Chapter Summaries

After receiving the edict sending him to Yi Prefecture, Gu Moran and his household prepared to leave while examining the region’s resources and maps. A clue linked an old Liu Clan military network to a camp in Yi Prefecture, and Gu Moran accepted Gu Mochen’s banquet invitation after recognizing the strategic importance of Gu Mochen’s fief in Anyang.

• Gu Moran told his household not to seek help from their natal families and assigned them preparations for the journey while he ordered maps and records of Yi Prefecture.
• Gu Moran matched half of an old Liu Clan bronze token to a marking on a military map, revealing a hidden connection to an old camp in Yi Prefecture.
• Gu Mochen, resentful of his assignment to Anyang County, decided to invite Gu Moran to a farewell banquet that Zhou Huaili recognized as a trap.
• Gu Moran received Gu Mochen’s invitation and agreed to attend, explaining that Anyang’s position made it strategically valuable in a future conflict.

Gu Moran brought Prince An a deliberately vague plan for raising money in Yi Prefecture, then pretended to get drunk so Gu Mochen would take the booklet. Gu Mochen read its scheme for collecting silver through loans, army vouchers, and government guarantees.

• Gu Moran wrote a proposal for enriching the army and sustaining the people, while Su Yao warned that its short-term gains could become a bottomless pit in greedy hands.
• Gu Moran took Uncle Fu to Prince An's banquet and pretended he planned to avoid all responsibility in Yi Prefecture.
• Gu Mochen probed Gu Moran about how he would finance his journey and rule his fief, but Gu Moran initially hid the booklet.
• Gu Moran staged a drunken collapse and let the booklet fall beside him, prompting Gu Mochen to pick it up and read it.
• Gu Mochen found the booklet's plan to raise silver through household guarantees, installment repayments, army vouchers, merchant redemption, and tax rollovers.

Gu Mochen decided to use Gu Moran’s copied scheme to build wealth, popularity, and influence over Anyang’s military households, despite Zhou Huaili’s warnings. The chapter ended with Gu Mochen determined to imitate Gu Moran, while Zhou Huaili continued urging him not to stage army performances for the public.

• Gu Mochen read Gu Moran’s booklet and saw a way to gain money and influence in Anyang by issuing vouchers to military households and drawing merchants and commoners to his household.
• Zhou Huaili copied the booklet’s advice while Gu Moran pretended to be drunk, and Gu Moran left after ensuring the scheme had been copied.
• In the carriage, Gu Moran told Uncle Fu he feared Gu Mochen would follow only part of the scheme, then said men like Gu Mochen feared being told a shortcut lay ahead.
• Zhou Huaili warned Gu Mochen that using the household’s seal to issue military vouchers could provoke the court or spark unrest among the troops.
• Gu Mochen rejected Zhou Huaili’s objections and resolved to pursue his own money, reputation, and military following in Anyang by copying Gu Moran’s popularity with ordinary people.
• Zhou Huaili pleaded with Gu Mochen not to hold public equestrian performances involving the army.

At the empress dowager’s birthday banquet, Gu Moran received calming pills from the emperor and learned that none of the princes would be granted a private audience. The next day, he visited Noble Consort Chen before leaving for Yi Prefecture, where she warned him that leaving the capital was his safest path.

• Gu Mochen insisted on finalizing regulations to fund military households through public performances before reaching Anyang, despite Zhou Huaili’s objections.
• At the birthday banquet, the emperor praised the young princes, gave Gu Mochen wine and advice about Anyang, and sent Gu Moran calming pills with a warning to cause less trouble.
• Chen Dehai announced that the emperor was too tired to meet the princes, and Gu Mochen and Gu Moran exchanged farewells before departing.
• Gu Moran visited Noble Consort Chen, who gave him medicinal ingredients, a travel permit, a palace token, and an old military-route map.
• Noble Consort Chen told Gu Moran that the emperor distrusted the grown princes and that leaving the capital was a path to survival.

Gu Moran prepared to leave for Yi Prefecture as his family warned him about political dangers, threats along the journey, and the need to keep Liu Ruyan’s connection to the old supply routes hidden. As he departed the palace, Chu Tianxing examined him and was stunned by his newly apparent imperial physiognomy.

• Gu Moran, Noble Consort Chen, and Gu Moli discussed the Liu Clan’s old military supply routes in Jiannan and planned for Gu Moran to conceal the connection when he reached Yi Prefecture.
• Noble Consort Chen and Eunuch Zhang warned Gu Moran that someone had investigated his travel itinerary and advised him to favor waterways over official roads; she also gave him a palace token.
• Gu Moran accepted the Liu Clan’s bronze token from Gu Moli and promised not to leave Liu Ruyan to handle the Yi Prefecture matter alone.
• Eunuch Zhang warned Gu Moran not to board boats with three white lanterns and said boats with two blue-green lanterns could offer temporary shelter.
• Gu Moran encountered Chu Tianxing outside the Imperial Medical Bureau, and Chu Tianxing was astonished to see that Gu Moran now appeared to have the physiognomy of an emperor.

Gu Moran prepared to leave the capital for Yi Prefecture while Chu Tianxing's loyalty earned him Beauty-Preserving Pills and the system revealed that Lin Yichen was returning in triumph. Back at Prince Yi's Residence, his household organized the move and investigated a night-soil cart sent from the Grand Commandant's Residence.

• Chu Tianxing noticed an anomaly in Gu Moran's fate, became loyal to him, and earned Gu Moran a bottle of Beauty-Preserving Pills as the system announced Lin Yichen's return to the capital.
• Gu Moli reviewed the imperial prison's guard roster and ordered Qingwu to send the Crown Princess's dressing-change medical records to the Censor-in-Chief's residence without using anyone from her own household.
• Gu Moran and his household prepared for the move to Yi Prefecture, while spies watched the residence and Shen Ling'er made him drink his medicine.
• Uncle Fu reported a night-soil cart at the back gate bearing the old wheel tracks of the Grand Commandant's Residence; Gu Moran kept Lin Qingdai away and ordered Uncle Fu to inspect it.
• Uncle Fu identified the cart as the old one from the Grand Commandant's Residence and ordered the guards to open the gate.

Gu Moran received military manuals, official connections, and financial records from his in-laws to help him prepare for Yi Prefecture. The chapter ended with Tuoba Mang arriving at the residence dressed as a woman and demanding to see Murong Xue and her son-in-law.

• Uncle Fu uncovered three chests of military manuals from the Grand Commandant, and Lin Qingdai read her father's note to Gu Moran.
• Xie Wanqing accepted a chest of records from the Imperial Academy and sorted Yi Prefecture officials into categories of trustworthiness.
• Su Yao examined the Chancellor's accounts and found that delayed salt taxes and unpaid military wages had driven a wedge between Si Renyou and Zhen Daijin.
• Gu Moran surveyed the gifts and contacts his in-laws had supplied, then heard a visitor announce herself as Murong Xue's sister.
• Tuoba Mang arrived dressed as a woman, called for Murong Xue and her son-in-law, and exchanged angry words with Murong Xue at the gate.

Tuoba Mang arrived at Gu Moran’s estate disguised in women’s clothes, insulted Gu Moran, and delivered news of the Northern Territory’s victory. He then realized he had lost Murong Xue’s father’s letter, while Gu Moran learned more about Tuoba Mang through the Eye of Detection.

• Tuoba Mang’s disguise and makeup failed to convince Murong Xue that he looked like a woman, and she told him he had been swindled by a cosmetics seller.
• Tuoba Mang called Gu Moran a sickly chicken and tried to test him, but Murong Xue threatened to report his disguise to her father, making him back down.
• At the study, Tuoba Mang told Murong Xue that the Northern Territory had won and that her father was unharmed, though the army had suffered casualties.
• Tuoba Mang said Murong Xue’s father had sent him with a letter, then discovered he had lost it and searched the estate with his attendants.
• Gu Moran used the Eye of Detection and learned that Tuoba Mang was Murong Xue’s older cousin, was loyal to her, and intended to protect her and secure benefits for the Northern Territory.

Gu Moran and his household recognized that King Murong’s letter made Yi Prefecture a crucial link in military supplies after the Northern Territory’s victory. As the Imperial Clan Court hurried to check their travel roster, they devised a false identity for Tuoba Mang to accompany them.

• Murong Xue read King Murong’s letter, and Gu Moran realized Yi Prefecture’s grain, waterways, salt, and iron could connect the Northern Territory to the court’s military supply network.
• Su Yao, Xie Wanqing, and Shen Ling'er discussed how to prepare official supply routes and medical provisions, while Tuoba Mang eagerly volunteered to fight bandits in Yi Prefecture.
• A servant announced that the Imperial Clan Court had arrived to inspect Gu Moran’s travel roster, and Gu Moran suspected the officials were checking for someone in particular.
• Gu Moran met registrar Cao Yuan and clerk Du Heng, acted frail, and stalled their demand for a preliminary roster while Du Heng watched the inner courtyard.
• Murong Xue and the others struggled to find a cover identity for Tuoba Mang, then Gu Moran settled on using an unfilled stable-servant position and naming him Tuo Qing.

Gu Moran’s household prepared a concealed travel party while investigating an Eastern Palace-linked note and the Imperial Clan Court’s watcher, Du Heng. At dinner, Tuoba Mang revealed that Lin Yichen had returned to the capital to pursue Murong Xue, and Gu Moran mapped out distant lands to redirect Lin Yichen toward new campaigns.

• Gu Moran and the others concealed their plans in the travel register, while Murong Xue gave Tuoba Mang the alias Tuo Qing and Liu Ruyan secured Prince Murong’s letter.
• Uncle Fu found a note implicating an Eastern Palace seal and warning that someone from the Northern Territory had arrived; Su Yao, Xie Wanqing, and Liu Ruyan began examining the note and Du Heng’s background.
• Gu Moran arranged a feast to question Tuoba Mang, who reported that the Ministry of War was preparing to review Northern Territory military rewards and records.
• Tuoba Mang revealed that Lin Yichen had rushed back to the capital hoping to claim Murong Xue as a reward; Murong Xue rebuked him for treating her as a prize.
• Gu Moran showed Tuoba Mang and Murong Xue his map of lands beyond Great Yan and suggested that Lin Yichen seek military achievements in those distant regions.

Gu Moran redirected Tuoba Mang toward Lin Yichen and planned to disguise him as a stable hand for the Ministry of War’s inspection. As the household prepared for the inspection, they uncovered suspicious links involving Du Heng and a partial seal possibly connected to the Eastern Palace.

• Gu Moran showed Tuoba Mang a map of northern pastures and urged him to tell Lin Yichen that more wars awaited, while Murong Xue warned him not to mention Prince Yi’s Residence.
• Tuoba Mang revealed that Lin Yichen’s old wounds could make further fighting fatal, and the household agreed to have him carry the message as an old acquaintance.
• Uncle Fu delivered a Ministry of War order requiring an inspection of Prince Yi’s Residence, so Gu Moran and his household arranged for Tuoba Mang to pose as the stable hand Tuo Qing.
• Su Yao and Xie Wanqing reviewed the residence registers and connected Du Heng’s sponsor, Zhou Yun, to the imperial prison guard rotation.
• Liu Ruyan reported that a partial seal resembled those used by eunuchs at the Hall of Proper Beauty, while Uncle Fu said Du Heng had lingered by the residence plaque; Gu Moran ordered Boss Zhao’s people to watch him.
• Shen Ling'er gave Gu Moran a pill and warned him that he had to survive until Yi Prefecture.

Gu Moran and his household disguised Tuoba Mang as a stable hand to pass a Ministry of War inspection, while new reports tied Lin Yichen’s military plans to scrutiny of Yi Prefecture. The chapter ended with Gu Moran drawing a gift for his father before leaving the capital.

• Gu Moran assigned his household roles to mislead the Ministry of War, and Tuoba Mang disguised himself as a groom named Tuo Qing.
• Vice Director Zheng Min inspected Tuoba Mang at Murong Courtyard but recorded him as an additional stable hand after he calmed a spirited horse.
• Gu Moran’s household learned that Lin Yichen had requested permission to return to the Northern Territory and that the ministries were examining military records and Yi Prefecture’s finances.
• An urgent letter reported that the Ministry of War was transferring Northern Territory military merit records and the Ministry of Revenue was checking Yi Prefecture’s salt and iron surplus silver.
• Gu Moran drank his medicine and later drew several designs for a gift he planned to leave his father.

Gu Moran sent the emperor detailed stocking designs as a deliberately absurd act of filial devotion, prompting the emperor to order him out of the capital immediately. Gu Moran’s convoy left under the guise of illness, but at dusk the travelers found their relay station full and considered staying at a nearby hot spring villa.

• Gu Moran’s household discussed his stocking designs, and Liu Ruyan explained that they would make the emperor dismiss him as a good-for-nothing instead of worrying over a governing strategy.
• The emperor examined Gu Moran’s drawings, sent them to the Bureau of Weaving, and ordered Gu Moran to leave the capital at once.
• Su Yao, Shen Ling'er, Xie Wanqing, Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, Liu Ruyan, and Tuoba Mang prepared the convoy and evaded scrutiny as Gu Moran departed Prince Yi's Residence.
• Gu Moran told Uncle Fu that acting absurd helped him stay alive, then left the capital with the convoy.
• At a full relay station, Su Yao and Lin Qingdai warned of risks in staying there, Liu Ruyan mentioned a nearby hot spring villa, and Murong Xue showed interest.

At the mountain retreat, Gu Moran recited a rhapsody praising Xie Wanqing while she studied an old stone tablet, unaware that his other wives had gathered nearby and grown jealous. Su Yao interrupted with the account sheets, Shen Ling'er made him drink his medicine, and Lin Qingdai asked him to write a poem for her sword.

• Gu Moran delayed the convoy at the retreat, while scouts reported that Prince Yi was indulging in hot springs and women instead of hurrying onward.
• Xie Wanqing studied the damaged inscription on a stone tablet, and Gu Moran approached with the medicine Shen Ling'er had given him.
• Gu Moran recited a rhapsody praising Xie Wanqing, while Su Yao, Shen Ling'er, Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, and Liu Ruyan listened from nearby and grew jealous.
• Gu Moran told Xie Wanqing that no scenery could compare with her, and she questioned how much he had kept hidden.
• Su Yao interrupted to discuss the accounts, and Shen Ling'er made Gu Moran drink his cold medicine.
• Lin Qingdai praised Gu Moran's poem and asked him to write one for her sword.

After the six wives’ affection levels rose above 400, Gu Moran received intimate apparel designs and bedtime stories from the system and prepared a set of clothing and a Beauty-Preserving Pill for each wife. The wives reacted with embarrassment and varying degrees of interest, while Xie Wanqing quietly tried on her gift in front of a mirror.

• Murong Xue asked Gu Moran to compose something for her horse or saber, and Xie Wanqing suggested he share his work with all six courtyards.
• The system announced that all six wives’ combined affection exceeded 400 and unlocked apparel designs and bedtime stories for Gu Moran.
• Gu Moran selected a different intimate outfit for each wife, wrote a note for each box, and added a Beauty-Preserving Pill before asking Uncle Fu to deliver them.
• Shen Ling'er, Lin Qingdai, Su Yao, Murong Xue, and Liu Ruyan each opened their boxes and reacted with embarrassment, skepticism, or curiosity.
• Xie Wanqing read Gu Moran’s note, put it in her gazetteer, and repeatedly examined her white outfit before holding it against herself in the mirror.

Xie Wanqing confronted Gu Moran about the source of his poetry, and he admitted that he had written it for her before drawing her into an intimate encounter in the hot spring. Shen Ling'er, Su Yao, and Liu Ruyan quietly kept others away, while Lin Qingdai stopped Murong Xue from approaching.

• Xie Wanqing visited Gu Moran at the hot spring and asked where he had found the rhapsody and poem; he said he had written them himself.
• Gu Moran told Xie Wanqing that the rhapsody had been recited for her alone and asked whether she would share a mutual intimacy with him.
• Xie Wanqing let her cloak fall open, and Gu Moran guided her into the hot spring, where they kissed and grew closer in the steam.
• Shen Ling'er heard voices by the pool and returned without approaching; she later crossed paths with Su Yao, who also turned back.
• Liu Ruyan told the maid on duty not to light more lanterns and to keep away, while Lin Qingdai stopped Murong Xue from going to the hot spring.

After spending the night with Xie Wanqing by the hot spring, Gu Moran faced breakfast with five women whose jealousy and longing the system revealed to him. He tried to soothe each of them, but the meal ended with Shen Ling'er warning that Murong Xue’s bath could make him dizzy.

• Uncle Fu found the discarded robe and clogs by the pool, then rebuffed Tuoba Mang’s questions about the quiet back courtyard.
• Xie Wanqing woke in the warm chamber, hid Gu Moran’s note, and covered the mark on her neck before meeting Shen Ling'er, who gave her ointment.
• At breakfast, Gu Moran used the system skill to read the women’s true thoughts and discovered their resentment and hopes concerning him and Xie Wanqing.
• Gu Moran gave Su Yao a poem and promised a shoulder massage, drank Shen Ling'er’s medicine and offered her a pulse check, and brushed Lin Qingdai’s calf beneath the table.
• Gu Moran reserved the hot spring for Murong Xue and offered to scrub her back, but Shen Ling'er objected that bathing before breakfast could make him dizzy.

Gu Moran took his six wives aboard a covert boat bearing two blue lanterns while a decoy convoy traveled openly, then faced a cramped cabin and his wives’ competing claims to rooms. As the boat headed toward a secluded river branch, he wondered what the ride over a submerged shoal might mean for whoever shared his bed.

• Uncle Fu reported that a boat with two blue lanterns was waiting downstream, and Gu Moran ordered the convoy to act as a decoy while he and the six women traveled south by water.
• Gu Moran’s party boarded the boat, where Uncle Fu found only two small bedrooms and an open communal cabin for everyone.
• Su Yao assigned the rooms and arranged for Shen Ling'er to share the larger room with Gu Moran that night, while Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai were assigned patrol duty.
• Liu Ruyan joined Gu Moran at the stern, and he gently pressed her windblown sleeve back down without withdrawing his hand at once.
• Uncle Fu relayed the boatman’s warning about inspections and a submerged shoal, and Gu Moran chose the secluded right-hand branch before wondering about the jolting ride.

Gu Moran hid three bawdy romance books from Shen Ling'er, but she discovered them and confiscated them after teasing him about their contents. The boat struck a submerged shoal while she handed him his medicine, leaving her half-kneeling close against him.

• Gu Moran tried to pass off a romance book as a treatise on water management when Shen Ling'er asked what he was reading.
• Shen Ling'er found three scandalous romance books beneath Gu Moran's pillow and teased him about studying how to flirt.
• Shen Ling'er confiscated the books and asked how a night-soil collector became empress; Gu Moran explained the emperor loved her scent because of his unusual nose.
• Shen Ling'er prepared Gu Moran's medicine and carried it to his bedside.
• The boat lurched over a submerged shoal, and Shen Ling'er braced the spilling bowl while half-kneeling before Gu Moran with her hand on his thigh.

As the boat crossed hidden shoals, Gu Moran cared for Shen Ling'er and eased her menstrual cramps with his internal energy, while their teasing grew intimate. Their companions overheard the sounds through the thin cabin walls, and the chapter ended with Shen Ling'er complaining that her mouth hurt.

• Gu Moran and Shen Ling'er steadied themselves through the rocking boat as he drank bitter medicine and accepted a honey pill from her.
• Gu Moran caught Shen Ling'er when she stumbled, and the two teased each other while the boat lurched across the shoals.
• Gu Moran caught Shen Ling'er in his arms when the boat scraped a submerged rock, then warmed her abdomen with internal energy to ease her cramps.
• Gu Moran recited lines from The Overbearing Prince Falls in Love with Me while massaging Shen Ling'er, and her involuntary sounds carried through the cabin wall.
• Su Yao, Lin Qingdai, and Murong Xue overheard the couple, and Shen Ling'er ended by saying that her mouth hurt.