Recaps

Xi Hanzhou learned that Consort Shu had been ambushed and that his men had suffered casualties, then ordered an investigation into who had plotted against him. His guards urged him to pretend to be impotent to avoid suspicion over Consort Shu’s rescue, and Jincheng reminded him to smell Su’s scented pouch.

• Jincheng reported that Jinchi and Jinwu were injured after being drugged during an attack by skilled assassins.
• Xi Hanzhou learned that Consort Shu had been ambushed after her attendants were lured away and ordered Jincheng to uncover which of his brothers was responsible.
• Jinchi warned Xi Hanzhou that the Emperor was coming and advised him to feign impotence to clear himself of suspicion involving Consort Shu.
• Jinwu and Jincheng worried that claiming Xi Hanzhou was impotent could threaten his position as Crown Prince, but Jinchi said the diagnosis could be framed as curable.
• Xi Hanzhou angrily rejected the repeated talk of impotence, and Jincheng told him to smell the scented pouch Su had given him.

Xi Hanzhou used Su Qiao’s Scented Pouch to calm himself, then fell asleep and began recovering memories from his past life. Su Qiao learned that he might not be remembering their previous plane, but accepted the consolation that his new memories could help protect him from the Fourth Prince.

• Xi Hanzhou smelled the Scented Pouch, calmed down, and fell asleep as memories of his past life flooded back.
• Su Qiao confronted 444 about why Xi Hanzhou still did not recognize her after their close encounter.
• 444 explained that Xi Hanzhou might be recovering this body’s past-life memories instead of memories from their previous plane.
• Su Qiao accepted the misunderstanding as a consolation and asked whether the original host had harmed Xi Hanzhou in her past life.
• 444 said the original host had been a timid pawn used by the Fourth Prince, and Su Qiao recalled Eunuch Yu’s suicide.

Su Qiao confronted Su Yuxin after she accused her of being intimate with Xi Hanzhou and condemned him as Crown Prince. Prime Minister Su punished Su Yuxin for slandering the Crown Prince and speaking against imperial authority.

• Prime Minister Su summoned Su Qiao and warned her not to get too close to Xi Hanzhou.
• Su Yuxin accused Su Qiao of hugging and cuddling with Xi Hanzhou, but Su Qiao pointed out that Su Yuxin had been confined to her quarters.
• Su Qiao warned that Su Yuxin's accusations could endanger the entire Prime Minister's Estate.
• Su Yuxin called Xi Hanzhou brutal and said he did not deserve to be Crown Prince or Emperor.
• Prime Minister Su slapped Su Yuxin and rebuked her for slandering the Crown Prince and discussing the imperial heir.

Prime Minister Su confined Su Yuxin to her tent and threatened to send her to Guanyin Temple after striking her for speaking recklessly. Su Qiao watched their argument and reflected on the family history that had led her father to favor one daughter over the other.

• Prime Minister Su ordered Su Yuxin to stay in her tent and said he would send her to Guanyin Temple when they returned to the capital.
• Su Yuxin cried and accused her father of changing after he hit her and refused to punish Su Qiao.
• Prime Minister Su warned Su Yuxin that she might never return if she continued speaking nonsense.
• Su Qiao reflected that Prime Minister Su had benefited from his wife’s family while favoring Gu Qirou and Su Yuxin.
• Prime Minister Su stood up and insisted that he had made up his mind to change Su Yuxin’s temperament.

Su Qiao urged Prime Minister Su to investigate the Crown Prince's attack, then confronted Su Yuxin before going to meet her uncle, Great General Gu Jincheng. Their meeting left Gu Jincheng nervously asking how she had been treated at the Su residence.

• Su Qiao told Prime Minister Su that the Crown Prince had been attacked, and he hurried to the main tent to learn more.
• Su Yuxin threatened Su Qiao about what would happen when they returned home, and Su Qiao mocked her before leaving the tent.
• Su Qiao learned that Gu Jincheng wanted to see her and went to meet him by the river.
• Gu Jincheng told Su Qiao that she resembled her mother and introduced himself as her uncle.
• Gu Jincheng asked how Su Qiao had been at the Su residence, then regretted raising the painful subject.

Gu Jincheng apologized to Su Qiao for her family’s neglect and offered to protect her, but she rejected his help. He warned her to keep away from the Fourth Prince, the Crown Prince, and the Emperor because her disability would make her a target in the struggle over the throne.

• Gu Jincheng apologized to Su Qiao for her family’s failure to help her when her leg could have been saved.
• Su Qiao told Gu Jincheng that her affairs had nothing to do with him and refused his offer of protection.
• Gu Jincheng warned Su Qiao to stay away from the Fourth Prince and the Crown Prince and to be careful of the Emperor.

Gu Jincheng learned how Su Qiao’s leg was injured and realized his family had failed to protect her. He regretted the Gu Family’s treatment of her as the struggle around Su Qiao began to threaten the capital’s balance.

• Su Qiao thanked Gu Jincheng for his reminder and returned to her tent with Xiao Lan and Xiao Yu.
• Gu Jincheng asked his deputy general how Su Qiao had become lame, and the deputy general reported that she had fallen from a startled horse after being betrothed to the Fourth Prince.
• Gu Jincheng suspected Gu Qirou had arranged the accident and may also have caused his elder sister’s difficult labor.
• The deputy general told Gu Jincheng that the Gu elders had barely helped Su Qiao after her injury, and Gu Jincheng admitted his parents had been wrong to blame her as a newborn.
• The deputy general observed that Su Qiao’s influence over the frontier tribes and the Crown Prince could bring the capital’s hidden power struggle into the open.

After the Crown Prince was ambushed and poisoned, Su Qiao explained to the Emperor why she knew medicine. The Emperor accepted her explanation, leaving her as the only person who could potentially treat Xi Hanzhou.

• A Junior General told Gu Jincheng that the Crown Prince had been ambushed, and Gu Jincheng ordered the camp secured and a search of the woods.
• His Majesty learned that Xi Hanzhou had been poisoned and might become impotent, scolded the Princes, and postponed choosing a Crown Princess.
• His Majesty summoned Su Qiao and questioned when she had learned medicine.
• Su Qiao explained that she had studied medical books because of her poor health and that her learning had begun in childhood.
• The Emperor's expression softened as he recalled Su Qiao's mother, Gu Qiyan.

The emperor questioned Su Qiao about how she had diagnosed the Crown Prince’s illness and healed her leg, then arranged for her to travel near the Crown Prince so she could care for him. Su Qiao agreed to present the Medical Book after they returned to the capital.

• The emperor recalled Gu Qiyan and his first wife, then wondered why the tribes beyond the border had competed for Su Qiao.
• Su Qiao claimed she had identified the drug affecting the Crown Prince by studying a Medical Book and observing him.
• The emperor ordered Su Qiao to present the Medical Book when she returned to the capital.
• Su Qiao explained that she had rebroken and reset her injured leg, then treated it with Bone-Mending Ointment and splints over three months.
• The emperor ordered Su Qiao to ride in the carriage behind the Crown Prince’s on the journey back so she could care for him.

Su Qiao planned to forge a medical book for the Emperor while Xi Hanzhou, having recovered his memories, confronted her about their past-life connection. The chapter ended with him asking whether she feared he would repeat his disastrous fate.

• Su Qiao reasoned that the Emperor might still refuse her match with Xi Hanzhou because he had promised Imperial Noble Consort Yun she would become the Fourth Prince's secondary consort.
• Su Qiao told 444 she would recreate the Medical Book and asked him to find materials that could make it look old.
• Su Qiao wrote descriptions of rare plants in her carriage and later went to Xi Hanzhou's carriage to take his pulse.
• Xi Hanzhou sent away the imperial physician and eunuch, then told Su Qiao he now believed she had favored him from the beginning.
• Xi Hanzhou gripped Su Qiao's chin and asked if she feared he would repeat the path from his previous life and lose everything.

Xi Hanzhou asked Su Qiao to stay with him and become his Crown Princess, while she demanded he sign a contract setting the terms of their relationship. The chapter ended with him stunned by her unconventional version of the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.

• Xi Hanzhou promised to protect Su Qiao and urged her to tell him whether she wanted to be with him.
• Su Qiao questioned what he meant, and Xi Hanzhou insisted he wanted to marry her as his Crown Princess.
• Xi Hanzhou warned Su Qiao not to have any connection with Xi Muyan, and she told him she could stay with him on one condition.
• Su Qiao handed Xi Hanzhou a contract and said she would remain in the capital if he signed it, but otherwise she would roam the martial world and travel overseas.
• Xi Hanzhou read the contract's rules for husbands and sat dazed by Su Qiao's demands.

After Xi Hanzhou signed Su Qiao’s contract, he tried to secure their marriage by asking the Emperor for an imperial decree. Su Qiao warned him that the Emperor might not agree to her demands, leaving their future uncertain.

• Xi Hanzhou stamped his seal on the contract, and Su Qiao folded it away before serving him tea.
• Xi Hanzhou pulled Su Qiao into his arms and kissed her cheek, but she objected and tried to leave.
• Xi Hanzhou insisted he would ask the Emperor to issue a decree granting their marriage, and Su Qiao dragged him back to caution him.
• Su Qiao questioned whether the Emperor would accept her conditions, including his giving up other women, while Xi Hanzhou said he had a way to persuade him.

Xi Hanzhou promised Su Qiao he would protect her and show no mercy to those who betrayed him, while Su Qiao warned him not to become a bloodthirsty tyrant. The chapter ended with Xi Hanzhou declaring his affection for her and Su Qiao reminding him that his madness might put her in danger too.

• Xi Hanzhou embraced Su Qiao and promised to protect her, while she doubted he could even protect himself.
• Xi Hanzhou vowed not to spare his relatives and recalled how his Imperial Father had doubted and confined him in the Past Life.
• Xi Hanzhou called Su Qiao foolish for helping him despite knowing Jincheng had killed her in the Past Life.
• Su Qiao urged Xi Hanzhou to treat his body and settle matters quickly before he became a tyrant, and he agreed to spare Prime Minister Su.
• Xi Hanzhou kissed Su Qiao and said she was the only one who dared speak bluntly to him, while she warned that he might eventually harm her too.

Su Qiao gave Xi Hanzhou medicine and promised to continue treating the damage caused by his long-term medication, while keeping their relationship secret until he gained enough power to protect her. After they returned to the capital, she submitted her completed Medical Book to the Imperial Hospital’s physicians and continued her own research with Xi Hanzhou providing the ingredients.

• Su Qiao gave Xi Hanzhou blood pressure pills and explained that she would work on a formula to treat his condition.
• Xi Hanzhou asked Su Qiao to dine with him, and she agreed to share a meal sent to her residence.
• Su Qiao told Xi Hanzhou to keep their relationship and Letter of Commitment secret until he had enough power to shield her.
• During the following days, Su Qiao studied the Medical Book and visited Xi Hanzhou daily to observe his condition.
• After returning to the capital, Su Qiao submitted the completed Medical Book to the Chief Physician and an Old Imperial Physician, then returned to her residence to continue her research.

Su Qiao settled into her renovated courtyard and focused on studying medicinal formulas before going out for a walk. She ran into Su Yuxin, whose confinement allowed her to roam the residence, and their confrontation ended with Su Yuxin blocking Su Qiao’s path.

• Su Qiao ignored Gu Qirou and studied in her courtyard while Gu Qirou obeyed Prime Minister Su’s orders to send servants and furnish the rooms.
• Xiao Lan and Xiao Yu kept the newly assigned maids and wet nurses in line, and Su Qiao’s courtyard was transformed over three days.
• After finishing a preliminary review of her research, Su Qiao took Xiao Yu into the garden for fresh air.
• Xiao Yu explained that Su Yuxin’s punishment had been reduced to three months of confinement within the residence.
• Su Yuxin confronted Su Qiao and accused her of hiding from revenge, but Su Qiao insulted her and tried to leave.
• Su Yuxin rushed after Su Qiao, blocked her path, and demanded to know how she dared call her stupid.

Su Yuxin confronted Su Qiao and tried to force her to apologize, despite warnings that the emperor and powerful princes protected her. She threatened that the Crown Prince would eventually lose the people's support and vowed to have Su Qiao married off to an old, poor man if that happened.

• Su Qiao insulted Su Yuxin, who ordered her maids to seize Su Qiao and avenge the two slaps.
• Xiao Yu warned Su Yuxin's maids that Su Qiao was protected by the emperor's oral decree, and they urged Su Yuxin to back down.
• Su Yuxin accused Su Qiao of causing Xiao Ling's death and the family's three-month confinement, but a maid restrained her and reminded her of the Prime Minister's warning.
• Su Qiao tried to leave, but Su Yuxin blocked her and demanded an apology.
• Su Yuxin claimed the Crown Prince would never become emperor because he harmed innocents and loyal officials, and threatened to have Su Qiao married to a poor old man if he lost power.

Su Yuxin insulted the Crown Prince in the Su estate’s rear garden, and the Crown Prince arrived with Prime Minister Su and Madam Su before she could escape the consequences. As her parents pleaded for her life, Su Yuxin’s fear brought back memories of dying young from congenital heart disease in her previous life.

• Su Qiao rebuked Su Yuxin for speaking against the Crown Prince, while the maids tried to stop Su Yuxin from saying more.
• Su Yuxin insisted no one would carry her words beyond the estate and threatened Su Qiao.
• The Crown Prince arrived with Prime Minister Su and Madam Su, terrifying the maids and silencing Su Yuxin.
• Prime Minister Su scolded Su Yuxin, and Madam Su pulled her to her knees and begged the Crown Prince to spare her.
• Su Yuxin trembled with fear and remembered how she had died at twenty from congenital heart disease in her previous life.

Xi Hanzhou arrived at the Su estate and threatened to punish Su Yuxin and the servants who had mistreated Su Qiao. Su Qiao explained that she had stayed away from the palace because she had been searching medical books for days, and Xi Hanzhou turned his anger toward Prime Minister Su.

• Xi Hanzhou threatened to have the Su Prime Minister's Estate confiscated and everyone in it killed, while Prime Minister Su begged him to spare Su Yuxin.
• Su Qiao tugged Xi Hanzhou's sleeve and asked why he had come to the estate.
• Xi Hanzhou reproached Su Qiao for not visiting him at the palace and ordered the servants involved to be beaten to death.
• Su Qiao said she had spent several days searching medical books without proper sleep, and Xiao Lan confirmed it.
• Xi Hanzhou confronted Prime Minister Su, who promised to deal with the servants at once.

Xi Hanzhou punished the maids who had mistreated Su Qiao and confronted Su Yuxin over her insults and conduct. He left Su Yuxin publicly disgraced, while Prime Minister Su remained unable to defend her.

• Xi Hanzhou ordered the attendants to drag the maids away and beat them to death, and Su Qiao recalled how they had mistreated her before.
• Xi Hanzhou confronted Su Yuxin about calling him unworthy of the Crown Prince and asked whether she thought his Fourth Imperial Brother deserved the position instead.
• Madam Su tried to defend Su Yuxin, but Xi Hanzhou ignored her and accused Su Yuxin of improper conduct in front of Prime Minister Su and the estate’s servants.
• Prime Minister Su stayed silent because he knew his younger daughter had associated with Princes and the Four Great Talents of the capital.
• Madam Su pleaded with her husband for help, but Prime Minister Su offered no defense of Su Yuxin.

Xi Hanzhou defended Su Qiao against Prime Minister Su and Madam Su, then accused the household of neglecting her and offered to take her to the palace. Su Qiao rejected the idea, while Prime Minister Su tried to insist that he had never mistreated her.

• Su Qiao's birth mother pleaded with Xi Hanzhou not to believe rumors about her daughter, but Prime Minister Su silenced and shoved her aside.
• Xi Hanzhou praised Su Qiao's late mother and called Su Qiao sensible and proper, leaving Prime Minister Su unable to respond and Madam Su fainting in anger.
• Xi Hanzhou asked whether Su Qiao was unwell and criticized Xiao Yu for patting her too roughly.
• Xi Hanzhou accused Prime Minister Su's household of failing to feed Su Qiao and offered to take her to the palace, while Su Qiao warned him she did not want to go.
• Prime Minister Su denied that Su Qiao had suffered and called her his biological daughter and his late wife's Eldest Legitimate Daughter.

Xi Hanzhou confronted Prime Minister Su over Su Qiao’s mistreatment and brought her gifts, clothes, and embroiderers. He asked her to return to the palace with him, but she refused.

• Prime Minister Su claimed Su Qiao’s frailty came from a difficult birth and a fall, not from neglect or favoritism.
• Su Qiao agreed with Prime Minister Su while pointing out that he could not let others suspect she had been neglected or mistreated.
• Xi Hanzhou condemned the family’s treatment of Su Qiao and promised to punish anyone who bullied her.
• Xi Hanzhou presented gifts from the Emperor and clothes, jewelry, fabric, and embroiderers he had chosen for Su Qiao.
• Xi Hanzhou asked Su Qiao to return to the palace with him, but she said she would not go live there.

Su Qiao refused to accompany Xi Hanzhou to the palace, choosing to wait until the imperial physicians failed to find a treatment. After Prime Minister Su sent the unconscious Su Yuxin away to Guanyin Temple, Madam Su protested, and he threatened to send her back to her General's Estate.

• Su Qiao told Xi Hanzhou she would not go to the palace and urged him to control his emotions, while he agreed to wait and listen to her.
• Prime Minister Su sent Su Yuxin by horseback to join the Old Madam at Guanyin Temple after the family physician confirmed she was safe.
• Madam Su complained that Su Yuxin was too young to be sent away without maids and pleaded with Prime Minister Su to bring her back.
• Prime Minister Su grew angry at Madam Su's sobbing, threw his cup to the floor, and threatened to send her back to her General's Estate.

Prime Minister Su sent Madam Su to Guanyin Temple and took the household accounts from her after she caused a scene over being separated from Xiao Xin. He warned that her remarks about the Crown Prince could bring disaster on the entire Prime Minister's Estate.

• Prime Minister Su told Madam Su to hand the accounts to Steward Liu and stop managing the rear compound while she was unwell.
• Madam Su pleaded with Prime Minister Su, then tried to throw herself against a pillar, but the steward stopped her.
• Prime Minister Su scolded Madam Su for endangering herself and Xiao Xin, and said the Crown Prince had spared her because of Qiao'er.
• Prime Minister Su warned that if word of Madam Su's remarks reached His Majesty, the whole Prime Minister's Estate could be accused of conspiring with the Fourth Prince.
• Madam Su realized the danger but blamed the little wretch for the separation, while Prime Minister Su lamented that her indulgence had spoiled Xiao Xin.

Prime Minister Su blamed Madam Su for Su Xin's behavior and decided she should be married off once things settled down. Madam Su was left furious and alone after he went to Qiuyun's place.

• Madam Su asked Prime Minister Su what to do about Su Xin, and he decided to find her a wealthy family to marry into as soon as possible.
• Madam Su objected that Su Xin was too young and should marry into the imperial nobility, but Prime Minister Su warned that her behavior could bring disaster on the family.
• Prime Minister Su blamed Madam Su for spoiling Su Xin and contrasted her with Qiao'er, then said he would spend the night at Qiuyun's place.
• Madam Su cursed Su Yunhe and the women in his rear court, swept the teacups and pastries from the table, and eventually calmed down alone.

Madam Su resolved to seek the Fourth Prince’s help after Su Yuxin was sent away, while Su Qiao considered how to keep her stepmother and stepsister from returning soon. As Su Qiao played chess with Xi Hanzhou, she teased him about the beauties the Emperor had sent him, leaving him jealous and unsettled.

• Madam Su decided that Su Yuxin could not remain at the mountain temple and secretly sent a letter to the Fourth Prince’s residence.
• Su Qiao learned that Prime Minister Su planned to find Su Yuxin an ordinary husband and that he had gone drinking with a concubine.
• Su Qiao asked 444 to investigate the concubine’s background so she could divert Prime Minister Su’s attention from Gu Qirou and Su Yuxin.
• Xi Hanzhou noticed Su Qiao had stopped focusing on their chess game and asked what she was thinking about.
• Su Qiao asked Xi Hanzhou about the beauties sent by the Emperor and joked that she might keep handsome men around to admire.
• Xi Hanzhou grew jealous and insisted he did not like beauties as Su Qiao began to tease him.