Recaps

Wang Yang argued Liu Tan out of rashly sending troops against the suspected ambush at Tiger Head Pass, warning that they lacked vital information and would risk provoking a frontier conflict. After Feng Yiling revealed the Duke’s instruction to “Follow Wang Yang alone,” Liu Tan accepted Wang Yang’s lead, and Wang Yang said the delegation already had a path to survival that he might reveal.

• Wang Yang explained why Han Xin’s strategy of fighting with a river at his back could not be copied without understanding the battle’s circumstances, and warned Liu Tan that an unauthorized intervention could make him responsible for a frontier conflict.
• Liu Tan insisted they seek outside help, but Wang Yang told him he trusted only Liu Tan; Liu Tan apologized and renewed his demand for a plan that could protect the delegation.
• Liu Tan proposed sending troops ashore and accepting the consequences, while Wang Yang challenged his assumptions about the enemy, his forces, and the consequences of war.
• Feng Yiling interrupted the argument to speak privately with Liu Tan, and Wang Yang asked them to bring him more fermented rice and red bean soup and grape nectar.
• Feng Yiling told Liu Tan that the Duke’s letter included the instruction “Follow Wang Yang alone,” so Liu Tan returned and agreed to follow Wang Yang’s plan.
• Wang Yang told Liu Tan that the delegation already had a way to survive and that he would point it out if he could.

Li Jingxuan and Kong Changyu helped the Prince of Badong strengthen his ambush plans, while Wang Yang chose a dangerous detour through Great Bamboo Ridge to reach Wuyang Gorge. Kong Changyu then urged the prince to secretly send experts to ambush that route, as Wang Yang prepared to leave and visit the Yu Residence.

• Li Jingxuan identified the Ju River as a flaw in the death trap and persuaded the Prince of Badong to have boats patrol it and add an ambush at Goose Duke Ridge.
• Wang Yang rejected Goose Duke Ridge and chose to travel through Great Bamboo Ridge, despite the route being longer and wild barbarians roaming there.
• After Li Jingxuan and Kong Changyu left, the Prince of Badong tested his plan with red beans, then received Kong Changyu, who warned that Wang Yang might avoid Goose Duke Ridge.
• Kong Changyu proposed sending expert fighters to ambush Great Bamboo Ridge, and the Prince of Badong approved before leaving the hall.
• Wang Yang told Chen Qing Shan that Liu Tan had arranged a long spear for her on the boat and headed with her toward the Yu Residence to say goodbye.

Wang Yang visited Yu Yi to discuss a secret route into barbarian territory under the guise of describing a dream, and subtly sought extra protection for his diplomatic mission. After Wang Yang left, Yu Yi began a letter but burned it, reflecting that the Imperial Will was difficult to fathom.

• Yu Yuling and Yu Qianlou watched the meeting from outside, joking about being excluded and trading quotations they had heard from Wang Yang.
• Yu Yi questioned whether the Prince or Wang Yang's uncle had proposed the diplomatic mission, then warned that the journey carried risks.
• Wang Yang described a dream route through dangerous territory and asked Yu Yi to lend him expert guards.
• Yu Yi hinted that wandering heroes might come to Wang Yang's aid, and Wang Yang thanked him for interpreting the dream.
• Yu Yi started writing a letter, stopped, burned it, and sighed that the Imperial Will was difficult to fathom.

Kong Changyu endured Wang Yi’s exhausting sightseeing and then accompanied him to Zhiqi Temple to seek an audience with Chan Master Hui. Wang Yi was admitted alone and was stunned when a handsome young man greeted him as “Uncle Wang.”

• Kong Changyu recounted how Wang Yi had dragged him through days of searches, excursions, late-night boating, and an unwanted visit with a crowd of beauties.
• Wang Yi discussed Buddhist contemplation of death on the slippery path, then asked to meet Chan Master Hui at Zhiqi Temple.
• A monk initially refused Wang Yi’s request, but Wang Yi patiently explained that he was leaving in three days and asked again.
• Chan Master Hui invited Wang Yi inside alone, while Kong Changyu asked the monks where he could sleep.
• A Guest-Master Monk led Wang Yi through the monastery to a secluded courtyard, where a handsome young man in white called him “Uncle Wang.”

Xiao Baoyue met with Wang Yi to discuss how the emperor had learned of Wang Yang’s imprisonment and Wang Yi’s ties to him. Wang Yi praised Wang Yang’s character despite his schemes, while Xiao Baoyue remained wary of Wang Yi’s political intentions.

• Wang Yi told Xiao Baoyue that the emperor knew Wang Yang was his clansman and had ordered him to comfort Wang Yang after hearing about the injustice from Qiu Xiong.
• Wang Yi explained that Qiu Xiong had identified Wang Yang to the emperor after hearing him cited during Du Qianguang’s lecture at the Academy of State Sons.
• Xiao Baoyue offered Wang Yi the governorship of Kuaiji in exchange for helping the Crown Prince, but Wang Yi avoided committing himself to a political side.
• Wang Yi wondered whether Wang Yang was truly a member of the Wang Clan and praised his bearing, learning, and talent.
• Xiao Baoyue listed Wang Yang’s scams and petty bargaining, but Wang Yi laughed and said those traits added warmth and vitality to his character.

Xiao Baoyue and Wang Yi debated whether to save or kill Wang Yang, whose abilities made him difficult to deal with. Wang Yi left after questioning whether Xiao Baoyue could have survived the dangers Wang Yang had faced, leaving her silent and shaken by his judgment that neither of them was Wang Yang’s equal.

• Xiao Baoyue admitted she had not investigated the mysterious man because he might be connected to the Prince of Badong, and told Wang Yi she was leaving Jingzhou that night.
• Xiao Baoyue and Wang Yi questioned each other about whether they planned to save or kill Wang Yang, while Wang Yi argued that Wang Yang could likely handle the danger himself.
• Xin Yi interrupted to claim Wang Yang had inherited the Arcane Curve Finger and was skilled with poison, prompting Xiao Baoyue to order the guards to string her up.
• Xiao Baoyue said she would kill Wang Yang if necessary, while Wang Yi suggested neither of them could truly kill him.
• Wang Yi asked whether Xiao Baoyue could have survived in Wang Yang’s place, then left, telling her that neither of them was Wang Yang’s equal.

With Wang Yang refusing visitors before his diplomatic departure, Xie Xinghan entered the residence and outfitted him with travel supplies, horses, and guards. After the household caught Wang Yang performing a failed magic trick, he accepted the gifts and asked what wages the guards would receive.

• Wang Yang ordered the gatekeepers to turn away visitors, but Black Han let Xie Xinghan enter without asking him.
• Xie Xinghan, Chen Qing Shan, and Little A-Wu watched Wang Yang perform a trick that ended in a burst of flames.
• Xie Xinghan gave Wang Yang travel supplies and two Liaoxi Black Steeds, one for him and one for Chen Qing Shan.
• Xie Xinghan assigned four skilled household guards to follow Wang Yang, and he accepted them as his attendants.
• Wang Yang asked Xie Xinghan how much the four guards' monthly wages were.

Wang Yang accepted Xie Xinghan’s four guards and set generous wages for them and Black Han while asking Black Han to find people with unusual skills. After Xie Xinghan fled with Wang Yang’s mysterious gift, she secretly opened the brocade pouch in her room.

• Xie Xinghan told Wang Yang the guards’ wages, and he insisted on paying them himself despite her offer to cover the cost.
• Wang Yang gave Xie Xinghan a brocade pouch and asked her to wait five days before opening it, but she fled after stumbling into his arms.
• Wang Yang raised Black Han’s monthly wages and instructed him to find performers or other people with specified skills.
• Wang Yang restored the four guards’ original surnames—Zhao Fei, Qian Zhan, Sun Ju, and Li Lin—and increased their wages.
• Xie Xinghan relived her embarrassment in bed, then secretly retrieved Wang Yang’s pouch and began opening it.

Xie Xinghan opened the nested brocade pouches Wang Yang had left her and found a cryptic final message, while Huang Xian tricked Le Xiaopang into paying him to dispel a fabricated curse. After Le Xiaopang brought Wang Yang supplies and an invitation, Huang Xian arrived with the clothes Wang Yang had commissioned, leaving Le Xiaopang stunned by their connection.

• Xie Xinghan opened pouch after pouch despite Wang Yang’s warnings, then found a final note telling her to turn back without understanding its meaning.
• Huang Xian convinced Le Xiaopang that a yin fiend threatened his life, took his money and jade pendant, and claimed to have dispelled the danger.
• Le Xiaopang delivered Wang Yang a farewell-banquet invitation and Madam Le’s extensive travel supplies, then suggested joining Wang Yang’s diplomatic mission.
• Wang Yang explained why he would not involve Le Zhan in the dangerous plan to attack the diplomatic delegation.
• Huang Xian arrived at Wang Yang’s home with the commissioned clothes and returned Le Xiaopang’s money and pendant, calling Wang Yang his master.

On August 1, AD 490, a young clerk at the Waterworks Department learned how officials avoided work even as he worried about a dangerous river blockage. Meanwhile, Wang Yang traveled with the Southern Qi delegation through Heaven’s Gate and fended off Wang Yi’s invitation to admire the scenery by challenging him to a linked-verse game.

• Clerk Jiang and Uncle Li advised the young clerk to avoid ambition, delay routine work, and tailor reports to please Director Liu.
• The young clerk worried that delaying an inspection report could leave the growing obstruction at Jinjin Ferry unaddressed, but Clerk Jiang explained that he had already requested labor, supplies, and a response.
• The Southern Qi delegation passed through Heaven’s Gate with Wang Yang resting in his carriage and Chen Qing Shan anxiously watching over the long spear.
• Wang Yi repeatedly urged Wang Yang to come out and admire the scenery, but Wang Yang refused and recited a string of place names as a linked-verse challenge.
• Wang Yi was unable to match Wang Yang’s couplets and retreated before his campaign could begin.

Xiao Ning misread Wang Yang’s riddle as a promise that he would return, while Wang Yang’s delegation was ambushed near Tiger Head Pass. Wang Yang escaped east with Chen Qing Shan and four guards, but they reached the Ju River before their rescue boats arrived as barbarian riders closed in.

• Xiao Ning decided the fifth character of Wang Yang’s message, “return,” meant he would come back, and Xie Xinghan dismissed her interpretation.
• Wang Yang and Wang Yi exchanged pointed remarks during a rest stop outside Fishbelly Ravine as Wang Yi kept his illness and intentions guarded.
• Five days later, Chen Qing Shan wrapped Wang Yang’s wrist and warned him to flee rather than fight just before the delegation was ambushed near Tiger Head Pass.
• Wang Yi escaped south with more than ten riders, and Wang Yang urged the delegation to protect the chief envoy, drawing the barbarians after the main party.
• Wang Yang, Chen Qing Shan, and four guards rode east toward Tigerhead Shoal, but a barbarian commander spotted them and sent riders in pursuit.
• The six reached the Ju River without finding the expected rescue boats, and the pursuing barbarian riders caught up behind them.

Wang Yang and Chen Qing Shan’s group defeated the pursuing barbarians with a caltrop trap and help from Feng Yiling’s boats, then escaped by river. Elsewhere, a cargo ship sank near Jinjin Ferry, and divers hired to salvage its goods brought up unexpected things.

• Chen Qing Shan killed the barbarian commander and another rider while Wang Yang lured a pursuer into the caltrops and killed him.
• Barbarian archers forced Wang Yang and his companions to retreat to the Ju River, where Feng Yiling arrived with three Red Horse Boats and their archers routed the enemy.
• Chen Qing Shan killed a fleeing barbarian with her lance, and Wang Yang promised the four guards rewards for their part in the fighting.
• Wang Yang and Chen Qing Shan discussed losing two horses as their boats traveled downriver, and Chen Qing Shan shyly offered to keep him.
• A cargo ship ran aground and sank near Jinjin Ferry, prompting its owner to hire Jingzhou swimmers to salvage the lost goods.

The Prince of Badong confronted his advisers after their plan to ambush the court delegation collapsed in the Green Camphor Forest. He ordered them to focus on containing the damage, then heard Guo Wenyuan ask whether Zhang Jue had deliberately sent troops to thwart them.

• The Prince of Badong berated Li Jingxuan over the failed plan and demanded to know why Yongning Commandery Troops had appeared in the Green Camphor Forest.
• Kong Changyu explained Zhang Jue’s feud with Qiu Feier and reported that the bandits likely died in the battle, while Wang Yang remained missing.
• The Prince of Badong angrily ordered his advisers, including Tao Rui, to take and eat melon before demanding a plan for what to do next.
• Kong Changyu proposed taking control of the investigation, finding Wang Yi and Wang Yang, seeking the court’s pardon, and avoiding contact with the Yongning Barbarians.
• Guo Wenyuan asked the Prince of Badong what he would do if Zhang Jue had planned his intervention to counter the ambush.

The Prince of Badong’s advisers debated who had mobilized the Yongning troops and whether the court had uncovered their plot. Li Jingxuan urged an immediate uprising, but the Prince ordered him to stay behind while the others went to dine, then sent him away with a pointedly ominous gift.

• Kong Changyu, Tao Rui, and Chen Qiming debated whether the Son of Heaven or the Eastern Palace had ordered Zhang Jue to deploy the Yongning troops, while Tao Rui rejected the Eastern Palace as the culprit.
• Guo Wenyuan urged the Prince of Badong to prepare for the worst, and the other advisers agreed.
• The Prince of Badong asked Li Jingxuan for his plan, and Li proposed detaining provincial officials, seizing their seals, deploying armies, and taking control of Jiangling.
• Li Jingxuan argued that the failed ambush had already forced their hand and urged the Prince to rebel immediately, while the other advisers warned against acting too soon.
• The Prince of Badong stopped the argument, ordered everyone but Li Jingxuan to dine with him, and made Li remain kneeling in the hall.
• A eunuch brought Li Jingxuan a meal from the Prince and told him to be on his way, meaning the road to the azure clouds.

After Wang Yang vanished during the attack on the delegation, Jingzhou mourned him and continued searching while friends, scholars, and officials reacted to the loss. Wang Tai celebrated his apparent death but held back from launching his plan, saying one final step remained.

• The attack on the delegation sparked intense pressure on the authorities, and people throughout Jingzhou sought news of Wang Yang and Wang Yi.
• Liu Zhao, Zong Ce, Le Zhan and his wife, Le Xiaopang, Yu Yuling, and Xie Xinghan used their connections to continue searching for Wang Yang.
• Scholars and students mourned Wang Yang, recalled his writings, and struggled with the thought that he was gone.
• Zong Ce attacked three men who mocked Wang Yang, and Liu Zhao joined him after saying his rule against fighting did not apply to himself.
• An imperial prince rubbed a bronze coin while a maid sobbed, and Wang Tai laughed over Wang Yang's death before breaking into loud, performative grief.
• Wang Tai declined to put his plan into motion, telling the eyepatched man that one final step remained.

Wang Yi captured General Fan Dalu and confronted him over helping barbarians infiltrate Jingzhou and abduct the Liu Family’s young master. Meanwhile, Madam Le predicted unrest in Jingzhou and persuaded Le Zhan to prepare their forces while leaving Gao'er in Yongning for now.

• Wang Yi’s men seized Fan Dalu, and Wang Yi revealed his identity and accused him of moving garrison troops to aid illicit dealings with the barbarians.
• Fan Dalu denied involvement as Wang Yi pressed him about the cover-up surrounding the abduction and the withdrawal of troops.
• Madam Le questioned why Jingzhou was preparing martial law and warned Le Zhan that the province might fall into turmoil.
• Madam Le and Le Zhan decided to gather their retainers, carts, and horses at Jiangling and Green Forest Mountain.
• Le Zhan decided to let Gao'er remain in Yongning and planned to ask Zhang Jue to look after him.

Xie Xinghan solved Wang Yang’s riddle, which pointed to Yang crossing the Ju River and surviving. On Great Bamboo Ridge, Wang Yang’s staged ambush sprang into a real battle, and Chen Qing Shan used her lance, Sunset Breaker, to defeat the assassin leader.

• Xie Xinghan explained that the riddle’s clues referred to the Ju River and Wang Yang, and Xiao Ning praised her solution.
• Wang Yang and Chen Qing Shan shared rations on Great Bamboo Ridge, and Wang Yang arranged a plan to lure out their attackers.
• More than twenty masked assassins ambushed Wang Yang’s party, but Liu Family guards emerged from hiding and encircled them.
• Chen Qing Shan fought the assassin leader among the bamboo, where the cramped terrain hindered her lance and he wounded her arm.
• Wang Yang tricked the leader into looking for an imaginary attacker, giving Chen Qing Shan time to recover and use Sunset Breaker to shatter the bamboo.
• Chen Qing Shan defeated the assassin leader with a thrust beneath his armpit and called Sunset Breaker a fine lance.

After surviving the assassins’ ambush, Wang Yang tended Chen Qing Shan’s wound and was moved by her promise to face danger with him. When a horde of Raw Barbarians pursued them into the Tallow Tree Grove, masked archers emerged to defend them.

• Chen Qing Shan and Wang Yang escaped the bamboo grove after their men held off the assassins, then rested in Upside-Down Bowl Ravine.
• Wang Yang gave Chen Qing Shan candy and preserved plums, cleaned her wound, and sang to calm her.
• Chen Qing Shan sensed Wang Yang’s loneliness and promised to face whatever troubles him, even death, with him.
• After Chen Qing Shan spotted a barbarian, Wang Yang chose to flee toward the Tallow Tree Grove, where dozens of Raw Barbarians soon pursued them.
• Wang Yang discarded his pouches to distract the pursuers, but the barbarians kept coming; masked figures in blue-green robes appeared and fired a volley of arrows.

Liu Tan worried that Wang Yang could not rescue A Shen, while Wang Yang entered Wuyang Gorge and declared himself an envoy to the barbarians. After frightening his escorts with a tale of a cannibal land, Wang Yang was led into the stockade by a forceful barbarian woman.

• Liu Tan feared for A Shen and doubted Wang Yang could gain the barbarians’ trust or secure his release.
• Wang Yang’s party entered Wuyang Gorge, where he announced that he was an envoy of Great Southern Qi.
• A dozen barbarians ambushed Wang Yang’s party, then allowed Wang Yang alone to proceed into their territory blindfolded.
• Wang Yang frightened his escorts by claiming he came from the Land of Chaos-Making, where people ate humans.
• A barbarian woman seized Wang Yang’s wrist, ignored the soldiers’ protests, and led him into a tent.

Wang Yang talked his way out of being treated as a prisoner, met the Wenyang Man Young Chieftain, and turned their hostile exchange into a chance to negotiate. He began a carefully planned confession to explain who was forcing Han and the barbarians toward war.

• Lema mistook Wang Yang for someone sent to take her husband Liu Cheng, but softened after he claimed not to know him and gave him cured meat before leaving.
• Wang Yang stopped four barbarians from blindfolding him and demanded they take him to their chief.
• The Young Chieftain demanded three thousand brocade robes and three thousand crimson padded jackets in exchange for Liu Cheng, then threatened to send Liu Cheng's head if Han advanced on Wuyang Gorge.
• Wang Yang said the court intended to go to war because someone was forcing its hand, prompting the Young Chieftain to ask who he meant.
• Wang Yang decided to win the Young Chieftain's trust through apparent candor and began his planned confession.

Wang Yang tried to persuade the young tribesman that Southern Qi’s court was divided over whether to make war or grant the tribe’s demand for brocade. He left the young chief wavering between fear of war and hope that the peace faction could prevail.

• Wang Yang described Southern Qi’s tangled factions and vast territory, shaking the young chief with the scale of the Han lands.
• Wang Yang told the young chief that the emperor did not want war because the tribe’s remote territory offered little value and the court faced greater priorities.
• The young chief assured Wang Yang that his men had not burned, killed, or plundered, and asked what the peace faction had proposed.
• Wang Yang claimed the peace faction had favored giving the tribe five thousand robes and five thousand padded jackets, but the war faction had rejected the offer to defend the state’s authority.
• The young chief concluded that the Han still wanted war, but Wang Yang insisted that the war faction would not necessarily get its way, leaving the chief uncertain.

Wang Yang persuaded the young chieftain that releasing Liu Cheng would undermine the Han war faction, while hinting that he had brought the Wenyang Tribe a treasure more valuable than brocade. The young chieftain punished a guard who insulted Wang Yang and ordered a feast, leaving the promised treasure unrevealed.

• Wang Yang told the young chieftain that the war faction lacked rightful grounds for war and had used accusations to force Liu Shilong to beg forgiveness in Taiji Hall.
• Wang Yang stoked the young chieftain's anger at the war faction, then argued that releasing Liu Cheng would thwart its plans and prevent war.
• The young chieftain realized Wang Yang expected him to release Liu Cheng without receiving silk and asked what he would gain instead.
• Wang Yang claimed he had brought a treasure worth more than tens of thousands of lengths of brocade and demanded food and wine before explaining.
• Wang Yang rebuked a barbarian guard for interrupting him, and the young chieftain had the guard removed and apologized.
• The young chieftain ordered a feast for Wang Yang and his men, and Wang Yang requested roast leg of lamb.

Wang Yang used a drinking contest to expose the Young Chieftain’s drunken, desperate act and insist that his promised treasure was real. The Young Chieftain dismissed his guards and asked how Wang Yang saw through him, while Wang Yang demanded his two owed bowls and the return of the mountain juice.

• The Young Chieftain tried to make Wang Yang drink wine instead of mountain juice, but Wang Yang offered three reasons he could not drink freely.
• Wang Yang argued that the Young Chieftain should drink because the feast’s food and wine did not suit him, and then invoked the treasure as his second reason.
• The Young Chieftain declared he would execute Liu Cheng, burn his stronghold, and retreat into the mountains, then led his guards in a battle cry.
• Wang Yang identified the Young Chieftain’s performance and insisted the treasure was real and only he could provide it.
• The Young Chieftain dismissed his attendants and guards, dropped his drunken act, and asked how Wang Yang had seen through him.
• Wang Yang demanded that the Young Chieftain drink two bowls and have the mountain juice brought back before he explained.

Wang Yang used the Young Chieftain’s slips and the threat of a Southern Qi campaign to persuade him that the Wenyang tribe could not survive a war. The Young Chieftain was left shaken and asked whether the warlike official Wang Yang had described was Xiao Zixiang.

• Wang Yang explained that the Young Chieftain’s eager response to the offer of robes and coats and his feigned naïveté had exposed his suspicions and changing intentions.
• The Young Chieftain argued that the Han Court could not destroy the Wenyang tribe, but Wang Yang cited past campaigns and warned that the War Party would welcome a prolonged war and other tribes joining the fight.
• Wang Yang revealed that a powerful, war-loving figure had called for the Wenyang tribe to be slaughtered if negotiations failed, then said he did not want its children left with no bones to gnaw.
• The Young Chieftain, frightened by Wang Yang’s warning, asked whether the man who wanted to slaughter his tribe was the Governor of Jingzhou, the Prince of Badong, Xiao Zixiang.

Wang Yang tried to persuade the Young Chieftain that the Wenyang tribe could become wealthy by selling its abundant timber to Han markets. After winning him over with an animated pitch, Wang Yang asked to see Liu Cheng as the next test of the chieftain’s sincerity.

• Wang Yang warned the Young Chieftain that ambitious schemers might use a campaign against the tribe to seize power, while the chieftain said he could not free Liu Cheng without ransom.
• Wang Yang presented the Wenyang forests as a vast treasure and explained how the tribe’s knowledge of the mountains and control of its territory could overcome the usual obstacles to timber trading.
• Wang Yang described the high demand and profits for fine timber, leaving the Young Chieftain excited by the prospect of selling Wenyang Man Timber.
• The Young Chieftain asked how they could sell timber while the Barbarian Route was sealed and merchants were banned, and Wang Yang replied that he needed to see Liu Cheng.