Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Nian Xiaoqing arrives outside Suyu City, claiming he intends to avenge his father and suppress the rebels. Rather than attack, he surrounds the city and camps there, aiming to cut off its grain and force it to surrender.
• Several other princes have secretly gathered nearby and formed an alliance, though Nian Xiaoqing and the newly enthroned Nian Fengyuan do not know about it. Both believe the other is their main rival.
• The siege initially has little effect: Suyu’s residents carry on normally, and the yamen sells grain at fair prices.
• Guagua reveals that Nian Fengyuan anticipated a blockade. A secret passage connects his residence in Suyu to his manor outside the capital, allowing grain and Zhu Qin’s troops to enter the city. Nian Fengyuan may use those troops to attack Nian Xiaoqing from behind.
• The princes watching from a hillside expect Nian Xiaoqing’s starvation plan to fail, given Nian Fengyuan’s preparation and Zhu Qin’s influence. The coming battle remains uncertain.
• Song Yaoyao has Guagua prepare Nian Fengyuan’s identity records and evidence of his affair with his imperial father’s consorts, anticipating that the information may become useful.

Character developments and interactions

• Nian Xiaoqing demonstrates patience and military experience by choosing a tight blockade over a costly assault.
• Nian Fengyuan is shown to be cautious and strategic: he has prepared both supplies and a covert route for reinforcements.
• Zhu Qin, Nian Fengyuan’s maternal grandfather, remains a powerful force behind the throne, with a secret army and a reputation for plotting ahead.
• The allied princes—including Nian Feiyue, Nian Tongyi, Nian Subai, and Nian Zhijing—discuss the siege and largely agree that Nian Fengyuan and Zhu Qin have likely anticipated it.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua follow events through Guagua’s footage and intelligence. Song reacts with humor and curiosity, while Guagua provides strategic context; their conversation ends with Song asking for gossip about the princes despite the looming conflict.

Significant themes

• Strategy and counterstrategy: The blockade and secret supply route show both sides trying to outthink one another.
• Power and legitimacy: Nian Fengyuan needs a decisive victory to strengthen his new rule and win public allegiance.
• Uncertainty in political conflict: Neither prince knows about the wider alliance, and the eventual winner remains unclear.
• Public welfare amid war: Suyu’s orderly life and fair grain sales contrast with the military standoff outside the walls.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and her companions visit a teahouse in West City to uncover gossip about the princes. With fewer Shadow Guards watching the manors during the military standoff, Guagua can investigate more easily.
• Guagua reveals that Fourth Prince Nian Subai once vanished during the princes’ violent struggle and reached the Capital without losing a single soldier.
• A recorded scene explains how: Subai gave his men yellow talismans that made them invisible. He later claimed they had used minor roads to hide the real explanation from the other princes.
• The talismans do not need spiritual energy, unlike cultivation-world invisibility talismans, but they cannot hide a person’s presence from experts; users must hold their breath to avoid detection.
• Guagua identifies their creator as Qi Luo of the Witch Tribe. Qi Luo appears in the visions both as a young man and as a child, prompting Song Yaoyao’s curiosity.
• Qi Luo is the youngest child of Cang Lan, the Witch Tribe’s tenth elder, whose branch specializes in talisman-making. Qi Luo is exceptionally gifted and learns quickly.
• The chapter ends with a crisis: Cang Lan returns home gravely wounded, the Shadow Guards who accompanied him dead. He urges his wife, Su Ya, to flee with their children, then collapses before explaining what happened.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is eager and inquisitive, treating the princes’ secrets as entertaining gossip while reacting with amazement to the talismans and fascination with Qi Luo.
• Nian Subai is shown as resourceful and secretive, protecting his men with a rare magical tool and successfully misleading his fellow princes.
• Qi Luo is introduced as a prodigious talisman-maker, though the reason he appears at two different ages remains unexplained.
• Cang Lan is portrayed as a kind, respected elder and devoted father; his desperate warning suggests danger has reached his family.

Significant themes

• Hidden knowledge and deception: Subai conceals his route and the true source of his success.
• The extraordinary within the ordinary: magical talismans exist beyond the cultivation world’s familiar rules.
• Family and sudden danger: the warm, harmonious life of Qi Luo’s family is abruptly threatened by Cang Lan’s bloody return.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao and Guagua work together to investigate the princes, with Guagua supplying the recorded scenes and explanations.
• Song Qinghui and Liu Zheheng share Song Yaoyao’s shock at the seemingly storybook-like invisibility talismans.
• Nian Subai calmly instructs his subordinates to use the talismans, while concealing their true purpose from rival princes.
• Cang Lan’s final exchange with Su Ya is urgent and protective: he tells her to save the children, but collapses before she can learn more.

Key events

• Su Ya, injured Cang Lan, and their five children are attacked at night by masked men. The leader claims Cang Lan abandoned his pregnant sister, who later died by suicide, and says he has come to destroy Cang Lan’s family. Su Ya rejects the accusation, but the leader kills her and then repeatedly slashes the unconscious Cang Lan.
• The attackers search for the children but fail to find the hidden chamber. Zhifan, the eldest, keeps his siblings inside and prevents them from emerging too soon; the attackers return five times before finally leaving.
• After daybreak, the tribe learns of the deaths and arranges the parents’ funerals. Members then compete for custody of the children, hoping to claim Cang Lan’s wealth and the Complete Talisman Compendium.
• Zhifan recognizes their motives and leads his siblings away with money, valuables, and the compendium. The tribal chief claims the property left behind for the tribe.
• The siblings evade pursuit and settle in a remote town, living plainly to avoid attracting attention. Zhifan and Qihe work, while Enyu, Qi Luo, and Wu Meng stay home. Qi Luo teaches himself talisman drawing without his father’s guidance. Later, Zhifan and Qihe start a business and the family’s circumstances improve.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhifan emerges as a cautious, capable leader. He protects his siblings during the attack, spots the tribe members’ self-interest, and takes responsibility for getting the family to safety.
• Qi Luo shows restraint and awareness despite being only six; he understands that crying out would endanger them. Later, he studies talismans independently.
• Qihe, Enyu, and Wu Meng endure the attack alongside their brothers. Zhifan even has to knock Wu Meng unconscious to stop her from screaming and revealing their hiding place.
• Su Ya remains loyal to Cang Lan and refuses to believe the accusation against him, even when threatened. The siblings suppress their grief until it is safe to mourn.
• The tribe’s members reveal their greed through their struggle over the children and the family’s possessions.

Significant themes

• Family loyalty and survival: The children depend on one another after losing their parents.
• Caution under threat: Zhifan’s patience and the siblings’ silence help them survive the attackers’ repeated searches.
• Greed and exploitation: The tribe’s interest in adopting the children is driven by inheritance, not care.
• Loss and resilience: Despite trauma, poverty, and the loss of their father’s guidance, the siblings build a life and gradually recover.
• Unanswered question: Song Yaoyao wonders why Cang Lan did not use an Invisibility Talisman to escape, setting up a question the chapter does not resolve.

Key plot points

• Song Yaoyao learns that the Invisibility Talisman did not exist when Cang Lan and Su Ya were killed, so it could not have been involved in that incident.
• Cang Lan’s sons have long searched for the reason behind their parents’ murder. They followed the killer’s claim that he was avenging his sister, but found no connection to Cang Lan: he had only ever had one wife and no mistress.
• Guagua reveals the real story. The abandoned woman was Mu Sang, but the man who betrayed her was Feng Yan, the Ninth Elder—not Cang Lan.
• Mu Sang, orphaned young, was raised and protected by her older brother, Su Yue, a renowned Witch Tribe assassin. While he was away on a mission, she met Feng Yan when he saved her from a runaway carriage.
• Mu Sang and Feng Yan became lovers. He told her he was married and would never marry her; she accepted those terms. When she became pregnant, however, she asked him to give her and their child a recognized place in his household. Feng Yan refused.
• Afraid Mu Sang might expose their affair to his powerful wife’s family, Feng Yan drugged her with a hallucinogen. She jumped into a river and died. He then secretly killed the maids who knew about the affair.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao moves from puzzlement to shock as she realizes the revenge may have been aimed at the wrong man.
• Mu Sang begins as a sheltered, trusting young woman and becomes increasingly desperate to secure a future for her child. She depends on Feng Yan’s promises but does not know he intends to silence her.
• Feng Yan is presented as outwardly refined but ultimately selfish and cruel. He prioritizes his position and fear of his wife’s powerful father over Mu Sang and their child.
• Su Yue is established as a devoted, protective brother, though his dangerous work keeps him away and leaves Mu Sang vulnerable.
• Mu Sang and Feng Yan’s relationship shifts from mutual attraction to conflict over marriage and the child’s status. His repeated reassurances give way to betrayal.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Feng Yan’s gentlemanly manner conceals a ruthless nature.
• Power and vulnerability: Feng Yan’s political connections help him protect his status, while Mu Sang’s isolation makes her easy to exploit.
• Consequences of mistaken revenge: The true culprit is Feng Yan, but the earlier investigation has focused on Cang Lan, setting up a devastating misdirected vendetta.
• Betrayal and accountability: Feng Yan’s attempt to hide his wrongdoing expands from abandoning Mu Sang to murdering her and silencing witnesses.

Key plot points and events

• After Mu Sang disappears, her brother Su Yue returns to find her missing. He recovers her body from the river and learns she was pregnant, confirming that her death was suspicious.
• Feng Yan, who murdered Mu Sang, recognizes Su Yue as the Witch Tribe’s feared foremost assassin. Afraid of Su Yue’s revenge, Feng Yan plants a jade pendant belonging to the Tenth Elder, Cang Lan, in Mu Sang’s room.
• Su Yue treats the pendant as conclusive proof and, misled by Feng Yan, takes revenge on Cang Lan. The real killer escapes punishment.
• The story then returns to Qi Luo’s past. As the siblings grow up, Zhifan and Qihe become successful merchants, Enyu becomes a celebrated calligrapher, Wu Meng studies medicine, and Qi Luo becomes a gifted talisman maker.
• Qi Luo invents an Invisibility Talisman and decides to return to the Witch Tribe to investigate the black-clad men and learn whether his father really had kept a mistress. His brothers offer to accompany him, but he convinces them to let him go with two guards by demonstrating the talisman.
• Back in the tribe, Qi Luo rents a courtyard and visits his former home, now tribe property. After spending a day watching it from a nearby restaurant, he begins a covert investigation. Half a month later, he discovers his father never kept a mistress or caused the deaths of a woman and her unborn child.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Yue is devoted to Mu Sang and devastated by her death. Believing the planted pendant to be proof, he wrongly directs his vengeance at Cang Lan; he also carries years of guilt over not having protected his sister.
• Feng Yan reveals himself as calculating and self-protective, framing Cang Lan to hide his own crime.
• Qi Luo has grown into a capable, independent investigator, using his talisman-making skill to return discreetly. His brothers’ concern is clear as each volunteers to accompany him, while Qi Luo reassures them and persuades them to stay behind.
• Wu Meng’s brothers protect her from afar, with Zhifan arranging secret guards whenever she travels.

Significant themes

• Misplaced justice and manipulation: forged evidence sends Su Yue after an innocent person while the true culprit remains free.
• Guilt and grief: Su Yue blames himself for Mu Sang’s fate, even though Feng Yan’s crime caused it.
• Family loyalty and protection: Qi Luo’s siblings support one another, and Zhifan safeguards Wu Meng.
• Truth and memory: Qi Luo returns to confront painful family history, and his investigation begins to overturn the story he had been led to believe.

Key events

• Qi Luo concludes that the Black-Clad Man’s sister was the pregnant woman whose body was pulled from the river, and that someone had falsely blamed Qi Luo’s father for her death. He narrows the likely culprits to the Tribe Chief, the elders, and the shamans.
• Using an Invisibility Talisman, Qi Luo secretly investigates the elders and Tribe Chief but finds no clues. He then begins checking the shamans.
• At Shaman Changqing’s home, Changqing senses an unseen intruder despite Qi Luo’s concealment. Qi Luo initially believes Changqing is bluffing, but Changqing later uses a ritual to cast a curse across the courtyard.
• Qi Luo is struck while escaping. The curse gives him a high fever, removes his martial arts abilities, and transforms him into a child.
• Fearing a search, Qi Luo and his guards flee that night. Changqing announces the next day that an attacker tried to assassinate him and orders a search, but Qi Luo’s group has already left the Witch Tribe’s territory.
• Song Yaoyao watches the events through a video and reacts with shock and curiosity. Guagua warns her that the Witch Tribe is dangerous without a trusted contact there.

Character developments and interactions

• Qi Luo is methodical and determined in pursuing the truth, but his investigation exposes him to a threat beyond his ability to overcome. After being cursed, he acts quickly and pragmatically, prioritizing escape.
• Shaman Changqing is exceptionally perceptive and suspicious. He senses Qi Luo, then uses a curse rather than relying on sight or guards to deal with the intruder.
• Qi Luo and Changqing have a tense, indirect confrontation: Changqing repeatedly challenges the hidden intruder, while Qi Luo stays concealed until he realizes he must flee.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua discuss the danger of the Witch Tribe, with Guagua taking a protective, cautionary role.

Significant themes

• Truth and false accusation: Qi Luo’s investigation suggests that a powerful person may have framed his father.
• Secrecy and suspicion: Invisibility does not guarantee safety in a community where powerful figures can detect hidden threats.
• Power and vulnerability: Qi Luo’s skills cannot protect him from Changqing’s curse, leaving escape as his only option.
• Curiosity versus caution: Song Yaoyao’s fascination with the Witch Tribe is checked by Guagua’s warning.

Plot points

• After Qi Luo is brought home from the Witch Tribe with a high fever, his brothers summon a physician. His fever breaks, and the guards explain that he had been sneaking out at night before returning ill.
• Once recovered, Qi Luo admits that he entered the homes of powerful shamans and was cursed. He initially becomes child-sized but otherwise feels well.
• Qi Luo spends his time drawing talismans. Two months later, he returns to adult form—but discovers the curse recurs annually: for two months, he becomes a child and loses his martial abilities.
• Guagua explains that Qi Luo joined Nian Subai after meeting him in disguise. He hopes Nian can help uncover who framed his father and killed his parents. Qi Luo’s talismans have repeatedly saved Nian, making him a key ally.
• Song Yaoyao decides to give Qi Luo evidence identifying the people behind his family’s tragedy. She expects that, once he gets answers, he will leave Nian Subai, weakening Nian’s position and upsetting the balance among the princes. Chen Yixiao agrees to arrange delivery.

Character developments and interactions

• Qi Luo’s brothers—especially Zhifan—are alarmed and feel responsible for his condition, but Qi Luo remains calm and reassures them.
• Qi Luo’s loyalty to Nian Subai is practical as well as personal: he joined to advance his own investigation, and would leave once that goal is achieved.
• Song Yaoyao frames her plan as helping Qi Luo, while Guagua teasingly points out her real aim: stirring up the princes’ political rivalry.
• The chapter highlights Qi Luo’s close bond with his brothers and his strategic, mutually beneficial relationship with Nian Subai.

Significant themes

• Consequences of recklessness: Qi Luo’s curiosity and dangerous excursion bring him a recurring curse.
• Loyalty and self-interest: Alliances can endure while interests align, but Qi Luo’s true priority is justice for his parents.
• Power and political balance: Removing one prince’s strongest support could reshape the struggle for the throne.
• Uncanny magic: The curse’s yearly transformation underscores the Witch Tribe’s formidable and mysterious abilities.

Plot points and events

• Qi Luo receives an anonymous letter from Chen Yixiao revealing that Feng Yan framed Qi Luo’s father, Cang Lan, and that Su Yue murdered Cang Lan and his wife in revenge for his sister’s death.
• Convinced by details only he and his brothers knew, Qi Luo sends the letter and his own account to Zhifan and Qihe.
• The brothers confirm the evidence and realize they cannot confront either Feng Yan or Su Yue directly. Zhifan proposes exposing the truth publicly so the two powerful enemies will turn against each other.
• Their agents spread evidence that Feng Yan had a mistress, killed her to hide the affair, and framed Cang Lan—leading Su Yue to mistakenly murder the wrong people.
• The revelation spreads through the Witch Tribe, raising suspicions about whether Shaman Changqing helped conceal the original crime.
• Feng Yan’s wife, Si Zhen, learns that her supposedly faithful husband had maintained an affair and killed his mistress. Feng Yan returns home and kneels, admitting to a past “mistake” and pleading for forgiveness.

Character developments and interactions

• Qi Luo shifts from uncertainty to conviction, then takes action by alerting his brothers.
• Zhifan emerges as a calculating strategist, choosing public exposure to provoke a prolonged conflict rather than allowing either enemy to defeat the other quickly. Qihe supports his plan and arranges its execution.
• Su Yue is revealed as a powerful assassin who killed Cang Lan and his wife under a false belief about who was responsible for his sister’s death.
• Si Zhen is devastated and enraged when the truth overturns her belief in Feng Yan’s devotion. Feng Yan, frightened of losing his wife and Shaman Changqing’s support, immediately tries to placate her.

Significant themes

• Truth and justice: Long-hidden crimes finally come to light, though exposure does not guarantee justice.
• Revenge and manipulation: Su Yue’s revenge was redirected by Feng Yan’s deception, while the brothers now use the truth to manipulate their enemies.
• Power and strategy: The brothers must rely on turning powerful factions against one another because they cannot defeat them directly.
• Betrayal and trust: Feng Yan’s secret affair and murder shatter Si Zhen’s trust and expose the gap between public appearances and reality.

Plot points and events

• Si Zhen refuses to see Feng Yan and, furious that his attendants and guards kept the truth from her, orders all five arrested and beaten.
• Feng Yan tries to shield them, apparently out of loyalty but actually because he fears losing the men who protect him. The guards and attendant mistake his intervention for devotion.
• Si Zhen points out that the five still belong to her father, Shaman Changqing, who has paid their wages and expenses for years. She offers to transfer them to Feng Yan if he reimburses those costs from his own private funds.
• Feng Yan agrees, but Si Zhen insists the five remain her father’s men until payment is made and continues the punishment. Her own household staff obey her, showing that Feng Yan has little authority over them.
• Su Yue learns that Feng Yan was the real culprit behind his sister’s death and that he killed Cang Lan and Cang Lan’s wife in revenge, mistakenly believing Cang Lan was responsible. He also realizes Cang Lan’s children may have survived.
• Though enraged, Su Yue restrains himself and orders a thorough investigation into Feng Yan and Shaman Changqing before deciding what to do.

Character developments and interactions

• Si Zhen becomes more openly punitive and assertive, using the servants’ status and unpaid expenses to strip Feng Yan of control and expose his dependence on her father.
• Feng Yan is shown as self-serving and powerless: he pretends to protect his men, but his actions are driven by fear for his own safety. He cannot stop Si Zhen’s people.
• The five attendants and guards are loyal to Feng Yan, yet their loyalty is misplaced: they have served him for years despite originally belonging to Shaman Changqing’s household.
• Su Yue shifts from grief-driven vengeance to cautious planning. He recognizes that Shaman Changqing’s influence makes Feng Yan’s case politically dangerous.
• The chapter juxtaposes Si Zhen’s confrontation with Feng Yan against Su Yue’s discovery of the truth, setting up both household consequences and a larger revenge conflict.

Significant themes

• Deception and misplaced vengeance: Su Yue’s past revenge was based on false information, and the truth now threatens to reopen old wounds.
• Power and allegiance: Ownership, wages, and authority determine whom the servants truly answer to; apparent loyalty can conceal self-interest.
• Restraint versus impulsiveness: Su Yue’s decision to investigate before acting contrasts with his earlier, rash revenge.
• Consequences of buried truths: The concealed past has harmed multiple families and may still affect the next generation.

Key plot points

• Su Yue recognizes that Feng Yan and Shaman Changqing are now alert, so he resolves to investigate them thoroughly before planning his revenge.
• Shaman Changqing confirms Feng Yan’s affair and learns that five attendants entrusted to Feng Yan concealed it. Furious at their betrayal, he has them killed and waits for Feng Yan to come explain himself.
• Feng Yan confronts Si Zhen about the deaths, but realizes she did not order them; he deduces that Shaman Changqing is responsible. Hoping to appease his father-in-law, Feng Yan kneels before him with thorn branches on his back.
• Shaman Changqing orders his men to beat Feng Yan severely without killing him. Feng Yan wakes at home with both legs broken, and the witch doctor cannot promise that they can be healed.
• Si Zhen visits Feng Yan. She openly says she is pleased that his injuries may keep him from pursuing other women. Feng Yan, consumed by resentment, decides to target her because he dares not challenge Shaman Changqing directly.

Character developments

• Su Yue becomes more cautious, recognizing that revenge will require careful preparation now that his enemies are on guard.
• Shaman Changqing reveals his possessive, ruthless nature: he treats betrayal as unforgivable and uses violence to punish Feng Yan’s humiliation of him.
• Feng Yan shifts from trying to placate Shaman Changqing to nursing hatred against both him and Si Zhen. His physical injury does not soften him; it fuels a plan for revenge.
• Si Zhen shows that her feelings for Feng Yan have cooled. She responds to his accusations with blunt mockery rather than sympathy.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and consequences: Feng Yan’s broken oath and affair provoke punishment, while the attendants are killed for betraying their master.
• Power and possession: Shaman Changqing treats people and relationships as things under his control, and Feng Yan’s dependence on him shapes the conflict.
• Resentment and retaliation: Rather than accept responsibility or reconcile, Feng Yan turns his suffering into a desire to harm Si Zhen.
• Deteriorating marriage: Si Zhen and Feng Yan’s exchanges show that their relationship has become openly hostile and emotionally broken.

Character interactions

• Shaman Changqing’s men carry out his orders against the five attendants and later beat Feng Yan.
• Feng Yan and Si Zhen argue over who caused the attendants’ deaths; their exchange exposes both Si Zhen’s distrust and Feng Yan’s defensiveness.
• Feng Yan approaches Shaman Changqing in a display of submission, but Shaman Changqing answers with punishment rather than forgiveness.
• Si Zhen visits her injured husband, but their conversation ends in contempt, leaving Feng Yan more determined to retaliate against her.

Plot points and events

• Si Zhen is ambushed on her way to visit her father, Shaman Changqing. His secret guards protect her, and the investigation identifies her husband, Feng Yan, as the person behind the attack.
• Changqing orders Feng Yan crippled as punishment and warns that further misconduct will cost him his life.
• The attempt on Si Zhen’s life ends her remaining affection for Feng Yan. With her father’s support, she has Feng Yan arrested and imprisoned.
• In the dungeon, Si Zhen confronts Feng Yan, rejects his denials, and tells him he has been stripped of his position as the Witch Tribe’s ninth elder. She spares his life for now, partly because they have children, but warns him to behave.
• Su Yue learns Feng Yan is imprisoned but not condemned to die. Still grieving his sister and convinced Feng Yan must pay for her death, he decides to kill him himself.
• Su Yue and his men attack the guards protecting Feng Yan at Changqing’s residence. Outnumbered, they lose the fight and several men. Su Yue declares Changqing his enemy for protecting Feng Yan.

Character developments

• Si Zhen shifts from a hurt wife to a resolute adversary. She rejects Feng Yan’s emotional appeals and takes control of his punishment, while stopping short of killing him.
• Feng Yan is exposed as the instigator of the assassination. Imprisoned, injured, and stripped of rank, he tries to deny responsibility and exploit their marriage and children to escape consequences.
• Shaman Changqing acts protectively toward his daughter, using his authority and guards to punish Feng Yan and keep him secure.
• Su Yue remains consumed by guilt and grief over his sister’s death. His desire for revenge drives him into a violent conflict with Changqing’s forces.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and retaliation: Feng Yan’s attack destroys his marriage, and Si Zhen answers it with punishment.
• Power and protection: Changqing’s influence determines Feng Yan’s fate and places guards between him and outside revenge.
• Grief and vengeance: Su Yue’s unresolved anguish pushes him to escalate the conflict.
• Family ties and limits: Si Zhen invokes their children as the reason Feng Yan is still alive, but refuses to let marriage excuse his actions.

Character interactions

• Si Zhen and Changqing share a supportive father-daughter bond: he offers backing, and she accepts his protection.
• Si Zhen confronts Feng Yan directly, rejecting his excuses and refusing to be swayed by appeals to marriage or parenthood.
• Su Yue’s attempt to reach Feng Yan brings him into open conflict with Changqing’s guards, turning a personal vendetta into a wider feud.

Key plot points and events

• In a separate clash, Su Yue withdraws after being defeated by superior numbers, vowing revenge. The victors recognize they may not win a fair fight and plan to report the incident to Shaman Changqing. The conflict between Shaman Changqing and Su Yue continues.
• In Suyu City, Qi Luo secretly investigates the grain supply routes so he can escape. Song Yaoyao’s side quietly helps him uncover them, and he leaves with a grain convoy using Invisibility Talismans—without telling Nian Subai.
• Three days later, Nian Subai’s men discover Qi Luo is gone. Nian Subai realizes Qi Luo must have learned who killed his father and no longer needs his help.
• The other princes investigate Nian Subai. Chen Yixiao’s side leaks the news about Qi Luo, exposing Nian Subai’s secret trump card: his connection to a powerful man and the Invisibility Talismans.
• Believing Nian Subai is now vulnerable, the princes plan to eliminate him and seize any remaining talismans. Nian Subai remains unaware that his brothers have turned against him.
• Meanwhile, the Fifth Prince’s and Seventh Prince’s armies remain at a standoff. Song Yaoyao and Guagua turn their attention to new gossip, this time about the Second Prince, Nian Feiyue, and Wen Yanping.

Character developments and interactions

• Qi Luo acts independently and cautiously, leaving without informing Nian Subai—likely because he fears being killed if he becomes a threat.
• Nian Subai is devastated by Qi Luo’s disappearance and loses the protection and advantage he had kept hidden. His brothers’ view of him shifts from wary respect to opportunistic hostility.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua follow events from afar, helping Qi Luo indirectly and treating the princes’ political turmoil as material for their ongoing gossip-watching.
• Chen Yixiao’s group deliberately exposes Qi Luo’s existence, further isolating Nian Subai.
• The princes, once cautious of Nian Subai, discuss coordinating against him while competing to act first.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and political self-preservation: Qi Luo leaves secretly, while Nian Subai’s brothers swiftly plot against him.
• Power and vulnerability: Nian Subai’s reputation depended partly on a hidden advantage; once exposed and weakened, he becomes a target.
• Mistrust and shifting alliances: Characters conceal information, investigate one another, and treat potential rivals as threats.
• Conflict without resolution: The armies remain locked in a tense standoff, while other rivalries continue to simmer.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao assumes that the appearance of Nian Feiyue and Wen Yanping in a video hints at a romantic relationship. Guagua corrects her: Wen Yanping is a valued retainer of the Second Prince, Nian Feiyue.
• Guagua recounts Wen Yanping’s early life. Born into a modest merchant family, he is exceptionally bright and excels at school. He misses his first county-level Xiucai examination after severe diarrhea brought on by unfamiliar conditions during travel. His wealthier classmates recover from milder cases because they brought medicine and had preparations made for them.
• After seeing his parents blame themselves, Wen Yanping reassures them and resolves to try again. His father arranges the next trip more carefully, and Wen Yanping passes as the examination’s top candidate. His success helps the family’s general store prosper.
• Three years later, Wen Yanping prepares for the provincial Juren examination. His father travels ahead to make arrangements, while Wen Yanping is meant to go with fellow students and his book boy. The students divide by wealth and status: wealthy boys detour for entertainment, while poorer students form their own group. Both groups reject Wen Yanping, whose family is richer than the farmers’ but poorer than the privileged.
• Left with only his book boy, Wen Yanping decides they must travel to the provincial capital alone, despite the servant’s anxious warning.

Character developments

• Wen Yanping moves from bitter disappointment after his first failed attempt to resilience and maturity. He comforts his guilty parents and succeeds on his next try. By the later journey, he is pragmatic and self-reliant.
• Father Wen is supportive and deeply invested in his son’s education. After blaming himself for the first mishap, he learns from it and makes better arrangements for the next examination.
• Song Yaoyao is eager for scandal but accepts Guagua’s explanation and sympathizes with Wen Yanping’s setbacks.
• The book boy is loyal but nervous, worrying about traveling without a group.

Significant themes

• Class divisions and exclusion: Wen Yanping is rejected by both poorer and wealthier students because his family occupies an in-between social position.
• Unequal opportunity: Better-off classmates have servants, medicine, and travel arrangements, while Wen Yanping initially faces the examination journey alone.
• Perseverance and family support: Wen Yanping recovers from disappointment, and his father’s practical help enables his later success.
• Chance and preparation: His first failure is caused not by a lack of ability but by inadequate preparation for unfamiliar conditions.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao presses Guagua for romantic gossip; Guagua instead explains Wen Yanping’s background and corrects her misunderstanding about Nian Feiyue.
• Wen Yanping’s teacher encourages him after his first missed examination, though reassurance alone does not initially ease his disappointment.
• Wen Yanping comforts his self-blaming parents, strengthening their mutual resolve; his father later prepares carefully for his next examination.
• When the student groups leave him behind, Wen Yanping refuses to chase after either group. He calmly tells his worried book boy that they will travel alone.

Plot points and events

• Wen Yanping travels toward the Provincial Capital for the Provincial Examination with only his book page. Bandits capture them, intending to ransom their valuables and lives.
• The bandits also seize Young Master Qin, whose father later sends government troops to rescue the captives. Wen Yanping’s family learns of his capture and sends his eldest brother, but the rescue and return journey make him miss the examination.
• Three years later, guarded by hired escorts, Wen Yanping reaches the Provincial Examination safely, passes, and earns the title of Provincial Top Scholar.
• His family prospers, expands its business, and gains social standing. Wen Yanping declines invitations and focuses on preparing for the Metropolitan Examination.
• The Wen Family buys a modest house in the Capital so he can stay there for the Spring Examination. Yet Wen Yanping is poisoned on his first attempt and misses the exam.
• On the journey to the Capital, Wen Yanping befriends fellow juren Cheng Linzhi. They travel together, then separate upon arrival. Unable to find an ordinary room, Cheng Linzhi persuades an innkeeper to let him stay in a storage room.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Yanping remains diligent and restrained despite repeated setbacks. His success as a Provincial Top Scholar brings his family wealth and status, but he continues to prioritize study over social opportunities.
• Wen Yanping’s book page worries about the journey and jokes that his prediction of trouble has come true.
• The Wen family supports Yanping’s ambitions: they raise ransom money after his capture, hire guards for his next trip, and buy a Capital residence to protect his future exam attempt.
• Young Master Qin reassures the other captives while awaiting help; his father’s intervention leads to their rescue.
• Cheng Linzhi appears friendly toward Yanping, but privately grows jealous of Yanping’s talent, achievements, and comfortable circumstances. He conceals that envy during their journey.

Significant themes

• Fate and repeated misfortune: Yanping’s examinations are repeatedly thwarted by events outside his control, prompting comic speculation that he is somehow at odds with examinations.
• Ambition and perseverance: Despite delays and danger, he continues pursuing success.
• Envy and comparison: Cheng Linzhi’s pride in his own achievements erodes when measured against Yanping.
• Family support and changing fortune: Yanping’s accomplishments improve the Wen family’s material circumstances and social standing.

Key plot points and events

• Wen Yanping and Cheng Linzhi meet again at banquets held to court candidates before the Metropolitan Examination. Wen Yanping impresses the guests, while Cheng feels overshadowed.
• At Liu Siyuan’s banquet, Wen Yanping learns that Liu is close to the Second Prince and attends to avoid offending the prince’s faction. He again draws attention, deepening Cheng’s resentment.
• The night before the examination, Cheng invites Wen Yanping out and secretly poisons him with a nonlethal poison that causes a persistent fever. The Wen family’s physician identifies the poisoning, and Cheng is arrested.
• Both men miss the examination. Cheng is stripped of his scholarly honors and barred from the imperial examinations for twenty-five years.
• Three years later, Wen Yanping is ready to try again, but a cheating scandal invalidates the candidates’ results. The emperor’s illness delays a resit, and the examination is postponed another year.
• During that extra year, Wen Yanping’s elder brother persuades him to take a break from studying. They encounter He Feier, who is selling herself to pay for her father’s burial. Wen Yanping helps her; after the burial, she enters the Wen household as his concubine.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Yanping remains focused on his studies and cautious about political ties, but his repeated examination setbacks test his prospects. Meeting He Feier awakens in him a new protective impulse.
• Cheng Linzhi shifts from envy to resentment and then commits a deliberate crime to keep Wen Yanping from the examination.
• He Feier is introduced as a bereaved performer in desperate circumstances. Wen Yanping offers her shelter, while his elder brother supports the arrangement and hopes it will ease the family’s worries about Wen Yanping’s solitary life.
• Wen Yanping’s encounters with Cheng are shaped by rivalry; his first meaningful connection with He Feier instead arises from compassion.

Significant themes

• Ambition and obstruction: Wen Yanping’s ability and preparation are repeatedly thwarted by betrayal and larger institutional crises.
• Envy and moral decline: Cheng’s resentment over being overshadowed culminates in poisoning.
• Fate and irony: Song Yaoyao jokes that Wen Yanping seems destined to struggle just to reach the examination compound.
• Compassion and responsibility: Wen Yanping’s decision to help He Feier marks a personal change beyond his scholarly ambitions.

Key plot points and events

• Wen Yanping and He Feier fall deeply in love. When He Feier becomes pregnant, they are delighted, and Wen Yanping lovingly looks after her.
• While shopping together, they meet Liu Siyuan, a high-ranking official who remembers Wen Yanping’s scholarly promise and repeated misfortunes in the examinations.
• Liu is accompanied by the disguised Second Prince, Nian Feiyue. After hearing about Wen Yanping, Nian asks Liu to investigate him and the woman with him.
• The investigation reveals that He Feier is Wen Yanping’s concubine. Nian, captivated by her beauty, becomes fixated on possessing her despite knowing she is married.
• Nian asks Liu how to obtain He Feier. Liu warns him of the complications but suggests offering Wen Yanping career advancement in exchange for giving her up. Nian considers the proposal.

Character developments

• Wen Yanping is shown as affectionate, devoted, and protective, especially during He Feier’s pregnancy. His academic setbacks leave him vulnerable to the prince’s proposed bargain.
• He Feier is loving and cherished by Wen Yanping, but her beauty draws the unwanted attention of a powerful man.
• Nian Feiyue shifts from brief curiosity to obsessive desire, believing his status entitles him to get what he wants.
• Liu Siyuan respects Wen Yanping’s talent and is uneasy about the prince’s demand, though he still offers a practical way to pursue it.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts sincere, mutual love with possessive desire.
• It highlights how power can threaten personal choice and relationships.
• Wen Yanping’s bad luck and uncertain prospects create an imbalance that may allow others to exploit him.

Character interactions

• Wen Yanping and He Feier share a tender, devoted relationship.
• Liu treats Wen Yanping courteously and praises his abilities when speaking to Nian.
• Nian directs Liu to investigate He Feier, then pressures him to devise a way to acquire her.
• Liu questions the consequences but ultimately proposes trading Wen Yanping a promising future for He Feier.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Siyuan invites Wen Yanping to a private meal, ostensibly to discuss his studies and upcoming Imperial Examinations.
• After some evasive small talk, Liu reveals that the Second Prince wants Wen’s concubine, He, and asks Wen to give her up.
• Wen immediately refuses, insisting that He is a person, not property. He adds that she is carrying his child.
• Liu tries to persuade Wen by offering a shortcut to wealth, status, and official success, and warns him to consider the consequences of refusing.
• Wen rejects the offer, saying he will pursue success through his own ability rather than trade He for power. He recognizes Liu’s offer as a choice between submission and ruin.

Character developments

• Wen Yanping shows strong moral conviction and loyalty to He, refusing both the proposed transaction and the promise of advancement.
• Liu Siyuan appears uncomfortable with his task but carries it out on the Second Prince’s behalf. His arguments reveal that he sees power and ambition as reasons to compromise, and he hints at the danger of refusal.
• The Second Prince, though absent, is established as powerful and entitled enough to seek another man’s concubine.

Significant themes

• Human dignity versus ownership: Wen rejects the idea that He can be “passed” between men.
• Integrity versus ambition: The offer tests whether Wen will sacrifice his principles for rapid success.
• Abuse of power: The Second Prince’s status gives his desire coercive force, while Liu’s warning suggests refusal may carry serious consequences.
• Personal agency: Wen insists that He’s pregnancy and humanity make the proposed arrangement especially abhorrent.

Character interactions

• Liu initially treats Wen with exaggerated courtesy, masking the purpose of the invitation.
• When Wen tries to leave, Liu physically holds him back so he can finish making his case.
• Wen challenges Liu’s dismissive remark that He is “only a woman,” while Liu attempts to frame compliance as a practical route to advancement.
• Their conversation ends with Wen understanding the threat beneath Liu’s offer, though the consequences of his refusal remain unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Siyuan tries to persuade Wen Yanping to surrender He Feier to the Second Prince, Nian Feiyue. He warns Wen that refusing could damage his future, but Wen firmly rejects the proposal.
• Song Yaoyao learns that Nian Feiyue has acquired several concubines from their husbands, who traded them for wealth and status. Wen’s refusal distinguishes him from those men.
• Wen returns home distressed and holds He Feier protectively. He asks her to stay indoors, but doesn’t explain why.
• Soon, the household is poisoned. The authorities investigate but take no meaningful action. He Feier later slips on deliberately spilled oil and loses her baby.
• Wen suspects Nian Feiyue’s people are responsible, though he has no proof. In a second meeting, Liu denies involvement and again presses Wen to reconsider. Wen refuses; Liu warns him that his troubles are only beginning.
• A flashback reveals Nian Feiyue’s anger at Wen’s refusal and his intention to make Wen suffer. Liu’s subsequent report of trouble in Wen’s household suggests the prince’s retaliation has begun.

Character developments and interactions

• Wen Yanping remains principled and loyal to He Feier despite threats to his career and escalating danger. His protectiveness grows, but he is increasingly frustrated and powerless without evidence.
• He Feier notices Wen’s distress and trusts his request to stay home, though she does not know its cause. The loss of their child leaves both spouses devastated.
• Liu Siyuan acts as the Second Prince’s intermediary, using warnings and pressure while denying responsibility for the attacks.
• Nian Feiyue is shown to be entitled and vindictive: he treats women as possessions and reacts violently to being refused.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua discuss the prince’s pattern of taking other men’s wives, framing Wen’s refusal as unusual and admirable.

Significant themes

• Integrity versus power: Wen chooses love and principle over advancement, while others accept wealth in exchange for their wives.
• Abuse of authority and impunity: The prince can use influence to intimidate Wen and apparently harm his household, while the authorities fail to act.
• Loyalty and protection: Wen’s devotion to He Feier drives his resistance and his attempts to shield her.
• Coercion and retaliation: The chapter shows how refusal is met not with open justice but with intimidation and suspected covert violence.

Key plot points and events

• Recovering from her recent injury and the loss of her child, He Feier insists the incident was deliberate and urges Wen Yanping to investigate. He promises to find the culprit, though he conceals that he already suspects the Second Prince.
• Wen investigates the household servants, but half a month later receives grim news from home: his eldest brother has been beaten and left unconscious, the family store has burned down, and his father has broken a leg while fighting the fire.
• Convinced the Second Prince is behind the attacks, Wen confronts Liu Siyuan, the prince’s intermediary. Liu denies direct knowledge but makes clear that the Second Prince still wants He Feier and warns Wen that further harm may come if he refuses.
• Liu argues that appealing to the Emperor would not protect Wen: the Second Prince might receive only a light punishment, while Wen and his family could suffer retaliation. Wen falls silent, realizing the danger.
• He Feier arrives at the meeting unexpectedly. She reveals that she has heard their conversation and asks Liu not to blame the servant who let her in.

Character developments

• Wen Yanping is torn between protecting He Feier and shielding his family. His initial resolve to investigate gives way to fear and helplessness when he sees how little power he has against the imperial household.
• He Feier remains firm in her suspicion that she was targeted. Though still pale and recovering, she takes control by confronting Wen and entering the negotiation herself.
• Liu Siyuan stays composed and evasive. He presents coercion as “well-meant advice,” using the family’s suffering and the limits of justice to pressure Wen.

Character interactions

• Wen tries to reassure He Feier and keep the danger from her, while she demands the truth and his protection.
• In the private meeting, Liu and Wen clash over the attacks and the demand to surrender He Feier. Liu’s calm threats contrast with Wen’s anger, which eventually gives way to silence.
• He Feier’s arrival interrupts their exchange and changes the balance: she has learned the truth Wen tried to hide and is now directly involved.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: The Wen family has little recourse against the Second Prince’s influence.
• Coercion disguised as counsel: Liu denies threatening Wen while using violence and fear to force his decision.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Wen must choose between resisting the prince and protecting his relatives.
• Truth and agency: He Feier’s insistence on knowing what is happening challenges Wen’s attempt to shield her.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Siyuan tells He Feier the full truth about the recent events: the Second Prince was behind them, including the attack that caused her miscarriage. He pressures her to cooperate by warning that Wen Yanping’s family could suffer if she refuses.
• He Feier asks why the Second Prince wants her. Liu Siyuan cannot explain, but offers to arrange a meeting. She agrees so she can confront the prince directly and try to stop his interference.
• Liu Siyuan’s men restrain and gag Wen Yanping while the two speak. After they leave, He Feier explains that she and her husband need answers; Wen Yanping agrees to accompany her.
• At the arranged meeting, guards bar Wen Yanping from entering, insisting the Second Prince wants to see He Feier alone. She persuades her husband to wait outside.
• He Feier asks Second Prince Nian Feiyue to let her and her husband go. He refuses, claiming that because he has chosen her, she should become his. He proposes giving her a new identity to conceal her marriage, then asks whether she loves Wen Yanping that much.

Character developments

• He Feier moves from learning the truth to confronting the person responsible. Though angry and distressed, she acts deliberately, seeking a face-to-face explanation and protection for her marriage.
• Wen Yanping is protective and distrustful of the prince’s intentions. He wants to accompany He Feier but ultimately respects her request to wait outside.
• Liu Siyuan shifts from withholding information to disclosing it under He Feier’s insistence. He uses threats against Wen Yanping’s family to pressure her, but presents the meeting as a way to settle matters.
• Nian Feiyue reveals an entitled, coercive attitude: he treats He Feier as someone he can claim and dismisses the obstacle of her marriage.

Significant themes

• Power and coercion: The prince’s status allows him to threaten and control others, while He Feier and Wen Yanping have little freedom to resist.
• Marriage and loyalty: He Feier’s commitment to Wen Yanping is central to her appeal and to the prince’s challenge.
• Truth and agency: He Feier insists on learning the full story and confronting the Second Prince herself.
• Threats against family: Liu Siyuan uses Wen Yanping’s family and future as leverage, widening the danger beyond the couple.

Character interactions

• Liu Siyuan pressures He Feier while silencing Wen Yanping; He Feier insists that Wen Yanping not be harmed.
• He Feier reassures Wen Yanping that he can accompany her, and he reluctantly agrees to wait when the prince’s guards exclude him.
• In private, Nian Feiyue gives He Feier commands and rejects her plea to be released, setting up a direct conflict over her marriage and independence.