Chapter Summaries

At a lively dinner, Gu Moran’s wives grew closer and their favorability increased, while he learned that Ye Qingyun had gained a martial arts school backed by Zhou Wenyuan. Gu Moran planned to have Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai teach him martial arts and resolved to give Ye Qingyun a public stage in the capital.

• Gu Moran served food to his wives as they teased and bickered, and Xie Wanqing and Su Yao showed care for one another.
• Xie Wanqing became emotional over sharing a family meal, and the system reported favorability gains for the women at the table.
• Uncle Fu told Gu Moran that the Jizhou Chamber of Commerce had secretly bought and reopened a martial arts school for Ye Qingyun.
• Gu Moran decided not to disrupt Ye Qingyun’s training and instead planned to learn martial arts from Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai.
• Gu Moran resolved to let Ye Qingyun pursue fame while giving him another stage that the whole capital could see.

Gu Moran learned that Ye Qingyun’s bamboo-slip technique conflicted with orthodox martial arts and planned to exploit the danger by opening a rival school nearby. He arranged the school’s instructors, cover story, and free meals to attract Ye Qingyun’s attention, but had not yet explained why Ye Qingyun would leave his quiet training place.

• Gu Moran’s system confirmed that Ye Qingyun’s bamboo-slip technique circulated qi against the meridians and risked dangerous internal-energy circulation if practiced alongside orthodox martial arts for more than a month.
• Boss Zhao reported that the Shun'an Martial Arts School had been taken over with money linked to the Jizhou Chamber of Commerce and Zhou Wenyuan, and that Ye Qingyun was its sole practitioner.
• Gu Moran asked Boss Zhao to recruit trusted retired soldiers and three military martial-arts instructors, then chose the name Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School for a location two streets from Ye Qingyun.
• Gu Moran ordered the new school to offer a free first month, prioritize poor youths, and serve meat porridge, with Liu Laosan’s supposed vow to honor fallen comrades as its cover story.
• Gu Moran planned to attract Shuhe with open doors, free food, and visible martial training so he would tell Ye Qingyun about the school; Boss Zhao questioned why Ye Qingyun would switch from his secluded training place.

Gu Moran planned to draw Ye Qingyun to the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School by making him wait and watch others train, then let him learn orthodox techniques alongside his wild boxing. The chapter left Boss Zhao understanding that Ye Qingyun’s impatience and mixed training could lead him to ruin without Gu Moran openly interfering.

• Gu Moran concluded that Ye Qingyun wanted an audience and someone to test his moves on after losing at poetry.
• Gu Moran ordered Boss Zhao to make Ye Qingyun queue for three days and have an instructor perform grounded military boxing nearby.
• Gu Moran instructed the school to let Ye Qingyun join and teach him every technique without holding back.
• Boss Zhao realized Gu Moran intended to let orthodox training clash with Ye Qingyun’s wild boxing and impatience.
• Gu Moran said the school would follow its posted rules and leave Ye Qingyun responsible for the consequences of his training.

Gu Moran arranged a charity scheme that kept Ye Qingyun waiting while explaining why Chancellor Su feared Ye’s ties to the Su Clan and Prince Yi’s Residence. As Ye Qingyun trained in Shun'an Lane, Gu Moran decided to improve his own martial skills and brought food to Lin Qingdai; she asked whether he had come to hide from someone.

• Gu Moran ordered Boss Zhao to route the silver through the teahouse, hire instructors under the escort agency’s name, and advertise free lessons and porridge for the poor without linking the effort to Prince Yi’s Residence.
• Gu Moran read a note from Li Yuan warning that Ye Qingyun had stayed in the capital, then explained that Chancellor Su feared Ye might expose the Su Clan’s old debt to Ye’s family and force Su Yao into a conflict.
• Gu Moran chose not to reply to Chancellor Su, deciding that letting him remain uneasy would be more useful.
• Gu Moran saw that Ye Qingyun was training with his bamboo-slip technique and resolved to train at the residence, choosing Lin Qingdai as his first instructor.
• Gu Moran carried a food box into the Iron Plum Courtyard, where Lin Qingdai was wiping her sword, and she asked whether he had come to hide from someone.

Gu Moran brought food to Lin Qingdai and asked her to teach him martial techniques, claiming he feared being unable to protect himself. Lin Qingdai agreed to train him while suspecting he was hiding strength and secrets, and their first lesson began in Iron Plum Courtyard.

• Gu Moran brought Lin Qingdai a pork knuckle and asked her to teach him moves that could keep him alive.
• Lin Qingdai tested Gu Moran by pressing chopsticks into his wrist, and his training protection activated the Essence-Fortifying Hard Shirt.
• Lin Qingdai agreed to train Gu Moran for two hours a day and set rules, including that he could not ask where she learned her moves.
• Lin Qingdai ate some pork knuckle, then had Zitang fetch a wooden staff to begin training Gu Moran.

Lin Qingdai tested Gu Moran’s ability by striking him with a staff during his first martial arts lesson, while he hid his sixth-rank strength and concealed how much he could already perceive. After sending Zitang away, Lin Qingdai revealed she had long suspected Gu Moran was not entirely useless and questioned how his body had gained its strength.

• Lin Qingdai made Gu Moran take staff strikes to learn how to stand firm, and he endured the first two without falling.
• Gu Moran subtly deflected Lin Qingdai’s strikes, prompting her to notice his skill and question his claims about having never trained.
• Gu Moran blocked the strike aimed at his waist and claimed he had learned to run for his life after falling from a horse.
• Gu Moran anticipated Lin Qingdai’s sweep at his knees and let the staff pass his leg without stepping away.
• Lin Qingdai sent Zitang outside, told Gu Moran she had known since he took three moves from her father that he was not a complete good-for-nothing, and questioned how his body had gained its strength.

Lin Qingdai trained Gu Moran in how to survive a fight, and he admitted he was thinking about Ye Qingyun’s training. Gu Moran went to the Azure Wolf Courtyard to learn from Murong Xue, who asked whether someone was trying to harm him.

• Lin Qingdai taught Gu Moran to evade, retreat, and strike back, then warned him not to show off when Murong Xue taught him the saber.
• Gu Moran told Lin Qingdai that Ye Qingyun was training and explained he could not safely kill or drive him away; Lin Qingdai understood he did not want Ye Qingyun killed by the princely estate.
• Gu Moran left the courtyard with medicinal liquor, and the system reported that Lin Qingdai’s favorability had increased by ten after she approved of his seeking instruction.
• Gu Moran asked Uncle Fu to prepare supplies and treats for Batuer before heading to the Azure Wolf Courtyard.
• Murong Xue agreed to teach Gu Moran how to stay alive, and asked whether someone was trying to harm him.

Gu Moran trained with Murong Xue as she taught him to evade saber strikes, then learned that Ye Qingyun had shattered nine blue bricks with his palm. To draw Ye Qingyun into a trap, Gu Moran had Boss Zhao open the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School in the south of the city and make sure Ye heard about it but could not get in.

• Murong Xue taught Gu Moran to read an opponent’s shoulder, waist, and feet, then tested him with two live saber strikes; he dodged both and earned five favorability points.
• Murong Xue promised to protect Gu Moran from Ye Qingyun, while Gu Moran told her to let Ye stew rather than provoke him.
• Uncle Fu delivered Boss Zhao’s report that Ye Qingyun had shattered nine blue bricks, and Gu Moran ordered the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School’s sign put up to attract Ye Qingyun.
• Gu Moran instructed Boss Zhao to make sure Ye heard about the school but could not enter, hoping Ye would come to its entrance on his own.
• The next day, Boss Zhao told Gu Moran that the school’s sign was up.

Gu Moran watched the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School take shape with three instructors and a crowd of poor apprentices, expecting Ye Qingyun to be drawn in by the chance to show off. Shuhe saw the school’s meals and camaraderie while his young master went hungry, then ran off, leaving Gu Moran and Boss Zhao wondering whether to follow.

• Gu Moran approved Boss Zhao’s three instructors and learned that twenty-seven working-class apprentices had enrolled, with no scholars among them.
• Gu Moran disguised himself and went to watch the martial arts school, believing Ye Qingyun would come to display his skills after losing face at a poetry gathering.
• Liu Laosan encouraged a struggling water carrier with meat porridge, while Ma Liu and Sun Kui taught the apprentices punches and stances; Gu Moran decided to raise their wages.
• Shuhe arrived with two baked flatbreads and saw the apprentices eating porridge and enjoying their lessons, while his young master had refused help and left them short of food.
• Shuhe turned and ran, and Boss Zhao asked Gu Moran whether they should follow him.

Ye Qingyun hesitated outside Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School while its instructors mocked his pride and Shuhe eyed the free meat congee. He left without signing up, but when Shuhe suggested getting a free bowl, Ye Qingyun still had to decide whether to return.

• Gu Moran told Boss Zhao not to interfere as Ye Qingyun watched the martial arts school from Shun'an Lane.
• Shuhe told Ye Qingyun about the school’s fist lessons and meat congee, but Ye Qingyun refused to enter.
• Ma Liu, Liu Laosan, and Sun Kui challenged Ye Qingyun to line up to learn or come in to fight, while Shuhe defended his reputation as a renowned talent of Jizhou.
• Gu Moran told Boss Zhao that the extra meat in tomorrow’s congee was bait for people who genuinely wanted to learn fist techniques.
• Ye Qingyun left the school entrance without signing up and gave Shuhe two copper coins for hot soup.
• Shuhe suggested getting a free bowl at the Dragon Abyss entrance, where congee was free for the first thirty days.

After losing the poetry gathering, Ye Qingyun suspected Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School had ulterior motives, but watching Liu Laosan teach convinced him its instructors could help him improve. When Ma Liu offered Shuhe free leftover congee, Ye Qingyun insisted on knowing the price.

• Ye Qingyun refused to accept the Jizhou Chamber of Commerce's help and returned to the Shun'an courtyard with Shuhe, suspecting the martial arts school’s free lessons and porridge concealed a scheme.
• Shuhe described how Ma Liu and Liu Laosan taught students to improve their punches and balance, prompting Ye Qingyun to realize that practicing alone could not prepare him to face an opponent.
• That night, Ye Qingyun and Shuhe watched Liu Laosan train a water-carrying boy at Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School, and the boy improved by following his instructions.
• Liu Laosan noticed Ye Qingyun and Shuhe hiding outside, then welcomed Ye Qingyun to watch after he introduced himself as a passerby.
• Ma Liu offered Shuhe free leftover congee, but Ye Qingyun asked how much it cost.

Gu Moran tried to draw Ye Qingyun into Dragon Abyss by offering him food and a chance to learn proper footwork, then arranged a tournament to give him a stage. When the system warned that Chu Tianxing was heading for the capital, Gu Moran ordered a citywide welcome designed to steer the new chosen one.

• Ye Qingyun watched a young water carrier train at Dragon Abyss and recognized that the man’s firm stance could address a weakness in his own cultivation, but he left without accepting Liu Laosan’s invitation.
• Gu Moran saw that Ye Qingyun’s martial fame milestone was beginning and ordered more meat porridge, while Boss Zhao reported that Shuhe was nearly out of money.
• Gu Moran planned a small tournament in seven days, offering training clothes and meat porridge, and arranged to keep its funding and instructors’ pay separate from the school’s accounts.
• The system reported that Chu Tianxing was rapidly approaching the capital, so Gu Moran ordered Uncle Fu to watch every road and arrange distractions at inns and teahouses for a young man carrying a medicine chest.

Gu Moran recognized that the crown prince and second prince were both investigating the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School, and devised a plan to draw Ye Qingyun into its tournament. As he mapped the competing interests around the school, Shen Ling'er arrived with medicine.

• Xiao Shitou brought kidney-nourishing pastries from the crown prince and probed Gu Moran about the martial arts school, but Gu Moran deflected his questions.
• Gu Moran told Uncle Fu that both princes wanted to win him over and explained how he planned to stir up their political contest while pressuring his marriage-alliance families to choose sides.
• Boss Zhao reported that the second prince's people had investigated the school and that Ye Qingyun had sold his only table for flour and salt.
• Gu Moran ordered a five-tael tournament prize and plans to build a platform near Shun'an Courtyard, hoping the contest and the sight of meat-eating trainees would tempt Ye Qingyun.
• Gu Moran reviewed the crown prince's, second prince's, and Ye Qingyun's actions around Dragon Abyss as Shen Ling'er arrived to deliver medicine.

Gu Moran spent the night with Shen Ling'er before turning his attention back to the southern city's martial arts tournament. Ye Qingyun joined Dragon Abyss's minor tournament, passed the stance test, and was told to return the next day to learn basic fist techniques with the other students.

• Shen Ling'er visited Gu Moran with tea and stayed with him in the study's inner chamber after he set aside his work.
• Dragon Abyss's tournament notice offered five taels of silver for first place and meat porridge even to those who lost, drawing a crowd of hopeful contestants.
• Ye Qingyun refused the Second Prince's silver and went with Shuhe to register at Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School.
• Gu Moran watched Ye Qingyun join the line and told Boss Zhao to let the school's rules test him rather than have Liu Laosan pressure him.
• Ye Qingyun held his stance for half an incense stick and passed, but Liu Laosan told him to return tomorrow for basic fist practice with the other students.

Ye Qingyun joined the training queue, while Gu Moran trained with Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue to improve his strength and riding. During his third attempt to stay on Murong Xue’s horse, he grabbed her belt, leaving her demanding to know where he was holding on.

• Ye Qingyun asked Liu Laosan when the porters would get training clothes and agreed to compete for them by winning the minor tournament.
• Gu Moran told Boss Zhao and Uncle Fu that Ye Qingyun should train under the usual rules, then returned to Iron Plum Courtyard for Lin Qingdai to teach him staff work.
• Lin Qingdai recognized Gu Moran’s improved ability to redirect force, ended the lesson, and shared pork knuckle with him before he left for Azure Wolf Courtyard.
• Murong Xue made Gu Moran practice riding and sent him tumbling twice, while Batuer commented on his falls.
• On his third attempt, Gu Moran grabbed Murong Xue’s belt to keep from falling off the horse, and she asked where he was grabbing.

Gu Moran gained Murong Xue’s trust while training on horseback, but she scheduled him for more falls. At the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School, Ye Qingyun used the bamboo slips’ qi to speed up his punches, then learned that his raised qi left his stance unstable as he focused on becoming strong enough to defeat Gu Moran and Prince Yi’s Residence’s hidden guards.

• Murong Xue stopped the horse and let Gu Moran dismount after he clung to her belt, while Batuer told him that the princess had let him within trusting distance.
• Murong Xue’s affection for Gu Moran rose by seven, but she ordered him to take three more falls the next day.
• Ye Qingyun passed Liu Laosan’s stance test at the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School and tried channeling the bamboo slips’ qi into faster punches.
• Sun Kui warned Ye Qingyun that lifting his qi made his roots unstable, but Ye Qingyun insisted that speed could save him from an enemy’s blade.
• Ma Liu sparred with Ye Qingyun and knocked him off balance, while Liu Laosan told him that Dragon Abyss trained students to survive long enough to throw another punch.
• Ye Qingyun resolved to grow strong enough to defeat Gu Moran and the hidden guards at Prince Yi’s Residence.

Ye Qingyun ignored Liu Laosan’s warning and pushed his qi too hard while practicing, as Gu Moran’s men watched for signs of injury. Near the capital, Chu Tianxing treated a woman who claimed to be poor, but she fled without paying him.

• Gu Moran told Boss Zhao to have Liu Laosan neither provoke nor flatter Ye Qingyun, and ordered him to watch for symptoms after Ye Qingyun practiced.
• Ye Qingyun returned to Shun'an Lane and practiced angrily, swallowed blood, and insisted he could not wait six months.
• Chu Tianxing counted his last seven copper coins and argued with the tea shed owner over the high prices.
• A woman begged Chu Tianxing to treat her stomach pain, and he diagnosed her with having eaten something bad.
• Chu Tianxing gave the woman pain-relieving powder, but she ran off without paying after claiming her mother-in-law was about to give birth.

At Prince Yi's Residence, Liu Ruyan grew more comfortable at the family dining table, while Gu Moran arranged for the impoverished Chu Tianxing to work near Ye Qingyun. The chapter ended with Gu Moran spotting Murong Xue preparing to leave the residence alone on horseback at night.

• Chu Tianxing failed to attract patients with his five-copper pulse readings and argued with a tea-stall owner about his poverty.
• At dinner, Shen Ling'er, Su Yao, Lin Qingdai, Murong Xue, and the others traded barbs, while Liu Ruyan asked for more rice and Gu Moran's system reported her favorability had risen.
• Gu Moran learned Chu Tianxing had been scammed fourteen times and was left with only five coins and his medicine chest.
• Gu Moran ordered Chen Er to bring Chu Tianxing to a charity hall near Ye Qingyun's courtyard and told the staff to test his medical skills before letting him show himself.
• Gu Moran saw Murong Xue leading a horse through the rear courtyard alone, dressed for riding with a saber at her side.

Gu Moran accompanied Murong Xue on a moonlit ride, sharing her grassland customs and milk wine, while she grew closer to him. The story then shifted to Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School, where Shuhe and Ye Qingyun arrived at the newly erected fighting platform.

• Gu Moran followed Murong Xue into the rear courtyard clearing and rode beside her beneath the full moon.
• Murong Xue explained that riding beside a man under the moon was significant on the grasslands, and Gu Moran told her he wanted both people to be willing.
• Murong Xue shared her waterskin with Gu Moran, and Batuer warned him that sharing one was no small matter among the Northern Territory people.
• The system reported that Murong Xue's favorability had increased by ten and upgraded Gu Moran's tag to “The one who rides beside her beneath the moon.”
• Murong Xue told Gu Moran to bring a bigger horse the next night, while he joked that she thought his horse was short.
• At Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School's fighting platform, Shuhe followed the smell of congee until Ye Qingyun told him to sign up first.

Ye Qingyun passed the martial hall’s horse-stance test and shattered a target with his punches, but the instructors stopped him from testing weapons because his qi had not settled. He left to return the next day, hiding his numb hand, while Gu Moran ordered Zhao Si to watch him that night.

• Ye Qingyun held his horse stance for two incense sticks and passed the first event.
• Ye Qingyun used the bamboo slips’ surging heat to split a wooden post with his third punch, drawing the crowd’s admiration.
• Sun Kui warned Ye Qingyun that his qi surge could hurt him, but Ye Qingyun denied that his left hand was numb.
• Liu Laosan and Sun Kui stopped Ye Qingyun from testing weapons and told him to return the next day.
• Ye Qingyun braced himself against a wall after leaving, and Gu Moran told Zhao Si to watch his left hand for numbness.