Chapter Summaries

Su Qiao woke in an examination cell during an ancient Imperial Examination and learned she would be confined there for three days. Worried that the Great Demon King might have taken wives and concubines while she was away, she ordered 444 to find him, but he was nowhere nearby.

• Su Qiao asked 444 whether she had been kidnapped, and he explained that she was taking the Locked Hall Examination.
• Su Qiao realized she was in an examination cell and recoiled at the thought of using the latrine and earning a mark on her papers.
• Su Qiao ignored the examination and demanded that 444 find the Great Demon King, fearing he might already have wives and concubines.
• 444 searched within three hundred meters but found no familiar soul, then asked whether Su Qiao would castrate the Great Demon King if he had taken other women.
• Su Qiao said she might leave him and wander the world with 444, sampling food and admiring handsome men.

Su Qiao learned that her twin younger sister had hypnotized her into believing she was a man, while 444 had strengthened her body and she discovered she could cultivate quickly. As she sorted through her memories, she learned she had been abandoned as an infant and raised at a remote country estate.

• Su Qiao asked 444 whether she had become a man, and 444 explained that her twin younger sister had hypnotized her.
• Su Qiao tested her cultivation and found that she progressed exceptionally quickly after 444 used an Intermediate Enhancement Potion on her.
• Su Qiao recalled that she and Su Jingya were born as twins, but the Marquis and his wife hid her away because twins were considered taboo and she was physically weak.
• Su Qiao learned that the estate’s servants neglected her and that a kind-hearted wet nurse had kept her alive.

Su Qiao learned how she had been hypnotized into posing as the Marquis's frail son and entered for the Locked Hall Examination with questions bought by Su Jingya. She also discovered Prince Jin had mistaken Su Jingya for her after returning to the capital, leaving her abandoned again.

• Su Qiao recalled that Su Jingya had arranged for her estate to be burned, then hypnotized her into believing she was the Marquis's son.
• The hypnotized Marquis entered Su Qiao for the Locked Hall Examination, and Su Jingya urged him to buy the examination questions.
• Su Qiao realized that the cheating could expose the already endangered Marquis's Residence to the emperor's punishment.
• Su Qiao learned that Prince Jin had vouched for the Marquis's Residence, but had mistaken Su Jingya for her and grown close to her.

Su Qiao dismissed Su Jingya’s medical and hypnotic abilities and decided to stay inconspicuous rather than help the Marquis’s residence. She used the System Store to disguise her appearance, leaving her ready to avoid drawing attention during the selection.

• Su Qiao learned that Su Jingya had monitored her and hypnotized the Old Wet Nurse and maids to uncover details about their relationship.
• Su Qiao resolved to appear useless and hand in a blank paper because the Marquis’s residence was under threat from The King.
• Su Qiao reflected on how the Marquis’s residence had neglected her while she grew up at a southern estate.
• Su Qiao had Little Four buy a chest binder and smudge-proof cosmetics, then altered her brows, eyes, forehead, and nose to change her appearance.

Su Qiao disguised herself so thoroughly that she no longer resembled Su Jingya, then spent the three-day examination cultivating instead of painting seriously. She left the examination hall in excellent condition, surprising Xiao Wu and Bi Qiu, who brought her to the carriage to rest.

• Su Qiao altered her face and covered her pierced ears until she looked only slightly like Su Jingya.
• Su Qiao spent three days cultivating in the examination hall, occasionally doodling, and the proctors eventually stopped paying attention to her.
• Su Qiao submitted several casual doodles, prompting people to laugh at her and making her famous before she returned to the residence.
• Su Qiao left the examination compound looking fresh and energetic while the other candidates emerged exhausted.
• Xiao Wu and Bi Qiu hurried Su Qiao into the carriage and offered her food and rest, believing she must be hiding her exhaustion.

Su Qiao traveled through Longhua Kingdom’s capital while explaining why she intended to remain a man, despite the risks of Su Jingya and Prince Jin discovering her identity. The chapter ended with her sending Bi Qiu to buy every ingredient on a prescription.

• Su Qiao told 444 that she did not plan to restore her female body because living as a man was safer and more convenient.
• 444 warned that Su Jingya and Prince Jin already knew or might discover Su Qiao’s secret, but Su Qiao said she had a way to handle it.
• Su Qiao asked 444 to focus on repairing its database and researching defenses against whoever had attacked it.
• Su Qiao stopped the carriage and ordered Bi Qiu to buy all the medicinal ingredients listed on her prescription.

Su Qiao rode through the street while Xiao Wu wondered at his changed demeanor, unaware that Long Jingyuan and Prince Jin had noticed him from a teahouse. The chapter ended with Long Jingyuan learning that the striking young man was Su Yuan’s son, recently returned from the south.

• Xiao Wu drove Su Qiao’s carriage to an empty patch of roadside and studied his unexpectedly confident manner.
• Su Qiao distrusted Xiao Wu because Su Jingya controlled Su Marquis Manor and Xiao Wu might have been hypnotized.
• Long Jingyuan watched Su Qiao from a teahouse window, and Prince Jin joined him and admired the young man’s appearance.
• Prince Jin’s servant identified Su Qiao as the Young Master of Su Marquis Manor, and Long Jingyuan reacted coldly to learning Su Yuan had a son.
• Prince Jin explained that Su Qiao had recently returned after being sent south as a sickly child.

Long Jingyuan and Prince Jin discussed Su Qiao and the Second Miss of the Marquis's Residence while watching Su Qiao's carriage from a teahouse. The chapter ended with Su Qiao sensing their gazes and noticing blurry figures at the window.

• Prince Jin remarked that Su Qiao was strikingly handsome, and Long Jingyuan agreed that he looked weak.
• Prince Jin asked Long Jingyuan to spare Su Yuan, then admitted he was interested in the Second Miss of the Marquis's Residence.
• Long Jingyuan said he would leave the Second Miss for Prince Jin if he completed his assigned task.
• Prince Jin explained that the Second Miss had rescued and cared for him after he was injured, and Long Jingyuan said he would consider sparing Su Yuan.
• Prince Jin urged Long Jingyuan to take more women during the selection, but Long Jingyuan cut him off when he mentioned heirs.
• Su Qiao sensed two gazes from the teahouse and glanced toward blurry figures by the second-floor window.

Su Qiao returned to the Marquis's residence after buying medicine, while Prince Jin and Long Jingyuan discussed their impressions of her. She found Marquis Su furious over her failed imperial examination and confronted Su Jingya about meeting Prince Jin before the exam.

• Su Qiao left the teahouse, and Prince Jin regretted that she had gone while Long Jingyuan praised her and told Prince Jin to focus on the imperial examination.
• Su Qiao arrived at the Marquis's residence, where Marquis Su berated her for failing the examination and threatened to send her back to the southern estate.
• Su Jingya defended Su Qiao as uneducated and urged her to try again in three years, but Marquis Su insisted the current opportunity was crucial to the residence's future.
• Su Qiao calmly told Marquis Su there had been nothing she could do, then asked Su Jingya whether she had met Prince Jin at Dexian Teahouse before the examination.

Su Qiao warned Marquis Su that the Emperor could destroy the Marquis's Residence after discovering the leaked examination papers, and she confronted Su Jingya about her connection to Prince Jin. The family remained in danger, while Su Qiao left Su Jingya to consider how little power she would have without her maternal family.

• Su Qiao told Marquis Su that she and her maid had seen Su Jingya meet Prince Jin.
• Su Qiao revealed that she had overheard Prince Jin say the examination papers had been leaked and that the Emperor planned a thorough investigation.
• Su Jingya realized Su Qiao had changed and suspected that someone else had replaced her.
• Su Qiao warned Marquis Su that the Emperor might confiscate the estate and wipe out the family, leaving him frightened and unsure what to do.
• Su Qiao told Su Jingya that without the Marquis's Residence supporting her, she would have little standing even if she entered Prince Jin's residence.

Su Qiao challenged Su Jingya’s explanation for concealing the leaked examination questions and predicted that the capital would be thrown into turmoil within three days. Afterward, Su Jingya noticed that Su Qiao’s appearance and manner had changed and wondered if the person in the body had been a man in a past life.

• Su Qiao argued that Prince Jin’s favor would not last and that Su Jingya could not rely on being more beautiful than the women in his inner court.
• Marquis Su questioned Su Jingya about why she had not warned the family about the leaked examination questions, and she claimed Prince Jin had never told her.
• Marquis Su suspected Su Qiao might have misheard, but Su Qiao insisted the capital would be thrown into turmoil within three days.
• Su Qiao left to rest, and Marquis Su considered that his son’s actions might have saved the family from execution.
• Su Jingya followed Su Qiao to Clear Wind Pavilion and remarked that they did not look much alike, prompting her to suspect the person in his body had been a man in a past life.

Su Qiao secretly hypnotized Su Jingya into believing she was her identical twin elder brother, then prepared medicines while staying in the manor. When the Emperor uncovered leaked examination questions, Su Manor avoided punishment, leaving Marquis Su pleased and Su Jingya troubled; she wondered whether someone’s return at this moment was good or bad.

• Su Qiao pretended to be hypnotized by Su Jingya, then hypnotized her and made her believe Su Qiao was her identical twin elder brother.
• Su Qiao hypnotized her attendants Xiao Wu and Xiao He, secluded herself in Clear Wind Pavilion, and developed medicinal powders and a simple distiller.
• The Emperor discovered that the Locked Hall Examination questions had leaked, imprisoned implicated officials, and arrested examinees who had cheated.
• Su Manor escaped the scandal, and Marquis Su praised Su Qiao while Su Jingya grew frustrated without understanding why.
• Su Jingya asked Xiao Chun whether someone’s return at that time was good or bad.

Su Qiao cultivated while the capital dealt with an Imperial Examination scandal, and the Palace Examination finally took place. At the palace, Grand Tutor Xie asked Long Jingyuan for Su Qiao’s doodled examination paper, prompting the Emperor to recognize Su Qiao as the youth he had previously seen.

• Su Jingya dismissed Xiao Chun after expressing displeasure about Su Qiao’s return.
• Su Qiao continued cultivating and researching medicines while the capital settled the examination scandal, reaching the fifth level.
• The Emperor held the delayed Palace Examination at the Hall of Preserving Harmony, where ministers mocked Su Yuan and Su Qiao.
• Grand Tutor Xie asked Long Jingyuan to give him Su Qiao’s doodled examination paper.
• Eunuch Quan reminded Long Jingyuan that Su Qiao was the Young Master who had recently returned to Su Manor, and the Emperor recognized him.

Grand Tutor Xie showed the court five paintings Su Qiao had made during the imperial examination, arguing that they were thoughtful answers rather than idle doodles. As he explained the paintings, Long Jingyuan felt an unexplained familiarity with one landscape, while the first revealed Su Qiao’s precise knowledge of the constellations.

• Eunuch Quan told Long Jingyuan that Su Qiao had slept or doodled instead of answering questions during the Locked Hall Examination.
• Grand Tutor Xie defended Su Qiao and laid out the five paintings he had taken from the examination papers.
• Long Jingyuan studied the landscape painting and felt that its wooden house and courtyard seemed strangely familiar.
• Grand Tutor Xie dismissed Prime Minister Chu’s suggestion that he knew Su Qiao and explained that he had first seen the paintings while inspecting examination papers.
• Grand Tutor Xie described Su Qiao’s first painting as an accurate chart of the Twenty-Eight Mansions and the Four Celestial Spirits.

Grand Tutor Xie interpreted Su Qiao’s paintings for Long Jingyuan, praising their ideas about agriculture, popular support, ships, and mountain defenses. Long Jingyuan grew increasingly impressed with Su Qiao as the discussion turned to weapons that could fire multiple arrows.

• Grand Tutor Xie explained that a painting of farmers and children showed how winning the people's hearts could bring Longhua peace and prosperity, and Long Jingyuan approved.
• Grand Tutor Xie pointed out a water-lifting device in the painting and said it could improve crop yields and address Longhua’s food shortage.
• Grand Tutor Xie praised a painting of ships and connected it to the saying that water could carry a boat or overturn it, earning Long Jingyuan’s agreement.
• Grand Tutor Xie described the mountain-spanning walls, signal towers, and a device he believed was for observing distant enemies.
• Grand Tutor Xie showed Long Jingyuan crossbows that could fire as many as ten arrows at once, while noting that war among the Four Kingdoms was likely in the future.

Long Jingyuan examined Su Qiao’s paintings and summoned ministers to discuss the remarkable inventions they depicted. Unable to build them, the ministers watched as the emperor summoned Su Qiao, leaving her father anxious as she prepared to go to the palace.

• Grand Tutor Xie admired the fifth painting of a quiet mountain retreat, but Long Jingyuan refused to give it to him and rolled it up with the others.
• Long Jingyuan summoned officials from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to study the paintings’ diagrams.
• The three officials praised the star chart, water wheel, Great Wall, and repeating crossbow but admitted they could not build them.
• Long Jingyuan ordered Quan De to summon Su Qiao.
• Marquis Su hurried Su Qiao to change into fine clothes and reassured her before she went to meet the emperor.

Su Qiao was summoned by the Emperor and went to the Imperial Study, where he and four officials watched her arrive. The chapter ended with the officials marveling at her appearance and wondering whether she had created the praised paintings.

• Marquis Su hurried Su Qiao to change and prepare after Eunuch Quan arrived with the Emperor’s summons.
• Su Qiao asked Eunuch Quan why the Emperor wanted to see her, but he said she would find out when she arrived.
• Eunuch Quan led Su Qiao to the Imperial Study instead of the Hall of Preserving Harmony.
• Su Qiao entered the Imperial Study and noticed five people watching her, including the Emperor and four officials.
• The four officials scrutinized Su Qiao and wondered whether she had painted the celebrated works.

Su Qiao was summoned to meet the emperor and discovered that Long Jingyuan looked almost exactly like Fu Jingyao from her previous world. When she denied writing the Locked Hall Examination answers, Long Jingyuan challenged her to explain the paintings and threatened to withdraw his leniency.

• Su Qiao saw Long Jingyuan and recognized his resemblance to Fu Jingyao, while 444 was shocked to find the Great Demon King had become emperor.
• Long Jingyuan noticed Su Qiao's displeasure and told her to rise after she repeated her respectful greeting.
• Grand Tutor Xie explained that Long Jingyuan had summoned Su Qiao to ask about her Locked Hall Examination answers.
• Su Qiao denied taking the examination, claiming her father had registered her without her knowledge and that she lacked the learning to write the essays.
• Long Jingyuan called her foolish, walked down to confront her, and demanded that she explain the paintings.

Su Qiao faced questions from court officials after her casual drawings of inventions, a star chart, and military defenses drew the Emperor’s attention. She regretted making the sketches so detailed, while the officials continued pressing her for explanations.

• Grand Tutor Xie urged Su Qiao to help the country and praised the practical ideas shown in her drawings.
• Minister Tian asked Su Qiao how to build the river device that used wheels to lift water for irrigation.
• The Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau asked Su Qiao how she had charted the Twenty-Eight Mansions.
• General Liu questioned Su Qiao about building a mountain wall, making multi-arrow crossbows, and using the wall’s towers and pole.
• Su Qiao blamed Fu Jingyao for inspiring her drawings and told 444 she wanted to kill someone as the officials kept questioning her.

Su Qiao tried to avoid being kept in the palace after Long Jingyuan demanded she invent and build the devices she had described. Long Jingyuan refused her request to leave and appointed her a fourth-rank Imperial Guard, allowing her to attend court.

• Su Qiao claimed she had only been thinking aloud and argued that her father considered her unlearned and useless.
• Long Jingyuan dismissed the ministers and ordered Su Qiao to remain in the palace to think up and make her inventions.
• Su Qiao protested that staying in the palace was improper for a commoner, but Long Jingyuan declared that his word was the law.
• Long Jingyuan noticed that Su Qiao's eyes seemed familiar and decreed that she be appointed a fourth-rank Imperial Guard.