Chapter Summaries

Hua Meng suggested dividing palace affairs among Consort Qi, Consort Wan, and Consort Ying while she was pregnant. Emperor Jing'an arranged for Consort Wan and Consort Qi to lead, with Consort Ying and Consort Jing assisting, and agreed that Hua Meng's family could visit her.

• Hua Meng suggested investigating the ancestral homes of the young palace servants to uncover clues about the old eunuchs and their possible connection to Yue Shu.
• Emperor Jing'an asked Hua Meng who should manage palace affairs while the Empress Dowager was injured, and Hua Meng proposed sharing the responsibility among Consort Qi, Consort Wan, and Consort Ying.
• Hua Meng asked to have her mother bring her nephews and nieces to the palace, and Emperor Jing'an agreed.
• Emperor Jing'an brought Hua Meng to visit Consort Wan, where they found Consort Ying drinking with her.
• Emperor Jing'an told Consort Wan and Consort Ying that Consort Qi and Consort Wan would lead palace affairs, with Consort Ying and Consort Jing assisting.

Emperor Jing'an promoted Consort Wan and arranged for her to raise Commandery Princess Shouning, while using the appointments to strengthen ties with the Song Family. Hua Meng recognized the political calculations behind his plans and asked him to arrange teachers so she could prepare to stand beside him.

• Emperor Jing'an told Consort Wan she would move to Four Joys Palace, a residence reserved for consorts of fei rank, signaling her promotion.
• Emperor Jing'an brought Liang Xijun into the palace under Consort Wan's care and granted her the title Commandery Princess Shouning.
• Consort Wan thanked Emperor Jing'an, delighted to gain a daughter, and he said her investiture would likely take place after the eighth month.
• Emperor Jing'an urged Hua Meng to have her family bring her nine-year-old nephew Hua Can to the Song Family Old Master's seventieth birthday, suggesting a future match with the Song Family's seven-year-old eldest legitimate daughter.
• Hua Meng realized Emperor Jing'an was exchanging favors to build political alliances and reflected on her own recklessness.
• The next morning, Hua Meng asked Emperor Jing'an to arrange teachers for her, and he agreed to wait for her to grow ready to stand beside him.

Hua Meng resolved to study and improve herself while Emperor Jing'an arranged for her to have a teacher, and his appointments stirred political and family tensions. The chapter ended with Emperor Jing'an asking the Empress Dowager whom to choose to teach Consort Jing.

• Hua Meng prepared gifts, tended to her pregnancy, and asked Lu Shi to bring her nephews and nieces to the palace while she awaited a teacher.
• Emperor Jing'an's promotion of Consort Wan and decision to place Liang Xijun in her care caused unrest among officials and families hoping to marry into the imperial family.
• Consort Qi reassured her mother that Emperor Jing'an still valued her, then proposed raising a niece in the palace if she could not conceive a child herself.
• Yue Shu accused Emperor Jing'an of deliberately insulting her, while Wei Heng warned her to be more careful because the emperor had grown stronger.
• Emperor Jing'an told the Empress Dowager about his palace decisions and his plan to find a teacher for Hua Meng; she praised Consort Jing's foresight, and he asked whom to choose.

Hua Meng learned to manage palace affairs under Nanny Ming’s guidance and grew more capable as her attendants changed. After Jiang Chan told her that rumors claimed she might be carrying twins and raised the question of succession, Hua Meng decided the emperor needed to know, even after Jiang Chan’s pulse reading suggested she carried one child.

• The Empress Dowager sent Nanny Ming to teach Hua Meng, and Nanny Ming offered to train her attendants as well.
• Hua Meng began learning palace management, while Nanny Ming’s guidance changed Ling Cui, Jiang Chan, and Qiu Die.
• Jiang Chan told Hua Meng she had heard rumors that twins in Hua Meng’s family meant Hua Meng might also be carrying twins, prompting questions about who would inherit the throne.
• Jiang Chan took Hua Meng’s pulse and said she was seventy percent certain Hua Meng carried only one child.
• Hua Meng calmed herself, told Jiang Chan not to spread the rumor, and insisted she still needed to inform Emperor Jing'an.

Hua Meng told Emperor Jing'an about rumors that twins could threaten the succession, and he reassured her that a secret edict left by the Grand Ancestor could resolve the matter. Jiang Xin examined her pregnancy, and Emperor Jing'an asked whether both princes were well.

• Hua Meng visited Emperor Jing'an and gave Xiao Jiangzi heat-relief pills for Wei Fugui.
• Jiang Chan told Emperor Jing'an that rumors about the throne had spread, and Hua Meng said Nanny Jiang believed she was likely carrying one child.
• Emperor Jing'an reassured Hua Meng that he would raise both sons if she had twins and revealed that the Grand Ancestor had left a secret edict to address succession concerns.
• Hua Meng gave Emperor Jing'an a jade bottle of heat-relief pills, and he asked her to visit the Empress Dowager before the Ghost Festival.
• Jiang Xin examined Hua Meng and said she and the child were in excellent health, after which Emperor Jing'an asked whether both princes were well.

Jiang Xin confirmed that Hua Meng was carrying one child, and she returned to Sparrow Plume Palace to visit Consort Wan and Commandery Princess Shouning. After discussing rumors in the palace, she learned why the Ghost Festival was painful for the Empress Dowager and that Lady Lin visited her each year.

• Jiang Xin told Emperor Jing'an that Hua Meng was carrying one child, and Emperor Jing'an showed regret that she was not carrying twins.
• Hua Meng returned to Sparrow Plume Palace, where she embraced Commandery Princess Shouning and heard the child say she liked her.
• Consort Wan and Consort Ying agreed to investigate the rumors about Hua Meng, while Consort Wan took responsibility for looking into who had spread them in the palace.
• Hua Meng discussed the Ghost Festival with Consort Wan and Consort Ying, then mentioned Emperor Jing'an's request that she visit the Empress Dowager.
• Consort Wan explained that mounted bandits had killed nearly everyone in the Empress Dowager's village on a Ghost Festival when the Empress Dowager was nine, and that Lady Lin visited her each year to pay respects to their clan.

Hua Meng learned that a new rumor claimed her unborn child would bring misfortune and had made the Empress Dowager ill, but Emperor Jing'an reassured her and ordered an investigation. The rumors troubled the Hua Family outside the palace, and Lu Shi planned a visit after the Ghost Festival while Hua Teng considered seeking advice from his teacher.

• Consort Wan and Consort Ying told Hua Meng that rumors outside the palace questioned which of her unborn twins should inherit the throne and blamed her child for the Empress Dowager's illness.
• Hua Meng said the rumor-makers could not make Emperor Jing'an abandon his only bloodline, and Emperor Jing'an arrived and ordered Consort Wan and Consort Ying to investigate whether rumors were spreading inside the palace.
• Emperor Jing'an assured Hua Meng that the Empress Dowager would not blame her, while Hua Meng privately worried that her rebirth had worsened the Empress Dowager's health.
• Ling Cui offered to accompany Hua Meng to see the Empress Dowager, and Hua Meng resolved to use her Spirit Spring to help her recover.
• Hua Teng asked Lu Shi why she had not arranged a palace visit; Lu Shi explained that families avoided submitting requests before the Ghost Festival and planned to take the grandchildren after it, then suggested Hua Teng consult his teacher.

Hua Teng and Lu Shi sought reassurance and guidance after rumors threatened Hua Meng and her unborn child. At Chaohuang Palace, the Empress Dowager warmly welcomed Hua Meng, dismissed the rumors, and gave her an enormous collection of gifts, making her support unmistakable.

• Hua Teng left home to seek information about palace affairs and whether the Empress Dowager resented Hua Meng and her unborn child.
• Lu Shi told Liu Shi to arrange for Hua Can to visit the Song Family and instructed the household to keep a low profile.
• Nanny Ming told Hua Meng that the Empress Dowager would see her alone, and Hua Meng visited Chaohuang Palace the next morning.
• The Empress Dowager reassured Hua Meng that she would gladly give her life for her unborn grandchild and said she believed someone had spread the rumors maliciously.
• The Empress Dowager sent Hua Meng back to Sparrow Plume Palace with so many gifts that the procession had not finished arriving, and the rumors were widely discredited.

Hua Meng supported Wei Fugui as he recovered from despair and learned that Qiu Die no longer needed to spy for Emperor Jing'an. After rumors about her pregnancy faded, a commotion at Four Joys Palace revealed that Commandery Princess Shouning had developed a high fever.

• Hua Meng decided to sew two sets of underclothes for the Empress Dowager as a token of gratitude for her rewards.
• Wei Fugui thanked Hua Meng for saving his life after Heat-Relief Pills helped him recover from despair over the misconduct of his subordinates.
• Emperor Jing'an asked Hua Meng to sew two sets of underclothes for him, and Hua Meng agreed.
• Qiu Die told Hua Meng that Wei Fugui had ended her information-gathering duties, and Hua Meng invited her to remain and learn from Nanny Ming.
• Rumors about Hua Meng's pregnancy faded after the Empress Dowager's rewards and a Jiang Family member's remark about her pregnancy spread.
• A young eunuch told Hua Meng that Commandery Princess Shouning had developed a high fever at Four Joys Palace.

Hua Meng helped Consort Wan care for the frightened and feverish Commandery Princess Shouning, then learned that Shouning’s wet nurse had harmed her. After Consort Ying extracted the truth, Hua Meng insisted that the wet nurse be severely punished, and Consort Ying agreed.

• Hua Meng rushed to Four Joys Palace, arranged for Jiang Chan to examine Shouning, and gave the princess water containing Spirit Spring.
• Consort Wan explained that she had caught Shouning’s wet nurse acting suspiciously beside the frightened child and had ordered the attendants locked up.
• Consort Wan asked Hua Meng and Consort Ying to question the wet nurse while she stayed with Shouning.
• Two hours later, Consort Ying learned what the wet nurse had planned and done, and Hua Meng insisted she could not be allowed to live without severe punishment.
• Consort Ying said she would not hold back after Hua Meng explained her fear that someone might harm her own child in the same way.