Chapter Summaries

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.

Yun Zhengze confronted Gu Moran about Yun Shuyue, but Gu Moran revealed that she had pledged a secret ledger as collateral for a share in his granary venture. He offered to return the ledger if Yun Zhengze helped carry out agricultural improvements in Yi Prefecture, leaving Yun Zhengze weighing whether to support him.

• Yun Zhengze asked Gu Moran to let him take Yun Shuyue home and discipline her, but Gu Moran said she had helped him.
• Gu Moran showed Yun Zhengze the Land of Abundance Granary Shareholding Agreement, which gave Yun Shuyue thirty percent non-contributory shares and listed a treasured ledger as collateral.
• Yun Zhengze recognized the ledger as the hidden half-volume of old salt-tax accounts and realized Gu Moran knew what it contained.
• Gu Moran asked Yun Zhengze to facilitate land allocations, timber and iron purchases, and favorable treatment during inspections for plans to improve terraced fields, waterwheels, and granaries.
• Gu Moran offered to return the ledger while keeping Yun Shuyue's shares in place, and Yun Zhengze considered the benefits of backing his agricultural plans.

Yun Zhengze agreed to cooperate with Gu Moran after learning that Yun Shuyue had become a major shareholder and was formally employed at the prince's estate. He left her there with a reminder to take her medicine, and Gu Moran comforted her with a hot roasted taro.

• Yun Zhengze accepted Gu Moran's offer to cooperate, then asked him to let Yun Shuyue return home.
• Su Yao and Xie Wanqing showed Yun Zhengze records proving Yun Shuyue's business shares and explained why she needed to remain at the estate.
• Gu Moran presented Yun Shuyue with a granary supervisor's appointment contract that included a one-hundred-thousand-tael early termination penalty, and she signed it.
• Yun Zhengze recognized that the contract protected Yun Shuyue and chose not to take her home, while signaling that he understood Gu Moran's intentions regarding the salt-tax ledger.
• Yun Zhengze left after telling Gu Moran to make sure Yun Shuyue took medicine for her old ankle injury, and Gu Moran gave her a hot roasted taro when she began to cry.

Yun Shuyue accepted a place and employment at Prince Yi's Residence, and Gu Moran reassured her that the residence needed her alive. Her devotion unlocked a deathsworn tag and rewarded Gu Moran with plans for a running-water and sewage system, which he began to draw.

• Yun Zhengze left the residence after Yun Shuyue signed an employment contract with Prince Yi's Residence.
• Gu Moran assigned Yun Shuyue a sunny courtyard and invited her to stay for dinner.
• Yun Shuyue pledged her service to Gu Moran, who told her to keep herself safe rather than risk her life.
• The system raised Yun Shuyue's affection to 70, unlocked her deathsworn tag, and gave Gu Moran blueprints for a filtered running-water and urban sewage system.
• Gu Moran began drawing the system's plans, and Yun Shuyue offered to pay for the sleeve she had crumpled.

Gu Moran designed a raised-water and filtration system for the princely estate, and Fang Bi realized it could supply clean water across Yi Prefecture City. The chapter ended with Gu Moran identifying the western foothills as the site for a reservoir and Fang Bi offering to secure the land approval.

• Gu Moran drew plans for a water tower, bamboo pipes, filtration, and drainage, while Shen Ling'er and the other women discussed using the system across the estate and city businesses.
• Fang Bi delivered the prefect's approval document and secretly studied Gu Moran's sketches while visiting the estate.
• Fang Bi recognized that the pipe network could use Yi Prefecture's terrain to filter and distribute water throughout the city.
• Fang Bi asked to run a pipe to the prefect's office and offered to pay for materials if the system worked.
• Gu Moran showed Fang Bi the reservoir site at the western foothills, and Fang Bi said the prefect could approve the land.

Gu Moran explained the water-pipeline construction to Fang Bi, who left with instructions to prepare the work. At Bluestone Ridge, Xue Huan urged his 108 men to consider leaving banditry and joining Prince Yi’s projects, but the chapter ended before they answered.

• Gu Moran taught Fang Bi how to layer sand, charcoal, and gravel for the pipeline and told him to have Commandant Zhen’s men prepare the bamboo pipes.
• Fang Bi left with Gu Moran’s notes and authorization, while Gu Moran told Uncle Fu that Si Renyou would visit the next day to see the complete pipeline plan.
• Xue Huan gathered his 108 men at Bluestone Ridge and showed them a Mixue Ice City leaflet, a storybook, and intelligence from Yi Prefecture City.
• Xue Huan described the Black Wind Stronghold bandits’ comfortable new lives at Prince Yi’s Residence and asked his men whether they wanted to remain on the mountain until they died.
• Xue Huan listed Prince Yi’s projects, including granaries, waterways, tea shops, agricultural administration, and planned roads, then asked what sort of lord Prince Yi was.

Xue Huan decided to leave Bluestone Ridge and pledge his band’s service to Prince Yi, bringing silver and captured bandits as gifts. He led 108 men toward Yi Prefecture City, intent on making a proper offer of service.

• Xue Huan persuaded his men to become security captains in Prince Yi’s service and offered silver and captured criminals as their pledge.
• Xue Huan gave those unwilling to leave the mountain the choice to depart with provisions and silver, while Song Wan led men to capture nearby bandits.
• At dawn, 108 men gathered at Bluestone Ridge with two chests of silver and twenty-two captives, including criminals identified with written notes.
• Xue Huan’s group set out for Yi Prefecture City, and merchants recognized and cursed some of the captives.
• As the city gate came into view, Xue Huan told Song Wan to keep the captives secured and prevent trouble in the streets.

Xue Huan brought 108 former soldiers, two chests of silver, and 22 captured bandits to Prince Yi's city to pledge their service. Gu Moran accepted Xue Huan's allegiance and considered putting the prisoners to work on road construction.

• Xue Huan presented his bronze token at the city gate and asked to enter with his former soldiers and prisoners.
• Fang Bi delivered Xue Huan's note to Gu Moran, who asked Shen Ling'er to summon Madam Su and Yun Shuyue.
• Gu Moran told Fang Bi to ask Commandant Zhen whether the captured bandits could join the road-building crew.
• Xue Huan offered his 108 men and the captured bandits to Gu Moran, declaring that they needed a lord who could use their abilities.
• Gu Moran used the Eye of Detection to assess Xue Huan's loyalty, then accepted his pledge.

Gu Moran assigned Xue Huan and his men to guard the roads linking Yi Prefecture’s granaries to the people, then led a team to begin building terraces and waterworks at Ten-Li Slope. Yun Shuyue struck a powerful spring while digging, soaking herself and startling everyone.

• Gu Moran ordered Xue Huan to guard every road from Yi Prefecture’s granaries to the people’s doorsteps, and Xue Huan and his men accepted the command.
• Si Renyou approved Gu Moran’s reservoir plans, and Gu Moran gave the credit for the project to the prefect.
• Gu Moran, Su Yao, Shen Ling'er, Yun Shuyue, Xue Huan, and the others began work on the terraces and waterworks at Ten-Li Slope.
• Yun Shuyue changed into practical clothes and chose to dig the steepest patch of hillside.
• Yun Shuyue’s hoe broke through to a high-pressure spring, drenching her as the workers exclaimed that she had dug one up.

Yun Shuyue helped uncover a powerful spring at Ten-Li Slope, while the Gan family planned to sabotage the new terraces and water network. She spotted their servants approaching at night, and Xue Huan’s men surrounded them, leaving the intruders in their hands.

• Gu Moran wrapped Yun Shuyue in his robe and cleaned the mud from her face after she was drenched by the newly opened spring, then ordered Xue Huan to direct its water into a storage ditch.
• Gan Lingmu concluded that the terraces and bamboo-pipe water network threatened the Gan family's control of water prices and ordered thirty-five servants to destroy them.
• Yun Shuyue kept watch from a tree near Ten-Li Slope and spotted the Gan family's servants approaching after midnight.
• Yun Shuyue signaled a hidden sentry, and Xue Huan led his men to surround the servants on the mountain path.
• Song Wan pointed out the compost pit, while Xue Huan told the captured intruders they could stay and reflect for the night.

Gu Mochen tried to copy a military spectacle from a booklet, while Xue Huan punished thirty-five Gan Family retainers by soaking them overnight in a compost pit. The retainers were pulled out at daybreak and told they would be kept at Ten-Li Slope to work on waterways and foundations.

• Xue Huan and Song Wan dumped thirty-five household retainers into the compost pit and kept them submerged overnight under orders from Gu Moran.
• Yun Shuyue asked whether to report the punishment, but Xue Huan said Gu Moran had already instructed them how to handle troublemakers.
• Gu Mochen arranged for eight soldiers to stack themselves on a horse, but they fell off, and the horse fled.
• Gu Mochen told the soldiers to practice stacking on grass first, while his adviser urged him to verify whether Prince Yi actually used the method.
• Xue Huan had Song Wan and his comrades haul the thirty-five retainers out of the pit at daybreak and told them they would help build waterways and foundations at Ten-Li Slope.
• The burly retainer protested that he and his men belonged to the Gan Family in Yi Prefecture.