Chapter Summaries

Su Qiao rescued Xi Hanzhou from Consort Shu and brought him back to camp while keeping his unconsciousness secret. She treated him with medicine and needles, and he slowly woke as Jincheng and Eunuch Yu watched anxiously.

• Su Qiao found Consort Shu climbing over a drugged and weakened Xi Hanzhou, knocked Consort Shu unconscious, and gave Xi Hanzhou medicine.
• Su Qiao carried Xi Hanzhou away on horseback and used her agreed signal to reunite with Xiao Lan, Xiao Yu, and six guards.
• Su Qiao warned the group to conceal Xi Hanzhou’s unconsciousness and brought him back to camp by a secluded route.
• Jincheng learned Xi Hanzhou had been attacked and surrounded the tent with guards.
• Su Qiao treated Xi Hanzhou with medicinal solution and needles, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Xi Hanzhou woke up after Su Qiao knocked him unconscious, but he still did not remember her true identity. Su Qiao realized she had failed again, despite her efforts.

• Jincheng and Eunuch Yu rejoiced when Xi Hanzhou woke, and Su Qiao checked his pulse and eyes as he complained of dizziness and neck pain.
• Xi Hanzhou kissed Su Qiao to check whether he was dreaming, and she shoved him away angrily.
• 444 urged Su Qiao to find out whether Xi Hanzhou remembered anything, and he called her Little Liar without recognizing her true identity.
• Xi Hanzhou asked for an imperial physician, but Su Qiao stopped Eunuch Yu and questioned him further.
• Xi Hanzhou grasped Su Qiao's hands in alarm, while she concluded that she had failed to restore his memories again.

Su Qiao recognized the drug’s scent on Eunuch Yu and accused him of drugging Xi Hanzhou for ten years. Xi Hanzhou ordered his longtime servant tied up, leaving Eunuch Yu pleading for his loyalty.

• Su Qiao reassured Xi Hanzhou that she was fine and learned that he remembered her arriving after he was ambushed and drugged.
• Su Qiao seized Eunuch Yu and identified the special potion’s scent on him.
• Su Qiao accused Eunuch Yu of secretly drugging Xi Hanzhou for ten years.
• Xi Hanzhou ordered Jincheng to have Eunuch Yu bound, and Eunuch Yu protested that he had served the Crown Prince for twenty years.

Su Qiao exposed Eunuch Yu’s suspicious medicinal scent and explained that Xi Hanzhou had been poisoned with a nerve-stimulating tonic. Jincheng accepted her diagnosis, while Eunuch Yu’s attempt to discredit her left the Crown Prince facing evidence of a deliberate plot against him.

• Su Qiao challenged Eunuch Yu to explain why the medicinal scent on him had grown stronger and accused him of harming Xi Hanzhou.
• Eunuch Yu denied the accusation and warned Xi Hanzhou that Su Qiao was conspiring with the Fourth Prince.
• Jincheng asked Su Qiao what was afflicting Xi Hanzhou, and she explained that it was not poison but a nerve-stimulating medicinal liquid.
• Su Qiao described how long-term use could cause irritability, physical symptoms, and eventually fatal bleeding in the brain.
• Jincheng said Su Qiao had correctly identified nearly all of Xi Hanzhou’s symptoms and accepted her diagnosis.

Su Qiao assessed Xi Hanzhou’s serious illness and promised to prepare medicine, while advising him to feign worsening symptoms and tell the Emperor exactly what had happened. The chapter left Xi Hanzhou preparing to use the poisoning attempt against the people behind Eunuch Yu, likely his fourth brother, Xi Muyan.

• Eunuch Yu bit through his tongue and died before Su Qiao could stop him.
• Su Qiao told Xi Hanzhou that years of taking the medicine had left him seriously ill and that she needed rare herbs to treat him.
• Xi Hanzhou agreed to obtain the ingredients and teased Su Qiao for staying up all night to help him.
• Su Qiao advised Xi Hanzhou to pretend his illness was severe and report the incident to the Emperor as it happened.
• Jincheng agreed with Su Qiao and recognized her intelligence.

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.