Chapter Summaries

Jian Ruonan was appointed Deputy Chief Examiner of the Spring Examination after Emperor Deyuan created a powerful concurrent post to spare her morning court. As officials competed to be Chief Examiner, Jian Ruonan wondered whether the First Imperial Prince had stolen the examination papers, leaving Emperor Deyuan alarmed.

• Emperor Deyuan appointed Jian Ruonan to the Grand Council and considered changing the court schedule to suit her.
• The Vice Minister of Rites asked Emperor Deyuan to appoint examiners for the upcoming Spring Examination, and Jian Ruonan eagerly asked to proctor it.
• Emperor Deyuan appointed Jian Ruonan and Dantai Mo as Deputy Chief Examiners, and Dantai Mo resolved to watch for cheating and protect Jian Ruonan.
• Su Xuelin and Shi Fan clashed over the Chief Examiner post, while other ministers joined the competition to claim it.
• Jian Ruonan wondered whether the First Imperial Prince had stolen the examination papers, shocking Emperor Deyuan.

Jian Ruonan used a supposed Purple Star Astrology reading to warn Emperor Deyuan that the Spring Examination papers would be in danger that night. He approved her plan to guard them, while the ministers prepared to catch the First Imperial Prince trying to steal them.

• The Six Ministers maneuvered for the Metropolitan Examination chief examiner position, and Emperor Deyuan appointed the Minister of Justice.
• Jian Ruonan told Emperor Deyuan that her star observations and divination predicted danger to the Spring Examination papers that night.
• Jian Ruonan offered to guard the papers all night, and Emperor Deyuan granted permission.

Tantai Ji dealt with the Imperial Household Department’s refusal to repair his residence and learned that the Fourth Prince had entered maritime trade, cutting into his profits. He also discovered that Luo Shuirong was living with Pu Jingyi and that Pu intended her unborn child to inherit his estate, then prepared to visit Lady Wu for her birthday.

• Tantai Ji ordered his steward to record the Imperial Household Department officials who had mocked him over the damaged residence.
• Tantai Ji questioned his advisers about the sharp fall in maritime trade profits and learned that the Fourth Prince had joined the business.
• Tantai Ji learned that Luo Shuirong had been taken to Pu Jingyi’s residence and that Pu intended her child to inherit the Pu family estate.
• Tantai Ji put off contacting Luo Shuirong and prepared to visit Lady Wu in the palace on her birthday.

Jian Ruonan prepared to help catch the thief stealing the metropolitan examination papers, while the ministers persuaded Emperor Deyuan to let them stay and watch. She arrived at the palace with a collection of facekinis and found the ministers and Fourth Prince waiting at the Pavilion of Literary Profundity.

• After court, the Six Ministers of the Six Ministries invented more business to convince Emperor Deyuan to let them stay and watch for the paper thief.
• Jian Ruonan returned home, had Zang Chun make facekinis, and slept before preparing for her palace visit.
• Teng learned Jian Ruonan had been promoted to Grand Council Secretary, asked to join her, then settled for requesting two days off every five days at the Imperial College.
• At the palace gates, Eunuch Cao congratulated Jian Ruonan and gave her a red envelope in exchange for help with Purple Star Astrology.
• Jian Ruonan reached the Pavilion of Literary Profundity, where the Six Ministers of the Six Ministries and the Fourth Prince were waiting, and announced she would give them facekinis.

Jian Ruonan pretended to divine when the First Imperial Prince would steal the Metropolitan Examination papers, while Dantai Mo grew flustered as she showed him the stars and traced Pisces in his palm. When Emperor Deyuan and the ministers arrived, she warned that the evening’s gossip could bring bad luck and offered a Facekini as protection.

• Chief Minister Su asked Jian Ruonan to predict when the First Imperial Prince would steal the examination papers, and she pretended to study the stars.
• Dantai Mo approached Jian Ruonan after Black Tortoise urged him to recite a poem, and she showed him Venus and Pisces.
• Jian Ruonan traced Pisces in Dantai Mo’s palm, and his emotional fluctuations earned him 100 points.
• Emperor Deyuan arrived and asked Jian Ruonan what the stars revealed, so she warned that the evening’s affair might damage their blessings and prosperity.
• Jian Ruonan told Emperor Deyuan, the ministers, and the Fourth Prince that wearing her Facekini would avert the danger, then offered to demonstrate.

Jian Ruonan tried to get the emperor and ministers to wear the Facekinis Zang Chun had made, using mystical threats and persuasion to overcome their resistance. By the end, everyone had chosen one, though the chapter left their masked appearance as the punchline.

• Jian Ruonan put on a Facekini and offered the remaining patterned masks to the emperor and ministers, who hesitated to choose.
• Dantai Mo picked a gray Facekini with a Fangsheng Pattern, while Emperor Deyuan encouraged the ministers to try theirs on.
• Jian Ruonan used fake divination and a burning-paper trick to frighten Minister Pei into choosing a coin-patterned Facekini.
• Minister Pei passed the pressure to Minister Pang Lianggong, whom Jian Ruonan warned about illness and itching until he chose a Jade Rabbit Holding a Lingzhi Amidst Auspicious Treasures Facekini.
• Jian Ruonan threatened the remaining ministers with another mystical performance, and everyone eventually put on a Facekini.

Jian Ruonan pressured the ministers into choosing colorful Facekinis by claiming they warded off evil and invoking Emperor Deyuan’s status as the true dragon emperor. When he tried to avoid wearing one, she used a supernatural warning and her crochet skill to make him a special Dragonkini, leaving him aghast at its horns and red circles.

• Jian Ruonan revealed that she had used Itch Powder on the Minister of Works and cured him after he chose a Facekini.
• Jian Ruonan claimed the Facekinis came from Shakyamuni and persuaded Emperor Deyuan to affirm that only he could understand them.
• Jian Ruonan handed Facekinis to the ministers and Eunuch Cao, while Emperor Deyuan tried to avoid choosing one.
• Jian Ruonan warned Emperor Deyuan about a divine beast called Hou that ate dragon brains, prompting him to seek an alternative to wearing a Facekini.
• Jian Ruonan activated Crochet Proficiency and made Emperor Deyuan an imperial-yellow Dragonkini with dragon horns and red circles.

The First Imperial Prince visited Lady Wu in the Cold Palace on her birthday and promised to find a way to free her, then secretly prepared for an unseen nighttime plan. Meanwhile, Jian Ruonan kept the court busy with a barbecue demonstration, ending with Emperor Deyuan trying her food and being offered a Dragonkini to block the smoke.

• The First Imperial Prince bribed two Cold Palace maids with a few silver melon seeds to fetch charcoal, then brought pastries to Lady Wu for her birthday.
• Lady Wu asked the First Imperial Prince to bribe Eunuch Cao to persuade the emperor to let her leave the capital, and he promised to find another way.
• The First Imperial Prince returned to the Imperial Princes’ Residence, then changed into night clothes and waited in secret after dark.
• Jian Ruonan distracted Emperor Deyuan and the ministers from discussing state affairs by proposing a barbecue and asking the Imperial Kitchen for ingredients.
• Jian Ruonan grilled meat with seasonings from her pouch, and Emperor Deyuan praised the taste while complaining about the smoke.
• Jian Ruonan told Emperor Deyuan that his Dragonkini could block the smoke as she sprinkled salt.

Jian Ruonan persuaded the emperor and ministers that barbecue was a heavenly offering, then demonstrated that the Facekinis could hide their wearers from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The emperor and ministers put on the supposed divine artifacts, and Jian Ruonan proposed sneaking into the Imperial Harem.

• Jian Ruonan talked Minister Pang Fartsheng into taking over the barbecue stand by claiming Buddha Shakyamuni favored grilled food, and the ministers and Emperor Deyuan eagerly learned to grill.
• Jian Ruonan invited Dantai Mo to demonstrate the Facekini’s power and gave him a distinctive black-and-red one.
• Jian Ruonan used the Gossip Subject Mute Button’s Hide function, then she and Dantai Mo circled the patrolling guards without being noticed.
• Emperor Deyuan, the ministers, and Cao Degui put on their Facekinis after witnessing the demonstration.
• Jian Ruonan proposed going to the Imperial Harem to see what the palace women were doing behind Emperor Deyuan’s back.

Jian Ruonan led Emperor Deyuan and the ministers in Facekinis through the palace, after taking a photograph of them in their absurd outfits. At Cian Palace, she discovered that Qin Guangzu was secretly dressed as a woman and hiding as a relative of the Empress Dowager, and the group prepared to hear the gossip.

• Jian Ruonan took a Polaroid photograph of Emperor Deyuan, the ministers, Eunuch Cao, and Dantai Mo wearing Facekinis, claiming the flash came from Dianmu.
• Jian Ruonan told the group the photograph was an Electronic Wooden Fish offering, while privately planning to use it as leverage against anyone who offended her.
• Jian Ruonan led the Facekini-wearing group past the palace maids at Cining Gate, who could not see them.
• Jian Ruonan and the others reached Cian Palace and learned that Qin Guangzu was dressed as a woman and pretending to be a distant relative of the Empress Dowager.
• Emperor Deyuan considered leaving to avoid hearing his mother's gossip, but Minister Su urged him to stay, and the ministers encouraged him to listen.

Jian Ruonan and the ministers secretly watched the Empress Dowager meet Qin Guangzu in a shrine, where she performed a bizarre seduction scene while he resisted. Jian Ruonan recognized the lyrics as part of a script she had written for the Eldest Princess, leaving everyone wondering how the Empress Dowager had obtained it.

• Jian Ruonan led the gossip team toward the shrine after hearing the palace maids' gossip, while Dantai Mo and the Black Tortoise System discussed her views on monogamy and male virtue.
• Jian Ruonan cut two holes in the shrine's silk window covering and saw Qin Guangzu meditating in monk's robes beside a veiled Guanyin statue.
• The Empress Dowager entered in youthful pink attire and flirted with Qin Guangzu while a maid played the pipa, prompting the watchers to wonder if she was possessed.
• Qin Guangzu avoided the Empress Dowager, then played an erhu as she sang lyrics from a romance scene.
• Jian Ruonan recognized the song as part of the script she had written for the Eldest Princess and wondered how it had reached the Empress Dowager.

Jian Ruonan watched the Empress Dowager and Qin Guangzu perform her romance script, though the Empress Dowager added lines that horrified her. After the performance, Qin Guangzu revealed a secret technique involving a wheel, leaving Jian Ruonan stunned.

• Qin Guangzu played music and performed a romantic scene with the Empress Dowager while Jian Ruonan and the ministers watched.
• The Empress Dowager and Qin Guangzu sang a love duet, and the Empress Dowager added unscripted lines declaring her beauty.
• The ministers praised Jian Ruonan’s lyrics and plot, and Emperor Deyuan told them to return to guarding the Metropolitan Examination papers.
• The Empress Dowager said she was tired, and Qin Guangzu offered to attend her as she retired.
• Qin Guangzu brought a garden wheel into the Buddhist hall, removed his clothes, and revealed the Wheel-Turning Technique.

Emperor Deyuan and the Gossip watched Qin Guangzu perform an astonishing wheel-spinning act for the Empress Dowager, while Jian Ruonan’s commentary left the emperor increasingly mortified. After Wuchun mistook the disguised group for ghosts, Emperor Deyuan abandoned his return to the Pavilion of Literary Profundity and continued the harem tour.

• Qin Guangzu spun a wheel rapidly in both directions for the Empress Dowager while Emperor Deyuan and the Gossip watched from outside the shrine.
• Jian Ruonan questioned Qin Guangzu’s promotion and the ministers argued over whether Pang Lianggong or Pei Junfei was jealous of his talent.
• The Empress Dowager dismissed Wuchun, who left the shrine and mistook Emperor Deyuan and the disguised ministers for ghosts.
• Emperor Deyuan left Cian Palace feeling weary and ordered everyone back to the Pavilion of Literary Profundity, but the Gossip urged him to continue the harem tour.
• Emperor Deyuan agreed to continue the tour after the spectators reminded him that someone might have put a green cuckold’s hat on him.

Jian Ruonan and Emperor Deyuan entered the abandoned Jinxiang Palace, where Jian Ruonan uncovered that the Empress Dowager had poisoned Consort Xian after learning she had cuckolded the emperor. Their investigation was interrupted by eerie noises from a side room, and the chapter ended as Jian Ruonan revealed the supposed ghost was a young eunuch.

• Emperor Deyuan chose to inspect Jinxiang Palace and remembered his childhood bond with Consort Xian and his plans to speak with the Third Prince.
• Jian Ruonan's thoughts revealed that the Empress Dowager had poisoned Consort Xian after discovering Consort Xian had cuckolded Emperor Deyuan to protect the Third Prince's position.
• Emperor Deyuan and the ministers reeled at the possibility that the Third Prince was not his biological son.
• Jian Ruonan heard strange noises and saw a flickering light in a side room, prompting the ministers to fear a ghost.
• Jian Ruonan identified the supposed ghost as a young eunuch just as the frightened ministers prepared to flee.

Jian Ruonan and the court officials discovered that the supposed ghost in Jinxiang Palace was a young eunuch practicing his cooking skills. After Eunuch Cao confronted him and ordered him to leave, the eunuch saw Cao's frightening face and fainted.

• The officials found a young eunuch chopping cabbage and clumsily tossing a wok in Jinxiang Palace, explaining the noises they had mistaken for a ghost.
• Emperor Deyuan sent Eunuch Cao to question the intruder, and Cao learned the eunuch was Wu Nao, an Imperial Kitchen Directorate chopping-block hand practicing privately.
• Wu Nao explained that his roommates had sent him to the empty palace so he could practice without disturbing them.
• Eunuch Cao ordered Wu Nao to clean up, leave, and report to the Directorate of Imperial Justice for punishment the next day.
• Wu Nao packed his cooking tools and swept the floor, then saw Eunuch Cao's face, dropped his sack, and fainted.

Jian Ruonan led Emperor Deyuan and the ministers on a nighttime tour of the Imperial Harem, where they discovered that Consort Shu had mistaken weight gain and a late period for pregnancy. The group continued through the prospective consorts’ palace, then headed to the Imperial Study as Jian Ruonan anticipated the First Imperial Prince’s arrival.

• A young eunuch fainted after seeing Eunuch Cao’s face, and Jian Ruonan confirmed that he was still alive.
• Jian Ruonan persuaded Emperor Deyuan to continue their late-night circuit of the Imperial Harem.
• The group heard that Consort Shu had miscarried, but Jian Ruonan revealed that Consort Shu had only gained belly fat and mistaken her late period for pregnancy.
• Jian Ruonan and the others visited the Palace of Gathered Elegance, where prospective consorts practiced singing, dancing, and balancing bowls on their heads.
• Jian Ruonan checked the time and led the group toward the Imperial Study, expecting the First Imperial Prince to arrive soon.

Jian Ruonan and Emperor Deyuan waited in the Imperial Study and caught the First Imperial Prince copying the Metropolitan Examination questions. Jian Ruonan startled him with a coordinated flashlight prank, leaving him screaming and foaming at the mouth.

• Jian Ruonan led Emperor Deyuan and the ministers into the dark Imperial Study, where she used a flashlight and explained that it collected sunlight for nighttime illumination.
• Jian Ruonan found the examination papers behind the throne’s screen, and Emperor Deyuan invited her to sit beside him while the ministers rested nearby.
• After the guards left to chase away a cat, the First Imperial Prince slipped into the study and crawled toward the exam papers in disguise.
• The First Imperial Prince copied an exam paper on the floor while Jian Ruonan and the ministers watched and shared sunflower seeds.
• Jian Ruonan handed out flashlights and instructed Emperor Deyuan and the ministers to crouch before the First Imperial Prince.
• Jian Ruonan switched off the Gossip Subject Mute Button, and the group shone their flashlights at their faces and shouted, causing the First Imperial Prince to scream and foam at the mouth.

The First Imperial Prince was caught stealing the Spring Examination papers and tried to excuse himself with a story about a dream. After Jian Ruonan’s thoughts exposed his plans to sell the papers and build a faction, Emperor Deyuan ordered him imprisoned, while the court also learned he had brought no writing supplies because he was too stingy to pay for them.

• The First Imperial Prince fainted after the lights came on, and the guards carried him out and shook him awake.
• The First Imperial Prince begged forgiveness and claimed he had taken the papers to answer a Bodhisattva’s challenge, but Jian Ruonan’s thoughts revealed he meant to sell them and win ministers to his faction.
• The First Imperial Prince considered having Jian Ruonan killed, but a mysterious force struck him whenever he contemplated murder or hiring an assassin.
• Wei Liren confirmed the First Imperial Prince’s crimes to Emperor Deyuan, who ordered the guards to throw him into prison.
• Jian Ruonan wondered why the First Imperial Prince had brought no paper or charcoal pencil, and the court learned he had planned to use the Imperial Study’s supplies to save money.

After the examination-paper mission, Jian Ruonan returned to the Marquis's Estate and confronted Green Cicada, a senior maid sent by the Princess Consort of the Southwest, over her treatment of Old Madam. Green Cicada accused Jian Ruonan of improper conduct, and Jian Ruonan promised to show her what proper conduct meant once she finished eating.

• Emperor Deyuan and the ministers returned Jian Ruonan's Sun Essence Collector and flashlights, while the ministers kept their Facekinis as souvenirs.
• Jian Ruonan took several days of sick leave after the late-night mission and planned to return to duty for the Spring Examination.
• Jian Ruonan learned that Green Cicada, a senior maid from Joy and Longevity Court, had slapped Xiaoyu and demanded to know why she was there.
• Green Cicada said the Princess Consort of the Southwest had sent her to check on Old Madam, and Jian Ruonan challenged her to explain how the princess consort would help.
• Green Cicada blamed Old Madam's unhappy life on her unfilial children, and Jian Ruonan defended the Elder Branch's devotion.
• When Green Cicada criticized Jian Ruonan for delaying her visit to Old Madam until after her meal, Jian Ruonan promised to show her what proper conduct meant.

Jian Ruonan used an Imperial Edict to punish Green Cicada for insulting the Jinyang Marquis's Residence, while Shi Fan prepared to attend the Heir of the Prince of the Southwest's banquet with her. The Heir Apparent's Consort learned that Green Cicada had been beaten and looked forward to confronting Jian Ruonan.

• Shi Fan asked Madam Shi to bring Jian Ruonan to a banquet hosted by the Heir of the Prince of the Southwest, but Madam Shi revealed she had sent Green Cicada to fetch her.
• Green Cicada returned and announced that Jian Ruonan would come explain the household's rules after finishing her meal.
• Jian Ruonan arrived with musicians, overturned a table, and used an Imperial Edict to order Green Cicada dragged out and beaten.
• Madam Shi agreed that Jian Ruonan was right, and Shi Fan praised her propriety as Green Cicada was taken away.
• The Heir of the Prince of the Southwest told his consort that Shi Fan planned to attend the banquet with Jian Ruonan, and she learned Green Cicada had been beaten.