Recaps

Lin Yi learned that Zhennan’s heir, Nan Yiming, had arrived in Yong’an City with gifts to negotiate, but he ordered Wang Yue to accept the gifts and stall him. As foreign envoys watched Great Liang’s people donate toward free schooling, Bill III envied Lin Yi’s influence and wished his own subjects would give him money.

• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that Zhennan’s heir, Nan Yiming, had come with many gifts, and Lin Yi ordered him to accept them while Xu You delayed further talks.
• Envoys and powerful clans arrived in Yong’an City for Lin Yi’s birthday as locals queued to donate money for children’s free schooling.
• A merchant from Xiliang named Huang Sanze explained that Lin Yi’s policies had helped him prosper and ordered his steward to donate half their money.
• Bill III saw the donation queues and asked Nishu what was happening; Nishu explained the free-schooling campaign and dismissed Lin Yi’s promise that everyone could become a dragon as a slogan.
• Bill III accepted Nishu’s explanation and envied Great Liang’s people, wishing the commoners of the Frostwest Empire would donate money to him.

Bill III and Abaddon, rulers of the Frostwest Empire and Great West Empire, encountered each other in Great Liang and restrained their hostility. Abaddon recognized Great Liang’s growing threat and considered whether to prepare for war or ally with the Frostwest Empire.

• Nishu and Bill III watched Great Liang’s people eagerly donate money to Lin Yi, and Bill III wondered if he could persuade his own people to do the same.
• A guard informed Nishu that Abaddon had arrived, and Nishu urged Bill III to avoid trouble and establish contact with Great Liang first.
• Abaddon rode up to Bill III and taunted him, while Bill III warned him not to cause trouble on Great Liang’s busy streets.
• A Long restrained Abaddon and warned that Great Liang’s unity and military strength made it a formidable threat to both empires.
• Abaddon left for the Court of Diplomatic Reception after considering whether the Great West Empire should prepare to resist Great Liang or ally with the Frostwest Empire.

Zhennan's eldest prince, Nan Yiming, tried to secure peace talks with Great Liang by offering a legendary night pearl to Xu You. Xu You accepted the gift but warned that Emperor Lin Yi was unlikely to meet them before his birthday, leaving Zhennan running out of time.

• Nan Yiming grew frustrated as Xu You avoided arranging an audience with Emperor Lin Yi by boasting about his past achievements.
• Nan Yiming offered Xu You a fist-sized night pearl, which Xu You admired and agreed to present to the emperor.
• Xu You warned Nan Yiming that Lin Yi was displeased with Zhennan and that Great Liang might simply conquer it and claim the pearl.
• Nan Yiming argued that Zhennan wished to submit, but Xu You said the emperor was busy with his birthday celebrations and would not see him until then.
• Nan Yiming gave Xu You additional pearls as gifts and left, while Xu You privately dismissed the prospect of peace talks as wishful thinking.

Nan Yiming realized Xu You’s calligraphy exposed how his father had made him a disposable hostage and arranged for someone else to inherit Zhennan. Xu You chose to let Nan Yiming’s resentment grow rather than approach him immediately, expecting the prince to seek Great Liang out himself.

• Nan Yiming concluded that Great Liang had no intention of negotiating peace, and his deputy urged him to keep seeking help or wait for Lin Yi’s birthday.
• Xu You’s subordinate delivered calligraphy to Nan Yiming, who concealed its message from the deputy and returned to his room.
• Reading “Those before plant trees, those after enjoy the shade,” Nan Yiming understood that his father had abandoned him and likely chosen a new heir.
• Xu You’s subordinate reported Nan Yiming’s furious reaction, and Xu You and Xu Chu discussed how the calligraphy had driven a wedge between father and son.
• Xu You refused to approach Nan Yiming, reasoning that the prince would bargain if approached and would eventually come to Great Liang of his own accord.

Xu You laid out his plan to force Nan Yiming into dependence on Great Liang and arranged hospitality for the visiting rulers while seeking approval for their audience with the emperor. Meanwhile, Bill III learned that his agents had no useful information and could not meet Anne inside the imperial harem.

• Xu You told Xu Chu that Nan Yiming had no real leverage and would eventually have to accept Great Liang's terms to survive.
• Xu Chu agreed to help Xu You and learned that nearly all the visiting kings had arrived, including the emperors of the Frostwest Empire and the Great West Empire.
• Xu You ordered the visitors to receive Great Liang's food and luxuries, and said he would ask the emperor whether they could meet him.
• Bill III questioned Ashley about why Great Liang had summoned the rulers, but Ashley admitted he had found no leads.
• Ashley explained that men could not enter the imperial harem to meet Anne, leaving Bill III furious that he could not get information from his daughter.

Bill III and Abaddon feared Great Liang would soon threaten their empires after crushing Zhennan, and they considered joining forces against it. They waited to learn Great Liang’s intentions before making any move.

• Bill III worried that Lin Yi had confined his daughter in the imperial palace and asked whether Great Liang would attack Frostwest after destroying Zhennan.
• Ashley warned Bill III that Frostwest could not face Great Liang alone, so Bill III decided to learn why Great Liang had invited them before considering an alliance.
• Abaddon and Morandi concluded that Zhennan was close to defeat after its eldest prince came to Great Liang to discuss peace.
• A Long urged Abaddon to consider cooperating with Frostwest, and Abaddon agreed to wait and discover Great Liang’s plans before acting.

Lin Yi learned that Yong'an’s people had donated nearly ten million strings of cash and made sure they received supplies worth even more in return. He then approved Xu You’s scheme to undermine Zhennan’s heir, Nan Yiming, and ordered the Net to help provoke internal strife in Zhennan.

• Lin Rusong and Wang Ziwen celebrated the people’s donations, while Lin Yi confirmed Zhao Gao had given them supplies worth ten percent more than their contributions.
• Wang Yue brought Xu You to meet Lin Yi, and Xu You reported that Nan Yiming had offered a luminous pearl while seeking peace with Great Liang.
• Xu You explained that he had planted a thorn in Nan Yiming’s side, and Lin Yi praised the plan and entrusted the matter to him.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue and the Net to coordinate with Xu You and use the scheme to disrupt Zhennan’s plans.

Lin Yi dismissed Nan Ke’s delaying scheme and left Zhennan’s defeat to the front lines while turning his attention to foreign rulers seeking an audience. He ruled out Princess Anne becoming an empress and declared that the Frostwest Empire had no path to survival.

• Wang Ziwen, Lin Rusong, and Lin Yi judged Nan Ke’s delaying tactic futile, while Zhao Gao reflected on the strategists and commanders arrayed against Zhennan.
• Lin Yi left Nan Yiming to Xu You and Zhennan to the front lines, saying Great Liang should focus on its own development.
• Xu You told Lin Yi that the kings of Frostwest and other countries had requested audiences, and Lin Rusong asked whether Princess Anne might become the next Shenle.
• Lin Yi said Anne would not become the third empress because she belonged to a different people, and he declared that the Frostwest Empire was certain to perish.

Lin Yi decided to prioritize Great Liang’s interests, meeting Abaddon before Bill III and leaving Anne to visit her father. Anne reunited with Bill III and admitted that life in Great Liang placed enormous pressure on her.

• Lin Yi declared that he would wipe out the Frostwest Empire and chose to meet Abaddon first, while Anne would meet Bill III.
• Zhao Gao praised Lin Yi’s supposed sacrifices for the common people, and Lin Yi ordered preparations for his meeting with Abaddon.
• Bill III feared that Great Liang might join forces with Abaddon against the Frostwest Empire, then learned that Anne had arrived.
• Bill III and Anne reunited, and Anne told him that she struggled to keep up with Great Liang’s talented women.

Princess Anne told Bill III that the Black Skull Army had fled to their lands after being defeated in the Land of the Far West, alarming the Western rulers about a new threat. When Bill III asked what Great Liang intended to do, Anne refused to reveal its plans because she had married into Great Liang.

• Princess Anne complained to Bill III that Cai Yan, Shenle, the holy maiden, and Lü Qiling outshone her in talent and swordsmanship.
• Bill III asked why Lin Yi had invited the Western rulers, and Anne said the invitation concerned the Land of the Far West.
• Anne revealed that the Black Skull Army had come from the Land of the Far West after being defeated and driven away.
• Bill III, Ashley, and Abucha feared the Black Skull Army's enemy might pursue it and threaten their lands.
• Bill III asked what Great Liang planned to do, but Anne refused to disclose its inside information because she had married into Great Liang.

Princess Anne urged Bill III to accept that the Frostwest Empire could not stand against Great Liang, but he rejected her advice and left in anger. Meanwhile, foreign delegations cautiously navigated Great Liang’s marketplace, where locals boasted of the empire’s military strength.

• Bill III nearly struck Princess Anne for opposing him, but Ashley stopped him and warned that she belonged to Lin Yi.
• Anne urged Bill III to let go of the Frostwest Empire’s ambitions, citing the Yamata Nation’s defeat, but he refused and left.
• Anne reflected that the Frostwest Empire lacked the courage to survive amid powerful rivals, and Ashley said the empire might have to depend on her.
• Great Liang’s people celebrated the visiting delegations and recounted the empire’s victories as the Hundred Riders kept watch.
• A small nation’s king warned his guards not to provoke Great Liang and explained that they had come to gather information, not seek death.

Nan Yiming learned that Great Liang possessed overwhelming military strength and feared that Zhennan would be destroyed despite his peace mission. At a gathering of foreign guests, he heard rumors that Great Liang might divide territory with the Frostwest Empire and the Great West Empire, just as gongs and drums sounded outside.

• Nan Yiming and his deputy estimated Great Liang had more than three million troops and concluded Zhennan was likely doomed.
• Foreign guests recognized Nan Yiming as a Zhennan envoy and praised or mocked him for coming while the two states were at war.
• Nan Yiming explained that he had come to seek friendly relations, but the guests dismissed the prospect of peace negotiations.
• A guest revealed that Great Liang might divide territory with the Frostwest Empire and the Great West Empire, and Chief Abe said the Frostwest emperor had asked him about it.
• The foreign guests began wondering what territory would be divided and where they should stand, then heard gongs and drums and saw Great Liang locals carrying red bags.

Foreign rulers and merchants saw Great Liang’s commoners receive valuable white sugar as birthday return gifts from Lin Yi, prompting some small-country kings to consider surrendering. Meanwhile, Abaddon entered Great Liang’s formidable palace and realized its defenses could withstand a massive assault.

• A merchant explained that Lin Yi had given the red bags as return gifts to commoners who donated, and the bags contained rare, valuable goods.
• After the merchant revealed premium white sugar, Abe complained that Great Liang’s commoners lived better than he did and said he might surrender to Great Liang.
• Other small-country kings agreed that surrender could spare them defeat and offer their people better lives, while Nan Yiming suspected Great Liang meant to subdue them without fighting.
• Abaddon entered the imperial palace with A Long, who marveled at its walls and guards.
• Abaddon judged that even hundreds of thousands of troops might fail to breach the palace and considered renovating his own palace for defense.

Abaddon visited Great Liang and learned that his empire could not afford to rebuild its imperial palace, leaving him frustrated with his subordinates. At the banquet, he mistook Guo Jia for Lin Yi and bristled when Guo Jia treated him dismissively while explaining that Lin Yi would arrive shortly.

• Abaddon proposed rebuilding the imperial palace, but Morandi and A Long told him the Great West Empire had no money.
• Morandi explained that generations of wars against the Frostwest Empire had drained the treasury, leaving Abaddon angry and envious of Great Liang's wealth.
• Zhao Yun guided Abaddon and his party through the palace, while Abaddon admired the scenery in the imperial garden.
• Abaddon saw Guo Jia fishing and assumed he was Lin Yi, but Guo Jia introduced himself as Lin Yi's Libationer of Military Counsel.
• Guo Jia told Abaddon through the interpreter that Lin Yi would arrive shortly, and Abaddon took offense at Guo Jia's indifferent manner and use of Great Liang's language.

Lin Yi warned Abaddon that a powerful, mysterious empire had invaded the Black Skull Army’s territory, using the threat to raise pressure on the Great West Empire. Abaddon accepted that the danger might be real and wondered whether he would have to ally with Frostwest, while the proposed division of territory remained unresolved.

• Abaddon asked when Lin Yi would arrive, then realized that the guards were kneeling to Lin Yi as the emperor entered.
• Lin Yi and Abaddon exchanged pleasantries and addressed each other as brothers before Abaddon asked what Lin Yi meant by dividing territory.
• Lin Yi claimed that a powerful force had devastated the Black Skull Army and that the hegemon of the Land of the Far West might have arrived.
• Abaddon, Morandi, and A Long recognized that mysterious forces had appeared in the Black Skull Army’s territory and feared the Great West Empire faced a formidable new enemy.
• Lin Yi said the Black Skull Army’s representatives had not arrived but suggested that surrounding nations might know what had happened.
• Abaddon considered that he might have to ally with Frostwest, though he wondered whose territory Great Liang intended to divide.

Lin Yi used the prospect of dividing the Frostwest Empire to tempt Abaddon into an alliance, but Abaddon refused to commit because he feared Great Liang would turn on him afterward. The gathering ended with Abaddon agreeing to watch the Land of the Far West and asking Lin Yi for help if it attacked.

• Lin Yi hinted that Great Liang and the Great West Empire could divide the Frostwest Empire after Great Liang conquered Zhennan.
• Abaddon considered the offer but rejected an immediate agreement, fearing the Great West Empire would become Great Liang’s next target.
• Lin Yi said the territorial proposal was secondary and asked Abaddon to monitor the Land of the Far West and warn Great Liang of any moves.
• Abaddon agreed to keep watch and asked Lin Yi to lend him a hand if the Land of the Far West attacked.

Lin Yi accepted Abaddon's lavish birthday gifts while discussing the Great West Empire's uneasy alliance with Great Liang. After Abaddon left, Lin Yi ordered the Net to stir unrest behind the Frostwest Empire and told Wang Yue to welcome Ran Min and the returning forces.

• Abaddon presented Lin Yi with a chest of diamonds and other gifts, and the two discussed their countries before Abaddon departed.
• Guo Jia explained that Abaddon both wanted the Frostwest Empire defeated and feared facing Great Liang afterward, while Lin Yi dismissed morality as a guide to relations between nations.
• Lin Yi gave Guo Jia a copy of Thick Black Theory and ordered the Net to begin stirring unrest in the Frostwest Empire's rear as Zhennan neared pacification.
• Lin Yi told Wang Yue to welcome Ran Min and the returning forces so Great Liang's guests could see the empire's strength.

Lin Yi used Great Liang’s victory to intimidate the surrounding small nations into submission and puzzled over how to spend the enormous wealth brought back from Yamata. Princess Anne then visited him, anxious about her father and the Frostwest Empire after Lin Yi met Abaddon.

• Lin Yi planned to pressure the small nations into submitting, leaving Xu You and the others to handle them.
• Lin Yi told Guo Jia that he was troubled by nearly two hundred million in cash, and Wang Yue pointed out how much Great Liang had already invested.
• Lin Yi decided to ask Xun Yu and Li Bing to propose spending the new fortune on roads, waterways, and other projects.
• Princess Anne came to see Lin Yi and massaged his shoulders while worrying that he might attack the Frostwest Empire.
• Lin Yi asked Anne whether her father feared that he would move against the Frostwest Empire.

Lin Yi told Princess Anne that Great Liang would partition the Frostwest Empire, and she thanked him for being honest before falling into his arms. Meanwhile, Abaddon concluded that Lin Yi’s ambitions extended beyond Frostwest and ordered his people to test Bill III, with plans to kill him if he refused an alliance against Great Liang.

• Lin Yi told Princess Anne that he and Abaddon had discussed partitioning the Frostwest Empire, and Anne accepted her empire’s coming defeat and thanked him for not lying.
• Abaddon ordered A Long to confirm whether a mysterious overlord in the Land of the Far West had destroyed the Black Skull Army.
• Morandi proposed telling Bill III about the threat, but Abaddon reasoned that Lin Yi likely intended to conquer the Great West Empire as well as Frostwest.
• A Long warned that Bill III might ally with Lin Yi, while Abaddon decided to sound Bill III out and kill him if he refused to cooperate.

Abaddon worried that Great Liang would interfere with his plans against Bill III, then went to see the returning Qihuo Army and encountered Great Liang’s public celebration of its victories. After reading Yang Xiu’s article on gratitude, he recognized the force of its message.

• Abaddon agreed to sound out Bill III and deal with him if he remained obstinate, while hoping Zhennan would hold out against Great Liang.
• A guard told Abaddon that the Qihuo Army and Sun Jian had returned after destroying the Yamata Nation.
• Abaddon dismissed the Qihuo Army’s reported strength and went with Morandi and A Long to inspect its return.
• At Yong'an City’s crowded streets, Morandi explained that welcoming victorious armies was a rule Lin Yi had established.
• Morandi gave Abaddon a translated article by Yang Xiu, and Abaddon read its account of gratitude toward Lin Yi, the soldiers, and the people.

Abaddon recognized that the philosophy of gratitude could strengthen Great Liang’s unity and make Lin Yi appear like a benefactor to the entire nation, so he decided the Great West Empire should copy it. When Lin Yi welcomed the returning army in person, the crowd celebrated him, and Abaddon was stunned by Great Liang’s fully armored troops.

• Abaddon and A Long concluded that Lin Yi’s philosophy of gratitude could unite Great Liang and make his power frightening.
• Abaddon told Morandi to start a newspaper for the Great West Empire and reuse Yang Xiu’s article with the names changed.
• Lin Yi arrived in his carriage to welcome the returning army, and Abaddon told A Long to remember the ceremony for their own empire.
• Great Liang’s common people praised Lin Yi as the army and foreign observers gathered to watch the homecoming.
• Sun Jian and the other generals led the returning troops through the city gates, and Abaddon was astonished that every soldier wore armor.
• Abaddon asked A Long whether the Great West Empire could equip its army the same way, and A Long replied that they lacked the money.

Nearly a hundred thousand Qihuo Army troops returned to Great Liang, frightening foreign rulers with their discipline, equipment, and battle-hardened aura. Lin Yi welcomed the army at the city gate, where its generals and soldiers knelt before him and the people celebrated their safe return.

• The Qihuo Army marched through the streets as onlookers praised its power and Lu Yafu recognized its formation as a true army of tigers and wolves.
• Abaddon, Morandi, and A Long discussed the army’s equipment and murderous aura, while Abaddon and Bill III worried Great Liang might turn its strength against them.
• Lin Yi watched the foreign rulers’ unease and believed few in the west could resist Great Liang’s military power.
• Sun Jian, Ran Min, Yu Jin, and the other generals dismounted and knelt before Lin Yi as the hundred thousand soldiers greeted him and Great Liang.
• The people cheered the troops’ return, and Lin Yi thanked the soldiers for their service as Sun Jian and the others replied that serving him was an honor.

Lin Yi celebrated Great Liang’s destruction of Yamata Nation and declared the ocean Great Liang’s territory. As the returning army brought back an immense treasure convoy, the great clan leaders hoped the riches would keep Lin Yi from targeting them and even suggested he conquer more nations.

• Lin Yi welcomed the victorious army and declared that Yamata Nation had become Great Liang’s Inside-the-Well Commandery.
• Sun Jian thanked Lin Yi for giving him the chance to see the vast world and oceans, and the ruler and his subjects shared stories of the campaign.
• The people saw a seemingly endless convoy of carts carrying gold, silver, and other treasures from Yamata Nation.
• Zhang Wanhao and the other clan leaders realized the captured wealth could amount to several hundred million and hoped it would keep Lin Yi from demanding money from them.
• Zhang Wanhao proposed that Great Liang destroy more nations so the great clans would remain safe, and Liu Kun agreed that neighboring nations could bear the cost.

Lin Yi learned that Zhou Yu had sent him a hundred million strings of cash from an open-pit gold mine and gemstones he found overseas. Zhou Yu had also discovered a sea route to Zhennan and prepared a large surprise that was arriving with the convoy.

• Abaddon envied the vast wealth Great Liang had seized from Yamata Nation, but Sangdu warned him not to act rashly under the Hundred Riders' watch.
• Sun Jian told Lin Yi that the convoy's total had reached three hundred million strings of cash, including a hundred million sent by Zhou Yu as a birthday gift.
• Sun Jian explained that Zhou Yu had found an island with an open-pit gold mine and gemstones.
• Sun Jian said Zhou Yu had discovered the sea route to Zhennan and was heading for its coast to attack.
• Lin Yi watched as Zhou Yu's promised big gift finally appeared at the rear of the convoy.

Zhou Yu sent Lin Yi an enormous whale as a birthday gift, which Yu Jin presented as the legendary Kun of the Northern Deep. After learning that it had been safely butchered and preserved, Lin Yi embraced the divine-beast story and considered trying its meat.

• The enormous creature hauled through the streets frightened the onlookers, while Lin Yi recognized it as a giant whale.
• Yu Jin explained that Zhou Yu had captured the creature, calling it the Kun of the Northern Deep and recounting how one had exploded after becoming stranded.
• The people cheered Great Liang for capturing a divine beast, while Lin Yi worried that the whale might explode and injure the crowd.
• Sun Jian assured Lin Yi that the whale had been cut open, salted, and kept cold, so it was safe.
• Lin Yi praised Zhou Yu and accepted the whale as a divine beast, while Xun Yu declared it an auspicious omen and Guo Jia asked to eat its meat.