Chapter Summaries

Luo Zhao cleared the hardest game mode and transmigrated into Ji Zhao, King Wu Ji Fa’s younger brother. Ji Zhao refused the throne in favor of Ji Fa’s young son, but accepted a fief, became Marquis of Luo, and was appointed regent, earning powerful system rewards.

• Luo Zhao completed the game’s highest difficulty, then transmigrated into the game as Ji Zhao, younger brother of King Wu Ji Fa.
• Ji Fa asked Ji Zhao to build a new capital between the Luo and Yi rivers and offered him the throne because his heir was only eight.
• Ji Zhao refused the throne, arguing that Ji Fa’s legitimate son should inherit under the Lineage System, and summoned the royal court.
• Ji Fa named Ji Yun Crown Prince, enfeoffed Ji Zhao east of the Luo River as Marquis of Luo, and appointed him regent with authority over the realm.
• Ji Zhao received 5,000 Fortune Points and a Heaven Tier Celestial Card for founding Luo State, then gained 4,000 Fortune Points and an Earth Tier Heart-Knot for becoming regent.

After King Wu’s death, Ji Zhao served as regent for the young King Kang and summoned the realm’s lords to Haojing, where he established a new political order based on lineage, noble ranks, and enfeoffed lands. The lords accepted his proposals, and Ji Zhao gained 5,000 Fortune Points and a Heaven-Tier Celestial Observatory Platform.

• Ji Zhao guided King Kang through his first public ceremonies and received the visiting lords at a banquet.
• Ji Zhao proposed building a new capital in Yi-Luo and argued that granting fiefs would defend Zhou against rebellions and barbarian incursions.
• Ji Zhao announced that the lineage system would govern succession and that lords would receive fiefs and ranks according to kinship and merit.
• Ji Zhao defined five noble ranks and their land holdings, then declared that descendants of Yao, Shun, and Yu would receive ducal rank.
• Ji Zhao’s reforms earned him 5,000 Fortune Points and a Heaven-Tier Celestial Observatory Platform.

Ji Zhao and Taigong Wang prepared to crush the Three Guards’ rebellion, which had spread through the old Yin Shang lands after Wu Geng allied with the rebellious marquises. Ji Zhao marched east with a vast coalition army, leaving King Kang and Haojing in Marquis of Cheng Lin’s care.

• Ji Zhao and Taigong Wang watched the newly enfeoffed lords depart and discussed how the eastern states would contain Pan Geng in the old Yin Shang lands.
• The Marquis of Guan, the Marquis of Yong, and the Marquis of Bei resented Ji Zhao’s authority, spread rumors against him, and joined forces to rebel.
• Wu Geng, fearing the surrounding marquisates, allied with the Three Guards and mobilized Yin-friendly Fang States, igniting war across the old Yin Shang lands.
• After news of the rebellion reached Haojing, Ji Zhao and Taigong Wang prepared to campaign while Marquis of Cheng Lin stayed behind to serve King Kang and manage the capital.
• Ji Zhao marched from Haojing with more than thirty thousand royal troops, then gathered forces from the lords until his army numbered sixty thousand soldiers and over two hundred thousand including slaves.

Ji Zhao used a heaven-sent gale to rout the rebel alliance at the Luo River, then executed Wu Geng and declared that the campaign would continue east. Ji Zhao advanced with the army while envoys returned to Haojing with the other captured rebel leaders.

• Ji Zhao rallied his army by claiming Heaven had promised a gale, and a powerful wind struck the rebels from the west as the armies met.
• Ji Zhao’s archers and fires battered the rebels, while Shan Yi led the charge and brought down the Marquis of Guan’s Grand Banner, breaking the enemy’s formations.
• The Marquis of Guan died when his chariot overturned, and the marquises of Yong and Bei surrendered; Wu Geng was captured after his escape failed.
• Ji Zhao beheaded Wu Geng in a public ceremony and announced an Eastern Campaign to defeat the remaining rebellious states and tribes.
• Ji Zhao continued east with the army while envoys carried the other rebel leaders back to Haojing, where the Marquis of Cheng held a sacrificial ceremony.

Ji Zhao completed the Eastern Campaign by conquering Yan State and forcing the former Yin Shang rulers to submit to Zhou rule and help build Luoyi. He left his eldest legitimate son to oversee construction while he and Taigong Wang prepared to return to Haojing.

• Ji Zhao captured Yan State, ordered another massacre of its people, and the system marked the Eastern Campaign complete.
• Ji Zhao summoned the rulers of the former Yin Shang states to Yan State and demanded they arrive within fifteen days or face Yan State’s fate.
• The rulers begged for mercy and declared their loyalty, and Ji Zhao required them to contribute to building a new Zhou capital.
• Ji Zhao and Taigong Wang surveyed the land between the Yi and Luo Rivers and discussed building Luoyi as a second capital.
• Ji Zhao appointed his eldest legitimate son to oversee Luoyi’s construction and reside in Luo State while Ji Zhao returned to Haojing.

Ji Zhao returned to Haojing after defeating the Eastern rebels and used a court assembly to restructure Zhou’s enfeoffments, strengthen the Son of Heaven’s authority, and direct the regional rulers against the Yi and Di. The rulers departed with new fiefs and military mandates, while Ji Zhao stayed in the Royal Domain to teach Ji Yun and monitor the states.

• Ji Zhao led the victorious Eastern Campaign army into Haojing, where Ji Yun welcomed him and praised his service to Zhou.
• Ji Zhao told the assembled rulers that Zhou’s mandate depended on expanding Xia civilization and warned that rebellious rulers who failed to govern the Yi and Di could lose their lands, titles, and surnames.
• Ji Zhao established new enfeoffments, including grants to Zi Can and descendants of the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun.
• Ji Zhao appointed the marquises of Qi, Yan, Bao, and Hui as Bearers of the King's Mandate, empowering them to lead regional rulers and campaign in the four directions.
• Ji Zhao required the rulers to follow the Rites of Zhou and threatened severe punishment for those who violated royal ritual regulations.
• The regional rulers returned to their fiefs with people and wealth, while Ji Zhao remained in the Royal Domain to teach Ji Yun and follow reports from the states.

Ji Zhao prepared Ji Yun to rule, relinquished royal authority, and moved to Luoyi to oversee the eastern lords. After years of service, he died and was honored with royal rites as the Sage King Wen, leaving his family’s political credibility and legacy secure.

• Ji Yun resolved disputes between Marquis Shen and Count Jia, and Ji Zhao approved his judgments.
• Ji Zhao decided to move to Luoyi when Ji Yun came of age, both to avoid overshadowing the king and to restrain the powerful eastern lords.
• After Ji Yun’s coming-of-age ceremony, he appointed Ji Zhao to govern Luoyi with authority over the lords in his jurisdiction.
• Ji Zhao settled in Luoyi, welcomed its first inhabitants, and recorded his teachings on governance and the Rites of Zhou.
• In the seventeenth year of King Kang’s reign, Ji Zhao died, and Ji Yun granted him the posthumous name Wen and burial with royal rites beside King Wu of Zhou’s mausoleum.

Ji Zhao watched as Luo Su and Duke Shuang of Song judged the Son of Heaven’s planned war against Chu State likely to end in disaster. Luo Su and Marquis Lü Bai of Qi organized the eastern lords to protect Luoyi, while Duke Shuang sent alliance summons to the feudal states.

• Ji Zhao reviewed how the Zhou Dynasty had prospered under his institutions before the fourth Son of Heaven dismantled them and Ji Wan took the throne.
• After resigning from court, Luo Su told Duke Shuang of Song that the Son of Heaven’s campaign against Chu State would likely fail and urged preparations to protect Luoyi.
• Luo Su explained that Xiong Dun’s formidable troops and the Son of Heaven’s reckless plan to cross a river made defeat especially dangerous.
• Luo Su met Marquis Lü Bai of Qi, who agreed to gather troops with the eastern lords and defend Luoyi if the war went badly.
• Duke Shuang of Song returned home and sent alliance summons to every feudal lord under his jurisdiction.

Ji Wan pressed ahead with his southern campaign despite warnings from the Marquis of Han, while Xiong Dun welcomed the coming invasion and prepared to exploit the Zhou army’s weaknesses. As Chu laid plans to provoke Ji Wan into rash action, Ji Zhao began spending his accumulated fortune points to replenish supplies.

• Ji Wan considered harsh punishments for Xiong Dun and the people of Chu, but accepted the Marquis of Han’s advice against massacring or enslaving them.
• The Marquis of You and Marquis of Ji resented the Marquis of Han and revealed their confidence that the campaign would bring them glory; the Marquis of Han left to inform Luo Su.
• News of Ji Wan’s campaign pleased most lords because the Royal Domain would bear the cost, while Ji Zhao concluded that Luo Su was the only minister who might have restrained Ji Wan.
• Xiong Dun laughed at Ji Wan’s decision to invade Chu and, encouraged by Xiong Lin, prepared to lure the Zhou army into a trap by provoking its ruler.
• Xiong Dun and Xiong Lin discussed testing the Nine Tripods in Luoyi if Chu defeated Ji Wan, and Xiong Lin offered to taunt Ji Wan before the battle.
• Ji Zhao prepared to spend decades’ worth of fortune points on draws to replenish his stockpile.

Ji Zhao explored the updated system, spent a fortune on draws, and gained powerful items before contacting Luo Su to warn him about the Zhou State’s danger. Luo Su received divine artifacts and prepared Luo State’s army for the alliance assembly at Qiyan, which was also a military expedition to aid the king.

• Ji Zhao reviewed the system’s new shop and categories, then used one hundred thousand fortune points on draws and obtained an Earth Tier Heroic Spirit Card, a Mystic Tier Five Thunder Righteous Law, and other items.
• Ji Zhao contacted Luo Su through the ancestral temple, revealed himself as the guardian spirit of All Xia, and charged Luo Su with protecting the Zhou State’s Mandate of Heaven.
• Ji Zhao gave Luo Su three divine artifacts—Guard, June Snow, and Blank Items—and warned him that using some of them would exact a heavy price.
• Luo Su met with his ministers, learned that the Marquis of Wei had offered only a token force for the assembly, and angrily condemned his evasive conduct.
• Luo Su entrusted military command to Zhao Zhao, and Luo State’s army departed for Qiyan as armies from other states marched toward the alliance assembly.

Nearly a hundred feudal lords gathered at Qiyan and swore loyalty to the Zhou State, forming the Alliance of Qi Yan. As news of the king’s campaign against Xiong Dun raised fears of disaster, Luo Su vowed to protect the Zhou State’s foundations.

• Duke Shuang of Song welcomed Luo Su to Qiyan as feudal lords arrived for the assembly.
• Duke Shuang of Song and Luo Su toasted the lords, who pledged loyalty to the Zhou State and recorded the Alliance of Qi Yan.
• Ji Zhao noticed his Fortune Points rapidly increase as the alliance formed.
• Luo Su, Duke Shuang of Song, and the Marquis of Qi discussed the king’s army advancing toward Chu State and predicted a prolonged war.
• Luo Su asked what would happen if the king fought without resting his army or deployed it in difficult terrain, and the Marquis of Qi warned that the army could collapse.
• Luo Su feared the king might ignore sound military advice and vowed not to let the Zhou State’s foundations be shaken.

Ji Wan led the royal army to the Five Han River States and prepared to attack Chu, while Xiong Dun’s envoy provoked him by questioning whether Chu’s tripods outweighed the Nine Tripods of Luoyi. Ji Wan ordered an immediate river crossing despite warnings, and the Marquis of Han began seeking allies to save the army.

• Ji Wan gathered the vassal armies and dismissed concerns about the absent rulers of the Five Han River States, whose defensive line Luo Su had built to contain Xiong Dun.
• Ji Wan marched south with his hundred thousand troops and stationed them in Deng, Lu, and Ruo to prepare for a crossing into Chu.
• Xiong Dun sent Jing Lin to ask Ji Wan which were heavier, Chu’s great tripods or Luoyi’s Nine Tripods.
• Ji Wan flew into a rage, threatened Xiong Dun, and ordered his exhausted army to attack across the Han River despite the Marquis of Han’s warning.
• The Marquis of Han realized Ji Wan’s recklessness could destroy the army and began contacting nobles from Luo Su’s faction for help.

Ji Wan’s reckless order sent exhausted Zhou vanguards across the Han River, where Xiong Dun’s forces ambushed and routed them. After learning that more than five thousand soldiers had died and another five thousand had been captured, Ji Wan rejected the Marquis of Han’s advice to withdraw and vowed to lead the army himself.

• The Marquis of Han and Yu Boxiu agreed to stall Ji Wan’s order while letting the soldiers recover, and the Marquis proposed using auxiliary troops to fake a river crossing.
• Xiong Dun learned that the Zhou vanguard was crossing and ordered his commanders to ambush it, while keeping his elite troops ready to face Ji Wan.
• Yu Boxiu staged a false crossing as the vanguards of the three Zhou armies crossed the Han River, exhausted and weakened by the march.
• Chu troops sprang from the hills, attacked from high ground, and routed the three Zhou vanguards, killing more than five thousand and capturing another five thousand.
• The Marquis of Han urged Ji Wan to withdraw, but Ji Wan rejected the advice, accused his commanders of failure, and threatened to lead the army himself.

Xiong Dun led Chu against Ji Wan’s Zhou army and used the battlefield’s advantages, his archery, and a disciplined assault to unsettle the royal troops. As the armies fought, Xiong Dun spotted a weakness in Zhou’s confused command and charged with Chu’s elite guards.

• Xiong Dun celebrated Chu’s victory at the capital and announced that he would personally lead the next campaign.
• Ji Wan crossed the Han River and advanced despite warnings from the Marquis of Han and Yu Boxiu to scout carefully.
• Xiong Dun positioned his smaller army on favorable ground and taunted Ji Wan before the two armies began their battle.
• Xiong Dun shot three Zhou soldiers with arrows from a hundred and fifty paces, while the frightened Ji Wan withdrew from the front.
• Xiong Dun directed Chu’s forces through the battle, detected a weakness in Zhou’s command, and led his heavily armored guards in a charge.

Xiong Dun routed Ji Wan’s Zhou army, but the retreating camp descended into chaos and Ji Wan was killed by stray arrows. Luo Su reached Luoyi, arranged for Crown Prince Ji Xi to assume the regency, and began preparing the Royal Domain for the coming relief armies.

• Xiong Dun broke the Zhou lines, killed Cai Bo, and cut down the vanguard’s Grand Banner, sending the Zhou soldiers fleeing toward the Han River.
• As Zhou nobles demanded that Ji Wan punish the Marquis of You and the Marquis of Ji, fighting broke out in the camp and stray arrows killed all three men.
• The Marquis of Han took charge of the retreat after Ji Wan’s death, while Xiong Dun pursued the defeated army and planned to seize nearby states.
• Luo Su and the eastern lords organized a relief army, with the Marquis of Qi leading it toward Ying and Kang and Luo Su heading to Luoyi.
• Luo Su arranged a regency ceremony for Crown Prince Ji Xi and began inventorying supplies and summoning nobles to rebuild the Royal Domain’s forces.

Luo Su organized the feudal lords and the Royal Domain to stabilize Luoyi after Ji Wan’s defeat, while asserting the Son of Heaven’s authority and condemning Ji Wan’s reign. With an army assembled and the capital secured, Luo Su headed to the front to take command of the southern campaign.

• Luo Su received the Marquis of Jin and other Ji-surnamed lords, then urged them to contribute resources to restore states south of the Luo River.
• The Marquis of Jin challenged the Son of Heaven’s authority, and Luo Su defended the royal lineage while warning the lords against dividing the Zhou State.
• Luo Su announced that Ji Wan would receive the condemnatory posthumous title of Li, easing the Marquis of Jin’s discontent and warning other restless lords.
• Luo Su placed the arriving armies into camps around Luoyi, reassured Royal Domain vassals, and recruited and armed their sons to defend the capital.
• Luo Su arranged for Crown Prince Xi’s maternal relatives to train the army, then went to the front with an edict granting him command of the southern campaign.

Luo Su used a staged display of Heaven’s Mandate to persuade Xiong Dun to retreat from the Han River and accept terms that preserved much of Chu’s southern territory. After securing Shen and Lü and arranging defenses along the frontier, Luo Su organized Ji Xi’s accession to the throne, while Xiong Dun returned to Chu.

• The royal coalition advanced against Xiong Dun along three routes, and Luo Su arrived to negotiate with him.
• Luo Su claimed Heaven would punish Chu with snow and a frozen river, then used an iced wine cup to convince Xiong Dun that the Sage King’s power supported him.
• Xiong Dun accepted Luo Su’s terms: he would renounce his royal title, submit a memorial of contrition, release captives, surrender Shen, Lü, Sui, and Tang, and promise not to turn Chu’s blades north.
• Luo Su told the allied lords about the agreement and proposed enfeoffing four marquises in Shen, Sui, Tongbai, and Tang River to defend the frontier.
• Xiong Dun withdrew, and Luo Su’s forces took Shen and Lü while the royal coalition returned to Luoyi.
• Luo Su arranged the groups who would endorse Crown Prince Ji Xi, and Ji Xi ascended the throne as the new Son of Heaven.

Luo Su established a Regency Council to govern the Zhou State until King Xi came of age, then reorganized royal offices and arranged new fiefs and alliances. He tasked Marquis Shen Xiu with guarding the southern frontier and securing Shen’s succession, while Marquis Shen resolved to disinherit his unruly eldest son.

• Luo Su secured Queen Dowager Qi Jiang’s agreement to establish a Regency Council whose seven lords would decide major state affairs until King Xi came of age.
• The court raised the late king’s three adult sons to marquises and assigned them new fiefs, while Yu Boxiu received the lands of Shen and Lü as Marquis Shen.
• Luo Su reorganized royal offices and directed the Marquis of Jin and the Marquis of Chen to strengthen ties between the king and the lords through marriage alliances.
• Luo Su told Marquis Shen Xiu to expand Shen westward, prepare to confront Chu, and send his gifted second son to study under him and marry into the Song ruling family.
• Marquis Shen Xiu understood Luo Su’s concern about his foolish eldest son and decided to arrange an accident that would remove him from the line of succession.

Luo Su uncovered a serious land shortage in the Royal Domain and devised a plan to relocate some of its nobles while strengthening the region between Luoyi and Haojing. After western states fell to a Dog Rong alliance, he sent the Marquis of Qi west to investigate and stabilize the crisis.

• Xiong Dun released captured nobles, and the Marquis of Qi rebuilt and trained the Six Armies of Luoyi.
• Luo Su examined the Royal Domain’s records and found that forty percent of its land had already been allotted, threatening conflict among its nobles.
• The Marquis of Qi brought news that the Dog Rong alliance had defeated the western lords and that more than ten states had fallen.
• Luo Su and the Marquis of Qi suspected the western lords might be exploiting the crisis to draw the Son of Heaven back to Haojing, and they discussed reviving a two-capitals plan.
• Luo Su proposed enfeoffing Royal Domain nobles elsewhere to free land and strengthen the corridor between Luoyi and Haojing.
• Luo Su ordered the Marquis of Qi to take an army west, reassure the defeated lords, and investigate the crisis with authority over military and civil affairs.

Luo Su sent the Marquis of Qi west with sweeping authority to confront the western lords and address the Western Rong threat, while he began organizing the Royal Domain’s clans for political reform. In Haojing, the Marquis of Qi delivered sharp edicts rebuking the western lords and warning them to change course, then began assessing their reactions.

• Luo Su resolved to sweep away corrupt officials and resumed his work after reflecting on the Zhou State’s decline.
• The Regency Council appointed the Marquis of Qi Bearer of the King’s Mandate and General-in-Chief of the Western Expedition, and Luo Su saw him off with praise for his service.
• Luo Su mapped the Royal Domain’s seventeen clans across four lineages and chose the Zhou, Shen, and Fei clans as likely allies.
• The Marquis of Qi reached Haojing and read an edict ordering the western lords to obey his commands.
• The Marquis of Qi read a second edict condemning the Marquis of Cheng and the western lords for failing to protect the Royal Domain, while hinting that the court might return to Haojing.
• The Marquis of Qi judged that the western lords were unsettled but probably had not colluded with the Western Rong, and the Marquis of Cheng asked about Luo Su’s personal stance.