Chapter Summaries

After Henghui escaped an ambush by four Gold Gongs and Yang Qianhuan, Wei Yuan told Xu Qi'an to investigate Minister Zhang, who was being held under protection. Xu Qi'an left the Righteous Qi Tower to pursue the lead, while the mystery of the powerful severed hand beneath Mulberry Lake remained unresolved.

• Yang Qianhuan learned from the Gold Gongs that the black-robed man's terrifying arm was the sealed object beneath Mulberry Lake and that Xu Qi'an had investigated the case.
• Xu Qi'an overslept, then settled a breakfast dispute by telling Xu Lingyin that a ghost had eaten her missing chicken drumstick.
• At the Righteous Qi Tower, Xu Qi'an found four injured Gold Gongs and learned Henghui had escaped their ambush with Yang Qianhuan.
• Wei Yuan told Xu Qi'an that the severed hand was at least second rank and that Henghui remained somewhere in the city.
• Wei Yuan ordered Xu Qi'an to investigate Minister Zhang's residence and reminded him to respect the rules for investigating a second-rank official.

Xu Qi'an investigated the attack on Zhang Feng’s residence and discovered that both Zhang Feng and his son Zhang Yi were lying about Henghui and Commandery Princess Pingyang. He suspected Zhang Yi knew about their elopement, then went to visit Fuxiang at the Imperial Music Bureau.

• Wei Yuan ordered the Nightwatchers to find Henghui quickly, warning that court officials were blaming them for failing to solve cases.
• Xu Qi'an questioned Minister Zhang about Henghui’s attack, and Zhang Feng denied knowing the monk or Commandery Princess Pingyang’s connection to him.
• Zhang Yi denied knowing Henghui, Hengqing, and Hengyuan, but admitted he knew Commandery Princess Pingyang.
• Chu Caiwei told Xu Qi'an that both Zhang Feng and Zhang Yi had lied, leading him to suspect Zhang Yi was involved in the elopement.
• After work, Xu Qi'an went with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao to the Imperial Music Bureau, then entered the Shadowed Plum Pavilion to visit Fuxiang.

Xu Qi'an was intercepted by Mingyan on his way to visit Fuxiang, prompting Fuxiang and the other top courtesans to gather around him. At a drinking game, the courtesans realized his hint about writing something three or four days ago might mean he had composed the poem recently circulated from the palace.

• Mingyan's servant invited Xu Qi'an to Green Pond Courtyard, and Fuxiang hurried there after learning he had been intercepted.
• Fuxiang joined Xu Qi'an and Mingyan, then seven other top courtesans arrived and gathered with them in the main hall.
• Aya started a drinking game and asked about the poem, “Drunk, I knew not the sky lay in the water; a boatful of clear dreams weighed upon the river of stars.”
• Xu Qi'an said he could not compose a poem every three or four days, leading Aya and the courtesans to suspect he had written the poem recently heard from the palace.

Xu Qi'an discovered that Mingyan’s maid was a demoness hiding in Green Pond Courtyard, but he could not assess her strength and delayed confronting her to protect the courtesans. After sending Song Tingfeng to fetch a Gold Gong, he returned to the room and waited anxiously for help as the demoness began clearing the others away.

• Xu Qi'an revealed that he had written the poem for Princess Huaiqing, drawing the courtesans’ attention and attracting curious guests to Green Pond Courtyard.
• While entertaining the courtesans, Xu Qi'an used the Qi-Observing Technique and spotted emerald-green Yao Qi coming from Mingyan’s maid.
• Xu Qi'an left to warn Song Tingfeng and told him to bring a Gold Gong to Green Pond Courtyard, or Song Qing if the Gold Gong on duty was surnamed Zhu.
• Xu Qi'an returned to the room and kept playing along with the courtesans while waiting for Song Tingfeng, careful not to provoke the demoness.
• The demoness asked the courtesans to return to their rooms and asked whether Xu Qi'an would stay with her mistress that night.

Xu Qi'an was poisoned and nearly killed by a fox demon at the Imperial Music Bureau before Yang Qianhuan captured her and helped him question her. Afterward, Xu Qi'an returned to the Shadowed Plum Pavilion and went to sleep beside the tearful Fuxiang.

• Xu Qi'an sent the courtesans away and stayed in Mingyan's room while waiting for Song Tingfeng to arrive.
• The maid poisoned Xu Qi'an, revealed herself as a fox demon, and attacked him after he tried to escape.
• Yang Qianhuan appeared, trapped the demon in a formation, and forced her to confess that she belonged to the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons and had helped release something sealed beneath Mulberry Lake.
• The demon said Henghui was involved in the plan and that she had been ordered to kill Xu Qi'an, but she denied that Mingyan knew anything.
• Yang Qianhuan took the demon away, and Xu Qi'an checked that Mingyan was safe before returning to the Shadowed Plum Pavilion.
• Xu Qi'an found Fuxiang crying, then lifted the quilt and went to sleep without explaining what had happened.

Xu Qi'an continued investigating the Mulberry Lake case while Fuxiang learned why he had stayed at Green Pond Courtyard and found a poem he left for her. The chapter ended with Henghui confronting his imprisoned senior brother Hengyuan and declaring that he wanted to eat him.

• Xu Qi'an reviewed the factions and possible leads in the Mulberry Lake case, then ordered brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone.
• Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao arrested Mingyan for secretly sheltering a demon, and Song Tingfeng told Fuxiang that Xu Qi'an had uncovered the disguised demon woman.
• Fuxiang realized Xu Qi'an had stayed at Green Pond Courtyard for official business, found his poem in the empty room, and rushed to find him, but her maid stopped her.
• Henghui entered the well where Hengyuan was imprisoned and told him the severed hand had injured him.
• Henghui revealed his pitch-black eyes and told Hengyuan that he wanted to eat him.

Henghui subdued his murderous right arm with the Heart-Cleansing Mantra and began telling Hengyuan what had happened to him a year earlier. Meanwhile, Xu Qi'an investigated the demon woman at the Imperial Music Bureau, learned of a possible seal on the Gu God, and met Daoist Jinlian, who said he had found Number Six.

• Hengyuan reminded Henghui of the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, and Henghui calmed his possessed right arm before agreeing to explain what had happened a year ago.
• Xu Qi'an questioned Mingyan about He'er, learned when she joined the Imperial Music Bureau and who she knew, then escorted her back.
• Xu Qi'an assigned Li Yuchun and Lü Qing to investigate He'er's associates and search for Henghui.
• Number Five told the Earth Book group that the Gu Race had found a cracked statue of the Confucian School Sage in the Extreme Abyss, prompting discussion of whether it had been suppressing the Gu God.
• Daoist Jinlian summoned Xu Qi'an and told him that he had found Number Six.

Daoist Jinlian sensed Number Six’s Earth Book Fragment, leading Xu Qi'an and the Nightwatchers to a courtyard where they found Henghui dead and the demonic hand missing. Hengyuan said the hand had taken Henghui’s life and began telling the group what happened a year earlier.

• Daoist Jinlian told Xu Qi'an that Number Six’s Earth Book Fragment had briefly resonated, and Xu Qi'an urgently informed Wei Yuan.
• Wei Yuan ordered Yang Yan to assemble the Gold Gongs and told Xu Qi'an that stopping Henghui could outweigh the risk to nearby civilians.
• Daoist Jinlian guided Xu Qi'an and the Nightwatchers to a courtyard in the eastern outer city where Number Six, Hengyuan, was waiting.
• Xu Qi'an and the Gold Gongs found Henghui dead beside Hengyuan, with his right sleeve empty and the demonic hand gone.
• Hengyuan said Henghui had passed the burden of revenge to him and began recounting a story from the previous year.

Hengyuan revealed that Henghui and Commandery Princess Pingyang had been murdered a year earlier after Earl Pingyuan’s son and two political allies betrayed their planned elopement. The Gold Gongs found Pingyang’s remains beneath an old locust tree, while Xu Qi'an suspected someone had deliberately brought Henghui’s case to light.

• Hengyuan recounted how Henghui fell in love with Commandery Princess Pingyang and agreed to elope with her, seeking Earl Pingyuan’s son to arrange their escape.
• Xu Qi'an recognized that Earl Pingyuan’s son had betrayed the couple, and Hengyuan explained that the son and two officials’ sons had attacked them, killing Henghui and driving Pingyang to suicide.
• Hengyuan said someone had sealed Henghui’s Primordial Spirit inside his corpse, sustaining the walking corpse through the desire for revenge, but he did not know who had saved him.
• The Gold Gongs took Hengyuan to a desolate mountain and found Pingyang’s skeleton beneath an old locust tree, with a gold hairpin near her remains.
• Xu Qi'an suggested taking the remains and hairpin to Prince Yu’s estate for identification, and Yang Yan praised his work as Gold Gong Zhu watched him intently.

Prince Yu confirmed that the gold hairpin belonged to Commandery Princess Pingyang and went to the palace with a blood-written petition, while Xu Qi'an told the imperial family how she and Henghui had died. As the court faced a brewing political storm, Xu Qi'an learned that Number Two had located Zhou Chixiong and waited to see whether the cases would spare him punishment.

• Prince Yu recognized the gold hairpin found with the remains as Pingyang's, heard that Earl Pingyuan, Zhang Feng, and the chief supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue were implicated, and left to present a blood-written petition to the emperor.
• Princess Huaiqing asked Xu Qi'an about Pingyang's case, and he recounted her love for Henghui and their fate to the royal siblings.
• Eunuch Liu arrived at the Star Observation Tower with an imperial edict summoning the Supervisor, but Yang Qianhuan told him the Supervisor had already gone to the palace.
• Number Nine told the Heaven and Earth Society that Number Six had been found sealed at the Nightwatchers' constabulary, and Number One shared news of Pingyang's case and the looming storm in the capital.
• Xu Qi'an identified himself in the Earth Book exchange as the Copper Gong who solved the case, while Number Three praised him as exceptionally talented.
• Number Two told the group that her subordinate had spotted Zhou Chixiong at a mountain stronghold she planned to attack, and Xu Qi'an hoped his capture would reveal the mastermind behind the Demon Race conspiracy.

Xu Qi'an learned that the murder of Commandery Princess Pingyang had destroyed the Liang Faction, while two secret letters revealed the plots behind the Mulberry Lake and tax silver cases. After returning home, he found a severed hand on his bed.

• Wei Yuan told Xu Qi'an that the emperor had sentenced Earl Pingyuan, Sun Mingzhong, and Zhang Feng to extermination of their three clans, ending the Liang Faction.
• A secret letter to a mistress described the Mulberry Lake case, reported leads about Vice Minister Zhou and Chu Caiwei, and confessed that the writer had fallen in love with a man.
• A second secret letter to a lord explained how the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons and the minister of rites had conspired to release the entity beneath Mulberry Lake and frame rival factions.
• Xu Qi'an told Second Uncle Xu about the case, then teased Xu Lingyin and spoke with Lingyue before returning to his courtyard.
• Xu Qi'an entered his room and found a bright-red severed hand lying on his bed.

Xu Qi'an learned that the severed hand was part of a monk named Shenshu, who asked him to help recover his lost memories in exchange for assistance. After realizing the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons had brought the hand to him, Xu Qi'an weighed the danger of keeping it before Shenshu told him to keep their secret.

• The severed hand entered Xu Qi'an's body and brought him into a vision of a young monk who identified himself as Shenshu.
• Shenshu explained that his Primordial Spirit was incomplete and asked Xu Qi'an to help trace his past and recover his memories.
• Xu Qi'an connected the Mulberry Lake seal to the Buddhist Order, Great Feng's imperial family, and the Directorate of Astronomy, and inferred that the authorities had concealed what they knew.
• Shenshu told Xu Qi'an that a hooded woman had brought him there, and Xu Qi'an recognized the fox embroidered on her pouch as a clue linking her to the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons.
• Xu Qi'an woke without injuries and debated whether to tell Wei Yuan or the Director, while worrying about the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons' purpose.
• Shenshu told Xu Qi'an to keep their secret.

Xu Qi'an discovered that Xu Lingyue was suffering from menstrual cramps and accidentally prompted Xu Lingyin to make mischief by putting dirt in the family’s congee. At the Nightwatchers’ office, he questioned Hengyuan about his identity and cultivation before confronting him with a jade mirror fragment.

• Xu Qi'an visited Xu Lingyue and learned that she was enduring painful menstrual cramps without medicine.
• Xu Qi'an told Xu Lingyin that being mischievous would stop her stomach from hurting, and she dumped dirt into the congee to follow his advice.
• Auntie spanked Xu Lingyin, who blamed Xu Qi'an, and he hurried off to the Nightwatchers’ office.
• Xu Qi'an questioned Hengyuan, who identified himself as a thirty-year-old Eighth-Rank Martial Monk from Azure Dragon Temple.
• Xu Qi'an told Hengyuan that the conspirators had been condemned and Commandery Princess Pingyang’s remains had been found, then showed him the jade mirror fragment recovered from the well.

Xu Qi'an returned Hengyuan’s Earth Book Fragment and convinced him that Number Three had arranged his rescue, while concealing his own identity. After Hengyuan watched Henghui’s enemies be executed, Xu Qi'an discussed the unresolved Mulberry Lake case with the Heaven and Earth Society.

• Xu Qi'an questioned Hengyuan about the Earth Book Fragment, then claimed to be Number Three’s Nightwatcher spy and returned the fragment to him.
• Hengyuan accepted Xu Qi'an’s explanation and offered to help him in the future.
• Hengyuan watched the executions of Zhang Feng, Zhang Yi, and the families of Earl Pingyuan and Sun Zhongming to settle his grief and obsession over Henghui.
• Xu Qi'an received messages from the Heaven and Earth Society and explained that Commandery Princess Pingyang’s case was resolved, but the Mulberry Lake case itself remained unfinished.
• Number Five accused Number Three of being the one who picked up money every day.

Xu Qi'an learned that Number Five knew he was the one who kept finding silver, while Number Four began to suspect a connection between him and Cloud Deer Academy’s clear Qi phenomenon. In court, Emperor Yuanjing ordered Xu Qi'an to continue investigating the Mulberry Lake case under threat of death, and Wei Yuan summoned him as he trained with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao.

• Number Five accused Number Three of lying about a friend who kept finding money, and Xu Qi'an admitted to the Earth Book Society that he was the one finding silver.
• Number Four linked the start of Xu Qi'an’s strange luck to the clear Qi soaring at Cloud Deer Academy and decided to return to the capital to question Dean Zhao Shou.
• Number Five refused to explain how she knew Xu Qi'an was finding silver, saying she had promised someone not to reveal it.
• Emperor Yuanjing asked his ministers to recommend candidates for two vacant posts, then postponed the decision after the officials argued.
• Wei Yuan sought a reward for Xu Qi'an’s work in Commandery Princess Pingyang’s case, but Minister Sun accused Chang Yan of colluding with the Demon Race in the Mulberry Lake case.
• Emperor Yuanjing ordered Xu Qi'an to continue the Mulberry Lake investigation and threatened to have him beheaded if he failed; after court, Wei Yuan summoned him while he was sparring with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao.

Xu Qi'an learned that Emperor Yuanjing disliked him and that the Mulberry Lake case could only be resolved by capturing Zhou Chixiong, but he could not reach the Director for help. In Yunzhou, Zhou Chixiong was confronted at a bandit stockade by a mysterious female war god who wielded lightning.

• Wei Yuan told Xu Qi'an that the emperor had rejected his proposal and that he would need to capture Zhou Chixiong to settle the Mulberry Lake case.
• Xu Qi'an told Song Tingfeng, Zhu Guangxiao, and Li Yuchun about the setback, then learned from Chu Caiwei that the Director was in seclusion and accepted medicine for his younger sister.
• Zhou Chixiong attended a victory feast at a Yunzhou bandit stockade while its chiefs discussed a beautiful captive woman.
• The woman Zhou Chixiong embraced turned into a paper figure, and a charm ghost's appearance raised his suspicions that someone had come for him.
• A female war god arrived during the storm, summoned lightning, and destroyed the stockade's watchtowers, leaving Zhou Chixiong terrified.

The Flying Swallow Heroine captured Zhou Chixiong, and Xu Qi'an arranged to have him brought to the palace with help from Cloud Deer Academy and the Directorate of Astronomy. At morning court, Wei Yuan announced that Zhou Chixiong was waiting outside the palace city, leaving the ministers stunned.

• The Flying Swallow Heroine defeated the bandits, killed their chief, and captured Zhou Chixiong.
• Xu Qi'an learned of Zhou Chixiong's capture and arranged for Number Two to deliver him to Cloud Deer Academy before he reached the capital.
• Xu Qi'an sought help from Princess Biaobiao and Princess Huaiqing, then told Wei Yuan that Zhou Chixiong had been captured.
• Xu Qi'an brought the unconscious Zhou Chixiong to the palace city with Song Qing, Chu Caiwei, Zhang Shen, Jiang Lyuzhong, and Yang Yan.
• At morning court, Wei Yuan declared that the truth of the Mulberry Lake case had come to light and revealed that Zhou Chixiong was waiting outside the palace city.

Xu Qi'an brought Zhou Chixiong before Emperor Yuanjing, where Zhang Shen compelled him to confess that Minister of Rites Li Yulang had ordered the collusion with the Demon Race and the smuggling of gunpowder. After the emperor assigned the case to the Ministry of Punishments, Xu Qi'an confronted Minister Sun and Li Yulang and recited a pointed poem as they were escorted away.

• Xu Qi'an and the Gold Gongs resisted a eunuch’s attempt to inspect Zhou Chixiong before presenting him to the emperor.
• Xu Qi'an revealed Zhou Chixiong in the imperial audience hall, and Zhang Shen’s words compelled him to name Minister of Rites Li Yulang as the person behind the plot.
• Song Qing and Chu Caiwei confirmed that Zhou Chixiong was telling the truth, and Emperor Yuanjing assigned the case to the Ministry of Punishments.
• After Li Yulang was stripped of his office and escorted away, Xu Qi'an confronted him and Minister Sun outside the palace.
• Xu Qi'an recited a poem mocking the ministers’ hopes for clever sons and their pursuit of high office.

After the Mulberry Lake case, Xu Qi'an humiliated Minister Sun with a poem and escaped arrest thanks to Wei Yuan, then celebrated with his colleagues at the Imperial Music Bureau. The night ended with Xu Qi'an and his companions discovering that Li Yuchun was so proper and particular that he spent his time with a courtesan rearranging her room.

• Xu Qi'an presented Minister Sun with a mocking poem, and Wei Yuan stopped the Ministry of Punishments from arresting him by declaring that telling the truth was not slander.
• At the constabulary, Wei Yuan explained that the Ministry of Punishments tried the case to avoid upsetting the balance between court factions, and Xu Qi'an asked for money to host a celebration.
• Wei Yuan gave Xu Qi'an two hundred taels and sent Yang Yan and Jiang Lyuzhong along to the Imperial Music Bureau.
• Xu Qi'an and his colleagues drank and joked at the Shadowed Plum Pavilion, while Yang Yan and Li Yuchun remained solemn.
• Xu Qi'an, Song Tingfeng, and Zhu Guangxiao eavesdropped on Li Yuchun, who ignored the courtesan and meticulously corrected the room's furnishings.
• Xu Qi'an and his companions left Li Yuchun's room in disbelief and decided to make more noise in their own rooms that night.

Fuxiang used a gathering of courtesan queens to share Xu Qi'an’s diary entries, which recorded his courtly exploits, romantic schemes, and vow to focus on cultivation. Xu Qi'an then learned Wei Yuan planned to promote him to Silver Gong after the capital evaluation, and he told his family he intended to buy a house in the inner city.

• Jiang Lyuzhong praised Xu Qi'an’s new reputation as the Courtesan Killer, while Li Yuchun said he had slept well despite the noise.
• Fuxiang attended Mingyan’s feast, where the courtesan queens discussed Xu Qi'an’s poem attacking Minister Sun and asked about his private life.
• Fuxiang read diary entries recounting Xu Qi'an’s dealings with the court, the princesses, Chu Caiwei, Hengyuan, and his broken vow to avoid women.
• Yang Yan told Xu Qi'an that Wei Yuan intended to promote him to Silver Gong after the capital evaluation.
• Xu Qi'an announced to his family that he planned to buy a house in the inner city, then went to sleep imagining the purchase.