Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian confronted Zhou Batian about his deliberate imprisonment and then accepted Wan Boping’s dinner invitation, where he discussed Wan Tingsheng’s recovery and presented evidence implicating Wan Boping’s eldest son. The chapter ended with Wan Boping pretending the servants’ testimonies were false while hiding his alarm.

• Hu Xiaotian questioned Zhou Batian, deduced that he had chosen to remain in jail to avoid a powerful enemy, and offered to be his friend, but Zhou Batian rejected him.
• Hu Xiaotian kept the Wan Residence’s two servants in jail, punished Jia Dewang and Jia Liu, and accepted Wan Boping’s invitation to dinner.
• Hu Xiaotian changed Wan Tingsheng’s dressing and told Wan Boping that his son would recover within two months.
• Hu Xiaotian showed Wan Boping the servants’ testimonies implicating his eldest son, and Wan Boping angrily denounced the servants as liars despite his private alarm.

Hu Xiaotian used the Wan Family’s attempted murder scandal to secure Wan Boping’s support and help for Liu Kuohai, while refusing a late-night summons from County Magistrate Xu Qinglian. The chapter left Hu waiting outside Xu Qinglian’s residence as the magistrate deliberately delayed receiving him.

• Hu Xiaotian burned the servants’ confessions, and Wan Boping agreed to become his ally and show leniency to Liu Kuohai.
• Wan Boping sent Wan Changchun to investigate Hu Xiaotian’s background and ordered him to find Wan Tingchang.
• Hu Xiaotian told Liu Danggui that the Wan Family had withdrawn its complaint against Liu Kuohai, then arranged to view a house with Su Guangju.
• Hu Xiaotian refused Guo Shouguang’s late-night invitation to meet Xu Qinglian and said he would visit the magistrate in the morning.
• Hu Xiaotian arrived at the county yamen at first light, and Xu Qinglian ordered his servant to make him wait outside.

Hu Xiaotian and Xu Qinglian shared breakfast while circling each other over authority in Azure Cloud. Xu sent Hu to inspect the washed-out Azure Cloud Bridge, but Hu left town with Murong Feiyan and Liu Kuohai, warning Registrar Guo Shouguang not to interfere.

• Xu Qinglian found Hu Xiaotian eating beef noodles outside the back gate and reluctantly joined him for breakfast.
• Xu Qinglian and Hu exchanged polite remarks while privately viewing each other as rivals for influence in Azure Cloud.
• Xu Qinglian said he would investigate the Wan Residence case himself and ordered Hu to inspect the damaged Azure Cloud Bridge.
• At the county office, Hu met Guo Shouguang, who had prepared to help Xu Qinglian hold court and revisit Hu’s cases.
• Murong Feiyan brought Liu Kuohai to Hu, and Hu warned Guo to stay out of his business before leaving with them.

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan, and Liu Kuohai investigated the destruction of the Azure Cloud Bridge and found evidence that it had been deliberately blown up after an attempted flood failed. Their investigation suggested the sabotage was meant to divert travelers toward Red Valley County, and it ended with them capturing Jia Liu spying in the woods.

• Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan learned from boatmen and Liu Kuohai that an explosion, not a flood, had destroyed the Azure Cloud Bridge.
• Murong Feiyan found scattered, freshly broken bridge stones, and the group followed the Tongji River upstream to investigate.
• Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan discovered traces of a dam and concluded that someone had tried to create a flood before blowing up the bridge.
• Hu Xiaotian reasoned that destroying the bridge would force travelers to cross at the Eternal Relief Bridge in Red Valley County.
• Murong Feiyan spotted Jia Liu hiding in the woods, and she and Liu Kuohai captured him.

Hu Xiaotian exposed Jia Liu as a former Tigerhead Battalion clerk who had been hiding in Azure Cloud after surviving an ambush, then let him go while Murong Feiyan followed him. Hu Xiaotian returned to town and was invited to a welcoming banquet hosted by Xu Qinglian.

• Liu Kuohai and Murong Feiyan caught Jia Liu spying, and Murong Feiyan uncovered his telescope and Tigerhead Battalion tattoo.
• Jia Liu admitted that he and a few survivors had fled after an ambush on Heavenly Wolf Mountain and explained that bandits had destroyed Azure Cloud Bridge with explosives.
• Hu Xiaotian questioned Jia Liu about the dam, let him go, and Murong Feiyan offered to follow him.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to town, where Guo Shouguang introduced County Commandant Liu Baoju and invited him to Xu Qinglian's welcoming banquet.
• Hu Xiaotian claimed Liu Kuohai was his cousin to protect him, then joked with him on the way back to the inn.

Hu Xiaotian attended a welcome banquet at the county yamen, where Xu Qinglian and Guo Shouguang tried to humiliate him by pressuring him to drink. He retaliated by kicking Guo into the urine trough, then left Guo claiming he had been pushed.

• Hu Xiaotian learned that Liang Dazhuang had inspected a house in Three Virtues Alley and told him not to accept the owner’s two-tael discount.
• Hu Xiaotian arrived late at the yamen banquet and noticed Xu Qinglian had seated him opposite the place of honor while everyone had already started eating.
• Xu Qinglian and Guo Shouguang pressed Hu Xiaotian to drink several large cups, but Hu drank them without showing the effects.
• Hu Xiaotian went to the privy with Guo Shouguang following him, then kicked Guo into the urine trough and told him to drink his fill.
• Hu Xiaotian called for help and announced that Guo had fallen in, while Guo accused him of pushing him.

After Hu Xiaotian’s banquet confrontation with Guo Shouguang, Xu Qinglian assigned him to repair Azure Cloud Bridge without providing funds. Hu Xiaotian then questioned Zhou Batian in prison and learned the bridge had been deliberately destroyed, leaving them to consider cooperating against the mounted bandits.

• Hu Xiaotian denied assaulting Guo Shouguang, and Xu Qinglian ended the banquet without pursuing the accusation.
• Xu Qinglian tasked Hu Xiaotian with repairing Azure Cloud Bridge, suggesting he collect donations from the county’s households.
• Hu Xiaotian visited Zhou Batian in prison and showed him a telescope seized from Jia Liu.
• Zhou Batian revealed that an ambush had decimated his troops and that he was hiding in Azure Cloud Prison to uncover who had set him up.
• Hu Xiaotian told Zhou Batian that he had found evidence the bridge was deliberately destroyed, and Zhou warned that a major incident might soon occur.
• Zhou Batian proposed that Hu Xiaotian help him kill Yan Kui and defeat the mounted bandits on Heavenly Wolf Mountain, offering Hu all the credit.

Hu Xiaotian tried to clear his name after Xu Qinglian blamed him for a rumored five-tael levy, but the townspeople attacked him before he escaped to the county office. There, Xu Qinglian began shifting responsibility for the broken Azure Cloud Bridge onto him, leaving Hu Xiaotian furious at the attempt to make him answer for the county’s past failures.

• Zhou Batian warned Hu Xiaotian that someone in the county office might be colluding with the mounted bandits and gave him a wooden Tiger Tally to show Jia Liu.
• Hu Xiaotian learned that townspeople believed he had demanded five taels from every household for the Azure Cloud Bridge repairs, though he denied proposing the levy.
• A crowd attacked Hu Xiaotian with rotten food, and Murong Feiyan and Liang Dazhuang helped him escape through the Good Fortune Inn and Spring Return Hall.
• Liu Danggui and Liu Kuohai lent Hu Xiaotian a carriage, and Liu Kuohai drove him and Murong Feiyan through the ambushes to the county office.
• Hu Xiaotian presented Xu Qinglian with a notice stating that contributions for the bridge repairs would be voluntary, and Xu Qinglian warned that the bridge’s failure could bring official blame down on Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian refused Xu Qinglian’s attempt to make him personally guarantee the bridge repairs and urged the officials to lead the fundraising effort. Xu Qinglian and Guo Shouguang instead planned to make the task harder for him, leaving Hu to face an announcement and recruitment notice issued under his name.

• Hu Xiaotian rejected Xu Qinglian’s pressure to sign a pledge and argued that officials should donate first to encourage the people.
• Hu Xiaotian caught Guo Shouguang hiding, pretended not to remember beating him, and asked him to distribute an announcement.
• Guo Shouguang took Hu Xiaotian’s draft announcement to Xu Qinglian, who admitted he had not set a deadline because he wanted to learn Hu’s background.
• Guo Shouguang advised Xu Qinglian to use the bridge repairs to trap Hu Xiaotian, either by punishing him for failing or accusing him of pocketing donations.
• Xu Qinglian postponed the announcement and ordered Guo Shouguang to post a notice recruiting workers and stonemasons under Hu Xiaotian’s name and official seal.

Hu Xiaotian visited Red Willow Village with Zhou Batian’s tiger tally and met the blind Xiao Tianmu, who revealed that more Tigerhead Battalion soldiers survived the Wolf-Sealing Valley ambush than official reports claimed. Xiao Tianmu also warned that Heavenly Wolf Mountain’s bandits had an informant inside Azure Cloud County, leaving Hu Xiaotian questioning who could be trusted.

• Hu Xiaotian escaped the townsfolk’s notice and endured Murong Feiyan’s acupoint attacks before arriving at Red Willow Village.
• Jia Dewang recognized Zhou Batian’s tiger tally and let Hu Xiaotian meet Xiao Tianmu alone.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Xiao Tianmu about the Tigerhead Battalion’s defeat and the official account of its survivors.
• Xiao Tianmu said eleven soldiers escaped Wolf-Sealing Valley, six survived, and Zhou Batian was likely Zhou Mo.
• Xiao Tianmu warned Hu Xiaotian that Heavenly Wolf Mountain’s mounted bandits had an informant inside Azure Cloud County.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Xiao Tianmu whether he was also from the Tigerhead Battalion.

Hu Xiaotian learned from Xiao Tianmu about Zhou Batian’s hidden allies, Xu Qinglian’s abuses, and a possible alliance between Azure Cloud officials and the mounted bandits of Heavenly Wolf Mountain. He left Red Willow Village determined to build support in Azure Cloud and set his sights on Wan Boping.

• Xiao Tianmu explained that Zhou Batian and his surviving soldiers stayed in Azure Cloud to seek revenge for the Wolf-Sealing Valley massacre.
• Xiao Tianmu warned Hu Xiaotian that Xu Qinglian had framed and extorted the people, and described the suspicious deaths of County Deputy Yang, Madam Yang, and their son, Yang Lingqi.
• Hu Xiaotian offered to join forces with Xiao Tianmu, who revealed that destroying Azure Cloud Bridge would divert travelers toward Red Valley County during the flood season.
• Hu Xiaotian and Xiao Tianmu concluded that someone in Azure Cloud's official circles might be colluding with the mounted bandits of Heavenly Wolf Mountain.
• After leaving Red Willow Village, Hu Xiaotian decided he needed allies among Azure Cloud's wealthy locals and identified Wan Boping as his next target.

Hu Xiaotian discovered that Wan Tingsheng had awakened with amnesia and then met privately with Wan Boping, who wanted help changing the Feng Shui layout of the Wan Residence. Hu Xiaotian tried to build a relationship with Wan Boping before beginning to explain the troubles he faced as an official in Azure Cloud.

• Hu Xiaotian changed Wan Tingsheng’s dressings and learned that Wan Tingsheng could not remember his identity, family, or past.
• Hu Xiaotian reassured Wan Tingsheng and left him to recover, while privately worrying that his former vicious nature might return with his memories.
• Hu Xiaotian met Wan Boping in his study, where Wan Boping offered him the tea-serving maid and Hu Xiaotian praised the tea.
• Hu Xiaotian told Wan Boping that changing the Feng Shui layout of the Wan Residence should be his first concern, then claimed he was too busy to help.
• Hu Xiaotian proposed that they become sworn brothers, but Wan Boping declined and insisted that friendship would suffice.
• Hu Xiaotian began describing how his hopes of helping the people of Azure Cloud had collided with cruel reality.

Hu Xiaotian recruited Wan Boping to jointly organize a charity auction to fund repairs to Azure Cloud Bridge, then charged him for a sham feng shui remedy. While arranging the remedy, Hu Xiaotian secretly visited Le Yao and promised to help her escape.

• Hu Xiaotian told Wan Boping that a false rumor about household donations had turned Azure Cloud County against him, and asked Wan to lead a charity auction for the bridge repairs.
• Wan Boping agreed after Hu Xiaotian offered to fix his residence’s feng shui without a fee, and Hu insisted they organize the auction jointly.
• Hu Xiaotian prescribed changes to the Wan Residence and charged Wan Boping three hundred in gold for nine secondhand incense burners he called Nine Cauldrons Suppress Evil.
• Hu Xiaotian secretly placed an incense burner in Le Yao’s room while pretending to arrange the residence’s feng shui.
• Hu Xiaotian reassured Le Yao that he would replace her talismans each day for seven days and had a way to help her escape.

Hu Xiaotian left the Wan Residence after convincing Steward Wan that wronged spirits haunted it, then moved early into a new home in Three Virtues Alley. As his friends helped him settle in, Liu Danggui offered to support his efforts to rebuild Azure Cloud Bridge, and Hu Xiaotian asked him for a favor.

• Hu Xiaotian gave Wan Changchun a talisman and suggested the Wan Residence’s misfortunes stemmed from wronged spirits, while hinting that someone in the family would not let Le Yao leave.
• Wan Changchun said the Third Young Master had died suddenly of an acute illness, and Hu Xiaotian speculated that his spirit could not bear to part with Le Yao.
• Hu Xiaotian and Liang Dazhuang moved into a house in Three Virtues Alley, where Murong Feiyan, Su Guangju, and Liu Danggui’s family were cleaning and preparing the rooms.
• Hu Xiaotian joked with Murong Feiyan, who asked about his good news, but he teased her by refusing to share it.
• Over dinner, Hu Xiaotian dismissed the rumors against him, and Liang Dazhuang complained that county officials had not posted Hu Xiaotian’s notice about the bridge project.
• Liu Danggui offered twenty taels of gold toward rebuilding Azure Cloud Bridge, and Hu Xiaotian declined the money but asked him for a favor.

Hu Xiaotian recruited Liu Kuohai to help with the Azure Cloud Bridge repairs, then spent a rainy evening telling Murong Feiyan about his hometown and his plans. He explained his charity auction scheme, while Murong Feiyan suggested using his father’s influence and mocked his claims of self-reliance.

• Hu Xiaotian asked Liu Kuohai to work at his side on local affairs, and Liu Kuohai eagerly accepted.
• After the guests left in the rain, Hu Xiaotian changed into unusual summer clothes and joined Murong Feiyan beneath the covered walkway.
• Hu Xiaotian told Murong Feiyan about the People's Republic of China and described how people dressed there in summer.
• Hu Xiaotian told Murong Feiyan how Wan Boping had agreed to organize a charity auction and had paid three hundred taels of gold for incense burners.
• Murong Feiyan questioned whether the auction could fund the Azure Cloud Bridge repairs and suggested Hu Xiaotian invoke his father's name.
• Hu Xiaotian insisted he relied on himself, and Murong Feiyan retorted that he had been an idiot until he was sixteen.

Hu Xiaotian took charge of raising money to repair the Azure Cloud Bridge and sent prisoners to help guard the Tongji River embankment. Zhou Batian revealed that his unit had been ambushed while escorting the Southern Yue prince, and he suspected the bridge’s destruction was part of a major robbery involving officials in the Azure Cloud County Yamen; the chapter ended as Liu Baoju arrived with twenty soldiers to help.

• Xu Qinglian approved Hu Xiaotian’s plans to hold a charity auction and post a notice about household contributions, then told Guo Shouguang to consult Hu Xiaotian.
• Hu Xiaotian recruited six prisoners from the jail, including Zhou Batian, and organized patrols along the rising Tongji River embankment.
• Hu Xiaotian questioned Zhou Batian, who revealed that traitors had poisoned his Tigerhead Battalion before an ambush while they escorted the Southern Yue prince home.
• Zhou Batian said the prince had disappeared after the ambush and explained that he had stayed in hiding to avenge his fallen brothers by killing Yan Kui.
• Zhou Batian suspected the mounted bandits had destroyed the Azure Cloud Bridge to enable a major robbery and conceal collusion with officials in the county yamen.
• Liu Baoju arrived at the embankment with twenty soldiers and offered them to Hu Xiaotian’s command.

Hu Xiaotian drank with County Commandant Liu Baoju to probe his views of Xu Qinglian and the county’s power struggles, but Zhou Batian warned him to beware of Liu. As the rain eased, Hu Xiaotian arranged for Liu to go home and joined Murong Feiyan in the pavilion, where she reproached him for making another enemy.

• Liu Danggui brought food and wine to the Wind and Rain Pavilion after seeing his son Liu Kuohai patrol the embankment with the bailiffs.
• Hu Xiaotian paid for meals and drank with Liu Baoju, who complained about Xu Qinglian’s control and suggested Hu had challenged him for power.
• Liu Baoju revealed that the county office knew Hu had bought his County Deputy post, then passed out after drinking.
• Hu Xiaotian walked the Tongji River embankment, sent Liu Kuohai to escort the prisoners back to jail, and heard Zhou Batian warn him to watch Liu Baoju.
• Hu Xiaotian suspected Liu Baoju might have been pretending to be drunk and wondered whether he had ties to the Tigerhead Battalion.
• Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan left the embankment, and he sent two soldiers to take Liu Baoju home before Murong Feiyan reproached him for getting Liu drunk.

Hu Xiaotian investigated the Wan Residence’s supposed haunting and discovered that the family had secretly brought in another physician from Xiezhou. He confronted Zhou Wenju over his disrespect and left the physician furious and speechless.

• Hu Xiaotian sent Murong Feiyan to follow Liu Baoju and watch for suspicious activity while he organized patrols along the embankment.
• Wan Changchun brought Hu Xiaotian back to the Wan Residence and revealed that six of the nine censers had been knocked over and an expert from Xiezhou had arrived.
• Hu Xiaotian met Zhou Wenju, a renowned physician who accused him of recklessly opening a patient’s skull.
• Hu Xiaotian rebuked Zhou Wenju for his disrespect and threatened to have him arrested and punished.

Hu Xiaotian clashed with Zhou Wenju, who condemned his treatment of Wan Tingsheng and challenged his claims about feng shui. Their argument ended with both men trading insults, while Wan Boping remained caught between them.

• Zhou Wenju accused Hu Xiaotian of endangering Wan Tingsheng and extorting money, but Hu argued that his emergency skull surgery had saved the young man's life.
• Zhou condemned Hu's claims about Soul Summoning, and Wan Boping avoided choosing between the two men as doubts about Hu's motives grew.
• Hu Xiaotian tried to leave, but Zhou Wenju challenged his assessment of the Wan Residence's feng shui and praised Master Zhu Kuiyong's expertise.
• Zhou questioned Hu about feng shui principles, and Hu countered by mocking scholars who valued memorizing books over understanding them.
• Zhou Wenju retorted that pretending to understand what one did not know was worse.

Hu Xiaotian outwitted Zhou Wenju in a debate about feng shui, then rushed to save Li Xiangzhi when she began choking. After the Heimlich maneuver failed, he prepared to perform an emergency tracheotomy.

• Hu Xiaotian argued that feng shui depended on recognizing changing conditions and favorable timing, leaving Zhou Wenju and Wan Boping impressed.
• A maid reported that Li Xiangzhi was dying, and Zhou Wenju hurried to the East Wing while Hu Xiaotian sent Wan Changchun to fetch his medical kit.
• Zhou Wenju recognized that Li Xiangzhi was choking on food and tried turning her upside down and striking her back, but could not dislodge it.
• Hu Xiaotian used the Heimlich Maneuver, but the obstruction remained, so he decided to perform a tracheotomy.
• Wan Changchun brought the medical kit, and Hu Xiaotian positioned Li Xiangzhi and prepared her throat while Zhou Wenju held her head steady.