Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao’s party reaches Baiyun Temple, where all carriages must wait their turn. To avoid the long queue, Yaoyao asks to climb the stone steps instead. Madam Song agrees and sends Song Qingling, Song Qingyu, Song Qinghui, and guards with her.
• Yaoyao and her siblings browse the vendors’ stalls. She notices an old woman behaving rudely and, through Guagua’s gossip, learns that she is Old Madam Qiu.
• Guagua reveals that Old Madam Qiu earned a fearsome reputation for relentless, inventive cursing. One neighbor who stole her vegetables endured three days of abuse and finally paid her five copper coins to make her stop.
• The story then explains that Old Madam Qiu was widowed with five young sons. Her husband’s relatives tried to force her and the boys out, intending to reclaim the sons once they were old enough to work. She recognized the scheme, resisted, and ultimately used the clan head as witness when she and her children left the family and became independent.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is curious and enthusiastic about the outing and the lively market. She reacts with humor to Old Madam Qiu’s formidable temper, but also recognizes that hardship may have made the woman fiercely protective.
• Madam Song accommodates Yaoyao’s wish to walk and ensures she travels with family and guards.
• Old Madam Qiu emerges as more than a foul-mouthed stranger: her toughness began as a means of surviving widowhood and protecting her children from exploitation.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao persuades Madam Song to let her walk rather than wait in the carriage line; Madam Song then asks Qingling to accompany her.
• Yaoyao and her siblings explore the stalls together.
• The chapter also shows Old Madam Qiu confronting a vegetable thief and, earlier, standing up to her husband’s family with the clan head’s help.
• Guagua supplies the gossip while Yaoyao responds, and the unusual display draws nearby people eager to follow the story.

Significant themes

• Survival and self-reliance: Old Madam Qiu’s fierceness is presented as a response to vulnerability and hardship.
• Family exploitation and resistance: Her in-laws try to use her sons for their own future benefit, but she refuses to surrender them.
• Reputation versus context: The old woman appears simply cruel at first, yet her history complicates that impression.
• Fairness and social order: Baiyun Temple’s equal queue rules contrast with the abuses and power struggles in Old Madam Qiu’s family history.

Key plot points and events

• Old Madam Qiu’s five sons grow up and marry, but she abuses her daughters-in-law—depriving them of food and hot water and sometimes beating them. Her sons unquestioningly support her.
• She is obsessed with having grandsons. When two daughters-in-law give birth to girls and the other three do not conceive, she blames the women and seeks folk remedies.
• On a late-night trip with her second son, Qiu Erniu, to obtain a remedy, Old Madam Qiu encounters two groups fighting. After both sides appear dead, she and Qiu Erniu loot the bodies, taking valuables worth tens of thousands of taels and a carefully wrapped book.
• Old Madam Qiu hides the money and keeps the household’s sudden improvement in meals inconspicuous. She orders Qiu Erniu to keep the discovery secret; he agrees.
• Curious about the book, she reads it behind locked doors. Its cover says “Witch Tribe Secret Arts.” Though barely literate, she uses the illustrations and context to grasp some of its contents and becomes increasingly intrigued.

Character developments and interactions

• Old Madam Qiu is established as cruel and controlling toward her daughters-in-law, yet cautious and shrewd when handling the loot. Her discovery of the book sparks new curiosity.
• Qiu Erniu obeys his mother and keeps the secret from his wife and the rest of the family, accepting better meals without asking questions.
• Song Yaoyao condemns Old Madam Qiu’s abuse and her sons’ blind obedience, then recognizes the old woman’s caution and luck.
• Guagua reveals the events and puts Old Madam Qiu’s obsession with male heirs in its historical context: women were commonly blamed for not producing sons.

Significant themes

• Patriarchal bias and misogyny: Old Madam Qiu’s desire for grandsons leads her to mistreat women and blame daughters-in-law for infertility or daughters’ births.
• Abuse and complicity: Her sons’ unquestioning obedience enables her cruelty.
• Greed, secrecy, and fortune: The unexpected windfall improves the household’s meals, but Old Madam Qiu hides its source to avoid danger.
• A turning point through chance: The looted book introduces the possibility that the encounter with the mysterious fighting groups will have consequences beyond the money.

Plot and key events

• Old Madam Qiu finds a “secret method” for bearing a son in a witchcraft book and becomes convinced it can help her obtain a grandson.
• Unable to read much of the text, she secretly asks different educated people about individual characters, then interprets their explanations on her own.
• She diligently copies the talismans and memorizes the incantations, mistakenly believing that mastering these preparations will make the ritual work.
• Guagua reveals that the method requires exchanging one life for another—and specifically demands that a child be killed through a cruel ritual while still alive.
• Old Madam Qiu has not yet carried out the sacrifice, but has prepared everything. She has chosen Daya, the daughter of her son Qiu Daniu, without telling anyone else in the family.
• She plans to perform the ritual at home on the fifteenth, using the Lantern Festival to send the family out while she stays behind with the children. She intends to hide the crime and claim Daya has gone missing.
• Beforehand, she goes to the temple to pray for the ritual’s success and pressures her eldest daughter-in-law to pray for a future son as well.

Character developments and interactions

• Old Madam Qiu is revealed as fanatically determined to have a grandson. Her diligence and confidence are overshadowed by her willingness to murder her granddaughter to achieve that goal.
• Song Yaoyao initially mocks Old Madam Qiu’s amateur attempt to learn witchcraft, then reacts with horror and disbelief as Guagua explains the sacrifice and plan. She asks whether the ritual has happened, who was targeted, and whether the family knows.
• Guagua explains the ritual’s true cost and exposes Old Madam Qiu’s preparations and intended cover-up.
• Qiu Daniu, his wife, and the rest of the family are unaware of the plot; only Old Madam Qiu knows. The eldest daughter-in-law is being drawn into the temple visit without knowing its real purpose.
• The people following Song Yaoyao overhear the revelations and listen in, stunned by what they learn.

Significant themes

• Son preference and family pressure: Old Madam Qiu’s obsession with a male heir drives her to treat her granddaughter as expendable.
• Cruelty disguised as superstition: The supposed fertility method turns ritual belief into a justification for murder.
• Secrecy and deception: Old Madam Qiu plans to exploit her family’s trust and disguise the child’s death as a disappearance.
• Religious hypocrisy: She seeks divine blessing for an act of extreme violence, despite believing the ritual itself requires killing.

Key plot points

• Song Yaoyao learns that Old Madam Qiu has obtained a forbidden Witch Tribe book and plans to use witchcraft in a life-for-life sacrifice on the fifteenth, hoping to gain a grandson.
• Guagua explains that Old Madam Qiu barely understands the spells and is overconfident. The book’s theft led to a deadly clash between the Witch Tribe and a powerful opponent—an event Old Madam Qiu and Qiu Erniu witnessed.
• Although an Imperial Shadow Guard retrieves the book and reports the scheme, the emperor realizes that possessing it alone may not prove Old Madam Qiu knowingly practiced witchcraft. He orders surveillance so she can be caught in the act.
• Meanwhile, Song Yaoyao and the others climb to Baiyun Temple. Exhausted, Yaoyao and her eldest sister rest alongside the crowd of gossip-seekers. A servant arrives to escort the siblings to their parents.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is concerned about stopping Old Madam Qiu but chooses to let the authorities handle the matter once she learns the emperor is involved. On the climb, she shows consideration for Song Qingling by offering her support, despite her own sore feet.
• The emperor is angered by Old Madam Qiu’s defiance of his ban on witchcraft, but acts cautiously, seeking clear evidence rather than arresting her prematurely.
• Guagua supplies crucial information and advises that Old Madam Qiu must be caught red-handed.
• Song Qingling gently reminds Yaoyao to mind her appearance, though she too is tired from the climb. Song Qingyu and Song Qinghui carry Yaoyao’s purchases, leaving them unable to help her up.
• The gossip-seekers’ enthusiasm for Yaoyao’s company is strong enough that they endure the exhausting climb just to follow the developing story.

Significant themes

• Justice and evidence: Even apparent guilt is not enough; the emperor needs proof that Old Madam Qiu knowingly committed a crime.
• Forbidden knowledge and hubris: Old Madam Qiu’s shallow understanding of dangerous arts makes her confidence especially reckless.
• Loyalty and companionship: Yaoyao’s concern for her sister and the crowd’s devotion to following her provide lighter moments amid the threat.

Key events

• Song Yaoyao reunites with her family at Baiyun Temple, enjoys its tofu-heavy vegetarian dinner, and rests after the long climb.
• The next day, the family visits the main hall to offer incense. While exploring, they find a crowd tossing written wishes into the branches of a legendary ancient tree said to grant them.
• Yaoyao buys unusually large wishing papers and writes humorous, affectionate blessings for her family. Her own wish is to escape the repetitive grind of work.
• After Yaoyao successfully tosses her paper into a high branch on the first try, a young monk arrives with an invitation from Master Liaoran, the temple’s renowned enlightened monk. Her family lets her go after offering a few cautions.

Character developments and interactions

• Yaoyao is cheerful, energetic, and unapologetically eccentric: she enjoys the temple food, writes conspicuously oversized wishes, and isn’t embarrassed by onlookers.
• Her wishes show affection for her parents and siblings, including a playful hope that her eldest brother will soon bring home a wife.
• Song Qingling is curious about Yaoyao’s wishes and is caught peeking, but relaxes when Yaoyao shows no embarrassment.
• Yaoyao’s playful exchanges with Guagua continue throughout. Guagua mocks her self-importance and unusual wishes, while Yaoyao insists on her own charm and talent; their banter ends with Guagua effectively speechless.

Significant themes

• Family affection: Yaoyao’s wishes are mostly loving blessings for her relatives.
• Humor and individuality: Her oversized papers, irreverent wish about work, and confident banter set her apart from the more solemn temple setting.
• Fate and mystery: The wish-granting tree introduces a supernatural legend, while Master Liaoran’s unexpected request creates suspense about why he wants to meet Yaoyao.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao is escorted to meet Master Liaoran, who seems to know she has arrived before she knocks.
• During their conversation, Liaoran reveals that he knows she is reincarnated and remembers her previous life—information Song Yaoyao has kept secret.
• Alarmed, Song Yaoyao draws her pistol, but Liaoran is fascinated rather than afraid. Using his internal energy, he repeatedly takes the weapon to inspect it; Song can summon it back at will.
• Song realizes Liaoran is merely curious and poses no threat. She eventually stores the pistol and, at his urging, produces fresh fruit from her storage space. Liaoran eagerly tries an apple and loves it.

Character developments and interactions

• Song begins wary and defensive, fearing Liaoran will expose her secret. Once she sees his harmless curiosity, she relaxes, though she remains exasperated by his nosiness.
• Liaoran’s dignified reputation contrasts with his playful, childlike enthusiasm for Song’s unusual possessions. He freely admits his curiosity and respects her refusal to explain how her abilities work.
• Song and her system, Guagua, privately joke that Liaoran is like an overgrown child who drops his public, aloof persona in private. Liaoran can hear their thoughts and is silently amused—and slightly offended—by their speculation.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and trust: Song’s fear of being discovered gives way to cautious acceptance when she understands Liaoran means no harm.
• Appearance versus reality: The revered monk proves far more lively and inquisitive than Song expected.
• Wonder and curiosity: Liaoran’s fascination with Song’s gun and modern fruit turns a tense reveal into comic exploration of the unfamiliar.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao gives Master Liaoran a variety of modern foods and useful items, including rice, flour, pastries, bread, a telescope, and medicine. He promises to keep her circumstances secret—but eagerly asks for more.
• Liaoran explains why he considers Yaoyao a “lucky star”: he believes heaven sent her, with memories of a previous life, to help the Heavenly Phoenix emperor unite the continent.
• He describes the suffering caused by the Four Kingdoms’ division and asks Yaoyao to help the emperor govern wisely after unification, so people can live prosperous, secure lives. Yaoyao agrees, since this goal already matches her own hopes.
• Before she leaves, Yaoyao supplies Liaoran with vegetables and snacks, including potato chips. Delighted by the food, he asks whether he can visit her for more later; she agrees.
• Yaoyao returns to her family, who assume her conversation with Liaoran concerned her unusual background. She tells them they discussed Buddhist teachings, and they accept the answer.
• The family heads to the temple fair. Outside Baiyun Temple, they encounter the Sixth Prince, Chen Yixiao, and Zhang Zhixi, who have just arrived.
• Through Guagua, Yaoyao learns that Zhang Zhixi has moved into the Sixth Prince’s residence and that the two are now together. She jokes privately about Chen Yixiao’s former protestations and welcomes the pair’s apparent decision to move on from the past.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao accepts a larger role in the future of the realm, affirming her commitment to unification and good governance. She is also generous with Liaoran, though amused by his unmistakable love of food.
• Master Liaoran reveals his political and spiritual hopes for Yaoyao, while his solemn mission contrasts humorously with his enthusiasm for modern snacks.
• Chen Yixiao and Zhang Zhixi appear to have progressed from conflict or reluctance into a relationship; Yaoyao learns they have become close and approves of their moving forward.
• Yaoyao’s interaction with Liaoran shifts from formal discussion to easy familiarity, while her family quietly recognizes that he likely knows about her secret.

Significant themes

• Unity and social welfare: Unifying the continent is presented not merely as political victory, but as a way to end hunger, hardship, and insecurity.
• Destiny and personal agency: Liaoran frames Yaoyao as heaven’s chosen instrument, but her agreement comes from her own convictions.
• Moving on from the past: Yaoyao’s thoughts on fate and letting go underscore the value of accepting new relationships and opportunities.
• Humor and contrast: Liaoran’s grand prophecy and earnest political appeal sit alongside his comic appetite for unfamiliar food.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and her companions meet the Sixth Prince, Chen Yixiao, and his wife, Zhang Zhixi, at a temple fair. Song’s private thoughts embarrass Chen, though no one else can hear them.
• Zhang Zhixi playfully calls Song her little sister and offers to help her find—or “get”—a handsome young man. Chen reins her in, then the couples part ways: Chen and Zhang go into Baiyun Temple to settle in, while Song’s group continues exploring.
• Guagua shows Song a modern-world video of a girl explaining her plan to be supported first by her father, then her husband, son, and grandson. Song is amused and surprised; the onlookers are more astonished that girls in that world can go to school.
• As the group continues through the fair, a man is seen dragging an unwilling woman toward Baiyun Temple, setting up the next incident.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao remains witty and observant, sharing humorous inner commentary while enjoying the fair and reacting with surprise to the video.
• Zhang Zhixi is teasing, bold, and eager to meddle in romance; she warmly embraces Song as a younger sister.
• Chen Yixiao is embarrassed by Song’s unspoken remarks and tries to keep Zhang’s provocative joking under control. He is relieved that she cannot hear Song’s thoughts.
• The onlookers follow Song’s movements and react to her thoughts and the video, especially to the unfamiliar idea of girls’ education.
• Guagua provides Song with the video, prompting their lighthearted exchange.

Significant themes

• The scene uses humor and gossip to contrast public conversation with Song’s private thoughts.
• The video highlights differing expectations around education, gender, marriage, and financial dependence across worlds.
• Zhang’s teasing offer and the final sight of a woman being dragged introduce questions of romance, consent, and women’s agency.

Key plot points

• Song Yaoyao and Guagua investigate the couple they saw being taken to Baiyun Temple: Wang Dagang and Lin Mengmeng, a married couple from a village near the Imperial City.
• Wang Dagang prospered through his food stall and refused arranged matches because he loved Lin Mengmeng. His family knew her father and stepmother treated her badly, but agreed to marry her despite the Lin Family’s excessive demand of thirty taels of silver.
• The marriage came with a condition: Lin Mengmeng would formally sever ties with her birth family. She welcomed the chance to start over, and the Wang Family was relieved to avoid future interference from the Lin Family.
• Wang Dagang and his family treated Lin Mengmeng well, but Wang Dagang’s possessiveness and intense sexual demands left her exhausted and in pain. Unable to confide in others, she bought medicine that temporarily prevents erections and secretly gave it to him.
• Wang Dagang, now unable to perform, wanted to visit the temple to pray. Lin Mengmeng resisted, afraid the Bodhisattva would discover and punish her for drugging him. The medicine’s effect will fade after a year.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Dagang is hardworking, devoted, and generous toward Lin Mengmeng, but his domineering behavior in bed disregards her distress. His concern for her leads him to reduce his demands, though not enough to ease her burden.
• Lin Mengmeng moves from a harsh birth home into a caring marriage, but finds herself overwhelmed by her husband’s sexual demands. Her secret drugging is an attempt to get temporary relief, not permanently harm him; she remains satisfied with him in other respects.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua trade playful, teasing remarks—including a joking detour about Guagua’s singing—before returning to the couple’s story. Yaoyao reacts with surprise to Lin Mengmeng’s solution.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts a loving marriage with unequal boundaries: Dagang’s affection does not erase the harm caused by ignoring Mengmeng’s limits.
• Women’s constrained choices are emphasized: Mengmeng cannot easily speak openly about her private suffering and resorts to a covert measure to protect her health.
• Family exploitation and escape appear in the Lin Family’s exorbitant marriage demand and Mengmeng’s relief at severing ties.
• The temple visit highlights the gap between religious devotion and personal motives: Dagang seeks help, while Mengmeng fears divine judgment for her deception.

Key plot points

• At a crowded temple fair, Ning Gao suddenly lunges at Song Qingling. Song Yaoyao pulls her sister out of the way, and Ning Gao falls to the ground.
• Ning Gao and several fellow students apologize, pretending the collision was an accident. Song Qinghui recognizes Ning Gao’s lingering stare and angrily shields Qingling.
• Guagua reveals that Ning Gao and his companions deliberately targeted Qingling. The students had rigged a drawing of lots so Ning Gao would be forced to approach her, but Ning Gao used the setup as cover for his own plan.
• Ning Gao hoped to ruin Qingling’s reputation in public, leaving her pressured to marry him. He was seeking a wealthy, high-status wife as a shortcut to social advancement; he had even kept notes on local rich young women.
• Once Song Yaoyao learns the truth, Song Qinghui attacks the men. Song Qingyu keeps the younger sisters protected.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shifts from assuming the incident was accidental to furious resolve when Guagua exposes the scheme.
• Song Qingling is nearly caught in a calculated attempt to damage her reputation, but Yaoyao’s quick intervention protects her.
• Song Qinghui moves from suspicion and verbal threats to direct violence once he learns what the men intended.
• Song Qingyu takes a protective role, staying between the attackers and his sisters.
• Ning Gao is revealed as calculating and shameless: despite his poor family’s sacrifices for his education, he treats schooling as a way to gain connections and status.
• Ning Gao’s companions are revealed as wealthy wastrels who mock and exploit him, while also participating in the cruel stunt.

Significant themes

• Class ambition and social climbing: Ning Gao sees marriage into a prominent family as a shortcut to wealth and status.
• Reputation and vulnerability: The men exploit the danger that a public incident could damage Qingling’s standing and constrain her choices.
• Appearance versus reality: The apologies seem sincere, but Guagua exposes the deliberate plot beneath them.
• Protection and family loyalty: Yaoyao’s quick action and her brothers’ defense of their sisters show the family’s solidarity.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao protects Qingling physically and then investigates the incident through Guagua.
• Qinghui confronts Ning Gao over his gaze and later attacks the group; Qingyu shields the younger girls.
• Ning Gao’s companions treat him as a joke and manipulate the drawing of lots, while Ning Gao secretly uses their scheme to pursue his own coercive plan.
• Guagua supplies Yaoyao with the hidden facts, turning the family’s response from caution into anger.

Key plot points

• Song Yaoyao orders her guards to beat a group of wastrels who harassed Song Qingling and tried to use her as a wager. She singles out Ning Gao, who lunged at Qingling, and demands that one of his legs be broken.
• Monks arrive, but Yaoyao refuses to let them interrupt the punishment. Once the men are badly beaten, she calls the guards off, warns the wastrels not to repeat their behavior, and sends them away. Ning Gao is left behind and taken home by temple monks.
• The onlookers approve of Yaoyao’s response. She privately considers taking further action, but Guagua tells her the guards have already targeted the men’s crotches, likely leaving them impotent.
• Back at Baiyun Temple, Madam Song checks that the girls are unharmed, then scolds Song Qingyu and Song Qinghui for failing to protect their sisters. Assistant Minister Song returns and reprimands them as well.
• The next morning, the family offers incense. Yaoyao makes a humorous, cryptic prayer about not wanting to be part of a future ethnic group or an office worker. After breakfast, Madam Song decides to leave because the temple is unusually crowded and feels less safe.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is fiercely protective of Qingling and quick to use her authority against men who prey on women. Though angry, she stops the beating before anyone is killed; her private plans and Guagua’s report reveal her mischievous, ruthless streak.
• Song Qingling is the target of the harassment but is unharmed.
• Song Qingyu and Song Qinghui feel guilty for not protecting their sisters and accept criticism from both parents.
• Madam Song shifts from relief at finding the girls safe to anger at her sons, then chooses to take the family home.
• The monks recognize Yaoyao as an honored guest and are anxious to prevent the beating from becoming fatal, but do not challenge her while she is enraged.
• The guards carry out Yaoyao’s orders with brutal efficiency, earning her approval.

Significant themes

• Protection and accountability: Yaoyao responds forcefully to harassment, while the family holds the brothers responsible for failing to protect their sisters.
• Power and impunity: The wastrels’ past ability to escape consequences makes their encounter with a powerful commandery princess especially shocking.
• Gender and justice: The bystanders sympathize with the women and view the punishment as deserved, even though it is violent and extrajudicial.
• Public safety: The festival crowds make the temple feel more dangerous, prompting the family to leave.

Key plot points and events

• Madam Song’s party returns to the Imperial City, which is bustling with festive decorations ahead of the lantern festival. Feeling safe again, Madam Song lets Song Yaoyao and Song Qingling explore, instructing Song Qingyu and Song Qinghui to protect them.
• The sisters and brothers follow a crowd to the Water Sleeve Residence, where celebrated opera performer Qiu Shangyun is giving free public performances.
• They watch from a private teahouse room reserved by Song Qingyu. Song Yaoyao uses a telescope to get a closer view and is captivated by Qiu’s acting, singing, and expressive performance.
• Song Yaoyao muses about inviting a famous performer to the Marquis’s Residence for private shows. Guagua teases her for being smitten, then launches into dramatic reflections about the loneliness behind an actor’s role. Song Yaoyao dismisses the lecture and finally ignores Guagua’s relentless chatter.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is curious and eager to experience opera, which she has never seen in person. She openly admires Qiu’s artistry but insists her interest is purely in the performance and the idea of having opera at home. Her playful irritation with Guagua highlights her stubborn, independent humor.
• Song Qingyu acts protectively, suggesting the group watch from a safer, less crowded teahouse. His reserved room also shows his familiarity with the area.
• Song Qingling and Song Qinghui readily follow Yaoyao’s lead; Qinghui, along with Qingyu, is tasked with keeping the sisters safe.
• Guagua remains a teasing, talkative companion, joking about Yaoyao’s fascination and overinterpreting her admiration.

Significant themes

• Art and performance: Qiu Shangyun’s skill demonstrates how expressive acting and singing can move an audience.
• Public spectacle and access: A free performance draws people who would normally be unable to afford the famous performer’s shows.
• Appearance and identity: Qiu’s convincing feminine portrayal prompts reflections on the artistry behind performance.
• Humor and companionship: Yaoyao’s banter and frustration with Guagua provide a light counterpoint to the opera’s emotional intensity.

Character interactions

• Madam Song shows care through repeated instructions to the young men to guard the sisters.
• Qingyu protects the group by steering them away from the packed crowd, while the others cooperate.
• Yaoyao and Guagua exchange teasing remarks: Guagua suggests she is bewitched, while she maintains that she simply appreciates the opera and wants to hear more of it.
• Guagua’s melodramatic commentary annoys Yaoyao, who ends their exchange by refusing to respond.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao notices a maid, Yanzhi, searching the Lantern Festival crowd for her missing young lady, Yan Xuefei. Guagua reveals that Xuefei has been sold.
• The story explains why Xuefei was confined at home: she accidentally killed her father Yan Jiming’s prized fish by feeding it ordinary food, then had it stewed and ate it. When her father confronted her, her blunt, irreverent remarks only worsened his anger, and he ordered her confined.
• Eager to enjoy the Lantern Festival, Xuefei sneaked out with Yanzhi. At the Water Sleeve Residence, she sent Yanzhi to buy candied hawthorn and was left alone.
• Xuefei then encountered Xiong Klan, whom she considers a best friend. Guagua reveals that Klan does not share that affection and is consumed by envy of Xuefei.
• Klan resents Xuefei’s beauty, cheerful nature, loving family, and financial comfort. By contrast, Klan’s father favors her younger brother, gives him the household’s better food and resources, and has even sold Klan’s maid to fund his schooling.

Character developments

• Yan Xuefei is introduced as exuberant, impulsive, and outspoken. Her mishap with the fish shows both her lack of caution and her comic tendency to justify herself without regard for her father’s feelings.
• Xiong Klan is revealed as deeply resentful and socially disadvantaged. Her jealousy is rooted in her own family’s neglect and her father’s favoritism toward her brother.
• Song Yaoyao reacts to the unfolding story, while Guagua supplies the background and exposes the contrast between the two young women.

Significant themes

• Class and family privilege: Xuefei’s comfort and loving family sharply contrast with Klan’s scarcity and unequal treatment.
• Envy and unequal friendship: Xuefei sincerely regards Klan as a friend, but Klan’s jealousy undermines that bond.
• Gender discrimination: Klan’s father sacrifices his daughter’s needs—including her maid—to support his son.
• Comic impulsiveness: Xuefei’s fish incident highlights her cheerful, unfiltered nature and sets up the circumstances that leave her vulnerable.

Character interactions

• Yanzhi searches anxiously for Xuefei after the two are separated in the crowd.
• Yan Jiming confronts Xuefei over the dead fish; she explains herself carelessly and insults his judgment, prompting her confinement.
• Xuefei treats Klan as a close friend, while Klan privately compares their lives with bitterness.
• Song Yaoyao and the others follow the story through Guagua’s narration.

Key plot points and events

• After Yanzhi leaves, Xiong Klan lures Yan Xuefei away from the crowd, knocks her unconscious with cheap knockout powder, and has an accomplice carry her to a brothel’s back entrance.
• Xiong Klan tries to sell Yan into the brothel, intending to destroy her reputation and future.
• Yan wakes before the sale is completed. Hearing Xiong Klan’s plan, she knocks her unconscious and tells the brothel madam that Xiong Klan is the one for sale.
• Yan accepts twenty taels for Xiong Klan, adds her own money to make fifty taels, and donates the sum to Youying Hall, a charitable institution. She then hurries to Water Sleeve Residence, aware that Yanzhi may be worried.

Character developments

• Yan Xuefei shows composure and resourcefulness under pressure. Though furious at Xiong Klan’s betrayal, she focuses on escaping, turns the scheme around, and gives away the money because she finds it tainted.
• Xiong Klan reveals the depth of her resentment and cruelty: she blames Yan for her own hardships and deliberately plans to ruin her.
• Song Yaoyao watches the events with shock and anger, wanting to intervene, but Yan resolves the crisis herself.

Significant themes

• Consequences and poetic justice: Xiong Klan’s attempt to ruin Yan ends with Xiong herself sold to the brothel.
• Resilience and agency: Yan refuses to remain a victim, acting quickly to protect herself.
• Misplaced blame and envy: Xiong’s hardships do not justify the harm she intends to inflict.
• Charity and moral cleanliness: Yan donates the payment rather than keep money she associates with betrayal.

Character interactions

• Xiong pretends to be friendly, then betrays Yan by drugging and abducting her.
• Yan overhears Xiong negotiating with the brothel servant, then reverses their roles before the madam arrives.
• The madam bargains with Yan, while Song Yaoyao and Guagua comment on the plot and explain why Yan woke so quickly: the powder was weak, and Yan’s martial-arts training had strengthened her constitution.

Plot points

• Song Yaoyao watches a video of Xiong Klan waking in a brothel after being abducted. Yan Xuefei, whom Xiong had expected to be sold, is nowhere to be found.
• The brothel’s madam tells Xiong she has been sold and must learn the house’s rules before entertaining clients. When Xiong protests and shouts for Yan Xuefei, a burly attendant beats her into silence.
• The madam dismisses Xiong’s claim that her father’s official rank will protect her, then tries to persuade her that success in the brothel could bring wealth, status, and even a place as a prince’s concubine.
• Xiong learns that a girl in yellow sold her—confirming her suspicion that Yan Xuefei was responsible. Furious, she vows revenge.
• The madam recognizes that Xiong had tried to scheme against someone and ended up trapped by her own failed plan. She tells Xiong to learn the brothel’s ways if she wants a chance at revenge.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua comment on the scene. Guagua explains that Yan Xuefei has powerful, devoted maternal relatives, but warns that Xiong may cause trouble if she survives and acts on her jealousy.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiong Klan shifts from confused fear to humiliation and rage. Though the madam’s offer tempts her, her hatred of Yan Xuefei remains strong.
• The madam is practical and manipulative: she uses violence to enforce obedience, then presents the brothel as a path to advancement.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua provide a wry, detached commentary, while Guagua supplies context about Yan Xuefei’s family protection.
• Xiong’s repeated demands for Yan Xuefei, the madam’s rebuke, and the attendant’s beating establish the power imbalance in the brothel.

Significant themes

• Backfire and retribution: Xiong’s attempt to scheme against Yan Xuefei has turned against her.
• Power and vulnerability: Xiong’s family status offers little protection once she is isolated and controlled.
• Manipulation and survival: The madam blends threats with promises, while Xiong’s desire for revenge may shape her choices.
• Jealousy and consequences: Xiong’s resentment could lead her to further reckless actions.

Key plot points and events

• Guagua reassures Song Yaoyao that Xiong Klan is unlikely to regain the power to harm Yan Xuefei: becoming a prince’s concubine would anger the emperor, while a powerful official’s wife would likely keep her in check.
• Song Yaoyao and her companions feel no pity for Xiong Klan, who knowingly sold Yan Xuefei into a brothel.
• As the lantern festival begins, the group leaves the teahouse. Meanwhile, Xiong Klan has vanished. Her family searches only because they fear losing the bride-price she might bring, then eventually gives up. Xiong Klan, who never expected affection from them, does not contact them.
• At the festival, the group encounters a man who is retching after a carriage ride. Song Yaoyao mistakes his plea for “anti-dizziness pills” as a request for birth control, but Guagua explains he wants motion-sickness medicine.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is relieved that Xiong Klan is unlikely to threaten Yan Xuefei again, and she continues her playful daily bickering with Guagua.
• Guagua both reassures and teases Song Yaoyao; their familiar banter prompts Song Qingling and the others to ignore their predictable argument.
• Yan Xuefei appears calm and untroubled while watching the performance.
• Xiong Klan’s disappearance highlights how little she trusts—or expects—from her family. Her parents’ concern is purely financial, not affectionate.
• Song Yaoyao and her companions enjoy the festival together, while Song Yaoyao’s enthusiasm for gossip leads to a comic misunderstanding with the motion-sick stranger.

Significant themes

• Consequences and justice: Xiong Klan’s earlier cruelty makes the group unsympathetic to her predicament.
• Family without affection: The Xiong family treats Xiong Klan as a source of money rather than a daughter.
• Comedy through misunderstanding: Song Yaoyao’s eagerness for scandal turns an ordinary request for motion-sickness medicine into imagined gossip.

Plot points and events

• A brief earlier misunderstanding about a young man’s awkward request for motion-sickness medicine is dismissed, and Song Yaoyao and her companions continue their outing.
• On the Lantern Festival, Old Madam Qiu unusually gives her sons two taels of silver and urges the family to go out. Suspicious of her sudden generosity, they hesitate until she flies into her usual temper; reassured, they leave the children with her.
• Alone with the sleeping children, Old Madam Qiu prepares a sacrifice. She bathes Dayā despite the baby’s distress and apparent cold, places her naked on an altar, draws talismans, and prepares to cut her wrist.
• Government soldiers burst in before she can harm the child. They secure Dayā, whose skin has turned bluish and whose cries have weakened. A neighbor is asked to soothe her.
• Qiu Daniu, Qiu Sanniu, and their wives return early. The eldest daughter-in-law finds Dayā wrapped in a quilt and carries her to the bed to dress her—but freezes in shock when she opens the quilt.

Character developments and interactions

• Old Madam Qiu’s rare show of generosity is revealed as a deliberate way to get the adults out of the house. Her harsh temper helps convince them that she is behaving normally.
• The sons and daughters-in-law are wary of her unexpected kindness but ultimately accept the money and leave.
• The soldiers act quickly to protect Dayā, then rely on a neighbor to comfort her. The neighbor, initially reluctant to get involved, becomes alarmed by the ritual setup.
• The returning family members’ concern turns to horror as they discover what happened.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden intent: Old Madam Qiu disguises a dangerous plan with apparent generosity.
• Family betrayal and vulnerability: Dayā is placed in grave danger by someone who should protect her.
• Community intervention: The soldiers’ arrival prevents the ritual from being carried out, while neighbors witness its aftermath.
• Suspense: The chapter ends on the eldest daughter-in-law’s shocked reaction, leaving the final discovery unrevealed.

Plot points and events

• Government soldiers expose Old Madam Qiu’s attempt to harm her granddaughter Daya with cinnabar markings and forbidden dark arts. Daya is washed and found safe; her cousin Erya is also unharmed.
• Old Madam Qiu admits she acted because she desperately wanted a grandson, blaming her sons for having daughters and calling Daya expendable. Qiu Daniu confronts her, but he and Qiu Sanniu refuse to defend her when she is arrested.
• The family later learns that Old Madam Qiu’s knowledge came from a book taken from a dead man. Qiu Erniu had known about the book but kept quiet at his mother’s insistence.
• The brothers search the house and find tens of thousands of taels of silver hidden in eight places. They divide it equally and agree to live separately while helping one another when needed.
• Old Madam Qiu is sentenced to immediate beheading. Several days later, the emperor publicly reiterates that sorcery and hexes are forbidden and will be punished without mercy.

Character developments and interactions

• Qiu Daniu is devastated by his mother’s cruelty and firmly rejects her excuse that a grandson would justify harming Daya.
• Qiu Sanniu and his wife anxiously check Erya and are relieved she is unharmed. The two households’ refusal to speak for Old Madam Qiu reflects their anger and fear of being implicated.
• The Qiu brothers discover that their mother’s generosity had been a deliberate attempt to get them out of the way. They remain shocked by her actions but focus on recovering the hidden silver.
• Old Madam Qiu remains manipulative and contemptuous of girls, even as her actions are exposed; she is also bitter that her sons do not plead for her.

Significant themes

• Gender prejudice and family cruelty: Old Madam Qiu values a hypothetical grandson over her living granddaughters.
• Consequences and justice: Forbidden magic brings severe punishment, while the family’s silence shows the risks of association.
• Trust and secrecy: The hidden book and silver reveal Old Madam Qiu’s long-running schemes, while her sons’ discovery of the truth changes their family arrangements.

Plot points and events

• After the lantern festival, Song Yaoyao sleeps late. Song Qingyu and Song Qinghui visit and invite her to the frozen lake for skating. Though she initially declines because she fears getting seasick, she agrees once she learns they will be skating, and Qinghui offers to teach her.
• Snow begins as the group sets out. Yaoyao gives everyone heat patches and spare ones.
• On the way, they see six men riding one bicycle. Its front wheel breaks under their combined weight, and they all crash.
• The richly dressed Young Master Han blames the bicycle’s seller, Ying Mingkang, and plans to demand a replacement and medical costs. One companion points out that the stated load limit was 350 jin, while the men’s combined weight exceeded 700 jin—and warns that the bicycle business belongs to Princess Jiahe.
• Han threatens the companion and says they can conceal what happened and falsely claim a defect. Yaoyao overhears and stops the carriage.
• Confronted by Yaoyao, Han denies that he truly intended extortion and claims he was joking. She warns him not to repeat such a “joke,” then lets the men go.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is eager for a winter outing once she understands it involves skating, and she shows practical concern for the group by handing out heat patches. When she discovers Han’s scheme, she promptly intervenes and asserts her authority.
• Song Qinghui encourages Yaoyao to join the outing and offers to teach her skating; Song Qingyu accompanies him.
• Guagua boasts that the system’s bicycles are high-quality, then defensively blames the crash on overloading when the wheel breaks.
• Young Master Han shifts from blustering and threatening his companions to deferential denial once he recognizes Yaoyao. One of the other men tries to caution him with the facts but is kicked and intimidated.

Significant themes

• Accountability and honesty: Han tries to shift blame and fabricate a defect despite the clearly exceeded load limit.
• Power and intimidation: Han uses his status and threats to silence his companions, but Yaoyao’s presence quickly reverses the balance.
• Comedy through irony: Guagua’s confident praise is immediately undercut by the bicycle’s wheel breaking, while the men’s private scheme is exposed as Yaoyao happens to hear it.

Plot points and events

• After Song Yaoyao leaves, Young Master Han abandons his threat to punish Ying Mingkang once he realizes Princess Jiahe is unlikely to pay compensation—and that antagonizing her could be dangerous.
• Han makes the five young men who rode on his overloaded bicycle split the repair cost, despite having insisted they all climb aboard. He refuses to make them pay his medical expenses, treating this as a generous concession.
• Still injured and unable to walk to the Medical Hall, Han orders the tallest companion to carry him. When the man tires, Han insults and threatens him, then has another companion take over. The six eventually make their way to the Medical Hall, while the others privately resent Han’s bullying but dare not challenge him because of his family’s rank.
• Song Yaoyao observes the aftermath and decides to ask Ying Mingkang to post written bicycle-safety rules in his shop, hoping to prevent similar accidents and disputes.
• In the carriage, Song and her system Guagua trade playful banter as snow falls. Guagua tries to draw out poetic reflections on the scenery; Song responds with jokes about beer brands and being cold, frustrating Guagua.

Character development and interactions

• Young Master Han appears both arrogant and cowardly: he bullies those beneath him but backs down when faced with someone powerful. His companions outwardly obey while privately resenting his hypocrisy and entitlement.
• Song Yaoyao is practical and observant, turning the incident into a plan to improve safety. She also shows a teasing, irreverent side in her exchanges with Guagua.
• Guagua is sentimental and eager for poetic conversation, but quickly becomes exasperated by Song’s deliberate jokes.
• The companions’ interactions with Han highlight the unequal social hierarchy: they dislike his demands but comply because they fear the consequences of defying his higher-ranking family.

Significant themes

• Power and social hierarchy: Han’s behavior changes depending on whom he is dealing with; rank determines who can safely object.
• Hypocrisy and misplaced blame: Han caused the bicycle to be overloaded but shifts the cost onto his companions.
• Practical responsibility: Song responds to the accident by proposing clearer safety rules.
• Comic contrast: The chapter contrasts snowy, romantic scenery with slapstick trouble and Song’s intentionally unpoetic humor.