Chapter Summaries

As Gu Moran prepared to march against the Japanese pirates, his allies presented their military, medical, scouting, and shipbuilding preparations. Meng Jiuning, fearing she would be left behind without a place at Prince Yi Prefecture’s Residence, offered intelligence and an antidote formula from Dali.

• Shen Ling'er loaded medicine and gave Gu Moran pills for his cough, while Lin Qingdai promised to guard the central army and Murong Xue claimed command of the vanguard cavalry.
• Yun Shuyue reported that her couriers had turned ten covert posts into route sentry stations and would scout ahead of the government relay horses.
• Zhen Meili presented ship plans with reinforced hull wings and warned that the wrought-iron nails had to be heated thoroughly before installation.
• Meng Jiuning knelt before Gu Moran and offered a Dali scroll describing East Sea reefs and Japanese ship signals, along with knowledge of a formula to counter poison used on their blades.

Gu Moran ordered Meng Jiuning to join the march against the wokou and accepted Pu Yunshan’s request to accompany the army after he secured the supply route. Pu Yunshan reunited with Qin Hongxiu, who treated his wounds and confessed that she only wanted him to stay alive, while a strange garlic-and-braised-meat smell filled the stables.

• Meng Jiuning offered to accompany the army and interpret for the troops, and Gu Moran told her to prepare to leave the next day.
• Pu Yunshan reported that the remaining Tubo forces in Bronze Gorge had been eliminated and asked Gu Moran for half a day’s leave to visit Qin Hongxiu.
• Gu Moran granted Pu Yunshan leave, and Pu Yunshan rushed to the Foot Care Hall to see Qin Hongxiu.
• Qin Hongxiu dragged Pu Yunshan inside, treated his wounds, and kissed him after he said he would seek an imperial title for her through military merit.
• Qin Hongxiu told Pu Yunshan that she only wanted him alive as the scarlet curtains fell around them.
• A strange smell of garlic and braised meat filled the stable area as someone called for the horses to move aside.

Tuoba Mang departed for the war amid farewell gifts and encouragement from neighborhood women. In Luoyang, Gu Moli waited for her brother while keeping watch for threats, but Mei Zhongjun arrived with armed guards and accused her of harboring stolen horses.

• Tuoba Mang promised the neighborhood women he would smash island-devil ships and bring them coral and pearls.
• Gu Moli told Qingwu they would wait in Luoyang for Brother Ran and protect her imperial brother from hidden attackers.
• Mei Zhongjun entered the inn in a fortified wheelchair with four armed guards, who blocked its exits.
• Mei Zhongjun claimed he was hunting White Lotus Sect rebels and accused Gu Moli's horses of being stolen from a government storehouse.

Gu Moli discovered that Mei Zhongjun was faking paralysis and used his interest in her to secure an invitation to the Marquis of Luoyang's Residence. The chapter ended with Qingwu secretly breaking his leg while he tried to hide his pain and protect his deception.

• Mei Zhongjun stopped threatening Gu Moli and Qingwu after seeing Gu Moli's face, then invited them to the marquis's residence.
• Gu Moli noticed that Mei Zhongjun's legs were muscular and recognized his guards as palace-trained men, while Mei Zhongjun boasted about his father's power over Luoyang's gates.
• Gu Moli decided that gaining leverage over the residence could help her brother Gu Moran, and pretended to be frightened and interested in Mei Zhongjun's offer.
• Mei Zhongjun reached for Gu Moli, and Qingwu struck his shin beneath the cloak, breaking the leg he had been pretending was paralyzed.
• Mei Zhongjun suppressed his scream and insisted that he was fine, trying to keep his false disability secret.

Gu Moli posed as a helpless orphan to gain Mei Zhongjun’s trust and enter the Marquis of Luoyang’s Residence, intending to take control of its wealth. A maid hurried out to greet Mei Zhongjun and objected to his bringing home an outsider.

• Qingwu struck Mei Zhongjun’s leg, but he secretly used his internal qi to withstand the blow while pretending to be crippled.
• Mei Zhongjun invited Gu Moli into his carriage, and she claimed that bandits had killed her father and robbed her and Qingwu.
• Mei Zhongjun promised to shelter Gu Moli at his residence and revealed that Prince Yi had requested troops to fight Japanese pirates in Dengzhou.
• Mei Zhongjun brought Gu Moli to the Marquis of Luoyang’s Residence, where she resolved to swallow the estate’s riches.
• A maid rushed out to meet Mei Zhongjun and worriedly questioned why he had brought home an outsider of unknown origins.

Gu Moli entered the marquis’s manor and was sent to the dilapidated Fallen Plum Studio after Lu Xuerou intervened. There, Gu Moli and Qingwu discovered poison hidden in a fur shawl and planned to use it against Lu Xuerou before dawn.

• Caicui tried to stop Mei Zhongjun from bringing Gu Moli inside, but Lu Xuerou arrived and persuaded him to lodge Gu Moli in Fallen Plum Studio.
• Gu Moli accepted the cold, ruined courtyard without complaint and told Qingwu to call her mistress rather than Princess.
• Caicui delivered Lu Xuerou’s white fox-fur shawl, and Qingwu found Touch-Me-Not Frost concealed in its lining.
• Gu Moli ordered Qingwu to collect the poison and put it into the soft cloth Lu Xuerou used to wash her face before dawn.

At the marquis's estate, Gu Moli watched Lu Xuerou suffer a sudden facial outbreak and offered a remedy while asking the old matriarch for refuge in Falling Plum Studio. The old matriarch granted her request, though Gu Moli's resemblance to Noble Consort Chen continued to trouble her.

• The old matriarch examined Gu Moli's impeccable manners and thought she resembled Noble Consort Chen.
• Lu Xuerou burst into the hall with a blistering rash, and Mei Zhongjun recoiled as she blamed Gu Moli.
• The old matriarch ordered Lu Xuerou restrained and sent for a physician.
• Gu Moli suggested a soothing herbal remedy and asked to stay in Falling Plum Studio to pray and avoid the household's troublemakers.
• The old matriarch silenced Mei Zhongjun and accepted Gu Moli's request, while remaining unsettled by her resemblance to Noble Consort Chen.

Gu Moli secured the Old Matriarch’s order to seal Fallen Plum Studio, while Gu Moran’s fleet struggled through a storm on its way to Jiangling. A system message revealed that Gu Moli had disrupted Mei Zhongjun’s original storyline, leaving Gu Moran alarmed that his little sister was in Luoyang and might be in danger.

• The Old Matriarch ordered Fallen Plum Studio closed for secluded cultivation and threatened anyone who trespassed, while Gu Moli thanked her for the protection.
• During a storm on the river, Gu Moran caught Shen Ling’er and Zhen Meili as the ship lurched, while Lin Qingdai stopped Meng Jiuning from falling into his lap.
• Murong Xue mocked Meng Jiuning and Zhen Meili for failing to keep their footing on the rocking ship.
• The system told Gu Moran that Gu Moli had disrupted Mei Zhongjun’s romantic storyline and awarded him fifty thousand taels.
• Gu Moran realized Gu Moli was in Luoyang and worried that she had gone there without protection.

Gu Moran ordered the women to travel with him from Jiangling to Luoyang while the main army continued downstream as a decoy. That night, he kissed Meng Jiuning and went to her cabin after she said she would wait for him.

• Gu Moran told Pu Yunshan and Xue Huan that he would take three hundred elite soldiers from Jiangling to Luoyang ahead of the main army, which would follow the planned route with flags and drums to disguise his absence.
• Gu Moran informed Shen Ling'er, Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, Zhen Meili, Yun Shuyue, and Meng Jiuning that they would travel with him to Luoyang using light carriages and swift horses.
• Gu Moran checked the affection list and noted Yun Shuyue, Meng Jiuning, and Zhen Meili's affection values.
• Meng Jiuning joined Gu Moran on deck at night and asked for an explanation; he kissed her and promised that she would receive what she was due.
• Meng Jiuning told Gu Moran she would wait for him in her cabin, and he later joined her there.

Gu Moran received a map of Dali, royal medicinal formulas, and a permanent increase to his martial perception after Meng Jiuning’s affection reached the required threshold. Three days later, he and the women disembarked at a remote shoal and met Tuoba Mang, who had prepared horses and a reinforced carriage for their journey.

• Meng Jiuning’s affection reached 75, severing her original fate line, and Gu Moran received the map, three medicinal formulas, and improved martial perception.
• Gu Moran found Zhen Meili asleep over her mechanism blueprints, but an accidental fall and kiss led Shen Ling'er to mistake the situation for an affair.
• Three days later, Gu Moran and the women disembarked on a desolate shoal north of the river.
• Yun Shuyue led the group through the reeds, where Tuoba Mang arrived with horses and a prepared carriage.
• Zhen Meili examined the carriage’s iron-reinforced mechanisms with interest.

Gu Moran traveled toward Luoyang in a crowded carriage while the women around him competed for his attention. Meanwhile, Mei Zhongjun suspected the woman who had stayed at Fallen Plum Studio had deceived him and ordered his men to surround the courtyard.

• Zhen Meili inspected the carriage axle, argued with Murong Xue, and sat beside Gu Moran after he told her to rest.
• Shen Ling'er massaged Gu Moran's wrist, while Lin Qingdai repeatedly blocked Meng Jiuning from approaching him with her sachet.
• The carriage lurched, and Gu Moran steadied Shen Ling'er as she fell into his arms, intensifying the women’s silent rivalry.
• Dingzi told Mei Zhongjun that his men had found no record of Gu Li'er and described the suspiciously neat room she had occupied.
• Mei Zhongjun ordered Dingzi to deploy ten men around Fallen Plum Studio and watch the courtyard from its surrounding walls and a woodshed roof.

Mei Zhongjun ordered crossbowmen to watch Fallen Plum Studio while he investigated Gu Moli and her maid, Qingwu. Gu Moli discovered the ambush and chose to leave the men in place as she judged Mei Zhongjun’s intentions.

• Mei Zhongjun told Dingzi to ready ten crossbowmen with drug-coated bolts and forbid them to fire without written orders.
• Mei Zhongjun and Dingzi examined two worn characters copied from Gu Moli’s saddlebag and questioned whether she was really Gu Li'er.
• Dingzi reported that Qingwu had displayed enough hidden strength to suggest she was trained for close-quarters killing.
• Mei Zhongjun returned to Pine and Crane Hall, concealing his supposedly paralyzed legs beneath a blanket.
• Qingwu told Gu Moli that crossbowmen with almond-scented bolts were positioned around the courtyard, and Gu Moli ordered her not to attack them.
• Gu Moli concluded that Mei Zhongjun suspected she was more than she appeared but had not yet decided how to act.

Gu Moli learned that Mei Zhongjun had secretly traded repeating crossbows with Princess Consort An for more than three months, giving her evidence of a grave crime. With Mei Zhongjun’s crossbowmen surrounding her, she ordered Qingwu to prepare a disturbance and obtain an item linked to Princess Consort An, intending to lure him into acting recklessly.

• Qingwu told Gu Moli that Shiqing and Huayi, her mother's agents, had confirmed her identity and brought word that her mother knew she was in Luoyang.
• Gu Moli refused Qingwu's suggestion to leave the marquis's residence, saying she would not let Mei Zhongjun get away with cursing her imperial brother.
• After three days under watch by Mei Zhongjun's crossbowmen, Gu Moli received a secret message that he had traded repeating crossbows with Princess Consort An for over three months.
• Gu Moli ordered Qingwu to learn when the marquis's heir would return, cause a major disturbance when he arrived, and obtain something bearing the pattern of Princess Consort An's sleeping quarters.
• Gu Moli explained that she planned to feed the hungry wolf by tempting Mei Zhongjun with bloody bait.

Gu Moran’s party traveled toward Luoyang, where a carriage jolt left Shen Ling'er on his lap and Zhen Meili called out from beneath the carriage. At Fallen Plum Studio, Qingwu staged the discovery and burning of silk bearing Prince An’s python insignia, but a hidden watcher hooked the half-burned cloth away; Mei Zhongjun recognized its pattern.

• Gu Moran’s party continued toward Luoyang as Shen Ling'er gave him Heart-Clearing Powder and explained how she had adjusted its formula.
• A sudden carriage jolt tipped Gu Moran onto Shen Ling'er, and he lifted her onto his lap while the others reacted and Zhen Meili asked who was bouncing above.
• Two days later at Fallen Plum Studio, Qingwu retrieved a mud-wrapped bamboo tube containing silk embroidered with half of Prince An’s five-clawed golden python motif.
• Qingwu pretended to panic and burn the silk, then let the half-burned cloth fall within reach of a hidden watcher’s flying claw.
• Mei Zhongjun examined the stolen silk and recognized the python motif.

Mei Zhongjun recognized the python seal as evidence of his household’s dealings and ordered an attack on Gu Moli and Qingwu to destroy the remaining proof. After Qingwu held off the first volley of poisoned bolts, a fire and the arrival of Mei Boqian’s guards disrupted the assault, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Mei Zhongjun recognized the seal on Gu Moli’s silk as the mark tied to his secret crossbow shipments and feared she had uncovered his crimes.
• Mei Zhongjun ordered Dingzi to send ten crossbowmen to kill Gu Moli and Qingwu, burn their papers, and blame Lu Xuerou.
• Gu Moli identified the attackers’ repeating crossbows and told Qingwu to survive the first volley while she waited for another intervention.
• Qingwu blocked the volley with a table and her twin blades, but a poisoned bolt wounded her shoulder.
• A fire broke out in the front courtyard as the crossbowmen prepared to reload, and Mei Boqian arrived with more than thirty guards and rushed toward the rear courtyard.

Mei Boqian discovered that Mei Zhongjun had faked his paralysis and secretly commanded armed crossbowmen, then fought him and his men in the courtyard. Zhongjun broke into Fallen Plum Studio to kill Gu Moli, leaving Qingwu struggling to hold him off as poison weakened her.

• Mei Boqian found ten crossbowmen surrounding Mei Zhongjun in his wheelchair and confronted him about the forbidden weapons and hidden warriors.
• Mei Boqian ordered his thirty personal guards to attack, and they overwhelmed most of Zhongjun’s crossbowmen while Dingzi fought to protect him.
• Mei Zhongjun stood on his supposedly paralyzed legs, revealed a hidden knife, and rushed into Fallen Plum Studio to kill Gu Moli.
• Mei Zhongjun cut down two guards at the doorway and charged at Gu Moli, but Qingwu intercepted his strike with her twin blades.
• Mei Zhongjun’s force drove Qingwu backward as the poison in her arm weakened her and threatened to make her buckle.

Mei Zhongjun attacked Gu Moli and her companions, who fought back until Shiqing revealed that Gu Moli was Grand Princess Anle. Mei Zhongjun called them all impostors and summoned Mei Boqian, who ordered his archers to kill everyone inside.

• Shiqing and Huayi broke into the room and attacked Mei Zhongjun as he pressed Qingwu and Gu Moli.
• Gu Moli used a brass lamp, bed curtain, and hairpin to disrupt Mei Zhongjun's attacks while Shiqing and Huayi tried to restrain him.
• Shiqing declared that Gu Moli was Grand Princess Anle of Great Yan, but Mei Zhongjun accused them of impersonating the imperial family and vowed to kill them.
• Outside, Mei Boqian heard the claim and weighed the danger of Gu Moli being genuine while surveying the dead and the marquis's weapons.
• Mei Boqian ordered his guards to ready their bows and shoot everyone inside the main room.

Mei Zhongjun took a black drug and attacked Gu Moli while Mei Boqian’s archers fired into the room. Just as Mei Zhongjun was about to kill Gu Moli, Zhen Meili and Gu Moran arrived as reinforcements.

• Mei Zhongjun swallowed a red pill from Prince An's Residence, and the drug drove him into a violent frenzy.
• Mei Boqian ordered his archers to fire, wounding Huayi and Shiqing while the women tried to shield Gu Moli.
• Mei Zhongjun broke Qingwu’s wrist, kicked Huayi into a wall, and struck Shiqing down before advancing on Gu Moli.
• Gu Moli blocked Mei Zhongjun’s saber with her copper hairpin, but the weapon bent under his strength.
• Zhen Meili arrived atop the courtyard wall with a heavy crossbow, and Gu Moran vaulted into the courtyard.

Gu Moran arrived at the marquis's residence in time to save Gu Moli from Mei Zhongjun, then reunited with his shaken sister and arranged care for her injured companions. He turned to confront the crippled Mei Zhongjun, who remained pinned to the bedpost.

• Gu Moran arrived with Zhen Meili, and she fired the heavy crossbow through the south wall, pinning Mei Zhongjun to a bedpost.
• Lin Qingdai severed Mei Zhongjun's wrist tendons, and Murong Xue stabbed the backs of his knees, disabling him.
• Gu Moran wrapped his cloak around Gu Moli, and she clung to him and sobbed with relief.
• Gu Moli told Gu Moran that Qingwu and the others were hurt, and Shen Ling'er examined their injuries and treated Shiqing.
• Mei Zhongjun demanded to know who Gu Moran was, and Gu Moran approached him and struck from a distance with his palm.

Mei Hongye returned to the marquis’s residence after receiving a sealed warning that someone intended to kill Princess Anle, and recognized Gu Moli as the princess. As Mei Hongye prepared to kneel, Mei Zhongjun revealed he had survived and fired three poisoned arrows at Gu Moli, leaving her with little room to dodge.

• Gu Moran killed Mei Zhongjun and received a cultivation reward, while Mei Boqian watched in shock.
• Mei Hongye arrived to find the courtyard littered with corpses and Mei Zhongjun pinned to a bedpost.
• Mei Hongye recalled receiving a sealed letter warning that someone in his household planned to kill the Princess Royal, and he hurried to the residence with sixty soldiers.
• Gu Moli stepped into view, and Mei Hongye recognized her as Princess Anle and began to kneel.
• Mei Zhongjun used a stone pellet to trigger hidden sleeve arrows in his wheelchair, sending three poisoned arrows toward Gu Moli as she tried to dodge.