Recaps

Li Yi discovered the remains of Gu Pei, Gu Zhengchen’s father, in a pond and began investigating whether officials had falsified his corvée records. A rabbit in an official’s hat painted nearby suggested someone had witnessed the crime, while the Wang Family’s boat raised suspicion.

• Li Yi signaled Gu Zhengchen that he had been recommended to the imperial court and might leave Teng County in three months, leaving Gu Zhengchen worried about his mother and sister.
• Li Yi ordered county elders to make grain scoops, and smithies worked through the night to produce them.
• Zhou Er found skeletal remains in a pond near the county office, and the coroner identified the body as Gu Pei from a wooden tag.
• Li Yi recalled that Gu Pei had been recorded among the dead from a corvée expedition and ordered the records examined for possible tampering.
• Li Yi noticed that the boat used to sink the body belonged to the Wang Family and summoned Gu Zhengchen without alerting Gu Shi.
• Li Yi found a rabbit wearing an official’s hat painted on a wall and suspected it was a sign that a witness was crying out against an injustice.

Gu Zhengchen examined his father Gu Pei’s remains and learned that someone in the County Yamen had falsified the death register. He suspected Wang Fugui and agreed to find the artist of a mocking drawing, leaving the magistrate with a question about the punishment awaiting Wang Fugui’s household.

• Gu Zhengchen inspected Gu Pei’s skull fractures and learned that his name had been added to the death register in a different hand.
• Gu Zhengchen recalled Wang Fugui’s dispute with Gu Pei over the family’s land and told Magistrate Li Yi about the Wang Family’s later apology and payment.
• Li Yi had Yan Bin share the investigation’s findings with Gu Zhengchen, including the rabbit wearing an official’s hat.
• Gu Zhengchen reasoned that a Yamen insider had altered the register and proposed finding an eyewitness who had seen the drawing.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Li Yi to let him remove the official’s hat from the drawing to protect its artist, then asked whether Wang Fugui alone would die if proven guilty or whether his entire household would.

After learning his father Gu Pei had been murdered, Gu Zhengchen pursued clues linking the crime to a painting of a rabbit and confronted its artist, Deng Quan. Deng Quan recognized Gu Zhengchen but demanded proof of his identity before revealing what he knew.

• Gu Zhengchen vowed to avenge Gu Pei and told Gu Cheng to accompany him into town.
• Wang Youcheng mocked Gu Zhengchen at the pond, and Gu Zhengchen warned him not to provoke him again.
• Gu Zhengchen wrote a defiant poem beneath the rabbit painting, then searched the marketplace for similar artwork.
• A ragged boy identified the artist as Deng Quan and directed Gu Zhengchen to the Wenchang Shrine.
• Gu Zhengchen confronted Deng Quan, who denied knowing anything and asked him to prove he was Gu Pei's son.
• Gu Zhengchen showed Deng Quan the wooden identity tag bearing his name.

Magistrate Li Yi confronted police registrar Huang Lin over corruption and the falsified death register entry for Gu Pei. Huang Lin confessed that Wang Fugui paid him to add Gu Pei’s name, but Li Yi doubted his explanation and pressed him for the real reason.

• Li Yi questioned Huang Lin about his conduct under the Yuan and challenged him over Gu Pei’s entry in the register.
• Huang Lin denied responsibility until Cao Su confessed that Huang had ordered him to imitate the handwriting and add Gu Pei’s name.
• Chief Clerk Sun Ang and yamen runners brought out chests of Huang Lin’s hidden wealth, and Li Yi accused him of corruption.
• Huang Lin offered Li Yi a bribe and claimed that what Emperor Zhu would not give him, he would, but Li Yi ordered Jin Dache to slap him.
• Huang Lin said Wang Fugui had paid him two hundred strings of cash to add Gu Pei’s name, and Li Yi questioned why Wang would risk exposing himself.

At the County Yamen, Gu Zhengchen sought justice for his murdered father as witnesses exposed Wang Fugui and Chief Clerk Huang Lin’s roles in the killing and cover-up. Wang Fugui denied the charges and demanded evidence, and Gu Zhengchen prepared to provide it.

• Gu Zhengchen asked Li Yi to apprehend his father’s killer, and the coroner testified that Gu Pei had been murdered for vengeance.
• Wang Fugui admitted his family had a land dispute with Gu Pei but claimed they had since made peace.
• Deng Quan testified that Wang Fugui had bludgeoned Gu Pei to death and sunk his body in the pond.
• Deng Quan said Chief Clerk Huang Lin had witnessed Wang Fugui covering up the murder, and Huang Lin confessed to taking half of Wang Fugui’s assets and placing Gu Pei in the Register of the Dead.
• Wang Fugui denied the accusations and demanded evidence, and Gu Zhengchen said he could provide it.

Gu Zhengchen helped expose Wang Fugui’s murder of Gu Pei, and Li Yi used the household servants’ confessions to close the case. Witnessing the magistrate’s authority stirred Gu Zhengchen’s ambition to enter Great Ming’s officialdom, while Wang Fugui’s death sentence awaited review by the Capital.

• Gu Zhengchen pointed out bloodstains on the Wang Family boat’s mooring rope, and the coroner confirmed they were blood, supporting testimony that the boat had been used to sink Gu Pei’s body.
• Li Yi summoned Wang Zhi, Wang Er, and Wang Liu and warned them of the penalties for murder and helping dispose of the body.
• Wang Liu confessed that Wang Fugui killed Gu Pei and that he carried the stone; Wang Zhi and Wang Er then also confessed and signed their statements.
• Wang Zhi revealed that Wang Fugui had taken Gu Pei’s three hundred copper coins and paid the servants twenty taels each to stay silent.
• Li Yi sentenced Wang Fugui to beheading and the three servants to one hundred strokes and exile, then ordered the case documents sent to the Capital for review.
• Gu Zhengchen was impressed by Li Yi’s authority and longed to become an official and wield power.

After Wang Youcheng struck Gu Zhengchen, Gu Zhengchen beat him and invoked the law to secure a reduced punishment for striking second. He brought Gu Pei’s remains home for burial, while Gu Shi mourned her husband in private.

• Wang Youcheng punched Gu Zhengchen outside the County Yamen, and Gu Zhengchen beat him until County Deputy Jin Dache intervened.
• County Magistrate Li Yi ruled that Gu Zhengchen’s punishment was reduced by two degrees because Wang Youcheng struck first, and ordered Wang Youcheng to receive forty lashes.
• Gu Zhengchen brought Gu Pei’s remains and Memorial Tablet home, and Gu Shi wept when she saw her husband’s remains.
• Three days later, Gu Shi and the villagers of Dayan Village buried Gu Pei’s remains in the Clothes-and-Crown Tomb.
• Gu Shi kept Gu Pei’s Memorial Tablet close and spoke softly to the darkness at night.

Gu Zhengchen helped Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang establish white sugar production and warned them against becoming grain stewards. The partners launched Juren White Sugar with a tale and rhyme linking it to success in the examinations, and buyers rushed to purchase it.

• Magistrate Li Yi sent the Gu Family ten strings of cash as burial compensation for Wang Fugui’s killing of a family member.
• Gu Zhengchen gave Sun Bing the white sugar-making process, and Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang made a batch and burned the written instructions.
• Gu Zhengchen challenged Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang to spread the product widely and warned them not to hold much farmland or become grain stewards.
• The Sun Family and Liang Family built their own white sugar workshops as black sugar arrived in Dayan Village.
• On the fifteenth day of the sixth month, shops in five cities began selling Juren White Sugar alongside a tale and folk rhyme associating it with examination success, drawing eager buyers.

Gu Zhengchen kept the Juren White Sugar business affordable while withdrawing to Dayan Village to learn from Elder Yan. Meanwhile, Zhu Yuanzhang learned that Gu had invented the Reaping Scoop, and Empress Ma celebrated the invention and its creator as a blessing for the people and the court.

• Gu Zhengchen stopped the Liang Family and Sun Family from raising white sugar prices, keeping Juren White Sugar at sixty-six copper coins per jin despite high demand.
• Gu Zhengchen left the business to the two families and stayed in Dayan Village, where Elder Yan taught him about local customs and how to conduct himself.
• A Ministry of Personnel document arrived at Teng County Yamen, and County Magistrate Li Yi and his officials awaited news of an appointment.
• Zhu Yuanzhang ordered rewards for the soldiers who subdued the tribesmen of Pingteng Stronghold, then went to Kunning Palace to see Empress Ma.
• Zhu Yuanzhang told Empress Ma that Gu Zhengchen's Reaping Scoop let farmers harvest up to six mu of wheat a day, and Empress Ma praised the invention and Gu's talent.

Gu Zhengchen received his appointment as county magistrate of Jurong and reflected on how he might help strengthen Great Ming. The next morning, he promised his father’s grave to serve honestly, while Gu Shi urged him to arrange a marriage before leaving.

• Yan Bin delivered Gu Zhengchen’s appointment notice, naming him county magistrate of Jurong.
• Gu Zhengchen considered Jurong’s proximity to Nanjing and wondered whether his appointment had been deliberately arranged.
• Gu Zhengchen resolved to help Zhu Yuanzhang build a stronger Great Ming, though he feared Hu Weiyong’s rise might threaten him.
• Gu Shi and Gu Zhengchen visited Gu Pei’s grave, where Gu Zhengchen promised to serve the people and improve the empire.
• Gu Shi made Gu Zhengchen promise to remain honest and then asked whether he wanted to marry before leaving.

Gu Zhengchen learned that he had one month to travel to the Capital and received the credential token needed to take up his appointment as Jurong County Magistrate. He arranged to travel with Liang Family Jiajun, while Liang Heng advised him to make a good impression in office and Gu Zhengchen bargained for the Liang Family to pay their travel expenses.

• Li Yi told Gu Zhengchen that he had one month to reach the Capital, where he would register with the Ministry of Personnel, and named Zhang Shiping and Liang Family Jiajun as the other recommended men.
• Gu Zhengchen learned that Zhang Shiping had been appointed Left Vice Minister of Ministry of Works and Liang Family Jiajun an assistant instructor at the Imperial Academy, and he accepted the uneven appointments without complaint.
• Li Yi gave Gu Zhengchen a matching Credential Token and told him to return before departure to collect a thirty-tael travel allowance.
• Gu Zhengchen visited Liang Heng, who advised him to make a bit of noise as a magistrate only if it pleased people and asked him to travel to the Capital with Liang Family Jiajun.
• Gu Zhengchen agreed to accompany Jiajun if the Liang Family covered their travel expenses, leaving Liang Heng exasperated by his bargain.

After Zhao Ya'er married Zhang Shiping, Gu Zhengchen prepared to leave for the Capital while reflecting on his lack of connections. Wang Youcheng then died under suspicious circumstances, and although Gu Zhengchen had an alibi, the cause of death remained unknown.

• Zhang Shiping married Zhao Ya'er, and Gu Zhengchen told Li Yi he would rather find someone who understood him than dwell on the match he had lost.
• Li Yi warned Gu Zhengchen that officials needed powerful connections, while Gu Zhengchen said he would follow the Purple Forbidden Star's guidance.
• Gu Zhengchen's family prepared for his journey to the Capital, and he taught Gu Cheng to cook as his companion and servant.
• Jin Dache questioned Gu Zhengchen about Wang Youcheng's death, but Gu Zhengchen said he had stayed home all day and had witnesses.
• Gu Shi warned Gu Zhengchen never to take an innocent life, while the coroner suspected Wang Youcheng had been poisoned but found no poison or wounds.
• Li Yi learned that Wang Youcheng had threatened the Gu Family two days earlier, but his movements on the day he died revealed no clear suspect or cause.

After Wang Youcheng’s death remained unexplained, Gu Zhengchen left Teng County for Jurong with Liang Family Jiajun to take up his post at the Imperial Academy. He parted from his family and villagers, accepted Sun Shiba as a companion, and left County Magistrate Li Yi still questioning him about Wang Youcheng’s death.

• County Magistrate Li Yi found no evidence to explain Wang Youcheng’s death, and the case remained unsolved.
• Gu Zhengchen said farewell to Gu Qingqing, Gu Shi, Chen Shi, and the villagers, who sent him off with warm eggs and promises to protect his family.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun set out for Jurong with Gu Cheng and Liang Wujin.
• Sun Bing assigned Sun Shiba to accompany Gu Zhengchen, while Liang Heng advised Liang Family Jiajun to seek Gu Zhengchen’s counsel when needed.
• County Magistrate Li Yi asked Gu Zhengchen whether he had caused Wang Youcheng’s death, and Gu Zhengchen insisted that he was innocent.

Gu Zhengchen and Liang Jiajun traveled from Teng County to Xiacun and arranged a boat south toward Suqian on their way to Jinling. After the boat set off, Sun Shiba warned Gu Zhengchen that several bandits might be among the passengers, leaving the party on guard for danger ahead.

• Gu Zhengchen discussed The Great Learning with Liang Jiajun during their carriage ride to Xiacun.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Jiajun chose the eastern waterway to Suqian and arranged to sail the next morning.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Jiajun discussed Fang Guozhen, the Grand Canal, and the risk of a future Yellow River flood damaging Shandong.
• Gu Zhengchen, Liang Jiajun, and their party boarded Boatmaster Wang's boat and began traveling south.
• Sun Shiba warned Gu Zhengchen that three passengers were likely bandits and that others might be hiding among the travelers.

Gu Zhengchen suspected that three men aboard the boat were mounted bandits planning a robbery and tried to work out where they would strike. He concluded that Luoma Lake was the likeliest target, but worried that he and Sun Shiba might not be able to stop them.

• Sun Shiba asked whether they should warn the master of the Liang Family, but Gu Zhengchen told him to keep watch over the cabins and luggage without alarming anyone.
• Gu Zhengchen questioned the boatmen about the route and stopping places, then inspected the passengers in the hold.
• Gu Zhengchen noticed three suspicious men with empty chests and missing fingers, and apologized when he bumped into their luggage.
• Gu Zhengchen reasoned that the men would likely strike near Luoma Lake, between Pi County and Suqian, and wondered whether he could fight them.

Gu Zhengchen prepared for the mounted bandits aboard the boat, but Liang Family Jiajun had already understood the danger and urged him to leave others’ troubles to the authorities. Gu Zhengchen reconsidered his confidence in his own judgment, yet by dawn he answered Liang Family Jiajun’s cautious philosophy with a resolve to choose and uphold what was good.

• Gu Zhengchen learned that the canal’s silted channel kept grain boats away from Tuoligou, then bought kitchen cleavers because he could not find short swords.
• Gu Zhengchen warned Liang Family Jiajun about the mounted bandits and gave him cleavers, but Liang Family Jiajun said the bandits were unlikely to rob officials and that protecting other passengers was not their responsibility.
• Gu Zhengchen realized he had underestimated Liang Family Jiajun and questioned his belief that a transmigrator could easily outwit people shaped by years of upheaval.
• At dawn, Liang Family Jiajun quoted the Doctrine of the Mean, and Gu Zhengchen responded that sincerity meant choosing the good and holding fast to it.

Gu Zhengchen watched suspicious travelers leave Taizhuang, then faced a corrupt inspection by Patrol Inspector Ling Yan aboard the boat. After Gu Zhengchen revealed his official document and stopped Ling Yan from arresting him over kitchen cleavers, he privately offered Ling Yan a chance to earn merit.

• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun went ashore at Taizhuang, and Sun Shiba later reported that the three suspicious men had taken their chest to an inn.
• Ling Yan boarded the boat for an inspection, and his soldiers confiscated coins from a poor family before Ling Yan stopped one soldier from insulting a monk.
• Ling Yan's men found four kitchen cleavers in Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun's cabin and accused them of carrying weapons to commit robbery.
• Gu Zhengchen showed Ling Yan his Ministry of Personnel document, prompting Ling Yan to end the inspection and withdraw.
• Gu Zhengchen followed Ling Yan to a secluded riverbank and asked whether he wanted to earn merit and improve the court's view of him.

Gu Zhengchen learned that bandits had been active around Luoma Lake, then watched armed men reveal themselves aboard the boat and demand the passengers’ valuables. The passengers faced the robbery as the chapter ended.

• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun discussed the Patrol Office’s influence and limited ability to handle bandits.
• Sun Shiba told Gu Zhengchen that three merchants and six assistants had boarded during the night to avoid questioning by the Patrol Office.
• A scholar confidently told Qiao Niang that Tantai and Mieming were two people, and the monk challenged his understanding.
• As the boat crossed Luoma Lake, the scholar proposed burning the reed beds to eliminate bandits, while Boat Owner Wang objected that this would harm local people.
• The scar-faced man and two companions revealed weapons and ordered the passengers to put their money and valuables into chests.

Bandits attacked the boat and robbed its passengers, but Liang Wujin defeated several of them before an unseen assailant struck him down. Gu Zhengchen warned Liang Wujin too late, and a monk revealed himself as the one who had intervened.

• Scarface and his bandits boarded the boat, threatened the passengers, and bound Boatman Wang and the boatmen.
• The bandits robbed the passengers and merchants, while Gu Zhengchen warned Liang Family Jiajun that the robbers cared nothing for status.
• Liang Wujin attacked Ba Gen and Jiu Gen, then drove Scarface back toward the bow.
• Liang Wujin refused Scarface's request to leave, and Gu Zhengchen shouted a warning as someone struck Liang Wujin in the neck.
• The attacker criticized Scarface and spoke with the voice of a monk.

Gu Zhengchen surrendered the luggage to the Horse Bandits, then revealed Ling Yan and six bowmen hiding aboard the vessel and led a counterattack. After recovering the stolen chests and capturing or killing the bandits, he warned Ling Yan that Old Diamond King’s status as a monk could complicate the authorities’ response, leaving Ling Yan considering whether to kill him.

• Gu Zhengchen ordered Gu Cheng and Sun Shiba to hand over the luggage as Old Diamond King and the Horse Bandits boarded the vessel.
• The bandits took the chests and goods, while Gu Zhengchen secretly summoned Ling Yan and six bowmen from the storage compartment.
• Gu Zhengchen ordered the vessel’s crew to pursue the bandits, and Sun Shiba and Liang Wujin joined the archers in striking their boats.
• The pursuit ended with eight of the fourteen Horse Bandits dead and six captured, and Ling Yan credited Gu Zhengchen with devising the plan.
• Gu Zhengchen warned Ling Yan that Old Diamond King’s involvement as a monk could draw scrutiny from the emperor and the Benevolence and World Academy, prompting Ling Yan to consider killing him.

Gu Zhengchen helped Inspector Ling turn a risky cross-jurisdiction arrest into a joint success for Taizhuang and Suqian, then learned Ling Yan’s cousin Ling Shuo was an investigating censor. After reaching Suqian and discussing local geography and the bandit encounter with Liang Family Jiajun, Gu Zhengchen discovered Zhao Ya’er begging in an alley.

• Gu Zhengchen advised Ling Yan to go to Suqian and let its officials share in pursuing the mounted bandits, preserving Taizhuang’s credit while avoiding conflict with Huai'an Prefecture.
• Ling Yan persuaded the Suqian magistrate to raid the bandits’ hideout, where officials captured twenty mounted bandits and thirty-four horses.
• Ling Yan told Gu Zhengchen that his cousin Ling Shuo was an investigating censor, and Gu Zhengchen recognized him as one of Zhu Yuanzhang’s secret inspectors.
• Liang Family Jiajun taught Gu Zhengchen to study local mountains and rivers, then questioned why he had waited to confront the bandits until they took the passengers’ loot.
• Gu Cheng reported seeing a woman who might be Zhang Shiping’s wife, Zhao Ya’er, and Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun followed her into an alley.
• Zhao Ya’er recognized Gu Zhengchen and called his name through tears.

After Zhao Ya'er told Gu Zhengchen how Zhang Shiping died and she was left stranded by Salt Rebels, the story shifted to Jinling, where Hu Weiyong plotted to use Liu Bowen’s petitions and the Tanyang Patrol Office to provoke Zhu Yuanzhang into killing him. Hu also instructed Chen Ning to monitor newly recommended officials and bring talented men under his control.

• Zhao Ya'er told Gu Zhengchen that Zhang Shiping drowned at Taoyuan, later died during intercourse, and was buried by the roadside after Salt Rebels robbed her and killed her servants.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun heard Zhao Ya'er's story and lamented the dangers and disorder throughout the realm.
• Hu Weiyong summoned officials to discuss suppressing the Mingyang soldiers' rebellion and accused Liu Bowen of bypassing the Central Secretariat to petition Zhu Yuanzhang.
• Hu Weiyong, Wu Yun, and Chen Ning devised a plan to connect Liu Bowen's Tanyang Patrol Office to a suspected search for a burial site with the aura of kingship, giving Zhu Yuanzhang cause to act against him.
• Hu Weiyong hosted military officers from the Dadu Commander's Office at the Gathered Worthies Tower, but they showed little interest in his deliberations.
• Hu Weiyong told Chen Ning to watch officials arriving through the Recommendation System, recruit useful talent, and transfer those who refused to serve him out of Jinling.

After Zhao Ya'er died by suicide, Gu Zhengchen rejected the idea that her death and the servants' deaths were simply fate and began planning a dangerous effort against the Salt Rebels. He feigned a complicated illness during the journey to Shanyang, where he arrived with Liang Family Jiajun and asked about a gentleman surnamed Zhou who had once lived near the grain transport office.

• Zhang-she leaped into the river, and Gu Zhengchen identified her body as Zhao Ya'er.
• Liang Family Jiajun gave Gu Zhengchen Zhang's letter requesting that the Zhang Family retrieve Zhang Shiping's remains, and Gu Zhengchen asked whether the court would pursue the Salt Rebels.
• Gu Zhengchen ordered Gu Cheng to find out whether the county yamen held any Salt Rebels awaiting execution, then recruited Sun Shiba for a dangerous plan to wipe them out.
• Gu Zhengchen developed a string of strange illnesses and delayed the river journey, eventually reaching Shanyang County after twelve days with Liang Family Jiajun.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Liang Family Jiajun who had once lived in the homes near the grain transport office, then said a gentleman surnamed Zhou had devoted his life to the land.

Gu Zhengchen visited Zhang He’s residence in Shanyang, wrote a poem inspired by Zhou Enlai, and resolved to become a minister who supported the Great Ming. Before leaving for Jinling, he secretly arranged explosions at the prefectural yamen and Grain Transport Office, where officials discovered threats demanding the release of Zhang Sanxiu.

• Gu Zhengchen wrote a poem on the wall of Zhang He’s residence, and Zhang Xiwan secretly had Xiao He copy it.
• Ren Guangzu and Zhang He praised the poem and tried to find its author, but no one could identify Gu Zhengchen.
• Gu Zhengchen learned that Zhang Sanxiu had been arrested and ordered Sun Shiba to plant explosives at the prefectural yamen and Grain Transport Office.
• Gu Zhengchen and his companions departed Shanyang by boat before dawn, while Sun Shiba and Gu Cheng waited to see whether their plan had worked.
• Explosions damaged both offices, and officials found messages threatening Huai'an unless Zhang Sanxiu was released and warning that grain transport would be cut off.

Gu Zhengchen recognized the Salt Rebels’ attacks in Huai’an as a chance to force the court to confront unrest among salt-producing households. Hu Weiyong used the rebellion to urge an investigation of Suzhou, but Zhu Yuanzhang rejected the suggestion and saw through his attempt to target Wei Guan.

• As Gu Zhengchen traveled along the Han Canal, he identified the passing couriers as carriers of reports about the Salt Rebels and considered how the crisis might prompt action by the court.
• In Jinling, Hu Weiyong concluded that Zhu Yuanzhang might forgive the Earl of Sincerity, Liu Bowen, despite the Tanyang Royal Aura affair.
• Chen Ning reported that the Salt Rebels had attacked Huai’an’s prefectural yamen and Grain Transport Office with firearms and threatened north-south grain transport unless Zhang Sanxiu was released.
• Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Huai’an Prefect Ren Guangzu and the Great River Guard commander to crush the Salt Rebels and interrogate Zhang Sanxiu for his accomplices.
• Hu Weiyong proposed investigating Suzhou as well, but Zhu Yuanzhang refused and recognized that Hu Weiyong was trying to strike at Suzhou Prefect Wei Guan.