hundred Birds to lure Wei Zhuang out, and that Wei Zhuang was fighting Black and White Xuan Jian.
• Zi Nu prepared to help Wei Zhuang, but Qing Mo told her that Gai Nie had reached him and was holding off Black and White Xuan Jian while Wei Zhuang recovered.
• Qing Mo told Zi Nu not to repair the burned backyard because he wanted her to move the Purple Orchid Pavilion to Xianyang, leaving her stunned.

Qing Mo told Li Si to pressure Wei State by cutting off its supplies while the Wei Royal House delayed the Armor-Clad Sect’s transfer to Qin. Before leaving Han State, Qing Mo invited Han Fei to serve Qin, but Han Fei remained loyal to Han; the chapter ended with Han Fei accepting a bottle of fine wine and agreeing to see Ying Zheng off.

• Qing Mo told Li Si that he and Zi Nu would visit Nanyang before returning to Qin, and asked for news about Xianyang and Wei State.
• Li Si reported that Wei State had yet to decide whether to let the Armor-Clad Sect leave, so Qing Mo ordered Qin’s goods cut off and directed Li Si to intensify newspaper pressure.
• Qing Mo visited Han Fei with Zi Nu, Jing Ni, and Yan Lingji, and they learned that Wei Zhuang was recovering from his injuries.
• Qing Mo told Han Fei that the Purple Orchid Pavilion would move to Xianyang and invited him to serve Qin in exchange for access to fine wines, but Han Fei refused because he was a prince of Han.
• Qing Mo gave Han Fei a bottle of Wind, Flowers, Snow, and Moon, then reminded him to see Ying Zheng off the next day.

Ying Zheng invited Han Fei to join Qin and help forge a unified realm governed by law, but Han Fei could not yet abandon his homeland. After Ying Zheng departed, Qing Mo urged Han Fei to consider the common people, while Mo Ya delivered Ji Wuye’s promised compensation to Qing Mo.

• Han Fei met Ying Zheng outside Xinzheng, and Ying Zheng said the seven states were too small for his ambitions.
• Ying Zheng and Han Fei agreed on governing all under heaven through law and discussed forging the Son of Heaven’s sword, but Han Fei did not accept Ying Zheng’s invitation to return to Qin.
• After Ying Zheng and Li Si left, Qing Mo told Han Fei to do good, accept that history would move forward, and consider all common people when he eventually chose between Han and Qin.
• Several days later, Mo Ya delivered two thousand gold from Ji Wuye to Qing Mo, and Yan Lingji took a handful for herself.
• As Mo Ya departed, Qing Mo told him that the King of Qin and he both thought highly of Han Fei, and Mo Ya acknowledged the message.

Zi Nu and Qing Mo’s companions left Xinzheng for Xianyang after exchanging gifts and farewells with Han Fei, Princess Honglian, Zhang Liang, and Wei Zhuang. In Xianyang, Qing Mo’s clone learned that officials’ cultivation had stalled because local abuses were harming Great Qin’s national fortune, and he sent Lord Zhao to investigate as Ying Zheng returned to the capital.

• Zi Nu oversaw the Purple Orchid Pavilion’s move to Xianyang, and Qing Mo gave Han Fei its remaining Wangyou wine.
• Zi Nu gave Princess Honglian an embroidered fan, Qing Mo gave Zhang Liang a jade brush, and he advised Wei Zhuang to train beneath a waterfall.
• Qing Mo and his companions departed Xinzheng in a procession of nearly a hundred carriages, while Han Fei, Honglian, and Zhang Liang saw them off.
• Lord Zhao told Qing Mo’s clone that officials’ cultivation had stalled, and the clone explained that local officials and powerful clans were harming Great Qin’s national fortune.
• Lord Zhao volunteered to root out the abuses in the western border region, and Qing Mo’s clone accepted as Ying Zheng returned to Xianyang.

Ying Zheng returned to Xianyang and Qing Mo's clone promptly handed him the memorials before escaping to celebrate being off work. At Orchid Manor, Qing Mo planned new livelihoods and protection for Zi Nu's rescued women, then joined Zi Nu, Jing Ni, Yan Lingji, and Tide Enchantress in a playful nighttime game that ended with him catching Jing Ni.

• Qing Mo's clone welcomed Ying Zheng back, pushed the memorials onto him, and hurried away under the pretext of arranging tea and food.
• Qing Mo's clone celebrated his freedom by booking Xianyang's largest song-and-dance house for the night, while Ying Zheng settled into reviewing memorials.
• Qing Mo visited Orchid Manor with Zi Nu, Fire Princess, and the others, and proposed mushroom cultivation, sauces, wool products, and hot pot restaurants as sources of income for the women.
• Zi Nu worried that the women's new wealth would attract danger, so Qing Mo proposed sharing sixty percent of the profits with powerful families in return for investment and protection.
• That night, Qing Mo played blindfolded with Zi Nu, Jing Ni, Yan Lingji, and Tide Enchantress, and he caught Jing Ni as the others asked him to guess her identity.

Qing Mo appointed Li Si as Qing Yan’s teacher and revealed his plan to establish an imperial examination system in Great Qin. Li Si eagerly embraced the chance to help implement a system that could open government service to people of every background and secure his place in history.

• After returning to Xianyang, Qing Mo resumed his duties, and Zi Nu reopened the Purple Orchid Pavilion in a lavish new location with Li Si’s help.
• Qing Mo asked Li Si to teach Qing Yan, and Li Si accepted the appointment along with the traditional six apprenticeship gifts from Jing Ni.
• Li Si promised to guide Qing Yan in her studies and help her become an upright person.
• Qing Mo asked whether Li Si wanted his name remembered in history, and Li Si admitted that he desperately wanted that honor.
• Qing Mo explained his plan for an imperial examination system that would select officials by merit rather than family status, and Li Si recognized it as his opportunity to make history.

Qing Mo charged Li Si with implementing a nationwide education system and merit-based Imperial Examination System, then revealed tobacco as the source of wealth to fund the reforms. He also asked Li Si to recruit Xun Fuzi to lead Great Qin’s education, promising that a dictionary could make him a sage.

• Li Si volunteered to implement the Imperial Examination System, and Qing Mo chose him because he understood the hardships faced by people without noble birth.
• Qing Mo outlined plans for schools throughout Great Qin, state-funded education, diverse subjects, and an Education Department, while Li Si worried about the costs and resistance from aristocratic families.
• Qing Mo gave Li Si tobacco seeds and cigarette-making knowledge, ordering him to keep production under state control as a secret and arrange protection through the Black Ice Platform.
• Qing Mo transmitted tobacco cultivation, cigarette production, and match-making methods to Li Si, then instructed him to invite his teacher Xun Fuzi to lead Great Qin’s education and Grand Academy.
• Qing Mo told Li Si that a dictionary could make Xun Fuzi a sage and support the education reforms, leaving Li Si astonished.

Qing Mo persuaded Li Si to bring Xun Fuzi and other Confucian scholars to Qin to compile a dictionary, with Qin characters listed first. After Li Si rushed off to report the plan, Yan Lingji found the hidden second half of Qing Mo’s Chinese Paladin manuscript and pressed him to reveal what happened to its characters.

• Qing Mo explained the dictionary’s purpose to Li Si, who became eager to help compile it.
• Qing Mo told Li Si that Xun Fuzi had to be chief editor, while Li Si could assist and recruit fellow disciples to help with schools and examinations.
• Qing Mo required Qin characters to come first in the dictionary, and Li Si agreed to report the plan to Ying Zheng and invite Xun Fuzi and the other scholars to Qin.
• Li Si left for the palace, and Jing Ni and Yan Lingji arrived at Qing Mo’s residence while he was away.
• Yan Lingji demanded the rest of Chinese Paladin, searched Qing Mo’s room, and found the hidden manuscript in a bedside cabinet.
• Yan Lingji asked Qing Mo which characters died, but he told her to read the manuscript herself.

Xun Fuzi and Fu Nian considered Li Si’s invitation to join Qin State and help establish its schools, examinations, and Dictionary, and agreed that Confucianism should prepare to enter Qin. Meanwhile, Qing Mo relaxed at the Purple Orchid Pavilion with Zi Nu and discussed Hu Ji’s request to meet him and the pressure mounting on Wei State.

• Xun Fuzi read Li Si’s letter describing the Dictionary, Qing Mo’s invitation, and Qin’s plans for schools and merit-based examinations, then summoned Fu Nian to discuss it.
• Fu Nian read the letter and admired Qin’s reforms, though he worried that Confucianism would have to share influence with other schools of thought.
• Xun Fuzi urged Fu Nian to consider Confucianism’s future in Qin, and Fu Nian agreed to inform the other disciples while Xun Fuzi invited those willing to accompany him.
• At the Purple Orchid Pavilion, Zi Nu told Qing Mo that Hu Ji had repeatedly asked to meet him, but Qing Mo said Hu Ji should wait until Li Si brought her.
• Zi Nu reported that Wei State’s nobles were pressuring its royal house to free the Armor-Clad Sect after Qing Mo cut off its supply of salt, sugar, and other goods, and Qing Mo warned that he would act if the delay continued.

Li Si heard Hu Ji’s request for a lasting trade partnership between her Grasslands tribe and Great Qin, then secured Qing Mo’s approval to meet her. At the Purple Orchid Pavilion, Qing Mo received Hu Ji and invited her to explain her proposal.

• Hu Ji told Li Si that the Grasslands needed far more salt, sugar, spirits, and other goods, and asked to establish a long-term partnership with Great Qin.
• Li Si promised to relay Hu Ji’s request to Qing Mo, who agreed to meet her the next day at the Purple Orchid Pavilion.
• Li Si told Qing Mo that his teacher and fellow disciples were traveling to Great Qin, and Qing Mo assigned him to arrange their stay and ensure they remained willingly.
• Li Si informed Hu Ji that Qing Mo would see her, and she eagerly went with him to the Purple Orchid Pavilion.
• Qing Mo welcomed Li Si and Hu Ji into his private room and asked Hu Ji to state her business.

Hu Ji persuaded Qing Mo to permit long-term trade between Great Qin and the Yuezhi so her tribe could resist Luan Di and the Xiongnu. Qing Mo agreed to trade and aid in return for the Yuezhi becoming Great Qin’s vassal, then proposed exploiting the Xiongnu Chanyu’s two sons to ignite a succession struggle.

• Hu Ji asked Qing Mo to approve long-term trade, but he initially refused because he feared the Xiongnu would use Qin supplies to threaten the Central Plains.
• Hu Ji explained that she was Yuezhi, not Xiongnu, and that Luan Di had conquered the Donghu and threatened her tribe with enslavement and slaughter.
• Qing Mo agreed to trade and provide medical supplies, explaining that Great Qin wanted the Grasslands divided and would support the Yuezhi in exchange for their loyalty, tribute, and vassal status.
• Hu Ji asked whether Great Qin would send troops against the Xiongnu, and Qing Mo said he could provoke them to fight among themselves.
• Qing Mo asked about the Xiongnu Chanyu’s two sons, and Li Si realized that Qing Mo meant to exploit their succession struggle.

Qing Mo arranged for Great Qin and Yuezhi to provoke a Xiongnu civil war after Touman Chanyu’s assassination, then demanded that Yuezhi’s leader Hu Ji bear a child of Ying Zheng to inherit Yuezhi. Hu Ji accepted the plan, leaving the alliance poised to bind Yuezhi to Qin through the royal bloodline.

• Qing Mo told Hu Ji and Li Si that killing Touman Chanyu would pit Modu against his younger brother and stepmother, and he ordered the Web to carry out the assassination.
• Qing Mo instructed Hu Ji to spread rumors favoring the younger son, build Yuezhi’s strength, and keep the Xiongnu factions evenly matched; Hu Ji revealed that she was Yuezhi’s ruler and pledged support.
• Hu Ji offered Qin gold and livestock in return for aid, but Qing Mo demanded Yuezhi’s absolute loyalty and rejected a pledge made only in words.
• Qing Mo told Hu Ji to bear a child of Ying Zheng and raise that child to become Yuezhi’s future leader, and Hu Ji reacted with delight.

Qing Mo arranged for Hu Ji to bear Ying Zheng’s child, securing Yuezhi’s loyalty and a role in Great Qin’s wool trade. Back at his residence, Fire Princess confronted Qing Mo over his tragic novel and then demanded that he father her children, leaving him to head inside with her and the eager Zi Nu and Jing Ni.

• Qing Mo instructed Hu Ji to care for herself, return to Yuezhi once pregnant, and serve Ying Zheng.
• Qing Mo persuaded Ying Zheng to agree to father Hu Ji’s child, promising safeguards for her and the possibility that their child could inherit some of Ying Zheng’s power.
• Li Si told Hu Ji that Ying Zheng had agreed and offered Yuezhi a share of profits for arranging wool purchases from the grassland tribes; Hu Ji pledged loyalty to Great Qin.
• Fire Princess angrily blamed Qing Mo for the tragic ending of “Chinese Paladin,” and Qing Mo carried her off after she pounded his chest.
• Fire Princess complained that Qing Mo had arranged for Hu Ji to bear Ying Zheng’s child but had not given her one; Zi Nu and Jing Ni also showed they wanted children with him.
• Fire Princess demanded that Qing Mo take her to bed, and he headed inside with her while inviting Zi Nu and Jing Ni to join them.

Jing Ni delivered Qing Mo’s order to Zhao Gao, who agreed to have the Web assassinate Touman Chanyu and secretly place evidence with his younger son. After sending Jing Ni away, Zhao Gao resolved to use the mission to win Qing Mo’s favor, while Qing Mo began planning Great Qin’s first railway with Yan Lingji beside him.

• Jing Ni forced her way into Zhao Gao’s residence, confronted Yin Ri, and demanded that Zhao Gao receive Qing Mo’s order.
• Zhao Gao appeared and bowed to Jing Ni, while she immobilized and slapped the Six Sword Slaves after they rushed at her.
• Jing Ni ordered the Web to kill Touman Chanyu within a month and secretly deliver one of his belongings to his younger son.
• Zhao Gao ordered Yin Ri to bring Black and White Xuan Jian back and carry out the assassination, hoping the mission would earn Qing Mo’s notice.
• Qing Mo calculated the route, workforce, materials, and costs for a railway from Xianyang to Hangu Pass as Yan Lingji watched him.

Hu Ji returned to Yuezhi pregnant with Ying Zheng’s child as the Xiongnu fell into civil war after Touman Chanyu’s assassination. In Xianyang, Qing Mo showed Xun Fuzi, Fu Nian, and Li Si the original history and persuaded them to help shape a different future for Qin and its schools of learning.

• Two Web assassins killed Touman Chanyu, and his youngest son and the new consort used rumors and his knife to rally support against Modun, igniting a brutal Xiongnu civil war.
• Hu Ji celebrated the Xiongnu’s infighting as she traveled back to Yuezhi with supplies, hoping her unborn child would strengthen the bond between Yuezhi and Qin.
• Li Si welcomed Xun Fuzi, Fu Nian, and the Confucian disciples to Xianyang, then brought the two leaders to meet Qing Mo.
• Qing Mo revealed the River of Time and showed them original history, including Li Si’s betrayal and later generations’ abuses of Confucianism, leaving Xun Fuzi, Fu Nian, and Li Si devastated.
• Xun Fuzi and Fu Nian vowed to change the Confucian school, while Qing Mo reassured Li Si that Ying Zheng had chosen to trust him despite his original-history betrayals.
• Xun Fuzi pledged his allegiance to Qin and agreed to discuss the future of education with Qing Mo.

Qing Mo persuaded Xun Fuzi, Fu Nian, and Li Si to compile a dictionary accessible to commoners and support Qin’s wider education, while Xun Fuzi agreed to try to persuade Han Fei to join Qin. Later, Qing Mo proposed opening a passage to the Immortal Cultivation World so Ying Zheng could establish a new Great Qin there, leaving them to consider who could make the journey.

• Qing Mo asked Xun Fuzi to serve Qin fairly, requested his calligraphy, and explained that the dictionary should include plain-language definitions so commoners could learn to read.
• Fu Nian initially objected to plain explanations, but Xun Fuzi, Li Si, and Fu Nian accepted Qing Mo’s reasoning, and Li Si agreed to provide resources for the dictionary and future schools.
• Qing Mo asked Xun Fuzi to persuade Han Fei to join Qin as its future Minister of Justice, and Xun Fuzi agreed to speak with him.
• Han Fei was shaken when he learned that his teacher had gone to Qin, while the Confucian disciples focused on compiling the secret dictionary.
• Qing Mo told Ying Zheng that he could open a passage to the Immortal Cultivation World, where Ying Zheng might establish a new Great Qin, but warned that passage and travelers would require careful planning.

Qing Mo opened a passage from Great Qin to a Middle Thousand World and showed Ying Zheng and the officials its cultivators fighting over a spirit medicine. He explained the hierarchy of worlds and promised the officials a chance to cultivate beyond the passage, leaving them desperate to advance.

• Qing Mo told Ying Zheng and the court that he planned to open a passage to an Immortal Cultivation World and establish an Immortal Qin Empire there, explaining that the National Fortune Cultivation Method could extend their lives by only about a thousand years.
• Qing Mo opened a passage in the palace square, allowing the court to witness Gu Wangyue's Mistglow Sect group defeat Ma Changyuan's Azure Firmament Sect group in a battle over the Heavenly Spirit Soul-Nourishing Grass.
• Qing Mo explained that the passage let them see and hear the other world without being detected, and Ying Zheng privately judged the fighters to be full of openings.
• Qing Mo described the vast hierarchy of worlds and said even peak God Emperor Realm cultivators were like ants to him, stunning the officials and Meng Tian.
• Qing Mo told the officials they could cultivate in the Middle Thousand World and might ascend to an Immortal Realm, prompting them to beg for the chance.

Qing Mo set the terms for an inspection trip to the Immortal Cultivation World, reluctantly agreeing to let Ying Zheng lead it for half a year while reserving a place for Li Si. After news of the passage stirred Xianyang and Qing Mo’s companions argued over joining the trip, the ten days of preparation ended with a vast crowd gathered at Xianyang Palace.

• Qing Mo limited the inspection party to ten officials plus Yinzi, but Ying Zheng insisted on joining and chose Li Si for one of the places.
• Qing Mo announced a one-month trip, then yielded to Ying Zheng and the officials’ pleas and extended the inspection to half a year.
• Qing Mo told the officials to prepare for departure in ten days and warned that only those he permitted could use the passage.
• News of the passage spread through Xianyang and China, bringing visitors to the city and driving up lodging prices.
• Fire Princess complained that Qing Mo had not offered to take his companions to the Immortal Cultivation World, then panicked when he said he would return to the Divine Realm without her.
• When the ten days passed, crowds filled the area inside and outside Xianyang Palace, awaiting the journey.