Imperial Capital

Biodata

Geography and Travel

• Continental junction: Great Zhou’s provinces are separated by seas, with the Imperial Capital standing at the junction connecting all nine continents 37.
• Eastern outskirts: The Song family lives in a courtyard residence on a street corner in this area 1.
• Surrounding countryside: Wooded hills outside the city provide Song Xuan with a place to cultivate and practice swordsmanship 23 24.
• Shanyin County: Located in Mingzhou, just over eight hundred li from the capital; the journey takes Song Xuan’s mounted party only a few days 9.
• Jiangzhe Prefecture: Described by Jia Mu as more than a thousand li away, with mountain bandits and river pirates threatening travelers along the route 35.
• Southbound sea travel: Song Xuan’s party leaves through the docks and subsequently sails south along the Eastern Sea toward Jiangzhe Prefecture 37.

Notable Locations

Government and Security

Imperial Court

• The capital contains numerous powerful nobles, including dukes, marquises, and counts 25.
• The emperor uses appointments, dismissals, and the redistribution of confiscated wealth to rebalance court factions 21 25 32.
• Major provincial cases can reach the capital’s Inspection Office, while the Adjudication Office brings prisoners and case files back for judgment by higher authorities 9 19.

Black Robe Guard

The capital’s Black Robe Guard represents imperial authority and possesses extensive investigative and coercive powers 1 8.

• Duties: Investigation, court floggings, foreign intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, arrests, and interrogation 1.
• Organization: Its Inspection, Enforcement, and Adjudication Offices are connected but relatively independent, each maintaining its own headquarters 6.
• Street duties: Third-class guards patrol streets and intimidate gangs; many such posts serve as comfortable positions for privileged noble descendants 1.
• Provincial intervention: Reports to the capital can bring stronger personnel against criminal-protecting martial sects, potentially including first-class guards 17.
• Public reputation: Citizens, vendors, shop assistants, and even patrolling soldiers show fear when they see Black Robe Guard uniforms 8.

Hereditary Lineages

• The capital houses Great Zhou’s one hundred and twenty hereditary Black Robe Guard lineages, including the Song and Xu households 1 33.
• Their service descends from ancestors who followed the Founding Emperor in expanding the realm; they remain among the emperor’s most trusted forces 32 33.
• The lineages regard an attack on one household as a challenge to them collectively 48.
• Many have declined through dwindling membership, extinguished succession lines, or loss of actual strength despite retaining their names 48.

City Guard Army

• Columns of the City Guard Army patrol the capital’s streets, including during the busy morning of the Imperial Examination 8.

City Life and Martial Reputation

• Prosperity: The ancient city is exceptionally prosperous, with noisy streets, roadside businesses, horses, and crowds active early in the morning 8.
• Imperial Examination: The triennial examination draws scholars carrying book cases toward the inner city 8.
• Noble disturbances: Zhao Dezhu attributes the unusually quiet streets after the Tian Household’s fall to privileged young nobles avoiding trouble during the court’s power struggle 25.
• Concentration of experts: Zhao Dezhu states that the capital’s powerful nobles and martial experts discourage people from openly resorting to violence 32.
• Hidden strength: Huang Yaoshi describes the city as full of “crouching tigers and hidden dragons.” After encountering Song Xuan, Huang Rong accepts that warning and leaves for Mingzhou 24.
• Prestige beyond the city: Provincial residents treat capital connections as a source of protection and status; villagers give Song Xuan’s party seats of honor after learning where they came from 15 38.

Story Role and Major Events

Song Xuan’s Early Base

After unsuccessful attempts to find treasures using his former game’s walkthrough, Song Xuan settles into cultivation in the capital for nearly twenty years 37. The opening follows him and Song Qian leaving their family home for the Black Robe Guard assessment. Their promotion changes their work from routine capital duties to investigating specific cases outside the city 1 6.

Tian Household Case and Court Reshuffle

The Adjudication Office escorts the Tian Household suspects and their case files to the capital after Song Xuan’s investigation 19. The scandal exposes falsification within the Ministry of Justice, prompting the emperor to dismiss its minister and pursue collusion between central and local officials 21.

The resulting power redistribution temporarily quiets the capital. By its conclusion, the Ministry of Revenue’s right vice minister becomes acting minister, other factions gain vacant offices, and half the Tian Household’s confiscated assets reportedly add more than ten million taels to the Imperial Treasury 25 32.

Sword Qi on the Outskirts

While cultivating in the wooded hills outside the city, Song Xuan discovers how to release Sword Qi without advancing beyond the ninth stage of Houtian. The strike cuts a trench into the ground and terrifies nearby travelers 23. His subsequent exchange with Huang Rong secures the Spiral Nine Shadows lightness skill and convinces her to abandon the capital 24.

Provincial Appointment and Jia Mansion Blockade

A suspicious report of Xu Chang’an’s drunken drowning leads the emperor to suspect infiltration of the Black Robe Guard. Song Xuan and Song Qian receive promotions and orders to fill the vacancy in Jiangzhe Prefecture 32 33.

Before departure, Jia She refuses to release Lin Daiyu into their care. Two or three hundred Black Robe Guards gather around the Rongguo Duke Mansion, forcing the household to let her leave 34 35. Zhao Dezhu dismisses concerns about the disturbance, and the emperor declines to intervene; Song Xuan’s party then departs for the south 36 37.