Recaps

Jiang Nuan entertained Yun Shining and the household with a story from Dream of the Red Chamber, then arranged for Guagua to produce the Four Great Classical Novels. At the shop’s opening, she reunited Yun Shining with Jiang Yehua and noticed they were dressed alike.

• Gu Qingfeng treated Yun Shining’s injuries and said she would recover enough to move freely within five days, though she would need to wait half a month to use martial arts.
• Jiang Nuan began telling Yun Shining, Chunhua, Qiuyue, and the gathered maids a story from Dream of the Red Chamber, but stopped when it grew late.
• An Yan suggested Jiang Nuan print and sell her stories, and Jiang Nuan asked Guagua to produce the Four Great Classical Novels.
• Jiang Nuan sent the books to the villa for Yun Shining and the others to read after she could not visit the next day.
• Jiang Nuan took Jiang Yehua to the shop’s opening, where Yun Shining called to her from a private room upstairs.
• Jiang Nuan saw that Yun Shining and Jiang Yehua wore similar dark robes and thought they looked like a well-matched couple.

Jiang Yehua warned Yun Shining not to take Jiang Nuan’s thoughts as a reason to develop feelings for him, and Yun Shining accepted his boundary. At Jiang Nuan’s shop opening, Jiang Chengze gave her the deed to the neighboring shop, and he ended the chapter by asking which brother she liked better.

• Jiang Nuan left Jiang Yehua to keep Yun Shining company while she helped An Yan with the shop.
• Jiang Yehua told Yun Shining not to develop unnecessary feelings for him, and she agreed to keep her distance.
• Jiang Chengze arrived with gold ingots as an opening gift and learned Jiang Yehua had already given Jiang Nuan a shop.
• Jiang Chengze discovered the neighboring shop was his, fetched its deed, and gave it to Jiang Nuan.
• Yun Shining went home to rest, and Jiang Nuan silently worried that Jiang Yehua had failed to see her off.
• After Jiang Nuan thought managing so many shops would be difficult, both brothers abandoned plans to give her more property, and Jiang Chengze asked whether she liked him or Jiang Yehua better.

Jiang Nuan escaped her brothers’ teasing and met Chi Hengji, who gave her gold ingots and a doll as gifts for her shop opening. She discovered the doll was made from precious colored gold and carefully put it away, while Chi Hengji planned to make her a better likeness next time.

• Jiang Chengze teased Jiang Nuan into choosing which brother she liked best, and she escaped by claiming An Yan needed her help.
• Chi Hengji arrived at the shop, and Jiang Nuan took him to a private room to avoid the crowd’s attention.
• Jiang Chengze and Jiang Yehua followed Jiang Nuan and silently watched Chi Hengji to make sure he meant no harm.
• Chi Hengji gave Jiang Nuan gold ingots and a jointed doll, asking her to call him Brother Chi.
• Guagua told Jiang Nuan that the doll was made of colored gold worth ten times as much as gold, so she stored it somewhere safer.
• Chi Hengji realized Jiang Nuan had not noticed that he had made the doll in her likeness and resolved to craft a better one.

Jiang Nuan helped An Yan’s shop earn a large sum and taught her Arabic numerals and a simplified spreadsheet system. When Jiang Yehua mistook her explanation for a talent for arithmetic and offered to hire her a tutor, Jiang Nuan recoiled from the idea.

• Chi Hengji and Jiang Chengze left to attend to other matters, while Jiang Nuan put Jiang Yehua to work at the shop.
• An Yan asked Jiang Nuan whether Jiang Yehua could help at the shop for a few days, and Jiang Yehua volunteered before Jiang Nuan could ask.
• An Yan showed Jiang Nuan and Jiang Yehua the day’s ledger, which recorded one million taels in takings before costs, largely from customers topping up membership cards.
• Jiang Nuan taught An Yan to use Arabic numerals and a simplified spreadsheet system to make the shop’s accounts easier to manage.
• Jiang Yehua praised Jiang Nuan’s arithmetic ability and offered to hire her a tutor, prompting Jiang Nuan to reject the idea of studying math.

Jiang Nuan and An Yan faced a man accusing their shop of selling defective clothes, but Guagua discovered that An Yuxue had hired him to cause trouble. Gu Qingfeng exposed the likely cause of the man's rash, though he loudly denied the accusation as the crowd watched.

• Jiang Nuan and Jiang Yehua hurried to the shop after hearing a crowd shouting at its entrance.
• A man displayed a rash and demanded compensation from An Yan, while customers began asking for refunds and leaving.
• Jiang Nuan asked Guagua to investigate, and Guagua revealed that An Yuxue had hired the man after learning An Yan was running a successful shop.
• An Laiyun arrived and heard Jiang Nuan criticize him for failing to notice An Yan was gone; he accepted that he deserved the blame.
• Gu Qingfeng identified Cypress Grass Leaf as the cause of the man's temporary rash, but the man denied knowing about it and accused Gu Qingfeng of being a swindler.

Gu Qingfeng was accused of being a fraud until his disciple exposed a man's fake rash and the officers arrested him. The man implicated An Yuxue in the scheme, and she was taken away while An Laiyun realized how much she had harmed An Yan; he approached An Yan as she returned to work.

• Gu Qingfeng's identity was doubted until a man from Divine Physician Valley arrived and the disciple showed the crowd that the accuser's rash was painted on.
• The officers seized the man, who confessed that An Yuxue had arranged the scheme through her maid and a little beggar.
• Guagua revealed that An Yuxue had long known she was not An Laiyun's biological daughter and had plotted against An Yan, including trying to have her killed.
• The officers arrested An Yuxue despite her protests, and An Laiyun refused to help when she called to him.
• An Yan ignored An Laiyun and returned to work, but he approached her and began to speak.

An Yan formally severed ties with An Laiyun after he signed a Severance Letter, and she felt relieved rather than saddened. As Jiang Nuan returned to work, Gu Qingfeng's disciple learned that she was no ordinary child, and Guagua appeared with gossip.

• An Laiyun demanded that An Yan return to the Minister's Residence, but she reminded him she had already left a Severance Letter.
• When An Laiyun threatened to disown An Yan, she prepared new copies of the letter and asked Jiang Yehua to witness the severance.
• An Laiyun signed and marked the Severance Letter, then left after An Yan showed him the door.
• An Yan told Jiang Nuan that severing ties made her feel relieved, and she and Jiang Yehua returned to work.
• Gu Qingfeng and Mu Zhiye thanked Jiang Nuan, and Mu Zhiye realized she was no ordinary person after hearing her thoughts.
• Guagua appeared on Jiang Nuan's shoulder and offered to share gossip.

Jiang Nuan and Guagua uncovered the cause of Mu Zhiye’s daughter Xiao Yin’s strange behavior and found a way to treat her Love Gu and poisoned meridians. The next morning, Guagua urged Jiang Nuan to investigate one of the ministers for gossip.

• Guagua told Jiang Nuan that Mu Zhiye’s daughter Xiao Yin had been afflicted with Love Gu and was insisting on marrying an older, unattractive man.
• Mu Zhiye realized Xiao Yin might have been afflicted with gu and hurried back to ask Yue Xi to examine her before Yue Xi left for the Southern Frontier, leaving Gu Qingfeng with Jiang Nuan.
• Guagua revealed that poison accumulated in Xiao Yin’s meridians before birth and that her attempt to practice martial arts had worsened her fragile health.
• Guagua identified an antidote formula and promised to find an acupuncture method, while Jiang Nuan praised it for the discovery.
• Jiang Nuan found the acupuncture method that evening, and Guagua appeared on her shoulder at court the next morning to suggest investigating a minister’s gossip.

During court, Jiang Nuan and Guagua revealed how Ning Ziteng had remained unmarried after offering to take his sweetheart’s unborn child’s surname, and how she had falsely claimed to save his life. Jiang Nuan learned the sweetheart would arrive in Capital City that day, while Guagua prepared to expose another official’s gossip.

• Jiang Nuan chose Ning Ziteng as the day’s gossip target after noticing his colleague urge him to report.
• Guagua revealed that Ning Ziteng had offered to become the father of his sweetheart’s unborn child and even take the child’s surname, but she rejected him and later became a concubine to another man.
• Guagua explained that Ning Ziteng’s sweetheart had never saved him: she had been searching his body for a valuable herb when he woke, and he mistakenly believed she had rescued him.
• Jiang Nuan joked that Ning Ziteng might have become Du Ziteng, and Guagua said his former sweetheart would arrive in Capital City that day with her husband, who wanted Ning to help his father.
• Guagua suggested exposing the gossip of the official beside Ning Ziteng, leaving the nearby ministers fearful of becoming the next target.

Jiang Nuan learned that Peng Changshun had murdered his first child and arranged for his uncle’s family to die so he could marry into a powerful family. Guagua uncovered further crimes, and the Court of Judicial Review arrested Peng Changshun as Jiang Nuan sent them the evidence.

• Guagua revealed that Peng Changshun’s cousin-wife had given birth to a child with a deformity, which Peng Changshun strangled and blamed for his failed imperial examination.
• Guagua explained that after becoming a jinshi, Peng Changshun denied having a family and plotted to have his uncle’s household perish in a flood so he could marry an official’s daughter.
• The official who had arranged Peng Changshun’s marriage decided to break off the engagement after learning what Peng Changshun had done.
• Guagua uncovered Peng Changshun’s embezzlement, bribery, and other crimes, and Jiang Nuan promised to send the leads to the Court of Judicial Review.
• After court adjourned, the Court of Judicial Review took Peng Changshun into custody, and Jiang Nuan sent them the evidence before heading off to enjoy gossip.

Ning Ziteng waited at his residence for his childhood sweetheart, Jia Tong, while Xiang Zhan and other ministers gathered to watch their encounter. When Jia Tong arrived with her husband, Ning Ziteng rejected her attempts at closeness and refused to help her before she had even explained her request.

• After leaving court, Ning Ziteng told Xiang Zhan he had learned from his past mistake and headed home to face Jia Tong.
• Xiang Zhan and several ministers followed Ning Ziteng to his residence, where they waited with him for Jia Tong.
• Jiang Nuan climbed the wall and watched as Jia Tong arrived with her husband, drawing the ministers' attention.
• Ning Ziteng backed away when Jia Tong tried to act familiar and told her not to give her husband and children the wrong idea.
• When Jia Tong asked to speak privately and then requested his help, Ning Ziteng refused and told her to leave.

Ning Ziteng rejected Jia Tong’s demands after exposing her false claim that she had saved him, then Jiang Nuan hosted a hot pot meal for her family and friends. The meal ended with Jiang Chengze asking Jiang Yehua whether the divided pot had given him any ideas.

• Ning Ziteng confronted Jia Tong about searching for the taisui instead of rescuing him and refused to give her family silver.
• Ning Ziteng dismissed Jia Tong, her husband, and their child, then sent his official guests away.
• Jiang Nuan learned that the hot pot and seasonings were ready and had the servants prepare a meal with spicy and clear broth.
• An Yan, Yun Shining, Jiang Chengze, and Jiang Yehua joined Jiang Nuan for hot pot, and Yun Shining ate enthusiastically despite the spicy broth.
• Jiang Chengze asked Jiang Yehua whether the divided hot pot had given him any ideas.

Jiang Chengze discovered that Jiang Nuan’s custom-made pot and kitchen knives used unusually high-quality iron, and she agreed to share the manufacturing method with the army. After Jiang Yunsheng examined a knife, he ordered Jiang Chengze to bring Jiang Nuan to the army’s year-end inspection, where Jiang Chengze invited her to visit.

• Jiang Chengze realized Jiang Nuan’s iron pot was made from iron better than that used for ordinary military blades.
• Jiang Nuan showed Jiang Chengze and Jiang Yehua her kitchen knives, and Jiang Yehua demonstrated that one could cut through an ordinary dagger without being damaged.
• Jiang Nuan agreed to share the improved ironworking method with the army, and Jiang Chengze promised she would be paid.
• An Yan suggested opening a Hot Pot restaurant, but Jiang Nuan explained that the seasonings were too scarce and expensive.
• Jiang Chengze brought two kitchen knives to Jiang Yunsheng, who recognized their quality and ordered him to bring Jiang Nuan to the army’s year-end inspection.
• The next day, Jiang Chengze invited Jiang Nuan to visit the army.

Jiang Nuan visited Great Xia’s military camp and discovered that horseshoes and saddles could improve its cavalry, then decided to recruit craftspeople to help develop useful inventions. She learned that the Black Earth School had a history of conflict with the imperial family but resolved to approach them anyway.

• Jiang Chengze took Jiang Nuan to watch Great Xia’s soldiers demonstrate infantry combat and cavalry skills.
• Jiang Nuan noticed the horses had no horseshoes or saddles and planned to make both, while Jiang Yunsheng recognized the potential to preserve warhorses and strengthen the cavalry.
• Jiang Nuan found instructions for making saddles and horseshoes in the Guidebook for Time Travelers and decided to leave the work to her Crown Prince brother.
• Jiang Nuan asked Guagua whether Great Xia had a group of skilled craftspeople and learned that the Black Earth School had been suppressed by her grandfather after refusing to help the dynasty’s founders.
• Jiang Nuan decided to try recruiting the Black Earth School despite the bad blood, hoping both to find capable workers and to prevent the school from disappearing.

Jiang Nuan searched for the Black Earth School and found its members through Zhuang Leyou, who brought her to see the gravely ill Jiao Chengwang. She learned that a medicinal catalyst in the imperial palace could help cure him and offered to obtain it, while a middle-aged man insisted he would never reconcile with the imperial court.

• Jiang Nuan followed Guagua's lead to a street of artisans, where she met Zhuang Leyou and learned he knew someone from the Black Earth School.
• Jiang Nuan told Zhuang Leyou she wanted to help the school, and he took her to a remote village to meet Jiao Chengwang.
• Zhuang Leyou explained that Jiao Chengwang was gravely ill and needed a medicinal catalyst kept in the imperial palace.
• Jiang Nuan promised to do her best to obtain the catalyst after Zhuang Leyou wrote down its name.
• A middle-aged man declared that he would never reconcile with the imperial court, and Zhuang Leyou introduced Jiang Nuan as a distant relative's child.

Jiang Nuan secured the medicinal catalyst that saved Jiao Chengwang, then persuaded Jiao Ping and the Capital City branch of the Black Earth School to submit to the court. Their decision sparked an uproar among the school’s other branches across the realm.

• Jiang Nuan learned that Jiang Yehua had the medicinal catalyst and obtained it from him.
• Jiao Chengwang took the medicine and woke up that night.
• Jiang Nuan offered Jiao Ping blueprints and benefits in exchange for the Black Earth School’s submission to the court.
• Jiao Ping and Jiao Yu convinced the Capital City branch to submit after discussing Jiang Nuan’s offer.
• The other Black Earth School branches across the realm erupted in uproar when they heard the news.

Jiang Nuan visited the Black Earth School members and found Jiao Ping arguing with Xue Jian over his submission to the imperial court. Guagua exposed embarrassing secrets about both men, derailing the dispute, and Jiang Nuan left her reason for visiting to Uncle Jiao to explain.

• Jiang Nuan arrived at the Black Earth School members’ lodging and found Jiao Ping arguing with Xue Jian and other branch members about submitting to the imperial court.
• Jiao Ping reminded the visiting members that they had refused to help Capital City during the court’s suppression of the school.
• Guagua revealed that Xue Jian wrote the popular indecent book Parting in Spring Passion, leaving him mortified.
• Guagua exposed Jiao Ping as an illustrator of erotic books, and the two men’s argument collapsed into awkward silence.
• When a young man asked why she had come, Jiang Nuan told him that Uncle Jiao could explain.

Jiao Ping persuaded Xue Jian to submit to the imperial court by showing him the benefits and research blueprints. Xue Jian agreed to lead the Black Earth School members arriving in Capital City, while Jiang Nuan offered more blueprints after they finished their first projects.

• Xue Jian read the imperial court's benefits and grew tempted by the prospect of wealth and high office.
• Jiao Ping showed Xue Jian and the others blueprints, then warned that they were only for those who submitted to the imperial court.
• Xue Jian abruptly declared his loyalty to the imperial court and agreed to choose one blueprint to research.
• Jiao Ping challenged Xue Jian to persuade arriving members of the Black Earth School to submit, and Xue Jian accepted.
• Jiang Nuan confirmed she had supplied the blueprints and promised more after the group completed its research.

Jiang Nuan moved Jiao Ping, Xue Jian, and the arriving members of the Black Earth School into her new compound, where rivalries drove them to work hard. She then inspected An Yan’s first glass ornament, a Glazed Coral Tree, and planned to enlist the imperial palace to promote it.

• Jiang Nuan offered Jiao Ping and the other Black Earth School members rooms in her compound, and Xue Jian asked to move there too.
• Jiao Ping and Xue Jian competed to lead the Black Earth School, and their rivalry inspired the newcomers to work late into the night.
• Jiang Nuan visited An Yan and watched the workers unveil a clear glass Glazed Coral Tree.
• Jiang Nuan praised the ornament and decided that her imperial father could help promote the glass artworks.

Jiang Nuan attended the New Year's Eve banquet with her brothers and met her adorable younger brother Jiang Gaoyan. Learning that Jiang Ruihui would murder him by drowning him, Jiang Nuan grew furious, while Consort Rou resolved to protect her son.

• Jiang Nuan arrived at the banquet with Jiang Chengze and Jiang Yehua, wearing the sachet Xiao Xiao had embroidered for her.
• Jiang Nuan met Jiang Gaoyan, who called her Sister, and shared a pastry with him.
• Consort Rou dropped and broke her tableware, and Jiang Yunsheng ordered fresh tableware brought to her.
• Jiang Nuan recalled that Jiang Gaoyan would die before the age of five, and Guagua revealed that Jiang Ruihui planned to have him drowned in a pond.
• Consort Rou resolved to change and protect Jiang Gaoyan from future harm.

Jiang Nuan’s New Year gift sparked a craze for glassware, while Guagua revealed that Jiang Yan’s wife had left for Stillness Temple after a family member stirred up conflict between them. Jiang Yan realized he might already have feelings for his wife as the story behind their relationship began to surface.

• Jiang Yunsheng resolved to keep Jiang Ruihui alive and punish him for trying to harm Jiang Gaoyan.
• Consort Rou thanked Jiang Nuan and invited her to spend more time with Jiang Gaoyan, while Jiang Nuan exchanged New Year gifts with her siblings.
• Jiang Nuan presented the emperor with a glass coral tree, impressing the banquet guests and prompting a rush on An Yan’s glassware shop.
• Jiang Nuan noticed Jiang Yan was distracted, and Guagua explained that his wife had gone to Stillness Temple after her sister-in-law sowed discord between them.
• Jiang Nuan questioned Jiang Yan’s supposed attachment to another woman, and Jiang Yan wondered whether he had already developed feelings for his wife.

Jiang Nuan and Guagua revealed how Jiang Yan and Yueyi fell in love through poetry and letters, then spent years trapped in misunderstandings. Jiang Yan learned Yueyi had prepared divorce papers, leaving him devastated.

• Jiang Yan realized that Yueyi had been his longtime poetry correspondent in the Peach Blossom Garden.
• Guagua explained that the Duke's Mansion had substituted Yueyi for her elder sister in Jiang Yan's arranged marriage, then cut ties with her.
• Jiang Yan recalled avoiding Yueyi after mistaking her for the woman he had once loved, while Jiang Nuan condemned his refusal to listen to explanations.
• Guagua revealed that Yueyi's elder sister had stirred up their latest quarrel after Jiang Yan accused Yueyi of imitating his former correspondent.
• Jiang Nuan learned that Yueyi planned to send divorce papers to Prince You's Residence after the New Year celebrations, and Jiang Yan was devastated.

Jiang Nuan decided to write a novel based on the imperial family’s scandals and use it to spread useful knowledge. After saving Jiang Gaoyan from choking, she agreed to share the Heimlich Maneuver and considered compiling other first-aid methods into a booklet.

• Jiang Nuan planned to write a novel about Jiang Yan and An Laiyun, while Jiang Yan and the other officials worried about being portrayed in it.
• Jiang Nuan realized she could use novels and storytellers to spread common knowledge and decided to include An Yan’s story as well.
• Jiang Gaoyan began choking, and Jiang Nuan guided Chunhua through the Heimlich Maneuver until he spat out the meat.
• Imperial Physician Sun examined Jiang Gaoyan and confirmed he was out of danger.
• Imperial Physician Sun asked Jiang Nuan to share the Heimlich Maneuver, and she agreed to prepare instructions and considered compiling more first-aid methods.

Jiang Nuan celebrated New Year's Eve with her family by showing them fireworks and introducing playing cards and Mahjong, then learned she would join the emperor's prayer visit to Stillness Temple. The chapter leaves her eager to go there after Guagua reveals her imperial aunt and uncle are staying at the temple.

• Jiang Nuan planned to make cheap paper now that members of the Black Earth School were arriving, while Jiao Ping and his group chose to develop the Curved Shaft Plow.
• Jiang Nuan led Xiao Xiao, Jiang Yunsheng, and Jiang Chengze to the imperial garden and showed them fireworks made from a weaker form of gunpowder.
• Jiang Nuan introduced playing cards and Mahjong, lost most of her New Year's money, and left both games with Xiao Xiao as gifts.
• Jiang Nuan learned she would accompany the emperor on the third-day prayer visit to Stillness Temple.
• Guagua told Jiang Nuan that her imperial aunt and uncle were staying at Stillness Temple, and Jiang Nuan hurried to go hear the gossip.

Jiang Nuan and Jiang Zixuan secretly watched Jiang Yan ask Jin Yueyi for forgiveness, then joined Jin Yueyi as she picked plum blossoms. Jiang Nuan encouraged Jin Yueyi to sell her fragrances, and Jin Yueyi considered opening a shop after divorcing Jiang Yan.

• Jiang Zixuan followed Jiang Nuan to Stillness Temple’s plum grove, where they found Jiang Yan begging Jin Yueyi to forgive him.
• Jiang Nuan thought Jiang Yan was a scoundrel and urged Jin Yueyi not to forgive him, but Jin Yueyi discovered the girls hiding nearby.
• Jin Yueyi gave Jiang Nuan a Jade Buddha and offered to send her and Jiang Zixuan sachets and scented balms.
• Jiang Yan recalled that he had once insulted Jin Yueyi’s handmade sachets and regretted how he had treated her.
• Jiang Nuan suggested that Jin Yueyi sell her fragrances and offered to open a shop together using her formulas.