Chapter 24 Summary: Anfeng, Third Month
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens in Anfeng in the third month, with Ma Xiuying receiving her first letter from Zhu. Written in Xu Da's hand, the letter reports the victory at Bianliang: Chen Youliang's defeat at the combined hands of General Ouyang and Zhang Shicheng's forces, and Prime Minister Liu Futong's death, described euphemistically as an accident during his flight. The letter also notes that Liu had blessed the Prince of Radiance before dying and passed the child into Zhu's protection. Zhu asks Ma to prepare a suitable welcome for the Prince's imminent return.
Ma is troubled by the letter's formal language, which erases Zhu's distinctive voice and makes the correspondence feel like it could come from any husband to any dutiful wife. The loss of the private difference Zhu had promised her stings like a betrayal.
The Prince of Radiance arrives in Anfeng to great ceremony. Ma watches from an upstairs window as Zhu kneels to receive the child's benediction, and the red light of the Mandate flows into her. For a terrible moment, Ma fears the blessing might be a death sentence, remembering how Liu Futong had been consumed by the same power.
That night, Xu Da brings the Prince to Ma's room under guard. The child speaks of ghosts gathering to watch the ceremony, and explains that those with the Mandate of Heaven can see the spirit world and the pattern of the universe. He tells Ma that Liu Futong was never going to rule. When Ma asks if it will be Zhu Chongba, she immediately stops herself, not wanting to know the future. The Prince warns that even the most shining future will have suffering at its heart.
Ma puts the child to bed and feels an unexpected tenderness. Zhu joins them, and the three share a bed. In the morning, Ma notices Zhu has stopped shaving her head. They have an intimate, teasing conversation about concubines and touch. Zhu admits she never planned to marry but is glad of it. She then announces her intention to retake Jiankang, explaining that Madam Zhang has established the Kingdom of Salt along the eastern seaboard, and that Chen Youliang has retreated to Wuchang with a small force.
Zhu and Xu Da ride toward Jiankang. Looking down at the city, Zhu declares she will become Emperor. Xu Da pledges to follow her as far as she wants to go.
At dusk, Zhu stops with the Prince of Radiance at a grove of weeping willows. She explains her philosophy: that a person must want a different fate and struggle and suffer for it, as Liu Futong never did. The Prince tells her that Liu Futong was never going to rule, but neither will Zhu Chongba. Zhu draws her saber and kills the child, telling him to keep looking at the moon and to listen for her name when he is reborn.
Two months later, Ma arrives in Jiankang, escorted by Chang Yuchun. She learns the Prince of Radiance is dead—an accident, according to Yuchun, with a month of mourning already observed. Ma confronts Zhu, who admits the killing without denial. Zhu gives Ma an ultimatum: rise with her, or leave. Ma is devastated, realizing Zhu's desire will scorch everyone who comes near it.
Zhu proclaims herself Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, renaming the city Yingtian. Her missing hand appears as a phantom gauntleted in white fire. As the crowd kneels, Ma rises in red—the color of what has been ended—and pledges to stand beside her husband and become his Empress. Zhu calls her my future Empress and tells the crowd to rise.
Key Events
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Ma receives her first letter from Zhu, written in Xu Da's hand, reporting the Bianliang victory and Liu Futong's death
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The Prince of Radiance arrives in Anfeng and bestows his blessing on Zhu
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The Prince tells Ma that Liu Futong was never destined to rule
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Zhu announces her intention to retake Jiankang
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Zhu declares she will become Emperor while overlooking Jiankang
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The Prince tells Zhu that Zhu Chongba will not rule; Zhu kills him
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Ma arrives in Jiankang and learns of the child's death
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Zhu admits the killing and gives Ma an ultimatum
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Zhu proclaims herself Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, renaming the city Yingtian
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Ma appears in red and pledges to become his Empress
Character Development
Zhu completes her transformation in this chapter. She has stopped shaving her head, signaling a departure from her monk identity. She articulates her philosophy of desire and self-determination—that a fate must be actively wanted and struggled for. The killing of the Prince of Radiance is her most ruthless act yet, and she does not flinch from it. Her proclamation as Zhu Yuanzhang marks the final shedding of Zhu Chongba's name and the full embrace of her ambition. She is no longer hiding or performing humility; she is claiming the Mandate openly.
Ma Xiuying moves from dutiful wife to active participant. She confronts Zhu directly, demanding honesty and expressing her pain at being made a witness to cruelty. Her choice to stay and pledge herself as Empress is not submission but a deliberate decision—she demands Zhu's loyalty, honesty, and difference in return. Her compassion becomes unyielding, a strength rather than a weakness.
Xu Da reaffirms his loyalty, pledging to follow Zhu as far as she wants to go, acknowledging that taking Jiankang is not the end.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Mandate of Heaven: The chapter dramatizes the transfer and consolidation of the Mandate. The Prince's blessing flows into Zhu, and when she kills him, she eliminates the competing claim. Her phantom hand burning with white fire symbolizes her unique relationship to the Mandate—she is both wounded and empowered.
Cost of ambition: Zhu's rise is explicitly priced: the child's life, Ma's suffering, and the erosion of Ma's belief in kinder ways. Zhu acknowledges this cost and accepts it.
Identity reinvention: Zhu Chongba becomes Zhu Yuanzhang. The renaming of the city (Jiankang to Yingtian) parallels her own renaming. She thinks of herself as reborn as herself.
Fate vs. self-determination: Zhu's speech to the Prince articulates her core belief: fate must be actively chosen and struggled for. Liu Futong failed because he never wanted it enough.
Sacrifice of innocence: The Prince of Radiance is a child, and his death is the most visceral cost of Zhu's ambition. Ma's tenderness toward him makes the sacrifice more painful.
Legitimacy through performance: Zhu's careful presentation—wearing modest armor, accepting the blessing with humility—is revealed as a strategy. The grand ceremony of her proclamation is itself a performance of legitimacy.
Love as compromise: Ma's decision to stay is framed as the price of her own desire. She loves Zhu and wants to see her rule, and that love requires accepting pain.
Why This Chapter Matters
This is the chapter where Zhu fully commits to her ambition and sheds her last constraints. The killing of the Prince of Radiance is the point of no return—she eliminates the only other claimant to the Mandate and takes the name Zhu Yuanzhang. The chapter also crystallizes the central tension of the novel: the cost of greatness. Ma's choice to stay and become Empress sets up the dynamic that will define the rest of the story—a partnership built on love, compromise, and the acceptance of suffering. The chapter ends with Zhu's triumphant proclamation, but the reader is left with Ma's red dress, a reminder of what has been sacrificed.
Study Questions
1. Why does Zhu kill the Prince of Radiance, and what does this reveal about her understanding of the Mandate of Heaven?
Zhu kills the Prince because the child tells her that Zhu Chongba will not rule. She understands the Mandate as something that must be actively claimed and that cannot coexist with a competing claim. The killing is also symbolic: by eliminating the child, she eliminates the last trace of the old order and the old name. It reveals her belief that the Mandate is not inherited but seized—that she must make herself the only possible claimant.
2. What does Ma's decision to stay and become Empress cost her, and what does she demand in return?
Ma's decision costs her the belief that there is always a kinder way. She must accept that Zhu's desire will scorch those who love her, and that she will endure this pain repeatedly. In return, she demands Zhu's loyalty, honesty, and difference—that Zhu remain the person who promised to be different from Chen Youliang. Her pledge is not passive submission but a conditional commitment.
3. How does Zhu's renaming of herself and the city function as a claim to legitimacy?
Zhu's new name, Zhu Yuanzhang, and the city's new name, Yingtian (meaning responding to Heaven), are parallel claims. The city's name asserts a connection to Heaven, and Zhu's name asserts her role as the one who will make history. The renaming is a performance of legitimacy—it declares that the old order is over and a new era has begun, with Zhu as its founder.
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