Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ze guessed that Baoyue had arranged for the Fuxi Gold Statues to reach him and warned Qian Ruo'er to serve diligently in Yanchang Hall. Princess Changcheng, disguised as a Junior Yellow Gate Attendant, then pressed Xiao Ze to join her Sailing Boat Gathering, and he left her uncertain after agreeing to think about it.

• Xiao Ze guessed that Baoyue had sent the first Fuxi Gold Statue through Marquis Xiao and reflected on the gifts she had given him.
• Xiao Ze warned Qian Ruo'er against taking money without doing the work and told him to serve diligently inside Yanchang Hall.
• Xiao Ze ordered the disguised attendant who entered without permission to be beheaded, but she revealed herself as Princess Changcheng, Xiao Zixi.
• Xiao Zixi reminded Xiao Ze that he had agreed to join her Sailing Boat Gathering, while he denied promising and recalled how she had trapped him into saying yes.
• Xiao Ze questioned Xiao Zixi about her studies, caught her bluffing about the Book of Songs, and began pacing after she begged him to support her gathering.

Xiao Zixi tried to persuade the Son of Heaven to support her Sailing Boat Gathering, and he helped her devise a challenge to the rival Capsized Boat Gathering. He also urged her not to yield automatically to Seventh Sister when they both wanted the same thing.

• Xiao Zixi praised the Sailing Boat Gathering and argued that it deserved recognition alongside the Western Residence and the Academy of State Sons.
• The Son of Heaven teased Xiao Zixi about her literary reputation and the Sailing Boat Gathering’s standing below Capsized Boat.
• After Xiao Zixi grew angry over insults about her gathering, the Son of Heaven suggested publicly challenging Capsized Boat and finding an expert to help her win.
• Xiao Zixi asked the Son of Heaven not to tell Seventh Sister what she had said about the Three Beauties of the Imperial Capital, then claimed she would defer to Seventh Sister out of courtesy.
• The Son of Heaven told Xiao Zixi to seize something she wanted before discussing compromise, and she insisted she could recite his advice backward.

Wang Yi established a governing coalition in Jingzhou while weighing the threat posed by Wang Yang and choosing not to oppose him. At the Zong Residence, Liu Zhao worried that Wang Yang was committing treason, while Xie Xinghan joined the Seven Bamboo Grove gathering and was teased about her connection to Wang Yang.

• Wang Yi addressed Jingzhou's gentry, officials, and military leaders, praised the clans, and held a private tea gathering with Yu Yi, Liu Tan, and Le Zhan.
• Wang Yi recalled how Wang Yang had commanded the Southern Man army to withdraw after its victory and decided not to guard against or provoke his nephew.
• Liu Zhao lamented that Wang Yang was entangled in power, and Zong Ce joked that Liu Zhao could never handle a high office.
• Xie Xinghan arrived at the Zong Residence and sat in Wang Rong's seat without asking Zong Ce's permission.
• Zong Ce teased Xie Xinghan about the seat's connection to the Langya Wang, making her blush, while Liu Zhao told him not to make unfounded jokes.

Xie Xinghan persuaded Liu Zhao and Zong Ce to help defend Wang Yang’s reputation through a gradual campaign to shape public opinion. She hinted that Wang Yang had left her a cryptic message, but offered no explanation beyond repeating his words.

• Xie Xinghan explained why attacks on Wang Yang would surge once the Imperial Court considered his guilt, and said his supporters needed to prepare public opinion before then.
• Liu Zhao rejected the idea of clearing Wang Yang’s name by denying that he had sided with the rebels, and argued that his circumstances and intentions should be distinguished from his actions.
• Xie Xinghan proposed gradually cultivating respect for Wang Yang before publicly arguing his case, drawing on advice he had given her during the Ever-Normal Granary affair.
• Zong Ce and Liu Zhao agreed to help, and Xie Xinghan said Master Yu was also willing to support their effort.
• When Liu Zhao asked what Wang Yang had told her, Xie Xinghan repeated his cryptic words: “Let the bullets fly a little longer.”

Wang Yang steadied the Prince of Badong after reports that Jingzhou had fallen and the army’s supplies were nearly exhausted. He declared their chances of victory were still fifty-fifty, ordered raids to provision the army, and was asked what to do about Jingzhou.

• The Prince of Badong learned that barbarians had reportedly taken Jingzhou and feared Kong Changyu was dead or missing.
• Wang Yang calmed the Prince of Badong, then discovered that the army had only ten days of grain and that Li Jingxuan had moved the Zhouling granary to Puji Pass.
• The Prince of Badong kicked Li Jingxuan for concealing the granary’s relocation, but Wang Yang insisted they were not finished and put their chances of victory at fifty-fifty.
• Wang Yang ordered mobile detachments to collect grain from the countryside and directed Puji Pass to send grain and fodder to the army.
• The Prince of Badong asked Wang Yang how they should deal with Jingzhou and whether Li Yong was right that they could not return.

Wang Yang rejected returning to Jingzhou and explained why the army could not survive by relying on Yingzhou alone. He proposed dividing the troops to seize Yongzhou by surprise and then descend on Jingzhou, leaving the prince and his officers weighing the plan’s promise against its risks.

• Wang Yang confirmed that the army could not return to Jingzhou, and the Prince of Badong resolved to concentrate on taking Yingzhou.
• Wang Yang questioned what the army would do after capturing Yingzhou and showed that its exposed position, supply problems, and wavering morale made it untenable.
• Wang Yang proposed sending half the army north along the Han River to surprise Yongzhou, while the remaining force continued fighting at Yingzhou.
• Wang Yang argued that capturing Xiangyang would raise morale, provide supplies, and create a route to strike Jingzhou from the north.
• Wang Yang outlined how the army could regroup in Yingzhou or Yongzhou, recover Jingzhou, and later confront the Central Army, while advising against an immediate advance eastward.
• The prince and his officers were impressed by Wang Yang’s unexpected strategy but recognized the danger of dividing their already strained forces.

The Prince of Badong approved Wang Yang’s plan to split the army and march north to take Yongzhou, then tested Wang Yang’s loyalty before appointing him commander. Wang Yang accepted the mission and negotiated a reward, leaving the prince’s promise of twenty million coins agreed while the reward for recovering Jingzhou remained unsettled.

• Xue Shao and the other advisers feared dividing the army, while Li Jingxuan trusted the strategy but remained suspicious of Wang Yang.
• The Prince of Badong asked Wang Yang about the odds of victory, and Wang Yang estimated them at seventy percent.
• When asked who should command the northern march, Wang Yang said that no one but him could lead it.
• The Prince of Badong offered to share the realm with Wang Yang, but Wang Yang warned that such talk could endanger his command and asked for a tangible reward instead.
• Wang Yang requested twenty million coins for taking Yongzhou, and the Prince of Badong agreed before balking at a further question about recovering Jingzhou.

Li Jingxuan proposed allying with Northern Wei, but the Prince of Badong beat him and rejected the plan. Li Jingxuan fled north to defect, unaware that Wang Yang had sent He Ji to intercept him at Tunshui Estuary.

• The Prince of Badong restored Wang Yang’s authority and ordered him to muster troops, while Li Jingxuan asked to speak privately.
• Li Jingxuan proposed an alliance with Northern Wei, and the Prince of Badong kicked him, threatened him with his saber, and ordered him out.
• Li Jingxuan decided to defect north, planning to trade information about the Prince of Badong and Wang Yang for a place in the Northern Dynasties.
• Li Jingxuan used forged orders to leave camp by boat and chose a route through eastern Yunmeng toward Tunshui Estuary.
• Wang Yang secretly dispatched He Ji to Tunshui Estuary, unknowingly placing him in Li Jingxuan’s path.

The Prince of Badong sent Wang Yang to lead the Yongzhou expedition while secretly arranging safeguards against him. Li Jingxuan escaped through Yunmeng Marsh but was captured by He Ji, and realized Wang Yang had anticipated his nature and laid a snare for him.

• The Prince of Badong kept six deathsworn men watching Wang Yang, authorized their leader to kill him if he showed disloyalty, and appointed Xue Shao to share authority on the Yongzhou expedition.
• Li Jingxuan struggled through Yunmeng Marsh, lost his horse in a bog, and reached a northbound passenger boat at the Dun River.
• Li Jingxuan boarded the boat exhausted, noticed the passengers had no luggage, and woke bound while He Ji and his men tied a stone-filled sack to him.
• Li Jingxuan claimed he was a secret agent and offered He Ji and the others rewards, but He Ji drew his saber and moved toward him.
• Li Jingxuan realized Wang Yang had predicted his attempt to defect and maneuvered him into the trap, while Wang Yang wrote about using a person's nature to ensnare him.

He Ji killed Li Jingxuan after delivering Wang Yang’s refusal to employ him, while Li died wondering what Wang Yang’s “for now” meant. The story then shifted to Wang Rong performing a ghost dance for an old lady whose confusion over her grandson left the gathering unsettled.

• He Ji told Li Jingxuan that Wang Yang could not trust or employ him, then stabbed him to death despite Li’s offer of buried money.
• He Ji ordered his men to behead Li Jingxuan and throw his body into the river, while Li died questioning Wang Yang’s words and recalling the masked stranger’s prophecy.
• Wang Rong performed a ghost dance and staged a magical duel with a Heavenly Master for an old lady at a manor outside the capital.
• The old lady praised the performance and ordered rewards for both performers, then asked Wang Rong to remove his mask.
• The old lady mistook Wang Rong for someone else, worried that her grandson Rong was cold in Qingzhou, and then asked Wang Rong who he was.

Wang Rong used Wei Zhun to help the old madam eat, then discussed the Imperial Court’s strategy and his role in provoking the Prince of Badong’s rebellion. The chapter ended with Wang Rong examining a book that might explain why the Prince had not issued a denunciation of the Crown Prince.

• Wei Zhun pretended to be Wang Rong’s son, discussed scholarship with the old madam, and persuaded her to eat.
• The old madam judged Wang Rong too ambitious for his low position and suggested sending him to guard the Central Passage.
• Wei Zhun reported rumors that the Imperial Court was mishandling the Jingzhou Turmoil, and Wang Rong predicted that Badong would fall before the Central Army arrived.
• Wang Rong explained that Li Jingxuan’s alliance with the Prince of Badong would hasten the rebellion and ultimately destroy them both.
• Wang Rong questioned why the Prince of Badong had not issued a denunciation of the Crown Prince, then asked Wei Zhun for the book he had brought: Pointing Out Flaws in the Modern- and Ancient-Script Book of Documents.

Wang Yang delayed the army’s advance to secure supplies and investigate Xiao City, where eight local clans offered grain and promised to help him take the city. Their report of an unfamiliar long-range bow concealed an ambush, and the chapter ended as the eight representatives attacked Wang Yang’s party.

• Wang Yang practiced archery with Li Zaifu, then told Xue Shao the army would stay at Chankou while scouts searched for grain and assessed Xiao City.
• Xue Shao objected that Wang Yang had sent scouts without informing him, and Wang Yang promised to notify him about future orders.
• That night, the scouting party returned with grain carts after Xiao City’s eight great clans offered supplies and offered to act as inside agents.
• The clan representatives reported that an unknown force near Xinyang had bows with twice the range of ordinary bows, and Wang Yang handed one man a short bow so he could explain the design.
• Wang Yang feigned a stomach cramp, and the man used the distraction to attack with iron hairpins, killing Xue Shao and striking a Guard as the other representatives attacked the remaining retainers.

Wang Yang exposed Xue Shao’s assassination plot, killed the conspirators, and convened the generals to announce Jingzhou’s fall. He proposed returning there by river and winning over the Man tribes, and the generals pledged to follow his command.

• Wang Yang ordered the guards to withdraw, detained Ma Yong, and sent men to hunt down the two fleeing guards who had joined Xue Shao’s plot.
• Wang Yang thanked Bai Si and the other experts, then arranged for Li Zaifu’s unit to secure the command tent and summoned the generals.
• Wang Yang told the generals that Wang Yi and Liu Tan had seized Jingzhou and accused Xue Shao of hiding the news and forging the Prince’s Order.
• Wang Yang displayed the seven dead conspirators and urged the generals to return to Jingzhou by way of Yangkou, reconcile with the Man tribes, and secure their families and positions.
• Li Zaifu, Zhang Guo, Li Tao, and the other generals pledged to obey Wang Yang’s commands.

The Prince of Badong’s army collapsed after rumors and desertions spread, while the Wuling Soldiers helped drive Jingzhou’s forces into retreat. Le Luoluo stopped Ang Ta from raiding Han lands and ordered his tribe to follow him as Wang Yang set sail on the Han River.

• The Prince of Badong’s deception and worsening rumors triggered mass desertions, and Zeng Dean abandoned his army to join Wang Yang.
• The Prince of Badong ordered a retreat, but the Wuling Soldiers attacked at night and helped make the Jingzhou camps collapse in panic.
• Le Luoluo confronted Ang Ta as the Yongning Tribe marched toward the Han lands, and Ang Ta threatened to fight past him.
• Le Luoluo revealed that Wang Yang had anticipated Ang Ta’s plan and warned that the Yidu Barbarians would cut off his rear, prompting Ang Ta to abandon the raid.
• Le Luoluo told Ang Ta to bring his tribesmen and follow him, while Wang Yang’s fleet set sail and he declared, “One Arrow, Three Birds.”

Xiao Little Ninth dressed in armor and visited Yingzhou’s river defenses, where Hu Xiezhi arrived after the Rebel Prince had already been defeated. Xiao Little Ninth sought credit for his role, and Kong Xiuzhi promised to describe his actions in the official report with flattering double meanings.

• Xiao Little Ninth admired his oversized sword, put on his armor, and set out to inspect the riverbank.
• Xiao Little Ninth climbed a boulder with help from attendants and watched Kong Xiuzhi greet Hu Xiezhi.
• Hu Xiezhi and Kong Xiuzhi discussed the victory and discovered that Hu Xiezhi had not known the Marquis of Xichang's Residence supplied the battle plans.
• Xiao Little Ninth pretended to command the river defenses and asked Hu Xiezhi whether he would receive credit in the report of merits.
• Kong Xiuzhi described Xiao Little Ninth’s late nights, hunger strikes, threats of suicide, and repeated attempts to flee in wording Xiao Little Ninth took as praise.

Stranded after his defeat, the Prince of Badong rejected Guo Wenyuan’s plan to seek refuge with the Northern Dynasties and resolved to return to Jingzhou. Guo Wenyuan left him and drowned himself in a river, while the prince and three guards prepared to press on.

• Guo Wenyuan brought the Prince of Badong water and wild plants, then warned him that trying to reclaim Wang Yang’s army was too dangerous.
• Guo Wenyuan urged the prince to flee north and seek refuge with the Northern Dynasties, but the Prince of Badong refused to become a traitor and chose to return to Jingzhou.
• The Prince of Badong planned to gather scattered soldiers, reach his fief in Badong, and raise another force or enter Shu if his other plans failed.
• Guo Wenyuan left without the waterskin, and the Prince of Badong let him go while telling his three guards not to die needlessly.
• Guo Wenyuan reached a great river, lamented that he fell short of Li Jingxuan, and jumped into the water.

Madam Le explained how Wang Yang used personal obligations, shared benefits, and political circumstances to secure Jingzhou's support for supplying his army and pacifying the barbarians. She concluded that he would not rebel before the moment was right, while the Le family agreed to manage a share of his planned freight depot if he overcame his current danger.

• Le Zhan worried that supplying Wang Yang's army could make the Jingzhou leaders accomplices if he rebelled, but Madam Le explained why they had little choice but to provide grain.
• Madam Le described how Wang Yang offered Wang Yi, Liu Tan, and the Le family benefits tied to pacifying the barbarians, including a proposed Ten Thousand Mountains Freight Depot partnership for the Music Family.
• Le Zhan agreed that Madam Le could manage the freight depot, while she warned that Wang Yang's fate would be harder to secure before the Imperial Court than within Jingzhou.
• Madam Le reasoned that Wang Yang was too perceptive to rebel before circumstances favored him, and Le Zhan praised her insight before she teased him for worrying.

Wang Yang reunited with Chen Qing Shan, who embraced him at his camp, before they rode together to Mountain Pass to meet the gathered Barbarian tribes. Ang Ta and Dahan planned to press Wang Yang for military funding, but the sight of his enormous army sent them racing to welcome him.

• Chen Qing Shan arrived at Wang Yang's camp ahead of their planned rendezvous and threw herself into his arms.
• Ma Yong removed a young guard who insisted that Chen Qing Shan needed to be searched.
• At Mountain Pass, Ang Ta persuaded Dahan to demand military funding and higher trade profits from Wang Yang.
• A scout announced Wang Yang's arrival, and Tian Dadao and Le Luoluo organized a formal welcome.
• Wang Yang appeared on horseback beside Chen Qing Shan as his great army advanced behind him, prompting the tribes to cheer.
• Ang Ta and Dahan abandoned their plan to put Wang Yang in his place and raced ahead to welcome him, followed by Tian Dadao and Le Luoluo.

Wang Yang rejected attempts to reason with the united Tianmen barbarians and advanced to confront them, intending to break their alliance by force. After an enemy attack struck Northern Mountain while he was there, he ordered his troops to display his command flag and make his presence known, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Dahan presented Wang Yang with a sword, armor, and a Han official's seal, while Lou Wudi united the Tianmen tribes against him with rumors that he planned to destroy them.
• Wang Yang explained why he would not negotiate with the assembled tribes and ordered Li Zaifu to seize Northern Mountain and Li Tao to lead the vanguard to the Hot Spring River.
• Wang Yang sent Yang Fu and Tian Dadao's forces to patrol opposite sides of the river, then moved his main army to its eastern bank.
• After learning the enemy had not reached Northern Mountain, Wang Yang went there to survey the barbarian camps and suspected they were preparing a flanking attack.
• An enemy force attacked Northern Mountain from the north, and Wang Yang ordered torches, banners, gongs, and drums displayed to reveal that he was on the mountain.

Wang Yang lured Lou Wudi into a series of traps, defeated the barbarian alliance, and persuaded several tribes to submit through promises of trade and strict penalties for breaking their pact. After Lou Wudi was captured, he surrendered and asked Wang Yang to give him a new name.

• Wang Yang ordered Li Zaifu to feign withdrawal from Northern Mountain, then ambush Lou Wudi when he returned to attack.
• Wang Yang coordinated with Yang Fu and the main army; after Northern Mountain's three beacon fires appeared, Chen Qing Shan ordered the river crossing and Li Zaifu struck the barbarians' flank, routing their forces.
• Wang Yang defeated the allied tribes, treated their captives to a feast, and secured their submission by promising trade and setting penalties for future rebellion.
• Lou Wudi gathered four tribes and ambushed the expected route to Pinebeam Mountain, but Wang Yang marched on Louzhong and then intercepted Lou Wudi's returning army, capturing him.
• Wang Yang removed the Four Tribes' leaders' bonds and imposed stricter terms for repeated rebellion; the leaders swore not to rebel again.
• Lou Wudi agreed to submit and asked Wang Yang to grant him a new name, renouncing the name Wudi.