Recaps

Suotu and Yang Qing exposed Wei Sizhong’s concealed forces and connections, leading to his imprisonment and Princess Nazhen’s suicide. After Northern Liang attacked Yan Pass, Yang Qing returned to Yan Prefecture and countered Wu Tianyong’s schemes, surviving an ambush before questioning Dai Sheng.

• Suotu and Yang Qing presented evidence against Wei Sizhong, and Chu Jinghui later ordered his lifelong confinement and the secret execution of the exiled Wei clan members.
• Princess Nazhen sent Chu Jinghui a sealed letter and killed herself before an urgent warning arrived from the border.
• Yang Qing received the Acting Marshal’s Command and secretly planned to return to Northern Liang with Jiang Zhizhou to help deal with Duan Hongzhuo.
• Yang Qing survived a Northern Liang ambush on his return journey and found Wu Tianyong preparing to replace Dai Sheng under a purported secret imperial order.
• Yang Qing arranged food and registration for displaced soldiers, suspected infiltrators among them, and refused Murong Qian’s plea to leave Yan Prefecture.
• Yang Qing captured a Northern Liang persuader and planned to use news of the prisoner to draw out Wu Tianyong and preserve Dai Sheng’s position.
• Wu Tianyong ordered Dai Sheng’s assassination during the journey to Yan Pass, and Yang Qing departed with Dai Sheng after learning of the plot.
• Jiang Zhizhou rescued Bu Er during the ambush, an unidentified force helped protect Yang Qing’s carriage, and Yang Qing questioned Dai Sheng after their victory.

Yang Qing helped break Xiao Qian’s siege of Yan Pass, then crossed into Northern Liang with Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er to pursue his plans. In Tong City, Yang Qing established himself under an assumed name and began investigating officials connected to Duan Hongzhuo, even as his health worsened.

• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou exploited distrust between Wu Tianyong and Northern Liang, while Jiang Zhizhou’s men exposed the Northern Liang agents and Wu Tianyong escaped.
• Yang Qing helped Suotu turn Zhong Sun De and Xiao Qian against each other, and Jiang Zhizhou killed Zhong Sun De in disguise, prompting Xiao Qian’s army to withdraw.
• Yang Qing arranged an ambush for Xiao Qian’s retreat, obtained Suotu’s Border-Passage Writ, and left Yan Pass with Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er while ordering the Dark Alliance to stand down.
• Yang Qing learned that Wu Tianyong had imprisoned the Murong Family and injured its head and Miss Murong, then continued toward Northern Liang without returning to Yan Prefecture.
• At Plum Garden, Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou uncovered an assassination plot by servants and escaped with new identities, papers, and disguises.
• Yang Qing reached Tong City, reunited with Bei Chen and Xue Ping, and began operating the Rare Treasures Pavilion under the name Jia Qing while assessing the city’s snowstorm damage.
• Yang Qing met Magistrate Gao Jinguang, learned that officials were searching for people from the south, and had Jiang Zhizhou investigate the military officials’ ties to Duan Hongzhuo.
• After Jiang Zhizhou reported that Xiao Shandong and Tan Wenjie were often at odds, Yang Qing noticed a note about Lady Li’s death at thirteen and asked him and Bei Chen to investigate her connection to the two officials.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou uncovered Duan Hongzhuo’s plan to attack Western Chu and moved to block his advance by securing Southern Xun and Eastern Hao’s intervention. The allies took key cities, and Duan Ziqian confronted Duan Hongzhuo in court, revealing that he had deliberately provoked his uncle into retaliating.

• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou visited the Marquis of Anguo’s Residence, where Jiang met his father and learned that the estate had become a trap under Duan Hongzhuo’s control.
• At Cloud Return Zen Temple, Duan Hongzhuo took Yang Qing into his residence and kept him under watch until his illness worsened and he was sent back to Tong City.
• After recovering at a Medical Hall, Yang Qing learned Northern Liang was at war with Western Chu and concluded Duan Hongzhuo had broken the treaty to attack Yan Pass.
• Yang Qing sent Jiang Zhizhou to warn Duan Ziqian and arranged for terrain maps to reach Southern Xun and Eastern Hao, while Duan Ziqian approved offering border territory to secure their support.
• Jiang Zhizhou crossed into Southern Xun and persuaded its emperor to send troops in exchange for Thousand-Leaf City, while Eastern Hao also sent troops.
• Duan Hongzhuo returned to the Imperial City after failing to take Yan Pass and challenged Duan Ziqian, who cited the cost of the war and the loss of Thousand-Leaf City and Sunset City.
• Duan Ziqian used the treasury’s limited funds to turn the ministers against Duan Hongzhuo’s campaign, then told Eunuch Gui that he had deliberately provoked his uncle and chosen to strike first.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou tried to counter Duan Hongzhuo’s efforts to control the court, but the Spring Examination case ended in Chen Jingyu’s murder. As attacks on Northern Hawk and Jiang Zhizhou followed, Yang Qing began to suspect that several threats were aimed at him.

• Yang Qing helped Duan Ziqian replace compromised court officials, while Duan Hongzhuo gathered ministers who urged him to take action.
• Duan Ziqian imprisoned Eunuch Gui amid a bribery scandal, and Eunuch Gui later killed himself after recommending Eunuch Lin as his replacement.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou investigated the Regent King’s Spring Examination scheme, where Chen Jingyu was framed for bribery and beaten after striking the Grievance Drum.
• Duan Ziqian ordered Chen Jingyu’s case heard, and the inquiry exposed Xiao He’s role in the framing before clearing Chen’s name.
• Chen Jingyu was drugged and strangled after his vindication, while a forged imperial order helped end the investigation and shield the officials behind the case.
• Yang Qing collapsed from his illness as Northern Hawk reported two members killed, and the survivors’ deaths were traced to Five-Stone Powder.
• Jiang Zhizhou discovered Jiang Zhihuai had ordered the attack on Northern Hawk, while Yang Qing learned Bei Chen had disappeared and the First-Rank Residence had been sealed.
• Jiang Zhizhou avoided Jiang Zhihuai’s men at the Marquis’s Residence and escaped over a wall after failing to find his father.