Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• Jiang Zhizhou flees Jiang Zhihuai’s pursuing death warriors, abandoning his attempt to reach Yang Qing and heading toward the wasteland west of Tong City.
• Jiang Zhihuai believes his elder brother must die to secure the hereditary title and his own position.
• In his chamber, Jiang Zhihuai reveals that he has secretly imprisoned their father, the Marquis of Anguo, in a hidden underground room.
• He taunts his father with the news that Jiang Zhizhou has returned, then admits he intends to kill him.
• After Jiang Zhihuai leaves, Bu Er slips into the chamber and finds the Marquis. The Marquis urges him to leave and rescue Jiang Zhizhou, who is in immediate danger.

Character developments

• Jiang Zhizhou is shown resisting capture and improvising under pressure.
• Jiang Zhihuai’s ambition is driven by deep resentment: he believes his father has always favored Jiang Zhizhou and overlooked his own efforts. His jealousy has hardened into a determination to eliminate his brother.
• The Marquis of Anguo remains composed despite imprisonment, but his concern for Jiang Zhizhou is unmistakable. He is disappointed in Jiang Zhihuai and fears what he will do.
• Bu Er risks entering the hidden chamber to check on the Marquis and may now be the link to aid Jiang Zhizhou.

Character interactions

• Jiang Zhihuai provokes his father by emphasizing Jiang Zhizhou’s return, exposing the Marquis’s concern and intensifying his own jealousy.
• The Marquis confronts Jiang Zhihuai’s distorted sense of neglect, warning that Jiang Zhizhou’s safety is tied to the family’s survival.
• The Marquis quickly shifts from questioning Bu Er to urging him to save Jiang Zhizhou.

Significant themes

• Sibling rivalry and succession: Jiang Zhihuai sees his brother as an obstacle to the title and power.
• Parental affection and longing: His resentment centers on feeling deprived of his father’s love.
• Ambition versus family duty: Jiang Zhihuai sacrifices family bonds for status, while the Marquis prioritizes his son’s safety.
• Hidden danger and divided loyalty: Jiang Zhizhou is hunted outside as his father remains trapped inside the household.

Key plot points

• Bu Er finds the Marquis of Anguo imprisoned in a hidden chamber at the Marquis of An’s Residence. The marquis refuses rescue, fearing Jiang Zhihuai will retaliate against Jiang Zhizhou if he discovers the escape.
• The marquis insists that his title and the emperor’s authority will keep Jiang Zhihuai from killing him for now. He asks Bu Er to leave and tell Jiang Zhizhou not to worry.
• Back at the Rare Treasures Pavilion, Bu Er reports that the marquis is alive but still captive. Yang Qing decides they must handle the news carefully so Jiang Zhizhou’s concern does not disrupt their plans.
• Jiang Zhizhou returns through a window, concealing a deep shoulder wound. Yang Qing immediately notices, and Bu Er treats him. Learning that his father is safe, Jiang Zhizhou contains his reaction and turns to the larger problem.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou suspect that two separate groups are targeting them: one connected to Duan Hongzhuo, and another whose motives and identity remain unclear.

Character developments and interactions

• The Marquis of Anguo shows restraint and concern for his son, accepting his own captivity rather than risk Jiang Zhizhou’s safety. Beneath his composure, he grieves that his own son, Jiang Zhihuai, has betrayed him.
• Bu Er respects the marquis’s decision despite his worry, then reports back and helps treat Jiang Zhizhou.
• Yang Qing balances concern for his allies with strategic caution. His suspicions deepen as he recognizes that the recent attacks may not all come from the same source.
• Jiang Zhizhou returns injured but composed, concealing his wound to spare Yang Qing worry. He agrees that Jiang Zhihuai lacks the ability to orchestrate the broader plot alone and distinguishes the newer attacks from Duan Hongzhuo’s likely actions.
• The group’s interactions reveal mutual trust: Yang Qing sees through Jiang Zhizhou’s attempt to hide his injury, while Bu Er relays the marquis’s message and reassures Jiang Zhizhou.

Significant themes

• Family betrayal and sacrifice: The marquis’s captivity exposes the pain of a father betrayed by his son, while his refusal to escape reflects his wish to protect Jiang Zhizhou.
• Loyalty and restraint: Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou act with concern for others, but must temper it with caution.
• Uncertainty and hidden enemies: The suspected presence of multiple conspirators makes it difficult to identify who is responsible or what they want.
• Composure under pressure: Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou try to keep personal fear and injury from disrupting their response.

Plot points and events

• Yang Qing, Jiang Zhizhou, and Bu Er remain anxious over Bei Chen’s disappearance. Yang asks Bu Er to keep watch on the First-Rank Residence, hoping Bei Chen has left clues.
• Yang worries the stalled Spring Examination investigation has strengthened Duan Hongzhuo’s position. Jiang insists he will handle the consequences, though both know their situation is precarious.
• Jiang notices something outside Yang’s window, then abruptly leaves, telling Bu Er to ensure Yang takes his medicine.
• Jiang rides to a discreet tea shop near the Imperial City, where Emperor Duan Ziqian is waiting.
• The emperor accuses Jiang of mishandling the Spring Examination case. Because the examiner was released, Duan Ziqian failed to weaken the Minister of Revenue, and the examination’s top three candidates have reportedly joined Duan Hongzhuo’s faction.
• Jiang admits his oversight but withholds his suspicion that the handwritten decree freeing the examiner may not have been written by Duan Hongzhuo, since he cannot prove it.
• Duan Ziqian tells Jiang to stop pursuing the decree and instead find evidence of crimes by Duan Hongzhuo’s faction. He also announces that Yang Qing, the Marquis, will be brought into the palace to recuperate, allowing Jiang to focus on imperial affairs.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing tries to steady Jiang and keep the group composed, despite feeling powerless and troubled by Bei Chen’s absence.
• Jiang Zhizhou remains loyal and accepts blame, offering to stake his life on the investigation. He shows restraint by withholding an unverified theory, but the emperor’s order concerning Yang leaves him inwardly alarmed.
• Duan Ziqian shifts from anger and disappointment to strategic calculation. Though he acknowledges Jiang’s years of service, he warns that he may not be able to protect him again.
• Bu Er supports Yang and follows Jiang’s instructions to care for him.

Significant themes

• Political vulnerability: The failed investigation and the candidates’ reported allegiance to Duan Hongzhuo reveal the emperor’s shrinking influence.
• Duty and loyalty: Jiang accepts responsibility and remains devoted to the emperor despite harsh accusations.
• Power and coercion: Duan Ziqian’s plan to bring Yang into the palace may be framed as care, but it also places pressure on Jiang.
• Uncertainty and restraint: The characters suspect hidden forces are at work, yet lack proof and must act cautiously.

Plot points and events

• Emperor Duan Ziqian tells Jiang Zhizhou that he will bring Jiang’s father, the Marquis of Anguo, into the palace to recuperate. Jiang publicly accepts the decision as a kindness, though both men understand it also gives the emperor leverage over him.
• After the emperor leaves, Jiang returns to the Rare Treasures Pavilion, where Yang Qing and Bu Er have waited to eat with him.
• That night, troubled by the emperor’s decision, Jiang drinks alone on the roof. Yang Qing finds him, urges him to confide, and learns what happened.
• Yang points out that the marquis will at least no longer be confined in a dark room, then suggests the enemy may lower its guard if Jiang and his allies appear defeated. He hints that they can use this opportunity to draw their opponents out.
• Jiang says he has his own plans and tells Yang to focus on recovering. Yang gives Jiang a bottle of pills that can mimic drunkenness without the harm of drinking, and leaves the next steps to Jiang’s judgment.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou maintains a respectful façade before the emperor, but privately feels distressed and constrained by his father’s situation. He trusts Yang Qing enough to share the news, though he still intends to manage the danger himself.
• Yang Qing shows concern for Jiang’s health and emotional state, but also offers strategic advice. Their exchange reflects deep trust and a bond forged through shared hardship.
• Duan Ziqian presents the palace arrangement as compassionate, while making clear that Jiang’s family remains a means of control.
• Bu Er is eager and outspoken at dinner, while Yang Qing quietly checks his chatter.

Significant themes

• Power and coercion: A seemingly merciful act can also serve as political leverage.
• Loyalty and mutual dependence: Jiang and Yang rely on one another through both personal distress and political setbacks.
• Strategy through appearances: Feigned weakness may encourage adversaries to become careless.
• Endurance and hope: Though the characters feel worn down, Yang’s proposal gives them a possible path forward.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Zhizhou turns to heavy drinking, while Yang Qing’s old illness worsens and keeps him confined. Bu Er closes the struggling Rare Treasures Pavilion to care for him.
• A concealed adversary’s agents monitor the Pavilion and assume Yang Qing and Jiang are too weakened to pose a threat. One subordinate, however, plans to act without his young master’s approval, hoping to seize credit and power.
• Yang Qing and Jiang recognize that a new, secret group is watching them. They suspect it may be connected to the people covertly aiding Duan Hongzhuo—and may be trying to misdirect them and provoke conflict between Jiang and the emperor. They decide it is time to strike back.
• At dawn, the old physician returns with documents. He says he can treat “ailments of the heart” as well as the body; Yang Qing reads the papers in surprise, but their contents are not yet revealed.
• Unbeknownst to Yang Qing, Emperor Chu Jinghui has granted him a hereditary marquisate, fief, and revenues. Since Yang cut off contact with Western Chu, he has not heard of the honor—and his isolation means he could be in grave danger without anyone there knowing.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains ill but sharp-minded, using his apparent weakness to consider a counterattack. He and Jiang work together to interpret the surveillance and its possible political purpose.
• Jiang is frustrated by their enemies’ pressure but remains defiant, insisting that even the cornered can fight back. Yang teases him about having to do the striking himself.
• The old physician’s unexpected return suggests he has discovered information important enough to bring personally.
• The enemy’s subordinate grows ambitious and dismissive of his master’s caution, revealing fractures within the opposing camp.

Significant themes

• Appearances and underestimated strength: Their enemies mistake illness and retreat for helplessness.
• Political manipulation and mistrust: Hidden observers may be steering conflicts and framing the wrong suspects.
• Isolation and vulnerability: Yang’s severed ties to Western Chu conceal both his imperial reward and his potential peril.
• Ambition and loyalty: The subordinate’s willingness to replace his master threatens the stability of the enemy faction.

Key plot points and events

• An old physician gives Yang Qing a few pages revealing that the Late Emperor of Northern Liang left a final edict in the Imperial Mausoleum. He refuses to identify who sent him, urging Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou to focus on what the message means.
• Jiang and Yang suspect the edict could affect the current political crisis, perhaps through its connection to the reigning emperor. If Duan Hongzhuo obtained it, it might provoke serious unrest.
• They cannot safely ask Emperor Duan Ziqian or the Marquis of Anguo to verify the message: the Marquis is under house arrest, and the emperor distrusts Jiang after the Spring Examination affair.
• Yang proposes consulting the court’s historical records. To access them, they need an Archive Access Order bearing the Historian’s Seal.
• Jiang knows someone who may be able to obtain the seal. Though uneasy about meeting this old acquaintance, he decides it is their quickest option.
• He slips into the palace library grounds and distracts one guard, then silently disables the other. The chapter ends as he recognizes the man and remarks that twenty years have passed since they parted.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou is cautious and politically perceptive, weighing the danger of acting on an unverified message. His unease about the person he must approach hints at a difficult past relationship.
• Yang Qing remains calm and practical. He spots the historian as an alternative source of verification and reassures Jiang that he need not pursue the uncomfortable option—though he supports Jiang’s decision.
• The old physician acts only as a messenger, keeping his source secret and leaving the pair to decide how to proceed.

Significant themes

• Political mistrust and vulnerability: Jiang cannot approach those in power because suspicion makes even honest inquiries dangerous.
• The power of historical truth: An old edict and the records surrounding the previous emperor’s death may reshape the present.
• Secrecy and risk: The characters must investigate discreetly, since one careless move could expose them to grave consequences.
• The past returning: Jiang’s encounter with a former acquaintance suggests that old relationships may become crucial to the current crisis.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Zhizhou unexpectedly reunites with Sun Yonghai, a former associate, after nearly twenty years. He asks Sun for an access permit to the Library Tower, saying it is vital to the emperor’s safety.
• Jiang discusses the meeting with Yang Qing, explaining that Sun’s continued service at the tower—following the Late Emperor’s orders—suggests he remains loyal. Yang cautions him to stay alert.
• The next day, Jiang waits in a concealed room at the One Sea Residence, which he secretly owns. Sun arrives alone and presents the permit, but demands an explanation.
• Jiang says their separate actions serve the same purpose: protecting the emperor. He explains that he must consult important historical records in the Library Tower, but keeps his deeper reason secret.
• Sun accepts Jiang’s explanation and lends him the permit for three days. Jiang leaves at once for the tower.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou shows urgency and calculated caution. He trusts Sun’s enduring loyalty but withholds the full truth, mindful of the risks surrounding the Late Emperor’s final instructions.
• Sun Yonghai is guarded and stern, insisting that Jiang justify his request. His willingness to lend the permit reveals that his loyalty to the emperor—and to the Late Emperor’s charge—remains intact.
• Yang Qing serves as a cautious confidant, supporting Jiang’s plan while warning that a person’s true intentions are never certain.
• Jiang and Sun’s reunion is restrained but emotionally meaningful: their exchange ends with Sun hoping they will not wait another twenty years to share wine.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and duty: Both men remain bound to the Late Emperor’s instructions and the emperor’s welfare.
• Trust and secrecy: Jiang must rely on Sun without revealing the full stakes, while Sun weighs whether to trust Jiang’s assurance.
• The burden of the past: The Late Emperor’s hidden plans and final charge continue to shape the present, and Jiang fears that failing to act will render them meaningless.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Zhizhou enters the Library Tower without triggering its defenses and searches records about the Late Emperor’s death.
• He discovers that the final page of a historical volume was deliberately torn out long ago, likely removing important information about the Late Emperor’s final edict.
• In the remaining text, he finds the unexplained phrase: “From south to north, ascend step by step.” He suspects it is a clue connected to the edict and possibly the Imperial Mausoleum.
• Back at the Rare Treasures Pavilion, Jiang and Yang Qing agree that the mausoleum must be investigated. They cannot openly force entry: it is heavily guarded, and violating the Duan imperial family’s tomb could bring disastrous consequences.
• Jiang plans to enter by joining the annual delivery of provisions to the mausoleum. He intends to assume the identity of one of his subordinates, a Death Pawn, who will draw the guards away as a decoy. Jiang conceals the plan’s full cost and danger from Yang.
• Yang agrees to wait for Jiang’s return, though he recognizes that the mission is far riskier than Jiang lets on.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou is resourceful and decisive, but also secretive: he keeps the Death Pawn’s planned sacrifice—and the risk of being trapped inside the mausoleum—to himself.
• Yang Qing is cautious and loyal. He warns against reckless action but accepts that the investigation is necessary to protect Northern Liang’s rightful dynasty.
• Meng Yanqing is present when Jiang announces his plan, though he does not speak in the excerpt.
• Jiang reassures Yang with a confident promise to return; Yang responds with quiet support rather than challenging his concealed intentions.

Significant themes

• History and suppressed truth: The missing page suggests deliberate tampering with the historical record, while the cryptic phrase hints at a concealed secret.
• Duty and sacrifice: The Death Pawn’s role embodies loyalty carried to its ultimate cost.
• Political legitimacy and danger: The characters pursue the Late Emperor’s edict to protect the Duan dynasty, but investigating it risks provoking the powerful Regent King.
• Trust and concealment: Jiang and Yang share a goal, yet Jiang withholds crucial details to carry out his plan.

Plot points

• Jiang Zhizhou sneaks into the Imperial Mausoleum to find the Late Emperor’s final edict, guided by the cryptic clue: “From south to north, ascend the steps.”
• After searching the mausoleum in vain, he worries about time: his contact has learned that Duan Hongzhuo will visit in two days.
• At dusk, Jiang notices step-shaped markings on a screen wall. The setting sun reveals them only briefly, and he realizes the clue describes the wall’s northward alignment and its fleeting pattern.
• Following the wall, he reaches a cliff. He finds unusually rough stones along its face and uses them as footholds to descend to a tiny ledge, where a small Buddhist shrine sits in a dry hollow.
• Suspecting the edict may be hidden there, Jiang reaches toward the shrine. The chapter ends before he discovers what it contains.

Character development and interactions

• Jiang’s persistence and quick reasoning turn a failed literal search into a breakthrough: he recognizes that the clue depends on the sunset’s light.
• He remains cautious, watching the night patrol and choosing a secluded route down the cliff.
• No direct conversations occur; Jiang’s main interaction is with the mausoleum’s hidden features and its patrols, which he avoids.

Significant themes

• Observation and interpretation: The clue’s meaning becomes clear only through close attention to place and timing.
• Patience under pressure: Jiang continues searching despite the approaching deadline.
• Concealment and legacy: The edict is hidden in an unlikely, carefully constructed location within the imperial burial grounds.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Zhizhou discovers nearly invisible heavenly silkworm silk protecting a shrine inside the cliff. He suspects the late emperor’s final decree is hidden there.
• With his ledge crumbling, he pries open a narrow gap in the silk and removes a small Buddha statue. Before he can search for the decree, the ledge collapses. He falls from the cliff while clutching the statue; the decree’s fate remains unknown.
• In Tong City, masked attackers ambush Yang Qing and Bu Er at the Rare Treasures Pavilion. Bu Er quickly kills or subdues most of them.
• The surviving attackers refuse to reveal who sent them and kill each other to avoid interrogation. Bu Er finds no clues and identifies them as deathsworn.
• After disposing of the bodies, Yang Qing worries about Jiang, who is alone in the Imperial Mausoleum. Bu Er tries to reassure him, noting that Jiang promised to signal with smoke if he were in danger.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou takes a desperate risk to reach the shrine, showing determination under pressure. His instinctive choice to catch the Buddha statue may prove significant, but leaves him falling into the darkness.
• Yang Qing remains composed during the attack but is privately anxious about Jiang and the worsening political situation. He and Bu Er discuss the attack and its lack of clues.
• Bu Er protects Yang Qing without hesitation and handles the aftermath efficiently. Though he tries to comfort Yang Qing, he recognizes that he cannot alter the dangerous course Yang Qing has chosen.
• The attackers’ coordinated suicide reveals their loyalty—or fear of their master—and leaves Yang Qing and Bu Er without answers.

Significant themes

• Risk and sacrifice: Jiang’s attempt to obtain the decree puts his life in immediate danger.
• Secrecy and uncertainty: The decree’s contents, the attackers’ sponsor, and the broader political conspiracy remain hidden.
• Loyalty and helplessness: Bu Er protects and supports Yang Qing, while Yang Qing can only wait anxiously for news of Jiang.
• Fate and foreboding: The collapsing ledge and the “invisible vortex” surrounding Northern Liang suggest that events are drawing the characters toward an uncertain, potentially disastrous future.

• Key events: Jiang Zhizhou survives his fall beneath the cliff, narrowly avoiding a dark pool. He retrieves the small stone Buddha that broke his fall and later discovers it is hollow, with something concealed inside. Rather than risk damaging its contents, he hides it in his robe. While searching for a way out, he becomes trapped in a powerful formation disguised as an endless field of rocks. By studying the shifting patterns, he realizes that moving through the rocks with his eyes closed may reveal a route. After navigating the formation, he reaches unfamiliar terrain and hears distant shouts. He discovers soldiers drilling in a square formation among the rocks.
• Character development: Jiang Zhizhou remains cautious and resourceful under pressure. He protects the Buddha’s hidden contents instead of acting recklessly, recognizes that he is trapped, and devises an unconventional way to escape. He also acknowledges that Yang Qing might have understood the formation more readily.
• Character interactions: Jiang Zhizhou has no direct exchanges with others in the chapter. He thinks of Yang Qing while struggling with the formation and encounters a group of soldiers from a distance, hiding at first until he realizes they are not searching nearby.
• Themes: The chapter emphasizes survival through patience, observation, and ingenuity. It also builds mystery around the hollow Buddha and the purpose of the remote formation and military drill, hinting that the mountains conceal secrets beyond Jiang Zhizhou’s immediate predicament.

Key plot points and events

• Near the Imperial Mausoleum, Jiang Zhizhou sees a troop drilling in armor and carrying weapons from the previous reign—an alarming sight that could amount to treason.
• The soldiers vanish behind rocks without leaving clear tracks. Jiang concludes they are highly skilled martial artists, though he cannot identify their allegiance or where they came from.
• Worried they may belong to Regent King Duan Hongzhuo, Jiang avoids confronting them and hurries to Tong City.
• At the Rare Treasures Pavilion, he tells Yang Qing what he saw. Yang recognizes the danger: if Duan commands fighters as powerful as Jiang and Bu Er, he could overwhelm Northern Liang.
• Yang suggests the troop’s origins may be concealed rather than truly unknowable. He reveals that he had Northern Hawk investigate Jiang’s father, the Marquis of Anguo, and asks why the marquis received his title.
• Yang notes that the marquis was once a celebrated general trusted by Northern Liang’s Late Emperor, implying that some unexplained event changed his standing.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou moves from wary observation to urgent alarm. He recognizes the soldiers’ extraordinary ability, weighs the risk of confronting them, and brings the warning to Yang.
• Yang Qing responds analytically, considering the troop’s possible political significance and connecting the mystery to the Marquis of Anguo’s past.
• Their exchange shifts from describing the immediate danger to investigating its deeper history; Jiang is surprised that Yang has looked into his father.

Significant themes

• Hidden power and political uncertainty: The troop’s disappearance and unknown allegiance suggest forces operating beyond public knowledge.
• The past shaping the present: Old-regime uniforms and the Late Emperor’s history point to unresolved legacies that may threaten current rule.
• Loyalty, secrecy, and danger: The soldiers could be tied to Duan Hongzhuo, making uncertainty itself a source of peril.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Zhizhou questions why his father, the Marquis of An, retired from public life at the height of his influence. Yang Qing suggests he may have stepped aside not only to avoid alarming the sovereign, but also because of a secret tied to Prince Ding, Duan Hongxing.
• Yang Qing explains a rumor that Prince Ding secretly raised a “Ghost Army” at the Late Emperor’s request, ready to assist the new emperor. Jiang Zhizhou suspects the mysterious soldiers he encountered beneath a cliff may be this army, though neither man can confirm it.
• A messenger reports that Regent King Duan Hongzhuo has proposed an empress for Emperor Duan Ziqian: the Left Chancellor’s daughter. Yang Qing believes the choice is meant to place the harem and the emperor under the Regent King’s influence, strengthen his faction, and eventually let him control the emperor’s son as a possible successor.
• Jiang Zhizhou reveals a small Stone Buddha recovered from the Imperial Mausoleum. Yang Qing discovers a hidden mechanism inside it and retrieves the Late Emperor’s Imperial Testament.
• After reading the testament, the two recognize that Duan Ziqian’s position is precarious. They agree to thwart the empress appointment, hoping to expose Duan Hongzhuo’s ambition.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Zhizhou shifts from assuming his father simply grew comfortable in retirement to suspecting that the Marquis of An’s past—and perhaps his present role—holds greater secrets.
• Yang Qing acts as Jiang’s informed adviser, connecting the possible Ghost Army, the court’s power struggle, and the empress proposal. He carefully handles the testament and helps guide their response.
• Jiang and Yang Qing work as trusted partners: they share intelligence, examine the Stone Buddha together, and agree on a political strategy.
• Duan Hongzhuo emerges as a calculated threat. His proposed empress is presented not as a personal or ceremonial choice, but as part of a broader plan to control the throne and secure a future succession.

Significant themes

• Power and succession: The struggle over the empress and the emperor’s son shows how influence over the inner palace can shape the future ruler.
• Hidden histories and concealed evidence: The Ghost Army and the Imperial Testament suggest that crucial truths have been buried or kept from public view.
• Loyalty versus ambition: The characters weigh allegiance to the imperial house against the Regent King’s apparent bid for lasting control.
• Strategy and political risk: Jiang and Yang Qing must oppose Duan Hongzhuo without acting recklessly, since both the mysterious army and the testament could alter the balance of power.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Zhizhou leaves the late emperor’s final decree in Yang Qing’s care and meets Emperor Duan Ziqian in a tavern.
• Duan asks about Jiang’s investigation and, frustrated by the obstacles to his rule, says he may agree to the Regent King’s proposal that the Left Chancellor’s daughter become empress.
• Jiang warns that accepting the match would further expose the emperor’s authority to the Regent King’s control. He argues the proposal reveals the Left Chancellor’s close ties to the Regent King.
• Jiang advises Duan to pretend to consider the marriage, without issuing an edict. The show of approval could embolden the Left Chancellor’s ambitious daughter and help create an opportunity to disqualify her.
• Back at the Rare Treasures Pavilion, Jiang tells Yang Qing about the plan. Yang suggests exploiting the daughter’s lack of caution to provoke the Left Chancellor’s faction into acting recklessly. Jiang agrees to make her bolder.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan Ziqian reveals his growing frustration and doubts as the Regent King’s influence constrains even his personal and court decisions. Jiang’s strategy restores some of his confidence.
• Jiang Zhizhou remains loyal but withholds sensitive information about his investigation and the late emperor’s decree. He shifts from defending the emperor to devising a political trap.
• Yang Qing understands the political stakes and sharpens Jiang’s plan by pointing to the Left Chancellor’s daughter as the faction’s vulnerable point.
• Jiang and Duan reaffirm their commitment to preserving the rightful dynasty, while Jiang and Yang work together through mutual trust and strategic insight.

Significant themes

• Imperial authority versus political interference: The empress selection becomes a test of whether Duan can rule independently.
• Deception as strategy: The emperor will feign agreement to give his opponents confidence and draw them into a mistake.
• Loyalty and secrecy: Jiang serves the emperor while carefully guarding information that could have wider consequences.
• Ambition and overconfidence: The plan depends on the Left Chancellor’s daughter becoming emboldened and acting carelessly.

Key plot points

• The Marquis of Anguo has been secretly kept in a concealed room near Duan Ziqian’s residence. Duan summons him to discuss the Regent King Duan Hongzhuo’s proposal to make the Left Chancellor’s daughter empress.
• The Marquis warns that the proposal may be a political trap: Duan Hongzhuo could be trying to divide the emperor and the Left Chancellor, or expose the Left Chancellor as an ally of the regent. Either way, the regent could gain greater control over the court—and even the inner palace.
• The Marquis suggests either rejecting the proposal outright or, more strategically, preventing the Left Chancellor’s daughter from qualifying as a candidate. Duan reveals that Jiang Zhizhou independently proposed the same approach.
• Duan says he already loves someone and does not want to draw that person into the palace’s political turmoil. He promises to reward the Marquis and his son if their plan succeeds.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan Ziqian appears increasingly authoritative, but his tenderness when speaking of his beloved—and his candid expressions of gratitude—make the Marquis uneasy. The emperor’s openness feels less like reassurance than a possible sign of hidden intentions.
• The Marquis of Anguo remains outwardly deferential while privately assessing the emperor’s words. He is pleased by Duan’s growing strength but worries that their former warmth has been replaced by the formal distance between ruler and subject. He is also anxious about Jiang Zhizhou, whom he has not seen for over a month.
• Their conversation is cautious and politically charged: Duan tests the Marquis’s judgment, while the Marquis answers carefully and seeks information about his son through the emperor.

Significant themes

• Power and mistrust: Court proposals may conceal efforts to shift authority.
• Loyalty under pressure: The Marquis serves the emperor while remaining concerned for his son.
• The cost of intimacy with power: Duan’s personal disclosures do not comfort the Marquis; they make him fear that the emperor may have further designs.
• Love and political danger: Duan’s affection is genuine, but he sees the palace as too perilous to involve his beloved.

Plot points and events

• Regent King Duan Hongzhuo unexpectedly secures the Empress Dowager’s decree naming the Left Chancellor’s daughter as empress. Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou suspect he has a hidden motive.
• Bei Chen, missing for half a month, returns after surviving Death Valley. He brings evidence that the Left Chancellor’s daughter is having a secret affair with Duan Hongzhuo.
• Bei Chen says an unknown person tipped him off, then forbade him from revealing the matter until it was resolved. His near-fatal investigation convinces Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou that the secret is likely genuine.
• The two resolve to stop the woman from entering the palace, but reject an immediate killing as unnecessary and dangerous. They plan to devise a decisive, covert approach.
• Jiang Zhizhou suggests secretly alerting his father, the Marquis of Anguo, so the emperor can learn the truth. Yang Qing forbids it, warning that exposing an imperial secret could endanger the Marquis. He proposes an indirect strategy instead, ending on the unfinished idea of “besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.”

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing is shaken by Bei Chen’s return and grateful he survived, but quickly turns to assessing the political danger. He shows caution, prioritizing both safety and a plan that can succeed in one stroke.
• Bei Chen proves loyal and resourceful: despite being hunted and trapped in Death Valley, he returns to report the intelligence. He accepts responsibility for investigating without knowing who supplied the lead.
• Jiang Zhizhou recognizes the urgency and favors using his father’s influence, while Yang Qing restrains him to protect the Marquis from involvement.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou work closely, exchanging interpretations and agreeing that the empress’s appointment must be prevented.

Significant themes

• Power and manipulation: Duan Hongzhuo uses the Empress Dowager’s authority to advance his plans.
• Secrets and political risk: The affair could become leverage, but revealing it may imperil anyone connected to its exposure.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Bei Chen risks his life to bring intelligence back to Yang Qing.
• Strategy over force: The characters seek a subtle, indirect solution rather than resorting to assassination.

Key plot points and events

• Emperor Duan Ziqian summons Jiang Zhizhou to ask whether he is involved in the scandal surrounding the Left Chancellor’s daughter. Jiang denies knowing anything about it and advises the emperor not to react while the rumors are at their height.
• Jiang points out that the Late Emperor’s posthumous birthday is only a month away. The ceremony gives Duan a reason to postpone action and preserve the imperial family’s dignity. He also warns that Regent King Duan Hongzhuo may be behind the affair, making caution especially important.
• After Jiang leaves, he tells Yang Qing that Duan Ziqian’s suspicions confirm how their relationship has changed now that Duan is emperor. The birthday ceremony has bought them time, but Jiang and Yang remain worried about their own safety and the unknown attackers who recently targeted them.
• Yang has found no clues about the attackers. Jiang says he is investigating whether martial sects were hired and has arranged secret guards for the Rare Treasures Pavilion and their outings.
• The two friends agree that they hope eventually to withdraw from worldly affairs together. Yang then suggests revisiting Cloud Return Zen Temple, suspecting the abbot and the Wandering Monk may know something. They go at once, but learn that the abbot is ill and the Wandering Monk has resumed his travels.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan Ziqian is angry and embarrassed by the scandal, but accepts Jiang’s cautious advice. He also feels the loss of the easy, candid friendship he once shared with Jiang.
• Jiang Zhizhou balances loyalty to the emperor with concern for his friend Yang. He carefully guides Duan toward delay, while arranging protection and an investigation into the attacks.
• Yang Qing remains anxious about the unidentified assailants, though he joins Jiang in planning for safety. His interest in the temple reflects his suspicion that its religious figures have hidden significance.
• The chapter contrasts Duan and Jiang’s increasingly formal sovereign–subject relationship with the warmth and trust between Jiang and Yang.

Significant themes

• Power and personal bonds: Duan’s accession changes his friendship with Jiang into a guarded political relationship.
• Caution in politics: Waiting for the posthumous birthday ceremony offers a way to avoid worsening a volatile scandal.
• Hidden threats and uncertainty: The attackers’ identities remain unknown, while possible links to the regent and the temple figures deepen the mystery.
• Friendship and retreat: Jiang and Yang’s wish to leave political life behind offers a counterpoint to the dangers surrounding them.

Plot points and events

• After an unsuccessful visit to the mountain gate, Yang Qing returns to the Rare Treasures Pavilion and decides to move out at once.
• He and Jiang Zhizhou travel from Tong City into the Inner Imperial City, where Yang Qing has already arranged a modest residence. He reveals that the Marquis of Anguo—Jiang Zhizhou’s father—helped secure it.
• Yang Qing explains that he wants to be close to the capital’s unfolding political crisis. He believes Regent King Duan Hongzhuo has allowed rumors against his chosen empress candidate to spread deliberately, using the controversy to disguise a larger ambition: seizing the throne.
• Yang Qing identifies the Late Emperor’s posthumous birthday as a likely opportunity for Duan Hongzhuo to act, and says the outcome may depend on that single move.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing appears increasingly frail, his health worsening despite treatment. His decision to move closer to the center of power shows that he is ready to act despite his declining strength. He also prepares for an eventual separation by purchasing a residence in Bu Er’s name.
• Jiang Zhizhou recognizes Yang Qing’s intentions and political reasoning, though he is troubled by the implication that Yang Qing may not have much time. He resists Yang Qing’s farewell-like arrangements, insisting Bu Er remains Yang Qing’s responsibility.
• Bu Er is devoted to Yang Qing and reacts with alarm to the news that the residence is meant to secure his future. Yang Qing urges him to stay in touch with Jiang Zhizhou after their eventual parting.

Significant themes

• Mortality and preparation: Yang Qing’s failing health makes the prospect of separation immediate, prompting him to arrange for Bu Er’s future.
• Power and ambition: The chapter portrays political authority as corrupting, suggesting that even a restrained ruler may be driven to seize power.
• Strategy and deception: The empress controversy may be a distraction from Duan Hongzhuo’s true objective, while Yang Qing moves closer to the capital to witness—and potentially influence—the coming upheaval.

Plot points and events

• One month later, on the Late Emperor’s birthday, Northern Liang prepares for a sacrificial ceremony at the Imperial Shrine.
• Duan Ziqian learns that Regent King Duan Hongzhuo has stayed behind in the Diligent Governance Hall, claiming to be reflecting on the anniversary of his appointment as regent. Ziqian suspects this is a pretext and orders General Xiao He to tighten palace security.
• Jiang Zhizhou, secretly disguised as a palace guard, watches the ministers for signs of a coup. Although the likely military allies of Duan Hongzhuo appear calm, Jiang remains convinced the Regent will seize this rare opportunity.
• Ziqian arrives at the shrine under heavy guard. Duan Hongzhuo then appears, projecting a menacing presence, and produces an Imperial Edict from the Late Emperor.
• When a minister objects to its proclamation, Duan Hongzhuo has him dragged away. He then unfurls the edict and orders the ministers to receive it.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan Ziqian is wary and politically alert, anticipating his uncle’s move while publicly carrying out the ceremony. He faces Duan Hongzhuo directly when the Regent arrives.
• Duan Hongzhuo shifts from feigned humility to open intimidation. He invokes his regency and the Late Emperor’s authority to justify proclaiming the edict, suppressing dissent by force.
• Jiang Zhizhou remains concealed and observant, unsettled by the lack of suspicious activity but confident that the Regent will act. He recognizes the edict as the expected trigger.
• Xiao He follows Ziqian’s security orders, surrounding the ceremony with armed guards.
• The ministers’ unease turns to fear as Duan Hongzhuo asserts control and silences an objector.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Duan Hongzhuo uses the Late Emperor’s edict to challenge the young emperor’s authority.
• Deception and hidden action: The Regent’s apparent reflection and the quiet behavior of his possible allies conceal a planned move.
• Fear and coercion: Armed security and the removal of a dissenting minister show how force is used to control political proceedings.

Plot points and events

• Regent King Duan Hongzhuo invokes the Late Emperor’s testament to declare that Emperor Duan Ziqian is unfit to rule and should yield the throne.
• Ziqian refuses, claiming he can reveal another testament from the Late Emperor. Hongzhuo acts before he can produce it, ordering the emperor’s attendant Xiao He to kill him.
• Xiao He appears to attack Ziqian, but instead turns his saber toward Hongzhuo. Hongzhuo breaks the weapon with hidden force, and a shard kills Xiao He.
• As he dies, Xiao He reveals Hongzhuo had imprisoned all thirteen members of his family and forced him to attempt regicide. Ziqian promises to arrange a dignified burial for Xiao He and his clan.
• Fighting erupts. Hongzhuo’s forces seize ministers who oppose him, while Jiang Zhizhou protects Ziqian. Bu Er and Bei Chen arrive to help, but the group is blocked by Hongzhuo’s elite Shadow Guards. Jiang attacks them.

Character developments and interactions

• Duan Ziqian shifts from being publicly challenged to openly resisting his uncle. His grief over Xiao He’s death is matched by a firm promise to honor him and punish Hongzhuo.
• Duan Hongzhuo reveals his ruthlessness: he uses the Late Emperor’s testament to justify taking power, coerces Xiao He through his family, and treats people as disposable.
• Xiao He is revealed as a loyal subject forced into betrayal. He sacrifices himself trying to turn the attack against Hongzhuo and dies asking to be reunited with his family.
• Jiang Zhizhou remains Ziqian’s determined protector, fighting Hongzhuo while shielding the emperor.
• Bu Er and Bei Chen arrive on orders from their young master and join the effort to get Ziqian to safety.

Significant themes

• Legitimacy versus ambition: Both sides invoke the Late Emperor’s authority, but Hongzhuo uses it as a political weapon while Ziqian claims another testament may challenge him.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Xiao He’s final actions expose the personal cost of political coercion.
• Power and betrayal: Hongzhuo’s coup relies on manipulation, intimidation, and hidden military strength.
• Honor amid violence: Ziqian’s promise to care for Xiao He’s family contrasts with Hongzhuo’s callousness.