Recaps

Gu Moran and Su Yao used Mixue Ice City’s membership offer to draw in Chen Qing and Zheng Hao, Prince An’s agents, and secure a meeting with them. Gu Moran sent Batuer downstairs to pose as the shopkeeper, leaving the agents expecting a private audience.

• Shen Ling'er gave Gu Moran a mint pill as Chen Qing and Zheng Hao arrived at Mixue Ice City.
• Chen Qing and Zheng Hao sampled the goat's milk fruit tea and asked to meet the shopkeeper.
• Su Yao offered membership perks, and Chen Qing deposited twenty taels for a private meeting.
• Zheng Hao followed by depositing twenty taels as well.
• Gu Moran chose Batuer to receive the agents and told her to answer their questions with ignorance and a glare.

Prince An's spy Chen Qing became infatuated with Batuer after mistaking her for a man, while Gu Moran decided to let the spy remain at Mixue Ice City. Batuer returned upstairs with Chen Qing's fifty-tael gift, troubled that he liked her as “Brother Ba” despite her being a woman.

• Chen Qing saw Batuer and immediately abandoned his business plan to flatter her and seek her company.
• Chen Qing gave Batuer fifty taels and promised to visit Mixue Ice City every day, while Zheng Hao tried to continue the intelligence mission alone.
• Gu Moran and Su Yao watched Chen Qing's behavior, and Gu Moran decided to keep him around because his infatuation would make him protect the shop.
• Shen Ling'er questioned Gu Moran about exploiting Batuer, but he argued that Batuer had received fifty taels.
• Batuer told Murong Xue that Chen Qing had praised her appearance and voice but called her Brother Ba, then admitted that she was a woman.

Su Yao expanded Mixue Ice City’s business while officials Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin wondered whether Prince Yi used sorcery and decided to push more work onto his residence. Late that night, Su Yao and Shen Ling'er crowded Gu Moran as he drew a drainage plan, until a roof tile cracked above them.

• Su Yao recognized an official carriage watching Mixue Ice City, while Si Renyou learned that Prince An’s intelligence chief had become devoted to helping Batuer and wondered if Prince Yi knew sorcery.
• Zhen Daijin met Si Renyou in the alley, and the two agreed to test Prince Yi by shifting any manageable administrative work onto Prince Yi's Residence.
• Chen Qing continued eagerly helping Batuer at the shop, while Su Yao planned an eastern branch, Xie Wanqing drafted a storybook sales contract, Liu Ruyan researched Shu brocade merchants, and Shen Ling'er developed medicinal desserts.
• Su Yao and Shen Ling'er leaned close to Gu Moran as they critiqued his concealed drainage-channel plan, and Shen Ling'er noticed his heartbeat had quickened.
• A roof tile cracked above Gu Moran, Su Yao, and Shen Ling'er, making all three look up.

Yun Shuyue delivered fruit tea to Gu Moran, learned he was Prince Yi, and discovered he had been asked to lead repairs at Black Wind Pass and suppress its bandits. Fearing an attack on her stronghold, she dropped to her knees and begged him not to use force.

• Yun Shuyue fell from the wall but landed safely, then ate Gu Moran's yam and jujube-paste cakes while chatting with him.
• Fang Bi and Lin Xin informed Gu Moran that he was to coordinate road repairs at Black Wind Pass and suppress the nearby bandits.
• Yun Shuyue realized that Gu Moran was Prince Yi and that Black Wind Pass was her territory.
• Gu Moran sighed that the residence lacked money to wipe out the bandits, and Yun Shuyue rushed out and knelt to warn him against attacking Black Wind Stronghold.

Gu Moran offered Black Wind Stronghold amnesty in exchange for roadwork, and Yun Shuyue persuaded every bandit to leave the mountain for food and lodging. At Mixue Ice City, Batuer impressed the newly hired security team with her strength, while Chen Qing rushed to take charge of them.

• Gu Moran gave Yun Shuyue an amnesty contract promising Black Wind Stronghold food, lodging, pork stew with vermicelli, and padded clothes in return for roadwork.
• Yun Shuyue returned to Black Wind Stronghold and announced the offer, prompting the bandits to pack up and leave with her.
• Thirty men hired by Chen Qing gathered behind Mixue Ice City to serve as its security team.
• Batuer shifted a heavy stone lion to make the men move aside, then began calling names from her roster.
• Chen Qing ran into the courtyard and announced that he would handle registration, squad assignments, and roll calls.

Gu Moran teased Su Yao and Shen Ling'er, then endured a bitter pill and provoked Lin Qingdai before sending the women away. Meanwhile, Chen Qing mourned Batuer's supposed indignities at Prince Yi's Residence.

• Chen Qing arranged thirty soldiers into ranks, declared that they must obey Batuer, and impressed Zheng Hao with his fawning conduct.
• Su Yao reviewed a street map with Gu Moran, who took her hand to mark where they needed a sluice gate.
• Shen Ling'er fed Gu Moran a bitter pill disguised as a sweet qi-replenishing medicine after catching him touching Su Yao.
• Gu Moran teased Lin Qingdai about sharing his chair, prompting her to blush and retreat to a side room.
• Su Yao and Shen Ling'er left the courtyard, and Gu Moran told Su Yao to have Uncle Fu handle the storehouse conversions.
• Chen Qing stared at Batuer's chipped bowl and lamented that a hero like him had to endure indignities at Prince Yi's Residence.

Chen Qing secretly requested eight thousand taels from Prince An, convinced he was recruiting Batuer and taking control of Prince Yi’s security brigade. Gu Moran intercepted the report and planned to use the money and brigade to strengthen his own forces in Yi Prefecture.

• Chen Qing wrote Prince An a report claiming Prince Yi was unfit to rule and requesting eight thousand taels to recruit Batuer and fund the security brigade.
• Chen Qing sent the report by carrier pigeon and promised Batuer a whole-lamb feast once the money arrived.
• Yun Shuyue saw Chen Qing kissing a chipped bowl and fled in disgust.
• Gu Moran intercepted the pigeon’s intelligence and told Uncle Fu that Prince An’s funds would cover weapons and food for his troops.
• Gu Moran instructed Su Yao to equip Yun Shuyue’s couriers with grappling gear for reconnaissance, modify ice carts for hidden cargo, and arm the security brigade with heavy staffs and shields for infantry drills.

After finding Black Wind Stronghold abandoned, Zhao Wuxu abandoned his plan to win Yun Shuyue over and set out to gain Lady Wang’s favor instead. He eased her migraines, moved into the surveillance commissioner’s residence, and became her godson.

• Zhao Wuxu arrived at Black Wind Stronghold and found that Yun Shuyue and the others had left with everything.
• Zhao Wuxu decided to approach Lady Wang, Yun Zhengze’s second wife, after his original plan failed.
• Zhao Wuxu stopped Lady Wang’s sedan chair and used his acupressure technique to relieve her migraine.
• Lady Wang invited Zhao Wuxu to live in the surveillance commissioner’s residence, where he treated her migraines and kept her company.
• Lady Wang asked Zhao Wuxu to become her godson, and he knelt to kowtow to her.

Zhao Wuxu persuaded Lady Wang to let him investigate a suspicious fruit tea shop, then saw Yun Shuyue delivering tea in a snowman hat and marched toward the shop with the manor’s troops. He headed west with twelve armed men, intending to inspect the business and confront the people there.

• Zhao Wuxu ingratiated himself with Lady Wang and told her that a fruit tea shop called Mixue Ice City had dozens of workers drilling with staves and shields.
• Lady Wang gave Zhao Wuxu her waist token and instructed him to investigate the shop and its owners.
• As Zhao Wuxu left the manor, he saw Yun Shuyue fly past in a yellow vest while delivering fruit tea.
• Zhao Wuxu broke his jade pendant in anger, then ordered twelve armed men to accompany him to the shop for a routine inspection.
• Zhao Wuxu led the manor’s troops west through the city, displaying Lady Wang’s waist token.

Zhao Wuxu arrived at Mixue Ice City to conduct an inspection and kicked down the shop’s sign, prompting Chen Qing and his thirty men to confront him. The chapter ended with Chen Qing ordering his men to form up against Zhao Wuxu and his guards.

• Chen Qing presented Batuer with new boots and showed her the thirty-man patrol he had organized, while she rejected his gifts and told him he was acting strangely.
• Zhao Wuxu arrived with twelve guards, kicked down the shop’s sign, and announced that the Judicial Commissioner’s Office was conducting an inspection.
• Chen Qing blew his whistle, and his thirty men rose to arms as Batuer demanded to know why Zhao Wuxu had kicked the sign.
• Chen Qing accused Zhao Wuxu of attacking the shop and rallied his men to break his legs, while Zhao Wuxu revealed his official token and claimed to be the Judicial Commissioner’s wife’s son.
• Chen Qing decided to defy Zhao Wuxu despite the token, drew his saber, and ordered his men to raise shields and ready their poles.

Chen Qing’s shield-and-staff formation defeated Zhao Wuxu and his guards, driving the judicial commissioner’s agent into the mud. Upstairs, Gu Moran watched the fight and flirted with Shen Ling'er, Su Yao, and Lin Qingdai, ending by pulling Lin Qingdai closer.

• Chen Qing ordered his thirty men to advance in formation, and their shields and iron-clad staffs quickly knocked down Zhao Wuxu’s twelve guards.
• Zhao Wuxu tried to invoke the judicial commissioner’s authority, but the fighters struck him down and shattered the jade at his waist.
• Chen Qing told Zhao Wuxu he was unfit to wreck Shopkeeper Ba’s place, then eagerly accepted a peanut from Batuer after she praised his formation.
• Gu Moran watched the fight from upstairs while Shen Ling'er fed him honeydew and he teased Su Yao as she checked the accounts.
• Gu Moran noticed Lin Qingdai standing apart and tugged her saber tassel, drawing her half a step closer.

Gu Moran enjoyed the chaos as Prince An’s soldiers beat Zhao Wuxu, while Yun Shuyue accidentally stepped on Zhao’s head and knocked out his front teeth. Zhao then manipulated Lady Wang into leading an armed force against the tea shop.

• Gu Moran joked with Su Yao about the costs of the street fight while Lin Qingdai blushed over her saber tassel.
• Yun Shuyue stepped on Zhao Wuxu’s head as she leapt over the crowd, smashing his front teeth before delivering milk tea to the shop.
• Zhao Wuxu returned to Lady Wang and falsely described the tea shop’s soldiers and their weapons to provoke her.
• Lady Wang ordered Steward Zhang to gather thirty armed men and prepared to go to the tea shop herself.
• Zhao Wuxu secretly resolved to use Lady Wang’s attack to get revenge on Yun Shuyue and the shop.

Lady Wang tried to seize Yun Shuyue on the street, but Gu Moran and his companions intervened after his delivery worker was struck. Lady Wang revealed that Yun Shuyue was the surveillance commissioner’s legitimate daughter, leaving Gu Moran’s group stunned.

• Lady Wang arrived at Mixue Ice City with thirty household guards and recognized Yun Shuyue, ordering her to be taken home.
• Yun Shuyue tried to escape while protecting five cups of fruit tea, but a guard struck her across the back.
• Gu Moran shouted that someone was trying to assassinate him, and Lin Qingdai knocked five guards to their knees while Murong Xue tore the roof off Lady Wang’s sedan.
• Gu Moran confronted Lady Wang and claimed her guards had threatened him, forcing her to apologize and explain that she wanted to take Yun Shuyue home as family.
• Lady Wang revealed that Yun Shuyue was the surveillance commissioner’s legitimate daughter, surprising Gu Moran’s companions.

Gu Moran sheltered the injured Yun Shuyue after forcing Lady Wang to retreat, then learned that she had fled with evidence against her father, Yun Zhengze. Chen Qing arrived with six thousand taels and asked for a larger role in Yi Prefecture's governance.

• Gu Moran warned Lady Wang that her public attack on Yun Shuyue would damage her household's reputation, prompting her to withdraw.
• Murong Xue and Shen Ling'er brought Yun Shuyue to the prince's residence, where Shen Ling'er treated her back injury and ordered three days of rest.
• Su Yao exposed Yun Shuyue's false name and asked why her father's household wanted her back, but Yun Shuyue remained silent.
• Liu Ruyan reported Yun Zhengze's secret dealings and missing salt tax records, and Gu Moran confirmed that Yun Shuyue had taken evidence against her father.
• Gu Moran ordered Liu Ruyan to avoid pressuring Yun Shuyue about the ledger and to watch the judicial commissioner's residence, especially Zhao Wuxu.
• Chen Qing delivered six thousand taels that Gu Moran recognized as funds routed from Prince An, then requested responsibilities beyond commanding thirty street guards.

Gu Moran invested six thousand taels in salt licenses, horses, grain, and road repairs, winning Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin’s allegiance to his plans for Yi Prefecture. He ended the night by sending his wives poems celebrating Chengdu, leaving them to react in their own ways.

• Gu Moran appointed Chen Qing Inspector of Horse Management for Prince Yi’s Residence and assigned him to oversee horse caravans on the wasteland outside the city.
• Gu Moran invited Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin to discuss Yi Prefecture’s needs and presented a plan for salt wells, horses and supplies, and an invisible supply line.
• Gu Moran proposed dividing six thousand taels among salt licenses, grain and horses for Zhen Daijin’s garrison, and road repairs at Black Wind Pass.
• Zhen Daijin agreed to the plan, and Si Renyou pledged his support after recalling Lord Liu’s similar plans from seventeen years earlier.
• Su Yao showed Gu Moran the accounts, and he gave her a poem about Chengdu.
• Gu Moran wrote poems for Shen Ling’er, Liu Ruyan, Xie Wanqing, Murong Xue, and Lin Qingdai, then sent them to their courtyards.

Gu Moran woke to find that his wives had turned the poems he wrote for them into coasters, storybooks, plaques, and handkerchiefs for sale. Their marketing drew wealthy scholars and merchants to Mixue Ice City, where the poems earned 237 taels in one morning, leaving Gu Moran dismayed.

• Gu Moran found Su Yao and Xie Wanqing preparing coasters, storybooks, and wooden plaques featuring his poems.
• Liu Ruyan gave Su Yao another poem to embroider on handkerchiefs and proposed setting the poems to music to attract visitors to Chengdu Prefecture.
• The next afternoon, Gu Moran saw scholars and merchants crowding Mixue Ice City to buy the poem merchandise.
• Su Yao counted provisional takings of 237 taels, and Gu Moran crouched down, disheartened by how his romantic poems had become a profitable business.

Gu Moran learned that his poems had drawn scholars and merchants to Yi Prefecture, overwhelming its roads and inns. He proposed financing road repairs through merchant donations in exchange for naming rights and a share of future tolls, leaving Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin eager to put the plan into action.

• Xie Wanqing told Gu Moran she had kept his handwritten poems beneath her pillow while allowing the shops to publish them for profit.
• Seven days later, Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin reported that Gu Moran’s poems had drawn hundreds of scholars and many merchants to Yi Prefecture, where overcrowded lodging and impassable roads caused growing trouble.
• Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin argued over responsibility for the neglected roads until Gu Moran asked how much road needed repair.
• Gu Moran divided the seventy-nine li of official roads into ten sections and proposed that wealthy merchants fund construction in exchange for naming rights and a share of toll revenue.
• Si Renyou calculated that the plan could fund road repairs without public money while earning the prefectural administration tolls and political credit.

Gu Moran arranged for the prefectural government and military camp to attract merchants to fund road repairs, while Su Yao bought Mixue Ice City's naming rights to one stretch. At Mixue Ice City, Yun Shuyue met Gu Moran while delivering orders and asked why he let the shopkeeper sell his poems; he said he needed money for medicine and had written them casually.

• Gu Moran divided ten road stretches between Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin, offering to write the merit-stone inscriptions himself to draw higher bids from merchants.
• Su Yao calculated that the naming rights could raise at least eight thousand taels and bought the first stretch west of the city for Mixue Ice City for one thousand taels.
• Yun Shuyue took a shortcut through a second-floor window despite her back wound and found Gu Moran at Mixue Ice City.
• Yun Shuyue told Gu Moran that customers were paying heavily for wooden plaques and books, then joked that she would rob the shopkeeper if he cheated Gu Moran.
• Yun Shuyue asked why Gu Moran let the proprietor sell his poems, and Gu Moran replied that he needed money for medicine and had written the poems offhand.

Yun Shuyue asked Gu Moran to write a poem she could sell to fund schooling for the children at Black Wind Stronghold, and his words moved her by honoring her efforts. Her increased favorability unlocked an agricultural compendium for Gu Moran, while she left to exchange the poem for silver.

• Yun Shuyue explained that tuition and supplies were too expensive for most children at Black Wind Stronghold and asked Gu Moran for a poem to sell.
• Gu Moran wrote Yun Shuyue a poem praising a hidden hero, and she felt that someone had finally recognized her sacrifices as stronghold chief.
• Yun Shuyue promised to stand up for Gu Moran, triggering a system reward that gave him agricultural techniques suited to Yi Prefecture and the potential to triple its output.
• Gu Moran told Yun Shuyue to exchange the poem with Shopkeeper Ba for a hundred taels, and she ran downstairs with the poem and leftover cake for Tiedan.

Yun Shuyue tried to sneak out of the prince’s residence to steal jade hairpins and repay her debt, but Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue caught her. In the main hall, Su Yao revealed that she and the others owned Mixue Ice City, leaving Yun Shuyue stunned and wondering why they trusted her with their secret.

• Yun Shuyue dressed in dark clothes and climbed the rear wall, planning to steal Lady Wang’s jade hairpins from the provincial surveillance commissioner’s residence.
• Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue waited outside the wall, caught Yun Shuyue, and dragged her to the main hall.
• Su Yao showed Yun Shuyue Mixue Ice City’s general transaction ledger and explained that its west-city shop had earned twelve hundred taels.
• Su Yao confirmed that she, Xie Wanqing, Liu Ruyan, and Shen Ling'er had opened Mixue Ice City, embarrassing Yun Shuyue over her past insults about the business.
• Yun Shuyue asked why they trusted her with their secret and warned that the prince could be impeached if outsiders found out.

After learning that Lady Wang and Zhao Wuxu had prepared a deadly trap for her, Yun Shuyue accepted the prince's household’s offer to shelter the children of Black Wind Stronghold and pledged her life to the prince. Shen Ling'er welcomed her with new clothes, leaving Yun Shuyue moved by the chance to belong somewhere again.

• Su Yao showed Yun Shuyue a note revealing that Lady Wang and Zhao Wuxu had set crossbows and guards to kill her if she entered the Judicial Commissioner's residence.
• Shen Ling'er told Yun Shuyue that the prince's household would take in every child from Black Wind Stronghold and provide them with food and books.
• Xie Wanqing explained that His Highness wanted everyone in Yi Prefecture and beyond to have access to books, and Yun Shuyue pledged her life to the prince and offered her skills in service.
• Su Yao welcomed Yun Shuyue into the prince's household after hearing about her abilities and knowledge of Yi Prefecture.
• Shen Ling'er gave Yun Shuyue new clothes, including a rose-red skirt, and told her she was family now.

Yun Shuyue stumbled into Gu Moran while trying to walk in her new women’s clothes, and Shen Ling'er teased them before Yun learned that Auntie Zhao and the others from Black Wind Stronghold had arrived. Gu Moran then received updates about roadworks, a prospective trading partner, and Xie Wanqing's outline for the next installment of his story.

• Yun Shuyue collided with Gu Moran and landed on his lap, and Shen Ling'er joked that she could warm his hands before Yun sprang away in embarrassment.
• Shen Ling'er told Yun Shuyue that Auntie Zhao, Tiedan, and Doubao had been settled in the estate, and Yun headed to the kitchen to see them.
• Uncle Fu told Gu Moran that Prefect Si had drafted a road-naming notice and Commandant Zhen had surveyed the northern road.
• Uncle Fu relayed that a trading firm from Jia Prefecture wanted to meet Gu Moran after hearing of Mixue Ice City.
• Xie Wanqing presented her outline for the second installment, centered on a granary stratagem and an unsolved salt-tax case, and said readers wanted more scenes of the protagonist drinking bitter medicine.

Yun Shuyue learned that the princely residence was short ten thousand taels for the Land of Abundance Granary project, so she retrieved a hidden ledger and brought it to Gu Moran. She tried to deliver it through his window, but her dress caught on the lattice and left her dangling outside.

• Su Yao and Xie Wanqing calculated that the granary project would cost twenty-eight thousand taels, leaving the princely residence ten thousand taels short.
• Yun Shuyue remembered the ledger she had stolen from Yun Zhengze and decided to offer it to Gu Moran to help fund the project.
• Yun Shuyue dug the ledger out of its hiding place in an abandoned City God temple and carried it back to the princely residence.
• Yun Shuyue changed into a pinkish-red dress, took the ledger, and tried to sneak it through Gu Moran's rear window.
• Yun Shuyue's skirt caught on the window lattice and left her hanging headfirst as Gu Moran told her not to swing from his window.

Yun Shuyue gave Gu Moran a hidden fragment of her father Yun Zhengze’s salt-tax ledger in exchange for a thirty-percent stake in the Land of Abundance Granary. Gu Moran secured the evidence and planned to use it alongside his early-rice experiments, while Lady Wang began pleading for justice after Yun Zhengze returned.

• Yun Shuyue accidentally fell into Gu Moran’s room while trying to bring him her belongings.
• Gu Moran recognized the hidden ledger as evidence connecting Yun Zhengze to illicit salt-permit dealings and official protection.
• Gu Moran accepted the ledger in exchange for giving Yun Shuyue a thirty-percent non-cash stake in the Land of Abundance Granary.
• Gu Moran reassured Yun Shuyue that Prince Yi’s Residence would protect her and hid the ledger in a bookshelf compartment.
• Gu Moran studied methods for domesticating early rice and considered using the ledger to enter Jiannan Circuit’s salt-permit trade.
• After the weather turned cold, Lady Wang sobbed in the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner’s Residence and asked the returning Yun Zhengze to seek justice for her.

Yun Zhengze went to Prince Yi's Residence to retrieve Yun Shuyue, who had been welcomed and dressed by the household. He arrived just after Yun Shuyue stumbled into Gu Moran and grabbed at his clothes, leaving the two of them in a compromising-looking state.

• Lady Wang and Zhao Wuxu complained about Yun Shuyue entering Prince Yi's Residence, but Yun Zhengze decided to visit the residence himself.
• The women of Prince Yi's household dressed Yun Shuyue in fine clothes and coached her to stand behind them when Yun Zhengze arrived.
• Su Yao explained that Yun Zhengze's cooperation would help the household secure passage, granaries, horses, and salt permits.
• Gu Moran caught Yun Shuyue when she tripped while reaching for a roasted taro, and she grabbed his lapels while trying to retrieve it.
• Uncle Fu announced Yun Zhengze's arrival, and Yun Zhengze found Yun Shuyue clutching a taro behind the women while Gu Moran's robes hung open.