Chapter Summaries

Zhao Wuxu abducted Tiedan and planned to cripple him, frame Pu Yunshan, and use the scheme to gain the Yun Clan’s fortune. Tiedan woke inside the sack and learned Zhao Wuxu meant to kill him, while an unknown sound came from the roof.

• Zhao Wuxu and Pu Yunshan hid Tiedan in a ruined temple and planted objects from Prince Yi's Residence to implicate it in the kidnapping.
• Pu Yunshan left to check for pursuers and buy food, while Zhao Wuxu prepared to cripple Tiedan and blame Pu Yunshan.
• Tiedan pretended to be unconscious as Zhao Wuxu drew a blade and confessed that Tiedan stood in his way to the Yun Clan fortune.
• Tiedan woke and struggled as Zhao Wuxu opened the sack, then insisted he did not want the Yun Clan’s wealth.
• Zhao Wuxu raised his blade and told Tiedan he would cripple him and make everyone believe Pu Yunshan had done it.

Lady Wang and her companions found Zhao Wuxu about to cripple and kill Tiedan, and she rescued her son and confronted Zhao Wuxu. When Zhao Wuxu attacked her, Pu Yunshan killed him, then worried that he would be punished.

• Lady Wang arrived at the temple with Shen Ling'er, Yun Shuyue, and guards, and caught Zhao Wuxu holding a knife to Tiedan's wrist.
• Lady Wang slapped Zhao Wuxu, then freed Tiedan and embraced him as he offered her pastry crumbs.
• Tiedan told Yun Shuyue that Zhao Wuxu had tried to cut him and called him a bastard.
• Zhao Wuxu grabbed his knife and lunged at Lady Wang, intending to take her hostage.
• Pu Yunshan rushed in and stabbed Zhao Wuxu, then slashed his neck, killing him.
• Pu Yunshan sheathed his sword and worried that he would be punished for killing Zhao Wuxu in front of witnesses.

Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai arrived as Pu Yunshan killed Zhao Wuxu, and Yun Zhengze discovered that Tiedan was his lost son. Gu Moran defended the killing before Yun Zhengze, then gained mid-fourth-rank cultivation from the system.

• Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai dropped into the temple after Pu Yunshan killed Zhao Wuxu, revealing they had followed him and helped keep watch over Tiedan.
• Yun Zhengze arrived and learned from Lady Wang that Tiedan was their son, Wangchuan; he confirmed the boy’s distinctive birthmark, but Tiedan said he wanted only Sister Yun and the prince.
• Gu Moran entered and checked that Tiedan was unharmed, then Yun Zhengze demanded an explanation for Zhao Wuxu’s death.
• Gu Moran argued that Zhao Wuxu had abducted Yun Zhengze’s own son and that Pu Yunshan had prevented further harm.
• The system announced that Zhao Wuxu’s fate line had been severed and rewarded Gu Moran with mid-fourth-rank cultivation.

Gu Moran pressured Yun Zhengze to conceal Zhao Wuxu’s death and let Tiedan remain at the prince's residence until he felt ready to return to the Yun Clan. Tiedan rejected Yun Zhengze and Lady Wang, then went home with Yun Shuyue as Gu Moran began to reveal something else.

• Gu Moran told Yun Zhengze to report Zhao Wuxu as a bandit killed by Pu Hua, and Yun Zhengze agreed to keep the Yun Clan’s disgrace private.
• Gu Moran sentenced Pu Yunshan to another three months hauling night soil, while Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai teased him.
• Yun Zhengze tried to take Tiedan home, but Tiedan kicked him, clung to Gu Moran, and refused to go with either Yun Zhengze or Lady Wang.
• Gu Moran advised Yun Zhengze to let Tiedan stay at the prince's residence and visit until the boy was willing to acknowledge him; Yun Zhengze agreed.
• Tiedan went home with Yun Shuyue, and Gu Moran told Yun Zhengze there was something else he should know.

Gu Moran revealed that Yun Shuyue had saved and cared for Tiedan, leaving Yun Zhengze and Lady Wang unable to respond. Meanwhile, Chen Qing mistook Yang Tie’s pill-making for a means to counter Prince Yi’s supposed witchcraft and went to recruit him, where Yang Tie agreed to hear him out.

• Gu Moran told Yun Zhengze that Yun Shuyue had fed, sheltered, and educated Tiedan, and Lady Wang could not bring herself to call Yun Shuyue her daughter.
• Chen Qing asked Gan Lingmu about Yang Tie and learned that the lumber merchant made medicinal pills and had many followers.
• Chen Qing decided Yang Tie could counter Prince Yi’s gu and dung-related schemes, then asked Gan Lingmu for directions to Yang Tie’s residence.
• Chen Qing arrived at Yang Tie’s back gate and warned the gatekeeper that Prince Yi had set his sights on the Yang Family.
• Yang Tie ordered the servants to bring Chen Qing in and studied the strange visitor.

Chen Qing persuaded Yang Tie to cooperate with Prince An by claiming his pills could counter Prince Yi’s gu, while both men mistook the other for a useful ally. At Prince Yi’s Residence, Gu Moran went to the pharmacy late at night under the pretext of seeking a consultation with Shen Ling'er.

• Chen Qing claimed to be a confidant of both Prince An and Prince Yi and told Yang Tie that Prince Yi was refining Heavenly Fire Poison Gu.
• Chen Qing offered Yang Tie Prince An’s backing and silver in exchange for pills that could counter Prince Yi’s supposed dark arts.
• Yang Tie gave Chen Qing six virility pills and then ordered his subordinate to investigate Chen Qing and watch the new maids.
• Chen Qing left to report his supposed discovery to the Second Prince in Anyang.
• Gu Moran, troubled by heat surging through his body, learned that Shen Ling'er was still in the pharmacy and hurried there for a consultation.

Gu Moran visited the dispensary claiming to need treatment for excess heart fire, but his flirtation with Shen Ling'er was interrupted by Su Yao, Lin Qingdai, and Murong Xue. The women gathered around him as Su Yao mocked his excuse and Murong Xue discovered how hot he felt when she touched him.

• Gu Moran asked Shen Ling'er to examine him, and she diagnosed him with vigorous qi and blood and prescribed quiet rest.
• Gu Moran embraced Shen Ling'er by the medicine cabinet and pressed her to find another cure before Su Yao entered.
• Su Yao brought calming incense, teased Gu Moran about his supposed heart fire, and told him to speak less.
• Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue appeared at the window, and Gu Moran invited them inside for an examination.
• Murong Xue challenged Gu Moran's claim that he felt unwell, touched his hot chest, and he caught her wrist, saying her cool hands could calm his fire.

Gu Moran teased the four consorts in the apothecary before thanking Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai for helping prevent Tiedan's life from being ruined. He admitted that he had let Zhao Wuxu expose himself to Yun Zhengze, then left the women exasperated as he sought comfort through hugs.

• Gu Moran flirted with Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, Shen Ling'er, and Su Yao in the apothecary, and Su Yao made him swallow a calming incense pill.
• Gu Moran thanked Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai for protecting Tiedan from Zhao Wuxu and Pu Yunshan.
• Murong Xue questioned Gu Moran about his martial progress, and he credited his training and the consorts' support.
• Lin Qingdai challenged Gu Moran for using Tiedan as bait, and he promised to remember her warning.
• Gu Moran pulled Lin Qingdai, Shen Ling'er, and Su Yao into hugs while Murong Xue mocked his excuses and asked if his legs were weak.

After Gu Moran spent the night in the dispensary with Su Yao, Murong Xue, Lin Qingdai, and Shen Ling'er, Chisang abandoned a direct assault on Jiannan Circuit and ordered an attack on Dali's border stockades. The chapter ended with Gu Moran leaving the exhausted women to rest while hiding Murong Xue's whip.

• Su Yao and the others stayed with Gu Moran in the dispensary through the night, keeping him from going out while he suffered from excessive heart fire.
• Chisang learned that Yi Prefecture's forces had ambushed and defeated three thousand Tubo light cavalry near North Post.
• After weighing the danger and cost of attacking Jiannan Circuit, Chisang ordered twenty thousand troops to march south and seize Dali's border stockades for supplies.
• At dawn, Su Yao, Murong Xue, Lin Qingdai, and Shen Ling'er scolded Gu Moran about the previous night as he arranged food and medicine and told Uncle Fu to keep people from disturbing them.
• Gu Moran left the dispensary with Murong Xue's whip tucked into his sleeve as she demanded it back.

Gu Moran released the Green City death warriors and accepted Pu Yunshan’s pledge of loyalty, gaining enhanced martial perception and a special physique. At a New Year porridge shelter, Lady Lü’s charitable display was interrupted when word spread that rice prices had doubled.

• Pu Yunshan asked Gu Moran for work tending the prisoners in the residence’s dungeon.
• Gu Moran revealed that the eight Green City death warriors had been cleaned, given supplies, and allowed to return home.
• Pu Yunshan knelt to apologize and pledged to serve Gu Moran, causing his hostility to reach zero and earning Gu Moran new rewards.
• Gu Moran told Pu Yunshan to help repair roofs in the shantytown and said the residence would buy his piglet at market price.
• Lady Lü distributed porridge at the west gate while attendants read aloud the donations to Prince An’s Residence.
• A man rushed from the city to announce that rice prices had doubled, and the crowd at the porridge shelter fell into chaos.

As merchants doubled food prices and residents turned to high-interest loans, Lady Lü ordered Zhou Huaili to rein in the shops. In Yi Prefecture City, Gu Moran accepted Yang Tie’s lavish donation for public repairs and schools, then insisted it be publicly recorded, leaving Yang Fugui uneasy about the gift’s purpose.

• Xu's Rice Shop raised prices, and a struggling burly man considered borrowing more money from Stable Loan to buy food for his sick mother.
• Lady Lü learned that city shops had doubled prices and told the matron to have Zhou Huaili stop them from going too far before the New Year.
• Liu Ruyan told Gu Moran that Yang Tie had cut off contact, fortified his residence, and brought in covered carriages after Chen Qing’s visit.
• Yang Tie sent Prince Yi’s Residence ten thousand taels of silver and a large quantity of timber and building materials.
• Gu Moran ordered the donation used for repairs in the southern shantytown, schools, and wind shelters, with its accounts posted publicly.
• Gu Moran told Yang Fugui that the donation would be publicized and asked whether Yang Tie had another purpose for sending it.

After hearing how Pu Yunshan had been humiliated and left in Yi Prefecture, Pu Qinghe decided to go there himself. The chapter ended with the temple master leaping from a cliff to descend the mountain.

• Gu Moran burned Yang Fugui’s visiting card and told Liu Ruyan to stop investigating the Yang residence for now.
• The eight deathsworn returned to Mount Qingcheng and told Pu Qinghe that Pu Yunshan was still in Yi Prefecture.
• The deathsworn recounted Pu Yunshan’s punishments, Zhao Wuxu’s death, and Gu Moran’s decision to release them with provisions and travel money.
• Pu Qinghe questioned the deathsworn about Gu Moran and grew angry that Pu Yunshan had been hauling night soil and carrying a pig.
• Pu Qinghe refused to send others or write a letter, took his sword, and leaped from the cliff to go see Pu Yunshan himself.

Pu Qinghe descended Mount Qingcheng to confront his son after learning Pu Yunshan had become a latrine worker in Yi Prefecture. He found Pu Yunshan at Public Latrine No. 12 and demanded an explanation, while Gu Moran prepared for the arrival of an unidentified expert.

• Pu Qinghe hurried down Mount Qingcheng toward Yi Prefecture after hearing that Pu Yunshan was working in the city’s alleys.
• Gu Moran tested his improved saber skills, then received a report that an unusually swift stranger was approaching Yi Prefecture.
• Gu Moran decided not to seal the city and told Xue Huan to let the stranger enter.
• Pu Yunshan finished work at Public Latrine No. 12 as Auntie Zhao asked him to help repair roofs the next day.
• Pu Qinghe arrived at the latrine, recognized Pu Yunshan, and stopped himself from striking him, cracking a wooden pillar instead.
• Pu Qinghe demanded to know why Pu Yunshan had become a latrine worker, and Pu Yunshan said his father had heard things incorrectly.

Pu Qinghe heard Pu Yunshan’s account of Yi Prefecture and went to meet Gu Moran, despite his son’s warning. Gu Moran recognized the first-rank grandmaster’s overwhelming strength and invited him inside, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Pu Yunshan told Pu Qinghe how Gu Moran had released the prisoners, concealed the Yun Clan’s disgrace, and punished him with night-soil hauling.
• Pu Yunshan described the improvements he had seen in Yi Prefecture, and Pu Qinghe decided to inspect Gu Moran for himself.
• Pu Qinghe hurried to the old princely residence while Pu Yunshan tried to explain what he had learned from his work.
• Gu Moran’s system warned him that Pu Qinghe was a first-rank grandmaster and identified him as Pu Yunshan’s father.
• Gu Moran went out to greet Pu Qinghe and invited him in for tea; Pu Qinghe asked why he would welcome him without knowing his purpose.

Gu Moran used a charred military token from the Liu Clan to win Pu Qinghe’s allegiance and secure Mount Qingcheng’s fighters and hidden assets for Yi Prefecture. Pu Qinghe also left his son Pu Yunshan in Gu Moran’s care to learn how to deal with the world.

• Pu Qinghe confronted Gu Moran over how Pu Yunshan had been humiliated, but Gu Moran showed him a charred military token from the Liu Clan.
• Pu Qinghe recognized the token, saluted Gu Moran as the young lord, and revealed Mount Qingcheng had guarded the Liu Clan’s hidden wealth and trade-route registers.
• Pu Qinghe pledged all 327 people of Mount Qingcheng to Gu Moran and promised to send the Liu Clan’s stores to Yi Prefecture in batches.
• Tuoba Mang and Auntie Zhao exposed Pu Yunshan’s humiliating chores, and Pu Qinghe questioned what his son had learned in Yi Prefecture.
• Pu Qinghe left Pu Yunshan with Gu Moran so he could gain experience and learn to judge people.

Gu Moran assigned Pu Yunshan to repair the Flower-Between Pavilion, intending for the sheltered young swordsman to learn how people could manipulate him. Pu Yunshan arrived at the brothel and clashed with its madam before Qin Hongxiu appeared at the railing.

• Pu Qinghe left Pu Yunshan in Gu Moran's care and returned to Mount Qingcheng, warning his son to raise the piglets properly.
• Gu Moran asked Liu Ruyan about the Flower-Between Pavilion's most manipulative courtesan, and she named Qin Hongxiu.
• Gu Moran sent Pu Yunshan to inspect and repair the pavilion's roof beams instead of continuing his work in the south of the city.
• Pu Yunshan arrived with his toolbox, endured the girls' teasing, and presented his work order to the dismissive madam.
• Qin Hongxiu appeared on the second-floor railing and looked over Pu Yunshan and his callused fingers.

Pu Yunshan repaired Qin Hongxiu’s beam and roof at the Flower-Between Pavilion, then split firewood after noticing she had little charcoal. As he worked, Qin Hongxiu praised his skills and asked about Mount Qingcheng, ending by saying she admired his young lord’s literary talent and hoped to meet him.

• Qin Hongxiu invited Pu Yunshan upstairs to inspect the creaking beam despite the madam’s objections.
• Pu Yunshan found damp damage in the beam, replaced its wooden wedge, and finished the repair while Qin Hongxiu praised his martial skills.
• Pu Yunshan repaired two loose roof tiles after Qin Hongxiu asked him to check the roof.
• Qin Hongxiu brought Pu Yunshan a brazier, and he noticed her thin clothes and the lack of good charcoal.
• Pu Yunshan split the pavilion’s firewood and told Qin Hongxiu that he had learned to chop wood on Mount Qingcheng.
• Qin Hongxiu said she admired her young lord’s literary talent and hoped to meet him.

Pu Yunshan spent far longer than planned repairing things at the Flower-Between Pavilion after Qin Hongxiu drew him into helping her. When he tried to leave, her account of her life softened his anger, and he refused the money she offered, insisting that her earnings were no dirtier than anyone else’s.

• Pu Yunshan repaired Qin Hongxiu’s bed, hung a lantern on the pavilion’s roof, and took care of several other chores.
• Pu Yunshan realized he had spent half a day doing extra work and told Qin Hongxiu that the other jobs had not been part of his assignment.
• Qin Hongxiu apologized and explained that she had come to the pavilion to support her younger brother after her parents died, and that she had mistaken Pu Yunshan’s willingness to help for permission to order him around.
• Pu Yunshan told Qin Hongxiu he did not look down on her and defended her honesty, though he still criticized the Flower-Between Pavilion.
• Qin Hongxiu offered Pu Yunshan a pouch of money to buy clean clothes, but he refused it and said her money was no different from anyone else’s.

Pu Yunshan returned to the Flower-Between Pavilion after promising Qin Hongxiu he would help with its repairs and heavy work, while Gu Moran arranged another work order to push him back there. The chapter ended with Pu Yunshan arriving again, now recognized by the pavilion’s women as its roof fixer and woodcutter.

• Pu Yunshan gave Qin Hongxiu silver, offered to help with repairs and protect her, and left after she wished him a peaceful new year.
• Qin Hongxiu told her maid not to hire a woodcutter and arranged for the courtyard’s firewood to be left for someone to split.
• Pu Yunshan returned to his home, where Tuoba Mang noticed Qin Hongxiu’s fragrance on him and was forbidden from visiting the pavilion.
• Auntie Zhao learned Pu Yunshan had split firewood, and Uncle Fu delivered Qin Hongxiu’s new repair order on Gu Moran’s instructions.
• Gu Moran laughed with Liu Ruyan about sending Pu Yunshan back to the pavilion, and Pu Yunshan changed into fine clothes before going.
• The Flower-Between Pavilion’s women recognized Pu Yunshan when he arrived, and the madam greeted him warmly.

Pu Yunshan repaired Qin Hongxiu’s room, accepted her red cord, and agreed to return the next day, leaving her pleased and himself delighted. At Prince An’s Residence, Chen Qing presented Gu Mochen with untested pills, and Gu Mochen prepared to take one despite Zhou Huaili’s warning.

• Pu Yunshan repaired Qin Hongxiu’s window, water jar, and lamp bracket while she flirted with him and offered him wine.
• Pu Yunshan drove off the drunken Shopkeeper Zhou when he tried to shove him, then accepted Qin Hongxiu’s red cord and agreed to return to inspect the creaking floor.
• Qin Hongxiu told her maid to pull up any two floorboards so Pu Yunshan would have a reason to visit again.
• Chen Qing brought Gu Mochen six pills he claimed Yang Tie had made to counter Prince Yi’s sinister arts.
• Zhou Huaili warned Gu Mochen that the pills were untested, but Gu Mochen rejected the warning and picked one up.