Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Yourning dies after reading an angst novel, then wakes up reborn as the story’s vicious fake heiress—whose gruesome death she remembers vividly.
• She realizes the story has just begun: the real heiress is returning to the Jiang household, and Yourning has not yet mistreated her. Believing she can still change her fate, Yourning resolves to stop the dangerous male lead before he becomes a threat.
• Her maid, Chun Tao, tells her that the returning young woman has arrived. Yourning heads to the Elegant Beauty Courtyard, where her parents are discussing the baby-switch.
• Before Yourning enters, her mother argues that the real daughter can be acknowledged, but Yourning should keep her status as the family’s fifth young miss.
• Yourning announces that she has heard about the switch and asks whether their biological daughter has returned. Her mother immediately tries to deny it.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning shifts from terror over her past-life death to hopeful determination. She recognizes the harm her character caused and begins acting with unusual kindness, though her cheerful mood also produces comic misunderstandings.
• Chun Tao is loyal and trusting, interpreting Yourning’s odd behavior as evidence that her mistress is kind.
• Lin Xiangyin, Yourning’s adoptive mother, shows strong attachment to the girl she raised and instinctively tries to protect her, even by hiding the truth.
• Jiang Huai’an appears stern and uncomfortable during the family’s discussion.

Character interactions

• Yourning urgently questions Chun Tao about the date and learns that the real heiress’s return marks the beginning of the original story.
• Yourning’s playful exchange with Chun Tao over finding a companion for the courtyard dog provides comic relief.
• Lin Xiangyin clashes with the situation—and implicitly with the real daughter’s interests—by insisting that Yourning retain her place in the household.
• Yourning confronts her parents openly about the switched-at-birth revelation, while Lin Xiangyin responds by attempting to conceal it.

Significant themes

• Fate and second chances: Yourning hopes that foreknowledge will let her avert the death she remembers.
• Family, belonging, and favoritism: The parents’ attachment to the daughter they raised threatens to disadvantage their biological daughter.
• Perspective and moral responsibility: Yourning can understand her mother’s love while also recognizing how that love hurt the heroine.
• Dark comedy: Yourning’s traumatic memories and high-stakes plans contrast with her cheerful, eccentric behavior.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Yourning learns that she and Jiang Wanrong were switched at birth. Her adoptive parents, Lin Xiangyin and Jiang Huai’an, reassure her that they still love her, while Jiang Huai’an suggests they could acknowledge Wanrong and keep her at a distance.
• Yourning urges them to recognize Wanrong properly and give her back the title of Fifth Miss. Her parents are moved by her apparent generosity and agree.
• The family goes to meet Wanrong, who has returned after years of traveling. Lin and Jiang embrace her tearfully, then listen as she explains how she discovered her identity through a longevity lock.
• Yourning privately reflects that Wanrong’s return should improve her life and recalls that Wanrong may also have come home over a matter involving her master and incense.
• Lin arranges for Wanrong to see a courtyard furnished like Yourning’s and plans a family celebration. Yourning offers to show her sister around.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning outwardly behaves as a sweet, considerate daughter, but inwardly she is sharp, skeptical, and determined to avoid the tragic fate she remembers from the novel. She uses her parents’ affection to steer them toward treating Wanrong fairly.
• Lin Xiangyin and Jiang Huai’an are intensely devoted to Yourning. Their initial response shows that their love for her can cloud their judgment, though Yourning’s prompting brings them to acknowledge Wanrong.
• Jiang Wanrong appears calm and self-possessed after a difficult, independent life. She is unsettled when she realizes Yourning’s private thoughts are somehow audible to her.

Significant themes

• Family, blood, and belonging: The chapter contrasts biological kinship with the affection built through years of raising a child.
• Doting love and poor judgment: Yourning’s parents’ affection is genuine but excessive enough to make them consider sidelining their biological daughter.
• Second chances and self-preservation: Yourning intends to change the grim fate she remembers for herself.
• Hidden thoughts and dramatic irony: Yourning’s internal commentary reveals information and judgments that the other characters cannot normally hear.

Character interactions

• Yourning gently but firmly persuades her parents to recognize Wanrong and restore her status, presenting herself as selfless while managing the family’s response.
• Lin and Jiang shower both daughters with affection, though their reunion with Wanrong becomes an emotional, tearful scene.
• Wanrong listens to Yourning’s words but is increasingly confused by the unexplained voice revealing knowledge of her past.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Wanrong moves into Bright Azure Courtyard beside Jiang Yourning’s. Overwhelmed by her family’s sudden kindness, she asks to spend some time alone; Yourning gives her space and arranges additional gifts for her.
• At dinner, Wanrong is welcomed by her parents and brothers, who present her with gifts. Jiang Li directs Yourning to take Wanrong to his courtyard to collect the items he supposedly had no time to prepare.
• Jiang Heng gives both sisters small boxes, but Yourning suspects his presents contain insects. The brothers’ gifts prompt Wanrong to wonder whether to open hers.
• Jiang Huai’an urges Wanrong to inspect her presents. She receives hair ornaments from Lin Xiangyin, deeds to two shops from her father, and a jade whistle from an unfamiliar man. She decides to open Jiang Heng’s box later.

Character developments and interactions

• Wanrong remains cautious and emotionally unsettled by the family’s warmth, but gradually feels more at ease. Yourning’s strange, irreverent thoughts amuse her and make her seem unexpectedly approachable.
• Yourning tries to welcome Wanrong through practical care and generous gifts. Her internal monologue reveals she knows details about the family’s future and hopes to benefit from Wanrong’s future strength.
• Jiang Li acts brusque while quietly offering Wanrong gifts from his courtyard; Yourning’s thoughts suggest he has a difficult romantic future ahead.
• Jiang Heng cheerfully gives gifts that may be insects, unaware of how unsettling they are to the sisters.
• The parents welcome Wanrong warmly and provide substantial gifts. The unfamiliar man also gives her a jade whistle, though his identity and purpose remain unclear.

Significant themes

• Belonging and adjustment: Wanrong is welcomed home, but kindness cannot instantly erase her uncertainty.
• Family affection expressed through gifts: Each relative shows care differently, from practical wealth to personal or eccentric presents.
• Contrasting perspectives: Warm family gestures are paired with Yourning’s comedic, future-aware inner commentary, creating humor and hints of coming complications.

Plot points and events

• The Jiang family shares a lavish dinner after Jiang Wanrong’s return. The family remains warm and welcoming, and Wanrong finds it surprisingly easy to address Lin Xiangyin as “Mother.”
• Jiang Yourning asks about their unfamiliar guest, Zhao Yi, a colleague of her third brother.
• Yourning’s unspoken thoughts reveal scandalous claims about Zhao Yi’s future: his father will betray him, his intended wife will become his father’s concubine, and Zhao Yi will become a eunuch. She also recalls him attacking a member of the Chu family.
• Zhao Yi is startled by Yourning’s thoughts and chokes; Wanrong does too. Yourning kindly gives Wanrong tea and comforts her.
• Embarrassed and troubled, Zhao Yi abruptly leaves the Jiang residence. Once outside, he tells his servant to arrange for a maid to care for his cousin and report her daily movements to him.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning is protective and sharp-tongued in her private thoughts, but caring in her actions—especially toward Wanrong. She also recognizes Zhao Yi’s name and seems aware of a possible future involving him.
• Jiang Wanrong grows more comfortable within the family and begins to rely on Yourning’s presence as reassurance. Yourning’s thoughts about Zhao Yi leave her feeling both shaken and sympathetic.
• Zhao Yi goes from polite guest to deeply unsettled listener. Though he rejects the accusations about his father and beloved cousin, the possibility that his father might target her makes him anxious enough to take precautions.

Significant themes

• Inner thoughts versus outward behavior: Yourning’s blunt, often outrageous thoughts contrast with her affectionate actions and are somehow heard by others.
• Family and belonging: Wanrong’s return is met with kindness, helping her settle into her role in the Jiang family.
• Fate and foreknowledge: Yourning’s apparent knowledge of Zhao Yi’s future raises the question of whether his tragic fate can be prevented.
• Humor through misunderstanding: The sisters’ reactions and Zhao Yi’s mortification turn ominous revelations into awkward comedy.

Character interactions

• Lin Xiangyin and Jiang Huai’an warmly welcome Wanrong into the family meal.
• Yourning teases Zhao Yi in her thoughts while he struggles to remain composed; Wanrong becomes caught up in the commotion.
• Yourning comforts Wanrong with tea and a reassuring pat.
• Zhao Yi leaves politely but in obvious distress, then orders his servant to monitor and protect his cousin.

Plot points and events

• After the midday banquet, Jiang Wanrong reflects on how warmly the Jiang family has treated her—contrary to her expectations—and feels guilty about having planned to use their influence and then leave.
• Jiang Yourning returns to her room and discovers that a bracelet-linked Tormented-Novel Character Breakdown System has arrived. It awards points when characters deviate from their established personalities, which can be spent in a shop or on prize draws.
• Yourning enthusiastically explores the system, while her laughter alarms her maid Chun Tao. The system, meanwhile, mutes her chatter and lets her work out its functions herself.
• After her nap, Yourning hears that a celebrated new courtesan, Fusheng, has appeared at Cloud Fragrance House. Remembering a key scene from the novel, she rushes out to witness it.
• She runs into Jiang Wanrong and claims she wants to buy peach-blossom pastries to share. In her thoughts, however, Yourning desperately urges Wanrong not to go out, fearing she will encounter a dangerous man and become entangled with him.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Wanrong is beginning to feel attached to her welcoming family, despite her original intention to treat them as a means to an end. She hears Yourning’s alarming inner thoughts and reacts with concern.
• Jiang Yourning remains playful and irreverent, but her knowledge of the novel makes her anxious to prevent its dangerous events. She hides that concern behind an innocent excuse.
• Chun Tao is devoted to Yourning but increasingly worries that her mistress is unwell, especially after hearing her strange laughter.
• The system is pragmatic and self-directed: it recognizes Yourning as an unusually capable host, then silences her while it relaxes.

Significant themes

• Fate versus intervention: Yourning knows the novel’s plot and tries to prevent its tragedies from repeating.
• Family and belonging: Wanrong’s unexpected welcome challenges her plan to remain emotionally detached.
• Comedy through contrast: Yourning’s cheerful antics and polite excuses clash with her dramatic, panicked inner monologue—and with the system’s indifference.

Key events

• Jiang Wanrong invites Jiang Yourning to accompany her to a tavern to collect something. Yourning goes partly to protect her sister, suspecting the meeting may involve a dangerous “main storyline.”
• The sisters shop on the way. Vendors initially fear Yourning, but relax when she behaves politely and pays for her purchases.
• At the tavern, Zhen Yueyao confronts Yourning, mocking her as a lowborn impostor. Chun Tao explains that the two have long been rivals: months earlier, Zhen’s fiancé fell for Yourning and broke off their engagement.
• Yourning recognizes that her past actions make her look like someone who stole another woman’s fiancé. She tries to avoid escalating the feud, but Zhen orders her maid to slap her.
• Yourning kicks the maid, sending her flying several meters, and reacts with amusement.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning is protective of Jiang Wanrong, quick-witted, and comically blunt. Though she tries to avoid trouble, she’s ready to defend herself once attacked.
• Jiang Wanrong is unsettled by Yourning’s strange, ruthless inner thoughts but begins to imagine standing up for herself. Her character-persona collapse rises from 3% to 23%.
• Zhen Yueyao is proud and openly hostile, nursing resentment over her broken engagement.
• Chun Tao remains a loyal, cooperative aide, supplying Yourning with the history she lacks.

Character interactions

• Yourning and Wanrong share an affectionate, protective bond, though Wanrong is baffled by her sister’s unusual way of thinking.
• Chun Tao helps Yourning navigate unfamiliar relationships and past events.
• Zhen attempts to humiliate Yourning, but Yourning’s restraint ends when Zhen orders an attack.

Significant themes

• Self-protection and sisterhood: Yourning accompanies Wanrong to shield her from danger.
• Reputation and mistaken identity: Yourning’s history as an adopted “impostor” and the broken engagement shape how others treat her.
• Comedy amid conflict: Yourning’s modern, irreverent inner commentary contrasts with the serious social feud.
• Persona versus reality: Wanrong’s growing willingness to act for herself signals a shift in her established character.

Plot and events

• Zhen Yueyao attacks Jiang Yourning, but Yourning calmly dodges. Yueyao crashes into a table, injures her hand, and is left disheveled.
• Yourning tells the gathered onlookers she never touched Yueyao; they agree that Yueyao started the fight. Humiliated and furious, Yueyao threatens revenge and leaves.
• Jiang Wanrong quietly approves of her younger sister’s composure, though she decides Yourning needs to learn subtler ways to handle enemies than fighting.
• At the Drunken Spring House, a young man in black tells the masked, white-haired Qing Qianxue about the Jiang family’s switched babies and a betrothal linking Xie Ciyan to the Jiang family’s fifth young lady.
• Qianxue urges Xie to honor the engagement, citing a divination that foretells a happy marriage if a “variable” is resolved. Xie refuses: he loves a gentle woman who once rescued him and intends to end the engagement.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning stays outwardly sweet and composed under provocation, using witnesses to protect herself rather than retaliating.
• Jiang Wanrong is protective of Yourning and recognizes that her impulsive temper could cause trouble, so she plans to teach her more strategic ways to respond.
• Zhen Yueyao is aggressive and easily overwhelmed by pain and public humiliation; she leaves vowing to continue the conflict.
• Xie Ciyan is devoted to his mysterious rescuer and dismisses both fate and his arranged marriage.
• Qing Qianxue is reserved and pragmatic, warning Xie that rejecting the predicted bond may bring lifelong regret.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts impulsive retaliation with strategic restraint, explores fate versus personal choice, and introduces romantic devotion that conflicts with family duty and an arranged engagement.

Key plot points and events

• Qing Qianxue tells Xie Ciyan that fate may be altered, but he can only offer a warning. Their conversation is interrupted by a message: Jiang Yourning and Jiang Wanrong have gone to the Cloud Fragrance House.
• Xie Ciyan is shocked that his betrothed is at a brothel and declares he will break off their engagement. Qing Qianxue struggles to hide his amusement.
• Jiang Yourning brings her cautious older sister, Jiang Wanrong, to the Cloud Fragrance House to watch the novel’s male lead being beaten. She pays Madam Chun for a private room with a clear view and promises they will leave unnoticed.
• While they wait, two performers entertain them. When two young men bring a man in black into the room opposite, Jiang Yourning dismisses the performers so she can watch.
• The man is stripped and forced to drink by two women. Jiang Yourning’s thoughts explain that his past mistreatment helped turn him into a ruthless figure, though she still wants him dead to protect herself.
• Jiang Wanrong feels pity—and a brief attraction—toward the man, but he looks across at her with chilling malice. She falls off her chair in fright, and her sympathy vanishes.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning remains bold, mischievous, and focused on survival. She treats the brothel visit as entertainment and is determined not to miss the spectacle.
• Jiang Wanrong is uneasy about visiting the brothel and worries their parents will find out. Learning of the male lead’s suffering softens her toward him, but his hostile gaze quickly frightens her.
• Xie Ciyan reacts dramatically to the news, turning shock into a threat to end his engagement.
• Qing Qianxue remains composed and reflective about fate, though the situation briefly tests his restraint.
• The sisters’ contrasting responses—Yourning’s cynical curiosity and Wanrong’s compassion—shape their view of the male lead.

Significant themes

• Fate and uncertainty: Qing Qianxue wonders whether a small change can free Ciyan from his destined path.
• Trauma and cruelty: The male lead’s abuse is presented as a cause of his later violence, without erasing the danger he poses.
• Appearance versus reality: A handsome, pitiable victim can also appear frightening and malicious.
• Comedy and tension: The brothel’s lively setting and Yourning’s irreverent inner monologue clash with the disturbing treatment of the male lead.

Plot points and events

• At the Cloud Fragrance House, Jiang Yourning and her sister Jiang Wanrong witness two well-dressed men beating the male lead and forcing wine down his throat. Yourning cheers the violence on in her thoughts—and briefly aloud—while Wanrong tries to keep her composure.
• Yourning considers confronting the male lead herself, but decides she wants to stay to see the courtesan Fusheng, whose future, she believes, includes entering the imperial harem.
• Chun Tao warns them that their brother Jiang Li has arrived with guards to catch them. Yourning tries to escape through a window, but Jiang Li finds her.
• Wanrong apologizes and takes responsibility alongside her sister. Jiang Li relents and orders them downstairs. Yourning pays the bill and tips two women before they leave.
• On the ride home, Jiang Li forces Yourning to cling to the carriage roof, supposedly to let her cool off. The rough journey leaves her nauseated. At the Jiang Residence, she complains to her mother, Lin Xiangyin, while Wanrong comforts her.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning remains impulsive, mischievous, and gleefully bloodthirsty in her inner monologue, but is also quick to panic when caught. She blames an unknown informant and feels guilty that Wanrong was dragged into trouble.
• Jiang Wanrong is increasingly protective and accepting of Yourning. She calmly apologizes to Jiang Li, then cares for her sister afterward; despite Yourning’s antics, she finds her endearing.
• Jiang Li appears stern and authoritative, arriving with guards, but ultimately lets the sisters go. His punishment of Yourning on the carriage roof is harsh and comic.
• Lin Xiangyin responds with immediate concern when the sisters return, while Jiang Huai’an follows with a grim expression.
• The sisters’ relationship grows warmer through their shared misadventure: Wanrong both worries over Yourning and gently tolerates her outrageous behavior.

Significant themes

• Comic contrast between thought and action: Yourning’s outrageous private commentary clashes with the restraint expected of her in public.
• Sisterly care and growing trust: Wanrong protects and supports Yourning even when her choices cause trouble.
• Rebellion versus family authority: The sisters’ outing is cut short by Jiang Li’s intervention, and Yourning’s comic punishment underscores the family’s control over her.
• Fate and foreknowledge: Yourning’s thoughts reveal what she believes will happen to Fusheng, hinting at wider events beyond this episode.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Yourning realizes her father, Jiang Huai’an, has caught wind of her mischief and fears punishment. She signals her sister Jiang Wanrong to help them escape.
• Wanrong pricks herself with a silver needle and convincingly faints. Yourning catches her, and their mother, Lin Xiangyin, panics and orders a doctor. The household’s attention shifts to Wanrong, allowing Yourning to return to her courtyard without being punished.
• Yourning checks the system and sees Wanrong’s persona-collapse progress rise to 58%, while the other family members’ progress barely changes. With 1,122 points, she buys a stash of snacks and a small wooden fish block.
• Chun Tao brings Doctor Wang to examine Yourning. The doctor finds her healthy and attributes her rapid pulse to excitement, and her vomiting to overeating and motion sickness.
• Determined to maintain the pretense that she is ill, Yourning blocks the doctor from leaving until he writes a prescription. He obliges with a list of animal brains, which Yourning suspects is a sly joke about her intelligence.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning is quick-thinking, theatrical, and opportunistic: she recruits Wanrong to divert the family, hides her snacks, and tries to persuade the doctor she is sick. Her thoughts reveal genuine affection and admiration for Wanrong, even amid the scheming.
• Jiang Wanrong shows resourcefulness and loyalty by staging her fainting spell. Though she cannot fully understand Yourning’s praise, she recognizes its warmth and smiles.
• Chun Tao is devoted to Yourning and backs her up with the doctor, even suggesting that he examine her head—an idea Yourning immediately rejects.
• Doctor Wang remains professional at first, but yields to Yourning’s insistence and writes a prescription whose brain-heavy ingredients seem to carry a teasing implication.

Significant themes

• Sisterly cooperation and affection: The sisters communicate through gestures and work together to protect each other.
• Performance and deception: Both girls use acting to navigate family authority, while Yourning continues to perform illness even after being declared healthy.
• Comic defiance of authority: Yourning’s schemes, extravagant snack purchases, and confrontation with the doctor turn potential punishment and medical concern into farce.

Key plot points and events

• After Doctor Wang prescribes fish-brain soup, Jiang Yourning grumbles about him but decides the household food is decent—and wonders if tofu would improve the soup.
• She uses the system’s points lottery, winning face masks, a stun baton, a Truth-Telling Pill, seasonings, and skincare products. Frustrated by several losing draws, she buys another batch.
• At dawn, Chun Tao and two nannies wake Jiang Yourning to sweep the back courtyard as punishment for the previous day’s visit to a brothel. She learns that Young Marquis Xie Ciyan, her family’s childhood betrothed, caught them there.
• Jiang Yourning tells Chun Tao to alert her whenever Xie Ciyan visits the residence, apparently because she recognizes his role in the story’s romantic plot.
• Her father withholds her fish-brain soup as punishment, but Jiang Yourning is unconcerned, knowing she can obtain food through her system.
• In the courtyard, she finds her elder sister Jiang Wanrong already sweeping. Wanrong explains she went to pay respects early, hoping to make a good impression, but was still punished.
• Jiang Yourning shares system-provided breakfast—pan-fried buns, savory crepes, and soy milk—with her hungry sister. Wanrong is amazed by the food and wonders how Yourning managed to bring it along.
• Yourning privately considers taking over a tavern and training cooks, hinting at plans to turn her culinary knowledge into a business.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning remains irreverent, self-assured, and resourceful. She treats punishment lightly, relies on the system for supplies, and begins thinking entrepreneurially.
• Jiang Wanrong appears earnest and eager to please her parents. Yourning’s teasing thoughts prompt her to reconsider how she might handle family discipline, while the shared meal deepens her curiosity about her sister’s abilities.
• Chun Tao is loyal and readily follows Yourning’s instructions. The nannies show affection and concern despite the family’s punishment.

Significant themes

• Modern ingenuity in a traditional setting: Yourning uses the system’s goods and knowledge to navigate life in the household.
• Family discipline and competing approaches: Wanrong seeks approval through obedience, while Yourning responds to punishment with humor and confidence.
• Sisterly care: Yourning feeds Wanrong and offers reassurance, creating a warmer connection between them.
• Story awareness and fate: Yourning recognizes Xie Ciyan as a significant figure in the romantic plot and starts tracking his visits.

Character interactions

• Yourning jokes about Doctor Wang with Chun Tao, then instructs her to monitor the front courtyard for Xie Ciyan.
• The nannies gently warn Yourning about her father’s anger and the consequences of her previous escapade.
• Yourning teases and reassures Wanrong, then shares breakfast with her; Wanrong is impressed by both the food and Yourning’s apparent resourcefulness.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Yourning and her sister Jiang Wanrong decide to turn a Poison Heart Valley tavern in the capital into a business, enthusiastically imagining renovations, menus, profits, and future branches.
• Chun Tao reports that Xie Ciyan has arrived to end his engagement with the Jiang family. Yourning is delighted and goes to watch, while her maid mistakenly assumes she intends to win him back.
• In the reception hall, Xie tells Jiang Huai’an that the engagement should be quietly dissolved, citing rumors that Jiang Huai’an’s daughter visited Spring House. Jiang Huai’an questions whether this decision comes from Xie’s grandfather.
• Listening from behind a rockery, Yourning thinks about Xie’s tragic future: he will later rebel to save Wanrong from the palace and die horribly. Xie senses someone nearby and throws a teacup toward them.
• Yourning steps forward, politely introduces herself, and frames her visit as protecting her sister from a potential future regretful suitor. Her confident praise of the Jiang daughters softens her parents’ reaction.
• Xie insists on exchanging the betrothal tokens. Yourning takes both tokens and declares the engagement ended, telling him to leave. Her coughing and the chapter’s closing hint suggest she is about to stage some kind of reveal.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning is bold, quick-witted, and intent on steering events. She supports her sister, uses humor and deception to manage the adults, and appears to have a plan beyond simply ending the engagement.
• Jiang Wanrong begins to grasp the danger ahead after hearing Yourning’s revelations about her possible fate and Xie’s eventual sacrifice. She remains uncertain but is clearly affected.
• Xie Ciyan is confident and impatient, but Yourning’s unexplained inner voice unsettles him. He begins to suspect she may be the source of it.
• Jiang Huai’an and Lin Xiangyin initially try to keep Yourning out of adult affairs, but they are receptive to her defense of the family’s daughters.

Significant themes

• Fate and foreknowledge: Yourning’s knowledge of future events shapes how she views Xie and Wanrong.
• Family loyalty and protection: Yourning intervenes to protect her sister and defend the Jiang family’s dignity.
• Agency and self-determination: The sisters plan a business, while the engagement’s dissolution raises the question of who controls their futures.
• Comedy and dramatic irony: Yourning’s irreverent inner commentary contrasts with formal negotiations, and Xie hears her thoughts without understanding their source.

Character interactions

• Yourning and Wanrong bond over their business plans and the frightening future Yourning has revealed.
• Yourning challenges Xie’s attempt to end the engagement on his terms, turning the exchange of tokens into a public declaration of the Jiang family’s independence.
• Xie’s suspicion grows as he repeatedly hears Yourning’s private thoughts, while the other people present remain unaware of them.

Key plot points

• Jiang Wanrong appears just after Xie Ciyan has broken off their engagement. Realizing she is the “little fairy” he has been searching for, Xie immediately regrets his decision.
• Jiang Huai’an turns Xie’s own insults back on him and refuses to reconsider the match, sending him away.
• Jiang Yourning confronts Xie from atop the residence wall and offers to pass along his apology for 10,000 taels. Xie readily pays with a jade pendant redeemable at the Anping Bank.
• Yourning tells him Wanrong has heard and accepted his apology. Xie asks for another chance, but Wanrong says she must respect her parents’ authority and leaves without agreeing to revive the engagement.
• Yourning privately advises Xie that Wanrong may care for him, but he will need to earn both her and her parents’ trust over the next two years.

Character developments

• Xie Ciyan shifts from arrogant certainty to regret and humility. He admits his mistake, apologizes, pays Yourning, and sincerely seeks another chance with Wanrong.
• Jiang Wanrong maintains her composure and dignity. Though visibly affected by Xie’s apology, she neither rushes into reconciliation nor disregards her parents.
• Jiang Yourning proves perceptive and confident, using humor and negotiation to help her sister while setting clear conditions for Xie.
• Jiang Huai’an regains his authority after initially enduring Xie’s disrespect; he firmly rejects the young marquis’s attempt to reverse the broken engagement.

Significant themes

• Actions have consequences: Xie’s impulsive rejection immediately costs him a relationship he now values.
• Dignity and family authority: Wanrong’s feelings matter, but she insists that marriage decisions involve her parents.
• Accountability and making amends: A sincere apology is a start, but Xie must also repair the harm he caused.
• Humor and reversal: Yourning’s inner commentary and Xie’s rapid change of fortune turn the engagement breakup into a comic comeuppance.

Character interactions

• Wanrong’s brief, dignified confrontation makes Xie recognize whom he has rejected.
• Jiang Huai’an rebukes Xie by echoing his earlier disparaging remarks about Wanrong.
• Yourning acts as intermediary and adviser, extracting compensation for the sisters’ humiliation while giving Xie a possible path to reconciliation.
• Xie’s apology moves Wanrong, but her response remains cautious; the chapter ends with him hopeful yet still needing to win over the family.

Key plot points and events

• Xie Ciyan thanks Jiang Yourning for her advice and gives her a jade pendant that can be exchanged for up to fifty thousand taels at Anping Bank. Jiang Yourning is delighted and briefly wins his approval by praising him as a good match for her sister.
• On her way back to relax, Jiang Yourning is summoned to the front hall to meet the Duchess of Zhen, mother of Zhen Yueyao, whose family is powerful and wealthy.
• The duchess insults Jiang Yourning, calling her poorly bred and comparing her to a pheasant. Jiang Yourning answers with a pointed remark about the duchess looking much older than Lin Xiangyin.
• The duchess demands an antidote, claiming Zhen Yueyao woke with a poisoned rash and accusing Jiang Yourning because the two clashed the day before.
• Jiang Yourning denies the accusation, arguing that she confronts enemies openly rather than resorting to poison. Jiang Huai’an backs her and warns that he may raise the matter with Duke Zhen.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning remains cheeky, self-assured, and quick-witted. She enjoys her new wealth, but becomes cautious when she learns Zhen Yueyao’s family has noble status and may prove dangerous.
• Xie Ciyan is buoyed by Jiang Yourning’s approval of him as a potential match for her sister.
• Lin Xiangyin is fiercely protective of Jiang Yourning, masking her anger at the duchess behind a calm, polite defense.
• Jiang Huai’an also stands firmly behind his daughter and challenges the duchess’s accusation.
• The Duchess of Zhen arrives already hostile and grows more enraged when Jiang Yourning mocks her. Her demand for an antidote appears driven by resentment as much as concern for her daughter.

Significant themes

• Family loyalty: Jiang Yourning’s parents defend her against an outsider’s attack.
• Sharp words and social power: The scene uses humor and insults to challenge status and authority, while Jiang Yourning’s family connections protect her from being easily bullied.
• Reputation versus accusation: The duchess relies on circumstantial suspicion, while Jiang Yourning points to her reputation for confronting people directly.
• Wealth and danger: Xie Ciyan’s gift brings sudden good fortune, but Jiang Yourning recognizes that powerful, wealthy families can also bring trouble.

Character interactions

• Jiang Yourning flatters Xie Ciyan, who responds with renewed confidence.
• Chun Tao acts as a practical foil, correcting Jiang Yourning and reminding her of the Zhen family’s status.
• The duchess and Jiang Yourning trade barbed remarks, while Lin Xiangyin and Jiang Huai’an step in to protect their daughter.
• The chapter ends with the accusation unresolved, as Jiang Huai’an challenges the duchess to justify her visit.

Plot points and events

• Duke’s wife Sun Changyan accuses Jiang Yourning of involvement in poisoning and insists Yourning humiliated her daughter. Yourning sharply challenges her claims, and Sun leaves threatening to seek imperial justice if evidence emerges.
• Yourning apologizes to her parents for causing trouble, then secretly decides to retaliate for Sun calling her a “pheasant.”
• Using a disguise pill and a stun baton, Yourning follows Sun to a busy clothing shop. She incapacitates Sun and her maid, then uses a System Shop item to make Sun vanish via “express delivery.” Yourning leaves without buying a garment because her maid is carrying her money.
• She reunites with Chun Tao, shares chestnuts only so Chun Tao will peel them, and returns home.
• At lunch, the family learns Sun is missing. Yourning privately claims responsibility and recalls that Sun will later endanger her sister by sending beggars after her. Jiang Wanrong overhears this through Yourning’s thoughts and is shocked.
• Wanrong suggests helping the unknown person responsible and protecting the family from suspicion. Jiang Huai’an agrees to send people to search discreetly.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning is bold, quick-witted, vindictive, and shamelessly practical. She shifts from defending herself to carrying out a secret revenge, while keeping up an innocent front with her family.
• Sun Changyan leaves frustrated and threatening, only to be abducted by Yourning shortly afterward.
• Jiang Huai’an and Lin Xiangyin trust and sympathize with Yourning; Lin is openly pleased by Sun’s disappearance and praises whoever caused it.
• Jiang Wanrong is startled by the revelation of Yourning’s future plan and responds cleverly, appearing concerned for the unknown culprit while also looking out for her sister.
• Chun Tao remains devoted but is frightened when Yourning disappears; Yourning treats her affectionately, if selfishly.

Significant themes

• Revenge and justice: Yourning retaliates immediately for insults and hints that Sun’s future harm to Wanrong makes the revenge more than personal.
• Deception and secrecy: Disguise, hidden motives, and Yourning’s concealed role drive the comedy and suspense.
• Family loyalty: The Jiang family rallies around Yourning, and Wanrong’s concern suggests reciprocal protectiveness.
• Comedy through shamelessness: Yourning’s brazen attitude—from magical abduction to making Chun Tao peel her chestnuts—keeps the chapter’s tone playful.

Plot and events

• Jiang Wanrong realizes her younger sister, Jiang Yourning, abducted the duchess partly to avenge her—but also hopes the resulting chaos will let her steal the duke’s enormous fortune.
• Jiang Yourning is especially pleased that the authorities seem unlikely to identify her, though Wanrong worries about her sister’s reckless vow to accept a grotesque punishment if she is caught.
• The Jiang household learns that the duchess has been found alive and unharmed at the Spring Breeze House, a brothel. She was unconscious and has since been too distressed to explain what happened.
• The authorities’ trail ended at the Embroidered Garments Workshop. The duchess’s escort fainted after her waist went numb, but a physician found no injury. Staff at the brothel had never seen the duchess and could not explain how she appeared there.
• The family is astonished by how completely the duchess vanished without leaving evidence.

Character development and interactions

• Jiang Wanrong feels grateful that Yourning sought revenge for her, but also increasingly alarmed by her sister’s bizarre methods and greed. She struggles to hide what she knows because she can hear Yourning’s thoughts.
• Jiang Yourning appears vindictive and audacious, treating the abduction as both revenge and a chance to profit from the duke’s estate.
• Lin Xiangyin, Wanrong’s mother, openly regrets that the duchess was not harmed more severely; her excitement is so obvious that Wanrong judges her a clumsy schemer. Lin also shows Wanrong a rare moment of genuine maternal concern.
• Jiang Huai’an warns the younger children not to ask about the brothel, then grows troubled by the authorities’ inability to find clues. Jiang Heng, a young schoolboy, innocently asks what kind of place it is.
• Wanrong’s internal reactions—nearly choking as she listens to Yourning’s thoughts—provide much of the chapter’s comedy and underline her growing sense of estrangement from the Jiang family.

Significant themes

• Revenge and greed: Yourning’s apparent retaliation quickly expands into a plan to seize the duke’s wealth.
• Secrecy and suspicion: Wanrong must conceal her knowledge of Yourning’s thoughts while the family and authorities search for answers.
• Dark comedy: The family’s blunt reactions to the duchess’s disappearance contrast with the absurdity of Yourning’s schemes.
• Appearance versus reality: The duchess’s mysterious transfer leaves no trace, making the truth far stranger than the authorities can imagine.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Li, the Jiang family’s third young master, has gone with Zhao to investigate the strange case at the Duke’s residence and may stay out all night.
• Jiang Yourning secretly plans to raid the Duke’s residence, hoping to take advantage of the disorder there. Jiang Wanrong realizes what she may be doing but decides not to stop her, resolving to wait two hours before asking their parents to intervene.
• Yourning slips out after giving Chun Tao a knockout drug. She uses disguise pills to reach the Duke’s residence, then an expensive Invisibility Cloak to enter unseen.
• The household is in turmoil after the Duchess’s crisis. Yourning quietly clears rooms of their contents, using a compass to avoid areas marked as dangerous.
• A tethered dog detects her and barks. Still frightened by dogs from past experience, Yourning abandons the raid and runs.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning is bold, opportunistic, and comically focused on wealth, but her fear of dogs overrides her careful plan.
• Jiang Wanrong shows concern for her sister while also understanding her motives; she reluctantly lets Yourning go, with a contingency plan to rescue her.
• Jiang Li remains absent, pursuing the investigation with Zhao.
• Yourning tricks Chun Tao into sleeping, fools the gate guard with her invisibility, and unwittingly alarms the dog.

Significant themes

• Greed and risk: Yourning is willing to trespass and steal, but the raid is far less straightforward than she expects.
• Family concern: Wanrong balances respect for her sister’s choices with a plan to protect her.
• Comic contrast: Yourning’s elaborate magical preparations and confidence collapse as soon as a dog barks.

Key plot points and events

• While fleeing the Duke’s estate after a failed attempt to steal a treasure, Jiang Yourning hides from approaching pursuers by climbing a wall. A barking dog startles her, and she falls onto the roof of a passing carriage.
• The carriage belongs to Qing Qianxue, a masked, white-haired man suffering from a severe cold affliction. He hears Jiang’s thoughts, presses a hidden button, and drops her into the carriage.
• Qing’s affliction leaves him barely conscious and desperately cold. He clings to the invisible Jiang for warmth, removes his mask, and carries her into his residence despite her silent protests.
• His guard, Qian Yan, sees Qing leave the carriage apparently holding empty air. Worried that the affliction has affected his master’s mind, he rushes to find help.
• In Qing’s room, Jiang recognizes him as the Grand Imperial Preceptor Qing Qianxue, a prominent figure from the novel who is destined to die early.

Character developments

• Jiang Yourning remains resourceful and observant, but her luck repeatedly fails her. Her private commentary mixes fear, indignation, and comic fascination with Qing’s appearance.
• Qing Qianxue is introduced as powerful but physically vulnerable during his affliction. Though barely conscious, he instinctively seeks warmth and responds to Jiang’s thoughts.
• Qian Yan appears loyal and protective, but his confusion at Qing’s strange behavior makes him fear the affliction has compromised his master.

Significant themes

• Fate and bad luck: Jiang escapes one danger only to stumble into another.
• Appearance versus circumstance: Qing looks imposing and otherworldly, yet is helplessly cold and dependent on warmth.
• Comic dramatic irony: Jiang is invisible, so Qing’s guard sees him carrying what appears to be nothing; Qing can hear Jiang’s thoughts, while she believes herself unheard.
• The novel’s predetermined future: Jiang recognizes Qing as a doomed character, hinting that his fate may become important.

Character interactions

• Jiang silently protests as Qing holds her for warmth, while Qing’s half-conscious murmurs and actions show he is unaware—or unable to care—that she is resisting.
• Qing’s guard checks on him and offers to carry him, but Qing refuses and walks inside with the invisible Jiang in his arms.
• Jiang’s internal remarks provide the chapter’s humor and establish her uneasy connection with the mysterious Qing Qianxue.

Key plot points

• Jiang Yourning tries to sneak away from Qing Qianxue, but he catches her and returns her to bed. The system explains that his cold affliction has left him disoriented: he sees her only as a source of warmth.
• The system says she can leave once Qing Qianxue’s condition eases, but it detects an unexplained anomaly and stops responding. Jiang Yourning removes her invisibility cloak and waits.
• Qing Qianxue goes to an underground medicinal hot-spring pool to suppress his illness. While he is occupied, Jiang Yourning attempts to escape, but voices outside announce the arrival of Divine Physician Ye and another attendant. She hides back in bed, fearing discovery.
• At the Jiang Residence, Jiang Wanrong waits late into the night for Jiang Yourning. When she checks her room, she finds the bed empty and realizes Jiang Yourning is missing.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning shifts from panic to reluctant patience, then seizes the chance to escape. Her comic inner monologue—especially her efforts to earn “merit” while staring at Qing Qianxue—shows her irreverent, easily distracted nature.
• Qing Qianxue remains largely unaware of Jiang Yourning as a person while ill, treating her as warmth. He leaves for a painful medicinal treatment, giving her a temporary opportunity to flee.
• The system returns briefly with an explanation, but its unexplained data error and subsequent silence leave Jiang Yourning without reliable help.
• Jiang Wanrong, worried by Jiang Yourning’s absence, searches her room and is alarmed to find her gone. Meanwhile, attendants summon Divine Physician Ye to examine Qing Qianxue as his illness appears to be worsening.

Significant themes

• Comic contrast: Jiang Yourning’s modern, irreverent thoughts clash with the serious setting of Qing Qianxue’s illness.
• Vulnerability and uncertainty: Qing Qianxue’s disorientation, the system’s failure, and Jiang Yourning’s precarious concealment all heighten the uncertainty surrounding her situation.
• Separation and worry: Jiang Yourning’s disappearance creates anxiety at the Jiang Residence, while the people around Qing Qianxue fear his condition is deteriorating.

Plot points

• Jiang Yourning’s disappearance causes alarm at both the Jiang Residence and the imperial court. Her father, Jiang Huai’an, and Duke Zhen each accuse the other family of involvement, prompting the emperor to order an investigation. The cases prove unrelated: Duke Zhen’s complaint was mainly a public show of support for his missing wife, while the Jiang family remains genuinely frantic.
• Yourning wakes in Qing Qianxue’s room, discovers her invisibility cloak has run out, and sneaks away while Qing sleeps.
• Xie Ciyan finds her and offers to help her leave the National Preceptor’s Residence. Yourning’s unspoken account of Qing carrying her off, tying her up, and keeping her overnight shocks Xie, who realizes that Qing’s aloof public image may hide a startlingly different side.
• Xie takes Yourning to the Hall of Rejuvenation. To disguise her, she wears ragged clothes and messy hair, though her face and hands are clean. She eats noodles with her homemade chili oil; Xie is so tempted by it that he orders several bowls for himself. The Jiang family hears she has been found and rushes to the Hall.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yourning remains resourceful and irreverent: she plans her escape, trusts Xie to help, and uses her chili oil to improve the noodles.
• Xie Ciyan is helpful but increasingly bewildered by what he learns about Qing. He can hear Yourning’s thoughts, though she does not know it, creating a comic mismatch between her private remarks and his reactions.
• Qing Qianxue does not appear awake in the chapter, but Yourning’s account casts doubt on his serene, untouchable reputation.
• The Jiang family is shown as deeply worried about Yourning, while the dispute between Jiang Huai’an and Duke Zhen briefly turns their separate troubles into a court matter.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Qing’s public image conflicts with Yourning’s description of his behavior.
• Comic dramatic irony: Yourning’s thoughts are private to her, but Xie hears them and reacts.
• Family anxiety and misunderstanding: A missing person sparks accusations before the facts are known.
• Resourcefulness and everyday pleasures: Yourning adapts to a dangerous situation and finds comfort—and a new admirer—in a bowl of spicy noodles.