Chapter Summaries

Yang Qing returned to Yan Prefecture City as its newly appointed military governor and killed Scarface to avenge the two hundred lives lost ten years earlier. After presenting his imperial appointment, he insisted on staying at the Yang Residence in Little Willow Lane, but Dai Sheng warned that it was a place of terrible ill omen.

• Yang Qing honored a grave and promised to guide the deceased home someday.
• Yang Qing confronted Scarface on Massacre Slope and killed him with one sword thrust while Bu Er stood aside.
• Scholars at the First Pavilion discussed Scarface's death and rumors that the new military governor was named Yang.
• Yang Qing arrived at the Yan Prefecture government office, where Bu Er drew his sword on a guard before Dai Sheng recognized Yang Qing's imperial appointment.
• Yang Qing told Dai Sheng he would stay at the Yang Residence in Little Willow Lane, and Dai Sheng urgently warned him not to go there.

Yang Qing challenged Yan Prefecture’s powerful households to help suppress the remaining bandits, but they resisted and left the decision unresolved. Murong Hao alone pledged the Murong Household’s support, leaving Yang Qing wondering whether he had done so because they shared the Yang surname.

• Yang Qing rejected Dai Sheng’s concern about the old Yang Residence and announced plans to summon Yan Prefecture’s major Lineages to discuss eliminating Scar’s remaining bandits.
• Murong Qian asked Murong Hao to take her to meet the new governor, but he warned her not to mention the past and left for the County Office.
• At the County Office, Dai Sheng introduced Yang Qing, and the gathered households opposed a campaign against the bandits, urging him to proceed gradually.
• Yang Qing asked whether the households agreed to delay action and warned that the County Office’s five hundred soldiers could not shoulder responsibility if trouble arose; the attendees then departed.
• Murong Hao stayed behind and promised that the Murong Household would send men to assist Yang Qing, who wondered whether Murong Hao’s pledge was connected to their shared surname.

After months of calm, news that bandits had massacred a caravan jolted Yan Prefecture City and prompted a city lockdown. Yang Qing pressed Dai Sheng for an explanation, but the chapter ended before they decided what to do.

• Yang Qing's proposal to unite the wealthy households against the bandits faded, and Dai Sheng grew reassured by the governor's quiet months.
• During a stormy night, a survivor reached the city gate and reported that bandits had robbed a caravan and killed most of its people.
• A prefectural soldier rode to the county offices, and the next morning soldiers ordered residents to remain inside the city.
• Yang Qing questioned a soldier about the lockdown and sent Bu Er to investigate.
• At the prefectural offices, Dai Sheng told Yang Qing about the massacre and asked what they should do.

Yang Qing investigated the massacre at Wild Boar Forest and challenged Dai Sheng over the authorities’ response and lack of compensation for the victims. After meeting Jiang Zhizhou, who warned that moving against Scarface’s followers would be dangerous, Yang Qing returned to the city.

• Yang Qing reprimanded Dai Sheng for failing to report the massacre and ordered a sedan chair so he could investigate at once.
• At Wild Boar Forest, Yang Qing saw the victims being examined and proposed compensation for their families, but Dai Sheng claimed the prefecture had no money.
• Yang Qing noticed Jiang Zhizhou investigating the scene and asked Dai Sheng to introduce them.
• Jiang Zhizhou warned Yang Qing that Scarface’s men were dangerous and advised against acting rashly.
• Yang Qing accepted the warning, let Jiang Zhizhou return to his work, and departed for the city.

Yang Qing advised Dai Sheng on how to respond to news that Prince Duan, Chu Yifeng, would soon arrive in Yan Prefecture while the rainy-night robbery remained unresolved. After Dai Sheng set out to search for the stolen goods, Yang Qing learned that others were also tracking them and decided to investigate that night.

• A garrison soldier delivered a Court Gazette announcing that Prince Duan, Chu Yifeng, would arrive in Yan Prefecture within days, leaving Dai Sheng alarmed about the unresolved robbery.
• Yang Qing urged Dai Sheng to search for the stolen goods near Yan Prefecture City, and Dai Sheng hurried off to organize his men.
• Bu Er told Yang Qing that secret news from the capital confirmed unusual activity and that people would be sent to watch events.
• Bu Er reported that someone else was covertly tracing the stolen valuables, and Yang Qing decided to go out with him that night to investigate.

Yang Qing met Jiang Zhizhou secretly in Yan Prefecture City, but Jiang rejected his attempts to reconnect and urged him to leave. The next day, Yang Qing questioned Li Yi about bandit attacks, while Li Yi denied that the Li Household could do anything about the bandits.

• Yang Qing revealed himself to Jiang Zhizhou during a midnight visit, but Jiang insisted they were strangers and told him to leave Yan Prefecture.
• Yang Qing urged Jiang to abandon his pursuit of the bandits, while Jiang asked why he had returned and warned him about the dangers of the region.
• Li Hai reported to Li Yi that Yang Qing had found nothing in the Wild Boar Forest and that Jiang Zhizhou had also appeared there.
• Li Yi ordered his men to avoid causing trouble while Yang Qing was pursuing the bandits, then went to meet Yang when he arrived at the Li Household.
• Yang Qing questioned Li Yi about the Li Household caravan attacked in the Wild Boar Forest, and Li Yi claimed the bandits were too entrenched to oppose.

Yang Qing guided Dai Sheng to uncover the valuables Scarface's followers had stolen, but Dai Sheng hesitated to confront the powerful households and merely stored the treasure. Yang Qing remained confident that someone else would continue the investigation, leaving the next move to an unknown actor.

• Yang Qing met with Li Yi and hinted that rooting out Scarface's followers required careful planning.
• Dai Sheng followed a mysterious note to a sorghum field outside Yan Prefecture City and, at Yang Qing's command, sent soldiers to dig.
• The soldiers uncovered chests of gold and other valuables bearing the marks of households whose caravans Scarface's followers had robbed.
• Dai Sheng ordered the valuables sealed and stored, promising to investigate if victims came forward rather than openly pursuing the bandits.
• Bu Er complained that Dai Sheng had lost his nerve, while Yang Qing said someone else would carry the investigation through.

Magistrate Dai Sheng worried about the unearthed valuables as Tiger prepared to retaliate despite Li Hai’s warning to lie low. That night, Tiger and Wood confronted Yang Qing at the Yang Residence, where Tiger demanded his goods and Yang Qing calmly challenged him.

• Dai Sheng fretted over the unearthed valuables and wondered what Yang Qing intended to do.
• Tiger learned that Dai Sheng had taken the buried shipment and prepared to gather the bandits.
• Li Hai warned Tiger that the new military governor was behind the events and ordered him to stay out of trouble.
• Tiger ignored Li Hai’s warning and decided to go out with Wood to reclaim the stolen goods.
• At the Yang Residence that night, Tiger confronted Yang Qing and demanded his things, while Yang Qing asked whether Tiger remembered where he was.

Yang Qing revealed his connection to the Yang Family and killed Wood after Tiger threatened him over the treasure. Wood’s corpse was displayed at Yan Prefecture’s gates, prompting Li Yi to plan a public spectacle and merchants to present Dai Sheng with an Umbrella of the Ten Thousand People.

• Tiger demanded that Yang Qing hand over the treasure from Mantou Ridge and threatened to destroy his stage, but Yang Qing revealed he was a Yang Family descendant.
• Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to take Tiger away, and Wood collapsed dead in the Yang Residence.
• Wood’s corpse was hung at Yan Prefecture’s gates, where Li Hai inspected it and the gathered townspeople celebrated the bandit’s death.
• Li Yi learned that Tiger was missing and suspected Yang Qing had acted against his men, then decided to make a grand show of the matter.
• Merchants presented Dai Sheng with an Umbrella of the Ten Thousand People, and the crowd outside the County Office praised him for ridding them of a scourge.

Dai Sheng visited Yang Qing after Wood’s death sparked public praise for Yang and fears of retaliation from Scarface’s bandits. Yang Qing urged Dai Sheng to seize the chance to strike back, while Jiang Zhizhou warned Li Yi that the bandits might hold him responsible, and later feared Yan Prefecture was on the verge of upheaval.

• Dai Sheng publicly credited Yang Qing for the people’s safety, then visited him at home while turning away the crowd and their gifts.
• Jiang Zhizhou confronted Li Yi and warned him that Scarface’s bandits might come after him too.
• Yang Qing told Dai Sheng that Wood’s death offered an opportunity to deal the bandits a serious blow.
• Dai Sheng left Yang Qing’s residence feeling trapped, like a man riding a tiger with no way to dismount.
• Jiang Zhizhou told Meng Fei that he feared the skies over Yan Prefecture were about to change.

Li Yi ordered Li Hai to keep searching for the missing Tiger and to kill him if he was found alive, while suspecting a shadowy figure had erased his trail. At the County Office, Zhang Asan accused his employer at Fortune Comes of hiding bandit-looted treasure, but Dai Sheng had him imprisoned for concealing the crime.

• Li Yi kicked and berated Li Hai for losing track of Tiger and Wood, then suspected someone in Yan Prefecture City had deliberately erased their tracks.
• Li Yi ordered Li Hai to continue searching for Tiger and to kill him if he was still alive.
• Zhang Asan told Dai Sheng that his employer at Fortune Comes had withheld wages, taken his sister, and hidden treasure looted by bandits.
• Dai Sheng ordered Zhang Asan to explain what he knew, and Zhang Asan described the situation at Fortune Comes while asking for a reward.
• Dai Sheng accused Zhang Asan of knowing about the stolen goods without reporting them and sent him to prison.

After Zhang Asan’s revelations led Dai Sheng to suspect Fortune Comes of aiding bandits, Dai Sheng marched to the bank and arrested its head manager, Hong Fu. He ordered soldiers to seal the bank and inspect its accounts and storeroom.

• Dai Sheng recalled Yang Qing’s advice to seize an opportunity and decided to shut down Fortune Comes over its suspected ties to bandits.
• Dai Sheng gathered the Prefectural Soldiers and led them to Fortune Comes in the eastern district.
• Hong Fu learned that Zhang Asan had escaped the woodshed, then dismissed the warning that Dai Sheng had arrived as no cause for alarm.
• Hong Fu greeted Dai Sheng, but Dai Sheng ordered runners to arrest him over accusations of withholding wages and taking commoners’ daughters.
• Dai Sheng ordered the Prefectural Soldiers to seal Fortune Comes, check its accounts, and inventory its storeroom.

Dai Sheng sought Yang Qing’s advice after raiding Fortune Comes and discovering evidence linking it to Scarface’s bandits. Yang Qing urged him to investigate further, but Hong Fu was poisoned in custody, leaving Dai Sheng pleading with Yang Qing to uncover the truth.

• Dai Sheng told Yang Qing about his raid on Fortune Comes and feared the bandits would retaliate.
• Yang Qing argued that the bandits had grown weaker since Scarface’s death and encouraged Dai Sheng to question Fortune Comes’s proprietor.
• Yang Qing warned Dai Sheng to protect Hong Fu, so Dai Sheng ordered a trusted Prefectural Soldier to guard him.
• The Prefectural Soldier reported that Hong Fu had died after someone forcibly poisoned him in the County Office prison.
• Dai Sheng ordered an investigation into the murder, then knelt before Yang Qing and insisted he knew nothing about it.

Yang Qing persuaded Dai Sheng to use Hong Fu’s supposed secret contact register as bait to expose the people collaborating with the bandits. Li Hai sent a man to retrieve the register, while prefectural soldiers searched the Land God Temple, unaware that someone was watching them.

• Yang Qing refused to shield Dai Sheng until Dai Sheng agreed to confront the bandits, then instructed him to investigate Hong Fu’s poisoning and spread word of a hidden contact register.
• Dai Sheng understood the plan and promised to act quickly, while Yang Qing sent Bu Er to secretly assist him.
• Li Hai decided to recover the supposed register without informing Li Yi and dispatched a man to search for it.
• Prefectural soldiers arrived at the Land God Temple to search for Hong Fu’s register, while a hidden figure watched them.

Prefectural Soldiers recovered a register from the Land God Temple, but a masked bandit killed one of them and tried to steal it before Bu Er intervened. Meanwhile, Chu Yifeng arrived in Yan Prefecture and told Yang Qing that he intended to stir up the city further.

• A Prefectural Soldier found a box containing a booklet in the Land God Temple, but a masked man killed him and took the register.
• The masked man threatened the remaining Prefectural Soldiers, but Bu Er appeared and killed him with a sword strike.
• The Prefectural Soldiers recovered the register and carried both corpses toward Yan Prefecture City.
• Chu Yifeng arrived outside Yan Prefecture City and met Yang Qing at a roadside pavilion.
• Yang Qing warned Chu Yifeng that the city remained dangerous, but Chu Yifeng said he had come to muddy the waters and complained about the Capital City's scheming.

Chu Yifeng arrived in Yan Prefecture with Yang Qing and agreed to help him and Dai Sheng lure the person behind the bandits into revealing themselves. The plan was to spread word that a bandit had dropped a jade pendant during an attack on Chu Yifeng, then offer a reward for identifying it.

• Chu Yifeng invited Yang Qing to return to the Capital City and join his household, but Yang Qing refused to abandon his duties in Yan Prefecture.
• Yang Qing told Chu Yifeng that Dai Sheng had improved and gained the people’s support, while Chu Yifeng said he would judge Dai Sheng for himself.
• Dai Sheng hurried to the city gate to welcome Chu Yifeng, who instructed him to support Yang Qing fully.
• Yang Qing explained that the names in the Register were bait meant to mislead the bandits’ hidden ally, and Chu Yifeng agreed to help draw that person out.
• Yang Qing proposed that Chu Yifeng’s guards circulate a story about an attack and publicize a reward for identifying the jade pendant left behind by a bandit.

Li Yi confronted Li Hai about Tiezhu’s disappearance and the Jade Pendant, then forced him to accept a chance to atone under threat to a woman he kept outside the household. Li Yi went to the County Office in mourning clothes and publicly knelt before Chu Yifeng, Dai Sheng, and Yang Qing, leaving his purpose unclear.

• Li Hai expected Tiezhu to return, but Li Yi arrived and questioned him about Tiezhu’s whereabouts.
• Li Hai claimed Tiezhu had gone searching for Tiger, but Li Yi showed him a Notice and challenged him about the Jade Pendant and an attempt to seize a Register.
• Li Hai confessed that he had sent Tiezhu to intercept Dai Sheng and Yang’s Register, then begged Li Yi for mercy.
• Li Yi offered Li Hai a chance to atone through meritorious service and warned him not to cause further trouble, invoking the woman he kept outside the household.
• Chu Yifeng, Dai Sheng, and Yang Qing learned that Li Yi had arrived at the County Office in mourning clothes and went out to meet him.
• Li Yi knelt before the gathered officials and residents, declaring that he deserved punishment.

Li Yi presented Li Hai as a traitor who had tried to harm Prince Duan, and the townspeople nearly beat Li Hai to death before Yang Qing stopped them. Dai Sheng ordered both men imprisoned while Chu Yifeng promised the bandit scourge would be eliminated, but Yang Qing remained troubled after the crowd dispersed.

• Li Yi claimed Li Hai had colluded with the bandits and tried to kill him after he urged Li Hai to confess to plotting against Prince Duan.
• The townspeople attacked Li Hai, but Yang Qing halted them and ordered the Prefectural Soldiers to take him into custody for trial.
• Yang Qing credited Chu Yifeng's plan for exposing Li Hai, and Chu Yifeng assured the townspeople that Yan Prefecture would one day be free of bandits.
• Dai Sheng held Li Yi responsible for failing to control his household and ordered him imprisoned, while arranging a cleaner cell and treatment for his wounds.
• After Li Hai and Li Yi were taken away, Chu Yifeng asked Yang Qing why he still seemed worried, and Yang Qing said only that he had been overcome by a passing feeling.

Yang Qing visited Li Yi in the Yan Prefecture prison and showed him a letter from his estranged wife, revealing her and their child’s hardship and danger. Li Yi gave Yang Qing a key to a concealed cabinet in his study, then accepted that he might have no chance to atone in this life.

• Yang Qing arrived at Li Yi’s cell with Bu Er while the jailers slept, and Li Yi recognized him as Lord Yang.
• Yang Qing told Li Yi that his schemes had served someone else’s interests and gave him a sandalwood box containing a letter from his wife.
• Li Yi read the letter and learned that his wife was gravely ill and that she and their child had been pursued by armed men.
• Li Yi gave Yang Qing the key to a concealed cabinet in his study and thanked him for saving his wife and son.
• Yang Qing left after saying Lord Dai might give Li Yi a chance to reform, while Li Yi bowed and said he would have to atone in his next life.

Yang Qing found the Li Residence’s study burning and learned that Li Yi and Li Hai had died in custody, then moved to uncover who had sabotaged his investigation. He confronted Master Deng at the county office and exposed his false story, leaving Deng under questioning.

• Yang Qing and Bu Er hurried to the Li Residence, where they found the study engulfed in flames and left before the fire spread to nearby homes.
• Yang Qing ordered the city gates closed to anyone without his token, then returned to the dungeon and found Li Yi and Li Hai dead from poison.
• Yang Qing went to the county office and learned that Master Deng had supposedly left to care for his sick mother.
• Bu Er dragged Master Deng into the hall, where Yang Qing questioned his account of traveling to Deng Family Village.
• Yang Qing pointed out that there had been no rain or danger reported in the village, and demanded to know where Deng had gone the previous night.