Chapter Summaries

Le Xiaopang visited the Shen Family to apologize, while Shen Tanliang drew Yu Yuling away with praise and a request for private instruction. Wang Yang was left alone with Lady Shen, who challenged his suspicions about her identity and asked what he had whispered to subdue Xiao Hong.

• Le Xiaopang brought gifts to apologize to Lady Shen, but Shen Tanliang reassured him and had a maid escort him to meet her.
• Shen Tanliang praised Yu Yuling’s reputation and persuaded him to leave Wang Yang for a private scholarly discussion.
• Wang Yang waited alone, reciting the Diamond Sutra, until Lady Shen joined him and asked him to explain its meaning.
• Lady Shen questioned Wang Yang about Xiao Shan, and he said Xiao Shan had doubted that Lady Shen could be Night Butterfly because of her frail constitution.
• Wang Yang invoked the Diamond Sutra to suggest that appearances could not reveal Night Butterfly’s identity, and Lady Shen agreed to answer his doubts after asking what he had whispered to subdue Xiao Hong.

Wang Yang reasoned that Xiao Hong was having an affair with the Prince of Badong's consort and chose not to reveal it to Lady Shen. Instead, he and Lady Shen traded guarded probes until they agreed to exchange answers about how he exposed the peach-grove trap and how he brought Xiao Hong to heel.

• Wang Yang deduced from the dog's behavior, Xiao Hong's conduct, and the timing of their stays in Xinye that Xiao Hong was secretly involved with the Prince of Badong's consort.
• Wang Yang decided to keep the affair private because exposing it could ruin the woman and provoke Xiao Hong, while Lady Shen could not be trusted with the information.
• Lady Shen implied that Night Butterfly was connected to her, but she gave Wang Yang no direct confirmation or useful details.
• Wang Yang and Lady Shen traded veiled compliments and tried to draw information from each other without revealing their own secrets.
• Lady Shen asked how Wang Yang saw through the peach-grove trap and arranged for Xiao Shan to intercept Night Butterfly, and Wang Yang agreed to her proposed deal.

Wang Yang revealed how Lady Shen and Young Duke Shen had arranged the clues and Cuju match to turn him against Xiao Hong, then deduced that the abducted child was hidden at Xiu Lingyou's residence. Lady Shen's composure faltered when Wang Yang identified the child as evidence of the scheme.

• Wang Yang explained how Young Duke Shen and Lady Shen had provoked Xiao Hong and planted clues to draw suspicion toward his estate.
• Wang Yang deduced that Xiu Lingyou had been left in the Peach Grove to restore the abduction scene and report on the Cuju Team.
• Lady Shen praised Wang Yang's reasoning, shared wine with him, and challenged him to produce evidence.
• Wang Yang explained that Xiao Shan had followed Xiu Lingyou and intercepted Night Butterfly, suggesting she had gone to contact him.
• Wang Yang concluded that the child abducted from Xiao Hong was hidden at Xiu Lingyou's residence, and Lady Shen clenched her fingers.

Shen Yu Ning revealed that her maid Xiaobei was the famed Night Butterfly and asked Wang Yang to take a rescued child out of danger, but he refused to be used in her schemes. She then tried to persuade him to help investigate Xiao Hong’s targeting of Double Fifth children, offering to teach him martial arts, and the conversation ended with her describing the Eighteen Carefree Forms.

• Shen Yu Ning told Wang Yang that she was frail and that her maid Xiaobei, whose original name was Ji Bei, was Night Butterfly.
• Shen Yu Ning asked Wang Yang to remove the child hidden at Xiu Lingyou’s place, but Wang Yang refused and explained that doing so could expose him to legal and political trouble.
• Wang Yang accused Shen Yu Ning of using him as a front for her plan to mobilize the Great Thunder Garrison, and Shen Yu Ning apologized for not telling him the scheme plainly.
• Shen Yu Ning explained that Night Butterfly had traced Xiao Hong’s efforts to acquire Double Fifth children and asked Wang Yang to help investigate.
• Shen Yu Ning offered to teach Wang Yang two forms from her family’s Eighteen Carefree Forms, then described how the first two forms cultivated qi and strength.

Wang Yang negotiated with Shen Yu Ning for martial instruction and claimed the Gold-Inlaid Saber by solving her Spring Splendor riddle. He then posed a poem-riddle that revealed he knew Shen Yu Ning was Night Butterfly, leaving her blushing.

• Wang Yang discussed his blocked qi circulation with Xiao Shan and the guards, then recognized Shen Yu Ning’s martial knowledge as a chance to learn the Eighteen Carefree Forms.
• Wang Yang agreed to bring children aboard in exchange for instruction, but insisted Shen Yu Ning honor the promised Gold-Inlaid Saber.
• Wang Yang solved the Spring Splendor riddle and argued that his poem written with a peach branch brought the grove’s boundless spring splendor out of the Peach Grove.
• Shen Yu Ning ordered Xiaobei to give Wang Yang the Gold-Inlaid Saber despite Xiaobei’s protest.
• Wang Yang recited a riddle describing Night Butterfly, and Shen Yu Ning blushed as he revealed he knew her identity.

At Clear Creek Palace, Baoyue waited for a letter from Wang and worried that he might have written to another woman, but Princess Wukang’s arrival prompted her to leave. Xu Kuang hoped to meet Baoyue and lamented their stalled marriage negotiations, while Princess Wukang questioned whether Baoyue truly shared his feelings.

• The Son of Heaven arranged for the Princess Consort of Yuzhang and Baoyue to preside over a private spring sacrifice at Clear Creek Palace.
• Baoyue asked Lian San why Wang had not written to her and whether he had written to another woman, but an armed maid interrupted them with news of Princess Wukang’s arrival.
• Baoyue realized Princess Wukang had come because of Xu Kuang and left through the east gate to avoid him.
• Princess Wukang entered with Xu Yan and Xu Kuang, then learned Baoyue had already left and concluded she was avoiding Xu Kuang.
• Xu Kuang blamed his father’s uncertain political stance for Xiao Luan halting their marriage negotiations and claimed Baoyue suffered more than he did.
• Princess Wukang doubted Xu Kuang’s claims about Baoyue’s feelings and asked, “Are you sure?”

Xu Kuang declared his determination to marry Xiao Baoyue and decided to make his intentions known by entering the Twin Boats Literary Contest for the Capsized Boat Gathering. The contest’s participants, judges, and prizes were explained as Xu Yan and Princess Wukang questioned whether Xu Kuang’s participation was appropriate.

• Xu Kuang insisted that Xiao Baoyue avoided him because she could not control her feelings, while Xu Yan and Princess Wukang warned him against assuming she loved him.
• Xu Yan praised Princess Wukang to soothe her after she challenged his description of Princess Linwu, and Xu Kuang lamented that Xiao Baoyue was not there.
• Xu Kuang announced his ambition to win Xiao Baoyue and said he could seek an imperial marriage decree, though he acknowledged that doing so might damage his relationship with Lord Xiao.
• Princess Wukang urged Xu Kuang to meet Xiao Baoyue and confirm her feelings, and Xu Kuang resolved to let her and everyone else know his intentions.
• Xu Kuang announced that he would join the Twin Boats Literary Contest to help the Capsized Boat Gathering defeat the Sailing Boat Gathering, prompting Xu Yan to object.
• The chapter described the contest’s escalating rivalry, its three institutional judges and prizes, and why established literary figures generally avoided competing.

Xu Kuang resolved to compete in the Twin Boats Literary Contest to proclaim his devotion to Baoyue and help her friend Xie Xinghan. Meanwhile, Xie Xinghan confronted Baoyue about avoiding her and teased out Baoyue’s feelings for Wang Yang, leaving Baoyue caught off guard.

• Xu Kuang explained that he would enter the contest to support Xie Xinghan, meet Baoyue, and win Xie An's famed zither for her.
• Princess Wukang was moved by Xu Kuang's resolve, while Xu Yan considered how the contest could affect his brother's reputation and marriage prospects.
• Xin Yi and Xiao Ning chatted outside the carriage until a warrior maid summoned Xin Yi to meet Lian San.
• Xie Xinghan questioned Baoyue about avoiding her, and Baoyue claimed she had been staying at various mountains and locations around Jiankang.
• Xie Xinghan asked Baoyue what she thought of Wang Yang, prompting Baoyue to insist he was poor, deceptive, and difficult to control.
• When Xie Xinghan suggested that Wang Yang needed a woman exceptionally good at playing the zither, Baoyue agreed before realizing the implication.

Wang Yang explained why Xiao Hong’s flight let him secretly send Night Butterfly’s rescued child to Jiangxia while keeping the other four children with him. As Wang Yang continued martial arts lessons with Shen Yu Ning, Le Xiaopang grew suspicious and confronted him with a warning about the danger of entanglement with the Three Beauties.

• Wang Yang had anticipated Xiao Hong would flee Xinye, so he arranged for the rescued child to be carried aboard in a chest and sent to Jiangxia with the Shen Family.
• Wang Yang kept the four children whose sale contracts he held, gave them monthly wages, and saw A-Wu become their chief attendant.
• Wang Yang studied martial arts with Shen Yu Ning for four hours each day and checked his lessons with Chen Qing Shan.
• Le Xiaopang noticed Wang Yang’s repeated, secretive visits to the Shen residence and suspected his explanations about practicing Cuju were false.
• Le Xiaopang told Wang Yang about his father’s rejected marriage into the Yu Family, then warned that involvement with even one of the Three Beauties could leave Wang Yang under her thumb.
• Wang Yang realized Le Xiaopang was talking about his own involvement with the beauties.

Wang Yang and his companions reached Jiangning on their way to the Academy of State Sons, and he accompanied Chen Qing Shan to her ancestral home in Danyang. Chen Qing Shan reunited with her aunt and uncle, while her faith that Wang Yang would protect her strengthened.

• After the Shen Family fleet departed, Le Xiaopang fretted that Wang Yang might be caught between the Xie and Shen families, but Wang Yang insisted nothing would happen.
• Wang Yang’s party hurried through the Capital Region and stopped at Jiangning, where the retainer troops began arranging housing and household registration.
• Chen Qing Shan asked to visit her ancestral home in Danyang, and Wang Yang agreed to accompany her; Le Xiaopang kept Yu Yuling from tagging along.
• Wang Yang brought Chen Qing Shan to the old Chen household with attendants, gifts, and supplies, where she reunited tearfully with her aunt and uncle.
• Wang Yang paid respects at Chen Qing Shan’s father’s shrine, reassuring her aunt, and Chen Qing Shan told her aunt that Wang Yang would protect her.

Wang Yang recognized the impoverished boy Qingzhi as the future general Chen Qingzhi and took him into his household with his mother. In Pingcheng, the Elder Princess of Pengcheng killed Attendant Huang after he guessed incorrectly whether she was wearing shoes.

• Wang Yang learned that the seven-year-old Qingzhi was from Yixing and confirmed the characters in his name and his birthday.
• Qingzhi’s mother begged Wang Yang to take her son in because she could no longer support him.
• Wang Yang agreed to make Qingzhi his personal attendant, arrange his education and martial training, and employ his mother in his household.
• The Elder Princess of Pengcheng walked across tables and told Attendant Huang that the marriage contract he brought felt like wading through water.
• The princess challenged Attendant Huang to guess whether she wore shoes, kicked hers off, and declared his guess wrong.
• A hidden crossbow bolt killed Attendant Huang, and the marriage contract fell into his blood.

The Eldest Princess killed a eunuch and a maid after turning their fear and supposed betrayal into lethal games. She then questioned a Still Wheel Palace expert, learned that Wang Yang had dismantled the Espionage Bureau’s network in Jingzhou, and found him annoying.

• The Eldest Princess made a eunuch guess whether she wore shoes, then killed him after deciding he had seen or imagined her feet.
• The Eldest Princess accused her maids of passing information to her imperial sisters-in-law, selected the maid who served her fermented milk, and killed her with a hidden crossbow bolt.
• The Eldest Princess received a Still Wheel Palace expert, who reported that he had not found the person or the Soul Bottle.
• The expert explained that a claim about a spy killed at A Qu Garrison had been erased and might reveal the missing person’s last appearance.
• The expert said Wang Yang had exposed and eliminated every covert agent the Espionage Bureau had planted in Jingzhou, and the Eldest Princess called him annoying.

Wang Yang arrived at Xinting, where the Le and Yu families’ longstanding feud made their welcome awkward, and he declined both families’ invitations. A mysterious note claiming Liu Zhao was in trouble led Wang Yang to Laolao Tower, where he refused to enter alone until an unseen person ordered the guards to let him up.

• Wang Yang’s party reached Xinting, where relatives from the Le and Yu families welcomed them while pointedly ignoring one another.
• Wang Yang declined both families’ invitations, saying he first needed to find lodging for his men, and Le Xiaopang asked him to hurry so they could visit the Qinhuai River.
• As Wang Yang prepared to tour Xinting, a messenger delivered a note saying Liu Zhao was in trouble and urging him to come to Laolao Tower.
• Wang Yang put off settling his men, secretly sent Ma Yong and two guards ahead with instructions, and followed the messenger to the tower with his retinue.
• When the guards said only Wang Yang could go upstairs, he turned away rather than enter alone, but a voice from above ordered them to let him come up.