Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Jian Ruonan discovers that the boy’s father, initially mistaken for a troublesome parent, has arranged the confrontation so he can abduct and assault Lü Xinxiang.
• Lü Xinxiang’s former fiancé, Dai Lümao, arrives. Although he clearly still cares for her, he watches coldly and accuses her of being fickle rather than helping.
• When Loser Guy throws Lü Xinxiang onto a bed and attacks her, Jian Ruonan calls for help and urges Dai Lümao to intervene. He insists Lü Xinxiang beg him and call him “Fifth Master”; she complies, and he finally kicks Loser Guy away.
• Loser Guy claims he is a ninth-rank official and demands compensation. Dai Lümao reveals a seventh-rank official’s token, frightening him into begging for mercy.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains quick-witted and theatrical, using a loud cry for help to prompt Dai Lümao into action. She also recognizes that his insults mask lingering love.
• Dai Lümao reveals his unresolved attachment to Lü Xinxiang, but his pride and resentment make him cruel and performative before he helps her.
• Lü Xinxiang is portrayed as helpless and frightened in the assault, yet ultimately asks Dai Lümao for help despite the humiliating conditions he imposes.
• Loser Guy is exposed as a predatory bully who exploits his low-level official position; he becomes submissive when faced with Dai Lümao’s superior rank.
• Nianshu tries to protect his mother but is pushed aside. The onlookers—including Dantai Mo, Xuan Xiaowu, and the princesses—comment on the scene; Dantai Mo nearly draws his sword but is restrained so Jian Ruonan can continue her “performance.”

Significant themes

• The chapter condemns sexual violence, abuse of authority, and the exploitation of social power.
• Its comic “gossip-watcher” commentary contrasts with the serious danger Lü Xinxiang faces.
• Pride, jealousy, and unresolved love complicate Dai Lümao’s relationship with Lü Xinxiang, while official rank determines how quickly the attacker is subdued.

Plot points and events

• Dai Lümao drives off Loser Guy and his entourage, but tells them to leave the bed behind. Lü Xinxiang and her two daughters remain in the courtyard, distressed.
• Dai reveals that he expects something in return for helping Lü Xinxiang. He insults her, accuses her of seducing men, and questions her children’s parentage.
• Dai’s lewd attention turns into an assault on Lü Xinxiang. Her daughters beg Jian Ruonan to help, and Jian sits down to offer “talk therapy.”
• Jian bluntly condemns Dai for forcing himself on Lü Xinxiang and blaming her for it. Dai threatens her with his official rank, but Jian’s intervention somehow causes him to collapse in a daze, imagining that Lü Xinxiang has become his great-grandmother.
• The Commandery Prince’s Heir arrives. He recognizes Lü Xinxiang, whom he has searched for over six years, and embraces her, vowing not to leave her again.
• Learning that Dai nearly raped Lü Xinxiang, the Heir turns on him. Jian warns that it is time for the Dai family to go bankrupt.

Character developments

• Jian Ruonan shifts from detached observer to outspoken defender, using sharp insults and apparent supernatural intervention to stop Dai’s assault. Her “talk therapy” is more theatrical than compassionate.
• Lü Xinxiang is frightened and humiliated, but is reunited with the Commandery Prince’s Heir, suggesting that she has an important shared past with him.
• Dai Lümao is exposed as a hypocritical, predatory official who abuses his status; his threat against Jian ends in a humiliating collapse.
• The Commandery Prince’s Heir reveals deep, enduring affection for Lü Xinxiang and responds with fury when he learns she was threatened.
• Dantai Mo knowingly delays the Heir’s arrival to preserve the spectacle, while the medicine boys and onlookers support Jian’s condemnation.

Significant themes

• Victim-blaming and hypocrisy: Dai assaults Lü Xinxiang while accusing her of tempting him, and Jian calls out his attempt to evade responsibility.
• Power and accountability: Dai’s official rank fails to protect him once the Heir learns what he has done.
• Justice and protection: Lü Xinxiang’s daughters appeal for help, and Jian intervenes when she is in danger.
• Romantic reunion and revenge: The Heir’s six-year search culminates in a reunion, immediately followed by a threat against the Dai family.

Character interactions

• Lü Xinxiang’s daughters seek Jian’s help; Jian responds by intervening against Dai.
• Jian openly challenges Dai, while the medicine boys and servants silently back her up.
• Dai’s nephew–uncle relationship with the Commandery Prince’s Heir becomes a source of danger: the Heir arrives as Dai’s victimized relative’s protector.
• The Heir and Lü Xinxiang reunite emotionally, and Jian directs the Heir’s anger toward Dai.

Plot points and events

• Dai Lümao is arrested after bullying Xinxiang and threatening Jian Ruonan. The Commandery Prince’s Heir, furious on Xinxiang’s behalf, also has Young Master Dick brought in.
• As the Heir prepares to mutilate both men, Jian Ruonan and the Eldest Princess point out how much Nianshu and Niansan resemble him. The children’s names also suggest they are thinking of “Uncle Three,” and the Heir gleefully concludes that Xinxiang has kept him in her heart.
• The Heir’s anger flares again when he learns the men hurt Nianshu. He orders them and their families punished, insisting, “I am the law!” He even cuts off two of Dai Lümao’s fingers.
• Crown Prince’s Guards intervene, send the accused back for trial, and order the Heir to copy the law five hundred times.
• Afterwards, Dantai Mo pursues Jian Ruonan to speak privately. She tries several excuses to leave, but he offers to help with her laundry and accompany her to dinner with her maternal grandfather. She finally spots her mother, Min.

Character developments and interactions

• The Commandery Prince’s Heir shifts from rage at the men who harmed Xinxiang to elation at the possibility that Nianshu and Niansan are his descendants. His devotion becomes dangerously violent, exposing his belief that status places him above the law.
• Jian Ruonan protects Xinxiang and the children while repeatedly reminding the Heir that his actions are illegal. She is sharp and irreverent, and later clearly tries to avoid Dantai Mo’s personal conversation.
• Nianshu and Niansan speak up for their mother and brother; their resemblance to the Heir changes the course of the confrontation.
• Dantai Mo backs Jian Ruonan’s judgment and later seeks time alone with her, though his composed manner conceals his nervousness.
• The Eldest Princess, medicine boys, servants, and onlookers join the confrontation or observe it, adding to the scene’s comic confusion and gossip.

Significant themes

• Justice versus power: The Heir’s “I am the law” is challenged by the Crown Prince’s Guards, who insist on trial and legal accountability.
• Protection and family: The Heir’s fierce response to Xinxiang’s mistreatment—and his sudden hope of having children—shows how strongly family ties motivate him, even when his actions become excessive.
• Comedy through dramatic irony: The disguised identities, the Heir’s failure to recognize people around him, and Jian Ruonan’s blunt inner commentary turn a violent scene into farce.

Key events

• Jian Ruonan eagerly joins her mother, Min, on a visit to her maternal grandfather’s birthday celebration. Min suspects something has changed between Ruonan and Crown Prince Dantai Mo, but learns their relationship has not improved.
• At her relatives’ home, Ruonan is warmly welcomed by her grandmother and praised for her beauty. Min hopes Ruonan’s cousins will persuade her to consider marriage, but Ruonan dislikes being pressured and scrutinized.
• The Eldest Princess arrives to lend Ruonan prestige and draws attention away from her. At the lakeside, two handsome sword dancers appear; one approaches the Eldest Princess and the other is presented to Ruonan as a “gift” from an unnamed admirer.
• The Eldest Princess explains that Ruonan may keep the young man if she likes him, or send him back when the giver makes contact. Ruonan is alarmed at the idea of accepting a bribe, but the youth’s charm leaves her flustered.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains resistant to marriage and elaborate dress, but her attraction to the handsome youth exposes a playful, conflicted side—and suggests her resolve to remain untouched may be tested.
• Min is anxious about Ruonan’s unmarried status and tries to steer her toward marriage, while also worrying her daughter’s independent outlook could influence her younger cousins.
• Dantai Mo still appears devoted to Ruonan, but their awkward circumstances give Min no reason to hope for a romantic breakthrough.
• The Eldest Princess supports Ruonan by accompanying her to the celebration and teasing her about accepting a male companion.
• Ruonan’s grandmother and aunts show her affection, while the gathering’s noblewomen openly speculate about her beauty and marriage prospects.

Significant themes

• Social pressure on women to marry, contrasted with Ruonan’s independence.
• The gap between public propriety and private desire, played for comedy.
• The story’s recurring humor comes from Ruonan’s attempts to avoid romantic entanglements colliding with her own unexpected attraction.

Plot points and events

• The Eldest Princess tells Jian Ruonan that remaining unmarried, avoiding hard work, and receiving “yang energy” are the secrets to looking young. Jian Ruonan jokes along but privately considers enjoying handsome young men without taking on marriage or childbirth.
• The Eldest Princess introduces Jian Ruonan to two handsome, carefully trained youths whose master hopes to befriend her. Jian Ruonan is intrigued, though shy and unsure how to keep the conversation going.
• A page arrives with urgent news, and the youths leave in a hurry. The Eldest Princess learns that the Crown Prince, Dantai Mo, has reclaimed her favorite hot-spring estate and suspects he arranged their abrupt departure.
• Jian Ruonan watches events through her mind’s video screen. Dantai Mo hears that someone has tried to bribe an upright court official and orders the family exiled; the two youths are sent to mine coal. The watching group jokes about the irony of calling the lazy Jian Ruonan an “upright official.”
• Dantai Mo returns to his chambers, dismisses everyone, and asks for a Persian cat. He places a red bridal veil over its head and, instead of harming it, speaks gently as if conducting wedding bows.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan is attracted to the youths but remains reserved in person, despite her bold fantasies. She is also protective of animals and initially fears Dantai Mo may hurt the cat.
• The Eldest Princess is playful and frank, encouraging Jian Ruonan to choose among the youths while teasing her for being unusually shy.
• Dantai Mo shifts abruptly from cold, severe authority—punishing the supposed bribe—with a startlingly tender, eccentric interaction with the cat. His emotional state appears unstable, and the Hou System warns that his corruption value has risen sharply.
• Xuan Xiaowu, Jian Xilu, and Scholar Hou watch and comment on Dantai Mo’s actions, joking about his accusation and warning one another not to provoke him.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts fantasy and reality: Jian Ruonan’s lively romantic imagination meets her real-life awkwardness.
• Power and its consequences are shown through Dantai Mo’s casual ability to exile a family and condemn men to forced labor.
• Unpredictability and emotional instability define Dantai Mo’s sudden movement from icy severity to gentle playfulness.
• Animal welfare and compassion emerge through Jian Ruonan’s concern for the cat, while the apparent bridal ritual complicates her fear that it is in danger.

Key plot points

• Dantai Mo performs a full wedding ceremony with a male Persian cat, calling it “Nan Nan” and declaring it the Crown Princess. Jian Ruonan and the onlookers watch in disbelief; Xuan Xiaowu jokes that the darkened supervillain has become a cat groom.
• Consort Yan walks in, assumes her son has lost his mind, and retrieves her cat. Dantai Mo hurriedly leaves the room.
• The Eldest Princess privately recognizes that her matchmaking schemes helped drive her nephew to this absurdity—but admits she would meddle again because she enjoys spending time with Jian Ruonan.
• Min finds Jian Ruonan and takes her to her childhood courtyard to change for the feast. She promises to preserve it for Jian Ruonan if she ever moves out, then remembers her daughter has no plans to marry.
• At the feast, Jian Ruonan joins her cousins’ table. Her cousins warmly welcome her, while secretly tasked with persuading her that marriage is desirable.
• Jian Ruonan uses the Melon Patch to uncover the cousins’ grim futures: her second elder cousin will die after her abusive fiancé pushes her while she is pregnant, and her fourth younger cousin will contract a venereal disease from her future fiancé. Jian Ruonan resolves to derail both matches.

Character developments and interactions

• Dantai Mo reveals an eccentric, regretful, and unexpectedly playful side: he is fixated on making his next wedding ceremony “perfect,” even when his unwilling bride is a cat.
• Jian Ruonan reacts with bemusement to Dantai Mo’s antics, then turns her attention to protecting her cousins from the marriages she knows will harm them.
• Min is affectionate and protective. Though she still hopes Jian Ruonan might marry someday, she respects her daughter’s choice to remain single.
• The cousins show genuine warmth toward Jian Ruonan, even as they participate in the family’s matchmaking campaign.
• The Eldest Princess acknowledges her role in Dantai Mo’s predicament but remains unapologetic about her schemes.
• Consort Yan interrupts the cat wedding and takes the Persian cat away, leaving Dantai Mo to make a quick exit.

Significant themes

• Marriage and social expectations: The family treats marriage as a goal, while Jian Ruonan and Min resist forcing it upon her.
• Agency and protection: Jian Ruonan intends to use her foreknowledge to prevent her cousins’ dangerous marriages.
• Comedy and contrast: The feared supervillain’s ridiculous cat wedding undercuts his intimidating image.
• Family affection: Min’s preserved childhood courtyard and the cousins’ warm welcome show the care surrounding Jian Ruonan—even amid matchmaking pressure.

Plot points and events

• At a family gathering, Jian Ruonan admires the delicate handmade flower earrings worn by her second cousin, Min Yao. Yao offers her a choice from a box of earrings, and Ruonan selects flower and cherry-blossom designs.
• Min Yun tries to put the earrings on, only to discover that Ruonan’s ears are not pierced. Yao and Yun each offer to pierce them using traditional methods: a hot needle or a lead strip. Ruonan refuses, wary of infection and lead poisoning.
• The cousins playfully argue over the earrings and whether Ruonan should pierce her ears. Ruonan counters their attempts to persuade her by urging them to prioritize their own feelings and health over pleasing others or attracting husbands.
• The elders summon the cousins to entertain a gathering of young women. In the Flower Hall, the guests focus on Ruonan and ask why she remains unmarried at nearly eighteen, curious about the woman whose remarkable life has become the subject of widespread stories.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan is drawn to beauty and enjoys the earrings, but remains practical and firm about protecting her health. She turns others’ marriage- and appearance-focused advice back on them, revealing her independence and quick wit.
• Min Yao is generous and skilled at making the earrings; she offers to pierce Ruonan’s ears herself.
• Min Yun is lively, teasing, and eager to help, but her attempts to persuade Ruonan are repeatedly deflected. She and Yao share affectionate, playful rivalry over who gets Ruonan’s attention.
• The young guests are fascinated by Ruonan’s reputation and treat her as an exceptional figure, expecting her status and imperial favor to make marriage an obvious prospect.

Significant themes

• Personal autonomy: Ruonan insists that her choices should be guided by what she wants, not by others’ expectations.
• Health over convention: She rejects unsafe traditional practices despite social pressure.
• Marriage and women’s expectations: The contrast between Ruonan’s priorities and the guests’ marriage-centered outlook highlights differing ideas about women’s futures.
• Reputation versus reality: The guests know Ruonan through sensational stories and are eager to compare the legend with the person they have finally met.

Key events

• Jian Ruonan questions why women are expected to marry. Yuan Fanfan, a spoiled duke’s daughter, offers blunt advice for controlling an unfaithful husband: manage his concubines, use drugs, or resort to darker schemes. Ruonan finds the advice entertaining but recognizes how much women’s insecurity in marriage can push them toward cruelty.
• The conversation turns to childbirth and child-rearing. Ruonan says she might consider children only if they could support her immediately—or grow up independently into top scholars. Jokingly, she wishes men could give birth, declaring she would make her husband bear seventeen or eighteen daughters and raise them herself.
• Min Yao calls this progress toward marriage, but Min Yao and Min Yun agree that Ruonan has not changed her mind at all. Ruonan and Yuan Fanfan quickly become close friends.
• Min Yao takes Ruonan to see the handsome Young Master Ai, hoping that meeting a marriageable man might encourage her. Ruonan first mistakes the white-clad man approaching them for the Fourth Prince, Dantai Mo, and privately teases him about a recent intimate encounter. He flees in embarrassment.
• Ruonan and the others change into men’s clothes and go to see Ai Jiabao. Min Yao asks Ruonan’s opinion of him. Ruonan says he is “not bad,” but privately judges his thinning hair and speculates that he has poor health.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains skeptical of marriage and motherhood, using sharp humor to expose their burdens. She enjoys chatting with the girls and bonds with Yuan Fanfan, but shows no genuine willingness to marry.
• Yuan Fanfan reveals a sheltered, spoiled confidence and a surprisingly ruthless view of household politics. She tries to reassure Ruonan and is pleased to think she has persuaded her.
• Min Yao and Min Yun try to guide Ruonan toward marriage, but their efforts are repeatedly undermined by her unconventional reasoning. Min Yao arranges the meeting with Ai Jiabao as another attempt.
• Dantai Mo appears in white, looking more composed than usual, but Ruonan’s teasing thoughts about him and the Persian Cat encounter leave him flustered.
• Ai Jiabao is introduced as a potential match for Min Yao; Ruonan’s private assessment suggests his appearance may conceal health problems.

Significant themes

• Marriage as a source of vulnerability: The women’s advice reflects a society in which wives must defend their status and security through manipulation.
• Gender inequality and the burdens of motherhood: Ruonan’s jokes about men giving birth highlight how pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing fall disproportionately on women.
• Humor and social expectations: Ruonan’s irreverent remarks puncture the group’s conventional attempts to persuade her to marry, while exposing the gap between what society calls “progress” and what she actually believes.

Plot points

• Min Yao, Min Yun, and Yuan Fanfan hear Jian Ruonan’s thoughts for the first time. While they praise Min Yao’s fiancé, Ai Jiabao, Nan Nan silently criticizes his character, poverty, and prospects.
• Nan Nan warns that scholarly achievement and filial behavior do not guarantee a man is good. She cites the real-life story of Top Scorer Fu, who betrayed his first wife for social advancement.
• The girls watch Ai and Min Yao part. Min Yao sees a romantic, proper fiancé; Nan Nan suspects he is hiding something and worries that Min Yao is overlooking the risks of marriage.
• The group secretly follows Ai home. He rents a room in a shared courtyard, where a woman called Sister Hua is waiting for him. Ai is alarmed she remains there, apparently fearing the Min family will learn about her.
• Rather than explain what she suspects, Nan Nan buys the courtyard house and takes the girls to spy at Ai’s window, declaring that money is better than marriage.

Character developments and interactions

• Min Yao is affectionate and hopeful about Ai, interpreting his modest circumstances and considerate behavior favorably.
• Min Yun and Yuan Fanfan try to reassure Min Yao and question Nan Nan about her preferences. They begin to share Nan Nan’s concerns, but still struggle to understand her blunt inner commentary.
• Jian Ruonan remains skeptical of romantic ideals and is determined to expose what she believes Ai is concealing. Her impulsive purchase of the property turns her suspicions into action.
• Ai Jiabao appears courteous in public but reacts irritably to Sister Hua’s presence, suggesting his respectable image may hide a complication.
• The contrast between the girls’ spoken admiration and Nan Nan’s unfiltered thoughts drives the chapter’s humor and tension.

Significant themes

• Character versus reputation: Education, filial piety, and propriety do not necessarily indicate good character.
• Romance versus practical reality: The younger women idealize marriage, while Nan Nan focuses on poverty, power, and hidden risks.
• Money and independence: Nan Nan treats wealth as a source of agency and leverage.
• Appearance and secrecy: Ai’s public behavior conflicts with the uneasy scene at his home, leaving his true circumstances in question.

Plot points and events

• Jian Ruonan and three young women spy on Ai Jiabao and Sister Hua through a hole in the wall of a rented room.
• Sister Hua reveals she is due to give birth next month. Ai Jiabao responds by accusing her of carrying another man’s child, then viciously kicks her in the stomach.
• Jian Ruonan orders the landlord—the rental’s former owner—to break down the door and stop him. She helps Sister Hua, who appears to have escaped serious injury.
• Ai Jiabao tries to win Min Yao over with a false story, but Jian Ruonan has him beaten and tied up. When the former owner hesitates because Ai is an official, Jian reveals her rank as a First-Rank Great General and orders him to summon the Five City Garrison Commanders.
• Sister Hua explains that she was once Ai’s father’s student’s daughter. After her father died, Ai persuaded her to become his partner, care for his sick mother, and spend her inheritance supporting his examination career, promising to marry her.
• Jian gives Sister Hua a rattan switch and encourages her to retaliate. She then asks Yuan Fanfan for medicine to make Ai “take his medicine.”

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan shifts from amused observer to decisive protector, using her authority and money to intervene. Her threats and jokes keep the scene comic even as she condemns Ai’s abuse.
• Sister Hua moves from frightened and vulnerable to being offered the chance to confront her abuser herself.
• Ai Jiabao is exposed as a manipulative hypocrite: he presents himself as refined and later tries to appear charming before Min Yao, but is cruel and violent in private.
• Min Yao is shocked and unsure how to respond, ultimately looking to Jian Ruonan for guidance.
• Yuan Fanfan offers a joke about medicine, which Jian Ruonan later turns into a possible means of punishment.
• The former owner initially bargains over the fee to break the door and then fears Ai’s official status; Jian’s rank quickly changes his attitude.

Significant themes

• Abuse of trust and power: Ai exploits Sister Hua’s devotion and resources, then attacks her when she threatens his reputation.
• Intervention and solidarity: Jian Ruonan and the others refuse to leave Sister Hua alone with her attacker.
• Appearance versus reality: Ai’s cultivated public persona conceals his brutality.
• Justice and authority: Jian uses her own rank to counter Ai’s official standing, though the ending leaves her punishment of him deliberately comic and unconventional.

Key plot points and events

• Jian Ruonan exposes Ai Jiabao’s attempt to kill Sister Hua and urges her to fight back rather than keep hoping he will take her in. She promises Sister Hua work at her factory after the birth.
• Encouraged, Sister Hua beats Ai Jiabao with a cane. Min Yao, who had come hoping to persuade Jian to marry, abandons her own interest in Ai after seeing his cruelty.
• Sister Hua’s water breaks. Jian quickly arranges for midwives, and the household turns into a makeshift birthing room.
• The five city garrison commanders arrive and show Jian great deference. When she asks how the law treats Ai’s assault on a pregnant woman, they order him punished with forty strokes, despite his claim that he is a Hanlin official.
• The young women stay to observe the birth. As Sister Hua’s labor intensifies, the midwife explains the pain, leaving the marriage advocates frightened and shaken. Sister Hua screams, struggles to eat, and curses Ai in agony.

Character developments

• Sister Hua moves from fear and dependence toward anger and self-protection. Jian’s offer of work gives her hope of supporting herself and her child.
• Jian Ruonan shows decisive, practical compassion: she protects Sister Hua, helps secure medical care, and uses her authority to ensure Ai faces consequences.
• Min Yao loses her admiration for Ai and becomes disillusioned after witnessing his violence and Sister Hua’s ordeal.
• Ai Jiabao is exposed as abusive and self-serving; his scholarly status cannot shield him from the garrison commanders’ enforcement of the law.

Significant themes

• Female solidarity and independence: Jian offers Sister Hua both immediate protection and a path to financial autonomy.
• Power versus privilege: Ai invokes his official rank, but Jian’s influence and the commanders’ insistence on the law challenge his sense of immunity.
• The cost of childbirth: The graphic labor scene emphasizes its physical pain and unsettles the young women considering marriage and motherhood.
• Reclaiming agency: Sister Hua’s blows mark a turning point from helplessness to resistance.

Character interactions

• Jian guides and encourages Sister Hua, while Sister Hua’s attack on Ai turns her fear into retaliation.
• Min Yao watches Ai’s abuse and quietly rejects him rather than rescuing him.
• Jian commands the garrison commanders’ attention and directs them to punish Ai.
• The midwife explains labor to the girls as they watch from the side, while Sister Hua’s cries and curses make the experience vivid and alarming.

Plot points and events

• Jian Ruonan and the three marriage advocates—Min Yao, Min Yun, and Yuan Fanfan—watch Sister Hua give birth. The long, painful labor, the danger of retained placenta, and the pain of nursing terrify them far more than the midwife’s reassurances help.
• After witnessing childbirth, the three girls seriously question whether marriage is necessary at all.
• Jian Ruonan shows them her successful businesses: bookshops, storybook shops, and Daughter Coal. She encourages Min Yao to sell her handmade earrings, and the four girls decide to open a jewelry shop together.
• Min Yao’s wish to break off her engagement alarms her family. The old madam worries that the other girls may follow suit; Min warns that Min Yun may also refuse marriage, but Yun has already done so and wants to go into business with Jian Ruonan.
• Yuan Fanfan explains that her mother’s maids are routinely drawn into cruel schemes against the household’s concubines. Jian Ruonan offers to become a maid herself, hoping to help Fanfan push back against her family’s pressure to marry. She reveals that her supposed “friend” is actually her.

Character developments

• Jian Ruonan proves herself a powerful businesswoman and resourceful ally, using both her commercial influence and her supernatural protection to help her friends.
• Min Yao, Min Yun, and Yuan Fanfan move from advocating marriage to reconsidering it after seeing childbirth firsthand. They begin imagining independent lives through business.
• Min Yao gains confidence in the possibility of turning her craft into a livelihood, with Jian Ruonan’s support.
• Yuan Fanfan becomes more openly defiant of her family’s expectations and eager to enlist Jian Ruonan’s help.

Significant themes

• The physical costs and risks of childbirth challenge idealized ideas about marriage and motherhood.
• Women’s financial independence offers an alternative to marriage as their expected life path.
• Solidarity among women—through friendship, shared enterprise, and mutual protection—helps them confront family pressure and household power struggles.
• The chapter mixes comedy with serious concerns about women’s limited choices and the mistreatment of servants and concubines.

Character interactions

• The midwife’s blunt explanations frighten the girls and overturn their assumptions about childbirth.
• Jian Ruonan encourages Min Yao, proposing a practical plan to market her earrings through influential women.
• Min’s family questions her about Min Yao’s sudden decision to end her engagement, while Min tries to anticipate Yun’s similar rebellion.
• Jian Ruonan and Yuan Fanfan joke about maid duties, but their conversation turns into a plan: Jian Ruonan will enter Fanfan’s household herself and help her resist marriage pressure.

Key events

• Yuan Fanfan jokes that she might break her engagement and marry Jian Ruonan’s younger brother, Teng, whom she trusts because Jian has helped raise him.
• Teng hints that a male friend also wants to join Yuan Fanfan on an upcoming risky adventure. Jian decides to disguise Teng as a girl so he can accompany them.
• After teasing and bargaining, Jian has Teng dressed in one of her outfits, complete with twin buns, hairpins, and rouge. Yuan is impressed by his appearance and jokes that she wants to marry him even more.
• Jian takes the disguised Teng to her sister-in-law Pei Shaoyi’s courtyard to test whether anyone will recognize him. Pei mistakes him for a well-mannered young girl and invites him to compose poetry.
• Jian promises only to judge, but soon starts improvising deliberately awful poetry, much to Pei’s dismay.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan is playful, mischievous, and confident in managing her household. She turns Teng’s request into an opportunity to dress him up, but also persuades him by offering companionship and access to the gossip he missed as a child.
• Teng is initially alarmed and tries to escape, yet is persuaded to cooperate. He proves quick-witted and enjoys the prospect of rejoining Jian in her adventures.
• Yuan Fanfan remains Jian’s teasing confidante, joking about marrying Teng and laughing at Jian’s antics.
• Pei Shaoyi is fond of poetry but wary of Jian’s contributions. She unknowingly accepts Teng as a girl, demonstrating how convincing the disguise is.
• Chen Pozi enthusiastically obeys Jian’s orders, helping with Teng’s transformation.

Significant themes

• Sibling affection expressed through teasing: Jian’s prankish treatment of Teng is balanced by their closeness and her promise to look after him.
• Disguise and social expectations: Teng’s transformation highlights how appearance and gender presentation shape how others interpret him.
• Comedy through gossip and secrets: Jian’s habit of exposing private matters—and her dreadful poetry—drives the chapter’s humor and shapes her relationships.

Key plot points and events

• After passing the test, Jian Ruonan reports for duty with Teng in Yuan Fanfan’s mother’s courtyard. The Duke’s household is grand but politically diminished, and its many branches and concubines make court life complicated.
• The Duke’s Madam intends to assert control over the concubines, but Jian’s lively inner monologue keeps disrupting her schemes. When Jian complains about standing, Yuan seats her at the table and gives her food, claiming she is a poison tester.
• Jian openly criticizes Concubine Yi for arriving late, stirring resentment among the other concubines. The group turns out to include nine women, each with a physical impairment.
• Jian’s thoughts reveal that the Duke considers imperfection beautiful and has chosen concubines with various disabilities. Concubine Yi, who is deaf and mute, ignores household formalities, serves herself, and eats without waiting for permission.
• Jian decides it is time to intervene as Yi’s personal maid, setting up the next conflict.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan is blunt, hungry, and irreverent; despite being a new maid, she quickly draws attention and disrupts the household’s etiquette. Her candid remarks unexpectedly help the Duke’s Madam.
• Yuan Fanfan protects Jian and uses a poison-testing excuse to secure her a seat and food. She also tries to steer her mother away from confronting Concubine Yi.
• The Duke’s Madam shifts from plotting against the concubines to tolerating Jian’s odd behavior, partly because Yuan explains Jian’s supposed role.
• Teng worries Jian will tire of the early start, while hoping to stay for the household gossip.
• Concubine Yi asserts her independence by relying on gestures and serving herself, effectively sidestepping the household’s rules. Jian recognizes her strategy and admires it.

Significant themes

• Satire of household hierarchy: Formal rules and displays of authority are repeatedly undermined by Jian’s irreverence and Yi’s refusal to play along.
• Power through unconventional means: Jian’s candidness and Yi’s deaf-mute façade give them unexpected influence in a rigid household.
• Imperfection and beauty: The Duke’s unusual preference for physically impaired concubines is presented as an eccentric artistic ideal, prompting comic speculation.
• Gossip and social maneuvering: Small actions—such as arriving late or being served food—become tools in the household’s ongoing rivalries.

Key plot points and events

• The Duke’s Madam is angered when Concubine Yi eats at the meal. Her maid, Jian Ruonan, hastily learns a few sign-language gestures and repeatedly tells Yi to kneel. Though Ruonan cannot understand Yi’s replies, Yi eventually kneels, delighting the Madam.
• The Duke arrives and criticizes his wife for supposedly punishing Yi, framing the Madam as jealous and unkind. His polished moralizing leaves the Madam and her daughter Yuan Fanfan at a loss.
• Ruonan intervenes, claiming Yi knelt voluntarily and that the Madam had tried to help her up. The other concubines back up this account, and the Duke orders the maids to assist Yi.
• Ruonan then pretends Yi wants to remain kneeling to pray for the Duke and Madam to have children. Since the household has no son, the Duke approves and orders that Yi be allowed to kneel.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan proves resourceful and audacious: she uses her rudimentary sign language—and confident bluffing—to protect the Madam and turn the Duke’s criticism to her advantage.
• The Duke’s Madam moves from anger and anxiety to admiration and gratitude toward Ruonan, who shields her from the Duke’s accusations.
• The Duke presents himself as fair and virtuous, but his remarks subtly undermine his wife while favoring Concubine Yi. He is impressed by the supposed sign-language skill and readily accepts Ruonan’s story when it suits his hopes for an heir.
• Concubine Yi, who understands sign language, is repeatedly confused and frustrated by Ruonan’s nonsensical gestures. Her silence leaves her unable to correct Ruonan’s claims.
• Yuan Fanfan and the household’s other observers recognize Ruonan’s cleverness and react with amusement or admiration. The other concubines avoid openly contradicting the Madam.

Significant themes

• Moral blackmail and hypocrisy: The Duke disguises favoritism as virtue, using the Madam’s noble status to shame her.
• Power through performance: Ruonan’s confidence matters more than whether her gestures are correct; she controls the story because others cannot verify it.
• Gender and household politics: The Madam’s authority is challenged by the Duke’s favoritism, while the pressure to produce a son shapes everyone’s decisions.
• Communication and misunderstanding: Sign language becomes both a genuine means of communication and a tool for deception, creating the chapter’s central comic conflict.

Summary

• Concubine Yi is exposed—or appears to be. Jian Ruonan falsely interprets Yi’s frantic gestures as praise and willingness to do hard labor. Furious at the slander, Yi shouts insults aloud, revealing that she can speak. The household assumes she had been pretending to be mute.
• Yi improvises a miraculous recovery. Realizing she has given herself away, Yi pretends to be astonished that she can speak and performs a fervent display of gratitude. The Duke accepts her story completely, believing Heaven has restored her voice. Yi’s composure and acting skill impress those watching, while the Duke’s credulity frustrates them.
• Jian Ruonan turns the Duke against her. Seeing that Yi has escaped suspicion, Jian loudly celebrates the “miracle” and urges the household to make Yi kneel and do exhausting chores, including scrubbing chamber pots. When the Duke hesitates to mistreat his favored beauty, Jian reminds him that Yi is now “whole”—that is, able to speak. The Duke immediately loses interest and orders her put to work, ending her favored position.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan proves inventive and fearless, using confident nonsense, public spectacle, and a calculated appeal to the Duke’s prejudices to control the situation. Her inner commentary also mocks the women’s rivalry and the Duke who fuels it.
• Concubine Yi shifts rapidly from anger to panic to polished performance. She and Jian trade barbs, but Yi initially seems to win by convincing the Duke her speech is a heavenly gift.
• The Duke trusts Yi’s implausible explanation and responds to Jian’s reminder that she is no longer mute, revealing how shallowly his favor is based.
• The Duke’s Madam, Nanny De, Yuan Fanfan, and Teng watch eagerly for Yi to fall. They are impressed by Jian’s audacity, though some sympathize with Yi’s outburst and recognize the absurdity of the Duke’s household.

Themes

The chapter uses farce to expose deception, performance, and favoritism: Yi’s apparent recovery and the Duke’s belief in it are less important than Jian’s ability to manipulate his assumptions. It also satirizes gendered competition and a corrupt household hierarchy, portraying the women as forced to struggle for favor from a foolish, self-serving man.

Key plot points and events

• The Duke loses interest in Concubine Yi once she is no longer physically “imperfect.” When Yuan Fanfan questions his preference, Jian Ruonan’s unspoken insult about the Duke’s lack of brains makes him repeatedly choke and collapse, calling out for his great-grandmother.
• The Duke leaves rather than eat, claiming he cannot bear to see Concubine Yi suffer. Jian Ruonan dismisses his devotion as false, and the Duke’s Madam orders Concubine Yi to work now that she has stopped pretending to be deaf and mute.
• Jian Ruonan learns that Concubine Yi originally pretended to be deaf and mute to avoid being sold by her gambling father, but the act made her more valuable instead. She reflects that the Duke’s fickleness has spared his wife the tragic fate of a melodrama heroine.
• Yuan Fanfan worries that the Duke might change his tastes and favor Concubine Yi again. Jian Ruonan argues that Concubine Yi would still have to work to fulfill her vow. Impressed, Yuan Fanfan invites Jian Ruonan to help with her elder sister Yuan Yinyin, whose fiancé has taken up painting nude models.
• Too exhausted to investigate, Jian Ruonan returns home with Teng. Min recognizes Teng, who is disguised as a girl, but her first response is to send him to school rather than question the disguise. Teng flees, and Min chases after him.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan proves sharp, irreverent, and strategically ruthless; she defends the Duke’s Madam while exposing the Duke’s hypocrisy. Though curious about Yuan Yinyin’s troubles, exhaustion sends her home.
• The Duke’s Madam grows more appreciative of Jian Ruonan, viewing her as an unexpectedly capable adviser rather than merely a maid.
• Yuan Fanfan becomes impressed by Jian Ruonan and asks for her help with her sister’s relationship troubles.
• Concubine Yi is revealed to have a painful history behind her deception and is now made to work.
• Min and Teng share a comic family moment: Min recognizes Teng’s disguise but prioritizes his schooling, while Teng tries to hide and then runs away.

Significant themes

• The chapter mocks romantic melodrama and the idea of male devotion, presenting the Duke’s affection as shallow and unreliable.
• It emphasizes self-reliance, especially for women navigating unequal relationships.
• Humor comes from the contrast between dramatic romantic narratives and practical concerns—work, school, and exhaustion.

Key plot points

• Jian Ruonan wakes at Deer Song Courtyard to find three dead assassins in her courtyard. They were sent by the Prince of the Southeast, who blames her for his family’s losses and his territory’s economic decline.
• The Hou System reveals that its latest upgrade lets it annihilate malicious people without Jian needing to hear their gossip first. It apparently killed the assassins to protect her.
• Dantai Mo arrives and angrily offers to mobilize troops against the Prince of the Southeast. Jian persuades him to avoid an immediate military attack and instead spread a rumor that she plans to crush the three feudatory princes and their heirs, hoping their hostility will bring about their downfall.
• Dantai Mo refuses to leave Jian unprotected, assigning Death Warriors to guard her secretly. He invites her to sample seasonings brought by cooks from Shu and reminds her that Plum Blossom and Tangyuan miss her.
• Before Jian can go with him, Min Yun and Min Yao arrive with news that there has been a development involving Yuan Yinyin. Jian heads with them to the Water Cloud Art Studio; Dantai Mo follows.
• At the studio, they find Pu Yixiu, Yuan Yinyin’s fiancé Wu Anwan, and two other men painting a naked woman. The woman’s husband, Xie Panxia, bursts in with a group, triggering a fight. Xie tries to take his wife home, but Pu Yixiu blocks him, defending the painting session in outrageous terms.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains practical and irreverent: she turns the assassins’ deaths into an opportunity for political maneuvering, while also prioritizing her own safety.
• The Hou System is newly useful and proudly promises to protect Jian.
• Dantai Mo shows increasing concern for Jian, rejects a plan he believes could endanger her, and stays close even when she leaves for the studio. Jian mistakes his intentions for a possible confession.
• Min Yun and Min Yao bring Jian news about Yinyin, but the chapter’s attention shifts to the shocking scene at the art studio.
• Pu Yixiu displays a reckless, provocative attitude, while Xie Panxia confronts the painters over his wife.

Significant themes

• Protection and power: Jian balances covert protection, political schemes, and the risk of open conflict.
• Comic misinterpretation: Jian and Dantai Mo repeatedly misunderstand each other’s intentions.
• Gossip and spectacle: The characters’ fascination with scandal drives the scene, while the art studio’s “erotic art” session ends in public chaos.
• A cliffhanger: The dispute over the woman and Pu Yixiu’s defense of the session remains unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Xie Panxia argues with Pu Yixiu and the other painters because they want to paint his wife, Wang Haihai. The painters accuse him of selfishness and of obstructing art; Jian Ruonan and the other women are appalled by their moral blackmail.
• Yuan Yinyin arrives to visit Wu Anwan and is led into the chaotic studio by Jian Ruonan. Jian threatens to call the constables, which finally stops the argument.
• Xie Panxia begs Wang Haihai to leave with him, but she refuses, saying the painters need her. He leaves alone. Jian privately likens Wang Haihai to a “queen of the sea,” recognizing the pattern of a woman collecting admirers.
• Yuan Yinyin brings Wu Anwan food and money. He happily accepts the food but interprets the banknotes as an insult to his artistic pride, throws them down, and tries to send both her and Jian away.
• Jian picks up the money and sharply mocks Wu Anwan’s pretensions. Her sarcasm flatters his self-image, and he lets her stay as the studio steward.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan proves observant, irreverent, and quick-witted. She manages the studio’s chaos, prioritizes the intriguing Wang Haihai situation, then wins Wu Anwan over by turning her insults into praise of his “lofty” character.
• Wang Haihai appears to enjoy the attention of multiple painters and refuses to leave with her husband, despite his concern for her.
• Xie Panxia is protective and frustrated, but outnumbered by the painters and unable to persuade his wife to go.
• Wu Anwan is revealed as an impoverished, rebellious would-be artist with a grand opinion of himself. He rejects money as an affront, yet is easily pleased when Jian validates his self-image.
• Yuan Yinyin shows devotion to Wu Anwan by bringing supplies and offering to help, but her kindness is rebuffed. Jian’s intervention helps her remain at the studio.
• Min Yun and her friends continue investigating reasons to avoid Min Yun’s proposed marriage to Pu Yixiu; the spectacle reinforces their doubts.

Significant themes

• Artistic idealism versus practical need: Wu Anwan’s pride clashes with his poverty, while the painters invoke “art” to justify their behavior.
• Hypocrisy and moral pressure: The painters condemn Xie as selfish while disregarding his marriage and Wang Haihai’s position.
• Romantic devotion and exploitation: Yuan Yinyin’s generosity and Wang Haihai’s many admirers contrast with the men’s self-centeredness.
• Satire of pride and social roles: Jian uses humor and flattery to navigate the studio’s absurd dynamics and secure her place.

Plot points

• Jian Ruonan forces Yuan Yinyin to surrender the money and other items she brought to the studio, declaring them insulting to the “pure” Water Cloud Private Room. She has Chen Pozi remove Yuan’s bundles, then leaves Wu Anwan speechless with her scathing inner commentary.
• Jian and Yuan Fanfan regroup to spy on Yuan Yinyin and Wu Anwan. Yuan insists their broken engagement is not over and praises Wu’s paintings so extravagantly that he takes her flattery as proof she understands him.
• The pair move on to watch Pu Yixiu and Wang Haihai. Pu says he wants to visit a brothel for artistic inspiration; Wang tries to keep him by offering herself instead.
• Their overheard scene becomes increasingly absurd and intimate. The gossip group’s noisy reaction nearly gives them away, but Wang convinces Pu there is only a stray cat outside.
• Just as Pu embraces Wang, Painters Three and Four enter and catch them together, setting up a confrontation.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan proves quick-witted and fearless, using mock reverence and sharp insults to control the situation with Wu Anwan. She and Yuan Fanfan work together as covert observers, though Jian is eager to move on while Yuan wants to gather more evidence.
• Yuan Yinyin appears lovesick and irrational around Wu, refusing to accept the dissolved engagement and treating incomprehensible art as evidence of his genius. Wu Anwan, despite his earlier irritation, is won over by her flattery.
• Pu Yixiu openly links erotic pursuits to artistic inspiration. Wang Haihai is devoted to him and willingly offers herself, while he protests that he cannot resist temptation before giving in.
• Jian’s inner monologue supplies sarcastic “translations” of the romantic characters’ behavior, entertaining and informing the gossip group. Dantai Mo catches her when she falls from her stool during Wang’s startling offer.

Themes

• The chapter humorously mocks romantic obsession, exaggerated devotion, and the way people rationalize selfish desires as love or art.
• It also plays on the gap between characters’ lofty self-images and the ridiculousness of their actions, with Jian’s candid commentary puncturing their pretensions.