Chapter Summaries

Jiajing uncovered Yan Maoqing’s theft of salt-tax silver but delayed arresting the Yan Faction so he could catch them with their stolen wealth. Half a month later, rulers across Terra acted on the drama’s revelations, while Jiajing became obsessed with blood scriptures said to be written by a Feranmut and ordered Qi Dazhu’s execution stopped.

• Lü Fang reported that Yan Maoqing had concealed at least two million taels of salt revenue, enraging Wei Yenwu, who chose to let the Yan Faction continue gathering money until he could seize them at the right moment.
• The emperor of Great Yan reviewed five years of salt-tax records, discovered a long-running revenue shortfall, and left to handle official business.
• After watching the episodes, Ioleta led the Silvermane Knights in exposing bribery in Kazimierz, while Victoria arrested more than seventy officials for corruption.
• Theresis and Theresia discussed how the drama had prompted other countries to investigate their finances and how Victoria and Great Yan would help safeguard Kazdel’s restoration.
• Prince Yu’s Consort gave Jiajing blood scriptures attributed to Shuo and claimed a dragon-horned stranger had delivered them through Qi Dazhu’s wife, convincing Jiajing that a Feranmut had reappeared.
• Jiajing ordered Lü Fang to search for Shuo, then learned it was noon and commanded him to stop Qi Dazhu’s execution immediately.

Xi and the others analyzed Jiajing’s response to the Blood Scripture and Yan Song’s attempt to use its disputed origins to destroy the Purists. As Yan Shifan moved against Gao Hanwen and threatened the Purists, Theresis recognized that their downfall would also eliminate the forces supporting Prince Yu.

• Ling and Wei Yenwu explained why Jiajing believed the Blood Scripture and how it strengthened his pursuit of godhood and imperial authority.
• Wei Yenwu explained that Yan Song gambled on exposing the Blood Scripture’s origins because he feared Jiajing would destroy the Yan Faction after Qi Dazhu’s release.
• Yan Song arranged for Chen Hong to present evidence about the Blood Scripture to Jiajing, while ordering his faction to keep Gao Hanwen and Yun Niang under watch.
• After emerging from seclusion, Jiajing feigned anger at the evidence, ordered arrests, and let Chen Hong believe she had permission to move against the Purists.
• Yan Shifan confronted Gao Hanwen and threatened to arrest Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and others, while Gao refused to hand over Yun Niang or implicate Prince Yu.
• Theresis realized that destroying the Purists would also remove the forces supporting Prince Yu.

Theresis reconsidered Jiajing’s control of the court as the Yan Faction fell, while the Sarkaz increasingly accepted his leadership alongside Theresia. After Chen Qi’s drama showed Yan Shifan’s arrest, Chen Qi and the others reached the Great Yan court, where a tax investigation had sparked a brawl among officials and a minister began an impeachment.

• Theresis realized Jiajing was unlikely to let the Yan Faction destroy the Purists, while Theresia considered whether her brother might serve as Kazdel’s prime minister.
• Lü Fang announced Jiajing’s decree to arrest Yan Shifan, Luo Longwen, and Yan Maoqing instead of the Purist officials, and Theresis replayed the scene to catch its foreshadowing.
• Zhu Qi escorted Yan Shifan home, confronted her over Shen Lian’s death, and tore apart her carriage before taking her into custody.
• Chen Huijie, Zuo Le, and Lin Yuxia worried that the Purists might not reform Great Yan as they approached the palace and heard fighting inside.
• The emperor of Great Yan’s audit of tax revenues revealed widespread embezzlement, and officials began fighting in the main hall as one minister stepped forward to impeach another.

The emperor of Great Yan watched his officials turn accusations of belonging to the Yan Faction into a brawl, then considered how Great Yan might change while Chen Qi continued filming “Great Yan Dynasty.” As Hai Rui began his challenge to Jiajing’s authority, he used the Six Musts House to expose the fear surrounding the emperor’s decree.

• Great Yan’s ministers accused one another of belonging to the Yan Faction, escalated their dispute into a fistfight, and were observed by the emperor as Zuo Le, Chen Huijie, and Chen Qi arrived.
• Wei Yenwu told Chen Huijie and the others that ministers had often fought in the late emperor’s court, then warned that officials had grown complacent amid Great Yan’s troubles.
• The emperor of Great Yan considered the need to reform the court and wondered whether preserving tension with Sui could help keep Great Yan from stagnating.
• Chen Qi resumed filming episode 35, in which Yan Song appealed to Jiajing to spare some officials, and Jiajing ordered him to rename the Six Hearts House the Six Musts House as a warning to his subjects.
• Lin Yuxia worried that playing Yan Shifan would damage her reputation, but Chen Qi reassured her that the emperor would explain the drama and its cast to Great Yan’s people.
• Hai Rui visited the Six Musts House and wrote an annotation explaining its six requirements for quality pickles, giving the proprietor a way to restore business while challenging the fear surrounding Jiajing’s decree.

Jiajing’s worsening illness and suspicion led him to replace Lü Fang with Chen Hong, but his farewell to Lü Fang revealed a rare moment of grief and affection. The chapter ended with Jiajing left alone, while Wenyue reflected on how his childhood and position had shaped his tyranny.

• Jiajing rejected Xu Jie’s requests to spend confiscated wealth on defense, officials’ overdue salaries, and relief for disaster-stricken people, insisting that the money should serve him.
• Jiajing’s illness and fear of losing authority intensified, and he summoned Chen Hong to take control of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
• Jiajing sent Lü Fang away to guard the imperial tombs and gave him a talisman as a final gesture of care.
• Lü Fang accepted the talisman, bowed farewell to Jiajing, and left in tears as Jiajing struggled to hide his grief.
• Wenyue said Jiajing’s childhood losses and isolation had contributed to his suspicious, tyrannical rule.

The emperor of Great Yan reflected on how “Great Yan Dynasty” had helped him uncover corruption and considered how to secure Wei Yenwu’s future, then screened episode thirty-eight for his officials. The episode showed Hai Rui caught up in an officials’ protest over unpaid salaries, and it ended with him warning Wang Yongji that confronting the Grand Secretariat would be useless.

• The emperor considered ways to keep Wei Yenwu and Wenyue from fleeing, including recognizing Wei Yenwu’s identity, but put both plans aside for the moment.
• The emperor showed his officials episode thirty-eight, in which Zhao Zhenji assigned Hai Rui to distribute meager overdue salaries.
• Wang Yongji intervened when furious officials turned on Hai Rui and revealed that Hai Rui had also been fined six months’ salary.
• Capital officials rallied to abandon their posts and challenge the Grand Secretariat over corruption, unpaid military funds, and disaster relief.
• Wang Yongji prepared to join the protest, but Hai Rui stopped her and said it would be useless.

Jiajing used Chen Hong to flog officials who remonstrated against him, while Hai Rui witnessed starving disaster victims and exposed the failure of relief efforts. The officials watching the drama resolved to prevent the depicted future from coming to pass, undermining the Great Yan emperor’s secret escape plan.

• Hai Rui declared that he would attack the root cause of Great Yan’s sickness, while Jiajing confided in Huang Jin and warned him that Feng Bao might eventually kill Chen Hong.
• Jiajing dismissed the mass remonstrance by officials and authorized Chen Hong to flog them, shocking the rulers and officials watching the drama.
• Huang Jin challenged Jiajing’s harsh response, but Jiajing said the officials were challenging him and that he needed Chen Hong’s ruthlessness to keep order.
• Hai Rui arrived in a disaster-stricken county, ordered more rice added to the relief porridge, and tried to save the starving survivors as officials watched in horror.
• Jiajing issued an edict of self-reproach that shifted responsibility for his palace construction onto the Grand Secretariat, angering Lin Qingyan and the Great Yan officials.
• The officials decided they had to prevent the future shown in the drama, while their anger at Jiajing began to derail the emperor’s escape plan.

Wei Yenwu witnessed Great Yan's officials pressure the emperor to produce an heir, while Hai Rui's memorial denounced Jiajing's rule in Chen Qi's drama. The chapter leaves the drama's rulers stunned by the memorial and explains how Hai Rui's words destroyed Jiajing's carefully cultivated reputation.

• The Grand Tutor and Great Yan's officials urged the emperor to produce an heir and name a crown prince, hoping to prevent Great Yan from falling under a future ruler like Jiajing.
• Wei Yenwu welcomed the officials' demand because it could keep him and Wenyue's descendants away from the throne, while Wenyue noted that the emperor's wishes still needed to be addressed.
• Chen Huijie, playing Hai Rui, submitted a sealed memorial disguised as a congratulatory address and condemned Jiajing's neglect, corruption, and burdensome taxes.
• Jiajing erupted in fury when Hai Rui declared that people interpreted his reign title to mean every household had been stripped bare.
• Kal'tsit explained to Amiya that Hai Rui's memorial had ruined Jiajing's hopes of securing a favorable reputation in history.

Jiajing’s paranoia spiraled after Huang Jin revealed that Hai Rui had prepared to die in protest, and Chen Hong used the disclosure to deepen the emperor’s suspicions. Zhao Zhenji stepped forward to defend himself and redirect Jiajing’s anger, but Jiajing still threatened to investigate everyone, even Prince Yu.

• Jiajing ordered Hai Rui seized, but Huang Jin stopped Chen Hong from acting and revealed that Hai Rui had sent his family away and prepared a coffin.
• Chen Hong accused Huang Jin of concealing a conspiracy, and Jiajing grew convinced that officials were plotting to force him to abdicate.
• Zhao Zhenji entered with a memorial and declared that he had known nothing about Hai Rui’s protest, while accepting responsibility as Hai Rui’s superior and the memorial’s presenter.
• Zhao Zhenji challenged Chen Hong’s accusations and argued that Jiajing would have to trust him before he could investigate Hai Rui’s supposed mastermind.
• Jiajing praised Hai Rui and Zhao Zhenji as heroes, then vowed to investigate their backers and accomplices, including Prince Yu.

Great Yan's officials pleaded with Chen Qi to film Hai Rui's next debate, and Chen Qi agreed to let them appear as recording officials. The chapter began the debate's setup as Jiajing prepared to confront Hai Rui and the officials, leaving the ministers eager to witness the coming showdown.

• Zhao Zhenji defended himself before Jiajing, but Jiajing backed Chen Hong's demand to arrest Zhao Zhenji, Hai Rui, and their alleged associates.
• Jiajing ordered Chen Hong to investigate Hai Rui, then grew confused about whom to arrest first and collapsed under the realization that Hai Rui might have acted alone.
• Jiajing ordered Huang Jin arrested and planned to question Hai Rui with Chen Hong, while Zhao Zhenji was also to be interrogated.
• Great Yan's officials rushed toward Chen Qi's production site, and the emperor punished several eager ministers by ordering them to work from home for six months.
• Chen Qi agreed to film Hai Rui's debate with the officials and invited the ministers to appear as recording officials; Chen Huijie and Talulah supported the plan.
• Jiajing investigated Hai Rui's backers and asked his grandson how to handle the officials' defensive arguments; the child replied, "Burn them!"

Hai Rui, played by Chen Huijie, defeated Zhao Zhenji in their first debate and exposed his abuses, while Jiajing prepared a larger debate to make Hai Rui recant. Lord Shi tried to persuade Hai Rui with threats, concern for his friends, and promises of rank, but Hai Rui refused and remained ready to bear the consequences.

• Hai Rui challenged Zhao Zhenji’s accusations, defended the purpose of his memorial, and asked him to recuse himself because of their prior grievance.
• Hai Rui recounted Zhao Zhenji’s exploitation of Zhe City’s people and declared that Zhao was among the ministers his memorial condemned, ruining Zhao’s reputation.
• Jiajing ordered Xu Jie to gather officials from the Censorate, Hanlin Academy, and Imperial Academy for a joint debate with Hai Rui.
• Lord Shi warned Hai Rui that his friends and associates had been implicated, then offered him a chance to recant in exchange for pardon and a path to scholarly distinction and advancement.
• Hai Rui refused the offer, invoked the sages’ words about the people and the state, and said his own life mattered little compared with Great Yan and its people.

Hai Rui’s remonstrance moved Chen Huijie, enraged Jiajing, and left Great Yan’s emperor ill after he watched the scene. The emperor was diagnosed with exhaustion and told to recuperate, while Chen Qi feared the consequences of his drama.

• Jiajing disguised himself and challenged Hai Rui to defend his criticism of Emperor Wen and the present emperor.
• Hai Rui condemned Jiajing’s rule, and Chen Huijie answered that the people suffered under corrupt officials while their sovereign ignored them.
• Jiajing angrily accused Hai Rui of recognizing neither father nor sovereign, and Chen Huijie’s portrayal drew on her own painful family history.
• Hai Rui’s words moved Great Yan’s emperor to cough violently, while Jiajing suffered a nosebleed and sentenced Hai Rui with the words, “No father, no sovereign; forsaking country, forsaking family.”
• After filming, Chen Qi learned that Great Yan’s emperor had fallen ill, and an imperial physician diagnosed exhaustion and ordered him to recuperate.

The emperor of Great Yan fell ill and appointed Wei Yenwu regent while asking officials to continue filming Great Yan Dynasty. Manfred arrived to invite Chen Qi and Great Yan to Kazdel’s restoration and request Hai Rui’s full Memorial on Public Order, while Wei Yenwu began negotiating for influence over Kazdel; the final episodes then showed Jiajing’s riddles being decoded as officials hoped Hai Rui would be spared.

• The imperial physician said Wei Yenwu’s internal injuries had worsened the emperor of Great Yan’s illness, and the emperor agreed to let Wei Yenwu serve as regent for half a month while retaining approval over state affairs.
• A Great Yan official reported that Manfred had arrived from Victoria with news of Kazdel’s impending restoration and an invitation for Chen Qi and the emperor to attend.
• Manfred told Chen Qi that Theresis wanted a copy of Hai Rui’s Memorial on Public Order, and Wei Yenwu supplied one he had written from memory.
• Wei Yenwu invited Manfred to stay and proposed accompanying him to Kazdel’s restoration, while warning that Kazdel remained vulnerable and Manfred declined to negotiate beyond his instructions.
• Chen Qi redirected Wei Yenwu and Manfred toward finishing Great Yan Dynasty, whose final episodes showed officials interpreting Jiajing’s riddles as signs that he might spare Hai Rui.
• Talulah, Nian, Ling, and Great Yan’s officials watched the filming and hoped Hai Rui would survive and Jiajing would change.

Xu Jie persuaded the dying Jiajing to spare Hai Rui, and Talulah recognized how Hai Rui’s family reflected Great Yan’s troubles. Jiajing awakened to his failures and resolved to live and govern again before meeting Hai Rui for a final debate.

• Xu Jie presented memorials about Gao Hanwen’s wealth and Hai Rui’s family tragedies, while Chen Hong called the deaths Heaven’s retribution.
• Jiajing used Chen Hong’s words as grounds to spare Hai Rui, and officials watching the drama celebrated when her execution did not occur by noon.
• Jiajing admitted his mistakes to Xu Jie, who described ministers as daughters-in-law caught between their ruler and the people; Talulah connected Hai Rui’s family to Great Yan’s failing household.
• Jiajing considered abdicating, but Xu Jie urged him to recover and revive the dynasty, prompting him to take Li Shizhen’s medicine and regain his resolve.
• After the medicine reduced his dragon scales, Jiajing asked Huang Jin to help him rise and comb his hair before facing his son and grandson.

Jiajing resumed his role as Great Yan’s sovereign and confronted Hai Rui before Prince Yu and Wanli, explaining his strategy for balancing rival court factions. He left Hai Rui alive for his son to decide, while Wanli questioned whether Jiajing had broken his promise.

• Jiajing put on his dragon robe and summoned Prince Yu, Wanli, and Hai Rui, intending to debate Hai Rui again.
• Wanli met Hai Rui and revealed that he had pleaded for Hai Rui’s pardon, while Hai Rui answered the child’s challenge without fear.
• Hai Rui argued that past sage rulers remained in history and the people’s hearts, and Jiajing explained how he balanced the Yangtze and Yellow River factions to preserve imperial authority.
• Jiajing accused Hai Rui of seeking martyrdom and declared that such a Purist had to be killed, but ordered that Hai Rui be kept alive through the year and left to Prince Yu.
• As Hai Rui was taken away under guard, Wanli watched him go and asked whether Jiajing had gone back on his word.

Jiajing issued his final decrees, leaving Prince Yu a plan for governing Great Yan before dying and bringing Great Yan Dynasty 1566 to a close. After filming ended, Chen Qi explained that the emperor and officials were meeting to discuss Jiajing’s lessons, and Wei Yenwu suddenly realized something was wrong.

• Jiajing told Little Wanli that no promise mattered unless he could decide for himself, then watched him leave and mourned losing his last close relative.
• Prince Yu carried Jiajing to the couch, and Great Yan’s officials stood to honor the dying emperor.
• Jiajing decreed that Prince Chu’s lands should be returned to the commoners who farmed them and entrusted Hai Rui to Prince Yu as a weapon for reform.
• Jiajing named Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng as Prince Yu’s successive tutors, then died after telling him that Heaven alone knew who should come next.
• Chen Qi narrated Jiajing’s death, Prince Yu’s succession as the Longqing Emperor, and the start of the Longqing-Wanli Reform.
• Chen Qi said the emperor and officials were meeting to discuss Jiajing’s lessons, and Wei Yenwu abruptly stood up after realizing something was wrong.

The emperor of Great Yan tried to escape the throne, but Wenyue and the Grand Tutor stopped him and persuaded him to accept a succession agreement with Wei Yenwu. A week later, Wei Yenwu joined Chen Qi’s crew on the journey to Kazdel, having agreed to rule Great Yan after his younger brother’s term and begun planning how Chen Huijie might succeed him.

• Wei Yenwu realized his younger brother planned to flee and sent Chen Qi’s crew to guard the palace, but Wenyue arrived and revealed that the escape had already been prevented.
• The Grand Tutor confronted the emperor of Great Yan and explained that the palace exits, crooked tree, and merchant caravan were all unavailable, then persuaded him that Great Yan needed his rule for now.
• The Grand Tutor proposed a forty-year term for Great Yan’s sovereigns, allowing the emperor to step down after fifteen more years and leave the throne to a suitable successor.
• Wei Yenwu and the emperor signed the gentlemen’s agreement, with Chongyue promising to keep Sui-Xiang from awakening during the fifteen-year period.
• A week later, Wei Yenwu traveled toward Kazdel with Chen Qi’s crew and explained that he had accepted the future burden of ruling Great Yan.
• Wei Yenwu told Chen Qi he planned to adopt Chen Huijie and raise her alongside his own children as a possible successor, warning him not to interfere with her.

Kazdel celebrated its restoration as Theresia proposed marriage to Chen Qi, prompting Talulah to draw her sword and a small Catastrophe to erupt. Twenty years later, Chen Qi and his crew lived in a joint Kazdel–Great Yan Mobile City, where he faced requests from old friends and Chen Huijie’s anger over the tragic events in Romance of the Three Kingdoms before Eureka arrived with urgent news.

• Wei Yenwu accepted Chen Qi’s relationship with Talulah but forbade him from taking Chen Huijie away with his film crew.
• Manfred welcomed Chen Qi’s party to Kazdel as Theresis launched a military parade celebrating the Sarkaz’s restoration as the Teekaz.
• Theresia asked Chen Qi to marry her, and Talulah drew her sword; a small Catastrophe later became Kazdel’s first military exercise.
• Five years after the restoration, Great Yan unveiled an Oripathy cure, while Chen Qi distributed it through the Columbia Foundation without claiming credit.
• Twenty years later, Chen Qi and Talulah discussed their grown crew, the war against the Demons, and the filming of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Great Yan.
• Chen Huijie confronted Chen Qi over the tragic Shu Han story arc, and Eureka arrived from Victoria with urgent news.

Eureka warned Chen Qi that Vina, now Victoria’s prime minister, planned to overhaul the civil service system. Chen Qi and Talulah headed toward Rhodes Island to seek a ride to Victoria, while Chen Qi hoped to live long enough to make his long-planned film.

• Eureka told Chen Qi that Vina intended to replace Victoria’s civil service system with one she designed herself.
• Chen Qi recognized Vina’s plans as a crisis and decided to go to Victoria to talk with her.
• Talulah suggested they ask Theresia and the others at Rhodes Island for a ride.
• Chen Qi and Talulah set off for Rhodes Island, looking ahead to future troubles and Chen Qi’s hoped-for film.