Chapter Summaries

Gu Moran stayed with the distressed Shen Ling'er while copying evidence about the Shen Family’s pill case, then learned that Xiao Jinghan might soon be released from prison. A covert letter from Crown Princess Chen Qinglan reached Gu Moli, whose reaction suggested it contained a hidden message.

• Gu Moran copied Tao Wujiu’s testimony about the Shen Family’s medicine furnaces while Shen Ling'er slept beside him.
• A system warning told Gu Moran that Xiao Jinghan’s release from the imperial prison was imminent and that the crown prince’s forces were drawing near.
• Uncle Fu informed Gu Moran that Chen Qinglan had sent a letter to her younger sister, and Gu Moran ordered an investigation into who handled the prison guard roster.
• Shen Ling'er woke and asked Gu Moran to stay close, so he lay beside her on the couch until dawn.
• Chen Qingyuan brought Chen Qinglan’s letter to Gu Moli, who reread its seemingly ordinary family chatter and noticed something concealed in it.

Gu Moli used Chen Qingyuan to spread a warning about former-dynasty Xiao Clan music and the empress dowager’s birthday banquet, while also planting questions about a general amnesty and its name list. At the Xu Clan’s gathering, Chen Qingyuan delivered the warning, and the Zhou Clan’s young lady confirmed that palace officials were checking the music before the hostess raised a more serious concern.

• Gu Moli read Chen Qinglan’s letter, asked about her life in the Eastern Palace, and told Chen Qingyuan to warn others about former-dynasty Xiao Clan music at the empress dowager’s birthday banquet.
• Gu Moli instructed Chen Qingyuan to mention a possible general amnesty and urge careful checking of the release list, while ensuring that the Xu Clan’s and Zhou Clan’s young ladies would carry the information onward.
• At the Xu Clan’s banquet, Chen Qingyuan repeated the warning and attributed it to a nun at Ganye Temple.
• The Zhou Clan’s young lady said inner-palace officials were checking the birthday banquet’s musical selections, and the Xu Clan’s young lady began to raise another serious concern.

Gu Moli and Noble Consort Chen uncovered a likely Eastern Palace plot involving the Empress Dowager’s birthday amnesty and the former dynasty’s Xiao Clan. They ordered an investigation into the imperial prison while keeping the warning from Gu Moli’s imperial brother for now.

• At a gathering, Chen Qingyuan heard the Zhou and Xu young ladies discuss the amnesty register and the dangers of admitting people from the former dynasty.
• The Zhou young lady passed warnings about former-dynasty music and names on the amnesty register to a court lady, who added them to the birthday banquet’s list of taboos.
• Eunuch Zhang showed Noble Consort Chen that the Bureau of Ceremonial had specifically listed the former dynasty’s Xiao Clan as taboo.
• Gu Moli revealed that Chen Qinglan’s letter had hinted at an Eastern Palace scheme involving the birthday banquet, the amnesty register, and the Xiao Clan.
• Gu Moli and Noble Consort Chen suspected the crown prince planned to free a former-dynasty prisoner and use that person against Gu Moli’s imperial brother.
• Noble Consort Chen ordered Eunuch Zhang to investigate Xiao Clan prisoners from the past ten years, especially those who should have died, and told Gu Moli not to alert her imperial brother yet.

Gu Moli warned Noble Consort Chen that the Eastern Palace might use the empress dowager’s birthday banquet to extract Xiao Jinghan from the imperial prison, while Gu Moran uncovered signs of a planned prison fire. Gu Moran asked Lin Qingdai to help protect the capital’s defenses, and they prepared to send Batuer out in disguise to investigate.

• Gu Moli warned Noble Consort Chen that the Eastern Palace could exploit the birthday banquet, guard changes, and case-file handover to move against the imperial prison, prompting Noble Consort Chen to order a quiet investigation.
• Xiao Jinghan realized that the crown prince’s men intended to use a fire in the western part of the prison as cover for his escape.
• Uncle Fu told Gu Moran that a prison clerk surnamed Wei had checked the guard roster and bought old wax and pine oil, and Gu Moran recognized the danger to Xiao Jinghan and Liu Ruyan.
• Gu Moran went to Iron Plum Courtyard and told Lin Qingdai that the Eastern Palace might extract an old retainer of the former dynasty’s Xiao Clan using a prison fire.
• Lin Qingdai offered her father’s token to mobilize the Grand Commandant’s forces for the capital’s defenses, but Gu Moran advised her not to go herself.
• Gu Moran asked Batuer to disguise herself as a night-soil collector so she could leave the residence without attracting attention.

Batuer delivered Lin Qingdai and Gu Moran’s warning about a possible prison escape to Lin Zhenshan, disguised as a night-soil carrier. Lin Zhenshan confirmed a suspicious gap in the imperial prison’s guard rotation and asked Batuer about the war in the Northern Territory.

• Gu Moran and Lin Qingdai told Batuer to warn Lin Zhenshan about a possible escape involving a former member of the previous dynasty’s Xiao Clan, and Lin Qingdai added that she might be pregnant.
• Batuer entered the Grand Commandant’s Residence disguised as a night-soil carrier and gave Lin Zhenshan the warning.
• Lin Zhenshan reacted with disbelief when Batuer said Lin Qingdai might be pregnant, and Batuer suggested Gu Moran was fast in bed.
• Lin Zhenshan checked the city defense duty roster and found a gap in the west alley’s guard rotation near the imperial prison.
• Batuer relayed Gu Moran’s guess that the prisoner might not be an ordinary remnant of the previous dynasty, and Lin Zhenshan asked her about the war in the Northern Territory.

Lin Zhenshan prepared to watch the imperial prison as the crown prince arranged to free Xiao Jinghan and use him against Prince Yi's Residence. Xiao Jinghan recognized the Eastern Palace's scheme, and a fire broke out in the prison storeroom.

• Batuer told Lin Zhenshan that the Northern Territory lacked winter grain and faced more raids, so he ordered the Ministry of War to check supplies and arranged to watch the imperial prison.
• Lin Zhenshan ordered disguised riders to monitor the prison exits and sent another ten men to hide around Prince Yi's Residence.
• Crown Prince Gu Moyuan arranged for Xiao Jinghan to escape during a staged prison fire, attack Prince Yi's Residence, and later be killed in secret.
• Xiao Jinghan recognized the escape agent's Eastern Palace token cord and agreed to leave, intending to turn the crown prince's plan against him.
• A fire broke out in the imperial prison's western storeroom, filling the corridors with smoke as jailers shouted and prisoners rattled their doors.

Xiao Jinghan escaped the imperial prison but was intercepted by Lin Zhenshan, then attacked Gu Moran after recognizing him as a target. Gu Moran dodged Xiao Jinghan’s attacks and ended by calling on Lin Zhenshan, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Xiao Jinghan escaped through a side gate with his contact, carrying half of an old seal and plotting to revive the Xiao Clan’s banner.
• Lin Zhenshan’s guards surrounded the getaway cart and seized Xiao Jinghan’s contact, while Xiao Jinghan charged toward Gu Moran’s carriage.
• Xiao Jinghan recognized Gu Moran and attacked him with his chain and martial arts, but Gu Moran dodged and taunted him about their ranks.
• Lin Zhenshan watched Gu Moran demonstrate the Wind-Dismantling Hand and realized he had mastered it deeply.
• As Xiao Jinghan continued attacking, Gu Moran retreated in front of Lin Zhenshan’s horse and declared that his father-in-law had the makings of a Great Emperor.

Gu Moran helped Lin Zhenshan capture Xiao Jinghan during an attempted escape from the imperial prison, and Xiao Jinghan accused the Eastern Palace of arranging the escape and plotting to kill Lady Liu and Prince Yi. The emperor ordered the crown prince brought under escort, then questioned Gu Moran, who challenged Xiao Jinghan’s motive as the accusations against the Eastern Palace unfolded.

• Lin Zhenshan’s guards seized Xiao Jinghan, found a half old seal and a scorched Eastern Palace waist-token fragment, and escorted him to the palace.
• Xiao Jinghan told the emperor that an Eastern Palace contact had arranged his escape and instructed him to kill Lady Liu’s daughter and Prince Yi.
• The emperor summoned Prince Yi and ordered the Jinwu Guard to bring the crown prince under escort and seal the crown prince’s study.
• Gu Moran appeared before the emperor, saw that suspicion toward him remained, and asked Xiao Jinghan why he would want to kill him or Lady Liu.
• Gu Moran complained that he was still only second in line to the throne, while Xiao Jinghan struggled to believe his audacity.

After the prison fire, Xiao Jinghan was brought before the emperor, and the crown prince was summoned under guard to answer for the Eastern Palace waist token found at the scene. Xiao Jinghan accused the Eastern Palace of helping him, and the emperor called officials to examine the evidence.

• Gu Moran explained that the escaped former-dynasty remnant and the Eastern Palace waist token put him in danger, prompting the emperor to silence him.
• The emperor confined the crown prince to the Eastern Palace and ordered him summoned without time to change, while the Jinwu Guard sealed his study.
• The crown prince entered the Hall of Supreme Ultimate and saw Xiao Jinghan kneeling before the emperor, with Lin Zhenshan and Gu Moran also present.
• The emperor showed the crown prince a charred waist-token fragment, and the crown prince claimed he had only just learned of the prison fire.
• Xiao Jinghan said someone from the Hall of Proper Beauty had given him courage, and the crown prince angrily accused him of framing the Eastern Palace.
• The emperor summoned the minister of the Imperial Clan Court, the commanding general of the Jinwu Guard, and the minister of punishments, then ordered them to examine the evidence.

The emperor examined evidence linking the imperial prison fire and a forged transfer document to the Eastern Palace, while Gu Moran and Xiao Jinghan exposed the crown prince’s involvement. He ordered investigations and confined the Eastern Palace, then questioned Xiao Jinghan about what he had been hiding.

• Chen Dehai presented the emperor with burned pine oil, a forged Ministry of Punishments document, a fragment of a Hall of Proper Beauty waist token, and half an old seal.
• The commanding general of the Imperial Guard and the minister of punishments traced the fire preparations and forged document to people with access to the imperial prison and old case files.
• Gu Moran questioned why the attacker had targeted Lady Liu and mentioned that old wax had appeared around both the pills and the prison fire.
• Xiao Jinghan testified that the Eastern Palace had ordered him to kill Lady Liu, Prince Yi, and the second prince, and the crown prince blurted out that he had never ordered the second prince killed.
• Chen Dehai read Jail Officer Wei’s confession implicating a former Hall of Proper Beauty eunuch, and the emperor ordered the Eastern Palace study sealed, further interrogations, and reviews of the relevant records.
• The emperor ordered the crown prince to kneel properly, then asked Xiao Jinghan what he had been hiding.

Xiao Jinghan exposed the Eastern Palace’s role in his escape and challenged the emperor over the crown prince’s light punishment. The emperor ordered him returned to the imperial prison as a witness while secretly commanding that the Xiao Clan’s descendants be wiped out.

• Xiao Jinghan admitted hiding the old Xiao Clan seal but denied opening the prison gates, arranging the fire, or forging documents, and identified a contact who had promised to free him.
• A eunuch testified that he had carried messages on Zhou Yun’s orders, linking the Eastern Palace adviser to the escape; the crown prince claimed he had been deceived.
• Gu Moran warned that the escape plot required access to prison schedules, forged documents, wax, and pine oil, and the emperor ordered the crown prince confined with added locks while Zhou Yun was interrogated.
• The emperor sentenced Xiao Jinghan to ten more years in prison, but Gu Moran argued that he was needed to corroborate testimony, so the emperor ordered him held under strict guard in the high-security wing.
• After ordering a public edict announcing Xiao Jinghan’s sentence, the emperor secretly commanded that the Xiao Clan’s line of descendants be severed.

The emperor ordered Xiao Jinghan kept alive and held the crown prince responsible for his safety while the Eastern Palace remained sealed. Chen Qinglan used her scald to summon an imperial physician and create a record, then faced the angry crown prince when he returned.

• The emperor ordered Xiao Jinghan gagged and taken away alive, then warned the crown prince that he would be held accountable if anything happened to him in prison.
• The emperor kept the Eastern Palace study sealed and its people confined, while Gao Fu ordered the imperial physician’s visit to Chen Qinglan recorded and reported.
• Chen Qinglan endured treatment for her scald and kept her actions and family letter concealed as she waited for news from the main hall.
• A palace maid told Chen Qinglan that the Jinwu Guard had sealed the study and taken the crown prince and Master Zhou away.
• The crown prince returned to the side hall, questioned Chen Qinglan about summoning an imperial physician, and seized her wrist as Caiwei stepped forward.

Chen Qinglan endured the crown prince’s questioning and tightened restrictions in the Eastern Palace while concealing what she had written to Chen Qingyuan. The empress summoned her to the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony, and Chen Qinglan left the troubled Eastern Palace alone.

• The crown prince questioned Chen Qinglan about her letter to Chen Qingyuan, then warned her not to meet anyone from outside and ordered more guards posted at her side hall.
• Chen Qinglan told Caiwei that no one should seek out Chen Qingyuan, determined to keep the Eastern Palace’s troubles from reaching her younger sister.
• A female official arrived with the empress’s verbal summons, and Chen Qinglan accepted the invitation to the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony.
• Chen Qinglan left Caiwei behind and rode in a sedan chair past the crown prince’s shouts and the sound of breaking porcelain.

The empress warned Chen Qinglan to stay silent amid the threat to the crown prince, revealing the price she had paid to become empress and offering to protect the Chen Family. Xiao Jinghan was tortured and returned to the imperial prison, where his thoughts fixed on Gu Moyuan.

• The empress told Chen Qinglan that the Chen Family could be implicated if the crown prince fell and urged her to endure rather than speak out.
• The empress revealed that the emperor had denied her children and that her family had died securing her position; she said she was raising two young princes as a source of influence.
• The empress offered to shield the Chen Family if Chen Qinglan kept silent, and Chen Qinglan accepted the jade bangle and agreed to comply.
• The empress told Chen Qinglan to have the Imperial Medical Bureau record her leg injury as evidence.
• Xiao Jinghan was tortured under a secret decree, then returned to the imperial prison under strict guard and a ban on visitors.
• In his cell, Xiao Jinghan thought of Gu Moyuan and cursed the crown prince.

Xiao Jinghan uncovered the Little Sunflower Chapter in prison and began a dangerous new cultivation path, while Gu Moran learned that Xiao’s hatred had shifted to the Crown Prince and faced scrutiny from Lin Zhenshan. The chapter left Lin secretly giving Gu Moran martial arts manuals and warning him to protect Lin Qingdai.

• Xiao Jinghan retrieved the Little Sunflower Chapter from beneath the third blue brick and resolved to wait for a chance to settle his debts with the crown prince, emperor, and Gu Clan.
• Gu Moran saw the system report that Xiao Jinghan’s release had been stopped, his hostility now targeted Crown Prince Gu Moyuan, and his new cultivation route showed signs of corruption.
• Lin Zhenshan tested Gu Moran’s movements, recognized that he had reached the sixth rank, and told him to stop pretending to be useless in front of Lin Qingdai.
• Lin Zhenshan warned Gu Moran not to involve Lin Qingdai in dangerous political conflicts without protecting her.
• Lin Zhenshan secretly gave Gu Moran a box of martial arts manuals and said more would be delivered to his residence, telling him to hide their source from Lin Qingdai.

Gu Moran returned to Prince Yi's Residence with a warning from Noble Consort Chen, a reward for derailing Xiao Jinghan's escape, and old martial arts manuals from Lin Zhenshan. At the palace, Chu Tianxing publicly declared that the crown prince's depleted health made it difficult for him to have children, leaving the crown prince desperate to silence him.

• Lin Zhenshan warned Gu Moran to stay away from the imperial prison, and Gu Moran returned home with the medicine case and wooden box.
• Gu Moran read Noble Consort Chen's warning to keep away from the imperial prison and the former dynasty's Xiao Clan, then burned the letter.
• The system awarded Gu Moran a Martial Dao Fifth Rank Advancement Pill for severing Xiao Jinghan's destined route out of prison.
• Gu Moran opened Lin Zhenshan's box of old martial arts booklets and ordered the residence closed to visitors.
• At the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, Chu Tianxing examined the crown prince and told the emperor that the crown prince's vital essence was depleted and having offspring would be difficult.
• The crown prince realized Chu Tianxing's diagnosis could threaten his position and resolved to silence him.

Elder Shen confirmed Chu Tianxing’s diagnosis that the crown prince might struggle to father children, weakening his position with the emperor. As the emperor’s attention turned toward other possible heirs, the empress prepared her young princes for his visit to the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony.

• Elder Shen examined the crown prince and confirmed that his depleted kidney qi could make fathering children difficult, though treatment might help.
• The emperor dismissed the crown prince, ordered everyone to keep the diagnosis secret, and warned Chu Tianxing to speak carefully in the palace.
• The empress instructed Gu Nianli and Gu Nian'an to answer the emperor cautiously and avoid irritating him.
• Consorts brought their children to the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony to display their filial devotion, but the empress deflected their attempts to attract the emperor’s attention.
• Chen Dehai announced that the emperor was on his way to the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony, and the empress suspected his visit had a purpose beyond a casual call.

The emperor reviewed evidence against the second and crown princes, then decided to send Gu Mochen and Gu Moran back to their respective fiefs rather than risk upheaval at court. In Yi Prefecture, Garrison Commandant Zhen Daijin and Prefect Si Renyou argued over the emperor’s delay in sending Prince Yi there.

• Gu Nianli and Gu Nian'an impressed the emperor with their filial conduct, and he praised the empress for teaching them well.
• The emperor reviewed dossiers linking Gu Mochen to a pill-offering case and implicating the crown prince in murder and an attack on Prince Yi’s residence.
• The emperor chose not to depose the crown prince and drafted edicts ordering Gu Mochen and Gu Moran to return to their fiefs.
• Chen Dehai reported that Yi Prefecture was well governed despite the ongoing conflict between Prefect Si Renyou and Garrison Commandant Zhen Daijin.
• Zhen Daijin complained that the emperor had not yet sent Prince Yi to his fief, while Si Renyou reacted angrily to his threat to smash the ancestral spirit tablets.

Gu Moran learned that the emperor planned to send the adult princes to their fiefs, threatening the investigations and family cases tied to Prince Yi’s Residence. As Liu Ruyan and Shen Ling'er confronted what leaving would mean, other wives began preparing for a possible move, and Gu Moran was left facing the uproar across the residence.

• Zhen Daijin and Si Renyou agreed to leave Prince Yi and their subordinates to play the villains while Fang Bi and Lin Xin acted as heroes.
• Uncle Fu brought Gu Moran a palace transcript bearing the words “Each to his fief,” and Gu Moran realized the emperor intended to remove the adult princes from the capital.
• Liu Ruyan read the transcript and told Gu Moran she would go with him if he had to leave, though she feared abandoning the Liu Clan’s old case and the Flower-Between Pavilion.
• Shen Ling'er objected to leaving while the Shen Family case remained unresolved and Chu Tianxing was held by the Imperial Medical Bureau; Liu Ruyan comforted her.
• Servants reported that Madam Su wanted the household accounts audited and Madam Murong wanted to know whether the fief had a horse ranch, prompting Liu Ruyan to ask whether Gu Moran was panicking.

After receiving an imperial order to leave for Yi Prefecture within seven days, Gu Moran and his household began planning their departure while weighing the risks of their capital connections. Xie Wanqing warned that inspections and court obligations left them fewer than five working days, so Gu Moran ordered arrangements to begin that night.

• Gu Moran accepted the Emperor’s edict ordering him to depart for Yi Prefecture in seven days, and Gao Fu hinted that prefect Si Renyou and military commandant Zhen Daijin would be important there.
• Gu Moran told Su Yao, Shen Ling'er, Liu Ruyan, and Lin Qingdai that they needed to prepare carefully and avoid contacting anyone in the capital while the palace watched them.
• Shen Ling'er asked how Gu Moran would reach Elder Shen at the Imperial Medical Bureau, and Gu Moran promised to find a way to send him a message.
• Gu Moran said some people could remain in the capital, but Uncle Fu agreed that they should not send word until the palace’s attention had eased.
• Murong Xue asked whether Yi Prefecture had horse ranches, while Xie Wanqing warned that official inspections and the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet left fewer than five days for preparations.
• Xie Wanqing urged Gu Moran to settle arrangements that night, and Su Yao began sorting the household’s money and deciding which assets to convert into bank drafts.