Chapter Summaries

Lin Rusong warned Lu Yafu to stay in line at the Imperial Academy, but Lu was ambushed and beaten after leaving. Lin Yi learned Cao Cao was responsible and praised him, leaving Cao Cao pleased with his place in the emperor’s favor.

• Lin Rusong warned Lu Yafu that his influence and aristocratic allies were no match for the emperor’s powerful ministers, and Lu agreed to focus on teaching.
• An attacker covered Lu Yafu’s head with a sack and beat him, identifying himself as Sima Yi before fleeing from approaching guards.
• Lin Yi saw Lu Yafu’s injuries and ordered him watched closely, while Wang Yue said the attacker must have been someone inside the locked Imperial Academy.
• Lin Yi spotted Cao Cao rubbing his hands and recognized him as the likely attacker.
• Cao Cao admitted he had beaten Lu Yafu for criticizing the emperor, and Lin Yi patted his shoulder and praised him.

Lin Yi received envoys from the Great West Empire, a fierce rival of the Frostwest Empire, and heard their gifts were meant to demonstrate their strength. The envoys brought an enormous covered crate that growled, leaving Lin Yi curious about what it contained.

• Cao Cao told Lin Yi that the new textbooks included essays exposing the great families and scholar-gentry, while Lin Yi described how the Imperial Academy would strengthen loyalty to Great Liang.
• Wang Yue reported that envoys from the Great West Empire had arrived, and Lin Yi and Cao Cao suspected their visit concerned the Frostwest Empire.
• Zhang Fei explained that the Great West Empire practiced slavery and its warriors were known as Western Ironheads who fought recklessly.
• Envoy Alusi presented gifts, including a striped tiger pelt from a tiger named Simba, and boasted that warrior Sangdu had captured it.
• Alusi announced another grand gift, and a covered crate arrived with animal growls coming from inside.

Lin Yi accepted the Great West Empire’s gift of a mutant white tiger and asked for it to be released, only for Ma Ling'er and then Lin Yi to overpower it effortlessly. Alusi, stunned by their strength, began asking Lin Yi about establishing friendly relations with Great Liang.

• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that the Great West Empire’s gift was a huge tiger, and Alusi introduced Ouba as the powerful daughter of Simba.
• Zhang Fei mocked the Great West Empire’s claims, while Alusi explained that the tiger represented his empire’s sincere wish for friendship with Great Liang.
• Lin Yi asked Sangdu to release Ouba, and the tiger burst from its cage and charged at a guard.
• Ma Ling'er pinned Ouba down with one hand, astonishing Alusi and Sangdu as she inspected the tiger and discovered she was female.
• Lin Yi lifted Ouba with one hand, leaving Alusi shaken by Great Liang’s strength.
• Alusi praised Lin Yi and began asking about establishing friendly relations with Great Liang.

Lin Yi considered an alliance with the Great West Empire but delayed agreeing while planning to use negotiations to secure its resources. After leaving the audience, Alusi and Sangdu worried that Great Liang might not need their help and that the Frostwest Empire could instead seek peace with Lin Yi.

• Alusi urged Lin Yi to ally with the Great West Empire against the Frostwest Empire, and Lin Yi said he would consider the arrangements before sending the envoys to rest.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to gather intelligence on the Great West Empire’s specialties and resources, then told Zhao Yun to summon Xun Yu and the others to prepare a list of demands.
• Zhang Fei asked Lin Yi to introduce him to ten women from the Great West Empire so he could fight them, and Lin Yi told him to get lost.
• After leaving the hall, Sangdu questioned his own strength after seeing Lin Yi calmly stroke a fierce tiger, and Alusi ordered him to focus on their mission.
• Sangdu warned Alusi that Great Liang might gain little from an alliance and that the Frostwest Empire could try to improve relations with Lin Yi, leaving Alusi worried about their prospects.

Alusi ordered the Great West Empire to investigate Great Liang’s military strength, undermine its relations with the Frostwest Empire, and win over its emperor. Meanwhile, Lin Yi’s court compiled an expansive list of goods and information to obtain from the Great West Empire, while preparing to sell it aid and luxury products.

• Alusi told Sangdu to gather precise intelligence on Great Liang and, if needed, assassinate the Frostwest Empire’s envoy to prevent the empires from reconciling.
• Great Liang’s ministers examined information from the Net and listed resources, technology, and knowledge they wanted from the Great West Empire.
• Lin Rusong objected that the demands were excessive, but Lin Yi defended the plan and agreed to send the empire aid, including wine and silk.
• Lin Yi and Zhang Fei decided to use the Great West Empire’s poor clothing as an excuse to sell it goods, while Mi Zhu listed more than thirty products for trade.
• Ma Jun and Cao Cao identified useful features in the Great West Empire’s armor and shields, and Lin Yi ordered the court to record its requests and provide merchandise generously.
• Jia Xu praised Lin Yi as a benevolent and fair ally, leaving Lin Yi wary of what Jia Xu might be planning.

Lin Yi assigned Jia Xu to oversee peace talks and draw the Frostwest Empire into negotiations, then discussed Great Liang’s preparations against the Zhennan Dynasty. He ordered Sima Yi to open another front, leaving Lu Yafu to realize that the Shannan governor was the man who had beaten him at the Imperial Academy.

• Jia Xu asked Lin Yi for leave and tried to pass his duties to Guo Jia and Cao Cao, but both refused.
• Lin Yi tasked Jia Xu with watching the peace talks and leaking information to the Frostwest Empire; Jia Xu understood that Lin Yi wanted to pressure the Great West Empire.
• Zhang Liao reported that the Zhennan Dynasty was building up its forces and that Great Liang’s troops needed one or two months to acclimatize to high altitudes.
• Lin Yi ordered Sima Yi to open another route toward the Zhennan Dynasty and give it trouble under the pretext of friendly exchanges.
• Lu Yafu recognized Sima Yi’s name and realized that the Shannan governor had beaten him at the Imperial Academy.

Alusi and the Great West Empire’s delegation learned how powerful Great Liang had become and considered what an alliance might mean for their own country. Zhang Fei offered them generous gifts, then demanded an even greater return and drew his Serpent Spear when Alusi objected, leaving Sangdu to confront him.

• Alusi and Sangdu discussed Great Liang’s military strength and worried that it could threaten the Great West Empire, though Alusi argued the alliance could help his country grow stronger.
• Zhang Fei arrived at the Court of Diplomatic Reception and told Alusi that Great Liang’s emperor had agreed to join forces against their enemy.
• Zhang Fei gave Alusi a gift list of valuable goods, and Alusi and Sangdu praised the emperor’s generosity.
• Zhang Fei handed Alusi another list demanding gifts worth two cities in return, and Alusi objected that the demands were too great.
• Zhang Fei drew his Serpent Spear and threatened Alusi, so Sangdu stepped between them to face him.

Zhang Fei confronted the Great West Empire’s envoys, then a victory report announced that Ma Chao had shattered the Western Regions Alliance’s defenses and captured ten kingdoms in one day. The news pressured Alusi to seek instructions from home as Great Liang’s forces advanced toward the Myriad Forms Kingdom, while Ma Chao credited the White Horse Volunteers’ rapid breakthrough for the campaign’s success.

• Zhang Fei struck Sangdu with his serpent spear, badly injuring his hands, and Alusi said he needed approval from home for the gift list.
• A messenger reported that Ma Chao had broken through the Western Regions Alliance’s defenses and taken ten kingdoms in a day.
• Alusi questioned how the victory report had arrived so quickly, and Zhang Fei insisted it was genuine and verified.
• Xu You revealed that envoys from the Frostwest Empire had also arrived, and Zhang Fei urged Alusi to hurry before Great Liang had no need for the Great West Empire.
• Ma Chao and Huang Zhong observed the Western Regions from a hot-air balloon and credited Yan Gang’s White Horse Volunteers with breaking the alliance’s defenses through a rapid charge.

Ma Chao ordered Great Liang’s forces to stop wearing down the Western Regions with raids and advance against the allied army’s main force. As the Western Regions alliance lost troops to the White Horse Volunteers’ attacks, its leaders saw Ma Chao’s army charge and realized the decisive battle had begun.

• Yan Gang’s White Horse Volunteers raided the Western Regions’ undefended rear, devastating garrisons and forcing the allied nations to scatter troops to defend their lands.
• Ma Chao told Huang Zhong to send up hot-air balloons to guide the army, then ordered a direct assault on the enemy’s main force.
• Ma Chao assembled his troops and advanced as several hot-air balloons rose across the region.
• Ase warned Jite that the alliance was losing soldiers as kings returned to defend their countries, shrinking its army from five hundred thousand to four hundred thousand.
• Jite forbade the kings from sending more troops home and said they needed the Frostwest Empire’s promised three hundred thousand reinforcements.
• War horns sounded, and Jite and the other leaders saw Great Liang’s main army charging toward them.

Jite ordered the Western Regions alliance to abandon the Myriad Forms Kingdom and retreat toward the Frostwest Empire rather than face Ma Chao’s advancing Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Ma Chao recognized their flight and sent a hundred thousand cavalry in pursuit.

• Jite judged that the Western Regions alliance could not defeat Ma Chao’s much larger force and chose to retreat again.
• Jite and Ase convinced the kings that the Frostwest Empire’s two million troops behind them made resistance or surrender dangerous.
• Jite ordered Ase to deal with the kings who hesitated to retreat, and guards killed several of them.
• Jite drove prisoners to block the rear and fled with the alliance toward the Frostwest Empire.
• Ma Chao saw the alliance routing and ordered a hundred thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry to pursue them.

Nishu agreed to send Frostwest reinforcements to the collapsing Western Regions, despite his anger at King Jite’s refusal to fight. In Frostwest, Bill III feared a Great Liang–Great West alliance and ordered envoys to negotiate, while a minister proposed Princess Anne as a way to influence Great Liang.

• Nishu angrily rebuked the messenger who brought another plea for reinforcements, then learned the Western Regions’ front was crumbling.
• After his deputy and an old general explained that Jite was preserving his forces and trying to make Frostwest fight in his place, Nishu agreed to reinforce the Western Regions.
• Bill III received news of the defeats and worried that Great Liang would threaten Frostwest if the Western Regions fell.
• Ministers warned Bill III that the Great West Empire might ally with Great Liang and that the Zhennan Dynasty had not acted on its alliance with Frostwest.
• Bill III ordered contact with the Zhennan Dynasty and sent envoys to Great Liang with substantial offers to forestall an alliance with the Great West Empire.
• A minister argued that Great Liang’s ambitious emperor would not be swayed by small benefits and suggested Princess Anne.

Bill III reluctantly accepted Lin Yi’s marriage proposal to Princess Anne because Great Liang’s alliance was crucial. Meanwhile, Jite’s retreating army ran into Ran Min’s Qihuo Army, whose devastating crossbow fire and charge shattered the Western Regions’ forces.

• Bill III agreed to give Princess Anne to Lin Yi after weighing the importance of Great Liang’s support.
• Jite escaped the Xiliang Iron Cavalry but found Ran Min’s Qihuo Army blocking the road to the Frostwest Empire.
• Jite dismissed the Qihuo Army as a ragtag force and ordered his more than four hundred thousand troops to charge.
• Cao Hong ordered the Qihuo Army to fire, and its crossbows killed over a hundred thousand Western Regions soldiers in a few volleys.
• Jite sent his shield troops forward, and Ran Min led the Qihuo Army into a melee, cutting through the enemy with his modao.

Ran Min and the Qihuo Army shattered the Western Regions coalition, forcing Jite and Ase to flee north as Ma Chao pursued them. Ma Chao closed in on Jite, who abandoned his clothes and hid among his guards, before hoofbeats from the north offered a possible escape.

• Jite and Ase sent five generals to attack Ran Min, but Ran Min split one enemy general and his shield with a single blow.
• Ran Min rallied the Qihuo Army, whose assault broke the Western Regions troops and drove them into a rout.
• Jite ordered the coalition to retreat north as Ma Chao's pursuing force approached, and Ran Min ordered his soldiers to kill the fleeing troops while keeping Jite alive.
• Ma Chao charged toward Jite and defeated his personal guards, while Ase and another Western Regions king abandoned Jite and fled.
• Jite hid among his guards after stripping off his clothes, then heard hoofbeats from the north and hoped reinforcements had arrived.

Ma Chao’s forces crushed the Western Regions coalition, capturing Jite and Ase as the survivors surrendered. As Great Liang prepared to establish its rule over the Western Regions, Nishu abandoned the battle and killed an envoy who accused him of failing to help.

• Yan Gang led the White Horse Volunteers into the fleeing coalition, completing its encirclement and slaughtering its soldiers.
• Huang Zhong shot Jite to stop him from killing himself, and Pang De humiliated him before Ma Chao ordered him taken to the capital.
• Ase tried to surrender by raising his dirty white underpants, and Yan Gang ordered him arrested for the emperor’s judgment.
• Ran Min asked Ma Chao what to do with the surviving coalition troops, and Ma Chao assigned them to hard labor while Ran Min prepared to face the Frostwest Empire’s reinforcements.
• Nishu refused to aid the defeated coalition, then kicked the accusing Western Regions envoy to death.

After the Western Regions fell to Great Liang, Bill III realized the Frostwest Empire faced a dangerous new neighbor and agreed to offer Princess Anne in marriage to Lin Yi to secure peace. Anne learned of the arrangement and wondered what kind of man her future husband would be.

• Nishu withdrew his three hundred thousand troops from the Western Regions battlefield, warning that Frostwest could not risk fighting Great Liang.
• Bill III and his advisers agreed to strengthen the empire’s eastern defenses after learning the Western Regions had fallen.
• Ashley proposed using Princess Anne’s marriage to improve relations with Great Liang, and Bill III agreed to send her to Lin Yi.
• Bill III accepted that Anne could only become a noble consort because Lin Yi already had two empresses, while hoping she might rise in rank later.
• Anne heard the news and wondered what kind of man Lin Yi was.

Great Liang announced that it had conquered all twenty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, shocking the people and foreign envoys. At court, Xun Yu called Great Liang an empire, and His Majesty approved the name Great Liang Empire.

• Great Liang announced its victory in the Western Regions, and the people of Yong'an City celebrated the conquest of all twenty-six kingdoms.
• Alusi mocked Abucha over the fall of the Western Regions, while Abucha restrained Cha'er from attacking him.
• Alusi and Abucha worried about Great Liang's growing strength and the threat it posed to their empires.
• Mi Zhu celebrated the Western Regions' economic value, and Xun Yu said the conquest had made Great Liang an empire.
• His Majesty agreed with Xun Yu and declared that Great Liang would henceforth be called the Great Liang Empire.

Lin Yi celebrated Great Liang’s Western Regions victory and ordered a three-day festival and leave for officials. The chapter ended with the court preparing to honor the victorious troops and explore the newly conquered region’s resources.

• Lin Ruci and the assembled officials celebrated the prospect of Great Liang expanding westward, while Lu Yafu worried about governing such a vast empire.
• Lin Yi read the Western Regions report and praised the White Horse Volunteers for spearheading the rapid victory.
• Lin Rusong asked Lin Yi to let him fight in the Western Regions, and Lin Yi reluctantly agreed to consider it because of his father’s failing health.
• Lin Yi gave the report to Xun Yu to study the region’s resources and ordered the Three Departments to determine rewards for the returning troops.
• Lin Yi declared a banquet at Chengtian Gate and three days of celebration throughout Great Liang, granting officials three days’ leave.

After Great Liang’s founding, Lin Yi declared three days of celebrations, while officials and former opponents reflected on their survival and ambitions. The Great West Empire’s envoy, Alusi, concluded that his homeland needed to decide quickly how to respond to Great Liang’s overwhelming power.

• Lin Yi dismissed court and granted three days of celebrations, delighting the officials.
• Duan Yingxiong thanked Wang Chengfei for warning him against opposing Lin Yi, while Xu Zhong planned to seek merit on the Western Regions battlefield.
• Zhang Wanhao and the former great-clan leaders discussed Great Liang’s conquest of the Western Regions and accepted their diminished position.
• Alusi and Sangdu reviewed reports of Great Liang’s victories and feared the Frostwest Empire could not withstand its army.
• Alusi decided the Great West Empire needed to choose its response quickly before the Frostwest Empire made diplomatic moves toward Great Liang.

Lin Yi received rewards for conquering the Western Regions, including Ban Chao, Zhang Juzheng, Zhao Gao, troops, and improved sugarcane. He assigned Zhao Gao to serve at his side and offered Ban Chao command of the Western Regions, but Ban Chao requested to serve as acting grand commander until he had earned the position.

• Lin Yi reviewed the system rewards for conquering the Western Regions and suppressing its allied army, including Ban Chao, Zhang Juzheng, Zhao Gao, troops, administrative talents, and sugarcane improvements.
• Lin Yi summoned Ban Chao, Zhang Juzheng, and Zhao Gao, who pledged their loyalty to him.
• Lin Yi ordered Zhao Gao to remain by his side and handle tea service and small errands, and Zhao Gao eagerly accepted.
• Lin Yi offered Ban Chao a diplomatic post or command of the Western Regions, and Ban Chao chose the latter as acting grand commander until he had earned the full position.

Lin Yi appointed Ban Chao and Zhang Juzheng to senior posts in Great Liang before learning that Princess Anne of the Frostwest Empire was leading an envoy to the capital. He ordered Wang Yue to monitor the envoys as Great Liang prepared to demand concessions.

• Lin Yi appointed Zhang Juzheng a candidate for the chancellorship, and Zhang accepted so he could pursue reforms.
• Lin Yi sent Xu Chu to introduce the new administrators to Xun Yu and learned that Wang Yue had requested an audience.
• Wang Yue reported that Princess Anne, the Frostwest Empire’s youngest princess, had arrived with an envoy.
• Lin Yi examined Anne’s dossier and portrait, noting her swordsmanship and reputation for rejecting suitors who could not defeat her.
• Lin Yi said Great Liang would demand benefits from the Frostwest Empire and ordered Wang Yue to watch the envoys and deal with anyone who crossed Great Liang’s red lines.