Recaps

Wang Yang impressed Zong Ce and Liu Zhao with his interpretation of Zhuangzi, and Zong Ce took him away after promising to help with his household registration. Meanwhile, Xiao Baoyue and Xie Xinghan discussed Wang Yang’s poem and rumors of Xiao Baoyue’s marriage to Xu Kuang.

• Zong Ce made Wang Yang and the others repeat a saying about stealing a state, then Wang Yang recited his interpretation of Zhuangzi.
• Liu Zhao asked whether Wang Yang was versed in Neo-Daoism, and Zong Ce grabbed Wang Yang and promised to help with his household registration in exchange for a favor.
• Xiao Baoyue praised Xie Xinghan’s tea but noted that she had altered the traditional Badong Tea recipe.
• Xiao Baoyue teased Xie Xinghan about Wang Yang’s poem comparing her to a slender Chu beauty, and Xie Xinghan called Wang Yang a lecher.
• Xie Xinghan asked Xiao Baoyue about rumors that her family was arranging her marriage to Xu Kuang, and Xiao Baoyue confirmed she had heard the rumors.

Xiao Baoyue explained the political schemes behind her proposed marriage to Xu Kuang and warned Xie Xinghan to avoid the Prince of Badong. At the Xie Residence, Zong Ce brought Wang Yang to challenge Xie Xinghan to a debate, but she recognized Wang Yang and ordered the servants to beat him out.

• Xiao Baoyue told Xie Xinghan that the Crown Prince, the Marquis of Xichang, and Xu Xiaosi were using the proposed marriage to advance their political interests.
• Xie Xinghan urged Xiao Baoyue to stay and advise her about the Commandery Academy, but Xiao Baoyue left and warned her not to get entangled with the Prince of Badong.
• Zong Ce arrived at the Xie Residence with Wang Yang, claiming Wang Yang would defeat Xie Xinghan in philosophical debate.
• Xie Xinghan recognized Wang Yang, thanked him for his help the previous day, then called him a lecher and ordered the servants to drive him out.

Wang Yang defused Xie Xinghan’s accusation over a scandalous poem and accepted Zong Ce’s plea to help him in a debate, hoping Zong would arrange his household registration. Xie Xinghan challenged Wang to pure conversation, confident her expertise would overwhelm him.

• Zong Ce stopped Xie Xinghan’s servants from taking Wang Yang away, and Wang denied writing the poem that had fueled rumors about her.
• Wang Yang swore he had not written the poem’s famous lines and offered to go to the county office, prompting Zong Ce to intervene and calm the dispute.
• Wang Yang apologized to Xie Xinghan, but she demanded that he leave because she considered him frivolous.
• Zong Ce asked Wang Yang to stay and help him defeat Xie Xinghan, promising to settle Wang’s household registration.
• Wang Yang provoked Xie Xinghan by claiming he had beaten her in a debate before, and she challenged him to pure conversation.
• Xie Xinghan declared that Wang would not last three exchanges against her, believing his Confucian studies left him unprepared for her family’s specialty.

Wang Yang and Xie Xinghan wagered on a philosophical debate, with Zong Ce staking valuable handwritten commentaries on Wang Yang’s victory. Xie Xinghan challenged the claim that Don Juan was not lustful, and Wang Yang ended the chapter by attacking her definition of lust with arguments drawn from the classics.

• Wang Yang and Xie Xinghan wagered that she would serve him if she lost, while she demanded he copy three hundred books if he lost; Zong Ce and Xie Xinghan also wagered rare commentaries.
• Zong Ce agreed to stake his Wang Bi-sealed copy of the Tao Te Ching after Wang Yang confidently assured him Xie Xinghan would lose.
• Xie Xinghan proposed debating whether Don Juan was lustful, and Wang Yang argued that marriage and fathering children were natural rather than signs of lust.
• Xie Xinghan claimed that Don Juan’s five children and lack of discernment proved his lust, while Wang Yang challenged her reasoning and asked who had defined such behavior as excessive.
• Xie Xinghan declared that lust was derogatory, and Wang Yang countered by citing Gaozi, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Book of Songs to argue that desire was part of human nature.

Wang Yang defeated Xie Xinghan in a debate about beauty, then left after receiving a note from a Commandery Academy Attendant. Xie Xinghan agreed to another debate on Neo-Daoism, while Zong Ce’s slip about Wang Yang’s household registration left her curious about him.

• Wang Yang countered Xie Xinghan’s quotations to argue that loving beauty was not inherently wrong, and Zong Ce declared him the winner.
• Xie Xinghan conceded the round, revealed her name, and challenged Wang Yang to debate Neo-Daoism; she promised three hundred copies of a book if she lost.
• A servant delivered Wang Yang a note from a Commandery Academy Attendant, and Wang Yang left to see an old acquaintance before agreeing to meet again.
• Xie Xinghan asked Zong Ce how he knew Wang Yang, and Zong Ce accidentally revealed that Liu Zhao had brought Wang Yang to arrange his household registration.
• Zong Ce changed the subject by offering to tell Xie Xinghan about Wang Yang’s discourse on Zhuangzi’s deep affections.

Wang Yang learned that Black Han had received a suspicious, dangerous transfer order to Tianmen Commandery and sought a way to protect him. He planned to win a favor at a scholarly debate to make Black Han one of his retainer troops, but Black Han had to depart the next morning.

• Black Han told Wang Yang that he alone had been ordered to garrison duty in Tianmen Commandery and worried he would be unable to care for A-Wu.
• Wang Yang suspected the unusual transfer might conceal a scheme and promised to help Black Han avoid it.
• Wang Yang took Black Han to Liu Zhao, who explained that releasing him from the soldier register would be difficult.
• Liu Zhao proposed that Wang Yang win the scholarly debate in six days and ask the prince to transfer Black Han into his retainer troops.
• Black Han agreed that he wanted to become Wang Yang's retainer, but said his orders required him to leave the next morning.

Wang Yang tried to find someone who could delay Black Han’s transfer to Tianmen, but Yu Yi, Xie Xinghan, and Zong Ce were unavailable. Suspecting the order targeted Black Han, Wang Yang stopped relying on others and led his men to confront External Forces Army Advisor Jiao Zheng.

• Wang Yang learned that Yu Yi might be able to intervene, but Yu Yi refused to receive him at the Yu Residence.
• Wang Yang went to the Xie Residence with a short manuscript for Xie Xinghan, waited until dusk, and left when she did not return.
• Wang Yang found that Zong Ce was away, then warned Black Han that his transfer order seemed suspicious and might put him in danger.
• Wang Yang returned to the Commandery Academy to ask questions and borrow supplies, then went with Steward He and eight servants to Jiao Zheng’s mansion.
• Wang Yang ordered the servants to kick down Jiao Zheng’s gate and strode inside.

Wang Yang forced his way into Jiao Zheng’s home and accused him of secretly reporting Wang Tai to the Prince of Jingling, threatening to involve the Prince of Badong. After a maid invited him to visit Fourth Lady Xie, Jiao Zheng recognized Wang Yang as a young master of the Langya Wang and paid his respects.

• Wang Yang barged into Jiao Zheng’s home and berated him for allegedly reporting Wang Tai to the Prince of Jingling.
• Jiao Zheng’s servant confirmed the ox cart bore the Niyang Liu Clan emblem, and Jiao Zheng ordered his guards to stand down.
• Wang Yang threatened to report Jiao Zheng to the Prince of Badong, leaving Jiao Zheng worried that he was being dragged into a conflict between princes.
• Steward He brought a maid from Fourth Lady Xie, but Wang Yang told her to have her mistress wait until he could visit the next day.
• Jiao Zheng bowed and introduced himself as Jingzhou External Army Advisor, paying his respects to Young Master Wang of Langya.

Wang Yang used Liu Zhao and Fourth Lady Xie’s endorsement to persuade Jiao Zheng that he was a genuine Langya Wang young master, then accepted Jiao Zheng’s invitation to dinner. He ordered a batch of folding fans during the meal and left Jiao Zheng eager to please him.

• Wang Yang questioned Jiao Zheng about other officials surnamed Jiao and pretended he might have mistaken the name of the person who accused his uncle.
• Jiao Zheng invited Wang Yang to his residence, where he hurriedly prepared the household and arranged for his daughter Yan'er to greet their guest.
• Jiao Zheng claimed he could not find his register of officials and persuaded Wang Yang to stay for dinner while promising to retrieve it the next morning.
• Wang Yang sampled Jiao Zheng’s local dishes and received a folding fan delivered by Steward He from the Commandery Academy.
• Wang Yang ordered thirty matching fans within six days and told Jiao Zheng’s servant to treat the fan shop owner to food and drink.

Wang Yang pressed Jiao Zheng to delay Black Han’s transfer, then accepted a place to stay at the Jiao family home. As Jiao Yan lingered in his room and offered to attend to him, Wang Yang told her he was tired.

• At Jiao Zheng’s banquet, Wang Yang asked him to cancel Black Han’s transfer from A Qu Garrison to Tianmen Commandery, and Jiao Zheng agreed to delay it for six days.
• Wang Yang and Jiao Zheng traded questions about Black Han and Wang Yang’s background, each concealing what he knew.
• After the banquet, Wang Yang accepted Jiao Zheng’s offer to stay overnight rather than wait for a carriage back to the Commandery Academy.
• Jiao Yan brought Wang Yang tea and lingered in his room, saying she wanted to attend to him, but Wang Yang told her he was tired.

After Jiao Yan failed to win Wang Yang’s favor, Wang Yang wrote about missing his former life before a knife-wielding woman broke into his room. He helped her evade Jiao Zheng’s guards, and she questioned how he had known they would return.

• Jiao Yan accepted her father’s plan to pursue Wang Yang, but Wang Yang refused her offer to attend him.
• Jiao Zheng reassured Jiao Yan that she could seek a marriage into the Cold Clans instead.
• Wang Yang wrote about longing for his family and friends in the modern world when the young woman in blue burst through his window and held a dagger to his throat.
• Jiao Zheng and the guards searched for an intruder, and Wang Yang concealed the woman by pretending they had interrupted him undressing.
• After the guards left, Wang Yang explained that he had helped hide her because he owed her for saving A-Wu, and she asked how he knew the guards would return.

Wang Yang tried to manage the armed woman hiding in his room while concealing his real identity and resisting her demand that he summon Jiao Zheng. After she revealed she wanted to take Jiao Zheng hostage to ask him something, Wang Yang demanded the full story before deciding whether to help.

• Wang Yang explained how he had concealed the woman from the guards, then claimed to be Liu Bi of the Niyang Liu Clan when she questioned his identity.
• The woman saw through his clan claim, but Wang Yang improvised that he was Liu Zhao’s fifth cousin-uncle, and she accepted the explanation.
• The woman ordered Wang Yang to summon Jiao Zheng alone, but he refused because he feared the consequences of Jiao Zheng’s death and the investigation that would follow.
• The woman thrust her dagger at Wang Yang’s eye and stopped it just short, frightening him before she withdrew the weapon.
• The woman admitted she wanted to take Jiao Zheng hostage to ask him something, and Wang Yang demanded she explain the whole story before he would help.

Wang Yang learned that Miss Chen was the daughter of Chen Tianfu, who was executed after being blamed for looting during the suppression of Tang Yuzhi's rebellion. She believed her father had been falsely accused and hinted that one of his former subordinates was the sole exception among those she had tracked down.

• Miss Chen gave Wang Yang her bronze seal, identified herself as Chen Tianfu's daughter, and found his ignorance of the Senior General's Execution Case and Tang Yuzhi's rebellion suspicious.
• Miss Chen recounted Tang Yuzhi's uprising, its defeat by Chen Tianfu and Liu Mingche, and the Imperial Guard's plundering that led to Chen Tianfu's execution and Liu Mingche's punishment.
• Miss Chen told Wang Yang she believed her disciplined father would never have ordered looting and pointed out that he had died before his public beheading.
• Wang Yang explained that the Qi Code could have subjected Chen Tianfu's relatives to conscription, while Miss Chen said she had been allowed to redeem her government-slave sentence.
• Miss Chen said she had searched for her father's former subordinates, most of whom had died, been demoted, fled, or scattered, and that only one was an exception.

Qing Shan revealed that she suspected Jiao Zheng of framing her father and asked Wang Yang to help capture him. When Wang Yang challenged her belief and warned that coercing Jiao Zheng would not clear her father, she stopped before cutting off his finger and agreed to let him draw Jiao Zheng out.

• Qing Shan explained that Jiao Zheng had accused her father of ordering plunder and had been rewarded with a better post.
• Wang Yang deduced that her father's former subordinates had all said he gave the order himself, leaving Jiao Zheng as her last person to question.
• Qing Shan admitted her doubts but insisted she believed in her father, then threatened to cut off Wang Yang's fingers unless he helped capture Jiao Zheng.
• Wang Yang argued that torture or killing Jiao Zheng would not prove his father's innocence and could leave Qing Shan unable to clear his name.
• Qing Shan spared Wang Yang's fingers and ordered him to draw Jiao Zheng out, threatening him again when he asked how he could do it now.

Wang Yang tried to delay the young woman’s demand that he draw information from Jiao Zheng, promising to earn Jiao Zheng’s trust within six days. When she insisted on staying with him, Wang Yang scolded her for leaving a dagger mark and began setting rules for their partnership.

• Wang Yang promised the young woman that his name would resound through Jingzhou City in six days and that Jiao Zheng would respect him more by then.
• The young woman refused to leave Wang Yang alone, saying she would stay with him until he finished the job.
• The young woman threw her dagger past Wang Yang’s ear and embedded it in the wall, warning him not to deceive her.
• Wang Yang scolded the young woman for damaging the wall and told her to carve the character “Wang” over the dagger mark to hide it.
• Wang Yang agreed to let the young woman stay and began laying down ground rules, starting with a demand that she stop using force against him.

Wang Yang and Chen Qing Shan agreed to work together: she would guard him while he investigated whether Jiao Zheng concealed the truth about her father's case. The next day, Chen Qing Shan met Wang Yang at the academy gates, ready to begin.

• Wang Yang told Chen Qing Shan his identity and admitted he could not arrange a meeting with General Liu Mingche.
• Chen Qing Shan agreed to serve as Wang Yang's guard for a month while he carefully investigated Jiao Zheng, and she gave him her name.
• Wang Yang met Jiao Zheng for breakfast, then returned to the academy in an ox cart.
• Chen Qing Shan appeared beside a ginkgo tree at the academy gates and addressed Wang Yang as Young Master.

Wang Yang’s lesson at the Commandery Academy was interrupted when Xie Xinghan summoned him, and she confronted him about his remark from the previous day. The chapter ended with Xie asking whether he recognized four servants who had met him before.

• Liu Zhao lectured the students on the Book of Documents while Wang Yang listened and the class struggled to ignore his bodyguard.
• Xiao Ning arrived to summon Wang Yang for Xie Xinghan, and Wang Yang theatrically insisted that his studies came first before Liu Zhao urged him to go.
• Wang Yang brought Chen Qing Shan to the rear courtyard, where Xie Xinghan challenged him over his invitation to let her have a look at him.
• Xie Xinghan presented four blue-clad servants and asked Wang Yang whether he recognized them, while Wang Yang pretended not to know them.

Wang Yang and Xie Xinghan discussed his Book of Documents question book and his plan to sell its copies, sparring over whether commerce was a proper pursuit for a scholar. Xie Xinghan revealed that her family’s brocade fleet would arrive in Jingzhou in eight days, and Wang Yang asked whether it would carry cargo back to Jiankang.

• Xie Xinghan’s servant tried to approach Wang Yang, but Chen Qing Shan blocked him and struck him back with her weapon.
• Xie Xinghan asked Wang Yang about the continuation to One Hundred Questions on the Book of Documents, and he admitted that he planned to sell the answers in a later volume.
• Wang Yang explained that he intended to sell nearly all three hundred copies of the question book, while Xie Xinghan warned that merchants might copy and resell it.
• Wang Yang defended commerce as a way to establish a livelihood, and Xie Xinghan disclosed that she managed her family’s properties and business affairs.
• Xie Xinghan said her family’s fifteen ships carrying brocade would arrive in Jingzhou in eight days, and Wang Yang asked whether they would take cargo back to Jiankang.

Wang Yang proposed that Xie Xinghan help sell his folding fans in the Capital, and she agreed to consider it if the fans became popular. After arranging a rematch at an elegant gathering, Xie Xinghan warned Wang Yang that his supposedly prestigious clothes were counterfeit, leaving him wondering whether she suspected his identity.

• Wang Yang showed Xie Xinghan his folding fan and proposed splitting the profits from selling ten thousand in the Capital.
• Xie Xinghan agreed to work with Wang Yang if the fan took Jingzhou by storm and invited him to a gathering for another match.
• Xie Xinghan said Wang Yang would have to reveal his true origins if he lost, and Wang Yang agreed to the rematch.
• Wang Yang thanked Xie Xinghan for publicly supporting his identity at the Commandery Academy, and she told him to buy better clothes because his Yulin fabric was fake.
• After the carriage left, Chen Qing Shan asked Wang Yang whether his Yulin White Lined Jacket was really counterfeit.

Yu Yuling’s hunger strike ended when Yu Yi offered to help him continue the Commandery Academy’s teachings in Dongyang, and Yu Yuling agreed to eat. Meanwhile, Wang Yang received temporary household registration in Jingzhou and prepared to attend a literary gathering hosted by Yu Yi.

• Yu Yi visited Yu Yuling, who was on his third day of refusing food, and persuaded him to consider spreading his school of thought in Dongyang.
• Yu Yuling accepted Yu Yi’s proposal and gulped down the congee before his father left.
• Wang Yang learned that his temporary Jingzhou household registration had been entered under Yixing as his ancestral home.
• Xiao Ning stopped Wang Yang from boarding Xie Xinghan’s cart and gave him a list of the three attendees at the literary gathering.
• Wang Yang learned that Yu Yi would host and judge the Pure Conversation, and began considering his strategy.

Wang Yang attended a pure discourse gathering at the Yu residence with Chen Qing Shan and Xie Xinghan, trying to conceal his lack of money and uncertain identity. When Yan Youcheng asked about his family branch, Wang Yang claimed that his ancestor was Wang Youjun, prompting Yan to exclaim in surprise.

• Chen Qing Shan realized Wang Yang was broke and offered to lend him money at twenty percent monthly interest.
• At the Yu residence, Xie Xinghan teased Wang Yang about his clothes and offered him a loan at fifty percent monthly interest.
• Wang Yang, Chen Qing Shan, and Xie Xinghan entered the reception hall, where Yu Yi welcomed them and they met Yan Youcheng.
• Yan Youcheng asked which branch of the Langya Wang Wang Yang belonged to and why he studied in Jingzhou.
• Wang Yang claimed his ancestor was a renowned Jin dynasty minister who became General of the Right Army and Administrator of Kuaiji, and Yan Youcheng exclaimed, "Wang Youjun?!"

Wang Yang’s aristocratic companions gathered for a pure conversation, and he learned that Yan Youcheng had independently found a key interpretation of Zhuangzi. Yu Yi opened the gathering by bringing out the Whitetail Fan, setting the stage for a contest of arguments.

• Wang Yang revealed that he was descended from Wang Xizhi but declined to discuss his family’s decline, and Yan Youcheng reassured him about his prospects.
• Yan Youcheng talked at length about his past debates while Xie Xinghan listened quietly and Chen Qing Shan remained on guard beside Wang Yang.
• Liu Cheng arrived, exchanged greetings with the guests, and interrupted Yan Youcheng’s explanation of Free and Easy Wandering so the gathering could begin.
• Wang Yang recognized that Yan Youcheng had independently identified the word “great” as the key to Free and Easy Wandering.
• Yu Yi called for the Whitetail Fan and explained how it passed between participants as they challenged and defended arguments.

Xie Xinghan argued that Laozi emphasized governing the state while Zhuangzi emphasized governing the self, and Yan Youcheng challenged her interpretation. She answered his objections point by point as the debate continued, leaving the other listeners to consider her rebuttals.

• Yan Youcheng declined to take the whisk, and Liu Cheng briefly offered to speak before Wang Yang also refused.
• Xie Xinghan took the whisk and argued that Laozi and Zhuangzi differed in their views on governing, contention, and life and death.
• Wang Yang praised Xie Xinghan's argument, and Yu Yi began to declare it unanswered before Yan Youcheng objected.
• Yan Youcheng cited passages from Laozi and Zhuangzi to challenge Xie Xinghan's claim that Laozi taught governing the state and Zhuangzi governing the self.
• Xie Xinghan countered that Zhuangzi prioritized self-cultivation and that his references to ruling were secondary, leaving Yan Youcheng struggling to answer.

Liu Cheng challenged Xie Xinghan’s arguments about differences between Laozi and Zhuangzi, using their shared teachings and broader context to rebut her. Xie Xinghan conceded the debate and handed Liu Cheng her Whitetail Fan.

• Yan Youcheng called on Liu Cheng to defend against Xie Xinghan’s argument after Wang Yang declined to speak.
• Liu Cheng argued that Laozi’s ideas about victory did not prove he was calculating, and Xie Xinghan’s reply left her open to a counterargument.
• Liu Cheng used Laozi’s and Zhuangzi’s remarks on death and Mencius’s method of interpreting texts to argue that Xie Xinghan had misread them.
• Wang Yang praised Liu Cheng’s argument, and Yan Youcheng declared him the winner of the Pure Conversation.
• Liu Cheng took Xie Xinghan’s Whitetail Fan and argued that Laozi and Zhuangzi shared the same Way, declaring her argument refuted.

Wang Yang challenged Liu Cheng’s critique of Xie Xinghan’s argument by showing how Zhuangzi and Laozi differed in their teachings. He ended by declaring Xie Xinghan’s position unshakable, leaving Liu Cheng unable to reply.

• After Xie Xinghan warned Wang Yang that their fan deal depended on him answering Liu Cheng, Wang Yang questioned Liu Cheng about the differences between Zhuangzi and Laozi.
• Wang Yang used Liu Cheng’s own reasoning against him and argued that the two thinkers differed in their views of the Way, sages, constancy, nonaction, and worldly affairs.
• Liu Cheng cited passages from Zhuangzi to challenge Wang Yang, but Wang Yang explained them away, drawing laughter from Xie Xinghan, Yan Youcheng, and Yu Yi.
• Wang Yang concluded that Zhuangzi and Laozi had similarities but could not be treated as identical, and reaffirmed that Xie Xinghan’s argument was unassailable.