Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge wakes inside a sealed coffin at his own funeral and fights his way out, terrifying the assembled mourners.
• He realizes he has transmigrated into the body of a man with the same name. A system called 615 binds itself to him and assigns the main quest “Death Is Rebirth”: he must die in a way that fits the story and his character to return to his original world.
• Shen’s mother rushes in, overjoyed to find him alive, but his frail body soon gives out and he faints.
• After a doctor confirms he is weak but likely to recover, Shen learns from his mother that the original Shen Yangge offended the crown prince. His father punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for a day and night, and Shen died as a result.
• Shen recognizes the setting as the political-intrigue novel Century of Prosperity, which he had read before his own death.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge shifts from disoriented survival to dark humor and defiance, quickly improvising by claiming to be a ghost. He remains confused about his new body and circumstances but begins cautiously gathering information.
• His mother is compassionate and deeply relieved. She acknowledges that Shen may resent his father and urges him to tell her when trouble arises rather than suffer alone.
• The mourning-hall girl is revealed as someone with authority over the servants; she tries to have Shen forced back into the coffin but is frightened by his apparent return from the dead.

Significant themes

• Life, death, and second chances: Shen’s apparent death becomes the beginning of a new life, while the system turns death into a possible route home.
• Identity and displacement: Shen must inhabit a stranger’s body and piece together the original owner’s past without his memories.
• Power and vulnerability: The original Shen’s punishment reflects the danger of offending powerful figures, while the new Shen is physically weak but verbally defiant.
• Family and care: His mother’s affection contrasts with the father’s harsh discipline.

Character interactions

• Shen confronts the servants and the mourning-hall girl, using threats and ghostly theatrics to keep them from pushing him back into the coffin.
• His mother embraces him after he rises, and later speaks openly about his conflict with his father while offering support.
• Doctor Liu reassures Shen’s mother that he should recover, providing a brief sign of hope as Shen begins adapting to his new situation.

Key events

• Shen Yangge learns from System 615 that he can return to his original world if he dies before Crown Prince Chu Xuanzhen takes the throne—but the death must be natural to the story and his character. Suicide or deliberately seeking death is forbidden.
• His character is supposed to be arrogant and overbearing but terrified of punishment. Since the original Shen Yangge already died regretting his offense against the crown prince, he cannot simply repeat the same provocation.
• After recovering enough to leave bed, Shen Yangge hears that his father has returned with a visitor sent by the crown prince. Hoping the visit might lead to a “normal” death, he tries to act too sick to attend.
• His attempt to faint is complicated by an overzealous maid. The household servants carry him to the main hall anyway.
• A eunuch explains that the crown prince has sent medicine, ostensibly as a kind gesture. Shen Yangge interprets it as a possible means of finishing him off and throws himself dramatically to the floor.
• The eunuch is surprised by Shen Yangge’s appearance and, despite the household’s rough handling of him, offers to help him up.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge shifts from anxious confusion to renewed optimism once he learns death might send him home. He begins scheming to remain in character while maneuvering toward a plot-consistent death.
• His fear of being exposed as a “bug” makes him hide his excitement and perform weakness rather than openly provoke the crown prince.
• The maid tries to protect him, though her forceful grip nearly spoils his act. The servants show little concern for his condition and carry him to the hall.
• Shen Zhi, Shen Yangge’s father, identifies him to the visiting eunuch as his unfilial son. The eunuch’s courteous response contrasts with the servants’ coercive treatment.

Significant themes

• Fate versus agency: Shen Yangge has a possible route home, but the system’s rules sharply limit how he can pursue it.
• Performance and identity: He must act according to the original character’s personality, turning illness and helplessness into strategic performances.
• Dark comedy: Shen Yangge treats the crown prince’s potentially threatening “medicine” as a welcome opportunity, while his staged collapse becomes painfully real-looking.
• Appearance and perception: The eunuch’s surprise at Shen Yangge’s striking looks introduces a new element into how others may see him.

Key plot points and events

• At the Shen residence, Shen Yangge refuses medicine sent by the crown prince, claiming he would rather live or die on his own. To convince the eunuch he is near death, he bites his mouth and spits blood onto the man’s boot. The eunuch leaves without giving him the medicine.
• Shen Zhi, Yangge’s father, berates him for refusing the crown prince’s gift and blames him for bringing trouble on the family. A servant interrupts with urgent news, and Shen Zhi leaves before disciplining him.
• The crown prince hears that Yangge is still alive. He orders an invitation sent to the empress’s birthday banquet, despite the eunuch’s belief that Yangge may die before it takes place.
• Two days later, Yangge attends the banquet, expecting the crown prince to have arranged a deadly trap. Still weak, he struggles to reach the venue and finds that his seat has no food or tea.
• When Yangge looks toward the crown prince and their eyes meet, he feels an intense, involuntary fear and turns away.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge uses theatrical displays of weakness to avoid the medicine and manipulate the eunuch, but his private thoughts reveal that he genuinely wants to die and is frustrated when the supposed poison is withheld. His fear of the crown prince at the banquet surprises him.
• Shen Zhi remains openly hostile toward his son, whom he sees as arrogant and a threat to the family’s standing. Yangge, in turn, resents and curses his father.
• The crown prince appears calm and inscrutable. He arranges for Yangge to attend the banquet, though his purpose is unclear.
• The eunuch initially tries to deliver the medicine but withdraws after Yangge’s dramatic collapse, promising to report his repentance instead.

Significant themes

• Survival and performance: Yangge acts as though he is dying, while privately treating death as a welcome outcome.
• Power and vulnerability: Yangge’s fate is shaped by the crown prince and other powerful figures, even as he tries to control events through performance.
• Family resentment and political danger: Shen Zhi’s hostility reflects the way Yangge’s behavior has endangered the household.
• Unexplained fear: Yangge’s sudden reaction to the crown prince hints at a deeper connection or influence not yet explained.

Key plot points and events

• At a palace banquet, the empress singles out Shen Yangge, asking to see why the emperor and Noble Consort Shen favor him. Guests whisper about his supposed death and miraculous return.
• Shen gives the empress an elaborate, respectful greeting while privately insulting her. She calls him charming and remarks on his unusual temperament.
• Noble Consort Shen defends Yangge, suggesting his favor is nothing special and declaring her affection for him. The emperor questions Yangge about his earlier insults to the crown prince, framing them as the result of a sudden possession.
• Warned by System 615 that deliberately provoking his death would bring painful punishments—including electric shocks—Yangge denies acting intentionally.
• The emperor asks the crown prince to find Yangge a position. The crown prince appoints him a “chronicler,” a private historian meant to record the prince’s daily life. The guests recognize that the job may put Yangge in danger, but the emperor approves it, effective the next day.
• After nearly collapsing from standing so long, Yangge returns to his seat. A young man spills tea on his sleeve, apologizes, and asks whether Yangge is the person who crawled out of a coffin. Before Yangge can answer, dancers arrive, and he silently recoils at their makeup and performance.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains outwardly polite but privately irreverent and sarcastic. He wants to exploit the system to escape danger, but fear of its punishments forces him to play along.
• The crown prince appears composed and prepared, assigning Yangge a position that is both unusual and potentially threatening.
• Noble Consort Shen openly supports Yangge and presents herself as fond of him.
• System 615 clarifies that Yangge cannot deliberately engineer his own death without suffering severe consequences.
• The young man beside Yangge is curious about him and appears struck by his looks.

Character interactions

• The empress publicly scrutinizes Yangge; he answers with formal deference while inwardly condemning her.
• Noble Consort Shen intervenes in the discussion, and the emperor uses Yangge’s past offense to question the crown prince about the incident.
• The crown prince gives Yangge a role recording his daily activities, which the emperor formally sanctions.
• The young man offers Yangge tea, spills it, apologizes, and bluntly asks about the coffin rumor.

Significant themes

• Public manners versus private thoughts: Yangge’s courteous words sharply contrast with his hostile internal commentary.
• Survival under coercion: System rules limit Yangge’s attempts to control his fate, compelling him to conceal his true feelings.
• Power and danger at court: Even a minor appointment can carry serious risks, while political figures use public exchanges to test or protect one another.
• Culture shock and humor: Yangge’s modern sensibilities clash with the court’s rumors, titles, and aesthetic tastes.

Key plot points and events

• The palace birthday banquet is interrupted when attendants bring a large object onto the stage. The emperor angrily orders them punished, but the empress asks him to wait until the truth is known.
• The crown prince reveals that the object is a golden coffin he commissioned as a birthday gift for his mother, claiming she had recently wanted a good coffin. He then suggests that Shen Yangge test it, citing Shen’s recent escape from a coffin.
• With the emperor and empress offering no objection, Shen reluctantly approaches the coffin. The crown prince helps him open its heavy lid without drawing attention to his assistance.
• Shen climbs inside and lies down, inwardly cursing the royal family while trying to appear compliant.
• When the crown prince orders him out, Shen springs up in alarm, grabs the prince’s hand by mistake, then becomes dizzy and falls back into the coffin—pulling the crown prince down with him. The chapter ends with them colliding and locking eyes.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains outwardly obedient but is internally furious, sarcastic, and desperate to avoid the humiliating coffin stunt. His fear of the crown prince ultimately outweighs his fear of coffins, and his panic leads to the accidental fall.
• The crown prince behaves with unsettling calm and apparent eccentricity, using Shen as part of his bizarre birthday presentation. His quiet assistance with the coffin lid suggests a more complicated dynamic than his intimidating manner alone reveals.
• The emperor and empress react angrily to the coffin’s arrival, but neither prevents the crown prince from involving Shen once he explains himself.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus inner thought: Shen’s composed, compliant behavior contrasts sharply with his profane internal monologue.
• Power and coercion: Shen has little real choice when the emperor and crown prince permit the spectacle.
• Dark comedy and absurdity: A golden coffin as a birthday gift and Shen’s increasingly disastrous attempts to survive the situation drive the chapter’s humor.
• Tension beneath courtesy: The crown prince’s refined demeanor is paired with an ominous, intimidating presence.

Character interactions

• The empress tries to restrain the emperor’s anger, but the crown prince takes control of the moment with his explanation.
• The crown prince publicly singles Shen out and pressures him to test the coffin; Shen complies while privately resisting.
• The prince helps Shen open the lid, then orders him out. Shen’s startled, dizzy movements cause them to fall together into the coffin, ending the chapter on an intimate and awkward collision.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge expects the Crown Prince to kill him when the prince pins him inside the golden coffin. Instead, the Crown Prince withdraws and pulls him out, leaving him alive.
• The Crown Prince calmly defends his actions to the Emperor and Empress, saying he takes their words seriously. The rulers reprimand him mildly in public, then dismiss the banquet.
• Shen Yangge leaves the palace exhausted and disappointed that his hoped-for death never came. The nobles and officials treat him with unusual attention.
• Xue Qian, a fourteen-year-old connected to Consort Xue, walks with Shen Yangge and offers him a ride home after discovering his servants have abandoned him. Shen accepts.
• Back at the Shen Residence, servants flee from Shen Yangge as if he were a ghost.
• Shen Zhi learns that Shen Yangge not only survived but received a drafting post in the Crown Prince’s hall, while Shen Zhi himself has been suspended for a month.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge remains fixated on dying and interprets the Crown Prince’s restraint as baffling. His dry, irreverent inner commentary contrasts with his outwardly weak and nervous appearance. He accepts Xue Qian’s help out of necessity.
• The Crown Prince shows controlled composure and unexpected restraint toward Shen Yangge. His courteous response to the Emperor and Empress lets him challenge their words without openly defying them.
• Xue Qian appears playful and curious, but also shows concern by accompanying Shen Yangge and arranging his ride home.
• The Emperor and Empress try to preserve their authority and dignity after the disrupted banquet, though their displeasure is evident.
• Shen Zhi is resentful that Shen Yangge has escaped punishment and gained a position while he has suffered a suspension.

Significant themes

• Dramatic irony and dark humor: Shen Yangge longs for death, while others are surprised—and perhaps relieved—that he survives.
• Appearance versus inner thoughts: His outward fear masks his eager, sardonic desire to be executed.
• Power and public image: The Crown Prince navigates royal authority and family tension through measured words and polished manners.
• Unexpected kindness and shifting fortunes: Xue Qian helps Shen Yangge, while the household’s fortunes sharply reverse, leaving Shen Zhi punished and Shen Yangge newly appointed.

Key plot points and events

• After Shen Zhi punishes Shen Yangge by making him kneel in the ancestral hall, Shen Yangge sleeps through the night and resolves to get himself killed by staying close to the crown prince.
• Madam Shen secretly gives him two steamed buns before he leaves for the palace.
• At the Eastern Palace, the crown prince asks Shen Yangge’s name and notes that, despite his reputation as a prodigy, serving as a scribe is beneath his talents.
• Shen Yangge inwardly insults the prince and eagerly anticipates execution, while outwardly behaving as a respectful, frightened official.
• The crown prince orders guards to take Shen Yangge away for a beating, but then abruptly cancels the order. The bewildered servants withdraw, leaving Shen Yangge kneeling and confused.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains determined to die before the crown prince takes the throne. His cheerful eagerness for punishment clashes comically with his carefully respectful outward manner.
• The crown prince appears composed and observant, but his sudden reversals make him seem unpredictable. He notices the contrast between Shen Yangge’s appearance and inner thoughts, yet his motives remain unclear.
• Madam Shen shows quiet concern by secretly giving Shen Yangge food.
• Shen Zhi continues to punish Shen Yangge, though political pressure means he cannot keep him confined for long.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus inner truth: Shen Yangge’s courteous behavior conceals irreverent thoughts, and the prince explicitly remarks on the divide between outward behavior and inner character.
• Power and political danger: The crown prince’s position makes proximity to him both hazardous and useful to Shen Yangge’s plan.
• Irony and dark comedy: Shen Yangge treats the prospect of execution as a welcome escape, while the prince’s indecision repeatedly frustrates him.

Character interactions

• Shen Zhi’s punishment and Madam Shen’s small act of kindness frame Shen Yangge’s departure for court.
• Shen Yangge addresses the crown prince with formal deference while privately provoking him in his thoughts.
• The crown prince tests Shen Yangge with questions and a threatened punishment, then unexpectedly protects—or at least spares—him by dismissing the guards.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge is frustrated that the crown prince has not been killed as expected and is eager to leave the dangerous, tedious world. System 615 reminds him that the male lead is still years away from ascending the throne.
• The crown prince offers Shen a chance to atone for his offense through service, then hands him a jeweled dagger and orders him to cut him.
• Shen refuses, both pleading aloud and privately worrying that harming the heir would get him executed—or punished by the system for breaking character. The crown prince threatens torture and presses the blade to Shen’s chin, making a shallow cut.
• Shen confirms that he fears pain but continues to refuse the order. When the crown prince makes clear he will not withdraw it, Shen abruptly takes the dagger and tries to slash his arm, apparently hoping to fail the task and be killed.
• A hidden guard restrains Shen before he can strike. The force aggravates his weakened condition; dizzy and coughing blood, he falls toward the crown prince.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains sarcastic and death-oriented in his private thoughts, but outwardly performs obedience and fear to preserve his cover. He is also physically vulnerable after recent punishment and illness.
• The crown prince is controlled and threatening, yet his unusual command to be cut suggests a hidden motive. Shen’s appearance and pain response seem to affect him, though he does not recognize or reveal why.
• System 615 continues to monitor Shen’s behavior, reminding him of the plot timeline and explaining that the world will freeze if his life is in immediate danger.

Character interactions

• Shen tries to evade the crown prince’s order through respectful refusals, while the crown prince escalates from coercion to a threat of torture.
• The crown prince uses the dagger to lift Shen’s chin and cut him; Shen eventually attempts to comply, but the hidden guard intervenes.
• Shen’s exchanges with System 615 provide a comic contrast between his polite words and his irreverent inner monologue.

Significant themes

• Performance versus inner truth: Shen’s formal deference masks his blunt, self-serving thoughts.
• Power and coercion: The crown prince controls the situation, forcing Shen to choose between disobedience and a dangerous command.
• Pain, fear, and survival: Shen fears pain but appears willing to risk injury or death to escape his circumstances.
• Dark humor amid danger: Shen’s sarcastic commentary undercuts the scene’s threats without removing their real stakes.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge, who had earlier seized a weapon and attacked the crown prince, is knocked unconscious. The crown prince refuses to have him removed, partly to avoid giving Consort Shen an excuse to complain to the emperor, and summons Physician Liu.
• Shen wakes an hour and a half later in a hall wrecked during the crown prince’s violent frenzy. The system admits a database problem contributed to Shen’s collapse and says the crown prince has already regained his senses.
• Terrified by memories of the prince’s notorious brutality, Shen tries to retreat, cuts his hand on broken porcelain, and is suddenly grabbed and bitten on the neck.
• The crown prince shoves him away, injuring him further on the shattered floor. He then pulls Shen up, removes some shards, orders him to return the next day, and presses a handkerchief to his bleeding neck.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains sharp-tongued and irreverent in his thoughts, but outwardly acts frightened and compliant to protect himself. His terror is heightened by what he knows of the crown prince’s past.
• The crown prince appears volatile and frightening, yet shows brief, ambiguous care: he keeps Shen at the palace, removes glass from his wounds, and tends to his neck. His behavior remains controlling and unsettling.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus inner thoughts: Shen’s polite, fearful performance contrasts with his furious private commentary.
• Power and vulnerability: Shen is physically at the crown prince’s mercy, even when he resists or wants to retaliate.
• Uncertainty and unreliable knowledge: The system’s database failure and withheld information, alongside the crown prince’s unpredictable behavior, leave Shen unsure what has happened or what to expect.
• Violence mixed with care: The crown prince injures Shen and then tends to him, blurring the line between threat and concern.

Character interactions

• The hidden guards object to Shen remaining near the crown prince, but the prince insists he stay.
• Shen questions the system about his blackout and the prince’s condition, receiving only partial reassurance.
• Shen tries to speak to the crown prince and ask him to stop biting; afterward, he thanks him insincerely and attempts to take the offered handkerchief.
• The prince refuses to let Shen take it himself, pressing it to the wound on his neck.

Plot points and events

• After Shen Yangge leaves the crown prince’s wrecked hall, attendants offer him a palanquin, claiming the crown prince ordered it. Suspicious, Shen realizes they may be trying to take him somewhere against his will.
• The system warns that if he is killed, it will count as assassination—not the character’s prescribed death—and failure means death in both his original world and the novel.
• The attendants attempt to restrain him. Shen loudly asks the crown prince for permission to stay overnight in the Eastern Palace, forcing the crown prince to appear.
• The crown prince grants his request and sends the hostile attendants away.
• He then orders a reclining chair placed in his bedchamber, implying Shen will spend the night beside his bed. Shen protests, though his thoughts reveal he is horrified by the prospect.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains quick-thinking and theatrical: he uses the crown prince’s authority to escape the attendants, while carefully maintaining his official persona. His private thoughts are far less deferential than his spoken words.
• The crown prince appears composed after his earlier episode and intervenes decisively. He can hear Shen’s thoughts, which makes him aware of the gap between Shen’s respectful words and contemptuous inner commentary.
• The palace attendants are revealed as powerful and threatening, apparently accustomed to acting without the crown prince’s oversight.

Character interactions

• Shen challenges the attendants’ authority, but they try to overpower him until his appeal draws the crown prince out.
• The crown prince protects Shen by dismissing the attendants, then teases—or intimidates—him by arranging for him to stay in the crown prince’s own bedchamber.
• Shen’s outward fear and inner insults create comic tension, while the crown prince’s access to his thoughts gives their exchange an unequal, intimate edge.

Significant themes

• Power and protection: Shen survives by invoking the crown prince’s authority against palace officials who exploit his apparent weakness.
• Performance versus private truth: Shen carefully acts the frightened, respectful official while inwardly mocking everyone around him.
• Suspicion and danger: Even an offer of safe transport may conceal a threat, leaving Shen to question whom he can trust.
• Comic tension and forced proximity: The chapter ends with Shen’s desperate resistance to an unexpectedly close overnight arrangement.

Key plot points and events

• The crown prince tells Shen Yangge that no outsider has ever spent the night in the Eastern Palace. Shen tries to flatter his way out of sharing the crown prince’s room, but his remarks are taken literally: the prince agrees to share his bed.
• During their meal, the crown prince discovers that his food has been poisoned and kills the palace maid serving them without questioning her. Shen stays outwardly quiet, though privately he wishes the prince would kill him too.
• That night, Shen hesitates outside the bedchamber and tries to walk away, fearing the crown prince’s violence. A secret guard catches him and shoves him back inside.
• Shen claims he can sleep only in his own bed. The crown prince offers him the inner side of the bed, but Shen remains anxious and keeps trying to delay lying down. The chapter ends with the prince asking whether Shen is afraid of him and ordering him to get into bed.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge relies on flattery, excuses, and outward compliance to survive, while his private thoughts are irreverent, resentful, and darkly self-destructive. He fears the crown prince’s cruelty but repeatedly imagines being killed as an escape.
• The crown prince appears cold, intimidating, and capable of sudden brutality. Yet he also shows an unexpected willingness to let Shen share his bed and offers him the safer-sounding inner side, leaving his motives unclear.
• System 615 observes Shen’s unusual eagerness to pursue his mission and repeatedly finds his behavior—and thoughts—surprising.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus inner thoughts: Shen’s polite words sharply contrast with his profane internal monologue.
• Power and coercion: The crown prince’s authority leaves Shen little real choice, even when he tries to refuse.
• Fear and survival: Shen attempts to manage danger through flattery and excuses, though his dark humor masks genuine anxiety.
• Ambiguous kindness: The prince’s offer of space on the bed sits uneasily beside his violence, making it hard to tell whether he is being considerate or mocking Shen.

Character interactions

• Shen flatters the crown prince, only to have his words turned into a literal invitation to share a bed.
• The crown prince’s casual brutality at dinner intensifies Shen’s fear, while Shen’s silent restraint hides his disturbing private wish to be killed.
• A secret guard enforces the prince’s order by physically returning Shen to the bedchamber.
• In the final exchange, the prince presses Shen about his fear and orders him to bed; Shen continues to stall rather than answer directly.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge is made to share the crown prince’s bed. The prince warns him not to make noise, and Shen nervously promises he sleeps quietly.
• Shen resolves to stay awake, but falls asleep because the medicine on his wounds contains sedatives—a fact System 615 chooses not to mention.
• Assassins attack in the night. The crown prince pulls Shen out of the path of their weapons and orders him to stay silent and still.
• The assassins mistake Shen for the prince’s lover and target him. Shen privately rages at the insult and doubts they can defeat the prince.
• The prince outmaneuvers them, using Shen’s apparent vulnerability to draw them into a trap. When one assassin is about to kill Shen, the prince yanks him back and kills both attackers.
• With the room left bloody and foul-smelling, Shen insists he is no longer sleepy. The prince nevertheless orders him back onto the bed. Shen interprets the prince’s hostile look as a sign that he may finally be about to execute him—and is pleased.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains terrified of the crown prince and convinced that the prince wants him dead, despite being repeatedly protected. His instinctive fear clashes with his darkly comic eagerness to be executed.
• The crown prince appears cold and threatening, but his actions reveal that he is capable, watchful, and protective of Shen. He saves Shen without explanation and continues insisting that he stay close.
• System 615 quietly lets Shen sleep through the sedative and later says there is no real threat to his life, offering little comfort or help.

Significant themes

• Dramatic irony and misinterpretation: Shen reads the prince’s protection and attention as torment or impending execution, while the reader can see that the prince is keeping him safe.
• Fear and dark humor: Shen’s exaggerated internal catastrophizing contrasts with the real danger of the attack.
• Vulnerability and protection: Shen is physically vulnerable during the assassination attempt, while the prince’s actions repeatedly shield him.
• Appearance versus reality: The assassins’ mistaken assumption that Shen is the prince’s lover, and Shen’s belief that the prince intends to kill him, highlight how badly the characters misread one another.

Character interactions

• The prince sets strict rules for sharing the bed; Shen outwardly obeys while privately criticizing him.
• During the attack, the prince commands Shen to stay quiet and physically pulls him out of danger.
• The assassins’ “little lover” taunt enrages Shen, though he cannot safely respond aloud.
• After the fight, Shen tries to get the prince to sleep elsewhere; the prince instead calls him back to bed, renewing Shen’s anxious—and hopeful—belief that he may finally be killed.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge, still hoping the crown prince will kill him, answers the prince’s question about what to do with someone who wants to die: first find out why, though his unspoken thoughts insist that the person should simply be allowed to die.
• He spends the rest of the night awake, unable to remove the dagger lodged in the bed. In the morning, he follows the prince to breakfast, exhausted.
• At the meal, Shen notices that the palace maid Green Willow seems unusually close to the prince and suspects she is one of his favored women. When Shen reaches for food using his own chopsticks, Green Willow knocks them away and scolds him for overstepping.
• The prince orders Green Willow to leave, then takes the piece of meat Shen had reached for. Shen outwardly remains respectful while privately cursing the prince.
• The prince brings Shen to his study and orders him to document everything he says and does. Shen observes the prince standing lost in thought, then painting while reviewing official papers.
• When Shen needs to use the toilet, the prince tells him he may relieve himself in front of him because they are both men. Shen is horrified, fearing the prince will later punish him for complying.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains determined to die, but his exhaustion, suspicion, and irreverent internal commentary reveal a comic contrast with his formal outward behavior. He is also quick to defend his dignity when Green Willow insults him.
• The crown prince remains enigmatic and unpredictable. He asks unsettling questions, keeps Shen close, and behaves casually around him in ways that leave Shen unsure whether he is being tested or witnessing one of the prince’s strange episodes.
• Green Willow is introduced as a seemingly favored palace maid. Her sharp rebuke of Shen suggests she is protective of the prince or conscious of court hierarchy, though the prince’s dismissal of her complicates Shen’s assumptions.

Significant themes

• Public behavior versus private thoughts: Shen’s deferential words contrast sharply with his profane inner monologue.
• Power and uncertainty: The prince’s authority makes even ordinary actions—eating, sleeping, or using the toilet—potentially dangerous for Shen.
• Dark comedy: Shen’s relentless wish for death clashes with the absurd, awkward situations the prince creates.
• Misreading and suspicion: Shen interprets Green Willow’s closeness as romantic favoritism, while the prince’s motives remain unclear.

Character interactions

• The prince probes Shen’s attitude toward death, but Shen’s answer is shaped by both cautious formality and blunt private reasoning.
• Green Willow openly challenges Shen at breakfast; Shen ignores her and appeals directly to the prince, who sends her away.
• The prince and Shen share an awkwardly intimate dynamic: the prince watches Shen closely and makes unsettlingly casual offers, while Shen responds with outward obedience and inward alarm.

Plot points

• Shen Yangge is allowed to leave the crown prince’s hall and rushes to find the privy. After relieving himself, he gets lost in the palace and spends nearly an hour wandering before finding the main hall again.
• A eunuch tells him the crown prince has been looking for him. Shen Yangge returns to find the prince watching the path he took back.
• The crown prince beckons Shen Yangge closer, holds his chin, and warns him not to speak at length with anyone else. He threatens to remove Shen Yangge’s organs—and later his ears—if Shen Yangge or others violate his rules.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge’s fear of the crown prince has deepened after witnessing his violence and instability. Though his inner thoughts are defiant and sarcastic, he outwardly submits to avoid provoking him.
• The crown prince shows increasingly possessive, controlling behavior, treating Shen Yangge’s attention and contact with others as things he can regulate.

Character interactions

• Palace maids are frightened when Shen Yangge approaches, but one guides him to the privy and then leaves him behind.
• The eunuch nervously urges Shen Yangge to return quickly.
• In the hall, Shen Yangge tries to answer politely while privately mocking the crown prince’s threats and behavior. The prince responds by tightening his restrictions, even threatening people who approach Shen Yangge.

Significant themes

• Possession and control: The crown prince frames isolation and threats as rules for Shen Yangge.
• Fear versus inner resistance: Shen Yangge appears obedient but maintains a sharp, irreverent inner voice.
• Dark comedy: His mundane predicament—getting lost after using the privy—contrasts with the prince’s dangerous fixation and exaggerated threats.

Plot points and events

• The Crown Prince initially refuses to let Shen Yangge leave, but relents after Shen argues that he might need to hear important information. Shen finishes his day recording court events and is escorted out of the palace.
• The Crown Prince dismisses everyone and spends the night alone.
• At the palace gates, Shen Yangge finds servants sent by his father, Shen Zhi, to bring him home. Shen Zhi, looking unusually worn down, questions him about what he learned while serving the Crown Prince. Shen gives evasive, flippant answers, and his father sends him away without his usual scolding.
• Before dawn, two maids enter Shen’s room intending to kill him. They say Third Miss threatened them with death if they failed. Though they have drugged the room and expect Shen to be asleep, he is hiding beside the wardrobe.
• Shen startles them by appearing as a ghostly figure. Their screams bring the household running. When Madam Shen notices his bruises and asks what happened, he says he was “accidentally bitten by a dog”—a jab at the Crown Prince.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains irreverent and wary, using humor and quick thinking to protect himself. He is alert to the political danger posed by his father’s factional maneuvering and to the threat from within the household.
• The Crown Prince shows a strangely possessive, physically familiar side toward Shen, then unexpectedly lets him go. His decision to remain alone after Shen’s departure adds to his enigmatic, unsettling presence.
• Shen Zhi shifts from hostility to a performance of fatherly concern, revealing that his real interest is gathering intelligence from the Crown Prince’s court. Shen suspects his growing ties to the Seventh Prince could endanger the family.
• Madam Shen responds to Shen with genuine-looking concern, carefully checking his injuries. The two maids, by contrast, reveal fear and desperation under pressure from Third Miss.

Character interactions

• Shen banters with and tries to negotiate with the Crown Prince, privately insulting him even while speaking cautiously.
• Shen deflects Shen Zhi’s probing questions rather than share useful information.
• The two maids argue over who should carry out the killing, then panic when their planned victim is missing.
• Madam Shen comforts and examines Shen; he answers with a joke that also insults the Crown Prince.

Significant themes

• Political intrigue and divided loyalties: Shen recognizes that his father is gathering intelligence while positioning himself among rival factions.
• Danger within the family: The attempted murder shows that Shen’s threats are not limited to the palace.
• Humor as self-defense: Shen uses sarcasm and absurd explanations to handle fear, authority, and violence.
• Uncertainty and hidden motives: The Crown Prince’s unpredictable behavior and Shen Zhi’s sudden warmth leave Shen unsure whom he can trust.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge reassures Madam Shen that his injury—actually a bite from a person—is harmless and was examined by palace physicians. He conceals the truth to avoid trouble for the Crown Prince.
• Two maids are caught in Shen Yangge’s room at night carrying sharp objects. He accuses them of attempting to kill him and points out the locked door and lingering incense as evidence of a larger scheme.
• The maids insist they acted alone, but Shen Yangge suspects they are taking the blame for someone else.
• Fifth Young Miss Shen Susu arrives and urges him to spare the servants, claiming she thought they had come to steal. Shen Yangge questions her account, noting she had been at the doorway and seemed surprised by him rather than the maids.
• Susu’s maid repeatedly speaks for her. Shen Yangge sharply rebukes the servant for interrupting her master and threatens to have her dismissed.
• When Shen Yangge raises the incense, Susu denies knowing anything and suggests he resents her for taking Fourth Sister’s place. The chapter ends as he calls down someone hiding on the ceiling beam, implying another witness—or participant—is present.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge is shrewd and confrontational, using pointed questions to expose inconsistencies. He suspects the attempted attack was organized and refuses to let others control the conversation.
• Madam Shen is protective and compassionate. Though worried about Yangge, she also sympathizes with Susu and attributes her behavior to bad influence from her servants.
• Shen Susu presents herself as gentle and frail, but her explanations appear evasive. Without her maid speaking for her, she struggles to defend herself.
• Susu’s maid is fiercely loyal and outspoken, but oversteps the servant-master boundary that Yangge insists on enforcing.

Themes

• Deception and accountability: The maids’ claim that they acted alone conflicts with evidence of planning, while Susu’s innocence remains in doubt.
• Power and hierarchy: Yangge asserts that servants must not speak over their masters, highlighting the household’s strict social order.
• Appearance versus reality: Susu’s delicate, gentle image contrasts with Yangge’s suspicion that she is concealing her involvement.

Character interactions

• Yangge reassures his mother while hiding the true cause of his injury.
• He interrogates the maids and challenges Susu’s account, while Susu’s attendant repeatedly attempts to shield her.
• Madam Shen tries to temper Yangge’s harshness, creating tension between maternal sympathy and his demand for answers.

Plot points and events

• A masked man drops from the rafters and identifies Shen Susu as the person who planted incense in Shen Yangge’s room. Susu denies it, but Madam Shen says the household will question her maids and promises Yangge justice.
• The man reveals he is the Crown Prince’s death-sworn personal guard, assigned to protect Yangge. Their exchange is comically sharp: Yangge jokes about hiring him to attack the Crown Prince’s talkative associates, while the guard makes clear he values his life too much to obey.
• At a family gathering the next morning, Yangge finds his seat taken by a younger half-brother, Shen Tianrong. He slaps the boy for showing disrespect, prompting the boy’s mother to accuse him of cruelty.
• Shen Zhi declares that Susu was not responsible for drugging Yangge; he blames her servants and says they have been dismissed. Madam Shen challenges him, saying this contradicts what he previously told her.
• Yangge announces that he will leave with Madam Shen when she returns to her family and is willing to sever ties with the Shen household.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge remains bold, irreverent, and confrontational. He is also increasingly unwilling to tolerate his family’s favoritism and mistreatment, choosing separation over continued conflict.
• Madam Shen becomes more openly supportive of Yangge and acknowledges that she has failed him and his sister. She stands up to Shen Zhi despite her illness.
• Shen Zhi dismisses Madam Shen and appears to protect Susu, offering an explanation that conflicts with what he previously told his wife.
• Shen Susu is exposed as the alleged culprit but denies involvement; her guilt is not definitively established.
• The Crown Prince’s guard proves loyal, formidable, and dryly humorous, while Yangge quickly tests his limits and trades barbs with him.
• Yangge’s confrontation with Tianrong and the concubine highlights the household’s hierarchy and the family’s expectation that he should yield to younger relatives.

Significant themes

• Favoritism and injustice within the family: Yangge and Madam Shen confront a household that protects some members while disregarding others.
• Loyalty and protection: The guard’s unwavering service to the Crown Prince contrasts with Shen Zhi’s questionable sincerity toward his family.
• Breaking away from harmful ties: Yangge’s decision to leave signals a decisive rejection of the Shen household’s treatment of him.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge tells his father, Shen Zhi, to strike him from the family register and declares that he and Madam Shen will leave the Shen Residence.
• Shen Zhi, furious and concerned about his own interests, orders them out. A black-clad guard—one of the crown prince’s men—stops him from striking Shen Yangge.
• Shen Yangge takes Madam Shen and their household staff away. He comforts her and promises to support her, though privately he still intends eventually to return to his own world.
• He settles his mother at an inn, then buys a spacious but neglected courtyard house in the capital. His funds come from an imperial reward and Madam Shen’s dowry; he recognizes that he will eventually need a steady income.
• Though he has taken leave to manage the move, the crown prince summons him to the palace. Shen Yangge grumbles but complies, and learns that his personal guard can also be ordered around.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge makes a decisive break from his abusive father and takes responsibility for Madam Shen’s security and wellbeing. Her affection briefly makes him question his plan to leave the body, but he remains committed to it.
• Madam Shen is distressed and blames herself for her son’s hardship, but she openly expresses her love and faith in him.
• Shen Zhi reveals that family reputation and political advantage matter more to him than his relationship with his son or wife. He appears to be aligning himself with the seventh prince.
• The black-clad guard continues to protect Shen Yangge and shows a more accommodating side when he confirms Shen Yangge can give him orders.

Significant themes

• Breaking from abusive family ties: Shen Yangge rejects his father’s authority and chooses independence.
• Loyalty and care: He acts to protect Madam Shen, despite his own complicated feelings about occupying her son’s body.
• Political self-interest: Shen Zhi’s decisions are shaped by factional ambitions and fear that Shen Yangge’s connection to the crown prince may obstruct them.
• Freedom versus obligation: Shen Yangge wants a quiet day away from palace duties, but the crown prince’s summons reminds him that royal service limits his independence.

Character interactions

• Shen Yangge confronts Shen Zhi, using his father’s insults and threat of disinheritance to make their separation explicit; Shen Zhi responds with rage and orders them out.
• He reassures Madam Shen while helping her leave, and she comforts him with her unconditional support.
• The guard protects Shen Yangge from Shen Zhi’s thrown object, escorts him from the residence, and later delivers the crown prince’s summons.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge arrives at the Eastern Palace after several stops to rest, wondering why the crown prince has summoned him so close to nightfall.
• The crown prince calls him over and inspects the bite wound on his neck, hidden beneath his high collar. When Shen Yangge recoils, the crown prince catches him by the neck and pulls the collar aside.
• The crown prince asks whether Shen Yangge fears him. Shen Yangge gives a careful, respectful answer aloud while inwardly cursing the prince and wondering why he has not simply had him executed.
• The prince alternates between teasing threats and unwanted physical contact, rubbing Shen Yangge’s neck and remarking that he will treat him well because Shen claims to respect and admire him.
• After releasing Shen Yangge’s neck, the crown prince takes his hand and asks whether his injury has healed. The chapter ends as he lifts Shen Yangge’s sleeve to examine his wrist.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains outwardly meek and deferential but is privately defiant, sarcastic, and convinced the crown prince may kill him. His body’s instinctive attempts to escape reveal how frightened he is, despite his attempts to appear composed.
• The crown prince shows an unsettling interest in Shen Yangge. He probes for signs of fear, seems amused by Shen’s hidden thoughts, and handles him possessively while presenting his actions as concern about his injuries.
• System 615 briefly comments that the crown prince probably does not want Shen Yangge to thank him by wishing for execution.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus inner truth: Shen Yangge’s polite praise contrasts sharply with his furious internal monologue.
• Power and coercion: The crown prince’s rank and physical control leave Shen Yangge little ability to refuse, even when the prince frames his actions as kindness or concern.
• Uneasy attraction and fixation: The prince’s attention to Shen Yangge’s wound and body suggests an emerging, potentially possessive interest.
• Dark comedy: Shen’s elaborate curses and desperate thoughts undercut the threatening atmosphere.

Character interactions

• Shen Yangge and the crown prince engage in a tense exchange in which the prince repeatedly tests Shen’s loyalty and fear, while Shen tries to survive through cautious flattery.
• Their physical interaction grows more invasive: the prince grips Shen’s neck, examines the bite wound, then takes his hand to inspect another injury.
• Shen Yangge’s inner thoughts provide a comic counterpoint to the crown prince’s cold, controlled manner.

Plot points and events

• The crown prince notices the bruises and scratches on Shen Yangge’s wrist and asks whether his neck wound still hurts. Shen privately resents the prince’s concern and recalls the injuries he has suffered.
• The prince summons Green Willow to fetch Physician Liu. When she expresses worry for him, he coldly demands to know in what capacity she is addressing him, frightening her into leaving.
• Shen asks the prince to call Green Willow back, but the prince reacts sharply to hearing her name and pulls Shen beside him. He tries to inspect Shen for other injuries; Shen objects to the unwanted attention.
• Physician Liu arrives and is surprised to learn that the prince summoned him for Shen, a minor official. The physician checks Shen’s pulse and says he has weak qi and blood, low vitality, and several chronic ailments, though nothing else is immediately wrong.
• The prince asks whether Shen can be treated. Physician Liu says his injuries are minor, prescribes medicine, and warns that Shen’s unusually sensitive body could suffer serious consequences if injuries are neglected.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains outwardly polite but inwardly sarcastic and resentful. He is uncomfortable with the prince’s touch and learns that his body is unusually frail.
• The crown prince displays unexpected concern by summoning a physician and insisting Shen receive treatment. At the same time, he remains domineering and reacts possessively when Shen mentions Green Willow.
• Green Willow appears to be one of the prince’s former or future romantic interests, but the prince’s icy response shows that she has little standing with him at this point.
• Physician Liu recognizes that the prince’s supposed recovery from madness is only a public rumor; the illness remains severe and has driven the prince to self-harm.

Significant themes

• Public image versus hidden suffering: The prince is rumored to be cured, but Physician Liu knows he continues to endure—and conceal—his illness.
• Care mixed with control: The prince’s concern for Shen is genuine enough to prompt medical care, yet it comes with invasive touching and possessive behavior.
• Weakness and vulnerability: Shen’s frail health makes even minor injuries potentially dangerous and leaves him vulnerable to mistreatment.

Character interactions

• The prince questions Shen about his injuries and tries to examine him; Shen resists while masking his anger with formal politeness.
• The prince humiliates Green Willow after she shows concern, reinforcing his intimidating authority.
• Physician Liu’s surprise at the prince’s actions signals how unusual this attention to Shen is. The prince then takes responsibility for arranging Shen’s medicine.