Recaps

Jia Huan confronted Jiang Wuji at the White Lotus Cult’s stronghold, where Jiang Wuji threatened revenge and challenged him to fight. Jia Huan summoned Qiongqi and crippled Jiang Wuji with one palm, leaving the old White Lotus Cult Leader rushing toward them.

• Jiang Wuji threatened to destroy Jia Huan’s reputation, family, and subordinates, while vowing to move the White Lotus Cult to Northern Mang.
• The old White Lotus Cult Leader and fifty-nine White Lotus Cult elites gathered as Jia Huan waited at the canyon.
• Jiang Wuji attacked Jia Huan with a mist-formed moon and spectral palm, while the old cult leader let him fight alone.
• Jia Huan summoned a Qiongqi phantom, shattered the mist-formed moon, and struck Jiang Wuji down with one palm.
• Jiang Wuji collapsed with his dantian destroyed and his meridians sealed as Jia Huan taunted him, and the old cult leader rushed to intervene.

Jia Huan revealed his Martial Venerable strength and fought the White Lotus Cult Leader in Yinyu River Grand Canyon. He severed the old man's arm with the Fuxi Rain Curtain Saint Fist, leaving the battle unresolved as he mocked the cult leader's golden jade.

• Jia Huan defeated Jiang Wuji with one palm strike, destroying his Dantian and prompting the White Lotus Cult Leader to identify him as a Martial Venerable.
• The White Lotus Cult Leader vowed to kill Jia Huan, while fifty-nine black-robed figures sent Exquisite Pigeon Gu to summon reinforcements.
• The old cult leader attacked Jia Huan with a palm strike that shattered his golden-jade defense and left blood at his mouth.
• Jia Huan unleashed the Fuxi Rain Curtain Saint Fist and smashed off the old cult leader's right arm.
• Jia Huan cut the severed arm into pieces and asked the injured old cult leader, "Is that all your golden jade can do?"

Jia Huan defeated the White Lotus Cult’s old leader and his forces in Yinyu Gorge, then ended the suffering of the prisoners they had tortured. He left the old leader alive but crippled, while resolving to grow strong enough to face the Ancestral Hall Guardians.

• Jia Huan used his phantom beasts to kill many of the fifty-nine Holy Church Priests and Grand Priests, then overpowered the old cult leader and shattered his dantian and meridians.
• Jia Huan killed or crippled the remaining black-robed figures and spent an hour and a half recovering from the battle.
• The dying old cult leader revealed that he had sent 120,000 believers after Jia Huan and warned that the Ancestral Hall Guardians would eventually erase him.
• Jia Huan released the Butterfly Gu Insects, then saw the tortured Red Dust Couple and Misty Rain Tower masters beside the narrow building.
• Jia Huan granted the Red Dust Couple a peaceful death, then killed the other prisoners who pleaded for release.

Jia Huan and the Embroidered Uniform Guards fought a massive battle against the White Lotus Cult at Yinyu River Grand Canyon, slaughtering its fanatical forces and capturing its leader. The chapter ended with the guards wondering how the emperor would react to Jia Huan’s unauthorized campaign in Jiangnan.

• More than a hundred thousand White Lotus Cult followers gathered at Yinyu River Grand Canyon and charged Jia Huan and the guards.
• Jia Huan and the Eight Hundred Vajras unleashed their Embroidered Spring Sabers, cutting down thousands of followers in repeated strikes.
• Jia Huan commanded nearly two thousand sabers to sweep across the battlefield, while he fought elite cultists and deflected their crossbow bolts.
• Water Skimmer, Iron Palm, and other reinforcements arrived with more than five thousand guards and joined the attack.
• By nightfall, the guards had overwhelmed the cult forces, bound the Old White Lotus Cult Leader, and pursued survivors near Nine Dragons Mountain and the Heaven-Given River.
• Wounded guards praised Jia Huan’s victories and worried about the emperor’s response to his decision to lead seven thousand guards into battle without prior approval.

Jia Huan’s one-month pledge to defeat the White Lotus Cult came due at the Grand Court Audience, while Wang Ziteng, Madam Wang, and Jia Baoyu prepared to carry out the Empress’s plans against the Jia Family. Emperor Jingde ordered Jia Huan stripped of his post as Commanding Commissioner, leaving the court to witness his fall.

• Madam Wang and Jia Baoyu prepared to stage a fatal remonstrance and deliver Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, and Jia Tanchun as living brides for the Ghost Marriage, following the Empress’s orders relayed by Wang Ziteng.
• Wang Ziteng assured Madam Wang that the Empress would arrange the removal of the three women and boasted that Jia Huan had been trapped by the White Lotus Cult in Shouzhou.
• Wang Ziteng, Jia Baoyu, and thousands of officials prepared for the Grand Court Audience as ministers gathered at the Forbidden City.
• Chief Grand Secretary Yang read Jia Huan’s pledge that he would resign if he failed to kill the White Lotus Cult Leader and secure peace in Jiangnan within one month.
• Emperor Jingde ordered Jia Huan immediately stripped of his post as Commanding Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Emperor Jingde used the court’s support for prioritizing Jiangnan to block Jia Huan’s proposed appointment to the Southern Borderlands and pressed the Retired Emperor to issue an edict stripping him of command. As Ouyang Jin arrived with a battle report, he insisted Jia Huan’s pledge deadline had not yet passed, leaving the court waiting to hear the news from Jiangnan.

• Chief Grand Secretary Yang and the ministers agreed that Jia Huan’s military pledge should be enforced, and Emperor Jingde ordered an edict drafted.
• The Prince of Zhennan and other officials proposed appointing Jia Huan to command in the Southern Borderlands, and the Retired Emperor supported them.
• Emperor Jingde argued that Jiangnan and the White Lotus Cult demanded immediate attention, prompting the ministers to agree that Jiangnan must come first.
• The Retired Emperor prepared to affix his seal to the edict, while Emperor Jingde expected Jia Huan’s removal to clear the way for a purge.
• Ouyang Jin entered with a battle report from Jiangnan, and Emperor Jingde challenged his use of Jia Huan’s title before Ouyang Jin pointed out that the pledge deadline had not passed.
• The Retired Emperor told Ouyang Jin to read the report.

At court, Ouyang Jin accused Empress Yin of arranging an evil ghost marriage, then announced that Jia Huan had captured both White Lotus Cult leaders alive before the Military Pledge deadline. Emperor Jingde dismissed the victory report as a lie and ordered the court assembly to continue, leaving Jia Huan’s fate and the court’s response unresolved.

• Ouyang Jin publicly accused Empress Yin of arranging a ghost marriage at Rongguo Mansion, and Qin Zhong denied the charge and called it treason.
• Empress Yin ordered a mother and son to carry out the Coffin-Bearing Remonstrance and insisted that the wedding proceed that night.
• Emperor Jingde ordered the Imperial Edict proclaimed and announced plans to discuss a campaign against the White Lotus Cult, then asked whether Jia Huan had died for his country.
• Ouyang Jin declared that Jia Huan had captured Jiang Wuji and the Old White Lotus Cult Leader alive within the Military Pledge deadline.
• Ouyang Jin said Jia Huan would bring the two captives’ heads to the Capital within seven days and that confirmation would reach court by the Hour of the Monkey.
• Emperor Jingde accused Ouyang Jin of deceiving the sovereign and ordered the court assembly to continue.

Jia Huan’s victory over the White Lotus Cult stunned the court after dispatches confirmed he had captured its two successive leaders and destroyed its forces. Emperor Jingde resisted celebrating Jia Huan’s achievement and called for an investigation, just as more urgent reports arrived.

• A dispatch from Jinling announced that Jia Huan had captured both White Lotus Cult Leaders alive and eradicated the cult on the final day of his military pledge.
• Wang Ziteng claimed the leaders might have faked their deaths and warned the court not to trust Jia Huan’s report.
• Yang Taiyue read a joint dispatch reporting 113,000 White Lotus Cult corpses at Beiyin Mountain, vast seized supplies, and celebrations across Jiangnan.
• The Retired Emperor praised Jia Huan, and the ministers cheered his victory.
• Emperor Jingde called for imperial commissioners to investigate the reports, but the ministers stayed silent.
• Several Secretariat Drafters entered carrying stacks of urgent dispatches.

After Jia Huan’s victory over the White Lotus Cult, the court debated how to reward him, and the Retired Emperor pushed through his ennoblement as the Dingguo Duke despite Emperor Jingde’s resistance. The edict was issued, leaving the ministers anticipating Jia Huan’s return and a confrontation with the emperor.

• Ouyang Jin proposed ennobling Jia Huan as a duke, and Emperor Jingde objected to granting him further honors.
• The Prince of Zhennan argued that Jia Huan’s victory in Jiangnan deserved a major reward, and the Retired Emperor ordered Yang Taiyue to state his position.
• Yang Taiyue and the gathered officials supported making Jia Huan the Dingguo Duke.
• The Retired Emperor had the promotion recommendation approved and the edict drafted, then gave it to Emperor Jingde to seal.
• Emperor Jingde delayed before finally stamping the edict and dismissing court, while Jia Zheng wept with excitement.

Jia Baoyu tried to impeach Jia Huan with a coffin-bearing remonstrance but was arrested after Chief Grand Secretary Yang condemned him, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard recovered the Brocade Pouch. At Rongguo Mansion, Jia Zheng announced that Jia Huan had defeated the White Lotus Cult and been named Dingguo Duke, leaving the household stunned.

• Jia Baoyu brought a coffin to the Imperial City and loudly impeached Jia Huan, but Chief Grand Secretary Yang ordered him jailed and beaten for his shameless conduct.
• Twin Whips struck Jia Baoyu and recovered the Brocade Pouch, discovering an accusation that Jia Huan had raped his father's principal wife.
• Imperial Palace Experts searched Jia Baoyu for the missing Brocade Pouch, and Madam Wang told them the Embroidered Uniform Guard had taken it.
• At Rongguo Mansion, Wang Xifeng tried to reassure Lin Daiyu and the others as they waited anxiously for news from court.
• Jia Zheng returned and announced that Jia Huan had led the Embroidered Uniform Guard to destroy the White Lotus Cult and had been granted the title of Dingguo Duke.

Empress Yin tried to cover up her role in the ghost-marriage threat against the Jia Family, but Wang Xifeng insisted that Jia Huan would judge the matter when he returned. Meanwhile, Emperor Jingde learned Jia Huan had defeated a Legendary Martial Venerable and fumed at the Ancestral Hall guardians, who said they could cripple Jia Huan only with the Retired Emperor’s approval.

• Empress Yin arrived at Rongguo Mansion, blamed her wounded palace maid for the threat to burn the young women, and ordered the maid beaten to death.
• Empress Yin asked the Jia Family to deny that she had intended a ghost marriage, and Jia Zheng and Jia Mu agreed to her account.
• Wang Xifeng said Jia Huan would decide the truth when he returned, prompting Empress Yin to denounce anyone who accused her as a traitor before departing.
• Emperor Jingde confronted the eight Ancestral Hall guardians over Jia Huan’s capture of a Legendary Martial Venerable, and Jiang Yi said Jia Huan must be one himself.
• Jiang Yi told Emperor Jingde that the guardians could cripple Jia Huan if the Retired Emperor agreed, and the other guardians supported him.

Jia Huan celebrated the victory over the White Lotus Cult, arranged generous support for fallen Embroidered Uniform Guard families, and burned the cult’s dangerous manuals. He tortured and killed Jiang Wuji and the old cult leader without learning the identity of Jiang Wuji’s powerful mistress, leaving the foreign conspiracy and threat of the Ancestral Hall Guardian unresolved.

• Jia Huan burned most of the confiscated martial arts manuals and ordered death benefits and honors for the fallen guards and Kirin Office brothers.
• Water Skimmer told Jia Huan that Jiang Wuji had an unnamed mistress and that accomplices bearing a Three-Legged Crow emblem had supplied the cult; Jia Huan ordered the evidence stored.
• Jia Huan confronted Jiang Wuji in prison, learned the mistress might seek revenge, and tortured him for her identity before killing him.
• Jia Huan questioned the old White Lotus Cult Leader about his rapid recovery of true essence, but the old man warned him about the Ancestral Hall Guardian and a dragon vein.
• Jia Huan tortured and killed the old cult leader, ordering his remains destroyed.

After slaughtering the White Lotus Cult’s imprisoned leaders, Jia Huan gained powerful martial arts but remained nearly thirteen thousand sin value short of becoming a land immortal. He sent Water Skimmer to investigate a collaborator in Goryeo and equipped his eight hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards with two powerful body-tempering manuals.

• Jia Huan absorbed the rewards from the White Lotus Cult executions, mastered new techniques, and realized he still needed nearly thirteen thousand sin value to advance.
• Jia Huan resolved to seek more high-sin-value enemies, become a land immortal, and launch a coup against the emperor.
• Jia Huan ordered Water Skimmer to take twenty Liaodong elites to Goryeo and locate the collaborator so he could capture the vicious fiends there.
• Jia Huan gave the eight hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards the Indestructible Diamond Body and Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill manuals, instructing them to train and keep the techniques secret.

Jia Huan returned to the Capital to a grand welcome, accepted the Retired Emperor’s request to send captured weapons to the Southern Borderlands, and learned that the Empress had sent a secret letter connected to Ghost Marriage. Though he vowed to handle the matter and secured Crane Daoist’s help in protecting his family, Jia Huan remained publicly silent, leaving the court officials baffled.

• The Retired Emperor welcomed Jia Huan outside the Divine Capital, praised his campaign against the White Lotus Cult, and asked him to allocate half the captured weapons to the Southern Borderlands; Jia Huan agreed.
• Ouyang Jin and Twin Whips greeted Jia Huan in the Capital, and Twin Whips gave him the Brocade Pouch containing the Empress’s secret letter; Jia Huan condemned her and said he would handle the matter.
• Jia Huan returned to Ningrong Street, saw the new Dingguo Duke Mansion being built, and reunited with Concubine Zhao and the Rongguo Mansion family.
• Jia Huan and An Xuan'er visited Crane Daoist in a hidden chamber; Jia Huan thanked him for staying to protect the family, promised him a favor, and left him three manuals of Supreme Martial Arts.
• Three days after Jia Huan’s return, Secretariat Drafters wondered why he had not publicly confronted the Empress over the suspected Ghost Marriage and the evidence in the Brocade Pouch.

Jia Huan refused to impeach Empress Yin despite public pressure, while Emperor Jingde and the Prince of Zhennan each assumed he was choosing compromise. Jia Huan revealed to Scholar that he intended a far more extreme outcome: to imprison and humiliate the Empress, hinting at a coup.

• The Prince of Zhennan rejected calls to depose Empress Yin and concluded that Jia Huan had chosen compromise after learning the Ancestral Hall's strength.
• Wang Ziteng raged that Jia Huan had failed to provoke the emperor into destroying him and feared the Retired Emperor was obstructing his plans.
• Emperor Jingde reassured Empress Yin that he did not blame her for the Ghost Marriage and declared that Jia Huan would die if he impeached her.
• Jia Huan learned that Water Skimmer's party had reached Goryeo to investigate the Secret Letters and identify the Vicious Fiends.
• Scholar questioned why Jia Huan had not impeached Empress Yin, and Jia Huan said he wanted her imprisoned, tortured, and humiliated until she died.

Jia Huan returned home and found Qin Keqing visiting, while Concubine Zhao arranged for him to take her as a lover. Concubine Zhao declared Lin Daiyu would be Jia Huan’s wife, and Jia Huan left Qin Keqing’s room the next morning after spending the night with her.

• Jia Huan came home and learned that Concubine Zhao had invited Qin Keqing, daughter of Qin Ye, to visit.
• Wang Xifeng explained that Qin Zhong’s claim of connections to Jia Huan had deterred other suitors from pursuing Qin Keqing.
• Concubine Zhao urged Jia Huan to marry and declared Lin Daiyu would be his wife; Jia Huan agreed, making Daiyu happy.
• Concubine Zhao told Jia Huan to visit Qin Keqing that night so she could keep her at the residence and speak with Qin Ye.
• Jia Huan went to Qin Keqing’s room, took her hand, and spent the night with her.
• The next morning, Jia Huan dressed and left while Qin Keqing remained in bed, exhausted.

Empress Yin escalated her feud with Jia Huan by stripping Wang Xifeng of her court title and threatening the Lin, Xue, and Jia girls. After learning of the decree, Jia Huan ordered an investigation into the Yin clan and the arrest of its members if their crimes were uncovered.

• Empress Yin sent a decree stripping Wang Xifeng of her eighth-rank title and ordered a palace maid to threaten the three girls with being buried alive in the Second Prince's tomb.
• Wang Xifeng concealed her distress, while Concubine Zhao grew furious and Jia Mu reflected on why restraint had failed to protect the family.
• Jia Huan watched eight hundred elite Embroidered Uniform Guards train in the Diamond Physique and Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
• Scholar Twin Whips told Jia Huan that Wang Xifeng had lost her title, and Jia Huan ordered his experts to investigate the Yin clan in Luoyang and arrest its members if they uncovered crimes.

Jia Baoyu’s furious outburst against the emperors gave the court grounds to punish the Jia family, while Jia Huan remained outwardly calm as officials delivered the decrees. The chapter ended with Jia Mu stripped of her title and Jia Zheng dismissed from office, leaving Rongguo Mansion in despair.

• Wei Yongzhong and Wang Ziteng arranged for Jia Baoyu to vent his anger, then had him seized after he insulted the emperors and Chief Grand Secretary Yang Taiyue.
• Jia Huan comforted Wang Xifeng over losing her place at the palace ceremony and promised to win her a higher imperial title.
• The Ministry of Rites presented evidence of Jia Baoyu’s insults, and the Directorate of Ceremonial announced that the emperor had approved the court’s punishment.
• Jia Zheng was dismissed from office permanently, and Jia Mu lost her first-rank imperial title.
• Jia Mu and Jia Zheng grieved over their losses as gloom settled over Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Huan arrested the Empress's clan for crimes committed in Luoyang and openly defended his actions before Emperor Jingde. He left the Yin Family imprisoned in the Imperial Prison as leverage against Empress Yin.

• Emperor Jingde ordered Empress Yin to keep pressuring Jia Huan after he spent five days handling office work without impeaching her.
• Wei Yongzhong reported that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had arrested members of Empress Yin's clan and was bringing them toward the capital.
• Jia Huan met the returning guards outside the Divine Capital, confirmed that Yin's crimes were supported by conclusive evidence, and ordered the procession into the city.
• Jia Huan refused Emperor Jingde's demand to release the prisoners, while Scholar read out the Yin Family's charges before the court.
• The Prince of Zhennan cited the Retired Emperor's support for punishing lawbreaking imperial relatives, and Emperor Jingde returned to the palace.
• Jia Huan ordered the Yin Family locked in the Imperial Prison and told Scholar and Twin Whips that no one could remove them without his order.

Emperor Jingde demanded that the Grand Secretariat strip Jia Treachery of his post and declare the Yin Direct Line innocent, but Yang Taiyue and the other ministers refused to overstep their authority. At the Ancestral Hall, the Eight Guardians also declined to act against Jia Commanding Commissioner unless he meddled in the Empress’s affairs, leaving Emperor Jingde furious and without a way to curb him.

• Emperor Jingde ordered the Grand Secretariat to remove Jia Treachery and then to declare the Yin Direct Line innocent, but the grand secretaries remained silent.
• Yang Taiyue explained that the Grand Secretariat had no authority to release prisoners held by the Emperor’s Personal Guard, and Emperor Jingde left in anger.
• Grand Secretary Gao compared Jia Commanding Commissioner to the powerful ministers Quan Bing and Nangong Wentian, whose defiance had ended in ruin.
• Emperor Jingde went to the Ancestral Hall and told the Eight Guardians how Jia Commanding Commissioner had defied him at the Northern Commandant Office Government Office.
• Jiang Yi promised to cripple Jia Commanding Commissioner if he impeached the Empress, but the Eight Guardians offered no action over the Yin Clan Members’ detention.

Emperor Jingde and Empress Yin failed to persuade the Retired Emperor to make Jia Huan release the Yin relatives, while Jia Huan prepared to head east after learning the Goryeo First Prince was tied to child trafficking and organ theft. Jia Huan left trusted subordinates to guard the capital and ordered the Eight Hundred Vajras to gather outside it.

• Emperor Jingde offered to transfer ten thousand elite soldiers to the Capital Camp in exchange for the release of his relatives, but the Retired Emperor rejected him and defended Jia Huan.
• Empress Yin threatened to arrest Jia Huan's relatives, and the Retired Emperor warned that he would punish anyone who did so without Jia Huan's authorization.
• Jia Huan ordered his men to keep the imprisoned criminals poisoned and read Water Skimmer's report identifying the Goryeo First Prince as a trafficker connected to Jiang Wuji's organ thefts.
• Jia Huan told Scholar Twin Whips to remain in the capital and hold the emperor's two legitimate sons hostage if Empress Yin became dangerous.
• Jia Huan placed Ouyang Jin in charge of handling court affairs and ordered the Eight Hundred Vajras to leave the capital and await him at a relay station three hundred li away.

Jia Huan prepared his household for his absence, comforted An Xuan'er about her martial progress, and shared a tender farewell with Lin Daiyu before leading his forces to Goryeo. There, Water Skimmer revealed that the Vicious Fiends were tied to First Prince Shen You'an and a Legendary Martial Venerable who ran the Heaven-Venerating Tower, and Jia Huan ordered his men to advance.

• Jia Huan asked Crane Daoist to protect his household while he was away, then told An Xuan'er why she should avoid learning the Great Method of Absorbing Power unless the right opportunity arose.
• Jia Huan gave Lin Daiyu freshly picked flowers for her upcoming birthday, explained that official business would take him away, and left her after spending the night with her.
• Jia Huan assembled nearly a thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards and the Eight Hundred Vajras, then rode east to Goryeo with Iron Palm, Fathead Fish, and Drunkard.
• Water Skimmer reported that the Vicious Fiends were connected to First Prince Shen You'an, the Legendary Martial Venerable honored as the True God, and their strategist Jiangzuo Tomb Tiger.
• Jia Huan studied the three suspects' portraits and ordered his forces to move out.

Jia Huan attacked the Heaven-Venerating Tower in Goryeo, defeating its eminent monk and crippling the Goryeo First Prince and several Demon Sect leaders. He ordered his forces to loot the tower and leave before Goryeo’s army could surround them.

• Jia Huan and his disguised party reached the Heaven-Venerating Tower and began surrounding it according to plan.
• Jia Huan confronted the eminent monk on the tower’s top floor, and the monk summoned a colossal Maitreya manifestation to force him to kneel.
• Jia Huan shattered the monk’s manifestation with the Fuxi Rain Curtain Saint Fist, defeated him, and destroyed his meridians and Dantian.
• Jia Huan crippled Shin You'an and Jiangzuo Tomb Tiger, then pursued and incapacitated other Demon Sect leaders near the tower.
• Jia Huan ordered the Eight Hundred Vajras to strip the tower of its valuables and prepare to leave within two hours.

Jia Huan’s Embroidered Uniform Guards looted the Heaven-Venerating Tower and uncovered evidence that Jiangzuo Tomb Tiger was Jiang Wuji’s son, though they could not learn his mother’s identity. As the group left Goryeo, its officials threatened retaliation, while back in the Forbidden City the emperor learned that a Goryeo envoy was lamenting on the imperial path.

• Jia Huan ordered his men to seize Goryeo ancient ginseng, two thousand-year-old Ginseng Kings, silver, manuals, weapons, and other valuables from the Heaven-Venerating Tower.
• Jia Huan recognized the handwriting in secret letters from Jiangzuo Tomb Tiger’s bedroom and ordered the guards to torture the young man until he revealed his mother’s identity.
• Water Skimmer told Jia Huan that Shen You'an had confirmed Jiangzuo Tomb Tiger was Jiang Wuji’s biological son, but the prisoner still refused to name his mother.
• Jin City Steward rallied Goryeo’s soldiers, demanded Jia Huan’s submission, and hurried back to the royal city to report the raid.
• Empress Yin complained to Emperor Jingde that her relatives remained imprisoned, and he raged that he could not discover Jia Huan’s whereabouts.
• A eunuch reported to Emperor Jingde that a Goryeo envoy was wailing on the Imperial City’s imperial path.

A Goryeo envoy accused Jia Huan of abducting the First Prince, prompting Emperor Jingde and the Retired Emperor to clash over whether to release the prince. Emperor Jingde established the Eastern Depot and appointed Wei Yongzhong as its director, secretly intending to use it to destroy Jia Huan and later reclaim control of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

• The Goryeo envoy publicly demanded Jia Huan release the First Prince, and Ouyang Jin ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guards to remove him from the Imperial City.
• Emperor Jingde convened a court deliberation and demanded that Jia Huan release his captives and apologize to Goryeo.
• The Retired Emperor defended Jia Huan and argued that the First Prince's crimes should be judged after Jia Huan returned with the case files.
• Emperor Jingde announced the creation of the Eastern Depot, overruled the Retired Emperor's objection, and named Wei Yongzhong its Depot Director.
• Emperor Jingde privately planned to set the Eastern Depot against the Embroidered Uniform Guard and use the Ancestral Hall Guardians to eliminate Jia Huan.