Recaps

Hu Xiaotian clashed with Tang Qingxuan’s family after rescuing her, then challenged scholars at a literary gathering and defended an injured cart driver. He returned home after leaving the driver in Easy Origin Hall’s care.

• Hu Xiaotian learned that his father had arranged his marriage to Li Tianheng’s daughter and went out to Emerald Cloud Lake with his servants.
• After Tang Qingxuan fell into the lake, Hu Xiaotian rescued her, but Tang Tiehan and his men accused him of abducting her and forced their way into the Hu residence.
• Hu Xiaotian turned the dispute against the Tang brothers by exposing their trespass and property damage, and the families settled the matter after Hong Baiqi called it a misunderstanding.
• Hu Buwei refused to end Hu Xiaotian’s engagement, then left the capital while Hu Xiaotian studied and accepted Xu Zhengying’s invitation to a literary gathering.
• At the Misty Waters Pavilion, Hu Xiaotian traded barbs and couplets with Wu Jingshan and the other scholars, angering Wu and drawing Huo Xiaoru’s attention.
• After Qiu Zhitang insulted Huo Xiaoru, Hu Xiaotian punched him and fought the Qiu brothers, but they later denied any grievance when Murong Feiyan intervened.
• On the way home, Hu Xiaotian freed an elderly driver pinned beneath an overturned cart and splinted his fractured leg before leaving him with Easy Origin Hall’s care.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to the residence, bathed, and asked Hu An why the servants around him were so unattractive.

After the Iron Deed of Redemption was stolen and Hu Xiaotian survived an assassination attempt, Hu Buwei arranged for him to leave the capital and serve in Western Sichuan. Before departing, Hu Xiaotian clashed with Shi Xuedong, helped Fang Zhitang and Fang Fang, and invited Murong Feiyan to walk with him in the rain.

• Hu Xiaotian captured burglars after they tried to break into his room, but a fire at the Elegant Gathering Pavilion distracted the guards while the Iron Deed of Redemption was stolen.
• Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan traced the kidnapping plot to Mo Shaolin, who escaped after his accomplices abducted Hu Xiaotian and shot Murong Feiyan with a Fang-Barbed Arrow.
• Hu Xiaotian operated on Murong Feiyan, removing the arrow and stitching her wound, then learned from Hu Buwei that the Iron Deed had truly been stolen and that Hu An had disappeared.
• Hu Buwei decided to send Hu Xiaotian to Western Sichuan, and Hu Xiaotian later treated Murong Feiyan’s wound and received surgical instruments from Li Yifeng.
• At Swallowcloud Tower, Zhan Peng rescued Fang Fang from Shi Xuedong, while Hu Xiaotian and Yuan Shiqing treated Fang Zhitang’s head wound.
• Hu Xiaotian confronted Shi Xuedong, then was pressured into becoming his sworn brother and learned that he would leave for Western Sichuan in three days as Azure Cloud County Deputy.
• Murong Feiyan reminded Hu Xiaotian to send five taels of gold to Fang Zhitang and Fang Fang, and Hu Xiaotian arranged for Liang Dazhuang to deliver the money.
• Hu Xiaotian invited Murong Feiyan to the Natural Residence before leaving the capital, then stopped their carriage in the rain and asked her to walk with him while he composed a poem.

Hu Xiaotian left the capital with Murong Feiyan for Azure Cloud County, surviving an ambush and a poisoned temple trap along the way. After saving An Dequan’s life, Hu Xiaotian was forced by the man’s granddaughter to escort them to Xiezhou under threat of a poison needle.

• Hu Xiaotian visited Huo Xiaoru at the Cloud Music House, shared a meal with her and Murong Feiyan, and exchanged couplets with Huo Xiaoru before leaving the capital.
• Hu Buwei arranged for Murong Feiyan to accompany Hu Xiaotian to Azure Cloud County, and Hu Xiaotian’s party set out after farewells and a stop at Fifteen-Li Pavilion, where he showed Huo Xiaoru ballet poses.
• More than twenty mounted bandits ambushed the party, but Murong Feiyan rescued Hu Xiaotian and defeated their leader, Tang Tiehan, whom she recognized and allowed to flee.
• After traveling through rain and mud, Hu Xiaotian and his companions took shelter at Orchid Temple, where Wuxing poisoned them and ordered his men to kill them.
• Hu Xiaotian killed the temple bandits, found the antidote, and revived Murong Feiyan and the four servants, while Murong Feiyan kicked Wuxing off a cliff after he confessed to murdering the monks.
• Hu Xiaotian amputated the badly injured right leg of An Dequan, who offered him a jade pendant to escort his granddaughter to a Zhou household in Xiezhou.
• An Dequan’s granddaughter revealed that enemies were tracking them, threatened Hu Xiaotian with a Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles box, and injected him with a Seven-Day Soul-Severing Needle to force him to escort them safely.

Hu Xiaotian traveled with Murong Feiyan and Qiqi through Penyin Mountain, reached Xiezhou, and recovered his documents before continuing to Azure Cloud County. There he found a corrupt magistrate and became entangled in the Wan household after helping Le Yao escape Master Wan.

• Hu Xiaotian left Orchid Temple with Liang Dazhuang and Murong Feiyan, crossed the perilous suspension bridge, and survived attacks by a swordsman, falcons, and archers, while Shao Yijiao died protecting the group.
• A Beast Tamer’s wolves and eagles surrounded Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi, but Murong Feiyan killed the Beast Tamer and his archer, and Qiqi gave Hu Xiaotian an antidote and revealed her name.
• After leaving Penyin Mountain, Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan reached Zhou Ruiyuan’s residence in Xiezhou, where Qiqi’s Crimson Pill cleared Hu Xiaotian’s poison and she revealed his identity.
• Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan found Liang Dazhuang at Huan Cai Pavilion, recovered their luggage and official documents after Hu Xiaotian signed a debt note, and continued toward Azure Cloud County.
• An old fisherman ferried Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan, and Liang Dazhuang across the flooded river after Hu Xiaotian answered his couplet, then warned him to choose his direction.
• Hu Xiaotian watched Magistrate Xu Qinglian punish two men in a suspicious goat dispute, then learned that Xu’s corruption and mounted bandits had damaged Azure Cloud’s trade.
• Murong Feiyan mistook the Black Miao men for kidnappers and rescued their red-clad captive, while Hu Xiaotian fled with the woman and hid in a pond after a mastiff pursued him.
• Le Yao found Hu Xiaotian hiding in the pond after she had jumped in to resist Master Wan, helped conceal him, and later returned to Cai Ping as he waited underwater through the night.