Chapter Summaries

Jiang Zhihuai pursued Jiang Zhizhou while revealing that he had imprisoned the Marquis of Anguo in a hidden chamber. After Jiang Zhihuai left, Bu Er secretly entered the chamber and learned that Jiang Zhizhou was in danger.

• Jiang Zhizhou fled toward the wasteland west of Tong City as Jiang Zhihuai's death warriors chased him.
• Jiang Zhihuai visited the hidden chamber beneath his bedchamber and taunted the imprisoned Marquis of Anguo about Jiang Zhizhou's return.
• The Marquis of Anguo demanded to know what Jiang Zhihuai had done to Jiang Zhizhou, while Jiang Zhihuai confessed his jealousy and vowed his elder brother would die.
• Jiang Zhihuai left after declaring Jiang Zhizhou had no chance of escaping safely.
• Bu Er entered the hidden chamber and introduced himself as someone acquainted with Heir Apparent Jiang.
• The Marquis of Anguo urged Bu Er to hurry and find Jiang Zhizhou, who was in danger.

Bu Er found the Marquis of Anguo imprisoned in a hidden chamber, but the marquis refused rescue to avoid endangering Jiang Zhizhou. After Jiang Zhizhou returned wounded, he and Yang Qing concluded that two groups were targeting them, though the second group’s motives remained unclear.

• The Marquis of Anguo told Bu Er to prioritize Jiang Zhizhou’s safety and leave him imprisoned, since rescuing him could alert Jiang Zhihuai and endanger Jiang Zhizhou.
• Bu Er returned to the Rare Treasures Pavilion and told Yang Qing that Jiang Zhihuai had locked the marquis in a hidden chamber but had not harmed him.
• Jiang Zhizhou climbed through the window with a concealed shoulder wound, and Bu Er treated him after Yang Qing saw through his attempt to hide it.
• Bu Er told Jiang Zhizhou that the Marquis of Anguo was still safe at the residence and had urged him not to worry.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing suspected that Duan Hongzhuo was behind the Spring Examination case but that a separate group had carried out the later attacks.
• Yang Qing reasoned that the unknown group was acting urgently to throw their ranks into disarray, but he could not determine its goal.

Jiang Zhizhou met with Emperor Duan Ziqian, who blamed him for the Spring Examination failure and demanded evidence against Duan Hongzhuo’s faction. The emperor then announced he would bring the ailing Marquis into the palace, leaving Jiang Zhizhou worried about what that meant for Yang Qing.

• Yang Qing told Bu Er to keep watching the First-Rank Residence and urged Jiang Zhizhou to stay composed about the Spring Examination affair.
• Jiang Zhizhou hurried to a tea shop near the Imperial City, where Emperor Duan Ziqian had summoned him.
• Duan Ziqian accused Jiang Zhizhou of failing to bring down the Minister of Revenue and revealed that the Spring Examination’s top three candidates had joined another faction.
• Jiang Zhizhou accepted blame for missing the examiner’s handwritten decree and pledged to investigate Duan Hongzhuo’s faction for evidence of crimes.
• Duan Ziqian said he would send someone to bring the ailing Marquis into the palace to recuperate, and Jiang Zhizhou thanked him while hiding his distress.

Duan Ziqian told Jiang Zhizhou that he would bring the Marquis of Anguo into the palace to recuperate, leaving Jiang distressed by the move’s implications. Yang Qing urged Jiang to conceal his intentions and gave him pills that could make him appear drunk without harming his health.

• Duan Ziqian asked whether Jiang Zhizhou resented his plan to bring the Marquis of Anguo into the palace, and Jiang professed gratitude before Duan left.
• Jiang Zhizhou returned to the Rare Treasures Pavilion, where Yang Qing and Bu Er had waited for him to eat.
• Jiang drank alone on the roof until Yang Qing found him, and he told Yang Qing that the emperor had invited his father into the palace to recuperate.
• Yang Qing reasoned that their enemies might lower their guard if they believed Jiang was defeated, but Jiang questioned how long they would have to wait for an opening.
• Yang Qing urged Jiang to protect himself and gave him pills from Divine Doctor Xue that could make him seem drunk without actually drinking.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou discovered a new group secretly watching the Rare Treasures Pavilion and decided to strike back, suspecting the group was aiding Duan Hongzhuo and trying to turn the emperor against Jiang Zhizhou. The old physician arrived with papers revealing unexpected news, which left Yang Qing astonished.

• A masked man learned that Yang Chengming was ill and Jiang Zhizhou had stayed indoors, while his subordinate dismissed their weakened enemies as no threat.
• The subordinate defied the young master's instructions, ordered a fresh attack on Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou, and resolved to seize credit for the operation.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou discussed the new watchers around the Rare Treasures Pavilion and suspected they were secretly helping Duan Hongzhuo and provoking conflict with His Majesty.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou agreed it was time to confront the hidden group and strike back.
• The old physician returned to the Rare Treasures Pavilion with several sheets of paper, and Yang Qing was shocked by what they revealed.

After receiving a message about the Late Emperor of Northern Liang’s Imperial Testament, Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing sought a way to verify it without alerting the suspicious young emperor. Jiang Zhizhou went to the Library Tower and confronted an old acquaintance who could help him access the historical records.

• An old physician delivered Yang Qing a message about an Imperial Testament left by the Late Emperor in the Imperial Mausoleum, then departed without naming his source.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing considered the danger of Duan Hongzhuo obtaining the testament and decided they needed to verify the message before acting.
• Yang Qing suggested checking the historical records, and Jiang Zhizhou realized he might persuade someone he knew to obtain the Historian’s Seal.
• Jiang Zhizhou entered the palace without alerting anyone and waited outside the Library Tower for the acquaintance he expected to see.
• Jiang Zhizhou distracted one guard, struck the other’s mute acupoint, and addressed him as someone he had not seen in twenty years.

Jiang Zhizhou sought an Archive Access Order from Sun Yonghai so he could consult records concerning His Majesty's safety. Sun Yonghai gave him the order for three days, and Jiang Zhizhou headed to the Library Tower.

• Jiang Zhizhou asked Sun Yonghai for an Archive Access Order and arranged to meet him at the One Sea Residence the next day.
• Jiang Zhizhou told Yang Qing that Sun Yonghai's continued service at the Library Tower suggested he still honored the Late Emperor's charge.
• Jiang Zhizhou waited in a concealed room at the One Sea Residence until Sun Yonghai arrived alone.
• Sun Yonghai demanded an explanation, and Jiang Zhizhou said he needed the Library Tower's historical records to protect His Majesty.
• Sun Yonghai handed Jiang Zhizhou the Archive Access Order and required him to return it within three days.
• Jiang Zhizhou left the One Sea Residence and went straight to the Library Tower.

Jiang Zhizhou found a cryptic clue in the Late Emperor’s historical records that might lead to the Imperial Testament, then planned to infiltrate the Imperial Mausoleum. He left Yang Qing waiting for his return, concealing that his plan relied on a Death Pawn drawing the guards away.

• Jiang Zhizhou entered the Library Tower and found a long-missing final page in a history volume, along with the unexplained words, “From south to north, ascend step by step.”
• Jiang Zhizhou told Yang Qing that the words might point to the Imperial Mausoleum and be connected to the Imperial Testament.
• Jiang Zhizhou decided to enter the Imperial Mausoleum among the people delivering provisions at the beginning of spring.
• Jiang Zhizhou planned to assume the identity of a subordinate serving as a Death Pawn, who would act as bait to draw away the mausoleum guards.
• Jiang Zhizhou promised to return, and Yang Qing agreed to wait for him.

Jiang Zhizhou searched the Imperial Mausoleum for the Imperial Testament, following the clue “From south to north, ascend the steps.” He deciphered the clue at dusk and found a hidden shrine halfway down a cliff, where he reached for it.

• Jiang Zhizhou entered the Imperial Mausoleum with a food procession and searched for a south-to-north passage with steps, knowing Duan Hongzhuo would arrive in two days.
• Jiang Zhizhou spotted step-like markings on a screen wall in the fading sunset and realized they appeared only at dusk.
• Jiang Zhizhou followed the screen wall to a cliff and found rough stones that marked a hidden route down its face.
• Jiang Zhizhou reached a narrow ledge halfway down the cliff and found a Buddhist shrine in a small hollow.
• Jiang Zhizhou suspected the Imperial Testament was hidden in the shrine and reached toward it.

Jiang Zhizhou found the Imperial Testament protected by Heavenly Silkworm Silk in the Imperial Mausoleum, but fell from the cliff before he could retrieve it, clutching a little Buddha statue. In Tong City, Yang Qing and Bu Er fought off a group of deathsworn attackers but failed to learn who had sent them, while Yang Qing worried about Jiang Zhizhou.

• Jiang Zhizhou discovered Heavenly Silkworm Silk guarding a shrine on the cliff and realized the Imperial Testament was likely inside.
• As the ledge crumbled, Jiang Zhizhou forced open the silk strands, grabbed a little Buddha statue, and fell from the cliff.
• Masked attackers ambushed Yang Qing and Bu Er at the Rare Treasures Pavilion, but Bu Er fought them off.
• The remaining attackers killed themselves before Yang Qing could question them, and Bu Er found no clues on their bodies.
• Yang Qing worried about Jiang Zhizhou entering the Imperial Mausoleum alone, while Bu Er urged him to rest and pointed out that no warning smoke had appeared.

Jiang Zhizhou survived his fall beneath the cliff and discovered the Small Stone Buddha he carried was hollow, with something hidden inside. Trapped in a strange stone formation, he found a way through it and emerged near soldiers drilling among the rocks.

• Jiang Zhizhou landed beside a pool, retrieved the Small Stone Buddha from a crack, and waited beneath the cliff until morning.
• Jiang Zhizhou found that the Small Stone Buddha was hollow and concealed it inside his robe rather than breaking it open.
• Jiang Zhizhou wandered through endless rocks, realized he was trapped in a formation, and rested while trying to understand it.
• Jiang Zhizhou closed his eyes and hurried through the rocks, breaking through the formation after traveling for the time it took an incense stick to burn.
• Jiang Zhizhou heard distant shouts and discovered soldiers drilling in formation among the rocks.

Jiang Zhizhou discovered a group of highly skilled soldiers in previous-reign uniforms near the Imperial Mausoleum and feared they were secretly serving Duan Hongzhuo. Back in Tong City, Yang Qing connected the mystery to Jiang Zhizhou’s father and began explaining the Marquis of Anguo’s history with the Late Emperor.

• Jiang Zhizhou watched mysterious soldiers drill near the Imperial Mausoleum, then saw them vanish without leaving tracks and realized they possessed extraordinary martial skill.
• Jiang Zhizhou hurried to Tong City and told Yang Qing that the soldiers wore uniforms from the previous reign and were as strong as Bu Er and himself.
• Yang Qing warned that such a force could help Duan Hongzhuo seize Northern Liang and said Northern Hawk had investigated the Marquis of Anguo.
• Jiang Zhizhou admitted he knew little about why his father had received his title, and Yang Qing began recounting the Marquis’s service under the Late Emperor.

Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing discussed the mysterious army beneath the cliff and suspected it might be the legendary Ghost Army raised by Prince Ding. After learning that Duan Hongzhuo planned to make the Left Chancellor’s daughter empress, they uncovered the Late Emperor’s Imperial Testament and resolved to thwart the Regent King’s scheme.

• Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that Prince Ding, Duan Hongxing, might have secretly raised the Ghost Army, which Jiang Zhizhou had encountered beneath a cliff.
• A subordinate told Jiang Zhizhou that Duan Hongzhuo had proposed the Left Chancellor’s daughter as empress for the new emperor, Duan Ziqian.
• Yang Qing explained that Duan Hongzhuo intended to use the empress and her future son to control the emperor and secure power for himself.
• Jiang Zhizhou showed Yang Qing the Small Stone Buddha he had retrieved from the Imperial Mausoleum, suspecting it concealed the Late Emperor’s Imperial Testament.
• Yang Qing opened the Stone Buddha and retrieved the Imperial Testament, which he and Jiang Zhizhou read with alarm.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou agreed to prevent Duan Hongzhuo from installing his chosen empress and expose his ambitions.

Duan Ziqian considered accepting the Regent King's proposal to make the Left Chancellor's daughter empress, but Jiang Zhizhou urged him to feign agreement and use the situation against the Left Chancellor. Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing planned to exploit the daughter’s boldness to make the family overreach.

• Duan Ziqian questioned Jiang Zhizhou about his investigation, then told him the Regent King wanted the Left Chancellor's daughter to become empress.
• Duan Ziqian said he might accept the proposal, while Jiang Zhizhou warned him that doing so would let the Regent King interfere further in imperial affairs.
• Jiang Zhizhou argued that the proposal exposed the Left Chancellor's ties to the Regent King and suggested Duan Ziqian pretend to consider the match without issuing an edict.
• Jiang Zhizhou returned to the Rare Treasures Pavilion and told Yang Qing that he intended to make the Left Chancellor lose his chance to have his daughter become empress.
• Yang Qing suggested using the daughter’s boldness to draw the cautious Left Chancellor into a trap, and Jiang Zhizhou agreed to encourage her to act more boldly.

Duan Ziqian questioned the Marquis of Anguo about the Regent King’s proposal to make the Left Chancellor’s daughter empress and asked for a way to stop it. The Marquis offered two strategies, while Duan Ziqian revealed his affection for someone and left the Marquis worried about Jiang Zhizhou and the emperor’s intentions.

• Duan Ziqian summoned the Marquis of Anguo and praised Jiang Zhizhou, making the Marquis fear the matter concerned his son.
• Duan Ziqian asked the Marquis what he thought of the Regent King’s proposal to make the Left Chancellor’s daughter empress.
• The Marquis warned that the proposal could drive a wedge between Duan Ziqian and the Left Chancellor or reveal the Left Chancellor’s allegiance to the Regent King.
• The Marquis proposed rejecting the match and choosing an empress personally, or preventing the Left Chancellor’s daughter from qualifying as a candidate.
• Duan Ziqian said he already loved someone and confirmed that Jiang Zhizhou had suggested disqualifying the Left Chancellor’s daughter.
• The Marquis left Duan Ziqian’s hall uneasy about the emperor’s intentions and worried for Jiang Zhizhou.

After the Empress Dowager decreed that the Left Chancellor's daughter would become empress, Bei Chen returned with evidence that she was having an affair with Duan Hongzhuo. Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou began planning how to stop her from entering the palace without exposing the secret to Duan Ziqian or endangering the Marquis of Anguo.

• Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing learned that the Empress Dowager had decreed the Left Chancellor's daughter would enter the palace as empress, and suspected Duan Hongzhuo was behind the move.
• Bei Chen returned after surviving Death Valley and showed Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou a cloth scrap reporting the Left Chancellor's daughter's secret affair with Duan Hongzhuo.
• Bei Chen explained that an unknown person had tipped him off and that his investigation had nearly cost him his life.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou agreed they needed to stop the Left Chancellor's daughter from entering the palace, but planned to use an indirect method rather than take her life.
• Jiang Zhizhou proposed informing his father so Duan Ziqian could learn the truth, but Yang Qing forbade it to protect the Marquis of Anguo and suggested they besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.

Jiang Zhizhou advised Duan Ziqian to postpone addressing the scandal until the Late Emperor’s posthumous birthday, while he and Yang Qing continued investigating their unknown attackers. They went to the Cloud Return Zen Temple seeking answers, but learned that the abbot was ill and the Wandering Monk had left.

• Duan Ziqian questioned Jiang Zhizhou about the rumors, and Jiang urged him to set the affair aside until the Late Emperor’s posthumous birthday.
• Jiang Zhizhou reunited with Yang Qing and told him that Duan Ziqian had suspected his involvement in the affair.
• Yang Qing said he had found no clues about the people who attacked them, and Jiang Zhizhou explained that he had arranged investigations and guards.
• Yang Qing proposed visiting the Cloud Return Zen Temple, and Jiang Zhizhou agreed to go with him.
• At the temple gate, a young monk told Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou that the abbot was unwell and the Wandering Monk had resumed traveling.

Yang Qing moved with Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er from Tong City into the Inner Imperial City, where he revealed that his declining health had made him begin arranging for their future without him. He and Jiang Zhizhou concluded that Duan Hongzhuo was using rumors about choosing an empress to conceal a bid for the throne, likely timed around the Late Emperor’s posthumous birthday.

• Yang Qing ordered Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er to leave the Rare Treasures Pavilion and move into the Inner Imperial City.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er that he had bought a residence in Bu Er’s name and asked him to stay in touch with Jiang Zhizhou after they parted.
• Yang Qing explained that the Marquis of Anguo had helped him arrange the Inner Imperial City residence before he came to Northern Liang.
• Yang Qing argued that Duan Hongzhuo had allowed rumors about the empress selection to spread because installing an empress was a pretext for his real ambition to seize the throne.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou identified the Late Emperor’s posthumous birthday as a likely opportunity for Duan Hongzhuo to act.

At the Late Emperor’s sacrificial ceremony, Duan Ziqian prepared for Duan Hongzhuo to make a move while Jiang Zhizhou watched from hiding. Duan Hongzhuo arrived with an Imperial Edict and began proclaiming it before the ministers.

• Duan Ziqian ordered Xiao He to increase palace patrols and escorted him to the Imperial Shrine for the sacrificial ceremony.
• Jiang Zhizhou searched the gathered officials for Duan Hongzhuo’s accomplices but found no one suspicious.
• Duan Ziqian arrived at the shrine, where Xiao He’s guards tightened security around the altar.
• Duan Hongzhuo approached Duan Ziqian carrying an Imperial Edict from the previous reign.
• Duan Hongzhuo had a protesting minister dragged away, unfurled the edict, and ordered the ministers to receive it.

Duan Hongzhuo tried to use the Late Emperor’s Imperial Testament to depose Duan Ziqian, but Duan Ziqian refused and revealed he had another testament. Duan Hongzhuo’s forces attacked, and Jiang Zhizhou, Bu Er, and Bei Chen fought to protect Duan Ziqian as the Shadow Guards blocked their escape.

• Duan Hongzhuo read the Imperial Testament and declared that Duan Ziqian was unfit to rule, but Duan Ziqian refused to surrender the throne and offered to reveal another testament.
• Duan Hongzhuo ordered Xiao He to kill Duan Ziqian, but Xiao He turned his saber against Duan Hongzhuo, who killed him with a broken piece of the blade.
• Xiao He revealed that Duan Hongzhuo had imprisoned his family and forced him to attempt the murder; Duan Ziqian promised to honor Xiao He and bury his clan.
• Jiang Zhizhou and the concealed guards fought Duan Hongzhuo’s men as Duan Hongzhuo ordered his forces to seize ministers who opposed him.
• Bu Er joined the fight against Duan Hongzhuo while Bei Chen helped Jiang Zhizhou escort Duan Ziqian away.
• The Shadow Guards blocked their path, and Jiang Zhizhou charged at them.