Recaps

At Prince Jing's poetry gathering, Zhou Cheng's arrival stirred the scholars' hopes until Li Hongcheng revealed what He Zongwei's palace recommendation entailed. Fan Xian tested Zhou Cheng with strange verses, then accepted Guo Baokun's poetry wager, leaving the contest about to begin.

• Zhou Cheng attended the poetry gathering with Sang Wen, and the scholars crowded around him hoping for favor.
• Zhou Cheng questioned Guo Baokun about his recovery, then took the seat of honor and encouraged the scholars to relax.
• A scholar asked whether outstanding poets could receive a palace recommendation, and Li Hongcheng explained that He Zongwei had been castrated to enter the inner court.
• Fan Xian arrived with Fan Ruoruo and recited three lines to test whether Zhou Cheng was a fellow traveler, but Zhou Cheng showed no telltale reaction.
• Guo Baokun challenged Fan Xian to a poetry contest with a wager, and Fan Xian accepted.

Fan Xian won the poetry contest by presenting Du Fu’s “Climbing High” as his own, while Zhou Cheng recognized the poem and kept its origin secret. After leaving the gathering to search for Drumstick Girl, Fan Xian was attacked and then met the Second Prince, Li Chengze, who tried to recruit him; back at the hall, Zhou Cheng pressed Guo Baokun to continue the contest.

• Fan Xian wrote “Climbing High,” stunning the scholars and leaving Guo Baokun speechless.
• Sang Wen realized Zhou Cheng knew the poem too, and Zhou Cheng told her to keep that knowledge secret.
• Fan Xian challenged Guo Baokun to take his turn, then left the gathering to look for Drumstick Girl.
• An attacker thrust a sword at Fan Xian, and he dodged before meeting the Second Prince, Li Chengze, who tried to win him over.
• Zhou Cheng praised Fan Xian’s poem and asked Guo Baokun whether he would still compose his own.

Fan Xian told Li Chengze and Zhou Cheng about meeting Drumstick Girl and revealed that he wanted to marry her instead of Lin Wan'er. He hoped canceling the imperial engagement would keep the princes from pursuing him, but Li Chengze questioned how he could overturn the emperor's decree.

• Fan Xian recounted his encounter with Drumstick Girl at the Temple of Qing, while Li Chengze listened in confusion and Zhou Cheng ate grapes.
• Li Chengze pretended to understand Fan Xian's story, but Fan Xian called him out, prompting Zhou Cheng to explain Fan Xian's true intention.
• Fan Xian confirmed that he wanted to marry Drumstick Girl and hoped dissolving his engagement to Lin Wan'er would make him politically irrelevant.
• Li Chengze asked how Fan Xian planned to cancel a marriage decreed by the emperor.
• Fan Xian considered damaging his own reputation or speaking directly with Lin Wan'er to end the engagement.

Fan Xian learned that Drumstick Girl was Lin Wan'er and agreed to write an Engagement Cancellation Letter so she could escape the marriage arranged by Emperor Qing. Zhou Cheng promised to ask Lin Wan'er whether she would accept Fan Xian and give him an answer in three days.

• Li Chengze left after challenging Fan Xian to stir up the Capital, and Zhou Cheng warned Fan Xian that breaking the engagement involved a larger political game.
• Zhou Cheng revealed that he recognized Drumstick Girl as Lin Wan'er and explained that she had consumption.
• Fan Xian declared his devotion to Drumstick Girl and agreed to write an Engagement Cancellation Letter after Zhou Cheng said Lin Wan'er also loved someone else.
• Zhou Cheng took the letter and promised to ask Lin Wan'er herself before telling Fan Xian more, giving him an answer within three days.
• Fan Xian left, willing to take responsibility for ending the engagement after learning Lin Wan'er did not want it either.

Fan Xian learned that Teng Zijing’s family had allegedly been murdered by Guo Baokun and set out to uncover the truth while helping Teng Zijing. At the Drunken Immortal Residence, he was led toward Si Lili, whose decision to meet him risked offending Zhou Cheng.

• Zhou Cheng revealed to Sang Wen that Fan Xian’s supposed Drumstick Girl was Lin Wan'er, then took Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter to deliver to Li Yunrui.
• Li Chengze learned about Sang Wen and devised a plan to use Fan Xian’s poem to make Zhou Cheng squirm.
• Fan Xian returned from the poetry gathering and learned from Wang Qinian’s file that Guo Baokun had supposedly killed Teng Zijing’s wife and child; Teng Zijing left to seek revenge.
• Fan Xian learned from Fan Ruoruo that Guo Baokun frequented the Glazed Crystal River, then accepted Li Hongcheng’s invitation to go there that night.
• Li Hongcheng told Fan Xian that he had sent “Climbing High” to Si Lili, who decided to meet the poem’s author despite the risk of offending Zhou Cheng.

Fan Xian drugged Si Lili to slip away and help Teng Zijing investigate the disappearance of his family, only to learn from Wang Qinian that they were being held at Prince Cheng's Residence. Fan Xian promised to visit the residence with Teng Zijing the next morning and ask Prince Cheng what had happened.

• Si Lili pretended to faint after Fan Xian drugged her wine, and Fan Xian left her pleasure boat without harming her.
• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing ambushed Guo Baokun, but Guo denied killing Teng Zijing's wife and child, raising doubts about the file implicating him.
• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing confronted Wang Qinian, who admitted fabricating the file and revealed that Prince Cheng's guard had taken Teng Zijing's family.
• Fan Xian reassured Teng Zijing that Prince Cheng might have acted out of pity and promised to visit the residence with him in the morning.

Fan Xian discovered that Si Lili was the woman Prince Cheng favored and realized his visit had put Teng Zijing's family in greater danger. As Fan Xian rushed back to stop Teng Zijing from acting alone, Teng Zijing infiltrated Prince Cheng's Residence.

• Wang Qinian left after giving Fan Xian and Teng Zijing a lead on Teng Zijing's family, and Fan Xian hurried back to the Drunken Immortal Residence.
• Teng Zijing recognized that Fan Xian had spent the night with Si Lili, concealed that she was Prince Cheng's favored woman, and decided to infiltrate Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Zhou Cheng ordered Chen Quan to watch for anyone who might threaten the emperor, then returned to his bedchamber.
• Fan Xian discovered Si Lili had resisted his sleeping drug and learned that his poem and visit had offended Prince Cheng, though he had not known about their connection.
• Fan Xian realized Teng Zijing had understood the danger and rushed out to find him, while Si Lili ordered an undercover agent to watch Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Teng Zijing reached the walls of Prince Cheng's Residence and began surveying its guards and grounds.

Zhou Cheng forced Teng Zijing to spy on Fan Xian by holding his wife and child, but Teng Zijing seized Zhou Cheng and demanded his family’s release. Zhou Cheng remained unruffled and began asking Teng Zijing about his age.

• Teng Zijing infiltrated Prince Cheng’s estate, but Chen Quan’s guards caught him and brought him before Zhou Cheng.
• Zhou Cheng admitted he had taken Teng Zijing’s family to make him monitor Fan Xian, and Teng Zijing agreed to serve him after hearing his family was safe.
• Teng Zijing reported that Fan Xian had presented a poem to Si Lili, then used the distraction to take Zhou Cheng hostage and demand his family and a carriage.
• Chen Quan acted unconcerned as Teng Zijing threatened Zhou Cheng, while Zhou Cheng calmly defended his interest in Fan Xian.
• Zhou Cheng dismissed Teng Zijing’s threats and asked whether he was yet thirty years old.

Zhou Cheng defeated Teng Zijing twice, then let him reunite with his family and sent him to watch Fan Xian. After hearing Teng Zijing’s account, Fan Xian concluded that Zhou Cheng was a hidden ninth-rank expert and Emperor Qing’s favored heir, leaving him worried that he had seriously offended the future ruler.

• Zhou Cheng disarmed Teng Zijing, threw him across the study, and defeated him again when he attacked, then ordered him to see his family and return to watching Fan Xian.
• Teng Zijing left Prince Cheng’s Residence after reuniting with his wife and child, and Fan Xian found him on the road and asked what had happened.
• Teng Zijing told Fan Xian that Zhou Cheng had subdued him effortlessly and might be an eighth- or ninth-rank expert; Fan Xian suspected Zhou Cheng had trained under a hidden Grandmaster.
• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing concluded that Emperor Qing had concealed Zhou Cheng’s strength while the Crown Prince and Second Prince fought, and that Zhou Cheng was the emperor’s favored successor.
• Fan Xian worried that his earlier actions had offended Zhou Cheng and considered going to the residence to beg forgiveness.

Fan Xian faced trial for beating Guo Baokun, but the Crown Prince challenged his alibi and ordered Si Lili tortured. Second Prince Li Chengze arrived as an observer, and the chapter ended when Teng Zijing was brought into court.

• Auntie Liu offered to send Fan Xian back to Danzhou, but he refused and went with the constables to the Capital Prefecture.
• Fan Xian denied beating Guo Baokun and presented Li Hongcheng and Si Lili as witnesses to his alibi.
• Li Hongcheng and Si Lili supported Fan Xian's account, but the Crown Prince arrived and dismissed Si Lili's testimony as insufficient.
• The Crown Prince ordered Si Lili tortured, and Li Chengze entered the courtroom to observe the trial.
• Si Lili endured the finger press and refused to change her testimony, until the Crown Prince had Teng Zijing brought before the court.

Zhou Cheng entered the Capital Prefecture courtroom as the princes clashed over Teng Zijing and Fan Xian, then confronted Li Chengze over his role in humiliating him through Si Lili. After striking Li Chengze, Zhou Cheng offered him medicinal wine, and the chapter ended with Li Chengze hurling the jar at him.

• The Crown Prince accused Fan Xian of deceiving the emperor by hiding Teng Zijing's survival and revealed that Teng Zijing's family had been taken to Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Zhou Cheng arrived, mocked the Crown Prince with a reference to his woman in the painting, and clarified that his medicinal wine was not for Si Lili or Teng Zijing.
• Eunuch Hou delivered Emperor Qing's decree that Teng Zijing's survival was an Overwatch Council arrangement and ordered the princes to leave the case alone.
• Zhou Cheng cleared the courtroom and confronted Li Chengze about sending Fan Xian to Si Lili with a poem to spite him.
• Zhou Cheng decided Li Chengze was guilty, slapped him to the floor, and handed him the medicinal wine for his injury.
• Li Chengze rose in fury and threw the jar at Zhou Cheng, who dodged as it shattered on the courtroom floor.

After Zhou Cheng slapped Li Chengze, he pressured the witnesses into silence by framing disclosure as a threat to the imperial family. He then accused Mei Zhili of secretly helping the Crown Prince set up Teng Zijing, leaving the courtroom focused on whether Mei had acted under orders.

• Li Chengze accused Zhou Cheng of assaulting his elder brother, while Crown Prince Li Chengqian pretended to mediate and privately rejoiced at his rival's humiliation.
• Zhou Cheng suggested Li Chengze should demand that he slap the Crown Prince too, then persuaded Li Chengze that concealing the incident would protect the imperial family.
• Zhou Cheng secured promises of silence from Fan Xian, Si Lili, Teng Zijing, the Crown Prince, and Mei Zhili.
• Zhou Cheng questioned Mei Zhili about the prefecture's ambush and arrest of Teng Zijing, pointing out that Mei had arranged it before knowing Teng would be needed as a witness.
• Zhou Cheng asked whether someone had ordered Mei to help the Crown Prince and accused him of choosing sides against Emperor Qing.

Zhou Cheng exposed Mei Zhili’s secret allegiance to the Crown Prince, driving Mei to kill himself in court and leaving the Crown Prince facing Emperor Qing’s scrutiny. After the courtroom opened, Zhou Cheng turned his attention to Fan Xian and demanded an explanation about Si Lili.

• Zhou Cheng accused Mei Zhili of betraying Emperor Qing, and the Crown Prince failed to defend him.
• Mei Zhili removed his official hat, admitted his betrayal, and dashed himself against a courtroom pillar.
• Fan Xian confirmed Mei Zhili was dead, while Eunuch Hou revealed that Emperor Qing had secretly summoned him.
• Chen Quan opened the courtroom doors, and Xie Bi'an saw Li Chengze’s handprint but held back after Li Chengze stopped him.
• Zhou Cheng prevented Fan Xian from leaving and accused him of pursuing Si Lili, prompting Fan Xian to claim he had been set up.

Zhou Cheng revealed that he had arranged the attempts on Fan Xian’s life and threatened to marry Fan Ruoruo to force Fan Xian’s cooperation. Fan Xian erupted in fury, while Teng Zijing restrained him and Zhou Cheng remained unafraid.

• Zhou Cheng teased Fan Xian about Si Lili and maneuvered Li Hongcheng into promising not to spread rumors about them.
• Zhou Cheng ordered Mei Zhili’s courtroom death to be reported as an accident, and Eunuch Hou departed to report back to the Emperor.
• Fan Xian stopped the Crown Prince and asked whether he knew about the Danzhou assassination attempt, but the Crown Prince left without answering.
• Zhou Cheng admitted that he had personally arranged the assassination attempts and said he had trusted Fan Xian would survive.
• Zhou Cheng threatened to force Fan Xian’s cooperation by asking the Emperor to marry Fan Ruoruo to him.
• Fan Xian’s true energy surged as he threatened Zhou Cheng, and Teng Zijing grabbed him from behind to hold him back.

Zhou Cheng arranged a meeting between Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er by presenting her with Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter, then was summoned to face Emperor Qing over slapping the Second Prince. The chapter ended with Zhou Cheng defending his actions in the Imperial Study while Emperor Qing rebuked him for disgracing the imperial family.

• Zhou Cheng left the Capital prefectural office after reminding Fan Xian to wait for Lin Wan'er at the One Stone Residence the next morning.
• Zhou Cheng visited Lin Wan'er and told her that Fan Xian wanted to meet her, then gave her Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter.
• Lin Wan'er agreed to meet her admirer, and Zhou Cheng took the letter to bring to the Eldest Princess and Emperor Qing.
• A palace eunuch summoned Zhou Cheng to the Imperial Study, where Emperor Qing reprimanded him for slapping the Second Prince.
• Zhou Cheng blamed the Second Prince for provoking him and argued that he had acted in self-defense, but Emperor Qing condemned his retaliation.

Emperor Qing betrothed Zhou Cheng to Ye Linger after his public assault on Li Chengze, prompting Zhou Cheng to see the match as a chance to leave the Capital and pursue his plans. Li Chengze turned to courting Fan Xian for support, while Fan Xian arrived at One Stone Residence expecting trouble from Zhou Cheng and found no apparent setup.

• Emperor Qing scolded Zhou Cheng for striking Li Chengze and ordered him to marry Ye Linger.
• Zhou Cheng accepted the match and considered using it as a plausible reason to travel beyond the Capital and seek martial challenges and allies.
• Zhou Cheng visited Li Yunrui and gave her Fan Xian's Engagement Cancellation Letter before Emperor Qing's marriage decree arrived at Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Li Chengze learned of Zhou Cheng's betrothal, grew furious, and decided to pursue an alliance with Fan Xian.
• Fan Xian went to One Stone Residence early in the morning and found no visible traps or preparations.

Fan Xian met Lin Wan'er at the One Stone Residence, only to discover that she was the fiancée he had tried to break off his engagement with. The pair recognized each other after a tearful misunderstanding, and Fan Xian blamed Prince Cheng for tricking him into writing the cancellation letter.

• Fan Xian leaped from the private room to greet Lin Wan'er, startling her so badly that she began coughing.
• Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er spoke privately, and he told her how much he had wanted to see her.
• Lin Wan'er revealed that she was Chancellor Lin's daughter and that her engagement to Fan Xian was about to be dissolved.
• Fan Xian revealed his name, and Lin Wan'er thought he was mocking her before asking him to prove his identity by writing his poem from the Poetry Gathering.
• Lin Wan'er recognized Fan Xian as her fiancé and asked why he had written an Engagement Cancellation Letter.
• Fan Xian blamed Prince Cheng for claiming he would arrange the meeting only if Fan Xian ended his engagement.

After Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er reunited, they remained baffled by Zhou Cheng's scheme and rushed to stop the Engagement Cancellation Letter from reaching the palace. Zhou Cheng collected Fan Xian's negative emotions, used ten system draws, and discovered several objects from his former life, including an iPhone that still worked.

• Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er pieced over Zhou Cheng's actions but could not understand why he had arranged their meeting after making Fan Xian write an Engagement Cancellation Letter.
• Lin Wan'er realized Zhou Cheng planned to deliver the letter to her mother, so she hurried to the palace while Fan Xian watched her carriage leave.
• Zhou Cheng received 666 negative emotion points from Fan Xian and spent enough points on ten system draws.
• Zhou Cheng found ordinary personal items in storage, including a childhood Monkey King mask and a working rose-gold iPhone 6.
• Zhou Cheng listened to songs on the iPhone and told Sang Wen he could teach her the song "Forget Time."

Li Yunrui tried to persuade Emperor Qing to rescind Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er’s marriage decree, but he rejected her request and ordered her to leave. Back at Guangxin Palace, Lin Wan'er revealed that she had heard about Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter and admitted she did not want to be too willful.

• Li Yunrui presented Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter to Emperor Qing and asked him to rescind the marriage decree for Lin Wan’er’s sake.
• Emperor Qing asked who had delivered the letter, and Li Yunrui said Zhou Cheng had obtained it for her.
• Emperor Qing crumpled the letter, dismissed Li Yunrui’s plea, and ordered her to leave.
• Li Yunrui returned to Guangxin Palace and found Lin Wan'er waiting for her.
• Lin Wan'er told Li Yunrui she had heard Zhou Cheng gave her the letter and said she did not want to be too willful about the imperial decree.

Li Yunrui learned that Lin Wan'er had reconciled with Fan Xian and pretended to support their engagement while privately blaming Li Chengcheng for arranging their meeting. At the Imperial Villa, Ye Linger confided in Lin Wan'er that she dreaded her decreed marriage to Zhou Cheng and wished for a love like Lin Wan'er and Fan Xian's.

• Lin Wan'er told Li Yunrui that she no longer wanted to cancel her engagement after Fan Xian cleared up their misunderstanding, and that Li Chengcheng had arranged their meeting.
• Li Yunrui concealed her anger, claimed she had forgotten the Engagement Cancellation Letter at the palace, and promised to burn it.
• After Lin Wan'er left, Li Yunrui cursed Li Chengcheng, while Zhou Cheng received a large negative-emotion notification from her.
• At the Imperial Villa, Ye Linger complained to Lin Wan'er that she did not want to marry Zhou Cheng, whom she barely knew.
• Ye Linger contrasted her unwanted marriage with Lin Wan'er and Fan Xian's romance, admitting she would accept even a fraction of Fan Xian's devotion from Li Chengcheng.

Ye Linger met Zhou Cheng to judge her betrothed and ask him to end their engagement, while Zhou Cheng learned Fan Xian was headed to the Drunken Immortal Residence. Their meeting on Ox Pen Street ended with Zhou Cheng challenging Ye Linger to break off the marriage herself.

• Ye Linger decided to meet Zhou Cheng after learning that he had forced Teng Zijing to spy on Fan Xian by holding Teng's family at Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Zhou Cheng agreed to meet Ye Linger, learned that Fan Xian would visit the Drunken Immortal Residence, and moved their meeting to Ox Pen Street.
• Zhou Cheng and Ye Linger met in a restaurant overlooking Ox Pen Street and discussed whether they felt affection for each other.
• Ye Linger asked Zhou Cheng to break off their engagement, and he asked why she could not do it herself.

Zhou Cheng challenged Ye Linger to settle their unwanted engagement through a three-move sparring test, while Fan Xian and Teng Zijing rode through South City toward a meeting with the Second Prince. The chapter ended as a crash and commotion erupted outside Zhou Cheng’s window, while Teng Zijing began telling Fan Xian what his son had called him.

• Zhou Cheng compared marrying Ye Linger to accepting free silver and joked that she would fetch thousands of taels at the Drunken Immortal Residence, enraging her.
• Ye Linger admitted she did not dare ask His Majesty to cancel their engagement and demanded that Zhou Cheng withstand three of her moves before she would accept him.
• Zhou Cheng agreed to the test, and Ye Linger eagerly proposed they spar immediately.
• A quarter of an hour earlier, Fan Xian and Teng Zijing rode through South City on their way to meet the Second Prince and recognized the street where they had beaten Guo Baokun.
• Teng Zijing told Fan Xian that his son had called him something, but Fan Xian asked what it was before he could explain.

Fan Xian and Teng Zijing were ambushed in the Capital, and Fan Xian was left battered after fighting Cheng Jushu. Zhou Cheng and Ye Linger arrived at the ruined street and found Fan Xian kneeling beside an unconscious figure.

• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing discussed returning to Danzhou and agreed that protecting their families mattered most.
• Two assassins attacked Fan Xian and Teng Zijing with arrows, but the pair took them down and chased the runaway carriage.
• A hidden crossbow killed the carriage horses, and Cheng Jushu burst through a wall and attacked Fan Xian.
• Zhou Cheng led Ye Linger to the battlefield, where they found Cheng Jushu and another figure lying amid the wreckage.
• Zhou Cheng recognized the bloodied, kneeling Fan Xian, and Ye Linger realized the assassination had targeted him.

Fan Xian confronted Prince Cheng Zhou Cheng after Teng Zijing died protecting him, and suspected Zhou Cheng had arranged the ambush. Zhou Cheng taunted Fan Xian and desecrated Teng Zijing’s body, while Wang Qinian restrained Fan Xian from attacking him.

• Fan Xian accused Zhou Cheng of arranging the assassins, but Zhou Cheng denied it and Ye Linger kept her suspicions to herself.
• Wang Qinian arrived, confirmed that Teng Zijing was dead, and found Cheng Jushu dead as well.
• Fan Xian blamed himself for failing to save Teng Zijing and shouted that Teng had been his friend and brother, not anyone’s property.
• Zhou Cheng claimed Teng had belonged to him because he had paid for his life, then kicked Teng’s corpse.
• Fan Xian grabbed Teng’s dagger and lunged at Zhou Cheng, but Wang Qinian restrained him as Ye Linger frowned at Zhou Cheng’s cruelty.

Zhou Cheng revealed how his true qi had kept Teng Zijing alive and demonstrated his overwhelming cultivation to Ye Linger. He lured her back to Prince Cheng's Residence by promising to help her break through, and she left having reached the seventh rank.

• Zhou Cheng explained that the strand of true qi he had left in Teng Zijing had protected him from Cheng Jushu's attack, and that he had reclaimed it to wake him.
• When Ye Linger doubted his explanation, Zhou Cheng planted a strand of true qi in her wrist, leaving her unable to move her hand and convinced he was at least at the peak of the ninth rank.
• Ye Linger tried to flee rather than honor their three-move match, but Zhou Cheng stopped her by offering to help her overcome her sixth-rank bottleneck.
• Ye Linger agreed to accompany Zhou Cheng to Prince Cheng's Residence so they could exchange martial arts techniques.
• Zhou Cheng instructed Ye Linger throughout the day and used his true qi to help her break through to the seventh rank, while she demonstrated Great Coffin Splitter.