Recaps

Jia Huan accepted General Banner Qian’s case investigating Strongman Liu’s death and General Banner Zhao’s assignment to mediate a gang feud at Hundredfold Ferry. After learning both gangs were vicious criminals, Jia Huan prepared to strike them before continuing to Xinchang Prefecture.

• General Banner Qian asked Jia Huan to investigate Strongman Liu’s sudden death in Xinchang Prefecture, and Jia Huan accepted the case.
• General Banner Zhao gave Jia Huan a second assignment to intervene in the violent feud between two gangs at Hundredfold Ferry.
• Jia Huan sent Scholar and Twin Whips ahead to investigate while he and the others prepared to apprehend criminals along the road.
• At Hundredfold Ferry, Scholar reported that Giant Tiger’s Tiger Head Gang trafficked infants and Golden Toad’s Toad Gate preyed on residents and forced women into servitude.
• After learning the gangs planned another fight that night, Jia Huan ordered his men to eliminate the criminals and then travel overnight to Xinchang Prefecture.

Jia Huan arrived at a standoff between the Tiger Head Gang and the Toad Gate, exposed their leaders’ crimes, and killed them and dozens of their followers. He ordered the survivors investigated and the gangs’ assets seized, then gained new martial arts and experience from the purge.

• Twin Whips arrived with six other Embroidered Uniform Guards and ordered the two gangs to kneel, interrupting Giant Tiger and Golden Toad’s planned fight.
• Jia Huan killed Giant Tiger with the Bone-Melting Cotton Palm and killed Golden Toad with finger force after accusing them of serious crimes.
• Jia Huan had Scholar identify wanted gang members, executed Zhang Erhu and Li Tianba, and led the Guards in killing more than forty people.
• Jia Huan ordered the county office notified, told Scholar to investigate the survivors for accomplices, and assigned Fathead Fish, Drunkard, and Skinny Monkey to confiscate the gangs’ assets.
• Jia Huan washed his saber and received three forms of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, mastery of One Reed Crossing the River, and increased experience points.

Jia Huan investigated the death of Embroidered Uniform Guard Liu Strongman in flood-stricken Xinchang Prefecture and traced a lead to the Zhoulong Escort Agency. After learning the body may have washed downstream from Xinchang Dam, Jia Huan suspected the death was tied to the dam and set out to confront the agency’s chief escort.

• Jia Huan arrived in Xinchang Prefecture, confirmed Liu Strongman’s identity, and found that a powerful palm strike had killed him.
• Jia Huan sent his subordinates to investigate the flood and the people who found the body, while he sought information from Misty Rain Tower.
• A Misty Rain Tower informant identified the Zhoulong Escort Agency’s ancestral Palm Technique as a possible lead and warned that its chief escort was a powerful second-stage innate martial artist.
• Scholar reported that the flood followed a breach at Xinchang Dam, and Biaozi said Liu Strongman’s body had likely washed downstream from near the dam.
• Jia Huan suspected Liu Strongman’s death was connected to Xinchang Dam and led his team to confront the Zhoulong Escort Agency’s chief escort.

Jia Huan forced Chief Escort Zhou to confess that Associate Prefect Su Chongshan had ordered the Xinchang Dam’s destruction and the murder of Liu Strongman. With no warrant to arrest a fifth-rank official, Jia Huan decided to raid Su Chongshan’s private residence that night and torture him to secure evidence.

• Jia Huan confronted Chief Escort Zhou at the Zhoulong Escort Agency about Liu Strongman’s death.
• Chief Escort Zhou attacked Jia Huan, but Jia Huan defeated him and threatened his family until he confessed.
• Chief Escort Zhou revealed that the dam’s collapse was deliberate and that Su Chongshan had ordered Liu Strongman killed after he discovered the secret.
• Twin Whips recorded Chief Escort Zhou’s confession and obtained his thumbprint.
• Jia Huan decided to break into Su Chongshan’s residence that night because his team lacked the warrant and approval needed to arrest him.

Jia Huan raided Su Chongshan’s residence and forced him to confess that Right Vice Minister Yuan Yong had masterminded the Xinchang Dam destruction and grain-price scheme. Jia Huan set out for the capital with Su Chongshan, while his men pursued the other suspects.

• Jia Huan broke into Su Chongshan’s residence, subdued him, and demanded the truth about the Xinchang Dam’s destruction and Liu Strongman’s murder.
• Su Chongshan confessed that Right Vice Minister Yuan Yong of the Ministry of Works had backed the scheme and implicated Shopkeeper Qian, a grain merchant connected to Yuan Yong’s family.
• Jia Huan forced Su Chongshan to write, sign, and fingerprint a detailed confession.
• Jia Huan ordered Twin Whips and Biaozi to arrest Shopkeeper Qian and told Scholar to bring Escort Chief Zhou and Liu Strongman’s killer from the Zhoulong Escort Agency.
• Jia Huan took Su Chongshan and ordered his men to leave for the capital immediately to pursue Yuan Yong.

Jia Huan returned to the Capital with evidence implicating Yuan Yong in the destruction of the Xinchang Dam and brought his father, Jia Zheng, from the Ministry of Works to question him. Jia Zheng agreed to fetch a copy of Yuan Yong’s funding request, leaving Jia Huan with a crucial lead to complete the case.

• Jia Huan recovered secret letters from Su Chongshan’s study that showed Yuan Yong plotting the destruction of the Xinchang Dam.
• Jia Huan returned to the Capital, sent Su Chongshan and the other captives to the Imperial Prison, and took his men to the Ministry of Works to seek evidence.
• Jia Huan publicly took Jia Zheng from his office, then explained privately that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was investigating Yuan Yong.
• Jia Huan showed Jia Zheng the letters and Su Chongshan’s signed confession, then asked him for his copy of Yuan Yong’s request for dam-rebuilding funds.
• Jia Zheng agreed to fetch the document, and Jia Huan ordered Scholar to accompany him.

After Jia Mu’s household believed Jia Huan had arrested Jia Zheng, Jia Zheng returned unharmed and explained that his son had only questioned him as part of an official investigation. He praised Jia Huan, ordered Baoyu punished, and granted Huan a plot to build a larger residence near Wang Xifeng’s home.

• Lai Da told Jia Mu that Jia Huan had arrested Jia Zheng and taken him to the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Imperial Prison.
• Jia Mu, Madam Wang, Jia Baoyu, and Jia Zhen condemned Jia Huan and planned to seek help, while Lin Daiyu and Wang Xifeng worried about him.
• Jia Zheng returned unharmed and explained that Jia Huan had questioned him during an official investigation.
• Jia Zheng rebuked Madam Wang for insulting Huan and ordered servants to beat Baoyu for neglecting his studies.
• Jia Zheng gave Jia Huan an unused plot on the estate’s northern side for a new residence, leaving Qiao Ping'er concerned that it would stand beside Wang Xifeng’s home.

Jia Huan secured authorization to arrest Yuan Yong for the Xinchang Dam disaster, then executed Yuan Yong and Su Chongshan in the Imperial Prison. He left the remaining culprits to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and two new portraits appeared on his panel.

• Jia Huan presented his evidence against Yuan Yong to Official Guo, who obtained an Arrest Warrant and Approval Seal and ordered him executed without being allowed to implicate others.
• Jia Huan arrested Yuan Yong at the Ministry of Works, slapped him before the watching officials, and dragged him away after naming Xinchang Dam.
• Jia Zheng watched Jia Huan’s arrest and later explained the case to the Ministry of Works officials, who praised his son.
• Jia Huan executed Yuan Yong in the Imperial Prison before he could reveal who had received the embezzled silver.
• Jia Huan summoned Su Chongshan and killed him, ending the lives of the two masterminds behind the Xinchang Dam disaster; two portraits appeared on his panel.

After solving the Xinchang Dam case, Jia Huan was promoted to Hundred-Household Commander of the Celestial Pivot Guard and received a silver-white Flying Fish Uniform, a new saber, and access to the Case File Archive. His six subordinates chose to remain with him, and he planned to build his team and rise further through merit.

• Wang Zhenglun told General Banner Qian and General Banner Zhao that Jia Huan would replace him as Hundred-Household Commander, praising Jia Huan for exposing and bringing down corrupt officials.
• Jia Huan received his promotion, silver-white Flying Fish Uniform, Embroidered Spring Saber, and Identification Plaque, while Officer Guo offered his six subordinates the choice to transfer or stay.
• All six subordinates chose to remain in the Celestial Pivot Office, and Jia Huan welcomed them as his team.
• Jia Huan accepted General Banner Qian and General Banner Zhao's formal congratulations, then told his subordinates he would seek to transfer the two rival General Banners and promote two of them through merit.
• Jia Huan warned his six subordinates not to let competition divide them and sent them home to rest.

Jia Huan’s promotion to seventh-rank Hundred-Household Commander stirred pride, envy, and fear throughout the Jia household, while Concubine Zhao prepared to celebrate him. At the family feast, Jia Huan reunited with the household’s young women and heard Jia Zheng urge him to leave the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which he ignored.

• Jia Zheng confirmed Jia Huan’s promotion, announced a celebratory feast, and allotted him a plot for a new residence, while Concubine Zhao paraded through the mansion with gongs, drums, and firecrackers.
• Madam Wang worried that Jia Huan threatened Jia Baoyu’s position, Xue Pan urged Aunt Xue to consider him as a husband for Xue Baochai, and Jia Zhen refused to attend the feast after striking Jia Rong for suggesting reconciliation.
• Jia Huan returned home exhausted, slept through the night and most of the next day, then dressed with Qingwen and went to the feast with Concubine Zhao and Caiyun.
• At the feast, Jia Huan greeted Jia Mu, Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, and the others; he noticed Shi Xiangyun and You Shi among the guests, while Jia Baoyu remained sullen and the Eastern Mansion was absent.
• Jia Zheng advised Jia Huan to serve the State and Altars, keep studying, and transfer from the Embroidered Uniform Guard to a local government office, but Jia Huan ignored the lecture.

Xue Pan drunkenly announced that Xue Baochai would marry Jia Huan, provoking a chaotic confrontation at the banquet. Jia Huan slapped Jia Baoyu for insulting him and criticizing the court, then left with his attendants while Xue Pan remained determined to make the marriage happen.

• Xue Pan drunkenly declared that Xue Baochai must marry Jia Huan, embarrassing Baochai and enraging Aunt Xue and the Jia family.
• Jia Baoyu accused Jia Huan of manipulating Xue Pan and launched into a denunciation of Jia Huan and the imperial court.
• Jia Huan slapped Jia Baoyu and warned Jia Zheng that Baoyu's words could endanger the family and Jia Zheng's career.
• Jia Baoyu tore at his precious jade as Jia Mu and Madam Wang rushed to comfort him, while Jia Huan left the hall.
• Jia Huan told Xue Baochai not to take Xue Pan's drunken words seriously, then rebuked Xue Pan outside and departed with Caiyun, Qingwen, and Xiangling.

You Shi proposed that You Erjie marry Jia Huan, but Wang Xifeng and Concubine Zhao argued over whether she could enter his household. Later, Jia Huan recited a striking verse to Lin Daiyu during an evening stroll, leaving her entranced and Xue Baochai troubled by their apparent closeness.

• You Shi privately offered You Erjie as a bride for Jia Huan, and Concubine Zhao considered the proposal.
• Wang Xifeng rejected You Erjie as a principal wife or concubine, while Concubine Zhao insisted the girl could become Huan's concubine; You Shi left in anger.
• Lin Daiyu visited Jia Huan to demand the poem he had promised, so he walked her toward Xiaoxiang Hall and claimed he would compose as they went.
• Jia Huan recited, "Drunk, I knew not the sky lay in the water; a boat laden with lucid dreams weighed upon the river of stars," and Lin Daiyu was swept up in its poetic vision.
• Xue Baochai, Tanchun, and Shi Xiangyun saw Jia Huan and Lin Daiyu together, and Baochai felt distressed as she wondered whether they favored each other.

Jia Huan took charge of numerous nearby case files and assigned most of them to his subordinates while reserving fifteen for himself. At Rongguo Mansion, Madam Wang persuaded Jia Baoyu to recruit Sun Shaozu and Jia She to help retaliate against Jia Huan, despite Baoyu’s misgivings about Sun’s proposed marriage to Yingchun.

• Jia Huan visited the Experiences Office, selected nearly a hundred nearby cases, and had his seal stamped on them.
• Jia Huan kept fifteen case files for himself and distributed the rest among his six subordinates to investigate.
• Jia Baoyu complained to Madam Wang about Jia Huan slapping him and growing close to Lin Daiyu.
• Madam Wang proposed using Sun Shaozu to punish Jia Huan and securing Yingchun’s marriage to Sun Shaozu.
• Jia Baoyu reluctantly accepted the plan and agreed to go with Jia She to find Sun Shaozu.

Jia Zhen, Jia Baoyu, and Jia Rong recruited Sun Shaozu to humiliate Jia Huan after Sun refused to arrange an assassination. Sun enlisted the White-Haired Killing Demon to challenge Jia Huan, hoping to provoke him into a deadly duel, and they set out to act immediately.

• Jia Zhen and Jia Baoyu offered Sun Shaozu a chance to propose marriage to Jia Yingchun if he dealt with Jia Huan.
• Sun Shaozu refused to assassinate Jia Huan, citing his authority as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Commander, but promised to humiliate him publicly.
• Sun Shaozu visited the White-Haired Killing Demon and asked him to challenge Jia Huan, who ranked below him on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking.
• The White-Haired Killing Demon agreed to insult Jia Huan and provoke him into signing a life-and-death agreement, in exchange for wiping out the Gao Family's debt to the Sun Family.
• Sun Shaozu urged the White-Haired Killing Demon to act immediately, and the swordsman warned him not to seek him out again afterward.

Jia Huan faced the White-Haired Killing Demon, a famed martial artist who challenged him outside Rongguo Mansion. After Jia Huan agreed to fight, the challenger produced a Life-and-Death Writ, shocking the gathered household.

• Jia Rong announced that the White-Haired Killing Demon was waiting to challenge Jia Huan, and Jia Baoyu urged the household to gather at the mansion gates.
• The White-Haired Killing Demon stood on Ningrong Street, and Wang Xifeng sent a page to summon the authorities.
• Xue Pan returned with news that the challenger had killed twenty-three Tatar heavy cavalrymen alone and was ranked fifty-fourth on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking.
• Jia Huan arrived as Wang Xifeng and Xue Baochai tried to disperse the crowd, but the White-Haired Killing Demon offered him the choice to kneel or fight.
• Jia Huan asked who had sent the challenger, then chose to fight, and the White-Haired Killing Demon brought out a Life-and-Death Writ.

Jia Huan signed a Life-and-Death Writ and defeated the White-Haired Killing Demon before the Rongguo Mansion, stunning the gathered family and onlookers. He ordered the man taken to the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Imperial Prison and offered to spare him if he named his mastermind.

• Jia Huan accepted and signed the Life-and-Death Writ despite Concubine Zhao, Xue Pan, and others pleading with him not to fight.
• The White-Haired Killing Demon demonstrated his strength by splitting the marble ground with his sword, then thrust at Jia Huan.
• Jia Huan blocked the sword with Maybe Leaping in the Abyss, disarmed his opponent, and struck him down with Crossing the Great River.
• Jia Huan planted his Skyward Boot on the White-Haired Killing Demon's face as the onlookers watched in stunned silence.
• Jia Huan ordered Twin Whips to take the defeated man to the Imperial Prison and sent Scholar to check his military merits.
• Jia Huan told the White-Haired Killing Demon he would spare him if he named his mastermind, while Sun Shaozu trembled in fear.

Jia Huan learned that Sun Shaozu had sent the White-Haired Killing Demon after him, arrested Sun Shaozu, and killed him after uncovering his crimes. The reward strengthened Jia Huan’s resolve to rise through the Embroidered Uniform Guard, while Sun Shaozu’s confession revealed Jia Baoyu as the instigator.

• Jia Huan learned that Jia Baoyu had notified people about the scene at Rongguo Mansion, while Xue Pan urged Xue Baochai to marry Jia Huan.
• Scholar confirmed the White-Haired Killing Demon’s identity as Gao Youjin, and the prisoner named Sun Shaozu as the man who had sent him.
• Jia Huan led thirty Strongmen to arrest Sun Shaozu and ordered a thorough investigation of his crimes.
• Jia Huan reviewed evidence of Sun Shaozu’s murders, rape, and bribery, then ordered him tortured and killed him in the Imperial Prison.
• Jia Huan discovered from Sun Shaozu’s confession that Jia Baoyu had instigated the scheme, and the reward for Sun Shaozu’s death increased his hunger for power.
• Jia Huan gave Twin Whips and Scholar the Wild Gale Saber Technique and ordered them to teach it to the other four brothers and then destroy the text.

Jia Huan confronted and beat Jia Baoyu after accusing him of conspiring to sell Jia Yingchun into marriage and have Sun Shaozu ambush him. After presenting a signed confession, Jia Huan was allowed to punish Baoyu, then reassured Yingchun that Sun Shaozu was dead.

• Jia Huan barged into the Court of Crimson Joy, dragged Jia Baoyu from bed, and beat him despite pleas from the maids and Li Wan.
• Jia Huan accused Jia Baoyu of colluding with the Eastern Mansion to trade Yingchun’s marriage to Sun Shaozu for an ambush against him.
• Jia Huan produced a signed confession, and Jia Baoyu’s silence convinced the gathered family and maids of his guilt.
• Jia Mu ordered Jia Huan to beat Baoyu, while Jia Zheng condemned his son and took him away for further discipline.
• Jia Huan told Yingchun that Sun Shaozu was dead, and she thanked him through tears as Tanchun regretted misjudging him.

Jia Huan learned he had risen to thirty-ninth on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking but remained focused on earning merit through his work. Xue Baochai visited Qingwen to ask about rumors linking Jia Huan and Lin Daiyu, and left relieved by Qingwen’s denial while Qingwen suspected Baochai’s interest in him.

• Scholar reported that Jia Huan had jumped forty places to thirty-ninth on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking, but Jia Huan dismissed the news and told him to work on a case.
• Scholar told Jia Huan that the Embroidered Uniform Guard would attend next year’s Martial Arts Tournament, but Jia Huan said he would consider it when the time came.
• Xue Baochai brought Qingwen pastries and rouge, then asked whether Jia Huan and Lin Daiyu had feelings for each other.
• Qingwen denied the rumor, defended Jia Huan and Lin Daiyu’s reputations, and refused to reveal Jia Huan’s secret talent for poetry.
• Qingwen asked whether Xue Baochai cared about Jia Huan; Baochai nervously asked her to keep their conversation secret, and Qingwen agreed unless Jia Huan asked her about it.

Jia Huan took up Gao Youjin’s report of a trafficking and Tatar-collusion case, while Yan Pu warned him about the deadly factional divide between the emperor and the Retired Emperor. After Jia Baoyu apologized for plotting against him, Jia Huan recognized the emblem from Gao’s report.

• Jia Huan’s pursuit of two Daoists earned him a breakthrough to the second level of the Innate Realm, and Gao Youjin came to report that traders had taken dozens of girls to the Tatars.
• Gao Youjin showed Jia Huan an emblem linked to the trafficking, and Jia Huan ordered his guards to investigate it in secret.
• Yan Pu told Jia Huan that he had been demoted and exiled to Ya Prefecture because of his ties to the executed Cao, then warned Jia Huan that future Thousand-Household Commanders would have to choose between the emperor and the Retired Emperor.
• Jia Huan returned home and found Jia Zheng making Jia Baoyu apologize for plotting against him.
• Jia Huan stared at Jia Baoyu’s face and suddenly remembered where he had seen Gao Youjin’s emblem.

Jia Huan identified a fan design as linked to Jiang Yuhan and sent Xue Pan to investigate its origin. Xue Pan traced it to the Water Mirror Theater, leaving Jia Huan intent on claiming credit for exposing the place.

• Jia Huan recognized Jiang Yuhan as the performer connected to the fan design and decided to have Xue Pan ask him about it.
• Jia Huan visited Pear Blossom Courtyard to find Xue Pan, and Xue Baochai questioned why he treated her differently from Lin Daiyu.
• Jia Huan promised Baochai he would spend more time with her, and Xue Pan arrived to take Jia Huan’s assignment.
• Jia Huan told Xue Pan to find Jiang Yuhan and learn where the fan design came from without mentioning him.
• Xue Pan reported that Jiang Yuhan had taken a fan bearing the design from the Water Mirror Theater, and Jia Huan praised him.

Jia Huan and Twin Whips tracked a Water Mirror Theater stunt master to a hidden compound, where they discovered more than a hundred captive children being prepared for powerful patrons. A guard spotted Jia Huan as the men brought out five boys, and the lean Tatar-looking man realized they had been followed.

• Jia Huan ordered the Strongmen to stay at the Celestial Pivot Office and took Twin Whips in disguise to the Water Mirror Theater.
• Jia Huan hid on the theater roof and overheard the stunt master being ordered to select five children.
• Jia Huan and Twin Whips followed the stunt master's carriage north, and Jia Huan continued alone when the route entered a maze of alleys.
• Jia Huan watched the stunt master enter a residence with a lean man and discovered an underground chamber holding more than a hundred children.
• The lean man and the stunt master brought five boys out of the chamber, but a guard spotted Jia Huan near the courtyard wall.

Jia Huan exposed the Water Mirror Theater's collusion with the Tatars, rescued more than a hundred abducted children, and arrested the conspirators. After the troupe master confessed to years of trafficking children and spying on Capital nobles, Jia Huan demanded the names of Great Qian officials involved.

• Jia Huan confronted Constable Wu and the gaunt Tatar, then accused them of selling girls to the Tatars and using catamites to spy on nobles.
• Jia Huan subdued Constable Wu and killed or crippled the attackers in the courtyard, capturing the gaunt Tatar alive.
• Jia Huan found more than a hundred children imprisoned underground and ordered his men to arrest the Water Mirror Theater troupe, search the residence, and investigate missing-child cases.
• At the Imperial Prison, Jia Huan tortured the troupe master until he confessed that the theater had served the Tatars for ten years, spying on nobles and trafficking abducted girls.
• Jia Huan asked the troupe master to identify the Great Qian officials who had assisted the theater, and the man said there were many.

Jia Huan exposed the Water Mirror Theater as a Tatar spy base, arrested and punished its accomplices, and gained powerful martial arts rewards. After reaching the third level of the innate realm, he resolved to keep working toward advancement.

• The troupe master confessed that officials and nobles had profited from the theater, and Jia Huan learned that the spies had gathered no secrets from the court's highest levels.
• Jia Huan reported the spy network to Officer Guo and submitted the signed confessions, earning an Approval Seal for arrests.
• Jia Huan led the Strongmen of the Celestial Pivot Office in arresting the implicated officials, who were brutally interrogated in the Imperial Prison.
• After the evidence was gathered, Jia Huan executed the guilty accomplices and received experience, seven additional forms of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, and the first level of the Indestructible Vajra Inner Art.
• Jia Huan advanced to the third level of the innate realm, gained a formidable physique, and resolved to keep pursuing merit and advancement.

Jia Huan received a new two-gold-thread Flying Fish Uniform, command authority over thirty additional guards, and a Ninth-Rank title for his birth mother, Lady Zhao. At Rongguo Mansion, Lady Zhao celebrated her new status while Madam Wang seethed at the humiliation.

• Officer Fu awarded Jia Huan a two-gold-thread Flying Fish Uniform, access to Section Ding of the Case File Archive, and thirty strongmen for the Celestial Pivot Office.
• Officer Fu announced that the court had invested Jia Huan’s birth mother, Lady Zhao, as a Ninth-Rank Confucian Lady.
• Officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel delivered the decree at Rongguo Mansion, where Concubine Zhao initially feared she was being punished.
• Madam Wang grew furious and Jia Zheng worried about the household’s standing, while Concubine Zhao wept with joy over her new title.
• Concubine Zhao’s attendants called her “Madam,” and she delighted in her new status as Jia Huan returned from work.