Chapter Summaries

Lin Yunwan learned that Qi Lingheng had returned her jade pendant to protect her, partly out of respect for her late father, Grand Tutor Lin. Qi Lingheng urged her to use the pendant to leave the Lu family quickly, but Lin Yunwan said it was already too late.

• Qi Lingheng admitted he had considered returning the jade pendant to Duke Xingguo's Residence before choosing to return it to Lin Yunwan.
• Lin Yunwan and Qi Lingheng shared memories of Grand Tutor Lin over Lu'an tea, and Qi Lingheng revealed his regret at missing the tutor's funeral.
• Qi Lingheng warned Lin Yunwan that the jade pendant must not fall into Duke Xingguo's Residence's hands again and explained that he had helped her for her father's sake.
• Qi Lingheng urged Lin Yunwan to use the pendant to separate from the Lu family before they could harm her.
• Lin Yunwan thanked Qi Lingheng but said it was already too late.

Lin Yunwan showed Qi Lingheng medicinal dregs she believed were poisoned and asked for his help, then returned to find Lu Zhengliu and Nanny Yan searching her courtyard for a jade pendant. After Qi Lingheng’s investigation confirmed the poison, Lin Yunwan prepared to reveal Old Madam Lu’s cruelty to Concubine Zhu Qing and Ge Bao’er.

• Lin Yunwan warned Qi Lingheng that the medicinal dregs smelled poisonous, and he agreed to help her while ordering A Fu to identify the poison.
• Lin Yunwan told her mother she would accept never seeing her again if it meant she could live safely, then returned to the Wuding Marquis Residence.
• Lin Yunwan caught Lu Zhengliu and Nanny Yan searching Drooping Silk Hall, challenged them to search her dowry openly, and drove them away without finding the jade pendant.
• Old Madam Lu scolded Nanny Yan over the failed search, while Lu Zhengliu refused to help her pursue Duke Xingguo’s Residence’s support.
• Lin Yunwan received a report confirming the medicine was poisoned and sent Ping Ye to summon Concubine Zhu Qing’s maid, Xiliu, so she could expose Old Madam Lu’s actions.

Lin Yunwan arranged for Xiliu to plant a warning that led Ge Bao'er to suspect her medicine was poisoned. Ge Bao'er tested Nanny Yan with a bowl of soup, confirmed her suspicions, and Lin Yunwan began planning what to do next.

• Lin Yunwan told Xiliu to pass Ge Bao'er a message about Concubine Zhu Qing fearing her own pregnancy-stabilizing medicine after Ge Bao'er recovered when she stopped taking hers.
• Ge Bao'er examined old medicinal dregs, then made Qing deliver soup containing them to Nanny Yan.
• Nanny Yan spotted the medicinal dregs in the soup, broke the bowl, and realized it smelled like poison she had brought from the nunnery.
• Ge Bao'er concluded that the Wuding Marquis Residence had tried to poison her and questioned whether she should become as ruthless as them.
• Lin Yunwan heard about the broken bowl, inferred Ge Bao'er had uncovered the truth, and began making arrangements.

The Lu clan quarreled over Ge Bao'er, while Old Madam Lu feigned illness and continued plotting to obtain Lin Yunwan’s jade pendant. Lu Zhengliu went to Drooping Silk Hall hoping to grow closer to Lin Yunwan, but found her preparing to leave for the family nunnery.

• Nanny Yan told Old Madam Lu that the Lu clanspeople were demanding Ge Bao'er be sent away, and Old Madam Lu hid from them by claiming illness.
• During the New Year, Old Madam Lu told Nanny Yan to postpone drugging Lin Yunwan and summon Lu Zhengliu to get close to her and find the jade pendant.
• Nanny Yan urged Lu Zhengliu to follow his own heart, and he decided to visit Lin Yunwan rather than pursue the pendant.
• Lu Zhengliu found maids moving luggage at Drooping Silk Hall and learned that Lin Yunwan planned to pray for Old Madam Lu at the family nunnery.
• Lin Yunwan emerged dressed in plain clothes without hairpins, appearing ready to enter religious life.

Lin Yunwan moved to the Lu family's Buddhist retreat to pray for blessings after Lu Zhengliu failed to persuade her to stay. As Ge Bao'er joined her there and Lin Yunyi arrived to visit, Lin Yunwan began telling her brother something important.

• Lin Yunwan left for the Buddhist retreat, while Ping Ye returned to guard her courtyard and Tao Ye stayed to care for her.
• Old Madam Lu decided to wait for public opinion to settle before asking Lin Yunwan to return, and planned to send Lu Chang'gong with Qing to speak to her.
• Ge Bao'er asked to go to the retreat, claiming she wanted to persuade Lin Yunwan to return, but she also hoped to retrieve her jade pendant; Old Madam Lu agreed and warned her not to meddle.
• Lin Yunwan allowed Ge Bao'er to attend her without engaging with her, then continued copying Buddhist scriptures.
• Lin Yunyi visited Lin Yunwan at the retreat, and she took him aside and began to tell him something important.

Lu Chang'gong and Qing visited Lin Yunwan at the nunnery to persuade her to return, but she refused and told Qing how Ge Bao'er’s actions had changed his place in the family. Ge Bao'er grew afraid Qing would turn against her and secretly watched Lin Yunwan, while Lu Chang'gong watched Ge Bao'er in turn.

• Lu Chang'gong and Qing visited Lin Yunwan and tried to persuade her to return home, but she refused.
• Lin Yunwan told Qing that Ge Bao'er's staged fall had made him a concubine-born son and warned him that others would judge him for it.
• Ge Bao'er interrupted and denied harming Qing, but he left with his elder brother without comforting her.
• Lin Yunwan told Ge Bao'er that Qing would eventually understand what she had done, and Ge Bao'er feared he would come to hate her.
• Ge Bao'er secretly tracked Lin Yunwan's routine and watched her window at night, while Lu Chang'gong observed Ge Bao'er from his own window.

Lin Yunwan prepared to leave the nunnery by setting the Buddhist hall on fire, while Ge Bao'er planned to kill her and search for the Jade Pendant. Lu Chang'gong discovered Lin Yunwan's plan and climbed in to help her escape.

• Lin Yunwan sent Tao Ye home and allowed Ge Bao'er to keep her company at the nunnery.
• Lu Chang'gong visited Lin Yunwan, shared a meal with her, and offered to stay, but she told him to listen to his uncle and sent him away.
• After Lin Yunwan fell asleep, Ge Bao'er searched her room for the Jade Pendant, then returned to the Buddhist hall and covered her with a fur garment.
• Ge Bao'er locked Lin Yunwan inside and went to the kitchen, planning to use animal fat to set the Buddhist hall ablaze.
• Lin Yunwan woke, found the door locked, and set the curtain alight to create a blaze as part of her escape plan.
• Lu Chang'gong climbed through the back window, realized Lin Yunwan intended to leave, and offered to get her out first.

Lin Yunwan escaped the burning Buddhist hall, but Lu Chang'gong stayed inside to make her supposed death convincing. As Lu Zhengliu confronted Ge Bao'er outside the blaze, he discovered her carrying oil, while people rushed to fight the fire.

• Lu Chang'gong urged Lin Yunwan through the window, then shut it and remained inside so her apparent death would seem seamless.
• Lu Zhengliu confronted Old Madam Lu about sending Ge Bao'er to the convent and left to bring her back.
• Old Madam Lu and Nanny Yan heard four strikes of the cloud gong and hurried out after learning of a grave misfortune.
• Ge Bao'er arrived at the burning Buddhist hall with a bucket of oil and realized the fire had started before she could set it herself.
• Lu Zhengliu found Ge Bao'er holding the oil and asked whether anyone was trapped inside as the nuns and nearby Lu clansmen raised the alarm and sought buckets.

Lu Zhengliu discovered the Buddhist hall burning and believed Lin Yunwan was trapped inside, while Ge Bao'er was exposed as having helped set the fire. Lin Yunwan escaped the Capital with Qi Lingheng’s help, leaving Lu Chang'gong as a witness to her supposed death and carrying the Jade Pendant toward Jiangqian.

• Lu Zhengliu rescued the burned Lu Chang'gong from the Buddhist hall, but the boy pleaded for him to save Lin Yunwan, who seemed trapped inside.
• Lu Zhengliu tried to strangle Ge Bao'er and struck her after accusing her of killing Lin Yunwan, but Old Madam Lu stopped him and ordered the fire extinguished and the Jade Pendant found.
• A Fu reported that Lu Chang'gong was out of danger and had been taken away by the Lu family, where his testimony would support the belief that Lin Yunwan had died in the fire.
• Qi Lingheng told Lin Yunwan she could travel to Jiangqian under the identity of Lin Yun Wan, and she thanked him before departing with Xiruo.
• Lin Yunwan left the Capital carrying the Jade Pendant, determined not to let the Lu family use Duke Xingguo's Residence to rise again.

After Lin Yunwan was found dead, the Lu family brought her burned body home and struggled with how to inform her family. Zhu Qing urged Lu Chang'gong to handle his mother’s funeral arrangements, then turned her attention to Lu Changzong and Ge Bao'er.

• The chief steward reported that Lin Yunwan had stopped breathing, and the Lu family mourned her death.
• Old Madam Lu delayed announcing Lin Yunwan’s death while waiting for Lu Zhengliu to bring her home and recover the Jade Pendant.
• Lu Zhengliu returned with Lin Yunwan’s charred body and warned Wei Shi and Zhu Qing that she was beyond recognition.
• Old Madam Lu sent Ge Bao'er to Rain Apricot Pavilion, where Zhu Qing resolved that Ge Bao'er would not take Lin Yunwan’s place.
• Zhu Qing visited the injured Lu Chang'gong and urged him to help manage Lin Yunwan’s dowry, servants, funeral, and family matters.
• Zhu Qing went to Lu Changzong and planned to turn his fear of Ge Bao'er into hatred for her.

After Lin Yunwan died in the fire, Lu Zhengliu confronted Ge Bao'er, while Lu Changzong struggled to face his legal mother's death and learned the cost of his birth mother's actions. The Lu family prepared the mourning hall, and Lu Zhengliu went to meet the arriving Lin clansmen.

• Zhu Qing urged Lu Changzong to pay his respects to Lin Yunwan, and he followed injured Lu Chang'gong to the body and knelt beside him.
• Lu Zhengliu took Lu Changzong to Rain Apricot Pavilion and accused Ge Bao'er of killing Lin Yunwan; Ge Bao'er admitted bringing oil but denied pouring it.
• Lu Changzong asked Ge Bao'er if she had killed his legal mother, then called her vicious and left to say goodbye to his teacher.
• Lu Chang'gong delivered Zhang Feng'an's resignation, and Lu Zhengliu ordered that the teacher be paid in full and sent off discreetly.
• Lu Zhengliu ordered Ge Bao'er locked in the woodshed, while Zhu Qing blamed him for Lin Yunwan's death.
• Old Madam Lu ordered Lin Yunwan's death announced, and Lu Zhengliu went to meet the Lin clansmen who had arrived at the residence.

After Lin Yunwan died, Lu Zhengliu admitted his guilt as Lin Yunyi blamed him and demanded that he let her return to the Lin Family. Lu Zhengliu signed the Divorce Deed, and Lin Yunyi prepared to take Yunwan's body, maids, and dowry home, while Lu Chang'gong refused to leave the Lu family.

• Lu Zhengliu went to the Front Courtyard, where Lin Yunyi beat him and accused him of causing Lin Yunwan's death by refusing to divorce her and bringing Ge Bao'er back.
• Lin Yunyi demanded that Lu Zhengliu sign the Divorce Deed so Yunwan could return to the Lin Family, and Lu Zhengliu reluctantly signed it.
• Lin Yunyi arranged to take Yunwan's body, maids Tao Ye and Ping Ye, and her dowry back to the Lin Family.
• Lin Yunyi asked Lu Chang'gong to come with him, but Chang'gong refused to leave the Lu family.

Lin Yunyi took Lin Yunwan’s coffin and belongings back to the Lin family after Lu Zhengliu confirmed she had been divorced. Lu Chang'gong stayed behind in the Wuding Marquis Residence, while Lu Zhengliu asked Old Madam Lu what she intended to do about Ge Bao'er.

• Old Madam Lu tried to stop Lin Yunyi from taking Lin Yunwan’s coffin, but Lu Zhengliu said he had written a divorce agreement and helped close the coffin.
• Lin Yunyi reviewed Lin Yunwan’s dowry inventory and left part of it for Lu Chang'gong to decide about when he came of age.
• Lin Yunyi and Lin Yunwan’s maids departed, and Lu Chang'gong knelt to bid farewell before returning to the residence.
• Lu Chang'gong asked Qianru to replace the portrait of Sage Confucius with one of his mother, fearing they might forget each other.
• Lu Zhengliu asked Old Madam Lu how she intended to deal with Ge Bao'er, and she asked what he thought.

After Lin Yunwan’s apparent death, Lu Zhengliu regretted how he had treated her while the Lin family held a funeral and the Lu family continued to unravel. The chapter ended with the Marquis of Wuding attacking people in a fit and Old Madam Lu realizing how much the household had depended on Yun Wan.

• Old Madam Lu persuaded Lu Zhengliu to send Ge Bao'er to Duke Xingguo's Residence rather than kill her, and Lu Zhengliu asked Zhu Qing to recall Lin Yunwan's kindness.
• Zhu Qing praised Lin Yunwan and condemned Lu Zhengliu for appreciating her only after her death.
• The Lin family held a funeral for Lin Yunwan, while Lin Yunyi reassured Madam Lin that Yun Wan was alive and safely hidden.
• Old Madam Xia forbade Lu Jia from returning to the Lu family, and Lu Chang'gong gained praise for observing mourning for his mother.
• Old Madam Lu ordered Lu Zhengliu to send Qing to the Clan School, but learned that Master Zhen had resigned.
• Wei Shi reported that the Marquis of Wuding had suffered another fit and was attacking people with a sword, leaving Old Madam Lu to fear the Lu family's decline.

Lin Yunwan arrived at the Lin residence under the identity of Miss Lin and encountered the family’s dismissive servants. Xiruo forced the gate open for them, and Lin Yunwan proceeded to meet her stepmother, Zheng Shi.

• Lin Yunwan and Xiruo reached Miss Lin’s countryside home, and Xiruo lamented how neglectfully the Lin family had treated her.
• Lin Yunwan explained that she intended to stay with the Lin family only until her identity was secure and the trouble in the Capital had passed, then return to her family.
• The Lin family matrons objected to Xiruo accompanying Lin Yunwan, but Lin Yunwan calmly insisted that no one had forbidden her to bring a maid.
• After the party arrived at the Lin residence, the lead matron told Lin Yunwan to enter through a side gate and refused to help.
• Xiruo smashed the carriage wall with her fists, frightening the matron into opening the main gate for Lin Yunwan.
• At the Second Gate, Xiruo suggested delaying their meeting with Zheng Shi, but Lin Yunwan chose to go and see her stepmother.

Lin Yunwan and Xiruo visited Zheng Shi, who kept them waiting in the cold before sending Nanny Fan to lecture Lin Yunwan about household rules. Lin Yunwan calmly turned the reprimand back on Nanny Fan, and Zheng Shi finally came out to take control.

• Zheng Shi made Lin Yunwan and Xiruo wait outside while she finished dressing, and the snow began to fall.
• Lin Yunwan refused Xiruo's suggestion to leave and said she needed to endure the indignities Miss Lin had suffered to fully take her place.
• Nanny Fan ordered Lin Yunwan out of the Small Hall and accused her of lacking proper upbringing.
• Lin Yunwan asked whether Nanny Fan meant to blame Master Lin for failing to teach his daughter and demanded to know Nanny Fan's surname so she could report her words.
• Nanny Fan panicked, and Zheng Shi emerged from the inner room and ordered her to withdraw.

Lin Yunwan faced Zheng Shi’s cold reception after returning to the Lin residence, then clashed with her younger sister Lin Yunjiao. Lin Yunjiao accused her of nearly killing her before she was born and demanded that she remove her veiled hat.

• Zheng Shi told Lin Yunwan to follow household rules, avoid visiting relatives, and prepare for the marriage match Zheng Shi and Master Lin would arrange.
• Lin Yunjiao arrived, ignored proper greetings, and ordered Lin Yunwan to stay when she tried to leave.
• Lin Yunwan insisted that Lin Yunjiao address her as her elder sister, and Lin Yunjiao challenged her worthiness.
• Lin Yunjiao accused Lin Yunwan of nearly killing her by colliding with Zheng Shi when Lin Yunwan was four and ill.
• Lin Yunjiao demanded that Lin Yunwan take off her veiled hat, eager to see her face.

Lin Yunwan returned to the Lin residence, where Lin Yunjiao and Zheng Shi tried to put her in a dilapidated courtyard until Lin Huabin intervened. After arranging for her to stay in Bixi Hall, he told her that Prince Huan had arrived in Jiangqian to take up his fief.

• Lin Yunjiao removed Lin Yunwan's veiled hat and was stunned by her beauty, then insulted her before Zheng Shi sent her toward Zhejie Studio.
• Lin Yunwan refused to live in Zhejie Studio, and Zheng Shi threatened to put her in the woodshed until Lin Huabin arrived.
• Lin Huabin ordered that Lin Yunwan stay in Bixi Hall, overruling Zheng Shi and Lin Yunjiao.
• In his study, Lin Huabin explained that he had kept Lin Yunwan's arrival from Zheng Shi and promised to look after her.
• Lin Huabin told Lin Yunwan that Prince Huan had arrived early in Jiangqian to take up his fief, and she smiled at the news.

Lin Yunwan settled into Bixi Hall and honored the deceased Miss Lin, while Lin Huabin and Zheng Shi argued over her return and their hopes for Lin Yunjiao to marry Prince Huan. Lin Huabin barred Zheng Shi from arranging Yunwan’s marriage and planned to bring both daughters to Prince Huan’s banquet.

• Nanny Zhao showed Lin Yunwan around Bixi Hall and treated her with concealed condescension.
• Lin Yunwan set up a memorial tablet, made offerings to Miss Lin, and promised to light an eternal lamp for her when she could.
• Lin Yunwan said she wanted to thank Prince Huan for his kindness as she spent her first night at the Lin residence.
• Zheng Shi complained that Lin Huabin favored Yunwan and urged him to marry her off before spring or summer.
• Lin Huabin forbade Zheng Shi from interfering in Yunwan’s marriage, saying he had his own plans and warning her not to harm Yunwan’s prospects.
• Lin Huabin told Zheng Shi to prepare fine clothes and jewelry for Yunjiao and Yunwan so they could attend Prince Huan’s banquet if invited.

Lin Yunwan learned about Prince Huan's refusal to marry and decided to prepare fragrant ingredients as a congratulatory gift for his move to Jiangqian. At the Lin residence, Zheng Shi and her servants mocked Yunwan's handwriting, and Zheng Shi rejected the idea of giving her clothes equal to Jiao'er's.

• Xiruo told Lin Yunwan that Prince Huan had invited the Lin family to his residence in five days and explained that he had long refused to marry despite pressure from the Emperor and Empress.
• Lin Yunwan asked Xiruo to obtain fragrant ingredients so she could make Prince Huan a gift, then wrote their names with her left hand.
• Nanny Zhao and the maids laughed at Lin Yunwan's handwriting after Xiruo brought the list, and Zheng Shi joined in when she saw it.
• Zheng Shi instructed Nanny Fan to have a seamstress measure both young ladies, but later told Nanny Fan that Lin Yunwan had no right to receive the same clothes as Jiao'er.