Chapter Summaries

Yang Ge welcomed Li Qing back to the inn and learned that Li Qing planned to travel south to challenge martial artists, with Yang Ge named as his final opponent. Flea then reported a suspicious incident in Jiangzhe involving Wang Dashi’s tax inspectors and rumors targeting Yang Ge, prompting Yang Ge to fund a thorough investigation and resolve to deal forcefully with whoever was behind it.

• Yang Ge lost a round of tiles to Xiao Baoqi, Hooligan, and Dog Shit, while Zhao Cha took his seat to play.
• Li Qing returned to the inn, explained that he would travel south to test his sword, and showed Yang Ge a list of challengers that ended with Yang Ge’s name.
• Flea told Yang Ge that people had died during tax inspections in Jiangzhe and that rumors accused Yang Ge of helping the Court oppress the locals.
• Flea reported that Wang Dashi had executed the dozen or so inspectors involved after the rumors spread, while Tower Beyond Towers had not uncovered the culprit.
• Yang Ge offered ten thousand taels for Tower Beyond Towers to investigate the affair thoroughly and resolved to respond forcefully to the apparent plot.

Wei Heng joined Wang Dashi in Hangzhou to investigate a plot that might target the Grand Secretary or the New Policies, and agreed to use tax relief for impoverished commoners as bait to expose their enemies. Later, Yang Ge attended Liu Mang’s son’s hundred-day celebration and gave the child a gold chain and Liu Mang a banknote for ten thousand taels.

• Wei Heng met Wang Dashi in private, and Wang Dashi explained that the apparent plot against Yang Erlang might actually target the Grand Secretary or the New Policies.
• Wang Dashi proposed announcing tax exemptions for impoverished commoners to draw their enemies into acting, and Wei Heng agreed to supply his agents and demanded they move quickly.
• Yang Ge arrived at Liu Mang’s family gathering for his son’s hundred-day celebration and learned that the child was named Liu Guangzong.
• Yang Ge gave Liu Guangzong a gold chain as a keepsake and put a red envelope in Liu Mang’s arms.
• Liu Mang discovered that Yang Ge’s red envelope contained a banknote for ten thousand taels and called him over in shock.

Yang Ge worried over Fang Ke’s plans to volunteer for frontier service, then learned that the Southern Martial World’s conflicts had worsened and that an unknown expert had attacked Tang Qing. New intelligence about a secretive group operating near Shaoxing led Yang Ge to order an investigation into the Xie Family, while he finished preparing hotpot base.

• Fang Ke told Yang Ge he wanted to volunteer for a permanent frontier post, and Yang Ge insisted he marry first and promised to protect his future family if he did not return.
• Li Qing’s sword-testing journey and the challenges imitating him intensified violence across the Southern Martial World as major sects were too weakened to intervene.
• Flea told Yang Ge that an unknown expert had beaten Tang Qing at the White Lotus Cult headquarters, and Yang Ge asked him to report any further developments.
• Flea reported that a mysterious Grandmaster had helped a factional group escape Wei Heng’s arrest attempt near Shaoxing, and Yang Ge ordered the Tower Beyond Towers to investigate the Xie Family.
• Yang Ge finished frying hotpot base and told Zhao Cha it needed two days to ferment before they could use it.

Shen Fa reported to Emperor Xiping that princes, officials, clans, the Bright Cult, and the Tartars had joined efforts to oppose Wang Jiangling’s tax reforms. Emperor Xiping ordered Shen Fa to clean house and considered sending the crown prince to Yang Ge for instruction, while Yang Ge and Zhao Cha enjoyed his new hot pot.

• Shen Fa told Emperor Xiping that the Prince of Chu and the Prince of Xiang profited from Prince Ning’s overseas trade and feared Wang Jiangling’s tax reforms.
• Shen Fa described how provincial governors, aristocratic clans, Bright Cult factions, and the Tartars had become involved in the scheme.
• Emperor Xiping warned Shen Fa against withholding evidence, then ordered him to deal with the conspirators before Yang Ge’s investigation uncovered more.
• Emperor Xiping proposed sending the crown prince to Yang Ge for instruction, but Shen Fa urged him to wait until Yang Ge was less troubled.
• Yang Ge served spicy hot pot to Zhao Cha, who praised it and said the imperial chefs’ cooking could not compare.

Li Qing and Yang Tiansheng fought a spectacular duel on the Li River, with Li Qing ultimately winning by a narrow margin. After they parted as friends, Yang Tiansheng returned to headquarters, deciding it was time to go to Bright Summit on Yellow Mountain.

• Yang Tiansheng challenged Li Qing on the Li River, and they exchanged sword attacks before more than a hundred spectators.
• Yang Tiansheng used One Man Forms a Formation, but Li Qing broke the coordinated attack and praised Yang Tiansheng's skill.
• Yang Tiansheng unleashed Wind, Fire, Mountain, Forest, while Li Qing countered with a powerful shield of sword qi; both withdrew their moves before the clash destroyed the riverbank.
• Yang Tiansheng admitted defeat and told Li Qing that his sword was only a sword, while Li Qing wielded himself; they exchanged invitations and parted as friends.
• Wei Xin congratulated Yang Tiansheng, who said Li Qing had not used his full strength and ordered the group back to headquarters.
• Yang Tiansheng turned toward Bright Summit on Yellow Mountain and thought that it was time.

Wang Dashi explained to Wei Heng why the Jiangzhe tax affair should be handled by targeting corrupt officials rather than confronting the Bright Cult, while Yang Ge realized Yang Potian had stirred up trouble to consolidate his position. Yang Ge warned Yang Potian not to scheme against him again and pledged to protect Yang Tiansheng, the Yang Family of Fengyang, and the Tower Beyond Towers.

• Wang Dashi rejected Wei Heng’s idea of using tax silver as bait and urged him to punish the Court’s corrupt servants while leaving the Bright Cult’s affairs to Yang Ge.
• Wang Dashi revealed that he had suspected Yang Potian’s involvement after the attack on Wei Heng’s old patriarch and the presence of a Peerless Grandmaster.
• Flea explained that conflict over the Court’s amnesty offer and the Bright Cult’s succession had driven Yang Potian to provoke Yang Ge and the Court.
• Yang Ge reasoned that Yang Potian had found a powerful backer and ordered Flea to warn him that this was his one chance to escape settling their accounts.
• Yang Ge also told Flea to assure Yang Potian that Yang Tiansheng and the Yang Family of Fengyang must remain unharmed, and promised to protect the Tower Beyond Towers from anyone who retaliated over the affair.

Zhou Yin warned Yang Potian that backing the old man from Treasure Dharma Temple over Yang Erlang had been a mistake, while Yang Tiansheng led a growing faction of Bright Cult followers to Bright Summit to claim the right to succeed Yang Potian. Yang Potian agreed to let Yang Tiansheng become the foremost successor candidate if he could withstand three moves, setting their confrontation in motion.

• Zhou Yin urged Yang Potian to stop opposing Yang Erlang, then left after warning him that the man from Treasure Dharma Temple would not be satisfied with minor interference in the martial world.
• Yang Potian watched Yang Tiansheng's supporters climb toward Bright Summit and dismissed their loyalty as treachery, while Yang Tiansheng continued leading them uphill.
• Yang Tiansheng broke Po Jun's grip on his saber, entered Bright Summit, and subdued Lu Wuji when Lu Wuji confronted him.
• Yang Tiansheng greeted Yang Potian as Cult Master and declared that his hard work, martial skill, and the trust of his followers qualified him to succeed.
• Yang Potian proposed that Yang Tiansheng withstand three moves to earn the rank of first among four Dharma Kings and become the foremost candidate for Cult Master; Yang Tiansheng accepted before the assembled followers.

Yang Tiansheng challenged Yang Potian on Bright Summit over the Bright Cult’s succession and the Yang family’s hold on power. After Yang Tiansheng unleashed his sword technique, Yang Ge left with Zhang Xuansu, while the duel’s outcome remained unsettled.

• Yang Potian attacked Yang Tiansheng with Dragon-Seizing Hand, but Yang Tiansheng blocked it with his eight swords and survived uninjured.
• Yang Ge watched in disguise with Zhang Xuansu, and Yang Tiansheng was badly wounded when Yang Potian’s Iron-Refining Hands broke through his sword defense.
• Yang Tiansheng demanded that Yang Potian promise the next Cult Master would not be from the Yang family, then rallied Bright Cult members by challenging them to consider whom their sacrifices served.
• Yang Potian dropped his kindly facade and summoned the Demon-Subduing Dharma Aspect, while Yang Ge’s presence caused its intimidating demeanor to soften.
• Yang Tiansheng struck the Buddha phantom with Wrath of the Common Man, sending both fighters flying; Yang Ge and Zhang Xuansu then left the crowd.

Wei Heng received news of Yang Tiansheng’s rise in the Bright Cult and realized that his own palace-bred obedience had left him no hope of becoming a Peerless Grandmaster. He welcomed Zhou Fu, Nangong Feiying, Liu Tang, and their hardened veterans back from the Eastern Isles, then abandoned a victory parade when they refused to claim Yang Erlang’s credit.

• Wei Heng learned that Yang Tiansheng had become a Heavenly King and a leading candidate to succeed Yang Potian as Cult Master, and reflected on how conviction had shaped Yang Tiansheng and Yang Erlang.
• Wei Heng concluded that his ingrained palace training prevented him from becoming a Peerless Grandmaster, then received word that the fleet had arrived at Hangzhou Harbor.
• Nangong Feiying returned with six Western Factory elites, four of them in the Return to the True Realm, while Liu Tang’s group also included six Return to the True experts.
• Wei Heng offered the returning veterans a victory parade, but Zhou Fu and the others refused to claim the Eastern Isles’ achievements because they belonged to Yang Erlang.
• Wei Heng canceled the parade, told Zhou Fu that he would become deputy General-in-Chief of Jizhen, and heard that the Eastern Isles were under Great Wei’s control and following Yang Erlang’s plans.
• As they headed into Hangzhou, Wei Heng compared his well-equipped but timid Western Factory agents with the veterans and ordered the agents to straighten their posture.

Li Jincheng met Jiang Kui, Lei Heng, and Liu Meng in Ji Prefecture to arrange supplies for their forces beyond the passes and explain Yang Erlang’s support. They agreed on grain shipments and a plan to send Chain Wharf men north for training, while the three brothers remained determined to help their friends.

• Jiang Kui, Lei Heng, and Liu Meng welcomed Li Jincheng and hosted him at a tavern in Ji Prefecture.
• Li Jincheng explained that he had come to arrange supplies and help the brothers move their families inside the passes before winter.
• Li Jincheng defended Yang Erlang’s generosity, prompting Liu Meng and Li Jincheng to drink together until they smashed their wine jars.
• Lei Heng described Lu Mountain’s grain shortage, and Li Jincheng promised an initial shipment of one to two hundred thousand shi before winter while warning them not to let any supplies reach the Tartars.
• Jiang Kui, Lei Heng, and Liu Meng offered to raid Brocade Sail Wharf, but Li Jincheng declined and proposed that Lu Mountain train Chain Wharf’s men beyond the passes.
• Jiang Kui agreed to have Chain Wharf’s men trained in Liaodong before they joined Lei Heng’s band, and the four men sealed the arrangement with a toast.

Shen Fa brought Crown Prince Zhao Hong to the Welcome Inn to learn from Yang Ge, but Zhao Hong’s arrogance provoked Yang Ge into striking him and assigning him to work under Zhang Erniu. Yang Ge insisted that Zhao Hong would remain at the inn until he learned how ordinary people lived, and told Shen Fa to warn the emperor not to scheme against him again.

• Shen Fa brought Zhao Hong to the Welcome Inn, where Yang Ge refused to meet with them until Zhao Cha recognized the crown prince.
• Zhao Hong called Yang Ge a wicked subject, so Yang Ge slapped him twice and threatened to replace him as crown prince.
• Yang Ge made Zhao Hong wear Zhang Erniu’s apron, ordered him to learn inn work, and warned him to drop his royal airs.
• Zhao Hong apologized to Zhang Erniu and was taken to the rear courtyard to wash dishes, while Zhao Cha followed them.
• Yang Ge told Shen Fa that Zhao Hong would stay until he learned to behave and ordered him to warn the emperor against sending anyone else to the inn.

Zhao Miao brought Zhao Hong food and warned him to stop acting like an heir apparent and learn how ordinary people lived at the Welcome Inn. Zhao Hong began to understand how badly he had misjudged Yang Ge and ended the night still assigned to the stable-side room.

• After the Welcome Inn extended its hours, Zhao Hong worked until midnight and wept from exhaustion in his cramped room near the stables.
• Zhao Miao brought Zhao Hong food, reminded him that the inn had workers rather than princes, and challenged his belief that Yang Ge was no great threat.
• Zhao Miao exposed how Zhao Hong's advisers had misled him and showed him how little he understood about ordinary prices and daily life.
• Zhao Miao urged Zhao Hong to observe and learn at the inn, warned him not to provoke Yang Ge, and promised to help him with what he needed.
• Zhao Hong asked for a better room, but Zhao Miao refused and told him to scrub tables and sweep the front hall the next morning.
• After Zhao Miao explained that Yang Ge had once lived in the same room, Zhao Hong realized how foolishly he had behaved and feared the consequences of angering him.

Yang Tiansheng visited Yang Ge at the inn, where Zhao Hong learned that powerful cult figures and other wanted martial artists gathered openly under Yang Ge’s protection. Yang Ge explained that he was trying to teach the crown prince how to govern well, and the two friends agreed to share a meal and drinks.

• Yang Ge won another maximum-scoring mahjong hand while Zhao Hong questioned Zhao Cha about his lack of martial arts practice.
• Yang Tiansheng arrived at the inn, greeted Yang Ge as an old friend, and invited the martial artists there to drink with him.
• Zhao Hong was shocked to learn that Yang Tiansheng was the Bright Cult’s next leader and that Zhao Cha knowingly welcomed members of rival cults and other factions.
• Zhao Cha explained that Road Pavilion belonged to Yang Ge, whose power kept his guests in line, and said he was unlikely to rebel unless ordinary people were driven to desperation.
• Yang Ge told Yang Tiansheng that the emperor had sent the crown prince and Princess Miaomiao to the inn, and that he hoped to teach the prince to improve the world.
• Yang Tiansheng thanked Yang Ge for helping him at Bright Summit, and Yang Ge invited him to dinner and drinks.

Yang Ge urged Yang Tiansheng to help end the Three Teachings’ conflict and offered to mediate, then faced his own uncertainty about marrying Zhao Miao. After Yang Tiansheng left for Jiangzhe, Yang Ge tasked Zhao Hong with building an open-air tearoom and barred officials from the inn for a month.

• Yang Tiansheng told Yang Ge that the Bright Cult, Five Poisons Cult, and White Lotus Cult profited from their fighting and that their followers were unlikely to support peace.
• Yang Ge warned Yang Tiansheng that the conflict threatened the Southern Martial World and offered to host a safe meeting among the Three Teachings’ leaders.
• Yang Tiansheng urged Yang Ge to consider marrying Zhao Miao, but Yang Ge said he was not ready to change their relationship.
• Yang Tiansheng left Road Pavilion for Jiangzhe after Yang Ge wished him well and invited him to visit with his wife.
• Yang Ge ordered Zhao Hong to clear the rear courtyard and build an inexpensive, sturdy open-air tearoom within one month.
• Yang Ge ordered an Embroidered Uniform Guard agent to keep official business and news away from the inn for a month, leaving Zhao Hong overwhelmed and sobbing.

Zhao Hong gradually transformed through the hard work of preparing a tea room at the Welcome Inn, while Yang Ge hosted Zhou Fu, Liu Tang, Nangong Feiying, and other Inner Court elites as they discussed their postings to the northern frontier. The chapter left Yang Ge concerned for his friends but reassured by their loyalty and camaraderie.

• Zhao Hong fell ill after trying to clear the courtyard alone, then resumed work and learned to ask others for help while continuing to refuse to bow his head to Yang Ge.
• Zhao Hong planned and furnished the courtyard as a tea room, while Zhao Miao noticed his change and suspected Yang Ge deliberately stayed away whenever Zhao Hong went out.
• Zhou Fu, Liu Tang, Nangong Feiying, and twelve others returned through Road Pavilion, where Yang Ge welcomed them with a feast.
• Zhou Fu told Yang Ge that he had arranged land, farmland, and a residence near Mount Fuji for him, and the group toasted the news.
• Zhou Fu, Liu Tang, Nangong Feiying, and the other elites revealed that they were being posted to northern frontier regions, and Yang Ge warned them to be cautious and contact him if they needed help.
• Nangong Feiying advised Yang Ge to avoid sensitive political matters, and Liu Tang and Zhou Fu teased him until Yang Ge laughed.

After inspecting Zhao Hong’s tea-room renovations, Yang Ge assigned him the task of improving public toilets across Luting County. Zhao Hong accepted the work rather than let Third Brother take his place, and began steeling himself for the challenge.

• Yang Ge inspected the four themed tea rooms and their renovation accounts, then approved Zhao Hong for a Yellow-Class Guest Room.
• Yang Ge told Zhao Hong that Luting County’s eight public toilets could no longer serve its growing population and ordered him to build more.
• Yang Ge gave Zhao Hong a Banner Captain’s squad, three months, and detailed requirements for designing and constructing public toilets.
• Zhao Hong complained to Zhao Miao that the job would earn him a humiliating reputation, but refused to let Third Brother take his place.
• Zhao Hong watched the street and silently resolved to carry out the work, declaring that the Excrement Emperor was still an emperor.

Yang Tiansheng persuaded Yang Yinghao to let him surrender Greenwood Hall to the Court as part of an amnesty, then Yang Erlang’s planned mediation between the Three Teachings stirred controversy in the Southern Martial World. As Wei Heng traveled toward Fengyang, Xu Hongru attacked his ships and smashed him through the deck.

• Yang Tiansheng told Yang Yinghao that Yang Erlang had helped him at Bright Summit and asked his father to arrange a meeting between the leaders of the Three Teachings.
• Yang Tiansheng proposed handing Greenwood Hall over to the Court first to test the amnesty, and Yang Yinghao eventually let him proceed after a heated argument.
• News spread that Yang Erlang would mediate between the Bright Cult, White Lotus Cult, and Five Poisons Divine Sect, prompting sharply divided reactions across the Southern Martial World.
• Wei Heng received Yang Tiansheng’s letter in Western Hunan and led Western Factory elites downstream toward Fengyang.
• Xu Hongru blocked Wei Heng’s ships near Jiujiang, identified himself as the White Lotus Cult’s Western Heavenly King, and attacked.
• Xu Hongru overwhelmed Wei Heng’s defenses and smashed him through the ship’s deck into the cabin below.

Yang Ge learned that Wei Heng had been assassinated and mourned the old eunuch, whose quiet help had repeatedly protected him and his allies. Xiao Baoqi and Hooligan rushed to warn their organizations, while Yang Ge was left thinking of Wei Heng as an old friend gone on a long journey.

• Flea told Yang Ge that Wei Heng had been killed on the Yangtze and that the Western Factory had found his body but not his head.
• Yang Ge crushed his rocking chair's armrest when he heard Wei Heng's head was missing, then ordered Flea to report any new information.
• Flea explained Wei Heng's importance to Yang Ge, and Xiao Baoqi and Hooligan hurried off to check whether their cults were involved.
• Yang Ge remembered how Wei Heng had helped him in earlier cases and regretted treating him coldly the last time they met.
• Zhao Miao found Yang Ge staring at his upside-down book, and he told her he was thinking of an old friend who had gone on a long journey.

At Road Pavilion Wharf, Yang Ge mourned Wei Heng and learned that a mysterious attacker had killed him while he traveled to meet Yang Tiansheng. Despite Shen Fa warning that the attack was a trap aimed at Yang Ge, Yang Ge resolved to go to Bright Summit in seven days, leaving Road Pavilion and the Old Liu Family in Shen Fa’s care.

• Yang Ge met Fang Ke at the wharf and boarded the emperor’s ships to pay respects to Wei Heng’s coffin.
• Yang Ge demanded Cao Ying’s account, and Cao Ying described how a man claiming to be Xu Hongru intercepted Wei Heng near Jiujiang and attacked him with Bright Cult martial arts.
• Yang Ge and Shen Fa concluded that Wei Heng’s killing was likely part of a trap meant to draw Yang Ge out, though Shen Fa warned him not to go.
• Yang Ge insisted he would pursue the attackers to repay Wei Heng and protect others, and told Shen Fa to prepare to take Zhao Miao and Zhao Hong from the inn.
• Yang Ge gave Shen Fa seven days to make arrangements before he set out for Bright Summit, and Shen Fa confessed that he had once sent Ding Man to Yang Ge’s inn.

Yang Ge persuaded Liu Mang to leave his martial hall and start a grain business in Capital City with his family, while arranging for Zhao Miao to return there early. As Yang Ge and Zhao Miao walked home, she pressed him about their future, but he remained wary of her father and refused to spend New Year in Capital City.

• Yang Ge told Liu Mang that his martial hall brought little reward and considerable risk, then proposed that he open a grain business in Capital City.
• Liu Mang agreed to consider the grain trade, and the old innkeeper approved Yang Ge's plan for the family to travel to Capital City with Fang Ke and the others.
• The old innkeeper said he would wait in Capital City for Yang Ge, who expected to return to Road Pavilion in ten days or a fortnight if his plans went smoothly.
• Zhao Miao questioned Yang Ge about sending her back to Capital City early and asked him to spend New Year with her there.
• Yang Ge said he distrusted Zhao Miao's father and postponed discussing their relationship; Zhao Miao threatened to return to Road Pavilion, then ran as Yang Ge chased after her.