Recaps

Gu Moran helped expose the danger surrounding Ye Qingyun’s last words, and the emperor confined the crown prince to his residence for three months while ordering an impartial investigation. Gu Moran returned home wary of the court’s response as Gu Mochen celebrated the crown prince’s setback and prepared another batch of pills for their father.

• Gu Moran argued that Ye Qingyun’s dying accusation either exposed collusion in the case or meant the crown prince had given Ye Qingyun reason to believe he had been harmed.
• Yuan Shen proposed an investigation led by Jingzhao Prefecture, with Chang'an County assisting and the Ministry of Punishments observing, while Cao Jin vowed to preserve every word of testimony.
• The emperor confined Gu Moyuan to the Eastern Palace for three months and barred its men from entering the south of the city.
• Gu Moran told the emperor that Ye Qingyun’s unfinished words could refer to any of the brothers, then exchanged a veiled threat with the crown prince as they left the hall.
• Gu Moran warned Uncle Fu that the emperor’s decree did not mean he believed anyone, while a palace attendant hurried to the Second Prince's Residence with the news.
• Gu Mochen celebrated the crown prince’s confinement and offered his adviser three pills, saying their father’s fear of death was his path forward.

Gu Mochen planned to win the emperor’s favor by presenting pills while searching for a missing medicine slave tied to their preparation. At Prince Yi’s Residence, Su Yao gathered Gu Moran’s wives to discuss the danger surrounding him, and Murong Xue’s suggestion to pack for a possible escape was mistaken for wanting to break up the household.

• Gu Mochen decided to send the emperor pills as a display of filial devotion and ordered his men to find the missing medicine slave, Tao, alive if possible.
• Su Yao told the gathered wives that the Shun'an Lane case had implicated Gu Moran and said she would prove her sisters’ innocence if they feared being drawn in.
• Shen Ling'er and Lin Qingdai rejected the idea of returning to their families, with Lin Qingdai saying she feared only that Gu Moran would die pitifully.
• Murong Xue urged everyone to hurry home and pack, prompting Lin Qingdai to accuse her of wanting to break up the household.
• Murong Xue asked why packing to leave meant breaking up the household.

Murong Xue laid out plans to break Gu Moran out of prison and take the women with her, then revealed she had also considered impersonating the emperor to protect him. The others reacted to her increasingly drastic schemes, leaving her simplest plan hanging in the silent hall.

• Murong Xue told the women to gather supplies and travel permits so they could return to the Northern Territory together.
• She assigned Su Yao, Lin Qingdai, Xie Wanqing, and Shen Ling'er roles in a prison break if Gu Moran was detained.
• Murong Xue explained that she would storm whichever prison held Gu Moran and escape with him and the women, with help from her trading caravan if needed.
• Su Yao realized Murong Xue had asked about portrait painting because she planned to disguise people and get them out of the city.
• Murong Xue revealed that her original plan was to paint the emperor's portrait, send two people disguised as him to order Gu Moran's enemies killed, and resort to killing them herself if that failed.

Su Yao stopped Murong Xue from attempting a prison break and tested whether the women in Prince Yi's Residence would stand by Gu Moran. The wives began planning careful ways to defend him, with Xie Wanqing proposing scholarly support and Liu Ruyan offering to use the Flower-Between Pavilion.

• Su Yao warned Murong Xue that impersonating the emperor or breaking Gu Moran out would turn the case into treason and endanger everyone in Prince Yi's Residence.
• Su Yao revealed that she had tested the women to see whether they planned to abandon Gu Moran, and they agreed to stay and work together.
• Su Yao asked the women to study the case files and prepare to help Gu Moran without acting on their own.
• Xie Wanqing proposed asking scholars and officials to argue that the South City Martial Workshop and relief shelters were legitimate, and that Ye Qingyun's death was not Gu Moran's fault.
• Xie Wanqing agreed to contact her father for measured scholarly support, while Liu Ruyan offered to use the Flower-Between Pavilion to spread officials' scandals if Gu Moran was targeted.

Su Yao and the women at Prince Yi's Residence prepared for Gu Moran's possible detention and planned how to save him. Their midnight strategy meeting was interrupted when Gu Moran returned safely from the palace and discovered they had considered breaking him out of prison.

• Su Yao told Liu Ruyan to keep the Flower-Between Pavilion hidden unless they had no other choice, and assigned Shen Ling'er and Lin Qingdai cautious roles in the preparations.
• Su Yao ordered the women to gather outside news, protect the case records, contact Noble Consort Chen, and consider forcing their way out of the city only as a last resort.
• Su Yao vowed that if Gu Moran did not return, they would save him first and settle the score afterward, then warned everyone to keep the meeting secret.
• Uncle Fu announced that Gu Moran had returned, and he entered the hall to find the women armed and surrounded by plans and case files.
• Murong Xue revealed that the women had considered breaking Gu Moran out of prison, while Shen Ling'er admitted she had volunteered to poison the guards.

Gu Moran learned that his six wives had formed the Husband-Protecting Alliance, dividing up ways to protect him and their household from the political fallout of Ye Qingyun’s death. Their resolve moved him, and the system reported a surge in their affection as it began distributing a milestone reward.

• Su Yao explained that the women had prepared plans to preserve the princely residence and save Gu Moran if he was imprisoned.
• Murong Xue and Shen Ling'er joked about escape plans, including breaking Gu Moran out of the Ministry of Punishments and disguising someone as the emperor.
• Lin Qingdai outlined the alliance's roles: the Xie Clan would guide scholarly opinion, the Shen Family would investigate Ye Qingyun's death, and the others would provide intelligence, resources, and military oversight.
• Gu Moran heard the women affirm that they would face the danger together and saw Xie Wanqing's written name for their group: the Husband-Protecting Alliance.
• The system announced that all six women's affection had soared, total beauty affection had surpassed three hundred, and a milestone reward was being distributed.

Gu Moran activated a skill that revealed his six wives’ true thoughts and learned why each was willing to stand by him. Their hidden affection and loyalty moved him, and the chapter ended with them urging him to focus on the plans before them.

• Gu Moran activated I Know My Beloved's Heart while asking whether his wives were truly willing to risk their lives and clans for him.
• Su Yao revealed that she believed Gu Moran was changing for her and refused to let him shoulder the danger alone.
• Shen Ling'er, Murong Xue, Lin Qingdai, and Xie Wanqing each offered practical excuses while privately admitting their affection, trust, or gratitude toward Gu Moran.
• Liu Ruyan said she had decided to follow Gu Moran, even if the road ahead was a dead end.
• Gu Moran was moved by the thoughts he had read, and his wives pressed him to address the plans; he smiled and agreed.

Gu Moran set rules for the women investigating the Shun'an Lane case, then learned that the emperor would interrogate Chu Tianxing and the second prince would present a pill the next day. After he collapsed from exhaustion, Lin Qingdai carried him to Iron Plum Courtyard and cared for him, leaving the two of them in bed together as rain fell outside.

• Gu Moran told Shen Ling'er, Liu Ruyan, Lin Qingdai, and the others to coordinate their investigations and avoid acting without approval.
• A palace letter revealed that the emperor would interrogate Chu Tianxing and the second prince would present a pill the next day.
• Gu Moran announced he would go to the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, then fainted from exhaustion against Lin Qingdai.
• At Su Yao and Liu Ruyan's urging, Lin Qingdai carried Gu Moran to Iron Plum Courtyard and took him back to her room.
• Lin Qingdai wiped Gu Moran down, covered him with a blanket, and went to bed beside him, unable to fall asleep.

After waking in Lin Qingdai’s room, Gu Moran teased her about carrying him there and admitted he had married her because he valued her as she was. Lin Qingdai returned his kiss, and they remained together in Iron Plum Courtyard.

• Gu Moran woke in Lin Qingdai’s bed and realized she had brought him back after he passed out the previous night.
• Lin Qingdai tried to send Gu Moran away, but he held her wrist and teased her about caring for him.
• Gu Moran kissed Lin Qingdai and asked what she had thought while carrying him over her shoulder.
• Gu Moran told Lin Qingdai he liked her as she was and did not want her to change for him.
• Lin Qingdai cried, called Gu Moran a bastard, and kissed him; Gu Moran drew her into his embrace.

Gu Moran left for the palace after Lin Qingdai warned him to return safely, while Chu Tianxing was summoned from jail to appear before the emperor. The chapter ended with Chu Tianxing heading to the palace with Yuan Shen and Cao Jin, still worrying about whether lunch would be provided.

• Lin Qingdai urged Gu Moran to be careful in the palace and told him to come back alive, and Gu Moran promised to bring her soy-braised duck.
• Gu Moran asked Uncle Fu to send soy-braised duck to Iron Plum Courtyard before boarding his carriage.
• Chu Tianxing complained about his jail porridge and refused to change his clothes before the imperial audience.
• Cao Jin warned Chu Tianxing to watch his words, and Chu Tianxing asked him to stop him if he spoke recklessly.
• Yuan Shen brought Chu Tianxing’s case materials and medical evidence to the courtyard, and Chu Tianxing asked whether the palace would provide lunch.

Chu Tianxing, Yuan Shen, and Cao Jin arrived at the palace for the case hearing, while Gu Mochen prepared to present pills to the emperor and worried that Chu Tianxing might expose them. Gu Moran learned of clues linking Gu Mochen to a missing medicine slave, then met Chu Tianxing, who began examining his health.

• Gu Mochen replaced the pills in his presentation box, learned Tao Wujiu was still missing, and decided to proceed with his offering to the emperor.
• On the way into the palace, Chu Tianxing smelled medicinal residues on a eunuch’s cuff and identified sulfur, cinnabar, and burning lead.
• Gu Moran’s Destiny Monitoring Eye revealed Gu Mochen’s anxiety and clues involving a pill shop, Tao Wujiu, and old wax.
• Gu Moran and Gu Mochen exchanged accusations about their ties to Ye Qingyun and the emergency relief shelter.
• Yuan Shen, Cao Jin, and Chu Tianxing arrived at the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, where Chu Tianxing began telling Gu Moran to watch his health.

Chu Tianxing defended himself before the emperor, explaining that Ye Qingyun died from forcing his qi and blood upward, not from Chu’s acupuncture. He exposed the ailments and medical mistakes of the imperial physicians, leaving the emperor to weigh his claims and his uncanny diagnostic skill.

• Yuan Shen read the Shun'an Lane case report, including Ye Qingyun’s dying accusations against the crown prince and his unfinished words, “Gu Mo.”
• Chu Tianxing told the emperor that Ye Qingyun’s unorthodox cultivation caused his death and that his needle had only attempted to release the rising qi.
• When imperial physicians challenged him, Chu Tianxing identified their injuries, illnesses, and a dangerously altered prescription.
• The imperial physicians admitted Chu Tianxing had correctly diagnosed them, and the emperor’s view of the physician changed.

Chu Tianxing linked Ye Qingyun’s dangerous cultivation method to blocked meridians and identified signs that the emperor’s pills had been altered and could worsen his insomnia and health. The emperor ordered an investigation into the pills and their suppliers, then kept Gu Moran behind to ask how he avoided being caught in political turmoil.

• Chu Tianxing examined Ye Qingyun’s cultivation method and explained how forcing qi through blocked meridians had tangled his circulation and caused his symptoms.
• Chu Tianxing noticed that Gu Mochen’s pill box had been resealed and found signs of cinnabar, sulfur, lead fumes, and an underlying odor suggesting the pills had been swapped.
• Chu Tianxing warned that long-term use could worsen the emperor’s headaches, insomnia, and internal fire, potentially leading to a rapid death.
• The emperor ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau and Chu Tianxing to examine the pills and sent the alchemists, pill shops, and intermediaries connected to Gu Mochen’s household for investigation.
• The emperor ordered Chu Tianxing fed and kept under guard, then stopped Gu Moran and asked how he managed to avoid being swept into trouble.

Gu Moran deflected the emperor’s questions with flattery and foolishness, then learned that the second prince was searching for a missing medicine slave connected to old court cases. Back at Prince Yi’s Residence, Shen Ling'er confronted him about whether Chu Tianxing had found a problem with the emperor’s elixirs.

• Gu Moran played the fool before the emperor, recited a poem praising him, and escaped further questioning when the emperor laughed and dismissed him.
• Eunuch Zhang warned Gu Moran that the palace wind was strong and discreetly signaled him to be cautious.
• Gu Moran learned that the second prince’s people had split up and suspected the prince was seeking Tao Wujiu; Uncle Fu recalled Tao as a branded medicine slave once employed in Grand Tutor Liu’s medicine storehouse.
• Gu Moran returned to Prince Yi’s Residence, where Shen Ling'er stopped him and noticed traces of cinnabar, sulfur, and lead on his sleeve.
• Shen Ling'er asked Gu Moran what Chu Tianxing had discovered about the elixirs and whether the emperor had taken them.

Gu Moran and Shen Ling'er traced the suspicious pill's old wax while the palace investigated pill shops and searched for Tao Wujiu. At Flower-Between Pavilion, Madam Chun reported that Tao Wujiu had been found dead in an old storehouse beside a pill bearing the pavilion's hidden marking, and that one of the pavilion's girls had been at the scene.

• Shen Ling'er explained that old sealing wax could conceal a pill's smell and origins, and Gu Moran stopped her from going to the Imperial Medical Bureau herself.
• Uncle Fu delivered a report that the Imperial City Bureau was investigating eastern pill shops and the Second Prince's Residence was searching for Tao Wujiu.
• Gu Moran visited Liu Ruyan to ask whether Flower-Between Pavilion had heard anything, but Madam Chun arrived with news of an emergency at the pavilion.
• Madam Chun said Tao Wujiu's body had been found in the pavilion's old storehouse with a broken pill bearing its old hidden marking.
• Madam Chun revealed that a pavilion girl had been beside the body, and Gu Moran asked who she was.

Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan went through a hidden passage to reach Su Tan, who had swallowed poison, before the Imperial City Bureau could find her. In the Eastern Palace, Gu Moyuan blamed Crown Princess Chen Qinglan for his confinement and punished her, while she endured his abuse and left in tears.

• Madam Chun told Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan that Su Tan had drunk poisoned wine and was barely alive in the abandoned wine cellar.
• Madam Chun explained that the Second Prince's Residence and the Imperial City Bureau were closing in on Tao Wujiu's trail, so Gu Moran agreed to help Liu Ruyan reach Su Tan while keeping her identity concealed.
• Gu Moran, Liu Ruyan, and Madam Chun entered an old water channel and secret passage leading toward the Flower-Between Pavilion's old storehouse.
• Gu Moyuan berated Chen Qinglan over her father's failure to oppose Third Brother's marriage alliances and blamed her family for his confinement.
• Gu Moyuan ordered Chen Qinglan to move to a side hall and cut her allowance in half, and she obeyed before leaving in tears.

Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan confronted Su Tan in a hidden wine cellar after her staged lovers’ suicide with Tao Wujiu. Gu Moran spotted signs of layered poison and exposed a flaw in Su Tan’s account, but the chapter ended before she answered his accusation.

• Madam Chun led Liu Ruyan and Gu Moran through a secret passage to find Su Tan recovering from poison in an abandoned wine cellar.
• Gu Moran used the Eye of Detection and learned that Su Tan feared the Second Prince’s Residence, the Imperial City Bureau, and her proprietor’s orders.
• Gu Moran warned Su Tan that the Imperial City Bureau would soon find Tao Wujiu’s body and urged her to tell the truth.
• Su Tan claimed Tao Wujiu had saved money to buy her freedom and that they drank poisoned wine together because they could not escape.
• Gu Moran examined the cup and hollow grass stem, then told Su Tan she had cleverly used the stem.

Gu Moran exposed that Su Tan had poisoned Tao Wujiu to keep him from using the Flower-Between Pavilion’s hidden pattern to entangle Liu Ruyan and the pavilion in the pill case. After Su Tan revealed a wax pellet hidden in her hairpin, Gu Moran planned to fake her death and send her away through a hidden channel as pursuers closed in.

• Gu Moran explained that the poisoned wine had settled at the bottom, showing that Su Tan had tricked Tao Wujiu into drinking the strongest poison.
• Su Tan said Tao Wujiu had marked a pill with the Flower-Between Pavilion’s hidden pattern to force the pavilion to protect him and implicate it in the pill case.
• Su Tan confessed that she had killed Tao Wujiu to protect Liu Ruyan and the pavilion, though she wanted to live.
• Su Tan removed a wax pellet concealed in her hairpin and handed it over after Liu Ruyan promised to do their best to protect her.
• The gray-robed woman warned that the Second Prince’s Residence and the Imperial City Bureau were approaching the hidden channel.
• Gu Moran ordered Madam Chun to stage Su Tan’s death and send her through the channel so she could escape the pursuers.

Gu Moran uncovered a broken seal from Grand Tutor Liu's old medicine storehouse inside the wax, linking Tao Wujiu's death and the poisoned pills to Liu Ruyan's past. After Su Tan revealed an abandoned well guarded by a mysterious half-person, Madam Chun said the Flower-Between Pavilion would investigate, and its hidden master was about to intervene.

• Gu Moran arranged for Su Tan to disappear and leave the poisoned wine behind so the Second Prince would believe she and Tao Wujiu had died together.
• Su Tan revealed that Tao Wujiu knew the old wax formula and that a sealed batch of old pills had been unsealed.
• Gu Moran found a medicine-wrapping slip inside the wax, bearing a broken seal that Madam Chun identified as belonging to Grand Tutor Liu's old medicine storehouse.
• Su Tan told Gu Moran that old wax was hidden beside an abandoned well in the east-side pill shop's rear courtyard, where a guard who counted as half a person watched it.
• Madam Chun said someone had gone to report the matter, while Gu Moran realized the Flower-Between Pavilion's hidden master was about to appear.
• Su Tan was taken away to live in hiding, and Liu Ruyan's affection for Gu Moran increased after he reassured her that they were husband and wife.

Gu Moran protected Su Tan and the Flower-Between Pavilion while keeping the Imperial City Bureau from finding the old storehouse too easily. Back at the Misty Waters Courtyard, Liu Ruyan invited him in and began explaining that their marriage had once felt like a transaction, leaving her confession unfinished.

• Madam Chun told Gu Moran that the Second Prince's Residence and the Imperial City Bureau had arrived, and he ordered her to let them discover the lovers' suicide gradually.
• Gu Moran told Liu Ruyan he had not handed Su Tan over because it would sever the trail to Tao Wujiu and disappoint her; he asked her not to hide things from him.
• Madam Chun led Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan through a secret passage to the Misty Waters Courtyard, where Liu Ruyan invited him to return quietly that night.
• Liu Ruyan brought Gu Moran inside, gave him tea, and said he did not owe her or need to repay her kindness with his body.
• Liu Ruyan recalled that she had heard Tao Wujiu call women's lives cheap and described how she once viewed marriage as a move from the Flower-Between Pavilion to Prince Yi's Residence, where she became Gu Moran's private plaything.

Liu Ruyan chose to consummate her marriage with Gu Moran, making clear that she wanted him to stay rather than repay a kindness. After easing her fears and agreeing to go slowly, Gu Moran heard her say she was ready.

• Liu Ruyan lit the bedside lamp, barred the door, and told Gu Moran she wanted him to stay.
• Gu Moran asked whether she was sure, and Liu Ruyan said she was willing to consummate their marriage.
• Liu Ruyan helped Gu Moran prepare for a bath, and he reassured her when she grew nervous.
• Liu Ruyan told Gu Moran she had no experience, and he promised to stop or slow down whenever she wanted.
• Liu Ruyan called him Gu Moran for the first time and said she was ready.

Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan grew closer during a night together, and he reassured her that he accepted her past and valued her as his wife. At dawn, Madam Chun reported a dispute over Tao Wujiu’s body and delivered the grand proprietor’s invitation to the old building, whose door was to be opened by someone from the Liu Clan.

• Gu Moran comforted Liu Ruyan as they became intimate, and she asked him to keep the bedside lamp lit.
• Afterward, Liu Ruyan voiced her fear that Gu Moran would look down on her because she came from the Flower-Between Pavilion, and he reassured her.
• Liu Ruyan’s affection rose to 68, and Gu Moran reflected on the trust and home he had built with the women in his life.
• Madam Chun told Gu Moran that the Second Prince’s Residence found Tao Wujiu’s body before the Imperial City Bureau arrived, and the two sides argued at the old storehouse.
• Madam Chun said Su Tan was still believed to have fallen into the water and gone missing, then invited Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan to the old building on the grand proprietor’s behalf.
• Madam Chun added that the grand proprietor wanted someone from the Liu Clan to open the old building’s door.

Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan met the hidden proprietor of the old building and learned that the Liu Clan had played a major role in the previous dynasty’s rebellion. The proprietor revealed that Gu Yuan had become emperor only after Lady Zheng persuaded Liu Xiao to step aside, but had not yet explained how she did it.

• Madam Chun led Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan through the back alleys to the old building while Uncle Fu waited outside.
• Liu Ruyan opened a box with her hairpin and found half a bronze military tally, old documents, a seal rubbing, and a roster.
• Gu Moran challenged the concealed proprietor to reveal himself, but the proprietor said he came from Gu Moran’s mother’s side and urged him to examine the token.
• The proprietor explained that Liu Xiao had raised an army, rescued Gu Yuan, and commanded rebel forces during the final years of the previous dynasty.
• The proprietor said Lady Zheng had personally persuaded Liu Xiao to step aside so Gu Yuan could ascend the throne, and Gu Moran asked what she had used to convince him.

Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan learned that the Liu Clan had surrendered its military power and later been exterminated on suspicion, despite no evidence of treason. As Liu Ruyan read the names of the dead, the person behind the screen warned Gu Moran that her growing hatred would ultimately be directed at someone close to him.

• The person behind the screen told Gu Moran that Liu Xiao had given the throne to Gu Yuan despite commanding a hundred thousand cavalry, and that the Liu Clan had later been exterminated after the founding emperor died.
• Liu Ruyan asked what had happened to her family, and the person behind the screen directed her to records about the court factions after the founding emperor's death.
• Gu Moran learned that Liu Xiao, Liu Huaijin, and Noble Consort Chen had helped his father ascend the throne, and that his mother had been forced into the palace despite longing to travel the realm.
• Liu Ruyan read a secret investigation stating that the Liu Clan retained influence but offering no proof of treason, and learned that the imperial decree had taken the family by surprise.
• Madam Chun showed Liu Ruyan a list of the Liu household's dead, and Liu Ruyan insisted on reading every name she could remember.
• The person behind the screen urged Gu Moran to stop Liu Ruyan, warning that her hatred would eventually fall upon someone whose identity he knew.

Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan learned that the old pavilion had uncovered surviving members of the Liu Clan’s network and a former elixir keeper in Old Well Alley. Gu Moran agreed to help Liu Ruyan investigate, but the person behind the screen warned that Prince Yi's Residence needed powerful leverage to deter an attack.

• Gu Moran told Liu Ruyan that she could decide whom to hate, but staying alive had to come first.
• The person behind the screen revealed that the Liu Clan's old network had been opened because Tao Wujiu was dead and the Second Prince's Residence and Imperial City Bureau were investigating the old pavilion.
• Gu Moran demanded to know which Liu Clan retainers were still alive, and Madam Chun gave Liu Ruyan a list of former students, contacts, and descendants.
• Gu Moran learned that a former elixir keeper had been found in Old Well Alley and recognized that the man could be a witness or a target.
• Liu Ruyan insisted on going with Gu Moran to see the elixir keeper, and Gu Moran agreed on the condition that she follow his arrangements.
• The person behind the screen warned Gu Moran that protecting his household required leverage strong enough to prevent anyone from raiding it.