Chapter Summaries

While confined in the palace, Shen Yangge reunited with his mother and learned that his younger sister’s suitor would visit next month. He wondered why Chu Xuanzhen had not ascended the throne and worried that the delay might endanger the world, while Chu Xuanzhen continued to keep him close.

• Shen Yangge wondered why Chu Xuanzhen had not become emperor and suspected the unresolved threat of Chu Xuanzhi and Chu Tianyin was delaying him.
• Shen Yangge’s mother visited, cried with relief, and asked him to take leave next month to judge his younger sister’s prospective husband.
• After his mother left, Shen Yangge tried to leave the palace but was stopped, then angrily cursed in his room.
• At dinner, Shen Yangge rejected the food Chu Xuanzhen served him until Chu Xuanzhen threatened him over his request for leave, so he ate and earned permission to walk in the courtyard.
• As Shen Yangge walked with Chu Xuanzhen, he worried that the Virus System’s deadline and the world’s threats could make the Bug replace Chu Xuanzhen as the Child of Destiny.
• Chu Xuanzhen pulled Shen Yangge back before he walked into a tree, took his hand, and continued walking with him.

Chu Xuanzhen confronted Shen Yangge over his unexplained departure to the Northern States, using Shen’s farewell letter and the testimony of a man who had followed Shen’s orders to sleep in his bed. The argument ended with Shen reminding Chu Xuanzhen that he had saved him from danger on the Island and insisting they had agreed to call it even.

• Chu Xuanzhen carried Shen Yangge into their room and teased him, then told him he had missed him.
• Chu Xuanzhen gave Shen Yangge the farewell letter he had left behind, with its promise to return blurred out.
• Chu Xuanzhen summoned the man Shen Yangge had ordered to lie in his bed, and the man begged them to spare him.
• Shen Yangge explained that the bedding had been new and tried to defend the innocent man.
• Shen Yangge reminded Chu Xuanzhen that he had saved him on the Island and demanded that Chu explain his own actions.

Shen Yangge defended his trip to the Northern States when Chu Xuanzhen questioned him, and Chu ordered him to stay in the Eastern Palace for an intimate talk. That night, Chu woke Shen Yangge and kissed him after restraining his startled punch.

• Chu Xuanzhen questioned Shen Yangge about the Northern States and threatened the two kneeling men, while Shen insisted he had followed an imperial decree.
• Shen Yangge offered to explain himself, and Chu Xuanzhen ordered him to stay in the Eastern Palace for an intimate talk.
• The palace servants spread rumors that Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen would share a bed, while Shen waited for Chu to arrive.
• Chu Xuanzhen woke the sleeping Shen Yangge, who tried to punch him, and restrained his hand before kissing him.

Chu Xuanzhen restrained Shen Yangge, pierced his ear, and tried to mark him with permanent cinnabar, while Shen Yangge struggled and argued against it. After Shen Yangge suffered a nosebleed, the Old Imperial Physician examined him and found no serious illness; the chapter ended with Chu Xuanzhen holding up a mirror, leaving Shen Yangge uncertain about the mark.

• Chu Xuanzhen tied Shen Yangge to the bed, sealed his pressure points, and pierced his earlobe with an ear stud he described as a gift.
• Shen Yangge objected to Chu Xuanzhen's actions, and Chu Xuanzhen told him he desired him regardless of whether he was a man or a woman.
• Chu Xuanzhen brought out permanent cinnabar and tried to paint a mark on Shen Yangge, who protested and struggled until his nose began bleeding.
• Chu Xuanzhen stopped to tend to Shen Yangge and summoned the Old Imperial Physician, who diagnosed excessive liver heat and depleted vitality rather than a serious illness.
• The Old Imperial Physician refused Shen Yangge's request for leave after noticing Chu Xuanzhen's frightening reaction, and Chu Xuanzhen picked up System 615 and promised not to do anything Shen Yangge disliked.
• Shen Yangge asked why Chu Xuanzhen had marked him, and Chu Xuanzhen took out a mirror.

Chu Xuanzhen proposed a guessing game to Shen Yangge, promising to grant a request for each correct guess and imposing a penalty for mistakes. The game began with Shen Yangge unable to answer Chu Xuanzhen’s question, and Chu Xuanzhen started removing his clothes as the penalty.

• Shen Yangge noticed the red ear stud Chu Xuanzhen had placed on him and asked for proper rest while his acupoints remained sealed.
• Chu Xuanzhen rejected Shen Yangge’s request for freedom, dressed him in several layers, and explained that the game would involve taking turns guessing.
• Chu Xuanzhen promised to grant one request for every correct guess and asked Shen Yangge why he had delayed ascending the throne.
• Shen Yangge admitted he did not know, and Chu Xuanzhen reached for his clothes to impose the penalty.

Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen played a question game in which the loser had to remove clothing, and Shen Yangge learned why Chu Xuanzhen had spared him and grown attached to him. The game continued for fifteen rounds, and after Shen Yangge lost three in a row, he feared he would soon be left with little to wear.

• Shen Yangge asked how he had known Ruthis was in the Northern States, won the round, and secured Chu Xuanzhen's promise to grant him one request.
• Chu Xuanzhen asked why he had spared Shen Yangge at their first meeting, and Shen Yangge guessed incorrectly that Chu Xuanzhen had avoided a political uproar.
• Chu Xuanzhen said he had wanted to see whether someone else would kill Shen Yangge, but later felt fortunate that Shen Yangge had survived and confessed that Shen Yangge had entered his heart.
• Shen Yangge guessed correctly why Chu Xuanzhen had fallen for him, then learned that their game would last fifteen rounds.
• Shen Yangge lost three rounds in a row and had two more pieces of clothing removed.

Shen Yangge tried to guess Chu Xuanzhen’s preferences while hiding his transmigrator identity, but Chu Xuanzhen revealed how thoroughly he had investigated him. Their guessing game continued, leaving Shen Yangge startled when Chu Xuanzhen correctly identified his fondness for the golden coffin.

• Shen Yangge changed tactics and guessed Chu Xuanzhen’s favorite dishes, but Chu Xuanzhen listed foods Shen Yangge recognized from his modern-world memories.
• Chu Xuanzhen questioned where the unfamiliar dishes came from, and Shen Yangge claimed they were from his hometown before admitting he had only heard of them.
• Chu Xuanzhen exposed the lie by recounting Shen Yangge’s family history and travels, then agreed to call the round a draw.
• Chu Xuanzhen asked whether Shen Yangge was curious how he knew his favorite foods, but Shen Yangge avoided answering and asked how many rounds remained.
• Shen Yangge asked what he had liked best since entering the palace, and Chu Xuanzhen correctly guessed the golden coffin given to the Empress.

Shen Yangge played a guessing game with Chu Xuanzhen, losing clothes whenever he guessed wrong and winning conditions to protect himself. After discovering Chu Xuanzhen had kept and polished one of his dragon scales, Shen Yangge won several rounds using conditions to avoid further losses, but the chapter ended as the next rounds began.

• Chu Xuanzhen asked Shen Yangge to guess what he had taken from Shen Yangge’s body, and Shen Yangge failed to guess the dragon scale Chu Xuanzhen produced.
• Shen Yangge noticed the scale’s smooth edges and realized Chu Xuanzhen had polished it by handling it repeatedly.
• Shen Yangge lost another round by failing to guess which scented sachet Chu Xuanzhen liked, and Chu Xuanzhen removed another garment.
• Shen Yangge protested until Chu Xuanzhen let him sit up against a pillow.
• Shen Yangge won the next two rounds and used both conditions to avoid losing more clothes.
• Shen Yangge won another round by using what he knew of the plot, but Chu Xuanzhen’s questions grew more demanding as seven rounds remained.

Shen Yangge lost nearly all his clothes in Chu Xuanzhen’s guessing game, which continued despite his protests. After Chu Xuanzhen insisted he had never wanted the throne, Shen Yangge admitted defeat and asked what condition Chu Xuanzhen would set next.

• An old eunuch overheard Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen’s intimate guessing game, then hurried away and slapped his young eunuch twice when he asked what had happened.
• Shen Yangge realized Chu Xuanzhen had lured him into a game he was never meant to win and argued that the round should not count because he could not know whether Chu Xuanzhen was telling the truth.
• Chu Xuanzhen told Shen Yangge that he had never intended to take the throne, even after becoming Crown Prince.
• Shen Yangge lost another round and admitted defeat, then asked Chu Xuanzhen what condition he would set next.
• System 615 watched the game continue and grew curious about Chu Xuanzhen’s next condition.

Chu Xuanzhen made Shen Yangge accept a condition after Shen admitted defeat in their game. Shen was stunned when Chu Xuanzhen dressed him in a loose pair of unfamiliar underpants, and the chapter ended as he tried to confront him about it.

• System 615's vision was blocked, and Little Orange Cat took over its consciousness while it underwent repairs.
• Chu Xuanzhen brought lamps into the bedchamber and told Shen Yangge that, since he had admitted defeat, he could not refuse a condition.
• Shen Yangge agreed to Chu Xuanzhen's condition after confirming that he did not intend to play another fifteen rounds.
• Chu Xuanzhen put a pair of icy, loose underpants on Shen Yangge, leaving him shocked and struggling to ask how he could make him wear them.

Shen Yangge lost the final round of Chu Xuanzhen’s game and reluctantly obeyed his humiliating condition after trying to refuse. The next morning, Shen Yangge woke to something cool against his lips and discovered Chu Xuanzhen beside him.

• Chu Xuanzhen dressed Shen Yangge in his own trousers and announced his final condition: Shen Yangge had to pleasure himself in front of him.
• Shen Yangge refused, but Chu Xuanzhen reminded him that he had said a real man should take responsibility for his actions.
• Shen Yangge agreed on the condition that Chu Xuanzhen turn around, and Chu Xuanzhen complied.
• Afterward, Shen Yangge demanded fresh trousers and another bath, but Chu Xuanzhen refused and made him sleep in the trousers all night.
• The next morning, Shen Yangge felt something cool against his lips, pushed it away, and opened his eyes when his hand touched Chu Xuanzhen’s face.

Shen Yangge spent the morning with Chu Xuanzhen, who refused to let him leave the courtyard freely despite his protests. After tripping on the stairs, Shen Yangge discovered he had accidentally worn Chu Xuanzhen’s underpants outside, leaving the old eunuch stunned.

• Shen Yangge resisted Chu Xuanzhen’s kisses until a knock announced that the minister of works wanted an audience.
• Chu Xuanzhen sent the old eunuch away, then helped Shen Yangge wash and prepared to take him to breakfast.
• Shen Yangge enjoyed leaving the courtyard and talked with Chu Xuanzhen about both state affairs and their relationship over breakfast.
• Shen Yangge asked to move freely around the residence, but Chu Xuanzhen refused, citing his poor health.
• Shen Yangge tripped on the stairs, lifted his trousers, and realized he had been wearing Chu Xuanzhen’s underpants outside.

After the Virus System punished Shen Yangge for delaying his mission, he hid the evidence of his bleeding and considered how Ruthis and Chu Xuanzhen might be connected to the system’s rules. The chapter ended with Shen Yangge suddenly losing his ability to understand System 615.

• Chu Xuanzhen left Shen Yangge’s room after lingering in the doorway, and Shen Yangge changed clothes and slept.
• Shen Yangge contacted System 615, but the Virus System caused his head to bleed and warned that repeated punishments could exile his soul fragments or erase his soul.
• System 615 appeared and worried over Shen Yangge, who recovered enough to hide his bloodstained bedding and clothes from Chu Xuanzhen.
• Shen Yangge and System 615 considered finding Ruthis and concluded that Ruthis might be siphoning away Chu Xuanzhen’s fortune while Chu Xuanzhen delayed ascending the throne.
• Shen Yangge suddenly could no longer understand System 615’s meows or connect with it mentally.

Shen Yangge suffered a five-day punishment that made him an elderly man, leaving him frail, hungry, and unable to eat rich food. When Chu Xuanzhen returned and saw his changed appearance, Shen Yangge reassured him that he would recover in five days.

• System 615 cried as the punishment aged Shen Yangge, and Shen Yangge saw his frail elderly appearance in a mirror.
• Shen Yangge rested on a chaise longue and told System 615 that the punishment would last five days.
• Hungry after waking at night, Shen Yangge received a meal but found greasy food nauseating and ate only lightly.
• Chu Xuanzhen returned, saw Shen Yangge's aged appearance, and reached for his face in alarm.
• Shen Yangge explained that he would recover in five days and asked Chu Xuanzhen to handle his old body gently.

Shen Yangge spent the evening with Chu Xuanzhen, then fell asleep in a chair while trying not to disturb him. After moving Shen Yangge to bed, Chu Xuanzhen found blood on the pillow and discovered bloodstained clothes and bedding hidden in a cupboard drawer.

• Chu Xuanzhen held Shen Yangge's hand and ate from Shen Yangge's bowl and chopsticks.
• After bathing, Shen Yangge stumbled while dressing, teased Chu Xuanzhen, and chose to sleep in a Consort's Chair.
• Chu Xuanzhen finished reading his memorials, carried the sleeping Shen Yangge to bed, and noticed a dark spot on the pillow.
• Chu Xuanzhen smelled fresh blood on the pillow and found that Shen Yangge's nose was slightly red.
• Chu Xuanzhen searched the room and uncovered clothes and bedding with large bloodstains in a cupboard drawer.

Chu Xuanzhen struggled to accept Shen Yangge’s aging and took the frightened System 615 away, while Shen Yangge later found the cat trembling and unable to communicate. The chapter ended with Shen Yangge realizing that Consort Xue and the Eighth Prince had come to the Eastern Palace, but wondering who could recognize him in his aged state.

• Chu Xuanzhen admitted to himself that he could no longer calmly watch Shen Yangge suffer and grow old, then carried the sleeping Little Orange Cat out of the room.
• Shen Yangge woke up in bed, wondered if Chu Xuanzhen had carried him there, and discovered that System 615 was missing.
• Shen Yangge found System 615 trembling in a corner and tried to comfort it, but the cat stayed frightened and would not communicate.
• Shen Yangge spent the day inside under the punishment and wondered when Chu Xuanzhen would return.
• A servant told Shen Yangge that Consort Xue wanted to see him, and he heard the Eighth Prince and Consort Xue outside the door.
• Shen Yangge stopped before opening the door, wondering who could recognize him in his aged appearance.

Shen Yangge, trapped in his aged form, tried to avoid meeting Consort Xue and the Eighth Prince while they waited outside his room. Consort Xue asked him to help her niece, but Shen Yangge remained hidden as the Eighth Prince mocked her impatience.

• Shen Yangge overheard Consort Xue and the Eighth Prince arrive and stalled rather than reveal his transformed appearance.
• Consort Xue said she had come to ask Shen Yangge for help with her niece, who had suffered ill fortune.
• Shen Yangge agreed to help but refused to come out and meet Consort Xue.
• The Eighth Prince told Consort Xue there was no need to rush after Shen Yangge had already agreed.

The Eighth Prince told Shen Yangge that rumors questioning his identity as the Divine Dragon and the Crown Prince’s destiny were spreading through the Capital City, and asked him to perform a Prayer Sacrifice. Shen Yangge could not perform the ritual while trapped in his aged body, and the Eighth Prince warned him to watch out for Consort Xue and other possible threats.

• Consort Xue insisted on waiting outside until she could see Shen Yangge, while the Eighth Prince left after speaking to him through the door.
• The Eighth Prince climbed in through Shen Yangge’s window, fell, and injured himself; Shen Yangge helped him to the table.
• The Eighth Prince told Shen Yangge that rumors claimed he was not the real Divine Dragon and that the Crown Prince was not the true Child of Destiny.
• The Eighth Prince explained that people connected to the Second Prince and Fourth Prince had spread the rumors without realizing they had done so, and said Consort Xue’s niece was among them.
• The Eighth Prince asked Shen Yangge to perform a Prayer Sacrifice, but Shen Yangge said he could not do it in his current condition.
• The Eighth Prince warned Shen Yangge that Consort Xue seemed suspicious, then struggled to leave through the window after Shen Yangge refused to let him use the front door.

Shen Yangge heard Consort Xue’s offer to help him escape in exchange for killing Chu Xuanzhen and supporting a prince’s claim to the throne. Chu Xuanzhen returned before Shen Yangge could answer, pulled him away from the door, and left Consort Xue’s scheme unresolved.

• The Eighth Prince climbed out Shen Yangge’s window and warned him to avoid going out while the palace was unsettled.
• Consort Xue came to see Shen Yangge, but he initially refused and claimed he was ill.
• Consort Xue dismissed the people outside and told Shen Yangge that she knew he was a shapeshifting monster, not the Divine Dragon, and warned that an enlightened monk would soon arrive to expose him.
• Consort Xue offered to help Shen Yangge escape if he killed Chu Xuanzhen and helped the Eleventh Prince—or, failing that, the Fourth Prince—take the throne.
• Shen Yangge approached the door, but Chu Xuanzhen returned, grabbed his hand, and lifted him into his arms.

Consort Xue tried to persuade Shen Yangge to help her by claiming Chu Xuanzhen was doomed by gu poison, while Chu Xuanzhen quietly listened and stayed close to Shen. The chapter ended with Chu reassuring Shen that he was all right and would never abandon him.

• Chu Xuanzhen kissed Shen Yangge, tucked him beneath a quilt, and held him close while Shen wondered whether his madness had returned.
• Consort Xue urged Shen to consider helping her, claiming Chu Xuanzhen had incurable gu poison and little time to live.
• Consort Xue revealed that the emperor and empress had been involved in Chu Xuanzhen's past suffering, and Shen suspected Chu was using her to draw out the Second Prince and Fourth Prince.
• Shen noticed a faint whitish cast on Chu Xuanzhen's fingernails and asked whether he was truly all right.
• Chu Xuanzhen clasped Shen's hand, reassured him, and promised he would never abandon him.