Recaps

Wei Nisheng received Zhou Hu, who came on Xiong Hui’s orders to judge the Imperial Envoy, and promised not to seize control of the Suzhou Guard or pursue its past dealings with temples if its soldiers stayed away from those places. After Zhou Hu left, Wei Nisheng prepared to mobilize eight hundred Hangzhou Guard soldiers but chose to wait for Xiong Hui’s response before sending the order.

• Wei Nisheng urged Qu Niang to attend an opera at Suzhou Temple while he stayed behind to handle business.
• Zhou Hu arrived at the Postal Station on Xiong Hui’s orders and met Wei Nisheng.
• Wei Nisheng told Zhou Hu he had come to audit accounts, not seize power, and would overlook the Suzhou Guard’s past dealings if its soldiers stopped visiting illicit haunts.
• Zhou Hu promised to deliver Wei Nisheng’s words to Xiong Hui and rode away.
• Wei Nisheng showed Zhang Zai a military order for eight hundred Hangzhou Guard soldiers to enter Suzhou, then decided to wait for Xiong Hui’s reply before sending it.

Wei Nisheng confronted Xiong Hui over bringing the Hangzhou Guard to investigate Suzhou’s temples, then used the emperor’s Golden Plaque and sword to force the commander to submit. Xiong Hui knelt as Wei explained why the Hangzhou Guard had to lead the investigation and warned that the imperial sword could be used to behead him without consequence.

• Xiong Hui arrived at the Postal Station with his guards and demanded to know why Wei Nisheng had summoned him and called in the Hangzhou Guard.
• Xiong Hui accused Wei of insulting the Suzhou Guard, while Zhang Zai rebuked him and Wei offered to seek an imperial decree authorizing Suzhou soldiers instead.
• Wei challenged Xiong Hui to accept that decree, then declared that he would investigate the temples and spare past offenses if Suzhou Guard soldiers stayed away from them.
• Wei brought out his sword and Golden Plaque, compelling Xiong Hui to kneel and acknowledge the emperor’s authority.
• Wei explained that the Suzhou Guard could not impartially investigate its own officers and men, then warned Xiong Hui that the imperial sword could behead him without crime.

Wei Nisheng subdued Xiong Hui with the imperial authority of the Golden Plaque and Heavenly Son’s Sword, then planned a joint temple inspection to establish rules amid Suzhou’s turmoil. He revealed that he would use Xie Lin to accuse Prefect He Yanming, making the people accept He’s downfall as justified.

• Wei Nisheng kept his composure during Xiong Hui’s confrontation, showed him the Golden Plaque and Heavenly Son’s Sword, and made him kneel.
• Wei Nisheng explained to Zhang Zai that impeaching Xiong Hui would create an enemy without removing him, while yielding would endanger them all.
• Wei Nisheng described his plan to throw Suzhou’s factions into disorder so he could enter the resulting gaps and establish rules.
• Wei Nisheng ordered Zhang Zai to draft regulations for a joint inspection of Suzhou’s temples by the Suzhou Guard, Hangzhou Guard, and Suzhou Prefecture.
• Wei Nisheng told Zhang Zai that Xie Lin would accuse Prefect He Yanming, so the people would believe He was guilty, and called the strategy “weaving consensus.”

Xie Lin realized Shen Duan’s letter to Xiong Hui had driven the general toward Wei Zi and left Wei Zi poised to gain control in Suzhou. With Shen no longer dependable, Xie Lin devised a strategy to delay and force a draw, insisting he had not yet lost.

• Xie Lin burned Shen Duan’s letter and condemned him for calling Xiong Hui a “military ruffian,” which gave Xiong Hui reason to seek a way out through Wei Zi.
• Xie Lin predicted Xiong Hui would meet Wei Zi to test his sincerity, and that Wei would secure the general’s military support and bring the Hangzhou Guard’s eight hundred soldiers into Suzhou.
• Xie Lin concluded that Wei Zi had become the host in Suzhou while he was trapped between retreating allies and fearful subordinates.
• Xie Lin accepted that Shen Duan could no longer be relied upon and wrote down a plan to advance through delay, attack through defense, and force a draw.
• Xie Lin declared that Wei Zi had not won and that he had not lost, then left the pavilion alone.

Xie Lin prepared He Yanming to cooperate with Wei Zi’s investigation and drafted a memorial confessing his administrative failures. He also sent Xu Shi to pass a warning to the Shen household, while privately recognizing that the memorial served both He Yanming and his own interests.

• Xie Lin asked Xu Shi to visit Madam Shen and tell her that Wei Zi’s troop deployment targeted temples, advising the Everlasting Abundance Firm to settle its taxes and cooperate.
• Xie Lin told He Yanming that Wei Zi wanted silver rather than officials and presented him with a draft memorial admitting oversight failures.
• Xie Lin advised He Yanming to cooperate fully, avoid merchants seeking help, and destroy his private ledger.
• He Yanming agreed to send the memorial that night and asked Xie Lin not to abandon him.
• Xie Lin reassured He Yanming, then reflected that one memorial would help him while the other would preserve himself.

Xie Lin visited Shen Mingxuan and advised him to cooperate with Wei Zi’s investigation of the temples, settle the Everlasting Abundance Firm’s taxes, and make himself useful as a grain supplier. He left Shen Mingxuan expecting that Wei Zi would approach him, as the Suzhou power struggle continued to shift.

• Xie Lin visited Shen Mingxuan at a private Shen residence and shared tea with him.
• Shen Mingxuan admitted that the Everlasting Abundance Firm handled temple grain and that some temple farmland was privately owned land registered under temples to evade taxes.
• Xie Lin explained that Wei Zi was targeting temple property, but warned that an unwilling investigation could expose the firm to greater danger.
• Xie Lin advised Shen Mingxuan to make the firm's accounts clear and pay its outstanding taxes so Wei Zi could use its grain routes and granaries.
• Shen Mingxuan asked whether he should seek out Wei Zi, and Xie Lin replied that Wei Zi would come to him.

Eight hundred elite Hangzhou Guard soldiers arrived in Suzhou to support Wei Nisheng’s investigation of the temples, alarming Prefect He Yanming. Wei Nisheng sent Zhang Zai to lead the investigation, intending for him to judge firsthand the truth behind the people’s praise for past officials.

• Eight hundred Hangzhou Guard soldiers arrived outside Suzhou, and Zhou Hu recognized them as elite troops.
• He Yanming worried that Wei Zi could use the soldiers against him, then ordered an official notice urging temples to cooperate and citizens to submit grievances.
• Wei Nisheng issued Zhang Zai a deployment order and assigned him to lead the troops in investigating the temples.
• Zhang Zai accepted the assignment, and Wei Nisheng explained that he was sending a Just Judge to see what lay beneath the praise for past achievements.

Zhang Zai faced a blind old woman who begged him to find her granddaughter, taken by the Sage-Protecting Convent, and realized that serving the people meant standing among them and acting. He ordered Dong Zheng to surround the convent immediately, declaring that the statute lay within his heart.

• Suzhou Prefecture Office posted notices ordering an investigation of the temples and inviting people to submit petitions to Zhang Zai.
• Zhang Zai entered the city with fifty soldiers led by Dong Zheng and headed toward the Sage-Protecting Convent.
• A blind old woman recognized Zhang Zai as the Just Judge and told him the convent had taken her ten-year-old granddaughter three years earlier.
• Zhang Zai reflected on where the people’s lives should be anchored and resolved that a true Just Judge had to see injustice firsthand and act.
• Zhang Zai took the old woman’s hand, then ordered Dong Zheng to surround the Sage-Protecting Convent without waiting for the next day’s assembly.

As the investigation of Suzhou’s temples threatened the merchants who had funded and sheltered them, Shen Mingxuan gathered the city’s great merchants and warned that Prefect He could not save them. He agreed to seek a path to survival, but ended by suggesting that refusing to be pawns meant changing the chessboard.

• Zhang Zai publicly executed more than a hundred monks who resisted arrest during the temple investigation.
• Suzhou’s merchants crowded into the Shen Residence and urged Shen Mingxuan to protect them from the investigation.
• Shen Mingxuan told the merchants that Prefect He could not help them and admitted he did not know whether Xie Lin and Wei Nisheng were allies or enemies.
• The merchants pressed Shen Mingxuan to approach Wei Nisheng, and he agreed to seek a path to survival rather than plead on their behalf.
• When a merchant asked what would happen if they refused to be pawns, Shen Mingxuan said they would have to change the chessboard.

Shen Mingxuan sought an audience with Wei Nisheng, hoping to learn how to protect his interests amid the Suzhou investigation. Wei revealed that the Emperor was directing the game and pressured Shen to help expose Li Jin’s ties to the Everlasting Abundance Firm and the Imperial Silk Bureau, leaving Shen to decide how to proceed.

• Shen Mingxuan waited in the rain before the Suzhou relay station until Cui Fu invited him upstairs to meet Wei Nisheng.
• Wei Nisheng rejected Shen’s offer of gifts and demanded that he speak plainly about what he wanted.
• Shen asked Wei to point out a safe path for him, and Wei warned him not to agree before hearing the terms.
• Wei said the Emperor was the true player in Suzhou and explained that the court wanted silver while targeting Li Jin’s connections to the Everlasting Abundance Firm and the Imperial Silk Bureau.
• Wei told Shen to keep grain prices from rising and implied that Shen should use his knowledge of Li Jin’s dealings; Shen feared that the road ahead would be difficult.

Shen Mingxuan visited Li Jin at the Imperial Silk Bureau and tried to secure his help, but Li Jin denied taking any of the silver and urged him to blame He Yanming. The chapter ended with Shen Mingxuan realizing Li Jin was protecting himself and deciding that each man would have to look after his own life.

• Li Jin greeted Shen Mingxuan with a performance of Su San's Arrest and challenged him to explain why he had come.
• Shen Mingxuan told Li Jin that he had come to watch him perform and argued that his ability to leave depended on Li Jin.
• Li Jin confronted Shen Mingxuan about visiting Wei Zi and asked whom he would turn to if Li Jin refused to help.
• Shen Mingxuan raised the silver paid over the years, but Li Jin denied pocketing any of it and said the payments had gone to the Palace.
• Li Jin suggested that Prefect He had received the silver and told Shen Mingxuan to check his accounts before returning.
• Shen Mingxuan understood that Li Jin was shifting blame to He Yanming and resolved to protect himself.

Xie Lin and Wei Nisheng met over Go, where Wei used Shen Mingxuan’s visit to ask whether Xie wanted to enter official service. Xie refused to reveal his intentions, declaring that his unknown way out was the move that let him win the smaller game.

• Xie Lin welcomed Wei Nisheng to the Heart-of-the-Lake Pavilion, and they began a cautious game of Go.
• Wei Nisheng told the story of Tao Kan and explained that Shen Mingxuan had been Xie Lin’s offering to win Wei’s favor, then asked whether Xie wished to enter official service.
• Xie Lin questioned whether Tao Kan’s recorded answer reflected his true thoughts and warned Wei not to guess his own escape route.
• Xie Lin acknowledged Wei’s victories in the larger political game but claimed he had won the smaller game because Wei could not discover his way out.
• Wei Nisheng smiled and called Xie Dao'an a kindred spirit, while Xie Lin held one of Wei’s white stones in the dusk.

Zhang Zai told Wei Nisheng about the girls rescued from the temples and the monks he had executed, while Wei Nisheng supported his actions and promised to shoulder the political fallout. Zhang Zai revealed that Suzhou’s gates and the Grand Canal were blocked, leaving the suspects trapped as the investigation continued.

• Zhang Zai told Wei Nisheng that he had found seven abducted girls imprisoned in a secret chamber and had executed three monks to make the abbot talk.
• Zhang Zai condemned the monks for shaving the girls’ heads and said the abuse had stripped them of their identities and dignity.
• Wei Nisheng affirmed that Zhang Zai had acted lawfully and promised to handle any impeachment or political opposition so Zhang Zai could continue the investigation.
• Zhang Zai said half the rescued girls had been sent home and the rest would be returned to their villages at dawn.
• Zhang Zai reported that all four gates of Suzhou were locked down and that Prefect Feng Guan had blockaded the Grand Canal, detaining suspected monks and other people without proper papers.

Shen Yi visited Fang Qi to ask him to recommend him for a provincial appointment as Suzhou's Prefectural Judge. He argued that the Shen family could use Wei Nisheng’s campaign against He Yanming to reclaim influence in Suzhou, and left Fang Qi weighing his plan.

• Fang Qi read He Yanming’s second plea for mercy and concluded that the Suzhou situation was close to breaking.
• Shen Yi visited Fang Qi and asked him to recommend him for a provincial appointment, revealing that he wanted to serve as Suzhou’s Prefectural Judge.
• Fang Qi warned Shen Yi that Suzhou was dangerous, but Shen Yi said the upheaval made it the right time to go.
• Shen Yi argued that Wei Nisheng had seized control of Suzhou’s affairs but could not quickly win the loyalty of its merchants, gentry, or officials.
• Shen Yi said the Shen family had to occupy the vacancy left by He Yanming’s downfall before rival factions claimed Suzhou’s remaining influence.

Shen Yi persuaded Fang Qi to recommend him for a posting as prefectural judge in Suzhou, offering Fang Qi’s grandson a county deputy position in return. As Shen Yi set out to join the struggle around Xie Lin and Wei Zi, Fang Qi reflected on the remarkable cohort of Jinghe Year Eleven.

• Fang Qi asked whether Shen Yi sought a public recommendation or acted on behalf of Chancellor Shen, and Shen Yi admitted he sought both.
• Shen Yi explained that he wanted to advance his career and defend the Shen Family’s position in Suzhou, where Xie Lin remained a key player against Wei Zi.
• Shen Yi offered Fang Qi’s grandson a county deputy post in Suzhou if Fang Qi helped secure his own posting.
• Fang Qi agreed to include Shen Yi among the candidates for prefectural judge of Suzhou at the Ministry of Personnel’s recommendation in three days.
• Fang Qi watched Shen Yi leave and reflected on the influence of the Jinghe Year Eleven cohort across the court and the provinces.

Wei Zi'an used a hidden ledger showing that He Yanming had diverted Suzhou’s grain surplus to expose a discrepancy in the unresolved Ever-Normal Granary Case. He ordered He to submit the old accounts, then sent Zhang Zai to retrieve the records directly from the Prefectural Office.

• Zhang Zai brought Wei Zi'an a private ledger found in a convent’s false wall, recording He Yanming’s grain diversion and the proceeds shared with the Everlasting Abundance Firm.
• Wei Zi'an explained that the ledger’s figures did not match the 47,000 shi shortfall in the Southern Capital Granary Depot Case, showing that the case remained unresolved.
• Wei Zi'an devised a plan to compare the Ministry of Revenue’s underlying accounts with Suzhou’s records and ordered He Yanming to submit the Jinghe Year Eleven ledgers within three days.
• The Imperial Envoy’s Headquarters posted the order publicly, and He Yanming feared that Wei Zi'an had evidence he could neither destroy nor explain away.
• Zhang Zai arrived at the Prefectural Office with soldiers and an order authorizing the headquarters to requisition the records directly, and He Yanming agreed to accompany him to the Archive Repository.

Zhang Zai uncovered hidden grain registers, and Wei Zi'an confronted He Yanming with evidence that Suzhou officials diverted tribute grain and concealed other crimes. He Yanming’s denials collapsed under the people’s names and the matching ministry records, leaving him facing questions about the missing grain and the Southern Capital Granary Depot Case.

• Zhang Zai found unlisted Jinghe Year Eleven registers in the Archive Repository and summoned He Yanming to the Imperial Envoy's Headquarters.
• Wei Zi'an presented three conflicting grain records, showing that Suzhou collected 312,000 shi while its official accounts reported only 230,000 shi.
• He Yanming called the private register forged and invoked the Ten-Thousand-People Umbrella, so Zhang Zai held the umbrellas over him and condemned him beneath the people’s names.
• Wei Zi'an matched the private register’s figures to a Ministry of Revenue harvest estimate, undermining He Yanming’s claims of forgery and slander.
• When He Yanming said he could not remember the missing grain, Wei Zi'an connected Suzhou’s 82,000 missing shi to the Southern Capital Granary Depot’s 47,000-shi shortfall and pressed him to explain.

Zhang Zai opened the street before the Suzhou Prefecture Office to hear the people’s grievances, where Zhou and his mother accused He Yanming of ignoring their daughter’s abduction. He Yanming tried to invoke his rank, but Zhang Zai revealed the emperor’s golden plaque and ended by threatening to behead him before the assembled people.

• Zhang Zai invited the people to present their grievances publicly and promised to hear them over the following days.
• Zhou accused the Sage-Protecting Convent of abducting his daughter and said He Yanming’s office had rejected his petitions for three years.
• He Yanming emerged beneath the Ten-Thousand-People Umbrellas as the crowd silently watched, and Zhang Zai challenged him to answer whether the Prefectural Office had received petitions.
• He Yanming claimed Zhang Zai had no authority to try or humiliate him, so Zhang Zai revealed the golden plaque bearing the emperor’s authority.
• Zhang Zai placed the plaque on the official desk, knelt before it, and called on the emperor to witness He Yanming’s oppression of the people.
• Zhang Zai threatened to behead He Yanming in the street despite his fourth-rank status.

Zhang Zai stripped He Yanming of the people’s trust by striking off his Black Gauze Cap with a Ten-Thousand-People Umbrella and declaring that he had taken away the title of “Just Judge.” He Yanming accepted the public humiliation and left the umbrella in his arms as the crowd watched in silence.

• He Yanming defended his record of public works and disaster relief, claiming his merits and the Ten-Thousand-People Umbrella should spare his life.
• Zhang Zai took an umbrella and condemned He Yanming for using the people’s names and gratitude to conceal their pleas for justice.
• Zhang Zai struck He Yanming with the upside-down umbrella, knocking his Black Gauze Cap down the steps.
• The crowd silently watched as someone called He Yanming by his old name, “Blue-Sky He,” and he could not answer.
• Zhang Zai returned the umbrella to the ground and said he was taking away He Yanming’s title of “Just Judge,” while Wei Nisheng watched without intervening.
• He Yanming gathered the umbrella into his arms, rose, and stood on the blue stone without retrieving his cap.

Wei Nisheng publicly confronted Suzhou Prefect He Yanming with evidence of concealed petitions and embezzled tribute grain, then stripped him of his office and sent him to await imperial judgment. He Yanming was left disgraced before the gathered commoners as the Suzhou case began to settle.

• Wei Nisheng rode to the Suzhou Prefecture Office with Zhang Zai and a hundred Hangzhou soldiers while commoners gathered with petitions.
• Wei Nisheng accused He Yanming of concealing seventeen petitions and presented records showing He had received eleven thousand taels from resold tribute grain.
• He Yanming accused Wei Nisheng of using him to win the people's favor and claimed he had merely lost.
• Wei Nisheng had guards force He Yanming to his knees and read out six crimes under the imperial decree.
• Wei Nisheng ordered He Yanming's cap, robes, belt, and insignia stripped away before the crowd, then sent him to await the imperial court's judgment.

Li Jin learned that Wei Nisheng had publicly stripped He Yanming of his official robe and celebrated, believing He Yanming’s fall would conceal the Imperial Silk Bureau’s secrets. The chapter left Li Jin unaware that his own involvement in those secrets was also exposed to danger.

• A young eunuch told Li Jin that Wei Nisheng had stripped He Yanming of his robe and hat before the townspeople after hearing the grievances against him.
• Li Jin chuckled and sang about He Yanming’s disgrace, calling the public hearing a fine show.
• Li Jin learned that Shen Mingxuan had gone to the Imperial Envoy’s Headquarters to submit his account books and praised his obedience.
• Li Jin concluded that He Yanming would cover up the Imperial Silk Bureau’s secrets and relaxed, unaware that a sparrow watched him and that his own fingerprints were on the Scarlet Robe.

Wei Nisheng confronted Shen Mingxuan about the falsified temple ledgers and exposed his knowledge of fraudulent merchant practices. He revealed that he planned to target Li Jin inside the Imperial Silk Bureau and pressed Shen to provide a way to reach him.

• Wei Nisheng drafted a memorial recommending that Zhang Zai temporarily take charge of Suzhou Prefecture.
• Shen Mingxuan arrived, and Wei Nisheng accused him of skillfully aging the ledgers found in the temple.
• Wei Nisheng listed deceptive practices involving tea, medicine, and food, unsettling Shen Mingxuan and challenging his claims of honest business.
• Wei Nisheng said Li Jin remained hidden inside the Imperial Silk Bureau and declared that he intended to draw him out.
• Wei Nisheng asked Shen Mingxuan to sell him the means to crack Li Jin’s protective shell, and Shen’s expression revealed his unease.

Wei Nisheng sent Shen Mingxuan to request the Imperial Silk Bureau’s original procurement ledgers, knowing Li Jin would likely refuse and expose himself to suspicion. He then dispatched three memorials to the capital to force the palace to act against the eunuch.

• Wei Nisheng ordered Shen Mingxuan to visit the Imperial Silk Bureau under the pretext of auditing temple lands and request its original procurement ledgers.
• Shen Mingxuan accepted Wei Nisheng’s official warrant and agreed to make the request, despite the risk of becoming a pawn in the conflict.
• Wei Nisheng told Zhang Zai that either Li Jin’s refusal or compliance would give him grounds to proceed.
• Wei Nisheng prepared and sealed memorials indicting He Yanming, concerning Zhang Zai acting as an official, and concerning the Inner Court.
• Wei Nisheng ordered Cui Fu to deliver the first two memorials to the Directorate of Transmission and the third to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Emperor Jing of Zhou received Wei Nisheng’s confidential report of irregular Imperial Silk Bureau purchases and authorized him to investigate, warning Wang Cheng not to conceal evidence. Wang Cheng chose to abandon Li Jin and swallowed a note promising that the Suzhou Weaving Bureau would remain his.

• Wang Cheng presented Emperor Jing of Zhou with Wei Nisheng’s confidential memorial, which raised questions about Imperial Silk Bureau purchases without naming Li Jin.
• After reading the report, Emperor Jing of Zhou asked how long Li Jin had served at the Suzhou Weaving Bureau and rejected Wang Cheng’s defense of him.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered that Wei Nisheng be allowed to investigate and that nothing be hidden from him.
• Wang Cheng recognized that the emperor had effectively authorized an investigation that could bring down Li Jin.
• Wang Cheng read a note promising that the Suzhou Weaving Bureau would remain his, then chewed and swallowed it to destroy the evidence.

Shen Mingxuan delivered Wei Zi’s directive ordering the Imperial Silk Bureau’s procurement ledgers to be checked against the Temple Lands records, while Li Jin tested his loyalties and challenged his motives. Shen Mingxuan pressed Li Jin to choose between obstructing the investigation and surrendering the records, and Li Jin agreed to send the master registers to the Imperial Envoy’s Headquarters.

• Shen Mingxuan arrived alone at the Imperial Silk Bureau and delivered an official directive from the Imperial Envoy’s Headquarters to Li Jin.
• Li Jin questioned Shen Mingxuan about He Yanming’s removal and accused him of scouting for Wei Zi; Shen Mingxuan admitted that he had given Wei Zi the Everlasting Abundance Firm’s account information.
• Shen Mingxuan offered to show Li Jin his account book and refused to relay any message beyond the directive he had been assigned to deliver.
• Li Jin read the directive requesting the Imperial Silk Bureau’s procurement ledgers for Jinghe Year Eleven through Year Fourteen and agreed to send the master registers to the headquarters.
• Li Jin told Shen Mingxuan he would remember their conversation and asked to hear about the account someday; after Shen Mingxuan left, Li Jin kept the notice and reflected on the bureau’s decline.