Chapter Summaries

Pang Liangji persuaded Wei Xun to serve as his groomsman by calling in an old favor, then recruited Huo Qilang as a second attendant. As the wedding preparations continued, Baozhu discovered that Pang Liangji had been given a poem unsuitable for his wedding and he asked her to guide him.

• Pang Liangji explained that he needed Wei Xun to protect him from wedding pranks and drink in his place, then invoked an old debt to secure Wei Xun's promise.
• Pang Liangji told Wei Xun that Baozhu and Thirteenth Son planned to travel east to find her relatives, and gave Wei his groomsman's clothes.
• Huo Qilang arrived as Pang Liangji's backup groomsman, accepted a gold ingot, and learned she was expected to wear men's wedding clothes rather than guard the bride.
• Pang Liangji complained about his future in-laws' demands and recited a fan-lowering poem while Baozhu listened from above.
• Baozhu recognized Pang Liangji's poem as lines from Bai Juyi's Twenty Poems on Late Spring that described a courtesan's house, and Pang Liangji asked her to teach him what to say instead.

Baozhu helped Pang Liangji replace insulting wedding poems with famous verses and devised a way for him to read any he could not memorize from court tablets. Pang Liangji tried to swear siblinghood with Ninth Lady, but she flatly refused.

• Baozhu examined Pang Liangji's wedding poems, exposed insulting allusions in several of them, and recited famous replacements for him to copy.
• Pang Liangji worried he could not memorize the new verses in three days, so Baozhu advised him to write them in tiny script on the backs of his court tablets.
• Pang Liangji ordered several tablets and thanked Baozhu, while Steward Pang mistook her palace connections for a sign that her family were imperial merchants.
• Pang Liangji eagerly proposed swearing siblinghood with Ninth Lady, but Baozhu refused.

Baozhu visited Crown Prince Li’s Tomb with Wei Xun and Thirteenth Son, where memories of her family’s political persecution surfaced. After recovering from her distress, she shot down a wild goose and asked Wei Xun to retrieve it as a wedding gift for Pang Liangji.

• Pang Liangji invited Baozhu, Wei Xun, and the others to his wedding, and Baozhu decided to visit local historic sites while Yang Xingjian recovered.
• Baozhu rode with Thirteenth Son toward Crown Prince Li’s Tomb, and Wei Xun followed to lead her donkey.
• On the way, Baozhu recounted Liu Ju’s fate and angrily explained how Li Chengyuan had proposed sending her, aged nine, to marry Trisong Detsen and had helped slander her brother Prince Shao.
• At Crown Prince Li’s Tomb, Wei Xun observed that Emperor Wu’s willingness to believe rumors had caused the tragedy, and Baozhu was overcome by the painful comparison to her own father.
• After regaining her composure, Baozhu shot down a wild goose and told Wei Xun to fetch it as a meaningful wedding gift for Pang Liangji.

Baozhu and Wei Xun enjoyed a hunt near Crown Prince Li's Tomb, then visited a smithy where a towering ascetic monk encountered Wei Xun. Baozhu's gift of a wild goose delighted the Pang family, while the schoolteacher who had sabotaged the wedding verses was beaten and expelled from Jade City.

• Baozhu spared a fox because it reminded her of her elder brother, Li Yuanying, and told Wei Xun and Thirteenth Son the story behind his childhood name, Little Fox.
• Baozhu, Wei Xun, and Thirteenth Son returned from the hunt with game, and Baozhu and Wei Xun bought arrows and an eating knife in town.
• Baozhu admired a sword at the smithy, but Wei Xun explained that swords were impractical weapons for most people.
• A towering ascetic monk entered the smithy, yielded the doorway to Baozhu and Wei Xun, and told Wei Xun he was in town because someone in Luoyang had ordered gunpowder.
• Baozhu sent Pang Liangji a wild goose and two pheasants as wedding gifts, and the Pang household added her to its honored guest list.
• The Pang family discovered that the schoolteacher had independently tampered with the wedding verses, beat him, and drove him out of Jade City.

Baozhu listened to a storyteller perform The Story of Li Wa at the inn before a mysterious, ill wandering prostitute arrived and played the pipa. Baozhu noticed unsettling details about the woman’s instrument and recognized the danger just as the woman turned hostile.

• After Pang Liangji and Huo Qilang left, Wei Xun evaded Baozhu’s questions about Pang Liangji’s expulsion from the sect.
• Baozhu found Yang Xingjian still unconscious, then paid a storyteller to perform The Story of Li Wa for her and Thirteenth Son.
• A sickly wandering prostitute entered the inn with a pipa, and Baozhu invited her to play a tune.
• The woman played Green Waist and told Baozhu that a young gentleman had injured her, while Baozhu noticed strange bones, strings, and paintings on the pipa.
• Thirteenth Son silently recited the Shurangama Mantra, and Baozhu realized the woman was sinister after spotting a skull-shaped hairpin.
• When Baozhu remarked that something seemed hidden inside the pipa, the woman smiled chillingly and sent a murderous cold presence toward her.

Baozhu and Wei Xun faced an attack from Tuoba Sanniang, a fellow disciple who had come seeking revenge, and Baozhu mistook her for a ghost. Tuoba Sanniang escaped, while Wei Xun reassured Baozhu that their relationship was only hostile before she returned to her room.

• Baozhu and the storyteller grew terrified as Tuoba Sanniang interrupted Thirteenth Son's chanting and accused Wei Xun of hurting her.
• Wei Xun arrived and fought Tuoba Sanniang, protecting Baozhu from her attack and deflecting a knife aimed at her.
• Tuoba Sanniang escaped across the roof, while the injured storyteller fled the inn after discovering his scalp had been cut.
• Wei Xun checked Baozhu for injuries and insisted Tuoba Sanniang was alive and that they had no romantic history.
• Thirteenth Son identified Tuoba Sanniang as their third senior sister, the Pipa-Tone Demon, and Baozhu found evidence that the frightening encounter had been real.
• Baozhu told Wei Xun she believed him rather than a stranger, then went to wash up in her room.

Wei Xun prepared to protect Pang Liangji and Baozhu from Tuoba Sanniang as they traveled to Pang Liangji’s wedding, where the Swiftwind Guardian would retire from the martial world. At the inn, Baozhu saw Huo Qilang dressed in red and was struck by how much she resembled her absent brother, Prince Shao, while Wei Xun reacted with unsettling coldness.

• Pang Liangji denied inviting Tuoba Sanniang and explained that his wedding would also mark his retirement from the martial world, while Wei Xun promised to protect him.
• Wei Xun told Pang Liangji to assign four guards to Baozhu, suspecting that Tuoba Sanniang might be targeting her.
• Baozhu helped the disoriented Yang Xingjian back to his room after he called her a princess, and Wei Xun concealed the remark from Pang Liangji.
• Baozhu chose peach-blossom hair ornaments and dressed for the wedding, while Wei Xun appeared in vermilion ceremonial robes.
• Baozhu saw Huo Qilang in matching red robes and recalled her brother Prince Shao’s beauty and estrangement from their father.
• Huo Qilang withdrew to a corner after Baozhu stared at her, while Wei Xun’s icy reaction made Huo uneasy.

Wei Xun struggled with jealousy while Baozhu teased Huo Qilang and learned about trouble threatening the Pang family wedding. The wedding procession reached the bride’s dark, closed-up home, where the master of ceremonies called for the household to open the gate.

• Wei Xun’s agitation eased when Baozhu teased him, and Thirteenth Son returned with a peach branch for the wedding procession.
• Baozhu and the others arrived at the Pang residence, where Pang Liangji prepared for his wedding amid a frantic rush of servants.
• Baozhu learned that someone had poisoned the household’s horses with croton seeds and warned Steward Pang to rest them and replace their fodder and water.
• Pang Liangji set out with the wedding procession to fetch his bride from the Xiao Family’s home, while Baozhu and Thirteenth Son followed.
• The procession found the bride’s home dark and its gate shut, and the master of ceremonies called for the household to come out.

Pang Liangji and his companions endured the Xiao Family’s wedding trials before the bridal procession set off, while Wei Xun noticed two vicious attacks hidden among the customary teasing. Baozhu heard the crowd gossip about the bride and her own past, then had Thirteenth Son silence a lewd spectator; she ended the chapter spotting a familiar banner in the crowd.

• Pang Liangji recognized the henbane in the welcome wine, and Wei Xun drank it for him and suppressed its effects with his internal strength.
• Wei Xun and Huo Qilang shielded Pang Liangji from the women’s beating, and Wei Xun stopped two concealed iron-rod attacks aimed at the groom.
• Pang Liangji recited prepared poems, met the bride behind the curtain, and watched her leave in the wedding carriage as the hundred-load procession began.
• Onlookers spread rumors about the bride’s remarriage and the Pang Family’s dowry, while Baozhu grew disgusted at their remarks.
• A spectator spoke lewdly about Princess Wanshou, so Thirteenth Son struck him with the flagpole and warned him to stop gossiping.
• Baozhu noticed a familiar banner reading “A miraculous hand restores spring” passing through the crowd.

Wei Xun protected Pang Liangji and Baozhu’s wedding procession from extortionists and a series of suspicious attacks, then escorted the bride safely to the Pang residence. As the wedding ceremony began, hidden weapons suddenly flew into the Blue Tent, leaving Wei Xun unable to protect everyone at once.

• Wei Xun and Huo Qi drank down the wedding blockers until a gang of ruffians demanded enormous sums and tried to reach the bride’s carriage.
• Huo Qi stopped two men from lifting the carriage curtains, and Wei Xun drove the ruffians away by embedding silver coins in a shop door and the street.
• Wei Xun revealed himself as the Green-Robed Wanderer of Guanzhong, and the procession continued as martial artists came forward to toast him.
• A Command Banner pole snapped above the stone bridge, and Wei Xun and Huo Qilang kept it from crushing the carriage and the spectators.
• Wei Xun broke the arm of a young Daoist who rushed toward the carriage, then ordered Pang Liangji to charge through as he suspected sabotage and felt the effects of drugged wine.
• At the Pang residence, the newlyweds began their ceremony, but sleeve arrows, steel darts, and throwing knives flew into the Blue Tent as Wei Xun faced the choice of whom to save.

Wei Xun shielded Baozhu from poisoned weapons at Pang Liangji’s wedding, and Baozhu uncovered how the assassins had hidden in a well. The attack ended with Pang Liangji claiming his bride was an impostor, while Wei Xun summoned the sect to Lingbao Inn.

• Wei Xun and Huo Qilang collapsed the Blue Tent to protect the newlyweds, and Wei Xun took poisoned darts in his back while shielding Baozhu.
• Huo Qilang smothered the poisonous fog, and Baozhu found two corpses in a well that revealed how the assassins had infiltrated the Pang residence.
• Pang Liangji insisted that the bride was not A Ran, though the Xiao Family attendants and other witnesses recognized her as Miss Xiao.
• Wei Xun told Huo Qilang to keep the strange bride alive as a possible hostage and arranged to leave with Baozhu for Lingbao Inn.
• Wei Xun gave Thirteenth Son a Sect Gathering Order and summoned the sect to meet him at Lingbao Inn.

Wei Xun expelled the poison from his wounds while Baozhu worried over him, and they returned to the inn, where Qiu Ren treated his back. Baozhu insisted Wei Xun rest for two or three days, while he resented the order and Qiu Ren left them alone.

• Wei Xun forced seven poisoned darts from his back and expelled most of the poison as Baozhu watched anxiously.
• Wei Xun apologized to Baozhu for dragging her into danger, and she recalled how she had been unable to reach her weapons during the attack.
• Wei Xun told Baozhu that Qiu Ren and other members of the Master's School would visit, then bought breakfast after Baozhu went out without money.
• At the inn, Qiu Ren and Fifth greeted Wei Xun as their Eldest Senior Brother, and Qiu Ren stitched Wei Xun's wounds while Baozhu waited outside.
• Baozhu questioned Qiu Ren about Wei Xun's treatment, learned he must avoid using true qi for two or three days, and ordered him to rest.

Wei Xun’s fellow disciples gathered at the Peach Blossom Spring Inn, where they discussed his changed behavior and wagered over whether he had lost his cultivated foundation. Baozhu saw the gathering of dangerous martial artists, while Yang Xingjian realized they were surrounded and urged her to summon the authorities.

• Xu Baozhen, Tuoba Sanniang, Qiu Ren, Luo Toutuo, and Huo Qilang gathered at the inn and traded stories about Wei Xun and his feud with Tuoba Sanniang.
• Huo Qilang proposed a wager on whether Wei Xun’s cultivated foundation remained intact, and the disciples placed bets while Xu Baozhen wagered that Wei Xun was declining.
• The disciples sealed the inn, subdued its staff and guests, and left Baozhu’s and Yang Xingjian’s rooms untouched before summoning Wei Xun.
• Baozhu saw Wei Xun and the assembled disciples in the hall and realized that the real martial world was far removed from her heroic fantasies.
• Yang Xingjian pulled Baozhu into his room and urged her to alert the authorities, but Baozhu told him it was too late because they were already on the martial artists’ side.

Wei Xun questioned his fellow disciples about why they had come to Pang Liangji’s wedding, and they revealed that rumors about Chen Shigu’s dying words had made life in Chang’an difficult. The disciples recalled how they had dismissed Chen Shigu’s claim about a relic that could overthrow the Great Tang, but they still did not know what it was or where it had gone.

• Wei Xun and the others surrendered their weapons before he questioned them about their presence at Pang Liangji’s wedding.
• Xu Baozhen explained that he had abandoned his establishment on Mount Hua and warned that an omen suggested the emperor might soon die.
• Tuoba Sanniang and Qiu Ren said rumors about Chen Shigu’s dying words had driven them to seek new fortunes beyond Chang’an.
• Huo Qilang named the rumored relic that could overthrow the Great Tang, and Luo Toutuo joked that the disciples had too few relatives for the court to punish.
• The disciples remembered refusing to take Chen Shigu’s mysterious relic, then learned that Xu Baozhen had stabbed their master’s corpse through the heart before burying him.

The Seven Sunset Techniques disciples argued over who had sabotaged Pang Liangji’s wedding before Wei Xun concluded that outsiders had targeted Pang Liangji to learn the location of Chen Shigu’s belongings. After the others left to act, Pang Liangji came to the inn drunk and told Baozhu how Wei Xun had defeated him when he first joined Chen Shigu’s school.

• Xu Baozhen, Tuoba Sanniang, Luo Toutuo, Qiu Ren, and Huo Qilang traded accusations over the wedding sabotage and the clues each had noticed.
• Wei Xun argued that the hidden enemy had targeted Pang Liangji as the school’s weakest link and urged the disciples to retaliate and recover the bride.
• Tuoba Sanniang revealed that her people were guarding the bride, while Huo Qilang hurried back to the Pang Residence and Luo Toutuo left to wait for the enemy to be found.
• Baozhu woke and found Pang Liangji drinking alone at the inn after fleeing his family’s attempt to force him into the bridal chamber with the impostor.
• Pang Liangji told Baozhu that Wei Xun had beaten him for four hours in an entrance test, even with his arms bound.

Pang Liangji told Baozhu how he had secretly taught Wei Xun to read medical books, leading Chen Shigu to cripple and expel him. Baozhu promised to find Pang Liangji’s missing bride and prepared to investigate, while insisting that the poisoned Wei Xun stay behind.

• Pang Liangji explained that he had helped Wei Xun read medical texts while Wei Xun searched for a cure, and that Chen Shigu later crippled him when Wei Xun was away.
• Pang Liangji admitted that being expelled had freed him from his obsession with martial arts, and Baozhu offered to help find A Ran.
• Baozhu ordered Pang Liangji to obtain men’s clothes, both families’ genealogy records, and a bow case before dawn.
• The Setting Sun Courtyard members shared their findings about the wedding ambush, the poisoned weapons, and the masked false bride, while Qiu Ren reported that Wei Xun needed days to recover.
• Baozhu appeared in altered wedding-attendant clothes with her strung bow, and Wei Xun welcomed her help until she told him to remain at the inn and recover.

Baozhu confronted Wei Xun about his illness and persuaded him to rest while she investigated the bride’s abduction. Before leaving, she gave him the dagger she named Rhinoceros Illumination and started teaching him calligraphy, leaving him flustered and wondering whether to obey her homework order.

• Baozhu refused to believe Wei Xun’s claims that he was well and warned she would find another escort if he kept deceiving her.
• Baozhu explained how her mother’s death left her and her younger brother without protection, and Wei Xun admitted his illness was chronic but promised he had enough time to take her to Youzhou.
• Baozhu told Wei Xun to rest for two days while she investigated the case, and he lent her his dagger, which she named Rhinoceros Illumination.
• Baozhu taught Wei Xun how to hold a brush, and he broke one before she guided his hand through the correct grip.
• Baozhu ordered Wei Xun to copy a line of poetry a hundred times and threatened him with a Discipline Ruler, while Wei Xun stayed at his desk, flustered and amused by the choice between obeying and disobeying.

Baozhu led the Setting Sun Courtyard toward Jade City to investigate the bride-switching case while Wei Xun stayed behind, and she revealed her skill by shooting a mysterious giant bird near a burial mound. After Pang Liangji arrived with attendants, Baozhu sent the group onward and assigned Luo Toutuo to protect him as he searched the wasteland.

• Baozhu announced that Wei Xun was practicing calligraphy and claimed she was seventy or eighty percent certain who had switched the bride, then set out for Jade City with Huo Qilang and the others.
• Baozhu questioned Huo Qilang about the wedding journey and learned that the bride might already have been an impostor when she left the Xiao Family.
• A strange wind rose near a burial mound, and Baozhu shot a large, unidentified bird that fled wounded into a peach grove.
• Pang Liangji arrived with more than twenty attendants and offered to search the wasteland while Baozhu and the others continued toward Jade City.
• Baozhu warned the Setting Sun Courtyard to leave someone with Pang Liangji, and Luo Toutuo volunteered to protect him.

Baozhu investigated Xiao Ran’s disappearance at the Xiao Residence, where she exposed Xiao Shilian’s greed and questioned Xiao Ren about her sister’s remarriage. The party found Xiao Ran’s locked, windowless room and began investigating the drugged wine prepared for the wedding.

• Tuoba Sanniang rode off to inspect the Pang Residence, so Baozhu led the others to the Xiao Residence.
• Baozhu confronted Xiao Shilian over selling his daughter and mocked his family’s declining status until he collapsed.
• Xiao Ren introduced herself as Xiao Ran’s elder sister and said she had managed the wedding and household affairs.
• Xiao Ren said Xiao Ran had returned home after completing her mourning period and had no contact with the Lu Family.
• Xiao Ren showed the party Xiao Ran’s locked, windowless room and admitted the family had discussed drugging the wedding wine.
• Qiu Ren went with a servant to inspect where the wine was kept, while Huo Qilang checked Xiao Ran’s room for danger before letting Baozhu enter.

Baozhu searched Xiao Ran’s locked bedchamber and found a poem suggesting Xiao Ran might not have wanted to marry Pang Liangji. A booklet discovered on the roof alarmed Baozhu, who hurried to confront the Xiao Family’s leaders.

• Baozhu and Huo Qilang searched Xiao Ran’s bedchamber and learned that Xiao Shilian had confined her there after she returned to her natal home.
• Baozhu found a verse in Xiao Ran’s dressing case that suggested she resented her family for arranging her marriage to Pang Liangji, and she promised not to force her back if she had fled willingly.
• Baozhu asked Xu Baozhen about his imperial robes, but he refused to answer her questions about his connection to the emperor.
• Huo Qilang found two iron rods and an oiled-paper booklet on the roof; after reading it, Baozhu said it could destroy an entire household and rushed to speak privately with Xiao Ren and Xiao Shilian.
• Xu Baozhen mocked Huo Qilang for serving Baozhu, but Huo Qilang said she enjoyed spending time with pretty women.