Chapter Summaries

Jiang Liuli persuaded Jie Yan to drug Jiang Shuyue so she could not attend the next day's contest, while Jiang Shuyue learned the medicine was a powerful aphrodisiac. After Jie Yan went to carry out the plan, Mei Yunqi approached in the dark with tools of his own.

• Jiang Shuyue and the monks discussed teaching temptation through practical tests rather than books.
• Jiang Liuli seduced Jie Yan and asked him to keep Jiang Shuyue from attending the next day by giving her a sleeping drug.
• The system revealed the bottle held a potent aphrodisiac and that Mei Yunqi was nearby with many tools.
• Jie Yan agreed, kissed Jiang Liuli, and left to administer the drug; Jiang Liuli then spat in disgust.
• The Crown Prince comforted Little Six, while Jiang Shuyue mocked Jiang Liuli and learned Mei Yunqi was climbing the mountain in the dark.

Jiang Shuyue learned that Jiang Liuli and Mei Yunqi planned to drug her and disgrace her at the Dao Discussion Assembly, so she turned their scheme against them. Meanwhile, Jie Yan was exposed for embezzling temple funds and faced losing his money and status.

• Jiang Liuli recruited Mei Yunqi to help drug Jiang Shuyue and use the scandal to pursue the Crown Prince.
• Jiang Shuyue ordered May to drag Jiang Liuli to her room, where she and Mei Yunqi were stripped and left together with drugs.
• Huici confronted Jie Yan over his embezzlement and his devotion to Jiang Liuli, while Master Huixin challenged his claims about her suffering.
• Master Huixin demanded that Jie Yan repay the temple's 21,525 taels and surrender his belongings and senior disciple status.
• Jie Yan angrily protested the loss of his money, and Huiming told him that neither the money nor Jiang Liuli belonged to him.

Huiming's temple exposed Jiang Liuli's ambitions after she appeared to lose control in front of the Crown Prince. Lama Dayun also learned troubling claims about his brothers and sister-in-law, leaving him shaken.

• Jie Yan was locked in the woodshed after Huici accused him of being used by Liuli, while Huiming put off dealing with the matter until the great lama arrived.
• The great lama waited for Huiming, then followed a woman's cries to the rear courtyard and found Jiang Liuli behaving strangely before the Crown Prince.
• Jiang Liuli propositioned the Crown Prince, threatened Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Yunshen, and confessed to plotting against her sister; the Crown Prince ordered her imprisoned and sent back to the capital.
• The System revealed that Lama Dayun's younger brother embezzled repair funds and trafficked children, then described how he had maimed Dayun's older brother and taken his wife.
• Lama Dayun doubted the accusations, while Jiang Shuyue mocked the family's tangled affairs.

Jiang Shuyue’s party left Origin Return Temple after Jiang Liuli and Mei Yunqi were captured and Grand Lama Dayun rode away on Little Strawberry. On the road to the imperial capital, they encountered Lan Ruoyue, a modern transmigrator whose mission threatened the Crown Prince’s uncle.

• Jiang Liuli offered to marry Jie Yan if he helped her kill Jiang Shuyue, then ordered guards to attack him, but the Crown Prince had her bound and reported her conduct to the emperor.
• Eunuch Qin knocked Jiang Liuli unconscious, and the guards found Mei Yunqi tangled in the quilts; the Crown Prince ordered him sent to the Marquis of Zhennan after his legs were broken.
• The system revealed that Grand Lama Dayun’s second disciple had stolen his assets, and Dayun left the temple by riding Jiang Shuyue’s donkey, Little Strawberry.
• As the party prepared to travel to the imperial capital, Jiang Shuyue learned that Huiming hoped she would become the next abbot, but she rejected the idea.
• Lan Ruoyue collapsed in front of the convoy and asked for help, while Jiang Shuyue’s thoughts exposed her as a modern transmigrator tasked with killing Murong Tianci and becoming Imperial Preceptor.
• The Crown Prince ordered the convoy to keep moving, and Lan Ruoyue questioned her system’s claim that he was refined and kind.

Lan Ruoyue survived a staged accident and suspected Jiang Shuyue was an obstacle, while Jiang Shuyue's gossip system was renamed Huahua and exposed Lan Ruoyue's past. Jiang Shuyue and the Crown Prince concluded that Lan Ruoyue was much like Jiang Liuli, leaving Lan Ruoyue unaware that her secrets had been uncovered.

• Lan Ruoyue dodged a horse's fatal hoof and suspected Jiang Shuyue was behaving strangely.
• Jiang Shuyue renamed her gossip system Huahua, and Huahua revealed that Lan Ruoyue had a separate system.
• Lan Ruoyue's system identified Jiang Shuyue as an unstable factor and warned Lan Ruoyue not to provoke her, but Lan Ruoyue dismissed the warning.
• Huahua revealed that Lan Ruoyue was a modern doctor whose wealthy admirer had funded her education and career, and described her tragic original-story ending.
• Jiang Shuyue guessed that Lan Ruoyue had knowingly hidden that she was not the admirer’s savior and had tried to frame the real one.
• The Crown Prince recognized Jiang Shuyue’s comparison of Lan Ruoyue to Jiang Liuli and understood what had seemed wrong about Lan Ruoyue.

Jiang Shuyue charged Lan Ruoyue for a ride to the Imperial City, then learned that Lan had hired bandits who planned to kidnap her. After ordering May to deal with them and hearing Lan argue they should be killed, Jiang Shuyue decided to bring Lan under her husband's authority and keep her under watch.

• Lan Ruoyue asked Jiang Shuyue for a ride to the Imperial City, and Jiang demanded payment before agreeing.
• Lan handed over fifty taels, and Jiang made her sign a contract for the remaining debt with daily interest.
• Huahua revealed that Lan had hired two men from Black Wind Hall, who planned to kidnap her after the job.
• Jiang arranged for Little Strawberry to carry Lan and ordered May to cripple the bandits and bury them with their heads exposed.
• Lan urged Jiang to kill the bandits, so Jiang praised Lan's ruthlessness and declared she would find her a position under her husband.

Lan Ruoyue arrived in the Imperial Capital and saw Jiang Shuyue reunited affectionately with Zhou Yunshen, whose devotion contradicted her expectations. As Zhou Yunshen took Jiang Shuyue home, Lan Ruoyue began to doubt whether she had entered the story she expected.

• May forced Lan Ruoyue to kill a man, and she fainted after stabbing him once.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue gossip about Lan Ruoyue's death and the bizarre chicken-liver funeral, making Jiang Shuyue and the Crown Prince laugh.
• At the Imperial Capital gates, Lan Ruoyue approached Zhou Yunshen, but he rushed past her to catch Jiang Shuyue when she stumbled.
• Zhou Yunshen ordered the road repaired, welcomed Jiang Shuyue home with her favorite food, and hinted that he planned to spend the next two days alone with her.
• Lan Ruoyue questioned her system after seeing how much Zhou Yunshen cherished Jiang Shuyue.

Lan Ruoyue challenged Zhou Yunshen and accused his household of wasting public resources, but Jiang Shuyue turned her demands for generosity back on her. Lan Ruoyue was left pressured to pay triple wages for the road repairs.

• Lan Ruoyue criticized Zhou Yunshen for using public resources after Jiang Shuyue tripped, and Zhou Yunshen warned her not to meddle in his marriage.
• Lan Ruoyue insulted Zhou Yunshen, who threatened to have July peel off her facial skin until Jiang Shuyue changed the subject by asking to go home and eat.
• Jiang Shuyue reminded Lan Ruoyue that she owed her more than fifty taels of silver, then explained that the Marquis's Residence would pay to repair the road and hire local workers.
• Lan Ruoyue argued that the wealthy household should contribute more, so Jiang Shuyue announced that Lan Ruoyue would hire the workers at triple wages.
• Lan Ruoyue denied agreeing to pay, while Jiang Shuyue urged her to show the magnanimity she had demanded of the Marquis's Residence.

Lan Ruoyue embarrassed herself before the Crown Prince, while Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Yunshen arrived at the Jiang Family home for a private reckoning. Jiang An tried to defend Jiang Liuli, but the family dismissed his arguments as Jiang Liuli remained bound and gagged.

• The Crown Prince assigned Lan Ruoyue the road repairs and refused her request for his contact details, while Zhou Yunshen rebuked her and rode away with Jiang Shuyue.
• Lan Ruoyue was knocked into roadside bushes by the horse and Little Strawberry as the Crown Prince hurried to leave.
• Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Yunshen visited the Jiang Family that evening, bringing the three adopted children and snacks for the gathering.
• Jiang An questioned Jiang Shuyue about Jiang Liuli's wrongdoing, but Jiang Shuyue, Jiang Mother, and Jiang Chen insisted she was still a child.
• Jiang An secretly glared at Jiang Liuli, who remained wrapped in a quilt with a sock in her mouth.

Jiang Shuyue and Huahua revealed that Chen Hao was Qin Wanru’s lover and Jiang Liuli’s biological father, while Jiang Liuli had been passed off as a Jiang family daughter. A matching birthmark exposed Chen Hao, and Huahua hinted that two gold locks and a letter could provide further proof.

• Huahua revealed that Qin Wanru’s stillborn child had been replaced with a baby bought from Chen Hao, who had blackmailed and slept with her for years.
• Huahua disclosed that Chen Hao was also Jiang Liuli’s father and that Qin Ling’er’s mother kept lovers using Jiang An’s money.
• Madam Jiang denounced Jiang Liuli for seducing the Crown Prince and ordered Chen Hao to take her home as his daughter.
• Jiang Chen ordered servants to remove Jiang Liuli and Chen Hao’s shoes, revealing matching red bird-shaped birthmarks on their soles.
• Chen Hao denied being Jiang Liuli’s father, but he remembered giving her mother a gold lock, and Huahua said two matching locks and a letter could prove the truth.

Madam Jiang confronted Jiang An and Qin Wanru as the family argued over Jiang Liuli’s public scandal, while the Crown Prince rejected their excuses. A search of Qin Wanru’s room produced a Gold Lock that left Chen Hao visibly alarmed.

• Madam Jiang ordered Qin Wanru brought in and her room searched, making Jiang An worry about what she knew.
• Jiang Chen pointed out a vegetable leaf stuck between Jiang An’s teeth as Jiang Shuyue and Huahua mocked him in their thoughts.
• Qin Wanru and Jiang An defended Jiang Liuli, but the Crown Prince cited her public nudity and claim to become crown princess and dismissed their pleas.
• Jiang Wujie and Jiang Chen questioned Qin Wanru’s intense concern for Jiang Liuli, while Jiang Chen blamed Liuli for harming his marriage prospects.
• Madam Jiang said Jiang Liuli’s misconduct at the National Temple and curse against the empress were proven, then presented items recovered from Qin Wanru’s room.
• Chen Hao saw the Gold Lock and looked alarmed as Jiang Shuyue and Huahua joked that he ate Jiang An’s leftovers.

Evidence revealed that Chen Hao had murdered a prostitute and that Qin Wanru had taken in the prostitute’s child, Jiang Liuli, while concealing her own child’s death. Jiang An tried to protect himself and Jiang Liuli by blaming Qin Wanru and asking Jiang Mother to spare Liuli, leaving Jiang Mother wavering over what to do.

• Chen Hao begged Jiang Mother for mercy as the Steward brought the brothel’s records and the Madam’s testimony implicating him in the prostitute’s death and stolen money.
• The Crown Prince confronted Jiang An with the evidence, and Jiang An realized the prostitute’s child had Jiang Liuli’s birth date and hour.
• Jiang Shuyue pieced together that Qin Wanru had passed off Jiang Liuli as her own child, while Qin Wanru panicked as Jiang An read a second letter about her deception.
• Chen Hao tried to blame Qin Wanru, but Jiang An killed him to silence him and then claimed he had been deceived into raising Liuli.
• Qin Wanru admitted she had lied about her own child’s death and pleaded for forgiveness, while Jiang An urged Jiang Mother to spare Jiang Liuli.
• Jiang Mother hesitated over Liuli’s fate as Jiang Shuyue focused on earning Green Tea Points to redeem pills for Prince Huai and sensed a chill behind her.

Jiang An spared Jiang Liuli from execution but agreed to send her to the Liu Family and Qin Wanru to prison after their crimes were exposed. Jiang Shuyue left with Zhou Yunshen, while Jiang An seethed over her favored position.

• Jiang An pretended to grieve and chose to confine Jiang Liuli, but Zhou Yunshen and Madam Jiang mocked his leniency.
• Jiang Liuli wet herself, and the Crown Prince suggested sending her to the Liu Family for instruction.
• Jiang Chen struck Qin Wanru after she insulted the Grand Preceptor, and Jiang Wujie stopped Jiang An from intervening.
• Jiang Wujie ordered Jiang Liuli sent to the Liu Family and Qin Wanru sent to prison, and Jiang An accepted the decision.
• Jiang Shuyue's private thought about recognizing the smell embarrassed everyone, and Zhou Yunshen invited her home for a bath together.

After Jiang Liuli was sent to the Liu Family and Qin Wanru was taken away, Jiang Chen’s brothers warned him to stay cautious before the Martial Champion examinations. Jiang Shuyue woke refreshed and decided to go shopping so she could put unusual dishes on the menu for Mei Yunqi, who had become the Sixth Prince’s food taster.

• Jiang Chen sent Jiang Liuli to the Liu Family in a wooden handcart, and Jiang Mother ordered her belongings sold or burned.
• Jiang Wujie took Qin Wanru away and warned Jiang Chen to control his strength because the Transmigrator had arrived and the Martial Champion examinations were approaching.
• Jiang Wujie agreed to dispose of Qin Wanru’s body while Jiang Chen took Cuihong away and called Jiang Liuli by her original name.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that Mei Yunqi’s home had been raided, Jiang Wujie had injured him, and the Crown Prince had assigned him to be the Sixth Prince’s food taster.
• Jiang Shuyue laughed at Mei Yunqi’s new post and asked for the eldest young lady so they could go shopping and prepare Stargazy Pie, Blue Cheese, and other dishes.

Jiang Shuyue took Zhou Luming and Zhou Sesong to the Vegetable Market, where they encountered Lan Ruoyue arguing with porters over unpaid stone materials. When Lan Ruoyue mocked Jiang Shuyue’s plain clothes, Jiang Shuyue pretended to complain that her hundred-tael outfit was poorly made, leaving Lan Ruoyue stunned and furious.

• Jiang Shuyue bought discarded vegetable leaves to make fermented food, explaining that saving money mattered even at the Marquis's Residence.
• Jiang Shuyue followed a commotion and found Lan Ruoyue demanding that porters deliver stone materials without payment.
• Huahua revealed that Lan Ruoyue had lost the Second Prince’s Jade Pendant after leaving it as collateral at a Tavern-Inn, so the Money House would not lend her money.
• Lan Ruoyue accused the porters of obstructing a project for the nation and its people, while the crowd criticized her for demanding credit.
• Lan Ruoyue mocked Jiang Shuyue’s plain clothes, and Jiang Shuyue claimed her outfit had cost a hundred taels but was so poorly made that she would replace the tailor.
• Lan Ruoyue was stunned by the claimed price and grew angry as she thought about her own hundred taels.

Jiang Shuyue confronted Lan Ruoyue over her unpaid debts and stolen clothing, while Lan claimed to be a divine maiden and warned that Zhou Yunshen would abandon Jiang Shuyue for Jiang Liuli. Jiang Shuyue and her children rejected Lan’s claims, and Zhou Sesong ordered the guards to punish her.

• Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Luming exposed Lan Ruoyue’s expensive outfit and her refusal to pay the porters, while Huahua revealed that Lan had stolen the clothes from a woman who sheltered her.
• Lan Ruoyue threatened the porters with the Marquisate of Southern Pacification, but Jiang Shuyue pointed out that Lan had taken responsibility for the roadwork and owed the workers their pay.
• Lan Ruoyue declared herself a divine maiden and warned Jiang Shuyue that Jiang Liuli would return and make Zhou Yunshen abandon her.
• Jiang Shuyue, Zhou Luming, and Zhou Sesong dismissed Lan Ruoyue’s warning and affirmed Zhou Yunshen’s devotion to Jiang Shuyue.
• Zhou Sesong ordered the guards to bind Lan Ruoyue and slap her fifty times.

Lan Ruoyue tried to win Jiang Shuyue over after the system revealed that Jiang Shuyue’s fortune was rising, but Jiang Shuyue exposed and mocked her claims. Lan Ruoyue concluded that Jiang Shuyue might be reborn or possessed, yet remained confident she had the advantage as a modern person.

• Lan Ruoyue’s system reported that Jiang Liuli had lost her Child of Fortune halo and Jiang Shuyue’s fortune was rising, prompting Lan Ruoyue to glare at Jiang Shuyue.
• Lan Ruoyue offered to help Jiang Shuyue become transcendent, but Jiang Shuyue rejected her and mocked her unpaid debts and unsolicited advice.
• Lan Ruoyue boasted of her medical skills, while Huahua revealed her botched surgeries and that she had only watched the heart surgery she claimed as experience.
• An older woman challenged Lan Ruoyue’s claims, and Jiang Shuyue suggested that Lan Ruoyue had suffered after being chased by bandits.
• Lan Ruoyue’s system suspected Jiang Shuyue had been reborn or possessed, and Lan Ruoyue decided she still had the advantage as a modern person.

Jiang Shuyue followed Chen Cao Cao’s wet nurse, Wang Dan, into the wealthy district to uncover her scandal. She and the children discovered Wang Dan was secretly involved with Liu Youzhi, Chen Cao Cao’s cousin and intended elopement partner.

• Jiang Shuyue left Little Peach to deal with Lan Ruoyue and chased after a wet nurse with Zhou Sesong and Zhou Luming.
• Zhou Sesong carried Jiang Shuyue as they secretly followed the woman through the market and into the wealthy district.
• Zhou Luming recognized the woman as Wang-shi, Chen Cao Cao’s wet nurse, and explained that she had investigated the Capital City’s households.
• Huahua revealed that Chen Cao Cao planned to elope with her cousin Liu Youzhi and that Wang-shi had become Liu Youzhi’s lover while acting as their go-between.
• Liu Youzhi met Wang Dan beneath a locust tree and embraced her, while Jiang Shuyue and the children watched from hiding.

Jiang Shuyue and her family overheard Liu Zhiyuan and Wang Dan plotting to manipulate Chen Cao Cao and endanger her during a lake outing. After their hiding place collapsed, Jiang confronted Liu and slapped him, leaving Wang Dan startled by Jiang’s insult.

• Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Luming discussed Liu Zhiyuan’s motives and heard Huahua reveal that Shen’s young master had a crush on Zhou Luming.
• Chen Yong and Chen Cao Cao hid nearby and overheard Liu urge Wang Dan to make Chen Cao Cao elope with him.
• Wang Dan admitted she had caused Chen Cao Cao’s almond allergy and planned to make her wait before a lake outing with Young Master Li.
• Liu Zhiyuan asked Wang Dan to arrange for something to go wrong during the outing, enraging Chen Cao Cao and Chen Yong.
• Jiang Shuyue accidentally crushed the mud wall and fell out of hiding with Zhou Sesong.
• Liu Zhiyuan demanded to know how much they had heard, and Jiang Shuyue slapped him twice before insulting him and addressing Wang Dan as an auntie.

Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Sesong stopped Liu Zhiyuan and Wang Dan from attacking them, while Chen Yong and Chen Cao Cao witnessed the confrontation. Huahua revealed that Liu Zhiyuan had once abducted and tortured Chen Cao Cao, then pretended to rescue her and used the Chen Family’s gratitude to control her.

• Liu Zhiyuan threatened Jiang Shuyue and the others, accusing them of being spies and trying to free an axe from a pile.
• Jiang Shuyue slapped Liu Zhiyuan, exposed his affair with Wang Dan, and dodged as he fell to the ground.
• Liu Zhiyuan urged Wang Dan to attack, but Zhou Sesong kicked them both down and stopped him from running for help.
• Zhou Sesong called out Chen Yong, who emerged with Chen Cao Cao, and Liu Zhiyuan tried to blame the strangers for his injuries.
• Huahua revealed that Liu Zhiyuan had abducted and tortured Chen Cao Cao for two years before pretending to rescue her and gaining the Chen Family’s support.