Chapter Summaries

Lin Qingdai fell from the rafters into Gu Moran’s arms, and he brought her into Murong Xue’s room for a night together. By morning, Gu Moran had received Yun Zhengze’s report about Pu Yunshan and ordered the eight captured guards sent to the dungeon, where he planned to put Pu Hua to work.

• Lin Qingdai fell from the beam, and Gu Moran carried her into Murong Xue’s room despite her protests.
• Gu Moran, Murong Xue, and Lin Qingdai spent the night together, leaving Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai exhausted by dawn.
• Uncle Fu gave Gu Moran Yun Zhengze’s letter identifying Pu Yunshan’s alias, the Jiren Medical Hall, and eight missing guards; Gu Moran ordered the letter burned and a chicken stewed for Yun Shuyue.
• Xue Huan brought the eight captured guards to Gu Moran, who ordered them hung upside down in the dungeon under the pretense of airing out their smell.
• Gu Moran asked Tuoba Mang to fetch the recovering Pu Hua and send him to clean the dungeon’s dung buckets.

Pu Yunshan went to the prince’s dungeon to find the eight missing hidden guards and discovered them hanging upside down as prisoners. He concealed his identity while emptying their night-soil buckets, and Gu Moran left believing him to be an obedient outsider.

• Tuoba Mang ordered the still-ailing Pu Yunshan to empty the dungeon buckets, and Pu Yunshan suspected the missing hidden guards were being held there.
• Pu Yunshan entered the dungeon and found all eight hidden guards hanging upside down, then stopped their leader from recognizing him aloud.
• Pu Yunshan emptied the prisoners’ buckets while trying to signal his subordinates to stay quiet, though they recognized him.
• Gu Moran called the guards night-soil thieves and ordered Pu Yunshan to clean the bricks and any drips.
• Pu Yunshan agreed and insulted the prisoners to preserve his cover, while Gu Moran praised his obedience and left.

Gu Moran ordered Pu Yunshan to keep the captured death warriors silent while Tubo cavalry advanced toward Song Prefecture Pass. A trap using explosive carts triggered an avalanche that buried most of the vanguard, and two disguised laborers survived in prepared hollows.

• Gu Moran ordered the prisoner to scrub the dungeon until the hour of the Monkey and told Tuoba Mang the hanging death warriors would survive.
• Pu Yunshan signaled the death warrior leader to endure and not confess, then left the dungeon thinking bitterly of Gu Moran.
• Damu led three thousand Tubo cavalry south toward Song Prefecture Pass, dismissing warnings about Great Yan defenses and calling the prince a sickling.
• Damu spotted seven grain carts and sent riders to seize them, while the disguised Great Yan laborers fled up the slopes.
• The riders uncovered bamboo tubes beneath the cart coverings, and the chained explosions triggered an avalanche that buried hundreds of men and horses.
• Two disguised laborers emerged from their prepared hollows and discussed the sound waves His Highness had mentioned in his letter.

An avalanche left Damu’s Tubo soldiers blinded and exhausted, allowing the Song Prefecture forces led by Zhen Daijin to ambush them and capture Damu alive. Back at the estate, Gu Moran faced the aftermath of an exhausting night with Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue, then met Shen Ling'er, who insisted he drink his medicine.

• The avalanche’s glare made the surviving Tubo soldiers’ eyes burn, while their rapid descent from the plateau left them struggling to breathe.
• Zhen Daijin’s forces and the Song Prefecture troops attacked from the slopes, shooting down the horses and scattering the Tubo soldiers.
• An arrow pinned Damu’s thigh, and the soldiers bound him alive; he asked about the wooden eye shields worn by his captors.
• Lin Qingdai ordered her maid to bolt the courtyard door and complained about Gu Moran, while Murong Xue stayed under the covers and skipped her patrol.
• Gu Moran met Shen Ling'er in the corridor, and she confronted him about the broken window frame and chair before ordering him to drink his medicine.

Gu Moran drank Shen Ling'er’s bitter medicine and was ordered to copy prohibitions on bedchamber activities, while Pu Yunshan continued his humiliating dungeon labor. At the judicial commissioner’s residence, Zhao Wuxu staged an injured, devoted son’s visit to Lady Wang and tried to turn her against his foster father.

• Shen Ling'er gave Gu Moran a bitter fire-clearing decoction, and he drank it before declaring he would visit her room that night.
• Shen Ling'er ordered Gu Moran to copy prohibitions on bedchamber activities and told him where to find candied fruit in the study.
• Uncle Fu told Gu Moran that Pu Yunshan was due to carry buckets again and that Tuoba Mang awaited instructions.
• Pu Yunshan finished scrubbing the dungeon bricks while enduring the death warriors’ stares and resolved to keep investigating the princely residence.
• Zhao Wuxu disguised himself as a weary, injured son and visited Lady Wang, massaging her shoulders while claiming his foster father treated him as an errand runner.

Zhao Wuxu learned that Lady Wang’s missing biological son had a distinctive birthmark matching Tiedan’s, who was living at Prince Yi’s Residence. He decided to exploit the secret before anyone else could find out, while Gu Moran struggled with the effects of his surging primal yang.

• Lady Wang called Zhao Wuxu her son and told him her toddler had vanished during a lantern market outing after Yun Zhengze briefly left them to handle official business.
• Lady Wang showed Zhao Wuxu an old handkerchief embroidered with the birthmark on her missing son’s right side, and Zhao Wuxu recognized it as matching Tiedan’s mark.
• Lady Wang said her son would turn eight in the twelfth lunar month and that Zhao Wuxu was the first person in the household to learn the truth.
• Zhao Wuxu promised to search for Lady Wang’s son, then secretly planned to use the secret to gain access to her money, Yun Zhengze’s seal, and travel documents before deciding what to do about Tiedan.
• Gu Moran reclined in the old princely residence and found that neither resting nor Shen Ling’er’s heat-clearing medicine relieved the effects of his Vigorous Primal Yang.

Gu Moran teased Liu Ruyan, Su Yao, and Shen Ling'er while they tended to their work and his medicine. Yun Shuyue then brought Tiedan to him after the boy misbehaved at school, and Tiedan promptly stole Gu Moran's chicken.

• Gu Moran distracted Liu Ruyan as she read a secret letter from the Flower-Between Pavilion.
• Gu Moran praised Su Yao while she calculated the lantern market cleanup costs, making her lose her place in the accounts.
• Shen Ling'er examined Gu Moran's pulse and scolded him over his rising blood and qi, but he teased her until she fled in embarrassment.
• Yun Shuyue brought Tiedan to Gu Moran and reported that he had skipped his lessons and drawn a turtle in his copybook.
• Tiedan defended his drawing, dodged Yun Shuyue, and grabbed a drumstick from Gu Moran's platter, amusing Gu Moran.

Gu Moran discovered through the Eye of Detection that Tiedan was Yun Zhengze and Lady Wang’s missing son, then learned Yun Shuyue had found him abandoned and sick three years earlier. After hearing details that suggested Tiedan had been trafficked and discarded, Gu Moran took Liu Ruyan into the inner room to speak privately.

• Gu Moran used the Eye of Detection on Tiedan and saw that he was the son of Yun Zhengze and Lady Wang, missing since the Lantern Festival six years earlier.
• Yun Shuyue said she had found Tiedan unconscious with a high fever beside a ditch in Cypress Village three years ago and brought him back to the stronghold.
• Gu Moran realized Tiedan’s illness and abandonment suggested that someone had held and then discarded him during the three years after his disappearance.
• Gu Moran recognized that Tiedan’s return could give him leverage over Yun Zhengze and change the balance with Lady Wang.
• Yun Shuyue recalled that Tiedan’s clothes had fine embroidery and that he had a rope mark around his neck.
• Gu Moran asked Liu Ruyan to follow him into the inner room.

Gu Moran investigated the six-year-old disappearance of Yun Zhengze’s son, who was being raised as Tiedan, while hiding the truth from Yun Shuyue and arranging protection for the child. Zhao Wuxu discovered Tiedan’s identity and planned to use it to provoke Yun Zhengze against Gu Moran, then went to meet Pu Yunshan.

• Gu Moran told Liu Ruyan to investigate old records, lantern-market vendors, and bailiffs involved in arrests of human traffickers without contacting Yun Zhengze’s household.
• Gu Moran arranged extra protection for Tiedan and kept Yun Shuyue from learning that the boy was her younger brother.
• Su Yao offered to investigate whether human traffickers had traveled through Cypress Village and which routes and relay stations they used.
• Gu Moran worried that Zhao Wuxu might learn Tiedan’s identity and put the child in danger.
• Zhao Wuxu decided to tell Pu Yunshan that Yun Zhengze’s missing son was in Prince Yi’s Residence, then planned to make Yun Zhengze hear the news and blame the residence’s old retainers.
• Zhao Wuxu went to Public Latrine No. 12 to meet Pu Yunshan.

Zhao Wuxu told Pu Yunshan that Tiedan was Yun Zhengze’s missing son and urged him to use the secret to approach the surveillance commissioner, but Pu Yunshan refused to endanger the child. Yun Shuyue overheard them and learned Tiedan was her little brother, then told Gu Moran, who warned that Zhao Wuxu might act on the secret.

• Zhao Wuxu told Pu Yunshan that Tiedan had the birthmark identifying him as Yun Zhengze’s missing son and argued that Prince Yi was using the boy to control Yun Zhengze.
• Pu Yunshan said he would leave Tiedan alone until Yun Zhengze learned the truth, and warned Zhao Wuxu not to use the child as a weapon.
• Yun Shuyue overheard the conversation from the shed roof and realized Tiedan was her little brother.
• Yun Shuyue hurried back to the prince’s residence and told Gu Moran what she had heard.
• Gu Moran checked Zhao Wuxu’s system profile and cautioned Yun Shuyue that Zhao Wuxu already knew Tiedan’s identity; she left undecided about sending Tiedan back to her family.

Gu Moran confirmed that Tiedan had a distinctive birthmark that could establish his identity, while Zhao Wuxu began hinting to Lady Wang that the boy might be in Prince Yi’s Residence. As Lady Wang prepared to visit under the pretext of seeking medicine, Yun Shuyue worried she would discover Tiedan, and Gu Moran reassured her that he understood her concern.

• Gu Moran had Uncle Fu discreetly confirm Tiedan’s birthmark and ordered that Auntie Zhao alone handle his baths and changes, while forbidding the schoolteacher from stripping and spanking him.
• Gu Moran asked Liu Ruyan to investigate how Yun Shuyue’s birth mother died and told her to keep the inquiry from Yun Shuyue for now.
• Zhao Wuxu told Lady Wang that Prince Yi’s Residence was raising children around seven or eight, then proposed gaining authority to investigate the residence himself.
• Lady Wang sent a visiting card requesting a calming prescription from Madam Shen, and Uncle Fu suspected she wanted to inspect Prince Yi’s Residence.
• Yun Shuyue said she feared Lady Wang would see Tiedan and take him back, and Gu Moran told her he understood her concern.

Gu Moran and the others prepared for Lady Wang’s visit, while Tiedan deliberately smeared her skirt and provoked her at the residence gate. Lin Qingdai stopped Yun Shuyue from intervening, explaining that Tiedan was acting on purpose to vent her anger.

• Su Yao brought Gu Moran the account books, and he arranged for Lady Wang to see the residence’s wealth when she arrived.
• Shen Ling'er made Gu Moran drink medicine to support the rumors about his health, and he teased Yun Shuyue about her injured ankle.
• Gu Moran had Tiedan eat a chicken leg at the entrance so he could enjoy meat in a prominent spot.
• Tiedan collided with Lady Wang, smeared grease on her skirt, and offered to help remove it and wash it.
• Lin Qingdai stopped Yun Shuyue from rushing to Tiedan and told her the boy was deliberately provoking Lady Wang.

Lady Wang visited Gu Moran’s residence to seek treatment and ask him to send Yue'er home, but Gu Moran used Shen Ling'er's diagnosis and Yue'er's employment contract to deflect her. Lady Wang then challenged his practice of sheltering children, leaving her request unresolved.

• Murong Xue led Tiedan away after he bumped into Lady Wang, while Gu Moran offered Lady Wang Shu brocade to compensate for the grease on her skirt.
• Su Yao read aloud the residence’s accounts as Lady Wang entered and surveyed Gu Moran’s practical, work-focused hall.
• Shen Ling'er diagnosed Lady Wang with deficiencies of the heart and spleen and liver stagnation, prescribed treatment, and suggested she might be taking calming medicine.
• Lady Wang asked Gu Moran to send Yue'er home to protect her husband’s reputation, but Gu Moran said Yue'er had a one-year employment contract with a hundred-thousand-tael breach penalty.
• Lady Wang argued that keeping children of unclear origins could damage Gu Moran’s reputation, and Gu Moran’s response was left pending.

Gu Moran confronted Lady Wang over her suspicions about the people he had brought to the residence, then learned through the Eye of Detection that she had helped cause Yun Shuyue’s birth mother’s death. After Lady Wang left, Yun Shuyue offered to move out, but Gu Moran refused and reminded her that he would protect her.

• Gu Moran challenged Lady Wang’s comments about the children from Black Wind Stronghold and asked whether she spoke for Lord Yun.
• Tiedan apologized to Lady Wang, found her embroidered handkerchief, and criticized her stitches before she snatched it back and insulted him.
• Gu Moran used the Eye of Detection and learned that Lady Wang’s biological child had been missing for six years and that she was an accomplice in Yun Shuyue’s birth mother’s death.
• Gu Moran warned Lady Wang that he would investigate anyone who spread rumors about the people in his residence.
• After Lady Wang left, Yun Shuyue offered to move to the communal bunks, but Gu Moran refused and said that doing so would let Lady Wang gloat.

Lady Lü persuaded Gu Mochen to approve a public porridge charity, then arranged to divert most donations and serve refugees cheap old rice. At the Surveillance Commissioner's residence, Zhao Wuxu comforted Lady Wang after her failed visit to Prince Yi's Residence, and she found relief in his attention.

• Yun Shuyue stopped when she was reminded of Tiedan.
• Lady Lü proposed New Year's porridge distribution to Gu Mochen, who approved the plan and authorized her to use the residence's resources.
• Lady Lü secretly instructed her adviser to collect donations from thirty-seven businesses, buy discounted old rice through her natal family's grain business, and divert most of the funds.
• Lady Wang returned from Prince Yi's Residence frustrated, and Zhao Wuxu gathered the broken porcelain and cleaned her room while consoling her.
• Lady Wang called Zhao Wuxu her own son, then asked him to massage her shoulders.

Liu Ruyan uncovered evidence that Yun Shuyue’s birth mother’s funeral involved eight unexplained carts and linked the altered account to Yang Tie, while Gu Moran kissed her after warning her to keep investigating discreetly. The next morning, Pu Yunshan received a sanitation award and was urged to enter a public prize draw.

• Liu Ruyan showed Gu Moran a copied funeral ledger with a replaced page and revealed that someone had hired eight carts for Yun Shuyue’s birth mother’s funeral.
• Liu Ruyan identified the man who paid for the carts as Yang Tie of Cypress Village, and Gu Moran ordered further inquiries while keeping the investigation from Yun Shuyue and the surveillance commissioner’s household.
• Liu Ruyan questioned whether Gu Moran feared Yun Shuyue would be hurt, and Gu Moran leaned forward and kissed her.
• Pu Yunshan received an Excellence in Sanitation award from Auntie Zhao for his work at the public latrine.
• Auntie Zhao gave Pu Yunshan five latrine tickets and invited him to the South Market prize draw, but he refused to join.

After six days hauling night soil, Pu Yunshan won a piglet in Yi Prefecture’s lottery and reflected on how little his experience matched the accusations he had heard about the city. Gu Moran watched the spectacle from a teahouse as Shen Ling'er and Yun Shuyue fussed over him, while Pu Yunshan stopped to read a new notice inviting manuscript submissions.

• Pu Yunshan won the lottery’s grand prize, a piglet, and Tuoba Mang put it in his arms despite his protests.
• The crowd laughed at Pu Yunshan, who carried the muddy, squealing piglet away while recalling his six days exploring Yi Prefecture and finding its streets orderly.
• Gu Moran laughed at Pu Yunshan from a teahouse window, choked on his medicine, and received an overly enthusiastic pounding from Yun Shuyue as Shen Ling'er teased her.
• Pu Yunshan stopped at the Brocade Literature Bookshop and read a notice inviting anyone to submit manuscripts the next afternoon.

Pu Yunshan submitted a poem to Xie Wanqing, hoping its childhood memories would make her recognize him as Xiaoshanzi. He left the meeting realizing Xie Wanqing loved Gu Moran and rejected his attempt to invoke their past.

• Pu Yunshan joined the queue at the Brocade Literature Bookshop, where people mocked him as the Blue-Robed King of Dung.
• The steward accepted Pu Yunshan’s manuscript and told him Xie Wanqing would review it in person.
• Pu Yunshan entered the inner room and found Xie Wanqing reading his poem, while Gu Moran sat nearby.
• Gu Moran teased Xie Wanqing about the poem, and she dismissed its writing as lacking genuine feeling.
• Pu Yunshan revealed that his childhood name was Xiaoshanzi and appealed to their old friendship, but Xie Wanqing denied any meaningful childhood affection and warned him not to claim a past connection.
• Pu Yunshan saw Xie Wanqing accept Gu Moran’s intimate touch and understood that their relationship was one of mutual love.

Gu Moran and Xie Wanqing dismissed Pu Yunshan’s attempt to revive their childhood connection, while Pu Yunshan left humiliated and Zhao Wuxu proposed targeting Tiedan to infiltrate Prince Yi’s Residence. Gu Moran then learned from Liu Ruyan that Yang Tie was concealing a much darker scheme involving girls at his estate.

• Gu Moran mocked Pu Yunshan’s poem and his work hauling night soil, and Xie Wanqing paid him the usual thirty wen without meeting him.
• Xie Wanqing told Gu Moran that she valued the people in her life now, and he received a reward for Pu Yunshan’s reduced fortune: a military frostbite ointment formula.
• Pu Yunshan left the bookshop with the piglet, and Zhao Wuxu urged him not to give up and suggested starting with Tiedan to breach Prince Yi’s Residence.
• Liu Ruyan showed Gu Moran old accounts and testimony indicating that Yang Tie kept at least a hundred unmarried girls at his estate and that those sent away under the guise of respectable marriages disappeared.

Liu Ruyan revealed that Yang Tie had abducted Tiedan to use him as a medicinal catalyst for refining Red Lead Pills, while Lady Wang unknowingly supplied Yang Tie's residence. After Zhen Daijin returned victorious, Zhao Wuxu and Pu Yunshan abducted Tiedan, but Gu Moran's guards let them carry out the plan so they could catch them in the act.

• Liu Ruyan told Gu Moran that Yang Tie used girls' menstrual blood to refine Red Lead Pills and had selected Tiedan, whose birth hour was of extreme yang, as a catalyst.
• Liu Ruyan reported that Lady Wang had unknowingly supplied Yang Tie's residence for years, and Gu Moran thanked her for her work.
• Uncle Fu announced Zhen Daijin's triumphant return, and the next morning Gu Moran welcomed him and ordered the captured Tubo soldiers made government slaves.
• The system warned Gu Moran that Zhao Wuxu was planning a scheme involving a child, and Gu Moran suspected he meant to use Tiedan to win Lady Wang's and Yun Zhengze's favor.
• Zhao Wuxu and Pu Yunshan put Tiedan in a drugged sack and carried him away while Xue Huan and Song Wan watched under Gu Moran's orders.
• Tiedan ate pastry inside the sack, and Song Wan sent a courier to report that the plan had caught Zhao Wuxu and that Tiedan was safe.