Chapter Summaries

Lin Yi and his advisers discussed Zhao Zhong’s doomed appointment as a warning to scholars and affirmed Great Liang’s preparations to destroy Zhennan. Lin Yi then learned that Bai Zizai was seriously ill while serving among the Northern Barbarians.

• Jia Xu explained that Zhao Zhong was being used to spread Great Liang’s image of winning through virtue and to make an example of those who defied the emperor’s intent.
• Xun Yu, Chen Qun, and Zhang Juzheng agreed that scholars who failed to recognize the situation should be cast aside, while Xu Chu recoiled at their ruthlessness.
• Lin Yi assured Lin Rusong that Great Liang’s preparations and the fall of Daxin Pass had put victory over Zhennan within reach.
• Lin Yi asked Wang Yue about Bai Zizai, and Lin Rusong reported that Bai was helping the State Preceptor among the Northern Barbarians but was coughing up blood and might not live much longer.

Lin Yi planned to bring the gravely ill Bai Zizai to Great Liang’s birthday celebrations to rekindle his will to live. Meanwhile, Zhennan’s envoys learned that Great Liang had invaded their homeland and began to fear they were trapped in enemy territory.

• Lin Yi learned that Bai Zizai’s old injuries had flared up after his hatred for the Northern Region Barbarians faded, and he decided to bring him to the emperor’s birthday celebration.
• Lin Yi planned to use Great Liang’s growing prosperity and the arrival of Ran Min and the others with spoils from the Yamata Nation to give Bai Zizai a reason to keep living.
• At the Court of Diplomatic Reception, Jiumosong realized that the small nations attacking Zhennan were currying favor with Great Liang.
• Nan Yi suspected Net had cut off Zhennan’s intelligence after a guard reported that Great Liang had captured Daxin Pass and Snow Mountain Pass and entered Zhennan’s heartland.
• Nan Yi urged Jiumosong to escape, fearing the Zhennan envoys were trapped in Great Liang and could face deadly attacks.

Jiumosong and Nan Yi decided to assassinate the Frostwest Empire’s delegation to draw it into conflict with Great Liang and ease Zhennan’s predicament. In the imperial garden, Lin Yi joked with Cai Yan, Li Mingzhu, and Princess Anne about Eastern and Western emperors’ relationships with women.

• Jiumosong learned that Zhennan’s gateway had been breached, the Frostwest Empire had sided with Great Liang, and a million-strong Great Liang army threatened Zhennan.
• Jiumosong proposed assassinating Frostwest Empire envoy Ashley and members of the Great West Empire delegation, and Nan Yi agreed after realizing they might not be allowed to leave Great Liang.
• Lin Yi wrote the character “Stillness” in the imperial garden while Cai Yan and Li Mingzhu teased him about a supposed beauty named Jingjing.
• Princess Anne worried that Lin Yi would have three thousand beauties in his harem, and Lin Yi argued that Eastern emperors were different from Western emperors because their partners had recognized status.

Lin Yi defended his relationships by framing them as a matter of responsibility, persuading Princess Anne that her father was an irresponsible scumbag. He then told Cai Yan and Li Mingzhu to strengthen Great Liang’s propaganda, while news of popular anger toward the Yamata Nation showed how newspapers could rally the people and extend his influence.

• Lin Yi argued that Eastern emperors gave their partners status and a home, unlike Western rulers who kept mistresses without taking responsibility.
• Princess Anne agreed that her father, Bill III, was a scumbag and promised to tell her sisters to seek Eastern men.
• Lin Yi instructed Cai Yan and Li Mingzhu to shape Great Liang’s values through its newspapers and prevent officials like Zhao Zhong from influencing public opinion.
• Li Mingzhu reported that northern readers were eager to attack the Yamata Nation, while Cai Yan said southerners were even more outraged and Zhao Zhong risked being beaten if he appeared there.
• Princess Anne praised Lin Yi’s northern and southern newspapers for connecting him directly with millions of commoners.

Lin Yi recognized that Li Mingzhu had identified how the Imperial Examination could threaten the Xiliang faction’s grip on Great Liang’s benefits. He praised and kissed her, while Anne remained worried about the Frostwest Empire’s safety.

• Anne worried that Lin Yi’s power made Great Liang a formidable threat to the Frostwest Empire.
• Li Mingzhu considered her rivalry with Cai Yan and resolved not to lose their competition for Lin Yi’s favor.
• Lin Yi noticed Li Mingzhu’s concern and asked what was troubling her.
• Li Mingzhu warned that recruiting candidates from every social group through the Imperial Examination could upset the balance of power and benefits in Great Liang.
• Lin Yi praised Li Mingzhu’s insight, kissed her, and recognized that the examinations could weaken the Xiliang faction’s dominance.

Lin Yi explained that Great Liang needed an imperial examination system to draw talent from many classes into a broader Great Liang system. The discussion ended when Wang Yue reported that someone was preparing to assassinate Lin Yi in the palace.

• Lin Yi kissed Li Mingzhu and teased her about becoming crown prince, while Princess Anne asked why he was promoting the imperial examinations despite their problems.
• Lin Yi said Great Liang needed merchants, landowners, great clans, and other groups to serve the empire, provided they remained loyal to him.
• Princess Anne, Li Mingzhu, Cai Yan, and Zhao Gao praised Lin Yi’s vision for Great Liang.
• Lü Qiling told Lin Yi that Wang Yue had arrived with an urgent report, and Lin Yi went to the imperial study.
• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that someone was preparing to enter the palace and carry out an assassination.

Lin Yi learned that Jiumosong planned to assassinate Princess Anne and Ashley to sabotage peace between Great Liang and Frostwest, and ordered Zhao Yun’s Hundred Riders to wait until the attack began before capturing the conspirators. He also ordered guards to protect the palace and sent Wang Yue to seize Ashley’s eagle, which Lin Yi hoped to use for intelligence gathering.

• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that Jiumosong planned to assassinate Princess Anne and Ashley that night to wreck relations between Great Liang and Frostwest.
• Zhao Gao offered to send his inner guards to kill the assassins, but Lin Yi refused and ordered Zhao Yun’s Hundred Riders to capture them after their attempt began.
• Lin Yi told Wang Yue to guard the palace and kill any assassins who tried to enter, protecting Princess Anne from an attack inside the palace.
• Lin Yi asked about Frostwest’s intelligence network, and Wang Yue said Ashley’s subordinate likely used a trained eagle to carry messages.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to borrow the eagle so he could try to tame it, and Wang Yue declared it an illegal intruder because it lacked Frostwest identification papers.

Ashley and Abucha met Zhennan envoy Jiumosong to discuss Great Liang’s mysterious weapon, but an apparent assassination attempt left the Frostwest minister wounded and Jiumosong claiming Great Liang was responsible. Zhao Yun arrived and challenged Ashley’s assumption that Great Liang was trying to kill them, leaving Ashley to ask what he meant.

• Ashley questioned Abucha’s choice of a crowded restaurant for their meeting, and Abucha said it was safer than the closely watched Court of Diplomatic Reception.
• Jiumosong told Ashley and Abucha that Great Liang possessed a powerful, rod-shaped weapon from the Heavenly Craft Workshop.
• An arrow struck Ashley, and as the guards searched for an assassin, another arrow pierced Jiumosong’s shoulder.
• Jiumosong blamed Great Liang’s intelligence network and urged the group to leave, while privately thinking about his plan to kill Princess Anne.
• Zhao Yun blocked Jiumosong’s way and told Ashley that Great Liang had no need to assassinate him in public.
• Ashley reconsidered the attack and asked Zhao Yun what he meant.

Zhao Yun exposed Nan Yi’s role in the attack and revealed that the assassins had targeted Princess Anne, provoking Ashley and the Frostwest Empire into fighting Jiumosong’s Zhennan men. As Jiumosong was nearly killed, Zhao Yun intervened to arrest him under Great Liang’s laws and offered Nan Yi to Ashley.

• Zhao Yun told Ashley and Jiumosong that Nan Yi had arranged the assassination attempt and planned to enter the palace.
• Zhao Yun revealed that Nan Yi’s assassins had targeted Princess Anne, and Ashley ordered Cha’er to kill Jiumosong before fainting.
• Abucha backed Ashley’s order, and Cha’er and the Frostwest men attacked Jiumosong and his men, beating Nan Yi especially badly.
• Zhao Yun let the two sides fight while the Hundred Riders protected civilians, then intervened when Jiumosong was about to be killed.
• Zhao Yun ordered Jiumosong arrested under Great Liang’s laws and offered Nan Yi to Ashley as a gesture of sincerity.

After Zhao Yun rescued Princess Anne and exposed Jiumosong’s plot, Abucha thanked him and asked Great Liang to treat the unconscious Ashley. Meanwhile, Great Liang’s former aristocrats discussed the empire’s growing power and Zhao Zhong’s uncertain prospects on the Zhennan battlefield.

• Abucha gave Zhao Yun five thousand taels in banknotes for the Hundred Riders and asked him to arrange treatment for Ashley.
• Zhao Yun assured Abucha that Princess Anne was safe and led the Frostwest delegation to the Court of Diplomatic Reception.
• Commoners condemned Jiumosong for staging the attack to frame Great Liang and drag the Frostwest Empire into trouble.
• Liu Kun, Zhang Wanhao, Wang Hui, and Huang Tai discussed Great Liang’s strength, the decline of aristocratic clans, and the imperial examinations.
• Zhang Wanhao said Zhao Zhong could not command Qi Jiguang and had only forty-odd scholars under him, prompting the others to joke that he was a one-man army.

After Zhao Zhong was sent to Zhennan with an army of one, Zhang Wanhao and the other officials plotted how to appease Lin Yi by ensuring Zhao Zhong died and his family was eliminated. Lin Yi exposed Zhennan’s scheme to Jiumosong, who killed himself rather than sign a confession, and ordered his plot publicized while granting him an honorable burial.

• Liu Kun, Wang Hui, and the other officials took Zhao Zhong’s mission as a warning and feared Lin Yi’s displeasure.
• Zhang Wanhao said they should wipe out Zhao Zhong’s family after his expected death, and kill Zhao Zhong themselves if he survived.
• Lin Yi confronted Jiumosong with evidence that he had plotted against Great Liang and pressured him to sign confessions against Zhennan.
• Jiumosong rejected the confessions, lamented Zhennan’s failure to crush Lin Yi earlier, and struck his head against a pillar, dying in the palace.
• Lin Yi ordered Jiumosong’s blood used to mark the confessions, Zhennan’s plot made public, and Jiumosong given an honorable burial.

Great Liang’s people learned that Zhennan had plotted against Princess Anne and planned an invasion, and they rallied behind His Majesty after hearing why he honored Jiumosong with an elaborate funeral. Public opinion turned against Zhennan as Lu Yafu predicted a full-scale offensive, while King Nan Ke mourned Jiumosong and regretted that his plan had failed.

• Great Liang’s commoners surrounded the Court of Diplomatic Reception and cursed Zhennan after reports of its plots and planned invasion spread.
• Xu You told the crowd that most Zhennan people had been arrested, then explained that Jiumosong had confessed and killed himself to protect his country, prompting His Majesty to grant him an elaborate funeral.
• The commoners praised His Majesty’s compassion and redirected their anger toward Zhennan, while a foreign envoy’s criticism of Great Liang’s own violence drew an angry rebuke.
• Lu Yafu observed that the nationwide publicity campaign was preparing public opinion for a full-scale offensive against Zhennan.
• King Nan Ke mourned Jiumosong’s sacrifice, and Nan Yiming regretted that his failed plan had not eased pressure on the Zhennan Dynasty.

Zhennan’s rulers dismissed the diplomatic backlash and focused on defending against Great Liang, while Nan Ke ordered a purge of dissenters in the rear. At Pingyu Pass, Zhao Zhong discovered that he and a few dozen scholars had been assigned to attack without Qi Jiguang’s army, and Hu Che'er reminded him that this was his chance to fight without slaughter.

• Zan Rihong warned Nan Ke that Great Liang’s accusations had angered neighboring powers and influenced Zhennan’s commoners and old factions.
• Lu Donghuchen argued that the Frostwest Empire could not afford to attack Zhennan, and Nan Ke decided to disregard foreign opinion and fight Great Liang alone.
• Nan Yiming agreed to purge the dissenting factions after Nan Ke ordered him to prevent unrest in Zhennan’s rear.
• Lu Donghuchen warned that Pingyu Pass’s flat terrain favored Great Liang’s bows, crossbows, and mysterious weapon, while Nan Ke ordered surveillance of Flying Hero Pass and Dalang Valley.
• Zhao Zhong learned that Qi Jiguang’s three hundred thousand troops would not fight and that his force consisted only of several dozen scholars and the Zhao Clan.
• Hu Che'er told Zhao Zhong that his assignment was a chance to win a battle without slaughter and earn promotion and a noble title.

Zhao Zhong was forced to lead a few dozen scholars to demand Pingyu Pass's surrender, relying on Great Liang's military might and a bluff about avoiding bloodshed. A Zhennan deputy general ordered archers to fire on them, leaving Zhao Zhong and his companions under a rain of arrows.

• Hu Che'er drove Zhao Zhong and the scholars out to attack Pingyu Pass after the appointed hour arrived.
• Zhao Zhong persuaded the resentful scholars that their only chance was to bluff Zhennan into yielding the pass.
• Lu Donghongri questioned Zhao Zhong when he saw the small group outside Pingyu Pass.
• Zhao Zhong claimed he was Great Liang's commanding general and urged Lu Donghongri to surrender to spare lives.
• A Zhennan deputy general ordered ten thousand arrows to be fired at Zhao Zhong and the scholars.

Zhao Zhong faced certain death after Hu Che'er rescued him from the arrows only to explain why the army and His Majesty demanded his death. As Zhao Zhong knelt to accept his fate, Lu Donghongri mistook his actions for a possible Taoist curse ritual.

• Arrows trapped Zhao Zhong between the enemy and Hu Che'er's Divine Machine Battalion, while the scholars around him blamed their ambition and his influence for their predicament.
• Hu Che'er shielded Zhao Zhong from the arrows but told him that his attacks on battle-tested generals had made his death necessary to preserve the army's morale.
• Hu Che'er explained that Zhao Zhong's death would also give Great Liang cause to strike Zhennan, and Zhao Zhong broke down as he saw the battlefield's dead.
• Zhao Zhong apologized to his father, knelt before the next rain of arrows, and accepted death.
• Lu Donghongri watched Zhao Zhong kneel and asked A Ping what the strange maneuver meant; A Ping suggested it might be a Taoist curse ritual involving a blood sacrifice.

After Zhao Zhong was killed by arrows at Pingyu Pass, Qi Jiguang turned his death into a call for vengeance and led three hundred thousand soldiers to attack. Lu Donghongri realized the attacking Qi Family Army might be a serious threat.

• Lu Donghongri ordered his archers to shoot Zhao Zhong, killing him, and his officers urged him to seek reinforcements.
• Hu Che'er signaled Qi Jiguang that Zhao Zhong had fallen, and the three hundred thousand soldiers celebrated the news.
• Qi Jiguang portrayed Zhao Zhong’s death as an insult to Great Liang and ordered the army to attack Pingyu Pass.
• Lu Donghongri heard the approaching army’s furious battle cries and learned that Qi Jiguang led three hundred thousand troops.
• Lu Donghongri recognized the name Qi Family Army and felt an ominous premonition.

Lu Donghongri prepared Pingyu Pass to withstand the Qi Family Army's three-hundred-thousand-strong advance, knowing reinforcements were unlikely and that he had to hold for five days. From a hill east of the city, he watched the army arrive in perfect formation and noticed its unfamiliar weapons.

• Lu Donghongri learned the Qi Family Army was approaching and warned his officers that Great Liang had begun a large-scale offensive, leaving them unlikely to receive reinforcements.
• Lu Donghongri considered how to hold Pingyu Pass, knowing the decisive battle was planned for Flying Hero Pass and that his position had effectively been abandoned.
• Lu Donghongri ordered the gates shut, the army readied, and A Long to conscript every male over twelve within the pass.
• Lu Donghongri led his officers to a hill east of the city to observe the approaching Qi Family Army.
• The Qi Family Army advanced as a vast, precisely coordinated formation, startling the Zhennan officers with its discipline.
• Lu Donghongri dismissed the army's marching as no threat by itself but grew wary of its unfamiliar staff-like weapons fitted with bayonets.

Qi Jiguang’s Qi Family Army attacked Pingyu Pass, using muskets to wound one of Lu Donghongri’s men before advancing on the city. The Crouching Tiger Cannons fired their first shots in Great Liang, blasting the walls and leaving Lu Donghongri shocked as the assault continued.

• Qi Jiguang shot at Lu Donghongri from a distance, wounding a deputy general and forcing Lu Donghongri’s group to retreat into Pingyu Pass.
• Qi Jiguang ordered his army to prepare to attack Pingyu Pass rather than pursue the fleeing men.
• Lu Donghongri warned his soldiers about the enemy’s long-range weapons, then saw Qi Jiguang’s forces charge toward the city.
• Qi Jiguang introduced himself as a grand general under Emperor Zhenwu and ordered the Crouching Tiger Cannons forward.
• Lu Donghongri ordered his soldiers to shoot, but Qi Jiguang commanded the cannons to fire, blasting the city walls and scattering defenders.

Qi Jiguang’s cannons blasted open Pingyu Pass, leaving Lu Donghongri and his Zhennan troops facing a devastating assault. As Lu ordered his elite Iron Armor Army mobilized, a second bombardment struck the remaining walls and killed scores of soldiers.

• Qi Jiguang’s Crouching Tiger Cannons demolished half the battlements of Pingyu Pass, and Zhang Fei celebrated the destruction.
• Lu Donghongri recovered from the blast and realized the pass had been breached in the first attack.
• Lu Donghongri ordered his trusted subordinate to bring the Iron Armor Army to defend the pass.
• Lu Donghongri told his soldiers to leave the walls and establish defenses below.
• Great Liang launched a second bombardment, killing at least fifty Zhennan soldiers in one blast.

Qi Jiguang used cannon fire to break Pingyu Pass’s defenses and sent the Qi Family Army through the breach. Lu Dongsong’s Iron Armor Army was devastated by firearms, leaving the Zhennan forces demoralized as the Qi Family Army advanced.

• Qi Jiguang ordered the Crouching Tiger Cannons to suppress Pingyu Pass while Zhang Fei prepared to lead the attack.
• Qi Jiguang sounded the charge, and the Qi Family Army surged through the breach, forcing Lu Donghongri to send Lu Dongsong and the Iron Armor Army against them.
• Lu Dongsong led the Iron Armor Army forward, but firearms struck him and his soldiers, inflicting severe casualties and breaking their advance.
• Lu Donghongri ordered a withdrawal, but his deputy warned that half the Iron Armor Army had already fallen and the rest could not escape in time.
• The Iron Armor Army was annihilated, and the Zhennan troops scattered as the Qi Family Army advanced.