Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and her group arrive at a frozen lake crowded with people skating. Guagua explains that people in this era use two traditional devices: a wooden ice sled, which is stable but needs pushing or pulling, and a single-blade “donkey,” which is faster but harder to control.
• Dissatisfied with the crude equipment, Song Yaoyao uses Guagua’s shopping system to buy several modern sled models, including two-person sleds, colorful linked sleds with brakes, and sturdy plastic sleds.
• She brings the purchases from the carriage, and the unfamiliar equipment immediately attracts attention. After studying the instructions, she explains how to use it to her companions.
• Song Qingyu and Song Qinghui quickly master the sleds and race across the ice; Qinghui impresses onlookers with a drift. Song Yaoyao soon gets the hang of skating, while Song Qingling remains nervous. Qingyu offers to tow her in a red sled, and Qingling accepts.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is playful and enthusiastic: she teases Guagua by singing, then eagerly upgrades the group’s outing and shares what she learns.
• Guagua shifts from exasperated companion to enthusiastic salesperson, giving detailed product pitches. Yaoyao suspects it earns a commission.
• Song Qingyu is confident and considerate, enjoying the sleds while slowing down to help Qingling feel safe.
• Song Qinghui shows skill and flair through a fast ride and a graceful drift.
• Qingling is cautious but willing to try when Qingyu offers support.
• The group’s excitement—and their conspicuously modern, colorful sleds—draws curious looks from other visitors, whose own equipment suddenly seems less appealing.

Significant themes

• Playfulness and companionship: The outing is built around shared fun, teasing, and helping one another.
• Ingenuity and novelty: Yaoyao uses modern technology to transform a traditional winter activity.
• Courage and reassurance: Qingling’s hesitation gives way to participation through Qingyu’s patient support.
• Wonder and social attention: The striking sleds make the group the center of curiosity at the lake.

Key plot points and events

• At a lakeside outing, several people admire Song Qingyu’s Ice Sled and ask where they can buy one. Song Yaoyao realizes there is strong demand and starts taking orders and deposits.
• She returns to the city, hires carriages, and brings a large stock of different Ice Sled models back to the lake. They sell out immediately. Ying Mingkang subsequently takes charge of regular Ice Sled sales, which become highly profitable during the winter season.
• After the New Year holiday, Song Yaoyao returns to court. She and Guagua privately gossip about the ministers’ holiday weight gain, especially Lord Liu.
• Guagua reveals that Lord Liu gained weight after taking medicine because he felt overshadowed by his muscular elder brother. Hearing that the medicine could harm his health, Lord Liu decides to stop taking it.
• The emperor presents the results of investigations into the dangers of marriage between close relatives, an issue Song Yaoyao had raised before the holiday. Ministers—and families with marriage plans on hold—await the findings.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao quickly spots a business opportunity, organizes sales, and confidently returns to the city alone despite Song Qingyu’s concern. She later brings her usual curiosity and humor to court.
• Song Qingyu supports Yaoyao’s business and helps collect deposits, but worries about her traveling alone. He relents after recalling her Shadow Guards and weapons.
• Ying Mingkang shifts his focus from the bicycle shop to selling Ice Sleds, which proves exceptionally lucrative.
• Lord Liu is revealed to have tried to change his appearance out of insecurity about his elder brother. The court learns his private motive through Guagua’s gossip; the health warning prompts him to reconsider.
• The emperor and ministers resume state business, with the emperor formally circulating the findings on close-relative marriage.

Significant themes

• Entrepreneurship and seizing opportunity: Yaoyao acts quickly to meet seasonal demand and turns a small supply into a thriving business.
• Insecurity and self-image: Lord Liu’s attempt to imitate his brother’s appeal backfires, showing the folly of judging oneself by comparison.
• Public welfare and evidence-based policy: The investigation into close-relative marriage may affect both government understanding and real marriage negotiations.

Key plot points and events

• The emperor confirms the investigation into consanguineous marriage and orders a nationwide ban on marriages between relatives within three generations, crediting Princess Jiahe’s discovery.
• He offers Song Yaoyao a reward. She privately wishes for gold, silver, and antiques, but follows courtly convention and leaves the choice to the emperor, who promises to send her rewards to the Marquis’s Residence.
• Back at the Imperial Medical Academy, Song checks her disciple Li Mingyu’s penicillin extraction. Pleased with his work, she tells him to document the process and have his father submit it to the emperor.
• Director Li summons Song urgently to examine the Duke of Wei’s two-year-old grandson, whose abdomen is severely swollen while the rest of his body is thin and underdeveloped. The child has frequent stomach pain, and Song is asked to help diagnose him.

Character developments and interactions

• Song is recognized for her public-health contribution, but remains cautious and modest in front of the emperor. In private, she is practical and eager to acquire antiques she can trade with Guagua.
• Song and Guagua tease each other over her reluctance to ask for a reward—and Guagua’s suspected profit from their trades.
• Li Mingyu’s dedication to medicine is emphasized: he spent the holiday reading and successfully completed his penicillin assignment.
• Director Li trusts Song’s diagnostic skill after failing to identify the boy’s illness himself. The Duke of Wei welcomes her personally, hoping she can help his grandson.

Significant themes

• Public welfare and scientific progress: Medical knowledge leads to a national policy change and the development of penicillin.
• Duty, reward, and etiquette: Song’s contributions merit recognition, but social convention shapes how she accepts it.
• Compassion amid prejudice: The boy’s father regards him as monstrous, while his mother and grandfather protect and pity him.
• Medicine as service: Song’s work continues immediately after court, shifting from public health to an urgent individual case.

Chapter Summary: “Parasitic Twin”

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao arrives at the Duke of Wei’s residence with Director Li to examine the duke’s sickly young grandson, Wei Wei. The child’s mother, Young Madam Wei, is distraught and begs Director Li to save him.
• Song consults Guagua and learns that Wei Wei has a parasitic twin inside his abdomen. She explains that, in some identical-twin pregnancies, one embryo may be enclosed within the other and continue developing there.
• Song says Wei Wei can be treated with an operation: she will open his abdomen, remove the parasitic twin, and stitch him back up. She expects Wei Wei to recover, but the parasitic twin will not survive once separated from its source of nourishment.
• The Duke of Wei is horrified by the proposed surgery and doubts that anyone can live after having their abdomen cut open. Director Li shares his uncertainty, leaving Song to explain the unfamiliar procedure at length.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows medical knowledge and confidence, identifying the rare condition and proposing a solution. She stays measured rather than guaranteeing success outright.
• The Duke of Wei shifts from formal courtesy to fear and skepticism once he understands what surgery involves; his concern is rooted in his grandson’s safety.
• Young Madam Wei is overwhelmed by fear for her child and must be led away when she cannot calm herself.
• Director Li recognizes Song’s expertise but is out of his depth when asked to explain or defend surgery.

Significant themes

• Clash between medical knowledge and conventional belief: Song’s modern understanding meets a world unfamiliar with abdominal surgery.
• Family love and desperation: Young Madam Wei’s plea and the duke’s alarm reflect the family’s devotion to Wei Wei.
• Difficult choices in medicine: Saving Wei Wei requires removing the parasitic twin, which cannot survive independently.
• Authority versus trust: Song’s rank commands respect, but the duke’s fear makes him question her treatment.

Character interactions

• The Duke of Wei formally welcomes Song, who quickly redirects attention to the patient.
• Young Madam Wei begs Director Li for help, while the duke tries to restore order.
• Song explains the diagnosis and treatment to Director Li and the duke, adjusting her explanation when Director Li struggles to understand.
• The duke presses Song for reassurance and details, but her description of surgery deepens his anxiety; Director Li cannot confidently support her because he too doubts the procedure.

Key plot points and events

• The Duke of Wei initially refuses to let Song Yaoyao operate on his grandson, Wei Wei, fearing the boy might die during surgery.
• Young Madam Wei, who has overheard the discussion, confirms that Song Yaoyao believes she can cure Wei Wei. She kneels and pleads with the Duke to give her son the chance, explaining how much he suffers and how cruelly his father treats him.
• Accepting that Wei Wei’s survival cannot be guaranteed, Young Madam Wei says she will not blame anyone if the operation fails. The Duke relents.
• Song Yaoyao takes Wei Wei and his family to the Marquis’s Residence, where she examines him using medical equipment. The scans reveal a large parasitic twin crowded among the boy’s kidneys, major blood vessels, and displaced intestines, making the operation highly complex.
• Song Yaoyao asks Director Li to free Li Mingyu from other duties so he can assist. Li Mingyu arrives with Zhuang Yiran and Pang Fei, who have become keen students and collaborators of Song Yaoyao.

Character developments

• Young Madam Wei shows fierce devotion and resolve: despite her difficult position in the family, she is willing to risk the operation because she wants Wei Wei freed from pain and rejection.
• The Duke of Wei moves from fearful opposition to reluctant consent after hearing his daughter-in-law’s plea.
• Song Yaoyao demonstrates medical confidence and practical leadership, while recognizing that this case is unusually difficult and that she will need help.
• Zhuang Yiran and Pang Fei continue to attach themselves to Song Yaoyao’s medical work, eager to learn from her and support her team.

Significant themes

• A parent’s love and sacrifice: Young Madam Wei accepts the possibility of losing Wei Wei rather than leaving him to a life of suffering.
• Hope versus risk: The family must decide whether a dangerous operation is worth the chance of a normal life.
• Cruelty and stigma: Wei Wei’s illness has made him a target of disgust and threatened violence, especially from his father.
• Medical teamwork: Song Yaoyao’s ambitious treatment plan depends on careful examination and assistance from trusted colleagues.

Character interactions

• Young Madam Wei confronts the Duke of Wei, describing Wei Wei’s suffering and asking him to approve the surgery.
• The Duke expresses his fear of losing his grandson, but ultimately honors her request.
• Song Yaoyao reassures the family while explaining the scan results and the operation’s complexity to Director Li.
• Director Li promptly follows Song Yaoyao’s request to bring Li Mingyu onto the case, and the wider medical group gathers to assist.

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and two assistants develop a surgical plan for Wei Wei, whom she operates on half a month later. The operation succeeds, though it leaves her exhausted.
• She explains Wei Wei’s post-surgery care to his parents and asks them to keep him at the Marquis’s Residence so she can monitor his recovery.
• The next day, Wei Wei is awake and doing well. Song Yaoyao examines and redresses his incision, reassuring his mother and the Duke of Wei that the scar should fade as he heals.
• Wei Wei recovers steadily and returns home a month later, with instructions to attend follow-up examinations. News of his recovery spreads, impressing those who had believed his illness incurable.
• Wan Zunrui and his sister, Wan Xiwen, visit Song Yaoyao for help. Xiwen’s severe weight gain has left her short of breath. Song Yaoyao agrees to guide her weight loss, explaining that it will require sustained effort. Xiwen chooses to stay at the Marquis’s Residence so Song Yaoyao can supervise her.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao demonstrates not only exceptional surgical skill but also patience and confidence as a teacher and caregiver. She postpones accepting her two assistants as disciples until she has judged their character.
• Young Madam Wei and the Duke move from anxious uncertainty to strong trust in Song Yaoyao after witnessing Wei Wei’s successful recovery.
• Wei Wei has grown comfortable with Song Yaoyao, greeting her affectionately as “Big Sister Princess.”
• Wan Xiwen shows determination to regain her health, motivated partly by concern for the family who have worried over her. Wan Zunrui supports her by seeking help on her behalf.

Significant themes

• Trust earned through action: Song Yaoyao’s successful treatment turns faith in her abilities into certainty.
• Care and responsibility: Her medical work includes careful follow-up and clear guidance for families.
• Perseverance and support: Xiwen’s weight-loss journey will be difficult, but she is willing to commit, and supervision may ease the burden on her family.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao tells Wan Xiwen that losing weight will be a long-term process. Xiwen is to arrive at the Marquis’s Residence the day after tomorrow to begin her program; she and her brother are told she can enjoy her favorite foods the day before it starts.
• Unable to sleep, Song Yaoyao reads a melodramatic storybook and jokes with Guagua about what she learned from the Four Great Classic Novels.
• A maid summons her to meet the Duke of Wei and his son, Wei Youming. Guagua explains that they have come to pay her medical fee for treating Wei Wei.
• The Duke presents Song Yaoyao with a large stack of banknotes. She says it is more than necessary, but he insists that it is insignificant compared with his grandson’s life.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows her practical, long-term approach to Xiwen’s treatment and her irreverent sense of humor while discussing books with Guagua.
• Wei Youming’s past conduct is exposed: he had resented Wei Wei and his mother, neglected the child during treatment, and once tried to drown him. Although he now wants to make amends, his remorse comes only after Wei Wei has been cured.
• The Duke of Wei appears grateful and ashamed of his family’s treatment of Wei Wei.

Character interactions

• Wan Zunrui and Wan Xiwen accept Song Yaoyao’s instructions and leave to prepare for the weight-loss program.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua banter over her reading and her supposedly profound literary insights.
• Song Yaoyao silently condemns Wei Youming and refuses to engage with him, addressing the Duke instead. The Duke explains that Wei Wei is well and offers payment for the treatment.

Significant themes

• Accountability and belated remorse: Wei Youming’s new desire to repair his family ties does not erase his earlier cruelty.
• Compassion in medicine: Song Yaoyao regards healing as her duty, not a favor for which she needs personal gratitude.
• Power and human nature: Song Yaoyao’s comic reflections on the classics emphasize social hypocrisy, shifting alliances, and how people judge the powerful and the weak.

Key plot points and events

• After treating Wei Wei, Song Yaoyao accepts the Duke of Wei’s generous gifts: 100,000 taels, fine fabrics, jewelry, and antiques.
• She gives Madam Song 10,000 taels to reward the servants and cover the costs of hosting future patients. She also plans to give 10,000 taels each to Li Mingyu, Zhuang Yiran, Pang Fei, and Imperial Physician Li, keeping the remaining 50,000 taels for herself.
• Madam Song invites Song Yaoyao to a coming-of-age ceremony at the residence of the newly appointed Divine Martial Great General, whose daughter is the guest of honor.
• At the ceremony, Guagua explains that such events in the Heavenly Phoenix Kingdom also serve as matchmaking gatherings for unmarried guests. Many attendees have come hoping to make a favorable match with the general’s daughter.
• Song Yaoyao spots Liu Zheheng entering and calls him her “dream man”; the crowd follows her gaze, and Liu hears her and looks toward her.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows generosity and practical judgment, sharing her reward with her mother, the household staff, and her medical collaborators while keeping a portion for herself.
• Madam Song recognizes that Yaoyao is now responsible with money and no longer needs her mother to safeguard it.
• Song Yaoyao’s excitement about food and banquets, and her playful teasing of Guagua, highlight her lively, irreverent personality.
• Song Qingling quietly observes the crowd gathering around Yaoyao, but does not comment.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao and Madam Song discuss the reward money and attend the ceremony together with Song Qingling.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua trade teasing insults over banquets and nicknames, while Madam Song looks on with familiar amusement.
• Guagua explains the ceremony’s matchmaking customs to Yaoyao.
• The guests gather around Yaoyao, apparently eager for gossip, and her remark about Liu Zheheng immediately draws their attention to him.

Significant themes

• Generosity and responsibility: Yaoyao uses her reward to repay the people who helped her and support the household.
• Social customs and marriage: The ceremony is both a rite of adulthood and an opportunity for matchmaking among people of similar standing.
• Humor and character: Yaoyao’s banter with Guagua and enthusiasm for banquet food bring a comic, lighthearted tone to the chapter.

Key plot points

• Liu Zheheng attends the coming-of-age ceremony after pressure from his mother to find a wife. He also hopes to hear more gossip, but Song Yaoyao assumes he has come matchmaking.
• His status as a general and the brother of a favored imperial consort makes him an attractive match. The guests’ obvious interest in him embarrasses them when Song and Guagua comment on their staring.
• Liu joins Song’s group. Many guests gather nearby—not for the spot itself, but because they want to be close to Song and her gossip.
• The ceremony’s central figure, Shen Suyan, arrives. Guagua reveals scandal about her family: Shen Xingming and his wife were devoted to each other, but after years without a child, Old Madam Shen secretly drugged her son and arranged for him to wake beside his cousin, Luo Xiaowei.
• Old Madam Shen then pressured Shen Xingming into taking Luo as a concubine, threatening that otherwise the cousin would have no future. Shen’s wife was hurt but felt unable to object because she had not conceived.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is delighted by gossip and bluntly condemns Old Madam Shen’s scheme. Her private banter with Guagua entertains the crowd and draws people around her.
• Liu Zheheng is frustrated by Song’s mistaken assumptions: he came partly for gossip, not simply to find a bride. Though he is the focus of matchmaking interest, he quietly joins Song’s circle.
• Old Madam Shen is revealed as manipulative and determined to secure a grandson, willing to deceive and drug her son to achieve it.
• Shen Xingming trusted his mother and did not suspect her plan; he regrets the situation but agrees to take Luo as a concubine under pressure.
• Madam Shen is hurt by her husband’s new concubine but endures the situation.
• The guests share an unspoken understanding that they have gathered near Song to enjoy the coming gossip.

Significant themes

• Matchmaking and status: Liu’s family connections instantly make him a coveted bachelor.
• Family pressure and women’s limited agency: Old Madam Shen’s desire for an heir shapes her son’s marriage and leaves Madam Shen and Luo with little control.
• Public morality versus social norms: Song sees the drugging as outrageous, while the gathered society treats it as comparatively ordinary.
• Gossip as entertainment and social glue: The crowd’s interest in Song’s revelations brings people together, even as the revelations expose painful private affairs.

Key events

• After two months, Madam Shen becomes pregnant. General Shen, fearing for her safety, assigns four martial maids to protect her from Luo Xiaowei’s repeated attempts to harm her.
• Madam Shen safely gives birth to the Shen family’s eldest legitimate son. Old Madam Shen dotes on the baby, while Luo Xiaowei grows increasingly jealous.
• Luo Xiaowei later becomes pregnant after Old Madam Shen tricks General Shen into visiting her room and uses aphrodisiac incense to overcome his precautions. General Shen learns his mother engineered the encounter but lets the matter drop.
• Luo Xiaowei gives birth to a son. When the boy is two, he is diagnosed with an intellectual disability. Luo wrongly blames Madam Shen, though the narration attributes the condition to consanguineous marriage.
• Unable to reach the well-guarded legitimate son, Luo harbors a lasting grudge against Madam Shen and her child.
• Three years later, both women become pregnant again. Luo, who has taken a lover, exploits a drunken encounter with General Shen to pass off her lover’s child as his.
• Learning that both pregnancies are girls, Luo plots to switch the babies, intending to make Madam Shen suffer.

Character developments and relationships

• General Shen is shown as devoted to Madam Shen: he takes practical steps to protect her and does not welcome Luo’s pregnancy. However, his mother repeatedly manipulates him, first into visiting Luo and later into believing her next child is his.
• Madam Shen is protected by her husband and gives birth to the family’s legitimate heir; she remains the target of Luo’s jealousy.
• Luo Xiaowei moves from envy to vindictiveness. She misreads her son’s disability as sabotage, seeks revenge on Madam Shen, takes a lover, and escalates to a planned baby swap.
• Old Madam Shen favors Luo’s pregnancies and repeatedly interferes in her son’s marriage, including arranging the encounter that leads to Luo’s first pregnancy.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua narrate and comment on the events, framing General Shen’s protection as evidence of love and condemning Luo’s baseless accusations and schemes.

Significant themes

• The contrast between a husband’s active protection and indifference toward a wife.
• The destructive effects of jealousy, favoritism, and interference in family life.
• The danger of scapegoating others instead of facing the truth.
• Deception and manipulation within the household, culminating in Luo’s proposed infant switch.

Key plot points and events

• Luo Xiaowei had bribed a midwife to swap her newborn daughter with Madam Shen’s. A martial maid caught the attempt, but Madam Shen ordered the babies’ clothes changed back and forced the midwife to pretend the swap had succeeded.
• Luo Xiaowei believed the deception worked. To keep it secret, she later had the midwife and her family killed, leaving only Madam Shen and the martial maid aware of the truth.
• Madam Shen concealed the incident from General Shen, partly to avoid another conflict between him and his mother, and instead had Luo Xiaowei watched.
• Luo Xiaowei gave Madam Shen’s baby the degrading nickname “Cao’er,” claiming it was meant to help the frail child survive. General Shen formally named Luo Xiaowei’s biological daughter Shen Yinnan.
• Believing Shen Yinnan was Madam Shen’s child, Luo Xiaowei abused her by pinching and twisting her, then began deliberately making her ill so General Shen would visit and notice Luo Xiaowei’s apparent devotion.
• The repeated illnesses eventually exhausted General Shen. He refused another visit, criticized Luo Xiaowei’s care, and threatened to appoint someone else to look after the child. Furious, Luo Xiaowei took her anger out on the maid who relayed his words.

Character developments

• Madam Shen proves composed and strategic: she turns the attempted swap against Luo Xiaowei and keeps the secret to avoid worsening family tensions.
• Luo Xiaowei is revealed as cruel, calculating, and increasingly reckless. She treats an infant as both an object of revenge and a tool for gaining favor.
• General Shen initially responds to the baby’s illness with concern, but repeated manipulation wears down his patience.
• The midwife submits to Madam Shen’s threat and later becomes a victim of Luo Xiaowei’s effort to erase the evidence.
• Song Yaoyao and the onlookers react with outrage and grief, especially at the abuse of the baby.

Significant themes

• Deception and power: Madam Shen quietly outmaneuvers Luo Xiaowei while concealing the truth.
• Cruelty and abuse: Luo Xiaowei’s treatment of Shen Yinnan exposes the harm caused by revenge and ambition.
• Manipulation of family affection: Luo Xiaowei uses the child’s illness to seek General Shen’s attention, but her scheme ultimately alienates him.
• Secrecy and family loyalty: Madam Shen withholds the truth to spare General Shen a conflict, though that choice leaves Luo Xiaowei’s plans unchecked.

Character interactions

• Madam Shen intimidates the midwife into silence and directs her to maintain the illusion of a successful swap.
• Luo Xiaowei deceives Old Madam Shen with her explanation for “Cao’er,” then abuses the baby she believes belongs to Madam Shen.
• Luo Xiaowei repeatedly summons General Shen through reports of illness; his visits give way to frustration and a sharp rebuke.
• After General Shen refuses to come, Luo Xiaowei vents her fury on the maid who delivers his message.

Key plot points and events

• Furious that her scheme has stopped working, Luo Xiaowei beats a maid and orders Shen Yinnan’s illness to be treated only gradually, keeping the girl alive but prolonging her suffering.
• Shen Yinnan eventually recovers, but grows up neglected and abused. Luo Xiaowei gives her fine clothes to avoid attracting suspicion, while denying her proper food, education, and care.
• When Old Madam Shen asks why Yinnan has not learned the traditional arts, Luo Xiaowei implies the girl lacks interest. Under Luo’s threatening stare, Yinnan timidly claims she tried but could not learn.
• Luo secretly lavishes gifts on Shen Suyan, believing Suyan is her own daughter. In reality, Suyan is Madam Shen’s biological child, while Yinnan is Luo’s.
• Madam Shen knows about Luo’s gifts and has them checked before allowing Suyan to keep them. Suyan follows her mother’s instructions and reports each gift.
• Madam Shen and her martial maid discuss Yinnan’s abuse and the truth of the switched parentage. Madam Shen believes Luo is responsible for the consequences of her own deception and cruelty.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Xiaowei is shown as cruel, calculating, and impatient. She uses Yinnan as leverage to preserve her standing with General Shen, while mistakenly showing affection to the daughter who is not hers.
• Shen Yinnan has been frightened into silence and self-effacement. She looks to Luo for permission before answering Old Madam Shen and conceals her lack of education rather than expose her stepmother’s abuse.
• Shen Suyan is obedient and trusting toward Madam Shen, bringing Luo’s gifts to her mother rather than accepting them secretly.
• Madam Shen is cautious and protective of Suyan, monitoring Luo without revealing that she knows the truth. She expresses sympathy for Yinnan but does not intervene, believing Luo must answer for her own actions.
• The narration and observers condemn Luo, while Song Yaoyao and Guagua reveal the hidden family truth and frame the coming revelation as inevitable.

Significant themes

• Cruelty and self-inflicted consequences: Luo’s abuse of Yinnan and mistaken devotion to Suyan are presented as the results of her own schemes.
• Appearance versus truth: Luo’s belief about which girl is her daughter contrasts sharply with the reality known to Madam Shen.
• Powerlessness and neglect: Yinnan’s fear and lack of education show how sustained abuse can suppress a child’s confidence and potential.
• Retribution and dramatic irony: Luo’s actions are building toward a painful reckoning when she learns the truth.

Plot points and events

• During Shen Suyan’s Hairpin Ceremony, Song Yaoyao’s unspoken conversation with Guagua reveals that Luo Xiaowei has committed numerous crimes: she harmed the Shen household’s legitimate wife and son, switched children, abused a child, and secretly had a lover. Shen Yinnan is not General Shen’s biological child.
• The revelations horrify General Shen, Old Madam Shen, and Madam Shen. They believe the claims, including that Luo Xiaowei’s son was intellectually disabled because of consanguineous marriage, and regret allowing Luo Xiaowei into the household.
• Guagua reveals that Luo Xiaowei still meets her lover twice a month. A video shows that the man resembles General Shen, prompting Song Yaoyao to joke that Luo Xiaowei has a “stand-in romance.”
• Luo Xiaowei is secretly present to watch her biological daughter Shen Suyan’s ceremony. Old Madam Shen has a servant remove her; the family postpones confronting her until after the guests leave.
• At the ceremony’s final stage, guests consider potential romantic matches. Song Yaoyao assumes they are looking at her, but Guagua clarifies that their attention is on Liu Zheheng. When he moves closer, Song worries that he may be interested in her elder sister and that his proximity will provoke other young women.

Character developments and interactions

• General Shen and Old Madam Shen shift from suspicion or ignorance to fury and regret as they learn the extent of Luo Xiaowei’s deception.
• Madam Shen is especially shaken by the revelation about Shen Yinnan’s parentage, which she had not known.
• Luo Xiaowei’s affection for Shen Suyan is presented alongside her extreme betrayal of the Shen family: she risks appearing in secret to witness her daughter’s ceremony.
• Song Yaoyao remains curious and playful, turning grim revelations into comic commentary. Guagua supplies information and gently corrects her assumptions.
• Liu Zheheng quietly approaches Song and her companions, while Song interprets his movement through the lens of romantic matchmaking.

Significant themes

• Deception and betrayal: Luo Xiaowei’s hidden crimes threaten the foundations of the Shen household.
• Favoritism and household conflict: The chapter highlights the damage caused by concubines, scheming, and unequal treatment within families.
• Regret and delayed justice: The Shen elders recognize their past mistakes but must wait to act publicly.
• Romance and appearances: Luo Xiaowei’s lover resembles General Shen, creating a bizarre “stand-in” romance, while the ceremony’s matchmaking atmosphere sparks comic misunderstandings.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao pulls her sister, Song Qingling, away from Liu Zheheng to make clear that she has no romantic connection to him.
• Several young women send maids to invite Liu Zheheng on outings. He rejects each invitation bluntly, making it clear he is never available.
• Yaoyao and her companion Guagua discuss Liu’s popularity and praise his directness in refusing women rather than misleading them.
• Guagua suggests Liu might suit Qingling. Yaoyao objects: Qingling is only fifteen, Liu is in his twenties, and any marriage must be Qingling’s choice and her parents’ concern.
• Despite Yaoyao’s objection, Liu approaches Qingling and invites her to a spring outing the next day, surprising both sisters and the onlookers.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows that her admiration for Liu is purely based on his looks. She is protective of Qingling and strongly opposes rushing her into a significant age-gap match.
• Song Qingling becomes visibly embarrassed when Yaoyao and Guagua discuss her as a possible match for Liu.
• Liu Zheheng comes across as popular, capable, and forthright. After considering Qingling as a potential wife, he unexpectedly takes the initiative to invite her out.
• Guagua playfully proposes the match, then is as surprised as Yaoyao when Liu acts on it.

Significant themes

• Personal choice in marriage: Yaoyao insists Qingling must have a say in her own marriage.
• Honesty and directness: Liu’s clear refusals are praised as kinder than keeping admirers hopeful.
• Humor and irony: Yaoyao tries to distance herself from Liu, only for him to turn his attention to her sister.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao’s teasing inner conversations with Guagua reveal her fangirl-like admiration for Liu and her protective instincts toward Qingling.
• Liu’s repeated refusals contrast with his sudden, direct invitation to Qingling.
• The crowd’s surprise underscores how unexpected the invitation is—especially after everyone has heard Yaoyao’s objections.

Key plot points and events

• General Liu Zheheng asks to court Song Qingling. Madam Song says the family will discuss it before answering.
• Song Yaoyao privately questions whether Liu’s interest is genuine, worrying that her sister could be hurt by a bad marriage. She distrusts promises about fidelity and rejects the idea that good looks alone make a suitable husband.
• Liu assures Qingling that he will marry only one wife and have no concubines, maids, or mistress. Yaoyao remains skeptical, so he says she can judge him by his actions.
• Fifteen men invite Qingling to consider marriage. Madam Song accepts the invitations for further investigation rather than making an immediate choice.
• After the gathering, General Shen orders the residence gates closed. Shen Suyan has heard the shocking revelation that Shen Yinnan is not her father’s child and that his concubine’s kindness toward her may have concealed a deeper scheme. Madam Shen sends Suyan away, then joins General Shen and Old Madam Shen to await Luo Xiaowei and Shen Yinnan.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows fierce loyalty to Qingling and insists that her sister’s family will protect her if she is mistreated. Her playful, blunt thoughts also reveal genuine anxiety about marriage and men’s unfaithfulness.
• Song Qingling is touched by Yaoyao’s support. She receives considerable interest from potential suitors but gives no answer yet.
• Liu Zheheng responds calmly to Yaoyao’s distrust and accepts that he must prove himself through his actions.
• Madam Song takes a cautious, practical approach, planning to investigate the suitors before deciding.
• Madam Shen appears composed and resolved to watch events unfold, while Shen Suyan is shaken by what she has learned but obeys her mother.

Significant themes

• Family loyalty and protection: Yaoyao’s devotion reassures Qingling that she will not face marriage troubles alone.
• Trust and reputation: Liu’s promises are not enough; his conduct over time must establish whether he is trustworthy.
• Marriage and women’s security: Yaoyao’s doubts reflect the risks women face in a system that allows men multiple partners.
• Secrets and impending reckoning: The revelation about Shen Yinnan and the concubine sets up a confrontation whose outcome remains unresolved.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao’s private exchange with Guagua contrasts her comic remarks with her serious concern for Qingling; others can hear her thoughts, affecting how they view the suitors.
• Liu speaks directly with Qingling and Madam Song, then addresses Yaoyao’s doubts by asking to be judged through his actions.
• Madam Shen comforts and firmly dismisses Suyan before going to meet General Shen and Old Madam Shen, anticipating Luo Xiaowei’s arrival.

Plot points and events

• Old Madam Shen confronts Luo Xiaowei and Shen Yinnan, sharply correcting Luo’s familiar, disrespectful behavior and ordering her to kneel.
• She accuses Luo of betraying the Shen family and asks who Shen Yinnan’s father is. Luo assumes the baby switch has been discovered, but denies any wrongdoing and claims Yinnan is her child.
• General Shen, enraged, kicks Luo and reveals that the family has evidence of her long-running affair. He demands the lover’s identity.
• Realizing the confrontation concerns her affair rather than the baby swap, Luo drops her pretense and admits it. She describes her lover as a man who resembles General Shen and boasts that she imagined him as General Shen while humiliating him.
• Shen Yinnan is horrified by the suggestion that General Shen may not be her father.

Character developments

• Old Madam Shen shifts from protecting Luo as a favored niece to condemning her betrayal.
• Luo Xiaowei moves from feigned innocence to open defiance, revealing her affair and deep resentment toward General Shen.
• General Shen responds with anger and violence, making clear that he has evidence and will no longer shield Luo.
• Shen Yinnan is shaken and frightened as she begins to question her parentage.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and broken trust: Luo’s conduct overturns Old Madam Shen’s long-standing faith in her.
• Deception and hidden truths: Luo’s affair is exposed, while the possibility of a separate baby-switch secret remains unresolved.
• Power and humiliation: Luo’s story reveals how she used her lover to enact fantasies of dominance over General Shen.
• Family identity and belonging: Yinnan’s uncertain paternity threatens her sense of security.

Character interactions

• Old Madam Shen publicly reprimands Luo and refuses to accept her attempts to blame Madam Shen.
• General Shen confronts Luo with evidence and demands a confession; Luo answers with provocative insults rather than remorse.
• Yinnan stays close to Luo but becomes increasingly terrified as the adults’ accusations raise doubts about her place in the family.

Key plot points and events

• General Shen is sickened by Luo Xiaowei’s account of how she abused a man who served as his stand-in, and kicks her away.
• Luo Xiaowei then taunts Madam Shen and lets slip that she tried to switch babies fifteen years earlier, when both women gave birth.
• Madam Shen reveals she discovered the plot in time. She secretly had the midwife return Luo Xiaowei’s baby, while allowing Luo Xiaowei to believe the exchange had succeeded.
• The girl Luo Xiaowei has mistreated for years—Shen Yinnan—is her biological daughter. Shen Suyan, whom Luo Xiaowei believed was hers, is Madam Shen’s child.
• Madam Shen also reveals that Luo Xiaowei had the midwife’s family murdered to cover up the attempted switch. She had warned the midwife to flee, but the family was killed before they could escape.
• Faced with the truth, Luo Xiaowei collapses, weeping and calling her suffering deserved punishment.

Character developments

• Luo Xiaowei shifts from defiant and boastful to horrified and remorseful when she learns she abused her own daughter. Her anguish is mixed with disbelief, but she ultimately recognizes her actions as retribution.
• Shen Yinnan finally understands why her mother treated her so cruelly. Years of abuse have left her instinctively flinching when Luo Xiaowei raises a hand, even when Luo Xiaowei now reaches out gently.
• Madam Shen emerges as controlled and calculating: she turned Luo Xiaowei’s scheme against her and kept the truth hidden, then uses the revelation to make Luo Xiaowei confront the harm she caused.
• General Shen is disgusted by Luo Xiaowei’s depravity and cannot bear to hear more of her story.

Significant themes

• Retribution and self-inflicted suffering: Luo Xiaowei’s cruelty returns to her through the revelation that she abused her own child.
• The lasting effects of abuse: Shen Yinnan’s involuntary flinch shows that years of violence cannot be undone by a sudden change of heart.
• Deception and consequences: Luo Xiaowei’s attempted baby switch, cover-up, and murder of the midwife’s family culminate in a devastating truth.
• Irony: Luo Xiaowei’s belief that she was mistreating another woman’s child made her harm the very daughter she had wanted to claim.

Character interactions

• General Shen’s disgust and physical rejection of Luo Xiaowei contrast with Madam Shen’s calm, deliberate confrontation.
• Luo Xiaowei tries to taunt Madam Shen, but accidentally reveals the baby-switch scheme, giving Madam Shen the opening to expose the truth.
• Madam Shen forces Luo Xiaowei to face the consequences, while Shen Yinnan’s fearful reaction to her mother’s attempted touch makes the damage between them unmistakable.

Key plot points and events

• Luo Xiaowei breaks down and tries to embrace Shen Yinnan, apologizing and calling her “darling.” Yinnan resists and reminds her that she was once cruelly called “Cao’er” and treated as lowborn.
• Yinnan recounts years of trying to earn her mother’s affection through obedience and hard work, only to receive beatings, scolding, and humiliation. She now understands Luo Xiaowei mistook her for another woman’s child and took out her hatred on her.
• Yinnan refuses to forgive Luo Xiaowei, telling her that regret cannot undo her suffering and that she would rather never have had her as a birth mother.
• Zhang Mingqiang, Luo Xiaowei’s lover and Yinnan’s biological father, is brought before General Shen. He admits to the affair and explains that Luo initially paid him to resemble the man she loved; the relationship later became sexual for money.
• Zhang admits he knew Yinnan was his daughter but tries to shift responsibility onto Luo, claiming she made all the decisions and asking General Shen to spare his life.

Character developments

• Shen Yinnan moves from silent restraint to openly confronting Luo Xiaowei. She recognizes the cause of her mistreatment but remains firm that she will not forgive it.
• Luo Xiaowei is overwhelmed by remorse, but her apologies cannot repair the harm she caused or restore her relationship with Yinnan.
• Zhang Mingqiang is exposed as Yinnan’s biological father. Though he confesses, he shows self-preservation by blaming Luo and pleading for mercy.
• General Shen is disgusted by Zhang’s resemblance to himself but controls his anger to question him.

Significant themes

• The lasting damage of abuse: years of cruelty cannot be undone by a late apology.
• Accountability and regret: Luo’s remorse is genuine, but Yinnan insists that remorse does not erase consequences.
• Self-interest and blame: Zhang’s confession is paired with an attempt to evade responsibility.
• Identity and mistaken hatred: Yinnan’s mistreatment stemmed from Luo’s mistaken belief about her parentage.

Character interactions

• Yinnan rejects Luo’s attempted embrace and directly explains how Luo’s treatment shaped her life, setting a clear boundary against reconciliation.
• General Shen interrogates Zhang about the affair and Yinnan’s parentage; Zhang admits the truth but tries to make Luo bear the blame.

Key plot points and events

• General Shen discovers that Luo Xiaowei arranged for the children to be switched. Zhang Mingqiang appears genuinely unaware of the scheme, while Luo Xiaowei admits her guilt.
• General Shen orders Luo Xiaowei and Zhang Mingqiang taken to the magistrate’s office. Before she can be removed, Luo asks to speak: she tells Shen Yinnan that she loves her and urges her to live well, then begs the Shen family not to punish Yinnan for her own actions.
• Luo Xiaowei bites through her tongue and dies. Old Madam Shen directs the household to tell outsiders that Luo died of illness.
• To honor Luo’s final request—and acknowledge their long relationship with Yinnan—the Shen family agrees to keep treating her as family and arrange a suitable marriage. Madam Shen also promises her the comforts and education provided to the household’s young ladies.
• Zhang Mingqiang is taken to the magistrate. The scandal further damages the relationship between General Shen and Old Madam Shen.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Xiaowei accepts responsibility and, in her final moments, shows concern for Yinnan’s future. Yinnan is shaken by her death and wonders whether Luo’s last words were truly for her.
• Shen Yinnan receives reassurance from Old Madam Shen, who tells her she may still call her “Grandmother” and that the Shen residence remains her home. Yinnan responds with gratitude and relief.
• Old Madam Shen shows compassion toward Yinnan and regrets her past choices.
• General Shen remains angry and humiliated by the scandal. Though he blames his mother’s earlier decisions, filial duty prevents him from openly acting against her; he withdraws into himself.
• Madam Shen supports the decision to care for Yinnan and promises to provide for her as a daughter of the household.

Significant themes

• Responsibility and innocence: Luo takes blame for her actions and insists Yinnan should not suffer for them.
• Family beyond blood: The Shen family chooses to recognize the bond formed by raising Yinnan.
• Regret and consequences: Luo’s schemes end in tragedy, while Old Madam Shen and General Shen are left with lasting remorse and estrangement.
• Duty and constraint: General Shen’s filial obligation limits his response to his mother, despite his resentment.

Key plot points and events

• After the Shen family’s crisis is settled, Old Madam Shen regrets having placed Concubine Luo in her son’s chambers. She retreats to a Small Buddha Hall and withdraws from household affairs.
• Song Yaoyao hears later that Concubine Luo died of an alleged illness. She suspects General Shen discovered Luo’s affair and reflects with Guagua on how love can lead people into trouble.
• Wan Xiwen arrives at the Marquis’s Residence, where Song Yaoyao puts her on a strict weight-loss regimen: six plain, portion-controlled meals, plenty of water, and half an hour of supported walking each day.
• Wan struggles with hunger and exhaustion. Her maid, Maple Leaf, tries to bring her food, but the household maids confiscate it; the kitchen is also locked to prevent late-night snacking.
• After a month, Wan has lost thirty jin and is delighted, believing she can return to her former weight within six months.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao takes charge as Wan’s physician, enforcing the plan firmly and drawing on knowledge from her previous life. She asks her mother, Madam Song, to ensure the kitchen follows the rules.
• Wan Xiwen moves from discomfort and hunger to determined acceptance of the regimen. She recognizes that Song anticipated her temptation to cheat and resolves to cooperate.
• Maple Leaf sympathizes with Wan and tries to help her by finding food, but the household’s restrictions thwart her.
• Madam Song worries that the diet is too plain, but agrees to support Song’s instructions.
• Old Madam Shen responds to the family’s troubles by withdrawing from public and household life.

Significant themes

• Love and its consequences: Song and Guagua suggest that intense feelings can lead to poor choices and painful outcomes.
• Discipline and persistence: Wan’s progress requires tolerating discomfort and resisting temptation.
• Care through strictness: Song’s rigid supervision is presented as an attempt to help Wan achieve lasting health, though it leaves little room for choice.