Chapter Summaries

Baozhu insisted Wei Xun share her bed, while he hid his terminal illness and struggled with his feelings for her. After comforting her through a nightmare, he secretly left before dawn, then convinced Zhou Qingyang to tell Baozhu that passion would worsen his condition and that she should treat him gently.

• Baozhu ordered Wei Xun into her bed, and he reluctantly agreed after claiming he could not think of a matching poem.
• Baozhu promised to secure Wei Xun a respectable family adoption in Youzhou, then fell asleep while he stayed awake worrying about his illness and their future.
• Wei Xun soothed Baozhu through a nightmare about battle, and his desire gave way to tenderness as he wondered whether he could leave her.
• Wei Xun slipped out at dawn and encountered Yang Xingjian, who saw him leaving Baozhu's room and hurried away in embarrassment.
• After Wei Xun returned to bed, Baozhu noticed his apparent decline and fetched Zhou Qingyang to examine him.
• Wei Xun secretly asked Zhou Qingyang for help, and she told Baozhu that indulging his passions would worsen his health and advised her to treat him gently and give him hot water.

Baozhu’s party became trapped in Zhongqiu by a military standoff, where Baozhu heard a popular play falsely pairing the late Princess Wanhua with Han Zhu. She ordered an investigation and learned the tale had been inspired by real rumors about Han Yun, who was stationed nearby.

• Wei Xun recovered quickly under Zhou Qingyang’s care, and the party traveled into Zhaoyi Circuit, where heightened border defenses trapped them in Zhongqiu.
• At a tea stall, Baozhu heard performers stage a romance between Princess Wanhua and Han Zhu and angrily demanded that they continue.
• Yang Xingjian explained that the story borrowed from a real proposal involving Han Yun, which Han Ren had refused amid political danger surrounding the succession.
• Baozhu ordered Yang Xingjian and Thirteenth Son to investigate how the play reached Zhaoyi, while Wei Xun comforted her over its distortions of her life.
• Yang Xingjian discovered that a local scholar had written the play using information from a servant at the county office, and Han Yun was stationed with troops in Zhongqiu.

Yang Xingjian learned from Han Yun’s old servant that Han Yun had loved Baozhu from afar and mourned her presumed death. Wei Xun visited Han Yun but spared him, and Baozhu decided she would meet Han Yun to secure passage north.

• Yang Xingjian got the old servant drunk and heard how Han Yun fell in love with Baozhu, lost hope when his father rejected the emperor’s proposed marriage, and mourned at her tomb after believing she had died.
• Baozhu angrily told Wei Xun to bring Han Yun’s head, and Wei Xun entered the County Yamen to find him.
• Han Yun refused to seal off plague-stricken Dunye Ward and instead arranged for medical workers and army medicine to treat its residents.
• Wei Xun returned with Han Yun’s armor instead of his head and told Baozhu that she would have to take a life herself if she wanted Han Yun dead.
• Baozhu accepted that she would need Han Yun’s permission to travel north and said she would meet him.

Baozhu and Wei Xun secretly entered the County Yamen, where Baozhu confronted Han Yun over her calligraphy and obtained travel permits for their party. Han Yun realized Baozhu was alive, while Wei Xun carried her away with growing jealousy and wished their journey would never end.

• Baozhu and Wei Xun hid in Han Yun's room until he was alone, where Baozhu recognized her old calligraphy in his possession and angrily confronted him.
• Han Yun explained that he had bought the poem to preserve it and had been inspired by it to fight for the country, then confessed his long-standing love for Baozhu.
• Wei Xun's killing intent alerted Han Yun to another presence, and Baozhu claimed she had brought him before threatening Han Yun and demanding a travel permit.
• Han Yun suspected Baozhu was alive, and Baozhu wrote the party's assumed identities and travel details so he could authorize and stamp their permit.
• Baozhu left the County Yamen, answering Han Yun's request for her name with a poem, and vanished from his sight after passing a corridor pillar.
• Wei Xun carried Baozhu slowly back to the inn, refusing to let her down as she explained that she and Han Yun would part ways; he privately wished their road would never end.

After learning that an epidemic had begun in Zhongqiu, Zhou Qingyang entered Dunye Ward to find its source while Baozhu stayed at the inn. Han Yun joined her investigation and helped contain the outbreak after she traced it to a contaminated well.

• Zhou Qingyang warned that an epidemic threatened Zhongqiu, and Baozhu persuaded her to try to stop it before it weakened the border defenses.
• Zhou Qingyang entered Dunye Ward disguised as a shaman and examined the sick while Wei Xun returned to guard Baozhu.
• Princess Wanshou sent Han Yun an order bearing her seal to assist Zhou Qingyang, and he hurried to Dunye Ward.
• Zhou Qingyang traced the illness to fecal runoff contaminating a communal well and ordered the well sealed and the surrounding ground treated with lime.
• Han Yun arranged for Zhongqiu's drains and sewers to be cleared, and Zhou Qingyang recommended that residents drink more hot water.

Zhou Qingyang helped stop the plague in Zhongqiu County before traveling with Baozhu’s party toward Youzhou. At Jingxing Pass, the party discovered a mound of enemy heads, and Zhou Qingyang agreed to take Wei Xun farther into the mountains to teach him the gunpowder formula.

• Zhou Qingyang used gunpowder and sulfur to purge infected homes, then refused Han Yun’s invitation to join the Zhaoyi army as a physician.
• Baozhu’s party left Zhongqiu County after deaths stopped increasing, and Han Yun distributed relief supplies and publicized remedies.
• Zhou Qingyang told Baozhu that she had accidentally invented gunpowder while developing medicine and lost a foot in the explosion.
• In Chengde, Zhou Qingyang explained that a son’s public act of cutting thigh flesh for his mother could win exemptions from taxes, labor, and military service.
• At Jingxing Pass, the party found a mound of hundreds or thousands of rotting heads, which Yang Xingjian identified as a jingguan built by the Chengde army.
• Wei Xun asked Zhou Qingyang for the elixir recipe, and she agreed to explain it farther inside the mountains.

Zhou Qingyang recounted how her fellow disciples’ attempts to find a happy land ended in tragedy, then revealed that Chen Shigu’s Phoenix Embryo was made from a living member of the Li Tang imperial family. She told Wei Xun that the medicine required him to keep killing imperial relatives and that Chen Shigu had intended him to destroy the Tang dynasty.

• Zhou Qingyang told Wei Xun how she, Zhu Ming, White Treasury, and Xuanying each pursued their own idea of a happy land after leaving their master.
• Zhou Qingyang recounted Zhu Ming’s death fighting Uyghur cavalry and White Treasury’s disappearance after government troops buried her alive.
• Zhou Qingyang explained that Xuanying’s friend Yuan Xu died after being cast aside by the court, leaving three of the four disciples’ paths in failure.
• Wei Xun demanded to know how the old history related to the Phoenix Embryo, and Zhou Qingyang revealed that Chen Shigu had devised the Path of Rat Extermination.
• Zhou Qingyang disclosed that the Phoenix Embryo was made using a living imperial clansman and that Wei Xun would need to kill an imperial family member each year to prolong his life.
• Zhou Qingyang told Wei Xun that Chen Shigu had named him Lynx and intended him to overthrow the Great Tang and plunge the realm into chaos.

Zhou Qingyang revealed that Xuanying had planned to use the Phoenix Embryo and Wei Xun to revive a rebellion against the Great Tang, and explained that her own resolve had broken after her family was punished. Wei Xun accepted the recipe and continued toward Youzhou with Baozhu, leaving the story with their party traveling through the Taihang Mountains.

• Zhou Qingyang told Wei Xun that Xuanying had gathered disciples and spread rumors of overthrowing the Great Tang, but his scheme had failed after they went their separate ways.
• Zhou Qingyang explained that her descendant Zhou Mingzhi had been executed after treating a princess, and that the Zhou Family had been exiled to Qianzhong.
• Zhou Qingyang gave Wei Xun a prescription and urged him to capture a prince bound for Youzhou and have him made into a human elixir if he wanted to survive.
• Wei Xun returned to Baozhu with the prescription, then told her he would gather the rare Phoenix Embryo after escorting her to Youzhou.
• As they traveled, Baozhu reflected that the four heroes' goals had been right but required harmony, and promised to help restore the exiled Imperial Physicians' families.
• Wei Xun and Baozhu continued their journey with the party through the Taihang Mountains.

Baozhu tried to buy a horse for Wei Xun in Chengde, but she could not afford the one she wanted and refused to trade away her beloved donkey. Yang Xingjian warned Wei Xun about his relationship with the Princess, and Wei Xun resolved not to linger after they reached Youzhou; after refusing a horse dealer’s gift, the group decided to take a longer route.

• Baozhu admired Chengde’s horses and searched the market for a fine mount for Wei Xun, but she lacked the money to buy one.
• A dealer offered to trade a middling horse for Baozhu’s donkey, but she refused because she had grown attached to it.
• Yang Xingjian told Wei Xun that Baozhu’s accomplishments and status were inseparable, and urged him to protect her reputation; Wei Xun said he would not linger in Youzhou.
• Yang Xingjian returned with travel permits and learned that Chengde horses could not be taken into other military domains.
• Ma Zaiyuan sent Baozhu the fine horse she had admired, but she declined the gift.
• Wei Xun grew suspicious of how the locals recognized Baozhu and suggested the group take a longer detour by another road.

Baozhu, Wei Xun, Yang Xingjian, and Thirteenth Son were ambushed by Chengde troops seeking the treasure that could overturn the world. The soldiers killed Yang Xingjian, struck down Thirteenth Son, and captured Baozhu, while a disguised siege crossbow pierced Wei Xun and the false commander.

• Baozhu spotted a heavily armed Chengde supply escort, and the soldiers suddenly surrounded the party and attacked.
• A cavalryman killed Yang Xingjian, while Wei Xun fought the troops and Baozhu fled with Thirteenth Son.
• The cavalry struck down Thirteenth Son and captured Baozhu after chevaux-de-frise blocked her escape.
• Wei Xun captured an officer, realized he was a decoy, and saw the soldiers threaten to drag Baozhu to death unless he surrendered the treasure.
• Baozhu urged Wei Xun to run, but the disguised siege crossbow fired a massive bolt through Wei Xun and the false commander.

Imprisoned after their capture, Baozhu watched the jailers torment her and the dying Wei Xun while demanding the whereabouts of a mysterious treasure. Wei Xun died in her arms, and Baozhu turned her grief into a chilling threat against the jailers.

• Jailers discussed the treasure, Wei Xun’s torture, and the prisoners’ planned transfer to Zhengding while eating donkey meat outside Baozhu’s cell.
• The jailers returned the mutilated Wei Xun to the cell, and Baozhu held him as he struggled to speak and asked for water.
• Baozhu traded her long hair for water, but after learning plain water could hasten Wei Xun’s death, she refused the jailers’ offer of broth in exchange for the treasure’s location.
• Baozhu fed Wei Xun her tears and blood as he urged her to go to Youzhou, then died in her arms.
• Baozhu recalled an ancestor’s story, looked at the Buddha statue, and warned the jailers that they would find out what happened next.

Baozhu was rescued from Fenglong Temple, where she had clung to Wei Xun’s body, by Yuan Shaobo and Lady Yu’s party. She refused to leave for Youzhou until she found a way to kill Wang Chengwu during the seven days of mourning she demanded for Wei Xun.

• Yuan Shaobo and his men attacked Fenglong Temple, freed Baozhu, and confirmed that Wei Xun had died.
• Baozhu ordered the captured prisoners given a choice to join them or die, then left the temple carrying Wei Xun’s body.
• Lady Yu explained that Li Yuanying had sent the rescue party from Youzhou after receiving news that Baozhu had been abducted, and that silver fireworks had led them to Fenglong Temple.
• Baozhu reunited with the surviving Yang Xingjian and Thirteenth Son, who prepared Wei Xun’s body for burial; Baozhu insisted that he remain on her bed for seven days and that Wang Chengwu be buried with him.
• Lady Yu and Yuan Shaobo warned Baozhu that Chengde’s forces were too strong for a reckless attack, but Baozhu sent word to Li Yuanying and vowed to find a way to bring down Wang Chengwu within seven days.

Baozhu devised a plan to bring down Wang Chengwu by coordinating an uprising within Chengde with a military feint from Zhaoyi, but both Liang Shiji and Han Yun refused to act without outside support. After returning to Wei Xun's body, Baozhu resolved to continue her campaign rather than accept defeat.

• Baozhu surveyed the terrain around Jingxing Pass and formed a plan to draw Wang Chengwu's cavalry away while Liang Shiji seized control of Chengde from within.
• Baozhu comforted the delirious Yang Xingjian, then sent Yu Ninghua to recruit Liang Shiji and rode to Zhaoyi to ask Han Yun for a troop feint.
• Han Yun refused to deploy his garrison without Lu Jiedushi's authorization, and Baozhu left after denouncing his hesitation.
• Yu Ninghua reported that Liang Shiji would act only after troops arrived from Zhaoyi or Youzhou, leaving Baozhu without either ally's support.
• Baozhu mourned beside Wei Xun and, after speaking with Thirteenth Son, declared that her story was far from over.

Baozhu recovered Lord Lushan and used the donkey to lead a daring raid that scattered Chengde’s warhorses and captured Jingxing Pass. As Baozhu’s forces held the pass, Liang Shiji killed Wang Chengwu, and Han Yun’s intervention helped bring down the Chengde Army.

• Baozhu learned that Lord Lushan had survived and found the donkey in the woods, then organized a plan to steal the warhorses.
• Baozhu used mares’ scents and four firecrackers to stampede thousands of warhorses west, then led them toward the Taihang Mountains with a torch and Khitan commands.
• Yuan Shaobo’s disguised soldiers seized Jingxing Pass, while Baozhu led the herd across the Mian River and destroyed the bridge, scattering the horses.
• Baozhu and her archers defended Jingxing Pass through hours of attacks, while Yuan Shaobo lit the beacon fire.
• Liang Shiji returned to Wang Chengwu’s headquarters and murdered him and his clan as Han Yun sent three thousand cavalry into Chengde.
• Han Yun’s forces routed the leaderless Chengde Army, and the Wang clan was destroyed while five thousand elite cavalry were annihilated.

After destroying Chengde’s cavalry, Li Baozhu secured Liang Shiji’s submission and rejected Han Yun’s late offer to serve her. She returned to Wei Xun’s body and, exhausted by the cost of vengeance, finally told Lady Yu to prepare him for burial.

• Liang Shiji presented Wang Chengwu’s head to Li Baozhu, pledged Chengde’s allegiance to Chang’an, and gave his son Liang Ningning as a hostage.
• Li Baozhu claimed the rumored divine artifact, ordered Liang Shiji to bury the dead and dismantle the Jingguan, and dismissed him.
• Han Yun credited Li Baozhu for the victory and offered to join her, but she rejected him and condemned his choice to wait until the battle was won.
• Li Baozhu left the aftermath to Yuan Shaobo and returned to the Taoist temple with Wang Chengwu’s head.
• Li Baozhu placed the head before Wei Xun’s funeral bed and, after Lady Yu urged her to let go, asked for him to be laid in his coffin.

Li Baozhu built the Jade Comb Army, recovered most of the warhorses at Jingxing Pass, and set out for Youzhou with the boy’s coffin. At the Yingzhou border, she reunited in the snow with her ailing brother, Prince Shao.

• Ma Zaiyuan joined Lady Yu with his clan, and other followers flocked to Baozhu until her forces grew beyond ten thousand.
• Yuan Shaobo proposed naming Baozhu’s growing army the Jade Comb Army, and Baozhu promised its recruits mounts for their march north.
• Baozhu lured the scattered warhorses back to Jingxing Pass with the mares’ calls, recovering most of them without sending soldiers into the mountains.
• Baozhu prepared the boy’s body for burial and ordered his coffin carried to Youzhou, then led the Jade Comb Army northeast while riding Lord Lushan.
• Prince Shao traveled from Youzhou to the Yingzhou border to meet Baozhu despite his illness.
• Baozhu and Prince Shao ran to each other and embraced in the falling snow.

Li Baozhu reunited with Li Yuanying in Youzhou, but discovered that Wei Xun’s body had vanished and realized he had concealed his impending death from her. As she grieved, Li Yuanying revealed his poisoning and urged her to take charge of his forces, leaving Baozhu to begin preparing for the responsibilities ahead.

• Huo Qilang brought Li Yuanying and Baozhu together, and the siblings comforted each other after their ordeals.
• Baozhu learned that Wei Xun had died and told Li Yuanying she had killed their eldest uncle and his family.
• At Minzhong Temple, Baozhu found Wei Xun’s coffin empty and realized he had arranged for his body to be taken away after seeing her reach Youzhou.
• After ten days of mourning, Baozhu learned that Li Yuanying had been poisoned by Cui Lingrong and was too ill to manage Youzhou alone.
• Li Yuanying assigned Baozhu responsibility for his forces, and she sent scouts to search the Taihang Mountains for Daoist Qingyang.

Baozhu learned to manage Youzhou’s military and civil affairs while Li Yuanying kept her occupied, then joined him in uncovering how their mother died and why Baozhu had been buried alive. The siblings ended the chapter grieving together and affirming that they were each other’s closest family.

• Baozhu struggled to raise military funds and spent New Year handling duties while Li Yuanying arranged for handsome young men as possible suitors for her.
• Huo Qilang joked about serving as a suitor, prompting Li Yuanying to threaten her and reveal that he had secretly trained crossbowmen to protect Baozhu from Wei Da.
• After visiting Minzhong Temple, Li Yuanying showed Baozhu the medicinal dregs, flower mud, and their mother’s Pomegranate Skirt and explained what he had learned about her death.
• Baozhu and Li Yuanying pieced together how the emperor had caused their mother to bleed to death, feared her vengeful spirit, and ordered Baozhu buried alive as a substitute.
• Li Yuanying told Baozhu that the emperor had genuinely loved her but ultimately loved himself and the throne most; Baozhu wept in her brother’s arms as he affirmed their bond.

Li Yuanying showed Baozhu a shrine to An Lushan and Shi Siming, prompting them to confront how the people’s loyalty depended on their rulers’ results. They agreed to return to Chang'an and pursue a dangerous coup rather than plunge the realm into another war, and Li Yuanying promised they would share the realm.

• Ruan Ziming backed Li Yuanying as secret messengers carried news between Youzhou and Chang'an, while the threat of war grew.
• After the spring ceremony, Li Yuanying took Baozhu to the Two Sages Shrine and explained why local people revered An Lushan and Shi Siming.
• Li Yuanying warned Baozhu that their position resembled the rebels’ and proposed settling the contest at Xuanwu Gate to limit casualties.
• Baozhu agreed to return to Chang'an to avenge their mother and seek justice, but demanded a promise that her achievements would not be credited to a man.
• Li Yuanying gave Baozhu her repaired jade comb and promised they would share the realm and stand together in history.

Li Yuanying and Baozhu prepared to secretly fight for the throne, but five assassins were found dead in their Bedchamber after the siblings drank together. Baozhu recognized a red plum blossom left by the mysterious killer and realized Xu Two had been secretly protecting them, leaving Li Yuanying to restrain her furious outburst.

• Li Yuanying and Baozhu spent the night drinking and reminiscing while Huo Qilang stayed away from the Bedchamber.
• At sunrise, Li Yuanying and Baozhu woke to find five assassins dead inside their Bedchamber, though both siblings were unharmed.
• Huo Qilang examined the bodies and found a broom that suggested the killer came from the Setting Sun Courtyard.
• Baozhu found a tiny red plum blossom on the Beauty Couch and recognized it as a clue to the killer's identity.
• Baozhu raced outside and cursed Xu Two and his accomplice for deceiving her, until Li Yuanying ordered Huo Qilang to bring her inside.