Chapter Summaries

Emperor Jingshun acted on renewed accusations against the Wuding Marquis Residence and left Prince Huan to decide whether to accept his terms. The Lu family sought allies and dismissed the danger, but an imperial edict stripped the Heir of the Marquis of Wuding of his title, and Old Madam Lu fainted before hearing the rest.

• Emperor Jingshun told Zhao Susu that public pressure over the Marquis of Wuding's past battlefield offenses had grown beyond Qi Lingheng's initial efforts, and he sent a message to Prince Huan.
• Qi Lingheng returned from hearing the message with a grave expression, then continued discussing preparations for his fief with his advisers.
• Old Madam Lu urged Lu Zhengliu to seek help from the Xia family and ordered Wei Shi to contact relatives, while insisting that the Wuding Marquis Residence would survive.
• Lu Zhengliu went to the Xia family but was turned away, and Lu Jia panicked over the danger to her maiden family.
• An imperial edict stripped the Heir of the Marquis of Wuding of his title, and Old Madam Lu fainted before hearing the order's remaining penalties.

After the Lu family lost its noble title, Lin Yunwan decided to stop managing the residence and secure its businesses for Chang Gong. She sent Ge Bao'er away to the estate, while Zhu Qing suspected she was pregnant and prepared to serve Lin Yunwan more faithfully.

• Lin Yunwan discussed the loss of Lu Zhengliu's title with Tao Ye and Ping Ye, then said she would focus on raising Chang Gong and controlling the Lu family's businesses.
• Zhu Qing visited Lin Yunwan, praised her influence, and reported that Ge Bao'er had tried to escape after learning something had happened in the residence.
• Lin Yunwan ordered the matrons to tie Ge Bao'er securely and send her to the estate, explaining that she did not want blood on her hands.
• Zhu Qing vomited after returning to Rain Apricot Pavilion and wondered if she was pregnant; Tong Liu urged her to tell Lin Yunwan and asked to serve alongside Xiliu.
• Zhu Qing arranged for Ge Bao'er to be taken to the estate, where a matron told her Lu Zhengliu had lost his title and was now only the eldest master.

Ge Bao'er was sent to the estate after pawning her jade pendant, while Lin Yunwan comforted Chang Gong and rejected Qing. Old Madam Lu decided the Lu family would have to rely on its sons’ studies and resolve to treat Chang Gong better.

• Ge Bao'er threatened suicide until the matron pawned her jade pendant and gave her part of the money, then the matron delivered her to the estate.
• Zhu Qing rewarded the matron and told Lin Yunwan that Ge Bao'er had been sent away, leaving out the suicide attempt and pawned pendant.
• Lu Chang'gong confessed to Lin Yunwan that he hated being unable to defend her, and she reassured him before promising to make him gloves.
• Lin Yunwan told Qing he no longer needed to pay his respects, and Qing left in tears, realizing his birth mother’s actions had cost him favor.
• Old Madam Lu ordered that Ge Bao'er receive the medicine she had bought and decided to treat Chang Gong better because the Lu family had lost its title.

Lin Yunwan focused on Lu Chang'gong and her natal family while refusing to nurse Old Madam, and she arranged for Chang'gong's education and winter clothing. Steward Lin returned with the proceeds from the shop transfer and news that Yunyi had sought ginseng from Prince Huan's Residence, leaving Lin Yunwan wondering why.

• Lin Yunwan refused to visit Old Madam and told Zhu Qing not to discuss Lu Chang'gong's drinking father in front of the child.
• Lin Yunwan planned for Lu Chang'gong to attend clan school and learn boxing and swordsmanship, and she continued preparing winter clothes for him.
• Lin Yunwan told Tao Ye to look for maids of a suitable age for Chang'gong and let Tao Ye handle Wei Shi's household questions.
• Steward Lin reported that the shop transfer had gone smoothly and that Manager Luo's relative had made up the shortfall with an ancestral jade piece.
• Lin Yunwan ordered Steward Lin to pawn the jade with the right of redemption and secretly gave him most of the shop proceeds to bring to her mother for medicine.
• Steward Lin told Lin Yunwan that Yunyi had gone to Prince Huan's Residence for ginseng, then urged her to ask Yunyi about the matter herself.

Lin Yunwan asked Lin Yunyi to write back rather than visit, while Steward Lin pawned a jade pendant and unknowingly brought the Lin Family into Prince Huan's investigation of another pendant. Qi Lingheng learned that the second pendant might link Lu Zhengliu's concubine to the Duke Xingguo's missing daughter and ordered A Fu to keep the matter quiet.

• Lin Yunwan wrote to Lin Yunyi and told Steward Lin to ask him only to reply by letter.
• Steward Lin pawned a Lin Family jade pendant, and the shopkeeper recognized him from earlier visits but gave him a generous price.
• The shopkeeper brought the Lin Family pendant and a second pawned pendant to Prince Huan, who recognized the second pendant as connected to the Wuding Marquis Residence.
• The shopkeeper explained that a servant woman from the Wuding Marquis Residence had pawned the second pendant, and Qi Lingheng kept both pendants.
• A Fu investigated and reported that the pendant might belong to the Duke Xingguo's legitimate daughter, who had disappeared twenty years earlier, and that the servant woman had been returning from visiting Lu Zhengliu's concubine.
• Qi Lingheng ordered A Fu to keep the discovery secret and considered whether to tell the Lin Family.

Qi Lingheng heard the women discuss Lin Yunwan’s troubled marriage and decided to visit Red Elephant Temple, while Lin Yunwan prepared to take Lu Chang'gong there and learned that Zhu Qing was pregnant. The chapter ended with Lu Chang'gong asking how Lin Yunwan knew the baby would be a girl.

• Zhao Susu and the Zhao women discussed Zhao Susu’s sister and sympathized with Lin Yunwan, while Qi Lingheng listened quietly.
• Qi Lingheng returned to Prince Huan’s Residence, accepted pastries from Red Elephant Temple, and arranged to visit the temple on an auspicious day.
• Lin Yunwan and Lu Chang'gong sampled the temple’s pastries, and Lu Chang'gong offered to accompany her to see its murals.
• Lin Yunwan arranged for Zhu Qing, whose pregnancy had been confirmed, to receive support and for Xiliu to attend her.
• Lu Chang'gong asked Lin Yunwan how she knew Zhu Qing’s baby would be a girl.

Lin Yunwan learned that Prince Huan had helped the Lin Family and took Lu Chang'gong to the Red Elephant Temple. There, she discovered the handsome man she had met before was Prince Huan.

• Zhu Qing told Lin Yunwan she would entrust a son to her care and wanted only for her child to be safe.
• Lin Yunwan read Yun Yi's letter and learned Prince Huan had helped the Lin Family.
• Lin Yunwan warned the purchasing stewards not to cheat Lu Chang'gong, then traveled with him to the Red Elephant Temple.
• Lu Chang'gong agreed to write calligraphy for the temple, while Lin Yunwan went to pray in the Main Buddha Hall.
• Qi Lingheng emerged from behind the Buddha statue, and A Fu identified him to Lin Yunwan as Prince Huan.

Lin Yunwan spoke privately with Qi Lingheng at Red Elephant Temple, where a Buddhist parable led her to explain that she wanted to escape the Wuding Marquis Residence rather than gain advantage there. She left the hall with Ping Ye and realized Qi Lingheng wore ambergris, while his understanding of her wish to separate remained with her.

• Qi Lingheng told Lin Yunwan that a young lad from her household had visited the abbot, and Lin Yunwan identified him as her legitimate son.
• Qi Lingheng recounted a parable about a gecko that gave up its tail to climb a tree with a spider, then asked Lin Yunwan why it had done so.
• Lin Yunwan argued that the gecko had sacrificed its tail to escape being eaten by the spider, and Qi Lingheng agreed that it had done so to leave rather than to gain the grub.
• Lin Yunwan left the Main Buddha Hall and found Ping Ye carrying medicinal soup after a novice monk had sent her away.
• Lin Yunwan went with Ping Ye to find Chang Gong and recognized Qi Lingheng's fragrance as ambergris.

After returning from Red Elephant Temple, Lin Yunwan arranged servants for Lu Chang'gong and the Second Young Master, while Lu Zhengliu’s drinking worried Old Madam Lu. The chapter ended with Lu Zhengliu meeting a guest at Jialing Tower as Qi Lingheng and Assistant Grand Secretary Zhang arrived nearby.

• Lin Yunwan thanked the abbot with a donation, then explained to Lu Chang'gong why generosity toward temple staff mattered.
• Heavy snow delayed Lin Yunwan and Lu Chang'gong’s departure; when the road cleared, they returned to the Wuding Marquis Residence and learned Prince Huan had already left quietly.
• Lin Yunwan asked Nanny Yuan to arrange capable servants for Lu Chang'gong and the Second Young Master, but Nanny Yuan and her daughter-in-law privately decided to give the Second Young Master lesser treatment.
• Old Madam Lu learned Lu Zhengliu had gone drinking and worried that the Lu family would have to rely on Chang Gong.
• Lu Zhengliu went to Jialing Tower to meet a guest, while Qi Lingheng and Assistant Grand Secretary Zhang arrived and spoke cautiously on their way to another room.

Qi Lingheng discussed Xia Liangyi’s suitability for service with Assistant Grand Secretary Zhang, then witnessed Lu Zhengliu fight scholars who condemned his treatment of Lin Yunwan. Back at the prince’s residence, Qi Lingheng ordered a jade pendant from Duke Xingguo’s Residence sent to the Wuding Marquis Residence, testing whether Lu Zhengliu would choose Lin Yunwan or his Concubine.

• Qi Lingheng thanked Assistant Grand Secretary Zhang for recommending Physician Li, then asked about Xia Liangyi’s temperament and accepted that the Xia family’s connection to the Wuding Marquis Residence was no obstacle.
• Assistant Grand Secretary Zhang’s comments about the Lin Family reminded Qi Lingheng of Lin Yunwan’s wish to separate.
• Qi Lingheng went to investigate a fight at Jialing Tower and found Lu Zhengliu brawling with scholars who accused him of favoring his Concubine and mistreating his wife.
• The shopkeeper demanded payment for the damage, and patrolling soldiers arrived before the people involved eventually dispersed.
• After returning to the prince’s residence, Qi Lingheng ordered A Fu to send the jade pendant from Duke Xingguo’s Residence to the Wuding Marquis Residence.

Lin Yunwan traced a pawned jade pendant to Concubine Ge and learned it belonged to a master of Duke Xingguo's Residence. The pendant raised the possibility that Concubine Ge was the duke's long-lost legitimate daughter, and Lin Yunwan went to the Hall of Longevity.

• A pawnshop keeper returned a jade pendant to Lin Yunwan and explained that its leopard-tail carving identified it as belonging to a master of Duke Xingguo's Residence.
• Lin Yunwan questioned Zhu Qing, who recalled that Concubine Ge's escorting matron had pawned a jade pendant for her.
• The matron confirmed that the pendant Lin Yunwan showed her was the one she had pawned for Concubine Ge.
• Lin Yunwan told Ping Ye and Tao Ye that the pendant belonged to Duke Xingguo's Residence and remembered that the household had lost a legitimate daughter when she was three.
• Ping Ye wondered whether Concubine Ge was the missing daughter, and Lin Yunwan went to the Hall of Longevity.

Lin Yunwan told Old Madam Lu that Ge Bao’er might be the missing legitimate daughter of Duke Xingguo’s Residence, and Old Madam Lu investigated the claim. Once the possibility seemed real, she rushed to bring Ge Bao’er back and stop her medicine, while accepting that Lin Yunwan wanted to leave the Marquis’s Residence.

• Lin Yunwan privately told Old Madam Lu something that prompted her to investigate which prominent family had lost a legitimate daughter twenty years earlier.
• Nanny Yan discovered that Duke Xingguo’s Residence had lost a daughter during the Lantern Festival twenty years ago, and Old Madam Lu connected the girl to Ge Bao’er’s past.
• Old Madam Lu realized Ge Bao’er might be the duke’s missing daughter and ordered Nanny Yan to bring her back from the estate and stop her medicine.
• Old Madam Lu worried that Ge Bao’er might refuse to help the Lu family after their treatment of her, and decided to see how she reacted to Qing.
• Old Madam Lu acknowledged that Lin Yunwan wanted to leave the Marquis’s Residence and said she would let her go if Ge Bao’er stayed.

Lin Yunwan explained to Zhu Qing that Ge Bao’er’s jade pendant might identify her as the missing daughter of Duke Xingguo’s family, while Old Madam Lu kept Ge Bao’er in the residence and secretly investigated. The chapter ended with Old Madam Lu learning that Duke Xingguo’s Residence had dismissed her inquiry, leaving the question of Ge Bao’er’s identity unresolved.

• Lin Yunwan told Zhu Qing that Ge Bao’er’s jade pendant belonged to a missing noble daughter and reasoned that Ge Bao’er would claim the identity if it helped her escape the estate.
• Lin Yunwan urged Zhu Qing to focus on her pregnancy, while Zhu Qing worried about being separated from her mistress.
• Nanny Yan brought the ill Ge Bao’er back to the residence, and a physician diagnosed lingering wind-cold without detecting poison.
• Old Madam Lu kept Ge Bao’er under her care, prevented Qing from visiting her, and sent Nanny Yan’s family to investigate Duke Xingguo’s Residence discreetly.
• Ping Ye worried that Old Madam Lu might acknowledge Ge Bao’er’s kinship without granting Lin Yunwan a separation agreement, but Lin Yunwan doubted the duke’s family would accept her without proof.
• Nanny Yan reported that Duke Xingguo’s Residence refused to hear her inquiry because too many people had falsely claimed to be the missing daughter.

Old Madam Lu investigated Ge Bao'er’s jade pendant and became convinced that she might be the missing legitimate daughter of Duke Xingguo’s Residence. She ordered Lu Zhengliu to write a separation agreement from Yun Wan, but he refused.

• Old Madam Lu arranged for Qing to visit Ge Bao'er, and mother and son reunited in tears.
• Old Madam Lu and Nanny Yan discussed how Ge Bao'er’s possible identity could benefit the Lu family and Lu Zhengliu’s marriage prospects.
• Old Madam Lu questioned Ge Bao'er about the jade pendant she had worn since childhood, and Ge Bao'er confirmed it was hers.
• Lu Zhengliu confirmed he had seen Ge Bao'er’s fine Hetian jade pendant when they first met in Liyang.
• After sending Ge Bao'er and Qing out, Old Madam Lu ordered Lu Zhengliu to separate from Yun Wan, but he angrily refused.

Old Madam Lu tried to persuade Lu Zhengliu to separate from Lin Yunwan by claiming Ge Bao'er might be Duke Xingguo's lost legitimate daughter, but he refused. Lin Yunwan remained wary of the Lu family’s sudden generosity, and Old Madam Lu urged her to let Ge Bao'er return while insisting the family would not cast her aside.

• Old Madam Lu told Lu Zhengliu that Ge Bao'er's jade pendant belonged to the masters of Duke Xingguo's Residence and asked whether he would separate from Lin Yunwan if Ge were their lost legitimate daughter.
• Lu Zhengliu refused, fearing that the duke's family would dominate him, while Old Madam Lu and Nanny Yan warned him that the Lu family’s fortunes would worsen and urged him to reconsider.
• Lu Zhengliu explained that he had been seeking advisers and business opportunities for the household, but he still did not agree to separate from Lin Yunwan.
• After he left, Old Madam Lu asked Nanny Yan to keep the poison from the nunnery until they confirmed Ge Bao'er's identity.
• Lin Yunwan told Ping Ye and Tao Ye that she would accept a quiet life in a nunnery rather than remarry, but she became suspicious when Old Madam Lu sent her gifts.
• Lin Yunwan went to confront Old Madam Lu, who claimed the Lu family would not cast her aside and asked her to let Ge Bao'er return; Lin Yunwan did not believe her.

Lin Yunwan learned that the Lu family had poisoned her in her previous life after Zhu Qing noticed that Ge Bao'er recovered unusually quickly and Tao Ye found the medicine dregs from Ge Bao'er's time at the estate. The discovery left Lin Yunwan wondering whether the Lu family had also killed her maids and Chang Gong.

• Ge Bao'er urged Qing to investigate what was happening and told him that finding her powerful maternal family could secure his future.
• Zhu Qing noticed that Ge Bao'er had stopped taking medicine after returning from the estate and recovered quickly, then warned Lin Yunwan that the earlier medicine might have been suspicious.
• Lin Yunwan ordered Tao Ye to discreetly find Ge Bao'er's old medicine and its dregs.
• Tao Ye recovered the buried dregs from the estate and brought them to Lin Yunwan.
• Lin Yunwan recognized a faint almond scent in the dregs and realized that the Lu family had poisoned her to death in her previous life.

Lin Yunwan received news that her mother’s eyesight was improving and learned that the Lin clan could not force the Lu family to release her. After Lin Yunyi visited and secretly agreed to help her, Old Madam Lu revealed that she intended to have both siblings killed by means that would evade blame.

• Lin Yunwan told Tao Ye to put away the suspicious medicine and prepare a carriage, but paused her plans when Lin Yunyi arrived.
• Lin Yunyi told Lin Yunwan that their mother could now make out blurry shapes, then explained that the Lin clan had sent him because they could not do more to help her.
• Lin Yunwan asked Lin Yunyi for secret help and saw him off, promising to return to visit their mother.
• Old Madam Lu urged Lin Yunyi to let bygones be bygones, but he rejected her claim that the families were still one.
• After the siblings left, Old Madam Lu told Nanny Yan that Lin Yunwan and Lin Yunyi both had to die, and said there were ways to kill them without attracting blame.

Lin Yunwan enlisted Lu Chang'gong to draw Qing closer by revealing the secret of his birth mother, while Lin Yunyi set out to Prince Huan's Residence at his sister's request. Qing overheard that Concubine Ge was the missing legitimate daughter of Duke Xingguo's Residence and hurried to tell his mother.

• Lin Yunwan warned Lin Yunyi that Old Madam Lu was dangerous, then sent him home with a request to visit Prince Huan's Residence without returning the silver.
• Lin Yunyi vowed at his father's memorial tablet to protect his sister before pursuing his ambition of becoming an upright official, then left for Prince Huan's Residence.
• Lin Yunwan summoned Lu Chang'gong privately and asked him to carry out a task.
• Lu Chang'gong invited Qing to celebrate their move and told his maid Qianru that Concubine Ge was the missing legitimate daughter of Duke Xingguo's Residence, whose identifying jade pendant Lin Yunwan possessed.
• Qing secretly overheard Lu Chang'gong's conversation and realized that Duke Xingguo's Residence was his maternal family, so he went to tell his mother.

Lu Chang'gong kept up the housewarming preparations while Qing told Ge Bao'er that she was the Di Daughter of the Duke Xingguo's Residence, prompting her to seek the jade pendant she needed to reclaim her identity. As Lin Yunwan traveled with Madam Lin to Red Elephant Temple, Old Madam Lu arranged to search Drooping Silk Hall, and the journey ended with their carriage blocked by the Xia family's.

• Lu Chang'gong warned Qianru to keep their conversation secret and sent her to arrange the housewarming banquet while he organized his study.
• Qing told Ge Bao'er that her father was Duke Xingguo and that she needed her jade pendant to be recognized; Ge Bao'er resolved to get it back from Lin Yunwan.
• Old Madam Lu learned that Lin Yunwan was visiting Madam Lin and ordered Nanny Yan to search Drooping Silk Hall for the jade pendant.
• Lin Yunwan rode with Madam Lin toward Red Elephant Temple, where their carriage met the Xia family's carriage and a young man stepped down.

Lin Yunwan met Old Madam Xia and Xia Jin on the road to Red Elephant Temple, where Xia Jin became captivated by her and his mother began considering her family as a source of brides. At the temple, Lin Yunwan met Prince Huan and asked him about Ge Bao'er’s jade pendant.

• Lin Yunwan got down from her carriage to greet Old Madam Xia while Xia Jin helped the carriages pass.
• Xia Jin recognized Lin Yunwan and was struck by her, while she introduced herself by her surname and went to greet Old Madam Xia.
• After the carriages separated, Old Madam Xia praised Lin Yunwan and decided to visit the Lin Family home with Xia Jin to consider potential brides.
• Lin Yunwan and Madam Lin arrived at Red Elephant Temple, where Madam Lin rested in a side room.
• Lin Yunwan met Prince Huan by the vermilion railing and showed him Ge Bao'er’s jade pendant; he invited her inside to talk.