Chapter Summaries

Jia Heng, a modern man reborn into a distant branch of the Jia family in the Red Chamber World, studied its altered history and began rebuilding his life through scholarship. When Li Wan came to retrieve Jia Lan’s borrowed books, she discovered Jia Heng’s impressive calligraphy and invited him to attend the clan school, but he declined.

• Jia Heng reviewed history books and learned that this world’s dynasties differed from those of his former life, with the current year being the fourteenth year of Chongping.
• Cai opened the gate to Li Wan, who had come to retrieve the histories Jia Heng had borrowed from Jia Lan.
• Jia Heng returned the books and explained that he had borrowed them to study the world’s history.
• Li Wan noticed Jia Heng’s couplet and was surprised by the quality of his calligraphy.
• Li Wan suggested Jia Heng attend the free clan school, but Jia Heng declined because he preferred studying at home.

Jia Heng weighed the risks of entering officialdom while tied to the Jia family and declined Jia Rong’s request to attend him at a theater. Meanwhile, Jia Rong and Jia Lian discussed Jia Rong’s marriage prospects and his invitation to an autumn hunt, as Feng Ziying arrived.

• Jia Heng considered how entering officialdom could make him a target when the Jia family fell, but believed he still had time to plan.
• Li Wan returned to the Rongguo Estate, where Wang Xifeng told her that Jia Heng’s mother had recently died and that he served Jia Rong for a living.
• Jia Heng refused Jia Rong’s servant’s request to attend a theater outing, saying he was still unwell and could not drink.
• At Qingfang Garden, Jia Rong told Jia Lian that he had protected Jia Heng during a fight over a courtesan queen, leaving Jia Heng injured.
• Jia Rong invited Jia Lian to join an autumn hunt with Feng Ziying, and Jia Lian mentioned that Wang Ziteng might receive an important post.
• A servant announced Feng Ziying’s arrival, and Jia Rong went out to meet him.

Jia Heng practiced swordsmanship and told Dong Qian and Cai Quan that he intended to pursue the imperial examinations while continuing his martial training. He went with them to meet the disgraced Company Commander Xie and ask to learn mounted archery, but Xie suspected the Jia family was mocking him.

• Jia Heng impressed Dong Qian and Cai Quan with his swordsmanship, then explained that he planned to enter official service through the imperial examinations.
• Cai Quan and Dong Qian urged Jia Heng to find a military post, while Jia Heng asked where he could buy a good horse and learn mounted archery.
• Dong Qian recommended Xie Zaiyi, a former company commander reduced to a gate officer, as a mounted archery teacher.
• Jia Heng bought wine and food and went with Dong Qian and Cai Quan to meet Xie Zaiyi near Anhua Gate.
• Jia Heng asked Xie Zaiyi to teach him mounted archery, but Xie suspected that a descendant of the Duke of Ningguo had come to make sport of him.

Jia Heng impressed Captain Xie with his saber skills and arranged to learn riding and archery, while worrying that turmoil and climate hardship threatened his future. Cai then revealed that his late mother had arranged his marriage to Qin Keqing, and Jia Heng agreed to visit the Qin family the next day to settle the wedding date.

• Jia Heng cut through an oak post with one saber stroke, earning Captain Xie's respect and an agreement to teach him riding and archery.
• Over lunch, Captain Xie described Jurchen raids and the decline of mounted archery, leaving Jia Heng worried that an age of turmoil was approaching.
• After returning home and waking at dusk, Jia Heng learned from Cai that his mother had arranged his marriage to Qin Ye's daughter, Qin Keqing.
• Cai urged Jia Heng to visit the Qin family the next day to settle the wedding date, and Jia Heng agreed despite expecting the Qins might reject the match.

Jia Heng visited the Qin residence to meet Qin Ye about their families’ marriage arrangement, but Qin Ye was away. Qin Keqing secretly watched Jia Heng from behind a curtain, and their brief exchange of glances eased her worries about her betrothed.

• Jia Heng traveled with Li Dazhu to the Qin residence and brought modest gifts.
• Nanny Wu welcomed Jia Heng and told him Qin Ye had gone to Taoran Residence.
• Baozhu told Qin Keqing that Jia Heng had arrived, and Qin Keqing went with Ruizhu to watch him from behind a curtain.
• Jia Heng noticed Qin Keqing watching and used a question about Qin Zhong to glance toward her.
• Qin Keqing met Jia Heng’s gaze, then decided he looked quite all right.

Jia Zhen proposed that Qin Keqing marry his son, Jia Rong, and pressured Qin Ye to have Jia Heng withdraw from his childhood betrothal to her. Jia Heng came to ask Qin Ye to complete the marriage, and, sensing Qin Ye’s unease, asked whether there was some difficulty.

• Jia Zhen asked Qin Ye for Qin Keqing’s hand in marriage for Jia Rong and offered Jia Heng silver and a shop position to end the existing betrothal.
• Qin Ye left Taoran Residence without agreeing, then learned that Jia Heng had come to visit him.
• Jia Heng greeted Qin Ye and presented their marriage contract, asking to complete the marriage as his late mother had wished.
• Qin Ye suggested postponing the marriage for two years, and Jia Heng asked whether there was some difficulty.

Jia Heng defended his engagement to Qin Keqing despite Jia Zhen's plans to interfere, and Qin Ye agreed to set a wedding date. Jia Heng returned home determined to marry quickly and gain the means to protect his future wife.

• Jia Heng assured Qin Ye that he would resist Jia Zhen's attempt to arrange Qin Keqing's marriage to Jia Rong and asked to settle the wedding date soon.
• Qin Keqing emerged from behind the curtain and insisted that her family honor the engagement, persuading Qin Ye not to break it.
• Jia Heng said he would appeal to Lady Jia or, if necessary, bring a lawsuit against the Jia Family; Qin Ye agreed to a wedding on the fifteenth of the following month.
• After Jia Heng left, Qin Keqing told Qin Ye that she accepted the modest life she might have with Jia Heng and urged him not to withdraw their promise.
• Jia Heng returned to the Jia Residence and told Cai what had happened; Cai offered the several hundred taels left by her mistress to fund the wedding.

Jia Zhen ordered Jia Rong to pay Jia Heng to break off his engagement to Qin Ye’s daughter, while Jia Heng spent the afternoon learning mounted archery from Xie Zaiyi. After hearing of a Tartar raid and discussing the empire’s dangers, Jia Heng resolved that he would need to seize power to protect the realm.

• Jia Zhen gave Jia Rong two hundred taels and ordered him to make Jia Heng quietly end his betrothal to Qin Ye’s daughter.
• Jia Heng visited Xie Zaiyi and rode with him outside the city to practice mounted archery.
• Xie Zaiyi and Jia Heng saw an express courier arrive with news from Ji Town and later discussed Tartar raids and the commander’s failure to protect the people.
• Jia Heng considered the danger of rebels and Tartar invasions and concluded that he needed to seize power to defend the realm.
• Jia Heng and Xie Zaiyi drank together until the hour of the Rooster, then Jia Heng headed home.

Jia Heng refused Jia Rong’s offer of a hundred taels to end his engagement to Miss Qin, while considering how to protect himself from Jia Zhen’s pressure. The chapter then shifted to the palace, where Emperor Chongping condemned Ji Town’s failure to stop the Eastern Barbarians, and Yang Guochang explained the military disadvantage facing Tang Kuan.

• Jia Rong offered Jia Heng a hundred taels to break his engagement to Miss Qin, but Jia Heng refused and sent him away.
• Jia Rong fell when Jia Heng pushed him aside, then cursed him and left to report back to Jia Zhen.
• Jia Heng told Cai that the eastern mansion wanted him to end the engagement, and Cai suggested seeking help from the old madam in the western mansion.
• Jia Heng considered how to gain power and expected Jia Zhen might summon him the next day.
• Emperor Chongping denounced Tang Kuan for failing to confront the Eastern Barbarians, and Yang Guochang explained that their elite cavalry made it difficult for Ji Town’s troops to fight beyond the city walls.

Emperor Chongping arranged military reinforcements against the Tartar invasion while Yang Guochang asked to retire and was persuaded to remain. Jia Heng assessed the realm’s approaching collapse and decided to deal with Jia Zhen and his son, who planned to summon him over his refusal to break off an engagement.

• Emperor Chongping questioned Yang Guochang’s proposal to wait for the Tartars to withdraw and asked Li Zan about reinforcements from Hebei and Shandong.
• Li Zan reported that Hebei could send a hundred thousand troops quickly, while Shandong’s drought and White Lotus rebellion limited its available forces.
• Yang Guochang asked to retire, but Emperor Chongping and Han Huang urged him to stay and manage the nation’s affairs.
• Jia Heng studied the map and concluded that chaos and foreign conquest would come within a dozen years, so he resolved to get past Jia Zhen and Jia Rong first.
• Jia Rong told Jia Zhen that Jia Heng refused to break off the engagement, and Jia Zhen ordered him to bring Jia Heng to Ningguo Mansion the next day.

Jia Heng visited the Ink and Brush Studio to study contemporary examination essays and investigate selling fiction for income. After asking whether the shop accepted manuscripts, he was directed to the shopkeeper, who appeared behind him.

• Jia Heng practiced martial arts, wrote an essay, and decided to visit the Ink and Brush Studio to explore ways to earn money.
• Jia Heng bought collections of examination essays and recalled that he needed a tutor to prepare for the prefectural examination.
• Jia Heng inspected illustrated storybooks and asked the shop assistant whether the studio printed them itself.
• Jia Heng asked how much the shop would pay for an illustrated storybook manuscript, and the assistant suggested consulting the shopkeeper or owner.
• The shopkeeper approached with a cough as the assistant answered Jia Heng.

Jia Heng wrote the opening chapter of Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the Ink and Brush Studio and drew the admiration of everyone watching. Manager Liu recognized Jia Heng as a descendant of the Duke of Ningguo and began negotiating over the manuscript, questioning its originality.

• Jia Heng asked Manager Liu for paper and a brush so he could write a chapter of his unwritten manuscript.
• Jia Heng chose Romance of the Three Kingdoms and wrote its opening, including Linjiang Immortal, while scholars and customers gathered to watch.
• Han Hui and Yu Zhen admired Jia Heng’s writing and speculated that he belonged to a distant branch of the Jia Family.
• Jia Heng told Manager Liu that the manuscript would have one hundred and twenty chapters and followed him upstairs to discuss business.
• Jia Heng confirmed that he was a descendant of the Duke of Ningguo, and Manager Liu began bargaining by claiming Three Kingdoms stories were already familiar to readers.

Jia Heng negotiated with Liu Tong to sell Romance of the Three Kingdoms to the Ink and Brush Studio for 240 taels. He agreed to deliver the manuscript in installments, leaving the studio preparing to publish the novel for wealthy readers.

• Jia Heng and Liu Tong haggled over the manuscript’s price, with Liu Tong initially offering forty taels and Jia Heng demanding four hundred.
• Jia Heng proposed receiving half a tael for every copy sold, but Liu Tong rejected the profit-sharing arrangement because of the studio’s publishing costs and risks.
• After bargaining until noon, Jia Heng sold Romance of the Three Kingdoms to the Ink and Brush Studio for 240 taels, or two taels per chapter.
• Liu Tong asked Jia Heng to deliver the remaining manuscript by the end of the month, and Jia Heng offered to bring fifteen chapters in the next few days.
• Liu Tong accepted the installment plan, explaining that the Ink and Brush Studio published fifteen chapters per volume and would initially target wealthy readers.

Jia Heng signed a contract to deliver a 240-chapter manuscript to the Ink and Brush Studio and received a fifty-tael deposit. After leaving the studio, he met Imperial College students Han Hui and Yu Zhen, who invited him to dine and talk; their conversation turned to the imperial examinations.

• Jia Heng signed the manuscript contract with Liu Tong and accepted a fifty-tael deposit, promising to deliver the first fifteen chapters by the end of the month.
• Jia Heng considered using literary works and other businesses to earn money while pursuing a future in officialdom, then left the Ink and Brush Studio with a collection of examination essays.
• Han Hui and Yu Zhen greeted Jia Heng, praised his poem and calligraphy, and heard him explain that reading the history of the Three Kingdoms had inspired the verse.
• Han Hui invited Jia Heng to dine at the Exquisite Pavilion, where Jia Heng accepted their hospitality and chatted with the two Imperial College students.
• Han Hui observed Jia Heng's composure and insight as they spoke, and the conversation shifted to the imperial examinations and qualifying as a scholar.

Jia Heng discussed his lack of formal schooling and limited means with Han Hui and Yu Zhen, who offered him a librarian position at the Imperial College so he could study with its lecturers and use its books. Over dinner, the conversation turned to a Tatar invasion of Wanping County and the failure of nearby forces to stop it.

• Jia Heng explained that his mother’s death and household responsibilities had interrupted his studies, and that he could not afford a distinguished tutor.
• Han Hui offered to arrange for Jia Heng to work as librarian at the Imperial College’s Literary Gathering Pavilion, where he could seek instruction and access books.
• Jia Heng expressed gratitude to Han Hui, who said he hoped Jia Heng would finish Romance of the Three Kingdoms for him and Yu Zhen to read.
• Yu Zhen reported that thirty thousand Tatar cavalry had taken Wanping County, where County Commandant Li Ling died in battle and Magistrate Jiang Chun killed himself.
• Han Hui said Beiping’s garrison could not leave its post and Commander Tang lacked the forces to fight in the open, while the court planned to send reinforcements.
• Yu Zhen lamented that Great Han had grown too weak to repel the invaders as Liu Han once had.

Jia Heng discussed Han military weakness with Han Hui and received a recommendation to the Imperial College, while Han Hui and Yu Zhen considered his abilities. At the Qin Mansion, Qin Keqing heard rumors that Jia Heng was a wastrel and decided she would not withdraw from their engagement or accept another Jia match, leaving her future unresolved.

• Jia Heng discussed the Han people's military equipment and the loss of northern craftsmen with Han Hui and Yu Zhen.
• Han Hui gave Jia Heng a letter of recommendation for Registrar Song at the Imperial College.
• Yu Zhen judged Jia Heng to be a man of substance with martial training, while Han Hui said he only wanted to befriend him.
• Ruizhu told Qin Keqing that rumors painted Jia Heng as a wastrel who followed Jia Rong and had been injured in a brawl.
• Baozhu and Ruizhu suggested Qin Keqing stall until Jia Heng withdrew or consider Jia Rong, but Qin Keqing refused to change her mind about the Jia family and said she could stay with her father.

Jia Heng refused Jia Zhen’s summons after Lai Sheng and four servants tried to force him to Ningguo Mansion, defeating them under the Great Han Code. Feng Ziying witnessed the confrontation, while Jia Heng left and told Jia Rong that Jia Zhen would have to summon him properly.

• Lai Sheng ordered Jia Heng to come before Jia Zhen, and Jia Heng seized him and knocked out a tooth with a slap.
• When Lai Sheng commanded four servants to attack, Jia Heng warned them about the Great Han Code and then defeated all four with one hand.
• Feng Ziying arrived, praised Jia Heng’s fighting, and tried to ease the dispute before the gathering crowd.
• Jia Heng refused to enter Ningguo Mansion and told Jia Rong to say that he would visit only for the year-end ancestral rites.
• Feng Ziying watched Jia Heng leave with an unusual gleam in his eyes.

Jia Zhen grew furious after Jia Heng beat the servants sent to summon him, but Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng urged him to learn more before escalating the dispute. After hearing Jia Heng’s terms, Jia Zhen decided to invite him to meet at the Green and Red Pavilion that night.

• Jia Zhen discussed finding Jia Rong a wife while listening to opera with You-shi, Jia Lian, and Wang Xifeng.
• Lai Sheng and four servants arrived injured and accused Jia Heng of beating them when they tried to summon him.
• Jia Zhen angrily threatened Jia Heng and scolded Jia Rong, but Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng calmed him down.
• Jia Rong reported that Jia Heng would not enter Ningguo Mansion except for the year-end ancestral rites and wanted to meet elsewhere.
• After Jia Rong recounted the encounter, Jia Zhen told him to deliver a letter inviting Jia Heng to the Green and Red Pavilion that night.

After confronting Jia Zhen’s servants, Jia Heng avoided Ningguo Mansion and went alone to practice mounted archery with a heavier bow. As he gathered his arrows, a party of riders approached, including Feng Ziying and two girls dressed as men.

• Jia Heng reasoned that Jia Zhen could not easily punish him under clan rules and decided not to go to Ningguo Mansion.
• Jia Heng borrowed a horse and Xie Zaiyi’s two-stone bow from Madam Zhao after learning that Xie Zaiyi was busy preparing for an inspection of the city defenses.
• Jia Heng rode outside the city and found he could draw the heavier bow more easily than he expected.
• Jia Heng shot three rounds of arrows at a target while riding, hitting it only once, then dismounted to retrieve his arrows.
• Jia Heng noticed Feng Ziying among a party of riders approaching, including two girls dressed as men.

Jia Heng practiced mounted archery when Feng Ziying introduced him to Prince Wei, Prince Liang, Princess Xianning, and Commandery Princess Qinghe. The nobles marveled at Jia Heng’s strength with a two-shi bow, while Prince Liang mocked the Jia family before Prince Wei rebuked him.

• Prince Wei and Prince Liang mocked Jia Heng’s poor aim, but Jia Heng remained composed.
• Feng Ziying recognized Jia Heng, greeted him warmly, and introduced him to the imperial princes and noblewomen.
• Princess Xianning noticed Jia Heng’s two-shi bow, and the group discussed his remarkable strength and potential.
• Prince Wei advised Jia Heng to practice with a lighter bow, and Jia Heng claimed his arms were already aching after three rounds.
• Prince Liang asked whether Jia Heng was truly from the Jia family and mocked its reputation; Prince Wei told him not to speak recklessly.