62 pages • 2 hours read
Immortal
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Part 1, Chapters 9-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.
Liyen heads for the South Courtyard after leaving Lord Zhangwei’s company. Inside, she finds lovely yet uninhabited grounds and chambers. She wonders whether the place belonged to someone Zhangwei cherished, such as a family member or lover. When she touches a rose in the courtyard, it wilts, bringing to life magic vines that trap Liyen and trigger magic alerts. Queen Caihong arrives in the courtyard within an instant. She claims the courtyard is forbidden to all and demands to know Liyen’s identity. Liyen introduces herself to the queen, who asks how she gained access to the quarters. Liyen admits that she was warned not to enter but her curiosity led her to trespass.
Queen Caihong orders her guards to seize Liyen, but Liyen protests that Lord Zhangwei said she was under his protection and could not be harmed. Zhangwei arrives and convinces Queen Caihong to punish him for the infraction instead. Queen Caihong agrees and summons Zhangwei to the Palace of Radiant Light tomorrow for his punishment: four strikes on the Dragon Platform. She demands that Liyen come as a spectator, to “see what her actions have wrought” (94).
Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary
Liyen eats breakfast with Lord Zhangwei the following morning, surprised to find that he is not angry with her despite shouldering her punishment. She asks about the punishment, and Zhangwei explains the severity of the wounds will depend on the element channeled to inflict them: lightning, fire, water, or earth. When Liyen expresses distaste for Queen Caihong’s willingness to punish her own God of War, Zhangwei defends her. Caught up in her own anger, Liyen claims she will “relish watching [him] get humbled” and “hope[s] the punishment hurts” (99). Zhangwei challenges her to take a front seat and try not to flinch; if she does, he will consider her both a coward and a liar. After the meal, they ride a phoenix to the Palace of Radiant Light.
Part 1, Chapter 11 Summary
In the court, Liyen overhears gossip about the God of War; people are not thrilled that Lord Zhangwei has brought himself low for a mortal like Liyen. When they mention his old wounds from the war with the Wuxin, which they believe still trouble him, Liyen doubts it, having recently seen him fight impressively. Watching Zhangwei’s punishment, Liyen cannot hold back tears and nausea. As the final strike from Queen Caihong is about to land, Liyen rushes forward and places herself in Zhangwei’s path. The strike clips Liyen’s shoulder, damaging it immensely. Worried for her safety, Zhangwei begs to be released, but Queen Caihong claims his punishment is not yet complete. Liyen requests that Queen Caihong take her blood as repayment for the final strike. Queen Caihong accepts and releases Zhangwei from his bonds. Zhangwei helps Liyen from the platform. Privately, he asks why she stepped between him and Queen Caihong. Liyen admits she did not want to see him hurt any further. Zhangwei claims the same reasons for taking on her punishment as his own. Liyen soon falls asleep from pain and exhaustion, and Zhangwei heals her shoulder.
Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary
When Liyen wakes, she has nearly fully healed thanks to Zhangwei’s magic. One of her attendants informs her that the queen has scheduled the pledging ceremony in three days. Liyen feels more pressure to find the Shield of Rivers and Mountains and secure Zhangwei’s support for her people’s freedom before her time runs out. Liyen seeks Zhangwei in his chambers. When he does not answer his door, she enters anyway, finding him in a bath. She attempts to sneak out, but Zhangwei is faster, clothing himself in a robe and stopping her before she reaches the door. Liyen asks about his injuries, but he does not answer, turning the question on Liyen, who thanks him for healing her. He asks her about her strand of white hair, which turned when she was poisoned with the waters of the Wangchuan River. She lies and claims it has been that way since birth, worried that if she tells him the truth, he will suspect what her grandfather did with the lotus. Zhangwei claims he wants to show Liyen someplace outside the palace tomorrow. Liyen agrees to accompany him.
Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary
The following day, Zhangwei and Liyen ride a phoenix to the mystery location. Along the way, a silver-antlered creature called a qilin flies up to them. Zhangwei uses his magic to conceal them from the creature’s view, and it flies past without bothering them. When Liyen asks if people can ride the qilin like phoenixes, Zhangwei reveals that they rarely accept riders.
Zhangwei brings Liyen to the Phoenix Kingdom. Though the Phoenix Queen does not look kindly upon trespassers, she has permitted Zhangwei to visit whenever he wishes because he and Queen Caihong help protect the Immortal Realm from the Wuxin threat. Zhangwei claims the healing quality of phoenix music was vital for his recovery from his war injury. When Zhangwei mentions his parents, Liyen tells him he is lucky to still have them, thinking of the loss of her grandfather. She asks if Zhangwei has ever lost someone, and he claims to have lost one person he loved very deeply.
Believing this her last chance to secure Zhangwei’s favor, Liyen risks telling him about her desire to retrieve the Shield of Rivers and Mountains and release her people from their service to Queen Caihong. Zhangwei insists the Kunlun Mountains in Tianxia must be protected no matter what, but he agrees to speak for Tianxia and attempt to persuade the queen. Zhangwei gifts a gold comb to Liyen. He claims it is customary to exchange tokens to mark a promise among his people. Liyen has nothing else to give, so she returns the kindness by giving him a lock of her hair.
Part 1, Chapter 14 Summary
The day of the pledging ceremony, Zhangwei escorts Liyen to Queen Caihong’s hall. When Queen Caihong asks if Liyen is ready to pledge fealty to her, Liyen offers a proposal. She claims the Wuxin are no longer a threat following the treaty, and she asks that the Shield of Rivers and Mountains be returned, the walls around her kingdom brought down, and her people released from their servitude. She promises Tianxia will remain Queen Caihong’s allies among the Mortal Realm.
Queen Caihong opposes these terms, insisting on guarding the Kunlun so that the Wuxin can never invade again. Liyen promises that her guards will actively patrol Kunlun. Zhangwei speaks on Liyen’s behalf, arguing that the mortals have fulfilled their original obligations and the immortals should explore a different agreement for the future.
Queen Caihong refuses the proposal and demands Liyen’s pledge of loyalty, which Liyen refuses. Her patience lost, Queen Caihong orders Zhangwei to do “what must be done” (137), noting that she dislikes it as much as he does. Zhangwei grabs Liyen. The queen reveals that they know the Divine Pearl Lotus is inside Liyen, given to her by her grandfather. Liyen says the lotus can only be the gift of a willing heart, but they do not appear worried, and Liyen learns that Zhangwei seduced her to obtain the lotus. He reveals that his war injury never recovered and is killing him; the only cure is the lotus.
Part 1, Chapter 15 Summary
Zhangwei stabs the tip of the blade into Liyen’s chest, drawing blood. He uses his magic to pry free the essence of the Divine Pearl Lotus, attempting to draw it into himself. Feeling betrayed and angered, Liyen believes that Zhangwei is like every other immortal, taking everything he wants by force. Liyen accuses Zhangwei of having no heart, saying she will never trust him. Zhangwei retorts that she, too, was attempting to manipulate him to gain his support for Tianxia. Zhangwei claims that her feelings for him were real, or she could not have willingly given the lotus to him. Still, Zhangwei struggles to extract the lotus. Liyen is not in love with him, so the lotus is still hers.
Liyen uses a hairpin from her hair to stab Zhangwei in the hand, startling him into releasing her. She steals his sword from its scabbard and swings it at him and the guards who step forward to help. Zhangwei commands them not to hurt her. Before the guards can apprehend Liyen, Winged Devils attack the castle. In the chaos of the ensuing battle, Liyen flees with the attendants out a back exit. As she reaches the courtyard, the same qilin that chased Liyen and Zhangwei lands and offers itself to Liyen. She climbs on its back and it flies her home to Tianxia.
Part 1, Chapters 9-15 Analysis
Sue Lynn Tan’s lyrical, immersive writing style continues in this section, balancing lush setting descriptions with political intrigue and introspective internal thoughts. Tan’s pacing in these chapters follows the narrative action. For example, the slow burn of Zhangwei and Liyen’s relationship reaches its peak just as Zhangwei’s betrayal lands, increasing the impact of Liyen’s escape. Tan’s descriptive writing helps capture the complexities of Liyen’s growing internal conflict—her cautious hope, her fleeting trust in Zhangwei, and her eventual devastation—switching between nuanced internal dialogue and sensory details.
This section exhibits the theme of Greed and the Pursuit of Power through Liyen’s limited perception of Queen Caihong and Lord Zhangwei. Her interpretation of their behavior suggests that power, once obtained, is not easily relinquished. Queen Caihong’s unwavering refusal to free Tianxia exemplifies this; despite Liyen’s reasonable diplomatic efforts, the queen refuses to recognize that the original justification for Tianxia’s servitude—the Wuxin threat—has long been resolved. Instead, she continues to demand absolute devotion from the mortals, treating Liyen’s plea as an act of defiance against her rather than a valid renegotiation.
While Lord Zhangwei began as quite the ambiguous character, a more complex representation of his character emerges in these chapters. Tan provides glimpses of his more vulnerable side as he shows unexpected kindness and consideration for Liyen. During Zhangwei’s punishment scene in particular, Liyen grapples with the contradiction between her initial resentment of immortals and the fact that she finds “no pleasure in [Zhangwei’s] torment” (106). However, his decision to betray her for the Divine Pearl Lotus at the end of the section threatens to prove everything Liyen has believed to be true of the immortals—that greed and the pursuit of power is just an inherent part of who they are. This internal conflict continues throughout her time in the Immortal Realm, reinforcing the theme of The Cyclical Nature of Vengeance as Liyen struggles to square the vulnerable, complex Zhangwei with the brutal, power-hungry God of War. Her desire for vengeance and the hatred passed down from previous generations power her vengeful urges, illuminating revenge’s cyclical nature.
The subject of Zhangwei’s deception is complex in itself, as he is not a clear antagonist or villain because Liyen has been attempting to manipulate him as well. Both seek to use the other to serve their respective goals—Zhangwei to obtain the lotus and heal his fatal wound, Liyen to gain his favor and free Tianxia. This mirroring of their agendas proves that their betrayals are not black-and-white. There is no clear good or evil in their actions, and both individuals are flawed characters with understandable motivations for their actions. This makes them equal parts relatable and sympathetic.
Zhangwei’s failure to extract the lotus from Liyen highlights the lotus motif and reinforces the theme of Earning Rather than Demanding Devotion. Much like the respect and loyalty of the people of Tianxia, the lotus cannot be taken by force; it must be given willingly and therefore earned. The novel continues to consider this idea, particularly through Liyen’s interactions with both Zhangwei and Queen Caihong. Queen Caihong expects unquestioning allegiance from mortals, yet she has done nothing to earn that loyalty. Liyen’s refusal to pledge herself to Queen Caihong, despite centuries of precedent, is a radical act that represents Liyen’s belief that power must be earned. In her experience, the immortals have not proven themselves worthy of the loyalty they demand. Their rigid expectation of obedience contrasts with her conviction that authority should not be inherited but earned. Zhangwei’s contradictory behavior also builds this theme. At times, he displays moments that inspire earned devotion, such as taking Liyen’s punishment in Chapter 11. He willingly suffers for her mistake, suggesting he genuinely cares for her, and the sacrifice warms her feeling toward him. However, his ultimate deception suggests that his kindness was conditional, making Zhangwei’s betrayal thematic, as well: He embodies the immortals’ failure to understand that true power comes not from coercion, but from mutual trust.
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