Chapter Summaries

Lin Rusong’s allies celebrated the heir’s victory over Tuoba Yu, then worried that Great Ning would demand Northern Liang’s aid against an invading army. Lin Rusong rejected talk of rebellion and warned that Great Ning’s million-plus troops and spies made careless words dangerous.

• Lin Rusong and his confidants praised the heir, Zhang Liao, and the Formation-Breaking Camp for their victories over Tuoba Yu’s forces.
• Wang Ziwen reported that two hundred thousand Northern Barbarians had attacked Great Ning’s Mountain and River Pass, and Xu Zhong predicted Great Ning would ask Northern Liang for military help.
• After several men suggested rebellion, Lin Rusong silenced them and invited everyone to a banquet, then let them leave.
• Lin Rusong told Xu Zhong and Wang Ziwen that he feared spies would carry the rebellion talk to Li Anlan and force Northern Liang into a disastrous conflict.
• Lin Rusong estimated that Great Ning commanded 1.2 million troops, including powerful forces controlled by Li Anlan and the Princes of Shu and Min.

Lin Rusong and his advisers discussed purging corrupt officers, supporting Lin Yi’s development in Xiliang, and moving more people there. Their plans were interrupted by the arrival of an imperial envoy, who turned out to be Prime Minister Lu Yafu.

• Xu Zhong urged Lin Rusong to purge people who were corrupt or influenced by Li Anlan, and Wang Ziwen agreed that Lin Yi would soon deal harshly with them.
• Lin Rusong decided to act against the misconduct and said he would provide Lin Yi with whatever support he needed.
• Wang Ziwen reported that Xiliang lacked people, and Lin Rusong ordered him to arrange voluntary migration from ten border counties.
• Lin Rusong offered to conquer one of Tuoba Wanli’s tribes for Lin Yi if more people were needed.
• An imperial envoy arrived, and Lin Rusong recognized him as his old friend Lu Yafu, the Great Ning prime minister.

Lu Yafu visited Lin Rusong before retiring from Great Ning’s court and delivered an imperial edict demanding Northern Liang send troops against Tuoba Wanli. Lin Rusong refused until they negotiated supplies and military pay, then watched his old friend depart.

• Lu Yafu told Lin Rusong he was retiring to the south to spend the rest of his life with his family, and Lin Rusong invited him to serve Northern Liang.
• Lu Yafu handed Lin Rusong the imperial edict, and Lin Rusong refused to send troops against Tuoba Wanli with only one hundred thousand soldiers remaining.
• Lu Yafu asked Lin Rusong to name his terms, and Lin Rusong demanded provisions, weapons, equipment, and back pay while rejecting a court promotion for his son.
• Lu Yafu agreed to provide six months of rations for three hundred thousand troops, equipment for one hundred thousand, and the missing military pay, then left.
• Lin Rusong complained that Lu Yafu had tried to lure his son to the imperial capital, then saw that the paper he held granted him Ran Zijin’s property.

Lin Yi received the honorary title of Great General Divine Might and learned that Emperor Li Anlan had sent Wei Tong to investigate Xiliang. As Li Sansi struggled against Tuoba Yu, Lin Yi waited for the passage through Heavenly Pillar Peak to be completed.

• Lin Rusong ordered Xu Zhong to bring the supplies back to Northern Liang and send weapons and equipment for a hundred thousand troops to Lin Yi.
• Lin Rusong decided to pressure Tuoba Wanli by sending him a threatening letter rather than risking a major battle.
• An imperial edict named Lin Yi Great General Divine Might, but Lin Yi recognized the title as an empty honorary post.
• Lin Yi learned that Wei Tong, commander of the Great Ning Guard, was investigating Little Pine Mountain and allowed him to remain under watch.
• Jia Xu reported that Li Sansi was struggling to match Tuoba Yu and that the Heavenly Pillar Peak passage would be completed by noon the day after tomorrow.

Lin Yi planned to seize Tuoba Yu’s territory through Heavenly Pillar Peak, hold Ziwu Road, and weaken Li Anlan rather than launch a wider war against the Northern Barbarians. He tasked Jia Xu with arranging a chance to take Ningchuan Commandery, while Wei Tong’s unexplained presence remained a concern.

• Lin Yi welcomed news that the passage through Heavenly Pillar Peak was nearly ready and explained how taking Tuoba Yu’s territory could let Xiliang Commandery qualify for the system’s highest-grade reward.
• Jia Xu reported that Ma Chao was working furiously on the road after hearing of Zhang Liao’s achievements, and Lin Yi approved of his growing drive.
• Chen Qun asked whether Xiliang should join Northern Liang in attacking the Northern Barbarians, but Lin Yi chose to hold Ziwu Road and avoid helping Li Anlan during the coming war.
• Jia Xu suggested letting Tuoba Yu invade Ningchuan Commandery so Xiliang could later arrive as its rescuer, and Lin Yi assigned Jia Xu and Wang Yue to arrange the plan while protecting the commoners.
• Lin Yi noted that Wei Tong had not left after delivering the imperial edict, making him a possible complication.

Lin Yi learned that Wei Tong wanted Xiliang’s cement and decided to offer Great Ning a weaker grade in exchange for benefits. On Double Ninth Festival, he sent cakes to his elders and went sightseeing in Xiliang, where he learned that people from Ningchuan had crowded into the city to escape fighting at Little Pine Mountain.

• Lin Yi told Mi Zhu and Jia Xu that he would only trade cement to Li Anlan for sufficient benefits, and explained that Pu Yuan’s workshop had developed a weaker grade suitable for sale.
• After learning that it was Double Ninth Festival, Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to have cakes sent to his elders and invited his trusted aides to explore Xiliang City.
• Lin Yi and his disguised aides entered the crowded marketplace while the Net guarded them in secret.
• Lin Yi asked a local why the city was so crowded, and the man said merchants and wealthy people from Ningchuan Commandery had fled there because of fighting at Little Pine Mountain.

Lin Yi celebrated the Double Ninth Festival with his companions and visited the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion, where Wei Tong and Mo Ni were secretly discussing Lin Yi’s rapid construction of Xiliang City and their failed attempts to infiltrate his industrial zone. When Mo Ni learned Lin Yi had arrived, Wei Tong slipped away while Mo Ni went to meet him.

• Villagers praised Lin Yi and said they had fled Ningchuan Commandery because Xiliang Commandery was safer, then set off to climb a mountain for the Double Ninth Festival.
• Lin Yi ordered his companions to try the festival pastries, and Zhou Cang teased Jia Xu by calling him an old fossil.
• Wang Yue explained that the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion had branches across the country and was hosting an all-chrysanthemum banquet.
• Wei Tong questioned Mo Ni about Lin Yi’s construction of Xiliang City and learned that their agents had failed to enter Lin Yi’s industrial zone.
• Wei Tong ordered Mo Ni to keep his people hidden and said he would send other members of the Great Ning Guard to investigate.
• Mo Ni learned Lin Yi had arrived at the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion, and Wei Tong left through another exit while Mo Ni went to greet him.

Wei Tong was caught by the Net while trying to leave the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion and claimed he had come to deliver an imperial edict. Lin Yi had him brought inside, where Wei Tong faced him and protested his arrest.

• Wei Tong was stopped by Net operatives, tried to flee, and revealed that he was Commander Wei Tong of the Great Ning Guard.
• Lin Yi, Chen Qun, and Jia Xu visited the crowded Wafting Fragrance Pavilion, where Lin Yi ordered its many chrysanthemum-themed festival specialties.
• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that the Net had caught Wei Tong near the pavilion’s rear courtyard, and Lin Yi questioned manager Mo Ni about knowing him.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to bring Wei Tong inside as a guest, while Mo Ni grew nervous about Lin Yi’s suspicions.
• Wei Tong met Lin Yi and insisted that he had only come to attend the all-chrysanthemum banquet, challenging the propriety of his arrest.

Lin Yi let Wei Tong leave after rejecting his request to rescue Li Sansi, then ordered the Net to seal the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion over suspicions that it concealed spies. The pavilion’s guests watched in alarm as Mo Ni protested, while rumors spread that the establishment was a nest of assassins.

• Lin Yi released Wei Tong and asked him to secure more supplies for Xiliang Commandery.
• Wei Tong asked Lin Yi to help Li Sansi at Little Pine Mountain, but Lin Yi refused, citing Li Sansi’s failure to aid Xiliang when it faced an army of eighty thousand.
• After Wei Tong departed, Lin Yi questioned Mo Ni about the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion’s backer.
• Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue and the Net to seal off the pavilion and arrest its people after Mo Ni denied wrongdoing.
• Mo Ni protested as guests and townspeople speculated that the pavilion was a network of spies and killers.

Lin Yi uncovered the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion’s connection to Wei Tong and ordered Jia Xu to warn the Prince of Northern Liang. At Little Pine Mountain, Li Sansi’s forces struggled against Tuoba Yu’s army, and Li Yunqing refused to abandon the mountain despite the danger.

• Lin Yi rejected Zhou Cang’s suggestion to kill Wei Tong and said exposing the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion was already a major gain.
• Jia Xu and Chen Qun reasoned that the pavilion had likely targeted the Prince of Northern Liang, so Lin Yi ordered a warning sent to his father to shut it down in Northern Liang Royal City.
• At Little Pine Mountain, Li Sansi berated Song Zixi after their forces suffered heavier losses than Tuoba Yu’s army.
• Li Yunqing suspected a spy, but Li Sansi insisted they focus on holding the third defensive line because the first two had fallen.
• Li Sansi said Mountain and River Pass was under attack by Tuoba Wanli, leaving Xiliang as the only possible source of reinforcements.
• He Zudao proposed abandoning Little Pine Mountain and using the Song Tao River to devastate the enemy, but Li Yunqing refused to retreat yet.

Li Sansi rallied his troops to defend Little Pine Mountain, but Lin Yi refused to send reinforcements, forcing Li Sansi to rely on his own army and prepare an escape route. Tuoba Yu judged that Li Sansi had grown cautious and planned to exploit the coming reorganization of his defenses.

• Li Sansi restored his soldiers’ morale by arguing that Tuoba Yu’s army had suffered comparable losses, then assigned He Zudao and Li Yunqing to reorganize Little Pine Mountain’s defenses.
• Li Yunqing warned that wealthy merchants were fleeing Ningchuan Commandery, and Li Sansi ordered men to block their escape at Raging Waves Bridge.
• Wei Tong reported that Lin Yi had refused to send troops, so Li Sansi resolved to fight Tuoba Yu with the forces he had left.
• After Wei Tong left, Li Sansi told Li Yunqing to build a hidden pontoon bridge in case they needed to retreat.
• Tuoba Yu, Evil Bodhisattva, and Xiao Shan discussed Li Sansi’s decline, and Tuoba Yu planned to strike when the defenders reorganized their lines.

Tuoba Yu received an imperial order to reinforce Mountain and River Pass, forcing him to abandon plans for an easy victory at Little Pine Mountain and prepare to attack Ningchuan Commandery. In the capital, Li Anlan learned that Li Sansi had fallen behind against Tuoba Yu and angrily questioned his generalship.

• Evil Bodhisattva and Yelü Dashan urged Tuoba Yu to defeat Li Sansi at Little Pine Mountain and plunder Ningchuan Commandery.
• Tuoba Yu learned that Lin Yi had shut Xiliang Commandery's gates and realized Lin Yi benefited from the Northern Barbarians weakening Li Sansi.
• Tuoba Yu received an order from His Majesty to reinforce Mountain and River Pass, and Yelü Dashan proposed attacking through Ningchuan Commandery and into Great Ning's heartland.
• Tuoba Yu decided to fight despite the enormous distance and the danger of sending his force deep into enemy territory.
• Wei Tong reported Li Sansi's disadvantage to Li Anlan, who condemned the Prince of Beining Commandery for his poor performance.

Li Anlan learned that Li Sansi was struggling against Tuoba Yu and ordered ten thousand imperial guards sent to reinforce him. After Wei Tong revealed Lin Yi’s cement and its extraordinary strength, Li Anlan ordered Wei Tong to obtain some for the imperial court.

• Li Anlan rejected replacing Li Sansi and ordered ten thousand imperial guards sent to reinforce the Prince of Beining Commandery.
• Wei Tong reported that Lin Yi would not attack Tuoba Yu because Xiliang Commandery had suffered heavy losses and lacked reinforcements.
• Wei Tong revealed that the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion had been exposed and described Lin Yi’s extensive changes to Xiliang Commandery, including its tall walls.
• Wei Tong showed Li Anlan a cement fragment, which survived an inkstone strike, while the inkstone broke.
• Li Anlan ordered Wei Tong to obtain cement from Lin Yi and told him to pay for it if necessary.

Lin Yi learned that Wang Yining secretly owned the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion and left the matter to his father while monitoring the desperate battle at Little Pine Mountain. As Tuoba Yu’s forces overwhelmed Li Sansi, the prince ordered his son to retreat, sent Lin Yi a plea to protect Great Ning, and took his own life.

• Wang Yue reported that former Grand Preceptor Wang Yining was behind the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion, and Lin Yi decided to inform his father rather than intervene.
• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that Li Sansi had been driven back at Little Pine Mountain and had suffered heavy losses, but Lin Yi refused to send help because Li Anlan stood behind him.
• Tuoba Yu’s forces broke through Li Sansi’s defenses and advanced toward the summit, leaving Li Sansi with only battered troops and no hope of holding the mountain.
• Li Sansi ordered Li Yunqing to retreat with He Zudao and defend the Song Tao River, then gave He Zudao a letter asking Lin Yi to stop the foreign tribes from ravaging Great Ning.
• Li Sansi stayed behind to cover the retreat and slit his own throat as Tuoba Yu’s forces closed in.

Li Sansi died after buying time for Li Yunqing to escape, and Lin Yi received Gongsun Zan and thirty thousand White Horse Volunteers as a system reward. Tuoba Yu prepared to cross the Song Tao River but suspected Great Ning had lowered its water by damming the river upstream.

• Li Yunqing realized Li Sansi had stayed behind partly to take responsibility for the defeat, then resolved to overthrow Emperor Li Anlan and ordered He Zudao to deliver his respect for his father's final choice to Lin Yi.
• Tuoba Yu mourned Li Sansi briefly, then ordered his army to prepare to cross the Song Tao River before Great Ning's reinforcements arrived.
• Tuoba Yu noticed the river was unusually low and suspected Great Ning had dammed it upstream to flood his forces.
• Lin Yi received Gongsun Zan and thirty thousand White Horse Volunteers, along with ordinary rewards for residents of Xiliang Commandery.
• Lin Yi checked the White Horse Volunteers' details and learned that Yan Gang led the thirty thousand top-tier light cavalry, who specialized in mounted archery and served him.

Lin Yi inspected the newly opened road through Heavenly Pillar Peak, a hidden route built to carry his army into Northern Region Barbarian territory. As the group reached its secluded exit, a messenger from the Net arrived with an urgent report.

• Lin Yi learned that Yan Gang led the White Horse Volunteers and discovered that Zhao Yun served with Tian Kai and Liu Bei instead.
• Ma Chao announced that the passage through Heavenly Pillar Peak was open, and Lin Yi ordered Wang Yue to summon Jia Xu and Zhang Liao while keeping Bai Zizai and Yi Yun away.
• Lin Yi and his commanders inspected the road and praised its construction, then set out across it to test whether it could carry an army.
• After four hours, Lin Yi reached the secluded exit overlooking an open plain, where Ma Chao explained that the location concealed their movements.
• Wang Yue told Lin Yi that the hurried rider approaching behind them was someone from the Net.

Lin Yi learned that Li Sansi had died covering the retreat and recognized that his letter gave Northern Liang a pretext to intervene against Tuoba Yu in Ningchuan Commandery. As Lin Yi prepared to march, he told Bai Zizai and Yi Yun that he would recruit fifty thousand soldiers to aid Great Ning.

• Wang Yue reported that Li Sansi had killed himself to avoid capture and that Li Yunqing and He Zudao had escaped to the southern bank, where they faced Tuoba Yu.
• Lin Yi read Li Sansi’s letter inviting him to save Ningchuan Commandery, and Jia Xu explained that it gave Lin Yi an excuse to intervene there.
• Lin Yi ordered Chen Qun to arrange supplies and declared that Northern Liang would cut off Tuoba Yu’s Ziwu Road; he told Zhang Liao to stand by.
• Bai Zizai and Yi Yun searched for Lin Yi after learning he had gone into the mountains, then confronted him about Li Sansi’s defeat and death.
• Lin Yi said Xiliang Commandery lacked the strength to fight after its losses, but declared that he would recruit another fifty thousand soldiers to help Great Ning.

Lin Yi’s commanders discussed expanding Xiliang’s army and seizing Ziwu Road, while He Zudao and Li Yunqing faced Tuoba Yu across the Song Tao River. The upstream impoundment was destroyed, sending a devastating surge toward Ningchuan Commandery’s defenders.

• Bai Zizai offered to negotiate another fifty thousand authorized troops from Great Ning, and Lin Yi reluctantly left the matter to him.
• Yi Yun urged Lin Yi to seize Ziwu Road while Tuoba Yu attacked Ningchuan Commandery, but Lin Yi said he had already arranged for someone to deal with it.
• He Zudao prepared the Song Tao River’s defenses and warned that Tuoba Yu might inspect the upstream impoundment as his soldiers built pontoon bridges.
• Li Yunqing vowed revenge on Tuoba Yu for driving his father to take his own life, while He Zudao urged him to survive the attack first.
• He Zudao realized the river was rising because the upstream impoundment had been destroyed, and a powerful surge swept downstream, carrying away logs and Great Ning soldiers.

Tuoba Yu’s Northern Barbarians broke through He Zudao’s defenses and routed Li Yunqing’s forces, leaving the heir locked outside Ningchuan Commandery’s gates. Tuoba Yu then stormed and sacked the city, while Li Yunqing remained pursued and on the run.

• Tuoba Yu’s men destroyed the upstream dam, then crossed the drained river and overwhelmed He Zudao’s demoralized troops.
• He Zudao ordered Li Yunqing’s guards to take the heir away, charged Tuoba Yu’s men, and died fighting.
• Yan Sifang refused to open Ningchuan Commandery’s gates to Li Yunqing, who fled as the Northern Barbarians pursued him.
• Tuoba Yu ordered his men to kill Li Yunqing and led the rest to attack Ningchuan Commandery.
• The Northern Barbarians used siege crossbows to collapse the city wall, entered Ningchuan Commandery, and slaughtered and plundered its people.

The Princess Consort of Beining and Wang Sitao organized Ping'an City’s defenses as Tuoba Yu’s forces ravaged Ningchuan Commandery. Tuoba Yu planned to seize the city before Great Ning’s reinforcements arrived, while weighing the danger of Lin Yi cutting off his retreat.

• The Princess Consort of Beining urged Ping'an City’s defenders to hold out for reinforcements expected that night, and Wang Sitao was ordered to find the heir and speed their arrival.
• Wang Sitao threatened a man who blamed the Prince of Beining for his defeat, but the Princess Consort of Beining stopped him from escalating the dispute.
• Tuoba Yu celebrated the riches and captives his army had taken, while Yelü Dashan and the others discussed the wealth still in Ping'an City.
• Tuoba Yu warned his commanders that Lin Yi and Great Ning’s reinforcements posed serious dangers, and Evil Bodhisattva urged them to request support and take the whole commandery quickly.
• Yelü Dashan proposed using captured Ningchuan commoners as cannon fodder to exhaust Ping'an City’s defenders’ arrows.