Legend of the Magnate Episode 15 Recap
> Legend of the Magnate Recap
Bai Yimei remained in the Resistance Army camp to treat Li Cheng's wounds. During their time together, Li Cheng developed feelings for Bai Yimei, but she was already betrothed to Gu Pingyuan. After Li Cheng recovered, he personally escorted her to the village entrance, where Bai Yimei gave him the jade pendant her mother had given her. Li Cheng felt a warmth in his heart.
Upon her return, rumors began to circulate in Shanjian Village about Bai Yimei and Li Cheng's intimate relationship, causing the villagers to shun her. Despite the gossip, Gu Pingyuan trusted Bai Yimei's character and wanted to marry her quickly to silence the rumors. However, Bai Yimei was torn. She had developed feelings for Li Cheng during their days together and couldn't bear to let him go, yet she didn't want to hurt Gu Pingyuan.
Her father, Mr. Bai, noticed her emotional struggle and, despite having lovingly prepared her dowry over the years, became furious when she questioned his motives for rushing her marriage. He admonished her for suggesting he was pushing her away due to gossip, reminding her of Gu Pingyuan's devotion. Bai Yimei, feeling remorseful, apologized to her father. Qing soldiers then arrived in Shanjian Village.
Their battalion commander demanded fifty young men daily to dig trenches and fifty porters to gather horse feed, as well as money and supplies. The village head explained the village's poverty due to years of constant conflict, which had destroyed their tea plantations. The commander suggested extorting wealthy households suspected of collaborating with the rebels, threatening execution if they didn't comply.
Mr. Bai, already ill and angered by Bai Yimei's earlier words and the village's troubles, collapsed from stress, his airway blocked by phlegm. Gu Pingyuan, who had rushed over with his brother Pingwen, sent Pingwen to fetch a doctor. The village head, desperate, sought out Mr. Bai's help, but finding him unconscious, turned to Gu Pingyuan, who agreed to handle the matter. Gu Pingyuan, accompanied by the village head, went to confront General Qiao.
He pleaded for leniency for the villagers, emphasizing Anhui's suffering from endless warfare and their inability to pay, especially after the rebels burned their tea gardens. General Qiao dismissed his pleas, complaining about his own soldiers' unpaid wages and reiterating the idea of punishing "traitors" to get money. Before the discussion could progress, a battle report arrived, and General Qiao, needing to deploy his troops immediately, ordered Gu Pingyuan to be arrested and held until his return.
The doctor, using a special medicine made of gentian, musk, and pine oil to clear the senses and soothe the stomach, managed to revive Mr. Bai, who felt as if he had been given "a second chance at life." The doctor prescribed a ten-day course of medicine that could be found in Huizhou city, but expressed uncertainty about whether fighting was still ongoing there.
Pingwen, however, excitedly declared that the fighting had stopped, with the imperial soldiers chasing the rebels to Liuhu Town and killing many, including their "commanding general." Hearing this, Bai Yimei mistakenly believed Li Cheng had been killed and burst into heartbroken tears. Two days later, Gu Pingyuan managed to escape from the Qing army camp, his hands injured from being tied up. He rushed directly to Mr. Bai's house.
He immediately urged Bai Yimei to pack her belongings and take her father to safety, explaining that the situation was still dangerous with many Qing soldiers around, and any rumor could lead to their family's destruction. He offered to arrange a carriage to take them to a friend's house. In response, Bai Yimei returned the betrothal letter, on which Mr. Bai had written a message: "At my old age, I can't bear more disgrace.
The betrothal letter is returned for you two to split up peacefully." He believed someone must survive, and that their fleeing would only implicate Gu Pingyuan as a collaborator. Gu Pingyuan insisted that their families were old friends and he would protect them, but Bai Yimei, respecting her father's wishes, urged him to leave. Before dawn, Bai Yimei, unable to dismiss her concerns for Li Cheng, quietly left her home. She knelt outside her father's room, bowing in apology.
When Mr. Bai woke and discovered her absence, he frantically sought Gu Pingyuan's help, who immediately set out in pursuit. Bai Yimei arrived at Liuhu Town, which was now a devastated wasteland filled with dead bodies and refugees. An old man, grieving for his family killed by soldiers, told her that the imperial soldiers were outside town, and the Southern Army (Resistance Army) had retreated to Hefei.
As Bai Yimei rode towards Hefei, she was intercepted and harassed by Qing soldiers. Just as she was in despair, Su Zixuan, passing by, intervened, reprimanding the soldiers and identifying herself as General Qiao's honored guest. She offered Bai Yimei protection in her carriage, warning her that she would otherwise be at the mercy of the soldiers. Bai Yimei, though hesitant, eventually joined her. Later, Gu Pingyuan arrived in the ravaged Liuhu Town.
He didn't find Bai Yimei but was summoned to General Qiao's camp where Su Zixuan was waiting. Su Zixuan greeted Gu Pingyuan, revealing her extensive knowledge of his family and Bai Yimei, having investigated him thoroughly since their last encounter in Shanxi. She threw Bai Yimei's silver bracelet at him, confirming she had Bai Yimei.
When Gu Pingyuan pleaded for Bai Yimei's release, Su Zixuan cynically questioned his sincerity, reminding him of Bai Yimei's "collaborator" status and the danger it posed to his family. She then informed him that Bai Yimei had gone to the Southern Army's camp to find Li Cheng. Bai Yimei eventually reached Hefei and found Li Cheng alive.
Overwhelmed with relief and joy, she hurried to him, flustered, reminding him of the iron grit still in his bones that would cause him pain in rainy weather. Li Cheng, deeply moved, confessed that his longing for her was also embedded in his bones. He asked her to stay, even if for just one day, declaring it would be worth more than a hundred years to him.
Bai Yimei, acknowledging she had nowhere else to go, embraced him, their feelings mutual. A distraught Gu Pingyuan returned home. His mother pressed him for the truth about Bai Yimei's whereabouts and the village rumors. Gu Pingyuan reluctantly revealed that Bai Yimei had gone to the Southern Army camp to find General Li Cheng. Gu Pingwen, enraged, lashed out at Gu Pingyuan, blaming him and Yimei for causing trouble.
Gu Pingyuan's mother, though saddened, reminded her sons of Mr. Bai's immense kindness to their family, teaching both brothers as if he were their parent, and of Bai Yimei's care for her over the years. The next day, Gu Pingyuan took Pingwen to the city. He revealed a rented shop, named "Ping" after Pingwen, and handed him two hundred taels of silver as startup capital. He explained that he had also hired two loyal and reliable assistants.
Gu Pingyuan declared himself the "Boss" and Pingwen the "Head Manager," leaving Pingwen to decide what kind of business to conduct. Pingwen, weary of a life of farming, eagerly chose the path of a merchant.
