Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• Chunjuan panics when a crowd enters the room, fearing they will discover Tang Shiba in bed with a man. She realizes the woman is actually Chunmei and quickly claims Ouyang Xuan drugged Chunmei to frame Tang Shiba.
• The crowd initially gossips about Tang Shiba and Young Master Yang. Chunjuan defends her mistress, explaining that Ouyang Xuan has been behind the earlier and current schemes.
• Young Master Yang recognizes that the plain woman he encountered cannot have been Ouyang Xuan, whose beauty he knows. Chunjuan’s accusation—and Tang Shiba’s thoughts—lead the crowd to suspect Ouyang Xuan.
• Yang embraces Ouyang Xuan, calling her by the name “Nian Xuan” from their correspondence and revealing their connection. Ouyang Xuan struggles to get away.
• Chunjuan wakes Chunmei, who wrongly accuses Tang Shiba of setting her up. The onlookers instead conclude that Ouyang Xuan orchestrated the trap and intended to ruin her cousin’s reputation.
• Yang offers to ask his father to arrange a marriage with Ouyang Xuan. The crowd reveals that an imperial decree has already betrothed her to Tang Xuan. Alarmed, Yang tries to leave, but the crowd jostles and humiliates him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chunjuan acts quickly and resourcefully, protecting Tang Shiba while turning the crowd’s attention toward Ouyang Xuan. Her fierce loyalty is clear.
• Tang Shiba remains offstage but narrates the truth through her thoughts: Ouyang Xuan’s plan backfired, and Chunmei was the intended victim of the scheme.
• Ouyang Xuan loses control of her plot as witnesses connect her to Yang and expose her apparent involvement. Her denials and panic deepen the crowd’s hostility.
• Young Master Yang goes from threatening the spectators to defending Ouyang Xuan and proposing marriage, apparently oblivious to how compromised he looks. The marriage decree finally frightens him into retreat.
• Chunmei wakes confused and distressed, then accuses the wrong person, unintentionally reinforcing the crowd’s suspicion of Ouyang Xuan.

Significant themes

• Schemes backfiring: Ouyang Xuan’s attempt to frame Tang Shiba leaves Chunmei exposed and turns public blame onto Ouyang Xuan.
• Reputation and public judgment: The crowd’s gossip can endanger a woman’s standing, but it also becomes a force for exposing perceived wrongdoing.
• Loyalty and quick thinking: Chunjuan’s devotion and improvisation help protect Tang Shiba.
• Power and social constraints: Young Master Yang’s confidence collapses when he learns Ouyang Xuan is bound by an imperial marriage decree.

Key plot points and events

• Chunmei is exposed as having helped drug Tang Shiba, but she still refuses to name Ouyang Xuan. Ouyang denies responsibility and blames Chunjuan, though Tang Shiba’s thoughts reveal that the accusation is false.
• Tang Cheng orders Ouyang confined until her wedding and sends Chunmei to the Spring Breeze House. Ouyang’s aunt and Tang Xuan do not intervene, leaving her shocked and isolated.
• Tang Shiba learns that Minister Yang intends to use the Ouyang family’s corruption to pressure Tang Cheng into giving Ouyang to Yang Mingjie. If Ouyang and the Yangs cooperate, the General’s Residence could be confiscated and its household executed.
• To prevent that danger, Tang Cheng announces that Ouyang and Tang Xuan’s wedding will take place in three days, after which Tang Xuan plans to take her to the border.
• Yang Jinzhou challenges Tang Cheng at court, but the emperor refuses to revoke the marriage decree, citing the Ouyang family’s past service and his own benevolence.
• After court, Yang Jinzhou threatens Tang Cheng with arrest. Tang Cheng responds by jokingly asking him for a loan, then dismisses the threat with confidence.

Character developments

• Ouyang Xuan continues to deny her wrongdoing and blame others. Her family’s growing disappointment and refusal to protect her mark a turning point in how much support she can expect.
• Tang Shiba remains the sharp observer whose inner thoughts expose Ouyang’s schemes and warn the family of the Yangs’ plans.
• Tang Cheng moves from anger to decisive action, prioritizing the General’s Residence’s safety by accelerating the wedding.
• Tang Xuan becomes more determined to keep Ouyang, even after learning she may endanger his family. His fear of losing her is mixed with resolve to take her away.
• Yang Jinzhou emerges as a hostile political rival, driven partly by old resentment toward Tang Cheng and suspicion of Ouyang’s motives.

Significant themes

• Consequences and accountability: Ouyang’s behavior steadily erodes her family’s trust, while Chunmei bears the immediate punishment.
• Family loyalty versus self-interest: Ouyang seeks protection from relatives who are increasingly unwilling to defend her.
• Political power and personal vendettas: The marriage dispute becomes entangled with accusations, court influence, and Yang Jinzhou’s long-standing grudge.
• Dramatic irony: Tang Shiba’s inner monologue reveals the hidden danger while other characters react to information Ouyang does not realize they have.

Character interactions

• Tang Cheng confronts Ouyang and punishes Chunmei; Ouyang appeals unsuccessfully to her aunt and Tang Xuan.
• Tang Shiba’s thoughts inform Tang Cheng and the others of Ouyang’s deception and the Yangs’ threat.
• Tang Xuan reacts to the prospect of Yang Mingjie pursuing Ouyang with jealousy and determination.
• Yang Jinzhou and Tang Cheng clash at court and afterward, while the emperor and Prime Minister Susan settle the marriage question in the General’s Residence’s favor.

Plot points and events

• Yang Jinzhou’s recent naked run has made him notorious in the capital. He struts through the streets, enjoying the attention, until gossip spreads that his children may not be his.
• A bystander confronts Yang Jinzhou with the rumor. He angrily denies it, but privately suspects the children are not his because they are unlike him and have failed to achieve anything.
• At the General’s Residence, Tang Shiba learns that Yang Jinzhou wants her to marry his wastrel son, Yang Mingjie, as his principal wife. Tang Cheng has refused, and the two men are fighting.
• Shiba storms into the fight, distracting Yang Jinzhou with a relentless stream of insults. Tang Cheng lands a couple of slaps, and Madam Song eventually separates them. Yang Jinzhou flees in humiliation.
• Afterward, Tang Cheng and Madam Song worry that Yang Jinzhou may seek an imperial decree to force the marriage. The family’s political standing is weakened because of Ouyang Xuan’s situation, and they fear Shiba could be trapped in a miserable match.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Jinzhou begins the chapter swaggering over his public notoriety, but the rumors about his paternity expose his private insecurity. His marriage proposal and violent confrontation with Tang Cheng show how aggressively he pursues his ambitions; Shiba’s insults finally drive him off.
• Tang Shiba proves bold, quick-witted, and fiercely protective of her father. She does not join the fight physically, but her taunts distract Yang Jinzhou and turn the confrontation in Tang Cheng’s favor.
• Tang Cheng refuses to give Shiba to Yang Mingjie and fights Yang Jinzhou directly. He is proud of his daughter’s sharp tongue, though he cautions her not to keep learning new insults.
• Madam Song tries to keep Shiba out of the confrontation and later shares her husband’s fear that Yang Jinzhou may use his influence to force the marriage.
• Yang Jinzhou’s conflict with Tang Cheng is compounded by Shiba’s intervention, transforming a physical fight into a comic humiliation.

Significant themes

• Public image versus private insecurity: Yang Jinzhou’s boastful display of masculinity contrasts with his doubts about his family and his need to prove himself.
• Family loyalty and protection: Tang Cheng and Shiba resist a marriage that would endanger her happiness.
• Power and coercion: The prospect of an imperial decree shows how political influence can threaten personal choice.
• Comic social satire: The gossip, exaggerated swagger, and Shiba’s insults mock masculine vanity, status, and hypocrisy.

• Ouyang Xuan escapes: With her wedding to Tang Xuan imminent, Ouyang Xuan panics about being forced to marry and sent to the frontier. Tang Shiba decides to help her escape, and her maid Chunjuan distracts the guards so Ouyang can slip out of the rear courtyard.
• The escape backfires: Ouyang Xuan runs to Lord Yang’s residence, unaware that Yang Jinzhou has already hidden her in the Ministry of Justice’s prison. Tang Shiba realizes her escape has worsened the danger to the Tang family.
• The Tang family faces a crisis: Tang Cheng learns that Ouyang Xuan has implicated the General’s Residence. Tang Xuan, hurt by her betrayal, asks his father to have the emperor cancel the marriage decree. Tang Cheng turns his attention from the wedding to protecting the family.
• A plot to frame the Tangs: Tang Shiba’s thoughts reveal that Yang Jinzhou plans to plant a large quantity of silver in the General’s Residence. Tang Cheng understands the trap, withdraws some of his men, and prepares to expose it. Yang, meanwhile, wrongly assumes Tang Cheng believes Ouyang has eloped.
• The trap is sprung: Yang’s men secretly bury sacks of silver in the residence’s rear courtyard. After they leave, Tang Cheng arrives with his men and orders them to dig it up.
  Character developments and interactions: Tang Shiba continues to manipulate events with mischievous confidence, helping Ouyang escape while privately focusing on the danger to her family—and the silver. Chunjuan proves loyal and resourceful. Tang Xuan shifts from grief over the broken wedding to accepting his father’s plan and recognizing Ouyang’s betrayal. Tang Cheng responds to the crisis with quick, practical resolve. Yang Jinzhou remains smug, unaware that his attempted frame-up may be exposed.
  Themes: Family loyalty and betrayal; the consequences of deception; the clash between appearances and hidden schemes; and the use of wit and foreknowledge to survive political danger.

Plot points and events

• On the day of Tang Cheng’s son’s wedding, Yang Jinzhou arrives with soldiers to search the General’s Residence, accusing the household of hiding the Ouyang Family’s illicit money.
• Tang Cheng objects that Yang has no imperial decree, but agrees to the search after Yang promises to resign if nothing is found. The wedding is canceled because the bride has disappeared and the search must proceed.
• The crowd initially suspects Tang Cheng, then changes sides after Tang Shiba’s thoughts reveal that Yang deliberately framed the household. People promise to testify for Tang if the search proves fruitless.
• Soldiers find recently disturbed earth in the back courtyard and dig. Instead of silver, they uncover a convincing-looking heap of feces that Shiba secretly made to resemble gold. The search party recoils in disgust, and Yang’s confidence collapses.
• Yang presses Tang to confess and threatens to take the household to the Ministry of Justice, relying on the Ouyang couple’s testimony as a fallback. Just as he orders everyone arrested, Eunuch Lin announces the Emperor’s arrival.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Cheng remains composed and defends his household, while letting the search expose Yang’s scheme. He is astonished by Shiba’s ingenuity and briefly investigates the fake “gold” himself, to his wife Song’s disgust.
• Tang Shiba uses her strange, comic invention to foil the planted evidence and openly enjoys Yang’s panic. Her resourcefulness impresses her father.
• Yang Jinzhou moves from smug confidence to desperation as his plan fails. He has risked his own fortune to frame Tang and tries to salvage the case with the Ouyang couple’s testimony.
• Madam Song watches Shiba closely and pulls Tang away when she thinks the disturbed ground may conceal danger; she also scolds him for sniffing the fake feces.
• The townspeople shift from suspicion of Tang to support for him once they realize he may have been framed.

Significant themes

• Justice versus corruption: Yang abuses his authority to fabricate charges, while Tang insists the matter be judged fairly.
• Public opinion and reputation: The crowd’s quick reversal shows how easily suspicion can turn into support when new information emerges.
• Cleverness and comic humiliation: Shiba’s grotesque trick defeats Yang’s supposedly airtight evidence and punctures his arrogance.
• Power and accountability: Yang’s promise to resign—and the Emperor’s sudden arrival—raise the stakes for those abusing official authority.

Key plot points and events

• Emperor Li Shihong arrives at the General’s Residence while Lord Yang Jinzhou’s men are digging up the courtyard for supposedly stolen silver. The odor from a separate, already-buried pit prompts the soldiers to cover it back up.
• Yang accuses General Tang Cheng of embezzling 100,000 taels, presenting a written statement from the Ouyang couple. The emperor counters with another accusation: Yang conspired with Ouyang Xuan to fabricate evidence against Tang.
• Yang is arrested. The emperor says he will lose his post for abusing the law, which Tang Cheng considers lenient given Yang’s otherwise good record.
• Tang Cheng produces the 100,000 taels. The emperor takes the money, pleased to use it for disaster relief.
• Tang Cheng asks the emperor to cancel his son Tang Xuan’s marriage to Ouyang Xuan. The emperor says her imprisonment makes the marriage void.
• Madam Song asks the emperor to choose a suitable husband for Tang Shiba. He agrees before Shiba can object.
• After the emperor leaves, Shiba punches Tang Xuan for failing to ask for leniency on his Frontier assignment, since she fears being pushed into blind dates instead.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Shihong handles the case decisively, already aware of the truth, and shows interest in Tang Shiba’s unusual thoughts. He interprets her suspicion that he wants her for his harem as absurd, but considers her a possible match for the reserved Crown Prince.
• Tang Shiba continues to voice irreverent inner thoughts, misunderstands the emperor’s glance, and is horrified when her mother arranges for him to select her husband. She resents Tang Xuan for missing a chance to help her.
• Tang Cheng and Madam Song are relieved by the emperor’s intervention. They try to secure a better future for their children, though their request on Shiba’s behalf leaves her distressed.
• Tang Xuan is emotionally shaken by the events and remains silent when he might have asked for leniency. Shiba’s punch jolts him out of his grief.
• Yang Jinzhou goes from confident accuser to frightened prisoner after the emperor exposes his plot.
• Tang Shiba and her family reveal a gap between their intentions and hers: her parents believe imperial matchmaking will protect her, while she sees it as an unwanted obligation.

Significant themes

• Justice and abuse of power: Yang’s attempt to weaponize the law against Tang Cheng is exposed and punished.
• Family loyalty and misunderstanding: Tang Cheng and Madam Song act out of concern, but fail to account for Shiba’s wishes.
• Fate versus personal choice: The emperor’s authority settles the marriage question, while Shiba has little room to refuse.
• Comic contrast: Shiba’s modern, irreverent thoughts clash with courtly etiquette and the seriousness of imperial decisions.

Plot and key events

• In the Ministry of Justice prison, Yang Jinzhou, Ouyang Xuan, and her parents realize their scheme has failed. Yang admits the evidence against him is undeniable, while Ouyang’s parents regret helping their daughter.
• Ouyang Xuan’s system abandons her after declaring the mission failed. Its departure leaves her severely weakened, and Yang reveals that Ouyang had proposed the plan to avoid marrying Tang Xuan.
• At the General’s Residence, Tang Shiba learns that Ouyang’s system has unbound and that her life force is nearly spent. Dumb System has captured the malfunctioning fortune system and swallows it, repairing it. Shiba chooses to decide her own return time; when the system falsely claims her mission and points are gone, she shocks it until it confesses it was joking.
• Tang Xuan prepares to leave for a border posting. Shiba reassures him he may earn military merit, prompting Tang Cheng to hurry him on his way. Tang Xuan asks his father to write if Shiba finds a suitable husband.
• Eunuch Lin arrives with an invitation: the Empress Dowager has invited the Tang family to her birthday banquet. The invitation excites Tang Cheng and Madam Song, who suspect it may offer Shiba a chance to meet eligible nobles.
• Shiba agrees to attend, intending to search for Si Wuyu. At the palace, she asks Dumb System to locate him, then arrives with her family and draws curious, appraising looks from the guests.

Character developments and interactions

• Ouyang Xuan loses both her scheme and her system, and is left physically frail. Her parents feel guilty for helping her, while Yang blames her for initiating the plan; all three are trapped in mutual regret and accusation.
• Tang Shiba remains unsympathetic toward Ouyang but protective of her own interests. She enjoys teasing and disciplining Dumb System, and plans to use the banquet to find Si Wuyu while avoiding unwanted matchmaking.
• Dumb System repairs the fortune system but tries to trick Shiba out of her points; her electric punishment forces it to admit the truth.
• Tang Xuan is subdued by thoughts of Ouyang, whom he has tried not to ask about. His family shifts from tearful concern over his departure to hopeful encouragement, though he longs for his father’s affection.
• Tang Cheng and Madam Song are attentive to their children and eager about the palace invitation. Madam Song advises Shiba to stay close and behave properly at court.

Significant themes

• Schemes carry consequences: Ouyang’s deception leads to imprisonment, estrangement, and physical collapse.
• Family loyalty and regret shape the prison scene and the Tang family’s farewells.
• The chapter contrasts serious consequences with comic system banter, especially in Shiba’s playful but forceful control over Dumb System.
• Social duty and personal choice collide: the palace banquet may be a matchmaking opportunity, while Shiba has her own goal of finding Si Wuyu.

Plot points and events

• At the emperor’s birthday banquet, the empress dowager offers to find Tang Shiba a husband in recognition of the General’s Residence’s service. Shiba asks her to choose and rejects each proposed match.
• Her private thoughts reveal embarrassing secrets: Heir Qin has a grown illegitimate child, the Third Prince Li Xiao is involved with the female Chancellor, Heir Jiang frequents a disreputable venue, and the imperial uncle’s son plans to elope. Shiba also criticizes the crown prince as too cold.
• The guests hear Shiba’s thoughts, causing widespread shock. The revelations prompt the imperial uncle to restrain his son, while the emperor and empress dowager struggle to process the news about the Third Prince and the Chancellor.
• Shiba says she wants someone passionate and fiery. Once the marriage discussion ends, her system tells her the Third Prince is writing a love letter in the garden. She slips away to investigate.
• In the Imperial Garden, Shiba’s unseen chatter reaches Li Yu, a high-status man standing alone by the pond. He finds her voice strangely familiar, while Shiba mistakes him for a possible suicide risk.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Shiba is candid in her thoughts and selective about marriage, despite pretending to defer to the empress dowager. She prioritizes satisfying her curiosity over the banquet’s gossip about her.
• The empress dowager tries several suitable candidates but grows exasperated when Shiba rejects them all.
• The emperor is startled by the revelations, especially that the Chancellor is a woman and is supposedly pregnant with the Third Prince’s child; he must weigh his son’s happiness against the deception.
• The imperial uncle reacts forcefully to learning his son intends to elope.
• Li Yu is introduced as reserved and solitary. Shiba’s voice catches his attention and stirs an unexplained sense of familiarity.

Significant themes

• Private thoughts and public consequences: Shiba’s unspoken judgments expose secrets and disrupt the court.
• Marriage and personal choice: Shiba resists being matched for political or family convenience, insisting on her own standards.
• Comedy through overheard secrets: The contrast between formal court decorum and scandalous inner monologues drives the chapter’s humor.
• Hidden identities and social appearances: The Chancellor’s disguised identity—and the court’s reaction to it—underscores how little appearances reveal.

Plot points and events

• In the imperial garden, Tang Shiba secretly reads over Prince Li Xiao’s attempt at a love letter. Her running commentary disrupts his writing, and he leaves in frustration.
• Shiba then bumps into Si Wuyu—now living as Li Yu—and joyfully greets him. She soon discovers that he has amnesia from the journey across worlds and no longer recognizes her.
• Hurt, Shiba switches to formal distance and leaves him. At the banquet, she continues to ignore him, while Li Yu watches her uneasily. He learns that she rejected the Empress Dowager’s proposed marriage and had called him cold and unable to cherish someone.
• After the banquet, Li Yu catches up with Shiba and asks her to reconsider marrying him. He promises he can cherish her. Flustered by his unexpected proposal, she runs off. He orders a shadow guard to protect her and report on her movements.
• Shiba decides to remain in the capital to gather gossip and points. She learns that Ouyang Xuan has written to her eldest brother, Tang Xuan, saying she has little time left and wants to spend it with him. The letter softens Xuan, who kneels until their father agrees to seek the emperor’s permission. Their mother accepts the idea as a way to fulfill Ouyang Xuan’s final wish.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Shiba moves from delighted reunion to wounded anger when Li Yu does not remember her. She hides her hurt behind formal manners and stubbornly refuses to explain their past, though his proposal clearly affects her.
• Li Yu/Si Wuyu feels an unexplained pull toward Shiba despite his amnesia. Her distance unsettles him, and he responds by openly pursuing her and arranging for her protection.
• Tang Xuan is again swayed by Ouyang Xuan’s appeal, while Tang Cheng shifts from reprimanding him to helping him. Madam Song also chooses compassion over opposition.

Significant themes

• Memory and emotional connection: Li Yu’s lost memories do not erase his instinctive attraction to Shiba, but his amnesia leaves her feeling forgotten.
• Vulnerability and pride: Shiba’s anger and retreat conceal the pain of losing their shared history; Li Yu’s confident pursuit is tempered by nervousness.
• Compassion and second chances: The Tang family’s willingness to help Ouyang Xuan reflects sympathy for someone facing death and a desire to grant her final wish.

Plot points and events

• Tang Shiba refuses to intervene in Ouyang Xuan’s troubles, believing the General’s Residence must face the consequences of its own choices. Madam Song grieves as Shiba walks away.
• At a teahouse, Shiba enjoys gossip until Crown Prince Li Yu arrives. He says he wants to prove he can care for her, and she playfully tests his physique before agreeing to see how well he courts her.
• Li Yu becomes conspicuously devoted, personally bringing Shiba umbrellas, food, and anything that catches her eye. His guards are baffled by the change in his usual cold demeanor.
• Tang Cheng brings the ailing Ouyang Xuan home. She recognizes Li Yu as her cousin, Si Wuyu, but he has no memory of her and shows no warmth. Seeing him with Shiba, Ouyang blames Shiba for her failed plans and vows revenge.
• Ouyang accuses Shiba of behaving improperly. Shiba counters by naming Ouyang’s past schemes, including spreading rumors and trying to frame others. Ouyang cannot swear she is innocent, becomes furious, and faints.
• Tang Cheng tells Madam Song that the Ouyang couple confessed. The emperor spared Ouyang Xuan’s life at their request but chose exile for the family rather than confiscating their property.
• Shiba takes Li Yu to the Spring Breeze House, where she hears a dangerous rumor that the Elder Princess’s mother was once its top courtesan. The listeners are too frightened to repeat it openly.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Shiba remains irreverent and self-assured: she rejects responsibility for the General’s troubles, flirts with Li Yu, and confronts Ouyang directly.
• Li Yu openly pursues Shiba and shows unexpected tenderness. Though he has lost his memories, his affectionate instincts toward her seem unchanged.
• Ouyang Xuan returns physically weakened but remains resentful and scheming. Her attempt to shame Shiba fails, and Li Yu’s indifference leaves her isolated.
• Tang Cheng and Madam Song face the consequences of the Ouyang affair; their discussion reveals the family’s confession and the terms of exile.
• Shiba and Li Yu’s playful, increasingly intimate courtship contrasts with Ouyang’s bitterness and the General’s Residence’s family crisis.

Significant themes

• Consequences and accountability: Shiba sees the family’s suffering as the result of its own choices, while Ouyang’s past actions catch up with her.
• Memory and affection: Li Yu’s behavior suggests that emotional or physical attachment may persist despite lost memories.
• Power and rumor: Gossip can entertain, damage reputations, or threaten the powerful—as shown by the dangerous story about the Elder Princess’s mother.

Key plot points and events

• At Spring Breeze House, Li Yu and Tang Shiba learn that the Elder Princess’s mother was a famous courtesan who was executed after giving birth to her. The revelation spreads through the brothel, and ministers flee to avoid the scandal.
• Soldiers surround the building on the Elder Princess’s orders, intending to shut it down and bury the secret. Worried that the Elder Princess might discover the crown prince is there, Li Yu escapes with Tang Shiba using his lightness skill.
• Tang Shiba returns to the General’s Residence and learns through the system that Ouyang Xuan has drugged the food and plans to burn down the residence. Before Tang Shiba intervenes, Tang Xuan and the family decide Ouyang Xuan must leave.
• Ouyang Xuan serves the drugged chicken soup, but Tang Xuan knocks away the ladle and orders her expelled. The family refuses to relent even when she begs, then carries her out after she faints.
• Bored after the confrontation, Tang Shiba heads to the Chancellor’s Residence. The system reveals that assassins are targeting the Chancellor, apparently because she is pregnant with the Third Prince’s child. Tang Shiba recalls her feud with Minister Zhang, whose son she injured after he harassed her.
• The chapter ends with Tang Shiba’s thoughts revealing that both Minister Zhang and his son are attracted to men.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yu and Tang Shiba: Li Yu protects Tang Shiba during the escape and is reluctant to part from her. She teases him with a kiss, but stops him when he leans in for more; he promises to bring her something delicious the next day.
• Tang Xuan and the General’s family: Tang Xuan finally recognizes Ouyang Xuan’s danger and takes the lead in expelling her. Tang Cheng and Madam Song support the decision, showing the family has reached a united breaking point.
• Ouyang Xuan: Her attempt to drug the household’s food exposes her continued malice. When confronted and expelled, she switches from feigned innocence to desperate pleading, then faints when the family remains firm.
• Tang Shiba: She stays focused on gossip and the family’s assets, but her presence and the system’s revelations help expose danger around her. She is also reminded of her past conflict with Minister Zhang.

Significant themes

• Secrets and political danger: The Elder Princess’s hidden origins threaten the brothel and anyone connected to it.
• Betrayal and accountability: Ouyang Xuan’s repeated schemes finally cost her the protection of the General’s family.
• Affection and restraint: Li Yu’s growing feelings contrast with Tang Shiba’s playful but firm control of their closeness.
• Gossip as revelation: The system’s disclosures expose hidden motives, scandals, and threats that drive the chapter’s events.

Plot and events

• After hearing that Lord Zhang is visiting the forbidden South Wind House, Chancellor Susan leads a raid. Several officials are arrested and face demotion under the court’s rules. Tang Shiba misses the spectacle because Li Yu invites her for a walk.
• Ouyang Xuan’s fortunes collapse after she is expelled from the General’s Residence. Robbed of her money and unable to afford medicine, she dies while traveling to seek help. The Ouyang family leaves the capital, and Tang Xuan departs as well.
• Li Yu asks the emperor to decree his marriage to Tang Shiba. The emperor is surprised and checks on the Crown Prince’s recent relationships, but the decree eventually arrives.
• Li Yu visits Tang Shiba secretly, and they kiss. Later, he worries she may reject the marriage and clings to her; she reassures him, and they shop together.
• On their wedding day, Tang Shiba’s mother tearfully gives her away. Li Yu carries her into the Crown Prince’s Residence, where the ceremony is held before the emperor, empress, and court officials. At the vows’ conclusion, Tang Shiba and Li Yu leave the ancient world and awaken in the hospital, where Si Wuyu welcomes her home.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Shiba remains playful and self-assured, but shows sympathy for her mother’s sadness at the wedding. She is eager to return to the people she misses in Cloud City.
• Li Yu / Si Wuyu becomes increasingly open about his attachment to Tang Shiba. His fear of losing her is linked to feeling out of place after losing his memories; he sees her as uniquely familiar. Tang Shiba understands his dependence but believes his affection is genuine.
• Madam Song supports her daughter’s marriage while worrying about her future, and comforts her husband after the family’s painful estrangement from Tang Le.
• Tang Xuan leaves after Ouyang Xuan’s death, while Tang Le, grieving her daughter, turns away from her brother.
• The chapter’s key relationships are marked by farewells and reassurance: Li Yu and Tang Shiba affirm their bond, while the Tang family’s relationships with the Ouyang family end in grief and resentment.

Significant themes

• Attachment and belonging: Li Yu’s dependence on Tang Shiba grows from his sense of isolation, and their relationship becomes his anchor.
• Family estrangement and regret: Ouyang Xuan’s death and the Ouyang family’s departure deepen the rift between Tang Le and her brother.
• Consequences and justice: The officials’ raid illustrates the court’s strict standards of conduct, while Ouyang Xuan’s fate follows her personal misfortunes.
• Departure and return: Tang Shiba’s wedding is both a new beginning in the ancient setting and the moment she returns home with Si Wuyu.