Chapter Summaries

Page 41 Summary

Zhu Bafu reflects bitterly on how her family’s downfall began when her father offended the Prime Minister by defending the powerless young emperor. Once wealthy and respected, the Zhu family now struggles to afford basic necessities and must endure dependence on others. She regrets that she and Li Luyang, formerly engaged, have reached the point where marriage might be considered largely for survival.
Bafu believes Li is only trying to marry her out of guilt and a sense of responsibility. She reminds him that he has already helped the impoverished Zhu family more than enough and no longer owes them anything. Li admits that his initial assistance did come from guilt, but insists his feelings have changed. He recalls how Bafu transformed after her family’s confiscation: instead of collapsing, she became lively, capable, outspoken, and determined to earn money and repay every debt. Her strength and changing expressions have made him realize that he still wants her as his wife and believes she should never have suffered.
Li rejects Bafu’s interpretation of him as a sanctimonious man merely trying to clear his conscience. He declares that he will not give up, even if she thinks he only wants the conventional happiness of having multiple wives and concubines. When she continues resisting his aid, he leaves silver behind and tells her to use it, hide it, or throw it away as she wishes. After he storms off, Bafu considers chasing him, but her younger brother Zhu Xiaojiu stops her. Xiaojiu points out that the family is still dependent on Li: he helped them rent their house, and they cannot afford to sever ties while they remain vulnerable.
Bafu is torn between pride and practical necessity. She feels that her former status as a noble young lady makes poverty especially humiliating, because she still remembers what it meant to live with dignity and expect marriage as a legitimate wife rather than accept the position of a concubine. She bitterly imagines that, if she had always been poor, she might have accepted a wealthy man’s favor without feeling the same sense of injustice.
That night, while sleeping restlessly and handling the silver Li left behind, Bafu experiences a bizarre vision. The silver ingot comes alive and speaks to her in a voice resembling Xiaojiu’s, criticizing her for refusing to soften herself or take advantage of male protection. It boasts that silver is more powerful and desired than anything else in the world, capable of making people accept wealth, status, prostitution, or concubinage. When Bafu protests, the silver grows enormously, threatening to destroy the house and “help her lose her memory” by bringing down the roof beam. The beam then crashes toward her, and she awakens—or appears to awaken—in pain and terror.

Character Development and Interactions

• Zhu Bafu: Her pride, independence, and lingering attachment to her former status conflict with the family’s desperate financial situation. Though she resists Li’s assistance, she cannot bring herself to waste the silver, revealing her practical side beneath her indignation. Her thoughts also show increasing awareness of how vulnerable her position is.
• Li Luyang: He moves from guilt-driven support to openly acknowledging genuine romantic feelings. He sees Bafu’s resilience and vitality as the qualities that drew him to her and insists that his desire to marry her is no longer merely an attempt to repay a debt.
• Zhu Xiaojiu: He acts as the pragmatic voice of the family, reminding Bafu that survival currently requires accepting help and maintaining ties with Li.
• Bafu and Li: Their exchange exposes mutual misunderstanding. Bafu assumes Li’s proposal is charity or atonement, while Li believes his actions communicate love and determination.
• Bafu and Xiaojiu: Their conversation contrasts Bafu’s ideals with Xiaojiu’s realism. He urges her to compromise because the family cannot yet afford independence.
• Bafu and the silver ingot: The surreal encounter humorously externalizes the pressure she feels to abandon pride and use wealth or male protection to escape poverty.

Significant Themes

• Pride versus survival: Bafu struggles to preserve dignity while depending on Li’s money and housing.
• Love versus guilt and obligation: Li’s feelings develop from responsibility into sincere affection, but Bafu cannot easily separate his love from his past guilt.
• Social status and gender expectations: The threat of becoming a concubine reflects the limited choices available to women without wealth or family protection.
• The instability of fortune: The family’s fall demonstrates how quickly political decisions can destroy privilege.
• Money as power: The animated silver grotesquely emphasizes that wealth governs relationships, social status, and personal choices.
• Humor amid hardship: The absurd silver-spirit sequence contrasts with Bafu’s serious despair, adding comic relief while symbolizing her desperate wish to escape painful memories.

Chapter 20 Summary

• Opening incident: Zhu Bafu wakes after dreaming that she was buried under silver and had lost her memory. She discovers Wei Chenmu, head of the Ministry of Punishments, kneeling outside her home since before dawn. Zhu Xiaojiu has allowed him to wait without waking her.
• Wei Chenmu’s demand: Wei orders—or threatens to “invite”—Zhu Bafu to the Prime Minister’s Residence for a discussion. When she refuses, he forces open the door, accidentally exposing her embarrassing pink pajamas and nearly revealing her identity as a woman.
• Li Chenjing’s condition: Wei explains that Li Chenjing fell into the water and woke with apparent amnesia. Although Li remembers no one else, he supposedly remembers Zhu Bafu, which is why Wei has come to fetch her.
• At the Prime Minister’s Residence: Zhu expects Li to recognize her, but he asks, “Who are you?” Frustrated by what she sees as another attempt to manipulate her, she decides to leave and distance herself from the situation.
• Li stops her: Despite his fever and weakness, Li insists that he does remember her and begs her not to go. He emerges from bed in a disheveled, sickly state, creating uncertainty over whether his memory loss is genuine or part of another scheme.

Character Development and Interactions

• Zhu Bafu remains evasive, suspicious, and focused on protecting her secret identity. Her instinct is to flee from trouble, but Li’s apparent dependence on her complicates that plan.
• Wei Chenmu is forceful and intimidating, yet dutiful. He obeys Li’s wishes by waiting quietly, but he is fully prepared to use coercion when Zhu refuses.
• Zhu Xiaojiu provides comic relief through his calm, indifferent attitude, treating Wei’s kneeling vigil as unimportant and prioritizing breakfast.
• Li Chenjing appears physically vulnerable due to illness, but his emotional insistence that he remembers Zhu suggests either genuine attachment, selective memory loss, or deliberate deception.
• The confrontation between Zhu and Wei emphasizes the power imbalance between them, while Li’s plea introduces a more emotionally charged dynamic between Li and Zhu.

Significant Themes

• Identity and concealment: Zhu’s disguise is repeatedly threatened, especially when Wei sees her pajamas and comes dangerously close to discovering she is a woman.
• Memory and recognition: Li’s amnesia creates confusion and suspense, questioning what he truly remembers and whether memory determines emotional bonds.
• Trust and manipulation: Zhu distrusts the Prime Minister’s household because of previous mistreatment, while Wei’s explanation and Li’s behavior make it difficult for her to determine who is being truthful.
• Comic relief amid danger: Embarrassing pajamas, Zhu Xiaojiu’s casualness, and Zhu’s exaggerated reactions balance the threats of coercion, illness, and political intrigue.

Chapter Summary – Page 43

Plot and Events

• Li Chenjing wakes after falling into the water and displays severe memory loss. He does not recognize Wei Chenmu or anyone else connected to his former life.
• He remembers only the young academy student who was with him during the previous day—Zhu Bafu—and becomes emotionally attached to her, insisting that she is the person he loves.
• Li recalls fragments of their closeness, including hugging her and her promise not to leave him alone, but has forgotten the woman he previously loved, Liu Rongrong.
• Zhu Bafu realizes that his amnesia may have preserved only the feelings and impressions associated with her, causing him to mistake his dependence and gratitude for romantic love.
• Li refuses to let Zhu Bafu leave his side. He clings to her sleeve, will not take medicine or sleep unless she helps him, and behaves like a frightened, spoiled child.
• When Zhu Bafu asks whether he remembers his identity, Li cannot recall his name, family, position, or accomplishments. She tells him that he is the Prime Minister’s Residence’s Young Master and the Personnel Chief Counselor of Dongxu Mansion, but he accepts the information without recognition.
• The scene ends with Li asking Zhu Bafu to tell him his name, emphasizing the complete emptiness of his memory beyond his attachment to her.

Character Developments

• Li Chenjing: His former graceful, proud, and highly educated personality has been replaced by helplessness, innocence, dependency, and childlike possessiveness. His only remaining emotional certainty is his attachment to Zhu Bafu.
• Zhu Bafu: She becomes Li’s caretaker despite her irritation and reluctance. She is anxious that his condition may be permanent and humorously fears being forced into the role of his “mother.” She also understands that his professed love is probably the result of confused memories rather than genuine romantic feeling.
• Wei Chenmu: He attempts to support and care for Li, but Li rejects him because he no longer recognizes him.
• Liu Rongrong: Though absent from the scene, she remains important as the woman Li originally loved. His forgetting her creates the central emotional misunderstanding.

Themes

• Amnesia and altered identity: Li’s lost memories strip away his social status, knowledge, and personality, raising questions about what remains of a person when memory disappears.
• Emotional memory versus factual memory: Although Li remembers nothing about his identity, he retains a powerful emotional response to Zhu Bafu, showing how feelings can survive independently of conscious recollection.
• Dependence and responsibility: Zhu Bafu is unwillingly placed in the position of protector and caretaker, while Li becomes entirely dependent on her.
• Misunderstood love: Li interprets gratitude, familiarity, and attachment as romantic love, while Zhu Bafu knows his feelings may belong to someone else.
• Comedy amid crisis: The serious consequences of Li’s injury are balanced by Zhu Bafu’s sarcastic reactions to his childish behavior and her fear of being burdened with a “son.”

Character Interactions

• Li rejects Wei Chenmu’s attempt to help and recognizes only Zhu Bafu.
• He confesses that he likes Zhu Bafu and begs her not to abandon him.
• Zhu Bafu repeatedly tries to correct his misunderstandings, explain his behavior, and make him rest and take medicine.
• Their exchange highlights the contrast between Li’s sincere, vulnerable dependence and Zhu Bafu’s exasperated but increasingly responsible care.

Chapter 21 Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhu Bafu tries to convince the amnesiac Li Chenjing that they are lovers who attempted to elope but were captured and brought back.
• She invents an elaborate story explaining that their families opposed the relationship because they are both men and because her family is poor.
• Hoping to escape, Zhu claims that Li should return to his wealthy household and abandon her. However, Li takes her words seriously and becomes emotionally distressed.
• When Zhu attempts to leave, Li pulls her onto the bed and holds her tightly, asking whether he had previously been arrogant, spoiled, or unkind to her.
• He promises to change his behavior, though Zhu jokingly insists that he should keep his wealth.
• The intimate atmosphere leads Li to try to kiss her, but Zhu rejects him and turns away.
• Li is hurt by her refusal but refrains from forcing her, instead holding her close and asking whether she is unwilling.
• Zhu worries that Li’s family and guards will discover their apparent intimacy and punish her.
• Li declares that their families’ opinions do not matter because he no longer remembers them. He decides that he will “betroth himself” to Zhu.

Character Developments

• Zhu Bafu: Zhu’s attempt to manipulate Li’s amnesia quickly becomes difficult to control. Although she treats the situation humorously and tries to escape, she is increasingly flustered by Li’s sincerity and affectionate behavior. Her physical and emotional reactions suggest that she may be developing genuine feelings, despite insisting that their relationship is fabricated.
• Li Chenjing: Li’s amnesia leaves him vulnerable and dependent on Zhu’s explanations, but he accepts her invented romantic history with complete sincerity. He appears devoted, self-reflective, and willing to change his supposed faults to preserve their relationship. His decision to propose despite family opposition shows his strong attachment and impulsive determination.

Significant Themes

• Amnesia and constructed identity: Li’s lack of memory allows Zhu to invent a shared past, but his sincere belief in it begins reshaping both their identities and relationship.
• Love versus social expectations: The imagined conflict between their families, social classes, and genders creates a romantic narrative centered on defying convention.
• Deception becoming reality: Zhu’s fabricated story starts to produce real emotional consequences, making her increasingly entangled in the relationship she invented.
• Romantic comedy and role reversal: Zhu tries to control the situation through exaggeration and deception, but Li’s earnest responses repeatedly overturn her plans.
• Consent and emotional boundaries: Although Li initiates physical intimacy, Zhu rejects the kiss, and he stops pursuing it, instead asking directly about her feelings.

Character Interactions

• Zhu playfully claims that Li should take her surname and portrays them as poor, persecuted lovers.
• Li responds with concern and heartbreak, believing she has sacrificed her happiness for him.
• Their physical closeness becomes increasingly intimate, with Li embracing Zhu, kissing her hand, and trying to kiss her.
• Zhu maintains a humorous, defensive attitude but becomes visibly embarrassed and conflicted.
• The chapter ends with Li openly declaring his intention to marry Zhu, turning her fabricated elopement story into what may become a real engagement.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The amnesiac Li Chenjing impulsively tries to betroth himself to the heroine, insisting that her poverty does not matter and begging her not to leave him.
• He promises to recover his memories and remember her preferences, family circumstances, and personal history, intensifying her discomfort because they were virtual strangers before his memory loss.
• The heroine realizes that Li has mistakenly transferred his deep feelings for Miss Liu onto her. She becomes determined to help him remember the woman he truly loves.
• News of Li Chenjing’s amnesia reaches the powerful Long Household. Longyang reacts with delight, treating the incident as an opportunity to remove Li from his position as Chief Counselor.
• Longyang proposes replacing Li with someone from the Long family, while his older brother Long Ang mocks the idea and warns him about the political dangers of taking such a position.
• The brothers discuss the Holy Emperor’s habit of keeping records of officials’ faults and using them against anyone who opposes him.
• The chapter explains the long-standing rivalry between the Long and Li households. Although both are major aristocratic clans, the Li family has held greater influence because Chancellor Li helped the current emperor ascend the throne and raised him during his youth.
• The Long family’s status as the “second” clan in court has humiliated them, driving their father—and the family as a whole—to compete obsessively with the Li household in wealth, prestige, influence, and even family size.

Character Developments

• The heroine remains rational and wary despite Li’s passionate advances. She recognizes that his affection is based on mistaken memories and feels pressured by his complete trust in her. Her goal shifts toward correcting his misunderstanding rather than accepting his devotion.
• Li Chenjing appears emotionally vulnerable and childlike after losing his memories. He is affectionate, direct, and utterly convinced that the heroine is someone important to him, showing unconditional trust and fear of abandonment.
• Longyang is revealed as petty, ambitious, and openly hostile toward Li. He sees Li’s amnesia less as a tragedy than as a political opportunity to improve the Long family’s position.
• Long Ang is more cautious and politically perceptive than his brother. Though he also envies Li’s escape from responsibility, he understands the risks of challenging the emperor and questions whether the Long family truly wants Li’s powerful post.
• The Holy Emperor is characterized indirectly as calculating, vindictive, and dependent on written records to control officials.
• Miss Liu becomes an important unseen figure: she is the woman Li genuinely loved and protected before his memory loss, creating the central emotional misunderstanding.

Significant Themes

• Mistaken identity and misplaced affection: Li’s memories have caused him to confuse the heroine with Miss Liu, forcing the heroine to confront love that is not truly meant for her.
• Memory and identity: The chapter questions whether affection can survive when memory is erased and whether emotional attachment remains meaningful without its original context.
• Trust versus truth: Li trusts the heroine completely, while she knows that his trust is based on a false premise and feels obligated to correct him.
• Political rivalry and power: The Long and Li families’ conflict reflects a broader court strategy of balancing powerful clans, while personal ambition and family honor drive political maneuvering.
• Family pride and social status: The Long family’s obsession with surpassing the Li household illustrates how aristocratic prestige can become a source of humiliation, resentment, and absurd competition.
• Responsibility and escape: Li’s amnesia temporarily frees him from his political burdens, making others envious even as it creates chaos for those around him.

Character Interactions

• The heroine tries to slow Li’s romantic advances, but he responds with confusion and sincere emotional appeals, making it difficult for her to reject him harshly.
• Li’s pleading and affectionate promises leave the heroine emotionally overwhelmed while also reinforcing her belief that he has mistaken her for Miss Liu.
• Longyang celebrates Li’s misfortune and urges Long Ang to exploit it politically.
• Long Ang criticizes Longyang’s reckless ambition and warns that replacing Li could attract the emperor’s retaliation.
• The brothers’ conversation exposes the long history of resentment between the Long and Li households and the family pressure behind their rivalry.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Long Household’s rivalry with the Li Household is rooted in their competition over heirs and status. The Longs have two sons, while the Lis have only one heir, Li Chenjing, and both families have long fought to produce the most exceptional descendants.
• To surpass the beautiful Eldest Miss Li, the Long family raised their eldest son, Long Ang, as a girl. Long Ang mastered feminine dress, manners, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, eventually becoming known as the foremost beauty among the capital’s official families.
• Longyang was raised to compete directly with Li Chenjing. He develops a deep, almost inherited hatred for Li because Li consistently outperforms him academically and artistically, even after Longyang enters Dongxu Mansion with an outstanding score and is personally chosen by the Holy Emperor as a study companion and attendant.
• Longyang now sees an opportunity to undermine Li Chenjing and the Li Household and is determined not to waste it.
• Long Ang warns Longyang that he cannot help him compete merely for the sake of the Long Household’s influence. However, if Longyang aspires to take Li Chenjing’s position, Long Ang promises to support him.
• Long Ang insists that his feelings for Li Chenjing have ended at love and that he remains loyal to the Long Household, its ambitions, and its refusal to accept second place.

Character Developments

• Longyang is revealed as proud, competitive, impulsive, and resentful of the childhood he lost because of the Long-Li rivalry. Although he mocks love and claims to prefer casual romantic relationships, his fierce fixation on defeating Li Chenjing suggests that rivalry and emotion are deeply intertwined for him.
• Long Ang appears outwardly composed and detached, but his past suffering remains unresolved. He was forced to sacrifice his identity and childhood for the family’s rivalry and has not truly forgotten the person connected to that pain. Despite this, he is willing to sacrifice further by helping Longyang pursue power.
• Li Chenjing does not appear directly, but he is characterized as exceptionally talented, academically superior, and nearly impossible for Longyang to surpass. His brilliance fuels Longyang’s bitterness and determination.
• Nian Youyu is briefly mentioned as another person apparently entangled in romantic affairs, reinforcing Longyang’s contempt for love and emotional attachment.

Significant Themes

• Family rivalry and inherited hatred: The Long brothers are taught from childhood to despise the Li family, showing how parental ambitions shape their identities and relationships.
• Sacrifice and loss of self: Long Ang’s forced upbringing as a girl and his abandonment of personal desires demonstrate the damage caused by family expectations and political competition.
• Power versus love: Long Ang must choose between loyalty to the Long Household and his feelings for Li Chenjing, while Longyang dismisses love as weakness and prioritizes status and victory.
• Identity and performance: Long Ang’s success as a “young lady” highlights the difference between outward roles and inner identity. His public persona is something cultivated for the family’s benefit rather than freely chosen.
• Unresolved emotional wounds: Despite claims of detachment, Long Ang’s fixation on the peony and his reaction to succession reveal that old love, resentment, and sacrifice still affect him.

Character Interactions

• Longyang and Long Ang: Their conversation mixes teasing, affection, and painful honesty. Longyang criticizes his brother’s relationship with Li Chenjing, while Long Ang challenges Longyang’s certainty that he will never fall in love.
• Long Ang and Li Chenjing: Though Li Chenjing is absent, Long Ang’s words reveal a past emotional connection. Long Ang claims to have moved on but still carries the memory of their relationship and the conflict between love and family loyalty.
• Longyang and Li Chenjing: Their relationship is defined by intense rivalry. Longyang sees Li as the cause of his lost childhood and the obstacle standing between him and recognition.
• The Long and Li families: Their competition is portrayed as longstanding, deeply personal, and destructive, influencing every major decision made by the younger generation.

Chapter 22 Summary

Li Chenjing, still suffering from memory loss and brain damage, stands beneath the famous couplet displayed in Dongxu Academy and discovers that he supposedly wrote it. Unable to remember doing so, he mocks the overly grand wording and concludes that his former self must have been unpopular. Zhu Bafu reminds him that he is not dead, but Li continues speaking as though his old identity has already disappeared.
Zhu Bafu is exhausted from caring for him and missing classes. She prepares to attend lessons while Li is expected to preside over the regular Six Ministries meeting. However, Li refuses to go, claiming he does not know any “Chief Counselor of Dongxu.” Zhu scolds him for neglecting his official duties and wasting the public salary he receives. When she says that such behavior will make her dislike him, Li becomes visibly wounded and tries to win her sympathy.
Li then bluntly tells Zhu that he dislikes being around anyone except her and asks whether that is truly something she should hate him for. His direct confession embarrasses Zhu, who blushes despite insisting that his feelings are merely the result of confused memories. When Li asks whether she might give him another chance, Zhu promises to consider it only if he attends the meeting. Taking her words seriously, Li happily agrees, but makes her promise not to leave before he returns.
After he departs, Zhu privately acknowledges that his clingy, affectionate behavior is unexpectedly cute compared with his former coldness. Nevertheless, she insists that she has no intention of truly reconciling with him and plans to dismiss his request for a second chance. Unaware of her real thoughts, Li happily heads toward the Six Ministries Hall, but abruptly stops near Jingyi Pavilion as the chapter ends.

Character Development and Interactions

• Li Chenjing: His memory loss has made him childish, emotionally open, dependent, and unusually affectionate. He neglects his official responsibilities because he wants to stay with Zhu, but quickly obeys when she offers him the possibility of another chance.
• Zhu Bafu: She remains frustrated by Li’s behavior and tries to treat him like an irresponsible child rather than a romantic partner. Despite her denial, his vulnerability and affection begin to soften her attitude.
• Their relationship: Their exchanges combine irritation, teasing, emotional manipulation, and romantic tension. Li openly pursues Zhu, while she maintains that his feelings are based on mistaken memories and refuses to admit that she is affected by him.

Significant Themes

• Memory and identity: Li’s forgotten past creates a contrast between his former reputation and his current personality, raising questions about whether his affectionate behavior reflects his true nature.
• Duty versus personal desire: Li’s position requires him to serve the government, but he prioritizes staying with Zhu until she pressures him to fulfill his responsibilities.
• Denial and emotional vulnerability: Zhu insists she does not care for Li, yet her embarrassment and growing fondness suggest that her emotional defenses are weakening.
• Second chances: Li eagerly interprets Zhu’s conditional promise as hope for reconciliation, while Zhu views it only as a convenient way to make him cooperate.

Plot points and events

• Li Chenjing wanders through Dongxu Mansion, finding that names and landmarks such as the Winding Corridor and Six Ministries Hall feel strangely familiar despite his blank memory.
• Music from beneath an old tree draws him to a long-haired musician playing a guzheng. The musician recognizes him as “Little Jing” and claims they are closer than he can imagine.
• A white cat called the Imperial Noble Consort rushes toward Li Chenjing, but the musician keeps it back, saying Li Chenjing is not gentle with small creatures.
• The musician shows Li Chenjing the guzheng, hoping it might revive a memory. Li Chenjing feels a faint tenderness but cannot remember whose instrument it is. He guesses it belongs to “Little Eight,” the person he likes; the musician says it belongs to another woman, whom Li Chenjing declines to ask about.
• As Li Chenjing leaves for Six Ministries Hall, the musician remarks that he may have overestimated that woman’s place in Li Chenjing’s heart.
• In a separate academy scene, the Doctor of Law scolds Zhu Bafu for missing the first days of class and orders him to stand beneath the Imperial Academy Gate as punishment. Zhu protests that he was only two days late because of a family matter.

Character developments

• Li Chenjing is shown to have significant memory loss, though familiar places and music stir fragmentary feelings. He speaks openly about liking Little Eight and defends her when the musician mocks her, suggesting his feelings remain strong.
• The musician knows Li Chenjing well and teases him about his past, the guzheng, and his feelings. His laughter fades when he sees Li Chenjing’s sincere protectiveness, hinting that the change in Li Chenjing is affecting him.
• Zhu Bafu appears irreverent and defensive when confronted by the stern academy authority.

Character interactions

• The musician probes Li Chenjing’s memories and feelings, while Li Chenjing questions their relationship and pushes back against the musician’s teasing.
• Li Chenjing’s brief instinct to reach for the guzheng suggests a connection to its owner, but he shows little curiosity once told it is not Little Eight’s.
• The Doctor of Law reprimands Zhu Bafu in grand political terms; Zhu’s casual response contrasts with the official’s rigid focus on discipline and propriety.

Significant themes

• Memory and identity: Familiar places and sensations survive even when conscious recollection fails.
• Love and loyalty: Li Chenjing’s immediate defense of Little Eight suggests affection that persists despite his lost memories.
• Changed selves and past selves: Li Chenjing disparages the person he used to be, implying a divide between his current character and former reputation.
• Authority and conduct: The academy scene emphasizes strict discipline and the expectations placed on future servants of the state.

Key events

• Zhu Bafu is sentenced to stand beneath the Imperial Academy Gate for two hours after a doctor orders her to write a self-mocking couplet. She produces the lines “Drown your sorrows in today’s wine while today lasts” and “Tomorrow there is no wine, go sell wooden cabinets,” with “Grief in vain” above them.
• Young Master Piao sees her on display and laughs at the couplet. He then sits with her and asks how Chenjing came to lose his memory and become attached to her.
• Zhu Bafu recounts the events, insisting she is not responsible: Chenjing remembers only the period before falling into the water, and she was caught up in his troubles by chance.
• Piao says her account sounds convincing, but admits he is deeply saddened that Chenjing no longer remembers him. Zhu Bafu lets him rest his head on her shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhu Bafu endures public humiliation with irritation and embarrassment, but shows sympathy for Piao’s grief. She explains the situation candidly while emphasizing how Chenjing’s clinginess is disrupting her studies and income.
• Young Master Piao teases Zhu Bafu and laughs at her punishment, then reveals genuine hurt beneath his joking manner. He calls her “Little Eight,” questions her about Chenjing, and leans on her for comfort.
• Their exchange blends teasing with tenderness: Zhu Bafu resents Piao’s laughter, yet recognizes that being forgotten by a friend is painful and accommodates him.

Significant themes

• Memory and friendship: Chenjing’s memory loss strains his bond with Piao and leaves Piao questioning his place in Chenjing’s affections.
• Public shame and absurdity: Zhu Bafu’s punishment turns discipline into a comic spectacle.
• Compassion beneath humor: Both characters joke and complain, but their conversation reveals genuine loneliness and care.

Plot points and events

• Young Master Piao admits that although Li Chenjing’s amnesia has eased his jealousy over Liu Rongrong, he feels guilty and unhappy that his friend may have lost her.
• Zhu Bafu suggests Piao help Chenjing recover his memories and meet Rongrong, then let Rongrong choose between them freely. Piao mocks her romantic idealism but agrees to arrange the meeting.
• Piao reminds Zhu that she still must find the Seals. She reports that Second Master Long keeps his Seal around his neck and has not entrusted it to anyone. Piao hints that a celebrated beauty visiting Chenjing soon may carry another Seal.
• Piao leaves Zhu to continue her two-hour punishment, refusing to shorten it and joking that he will deduct the time from her pay.
• In the next scene, Zhu is kneeling in the sun beneath a “Grief in Vain” sign at the Imperial Academy Gate, dozing against a pillar. Chenjing arrives, sees her, and—mistaking her punishment for the consequence of her sacrifices for him—slaps her to wake her.

Character developments

• Piao reveals remorse beneath his possessiveness: he would rather see Rongrong with Chenjing than feel responsible for keeping them apart. Though he dislikes the idea of “fair” competition, he agrees to the meeting.
• Zhu Bafu continues to balance loyalty to Piao with concern for Chenjing. Her help is motivated partly by wanting Chenjing to regain his former role so she can pursue the Seal mission—and earn her silver.
• Li Chenjing remains amnesiac and emotionally dependent on Zhu. His distress at seeing her kneeling shows how deeply he cares for her, though he misunderstands why she is there.

Significant themes

• Choice and consent: Zhu insists that Rongrong should decide whom she loves, rather than being treated as someone another person can “give” away.
• Jealousy versus friendship: Piao’s possessiveness conflicts with his guilt and affection for Chenjing.
• Self-interest and duty: Zhu’s compassion overlaps with practical motives: she needs Chenjing to recover so she can complete her assigned mission.
• Comic misunderstandings: Piao’s teasing and Chenjing’s mistaken interpretation turn serious feelings and punishment into humor.

Character interactions

• Zhu challenges Piao to help Chenjing and Rongrong reconnect, while Piao teases her for seeming to take Chenjing’s side.
• Their exchange also covers Zhu’s intelligence about Second Master Long’s Seal and Piao’s cryptic hint about a future visitor.
• Chenjing’s sudden, clumsy attempt to rouse the apparently suffering Zhu contrasts with Piao’s earlier detached humor and underscores Chenjing’s concern for her.

Plot points and events

• Zhu Bafu, exhausted after kneeling in the sun for two hours, complains that she lost the whole day and that her knees are numb.
• Li Chenjing learns she was punished until she nearly fainted and angrily summons Doctor Liu, the academy official who ordered it. Liu says her repeated absences justified the punishment under strict academy rules.
• Li challenges Liu’s harshness, then—when Liu points out that the rules were Li’s own—announces he will cancel them all.
• The rules had restricted students’ conduct and imposed public humiliation or expulsion for infractions. Their repeal shocks the students, who quickly warm to Li’s newly gentle, approachable manner.

Character developments

• Li Chenjing shows a dramatic change from his former cold, rule-bound self. He intervenes on Zhu’s behalf, regrets that his past words may have hurt her, and tries to prove he has changed. His good intentions, however, come across as clumsy and self-congratulatory.
• Zhu Bafu remains skeptical and irritated. She tries to de-escalate the confrontation, fearing she will suffer the consequences of Li’s anger, and is unimpressed by his gesture or his expectation of gratitude.
• Doctor Liu stands by the principle that rules must be applied equally, even when challenged by Li.

Character interactions

• Li publicly confronts Liu over Zhu’s punishment, putting the doctor on the spot before the students.
• Zhu tugs at Li’s sleeve and asks him to let the matter go, but he refuses and instead abolishes the rules.
• Li seeks Zhu’s approval, while she responds with dry, inward criticism; his reform wins over the academy students even as she remains unconvinced.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts rigid discipline with compassion and questions whether rules should allow leniency for personal hardship.
• It explores personal change and the gap between good intentions and how others perceive them.
• It also shows how public leadership and reform can quickly shift a community’s opinion.

Chapter 25 Summary

• Public attention and jealousy: Li Chenjing, newly promoted to Grand Secretary, is warmly received by onlookers. Zhu Bafu walks beside him with a stern, unfriendly expression, drawing criticism for seeming ungrateful and disrespectful. She moves away to avoid public disapproval, but Li notices and asks why. He wonders whether his former self kept her hidden as a secret lover; Zhu rejects this suspicion and says he is imagining the past version of himself as cruel.
• Zhu pushes him to recover his memories: She insists that he should remember his past, including their relationship, and hurries him toward a meeting with an important person—implicitly Liu Rongrong, whom Zhu believes will trigger his memories and resolve his lovesickness. Her eagerness is meant to help him, but he interprets it as proof that she prefers his former self.
• Li refuses to remember: Li stops and declares that he does not want his memories back. He fears that his past self was unhappy and humiliating, and—more importantly—that Zhu cares only for the person he used to be, not the man he is now. He insists that he has changed and that remembering would mean becoming someone else.
• An argument escalates: Zhu is baffled and frustrated by his resistance. She argues that he is still Li Chenjing, then insults him as childish, clingy, slow-witted, self-centered, and unappreciative. Li takes offense and vows to show her how different he is from his former self.
• Aftermath: The author’s note reveals that Zhu soon regrets provoking him: their argument turns into a silent treatment that lasts several days.

Character Developments and Interactions

Li’s insecurity becomes more explicit: he wants Zhu’s affection for himself, not for the memories or identity of his former self. Zhu, meanwhile, remains focused on restoring his memories and assumes this is what is best for him, failing to recognize his emotional need for reassurance. Their conversation shifts from teasing and suspicion to a serious clash over identity, memory, and whether the present Li is valued on his own.

Significant Themes

• Memory and identity: Li questions whether he must reclaim the past to be considered himself.
• Love and acceptance: He fears Zhu loves his former persona rather than who he is now.
• Good intentions and misunderstanding: Zhu acts out of concern, but her plan deepens Li’s insecurity.
• Pride and emotional conflict: Both characters turn hurt feelings into argument, setting up their prolonged silence.

Key plot points and events

• Li Chenjing’s amnesia has radically changed his conduct. He has abandoned his strict rules and official duties, avoided meetings, and taken to spending time with unruly students. His example has thrown Dongxu Academy into disorder.
• Zhu Bafu, already the target of gossip because Li once showed her favor, is mocked by other students for her reputation as “Young Master Ba” and her supposed connection to him.
• Minister Wei Chenmu summons Zhu and asks what she plans to do about Li. She complains that Li refuses to recover his memories and has rejected her suggestion that he visit Liu Rongrong.
• Wei warns Zhu not to take Li to Liu. Liu is someone Li loved in the past, he says, but Zhu is now the only person Li remembers and cares about.
• Zhu rejects this interpretation, insisting Li’s feelings are an effect of his amnesia and that nothing romantic ever existed between them.

Character developments

• Li Chenjing: His former sternness, discipline, and sharp tongue have given way to playful irresponsibility. He says he does not want his memories back because he fears becoming someone else.
• Zhu Bafu: Frustrated by Li and the chaos around him, she still tries to help him, but resents being treated as responsible for his choices. She is flustered by Wei’s claim that Li cares most about her.
• Wei Chenmu: Though concerned about Li’s behavior, he is perceptive about Li’s present attachment to Zhu and cautions her against reviving his memories through Liu.

Significant themes

• Identity and memory: Li’s refusal to recover his past raises the question of whether memory defines a person.
• Order versus disorder: Li’s changed behavior undermines the academy’s rules and encourages students to indulge their worst impulses.
• Love and perception: Wei sees Li’s attachment to Zhu as genuine in the present, while Zhu dismisses it as confusion caused by amnesia.
• Reputation and social judgment: Students use Zhu’s past and her association with Li to taunt and undermine her.

Character interactions

• The academy students ridicule Zhu and speculate about her connection to Li.
• Zhu vents her frustration to Wei, blaming Li for rejecting her help.
• Wei urges caution about Liu Rongrong and tells Zhu that, in Li’s current life, she is the person who matters most to him.

Key plot points and events

• Wei Chenmu tells Zhu Bafu that Li Chenjing intends to stop hiding her away and take her wherever he goes. Li believes he owes her for the affection she supposedly missed out on in the past, though Zhu knows their relationship was never romantic.
• Wei asks Zhu not to bring Li to see Liu Rongrong, arguing that forgetting an unattainable love may spare him further pain. Zhu doubts that erasing the past would be fair and wrestles with whether to help Li recover his memories.
• At Wuya Bookstore, Zhu decides she still cannot ignore Li’s feelings: she plans to visit Chunfen Pavilion and ask Liu to see him, even though Liu may not care for him.
• Zhao Wuya catches Zhu neglecting her work after several days away and reprimands her. She returns to serving customers and calculating the price of a stack of popular erotic novels—then recognizes the customer when she looks up.

Character developments

• Zhu Bafu is increasingly troubled by Li’s mistaken devotion. Though his attentive care affects her, she refuses to accept feelings that belong to Liu and tries to act in Li’s best interests. She remains uncertain whether restoring his memories would help or hurt him.
• Li Chenjing, absent from the bookstore scene, is described as unusually protective and considerate toward Zhu. His memory loss appears to have redirected his suppressed affection for Liu onto her.
• Wei Chenmu takes a pragmatic, protective stance: he believes Li should be spared the pain of loving someone who cannot return his feelings.
• Zhao Wuya remains a blunt, commercially minded employer who chastises Zhu for neglecting her job.

Significant themes

• Memory and painful truth: The chapter questions whether forgetting unrequited love is mercy or an unfair denial of someone’s past.
• Love, identity, and misplaced affection: Zhu’s tenderness toward Li is complicated by her refusal to claim feelings that she believes belong to Liu.
• Duty versus self-interest: Zhu acts from concern for Li, even when doing so may deepen his pain.
• Romance and commerce: The bookstore’s profitable erotic fiction offers a comic contrast to Zhu’s sincere, complicated ideas about love.

Character interactions

• Wei urges Zhu not to reunite Li with Liu; Zhu challenges his view and insists that Li’s history deserves consideration.
• Zhu’s thoughts reveal the strain of receiving Li’s devoted attention while believing she is only the substitute for Liu.
• Zhao scolds Zhu and hits her with a feather duster, prompting their familiar, irreverent banter.
• The chapter ends on a cliffhanger as Zhu recognizes the bookstore customer whose books she has just priced.

Chapter 26 Summary

Key plot points and events

Li Chenjing visits Wuya Bookstore and attempts to buy several erotic books, including Alluring Joy: Volume Two, as well as a stolen belly band. Zhu Bafu is shocked that the usually dignified and restrained Chief Counselor would purchase such material and openly challenges him. Their argument attracts three wealthy young masters, Li’s friends, who tease him for never having read erotic literature.
Li deliberately turns the situation against Zhu Bafu, telling his companions that she is the one person who refuses to obey or flatter him. Young Master Pan, the Holy Emperor’s brother-in-law, confronts and intimidates her. When Zhu insults Li and the books, Pan grabs her by the collar and nearly chokes her. Li initially appears indifferent, but then intervenes, ordering Pan to release her. He catches Zhu when she falls, picks up the books, and pays her with silver, telling her to keep the rest as a tip.

Character developments

• Zhu Bafu remains outspoken and judgmental toward Li Chenjing, especially regarding his interest in erotic books, but becomes cowardly and submissive when faced with someone of higher status. Her anger toward Li intensifies when he seems to allow Pan to mistreat her.
• Li Chenjing displays his usual calm, provocative manner, intentionally using Zhu’s refusal to obey him as entertainment. However, he ultimately protects her, revealing that beneath his indifference he is concerned about her safety. His physical reaction when catching her also hints at growing awareness or attraction.
• Young Master Pan is established as arrogant, violent, and confident in his political protection through his sister, Consort Pan.
• Li’s other companions reinforce the privileged, frivolous social circle surrounding him.

Significant themes

• Power and privilege: Social rank determines how people behave; Zhu is defiant toward Li but immediately becomes fearful when confronted by Pan’s royal connections.
• Contrasting public personas: Li’s dignified reputation clashes with his unexpected interest in erotic books, while Zhu’s boldness disappears when she faces greater authority.
• Hidden concern beneath hostility: Li and Zhu’s constant arguments conceal a developing bond. Li teases and provokes her but still steps in when she is genuinely endangered.
• Corruption and political disorder: The casual arrogance of Pan and the surrounding references to the Holy Emperor’s favoritism reflect the broader instability and moral decay in Dongxu Mansion.

Character interactions

Zhu and Li engage in a sharp, humorous argument over his book purchases. Li then manipulates his friends into confronting Zhu, while Pan escalates the exchange into physical violence. Although Li pretends not to care, he rescues Zhu, pays her generously, and leaves her confused by the contrast between his cold words and protective actions.

Key plot points

• Li Chenjing deliberately embraces a dissolute reputation, provoking the heroine by associating with rowdy young nobles and buying erotic books. She realizes he wants her attention and wants to show her how far he will go.
• At a teahouse, Longyang urges the Holy Emperor to dismiss Li from his post as Chief Counselor of Dongxu, calling him unfit after his head injury. The Emperor responds with amusement rather than agreeing to punish him.
• Before dawn, Zhu Bafu hurries through the eerie Rouge Alley on her way to the academy. A wine flask falls from a pavilion, narrowly missing her.
• She looks up and sees Li, drunk and half-dressed, in the arms of a courtesan. Convinced he staged the scene to provoke her, she forces herself to act indifferent and keep walking.
• Her lantern catches fire, and the flames spread to her robe. Li orders her to stand still.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Chenjing appears to be deliberately performing the role of a reckless libertine to provoke Zhu Bafu and make her acknowledge how different he is from his former self.
• Zhu Bafu recognizes his apparent intention but tries to conceal her reaction, reasoning that his behavior is ordinary for a young nobleman. Her composure gives way to panic when her clothes catch fire.
• Longyang and the Holy Emperor spar over Li’s fitness for office. Longyang demands his dismissal; the Emperor appears inclined to protect or indulge him.
• Li and Zhu remain locked in a tense, indirect contest: he engineers a shocking encounter, while she tries not to let him see that it affects her. His final command suggests he is about to intervene in the fire.

Significant themes

• Identity and transformation: Li’s conduct raises the question of whether he has become someone entirely different since his fall.
• Provocation and emotional restraint: Li seeks a reaction, while Zhu struggles to maintain indifference.
• Power and accountability: The exchange about Li’s office contrasts political duty with the Emperor’s personal leniency.
• Appearance versus reality: Li’s libertine display may be an act designed for Zhu, rather than simply evidence of his desires.

Chapter 27 Summary

• Plot and events: A fire breaks out, and Li Chenjing rushes to save the heroine. He arrives disheveled and barefoot, using his wet brocade outer garment to extinguish the flames around her. He immediately checks her for injuries, scolds her for touching the fire with her bare hands, and tends carefully to her reddened fingers.
• Character development: His instinctive panic and intimate concern deeply affect her. She begins questioning whether his behavior comes from genuine feelings for her or from memories and habits associated with Miss Liu. The mention of a Lotus Lantern makes her wonder whether he has started recovering his past memories.
• Emotional conflict: When he asks whether she would be happy if he remembered, she cannot honestly answer yes. Although she believes restoring his memories is the proper and necessary outcome, she realizes she may not want the current version of Li Chenjing to disappear.

Continuation Summary

• Plot and events: She imagines what would happen if Li Chenjing regained his memories and returned to being Dongxu Grand Secretary: formal, controlled, responsible, and emotionally distant. She contrasts this with his current playful, childish, possessive personality, which has made him alter Academy rules, provoke her, and rush to protect her.
• Character development: She recognizes that she has grown attached to the current Li Chenjing, despite believing that he is an unnatural identity created by fate and not the “real” person. This realization frightens and confuses her because it conflicts with her sense of duty and her belief that he should recover his true identity.
• Character interactions: Trying to conceal her feelings, she pushes him away and returns his garment, criticizing its scent of rouge and accusing him of behaving improperly by lingering around brothels. She reminds him that his wealth and influence make it easy for him to disregard rules that ordinary Academy Students must follow.
• Emotional confrontation: Hurt by her rejection, Li Chenjing asks whether she sees him as a meddlesome fool or a joke. He admits that he briefly hoped she would say she did not care whether he recovered his memories—that changing back would mean he was no longer himself. He bitterly claims that perhaps she wants him to fall into the water again and disappear.
• Resolution: She denies her true feelings and harshly declares that she hopes he falls into the water again soon. Her words reinforce the distance between them, even though they contradict the attachment she has just begun to acknowledge.

Significant Themes

• Identity and memory: The chapter explores whether a person is defined by their original identity and memories or by the personality and relationships they develop in the present.
• Attachment versus duty: The heroine feels obligated to restore Li Chenjing to his proper role, yet she increasingly values the emotionally open person he has become.
• Fear of loss and emotional denial: Both characters fear losing their current relationship, but the heroine hides her feelings behind rejection while Li Chenjing expresses his pain through sarcasm and bitterness.
• Social status and responsibility: Her criticism of his privileged behavior highlights the gap between his powerful background and the difficulties faced by ordinary Academy Students.
• Unspoken intimacy: His urgent rescue and tender care reveal a closeness neither character is willing to acknowledge openly.

Key plot points and events

• Li Chenjing wears the damp outer robe Zhu Bafu had mocked, provoking her anger. He says he is temporarily borrowing his host’s body and will use it as he pleases, leaving Zhu horrified by what he has already done with it.
• At the academy, students are told to complete a couplet for the emperor to review. Still furious with Li, Zhu writes, “A scoundrel’s age is no concern.” She realizes too late that the crude insult will be sent to His Majesty and cannot be changed.
• Zhu asks how the dynasty punishes scoundrelly behavior and learns that offending the emperor can mean death. Two days later, an imperial decree orders her arrest—not for the couplet, but for allegedly luring the emperor out of the palace.
• Three Noble Consorts arrive at Dongxu Mansion to question Zhu about the emperor’s whereabouts. Their attendants force her to kneel, but Consort Hui intervenes and insists that academy students be treated respectfully. The consorts then ask whether Zhu knows where Li Chenjing is.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhu Bafu remains outspoken and impulsive, but her anger at Li leads her into a potentially dangerous mistake. She is frightened by the arrest and carefully avoids looking up at the Noble Consorts.
• Li Chenjing is shown as provocative and unconcerned about using his borrowed body for his own pleasure, intensifying Zhu’s resentment.
• The Noble Consorts display distinct personalities: Consort Hui is courteous and protective, while Consort Pan is more confrontational and blames Zhu for keeping the emperor’s absence secret. Their teasing about their cats adds a lighter note to the tense interrogation.
• The chapter ends with a pointed question: although Zhu claims never to have seen the emperor, one consort asks whether she knows Li Chenjing.

Significant themes

• Power and punishment: A seemingly minor act—a careless couplet or a perceived connection to the emperor—can bring severe consequences.
• Appearance, identity, and bodily autonomy: Li’s control of another person’s body unsettles Zhu and raises questions about what it means to “borrow” someone’s identity.
• Irony and mistaken assumptions: Zhu fears arrest over her insulting couplet, only to face a different accusation altogether.
• Gender and propriety: Zhu’s disguise and the strict etiquette governing women, scholars, and court officials shape how she must behave before the consorts.

• The consorts recruit Zhu Bafu to find the missing emperor. They explain that Li Chenjing has known the emperor since childhood and is the only person who can reliably track him down and haul him back to the palace. They insist Zhu is the only one who can persuade Li to help.
• Wei Chenmu reveals why Zhu has been chosen. He recommended her because Li now cares about her and, in Wei’s view, would spare no effort if she asked. Zhu resents being dragged into the affair, but the consorts threaten her with death if she refuses or fails. She reluctantly accepts the imperial decree.
• Zhu prepares to approach Li. At the Li Household, she rehearses different appeals: a casual invitation, an appeal to Li’s duty as a grand secretary, and finally threats based on the consorts’ orders. She rejects each approach, worrying that Li’s stubbornness and changed character will make them backfire.
• A possible aid appears. Zhu notices a brocade pouch Wei secretly gave her, telling her to open it if she ran into trouble. The chapter ends before she discovers what it contains.
  Character developments and interactions: Zhu remains reluctant and sarcastic, viewing the emperor’s disappearance as someone else’s problem, but is forced into action. The consorts speak with one voice in pressuring her, while Wei quietly maneuvers her into the role and suggests Li’s attachment to her. Zhu’s anxious rehearsal shows her uncertainty about how to deal with Li, who is absent from the chapter but central to the plan.
  Themes: The chapter plays the royal crisis for comedy, contrasting the consorts’ urgent threats with Zhu’s irreverent attitude. It also explores duty imposed through coercion, political scheming, and the growing influence of personal affection over Li’s behavior.

Plot points and events

• Zhu Bafu opens the Brocade Pouch and finds a slip of paper. When Li Chenjing enters, he picks it up and reads its instruction: “When necessary, give the Young Master a kiss.”
• The note unexpectedly makes Li agree to help Zhu Bafu. She asks him to take her to find his “master”—the Emperor, whom she wants to meet.
• Li turns the promise in the pouch into a condition: if he finds the Emperor, Zhu must let him kiss her mouth.
• Zhu protests that he should provide the promised help before she pays, framing the kiss as a business transaction. Li insists on a clear commitment, and she reluctantly agrees.
• Before helping her, Li claims a “deposit” and kisses her cheek. Zhu is embarrassed and upset, while he enjoys teasing her.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhu Bafu is earnest about reaching the Emperor, but flustered by Li’s flirtation. She tries to bargain and set terms rather than submit immediately, though she eventually gives in under pressure.
• Li Chenjing shifts from cold reserve to delighted, playful opportunism after reading the note. He agrees to help Zhu, but uses the pouch’s wording to secure a kiss and keeps pushing her boundaries.
• Their relationship is marked by comic tension: Zhu treats the agreement like a practical exchange, while Li treats it as an excuse to flirt. Their close physical interaction leaves Zhu mortified and Li amused.

Significant themes

• Bargaining and obligation: Zhu tries to make help and payment conditional on one another, while Li interprets the note as a binding promise.
• Flirtation and power: Li controls the situation physically and verbally, and Zhu’s attempts to resist are repeatedly undermined.
• Comedy through contrast: Zhu’s serious ambition to find the Emperor clashes with the absurd romantic bargain and her anxious inner commentary.