Chapter Summaries

The cook monk discovered Luo Chengye’s fried head in the Lotus Flower Temple, while Bao Lang confronted Yang Xingjian and his daughter about the stolen pearl. After the meeting, Bao Lang suspected that Lady Yang was connected to the emperor or Prince Shao.

• The cook monk entered the temple kitchen and found a human head frying in the cauldron.
• Baozhu agreed with Yang Xingjian to meet Bao Lang, despite Yang Xingjian’s warning about the dangerous Defense Commissioner.
• Bao Lang accused Yang Xingjian’s runaway servant of stealing the pearl and suggested he had targeted Lady Yang for her beauty.
• Yang Xingjian and Lady Yang challenged Bao Lang’s accusations, and Bao Lang revealed that he had killed the white snake from which the pearl came.
• Bao Lang displayed Luo Chengye’s fried head, terrifying the officials and ending the meeting in discord.
• After the Yangs left, Bao Lang wondered at their unusual relationship and concluded that Lady Yang might be the emperor’s woman or Prince Shao’s.

Baozhu learned from Thirteenth Son that Wei Xun was innocent and incapacitated by a recurring illness, then sneaked out of the Reflection Pavilion to find him hiding nearby. She found Wei Xun gravely ill and unconscious, and his reflexive grip bruised her wrist.

• Baozhu tried the Scissors Cat-Finding Method while confined in the Reflection Pavilion, then struck Thirteenth Son with Wei Xun's stick when he climbed through her window.
• Thirteenth Son told Baozhu that Wei Xun had not stolen the pearl or killed anyone and was hiding because a cold-evil affliction left him unable to move.
• Baozhu disguised her bed with piled bedding and climbed out of the window with Thirteenth Son to visit Wei Xun.
• Thirteenth Son led Baozhu to a sealed, empty courtyard near the Sun Family Inn, where they climbed into a concealed attic.
• Baozhu found Wei Xun gravely ill beside the extinguished charcoal stove and learned that his affliction made him unbearably cold.
• When Baozhu reached to touch Wei Xun, he reflexively seized her wrist and bruised it before sinking back into unconsciousness.

Baozhu accepted Bao Lang’s invitation to investigate a reported theft and discovered that the complainant’s story was a cover for something buried in his courtyard. The chapter ended with her ordering the constables to dig beneath a stone mill, suspecting the missing wife had been buried there.

• Bao Lang invited Baozhu to ride to a reported crime scene, and she agreed in hopes of advancing the investigation and escaping confinement.
• Baozhu spoke to Te Le Li in Khitan, tamed the black horse, and rode with Bao Lang to a commoner’s home beside a damaged section of the city wall.
• The complainant claimed a thief had stolen his wife and thirty strings of coins, but Baozhu and the neighbors exposed flaws in his account.
• Bao Lang ordered the complainant to receive a hundred strokes, but Baozhu searched the cramped home and noticed fresh earth and a chip on an old stone mill.
• The complainant confessed that he had lied about the thief, and Baozhu ordered the constables to dig beneath the mill because she suspected his wife was buried there.

Baozhu bought pepper while confined in Xiagui, and Bao Lang recognized the rare fragrance she wore, fueling his desire to possess her. Meanwhile, Wei Xun recovered in hiding and learned that Baozhu had been implicated because he was suspected of the theft and murders; he returned to her, and she greeted him with teasing accusations.

• Baozhu bought pepper from a spice merchant and pushed Bao Lang aside with her riding crop when he pressed her to reveal her fragrance.
• Bao Lang recognized Baozhu's scent as Auspicious Dragon-Brain and fantasized about abducting her to claim the power she represented.
• Bao Lang refused to release the Changzhou craftsmen, who had been summoned to work on Princess Wanshou's tomb, and ordered them away from the County Yamen.
• Wei Xun recovered some strength by breathing in the pepper porridge Baozhu had sent, then learned from Thirteenth Son that he was suspected of the theft and murders and that Baozhu was under house arrest.
• Wei Xun took Baozhu's medicinal porridge and went to see her, where she jokingly questioned him about the crimes attributed to the Green-Robed Wanderer and laughed at his denials.

Baozhu and Wei Xun resolved their misunderstanding after he admitted he could read but not write, and she helped him recover with pepper-heavy medicinal porridge. With Baozhu choosing to remain in confinement until the disappearance cases were solved, Wei Xun left to confront Liu Mao over reporting him to the authorities.

• Baozhu forgave Wei Xun for disappearing after learning he could not write and offered to teach him in exchange for learning Spring Code Cant.
• Wei Xun mistook Baozhu's leftover makeup for wounds and reacted with murderous anger before she wiped it away and explained.
• Baozhu made Wei Xun eat her pepper-heavy medicinal porridge, and he slowly finished it despite the burning spice.
• Wei Xun told Baozhu he had sealed the maids' sleep acupoints and offered to help her escape, but she refused to avoid becoming a wanted criminal before the cases were solved.
• Wei Xun decided to settle his feud with Liu Mao and slipped out the window, promising to return the next day.

Liu Mao’s attempt to avenge Ma San ended with his businesses exposed and his son imprisoned, and Wei Xun killed him for betraying the Green-Clothed Slave. Wei Xun returned to Baozhu and Yang Xingjian at the County Yamen, and the group planned to inspect Luo Chengye’s house and the Many-Treasures Pagoda as the investigation continued.

• Liu Mao dreamed of Ma San’s death and recalled how he had plotted to ruin Luo Chengye through gambling before a pearl theft and murder exposed his criminal operations and led to Liu Ping’s arrest.
• Wei Xun confronted Liu Mao at the Liu Residence and ordered him to kill himself, then left the courtyard in silence after Liu Mao cut his throat.
• Yang Xingjian found his servants unconscious and discovered Wei Xun with Baozhu in her bedroom; Baozhu made Wei Xun apologize for frightening him and thanked Yang Xingjian for protecting her.
• Baozhu arranged to visit Luo Chengye’s house with Wei Xun after sunset, while Yang Xingjian warned her against going to the murder scene.
• Wei Xun said he would visit the Many-Treasures Pagoda in broad daylight and vanished through the rear window; Baozhu then asked Yang Xingjian how much money he had for their journey.

Baozhu and Wei Xun investigated the stolen White Snake Pearl and secretly examined Luo Chengye’s murder scene. Their clues suggested the dead man might not have been Luo Chengye, who could still be alive and hiding nearby.

• Wei Xun returned from the stone tower with an imperial lacquer box, and Baozhu found an inscription identifying it as a gift from Cui Keyong.
• Baozhu, Wei Xun, and Thirteenth Son sneaked into Luo Chengye’s house and found signs that the murderer had hidden on a ceiling beam.
• Wei Xun reconstructed the killing and concluded that the murderer had used the corpse’s entrails to conceal his escape to the beam.
• Wei Xun found a curly hair on the beam and reasoned that the victim might not have been Luo Chengye, whose head had later been deep-fried at Lotus Flower Temple.
• Baozhu noted that the head’s beard hairs had been found on the frying pot, and Wei Xun judged that Luo Chengye was very likely still alive.

Baozhu and Wei Xun shared a quiet morning while he learned calligraphy, then continued investigating Luo Chengye’s disappearance. Bao Lang visited the Reflection Pavilion and refused to reveal the note from the pearl theft, while his interest in Baozhu’s scent drew a hidden threat.

• Baozhu taught Wei Xun poem lines in dew on a table, and Wei Xun memorized them before carving them into the wood with his finger.
• A lame, knowledgeable craftsman criticized Wei Xun’s tracing and left after Baozhu recoiled from the smell of his malignant ulcer.
• Wei Xun told Baozhu he had ideas about where Luo Chengye might be hiding and had asked Thirteenth Son to watch for him.
• Baozhu planned to ask Bao Lang to see the note, but Yang Xingjian urged her to rest; Bao Lang later came to the Reflection Pavilion and demanded to see her.
• Bao Lang claimed he would use Baozhu as bait for the Green-Robed Wanderer and refused to show Yang Xingjian the note.
• As Yang Xingjian escorted Baozhu upstairs, Bao Lang secretly smelled her incense and sensed a sudden murderous menace.

Baozhu and Wei Xun exposed Luo Chengye’s disguise and captured him, while doctors and rumors of a snake demon helped them avoid scrutiny in the Reflection Pavilion. Luo Chengye confessed to murdering Monk Miaoxing and faking his death, but denied stealing the pearl, leaving the theft unresolved.

• Wei Xun promised to handle Bao Lang’s demand to examine the supposedly ill Baozhu, and he manipulated his pulse to frighten the visiting doctors into fleeing.
• Yang Xingjian claimed a snake demon was tormenting his daughter, and Wu Zhiyuan agreed to summon Abbot Liaoru while keeping guards outside the Reflection Pavilion.
• Wei Xun returned the Seven-Treasure Glazed-Glass-Lacquer Box to the Many-Treasures Pagoda and told Baozhu he had found Luo Chengye hiding in the Lotus Flower Temple.
• Baozhu shot Luo Chengye in the thigh, and Thirteenth Son subdued and bound him before the pair returned to the Reflection Pavilion.
• Luo Chengye confessed that he had killed Monk Miaoxing, stolen his Ordination Certificate, and used the pearl theft to fake his death, but he denied stealing the pearl.

Baozhu and Wei Xun stole the note hidden in the Avatamsaka Sutra and investigated its unusual handwriting and paper, while Bao Lang terrorized Liaoru in prison. After Baozhu copied the note and Wei Xun set out to return it, his reflexive rejection of her touch angered her, and she ordered him never to come back.

• Bao Lang questioned Liaoru about who in Lotus Flower Temple could read, then showed him the Monastery Supervisor's gruesome death, causing Liaoru to faint.
• Wei Xun retrieved the Avatamsaka Sutra from Bao Lang's room during a fire at the Official Guesthouse, and Baozhu found the note hidden inside it.
• Baozhu identified the note's handwriting as Zhang Xu's regular script and noticed it was written on ordinary hemp paper; she and Yang Xingjian wondered what the clues meant.
• Baozhu copied the note onto matching hemp paper, and Wei Xun prepared to return the forged replacement to Lotus Flower Temple.
• When Baozhu reached for Wei Xun's bandaged hand, he recoiled; she angrily ordered him out and told him never to return.

Wei Xun struggled to apologize to Baozhu after learning that he had injured her wrist while unconscious, and he realized he could not bring himself to leave her. Baozhu gave him a lead in the investigation of the stolen pearl, and Wei Xun began searching for hemp paper from the same batch as the note.

• Wei Xun told Thirteenth Son that Baozhu had ordered him away, then learned that he had bruised her wrist during an illness and regretted it.
• Thirteenth Son reminded Wei Xun that Baozhu might be the Phoenix Embryo needed to cure his fatal illness, and Wei Xun admitted he could not bear to leave her unprotected.
• Wei Xun spent the night outside Baozhu's closed window, then waited outside her room the next morning while she finished her toilette.
• Baozhu instructed Wei Xun and Yang Xingjian to find hemp paper matching the note's batch, but kept her injured hand hidden and treated Wei Xun coldly.
• Huo Qilang caught up with Wei Xun, asked about the Phoenix Embryo, and agreed to help him investigate the paper after he stopped her with an acupoint strike.

Wei Xun investigated the pearl theft, then returned to find Baozhu distraught over Thirteenth Son’s arrest and promised to free every prisoner to conceal the rescue. A clue from hemp-paper funeral money helped Baozhu identify a tombstone carver as a possible source of the forged note, while Huo Qilang noticed Wei Xun’s unusual tenderness toward Baozhu.

• Wei Xun found Changzhou artisans camping outside and became suspicious of their unusual dusk burial after spotting hemp-paper money.
• Wei Xun returned to the County Yamen and learned Bao Lang had arrested Thirteenth Son, prompting Baozhu to prepare to use her beauty to persuade Bao Lang to release him.
• Wei Xun and Yang Xingjian stopped Baozhu from confronting Bao Lang, and Wei Xun proposed freeing every prisoner while Huo Qilang joined the rescue plan.
• Huo Qilang comforted Baozhu and nearly read her palm, but Wei Xun returned and warned her off with a threat.
• Wei Xun showed Baozhu hemp-paper money matching the note, and she deduced that a tombstone carver might have copied Zhang Xu’s calligraphy for an epitaph.
• Huo Qilang realized Wei Xun was unusually concerned about Baozhu and teased him about rushing their plans.

Wei Xun and Baozhu tracked the stolen pearl to the craftsmen’s camp, where Chen Yu confessed to stealing it but could not have climbed the pagoda himself. As they prepared to uncover the truth, Wei Xun revealed that he avoided touching people because his body was unnaturally cold, leaving Baozhu to reconsider his earlier distance.

• Thirteenth Son was brought to prison, where Bao Lang threatened him with torture; Thirteenth Son calmly denied stealing the pearl and asked to remove his robes before punishment.
• Baozhu climbed out of the Reflection Pavilion and joined Wei Xun to search the craftsmen’s camp for the pearl.
• Wei Xun and Baozhu confronted the craftsmen by a fresh grave, and Chen Yu admitted that he had written the note and stolen the luminous pearl.
• Wei Xun tested Chen Yu’s disability and concluded he could not have climbed the pagoda, then took him away from the camp while warning the other craftsmen not to disturb the grave.
• Baozhu suspected Bao Lang had seized the pearl from Chen Yu, while Wei Xun wondered how the craftsmen had stolen it and learned that Huo Qi had succeeded in preparing their departure.
• When Baozhu refused Wei Xun’s offer to carry her back to the Reflection Pavilion, Wei Xun admitted that he avoided touching people because his body was as cold as a dead person’s.

Baozhu and Wei Xun reconciled after he examined the bruise he had left on her wrist, and Wei Xun went with Huo Qi to free Thirteenth Son and the other prisoners. After staging a spectacular diversion across Xiagui County, Wei Xun returned to the Reflection Pavilion, where Baozhu and Yang Xingjian were stunned by the prison break.

• Baozhu accepted Wei Xun's apology and let him examine her bruised wrist, though she scolded him for tricking her into revealing it.
• Wei Xun carried Baozhu back to the Reflection Pavilion window, then left to meet Huo Qi and rescue Thirteenth Son.
• Wei Xun and Huo Qi freed Thirteenth Son and the other prisoners, using painted white snakes to panic the County Yamen guards.
• Wei Xun drew the pursuers away from the prison by pretending to be the Green-Robed Wanderer and creating a citywide spectacle across the rooftops and the Many-Treasures Pagoda.
• Baozhu watched Wei Xun from the Reflection Pavilion with a bow, ready to protect him, as he escaped the pursuers and returned with peaches.

Baozhu and Wei Xun uncovered why Chen Yu had stolen the White Snake Pearl: Bao Lang had murdered Chen Yu’s daughter Yingniang and taken her family’s Luminous Pearl, then falsely claimed it came from a snake demon. Chen Yu revealed how he planned to reclaim the treasure, while Wei Xun declared that Chen Yu was not the first person who deserved punishment.

• Yang Xingjian took Yang Fangxie from the magistrate’s residence, and Wei Xun, Huo Qilang, and Thirteenth Son later reunited with Baozhu at an inn.
• Baozhu guessed that Chen Yu had replaced the lacquer box before it entered the Many-Treasures Pagoda, and Wei Xun took the group to question him.
• Wei Xun’s threat to open the grave made Chen Yu break down and confess that Bao Lang had killed his daughter Yingniang and stolen her Luminous Pearl.
• Chen Yu explained that he had switched the lacquer boxes and used a pearl-coated bird egg as a false treasure, hoping Bao Lang would be exposed.
• Chen Yu revealed that he had hidden the real Luminous Pearl inside a wound in his thigh and begged the group not to investigate the grave.
• Wei Xun told Chen Yu that he was far from the first person who deserved punishment.

The Changzhou craftsmen confessed to helping Chen Yu switch the treasures, and Wei Xun killed Bao Lang and exchanged his head for the lacquer box. Wei Xun accepted the box and luminous pearl from the craftsmen, then prepared to take Bao Lang’s head to a place where the authorities would find it.

• Zhao Faming and the other Changzhou craftsmen confessed that they had made the Seven-Treasure Glazed-Glass-Lacquer Box and helped Chen Yu switch the treasures to avenge Yingniang.
• Wei Xun left Baozhu with Huo Qilang and went to the county yamen to confront Bao Lang.
• Wei Xun killed Bao Lang and returned with his head, which Chen Yu recognized as his daughter’s killer.
• The craftsmen gave Wei Xun the lacquer box, and Chen Yu placed the luminous pearl inside it as thanks for Yingniang’s revenge.
• Yang Xingjian advised that Bao Lang’s head should be left where the authorities could find it, and Wei Xun said he knew a suitable place.

After the Xiagui case ended, Baozhu and her companions left town and discovered that the supposed Luminous Pearl was a counterfeit glass bead. Wei Xun gave Baozhu the craftsmen’s lacquer box, and the party continued east with their journey and affection for one another renewed.

• Wu Zhiyuan found Bao Lang’s headless body at the County Hall and gave up pursuing the case after Bao Lang’s severed head appeared in the guarded pagoda.
• Baozhu, Wei Xun, Thirteenth Son, and Yang Xingjian left Xiagui with Huo Qilang, while Wei Xun explained that a snake egg might have hatched inside the Lacquer Box.
• Wei Xun gave Baozhu the Lacquer Box and guessed that the false pearl had been made by coating a glass bead with pearl powder and mineral dust.
• Baozhu explained that the pearl did not match either a natural pearl or a true luminous pearl, and Yang Xingjian suspected Chen Yu’s father had been cheated by Western Merchants.
• Wei Xun crushed the pearl and revealed its glass core, confirming it was a worthless counterfeit that had helped bring ruin to Chen Yu’s family.
• Baozhu accepted the craftsmen’s box as the affair’s true treasure, thanked Wei Xun for the gift, and the party continued east.

Chen Shigu faced his young disciple Wei as the boy announced he was leaving, then tested him in a sword fight and realized he could no longer defeat him. Chen Shigu ended Wei’s apprenticeship, leaving the boy to go out into the world alone.

• Wei told Chen Shigu he was leaving because he had learned all he could and Chen Shigu refused to teach him what he wanted to learn.
• Chen Shigu recalled how he had trained Wei harshly, making him steal for food and clothing while forbidding him to study books.
• Chen Shigu attacked Wei with his sword, but Wei evaded every thrust with his Mirage Step as they fought through the courtyard.
• Wei rose to a treetop, and Chen Shigu recognized that age and weakness had left him unable to kill or defeat his disciple.
• Chen Shigu threw down his sword and told Wei that his apprenticeship was over.

Baozhu and her companions traveled through Tong Pass into the Central Plains, where she and Wei Xun bickered over a dagger before a playful fight in a stream left her drenched and sneezing. Yang Xingjian bundled Baozhu into the ox cart to warm up, and Wei Xun began to worry that she might fall ill.

• Baozhu and her companions crossed Tong Pass into Lingbao County, where Yang Xingjian told Thirteenth Son the tale of the county’s name and its divine talisman.
• Baozhu sent Wei Xun to pick ripe peaches, then stopped him from cutting them with the dagger he had used to kill Bao Lang.
• Baozhu and Thirteenth Son waded in a stream, and Yang Xingjian tried to stop Wei Xun from joining them on grounds of propriety.
• Wei Xun caught a green snake and teased Baozhu with it, prompting her to grab a peach branch and fight him alongside Thirteenth Son.
• After the three fought in the water until they were exhausted, Baozhu rode on soaked and sneezed, so Yang Xingjian put her in the ox cart under a quilt while Wei Xun worried about her.

Baozhu cared for the feverish Yang Xingjian while the travelers waited out the rain at an inn in Lingbao County. Wei Xun reunited with his former senior brother Pang Liangji, who invited him to serve as his groom's attendant at an upcoming wedding.

• Yang Xingjian fell gravely ill after the journey, and Baozhu arranged for a physician, medicine, and an attendant to care for him.
• While the group waited for the rain to clear, Thirteenth Son helped Baozhu dress her hair, and she discovered Wei Xun mending her torn clothes.
• A visitor arrived asking for Wei Xun, and Baozhu armed herself before joining him and Thirteenth Son downstairs.
• Wei Xun recognized the visitor as Pang Liangji, a former senior brother who had been expelled after Chen Shigu broke his legs.
• Pang Liangji invited Wei Xun to his wedding and asked him to serve as the groom's attendant.