Chapter Summaries

Jiang Zhizhou, Duan Ziqian, Bu Er, and Bei Chen were nearly overwhelmed by Duan Hongzhuo’s Shadow Guards until the Ghost Army arrived and defeated them. Duan Hongxing reassured Duan Ziqian that Duan Hongzhuo was being hunted and urged him to restore order, while Duan Hongzhuo’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• Jiang Zhizhou struggled to protect Duan Ziqian from Shadow Guards whose Black Iron Armor resisted his sword, while Bu Er and Bei Chen fought elsewhere.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bei Chen realized Duan Hongzhuo was missing and suspected he was watching from a nearby building as the three prepared to break through the encirclement.
• Soldiers in Former Dynasty uniforms arrived and attacked the Shadow Guards, and Duan Ziqian identified them as the Ghost Army led by his third imperial uncle.
• The Ghost Army killed or subdued most of the Shadow Guards, and Duan Hongxing appeared to confirm the officials were safe and that Duan Hongzhuo was being hunted.
• Duan Hongxing told Duan Ziqian not to blame himself and urged him to steady the people and restore order to the court.

After Duan Hongzhuo vanished during the palace coup, Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing considered the unsettled court and their uncertain future. Duan Ziqian later offered Jiang Zhizhou the post of Minister of Revenue, but Jiang refused, prompting the emperor’s anger.

• Jiang Zhizhou told Yang Qing that Duan Hongzhuo had escaped the palace search and that the court had been purged after Prince Ding helped secure Duan Ziqian’s throne.
• Yang Qing warned Jiang Zhizhou that the Marquis of Anguo’s service and the court’s need for capable officials might prevent him from leaving Northern Liang.
• Jiang Zhizhou vowed to investigate whether Duan Hongzhuo was alive, and he and Yang Qing shared a sorrowful evening drinking wine and tea.
• Duan Ziqian summoned Jiang Zhizhou and offered him the vacant post of Minister of Revenue because the ministries lacked capable officials.
• Jiang Zhizhou declined the appointment, and Duan Ziqian angrily demanded to know why he refused.

After Jiang Zhizhou refused Duan Ziqian’s offer to serve as Minister of State, he learned that the Marquis of Anguo had ordered him to flee the Imperial City. Jiang Zhizhou escaped with Yang Qing and Bu Er, but their journey was blocked as they left.

• Duan Ziqian kicked Jiang Zhizhou and angrily left after Jiang Zhizhou again refused the position of Minister of State.
• An aide told Jiang Zhizhou that the Marquis of Anguo ordered him to leave the Imperial City at once and not interfere with the residence’s affairs.
• Jiang Zhizhou urged Yang Qing and Bu Er to flee with him, and Yang Qing agreed while revealing that he had arranged protection for the Marquis.
• Bei Chen delivered Travel Passes, and Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou that the Northern Hawk and Bei Chen would help protect the Marquis.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Yang Qing set out with Bu Er, but Bu Er announced that someone was blocking their road.

Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er escaped the Imperial City with the unwell Yang Qing after Jiang Zhizhou defeated Xiao He and used a Smoke Pellet to cover their departure. After taking the Li River toward Fan City, the group followed a destination Yang Qing chose when he briefly regained consciousness.

• Xiao He tried to stop Jiang Zhizhou from leaving, but Jiang Zhizhou wounded him and escaped with a Smoke Pellet.
• The Smoke Pellet affected Yang Qing, so Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er decided to force their way out before Duan Ziqian could organize a search.
• Bu Er drove the carriage straight through the city gates while Jiang Zhizhou cared for the still-unwell Yang Qing.
• Duan Ziqian received the Capital Prefect's report after the three had already traveled several li beyond the Imperial City.
• Jiang Zhizhou and Bu Er abandoned the overland route and took Yang Qing downstream on the Li River toward Fan City, following the destination Yang Qing chose.

Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou traveled toward Fan City to investigate why its County Magistrate had helped them and who had given him instructions. As their pursuers hunted them and a mysterious follower watched their carriage, Yang Qing told Jiang Zhizhou he would leave Northern Liang with him once Duan Hongzhuo was dealt with.

• Yang Qing explained that he wanted to visit Fan City to discover why its County Magistrate had covered for them and who stood behind him.
• A man in black learned that Yang Chengming and his companions had left Tong City, killed a messenger, and ordered his followers to kill Yang Chengming when they found him.
• Jiang Zhizhou offered to leave Northern Liang with Yang Qing, but Yang Qing insisted he had to see Duan Hongzhuo's threat ended first.
• Yang Qing warned Jiang Zhizhou to be cautious of Prince Ding, then promised to roam the world with him after Duan Hongzhuo was dealt with.
• A hidden follower watched Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou travel toward Fan City, fought off attackers, and disappeared into the mountain forest.

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.