Chapter Summaries

Lan Ruoyue warned Jiang An that her drug was highly addictive and dangerous, and he left without finding a way to administer it to Madam Liu. Afterward, she ordered the system to hypnotize Donkey again, but it warned that the purchase would leave her with only 200 points.

• Lan Ruoyue showed Jiang An the dark paste and warned him that even a tiny amount could make him dependent on it.
• Jiang An asked how he could make Madam Liu use the drug, but Lan Ruoyue told him to solve the problem himself and cautioned him not to kill her.
• Jiang An packed up the drug and left, while Lan Ruoyue cursed him and Sangshen reminded her that he could be useful through Jiang Shuyue.
• Lan Ruoyue complained that Donkey had become key to the plot, and the system warned her that her actions had caused her luck to fall.
• Lan Ruoyue asked the system to hypnotize Donkey again, and it warned that doing so would cost enough points to leave her with only 200.

Lan Ruoyue blamed the System for her dwindling points and insisted her purchases would help her win her wager against Zhou Yunshen, while ignoring the clinic’s patients. Three days later, Jiang Shuyue’s family saw the candidates into the examination grounds, where Huahua revealed that Aunt Zhuang was matchmaking for Jiang Wang, a future eighth-place exam candidate and Lan Tingxu’s nephew.

• Lan Ruoyue argued that her paste, materials, and clothes were necessary purchases after the System itemized how she had spent most of her points.
• Lan Ruoyue dismissed the clinic’s poor patients, claimed she would make Zhou Yunshen kneel after the wager, and named her donkey Ruby.
• Three days later, Jiang Shuyue’s family went to see the examination candidates into the grounds and heard Jiang An delivering a speech.
• Jiang Chen criticized Jiang An’s barefaced lies, while Jiang Wujie noticed Chen Yongwang and Wang Peng winking at Jiang An.
• Jiang Shuyue waved to students she had met before, and Huahua identified a matchmaking target as Jiang Wang, the future eighth-ranked candidate and Lan Tingxu’s nephew.

Jiang Shuyue learned that Aunt Zhuang planned to ruin Lan Tingxu’s future and that Jiang An had arranged to sell examination essays. Zhou Yunshen and the emperor had already replaced the compromised questions, and Jiang Shuyue encouraged the students before the examination.

• Huahua warned Jiang Shuyue that Aunt Zhuang intended to marry her granddaughter to Lan Tingxu and seize the Lan Family’s wealth after his death.
• Jiang Shuyue vowed to protect Lan Tingxu and help him find a suitable wife, restoring his determination to take the examination.
• Huahua revealed that Jiang An had sold prepared essays and a guaranteed top-three placement to wealthy candidates.
• Jiang Shuyue suggested holding a new examination, and Huahua explained that Zhou Yunshen and the emperor had already prepared replacement questions.
• Jiang Shuyue cheered the students with “ganbatte,” and Lan Tingxu and the others responded enthusiastically.

Jiang Shuyue clashed with Lan Ruoyue at the examination grounds after Lan insulted her family and demanded she bow to a supposed divine donkey. After Huahua warned that the donkey carried genital warts, Lan demonstrated the prostration herself, leaving Jiang Shuyue unwilling to follow.

• Jiang Shuyue met Lan Ruoyue at the examination grounds, where Lan boasted that she had come to bless the examinees.
• Lan Ruoyue mocked Jiang Shuyue for having no biological children and claimed that only a son could secure her position, but Jiang Shuyue praised her husband and her adopted children.
• Lan Ruoyue claimed her donkey was divine and demanded that Jiang Shuyue perform a ceremonial prostration before it.
• Huahua warned Jiang Shuyue that the donkey carried genital warts, so Jiang Shuyue and the others backed away.
• Lan Ruoyue demonstrated the prostration by kneeling and flopping onto the ground three times, and Jiang Shuyue said she would rather not do it.

Jiang Shuyue embarrassed Lan Ruoyue while Lan’s system furiously berated its host, and Jiang Shuyue began plotting to poach it. The chapter ended with Huahua considering whether to report Jiang Shuyue’s request to the mainframe.

• Jiang Shuyue told Lan Ruoyue not to kneel on the dirty ground or ruin her expensive dress.
• Jiang Chen nearly laughed at Lan Ruoyue, but Lin Shuangshuang pinched him to stop him.
• Lan Ruoyue snapped at her system and insulted it in front of the watching crowd.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that a system could detach if both it and its host wanted to and paid a price.
• Jiang Shuyue asked Huahua to report her plan to poach Lan Ruoyue’s system to the mainframe.

Jiang Shuyue used Lan Ruoyue’s outburst to turn the crowd against her at the Imperial Examination Hall. Lan Ruoyue left in anger, vowing to see how the Marquisate of Southern Pacification fared after the Spring Imperial Examination.

• Jiang Shuyue pretended to be hurt by Lan Ruoyue’s glare, prompting the crowd to criticize Lan Ruoyue.
• Lan Ruoyue called the crowd lowborn wretches, and Zhou Luming and Zhou Shiye rebuked her for insulting people gathered to see off examination candidates.
• Huahua gained 30 Green Tea Points as Lan Ruoyue’s behavior fueled the crowd’s anger.
• Lan Ruoyue questioned her system about whether relatives of the Top Three were present, received no answer, and cut off contact with it.
• Lan Ruoyue rode away on her donkey after warning the Marquisate of Southern Pacification about the Spring Imperial Examination, while Jiang Shuyue advised her to bathe the animal.

Huahua told Jiang Shuyue how Jin San’s attack on Western Zhou had provoked a crisis between the allied kingdoms, while revealing the depraved history of his parents. With the Jin Kingdom unlikely to attack Great Zhou, Jiang Shuyue was relieved that Zhou Yunshen might stay in the Imperial Capital.

• Jiang Shuyue and Huahua joked about Jin San’s donkey and whether it might produce offspring with Little Apple.
• Huahua explained that Jin San had raided a Western Zhou tribe, burned its horse pens, and abducted dozens of women, including the king’s niece.
• Huahua said the niece had mutilated herself rather than marry Jin San, leaving the Jin emperor furious but unwilling to execute his son.
• Huahua described how Jin San’s father had abused women and how his mother had schemed to seduce the emperor and bear Jin San.
• Jiang Shuyue realized the conflict with Western Zhou and Great Zhou made a Jin attack unlikely, and Zhou Sesong offered to help when Huahua began fussing.

Jiang Shuyue learned that Jin San had attacked his father, the Jin Kingdom’s emperor, and speculated that the emperor’s death might have been faked to avoid paying compensation. The group decided to demand the full amount owed regardless of whether the emperor was truly dead.

• Huahua revealed that Jin San had chopped off his father’s manhood after his sweetheart married the emperor.
• Jiang Shuyue suggested the emperor retaliate by doing the same to Jin San, while Huahua reported that the emperor had died after an old injury became infected.
• Jiang Shuyue suspected Jin San had killed his father to avoid paying compensation and wondered whether the emperor had faked his death for the same reason.
• Everyone agreed that the Jin Kingdom’s compensation debt would have to be paid in full, even if the emperor was dead.

Jiang Shuyue and her companions encountered Qin Taichu’s wife and mother-in-law publicly blaming him after the wife was caught eloping with her cousin and stealing his money. After Huahua explained how the marriage had been forced on Qin Taichu, Jiang Shuyue insulted the women and challenged them from behind Jiang Chen and Lin Shuangshuang.

• Jiang Chen bought Jiang Shuyue candied hawthorn and bought Sugar Figurines for the children.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that Qin Taichu’s wife had eloped with her older cousin, taken Qin Taichu’s money, and been caught after her cousin spent it.
• Qin Taichu’s wife blamed him for her affair, while Yuan Clan argued that he should share the blame and accept a punishment.
• Huahua explained that Yuan Clan and her daughter had tricked Qin Taichu into marrying the daughter, who had already lost her virginity to another man.
• Jiang Shuyue called the wife shameless, then challenged Yuan Clan while staying behind Jiang Chen and Lin Shuangshuang.

Jiang Shuyue and the others exposed Wang Shuang'er’s attempt to make Qin Taichu accept her pregnancy, revealing that the child could not be his. Wang Shuang'er still insisted she had been wronged, while Huahua explained she had become pregnant by her cousin before marrying Qin Taichu.

• Jiang Chen and Jiang Shuyue condemned Wang Shuang'er and her family for scheming against Qin Taichu and taking his money.
• Huahua revealed that Wang Shuang'er was pregnant, and Qin Taichu and Madam Qin realized she was trying to make their family raise another man's child.
• Wang Shuang'er claimed she had been deceived and insisted the baby was Qin Taichu's, matching Jiang Shuyue's prediction.
• Huahua explained that Wang Shuang'er had been pregnant for nearly two months before the wedding, after becoming pregnant by her cousin.

Qin Taichu confronted Wang Shuang'er and Yuan Clan after they made a scene demanding that he acknowledge her child. With Jiang Shuyue and Huahua spurring him on, he finally denounced Wang Shuang'er and threatened legal action, leaving her pale and visibly flustered.

• Qin Taichu splashed Wang Shuang'er with water as Yuan Clan accused him of mistreating them and rejecting his child.
• Jiang Shuyue criticized Qin Taichu for failing to argue effectively, and Huahua prompted him to insult Wang Shuang'er.
• Qin Taichu called Wang Shuang'er a vicious woman and condemned her for scheming against him, eloping with a lover, and expecting him to claim another man's child.
• Qin Taichu threatened to end Wang Shuang'er's pregnancy and lodge a complaint at the Government Office if she continued pestering his family.
• Wang Shuang'er turned pale, and Jiang Shuyue mocked her for wearing cheap face powder.

Jiang Shuyue and Jiang Chen exposed Wang Shuang'er’s affair with a young porter, while her family tried to defend her. Imperial Physician Zhao arrived to examine Wang Shuang’er’s claimed pregnancy, leaving Yuan Clan and Wang Shuang'er scrambling to avoid the test.

• Jiang Chen challenged Yuan Clan and revealed that Wang Shuang'er had been involved with a cargo hauler.
• Jiang Shuyue spotted a young porter hiding nearby, and Zhou Luming had guards bring him over.
• The porter reunited with Wang Shuang'er and revealed that they had kissed and that she had professed affection for him.
• Wang Shuang'er denied the porter’s claims and struck him as he described their relationship.
• Three Flowers brought Imperial Physician Zhao to examine Wang Shuang'er, but she and Yuan Clan tried to refuse the examination.
• Jiang Shuyue and Jiang Wujie questioned whether Wang Shuang'er was Yuan Clan’s biological daughter.

Qin Taichu exposed Wang Shuang'er's pregnancy and repudiated her, while she revealed how cruelly she had treated Lu Youjia. Qin Taichu offered Lu Youjia work in the Qin Family, leaving Wang Shuang'er disgraced.

• Qin Taichu accused Madam Yuan of hiding Wang Shuang'er's illegitimate parentage, and Madam Yuan charged at Huahua before Zhou Shiye kicked her into a porter and incurred the crowd's ridicule.
• Zhou Shiye threatened Madam Yuan with punishment for insulting an official, and Qin Taichu presented Wang Shuang'er with a letter of repudiation.
• Imperial Physician Zhao diagnosed Wang Shuang'er as nearly four months pregnant, prompting the crowd to suspect she had been pregnant before marrying Qin Taichu.
• Qin Taichu explained that he had been away on official business and ordered Wang Shuang'er to leave, while the porter Lu Youjia recalled her saying she wanted a dependable husband like him.
• Wang Shuang'er called Lu Youjia a penniless wretch and said she had only used him for entertainment, and Qin Taichu offered him a job helping manage the Qin Family.

Lu Youjia became Qin Taichu’s assistant as the Qin Family rejected Wang Shuang'er and her relatives, while Jiang Shuyue’s pregnancy was suddenly declared in distress. The chapter ended with Imperial Physician Zhao unsure how to treat the pregnant Green Tea Spirit, as Jiang Shuyue and Huahua watched him curiously.

• Qin Taichu hired Lu Youjia as his assistant, and Madam Qin announced the Qin Family’s divorce from Wang Shuang'er.
• Wang Mian tried to plead with the family, then grabbed Jiang Shuyue, who fell and complained of stomach pain.
• Imperial Physician Zhao diagnosed Jiang Shuyue’s pregnancy as being in distress, and the Qin Family carried her inside.
• Madam Qin gave Wang Mian a Severance Letter and a Divorce Letter, reclaimed Wang Shuang'er’s bracelet, and ordered the Wang Family away.
• Wang Shuang'er began bleeding and suffering stomach pain, so the Qin Family sent her and her mother to the Medical Hall.
• Imperial Physician Zhao treated Jiang Shuyue with acupuncture and struggled to decide what medicine a pregnant Green Tea Spirit needed.

After learning Jiang Shuyue was pregnant, Zhou Yunshen mistakenly thought she had miscarried, then discovered she was safe and vowed to punish the Wang Family for insulting and hurting her. He arranged to finalize the Qin Family’s separation from the Wang Family and promised Jiang Shuyue gifts at the palace banquet after the Spring Imperial Examination.

• Jiang Shuyue learned she was over a month pregnant and discussed redeeming a Golden Radiance Pill with Huahua.
• Zhou Yunshen rushed in, mistook the situation for a miscarriage, and comforted Jiang Shuyue until Imperial Physician Zhao assured him she and the baby were well.
• Zhou Luming told Zhou Yunshen how the Yuan Clan woman and the Wang Family had insulted and struck Jiang Shuyue, and Zhou Yunshen resolved to deal with them.
• Madam Qin confirmed that the Divorce Letter and Severance Letter had been sent to the Government Office and that Wang Shuang'er’s belongings would be returned.
• Zhou Yunshen ordered Qi Ye to expedite the Qin Family and Wang Family’s separation and promised to take Jiang Shuyue to the palace banquet and give her a grand gift.

After the Qin Family farewelled Zhou Yunshen and his family, Wang Mian and Yuan Clan faced the consequences of their actions, while Wang Shuang'er learned that the Qin Family had severed all ties with her. Her parents were taken away, and she was left helpless in the Wang residence.

• Lord Qin admitted he had been terrified to dine with the Marquis of Zhennan, while Qin Taichu said the Marquis seemed easygoing as long as the family did not offend Jiang Shuyue.
• Wang Mian learned that he had been removed from the docks and that his five boats were being confiscated over claims that he had obtained them improperly.
• Wang Mian struck Wang Shuang'er and Yuan Clan, blaming them for the trouble that had ruined the family.
• Constable Chen arrived with bailiffs, ordered Yuan Clan to receive forty strokes for insulting Jiang Shuyue and her unborn heir, and took both Yuan Clan and Wang Mian away for investigation.
• Wang Shuang'er begged to be taken to Qin Taichu, but a maidservant told her the Qin Family had returned her dowry and cut ties with her.

After Jiang Shuyue learned she was pregnant, her family and the palace surrounded her with care, while Huahua reported that the Mainframe was close to turning against Lan Ruoyue. Jiang Shuyue reunited with her tearful family, and the chapter ended when she began sneezing and asked whether her mother had changed her scented sachet.

• Murong Tianci examined Jiang Shuyue and warned her to avoid becoming too emotional when her family visited.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that the Mainframe’s stance was wavering and described Lan Ruoyue’s growing attachment to Ruby, whom she believed was a divine donkey.
• Liu Chengze and Jiang Shuyue’s family rushed to see her, embraced her, and fretted over her pregnancy while blaming Zhou Yunshen for her suffering.
• Huahua revealed that Jiang Shuyue’s family, the Imperial Preceptor, and Zhou Yunshen had made extensive preparations to provide her with fresh food and childbirth care.
• Jiang Shuyue sneezed twice and asked Jiang Mother whether she had changed her scented sachet, but Jiang Mother said the family had avoided fragrances since Lin Shuangshuang became pregnant.

Jiang Shuyue and Huahua discovered that Jiang An had used opium paste from Lan Ruoyue to poison Jiang Mother's wardrobe, and they identified the maid Chunhua as his accomplice. Huahua also exposed Chunhua's obsession with Jiang Wujie and her scheme to become both his father's concubine and, after Jiang Mother's death, his mother.

• Huahua warned Jiang Shuyue that Jiang Mother had opium paste on her, and Jiang Shuyue hurried away from her mother.
• Huahua revealed that Jiang An had hidden opium paste in Jiang Mother's wardrobe after receiving it from Lan Ruoyue, whose Medical Hall patients were also being harmed by the drug.
• Jiang Mother, Lin Shuangshuang, and the others realized that the drug could endanger the household, though Huahua said the exposure had not yet caused harm.
• Huahua identified Chunhua as the maid who had planted the opium paste, explaining that Jiang An had promised to make her his concubine.
• Huahua revealed that Chunhua was obsessed with Jiang Wujie, had secretly taken his unwashed underpants, and had turned to Jiang An after Jiang Wujie rejected her.

Jiang Mother punished Chunhua for plotting against her and uncovered that Jiang An had arranged for harmful substances to be placed among her scented items. She sent the tampered items to Old Madam, while Jiang An learned that Jiang Shuyue was two months pregnant and heard Prince Huai congratulate him.

• Jiang Mother ordered Chunhua confined to the Laundry Yard and punished her with twenty strokes for keeping Jiang An’s undergarments and scheming to rise in the household.
• Jiang Mother learned from Li Momo that Chunhua had handled scented items containing harmful substances, and suspected Jiang An had arranged the plot against her and her son.
• Jiang Mother had the scented items remixed and sent them to Old Madam in an exquisite box.
• After the Spring Imperial Examination, Jiang An left the Imperial Examination Hall and learned that Jiang Shuyue was two months pregnant.
• Prince Huai congratulated Jiang An on the pregnancy and teased him about the prospect of a first legitimate son of the Marquisate of Southern Pacification.

Jiang An visited his pregnant daughter Jiang Shuyue with Prince Huai, who had made him spend lavishly on gifts. Jiang An criticized her vegetable garden and tried to shame her, but she defended her plants while Huahua exposed his own humble farming past.

• Jiang An brooded over Jiang Shuyue’s rise in status and considered how to get rid of her unborn child.
• Prince Huai forced Jiang An to accompany him shopping for costly supplements, pearls, jade, and silk for Jiang Shuyue.
• Jiang Shuyue joked about Little Six’s cooking while Little Six resolved to cook more for the Crown Prince.
• Jiang Shuyue welcomed Jiang An and Prince Huai, but avoided linking arms with her unwashed father after Huahua revealed his poor hygiene.
• Jiang An warned Jiang Shuyue to protect her pregnancy and criticized her courtyard garden as unbecoming of her status.
• Jiang Shuyue defended her crops as newly developed fruit radishes, nourishing wild chives, and complexion-brightening tomatoes, while Huahua recalled Jiang An’s own past as a farmer.