Chapter Summaries

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.

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.