Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu in the Capital City and discussed escaping the palace and freeing his parents. He explained why he had come to the capital to seek Quan Dean’s help, but left his brothers in suspense about the condition Quan Dean had set.

• Hu Xiaotian met Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu at the Jinghong Inn, then went with them to a house Zhou Mo had bought in Mingfang Alley.
• Hu Xiaotian and Xiao Tianmu talked about their hardships and reaffirmed that the brothers would leave the capital together if they ever departed.
• Zhou Mo returned with food and wine, and the three brothers toasted their reunion before Hu Xiaotian recounted what had happened in Xiezhou.
• Hu Xiaotian explained that he had stayed in Western Sichuan to protect his parents from accusations of colluding with the rebellious Li Family.
• Hu Xiaotian revealed that he had once saved Quan Dean and Qiqi, and that Quan Dean had agreed to help the Hu Family on one condition.

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu and explained that Quan Dean had made him enter the palace to help counter Ji Feihua. The brothers discussed the danger of escaping and discovered that Hu Xiaotian had to master Quan Dean’s cultivation method to assimilate the foreign internal power inside him.

• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu that Quan Dean had forced him to become a eunuch and enter the palace, intending to use him against Ji Feihua.
• Zhou Mo urged Hu Xiaotian to flee the capital with his parents, but Hu Xiaotian said he would wait until the time was right because the court was watching his family.
• Hu Xiaotian explained that Quan Dean and Ji Feihua were competing for power through the Divine Strategy Office and the Heavenly Secrets Bureau, and that Quan Dean had arranged for Constable Murong to join the Divine Strategy Office.
• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu that Quan Dean had transferred internal power to him, making the brothers suspect that Quan Dean had a larger plan for him.
• Zhou Mo examined Hu Xiaotian and found that foreign internal power obstructed his meridians and caused severe pain when challenged.
• Zhou Mo concluded that he could not neutralize Quan Dean’s power and told Hu Xiaotian to practice Quan Dean’s cultivation method to assimilate it.

Hu Xiaotian reported Ji Feihua’s attempt to win him over, and Quan Dean ordered him to use the Wine Cellar’s secret passage to earn Ji Feihua’s trust while secretly serving Quan Dean. Quan Dean threatened him with the dangerous true qi in his body and refused to arrange a meeting with his parents, leaving Hu Xiaotian trapped between palace factions and unable to see his family.

• Hu Xiaotian concealed why he could not advance in Quan Dean’s internal cultivation manual, since mastering it would require him to castrate himself.
• Hu Xiaotian told Quan Dean that Ji Feihua had offered to protect him and had asked him to investigate the Wine Cellar, while Eunuch Liu prepared to retire.
• Quan Dean ordered Hu Xiaotian to investigate the secret passage and eventually reveal it to Ji Feihua as a pledge of allegiance, intending him to act as an undercover agent.
• Quan Dean warned that the transferred true qi could harm Hu Xiaotian within three months to three years and promised to resolve the danger only after Hu Xiaotian completed his task.
• Hu Xiaotian asked to meet his parents, but Quan Dean refused, warning that the meeting could prompt accusations that they planned to escape to Western Sichuan.

Hu Xiaotian resisted Quan Dean’s plan to use him against Ji Feihua and decided to pursue his own course while remaining between the two powerful eunuchs. That night, he entered the secret passage to Purple Orchid Palace and found Long Xiyue waiting at the well, but the chapter ended before they spoke further.

• Hu Xiaotian questioned whether revealing the secret passage would earn Ji Feihua’s trust, and Quan Dean explained that he wanted evidence of Ji Feihua’s treason.
• Hu Xiaotian recognized that both Quan Dean and Ji Feihua intended to use him, and resolved to make his own choices while exploiting the opportunity.
• Hu Xiaotian climbed the well in Purple Orchid Palace using Golden Spider Eight Steps and accidentally rang a bell attached to a silken net.
• Long Xiyue warned Hu Xiaotian that he had recklessly risked discovery, while she reflected on her longing for freedom and her feelings for him.
• Long Xiyue told Hu Xiaotian to go back, then returned to the well to look down when he did not answer.

Hu Xiaotian climbed out of the well and met Long Xiyue in the Purple Orchid Palace, where he warned her that marrying into Great Yong might not prevent war. Long Xiyue revealed that she felt trapped by her fate and believed everyone who cared about her was already gone.

• Hu Xiaotian sang from the well until Long Xiyue removed the net covering its mouth and let him out.
• Hu Xiaotian and Long Xiyue spoke alone in the study, where he said he had entered the palace to save his family and asked her to protect his secret.
• Hu Xiaotian told Long Xiyue he had overheard Empress Jian discussing her marriage to Great Yong and questioned whether the alliance would keep the two countries at peace.
• Long Xiyue said she would give her life for her country if war came, then admitted that everyone who cared about her was already gone and began to cry.

Hu Xiaotian vowed to help Long Xiyue escape an arranged marriage, then tried to protect Liu Yuzhang when Ji Feihua summoned him by force. At the Directorate of Internal Affairs, Ji accused Liu of corruption and demanded to know whether he had switched the Black Tiger Whip; Hu Xiaotian was left under Li Yan’s watch.

• Hu Xiaotian promised Long Xiyue he would take her away rather than let her be married to Great Yong, but she told him to accept their separate fates.
• Li Yan arrived at the Palace Gardens Bureau with men and demanded that Liu Yuzhang come to the Directorate of Internal Affairs; after seeing something Li Yan showed him, Liu agreed to go alone and slipped Hu Xiaotian a crumpled paper.
• Hu Xiaotian sent Xiao Zhuozi to seek Zhang Fuquan and hurried to ask the princess for help, but Li Yan intercepted him outside the bureau.
• Ji Feihua accused Liu Yuzhang of taking bribes and struck him with a ledger, knocking him down and making him spit blood.
• Ji Feihua accused Liu Yuzhang of tampering with the Black Tiger Whip that Rong Baoxing had collected for the emperor.

Ji Feihua killed Liu Yuzhang after revealing that Quan Dean had exposed Liu’s plans, and Hu Xiaotian was forced to end Liu’s suffering. Afterward, Hu Xiaotian told Ji Feihua about the secret passages beneath the Wine Cellar, prompting Ji Feihua to turn his attention toward Quan Dean.

• Liu Yuzhang attacked Ji Feihua, who broke his arm and ribs and left him dying from the Heartbreak Palm.
• Hu Xiaotian arrived, and Ji Feihua revealed that Quan Dean had supplied the evidence against Liu Yuzhang.
• At Liu Yuzhang’s request, Hu Xiaotian stabbed him to end his suffering, then asked Ji Feihua to arrange his burial.
• Quan Dean told Wen Boyuan to take Liu Yuzhang’s family somewhere safe and mourned Liu’s attempt to awaken His Majesty.
• Hu Xiaotian told Ji Feihua that three secret passages beneath the Wine Cellar led to the Jade Pool, the Library Pavilion, and the Purple Orchid Palace.
• When Hu Xiaotian said Quan Dean also knew about the passages, Ji Feihua reacted with a sharp, icy glint.

Hu Xiaotian bargained with Ji Feihua for protection and the restoration of his family, while concealing his resolve to avenge Liu Yuzhang. After Liu’s quiet burial, Hu Xiaotian visited his grave and vowed to kill Ji Feihua.

• Hu Xiaotian told Ji Feihua that Quan Dean had sent him to reveal the tunnel beneath the Wine Cellar, then explained that Quan Dean’s true qi had left him with only three years to live.
• Hu Xiaotian agreed to serve Ji Feihua, who promised him wealth and honor and said he would arrange Liu Yuzhang’s burial.
• Ji Feihua dismissed Li Yan’s warning about Hu Xiaotian and decided to recommend him to lead the Palace Gardens Bureau; he ordered Liu Yuzhang’s death attributed to sudden illness.
• Grieving alone, Hu Xiaotian resolved to use his wits to survive between Ji Feihua and Quan Dean and seek the greatest possible gains.
• Seven days after Liu Yuzhang’s death, Hu Xiaotian visited his grave with Shi Xuedong and Xiao Zhuozi and silently vowed to kill Ji Feihua.

Hu Xiaotian was promoted to Assistant Director of the Palace Gardens Bureau and faced Rong Baoxing’s renewed search for the Black Tiger Whip. After deceiving Rong Baoxing with inferior substitutes, Hu Xiaotian received Ji Feihua, whose reaction to Hu’s approach to managing the bureau hinted at growing mutual understanding.

• Hu Xiaotian learned that he had been chosen to succeed Liu Yuzhang as Assistant Director of the Palace Gardens Bureau.
• Rong Baoxing asked Hu Xiaotian for the Black Tiger Whip, and Hu led him to the medicinal storeroom.
• Hu Xiaotian gave Rong Baoxing all thirty-seven inferior tiger penises, concealing the valuable ingredients he had hidden after Liu Yuzhang’s death.
• Ji Feihua visited the bureau and officially announced Hu Xiaotian’s appointment as its Seal-Holding Eunuch.
• Hu Xiaotian told Ji Feihua he governed through nonaction, and Ji praised the idea as an ideal form of governing.

Ji Feihua confronted Hu Xiaotian about Wei Hualin’s death and revealed that he suspected Quan Dean and the Little Princess had engineered the murder. He spared Hu Xiaotian, who gave him the Black Tiger Whip, and then asked Hu Xiaotian if he had time, leaving him awaiting Ji Feihua’s next order.

• Ji Feihua questioned Hu Xiaotian about Quan Dean and promised to arrange a meeting between Hu Xiaotian and his father.
• At the Wine Cellar, Ji Feihua asked whether Hu Xiaotian had killed Wei Hualin, and Hu Xiaotian admitted the Little Princess had killed him with the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles.
• Ji Feihua suggested Quan Dean and the Little Princess had plotted Wei Hualin’s murder, making Hu Xiaotian realize he had unknowingly become their accomplice.
• Ji Feihua said he would spare Hu Xiaotian and let him redeem himself through service.
• Hu Xiaotian gave Ji Feihua the Black Tiger Whip, and Ji Feihua dismissed its supposed powers and told Hu Xiaotian he could keep it.
• Ji Feihua asked Hu Xiaotian whether he had time, and Hu Xiaotian awaited his orders.

Hu Xiaotian accompanied Ji Feihua to a banquet at Misty Waters Pavilion, where Ji clashed with Wen Boyuan and Hu joined in humiliating Wen’s guards. The arrival of Third Prince Long Tingzhen confirmed Ji’s suspicion that the gathering had been arranged to embarrass him.

• Ji Feihua brought Hu Xiaotian to the banquet at Misty Waters Pavilion, where Wen Boyuan gave him a deliberately perfunctory welcome.
• Wen Boyuan’s guards blocked Hu Xiaotian, so Ji Feihua slapped them and ordered them to let his man pass.
• Hu Xiaotian slapped the guards as well and told Wen Boyuan he had taught them a lesson on his behalf.
• Hu Xiaotian encountered Wu Jingshan and Su Qingkun, then greeted Wu at Ji Feihua’s request.
• Long Tingzhen arrived unexpectedly, and Ji Feihua realized Wen Boyuan had arranged the banquet to humiliate him.

At a gathering in the Misty Waters Pavilion, Ji Feihua used Hu Xiaotian to challenge Wu Jingshan and Su Qingkun with clever couplets and stories. Hu Xiaotian publicly embarrassed both men, and the chapter ended with the company reacting to his bawdy explanation of a child’s name.

• Long Tingzhen arrived at the Misty Waters Pavilion and made his displeasure with Ji Feihua clear, while Ji Feihua invited Hu Xiaotian to sit beside him.
• Wu Jingshan boasted that scholars in Great Yong could not answer his couplet, but Hu Xiaotian supplied their clever response and embarrassed him.
• Su Qingkun challenged Hu Xiaotian with another couplet, then mocked him for being a eunuch by joking about the missing east and west.
• Hu Xiaotian answered Su Qingkun’s insult with a bawdy story about a prostitute named Su and the three men who fathered her child.
• Ji Feihua guessed part of the child’s name, and Hu Xiaotian explained how he had named the boy Kun.

After Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian left the Misty Waters Pavilion, Ji Feihua discussed the Third Prince’s faction and his rivalry with Quan Dean over wine. Their carriage was ambushed on the way back to the palace, and Ji Feihua repelled the first attackers as mastiffs closed in on Hu Xiaotian.

• At the Misty Waters Pavilion, Ji Feihua traded a couplet with Long Tingzhen and left with Hu Xiaotian after hinting at his killing intent.
• Ji Feihua took Hu Xiaotian to a riverside food stall, where they discussed Long Tingzhen, the Divine Strategy Office, and Ji Feihua’s conflict with Quan Dean.
• As rain began, Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian rode toward the palace in a carriage.
• Ji Feihua heard an incoming spear, caught it, and hurled it back through a wall, killing the hidden attacker.
• Ji Feihua leapt from the carriage and evaded a volley of arrows, while more than a dozen mastiffs converged on Hu Xiaotian.

Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian fought off a night ambush by mastiffs, bats, and a black-armored assassin. After the attackers fled, they met Li Yan and headed back toward the palace, with Ji Feihua keeping the assassin’s saber for Hu Xiaotian.

• Hu Xiaotian climbed onto the rooftops as mastiffs attacked the carriage horses, while Ji Feihua led him away from a swarm of bats.
• Ji Feihua used flying roof tiles to defend against a black-armored assassin’s saber strike, then fought back with a roof beam and broke the assassin’s Black Gold Wings.
• Ji Feihua bent the assassin’s saber with his palm, injured him with a hidden weapon, and cut his ankles, but the assassin escaped northwest amid bats and black feathers.
• Hu Xiaotian reunited with Ji Feihua and saw the driver holding three severed heads from the attackers.
• Li Yan arrived with palace reinforcements, and Ji Feihua ordered him to investigate the dead men’s accomplices and kill them.
• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian the black-gold saber was worth a thousand gold pieces and said he would keep it for him while they traveled back to the palace.

Ji Feihua and Li Yan discussed the Heavenly Secrets Bureau’s assassination attempt and the court factions maneuvering over the Crown Prince, while Wen Chenghuan and Quan Dean secretly weighed Empress Jian’s demand against their plan to eliminate Ji Feihua. Hu Xiaotian continued his work in the Palace Gardens Bureau and learned that Qin Yutong had visited the Imperial Medical Academy, prompting him to seek a chance to speak with her.

• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian that the black-armored assassin was a Winged Warrior serving Hong Beimo, who refused to join Ji Feihua.
• Li Yan suspected Hu Xiaotian had revealed Ji Feihua’s movements, but Ji Feihua rejected the suspicion and warned Li Yan not to make trouble for Hu Xiaotian.
• Ji Feihua learned that Wen Chenghuan had visited Empress Jian to discuss selecting a consort and ordered Li Yan to watch Wen Chenghuan closely.
• Wen Chenghuan and Quan Dean agreed to feign support for Empress Jian’s request to back the First Prince while they focused on eliminating Ji Feihua.
• Hu Xiaotian received a black fur vest from Ji Feihua and arranged to go outside the palace with Shi Xuedong the next day.
• Hu Xiaotian learned from Xiao Dengzi that Qin Yutong had treated him at the Imperial Medical Academy and asked Xiao Dengzi to notify him when she returned.

Hu Xiaotian received Empress Jian’s order to restore Bright Moon Palace’s gardens, while Wang Decai tried to pressure him and obtain grape wine. Baobao warned Hu Xiaotian about Ji Feihua and eventually raised Bright Moon Palace, leaving her purpose unclear.

• Wang Decai delivered Empress Jian’s order for Hu Xiaotian to make Bright Moon Palace’s gardens flawless within three days and asked for grape wine.
• Hu Xiaotian sent Xiao Dengzi and Xiao Zhuozi to begin the garden work and asked Shi Xuedong to find out who would move into the palace.
• Baobao visited Hu Xiaotian, discussed the attack on Heavenly Street, and denied knowing about the assassination attempt.
• Hu Xiaotian and Baobao traded flirtatious taunts in the Wine Cellar before Baobao asked whether he had heard about Bright Moon Palace.

Baobao asked Hu Xiaotian to help kill Grand Tutor Wen’s adopted daughter, the new Lady of Talent, by secretly scattering medicinal powder in Bright Moon Palace. Hu Xiaotian resisted her threats and demanded that she let him hold her, leaving Baobao reluctantly agreeing to his condition.

• Hu Xiaotian told Baobao that the Empress had ordered Bright Moon Palace’s gardens prepared for a new Lady of Talent.
• Baobao revealed that the new Lady of Talent was Grand Tutor Wen’s adopted daughter, and Hu Xiaotian recognized that the Empress’s favor could stir jealousy among the consorts.
• Baobao asked Hu Xiaotian to kill the newcomer and threatened to expose his secrets if he refused.
• Hu Xiaotian rejected Baobao’s blackmail, and she apologized, called him Master Hu, and massaged his shoulders and legs to persuade him.
• Baobao offered Hu Xiaotian a packet of medicinal powder to scatter in Bright Moon Palace, but he demanded that she let him hold her.
• Baobao reluctantly agreed, and Hu Xiaotian said he never forced anyone and had plenty of palace maids willing to approach him.

Baobao persuaded Hu Xiaotian to help kill the newly appointed Lady of Talent, Wen Ya, by promising to marry and kiss him, though he had not decided whether to carry out the plan. Ji Feihua learned about Wen Ya and grew curious to see her, while Hu Xiaotian received a message from Zhang Dequan, one of Quan Dean’s men.

• Baobao hugged Hu Xiaotian and promised to marry him if he helped kill the Lady of Talent.
• Baobao kissed Hu Xiaotian after he demanded proof of her sincerity, then left him the packet of medicinal powder.
• Hu Xiaotian wondered why Hong Beimo wanted Wen Ya dead and whether Ji Feihua would be affected by her arrival.
• He Mu told Ji Feihua that Wen Ya was Grand Tutor Wen’s adopted daughter and had been appointed a Lady of Talent.
• Ji Feihua decided he wanted to see Wen Ya for himself as Hu Xiaotian supervised preparations at Bright Moon Palace.
• A young eunuch told Hu Xiaotian that Zhang Dequan wanted to see him, reminding him of his connection to Quan Dean.

Hu Xiaotian met with Quan Dean, who ordered him to protect Wen Ya and monitor Ji Feihua’s actions as preparations continued at Bright Moon Palace. When Wang Decai tried to order changes to the gardens in the Empress’s name, Hu Xiaotian challenged whether the Empress or Wang himself distrusted the Palace Gardens Bureau.

• Hu Xiaotian reported to Quan Dean that Ji Feihua had shown little interest in the Wine Cellar and recounted the bat swarm attack on Heavenly Street.
• Quan Dean told Hu Xiaotian to help protect Wen Ya by inspecting food and the Bright Moon Palace, and to report Ji Feihua’s movements to Zhang Fuquan.
• Hu Xiaotian spoke with Li Yuncong at Bright Moon Palace and learned the study was being stocked with books the emperor regularly read.
• Wang Decai demanded that the gardeners remove the poinsettias, but Hu Xiaotian ignored him until Wang approached and invoked the Empress’s orders.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Wang whether the Empress or Wang himself lacked confidence in the Palace Gardens Bureau.

Hu Xiaotian beat Wang Decai after he insulted Ji Feihua, then Ji Feihua had Wang killed for supposedly insulting the emperor. The surviving witnesses accepted Ji Feihua’s account, while his warning to Empress Jian’s messenger revealed that the killing carried a political message.

• Wang Decai argued with Hu Xiaotian and insulted Ji Feihua, so Hu Xiaotian punched and kicked him in front of the gathered eunuchs and gardeners.
• Li Yuncong tried to mediate, but Ji Feihua arrived and heard Wang Decai’s complaint about Hu Xiaotian.
• Hu Xiaotian accused Wang Decai of calling Ji Feihua the emperor’s dog, and Ji Feihua turned the dispute toward Wang Decai’s alleged insult to the emperor.
• Li Yan killed Wang Decai with a palm strike after Wang begged Ji Feihua for mercy.
• Li Yuncong agreed with Ji Feihua’s account, and Ji Feihua ordered Wang Decai’s companion to report the truth to Empress Jian.