Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhou secretly prepared to flee the capital because he feared his pregnancy would be discovered, while Chu Huaiyin moved against the second prince’s faction after uncovering the Chongling weapons plot. The chapter ended with Chu Huaiyin launching a citywide search after Meng Zhou vanished from a clothing shop, while Meng Zhou counted money for his escape and decided Prince Huai should help pay for the baby’s milk powder.

• Meng Zhou drank his medicine in secret and burned the dregs, then Jiang Xin believed his excuse for the strange behavior.
• Ji Yang reported that he had rescued the press-ganged villagers and seized weapons and rebels from seven caves at Chongling.
• Chu Huaiyin accused Liu Hongbao of rebellion at court and presented a prisoner made to resemble Liu De, prompting the second prince to defend the Liu Family and draw Emperor Tianyuan’s suspicion.
• Chu Huaiyin ordered Ji Yang to watch the capital and prepare meals for Meng Zhou, then set out to visit him himself.
• Ying Jiu reported that Meng Zhou had disappeared from a clothing shop, so Chu Huaiyin ordered the city gates guarded and began a search.
• Meng Zhou decided to flee the capital, considered his savings, and resolved that Chu Huaiyin should contribute toward the baby’s milk powder.

Meng Zhou prepared to flee the capital while hiding his pregnancy, but after a conspiracy against Chu Huaiyin led to an explosion on Qianyang Lake, they were swept apart in the storm. Meng Zhou reached shore and used the chaos to leave the capital, while Chu Huaiyin searched for him.

• Meng Zhou buried his travel money outside the city, then returned to find the gates locked and learned Chu Huaiyin had ordered a search for him.
• Chu Huaiyin scolded Meng Zhou for investigating near the Liu Residence, but panicked when Meng Zhou appeared to cry and comforted him with his thumb ring and his mother's jade hairpin.
• Meng Zhou and Chu Huaiyin visited Wang Dafu's home, while Meng Fushan divorced Lady Zhou and later secured Emperor Tianyuan's favor by reporting the Zhou Family's treason.
• Emperor Tianyuan imprisoned the empress and the second prince, named Chu Huaiyin crown prince, and ordered the Liu Residence confiscated as the capital's political balance shifted.
• A fleet owner's new cargo ship exploded with Chu Huaiyin and Meng Zhou aboard; they jumped into the lake, where Meng Zhou cut his belt and was swept away from Chu Huaiyin.
• Meng Zhou escaped the lake, changed clothes aboard a pleasure boat, and left the capital in disguise while Chu Huaiyin searched the shore for him.

After fleeing the capital, Meng Zhou discovered most of his buried savings had been stolen and decided to travel on his own. Meanwhile, Chu Huaiyin’s search for him continued as new revelations about the conspiracy emerged, and rumors blaming Meng Zhou’s supposed death provoked Chu Huaiyin’s fury.

• Meng Zhou found that someone had stolen most of his buried silver, kept the five hundred taels left, and planned to buy a carriage and support himself by writing or telling stories.
• Wang Junyang’s three attackers beat him unconscious, mistook him for dead, dressed him in Meng Zhou’s discarded clothes, and threw him into Qianyang Lake, where a crocodile was drawn to his blood.
• Chu Huaiyin killed the crocodile and feared Meng Zhou had been eaten, then ordered the search to continue and the crocodiles to be eliminated.
• Ji Yang reported that a traitor had helped release the crocodiles and that the Liu Family adviser might have orchestrated the attack; Chu Huaiyin ordered the adviser hunted and the fleet investigated or disbanded.
• Chu Huaiyin learned Jiang Yi had asked to escort Jiang Zhanyu’s coffin home and ordered honors for them, while Meng Zhou’s supposed death sparked rumors that he had brought misfortune to the Jiang Clan.
• When Ji Yang told Chu Huaiyin that people were abusing Meng Zhou as a jinx, Chu Huaiyin flew into a rage.

Meng Fushan and Meng Huaihan were punished after Meng Huaihan spread rumors about Meng Zhou, while Chu Huaiyin was led to believe Meng Zhou had drowned. Meng Zhou was alive and traveling away from the capital, but his meeting with Guan Jiasheng ended with a sword pointed at him.

• Meng Fushan confronted Meng Huaihan over her rumors about Meng Zhou, and an imperial decree confiscated her property and banished her and Wang Dafu while confining Meng Fushan to his home.
• An Imperial Guard reported finding a body in Qianyang Lake whose clothes and measurements matched Meng Zhou, and the coroner concluded that he had drowned.
• Chu Huaiyin had Meng Fushan, the wet nurse, and Jiang Xin identify the body, and they all recognized it as Meng Zhou; Jiang Xin mourned over the pouch he had given him.
• Chu Huaiyin bestowed a residence on Meng Zhou for his mourning hall, while Li Wenle privately told the wet nurse that the body was not Meng Zhou's.
• While traveling alone, Meng Zhou met an old man who gave him a medical book, diagnosed his pregnancy, and urged him to stop traveling.
• During a downpour, Meng Zhou found shelter at a ruined temple and recognized Guan Jiasheng, who drew his sword and demanded to know who he was.

Meng Zhou learned that someone was gathering Lake Tai stones to reconstruct Qing Garden and uncover the Liang Dynasty’s hidden treasury, while Chu Huaiyin ascended the throne without him. After reaching a town for medical care, Meng Zhou confronted the servant Guan Jiasheng had assigned to him and demanded to know who was receiving his information.

• Meng Zhou met Guan Jiasheng in a ruined temple, revealed his identity, and heard about the murders and missing Lake Tai stones in Suzhou’s gardens.
• Guan Jiasheng explained that the stones were needed to build Qing Garden, which was said to reveal the Liang emperor’s hidden treasure, and said he was traveling to the capital to report the danger.
• When cramps woke him, Meng Zhou went down the mountain with one of Guan Jiasheng’s servants to find a doctor, while considering whether to investigate Jiangnan or return to the capital.
• In the capital, Chu Huaiyin ascended the throne as Emperor Qining and told Ji Yang that he trusted Jiang Yi, despite the danger of discord over Meng Zhou.
• After getting medicine, Meng Zhou chose to go to the capital with Guan Jiasheng’s servant, then drew his dagger and demanded to know who the suspicious man was reporting to.

Meng Zhou found Guan Jiasheng and his wife murdered, but Guan Jiasheng survived long enough to ask Meng Zhou to take his place. Meng Zhou reached the capital in disguise as Guan Jiasheng, with Afu agreeing to keep his secret, and recognized Ji Yang at the city gate.

• Meng Zhou discovered that Guan Jiasheng's servant had secretly marked the route, then rushed to the ruined temple with a physician.
• Meng Zhou found Guan Jiasheng and his wife lying among the bodies of men in black; Guan Jiasheng, still alive, asked him to take his place before dying.
• Meng Zhou found Afu trapped in a pit and recruited him to help avenge Guan Jiasheng, declaring that he would assume Guan Jiasheng's identity.
• Meng Zhou and Afu traveled toward the capital, where Meng Zhou disguised himself and buried his treasured dagger before entering the city.
• Meng Zhou warned Afu to deny knowing Meng Zhou, then recognized Ji Yang directing the patrol near the city gate.

Meng Zhou returned to the capital disguised as Guan Jiasheng and reunited with Old Madam Guan, who realized he was not her son and demanded to know what had happened. Chu Huaiyin saw Meng Zhou’s tearful face in the Guan Residence and began to doubt his identity as Guan Jiasheng.

• Chu Huaiyin assigned Yan Xiang to investigate the Suzhou affair and suspected Guan Jiasheng was already on his way to the capital.
• Meng Zhou arrived at the eastern gate disguised as Guan Jiasheng, and Ji Yang mistook him for the missing man before agreeing to report his arrival to Chu Huaiyin.
• Meng Zhou returned to the Guan Residence, where Old Madam Guan welcomed him as her son before recognizing that he was someone else.
• Meng Zhou told Old Madam Guan the truth about Guan Jiasheng, and she asked to hear the whole story from beginning to end.
• Chu Huaiyin waited in the Guan Residence, saw Meng Zhou’s reddened eyes, and began to doubt that he was Guan Jiasheng.

Meng Zhou maintained his Guan Jiasheng disguise before Chu Huaiyin, who appointed him acting capital prefect to investigate suspected former-dynasty conspirators smuggling Lake Tai stones. Meanwhile, Jiang Yi returned and publicly severed the Jiang Clan’s ties with Meng Fushan; Meng Zhou later searched unsuccessfully for a way into the Jiang Residence to retrieve his hidden pregnancy medicine.

• Meng Zhou convinced Chu Huaiyin that he was Guan Jiasheng, recounted the attacks in Suzhou, and avoided naming anyone he suspected of transporting Lake Tai stones.
• Chu Huaiyin ordered Ji Yang to investigate around Qing Garden, directed the court historians to search for past calls to rebuild it, and appointed Guan Jiasheng acting capital prefect.
• After returning to the capital, Jiang Yi repudiated Meng Fushan on Jiang Yao’s behalf, forced him to stamp the document, and moved Jiang Yao’s grave into the Jiang Clan’s burial grounds.
• Jiang Yi heard Uncle Liu recount stories about Meng Zhou, while Meng Zhou overheard Jiang Yi joking that he would have punished him with a paddle.
• Meng Zhou went to the Jiang Residence hoping to retrieve the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine he had hidden, but found the dog holes sealed and the walls raised.

Sun Yong suspected Meng Zhou was impersonating Guan Jiasheng and tried to expose him, but Mother Guan shut down his claim. After Meng Zhou tricked Sun Yong into revealing that he had poisoned Guan Jiasheng as a child, Chu Huaiyin confronted Meng Zhou about whether he was the same person as an old acquaintance.

• A middle-aged man ordered his black-clad subordinate to search the ruined temple for Guan Jiasheng’s corpse after learning that Guan Jiasheng had appeared in the capital alive.
• Sun Yong heard rumors that Guan Jiasheng had died and decided the moment had come for him and A-Bao to take over the Guan household.
• Sun Yong noticed Meng Zhou lacked Guan Jiasheng’s childhood burn scar and accused him of being an impostor, but Mother Guan claimed the scar had been removed and warned Sun Yong to stop.
• Sun Yong filed complaints with the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice, but officials dismissed his claims for lack of evidence.
• Meng Zhou bluffed that Sun Yong had drugged his tea when he was fourteen, and Sun Yong’s startled response exposed his guilt to Old Madam Guan.
• Chu Huaiyin confronted Meng Zhou, saying he resembled an old acquaintance and demanding to inspect the red mole on his left shoulder.

Chu Huaiyin tested whether Meng Zhou was the man he had once slept with by asking to see his shoulder, but Meng Zhou recognized the bluff and showed him an old wound instead. Their investigation pointed to Qianyang Lake as the likely hiding place for the Lake Tai stones, while Chu Huaiyin remained suspicious of Meng Zhou’s identity; later, Jiang Yi appeared after secretly following him to see how much he resembled his nephew.

• Chu Huaiyin asked to inspect Meng Zhou’s shoulder for a birthmark, but Meng Zhou saw through the test and revealed a scar from a wooden sword instead.
• Chu Huaiyin told Meng Zhou that the records offered no clear lead on who had acquired Qing Garden or planned to rebuild it.
• Meng Zhou and Chu Huaiyin independently concluded that the rebels had likely hidden the Lake Tai stones in Qianyang Lake, which Chu Huaiyin had sealed after Meng Zhou drowned there.
• Chu Huaiyin refused to lift the lake closure unless the person he loved asked him himself, and Meng Zhou pretended to mourn over a portrait of Liao Yunlan to send him away.
• After Chu Huaiyin left, he told Ji Yang that Meng Zhou had seen through his test and that he was now even more suspicious of him.
• Jiang Yi, who had been secretly watching Meng Zhou, revealed himself after Meng Zhou recognized him as the Grand General.

Meng Zhou used Jiang Yi’s concern to get him to pay for food and medicine, while Chu Huaiyin grew increasingly suspicious that Guan Jiasheng was really Meng Zhou. After a court petition for the emperor to select consorts ended with the officials kneeling in the rain, Chu Huaiyin finally rushed outside when Meng Zhou appeared to faint.

• Jiang Yi followed Meng Zhou at the emperor’s request, and Meng Zhou exploited his guilt to make him pay for a sedan chair and medicine.
• Meng Zhou pretended to be unwell at Li Wenle’s clinic, then swallowed the medicine he was hiding when Chu Huaiyin’s imperial physician arrived at the Guan residence.
• Chu Huaiyin suspected that Guan Jiasheng was Meng Zhou and sought a foolproof way to confirm his identity without exposing his supposed illness.
• Ministers petitioned Chu Huaiyin to select consorts, and Meng Zhou knelt with them after first standing alone in the court.
• Chu Huaiyin ordered the officials to leave after they were made to kneel in the rain, then rushed outside when Meng Zhou seemed to faint.

Meng Zhou faked a faint to help Chu Huaiyin resist the ministers’ demand for an heir, but Chu Huaiyin confronted him about his false identity and caught a glimpse of his makeup coming off. Later, Meng Zhou investigated Qianyang Lake and rescued a pregnant woman from being drowned in a pig cage.

• Meng Zhou pretended to faint during the ministers’ plea for Chu Huaiyin to take consorts, and Chu Huaiyin carried him inside before letting the other officials leave.
• Meng Zhou admitted he had faked the faint but continued denying that he was Meng Zhou, so Chu Huaiyin questioned him and ordered food instead of summoning imperial physicians.
• Chu Huaiyin served Meng Zhou a feast, then accidentally wiped away some of his makeup without exposing him.
• Meng Zhou went to Qianyang Lake to investigate and spotted a familiar strip of blue cloth hanging from a post near an abandoned platform.
• Meng Zhou found villagers carrying a bound, pregnant woman in a pig cage toward the lake and ordered his hidden guards to rescue her.
• Meng Zhou changed his order to have the woman taken to the Guan Residence and treated by a doctor.

Meng Zhou exposed A Hu as a traitor while investigating Qianyang Lake, and Jiang Yi intervened before A Hu could kill him. Chu Huaiyin arrived and insisted that Meng Zhou return to the palace with him, while Jiang Yi questioned the order to kill Guan Jiasheng and capture Meng Zhou.

• Meng Zhou challenged the clan chief who tried to drown Lady Lin, and the villagers abandoned their accusations when he threatened to open a legal case.
• Meng Zhou and A Hu discovered iron doors hidden beneath a lakeside stage, and Meng Zhou suspected that evidence about Wang Junyang's body might lie underwater nearby.
• Meng Zhou realized A Hu was a traitor and that someone inside the theater was involved, but Jiang Yi stopped A Hu from attacking him and knocked him unconscious.
• Jiang Yi reported that the person inside the theater had escaped, and he refused to let Meng Zhou inspect the courtyard before Chu Huaiyin arrived.
• Chu Huaiyin checked Meng Zhou for injuries and ordered him to return to the palace, while Meng Zhou agreed to inspect the theater first.
• Jiang Yi asked what the order to kill Guan Jiasheng and capture Meng Zhou meant.

Meng Zhou exposed the man impersonating A Hu and uncovered the tunnel used to move Lake Tai stones from Qianyang Lake, then learned that Madam Xue needed his help against her husband’s greedy clansmen. As Meng Zhou secretly shared pregnancy medicine with her, Chu Huaiyin grew jealous and arrived just as Meng Zhou was about to drink his dose.

• Meng Zhou deduced that the prisoner was not A Hu and guessed that the real A Hu was recovering at Li's Pastries; Jiang Yi later found the tunnel beneath the theater and moved the Lake Tai stones to Prince Huai's Residence.
• Meng Zhou learned that Xue Tianlu had died after his clansmen got him drunk, and that they were trying to drive Lin Yue from her home and accuse her of adultery; she asked Meng Zhou to seek justice.
• Lin Yue told Meng Zhou that she still had a letter Guan Jiasheng had entrusted to Xue Tianlu, and Meng Zhou arranged to retrieve it and let her stay while he dealt with her clansmen.
• Li Wenle prescribed medicine for Lin Yue and discreetly prepared Meng Zhou's pregnancy medicine from the same brew, while Lin Yue believed he was being treated for a private ailment.
• Chu Huaiyin heard that Meng Zhou was visiting Lin Yue and hurried out of the palace; he appeared at her door as Meng Zhou froze with the medicine bowl in his hand.

Meng Zhou and Chu Huaiyin investigated a mysterious plan while their jealousy and affection complicated their dealings, and Meng Zhou continued probing Xue Tianlu’s death. The chapter ended with Father Guan and A-Bao staging a funeral at the Guan Residence, leaving it unclear whether the coffin held the real Guan Jiasheng or Meng Zhou.

• Chu Huaiyin grew jealous of Meng Zhou’s visits to Lady Lin, then softened when Meng Zhou tended to the wounds on his fist.
• Meng Zhou showed Chu Huaiyin a hidden plan resembling the layout of the Meng Clan’s rear garden, and Chu Huaiyin ordered him not to get involved with Meng Fushan.
• Meng Zhou continued investigating Xue Tianlu’s suspicious drowning and treated the gathered Xue Clan members as suspects.
• Meng Zhou returned to the Guan Residence and found Father Guan and A-Bao blocking the entrance with a coffin and accusing Lady Lin of neglecting her son.
• Onlookers and officials questioned whether the coffin contained the real Guan Jiasheng or whether Meng Zhou was impersonating him.

Meng Zhou and Guan Zhongping opened the coffins brought to the Guan Residence, confirming that one held Liao Yunlan and the other held an unrelated corpse, not Guan Jiasheng. After the crowd dispersed, Chu Huaiyin comforted Meng Zhou and insisted on taking him into the palace, while Meng Zhou tried to refuse so he could keep vigil for his wife.

• Meng Zhou gave Guan Zhongping Guan Jiasheng's letter, and she broke down before deciding to face the coffin outside.
• Guan Zhongping exposed Sun Yong and A-Bao as impostors who had abused Guan Jiasheng and schemed to seize the Guan Clan's property, then ordered their mourning clothes removed and drove them away.
• Meng Zhou and Guan Zhongping opened the first coffin and identified Liao Yunlan's body, then opened the second and found that it contained an unrelated corpse.
• Guan Zhongping fainted after confirming that Guan Jiasheng was not in the second coffin, while Meng Zhou remembered that the real Guan Jiasheng was still hidden with a physician.
• Chu Huaiyin comforted Meng Zhou and offered to arrange Liao Yunlan's funeral, but Meng Zhou said he needed to keep vigil, so Chu Huaiyin ordered someone similar in build to take his place.

Meng Zhou resisted Chu Huaiyin’s attempts to expose his identity while helping him bathe, and Chu Huaiyin agreed to lift restrictions on Qianyang Lake. The next morning, Meng Fushan arrived at the Guan Residence demanding to see Old Madam Guan.

• Meng Zhou claimed he was eating vegetarian because his family was holding a funeral, and Chu Huaiyin teased him by taking the meat and fish from his bowl.
• Chu Huaiyin had Meng Zhou help him bathe, and Meng Zhou noticed an old scar on his shoulder before Chu Huaiyin joked that an unruly kitten had scratched him.
• Chu Huaiyin asked whether Meng Fushan should be punished if the evidence proved his treason, and Meng Zhou said treason deserved severe punishment.
• Chu Huaiyin tried to verify Meng Zhou’s identity by asking to see a birthmark, but Meng Zhou found no mark and submitted to the inspection while Chu Huaiyin teased him.
• Meng Zhou reminded Chu Huaiyin to lift the restrictions on Qianyang Lake, and Chu Huaiyin agreed to do so the next day.
• Meng Fushan arrived at the Guan Residence and insisted on seeing Old Madam Guan, who asked whether he had left yet.

Meng Fushan threatened Madam Guan over Guan Jiasheng’s identity and urged her to persuade Meng Zhou to help him, while Chu Huaiyin brought Meng Zhou to Guang'en Temple to pay respects to his mother. The chapter left Chu Huaiyin wary after finding Meng Zhou in an apparently close conversation with the abbot.

• Meng Fushan reminded Madam Guan of their past and threatened to expose Guan Jiasheng as her son with him, damaging the Guan Clan’s reputation unless she helped him.
• Madam Guan rejected Meng Fushan’s threat, but privately regretted having wronged Guan Jiasheng and Meng Zhou.
• Chu Huaiyin told Ji Yang to cover for Meng Zhou, who had slept through morning court after resisting Chu Huaiyin’s attempts to cuddle him.
• Chu Huaiyin took Meng Zhou to Guang'en Temple, where he had established a longevity tablet for the Empress Dowager.
• Meng Zhou tried to avoid the abbot, but the abbot drew him into conversation about his pregnancy, and Chu Huaiyin emerged to find them together.

At Wang Junyang’s grave, Meng Zhou wrestled with whether the people around him cared for him or for the identity he had inherited, and decided to reveal the truth to Jiang Yi in ten days. Before he could say more, assassins attacked, and Chu Huaiyin protected him but was wounded.

• The abbot gave Meng Zhou his prayer beads and promised to help him, while Chu Huaiyin clasped Meng Zhou’s hand and hurried to leave Guang’en Temple.
• At Wang Junyang’s grave, Chu Huaiyin realized Meng Zhou had repeatedly misled him and teased him by offering the dead man Meng Zhou’s favorite fish.
• Chu Huaiyin asked whether Meng Zhou would tell Jiang Yi the truth, and Meng Zhou decided to confess in ten days, on the anniversary of Jiang Yao’s death.
• An arrow nearly struck Meng Zhou, but Chu Huaiyin caught two more arrows with his bare hands and drove off the attackers with the shadow guards.
• Meng Zhou searched for medicine after seeing Chu Huaiyin’s bleeding hands, but Chu Huaiyin embraced him and asked him to help with bathing while injured.

After Northern Di assassins attacked Chu Huaiyin and Meng Zhou, Chu Huaiyin drew Meng Zhou into tending his wounds while investigating whether someone was trying to provoke a war. At a wedding banquet, Meng Zhou recognized men connected to Wang Junyang’s murder and had them arrested, leaving them stunned by his accusation.

• Chu Huaiyin and Meng Zhou identified the attackers as Northern Di assassins, but Jiang Yi warned that another country might be trying to provoke a war between Great Wei and the Northern Di.
• Chu Huaiyin summoned Meng Zhou to the palace to change his bandages, and Meng Zhou eventually persuaded him to wash before bed.
• At the old duke’s grandson’s wedding, Meng Zhou overheard young masters insulting him and making lewd remarks about Hanlin Academician Ji’s pregnant son.
• Meng Zhou recognized three of the young masters as Wang Junyang’s killers and ordered Jingzhao Prefecture guards to arrest them.
• Meng Zhou accused the three men of concealing Wang Junyang’s return and killing him during an argument, and they turned pale.