Chapter Summaries

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.

Imperial Noble Dowager Consort Zhong left the palace to disguise herself and attack Jia Huan’s family, seeking revenge for her losses. Crane Daoist stopped her before she reached the residence, and Zhong returned to the spice shop empty-handed, where she resolved to pursue revenge another way.

• Dowager Consort Zhong obtained a passage token and left the palace to visit the Spice House, while eunuchs discussed the new Eastern Depot and rumors about her past.
• Disguised as a woman in a purple skirt, Zhong went to the Jia residence at night and prepared to kill everyone inside.
• Crane Daoist appeared and revealed himself as a Martial Venerable, forcing Zhong to flee before she could attack.
• Crane Daoist alerted An Xuan’er, who sent secret letters and had Scholar organize Embroidered Uniform Guard experts to search for the mysterious woman.
• Zhong returned to the Spice House, revealed her disguise, and told her matron that another Martial Venerable guarded the Jia residence.
• Zhong left in a sedan chair with her matron, still determined to take revenge on Jia Huan’s family.

Zhong attacked the Retired Emperor with poisoned energy after he refused to intervene for her relative, and he killed her but suffered a fatal wound. Emperor Jingde ordered Wei Yongzhong to stop the rescuers, and the Retired Emperor died before they could reach him, leaving Jingde in sole control of Great Qian.

• The Retired Emperor realized the Ancestral Hall Guardians were central to the plan surrounding the Eastern Depot and resolved to stop them from meddling in state affairs.
• Zhong begged the Retired Emperor to send Jia Huan a message to spare her relative, then attacked him with a tenth-layer Profound Insight Realm claw strike; he killed her but was poisoned and gravely wounded.
• Imperial Physician Xuanyuan urged two Eastern Palace Experts to summon the Ancestral Hall Guardians, but Emperor Jingde ordered Wei Yongzhong to intercept them, and Wei's men killed the rescuers.
• The Retired Emperor died as Imperial Physician Xuanyuan tried to carry him to the Ancestral Hall, and Wei Yongzhong reported his death to Emperor Jingde and Empress Yin.
• Emperor Jingde publicly grieved and carried the Retired Emperor's body toward the Eastern Palace as the court mourned and the Ancestral Hall Guardians arrived too late.

After the Retired Emperor died, the Prince of Zhennan was forced to attend the palace while Emperor Jingde and the court prepared the funeral. Jia Huan was ordered back to the capital within ten days, and the chapter ended with the Prince of Zhennan alone beside his father’s coffin.

• A palace maid announced the Retired Emperor’s death, and the Prince of Zhennan’s advisers tried to flee the capital with him.
• Jiang Er stopped them and summoned the Prince of Zhennan to the palace, where Wei Yongzhong escorted him to pay respects.
• At Rongguo Mansion, Wei Yongzhong ordered Jia Huan to return within ten days and warned the Jia Family and Embroidered Uniform Guard against escaping.
• Emperor Jingde and the senior ministers gathered at the Eastern Palace to mourn Jiang Jiulong and discuss the funeral arrangements.
• The Prince of Zhennan clung to his father’s wrist beside the coffin as Emperor Jingde and the ministers left for the side hall.

Emperor Jingde blamed Imperial Noble Dowager Consort Zhong for the Retired Emperor’s death, secured Emperor Liezong as the deceased emperor’s temple name, and ordered Jia Huan back to the Capital. After learning of the death, Jia Huan announced his return in ten days and told the Embroidered Uniform Guards to purge the emperor’s entourage because he suspected foul play.

• Emperor Jingde told the ministers that Imperial Noble Dowager Consort Zhong had assassinated the Retired Emperor and presented evidence linking her to the White Lotus Cult.
• Yang Taiyue persuaded the ministers to name the Retired Emperor Emperor Liezong, and Emperor Jingde ordered Jia Huan to return to the Capital within ten days.
• Jia Huan received news of the Retired Emperor’s death at Changbai Mountain, mourned toward the Divine Capital, and announced that he would return to the Capital in ten days.
• Jia Huan questioned whether Zhong’s attack could have killed the Retired Emperor and declared that the Embroidered Uniform Guard would return to purge the emperor’s entourage.

As the Jia Family awaited its destruction in the surrounded Rongguo Mansion, Jia Huan announced that he was returning to the capital despite the danger. Emperor Jingde learned of his decision and felt relieved that Jia Huan had not fled.

• Jia Mu and Jia Zheng toured the silent Rongguo Mansion and reflected on the Jia clan’s past glory and impending doom.
• Concubine Zhao, Wang Xifeng, Lin Daiyu, and the other women urged Jia Huan not to return, hoping he would survive and escape the emperor’s trap.
• The Crane Daoist chose to remain disguised among the household rather than flee.
• A Secretariat Drafter reported to Yang Taiyue that Jia Huan had announced his return and was riding toward the Divine Capital without hesitation.
• Emperor Jingde suppressed a smile after hearing Jia Huan was returning, then left the funeral hall when Wei Yongzhong told him that the prisoners had been brought to the Imperial Study.

Emperor Jingde secured the Capital Camp’s military authority by persuading its nobles to surrender their posts and commanding Wang Ziteng to submit. Wang Ziteng accepted the emperor’s terms and left the Imperial Study apparently reconciled, while retaining his confidence and influence.

• Emperor Jingde offered the Capital Camp nobles pardons and future court prospects in exchange for transferring their military authority, and they signed the Imperial Edicts.
• The nobles delivered the edict to Wang Ziteng, who denounced their surrender but agreed to go to the palace after they urged him to trust Emperor Jingde.
• Wang Ziteng knelt before Emperor Jingde and wiped ink from the emperor’s boots, then received forgiveness for his past disobedience.
• Emperor Jingde ordered Wang Ziteng to cooperate with the takeover of the Capital Camp’s key facilities and posts, promising to transfer him to the Nine Borders after Jia Treachery was dealt with.
• Wang Ziteng swore loyalty, accepted the Imperial Edict, and left the Imperial Study walking with renewed confidence.

After securing the Capital Camp, Emperor Jingde gathered evidence against the Prince of Zhennan and planned a sweeping military operation against Jia Treachery and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The chapter ended with Emperor Jingde summoning Qin Zhong, First Pacification Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as his preparations advanced.

• Yang Taiyue reported that Embroidered Uniform Guard stations in the north were heading south, and Emperor Jingde ordered that no one obstruct them.
• Emperor Jingde ordered the Prince of Zhennan to return to his fief and pressured Wang Ziteng into revealing evidence of their old embezzlement of 850,000 taels.
• Emperor Jingde and Empress Yin discussed their vengeance against Jia Treachery and the Jia Family, including plans for Qi'er's ghost marriage.
• Emperor Jingde ordered Wei Yongzhong to prepare a secret Jiangnan campaign and summon the Six Frontiers Garrisons to march south against the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
• Wang Ziteng delivered the incriminating evidence, and Emperor Jingde ordered Qin Zhong to appear before him that afternoon.

Emperor Jingde forced Qin Zhong to prove his loyalty by killing the Prince of Zhennan, using forged evidence to justify an arrest. Qin Zhong and two disguised Hundred-Household Commanders ambushed the prince’s party, and Qin Zhong beheaded him in the street.

• Emperor Jingde confronted Qin Zhong, then ordered him to kill the Prince of Zhennan and gave him forged evidence of embezzled military funds.
• The Empress Dowager escorted the Prince of Zhennan from the palace and urged him never to return to the Capital.
• The Prince of Zhennan told two confidants to escape with the Military Tally and spread word that Emperor Jingde had murdered his father.
• Qin Zhong stopped the Prince of Zhennan’s carriage and accused him of embezzlement under Jia Commanding Commissioner’s forged order.
• Jiang Liu and Jiang Qi massacred the Prince of Zhennan’s Martial Arts Titans and crippled the prince.
• Qin Zhong drew his Embroidered Spring Saber and beheaded the Prince of Zhennan.

Emperor Jingde blamed Jia Huan for the Prince of Zhennan’s death and ordered the Jia clan stripped of rank and condemned, while forcing Chief Grand Secretary Yang Taiyue to remain in office. As Jia Huan neared the Capital, Wang Ziteng planned to secure Jia Baoyu a post in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

• Emperor Jingde accepted Qin Zhong’s claim that Jia Commanding Commissioner had ordered the Prince of Zhennan’s killing, then declared Jia Huan a traitor and ordered his titles stripped and his clan punished.
• Chief Grand Secretary Yang Taiyue protested the framing of Jia Huan and tried to resign, but Emperor Jingde threatened his reputation and forced him to stay.
• Emperor Jingde learned that Jia Huan would reach the Capital in roughly two days and privately celebrated his coming execution.
• Wang Ziteng and the assembled nobles toasted the Prince of Zhennan and agreed to raze the Jia residences to win Emperor Jingde’s favor.
• Wang Ziteng promised Jia Baoyu a post in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Jia Baoyu eagerly left with him to enter the palace.

Emperor Jingde placed Jia Baoyu in the Embroidered Uniform Guard as the Jia family’s mansions were demolished and the clan sentenced to execution. As the family held on to a letter promising Jia Huan would return, Northern Liang’s generals chose to ride south and tie down the Six Frontiers Garrisons in support of him.

• Emperor Jingde granted Wang Ziteng’s request to appoint Jia Baoyu as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Strongman, while Empress Yin ordered a search for Ouyang Jin and his missing followers.
• The Prince of Beijing and Shi Ding oversaw the demolition of the Jia family’s mansions and ancestral hall, and Wang Ziteng delivered an edict sentencing the entire clan to execution.
• Jia Baoyu denounced Jia Huan before the ruined mansion and boasted that he would rise through the Guard’s ranks, while Jia Mu and the others rejected him.
• An Xuan'er secretly told Concubine Zhao, Wang Xifeng, and the others that Jia Huan had sent word he would return to the capital and create a miracle.
• After debating Jia Huan’s secret request, Qi Shanguo and the Northern Liang generals agreed to send sixty thousand cavalry south to hold back the Six Frontiers Garrisons.