Recaps

Song Xuan investigated the apparent suicide of Master Shen’s wife after Song Qian insisted she had been murdered. Song Qian’s observation of the missing rope-friction marks persuaded Song Xuan that the case needed further scrutiny, and he warned her not to endanger herself again.

• Lu Xiaoliu told Song Xuan that Song Qian, Lin Daiyu, and Lu Qingshuang had found a woman hanging in a grove and reported it to the Ping'an County Yamen.
• Song Xuan arrived at the yamen and learned from Magistrate Chen Huaili that Master Shen’s wife had argued with her husband before being found dead, while Master Shen claimed an alibi.
• Chen Huaili said he believed Madam Shen had committed suicide, but Song Qian maintained that the death was murder.
• Song Qian explained that she had tried hanging herself and noticed that a person’s struggle left friction marks on the rope and tree, marks missing from the scene.
• Song Xuan scolded Song Qian for risking her life, then told her to ask him about investigations instead of trying dangerous experiments.

Song Xuan questioned Squire Shen about his movements and exposed his lies, forcing him to confess to murdering his wife. Song Xuan left the rest of the case to the stunned Chen Huaili.

• Song Qian criticized Chen Huaili for treating the murder case casually, and Song Xuan warned her about her own enjoyment of killing.
• Chen Huaili ordered Squire Shen tortured to force a confession.
• Song Xuan questioned Squire Shen about his wine, route, and a funeral procession, catching him in several lies.
• Song Xuan asked what Squire Shen had done the night before his wife's murder and threatened to take him to the Black Robe Guard Imperial Prison.
• Squire Shen broke down and confessed to killing his wife, and Song Xuan left Chen Huaili to handle the case.

Song Xuan’s interrogation method helped Magistrate Chen Huaili expose Wang Shi’s false testimony and confession, while Song Xuan returned to the Inspection Office and showed signs of grasping sword intent. At the Song home, Song Qian promised to teach Lin Daiyu martial arts so they could roam the jianghu together.

• Song Qian praised her role in solving the case as Song Xuan led her and their companions away, while Lin Daiyu reconsidered her view of him.
• Chen Huaili questioned Wang Shi about his story and debt to Shen Youliang, and Wang Shi broke down and confessed to giving false testimony.
• Chen Huaili ordered his secretary to bring him the backlog of cases so he could investigate them through the night.
• Song Xuan returned to the Inspection Office and spent the afternoon standing with his sword, prompting Zhao Dezhu to suspect he was beginning to comprehend sword intent.
• Song Qian let Lin Daiyu cover the marks on her neck and promised to teach her martial arts so they could roam the jianghu together.

Song Qian met Lu Qingxue, who had returned after years away, and learned why she had fled before her engagement to Song Qian's brother. Lu Qingxue revealed that he had agreed to marry her but immobilized her when she tried to secure their relationship, leaving Song Qian stunned by their strange misunderstanding.

• Song Qian received a letter from Lu Qingxue and left Lin Daiyu at home to meet her by West Lake.
• Lu Qingxue asked Song Qian to call her Sister Qingxue, but Song Qian accused her of abandoning her family and brother years earlier.
• Lu Qingxue said she had just returned from training and had not known Song Qian's brother was visiting pleasure houses.
• Lu Qingxue explained that she loved Song Qian's brother, agreed to wait ten years for marriage, and proposed they consummate their relationship first.
• Lu Qingxue said Song Qian's brother struck her acupoints and immobilized her when she began to undress, and Song Qian called them both twisted.

Lu Qingxue told Song Qian how Song Xuan had humiliated her years ago, then explained that she had become Inviting Moon, a direct disciple of the Flower Shifting Palace. Just as she began to reconsider whether Song Xuan had acted out of some hidden difficulty, she spotted him entering a pleasure house and condemned him as a bastard.

• Lu Qingxue told Song Qian that Song Xuan had sealed her acupoints, rolled her in a bedsheet, hung her from a roof beam, and chanted a Buddhist mantra at her all night.
• Lu Qingxue revealed that she had joined the Flower Shifting Palace and become the palace mistress's direct disciple, taking the name Inviting Moon.
• Lu Qingxue said she had returned to bring Qingshuang to the Flower Shifting Palace and invited Song Qian, who declined and praised Song Xuan's martial talent.
• Song Qian asked whether Song Xuan might have had a hidden difficulty, and Lu Qingxue began to regret leaving without speaking to him.
• Lu Qingxue saw Song Xuan and Lu Xiaoliu walking arm in arm into a pleasure house and declared that Song Xuan was simply a bastard.

Song Xuan learned that Lu Qingxue had returned as the Flower Shifting Palace’s young palace mistress and planned to take Qingshuang away. After they met on a rooftop, Song Xuan agreed that he would marry Lu Qingxue in five years.

• Song Qian told Song Xuan that Lu Qingxue had returned and would take Qingshuang to the Flower Shifting Palace.
• Song Qian questioned Song Xuan about his health supplements and Lu Qingxue’s feelings, but he refused to explain his secrets.
• Song Xuan recalled how he and Lu Qingxue had discussed his dream of becoming a sword immortal when they were young.
• Song Xuan went to a rooftop, where Lu Qingxue appeared and teased him about refusing her advances years earlier.
• Lu Qingxue asked whether Song Xuan still meant to marry her after ten years, and he agreed to keep his promise.
• Lu Qingxue said she would take Qingshuang away the next morning and wait five more years for Song Xuan to marry her.

Song Xuan learned that Lu Qingxue had become the Flower Shifting Palace’s junior palace mistress, then received a promotion and a posting to Mingzhou with Song Qian. Zhao Dezhu warned them that the local commander’s death was suspicious and urged them to prioritize survival, assuring them that powerful support in the capital stood behind them.

• Song Xuan reflected on Lu Qingxue’s rise as the Flower Shifting Palace’s junior palace mistress and left beneath the moonlight.
• The Imperial Capital’s redistribution of power neared its end, and the Zhou Emperor questioned a report of a martial artist drowning after becoming drunk.
• The Zhou Emperor suspected that someone had infiltrated the Black Robe Guard and ordered the commander summoned.
• Song Xuan was promoted to hundred-household commander, and Song Qian became deputy hundred-household commander.
• Zhao Dezhu assigned Song Xuan to fill a suspicious vacancy in Mingzhou and permitted him to bring only Song Qian.
• Zhao Dezhu warned the siblings to stay alive, use their authority when necessary, and remember that he, the commander, and the emperor stood behind them.

Song Xuan learned that his promotion required him to investigate a mysterious death and possible infiltration in Jiangzhe Prefecture, so he and Song Qian prepared to leave for their new posts. Lin Daiyu asked to accompany them to visit her living father, Lin Ruhai, and Song Xuan agreed.

• Zhao Dezhu told Song Xuan that a Xu Household hundred-household commander had died mysteriously in Jiangzhe Prefecture, and suspected the local Thousand-Household Office had been infiltrated.
• Song Xuan returned home and told Song Qian that he had become a hundred-household commander while Song Qian had been made a deputy commander.
• Song Xuan told Song Qian and Lin Daiyu that they would leave for Jiangzhe Prefecture the morning after tomorrow to fill the dead commander's post.
• Song Qian joked that they should dig up the dead commander's grave, and Song Xuan agreed that it could help confirm certain things.
• Lin Daiyu asked Song Xuan to take her to Jiangzhe Prefecture so she could visit her father, Lin Ruhai, and Song Xuan apologized for thinking he was dead.
• Song Xuan agreed to take Lin Daiyu, who planned to return to the Jia Mansion to ask the Old Matriarch's permission before leaving.

Song Xuan and Song Qian went to the Jia Mansion to bring Lin Daiyu home, but Jia She refused to let her leave and insulted them. Song Xuan summoned the Black Robe Guards, leaving Jia She terrified as they gathered outside the mansion.

• Song Yuanshan advised Song Xuan to take it easy at work and return home if trouble became unbearable.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian arrived at the Jia Mansion to collect Lin Daiyu and escort her home.
• Jia She dismissed their request, claimed Lin Daiyu could not decide to leave, and ordered them away.
• Song Xuan stopped Song Qian from attacking and told her to call in backup.
• Song Qian fired a signal arrow, and Black Robe Guards arrived until they nearly filled the street.
• Jia She called the confrontation a misunderstanding and trembled at the sight of the assembled guards.

Song Xuan and Song Qian confronted the Jia Mansion after Jia She refused to let Lin Daiyu leave, and the Black Robe Guards surrounded the estate. Faced with their threat, Jia Mu let Daiyu go, and Daiyu left the inner residence to join her cousins.

• Song Xuan gave Jia She fifteen minutes to send Lin Daiyu out or face the Black Robe Guards entering the mansion.
• Song Qian explained the dispute to the gathered guards, who threatened to search the Jia Mansion and arrest its residents.
• Jia Zheng apologized to Song Xuan for Jia She's insults, but Song Xuan insisted that the deadline still stood.
• Jia Mu learned that the Black Robe Guards had surrounded the mansion because Jia She had offended Lin Daiyu's cousins.
• Jia Mu asked Lin Daiyu if she truly wished to leave, and Lin Daiyu affirmed her resolve.
• Lin Daiyu kowtowed to Jia Mu three times and walked out of the inner residence.

Lin Daiyu left the Jia Mansion with Song Xuan and Song Qian, escorted by a large procession of Black Robe Guards after Song Xuan caused a commotion outside the gates. The incident reached the Imperial Study, where the emperor began asking for details.

• Lin Daiyu packed her things and said goodbye to her young friends, who teased her about her cousin and marriage.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian met Lin Daiyu at the Jia Mansion gates, where a crowd of Black Robe Guards had gathered.
• Song Xuan's men loudly called Lin Daiyu their cousin, then formed ranks to escort her carriage out of the city.
• Jia Zheng remarked on Song Xuan's influence in the Black Robe Guard, while Jia She hurried back to change after his fright.
• A Black Robe Guard reported the commotion to Zhao Dezhu, who dismissed it as youthful impulsiveness.
• The emperor heard that the Black Robe Guard had blockaded the Rongguo Duke Mansion and asked for more details.

The emperor declined to intervene in the Jia Mansion dispute or openly support Lin Ruhai, while Song Xuan traveled south with Lin Daiyu and Song Qian. Aboard the ship, Song Xuan met the young Lin Pingzhi and reflected on the tragic fate he knew awaited him.

• The emperor learned that the Jia Mansion had blocked Lin Daiyu from leaving and rejected the suggestion that Song Xuan assist Lin Ruhai with salt administration.
• Song Xuan took his party to the docks and traveled by boat toward Jiangzhe Prefecture, considering Great Zhou's vast territory and its resemblance to the world of his former game's setting.
• Several days later, Lin Daiyu stayed in her cabin with seasickness while Song Qian cooked a barbecue on deck with Song Xuan.
• Lin Pingzhi, the young master of the Fuwei Escort Agency, joined Song Xuan and Song Qian, and Song Xuan noted that the unassuming boy had not yet faced the fate of the story he knew.

Song Xuan, Song Qian, and Lin Daiyu left their ship during a harbor stop and joined a village wedding, where Song Xuan offered the newlyweds a poetic blessing. At an inn that night, Lin Daiyu asked about his words, and Song Qian began telling her the Legend of the White Snake.

• Song Xuan took Song Qian and Lin Daiyu ashore to explore while Lin Pingzhi stayed behind to guard the ship and cargo.
• The three found a village celebrating a wedding, and the villagers invited them to join the feast.
• Song Xuan and his companions watched the wedding rites and shared a meal with the guests.
• At the newlyweds' toast, Song Xuan wished them a long and loving marriage with a poetic blessing.
• At the county inn, Lin Daiyu asked Song Qian where Song Xuan's blessing came from, and Song Qian began recounting the Legend of the White Snake.

Song Xuan and Song Qian intervened after learning that the bride from the previous night’s wedding had reported the murder of her family and been beaten by the corrupt county magistrate. After Song Xuan killed the magistrate, they disguised themselves as bandits and set out with the bride to investigate the crime.

• Song Qian recognized the injured bride beating the drum at the County Yamen, and townspeople said her family had been murdered in Radiant Spring Village.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian fought their way into the yamen and rescued the bride from the bailiffs and magistrate.
• The bride told them that the prefect’s son and an older accomplice had murdered her husband and his family, then raped her.
• The magistrate confessed that he knew about the murders and had planned to imprison the bride for the prefect’s son.
• Song Xuan killed the magistrate at the bride’s request, and the group covered their faces and left to inspect her house.

After the bride poisoned herself, Song Xuan and Song Qian decided to pursue justice by killing the people responsible. They attacked the commandery governor’s son’s Manor, where Song Xuan began cutting down its defenders.

• Song Xuan and Song Qian found the Zhang family murdered, buried them, and promised justice to the surviving bride.
• The bride poisoned herself after asking Song Xuan whether her family’s killers would die; Song Qian buried her with her husband.
• Song Xuan chose to kill rather than follow legal procedures, and Lin Daiyu insisted on coming along to witness the culprit’s death.
• Song Qian confirmed that the commandery governor’s son was staying at a Manor, and Song Xuan smashed through its gates in the rain.
• Several armed men charged Song Xuan, but he killed them with droplets flicked from his paper umbrella and fixed his attention on a pale-faced young man.

Song Xuan killed the prefect’s son and Zhou Tailai after avenging the woman they had harmed, while Lin Daiyu joined in by stabbing the son herself. He postponed dealing with the prefect’s family, then gained insight into the Xiantian Realm during a long period of meditation aboard the ship.

• Song Xuan confronted the prefect’s son, killed his guards with an exploding paper umbrella, and drew Zhou Tailai out of hiding.
• Song Xuan defeated Zhou Tailai with a single strike of Sword Qi after the elder attacked him.
• Lin Daiyu took a saber and killed the wounded prefect’s son, telling Song Xuan that she would not reveal what had happened.
• Song Xuan said he would deal with the prefect’s family when he had time, then returned to the ship with Song Qian and Lin Daiyu.
• Song Xuan meditated on the ship for more than four hours and sensed that he was approaching the Xiantian Realm.
• Song Xuan asked Lin Pingzhi to bring the barbecue grill and two jars of wine for Song Qian.

Song Xuan advised Lin Pingzhi to trust his own judgment and revealed that he and Song Qian served in the Black Robe Guard, though they were headed to Jiangzhe Prefecture. Meanwhile, a commandery governor grieved over his murdered son and decided to report the killing to the Black Robe Guard.

• Song Xuan grilled food with Lin Pingzhi and advised him not to let other people’s opinions dictate his choices.
• Song Qian joked that Song Xuan would become invincible and marry many wives, while Song Xuan and Lin Pingzhi discussed their work and future contact in Jiangzhe Prefecture.
• Song Qian revealed that she and Song Xuan worked for the Black Robe Guard, and Song Xuan warned Lin Pingzhi to consider the consequences before acting.
• In River City Commandery, the governor learned that his son and the guards had been killed by a skilled swordsman, and he ordered a report sent to the Black Robe Guard.

Song Xuan discussed the three realms of reading with Lin Daiyu, then explained his understanding of the Sword Dao to Song Qian. He outlined the first three of its five realms, leaving his explanation unfinished.

• Lin Daiyu asked Song Xuan whether he was fond of Lin Pingzhi and what kinds of books he read.
• Song Xuan described three realms of reading and recited verses Lin Daiyu suspected he had written himself.
• Song Qian teased Song Xuan about having a matchmaking date with Lin Daiyu, then asked him about martial arts.
• Song Xuan told Song Qian that mastery required developing one's own understanding and divided the Sword Dao into five realms.
• Song Xuan explained the sharp sword, flexible sword, and heavy sword realms.

Song Xuan explained his theories about the five realms of swordsmanship and considered how to obtain a powerful sword art. After arriving in Yangzhou with Song Qian and Lin Daiyu, he headed for the Jiangzhe Prefecture Salt Commission Office to see Lin Daiyu’s father, Lin Ruhai.

• Song Xuan described the fourth and fifth sword realms to Song Qian, who marveled at his ideas and asked which realm he had reached.
• Song Xuan said he was at most in the second realm and weighed obtaining the Lin Household’s Evil-Repelling Swordplay against seeking Dugu Nine Swords from Linghu Chong.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian discussed swordsmanship late into the night, and Song Xuan spent the rest of the evening contemplating his path ahead.
• Three days later, the ship reached Yangzhou without encountering pirates or bandits, and Song Xuan, Song Qian, and Lin Daiyu said farewell to Lin Pingzhi.
• Song Xuan hired a carriage and directed the driver to take them to the Jiangzhe Prefecture Salt Commission Office, where Lin Ruhai served as Salt Commissioner.

Song Xuan and Song Qian escorted Lin Daiyu to the Salt Commission Office, where they learned Lin Ruhai was gravely ill. When Daiyu reached her father’s bedside, Song Xuan stopped her and declared that Lin Ruhai had been poisoned.

• Song Xuan learned that Lin Ruhai had ruthlessly suppressed salt merchants and was now bedridden, while merchants celebrated his illness.
• Song Xuan reassured Lin Daiyu that a Lesser Rejuvenation Pill could save her father if he was still alive.
• Lin Daiyu presented her jade pendant to the Salt Soldiers, who let the group enter the guarded Salt Commission Office.
• Nanny Wu welcomed Lin Daiyu and led her and her cousins to Lin Ruhai’s quarters.
• Lin Daiyu rushed to her father’s bedside, but Song Xuan stopped her and identified Lin Ruhai’s condition as poisoning.

Song Xuan discovered that Lin Ruhai had been poisoned through the incense and saved him with a Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, though Lin Ruhai had only about ten years left. After Lin Ruhai reunited with Lin Daiyu, his old guard identified the poison as Thousand-Day Drunk, and Lin Daiyu invited Song Xuan inside to speak with her father.

• Song Xuan sensed poison in the incense and threw the burner out of Lin Ruhai's room.
• Song Xuan gave Lin Ruhai a Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, which neutralized the poison but could not restore the years of life it had cost him.
• Lin Ruhai told Lin Daiyu he regretted sending her to the Jia Mansion, and the two tearfully reunited.
• Song Xuan took Song Qian outside, where Lin Ruhai's old guard identified the poison as the rare, slow-acting Thousand-Day Drunk.
• Lin Daiyu told Song Xuan that Lin Ruhai wanted to discuss something with him and asked him to go inside.

Song Xuan visited Lin Ruhai, who had recovered from his poison and reunited with Lin Daiyu, and learned that Jiangzhe Prefecture’s officials might be colluding with the Martial World. After Song Xuan and Song Qian left to dig up a grave, Lin Ruhai’s guard warned that the siblings’ strength was difficult to judge and that they might break through during a fight to the death.

• Song Xuan greeted Lin Ruhai, who thanked him and Song Qian for helping reunite him with Lin Daiyu.
• Lin Ruhai warned Song Xuan that Jiangzhe Prefecture was dangerous, with salt merchants, officials, and the Martial World tangled together.
• Song Xuan wondered whether his father had hidden influence after Lin Ruhai said he could have prevented the siblings’ appointment.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian declined Lin Daiyu’s meal and left to dig up a grave.
• Lin Ruhai asked his black-robed guard to assess the siblings, and the guard said he might win a spar but would likely die in a fight to the death.

Song Xuan and Song Qian confirmed that Xu Chang'an had been murdered, then rode to take up their posts at the Black Robe Guard's Thousand-Household Office in Yangzhou. Song Xuan intended to test the local office and purge it if necessary, carrying out Zhao Dezhu's plan to establish the hereditary Black Robe Guard lineages' strength.

• Lin Ruhai and Elder Feng discussed Song Xuan's abilities and agreed that Elder Feng might help him if needed.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian exhumed Xu Chang'an's body and found that he had been killed before entering the water, with his heart shattered by a martial technique.
• Song Qian said Xu Chang'an's murder challenged all hereditary Black Robe Guard lineages, and Song Xuan anticipated a journey of slaughter.
• Song Xuan donned his hundred-household commander's robes, and he and Song Qian rode toward the Yangzhou Thousand-Household Office to take up their posts.
• Song Xuan resolved to purge the local Black Robe Guards if they proved unusable, following Zhao Dezhu's instruction to establish their might.

Song Xuan arrived at the Jiangzhe Prefecture Thousand-Household Office to take up his post as hundred-household commander and Imperial Prison pacification commissioner. He confronted thousand-household commander Fang Cheng and his officers, who resented his appointment and had discussed making sure he never took office.

• Fang Cheng and his officers discussed Song Xuan's appointment, while Fang Cheng resented losing control of the Imperial Prison.
• A trusted hundred-household commander suggested arranging Song Xuan's death, and Fang Cheng rebuked him while signaling that he would welcome an accident.
• Song Xuan and Song Qian entered the office after Song Xuan's men threw several junior banner commanders inside.
• Song Xuan introduced himself and confronted Fang Cheng, who remained seated and considered how his local support could overpower the newcomer.

Song Xuan demanded the Pacification Commissioner’s seal from the officials at the Thousand-Household Office and asserted that he would make the rules there. After Song Qian killed the seal-holding Hundred-household Officer and handed Song Xuan the seal, some officials backed away while others challenged him.

• Song Xuan confronted Thousand-household Officer Fang Cheng and demanded the Pacification Commissioner’s seal, declaring that he would make the rules at the office.
• Fang Cheng’s trusted fat Hundred-household Officer refused to hand over the seal, so Song Xuan ordered Song Qian to kill him.
• Song Qian killed the fat Hundred-household Officer and retrieved the seal from his body, and Song Xuan took it.
• Song Xuan threatened the officials, prompting several Hundred-household Officers and Banner Captains to put away their weapons and withdraw from the dispute.
• A Banner Captain pointed his saber at Song Xuan and accused him of rebellion, warning that the Son of Heaven would not spare him.