Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chu Xuanzhen catches the carrier pigeon as it carries Shen Yangge away. He cages the bird and puts Shen Yangge nearby, where Shen teases it by kicking a glass bead around. When the pigeon becomes miserable, Shen relents and tosses the bead into its cage, cheering it up.
• While Chu Xuanzhen reads important letters, Shen notices he has drawn a detailed portrait of him. Moved by the discovery, Shen writes a confession beside it, promising to stand with Chu through life and death and declaring his love. Chu gently acknowledges the confession by repeating it aloud.
• Four days later, Xue Pingyuan arrests the rebels, including officials aligned with the Crown Prince. The guilty officials’ households face execution, while their extended relatives are exiled.
• Shen recalls that, in the original novel, Chu later adopts even harsher laws after becoming emperor. Shen and Chu return to the Eastern Palace, where a new group of servants appears less likely to be spies.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen’s irritation toward Chu and the pigeon gives way to affection and compassion. His discovery of Chu’s portrait prompts him to express his love openly, though he is embarrassed when Chu repeats his words.
• Chu shows his attention to Shen through the carefully observed portrait, then responds to Shen’s confession with quiet warmth and gentle teasing.
• Shen and the pigeon shift from adversaries to tentative companions: Shen first taunts it, then gives it a toy to comfort it.
• Xue Pingyuan’s crackdown decisively defeats the rebels, while the return to the Eastern Palace suggests a fresh start after the political upheaval.

Significant themes

• Love and loyalty: Shen’s vow to remain beside Chu “in life and death” makes their mutual affection explicit.
• Tenderness beneath teasing: Shen and Chu express closeness through playful provocation, embarrassment, and small acts of care.
• Justice and political power: The arrests and collective penalties highlight the severe consequences of treason and foreshadow Chu’s future authoritarian rule.
• Safety and trust: The changed palace staff offers Shen cautious reassurance that the Eastern Palace may be less compromised than before.

Key plot points and events

• The palace’s political factions have largely been dealt with. Consort Xue has abandoned her ambitions, while the Eleventh Prince has reduced his audiences. The Empress is sent to Nanli Temple for secluded cultivation—an act of limited mercy from the Crown Prince, who holds her partly responsible for the affair.
• Rumors in the capital now claim that the Crown Prince’s “madness” was fabricated by the fugitive Fourth Prince. Public opinion turns against the Fourth Prince, contrasting his flight from danger with the Crown Prince’s battlefield heroism.
• Back in the Eastern Palace, Shen Yangge enjoys hearing the rumors. A palace maid warns him not to eat too much cooling fruit and brings him a storybook supplied by one of Chu Xuanzhen’s servants. It turns out to be an erotic book about men and women, which Shen finds baffling and suspects Chu sent deliberately.
• Shen goes to Chu’s study to ask about the book, disguising his purpose with an invitation to admire the flowers. Chu refuses, so Shen angrily tries to leave—but guards stop him. After keeping Shen in the study for about an hour, Chu finally agrees to go.
• The chapter ends with Shen walking in resentful silence while Chu remains composed. Their tense mood alarms the servants following them.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge is back to normal and in high spirits over the Fourth Prince’s damaged reputation. He remains quick-tempered and irreverent, especially when Chu toys with him.
• Chu Xuanzhen appears calm and self-possessed, but his decision to send Shen the provocative book and then detain him suggests deliberate teasing and possessiveness.
• The Empress faces consequences for her role in the affair, though the Crown Prince’s choice to send her away rather than punish her more severely reflects lingering consideration.
• The palace maid has become cautious and discreet after recognizing Shen’s importance to Chu and learning the risks of palace gossip.

Significant themes

• Political reputation and public opinion: The Crown Prince’s deeds and the Fourth Prince’s absence reshape popular sentiment.
• Power and mercy: The Crown Prince consolidates control while granting the Empress only a limited reprieve.
• Intimacy expressed through teasing and control: Chu and Shen’s banter, misunderstandings, and forced proximity reveal affection beneath their antagonism.
• Silence and self-preservation: Palace staff learn to avoid dangerous rumors and keep their observations to themselves.

Character interactions

• Shen jokes and celebrates the public backlash against the Fourth Prince, while the maid anxiously manages his food and later obeys his request to leave.
• Shen interprets Chu’s storybook as a strange test or provocation and confronts him indirectly.
• Chu refuses Shen’s invitation, blocks his attempted departure, and eventually grants the outing on his own terms. Shen responds with silent, simmering resentment, leaving their relationship playfully strained.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge accompanies Chu Xuanzhen to the rear garden, ostensibly to admire the flowers. The palace is unusually quiet, with servants keeping their distance.
• Shen finds Xiao Zhi, a lost and hungry child from the Imperial Medical Bureau, hiding in a flower bed. He agrees to take him back.
• Chu Xuanzhen offers to escort them, but Shen tries to send him back to his duties. Chu playfully refuses to provide directions, knowing Shen has a poor sense of direction, and repeatedly sends him the wrong way.
• A maid eventually sets Shen on the correct route. Xiao Zhi explains that an elder from the Medical Bureau told him to wait in the garden. At the Bureau, Shen recognizes Xiao Zhi’s senior brother as the child he once encountered there, remarks that he has grown, and leaves.
• In a separate scene, Chu Xuanzhen goes to the Heavenly Prison to question the man arrested for impersonating the emperor. The weakened impostor insists he is the emperor and threatens his captors; Xue Pingyuan mocks his claim.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge tries to maintain his composure around Chu Xuanzhen but is flustered by their teasing and affection. His poor navigation leaves him vulnerable to Chu’s misdirection, and he recognizes the trick afterward.
• Chu Xuanzhen shows playful, possessive tenderness toward Shen, calling him “my little lost lamb” and drawing him close. He also shifts into a calm, authoritative role when going to interrogate the impostor.
• Xiao Zhi is frightened and hungry but trusts Shen, clinging to him and rejecting other escorts. He reacts protectively toward Shen when he senses Chu has upset him.
• Xue Pingyuan serves as a wry observer, openly ridiculing the impostor’s delusions.

Significant themes

• Affection expressed through teasing: Chu’s deliberate misdirection and intimate nickname turn a practical errand into flirtatious banter.
• Trust and vulnerability: Shen’s dependence on others for directions contrasts with his growing awareness that Chu cannot always be trusted.
• Identity and legitimacy: The imprisoned impostor’s resemblance to the emperor raises the distinction between looking like a ruler and actually possessing the authority and character of one.

Plot and key events

• Xue Pingyuan confronts the chained impostor emperor, Jin Xian, and tells him the real emperor is still alive and that the people who arranged the impersonation have abandoned him.
• Jin Xian panics when Chu Xuanzhen addresses him by name. He recalls how, as a boy, Chu Xuanzhen threatened revenge for Jin Xian’s role in wronging him.
• To save himself, Jin Xian offers to expose the Fourth Prince and reveal the whereabouts of the Daoist connected to the South Seas Curse-Head Sorcery afflicting Chu Xuanzhen. Chu initially says he will spare Jin Xian’s corpse, but when Jin refuses to talk, he promises to spare his life instead.
• Jin Xian says the Daoist went first to the Flowing Pearl Kingdom, then took work in the Western Regions Kingdom. Chu accepts this lead and leaves the prison.
• Xue Pingyuan suspects that Xue Qian may also be affected by the sorcery, recalling his brother’s joke about feeling cursed. Chu does not confirm the suspicion, but tells Xue to ask whether anything bit Xue Qian during the battle at Jiang Family Village.
• Chu heads to the Eastern Palace, where Shen Yangge is passing the time with a story collection and silently complaining about being kept from accompanying Chu—and being forbidden to record the situation in the imperial diary. Chu arrives and notices Shen’s cake crumbs.

Character developments and interactions

• Jin Xian shifts from boasting and threats to fear when confronted by Chu, then turns desperate and manipulative to bargain for his life. Once he believes Chu will not spare him, he briefly becomes defiant before giving up information.
• Chu Xuanzhen remains controlled and intimidating, using Jin Xian’s fear to extract a lead. He also shows concern about the curse and gives Xue Pingyuan a practical way to investigate it.
• Xue Pingyuan challenges Jin Xian’s claim to authority, then becomes alert to the possible connection between the sorcery and his brother. His exchange with Chu is respectful and purposeful.
• Shen Yangge is bored and frustrated by palace confinement, but his inner complaints provide a humorous contrast to the prison interrogation. Chu’s amused reaction hints at their familiar, affectionate dynamic.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Jin Xian’s claim to imperial authority collapses once the real emperor and his abandonment are brought up.
• Fear, guilt, and revenge: Chu’s childhood threat has haunted Jin Xian for years, while Jin’s past wrongdoing now leaves him at Chu’s mercy.
• Bargaining and survival: Jin Xian trades information for his life, revealing how desperation changes his behavior.
• Mystery and foreshadowing: The curse on Chu may also affect Xue Qian, and the Daoist’s trail points toward the Flowing Pearl and Western Regions Kingdoms.
• Humor amid tension: Xue Pingyuan’s blunt insults and Shen Yangge’s private grumbling lighten the chapter’s darker events.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge spends the evening in the bedchamber eating osmanthus cake and reading, unaware that Crown Prince Chu Xuanzhen has returned.
• Chu enters but, instead of addressing Shen, goes into the side bedroom. Shen assumes Chu is sulking because Shen refused intimacy the previous night.
• Determined not to share the bedchamber, Shen asks a servant to take him to the side hall. The nervous servant warns that Chu ordered staff to report whenever Shen leaves; Shen insists he has already informed the Crown Prince.
• The side hall is clean enough to sleep in but smells rotten, apparently because a stray cat left fish bones. Shen settles there and asks the servant to fetch his story collection, but the servant never returns. Palace maids arrive to clean instead, leading Shen to suspect Chu is preventing the book from reaching him.
• Unable to sleep or contact the offline System 615, Shen browses the system interface and considers its second proposed option: killing the other “bug.”

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge is independent, stubborn, and increasingly willing to challenge Chu’s possessiveness, though he remains alert to the risks of palace life. His thoughts reveal growing concern about the system’s apparent failures.
• Chu Xuanzhen communicates displeasure indirectly by retreating to the side bedroom and seemingly keeping Shen’s servant from returning. His behavior suggests jealousy or a desire to control Shen’s movements.
• The servants and palace maids are fearful and cautious around both men. One servant’s anxiety reflects the danger of serving in the Eastern Palace, where staff can abruptly disappear and rules may change without explanation.
• Shen and Chu do not directly argue, but their actions create a quiet contest: Chu withdraws and obstructs Shen’s request, while Shen deliberately leaves the bedchamber.

Significant themes

• Control and independence: Shen resists Chu’s unspoken expectations by choosing separate quarters.
• Power and fear: Servants navigate the Crown Prince’s authority carefully, afraid of making a mistake.
• Uncertainty and suspicion: Shen questions whether the system’s repairs are worsening matters and begins considering the dangerous option of eliminating another bug.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yangge considers who might be responsible for the changes he has noticed in the story. He suspects the Western Regions’ Prince Ruthis, Second Prince Chu Xuanzhi, and the original heroine, Jiang Qinghuan, but has no proof and decides not to settle on an explanation.
• As Shen Yangge is falling asleep, Chu Xuanzhen arrives with a box of intimate objects and initiates sex despite Shen Yangge’s clear protests. Shen is left exhausted and sleeps late the next morning.
• Before leaving for court, Chu Xuanzhen kisses Shen awake and lingers over him; Shen urges him to go.
• At court, officials again press Chu Xuanzhen to take the throne. He refuses, citing the living emperor, but agrees to govern as regent. His reluctance to claim the throne remains puzzling to the officials.
• Chu Xuanzhen arranges to return to the Eastern Palace for lunch. Shen Yangge, still sore and embarrassed from the previous night, acts cold toward him and refuses the food Chu places in his bowl.
• After lunch, Chu Xuanzhen asks whether they should call an imperial physician, looking pointedly at Shen’s belly. Shen realizes what he may be implying.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge continues investigating the story’s inconsistencies, especially the heroine’s behavior, but remains wary of jumping to conclusions. In his relationship with Chu Xuanzhen, he is uncomfortable and resentful after their encounter, though he conceals his embarrassment behind a chilly manner.
• Chu Xuanzhen is tender and possessive in private, but disregards Shen’s refusals in the sexual encounter. In public, he appears dutiful and politically reluctant, refusing the throne while taking on the regency.
• Their exchanges shift between intimacy and friction: Chu Xuanzhen kisses Shen, while Shen tries to avoid him and pointedly rejects his food. Chu’s final suggestion of an imperial physician turns the awkwardness toward a possible pregnancy or other bodily concern.

Significant themes

• The gap between appearances and reality: Jiang Qinghuan does not match her “pure heroine” reputation, and Chu Xuanzhen’s filial public image contrasts with the unresolved question of why he will not take the throne.
• Power and control: Chu Xuanzhen’s political authority and his control within the private relationship stand in sharp contrast to Shen Yangge’s limited ability to refuse or withdraw.
• Uncertainty and suspicion: Shen notices that events diverge from the original story but lacks evidence to explain why, leaving the chapter’s larger mystery unresolved.

Plot points

• Shen Yangge and Crown Prince Chu Xuanzhen trade a tense, wordless stare until a messenger reports that the rebel Jin Xian has suddenly died. Chu leaves, ordering his subordinates to protect Shen and threatening them with death if anything happens to him.
• Chu’s concern becomes apparent when he sends an elderly imperial physician to examine Shen. The physician finds no serious illness, but says Shen’s vital energy is depleted and advises him to avoid sex for a few days—an embarrassing diagnosis in front of the household staff.
• Unable to sleep, Shen wanders the palace and finds a white cat pursuing a large rat. Recognizing the rat from the Dungeon and remembering that it once saved him, he restrains the cat long enough for the rat to escape.
• After returning to bed, Shen receives a warning from System 615: because he has not actively helped the male lead claim the throne, the Database will punish him. He is left confused and alarmed.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge remains sarcastic and stubborn, but his intervention to save the rat shows gratitude and compassion. He also tries to maintain his assigned role despite his irritation.
• Chu Xuanzhen appears intensely watchful and protective of Shen, even while their relationship remains marked by hostility and mutual defiance.
• The palace staff are frightened by the tension between the two men and by Chu’s threat; the maid who screams at the rat fears she may be punished.
• The physician provides comic embarrassment rather than grave news, while System 615 introduces a new threat to Shen’s mission.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts palace danger and rigid power with moments of absurdity and humor.
• Shen’s reluctant loyalty to the rat suggests that small acts of kindness persist amid political intrigue.
• The system’s demand that Shen actively advance the male lead’s rise to power shifts the mission from background obligation to immediate danger.

Key plot points

• System 615 transports Shen Yangge to an enclosed courtyard in Capital City and gives him two days to escape; failure means death and annihilation.
• Shen suspects the Database is trying to erase him indirectly, through missions and other people. He studies the courtyard and begins planning how to get out, knowing Chu Xuanzhen’s reaction to his disappearance could be severe.
• In the Heavenly Prison, Chu Xuanzhen, the Eighth Prince, and Xue Pingyuan examine a dead rebel. The Eighth Prince wonders aloud whether the corpse could be their father, then learns it bears the mark of the Poisonous Scorpion sect.
• The Eighth Prince reacts with intense hatred toward the sect and offers to help pursue its members. Chu Xuanzhen tells him to stay out of the danger.
• Palace servants report that Shen has vanished after their vision briefly blurred. Chu orders them to clarify what they actually witnessed, while the Eighth Prince and Xue urge him to focus on finding Shen rather than punishing them.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge remains quick-thinking under pressure: he assesses the courtyard’s obstacles and starts devising an escape, while recognizing the system’s indirect methods.
• Chu Xuanzhen stays outwardly composed despite Shen’s disappearance. His protective streak appears in his warning to the Eighth Prince, and his controlled calm unsettles those around him.
• The Eighth Prince shifts from joking irreverence to cold anger when he recognizes the Poisonous Scorpion mark. He wants to help, but Chu refuses because the sect is too dangerous.
• Xue Pingyuan is attentive to the possible connection between the sect and Xue Qian’s symptoms, and offers to organize the search for Shen.
• The servants fear punishment, but the Eighth Prince and Xue advocate delaying it until Shen is found.

Significant themes

• Control and resistance: The Database can displace Shen and threaten him, but appears unable to act against him directly.
• Protection versus agency: Chu’s concern for his younger brother leads him to bar the Eighth Prince from a dangerous pursuit.
• Hidden danger and uncertainty: The rebels’ affiliation may connect to wider threats, while Shen’s unexplained disappearance leaves the palace unsure what happened.

Plot and key events

• In the Heavenly Prison, Crown Prince Chu Xuanzhen says he knows where the missing person is and asks General Xue Pingyuan to update him about Jin Xian’s case. He leaves without explaining himself, unsettling the servants who had failed to keep watch.
• The Eighth Prince orders those servants punished with twenty strokes and reassigned to the Laundry Bureau. A jailer accepts a bribe from one of them, though allowing visitors in had already been authorized by his superior.
• Consort Xue tries to speak with Chu Xuanzhen, but he brushes her off and leaves. Concluding that opposing him is too dangerous, she decides to withdraw from political maneuvering and orders her maid Qiao Luo reassigned after noticing the maid’s interest in the Crown Prince. Qiao Luo pleads, then hides her resentment.
• Meanwhile, Shen Yangge attempts to escape a walled courtyard by tying strips of his clothes to branches and hooking them over the wall. His makeshift rope catches on a chained dog’s collar, leaving the dog dangling near him. He talks it into stopping its barking, but when he tries to climb down, the dog gives him a disdainful look. Shen releases the rope, and the dog lands and smugly circles him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Xuanzhen remains outwardly composed and unreadable, refusing Consort Xue’s approach. His reputation for filial virtue contrasts with her belief that he has secretly harmed even the emperor.
• Consort Xue shifts from political ambition to cautious retreat, recognizing she cannot safely challenge Chu Xuanzhen. She acts decisively to distance Qiao Luo from him.
• Qiao Luo reveals an adoring interest in Chu Xuanzhen, then turns resentful when reassigned.
• Shen Yangge is resourceful and optimistic about escape, but his improvised plan goes comically wrong; his encounter with the dog becomes a contest of pride rather than a successful getaway.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Chu Xuanzhen’s influence shapes others’ choices even when he says little.
• Political withdrawal and self-preservation: Consort Xue chooses survival over factional conflict.
• Appearances versus reality: The Crown Prince’s public image masks the ruthless methods others attribute to him.
• Comic resilience: Shen Yangge’s confidence and improvisation meet an absurd obstacle, ending on a playful note of mutual defiance between man and dog.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge climbs down from a wall, wary of a fierce-looking dog. Chu Xuanzhen catches him as he jumps, then kisses his neck in front of the Imperial Guards.
• The dog cowers from Chu Xuanzhen, prompting Shen Yangge to mock it in his thoughts. The Guards witness the couple’s intimacy and retreat, likely believing the rumors about them.
• Shen Yangge worries that public scandal could provoke opposition to Chu Xuanzhen’s succession. He must help the Crown Prince become emperor to survive his altered mission, but fears Database will exploit the rules against him.
• Back at the Eastern Palace, Shen Yangge rests with worsening back and waist pain. Chu Xuanzhen brings him medicine and briefly speaks with unexpected gentleness, unsettling him.
• When Shen Yangge promises to stay by Chu Xuanzhen’s side, Chu demands to know whether he means it. Shen assures him he does. Chu then throws away the medicine and holds him tightly, insisting, “You said it yourself.”

Character developments

• Shen Yangge remains witty and outwardly affectionate, but is increasingly caught between genuine attachment to Chu Xuanzhen and the self-preserving demands of his mission.
• Chu Xuanzhen reveals a rare glimpse of vulnerability and intense need for reassurance. His usual composure slips at Shen’s promise, which he clings to almost desperately.
• The Imperial Guards become more aware of the relationship and its rumors, choosing discretion over confrontation.

Significant themes

• Love and insecurity: Chu Xuanzhen seeks certainty that Shen will not leave him.
• Duty versus personal feeling: Shen’s mission requires him to support Chu’s rise, while his concern for Chu seems increasingly personal.
• Public image and power: Their private intimacy could threaten Chu’s political prospects, especially given his position as heir.
• Humor amid tension: Shen’s irreverent inner commentary contrasts with the emotional seriousness beneath their banter.

Character interactions

• Shen and Chu’s physical closeness is conspicuous even before the Guards, though Chu remains dignified before others.
• Shen offers reassurance with a promise of loyalty; Chu responds by demanding confirmation and embracing him with overwhelming intensity.
• Shen observes Chu’s brief tremor while serving the medicine, sensing hidden feelings but unable to fully read him.

Key events

• Chu Xuanzhen finds Shen Yangge in Qinglian Court after hearing his inner thoughts. He catches Shen as he jumps from a high wall and brings him back, relieved simply to have him nearby.
• Later, Chu discovers a palace maid has tampered with Shen’s medicinal decoction on orders from the Noble Consort. The medicine contains an arousal-inducing drug. He has the maid taken away and destroys the tainted bowl.
• When Shen asks why he smashed the medicine, Chu claims it had gone cold. Shen doubts the excuse but orders another dose brewed.
• Chu quietly helps Shen drink the fresh medicine, blowing on each spoonful.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu’s anxious search for Shen ends in intense relief and tenderness. He remains protective, but conceals the real reason he discarded the medicine.
• Shen is puzzled by Chu’s behavior and increasingly aware of his closeness, yet responds with gentle, coaxing warmth. He knows Chu often lies and does not fully believe his explanation.
• Their intimacy shows in small gestures: Chu strokes Shen’s face and touches the mole beneath his eye; later, he personally cools and feeds him the medicine.
• Shen’s feelings remain unwavering: whatever Chu may become, he will continue to like him.

Significant themes

• Protective affection and proximity: Chu feels secure when Shen is within reach, while his care is expressed through quiet, intimate actions.
• Trust and concealment: Chu protects Shen without revealing the drug plot, and Shen accepts his explanation only perfunctorily.
• Steadfast love: The chapter’s central sentiment is Shen’s conviction that his affection for Chu will not change.

Key plot points and events

• After Shen Yangge takes his medicine, Chu Xuanzhen settles him in bed and reads beside him. Shen can’t sleep and moves closer, but cannot make sense of the book’s writing.
• Chu holds Shen’s bare foot against his chest, then draws him onto his shoulder, saying he is cold. Shen initially protests, but notices Chu’s unnatural chill and cuddles close to warm him. Shen soon falls asleep beside him.
• The next day, Shen wakes late and dresses himself. He learns the attendants replaced after his disappearance were transferred to the Laundry Bureau—a relatively lenient punishment ordered by the Eighth Prince.
• Xue Qian arrives to see Shen. Xue Pingyuan explains that Xue Qian has been afflicted with gu poison and that being near Shen eases his symptoms. Shen agrees to let him stay nearby, but worries whether Chu knows. Xue Pingyuan promises to report it after leaving the Eastern Palace, leaving Shen doubtful.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge is flustered by Chu’s affectionate gestures, but his embarrassment gives way to genuine concern when he realizes Chu is cold. He also shows compassion toward Xue Qian and remembers his tragic fate from the novel.
• Chu Xuanzhen displays quiet, intimate care—keeping Shen close and letting him sleep against him—while concealing or minimizing his own physical chill. His tenderness contrasts with his authority over the palace.
• Xue Pingyuan seeks Shen’s help for Xue Qian and appears to be acting while Chu is absent, making Shen uncertain whether the prince has been informed.
• The chapter’s central interaction is the growing physical and emotional closeness between Shen and Chu; later, Shen becomes a potential source of comfort and protection for Xue Qian.

Significant themes

• Intimacy and mutual comfort: Shen warms Chu, while Chu provides a cool, steady presence that helps Shen sleep.
• Care amid vulnerability: Shen’s concern for Chu and willingness to help Xue Qian reveal a compassionate side.
• Power and uncertainty: The attendants’ relatively mild reassignment highlights the danger of serving in the Eastern Palace, while Shen’s uncertainty about Chu’s knowledge underscores the risks of acting without the prince’s approval.
• Fate and foreknowledge: Shen’s memories of the novel make Xue Qian’s illness especially troubling, since he knows Xue Qian was destined to die young.

Key plot points and events

• Xue Pingyuan brings his gu-afflicted younger brother, Xue Qian, to Shen Yangge in the Eastern Palace, asking Shen to look after him while he seeks the Crown Prince’s permission.
• Shen agrees, though he points out that the decision ultimately belongs to the Crown Prince. Xue Pingyuan leaves, trusting him with Xue Qian.
• Xue Qian initially behaves like a very young child. When Shen moves toward the doorway, Xue Qian panics, clings to his sleeve, and suffers a frightening episode of confusion and pain.
• Shen nearly summons an imperial physician, then realizes Xue Qian’s presence must be kept secret to avoid political suspicion. He dismisses the palace maids and tells them to claim they saw nothing.
• Xue Qian soon recovers his awareness and recognizes Shen. He refuses Shen’s offer to take him secretly to the Imperial Medical Bureau and realizes his elder brother brought him there.
• Meanwhile, Xue Pingyuan reports the situation to Crown Prince Chu Xuanzhen. The Crown Prince remains outwardly composed and gives little response, then dismisses him, leaving Xue Pingyuan worried that he is displeased.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge shows compassion and practical judgment: he accommodates Xue Qian, comforts him during the episode, and protects him from unwanted attention by concealing his presence.
• Xue Qian shifts unpredictably between childlike confusion, acute distress, and clear awareness, underscoring the unstable effects of his gu poison. He is wary of involving the Imperial Medical Bureau.
• Xue Pingyuan acts out of brotherly concern, accepting the political risk of bringing Xue Qian to Shen without first securing permission. Though anxious about the Crown Prince’s reaction, he does not regret prioritizing his brother’s condition.
• Chu Xuanzhen remains difficult to read. His calm, restrained response leaves Xue Pingyuan uncertain whether he is merely controlled or quietly displeased.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and family duty: Xue Pingyuan puts his brother’s urgent needs before protocol and personal safety.
• Secrecy and political vulnerability: Xue Qian’s presence in the Eastern Palace could invite suspicion, forcing Shen to manage not only his care but also the risks surrounding it.
• The unpredictability of illness: Xue Qian’s sudden changes in behavior reveal how severe and erratic the gu poison’s effects have become.
• Power and restraint: The Crown Prince’s measured silence contrasts with Xue Pingyuan’s anxiety, showing how authority can exert pressure even without open confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Xue Pingyuan leaves the palace worried about Xue Qian’s condition. In the Eastern Palace courtyard, Shen Yangge asks Xue Qian about his experiences at Jiang Family Manor and concludes that Jiang Heming likely infected him with gu poison.
• Xue Qian’s headaches and memory lapses persist. Shen Yangge believes staying near him may ease the symptoms and asks Chu Xuanzhen to let the boy remain at the Eastern Palace. Chu agrees, deferring to the “Divine Dragon.”
• Chu Xuanzhen interrupts their conversation, draws Shen Yangge onto his lap, and repeatedly rubs the hand Shen Yangge used to pat Xue Qian—an unmistakable display of jealousy, though he remains outwardly composed.
• Xue Qian is settled in a side hall and assigned servants, but the attention unsettles him, so he dismisses them. When his headache returns and his memories seem to vanish, he rushes out to find Shen Yangge.
• Meanwhile, Chu Xuanzhen carries Shen Yangge to their bedchamber. Sensing that Chu is unusually quiet and distant, Shen Yangge nervously asks whether he is angry and offers a tentative kiss.

Character developments

• Xue Qian is increasingly timid and vulnerable because of the gu poison. His recurring headaches appear tied to memory loss, and he seeks Shen Yangge when the episodes strike.
• Shen Yangge shows concern for Xue Qian and takes responsibility for securing him a safe place to stay. At the same time, he is wary of Chu Xuanzhen’s jealousy and uncertain about the state of their relationship.
• Chu Xuanzhen accepts Xue Qian’s stay but reveals possessiveness through his close attention to Shen Yangge and his repeated touching of Shen’s hand. His silence afterward leaves Shen anxious.

Significant themes

• Care and protection: Shen Yangge and Chu Xuanzhen provide shelter for the vulnerable Xue Qian.
• Jealousy and affection: Chu Xuanzhen’s composed words contrast with his possessive gestures, while Shen Yangge tries to reassure him.
• Memory and identity: Xue Qian’s gu-related episodes threaten his memory and contribute to his changed, fearful behavior.
• Unease beneath intimacy: The couple’s physical closeness contrasts with their unresolved tension.

Character interactions

• Shen Yangge questions Xue Qian compassionately and advocates for him; Xue Qian trusts him as a source of comfort.
• Chu Xuanzhen subtly asserts his place between Shen Yangge and Xue Qian, then grants Shen’s request while maintaining an affectionate hold on him.
• In private, Shen Yangge interprets Chu Xuanzhen’s unusual quiet as anger and cautiously reaches for reconciliation.

Key plot points

• The Empress’s infant son dies, fulfilling a Taoist’s prediction that her first child would die young. The emperor comforts her, then orders everyone who witnessed her breakdown killed.
• On the same day, Prince Anping’s wife gives birth to a healthy legitimate son. The emperor asks Prince Anping to surrender the baby to replace the dead Crown Prince. Prince Anping refuses, and the emperor soon sends him north to war. He never returns; his wife dies within six months, and their child disappears.
• The missing boy is raised as the Crown Prince: Chu Xuanzhen. At six, after being reprimanded for beating a classmate, he adopts a polished, scholarly public persona.
• At ten, Chu learns he is Prince Anping’s son and that his birth parents are dead. The Empress, realizing he is not her child, turns against him. He nearly kills her, but the emperor persuades him to stop.
• The emperor and Empress later betray Chu, restraining him and implanting Gu Worms. The ordeal drives him into madness and confusion about his identity.
• Years later, a defiant young man’s curses and lively presence unexpectedly ease Chu’s madness. Though Chu initially has him punished, he becomes uneasy when told the youth may be dying and sends someone to check on him.

Character developments

• Chu Xuanzhen: Beneath his cultivated Crown Prince image, he remains fierce and vengeful. Learning his origins deepens his trauma; betrayal and the Gu Worms shatter his sense of self. The young man’s presence brings an unexplained moment of relief and stirs concern.
• The Emperor: Presents himself as comforting and pragmatic, but orchestrates Prince Anping’s removal and later conspires with the Empress against Chu.
• The Empress: Grieves intensely for her dead infant, then directs her anger at Chu when she learns the truth of his birth.
• Prince Anping: Refuses to give up his newborn son, but is sent to war and never returns.
• The young man: Appears briefly, but his boldness and vitality have a powerful, calming effect on Chu.

Significant themes

• Identity and inheritance: Chu is forced to live as the Crown Prince despite being another family’s child, leaving him torn between two identities.
• Betrayal and political power: Family bonds are overridden by succession struggles, manipulation, and violence.
• Grief and trauma: Loss, abuse, and the Gu Worms shape Chu’s descent into madness.
• Unexpected connection: A stranger’s vitality briefly reaches Chu when years of pain have left him disconnected from himself.

Character interactions

• The emperor comforts the grieving Empress, but also silences witnesses to protect the palace’s secrets.
• Prince Anping clashes with the emperor over his newborn son; their disagreement leads to his departure for war.
• Chu and the Empress confront each other violently after he learns the truth, with the emperor intervening to stop him.
• The emperor and Empress later unite against Chu by restraining and torturing him.
• Chu’s encounters with the young man shift from punishment to concern, hinting at a meaningful future connection.

Plot points and events

• At the Empress’s birthday banquet, Chu Xuanzhen presents her with a golden coffin and encounters the young man again. He discovers he can hear the man’s irreverent inner thoughts, which amuse him and make the banquet bearable.
• After an odd moment of closeness in the coffin, Chu has the young man brought to his side. He initially treats him as a source of entertainment, teasing him and listening to his secret insults.
• Their companionship becomes important to Chu, who is terminally ill from South Seas Curse-Head Sorcery. When the young man faints, Chu panics; during a bout of madness, he avoids harming him. The young man’s blood also seems to help calm Chu’s episodes.
• The young man later disappears. While searching desperately, Chu hears his faint voice and discovers he has become a kitten, hidden by a subordinate.
• Chu accepts the transformation and dotes on the kitten. After the Eleventh Prince mistreats him, Chu retrieves him and cares for him until he regains his strength and eventually turns human again.

Character developments

• Chu Xuanzhen shifts from cynical amusement to genuine attachment. His concern becomes possessive and protective: he cannot bear the young man’s absence and decides that, whatever he is, he must remain by Chu’s side.
• The young man, Shen Zhuanxie, remains outwardly provocative and inwardly sarcastic, but his vitality and resistance to death intrigue Chu. Even as a kitten, he is vulnerable and prone to running off, prompting Chu to care for him closely.

Character interactions

• Their relationship is built on contrast: Chu teases and watches, while Shen appears compliant but curses him in his thoughts.
• Chu alone can hear Shen’s inner voice, creating a private bond that deepens as Chu grows attached.
• Chu’s interactions with the Empress, Emperor, and Eleventh Prince reveal his hostility toward them, especially when the Eleventh Prince harms Shen.

Significant themes

• Loneliness and connection: Shen brings warmth into Chu’s isolated, illness-shadowed life.
• Possession and devotion: Chu’s affection is sincere but intensely possessive; he wants Shen constantly near him.
• Hidden selves: Chu’s apparent madness masks periods of lucidity, while Shen’s polite exterior conceals a stream of insults.
• Vulnerability and care: Shen’s collapse and transformation reveal Chu’s helplessness and tenderness beneath his threatening demeanor.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Xuanzhen lets Shen Zhuanxie stay overnight in the Eastern Palace. When assassins attack, he watches Shen taunt them and takes pleasure in the youth leaning against him when frightened. One assassin cuts off a lock of Shen’s hair; Chu secretly keeps it.
• After the attack, Shen slips away, embarrassed and distressed. Chu follows and finds him, then hears Shen speak his name aloud for the first time. Overwhelmed, Chu tells him, “You are mine.”
• Chu realizes that Shen is subject to a mysterious affliction that periodically requires physical contact. Unable to find a medical explanation, he keeps Shen close and comes to welcome the episodes as a reason for Shen to seek him out.
• When the Imperial Guards arrive to take Shen away on Consort Shen’s orders, Chu agrees only if he can accompany him. He uses the situation to remain at Shen’s side and visits Shen’s family.
• Seeing a child kiss Shen on the cheek makes Chu intensely jealous. He bites the same cheek, marking it as his own and revealing how possessive he has become.

Character development

• Chu Xuanzhen shifts from attraction to consuming attachment. He treasures small signs of Shen’s reliance, hides a lock of his hair, and increasingly tries to control Shen’s world—only to find himself more deeply changed by Shen.
• Shen Zhuanxie remains sharp-tongued and outwardly bold, but his fear and embarrassment reveal vulnerability. His unusual affliction and conflicted thoughts complicate his closeness with Chu.

Character interactions

• The assassination attempt brings them together: Shen performs bravado while relying on Chu for comfort and protection.
• Their private encounter after the attack marks a turning point, as Chu hears Shen address him directly and openly claims him.
• Chu resists Consort Shen’s effort to remove Shen, choosing to follow him rather than let their separation stand.
• Chu’s reaction to the child’s innocent kiss exposes the gap between Shen’s familial affection and Chu’s possessive interpretation of it.

Significant themes

• Possession and control: Chu’s devotion increasingly takes the form of claiming and restricting Shen.
• Vulnerability and dependence: Shen’s moments of fear and his affliction draw the two closer.
• Jealousy and escalating desire: Even innocent affection from another person provokes Chu’s possessiveness.
• Transformation through attachment: Chu tries to influence Shen, but ultimately finds himself the one profoundly affected.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge worries that allowing Xue Qian to stay might create tension with Chu Xuanzhen. He reassures Chu by declaring that he belongs to him.
• Chu responds with intense possessiveness, promising to find Shen wherever he might go. Their intimate moment is interrupted when Xue Qian knocks, complaining that his headache has returned.
• Shen takes Xue Qian outside, settles him on a chaise longue in the courtyard, and arranges for palace staff to keep watch. He returns to bed with Chu, but Chu’s nighttime behavior leaves him sore and exhausted the next morning.
• The next day, Shen finds Chu and Xue Qian sitting face-to-face, with Xue Pingyuan also present. He chooses to stay nearby and observe, while Chu’s new eunuch tries to keep him shaded from the sun.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge shows how deeply he trusts and loves Chu, while also feeling responsible for Xue Qian because of their friendship and past history. He tries to balance both relationships.
• Chu Xuanzhen reveals a more openly possessive, emotionally intense side, though his behavior also reflects his fear of losing Shen.
• Xue Qian remains vulnerable and confused: his headache and shifting intelligence unsettle him, but he instinctively feels safer near Shen.
• Xue Pingyuan appears at the gathering and tries to signal Shen, hinting at developments he has not yet explained.

Significant themes

• Love and possessiveness: Shen and Chu’s devotion is powerful, but Chu’s promise to pursue Shen at any cost suggests how closely love is tied to fear and control.
• Loyalty and obligation: Shen’s affection for Chu does not erase his sense of gratitude and responsibility toward Xue Qian.
• Vulnerability and care: Xue Qian’s illness and mental confusion make him dependent on others, while Shen and the palace staff try to protect him.

Character interactions

• Shen reassures Chu through affection and direct declarations of commitment; Chu answers with an intense claim of his own.
• Xue Qian interrupts their private moment, and Shen prioritizes caring for him despite Chu’s visible displeasure.
• Shen gives Chu a reassuring look before settling Xue Qian nearby, then returns to share Chu’s bed.
• In the morning, Shen watches Chu and Xue Qian’s conversation from a distance as the eunuch fusses over his health and protection from the sun.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yangge joins Crown Prince Chu Xuanzhen, Xue Pingyuan, and Xue Qian outside as they discuss the missing Fourth Prince, Chu Tianyin.
• Xue Pingyuan reports that neither Chu Tianyin’s nor Jia Zhengyuan’s troops have appeared in the capital. He suspects they may be hidden somewhere the search has not uncovered.
• Shen Yangge proposes investigating Chu Xuanzhi, the Second Prince, whom he reveals is alive and has been living in the capital under an assumed name.
• Shen explains that Chu Xuanzhi’s people once abducted him in front of Chu Tianyin and took him to a strange, enclosed location—possibly a clue to where the Second Prince has been hiding.

Character developments

• Shen Yangge takes an active role in the political investigation, recognizing that helping Chu Xuanzhen secure the throne is also tied to avoiding further punishment and separation from him.
• Chu Xuanzhen is fiercely protective and possessive of Shen Yangge, especially when he notices the marks on Shen’s neck. His refusal to take the throne, despite pressure, remains puzzling to Xue Pingyuan.
• Xue Pingyuan remains loyal and strategic, but privately worries about Chu Xuanzhen’s intentions and the danger his younger brother faces.
• Xue Qian, whose mind has been reduced to that of a young child by a gu worm, is drawn to Shen Yangge but intimidated by Chu Xuanzhen.

Significant themes

• Power and political uncertainty: The threat from Chu Tianyin and Jia Zhengyuan persists even after the external crisis has passed.
• Loyalty and ambition: Xue Pingyuan assumes Chu Xuanzhen intends to rule, though the Crown Prince’s refusal to claim the throne creates doubt.
• Protection and possessiveness: Chu Xuanzhen’s concern for Shen Yangge is expressed through both care for his health and jealousy over others seeing his exposed marks.
• Hidden identities and secrets: The revelation that Chu Xuanzhi survived and remained in the capital opens a new path in the search for the conspirators.

Character interactions

• The conversation begins awkwardly, with the eunuch nervously redirecting Shen Yangge outside and Chu Xuanzhen silently monitoring his comfort.
• Shen’s accidental exposure of the marks on his neck makes the gathering tense; Xue Pingyuan and the eunuch avert their eyes, while Chu Xuanzhen reacts with visible anger.
• Shen breaks the tension by returning the group to the political discussion and sharing what he knows about Chu Xuanzhi.

Key plot points

• Xue Pingyuan and Shen Yangge reason that finding the missing Second Prince, Chu Tianyin, may expose the Fourth Prince’s role in the political intrigue.
• Shen Yangge cannot recall where he was taken, and Chu Xuanzhen’s search of the apparent hiding place found nothing. Shen suggests investigating the Imperial Secret Guards, which Xue Pingyuan recognizes as a crucial lead and leaves to pursue.
• Shen asks to see the unconscious emperor. There, he notices a white pearl hidden in the emperor’s mouth. Chu Xuanzhen has it removed and cracked open, revealing a slip of paper.
• The message reveals that the Imperial Secret Guards have been taking orders from the Second Prince, not the emperor. The emperor himself has been under the prince’s control and was searching for him in an attempt to seize command of the guards.
• That night, Chu Xuanzhen’s men uncover a secret passage beneath the emperor’s bedchamber. It leads to the Second Prince’s hiding place, where they find evidence explaining how he controlled the emperor and what had happened over the years.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yangge connects the Second Prince’s disappearance to the Imperial Secret Guards and notices the pearl, helping uncover the central secret.
• Chu Xuanzhen supports Shen’s investigation, protects him from approaching the ill emperor, and orders the pearl examined.
• Xue Pingyuan accepts Shen’s insight and urgently sets out to investigate the guards, leaving his nervous younger brother, Xue Qian, in Chu Xuanzhen’s care.
• Shen and Chu communicate with ease and mutual understanding; their shared reaction to the message suggests they grasp its implications without needing to discuss them aloud.
• Xue Qian remains anxious and intimidated in Chu Xuanzhen’s presence.

Significant themes

• Hidden power and political deception: The emperor’s apparent authority conceals his dependence on the Second Prince and the guards.
• The limits of appearances: A search of the obvious hiding place reveals nothing, while a concealed message and passage expose the truth.
• Power and vulnerability: Shen reflects that the old emperor’s defeat may have been inevitable, underscoring how fortunes shift between the powerful and the powerless.