Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• The Empress Dowager asks to meet Jian Ruonan, Great Xia’s first female official, but Emperor Deyuan and the Eldest Princess try to delay the meeting, fearing her reaction to Jian’s unusual nature.
• Unable to explain their concern openly, they reluctantly agree to summon Jian to Cian Palace.
• On the way, Jian uses her gossip ability to listen in on palace secrets. Eunuch Cao worries she may cause trouble, though Jian thinks the Empress Dowager might arrange a marriage for him.
• Jian reaches the palace and offers red envelopes to the attendants, but is deliberately kept waiting as a test of her temperament. Eunuch Cao is alarmed and sends for Auntie Yishuang, a favored palace female official, to bring her inside.
• Jian’s inner voice mistakenly labels Cao and Yishuang lovers, then exposes Yishuang’s secret relationships with eunuchs and her use of Cao to learn the emperor’s movements. Yishuang realizes Jian has uncovered treason and becomes hostile—but before she can act, she mysteriously loses consciousness.

Character developments and interactions

• Emperor Deyuan and the Eldest Princess show unusual protectiveness toward Jian, privately treating her as a dangerous but beloved “Light of Great Xia.”
• The Empress Dowager is curious and determined to meet Jian, unaware of the alarm her request causes.
• Jian Ruonan remains outwardly polite and modest, while her unfiltered inner commentary creates comic misunderstandings and reveals serious secrets.
• Eunuch Cao tries to protect Jian from palace protocol and is embarrassed when she invents a romantic connection between him and Yishuang.
• Auntie Yishuang, initially dismissive of Jian, becomes frightened and threatening once Jian exposes her covert spying.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus hidden truth: Polite court rituals conceal manipulation, romance, and political betrayal.
• Power of overheard secrets: Jian’s gossip ability turns casual thoughts into dangerous revelations.
• Comedy amid intrigue: Jian’s irreverent commentary clashes with the palace’s rigid etiquette and creates both humor and peril.
• Protection and vulnerability: Powerful figures attempt to shield Jian, while her unusual talent also puts her in immediate danger.

Key plot points and events

• Eunuch Cao stops Auntie Yishuang from harming Jian Ruonan, warning her—far too late—that the girl is dangerous. Yishuang quickly changes tack, ushers Ruonan inside, and even returns the red envelope she had accepted.
• Ruonan is presented to the Empress Dowager in Cian Palace, where the imperial women have gathered. Her unspoken thoughts are somehow heard by those around her, though she appears outwardly quiet and respectful.
• Ruonan’s irreverent observations about the Empress Dowager’s long nail guards and personal attendants infuriate the Dowager. When she tries to order Ruonan removed, a supernatural force grips her throat; she survives only after suppressing her hostility.
• The Dowager’s maids move to seize Ruonan, but the same force compels the Dowager to order them to fetch a chair instead. The Dowager realizes the Emperor and Eldest Princess had warned her because Ruonan’s power is formidable. She offers Ruonan tea, pastries, and a seat.
• Consort Xian hints that the Emperor spent the night with her. Ruonan’s thoughts expose that nothing intimate happened and that the two merely slept, embarrassing the consort.

Character developments

• Jian Ruonan remains outwardly composed and courteous, while her candid inner commentary repeatedly unsettles the court. Her apparent power can physically punish those who threaten her.
• Auntie Yishuang shifts from hostile gatekeeper to cautious, solicitous protector after nearly being strangled. She recognizes the danger and helps the Dowager understand it.
• The Empress Dowager begins dismissive and attempts to assert her authority, but quickly learns that direct aggression toward Ruonan is perilous. She hides her fear behind a gracious manner and accommodates her.
• Consort Xian tries to boast about the Emperor’s attention, only to have Ruonan’s thoughts expose the truth.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Ruonan seems meek, but her thoughts and influence are disruptive and powerful.
• Power and self-preservation: Even the palace’s highest-ranking figures must adapt when their authority proves ineffective.
• Courtly manners and hidden humiliation: Formal courtesy contrasts with blunt, taboo observations and private rivalries.
• Comedy through contrast: The chapter’s humor comes from the gap between Ruonan’s respectful behavior and her outrageous inner monologue.

Character interactions

• Cao Degui and Yishuang share an exasperated understanding of Ruonan’s danger; Yishuang’s attitude toward Ruonan reverses completely.
• Ruonan’s thoughts provoke the Empress Dowager into anger, but the threat of supernatural retaliation forces the Dowager to treat her hospitably.
• The Dowager and her attendants silently coordinate to manage Ruonan, while the other consorts watch in confusion.
• Ruonan’s blunt assessment punctures Consort Xian’s attempt to impress the other women.

Plot and character developments

• Jian Ruonan’s unfiltered thoughts expose Consort Xian’s boast that she is favored by the Emperor. In reality, he visited her only out of respect for the Empress Dowager and pretended to sleep. Xian’s attempts to protest come out as meaningless “beep” sounds, leaving her furious and humiliated.
• The other consorts, long irritated by Xian’s self-importance, relish her downfall. The Empress and Empress Dowager try to hide their amusement; the Dowager also recognizes that Ruonan’s ability to reveal secrets could be useful for keeping officials and palace rivals in check.
• Xian tries to redirect Ruonan’s attention toward Consort Yan, suggesting the Emperor told her to keep Yan company. Instead, Ruonan sincerely praises Yan’s beauty and then reveals that Yan enjoys the Emperor’s genuine favor. Yan blushes but also worries that Xian might retaliate against Ruonan.
• Xian then calls on the other consorts, hoping to embarrass them, but Ruonan’s thoughts conclude that Xian is the plainest among them and owes her position entirely to her family connection with the Empress Dowager. Xian is left livid and shaken.
• Once Xian falls silent, the gathering returns to ordinary conversation. Ruonan enjoys the palace pastries, puzzling over why no one scolds her for eating so much. The Empress Dowager privately hopes the food will keep her quiet.

Themes and interactions

• Appearance versus reality: Xian’s claims of imperial favor collapse under the truth, while Yan’s quiet, genuine appeal is affirmed.
• Power and privilege: Xian’s influence comes from family ties rather than personal charm or skill; the Dowager sees Ruonan’s truth-revealing talent as a potential political tool.
• Gossip as power: Ruonan’s thoughts turn private secrets into public humiliation, changing the balance among the consorts.
• Comic hypocrisy and rivalry: Xian tries repeatedly to shame others, only to become the target herself; the other women enjoy her exposure while concealing their reactions.

Key plot points and events

• At Cian Palace, Auntie Yishuang warmly serves Jian Ruonan a generous selection of pastries. Ruonan enjoys them while quietly asking Big System to keep searching for the “money-swindling scumbag system.”
• The Empress Dowager asks after the Duke of Cheng’en’s broken leg. Ruonan’s inner thoughts reveal he broke it after being caught cheating at a Taoist temple—and is still trying to interfere in the marriage of the Imperial College Director and his wife.
• The consorts learn that the Third Prince was also at the temple. Ruonan reveals he wore height-increasing insoles and had Sichuan peppercorns tucked between his buttocks to ease hemorrhoids, prompting barely contained laughter.
• Ruonan’s thoughts expose Consort Xian’s padded bust. Though humiliated, Consort Xian remains focused on securing the throne for her son, the Third Prince. She signals Consort Wu to drug Ruonan.
• Consort Wu, dependent on Consort Xian, reluctantly leaves the gathering under the pretense of using the privy, but heads toward the tea room.
• The princes, princesses, and commandery princesses arrive. At the same time, Big System announces that it has connected with the suspicious system.

Character developments

• Jian Ruonan remains cheerful and observant, using her private thoughts to uncover scandals while actively pursuing the strange system.
• Consort Xian shifts from anger and alarm to embarrassment, then regains her composure and continues plotting for her son’s succession.
• Consort Wu is shown to be vulnerable and beholden to Consort Xian, despite her reluctance to help harm Ruonan.
• The Empress Dowager and the consorts become increasingly attentive to Ruonan’s unspoken revelations, though they must conceal their reactions.

Significant themes

• Gossip as exposure: Ruonan’s thoughts reveal secrets powerful people have hidden.
• Appearance versus reality: The Third Prince’s insoles and Consort Xian’s padding expose the gap between image and truth.
• Power and dependency: Consort Xian’s political ambitions shape Wu’s actions, while the harem’s status hierarchy constrains its members.
• Comedy amid palace intrigue: Embarrassing revelations and the consorts’ reactions contrast with the serious threat of drugging Ruonan.

Character interactions

• Auntie Yishuang treats Ruonan kindly, while Ruonan’s praise of her inadvertently unsettles the Empress Dowager.
• The consorts prompt one another for information about the Duke and Third Prince, but Ruonan’s thoughts supply the real answers.
• Consort Xian silently directs Consort Wu to act against Ruonan; Wu obeys despite her fear.
• The arrival of the imperial children interrupts the gathering just as Big System reports its breakthrough.

Key events

• During New Year greetings at Cian Palace, Jian Ruonan suspects the mysterious Black Tortoise System is bound to one of the young royals waiting outside. Big System calls out to it and sends it a burst of energy.
• The Black Tortoise System, which is bound to the Fourth Prince, Dantai Mo, is delighted by the energy and hopes it will help restore his ability to walk. Dantai Mo realizes the contact may expose him to Jian Ruonan and orders the system to sever the link.
• Jian Ruonan notices that the system is wary, but decides she can investigate further later. She then observes the royal family’s greetings.
• The Third Prince makes a show of respectfully greeting the Empress Dowager, then winks at Jian Ruonan. She immediately turns his behavior into gossip: although he isn’t clenching Sichuan peppercorns today, he is apparently clenching garlic.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains curious and resourceful, using Big System to probe for the hidden system host. She is unfazed by being surrounded by consorts and enjoys supplying them with scandalous inner commentary.
• Dantai Mo is cautious and perceptive: he suspects Big System deliberately baited his system and fears Jian Ruonan learning about his secret dealings. Despite her unsettling influence over him, he finds her cleverness more intriguing than irritating.
• The Black Tortoise System is excitable and easily distracted by energy, dismissing Dantai Mo’s warnings until he insists on cutting the connection.
• The Third Prince acts confident and flirtatious, apparently unaware that Jian Ruonan’s attention is focused on turning him into gossip.
• The imperial consorts eagerly follow Jian Ruonan’s thoughts about the princes. Consort Xian is repeatedly mortified as the gossip targets the Third Prince’s posture, hemorrhoids, and Consort Zhuang.

Significant themes

• Gossip as social currency: Jian Ruonan’s observations entertain and unite the consorts, even when they embarrass those implicated.
• Secrecy and suspicion: Dantai Mo fears that the system connection could reveal his private schemes.
• Comedic contrast: Formal imperial ceremonies are repeatedly undercut by irreverent thoughts and crude rumors.

Key plot points and events

• During New Year’s greetings, Jian Ruonan’s inner thoughts begin revealing scandalous secrets to the assembled imperial women. Her comments entertain the consorts and unsettle the Empress Dowager.
• The Empress Dowager seats Jian near herself, while the Empress gathers the titled ladies closer so they can all hear. Jian is unhappy about losing her secluded spot for pastries, but Auntie Yishuang brings the treats to her.
• Jian reveals that Madam Qin’s husband, Lord Qin, is the Empress Dowager’s lover. She also mocks his bedroom performance while noting his eloquence and political skill. The Empress Dowager tries to stop the revelations, eventually interrupting Jian with a loud slam of her teacup.
• In the tea room, Consort Wu tries to have medicinal powder added to Jian’s tea. A mysterious force seizes Wu by the throat until she repents, preventing the attempt. Consort Xian experiences a strange sensation at the same time, hinting at a connection.
• Back with the group, Jian calls Wu “Consort Soup” because she supposedly spends nearly every day making soup for the old emperor. Wu is forced to accept the teasing under the harem’s strict hierarchy.
• Consort Xian believes Jian is about to drink the tampered tea and smugly anticipates revenge. Jian’s final revelation—that the Empress Dowager and Consort Xian are aunt and niece, and both have cuckolded their emperors—ends the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains blunt and seemingly oblivious to the havoc her thoughts cause. Her presence makes the otherwise lonely palace women eager to gather around her.
• The Empress Dowager alternates between indulging Jian and trying to contain her disclosures, while privately panicking over the scandal involving Lord Qin.
• The Empress manages the gathering tactfully and appears amused by the gossip.
• Consort Wu shifts from plotting against Jian to fearing her, then must endure the other consorts’ teasing.
• Consort Xian is confident and hostile toward Jian, but the chapter’s final revelation threatens to expose her own secret.
• The consorts bond through the gossip, while power differences remain evident: Wu cannot openly challenge the higher-ranking Consort Liang.

Significant themes

• Gossip as power: Jian’s unfiltered thoughts expose secrets that can destabilize the palace’s carefully guarded reputations.
• Confinement and companionship: The harem’s loneliness makes the women gravitate toward Jian and her entertaining revelations.
• Hierarchy and hypocrisy: Formal etiquette masks rivalries, affairs, and private schemes.
• Comic reversal: Attempts to control or harm Jian are undercut by supernatural intervention and her unexpectedly revealing thoughts.

Key plot points

• Jian Ruonan’s inner voice exposes a shocking rumor: Consort Xian may have cuckolded Emperor Deyuan, raising doubts about whether the Third Prince is his biological son.
• The court ladies are terrified by the dangerous gossip. Consort Yan quietly sends a maid to alert someone before the Empress Dowager can respond.
• Consort Xian turns murderous toward Jian Ruonan, but suddenly collapses before she can act. The Empress Dowager’s order to “withdraw your malice” eventually revives her.
• The Empress Dowager suspects poisoning and seals Cian Palace, trapping the consorts and guests inside.
• In private, Consort Xian admits that, when she was a Crown Prince’s secondary consort, she was drugged and violated by the crown prince of Wa. She insists the encounter happened only once and that the Third Prince is Emperor Deyuan’s son.
• The Empress Dowager decides the scandal cannot be contained and that Consort Xian’s death is preferable to her being disgraced and endangering the Third Prince. She leaves the room, and palace maids attack Consort Xian.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan stays outwardly calm, watches Consort Xian’s collapse, and suspects her own gossip may somehow trigger supernatural punishment against those who act maliciously. She resolves to test the idea.
• Consort Xian shifts from a threatening figure to a desperate, tearful one, pleading with her aunt and defending her son’s legitimacy.
• The Empress Dowager balances family loyalty against political survival. Though she listens to Consort Xian’s explanation, she ultimately chooses to protect the imperial family’s reputation and the Third Prince’s position.
• Consort Yan shows quick political awareness by quietly arranging a warning.
• The other consorts and titled ladies respond with curiosity, fear, and self-preservation; Consort Yi even tries to leave but is stopped.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: Suspicion alone can be enough to destroy someone in the imperial court.
• Family loyalty versus political necessity: The Empress Dowager sacrifices her niece to shield the dynasty and Consort Xian’s son.
• Gossip as a weapon: A private scandal becomes a threat to the entire imperial household.
• Buddhist piety and cruelty: The Empress Dowager’s prayers and devotional imagery contrast sharply with her decision to have Consort Xian killed.

Plot points

• Consort Xian suffers a sudden, severe stroke and falls into a coma. The Imperial Physician warns that if she does not wake within three days, she may die.
• The Empress Dowager warns everyone at Cian Palace not to spread gossip, invoking the threat of consequences for their descendants. The consorts and titled ladies are allowed to leave because the illness is not suspected to be poisoning.
• After leaving, Jian Ruonan joins Commandery Princess Jiarou and several princesses in the Warm Pavilion. Jiarou introduces her to Princess Funing, whom she openly dislikes.
• Jiarou reveals that Funing took toys belonging to the timid Commandery Princess Jiashan. She recruits Jian Ruonan to help win them back.
• Though Jian Ruonan knows none of the games Funing suggests, she agrees to play High-Low. Using what she learns through the gossip system, she guesses the dice results correctly and wins back Jiashan’s toys, then takes Funing’s prized belongings as well.
• Funing leaves with red eyes, while Jiarou celebrates her first clear victory over her rival. Jian Ruonan realizes the gossip system can be used to win at gambling, and the system is delighted to have proved useful.

Character developments

• Jian Ruonan shows confidence and quick thinking, turning her knowledge from the gossip system into a practical advantage.
• Jiarou reveals her fierce, competitive streak and her loyalty to Jiashan; she encourages the younger girl to stand up for herself.
• Jiashan remains shy but takes a small step toward courage by repeating Jiarou’s encouragement to “show some spirit.”
• Funing’s confidence gives way to frustration as she loses repeatedly and cannot bear to concede.

Themes

• Information as power: Jian Ruonan uses the gossip system’s knowledge in an unexpected, concrete way.
• Courage and support: Jiarou helps Jiashan face conflict rather than retreat.
• Rivalry and pride: Jiarou and Funing’s mutual dislike fuels their contest, and neither wants to admit defeat.
• Gossip and silence: The Empress Dowager’s warning shows that rumors carry political risks, especially within the imperial household.

Character interactions

• The Empress Dowager uses a solemn public warning to discourage palace gossip.
• Jiarou bonds with Jian Ruonan through playful flattery and recruits her to support Jiashan.
• Jian Ruonan and Funing compete in a series of dice games, with Jian repeatedly outguessing her.
• Jiarou taunts Funing into continuing, while Jiashan watches as her belongings—and then Funing’s—are won back.

Plot points

• Princess Funing recruits Fourth Princess Fu Wan, Sixth Princess Fu An, and the Ninth Prince to help her. But the young prince eagerly embraces Jian Ruonan, and chocolate quickly wins him over completely.
• Jian Ruonan defeats the princesses at their guessing game and takes their accumulated winnings.
• A maid summons Auntie Yishuang away, and a eunuch lures Jian Ruonan off course toward a side hall. Jian learns through the system that Third Prince Pu Jingyi has arranged to drug her and stage a compromising scene.
• Jian stalls the eunuch by bargaining for the two hundred taels he was paid, then makes him carry her into the hall. Protected by a gas mask, she avoids the knockout incense, switches it, and puts the unconscious eunuch in the bed disguised as the intended victim.
• Jian hides nearby. A maid mistakenly thinks the preparations are complete and leaves; then Pu Jingyi arrives, unaware that his plan has gone wrong.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains playful, opportunistic, and quick-thinking, using humor and negotiation to turn a trap to her advantage.
• Princess Funing is frustrated by her brother’s defection and by Jian’s easy victory. Commandery Princess Jiarou, by contrast, delights in the chaos.
• The Ninth Prince sees Jian as a beloved big sister rather than an enemy, and chocolate seals his allegiance.
• The young eunuch is anxious and outmaneuvered: he tries to hurry Jian along, but ends up paying her and carrying her into the very trap he helped set.
• Pu Jingyi is revealed as the schemer behind the plot, intending to compromise Jian while exploiting the busy palace as cover.

Significant themes

• Cunning over force: Jian escapes danger through observation, improvisation, and exploiting her opponents’ assumptions.
• Loyalty and affection: The Ninth Prince’s sincere fondness for Jian overrides political sides—and is easily reinforced by sweets.
• Satire of scheming and power: Pu’s elaborate plan is undercut by Jian’s comic bargaining and practical countermeasures.
• Performance and mistaken identity: The trap depends on staging appearances, but Jian turns that theatrical setup back against its perpetrators.

Plot and key events

• The Third Prince sneaks into a bed expecting to find Jian Ruonan’s “Fifth Miss,” intent on punishing her for calling him short. He does not realize the person beside him is a young eunuch.
• Consort Wu (called Consort Soup in the narration) arrives with titled ladies, the Old Madam, and Min, intending to expose the supposed couple and pressure the family into accepting a marriage. The plan is meant to shame the Fifth Miss and keep her under the household’s control.
• Jian Ruonan recognizes the trap and decides to turn it against its makers. She activates a ten-minute Tathagata Palm ability, which cannot physically harm anyone, and performs its dramatic forms outside the hall.
• Her performance creates a spectacular Buddha apparition and golden light. The emperor and court officials interpret it as a heavenly sign and hurry toward the side hall.
• Inside, Consort Wu’s scheme proceeds: a maid reports that a man and woman are in the bed. The ladies recognize the familiar chastity-trap tactic but follow Consort Wu to see who has been targeted.
• The Third Prince wakes to find the room full of witnesses and the young eunuch hiding under the quilt. He demands to know what is happening just as Emperor Deyuan arrives.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan shifts from anger to resourceful mischief, using an absurd supernatural spectacle to draw the emperor to the scene rather than attacking anyone.
• The Third Prince is exposed as reckless and vindictive; his attempt to disgrace the Fifth Miss puts him in a compromising position.
• Consort Wu presents herself as shocked while carefully orchestrating the exposure, but the titled ladies see through her motives.
• Emperor Deyuan is delighted by the supposed auspicious omen and follows it directly to the unfolding scandal.
• Dantai Mo and the Black Tortoise System suspect Jian Ruonan is responsible and eagerly head toward the drama.

Significant themes

• Schemes backfiring: Consort Wu’s attempt to control and shame the Fifth Miss is poised to expose the Third Prince instead.
• Public reputation and power: The plot relies on the threat of sexual scandal to force a family’s hand.
• Fate, spectacle, and manipulation: A deliberately staged display is mistaken for divine favor, showing how easily political events can be shaped by appearances.
• Comedy through contrast: The grand, reverent Buddha imagery clashes with Jian Ruonan’s irreverent thoughts and the farcical bed scene.

Plot and events

• Emperor Deyuan follows a supposed auspicious omen toward the Side Hall, with Cao Degui flattering him. When the omen vanishes, the emperor sends his ministers away, then secretly brings them back so he can blame them if the sign is not found.
• In the Side Hall, Consort Wu claims that a woman has climbed into the Third Prince’s bed and urges him to accept responsibility for her. The person beneath the quilt is actually a young eunuch, but no one knows this yet.
• Jian Ruonan, Min, the emperor, and the ministers watch and listen from behind a beaded curtain. Ruonan’s thoughts reveal the unfolding scheme and make the hidden audience increasingly curious.
• Consort Wu identifies the hidden person as Fifth Miss Jian, despite Min’s objections. When the quilt and veil are pulled away, the young eunuch is exposed. The Third Prince is so shocked that three cloves of garlic fall from his trousers, prompting scandalized gossip.
• Ruonan reveals the emperor’s presence. The Third Prince begs that he has been framed, but the emperor punishes him with one hundred copies of the Classic of Filial Piety and a month of confinement. Consort Wu is demoted to palace attendant and expelled from the Dawn Palace.

Character developments and interactions

• Emperor Deyuan goes from eager seeker of an auspicious sign to a concealed witness and judge. He sees through the Third Prince’s scheme and concludes that his son has lost any chance of becoming heir.
• Jian Ruonan remains an irreverent, sharp-eyed observer, openly delighted by the gossip. She ultimately exposes the emperor’s presence and ends the scene.
• The Third Prince pretends to defend the supposed woman and promises to take responsibility, but his plan collapses when the hidden person is revealed. His panic and humiliating escape expose his failure.
• Consort Wu confidently orchestrates the accusation and tries to force the supposed Fifth Miss into the open. Her certainty backfires, and she pays for it with demotion.
• Min challenges Consort Wu’s claim and defends her daughter, helping expose that the accusation is unfounded.
• The ministers and titled ladies serve as an increasingly astonished audience, reacting to the spectacle and Ruonan’s commentary.

Significant themes

• Schemes and consequences: The Third Prince and Consort Wu’s plan unravels through their own assumptions and actions.
• Appearances versus reality: A supposed scandal involving Fifth Miss Jian proves to be a staged situation with an unexpected occupant.
• Power and reputation: The emperor’s judgment immediately reshapes the Third Prince’s political prospects and Consort Wu’s status.
• Gossip and comic humiliation: Ruonan’s inner commentary turns palace intrigue into public farce, culminating in the garlic mishap.

Key plot points and events

• During year-end court reports, Emperor Deyuan and his ministers are distracted by gossip about the Third Prince’s bizarre diet and supposed “health” regimen.
• The Emperor summons Jian Ruonan and praises her achievements at the Hanlin Academy, including inventing paper-making and movable type and teaching ordinary people to read. He asks whether she has any requests about her upcoming transfer to the Ministry of Revenue.
• Jian asks for Compiler Hou to transfer with her, praising his talent—though her private thoughts reveal she mainly values him as a gossip companion and capable helper. The Emperor agrees.
• Impressed by Hou Yuchen, the Emperor considers arranging a marriage between him and one of his daughters. Jian’s inner voice reveals that Hou is the match she wants for her sister, Jian Xilu, and that Xilu’s previous intended, Gao Yang, keeps three mistresses.
• The Emperor changes course and arranges Hou’s marriage to Xilu. Jian Zhang and Minister Hou are pleased, while Jian Ruonan privately celebrates the Emperor’s decision.
• The Emperor then approves Vice Minister Bian Yingyi’s request to open the imperial private treasury for disaster relief, with plans to treat the funds as a loan to the Ministry of Revenue.
• Jian’s thoughts expose Bian’s secret romance with the Vice Minister of Works: Bian wears a woman’s embroidered bellyband and plans to disguise himself for a rendezvous. The ministers realize the two men are lovers and have long been discreetly affectionate at court.

Character developments and interactions

• Emperor Deyuan shows both compassion and opportunism: he funds relief for disaster victims, but intends to recover the money later. He is also increasingly delighted by Jian’s approval and acts quickly to secure the match she wants for her sister.
• Jian Ruonan uses her influence indirectly through her candid inner thoughts. She advocates for Hou’s transfer and inadvertently reveals the truth about Gao Yang, prompting the Emperor to protect her sister’s prospects.
• Jian Zhang and Minister Hou welcome the imperial marriage arrangement; Hou Wenyao is surprised that his previously underestimated son has become so desirable.
• The ministers turn court into a lively audience for scandals, reacting to Jian’s revelations about Gao Yang and Bian’s private life. The exposure also helps Minister of War Pei Junfei discover that Gao Yang’s family misled him about the broken engagement.
• Bian Yingyi and the Vice Minister of Works are revealed as devoted partners who maintain a secret relationship despite their public roles.

Significant themes

• Private thoughts versus public appearances: Jian’s inner monologue exposes secrets that dignified court officials try to conceal.
• Power, matchmaking, and family duty: The Emperor’s authority reshapes marriage prospects, while Jian seeks a good match for her sister.
• Comic exposure and political gossip: Serious matters—disaster relief, appointments, and marriage—unfold alongside scandal and teasing.
• Public service amid self-interest: The Emperor funds relief out of concern for the people, yet frames the money as a recoverable loan.

Key plot points and events

• Hou Wenyao confirms his son, Hou Yuchen, has been granted an imperial marriage to Jian Xilu. Yuchen accepts calmly, having expected the match because of Jian Ruonan’s influence at court. His father gives him the courtesy name Lixie, meaning to be sincere, proper, and grateful.
• Hou Wenyao asks how the Ministry of Revenue should prepare for Jian Ruonan’s transfer there after New Year. Yuchen recommends providing her with a comfortable bed; otherwise, he warns, she may exercise her Edict-Authorized Table-Flipping. He suspects the emperor wants her to find ways to replenish the depleted treasury.
• During the New Year, Min enjoys the reversal of fortunes: after the Duke of Ping’s household had blamed Xilu for her broken engagement, Gao Yang’s engagement was exposed as impossible when he was found to have three illegitimate sons. Xilu’s new imperial match with Yuchen is a pointed humiliation for the Duke’s family.
• The family learns that the Yin family has broken off its engagement to Jian Huayuan, despite being told he had been deceived and remained a virgin. The Minister of War then proposes a marriage alliance with his granddaughter.
• Jian Ruonan’s inner thoughts reveal the proposed bride’s troubled history: she once ran away with an actor, was caught, and was later engaged to other men. Her previous matches fell apart, while Gao Yang proved even more scandalous than expected. Ruonan concludes that the granddaughter and Gao Yang are “a perfect match” as two love-addled fools.

Character developments and interactions

• Hou Yuchen shows composure and foresight, accepts the marriage without surprise, and appears willing to support Jian Ruonan’s work at the Ministry of Revenue. His strange unease about the courtesy name hints at lingering tension with his father.
• Hou Wenyao is cautious about his son’s future and about the practical difficulties of accommodating Ruonan, but recognizes the emperor’s likely plan to use her talent to raise revenue.
• Min regains her confidence after Xilu’s marriage is settled and takes satisfaction in the Duke of Ping’s embarrassment.
• Jian Huayuan accepts the broken engagement and promises not to be foolish again, but is wounded when Ruonan privately calls him an “idiot.”
• Jian Zhang and Min initially view the Minister of War’s proposal as excellent news. Ruonan’s revelations—and Teng’s confidence in her judgment—quickly make them reconsider. Teng continues to trust Ruonan’s inner voice, even when the rest of the family is surprised.

Significant themes

• Fortune and reputation can reverse quickly: the Jinyang Marquis’s family rises in status as Xilu gains an imperial match, while the Duke of Ping’s household is publicly disgraced.
• Marriage is a political and personal calculation: families weigh reputation and alliances, but hidden histories can make an apparently advantageous match disastrous.
• Ruonan’s influence extends beyond gossip: the emperor may be placing her at the Ministry of Revenue because her success with the printing house suggests she can help address the state’s financial crisis.
• Humor and dramatic irony: Ruonan’s blunt inner commentary repeatedly undercuts the family’s assumptions, especially their belief that the Minister of War’s proposal is good news.

Key plot points and events

• Jian Huayuan’s family discusses his potential marriage. Jian Xilu approves, while Jian Ruonan jokes that the match is good because the Minister of War’s granddaughter would be marrying beneath herself. The family privately hopes the marriage might give Huayuan’s branch a chance to thrive.
• Ruonan reveals that the Fourth Prince is entering maritime trade and may soon recruit Huayuan, potentially freeing him from the First Imperial Prince’s influence. The First Prince is too occupied with Luo Shuirong to interfere for now.
• The family worries that Pu Jingyi, an ally of the Third Prince, may investigate who humiliated him by dousing him in dung. The Elder Branch is relieved that Pu hasn’t traced the prank to them. Teng admits he was responsible, having acted to avenge Huayuan.
• Meanwhile, Prince Rui Dantai Mo makes progress recovering his ability to walk, managing seven steps before collapsing. Encouraged by its desire to contact the Big System, the Black Tortoise System persuades him to visit the Jinyang Marquis’s residence again at night.
• The Big System refuses to answer while Ruonan is asleep, then tells her about the attempted contact. Ruonan coaches it to bluff the Black Tortoise System into revealing its prince host. On their next contact, the Big System accuses it of being bound to a prince—and the Black Tortoise System immediately short-circuits.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan continues to steer events with strategic thinking and irreverent humor. Her family trusts her judgment, and she becomes the Big System’s coach in manipulating the Black Tortoise System.
• Jian Huayuan sees Ruonan as his “great savior,” since her plans may help him escape the First Prince’s control and find a suitable marriage.
• Teng reveals that he was the one who dumped dung on Pu Jingyi, showing loyalty to Huayuan but creating a dangerous risk for the household.
• Jian Zhang is alarmed by Teng’s confession but also enthusiastically embraces Ruonan’s ideas for strengthening the family line.
• Dantai Mo is pleased by his physical recovery, though he is increasingly drawn into the Black Tortoise System’s schemes and endures a freezing nighttime stakeout.
• The Big System grows more confident and loyal to Ruonan, following her instructions closely. The Black Tortoise System, by contrast, is overconfident and easily thrown off balance.

Significant themes

• Family loyalty and succession: The household worries about its future and looks to Ruonan and Huayuan’s marriage prospects to secure the family line.
• Cunning and deception: Ruonan uses a calculated bluff to extract information, while political factions and systems alike rely on secrecy and manipulation.
• Comedic role reversal: The supposedly powerful systems are treated like quarrelsome, gullible characters, and family anxieties—marriage, descendants, political danger—are played for humor.
• Consequences of revenge: Teng’s retaliation satisfies his loyalty to Huayuan but risks drawing the ruthless Pu Jingyi’s attention to the entire family.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Black Tortoise System realizes Big System has uncovered its secret connection to a prince. Big System’s silence makes it think it has been exposed, so it abruptly cuts off contact.
• Dantai Mo notices the system’s return to its timid manner and assumes it has suffered a setback. He tells it to keep collecting lamp oil, hoping to reduce the time needed to regain his health.
• The next morning, Dantai Mo visits the flower bears, Plum Blossom and Tangyuan, with bamboo shoots. He grooms them to build their trust and asks them to be gentle with Jian Ruonan when she visits, offering treats and swings as rewards.
• Tangyuan appears unconvinced and, after Dantai Mo leaves, tries to escape by using a basket to climb the wall.
• On her first morning at the Ministry of Revenue, Jian Ruonan is drawn into a crowd watching Zhang San beg as creditors try to take his wife over his gambling debt. Gossip reveals he was deliberately led into gambling and swindled.
• Moved by the wife and child’s plight, Jian Ruonan sends Chen Pozi to pay for the woman’s release. The incident also gives her useful material for warning the public about gambling. She arrives late for roll call—but finds that several colleagues are late too, having stopped to watch the same scene.

Character developments and interactions

• Black Tortoise System shifts from swaggering confidence to anxious deference after Big System’s silence. Its fear of being exposed also hints at earlier misconduct, including stealing energy.
• Dantai Mo remains focused on winning Jian Ruonan’s favor, making a practical effort to bond with the flower bears. He speaks to them directly, while Tangyuan’s comic skepticism contrasts with Plum Blossom’s easygoing cooperation.
• Jian Ruonan quickly moves from sleepy newcomer to alert gossip-hunter. Her curiosity leads her to the scene, but her sympathy prompts her to take concrete action for the threatened woman and child.
• The bystanders eagerly trade information, and Jian Ruonan joins their speculation. Chen Pozi helps carry out Jian Ruonan’s decision to free the woman.

Significant themes

• Gossip as information and influence: Jian Ruonan’s appetite for gossip helps uncover a fraud and provides material for a public warning.
• Compassion alongside curiosity: Though drawn by the spectacle, Jian Ruonan responds to the family’s suffering by helping them.
• Trust and persuasion: Dantai Mo tries to earn the bears’ trust through care and rewards, while Tangyuan’s attempted escape shows that the effort has not convinced everyone.
• Comic irony: The chapter contrasts the Black Tortoise System’s dramatic anxiety, the bears’ antics, and Jian Ruonan’s concern about punctuality—only to reveal that her colleagues were delayed by the same gossip.

Key plot points and events

• Jian Ruonan arrives at the Ministry of Revenue as an assistant director. Her colleagues greet her warmly, though they are privately puzzled by the minister’s unusually careful instructions to make her comfortable.
• She finds a small office with a bed and incense burner, and is delighted by the welcome. Her coworkers, however, are nervous because they fear her ability to uncover their misconduct.
• Jian Ruonan’s unspoken thoughts expose the bureau director’s corrupt dealings and embarrassing private life. He immediately becomes obsequious, while Top Graduate Hou realizes why the ministry has treated her like a dangerous figure.
• Her colleagues encourage her to take as long as she likes choosing a role. Jian sleeps until noon, enjoys the snacks they bring, and begins to feel at home.
• When she asks Top Graduate Hou what work might suit her, he recommends developing ways to increase treasury revenue, with her responsible only for ideas and others handling the labor.
• Hou explains that the state has already raised funds by issuing salt, tea, and medicine certificates, but further issues would only postpone the treasury’s problems. Jian proposes banning gambling and confiscating the wealth of gambling operators.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains lazy and reluctant to do routine work, but her coworkers’ kindness makes her consider contributing. She is blunt, imaginative, and willing to offer an unconventional solution.
• Top Graduate Hou acts as her guide and tactful flatterer. He understands both her dislike of hard work and the ministry’s fear of her, and frames the revenue task to appeal to her.
• The bureau director and other officials shift from cautious hospitality to outright fear once Jian’s thoughts reveal their secrets. Their warmth is mixed with self-preservation.
• Jian’s easy rapport with her colleagues grows through their thoughtful care, though she suspects they still regard her with awe.

Significant themes

• Corruption and accountability: The ministry’s officials exploit their control over public funds, and Jian’s ability to expose hidden truths unsettles them.
• Power through knowledge: Jian’s private insights give her influence without requiring her to confront anyone directly.
• Work, privilege, and persuasion: Jian avoids labor, while Hou cleverly presents a major task as one that requires only her ideas.
• Fiscal desperation and bold remedies: The treasury’s reliance on advance sales of state certificates highlights its financial strain, setting up Jian’s radical proposal to target gambling wealth.

Plot points and events

• Jian Ruonan proposes using Zhang San’s gambling disaster to campaign against gambling. Top Graduate Hou explains that although gambling is officially banned, powerful vassal princes, aristocrats, and imperial relatives profit from gambling dens. Past officials sent to suppress them died, so a direct crackdown would be dangerous. Jian Ruonan abandons the idea.
• After work, she meets Zhang San and his family. He promises to stop gambling and repays her help with an IOU for the 200 taels she advanced.
• Jian takes Zhang San to the Hanlin Academy and asks Editor Lu to turn his experience into a public warning. Zhang is to hold a sign in the square and tell people how gambling harmed his family.
• Jian visits Prince Rui’s residence to see the pandas and discuss maritime trade. There, she finds Tangyuan stuck headfirst between the bars of the garden wall after trying to escape. She uses a Great Strength Pill to free him, injuring her hand and accidentally kicking a hole in the wall.
• When the pill wears off, Jian collapses from temporary weakness. Tangyuan clings to her, apparently convinced she sacrificed herself to save him.
• Prince Rui, Dantai Mo, rushes back when he hears Jian is there. He is alarmed by her injury, then sees Tangyuan fiercely attached to her and jealous when she tries to pet Plum Blossom.

Character developments

• Jian is resourceful and socially minded, but recognizes when an apparently noble reform would put her life at risk. She also insists Zhang San take responsibility rather than treating him as a charity case.
• Zhang San shows remorse and agrees both to repay Jian and to publicly warn others about gambling.
• Tangyuan’s attachment to Jian deepens after she rescues him; he seeks her affection and tries to keep her to himself.
• Dantai Mo’s growing fondness for the pandas is evident, as is his concern for Jian when he learns she has been hurt.

Significant themes

• Power and corruption: Gambling persists despite official bans because influential interests protect it.
• Accountability and public education: Jian turns one man’s misfortune into a warning for the community.
• Compassion and risk: Jian’s impulsive rescue of Tangyuan shows her willingness to endanger herself for a vulnerable creature.
• Comic affection: The pandas’ behavior and Dantai Mo’s bewilderment lend warmth and humor to the chapter.

Character interactions

• Top Graduate Hou cautions Jian about the danger of confronting gambling interests; Jian accepts his warning.
• Jian supports Zhang San while insisting he repay her and make his story public.
• Jian rescues Tangyuan, who responds with devotion and possessiveness.
• Dantai Mo shows concern for Jian, while Tangyuan’s clinginess complicates his attempt to take her away to discuss business.

Key plot points and events

• Tangyuan becomes unusually clingy toward Jian Ruonan, forcing her to bring him into the Fourth Prince’s study while she discusses business with Dantai Mo. Dantai Mo has already arranged for her eldest brother, Jian Huayuan, to be brought back from Sea City. Jian Ruonan and the prince mutually avoid mentioning the First Imperial Prince or Pu Jingyi.
• Jian Ruonan’s colleagues at the Ministry of Revenue welcome her warmly, but she still has no solution to the empty treasury. Her reputation for helping a gambling victim draws desperate families to her office, though she refuses them because she believes gambling addiction cannot be fixed by her intervention.
• When she learns that gambling-den thugs have attacked Zhang San and threatened people who came to read his stories, Jian Ruonan decides to ban gambling—especially because the violence has damaged her storybook sales.
• She suspects her gossip-related ability may punish people who try to kill her after she exposes their secrets. To test this dangerous theory, she recruits Top Graduate Hou and borrows guards from Dantai Mo and the Eldest Princess.
• Disguised as a rich young gentleman, Jian Ruonan enters a gambling den to investigate. Her inner voice exposes the dice operator, Triangular Eyes, for cheating. When he swears he is honest, she uncovers and loudly reveals his wife’s affair and the true parentage of his youngest child. The resulting chaos leaves the den’s occupants abruptly gone.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains bold and resourceful, but admits she is frightened of the dangerous gamblers. Her concern for her livelihood and curiosity about her possible supernatural protection nevertheless drive her into action.
• Tangyuan shifts from a scheming, haughty bear into an affectionate, tearful companion who cannot bear to part from Jian Ruonan. Their goodbye is so emotional that Dantai Mo seems like a jealous, obstructive relative.
• Dantai Mo supports Jian Ruonan’s plans by lending her guards, while privately questioning the unusually quiet Black Tortoise System. He suspects it has made a serious mistake; the system’s evasive response hints that it has.
• Top Graduate Hou helps Jian Ruonan investigate, though he teases her about risking her life. Their partnership combines his practical support with her gossip-based insight.
• Triangular Eyes tries to protect his gambling business with a dramatic oath, but Jian Ruonan’s ability exposes the hypocrisy behind it.

Significant themes

• Reputation and gossip as power: Jian Ruonan’s public image draws people to her, while her ability to uncover private truths can destabilize criminals.
• Justice versus personal risk: She wants to protect gambling victims and punish exploiters, even though the people involved are violent.
• Money and livelihood: The attack on Zhang San’s readers motivates Jian Ruonan’s anger as much as her broader opposition to gambling.
• Affection and comic rivalry: Tangyuan’s attachment to Jian Ruonan adds warmth and humor, while Dantai Mo’s reactions suggest playful jealousy.

Key plot points

• A report that Wang Wu has entered Triangle Eyes’ home sparks a rush from the gambling hall to investigate. Jian Ruonan initially wants to join, but first tries to haul away a chest of gambling money. When Brother-in-law Hou reminds her that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is watching, she gives up the money and orders the guards to confiscate it for the Ministry of Revenue.
• Jian Ruonan and Hou reach Pagoda Tree Alley ahead of the gamblers. She checks her mysterious system: its groundhog count is 25, apparently matching the people gathered around Triangle Eyes. She activates the gossip-muting function so the couple inside won’t hear the crowd.
• Triangle Eyes confirms that his wife and Wang Wu are together in the house. The spectators repeatedly restrain him, eager to hear the full story rather than let him burst in too soon.
• After the lovers’ intimate conversation confirms their affair, Triangle Eyes breaks free and storms into the room. The crowd cannot see what happens because the window is shut, so Hou pays someone to open it.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Ruonan remains impulsive and comically acquisitive, but remembers that the guards are observing her and shifts quickly from trying to keep the gambling proceeds to pursuing the scandal.
• Brother-in-law Hou acts as her practical counterpart: he reminds her about the guards, helps organize the confiscation, and later pays to get a better view.
• Triangle Eyes goes from suspicion to fury after learning Wang Wu is in his home. His desire to confront the pair is repeatedly checked by the gamblers, who value hearing the gossip first.
• The gamblers and thugs reveal that gossip can excite them even more than gambling. They cooperate to restrain Triangle Eyes and listen, while Jian Ruonan’s system prevents their noisy commentary from alerting the lovers.
• Wang Wu and Triangle Eyes’ wife are exposed through their conversation, which confirms their affair and humiliates Triangle Eyes.

Significant themes

• Gossip as entertainment and social spectacle: The crowd’s eagerness to witness the affair eclipses its concern for gambling or even personal safety.
• Greed and self-interest: Jian Ruonan longs for the gambling money, while the gamblers pursue the scandal for their own amusement.
• Suspense through restraint: The crowd delays Triangle Eyes’ confrontation to hear more, creating comic tension before his explosive entrance.
• System-driven comedy: Jian Ruonan’s mysterious buttons and “groundhog” count turn an ordinary domestic scandal into a game-like, supernatural spectacle.

Plot points and events

• Triangular Eyes catches Wang Wu in bed with his wife and beats him with a club. Wang Wu tries to save himself by appealing to their brotherhood and reminding Triangular Eyes that he introduced him to Master Wu and taught him how to cheat at gambling.
• Their admission that they rigged games enrages the spectators, who demand their money back and threaten to cut off their fingers. The crowd beats both men until officers from the Five City Garrison Command arrive and arrest them for starting a mass brawl.
• Jian Ruonan and Top Graduate Hou return to the Ministry of Revenue. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has seized 100,000 taels from the gambling den—enough, Jian notes, to support thousands of soldiers or help disaster victims. They agree to keep the gambling ban secret for now.
• Jian tells her colleagues the silver came from a confidential new tax. They praise her enthusiastically, until Lord Wu of the Imperial Household Department’s Construction Office arrives to demand funding for the Sixth Prince’s residence.
• Lord Wu’s office has requested an extravagant 160,000 taels for the project, far above the cost of a comparable minister’s residence. He mocks the Ministry staff for praising Jian, and Top Graduate Hou fires back with an insult about Lord Wu’s own shameless flattery.
• Jian’s unspoken thoughts reveal that Lord Wu rose through the ranks by extreme acts of sycophancy. Rather than deny it, he appears proud. Jian decides to use him to test her Heavenly Punishment ability and strikes him across the face with a wooden board.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Wu proves cowardly and self-serving: he invokes loyalty when it benefits him, then blames the affair on Triangular Eyes’ wife. His boast that he taught Triangular Eyes to cheat exposes their gambling fraud.
• Triangular Eyes shifts from furious husband to fellow target of public anger once his own cheating is revealed. Their brotherhood does not protect either man from the crowd or arrest.
• Jian Ruonan continues to conceal her methods while enjoying her colleagues’ praise. She also acts decisively when Lord Wu’s arrogance gives her a chance to test her power.
• Top Graduate Hou backs Jian and openly trades insults with Lord Wu, reflecting the Ministry’s resentment toward the Imperial Household Department.
• Lord Wu is introduced as a corrupt, influential official who responds to exposure not with shame but apparent pride.

Significant themes

• Hypocrisy and self-interest: Wang Wu disguises selfishness as brotherly loyalty, while Lord Wu turns shameless flattery into a successful career strategy.
• Corruption and accountability: The inflated construction requisition and the gambling den’s hidden profits reveal how much money powerful or dishonest institutions can extract.
• Public justice and disorder: The crowd’s anger at the gamblers’ confession rapidly becomes mob violence, prompting the authorities to intervene.
• Appearance versus reality: Jian’s colleagues mistake her quiet habits for laziness, then praise her when they learn of the seized silver; Lord Wu’s polished appearance likewise masks a deeply compromised character.