Recaps

At the banquet, the Crown Prince investigated Ge Bao'er’s claim that Lin Yunwan looked exactly like the late mistress of the Lu family. The chapter ended with Lu Zhengliu presenting a portrait of his late wife as evidence, while Qi Lingheng remained protective of Lin Yunwan.

• Qi Lingheng arrived at the banquet and sat beside Lin Yunwan and Qi Zaijun, then asked the Crown Prince whether the commotion concerned Prince Huan's Residence.
• The Crown Prince Consort sent the ladies to the Warm Pavilions, and Ge Bao'er identified herself as Concubine Ge of the Wuding Marquis Residence.
• Ge Bao'er brought four maids before the Crown Prince; three said Lin Yunwan resembled their former Young Madam, while Xiliu said Lin Yunwan looked more dignified and gentle and had different eyes.
• Ge Bao'er urged the Crown Prince to hear evidence from Lu Zhengliu, who entered with a portrait of his late wife and claimed it proved the resemblance.
• Qi Lingheng squeezed Lin Yunwan’s hand as Lu Zhengliu presented the portrait, and Lin Yunwan reassured her husband in return.

At the Crown Prince’s Residence, Ge Bao’er tried to prove Lin Yunwan was the missing Young Madam by presenting witnesses, but each one denied recognizing her. Lin Yunjiao also rejected Ge Bao’er’s claims, leaving the accusation unsupported as the hearing continued.

• Ge Bao’er brought Zhu Qing and her daughter Mu’er before the Crown Prince and Crown Prince Consort, but Zhu Qing denied knowing Lin Yunwan and accused Ge Bao’er of trying to harm her.
• Lu Chang'gong arrived with Ping Ye and Tao Ye; both maids said Lin Yunwan resembled their former mistress but was not her.
• When Ge Bao’er claimed Lin Yunjiao had privately said the Princess Consort was not her real elder sister, Qi Lingheng had Lin Yunjiao brought in.
• Lin Yunjiao denied making the claim and affirmed that Lin Yunwan was her elder sister, accusing Ge Bao’er of harboring ulterior motives.

At the Crown Prince’s birthday gathering, Qi Lingheng exposed the weakness in the accusations against Lin Yunwan and led her away. Outside the residence, Lin Yunwan presented Madam Chen with a woman who looked like Ge Bao’er and carried the Leopard-Tail Jade Pendant, leaving Madam Chen convinced she had found her missing daughter while Ge Bao’er accused Lin Yunwan of plotting against her.

• Qi Lingheng questioned the Wuding Marquis Residence maids, who withdrew their claim that Lin Yunwan resembled their late Young Madam, and Ge Bao’er’s outburst further undermined her accusation.
• Qi Lingheng left the Crown Prince’s residence with Lin Yunwan and Qi Zaijun, while the Crown Prince Consort had the Wuding Marquis Residence party removed.
• Madam Chen regretted trusting Ge Bao’er, then met Lin Yunwan outside and saw a veiled woman who looked like Ge Bao’er and carried the Leopard-Tail Jade Pendant.
• Madam Chen recognized the pendant and embraced the woman as her missing daughter, while Ge Bao’er tried to claim the pendant and was rebuked by Madam Chen.
• Ge Bao’er accused Lin Yunwan of arranging the lookalike to clear herself, and Lu Zhengliu recognized Lin Yunwan as the woman he had believed was dead.
• Qi Lingheng lowered Lin Yunwan’s carriage curtain and ordered the coachman back to the residence.

Lu Zhengliu struggled to accept that Lin Yunwan had returned, while Lu Chang'gong and Zhu Qing revealed they had long known and were waiting for her. At a palace banquet, Emperor Jingshun confronted Qi Lingheng about his marriage to Lin Yunwan, and Qi Lingheng said it was what the Crown Prince owed him.

• Lu Zhengliu insisted that Prince Huan's Consort was Lin Yunwan, but Zhu Qing and Lu Chang'gong denied it to protect the Lu family.
• Duke Xingguo's Residence reclaimed Ge Bao'er's wealth and servants, and Lu Chang'gong reassured Zhu Qing that they would manage with Lin Yunwan's help.
• Zhu Qing realized Lu Chang'gong had known Lin Yunwan was alive and had helped her from within the residence.
• Emperor Jingshun questioned the Crown Prince, Qi Lingheng, and Qi Zaijun about rumors concerning Lin Yunwan, but the Crown Prince dismissed them and Qi Lingheng deferred to him.
• Emperor Jingshun showed Qi Lingheng a secret letter confirming the facts of his marriage in Jiangqian, and Qi Lingheng said it was what the Crown Prince owed him.

Emperor Jingshun and Empress Zhao discussed Qi Lingheng’s past and agreed that he had protected Lin Yunwan by taking responsibility for her resemblance to the Lin family’s daughter. As the Crown Prince’s health worsened, Qi Lingheng and Lin Yunwan looked ahead to the Lu family’s reckoning and learned that Lu Chang'gong had privately sought Qi Lingheng’s help.

• Emperor Jingshun told Empress Zhao that Qi Lingheng had admitted Lin Yunwan was the Lin family’s daughter, and they recalled how the Crown Prince’s wet nurse had nearly harmed Qi Lingheng.
• Empress Zhao recognized that Qi Lingheng had claimed Lin Yunwan merely resembled the Lin family’s daughter to protect her, and Emperor Jingshun accepted that the people believed it.
• Qi Zaijun said he would like his eldest uncle only if the Crown Prince stopped making things difficult for his Mother Consort.
• An imperial physician reported that the Crown Prince had been saved, but his health continued to deteriorate.
• Lin Yunwan asked Qi Lingheng about the knife-wielding palace maid, and he explained that his years away from the Capital had broadened his view of the world.
• Qi Lingheng told Lin Yunwan that Duke Xingguo had returned and that Lu Chang'gong had privately come to him, while he planned to let the Lu family face turmoil before the Imperial Court acted.

Qi Lingheng hinted that Lu Chang'gong had a hidden side, while the Wuding Marquis Residence crumbled under financial and clan pressures. Lu Chang'gong quietly maneuvered against Xiao Xuan, and Ge Bao'er learned of her schemes but feared Lu Changzong would not believe her.

• Qi Lingheng told Lin Yunwan that Chang Gong likely had reasons for keeping his actions from her.
• Lu Zhengliu lamented the family’s decline and urged Lu Chang'gong to protect the ancestral home and land and focus on his studies.
• Lu Zhengliu learned the clansmen wanted to divide the ancestral land and rushed to confront them.
• Lu Chang'gong asked Qianru about Xiao Xuan, then had Zhu Qing alert Ge Bao'er to Xiao Xuan’s suspicious outings.
• Ge Bao'er learned Xiao Xuan had been leaving the residence and feared Lu Changzong would dismiss her warning, but she resolved that Qing'er was still her son.

Lu Changzong caught Xiao Xuan with a supposed lover, only to learn the visitor was an old woman treating her, and Xiao Xuan claimed she was pregnant. After she blamed Concubine Ge and Nanny Yan told him that Concubine Ge had poisoned Old Madam, Lu Changzong was left to choose whether to report his mother, while Lu Chang'gong heard that Concubine Zhu Qing’s plan had been carried out.

• Lu Chang'gong told Qianru to warn Xiao Xuan that she was being followed, while Concubine Ge arranged for maids to tell Lu Changzong that Xiao Xuan was secretly meeting a man.
• Lu Changzong forced his way into the house where Xiao Xuan had gone and found her with an apparent lover, but the visitor turned out to be an old woman treating her.
• Xiao Xuan told Lu Changzong that she was pregnant, then pressed him to bring in the maids who had tipped him off; they confessed that Concubine Ge had paid and threatened them.
• Xiao Xuan accused Concubine Ge of wanting to harm her and her unborn child, and Lu Changzong promised to think of a way to protect them.
• Nanny Yan told Lu Changzong that Concubine Ge had poisoned Old Madam, then urged him to reason with his mother.
• Qianru told Lu Chang'gong that Concubine Zhu Qing’s plan had been taken care of, and Lu Chang'gong wondered whether Lu Changzong would report Concubine Ge.

Ge Bao'er tried to have Xiao Xuan seized after Lu Zhengliu refused to intervene, while Lu Changzong secretly prepared to bring a lawsuit against his birth mother. The authorities arrived at the Wuding Marquis Residence, and Lu Chang'gong ordered the Second Gate opened.

• Ge Bao'er urged Lu Zhengliu to send Xiao Xuan away, but he accused her of manipulating Qing'er and gave her one last chance to act herself.
• Lu Changzong read instructions on bringing a lawsuit and followed them in secret.
• After Lu Zhengliu returned, he confronted Ge Bao'er and refused to help her remove Xiao Xuan.
• Ge Bao'er led her servants to seize Xiao Xuan, then ordered them to strangle her when Xiao Xuan revealed she was carrying Lu Changzong's child.
• Zhu Qing asked Lu Chang'gong whether they should intervene, and he told her to wait for the authorities.
• When the authorities arrived, Lu Chang'gong ordered the Second Gate opened, and Zhu Qing realized Lu Changzong had sued his own birth mother.

Shuntian Prefecture arrested Ge Bao'er after Lu Changzong accused her of poisoning Old Madam Lu and trying to kill Xiao Xuan. As the Old Madam died and officials arrived to confiscate the Wuding Marquis Residence’s property, Lu Zhengliu took Lu Chang'gong aside to give him instructions.

• Lu Chang'gong agreed to take Mu'er to the Second Gate, where Shuntian Prefecture bailiffs announced they were arresting Ge Bao'er for poisoning Old Madam Lu.
• The bailiffs found Ge Bao'er after she had tried to strangle Xiao Xuan, and Lu Changzong revealed that he had reported his mother to the authorities.
• Lu Changzong denounced Ge Bao'er and comforted Xiao Xuan, while the bailiffs prepared to investigate Old Madam Lu's food and drink.
• Old Madam Lu confessed her regret over mistreating Yun Wan and allowing Ge Bao'er into the family, then died as Lu Zhengliu wept beside her.
• A steward announced that officials had come to confiscate the Wuding Marquis Residence’s property, and Lu Zhengliu took Lu Chang'gong aside to speak with him.

Lu Chang'gong rejected Lu Zhengliu’s dying instructions and revealed that his resentment stemmed from Lu Zhengliu causing his mother’s death. As the authorities confiscated the Wuding Marquis Residence, Qi Lingheng took charge of the case and Lin Yunwan said Lu Chang'gong should be judged by what motivated his actions.

• Lu Chang'gong refused to protect the Lu family, saying he would send Lu Zhengliu’s biological sons away, sell the ancestral fields, and leave the family’s affairs to their fate.
• Lu Chang'gong told Lu Zhengliu that he blamed him for his mother’s death and had known Yun Wan faked her death.
• Lu Zhengliu attacked Lu Chang'gong but fell, and Lu Chang'gong said he would observe mourning before taking the next examination after the family was gone.
• Guards and government officers arrived to confiscate the Wuding Marquis Residence and placed Lu Zhengliu in a cangue; Lu Chang'gong comforted Mu'er as she hid with him.
• Qi Lingheng told Lin Yunwan he would preside over the Lu family case, and she said Lu Chang'gong should be judged by what he had acted for.

Qi Lingheng punished Lu Zhengliu, and the Lu household’s collapse ended with the deaths of the Marquis of Wuding and Wei Shi. At the New Year’s palace banquet, Lin Yunwan learned the Crown Prince was near death and wanted Qi Zaijun to spend time with him, leaving Qi Lingheng to consider the request.

• Qi Lingheng ordered Lu Zhengliu tortured, and word later spread that Lu Zhengliu had killed himself in prison while his concubine was sentenced to death.
• Lu Chang'gong waited for mourners, then arranged the funerals after the Marquis of Wuding and Wei Shi returned home and died by striking their heads against the stone lions.
• Old Madam Xia praised Lu Chang'gong and discussed Xia Jin meeting the Lin Family's third daughter after his Metropolitan Examination.
• Lin Yunyi and Madam Lin visited Lu Chang'gong, and Lin Yunyi offered to help him while Madam Lin worried about his future household.
• At the New Year’s palace banquet, the Crown Prince Consort told Lin Yunwan that the Crown Prince could no longer keep food down and asked whether Qi Zaijun could spend time with him.
• Lin Yunwan told Qi Lingheng that the Crown Prince’s end was near, and Qi Lingheng quietly drank wine after hearing of the Crown Prince’s request.

Lin Yunwan and Qi Lingheng celebrated the New Year while Lin Yunyi sent gifts to Lu Chang'gong, Zhu Qing, and Mu'er. At the Lin Residence, relatives gathered and tried to introduce unmarried girls to Lin Yunyi, so Madam Lin sent for him.

• Lin Yunwan wrote more Fu Characters with Qi Lingheng's help and said Lin Yunyi had taken a stack to give to Lu Chang'gong.
• Zhu Qing worried about the size of their new home, and Lu Chang'gong showed her the Fu Characters Lin Yunyi had sent.
• Lu Chang'gong gave Zhu Qing a hairpin and Mu'er a box of gems entrusted to him by Lin Yunyi.
• Zhu Qing cooked a New Year's meal for Mu'er, Lu Chang'gong, and Qiao Da, while Lu Chang'gong kept to vegetables in observance of mourning.
• Madam Lin received many relatives at the Lin Residence, including unmarried girls, and sent someone to call Lin Yunyi over to meet them.

Lin Yunyi noticed Miss Xu’s injury and asked his mother to give her medicine, while Emperor Jingshun showed Qi Zaijun the burdens of a life without freedom by bringing him to see the ailing Crown Prince. The chapter left Qi Zaijun asleep in the emperor’s arms and Emperor Jingshun returning to his heavy duties.

• Lin Yunyi asked Madam Lin to give medicine to the quiet Miss Xu after noticing that her hand had been scalded.
• Madam Lin learned that Miss Xu’s former engagement had been broken off, while Lin Yunyi returned to preparing for the Metropolitan Examination.
• Qi Zaijun asked Emperor Jingshun to take him outside, so the emperor brought him to the Crown Prince’s Residence to show him the constraints of duty.
• Emperor Jingshun and Qi Zaijun visited the unconscious Crown Prince, who woke briefly and gave Qi Zaijun the Jade Thumb Ring.
• Emperor Jingshun explained that a ruler could not freely choose his life, and Qi Zaijun fell asleep as they returned to the palace.
• Emperor Jingshun went back to reading memorials and reflected on the duties that kept him from doing as he pleased.

Lin Yunyi passed the Metropolitan Examination and placed third in the second tier of the Palace Examination, then became engaged to Miss Xu. Lin Yunwan learned that the Crown Prince had died and immediately ordered mourning clothes prepared for her family.

• Lin Yunyi passed the Metropolitan Examination as the youngest Presented Scholar, and the Lin family celebrated his success.
• Qi Lingheng told Lin Yunwan that Emperor Jingshun had considered ranking Lin Yunyi among the top three before placing him third in the second tier because he was young.
• Lu Chang'gong received Lin Yunyi's congratulatory reply and heard that Lu Changzong had been cast out of the clan and abandoned by Xiao Xuan.
• Madam Lin told Lin Yunwan that Lin Yunyi had chosen Miss Xu, and that the family had settled their marriage.
• Lin Yunwan heard that the Crown Prince had died and ordered Jun'er changed into mourning clothes while mourning garments were prepared for herself and Qi Lingheng.

After the Crown Prince and Crown Prince Consort died, Emperor Jingshun mourned them before naming Qi Lingheng Crown Prince and Lin Yunwan Crown Prince Consort. After their grand investiture, Lin Yunwan reunited with her newly married brother and learned that A Fu had found a lead in the search for Lady Guo.

• Lin Yunwan discovered that the Crown Prince Consort had taken poison, and Emperor Jingshun ordered her buried with full honors beside the Crown Prince.
• Emperor Jingshun confided his regrets to Qi Zaijun, who comforted him about the loss of his eldest son.
• A year later, Emperor Jingshun named Qi Lingheng Crown Prince and Lin Yunwan Crown Prince Consort, then handed Qi Lingheng responsibility for court affairs.
• After the investiture, Lin Yunwan welcomed Lin Yunyi and Xu and learned that Qi Zaijun had the late Crown Prince Qi Ling Yi's jade thumb ring.
• Lin Yunwan ordered A Fu to follow a lead about a shop selling the distinctive fragrant powder associated with Lady Guo.

Lin Yunwan reunited with her teacher, Lady Guo, and learned how she had left her old life to help women at a Daoist temple support themselves by making incense. Lady Guo urged Lin Yunwan to show compassion to those with less power, and Qi Lingheng reflected on the hardships women faced.

• Lin Yunwan visited Lady Guo, who had returned to the countryside after traveling and selling her possessions.
• Lady Guo showed Lin Yunwan her incense and explained that women at a Daoist temple gathered ingredients and made incense powder to earn money.
• Lady Guo told Lin Yunwan that the temple women had once been forced to sell their bodies, some from as young as nine.
• Lady Guo urged Lin Yunwan, as a woman in a position of power, to have compassion for those below her.
• After Lin Yunwan returned, Qi Lingheng said he understood Lady Guo's concern for women and imagined the pain he would feel if a future daughter suffered as Lin Yunwan had.

Lu Chang'gong placed third in the palace examination, received the courtesy name Lu Chi from Qi Lingheng on Lin Yunwan’s recommendation, and began his career at the Hanlin Academy. He and Lin Yunyi became tutors to Qi Zaijun, whose studies and conduct improved under their guidance, before Qi Lingheng later ascended the throne and named them Jingshun’s Twin Eminences.

• Lu Chang'gong passed the palace examination in third place, and Qi Lingheng bestowed on him the courtesy name Lu Chi, chosen by Lin Yunwan.
• Lu Chang'gong joined the Hanlin Academy and discussed finding a wife with Zhu Qing and Lin Yunyi.
• Qi Lingheng and Lin Yunwan decided that Lu Chi would join Lin Yunyi as one of Qi Zaijun’s tutors.
• Qi Zaijun met his two new teachers, and Lin Yunyi and Lu Chi’s contrasting teaching styles improved his studies and conduct.
• Qi Lingheng later ascended the throne, made Qi Zaijun Crown Prince, and bestowed the title of Penglai Princess on his younger daughter.
• Lu Chi and Lin Yunyi became renowned as Jingshun’s Twin Eminences.