Chapter Summaries

Emperor Deyuan appointed Jian Ruonan a Hanlin Attendant and ordered her to attend morning court daily, despite her protests. As she accepted the post, she decided she might as well become his greatest threat, leaving Jian Zhang dreading the consequences.

• Jian Ruonan’s thoughts exposed gossip about Emperor Deyuan’s night with Consort Yi and Eunuch Cao’s sworn partnerships with three palace maids, leaving the courtiers and emperor stunned.
• Emperor Deyuan proposed appointing female officials and imperial physicians, then named Jian Ruonan a Hanlin Attendant in the Imperial Study.
• Jian Ruonan protested the appointment in her thoughts, but she thanked Emperor Deyuan after Eunuch Cao urged her to accept the decree.
• Emperor Deyuan granted Jian Ruonan the privilege of attending morning court every day, prompting her to curse him inwardly.
• Jian Ruonan decided she could become Emperor Deyuan’s greatest threat, while Jian Zhang worried that his household would be confiscated.

Jian Ruonan’s thoughts derailed the court’s search for a new Minister of Revenue, exposing officials’ secrets and forcing their recommendations to change. Emperor Deyuan exempted her from morning court, while Jian Zhang was recommended for the vacant post.

• Emperor Deyuan ordered Jian Ruonan to stand and listen to deliberations, then brought her a stool and refreshments when she considered flipping his desk.
• When Pei Junfei recommended Wei Han for Minister of Revenue, Jian Ruonan exposed Pei Junfei’s affairs and his history of sleeping with colleagues’ wives, and he withdrew his recommendation.
• Su Xuelin tried to recommend Wei Han, but Jian Ruonan revealed his old romance with Pei Junfei’s wife, Zhu Youqing, and that he had given Pei Junfei the Lean Horses.
• Su Xuelin recommended Jian Zhang instead, and Jian Ruonan praised him as a loyal minister who would die for the old emperor.
• Emperor Deyuan exempted Jian Ruonan from morning court, and she welcomed the decision.

Jian Ruonan began work at the Hanlin Academy, where her laziness, sharp inner thoughts, and desk-flipping startled her colleagues. After she exposed Fu Yongsi’s scheme to abandon and frame his first wife for a prestigious marriage, the officials rushed off to investigate when his wife arrived.

• Jian Ruonan struggled to wake up for her first day at the Hanlin Academy, and Min escorted her to the entrance.
• During roll call, Jian Ruonan revealed her unusual talent for broadcasting scandalous thoughts and overturned a desk after being assigned a pile of documents.
• The Hanlin Academician arranged a private room where Jian Ruonan could sleep, while Min brought her a meal from home.
• Fu Yongsi condemned Jian Ruonan’s appointment and threatened to remonstrate with the emperor, prompting her to reveal his plan to marry the Duke of Cheng’s daughter despite having a wife.
• Jian Ruonan disclosed that Fu Yongsi intended to divorce and frame his first wife, who had arrived outside the Hanlin Academy, and the officials hurried away to see what happened.

Hou Yuchen and Jian Ruonan investigated Wu Yehe’s claim that her husband, Fu Yongsi, had falsely accused her of adultery to marry a noblewoman. After Jian Ruonan’s thoughts exposed Wu Yehe’s ordeal and Fu Yongsi’s scheme, Hou summoned the Fu family, the Duke of Cheng’s heir, and officers to the Hanlin Academy to confront them.

• Hou Yuchen brought Jian Ruonan to the Hanlin Academy gates, where Wu Yehe sought help against her husband, Fu Yongsi.
• Wu Yehe explained that her mother-in-law had accused her of adultery, and Jian Ruonan’s thoughts revealed that Fu Yongsi wanted to marry the Duke of Cheng’s daughter.
• Jian Ruonan’s thoughts exposed that Wu Yehe had been submerged in a pig cage while pregnant and had survived three days in the water before escaping to the capital.
• Hou Yuchen offered to summon the Duke of Cheng’s heir, then learned that Fu Yongsi’s mother and clan were in the capital for his wedding.
• Hou Yuchen sent for the Fu family and Six Gates officers to protect Wu Yehe and keep order at the Hanlin Academy.

Jian Ruonan watched Candidate Hou orchestrate a confrontation between Wu Yehe and the Fu Family, while Wu Yehe’s sister-in-law defended her and exposed Fu Yongsi’s betrayal. The Duke of Cheng’s heir arrived to hear the accusations, and Jian Ruonan asked whether Wu Yehe had a relative named Wang Baochuan.

• Jian Ruonan learned that Hou Yuchen came from a powerful clan and wondered whether he was her summoned gossip companion.
• Madam Fu and the Fu clansmen confronted Wu Yehe outside the Hanlin Academy, but the bailiffs stopped them from harming her.
• Hou Yuchen provoked Madam Fu by explaining that Wu Yehe’s consent was needed before Fu Yongsi could take another concubine.
• Wu Yehe’s sister-in-law arrived and traded insults with Madam Fu, accusing Fu Yongsi of framing Wu Yehe and climbing the ranks through powerful connections.
• Zhong Rencheng arrived, and Fu Yongsi emerged from the Hanlin Academy and denied loving Wu Yehe or fathering her child.
• Wu Yehe’s sister-in-law listed how Wu Yehe had supported Fu Yongsi, prompting Jian Ruonan to ask if she had a relative named Wang Baochuan.

Jian Ruonan’s inner voice exposed Fu Yongsi’s misconduct, leading the Hanlin officials to vouch for Wu Yehe and the Duke of Cheng’s Third Miss to cancel her engagement. The scandal drew the Hanlin Academy into a gossip gathering, and Dantai Mo arrived with the Black Tortoise System to collect lamp oil.

• Fu Yongsi denied Wu Yehe’s accusations, but a Hanlin Academician and several colleagues vouched for Wu Yehe’s eldest sister-in-law.
• The Heir of Duke Chengguo rejected Fu Yongsi’s defense, and Third Miss Wan'er refused to marry him.
• Jian Ruonan’s inner voice revealed Fu Yongsi’s history of theft, peeping, and a scheme to disguise himself as a woman to cheat someone out of money.
• The Hanlin officials gathered around Jian Ruonan to listen as she exposed Fu Yongsi’s secrets.
• Dantai Mo arrived at the Hanlin Academy and found its officials gathered around Jian Ruonan, enjoying the gossip.

Dantai Mo cleared Wu Yehe of a fabricated adultery charge, granted her a divorce, and ordered the Fu family punished. Jian Ruonan recruited Wu Yehe for her estate while secretly hoping to use her talent to find the Previous Dynasty Treasure, then prepared to impress Dantai Mo with agricultural products.

• Dantai Mo ordered his Imperial Guards to investigate Wu Yehe’s accusations, and they quickly exposed Madam Fu’s plot to frame her.
• Fu Yongsi tried to persuade Wu Yehe to stay married, but she asked Dantai Mo for a Divorce by Mutual Agreement instead.
• Dantai Mo granted the divorce, ordered Wu Yehe’s dowry returned, and sent those involved in framing her to the Ministry of Justice.
• Jian Ruonan offered Wu Yehe work at the Farm Estate and gave her money to recover before joining her at the Jinyang Marquis’s Residence.
• Jian Ruonan decided to earn points from Dantai Mo and searched her storage space for agricultural products to show him.

Jian Ruonan presented Prince Rui with a high-yield sweet potato, winning points by impressing him with its taste and usefulness. She left with a promise of growing instructions and a reward of five hundred taels of gold.

• Jian Ruonan approached Dantai Mo and presented him with a sweet potato, claiming its high yield could help feed Great Xia.
• Jian Ruonan roasted the sweet potato and shared it with Dantai Mo, whose enjoyment earned her points despite his calling it passable.
• Jian Ruonan offered to deliver sweet potatoes to Dantai Mo's residence with instructions for growing, storing, and cooking them.
• Dantai Mo first offered Jian Ruonan one hundred taels of gold, then raised the reward to five hundred taels.

On her first day as a Hanlin Attendant, Jian Ruonan was sent to comfort the Eldest Princess and deliver Emperor Deyuan’s letter, despite being unable to read its cursive script. She left the princess hungry no longer, but her attempt to read the letter only made the visit more awkward.

• Eunuch Cao delivered Emperor Deyuan’s request for Jian Ruonan to comfort the Eldest Princess, promising a reward if she persuaded her.
• Jian Ruonan answered a system survey and agreed to let it toggle several gossip functions, while rejecting the idea of spending points on an upgrade.
• Jian Ruonan arrived at the Eldest Princess’s Residence and found the princess refusing food after her prince consort was imprisoned.
• Jian Ruonan ordered food and ate it herself, and the Eldest Princess nearly had her dragged away before an invisible force stopped her.
• Jian Ruonan tried to read Emperor Deyuan’s cursive letter aloud, mistaking its question about whether the princess was still upset for a question about whether she was still alive.

Jian Ruonan tried to comfort the Eldest Princess after her heartbreak by reading her the emperor’s letter and proposing a new kind of happiness. The chapter left them at a martial arts school in Ribbon Alley, where Jian Ruonan admired the apprentices’ physiques while the Eldest Princess noticed only their sweat.

• Jian Ruonan struggled to read the emperor’s letter aloud, and the Eldest Princess corrected her and eventually read it herself.
• The Eldest Princess read the emperor’s warning that Xue Yuanyu was unfit to be her consort, then insisted she could never love anyone else.
• Jian Ruonan suggested lowbrow happiness and took the Eldest Princess to Ribbon Alley after she ate.
• Jian Ruonan chose a martial arts school with handsome, muscular apprentices and brought the Eldest Princess inside.
• The Eldest Princess complained about the smell of sweat while Jian Ruonan admired the apprentices’ bodies.

Jian Ruonan took the Eldest Princess to a martial arts hall and used generous payments to recruit handsome, muscular apprentices for her entertainment. After selecting the men and discussing games for the princess to play, Jian Ruonan prepared to bring nearly all the trainees back to the residence.

• Jian Ruonan promised Instructor Hu escalating sums of silver until he agreed to help her recruit willing martial arts apprentices.
• Jian Ruonan selected young, unmarried trainees and led the Eldest Princess into the courtyard to inspect them.
• The Eldest Princess admired the shirtless apprentices despite claiming they could not compare to her husband, and Jian Ruonan suggested several games.
• The Eldest Princess agreed to try the games, including one Jian Ruonan framed as the Emperor's wish.
• The Eldest Princess let Jian Ruonan choose the apprentices, and Jian Ruonan excluded two men before inviting everyone else back to the residence.

Xue Yuanyu waited in prison for the Eldest Princess to secure his release, but learned that she had ended her hunger strike and was enjoying herself with Jian Ruonan. Emperor Deyuan visited the princess’s residence and discovered her playing an elaborate execution-rescue game with Jian Ruonan and a group of handsome performers.

• Xue Yuanyu went without food in prison for days before Su Haoyan visited and told him the Eldest Princess had stopped fasting after Jian Ruonan arrived.
• After learning that Jian Ruonan was a favored Hanlin Attendant, Xue Yuanyu told Su Haoyan to seek help from the State Preceptor.
• Emperor Deyuan learned that the Eldest Princess had resumed eating and was playing Blindfolded Consort Hunt with Jian Ruonan, so he went to her residence unannounced.
• Emperor Deyuan found Jian Ruonan staging a mock execution with bound, shirtless men and learned the Eldest Princess was about to make her entrance.
• The Eldest Princess arrived disguised as a swordswoman and fought the guards to rescue the performers, while they rallied around her.

Jian Ruonan comforted the Eldest Princess, earned Emperor Deyuan’s favor, and received an Imperial Sword. After learning that Shu Zijing had come to the Jinyang Marquis’s Residence with betrothal gifts for the Eldest Princess, Jian Ruonan headed to confront him.

• The Eldest Princess told Emperor Deyuan that she accepted Xue Yuanyu’s punishment, and he praised Jian Ruonan for helping her recover.
• Emperor Deyuan offered Jian Ruonan a reward, and she asked for an Imperial Sword to punish corrupt officials and protect Great Xia’s people.
• Jian Ruonan privately planned to use the sword to scare the Old Madam, and Emperor Deyuan granted her request.
• Jian Ruonan returned to the Jinyang Marquis’s Residence, where little Teng told her Shu Zijing had brought betrothal gifts for the Eldest Princess.
• After the main system supplied information about Shu Zijing, Jian Ruonan took the Imperial Sword and followed little Teng to confront him.

Jian Ruonan swaggered into the Jian family hall with her Imperial Sword and openly provoked Shu Zijing, the Eastern Depot director’s adopted son, while her relatives feared the consequences. She revealed that she was ready to use the sword even against the director himself, leaving Shu Zijing, Jian Lang, and Madam Shi stunned.

• Teng escorted Jian Ruonan into the hall, where Shu Zijing sat with Jian Lang, Jian Jing, and Madam Shi while Jian Zhang and Min looked anxious.
• Jian Zhang tried to excuse Jian Ruonan’s bold greeting, but she turned Madam Shi’s sarcasm into an excuse to demonstrate her official bearing.
• Shu Zijing stared at Jian Ruonan with open interest, and Jian Zhang carried her toward the door when she challenged him to kneel.
• Jian Zhang heard Jian Ruonan mention her Imperial Sword, returned her to the hall, and stepped aside with Min and Teng to let her act.
• Jian Ruonan insulted Shu Zijing and Jian Lang, then raised the black-wrapped object and declared she would chop down even the Eastern Depot director; the others were left stunned.

Jian Ruonan used her newly bestowed Imperial Sword to stop Shu Zijing from forcing Jian Xilu into marriage. After Eunuch Cao delivered the Emperor’s edict confirming the sword was genuine, Jian Ruonan attacked Shu Zijing and the relatives who shielded him, leaving the old madam unconscious.

• Jian Ruonan revealed the Imperial Sword and challenged Shu Zijing, who demanded to see its Imperial Edict.
• Jian Ruonan split a table with the sword and chased Shu Zijing as he threatened her family.
• Eunuch Cao arrived with the edict confirming Jian Ruonan had been bestowed the Imperial Sword, then slipped away after Shu Zijing asked him for help.
• Shu Zijing hid behind Jian Lang, and Jian Ruonan struck her second uncle on the shoulder when he refused to move.
• Shu Zijing took refuge behind the old madam, whom Jian Ruonan approached and slashed at, causing her to faint.

Jian Ruonan turned eleven as the Jinyang Marquis’s Residence prepared a grand birthday celebration, while Jian Chuxue failed to prevent her status from being corrected and was sent to Madam Zhou’s Farm Estate. Meanwhile, Dantai Mo struggled to gather Lamp Oil until the Black Tortoise System proposed winning over the Big System.

• Jian Ruonan maimed Shu Zijing by cutting off one of his fingers, and he left the Jinyang Marquis’s Residence with his betrothal gifts.
• Min rejected Jian Chuxue’s attempt to preserve her legitimate-daughter status by claiming she and Jian Ruonan should be treated as twins.
• Jian Zhang overheard Jian Chuxue’s remarks about Jian Ruonan and ordered her sent to Madam Zhou’s Farm Estate.
• Dantai Mo prepared a box of Gold Sycee for Jian Ruonan’s birthday but worried that his Lamp Oil progress had stalled and his legs had weakened again.
• The Black Tortoise System proposed currying favor with the Big System to obtain more Lamp Oil.

Dantai Mo warned the Black Tortoise System not to reveal him while it plotted to approach Jian Ruonan’s system and uncover who had caused his fall. After Jian Ruonan’s lavish birthday banquet, she and her system planned to investigate the unfamiliar system, while the Duke of Cheng'en enlisted Pu Jingyi to help secure her marriage to the Third Prince.

• The Black Tortoise System proposed deceiving Jian Ruonan’s system to obtain its lamp oil and possibly discover who had engineered Dantai Mo’s fall, but Dantai Mo ordered it not to cause trouble or reveal him.
• Jian Ruonan celebrated her eleventh birthday with an extravagant banquet and received gifts from the emperor, the imperial family, and her relatives; Min and Jian Zhang considered arranging a meeting between her and Young Master Wang.
• Jian Ruonan’s system reported detecting another system at the banquet, and she told it to act like a clueless wandering system and gather information without exposing her.
• Jian Ruonan counted her birthday gold and planned to use her cow-care books and Cow Midwifery skill to impress the Fourth Prince and earn more points.
• Shu Zijing went to Pu Jingyi after returning to the capital, but Pu Jingyi beat him for being the first person cut by the Imperial Sword.
• The Duke of Cheng'en told Pu Jingyi that the Third Prince wanted to marry Jian Ruonan and asked him to help secure the match before the Jinyang Marquis’s heir arranged her marriage to Young Master Wang; Pu Jingyi agreed.

Jian Ruonan attended Clear Void Abbey, where she advised three Taoist priests and gave each a new direction. Meanwhile, the Third and Fourth Princes prepared to compete for her attention after learning about her matchmaking date with Wang Defa.

• Min arranged for the Jinyang Marquis's family to attend Clear Void Abbey while secretly setting up a matchmaking meeting between Jian Ruonan and Wang Defa.
• The Third Prince chose an elaborate outfit for Jian Ruonan, and Dantai Mo hurried to prepare new clothes after the Black Tortoise System told him Wang Defa was her prospective match.
• At Clear Void Abbey, Jian Ruonan accepted the priests' earnings and told Abbey Master Li that his immortality pills were poisonous.
• Jian Ruonan warned Abbey Master Li to stop taking the pills and taught him a fictional path of cultivation; she also reassured Daoist Xu about cross-dressing.
• Jian Ruonan directed Priest Zhang to promote pig castration as a craft and gave him the mantra, “Sumimasen GG Bond!”

Jian Ruonan learned that the Duke of Cheng'en had set a trap to force her into marrying the Third Prince, but she focused on watching the planned secret tryst. The Third Prince tried to charm her with golden finery and pastries, only to be mocked by her inner voice and wounded when she called him short.

• Jian Ruonan learned that the Duke of Cheng'en had arranged a secret meeting with the Director of the Imperial College's wife and planned to trap her into marrying the Third Prince.
• Dantai Mo saw the Third Prince approach in gold-covered finery, while Black Tortoise System urged him to compete for Jian Ruonan's attention.
• The Third Prince visited Jian Ruonan and offered her Heavenly Snow Lotus Cake, but she rejected it after noticing he had picked his nose before handling the pastry.
• The Third Prince crushed the pastries in a dramatic display, and Jian Ruonan mocked his performance in her thoughts.
• Jian Ruonan silently called the Third Prince short, striking the insecurity he hated most.

Jian Ruonan accepted Commandery Princess Jiarou’s gold to drug the Third Prince, then passed the powder to Abbot Li. After learning that hired men planned to stage a bandit attack so the Third Prince could rescue her, she focused on exposing the Duke of Cheng'en’s secret rendezvous.

• Jian Ruonan spotted the Third Prince’s height-increasing insoles, and he left in irritation.
• Commandery Princess Jiarou paid Jian Ruonan to put a knockout drug in the Third Prince’s tea, and Jian Ruonan agreed after mentally mocking him.
• Jian Ruonan learned the Third Prince had hemorrhoids and told Commandery Princess Jiarou she would use all the powder; Jiarou ordered her to do so.
• Jian Ruonan handed the drug to Abbot Li, who arranged for a young Taoist to deliver it to the Third Prince’s tea.
• Abbot Li warned Jian Ruonan that trained men were hiding in the rear courtyard, and the Big System revealed they had been hired to stage a rescue for the Third Prince.
• The Big System revealed the Duke of Cheng'en planned to meet the wife of the Director of the Imperial College, and Jian Ruonan asked where they would meet.