Chapter Summaries

Lin Yi rejected Princess Dada’s proposal to trade Black Gold Steel for gunpowder and demanded the Xinma Empire itself as payment. After asking to speak with him alone, Princess Dada undressed and said she wanted to try conquering him.

• Princess Dada and Xinier considered whether the Xinma Empire should trade Black Gold Steel to Great Liang for advanced weapons.
• Princess Dada offered Black Gold Steel in exchange for gunpowder, but Lin Yi said its value far exceeded the metal’s.
• Xinier asked whether gunpowder could be traded, and Lin Yi said the price was the Xinma Empire.
• Princess Dada asked to speak with Lin Yi alone, and he sent the others out of the palace.
• Princess Dada undressed and told Lin Yi she wanted to try conquering him.

Lin Yi accepted Princess Dada’s seductive offer while Abide William tried to secure his freedom by offering Great Liang an alliance with the Moses Empire. As Abide William feared Great Liang would side with Xinma, news of the Moses Empire’s defeat and its hesitation to retaliate showed the empire was under growing pressure.

• Princess Dada explained that Xinma princesses remained virgins until marriage and that a strong enough husband could make her the next Empress of Xinma.
• Lin Yi pulled Princess Dada into his arms, leaving Abide William waiting while the two held a private discussion.
• Abide William offered Meng Huo a fortune and an alliance with Great Liang in exchange for his freedom, but Meng Huo said he would have to wait until the next day to speak with Lin Yi.
• Abide William feared Princess Dada was using a beauty trap to secure Great Liang’s support against the Moses Empire and lamented that he could not try to persuade Lin Yi himself.
• The Moses Empire reeled from its crushing defeat at sea, and its leaders hesitated to retaliate while they investigated Great Liang’s strength.

Emperor Moshili Chaer and the Moses Empire’s leaders learned that Great Liang was close to unifying the East, fielded over four million powerful troops, and likely controlled the nearby sea. Abide Xisi demanded revenge for the loss of his three hundred thousand troops, but the council had yet to decide how to respond.

• Angry crowds filled Kunsi City as the Moses Empire’s leaders gathered to discuss Great Liang’s disruption of a shipping route and the empire’s setbacks.
• Moshili Chaer asked Ashan for intelligence on Great Liang, and Ashan reported that it had defeated nearly every eastern country and was close to unifying the continent.
• Ashan admitted that the Moses Empire knew little about Great Liang’s navy because its scouts had been attacked, and Chaer concluded that Great Liang likely controlled the sea.
• Ashan reported that Abide Leier had gone underground after an attack and claimed Great Liang had over four million troops and a weapon capable of destroying cities.
• Abide Xisi demanded that the Moses Empire avenge the loss of his three hundred thousand troops.

Emperor Chaer learned that Great Liang had conquered the Frostwest Empire and that the Xinma Empire was negotiating an alliance with it. He decided the Moses Empire would attack the Xinma Empire first to break the alliance before Great Liang could respond.

• Abide Xisi and another lord argued over the Abide Family’s lost army until Second Elder Yize silenced them.
• Yize and Amu urged Chaer to respond to Great Liang’s expansion rather than appear weak.
• Chaer received reports that Great Liang was attacking the Great West Empire and that the Xinma Empire was discussing an alliance with Great Liang.
• Abide Xisi and the other leaders warned that the alliance would threaten the Moses Empire and its territories.
• Chaer chose to destroy the Xinma Empire first, and Yize and the others agreed to the plan.

Emperor Char decided to attack the Xinma Empire despite Abide Xisi’s concern for his son and younger brother. In Great Liang, Lin Yi refused to trade gunpowder to Princess Dada but negotiated an exchange of other weapons and crops, leaving the two empires poised to share valuable resources.

• Emperor Char persuaded Abide Xisi to accept that the Moses Empire would abandon Abide William and Abide Leier, then began deploying forces against the Xinma Empire.
• Princess Dada asked Lin Yi for gunpowder, but he refused and offered her a repeating crossbow instead.
• Lin Yi agreed to provide Princess Dada with sweet potatoes and rice seeds, while rejecting her offer of a supposedly immortalizing mushroom.
• Lin Yi and Princess Dada agreed to exchange several hundred kinds of goods and crops to strengthen their respective continents.

At court, Lin Yi reviewed the trade with the Xinma Empire and received updates on Great Liang’s wars and rice harvest. Princess Dada decided to return home to prepare supplies and pursue the Xinma succession, seeking to become Lin Yi’s ally rather than remain in his harem.

• Lin Yi ordered Sun Shangxiang to locate the Xinma Empire and verify the Ocean Ring coordinates while she reported Great Liang’s advances against the Great West Empire.
• Xun Yu told Lin Yi that the rice harvest was approaching and could be exceptionally abundant.
• Xinier celebrated Princess Dada’s success in securing Great Liang’s support, but she worried about the risks of relying on such a powerful empire.
• Princess Dada ordered Xinier to prepare their return to the Xinma Empire and warn her mother that people from the Moses Empire had appeared in Great Liang.
• Princess Dada said she wanted to become a source of support for Lin Yi rather than a woman in his harem, and Xinier vowed to help her claim the Xinma succession.

Princess Dada and Xinier discovered Great Liang’s enormous rice harvest, which convinced her to secure high-yield rice and other goods for the Xinma Empire. She decided to return at once to prepare for trade, leaving open the prospect of another meeting with Lin Yi.

• Xinier told Princess Dada that Lin Yi’s support made her bid for the empress’s favor more likely to succeed.
• Princess Dada and Xinier found a golden rice field and marveled at its scale and yield.
• Farmers initially suspected the foreigners of trying to steal rice seeds, but relaxed after learning Princess Dada was from the Xinma Empire.
• An interpreter explained that Great Liang’s rice yielded three thousand jin per mu, leaving Princess Dada and Xinier astonished.
• Princess Dada decided to return immediately, prepare goods, and bring them to Great Liang to secure a trade for its high-yield crops.

Lin Yi and his ministers celebrated the extraordinary harvest of high-yield rice, which promised to end Great Liang’s grain shortages. Lin Yi credited the people who helped build the realm, then agreed to hold a feast across the empire and consider giving the Retired Emperor’s campaign a pause.

• Xun Yu and the ministers marveled at the rice harvest, and Mi Zhu reported that the best plot had yielded more than 4,500 jin per mu.
• Lin Yi reflected that the system’s supplies came from national heroes across time, including rice developed by a scientist surnamed Yuan.
• Lin Yi thanked his ministers for helping him improve the lives of Great Liang’s people, moving Xun Yu and the others.
• Lin Yi proposed a feast for the ministers, and Mi Zhu suggested celebrating across the empire so the common people could share in the joy.
• Lin Yi agreed to feast all under heaven and said they could check on the Retired Emperor’s campaign and let him take a break.

Xu You convinced Abide William that the Moses Empire had abandoned him, and Abide William traded the locations of its colonies for a chance to survive. Lin Yi accepted the charts and secured Abide William’s agreement to guide Great Liang to the colonies.

• Xu You told Abide William that the Moses Empire had not answered a message sent in his name and had likely abandoned him.
• Abide William agreed to reveal the coordinates of the Moses Empire’s colonies, and Xu You received the nautical charts he drew.
• Xu You brought Abide William and the charts to the palace and presented them to Lin Yi.
• Lin Yi asked whether Abide William would guide Great Liang to the colonies, and Abide William agreed after Xu You signaled him.
• Lin Yi praised Abide William’s decision and made clear that his survival depended on serving Great Liang.

Lin Yi accepted Abide William’s defection and began planning Great Liang’s expansion into the Moses Empire’s colonies under the banner of spreading civilization. As his officials mapped out resource, weapons, and medical preparations, Abide William realized how formidable Great Liang was and hoped his family could survive by serving it.

• Abide William pledged to serve Great Liang, then told Lin Yi that the colonies’ inhabitants had crude weapons and were no match for Great Liang.
• Lin Yi declared that Great Liang should enlighten the colonies with civilization, and Xu You praised Abide William for choosing the right side.
• Lin Yi summoned Zhao Gao to bring Xun Yu, Ma Jun, and the other officials to study the nautical chart and plan the colonial campaign.
• Mi Zhu called for the colonies’ resources, while Ma Jun requested ores and steel for weapons and cannons; Lin Yi ordered their needs recorded.
• Xun Yu recommended bringing physicians to address unfamiliar climates and diseases, and Guo Jia and the others added further preparations to the plan.
• Abide William worried that Great Liang’s unity and capable officials made it stronger than the Moses Empire, and resolved to prove himself to protect the Abide Family.

Lin Yi assigned Guan Yu, Lü Bu, and Zhang Fei to lead an overseas campaign using newly acquired colonial coordinates as a proving ground for naval warfare. After finalizing the preparations, he learned Ashina Tiandu had arrived in Yong'an City and resolved to end the Frostwest Empire.

• Lin Yi chose Guan Yu, Lü Bu, Zhang Fei, and the other trained generals to conquer the overseas territories and test their naval skills.
• Guan Yu, Lü Bu, and Zhang Fei eagerly accepted the assignment, while Abide William agreed to guide them.
• Lin Yi warned Zhang Fei not to mistreat Abide William as long as he remained loyal to Great Liang.
• Lin Yi finalized the colonization plan and arranged the necessary supplies and resources.
• Dun Ruo reported that Ashina Tiandu had been brought to Yong'an City, and Lin Yi decided to make the Frostwest Empire vanish.

Lin Yi met the captive Ashina Tiandu, the defeated emperor of the Frostwest Empire, and rejected his plea for mercy. He promised to let Ashina Tiandu see his son before his execution.

• Lin Yi ordered Ashina Tiandu brought before him in the imperial palace.
• Ashina Tiandu recognized Lin Yi, mocked the idea that their family ties could have prevented the conquest, and admitted they were alike in their ambition.
• Ashina Tiandu asked Lin Yi to spare his life, arguing that he no longer posed a threat and that mercy would improve Lin Yi’s reputation.
• Lin Yi refused, saying Ashina Tiandu was too clever and ambitious to be left alive.
• Ashina Tiandu cursed Lin Yi and accepted his fate, and Lin Yi promised he could see his son before he died.

Lin Yi declared that the defeated Frostwest Empire would be abolished and reorganized as Great Liang’s Anxi Grand Protectorate, with Wang Ziwen as its first grand protector. He ordered plans for the new territory and took Ashina Tiandu to meet his son before his execution.

• Lin Yi agreed to let Ashina Tiandu see Ashina Mafa, acknowledging their family ties despite intending to kill him.
• Lin Yi announced the end of the Frostwest Empire and named Wang Ziwen the first grand protector of Anxi.
• Ashina Tiandu grieved that he had failed to command the West and had instead buried his empire.
• Xun Yu proposed using Anxi as a military base for operations in the Great West Empire and former Black Skull territory.
• Lin Yi ordered the Palace Library to prepare detailed plans and told Ashina Tiandu he would take him to see his son before his death.
• Ashina Tiandu collapsed as he accepted that he could not escape execution.

Lin Yi escorted Ashina Tiandu to the Imperial Academy, where Tiandu tried to seize the emperor and escape but was easily beaten. Tiandu reunited with his son, Ashina Mafa, and accepted that the Frostwest Empire was gone and Mafa should live safely under Lin Yi's protection.

• Lin Yi escorted Ashina Tiandu to the Imperial Academy, where Tiandu accused him of miscalculating and revealed his plan to capture him.
• Ashina Tiandu attacked Lin Yi, but Lin Yi overpowered and severely beat him.
• Lin Yi brought the battered Tiandu to see Ashina Mafa, who recognized his father after studying his swollen face.
• Ashina Mafa told Tiandu he seemed to have already brought the Frostwest Empire to ruin.
• Ashina Tiandu urged Mafa to live well and stop thinking about the empire, saying it was gone and Lin Yi would spare him.

Ashina Tiandu asked Anne to protect his son, Ashina Mafa, and Lin Yi agreed to let the boy live in Great Liang. From the Stargazing Pavilion, Lin Yi and his advisers discussed Mafa’s submission and why he posed no threat to Great Liang.

• Anne confronted Ashina Tiandu over his defeat, and he admitted he wanted his son to survive.
• Lin Yi promised to spare Ashina Mafa if he lived peacefully in Great Liang, and Mafa pledged to study and help Lin Yi unite the world.
• Lin Yi left Ashina Tiandu with Anne and Mafa and went to the Imperial Academy.
• At the Stargazing Pavilion, Lu Yafu warned Lin Yi that Mafa’s loyalty might not be sincere.
• Lin Yi said Great Liang’s strength and its watchful agents would prevent Mafa from restoring the Frostwest Empire.

After Ashina Tiandu’s death, Lin Yi turned Great Liang’s attention toward overseas expansion while Princess Dada returned to the Xinma Empire with goods and news of Great Liang’s overwhelming power. The Xinma court was stunned and asked whether Great Liang had agreed to cooperate with them.

• Lu Yafu praised Lin Yi after Ashina Tiandu’s defeat, and Lin Yi said Great Liang’s next conquests would lie overseas.
• Dun Ruo reported that Ashina Tiandu had killed himself with a dagger from Noble Consort Anne, and Lin Yi ordered his body collected and stabbed once more on his behalf.
• Princess Dada and her party returned to the Xinma Empire after three days at sea, carrying unfamiliar goods that astonished the people.
• Princess Dada told Empress Mary An Da that she had met Great Liang’s powerful emperor and described the empire’s customs and military strength.
• Xinier confirmed that Great Liang had nearly unified its continent and possessed territory many times larger than the Xinma Empire.
• Mary An Da asked whether Great Liang had agreed to an alliance, fearing the Xinma Empire might have made a mistake.

Princess Dada defended her alliance with Great Liang to Empress Mary An Da, arguing that its military and economic strength made cooperation essential despite the risks. Her mother accepted Dada’s resolve and, after seeing the trade goods, agreed that the Xinma Empire had gained valuable crops and supplies.

• Princess Dada and the Xinma court worried that revealing their location to Great Liang could invite an attack, while Xinier said Emperor Lin Yi had treated Dada well.
• Empress Mary An Da confronted Dada about spending a night in Great Liang’s palace and warned that this could disqualify her from becoming empress.
• Dada argued that Great Liang’s power and crops yielding over eight thousand jin per mu made an alliance necessary, and she declared she would follow her chosen path without regret.
• Empress Mary An Da accepted Dada’s resolve and examined the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other trade goods from Great Liang.
• Dada said she planned to trade for Great Liang’s high-yield rice and wheat, and the empress concluded that the Xinma Empire had gained a good deal.

The Xinma Empire learned that the Moses Empire was advancing with over a million troops, and the empress decided to seek Great Liang’s military help. At sea, Yize and Abide Xisi led the Moses Empire’s vanguard toward Xinma, intending to destroy it before it could ally with Great Liang.

• Princess Dada explained to her mother why Great Liang valued regional crops and minerals, and the two discussed her experiences before falling asleep.
• A maid reported that more than a million Moses Empire troops were approaching Xinma, prompting the empress to prepare for war.
• The empress ordered supplies sent to Great Liang to complete their trade and requested its army to join Xinma in a pincer attack.
• Princess Dada left to return to Great Liang and bring its army to help defeat the Moses Empire.
• At sea, Yize and Abide Xisi led the Moses Empire’s vanguard toward Xinma, and Abide Xisi agreed to pursue revenge against Great Liang after the empire grew stronger.

The Moses Empire sent over a million troops toward the Xinma Empire, while Lu Kang watched their movements from nearby waters and reported the threat. On the Great West Empire front, Abaddon learned that Great Liang and the Frostwest Empire were closing in and that the Moses Empire might be unable to help.

• The Moses Empire advanced toward the Xinma Empire, hoping to eliminate a rival and strengthen itself before Great Liang could attack.
• Lu Kang spotted the Moses army, ordered patrols to watch Great Liang’s territorial waters, and sent a boat to follow the army while reporting its movements.
• Abaddon commanded the Great West Empire’s defense as Great Liang’s forces pressed forward.
• Delin told Abaddon that the Frostwest Empire had joined the attack, with Aksu leading its troops, and that Ashina Tiandu had been taken to Great Liang’s capital.
• Abaddon asked where Abide Leier and the Moses Empire were, and Delin reported that Leier had gone into hiding and that Great Liang and the Xinma Empire were preparing to attack Moses.

Abaddon ordered the Great West Empire to abandon vulnerable territory and prepare to retreat into the Hengduan Mountains, while seeking help from the Moses Empire. As defeats mounted across the front, he discovered that the general defending the eastern gate was connected to Amur, whose wife Abaddon had taken.

• Abaddon told Delin to inform Adolf to consolidate the defenses and fall back to the Hengduan Mountains if necessary.
• Abaddon ordered an envoy to ask the Moses Empire for assistance, offering to hold off Great Liang in return.
• Reports arrived that Great Liang and Frostwest forces had broken through the southeastern, northeastern, and western defenses, while Lin Rusong attacked the eastern gate.
• Abaddon berated the eastern gate's defenders for requesting reinforcements, then learned that its general, Dongku, was an uncle Amur had acknowledged.
• Delin explained that Amur had sought Dongku's protection after returning from the front and discovering that Abaddon had taken his wife, Xi'er.