Recaps

Feng Han told Yuan Liu, Yuan Wu, and Little Gui that he loved Su Qiao and would let her choose the life she wanted. He decided to wait until next year before pursuing her again, then ordered his subordinates to keep their conversation secret.

• Yuan Liu criticized Su Qiao for not returning Feng Han’s affection, and Yuan Wu kicked him for overstepping.
• Feng Han explained that he indulged Su Qiao willingly and that status and power mattered less to her than a wild boar.
• Feng Han recalled Su Qiao’s fierce loyalty to her own people and said she rejected the restraints that came with power and wealth.
• Yuan Liu, Yuan Wu, and Little Gui urged Feng Han to give Su Qiao time, and Feng Han agreed to wait until next year.
• Feng Han left for the carriage after looking toward Willow Tree Village and ordered the three men not to repeat their conversation.

Su Qiao returned home and discovered that her first batch of coarse paper had dried successfully. She planned to use her new skills to build a brick house and asked 444 to find an old-looking manufacturing guide, leaving the search unresolved.

• Su Qiao hid the packages she had brought back, then reassured her grandparents that she had been gathering herbs and wild vegetables.
• Su Qiao checked the paper drying in wooden frames and found that both the mulberry-bark and Chinese-wingnut-bark sheets had turned out well.
• Su Qiao told 444 she would add more lime and boil the bark longer next time to make the paper finer and whiter.
• Su Qiao planned to burn lime, make cement, fire bricks, and produce ordinary roof tiles for her future house.
• Su Qiao told 444 to keep searching its system connections for an old-looking manufacturing book, and said she would write one herself if they could not find it.

Su Qiao considered making a book and learned from Xiaosi that she could create movable type for printing. When Su Yichen discovered her handmade paper and objected to her using it for the toilet, their argument brought Su Yaohui out of the study.

• Su Qiao realized that movable type printing could let her make books quickly, and Xiaosi explained how she could carve wooden or clay type.
• Su Yichen found two stacks of paper on the wooden door and asked Su Qiao if she had made them.
• Su Qiao said she had made the paper for going to the toilet, then demonstrated how to soften it.
• Su Yichen took both stacks away, insisting the valuable paper should not be wasted.
• Su Qiao argued that she needed the paper, while Su Yichen refused to give it back and called for Su Yaohui.
• Su Yaohui hurried out of the study with a writing brush to see what had happened.

Su Qiao explained that the paper she planned to use in the toilet was made from tree bark, astonishing her family. The courtyard fell silent as Su Yihe and Ernie confirmed they had watched her make it.

• Su Yichen told the family that Su Qiao wanted to use paper to relieve herself, prompting everyone to gather in the courtyard.
• Su Qiao explained that she had made the paper herself from tree bark for use in the toilet.
• Zhou Lihua recognized the paper and described how she and Xiao Hao had helped gather the bark and how Su Qiao had processed it.
• Su Yihe and Ernie confirmed that they had watched Su Qiao make the paper.
• The family stared at Su Qiao in astonishment after accepting that she had turned tree bark into paper.

Su Qiao explained her papermaking technique by claiming she had learned it from a book, leaving her family eager for her to find it. After hearing that the Liu family's store had been sealed over faulty products, the family decided to inspect the situation before resuming sales of their toothbrushes and dental powder.

• Su Qiao offered her family the new paper and said she could make coarser paper from wheat straw.
• Su Qiao claimed she had learned papermaking from a book she found years earlier, and her family urged her to remember where it was.
• Su Qiao hurried to her room while her family discussed how much the paper might sell for.
• Zhou Lihua reported that customers had demanded refunds at the Liu family's store, which authorities had sealed after people smashed it up.
• Ernie asked whether they could sell toothbrushes and dental powder again, and Su Qiao said they should inspect the situation first to protect their reputation.

Su Qiao proposed teaching paper-making to her second uncle, Su Huai'an, so he could earn a living with the craft. Her parents resented being passed over, but Su Qiao argued that the work suited her uncle and that his earnings would remain in the family.

• Ernie questioned whether Su Qiao had time to make paper, and the family agreed the process was too labor-intensive for her to handle alone.
• Su Qiao suggested teaching paper-making to Su Huai'an, who refused because he felt the craft was too valuable to accept from her.
• Zhou Lihua tried to pinch Su Qiao and complained that she favored outsiders, while Su Yaohui resented that she had not offered the craft to him.
• Su Qiao explained that paper-making required strength, care, and constant attention, and her parents calmed down as they realized they could not manage the work.
• Su Qiao argued that her grandfather had other duties, her second brother was starting private school, and she and her sister were girls, so Su Huai'an was the best choice.
• Zhou Lihua complained that Su Yaohui had nothing to do, while the old man considered that the craft could give his eldest son a respectable livelihood.

Su Qiao hinted that she had a plan for Su Yaohui that could bring fame and wealth to the Old Su Family, but said she needed half a month to test it. She returned to her room to think while 444 searched for a missing book, and the second branch promised to support her.

• Su Qiao rejected the idea of Su Yaohui opening a private school and said she had a different plan that could bring fame and wealth to the family.
• Su Qiao asked for half a month to make and test something, and Su Yaohui agreed to wait.
• Su Qiao told her grandfather that she remembered part of the missing book and that it could still be useful.
• Back in her room, Su Qiao told 444 that Movable Type Printing needed something more and refused to explain until 444 found the book.
• Zhou Lihua reminded Madam Liu that Su Qiao had given the second branch an important livelihood, and Madam Liu promised the family would support Su Qiao.

Madam Liu and Su Huai'an promised Zhou Lihua they would remember the eldest branch’s help and treat Su Qiao well. At Guyin Temple’s estate, Feng Han had the troublemakers who smashed Su Qiao’s shop arrested and kept locked up, then decided not to tell her about his intervention.

• Madam Liu resolved to treat the eldest branch and Su Qiao well after Zhou Lihua gave her family a valuable craft.
• Madam Liu and Su Huai'an promised Zhou Lihua they would not forget who had helped them.
• Yuan Wu reported that Su Qiao’s shop had been smashed, the authorities had sealed it, and the culprits had been arrested.
• Feng Han ordered the culprits kept locked up rather than eliminated.
• Feng Han considered whether Su Qiao would be touched by his help, but decided there was no need to tell her.
• Yuan Liu praised Su Qiao’s tooth powder over a lesser version, and Feng Han threatened to set Xiaobai on him for seeming to disagree.

Feng Han decided to visit Su Qiao after Yuan Wu suggested he get out for a walk, while Su Qiao and Ernie discussed their slow sales and plans to make more goods. Su Qiao had spent all their earnings on fabric, but still thought they might not have enough.

• Yuan Liu offered to invite Su Qiao, but Yuan Wu advised Feng Han to visit her himself.
• Feng Han agreed to take Xiao Bai for a walk and learned that Su Qiao had gone to town and should be home soon.
• Ernie worried that counterfeit goods from the Liu family shop had hurt their toothbrush and tooth powder sales.
• Su Qiao explained that she had limited the slippers, socks, and bags on sale to avoid giving embroidery workshops a chance to copy them.
• Su Qiao told Ernie to organize people to make more goods, then noted that the five bolts of fabric she had bought might not be enough.

Xia Xiaodie accused Su Qiao of arranging an attack on her maternal grandfather’s general store and begged her to spare the Xia family. As villagers gathered and argued over the stolen tooth-powder formula and the store’s destruction, Su Qiao and Ernie denied the accusation.

• Xia Xiaodie rushed toward Su Qiao and Ernie, and Su Qiao pulled Ernie aside to avoid her.
• Xia Xiaodie admitted that she had envied Su Qiao and arranged for her younger brother to trick Sanlang into revealing information about Su Qiao’s family.
• Xia Xiaodie claimed Su Qiao had hired people to smash her maternal grandfather’s general store and begged her to spare the family.
• Ernie denied the accusation, saying the store had been attacked because the Xia family’s goods had harmed people.
• Villagers gathered and discussed whether the Xia family had stolen the formula and whether Su Qiao had ordered the attack.

Su Qiao rejected Liu Yuehong’s plea to forgive Xia Xiaodie’s family and exposed Xia Xiaodie’s lies and the truth behind the family’s harmful tooth powder. The villagers turned against Xia Xiaodie as Su Qiao defended her master’s name.

• Liu Yuehong helped Xia Xiaodie up and begged Su Qiao to have Xia Xiaodie’s uncle released from the yamen.
• Su Qiao avoided Liu Yuehong and pointed out that Xia Xiaodie’s maternal family owned more than ten mu of fields, so they would not starve without their shop.
• The villagers stopped sympathizing with Xia Xiaodie and criticized her for pretending to be honest and filial.
• Su Qiao explained that Xia Xiaodie’s family had copied her family’s toothbrush and tooth-powder products after buying a sample and hiring a physician to study it.
• Su Qiao revealed that the physician had failed to reproduce the formula correctly, causing customers to suffer blisters, inflammation, and toothaches, and the villagers condemned the family for selling it.

Su Qiao defended her family against Liu Yuehong and Xia Xiaodie’s attempt to blame them for the Xia Family shop being sealed. She persuaded the villagers that the accusations made no sense, and the village head apologized while agreeing to control his family.

• Liu Yuehong and Xia Xiaodie tried to make Su Qiao admit that the Su Family was behind their shop being sealed and their relatives being arrested.
• Su Qiao explained that the authorities had investigated the shop and argued that her family lacked the power to arrange the sealing.
• The villagers agreed with Su Qiao, and Liu Yuehong stopped Xia Xiaodie from saying more.
• Su Qiao appealed to the villagers’ sense of right and wrong and called on the village head to speak.
• The village head apologized for his family’s behavior, and Su Qiao asked him to keep them from causing more trouble.

Su Qiao used the villagers’ concern for their children’s marriage prospects to turn them against the Xia family, and Old Master Xia punished Xia Xiaodie and sent Liu Yuehong away. After leaving the crowd, Liu Yuehong dropped her act and revealed her composure as Xia Xiaodie asked why she had stopped her from blaming the Imperial Guards for her maternal great-uncle’s arrest.

• Su Qiao warned that rumors about Willow Tree Village could harm the marriage prospects of its young men and women, making the villagers’ expressions change.
• Old Master Xia ordered Xia Xiaodie confined to her room until marriage and told Liu Yuehong to return to her mother’s family.
• Old Madam Xia shoved Liu Yuehong, while Xia Qiang told her to stay with her family for a while.
• Liu Yuehong and Xia Xiaodie left in tears, but Liu Yuehong soon wiped her face and admitted there was no use being sad.
• Xia Xiaodie asked why Liu Yuehong had stopped her from saying that the Imperial Guards had reported the matter that led to her maternal great-uncle’s shop being sealed and him being taken away.

Liu Yuehong decided to stop targeting the Su family because she feared the powerful man from Guyin Temple, though Xia Xiaodie still wanted revenge. Su Qiao calmly defended her wish to live comfortably as villagers criticized her, and Ernie nearly revealed her secret paper-making skill.

• Liu Yuehong told Xia Xiaodie that Old Master Su had likely been spared because he helped the important person in the coal mine, and she warned her daughter to let the matter end.
• Liu Yuehong said she would return to her maternal family for a few days, while Xia Xiaodie worried about being left behind.
• Villagers criticized Su Qiao as lazy and domineering, and Ernie defended her by listing her hard work, hunting, and knowledge of medicinal herbs.
• Ernie nearly told the villagers that Su Qiao could make paper, but Su Qiao stopped her.
• Su Qiao told the villagers she wanted to use her money to live comfortably, with others bringing her food and helping her rest.

Su Qiao learned that the Imperial Guards had sealed Xia Xiaodie’s uncle’s general store, then Feng Han arrived at Willow Tree Village with White Tiger and ordered the villagers away. The villagers fled, leaving Feng Han to handle matters with Su Qiao.

• Su Qiao realized Xia Xiaodie and her mother had been right that the Imperial Guards sealed the general store.
• Old Master Su arrived and tried to take Su Qiao and Ernie home, while Old Master Xia prepared to greet him.
• Feng Han arrived, and White Tiger charged through the crowd toward Su Qiao.
• Su Qiao stopped White Tiger and hugged him as he wagged his tail and rubbed his head against her.
• Feng Han gave Su Qiao a handkerchief, and Yuan Wu ordered everyone without business there to leave.

Feng Han asked Su Qiao to return with him to the Imperial Palace, but she declined, and he reassured her that he wanted people to know she had his protection. He accompanied her family to their home and arranged to speak privately with Old Master Su, while leaving Little Bai with Su Qiao.

• Feng Han offered Su Qiao anything she wanted if she returned with him to the Imperial Palace, but she refused because she did not want the trouble.
• Feng Han told Su Qiao that he wanted others to know she had someone backing her so they would not target her.
• Feng Han asked Old Master Su to let him visit the family home, and Old Master Su led him there.
• Feng Han had Yuan Wu ask Old Master Su to speak with him privately, while the Su Family took the children inside.
• Feng Han asked Su Qiao to watch Little Bai, who stayed beside her in the courtyard.

Feng Han arranged for Old Master Su to supervise the mine after he returned to the capital, then used a discussion about the dangers of childbirth at a young age to hint that Su Qiao should not be taken back to the palace too soon. He left Old Master Su unsettled, without stating his intentions outright.

• Su Qiao took Little Bai to play in a bamboo grove while Feng Han spoke privately with Old Master Su.
• Feng Han asked Old Master Su to supervise the mine after his return to the capital and promised to appoint him mine supervisor, with Yuan Wu and soldiers to assist.
• Feng Han told Old Master Su that two fourteen-year-old Imperial Concubines had died in childbirth and that women should marry after fifteen.
• Old Master Su sensed Feng Han's implication but could only agree that Chief Physician Yu's advice had reason.
• Feng Han ended the conversation and said it was time for him to return.

Su Qiao and her grandparents planned to recruit relatives and reliable village families to make embroidered goods for sale. They set the pay and divided up who would approach each household, leaving Su Qiao ready to teach them the designs.

• Su Qiao suggested having her Maternal Grandfather's family make the embroidered goods, and her grandfather proposed recruiting skillful, reliable village families too.
• Su Qiao's grandparents agreed to invite the Lu Family and Zhuzi's family, while Zhou Lihua was asked to explain the work to her in-laws.
• Su Qiao offered to accompany her mother and teach the designs if her in-laws agreed to join.
• Su Qiao proposed paying thirty percent above the embroidery workshop's rates, and her grandparents accepted.
• Su Qiao planned to draw more patterns and prepare samples, while her grandmother said she would teach the families to copy the bag designs.

Su Qiao dismissed Feng Han’s concern about Old Master Su and treated the jade pendant he gave her as something to pawn rather than a love token. Feng Han offered to grant her one wish, but she declined and he asked whether she still wanted a comfortable life and her father to become an official.

• Su Qiao watched Feng Han speak with Old Master Su and decided she would stop any marriage arrangement she did not approve of.
• Feng Han found Su Qiao teaching Little White to climb trees and gave her a jade pendant.
• Su Qiao asked how much the pendant would fetch if pawned, leaving Feng Han frustrated that she did not value his gift as a token of affection.
• Feng Han offered to fulfill one promise in exchange for the pendant, and Su Qiao considered asking for something before backing down.
• Feng Han stroked Su Qiao’s head, and she brushed his hand away and told him not to treat her like Little White.
• Feng Han asked whether Su Qiao still wanted a life of comfort and for her father to become an official.

Su Qiao rejected Feng Han’s offer to provide for her and asked him instead to help her open a bookstore. Feng Han agreed to help name and make a signboard for it, while Su Qiao promised to roast meat for Little Bai the next day.

• Su Qiao told Feng Han she would earn her own money and had no interest in making her father an official.
• Feng Han asked what Su Qiao wanted, and she requested his help getting approval to open a bookstore.
• Su Qiao and Feng Han settled on the name Su's Guyin Bookstore, and Feng Han agreed to write its signboard.
• Feng Han told Su Qiao that Little Bai had lost its appetite after eating her roast meat, so she promised to roast more for it tomorrow.

Su Qiao warned Little Haozi not to touch Little White and promised him a horse as a reward for his studies and training. When she returned home, she found her family worried about Feng Han’s interest in her and his plan to take her to the capital.

• Su Qiao threatened Little Haozi with the danger of touching Little White and promised to get him a horse in the future.
• Little Haozi excitedly ran home, shouting that he was going to have a horse.
• Su Qiao returned home and found the old man, the old woman, and the family gathered in worry, with Su Yichen and Su Yihe back early from school.
• The old man worried that Feng Han might take Su Qiao to the capital and reflected that she had saved his life.
• The old man wondered how events might have changed if Xia Xiaodie had not led Su Qiao into Coal Mine.

Su Yaohui’s family learned that the powerful Overlord of the Eastern Depot was interested in Su Qiao because she had helped him in the mine. After hearing how brutally he had purged the local offices, they abandoned their hopes of gaining wealth or status and focused on staying alive.

• Su Yaohui and Zhou Lihua asked the old man how Su Qiao had come to know the lord.
• The old man explained that Su Qiao had helped the lord while rescuing him in the Coal Mine, and that the lord’s White Tiger was attached to her.
• Zhou Lihua scolded Su Qiao for refusing the lord’s jade pendant and offer of a favor, lamenting the lost chance to gain an official position and wealth.
• The old man revealed that the lord was the Overlord of the Eastern Depot and commanded the Imperial Guards, then described the deadly purges after the mine incident.
• Su Yaohui’s family grew frightened and stopped discussing official positions, silver, and servants.

Su Qiao explained the dangers of officialdom and advised Su Yaohui to avoid becoming an official, while giving Su Yichen guidance on preparing for a future career. The chapter ended with Su Yichen asking about the high-ranking Hanlin academician Su Qiao had vaguely credited with the saying about travel and reading.

• Su Qiao warned Su Yaohui that officials needed to be shrewd and cautious to avoid being framed and endangering their families.
• Su Qiao outlined ways to think ahead and guard against risks, mainly for her eldest brother, Su Yichen.
• Su Qiao advised Su Yichen to travel widely before entering officialdom or business so he could gain experience.
• Su Yichen asked who had said that traveling ten thousand miles was better than reading ten thousand books, and Su Qiao vaguely attributed it to a Hanlin Grand Academician.
• Su Yichen asked Su Yaohui what rank that official held, and Su Yaohui said the title belonged to a very high-ranking official.

Su Yichen decided to travel and broaden his horizons after the prefectural exam, while his family discussed how to keep him safe. The family agreed to postpone rebuilding their home until their business brought in more money.

• Su Yichen told his family he wanted to see the world, and Su Qiao offered to accompany him, but the elders refused to let her travel.
• Su Qiao proposed buying two martial-arts-skilled servants to protect Su Yichen, and the family agreed he could travel after finishing the prefectural exam.
• Su Yichen returned to his room to study, determined to pass the exam.
• Su Yaohui felt dispirited about giving up his hopes of becoming an official, and the old man encouraged him to focus on the family’s growing livelihood.
• Zhou Lihua suggested expanding the house, but Su Qiao urged the family to wait until their business deal brought in money.

Su Qiao’s family discussed their profitable sales and planned to make more cloth goods, while her grandfather suggested involving his younger brothers’ families. The old madam objected, and Su Qiao recalled that the brothers lived at the family orchards in the mountains.

• The old madam asked Su Qiao about the bolts of cloth, and Zhou Lihua admired a green one before Su Qiao took it back for making goods.
• Su Qiao reported earning sixteen taels from the day’s sales and showed the family the cloth and scrap fabric she had bought.
• Su Qiao proposed opening two stalls, and Ernie said customers had eagerly bought all the shoes and socks.
• Madam Liu agreed to make more goods, while Ernie worried that the family could not produce enough before others copied them.
• The old master proposed asking his younger brothers’ families to help, but the old madam reminded him that they had not visited during his troubles.
• The old master explained that he had told them not to come and that they lived at the orchards in the mountains.