Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian resolved to strike at Wen Boyuan while rescuing Princess Anping, trusting Ji Feihua’s promise to restore his father’s post. Ji Feihua then warned Empress Jian that Wen Chenghuan was backing the Third Prince for the succession and pressed her to ally with him, leaving her to consider whether he was the only powerful backer for her and her son.

• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Mo he would strike first against Wen Boyuan because Wen Boyuan would target him, and said Ji Feihua had promised to restore his father’s former post.
• Empress Jian allowed Ji Feihua to speak with her alone at Xinning Palace, where he angered her by raising the crown prince’s succession.
• Ji Feihua told Empress Jian that Wen Boyuan had become sworn brothers with the Third Prince, Long Tingzhen, and that Wen Chenghuan’s Divine Strategy Office served him.
• Ji Feihua warned that Wen Chenghuan had broken his promise to support Empress Jian’s son and that Long Tingzhen might threaten her and her son if he became crown prince.
• Ji Feihua urged Empress Jian to recognize him as an ally against the succession threat, and she considered accepting his support despite distrusting his motives.

Ji Feihua revealed to Empress Jian that he possessed the genuine Imperial Jade Seal and urged her to consider the First Prince for the succession, while Long Yelin decided to appoint Long Tingzhen Crown Prince as he prepared to move against Ji Feihua. Hu Xiaotian met the divine physician Meng Zizai in the capital and followed him to Heavenly Mystery Hall’s clinic for a conversation.

• Ji Feihua told Empress Jian that the Imperial Jade Seal held by Long Yelin was fake and said the First Prince was his choice for Crown Prince.
• Long Yelin consulted Quan Dean about naming an heir and decided to appoint Long Tingzhen, whom officials also supported.
• Long Yelin said Chancellor Zhou Ruiyuan had advised him not to move against Ji Feihua, and he wondered why Zhou had changed.
• Hu Xiaotian rode Little Gray toward the Imperial Palace and encountered Meng Zizai on the way.
• Hu Xiaotian followed Meng Zizai to Heavenly Mystery Hall’s clinic, where they began catching up.

Hu Xiaotian met Meng Zizai at Heavenly Mystery Hall, where the physician noticed signs that Hu had been bitten by a venomous creature and offered to examine him. Hu refused, suspecting a hidden motive, and left with Qin Yutong, who said her martial uncle had meant well and asked why Hu seemed prejudiced against her.

• Meng Zizai asked Hu Xiaotian about his life and his time in Western Sichuan, but Hu gained little information from him.
• Fang Fang recognized Hu Xiaotian as the benefactor who had helped her and her father at Swallowcloud Tower, thanked him, and left after Qin Yutong arrived.
• Hu Xiaotian praised Heavenly Mystery Hall's medical knowledge and Meng Zizai asked whether a venomous creature had bitten him.
• Hu Xiaotian refused Meng Zizai's offer to take his pulse, then left the courtyard despite Meng's displeasure.
• Qin Yutong accompanied Hu Xiaotian outside, explained that Meng Zizai had meant well, and asked whether Hu held a prejudice against her.

Hu Xiaotian visited the Heavenly Mystery Hall, reunited with Fang Zhitang and Fang Fang, and learned that Eunuch Fan had broken his leg. Back at the Purple Orchid Palace, Princess Anping gave Qiqi and Long Tingzhen gifts from Long Xiyue, whose departure for Great Yong was drawing near.

• Hu Xiaotian asked Qin Yutong about his anatomy diagram, learned it was still with Meng Zizai, and asked whether she knew of the Heavenly Man Myriad Images Diagram.
• Hu Xiaotian reunited with Fang Zhitang and Fang Fang, who thanked him for helping them, and promised to visit their home after returning from Great Yong.
• Fu Gui told Hu Xiaotian that Eunuch Fan had broken his left leg in a horse-riding accident, and Hu Xiaotian planned to visit him the next morning.
• At the Purple Orchid Palace, Qiqi teased Hu Xiaotian, while Princess Anping presented her with Long Xiyue's peony embroidery.
• Princess Anping gave Long Tingzhen gold ornaments, a longevity lock, and a hand-embroidered bellyband from Long Xiyue, and Long Tingzhen said he had never approved of her marrying in Great Yong.

Hu Xiaotian confronted Qiqi for seeming unmoved by Long Xiyue’s marriage to Great Yong, but Qiqi explained that hiding her grief would let her aunt leave more happily and argued that the marriage alliance served Great Kang’s interests. Hu Xiaotian questioned whether sacrificing Long Xiyue’s happiness could truly secure lasting peace, leaving their argument unresolved.

• Long Xiyue urged Long Tingzhen to prepare to shoulder his imperial father’s burdens, while Qiqi called her marriage a joyous occasion and encouraged her to visit Great Kang.
• Qiqi had Hu Xiaotian escort her to the Palace of Gathered Elegance, then dragged him inside when he resisted going in.
• Hu Xiaotian accused Qiqi of lacking compassion for Long Xiyue and bitterly listed the times he had saved her.
• Qiqi cried and explained that she hid her sadness so Long Xiyue would not feel worse about leaving.
• Qiqi defended the marriage alliance as a necessary sacrifice for peace between Great Kang and Great Yong.
• Hu Xiaotian challenged her belief that sacrificing Long Xiyue’s happiness could buy lasting peace.

Qiqi asked Hu Xiaotian to escort Long Xiyue safely to Great Yong and gave him the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles for protection. Back in the palace, Hu Xiaotian shared an emotional farewell with Long Xiyue, then began explaining what he had done while she was unconscious.

• Qiqi asked Hu Xiaotian to protect Long Xiyue on the journey to Great Yong and ensure her marriage to Xue Chuanming proceeded safely.
• Qiqi gave Hu Xiaotian the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles and ordered him to kill anyone who threatened her aunt.
• Hu Xiaotian reflected on the competing political factions and considered whether leaving Great Kang could free him from their schemes.
• Long Xiyue gave Hu Xiaotian her Peace Buddha as a keepsake, and he returned it to her while keeping her tear-stained handkerchief.
• Hu Xiaotian stopped Long Xiyue from speaking when he suspected someone was listening, then returned with Bird's Nest Porridge.
• Long Xiyue questioned the gap in Hu Xiaotian's account of the night she fainted, and he began confessing that he had been delighted she was unconscious.

Hu Xiaotian teased Long Xiyue, then comforted her over the brief fireworks and promised to watch them with her every New Year’s Eve. The next morning, he visited the injured Fan Zongxi and learned that Tang Wenzheng’s sons would accompany Princess Anping’s wedding procession to Great Yong, where Hu Xiaotian would have to travel with old adversaries.

• Hu Xiaotian kissed Long Xiyue and embraced her, while she scolded him for grabbing her breast.
• Long Xiyue asked whether Hu Xiaotian had sealed her acupoints on New Year’s Eve, and he privately reflected that someone else had done it.
• Hu Xiaotian promised to watch fireworks with Long Xiyue each New Year’s Eve and wiped away her tears.
• Hu Xiaotian visited the injured Fan Zongxi with fruit and wine, and Fan told him Tang Wenzheng had taken over arranging the wedding procession’s carriages and horses.
• Hu Xiaotian reassured Fan Zongxi that he had let go of his feud with the Tang brothers, and Li Yuncong joined them for wine and conversation.

Hu Xiaotian prepared to escort Princess Anping to Great Yong and met Qin Yutong at the Imperial Medical Academy before leaving the capital. He accepted her Human-Skin Mask and discussed spreading medical knowledge, leaving Qin Yutong eager to help him establish a medical college.

• Hu Xiaotian told Fan Zongxi and Li Yuncong that he would leave for Great Yong on the thirteenth of the first month to escort Princess Anping.
• Li Yuncong hinted that His Majesty was preparing to name an heir, then avoided further discussion of state affairs.
• Hu Xiaotian visited Qin Yutong, accepted her sealed letter for Liu Changsheng and the wooden box containing the Human-Skin Mask, and promised to consider the consequences of his plans carefully.
• Qin Yutong returned Hu Xiaotian's anatomical drawing and declined the additional drawings he offered, while Hu Xiaotian explained that medical knowledge should be shared widely.
• Qin Yutong offered to help Hu Xiaotian spread his medical knowledge, and he said he would invite her to teach at a medical college if he established one.

Princess Anping Long Xiyue departed the capital for her marriage in Great Yong under Hu Xiaotian and Wen Boyuan’s escort. The procession left the palace and reached Everlasting Prosperity Bridge, where beggars’ pleas for wedding alms slowed it down.

• Empress Jian and the princes saw Long Xiyue off, and Long Tingsheng and Long Tingzhen charged Hu Xiaotian and Wen Boyuan with protecting her.
• Ji Feihua gave Hu Xiaotian the saber he had seized from an assassin and publicly authorized him to execute anyone who disrespected the princess.
• Emperor Long Yelin ordered the procession to depart, and Wen Boyuan led the escort through the palace gates with soldiers, attendants, and carts of dowry goods.
• Long Xiyue remembered watching New Year’s fireworks with Hu Xiaotian, then took comfort when he rode beside her carriage.
• The procession reached Everlasting Prosperity Bridge and slowed as beggars knelt along the road asking for wedding alms.

As Princess Anping’s marriage escort encountered a crowd of beggars blocking the road, Wu Jingshan and Hu Xiaotian argued over how to handle their demand for wedding money. Hu Xiaotian recognized their leader, Zhu Ba, and accepted their gift for the princess: a little white dog said to be connected to a kindness Consort Li showed him twelve years earlier.

• Wen Boyuan, Wu Jingshan, and Hu Xiaotian debated how to respond to nearly a hundred beggars blocking the road and asking for wedding money.
• Hu Xiaotian insisted that Wu Jingshan authorize any payment from the public funds, and the beggars rejected the twenty taels they were offered.
• Wen Boyuan threatened the beggars at the Everlasting Prosperity Bridge, but Zhu Ba said they had come to bless the princess and present her with a gift.
• Hu Xiaotian recognized Zhu Ba as the beggar who had stolen Qiqi’s mount and stepped forward to accept the gift for Princess Anping.
• Zhu Ba recalled how Consort Li had helped him twelve years earlier and explained that the princess’s little dog had run away then; Zhu Dali presented a fluffy white dog, and Hu Xiaotian asked if it was the one.

Hu Xiaotian’s escort received a puppy and a map from Zhu Ba, then his mother, Xu Fengyi, rushed to see him off at the North Gate. After Hu Xiaotian defended her from a guard, Xu Fengyi urged him to leave and never return, and he rode after the procession.

• Zhu Ba gave Hu Xiaotian a puppy for Princess Anping and secretly passed him a map marking outlaw forces along the road to Yong Capital.
• Princess Anping recognized the puppy as resembling her childhood pet Snowball and happily took it in.
• Xu Fengyi pushed through the crowd to see Hu Xiaotian, but a guard shoved her down, prompting Hu Xiaotian to knock him down and break his ribs with a kick.
• Princess Anping helped Xu Fengyi up, while Wen Boyuan stopped Hu Xiaotian from drawing his blade and Wu Jingshan urged the princess back into her carriage.
• Xu Fengyi told Hu Xiaotian she knew everything and urged him to go as far as he could without returning; Hu Xiaotian kowtowed to her and rode after the procession.

The bridal procession reached Skywave City in a snowstorm, where prefect Wang Wenyou welcomed Princess Anping despite orders to keep the reception quiet. Hu Xiaotian learned that Wang acted on Ji Feihua’s arrangements and chose the Post Station for the princess’s lodging.

• Hu Xiaotian and the procession traveled north through Great Kang, keeping a relaxed pace as he guarded Princess Anping and Zhan Peng and Zhou Mo concealed their ties to him.
• Wu Jingshan proposed spending an extra day in Skywave City because of the Lantern Festival and snowstorm, and Hu Xiaotian agreed.
• Zhan Peng identified the approaching party as Wang Wenyou and Skywave City officials, who had come to welcome Princess Anping despite instructions against a public reception.
• Wu Jingshan recognized Wang Wenyou as a former student, but Wang turned his attention to Hu Xiaotian and praised him, leaving Wu Jingshan embarrassed.
• Wang Wenyou gave Hu Xiaotian a letter from Ji Feihua and promised to keep the princess’s arrival secret; Hu Xiaotian chose the Post Station over the Jade Wave Palace.

Hu Xiaotian clashed with Wu Jingshan and Wen Boyuan over the journey’s formalities and Princess Anping’s security in Skywave City. Wen Boyuan restricted access to the princess, but Hu Xiaotian turned the restriction against him and left him waiting outside her courtyard.

• Princess Anping arrived at the Post Station with Zijuan and Snowball, while Wen Boyuan stationed guards around her courtyard.
• Wu Jingshan told Hu Xiaotian that he and Wen Boyuan opposed Wang Wenyou’s welcoming banquet, and Wen Boyuan said visitors would need his permission to see the princess after dark.
• Wang Wenyou showed Hu Xiaotian to a room outside Princess Anping’s courtyard and mentioned the Lantern Festival Fair on Guanlan Street.
• Hu Xiaotian insisted on entering the princess’s courtyard despite the guards’ weapons restriction, and Wen Boyuan let him pass.
• When Wen Boyuan tried to follow, Hu Xiaotian blocked him and said he would first ask whether Princess Anping was willing to see him.

Hu Xiaotian helped Long Xiyue arrange a visit to Skywave City's Lantern Festival, and the two shared a passionate kiss in private. Wu Jingshan and Wen Boyuan debated security for the outing just as Hu Xiaotian arrived to join their discussion.

• Hu Xiaotian told Long Xiyue that Wu Jingshan and Wen Boyuan wanted him to cancel the welcoming banquet and keep away from her quarters at night.
• Long Xiyue asked to visit the lantern fair, and Hu Xiaotian encouraged her to command Wen Boyuan to make the arrangements.
• Long Xiyue gave Wen Boyuan's hand warmer to Hu Xiaotian, deliberately angering Wen Boyuan.
• Hu Xiaotian and Long Xiyue kissed in private before he left, promising to accompany her to see the lanterns.
• Wu Jingshan and Wen Boyuan discussed arranging extra security for Long Xiyue's visit, and Hu Xiaotian entered as they spoke.

Princess Anping, Long Xiyue, went with Hu Xiaotian, Wen Boyuan, and their guards to Skywave City's Lantern Festival fair. She enjoyed the crowded lantern displays and riddles, while Hu Xiaotian resolved to protect her and Wen Boyuan grew suspicious of her closeness to him.

• Hu Xiaotian, Wu Jingshan, and Wen Boyuan agreed to let Princess Anping visit the fair with plainclothes guards rather than alert the city's authorities.
• Long Xiyue left the Post Station on foot with Hu Xiaotian, Zijuan, Wen Boyuan, and guards from the Divine Strategy Office's Wild Goose Group.
• Long Xiyue delighted in the lantern displays, and Hu Xiaotian resolved to protect her from the political marriage awaiting her.
• Long Xiyue held Hu Xiaotian's arm while approaching the lantern riddles, prompting Wen Boyuan to feel jealous and question their relationship.
• Long Xiyue correctly answered a riddle for tofu, won a cloth tiger, and then challenged Hu Xiaotian to guess the answer to another riddle.

Hu Xiaotian met the injured, impoverished painter Yang Lingqi at the lantern fair and recognized him as the son of a former county deputy he had succeeded in Azure Cloud. Yang Lingqi acknowledged Hu Xiaotian as a good official but avoided explaining what had happened to him, leaving Hu Xiaotian to wonder how he could help.

• Princess Anping and Hu Xiaotian solved lantern riddles while Wen Boyuan jealously mocked Hu Xiaotian and displayed his painting skill.
• Yang Lingqi painted winter plum blossoms despite an injured right hand and a missing left hand, and Hu Xiaotian bought his painting.
• Yang Lingqi gave Hu Xiaotian an earlier flower-and-bird painting, whose inscription revealed his connection to Azure Cloud County.
• Hu Xiaotian recalled that Yang Lingqi was the missing son of the upright former County Deputy Yang and questioned him about his father.
• Yang Lingqi fled when Hu Xiaotian mentioned County Deputy Yang, but stopped after Hu Xiaotian identified himself as the official who had succeeded his father.
• Yang Lingqi said he had heard Hu Xiaotian was a good official, but declined to explain his circumstances and returned his attention to selling paintings.

Hu Xiaotian challenged Wen Boyuan to a portrait-painting contest with a humiliating wager, then accompanied Long Xiyue through the lantern festival as she enjoyed the festivities. When Xi Yan appeared onstage, Hu Xiaotian recognized her and urged Long Xiyue to leave, sensing danger.

• Hu Xiaotian returned to Long Xiyue and argued with Wen Boyuan, then proposed a contest to paint Long Xiyue’s portrait, with the loser barking like a dog.
• Hu Xiaotian took Long Xiyue beneath the dragon lantern and used the Dog-Dodging Eighteen Steps to keep Wen Boyuan and the warriors from catching them.
• Hu Xiaotian persuaded Long Xiyue to stay and watch the performances on Guanlan Street despite Wen Boyuan’s urging that they return.
• Xi Yan appeared onstage, and Hu Xiaotian recognized her as a dangerous adversary and urged Long Xiyue to leave.

Xi Yan lured Hu Xiaotian away from the lantern festival with a flaming embroidered ball, then challenged him at Mingjue Pagoda. Hu Xiaotian used his newly learned footwork to evade her attacks, leaving Xi Yan unable to touch him.

• Xi Yan threw a firework-filled embroidered ball toward Hu Xiaotian, and it exploded into smoke and fireworks when he struck it with his saber.
• Xi Yan threatened Princess Anping through Secret Voice Transmission and led Hu Xiaotian away through the smoke before Zhan Peng could reach him.
• At Mingjue Pagoda, Hu Xiaotian and Xi Yan teased each other, and he gave her his fur cloak when snow began to fall.
• Xi Yan attacked Hu Xiaotian after he joked about her revealing her clothes, but he evaded her with the Dog-Dodging Eighteen Steps.
• Xi Yan recognized that Hu Xiaotian had learned superb footwork, and he mocked her inability to touch him.

Hu Xiaotian and Xi Yan reunited in Skywave City, where she chased him up a pagoda and confronted him about rejecting her embroidered ball. Xi Yan proposed that he become her fiancé in name only, but Hu Xiaotian remained suspicious and tried to make excuses.

• Xi Yan summoned a flock of crows to stop Hu Xiaotian, then reminded him that he had wronged her more often than she had harmed him.
• Xi Yan challenged Hu Xiaotian to race her up the pagoda, and she reached the summit first.
• Hu Xiaotian gave Xi Yan his fur cloak, and they discussed his being a eunuch and her tossing him the embroidered ball.
• Xi Yan said Hu Xiaotian had ruined her marriage by cutting the ball and demanded that he compensate her.
• Xi Yan proposed that Hu Xiaotian be her fiancé in name only, while Hu Xiaotian questioned her motives and offered excuses for refusing.

Xi Yan lured Hu Xiaotian away from the lantern festival with a flaming embroidered ball and met him at Mingjue Pagoda, where they traded barbs before she attacked him. Hu Xiaotian evaded her with the Dog-Dodging Eighteen Steps, surprising Xi Yan and leaving him newly confident in his martial arts.

• Xi Yan tossed a flaming embroidered ball toward Hu Xiaotian, who struck it with his Black-Gold Saber as Long Xiyue cried out for him.
• Xi Yan used smoke and secret voice transmission to threaten Long Xiyue and lead Hu Xiaotian away before Zhan Peng could reach him.
• Xi Yan brought Hu Xiaotian to Mingjue Pagoda, where they talked about his becoming a eunuch and she mocked him.
• Hu Xiaotian gave Xi Yan his Fur Cloak, and she teased him before attacking him without warning.
• Hu Xiaotian repeatedly evaded Xi Yan using the Dog-Dodging Eighteen Steps, impressing her and boosting his confidence.