Chapter Summaries

During an assassination attempt on Emperor Qing, Zhou Cheng intervened while several people—including the emperor and Crown Prince Li Chengqian—kept up appearances. Li Chengqian survived a clash with an eighth-rank assassin and ended the chapter standing guard beside Emperor Qing, furious with Zhou Cheng.

• Zhou Cheng struck a disguised eunuch’s dagger hand with a thrown cup, giving Emperor Qing time to kill the attacker with a wine tray.
• Assassins poured into the hall as Fan Xian fought the White-Clad Assassin, Fan Jian defended the emperor, and Lin Ruofu was wounded in the shoulder.
• Zhou Cheng drew an eighth-rank assassin toward the fallen Crown Prince, then pulled Li Chengqian into the fight while pretending to shield him.
• Li Chengqian unleashed his true qi and struck the assassin in the chest after the attacker unexpectedly pulled back his blade, killing him.
• Zhou Cheng asked whether Li Chengqian was all right, then hurried to Emperor Qing; Li Chengqian suppressed his anger and joined him in guarding the emperor.

After the assassins were defeated at the Hanging Temple, Emperor Qing praised Zhou Cheng and sent Fan Xian after the White-Clad Assassin, suspected to be Si Gujian’s younger brother. The chapter ended with Lin Ruofu collapsing from poison and Emperor Qing ordering the guards to call Fan Xian back to treat him if they found him.

• The Imperial Guards overwhelmed the assassins, and the White-Clad Assassin escaped through a window while Fan Xian pursued him.
• Emperor Qing identified the assassin as a likely brother of Si Gujian and ordered Fan Xian to capture him.
• Emperor Qing comforted Li Chengping, excused the Crown Prince’s failure to act, and praised Zhou Cheng’s courage and martial ability.
• Fan Jian begged Emperor Qing to recall Fan Xian, but Emperor Qing initially insisted the guards had sealed off the mountain.
• Lin Ruofu collapsed from poison, and Fan Jian asked Emperor Qing to summon Fan Xian to save him.
• Emperor Qing ordered the guards to keep hunting the assassin but to call Fan Xian back to treat Lin Ruofu if they encountered him.

After Fan Xian returned gravely wounded and Lin Ruofu died from the poison, the Imperial Physicians said only someone with the same true qi could save Fan Xian. Emperor Qing decided Fan Xian had to survive and began using his own kingly true qi to restore Fan Xian’s meridians.

• Fan Xian was carried back unconscious after Shadow wounded him when his true energy went out of control.
• The Imperial Physicians concluded Lin Ruofu had arrived too late to save, while Fan Xian’s disordered meridians would soon kill him without help.
• Emperor Qing learned that Physician Wen had drowned after visiting Guangxin Palace and suspected Li Yunrui was behind it.
• The Imperial Physician explained that someone with overlord true energy would need to restore Fan Xian’s meridians.
• Emperor Qing entered the rear hall alone, examined Fan Xian, and decided to save him because of Ye Qingmei and his future plans.
• Emperor Qing infused Fan Xian with kingly true qi to straighten his meridians.

Emperor Qing secretly crippled Fan Xian’s meridians while making his injuries look like the result of his own condition. As Fan Xian’s poison worsened despite Senior Brother Leng’s antidote, he urged the physicians to operate, but they had no idea how to perform surgery.

• Emperor Qing ruptured Fan Xian’s major meridians with his true qi, then left as Fan Xian began to stir.
• Lin Wan’er arrived at the Imperial Academy of Medicine, saw Lin Ruofu dead and Fan Xian gravely wounded, and fainted.
• Fan Xian regained enough awareness to ask for Senior Brother Leng of the Overwatch Council’s Third Division to treat his poison.
• Senior Brother Leng gave Fan Xian an antidote, but the poison continued spreading toward his internal organs.
• Fan Xian explained that an operation could save him, but the Imperial Physicians rejected the idea of cutting open his body.

After the Hanging Temple assassination, Fan Xian returned to the Fan Residence gravely poisoned, and Zhou Cheng arrived in disguise to treat him. Meanwhile, Chen Pingping learned that Northern Qi assassins may have ties to the Crown Prince, while Fan Jian waited anxiously for the masked man Fan Xian had promised would come.

• Emperor Qing learned that the Imperial Academy of Medicine could not save Fan Xian and wondered whether he was seeking Old Five; he also received another plea from Ye Zhong to pardon Gong Dian.
• Chen Pingping heard from Yan Bingyun that the assassins disguised as craftsmen were Northern Qi death warriors with possible ties to the Crown Prince.
• News of Lin Ruofu's death and Fan Xian's grave condition spread through the Capital, and residents prayed for Fan Xian at the Temple of Qing.
• Fan Xian was brought to the Fan Residence, where a red lantern at the back gate signaled Zhou Cheng to come and treat him.
• Fan Jian waited outside Fan Xian's room for the masked man, and a shadow finally appeared at the doorway.

Zhou Cheng arrived at the Fan Residence and used One Heaven True Qi and emergency surgery to treat Fan Xian’s poisoning. Fan Xian survived the operation, though further recovery remained ahead.

• Fan Jian recognized Zhou Cheng as the person Fan Xian had been waiting for and stayed outside while Zhou Cheng entered.
• Zhou Cheng found Fan Xian near death and used One Heaven True Qi to stabilize him temporarily.
• Fan Xian said surgery was needed to remove the poison, and Senior Brother Leng brought out the prepared knives and instruments.
• Zhou Cheng sterilized a knife, opened Fan Xian’s chest, and used true qi to drain poisoned blood from his liver.
• Zhou Cheng stitched Fan Xian’s wound and circulated One Heaven True Qi until his condition stabilized.

Zhou Cheng saved Fan Xian, while Emperor Qing responded to Lin Ruofu’s death by ordering an investigation and punishing Gong Dian and Ye Zhong. Zhou Cheng then met Li Yunrui, who asked whether he had ordered Lin Ruofu’s death, and he described the assassination attempt as an accident.

• Zhou Cheng saved Fan Xian and persuaded him to say that Wu Zhu had been his rescuer so Senior Brother Leng would be spared.
• Emperor Qing learned that Fan Xian had survived and suspected Wu Zhu was involved, then ordered a full investigation into Lin Ruofu’s death.
• Emperor Qing sentenced Gong Dian to exile and stripped Ye Zhong of his command after Ye Zhong pleaded for his junior brother.
• The Crown Prince visited the Fan Residence with gifts, while Zhou Cheng went to Guangxin Palace after receiving a message from Li Yunrui.
• Li Yunrui asked Zhou Cheng whether he had killed Lin Ruofu, and Zhou Cheng said Lin Ruofu’s death had been an accident.

Zhou Cheng reassured Li Yunrui that he would protect her and their unborn child as she prepared to implicate the Crown Prince in the Hanging Temple assassination. At the Fan Residence, Chen Pingping told the recovering Fan Xian that Lin Ruofu had died and explained why Lin Wan'er had not visited him.

• Li Yunrui told Zhou Cheng that the Emperor might soon discover her pregnancy and that she had disposed of the Imperial Physician sent to examine her.
• Zhou Cheng promised to protect Li Yunrui and their child, while she planned to feed the Overwatch Council evidence against the Crown Prince.
• Zhou Cheng returned to Prince Cheng's Residence to wait while events unfolded.
• Chen Pingping visited Fan Xian and explained that Lin Wan'er had fainted from grief over Lin Ruofu's death, then stayed behind to recover.
• Chen Pingping recounted Lin Ruofu's poisoning and death, and Fan Xian lamented the Lin family's misfortune.
• Fan Xian learned that Ku He's One Heaven True Qi could aid his recovery, but Chen Pingping said Ku He did not teach it to outsiders.

While recovering from his injuries, Fan Xian learned that the Hanging Temple attack involved several unrelated attackers and that Emperor Qing had used the fire to shift the balance of power. Chen Pingping suspected Prince Cheng had engineered the crisis to benefit from the Crown Prince’s likely downfall, but had no proof, and the investigation continued.

• Chen Pingping told Fan Xian that the guard and eunuch attackers were old enemies, the white-clad swordsman was Si Gujian's Younger Brother, and Shadow had gravely injured Fan Xian by accident.
• Fan Xian questioned whether the attackers had coordinated, but Chen Pingping said the events were a series of coincidences he called an Immortal Game.
• Chen Pingping revealed that Emperor Qing had set the first fire at the Hanging Temple to draw Gong Dian away before banishing him and the Ye Family from the Capital.
• Chen Pingping explained that the Hemp-Clothed Artisans were linked to the Crown Prince, whose suspected involvement in treason could lead to his deposition and benefit Prince Cheng.
• Fan Xian and Chen Pingping considered Prince Cheng a possible hidden hand behind the events, though Chen Pingping had no evidence.
• Chen Pingping left the Fan Residence while Yan Bingyun and the Overwatch Council continued investigating.

The Overwatch Council uncovered evidence that the Crown Prince had secretly dealt with Northern Qi and tried to silence witnesses after suspecting the investigation. Emperor Qing heard Chen Pingping’s report, confronted the Crown Prince, and confined him to the Eastern Palace while the truth remained under scrutiny.

• Yan Bingyun and the Overwatch Council captured the intermediary between the Crown Prince and Northern Qi, while threatened associates provided records of the Crown Prince’s orders to Northern Qi agents.
• Chen Pingping presented the evidence to Emperor Qing, who ordered him and the investigators to keep the findings secret until he decided what to do.
• Chen Pingping told Emperor Qing that Zhuang Mohan had also met with the Eldest Princess, Li Yunrui, who had been involved in dealings with Northern Qi.
• Emperor Qing summoned the Crown Prince and confronted him with the dossier, and the Crown Prince admitted to dealings with Northern Qi while denying involvement in the assassination attempt.
• Emperor Qing ordered the Crown Prince back to the Eastern Palace and forbade him from leaving without permission, leaving the Crown Prince fearing he had been abandoned.

Emperor Qing decided to use the Crown Prince’s rebellion as a pretext for a plan against the Grandmasters, then visited Li Yunrui to confront her over an Imperial Physician’s death. He discovered that she was pregnant, and her cryptic answer left him shaken.

• Emperor Qing berated the Crown Prince and rejected the idea of deposing him, while deciding to exploit the rebellion allegations for his own plan.
• Emperor Qing considered who had arranged the evidence against the Crown Prince, then dismissed the question and summoned someone to clean up the shattered cup.
• Emperor Qing went to Guangxin Palace to confront Li Yunrui about the Imperial Physician she had killed.
• Emperor Qing entered Li Yunrui’s bedchamber and saw that she was pregnant.
• When Emperor Qing asked who the father was, Li Yunrui replied that he would not want to know.

Emperor Qing confronted Li Yunrui about her pregnancy, and she admitted that the child was conceived because the father wanted it, without revealing his identity. After ordering Guangxin Palace sealed and its servants confined, Emperor Qing checked its entry records and discovered that his son had visited that morning.

• Li Yunrui admitted that she had kept the child because its father wanted it, and taunted Emperor Qing about their affair.
• Emperor Qing accused Li Yunrui of past schemes and grabbed her by the throat when she invoked the woman he had killed.
• Emperor Qing rejected Li Yunrui's claim that he would replace the Crown Prince and vowed to have her child drowned after its birth.
• Li Yunrui said only a few people might know about the affair, and Emperor Qing ordered the servants of Guangxin Palace confined within its gates.
• Emperor Qing reviewed the palace entry records and saw his son's name as the only one recorded for an early-morning visit.

Emperor Qing punished Yan Xiaoyi for failing to report Li Yunrui’s supposed misconduct and summoned Zhou Cheng to confront him about his scandal with Li Yunrui. Zhou Cheng remained unfazed by the threat of losing his title, and began answering Emperor Qing with a reminder of his past confrontation with Second Brother.

• Emperor Qing summoned Yan Xiaoyi and accused him of failing to report Li Yunrui’s actions.
• Yan Xiaoyi defended Li Yunrui, believing she had been seduced by a man in black, and Emperor Qing sent him to the Northern Border.
• Emperor Qing studied a register, formed a plan, and ordered Zhou Cheng to appear before him.
• Zhou Cheng knelt silently while Emperor Qing compared his patience to the Crown Prince’s and condemned his relationship with Li Yunrui.
• Emperor Qing threatened to strip Zhou Cheng of his title, but Zhou Cheng said he was not afraid and brought up the slap he had given Second Brother.

Zhou Cheng refused Emperor Qing’s demand that he confine himself, and the two clashed over the Crown Prince’s downfall and the scandal Zhou Cheng threatened to expose. Emperor Qing confined Zhou Cheng and demoted Noble Consort Li, leaving Zhou Cheng’s supporters wavering as their struggle for power intensified.

• Zhou Cheng told Emperor Qing he would kill anyone who spread his scandal, even if that meant killing everyone under heaven.
• Zhou Cheng admitted the Hanging Temple assassination attempt had been intended to frame the Crown Prince, not kill Emperor Qing.
• Emperor Qing ordered Zhou Cheng to request confinement, but Zhou Cheng refused without evidence and warned that Emperor Qing wanted to protect his dignity.
• Emperor Qing threatened to strip Zhou Cheng of everything and use the people around him as hostages, forcing him to fight for power or face lifelong imprisonment.
• Emperor Qing issued edicts confining Zhou Cheng to his residence for a month and demoting Noble Consort Li to Lady of Talent.
• The edicts spread through the Capital, and many officials who had favored Zhou Cheng began to waver.

Emperor Qing faced mounting demands to depose Crown Prince Li Chengqian after the Overwatch Council implicated him in the Hanging Temple assassination, but delayed a final decision while preparing rites at Great Eastern Mountain. As Zhou Cheng's confinement reached its thirtieth day, Li Chengru took command of the Capital Imperial Guards, the Empress Dowager was placed in charge of state affairs, and Emperor Qing's procession departed for the rites.

• A censor and other officials called for Crown Prince Li Chengqian's removal, but Emperor Qing rejected their demand and fined the memorialists.
• The Overwatch Council presented findings implicating Li Chengqian in the Hanging Temple assassination, and Emperor Qing summoned Li Chengru back to the Capital.
• Emperor Qing visited the Eastern Palace, became ill, and later announced plans for rites to Heaven after the Grand Priest's death led him to move them to Great Eastern Mountain.
• Li Chengru returned to the Capital and was appointed acting commander of the Capital Imperial Guards.
• Emperor Qing began a ritual fast, placed the Empress Dowager in charge of state affairs, and departed with the Imperial Procession for Great Eastern Mountain.

After Emperor Qing departed for Great Eastern Mountain with Fan Xian and a formidable escort, Zhou Cheng remained in the Capital and watched the court’s shifting pieces while the Empress Dowager regented. As winter thunder gathered over the city, the chapter left the Capital awaiting its first heavy snowfall.

• Emperor Qing left the Capital for Great Eastern Mountain with Hong Sixiang, Fan Xian, and thousands of guards, while Zhou Cheng remained confined and the other imperial figures stayed under restriction.
• Zhou Cheng reviewed reports and recognized that Emperor Qing had arranged his departure to draw out Wu Zhu, using Fan Xian as bait and protection.
• After his confinement ended, Zhou Cheng visited the Empress Dowager and then went to Guangxin Palace to meet Li Yunrui, who had contacted outside allies through the Junshan Society.
• Zhou Cheng spent the following month mostly at his residence, keeping close to Ye Linger while the Empress Dowager governed without incident.
• Winter thunder sounded over the Capital as dark clouds gathered, and residents anticipated a heavy first snowfall.

After a white-clothed rider brought word that Emperor Qing had died, the Empress Dowager locked down the Capital and secured the palace against unrest. The Crown Prince learned of his father’s death and mourned him, though a strange light began to show in his eyes.

• A lone rider wearing a white cloth raced into the Capital with urgent news, and the imperial bells later rang as fear spread through the city.
• The Empress Dowager ordered the palace gates closed and placed Eldest Prince Chengru in charge of the imperial city's defenses.
• The Empress Dowager summoned Prince Jing, Fan Jian, and Qin Heng, then arranged to keep the Empress, Crown Prince, several consorts, Chengping, and Lin Wan'er under watch in the palace.
• After the Capital had been secured, the Empress Dowager broke down alone beside the dragon throne and grieved that Emperor Qing had died.
• The Crown Prince heard the news, wept and bowed toward the east, then rose with a peculiar light emerging in his eyes.

After Emperor Qing was reported assassinated, the Crown Prince and Li Chengze considered how his death changed the succession struggle. Zhou Cheng revealed that the report was false and that the Ye Family’s apparent rebellion was part of a plan with Emperor Qing, then began explaining why the Ye Family remained loyal.

• The Crown Prince told the Empress that Emperor Qing’s death left him as the lawful Heir Apparent and urged her to secure Qin Heng’s support.
• Li Chengze told Xie Bi'an that he had lost his resources to Li Yunrui and expected the Crown Prince and Zhou Cheng to clash over the throne.
• At Prince Cheng’s Residence, Ye Linger panicked after hearing that Ye Zhong and several Grandmasters had supposedly killed Emperor Qing.
• Zhou Cheng reassured Ye Linger and the other women that the assassination report was false and that the Ye Family’s expulsion from the Capital had been arranged with Emperor Qing.
• Zhou Cheng began explaining that the Ye Family’s loyalty was connected to the power of Grandmasters.

Lin Wan'er confronted Li Yunrui about her absence and cruelty, then learned that Li Yunrui believed her unborn child would be more noble because his father was Qing's future emperor. In the Inner Study, Zhou Cheng revealed that Emperor Qing had been a Grandmaster and said the Crown Prince, not himself, had always been the emperor's favored heir.

• Lin Wan'er visited Li Yunrui at Guangxin Palace and asked whether she had heard anything about Fan Xian.
• Li Yunrui said Fan Xian should be dead and dismissed Lin Wan'er's grief over his fate and Lin Ruofu's funeral.
• Lin Wan'er accused Li Yunrui of being a heartless mother, and Li Yunrui explained that she could not leave the palace without causing many deaths.
• Li Yunrui said her unborn child was different from Lin Wan'er because his father was Qing's future emperor, leaving Lin Wan'er shocked and frightened.
• Zhou Cheng told the women in the Inner Study that Emperor Qing was a Grandmaster and that Hong Sixiang had served as a decoy.
• Zhou Cheng said the Crown Prince had always been Emperor Qing's favored heir, puzzling Si Lili.

After Zhou Cheng learned that Emperor Qing’s death was a ploy to force him into rebellion, he resolved to pursue the throne for his own mission. In the Capital, mourning gave way to preparations for a succession ceremony, with the court awaiting the Former Emperor’s final edict and the new ruler.

• Zhan Yuanyuan revealed that Zhou Cheng was a Grandmaster, shocking Ye Linger and the other women.
• Zhou Cheng reflected that Emperor Qing had feigned death to purge opponents, secure the Crown Prince’s succession, and force Zhou Cheng to rebel; Zhou Cheng decided not to let the emperor return.
• Qin Heng met with the Empress Dowager, then returned home and shut himself away.
• The news of Emperor Qing’s death spread, and the people of the Capital filled the city with mourning for the ruler they regarded as a Sage Ruler.
• After three days of public mourning, officials changed into ceremonial attire as the court prepared to establish a new sovereign, with support divided between the Crown Prince and Zhou Cheng.
• The Empress Dowager and the assembled officials gathered in Taiji Hall, while Qin Heng and Chen Pingping remained absent.