Chapter Summaries

Lin Yunwan handled tensions in the Marquis's Residence while worrying about her mother's worsening eyesight and waiting for Seventh Master Li. The chapter ended with Qi Lingheng bringing the physician to treat his teacher's wife and agreeing to take him to another patient afterward.

• Lin Yunwan dismissed Zhu Qing's suggestion to investigate Cousin Miss herself and let Lu Jia lecture her about accepting the Heir Apparent's mistress.
• Lin Yunwan praised Lu Chang'gong's studies, suggested he could attend school soon, and asked whether he liked living in the Marquis's Residence.
• After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Yunwan learned that Nanny Yan had returned but received no news from Old Madam Xia or Seventh Master Li, so she wrote to her family asking them to wait.
• Lady Guo sent Lin Yunwan incense powder and her Manual of Incense in return for a Mid-Autumn gift.
• Qi Lingheng escorted Seventh Master Li from the palace to treat his teacher's wife, offering him a carriage full of wine, and agreed to take him to treat another woman's eyes afterward.

Seventh Master Li examined Madam Lin and found that her damaged eyes could be treated, though her sight might not fully recover. Lin Yunwan learned that Prince Huan had brought the physician to her family and discovered that Seventh Master Li had come to the capital to treat the emperor.

• Prince Huan brought Seventh Master Li to the Lin residence, where Lin Yunyi welcomed them and the physician examined Madam Lin's eyes.
• Madam Lin saw a little light after Seventh Master Li used needles, and he explained that her condition could be treated with difficult-to-find medicines and careful care.
• Lin Yunyi wrote to Lin Yunwan that their mother's eyes could be treated, while he kept Prince Huan's role to himself.
• Lin Yunwan thanked Old Madam Xia for arranging the visit, but Old Madam Xia said she had sent no one with Seventh Master Li.
• Old Madam Xia hinted that Seventh Master Li had been treating the emperor, and Lin Yunwan realized Prince Huan had likely taken him to the Lin residence.

Lin Yunwan learned more about Madam Lin’s eye ailment and prepared to visit her family after the Xia family left the Lu residence. Meanwhile, Old Madam Lu secretly arranged to obtain medicine, and Qi Lingheng heard that the Lu heir had neglected Madam Lin’s needs for a woman.

• Lin Yunwan received Lin Yunyi’s reply about Madam Lin’s eye ailment and arranged the Xia family’s farewell gifts before planning a visit to her maiden home.
• Old Madam Xia warned Old Madam Lu to put the Lu household in order, while Lu Jia complained about moving into the Xia family’s cramped new home.
• Old Madam Lu told Nanny Yan to report when their agents returned, then learned that a surviving apprentice could provide three months’ worth of medicine for five hundred taels.
• A Fu told Qi Lingheng that the Lu heir had left Master Li waiting while he dealt with a woman, and Qi Lingheng condemned the heir as shameless.

Lin Yunwan returned to the Lin residence to see her mother and arranged to sell a dowry shop to pay for medicine. After she left, Prince Huan arrived with Seventh Master Li to treat Madam Lin, who learned that he had been her husband’s student.

• Lin Yunwan returned to the Lin residence and learned that Madam Lin’s sight was beginning to improve under Seventh Master Li’s treatment.
• Lin Yunwan offered to sell her Zhongzhou shop to buy rare medicinal ingredients, while Lin Yunyi said he had another way to help pay for their mother’s treatment.
• Lin Yunwan entrusted the shop deeds to the Lin Family Steward and told him to ask Manager Luo’s relative about buying the shop.
• Lin Yunwan and Lin Yunyi discussed the family accounts and agreed that the Lin Family should thank Prince Huan, Old Madam Xia, and Seventh Master Li.
• After Lin Yunwan left, Prince Huan brought Seventh Master Li to give Madam Lin acupuncture, and she recognized Prince Huan as her late husband’s former student.

Lin Yunyi managed his mother’s care and household affairs, while Lin Yunwan received his letter and visited the Xia family’s housewarming banquet. The banquet was interrupted when Old Madam Xia learned something had happened to Lu Jia, and Lin Yunwan and Wei Shi went to find her.

• Lin Yunyi thanked Qi Lingheng for bringing Physician Li, then learned Qi Lingheng had arrived just after Lin Yunwan left the Lin household.
• Lin Yunyi sent gifts to Qi Lingheng’s residence and Physician Li, and Qi Lingheng returned gifts that included medicine for Madam Lin.
• Lin Yunyi wrote Lin Yunwan a detailed letter about the family, and she praised how capably he was handling matters.
• Lin Yunwan and Wei Shi brought gifts to the Xia family’s housewarming banquet, where Old Madam Xia said Lu Jia had gone to rest because she was unwell.
• After a matron told Old Madam Xia something that made her leave, Wei Shi and Lin Yunwan went to check on Lu Jia.

Old Madam Xia reprimanded Lu Jia for defying her and mishandling Xia Ji’s concubine, while Lin Yunwan and Wei Shi visited and gave Lu Jia little comfort. Back at the Wuding Marquis Residence, Lin Yunwan learned that the attempt to break Cousin Miss’s engagement had uncovered something alarming about Ge Bao’er’s background.

• Old Madam Xia scolded Lu Jia in her courtyard and threatened to send her back to the Lu family and take Zhuo from her.
• Lin Yunwan and Wei Shi visited Lu Jia, but Wei Shi and Lin Yunwan both said Lu Jia should have handled Xia Ji’s mistress without provoking a quarrel.
• Lin Yunwan returned to the Wuding Marquis Residence, where Tao Ye told her that the people sent to break Cousin Miss’s engagement had come back.
• Zhu Qing reported that Old Madam had nearly fainted after learning something on the trip, leaving Lin Yunwan to suspect that Ge Bao’er’s background was problematic.

Old Madam Lu discovered that Ge Bao'er had once been a Criminal's Bondservant and, after learning she was legally free, permitted Lu Zhengliu to keep her as a lowly concubine while insisting the Lu family protect itself. Zhu Qing went to the Hall of Longevity with medicinal soup as a pretext, then hurried back to Drooping Silk Hall after Nanny Yan warned her to keep quiet.

• Zhu Qing asked Lin Yunwan whether she should investigate at the Hall of Longevity, and Lin Yunwan told her to observe how Old Madam Lu settled Ge Bao'er's status.
• Old Madam Lu slapped Ge Bao'er and confronted Lu Zhengliu, who admitted he had known about her past servitude.
• Old Madam Lu allowed Lu Zhengliu to keep Ge Bao'er as a concubine, then ordered her to sign a new deed of servitude so the Lu family would not bear future trouble.
• Nanny Yan explained that Ge Bao'er had been freed before her adoptive family was exiled, and Old Madam Lu acknowledged that her main anger was Lu Zhengliu's concealment.
• Old Madam Lu praised Lin Yunwan's judgment and said the household should heed her, while ordering Nanny Yan to question Qing about Ge Bao'er.
• Zhu Qing brought soothing medicinal soup to the Hall of Longevity, but Nanny Yan sent her away and warned her not to repeat anything she had heard; Zhu Qing then hurried to Drooping Silk Hall.

Old Madam Lu confronted Qing about visiting Ge Bao'er and ordered him to grow close to Lin Yunwan and keep his distance from his birth mother. Lin Yunwan and Lu Chang'gong treated Qing kindly, leaving Ge Bao'er worried that she was losing her influence over him.

• Zhu Qing told Lin Yunwan that Old Madam Lu had said Qing needed a proper education, then moved into Rain Apricot Pavilion and sent pastries to Wu'er.
• Old Madam Lu scolded Qing for visiting Ge Bao'er and ordered him to learn from Lin Yunwan while keeping his distance from his birth mother.
• Qing accompanied Lu Chang'gong to breakfast with Lin Yunwan, who kindly urged him to eat more.
• Lu Chang'gong offered to help Qing with his studies, and later told Lin Yunwan he did not need to know why she was treating Qing kindly.
• Ge Bao'er heard that Qing was now close to Lin Yunwan and anxiously asked Wu'er why he had not come to see her.

Lin Yunwan grew closer to Lu Chang'gong and Qing while Ge Bao'er watched Qing turn away from her. Old Madam Lu revealed that she was secretly drugging Ge Bao'er and intended for Qing to forget her, leaving the household’s plans dependent on Qing denying his birth mother’s identity.

• Zhu Qing told Lin Yunwan that Ge Bao'er was ill, and Lin Yunwan left her care to Old Madam Lu.
• Lin Yunwan served Lu Chang'gong and Qing vegetarian and meat taro suanhuo, and the two boys began visiting her together each day.
• At Rain Apricot Pavilion, Zhu Qing praised how much the boys resembled Lin Yunwan, while Ge Bao'er watched Qing leave with her and wept.
• Old Madam Lu praised Lin Yunwan as the only suitable mistress of the household and learned that Ge Bao'er had caused no trouble.
• Old Madam Lu and Nanny Yan discussed secretly giving Ge Bao'er medicine that would gradually kill her, and Old Madam Lu said Qing’s denial would make Ge Bao'er seem mad if she exposed his identity.

Lin Yunwan asked Ping Ye to keep an eye on Xiliu, who discovered Ge Bao'er secretly meeting Qing and heard him call her Mother. Ge Bao'er pressured Xiliu to keep their secret, leaving her and Qing anxious about whether she would tell anyone.

• Zhu Qing praised Lin Yunwan's tea before leaving as the stewardesses arrived.
• Lin Yunwan asked Ping Ye about Xiliu and told her to watch over the maid.
• While taking Ge Bao'er a cloak, Xiliu overheard Qing call Ge Bao'er Mother and learned they were secretly meeting.
• Ge Bao'er made Xiliu promise to keep their relationship secret, warning that her life and Qing's depended on it.
• Xiliu worried about whether to tell Lin Yunwan, while Qing feared his mother and elder brother would reject him if they learned the truth.

Qing tried to get Old Madam Lu to punish Xiliu, while Lin Yunwan discovered that Xiliu had learned of Ge Bao'er and Qing's secret meetings. Lin Yunwan decided to use Qing's birthday to bring Ge Bao'er and her son together.

• Qing met Ge Bao'er in secret, and she told him she would handle the threat to his future after he said he would ask Old Madam Lu for help.
• Qing asked Old Madam Lu to punish Xiliu, but she refused and told Nanny Yan not to interfere with how Xiliu treated Ge Bao'er.
• Lin Yunwan and her maids rushed to the pond when they thought Xiliu was going to jump in, but Xiliu explained that she had only slipped.
• Xiliu privately told Lin Yunwan that she had witnessed Ge Bao'er and Qing meeting in the rockery, and Lin Yunwan told her to act as usual and stay away from water and wells.
• Lin Yunwan ordered invitations sent to her relatives and Old Madam Xia and the eldest young lady for Qing's birthday, planning to use the gathering to reunite Ge Bao'er and Qing.

Lin Yunwan watched Ge Bao'er and prepared Young Master Qing's birthday banquet while Xiliu gathered information and kept close to Tong Liu. On the day of the celebration, Qing anxiously waited for his birth mother, unaware of what Ge Bao'er intended to do.

• Lin Yunwan asked Ping Ye to have a servant discreetly watch Xiliu, and Xiliu reassured Ping Ye that she could handle herself.
• Xiliu questioned Tong Liu about swimming and told Ge Bao'er that the Lin family would attend Qing's birthday banquet, prompting Ge Bao'er to send her back to learn more.
• Tong Liu reported her observations to Zhu Qing, who instructed her to choose a modest birthday gift for Young Master Qing.
• Lin Yunwan learned that the Xia family and Young Master Yi would attend, then permitted Ge Bao'er to give Qing the embroidered insoles.
• Qing saw Xiliu visit Lin Yunwan and feared his secret would be exposed; he later met Ge Bao'er, who promised to keep the truth hidden and urged him to enjoy his birthday.
• At the birthday banquet, Qing remained distracted and wondered why Ge Bao'er had not arrived with his birthday present.

At Qing’s birthday banquet, a frightened Qing ran off after hearing that Ge Bao’er might be dying. Lin Yunwan and the others found him pleading for help as Ge Bao’er and her maid drowned in a pond, and Qing revealed that Ge Bao’er was his birth mother.

• Lin Yunyi gave Lu Chang'gong a gift, while Lu Zhengliu presented Qing with a jade pendant at the birthday banquet.
• After Zhu Qing joked that Ge Bao’er might be dying, Qing fled the banquet to find her.
• Lin Yunwan and the others followed Qing into the garden, where they found him crying beside the pond after Ge Bao’er and her maid jumped into the water.
• Qing knelt before Lin Yunwan, begged her to save Ge Bao’er, and revealed that she was his birth mother.
• Lu Jia realized that Qing was Lu Zhengliu’s child with a mistress from before his marriage.

Zhu Qing exposed Ge Bao'er as Qing's birth mother and nearly drowned her while pretending to rescue her. Lin Yunwan demanded that the Lin clan elders be summoned, and the Lu and Lin families prepared to discuss the scandal while Lin Yunwan remained at the residence.

• Qing declared that Ge Bao'er was his birth mother, and Zhu Qing realized Ge Bao'er had secretly exchanged the babies.
• Zhu Qing shoved Ge Bao'er underwater during the rescue, but the matrons pulled her out; Lin Yunwan sent Xiliu to warm up and bathe.
• The servants learned that Ge Bao'er had given birth to Qing before Lin Yunwan married into the Lu family and spread the news at the banquet.
• Lin Yunwan asked Madam Lin to summon the Lin clan elders, while Lu Zhengliu admitted that Ge Bao'er had given birth to Qing.
• Madam Lin tried to take Lin Yunwan home, but Old Madam Lu and Lu Zhengliu insisted she could not leave; Old Madam Xia suggested that elders from both families discuss the matter.
• Lin Yunwan saw Madam Lin and Lin Yunyi out and agreed to stay while they returned home.

Lin Yunwan feigned illness to avoid the Old Madam and let the household feel the burden of managing without her. As the residence adjusted to her absence, Zhu Qing visited her, and Lu Chang'gong beat Qing after leaving the rear courtyard.

• Lin Yunwan announced that she was ill, while Ping Ye spread the news and Wei Shi struggled to manage the residence's affairs.
• Wei Shi learned that Lin Yunwan was refusing visitors and approved the confinement of Ge Bao'er, while Zhu Qing warned the matrons not to give her water.
• Zhu Qing visited Lin Yunwan, learned she would wait for the Lin clan elders before deciding whether to leave, and reported that Lu Chang'gong had stayed in the Front Courtyard.
• After dark, Lu Chang'gong left through the Second Gate, went to Qing's room, and beat him.

Lin Yunyi secured five century-old ginseng roots from Qi Lingheng’s residence and joined the Lin clan elders in visiting the Wuding Marquis Residence to address Lin Yunwan’s situation. The hall was cleared and shut before the meeting began, leaving Zhu Qing secretly watching from outside.

• Lin Yunyi and Madam Lin persuaded the Lin clan elders to visit the Wuding Marquis Residence and demand a divorce by mutual consent for Lin Yunwan.
• Lin Yunyi took eight hundred taels and a promissory note to Prince Huan’s Residence, and Qi Lingheng ordered his steward to give him all five century-old ginseng roots.
• The Lin clan members went to the Wuding Marquis Residence, where Lin Yunwan and her maids prepared to join the gathering.
• Wei Shi greeted Lin Yunwan and proposed dealing with Ge Bao'er and her son by force, but Lin Yunwan pulled away and told her she was oversimplifying the matter.
• Old Madam Lu ordered the hall doors closed and cleared the area before the meeting, while Zhu Qing avoided being caught listening.

The Lin family confronted the Lu family over Lu Zhengliu’s deception and demanded that Lin Yunwan be allowed to divorce. The Lu family tried to defend him and invoke an old debt, but Lin Yunyi offered repayment and insisted his sister come home.

• The Lu family admitted Lu Zhengliu had acted wrongly but called it a youthful mistake and asked the Lin family to be understanding.
• Lin Yunyi accused the Lu family of deceiving the Lin family about the marriage, and the Lin patriarch said the families should agree to a divorce.
• When Old Madam Lu blamed the dispute on a concubine, Lin Yunyi explained how the Lu family had concealed the concubine and her adopted son, calling it favoring a concubine and destroying the wife.
• Lu Zhengliu swore he had never meant to destroy Lin Yunwan, while the Lu clan claimed his actions were a misunderstanding.
• Lin Yunyi presented five ginseng roots as repayment for the Lu family’s old kindness, and the Lin patriarch said the Lin family would repay tenfold but Lin Yunwan must return home.

Lin Yunyi challenged Old Madam Lu’s use of the Lu family’s old favor to keep Lin Yunwan married to Lu Zhengliu. When Lu Zhengliu refused a mutual divorce and Old Madam Lu demanded he divorce Lin Yunwan instead, Madam Lin fainted, leaving the families’ dispute unresolved.

• Lin Yunyi argued that the old marquis’s gift of ginseng had been an act of compassion, not a debt the Lu family could use to make Lin Yunwan its mistress.
• The Lu clansmen urged Old Madam Lu to accept a mutual divorce, and the Lin clan leader asked Lu Zhengliu to write the agreement.
• Lu Zhengliu offered Lin Yunwan his storeroom keys and promised to send Ge Bao'er away, but Lin Yunwan still demanded a mutual divorce and proper arrangements for Chang Gong.
• Old Madam Lu rejected a mutual divorce and ordered Lu Zhengliu to write Lin Yunwan a letter of divorce, citing childlessness and disobedience.
• Madam Lin defended Lin Yunwan, blamed Lu Zhengliu for their childlessness, and fainted; Lin Yunwan and Lin Yunyi rushed to help her.

After the Lu family refused to let Lin Yunwan leave, she admitted to her maids that she had carefully prepared for divorce and sent Lin Yunyi instructions. He organized Lin clan officials to impeach Lu Zhengliu, and more than a dozen memorials reached the Grand Secretariat the next day.

• Lin Yunyi punched Lu Zhengliu and demanded a divorce agreement, but Lu Zhengliu refused and urged the family to take Madam Lin to a physician.
• Lin Yunwan sent Lin Yunyi home with Madam Lin, then returned to Drooping Silk Hall after Lu Zhengliu tried to speak with her.
• Lin Yunwan told Ping Ye and Tao Ye that her earlier actions had been calculated to secure a divorce, but the Lu family had unexpectedly refused to release her.
• Lin Yunwan wrote Lin Yunyi a letter, and he gathered Lin clan officials to submit memorials accusing Lu Zhengliu of favoring a concubine and suppressing his wife.
• More than a dozen impeachment memorials arrived at the Grand Secretariat, where an official questioned Lu Zhengliu's conduct.

Prince Huan Qi Lingheng refused to openly intervene in the impeachments against the Wuding Marquis Residence, while Emperor Jingshun sought to trade leniency for his agreement to marry. Qi Lingheng rejected the bargain and left, angering the emperor and leaving Zhao Susu wondering what he intended.

• At the Grand Secretariat, Assistant Grand Secretary Zhang called the Heir of the Marquis of Wuding's conduct outrageous, but Qi Lingheng said the memorials should be discussed without him because the matter lay outside his duties.
• The First Grand Secretary ordered exact copies of the memorials submitted, and court officials privately debated whether Qi Lingheng meant to intervene for the Lin Family.
• Emperor Jingshun told Qi Lingheng he would at most demote the heir or strip him of his post because there was no evidence he had mistreated his wife.
• Emperor Jingshun asked Qi Lingheng to agree to marry a Princess Consort of Huan in exchange for suppressing the Wuding Marquis Residence, but Qi Lingheng refused and left.
• Emperor Jingshun smashed a vase in anger, then told Zhao Susu that Qi Lingheng had refused to marry; Zhao Susu wondered whether he might yield for Grand Tutor Lin's sake, and Emperor Jingshun said she still did not understand their son.