Recaps

After the victory at Incheon, Kim Seon-a pledged Goryeo’s forces to Gu Moran in exchange for a share of Kyushu’s resources and blades. At the victory feast, Gu Moran fed osmanthus wine to Kim Seon-a by kissing it into her mouth, provoking Gu Moli’s anger.

• Kim Seon-a stamped the Memorial of National Submission with her blood and offered Gu Moran ten turtle ships and command of ten thousand naval troops in return for iron, sulfur, and Wa blades from Kyushu.
• Gu Moran ordered his army to occupy the Incheon governor’s residence, hold a victory feast, and imprison Kuki Yoshitaka in the water dungeon under guard.
• Shen Ling'er brought medicinal broth for Gu Moran and Kim Seon-a while Meng Jiuning, despite her wound, insisted that her own medicinal liquor was better.
• Gu Moli arrived with osmanthus wine, pushed aside Gu Moran’s medicine, and spilled wine on her skirt while trying to feed him.
• When Kim Seon-a asked when Gu Moran would question Kuki Yoshitaka about Gyeongsang Province, Gu Moran drank the wine and kissed it into her mouth, angering Gu Moli.
• Murong Xue left the feast with Zhen Meili to compete over Burning Blade liquor.

Kim Seon-a left the reception hall after Shen Ling'er urged her to rest, while Gu Moran used his Pure Yang True Qi to treat Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning's blood loss. In the water dungeon, Kuki Yoshitaka retrieved a hidden whalebone needle and prepared to bargain with the Goryeo jailers.

• Shen Ling'er escorted Kim Seon-a from the reception hall, and Kim Seon-a accidentally scorched her sleeve on a fallen lantern.
• Gu Moran carried the drunken Gu Moli to bed, then Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning dragged him into the main room.
• Gu Moran examined Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning's wounds and replenished their depleted qi and blood with his Pure Yang True Qi.
• Kuki Yoshitaka dug a hidden whalebone needle from his broken leg while the jailers gambled outside.
• Kuki Yoshitaka spat out a large eastern pearl and called to the Goryeo jailers in halting Goryeo speech.

Kuki Yoshitaka tried to enlist a jailer with a promise of hidden gold and revealed that Kim Seung-hwan was allied with Great Wa. A raid on the prefect’s residence exposed Kim Tae-won’s rebellion, and Kim Seon-a set out to crush it and bring his head to Gu Moran.

• Kuki Yoshitaka offered a jailer an eastern pearl and promised him ten thousand taels of gold in exchange for delivering a secret message to Kim Seung-hwan.
• Masked warriors attacked the prefect’s residence, and Gu Moran, Murong Xue, Lin Qingdai, and Xie Linyuan fought them off as they attempted to reach the water dungeon.
• Lin Qingdai identified the attackers as Gyeongsang Province navy death warriors, and Kim Seon-a recognized their leader’s blue-wolf tattoo as the mark of Kim Tae-won’s private forces.
• The death warrior leader declared that Kim Tae-won had brought ten thousand troops to blockade the southbound waterway and planned to destroy Incheon Port at daybreak.
• Kim Seon-a killed the leader, then vowed to assemble five hundred guards and return to Gu Moran before the hour of the snake with Kim Tae-won’s head and Gyeongsang Province’s military command tallies.

Gu Moran’s forces seized Incheon’s ships and sailors, then sailed toward Tsukushi Port aboard newly reinforced floating fortresses. When Kuki Yoshitaka advised them to enter the dangerous Ghost Cry Shoal, Gu Moran detected his treachery but ordered the fleet into the channel anyway.

• Kim Seon-a killed Kim Tae-won and delivered his head and half a naval tiger tally to Gu Moran as Pu Yunshan brought surrendered Goryeo sailors to Incheon.
• Gu Moran assigned the surrendered sailors to Great Yan ships and had the captured atakebune joined into armored floating fortresses under Zhen Meili’s direction.
• Zhen Meili reinforced the twin-hulled ships, fitted them with repeating crossbows, and divided their powder holds into fire-resistant compartments.
• Gu Moran led three armored floating fortresses and sixty warships toward Tsukushi Port, with the wounded Kuki Yoshitaka chained at the lead ship’s bow.
• In dense fog near the Tsushima Strait, Kuki Yoshitaka pointed toward Ghost Cry Shoal and warned that the route on the right held dangerous shoals.
• Gu Moran used his system vision to recognize Kuki Yoshitaka’s hostile intent, then ordered the fleet to enter Ghost Cry Shoal.

Gu Moran’s fleet entered Ghost Cry Shoal and survived Kuki Yoshitaka’s betrayal and a cliffside ambush. Lin Qingdai and the Satsuma squad leader turned the attack against the Shimazu forces, but Shimazu Yoshihiro ordered the Eight-Forked Miasma released on both the Great Yan troops and the Satsuma men.

• Kim Seon-a pretended to argue with Gu Moran while secretly arranging for Lin Qingdai and the Satsuma squad leader to lead five hundred elite soldiers around the cliffs in Wa uniforms.
• Kuki Yoshitaka sprang his ambush at Ghost Cry Shoal, but Gu Moran knocked him unconscious with the pommel of his sword before he could stab him with a poisoned needle.
• Gu Moran ordered the iron canopies raised, shielding the ships from the incendiary jars falling from the cliffs.
• Lin Qingdai and the Satsuma squad leader attacked the eastern cliff and destroyed the bamboo catapults.
• The Satsuma squad leader urged the suicide troops to stop fighting for Shimazu Yoshihiro, and they hesitated on the ropes.
• Shimazu Yoshihiro ordered his men to release the Eight-Forked Miasma, despite the five hundred Satsuma troops still below.

Gu Moran and his allies dispersed the poison smoke at Ghost Cry Shoal with medicinal powder fired from mortars, then prepared to strike the Japanese defenders’ poison cauldrons. The smoke’s dispersal changed the gorge’s wind, while Gu Moran exposed Shimazu Yoshihiro’s sacrifice of his own soldiers to Kuki Yoshitaka.

• The defenders released poisonous smoke across Ghost Cry Shoal, killing seabirds, Satsuma troops on the cliffs, and Goryeo soldiers aboard the floating fortress.
• Gu Moran shielded Kim Seon-a and Zhen Meili with a wet cloak, while Kim Seon-a raised her White Tiger Barrier and Meng Jiuning identified the poison and called for realgar and heartbreak grass ash.
• Meng Jiuning mixed her blood into realgar and quicklime powder, and Zhen Meili fired the mixture from three mortars, dispersing the poison smoke over the sea.
• Shimazu Yoshihiro saw the smoke disperse, while the resulting heat shifted the gorge’s airflow upward along the cliffs.
• Gu Moran forced Kuki Yoshitaka to look at the dead Satsuma soldiers and condemned Shimazu Yoshihiro for sacrificing them.
• Gu Moran ordered the repeating crossbowmen to coat their arrows in poisoned water and fierce-fire oil and target the bronze cauldrons in the western cliff caves.

Gu Moran’s forces destroyed Shimazu Yoshihiro’s poison defenses, captured the wounded clan lord, and broke through to Tsukushi Port. The shogunate then offered supplies, silver, and Princess Takaichi Nanako in exchange for stopping the invasion at Tsukushi.

• Murong Xue and Xue Huan set the poison stores ablaze, sending toxic smoke back into the Shimazu Clan’s western bunkers and watchtower.
• The Satsuma squad leader joined Lin Qingdai’s attack, charged Shimazu Yoshihiro with Subduing Fire Thunder, and was killed in the blast; Xie Linyuan severed Shimazu Yoshihiro’s arms and captured him.
• Tuoba Mang’s engineers blasted a breach in the sea barrier, allowing the armored floating fortresses to smash through and land at Tsukushi Port.
• Gu Moran disembarked on Kyushu with his companions as Xie Linyuan brought the captured Shimazu Yoshihiro to him.
• A Wa messenger delivered the shogunate’s offer of Tsukushi City’s supplies, one million taels of silver, and Princess Takaichi Nanako in exchange for Gu Moran advancing no farther.

Gu Moran accepted the shogunate’s offer of a princess and silver while ordering his army into Tsukushi City, then investigated suspected Goryeo theft at the iron depot. He exposed the lead captain as a shogunate spy moving refined iron through an underground passage, leaving Kim Seon-a facing his accusations.

• Lin Qingdai found bee-luring incense in the shogunate’s secret scroll, and Gu Moran ordered the army to rest in Tsukushi City and await the promised delivery.
• Kim Seon-a asked to take three thousand Goryeo sailors to inventory the iron depot, and Gu Moran approved while sending Pu Yunshan’s cavalry to guard it.
• Pu Yunshan caught Goryeo sailors hiding sword blanks in a concealed hole, and Kim Seon-a confronted him as their forces drew weapons.
• Gu Moran stamped out a fire near the sulfur sacks and used the Eye of Detection to identify the lead captain as a shogunate spy moving refined iron through an underground passage.
• Gu Moran accused Kim Seon-a’s subordinate of knowing about the secret chamber, while Pu Yunshan questioned how the captain had found it.

Gu Moran exposed a shogunate spy among Kim Seon-a’s Goryeo troops and recovered a map of Dazaifu’s waterways. Shōni Sukemoto prepared a poisoned ambush and sent an ox-cart procession to Tsukushi City, where a powdered hand reached for a Great Yan guard’s spear.

• Gu Moran identified a disguised Japanese spy by the callus between his toes, and the spy died after biting into a poison pouch.
• The spy wounded Kim Seon-a before Tuoba Mang broke his knee and found a map of Dazaifu’s waterways; Kim Seon-a accepted Great Yan’s military authority over her sailors.
• Gu Moran ordered Pu Yunshan to take scouts and Yun Shuyue through a secret passage to investigate Dazaifu.
• Shōni Sukemoto drugged Imperial Princess Takaichi Nanako and planned to use her to lure Gu Moran into an ambush involving poison-smoke pellets and hidden Iga jōnin.
• Shōni Sukemoto secretly withdrew Dazaifu’s main force and treasury toward the Iwami Silver Mine, leaving a decoy garrison behind.
• A fog-shrouded ox cart arrived at Tsukushi City, and a powdered hand reached from its curtain to seize a Great Yan sentry’s spearhead.

Takaichi Nanako arrived at Tsukushi’s gate enclosure and tried to seduce Gu Moran, but Shen Ling'er exposed her as poisoned bait. Gu Moran’s preparations trapped and killed the Iga death warriors hidden in the chests, leaving Nanako unharmed and still unaware of what had happened.

• Takaichi Nanako stripped off her robes and ran toward Gu Moran, saying her father had promised her colorful butterflies if she slept with him.
• Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue restrained Takaichi Nanako, and Shen Ling'er discovered she had been drugged with datura and Meridian-Severing Powder meant to poison Gu Moran through intercourse.
• Gu Moran used the Eye of Detection to spot the threat in the chests and stopped Kim Seon-a from attacking Takaichi Nanako.
• Thirty Iga death warriors burst from the chests and charged through poisonous smoke toward Gu Moran.
• Tuoba Mang dropped iron nets over the attackers, and scalding lime-and-manure water poured down from the walls, killing all thirty Iga death warriors.
• Takaichi Nanako clapped and giggled at the corpses, calling them pretty dancers.

Yun Shuyue reported that Shōni Sukemoto had fled Dazaifu with Goryeo’s Heaven-designated iron chest, and Gu Moran learned that Takaichi Nanako might reveal his route. After Nanako’s poisons made her critically ill, Gu Moran ordered the mountain passes sealed while Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning treated her.

• Yun Shuyue delivered a message revealing that Shōni Sukemoto had left Dazaifu with three million taels of silver and Goryeo’s Heaven-designated iron chest.
• Kim Seon-a urged Gu Moran to pursue Shōni Sukemoto, and Gu Moran decided to use Takaichi Nanako to discover his route.
• Shen Ling'er warned that Meridian-Severing Powder and other poisons were endangering Nanako, and Meng Jiuning said she needed thirty-six gold needles and a twelve-hour medicinal bath.
• Gu Moran stopped Kim Seon-a from pressuring Shen Ling'er and ordered Pu Yunshan to lead three thousand cavalry to seal the three mountain passes.
• Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning began treating Nanako in a medicinal bath at the prefect's residence.

Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning purged most of Takaichi Nanako's poisoned blood, with Gu Moran using his true qi to help complete the treatment. Shen Ling'er then revealed that Nanako had been given a potent aphrodisiac and had only three years left to live.

• Shen Ling'er accidentally misplaced a golden needle, causing the spasming Takaichi Nanako to overturn the medicinal tub and injure Meng Jiuning.
• Kim Seon-a tried to enter the bathhouse, but Murong Xue blocked her and the two nearly fought until Gu Moran arrived.
• Gu Moran sent his Pure Yang True Qi through the door, restoring Shen Ling'er's strength so she could correct the needle and calm Nanako.
• Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning drained black poisoned blood from Nanako as Gu Moran sustained the treatment until it succeeded.
• Shen Ling'er stumbled out of the bathhouse and told Gu Moran that Nanako had been taking pills since childhood, had at most three years to live, and had been soaked in a potent aphrodisiac by Shōni Sukemoto.

Takaichi Nanako’s suppressed aphrodisiac resurged after the datura poison was cleared, and she clung to Gu Moran while demanding that he sleep with her. An imperial party arrived from Chang’an with a yellow edict, and Gu Moran prepared to receive it after ordering Nanako taken away for treatment.

• Meng Jiuning warned that Takaichi Nanako’s aphrodisiac had surged back with dangerous force.
• Takaichi Nanako grabbed Gu Moran, begged him to sleep with her, and bit his armor when he tried to pull away.
• Gu Moli angrily berated Takaichi Nanako and threw a bowl of cold tea at her, which Gu Moran caught.
• Tuoba Mang reported that imperial envoys from Chang’an had arrived bearing a yellow edict.
• Gu Moran struck an acupoint to make Takaichi Nanako release him, wrapped her in his cloak, and ordered Lin Qingdai to take her for treatment.
• Gu Moran told Shen Ling'er and Gu Moli to withdraw, then headed to the front hall with Tuoba Mang and Murong Xue to receive the edict.

Gu Moran accepted an imperial edict ordering him to return to Chang’an and provisionally govern the court, but the system revealed that Eunuch Shuangxi was acting to strip him of military authority and conceal a mysterious imperial prince. Gu Moran also uncovered Shuangxi’s disturbing secrets while the eunuch prepared to accompany him.

• Eunuch Shuangxi delivered an edict ordering Gu Moran to quell the Japanese pirates, return to court, and oversee the Six Ministries while the emperor was ill.
• Gu Moran hesitated to accept the edict, suspecting the court had sent him a dangerous burden, but Shuangxi pressured him by invoking the Empress Dowager and the emperor.
• Gu Moran used the system’s Eye of Detection and learned that Shuangxi was under orders to strip him of military authority and lure him to the capital.
• Gu Moran discovered that Shuangxi secretly met a mysterious imperial prince hidden at a temple outside the capital.
• Gu Moran gave Shuangxi gold and uncovered his disturbing fetish and a list of people he had victimized, leaving him revolted as Shuangxi accepted the money.

Gu Moran stopped Eunuch Shuangxi from touching Takaichi Nanako, then faced his demand to take control of Tsukushi City's defenses and prisoners. He appeared to accept the court's order while asking for three days and the paper tally document, leaving Shuangxi's authority in question.

• Eunuch Shuangxi recognized Takaichi Nanako and reached for her feet, but Gu Moran struck his hand with a whip and blocked his way.
• Shuangxi claimed Nanako was a royal woman from Wa who had to be taken to the Capital, while Gu Moran said she had the blackwater plague.
• Shuangxi presented an Imperial Commissioner's Seal and claimed the Empress Dowager had ordered him to control the city's four gates and prisoners, then take Gu Moran back to Chang'an.
• Tuoba Mang tried to attack Shuangxi over the demand to surrender command, but Gu Moran kicked him down and ordered him to be quiet.
• Kim Seon-a worried that Gu Moran's return to Chang'an would endanger Goryeo's iron chest and royal family.
• Gu Moran said he would comply after three days to organize military affairs, then asked Shuangxi to produce the paper tally document.

Gu Moran hosted Eunuch Shuangxi while Lin Qingdai investigated the imperial envoy’s background and Xue Huan carried Takaichi Nanako to the army camp. Gu Moran used Tuoba Mang’s foul-smelling feet to break down Eunuch Shuangxi’s defenses, then asked about a young master who had sent him prayer beads.

• Gu Moran showed Eunuch Shuangxi the empress dowager’s tally token and invited him to a welcoming banquet.
• Lin Qingdai left to investigate the imperial envoy, while Xue Huan carried Takaichi Nanako to the army camp and ordered the soldiers to line up.
• Eunuch Shuangxi evaded Gu Moran’s questions about the emperor and court officials during the banquet.
• Gu Moran summoned Tuoba Mang to bring in a brazier, and Tuoba Mang removed his filthy boots and roasted his feet beside Eunuch Shuangxi.
• The stench caused Eunuch Shuangxi’s mental defenses to plunge, and Gu Moran asked whether a young master at a temple had given him prayer beads to deliver.

Eunuch Shuangxi’s attempt to poison Gu Moran failed, and he exposed a supposed betrayal by Lin Qingdai’s father before attacking Kim Seon-a. The chapter ended as Xie Linyuan opened his eyes while Kim Seon-a faced Eunuch Shuangxi’s claw.

• Eunuch Shuangxi burned his thigh to restore his mental defense and revealed that the jade pendant had been coated with Qianji Poison.
• Gu Moran revealed that the pendant was wrapped in oilpaper, then challenged Eunuch Shuangxi over his forged travel credential and his mission.
• Eunuch Shuangxi activated the Sunflower Great Art and ordered four imperial guards to attack Gu Moran and Tuoba Mang.
• Eunuch Shuangxi threw down General Lin’s half-token and claimed Lin Qingdai’s father had traded Gu Moran’s command for three million taels.
• Eunuch Shuangxi broke through the screen and lunged at Kim Seon-a, whose old injury slowed her defense.
• Xie Linyuan opened his eyes as Eunuch Shuangxi’s claw neared Kim Seon-a’s throat.

Xie Linyuan defeated Eunuch Shuangxi, while Gu Moran uncovered that Shuangxi and the Minister of War planned to use a supposed imperial heir to seize power. Gu Moran then told Shuangxi that Gu Debai had betrayed him, leaving Shuangxi shocked and denying the claim.

• Xie Linyuan shattered Eunuch Shuangxi’s wrist and sent him crashing into the side hall after protecting Kim Seon-a.
• Lin Qingdai, Tuoba Mang, and Murong Xue defeated the four palace guards, and Gu Moran revealed that the copper tally had been stolen years earlier and invalidated.
• Gu Moran’s Eye of Detection revealed that the child Shuangxi raised at Cold Mountain Temple was the emperor’s son, and that Shuangxi had joined the Minister of War and Gu Debai in a plan to seize the throne.
• Gu Moran tortured Shuangxi’s broken wrist and claimed that Gu Debai had told him Lan’er willingly seduced the emperor and that Gu Debai intended to kill Shuangxi and the child.
• Eunuch Shuangxi rejected Gu Moran’s story, insisting that Gu Debai had promised to make the child crown prince and Lan’er empress dowager.

Gu Moran exposed Eunuch Shuangxi’s role in a conspiracy between officials in the capital and Wa to seize silver and support a claimant to the throne. After Yun Shuyue brought evidence hidden in a box and inside Takaichi Nanako’s throat, Gu Moran stopped Shuangxi from killing himself and captured him alive.

• Gu Moran tricked Eunuch Shuangxi into revealing that the boy at Cold Mountain Temple was connected to a plot to seize the throne.
• Yun Shuyue brought Gu Moran a locked box from the imperial envoy’s guesthouse and a gold pellet Takaichi Nanako had coughed up after her poison was purged.
• Gu Moran opened the box and pellet, finding an agreement between Great Yan’s minister of war and Shōni Sukemoto, along with a map and passwords for three secret silver vaults.
• Gu Moran accused Eunuch Shuangxi and other capital officials of colluding with Wa to take silver from the Iwami Silver Mine and fund a rebellion.
• Eunuch Shuangxi tried to bite a poison pellet, but Gu Moran dislocated his jaw and forced Tuoba Mang’s dirty sweat cloth into his mouth.

Gu Moran forced Eunuch Shuangxi to send a false deployment order that would draw the vice minister of war’s fleet into Tsukushi Port, then learned that Takaichi Nanako had regained her clarity while pretending to remain foolish. He went to confront her after she demanded to see him.

• Gu Moran threatened Eunuch Shuangxi until he stamped an order claiming Gu Moran was poisoned and instructing the vice minister of war to enter Tsukushi Port at dawn.
• Takaichi Nanako woke after expelling the gold pill, regained her mental clarity, and vowed revenge on Shōni Sukemoto and Gu Moran.
• Tuoba Mang took Eunuch Shuangxi and the injured palace guards to the water dungeon, while Xue Huan went to signal the fleet with the order.
• Gu Moran reassured Kim Seon-a that the vice minister and Eunuch Shuangxi would die in a field of Subduing Fire Thunders, and she warned him about the political consequences.
• Lin Qingdai reported that Takaichi Nanako had woken, smashed bowls, and demanded to see Gu Moran, who decided to visit her.

Gu Moran confronted Takaichi Nanako, who dropped her act and offered to betray Shōni Sukemoto in exchange for help claiming Wa’s throne. His Eye of Detection revealed that her supposed intelligence was a lie and exposed the real routes, signals, and her plan to kill him; she began trying to seduce him as the chapter ended.

• Gu Moran told Lin Qingdai and Kim Seon-a to guard the door and not enter, then went inside to face Takaichi Nanako.
• Gu Moran accused Takaichi Nanako of pretending to be foolish, and she revealed that she had recovered from the qi-sealing pill and datura poison.
• Takaichi Nanako claimed the Iwami Silver Mine map was a trap and warned that the offshore fleet would flee if the lantern signals were wrong, then offered Gu Moran half the mine’s silver for help taking the throne.
• Gu Moran used his Eye of Detection and learned the true fleet signal and mine passage, as well as Takaichi Nanako’s intent to attack him with a hidden poisonous spike.
• Takaichi Nanako believed Gu Moran was tempted by her offer and began to cling to him and seduce him.

Gu Moran exposed Takaichi Nanako’s knowledge of the silver mine defenses and had her imprisoned in a rotten-fish cage. He went to the Sea-Watching Tower, where Zhen Meili fell into his arms while working on the harbor’s fire thunders.

• Gu Moran struck Takaichi Nanako and revealed that he knew the fleet signal and the Iwami Silver Mine’s hidden entrance.
• Gu Moran ordered soldiers to remove Nanako’s poisoned fishbone, bind her, and lock her in a rotten-fish cage.
• Gu Moran told Lin Qingdai to watch the docks and went to check Zhen Meili’s fire thunder preparations.
• Zhen Meili and Yun Shuyue worked through the cold to calibrate three hundred Underwater Subduing Fire Thunders for the coming fleet.
• Zhen Meili slipped on the wet tower steps, and Gu Moran caught her against his chest.

Gu Moran warmed Zhen Meili and Yun Shuyue after finding them working in the cold, then ordered Yun Shuyue to send a lantern signal to lure an enemy fleet to the docks. Back at the prefect's residence, he found Gu Moli reading letters from Yi Prefecture and heard her claim that Su Yao was threatening to cut off his supplies.

• Gu Moran held Zhen Meili close and praised her contributions to the war effort.
• Yun Shuyue complained that Gu Moran had only warmed Zhen Meili, so he shared his cloak with her and promised her fresh osmanthus cakes.
• Gu Moran told Zhen Meili and Yun Shuyue that the enemy fleet coordinated lantern signals with their Sea-Watching Tower, and ordered Yun Shuyue to flash three long signals and two short ones.
• Gu Moran left the cloak with the two women and returned to the prefect's residence.
• Gu Moli hid three opened letters from Yi Prefecture and told Gu Moran that Su Yao planned to cut off his supplies and punish him when he returned.

Gu Moran recovered the three letters Gu Moli had hidden in her clothes and discovered that his sisters-in-law had written him caring messages, not threats. As he prepared to punish Gu Moli for lying, three bells rang from the docks.

• Gu Moli warned Gu Moran to stay away from Takaichi Nanako and falsely claimed his sisters-in-law had threatened him in their letters.
• Gu Moran cornered Gu Moli and pulled the three letters from inside her clothes.
• Gu Moran read Su Yao's, Xie Wanqing's, and Liu Ruyan's letters and found that they expressed concern and offered support.
• Gu Moran confronted Gu Moli about twisting the letters and moved to grab her as she tried to hide under a table.
• Three deep bronze bell peals sounded from the docks.

Gu Moran and Zhen Meili lured Zhou Yanru’s fleet into Tsukushi Port and trapped it with ironclad forts and Subduing Fire Thunder. With the ships wrecked and Eunuch Shuangxi captured, Gu Moran exposed Zhou Yanru’s agreement to collude with Shōni Sukemoto, leaving the soldiers to question their commander.

• Zhou Yanru believed the lantern signal and ordered his fleet into Tsukushi Port, expecting Gu Moran to be poisoned and incapacitated.
• Zhen Meili sent three ironclad floating forts across the harbor exit and sealed it with chains, trapping the fleet inside.
• Zhen Meili detonated the underwater Subduing Fire Thunder, destroying the keels of eight warships and throwing the fleet into chaos.
• Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai aimed three-eyed guns at the wrecked ships while Gu Moran revealed the captured, bound Eunuch Shuangxi.
• Zhou Yanru accused Gu Moran of rebellion, but Gu Moran displayed an agreement bearing Zhou Yanru’s seal that showed his deal with Shōni Sukemoto.
• The Ministry of War soldiers heard Gu Moran’s accusation and turned to stare at the pale Zhou Yanru.