Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Yan Kuan visits Song Yaoyao to apologize, bringing two chests of jewelry, hair ornaments, and fabric. Song suspects the gifts might conceal evidence intended to frame her, but Guagua confirms they are harmless.
• Song privately says she would rather have gold, silver, or banknotes. Yan Kuan offers her a thousand taels in banknotes in case she dislikes the gifts.
• Song briefly worries that Yan might be hearing her thoughts, but Guagua persuades her the money was simply a sensible alternative gift.
• After learning that a thousand taels does not meet the dynasty’s threshold for bribery, Song accepts the money enthusiastically, counts it, and welcomes Yan warmly.
• Song decides not to turn Yan’s affairs into a storybook now that she has accepted his apology gifts. She lets her eldest sister choose from the chests and leaves the rest for her mother, while keeping the banknotes for herself.
• Yan is relieved that Song has abandoned the storybook idea. He reflects that officials have agreed not to spread one another’s secrets—and that keeping Song from revealing theirs is now their main concern.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao remains suspicious and distrustful, imagining schemes and framing attempts, but her caution gives way quickly to delight when offered money. She is practical, openly fond of wealth, and willing to revise her language and plans in exchange for a generous gift.
• Yan Kuan is anxious to repair relations and repeatedly worries that Song may suspect him of plotting or discover the truth about thought-hearing. Her acceptance reassures him.
• Guagua acts as Song’s confidant and counterbalances her suspicions, checking the gifts and explaining why the banknotes are not necessarily suspicious.
• Assistant Minister Song is present but has no time to stop Song from accepting the money. Yan and Song’s exchange shifts from tense mistrust to polite hospitality.

Significant themes

• Mistrust and political danger: Even an apology can look like a trap in a court where officials fear exposure and framing.
• Money and self-interest: Song’s mood and judgment change dramatically when she receives a substantial gift.
• Secrets and mutual vulnerability: Officials’ agreement not to reveal one another’s scandals shows how widespread corruption—and fear of exposure—binds them together.

Key events

• Yan Kuan leaves after giving Song Yaoyao two chests of gifts and a thousand taels of banknotes as compensation for their earlier dispute.
• Song Yaoyao initially suspects her father, Assistant Minister Song, wants to take the money. He reassures her that she may decide what to do with the gifts.
• She brings the chests to her elder sister Song Qingling, explains that Yan Kuan came to apologize, and lets Qingling choose some items. Yaoyao adds more gifts for her, gives hair ornaments to Qingling’s maids, and saves one for her own maid, Bi Tao.
• Song Yaoyao brings the remaining gifts to Madam Song. When her mother asks about the banknotes, Yaoyao assumes she intends to confiscate them and flees to hide them, with Guagua’s help.
• Madam Song had only wanted to ask what Yaoyao planned to do with the money. Yaoyao’s fear comes from memories of parents taking children’s New Year’s red-envelope money in her previous life.
• After hiding the cash, Yaoyao gives Bi Tao the hair ornament, delighting the maid.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is generous with gifts but fiercely protective of her money. Her suspicion of her parents is played for comedy and stems from her previous-life experiences. She also shows affection toward Qingling and Bi Tao.
• Assistant Minister Song tries to give Yaoyao control over the gifts, but her distrust frustrates him.
• Song Qingling listens to Yaoyao’s account and correctly infers that Yan Kuan must have apologized to avoid having a scandal exposed.
• Madam Song is practical and curious about Yaoyao’s plans, while Yaoyao mistakes her question for an attempt to take the money.
• Guagua banters with Yaoyao about its limited abilities and helps her find a hiding place.
• Yan Kuan, though absent for most of the chapter, drives the events through his apology and lavish gifts.

Significant themes

• Family trust and misunderstanding: Yaoyao’s assumptions turn ordinary parental questions into imagined threats.
• Money and independence: She treats the banknotes as personal property and insists on keeping control of them.
• Generosity and affection: Yaoyao freely shares the gifts with her sister and maid, contrasting with her protectiveness over her cash.
• Comedy through contrast: Yaoyao’s dramatic suspicions and quick escapes clash with her family’s relatively harmless intentions.

Chapter summary

• Song Yaoyao tries to sleep early so she can attend court, but struggles to fall asleep. The next morning she is barely awake; her father, Assistant Minister Song, carries her to the palace, while officials keep their distance after hearing she made Lord Yan pay compensation the previous day.
• At court, officials report that severe flooding in Jiangnan has breached dikes, killed many people, destroyed homes, and submerged farmland. The imperial treasury has little money available for relief, leaving the Emperor and ministers at a loss.
• Song Yaoyao asks Guagua whether any official is wealthier than the treasury. Guagua identifies the exceptionally rich General Xuanyuan Ce, whose fortune could reportedly fund a huge army for decades.
• Guagua then reveals that Xuanyuan Ce’s original name is Sikong Ce, and that he is the son of the former dynasty’s Emperor Sikong Jing and Zhongli Xue. Since Sikong was the former imperial surname, the court recognizes him as a possible remnant of the old dynasty.
• Before Sikong Ce can react, a fellow general strikes his acupoints to immobilize him. The Emperor orders guards to surround him. Meanwhile, Yaoyao remains absorbed in her conversation with Guagua and does not notice the mounting tension.
• Guagua begins explaining Sikong Ce’s family history: Sikong Jing kept Zhongli Xue and their son outside the palace because of her low status, while secretly visiting them. He later arranged to move the former dynasty’s treasury into hiding and created a treasure map. The chapter ends before the consequences of this revelation unfold.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao shows compassion for the flood victims despite her usually playful manner. Her casual, public inner dialogue also inadvertently exposes a major political secret.
• The Emperor shifts from despair over the shortage of relief funds to keen interest in Yaoyao’s revelation, then responds decisively when Sikong Ce is exposed.
• Sikong Ce is revealed as a wealthy and potentially dangerous former-dynasty heir; his visible shock suggests he believed his identity and fortune were concealed.
• The officials react with gossip, fear, and relief as Guagua identifies the “fat sheep,” then become alarmed at the former imperial surname.
• Assistant Minister Song and Yaoyao retain their familiar, affectionate routine, with him carrying his sleepy daughter to court.

Significant themes

• Public duty versus personal wealth: The court lacks funds to aid flood victims while one official possesses immense hidden wealth.
• Secrets and political legitimacy: A private family history becomes a threat to the current dynasty when Sikong Ce’s ancestry is revealed.
• Unintended consequences: Yaoyao’s seemingly casual curiosity triggers a major court crisis.
• Humor amid crisis: Her sleepiness and obliviousness contrast with the deadly serious disaster and political revelation.

Key plot points

• Guagua reveals Sikong Ce’s origins: after his kingdom fell, his father, Sikong Jing, secretly arranged for the loyal guard Xuanyuan Che to take a treasure map and escort Ce and his mother, Zhongli Xue, to safety. Jing then killed himself, and the rest of his family was executed.
• The three hid in a village under new names. Zhongli Xue died of grief when Ce was ten; Xuanyuan Che continued raising him and taught him martial arts.
• At twelve, Ce entered the army to pursue command. Though his master, General Shi Ming, trusted him, Ce murdered him during a battle and wounded himself to disguise the crime. He then succeeded Shi Ming as Divine Martial Great General.
• Guagua discloses that Ce has built a secret network of businesses, concealed a frontier gold mine, and used its wealth to fund a private army of fifty thousand, trained by Xuanyuan Che.
• Song Yaoyao’s thoughts expose Ce’s secrets to the court. The emperor and ministers are eager to recover the gold for the depleted imperial treasury. Ce realizes he has been exposed and glares at Yaoyao, who senses menace but does not understand its source.
• Yaoyao asks Guagua to wait until court ends before giving her the specific locations, so she can write them down and pass them to her father, who will deliver them to the emperor. The emperor plans to have a shadow guard retrieve the information. Yaoyao then asks where Xuanyuan Che is.

Character developments and interactions

• Sikong Ce is revealed as ruthless, calculating, and willing to betray even his master—and nearly kill himself—to gain power. He maintains a humble, courteous façade that deceived Shi Ming, the court, and the emperor.
• Xuanyuan Che is portrayed as fiercely loyal to Sikong Jing and Ce: he protects Ce, trains him, and secretly supports his rise and private army.
• Zhongli Xue endures exile and grief to honor Sikong Jing’s wishes, but dies when Ce is ten.
• Song Yaoyao responds practically to the revelations, planning how to preserve and pass on the information while remaining unaware that Ce is watching her with murderous hatred.
• The emperor and ministers listen closely to Yaoyao’s thoughts and agree that Ce’s hidden wealth could relieve the treasury’s hardship.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and betrayal: Xuanyuan Che’s devotion contrasts sharply with Ce’s betrayal of Shi Ming.
• Ambition and deception: Ce conceals his true nature behind politeness while pursuing power through murder and secrecy.
• Power and wealth: His hidden gold and private army threaten the state, especially as the court struggles with flooding and an impoverished treasury.
• Exposure and danger: Yaoyao’s revelations may help the court, but they also put her in peril.

Key plot points and events

• During morning court, Song Yaoyao recalls that Xuanyuan Che has recently sent gold to Sikong Ce and learns through Guagua that Sikong Ce also hides hundreds of boxes of gold beneath a rockery at his estate. She plans to document the gold’s transport route, wealth, and connections for her father.
• Yaoyao notices that the court is unusually arranged: only military officers stand near Sikong Ce, and some outrank him in position. She suspects something significant is happening but doesn’t know what.
• Sikong Ce glares at Yaoyao. Her irreverent inner thoughts—mocking him and speculating about his private life—amuse and embarrass the court, while also revealing how much he resents her for exposing his identity as a remnant of the previous dynasty.
• After nearly two hours, court is dismissed. Yaoyao gives her notes to Lord Jiang and hurries off with her father, worried the Emperor may entrust Sikong Ce with an important task.
• The Emperor has already understood the danger. He orders Sikong Ce seized, then has his tendons severed and legs broken to prevent him from escaping. Sikong Ce curses the Emperor and Yaoyao, but his jaw is dislocated before he can continue.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is observant and resourceful, gathering intelligence even while distracted by her discomfort and Sikong Ce’s hostile stare. She remains bold in thought but physically cautious around a formidable opponent.
• Sikong Ce is exposed as a long-term conspirator who has secretly accumulated vast wealth. His hatred of Yaoyao intensifies because she has undone decades of plotting.
• The Emperor acts decisively once court ends, using Yaoyao’s information to capture Sikong Ce and secretly assigning a guard to follow her.
• Guagua supplies Yaoyao with intelligence and practical advice, while Song’s father escorts her away without knowing the full situation. The officials silently overhear Yaoyao’s thoughts, creating awkward comedy.

Significant themes

• Hidden truth and political intrigue: Yaoyao’s discoveries expose Sikong Ce’s identity, wealth, and schemes.
• Power and betrayal: Sikong Ce’s apparent standing masks his rebellious ambitions, prompting swift imperial punishment.
• Comedy through contrast: Yaoyao’s blunt, modern-sounding inner monologue contrasts with the formal gravity of court.
• Courage tempered by caution: Yaoyao is willing to challenge Sikong Ce indirectly, but recognizes the danger he poses.

• Sikong Ce is arrested: After Guagua identifies Sikong Ce as a remnant of the previous dynasty, the emperor has his residence surrounded and orders him sent to the Celestial Prison, isolated from visitors. Sikong Ce is dragged away furious and hateful, though Song Yaoyao does not yet know he has been imprisoned.
• Song Yaoyao’s information reaches the emperor: Back at the mansion, Song Yaoyao writes down what the emperor needs, changing her handwriting. With the servants cleared away, she wraps the paper around a small stone and throws it to Assistant Minister Song’s study door, then slips away. He retrieves the message and passes it to the emperor’s secret guard, who takes it to the palace. The emperor reads it and issues several edicts. Assistant Minister Song’s cooperation requires him to put on an act, a skill he has reluctantly developed for his daughter’s plan.
• Song Yaoyao asserts her independence: After completing her secret task, she eats a hearty breakfast. Madam Song disapproves of her unladylike, rushed eating, but Song Yaoyao associates it with her past life as a military doctor, when she trained and ate under strict time limits. She intends to live freely rather than conform to others’ expectations.
• Guagua temporarily disappears: Guagua announces that it is about to upgrade and will be unable to communicate for a while. Song Yaoyao accepts the break and looks forward to its return.
• She prepares to defend herself: Still unsettled by Sikong Ce’s murderous glare, Song Yaoyao worries that her limited fighting ability would leave her helpless against a powerful opponent. She decides to rely on her medical expertise instead, including her knowledge of poisons. She writes a list of medicinal ingredients and sends Bi Tao to buy them, reluctantly spending 300 taels of silver before lying down for a nap.
  Character developments and themes: Song Yaoyao is resourceful and decisive, using covert methods to help the emperor and planning to compensate for her physical weakness with medical skill. Her military past shapes both her habits and her refusal to live by restrictive social expectations. The chapter emphasizes family cooperation, self-determination, and survival through intelligence rather than force. It also contrasts Song Yaoyao’s anxiety over Sikong Ce with the reader’s knowledge that he is already imprisoned.

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao wakes to find Guagua still away upgrading and gets on with her work. She has Bi Tao bring the supplies she requested, then shuts herself in to brew medicines.
• She chooses to make several poisons, including Ten Fragrance Soft Bone Powder, which leaves victims weak and unable to use internal energy, and Corpse Dissolving Powder, which is harmless on intact skin but lethal when it touches blood. She also plans other poisons and antidotes, but prioritizes a few practical formulas.
• Alongside the poisons, she prepares life-saving medicines. After three days, she has completed the soft-bone poison, Corpse Dissolving Powder, hemostatic powder, and a Hundred Poisons Pill.
• At court, officials and the emperor miss the “gossip” they used to hear through Song Yaoyao and Guagua. Meanwhile, people with secrets fear Song Yaoyao will expose them and hire the Assassin Pavilion to kill her.
• The emperor reinforces her protection with twenty imperial grandmasters; Assistant Minister Song also has thirty guards watching over her. They have already stopped earlier attacks, but a force of more than a hundred assassins finally breaks into her courtyard.
• Song Yaoyao orders her allies aside and throws the soft-bone poison into the attackers. The assassins are incapacitated, and she has her own people take antidote pills as a precaution.
• After arguing that she has every right to defend herself against killers, Song Yaoyao kicks the helpless assassin leader and searches his clothes, leaving the onlookers baffled.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is resourceful and increasingly practical: she prepares both weapons and remedies, then uses her new poison decisively under pressure. Her indignation at being targeted gives way to confidence and dark humor.
• Guagua’s absence leaves her feeling that something is missing, while the emperor and officials also notice the system’s silence and wonder where their usual “melons” have gone.
• Assistant Minister Song’s long-standing fear for his daughter’s safety is realized, though his guards help defend her. The emperor likewise anticipates danger and adds protection.
• Song Yaoyao coordinates effectively with the guards: they trust her command and move aside immediately, then take the antidote she provides.

Significant themes

• Self-defense and justice: Song Yaoyao rejects the idea that she must fight “fairly” against a vastly larger group of murderous assassins.
• Knowledge as power: Her skill in medicine and poison-making lets her turn a desperate attack into a controlled victory.
• Fear and political intrigue: Her exposure of Sikong Ce’s secrets has unsettled corrupt or guilty figures, prompting them to act before she can target them.
• Humor amid danger: The court’s longing for gossip and the guards’ startled speculation about Song Yaoyao’s behavior provide comic contrast to the assassination plot.

Key plot points and events

• After the assassins are defeated, Song Yaoyao insists on searching their belongings for money, even telling the soldiers to check every hiding place. Her father, Assistant Minister Song, is embarrassed by her blunt instructions.
• The search yields more than 20,000 taels. Song Yaoyao distributes 200 taels to each of the 24 imperial guards and 30 of her father’s men, gives 1,000 taels to her father, and sets aside 1,000 for the emperor as thanks. She keeps the remainder to buy ingredients for medicinal powders.
• Asked what to do with the captured assassins, Assistant Minister Song reasons that they likely know little about who hired them. He reluctantly agrees they may have to be killed, but worries about disposing of the bodies.
• Song Yaoyao offers to handle the problem. She has the men knock out all the assassins except their leader, then tests a newly made medicinal powder on a cut in his arm. The chapter ends with him screaming and demanding to know what she has done.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao shows herself to be audacious, practical, and generous with those who protected her. She is also eager to test her medical preparations and unconcerned by the assassins’ threats.
• Assistant Minister Song is protective and often exasperated by his daughter’s shamelessness, but he ultimately follows her lead.
• The assassins’ leader shifts from defiant insults to fearful anger as Song Yaoyao threatens him and uses him as a test subject.

Significant themes

• Humor through contrast: Song Yaoyao’s outrageous comments and casual handling of grim events unsettle those around her.
• Loyalty and gratitude: She shares the captured money with her guards and reserves a portion for the emperor in recognition of their protection.
• Power and retaliation: With the assassins in her custody, Song Yaoyao turns their earlier threats into a chance to assert control—and to test her medicine.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao’s bluntness repeatedly embarrasses her father and makes the soldiers uneasy, while the assassins’ leader tries and fails to intimidate her.
• She insists the guards accept their shares, framing the money as earned compensation.
• Despite his concern about her methods, Assistant Minister Song allows her to direct the handling of the prisoners, setting up her confrontation with their leader.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao’s Corpse Dissolving Powder kills the assassins’ leader, dissolving his body into bloody liquid. She explains that the powder is harmless on unbroken skin but dissolves anyone whose blood it touches within an hour.
• The household deals with the remaining hundred-odd assassins by making small cuts and applying the powder, then cleans the courtyard once the bodies dissolve.
• A shadow guard reports the incident to the emperor and gives him a thousand-tael share of the spoils. The emperor appreciates Song Yaoyao’s thoughtfulness and orders continued protection for her.
• Back in her room, Song Yaoyao reunites with Guagua, whose upgrade has unlocked video and livestreaming, extended its gossip range to thirty meters, and added a protective barrier that repels attacks and rebounds their force.
• Neither realizes that Guagua’s upgrade was triggered by the merit they earned by exposing Sikong Ce’s identity and preventing a future rebellion.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao proves resourceful and ruthless in handling the aftermath of the assassination. Assistant Minister Song worries about what she may have endured in a previous life, while she calmly explains her weapon.
• The emperor is impressed by her competence and gratitude, valuing the gesture despite the money’s insignificance to him.
• Song Yaoyao is delighted by Guagua’s new abilities and exaggerates how much she missed it. Guagua reassures her that the new protection function will keep her safe.

Significant themes

• Resourcefulness and survival: Song Yaoyao’s preparations help defeat a large-scale attack.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Her gift to the emperor strengthens his favorable view of her.
• Unseen consequences: Their past actions have earned merit and changed future events, though neither Song Yaoyao nor Guagua understands why Guagua leveled up.
• Security and reassurance: Guagua’s new barrier offers Song Yaoyao powerful protection after repeated threats to her life.

• Sikong Ce and Xuanyuan Che: At Morning Court, the emperor publicly identifies Sikong Ce as a surviving member of the former dynasty and presents evidence of his crimes. Most of Sikong Ce’s resources and assets—including his private troops, gold mine, and treasure—are already in imperial hands. Xuanyuan Che, however, escaped the earlier search. Song Yaoyao’s system reveals that he is disguised as a beggar at the capital’s South Gate. The emperor secretly sends elite palace fighters to capture him.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua: Guagua’s upgrade lets it project a live video for the court to see, while more officials can now hear Song Yaoyao’s inner thoughts. Yaoyao worries that Xuanyuan Che’s escape could lead to future revenge, then relaxes once she learns the emperor has acted. Bored and nearly dozing through court, she perks up when Guagua offers fresh gossip.
• Yu Ling Tian’s reputation: Guagua turns its attention to Yu Ling Tian, the Vice Director of the Chancellery, who is widely regarded as a devoted husband. Yaoyao is surprised to hear that he is a hypocrite. Guagua begins recounting his marriage to Kong Shi Ya, the beautiful, capable daughter of the powerful Secretary of the Central Secretariat. Yu and his family initially considered the match an extraordinary blessing. Although Yu and Kong were affectionate after their wedding, the Yu family grew dissatisfied when Kong had not become pregnant after a year. Yu initially defended his wife and urged patience.
• Character interactions and themes: The emperor responds decisively to the intelligence Yaoyao’s inner voice reveals, while the officials increasingly treat her private conversations with Guagua as a source of court information—though they hope the next revelation will not expose them. The chapter contrasts public appearances with concealed truths, as Xuanyuan Che hides in plain sight and Yu’s celebrated marital image comes under question. It also develops the tension between family pressure and loyalty within marriage, setting up the rest of Yu Ling Tian’s story.

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao’s inner thoughts reveal that Yu Ling Tian and his family resent his wife, Kong Shi Ya, for not having children. They cannot openly take a concubine because Yu Ling Tian had promised Lord Kong that Kong Shi Ya would be his only wife.
• The Yu family plans to have a mistress bear a child and persuade Kong Shi Ya to adopt it, preserving the family’s connection to her powerful maternal relatives and gaining access to her dowry.
• Song imagines the danger Kong Shi Ya could face if the adopted child later turned against her, while the others listening realize Yu Ling Tian’s public image as a devoted husband is false.
• Guagua reveals that Yu Ling Tian secretly keeps three mistresses, visiting them under the excuse of attending social gatherings.
• One mistress has already had a three-month-old child, but the child is not Yu Ling Tian’s: she arranged to conceive with an old lover so the child might be acknowledged by Yu Ling Tian and benefit from his status.
• The final revelation is that Kong Shi Ya is not infertile—Yu Ling Tian is. His other relationships produced no children, exposing the real source of the couple’s childlessness.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is outspoken and indignant, condemning Yu Ling Tian and the Yu family while eagerly drawing Guagua out for more details.
• Guagua supplies increasingly shocking information, correcting Song’s assumptions and exposing the hidden facts.
• Yu Ling Tian goes pale and trembles as his secret conduct and infertility are revealed; he realizes his reputation and plans are collapsing.
• Lord Kong is enraged by the deception and wants to punish Yu Ling Tian.
• Kong Shi Ya, though not directly active in the scene, is revealed as the target of her husband’s false devotion and the Yu family’s calculated scheme.
• The assembled listeners are shocked by the disclosures and recognize they had been fooled by Yu Ling Tian’s carefully cultivated image.

Significant themes

• Hypocrisy and reputation: Yu Ling Tian’s public image of devoted husbandhood conceals infidelity and exploitation.
• Women’s vulnerability and agency: Kong Shi Ya risks being used as a means to secure an heir and her family’s wealth, while one mistress manipulates the situation to protect her own future.
• Status, inheritance, and power: The Yu family’s scheme depends on Kong Shi Ya’s dowry and her family’s influence.
• Reversal of blame: The chapter overturns the assumption that Kong Shi Ya is responsible for the couple’s childlessness, revealing Yu Ling Tian’s infertility instead.

• Yu Ling Tian collapses after being exposed: Humiliated by the public revelation of his sexual inadequacy and affairs, Yu Ling Tian spits blood and faints. The court responds with scorn rather than sympathy, and the emperor orders him carried away. Song Yaoyao continues mocking him, while Assistant Minister Song worries about his daughter’s outrageous remarks.
• Lord Kong acts on the revelations: Song Yaoyao and Guagua identify the addresses of Yu Ling Tian’s three mistresses. Lord Kong memorizes them and plans to investigate; after court, he gathers guards and servants and heads to the first address, No. 8 Willow Alley.
• Song Yaoyao nudges her father toward another mission: She suggests to Assistant Minister Song that the fugitive traitor Xuanyuan Che may be hiding somewhere unexpected in the capital. Her father agrees to report the idea to the emperor. She then lets him go, apparently satisfied that she has set events in motion.
• A comic musical interlude: While waiting at the palace gates, Song Yaoyao asks Guagua to play a song. The officials hear her mangled, bizarre version of the lyrics and hurry away to escape the noise.
• Song Yaoyao follows the action remotely: When Guagua reports that Lord Kong is confronting a mistress, Song Yaoyao eagerly wants to witness the scene in person. Since Willow Alley is too far away, she settles for Guagua’s live broadcast.
  Character developments and interactions: Song Yaoyao remains bold, mischievous, and eager for spectacle, using casual suggestions to influence her father while entertaining herself. Assistant Minister Song indulges her ideas but is exasperated by her lack of restraint. Guagua serves as her informative, often bemused companion. Lord Kong moves from observer to investigator, while Yu Ling Tian’s collapse leaves him disgraced.
  Themes: The chapter mixes public scandal and private hypocrisy with comic irreverence. It also emphasizes how information can set official action in motion, and contrasts Song Yaoyao’s playful appetite for entertainment with the serious consequences unfolding around her.

Key plot points and events

• Lord Kong confronts a kept mistress at one of Yu Ling Tian’s houses. She initially holds her composure, but collapses when told Yu has learned she cuckolded him and has already fainted after vomiting blood. Lord Kong orders her and the child taken to the authorities.
• Song Yaoyao is disappointed that this confrontation ends without a dramatic fight. Guagua tells her that Madam Kong has learned of Yu’s three mistresses and is heading to another house in Apricot Blossom Alley.
• When Assistant Minister Song returns, Yaoyao persuades him to take her to the alley, pretending she wants to visit a pastry shop.
• At the second house, Yaoyao finds a crowd watching Madam Kong beat another mistress. A local woman explains that people had believed Yu was a devoted husband, unaware he secretly maintained three separate households.
• After beating the mistress, Madam Kong orders her face marked with insulting tattoos and honey smeared on the wounds to attract ants.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is eager for spectacle and openly delights in witnessing a “catfight.” She uses playful persuasion—and a cover story—to get to the scene.
• Lord Kong acts decisively and harshly, framing the mistress’s actions as an attempt to undermine his household and protect her son’s prospects.
• Madam Kong moves from anger to brutal vengeance, personally attacking the mistress and escalating to a humiliating punishment.
• The mistress goes from apparent composure to despair when she realizes Yu will not defend her.

Significant themes

• Hypocrisy and betrayal: Yu’s public image as a faithful husband contrasts with his secret mistresses.
• Reputation and social power: The women face public judgment and severe consequences, while Yu’s status makes ordinary people reluctant to criticize him openly.
• Spectacle and punishment: The crowd treats private scandal as entertainment, while the chapter presents vengeance as both public humiliation and violence.

Character interactions

• Lord Kong threatens the mistress, informs her that Yu knows of the betrayal, and orders her taken to the authorities.
• Yaoyao pleads with her father to visit Apricot Blossom Alley, then asks a bystander for the scandal’s details while pretending to be surprised.
• Madam Kong attacks the mistress as the crowd watches; the old servant follows her orders, until Madam Kong changes the punishment from cutting the woman’s face to tattooing and tormenting it.

Key plot points and events

• Madam Kong’s household servants punish a woman accused of wrongdoing. They stab her face with an awl, then smear it with honey and place ants on it. The punishment is brutal, and the woman is eventually taken to the authorities.
• Song Yaoyao watches from the crowd, making sarcastic observations to Guagua about the servants’ methods and enduring the stench of the sock they use to gag the victim.
• Madam Kong notices Song Yaoyao and warmly invites her to visit, hinting that she and her husband intend to repay a debt of gratitude. Song Yaoyao accepts without knowing the reason.
• Song Yaoyao returns home without buying the pastries she claimed to be seeking. At breakfast, she repeats that excuse to her mother; Assistant Minister Song later admits that she went to watch the spectacle.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao remains irreverent and shamelessly curious, though the violence and stench make her physically ill. She smoothly invents an excuse when caught watching.
• Madam Kong is shown to be decisive and ruthless in dealing with the accused woman, yet courteous and welcoming toward Song Yaoyao.
• Assistant Minister Song indulges his daughter by taking her to the alley, then quietly confirms the truth to his wife.
• Madam Song recognizes that her daughter’s pastry excuse is implausible and questions her husband about what really happened.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao and Guagua exchange sarcastic commentary on the servants’ cruelty and tactics.
• Madam Kong greets Song Yaoyao respectfully and invites her to visit, while concealing her gratitude for Song Yaoyao’s earlier help.
• At home, Song Yaoyao and her father share a cover story with Madam Song, but the father eventually reveals the real reason for their late return.

Significant themes

• Ruthlessness and power: The chapter portrays the harsh methods used to maintain control within a household.
• Spectacle and gossip: Despite the gruesome punishment, the crowd stays to watch, including Song Yaoyao.
• Social rank and courtesy: Song Yaoyao bows to Madam Kong because of her higher status and age.
• Family dynamics and indulgence: Song Yaoyao’s father accommodates her curiosity, while her mother sees through their excuse.

Key plot points

• Assistant Minister Song and Madam Song worry about Song Yaoyao’s rebellious temperament, but decide to deal with problems as they arise.
• Rong Ping and his wife visit the Song residence to thank the family. Their household was able to stop a dangerous act by Rong Ping’s unfilial relative because Song Yaoyao had warned him.
• Madam Rong offers gifts and fifty 100-tael notes—a total of 5,000 taels—as thanks. Madam Song initially resists, but accepts when Madam Rong insists.
• After the guests leave, Song Yaoyao eagerly inspects the gifts. Madam Song takes the silver notes and gives Yaoyao 100 taels for herself, plus another 300 taels to distribute among her three siblings.
• Madam Song plans to save the remaining money for Yaoyao’s future dowry.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is delighted by the reward and tries to keep more of it, but she also remembers her siblings and asks that they receive shares. She insists that she would not keep money meant for others.
• Madam Song is firm about controlling the large gift, yet is touched by Yaoyao’s thoughtfulness toward her siblings.
• Madam Rong grows fond of Yaoyao, seeing her as lively and unpretentious, with a good heart rather than a scheming nature.
• Rong Ping and his wife express gratitude to the Song family for Yaoyao’s warning.
• The family’s exchanges are affectionate and comic: Yaoyao pretends not to know what silver notes her mother means, then bargains and coaxes for a larger allowance.

Significant themes

• Kindness rewarded: Yaoyao’s earlier warning brings substantial gratitude from the Rong family.
• Family generosity and responsibility: Yaoyao shares her reward with her siblings, while Madam Song safeguards the rest for her future.
• Wealth and proper conduct: Yaoyao enjoys money but says she will not claim what belongs to someone else.

Key plot points and events

• Madam Song worries that Song Yaoyao’s unruly behavior will make it hard to find her a husband, and has trunks carried out of the hall.
• Yaoyao visits her eldest sister, Song Qingling, and theatrically complains that their mother took her 5,000 taels. She jokes about threatening to hit her head on tofu to get the money back.
• Yaoyao gives Qingling several fine accessories and a 100-tael note, explaining that the gifts came with the money she had obtained from Madam Song.
• The sisters plan a shopping trip for Yaoyao’s day off. Madam Song approves, provided they bring extra attendants.
• They visit the Beauty Parlor, where Qingling buys lip rouge. Yaoyao browses but says she has no need for cosmetics, noting that she might someday make better skincare products herself.
• On the way to a pastry shop, six strangers deliberately block the sisters’ path. A woman in a pomegranate-red dress looks at them contemptuously, leaving the encounter poised for confrontation.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is generous toward Qingling and enjoys teasing her, but remains curious and observant. She also reflects on the limitations of the era’s cosmetics and hints at using knowledge from her previous life.
• Song Qingling is patient and caring: she comforts Yaoyao, helps her wash up, accepts her gifts, and takes the lead in planning their outing.
• Madam Song remains concerned with Yaoyao’s marriage prospects, yet allows the sisters their day out.

Character interactions

• Yaoyao relies on Qingling as a confidante, exaggerating her distress to make her sister laugh or sympathize. Qingling gently indulges her while recognizing that Yaoyao would not dare behave that way before their mother.
• The sisters share affectionate teasing and easy conversation during their shopping trip.
• Their pleasant outing is interrupted when a group of strangers intentionally confronts them.

Significant themes

• Sibling affection and generosity: Yaoyao shares both her gifts and money with Qingling.
• Freedom and family authority: The sisters’ outing depends on their mother’s permission and supervision.
• Modern perspective in a historical setting: Yaoyao compares traditional cosmetics with products from her previous life.
• A peaceful day disrupted: The chapter shifts from domestic humor and sisterly warmth to the threat of social conflict.

Plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao identifies Qin Mengdai as the adopted daughter of Qin Hanshan, the Minister of Revenue. The people accompanying Qin Mengdai are startled and distance themselves from her.
• Qin Mengdai tries to challenge Song Yaoyao, but whenever she attempts to mention Song’s unspoken thoughts, she is overcome by a choking sensation. Song warns her sister, Song Qingling, to stay back in case Qin stages an accident to extort them.
• Guagua explains that Qin Mengdai is the false heiress: the true daughter, Qin Youyou, was switched at birth by Madam Qin’s wet nurse.
• The wet nurse had been pressured into the switch by a mysterious man in black, who first arranged for her husband to incur a gambling debt and then paid it off. Though ordered to drown the real baby, the wet nurse secretly left Qin Youyou with a farming family.
• After the wet nurse revealed the truth before her death, Qin Hanshan and his wife found Qin Youyou and brought her home. Rather than welcome her, they judged her for being timid and roughened by her rural upbringing, confined her to a remote courtyard, and let the servants mistreat and neglect her. Meanwhile, they continued to favor Qin Mengdai.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is alert and perceptive: she quickly recognizes that the baby-switching scheme was likely planned, not a coincidence.
• Song Qingling supports Yaoyao calmly, following her lead and keeping her distance from Qin Mengdai.
• Qin Mengdai reacts with anger and helplessness when exposed, but the account identifies her as the favored false heiress.
• Qin Youyou, though not present, is revealed as the neglected true heiress, whose hardship has left her meek and physically worn.
• Qin Hanshan and his wife appear to have failed to accept or protect their returned daughter, while continuing to indulge Qin Mengdai.

Significant themes

• Identity and family: Blood ties do not guarantee love or acceptance.
• Manipulation and conspiracy: The staged debt suggests the switch was engineered by someone with a broader plan.
• Class and prejudice: Qin Youyou is judged for the poverty and hardship imposed on her.
• Justice and complicity: The wet nurse disobeyed the order to kill the baby, but her actions still enabled the deception.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao’s spoken remarks and inner thoughts unsettle Qin Mengdai and prompt her companions to retreat.
• Yaoyao and Qingling respond to Qin Mengdai as a potential threat, maintaining distance rather than engaging.
• Guagua provides the hidden history, while Yaoyao questions the apparent coincidences and draws attention to the likely conspiracy.

Key events

• Guagua reveals that Qin Mengdai is the biological daughter of Qin Hanshan’s concubine, Madam Guo (Guo Bilian), while Qin Youyou is the legitimate daughter of Madam Qin.
• Years ago, Guo arranged for the babies to be switched: she bribed the midwife to claim her own daughter was stillborn, then had Qin Mengdai raised as Madam Qin’s child and Qin Youyou sent to the countryside. The man in black was Guo’s loyal former guard, acting as her errand runner.
• Qin Mengdai overhears the truth and is stunned, realizing why Guo has always favored her. As Song Yaoyao’s private commentary turns to Qin Mengdai’s appearance, the onlookers’ attention embarrasses and enrages her.
• Unable to strike Song Yaoyao, Qin Mengdai shoves Song Qingling instead. Song Yaoyao catches her sister, then retaliates by knocking Qin Mengdai down and beating her.
• Qin Mengdai tries to fight back, but her own slap rebounds onto her face, leaving the crowd to think she has lost control.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is protective of Song Qingling and quick to fight when her sister is attacked. Her irreverent inner monologue contrasts with her fierce, direct response.
• Qin Mengdai shifts from shock at learning her parentage to humiliation and anger, then redirects that anger toward Song Qingling.
• Guo Bilian is revealed as a calculating mastermind who engineered the switch to secure her daughter’s position.
• Song Qingling is shoved by Qin Mengdai but steadied by Song Yaoyao, whose defense of her sister drives the confrontation.

Significant themes

• Deception and family identity: the baby swap has shaped the lives and relationships of both daughters.
• Manipulation and favoritism: Guo’s scheme exploits the Qin household’s trust and affection.
• Loyalty and protection: Song Yaoyao’s loyalty to her sister turns verbal tension into a physical fight.
• Public embarrassment and appearance: Song Yaoyao’s candid internal remarks draw unwanted attention to Qin Mengdai and intensify the conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao’s newly unlocked self-protection ability causes Qin Mengdai’s attacks to rebound onto her. Song Yaoyao then beats her, including striking pressure points that cause severe pain without leaving visible marks.
• Onlookers separate them. Song Yaoyao remains neat, while Qin is badly bruised and discovers that her sleeve has torn, exposing her arm. She screams at the crowd to stop looking, but several powerful young men openly make lewd remarks.
• Song privately asks Guagua who the men are and learns they are influential wastrels whose families outrank the minister. She condemns their behavior, while joking that Qin’s clothes tore accidentally during the fight.
• Su Yu, Qin’s cousin and the Grand Preceptor’s grandson, arrives to comfort her. Guagua explains that Su has long wished he had been born a girl; his family’s attempts to change him failed.
• Song and Guagua privately joke about Su’s identity and modern gender-related procedures. Their thoughts are apparently audible to those around them, leaving the men astonished and Su increasingly embarrassed.
• As Su approaches Song, she mockingly wonders whether his periods are regular. The remark leaves him unable to ask what he came to ask.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao is confident and physically dominant in the fight, then sharp-tongued and irreverent. She condemns the men’s sexual harassment even while making jokes at Su’s expense.
• Qin Mengdai is humiliated and injured, shifting from aggressor to victim; her concern turns to covering her torn clothing and protecting her modesty.
• Su Yu is introduced as persistent in expressing a feminine identity despite years of family punishment. Song’s teasing deeply embarrasses and angers him.
• Guagua acts as Song’s informative, amused confidant, explaining the men’s status and Su’s background.

Significant themes

• Power and privilege: The wastrels behave fearlessly because their families hold high office.
• Gender identity and social constraint: Su’s lifelong self-understanding contrasts with the era’s lack of acceptance and options.
• Public humiliation and gendered scrutiny: Qin is exposed to leering comments, while the crowd’s reaction emphasizes how women’s bodies are judged.
• Comedy through contrast: Song’s modern, blunt inner commentary clashes with the formal historical setting.

Character interactions

• Song overpowers Qin, while bystanders intervene only after the fight is underway.
• The men’s lewd attention toward Qin prompts Song’s disapproval.
• Su arrives to console Qin but becomes the focus of Song and Guagua’s private commentary, which the surrounding crowd can apparently hear.
• Song’s teasing prevents Su from speaking and turns his attempt to approach her into another public embarrassment.

Plot points and events

• After the earlier street fight, Song Yaoyao confronts Su Yu, who glares at her. A crowd of officials’ families gathers, drawn both by the gossip and by Song Yaoyao’s unusually audible inner thoughts.
• The onlookers pretend to comfort Qin Mengdai while taking turns listening to Song Yaoyao. When Qin grows angry and tries to speak, they surround her and cover her mouth so she cannot interrupt the entertainment.
• Song Yaoyao interprets Su Yu’s teary expression as another attempt to make her look like a bully. She privately compares him to Qin Mengdai and calls him a rare “male green tea.” Guagua agrees, though the crowd does not understand the term.
• Song Yaoyao breaks into a tuneless parody song about green tea. Su Yu, visibly offended, leaves with a dramatic sway.
• Song Yaoyao mocks his walk, then imitates it herself. She strains her back, cries out for Song Qingling’s help, and insists that the injury is only a minor strain and does not require a clinic.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao remains irreverent and quick to judge, turning conflict into comedy. Her attempt to imitate Su Yu’s swagger backfires, revealing her impulsiveness.
• Su Yu tries to appear wronged and tearful, but leaves in anger after Song Yaoyao’s mocking thoughts and song.
• Qin Mengdai feels betrayed when her own friends and her mother’s acquaintances use her as a distraction to eavesdrop. She blames Song Yaoyao for the humiliation.
• Song Qingling is protective and practical, supporting Song Yaoyao and urging her to see a physician.
• The crowd is shown as shamelessly gossip-hungry, prioritizing entertainment over concern for Qin Mengdai.

Significant themes and interactions

• Gossip and spectacle: The crowd’s feigned concern for Qin hides its eagerness to hear Song Yaoyao’s thoughts.
• Appearance versus reality: Song Yaoyao sees Qin as popular and Su Yu as manipulative, while the crowd’s actions—and Su Yu’s departure—reveal other motives and feelings.
• Comedy through misfortune: Song Yaoyao’s ridicule of Su Yu ends with her injuring herself while copying him.
• Key interactions: Song Yaoyao’s inner commentary provokes Su Yu’s exit; the crowd silences Qin to keep listening; Song Qingling cares for Song Yaoyao after her back strain.