Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Liang Yinghao, Xiong Tianba, and the others after they reached the Yong Capital, strengthening his delegation as he prepared for the princess’s wedding. He remained concerned about Great Yong’s political tensions, while Long Xiyue’s innocent care for him left him flustered.

• Huo Shengnan visited the injured Liu Changsheng on Yuchi Chong’s behalf and warned Hu Xiaotian that his fight at Qichen Palace had angered men in Great Yong.
• Hu Xiaotian considered the obstacles facing his mission to marry Zijuan to the Seventh Prince and avoid Great Yong’s succession struggle.
• Liang Yinghao and Xiong Tianba reunited with Hu Xiaotian and explained that they had brought Tang Qingxuan, Tang Tiehan, and more than fifty recovered men to the Yong Capital.
• Tang Qingxuan confronted Hu Xiaotian about arranging for her brother to feign illness, then said she wanted to see Long Xiyue and serve as her bridesmaid.
• Hu Xiaotian arranged a banquet for the returning men, then found Long Xiyue washing his underpants and hurried away in embarrassment.

Hu Xiaotian and his allies discussed the political struggle surrounding the marriage delegation and planned a sea route home after the wedding. The false Princess Anping remained at Qichen Palace, while Hu Xiaotian prepared to approach the Prince of Yan and monitor the growing danger.

• Long Xiyue agreed to stay at Treasure Abundance Hall to avoid Tang Qingxuan, and Hu Xiaotian comforted her.
• Hu Xiaotian assigned Liang Yinghao to dig a secret passage at the South Wind Inn.
• Xiao Tianmu explained how the Worthy Consort, her son Xue Daoming, and the Li Family shaped Great Yong's court politics, while the group considered the danger to Princess Anping and themselves.
• Hu Xiaotian said he would approach the Prince of Yan and consider returning to Qichen Palace to watch the princess.
• Zhou Mo described a planned route home by land to Hailing Commandery and then by merchant ship to Haizhou, and Hu Xiaotian approved the arrangements.

Hu Xiaotian and his allies planned how to reduce their numbers in the Yong Capital and discussed what they might do after rescuing Long Xiyue. The next morning, Eunuch Dong brought Hu Xiaotian to meet Empress Dowager Jiang, who thanked him for his medical treatment and revealed she had learned he was an envoy from Great Kang.

• Xiao Tianmu, Zhou Mo, Zhan Peng, and Hu Xiaotian discussed the danger of keeping too many people in the Yong Capital and planned to send Wu Jingshan and others away.
• Hu Xiaotian considered his uncertain future, while Zhou Mo urged the brothers to join forces and change Great Kang; Hu Xiaotian agreed to take things one step at a time.
• Xiao Tianmu told Hu Xiaotian that Huo Xiaoru was arranging songs and dances at the Moon Dance House, but Hu Xiaotian hesitated to visit her.
• Eunuch Dong arrived at the South Wind Inn and invited Hu Xiaotian to Benevolence Garden at Empress Dowager Jiang's request.
• Empress Dowager Jiang thanked Hu Xiaotian for his successful eye surgery and told him she had learned he was an envoy from Great Kang.

Hu Xiaotian accompanied Xue Lingjun to Master Craftsman Zong Yuan’s blacksmith shop to have surgical instruments made for her operation. After studying Hu Xiaotian’s drawings, Zong Yuan questioned him about the designs and their connection to instruments previously commissioned by Eunuch Dong.

• Xue Lingjun took Hu Xiaotian to the blacksmith’s shop to request new surgical instruments.
• Zong Tang welcomed them and examined Hu Xiaotian’s illustrated booklet while his father worked in the Sword Forge.
• Xue Lingjun waited for Zong Yuan, and Hu Xiaotian disguised a vaginal speculum as duckbill forceps when she asked about it.
• Zong Tang returned with Zong Yuan, who studied the drawings and asked whether Hu Xiaotian had created them.

Hu Xiaotian met Xue Lingjun, the eldest princess of Great Yong, who asked him to give her double-eyelid surgery after seeing the results of his treatment on Empress Dowager Jiang. She left him to decide whether to perform the operation, offering to grant a favor in return.

• Empress Dowager Jiang thanked Hu Xiaotian for escorting Princess Anping to marry Daoming, then summoned her daughter, Xue Lingjun.
• Xue Lingjun arrived and exchanged affectionate, teasing remarks with Empress Dowager Jiang before meeting Hu Xiaotian.
• Xue Lingjun claimed she had ingrown eyelashes, but Hu Xiaotian saw that she wanted double-eyelid surgery and politely avoided agreeing.
• Xue Lingjun led Hu Xiaotian away from the attendants and asked him directly to operate on her.
• Hu Xiaotian questioned why Xue Lingjun wanted the surgery, and she insisted he do it, offering to grant him something in return.

Hu Xiaotian accompanied Xue Lingjun to the Blacksmith Shop to commission surgical instruments for her operation from Master Craftsman Zong Yuan. After keeping them waiting, Zong Yuan examined Hu Xiaotian’s designs and questioned him about them.

• Hu Xiaotian agreed to perform surgery on Xue Lingjun and asked her to obtain the necessary instruments.
• Xue Lingjun took Hu Xiaotian to the Blacksmith Shop, where Zong Tang received them while his father forged a sword.
• Hu Xiaotian showed Zong Tang his illustrated booklet of surgical instruments, and Zong Tang recognized that Eunuch Dong had previously ordered some designs.
• While they waited, Xue Lingjun mistook a vaginal speculum for a Duckbill Speculum and accepted Hu Xiaotian’s claim that it was for examining the throat.
• Master Craftsman Zong Yuan arrived, examined the booklet, and asked whether Hu Xiaotian had drawn the designs.

Hu Xiaotian stayed at Zong Yuan’s workshop to help him plan surgical instruments for Xue Lingjun, while discovering that the shop had studied Winged Armor. He spent the night at the Thatched Cottage, wondering whether Great Yong’s military strength would keep rising as Great Kang weakened.

• Xue Lingjun agreed to leave Hu Xiaotian with Zong Yuan overnight so they could discuss the instruments, and arranged to collect him the next day.
• Hu Xiaotian and Zong Yuan spent six hours finalizing the instrument designs, and Hu Xiaotian realized that his screw design revealed advanced knowledge.
• Zong Yuan recalled that he had made a Willow-Leaf Knife for someone years earlier, but left before Hu Xiaotian could learn who it was.
• Hu Xiaotian examined a Winged Armor diagram, and Zong Yuan revealed that General Yuchi had brought a suit to the shop two years earlier for study.
• Zong Tang took Hu Xiaotian to the Thatched Cottage, where Hu soaked in the hot spring and reflected on Great Yong’s prospects and Great Kang’s decline.

Hu Xiaotian visited Zong Yuan’s Sword Forge to inspect surgical instruments and arrange protective gloves, but explosions destroyed both kilns and a swarm of bats attacked the craftsmen. As the survivors fled for the weapons storage cave, two winged warriors in black armor appeared, and one dove toward Zong Yuan with a spear.

• Hu Xiaotian saw Zong Yuan examining a screw and praised the finished surgical instruments forged by Zong Tang.
• Hu Xiaotian asked for protective gloves, and Zong Yuan agreed to make sheepskin gloves using molds of Hu Xiaotian’s hands.
• Two explosions rocked the Sword Forge, setting both the dragon and tiger kilns ablaze and leaving the craftsmen fearing for those inside.
• Thousands of bats attacked, forcing Zong Tang, Zong Yuan, Hu Xiaotian, and the craftsmen to flee toward the weapons storage cave.
• A winged warrior shot a craftsman carrying the key, and another winged warrior plunged toward Zong Yuan with a spear.

Hu Xiaotian and Zong Tang helped repel the Winged Warriors’ attack on the Sword Forge, though the assault left many dead and wounded. Hu Xiaotian began preparing emergency surgeries while Zong Yuan grieved over the lives lost and the ruined forge.

• Zong Tang blocked a Winged Warrior’s spear while the craftsmen carried the wounded Zong Yuan into the weapons-storage cave.
• Hu Xiaotian distracted the winged archer, survived an explosive arrow, and dodged its remaining shots until its explosive arrows ran out.
• The Winged Warriors withdrew after a distant whistle, and Hu Xiaotian saw a snow eagle flying north and wondered whether Li Chang'an was connected to the attack.
• Bai Jingxuan and Fan Mingyu arrived at the devastated Sword Forge, where fifteen people had died, thirty-two were injured, and twelve were missing.
• Zong Yuan blamed himself for the deaths, while Hu Xiaotian asked Zong Tang to bring surgical instruments and make steel plates and screws for urgent operations.

Hu Xiaotian operated through the night to save the wounded after the Blacksmith Shop was attacked, while Zong Yuan blamed himself for the Winged Armor and collapsed. The First Prince ordered a citywide manhunt, and Eldest Princess Xue Lingjun arrived and hurried to Hu Xiaotian, relieved to see him safe.

• Hu Xiaotian operated on all seven critically wounded patients, saving five while two died from blood loss.
• Zong Yuan blamed himself for dismantling the Winged Armor and fainted; Fan Mingyu said he needed rest.
• Bai Jingxuan reported that the death toll had reached twenty-four and five people remained missing, while Zong Tang thanked those who had helped.
• First Prince Xue Daohong arrived with about fifty riders, and Hu Xiaotian exchanged greetings with Li Chenzhou, who questioned him about the attack and his presence at the shop.
• Xue Daohong ordered Li Chenzhou to impose martial law and capture the attackers, then asked Hu Xiaotian why he was there.
• Eldest Princess Xue Lingjun arrived, spotted Hu Xiaotian, and took his hand, saying she was glad he was safe.

Hu Xiaotian left the Eldest Princess after she rejected his used surgical instruments, then met Great Kang’s envoy to discuss Princess Anping’s situation in the Yong Capital. When he learned that Princess Anping had suddenly fallen ill at Qichen Palace, he rode there with Wu Jingshan and nearly fifty men.

• Xue Lingjun summoned Hu Xiaotian away from Xue Daohong and Li Chenzhou, then angrily left when she learned he had used her surgical instruments on other patients.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to the South Wind Inn, where he met Xiang Jimin and discussed arranging an audience with Great Yong’s emperor about Princess Anping.
• A disciple of the Divine Farmer Society told Hu Xiaotian that Princess Anping had suddenly fallen ill and that Liu Yucheng had been summoned to consult on her condition.
• Hu Xiaotian sent Xiang Jimin away and ordered Zhan Peng and Zhao Chongwu to prepare horses.
• Hu Xiaotian and Wu Jingshan rode to Qichen Palace with nearly fifty men, alarming Cao Xi and the post station steward.

Hu Xiaotian and Wu Jingshan went to Qichen Palace to visit Princess Anping, but Nanny Liu and Fang Lianhai tried to bar their way. Hu Xiaotian faked his death to provoke Zhou Mo, whose show of force frightened Fang Lianhai into fleeing and cleared the way into the princess’s chambers.

• Hu Xiaotian led his men to Qichen Palace, but after Cao Xi challenged his show of force, he entered with Wu Jingshan and Zhou Mo.
• Nanny Liu refused to let them see Princess Anping, and Fang Lianhai arrived and confronted Hu Xiaotian.
• Hu Xiaotian insulted Fang Lianhai until the eunuch attacked, then pretended the blow had killed him.
• Zhou Mo shouted that Fang Lianhai had killed Hu Xiaotian, struck Cao Xi aside, and stopped his fist just short of Fang Lianhai’s face.
• Fang Lianhai wet himself and fled when the physicians came out, while Hu Xiaotian got up and entered the chambers with Wu Jingshan.

Hu Xiaotian learned from Liu Yucheng that Princess Anping had been slowly poisoned and took charge of protecting her in Qichen Palace. He gave Zijuan antidote and a Tranquility Pill, and she began to feel sleepy.

• Liu Yucheng secretly told Hu Xiaotian that Princess Anping had been poisoned through her food and drink, then gave him Nine-Turn Blood-Cleansing Pills and Tranquility Pills.
• Hu Xiaotian stationed his warriors around Qichen Palace and ordered that no one enter or leave without his permission.
• Hu Xiaotian confronted the palace maids and took Princess Anping's medicine into her bedchamber himself.
• Hu Xiaotian told Zijuan she had been poisoned and gave her a Nine-Turn Blood-Cleansing Pill and a Tranquility Pill.
• After swallowing the pills, Zijuan suddenly felt sleepy, and Hu Xiaotian urged her to rest.

Hu Xiaotian confronted Zijuan after suspecting she was an impostor, and the two fought and traded threats. He exposed her as Xi Yan, the enchantress of the Five Immortals Cult, whose disguise then fell away.

• Hu Xiaotian tried to verify Zijuan's identity while she pretended to sleep, but she woke and attacked him.
• Hu Xiaotian feigned death to pin Zijuan down, and the two threatened each other with hidden weapons.
• Hu Xiaotian accused Zijuan of impersonating Princess Anping to harm Xue Daoming and provoke conflict between Great Yong and Great Kang.
• Zijuan stabbed Hu Xiaotian with a poisoned needle, while he realized she had swallowed one of Liu Yucheng's pills.
• Hu Xiaotian recognized Zijuan as Xi Yan after teasing her about her body, and Xi Yan revealed her true appearance.

Hu Xiaotian learned that Xi Yan had impersonated Princess Anping to sabotage the marriage alliance between Great Kang and Great Yong, but he refused to cooperate with her plan. He then arranged for Wu Jingshan to leave the Yong Capital and report back to Great Kang if the wedding went wrong.

• Xi Yan revealed that she had staged the poisoning and proposed that Hu Xiaotian help her draw the Great Yong emperor's attention by making a public fuss.
• Xi Yan showed that she had recognized Long Xiyue in disguise, but Hu Xiaotian rejected her offer and left Qichen Palace with his men.
• Hu Xiaotian realized Xi Yan's true aim was to ruin the marriage alliance and provoke conflict between Great Yong and Great Kang.
• Hu Xiaotian told Wu Jingshan about the supposed poisoning and ordered him to withdraw toward the border while Hu stayed in the Yong Capital.
• Wu Jingshan agreed to leave so he could report the truth to Great Kang if the wedding failed, but worried that Great Yong would grow suspicious.

Hu Xiaotian faced Dong Tianjun, who surrounded the South Wind Inn to avenge Fang Lianhai, while Xiong Tianba challenged the Yong general to a contest of strength. After their stone and iron hammers clashed, Dong Tianjun gave Xiong Tianba one of his own hammers, and they prepared to fight again.

• Xiang Jimin warned Hu Xiaotian and Wu Jingshan that Dong Tianjun was coming after them for beating Fang Lianhai.
• Dong Tianjun surrounded the South Wind Inn with three hundred guards and demanded to meet Hu Xiaotian.
• Xiong Tianba provoked Dong Tianjun into dismounting and challenged him to a fight over his iron hammers.
• Xiong Tianba and Dong Tianjun traded more than ten hammer blows until Xiong Tianba's stone sledgehammers broke.
• Xiong Tianba demanded a fair weapon, and Dong Tianjun tossed him one of his iron hammers so they could resume the fight.

Xiong Tianba fought Dong Tianjun over the great iron hammer while Zhou Mo and Zhan Peng intervened to protect others and stop Dong Tianbing’s ambush. After Xiong Tianba won the hammer, Zhan Peng and Dong Tianbing began a dangerous archery contest that remained unresolved.

• Hu Xiaotian taunted Dong Tianjun by warning Xiong Tianba not to kill him, and Dong Tianjun attacked Xiong Tianba with his hammer.
• Xiong Tianba blocked Dong Tianjun’s first two hammer blows, then threw his own hammer to interrupt the attack; Zhou Mo caught it before it struck Dong Tianjun’s warriors.
• Xiong Tianba seized Dong Tianjun’s hammer, and the two struggled over it while Dong Tianbing shot at Xiong Tianba and Zhan Peng intercepted the arrow.
• Xiong Tianba wrenched the hammer from Dong Tianjun and blocked his punch with it, injuring Dong Tianjun’s hand.
• Dong Tianbing challenged Zhan Peng to an archery contest, catching Zhan Peng’s arrow by hand before Zhan Peng caught Dong Tianbing’s returned arrow with his teeth.
• Zhan Peng nocked another arrow and challenged Dong Tianbing to catch it, and Dong Tianbing agreed.

The Dong brothers’ troops surrounded the South Wind Inn, where Xiong Tianba fought Dong Tianjiang and nearly fell to his halberd before Zhan Peng saved him. The Eldest Princess Xue Lingjun arrived and ordered the troops to withdraw, leaving Dong Tianjun still demanding his hammers back.

• Hu Xiaotian ordered Zhan Peng to fall back as reinforcements arrived, and Xiong Tianba mocked Dong Tianjun’s hammers.
• Dong Tianjiang charged Xiong Tianba, who disobeyed Zhou Mo and attacked him with both hammers.
• Zhan Peng split his arrow to evade Dong Tianbing’s interception and force Dong Tianjiang to protect his horse, saving Xiong Tianba from the halberd.
• Zhou Mo pulled Xiong Tianba out of danger and prepared to face Dong Tianjiang as the two sized each other up.
• Xue Lingjun arrived, rebuked the Dong brothers for besieging the Great Kang mission, and ordered their troops to withdraw.
• Dong Tianjiang ordered the troops to retreat, while Dong Tianjun demanded that Xiong Tianba return his hammers.

Hu Xiaotian dealt with Xue Lingjun’s demand for double-eyelid surgery and accepted an invitation to her banquet, then received Huo Shengnan, who questioned him about his conflict with Eunuch Fang. Huo Xiaotian had yet to explain whether he knew Fang’s identity when he offended him.

• Xiong Tianba returned the huge iron hammers to Dong Tianjun, who left with his men after threatening him.
• Xue Lingjun visited the South Wind Inn, pressed Hu Xiaotian to fulfill his promise of double-eyelid surgery, and said the instruments would be ready the next day.
• Xue Lingjun invited Hu Xiaotian to a banquet at her residence the following evening and warned him that the Yong Capital was not his territory.
• Huo Shengnan arrived with soldiers of the Women's Army and asked Hu Xiaotian whether he had knowingly offended Eunuch Fang.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Huo Shengnan why she had taken an interest in the affairs of Qichen Palace.

Huo Shengnan told Hu Xiaotian that the Empress Dowager would take charge of the wedding and Qichen Palace’s security, forcing Hu to reconsider his plans after he realized Xi Yan might endanger Xue Daoming and provoke war. Hu agreed to move to Qichen Palace and send most of his men home, then returned to the South Wind Inn, where Wu Jingshan anxiously asked what General Huo had said.

• Huo Xiaotian explained to Huo Shengnan how Great Kang’s delegation had been neglected and why he had caused trouble at Qichen Palace.
• Huo Shengnan told Hu Xiaotian that the Empress Dowager was investigating the mistreatment and would personally oversee the wedding of Xue Daoming and Princess Anping.
• Hu Xiaotian worried that Xi Yan might harm Xue Daoming and draw Great Yong and Great Kang into war.
• Huo Shengnan took charge of security at Qichen Palace and urged Hu Xiaotian to move the delegation there until the wedding.
• Hu Xiaotian agreed to move to Qichen Palace and send most of his men home, while Huo Shengnan promised to protect the delegation.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to the South Wind Inn, where Wu Jingshan hurried over and asked what Huo Shengnan had said.