Chapter Summaries

Jia Huan defeated Cold-Blooded Chasing Life in a public sparring match and won the right to assist Flower Devotee with the investigation. He received orders to leave for Xingyang Prefecture and began preparing his team and case files.

• Jia Huan challenged Cold-Blooded Chasing Life and defeated him by catching his saber bare-handed before throwing him into a wooden post.
• Jia Huan told the Southern Office officials he wanted to assist Flower Devotee, and they ordered Cold-Blooded Chasing Life to return the case document.
• Jia Huan dismissed Scholar’s concern about Cold-Blooded Chasing Life’s powerful backer and brushed off the Dragon-Tiger Ranking.
• Two Southern Office officials delivered Jia Huan an order to set out for Xingyang Prefecture that day.
• Jia Huan ordered Fathead Fish and three others to gather five elite men each, then planned to visit the Experiences Office’s Case File Archive.

Jia Huan helped Flower Devotee capture Sima Lin at Dragon Gate Inn, but the discovery of a purple jade pendant linked to Commandery Princess Shouning’s case opened a greater investigation. The chapter left Jia Huan and his companions realizing the two cases might be connected.

• Flower Devotee told Jia Huan that Sima Lin, the White Lotus Cult deputy leader’s son, was hiding at Dragon Gate Inn, and Jia Huan agreed to assist.
• Jia Huan rang the stone stele six times with a casual punch, while Flower Devotee passed the Bamboo Grove Sword Dance trial.
• Dragon Gate Inn revealed Sima Lin’s whereabouts, and Flower Devotee’s party found him in a guest room beside a woman who killed herself rather than be captured.
• Flower Devotee took Sima Lin away, intending to use him to pressure the White Lotus Cult’s deputy leader into submitting to the court.
• Twin Whips found a purple jade pendant in the dead woman’s scented sachet, and Jia Huan’s companions recognized it from Commandery Princess Shouning’s case.

Jia Huan searched the Prince of Xingyang’s residence without official authorization and uncovered the prince’s ties to the White Lotus Cult and a stockpile of armor. After arresting the prince, Jia Huan moved to investigate an estate outside the city, while Commander Xie sent an urgent report to the capital.

• Jia Huan connected a purple jade pendant and a lotus tattoo to the Prince of Xingyang, then ordered a covert search of the prince’s residence.
• Jia Huan and his subordinates entered the residence under the pretext of catching thieves, and Twin Whips and Scholar found White Lotus Cult women there.
• Jia Huan seized the Prince of Xingyang and produced the jade pendant as evidence, while his men uncovered secret letters, a cache of armor, and the prince’s connection to the cult.
• Jia Huan ordered his men to bring a woman who had confessed and accompany him to the prince’s estate outside the city.
• An adviser told Commander Xie that Jia Huan had arrested the prince without official documents, and Commander Xie sent an urgent report to the capital.

After Jia Huan detained the Prince of Xingyang without authorization, the Directorate of Ceremonial warned Rongguo Mansion that he faced severe punishment and the Jia family could be implicated. The family panicked and argued over whether he should return to face trial or flee, while Jia Mu ordered the Eastern Mansion to investigate.

• Southern Commandant Office officials condemned Jia Huan's unauthorized detention of the Prince of Xingyang and warned that his fate depended on whether he uncovered conclusive evidence of a crime.
• Two Directorate of Ceremonial eunuchs told Jia Mu and Jia Zheng that Jia Huan faced exile or execution if he returned to stand trial, while fleeing could expose the Jia Family to charges of deceiving the emperor and plotting rebellion.
• Madam Wang demanded that the family disown Jia Huan and keep him out of the mansion, but Jia Zheng argued that he should return and explain himself to the authorities.
• Jia Baoyu complained that Jia Huan's actions would ruin him, while Concubine Zhao silently feared for her son's safety.
• Jia Zheng warned that Jia She and Jia Lian might lose their posts and Jia Baoyu and Jia Lan might be barred from the imperial examinations, and Jia Mu ordered the Eastern Mansion father and son to make inquiries.

Jia Huan faced a joint trial before the Three Judicial Offices after arresting the Prince of Xingyang Commandery, but his evidence of treason turned the case in his favor. As he slept in the interrogation room, his family and friends reacted to news of his imprisonment, and Lin Daiyu wept over his fate.

• Jia Huan admitted arresting the Prince of Xingyang Commandery, then presented confessions and evidence that the prince had secretly stockpiled weapons and colluded with rebels.
• The eunuch and officials of the Three Judicial Offices left to verify the evidence at the Imperial Prison, while Jia Huan fell asleep in the empty interrogation room.
• Jia Zhen and Jia Rong told Jia Mu that Jia Huan had been taken to the Ministry of Justice prison, and Jia Rong gloated over his troubles.
• Wang Xifeng reassured Concubine Zhao that Jia Huan must have been confident when he arrested the prince and would return home safely.
• Jia Baoyu told the young women that Jia Huan was doomed and offered to visit him, while Lin Daiyu left in tears, remembering his kindness.

The court rewarded Madam Wang with a fifth-rank title for raising Jia Baoyu, while Jia Rong and Madam Wang expected Jia Huan to die in prison. The decree left Madam Wang triumphant and Concubine Zhao fearing that Jia Huan would never return.

• Hanlin scholars refused to draft a fifth-rank Imperial Mandate for Jia Wangshi until Eunuch Wei announced the emperor's decision to reward service to the state.
• Jia Rong had a rosewood coffin brought to the Rongguo Mansion and assured Madam Wang that Jia Huan would not survive his case.
• Lai Da announced that the court had sent an edict, and the Jia family assembled in the reception hall to hear it.
• The eunuch decreed that Jia Wangshi would receive a fifth-rank title and gifts for raising her son well.
• Madam Wang accepted the decree with delight, Jia Baoyu believed the court had praised him, and Concubine Zhao feared Jia Huan would remain imprisoned.

The Jia Family received imperial rewards for Jia Baoyu and Jia Huan, but the unexpected grant of a fifth-rank Imperial Mandate to Concubine Zhao humiliated Madam Wang. Censors then arrived to challenge the grant, leaving Madam Wang eager to voice her grievance despite Jia Mu's objections.

• Madam Wang accepted the imperial decree and gifts, and Jia Baoyu thanked her and Jia Mu for raising him.
• The eunuch announced an honorary title for Jia Zheng, prompting Madam Wang and Jia Baoyu to believe the court had rewarded Baoyu.
• The eunuch proclaimed that Jia Huan's service had earned Concubine Zhao a fifth-rank Imperial Mandate and lavish gifts, shocking the family.
• Concubine Zhao accepted her title and gifts while taunting Madam Wang, and Jia Baoyu blamed Jia Rong for misleading the family.
• Steward Lai Da reported that Censors had arrived to condemn the grant to a concubine, and Madam Wang declared she had a grievance before Jia Mu ordered her to be silent.

After his release from prison, Jia Huan was promoted and his men became General Banners. He drove the censors away from the Rongguo Mansion when they tried to make Concubine Zhao relinquish her imperial mandate, but Madam Wang remained convinced that Jia Baoyu’s legitimate status would prevail.

• Jia Huan left the Ministry of Justice prison with a new Silver Flying Fish Uniform, a Command Token, and a promotion to Hundred-Household Commander, while Scholar, Twin Whips, and four others were promoted to General Banners.
• Xue Pan told Jia Huan that censors had gathered at the Rongguo Mansion to demand that Concubine Zhao give up her imperial mandate, and Jia Huan ordered his men to ride there.
• The censors pressured Concubine Zhao to lower her title, but she told them to discuss the matter with her son when Jia Huan arrived with more than a hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards.
• Jia Huan threatened to investigate a censor and his kin, prompting the censors to praise Concubine Zhao’s fifth-rank mandate and leave the mansion.
• Jia Mu and the Rongguo Mansion’s ladies watched Jia Huan depart, while Concubine Zhao embraced him and Madam Wang left with Jia Baoyu, still believing legitimate sons outranked concubine-born sons.

Madam Wang raged over Concubine Zhao's imperial title, then joined forces with Madam Xing to counter the second branch's growing influence. Jia Huan backed Wang Xifeng against nobles threatening her businesses and promised to seek an imperial title for her, before teasing Qingwen in private.

• Madam Wang smashed her belongings and scolded Jia Baoyu over Concubine Zhao's fifth-rank title, and Jia Baoyu fled to Old Madam for comfort.
• Madam Xing told Madam Wang that Master She would return soon and could teach Jia Huan to respect his father's principal wife, and the two sisters-in-law formed an alliance.
• Concubine Zhao wore her imperial regalia proudly while Jia Huan ate the meal she had cooked for him.
• Wang Xifeng told Jia Huan that noblemen were attacking her businesses, and Jia Huan promised to have them dragged to the Imperial Prison.
• Jia Huan said he would try to get Wang Xifeng an imperial title, and she left delighted despite doubting it could happen.
• Jia Huan teased Qingwen about her rouge, causing her to flee in embarrassment before returning to his room.

Thousand-Household Commander Yue arranged for Jia Huan to investigate a dangerous case in Tianjin, hoping the assignment would bring him trouble with Eunuch Mei. Jia Huan set out with his trusted subordinates and elite riders, determined to solve the case and remember Yue’s role in it.

• Thousand-Household Commander Yue told Cold-Blooded Chasing Life that he had recommended Jia Huan to investigate Eunuch Mei’s missing nephew in Tianjin, expecting the Gu Poison Sect case to damage Jia Huan’s standing.
• Cold-Blooded Chasing Life celebrated the prospect of Jia Huan failing and earning Eunuch Mei’s resentment.
• Officer Guo informed Jia Huan that Eunuch Mei had demanded him by name to investigate the death and disappearance of his nephews in Tianjin.
• Officer Guo warned Jia Huan about the Gu Poison Sect and advised him to stay six days and keep a low profile.
• Jia Huan suspected Thousand-Household Commander Yue had set him up, accepted the assignment, and left for Tianjin with his six trusted subordinates and thirty elite riders from the Celestial Pivot Office.

Jia Huan recruited the Jinmen Beggars' Gang Branch with valuable martial arts manuals to help him destroy the Gu Poison Sect in Tianjin. The Seventh Manager refused, warning that the sect's poisonous insects made it too dangerous to fight.

• Cold-Blooded Chasing Life ordered a subordinate to spread a false rumor in Tianjin that Jia Huan planned to slaughter Gu Poison Sect disciples.
• Jia Huan arrived in Tianjin and ordered Twin Whips to examine a corpse while Scholar sought out the Jinmen Beggars' Gang Branch.
• Twin Whips reported that Heart-Eating Worms had gnawed through the corpse's heart, pointing to the Gu Poison Sect.
• Jia Huan gave a captured beggar a martial arts manual and invited the Beggars' Gang leader to meet him.
• The Seventh Manager led dozens of beggars to Jia Huan, but rejected his request to wipe out the Gu Poison Sect after warning of its deadly venomous insects.

Jia Huan used the Beggars' Gang to destroy a Gu Poison Sect stronghold in Tianjin, rescue Eunuch Mei's nephew, and capture dozens of sect members. His swift success thwarted Thousand-Household Commander Yue's scheme and left Yue and Cold-Blooded Chasing Life furious and humiliated.

• Jia Huan persuaded the Seventh Shopkeeper and the Beggars' Gang to attack the Gu Poison Sect, promising they could keep the confiscated wealth.
• The Beggars' Gang stormed the sect's stronghold, and Jia Huan sent the Celestial Pivot Office's riders to arrest the survivors and search for Eunuch Mei's nephew.
• Scholar found Scholar Mei and reported that more than a hundred civilians had been held inside, so Jia Huan ordered them escorted to the Thousand-Household Guard Office.
• Thousand-Household Commander Yue scolded Cold-Blooded Chasing Life for secretly trying to frame Jia Huan by provoking the Gu Poison Sect.
• A subordinate reported that Jia Huan had rescued Scholar Mei and captured several dozen sect members, and Yue crushed his teacup as the prison wagons arrived.

After raising his participation and reaching the seventh layer of the Innate Realm, Jia Huan completed the Gu Poison Sect case and saved Mei Qin. Eunuch Mei repaid him with evidence of Vice Director Gu Sihui’s embezzlement, leaving Jia Huan determined to bring the official down.

• Jia Huan executed the Gu Poison Sect members and two other criminals, raising his participation to 56 percent and advancing to the seventh layer of the Innate Realm.
• Jia Huan reported the completed mission to the Southern Office, where Officer Fu said it would earn him merit but not a promotion.
• Eunuch Mei thanked Jia Huan for saving Mei Qin and sent his nephew outside to speak with him privately.
• Eunuch Mei gave Jia Huan a booklet documenting Vice Director Gu Sihui’s suspected embezzlement of disaster relief silver and warned him not to reveal the source.
• Jia Huan studied the accounts and resolved to bring Gu Sihui down.

Jia Huan investigated Gu Sihui, a celebratedly upright official suspected of embezzling more than eight hundred thousand taels in disaster relief silver, and sent six General Banners to gather evidence. After searching Gu Sihui’s modest home, Jia Huan found no trace of the stolen silver and returned to prioritize the case.

• Scholar reported that Gu Sihui was the Ministry of Revenue’s Vice Director, a respected scholar, and the son-in-law of the Duke of Xiu’s Mansion, while Jia Huan revealed that he had embezzled disaster relief funds.
• Jia Huan insisted that Gu Sihui would be arrested regardless of his connections and ordered Scholar to notify the other five General Banners.
• Jia Huan assigned six General Banners to investigate independently, giving them resources and instructions to protect witnesses and evidence.
• Jia Huan staked out Gu Sihui’s shabby home overnight, watched Gu leave for work, and searched the house after Gu’s wife departed to buy vegetables.
• Jia Huan found no hidden silver in Gu Sihui’s home and returned to the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office to focus on the case.

After learning that the Celestial Pivot Office was investigating him, Gu Sihui planned to strike first by using his court connections, his father-in-law’s influence, and Imperial College students to discredit Jia Huan. Meanwhile, Old Master Hou confronted the Jia Family over Jia Huan’s investigation of Gu, leaving the family stunned by the accusations.

• Jia Huan received a message from Yu warning that their investigation had been exposed and angrily blamed him for alerting Gu Sihui.
• Gu Sihui decoded a hidden message that the Celestial Pivot Office was investigating him, then resolved to bring Jia Huan down.
• Gu Sihui planned to complain to court officials, enlist his father-in-law’s ducal household, and stir public opinion among Imperial College students.
• Old Master Hou arrived at Rongguo Mansion and demanded that the Jia elders and members of Ningguo Duke’s Mansion gather.
• Old Master Hou’s family accused Jia Huan of secretly investigating Gu Sihui to frame him and have him imprisoned, while Jia Baoyu believed the charges matched Jia Huan’s methods.

Jia Zheng and Jia Mu refused to condemn Jia Huan, but Jia Zhen and Jia She signed a joint memorial to impeach him, while Madam Wang plotted to add charges. At the Celestial Pivot Office, Jia Huan ignored the scholars’ protest and realized Gu Sihui might have hidden his embezzled silver in his Imperial College office.

• Old Master Hou demanded that Jia Zheng sign a joint memorial impeaching Jia Huan, but Jia Zheng refused and Jia Mu remained silent.
• Jia Zhen signed the memorial, and Jia She followed, bringing both Jia mansions into the impeachment.
• Madam Wang sent Jia Baoyu to recruit Wang Family elders to sign the memorial and add charges against Jia Huan.
• Jia Huan learned that Imperial College students had surrounded the Northern Pacification Office, but he refused to yield to their protest.
• Jia Huan realized Gu Sihui could have hidden the stolen silver beneath book chests in his faculty office at the Imperial College.

Jia Huan was suspended after political pressure forced the Embroidered Uniform Guard to halt his investigation of Gu Sihui, leaving him to pursue the case without his official position. As Jia Huan vowed to kill Gu Sihui, Jia Baoyu and Jia Rong celebrated his downfall and planned to mock him.

• Jia Huan used Gold and Silver Gu to locate hidden silver before Officer Fu arrived and suspended him for exceeding his authority by investigating an imperial official.
• Officer Fu told Jia Huan that the Grand Secretariat had pressured the Southern Office, and gave him four days to summon the Celestial Pivot Office’s General Banners for questioning or see them dismissed.
• Cold-Blooded Chasing Life gloated over Jia Huan’s suspension and planned to seize his cases, while Gu Sihui faced the scholars’ support and calmly confronted Jia Huan.
• Jia Huan privately threatened to slit Gu Sihui’s throat, but Gu left unruffled, confident that Jia Huan could no longer harm him through his office.
• Jia Rong told Jia Baoyu that Jia Huan had been suspended, and the two celebrated before Jia Baoyu ran off to arrange a Yamen Runner’s uniform as a mocking gift.

Jia Huan rejected his relatives’ appeals to apologize to Gu Sihui and secretly searched the Imperial College for hidden illicit silver. He found a concealed chamber full of silver ingots beneath a classroom and waited for witnesses and evidence to complete the case.

• Jia She visited Jia Huan and explained that he had signed a joint memorial to appease the Duke of Xiu’s family, but Jia Huan refused his fruit basket.
• Jia Baoyu lingered outside Jia Huan’s courtyard in a constable’s uniform before heading to the Grand View Garden.
• Li Wan and Tanchun urged Jia Huan to apologize to Gu Sihui, but Jia Huan refused, and they left in anger.
• Jia Huan entered the Imperial College at night and used the Gold and Silver Gu to search for hidden silver.
• Jia Huan followed the Gold and Silver Gu to a classroom, uncovered a secret underground chamber, and found dozens of chests filled with silver ingots.

Jia Huan uncovered Gu Sihui’s stolen disaster relief silver and secured his reinstatement, then confronted Gu with the evidence at the Ministry of Revenue. Gu collapsed and confessed, while Jia Zheng watched with guilt and pride in his son.

• Scholar and Twin Whips returned to the capital wounded, bringing confessions and secret letters that implicated Gu Sihui.
• Jia Huan treated their injuries, praised their work, and ordered them to gather witnesses while he sought reinstatement.
• At the Southern Commandant Office, Jia Huan revealed that nearly a million taels of stolen silver were hidden in an Imperial College classroom, and Officer Fu reinstated him.
• Jia Huan confronted Gu Sihui at the Ministry of Revenue, and Gu’s composure broke when Jia revealed he knew where the silver was hidden.
• Gu Sihui admitted to taking disaster relief silver and pleaded that it had not been spent, while Jia Zheng watched and felt proud of Jia Huan.

Jia Huan’s arrest of Gu Sihui exposed the embezzlement of disaster relief silver, while the Jia family faced punishment for supporting Gu. Li Wan and Tanchun regretted condemning Jia Huan, and Jia Mu warned that the family was risking its remaining imperial favor.

• Jia Huan dragged Gu Sihui away after accusing him of embezzling disaster relief silver and asked to execute him himself.
• Baochai and Lin Daiyu urged Li Wan to help stop the scholars protesting against Jia Huan, but Li Wan defended Gu Zhili and refused.
• Concubine Zhao announced that Gu had embezzled 910,000 taels and that the signers of the joint petition were being punished, leaving Li Wan remorseful and Tanchun ashamed.
• A eunuch delivered the imperial decree demoting Jia She and Jia Zhen and reducing their wives’ Imperial Mandate ranks.
• Jia Mu rebuked Jia She and Jia Zhen for signing the petition, while Madam Xing and Madam Wang worried about the losses to their families.