Chapter Summaries

Liu Acheng met Xi Chao, who tested his ambitions and understanding of historical heroes before taking him to persuade Xi Linhai to stop swallowing Daoist talismans. Liu Acheng agreed to help, while Master Xu remained captured by Xi Chao’s riders.

• Liu Acheng mediated when Xi Chao confronted Master Xu over Daoist swindling, then introduced himself as a northerner seeking refuge with the Xi family.
• Xi Chao read Xie An’s letter and questioned Liu Acheng about his ambition to return north and the people needed to build a political and military base.
• Liu Acheng discussed historical heroes and named General Huan as the closest present-day talent to transcend his age, satisfying Xi Chao.
• Xi Chao took Liu Acheng to the religious retreat where Xi Linhai lay ill after swallowing talismans, and promised to honor Liu and release Master Xu if he persuaded his father to stop.
• Liu Acheng agreed that persuading Xi Linhai would be easy, while Master Xu remained restrained with horse dung stuffed in his mouth.

Liu Acheng persuaded Xi Yin to stop swallowing talismans whole and convinced Xi Chao that a northern Daoist such as Lu Song could redirect his father’s harmful religious habits. Settled into the Xi household, Liu Acheng was summoned to travel with Xi Chao to a New Year gathering in Shanyin, where he feared his poor handwriting would be exposed to Wang Jiang Province.

• Liu Acheng challenged Xi Yin’s Daoist practices, explaining northern customs for talismans, ritual music, and burning talismans before taking them with rice porridge.
• Liu Acheng told Xi Chao that Lu Song could replace the local Daoists and guide Xi Yin toward healthier habits, and Xi Chao agreed to bring Lu Song to Kuaiji first.
• Xi Yin called Liu Acheng back to continue discussing northern Daoism, and Liu Acheng later gained meals, a room, new clothes, and a horse at the Xi estate.
• Liu Acheng spent several days attending Xi Yin’s rituals and practicing calligraphy while waiting for Lu Song to arrive.
• Xi Chao told Liu Acheng to prepare for a two- or three-day trip to Shanyin for a gathering hosted by his uncle by marriage, Wang Jiang Province, and Liu Acheng worried about writing before him.

Liu Acheng visited Wang Xizhi’s household in Shanyin with Xi Chao and learned about the Wang family, including the five-year-old Wang Xianzhi. After Liu Acheng described the political divisions threatening the Northern Expedition, Wang Xizhi despaired over whether the Jin forces could ever unite.

• Liu Acheng traveled downstream with Xi Chao and Xi Yin’s party to Shanyin, where Wang Xuanzhi and Wang Ningzhi welcomed them.
• Xi Chao asked Liu Acheng to assess him, and Liu called him an “Ancient People's Benefactor” while naming Murong Ke as another man worthy of the phrase.
• Liu Acheng met Wang Xizhi, learned that Wang Xianzhi was five, and heard that Wang Xizhi’s household kept geese because he took mineral powder.
• Wang Xizhi summoned Liu Acheng to ask about Chu Jiye’s death, and Liu recounted Chu Pou’s defeat and his suspicions about Xun Xian’s role.
• Liu Acheng explained that the Northern Expedition depended on unity and outlined how the Murong clan and other northern powers might shape the conflict.
• Xi Chao predicted that Jin leaders would fight among themselves before defeating the Murong Xianbei, and Wang Xizhi repeatedly asked what could be done.

Liu Acheng proposed using a Shangsi purification ceremony to rally Kuaiji’s scholars behind national unity, while his conversations with Xi Chao exposed differences in Buddhist teachings and Xi Chao’s complicated motives. Lu Song arrived in Kuaiji, and Liu Acheng coached him on how to win Xi Yin’s favor before visiting other religious authorities.

• Liu Acheng persuaded Wang Xizhi and Xi Yin to consider holding public and private purification ceremonies to pray for the nation and send appeals for unity to influential leaders.
• Liu Acheng explained the ceremonies’ supposed benefits, and Xi Chao questioned him about whether the three retributions theory and Buddhist teachings were known in the north.
• Liu Acheng discussed Xi Chao’s understanding of emptiness and aristocratic religious thought, then Xi Chao and his family returned to their estate in Shan County.
• Liu Acheng found that Lu Song and Liu Dage had arrived, and instructed Lu Song to reassure Xi Yin before going to seek Master Du Ming’s endorsement.
• Xi Yin came in person to welcome Lu Song, while Liu Acheng stayed back and pretended he had only just learned of his friend’s arrival.

Liu Acheng learned how Cai Mo’s clash with Yin Hao ended and decided to spend New Year with Gao Rou rather than remain with the Xi family. After Xi Chao sent him off with generous gifts, Liu Acheng reached Qiuting and prepared to meet his family friend, while a historical passage recounted Gao Rou’s life and his later welcome for Acheng.

• Liu Acheng learned from letters that Cai Mo had been demoted and sent home after Xun Xian intervened, while Liu Jili and Liu Huzi had secured positions in Jingkou.
• Liu Acheng weighed studying with Cai Mo against strengthening his standing among the gentry in Kuaiji and chose to stay with the Xi family for the time being.
• Liu Acheng told Xi Chao he would spend New Year with Gao Rou in Qiuting, and Xi Chao sent him off with a boatload of lavish gifts after mistaking his words for grief over a lost family.
• Liu Acheng distributed cloth gifts among the Xi family’s retainers and reached Gao Rou’s household the next day, uncertain which man in the crowd was his uncle.
• A historical account described Gao Rou’s southern exile, his support for northern refugees, and his later welcome for Liu Acheng.

Liu Acheng reunited with Gao Rou in Kuaiji and learned how northern migrants were kept from advancing among the celebrated scholars. Gao Rou agreed to help with Liu Acheng’s Shangsi gathering and advised him to build his standing carefully before pursuing office elsewhere.

• Liu Acheng greeted Gao Rou at the ferry landing, and Gao Rou wept at the reunion with his northern clansman.
• Liu Acheng learned that Gao Rou had endured years of isolation, career setbacks, and financial hardship in Kuaiji.
• Liu Acheng explained his plan for Xi Yin and Wang Xizhi to hold Shangsi purification gatherings and issue a joint appeal for political unity, and Gao Rou agreed to help.
• Liu Acheng said he hoped to have his name added to the joint letter so he could establish himself among Kuaiji’s celebrated scholars.
• Gao Rou warned Liu Acheng that family standing, not talent, controlled advancement among the celebrated scholars and urged him not to waste years there.
• Liu Acheng vowed to heed Gao Rou’s counsel and bowed to him barefoot on the cold floor.

Liu Acheng and Xi Chao planned a grand Daoist ritual for Lu Song, then discussed using Shen Jin’s resources to advance their political ambitions. The chapter ended with Xi Chao silently weighing Liu Acheng’s proposal to build ties with the Shen family as insurance against losing influence over the Northern Command army.

• Liu Acheng introduced Lu Song to Gao Rou and Xi Chao, then outlined a plan for a major Daoist ritual to strengthen Lu Song’s standing in Kuaiji.
• Liu Acheng supplied new melodies for the ritual, and Xi Chao and Gao Rou agreed to assemble a musical troupe of about twenty or thirty people.
• Gao Rou proposed borrowing the Qianxi Troupe from the Shen family, but the group rejected openly involving the Xi family with the punished household.
• Liu Acheng suggested privately approaching Shen Jin for the troupe, and Xi Chao considered whether Shen Jin would agree.
• Liu Acheng warned Xi Chao that Xun Xian might control the Northern Command army for decades and urged him to consider the Shen family as a future source of wealth and military strength.
• Xi Chao questioned whether Liu Acheng could keep the Shen family aligned with him, then fell silent as he weighed Liu Acheng’s candid proposal.

Liu Acheng traveled with Shen Jin to Qianxi Village, where he recruited the renowned Qianxi Music Troupe for the Celestial Masters’ plans. After Shen Jin arranged for two young slave-retainer girls to spend the night with him, Liu Acheng rejected the insinuation, confronted Shen Jin about his resentment and warned him not to underestimate him; Shen Jin lay awake afterward.

• Liu Acheng asked Shen Jin to explain the lyrics of “Cucumber Is a Blade of Grass,” and Shen Jin described the song’s romantic metaphors and his father’s role in arranging the Qianxi Songs.
• Liu Acheng explained his plans and the northern political situation to Shen Jin, who agreed to lend him the Qianxi Music Troupe and accompanied him to the village.
• The troupe performed the song together, impressing Shen Jin and convincing Liu Acheng that they were the right musicians for his plans.
• Liu Acheng asked the musicians to finish spring plowing before traveling to Qiuting, then stayed at Shen Jin’s home while the troupe prepared.
• Shen Jin arranged for two young girls named Cucumber and Little Grass to be placed in Liu Acheng’s room, but Liu Acheng left to discuss northern affairs with him instead.
• Liu Acheng refused Shen Jin’s invitation to take advantage of the girls, confronted him about his concealed contempt, and asserted that he and Xi Jiabin should not be underestimated; Shen Jin spent the night unable to sleep.

Liu Acheng organized preparations for a large Shangsi purification ceremony in Kuaiji, securing support from Xi Chao, Gao Rou, and the Qianxi Music Troupe. The chapter ended with Xi Chao defending Liu Acheng’s character and ability before Wang Xizhi and Xie An, who realized Xi Chao’s warning about Xie Daoyun’s possible unhappiness might be true.

• Shen Jin agonized over his family’s limited prospects, then promised Liu Acheng he would keep the ceremony plans from the Way of the Celestial Masters and arranged for the group to travel east to Qiuting.
• After reaching Qiuting, Liu Acheng wrote to his allies about supplies, transport, and preparations, then gathered Xi Chao, Gao Rou, and Lu Song to plan the ceremony and anticipate trouble.
• Xi Chao and Gao Rou estimated that forty to sixty notable guests could attend, and Liu Acheng proposed inviting Master Du Ming early so he would be less likely to seize control of Lu Song’s ceremony.
• Xi Yin agreed to pursue a purification ceremony, and Xi Chao went to Wang Xizhi with Liu Acheng’s and Lu Song’s proposal for a combined public and private event.
• Xie An questioned whether Liu Acheng could manage the undertaking and called him petty, but Xi Chao praised his practical skill and argued that Xie Daoyun might look down on Wang Xizhi’s household after marriage.
• Wang Xizhi dismissed Xi Chao’s warning, while Xie An silently recognized that his niece might indeed judge the household harshly.

Xi Chao and Liu Acheng organized a combined public and private purification ceremony, winning support and funding from Kuaiji’s leading families. When Wang Xizhi asked Liu Acheng about southern cultured life, Liu spoke about the refugees and the Northern Expedition, prompting Wang and Xie An to clash over whether pure discourse neglected practical affairs.

• Wang Xizhi stopped Xi Chao and Xie An’s argument, and Xie An admitted he had behaved improperly before approving Liu Acheng and Lu Song’s appointment.
• Xi Chao returned home with Liu Acheng, who secured a million cash from Xi Yin for preparations; Xi Chao complained that his father kept the family’s wealth idle.
• Liu Acheng and Lu Song prepared the Orchid Pavilion grounds, and Wang Xizhi and Xi Yin approved another two million cash after inspecting the work.
• At the gathering, Wang Xizhi asked Liu Acheng about southern cultured life, and Liu described the suffering of northern refugees and his hope to support the Northern Expedition.
• Wang Xizhi urged Xie An to consider practical affairs in light of the north’s suffering, and Xie An retorted that Qin had employed Shang Yang yet still fallen.

Liu Acheng defused Xie An’s argument with Wang Xizhi and helped the gathering proceed, then stood up for Xi Chao when Wang Tanzhi boasted of his pedigree and status. Wang Tanzhi was left humiliated and worried that he needed to enter office before Liu Acheng and Xi Chao could challenge him again.

• Xie An regretted his remarks about Wang Xizhi, but Liu Acheng answered by acknowledging their limited merit while criticizing their failure to address Wang Xizhi’s concerns for the northern people.
• Xie An admitted that he had spoken frivolously, and Zhi Daolin and Gao Rou helped restore the mood as Wang Xizhi accepted his apology.
• Liu Acheng arranged for the scholars to rest on their climb to Incense Burner Peak, where Wang Shu and his son Wang Tanzhi arrived to join the gathering.
• Wang Tanzhi told Xi Chao that he had rejected a Gentleman of the Secretariat post because he considered it beneath his rank, insulting the young men around him.
• Liu Acheng rebuked Xi Chao for caring about status, and Xi Chao apologized before telling Wang Tanzhi that their different priorities meant they could not work together.
• Wang Tanzhi realized that Liu Acheng and Xi Chao had turned the exchange against him and worried that he should enter office soon.

At a gathering on Kuaiji Mountain, Liu Acheng explained that his experience amid northern violence had taught him how to kill, while news of the northern turmoil drew his attention to events in Yecheng. There, Ran Min prepared to face an approaching army by opening the city gates and drafting an order rewarding the killing of Hu people.

• Wang Tanzhi conceded his argument with Xi Chao, then challenged Liu Acheng about his education and prospects.
• Liu Acheng said his filial duty was to join a Northern Expedition and described his firsthand experience with violence and killing, leaving Wang Tanzhi shaken.
• Wang Tanzhi reported that Shi Min had rebelled and that northern forces were splintering, while Xi Chao and Liu Acheng discussed the threat.
• Ran Min told Li Nong he would restore his surname and become Ran Min, then ordered Lu Chen to draft a proclamation opening Yecheng's gates.
• Ran Min ordered Lu Chen to prepare a second proclamation rewarding officials and officers who brought him the heads of Hu people.

As massacres and military campaigns shattered northern China, Liu Acheng and Xi Chao discussed the court’s plans, the celebrated scholars’ retreat from public affairs, and their own uncertain futures. Liu Acheng arranged to send supplies to refugees in Jingkou, while both he and Xi Chao faced the possibility that they could not remain in Kuaiji indefinitely.

• Ran Min’s massacre in Yecheng marked the collapse of Later Zhao, while the Jie forces, Fu Xiong, and Murong Jun launched campaigns across the north.
• Liu Acheng explained to Xi Chao why Kuaiji’s celebrated scholars were avoiding the northern crisis, and they discussed Yin Hao’s plan to build a base at Shouchun and pursue the Central Plains.
• Xi Chao told Liu Acheng about his conversation with Zhi Daolin, and Liu Acheng compared the monk’s position with Fotucheng’s service under Shi Hu.
• Liu Acheng told Xi Chao that he planned to use the construction surplus to buy supplies for refugees in Jingkou, and Xi Chao offered to provide more money for the Shangsi Festival.
• After Xi Chao left, Liu Acheng considered Xi Chao’s doubts about entering official service and his own fear that staying in Kuaiji would leave him unprepared for upheaval.

As the Shangsi Festival approached, Sun Chuo stopped Wang Shu from taking over the purification ceremony, while Liu Acheng handled worksite problems and arranged the final participants. On the eve of the festival, Liu Acheng confronted his own suppressed youthful impulses and melancholy, then woke on the festival day ready for the ceremony.

• Sun Chuo persuaded Wang Tanzhi to talk Wang Shu out of taking control of the purification ceremony, and Wang Shu agreed to organize his own event the following year.
• Liu Acheng arranged for a female performer and a Xi Family slave retainer to marry, and the stewards dealt with another slave retainer who threatened to jump into Mirror Lake after losing his wages to a widow.
• Liu Acheng inspected Master Xu's 160 Daoist followers, recognized Brother Qi among them, and paid Master Xu to accompany the festival ceremony and monitor Master Du Ming.
• Liu Acheng rode beside Mirror Lake, felt melancholy as he considered his goals and youthful impulses, then checked on the Qianxi Music Troupe and reassured the nervous Lu Song.
• Liu Acheng slept at the manor and woke on the third day of the third month, the Shangsi Festival, composed and full of energy.

Liu Acheng organized the Shangsi Festival’s Public Purification Ceremony at Mirror Lake, managing the arriving Daoists, performers, and eminent gentlemen. After seating disputes delayed the start, the grand performance stunned the guests, and Xi Yin wept at hearing what he called Immortal Music.

• Liu Acheng brought the Way of the Celestial Masters to Mirror Lake while Lu Song and the Qianxi Music Troupe prepared the ceremony.
• Xi Chao and Gao Rou helped gather the eminent gentlemen, and Xi Yin urged them to arrive before the auspicious hour.
• Liu Acheng directed the guests to their assigned seats, and Gao Rou teased Sun Chuo when he complained that the arrangement spoiled their carefree elegance.
• Liu Acheng persuaded Wang Tanzhi to quiet the seating disputes, and Wang Tanzhi’s intervention brought the quarrelling gentlemen to order.
• The music troupe began the “Ode to the Immortals” before the screens came down, and Liu Acheng’s signal finally revealed the assembled Daoists and Lu Song on the platform.
• Xi Yin wept and declared that he had never expected to hear Immortal Music in his lifetime.

Liu Acheng and Lu Song staged a spectacular Shangsi purification ceremony that impressed the assembled nobles, secured their public appraisals, and helped Liu Acheng advance his plans. Xie An challenged the praise linking Liu Acheng and Xi Chao to Sun Bofu and Zhou Gongjin, and the gathering moved on to Orchid Pavilion to sign the joint letters.

• Liu Acheng watched Lu Song’s ceremony unfold as a chorus accompanied boats racing across Mirror Lake and the distribution of Spring Flower Wreaths.
• Sun Chuo explained the purification rite, and Lu Song gave Xi Yin and the other nobles wreaths along with public appraisals.
• Lu Song praised Xi Chao as an Ancient People's Benefactor and compared him and Liu Acheng to Sun Bofu and Zhou Gongjin.
• Xie An proposed that Liu Acheng and Xi Chao were instead like Zu Shizhi and Liu Yueshi, and Liu Acheng accepted the comparison as a wish to fight and die in the north.
• Liu Acheng and the assembled gentlemen signed the joint letters at Orchid Pavilion before preparing for Floating Cups Along the Winding Stream.

Liu Acheng oversaw the Orchid Pavilion gathering as the distinguished gentlemen debated its rules and exchanged poems, while he worried that their literary legacy might not match its fame. When the floating cup reached him, he recited a seven-character poem about Mirror Lake and Orchid Pavilion Brook, earning Sun Chuo’s praise as a second-rate poet and leaving him puzzled by the gathering’s standards.

• Liu Acheng sent the Wang Family’s documents back to the Wang Residence, then accepted Sun Chuo’s penalty by draining a cup of wine.
• The guests agreed that everyone would receive the floating cup at least once, and Wang Xizhi began the ritual.
• Zhi Daolin recited a short poem, while Xie Wan and Xie An failed to complete theirs before the countdown ended and drank penalties.
• Sun Chuo composed a poem about the gathering, and Liu Acheng privately wondered why the celebrated gentlemen’s poetry seemed so unimpressive.
• The cup reached Liu Acheng, who recited a seven-character poem about Mirror Lake and its source; Sun Chuo praised it as second-rate and waived his penalty.
• Xi Chao told Liu Acheng that his poem violated his grandfather’s name taboo, and Xi Yin excused the mistake under the day’s rules.