Chapter Summaries

Jin Shanyao discovered that Fu Shiyi, a deceased soldier and new ghost messenger, had been visiting Old General Fu, then brought the Fu family together to see him. Old General Fu asked Jin Shanyao to help the dead at the Fu Household Army camp pass on, and she agreed as his remaining time seemed short.

• Jin Shanyao caught Fu Shiyi near the Fu Household and learned he had served Old General Fu before dying in battle and becoming a ghost messenger.
• Fu Shiyi explained that he had visited Old General Fu each night to recount their past and the changes in the Fu Household Army.
• Jin Shanyao went to the Lu Residence and brought Fu Congxi and her child to the Fu Household, while Meng Anci urged Su Wenqian to visit Old General Fu.
• Su Wenqian arrived and reunited with Old General Fu as the Fu family gathered around him.
• Old General Fu told Jin Shanyao he knew she had met Fu Shiyi and asked her to help the dead at the Fu Household Army camp pass on; she agreed, and Old Madam Fu went to fetch the money box.

Jin Shanyao accepted Old General Fu’s money to help the dead at the frontier and prepared to travel with Fu Congzhao. After Old General Fu died, Fu Congzhao returned months later to announce their departure, while Jin Shanyao reassured Meng Anzhi that she would come back.

• Old General Fu gave Jin Shanyao money to help the souls of the dead at the frontier, and she agreed to go with Fu Congzhao.
• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi that Dahuang and Xiaoli would stay with her while she traveled, but Meng Anzhi began considering how to go along.
• Old General Fu died, and Jin Shanyao, Meng Anzhi, and Meng Anci went to pay their respects at the Fu Residence.
• Jin Shanyao encountered Silla envoys You Tuo and Jin Xiaoji, who challenged her to prove she had beaten them, and she frightened Jin Xiaoji with a teasing remark.
• Months later, Fu Congzhao returned and told Jin Shanyao he would leave for Dengzhou Prefecture in three days, and she agreed to join him.
• Jin Shanyao persuaded Meng Anzhi to remain at Anzhi Hall, promised to send letters, and instructed her what to do if she had not returned by spring plowing.

Jin Shanyao left for Dengzhou Prefecture, leaving Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci at Anzhi Hall, where the siblings faced renewed hostility over Meng Anci’s official work. The next day, Meng Anzhi thanked the city guards with winter supplies and began preparing Zhou Xiaosi to treat patients on his own.

• Jin Shanyao departed for Dengzhou Prefecture after asking Dahuang and Xiaoli to protect Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, and the siblings saw her out of the capital.
• A man from Yan Shuan’s clan insulted Meng Anci at the city gate, so Meng Anci had the soldiers arrest him and investigate who sent him.
• Meng Anci told Meng Anzhi that Yan Shuan’s clan blamed him for their resentment, and the siblings admitted they missed Jin Shanyao.
• Zhou Xiaosi delivered winter clothing, medicine, and other supplies to the city guards on Meng Anzhi’s behalf, and the guards welcomed the gifts.
• Meng Anzhi told Zhou Xiaosi to prepare supplies for the guards each season and invited him to join her free clinics next month to begin treating patients himself.

Jin Shanyao traveled with Fu Congzhao to the naval camp in Dengzhou, where she learned the wokou had launched a deadly attack after Fu Zhenhai returned home for his father’s funeral. As Fu Zhenhai went to meet fishermen bringing food, Jin Shanyao was left with Fu Congzhao to tour the camp.

• Fu Congzhao repeatedly stopped on the road to spare Jin Shanyao discomfort, but her old ox kept pace with his galloping warhorse.
• At an overnight stop, Jin Shanyao tried to comfort Fu Congzhao with affectionate attention, then gave him a precious life-saving white fruit as a wedding gift after he mentioned his arranged marriage.
• Jin Shanyao and Fu Congzhao reached the naval camp, where the soldiers greeted him as the Young General and stared curiously at her.
• Fu Zhenhai told Jin Shanyao that the wokou had attacked while he was away for his father’s funeral, causing heavy casualties despite the defenders driving them back.
• When fishermen arrived insisting on seeing Fu Zhenhai, he went to meet them and asked Fu Congzhao to show Jin Shanyao around.

Jin Shanyao and Fu Congzhao encountered wounded soldiers and struggling commoners in Dengzhou, where Fu Zhenhai explained the hardships caused by winter and wokou attacks. Jin Shanyao stayed at the barracks and, mistaking Fu Congzhao’s fish aversion for neglect by the Fu Household, insisted he eat the whole fish.

• Jin Shanyao gave a wounded soldier medicine in exchange for a copper coin, but his comrades robbed him of the army pay he had saved.
• Fu Zhenhai accepted baskets of frozen fish from local women, then explained that they had given the soldiers their own rations and that Dengzhou’s people faced hunger and danger at sea.
• Fu Zhenhai arranged for grain to be sent to the commoners and asked Jin Shanyao to visit the sites where soldiers and civilians had been killed by the wokou.
• Jin Shanyao stayed in Fu Zhenhai’s room at the barracks, with Fu Congzhao sleeping next door.
• At dinner, Jin Shanyao kept giving Fu Congzhao her fish, mistook his preference for pickled-cabbage broth as a sign of mistreatment, and ordered him not to suck the fish bones clean.

Jin Shanyao treated Gaya’s old trauma and agreed to deliver the souls of his family, killed in a Japanese pirate attack. The next morning, soldiers gathered to ask her to deliver their own dead relatives’ souls.

• Fu Congzhao stopped the soldiers from shooting an eagle that landed in the courtyard.
• Jin Shanyao diagnosed a young soldier’s old fright and told him to follow the military physician’s prescription.
• Fu Congzhao led a night patrol by boat while Fu Zhenkou returned to camp and asked Gaya to assist Jin Shanyao.
• Gaya told Jin Shanyao how Japanese pirates had killed his family, then attacked her during a traumatic episode.
• Jin Shanyao calmed Gaya, charged him two copper coins, and agreed to deliver the souls of his family from Fu'an Village.
• The next morning, soldiers offered Jin Shanyao copper coins and begged her to deliver their dead relatives’ souls.

Jin Shanyao visited a struggling family in Prosperity and Peace Village and left them ten taels of silver after receiving a conch shell. Back at camp, she told Fu Congzhao she would let people see their deceased loved ones one last time before sending their souls on at the end of the month.

• Fu Congzhao discovered that soldiers were paying Jin Shanyao one copper coin each to send souls on and regretted his grandfather’s expensive payment.
• After writing names for three days, Jin Shanyao left camp and visited Prosperity and Peace Village.
• A fisherman’s wife told Jin Shanyao that poor harvests and Japanese pirate raids had left her family hungry, and introduced her daughter Niuniu.
• Jin Shanyao accepted a conch shell from the woman and secretly left ten taels of silver in her basket, but the couple could not catch up with her to return it.
• Jin Shanyao told Fu Congzhao to announce that people could see their loved ones one last time at the end of the month before she sent their souls on.

Jin Shanyao used her Spiritual Power to reveal a massacre and gather the war dead at the crossroads, where the living reunited with their lost family and comrades. She opened a ghost gate and sent the souls to the Underworld, and the survivors thanked her.

• Jin Shanyao witnessed the slaughter of a village in her vision and saw Fu Zhenhai's forces defeat the Japanese raiders.
• Jin Shanyao summoned the dead to the crossroads and broke the barrier between the living and the ghosts.
• The soldiers and villagers reunited with their dead relatives and comrades, while Fu Congzhao spoke with Yang Dabao.
• Jin Shanyao opened a ghost gate, and the war dead said farewell before returning to the Underworld.
• Fu Zhenhai, Fu Zhenkou, soldiers, and commoners bowed to Jin Shanyao and thanked her.

Jin Shanyao gained abundant Merit after sending the wronged souls of the dead to their next lives, drawing attention from Lady Houtu and Taishang Laojun. Taishang Laojun confronted her over the mass reincarnation and chased her around the room with a cane, while Jin Shanyao prepared to escape.

• Jin Shanyao made Fu Congzhao extinguish every spark before they returned to camp, then encouraged him to hold back his tears and fight for his people and soldiers.
• Jin Shanyao absorbed the Merit flowing toward her and broke through with a surge of Spiritual Power that shook Houtu Palace.
• Lady Houtu learned from King Yanluo that Jin Shanyao had sent thousands of wronged battlefield souls to their next lives, and agreed to let it pass because Taishang Laojun had vouched for her.
• Taishang Laojun visited Jin Shanyao, then intervened when Lady Houtu went to investigate the disturbance in the mortal world.
• Taishang Laojun appeared in Jin Shanyao's room, scolded her for sending thousands of souls on at once, and chased her with a cane as she taunted him and looked for a way to flee.

Jin Shanyao helped Fu Zhenhai’s forces ambush Japanese pirates and took gifts from Fu Congzhao before heading back toward the capital. Meanwhile, Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci discussed invitations and Anci’s resolve to protect their family, leaving Jin Shanyao still on the road home.

• Yasheng alerted Jin Shanyao to Japanese pirates hiding east of the coast, and Fu Zhenhai led soldiers to attack them.
• Fu Zhenhai’s men captured a map detailing Dengzhou Prefecture’s city defenses and withdrew from the sea.
• Jin Shanyao refused to sell Yasheng, gave Fu Congzhao a pouch of ginkgo nuts, and left camp with gifts for the children at home.
• Jin Shanyao stopped at an inn in Pingcheng Prefecture and used her necklace to check on the sister and brother, who were reading quietly.
• Meng Anzhi told Meng Anci that Cai Wenyan had invited her to the opera again, while Anci declined her offer to deal with Sun Yan.
• Meng Anci showed Meng Anzhi his Anzhi Hall seal and said his goal was to protect her and their aunt from being bullied.

Meng Anzhi met Cai Wenyan at the theater, where Cai tried to enlist her help in pursuing Zhao Zhiyuan and offered career favors for her younger brother. Cai Wuyi separately proposed a marriage between Cai Wenyan and Zhao, but Zhao refused both approaches and left, declaring that his heart already belonged to someone.

• Meng Anzhi arrived at the theater with Qing He and joined Cai Wenyan in a private room.
• Zhao Zhiyuan and Cai Wuyi took the adjoining room, where Cai Wuyi raised the prospect of Zhao marrying his sister, Cai Wenyan.
• Cai Wenyan told Meng Anzhi that she admired Zhao and asked her to pass him an embroidered handkerchief, offering help for Meng's younger brother in return.
• Meng Anzhi refused to deliver the handkerchief and left the theater room.
• Cai Wuyi explained that the Cai Household wanted to marry Wenyan quickly before the emperor's death could lead to a palace selection.
• Zhao Zhiyuan rejected Cai Wuyi's proposal, saying his heart belonged to someone else, and left.

Meng Anzhi worried that the emperor’s illness could lead to a palace selection, while Meng Anci used a textual error in Sun Yan’s draft to bring about Sun Yan’s downfall. After Sun Yan was imprisoned, Meng Anci warned Zhao Zhiyuan to stay away from his sister, leaving Zhao Zhiyuan alone with a complicated expression.

• Zhao Zhiyuan tried to speak to Meng Anzhi about the coming palace selection, but Meng Anci interrupted them and brought his sister inside.
• Meng Anzhi worried about being selected for the palace and decided to wait for her aunt before discussing an unconventional idea.
• At the Hanlin Academy, Meng Anci pointed out a wrong quotation source in Sun Yan’s draft and drew Zhou Mingyi’s attention to it.
• Zhou Mingyi presented the error to the emperor during Sun Yan’s reading, and the emperor became ill and spat blood before Sun Yan was imprisoned.
• Zhao Zhiyuan accused Meng Anci of arranging Sun Yan’s downfall, but Meng Anci denied it and warned him to stay away from Meng Anzhi.

Jin Shanyao bought goods in Pingcheng Prefecture and met an ink-maker from Jianghe County, who told her about the corrupt, recurring dike repairs. After he left without paying for her cold water, she took the tea bowl and continued north toward the capital.

• Jin Shanyao bought an iron spatula, a copper medicine grinder, and a box of ink sticks for a hundred taels from an ink-maker in Pingcheng Prefecture.
• Jin Shanyao pushed through the crowd of merchants and headed north, stopping at a tea stall in Jianghe County for cold water.
• The ink-maker caught up with Jin Shanyao and explained that the authorities were conscripting laborers to repair the county's failing river dikes.
• Jin Shanyao described how dredging, straightening the river, and building diversion dams could control the floods, but the ink-maker said the authorities profited from recurring repairs.
• The ink-maker left five copper coins on the table instead of paying for Jin Shanyao's water, and Jin Shanyao took the tea bowl before driving away.

Jin Shanyao returned to the capital after hearing that the emperor had died, reunited with Meng Anzhi and gave out gifts. After Xiao Yuan ascended the throne, Meng Anci was appointed supervising censor, a powerful post that made officials wary of him.

• Jin Shanyao reached the capital, learned from Tu Geng that the emperor had passed away, and returned to Anzhi Hall.
• Jin Shanyao reunited with Meng Anzhi and distributed gifts to Qing He, Meng Anzhi, Zhou Xiaosi, Old Qin, and the household.
• Seven days after the emperor's death, Crown Prince Xiao Yuan ascended the throne as the Yongxi Emperor and made his son Xiao Changchuan crown prince.
• The new emperor appointed Meng Anci supervising censor for reporting a colleague's secret land accumulation, while Zhao Zhiyuan was reassigned to the Ministry of Works' Water Bureau.
• Jin Shanyao called Meng Anci's new post a job that offended people, while he proudly explained his authority to investigate and impeach officials.
• At fourteen, Meng Anci's promotion made court officials avoid him, and rumors spread that he had risen by calculating his way past colleagues.

Meng Anzhi discussed her plan to have a child with Jin Shanyao before returning to Qingzhou Prefecture to plant medicinal herbs. Meanwhile, Xiao Yuan sent Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci to investigate repeated dike failures in Pingcheng Prefecture, and Jin Shanyao agreed to accompany Meng Anci.

• Jin Shanyao agreed with Meng Anzhi's plan to seek Zhao Zhiyuan as the father of her future child, and Meng Anzhi postponed planning while she returned to Qingzhou Prefecture for the planting season.
• Chancellor Cai raised the recurring dike breaches in Jianghe County, Pingcheng Prefecture, and Xiao Yuan assigned Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci to investigate whether the cause lay with the river or local officials.
• Zhao Zhiyuan realized Chancellor Cai was trying to send him into danger, while Meng Anci reminded him that he had once intervened when Meng Anci was imprisoned.
• Jin Shanyao agreed to accompany Meng Anci to Pingcheng Prefecture and sent word to Meng Anzhi, who replied with warnings to be careful and reassurance that she would manage things at home.

Zhao Zhiyuan left the capital with Meng Anci and Jin Shanyao to investigate in Jianghe County, where Jin Shanyao exposed a tea-stall owner’s attempt to cheat them. The party reached Pingcheng Prefecture and presented their court document at the prefectural office.

• Zhao Zhiyuan's mother urged him to pursue the Meng Household girl he loved and sent Agui along to accompany him.
• Zhao Zhiyuan met Meng Anci at Anzhi Hall, then joined him and Jin Shanyao on the journey out of the capital.
• Jin Shanyao warned Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan to be cautious of dishonest merchants and fellow townsfolk while traveling.
• At a roadside tea stall, Jin Shanyao confronted the owner over changing the tea price and trying to spit into the teapot, then paid fifteen wen and left with the party.
• The tea-stall owner's bowls shattered after the group departed, and he panicked over the loss.
• At the Pingcheng Prefecture office, Agui presented the court document, and the gate attendant hurried inside to announce their arrival.

Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan arrived in Pingcheng Prefecture to investigate the troubled river works, and Prefect Yuan Shanjian bristled at their presence while handing over the records. The visit left Yuan out inspecting the farms and Judicial Commissioner Feng anxiously trying to placate Jin Shanyao after she heard Yuan call the officials “two little fools.”

• Yuan Shanjian learned that Censor Meng Anci and Ministry of Works director Zhao Zhiyuan had arrived to oversee the Harmful River works.
• Yuan explained the recurring floods and ordered the river-work accounts and records brought out for Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan to examine.
• Yuan arranged for the two officials to work beside his desk, then left to inspect the farming.
• Yuan angrily complained to Judicial Commissioner Feng that the court had sent two little fools to investigate him, and Feng advised him to take them to the river.
• Jin Shanyao heard Yuan’s outburst and insisted that he had insulted Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan, while the two men tried to calm her.
• Judicial Commissioner Feng claimed Yuan had been cursing the former prefect, then withdrew and kept watch outside the hall.

Jin Shanyao taught Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan to invoke the emperor’s authority against Yuan Shanjian, then accompanied them on an inspection trip to Jianghe County. Along the way, she used her booklet to pressure Yuan and watched him at the tea stall, where the nervous shopkeeper kept count of the bowls.

• Jin Shanyao confronted Yuan Shanjian over his insults toward Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan, then coached the two men to act as the emperor’s representatives.
• Zhao Zhiyuan proposed an on-site inspection of Jianghe County, and Yuan Shanjian agreed to travel there with the group.
• Jin Shanyao wrote down Yuan Shanjian’s remarks and actions as alleged evidence of disrespect and dereliction, making him ride in Meng Anci’s ox cart.
• At the tea stall, Yuan Shanjian demanded tea from the frightened shopkeeper, who served the group while keeping a close count of the bowls.

Yuan Shanjian took Meng Anci, Zhao Zhiyuan, and Jin Shanyao to inspect the dangerous river and its embankments. Jin Shanyao identified that the repairs had been made in the wrong places, and the group returned to Jianghe County after surveying the river by boat.

• Yuan Shanjian learned that Xiong Wanli was inspecting the river at Zhao Household Gully and set out with Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan.
• Yuan Shanjian introduced Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan to Xiong Wanli, who was supervising embankment repairs.
• Yuan Shanjian showed the group the river map and warned that the river’s hidden pits and unstable banks made it dangerous.
• Jin Shanyao said the repaired embankment sections lay where silt was thickest and the soil was loosest, so they would still collapse during flood season.
• Zhao Zhiyuan proposed inspecting the river by boat, and Yuan Shanjian agreed.
• Zhao Zhiyuan, Meng Anci, and the others surveyed the turbid river by boat until dark, then returned to Jianghe County.

Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan investigated Jianghe County’s river accounts as Jin Shanyao explained why Yuan Shanjian was blamed for trying to manage the river instead of sending its silt downstream. As the rain intensified and the dike weakened, Yuan Shanjian and Zhao Zhiyuan set out to seek permission to divert the floodwaters into Yuhe County, while Meng Anci warned that evacuation and Zhao Household Gully remained their last resort.

• Xiong Wanli left at night to inspect the river and told Yuan Shanjian the water level had not risen.
• Jin Shanyao explained that Yuan Shanjian’s efforts to manage the river left him blamed by both the people and the court.
• After days of worsening rain, Zhao Zhiyuan reported that the river had risen and Xiong Wanli estimated the main dike could hold for only half a month.
• Yuan Shanjian proposed diverting the floodwaters into Yuhe County, and Zhao Zhiyuan agreed to accompany him to seek permission and arrange evacuations.
• Meng Anci warned Zhao Zhiyuan to return if the Yuhe County officials refused and reminded him that Zhao Household Gully was their last resort.