Recaps

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou discovered that Western Chu had sent a coded message to Fan City, and Yang Qing met Chu Jinghui’s trusted confidant, Suotu. After Suotu delivered the emperor’s summons for Yang Qing to return, Yang Qing refused to decide on leaving Northern Liang while the Regent King remained missing.

• Yang Qing recognized a code in a painting at the inn and told Jiang Zhizhou that someone from Western Chu had come to contact him.
• Yang Qing deciphered the message and learned that Suotu, Chu Jinghui’s trusted confidant, had arranged to meet him.
• Yang Qing and Bu Er went to a ruined temple, where Suotu welcomed Yang Qing after more than half a year apart.
• Suotu delivered Chu Jinghui’s handwritten order summoning Yang Qing back to Western Chu.
• Yang Qing told Suotu to set aside the return order because he and Jiang Zhizhou would not leave Northern Liang while Duan Hongzhuo’s whereabouts remained unknown.

Yang Qing learned that Chu Jinghui had secretly ordered him to assassinate Northern Liang’s emperor, Duan Ziqian, and questioned the timing and motives behind the plot. Suotu offered to help despite the danger, leaving Yang Qing to weigh the scheme and its consequences.

• Yang Qing refused Suotu’s demand to return to Western Chu, and Suotu left after warning that the decision was not his to make.
• Jiang Zhizhou questioned Suotu’s motives, and Suotu secretly entered Yang Qing’s room through a window to reveal another mission.
• Suotu presented Chu Jinghui’s imperial edict, and Yang Qing correctly guessed that it ordered him to intercept and kill Duan Ziqian.
• Jiang Zhizhou criticized Chu Jinghui for assigning Yang Qing the assassination without support, while Suotu offered to fight alongside Yang Qing.
• Yang Qing worried that Chu Jinghui had chosen a dangerous moment to attack Northern Liang and suspected the emperor had another motive.

Yang Qing learned that Chu Jinghui’s edict put him in danger and resolved to consider how to respond, while Jiang Zhizhou urged him to leave Northern Liang. Back at the inn, they heard about a deadly group of villains just as officials arrived to investigate.

• Yang Qing told Suotu that he would consider Chu Jinghui’s edict, while Suotu pledged to follow him despite having lost his position as a first-rank imperial guard.
• Yang Qing urged Suotu to leave Fan City, but Suotu followed him, unwilling to watch him face danger alone.
• Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that the Yang Family’s debt to the Chu Family had ended, but said they could not leave until they exposed the hidden enemy.
• At the inn, Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou heard that villains had killed Er Laizi and that county officials were searching for them.
• Officials arrived at the inn and ordered everyone to remain still during their investigation.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou suspected their Identity Certificates had exposed them to scrutiny in Fan City and considered how their plans might have been leaked. They left the question of a traitor unresolved, with Yang Qing determined to find the culprit if one existed.

• Officers searched the inn for criminals, questioned Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou, and inspected their Identity Certificates.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou suspected the officers had targeted them because of their identities and watched suspicious activity outside from their room.
• Yang Qing proposed that someone had either discovered their plans or prepared the Identity Certificates for them in advance.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing considered whether a traitor among Jiang Zhizhou's trusted men had revealed their movements.
• Yang Qing recalled that he had personally selected the Northern Hawk agents and resolved not to let a traitor remain among them.
• Jiang Zhizhou offered to handle the matter.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou waited at the inn while Bu Er investigated Northern Hawk and Bei Chen. After Bu Er reported that Bei Chen had disobeyed Yang Qing’s orders, Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou suspected the incident was a trap and decided to play along with their unseen opponent.

• Yang Qing refused Jiang Zhizhou’s offer to investigate a possible traitor and insisted there was no traitor within Northern Hawk.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou stayed inside the inn for two days while they waited for Bu Er to return.
• Bu Er returned and reported that Bei Chen had acted against Yang Qing’s instructions.
• Bu Er questioned whether Bei Chen was disloyal, but Yang Qing said the evidence against him was conclusive.
• Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that Bei Chen was not truly disloyal, and Jiang Zhizhou agreed that the apparent betrayal was a clumsy trick.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou decided to respond to the trap and perform the next act on their own terms.

Yang Qing trusted Bei Chen despite Jiang Zhizhou’s suspicions, but when Bei Chen attacked him, Jiang Zhizhou struck first and mortally wounded him. Yang Qing blamed Jiang Zhizhou for killing a trusted subordinate and left him behind.

• Jiang Zhizhou warned Yang Qing not to trust Bei Chen, but Yang Qing insisted he knew Bei Chen’s character and ordered him to come in.
• Bei Chen arrived in disguise and urged Yang Qing to leave Fan City because its waters ran deep, though he could not explain why.
• Jiang Zhizhou confronted Bei Chen about the Identity Certificates, and Bei Chen realized someone in Fan City might have grown suspicious.
• Bei Chen suddenly thrust his sword toward Yang Qing, and Jiang Zhizhou attacked him before he could strike further.
• Yang Qing revealed Bei Chen’s blade had pierced only his outer robe and accused Jiang Zhizhou of killing Bei Chen before he could explain himself.
• Jiang Zhizhou said Yang Qing mattered more to him than anything, but Yang Qing rejected his concern and left.

After Jiang Zhizhou left, Yang Qing and Bu Er investigated the strange Water God Temples in Fan City and suspected the city’s hidden master was preparing to act. Yang Qing then found a concealed key marked with the character for “nine” in his room.

• Jiang Zhizhou left without saying goodbye, and Yang Qing told Bu Er to let him go.
• Bu Er reported that Fan City’s streets were crowded mostly with elderly people, women, and children, and that ten Water God Temples each contained two statues and glowed at night.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er to investigate the temples, suspecting someone had secretly laid plans across Fan City and would soon make a move.
• Yang Qing recalled Bei Chen’s death and coughed painfully, but told the worried Bu Er that he was fine.
• Yang Qing found a wooden slip hidden in the window sill, used it to uncover a key beneath a movable board in the bed, and saw the character for “nine” engraved on it.

Yang Qing and Bu Er discovered that the key Jiang Zhizhou had left behind opened two hidden entrances in his old room, one of which offered a last chance to escape. Yang Qing chose to stay and face their hosts, then accepted an invitation from the mysterious Wang of Fan City.

• Yang Qing remembered Jiang Zhizhou’s childhood alias, Young Master Nine, and searched his former room for the key’s purpose.
• Yang Qing and Bu Er used the key in an oil lamp to reveal two openings in a pillar, and Yang Qing identified the narrow stairs as their intended route and the other opening as a decoy hiding place.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er that Jiang Zhizhou had left them a final way to survive, but declared he would not leave without Jiang Zhizhou and planned to put on a show instead.
• Two messengers arrived and invited Yang Qing, who was using the name Jia Qing, to meet their master, Wang of Fan City.
• Yang Qing accepted the invitation and told Bu Er to accompany him.

Yang Qing and Bu Er were taken to meet the Medicine Elder, who warned Yang Qing about the danger in Northern Liang and offered to accept him as a disciple. Yang Qing refused, choosing to keep pursuing his responsibilities, and returned to the inn wondering why the Medicine Elder had approached him now.

• Two men invited Yang Qing and Bu Er to a quiet courtyard, where Yang Qing recognized the Medicine Elder.
• The Medicine Elder questioned Yang Qing about the shifting situation in Northern Liang and his involvement with the Heir Apparent.
• The Medicine Elder offered to take Yang Qing as his disciple, but Yang Qing declined despite the old physician's warning about the danger he faced.
• The Medicine Elder angrily dismissed Yang Qing and Bu Er, who returned to the inn by carriage.

Jiang Zhizhou escaped a mountain trap and discovered that Prince Ding was behind the attack on him and Yang Qing. He returned to Yang Qing in Fan City, where they suspected the prince might be using them as bait for Duan Hongzhuo.

• Jiang Zhizhou realized he had been led in circles through the mountains and waited for his pursuer to reveal himself.
• Jiang Zhizhou wounded a man in black, forced a pill into his mouth, and identified him as someone acting for Prince Ding.
• Jiang Zhizhou left the man behind and hurried back to warn Yang Qing that Prince Ding was hunting them.
• Jiang Zhizhou climbed through Yang Qing's window and said they could no longer stay in Fan City.
• Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that the Medicine Elder had come looking for him while Jiang Zhizhou was away.

Yang Qing learned that Duan Ziqian planned to lead a military campaign with Prince Ding, threatening the peace he had worked to protect. He devised a plan in Fan City to hinder Northern Liang’s war preparations by diverting the river into its imperial iron mine, while ordering the Northern Hawk to stay alert.

• Bu Er brought Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou a report that Duan Ziqian was discussing a campaign with Prince Ding and intended to lead it himself.
• Yang Qing grew distressed at Duan Ziqian’s ambitions, but decided he could still try to change the situation by reaching Duan Ziqian in Fan City.
• Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to gather the Northern Hawk in Fan City before sunset the next day.
• Yang Qing revealed to Jiang Zhizhou that he planned to divert the river into Northern Liang’s imperial iron mine to delay its war preparations.
• Yang Qing ordered the Northern Hawk to keep watch on the palace and remain alert, mindful of Bei Chen’s death.

Duan Ziqian planned to invade Western Chu and demanded the Ghost Army, but Duan Hongxing refused to let it be used for conquest. Meanwhile, Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou awaited the results of their scheme at the Fan River, and news that the Fan City Iron Mine had flooded unsettled Duan Hongxing.

• Duan Ziqian studied a map and prepared to attack Western Chu through Yan Pass.
• Duan Hongxing warned Duan Ziqian that the late emperor had forbidden war, but Duan Ziqian declared Northern Liang his realm.
• Duan Ziqian asked to borrow the Ghost Army, and Duan Hongxing refused because it must not be used to invade another country.
• Duan Ziqian dismissed Duan Hongxing and left Chaolan Hall in anger as rain swept across the region.
• Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that arrangements at the Fan River were in place and privately anticipated his plan succeeding after two more days of rain.
• Duan Hongxing learned that the Fan City Iron Mine had flooded, leaving everything inside submerged.

After the Fan City Iron Mine flooded, Duan Ziqian sent Duan Hongxing to investigate, while Yang Qing and his companions watched the damaged site and anticipated Prince Ding’s arrival. Duan Hongxing reached Fan City and passed their inn, leaving Yang Qing to expect that his next move would come after he dealt with the mine.

• Duan Hongxing hurried to the palace after reading the Court Gazette about the flooded Fan City Iron Mine.
• Duan Ziqian admitted his failure to oversee state affairs and ordered Duan Hongxing to inspect the mine.
• Yang Qing, Jiang Zhizhou, and Bu Er surveyed the flooded mining grounds and confirmed that the Fan River breach had been cleared of evidence.
• Yang Qing and his companions returned to their inn after receiving a signal from their Northern Hawk men.
• Duan Hongxing arrived outside the inn, but Yang Qing expected him to prioritize the mine rather than approach them immediately.

Duan Hongxing punished Fan City's County Magistrate for neglecting the iron mine disaster, then recruited Yang Qing to help Northern Liang address its crises. Yang Qing agreed to assist, and Duan Ziqian learned he was on his way to the Imperial City.

• Duan Hongxing questioned Fan City's County Magistrate about the iron mine and Fan River breach, then stripped him of office and ordered an investigation.
• Duan Hongxing summoned Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou, recognized Yang Qing as the Western Chu military commissioner and Yang Family heir, and asked him to help Northern Liang.
• Yang Qing agreed to do his utmost and discussed the Yijiang Kingdom and the emperor's ambitions with Duan Hongxing.
• Duan Ziqian learned from a Shadow Guard that Duan Hongxing had persuaded Yang Qing to come to the Imperial City and assist him.
• Yang Qing rode toward the Imperial City and reflected that he had chosen his own fate.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou tried to dissuade Duan Ziqian from launching a campaign against Western Chu, but the emperor remained determined and ordered Yang Qing to accompany him. Duan Ziqian gave Jiang Zhizhou a Military Tally and named both men Pillar Ministers, leaving them to face the consequences of their allegiance.

• Yang Qing advised Duan Ziqian to stabilize Northern Liang rather than march south, but Duan Ziqian dismissed his counsel and sent him away.
• Duan Ziqian's attendant threatened Yang Qing with a knife, but Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er knocked the attendant unconscious; Duan Hongxing then appeared and warned that the matter was not over.
• An imperial summons recalled Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou to the palace, where Duan Ziqian ordered Yang Qing to join the campaign against Western Chu.
• Yang Qing warned that Western Chu was prepared for war and that Duan Ziqian's family troubles made a personal campaign unwise, but Duan Ziqian declared his mind was made up.
• Duan Ziqian handed Jiang Zhizhou the Military Tally once held by Duan Hongzhuo and named Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing his Pillar Ministers.
• As Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou left together, Jiang Zhizhou asked how they should respond to Duan Ziqian's warning not to grow too close, and Yang Qing dismissed the threat.

Yang Qing accepted Duan Ziqian’s Military Tally but suspected the emperor was testing him and drawing him into a dangerous scheme. He sent Jiang Zhizhou to investigate Western Chu, then survived an ambush by attackers demanding the tally and concluded the seal was no ordinary object.

• Yang Qing studied the Military Tally and discussed with Jiang Zhizhou whether Duan Ziqian was testing him or using him in a larger plan.
• Yang Qing ordered Jiang Zhizhou to investigate Western Chu and warned him to avoid a fight and withdraw if necessary.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er that he had sent Jiang Zhizhou away partly to spare him from seeing Duan Ziqian kill his friend.
• Bu Er detected an ambush, fought off attackers who demanded the Military Tally, and escaped with Yang Qing after the carriage was destroyed.
• At a secluded courtyard, Yang Qing concluded that Duan Ziqian had set a clever trap and that the Military Tally was no ordinary seal.

Yang Qing and Bu Er hid in the Quiet Retreat and discovered that Western Hu men from Yijiang had secretly allied with the Yan Prefecture County Magistrate over Fan City's iron mine. After the magistrate handed them an unknown object, one of the men doubled back and killed him, leaving the palace's secret unresolved.

• Bu Er led Yang Qing to hide in the neglected Quiet Retreat outside Fan City.
• Yang Qing and Bu Er recognized the visitors as Western Hu men from Yijiang and saw the Yan Prefecture County Magistrate meet them.
• The Yijiang men said they had helped flood the iron mine, while the magistrate demanded control of Fan City and the temporary palace in return for their agreement.
• The magistrate handed an unknown object to the Yijiang men, who left after telling him to wait for news.
• One Yijiang man returned, struck the magistrate in the chest with an iron caltrop, and escaped as the magistrate died.

Yang Qing and Bu Er recovered a key and the County Magistrate of Fan City's belongings while evading Western Hu intruders, hoping the objects would lead them to what he had guarded. The intruders destroyed the palace with gunpowder, leaving Yang Qing to hope the belongings still held a clue.

• Bu Er found an old key in the County Magistrate of Fan City's clenched hand, and Yang Qing decided not to search the palace immediately.
• Masked Western Hu intruders returned, stripped the magistrate's corpse, and dissolved it with powder before searching the palace.
• Bu Er lured the intruders away from Yang Qing, then returned with him to the palace and gathered the magistrate's pouch, copper coins, and cigarette holder.
• Yang Qing and Bu Er made a shelter near the palace and planned to search again, but an explosion destroyed the palace.
• Bu Er carried Yang Qing away from the blast as Yang Qing wondered whether the recovered belongings could still provide a clue.

Yang Qing and Bu Er returned to Fan City after the destruction of the Late Emperor’s temporary palace, despite Bu Er’s fears that Prince Ding’s men were waiting for them. Duan Hongxing learned of their return and ordered his agents to investigate the palace’s destruction while keeping an eye on the pair and helping them when needed.

• Prefectural Soldiers found a vast crater where the Late Emperor’s temporary palace had stood and fled down the mountain, after which Yang Qing and Bu Er emerged from hiding.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er to return with him to Fan City, where they checked into their former inn as darkness fell.
• Bu Er reported that many of the hidden agents at the inn were gone, though Yang Qing believed Prince Ding still had men stationed there.
• Duan Hongxing learned that Yang Qing and Bu Er had returned, while the Fan City magistrate remained missing.
• Duan Hongxing ordered the innkeeper to take thirty lashes and find whoever had destroyed the temporary palace.
• Duan Hongxing told the innkeeper to monitor Yang Qing and Bu Er and quietly make things easier for them when necessary.

Yang Qing and Bu Er suspected that someone had deliberately leaked information to the Northern Hawk, then waited at the unusually empty Fan City inn for Jiang Zhizhou to return. Jiang Zhizhou reported that Suotu had gone back to the capital, Dai Sheng was missing, and he could not enter Yan Pass, leaving the situation there uncertain.

• Yang Qing suspected that someone had intentionally passed secret information to the Northern Hawk, and Bu Er understood that the source was likely one of a few people they knew.
• Yang Qing and Bu Er found the inn unusually empty, ate the food served to them, and met Prince Ding, Duan Hongxing, who urged Yang Qing to choose an easier path.
• Yang Qing asked Bu Er to order another meal when Jiang Zhizhou arrived, and Jiang ate before reporting the results of his journey.
• Jiang Zhizhou told Yang Qing that Suotu had returned to the capital, Dai Sheng's whereabouts were unknown, and he had been unable to enter Yan Pass.
• Jiang Zhizhou concealed that he had already lost several men inside Yan Pass while investigating the matter.

Yang Qing received a fragment from Guard Suotu confirming a grim message and learned that Suotu’s men at Yan Pass had all died. He resolved to return home and confronted Duan Hongxing, arguing that his life could help prevent war between Northern Liang and Western Chu.

• Jiang Zhizhou showed Yang Qing a burned cloth fragment signed with Guard Suotu’s assumed title, bearing the words that there was still hope ahead.
• Yang Qing learned that every man Guard Suotu left at Yan Pass was dead, then ordered Bu Er to find Dai Sheng and Suotu and care for their families.
• Yang Qing declared that it was time to return home in glory, despite Bu Er’s protests.
• Duan Hongxing summoned Yang Qing to discuss his earlier proposal, and Yang Qing argued that he was needed to mediate between Northern Liang and Western Chu.
• Yang Qing warned Duan Hongxing that if he died in Northern Liang, his sovereign would start a great war, and asked whether that was what the prince wanted.

Yang Qing enlisted Duan Hongxing’s help to act in Northern Liang, then summoned Divine Doctor Xue to remove the mask he had worn for over a decade. The chapter ended with Yang Qing lying down as the medicine began softening the mask, preparing to reveal his true face.

• Duan Hongxing gave Yang Qing a Command Token and promised him freedom if he resolved the matter at hand.
• Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to summon Divine Doctor Xue, despite Bu Er’s concern.
• Yang Qing told Divine Doctor Xue he wanted to remove his mask and live openly before his remaining months were over.
• Divine Doctor Xue examined Yang Qing’s pulse and found his health had improved.
• Divine Doctor Xue applied a medicinal solution to Yang Qing’s face and said they needed to wait an hour for it to soften the mask.

Divine Doctor Xue removed Yang Qing’s false face, revealing the scarred features Jiang Zhizhou remembered and moving Bu Er to tears. As Western Hu visitors arrived at the inn, Yang Qing put on a silver half-mask and set out to investigate their connection to the Imperial Palace affair, while they searched anxiously for an unknown object.

• Divine Doctor Xue removed Yang Qing’s disguise, revealing a long scar across the left side of his face.
• Jiang Zhizhou recognized Yang Qing, and Bu Er tearfully addressed him as “Young master.”
• When Western Hu visitors arrived, Yang Qing sent Bu Er to watch them and put a silver half-mask over his damaged face.
• Yang Qing warned the innkeeper not to interfere with his actions and told Jiang Zhizhou that the visitors might hold clues to the Imperial Palace affair.
• Yang Qing examined the dead Fan City County Magistrate’s personal seal, pipe mouthpiece, and copper coins, wondering what they could reveal.
• The Western Hu visitors worried that they had to find an unknown object before they could safely leave Fan City.

Yang Qing followed County Magistrate Chai’s mistress’s clue to White Cloud Taoist Temple, hoping to uncover what Chai had hidden and why the people of Yijiang had sought it for years. He arrived with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou to find the temple gates unexpectedly open and a young Taoist inviting them inside.

• The Western Hu people searched County Magistrate Chai’s mistress’s home but found no clue, while a mysterious gust entered their inn room after they left.
• Yang Qing visited the frightened mistress, who accepted Chai’s copper coins and pipe mouthpiece and told him Chai often went to White Cloud Taoist Temple.
• Yang Qing decided to visit the temple with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou before the Western Hu people could get there first.
• Jiang Zhizhou told Yang Qing that White Cloud Taoist Temple was built after the Grand Ancestor fell gravely ill and began seeking the Dao.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou found the temple’s normally closed central gate standing open, and a young Taoist said his master had invited them inside.

Yang Qing questioned Daoist Qingyun about County Magistrate Chai’s death and the secret linking them, but Qingyun refused to reveal anything. Yang Qing decided to use the copper coin Chai left behind to draw the people from Yijiang toward White Cloud Taoist Temple and force the hidden matter into the open.

• Daoist Qingyun received Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou at White Cloud Taoist Temple but denied that he could help them.
• Yang Qing told Qingyun that people from Yijiang were searching for clues about County Magistrate Chai’s death and warned that they might endanger the temple.
• After leaving, Yang Qing said they needed to protect Qingyun, though he believed Qingyun would keep his secret unless pressured.
• Bu Er suggested making Qingyun take the initiative by increasing the pressure from the people of Yijiang, and Yang Qing agreed to use that lead.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er to leave one of County Magistrate Chai’s copper coins outside the County Office in Fan City.