Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian’s deliberate provocations helped turn the prince-consort gathering into a palace brawl, while Murong Feiyan struggled to control the foreign guests. Elsewhere, the court discovered that Yang Longjing had been abducted and began an urgent search for him.

• Heldan intervened when Wanyan Tianyue attacked Hu Xiaotian, and their fight helped spark a brawl among the finalists.
• Murong Feiyan arrived and ordered the guests to stop fighting, while Hu Xiaotian pretended to help calm them and shielded her from the angry crowd.
• Shangguan Yunchong urged the crowd to attack Hu Xiaotian, who knocked Wanyan Tianyue down with a kick before Murong Feiyan summoned the Phoenix Feather Guards.
• Xue Daoming demanded to speak with the king, and Hu Xiaotian suggested summoning Yang Longjing or Empress Dowager Long Xuanjiao.
• Long Xuanjiao learned that Yang Longjing had vanished from his bedchamber, and Yuan Zhisheng sealed the city’s gates and harbor while organizing a search.
• Yang Longyue arrived and offered to search with the forces from his Prince’s Residence, but Long Xuanjiao ordered everyone to leave and find the king.

After Yang Longjing was abducted, Long Xuanjiao accepted Hu Buwei’s plan to announce that whoever returned the King safely would become Prince Consort, while restricting the candidates from leaving Fragrant City. During a search of Hu Xiaotian’s lodging, he cornered Murong Feiyan in his study and tried to kiss her as she threatened him with a dagger.

• Long Xuanjiao learned that Yang Longjing had been abducted, and Su Yujin reported that palace attendants had been immobilized with a technique unfamiliar to the Central Plains.
• Hu Buwei proposed offering the Prince Consort position to whichever candidate returned Yang Longjing safely, and Long Xuanjiao approved the plan.
• Wang Qiezhi announced the King’s disappearance and the reward to the candidates, while Murong Feiyan said no one could leave Fragrant City without permission.
• Murong Feiyan led Phoenix Feather Guards to search Hu Xiaotian’s lodging, but they found nothing suspicious outside his study.
• Hu Xiaotian pulled Murong Feiyan into his arms and tried to kiss her, while she held a dagger to his throat and warned him to stop.

Hu Xiaotian concealed Yang Longjing after his abduction while navigating Murong Feiyan’s feelings and Prince Fu Yang Longyue’s demands. Long Xuanjiao ordered Yang Longyue watched, and Hu Xiaotian told his ally to keep the hiding place secret as searches continued.

• Hu Xiaotian pressed Murong Feiyan to forgive him, revealed that he knew where the king was, and arranged to meet her at Jade Wave Bridge on the Flowing Flower River the night after tomorrow.
• Hu Xiaotian met Prince Fu Yang Longyue, who admitted helping with the abduction and urged Hu Xiaotian to ensure Yang Longjing did not return alive.
• Hu Xiaotian refused to reveal Yang Longjing’s location and warned Yang Longyue to seize his chance to gain power instead of wasting time questioning him.
• Long Xuanjiao ordered Zhou Desheng to monitor Yang Longyue and summon Mr. Lan.
• Hu Xiaotian learned from Liang Yinghao that Yang Longjing was hidden beneath the Hall of Wealth and ordered him to keep the secret while they waited.
• Xu Mubai visited Hu Xiaotian and reported that the Yuqing Treasure House had also been searched.

Hu Xiaotian met Xu Fengmei, the Xu Family steward and his maternal aunt, and learned that she suspected him of abducting the missing King of the Fragrant Kingdom to frame the Beggar Gang. Their meeting ended with Hu Xiaotian rejecting her warning and leaving, while the mystery of his family ties and the king’s disappearance remained unresolved.

• Xu Mubai told Hu Xiaotian that the Xu Family steward, his youngest aunt Xu Fengmei, wanted to meet him at the Yuqing Treasure House.
• Hu Xiaotian met Xu Fengmei and was startled by how closely she resembled his late mother, Xu Fengyi.
• Xu Fengmei advised Hu Xiaotian to leave the Fragrant Kingdom, but he refused because he could not leave while the king was missing and his maternal grandfather was held by the Beggar Gang.
• Xu Fengmei accused Hu Xiaotian of provoking Shangguan Yunchong and suggested he had abducted Yang Longjing to frame the Beggar Gang and avenge his family.
• Hu Xiaotian denied her accusations, warned her not to speak without proof, and left; Xu Fengmei watched him go and entered the building.

Xu Fengmei and Xiao Tianmu suspected Hu Xiaotian had abducted Yang Longjing, while Long Xuanjiao blamed Hu Buwei’s ambition and feared for her son. Hu Xiaotian visited Hu Buwei at the Quiet Mountain Retreat and revealed he had met Xu Fengmei, leaving Hu Buwei asking what she wanted.

• Xu Fengmei and Xiao Tianmu discussed their suspicion that Hu Xiaotian was behind Yang Longjing’s disappearance.
• Long Xuanjiao accused Hu Buwei of endangering Yang Longjing and considered Prince Fu a possible culprit; Hu Buwei suggested using the crisis to eliminate him.
• Hu Xiaotian learned that Zhu Ba had warned him to leave, then decided to visit Hu Buwei at the Quiet Mountain Retreat.
• Hu Buwei and Hu Xiaotian drank together, exchanged barbed remarks about their strained relationship, and discussed Yang Longjing’s abduction.
• Hu Xiaotian told Hu Buwei he had just met Xu Fengmei, prompting Hu Buwei to ask what she wanted.

Hu Xiaotian learned that Prince Fu, Yang Longyue, had been assassinated and suspected Long Xuanjiao had eliminated a rival for the throne. At Prince Fu’s funeral, Hu Xiaotian promised to protect his son and urged Murong Feiyan to reconsider their marriage.

• Hu Xiaotian rejected Hu Buwei’s attempt to bargain for help rescuing Yang Longjing and left their meeting.
• Prince Fu, Yang Longyue, was assassinated by an arrow during his nighttime rounds, and Hu Xiaotian suspected Long Xuanjiao had ordered the killing.
• Hu Xiaotian visited Prince Fu’s manor, paid his respects, and found that the arrow’s Falling Cherry Palace craftsmanship appeared intended to mislead investigators.
• Princess Fu asked Hu Xiaotian to protect Prince Fu’s eldest son, and Hu Xiaotian promised to raise the boy.
• Hu Xiaotian met Murong Feiyan and urged her not to let their disagreement ruin their marriage.

Hu Xiaotian discussed Prince Fu’s assassination with Murong Feiyan and warned Tang Jingyu that the murder weapon appeared to come from the Falling Cherry Palace. At the banquet, the foreign candidates learned that the Prince Consort selection would take place in three days, while the King’s rescue operation began elsewhere.

• Hu Xiaotian told Murong Feiyan to leave Prince Fu’s murder investigation to someone else and reminded her of their date the next night.
• The Court of State Ceremonial gathered the hundred finalists for a banquet while guards searched for clues and the royal family pursued a lead on the King’s whereabouts.
• Heldan, Xu Mubai, Wanyan Tianyue, Xue Daoming, Shangguan Yunchong, and Tang Jingyu debated their detention and the threat of Fragrant Kingdom’s unrest.
• Hu Xiaotian told Tang Jingyu that an arrow from the Falling Cherry Palace had killed Prince Fu, warning him that the court might suspect him.
• Xue Daoming asked Wang Qiezhi to let the candidates leave, but Wang announced that the Prince Consort selection would occur in three days and they would be escorted out afterward.

At a banquet in Fragrant City, Wang Qiezhi tried to calm impatient guests, but Tang Jingyu discovered that his wine had been drugged and Wang ordered him and Shangguan Yunchong seized. Tang escaped while Shangguan fought Hu Xiaotian and fled the hall, leaving the guests demanding an explanation from Wang.

• Heldan demanded to leave Fragrant City, and Wang Qiezhi promised to report the guests’ concerns and give them an answer by the next day.
• Tang Jingyu noticed that an attendant was nervous about his wine, forced him to drink it, and watched him collapse after it proved to be drugged.
• Wang Qiezhi ordered guards to seize Tang Jingyu and Shangguan Yunchong, and Tang escaped by attacking the warriors with chopsticks.
• Shangguan Yunchong expelled the drugged wine and attacked Wang Qiezhi, but Hu Xiaotian intercepted him and fought him as guards surrounded the hall.
• Shangguan Yunchong escaped past Ying Tianhong and the archers, while Hu Xiaotian helped the terrified Wang Qiezhi to his feet.
• The assembled guests questioned Wang Qiezhi about the attempted arrests and became more eager to leave Fragrant City.

After the King was rescued, Hu Xiaotian was summoned to treat Yang Longjing, who had been gravely wounded by an arrow. During the operation, blood tests revealed Hu Buwei was not the biological father of either Yang Longjing or Hu Xiaotian, leaving Hu Xiaotian to question his own parentage.

• Ying Tianhong explained that Shangguan Yunchong had abducted the King and Tang Jingyu was implicated in the attempt on Prince Fu's life, and Wang Qiezhi thanked Hu Xiaotian for saving him.
• Zhou Desheng caught up with Hu Xiaotian and asked him to treat the wounded King, Yang Longjing, so Hu Xiaotian ordered Zhan Peng to bring his surgical instruments and went to the palace.
• The Man in Blue ambushed Shangguan Yunchong at a City God Temple, severed his right arm with a strange blade, and ordered him to tell his father to resign as gang leader within seven days.
• Hu Xiaotian found that Hu Buwei's blood was incompatible with Yang Longjing's and used compatible palace guards as blood donors instead.
• Hu Xiaotian discovered that his own blood was also incompatible with Hu Buwei's, making him question who his biological father was.

Hu Xiaotian saved Yang Longjing from a life-threatening arrow wound, but Long Xuanjiao collapsed shortly afterward with a suspected cerebral hemorrhage. He prepared to operate on her as Hu Buwei and the others feared for her life.

• Hu Xiaotian stabilized Yang Longjing, removed a metal fragment lodged behind his heart, and completed the operation.
• Hu Xiaotian told Long Xuanjiao that Yang Longjing was out of danger, and she fainted from relief before visiting her son.
• After Long Xuanjiao left Yang Longjing’s bedside, she collapsed, stopped breathing, and began convulsing.
• Hu Xiaotian performed a tracheotomy and restored Long Xuanjiao’s breathing, but she vomited and muttered Hu Buwei’s name before losing consciousness again.
• Hu Xiaotian diagnosed a likely cerebral hemorrhage and said he needed to drill into Long Xuanjiao’s skull to drain the blood, while Su Yujin warned him to consider the consequences.

Hu Xiaotian operated on Long Xuanjiao to remove a ruptured brain tumor, while Yang Longjing recovered from his captivity. Long Xuanjiao survived and awakened, but her memory was impaired, leaving Hu Buwei forgotten and Hu Xiaotian still waiting to claim the promised position of Prince Consort.

• Hu Xiaotian demanded royal and ministerial guarantors before operating on Long Xuanjiao, and Su Yujin helped him perform the surgery.
• Hu Xiaotian found and removed a ruptured tumor from Long Xuanjiao's brain, relieving the pressure in her skull.
• Yang Longjing awoke in the neighboring chamber, learned Zhan Peng was guarding him, and fell asleep again after asking to let his mother rest.
• Hu Xiaotian announced that Long Xuanjiao's operation had succeeded and that she was out of danger, then learned she had awakened.
• Long Xuanjiao remembered Hu Xiaotian but had forgotten Hu Buwei, and Hu Xiaotian left to check on Yang Longjing's recovery.

Hu Xiaotian treated the Fragrant Kingdom's king and Empress Dowager, then prepared to pursue an important mission before returning home. Ji Feihua visited him at night and led him to the Yuqing Treasure House, where Hu Xiaotian wondered what they had come to do.

• Hu Xiaotian found Yang Longjing recovering well and accepted a dragon plaque that allowed him to enter and leave the palace freely.
• Hu Xiaotian confronted Hu Buwei, who accused him of doing something to Long Xuanjiao, and Hu Xiaotian told him to stop assuming everyone was like him.
• Hu Xiaotian waited for Murong Feiyan at Green Wave Bridge, but she did not arrive, and he later learned that the Fragrant Kingdom had reopened its harbor and gates.
• Hu Xiaotian told his companions he could not leave yet because he had an important task to complete, though he kept his plans to rescue Xu Lingkong secret.
• Ji Feihua appeared in Hu Xiaotian's room after dark and led him across the rooftops toward the Yuqing Treasure House.
• Hu Xiaotian followed Ji Feihua to a tree outside the treasure house's rear courtyard and asked him by Secret Voice Transmission what they were doing there.

Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua spied on Xu Fengmei and uncovered ties between the Xu Family and the Beggar Gang, then discussed the political fallout from their scheme. Hu Xiaotian planned to leave Fragrant City by way of the Redwood River and return to Eastern Liang Commandery.

• Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua overheard Xu Fengmei, Zhu Ba, and Xiao Tianmu discussing Xu Lingkong’s captivity, Shangguan Yunchong’s severed arm, and the Beggar Gang’s growing danger.
• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian that he had severed Shangguan Yunchong’s right arm and followed him to the Xu Family.
• Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua discussed how Hu Buwei, the Xu Family, and the Beggar Gang were entangled, and how their actions had helped make the Beggar Gang a target.
• Ji Feihua explained that Long Xuanjiao had likely seized the chance to eliminate Yang Longyue after Yang Longjing disappeared.
• Hu Xiaotian said he would travel through Western Sichuan via the Redwood River and return to Eastern Liang Commandery.

Hu Xiaotian discussed helping Ji Feihua investigate his family affairs, then visited the palace, where Long Xuanjiao rewarded him and questioned him about Clear Mystery Monastery and Hu Buwei. He failed to meet Princess Yingyue, exchanged a tense moment with Murong Feiyan, and learned that Heldan was leaving the kingdom.

• Hu Xiaotian agreed to meet Old Master Xu after Ji Feihua challenged him to help resolve his family affairs.
• Hu Xiaotian treated Long Xuanjiao and Yang Longjing, and Long Xuanjiao said she would hold a formal prince consort selection while giving Hu Xiaotian Redwood River.
• Long Xuanjiao asked whether Hu Xiaotian had visited Clear Mystery Monastery and whether he still considered Hu Buwei his father, and Hu Xiaotian denied both any closeness to Hu Buwei and any wish to revisit the past.
• Hu Xiaotian went to Green Shadow Pavilion to see Princess Yingyue, but Commander Rong refused visitors; Murong Feiyan confronted him about waiting only one day.
• Heldan visited Hu Xiaotian to say farewell, explaining that his father had ordered him to return to the Shajia Kingdom before the selection.

Heldan departed with Mengya, who exchanged a parting gift and a promise to meet Zhao Wusheng in Shajia, while Hu Buwei struggled to connect with the Blue Skull and planned to capture someone. Long Xuanjiao and Su Yujin discussed Hu Buwei’s motives and the skull’s origins, leaving Long Xuanjiao convinced he may have pursued her only to obtain it.

• Hu Xiaotian and Zhao Wusheng escorted Heldan out of the city, where Zhao Wusheng gave Mengya a scimitar and promised to visit her in Shajia the year after next.
• Mengya left her Heavenly Pearl Bracelet for Zhao Wusheng, who secretly retrieved it after she rode away.
• Hu Xiaotian encouraged Zhao Wusheng to pursue Mengya, but Zhao Wusheng doubted that a princess would love him.
• Hu Buwei failed to enter the black hole he saw through the Blue Skull and decided to capture someone, while his gardener suggested killing them instead.
• Su Yujin visited the recovering Long Xuanjiao, who concluded Hu Buwei had cared only about himself and may have approached her to get the Blue Skull.
• Long Xuanjiao told Su Yujin where she found the skull and how she had replaced it with a convincing blue crystal replica.

Su Yujin and Long Xuanjiao discussed the mysterious blue skull before the Fragrant Kingdom’s prince-consort selection began at the Green Shadow Pavilion. Hu Xiaotian entered the first test, a portrait drawing devised by Long Xiyue, and recognized that the charcoal and paper gave him an advantage.

• Su Yujin reflected on the blue skull’s strange influence, and Long Xuanjiao said she would no longer gamble Longjing’s future and the Fragrant Kingdom’s fortunes.
• Hu Xiaotian set out for the selection with his companions, encountered Xue Daoming’s procession, and let the Great Yong party pass first.
• At the Green Shadow Pavilion, Hu Xiaotian spoke with Murong Feiyan, who asked whom he would save if she and Long Xiyue fell into water; he said he would save Murong Feiyan because Long Xiyue swam better.
• Yuan Zhisheng and Su Yujin announced that the candidates would draw Princess Yingyue’s likeness, using a charcoal stick and paper.
• Hu Xiaotian realized Long Xiyue had devised the test and began drawing as the other candidates followed.

Hu Xiaotian won Princess Yingyue’s selection after the drawing and couplet contests, and learned that she was Long Xiyue. He was reunited with her behind a beaded curtain, where she stopped him from approaching and listened as he apologized for doubting her.

• Hu Xiaotian impressed the examiners with his portrait of Princess Yingyue, and he and Xue Daoming advanced among the five finalists.
• A contestant and Xue Daoming answered Yuan Zhisheng’s two couplets before Hu Xiaotian could respond.
• Hu Xiaotian said the princess’s greatest wish was to become a monkey, and Su Yujin revealed the letter naming him as her choice.
• Yuan Zhisheng dismissed the other contestants, and Su Yujin led Hu Xiaotian through the garden while warning him to treat the princess well and accusing him of sneaking into Clear Mystery Monastery.
• Hu Xiaotian met Long Xiyue behind a beaded curtain, but she forbade him from approaching, and he apologized for doubting her.

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Long Xiyue and discovered that her apparent injuries were a disguise, but their reunion was interrupted when Murong Feiyan was abducted. Hu Xiaotian and Su Yujin began searching for her and suspected the kidnapping was connected to Hu Xiaotian’s enemies.

• Long Xiyue told Hu Xiaotian she did not blame him for failing to rescue her, then revealed her scarred face and disabled legs; Hu Xiaotian recognized her mask, kissed her, and exposed the disguise.
• Ying Tianhong reported an intruder at the Green Shadow Pavilion, and Yuan Zhisheng and Wang Qiezhi revealed that the intruder had abducted Murong Feiyan while the guards protected Princess Yingyue.
• Long Xiyue urged Hu Xiaotian to rescue Murong Feiyan, and he sent Zhan Peng and the others to guard Long Xiyue before setting out to search.
• Su Yujin told Hu Xiaotian that Murong Feiyan’s kidnapping had left no clues and agreed to ask the Empress Dowager to mobilize the imperial guards.
• Su Yujin asked Hu Xiaotian whether he had enemies in the Fragrant Kingdom, as they suspected Murong Feiyan’s abduction might be connected to him.

Hu Xiaotian confronted Hu Buwei over Murong Feiyan’s abduction and threatened to expose his secrets unless she was released. Murong Feiyan returned unharmed, while Hu Xiaotian concluded that Hu Buwei had used both his mother and Long Xuanjiao to advance his ambitions.

• Hu Xiaotian and Su Yujin agreed to search separately for Murong Feiyan after she was abducted from the Green Shadow Pavilion.
• Hu Xiaotian visited Hu Buwei and asked him to help find Murong Feiyan, but Hu Buwei demanded the deaths of Shangguan Tianhuo and his son in exchange.
• Hu Xiaotian threatened to reveal that Hu Buwei was not Yang Longjing’s father and accused him of having no biological children.
• Hu Buwei told Hu Xiaotian to take the jewelry box and said Heaven would watch over the person he sought.
• Murong Feiyan reappeared outside the Clear Mystery Monastery, unable to remember what had happened during the nearly six hours she was missing.
• Hu Xiaotian concluded that Hu Buwei had abducted Murong Feiyan and had deceived his mother and Long Xuanjiao to pursue his ambitions.

Hu Xiaotian and Long Xiyue reconciled with Long Xuanjiao and visited Yang Longjing before preparing to return to Eastern Liang Commandery. Yang Longjing granted them Redwood River as a dowry and proposed an alliance between the Fragrant Kingdom and Hu Xiaotian.

• Hu Xiaotian and Long Xiyue visited Long Xuanjiao, who welcomed Hu Xiaotian as her son-in-law and promised to see them off when they married.
• Hu Xiaotian explained that he had to return to Eastern Liang Commandery and that he and Long Xiyue would wait three years to marry.
• Long Xiyue told Long Xuanjiao that the three-year wait honored her late father's mourning period and reaffirmed that she held no grudge against her aunt.
• Hu Xiaotian visited Yang Longjing, who thanked him for saving him and Long Xuanjiao and gave him an imperial decree granting Redwood River to Long Xiyue as her dowry.
• Yang Longjing proposed that the Fragrant Kingdom form an alliance of mutual nonaggression and aid with Hu Xiaotian.