Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Qi Yan recovers after his successful surgery, relieved that his bladder problem is gone. He vows to abandon his mistresses and reform.
• Zhuang Yiran and Pang Fei regularly examine Qi Yan during his recovery. Their diligence earns Song Yaoyao’s approval, and she takes them as disciples. The court celebrates their apprenticeship in a grand banquet.
• Song Yaoyao hopes to recruit female disciples as well, believing women need access to female physicians because social stigma can keep them from seeking treatment.
• Two months later, Song Yaoyao’s barbecue restaurant is ready to open. She attends anonymously with Ying Mingkang, while Niu Dali manages the ceremony.
• Niu Dali introduces the restaurant’s unusual cooking method: diners grill raw meat and vegetables on a heated round stove, using special paper and a secret sauce. The enticing aroma wins over the skeptical crowd, and the first customer praises the food.

Character developments

• Qi Yan is grateful for his recovery and promises to change his behavior.
• Zhuang Yiran and Pang Fei prove themselves responsible young physicians and begin training under Song Yaoyao.
• Song Yaoyao expands her medical ambitions beyond training men, aiming to help women who face barriers to care. She also keeps a low profile while launching her business.
• Niu Dali demonstrates that he is now capable of managing the restaurant independently.

Significant themes

• Medical progress and responsibility: Successful treatment brings hope, while apprenticeships reward diligence and skill.
• Gender and access to healthcare: Social expectations can prevent women from seeking necessary treatment, motivating Song Yaoyao to train female doctors.
• Entrepreneurship and novelty: The restaurant introduces an unfamiliar dining experience, using curiosity and samples to draw customers.
• Reform and second chances: Qi Yan’s recovery prompts him to promise a more faithful and respectable life.

Character interactions

• Zhuang Yiran and Pang Fei care for Qi Yan through repeated examinations, then receive Song Yaoyao’s approval as her students.
• Song Yaoyao’s plans for female disciples reflect her concern for women’s health and the judgment they face.
• At the opening, Niu Dali explains the barbecue process to curious onlookers and invites one skeptical customer to taste the food; his delighted reaction persuades the crowd.

Key plot points and events

• To attract customers, Niu Dali offers free barbecue samples outside the Restaurant. Curious passersby try them and head inside, quickly filling the venue.
• Song Yaoyao and Ying Mingkang inspect the lively Restaurant from a second-floor gallery. It features barbecue and beer, live music and dance performances, membership promotions, and games or talent contests that can earn customers a free meal.
• Song Qingling and Liu Zheheng arrive after smelling the food. Ying Mingkang politely moves to another table, allowing the sisters and Liu to sit together.
• The Sixth Prince, Chen Yixiao, and Zhang Zhixi also arrive. Zhang asks to join Song Yaoyao’s table, eager to spend time with her.
• As the group enjoys its meal, a proclamation rings out: “Young Master Zhao will pick up everyone’s tab!” The phrase shocks Song Yaoyao, who recognizes it as a viral meme from her previous life. Guagua also comments on its familiarity, but the chapter ends before the young master’s identity or motives are revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao demonstrates her business sense by adapting modern promotional ideas to the Restaurant. She oversees operations while remaining approachable toward her staff and family.
• Niu Dali carries out her plans, managing the sampling and serving his mistress.
• Ying Mingkang praises Song Yaoyao’s ingenuity and tactfully gives her family room to talk, though she invites him to stay for a meal.
• Song Qingling begins to suspect that the Restaurant belongs to Yaoyao, recognizing the barbecue style from home.
• Zhang Zhixi shows an unusual eagerness to grow close to Song Yaoyao, repeatedly calling her “little sister.” Song Yaoyao privately finds the situation awkward but welcomes the group.

Significant themes

• Innovation and cultural exchange: Song Yaoyao uses ideas and entertainment from her previous life to create a distinctive business.
• Entrepreneurship and spectacle: Free samples, memberships, contests, and performances turn dining into an event that draws and engages customers.
• Private thoughts versus public behavior: Song Yaoyao’s inward commentary contrasts with her composed, polite manner.
• A familiar world with unexpected echoes: The “Young Master Zhao” announcement connects the present setting to Song Yaoyao’s past-life internet culture, ending the chapter on a comic cliffhanger.

• Key events: Guagua reveals the story of Zhao Nianxi, the sole son and heir of wealthy merchant Master Zhao and his devoted wife, Madam Zhao. The Zhao family’s background and their children appear on a screen above Song Yaoyao, startling Zhang Zhixi, who wonders how Guagua can make people appear inside it. Zhao Nianxi has grown lazy, vain, and easily manipulated by flatterers; his supposed friends encourage him to pay for their outings, then mock him behind his back. His father once tried to discipline him, but Zhao Nianxi ate the ancestral offerings, accidentally started a fire, and was beaten. The resulting fever left him with a heart condition, so his parents became afraid to reprimand him. Master Zhao now limits his allowance, and Zhao Nianxi has recently resumed his lavish spending after recovering from stomach trouble.
• Character developments: Zhao Nianxi is established as a pampered, gullible wastrel whose confidence comes from flattery rather than merit. Master Zhao has largely given up trying to reform him, while Madam Zhao’s concern for his health helps explain their leniency. Guagua contrasts Zhao Nianxi with his younger sister, Zhao Nianjun, whose character is not yet described.
• Character interactions: Zhang Zhixi is so fascinated by the screen that Chen Yixiao nudges her to stop staring. Song Yaoyao silently reacts to Guagua’s account, criticizing Zhao Nianxi’s wastefulness and asking why his parents tolerate it. Zhao Nianxi’s friends flatter him to extract money, while Master Zhao’s attempts at discipline have been thwarted by his son’s defiance and fragile health.
• Themes: The chapter pokes fun at inherited privilege, vanity, and the ease with which flattery can exploit someone. It also shows how parental overindulgence—reinforced by fear for a child’s health—can undermine discipline, and how apparent friendship may conceal selfish motives.

Key plot points and events

• Zhao Nianjun is determined to build a life independent of a husband. Seeing women—including her friend Zeng Yun and Zeng Yun’s mother—suffer under neglectful husbands and abusive concubines, she resolves to rely on her own abilities.
• Though raised in a loving household, Zhao Nianjun has seen how vulnerable women can be. She studies relentlessly while her brother, Zhao Nianxi, spends his time sleeping and enjoying himself.
• Master Zhao recognizes his daughter’s talent and begins preparing her to lead the family business. He is open to having a daughter inherit and arranging for her husband to join the Zhao family.
• Zhao Nianxi initially objects, claiming the business should belong to the only son. Master Zhao offers him a chance to prove himself by learning the trade. After a grueling day inspecting shops—and a frightening incident involving an armed troublemaker—Zhao Nianxi’s heart condition flares up. He abandons the idea of inheriting and returns to his carefree lifestyle.
• In the present, Zhao Nianxi arrives at Song Yaoyao’s busy shop with a large entourage. Song has Ying Mingkang confirm what he intends to pay for. Zhao Nianxi agrees to cover the bill for customers already dining there when he arrived, but not for later arrivals—a sum likely amounting to several thousand taels.
• Guagua points out a handsome man in burgundy among Zhao Nianxi’s companions, but neither Song nor the others got a good look at him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Nianjun is ambitious, disciplined, and motivated by the desire for financial and personal independence. Her father’s support strengthens her commitment to taking over the family business.
• Master Zhao proves practical and unusually progressive: he values ability over gender and gives Zhao Nianjun a route to lead the family.
• Zhao Nianxi shifts from entitled resistance to comfortable withdrawal. His brief attempt to inherit reveals that the work and risks are far beyond what he wants, though he shows some sense by checking his means before agreeing to pay.
• Song Yaoyao and Ying Mingkang take precautions to clarify Zhao Nianxi’s offer before the shop’s large bill becomes a dispute. Guagua supplies commentary and details from the video.

Significant themes

• Women’s independence: Zhao Nianjun rejects dependence on a husband and pursues competence and authority.
• Gender expectations and inheritance: The Zhao family challenges the assumption that sons must inherit and daughters must marry out.
• Merit versus entitlement: Zhao Nianjun’s diligence contrasts sharply with Zhao Nianxi’s claims of male privilege and lack of ambition.
• The vulnerability of women in marriage: Zeng Yun’s family history illustrates the consequences of women’s lack of protection and economic power.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Guagua introduces Ge Yixiao, then explains the rivalry between Ge Haipeng, vice president of the South City Chamber of Commerce, and Zhao Jingheng, its president. Ge Haipeng resents Zhao’s greater success and hopes the Zhao family’s fortune will fall apart.
• After hearing that Zhao Jingheng’s son, Zhao Nianxi, has been beaten and developed a heart condition, Ge Haipeng celebrates, convinced the Zhao family is doomed. He dismisses Zhao’s efforts to groom his daughter, Zhao Nianjun, as a successor.
• Ge Haipeng decides to seize the Zhao family’s wealth. His first attempt is to have his son Ge Yu approach Zhao Nianxi, but Nianxi distrusts him and refuses to include him in his social circle.
• Ge Haipeng then devises a scheme to use another son, Ge Jiayang, to seduce Zhao Nianjun and gradually draw the Zhao family’s money and businesses into Ge hands. He chooses Jiayang because their relationship is not publicly known.
• The plan is exposed when Zhao Nianjun’s carriage horse bolts after someone drives a poisoned, energy-infused needle into it. The resulting “accidental” collision with a scholar is revealed to have been staged to introduce her to Ge Jiayang.
• Zhao Nianjun recognizes the Ge family’s intentions and rejects their assumption that romance will make her easy to manipulate.

Character developments and interactions

• Ge Haipeng is shown as deeply jealous, arrogant, and opportunistic. He treats his large family of twenty sons and fifteen daughters as a supply of potential tools in his struggle against the Zhaos.
• Zhao Nianxi may be a wastrel, but he is not gullible: he sees through Ge Yu’s attempted friendliness and keeps him at a distance.
• Zhao Nianjun proves observant and decisive. She investigates the suspicious carriage incident, uncovers Ge Jiayang’s identity, and understands the larger financial plot.
• Ge Yu and Ge Jiayang are deployed in separate attempts to infiltrate the Zhao family: Yu approaches Nianxi directly, while Jiayang is used in a staged meeting with Nianjun.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua discuss the unfolding scheme, with Yaoyao reacting to Ge Haipeng’s immense number of children and Guagua supplying the background.

Significant themes

• Family rivalry and ambition: Ge Haipeng’s resentment of Zhao Jingheng drives his attempt to take over the Zhao family’s businesses.
• Manipulation versus discernment: The Ge family plans to exploit trust and romantic attachment, but both Zhao siblings show more awareness than Ge Haipeng expects.
• Gender and expectations: Ge Haipeng assumes Nianjun can be controlled through romance; she rejects the idea that love should take priority over her ambitions.
• Inheritance and succession: The conflict centers on who will carry on—and ultimately control—the Zhao family’s fortune.

Key plot points and events

• Ge Jiayang visits Zhao Nianjun a second time, pretending to repay the medical expenses from their earlier accident. Zhao sees through the pretext but accepts the money, ending his attempt to use the exchange to get acquainted.
• Ge Jiayang continues arranging “chance encounters,” with help from his father, Ge Haipeng. Zhao ignores him, frustrating him.
• Ge Haipeng advises Ge Jiayang to assault Zhao in public so her reputation will be ruined and she will be forced to marry him. Ge Jiayang agrees and lunges at her in the street.
• Zhao uses her martial arts to evade him, causing him to crash face-first into the ground. When he privately resents her, she kicks him and confronts him with what she knows: he is Ge Haipeng’s illegitimate son and has been deliberately pursuing her.
• Zhao condemns his attempt to violate her and crushes him between the legs, leaving him screaming in agony.

Character developments

• Zhao Nianjun is shown to be perceptive, self-possessed, and skilled in martial arts. She refuses to play along with Ge Jiayang’s courtship scheme and responds decisively when his intentions become threatening.
• Ge Jiayang shifts from calculating confidence to humiliation and fear. He believes his appearance and status will win Zhao over, then agrees to a coercive plan when his charm fails.
• Ge Haipeng is revealed as an enabler of his son’s entitlement, encouraging sexual assault and forced marriage as a way to control Zhao.

Significant themes

• Consent and coercion: Ge Jiayang’s pursuit is not romance; his plan is to violate Zhao and force marriage.
• Power and self-determination: Zhao’s martial ability lets her resist an assault and impose consequences on her attacker.
• Entitlement and arrogance: Ge Jiayang and Ge Haipeng assume Zhao can be manipulated, but her clear judgment and strength overturn their expectations.
• Deception and exposure: Ge Jiayang’s fake repayment and staged encounters fail once Zhao recognizes his motives.

Character interactions

• Zhao shuts down Ge Jiayang’s repayment pretext by accepting the silver and dismissing him.
• Ge Haipeng berates his son for failing to win Zhao’s favor, then directs him toward a violent scheme.
• Ge Jiayang attempts to attack Zhao; she evades him, challenges his denial, and reveals that she has investigated him.
• Zhao turns the confrontation around, punishing Ge Jiayang for attempting to ruin her and making clear that his actions will not go unanswered.

Key plot points

• Zhao Nianjun brutally kicks Ge Jiayang, leaving him unconscious and permanently unable to father children. She openly mocks the Ge family and dares Ge Haipeng to send more sons after her.
• Ge Jiayang’s mother summons a physician, who confirms the damage is irreversible. Ge Jiayang demands revenge, and Ge Haipeng promises to retaliate.
• After hearing witnesses’ account, Ge Haipeng declares a blood feud with the Zhao family and summons his son Ge Yixiao to the Capital.
• Half a month later, Ge Yixiao arrives. Song Yaoyao learns he has already infiltrated Zhao Nianxi’s circle. Ge Haipeng intends not merely to kill Zhao Nianxi, but to take the Zhao family’s fortune and make Zhao Jingheng suffer.
• A vision reveals Ge Yixiao has planted extensive fields of opium poppies. Song Yaoyao recognizes the plants as highly addictive and dangerous, explaining their medicinal uses and their potential to enslave people and drive them to crime. She compares their effects to the banned Cold-Food Powder.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Nianjun is shown as fearless, violent, and contemptuous of the Ge family; she expects retaliation and even jokes about improving her technique by crippling more men.
• Ge Jiayang is left humiliated and enraged, relying on his father to avenge him.
• Ge Haipeng shifts from covert schemes to outright vengeance, selecting the clever, sinister Ge Yixiao as his instrument.
• Ge Yixiao is introduced as intelligent but malicious, with the poppy fields revealing the scale and danger of his plans.
• Song Yaoyao reacts with anger and alarm to the opium cultivation, then informs those watching about its addictive effects and the dangers of similar substances.

Significant themes

• Vengeance escalating into family conflict: Zhao Nianjun’s attack destroys any remaining pretense of peace between the Zhao and Ge families.
• Intelligence used for evil: Ge Yixiao’s cleverness is presented as especially threatening because it serves a sinister purpose.
• Addiction as a tool of control: The poppies represent a means to corrupt, manipulate, and ruin people, echoing the dangers of Cold-Food Powder.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao learns from Guagua that Ge Yixiao has begun cultivating poppies in a gorge. He discovered them last year and started growing them this year, so the crop is not yet ripe or widespread. Song plans to report the location to her father and the Emperor so it can be destroyed.
• Guagua reveals that Ge Yixiao has been testing poisons on captured beggars in a cellar. After discovering the poppies’ addictive and harmful effects, he decided to grow them in quantity to control wealthy people and nobles—and ultimately pursue the throne.
• Ge Haipeng knows about the scheme and supports it, supplying men to help. His immediate plan is to use Ge Yixiao to drug Zhao Nianxi and take control of the Zhao family’s assets.
• Ge Yixiao has begun ingratiating himself with Zhao Nianxi. He posed as a harmless relative of one of Zhao’s companions, gave Zhao a gift, and played the obedient younger man. After Zhao’s illness delayed the plan, Ge Yixiao seized his first opportunity to approach him once he left home.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is horrified by the threat and especially angered by Ge Yixiao’s human experimentation. Though she wants to kill him herself, she accepts that informing the Emperor is the practical response.
• Zhang Zhixi reacts with personal fury: her stronghold previously suffered nearly catastrophic infiltration through Cold-Food Powder, giving her reason to hate such substances.
• Ge Yixiao is revealed as calculating, cruel, and ambitious. Outwardly he flatters Zhao Nianxi; inwardly he despises and plans to exploit him.
• Ge Haipeng is shown as an active accomplice, not merely aware of the scheme.
• Zhao Nianxi welcomes Ge Yixiao’s attention and mistakes his calculated deference for loyalty. However, his father, Zhao Jingheng, has warned him never to use Cold-Food Powder, threatening serious consequences if he does.

Significant themes

• The danger of addictive substances: The chapter presents poppies as a threat that could spread and devastate the kingdom, echoing the earlier damage caused by Cold-Food Powder.
• Abuse of power and ambition: Ge Yixiao intends to exploit addiction and family wealth as stepping-stones toward political control.
• Deception and vulnerability: His false humility contrasts with his private intentions, while Zhao’s trust and delayed recovery leave him exposed.
• The need for timely intervention: Because the cultivation is still limited, Song’s planned report offers a chance to prevent a larger crisis.

Key plot points and events

• Song Yaoyao and Guagua discuss Ge Yixiao’s plan to harm Zhao Nianxi and the Cold-Food Powder he may have brought to the Capital. They decide not to expose him yet, so Ge Haipeng won’t move the drug before the authorities can search for and seize all of it.
• Zhao Nianxi is already under close guard: Master Zhao and Zhao Nianjun have arranged protection, including watchers disguised as wastrels. Song Yaoyao approves of Zhao Nianjun’s foresight.
• Guagua prepares materials with clear poppy illustrations to help soldiers identify the dangerous substance during a future search.
• Soldiers arrive at Song Yaoyao’s barbecue restaurant after a rival restaurant reports that it serves beef. Manager Niu Dali shows the official registration proving the beef comes from meat cattle bought from nomadic peoples, not plow oxen. The soldiers recognize the misunderstanding and leave.
• Niu Dali reassures the diners and offers each table a complimentary dish to smooth over the interruption. He also discreetly sends someone to investigate who prompted the report.
• Guagua reveals that the manager of the Full Banquet Restaurant reported them out of jealousy. Song Yaoyao decides not to punish the restaurant’s owner, Sha Gongliang, whom she considers decent, but sends word for him to discipline his manager.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao shows patience and strategic judgment, prioritizing a complete seizure of the Cold-Food Powder over an immediate confrontation. She also handles the rival’s underhanded move with restraint.
• Zhao Nianxi is a reckless wastrel but has avoided Cold-Food Powder, knowing how severely his family would respond. He remains unaware of Ge Yixiao’s intentions.
• Zhao Nianjun is portrayed as perceptive and protective, having anticipated possible retaliation and arranged safeguards for her brother.
• Niu Dali demonstrates composure and business sense: he resolves the soldiers’ inquiry with documentation, calms customers, offers compensation, and quietly investigates the complaint.
• Guagua supplies intelligence and assists Song Yaoyao’s plans, while teasing her when she boasts about having trained Niu Dali.
• Ge Yixiao remains under watch but has not yet acted; Song Yaoyao’s caution is aimed at preventing him from being tipped off.

Significant themes

• Strategic patience: Delaying action can prevent enemies from hiding evidence and allow authorities to address the whole threat.
• Protection and loyalty: Zhao Nianjun and Master Zhao work to keep Zhao Nianxi safe.
• Fairness and restraint: Song Yaoyao distinguishes the owner from his rogue manager and opts for a warning rather than immediate retaliation.
• Competent leadership: Niu Dali protects both the restaurant’s reputation and its customers through practical, calm responses.

Key plot points and events

• Before leaving the barbecue restaurant, Song Yaoyao tells Niu Dali that the manager of the restaurant across the street was behind the trouble with the government troops. She says she will notify Lord Sha and tells Niu to recall the people he sent out.
• Zhao Nianxi cannot pay his bill after he and his companions drink a great deal of the restaurant’s new beer. Niu Dali persuades him to write an IOU, which the restaurant can later deduct from its business accounts with the Zhao family.
• Zhao tries to recruit Niu Dali to work for him, but Niu refuses out of loyalty to Song Yaoyao.
• Song Yaoyao gives Niu a letter for Zhao Nianjun, revealing that Ge Yixiao plans to move against Zhao Nianxi. She instructs Niu to deliver it personally and tell Zhao Nianjun the truth about who sent it.
• Back at the Marquis’s Residence, Song Yaoyao leaves another set of documents outside her father’s study. Assistant Minister Song reads them and rushes to the palace. Alarmed by the information, the emperor orders the Ge family placed under surveillance without taking action against them yet.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao shows practical judgment: she uses diplomacy to settle the restaurant dispute, then acts to warn the Zhao family of a looming threat. She trusts Niu Dali to handle both tasks.
• Niu Dali proves tactful and resourceful, flattering Zhao Nianxi into signing an IOU without escalating the confrontation. He remains loyal to Song despite Zhao’s offer.
• Zhao Nianxi is revealed as entitled and easily swayed by praise. Though he initially demands credit, he accepts the IOU arrangement and tries to recruit Niu.
• Assistant Minister Song and the emperor respond urgently to Song Yaoyao’s documents, indicating that their contents reveal a serious danger involving the Ge family.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and trust: Niu’s refusal to leave Song Yaoyao’s service reinforces his commitment to her.
• Diplomacy and persuasion: Niu resolves a potentially hostile dispute by appealing to Zhao’s pride rather than challenging him.
• Information as power: Song Yaoyao’s documents and warning letter prompt both private action and imperial surveillance.
• Responsibility beneath appearances: Zhao calls himself busy despite his frivolous lifestyle, while Niu’s polished manner conceals sharp business sense.

Plot points and events

• The emperor orders troops to secure a canyon secretly, avoiding any warning that could let the Ge Family move the dangerous seeds elsewhere.
• Princess Jiahe sends Zhao Nianjun a letter warning her about the danger to her brother, Zhao Nianxi, and advising the family to keep him close while the court handles the larger matter.
• Nianjun immediately orders her guards to bring Nianxi home. When he refuses, they knock him unconscious and carry him back.
• Zhao Jingheng reads the letter and learns that Princess Jiahe owns the family’s business partner, the Barbecue Restaurant. Nianjun explains that the Ge Family’s revenge stems from her having crippled Ge Jiayang.
• Jingheng and Nianjun conclude that the Ge Family brought its troubles on itself by becoming involved with the dangerous substance. They decide to follow Jiahe’s advice and leave the matter to the imperial court.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Nianjun acts decisively to protect her brother, even at the cost of overriding his wishes. She also admits to her father that her past conflict with Ge Jiayang helped provoke the Ge Family’s retaliation.
• Zhao Nianxi is carefree and stubborn, refusing to return home until his sister’s guards forcibly take him back.
• Zhao Jingheng is initially confused and then furious when he learns of the threat. He supports Nianjun’s decision and recognizes the seriousness of the Ge Family’s actions.
• Niu Dali reveals that Princess Jiahe is his mistress and delivers her warning to Nianjun.
• Ge Yixiao is frustrated when Nianxi is removed before he can carry out his plan to attack him.
• Nianjun’s guards demonstrate their loyalty to her, while Nianxi’s companions abandon the outing once their expected source of spending money is gone.

Significant themes

• Family protection: Nianjun and Jingheng act quickly to shield Nianxi from danger.
• Secrecy and strategy: The emperor conceals the court’s operation to prevent the Ge Family from escaping with the seeds.
• Consequences of revenge: Nianjun’s past violence against Ge Jiayang fuels the Ge Family’s retaliation, while its own dangerous schemes may bring its downfall.
• Trust and cooperation: Jiahe’s warning helps the Zhao family respond, showing how business ties can become a channel for crucial information.

Key plot points and events

• Zhao Nianjun and her family decide to keep quiet about a recent threat against Zhao Nianxi, fearing his temper could disrupt a larger plan. They order guards to watch him without telling him why.
• Zhao Nianxi wakes at home, furious that Junfan knocked him unconscious. When he tries to leave his room, his sister’s guards stop him and enforce her orders.
• Zhao Nianjun investigates Zhao Nianxi’s behavior at a barbecue restaurant. He had promised to pay for everyone, leaving a bill of more than 5,000 taels and an unpaid balance. Outraged, she brings the evidence to their parents and proposes a punishment to teach him restraint.
• The Zhao parents agree that his extravagance cannot continue. Madam Zhao worries he will not endure the planned hardship, but Zhao Jingheng insists that their past indulgence caused the problem.
• Elsewhere, Lord Sha visits Song Yaoyao after learning that a manager from his Full Banquet Restaurant had reported her barbecue restaurant to the authorities. The manager’s staff discovered that Song’s establishment was connected to Princess Jiahe, whom Lord Sha has warned them never to offend.

Character developments

• Zhao Nianxi remains impulsive and entitled, reacting to restraint with threats and tantrums. His lavish spending finally prompts his family to impose a serious corrective measure.
• Zhao Nianjun takes charge of both her brother’s supervision and the effort to reform him, balancing protection of the family’s larger plan with discipline.
• Zhao Jingheng is furious but supports firm consequences rather than continued indulgence.
• Madam Zhao is sympathetic and anxious about her son’s ability to cope, though she ultimately accepts the decision.
• Lord Sha is alarmed by the restaurant incident and eager to prevent Princess Jiahe from taking offense.

Significant themes

• Discipline versus indulgence: The family concludes that pampering Zhao Nianxi has encouraged irresponsible behavior.
• Duty and secrecy: Zhao Nianjun’s household conceals the threat from Zhao Nianxi to protect a larger plan.
• Power and consequences: Lord Sha’s staff must treat Princess Jiahe carefully because her status makes a minor business dispute politically dangerous.
• Wealth and responsibility: Zhao Nianxi’s extravagant meal highlights the difference between charitable spending and wasteful generosity that invites exploitation.

Character interactions

• Zhao Nianxi clashes with the guards enforcing Zhao Nianjun’s orders, trying—and failing—to talk, threaten, and trick his way out.
• Zhao Nianjun presents the restaurant report to her parents and persuades them that Zhao Nianxi needs a real lesson.
• Zhao Jingheng and Madam Zhao disagree in emphasis: he favors tough discipline, while she fears their son cannot endure it.
• Lord Sha’s restaurant manager reports the incident, prompting Lord Sha to go to Song Yaoyao before the conflict with Princess Jiahe escalates.

Key plot points

• Lord Sha apologizes to Song Yaoyao for the Full Banquet Restaurant shopkeeper’s earlier offense, bringing gifts and asking her to spare him. She accepts the apology but warns that any repeat offense will not be forgiven.
• A secret report confirms that the poppy fields in the gorge have been destroyed and the drugs seized from Ge Yixiao’s residence have been confiscated. More than a dozen abused beggars are found; several others were reportedly tortured to death.
• The emperor orders a crackdown on the Ge Family. Ge Haipeng’s household, his outside mistresses and their children, and the wider family are arrested and imprisoned.
• In prison, Madam Ge discovers the full extent of her husband’s secret family. After he insults and dismisses her, she stabs him in the chest with a hairpin, intending to leave him suffering rather than kill him.
• Other prisoners blame Ge Yixiao for bringing disaster upon the family and beat him and his mother nearly to death before guards intervene.

Character developments and interactions

• Lord Sha is anxious that Song Yaoyao might expose his private affairs. His deference and gifts show how seriously he takes her influence; she responds firmly but mercifully.
• Madam Ge shifts from a betrayed, devastated wife to someone acting on long-suppressed rage. Her confrontation with Ge Haipeng exposes years of resentment over his infidelity and contempt.
• Ge Haipeng shows no remorse, defending his mistresses and insulting Madam Ge even as the family faces arrest.
• The emperor moves from waiting for confirmation to decisive action once the evidence against Ge Yixiao and the Ge Family is established.

Significant themes

• Justice and accountability: The destruction of the drug operation and the arrests follow the discovery of exploitation and abuse.
• Betrayal and accumulated resentment: Madam Ge’s attack is the culmination of years of humiliation, intensified by learning of her husband’s hidden children.
• Power and consequences: The Ge Family’s influence cannot protect them once the emperor acts, while Lord Sha’s apology reflects Song Yaoyao’s growing authority.
• Cycles of cruelty: Ge Yixiao and his mother face violence from the very people whose family has been implicated in his crimes.

Plot points and events

• The emperor condemns Ge Haipeng, Ge Yixiao, and those involved in their crimes to death, with the Ge family’s nine degrees of kin also sentenced to execution. The case is publicized as a warning against drugs.
• Zhao Nianxi learns that Ge Yixiao, Ge Haipeng’s illegitimate son, had tried to drug and control him. His sister had intervened, explaining why she had kept him at home. Zhao Nianxi realizes he wrongly blamed her, though he still resents that she never told him.
• Zhao Nianjun and her father, Zhao Jingheng, visit Song Yaoyao to thank her and ask for help reforming Zhao Nianxi. They offer 100,000 taels and permission to discipline him, provided he is not killed.
• They reveal an elaborate plan: publicly claim Zhao Nianxi is an impostor and disown him, then have Song’s restaurant demand repayment of his debts and put him to work when he cannot pay. They will secretly protect him from serious harm.
• Song agrees, instructing them to contact Shopkeeper Niu once Zhao Nianxi is cast out. After the visitors leave, she and Guagua remark on the family’s extreme measures and agree to cooperate.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Nianxi begins to recognize his sister’s efforts to protect him, though his frustration over her silence remains.
• Zhao Nianjun comes across as direct, capable, and determined to reform her brother. She and Zhao Jingheng are willing to risk family reputation and fortune to force him to change.
• Song Yaoyao admires their resolve but hesitates to be used as their disciplinarian. The generous payment and their detailed safeguards persuade her to accept.
• Guagua comments on the severity of the Zhao family’s plan, while Song treats the arrangement as a job she has agreed to carry out.

Significant themes

• Justice and deterrence: The emperor’s harsh punishment makes the Ge case an example intended to enforce the drug ban.
• Family responsibility and tough love: The Zhao family believes drastic consequences are necessary to prevent Zhao Nianxi from becoming irredeemable.
• Power, reputation, and accountability: The family exploits its social standing to ensure Zhao is disciplined, while the impostor story strips him of his privileged position.
• Trust and communication: Zhao Nianxi understands that his sister acted to protect him, but her secrecy has damaged their relationship.

Plot points

• Song Yaoyao tells Niu Dali to stage a convincing performance around Zhao Nianxi’s fall from the Zhao Family, keeping the real explanation secret from his men so Zhao won’t suspect the act.
• News soon arrives that Zhao Nianxi has been disowned and cast out with nothing. His former companions abandon and mock him.
• Eager to witness the spectacle, Song rushes to an alley after work, attracting several curious followers. Guagua tells her that Niu Dali is also on his way.
• In the alley, Zhao asks Wang Biao and the others for a loan. They jeer at him, reveal they had only associated with him for his money, and admit they privately thought him foolish and wasteful.
• Humiliated and enraged, Zhao threatens to fight them. The group prepares to attack, though one man hesitates because Zhao reportedly has a heart condition.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Yaoyao is excited by the unfolding drama and prioritizes seeing it firsthand over changing out of her work clothes. Her plan depends on Niu Dali’s men convincingly playing along.
• Zhao Nianxi discovers that his friendships were transactional: the people he supported neither valued nor respected him. His shock turns to fury as their insults escalate.
• Wang Biao and the former companions openly reveal their greed and contempt, shifting from flattering Zhao when he was wealthy to humiliating him when he is vulnerable.
• Guagua acts as Song’s guide, providing the location and updates while teasing her enthusiasm.

Significant themes

• False friendship and exploitation: Zhao’s companions’ loyalty disappears with his wealth.
• Humiliation and social status: Zhao’s identity and treatment change abruptly when the Zhao Family rejects him.
• Revenge and spectacle: Song and Niu Dali arrange a performance, while Song eagerly watches events unfold.

Key plot points and events

• After Zhao Nianxi is insulted and urged to become a male courtesan, he attacks the man who said it. The group retaliates and beats him while Song Yaoyao watches from the alley entrance.
• Song Yaoyao chooses not to intervene, reasoning that the Zhao Family’s hidden guards are protecting him and that hardship may force Zhao to face reality and mature. The guards remain out of sight.
• Niu Dali arrives, sees Zhao being beaten, and stops the attackers by claiming Zhao owes money to his restaurant. He threatens to involve the authorities and hold the attackers responsible if Zhao dies.
• When the men try to leave, Niu also demands payment for Zhao’s medical expenses. They reluctantly pool 150 taels of silver and flee.
• Zhao loses consciousness before the Zhao Family’s physician and guard emerge. They treat him, and he is taken to the staff quarters of Everything Can Be Grilled.
• After Zhao wakes, Niu visits him. Song stays behind and asks Guagua to relay their conversation.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Nianxi reacts to humiliation with a sudden act of defiance, but is overwhelmed by the group. Waking injured and dependent on others, he thanks Niu sincerely for saving him.
• Song Yaoyao remains an observer, believing Zhao needs to experience hardship, though she finds the beating painful to watch. She follows the situation to the restaurant and keeps track through Guagua.
• Niu Dali shows practical courage and loyalty. He uses Zhao’s debt as a pretext to stop the assault, then makes the attackers pay for the injuries.
• The attackers, including Wang Biao, initially dismiss Niu as an insignificant shopkeeper, but back down when he threatens legal consequences and contact with their families.
• The Zhao Family’s guard and physician confirm that Zhao has not been abandoned entirely, though their delayed appearance leaves him exposed to a severe beating.

Significant themes

• Hardship as a path to maturity: Song sees Zhao’s humiliation and suffering as a harsh lesson that may help him grow.
• Power, status, and intimidation: The attackers disregard Niu because of his low rank, but his backing and willingness to invoke the law give him leverage.
• Practical intervention and responsibility: Niu turns a dangerous confrontation into a debt and medical-compensation dispute, protecting Zhao through resourcefulness rather than force.
• Hidden protection and abandonment: The Zhao Family’s people are present, yet their decision to stay concealed underscores how little direct support Zhao receives in the moment.

Key plot points and events

• Niu Dali takes in the injured Zhao Nianxi, claiming he must work off his restaurant debt and the doctor’s bill. In reality, Niu is acting as part of a plan: he intends to return the money he extorted, but the deception must continue so Zhao has no easy escape.
• Zhao starts with washing dishes, repeatedly breaking plates and having their cost deducted from his wages. He endures mockery from the other workers and learns to keep going despite exhaustion and humiliation.
• Over two and a half years, he advances from washing dishes to food preparation, repays his supposed debt, and learns business skills from Niu Dali. His spoiled temper fades, and he becomes courteous, capable, and shrewd.
• The Zhao family eventually reveals that his expulsion was an elaborate scheme staged by his parents, sister, and Niu to reform him. Overwhelmed, Zhao reunites with his mother and apologizes for worrying her.
• Back home, Zhao takes revenge on the former wastrels who nearly beat him to death, having them beaten and thrown out. He declines a role in his sister’s businesses, chooses to build his own enterprise, and willingly lets her inherit leadership of the Zhao family.

Character development and interactions

• Zhao Nianxi transforms from a pampered young master into a humble, resilient, and business-minded man. Though initially convinced he has been abandoned, he later recognizes the hardship as formative and says he values the experience.
• Niu Dali presents himself as a hard-hearted creditor, but is secretly helping carry out the family’s plan. His stern treatment supports Zhao’s growth.
• Madam Zhao welcomes her son home and reveals that she secretly visited him while he was away. Zhao responds with affection and remorse.
• Zhao Nianjun is positioned as the more suitable heir; Zhao supports her succession and chooses independence instead.
• Song Yaoyao and Guagua privately comment on Niu’s apparent greed and reveal the hidden arrangement, while bystanders remain confused about what happened.

Significant themes

• Hardship and honest work can foster maturity and self-reliance.
• Appearances can conceal affection and carefully planned intentions.
• Family intervention may be painful but transformative.
• Forgiveness and gratitude coexist with the desire for justice: Zhao appreciates his family’s lesson while still confronting those who harmed him.

Key plot points and events

• On her day off, Song Yaoyao catches Guagua practicing English. He admits he is learning romantic phrases so he can confess to Lingling, whose host is a foreigner.
• Song Yaoyao teases him about his crush and urges him to stop hesitating and speak honestly. Guagua has memorized only a few sentimental lines, which Song Yaoyao finds embarrassingly sappy.
• Song Yaoyao reflects that Guagua seems to have moved on from the heartbreak he felt when Xiaomei married, and hopes his new pursuit will go well.
• After lunch, Song Yaoyao learns that an elderly monk and a younger one have come asking to see her. At the gate, she recognizes the elder as Master Liaoran.
• Master Liaoran chats with the Song family, saying he has visited the palace and came to see Princess Jiahe. After tea, he asks to speak with Song Yaoyao alone.
• The family and the young monk leave them together. Song Yaoyao waits warily to hear what Liaoran wants.

Character development

• Guagua is recovering from his earlier heartbreak and preparing to confess to Lingling, though his nerves and clumsy romantic preparation remain evident.
• Song Yaoyao acts as a teasing but supportive friend to Guagua. She is also suspicious of Master Liaoran, remembering that his previous visit cost her many possessions.
• Master Liaoran appears genial and polite, but his request for a private conversation makes Song Yaoyao suspect he has a hidden purpose.

Significant themes

• Moving on and seeking new love: Guagua’s renewed interest in romance suggests he is leaving his past heartbreak behind.
• Honesty in love: Song Yaoyao encourages him to confess rather than let his feelings remain unspoken.
• Suspicion beneath courtesy: Liaoran’s pleasant visit contrasts with Song Yaoyao’s distrust and expectation that he wants something.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao playfully interrogates Guagua about Lingling and encourages him, while mocking the overly sentimental phrases he practices.
• At the residence, Liaoran exchanges formal greetings with Assistant Minister Song and the family.
• Liaoran directly teases Song Yaoyao about seeming eager to leave, then asks to speak with her privately, leaving her apprehensive.

Plot points and events

• Master Liaoran visits Song Yaoyao, joking that he has come to seek alms. She suspects he is after her food again, but he reveals his main reason: she may soon be sent to the frontier, this time near the Night Central Kingdom.
• He reassures her that her maternal grandfather’s campaign is going well; the warning concerns a different border. He cannot explain more, saying the emperor will tell her when the time comes.
• Liaoran gives Song Yaoyao Buddhist prayer beads, urging her to wear them for protection. He warns that the Night Central Kingdom’s mysterious state preceptor, Feiye, is rumored to be a powerful practitioner of witchcraft and divination. Though the kingdoms prohibit witchcraft and gu poisoning, Feiye is exempt.
• After discussing the danger, Song Yaoyao agrees to prepare provisions for the temple. She sends five carts of rice, flour, oil, snacks, and fruit, and Liaoran cheerfully declares he will return to seek alms in the future.

Character developments

• Song Yaoyao responds to the prospect of another frontier journey with immediate concern for her grandfather, then takes the warning seriously. Her past experience of transmigration has also made her more open to supernatural beliefs.
• Liaoran shows genuine concern beneath his teasing and gives Song Yaoyao a protective gift. He is also openly fond of her provisions and unashamed to ask for more.

Significant themes

• Danger and uncertainty: The coming mission is left unexplained, while Feiye’s abilities and identity remain shrouded in rumor.
• Power and double standards: Song Yaoyao criticizes the Night Central Kingdom’s emperor for exempting his favored state preceptor from laws imposed on everyone else.
• Faith and the supernatural: Song Yaoyao’s changed outlook contrasts with her earlier disbelief, though the truth of witchcraft remains uncertain.
• Humor and generosity: Their banter over alms lightens the serious warning, while Song Yaoyao’s abundant donations show her generosity.

Character interactions

• Song Yaoyao and Liaoran trade teasing accusations about his motives, but their exchange also conveys trust and affection.
• Liaoran cautions and equips Song Yaoyao for the journey; she listens, asks pointed questions, and accepts the beads.
• Song Yaoyao’s parents are summoned, and she organizes the temple supplies, while Liaoran gratefully accepts them.

Plot points and events

• Master Liaoran gives Song Yaoyao several protective talismans for the people who will escort her to the Frontier. Assistant Minister Song learns she will be leaving but waits for the emperor to explain the details.
• Song asks Guagua what is happening. Guagua explains that Heavenly Phoenix’s early warning of an earthquake spared it major losses, while the neighboring Night Central Kingdom suffered heavily. Its State Preceptor, Feiye, suspects a powerful diviner from the Witch Tribe is in Heavenly Phoenix and wants that person killed.
• Feiye also persuades Night Central to join forces with the already hostile Heavenly Mystic Kingdom, raising the threat of war. The emperor will likely send Song to deliver weapons: earlier shipments were attacked, and she is considered the only safe choice.
• Having stayed up late preparing supplies for the journey, Song is exhausted at morning court. Guagua wakes her with a video of shirtless men and women in revealing beachwear. Song enjoys it, while the court officials are shocked, embarrassed, and fascinated; Assistant Minister Song is mortified.

Character developments

• Song is shown as practical and generous, preparing useful supplies for the Frontier, but also playful and easily distracted by attractive people.
• Assistant Minister Song’s concern for his daughter is paired with embarrassment at her public behavior.
• Guagua acts as Song’s companion and comic foil, helping her stay awake in a decidedly unconventional way.
• Feiye emerges as jealous and politically dangerous, though Guagua cannot yet access more information about his hostility toward the Witch Tribe.

Themes

• War and responsibility: Song’s unusual abilities make her essential to the kingdom’s military preparations.
• Jealousy and power: Feiye’s envy of a rival diviner contributes to escalating international conflict.
• Clashing cultures and comic embarrassment: Song’s casual response to modern beach imagery contrasts sharply with the officials’ sense of propriety.
• Loyalty and protection: Master Liaoran’s talismans and Song’s preparations reflect concern for those who will accompany her.

Character interactions

• Liaoran advises and equips Song before her departure; Assistant Minister Song questions her plans.
• Song and Guagua discuss the political situation and later banter over the video.
• Song’s enjoyment of the footage, contrasted with the court’s reactions and her father’s embarrassment, creates the chapter’s central comic scene.