Recaps

Murong Ke defied twelve Golden Tokens to conquer Hedong, then returned to Ji City to face the Empress Dowager and secure a welcome and rewards for his victorious army. The emperor accepted Murong Ke’s argument, while the Empress Dowager fell silent.

• Murong Ke ignored the Court’s recall orders and led the Yan Army to conquer Hedong, defeating the Wei Army at Anyi and leaving its forces devastated.
• After his grain and fodder supplies were cut off, Murong Ke halted the advance toward Guanzhong, arranged for troops to hold Hedong, and explained to Murong Chui why he had to return to Ji City.
• Xiao Yan’s Liang Army entered Heluo and advanced toward Luoyang, while the Han State prepared to attack the Liang State and reclaim Huai-Si and Xingyang.
• Murong Ke returned to Ji City with Murong Chui and more than ten thousand troops, then entered the palace alone after learning the Empress Dowager would not welcome the army.
• Murong Ke argued that the victorious soldiers needed recognition and rewards, and the emperor agreed to lead the officials outside Ji City to welcome them.

After Liang’s costly war with Han, Xiao Yan asked Luo Xianzhi how to strengthen the state quickly, and Luo Xianzhi proposed reforms that would redirect wealth toward the treasury while protecting the common people. The chapter ended with Xiao Yan discovering that Luo Xianzhi’s proposed targets included Buddhist monasteries, despite Xiao Yan’s devotion to Buddhism.

• Xiao Yan and Luo Xianzhi surveyed the devastated Huai-Si battlefield and discussed Han’s military strength, Yan’s seizure of Hedong, and the need to defend Liang’s territory.
• Luo Xianzhi suggested that Liang could exploit Yan’s political divisions by bribing powerful nobles and arranging Murong Ke’s death.
• When Xiao Yan asked how Liang could grow stronger within a few years, Luo Xianzhi explained that the state needed to control more resources and proposed taking wealth from powerful groups.
• Luo Xianzhi warned Xiao Yan that reforms could impoverish common people unless officials restrained wealthy households and the state returned its new resources to the people.
• Xiao Yan reviewed Luo Xianzhi’s list of proposed targets and found Buddhist monasteries among them, then questioned whether Luo Xianzhi had written it by mistake.

After Emperor Xiao Yan hesitated over Luo Xianzhi’s proposal to curb Buddhist wealth, he approved a reform that would investigate religious figures, confiscate assets, and bring temples under court control. Luo Xianzhi began organizing the campaign, leaving its scope and execution as the next challenge.

• Luo Xianzhi warned Xie Daoyun that Xiao Yan’s age and changing judgment threatened Liang’s stability and their family’s safety.
• After seven days of deliberation, Xiao Yan agreed to act against Buddhism but asked Luo Xianzhi to avoid offending the gods and Buddhas.
• Luo Xianzhi proposed investigating monks and Daoists, punishing corrupt practitioners, confiscating assets, and limiting legitimate temples to those established by the court.
• Xiao Yan authorized Luo Xianzhi to carry out the reform, while requiring him to prevent bloodshed and keep the campaign from becoming excessive.
• Luo Xianzhi returned to the Secretariat and ordered the Left and Right Directors to recall provincial envoys so he could prepare the Buddhist reform.

Cao Chengsi eliminated his political opponents and tightened his control over the Wei State while the Empress Dowager and Emperor remained in his way. After Liangzhou rebelled and the Empress Dowager brought clan troops into the palace, Cao Chengsi ordered the emperor’s death and prepared to seize the throne.

• Cao Chengsi had the captured generals executed, then appointed his followers to positions across the Court and regions.
• Cao Chengsi replaced the palace guards with his own soldiers and told the Empress Dowager to remain within the palace while he took charge of state affairs.
• Cao Chengsi rejected calls to recover Hedong and Heluo, arguing that Wei should wait for Yan’s internal conflict to weaken Murong Ke.
• After Liangzhou rebelled again, Cao Chengsi suspected that his enemies were leaking military intelligence and considered cutting off grain to the Four Hexi Commanderies.
• Cao Chengsi learned that the Empress Dowager had brought clan troops into the palace, then ordered Cao Xu to arrange the emperor’s death as he prepared to seize the throne.

Cao Chengsi seized the Wei throne after the young emperor died and the Empress Dowager’s attempt to kill him failed. He answered public criticism with mass arrests and executions, while later histories recorded his coup as regicide and tyranny.

• The emperor died, and the Empress Dowager ordered her brother to summon Cao Chengsi and kill him.
• Cao Chengsi entered the palace guarded and armored, spotted the Empress Dowager’s trap, and escaped an attack by hidden archers.
• Cao Chengsi’s forces defeated the Empress Dowager’s soldiers, killed the Court Historian, and compelled her to support his accession.
• Cao Chengsi took the throne, then ordered the arrest and execution of thousands of scholars who criticized him.
• Cao Chengsi’s rule spread terror through Chang'an as scholars were tortured and buried in mass graves, while later histories condemned his coup and killings.

After Cao Chengsi’s slaughter of scholars and Cao Lü’s declaration of Shu’s independence weakened Wei State, Murong Chui seized the opportunity to invade Guanzhong. He captured Chang’an and brought Cao Chengsi before him, leaving the emperor’s fate at the point of execution.

• Luo Su told Ji Lingjun that the family’s principles endured because people still knew right from wrong, even when those who upheld them lacked power.
• After hearing that Cao Lü had declared himself King of Shu, Cao Chengsi flew into a rage and killed a palace maid, while resentment spread among those around him.
• Murong Chui persuaded his allies in Hedong to cross the Yellow River with six thousand cavalry and lead Yan forces into Guanzhong.
• Murong Chui’s troops defeated the disordered Wei army outside Chang’an, and he rallied soldiers to enter the city under the banners of the Sage King and the Luo River Goddess.
• Murong Chui’s forces captured Cao Chengsi in the Imperial Palace, where scholars denounced him as Murong Chui prepared to put him to death.

After killing Cao Chengsi, Murong Chui secured Chang'an, allied with Guanzhong's gentry, and defeated the Wei army with a strategy that exploited its soldiers' longing for home. Yan's emperor then appointed him King of Yong and gave him authority over the lands west of the passes, leaving him the ruler of Guanzhong in all but name.

• Murong Chui personally killed Cao Chengsi, then ordered his forces to seize the Cao imperial clan and press the Wei army to surrender.
• News of Murong Chui's victory reached Hedong, while Murong Ke praised his achievement and sent advice on consolidating control through Guanzhong's gentry.
• Yang Cheng and Wang Meng advised Murong Chui to make Guanzhong his base, and Murong Ke urged him to cooperate with the gentry while keeping the army under his command.
• Murong Chui promised the gentry titles and influence, then used the soldiers' families and the song “Chang'an Longing” to undermine the Wei army's resolve and win the Battle of Longxi.
• Murong Chui returned to Chang'an with more than ten thousand troops, suppressed smaller rebellions, and negotiated with the Liangzhou rebels.
• Yan's emperor appointed Murong Chui King of Yong and granted him command over the provinces and officials west of the passes.

Luo Xianzhi learned that Murong Ke had sworn the Oath on the Luo River under pressure from Yan State’s empress dowager, and predicted that the oath would bring disaster to Yan State. Luo Xianzhi and Murong Ke formed an alliance on the Yellow River to divide Han State, while Murong Chui prepared to use the coming war to expand in the west.

• Luo Xianzhi and Xiao Yan received news that Murong Ke had accepted the empress dowager’s conditions and sworn an oath to remain loyal to Yan State and lead its armies against Han State.
• Luo Xianzhi explained that the oath would bring severe backlash upon Murong Ke and the empress dowager, and urged Xiao Yan to ally with Yan State against Han State.
• Luo Xianzhi and Murong Ke met on the Yellow River, discussed Han State’s weakness, and agreed to divide its lands, with the Yellow River as their boundary and Qingzhou and Yanzhou left to whoever arrived first.
• Luo Xianzhi and Murong Ke wrote and sealed a treaty with their emperors’ seals, then parted to return to their respective states.
• Murong Ke sent word to Murong Chui that the alliance would give him time to attack Liangzhou and Shu.
• Han State’s emperor refused to receive Marquis Ying, who left the palace believing the outcome was fated.

Yan and Liang’s simultaneous invasions pushed Han toward collapse as its emperor considered surrender and Luo Zhenye urged resistance. As Luo prepared to leave Fenggao and the Marquis Ying household began to disperse, Murong Chui set out to conquer the Four Hexi Commanderies, leaving Han’s fate caught between two expanding powers.

• Murong Ke launched Yan’s all-out assault on Ye City while Xiao Yan’s Liang forces attacked Han from the south, and the Han Emperor learned of the crisis only after attending court.
• Luo Zhenye rebuked the emperor for neglecting state affairs, then denounced his willingness to surrender and declared he would fight for Han’s altars of state.
• After the emperor spoke of surrender, Luo Zhenye left Fenggao for the front and arranged for his youngest daughter to be taken to Gusu as Marquis Ying’s household began to dissolve.
• Yan’s rapid advance shattered Han’s defenses and morale as Han’s armies retreated across Hebei, Yanzhou, and Huai-Si, while Xiao Yan accelerated Liang’s campaign.
• Murong Chui chose to invade the Four Hexi Commanderies rather than Shu, left Wang Meng to govern Guanzhong, and rode west with Yang Cheng and more than ten thousand cavalry.

Yan State and Liang State strengthened their opposing positions as Cao Lü surrendered Shu to Liang, while Murong Ke negotiated a truce with Luo Xianzhi despite concealing his fatal illness. Murong Ke returned to Ji City, revealed his approaching death to the emperor, and began advising him on how to preserve Yan State after he was gone.

• Cao Lü, fearing Murong Chui’s advance into Shu and doubting Liang State’s reliability, offered Shu to Xiao Yan in exchange for a safe retirement in Kuaiji.
• Xiao Yan accepted Cao Lü’s submission, enfeoffed him as Commandery Duke of Kuaiji, and changed Liang State’s era name after acquiring Shu.
• Luo Xianzhi informed Xiao Yan that Murong Ke was fatally ill, while Murong Ke concealed his coughing blood and proposed a truce between Yan State and Liang State.
• Murong Ke and Luo Xianzhi agreed to exchange Liang State’s holdings in Mount Tai for passes north of Luoyang, then withdrew their armies.
• Murong Ke returned to Ji City, collapsed into a coughing fit before the emperor, and revealed that the Oath of the Luo River was bringing him to his death.
• Murong Ke told the emperor not to fear the King of Yong, urged him to maintain ties with Guanzhong, and warned that Liang State would eventually fracture.

Murong Ke’s death left Yan State’s emperor and Murong Chui to preserve their fragile peace, while Liang State faced a crisis when Xiao Yan accused Crown Prince Xiao Tong of using occult methods against him. Luo Xianzhi persuaded Xiao Yan that Xiao Tong had been framed and began investigating the plot.

• After the Empress Dowager of Yan State died, Murong Ke died soon afterward, and the emperor granted him the posthumous title Wen.
• Murong Chui mourned Murong Ke and promised the emperor that he would remain in Guanzhong as Yan State’s loyal western defender.
• Luo Xianzhi learned that Xiao Yan had accused Xiao Tong of using Yansheng Technique against him and rushed back to Jianye.
• Luo Xianzhi persuaded Xiao Yan that Xiao Tong had been framed, preventing the emperor from condemning his son before an investigation.
• Luo Xianzhi met the confined Xiao Tong, assured him he believed him innocent, and set out to identify those behind the plot.

Luo Xianzhi uncovered the plot against Xiao Tong, crushed the conspirators, and urged Xiao Yan to reaffirm the Crown Prince’s position. Just as Luo Xianzhi turned his attention toward weakening Yan State, Xiao Tong fell gravely ill, leaving Luo Xianzhi fearing that Heaven might undo his plans.

• Luo Xianzhi intimidated the four suspects into confessing to the conspiracy against Xiao Tong, threatened their families, and destroyed the fabricated initial record after securing truthful case records.
• Luo Xianzhi told Xiao Yan that Xiao Tong had been framed, counseled him to rule cautiously, and recommended severe punishment and public support for the Crown Prince.
• Xiao Yan ordered Luo Xianzhi to visit Xiao Tong with rewards and reassurance that he would remain Crown Prince and inherit Daliang.
• Luo Xianzhi rejected Xiao Tong’s attempt to draw him closer, explaining that his loyalty belonged to Xiao Yan, while the witchcraft and gu poison case ended with many executions and exiles.
• Luo Xianzhi urged Xiao Yan to drive a wedge between the Emperor of Yan and Murong Chui, but then learned that Xiao Tong had fallen ill with depression and feared his plans for Liang State were unraveling.

After Xiao Tong’s death, Luo Xianzhi sought a way to secure Liang’s future and used a Counterintelligence Stratagem to deepen the divide between the Emperor of Yan and Murong Chui. The letters and rumors destabilized Yan State, leaving Murong Chui wary of rebellion and the Emperor increasingly suspicious of him.

• After Xiao Tong died, Luo Xianzhi asked Xie Daoyun how he should cultivate another Crown Prince, and she advised him to observe the late Crown Prince’s children instead.
• Luo Xianzhi decided to hasten Yan State’s division and arranged for Yan and Liang to resume war on two fronts.
• Luo Xianzhi forged two letters in Xiao Yan’s voice, insulting the Emperor of Yan in one and praising Murong Chui while proposing peace in the other.
• The Emperor of Yan grew furious and suspicious after reading both letters, while a close minister and other courtiers warned that the letters were meant to drive a wedge between him and Murong Chui.
• Murong Chui recognized the stratagem, but Wang Meng and Yang Cheng urged him to prepare because the Emperor of Yan would likely fall into the trap.
• Luo Xianzhi’s rumors spread through Yan State, where ministers began demanding that Murong Chui’s privileges be revoked and the Emperor feared the other Murong princes would support him.

Luo Xianzhi’s scheme drove the Emperor of Yan to purge Murong Chui’s supporters, prompting Murong Chui to proclaim himself Emperor and split Yan State in two. As Liang State celebrated Yan’s civil war, Xiao Yan promoted Luo Xianzhi but resisted his warnings about succession and enfeoffing his sons.

• Luo Xianzhi explained to Xie Daoyun how praising Murong Chui’s virtues would make the Emperor of Yan more suspicious of him.
• A minister praised Murong Chui to the Emperor of Yan, who ordered arrests and purges of Murong Chui’s allies and the Gentry, killing more than three hundred people and over a dozen imperial relatives.
• Murong Chui learned of the slaughter, proclaimed himself Emperor of Yan, and called for the disorder to be pacified in obedience to Heaven; the Emperor of Yan celebrated the rebellion as proof of his suspicions.
• Xiao Yan praised Luo Xianzhi for helping provoke Yan’s civil war and elevated him to Chancellor, while Luo Xianzhi urged Liang State to seize Qingzhou.
• Xiao Yan proposed appointing one of Xiao Tong’s sons Crown Grandson and enfeoffing his other sons, but Luo Xianzhi warned that the plan would weaken Liang State; Xiao Yan refused to change his mind and increased Luo Xianzhi’s fief.

Xiao Yan enfeoffed his sons despite Luo Xianzhi’s warnings, while Wang Meng urged Western Yan to exploit Liang’s internal division by taking Hedong and the Lüliang Mountains. As Murong Chui’s army faced the Yan Court’s forces, three rebellions erupted within Yan, delaying both states’ ambitions to unify All Under Heaven.

• Xiao Yan ignored the arguments against enfeoffment, and his sons left Jianye to take up their fiefs.
• Wang Meng called for Great Yan to seize the Lüliang Mountains while Southern Liang was divided.
• Murong Chui crossed the Yellow River, won Hedong’s surrender in less than three months, and marched east against the Yan Court’s army.
• Murong Chui and the Court Army faced each other while the Emperor of Yan remained in Ji City.
• Three rebellions broke out within Yan State, including uprisings by the Jizhou gentry and the military.

Erzhu Rong’s northern garrisons rebelled, seized Ji City, and massacred the Murong imperial family and nobles, while Murong Chui and Xiao Yan maneuvered against his fragile rule. Xiao Yan ordered a literary campaign against Erzhu Rong, weakening support among the gentry as Erzhu Rong tried to consolidate power and considered claiming the imperial title.

• Erzhu Rong led the northern garrisons’ uprising, and their forces captured Ji City while Murong Chui struggled to advance against them.
• Erzhu Rong’s uncontrolled troops slaughtered more than a hundred thousand people in Ji City, including nearly a thousand members of the Murong imperial family and powerful nobles.
• The Court’s Imperial Guards surrendered to Murong Chui, who paused his attacks to consolidate his holdings and wait for Erzhu Rong’s rule to weaken.
• Luo Xianzhi urged Xiao Yan to condemn Erzhu Rong and consider marching north, and Xiao Yan mobilized Liang’s scholars to spread accounts of the massacre.
• Erzhu Rong moved to Ye City, appointed trusted followers to control Ji City, and began building his own power structure while his subordinates resisted his bid to become emperor.
• Luo Xianzhi’s campaign damaged Erzhu Rong’s standing with the gentry, while Erzhu Rong’s followers refused to retreat to the Northern Frontier and he remained in Ye City trying to strengthen his rule.

Luo Xianzhi recognized that his legs had gone numb and, believing he was near death, gave Xie Daoyun and Emperor Xiao Yan his final instructions for protecting the Luo family and stabilizing Liang State. After Luo Xianzhi died, Xie Daoyun completed a book about his life and died soon afterward, leaving their descendants to remain in Gusu.

• Luo Xianzhi told Xie Daoyun he feared he had left Liang State vulnerable, then asked her to return to Gusu and keep their children out of government.
• Luo Xianzhi was carried into the palace, where he urged Xiao Yan to tax Buddhist institutions, limit the power of imperial princes, and prevent conflict among the emperor's descendants.
• Luo Xianzhi died while being carried from the palace, and Xiao Yan posthumously honored him as Duke of Yue and ordered him buried beside Xiao Yan at Xiu Mausoleum.
• The people of Jianye mourned Luo Xianzhi, and the Luo Clan buried him after seven days of lying in state.
• Xie Daoyun wrote the Treatise on Duke Luo Wencheng and instructed the Luo family to preserve its books and treat its dependents fairly.
• Xie Daoyun remembered Luo Xianzhi's promise that he would live the same life again, then died after completing her final instructions.

Years after Luo Xianzhi’s death, Murong Chui conquered Luoyang and drove Liang State south, but Yan State’s northern campaign, Wang Meng’s death, and Murong Ling’s murder destabilized his empire. Murong Chui and Xiao Yan both died, and Xiao Yan’s reign ended with his palace burning as a rebel army seized Jianye.

• Xiao Yan doubted Liang State’s defeats and sought Buddhist prayers and immortality, while Murong Chui captured Luoyang and prepared to press south.
• Murong Chui withdrew from the northern campaign after Wang Meng fell gravely ill, then learned that his crown prince, Murong Ling, had died, apparently by poisoning.
• Murong Chui died after failing to punish the son he suspected of murdering Murong Ling, while Xiao Yan continued to rule Liang State.
• An army entered Jianye unopposed, seized the palace, and forced Xiao Yan to become the Retired Emperor.
• Xiao Yan hallucinated Luo Xianzhi and Luo Youzhi, regretted his failures, and died when fire engulfed his palace.

After centuries of waiting, Luo Su descended into the mortal world as a three-year-old child in Winter City and began learning about the Luo Clan’s present circumstances. His arrival produced strange phenomena across All Xia, drawing the attention of Sui’s Emperor Yang Jian.

• Ji Lingjun asked Luo Su how he would descend, and he chose to be born through the Origin Tripod with a Phoenix Feather Sacred Mark rather than take a descendant’s body.
• Luo Su told Ji Lingjun he planned to travel the world and seek its ultimate truth instead of immediately assisting the Son of Heaven.
• After Ji Lingjun reported that the Sui Dynasty had unified the realm, Luo Su asked to hear about its founding and said he might visit Chang'an.
• Luo Chengxian told the Luo Clan’s direct descendants that Luo Su would return, and he arranged for them to receive their ancestor in Winter City.
• Luo Su emerged from the Origin Tripod, warmed the waiting clan members, and asked Luo Chengxian to explain the Luo Clan’s history and current affairs.
• Unusual phenomena spread throughout All Xia after Luo Su’s descent, and reports reached Yang Jian in Chang'an, where rumors began to circulate.

After Yang Jian investigated the prophecy that the Luo Clan would return, Luo Su left Winter City to study the Grasslands and the Sui Dynasty’s distant frontier. He finished his two-and-a-half-year journey intending to visit the Central Plains and the ruins of Haojing City.

• Yang Jian sent investigators toward Winter City after the Luo Clan’s return prophecy spread, while other great clans and Yang Guang also began searching for the clan.
• Luo Su told Luo Chengxian he would leave Winter City in ten years, then traveled to Black Water and across the Greater Khingan Range with Spirit Soldiers and the Mountain Lord.
• In the Eastern Desert Grasslands, Luo Su concluded that the Eastern Turkic Khaganate should be destroyed and the grasslands brought under control, then learned that the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates were at war.
• Luo Su met Aqina, a Liaodong Hu chief migrating south with his tribe, accepted his warhorses, and continued west across the Grasslands.
• After studying the tribes and Western Regions monks, Luo Su decided he needed to investigate Western Regions Buddhism and consider how to govern the Hu people and stabilize the Eastern Desert Grasslands.
• Luo Su ended his Grasslands journey and headed south toward Guanzhong, planning to visit the ruins of Haojing City.

Luo Su descended into the mortal world as a three-year-old child in Winter City, where he reunited with his Luo Clan descendants and began learning about their present circumstances. Across the Sui Empire, strange phenomena marked his arrival, and Yang Jian and Dugu Jialuo received reports that stirred rumors throughout the realm.

• In the Void Heavenly Realm, Luo Su chose to descend into Winter City rather than be reborn as a descendant, intending to explore the world and seek its ultimate truth.
• Ji Lingjun told Luo Su that the Sui Dynasty had united All Under Heaven, and Luo Su decided to begin his travels in the Grasslands after spending a few years in Winter City.
• Luo Chengxian told the Luo Clan elders that Luo Su, Duke Wen of Luo, would be born anew, and ordered them to prepare to welcome him.
• Luo Su descended through the Origin Tripod with a Phoenix Feather Sacred Mark, warmed the gathered Luo Clan members, and asked Luo Chengxian to explain the clan's situation.
• Luo Su declined the Household Head position, paid respects to Ji Zhao, and asked to study alongside the clan's children while he grew.
• Unusual phenomena appeared across All Xia after Luo Su's descent, and Yang Jian consulted Dugu Jialuo as reports and rumors reached Chang'an.

Luo Su left Winter City and traveled across the Grasslands, studying its peoples and the challenges of governing them as the Sui Dynasty investigated rumors of the Luo Clan’s return. After two and a half years, he resolved to head south through Guanzhong and visit the ruins of Haojing City.

• Yang Jian investigated reports that the Luo Clan had returned and used rumors of supernatural signs surrounding his birth to strengthen his rule.
• Luo Su told Luo Chengxian he would preserve the clan’s strength and personally visit the Central Plains, then taught the clan’s children about the relationship between ruler and people.
• Luo Su crossed Black Water and the Greater Khingan Range, reached the Eastern Desert Grasslands, and concluded that the Eastern Turkic Khaganate should be destroyed and the region brought under control.
• Eastern Turkic cavalry surrounded Luo Su, but his Spirit Soldiers defeated them; their prisoners revealed that the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates were at war.
• Luo Su met Aqina, whose tribe was migrating south to submit to the Sui Dynasty, and accepted several horses before continuing west across the Grasslands.
• After studying nomadic rule and Western Regions Buddhism, Luo Su ended his two-and-a-half-year journey across the Grasslands and set out for Guanzhong to visit Haojing City.

Luo Su traveled through Guanzhong with Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing, discussed the Sui Dynasty’s administrative divisions, and met Li Yuan at a roadside tea shelter. After an Eastern Palace eunuch tried to seize Luo Xuanjing, Luo Su killed the guards, revealed the Phoenix Feather Sacred Mark, and left Li Yuan fearing for his life.

• Luo Su guided Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing through the Hexi Corridor and into Guanzhong, where he explained the Sui Dynasty’s provincial and commandery system.
• Luo Su introduced himself to Li Yuan and the travelers at a tea shelter as Ji Su, and Dou Shi recognized the Ji-surnamed Luo Clan.
• Gao Cheng tried to take Luo Xuanjing to the Eastern Palace, but Luo Su agreed to go with him after rebuking him for threatening a Luo Clan woman.
• Once the carriage was out of sight, Luo Su ordered the Eastern Palace guards killed, and his Spirit Soldiers slaughtered them.
• Luo Su revealed his Phoenix Feather Sacred Mark, terrifying Gao Cheng to death and confirming that the Luo Clan Main Lineage had returned to the Central Plains.
• Luo Xuanye asked whether they should kill the following Li Yuan, who realized he had witnessed the massacre and stood in fear before Luo Su.

Luo Su spared Li Yuan and his family, arranged for Li Xiuning to marry into the Luo Clan, and continued on to Mount Li and Chang’an. In Chang’an, he explained why he doubted the Sui Dynasty could renew the realm and planned to work through the Luo Clan; meanwhile, the Eastern Palace learned that its attendants had been killed on the post road.

• Li Xiuning pleaded for Li Yuan and Dou Shi, and Luo Su spared them while giving her a jade pendant and promising her a match within the Luo Clan.
• Luo Su suggested Luo Xuanye as Li Xiuning’s future husband, then reached Mount Li and mourned the vanished world of the Zhou State.
• In Chang’an, Luo Su examined the Sui Dynasty’s institutions and told Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing that he doubted the emperor could restore order and values across the realm.
• Luo Su said he would not serve the Sui emperor directly and would instead rely on the Luo Clan to carry out his plans.
• A rider reported to the Eastern Palace that its attendants had all been killed on the post road.

Luo Su explained that the Luo Clan’s dwindling fortune made it vulnerable and chose to bind the clan deeply to a capable dynasty, so he ordered Luo Xuanye to investigate Yang Guang before choosing a side. Meanwhile, Yang Yong learned that the Luo Clan was suspected of killing his palace attendants and hurried to confront his parents in the imperial palace.

• Luo Su told Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing that the Luo Clan’s fortune had declined because it had received little from the Han Dynasty, and he planned to secure its future by tying it to a dynasty.
• Luo Su predicted that Yang Yong would be deposed, but said the Luo Clan needed to judge Yang Guang’s true character before approaching him.
• Luo Su sent Luo Xuanye to investigate the King of Jin’s household and asked Luo Xuanjing to help calculate information using the Annals.
• Yang Yong learned that the Gusu Luo Clan was suspected of killing Gao Cheng and his men after they abducted Luo Clan travelers, including a woman.
• Yang Yong worried that the Luo Clan had sided with Yang Guang and decided to enter the palace to see his parents and demand that the killers pay.