Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• Wang Xiaohong’s mother, once a skilled embroiderer, lost the use of her hands for fine work after relatives trampled them while seizing the family’s property. She turned to selling tofu pudding.
• Xiaohong learned embroidery from her grandmother while attending school. Her grandmother hoped she would apprentice professionally, but her mother insisted she pursue education and perhaps become a female official.
• After leaving school, Xiaohong’s talent won her a position as the Feng family’s eldest daughter’s personal embroiderer. She earns fifty taels a month, but keeps only one tael and gives the rest to her older brother, Wang Zimian.
• Zimian grows accustomed to her support, spends lavishly, and repeatedly demands more money. Xiaohong also gives him the jewelry she receives as gifts. Bailing, the eldest miss’s maid, warns Xiaohong to save for herself, but she refuses.
• Feng Third Young Master learns that Zimian is a brothel regular and has recently competed with him for a courtesan. To retaliate, he arranges for Xiaohong to hear about her brother’s behavior.
• Zimian eventually reveals why he needs five hundred taels: he wants to buy the freedom of Que Niang, a star courtesan he loves. Unable to raise the money himself, he expects Xiaohong to help. Believing his affection is sincere, she decides to ask the Feng family’s eldest miss for assistance.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Xiaohong is gifted, generous, and deeply devoted to her brother, but her loyalty blinds her to his exploitative habits. She excuses his brothel visits and sacrifices nearly all her earnings for him.
• Wang Zimian shifts from accepting his sister’s help to depending on it and demanding more, without concern for what she needs. His distress over Que Niang appears genuine, though his financial irresponsibility remains clear.
• Wang Mother is portrayed as forward-thinking: despite pressure from her mother-in-law, she wants Xiaohong to study and pursue a future beyond embroidery.
• Bailing acts as a voice of caution, urging Xiaohong to protect her own financial security.
• Feng Third Young Master is petty and retaliatory, using Xiaohong’s brother’s reputation to get back at him.
• Xiaohong’s relationship with the Feng family is professionally favorable: the eldest miss values her craftsmanship and pays her well, while Xiaohong’s brother takes advantage of that generosity.

Significant themes

• Gender and opportunity: Wang Mother’s hope that Xiaohong might become a female official challenges narrow expectations for women.
• Family devotion versus exploitation: Xiaohong’s generosity is loving, but Zimian’s dependence turns it into a one-sided arrangement.
• Women’s economic vulnerability: Bailing’s warning highlights the importance of women keeping savings and independence.
• Talent and class: Xiaohong’s embroidery brings her income and status, but her brother’s education and lifestyle are largely funded by her labor.

Key plot points

• Wang Xiaohong borrows 500 taels from Miss Feng so her brother, Wang Zimian, can buy Que Niang’s freedom. Zimian takes the money without thanking Xiaohong, and later marries Que Niang.
• He then demands another 100 taels for a lavish wedding feast. Though Miss Feng warns Xiaohong that the borrowing will consume her wages for a year, Xiaohong insists that marriage will make her brother change. Miss Feng lends the money, calling it the last time.
• When Zimian and Que Niang receive no monthly support, they confront Xiaohong at the Feng Residence. Que Niang’s seemingly gentle remarks imply Xiaohong is deliberately withholding money, and Zimian slaps and berates his sister.
• Zimian demands the 49 taels a month Xiaohong had promised. After she explains she will have no wages for a year, he storms into the Feng Residence to accuse it of withholding her pay.
• Miss Feng has him seized and reads aloud Xiaohong’s written pledge: the money was advanced against a year of unpaid work. She exposes how Zimian repeatedly relies on his sister rather than earning a living himself.
• Even after being mistreated, Xiaohong begs Miss Feng to release her brother, arguing that he is a licentiate and has a future to protect.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiaohong remains devoted to Zimian and unable—or unwilling—to recognize his exploitation. Her cheerful faith that marriage will reform him gives way to hurt when he accuses and strikes her, but she still protects him afterward.
• Zimian is revealed as entitled and irresponsible. Though he holds a licentiate degree, he has squandered years drinking with flattering companions and treats Xiaohong’s wages as his due. His anger turns physical when she cannot pay.
• Que Niang joins the confrontation by framing Xiaohong’s failure to send money as possible resentment toward her, intensifying Zimian’s anger while appearing conciliatory.
• Miss Feng acts as Xiaohong’s clear-eyed protector and critic. She recognizes the pattern of exploitation, confronts Zimian with the facts, and makes the cost of Xiaohong’s generosity explicit.

Significant themes

• Familial devotion versus exploitation: Xiaohong’s love for her brother is repeatedly used to extract money and labor.
• Self-deception and denial: Xiaohong clings to the hope that Zimian will change, even as his actions disprove it.
• Entitlement and hypocrisy: Zimian claims scholarly status while avoiding responsibility and demanding support from his sister.
• Power and vulnerability: Xiaohong’s labor and earnings sustain her family, yet she has little power within it; Miss Feng’s intervention briefly challenges that imbalance.

• Wang Xiaohong’s life after leaving the Feng Residence: After repaying her debt, Xiaohong returned home, only to discover that her brother, Wang Zimian, and sister-in-law had sold her to a wealthy man as his concubine. She was barely fifteen; he was nearly fifty. After his death three years later, his kind widow gave childless concubines money to leave. Xiaohong used her fifty taels to rent a small home and support herself through embroidery, eventually becoming financially secure.
• Wang Zimian returns: Xiaohong learns that her sister-in-law had abandoned a child and fled with the household’s money, leaving a letter claiming the child was not Zimian’s. Zimian sold the boy to traffickers and, after failing to extract money from the Qian household, took a restaurant bookkeeping job. When he found Xiaohong living comfortably, he demanded regular payments. She refused and shut him out, but he began publicly accusing her of stealing their father’s medical money, damaging her embroidery business.
• Xiaohong seeks justice—and faces prejudice: Rather than endure his harassment, Xiaohong reported Zimian to the authorities. At the hearing, however, the county magistrate ignored Zimian’s conduct and pressured Xiaohong to reconcile, arguing that a woman would need her birth family when she married. Zimian smugly called the conflict a private family matter.
• The breaking point: Xiaohong reflects on how prioritizing family had cost her years of wages and led to her being sold. Seeing the magistrate side with her brother, she feels that even as the victim she is being blamed. She suddenly rises, pulls a wooden hairpin from her hair, and rushes at Zimian.
  Character developments and interactions: Xiaohong has grown from a trusting, dependent sister into a self-reliant woman willing to defend her livelihood, but the magistrate’s bias pushes her toward desperate violence. Zimian remains entitled and exploitative, now using public shame and official support to control her. The magistrate reinforces the injustice by treating patriarchal family authority as more important than Xiaohong’s safety. Wenren Luoshui, Yunjian, and the system react with sarcastic outrage, condemning Zimian’s behavior.
  Significant themes: Betrayal within families; women’s economic independence and vulnerability; the social power of filial piety and reputation; and the injustice of institutions that pressure victims to preserve family ties rather than hold abusers accountable.

Plot points and events

• Wenren Luoshui uses her system’s plot-editing ability to make the County Magistrate seize Wang Xiaohong’s wooden hairpin and stab Wang Zimian with it.
• Wang Xiaohong had been poised to attack her brother, while Wang Zimian had hidden behind a bailiff. Once the magistrate intervenes, Wang Zimian emerges and taunts her, accusing her of intending to waste her earnings on a “pretty boy.”
• The emperor watches the magistrate’s biased handling of the case and grows angry at officials who mistreat ordinary people while disregarding imperial law. He reflects that rulers must learn what people experience beyond the palace.
• The hairpin wounds Wang Zimian, who suddenly cries and behaves like a monkey. He attacks the magistrate, slapping him and throwing objects from the desk; one leaves a bloody cut on the magistrate’s brow. Bailiffs eventually restrain him, and the humiliated magistrate orders him beaten.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui uses her plot-altering power strategically, redirecting violence from Wang Xiaohong toward the men abusing their authority. She remains contemptuous of Wang Zimian and the magistrate.
• Wang Xiaohong is furious and appears ready to strike her brother, but the magistrate’s intervention prevents her from acting.
• Wang Zimian is exposed as selfish and cruel: he relies on male solidarity and public shaming to control his sister, then becomes the target of the monkey-like transformation.
• The County Magistrate first presents himself as Wang Xiaohong’s defender, but his hostility toward women and abuse of office are underscored by his treatment of the case. His attempt to control events ends in public humiliation.
• Yunjian shares Wenren Luoshui’s anger and dark humor, while the two briefly joke about how freely they could have dealt with abusive men in their former apocalyptic world.
• The emperor is troubled by local corruption. Wenren Luoshui’s blunt criticism keeps his self-reflection in perspective, and the system praises his willingness to examine his conduct.

Significant themes

• Sexism and victim-blaming: Wang Zimian exploits social attitudes to shame and control his sister, while the magistrate’s gendered bias enables him.
• Power and accountability: Local officials can defy the law, but the emperor recognizes that distant authority cannot govern effectively without understanding conditions on the ground.
• Reversal and comeuppance: Wenren Luoshui’s plot edit turns the magistrate’s violence against Wang Zimian into chaotic punishment for the men who have been bullying Wang Xiaohong.

Key events

• After county magistrate Jiang’s unjust ruling against Wang Xiaohong, Wenren Luoshui exposes his abuse of authority. She and Yunjian mock the shoes stuck to his ears, while Sui Yun reveals that the visitors are the Embroidered Guards commander, a commandery princess, and a high-ranking official’s son.
• Jiang tries to smear Wang Xiaohong, but Yunjian challenges his habit of judging cases without evidence. A system investigation reveals that Jiang is deeply corrupt: he has taken bribes, extorted the people, repeatedly ruled against women seeking help, and used stolen money to build an extravagant ancestral home.
• Wenren Luoshui places a Truth-Telling Talisman on Jiang. He confesses his crimes, including mishandling cases involving more than fifty women. Sui Yun takes charge of the investigation and evidence, while Ruiyun later escorts Jiang back to the Capital.
• Wang Xiaohong decides to return to running her shop rather than marry, and leaves after thanking her rescuers.
• The emperor, Wenren Luoshui, and Yunjian visit nearby farmland, where officials are successfully promoting high-yield, quick-growing potatoes. After five days, the emperor returns to the Capital because envoys from Dongchang have arrived early.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Xiaohong shifts from enduring family pressure to choosing independence and focusing on her business. Learning how many women Jiang harmed deepens her anger at the injustice done to them.
• Wenren Luoshui uses her status and resolve to defend Wang Xiaohong, confront Jiang, and force the truth into the open.
• Yunjian directly challenges Jiang’s baseless accusations and draws attention to his pattern of misconduct.
• Sui Yun identifies the group’s authority and takes responsibility for the official follow-up.
• The emperor silently witnesses the revelations and is furious that officials have grown wealthy through corruption while ignoring the laws.

Significant themes

• Abuse of power and corruption: Jiang’s wealth and career rest on bribery, extortion, and unjust rulings.
• Justice for women: The chapter shows how family expectations and biased officials can discourage women from seeking help.
• Self-determination: Wang Xiaohong chooses work and independence over marriage.
• Public welfare and practical governance: The potato-promotion effort offers farmers a promising crop, contrasting with Jiang’s exploitation.

Plot points

• After returning to the Prince of Beiping’s Residence, Wenren Luoshui learns that the visiting guests are distant relatives of her maternal grandfather: Tie Jiuni and her two daughters, Liu Mudan and Liu Yueji. Her mother, the Princess Consort of Beiping, says she barely knows them and advises treating them politely so long as they cause no trouble.
• Tie Jiuni waits for Wenren Qiao and tries to throw herself at him, calling him “brother-in-law” in a suggestive way. He mistakes her approach for an attack and kicks her away.
• Wenren Luoshui, with Yunjian watching, uses the system’s text-editing power to make Tie Jiuni vomit—and then enthusiastically eat—excrement. Wenren Qiao is disgusted and calls the servants to free him from Tie Jiuni’s grip.
• The servants witness the bizarre scene. Rumors spread that Tie Jiuni and her daughters enjoy eating excrement. When Liu Mudan and Liu Yueji confront servants for gossiping, the dispute reaches the Princess Consort. She responds coolly that, if they dislike being discussed behind their backs, the servants can speak openly to their faces.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui is mischievous and fiercely protective of her family: she retaliates against Tie Jiuni’s attempt to seduce her married father through the system.
• Wenren Qiao rejects Tie Jiuni outright, remains devoted to his wife, and reacts with blunt, comic disgust rather than sympathy.
• Yunjian supports Wenren Luoshui and recognizes that Tie Jiuni’s behavior warrants retaliation.
• The Princess Consort of Beiping is practical and unsentimental, dismissing both the relatives’ pretensions and Tie Jiuni’s complaint.
• Tie Jiuni and her daughters arrive as distant kin, but Tie Jiuni’s inappropriate pursuit of Wenren Qiao triggers a humiliating chain of events that makes the family a target of household gossip.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and marital fidelity: Wenren Qiao’s devotion to his wife contrasts with Tie Jiuni’s attempt to pursue a married man despite being married herself.
• Comic revenge and humiliation: Wenren Luoshui turns an act of seduction into an absurd public spectacle.
• Family boundaries and social pretension: The Beiping household refuses to grant distant relatives special deference simply because of kinship.
• Gossip and consequences: The Tie family’s conduct fuels rumors, while the Princess Consort’s response shows little patience for complaints about social embarrassment.

Plot and events

• At dinner, Wenren Qiao clings to his wife, Tie Lihua, after being upset by Tie Jiuni. Their closeness nearly gets in the way of the meal.
• Wenren Luoshui’s system announces a new paid subscription feature: a monthly pass costs 9.9 taels, or 68 taels for consecutive months, and grants three chances to alter the plot. Luoshui teases the system about its limited subscription options, then buys the multi-month deal.
• Mistaking Luoshui’s interest in the system for a lack of spending money, Tie Lihua gives her an extra 10,000 taels. Luoshui happily accepts, while her younger brother, Qingluo, is briefly puzzled.
• The system offers two free pieces of gossip to celebrate the purchase. Luoshui initially considers saving them, but eagerly chooses to hear gossip about Tie Jiuni and her daughters.
• Tie Jiuni brought her daughters to the capital to prepare for Liu Yueji’s marriage to a wealthy fiancé. Since Tie San was too busy to host them, Jiuni followed him to the Prince of Beiping’s Residence and persuaded Tie Lihua to let them stay.
• The system reveals that Tie Jiuni has developed romantic feelings for Wenren Qiao and believes Tie Lihua stole the marriage that should have been hers.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui remains playful and sharp: she needles the system, enjoys receiving money, and is readily drawn into gossip.
• The system is eager to profit from its new subscription service, even contemplating additional options to please its host.
• Tie Lihua is generous and indulgent toward her daughter, assuming she should never hesitate over a purchase.
• Wenren Qiao seeks comfort by staying close to Tie Lihua and jokingly asserts that women outrank men in the family.
• Wenren Qingluo is curious rather than resentful when his sister receives extra money.
• Tie Jiuni, initially presented as a demanding guest, is revealed to covet Tie Lihua’s husband and harbor resentment toward her.

Significant themes

• Family affection and playful household dynamics.
• Money, indulgence, and the system turning gossip and plot changes into paid services.
• Jealousy and entitlement, foreshadowing conflict between Tie Jiuni and Tie Lihua.

Plot points and events

• The system reveals that Tie Jiuni’s belief that she should have married Wenren Qiao stems from an old family joke: Tie Jiuni’s father once suggested that Wenren Qiao’s future father-in-law adopt her. The proposal was refused, but the family later treated it as though Tie Jiuni had missed out on becoming Princess Consort.
• After seeing Wenren Qiao, Tie Jiuni has begun to feel attracted to him and imagines she might have been his wife.
• Wenren Luoshui asks for the system’s second promised piece of gossip. It reveals that Liu Mudan, not Liu Yueji, was the one who saved Chu Zimo from drowning—but Liu Yueji falsely claimed credit, and Chu Zimo accepted her story because he has face blindness.
• Liu Yueji later drugged Liu Mudan and arranged for a male cousin to assault her. Chu Zimo unexpectedly entered the room and, mistaking Liu Mudan for Liu Yueji, slept with her. Liu Mudan concealed what happened by having him dressed and left in the garden; neither Chu Zimo nor Liu Yueji knows the truth.
• At dinner, Wenren Qiao becomes nauseated after Wenren Luoshui’s crude joke reminds him of something unpleasant he witnessed earlier.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Qiao is fiercely loyal to Tie Lihua and offended by any suggestion that he chose the wrong wife. He is also deeply moved by Wenren Luoshui’s defense of her mother, though he worries that he has neglected his daughter.
• Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian mock Tie Jiuni’s reasoning, comparing it to treating a casual offer of help or a loan as proof of a lasting family bond. Their banter is sharp and irreverent; Wenren Luoshui even asks the system to make Tie Jiuni carry and lick a plate of shit.
• Tie Lihua quietly decides to raise her daughter’s allowance after learning she may have borrowed money, while Wenren Qiao resolves to repay the supposed lender himself.
• Yunjian criticizes the implausibility of Chu Zimo’s near-drowning and questions why he had no guards to protect him.
• The family’s spoken conversation remains limited: much of the chapter’s humor comes from the contrast between the characters’ private thoughts and what others can actually hear.

Significant themes

• Delusion versus reality: A rejected adoption joke becomes, in Tie Jiuni’s family’s telling, proof that she could have married Wenren Qiao.
• Mistaken identity and stolen credit: Liu Yueji’s false claim and Chu Zimo’s face blindness set up a chain of romantic misunderstandings.
• Melodramatic convention: The chapter knowingly lampoons familiar tropes—love at first sight, a falsely claimed rescue, and accidental intimacy—while escalating them into absurdity.
• Family loyalty and care: Wenren Qiao and Tie Lihua show their affection through protective, practical concern for Wenren Luoshui.

Plot points

• Tie Jiuni attempts to visit Wenren Qiao with soup, despite the maids’ objections. Wenren Qiao rejects her bluntly, dumping his foot-soaking water over her and returning to his wife.
• Wenren Luoshui’s system introduces her to two other system users: a dealer who can supply goods from department stores and a farmer who grows fruits and vegetables.
• Luoshui buys ten nuclear bombs and various firearms, storing them with the system because she cannot use them in her current era. She also purchases large quantities of assorted fruit at a surprisingly low price.
• After trying a mango, Luoshui invites Yunjian over to share the unfamiliar fruit. Yunjian and maid Yin Xing join her in a late-night feast and eat so much they struggle to sleep.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Qiao shows unwavering loyalty to Tie Lihua and contempt for Tie Jiuni’s advances. His decisive rejection amuses Luoshui, who believes only her mother can tolerate her father’s temperament.
• Luoshui is cheerful and impulsive with her new purchasing options, choosing powerful weapons first and then indulging in fruit. The system, by contrast, is alarmed by her weapons purchase and worries about storing the nuclear bombs.
• Yunjian helps Yin Xing learn how to eat lychee and shares Luoshui’s fruit with her; Yin Xing’s enthusiasm is driven partly by fear that the food will be gone before they arrive.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and rejection of manipulation: Wenren Qiao sees through—or simply refuses to entertain—Tie Jiuni’s attempted seduction.
• Power and freedom: Luoshui treats transmigration as permission to live on her own terms, using her system’s resources to acquire weapons far beyond the needs of her setting.
• Everyday pleasures and abundance: The chapter contrasts the danger of Luoshui’s arsenal with the lighthearted delight of discovering and sharing unfamiliar fruit.

Key plot points

• Saga Xiu, envoy of the Dongchang Kingdom, presents Emperor Lang Ling with “Carefree Paste,” claiming it cures every illness and offers a profound sense of ease. He also offers seeds and proposes teaching the Li Kingdom to grow the plant.
• Wenren Luoshui immediately distrusts Saga, sensing cruelty in him, and asks her system to identify the substance. It reveals that Carefree Paste is opium.
• The system explains that although the substance can have limited medical uses when properly administered, smoking opium is highly harmful and addictive. If it spread through the kingdom, it could devastate its people and economy.
• The emperor conceals his anger, praises the offering cautiously, and orders the Imperial Medical Academy to examine it. Saga remains confident that the danger will not be discovered quickly.
• The system then reveals that Saga is a military officer from Wakoku who has transmigrated from 1937.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui goes from instinctive suspicion and murderous anger to focused concern once she learns the substance’s identity. Her thoughts alert the emperor and ministers to the danger.
• Emperor Lang Ling remains composed in public but becomes furious at the apparent attempt to poison or weaken his kingdom. He responds cautiously because he lacks evidence.
• Saga Xiu presents himself as a helpful envoy, but his offer appears to be a deliberate attempt to introduce an addictive drug. He misreads Wenren’s hostile stare as attraction, revealing his arrogance.
• The court trusts Wenren’s insight and silently relies on her to uncover the truth, while recognizing that the supposed cultural exchange may conceal political schemes.
• The system supplies both the drug’s effects and Saga’s startling background, raising the stakes beyond a diplomatic dispute.

Significant themes

• Deception beneath diplomacy: A seemingly generous gift may conceal an attack on another nation.
• Knowledge as protection: Wenren’s system-informed insight allows the court to recognize a threat they might otherwise miss.
• Addiction as a national danger: The chapter frames opium not merely as personal harm but as a threat to population, productivity, and state stability.
• Restraint amid uncertainty: The emperor must contain his anger and investigate before acting.

Key plot points and events

• Wenren Luoshui learns that Saga Xiu is a Wakoku officer from 1937 and tries to persuade her system to give her a shotgun. When it refuses, she uses her ability to change the plot instead.
• Saga Xiu arrogantly asks the emperor to let him take Luoshui as his concubine, believing he is doing her a favor. The court realizes he is a threat: he has brought addictive opium and intends for Wakoku to conquer the Li Kingdom.
• Luoshui alters the story so Saga Xiu defiles the court, throws his own excrement at the emperor and officials, and is brutally injured and imprisoned for life. The change takes effect immediately, and the guards drag him away.
• The emperor orders an investigation into opium’s harms and sends an urgent inquiry to the Dongchang Kingdom. Its emperor discovers that Saga Xiu deceived him and that officials concealed the drug’s dangers for profit. He punishes the corrupt officials and offers the Li Kingdom a hundred-year truce, which Lang Ling accepts.
• Later, Luoshui’s friend Yunjian tells her that Luoshui’s mother has thrown Tie Jiuni and her two daughters out of the princely residence after catching Tie Jiuni bringing soup to Luoshui’s father.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui is furious at Saga Xiu and uses her plot-changing power to punish him in a deliberately grotesque, humiliating way. She also approves of her mother’s decisive handling of unwelcome relatives.
• Saga Xiu is exposed as arrogant, deluded, and contemptuous of the Li Kingdom. His confidence collapses when Luoshui’s altered plot takes control of events.
• The emperor recognizes the danger posed by Saga Xiu and acts against the opium trade, though he is briefly caught in the chaos of Saga’s attack.
• The Dongchang emperor shifts from being deceived about opium to investigating and punishing those who profited from hiding its dangers.
• Yunjian and Luoshui bond over gossip and their shared belief that women need not tolerate manipulative or burdensome relatives. Yunjian praises Luoshui’s mother, while Luoshui proudly backs her actions.

Significant themes

• Consequences of arrogance: Saga Xiu’s belief that he can dominate the Li Kingdom leads to his public humiliation and downfall.
• Resistance to exploitation: The rulers respond to opium’s harms and punish officials who knowingly sacrificed commoners for profit.
• Female agency and boundaries: Luoshui and Yunjian reject expectations that women must endure abusive or intrusive family relationships.
• Satirical justice: Luoshui’s absurd punishment of Saga Xiu turns his grand ambitions into farce.

Plot points and events

• A mysterious woman dressed in white has been appearing at night before the Second, Third, and Fifth Princes, frightening them so badly that the Fifth Prince has gone without sleep for three days.
• The princes seek Wenren Luoshui’s help. She gives each a talisman, assuring them that life will return to normal. They hang the charms around their necks and eagerly eat unfamiliar fruit, only realizing that Wenren had sent some to the palace after the emperor apparently gave it all to the women there.
• An Sijia, a transmigrated woman, complains about her failed attempts to make the princes fall for her. She takes out her frustration on two young maids, forcing them to fan her and then slap each other.
• Her system tells her she can improve her luck by stealing someone else’s fortune: she must befriend a fortunate woman until their friendship reaches 80 percent, then swap their lives. An Sijia asks the system to identify an accessible target.
• Wenren Luoshui is leaving the Begonia Garden when An Sijia deliberately runs into her carriage, hoping to earn sympathy. Wenren responds calmly that An should watch where she is going. An Sijia, expecting gratitude, angrily accuses her of mockery.

Character developments

• Wenren Luoshui remains composed and practical, helping the frightened princes while showing little patience for An Sijia’s staged mishap.
• The Second, Third, and Fifth Princes are superstitious and deeply shaken by the nightly apparitions, but quickly trust Wenren’s talismans. Their easygoing, hungry side also shows as they devour her fruit.
• An Sijia is entitled, cruel, and frustrated that her romantic schemes have failed. The system’s promise of a life swap encourages her to pursue someone else’s fortune, and she immediately tries to manipulate Wenren.

Significant themes

• Deception and manipulation: An Sijia uses a staged accident and plans to exploit friendship for personal gain.
• Power and vulnerability: An Sijia mistreats servants who cannot resist her, while the system offers her a way to prey on someone more fortunate.
• Appearance versus reality: The supposed “female ghost” is part of a scheme, and An Sijia’s apparent injury is deliberate.
• Comic contrast: The princes’ terror and Wenren’s matter-of-fact response contrast with An Sijia’s melodramatic behavior.

Character interactions

• The princes cling to Wenren for reassurance, accept her talismans, and share her fruit.
• An Sijia intimidates her maids, ordering them to fan her and later punish each other.
• An Sijia’s calculated attempt to win Wenren’s sympathy backfires; Wenren’s neutral reply leaves her indignant and confrontational.

Key plot points

• After An Sijia’s failed attempt to make Wenren Luoshui look bad in public, Luoshui leaves without concern.
• Luoshui’s system reveals that An Sijia is a transmigrator with a defective fortune-stealing system. If Luoshui becomes An’s friend and grows sufficiently fond of her, An can steal her life.
• The Salty Fish System says An’s system is weak and short-lived, and promises to reflect any items it uses back onto An. Luoshui welcomes the challenge, though she still asks her system to get her firearms back—and gets no answer.
• At a flower-viewing banquet hosted by the Marquis of Dingyang and his pregnant wife, An pretends to be Luoshui’s close friend and claims she needs no invitation. Luoshui publicly rejects her, calls out her false familiarity, and leaves her behind.
• Unable to obtain a trust-boosting item, An sneaks into the residence through a dog hole and plans to insult the pregnant hostess and ruin the banquet. The system exposes her intended outburst to Luoshui and Yunjian. The horrified guests hear about it, and the Marquis’s Wife orders An thrown out.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui remains composed and blunt, refusing to be manipulated by An or concerned by her theatrics. She treats the threat as an opportunity to see what An can do.
• An Sijia grows increasingly desperate: she falsely claims intimacy with Luoshui, is publicly rebuffed, then resorts to sneaking into the banquet and plotting a cruel attack on the hostess.
• The Salty Fish System acts as Luoshui’s gleeful, protective ally, revealing An’s plans and boasting about its superior status. Its playful banter with Luoshui also shows their familiar rapport.
• Yunjian joins Luoshui in mocking An’s blame-shifting attitude.
• The Marquis’s Wife and guests react with disgust to An’s planned insults; the hostess decisively has her removed.

Significant themes

• False friendship and manipulation: An’s apparent warmth is a tactic to gain access to Luoshui and steal her life.
• Power and agency: Luoshui’s composure and refusal to play along undermine An’s attempts to control the situation.
• Entitlement and family predation: The Marquis’s relatives have long tried to exploit the childless couple and their property, helping explain the household’s hostility toward them.
• Satire and absurdity: The systems’ comic commentary contrasts with the serious threat of stolen fortune and An’s escalating behavior.

Plot points and events

• After being expelled from the marquis’s estate, An Sijia nurses her anger. Her system encourages her to target Wenren Luoshui, whose wealth, status, and access to the palace make her life an especially attractive prize. An Sijia renews her determination to win Luoshui’s trust, unaware that the system is exploiting her jealousy.
• At morning court, officials report that egg-sized hail has devastated homes in the Southwest, and the Ministry of Revenue claims the treasury cannot fund relief. The emperor considers how to raise money.
• The Salty Fish System reveals that the emperor keeps detailed records of officials’ debts. It then suggests confiscating wealth from officials’ homes. Luoshui jokes that she and the emperor could instead sneak into their storerooms, take money for relief, and search their ledgers for secrets.
• Alarmed by the prospect of raids and exposure, officials immediately pledge large donations. Their contributions add up to several million taels in one court session.
• Luoshui buys grain from an overzealous farmer and gives it to the emperor. Together, the money and grain enable the victims to be settled and supplied.

Character developments

• An Sijia shifts from frustration back to scheming, encouraged by a system that feeds on wickedness and jealousy.
• Wenren Luoshui remains irreverent and quick-witted, but her jokes are paired with practical concern for disaster victims and direct aid.
• The emperor is shown as financially strained yet shrewd: he keeps careful accounts and is willing to consider unconventional ways to fund relief. He enjoys Luoshui’s company, which the system says eases his stress.
• The officials reveal their self-interest: they donate generously not simply from civic duty, but to avoid Luoshui’s proposed nighttime searches and the secrets those might uncover.

Significant themes

• Power, wealth, and corruption: Officials’ fortunes and hidden records make the threat of exposure more effective than ordinary appeals.
• Public service amid political maneuvering: Disaster relief is achieved through a mix of donations, royal authority, and Luoshui’s practical contribution.
• Humor as political leverage: Luoshui’s outrageous suggestions turn court gossip and fear into immediate action.
• Jealousy and exploitation: An Sijia’s system deliberately pushes her toward stealing another person’s fortune, treating moral corruption as a source of power.

Character interactions

• The system tempts An Sijia to pursue Luoshui, while secretly enjoying her growing jealousy.
• Luoshui and the Salty Fish System banter about the emperor, the treasury, and how to extract money from officials; the emperor and court can hear their exchanges.
• The officials respond to Luoshui’s “raid” idea by pledging donations, and Luoshui later supplies grain directly to the emperor for relief.

Key plot points and events

• At the Begonia Garden, Shang Muyi catches Qi Le, a young boy, groping her and grabs him to stop him.
• Qi Le tries to escape consequences by crying and pretending to be an innocent child in front of a crowd.
• Yunjian and Wenren Luoshui intervene. Staff identify Qi Le as a member of the Qi family and explain that his older brother was also expelled for trying to enter the women’s section.
• Wenren Luoshui has both brothers blacklisted and orders clear rules to be posted at the entrance. Yunjian rewards the staff who enforced the rules.
• Qi Le threatens the venue by boasting about his family’s influence, but a guard carries him outside and dumps him on the ground.
• An Mujia tries to pressure Wenren Luoshui into forgiving Qi Le, but Wenren ignores her. The crowd shows no interest in An Mujia’s performance.

Character developments and interactions

• Shang Muyi shows her blunt, fearless nature, refusing to let Qi Le’s age or staged tears excuse his misconduct.
• Qi Le is revealed as a habitual harasser, accustomed to being protected by his family. When his usual tactics fail, he resorts to threats.
• Wenren Luoshui and Yunjian act decisively to protect Shang Muyi and enforce the Begonia Garden’s rules. Yunjian also publicly supports the staff.
• An Mujia assumes she can sway Wenren through familiarity and moral pressure, but Wenren’s indifference leaves her embarrassed.
• Shang Muyi and Wenren Luoshui interact through shared disapproval of Qi Le’s behavior, while the staff support their response.

Significant themes

• Accountability over privilege: Family status and childish theatrics do not excuse harassment.
• Boundaries and safety: The Begonia Garden enforces protections for its women’s section.
• Public performance and hypocrisy: Qi Le’s tears and An Mujia’s appeal are attempts to manipulate witnesses, but neither succeeds.
• Personal agency: Shang Muyi stands up for herself, and Wenren and Yunjian back her without hesitation.

Key plot points and events

• An Sijia, resentful of Wenren Luoshui’s refusal to befriend her, vows to bring the princess down from her privileged position.
• At court, Luoshui asks her system for gossip. It tells her that the Left Chancellor’s youngest son died after flying a kite during a thunderstorm, ignoring warnings from the maids. The Left Chancellor is furious and embarrassed, while Prince Heng teases him.
• Luoshui jokes that the reckless young man might have suited scientific research in the modern world. The court enjoys the story, and the emperor is relieved that the gossip is not about the imperial family.
• Luoshui then asks about Lord Wu, head of the Hanlin Academy. The system has no gossip about his family, but Luoshui observes that he seems to be suffering from poor sleep and depleted vitality.
• She accurately describes his recurring nightmare: his deceased father scolds him and chases him with a switch. Lord Wu is stunned and wonders how Luoshui could know.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui remains playful and sharp, using the system’s gossip to enliven court and show uncanny insight into others’ troubles.
• The Salty Fish System eagerly trades gossip with Luoshui, though its jokes can be blunt and it often needs prompting to explain itself.
• The Left Chancellor reacts with anger and shame to news of his son’s reckless death; his colleagues, especially Prince Heng, find the revelation amusing.
• Lord Wu shifts from relief at being spared gossip to alarm when Luoshui exposes details of his nightmares.
• An Sijia is shown growing more spiteful: she interprets Luoshui’s status as an unfair advantage and resolves to challenge her.

Significant themes

• Recklessness and consequences: The kite-flying story presents the young man’s death as the result of ignoring obvious danger and warnings.
• Public embarrassment and shared amusement: Court gossip turns private family troubles into entertainment, while allowing officials to feel less alone in their own shortcomings.
• Status, resentment, and ambition: An Sijia’s jealousy reveals her desire to prove herself by surpassing someone she sees as privileged.
• The uncanny reach of Luoshui’s knowledge: Her observations suggest that she can identify personal troubles beyond what the system’s gossip database provides.

Plot points and events

• Court gossip reveals that Lord Wu’s deceased father has been haunting his dreams since his eldest son brought a new bride to the family ancestral hall.
• Wenren Luoshui explains that the bride is the reincarnation of Old Master Wu’s mortal enemy: in her former life, she murdered his wife and stayed young by draining the life of young women. Old Master Wu recognized her but could not make his son hear him in a dream, so he chased Lord Wu with the rattan switch he once used to discipline him.
• Luoshui says the bride’s unnatural youth can be undone by throwing excrement on her. Lord Wu immediately takes her to the privy and throws her into the cesspit. Luoshui is disappointed to miss the chance to handle the case herself.
• A commoner, An Sijia, arrives at the prince’s residence demanding to see Luoshui. Luoshui orders her turned away, though the Salty Fish System hints that An may be planning to use moral pressure against her.
• Luoshui discovers a hidden system-shop feature that lets the system bind to a living creature. She binds it to Big Yellow, whose body the system takes over.
• The system initially panics about being abandoned by its Main System, but dried apricots and fruit quickly cheer it up. It decides to enjoy life as a tiger for the time being.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui remains blunt and practical, revealing the truth about the Wu bride and refusing to entertain An Sijia’s demand. Her curiosity about the shop leads to the system’s unexpected embodiment.
• Lord Wu realizes he failed to investigate his daughter-in-law’s past. He acts immediately on Luoshui’s advice, though the chapter treats his response comically.
• Old Master Wu, though dead, is revealed as devoted to his murdered wife and determined to warn his family; his frustration at being unheard becomes the source of the dream’s farcical chase.
• The Salty Fish System shifts from eager gossip companion to a bewildered tiger. Its grief over losing its former connection gives way to delight in human food.
• Yunjian and Yin Xing share the amusement of watching the system adjust to its new body; Yin Xing comforts it with dried apricots.

Significant themes

• Hidden histories and family duty: A bride’s concealed past threatens the Wu family, while an ancestor tries to protect his descendants.
• Supernatural comedy: Murder, haunting, and possession are presented through absurd details, especially the dream-time spanking and the bride’s bizarre undoing.
• Unexpected consequences of curiosity: Luoshui’s exploration of the shop radically changes the system’s situation.
• Comfort and adaptation: Once the system finds pleasure in food and company, it begins accepting its strange new life.

Key plot points and events

• The system discovers it can shrink into a house-cat-sized tiger. While it enjoys its new body—and overeats watermelon—it urges Wenren Luoshui to go see An Sijia’s latest scheme.
• Luoshui agrees and finds An Sijia waiting outside the Prince of Beiping’s residence with a boy, Su He, who kneels and kowtows. An Sijia asks Luoshui to help him, presenting his family as tragic and Su He as a hardworking, persecuted student.
• Luoshui uses the single-use item “Because of You” to let the bystanders hear her inner voice for ten minutes, while excluding An Sijia and Su He. As An Sijia tells her story, the system exposes the family’s hidden crimes: Su He’s grandfather was abusive and murderous, and his parents were involved in the exploitation of village girls before being executed.
• The crowd’s sympathy turns to skepticism and indifference. An Sijia, unaware that her story is being contradicted publicly, continues asking Luoshui to pay Su He’s allegedly inflated tuition.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui remains composed and plays along with An Sijia’s appeal, but uses the system to reveal the truth to the crowd. Her disgust grows as she learns about Su He’s family.
• An Sijia presents herself as compassionate, using a fabricated sob story to pressure Luoshui into helping Su He. She appears confident that her tale will move the princess.
• The system is playful and eager for entertainment, but its revelations dismantle An Sijia’s claims. Its new ability to shrink gives it a more manageable physical form.
• Yin Xing asks the gatekeepers why Su He is kneeling outside; the gatekeepers explain that An Sijia brought him and demanded an audience.
• The spectators begin by pitying Su He, but change their minds as the system exposes the family’s history.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: An Sijia’s compassionate story conceals a deeply criminal family history.
• Public judgment and truth: The crowd’s view shifts once hidden information is revealed.
• Manipulation and performative kindness: An Sijia uses a child’s apparent vulnerability to appeal to Luoshui’s generosity.
• Nature versus upbringing: Luoshui questions whether Su He could be innocent given his family and environment, foreshadowing her judgment of him.

Plot points and events

• An Sijia pressures Wenren Luoshui to support the impoverished Su He, dressing the demand up as a moral duty and suggesting Luoshui could afford it by spending less on clothes or food.
• The Salty Fish System reveals that Su He is not a mistreated, diligent child: he bullies classmates and once helped trap a female teacher at his home, where she died after Old Man Su attacked her and disposed of her body.
• An Sijia’s supposed concern for Su He is exposed as self-serving. She privately resents Luoshui’s wealth and status and considers killing her to exploit a system that would let her exchange lives with the first person to find Luoshui’s body.
• Yunjian challenges An Sijia to support Su He herself, pointing out that he approached her first. The spectators, already skeptical, treat An Sijia’s pleas as a spectacle.
• Luoshui confronts Su He and warns him about deceiving royalty. She then redirects his ambition toward An Sijia, suggesting he spread a rumor that he is her child groom and could marry her in five years, making the An Family his.

Character developments and interactions

• Wenren Luoshui stays composed and refuses to be guilted into supporting Su He. She uses what she knows about his nature to turn him toward An Sijia.
• An Sijia reveals herself as manipulative and envious: her charitable arguments conceal a desire to control Su He and a willingness to kill Luoshui.
• Su He is exposed as cruel and opportunistic. Though initially frightened by Luoshui’s warning, he quickly warms to her scheme when he sees the advantage it might offer.
• Yunjian openly rebuts An Sijia and helps expose her eagerness to offload Su He.
• The system supplies the hidden truth about Su He, prompting the onlookers to abandon their sympathy for him.

Significant themes

• False virtue and hypocrisy: An Sijia uses compassion as a cover for selfish motives.
• Appearances versus reality: Su He’s image as a poor, deserving child collapses under the system’s revelations.
• Power, influence, and manipulation: Luoshui and An Sijia each try to steer Su He, while he responds to whoever seems able to benefit him.
• Consequences and fate: The title’s warning is reflected in Luoshui’s refusal to take responsibility for others’ schemes—and in her effort to make An Sijia face the burden she tried to impose.

Key plot points

• After Wenren Luoshui talks Su He down, he drags An Sijia away. Su He and his grandfather then move into the An residence and refuse to leave, publicly shaming the An Family by accusing them of breaking an old marriage promise.
• An Sijia and her parents resent the arrangement. They hope the Marquis of Dingyang will intervene, but learn he has taken his pregnant wife to the country to rest. An Sijia responds with vicious insults and renewed anger.
• Trapped in her room to avoid the Su grandfather and grandson, An Sijia tries to use her system to reach Wenren Luoshui. The system refuses because it lacks points, blames An Sijia for her choices, then cuts contact and hibernates. An Sijia takes her rage out on two maids.
• Wenren Luoshui suddenly returns to the modern world, one week before the Apocalypse. Realizing she has a chance to prepare, she cancels her plans with Yunjian and heads to her family’s residence to tell the Grand Elder something urgent.

Character developments

• An Sijia becomes increasingly isolated, frustrated, and volatile as her plans collapse. Rather than accept responsibility, she blames the system and abuses her servants.
• The system loses faith in An Sijia, conserving its remaining energy and planning to abandon her when she dies.
• Wenren Luoshui shifts from handling the current conflict to acting with urgency and purpose, determined to reduce casualties in the coming Apocalypse.
• Su He and his grandfather use persistence and public pressure to hold the An Family to the old marriage arrangement.

Character interactions

• Wenren’s earlier intervention helps Su He regain control and take An Sijia away.
• The Su grandfather confronts the An Family at their own gate, while An Sijia repeatedly quarrels with her parents over the marriage.
• An Sijia argues with her system, which refuses to help and eventually shuts her out.
• Back in the modern world, Wenren calls off her plans with Yunjian, then barges in on the Grand Elder—mistaking his milk tea for a drink he ordered for her and promptly drinking much of it.

Significant themes

• Consequences and responsibility: An Sijia blames others for choices she made herself, while those choices leave her increasingly trapped.
• Social reputation and hypocrisy: Gossip spreads quickly, and both the Su and An families become objects of public scrutiny.
• Second chances and preparation: Wenren’s return before the Apocalypse gives her an opportunity—and a responsibility—to act before disaster strikes.