Chapter Summaries

Jun Jingyi used a transparent crystal and bronze mirrors to create a false heavenly omen over the Dragon Slaying Saber and Heaven Reliant Sword, convincing both sides that the weapons bore divine authority. The Eighth Prince and the jianghu fighters launched a bloody battle, while Sikong Ye realized Jun Jingyi had manufactured the omen.

• Jun Jingyi and Sikong Ye watched the Eighth Prince confront the jianghu group led by a young man in white over the Dragon Slaying Saber.
• Jun Jingyi prepared the transparent crystal and bronze mirrors as the young man in white hesitated over whether to surrender the saber.
• Jun Jingyi created beams of light that converged on the Dragon-Slaying Precious Saber and Heaven Reliant Sword beneath a seven-colored glow in the sky.
• The young man in white and the Eighth Prince interpreted the omen as proof that the weapons carried heaven’s will, and both urged their followers to fight.
• The Eighth Prince ordered his soldiers to kill everyone, the jianghu fighters charged, and a massacre erupted.
• Sikong Ye watched from the shadows and realized Jun Jingyi had created the supposed Immortal Bridge himself.

As Tianfu City’s people believed the Heaven Reliant Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber had been sent by immortals to choose a new ruler, Jun Jingyi ignored the turmoil and made soap a booming business. Bai Ruoli warned him that he might be a scapegoat in a plot against the Eighth Prince, while Jun Jingyi privately revealed that his own plan was already underway.

• A rumor spread that immortals had placed the Heaven Reliant Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber in the mortal world to choose a new Son of Heaven, and the story shook the Yan Kingdom and the jianghu.
• Jun Jingyi launched a soap campaign in Tianfu City, drawing crowds with free trials and a twelve-percent discount as soap sales took off.
• Sikong Ye marveled at Jun Jingyi’s business sense and realized that the beggars Jun Jingyi had recruited had helped him run his soap factory cheaply.
• Bai Ruoli used Jun Jingyi’s soap and concluded that he was merely a merchant who had become a scapegoat in the turmoil.
• Bai Ruoli visited Jun Jingyi and warned that a hidden faction was targeting the Eighth Prince and that Jun Jingyi could be killed as a result; she offered to help resolve the danger.
• Jun Jingyi agreed to accept Bai Ruoli’s help, then privately dismissed concern for the Eighth Prince and resolved to carry out his plan.

Jun Jingyi learned that two Upright Heart School disciples had blinded and killed a beggar in Tianfu City, then arranged for the inn where they stayed to catch fire. The deaths exposed the Beggar Sect’s hidden reach, and the major factions grew wary of causing trouble in the city.

• Two Upright Heart School disciples tortured a beggar in the west of Tianfu City, gouging out his eyes and leaving him to die.
• Sikong Ye reported the arrival of martial experts from several directions and told Jun Jingyi that the beggar was one of their people.
• Jun Jingyi sent Sikong Ye to buy the Four Seas Inn and hinted that it could catch fire; that night, the two disciples died in a fire there.
• A witness told the authorities that the disciples had tortured a beggar, while the major factions investigated the suspicious fire.
• The factions learned that the Beggar Sect had secretly taken control of the inn and became cautious about stirring up trouble in Tianfu City.

Jun Jingyi used falling Kongming lanterns bearing an ominous prophecy to make the Eighth Prince believe heaven had chosen him to claim the throne. The prince chose ambition over safety and prepared to flee Tianfu City, while Jun Jingyi began writing a story about Zhu Di.

• Jun Jingyi watched the lanterns drift toward Tianfu City and planned to drive the Eighth Prince out without killing him.
• A young man in the city read the prophecy on a falling lantern, and its words stirred fear and speculation throughout Tianfu City.
• The Eighth Prince interpreted the prophecy as heavenly recognition, decided to face the coming tribulation, and ordered his guards to prepare to leave.
• As fighting broke out in Tianfu City, Sikong Ye asked Jun Jingyi what they should do, and Jun Jingyi told him to do nothing.
• Jun Jingyi went to his study and began writing a story about the Ming Dynasty prince Zhu Di.

The Yan emperor ordered the eighth prince brought back to the capital after a hidden faction’s scheme disrupted his ambitions. The fourth prince investigated the events in Tianfu City and began to suspect his eldest brother, whose claim to the throne he could never accept because of his mother’s death.

• The Yan emperor learned that the eighth prince was nearing the northern border and ordered the Li Family Army to bring him back to the capital.
• The officials reacted to the eighth prince’s removal, while the fourth prince’s faction worried that the eldest prince would grow stronger.
• The fourth prince’s guard reported that Bai Ruoli, a physician in Tianfu City, had changed after recovering from a serious illness and had connections to the eighth prince.
• The guard identified Jun Jingyi as a young marquis aligned with the eldest prince, prompting the fourth prince to suspect his eldest brother had orchestrated the scheme.
• The fourth prince recalled how Noble Consort Xiao had poisoned him and how his mother had died in the cold palace, resolving that the eldest prince must not take the throne.

The fourth prince traveled to Tianfu City to investigate the first prince’s suspected influence and meet Young Marquis Jun, then visited Bai Ruoli’s clinic under a false name to seek treatment. Bai Ruoli recognized him from her previous life and realized his supposed illness was a deadly poison she still could not cure.

• The fourth prince decided to travel to Jiangnan and investigate Tianfu City and Young Marquis Jun.
• The eighth prince continued fleeing toward the northern border as Heavenly Secret Pavilion repeatedly revealed his location to martial experts.
• The fourth prince arrived in Tianfu City and noticed signs of Young Marquis Jun’s charitable work and innovations throughout the city.
• At Bai Ruoli’s clinic, Bai Ruoli recognized the fourth prince, who introduced himself as Haoran and asked her to treat an illness.
• Bai Ruoli understood that the fourth prince was suffering from a deadly poison, but she remained unable to cure him.

Bai Ruoli failed to cure the Fourth Prince’s venomous dragon herb poison and asked Jun Jingyi to help instead. Jun Jingyi agreed to visit, both to aid Bai Ruoli and to assess the prince he suspected was the story’s protagonist and his love rival.

• Bai Ruoli examined the Fourth Prince and said his poison had reached his bloodstream and heart, beyond her ability to treat.
• Lian'er suggested asking Young Master Jun for help, and Bai Ruoli sent her to invite him.
• The Fourth Prince reacted with surprise and unease at hearing about Jun Jingyi’s many reported talents.
• Jun Jingyi learned the Fourth Prince had entered Tianfu City and realized he had already met Bai Ruoli.
• After Lian'er asked him to treat the Fourth Prince, Jun Jingyi decided to go and meet his suspected rival in person.

Jun Jingyi failed to explain how to cure the Fourth Prince’s poison, asking him instead to find poison dragon grass. After the prince left their cryptic conversation, Jun Jingyi was relieved and avoided Bai Ruoli’s questions about what they had discussed.

• Jun Jingyi advised the Fourth Prince to rest and eat well to ease his poison’s effects, and asked him to find poison dragon grass so he could investigate a cure.
• The Fourth Prince asked why Jun Jingyi had stayed in Tianfu City, but Jun Jingyi could not explain because he did not know.
• Jun Jingyi directly asked whether the Fourth Prince had come for the Eighth Prince, and the Fourth Prince denied it, saying he had come to travel and seek treatment.
• The Fourth Prince left the clinic and told his guard that he could not understand Jun Jingyi’s intentions or tell whether he was involved in the move against the Eighth Prince.
• Jun Jingyi breathed a sigh of relief after the Fourth Prince departed, then left without answering Bai Ruoli’s questions about their conversation.

Jun Jingyi introduced mooncakes and the story of Chang'e and Da Yi to turn them into a Mid-Autumn Festival delicacy, then began promoting them through Sikong Ye. After tasting the mooncakes, the fourth prince sent the rest to the Capital for Imperial Father, hoping to gain favor in his struggle for power.

• Jun Jingyi told Sikong Ye and Jun Yixue the invented story of Chang'e and Da Yi to explain mooncakes and their connection to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Jun Jingyi gave Jun Yixue packaged mooncakes as gifts for her girlfriends and instructed Sikong Ye to hire workers, promote the story, and offer a hundred samples a day.
• The fourth prince received mooncakes from the Jun Residence and heard the story of the Moon Palace, Chang'e, and Da Yi.
• The fourth prince tasted the mooncakes, enjoyed them, and ordered his guard to send the remaining ones to Imperial Father in the Capital.

Jun Jingyi’s mooncake campaign spread across Tianfu City and Jiangnan, bringing him enormous profits and leaving him concerned about how to use his growing wealth. He decided to expand his restaurants across the Yan Kingdom and the three kingdoms, using them to build an intelligence network while also preparing to strengthen his military power.

• Jun Jingyi gave mooncakes to Lady Wang, Bai Ruoxin, and Bai Ruoli, who recognized how he used influential recipients and scarcity to make them seem prestigious.
• Two days later, mooncakes had become a sensation across Tianfu City, and merchants throughout Jiangnan helped spread their popularity.
• Jun Jingyi earned most of the mooncake profits and worried that his wealth was piling up unused, while Sikong Ye offered to spend it for him.
• Jun Jingyi decided to build a chain of restaurants across the Yan Kingdom and the three kingdoms to earn money and establish a stronger intelligence organization.
• Jun Jingyi concluded that he needed to strengthen his military power to protect his wealth and looked toward Sikong Ye with a faint smile.