Chapter Summaries

Ye Jingtang secretly visited the lonely Empress Dowager, brought her roast chicken, and comforted her until she fell asleep. He then met Yu Hu, learned that he would receive a ducal title and fief, and was asked to help Great Wei prepare for Northern Liang’s visiting delegation.

• Ye Jingtang entered Blessings and Longevity Palace at night and startled the Empress Dowager before revealing that he had brought her warm roast chicken.
• The Empress Dowager ate with Ye Jingtang on the snowy terrace, and he held her until she drifted to sleep before leaving the palace.
• Ye Jingtang met Yu Hu in Cheng'an Hall, returned her protective jade pendant, and learned that the court planned to invest him as the reigning Duke Who Pacifies the Martial Realm with a hereditary fief in Zezhou.
• Ye Jingtang asked whether the Empress Dowager could leave the palace, and Yu Hu explained the political risks before saying that his strength could eventually help make it possible.
• Yu Hu asked Ye Jingtang to help assess Great Wei's young talents and receive Northern Liang's envoys, and said his title and rewards would be arranged before their arrival.

Ye Jingtang returned to his old courtyard, accidentally kissed Fan Qinghe while mistaking her for Fairy Lu, and spent the next morning shopping with Zhe Yunli and Ping'er. An urgent summons brought him before the court, where he received a dukedom and a fief for his achievements.

• Ye Jingtang revisited his old courtyard on Golden Hall Street and read Ping'er's records of life there.
• Ye Jingtang entered Fan Qinghe's room by mistake, kissed her in the dark, and fled after she discovered his mistake and realized he had seen her revealing clothes.
• Ye Jingtang avoided Perfected Person Xuanji and went shopping with Zhe Yunli and Ping'er the next morning.
• The Black Bureau Chief Constable summoned Ye Jingtang to Taihua Hall, where he made a dramatic arrival before the assembled court.
• Dongfang Liren read the imperial edict ennobling Ye Jingtang as Duke Who Pacifies the Martial Realm and granting him Zenan Commandery as his hereditary fief.

Ye Jingtang wore his new Python Robe, reconciled with Fan Qinghe after she considered moving out, and learned that Northern Liang’s Great Grandmaster Hua Ling was coming for him. He returned to Prince Jing’s Manor to receive the Imperial Court’s rewards and prepare with Chen Hezhi for the arrival of Northern Liang’s envoys.

• Dongfang Liren helped Ye Jingtang dress in his Python Robe, and the two flirted in the carriage before she entered Prince Jing’s Manor.
• Ye Jingtang spotted Fan Qinghe carrying a bundle and persuaded her to return home, explaining that Northern Liang had sent Hua Ling to kill him.
• Fan Qinghe agreed to stay and oversee Ye Jingtang’s safety, warning him to guard against poison and other covert attacks.
• Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe arrived at his home as Chen Hezhi delivered the Imperial Court’s rewards and informed him that he would help receive Northern Liang’s envoys.
• Chen Hezhi explained that the envoy delegation would arrive in two days, and Ye Jingtang agreed to assist with the reception and security arrangements.

After Ye Jingtang celebrated his new hereditary dukedom at home, Perfected Person Xuanji confronted him for neglecting her and tested his calligraphy, while the Empress Dowager arrived unexpectedly with a roast chicken. The Empress Dowager recognized a childhood hairpin she had buried in the palace and took it as a sign that heaven had brought it back to her.

• The Empress Dowager and Hongyu slipped out of the palace, and the Empress Dowager decided to visit Ye Jingtang with a roast chicken to celebrate his ennoblement.
• Fan Qinghe and Pei Xiangjun inspected the household's belongings and discussed precautions against poison, while Ye Jingtang worked through files in his Study.
• Perfected Person Xuanji confronted Ye Jingtang for failing to visit her, then challenged him to copy her calligraphy in exchange for a reward.
• Ye Jingtang perfectly copied Perfected Person Xuanji's writing, but she drew her sword when he secretly pulled away part of her undergarment.
• The Empress Dowager arrived at the residence, and Perfected Person Xuanji hurriedly concealed her confrontation with Ye Jingtang.
• The Empress Dowager recognized a childhood pearl hairpin from the palace and asked Ye Jingtang to give it to her, believing its return was ordained by heaven.

Cao Aning and the Left Xian King’s advance party entered Guantou Town to spy on Ye Jingtang, while Ye Jingtang escorted the Empress Dowager home and learned she had found a suspicious handkerchief in his robe. After Cao Aning contacted him for cover information, Ye Jingtang returned home and accidentally disturbed Fan Qinghe, leaving her worried that his repeated visits might wear down her resistance.

• Jia Shengzi warned Cao Aning and Xu Tianying not to act rashly against Ye Jingtang, then sent Cao Aning to gather intelligence in Yun'an.
• Ye Jingtang escorted the tipsy Empress Dowager toward the Imperial City, held her hand, and kissed her when she reached for the handkerchief hidden in his robe.
• Cao Aning secretly told Ye Jingtang that the Left Xian King's six men had arrived ahead of the Northern Liang delegation to gather intelligence, and Ye Jingtang arranged for him to collect information at the constabulary's morgue.
• Ye Jingtang went to Plum Blossom Courtyard to speak with Perfected Person Xuanji, but Fan Qinghe opened the bolted door instead.
• Fan Qinghe watched Ye Jingtang retreat to the main room and worried that his persistent visits might eventually make her accustomed to him.

Ye Jingtang learned a hidden martial technique from Liu Qiansheng and showed Dongfang Liren that he could reproduce a Calligraphy Sage’s writing after studying it once. As the Northern Liang envoys’ cultural challenges approached, Dongfang Liren taught him calligraphy and sought difficult couplets to prepare, while he teased her for a reward.

• Ye Jingtang visited the Black Bureau, where Wang Chihu said Prince Jing was resting and confirmed he would attend the Foreign Envoys’ Residence gathering.
• Liu Qiansheng demonstrated a powerful short-range punch to Ye Jingtang and explained that mastering martial arts required learning many schools and combining their strengths.
• Ye Jingtang ordered the Two Wangs of Yanzhou to search for Hua Ling and other Northern Liang experts in exchange for reduced sentences.
• Madam Zhou warned Dongfang Liren that Northern Liang’s Little Chess Saint might challenge Yun’an in the four arts, and Dongfang Liren sent her away before meeting Ye Jingtang.
• Ye Jingtang copied Zhao Songting’s calligraphy after watching Dongfang Liren write, impressing her with his self-taught skill.
• Dongfang Liren taught Ye Jingtang how to combine the strengths of past calligraphy masters and asked him for difficult couplets to use against the Northern Liang envoys; he supplied one and teased her into rewarding him.

Northern Liang’s delegation arrived in Cloud Peace City, while Li Si gathered intelligence on Ye Jingtang and Ye watched the envoys for hidden threats. Ye left with Perfected Person Xuanji after agreeing to buy her new clothes, and the chapter ended with a young woman in the delegation asking Hua Ning to locate Divine Physician Wang.

• Li Si reviewed Jia Shengzi’s intelligence about Ye Jingtang and ordered him to keep investigating as the Northern Liang fleet reached Yun'an.
• Ye Jingtang and Niao Niao watched the delegation arrive at West City Port, but Ye spotted Perfected Person Xuanji searching for him and went to speak with her.
• Perfected Person Xuanji reminded Ye Jingtang that he had promised to buy her new clothes, and they agreed to shop together later.
• Ye Jingtang and Perfected Person Xuanji watched the delegation until nearly noon, then Ye told the Black Bureau Constables to follow it and returned to Cloud Peace City.
• A young woman traveling with the delegation asked Hua Ning to find Divine Physician Wang, and he left the procession to investigate.

Ye Jingtang visited the Wang Family Medical Clinic for medicinal ingredients, where he met Hua Qingzhi, a learned young woman from the north whose legs were injured. After she criticized his work as a constable, he challenged her with a poem and left, prompting her to hurry after him and seek his name.

• Ye Jingtang sent Perfected Person Xuanji to buy clothes at the Fan Family's residence and went to the Wang Family Medical Clinic for medicine.
• Hua Qingzhi arrived at the clinic in a wheelchair, and Madam Wang examined her blocked and disordered Qi Meridians.
• Hua Qingzhi recognized Ye Jingtang's calligraphy and praised his talent, then urged him to leave the martial profession for scholarship.
• Ye Jingtang defended the value of martial pursuits and challenged Hua Qingzhi to identify a poem by an official from the fallen Northwestern Royal Court.
• Ye Jingtang wrote the poem ending, “Better to command a hundred men than remain a mere scholar,” and left; Hua Qingzhi sent Green Pearl after him and asked Madam Wang who he was.

Ye Jingtang attended a banquet at Lotus Pool and countered Northern Liang’s attempt to use the Western Sea Tribes to undermine him by invoking poems and the history of Northern Liang’s wars. He left the negotiations after silencing Li Si and Fu Menglin, leaving Chen Hezhi to continue the talks.

• Perfected Person Xuanji bought intimate garments and medicine for Fan Qinghe, while Ye Jingtang waited and carried her purchases.
• Li Si ordered Shen Lin to investigate Ye Jingtang and warned Hua Qingzhi to be cautious, then discussed her treatment and an upcoming literary contest.
• Ye Jingtang traveled to Lotus Pool with Fan Qinghe, Wang Chihu, and Chen Hezhi for the banquet with Northern Liang’s delegation.
• Li Si accused Great Wei of sheltering the Northwestern Royal Court’s imperial prince and argued that the Western Sea Tribes could not be pacified.
• Ye Jingtang answered Li Si with poems about the Western Sea’s history and the human cost of war, leaving Li Si and Fu Menglin unable to respond.
• Ye Jingtang left the hall, and Chen Hezhi resumed the trade discussion with the humiliated Northern Liang delegation.

Ye Jingtang investigated a suspicious visitor in Peony Garden and discovered that Hua Qingzhi had unknowingly become involved in his search. After leaving her room in a hurry, he learned she had poisoned him and she sent Hua Ning to find the black-Python-Robed nobleman.

• Fan Qinghe praised Ye Jingtang for his debate at the banquet, but Constable Liu reported that a suspicious warrior called Hua Ning had entered Peony Garden carrying something.
• Ye Jingtang sneaked into Peony Garden and found stolen historical books, scholarly instruments, women's clothing, and thirty thousand taels in a room.
• Hua Qingzhi returned to the room to study the books, and Ye Jingtang confronted her about their theft before deciding to leave.
• Hua Qingzhi matched Ye Jingtang's couplet with an impressive answer, but he hurried away after the poison on his fingertips began affecting him.
• Hua Qingzhi noticed the poison had marked her shoulder and sent Hua Ning to search for the young nobleman wearing a black Python Robe.

Fan Qinghe treated Ye Jingtang for Cangshan Crane-Crown Red while Hua Qingzhi decided to bring him the antidote, and the Empress of Great Wei visited him in the meantime. The chapter ended with the Empress going out to meet Hua Qingzhi while Ye Jingtang reminded her to put her underpants on.

• Fan Qinghe identified Ye Jingtang's poison as Cangshan Crane-Crown Red and treated him with acupuncture, then was knocked unconscious by an unknown visitor.
• Hua Qingzhi learned that the handsome scholar she had met was Ye Jingtang and decided to take him the antidote despite concerns about his reputation and political power.
• The Empress of Great Wei visited Ye Jingtang, teased him about concealing poems, and offered him a private reward for his performance at the banquet.
• Ye Jingtang asked the Empress of Great Wei to show him her underpants, and she briefly showed him a small red pair before putting them away.
• Hua Qingzhi arrived at Lotus Garden to visit Ye Jingtang, and the Empress of Great Wei went out to meet her.

Hua Qingzhi visited Ye Jingtang with an antidote, but her poetic insult enraged the Empress of Great Wei and triggered a devastating saber strike that drenched Lotus Pool. After the Empress recovered and left, Ye Jingtang reassured Fan Qinghe and found a message showing the Empress had chosen not to retaliate against Hua Qingzhi.

• Hua Qingzhi brought Ye Jingtang a rouge box containing an antidote, and the Empress of Great Wei challenged her to a literary exchange.
• Hua Qingzhi hid an insult to the Empress in her poem, and the Empress recognized it after Hua Qingzhi had left.
• The Empress unleashed a saber strike that split Lotus Pool and drenched Hua Qingzhi and Green Pearl, then collapsed from the strain.
• Ye Jingtang treated the Empress while Fan Qinghe slept, and Fan Qinghe later woke and confronted him, believing he had taken advantage of her.
• Ye Jingtang found Hua Qingzhi's message and discovered that the Empress had left a note promising to use words rather than fists.

Perfected Person Xuanji visited the Empress Dowager with provocative underwear bought using Ye Jingtang’s money and revealed she was considering leaving Jade Void Mountain to seek a husband. After returning to the city, Ye Jingtang inspected the Northern Liang greeting wine and his businesses before taking Pei Xiangjun to Twin Osmanthus Alley, where they became intimate.

• Perfected Person Xuanji gave the Empress Dowager the sheer underwear she had bought with Ye Jingtang’s money, then told her she might give up cultivation and find a husband.
• Perfected Person Xuanji agreed to discuss accompanying the Empress Dowager to Jiangzhou, where she could visit family and look for a suitable man.
• Ye Jingtang and his companions accepted Northern Liang’s Night-Whitehead wine as a gift and decided to have it tested before anyone drank it.
• Dongfang Liren learned that the Empress had spent the night writing poetry in anger and hurried to the palace to find out who had upset her sister.
• Ye Jingtang inspected his businesses on Golden Hall Street, then went with Pei Xiangjun to Twin Osmanthus Alley and became intimate with her.

Ye Jingtang took Zhe Yunli shopping after she asked him to help her find work, but Yunli noticed two suspicious men and uncovered a possible lead connected to the Northern Liang delegation. The pair followed the men toward West City to investigate.

• Zhe Yunli returned to Ye Jingtang’s courtyard, and Ye proposed that she and Ping'er work as Third Madam’s assistants for wages.
• Ye Jingtang took Yunli to eat and shop on Dyeing Street, where she noticed two men whose conversation suggested they had come from a poor neighborhood far away.
• Zhe Yunli explained why the men’s journey and behavior seemed suspicious, and Ye agreed to follow them.
• Ye Jingtang suspected the men belonged to the Northern Liang delegation and were checking Cao Aning’s itinerary information, so he and Yunli secretly followed them toward West City.

Ye Jingtang and Zhe Yunli tracked Northern Liang spies to a paper workshop, where they fought off an ambush and captured the leader. After Yunli struggled with having killed for the first time, Ye Jingtang comforted her, and they ended the evening sharing rice noodles.

• Shen Lin discussed Ye Jingtang’s movements with Thousand Mechanisms Sect hall master Han Yuzhuo and planned to investigate the medicine workshop.
• Ye Jingtang and Zhe Yunli followed two suspicious men to a paper workshop and discovered they were meeting other Northern Liang agents.
• Han Yuzhuo attacked Ye Jingtang with a Sky-Shaking Thunder and concealed weapons, but Ye Jingtang turned the attack aside and crushed his meteor hammer.
• Zhe Yunli killed two attackers, while Ye Jingtang defeated Han Yuzhuo and left him alive for the Black Bureau to question.
• Ye Jingtang comforted Yunli after her first deadly fight, paid her a reward for killing spies, and took her to eat rice noodles.

Fan Qinghe and Perfected Person Xuanji shared Night-Whitehead wine at the residence, and Ye Jingtang joined them after taking Zhe Yunli out for rice noodles. After a playful couplet wager brought Xuanji’s conflicted feelings to the surface, Ye Jingtang reassured her with an improvised reply, and she stayed beside him as he fell asleep.

• Fan Qinghe imagined an alternate past in which she might have married Ye Jingtang before Perfected Person Xuanji arrived at the Viewing Tower.
• Fan Qinghe and Perfected Person Xuanji opened the Northern Liang Night-Whitehead and drank it together.
• Zhe Yunli returned with Ye Jingtang after buying rice noodles, and she teased Niao Niao with the food box.
• Ye Jingtang found Fan Qinghe asleep and Perfected Person Xuanji playing the pipa, then drank wine and discussed Prince Jing’s coming couplet contest with Hua Qingzhi.
• Ye Jingtang lost a couplet wager and kissed Perfected Person Xuanji, who then challenged him to answer her heartfelt line or risk her returning to Jade Void Mountain.
• Ye Jingtang matched Xuanji’s line with a story about striving for a wife like her, and she accepted his answer, kissed him, and covered him and Fan Qinghe as he slept.

Hua Ling rejected a Green Bandits elder’s attempt to dissuade him from pursuing Ye Jingtang, explaining that he sought revenge for his grandfather Bo Fenglou. After a drunken night left Ye Jingtang tangled in bed with Fan Qinghe and Perfected Person Xuanji, he sent Niao Niao to deliver breakfast to the Empress Dowager and encountered Hua Qingzhi on her way to challenge Prince Jing.

• An old man tried to recruit Hua Ling and warned that killing Ye Jingtang would bring disaster, but Hua Ling refused to abandon his family feud against the descendants of the Tianlang King.
• A messenger told Hua Ling that Han Yuzhuo had been captured and that Assistant Minister Li wanted him to return before the Black Bureau exposed their people.
• Fan Qinghe woke in Ye Jingtang’s arms and learned from Perfected Person Xuanji that she had drunkenly pursued him for a kiss, while Ye Jingtang pretended not to remember the night.
• Ye Jingtang sent Niao Niao to take a roasted chicken to the Empress Dowager, then rode toward Jade Resonance Tower for his duties.
• Ye Jingtang met Hua Qingzhi on her way to Dragon Roar Tower and told her not to underestimate Prince Jing before leaving for Jade Resonance Tower.

Ye Jingtang accompanied Dongfang Liren to Dragon Roar Tower, where she faced Hua Qingzhi in a literary contest. Their poetic exchange turned into a quarrel over Ye, and he intervened to declare the round a draw, leaving the formal matches to continue.

• Ye Jingtang escorted Dongfang Liren to Dragon Roar Tower, where she answered Hua Qingzhi’s opening line with a clever couplet.
• The Empress of Great Wei watched from the Orchid and Bamboo Pavilion and traded deliberately nonsensical couplets with Ye Jingtang.
• Hua Qingzhi revealed that Ye Jingtang had given her a couplet, prompting Dongfang Liren to realize he had shared the same line with her and to suspect a rivalry over him.
• Dongfang Liren and Hua Qingzhi traded increasingly pointed verses that the gathered scholars understood as a fight over Ye Jingtang.
• Ye Jingtang interrupted the exchange, acknowledged his relationship with Dongfang Liren, and recited a poem arguing that neither woman should be ranked above the other.
• Hua Qingzhi and Dongfang Liren accepted Ye Jingtang’s proposal to call the round a draw.

Ye Jingtang left the Dragon Roar Tower contest after Cao Aning warned him that Northern Liang agents had gathered at West City Port. He arrived at their meeting aboard a merchant ship just as the assassins discussed their plan to kill him.

• The Empress of Great Wei teased Ye Jingtang into composing a doggerel, then traded couplets with him while they watched the Go match.
• Cao Biao delivered Cao Aning’s letter, reporting that Li Si had sent Jia Shengzi, Cao Aning, and Xu Tianying to West City Port.
• Ye Jingtang left the contest after learning that Fairy Lu was with the Empress Dowager and headed outside the city to investigate.
• Aboard a merchant vessel, Shen Lin gathered Northern Liang experts to plan Ye Jingtang’s assassination while they waited for Hua Ling to arrive.
• When the group asked where Ye Jingtang was, he answered, “Right here,” startling Cao Aning and the other assassins.

Ye Jingtang went alone to West City Port and attacked the Northern Liang assassins gathered aboard a merchant ship. He killed their leaders and several experts, ordered the surviving fighters taken into custody, and rode away through the snow.

• Ye Jingtang tracked a scout to a merchant ship at West City Port and discovered that assassins were meeting aboard it while Hua Ling was still absent.
• Ye Jingtang revealed his Black Bureau badge and attacked the gathered fighters, shattering the ship’s deck and killing Ma Zhenbang and the other Ma brothers.
• Xu Yetang and Sikong Sheng ambushed Ye Jingtang, but he killed Xu Yetang with a kick and struck Sikong Sheng down with the Dragon-Qi Sword.
• Ye Jingtang killed Shen Lin after Shen Lin scattered hidden weapons, while Jia Shengzi and other members of the Left Xian King’s forces fled.
• Ye Jingtang ordered the naval troops to take the surviving Northern Liang fighters into custody, retrieved the Dragon-Mingling Spear, and rode away.