Chapter Summaries

Qixia True Person awoke from her mortal-transformation sleep to discover that Empress Dowager Guo had arranged for her to share a bed with Xie Jinhuan. She retaliated against Guo and Zisu, then Xie Jinhuan woke to find a bound, blindfolded Guo waiting for him.

• Jiang Xian and Xie Jinhuan fell asleep together, and Jiang Xian transformed back into Qixia True Person.
• Qixia True Person confronted Empress Dowager Guo on the Boat Tower and defeated her after a brief fight.
• Qixia True Person carried Guo to Xie Jinhuan's room, then used a curse to give Lin Zisu an embarrassing dream as punishment.
• Xie Jinhuan woke from his dream and discovered Guo bound and blindfolded on a rug amid an assortment of bedroom items.

Xie Jinhuan found Empress Dowager Guo bound and gagged, then learned she had been captured after Mei Conggao knocked her unconscious. After he freed her, the two grew intimate aboard the pleasure boat, while Empress Dowager Guo set terms for their relationship and warned him to take responsibility for Jiang Xian.

• Xie Jinhuan found Empress Dowager Guo bound, gagged, and with her qi meridians sealed by Seven-Star Nails.
• Empress Dowager Guo claimed Yuehua had left her in that state, concealing that Mei Conggao had knocked her unconscious.
• Xie Jinhuan began teasing Empress Dowager Guo with the Nine Stars Aligned, then untied her when she agreed to his advances.
• Empress Dowager Guo allowed Xie Jinhuan to be intimate with her but warned him not to grow arrogant and threatened to send his father to herd sheep.
• Empress Dowager Guo told Xie Jinhuan to take responsibility for Jiang Xian, then agreed he could privately call her Little Mei.
• Xie Jinhuan and Empress Dowager Guo embraced as their pleasure boat sailed through the autumn night.

At the Eldest Princess's Residence, Lin Wanyi discovered that Lin Zisu had been rubbing Xie Jinhuan's calves and tried to question her, but Zisu escaped. On the pleasure boat, Bu Yuehua possessed Zisu's body and joined Xie Jinhuan and Empress Dowager Guo in a private bedroom encounter, unaware that Qixia True Person was secretly recording them from a wardrobe.

• Bu Yuehua tried to persuade Lin Wanyi to arrange a match between Lin Zisu and Xie Jinhuan, then switched souls into Zisu's body.
• Lin Zisu told Lin Wanyi that she had rubbed Xie Jinhuan's calves at Xiao Biao's request, then fled to the Banquet Hall.
• Lin Wanyi tried to contact Bu Yuehua through the Divine Soul Mark, but received no response.
• Bu Yuehua searched the pleasure boat, found Xie Jinhuan blindfolded with Empress Dowager Guo, and joined them in their playful encounter.
• Qixia True Person secretly recorded Empress Dowager Guo and Bu Yuehua with a Crystal Ball, then fell asleep in the wardrobe.

Xie Jinhuan asked A Piao how to sever Sister Guo’s connection to the world, then discovered Jiang Xian had secretly witnessed his night with Sister Guo and watched as Sister Guo made her wear a bell. Later, Lin Zisu learned that her clothes had been changed during the previous night and confronted Xie Jinhuan after A Piao showed her a crystal ball recording.

• Xie Jinhuan asked A Piao whether Sister Guo’s link to the world could be severed, and A Piao said he needed to become a sect patriarch first.
• Xie Jinhuan found Jiang Xian asleep in the wardrobe, and Sister Guo claimed she was her secret lover before making Jiang Xian wear a bell.
• Xie Jinhuan escorted the embarrassed Jiang Xian back to her room after Sister Guo’s display.
• Lin Zisu woke in different lingerie, confronted Xie Jinhuan, and asked him to show her what had happened the previous night.
• A Piao produced a crystal ball recording of Xie Jinhuan and Lin Zisu, and Lin Zisu fled, threatening to tell her aunt.

Lin Wanyi welcomed Xie Jinhuan and the others back to the capital, while a letter revealed that Shang Lianbi had hidden most of Dragonbone Shoal’s Blood Tax and valuable resources. Xie Jinhuan and Linghu Qingmo considered how to locate the secret vault as the group headed back to the Lin Household.

• Lin Wanyi and Bu Yuehua waited by the river for Xie Jinhuan and Lin Zisu to return, and Coal Ball flew over to claim the food she had brought.
• Lin Zisu reunited with Lin Wanyi, who reminded her to catch up on two months of Academy assignments, while Bu Yuehua promised to speak to her tutor.
• Empress Dowager Guo took Bu Yuehua aside to admonish her, but Bu Yuehua continued to suggest arranging a private gathering together.
• Lin Wanyi gave Xie Jinhuan a letter from Nangong Ye reporting that the advance party had taken control of Misty-Wave City but found little Blood Tax among Shang Lianbi’s assets.
• Xie Jinhuan reasoned that Shang Lianbi’s hidden Blood Tax would require a specially maintained site, and Linghu Qingmo planned to check the Directorate of Celestial Observation’s records for clues.
• Lin Wanyi kissed Xie Jinhuan in the carriage while Linghu Qingmo closed his eyes and meditated.

Jiang Xian’s encounter with Steward Hou triggered Qixia True Person to return and plot a humiliating retaliation against Guo Xiaomei, while Xie Jinhuan reunited with Wanyi and Linghu Qingmo before searching for Lu Wuzhen at the Directorate. The chapter ended with pregnant Ye Yunchi praying at the Temple of Confucius as thunder rumbled outside.

• Lin Zisu and Jiang Xian shopped for Phoenix Immortal Gowns, and Jiang Xian later spotted Tie Fengzhang talking with Steward Hou.
• Jiang Xian transformed into Qixia True Person, who kicked Steward Hou and then went to find Guo Xiaomei at the Marquis’s Residence.
• Qixia True Person watched Guo Xiaomei and Bu Yuehua in Jinhuan Pavilion and began planning a major revenge scheme.
• Xie Jinhuan reunited with Wanyi and Linghu Qingmo at Nine Dragons Hall, then left for the Directorate with Linghu Qingmo.
• Xie Jinhuan found a menacing qilin ornament in Lu Wuzhen’s office, left Qingmo’s Duty Report, and searched the tower for Lu Wuzhen.
• Ye Yunchi prayed for her unborn child at the Temple of Confucius, and thunder rumbled as she asked the sages to punish her rather than Xie Jinhuan.

Xie Jinhuan and Ye Hongshang provoked Nangong Ye during a sect meeting, then Nangong Ye returned to Plain Cloud Studio and reunited with Xie Jinhuan. After discussing Empress Dowager Guo and Senior Qixia, Nangong Ye stayed with him, and their reunion turned intimate.

• Xie Jinhuan overheard Lu Wuzhen lecture the sect leaders and watched Nangong Ye attend the meeting, while Ye Hongshang transformed into Sister Bu and kissed him to provoke her.
• Ye Hongshang took Xie Jinhuan to Plain Cloud Studio and teased him in another disguise, while Nangong Ye grew furious at the meeting.
• Nangong Ye returned to the studio and found Xie Jinhuan exercising beside a tray of suggestive items; she fled, but Xie Jinhuan caught her and persuaded her to stay.
• Nangong Ye asked whether Xie Jinhuan had brought Empress Dowager Guo into their circle and told him to notify her when Senior Qixia returned.
• Xie Jinhuan carried Nangong Ye to the bedroom, put away the items, and their reunion became intimate.

After bathing with Nangong Ye, Xie Jinhuan returned to the Directorate of Celestial Observation to review Linghu Qingmo’s research into places that could store blood qi. He then went home, where Zhao Ling, Ye Yunchi, and Linghu Qingmo discussed a name for Ye Yunchi’s child before Zhao Ling turned the welcome-home gathering into a teasing, intimate scene.

• Xie Jinhuan bathed with Nangong Ye, who told him to leave and stay out of her dispute with the Demoness, then saw him off from Plain Cloud Studio.
• Xie Jinhuan remembered his unfinished business and returned to the Directorate of Celestial Observation, where Linghu Qingmo showed him a list of Spirit-Gathering Array sites that might conceal stored blood qi.
• Xie Jinhuan and Linghu Qingmo discussed how Shang Lianbi might have hidden resources among the Righteous Path’s major powers, then went to the Danyang Marquis Household.
• Duoduo welcomed Xie Jinhuan and led him to Zhao Ling and Ye Yunchi, who told him about Ye Yunchi’s idea to name her child Sword Inheritance.
• Zhao Ling pulled Linghu Qingmo onto Xie Jinhuan’s lap and began undressing him, then insisted Ye Yunchi join the gathering while Xie Jinhuan kept her from leaving.

Nangong Ye visited the Danyang Marquis Household and found Xie Jinhuan and the others drinking, while Qixia True Person led him to discover Empress Dowager Guo and Bu Yuehua in enchanted outfits. The party drew more companions into the bedroom, and Nangong Ye ultimately followed Lin Wanyi inside as the gathering continued through the night.

• Nangong Ye peeked into the Lakeside Banquet Hall, then met Qixia True Person, who agreed to arrange Qingmo's promotion and showed him names she had chosen for his child.
• Xie Jinhuan carried Linghu Qingmo upstairs with Zhao Ling, Nai Duo, and Ye Yunchi, where they found Empress Dowager Guo and Bu Yuehua asleep in enchanted gauze outfits.
• Empress Dowager Guo concealed that Mei Conggao had put her in the outfit, while Xie Jinhuan and Zhao Ling tested its magical effects on her and Bu Yuehua.
• Qixia True Person brought members of the Lin Household to listen from next door, then left after Lin Wanyi covered Lin Zisu's ears.
• Lin Wanyi persuaded Nangong Ye to join the gathering, and she entered the bedroom as Xie Jinhuan welcomed her with a drinking-game penalty.

After waking from the revelry at the Marquis's Residence, Xie Jinhuan set out with Lin Zisu and Jiang Xian while Empress Dowager Guo asked them to shop for clothes. At the Directorate of Celestial Observation, Linghu Qingmo was named Qixia True Person's Close-Door Disciple and next Sect Leader, and Lu Wuzhen explained the limits of Xie Jinhuan's investigation into the Righteous Path.

• Lin Zisu and Coal Ball woke Jiang Xian, who checked the Xian'er Diary and planned to discuss its instructions with Xie Jinhuan.
• Xie Jinhuan woke amid the women in Jinhuan Pavilion, then went downstairs to meet Lin Zisu and head out for breakfast.
• Empress Dowager Guo instructed Jiang Xian and Lin Zisu to buy new outfits at the Colorful Garments Pavilion, with Xie Jinhuan helping them choose.
• Lu Wuzhen told Nangong Ye and Linghu Qingmo that Qingmo would become Qixia True Person's Close-Door Disciple and the next Sect Leader, with Nangong Ye teaching him.
• Lu Wuzhen asked Linghu Qingmo to warn Xie Jinhuan to focus his investigation on the Demon Path and avoid exposing unrelated wrongdoing across the Righteous Path.

Zhao Ling secretly sprinkled Empress Xu’s supposed aphrodisiac on Xie Jinhuan’s pillow, while Empress Dowager Guo noticed and began plotting. Later, Lin Zisu received a mysterious message from her aunt and lost a pill, leaving her puzzled as she walked with Xie Jinhuan and Jiang Xian.

• Empress Xu asked Zhao Ling about her relationship with Xie Jinhuan and gave her a powder intended to encourage him to want children.
• Zhao Ling secretly sprinkled the powder on Xie Jinhuan’s pillow, and Empress Dowager Guo noticed her furtive actions from outside the room.
• At the Colorful Garments Pavilion, Ye Hongshang challenged Xie Jinhuan to a physical contest, then kissed him before Zisu and Jiang Xian came out.
• Xie Jinhuan paid for the Dharma Robes, and he, Lin Zisu, and Jiang Xian walked back through the Capital City.
• Lin Zisu heard her aunt ask for medicine to strengthen self-control and offered a Dan of Disinterest in Men, but afterward she could not remember the exchange and discovered the pill was missing.
• Xie Jinhuan and Jiang Xian questioned Lin Zisu about the missing pill, and Xie Jinhuan wondered whether Ghost Wife had taken it.

Nangong Ye told Xie Jinhuan about the search for the Corpse Ancestor’s hidden stores and the need to inspect the Hundred Schools Ancestral Court, then Xie Jinhuan carried him off to cultivate. Linghu Qingmo, Zhao Ling, and Duoduo listened nearby, with Qingmo realizing that his former master’s private habits were no secret to the household.

• Nangong Ye agreed that Linghu Qingmo could continue calling him Master at home, though they would use their new senior-sister and junior-sister titles outside.
• Nangong Ye began painting a family portrait in Xie Jinhuan’s study, but the imagined child kept resembling Linghu Qingmo or Xie Xiaohuan.
• Nangong Ye explained that Xie Jinhuan must inspect the Spirit-Gathering Arrays at the Hundred Schools Ancestral Court while remaining ready to respond to any developments in the search for Shang Lianbi’s hidden stores.
• Xie Jinhuan carried Nangong Ye to his bedroom, where they began an intimate encounter as Ye Hongshang secretly watched.
• Zhao Ling and Duoduo listened with Linghu Qingmo from a nearby room, and Zhao Ling declared Duoduo the loser of their bet.

Empress Dowager Guo sent Jiang Xian and Lin Zisu to check on Xie Jinhuan, whose strange agitation was caused by Ye Hongshang’s interference. Jiang Xian left Zisu alone with him, and Zisu tried to calm him by imitating how Yuehua had treated him, ending in a kiss.

• Empress Dowager Guo told Jiang Xian to massage Xie Jinhuan, and Lin Zisu joined her to examine his supposed back pain.
• Jiang Xian heard Nangong Ye’s voice near Xie Jinhuan’s room, while Ye Hongshang warned Xie Jinhuan that Zisu had arrived.
• Lin Zisu discovered Xie Jinhuan was unharmed but unusually heated, and offered him a pill that would suppress his desire for half a month.
• Ye Hongshang entered Xie Jinhuan’s divine soul and made him raise a hand as if to injure himself, prompting Jiang Xian and Lin Zisu to help him.
• Jiang Xian asked to accompany Xie Jinhuan to the Various Sects' Ancestral Court, then left Zisu alone with him.
• Lin Zisu sat in Xie Jinhuan’s lap and kissed him after he showed her a Crystal Ball recording of Yuehua treating him.

Xie Jinhuan faced Ye Hongshang’s challenge after Lin Zisu failed to cure his condition, and Ye Hongshang used her One Breath, Three Pure Ones technique to overwhelm him with three forms. Their contest left the Rear Residence listening outside as Ye Hongshang’s medicine and multiplied sensations turned the tables on her.

• Jiang Xian left a boastful message in the Xian'er Diary while Empress Dowager Guo watched Mei Conggao and continued plotting to recruit him.
• Linghu Qingmo warned Nangong Ye that the Rear Residence had heard her intimate sounds, but they then heard another seductive voice upstairs.
• Lin Zisu tried to soothe Xie Jinhuan, found his condition unchanged, offered him a pill, and left to change her stained skirt.
• Ye Hongshang accepted Xie Jinhuan’s wager and used One Breath, Three Pure Ones to create three forms that challenged him together.
• Ye Hongshang took Zisu’s Dan of Disinterest in Men, but it did not stop her body’s reactions, and the contest turned against her.
• Linghu Qingmo, Nangong Ye, Zhao Ling, and Duoduo listened outside and speculated about Ye Hongshang and Xie Jinhuan.

After spending the afternoon with Ye Hongshang, Xie Jinhuan watched her pressure Nangong Ye into keeping their relationship secret, while Nangong Ye suspected Bu Yuehua had drugged him and headed to Nine Dragons Hall. Meanwhile, Jiang Xian and Lin Zisu reconciled by sharing Xie Jinhuan’s attention as evening fell.

• Ye Hongshang merged her three forms, refused to accept Xie Jinhuan’s claim that she had lost their bet, and left him alone.
• Nangong Ye visited Ye Hongshang, who showed her evidence of her past affairs and demanded secrecy, then told her to call her sister.
• Nangong Ye suspected Bu Yuehua had drugged Xie Jinhuan and went to Nine Dragons Hall to confront her.
• Coal Ball alerted Xie Jinhuan that Lin Zisu and Jiang Xian were arguing, and he went to the guest room to intervene.
• Lin Zisu insisted Jiang Xian help Xie Jinhuan recover, then persuaded her to share his attention as Coal Ball waited outside.

Qixia True Person awoke in Jiang Xian’s body and set out to find Xie Jinhuan, while he returned to Nine Dragons Hall and encountered Ye Hongshang. Nangong Ye hid in a wardrobe to ambush him, but was left bewildered when he entered the bedroom alone and began acting out an imaginary encounter.

• Qixia True Person woke in Jiang Xian’s body, scolded herself in the diary, and went searching for Xie Jinhuan.
• Qixia True Person learned that Xie Jinhuan had gone to Nine Dragons Hall and kicked the Ugly Freak steward as she passed him.
• Xie Jinhuan walked through the Outer City with Lin Zisu and Coal Ball, then went to Nine Dragons Hall while Lin Zisu hurried inside.
• Xie Jinhuan found Bu Yuehua and Wanyi attending a meeting, so he waited in Wanyi’s private quarters with Qinwen.
• Ye Hongshang appeared in a mature, dignified outfit and teased Xie Jinhuan before he carried her toward the bedroom.
• Nangong Ye hid in the wardrobe with drugs prepared for an ambush, then watched Xie Jinhuan enter alone and pretend to throw an unseen woman onto the bed.

Xie Jinhuan’s dancing in the room led Qixia True Person to discover him, and a drug-induced surge of her Demonic Nature turned her attack into an overwhelming attempt to kiss and cultivate with him. Nangong Ye was knocked unconscious while Ye Hongshang advised Xie Jinhuan to cooperate, leaving him trapped with Qixia True Person as she demanded his help.

• Xie Jinhuan danced naked by the wardrobe while Nangong Ye watched unseen, mistaking the performance for deliberate seduction.
• Qixia True Person entered and confronted Xie Jinhuan for being intimate with her Close-Door Disciple, Xiao Biao.
• Qixia True Person’s Demonic Nature flared, and she pinned Xie Jinhuan down and tried to kiss him.
• Nangong Ye emerged from the wardrobe to intervene, but Qixia True Person knocked him unconscious.
• Ye Hongshang explained that a strong drug had triggered Qixia True Person’s Demonic Nature and suggested Xie Jinhuan cooperate to calm her.
• Xie Jinhuan reluctantly agreed to guide Qixia True Person, who continued kissing him and demanded that he bring his face closer.

After Qixia True Person was drugged and became intimate with Xie Jinhuan, she woke up mortified and threatened him to keep the incident secret. Lin Wanyi and Lin Zisu meanwhile discussed how to make Wanyi more assertive among Xie Jinhuan’s companions.

• Bu Yuehua and Lin Wanyi heard suspicious sounds upstairs, but Ye Hongshang stopped them and said Xie Jinhuan was treating someone’s injury.
• Nangong Ye woke and secretly watched her white-haired master kiss Xie Jinhuan, then pretended to sleep rather than interrupt.
• Lin Zisu proposed making Lin Wanyi a pill to help her outlast Xie Jinhuan, and Lin Wanyi agreed to let her try.
• Qixia True Person woke beside Xie Jinhuan, watched a Water Screen showing her drugged behavior, and realized she had been the one to force herself on him.
• Qixia True Person suspected Guo Xiaomei had drugged her, but Xie Jinhuan persuaded her not to confront Guo and she ordered him to keep the incident secret before leaving.

Xie Jinhuan woke beside Nangong Ye after the White-Haired Immortal left, then had to manage Nangong Ye and Bu Yuehua's quarrel. Jiang Xian woke in the West Residence with no memory of the previous night and found a message directing her to summon Xie Jinhuan to the Empress Dowager.

• Nangong Ye admitted he had drugged Xie Jinhuan and asked him to cover for him, and Xie Jinhuan agreed.
• Bu Yuehua taunted Nangong Ye, and Xie Jinhuan carried them both into the bathing room to stop their argument.
• Qingmo went to the Directorate of Celestial Observation to seek news, while Empress Xu questioned Zhao Ling about the drug.
• Jiang Xian woke with a sore bottom, checked the Immortal's Daily Record, and found instructions to tell Xie Jinhuan that the Empress Dowager wanted to see him alone.

Xie Jinhuan went to see Empress Dowager Guo and discovered that Mei Conggao had marked her with the words “For Jinhuan’s exclusive use.” While he tried to remove the mark, Qixia True Person showed the scene to Zhao Ling, Ye Yunchi, and Linghu Qingmo, leaving the household amused and embarrassed.

• Lin Zisu left Xie Jinhuan and Jiang Xian alone to check the Medicine Furnace, and Xie Jinhuan took Jiang Xian’s hand as they walked toward the Marquis’s Residence.
• Xie Jinhuan spotted Zhao Ling and Linghu Qingmo examining a family portrait in the Study before heading to Empress Dowager Guo’s room.
• Xie Jinhuan found Empress Dowager Guo meditating and discovered that Mei Conggao had written “For Jinhuan’s exclusive use” on her body.
• Ye Hongshang laughed at the mark, while Xie Jinhuan tried to examine and remove it but became distracted instead.
• Qixia True Person used a Water Screen to show Zhao Ling, Ye Yunchi, and Linghu Qingmo Xie Jinhuan with Empress Dowager Guo, then left after privately enjoying the scene.
• Zhao Ling teased Linghu Qingmo about writing a similar message for him, and he protested while Ye Yunchi hesitated.