Chapter Summaries

Plot and character arc

Su Fuling returns to the Flourishing Kingdom determined to seize its throne, still convinced that the woman who called herself “not her Yuer” must be her lost little sister. She takes command of a hastily assembled army and visits Great Yu’s camp, where General Jiang Yunzhou—once ready to execute her—welcomes her after learning she is connected to Yu’er. He agrees to help her, especially after she says Yu’er believes she could make a good empress.
Fuling and Jiang secretly stage a series of border victories: Great Yu’s soldiers disguise themselves as Flourishing Kingdom troops, allowing Fuling to claim three cities and return home celebrated as a general. She continues helping the Crown Prince eliminate his rivals, but his attempt to kill the old emperor fails, and he is executed. Using evidence of her supposed imperial ancestry, Fuling helps a five-year-old prince take the throne and effectively governs in his place. When she briefly yields power, the young emperor’s chaotic rule prompts officials to beg her to resume control.
When the Yu Kingdom threatens again, Fuling secures the throne in return for ending the war. She leads the campaign herself and forces the enemy to retreat. As empress, she stabilizes the court, reduces taxes, promotes agriculture, and oversees a period of growing prosperity. In her third year, the two kingdoms sign a treaty of peace and trade. Fuling later refuses pressure to produce an heir, while enjoying the handsome, useful young men sent to her court.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Fuling evolves from a calculating political schemer into a capable sovereign who earns support through military leadership and improvements to ordinary people’s lives. She remains ambitious, mischievous, and fond of beauty.
• Jiang Yunzhou shifts from suspicion to enthusiastic support, trusting Fuling because of his devotion to Yu’er. He even helps devise the deceptive military campaign.
• The young emperor proves unable to govern responsibly, reinforcing Fuling’s authority. The officials who once resented her eventually recognize that the kingdom depends on her.
• Yu’er and Yuer remain important emotional touchstones for Fuling. She keeps a sweet, Yu’er-like girl close despite her brother’s plans to take her away, and jokes to herself that the two sisters are like one person split in two.

Themes

The chapter emphasizes female authority and political legitimacy: Fuling becomes the first empress not through tradition, but by demonstrating competence. It also contrasts courtly power struggles with public welfare; common people care less about the ruler’s gender than the taxes, farming, and stability that affect their lives. Finally, the story blends loyalty, sisterly affection, and comic self-interest, showing Fuling’s sincere attachment to Yu’er alongside her irreverent ambition and enjoyment of courtly romance.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Yaoyao is fiercely sought after by her relatives, who distrust her mother’s reliability and want to raise her themselves. Her father uses a trick to keep her at home.
• Yaoyao sees her parents’ affectionate behavior as unfair favoritism: her mother can easily charm her father out of anger, while Yaoyao’s imitation earns her a spanking. After she once burns down the kitchen, her mother later laughs at her attempt to copy her.
• With advice from Brother Ye, Yaoyao persuades her many relatives to plead for custody. Her mother agrees to let her spend twenty days each month with them, giving Yaoyao a lively social life and frequent escapes from her father.
• Yaoyao plays matchmaker for Cousin Yuan—whom she calls Brother Wukong—and Miss Chen. After engineering a meeting, she helps them grow closer; Yuan gives her a dagger and asks her to visit him often.
• At the Jiang Residence, Yaoyao sees her mother and honorary grandmother ambush her matchmaking-averse eldest uncle with a courtyard full of eligible young women. Sitting with Yaoyao on a rockery, he confides that he once loved someone but gave up because their families and countries made a future impossible.

Character developments and interactions

• Yaoyao is mischievous, observant, and socially resourceful. She uses her relatives’ affection to gain freedom and eagerly interferes in other people’s romances.
• Her mother is playful and permissive, while her father is strict with Yaoyao but easily softened by his wife—fueling Yaoyao’s comic sense that she is an unwanted extra.
• Yaoyao’s bond with her extended family grows as she visits them, and her matchmaking brings her closer to Yuan and Miss Chen.
• The eldest uncle’s matchmaking episode reveals a more vulnerable side: beneath his avoidance of marriage lies an old, unresolved love.

Significant themes

• Family love and rivalry: Relatives compete to care for Yaoyao, each convinced they know what is best for her.
• Children’s perspective on adult romance: Yaoyao misunderstands her parents’ private affection and treats courtship as a game she can manage.
• Comedy alongside regret: Her schemes and observations create humor, while her uncle’s confession introduces the pain of love blocked by duty and circumstance.

Plot points and events

• As a child, Chu Yaoyao learns that her eldest uncle and the woman he loved stayed apart because they chose duty to their countries over romance. She promises to keep the story secret—but accidentally tells her gossip-loving mother, who reacts with a dramatic fall.
• Years later, Yaoyao’s parents and many other relatives leave their children behind to travel, claiming it is time for the young to take over. Yaoyao sees through their excuses: they want time alone with their partners.
• Yaoyao quietly helps her fourth uncle, a former wastrel trying to reform his reputation, get closer to Sister Lan. Since Lan has feelings for him but doubts his reliability, Yaoyao secretly engineers encounters to test him.
• Two years later, Yaoyao and the other young relatives receive word that their elders have gathered at the frontier to reunite with her eldest uncle. The children sneak out of the city and travel there, dragging their guards along.
• The frontier’s open landscapes and freedom charm Yaoyao. At the main camp, she discovers her eldest uncle has finally met a bold, free-spirited woman who seems well suited to him. Yaoyao hopes their future child will give her an excuse to stay longer.

Character developments

• Yaoyao grows from a curious child into a self-assured young woman who embraces her mother’s matchmaking talent and develops her own schemes.
• Her eldest uncle’s long-awaited romantic reunion brings a new chapter to his life after years of separation and duty.
• Her fourth uncle is earnestly trying to make amends for his former recklessness, though his grandmother remains convinced he deserves his hardships.
• Yaoyao discovers a genuine affection for the frontier and imagines making a life there.

Themes

• Duty and love: Her eldest uncle’s past shows how responsibility can outweigh romance, while his eventual reunion suggests love may endure.
• Family and matchmaking: The younger generation inherits the elders’ tangled relationships—and Yaoyao proudly continues her mother’s matchmaking work.
• Freedom and belonging: The frontier’s vastness inspires Yaoyao, who feels drawn to a place far from the Capital.
• Comic family life: The relatives’ romantic escapades, absentee parenting, and Yaoyao’s matchmaking schemes keep the ending playful.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao’s attempt to preserve her uncle’s confidence collapses when she tells her mother the story; the family’s gossip and matchmaking instincts shape events afterward.
• She acts as Sister Lan’s covert ally, arranging trials and encounters to help her assess the reformed fourth uncle.
• The children conspire to travel to the frontier, while their guards are once again forced to accompany them.
• At the frontier, Yaoyao recognizes that her uncle’s new partner may give him the companionship he has long lacked—and may give Yaoyao a reason to remain there too.