Chapter Summaries

Gu Moran trapped Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, Su Yao, Xie Wanqing, Liu Ruyan, and Shen Ling'er in his warm chamber after they tried to choose someone to attend him while he took medicine. He announced that none of them would leave and that they would all sleep beneath one quilt.

• Murong Xue and Su Yao forced Lin Qingdai into Gu Moran's warm chamber with the medicine and food box.
• Gu Moran used a jade pebble to trigger the door mechanism, sealing the main doors and windows while Yun Shuyue and Meng Jiuning escaped through the side gate.
• Xie Wanqing, Liu Ruyan, Shen Ling'er, Murong Xue, Su Yao, and Lin Qingdai found themselves locked inside with Gu Moran.
• Gu Moran took the food box from Lin Qingdai and questioned Su Yao about how many people he needed to attend him.
• Gu Moran told the six women that none of them would leave and proposed that they all sleep beneath one quilt.

Gu Moran trapped six women in the warm chamber and ordered them to bring him his medicine, while Meng Jiuning suspected his outrageous behavior concealed a political scheme. She sneaked back to eavesdrop on him, only for Yun Shuyue to find her crouching outside the window.

• Gu Moran sat on the couch with his military treatise and warned the six women to bring him his medicine before he counted to ten.
• Meng Jiuning questioned whether Gu Moran was truly fooling around and reasoned that his conduct might hide his plans for Dali and Yong Prefecture.
• Meng Jiuning sent two maidservants away with an excuse, then crept beneath the warm chamber's rear window to listen in.
• Yun Shuyue approached the jars behind Meng Jiuning and asked what she was doing crouched there.

Meng Jiuning tried to eavesdrop on Gu Moran’s private conversation, but heard only suggestive banter and was discovered after Yun Shuyue nearly gave them away. Gu Moran confronted the pair from the open window.

• Yun Shuyue caught Meng Jiuning crouching beneath the window and demanded a share of the food she thought Meng had hidden.
• Meng Jiuning made Yun Shuyue hide quietly behind a porcelain vat while she listened to the chamber.
• A crash and teasing voices from Gu Moran, Shen Ling'er, and Murong Xue convinced Meng Jiuning that no serious business was taking place.
• Yun Shuyue asked aloud whether the people inside were fighting over sweets, and Meng Jiuning clamped a hand over her mouth.
• Gu Moran opened the window, found Meng Jiuning and Yun Shuyue behind the vat, and asked whether they had heard enough.

Meng Jiuning and Yun Shuyue were punished by Gu Moran with overnight bookkeeping and chestnut peeling, while Chen Qing found Yang Tie in the Tubo camp and hinted that he had come for more than refuge. The chapter left Yang Tie wary as Chen Qing presented Prince An’s Residence’s guard seal and revealed his apparent ulterior motive.

• Gu Moran ordered Meng Jiuning to reconcile thirteen thousand strings of missing accounts before daybreak, threatening to reroute Dali’s medicinal herbs if she failed.
• Gu Moran sent Yun Shuyue to peel a large basket of chestnuts, with her snacks at stake if she did not finish by morning.
• Meng Jiuning accepted the ledger, and she and Yun Shuyue left the courtyard in disgrace.
• Chen Qing slipped into Yang Tie’s tent in the Tubo supply camp and ate raw lamb while recounting his escape from Anyang.
• Chen Qing showed Yang Tie the copper seal from Prince An’s Residence and asked whether he thought Chen had come only to flee for his life.

Yang Tie tricked Chen Qing into believing they were fellow undercover agents and sent him away with a false military map. Chen Qing left the Tubo camp convinced he was carrying out a mission that would win them great power.

• Chen Qing offered Yang Tie the bronze seal he had stolen and proposed selling intelligence to Tubo's commander Chisang.
• Yang Tie pretended to agree, then showed Chen Qing a Ministry of War wolf-fang whistle and claimed he was a hidden death warrior.
• Yang Tie gave Chen Qing a sheepskin map of Tubo's patrol routes and claimed it was vital intelligence meant for Dali's rebel marquis.
• Chen Qing claimed Prince Yi had also sent him undercover and eagerly accepted the task of carrying the map south.
• Yang Tie gave Chen Qing provisions and directed him to escape through the cookhouse's wastewater ditch, and Chen Qing left with the bronze seal and map.

Yang Tie sent Chen Qing toward a Tubo ambush to divert attention from the furnace room. In the palace, Gu Moli used a staged bedside conversation to provoke the paralyzed emperor, while Chu Tianxing's acupuncture revealed signs of poisoning through the tonics supplied by the empress's private pharmacy.

• Yang Tie watched Chen Qing leave with a genuine map whose marked sentry posts were deadly traps, hoping the Tubo soldiers would focus on him instead of the furnace room.
• Two beauties tending the emperor whispered about suspicious ginseng soup and past deaths, stirring his buried suspicions as he lay unable to move or speak.
• Gu Moli ordered Elder Shen and Chu Tianxing to treat the emperor when his breathing grew labored.
• Chu Tianxing's acupuncture revealed dark blood and signs that the emperor had been taking incompatible warming tonics.
• Elder Shen said the tonics came from the staff of the empress's private storeroom pharmacy.

The empress brought Gu Nian'an to the emperor’s bedside and pressed for him to be named crown prince while the emperor lay paralyzed. Chu Tianxing stopped the prince and revealed that his clothing carried a poisonous scent that could kill the emperor, leaving the empress’s scheme exposed.

• Gu Moli fed the emperor medicine as the empress arrived with Gu Nian'an.
• The empress argued that Gu Nian'an should be named crown prince to steady the realm, despite Gao Fu's objection that the adoption rites were incomplete.
• Gu Moli calmly welcomed the empress's proposal and invited Gu Nian'an to approach the emperor.
• Chu Tianxing seized Gu Nian'an and accused someone of bringing poison to the emperor.
• Chu Tianxing explained that the incense on Gu Nian'an's clothes became deadly when mixed with the purple-gold sandalwood in the emperor's medicine.

Chu Tianxing and Elder Shen exposed the empress’s use of poison against Noble Consort Chen and accused her of poisoning Gu Nian'an. The emperor believed the empress had tried to kill him and struck her with a jade cup, leaving her bleeding as the confrontation continued.

• Chu Tianxing identified the poison on Gu Nian'an's collar as South Sea dragon-scale agarwood and accused the empress of harming the harem.
• Elder Shen revealed that the same agarwood and Western Regions withered-blood vine had been used to poison Noble Consort Chen sixteen years earlier, and presented a ledger bearing the empress's seal.
• The empress accused Gu Moli of planting the poison, while Gu Moli pretended to fear her and sought the emperor's protection.
• Chu Tianxing challenged the empress's accusation, arguing that Gu Moli could not have obtained or prepared the poison in the hall.
• The emperor mistook the confrontation for an attempt to poison him, seized a jade medicine cup, and hurled it at the empress, cutting her forehead.

Gu Moli helped depose the empress and secure control of the palace while the emperor remained gravely weak. In Yi Prefecture, Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, and Su Yao struggled to recover after an exhausting night with Prince Yi.

• The emperor ordered the empress deposed, and Gao Fu had the Imperial Guards take her and Gu Nian'an to the Palace Prison.
• The empress cursed Gu Chengshi and warned that Gu Mochen and Gu Moran would rebel, while Chu Tianxing dismissed her accusations and explained that the emperor was no longer in immediate danger.
• Gu Moli arranged for the sixth prince to be confined, reassured the emperor that the court and palace would be managed, and privately urged Gu Moran to work hard as she cleared his path in the capital.
• At Prince Yi's residence, Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue emerged exhausted from a warm chamber, trading barbs as they struggled down the steps.
• Su Yao remained in bed, complained about the light and Prince Yi's stamina, and said nobody should expect her to get up that day.

Meng Jiuning and Yun Shuyue spent the night enduring Gu Moran’s assigned tasks, with Meng auditing corrupt accounts and Yun peeling chestnuts, while the other women recovered in bed. After Meng uncovered embezzlement tied to missing warhorses, Gu Moran withheld the promised medicinal-herb permit and claimed Dali’s rebel lords had hired Mount Qingcheng disciples to assassinate her.

• Shen Ling'er, Xie Wanqing, and Liu Ruyan lay exhausted in bed after serving His Highness, while Meng Jiuning worked through corrupt ledgers and Yun Shuyue struggled to peel raw chestnuts.
• Meng Jiuning complained that Gu Moran had saddled her with twelve books of rotten accounts and evidence of embezzlement, while Yun Shuyue suspected he was tormenting them all.
• Gu Moran arrived refreshed, mocked Yun Shuyue’s mangled chestnuts, and caught her hiding sugar-roasted chestnuts.
• Meng Jiuning reported that officials had falsely claimed the loss of seven hundred warhorses and diverted the money to accounts at the Datong Money House in Yi Prefecture.
• Gu Moran pocketed Meng Jiuning’s calculations and claimed that Dali’s Duan and Gao families had enlisted Mount Qingcheng disciples to assassinate her, surprising her because she believed Pu Yunshan and his father supported her.

Gu Moran reassured Meng Jiuning that he had sent supplies to aid Dali, and she formally thanked him for saving her people. Her sincere trust earned him a sword-intent reward, advancing his cultivation to the Third Rank and granting him the technique Turn Finger into Sword.

• Gu Moran told Meng Jiuning that Pu Yunshan was escorting three hundred carts of medicinal herbs through Wild Wolf Valley to help Dali.
• Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue stumbled into the pavilion, tried to hide their weakness, and were sent with the others to breakfast before waiting in the front hall.
• Meng Jiuning inspected the convoy’s receipts and discovered that Gu Moran had paid for the supplies, route expenses, and death benefits from Prince Yi’s private treasury.
• Meng Jiuning bowed to Gu Moran and thanked him for saving Dali’s people.
• The system reported that Meng Jiuning’s sincere trust raised her favorability to 60, rewarded Gu Moran with Pure Yang Limitless Sword Intent, advanced him from the fourth-rank peak to the Third Rank lower stage, and gave him Turn Finger into Sword.

Gu Moran advanced his martial arts while Chen Qing carried Prince An's seal and military plans toward the Tubo camp, hoping to exploit the conflict between three sides. The Tubo patrol captured Chen Qing, but when he saw their commander Zhaxi Dawa, Chen Qing was captivated by him.

• Gu Moran advanced his internal energy and demonstrated his precision by snapping a twig from across the courtyard.
• Chen Qing traveled through a snowstorm with Prince An's bronze seal and the sheepskin defense plans, intending to stir up conflict among Anyang, Yi Prefecture, and Dali.
• Chen Qing fell into a hidden pit and was captured by Tubo outriders, who found the seal and plans on him.
• The Tubo outriders took Chen Qing to their camp and presented the documents to commander Zhaxi Dawa.
• Chen Qing met Zhaxi Dawa and became instantly fascinated by the imposing commander.

Chen Qing tried to win over Zhaxi Dawa by flirting and offering military intelligence, even as Zhaxi had him beaten. Zhaxi finally ordered his guards to lock Chen Qing in an ironwood cage behind the cookhouse, but Chen Qing kept calling affectionate warnings after him as he was dragged away.

• Zhaxi Dawa questioned Chen Qing about who sent him and where he got the defense plans, while Chen introduced himself as Prince An's chief military adviser and offered the plans as a gift.
• Chen Qing fussed over Zhaxi's cold mare's milk wine and praised his blade, prompting Zhaxi to threaten him and then pull back when Chen pressed his neck against the blade.
• Chen Qing wiped Zhaxi's muddy boots and offered to reveal Prince An's covert agents and help Zhaxi take Yi Prefecture and attack Anyang.
• Zhaxi ordered his guards to whip Chen until he told the truth, but Chen kept expressing concern for Zhaxi and flirting through the beating.
• Zhaxi stopped the beating and ordered Chen locked in an ironwood cage behind the cookhouse, while Chen shouted affectionate reminders as the guards dragged him out.

Chen Qing’s incessant cooking advice drove Zhaxi Dawa to move his cage into the freezing wind and ban talk of romance. In Yi Prefecture, Zhen Meili infiltrated Prince Yi’s residence to investigate the young prince, but a faint report sounded as she swung toward his chamber.

• Chen Qing shouted cooking advice at the Tubo cooks from his cage, aggravating Zhaxi Dawa.
• Zhaxi Dawa ordered the guards to drag Chen Qing’s cage to the wind-exposed horse pens and threatened to cut out anyone’s tongue for mentioning women or love.
• Zhen Meili arrived in Yi Prefecture and learned that her father, Zhen Daijin, had gone south under orders from Prince Yi’s Residence while her second uncle, Zhen Shizhong, had fled to Shu.
• Zhen Meili entered Prince Yi’s residence at night and used a Mohist mechanism to swing toward the heated chamber where a young figure was reading.
• A faint report sounded from behind the chamber’s closed paper window as Zhen Meili neared the corridor railing.

Zhen Meili broke into Prince Yi’s residence to confront Gu Moran, but he destroyed her trap and exposed his knowledge of her mechanical weapon. Their exchange ended with Gu Moran explaining why her father was holding Bronze Gorge, leaving Zhen Meili’s anger softened by his remark about her uncle.

• Gu Moran used sword qi to shatter Zhen Meili’s mechanical box, dropping her onto the courtyard stones.
• Gu Moran saw Zhen Meili’s fate screen and learned that her original destiny involved a forced marriage, betrayal, and decades of revenge.
• Zhen Meili accused Gu Moran of attacking her mechanism and challenged him over his comfortable life while her father risked himself at Bronze Gorge.
• Zhen Meili noticed someone hiding inside and raised her hand crossbow, but Gu Moran warned her that its spring could jam and injure her.
• Gu Moran explained Bronze Gorge’s strategic importance and said Zhen Daijin was the right commander to defend it; his remark about Zhen Shizhong made Zhen Meili laugh.

Zhen Meili learned that Gu Moran had secretly sent medicinal herbs and swordsmen to Dali, then tried to steal his token and fell into his arms. Their encounter was interrupted when Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, Su Yao, Meng Jiuning, and Yun Shuyue entered the room.

• Gu Moran revealed that he had sent three hundred carts of medicinal herbs and three hundred Green City swordsmen through a secret route to Dali.
• Gu Moran explained that he was prolonging the conflict to draw the emperor and the second prince into a political trap and push his second brother toward the southwest.
• Zhen Meili realized Gu Moran had hidden his abilities, and he warned her to keep their conversation secret.
• Zhen Meili tried to take Gu Moran's black iron token, but his true qi jolted her wrist and sent her tumbling into his arms.
• Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, Su Yao, Meng Jiuning, and Yun Shuyue entered and found Zhen Meili hanging against Gu Moran.

After Zhen Meili was fined and ordered to revise heavy-crossbow designs, she worked through the night and brought a rapid-firing prototype to Gu Moran’s training ground. The chapter ended as she demonstrated its fourteen-bolt magazine and claimed it could pierce two layers of armor at close range.

• Su Yao and Meng Jiuning confronted Zhen Meili over entering Gu Moran’s residence and charged her five hundred taels for the damage and disturbance.
• Gu Moran ordered Zhen Meili to finish three dual-track heavy-crossbow designs before dawn, and a system report announced Lin Yichen’s victory over the Uyghurs.
• Zhen Meili worked overnight on the designs while Yun Shuyue ate her Luoyang sweets, and the two chased each other around the workshop.
• Zhen Meili completed the plans and assembled a mechanical heavy crossbow, then brought it to the training ground for Gu Moran to inspect.
• Zhen Meili loaded fourteen bolts into the crossbow and demonstrated its twin-wheel mechanism, claiming it could pierce two layers of armor within thirty paces.

Zhen Meili demonstrated a repeating heavy crossbow that impressed Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai, and Gu Moran ordered thirty built for Bronze Gorge while reducing her debt. At the Tubo camp, Chen Qing continued tormenting the soldiers until Zhaxi Dawa came to confront him, whereupon Chen Qing clung to him and offered intelligence and help attacking Yi Prefecture.

• Zhen Meili fired fourteen heavy bolts from her repeating crossbow, destroying five wooden dummies and silencing Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai.
• Gu Moran ordered Uncle Fu to have the workshop build thirty crossbows for Bronze Gorge and deducted fifty taels from Zhen Meili's IOU.
• Chen Qing harassed the Tubo guards and criticized the cook while imprisoned in a cage at the central army camp.
• Zhaxi Dawa ordered Chen Qing's cage opened and threatened to silence him for good.
• Chen Qing clung to Zhaxi Dawa's boots and offered secret passages, five hundred death warriors, and his help in attacking Yi Prefecture.

Gu Moran learned that the empress had been deposed and the sixth prince imprisoned, while his sister Gu Moli remained safe in the capital. At his manor, Liu Ruyan and Xie Wanqing pressed him to father an heir, arguing that the succession mattered to the people considering whether to rely on him.

• Zhaxi Dawa kicked Chen Qing into a snowbank and ordered his guards to stuff Chen Qing's mouth with hay after Chen Qing's shameless taunts drove him away.
• Gu Moran's convoy of three hundred carts of raw medicinal herbs passed through Wild Wolf Valley's hidden passage and headed for Dali's Northern Territory.
• Liu Ruyan told Gu Moran that the empress had been deposed and the sixth prince imprisoned, and he confirmed that Gu Moli was safe.
• Xie Wanqing and Liu Ruyan urged Gu Moran to stop avoiding fatherhood and get Su Yao pregnant, while he tried to deflect them with manor business and outstanding debts.
• Liu Ruyan reported that Prince An's people had stirred trouble at the camp gates and that southwest allies needed reassurance; Xie Wanqing argued that Gu Moran needed an heir to secure their confidence and become crown prince.

Gu Moran’s household debated what would happen to his future children, but Zhen Meili barged in and bluntly challenged them to judge whether he was capable of fathering one. She examined his build, leaving the women scandalized and Gu Moran caught in the spectacle.

• Xie Wanqing, Liu Ruyan, and Su Yao pressed Gu Moran to explain how his children would be provided for and who would inherit the principal-consort’s status.
• Zhen Meili entered with her mechanical drawings and mocked the household’s drawn-out discussion about having children.
• Zhen Meili said childbirth depended on fertile soil and a strong plow ox, making Yun Shuyue cough and the other women blush.
• Shen Ling'er arrived with medicine and asked what they meant by a plow ox, so Zhen Meili pointed to Gu Moran and questioned his ability to father a child.
• Zhen Meili patted Gu Moran’s shoulders and chest to assess his build, while Su Yao objected to her treating him like timber.