Chapter Summaries

Jian Ruonan and the others watched as Loser Guy tried to abduct Lü Xinxiang, while her former fiancé Dai Lümao stood by and insulted her. After Lü Xinxiang begged him for help, Dai Lümao drove Loser Guy off and used his seventh-rank official’s token to frighten the ninth-rank official into pleading for mercy.

• Loser Guy grabbed Lü Xinxiang and threw her onto a bed while Nianshu tried to protect his mother, and Dai Lümao watched without intervening.
• Jian Ruonan called for help and urged Dai Lümao to save Lü Xinxiang, while Dantai Mo was stopped from drawing his sword.
• Dai Lümao demanded that Lü Xinxiang beg him and call him Fifth Master before he kicked Loser Guy away from the bed.
• Loser Guy claimed he was an Office Secretary of the Court of Judicial Review, but Dai Lümao displayed a seventh-rank official’s token.
• Loser Guy realized Dai Lümao outranked him and begged for mercy.

Jian Ruonan stopped Dai Lümao from assaulting Lü Xinxiang and exposed his behavior just as the Commandery Prince's Heir arrived. After reuniting with Xinxiang, the Heir learned what Dai had done and prepared to bring the Dai family down.

• Dai Lümao drove Loser Guy away, then insulted Lü Xinxiang and tried to force himself on her.
• Jian Ruonan confronted Dai Lümao, condemned him, and interrupted his assault while Lü Xinxiang's daughters rescued their mother.
• Dai Lümao collapsed after Jian Ruonan used talk therapy, and she urged him to stay alive until the Commandery Prince's Heir arrived.
• The Commandery Prince's Heir reunited with Lü Xinxiang and learned from Jian Ruonan that Dai Lümao had nearly raped her.
• The Commandery Prince's Heir roared in anger, and Jian Ruonan declared that it was time for the Dai family to go bankrupt.

The Commandery Prince’s Heir found Xinxiang and flew into a rage over Dai Lümao and Young Master Dick bullying her, but the Crown Prince’s Guards stopped him from dispensing private punishment. After the incident, Dantai Mo cornered Jian Ruonan to discuss something, and she tried to escape until her mother appeared.

• The Commandery Prince’s Heir had Dai Lümao and Young Master Dick seized for bullying Xinxiang, while Jian Ruonan and the others revealed Nianshu and Niansan resembled him and were his descendants.
• The Commandery Prince’s Heir ordered the men’s hands and dicks cut off and began punishing Dai Lümao, despite Jian Ruonan repeatedly warning that it was against the law.
• Commandery Princess Jiarou asked whether they should intervene, and Jian Ruonan urged Dantai Mo to stop the punishment without breaking the law.
• The Crown Prince’s Guards intervened, took Dai Lümao and Young Master Dick away for trial, and ordered the Commandery Prince’s Heir to copy Great Xia Law five hundred times.
• Dantai Mo followed Jian Ruonan and tried to speak with her, but she made excuses to leave until Min appeared.

Jian Ruonan visited her maternal grandfather’s birthday gathering, where the Eldest Princess arranged for a handsome young man to be offered to her as a gift. The chapter left Jian Ruonan flustered by the youth’s charms and worried that she would not be able to preserve her wifely virtue.

• Min brought Jian Ruonan to her maternal grandfather’s birthday after learning what had happened between Jian Ruonan and Dantai Mo.
• Jian Ruonan charmed her grandmother and joined the gathering, where noblewomen remarked on her beauty and asked whether she was betrothed.
• The Eldest Princess arrived and accompanied Jian Ruonan to the Waterside Pavilion.
• Two handsome young men performed a sword dance, and the Eldest Princess took one by the hand while the other stood beside Jian Ruonan.
• The Eldest Princess explained that someone had sent the young man as a gift for Jian Ruonan, who panicked as he assured her he was untouched.

Jian Ruonan considered accepting handsome young servants offered to her, but they fled after Dantai Mo intervened and reclaimed the Eldest Princess’s favorite hot-spring Farm Estate. Watching Dantai Mo’s actions through the Light Screen, Jian Ruonan saw him punish the men’s family and then stage a wedding ceremony with a Persian Cat.

• The Eldest Princess explained that being single and receiving yang energy helped her stay young, and Jian Ruonan thought about enjoying handsome companions without marriage or childbirth.
• Two handsome youths offered to serve Jian Ruonan, but a page summoned them away before she could chat with them.
• An official reported that the Crown Prince had reclaimed the Eldest Princess’s favorite hot-spring Farm Estate, and the Eldest Princess suspected Xiaosi had caused the youths’ departure.
• Jian Ruonan watched Dantai Mo order an entire family exiled for bribing an upright court official and send the two youths to mine coal.
• Dantai Mo brought a Persian Cat to his bedchamber, put a red bridal veil over its head, and gently told it they were performing wedding bows.

Jian Ruonan watched Dantai Mo perform a wedding ceremony with a male Persian cat, then joined her maternal relatives for a feast. After learning through the Melon Patch that her cousins’ future marriages would bring them harm, she wondered how to prevent them from marrying.

• Dantai Mo dressed a male Persian cat as his bride, completed the wedding bows, and chased it while calling it Nan Nan.
• Consort Yan found Dantai Mo with the cat, and he hurriedly handed it to her before leaving his bedchamber.
• Min took Jian Ruonan to her former room, had her change clothes, and said she could keep the courtyard for her to visit in the future.
• Jian Ruonan joined her cousins at the feast and learned that her second elder cousin’s fiancé would abuse her, while her fourth younger cousin’s future match would infect her with a disease.
• Jian Ruonan considered secretly disrupting both cousins’ future marriages.

Jian Ruonan received handmade flower earrings from Min Yao and resisted her cousins’ attempts to persuade her to get her ears pierced. At a gathering with Min Yun and Min Yao’s friends, the young ladies questioned her about why she was not betrothed, and their attention turned to her.

• Min Yao offered Jian Ruonan a selection of handmade flower earrings, and Jian Ruonan chose a pair of flower drops and a pair of cherry blossoms.
• Min Yun and Min Yao tried to pierce Jian Ruonan’s ears, but she refused after hearing their methods and warned them to put their health before husbands or earrings.
• The cousins played together until elders summoned Min Yun and Min Yao to entertain their young female guests.
• Jian Ruonan joined the gathering at the Flower Hall by the Waterside Pavilion, where a young lady asked why she was still unbetrothed at nearly eighteen.
• The gathered young ladies focused on Jian Ruonan and her unexpected views on marriage.

Jian Ruonan entertained a group of young women by questioning marriage and children, then agreed to see Young Master Ai after Min Yao tried to encourage her to marry. She spotted Dantai Mo at the Min Residence and later judged Ai Jiabao, whose balding and weak kidneys she suspected.

• Jian Ruonan asked Yuan Fanfan how wives handled unfaithful husbands and concubines, and Yuan Fanfan shared increasingly ruthless ways to control them.
• Jian Ruonan said she might have children if they could support her from birth or grow up to become top imperial examination graduates, then joked that she would have seventeen or eighteen daughters if men could give birth.
• Min Yao suggested Jian Ruonan look at Young Master Ai, and Jian Ruonan agreed after finding juicy gossip about Ai Jiabao in the Melon Patch.
• Jian Ruonan recognized Dantai Mo, dressed in white, at the Min Residence and startled him by imagining him in cat ears.
• Jian Ruonan changed into men's clothes with the others and went to see Ai Jiabao, then privately mocked his balding and suspected he had weak kidneys.

Jian Ruonan tried to expose Ai Jiabao’s hidden character to Min Yao, whose affection for her betrothed remained strong. After discovering a woman called Sister Hua in Ai Jiabao’s rented home, Jian Ruonan bought the courtyard house so she could investigate further.

• Min Yao and Min Yun praised Ai Jiabao, while Jian Ruonan’s inner thoughts criticized his character and mocked his modest circumstances.
• Jian Ruonan persuaded Min Yao, Min Yun, and Yuan Fanfan to follow Ai Jiabao home, claiming she wanted to observe the daily life of a man from a humble family.
• Ai Jiabao returned to his rented courtyard, where a woman called Sister Hua greeted him; he worried that the Min family might discover her existence.
• Jian Ruonan bought the courtyard house from its owner and led the girls toward Ai Jiabao’s window to investigate.

Jian Ruonan and the others witnessed Ai Jiabao beating his pregnant lover, Sister Hua, and intervened to save her. After learning how he had exploited her, Jian Ruonan gave Sister Hua medicine to make him take as punishment.

• Jian Ruonan and the others watched through a hole in the wall as Sister Hua told Ai Jiabao she was pregnant and he kicked her stomach.
• Jian Ruonan paid the former owner to kick open the door, and he beat and tied up Ai Jiabao while Jian Ruonan helped Sister Hua.
• Ai Jiabao claimed he was an imperial official, but Jian Ruonan showed her First-Rank Great General calling card and ordered the former owner to summon the Five City Garrison Commanders.
• Sister Hua explained that Ai Jiabao had promised to marry her after she supported his examinations with her inheritance.
• Jian Ruonan handed Sister Hua a rattan switch, then asked Yuan Fanfan for medicine to give Ai Jiabao.

Jian Ruonan helped Sister Hua confront Ai Jiabao after he tried to kill her, then summoned midwives when Sister Hua’s water broke. As Sister Hua endured labor, the five city Commanders arrived and took Ai Jiabao away to be punished.

• Jian Ruonan urged Sister Hua to strike Ai Jiabao and promised her work at her factory after the baby was born.
• Sister Hua beat Ai Jiabao while Min Yao watched, then her water broke and Jian Ruonan sent for midwives.
• The five city Commanders arrived, ignored Ai Jiabao’s plea for help, and ordered him taken away for forty strokes of the rod.
• Sister Hua went into labor as Jian Ruonan, Min Yao, and the marriage advocates watched and listened to the midwife explain the pain.
• Sister Hua screamed through her contractions and cursed Ai Jiabao, while the midwife urged her to save her strength and eat chicken soup.

After witnessing Sister Hua’s difficult childbirth, Min Yao, Min Yun, and Yuan Fanfan questioned whether they wanted to marry, while Jian Ruonan showed them her business empire and helped them plan a jewelry shop. Jian Ruonan then volunteered to become a personal maid in Yuan Fanfan’s household, hoping to help her escape marriage.

• Sister Hua gave birth after hours of labor, and the midwife explained the risks of childbirth and nursing to Min Yao, Min Yun, and Yuan Fanfan.
• Jian Ruonan showed the girls her bookshops, storybook shops, and Daughter Coal business, then encouraged them to open a jewelry shop together.
• Min was summoned to the Min Residence, where the old madam learned that Yaoyao wanted to break off her engagement and that Yun also planned to avoid marriage.
• Jian Ruonan offered to become Yuan Fanfan’s personal maid and warned that anyone who mistreated her would face consequences.
• Jian Ruonan and Yuan Fanfan headed for the Duke’s Mansion, where Yuan Fanfan hoped Jian Ruonan would help her mother stop pressuring her to marry.

Jian Ruonan dressed her younger brother Teng as a girl and brought him to visit Pei Shaoyi, where she pretended he was a friend. Pei Shaoyi failed to recognize Teng and began composing poetry, prompting Jian Ruonan to unleash her own verses.

• Yuan Fanfan praised Teng and joked about marrying him, while Teng asked Jian Ruonan to help his friend become a maid to Yuan Fanfan's mother.
• Jian Ruonan decided to dress Teng as a girl, and Chen Pozi and the maids helped him choose clothes, style his hair, and apply makeup.
• Yuan Fanfan admired Teng's transformed appearance, and Jian Ruonan took him to Pei Shaoyi's courtyard to see whether anyone would recognize him.
• Jian Ruonan introduced Teng under a made-up name as one of her little girlfriends, and Pei Shaoyi invited him to compose a summer poem.
• Pei Shaoyi's poetry prompted Jian Ruonan to start reciting her own verse despite having promised to judge rather than compose.

Jian Ruonan reported for duty in the Duke's Madam's courtyard and disrupted the household's morning visit with her blunt comments and appetite. She discovered that all nine concubines had physical impairments, learned that the Duke prized imperfection as art, and watched Concubine Yi defy the household's rules by acting deaf and mute.

• Jian Ruonan and Teng accompanied Yuan Fanfan to the Duke's Madam's courtyard, where Jian Ruonan's cheerful thoughts interrupted the Madam's scheme against the concubines.
• Yuan Fanfan seated Jian Ruonan at the table and fed her, explaining that she had recruited her to test the food for poison.
• Jian Ruonan criticized Concubine Yi for arriving late after serving the Duke, winning the Duke's Madam's approval and Nanny De's surprise.
• Concubine Yi arrived and paid her respects with gestures, and Jian Ruonan noticed that all nine concubines had some physical impairment.
• Jian Ruonan learned that the Duke was a great artist who considered imperfection beautiful, then watched Concubine Yi ignore Nanny De and serve herself food and tea.

Jian Ruonan used her newly learned sign language to make Concubine Yi kneel, then outmaneuvered the Duke’s attempt to blame the Duke’s Madam. The Duke accepted Jian Ruonan’s fabricated explanation and ordered Concubine Yi to keep kneeling.

• Jian Ruonan studied sign language and repeatedly signed for Concubine Yi to kneel until Concubine Yi did so.
• The Duke arrived, saw Concubine Yi kneeling, and criticized the Duke’s Madam for punishing her.
• Jian Ruonan claimed Concubine Yi had knelt voluntarily and that the other concubines could confirm it.
• When the Duke asked why Concubine Yi wanted to kneel, Jian Ruonan pretended to interpret random signs as a wish to pray for the Duke and the Duke’s Madam to have a son.
• The Duke approved Jian Ruonan’s explanation and ordered Concubine Yi to kneel diligently.

Jian Ruonan exposed Concubine Yi’s supposed muteness, but Concubine Yi improvised a convincing miracle and regained the Duke’s favor. Jian Ruonan then redirected the Duke’s attention by reminding him that Concubine Yi was whole, and he ordered her to do exhausting chores.

• Jian Ruonan’s false translations enraged Concubine Yi until she shouted aloud, revealing that she could speak.
• Concubine Yi pretended that her speech had returned through divine intervention, and the Duke believed her explanation.
• Jian Ruonan loudly celebrated the supposed miracle and ordered Concubine Yi to scrub the mansion’s chamber pots and keep kneeling.
• Jian Ruonan reminded the Duke that Concubine Yi was whole, making him lose interest in her and order her to begin working.

Jian Ruonan exposed Concubine Yi’s troubled past through her inner thoughts, helping the Duke’s Madam see her husband’s betrayal clearly. After leaving the Duke’s Mansion with Yuan Fanfan, Jian Ruonan returned home with Teng and watched Min discover that Teng was dressed as a girl.

• The Duke tried to punish Jian Ruonan, but he repeatedly collapsed after hearing her thoughts and left without eating.
• Jian Ruonan’s thoughts revealed that Concubine Yi had pretended to be deaf and mute to escape being sold by her gambling father, and the Duke’s Madam turned against her husband rather than Concubine Yi.
• Yuan Fanfan asked Jian Ruonan to help her elder sister Yuan Yinyin, whose fiancé had taken up painting bare bottoms, but Jian Ruonan was too exhausted to visit her courtyard.
• Yuan Fanfan saw Jian Ruonan and Teng off and invited Jian Ruonan to visit again.
• Min met Jian Ruonan and Teng at home, recognized Teng despite his disguise, and chased him toward the Private School.

Jian Ruonan discovered that the Hou System could annihilate malicious people without her hearing their gossip, then planned to provoke the Three Feudatories while Dantai Mo arranged secret protection. At Water Cloud Private Room, Jian Ruonan and her companions witnessed a scandalous dispute involving Yuan Yinyin’s fiancé, Pu Yixiu, and a married woman.

• Jian Ruonan found three dead assassins sent by the Prince of the Southeast and learned the upgraded Hou System had killed them without her eating their gossip.
• Dantai Mo offered to mobilize troops, but Jian Ruonan proposed spreading rumors that she planned to attack the Three Feudatories; Dantai Mo instead assigned Death Warriors to protect her.
• Min Yun and Min Yao told Jian Ruonan that there had been a development with Yuan Yinyin, so Jian Ruonan went to Water Cloud Private Room with them and Dantai Mo following.
• Jian Ruonan and the others saw Pu Yixiu and three men painting a naked young woman at Watercloud Art Studio, until her husband, Xie Panxia, arrived and a fight broke out.
• Pu Yixiu blocked Xie Panxia from taking his wife home and declared that he would invite people to paint her every day if he were Wang Haihai’s husband.

Jian Ruonan witnessed the artists’ quarrel over Wang Haihai and stopped it by threatening to call the constables. She then helped Yuan Yinyin approach Wu Anwan, and won his approval to stay as steward by insulting him in terms he admired.

• Xie Panxia argued with Pu Yixiu and the other painters over their attempts to paint Wang Haihai, until Yuan Fanfan announced Yuan Yinyin had arrived.
• Jian Ruonan brought Yuan Yinyin into the studio and threatened to report the fighting, prompting Xie Panxia to leave after Wang Haihai refused to go with him.
• Yuan Yinyin offered Wu Anwan food and banknotes, but he angrily rejected the money and ordered both her and Jian Ruonan to leave.
• Jian Ruonan berated Wu Anwan as a lofty, self-important artist and praised how his character stood out beside vulgar people.
• Wu Anwan was pleased by Jian Ruonan’s words and agreed to let her stay.

Jian Ruonan stopped Yuan Yinyin from insulting Wu Anwan with gifts, then watched the pair resume their ridiculous romantic argument. She and Yuan Fanfan went to spy on Pu Yixiu, where Wang Haihai offered herself to him as inspiration, only for two other painters to catch them embracing.

• Jian Ruonan confiscated Yuan Yinyin’s banknotes and had Chen Pozi remove her gifts, allowing Yuan Yinyin to stay with Wu Anwan.
• Wu Anwan asked why Yuan Yinyin kept visiting after he dissolved their marriage, and she insisted she wanted to make art with him.
• Jian Ruonan and Yuan Fanfan went to watch Pu Yixiu and Wang Haihai, while Jian Ruonan muted the gossip subject.
• Wang Haihai urged Pu Yixiu to use her as a whore, and the two embraced as he gave in to temptation.
• Painter Number Three and Painter Number Four entered and caught Pu Yixiu and Wang Haihai together.