Chapter Summaries

On the day he founded the Great Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang saw a strange invitation to a rebel group chat, but it vanished before he could enter. Nine years later, the chat opened and connected him with Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang watching their exchange about the Han dynasty and Liu Bang’s lifespan.

• During his enthronement ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang saw a message saying he did not qualify for the rebel group chat, then watched the invitation rules begin adjusting.
• After the display vanished, Zhu Yuanzhang told no one and eventually concluded that exhaustion had caused the strange experience.
• Nine years later, while reviewing memorials, Zhu Yuanzhang received a welcome message to the chat and saw messages welcoming Zhang Jiao as well.
• Liu Bang demanded that Zhang Jiao explain whether the Great Han was about to fall, and Zhang Jiao accused Liu Bang of impersonating Emperor Gaozu.
• Zhu Yuanzhang discovered how to send messages but first ordered the attending eunuch away from the chamber.
• Liu Bang learned that Zhang Jiao lived centuries after his own time and asked how old he would be when he died; Zhang Jiao refused to answer without a reason.

Liu Bang learned that he would survive the Siege of Baideng and live until the twelfth year of Emperor Gao of Han’s reign, while Zhang Jiao sought advice on escaping the Siege of Guangzong. The chapter ended as Zhu Yuanzhang prepared to explain how Liu Bang had escaped Baideng.

• Liu Bang weighed the Han Army’s chances of surviving the siege and asked Zhu Yuanzhang about his lifespan.
• Zhu Yuanzhang told Liu Bang that historical records said he died of illness in Changle Palace in the twelfth year of Emperor Gao of Han’s reign.
• Liu Bang realized the account meant he had survived the Siege of Baideng and asked how he had escaped it.
• Zhang Jiao described the epidemic, dwindling supplies, and encirclement threatening the Yellow Turban Army at Guangzong, then asked Liu Bang about bribing the Xiongnu.
• Liu Bang rejected Zhang Jiao’s account, and Zhu Yuanzhang began preparing to provide his own explanation.

Zhu Yuanzhang learned that changes made through the Rebel Army Group would create a parallel timeline, then he, Liu Bang, and Zhang Jiao faced the group’s first quiz about similarities between the falls of the Han and Ming dynasties. Liu Bang answered incorrectly and received a three-day “Sleeve-Cutting Fetish” status, while Zhang Jiao and Zhu Yuanzhang awaited their rewards.

• Zhu Yuanzhang asked whether changing history through the group would affect other members, and the Administrator explained that each member’s actions created a separate parallel timeline.
• The Administrator announced a timed quiz about similarities between the falls of the Han and Ming dynasties, offering six possible causes.
• Liu Bang chose B and D, while Zhang Jiao and Zhu Yuanzhang each chose A, B, C, D, and E.
• The Administrator revealed that A, B, C, D, and E were correct, leaving Liu Bang with the only incorrect answer.
• The Administrator gave Liu Bang a three-day “Sleeve-Cutting Fetish” status, prompting Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Jiao to laugh.

Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhang Jiao watched a later-generation song video portraying Zhang Jiao’s motives and the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Moved by its account of his devotion to the people and the eventual fall of the Great Han, Zhang Jiao’s resolve to rebel strengthened.

• Liu Bang asked what the phrase “passion of the cut sleeve” meant, and Zhu Yuanzhang explained its connection to Emperor Ai of Han and Dong Xian.
• The administrator rewarded Zhang Jiao and Zhu Yuanzhang with song videos, and the group began watching them.
• Zhang Jiao’s video portrayed him treating the sick, raising the Yellow Turbans against the Great Han, and declaring that he would bring the dynasty down.
• Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang wondered whether the video’s supernatural scenes were fictional, while Zhu Yuanzhang reflected that later generations admired Zhang Jiao.
• Zhang Jiao realized that future people understood and respected him, and he reaffirmed his resolve to bring down the Great Han.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched an animated song depicting the deaths of Zhu Xiongying, Ma Xiuying, and Zhu Biao, and feared that it foretold his future. Convinced there was still time to prevent the tragedies, he asked the group for advice on averting them.

• The administrator played Zhu Yuanzhang's song, whose animation showed a grieving Zhu Yuanzhang mourning his grandson, wife, and crown prince.
• The animation showed Zhu Xiongying dying young and Ma Xiuying becoming gravely ill before passing away.
• The animation later showed Zhu Biao dying in his prime, leaving an aged Zhu Yuanzhang isolated and grieving.
• Zhu Yuanzhang wondered whether the deaths would lead him to pass the throne to Zhu Di, but could not determine what the animation meant.
• Zhu Yuanzhang decided that he could still prevent the depicted events and asked the administrator whether the animation showed the future.
• After Zhang Jiao confirmed that parts of his own song's animation were true, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Bang, Zhang Jiao, and Chen how to avert the tragedies.

After learning that his empress, crown prince, and eldest grandson would die before him, Zhu Yuanzhang sought Liu Bang’s help, then summoned Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying, and imperial physicians to check their health. The group chat ended before Liu Bang could consult his advisers, while Zhang Jiao continued managing the plague quarantine in Guangzong.

• Liu Bang confirmed that Zhu Yuanzhang’s empress, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiongying had died before him in the animated music video, then suggested summoning renowned physicians to protect them from illness.
• Zhu Yuanzhang rejected Liu Bang’s advice as insufficient, and Liu Bang promised to consult Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and Chen Ping after escaping Mount Baideng.
• The administrator ended the group chat, and Liu Bang went to sleep believing Chen Ping would devise a plan to free him.
• Zhang Jiao ordered Zhang Liang to inspect the plague quarantine in Guangzong and keep the inspectors separated before they returned to the camps.
• Zhu Yuanzhang confirmed that the attendants outside the side hall could not hear the group chat, then summoned Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiongying, Dai Sigong, and Xiao Jiuxian to check on their health.
• Zhu Biao questioned Zhu Yuanzhang’s sudden concern for their health and urged his father to take better care of himself, as Dai Sigong and Xiao Jiuxian arrived.

Zhu Yuanzhang had Dai Sigong and Xiao Jiuxian examine Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying, learning that both had congenital weakness and frail constitutions. He ordered them to keep the matter secret and took them to Kunning Palace to examine the empress.

• Zhu Yuanzhang had Dai Sigong and Xiao Jiuxian examine Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying.
• Dai Sigong explained that Zhu Biao had congenital weakness but was currently in good health, and advised him to nurture his constitution.
• Dai Sigong revealed that Zhu Xiongying also had congenital weakness, likely affected by the crown princess’s illnesses during pregnancy.
• Xiao Jiuxian confirmed the physicians’ assessment, and Zhu Yuanzhang worried privately about the imperial succession and the future of the Great Ming.
• Zhu Yuanzhang told Zhu Biao to follow medical advice and protect his health, then ordered both physicians to keep the family’s conditions secret.
• Zhu Yuanzhang led Dai Sigong and Xiao Jiuxian to Kunning Palace to examine the empress.

Zhu Yuanzhang had Dai Sigong and Xiao Jiuxian examine Empress Ma and himself, then urged her to rest and considered recruiting more imperial physicians. After the physicians left, he wondered why Xiao Jiuxian, who had once risked his life to treat Empress Ma, had been reluctant to recommend another doctor.

• Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Empress Ma from the Imperial Food Bureau and asked Dai Sigong and Xiao Jiuxian to examine them both.
• Xiao Jiuxian diagnosed Empress Ma with lingering weakness from poor recuperation after childbirth and advised rest, regular walks, and restorative medicine.
• Dai Sigong described Zhu Yuanzhang's familiar ailments, and Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Empress Ma to reduce her workload and delegate palace affairs.
• Zhu Yuanzhang asked the physicians to recommend more imperial doctors, and Dai Sigong named his old friend Lou Ying while Xiao Jiuxian declined to suggest anyone.
• After dismissing the physicians, Zhu Yuanzhang recalled Xiao Jiuxian's past courage in treating Empress Ma and questioned why he had hesitated to recommend a physician now.

Zhu Yuanzhang reconnected with Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao through the Rebel Army Group, learned that time passed at different rates for each of them, and negotiated a possible alliance with Liu Bang. The chapter ended with Zhang Jiao offering access to famous strategists if Zhu Yuanzhang could help him break the siege of Guangzong, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang weighing the offer.

• Zhu Yuanzhang learned that over a month had passed for Liu Bang, compared with nine days for himself and five days for Zhang Jiao, prompting Liu Bang to curse the unequal intervals between chats.
• Liu Bang told Zhu Yuanzhang that Lou Jing and Chen Ping could advise him, then proposed an alliance in which he would provide strategists in exchange for Zhu Yuanzhang sharing future knowledge.
• Zhu Yuanzhang revealed that Liu Bang would be wounded during the campaign against Ying Bu and die in the twelfth year of Emperor Gao, and Liu Bang thanked him.
• Zhang Jiao offered to gather the great strategists of his age for Zhu Yuanzhang if Zhu helped him break the siege of Guangzong.
• Zhu Yuanzhang considered whether Zhang Jiao could give him access to celebrated strategists from the Late Han and Three Kingdoms Period, but practical concerns came to mind.

Zhang Jiao asked Zhu Yuanzhang for help breaking the siege of Guangzong, and Liu Bang agreed that Zhu could assist because the Later Han was doomed. Liu Bang proposed an alliance in which the three could share advisers across timelines, but their bargaining was interrupted by a new quiz about longevity and lifespan.

• Zhu Yuanzhang told Liu Bang that the Later Han would fall and the realm would divide into three kingdoms before the Jin Dynasty reunified it.
• Liu Bang concluded that the Later Han could not be saved and told Zhu Yuanzhang he would not object to helping Zhang Jiao overthrow it.
• Liu Bang proposed that he, Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang form an alliance and draw on one another’s advisers, but Zhu Yuanzhang worried he would get the short end of the deal.
• The administrator announced a new quiz, and Liu Bang summoned Lou Jing and Chen Ping before the question appeared.
• The administrator asked which historical practices most shortened emperors’ lives and which genuinely helped, presenting options about elixirs, indulgence, overwork, cautious treatment, healthy habits, and medical advancement.

Liu Bang, Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang all answered a question about life-shortening practices incorrectly, then learned that elixirs caused chronic heavy-metal poisoning. The group began a race-to-answer phase, where correct answers could earn rewards and information about their fates or factions.

• Liu Bang consulted Lou Jing and Chen Ping, and the three agreed that indulgence shortened life the most while F and H prolonged it.
• Liu Bang, Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang all chose C as the greatest life-shortener and F and H as effective methods, but the correct answer was B, taking elixirs.
• Zhang Jiao connected the answer to the Scripture of Great Peace, while Zhu Yuanzhang recalled that he had considered seeking elixirs for his ailments and resolved not to take them.
• The Rebel Army Group explained that elixirs often contained toxic heavy metals that accumulated in the body and caused chronic poisoning and death.
• The administrator announced a race-to-answer phase, with punishments for failing to answer any questions correctly and rewards for multiple correct answers.

Liu Bang, Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Yuanzhang formed a three-way alliance during a speed-answer round, where Zhu Yuanzhang correctly identified the Eastern Han as a “kindergarten” and chose land consolidation as the chief cause of dynastic rise and fall. Meanwhile, Liu Bang arrived in Zhao and went to its warm chamber, while Guan Gao and Zhao Wu grew resentful over his treatment of Zhang Ao.

• Zhu Yuanzhang agreed to the three-way alliance on the condition that Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao yield to him in future question rounds, and both accepted.
• Zhu Yuanzhang correctly chose “Eastern Han kindergarten” to describe the Eastern Han emperors as a group, while Liu Bang inferred that several had taken the throne as children.
• Zhu Yuanzhang ruled out imperial relatives, eunuchs, insufficient checks on imperial authority, and the five virtues, then chose land consolidation as the chief cause of dynastic rise and fall.
• Liu Bang entered Zhao and asked to be taken to the warm chamber, treating his son-in-law Zhang Ao casually.
• Guan Gao and Zhao Wu resented Liu Bang’s disregard for Zhang Ao, who remained welcoming and personally led Liu Bang to the warm chamber.
• The administrator confirmed Zhu Yuanzhang’s answer about land consolidation was correct, leaving Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao surprised.

Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao reconsidered how land consolidation could bring down dynasties, while Zhu Yuanzhang faced a question about strange descriptions of later Ming emperors. After learning that six descriptions applied to Ming rulers, Zhu Yuanzhang angrily realized one of them implicated his Fourth Son.

• Liu Bang considered whether laws against land consolidation could prolong Great Han, while Zhang Jiao resolved that he would redistribute powerful clans’ lands if he escaped Guangzong.
• Zhu Yuanzhang studied ten descriptions of later Ming emperors and struggled to identify which ones applied to his dynasty.
• With the countdown running, Zhu Yuanzhang chose C, F, I, and J, but the correct answers were E, F, and I.
• Liu Bang concluded that Ming’s institutions must have kept the dynasty secure despite its many bizarre emperors, while Zhang Jiao wondered how its people had endured them.
• Zhu Yuanzhang learned that six descriptions applied to Ming emperors, then angrily cried out, “Fourth Son? Fourth Son!”

Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Bang, and Zhang Jiao received their penalties, and Zhu Yuanzhang earned a reward showing two short videos about Zhu Di. The first video convinced Zhu Yuanzhang that Zhu Di would burn Yingtian, make his nephew disappear, and seize the throne.

• Liu Bang received the one-month status Manic Singing and Awkward Dancing, while Zhang Jiao received the half-month status Burnout.
• Zhu Yuanzhang received the one-month status Giving Up and laughed at the idea that a later Ming emperor had been called the Founding Father of Giving Up.
• The group awarded Zhu Yuanzhang a Zhu Di Mini Video Pack containing two short videos about Zhu Di.
• Zhu Yuanzhang watched Li Shimin and Zhu Di sing about taking the throne in tears, with Zhu Di mentioning Yingtian burning and his nephew hiding away.
• Zhu Yuanzhang connected the video to the missing-person clue and concluded that Zhu Di had murdered his nephew and usurped the throne.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched a later-generation drama depicting Zhu Di’s military victories and learned that Zhu Di became Emperor Yongle and ushered in a flourishing age for Great Ming. As Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao reacted to the revelations, Zhu Yuanzhang raised a problem threatening their alliance: Zhang Jiao was about to die.

• A later-generation drama showed Zhu Di leading the Ming army to victory over the Mongols, then dying during the return from a northern campaign as emperor.
• Zhu Yuanzhang read that Zhu Di had expanded Great Ming’s territory, undertaken major projects and expeditions, and presided over the Yongle Flourishing Age.
• Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao were astonished by Great Ming’s military strength and Zhu Di’s achievements, while Liu Bang offered Zhu Yuanzhang words of comfort.
• Zhu Yuanzhang told Liu Bang that Zhu Di was his fourth son, and Liu Bang refrained from asking why Zhu Di had not been made crown prince.
• Zhu Yuanzhang warned that their plan to share advisers faced an almost impossible problem: Zhang Jiao was about to die.

Zhang Jiao learned that he was likely to die of illness during the siege of Guangzong, while Zhu Yuanzhang explained the historical course of the siege and advised him how the Yellow Turbans might escape destruction. The group chat ended before Zhu Yuanzhang could answer Zhang Jiao’s question about Zhang Yan.

• Zhang Jiao learned from Zhu Yuanzhang that histories recorded his death from illness in the eighth month, and he described the Yellow Turban Army’s worsening situation at Guangzong.
• Zhu Yuanzhang recounted how Zuo Feng’s false accusation led Emperor Ling of Han to dismiss Lu Zhi and appoint Dong Zhuo, whose failed assault gave the Yellow Turbans a chance to break the siege.
• Liu Bang urged Zhang Jiao to seize the opportunity when Dong Zhuo attacked Xiaquyang, and Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that illness and the presence of civilians had kept the Yellow Turbans from withdrawing.
• Zhu Yuanzhang advised Zhang Jiao to attack Dong Zhuo from both sides, seize nearby cities if victorious, or retreat into the Yan Mountains or Taihang Mountains if the army could not defeat the Han forces.
• Zhang Jiao asked where Zhang Yan was, but the Rebel Army Group ended before Zhu Yuanzhang could respond.

Zhu Yuanzhang struggled against the Rebel Army Group’s lying-flat penalty but gave up reviewing memorials and went to bed early, while Liu Bang turned a song from the group’s video into a lively Great Han performance at a banquet in Zhao. Liu Bang embraced the effects of his own negative status and ended the chapter dancing awkwardly to the newly adopted Great Han Battle Song.

• Zhu Yuanzhang felt exhausted, resisted the urge to rest and summon concubines, and forced himself to review memorials in the Western Warm Chamber.
• After reviewing only a few memorials, Zhu Yuanzhang went to bed with his shoes still on and ordered Yunqi to say he had caught a slight cold and suspend court for a day.
• Liu Bang reflected on what he had learned about the Later Han and became angry that Zhang Ao had not joined the campaign against the Xiongnu.
• At the banquet in Zhao, Zhang Ao served Liu Bang while Guan Gao, Zhao Wu, and Lou Jing disapproved of Liu Bang sitting with his legs splayed.
• Liu Bang asked for music, hummed the Great Ming Battle Song, and had the musicians learn and play it.
• Liu Bang rose to sing and dance awkwardly, enjoying the performance and declaring the tune the public’s Great Han Battle Song.

Liu Bang’s banquet with Zhang Ao turned into an exuberant dance, leaving him to postpone his plan to reprimand his son-in-law. In Guangzong, Zhang Jiao regained his vigor through burnout, prepared for a possible Han Army attack, and found Chu Yan, whom he appointed to serve at his side.

• Liu Bang drew Zhang Ao, Guan Gao, Zhao Wu, and the other guests into a long evening of singing and dancing, then decided to postpone reprimanding Zhang Ao until another day.
• Zhang Jiao realized burnout had restored his strength for half a month and resolved to use that time and Zhu Yuanzhang’s knowledge to break Guangzong’s siege and change the Yellow Turban Army’s fate.
• Zhang Jiao ordered Zhang Liang to search for Chu Yan and warned him that Lu Zhi’s absence from patrols could signal a renewed Han Army attack.
• Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang inspected the camps outside Guangzong, raising the Yellow Turban soldiers’ morale.
• Zhang Jiao found seventeen-year-old squad leader Chu Yan and appointed him a Yellow Turbans Strongman to attend him, while setting aside the idea of adopting him as a son.

Dong Zhuo began a full assault on Guangzong, while Zhang Jiao prepared the Yellow Turban forces to hold out and Liu Bei worried about the political consequences of victory. In Great Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang canceled morning court again and summoned Hu Weiyong, Li Wenzhong, and Tang He, who arrived to find Li Shanchang waiting.

• Zhang Jiao saw the Han Army advance under Dong Zhuo and ordered the Yellow Turbans to hold the city, promising that an opportunity to escape the encirclement would come after a dozen or so days.
• Dong Zhuo rallied nearly thirty thousand Han troops and ordered them to storm Guangzong.
• Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei led their five hundred Righteous Army soldiers to the western side of Guangzong, where Liu Bei chose to fight normally despite fearing that victory would validate the accusation against Lu Zhi.
• Zhu Yuanzhang canceled morning court again, and Yunqi told Hu Weiyong, Li Wenzhong, and Tang He to meet him in the side hall to discuss important matters.
• Hu Weiyong, Li Wenzhong, and Tang He arrived at the side hall and found Li Shanchang there.

Zhu Yuanzhang assigned Zhu Biao to help govern while he rested and recalled Li Shanchang to assist with state affairs. He then asked Li Shanchang how Great Ming could advance medicine, and Zhu Biao suggested compiling medical books and pharmacopoeias.

• Hu Weiyong, Li Shanchang, Li Wenzhong, and Tang He met with Zhu Yuanzhang, who announced that Zhu Biao would help handle state affairs during his month of rest.
• Zhu Yuanzhang recalled Li Shanchang to coordinate affairs across the Central Secretariat, the Chief Military Commission, and the Censorate, and ordered Hu Weiyong, Li Wenzhong, and Tang He to assist Zhu Biao.
• After Hu Weiyong, Li Wenzhong, and Tang He left, Zhu Yuanzhang fell asleep, then woke and had chairs brought for Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang.
• Zhu Yuanzhang asked Li Shanchang how Great Ming could emphasize and advance medicine, but dismissed his account of measures taken by earlier dynasties as insufficient.
• Zhu Biao suggested that Great Ming compile medical books and pharmacopoeias, and Zhu Yuanzhang understood his proposal.