Chapter Summaries

Liu Bang rewarded Han Xin with the title King of Zhao, but Han Xin declined the throne and marched south to join the King of Qi against Chu. Facing encirclement and fearing the loss of his remaining Jiangdong men, Xiang Yu proposed peace talks in exchange for Lü Zhi, leaving Liu Bang pressured to agree.

• Liu Bang's commanders approved his decree making Han Xin King of Zhao and ordering him to lead the armies south against Chu.
• Han Xin declined the throne after discussing the risks with Luo Cai, then joined forces with the King of Qi to advance against Chu.
• Xiang Yu admitted to Consort Yu that he feared losing the last of the Sons of Jiangdong and decided to seek peace with Liu Ji by offering Lü Zhi in exchange.
• Luo Xin told Lü Zhi that peace talks might soon secure her release, and she promised to repay his kindness.
• Lü Ze urged Liu Bang to negotiate, while Luo Yi warned that Xiang Yu might not trust talks without the Luo Clan as a witness.
• Liu Bang realized he had little choice but to agree to Xiang Yu's peace proposal.

After Liu Bang broke the peace agreement, Han Xin encircled Xiang Yu’s forces and cut off their supplies. Xiang Yu chose suicide to spare the Chu people further bloodshed, and the war ended with his army returning home.

• Liu Bang’s lords and generals urged him to attack Chu, and he agreed to resume the war soon after the peace talks.
• Han Xin assembled a million-strong coalition, cut off Xiang Yu’s reinforcements and supplies, and trapped his army around Xiangying.
• Lü Zhi persuaded Liu Bang to offer Xiang Yu the chance to die with honor and promised humane treatment for the Chu people.
• Xiang Yu and Consort Yu shared a final night together, and Xiang Yu took his own life for the Chu people.
• Ji Bu and Xiang Yu’s other generals asked to carry his coffin home, and Liu Bang allowed them to guard his mausoleum as the Chu army departed.

Liu Bang became emperor of Han, and Luo Ling crowned and received exceptional honors from him. The meritorious ministers were enfeoffed, Luo Ling returned to Zhao City, and Luo Yi began building the new capital of Chang'an.

• The Han ministers acclaimed Liu Bang emperor, and he adopted the title Son of Heaven and the form of address “Zhen.”
• Liu Bang consulted Luo Yi on rewards; they set grants for Xiao He, Han Xin and Luo Cai, and Lü Ze agreed to accept a lower rank to support Liu Ying’s succession.
• Luo Ling arrived in Luoyang, crowned Liu Bang, and received Zhao City as his fief, the title Duke Zhao, and the Nine Bestowments.
• Liu Bang enfeoffed Han Xin as Marquis of Huaiyin and Luo Cai as Marquis of Anyang, then rewarded Lü Ze, Luo Yi, Xiao He, and the other meritorious ministers.
• Luo Ling returned to Zhao City, while Liu Bang stayed in Luoyang and Luo Yi entered Guanzhong to build the new capital, Chang'an.

Ji Zhao reviewed the system update after the Han Dynasty was founded, discovering new items, refined clan attributes, and a newly revealed Western Regions map. The update added a function that, together with the God of the Four Seasons, could let him head west, though he held back while the Han recovered from war.

• Ji Zhao learned that a Heaven-Tier Item could extend a Luo-founded dynasty's fortune while canceling that era's Mandate of Heaven, and considered using the Heavenly Book for this purpose.
• The system replaced the Yellow-Tier Attribute Card with a Mystic-Tier card that raised an attribute as high as 90, lowered summoning costs, and raised the cost of Yellow-Tier weather items.
• Ji Zhao received the unique Mystic-Tier God of the Four Seasons, which let him command thunder, rain, wind, and snow by spending Fortune Points.
• The system revealed the Western Regions on the world map, including the Hexi Corridor, and Ji Zhao considered summoning Luo Ling before deciding the Han needed time to recover.
• Ji Zhao examined the updated attribute and prestige panels, which showed Luo Ling's strengths and Liu Bang's growing wariness of the Luo Clan.
• Ji Zhao became interested in a new system function that could let him travel to the Western Regions alongside the God of the Four Seasons.

Ji Zhao summoned Luo Ling to discuss the Han Dynasty and the future of All Xia, and Luo Ling laid out plans for gradual expansion, internal development, and defending against the northern Hu People. Ji Zhao gave him a map of the Western Regions, setting the Luo Clan on a path to help the Han Dynasty expand westward.

• Ji Zhao summoned Luo Ling to the peach grove and asked what plans he had for All Xia under the Han Dynasty.
• Luo Ling predicted that Liu Bang would spend his remaining years eliminating the Kings of Different Surnames and would leave the dynasty’s institutions to be established by his successors.
• Luo Ling proposed developing the realm through gradual settlement, cultivation, population growth, and expansion into Jiangdong and other lands.
• Luo Ling argued that the northern Hu People should be defeated swiftly, then divided and subdued, while All Xia maintained its military strength rather than occupying the Grasslands.
• Ji Zhao gave Luo Ling a map showing a safe route to the Western Regions, and the Luo Clan later helped the Han Dynasty expand there.

Ji Zhao ordered Luo Ling to pursue the Western Regions gradually, combining force with accommodation rather than relying on indiscriminate slaughter, and bestowed a blessing to help the clan’s explorers. Back in Zhao City, Luo Ling began organizing a 300-person expedition and assigned his second brother to lead it.

• Ji Zhao described the Western Regions as a vast storehouse of treasures and demanded that the Luo Clan bring the region under Han rule and eventually make people of All Xia its majority.
• Luo Ling proposed sending a direct-line descendant with a Divine Artifact to conquer the region, but Ji Zhao warned that its size, scattered settlements, casualties, and supply needs made that approach unsustainable.
• Ji Zhao instructed Luo Ling to eliminate the ruling class and those who had killed people of All Xia while treating other locals well and avoiding needless campaigns that burdened ordinary people.
• Luo Ling agreed to send his second brother and other clan descendants to learn the Western Regions’ languages and customs, and Ji Zhao promised a blessing that granted language proficiency and some resistance to illness.
• After returning to Zhao City, Luo Ling wrote his second brother a letter ordering him to lead an initial party of 300, supported by the Luo Clan’s troops, weapons, scholars, and supplies.

Liu Bang used a banquet to prepare his officials for enfeoffing members of the Liu clan and eliminating kings of other surnames, while Lü Zhi judged that he could not displace Liu Ying. The gathering ended in uproar when Liu Bang learned that the King of Yan had plotted rebellion.

• Luo Cai and Luo Yi discussed Liu Bang’s plans to move against kings of other surnames and worried that his actions would damage Luo Yi’s reputation.
• Liu Bang and Lü Zhi arrived at the banquet, where Liu Bang reminisced with his officials before asking why the Zhou dynasty had endured for so long.
• Liu Bang argued that Zhou had survived through support from allied lords and raised the possibility of enfeoffing Liu clan relatives to protect the Han realm.
• The officials feared Liu Bang might grant the kingdoms of Zhao and Chu to his sons and use the move to challenge Crown Prince Liu Ying, while Lü Zhi remained unconcerned about his ability to replace him.
• A personal attendant informed Liu Bang that the King of Yan had plotted rebellion, and Liu Bang denounced him as the officials called for action.

Liu Bang captured the King of Yan and accepted Luo Yi’s proposal to spare his relatives by sending them to develop Lingnan. Alarmed by the fall of Yan and Liu Bang’s plans to enfeoff his kin, the King of Qi sought Luo Ling’s counsel, and Luo Ling warned that he could not keep ruling a great state.

• Liu Bang asked his ministers how to punish the captured King of Yan, and Luo Yi proposed sparing the king’s relatives and sending them to develop Lingnan.
• Liu Bang approved Luo Yi’s plan, ordered the King of Yan’s relatives escorted to Luoyang before their eventual relocation, and accepted the king’s thanks.
• The King of Qi, Lü Cheng, read a warning from Lü Zhi and Lü Ze and realized Liu Bang’s growing enfeoffment of imperial relatives threatened his rule.
• Lü Cheng traveled to Zhao City and begged Luo Ling to save him, and Luo Ling said his life was safe but he could not continue ruling a great state.

Liu Bang returned from Yan State hoping to weaken the Lü Clan, but Lü Cheng renounced the throne of Qi in a move arranged with Lü Zhi and Duke Zhao. Faced with the Ji-Jiang Alliance and the court’s support for Liu Ying, Liu Bang accepted the plan and abandoned his efforts to replace the crown prince or curb the Lü Clan.

• Liu Bang returned to Luoyang from Yan State with many captives, then refused to receive Lü Cheng until he reached the palace.
• Lü Cheng told Lü Zhi and Lü Ze that Duke Zhao had advised him to relinquish the throne of Qi, and Lü Zhi asked him to explain the full plan.
• At a banquet, Lü Cheng publicly renounced his kingship, and Lü Zhi proposed making him Duke of Qi while enfeoffing his thirteen children as marquises.
• Liu Bang realized the Luo Clan and the meritorious ministers supported Liu Ying and would oppose any attempt to seize Qi or replace the crown prince.
• Liu Bang approved Lü Zhi’s proposal, ordered Lü Cheng reduced to Duke of Qi, and called on him to support Liu Ying after Liu Bang’s death.

Luo Yi warned Liu Bang that the Xiongnu had united and might invade, prompting the emperor to summon the Han nobles and prepare for war. The chapter ended with Chang'an mobilizing as Great Han faced its new steppe rival.

• Luo Yi told Liu Bang that Ying Bu was drilling his troops out of fear, not because he intended to rebel without provocation.
• Luo Yi warned Liu Bang that the Xiongnu had united the Grasslands and were likely preparing to move south.
• Luo Yi relayed Luo Ling’s view that Han should strike the Xiongnu hard and end the war within a year, before the next spring’s plowing.
• Liu Bang ordered Luo Yi to ring the great bell and summon the Thorough Marquises and other nobles to Changle Palace to prepare for war.
• The chapter described thirty-seven marquises gathering as the Han Empire confronted the Xiongnu.

Liu Bang summoned the Han nobles after the Xiongnu unified the northern tribes and invaded, then appointed Han Xin commander of a 250,000-strong campaign. Meanwhile, Luo Ling left Zhao City for the Grasslands, hoping to prevent the Han and Xiongnu from entering a ruinous prolonged war.

• Luo Yi told the gathered nobles that Modu had unified the northern Hu tribes into a powerful Xiongnu force spanning the northern frontier.
• Fan Kuai and other nobles requested permission to fight, and Luo Yi persuaded Liu Bang not to lead the campaign himself.
• Liu Bang appointed Han Xin supreme commander of 250,000 troops and gave him authority over the campaign's military affairs.
• Luo Ling judged that a Han victory would be difficult and prolonged war could strengthen the Xiongnu, so he decided to travel to the Grasslands.
• Luo Ling crossed beyond the Great Wall with Qiao Yun and told him to follow a stream to find people.

Han Xin encircled Modu’s Xiongnu forces and inflicted a major defeat, while Luo Ling traveled across the grasslands and decided the Central Plains must repeatedly defeat the Xiongnu and draw their heroes into Xia. After Modu retreated, Luo Ling sent him a threatening letter in the Sage King’s name, setting up the legend of Duke Luo Zhao among the Xiongnu.

• Han Xin told Liu Bang that victory was certain but that his army lacked the horses and supplies needed to crush the Xiongnu in a single campaign.
• After splitting his forces in Zhao State, Han Xin trapped a Xiongnu army and used Fan Kuai’s cavalry and coordinated troop movements to defeat it.
• Luo Ling observed the Xiongnu’s vulnerability to famine and internal strife, but concluded the Luo Clan could not spend its reserves to destroy them outright.
• Modu’s Xiongnu fought Han Xin’s chariots and crossbowmen until Han Xin’s two flanking armies arrived, helping kill thirty thousand Xiongnu and capture fifty thousand.
• After Modu withdrew across the Great Wall, Luo Ling sent him a letter demanding that he kneel at the Yin Mountains or face divine punishment.
• The closing account described Duke Luo Zhao traveling through eighty-one Xiongnu tribes, where the Hu People regarded him as a god and knelt before him.

Modu led the Xiongnu army toward the Yin Mountains to confront Luo Ling, who had entered the Grasslands alone. Luo Ling invoked the God of the Four Seasons, and the chapter ended with later historians calling his survival amid the coming disaster an unsolved mystery.

• Modu read Luo Ling’s declaration of war, dismissed warnings about his powers, and ordered the Xiongnu army to march to the Yin Mountains.
• Han Xin learned that Luo Ling was in the Grasslands and offered to send troops, but Luo Cai assured him her eldest brother could face the Xiongnu alone.
• Luo Yi told Liu Bang that Luo Ling had gone to secure time for Han to recover, and Liu Bang promised to grant him a divine station if he returned.
• At the Yin Mountains, Luo Ling and Qiao Yun watched Modu’s army approach as Luo Ling declared that the Grasslands would pay for insulting the Sage King.
• Luo Ling took out the God of the Four Seasons, a powerful Divine Artifact capable of bringing disaster across the Xiongnu’s fertile Hetao region.
• Later historians described Luo Ling’s journey across the Grasslands and his escape from the Xiongnu and a great natural disaster as an unsolved mystery.

Luo Ling used the God of the Four Seasons to summon fierce winds and an unseasonable blizzard over Hetao, terrifying Modu and the Xiongnu into retreat. The snowstorm devastated the Grasslands, weakening the Xiongnu and giving the Han Dynasty room to rebuild its strength.

• Luo Ling commanded the wind, unleashing fierce winds across the Hetao Plain and alarming the Xiongnu army.
• The Xiongnu mistook the storm for divine anger, while Luo Ling declared that the Sage King's punishment would bring a blizzard.
• Luo Ling commanded the snow, and a blizzard quickly covered the Grasslands as Modu failed to harm him with arrows.
• Modu ordered the Xiongnu to flee, but they saw snow falling across the distant mountains and realized they could not escape it.
• The account described how the snowstorm caused famine, killed half the people and livestock, and helped the Han Dynasty recover its strength.

After bringing a devastating snowstorm to the Grasslands, Luo Ling traveled to Chang'an, where Liu Bang and the court welcomed him. At the banquet, Luo Ling claimed he had summoned the blizzard at the Sage King's command, terrifying the emperor and nobles with his power.

• Luo Ling left the snowbound Grasslands and told Qiao Yun to take him west toward Guanzhong and Chang'an.
• Ji Zhao saw the Fortune Points cost of the God of the Four Seasons, while Liu Bang and the people of Chang'an received reports of the storm's destruction.
• Han Xin and Luo Cai praised Luo Ling's feat, and Luo Cai warned Han Xin that people must not depend on others for everything.
• Luo Ling sent Luo Yi a letter naming the exact time he would arrive, prompting Chang'an's nobles to prepare gifts and await him.
• Liu Bang and the court welcomed Luo Ling outside Chang'an, and Liu Bang bowed before inviting him to a banquet.
• At the banquet, Luo Ling said he had brought snow to the Grasslands at the Sage King's command, and his destructive aura frightened Liu Bang and the assembled nobles.

Luo Ling persuaded Liu Bang to invest Zhao Tuo as King of Lingnan under the authority of the Son of Heaven of All Xia, while accepting a divine title and returning to Zhao City. After Luo Ling departed, Liu Bang resumed court politics, and Luo family members set out on new journeys.

• Luo Yi urged Liu Bang to reward Luo Ling and argued that Liu Bang was the Son of Heaven of All Xia, not merely emperor of Great Han.
• Liu Bang offered Luo Ling the divine station of God of the Four Seasons, and Luo Ling accepted before asking to discuss the realm's distant territories.
• Luo Ling argued that remote regions such as Lingnan should be governed by outer vassals, and Liu Bang agreed to invest Zhao Tuo as King of Lingnan.
• Luo Ling announced that he would return to Zhao City to continue writing, and Liu Bang watched him leave with relief.
• After Luo Ling departed, Liu Bang turned his attention to Ying Bu, while Luo family members set out by carriage and boat and Luo family's Second Brother headed toward the Western Regions.

Liu Bang led the campaign against Ying Bu, defeated him swiftly, and arranged Liu Ruyi’s future before returning gravely ill to Chang’an. After settling his final affairs, Liu Bang died at the beginning of the thirteenth year of Han, leaving the empire to his successor.

• Liu Bang marched south with Luo Yi and his founding generals to suppress Ying Bu’s rebellion, while discussing Liu Ruyi’s future and agreeing that he could be made King of Han with Luo Yi as Chancellor.
• Liu Bang’s forces defeated Ying Bu’s army, and Ying Bu was captured after failing to rally his soldiers.
• Liu Bang questioned Ying Bu, condemned rebellion as punishable by death, and sent Ying Bu’s family and other condemned Huainan subjects to Lingnan instead of executing them.
• Liu Bang fell gravely ill on the return journey and hurried back to Chang’an to settle succession and other affairs.
• Seven days after reaching Chang’an, Liu Bang drove away the physicians and died, leaving behind a unified empire.

Luo Xin returned to Chang'an and reunited with Lü Zhi, who asked him to support her plan to become regent for the young emperor. He advised her to establish her authority directly, then reunited with Liu Le, Luo Cai, and Han Xin as his return stirred speculation among the ministers.

• Luo Xin entered Chang'an under escort and met Lü Zhi at Weiyang Palace, where she expressed her trust and affection for him.
• Luo Xin advised Lü Zhi to declare herself regent without seeking the Outer Court's approval and offered to use his military influence to deter opposition.
• Lü Zhi proposed placing the palace guards under Luo Xin's command and granting him a marquisate, while Liu Le arrived and rejoiced that he would stay in Chang'an.
• Luo Xin visited Luo Cai and Han Xin at the Marquis of Huaiyin's residence, and Luo Cai recognized Lü Zhi's ambition to rule as regent.
• News of Luo Xin's return spread, and ministers privately speculated about his relationship with Lü Zhi and his likely rise to power.

Lü Zhi moved from presiding over court to openly assuming the regency, then made Luo Xin Marquis of Dong'e and appointed him chief minister. The ministers accepted the new arrangement, while Luo Xin warned that their silence might conceal discontent and urged Lü Zhi to protect the realm’s plans for rest and recuperation.

• Lü Zhi issued an edict allowing Luo Xin to attend court armed and stand beside Liu Ying as his protector.
• Luo Xin cautioned Lü Zhi that the ministers might accept her hearing court affairs without accepting a full regency, and advised her to grant him a title as Queen Mother Regent.
• Lü Zhi issued a decree in her own name as Queen Mother Regent, appointing Luo Xin Marquis of Dong'e with a fief of five thousand households.
• The ministers and Liu Clan kings did not oppose Lü Zhi’s regency or Luo Xin’s enfeoffment, though Luo Xin warned that their silence could hide resentment.
• Lü Zhi, with Liu Ying’s approval, appointed Luo Xin chief minister, and the ministers began accepting her rule.

At Weiyang Palace, Luo Xin proposed restoring posthumous names and establishing temple names to honor or judge rulers and senior officials. Lü Zhi approved the systems and declared that the late emperor would be called Great Ancestor Emperor Gao.

• Lü Zhi gathered senior ministers at Weiyang Palace to discuss the realm’s direction under her regency.
• Zhang Liang proposed that commanderies and kingdoms compose songs and verses recounting the late emperor’s deeds.
• Luo Xin argued for restoring posthumous names and extending them to senior ministers, with proposed names reverently reported to Heaven.
• Lü Zhi approved the proposal and named the late emperor Emperor Gao.
• Luo Xin explained the temple-name system, and Lü Zhi and the ministers agreed that the late emperor should receive the title Great Ancestor Emperor Gao.