Chapter Summaries

Teng Zixiu waited at the Drunken Immortal Tower, planning to use the Martial Arena to provoke and humiliate the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate. As Li Zhiwei and Lin Qinrou watched from a carriage, a Great Hua man challenged Northern Yu and was swiftly defeated.

• Teng Zixiu told his companions to delay opening the arena until the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate arrived and the crowd grew larger.
• Li Zhiwei arrived with Lin Qinrou and anxiously wondered whether her sweetheart would come as the reception envoy.
• A Great Hua man leaped onto the platform and taunted the Northern Yu visitors into starting the contest.
• A Northern Yu fighter attacked the challenger, sent him flying, and broke his broadsword in two.

A Qiu defeated Great Hua martial artists at the arena while Teng Zixiu taunted the crowd and spotted Li Zhiwei. Jiang Xiaobai arrived, reunited with Li Zhiwei, and prepared to face A Qiu as Teng Zixiu recognized him and dismissed him as a mere youngster.

• A Qiu broke a third-rank martial artist’s saber and, at Teng Zixiu’s order, challenged the Great Hua crowd while warning him to hold back.
• Teng Zixiu noticed Li Zhiwei in her carriage, while A Qiu sent another Great Hua martial artist crashing to the ground.
• Jiang Xiaobai arrived with Zhang Xinnian, Tang Ningshuang, and the Elder Princess, and saw A Qiu defeat another opponent by tearing apart his spear.
• Lin Qinrou teased Li Zhiwei about missing Jiang Xiaobai, and Li Zhiwei hurried over to greet him.
• Jiang Xiaobai said he would deal with A Qiu, while Teng Zixiu compared him to a portrait and mocked the Northern Guardian Marquis’s Estate for sending a youngster.

Jiang Xiaobai entered the arena to avenge his Household Guard and confront Northern Yu’s brawny fighter. He killed the man with a rapid volley of One Yang Finger, leaving Teng Zixiu and the crowd stunned.

• Lin Qinrou and Li Zhiwei worriedly tried to dissuade Jiang Xiaobai from entering the arena, but he went ahead as Zhang Xinnian announced his arrival.
• Jiang Xiaobai faced the brawny Northern Yu fighter, while Teng Zixiu taunted him from the third floor and urged him to go home.
• Jiang Xiaobai said he had entered the arena to avenge his Household Guard and kill someone.
• The brawny fighter charged Jiang Xiaobai and boasted about how he should have smashed the Northern Guardian Marquis’s skull.
• Jiang Xiaobai unleashed a rapid-fire One Yang Finger volley, killing the fighter and leaving Teng Zixiu and the spectators stunned.

Jiang Xiaobai killed A Qiu with a hidden weapon in the Martial Arena, shocking the Northern Yu and Qi visitors and thrilling the crowd. Teng Zixiu suspended the fights until the next day and turned to the Literary Arena to challenge Great Hua’s scholars.

• Jiang Xiaobai shot A Qiu down, and the crowd cheered as his friends and the Elder Princess reacted with relief and astonishment.
• Teng Zixiu accused Jiang Xiaobai of killing A Qiu, but Jiang Xiaobai mocked him and warned that he would get used to more deaths.
• Teng Zixiu considered sending another fighter but held back because he did not know how Jiang Xiaobai had attacked.
• Jiang Xiaobai called for another opponent, but Teng Zixiu canceled the Martial Arena until the next day.
• Teng Zixiu announced that the Literary Arena would begin and challenged Great Hua’s scholars to prove their literary talents.

Jiang Xiaobai challenged the six Visiting Scholars from Northern Yu and Qi to face him in the Literary Arena and agreed that one loss would mean defeat. The scholars accepted the wager, and the contest was about to begin.

• As the Literary Arena opened, Jiang Xiaobai announced that he wanted to defeat all the Visiting Scholars from Northern Yu and Qi by himself.
• Jiang Xiaobai taunted the scholars, telling them to return home and till the fields if they could not beat him.
• Teng Zixiu proposed a wager: the loser would crawl between the winner’s legs, while the six scholars would challenge Jiang Xiaobai in turn and allow him three losses.
• Jiang Xiaobai rejected the rules and declared that even one loss would count as his defeat, calling this a concession.
• Teng Zixiu accepted the challenge in anger, and Jiang Xiaobai taunted him as the Literary Arena contest was about to begin.

Jiang Xiaobai faced Teng Zixiu and five other Visiting Scholars in a Literary Arena contest at the Martial Arena stage. After defeating Teng Zixiu with a wine-themed four-character poem, he announced that he would continue with five-character verse.

• Teng Zixiu agreed to hold the literary contest on the Martial Arena stage, where attendants set up tables and writing supplies beside A Qiu’s bloodstains.
• Teng Zixiu chose wine as the theme and proposed that the contest progress from four-character verse to seven-character verse.
• Jiang Xiaobai accepted, insisted on going first, and warned that Teng Zixiu should count it as a loss if he dared compose a poem afterward.
• Jiang Xiaobai recited a long wine-themed poem that left the crowd stunned and Teng Zixiu unable to respond.
• Jiang Xiaobai told Teng Zixiu to listen closely as he moved on to five-character verse.

Jiang Xiaobai outshone Teng Zixiu in their poetry contest by reciting a series of increasingly powerful poems, culminating in “Bring in the Wine!” The crowd was left stunned, and Teng Zixiu finally conceded in silence.

• Jiang Xiaobai recited five-, six-, and seven-character poems, leaving Teng Zixiu struggling to match their force.
• Jiang Xiaobai recited a poem about wine and war, moving the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate and silencing the crowd with its final line about how few soldiers returned.
• Jiang Xiaobai challenged Teng Zixiu to concede or hear another poem, then began “Bring in the Wine!”
• Jiang Xiaobai continued the poem with bold verses about talent, wine, and drowning the sorrows of all ages, astonishing the audience.
• Teng Zixiu stood dazed before Jiang Xiaobai, shocked by the poem's power.

Jiang Xiaobai stunned the crowd with the poem Bring in the Wine, then began a second literary contest by composing a lyric verse about a person. Its final lines seemed to point to Li Zhiwei, though Zhang Xinnian excitedly claimed they might describe him instead.

• Jiang Xiaobai recited Bring in the Wine, leaving the crowd and the Visiting Scholars speechless with admiration.
• Teng Zixiu refused to concede through a deliberately poor poem, and Jiang Xiaobai moved on to the second round.
• Yu Zhenglin of Maple Academy challenged Jiang Xiaobai to compose lyric verse on the theme of a person.
• Jiang Xiaobai recited a verse depicting a lantern festival and ended by looking at Li Zhiwei as he described finding someone beneath the dim lanterns.
• Li Zhiwei blushed and wondered whether Jiang Xiaobai had written about her, while Zhang Xinnian loudly suggested the poem might be about him.

Jiang Xiaobai’s striking lyric won over the crowd and prompted most of his challengers to concede. Min Zhe then challenged him to an arithmetic contest, leaving Jiang Xiaobai stunned by the simplicity of the first question.

• Jiang Xiaobai’s lyric moved Li Zhiwei and drew cheers from the crowd outside the Drunken Immortal Tower.
• Yu Zhenglin admitted defeat, and the third, fourth, and sixth men also conceded rather than challenge Jiang Xiaobai.
• Jiang Xiaobai learned that Min Zhe specialized in arithmetic, and Teng Zixiu urged Min Zhe to compete.
• Min Zhe challenged Jiang Xiaobai to mental arithmetic, and Jiang Xiaobai agreed despite saying he mainly studied the humanities.
• Min Zhe asked Jiang Xiaobai to add 135 and 347, leaving Jiang Xiaobai shocked by the question.

Jiang Xiaobai effortlessly defeated Min Zhe in an arithmetic contest, then challenged the final prose contestant, Xiao Qin, by announcing a piece inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The chapter left Jiang Xiaobai about to write Ode to the Goddess of Luo.

• Min Zhe posed increasingly difficult arithmetic problems, but Jiang Xiaobai answered each one quickly and correctly.
• Jiang Xiaobai challenged Min Zhe to find the sum of the numbers from one to one hundred and explained how pairing opposite numbers gave the answer, 5,050.
• Jiang Xiaobai turned to the final contestant and asked whether he would choose the prose topic or let Jiang Xiaobai choose.
• Xiao Qin of Northern Yu chose a topic centered on a person and led Jiang Xiaobai to the writing table.
• Jiang Xiaobai announced that his prose would borrow names and places from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and be titled Ode to the Goddess of Luo.

Jiang Xiaobai recited the complete Ode to the Goddess of Luo outside the Drunken Immortal Tower, astonishing the scholars and listeners with its vivid beauty and sorrowful parting. The crowd praised him as Fang Tong claimed him as his teacher, while Xiao Qin gave up on writing and set down his brush.

• Jiang Xiaobai introduced the rhapsody as a piece from his forthcoming Romance of the Three Kingdoms and began describing his journey to the Luo River.
• Jiang Xiaobai portrayed Fu Fei’s beauty in elaborate detail, leaving Xiao Qin and the assembled scholars stunned.
• Jiang Xiaobai recited the man’s growing affection for the goddess and her eventual departure, moving listeners with their separation.
• Jiang Xiaobai finished the rhapsody as the crowd remained silent, then listeners praised his work and Fang Tong shouted that Jiang Xiaobai was his teacher.
• Xiao Qin looked at his still-blank paper, lowered his brush, and abandoned his attempt to write.

Jiang Xiaobai defeated Teng Zixiu and the visiting scholars in the Literary Arena, then declared aspirations that moved the scholars and students present. The chapter ended with them bowing and thanking him for the lesson.

• Xiao Qin admitted that he could not match Jiang Xiaobai's Ode to the Goddess of Luo and conceded.
• Teng Zixiu accepted defeat, crawled beneath Jiang Xiaobai's legs as their wager required, and announced that he would close the Literary Arena and Martial Arena.
• Teng Zixiu mocked Jiang Xiaobai by asking whether he had come for all of Great Hua, and Jiang Xiaobai answered that he had come to establish a heart for Heaven and Earth and to serve future generations.
• Jiang Xiaobai recited all four of Zhang Zai's Four Maxims, leaving Teng Zixiu pale and moving the spectators.
• An elder of the Azure Robe Society and the gathered scholars and students bowed to Jiang Xiaobai and thanked him for the lesson.

After Jiang Xiaobai’s poems and Four Sentences of Hengqu stunned the Literary Arena, the scholars bowed to him and his name was set to shake Great Hua’s literary world. On the ride home, Lin Qinrou recognized something familiar about the Elder Princess, whom Jiang Xiaobai had called a maid.

• The scholars and students bowed to Jiang Xiaobai, while Teng Zixiu and the other Visiting Scholars recognized the gulf between their outlooks and his.
• Jiang Xiaobai left the Drunken Immortal Tower with Zhang Xinnian, and Lin Qinrou and Li Zhiwei joined Tang Ningshuang and the Elder Princess in his carriage.
• Teng Zixiu decided to file a formal complaint against Jiang Xiaobai at Great Hua’s Ministry of Justice over A Qiu’s death.
• Jiang Xiaobai told the women that defeating the Visiting Scholars would weaken the confidence of the Northern Yu and Qi delegations when they reached the capital.
• Lin Qinrou noticed that Li Zhiwei kept looking at the Elder Princess and said she felt she had seen the supposed maid somewhere before.

Jiang Xiaobai saw Li Zhiwei and Lin Qinrou safely to the Chancellor's Residence, while Teng Zixiu tried to file a complaint against him at the Ministry of Justice and was turned away. Teng Zixiu then decided to take the petition to the Court of Judicial Review.

• Jiang Xiaobai invited Li Zhiwei to visit the Marquis's Residence, but she bashfully declined.
• Jiang Xiaobai watched Li Zhiwei and Lin Qinrou enter the Chancellor's Residence, then told Zhang Xinnian to drive to the Marquis's Residence.
• Teng Zixiu and Xiao Qin brought a complaint petition against Jiang Xiaobai to the Ministry of Justice, where a bailiff kicked Teng Zixiu and ordered them to leave.
• Feng Quan refused to accept the complaint and told Teng Zixiu to go to the Censorate or the Court of Judicial Review.
• Teng Zixiu left with Xiao Qin and A Tuo, determined to submit the complaint to the Court of Judicial Review.

Pei Shen failed to make progress on the Ministry of Rites examination case and imprisoned three Northern Yu Visiting Scholars who tried to file a complaint against Jiang Xiaobai. As Jiang Xiaobai's poems, novels, and wine became wildly popular in the Capital City, Zhang Xinnian summoned him to the Main Hall because Eunuch Gao had arrived.

• Pei Shen grew frustrated by missing clues in the Ministry of Rites case and ordered the three Northern Yu Visiting Scholars arrested when they came to complain about Jiang Xiaobai.
• Teng Zixiu and Xiao Qin discussed seeking help from the Censorate or the Chancellor after the Ministry of Justice and Court of Judicial Review rejected their complaint.
• Jiang Xiaobai's poems spread across the Capital City, and the Azure Robe Society began selling his Four Great Classical Novels to eager buyers.
• Demand for wine from the Marquis's Residence surged, so Jiang Xiaobai had the Heavenly Mechanism Tower add brewing equipment.
• Jiang Xiaobai spent two days writing manuscripts while the Elder Princess helped him, until Zhang Xinnian arrived to say that Eunuch Gao was waiting in the Main Hall.

Eunuch Gao told Jiang Xiaobai that the Northern Yu and Qi delegations would arrive early, and that the emperor wanted him to write a poem praising a Northern Yu princess. Jiang Xiaobai refused and prepared to attend court, while Jiang Jingcheng suspected the sudden arrival meant an assassination mission had failed.

• Eunuch Gao told Jiang Jingcheng that the emperor praised Jiang Xiaobai’s books and Ode to the Goddess of Luo.
• Eunuch Gao summoned Jiang Xiaobai to court the next morning because the Northern Yu and Qi delegations would arrive a week early.
• Eunuch Gao relayed the emperor’s request for Jiang Xiaobai to write a poem praising a Northern Yu princess, but Jiang Xiaobai firmly refused.
• Jiang Xiaobai agreed to attend court after Jiang Jingcheng urged him to confront any Northern Yu envoys who acted arrogantly.
• After Jiang Xiaobai left, Jiang Jingcheng concluded that the failed assassination mission had likely caused the delegations’ early arrival.

Jiang Xiaobai went to consult Chancellor Li Bingzhang about the emperor’s request that he write a poem for the Princess of Northern Yu. Meanwhile, Teng Zixiu failed to get officials to accept his complaint against Jiang Xiaobai and headed to the Chancellor’s Residence, where he encountered Jiang Xiaobai and agreed to enter with him.

• Jiang Xiaobai wondered why the emperor wanted him to praise the Princess of Northern Yu and decided to visit Li Bingzhang for advice.
• Teng Zixiu left the Court of Judicial Review after three days without food and ate with Xiao Qin and their companion.
• Teng Zixiu wrote a complaint naming Jiang Xiaobai and the Court of Judicial Review, but staff at the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of War turned them away.
• Teng Zixiu decided to take his complaint to Li Bingzhang at the Chancellor’s Residence.
• Jiang Xiaobai arrived at the Chancellor’s Residence and met Teng Zixiu, who said he had come to complain against him.
• Jiang Xiaobai agreed to accompany Teng Zixiu inside and said he would cooperate fully.

Jiang Xiaobai led Northern Yu Visiting Scholars to the Chancellor's Residence, where Teng Zixiu announced that he wanted to bring charges against Jiang. The chapter ended with Chancellor Li and Lin Fengshuo stunned by the accusation.

• Teng Zixiu and two companions went to the Chancellor's Residence, and Jiang Xiaobai arranged for himself and his companions to enter with them.
• Jiang Xiaobai led the group toward the main hall and told Teng Zixiu that the Northern Yu and Qi envoy delegations would arrive the next day.
• Jiang Xiaobai teased Teng Zixiu by claiming the delegations had rushed to the capital in anger over his defeat of the Visiting Scholars.
• Jiang Xiaobai entered the main hall, where Lin Fengshuo and Chancellor Li Bingzhang were talking.
• Teng Zixiu introduced himself as a Northern Yu Visiting Scholar and declared that he wished to bring charges against Jiang Xiaobai.

Teng Zixiu accused Jiang Xiaobai of killing a Northern Yu visiting scholar and demanded justice from Li Bingzhang. Jiang Xiaobai jokingly asked for a death sentence to be carried out a hundred years later, and Li Bingzhang refused the complaint because Jiang Xiaobai was his future son-in-law.

• Teng Zixiu presented his complaint to Li Bingzhang and complained that the Court of Judicial Review had imprisoned and starved him and his companions for three days.
• Jiang Xiaobai asked Li Bingzhang to sentence him to death, then added that the sentence should be carried out a hundred years later.
• Teng Zixiu protested that Jiang Xiaobai was mocking them, while those gathered laughed at his remark.
• Li Zhiwei and Lin Qinrou arrived, and Lin Qinrou teased Li Zhiwei for coming as soon as she heard Jiang Xiaobai was there.
• Li Bingzhang refused Teng Zixiu's complaint, explaining that Great Hua's rules barred him from judging his future son-in-law.

Li Bingzhang confirmed that His Majesty had arranged Jiang Xiaobai’s marriage into the Chancellor’s family, then warned him that the Northern Yu princess’s request for a poem could undermine the Northern Guardian Army’s morale. Jiang Xiaobai agreed to prepare for their meeting at court and ended by asking Lin Fengshuo for a favor.

• Li Bingzhang told Teng Zixiu, Xiao Qin, and A Tuo that His Majesty had arranged Jiang Xiaobai’s marriage, and the three men left the Main Hall in embarrassment.
• Jiang Xiaobai told Li Bingzhang that Eunuch Gao had asked him to prepare a poem for the Princess of Northern Yu.
• Li Bingzhang warned Jiang Xiaobai that praising the princess could damage morale on the Northern Frontier, while refusing could insult Northern Yu.
• Li Bingzhang and Lin Fengshuo told Jiang Xiaobai that his work had reached the Azure Robe Society General Institute and that a Pavilion Elder wanted to take him as a disciple.
• Lin Fengshuo cautioned Jiang Xiaobai about the princess’s intelligence, and Jiang Xiaobai said he would be careful before asking his teacher for a favor.