Chapter Summaries

At Iron Urn City, Xun Xian used the cries of the families of soldiers killed at Daibei to confront Grand Commander Chu Pou with the cost of his defeat. Chu Pou acknowledged his failures and urged his officials to serve Xun Xian, while Xie An warned Xun that governing meant more than pursuing the Northern Expedition; outside the city, Liu Acheng learned that refugee leaders would have to wait for relief.

• At a banquet, Xun Xian proposed that the guests climb Beigu Mountain to discuss profound principles with Xie An.
• On the mountain, Xie An and the officials realized that the sounds they had mistaken for river wind were the cries of families grieving soldiers killed at Daibei.
• Chu Pou broke down in grief, summoned the officials, and urged them to serve Xun Xian because he could no longer lead the Northern Expedition.
• After the others left, Xie An told Xun Xian that Chu Pou’s failures were his own responsibility but warned that Xun and Yin Hao might not understand what it meant to bear responsibility for the people.
• Xun Xian defended his determination to pursue the Northern Expedition, then left the tower.
• Gao Heng informed the refugee leaders that Chu Pou could not receive them and ordered them to await government relief; Liu Acheng departed, asking Liu Jili why things had to be this way.

As refugees lost hope of receiving relief, Liu Acheng weighed whether to leave with Liu Rengong’s family or stay and try to keep the camp together. He chose to remain, accepting money and sandals from Liu Rengong and arranging to use his name and Brother Hu’s help to maintain order.

• Rumors spread that Chu Pou was gravely ill, while refugees sold themselves or fled and disorder grew in the camps.
• Liu Acheng warned Brother Qi about the risks of traveling with others to join the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, but Brother Qi reaffirmed his choice and invited Liu Acheng to join.
• Liu Jili asked Liu Acheng whether he had decided where to go, but Liu Acheng said he needed more time to calculate his options.
• Liu Rengong offered Liu Acheng a place in his family’s move to Jiangcheng, along with a share of the silver, but Liu Acheng chose to stay and try to preserve the camp.
• Liu Acheng asked to use Liu Rengong’s name and Brother Hu’s help to keep order, and Liu Rengong agreed before giving him a finished pair of winter sandals.

Liu Acheng explained to Liu Jili how the refugee camp’s numbers could fall to about a thousand and outlined a plan to keep the remaining women and children alive through winter. He argued that helping them would also build a valuable reputation, and Liu Jili asked whether Acheng’s calculations were accurate.

• Liu Rengong warned Liu Huzi that Liu Acheng might never return to seek help, even if his plan failed.
• Liu Acheng told Liu Jili that departures would likely reduce the refugees to around a thousand people, making their gathered firewood sufficient.
• Liu Acheng said he would leave if snow caused a disaster, but otherwise would seek food through gathering, selling firewood, loans, and relief.
• Liu Jili questioned whether supporting mostly women and children served their ambitions, and Liu Acheng argued that doing so would earn them a reputation among Jingkou’s powerful groups.
• Liu Jili asked whether Liu Acheng’s calculations were accurate.

Liu Acheng announced that Liu Rengong would leave with his clansmen and the Straw-Sandal and Straw-Mat Groups, leaving the remaining refugees to fend for themselves. As the camp emptied, Grandpa Liu San asked Liu Acheng whether he would eventually leave them too, and a gift of pooled coins left Liu Jili wondering whether Liu Acheng could build a reputation.

• Liu Acheng publicly announced Liu Rengong's departure plans, set rules for the camp, and told people to seek their own way through the winter.
• Liu Huzi and his Tiger-Beating Team quickly suppressed theft, violence, and other trouble as the camp fell into chaos.
• Liu Acheng escorted departing groups and individuals from the camp, including the Zhang households, over the next several days.
• Grandpa Liu San asked Liu Acheng whether he would part ways with the Straw-Sandal Group, and Liu Acheng promised to return or join Liu Rengong if needed.
• Grandpa Liu San gave Liu Acheng hemp sandals from Grandpa Wang, and Liu Acheng discovered that the Straw-Sandal and Straw-Mat Groups had hidden pooled Shenlang Coins inside them.
• Liu Jili found another Shenlang Coin in the second sandal and wondered whether Liu Acheng could make a name for himself.

Liu Acheng reorganized the smaller refugee camp after Liu Rengong and his followers departed, then captured a band of would-be robbers in an ambush. He ordered the thieves clothed and assigned to groups, while also proposing to report the killing to the authorities.

• Liu Rengong and many refugees left for Jiangcheng, while Liu Acheng let them go and reorganized the people remaining in camp with Liu Jili.
• Liu Jili's account of the camp's workers led Liu Acheng to realize that Grandpa Qi had stayed behind in the Huai River region so his son could flee with the family.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili discussed the camp's dwindling labor force as the remaining refugees endured a cold, anxious night.
• Liu Huzi and his men ambushed the robbers who rushed Liu Acheng's shelter, and Liu Acheng captured the fleeing men at the central campfire.
• Liu Dage was identified as the man who had gathered the two bands of thieves, while Liu Jili killed their wounded leader, Wang Longneck.
• Liu Acheng ordered clothes and group assignments for the captured men and asked whether they should report the killing to the authorities.

Liu Acheng used Liu Jili’s report of a fatal beating to pressure Langya Commandery into addressing the refugee camp’s lack of registration, then organized the camp and began selling firewood to raise grain money. Their efforts met setbacks as winter approached, and the chapter ended with Household Office Registrar Lu Song arriving and questioning why Liu Acheng and Liu Jili had stayed behind.

• Liu Jili reported the fatal beating to the Bandit Office, whose registrar sent a formal request to the Household Office to clarify the refugees’ registration.
• Liu Acheng formed armed, core, and hunting groups, then organized the refugees to sort and sell firewood for rice.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili sold mixed firewood successfully, but Gao Heng refused their offer of pinewood for the garrison and aristocratic estates declined to buy premium turkey oak.
• Liu Acheng decided to investigate the firewood trade in Jiangcheng and then try Jiankang, while rising grain prices made the refugees’ winter prospects more urgent.
• Lu Song arrived at the camp as the new Household Office Registrar and questioned Liu Acheng and Liu Jili about why they had remained after Liu Rengong and the other Pengcheng Liu relatives left.

Lu Song came to the refugee camp to register those involved in a bandit case but refused to provide winter relief, leaving Liu Acheng and Liu Jili to consider how their actions had affected him. After Liu Acheng helped Liu Jili understand Lu Song’s frustration, they returned to their urgent plan to sell firewood and decided to go to Jiankang the next day.

• Lu Song refused Liu Acheng’s request for relief and registered only the people involved in the bandit case.
• Liu Acheng asked Lu Song whether commandery officials were pushing him aside, and Lu Song admitted his frustration before leaving.
• Liu Jili despaired over their failed plans, but Liu Acheng argued that their reputation had grown and asked whether Liu Jili was jealous of Lu Song.
• Liu Jili admitted his jealousy, then concluded that Lu Song envied their freedom to follow their own path and was ashamed of serving as Master Du Ming’s watchdog.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili returned to sorting firewood and resolved to go to Jiankang the next day to find a way to sell it.

Liu Acheng and Liu Jili entered Jiankang hoping to sell firewood to the Xie Family, but the city’s guarded elite districts and charcoal trade undermined their plans. After recognizing Steward Qian, Liu Acheng used a story about a prior agreement to get the pair into Qian’s courtyard, where the chapter ended with a strange tale about a white fox and a true dragon.

• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili entered Jiankang with peachwood firewood and saw how its wealth and armed retainers differed from Jingkou.
• Liu Jili explained that Black Robe Alley, once home to Eastern Wu’s Black Robe Guards, now housed the Wang, Xie, and Liu families, but the pair found no way through the guarded gates.
• Liu Jili recognized Steward Qian, a senior retainer of the Xie household, and Liu Acheng followed Qian’s ox cart to Changgan Lane.
• Liu Acheng recited a poem outside Qian’s home, then claimed that the Way of the Celestial Masters had arranged a firewood and charcoal supply deal with the Xie household.
• Steward Qian stared at Liu Acheng as the chapter closed with a tale in which a white fox fled after a true dragon entered his gate.

Liu Acheng and Liu Jili pressured Steward Qian into arranging a long-term supply deal between the Xie household and their refugee camp, beginning with blessed peachwood. The next morning, they approached Lu Song to seek access to the Way of the Celestial Masters' surplus goods and requested a Fertility Talisman.

• Liu Acheng pitched blessed peachwood to Steward Qian and proposed that the Xie household buy goods from the refugees through him.
• Liu Acheng offered quality guarantees and a twenty-percent cut, while Liu Jili pleaded for help; Liu Acheng then threatened Steward Qian, who agreed to draw up an order list in two days.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili delivered two loads of peachwood to the Xie residence, received a shi of rice, and gave two dou to Steward Qian's wife, who asked them to bring her a Fertility Talisman.
• Liu Jili and Liu Acheng returned to camp with the rice, then went with several men to intercept Lu Song before he rode to the Commandery Office.
• Liu Jili asked Lu Song to list the Way of the Celestial Masters' surplus goods for the refugees to resell, and Liu Acheng and Liu Jili also requested a Fertility Talisman.

Liu Acheng and Liu Jili arranged for the Way of the Celestial Masters to sell its surplus goods to the Xie residence, creating a winter income source for the refugee camp. After securing their first charcoal and crimson damask sales, they realized the trade could keep the camp fed through winter.

• Lu Song agreed to have the Way of the Celestial Masters cooperate with Liu Acheng and Liu Jili, who inspected the manor’s goods and proposed a trade list for the Xie residence.
• Lu Song drew a talisman for Steward Qian’s household after Liu Acheng persuaded him that his authority could extend beyond conventional healing charms.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili visited Liu Huzi, urged him to keep his tiger hide for a future approach to the Xie Family, and discussed his prospects in the Western Command.
• At Changgan Lane, Liu Acheng presented the talisman and trade list to Steward Qian, who agreed to buy charcoal and peachwood firewood and consider a bolt of crimson damask.
• Liu Acheng, Liu Jili, Liu Huzi, and their escorts delivered five hundred catties of charcoal, peachwood firewood, and crimson damask to the Xie residence, where the damask sold and further orders were requested.

Liu Acheng and Liu Jili built a profitable supply business with the Xie residence while planning to approach Xie An, but his return and strict lessons disrupted their chance to meet him. They tried to attract his attention with a flute tune, yet Xie An left before they could speak to him.

• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili sold charcoal, firewood, food, wine, and talisman goods to the Xie residence, helping the refugee camp earn enough to survive winter.
• Liu Acheng rejected chances to approach Xie Ju and Xie Quan, preferring to build income and wait for a natural opportunity to present the Tiger Hide.
• Xie An returned to the capital and made the Xie children attend lessons, keeping the two Lius from meeting anyone in the younger generation.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili decided to approach Xie An with the Tiger Hide and brought a crimson Crane-Feather Fly Whisk to the residence.
• Liu Jili played a new flute tune after Xie An's lesson, but Xie An left for Yin Yangzhou and asked the household musicians to learn the tune instead.

Liu Acheng told Auntie Song the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai and taught her the melody he named after them, while he soothed Liu Jili after their clash with the Xie household. Xie An learned why the Lius had drawn attention to themselves, invited them to visit, and agreed to hear the tune the next day.

• Liu Acheng told Auntie Song the legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai and asked her to play the melody he called “Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai,” or “Butterfly Transformation.”
• Auntie Song played the tune, then told Liu Acheng to bring her any new melodies through Steward Qian.
• Liu Acheng comforted Liu Jili, who condemned the gentry’s treatment of fallen families and said reforming scholarly conduct should be their duty if they gained office.
• Liu Acheng reassured Steward Qian that Xie An’s household could keep its business with the Lius separate from their association with the Crimson Headscarves.
• Xie An realized Yin Hao’s Northern Expedition plans could endanger Xie Shang and lamented that, without office, he lacked the standing to intervene.
• Xie Daoyun questioned the legend’s claim that Zhu Yingtai was steadfast, and Xie An agreed before inviting his family to hear Auntie Song play and telling Steward Qian to bring the Lius to him.

Liu Acheng argued that Liu Rengong should return to camp early, while Jiangcheng’s worsening hardship and the expulsion of garrison workers forced him and Liu Jili to weigh helping strangers against protecting their own people. They returned to camp without deciding whether to take in the expelled workers, leaving Liu Dage to quietly gather them while they reviewed their resources.

• Liu Acheng tried to persuade Liu Jili to invite Liu Rengong back early, citing the chance to build ties with Xie An and the worsening conditions in Jiangcheng.
• Liu Acheng saw that Jiangcheng’s growing refugee population had overwhelmed the town and recognized that Liu Rengong’s experience would be needed to manage the camp and any future settlement.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili witnessed Garrison Commander Gao expel slave retainers and labor draftees, who pleaded to remain in the garrison town for food and shelter.
• Liu Jili proposed taking the expelled workers into camp, but Grandpa Liu San warned that the group might be unable to feed them or future refugees and could damage Liu Rengong’s reputation.
• Liu Acheng decided to tally the camp’s people and supplies before choosing, and he and Liu Jili returned to camp with instructions for Liu Dage to quietly gather the expelled workers.

Liu Acheng urged Liu Rengong to return to camp, but Liu Rengong argued that they should wait until spring to protect the reputations of both families. After delivering goods to the Xie Residence, Liu Acheng and Liu Jili learned that Xie An wanted to meet them and waited for him to return.

• Liu Acheng tightened camp rules, expelled offenders, and reorganized the camp while Liu Jili questioned how they treated their own people.
• Liu Acheng asked Liu Rengong to return, but Liu Rengong said leaving Gao Jian’s home immediately could damage both families’ reputations and proposed returning in spring.
• Liu Rengong offered to explain to Gao Jian why Liu Acheng had taken in the Slave Retainers and advised him not to rush decisions unless lives were at stake.
• Liu Acheng and Liu Jili escorted the next delivery to Jiankang, where Steward Qian told them that Xie An had requested to see them.
• Xie An returned to the residence and, after hearing that the two Lius had waited all afternoon, agreed to meet them separately in his reception room.

Xie An learned about Liu Jili’s troubled family background and gave him a recommendation letter to study under Cai Mo, then questioned Liu Acheng and became intrigued by his knowledge and caution. The chapter ended with Xie An challenging Acheng after both young men declared that they wanted to “sweep Great Jin clean.”

• Xie An recognized Liu Jili’s aristocratic ancestry and heard how Jili had fled south, fallen into poverty, and struggled to support refugees.
• Liu Jili asked Xie An for help entering government service, and Xie An recommended him to Cai Mo as a student.
• Liu Jili introduced Liu Acheng, who concealed his family’s identity while asking Xie An to help his kinsman Liu Jian pursue a military career.
• Liu Acheng discussed the Liang and Zhu story, music, and Ji Kang with Xie An, who realized that the boy understood the dangers of judging the Seven Sages.
• Xie An asked Liu Acheng about his ambition and challenged him when he also said he wanted to sweep Great Jin clean.

Liu Cheng explained to Xie An why cleansing Great Jin was unlikely, then asked him to help advance his ambitions; Xie An recommended him to the Xi Family while Liu Jili secured a place with Cai Mo. As heavy snow began falling, the two men saw refugees exposed to the cold and Liu Cheng recited a poem about sheltering the poor, leaving their plans overshadowed by the crisis.

• Liu Acheng argued that Great Jin needed to regain the north before it could reform its aristocratic clans, and explained why the Northern Expedition was unlikely to succeed.
• Liu Cheng detailed the many obstacles separating him from his ambition, then asked Xie An to help him take a step toward it.
• Xie An gave Liu Cheng a letter of recommendation to Xi Linhai in Kuaiji, while Liu Jili told him that Cai Mo had offered him a place as a student.
• Liu Jili and Liu Cheng settled their business arrangements and prepared to return to the refugee camp as snow began falling across Jiankang.
• Liu Cheng and Liu Jili saw refugees huddling in makeshift shelters near Jiangcheng, and Liu Cheng recited a poem wishing for a home that could shelter the cold and poor.

As Liu Acheng and Liu Jili prepared to leave the refugee camp, the villagers performed a shehuo farewell whose war song moved them to tears. Far away in Yecheng, Shi Min seized power, resumed the surname Ran, and began moving against the ruling Shi family as Liu Acheng traveled south.

• Liu Yehu asked to accompany Liu Acheng, who told him to finish handing over the cargo escort work and come in spring.
• Liu Acheng urged Liu Jili to support Liu Huzi if he faced trouble, and Liu Jili promised to look after him and the camp.
• Liu Rengong arranged a shehuo farewell for Liu Acheng and Liu Jili, and the villagers sang a war song that left both men and many onlookers weeping.
• In Yecheng, Zhou Cheng and Su Yan killed Shi Zun and other members of his circle, then reported to Shi Min, who announced that he would resume the surname Ran.
• Li Nong learned that Ran Min had ordered Empress Dowager Zheng killed, while Di warriors escaped Yecheng and headed south.
• By dawn, Liu Acheng was traveling south with a wagon convoy of the Way of the Celestial Masters.

Liu Acheng traveled through Wuxing and learned about the Shen Clan’s former power, its punished status, and its surviving wealth. He witnessed Shen Jin announce that the court had pardoned the family, then learned that the official who arranged it, Wang Huzhi, had suddenly become paralyzed, prompting Shen Jin to seek help from the Way of the Celestial Masters.

• Liu Acheng asked Daoist Feng about the Shen Clan and learned that the family had once controlled vast estates before rebellion and rival clans diminished its holdings.
• Liu Acheng’s party reached Yixing and heard how Zhou Chu’s family had been exterminated after Zhou Zha sold Stone City to Wang Dun.
• Shen Jin crossed Zhangpu Pass with riders and announced that the court had pardoned his family so he could serve under Wang Huzhi, while the pass official protested that he had received no notice.
• Liu Acheng learned that Wang Huzhi had suddenly become paralyzed days earlier, and Shen Jin asked the Way of the Celestial Masters to help avert calamity and cure the illness.

Liu Acheng helped a group of unprepared Daoists stage a ritual for Shen Jin while concealing their incompetence, then spoke with Shen Jin about the Shen Family’s prospects. Shen Jin offered Liu Acheng a place in his household, but Liu revealed Xie An had recommended him to Xi Linhai and urged Shen Jin to remain loyal to Wang Pingbei.

• Shen Jin summoned the visiting Daoists to perform a ritual for the gravely ill General Wang, and the frightened Daoists asked Liu Acheng to speak for them.
• Liu Acheng improvised an explanation for the ritual, arranged for the Daoists to draw talismans, and played his bamboo flute to distract the Shen household from their clumsiness.
• Shen Jin learned that Liu Acheng was a northerner from the Liu Clan of Pengcheng and offered to take him as a household guest, but Liu declined and showed him Xie An’s recommendation to Xi Linhai.
• Liu Acheng told Shen Jin that joining Wang Pingbei’s Northern Expedition was the Shen Family’s best path out of its punished status and warned him not to change allegiance.
• Shen Jin thanked Liu Acheng for dispelling his grave illness, and Liu sampled the Shen household’s salted, medicinal fine tea.

Liu Acheng reached Kuaiji, met Master Du Ming, and traveled with Master Xu to Xi Linhai’s estate in Shan County. His arrival ended with Xi Chao mistaking the two visitors for Daoist swindlers and ordering them beaten out.

• Liu Acheng gave away most of Shen Jin’s gifts, sending the horse, bow, and gold to Gao Jian and the brocade to Huang, while keeping the saber.
• Liu Acheng and the Way of the Celestial Masters crossed into Kuaiji and reached their base in Shanyin, where Master Du Ming summoned him and offered him a place in the order.
• Master Xu took Liu Acheng toward Xi Linhai’s home in Shan County and explained how the Way of the Celestial Masters had gained influence among powerful families.
• Liu Acheng and Master Xu arrived at Xi Linhai’s estate, where Xi Chao tore off their headwear and cloak and ordered attendants to drive them out.