Recaps

Wei Nisheng continued studying governance and preparing for the Autumn Provincial Examination, choosing the Classical Commentary Examination. Feng Yan predicted three likely policy essay topics and warned Wei Nisheng to avoid discussing the Prince of Ning or the Shaanxi incident.

• Wei Nisheng studied Great Zhou records at the Hall of Literary Depths and submitted his daily work to Feng Yan.
• Feng Yan asked which examination Wei Nisheng would take, and Wei Nisheng chose the Classical Commentary Examination.
• Feng Yan predicted frontier defense, official administration, and agriculture and sericulture as likely topics, then assigned Wei Nisheng six policy essays arguing both sides of each.
• Feng Yan warned Wei Nisheng not to mention the Shaanxi incident or the Prince of Ning in his frontier defense essays.
• After leaving Feng Yan's study, Wei Nisheng recalled how Chao Cuo had been executed after offending the feudal kings and becoming a scapegoat for Emperor Jing of Han.

Wei Nisheng accepted pastries from Fu Niang and was caught by Feng Yan joking about men pursuing men, while Prince Ning explained to Jiang Yu why his retreat from the Xiang Partisans had been a grave military failure. Prince Ning believed the upcoming Autumn Provincial Examination gave them time to avoid punishment and pinned their hopes on someone coming to their rescue.

• Fu Niang brought Wei Nisheng mung bean soup and osmanthus cake, then hurried away after he thanked her.
• Feng Yan overheard Wei Nisheng's remark about men pursuing men and ordered him back into the study for harsher lessons.
• At the Imperial Clan Court, Prince Ning rebuked Jiang Yu for abandoning the Gansu Garrison and fleeing from Xi'an Prefecture.
• Jiang Yu asked whether His Majesty would kill them, and Prince Ning reassured him that their family ties made that unlikely.
• Prince Ning said he had delayed returning to the capital until the court's attention turned to the Autumn Provincial Examination, giving them time to seek rescue.

Emperor Jing of Zhou discussed Prince Ning’s confinement and the loss of the Shaanxi-Gansu Three Prefectures with Wang Cheng. He planned to let Shen Duan help Prince Ning so he could use the resulting court turmoil to kill his uncle and implicate Shen Duan, while keeping the other Feudal Princes from rebelling.

• Wang Cheng urged Emperor Jing of Zhou to take his medicine, and the emperor relented after learning Prince Ning had been writing defenses and reading about border defense.
• Wang Cheng reported that the Heir of Prince Ning had argued with the Wei Family Son in the Hall of Literary Depths and that Prince Ning had shouted words of self-reproach in the Imperial Clan Court.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou denounced Prince Ning’s apparent remorse and blamed himself for losing the Three Prefectures, then recovered from his outburst.
• Wang Cheng said Prince Ning could seek help from Lord Feng or Grand Secretary Shen Duan, and confirmed that Shen Duan had been visiting him.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou decided to let Shen Duan assist Prince Ning and stir up the court before using the turmoil to kill Prince Ning and implicate Shen Duan.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered Wang Cheng to monitor Prince Ning’s meetings, words, and writings in the Imperial Clan Court.

Jiang Yu sought Shen Duan’s help for Prince Ning, but Shen publicly refused while privately preparing to learn the emperor’s intentions before choosing a side. Shen Duan then asked about his grandson Shen Yi’s preparations for the Autumn Provincial Examination and warned that he would disown him if he brought shame on the family.

• Jiang Yu visited Shen Duan after waiting three days and begged him to help Prince Ning.
• Shen Duan rebuked Jiang Yu and declared that Prince Ning should accept punishment for losing territory, then had him escorted out.
• After Jiang Yu left, Shen Duan explained that he was waiting to learn the emperor’s position so he could either save Prince Ning or protect himself.
• Shen Duan planned to sound out Wang Cheng at morning court for clues about the emperor’s intentions.
• Shen Duan questioned whether Shen Yi had truly been studying for the Autumn Provincial Examination and warned that poor results would send him back to Guilin Prefecture.

Jiang Zhang interpreted Shen Duan’s meeting with Jiang Yu as a cautious signal that the chief minister was waiting to learn the Emperor’s intentions about Prince Ning. He told Jiang Yu to befriend Shen Duan’s grandson, while Shen Duan later questioned Wang Cheng and received advice to wait for the Emperor’s direction.

• Jiang Yu returned from Shen Duan’s residence angry that he had waited three days and received a stern lecture, but Jiang Zhang explained that Shen Duan was testing the situation rather than refusing to help.
• Jiang Zhang told Jiang Yu that Shen Duan was waiting to learn whether the Emperor intended to punish Prince Ning, and ordered Jiang Yu to befriend Shen Duan’s grandson.
• After the morning audience, Shen Duan asked Wang Cheng about the Emperor’s health and whether the Emperor had issued instructions regarding Prince Ning.
• Wang Cheng said the Emperor valued family ties but remained angry over the Gansu Three Prefectures affair, and advised Shen Duan not to act ahead of the Emperor.
• Shen Duan understood Wang Cheng’s message, thanked him, and left with a plan forming.

Shen Duan told Prince Ning that the emperor would not execute him, but that someone had to take the blame for the loss of the three prefectures of Gan and Su. He persuaded Prince Ning to implicate Li Yuanzhen and promised to arrange court support so Prince Ning and his son could leave the Imperial Clan Court alive.

• Shen Duan reasoned that the emperor could not execute Prince Ning without provoking the vassal princes and damaging his standing.
• Shen Duan told Prince Ning that he could avoid execution if someone else took responsibility for the loss of Gan and Su.
• Shen Duan urged Prince Ning to visit the Grand Princess and draw Feng Yan into the dispute.
• Shen Duan gave Prince Ning a slip bearing Li Yuanzhen’s name and told him to accuse Feng Yan’s protégé in his defense memorial.
• Prince Ning agreed to implicate Li Yuanzhen, and Shen Duan promised to arrange court and Censorate support and secure the Grand Princess’s intercession.

As the Court factions fought over Li Yuanzhen’s inquiry, Wei Nisheng encountered Jiang Yu and Shen Yi on West Street. Jiang Yu insulted Wei Nisheng and tried to buy Qu Niang, and the chapter ended with Wei Nisheng refusing him.

• Emperor Jing of Zhou withheld Shen Duan’s accusation but ordered Li Yuanzhen suspended for a joint inquiry after endorsing Feng Yan’s memorial against Shen Duan.
• Wei Nisheng went out with Qu Niang and Cui Fu while Feng Yan and his students remained occupied with Court business.
• Jiang Yu and Shen Yi approached Wei Nisheng on West Street, and Jiang Yu challenged him over his greeting.
• Jiang Yu pointed out Qu Niang and offered to buy her as his maid, despite Shen Yi urging him to leave the matter alone.
• Wei Nisheng asked Jiang Yu what he would do if he refused, and Jiang Yu began threatening him.

Wei Nisheng confronted Jiang Yu on Chang'an Street over Prince Ning’s retreat from the Xiang Partisans and challenged whether Jiang Yu deserved the imperial surname. Jiang Yu left in fury after Shen Yi dragged him away, and Wei Nisheng went home with Qu Niang.

• Jiang Yu threatened Wei Nisheng, but Wei Nisheng refused to back down and accused Prince Ning’s household of fleeing Xi'an Prefecture and abandoning territory.
• Jiang Yu boasted that his Jiang surname and princely status protected him from punishment, while Shen Yi tried to distance himself from the confrontation.
• Wei Nisheng recounted Great Zhou’s imperial achievements and condemned Prince Ning’s retreat, asking whether Jiang Yu was worthy of the imperial surname.
• Wei Nisheng addressed the gathered scholars and challenged Jiang Yu over the deaths and displacement caused by the fall of Liang, Gan, and Su.
• Jiang Yu roared in anger, and Shen Yi pulled him away as Jiang Yu threatened Wei Nisheng.
• Qu Niang showed Wei Nisheng the warm pastries she had bought, and he went home with her.

Wei Nisheng received Feng Yan’s counsel and encouragement before the Autumn Provincial Examination, then returned home to hear Wei An reminisce about his late father and the family’s past. The chapter left Wei Nisheng resolved to arrange a palace physician for the increasingly frail Wei An as the examination approached.

• Feng Yan told Wei Nisheng he had done nothing wrong by confronting Jiang Yu and explained how the incident could benefit Feng Yan at Court.
• Feng Yan advised Wei Nisheng to write steadily and honestly in the Autumn Provincial Examination, praised his progress, and urged him not to rush.
• Feng Yan reassured Wei Nisheng that he could wait until Wei Nisheng earned high honors, moving Wei Nisheng deeply.
• Wei An told Wei Nisheng about the jujube tree at their old home and the lessons his father had drawn from it.
• Wei Nisheng noticed Wei An’s worsening cough and weight loss, and promised Qu Niang he would ask Feng Yan to arrange an imperial physician.

Emperor Jing of Zhou praised Wei Nisheng’s candor and ordered the Autumn Provincial Examination essay to address the fall of the Gansu Three Prefectures. As Wei Nisheng left to sit the exam, Wei An prayed at Wei Zheng’s memorial tablet for his safety and success.

• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered punishment for anyone who disrupted the Capital during the examination season, especially Prince Ning, and set the policy essay topic as the fall of the Gansu Three Prefectures.
• Cui Fu, Qu Niang, and Fu Niang prepared Wei Nisheng for the Autumn Provincial Examination, and Fu Niang brought him a new carriage and food.
• Wei Nisheng called out to Wei An before leaving, and Wei An briefly mistook him for Wei Zheng.
• Wei An bowed before Wei Zheng’s memorial tablet and prayed that Wei Nisheng would pass the examinations and have a bright future.

Wei Nisheng entered the Yingtian Prefecture examination hall and completed the first session of the Autumn Provincial Examination, answering three questions on the classics. After eating and sleeping in his cramped cell, he awaited the next day of the three-day examination.

• Cui Fu cleared a path for Wei Nisheng to enter the examination hall, where officials checked his credentials and searched his belongings.
• An elderly clerk assigned Wei Nisheng to Section A, number fourteen, and an attendant explained the strict rules for the three-day examination.
• After the chief examiner announced the start, Wei Nisheng began the first session on the Four Books and Five Classics.
• Wei Nisheng wrote answers on luminous virtue, the people's importance, and the Battle of Chengpu, then sealed and submitted his papers for collection.
• Wei Nisheng ate supper, supplemented it with pastries Fu Niang had brought, and slept on the wooden bench in his cell.

During the third session of the Autumn Provincial Examination, Wei Nisheng faced an imperial policy question about the fall of the Gansu Three Prefectures and chose to write a direct accusation of Prince Ning despite Feng Yan’s warnings. He sealed his essay, leaving his future in the emperor’s hands.

• Wei Nisheng finished the classics interpretation papers early and rested through the second session.
• Wei Nisheng saw that the policy question asked why the Gansu Three Prefectures had fallen and realized the emperor wanted someone to state the truth openly.
• Wei Nisheng weighed Feng Yan’s warning about Chao Cuo against the emperor’s favor and decided to trust his sovereign father.
• Wei Nisheng wrote that Li Yuanzhen failed to send aid and that Prince Ning fled, causing the prefectures to fall and the people to lose faith in the imperial clan.
• Wei Nisheng sealed the essay, aware that its accusations could bring him danger from Prince Ning and anger Feng Yan.

Prince Ning received Emperor’s warning about his conduct and his Self-Defense Memorial, then confronted Jiang Yu over the scandal caused by his public quarrel with Wei Nisheng. Prince Ning revealed the court had received a pile of impeachments, while Jiang Yu remained defiant about their imperial status.

• Wang Cheng delivered Emperor’s warning that Prince Ning should remain quiet in the Imperial Clan Court and answer for the Gansu Three Prefectures affair without dragging others into it.
• After Wang Cheng left, Jiang Yu cursed him, and Prince Ning slapped Jiang Yu repeatedly for provoking trouble with Wei Nisheng.
• Jiang Yu defended his street remarks as a response to an insult, but Prince Ning warned that he had jumped into a pit of fire.
• Prince Ning told Jiang Yu that censors had filed numerous impeachments against them, and Feng Yan had called for Prince Ning’s execution at court.
• Jiang Yu insisted their imperial nobility protected them, while Prince Ning cited past emperors who had killed their own relatives.

After the Autumn Provincial Examination ended, Wei Nisheng returned from the examination cell and waited for the results. In the Yingtian Prefecture Examination Hall, the examiners praised his essays from the first two sessions, but his third-session policy essays left them frowning.

• Wei Nisheng left the Examination Hall after three days, and Cui Fu helped him into the carriage home.
• The examiners remained confined in the Yingtian Prefecture Examination Hall while they graded the candidates’ papers.
• Song Jing praised Wei Nisheng’s interpretation of luminous virtue and gave his first-session paper an A-plus despite Sun Mao’s objections.
• The examiners praised Wei Nisheng’s second-session judicial verdict, and even Sun Mao awarded it an A.
• The examiners reached Wei Nisheng’s third-session policy essays and frowned.

Song Jing and the other examiners read Wei Nisheng’s policy essay, which blamed both Prince Ning and Li Yuanzhen for the fall of the Gansu Three Prefectures. Song Jing judged that the essay gave Emperor’s question the truthful answer he wanted and left it marked for public recognition, despite the risk of political trouble.

• Song Jing found that most candidates had avoided directly addressing responsibility for the fall of the Gansu Three Prefectures.
• Song Jing opened Wei Nisheng’s essay, which accused Li Yuanzhen of watching and waiting and Prince Ning of fleeing without a fight.
• Zhao Heng and Zhou Shen argued that Wei Nisheng’s essay was bold but impartial because it assigned responsibility to both men.
• Song Jing explained that His Majesty had set the question to hear the truth that officials at court would not say.
• Song Jing graded Wei Nisheng’s essay “A, upper” and dismissed concerns about publicly posting it, saying the consequences were for His Majesty to handle.

After Emperor Jing of Zhou read the top-ranked examination essay, he recognized its author and praised the examiner who had graded it fairly. Wei Nisheng returned from the examination to find Wei An gravely ill, and the physician said he could do nothing as Wei An urged him not to hold on to resentment.

• Emperor Jing of Zhou read the top-ranked essay and asked Wang Cheng about chief examiner Song Jing.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou praised Song Jing and understood who had written the essay without asking.
• Wei Nisheng visited the gravely ill Wei An and told him he had done well in the examination.
• The imperial physician examined Wei An and told Wei Nisheng that years of toil had damaged his body beyond treatment.
• Wei Nisheng broke down as he recalled how Wei An had raised and cared for him through years of hardship.
• Wei An called Wei Nisheng to his bedside and urged him not to hold on to resentment.

Wei Nisheng placed first in the Yingtian Prefecture Provincial Examination and brought the news to the dying Wei An. Wei An died after hearing that Wei Nisheng had passed, and Wei Nisheng kept vigil beside him through the night.

• The Yingtian Prefecture Provincial Examination results were posted, naming Wei Nisheng the top provincial graduate.
• Heralds brought the first-place announcement to the Small Courtyard at the Wei Residence while Wei An lay gravely ill.
• Wei Nisheng showed Wei An the congratulatory notice and told him he had passed in first place.
• Wei An recalled moments from his life with his master and Wei Nisheng before dying with Wei Nisheng holding his hand.
• Wei Nisheng remembered how Wei An had raised and cared for him, then sat beside Wei An's bed and kept vigil until dawn.

After Wei An died, Wei Nisheng kept vigil and received condolences before telling Feng Yan he would bury Wei An beside Grandfather despite the rules against burying servants in the Wei family ancestral graveyard. Feng Yan accepted his decision, while Wei Nisheng remained determined to honor the man who had raised him.

• Wei Nisheng stayed beside Wei An through the night, then had him washed and dressed for burial.
• Cui Fu and the funeral attendants prepared Wei An's body as neighbors, stewards, and students came to offer condolences.
• Feng Yan visited the mourning hall and suggested that Wei An be buried on Green Peak Mountain instead of in the Wei family ancestral graveyard.
• Wei Nisheng insisted that Wei An deserved to rest beside Grandfather and declared that no one could stop him from bestowing the Wei name.
• Feng Yan accepted Wei Nisheng's decision and left, warning that the boy would have much to face.

Wei Nisheng’s funeral rites for his old servant sparked a fierce debate in the Capital, while Jiang Yu learned why Wei Nisheng treated the man as family. Prince Ning warned Jiang Yu not to provoke Wei Nisheng, but Jiang Yu left still resentful and defiant.

• News that Wei Nisheng was burying his servant with the rites due an elder stirred protests among Censorate officials and debate across the Capital.
• At the Drunken Immortal Tower, Shen Yi mocked Wei Nisheng’s funeral to Jiang Yu, who listened closely and left with the matter on his mind.
• Jiang Yu reported Shen Yi’s remarks to Prince Ning, who explained that the old servant had been Wei Nisheng’s only family and warned that a man with nothing could risk everything.
• Prince Ning told Jiang Yu that the Grand Princess would support them on the condition that they behave, especially by avoiding Wei Nisheng.
• Jiang Yu agreed sullenly, then left the hall vowing inwardly that he would not back down if he chose to confront Wei Nisheng.

Feng Yan worried that Wei Nisheng’s open defiance of convention would make him vulnerable, while Jiang Yu watched and encouraged scholars’ outrage over Wei’s funeral rites for a servant. By afternoon, the crowd was calling for Wei’s Provincial Graduate title to be stripped, and Jiang Yu judged the uproar ready to intensify.

• Feng Yan read Qin Yan’s warning about Wei Nisheng’s fierce temperament and feared the Grand Princess was using Fu Niang to bind him politically.
• Scholars across the Capital argued over whether Wei Nisheng’s elder’s funeral rites for Wei An violated ritual propriety or honored human feeling.
• At the Moon-Viewing Tower, Jiang Yu told Shen Yi that scholars’ words could be more formidable than weapons and explained how failed examinees’ resentment could be stirred.
• Jiang Yu watched as students began demanding a joint petition to strip Wei Nisheng of his Provincial Graduate title.
• Jiang Yu observed the growing uproar and decided the fire was hot enough.

A crowd of students confronted Wei Nisheng for mourning Wei An instead of attending the Deer Crying Banquet, but Wei Nisheng defended his examination title and explained how Wei An had raised and taught him. The students fell silent after he declared that repaying Wei An’s kindness mattered more than dismissing him as a former servant.

• Jiang Yu watched as dozens of students left the Moon-Viewing Tower for the Wei Residence, while Shen Yi worried about returning to Guilin Prefecture.
• Wei Nisheng left the mourning hall, armed himself with a sword, and told Qu Niang to go inside as the students gathered at his gate.
• Zhao Yuanlang accused Wei Nisheng of violating ritual propriety by mourning a servant, and Wei Nisheng challenged the crowd to contest his examination results through the examiners or the court.
• Wei Nisheng revealed that Wei An had been freed decades earlier and had saved, raised, and taught him after his birth father tried to starve him.
• Wei Nisheng said he honored Wei An because of his lifelong kindness and teaching, and his words left the gathered students speechless.

Jiang Yu challenged Wei Nisheng over honoring Wei An as an elder despite his former status as a servant. Wei Nisheng defended Wei An’s choices and his own funeral rites, ending with a vow to build him a tomb and memorial stone.

• Jiang Yu confronted Wei Nisheng, arguing that Wei An had remained a servant in all but name and that Wei Nisheng had made him one for life.
• Wei Nisheng acknowledged his own failure but explained that Wei An had stayed with the family because he worried about him, not because he was bound to serve.
• Wei Nisheng argued before Jiang Yu and the students that Wei An’s kindness mattered more than his former title and that filial feeling could accord with ritual propriety.
• Wei Nisheng asked what funeral rites Jiang Yu would give a servant who had raised and saved him, leaving Jiang Yu unable to answer.
• Wei Nisheng declared that he would raise a memorial stone and build a tomb for Wei An as the only repayment he could now offer.

Jiang Yu destroyed Wei An’s spirit tablet and threatened Wei Nisheng, who gathered the fragments and began reciting Wei An’s life and the history of his service to the Wei family. The chapter ended with Wei Nisheng confronting Jiang Yu and recounting how Wei An had been freed from his bond of servitude.

• Zhao Yuanlang admitted his conduct was wrong, bowed to Wei Nisheng, and left with the other scholars.
• Jiang Yu kicked over the incense table, seized Wei An’s spirit tablet, and called Wei An a servant.
• Jiang Yu smashed the tablet underfoot and claimed his imperial status protected him from consequences.
• Wei Nisheng knelt among the fragments, gathered them, and began recounting Wei An’s life and how Zheng freed him from servitude.

Wei Nisheng avenged Wei An by killing Jiang Yu after Jiang Yu destroyed Wei An’s spirit tablet. As Wei Nisheng pieced the tablet back together, Shen Yi fled the Wei Residence, repeating that the Heir of Prince Ning had been killed.

• Wei Nisheng drew his sword after Jiang Yu smashed Wei An’s spirit tablet, while Jiang Yu threatened him with the power of the Imperial Clan.
• Wei Nisheng invoked Wu Zixu and the sages’ teachings to defend avenging Wei An, then backed Jiang Yu against a doorpost.
• Wei Nisheng told Jiang Yu that he had already destroyed his future and thrust his sword into Jiang Yu’s chest, killing him.
• Wei Nisheng returned to the offering table and glued Wei An’s spirit tablet back together piece by piece.
• Shen Yi fled the Wei Residence, repeating that Wei Nisheng had killed the Heir of Prince Ning.

After sending Qu Niang and Cui Fu to safety, Wei Nisheng mourned Wei An and wrote a blood tribute accusing Jiang Yu of ruining his life. When officials arrived to arrest him for Jiang Yu’s death, Wei Nisheng invoked his imperial honors and agreed to go to Yingtian Prefecture without being chained.

• Wei Nisheng ordered Cui Fu and Qu Niang to seek refuge at his teacher’s residence and told Qu Niang to claim she was delivering a funeral notice to the Feng Residence.
• Wei Nisheng mourned Wei An, remembered their life together, and wrote a blood-soaked funeral tribute declaring his hatred of Jiang Yu and blaming himself for failing to protect Wei An.
• Soldiers and arrest officers arrived at the Wei Residence and found Jiang Yu’s corpse and Wei Nisheng’s tribute.
• Wei Nisheng invoked his Provincial Graduate rank and imperial honors, stopping the officers from chaining or cangueing him.
• Yi Dao persuaded Wei Nisheng to accompany the officials to Yingtian Prefecture, and Wei Nisheng left the courtyard beneath the ripe jujube tree.