Chapter Summaries

After a frightening nightmare, Yu Ziye encountered the fortune-teller Qi Zhongbin, who warned that Yu Ziye’s greed and harm to the people could lead him to a violent death. Yu Ziye joined the local New Year ceremony at the True Lord Temple, where he felt Great God Yunlai was watching him.

• Yu Ziye woke screaming, and guards rushed into his room before he explained that he had only had a nightmare.
• A local constable told Yu Ziye that demons avoided Dengzhou because the Demon-Subduing Great Emperor’s temple stood nearby.
• Yu Ziye went into the city and ordered his guards to stop Qi Zhongbin after the fortune-teller clicked his tongue at him.
• Qi Zhongbin predicted that Yu Ziye’s fortune would end in death if he harmed the common people, then disappeared amid a temple procession.
• Yu Ziye followed the procession to the True Lord Temple, joined Chu Hang and the local officials, and entered Yunlai Hall.
• Yu Ziye saw Great God Yunlai’s statue and felt that the deity was staring directly at him.

Yu Ziye was unsettled by what seemed to be supernatural warnings at the True Lord Temple, then gradually understood Chu Hang’s canal-based disaster-relief plan. Realizing his earlier reports had downplayed the drought and delayed relief, he tore up his latest memorial and began writing to request funds and grain.

• Yu Ziye’s incense broke at Great God Yunlai’s altar, and he heard mocking laughter while Chen Han warned him to do fewer things that weighed on his conscience.
• Yu Ziye asked Chen Han about the elderly fortune-teller, and she told him that the man was too elusive to meet simply through wealth and power.
• Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian watched the officials leave the temple and discussed how Yu Ziye’s guilty conscience might make him less obstructive to Chu Hang.
• Yu Ziye studied the maps and realized Chu Hang planned to connect waterways across Lingdong and Hexi through the Drought-Relief Canal.
• Yu Ziye recognized that his earlier memorials had understated the disaster, tore up his latest report, and began urging the Imperial Court to send relief funds and grain.

On New Year’s Eve, Chu Hang and Yu Ziye discussed the flaw in the Drought-Relief Canal plan, while the emperor considered the disasters and Chu Hang’s growing influence. Months later, drought still gripped Lingdong and Hexi as Chu Hang oversaw canal construction and learned that officials in the capital were accusing him of misconduct.

• The emperor read Yu Ziye’s memorial urging faster delivery of relief funds and grain, then considered removing the aging Chancellor Chu from power.
• Yu Ziye asked Chu Hang how the Drought-Relief Canal could help when there was no water, and Chu Hang praised him for raising the question and urged him to remember the moment.
• Yi Shuyuan, Qi Zhongbin, and Hui Mian watched New Year’s fireworks and went to Shangdeng Tower for a feast arranged by Qi Zhongbin.
• After the New Year, Chu Hang directed early canal construction across Lingdong and Hexi, but drought persisted into planting season and Hexi’s situation worsened.
• Yu Ziye told Chu Hang that memorials accused him of ineffective relief, collusion with people from the Rivers and Lakes, and embezzling Imperial Court funds, while Chu Hang said the accusations were neither wholly true nor wholly false.

Tan Yuanshang used the Cinnabar Iron Writ to end the investigations into Chu Hang, sacrificing the writ to protect him from the emperor’s purge. Chu Hang accepted the imperial decree in Deng Province but left without answering the emperor’s question about the disaster relief.

• Tan Yuanshang learned that Vice Minister Zhang had been imprisoned and realized the emperor was targeting Chu Hang’s supporters.
• Tan Yuanshang visited the emperor and asked him to spare Chu Hang from the charges against him.
• Tan Yuanshang claimed the Former Emperor had decreed that the Cinnabar Iron Writ could be used once to absolve another person, and the emperor agreed to halt the investigations into Chu Hang.
• On the third day of the fifth month, Chu Hang received the imperial decree ending the cases against him.
• The eunuch asked Chu Hang whether the relief efforts had produced results, but Chu Hang walked away without replying.

After a night of conversation, Chu Hang named Yu Ziye his last disciple and went to the Datong River, where he disappeared beneath the water. The river then began to surge and rise, suggesting the drought might finally end.

• Yu Ziye went to Chu Hang's office and found him refusing food while he pondered the emperor's edict.
• Chu Hang told Yu Ziye he had waited for him, ordered him to eat, and spoke with him through the night.
• At dawn, Chu Hang named Yu Ziye his last disciple and left with the imperial edict; Yu Ziye chased him beyond the city to the Datong River.
• Pei Changtian and Mai Lingfei tried to reach Chu Hang, but a man in a python-patterned robe subdued them and mentioned Yi Daozi.
• Chu Hang told Eunuch Chang that the disaster could soon be resolved, then walked into the Datong River and vanished as Yu Ziye and others failed to find him.
• The Datong River grew turbulent, its water rose over the riverside steps, and thunderclouds gathered overhead.

Chu Hang entered the Datong River, and the river rose as rain fell across the region, ending the drought without causing a flood. He was presumed dead, and people searched the river for his body while Yu Ziye remembered their final conversation.

• The Datong River surged and heavy rain began after Chu Hang entered the water, while Yu Ziye was dragged away from the riverbank.
• A Fei and Pei Changtian regained control of their bodies, mourned Chu Hang, and wondered who had restrained them.
• Feng Yan, the Dragon Lord of the East Sea, met Yi Shuyuan and Qi Zhongbin on a bridge and said he had let go of his grievance against Chu Hang.
• The Drought-Relief Canal carried away the floodwaters and spread water across Lingdong and Hexi, ending the drought without a flood.
• Officials and commoners searched the Datong River for Chu Hang, whose body they could not recover.
• Yu Ziye recalled Chu Hang laughing after Yu had questioned how a canal could help without water.

Yu Ziye accepted Eunuch Chang’s list of officials who had given him gifts and sent him back toward the capital, while people along the Datong River continued offering food for Chu Hang’s spirit. In Heaven-Bearing Prefecture, Tan Yuanshang learned of Chu Hang’s sacrifice and grieved so deeply that his hair turned white overnight.

• Yu Ziye visited the recovered Eunuch Chang, who decided to leave Deng Province immediately and entrusted him with gifts from local officials to return as disaster-relief donations.
• Yu Ziye kept Chang Benmao’s list of the officials who had given him gifts and reflected on how their flattery echoed his own past conduct toward Chancellor Chu.
• Chang Benmao traveled downstream on the Datong River and saw people making offerings for Chu Hang, believing food would protect his body and help his spirit return to Lingdong.
• Yi Shuyuan watched a family offer rice and cured pork to Chu Hang and told Hui Mian that the practice might become a local custom.
• Tan Yuanshang heard that Chu Hang’s leap had brought rain and raised the river, then wept over Chu Hang’s refusal to be saved by the Cinnabar Iron Writ.
• Tan Yuanshang stayed awake all night in remorse, and his hair turned white by morning.

After Tan Yuanshang left for Deng Province, Chang Benmao returned to the capital and reported that Chu Hang had drowned himself in the Datong River after receiving the emperor’s decree. He described the river’s miraculous response, the drought’s end, and Chu Hang’s missing body, leaving the emperor and his ministers shaken by the possibility that Chu Hang’s final words had come true.

• Tan Yuanshang refused to report the events in Lingdong and Hexi Circuits to the emperor and departed for Deng Province.
• Chang Benmao returned to Heaven-Bearing Prefecture carrying Yu Ziye’s memorial and reported what he had witnessed to the emperor and his ministers.
• Chang Benmao said Chu Hang had entered the Datong River, and Yu Ziye had tried to save him but could not stop him.
• Chang Benmao described fierce winds, surging waters, and rain after Chu Hang entered the river, and said the drought in the two circuits was relieved.
• Chang Benmao relayed Chu Hang’s message that the calamity troubling the emperor would soon be resolved, prompting the emperor to accuse him of lying.
• The emperor read Yu Ziye’s memorial and learned that Chu Hang’s body had not been found, while people had made offerings and built him a Clothes-and-Cap Tomb.

Months after Chu Hang’s Dragon Ascension, Yi Shuyuan and the East Sea Dragon Lord gathered at the Si River as Chu Hang’s Water Spirit Energy reformed. Chu Hang returned to the living and reunited with Xiang Yi and Yi Shuyuan, then learned the Dragon Lord was his elder cousin.

• Yi Shuyuan reached Si Prefecture, where the Datong River’s expanded waters had joined the Si River valley and the Drought-Relief Canal’s channels.
• Feng Yan and Xiang Yi met Yi Shuyuan by the river, where Xiang Yi said he felt sorrow for Chu Hang’s death and joy that he had entered the Dao.
• Chu Hang re-formed from the gathered Water Spirit Energy on a rocky islet and boarded a mysterious boatman’s boat.
• The boatman ferried Chu Hang to shore, where Chu Hang reunited with Yi Shuyuan and Xiang Yi.
• Feng Yan told Chu Hang that he was his elder cousin, and Chu Hang recalled their earlier encounter in Longwind Prefecture.

Chu Hang accepted divine investiture from the Purple Star Lord and watched his sons mourn at his Clothes-and-Cap Tomb, while the rain suggested he still protected them. Yi Shuyuan openly narrated the banned Tale of Duke Chu in Dengzhou, and the constables pretended not to find him as the crowd helped him take shelter.

• Feng Yan and Yi Shuyuan joined Chu Hang as Xiang Yi offered him divine investiture and a place in the Purple Star Palace, which Chu Hang accepted.
• An old man who was Chu Hang's son arrived at the tomb and reunited in grief with his brother Hongzu, while Chu Hang watched from the river and felt he could still protect his children.
• Rain fell around Chu Hang's sons, but their clothes stayed dry, leading them to wonder whether their father's spirit was shielding them.
• Yi Shuyuan told the banned Tale of Duke Chu outside the True Lord Temple, drawing a large crowd with his vivid performance.
• When constables arrived to investigate a report about the banned story, worshippers helped Yi Shuyuan hide inside the temple, and the constables denied finding any storyteller.

After telling a story at the True Lord Temple, Yi Shuyuan shared a meal with Chen Han and reassured her about her sister Yu Xinmei swallowing the Starwoven Pill. He left the temple with Hui Mian and reflected on Tan Yuanshang’s restraint and Chu Hang’s wishes.

• After the officers left, Yi Shuyuan declined payment for his storytelling and offered incense at the True Lord Temple.
• Chen Han invited Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian to a meal, where she asked Yi Shuyuan to forgive her sister Yu Xinmei for swallowing the Starwoven Pill.
• Yi Shuyuan said Yu Xinmei’s opportunity might have been destined, but she owed a debt of gratitude to the man who lost the pill and should repay it sincerely.
• Yi Shuyuan left the temple with Hui Mian and said Tan Yuanshang had not acted against the emperor because he understood Chu Hang’s wishes and did not want common people to suffer.

Yi Shuyuan left Lingdong as Mai Lingfei prepared to duel Pei Changtian, then returned to West River Village after many years away. There, he encountered the elderly Yong'an, who no longer recognized him.

• Yi Shuyuan saw Mai Lingfei and Pei Changtian prepare to duel, as Pei Changtian said he would leave the Rivers and Lakes after their fight.
• Yi Shuyuan left without watching the duel, and Hui Mian told him that Tan Yuanshang planned to retire after the autumn harvest and reflected on the passing of an era.
• Yi Shuyuan returned to West River Village and found its houses, roads, bridges, and Yi Household residence greatly changed.
• Yi Shuyuan walked to the river and turned his folding fan into a fishing rod.
• Yong'an came to the river with his servant, mistook Yi Shuyuan for a visiting scholar, and did not recognize him.

Yi Shuyuan reunited with his forgetful nephew Yi Yong'an by the West River and helped him fish, while Hui Mian and Jiang Zhuer sent fish into the river. The chapter ended with Yi Yong'an catching a huge fish as Yi Xuan and the townspeople watched in amazement.

• Yi Yong'an failed to recognize Yi Shuyuan, but felt drawn to fish beside the composed scholar, who gave him a transformed fishing rod and earthworms.
• Yi Yong'an sat fishing with Yi Shuyuan while A De watched over him, and Hui Mian noticed the Land God helping from across the river.
• Yi Xuan learned that Yi Yong'an had gone fishing and hurried to the West River, while Hui Mian summoned Jiang Zhuer for help.
• Jiang Zhuer drove a school of fish into the West River, and one took Yi Yong'an's bait.
• Yi Yong'an fought the fish with unexpected strength and hauled a huge catch from the water, astonishing Yi Xuan, Hui Mian, and the onlookers.

Yi Shuyuan, returning to West River Village under the name Qian Kun, befriended Yi Yong'an while fishing and accepted an invitation to lunch at the Yi Household. As he left, Yi Yong'an glimpsed something that stirred his old memories, but he could not call out to him.

• Yi Yong'an caught a huge carp with Yi Shuyuan's help, and Yi Xuan met the scholar, who introduced himself as Qian Kun.
• Yi Yong'an and Yi Shuyuan fished and reminisced together while Jiang Zhuer and Hui Mian listened from underwater.
• Yi Yong'an invited Yi Shuyuan to the Yi Household, where they shared a meal and talked about family and the past.
• Yi Shuyuan gave Yi Yong'an his fishing rod and left, while Hui Mian joined him and ate the chicken leg he had saved.
• Yi Yong'an saw Yi Shuyuan's departing figure and Hui Mian, seemed to recognize a long-lost memory, and tried to call out but could only make inarticulate sounds.

Yi Yong'an recognized Yi Shuyuan as his long-lost uncle, and Yi Shuyuan confirmed it in front of the Yi family. As Yi Yong'an reunited with him inside the residence, Yi Xuan sent a servant to inform his father at Moon Province Academy.

• Yi Yong'an rushed after Yi Shuyuan and told Yi Xuan that Mr. Qian was his uncle.
• Yi Shuyuan returned to the Yi residence with two servants and acknowledged Yi Yong'an as his nephew.
• Hui Mian appeared, and Yi Xuan recognized the gray marten from his childhood memories of Yi Shuyuan.
• Yi Yong'an spoke with Yi Shuyuan in the reception hall while Yi Xuan's family examined an old painting that showed Yi Shuyuan and the marten.
• Yi Xuan sent a servant to Moon Province Academy to tell his father that Yi Shuyuan had returned.

Yi Yong'an reunited with Yi Shuyuan and asked him to stay, while Yi A Bao learned at Moon Province Academy that the ancestor had returned and rushed home. A Bao also brought Wu Ziqun with him, leaving the reunion's consequences to unfold.

• Yi Yong'an reminisced with Yi Shuyuan about their family and their trip to Tongxin Pavilion, then asked whether Yi Shuyuan would leave; Yi Shuyuan agreed to stay.
• Yi A Bao read an official gazette declaring The Tale of Duke Chu a forbidden book and had the academy examination papers collected.
• Two servants from the Yi residence arrived at Moon Province Academy and told Yi A Bao that Yi Shuyuan had returned and acknowledged Yi Yong'an.
• Yi A Bao hurried home with the servants, convinced that his granduncle was back.
• Yi A Bao turned back to fetch Wu Ziqun and took him along to the Yi residence.

Yi A Bao hurried his wife and Wu Ziqun back to Yuanjiang County after learning that Grand Elder Yi had returned. The boat reached the county in a single day with mysterious help, and Wu Ziqun’s father resolved to visit Grand Elder Yi in West River Town the next morning.

• Yi A Bao gathered Lu Junling, Wu Ziqun, and two servants and hurried from Moon Province toward Yuanjiang County by boat.
• The boat traveled unusually fast, apparently aided by fish-shaped shadows beneath the water, and reached Yuanjiang County that night.
• Yi A Bao sent Wu Ziqun home and continued by carriage to West River Town.
• Wu Ziqun told Wu Yuantao that Grand Elder Yi had returned, prompting his father to plan a visit the next day.
• Wu Yuantao went to look at the spirit tablet in the inner hall.

Yi A Bao and his family hurried home to reunite with Yi Shuyuan, whose youthful appearance confirmed that he was truly A Bao’s long-lost Great-granduncle. After listening to Yi Shuyuan tell The Tale of Duke Chu, the Yi Household ended the night unsettled by both the story and their remarkable elder.

• Yi A Bao and Lu admired the fireflies as their carriage traveled to West River Town, while Hui Mian secretly stirred more into flight.
• Yi A Bao learned that Yi Shuyuan was still awake in the rear garden and hurried there with Lu and Yi Xuan.
• Yi A Bao joyfully recognized Yi Shuyuan as his Great-granduncle and embraced him, while Lu and Yi Xuan came to share his certainty.
• Yi Yong'an scolded A Bao for interrupting the story, then welcomed him and his family to sit and listen to The Tale of Duke Chu.
• Yi Shuyuan finished his story, and the Yi Household returned to their rooms with unsettled hearts over the tale and their extraordinary elder.

After Yi Shuyuan took Yi Yong'an to Broad South Mountain, Ancient Pine completed his transformation and attained the Dao. A green-haired girl arrived at the Yi Residence to invite the Yi and Wu families to celebrate the joyful news.

• Yi Shuyuan watched the sunrise over Broad South Mountain and invited Yi Yong'an to visit the ancient pine.
• Yi Shuyuan and Yi Yong'an vanished from A De's sight, then appeared on Broad South Mountain as Song Chao emerged from the radiance around the ancient pine.
• Song Chao thanked Huang Hongchuan, the mountain's little ones, and Yi Shuyuan for helping him break through and take form.
• Wu Yuantao and Wu Ziqun arrived at the Yi Residence to meet Yi Shuyuan, but A De reported that Yi Shuyuan and Yi Yong'an had disappeared.
• A green-haired girl arrived at the Yi Residence and invited the Yi and Wu families to celebrate Grandpa Pine's attainment of the Dao.

A Bao and Wu Yuantao received an invitation to Broad South Mountain, where an ancient pine was said to be attaining the Dao. After reading Yi Yong'an’s note and hearing the invitation explained, they decided to go together, leaving Yi Xuan and Wu Ziqun behind.

• Cui'er arrived at the Yi residence and invited A Bao and Wu Yuantao to a celebration on Broad South Mountain, saying Grandpa Pine had cultivated for a thousand years and would attain the Dao that day.
• Cui'er revealed that Grandpa Huang was the Broad South Mountain God, while a servant delivered Yi Yong'an’s note asking the household to come to the mountain.
• Hui Mian came out of the residence, recognized Cui'er as a hwamei in an illusory form, and told her to finish inviting the guests without frightening them.
• A Bao read Yi Yong'an’s note and ordered A De to prepare a carriage and horses.
• Wu Yuantao agreed to accompany A Bao, and they decided that Yi Xuan and Wu Ziqun would stay behind.