Recaps

Luo Su, Luo Xuanye, and Luo Xuanjing reached Suzhou and reunited with the Jiangnan Luo Clan, whose Household Head, Luo Jingcheng, welcomed their ancient ancestor. Luo Su prepared to leave again after honoring the clan and securing its treasured collection, while he and Luo Xuanjing teased Luo Jingcheng about marriage and Luo Su unexpectedly proposed that Luo Xuanjing marry him.

• Luo Su, Luo Xuanye, and Luo Xuanjing traveled through prosperous Suzhou and learned that the Jiangnan Luo Clan held great influence over the city.
• Luo Jingcheng recognized Luo Xuanye and Luo Xuanjing’s Sacred Marks, welcomed them back, and learned that Luo Su was their ancestor Duke Wen from fifteen hundred years earlier.
• Luo Su toured the clan manor, praised the Jiangnan Luo Clan for preserving its name, and said he would leave the Central Plains again without widely announcing his return.
• Luo Jingcheng showed Luo Su the clan’s collection, and Luo Su stored its treasures in the Sumeru Mustard Seed, keeping the Orchid Pavilion Preface for Luo Jingcheng’s future child.
• Luo Su proposed arranging a marriage between Luo Jingcheng and a woman of the Direct Line, and then surprised Luo Xuanjing by suggesting that she marry Luo Jingcheng herself.

Luo Su traveled through the Western Regions, learned how the Sage King Temple had become a powerful religious and political institution, and saw the Temple Army as a tool for his plans. He explained that he meant to transform both the Luo Clan and All Xia rather than restore an old imperial golden age, leaving his companions with a glimpse of his unfinished blueprint.

• Luo Su told Luo Jingcheng that he would not devote himself to governing All Under Heaven and continued west with Luo Xuanjing and Luo Xuanye.
• Luo Su observed the growing population and difficult high-altitude terrain of the Western Regions, and concluded that the Temple Army could operate there.
• Luo Su and his companions learned that the Zhao State had collapsed, the Temple radicals had prevailed, and the Sage King Faith had become a concrete religion with a powerful institution.
• Luo Su explained that the Western Turkic Khaganate had likely partnered with the Temple, and said the Temple Army and pressure from the Sui Dynasty could help him take over the organization.
• Luo Su told Luo Xuanjing and Luo Xuanye that he was a pragmatist who planned to overturn inherited rules and break from the Qin-Han model of empire.
• Luo Su revealed that he had begun forming a new blueprint for changing All Xia and the Luo Clan.