Recaps

Su Qiao and Xi Hanzhou discussed his refusal to accept the beauties sent by the Emperor and the risks of concealing his condition. Su Qiao revealed that she remembered her previous life and promised to help him if trouble arose.

• Xi Hanzhou teased Su Qiao for not acting jealous when the Emperor sent him beauties.
• Su Qiao asked whether Xi Hanzhou had accepted the beauties, and he said he had kept himself pure for her.
• Xi Hanzhou explained that he had used his unrecovered condition as an excuse to refuse the beauties.
• Su Qiao warned that the excuse would not protect him forever from pressure to produce an heir.
• Xi Hanzhou promised to arrange everything before that pressure became a problem and told Su Qiao to wait for him.
• Su Qiao said she was not the timid person she had been before and told Xi Hanzhou to share any trouble with her, revealing that she remembered her previous life.

Su Qiao reassured Xi Hanzhou that she was close to completing a treatment for his illness, then successfully tested her prescription. Meanwhile, Aunt Qiu became pregnant, bringing great joy to Prime Minister Su and earning her increased favor.

• Su Qiao urged Xi Hanzhou to return and told him she was nearly ready to test a prescription for his illness.
• Xi Hanzhou left in high spirits, lifting the mood of the people accompanying him.
• Su Qiao tested her medicine on mice and refined the ingredients and preparation until the experiment succeeded more than a month later.
• Aunt Qiu visited Su Qiao and revealed that she was pregnant.
• Prime Minister Su gave Aunt Qiu a larger courtyard and lavish gifts, and began returning to her residence after court.

Su Qiao used a drug and Aunt Qiu’s schemes to help turn Prime Minister Su against Gu Qirou, while her daughter Su Yuxin returned to the residence and grew more mature. The chapter left Aunt Qiu favored as Noble Concubine and carrying a son, while Gu Qirou had lost her chance to regain control.

• Aunt Qiu persuaded Prime Minister Su to spend more time with Gu Qirou, whose angry outbursts drove him away to his concubines.
• Su Qiao watched Aunt Qiu’s plan unfold and secretly gave Gu Qirou Nerve Stimulant Drug before later administering the antidote.
• Prime Minister Su favored Aunt Qiu, and the conflict ended with her being elevated to Noble Concubine.
• Gu Qirou eventually realized Aunt Qiu had manipulated her, but her attempts to repair the relationship came too late.
• With the Fourth Prince’s help, Su Yuxin returned to the residence under the pretext of illness and became more mature.

After returning to the residence, Su Yuxin learned that Madam Su’s marriage had fallen apart and heard her mother urge her to secure the Fourth Prince’s favor. Madam Su suggested Su Yuxin could become Empress if the Fourth Prince became Emperor, and Su Yuxin resolved to rise above Su Qiao and the Crown Prince.

• Su Yuxin asked Madam Su why her father was treating them badly, and Madam Su blamed a woman in the rear courtyard.
• Madam Su told Su Yuxin to focus on becoming the Fourth Prince’s Consort and follow the Nannies’ instruction.
• Su Yuxin worried that Su Qiao, who was designated the Fourth Prince’s Secondary Consort, would threaten her, but Madam Su said Su Qiao wanted to marry the Crown Prince.
• Madam Su hinted that Su Yuxin might become Empress if the Fourth Prince became Emperor, and Su Yuxin eagerly asked whether it was possible.
• Su Yuxin recalled that she had made herself seriously ill to carry out the Fourth Prince’s request, and she resolved to rise above Su Qiao and the Crown Prince.

Su Yuxin told Madam Su that she would not accept sharing a husband with concubines, while Madam Su urged her to learn palace rules. Meanwhile, Su Qiao’s treatment helped Xi Hanzhou’s headaches and outbursts improve after the Emperor approved her method.

• Su Yuxin insisted that the man she loved should have only her, and Madam Su tried to persuade her that concubines were normal for powerful men.
• Madam Su sent Su Yuxin back to learn rules from Nanny Gui and the other former palace attendants, and Su Yuxin obeyed.
• After testing her medicine on a mouse and Madam Su, Su Qiao prepared to treat Xi Hanzhou, but he refused to keep the treatment secret and continued having outbursts.
• Su Qiao presented her prescription and treatment method to the Emperor, who consulted two Old Imperial Physicians before approving it.
• Xi Hanzhou’s headaches, episodes of restlessness, heat, and sweating, and frequent temper outbursts gradually eased under Su Qiao’s treatment.

As Xi Hanzhou’s health and standing improved, the Emperor secretly made Su Qiao a County Princess and granted her a residence. While exploring the capital, Su Qiao discovered that Su Yuxin had built a thriving business selling modern-style goods, leaving her amazed at how much Su Yuxin had accomplished.

• The Emperor rewarded Su Qiao with the title of County Princess and a residence, but kept the decree secret because Xi Hanzhou had not fully recovered.
• Xi Hanzhou continued to improve, frustrating the Fourth Prince and his allies after their attempts to undermine him backfired.
• Su Qiao went out with Little Lan and Xiao Yu and found mahjong parlors and modern-style shops across the capital.
• Su Qiao discovered Su Yuxin’s department store, cosmetics, clothing, false eyelashes, and false fingernails, and wondered how Su Yuxin had made them despite her serious heart condition in her past life.

Su Qiao decided against making unusual products to earn money, preferring to rely on future gold and silver mines and Xi Hanzhou’s support. She then proposed using her old novels to write popular plays and storybooks, though she remained frustrated by the restrictions on unmarried women.

• Su Qiao left the supermarket after deciding that making conspicuous new products was too risky in the capital.
• Su Qiao told 444 she did not need to earn money because Xi Hanzhou would become emperor, then argued she could later help him find mines and fill the treasury.
• Su Qiao suggested organizing her old novels so she could write plays and entertaining storybooks for the popular theaters.
• Su Qiao reflected that life in ancient times was boring and that, as an unmarried woman, she could not freely appear in public or go wherever she wanted.

Su Qiao considered ways to earn money and uncovered Madam Su’s plan to sell her inherited valuables to fund Su Yuxin. Suspecting that her biological mother’s death was tied to Su Yuxin’s conception before marriage, Su Qiao began investigating.

• Su Qiao rejected 444’s confusion about writing and suggested that Su Yuxin’s inventions and business schemes were meant to win imperial favor and secure her future ambitions.
• 444 told Su Qiao that Madam Su planned to sell some of her dowry and imperial gifts to raise money for Su Yuxin.
• Su Qiao vowed not to let Madam Su take any of her property.
• Su Qiao sent Xiao Lan to the palace with a Truth Serum prescription and asked Xi Hanzhou to help find the ingredients.
• Su Qiao concluded that Su Yuxin had likely been conceived before marriage and suspected that her biological mother’s death involved more than the clues revealed.

Su Qiao’s operas and storybooks became hits, earning her money and inspiring women across the capital. As her work reached the imperial palace and changed the concubines’ behavior, she remained anonymous and continued writing.

• Su Qiao stayed in her courtyard, writing stories and plays while Xi Hanzhou secretly investigated her suspicions about Gu Qirou and Su Yunhe and arranged for her work to be sold and performed.
• Su Qiao and Little Four’s operas and storybooks became popular, and theaters and bookshops eagerly requested more manuscripts.
• Su Qiao kept her authorship secret, partly to protect her reputation and partly because Xi Hanzhou would not let her meet other men.
• At Imperial Noble Consort Yun’s birthday celebration, the capital’s most famous theatrical troupe performed Su Qiao’s plays in the palace, moving concubines and servants to tears.
• The plays encouraged Imperial Concubines to stop competing for the Emperor’s favor, and Su Qiao gained more admirers among wealthy and influential people.

Su Qiao’s plays and novels unsettled Su Yuxin, who suspected their author came from another time and space, while Xi Hanzhou continued supporting Su Qiao. Xi Muyan then visited Su Qiao, who received him coolly in her courtyard pavilion.

• Su Qiao’s stories subtly encouraged women to look beyond conflict within the household, and Xi Hanzhou kept sending her food and rare tribute items despite finding her troublesome.
• Su Yuxin suspected Su Qiao shared her origins from another time and space and worried that her own inventions had exposed her secrets.
• Su Yuxin stopped sneaking out and stayed in her room to study palace rules with the wet nurses.
• Xi Muyan came to see Su Qiao, who invited him to sit in the pavilion rather than inside her home.
• Xi Muyan asked whether Su Qiao had been well, and she replied that she had been quite well.

Xi Muyan visited Su Qiao to ask about her relationship with the Crown Prince and whether she had cured his illness. Su Qiao confirmed that she had found the Crown Prince’s condition in her mother’s medical books, leaving Xi Muyan with the answer he had come to verify.

• Xi Muyan expressed concern about Su Qiao’s leg, but she said the Crown Prince had already arranged for an imperial physician to examine her.
• Xi Muyan asked whether the Crown Prince was treating Su Qiao well, and she praised his handsome appearance, ability, and gentle nature.
• Xi Muyan questioned why Su Qiao had not sent him updates, and she pointed out that the Crown Prince had become steady and gained the Emperor’s approval, as Xi Muyan had wanted.
• Xi Muyan asked whether Su Qiao had discovered and cured the Crown Prince’s illness, and she confirmed that she had found a similar condition in her mother’s medical books.

Su Qiao pressed Xi Muyan about the credit for curing the Crown Prince, while he urged her to keep close to Xi Hanzhou and promised to marry her as a secondary consort. Their conversation left Xi Muyan's intentions and future marriage plans under scrutiny.

• Su Qiao offered to credit Xi Muyan before the Emperor, but he insisted she take the credit and asked her not to mention him.
• Su Qiao asked whether she could stop looking after Xi Hanzhou, and Xi Muyan told her not to distance herself from the Crown Prince.
• Xi Muyan promised to marry Su Qiao after the new year, though he said he could not make her his Primary Consort.
• Su Qiao asked whether Xi Muyan intended to marry her second younger sister, and he said the Emperor would decide his marriage.
• Xi Muyan assured Su Qiao that even if Xiao Xin became his Primary Consort, he would treat Su Qiao well.

Su Qiao used Xi Muyan’s visit to provoke Su Yuxin by telling her that the Fourth Prince might make her a Secondary Consort. Su Yuxin refused to believe her and confronted the prospect of sharing him with other women.

• Xi Muyan told Su Qiao he could not stay long, promised to visit again, and urged her to work on the Crown Prince before leaving.
• Su Yuxin rushed into Su Qiao’s courtyard and warned her to stay away from the Fourth Prince.
• Su Qiao said Xi Muyan had promised to marry her with ten miles of red bridal gifts and asked whether he would take Su Yuxin as his consort.
• Su Qiao claimed Xi Muyan would obey the Emperor’s marriage arrangements and might make Su Yuxin a Secondary Consort after taking a Primary Consort.
• Su Yuxin called Su Qiao a liar, while Su Qiao pointed out that an imperial son could have multiple wives and concubines.

Su Qiao challenged Su Yuxin’s belief that the Fourth Prince loved her apart from his rank, and his silence confirmed her fears. Su Yuxin fled the courtyard with Xi Muyan chasing after her, while the onlookers doubted she could ever be his only woman.

• Su Yuxin insisted that she would love Xi Muyan even if he were an ordinary man, while Su Qiao argued that his power and status were central to her feelings.
• Su Yuxin ran into her personal maid and Xi Muyan at the courtyard gate and demanded to know whether he would obey the Emperor and marry someone else.
• Xi Muyan stayed silent because promising to marry only Su Yuxin could harm his chances of becoming Emperor and anger his supporters.
• Su Yuxin accused Xi Muyan of playing her, then ran from the courtyard with him in pursuit.
• The maids and Wet Nurses/Nannies watched in stunned silence and noted that the Fourth Prince already had several women in his rear residence.

Su Yuxin confronted Xi Muyan about the uncertainty of their future, and he promised that he would marry only her and ignore any other wives imposed by court custom. Meanwhile, the Emperor questioned Su Qiao about the plays and storybooks she had written, leaving her to stall for time as she expected Xi Hanzhou to come.

• Su Yuxin struggled against Xi Muyan and demanded to know why she should keep waiting when he could not decide his own marriage.
• Xi Muyan promised to marry only Su Yuxin and said any other women required by ancestral rules would be ornaments he would neither touch nor attend to.
• Su Yuxin calmed down and warned Xi Muyan not to forget his promise.
• Xi Hanzhou learned that Xi Muyan had visited Su Qiao and went to the prime minister's residence, but discovered that the Emperor had summoned her to the palace.
• The Emperor showed Su Qiao her storybooks and asked whether she had written them, and Su Qiao admitted she had made them up for fun and to earn spending money.

Su Qiao tried to hide the truth about her plays and storybooks when the Emperor questioned whether she had traveled overseas. The Emperor pressed her about deceiving him, and Su Qiao offered him half her profits to settle the matter.

• The Emperor asked Su Qiao whether she had been overseas, and she insisted she had never left the capital.
• Su Qiao claimed she had gathered stories from teahouse storytellers and street merchants, then embellished them for her books.
• The Emperor accused Su Qiao of deceiving him, while she argued that he would not quibble over harmless entertainment.
• Su Qiao offered the Emperor half her profits, lamenting that she had already given Xi Hanzhou thirty percent.

Su Qiao discussed her earnings and her dealings with Xi Hanzhou with the Emperor, then learned that her late mother’s dowry should be returned to her. The Emperor recognized that Su Qiao’s stepmother likely had the dowry and prompted her to claim it.

• Su Qiao considered developing the Printing Technique because her bookshop could not keep up with demand for her books.
• The Emperor was surprised that Xi Hanzhou had charged Su Qiao money to run away, and Su Qiao defended keeping money matters clear.
• Su Qiao sat down to eat the Emperor’s refreshments and praised him by repeating what Xi Hanzhou supposedly said about him.
• The Emperor asked Su Qiao about her mother’s dowry, and she said it was likely in her stepmother’s hands.
• The Emperor said Su Qiao’s dowry ought to be returned to her, and Su Qiao thanked him with a deep bow.

The Emperor ordered the Gu Corporation to return Su Qiao’s mother’s dowry, then talked with Su Qiao about martial-world stories and her own ambitions. The chapter left them joking about her dreams of becoming a heroine while the Emperor teased her about her lack of martial skill.

• The Emperor sent Eunuch Liu to the Prime Minister's Residence with an order for the Gu Corporation to return Su Qiao’s mother’s dowry.
• The Emperor questioned Su Qiao about Rivers and Lakes Storm and learned that she knew a great deal about the martial world.
• Su Qiao explained that she wanted to roam the world as a heroine and even become an overseas bandit chief to rob foreign pirates.
• The Emperor told Su Qiao to stay in the capital and get married, then tapped her on the head when she claimed she could become unbeatable with a zither.

Su Qiao examined Xi Hanzhou and explained that the poison he had taken for years had strained his body and might shorten his lifespan. She reassured the Emperor that Xi Hanzhou’s recovery and her restorative medicine should limit the damage.

• Xi Hanzhou hurried to the palace after learning Xi Muyan had gone to the Chancellor’s residence to see Su Qiao.
• At the Emperor’s request, Su Qiao checked Xi Hanzhou’s pulse and had 444 scan his body.
• Su Qiao explained that the poison had accelerated Xi Hanzhou’s circulation and exhausted his vitality, potentially shortening his life.
• Xi Hanzhou accepted the risk and quietly held Su Qiao’s hand, valuing a future with her more than the throne.
• The Emperor grew furious at the people who had poisoned Xi Hanzhou, while Su Qiao said her medicine should help restore his health and limit the damage.

Xi Hanzhou reassured the emperor about the damage caused by ten years of poisoning, and Su Qiao helped lift the emperor’s spirits. The emperor sent Xi Hanzhou and Su Qiao to stroll in the Imperial Garden, while keeping the books Su Qiao had brought him.

• Xi Hanzhou comforted the emperor by saying he would live to fifty and hoped they could travel together when they were old.
• Su Qiao joked that she would drive their carriage, and the emperor teased her about being too thin and old to manage it.
• The emperor told Xi Hanzhou to take Su Qiao for a stroll in the Imperial Garden and offered them the books on his table.
• Su Qiao urged the emperor to keep the books for entertainment and praised him for bearing the burdens of ruling the country.
• The emperor smiled again and called Su Qiao glib-tongued.

Xi Hanzhou and Su Qiao received the Emperor’s tacit approval of their relationship, and Su Qiao began to suspect that he had been poisoned in her previous life. Xi Hanzhou agreed to go with her to retrieve detoxifying medicine, leaving them to investigate the Emperor’s past illness.

• Xi Hanzhou defended Su Qiao’s manners before the Emperor, who learned about her difficult childhood and grew kinder toward her.
• The Emperor ordered two wet nurses to teach Su Qiao palace etiquette, signaling his approval of her and Xi Hanzhou.
• Xi Hanzhou and Su Qiao chose to visit his palace and discussed why the Emperor had confined him in Su Qiao’s previous life.
• Su Qiao suspected the Emperor had been poisoned after Xi Hanzhou recalled seeing an imperial physician secretly brewing medicine for him.
• Xi Hanzhou stopped Su Qiao from leaving alone and offered to accompany her to retrieve potent detoxifying medicine.

After the Emperor forced the Fourth Prince to marry into a rival family, Su Qiao mocked his displeasure and prepared to reclaim her mother's dowry. She left her courtyard to confront the main house.

• The Emperor granted the Fourth Prince a Primary Consort from Grand Tutor Jiang's family and two Secondary Consorts, including Su Yuxin.
• Su Qiao laughed at the Emperor's politically shrewd choice and noted that the Fourth Prince had been unable to change the decree.
• Little Ya told Su Qiao that the Fourth Prince was arguing with Imperial Noble Consort Yun after leaving the Emperor's presence.
• Su Qiao decided to reclaim her mother's dowry and left her courtyard for the main house.

Su Qiao pressured Madam Su to return her mother's dowry and arranged for it to be counted. She then revealed that the Emperor had arranged for Su Yuxin to marry the Fourth Prince, leaving Madam Su and Su Yuxin stunned as they awaited the Imperial Decree.

• Su Qiao reminded Madam Su that the Emperor had ordered her mother's dowry returned and warned that the Crown Prince could send people to take inventory.
• Madam Su gave Su Qiao the dowry inventory and said Nanny Wang and Nanny Lin were ready to count the items in the storeroom.
• Su Qiao sent Xiao Lan to fetch two experienced elder ladies to accompany the inventory count.
• Su Qiao told Madam Su and Su Yuxin that the Emperor had arranged for Su Yuxin to marry the Fourth Prince and that the Imperial Decree would soon arrive.

Su Qiao told Madam Su and Su Yuxin that an imperial decree made Su Yuxin the Fourth Prince’s Secondary Consort, while Grand Tutor Jiang’s granddaughter would be his Primary Consort. Su Yuxin broke down after Su Qiao left, fearing what her new position meant.

• Su Qiao announced that the emperor had appointed Su Yuxin as the Fourth Prince’s Secondary Consort and Grand Tutor Jiang’s granddaughter as his Primary Consort.
• Su Yuxin protested that the Fourth Prince had promised to make her his Primary Consort, but Su Qiao explained that he could not neglect Grand Tutor Jiang’s granddaughter.
• Madam Su defended Su Yuxin’s standing as a legitimate imperial daughter-in-law, while Su Qiao agreed and pointed out that she would still outrank an untitled concubine.
• Su Yuxin accused Su Qiao of wanting to humiliate her and claimed the Fourth Prince loved only her, but Su Qiao said she had never wanted to marry him.
• Madam Su sent Su Qiao to check her mother’s dowry, and Su Yuxin collapsed into her mother’s arms in tears after Su Qiao left.

Madam Su persuaded Su Yuxin to accept the Imperial Decree and urged her to remove anyone standing in her way, while Su Yuxin remained frightened by the thought of killing. After Su Yuxin left to prepare, Madam Su questioned whether Su Qiao had a leg problem.

• Madam Su told Su Yuxin to secure a man's heart and eliminate obstacles to her rise.
• Su Yuxin hesitated at the idea of killing and worried that someone from Grand Tutor Jiang's Estate was formidable.
• Madam Su reassured Su Yuxin and persuaded her to prepare to receive the Imperial Decree.
• Madam Su explained to herself why she wanted Su Yuxin to become a Primary Consort, then sent her to wash and change.
• Madam Su asked Nanny Lai about Su Qiao's legs, and Nanny Lai mentioned Xiaoyu's height-increasing insoles.
• Madam Su said Su Qiao's natural gait seemed inconsistent with having a leg problem.