Legend of the Magnate Episode 2 Recap
> Legend of the Magnate Recap
Gu Pingyuan found Li Qin shivering in the freezing street, stripped bare after losing all his money gambling. Gu Pingyuan offered Li Qin his clothes and brought him back to the bustling casino. There, Li Qin quietly pointed out the fierce-looking man who had cheated him. Gu Pingyuan immediately recognized him as a notorious local bully. At that moment, a woman named Su Zixuan was playing against the same man.
When she confidently revealed her winning hand, the man tried to cheat, claiming that according to the "rules beyond the pass," she had lost and he would take all the money. Su Zixuan challenged his dishonest rule, but the man aggressively stated that "locals always win" and threatened to break her fingers. Unfazed, Su Zixuan pulled out a pistol, asking if his head was harder than her bullet.
The man dared her to shoot, but when she fired a warning shot, he panicked and stumbled. She then invited the onlookers to place bets on whether she would shoot again. The man defiantly declared she wouldn't dare, but as Su Zixuan began to count down, he screamed and fled in terror. Seeing Li Qin, an old family acquaintance, Su Zixuan then called him over.
Meanwhile, Commander Xu led his soldiers into Wu's Settlement, storming into the Su family's mourning hall. He aggressively demanded Mrs. Su hand over the money from the ginseng sale, accusing her of trying to keep it for herself. Despite Mrs. Su's fervent denials that she had seen any money, Commander Xu dismissed her pleas, ordering her and her son, Xiaohu, to be tied up and taken away.
He further ordered his men to dig up Su Shuhe’s grave and search the entire house, vowing to find the money even if it meant digging three feet deep. Su Zixuan took Li Qin and Gu Pingyuan to a private location. Li Qin introduced Gu Pingyuan as a local friend knowledgeable about Ningguta. Su Zixuan explained she had purchased three hundred horses and needed help transporting them to the Central Plains.
Gu Pingyuan immediately deduced they were warhorses, questioning why she would risk her life traveling such a distance for ordinary local horses. When he pressed her about sending the horses south, he voiced his suspicion that she was a rebel. Su Zixuan did not deny it, stating she was an exile herself and feared nothing.
Li Qin, eager to help Su Shuhe's family, urged Gu Pingyuan to assist Su Zixuan, pointing out that if Su Zixuan could escape, he and Xiaohu could too. Gu Pingyuan agreed to think of a plan. As he left, Su Zixuan opened the door for him, revealing several men lying in ambush outside. Gu Pingyuan realized she had just saved his life. Later, Chang Si, a merchant from Pingyao, Shanxi, arrived to meet Commander Xu.
He informed Xu that his horse gang needed to pass through Ningguta with a shipment of sea salt and offered 400 taels of silver as a "gift." Commander Xu, well aware of Shanxi's reputation as a wealthy province, greedily demanded more. He then summoned Gu Pingyuan, initially accusing him of trying to escape. Gu Pingyuan assured him he was working on the Su family matter.
Commander Xu disclosed that he had incarcerated Mrs. Su and Xiaohu in the dungeon and even exhumed Su Shuhe’s body, demanding Gu Pingyuan find the missing money within three days. Xu also instructed Gu Pingyuan to extract several hundred more taels from Chang Si, threatening to prevent the salt shipment from leaving Ningguta otherwise. Dejected, Chang Si returned to his camp.
He confessed to his daughter, Chang Yu'er, that he had offered Commander Xu 100 taels more than suggested, but Xu had only become greedier. He resolved to wait for Gu Pingyuan's advice. Chang Yu'er recalled seeing Gu Pingyuan enter the city and how he had kindly helped her start a fire. Chang Si, however, sternly warned his daughter against talking to strangers in Ningguta, a place filled with exiles.
Undeterred, Chang Yu'er pressed her father to inquire about Gu Pingyuan's past. Under the cover of night, Gu Pingyuan secretly visited Mrs. Su and Xiaohu in the dungeon. He informed Mrs. Su that he had reburied Su Shuhe's body. Mrs. Su recounted how Commander Xu had tried to bribe her with a house and a military position for Xiaohu if she revealed the money's location, but she saw through his deceit.
She implored Gu Pingyuan to take Xiaohu away from Ningguta, refusing to leave herself. Xiaohu desperately clung to his mother, unwilling to part, but Gu Pingyuan promised to find a way to rescue both of them. The next morning, Gu Pingyuan met with Chang Si. Chang Yu'er brazenly asked Gu Pingyuan why he was exiled. He shared the true story: five years prior, while taking the imperial exam, someone falsely cried out that his mother was gravely ill.
Rushing to leave, he argued with the officials and was accused of disrupting the examination hall, leading to a fifteen-year exile. He later learned his mother was fine and realized he had been framed. He warned Chang Yu'er about the treacherous nature of human hearts. Sympathetic, Chang Yu'er wished him well and asked him to visit them in Shanxi if he ever returned to the Central Plains.
At the military horse camp, Li Qin remarked to Su Zixuan that his father, Li Wantang, had only agreed to help because she had protected the Li family's businesses in the south. Gu Pingyuan arrived to finalize their plan. He expressed concern for Xiaohu's safety, insisting on knowing the exact route. To gain his trust, Su Zixuan revealed a travel pass, explaining that the commander of Liaoyang Fortress was their ally.
They planned to pass through Shanhai Pass, enter Zhili, then Shandong, and finally take a ship south. Relieved, Gu Pingyuan agreed to help. Su Zixuan invited him to join her, but Gu Pingyuan declined, explaining his desire to return to his ailing mother and clear his name. Understanding his resolve, Su Zixuan gave him a pistol for self-defense.
To execute his plan, Gu Pingyuan brought Li Qin to Manchunyuan, a brothel, informing him that he would have to get married to create a grand spectacle. The madam introduced various courtesans to Li Qin, proclaimed as a wealthy young master from the capital. A girl named Zhaojun pushed others aside and enthusiastically embraced Li Qin. Gu Pingyuan instructed Zhaojun to prepare for her journey, and the madam quickly arranged a wedding for that night.
Gu Pingyuan also promised to return Zhaojun's contract of indenture, for which she knelt gratefully. That night, Manchunyuan was adorned for the wedding, attracting many citizens. Seizing the opportunity, Gu Pingyuan returned to Commander Xu, falsely claiming that Mrs. Su had agreed to hand over a large sum of money in exchange for her and Xiaohu's freedom to return to the Central Plains.
Commander Xu, believing him, promised to reduce Gu Pingyuan's sentence by five years once the money was delivered. Later, after Commander Xu was drunk, Gu Pingyuan bribed the guards, overpowered Xu with the pistol, and tied him up, forcing him to hand over a crucial travel pass. Gu Pingyuan declared that his five years of patience were for this day and that he would ensure justice for Su Shuhe. Xu, bound and helpless, cursed him, vowing to skin him alive.
The next morning, a calculated chaos ensued. Chang Si's horse gang, with the acquired pass, exited the city. Simultaneously, Li Qin, leading a grand wedding procession with Zhaojun, also departed, providing cover for Su Zixuan to transport her three hundred warhorses out undetected. In the midst of this diversion, Gu Pingyuan successfully led Mrs. Su and Xiaohu out of Ningguta. Gu Pingyuan met the others at a predetermined location.
He entrusted Mrs. Su and Xiaohu to Li Qin, who promised to settle them in his pharmacy in the capital with new identities. Gu Pingyuan then explained that he could not travel with them, as he needed to draw Commander Xu's inevitable pursuit away from their group.
Su Zixuan tried one last time to persuade him to join her in the south, but Gu Pingyuan declined, reiterating his need to clear his name and not return to the Central Plains as a fugitive. Declaring their debt settled, Gu Pingyuan parted ways, riding in the opposite direction towards Shuangjia Mountain. Commander Xu, having been freed, was furious and immediately ordered his soldiers to pursue Gu Pingyuan. Gu Pingyuan led the chase away from the others.
Xu’s men relentlessly pursued him, eventually shooting him with an arrow. Wounded, Gu Pingyuan galloped towards a cliff edge and disappeared over it. Commander Xu arrived at the cliff, saw the blood trail, and ordered his men to search the area thoroughly, vowing to find Gu Pingyuan, dead or alive.
