Chapter Summaries

Xu Qingxiao investigated the Pingqiu Prefecture Relief Case and realized that the five original investigators had uncovered suspicious details before they were silenced or discredited. He deduced that the Female Emperor had arranged for him to take the case, while ministers recognized her scheme, and he spotted a stone peach blossom matching the White Robe Sect’s symbol.

• Xu Qingxiao read the nineteen case files and questioned the explanations for Zhang Nantian’s theft, his family’s deaths, and the missing twenty million taels of silver.
• Xu Qingxiao noticed that the first five investigators had raised doubts before explaining them away, then learned that four were dead and one had gone mad.
• Xu Qingxiao suspected the five investigators had been threatened and concluded that a powerful figure had suppressed the case; he realized the Female Emperor had deliberately arranged for him to investigate.
• Chen Zhengru, Gu Yan, Zhang Jing, and Wang Xinzhi discussed the Female Emperor’s plan to test Xu Qingxiao, expose the mastermind, and curb the Ministry of Punishment’s power.
• Xu Qingxiao left the Ministry of Punishment and spotted a large stone peach blossom bearing the same design as the White Robe Sect’s letter.

Xu Qingxiao accepted the Pingqiu Prefecture disaster relief case and spent most of the month acting so mysteriously that officials and spies could not tell how he planned to solve it. With the one-month deadline arriving, the court and the Capital City awaited his next move while three hidden conspirators debated whether to kill him.

• Xu Qingxiao sent a letter to the Ministry of Punishment announcing that he would investigate the Pingqiu Prefecture disaster relief case, prompting court officials to discuss its dangers and his prospects.
• Xu Qingxiao had Yang Hu and the others buy ingredients and equipment, then used them to prepare hot pot while spies watched and reported their movements.
• Confused by Xu Qingxiao's actions, Chen Zhengru, Sun Jing'an, Zhang Jing, and the Duke of An pretended to understand and praised his talent, fueling rumors that he already had evidence and the Emperor's support.
• Xu Qingxiao remained at Shouren Academy for most of the month, training his men, taking walks, and watching performances as rumors spread and the deadline drew near.
• Three cloaked conspirators discussed Xu Qingxiao's investigation; one proposed killing him, but another warned that his death would prompt the Emperor to pursue the case relentlessly.
• The final day of Xu Qingxiao's one-month deadline arrived, and officials and people throughout the Capital City eagerly awaited what he would do.

Xu Qingxiao claimed he had made no progress on the Pingqiu Prefecture disaster relief case, and the Female Emperor gave him three final days to solve it. He revealed that his apparent idleness had been a deliberate plan to bring Li Jianquan to the Capital safely, then entered the madman’s dream to seek the truth.

• Xu Qingxiao greeted the people of the Capital on his way to court and promised to seek justice for the victims of Pingqiu Prefecture.
• When the Female Emperor asked about the case, Xu Qingxiao admitted he had not solved it and asked for three years; she gave him three days and ordered Zhang Jing to hold him accountable if he failed.
• Xu Qingxiao returned to Shouren Academy, sent his six subordinates on errands that turned out to be grocery shopping, and let the spies believe he was still wasting time.
• Xu Qingxiao explained that he had delayed summoning Li Jianquan so those behind the case would lower their guard, then had Zhang Jing bring the witness to the academy.
• Xu Qingxiao knocked Li Jianquan unconscious and used the Dream-Entering Divine Ability; after several failed attempts, he entered and stabilized Li Jianquan’s chaotic dream.

Xu Qingxiao uncovered Li Jianquan’s memories of the Pingqiu Prefecture disaster relief case, identified Prince Huaiping as the mastermind, and found Zhang Nantian’s hidden letter. With the evidence in hand, he ordered the Ministry of Punishment to arrest Prince Huaiping, setting off an uproar across Great Wei.

• Xu Qingxiao searched Li Jianquan’s memories and learned that Zhang Nantian’s family had been tortured, Li Jianquan’s case report had been altered, and Prince Huaiping was suspected of rebellion.
• Li Jianquan explained to Zhang Wang, Chen Kang, Li Jun, and Zhou Bai that Prince Huaiping had framed Zhang Nantian and that Zhang Nantian’s lingering true qi could provide evidence against him.
• Xu Qingxiao watched a memory of Prince Huaiping killing Li Jianquan’s other investigators and leaving Li Jianquan alive but mentally broken.
• Xu Qingxiao studied the Ministry of Punishment’s records, concluded that Prince Huaiping’s father, Prince Huaining, had planned a rebellion, and sent a Heavenly Edict to the Female Emperor identifying witnesses.
• Xu Qingxiao realized Li Jianquan had hidden Zhang Nantian’s secret letter inside his abdominal wound and retrieved it from the unconscious Li Jianquan.
• Xu Qingxiao ordered Yang Hu and Yang Bao to mobilize the Ministry of Punishment and arrest Prince Huaiping, prompting hundreds of officers to march on his estate.

Xu Qingxiao ordered Prince Huaiping arrested over the Pingqiu Prefecture relief case, but the prince refused and injured Minister Zhang Jing when he asked him to cooperate. Xu Qingxiao took the Ministry of Punishment’s command and mobilized its officers and the Eight Gates Capital Troops to seize Prince Huaiping, ordering them to kill anyone who resisted.

• The Duke of An ordered the Capital City’s defenses reinforced, while Chen Zhengru warned the Grand Confucians to stay out of Xu Qingxiao’s arrest attempt.
• Prince Huaiping refused to leave his estate with the Ministry of Punishment officers, and Xu Qingxiao ordered them to requisition the Eight Gates Capital Army if the prince resisted arrest.
• Zhang Jing urged Xu Qingxiao to proceed cautiously, then visited Prince Huaiping, who rejected the investigation and drove him out after injuring him with Yellow Dragon Grand True Qi.
• After Zhang Jing collapsed at Shouren Academy, Xu Qingxiao went to the Ministry of Punishment, took the Ministerial Command, and declared that the ministry would arrest Prince Huaiping.
• Zhou Nan and the Ministry of Punishment officers rallied behind Xu Qingxiao, and Li Yuan authorized the Eight Gates Capital Troops to assemble and apprehend Prince Huaiping, killing anyone who resisted.

Xu Qingxiao ordered the Eight Gates Capital Troops to arrest Prince Huaiping, whose violent resistance escalated into a fight at the Ministry of Punishment. Just as Jiang Xinyan prepared to kill the prince on Xu Qingxiao’s command, an imperial decree summoned them to court, and Xu Qingxiao declared he would resign if Prince Huaiping survived.

• Li Yuan delivered Xu Qingxiao’s deployment order to the Eight Gates Capital Troops, while the Ministry of Punishment rallied behind its minister and Xu Qingxiao wrote an Apology Memorial.
• Feng Jianhua led forty thousand troops under Jiang Xinyan to Prince Huaiping’s Estate, where Prince Huaiping ordered his retainers to resist and attacked the soldiers.
• Prince Huaiping flew to the Ministry of Punishment, demanded that Xu Qingxiao kneel, and attacked him; Xu Qingxiao ordered the troops to execute the prince, and Jiang Xinyan formed a military formation to fight him.
• Xu Qingxiao again ordered Jiang Xinyan to kill Prince Huaiping, but an imperial decree summoned them and the officials to court before the killing blow landed.
• Prince Huaiping attacked Jiang Xinyan despite the decree and threatened Xu Qingxiao and his associates, while Xu Qingxiao calmly left for court and vowed to resign if the prince did not die.

Xu Qingxiao exposed Prince Huaiping’s crimes in court and forced him to confess, but the Female Emperor spared him in exchange for Prince Huaining surrendering the Qilin Military Tally. As Prince Huaiping gloated over surviving, someone objected to the Emperor’s decision.

• Xu Qingxiao went to court, where Prince Huaiping insulted the officials and received thirty slaps by the Female Emperor’s order.
• Xu Qingxiao presented a secret letter implicating Prince Huaiping in the Pingqiu Prefecture Relief Case and used fabricated physical evidence to provoke his confession.
• Prince Huaiping admitted he had destroyed Zhang Nantian’s corpse, and Xu Qingxiao asked the Female Emperor to judge the case.
• Prince Huaining offered the Qilin Military Tally in exchange for his son’s life, and the Female Emperor spared Prince Huaiping while stripping him of his title and banishing his descendants from office for ten generations.
• Prince Huaiping gloated at Xu Qingxiao, but an unidentified voice declared, “I do not agree!”

Xu Qingxiao defied the Female Emperor’s bargain to save Prince Huaiping, resigned, and invoked the Sage’s intent to have him slain for the Pingqiu Prefecture Relief Case. The Female Emperor cleared Zhang Nantian’s name but sent Xu Qingxiao to the Heavenly Prison, while public petitions and the Vassal Kings’ demands set up a wider political struggle.

• Xu Qingxiao rejected the exchange of Prince Huaiping’s life for the Qilin Military Tally, denounced the prince’s crimes, and resigned when the Female Emperor ordered the matter closed.
• Xu Qingxiao summoned the Sage’s intent, and the Sage’s Sword annihilated Prince Huaiping despite pleas from Prince Huaiping and Prince Huaining.
• The Female Emperor restored Zhang Nantian’s reputation, ordered Prince Huaining to surrender the Qilin Military Tally and illicit silver, and confined Xu Qingxiao in the Heavenly Prison for usurping authority.
• Prince Huaining left without condemning Xu Qingxiao, while people across Great Wei praised Xu Qingxiao and officials debated how to protect him.
• Li Guangxin organized a public petition in Southern Yu Prefecture, and Vassal Kings sent memorials demanding Xu Qingxiao’s execution for usurping authority.

The Female Emperor consulted Li Guangxiao about Great Wei’s looming crises and Xu Qingxiao’s fate, while Prince Huaining revealed that surrendering the Qilin Military Tally was part of a scheme to win over the vassal kings. After the people rallied behind Xu Qingxiao, the court sentenced him to house arrest and reduced his duties but granted him direct access to the Heavenly Audience; meanwhile, Chen Xinghe hurried toward the Capital to help him.

• Li Guangxiao warned the Female Emperor that Great Wei faced popular hardship, ambitious vassal kings, and the dangerous Northern Expedition dispute, and advised her to delay a decision while keeping the princes steady.
• The Female Emperor praised Xu Qingxiao’s talent and explained that she had sent him to the Heavenly Prison as a public punishment while protecting him from harsher consequences.
• Prince Huaining told two allies that surrendering the Qilin Military Tally was meant to unsettle the vassal kings and recruit wavering princes, and he refused to begin the rebellion before the right opportunity arose.
• Xu Qingxiao reflected in prison on killing Prince Huaiping, the Female Emperor’s political choices, and his own reasons for remaining in Great Wei.
• After officials reported petitions from across the realm, the Female Emperor removed Xu Qingxiao from his post, assigned him low-ranking clerk duties, granted him twenty-four Heavenly Edicts, and ordered a month of house arrest.
• Chen Xinghe traveled toward the Capital, determined to plead for Xu Qingxiao and clear his junior brother’s name.

Chen Xinghe reached the Capital and reunited with Xu Qingxiao, who was summoned by the Female Emperor after she heard him joking about serving another country. The Female Emperor tried to soothe his resentment through a performance, but Xu Qingxiao left her uncertain with a cryptic letter.

• Chen Xinghe asserted that he was Xu Qingxiao's senior brother at Tongwen Hall, prompting the clerks to help him reach Shouren Academy.
• Xu Qingxiao welcomed Chen Xinghe, and the two discussed the unfairness of his treatment and joked about leaving Great Wei for another country.
• An agent reported their conversation to the Female Emperor, who ordered Xu Qingxiao summoned to the Imperial Garden and instructed her agents to protect him.
• The Female Emperor invited Xu Qingxiao to watch an opera about a ruler admitting his mistake, but Xu Qingxiao played dumb when she tried to convey an apology.
• Xu Qingxiao left after the Female Emperor dismissed him, then sent her a letter saying, "Your Majesty, I actually... Never mind. Better not say it."
• The Female Emperor read the letter and wandered alone, unable to stop wondering what Xu Qingxiao had meant.

Xu Qingxiao uncovered Great Wei’s looming financial crisis by analyzing the Ministry of Revenue’s records and proposed raising revenue by taxing powerful groups and foreign merchants. The Female Emperor appointed him Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue and granted him the Imperial Dragon Tally, alarming ministers who feared she would move against the imperial clan.

• Xu Qingxiao reached the peak of the ninth rank, summoned the dukes’ grandsons to Shouren Academy, and asked the Ministry of Revenue for decades of tax records.
• Zhang Jing warned Xu Qingxiao that the Female Emperor had placed him in the Ministry of Revenue to disrupt its entrenched interests, and Xu Qingxiao began examining its accounts.
• Xu Qingxiao calculated that Great Wei faced a severe financial crisis, drafted plans to increase productivity and tax foreign merchants, and sent his findings to the Female Emperor.
• The Female Emperor appointed Xu Qingxiao Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue, authorized him to oversee tax revenue, and granted him the Imperial Dragon Tally, empowering him to command the Ministries of Punishment and War.
• Gu Yan and four other ministers concluded that the decree might signal a move against the imperial clan, but the Female Emperor refused to receive them.

Xu Qingxiao reassured the Duke of An and Zhang Jing that he would not target the Imperial Lineage, revealing instead a plan to collect back taxes from foreign merchants. As vassal kings protested his authority at court, Li Guangxiao found Xu Qingxiao’s ambitious five-year plan and became determined to meet him.

• Gu Yan summoned Xu Qingxiao to discuss the Ministry of Revenue, but Xu Qingxiao declined and said he would report for duty the next day.
• Prince Huaining urged the other princes to impeach Xu Qingxiao or kill him if he moved against the Imperial Lineage, while the Duke of An gathered nobles to discuss the danger.
• The Duke of An and Zhang Jing visited Xu Qingxiao, who explained that he planned to demand three years of back taxes from foreign merchants and tax them at forty percent going forward.
• Xu Qingxiao asked Yang Hu to hire a cook, and Yang Hu posted a brief recruitment notice outside Shouren Academy.
• Li Guangxiao arrived to apply for the cook's position, found Xu Qingxiao's five-year plan, and was astonished by its ambitious targets.
• Vassal kings sent memorials protesting Xu Qingxiao's promotion and the Imperial Dragon Tally, while the Female Emperor defended her decision at court.

Xu Qingxiao won Gu Yan’s support for collecting three years of back taxes from foreign peoples and coordinated the Ministries of Revenue, Punishment, and War to prepare for the campaign. After weeks of letting foreign merchants’ abuses go unchecked to build public anger, he learned that commoners had surrounded a government office, and he rushed to act.

• Xu Qingxiao impressed Gu Yan with accurate account summaries and taught him Arabic numerals, then persuaded him to hand over the Ministry of Revenue’s command and investigate three years of foreign earnings.
• Xu Qingxiao ordered the Ministry of Punishment to reject cases involving foreign merchants and favor foreign peoples, while tracking every case, and he also reconciled with Li Yuan.
• Xu Qingxiao secured the Ministry of War’s cooperation in strengthening patrols and favoring foreign peoples in disputes, then returned to Shouren Academy to wait for his plan to take effect.
• As reports of foreign peoples staging extortion and forcing trades multiplied, Xu Qingxiao ignored Minister Zhang’s request to intervene and continued waiting.
• A messenger reported that commoners had surrounded the government office on Xingyang Street, and Xu Qingxiao rose to respond.

Xu Qingxiao pretended to yield to foreign merchants, paying them compensation and spreading the claim that officials could not restrain them before the Female Emperor’s birthday. As their extortion grew and the Capital’s common people erupted into violence, Xu ordered the authorities to bring every foreign merchant to the Ministry of Punishment for a public hearing.

• Xu Qingxiao and Feng Jianhua staged a retreat at the Yingyang Yamen, allowing the foreign merchants to escape punishment and receive compensation while Xu secretly collected records of their identities.
• Xu Qingxiao told Yang Hu and the others to monitor the merchants and spread rumors that officials were forbidden to interfere with them, prompting widespread outrage across the Capital.
• The foreign merchants grew bolder, extorting people across the city despite Prince Huaining’s orders to keep their businesses honest, and Prince Huaining realized Xu Qingxiao had deliberately driven them into excess.
• After a foreign merchant beat a woman and threatened her children, the people of Huainan Street stormed their yamen, and unrest spread to other districts.
• Xu Qingxiao ordered officers from the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of War to restore order, bring all the foreign merchants to the Ministry of Punishment, and prepare a public hearing with the ministers present.

Xu Qingxiao ordered Great Wei’s forces to arrest foreign merchants accused of swindling the Capital’s commoners, who rallied behind him and brought their receipts to the Ministry of Punishment. Xu Qingxiao presided over a public hearing attended by three ministers, but waited as the assembled crowd and arrested ringleaders grew while the most important figures had yet to arrive.

• Xu Qingxiao’s order sent the Ministry of Punishment, Ministry of War, and Capital Troops to arrest foreign merchants throughout the Capital.
• The Capital Troops reassured angry commoners that Xu Qingxiao was seeking justice, and the commoners headed to the Ministry of Punishment with receipts and offers of support.
• Commoners seized suspected rumor-spreaders who tried to undermine Xu Qingxiao and denounced them as enemies of the people.
• Capital Troops arrested hundreds of foreign merchants as commoners cheered them and called for Xu Qingxiao to punish the swindlers.
• Xu Qingxiao opened a public hearing outside the Ministry of Punishment with Zhang Jing, Gu Yan, and Zhou Yan attending, then waited for the important figures who had not yet arrived.

Xu Qingxiao presided over a hearing against foreign merchants accused of extorting and abusing people in the Capital, executing offenders despite the Prince of the West’s attempts to intervene. After exposing the Yongxing Shop proprietor’s assault on Li with receipts and witnesses, Xu had him executed too, leaving the prince and the assembled merchants stunned.

• Xu Qingxiao ordered two defiant foreign merchants beheaded, even after the Prince of the West called for their execution to be stopped.
• Xu asserted control over the hearing and confronted the Prince of the West, who produced an imperial summons and took a seat as an observer.
• Xu summoned the detained foreign merchants and presented hundreds of case files and receipts as evidence of their abuses.
• Li testified that the Yongxing Shop proprietor had forced her to pay after she tried on a jade bangle, and Capital Troops witnesses confirmed that she had been beaten and humiliated.
• The Yongxing Shop proprietor admitted wrongdoing and signed a confession, but Xu ordered him beheaded despite the Prince of the West’s objections.

Xu Qingxiao defied the Prince of the West and ordered the execution of the foreign merchants at a public hearing, while the Female Emperor backed him after learning their fortunes could greatly replenish Great Wei’s treasury. The chapter ended with her decree placing all matters involving the merchants and foreign races under Xu Qingxiao’s authority and giving him command of sixty thousand soldiers.

• Xu Qingxiao invoked the founding emperor’s command and rallied the crowd against the Prince of the West, forcing the prince to sit down as the people and soldiers proclaimed their support for Xu Qingxiao.
• Xu Qingxiao executed the Changping Shop manager and ordered all 391 foreign merchants below the bench beheaded; the Prince of the West tried to stop the killings and sent a Heavenly Edict to the Female Emperor.
• After a Capital Troops commander whispered to Xu Qingxiao, Xu Qingxiao wrote fourteen Heavenly Edicts while executions continued.
• Li Guangxiao urged the Female Emperor to intervene, but she showed him reports detailing the foreign merchants’ immense assets, and he changed his position and praised Xu Qingxiao’s strategy.
• The Female Emperor decreed that Xu Qingxiao would decide all matters concerning the foreign merchants and foreign races, declared obstruction equally criminal, and placed thirty thousand troops from each of the Divine Machine Battalion and the Qilin Army under his command.

With the Female Emperor’s backing, Xu Qingxiao executed hundreds of foreign merchants and forced the survivors to accept new taxes, while the Prince of the West challenged his claim to act for the people. After the commoners publicly supported him, Xu Qingxiao established his words in the Confucian Dao, and the chapter ended with the Nation-Guarding Bell ringing.

• The Female Emperor granted Xu Qingxiao command over thirty thousand soldiers, and the Prince of the West failed to stop him from executing 395 foreign merchants.
• Xu Qingxiao offered the remaining foreign merchants a chance to live if they obeyed three rules, including ending fraud and paying taxes and back taxes.
• When the Prince of the West opposed the taxes, Xu Qingxiao ordered every foreign merchant in the capital brought in for execution, prompting them to side with Xu Qingxiao and accept his terms.
• Xu Qingxiao declared that the people mattered more to him than Zen Mountain, and the commoners rallied to affirm their belief in him.
• Xu Qingxiao established his words, vowing to protect the people and become the only torch if no light remained; the Nation-Guarding Bell then rang from the Great Wei Palace.

After Xu Qingxiao Established His Words for the people, the Nation-Guarding Bell rang, strengthening his political position and Confucian cultivation. He forced the foreign merchants to accept taxes and strict accounting, then reported staggering proceeds to the Female Emperor; the chapter ends with him discovering that his Golden Crow Body Tempering Art has slowed dramatically.

• The Nation-Guarding Bell tolled once for Xu Qingxiao, alarming Prince Huaining and persuading the Female Emperor to grant him a viscountcy and appoint him Vice Minister of Revenue.
• Xu Qingxiao made the foreign merchants sign tax agreements and accept receipt, ledger, and audit requirements, executing those who resisted or hesitated.
• Xu Qingxiao ordered the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Punishment, and Ministry of War to enforce the settlements and prepare nationwide tax rules.
• The account books recorded 258 million taels of confiscated silver, assets valued at 476 million taels, and 438 million taels in back taxes, leaving the Female Emperor and ministers stunned.
• Xu Qingxiao began cultivating to strengthen his Martial Dao before the demonic seed erupted, but found that the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art had slowed sharply.

Xu Qingxiao discovered that his Confucian cultivation was suppressing his unorthodox arts, but the people’s faith helped him break through to Eighth Rank and awaken three demonic threats that would advance within a year. He planned to strengthen himself and Great Wei, while the court argued over how to spend the treasury’s new fortune and ended with a proposal to discuss the Northern Expedition.

• Xu Qingxiao learned from Zhaoge and the Middle-aged Man that his Sixth-Rank Confucian Dao was suppressing his unorthodox cultivation, then forged new literary artifacts and received the Eighth-Rank Great Luo Elixir Origin Art.
• Xu Qingxiao absorbed the people’s faith to open his dantian and reach Eighth Rank, but discovered that the Three-Legged Golden Crow, Taiyin Flood Dragon Demon, and Great Luo Ancient Demon would all advance to Sixth Rank in a year.
• Xu Qingxiao planned to reach Sixth Rank, earn more public support, refine Realm-Breaking Pills, and investigate unorthodox arts and Zhaoge’s companions.
• Xu Qingxiao skipped court and asked Yang Hu to tell Lord Gu that he was unwell, while the Female Emperor’s court learned that the foreign merchant investigation had brought the treasury seven hundred million taels and assets worth five hundred million.
• Wang Xinzhi and Chen Zhengru bargained with Gu Yan over funds for their ministries, and the Female Emperor allocated money to the Ministries of Rites, Personnel, Punishment, and Works.
• An official asked the Female Emperor whether the court could discuss the Northern Expedition again, and the hall fell silent.