Recaps

Gu Moran redirected the princes’ rivalry into a public relief project while investigations into the pills and his family’s past exposed dangerous secrets. After Ye Qingyun died in custody accusing the crown prince and Chu Tianxing, the emperor summoned Gu Moran to speak at the Shun'an Lane hearing.

• Su Yao and Shen Ling'er discovered that the emperor’s pills contained a hidden Flower-Between Pavilion mark and ingredients that could make him paranoid, while Liu Huaijin traced the scheme toward the vanished alchemist Tao Wujiu.
• Lin Qingdai obtained the Wind-Breaking Hand for Gu Moran, and he agreed to transform Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School into a supervised South City Martial Workshop and relief shelter.
• Gu Moran used Ye Qingyun’s public confrontation with Chu Tianxing to win official support for the workshop and shelter, while the emperor placed both men and the medicinal herbs under restrictions.
• Gu Moran learned that Noble Consort Chen had managed Yi Prefecture’s hidden accounts, while Gu Moli discovered that Liu Ruyan was her biological elder sister and began building a network among noblewomen.
• Gu Moran’s household spread public praise of Gu Moyuan, prompting the crown prince to suspect Gu Moran had engineered the songs as Ye Qingyun broke out of detention during a qi crisis.
• Chu Tianxing and guards tried to restrain Ye Qingyun, but he died after accusing the crown prince and Chu Tianxing and whispering “Gu Mo,” leading Cao Jin to seal the evidence and report the accusations.
• Gu Moran and his household prepared for the political fallout as the emperor summoned Gu Moran, Yuan Shen, and Cao Jin to the palace hearing.
• At the Shun'an Lane hearing, Gu Moyuan denied harming Ye Qingyun but admitted the Eastern Palace had sought the county registers, and the emperor demanded that Gu Moran speak after the crown prince hinted he had been framed.

Gu Moran and his wives joined forces as the emperor investigated Ye Qingyun’s death and Gu Mochen’s pills. Tao Wujiu’s death led Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan to uncover the Liu Clan’s hidden records and surviving network, leaving them to seek a former elixir keeper while threats against their household remained.

• Gu Moran’s wives formed the Husband-Protecting Alliance and prepared to investigate the case and protect him if he was imprisoned.
• Chu Tianxing explained that Ye Qingyun had died from his own unorthodox cultivation and exposed signs that Gu Mochen’s pills had been swapped, prompting the emperor to order an investigation.
• Gu Moran learned that Tao Wujiu’s body had been found at the Flower-Between Pavilion and helped Liu Ruyan reach Su Tan, who confessed to killing Tao and handed over a wax pellet containing evidence.
• Gu Moran arranged for Su Tan to escape and followed clues from the wax to Grand Tutor Liu’s old medicine storehouse and a hidden old-wax cache.
• Liu Ruyan chose to consummate her marriage with Gu Moran, who reassured her and affirmed that he would not look down on her past.
• At the hidden old building, Gu Moran and Liu Ruyan found records revealing that Liu Xiao had helped Gu Yuan take the throne and that the Liu Clan had later been destroyed after the founding emperor died.
• Liu Ruyan read the names of her dead relatives, while Gu Moran learned that the Liu Clan’s surviving network had reopened and that a former elixir keeper had been found in Old Well Alley.
• Liu Ruyan insisted on joining Gu Moran to see the elixir keeper, and the concealed proprietor warned that Gu Moran needed leverage to protect his household from a raid.

Gu Moran and his allies exposed the crown prince’s plan to use a prison fire and Xiao Jinghan’s escape to attack Prince Yi’s Residence. The crown prince was confined, but Xiao Jinghan remained imprisoned with a corrupted cultivation path and a grudge against the Gu Clan.

• Gu Moran rescued Liu Ruyan with Han Che’s testimony, while Han Che stayed behind and died accusing the Second Prince of plotting against the emperor.
• Chu Tianxing told the emperor that the elixirs were harmful but that his health could recover, and Gu Moran challenged the emperor to apply household scrutiny equally across the court.
• Chen Qinglan overheard the crown prince’s plans and sent a coded warning that helped Gu Moli and Noble Consort Chen identify a threat tied to the empress dowager’s birthday banquet and Xiao Clan prisoners.
• Gu Moran and Lin Zhenshan prepared for a prison escape plot, and Lin Zhenshan’s men caught Xiao Jinghan after the crown prince’s staged fire began.
• Xiao Jinghan identified the Eastern Palace’s role in his escape and accused its people before the emperor, while evidence and testimony linked the plot to Zhou Yun and the Hall of Proper Beauty.
• The emperor confined the crown prince, sentenced Xiao Jinghan to prison, and secretly ordered the Xiao Clan’s line of descendants severed.
• The empress urged Chen Qinglan to stay silent and offered protection for her family, while Xiao Jinghan was tortured and returned to a guarded cell.
• Xiao Jinghan retrieved the Little Sunflower Chapter and turned his hostility toward the crown prince, as Lin Zhenshan recognized Gu Moran’s martial skill and secretly gave him manuals.

Gu Moran prepared to leave the capital for Yi Prefecture while navigating the emperor’s suspicion, a concealed Northern Territory visitor, and his household’s plans. The arc ended with Gu Moran and the six women traveling south by boat as he grew closer to Shen Ling'er.

• Gu Moran learned that the emperor intended to send him and Gu Mochen to their fiefs, then accepted an order to depart for Yi Prefecture within seven days.
• Gu Moran let Gu Mochen copy his plan for funding military households, and Gu Mochen resolved to use it to gain money and influence in Anyang despite Zhou Huaili’s warnings.
• Noble Consort Chen gave Gu Moran a palace token, a travel permit, and a military-route map, and warned him to favor waterways while leaving the capital.
• Gu Moran’s household prepared for the move, received military manuals from the Grand Commandant, and concealed Tuoba Mang under the alias Tuo Qing during official inspections.
• Gu Moran left the capital with his household after the emperor ordered him to depart, and he delayed the convoy at a hot spring retreat where he grew closer to Xie Wanqing.
• Gu Moran gave each of his six wives a gift, and Xie Wanqing later joined him at the hot spring, where they kissed while the others kept their distance.
• Uncle Fu reported a boat with two blue lanterns, and Gu Moran sent the convoy as a decoy while he and the six women traveled south by water.
• Gu Moran and Shen Ling'er shared intimate moments aboard the rocking boat as he cared for her cramps, while Su Yao, Lin Qingdai, and Murong Xue overheard them.