Chapter Summaries

Luo Zhang summoned the Luo Clan’s descendants and proposed sending its married sons into the world to pursue careers and win merit while the women managed the clan’s internal affairs. The marriage question remained unresolved for several sons, though Luo Jin revealed that his heart already belonged to someone, and Ji Zhao predicted which brothers would marry Cai Yan and Diao Chan.

• Luo Zhang explained that the Luo Clan had to secure an important role in the coming dynasty and proposed that married sons leave Zhao City to build careers while the women managed the clan’s affairs.
• Luo Shu asked whether the sons could pursue paths other than serving Feudal Lords, and Luo Zhang said they could choose work suited to their talents as long as they brought distinction to the clan and won merit.
• The High Priest asked whether Luo Zhang would arrange marriages for the unmarried sons, and the clan considered Luo Jin, Luo Yan, and five younger men alongside Cai Yan, Diao Chan, and Tang Ji.
• Luo Jin told Luo Zhang that his heart already belonged to someone and that he would ask permission to marry when the time was right.
• Ji Zhao predicted that Luo Quan would marry Cai Yan and Luo Xing would marry Diao Chan, while Ji Lingjun wondered how he had discerned their matches.
• The chapter recalled that Mi Zhen’s marriage to Luo Qi had earned the clan Fortune Points and improved its descendants’ financial management ability.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Lü Bu arrived in Zhao City and paid their respects to Empress Tang, whose return to her imperial role stirred painful memories. In the side hall, the Luo Clan High Priest met Zhen Mi and sensed that she was destined for great nobility.

• Yuan Shao and Cao Cao met outside Zhao City, where Yuan Shao declared that he would kill Liu Xie after defeating Cao Cao.
• Lü Bu arrived and joined Yuan Shao, and Luo Shu welcomed the three lords into the city.
• Luo Jin reassured Tang Ji and escorted her in empress’s robes to meet the lords, who bowed to her and Duke Zhao.
• Cao Cao nearly spoke of Liu Xie’s longing for Tang Ji, but Xi Zhicai interrupted him before he could continue.
• Madam Liu introduced Zhen Mi to the High Priest, who sensed something familiar in the girl and predicted her exceptional nobility.

Luo Zhang gathered the feudal lords in Zhao City and urged them to protect physicians and establish rules against massacring cities and killing captives. The lords agreed in principle and signed the Jian'an Zhao City Convention, while Luo Xuan realized how he could put his medical knowledge to practical use.

• Liu Bei arrived in Zhao City with Mi Zhen and their son, where Luo Shu, Luo Jin, and Luo Xuan welcomed them.
• Yuan Shu arrived in Zhao City, joining the other feudal lords summoned by Luo Zhang.
• Luo Zhang warned the gathered lords that plague threatened the people and proposed protecting physicians who traveled to treat illness; Yuan Shao and Liu Bei supported the proposal.
• Luo Xuan listened from a side hall and understood that medicine should be practiced to save lives, not merely compiled into books.
• Luo Zhang argued that rulers should follow the kingly way, then proposed agreements against killing captives and massacring cities; the feudal lords debated the terms and agreed in principle.
• The principal feudal lords affixed their seals to the Jian'an Zhao City Convention, establishing rules for conduct during war.

Luo Zhang led the Feudal Lords in offering a Golden Patent covenant to Heaven, binding them to protect civilians, prisoners, physicians, and others during war. Afterward, Luo Xuan proposed founding a neutral medical association to treat people in war zones and combat epidemics, and Luo Zhang agreed to support him.

• Luo Zhang gathered the Feudal Lords at Zhao City's sacrificial grounds and proposed recording their covenant on gold and jade to offer to Sage King Supreme Heaven.
• The High Priest read the covenant's twelve articles, and the Feudal Lords agreed to them and stamped the Golden Patents with their seals.
• The High Priest burned one Golden Patent in a ritual cauldron, blue smoke rose toward Heaven, and thunder sounded as she declared the offering had reached the Nine Heavens.
• Luo Zhang warned the Feudal Lords that the Luo Clan would intervene against anyone who violated the covenant, giving the clan grounds to send troops in its defense.
• Luo Xuan told Luo Zhang he wanted to leave Zhao City and establish a neutral association of registered physicians to treat war victims, control epidemics, and spread medical knowledge.
• Luo Zhang approved Luo Xuan's plan and offered him medical texts, family staff, and the Luo Clan's resources.

Ji Zhao allowed Luo Xuan to begin the Medicine Sage side storyline and removed Ancestors' Blessing so he could pursue his chosen path without its protection. Meanwhile, Luo Yan met his newly betrothed Zhen Mi, leaving their marriage arrangement warmly received by Yuan Shao.

• Ji Zhao heard the system announce the Medicine Sage side storyline and asked Luo Xuan whether he would risk his life for an unknown future.
• Luo Xuan accepted the risk, and Ji Zhao canceled Ancestors' Blessing as Luo Xuan continued on his way.
• Liu Bei failed to persuade Cao Cao to release Guan Yu, while Cao Cao returned to pursue an opportunity against Yuan Shu in Runan.
• Luo Shu and his wife proposed that Luo Yan marry Zhen Mi, and Yuan Shao accepted the match.
• Luo Yan visited Yuan Shao's guesthouse, met Zhen Mi, and spoke openly about their marriage, delighting Yuan Shao.

Luo Zhang explained to Luo Chu why the Luo Clan could claim the throne only once and warned him that Jiangdong might eventually demand a sovereign. Luo Chu outlined a plan to share power among Jiangdong’s officials and gentry while finding a suitable successor, and the chapter ended with Fu Tianqing dismissing his sister’s eerie ceiling crawl as ordinary.

• Luo Chuan returned to Zhao City and received an enthusiastic welcome from scholars, while Yuan Shao recalled Luo Chuan’s confrontation with Emperor Ling.
• Luo Zhang told Luo Chu that the Luo Clan’s ancestral injunction against kingship protected it from a disastrous dynasty’s end, and that the clan could found a dynasty only once.
• Luo Chu described the political pressure he might face when Jiangdong’s officials wanted him enthroned, despite his refusal to become king.
• Luo Chu proposed dividing Jiangdong’s military and administrative powers among offices and ranks while selecting a successor acceptable to the gentry and officials.
• A brief account explained the Luo Clan’s refusal to claim the throne, and Fu Tianqing told a frightened tenant that his sister crawling across the ceiling was not supernatural.

Luo Chu married Xiao Qiao in Zhao City, while several Luo Clan members departed to take up duties elsewhere. Luo Xing asked Diao Chan to accompany him to the Western Regions, and she agreed after arranging to honor Luo Xiao there; Luo Quan shared a love song he had written for Cai Yan.

• Luo Chu and Xiao Qiao completed their wedding ceremony in Zhao City, and Luo Yan and Zhen Mi spoke about their own future marriage.
• Qiao Wei and the Jiangdong party departed, while Yuan Shao and Luo Yan left for Jizhou; Luo Jin instructed Luo Yan to serve Yuan Shao and return for family weddings if circumstances allowed.
• Luo Xuan set out with Zhang Zhongjing to travel, visit Hua Tuo and Dong Feng, and assess whether the Luo Clan’s agreements had spread across the land.
• Luo Xing told Diao Chan he would go to the Western Regions to serve as High Priest and guard the Luo Clan’s branch there, and Diao Chan agreed to go with him after they married in Zhao City and brought Luo Xiao’s Spirit Seat.
• Luo Quan found Cai Yan after she left Diao Chan’s courtyard and showed her his new score, titled “Luo Palace Wenji.”

Luo Yan and Yuan Shao prepared to invade Youzhou as Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan’s conflict deepened, while Yan State’s Murong Sheng manipulated Gongsun Zan into suspecting Liu Yu planned to kill him. Yuan Shao’s commanders began planning the campaign, and a letter from Ji City arrived before they settled their strategy.

• Luo Yan warned Yuan Shao that Yan State could exploit the struggle in Youzhou, prompting Yuan Shao to recognize the threat and plan a swift campaign.
• Liu Yu rebuked Gongsun Zan, then privately told Liu Shen that he intended to remove Gongsun Zan and unite Youzhou against Yuan Shao.
• Murong Sheng told Gongsun Zan that Liu Yu was preparing to move against him and offered Yan State as a refuge, stirring Gongsun Zan’s fury and suspicion.
• Yuan Shao convened Hebei’s officials to plan the invasion, and Qu Yi requested and received command of the vanguard.
• A messenger entered Yuan Shao’s command tent with a letter from Ji City.

After Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu turned against each other in Ji City, Luo Yan persuaded Yuan Shao to seize Youzhou, and Yuan Shao sent an army to attack. As Qu Yi’s vanguard crushed a Youzhou camp, Luo Yan told him the Temple Army surpassed even his elite troops, leaving Qu Yi wondering if the claim was true.

• Luo Yan urged Yuan Shao to exploit the conflict between Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu by taking Ji City, and Yuan Shao ordered his army to march.
• Qu Yi led the First-to-Scale Death Warriors and Great Halberd Soldiers to smash a Youzhou camp during the advance.
• Qu Yi asked Luo Yan to assess his elite troops, and Luo Yan ranked them below the Temple Army and Dare-to-Fight Warriors.
• Luo Yan described the Temple Army’s extraordinary abilities, prompting Qu Yi to doubt him and wonder whether he was telling the truth.

Yuan Shao’s army confronted Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu outside Ji City, and Luo Yan helped Yuan Shao defeat their claims of legitimacy with a forceful argument. With the Youzhou leaders silenced and their troops’ morale weakened, Yuan Shao ordered Qu Yi to attack.

• Yuan Shao advanced into Youzhou while Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu set aside their conflict to face the Hebei army.
• Gongsun Zan accused Yuan Shao of breaking Duke Zhao’s pact, and Yuan Shao answered by denouncing Gongsun Zan’s past invasions and declaring his intention to unite Youzhou and Jizhou under the Yuan Clan.
• Liu Yu arrived with soldiers and argued that Youzhou belonged to him as its court-appointed governor, that Yuan Shao had no right to claim the provinces, and that Liu Xie was the legitimate emperor.
• Luo Yan challenged Liu Yu’s record of governing Youzhou and argued that Yuan Shao’s virtue and concern for the people justified his rule.
• When Liu Yu asked whether Yuan Shao was still a subject of Han, Luo Yan helped Yuan Shao affirm loyalty to the Han Dynasty while rejecting Liu Xie as a false emperor.
• Luo Yan urged Yuan Shao to seize the advantage, and Yuan Shao ordered Qu Yi to attack the enemy’s left flank.

Luo Yan advised Yuan Shao to avoid a costly frontal assault on the Youzhou Army and exploit its leaders and supply lines instead. He also warned Yuan Shao that Hebei lacked a supreme commander, leaving Yuan Shao concerned about whether Zhang He and Gao Lan could be trusted.

• After the Hebei Army fought the Youzhou Army for half a day, Yuan Shao asked his advisers how to break the deadlock, and Qu Yi offered to lead an assault on Gongsun Zan.
• Luo Yan identified Hebei’s lack of a commander capable of directing large armies and proposed cutting supplies and sowing discord rather than relying on a frontal attack.
• Ju Shou argued that Hebei could outlast Youzhou through its greater stores of provisions, while Xun Chen warned that the distant campaign and Youzhou’s resources made that strategy risky.
• Yuan Shao ordered his advisers to confront Gongsun Zan while driving a wedge between him and Liu Yu and recruiting Youzhou’s aristocratic clans.
• After the others left, Luo Yan explained Hebei’s shortage of supreme commanders and advised Yuan Shao to use Yan Liang and Wen Chou as cavalry or Palace Guard generals while trusting Zhang He and Gao Lan.
• Yuan Shao remained uneasy about Zhang He and Gao Lan’s loyalty, despite Luo Yan’s warning that distrust could drive loyal ministers away.

The Xiao and Han Clans moved many of their people from Xuzhou to Jiangdong, prompting Liu Bei to reflect on why he had not won their full allegiance. Their eldest legitimate sons pledged themselves to him, while Qiao Wei welcomed the migrating clans and Luo Chu accepted a treasured gift from the Xiao Clan at a banquet.

• Yuan Shao marched from Hebei to attack Youzhou while Cao Cao and Yuan Shu continued fighting over Yuzhou, where Cao Cao had taken nearly all of Yuan Shu’s territory.
• Mi Zhen and Luo Qi told Liu Bei that the Xiao and Han Clans were relocating many of their people to Jiangdong, and Liu Bei lamented his limited prestige and virtue.
• Luo Qi reassured Liu Bei that the clans were divided in their loyalties, and two young heirs of the Xiao and Han Clans arrived to pledge themselves to him.
• The eldest legitimate sons of the Xiao and Han Clans reached Jiangdong, where Qiao Wei welcomed them and promised to introduce them to Young Master Chu.
• Luo Chu attended Qiao Wei’s welcoming banquet with the pregnant Xiao Qiao, and Xiao Xian presented her with the Xiao Clan’s Eight-Colored Glazed Glass Buddhist Prayer Beads.

Cao Cao used Emperor Liu Xie's authority to call Yuan Shu a rebel and mobilize a campaign against him, while Guan Yu struggled with his position in Cao Cao's camp. After Yuan Shu's only legitimate son, Yuan Yao, was killed in battle, Yuan Shu marched on Yingchuan with a vast army and revealed enormous Great Crossbows, leaving Cao Cao's forces facing a dangerous surprise.

• Cao Cao's advisers debated how to defeat Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao sent Cao Chun and Cao Hong with Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to raid Yuan Shu's army.
• Guan Yu charged into Yuan Shu's ranks and killed Yuan Yao, Yuan Shu's only legitimate son.
• Yuan Shu learned of Yuan Yao's death, flew into a rage, conscripted nearly his entire population, and led a huge army north toward Yingchuan.
• Cao Cao issued decrees in Emperor Liu Xie's name calling the feudal lords to campaign against Yuan Shu and ordered Xun Yu to muster the Court's main army.
• Cao Cao's forces found Yuan Shu's army arrayed before them, but Yuan Shu revealed enormous Great Crossbows behind his scattered soldiers.

Yuan Shu ambushed Cao Hong and Cao Chun with Great Crossbows, and Cao Hong sacrificed himself so the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry could escape. Cao Cao rescued Cao Chun and recovered Cao Hong, who died from his wounds, leaving Cao Cao vowing revenge on Yuan Shu.

• Yuan Shu ordered his troops to fire on the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, killing many horses and trapping Cao Hong and Cao Chun in the ambush.
• Cao Hong stayed behind with his personal guards to hold off Yuan Shu's army while Cao Chun led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry toward safety.
• Cao Cao set out to rescue the two generals with Guan Yu, Xu Chu, and Dian Wei, and found Cao Hong fighting alone amid the enemy ranks.
• Guan Yu and Xu Chu helped Cao Chun break through Yuan Shu's encirclement, while Cao Cao's forces retrieved the gravely wounded Cao Hong.
• Cao Cao promised to care for Cao Hong's wife and son and swore to kill Yuan Shu before Cao Hong died.

After Cao Hong died saving Cao Chun, Cao Cao mourned him and prepared to avenge him by defeating Yuan Shu. His strategists proposed using the Zhao City Agreement to provoke Yuan Shu into violating its rules, drawing the wider world into a campaign against him.

• Cao Chun swore to treat Cao Hong’s family as his own, and Cao Cao arranged Cao Hong’s burial and promised to adopt his son.
• Cao Chun asked to lead the vanguard against Yuan Shu, but Cao Cao warned him not to let grief and anger cloud his judgment.
• Cao Cao and his advisers discussed Yuan Shu’s likely violations of the Zhao City Agreement, especially his abuses of civilians and prisoners.
• Guo Jia proposed baiting Yuan Shu into breaking the covenant so other powers, including Zhao City and Jiangdong, would join the campaign against him.
• Yuan Shu celebrated his victory, indulged in a beauty’s flattery, and remained indifferent to the suffering of ordinary people.

Cao Cao’s strategists realized Yuan Shu’s army was nearing a grain shortage, but a mutiny among conscripted laborers and auxiliary troops turned the battle into a rout. Yuan Shu fled and was killed by a woman seeking revenge, leaving Cao Cao poised to take Runan Commandery.

• Cao Ren reported that an abandoned road could let Cao Cao’s cavalry bypass Yuan Shu’s defenses, and Xun You concluded that Yuan Shu’s supplies were nearly exhausted.
• Xi Zhicai explained that floods, drought, forced conscription, and crushing levies had fueled unrest in Runan, while Dong Zhao urged Cao Cao to invite Liu Biao and Luo Chu to attack.
• Runan laborers and auxiliary soldiers mutinied, and Cao Cao seized the chaos to attack Yuan Shu’s camp with his army.
• Yuan Shu’s forces collapsed between Cao Cao’s assault and the rebels, and Yuan Shu fled while cursing the mutineers.
• A pregnant woman whom Yuan Shu trusted stabbed him with a poisoned dagger to avenge her destroyed family, then took her own life.
• Cao Cao’s forces found Yuan Shu’s body, and Cao Cao ordered the woman buried with a marker honoring her as the one who killed Yuan Shu.

After Yuan Shu’s sudden defeat plunged Runan into rebellion and devastation, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Luo Chu, and Liu Bei moved to exploit the crisis. Luo Chu recognized that corpses drifting downstream threatened Jiangdong with plague and ordered precautions as he continued toward Runan.

• Cao Cao learned that Yuan Shu’s defeat had left Runan in chaos, and Dong Zhao urged him to suppress rebels while accepting those who submitted.
• Liu Biao and Kuai Yue learned of Yuan Shu’s collapse as they marched from Jingzhou, and Kuai Yue worried that Cao Cao’s growing power made it unclear whom Jingzhou should support.
• Luo Chu’s fleet found countless corpses floating downriver from Runan, and Luo Chu warned his officers of plague and ordered the bodies intercepted, burned, and handled with precautions.
• Luo Chu sent for physicians and medicinal herbs, assigned captured Mountain Yue soldiers to dispose of the corpses, and continued toward Runan with most of his army.
• Liu Bei led Xuzhou’s army toward Runan, determined to prevent Cao Cao from taking the commandery intact and upsetting the balance of power.

Luo Xuan, Zhang Zhongjing, Dong Feng, and Hua Tuo arrived at Cao Cao’s camp to confront the devastating epidemic spreading through Runan. After Cao Cao welcomed them, they began planning containment measures before investigating the disease and finding a treatment.

• Xun Yu told Cao Cao that Luo Xuan, Zhang Zhongjing, Dong Feng, and Hua Tuo had arrived, and Cao Cao hurried out barefoot to greet them.
• Luo Xuan and the others had formed the Medical Association, strengthened Hua Tuo’s Mafeisan, trained physicians, and traveled to Yuzhou to respond to the epidemic.
• Cao Cao bowed to the physicians, and Luo Xuan explained that many Medical Association members had come to save the common people.
• Xun Yu arranged rest for the accompanying physicians while Luo Xuan and the other three consulted him and his men on epidemic containment.

Luo Xuan risked infection to examine plague victims in Runan, developed medicine that treated the disease, and died from the toll of his work. The system announced that the Medicine Sage side story had ended, and a historical account described the widespread grief at Luo Xuan’s death.

• Luo Xuan went among plague patients after his colleagues declined to join him, while Hua Tuo proposed opening Cao Cao’s skull to treat his headaches.
• Luo Xuan examined beggars and other patients, recording their symptoms and testing his ideas as the plague continued to kill people.
• Luo Xuan took in a dying woman’s infected daughter, who chose to return to her mother, and the encounter deepened his resolve to find a cure.
• After repeated research and adjustments to the medicine, Luo Xuan developed treatments that eased symptoms and saved many patients.
• Cao Cao and the others learned that the plague could be treated, but Luo Xuan coughed blood and died as they arrived to see him.
• The system declared Luo Xuan’s Medicine Sage side story over, and a historical account commemorated his medical work and the millions who mourned him.

After Luo Xuan died from the plague he had fought to cure, Ji Zhao assessed his legacy and received the Heart of the Medicine Sage. Cao Cao arranged for Luo Xuan’s body to be returned to Zhao City and planned honors for him, while Luo Chu rallied Jiangdong’s clans to supply medicine for the plague-stricken commanderies.

• The system praised Luo Xuan’s medical achievements, awarded Ji Zhao 5,000 fortune points and the Heart of the Medicine Sage, and Ji Zhao reflected on the price Luo Xuan had paid under Heaven’s suppression.
• Luo Xing arrived with three hundred Dare-to-Fight Warriors, explaining that the Sage King had revealed Luo Xuan’s death in a dream, and carried Luo Xuan’s coffin back toward Zhao City.
• Cao Cao reviewed the success of Luo Xuan’s plague medicine and decided to petition for temples in his honor and provide support and safe passage to the Medical Association.
• Lu Su reported to Luo Chu that Jiangxia, Jiujiang, and Lujiang lacked medicinal ingredients, and Luo Chu asked Jiangdong’s great households to help supply them.
• The Xiao Clan pledged three-quarters of its medicinal supplies, the Han Clan offered most of its supplies, and Qiao Wei watched the other clans as they hesitated to contribute.