Chapter Summaries

Jiang Shuyue countered Qian Cancan and Madam Qian’s insults with feigned innocence, then used her position as Zhou Shiye’s mother to embarrass them. After Madam Qian apologized and stopped them from leaving, she led Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Shiye inside to meet Minister Qian.

• Qian Cancan accused Jiang Shuyue of insulting her, but Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Shiye denied it and suggested Qian Cancan needed a physician.
• Jiang Shuyue learned from Huahua that Madam Qian had once rivaled Jiang Shuyue’s mother and had allowed Qian Cancan to bully other young women.
• Jiang Shuyue pointed out that Qian Cancan had never attended the aristocrats’ banquets and stressed that Zhou Shiye was her son, while Qian Cancan and Madam Qian were poor choices for a daughter-in-law.
• When Qian Cancan and Jiang Shuyue both pretended to cry, Madam Qian apologized and stopped Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Shiye from leaving.
• Madam Qian led them inside to meet Minister Qian, while Jiang Shuyue praised Zhou Shiye and warned him to keep his eyes open when choosing a wife.

Zhou Shiye and Jiang Shuyue visited Lord Qian, where Zhou Shiye mocked his antiques and Huahua exposed the Qian family’s embarrassing secrets. Jiang Shuyue’s remark about whether their families were related left Lord Qian fearing that Zhou Shiye had come to punish him.

• Madam Qian comforted Qian Cancan and encouraged her to pursue Zhou Shiye if Jiang Shuyue died.
• Lord Qian welcomed Zhou Shiye and Jiang Shuyue with poor tea and coarse porcelain, and Zhou Shiye criticized his fake antiques.
• Huahua revealed that Lord Qian had bought several counterfeits and that Qian Cancan’s appetite and behavior frightened other noble families.
• Jiang Shuyue asked Lord Qian whether their families were related, and he grew alarmed that Zhou Shiye might be there to eliminate him.

Zhou Shiye confronted Lord Qian over discrepancies in military supplies and sought his records before the emperor’s court session. While Jiang Shuyue explored Lord Qian’s gardens and gathered gifts from plants, she discovered the roses were Japanese varieties and reacted with disgust.

• Zhou Shiye told Lord Qian that the Ministry of Revenue’s records showed inferior grain and clothing had been supplied to the Western Army at the cost of better goods.
• Lord Qian invited Zhou Shiye to his study and arranged for Jiang Shuyue to tour the rose garden with Xiao Li.
• Jiang Shuyue collected essence from a banyan tree and other rare plants as she walked through the grounds.
• Zhou Shiye overheard Jiang Shuyue say she was grateful to have found such a close family and felt warmed by her words.
• Jiang Shuyue learned that Lord Qian’s roses came from Japan and privately cursed the varieties for their revolting scent.

Jiang Shuyue confronted Qian Cancan, then uncovered evidence that girls had been buried beneath the rose garden. She left the bodies covered again after realizing Qian Cancan had tortured and killed several women out of jealousy.

• Jiang Shuyue heard the roses insult her and sensed something foul in the garden.
• Qian Cancan tried to apologize to Jiang Shuyue and offered her a gold bracelet, which Jiang accepted.
• Jiang Shuyue insulted Qian Cancan and barred her from entering the Zhou Family, prompting Qian Cancan to attack her before Xiao Li's servants carried her away.
• Jiang Shuyue found something buried beneath the flower bed, and Huahua realized that two girls were locked in the woodshed while seven or eight others had been buried there.
• Jiang Shuyue covered the buried remains again and cursed the roses.

Jiang Shuyue extracted the Rose Essence Dew and learned how cruelly the Qian Family had treated the people in their household. After leaving the Qian residence with Zhou Shiye, she warned him to stay away from the family.

• Jiang Shuyue drained the Rose Essence Dew from the garden roses, leaving them wilted.
• Zhou Shiye found errors in Lord Qian's account books while Madam Qian accused Jiang Shuyue of hitting Qian Cancan.
• Zhou Shiye refused to help the Qian couple, and Madam Qian eventually fainted while Qian Cancan beat the household servants, killing one.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that Madam Qian and Qian Cancan had killed several people whose bodies were buried under the rose bed.
• Jiang Shuyue left with Zhou Shiye and urged him to avoid the Qian Family, and he agreed.

Zhou Shiye’s scheme against the Qian Family coincided with an investigation that uncovered eight bodies and brought Lord Chen down on them. As Jiang Shuyue helped Lin Shuangshuang choose a wedding dress, she decided to ask the Empress for jewelry to make the bride shine.

• Zhou Shiye planned to investigate the Qian Family after obtaining its ledger, while rumors spread that bodies were buried around the Qian residence.
• Lord Chen’s officers unearthed eight bodies, and Qian Cancan threatened Lord Chen until he slapped her; Madam Qian fainted twice.
• Lord Qian knelt outside the palace gates seeking forgiveness, while Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that Madam Qian knew about his crimes and that he had ruined many families.
• Jiang Shuyue and Lin Shuangshuang looked at wedding dresses, and Jiang Shuyue resolved to ask the Empress for a jade fan and a pearl as wedding gifts.

Jiang Shuyue suggested a bachelorette party for Lin Shuangshuang and got Mother Lin’s approval, while secretly planning to hold it at a brothel. The chapter ended with Mother Lin horrified by Jiang Shuyue’s unspoken plan.

• Jiang Shuyue learned that her brother had befriended Lao Liu, a brothel pastry cook, and proposed opening a pastry shop for him.
• Lin Shuangshuang asked Jiang Shuyue’s children to perform the Bed-Pressing at her wedding, and Jiang Shuyue agreed to ask Zhou Shiye and Zhou Sesong.
• Jiang Shuyue asked Lin Shuangshuang about her Bachelorette Party, confusing her and Mother Lin with the unfamiliar custom.
• Jiang Shuyue persuaded Mother Lin to approve a night of food, wine, and fun before the wedding.
• Jiang Shuyue decided to hold the party at a brothel, leaving Mother Lin aghast.

Jiang Shuyue’s plan to hold a bachelorette party at a brothel was redirected into an opera gathering at the Lin residence, where she hoped to invite Boss Qiao to perform. She then visited the Liu Family, where Liu Chengze delighted her with a Ruby Necklace.

• Jiang Shuyue and Huahua excitedly planned a brothel party, but Lin Shuangshuang’s mother proposed hosting an opera troupe instead, and Lin Shuangshuang agreed.
• Jiang Shuyue asked to invite Boss Qiao, and Lin Shuangshuang’s mother considered using the Marquisate of Southern Pacification and the Liu Family’s connections to persuade him.
• Jiang Shuyue decided to ask her maternal grandfather to approach the Old Prince about Boss Qiao, then left for the Liu Family’s home to freeload dinner.
• Lin Shuangshuang’s mother worried that Jiang Shuyue might persuade another young woman to hold a brothel party and arranged to send Luming some gifts and food.
• Liu Chengze welcomed Jiang Shuyue and gave her a Ruby Necklace, insisting awkwardly that he had not bought it especially for her.

Jiang Shuyue arranged for Liu Chengze to help book opera performances for Sister Lin’s bachelorette party, then visited the confined Jiang Liuli with Jiang Chen and Shen Yunying. She mocked Jiang Liuli’s condition, provoking a furious exchange as the visit began.

• Jiang Shuyue persuaded Liu Chengze to help secure Boss Qiao for Sister Lin’s bachelorette party and asked to visit Jiang Liuli with Jiang Chen.
• Liu Chengze sent Shen Yunying to bring Jiang Chen, and the three went to the isolated courtyard where Jiang Liuli was confined.
• Jiang Shuyue and Huahua discussed Jiang Liuli’s past attempts to manipulate the guards and noted that Jiang Liuli now spent her time cursing them.
• Jiang Shuyue told Jiang Chen she had found him a new way to relieve stress, while Jiang Chen and Shen Yunying mistakenly thought she meant arranging a woman for him.
• Jiang Shuyue entered Jiang Liuli’s room, teased her about the foul smell, and stopped Jiang Chen from hitting her.
• Jiang Liuli cursed Jiang Shuyue and her family, and Jiang Shuyue retorted by asking whether Jiang Liuli meant someone like herself.

Jiang Shuyue visited Jiang Liuli and taunted her about losing the life and marriage she had expected, while Jiang Chen defended Shuyue and struck Liuli twice. The visit ended with Jiang Shuyue leaving after provoking Liuli into despair, and Jiang Chen wondered whether Shuyue had done it simply because she was bored.

• Jiang Liuli mocked Jiang Shuyue for revealing a venomous side, and Jiang Shuyue taunted her about another woman becoming a prince’s Goddess and potential bride.
• Jiang Liuli lunged at Jiang Shuyue, but Jiang Chen stepped in and sent her crashing to the floor with a slap.
• Jiang Chen defended Jiang Shuyue and blamed Jiang Liuli for stealing her identity, while Huahua explained that the Marquis of Zhennan had rejected other women for reasons unrelated to Liuli.
• Jiang Liuli scratched her neck and attacked Jiang Chen, who knocked her to the same spot on the floor again.
• Jiang Shuyue provoked Jiang Liuli about her birth parents and urged her to face the truth before leaving with Jiang Chen.
• Huahua questioned Jiang Shuyue’s deliberate taunting, and Jiang Shuyue admitted she had done it because she was bored.

Jiang Shuyue received a Persian kitten from Zhou Yunshen and named it Ironhead, then tried to persuade him to let her keep more animals. Zhou Yunshen agreed to find the kitten a companion, while Jiang Shuyue remained intent on getting a Northeastern Golden Tabby.

• Jiang An said Jiang Shuyue's revenge on Jiang Liuli had helped him feel more at ease, and the siblings spent the day fishing and raiding birds' nests.
• Jiang Liuli raved that she was destined to marry the Fourth Prince and become Empress, blamed Jiang Shuyue for changing her fate, and vowed not to let her get away with it.
• Zhou Yunshen brought Jiang Shuyue a Persian kitten bestowed by the Empress Dowager, and she happily named it Ironhead.
• Jiang Shuyue imagined keeping a Northeastern Golden Tabby and asked Zhou Yunshen for more animals, while Huahua encouraged the idea.
• Jiang Shuyue convinced Zhou Yunshen that Ironhead needed a companion, and he agreed to find it one.

Jiang Shuyue persuaded Zhou Yunshen to catch her a tiger and reaffirmed their affection before exchanging Green Tea Points for Prince Huai’s pill. On the way to Prince Huai’s Residence, she heard that Lan Ruoyue had challenged her, and Little Peach urged her to join in criticizing Lan Ruoyue.

• Jiang Shuyue asked Zhou Yunshen for a tiger companion, and he agreed to arrange a hunt and let her keep whichever tiger he caught.
• Zhou Yunshen reassured Jiang Shuyue that he was devoted to her, and she said she would save him rather than the Empress if they both fell into the water.
• Huahua offered to exchange Jiang Shuyue’s Green Tea Points for Prince Huai’s pill, and Jiang Shuyue gave the pills new, elaborate names.
• Jiang Shuyue went with Little Peach to Prince Huai’s Residence after her children left to pursue their own plans.
• Huahua told Jiang Shuyue that Lan Ruoyue had insulted her abilities, and Little Peach urged Jiang Shuyue to curse Lan Ruoyue with her.

Jiang Shuyue planned to open a clinic and treat patients while visiting Prince Huai’s Residence, where she enjoyed the steward’s hospitality. Huahua revealed Steward Chen’s family troubles, and Jiang Shuyue defended his loyalty to Prince Huai.

• Jiang Shuyue decided to open a clinic and asked Huahua to identify which illnesses she could safely treat.
• Jiang Shuyue entered Prince Huai’s Residence and secretly harvested essence from the flowers along the path.
• Steward Chen welcomed Jiang Shuyue and arranged a whole roast lamb and chilled flower wine for her.
• Huahua praised Steward Chen’s loyal service and revealed that his youngest daughter had run off, taken his money, and blamed him for having daughters.
• Jiang Shuyue said Steward Chen should stop supporting his ungrateful daughter and let her learn how harsh the world could be.

Jiang Shuyue learned that Chen Haitang and her husband had exploited Steward Chen’s name to run a corrupt hiring scheme and a brothel, leaving him devastated. She visited Prince Huai on the day he hoped to stand again, admired the gold and gems on his wheelchair, and kept renaming the strength-restoring pill while he waited impatiently for it.

• Huahua revealed that Chen Haitang and her husband had auctioned jobs at Prince Huai’s Residence and sold the goods Steward Chen gave them.
• Huahua explained that the couple used the residence’s reputation to protect a brothel, where Chen Haitang’s husband personally inspected the women and Chen Haitang mistreated them.
• Steward Chen struggled to contain his anger as he learned what his daughter and her husband had done.
• Prince Huai greeted Jiang Shuyue and offered to show her the residence’s greenhouse, while she admired the gems on his ornate wheelchair.
• Jiang Shuyue decided the unused wheelchair would be fair compensation for giving Prince Huai a pill, and she and Huahua debated a more impressive name for it as Prince Huai waited for the dose.

Jiang Shuyue gave Prince Huai the Medicinal Pill in a candy box, and it restored feeling to his legs. After he rewarded her with valuable wheelchairs, Huahua revealed that his attendant Lin Moyu was a girl who had secretly loved him for years, leaving Prince Huai deeply moved.

• Jiang Shuyue disguised the Medicinal Pill as candy and gave it to Prince Huai, who swallowed it and felt warmth and pain return to his legs.
• Prince Huai thanked Jiang Shuyue by ordering all the wheelchairs in his storeroom, including a jade and gold one, sent to the Marquisate of Southern Pacification.
• Huahua revealed that the attendant was Lin Moyu, a girl who had disguised herself as a boy to serve Prince Huai after he once rescued her family.
• Huahua recounted Lin Moyu's hidden feelings and recent struggles, embarrassing her and leaving Prince Huai touched by her devotion.

Prince Huai reconciled with Lin Moyu after learning she had cared for him, and she moved into Xiang River Courtyard as his personal maid. Meanwhile, Steward Chen confronted Chen Haitang over her disreputable tavern and refused to help her.

• Prince Huai comforted Lin Moyu, promised not to send her away, and arranged for her to live in Xiang River Courtyard.
• Lin Moyu reminded Prince Huai that his legs had recovered, prompting him to soak his feet with the residence’s herbal packets.
• The Empress Dowager heard the news and offered incense while ordering a jade figurine of Jiang Shuyue for the shrine.
• Steward Chen questioned Chen Haitang about her tavern after the Government Office moved against it.
• Chen Haitang admitted the tavern’s nature had been exposed, blamed Steward Chen, and demanded that he make the Government Office reopen it.

Steward Chen severed ties with Chen Haitang after condemning her conduct and offered her three hundred taels to leave. When she refused and continued to insult her family, they had her driven from the courtyard by force.

• Steward Chen presented Chen Haitang with a relationship-severance contract and three hundred taels, but she angrily rejected the payment as too small.
• Steward Chen denounced Chen Haitang for exploiting his standing and bringing disgrace on the family, while she accused him of neglecting her.
• Chen Guiqin and Madam Chen praised Chen Guiqin’s family, provoking Chen Haitang to smash things and threaten that she would never let her father cut ties.
• Steward Chen ordered A-Rong and another servant to throw Chen Haitang out and bar her from returning.
• Madam Chen struck Chen Haitang with a broom, and the servants chased her from the courtyard as she cried that she had not received the money.

Steward Chen made his break with Chen Haitang official, while Lan Ruoyue discovered that patients were flocking to Jiang Shuyue instead of her clinic. Lan Ruoyue blamed Jiang Shuyue for the loss of her reputation and fortune points, and Xiangxiang agreed that Jiang Shuyue had likely been reborn.

• Madam Chen ordered Steward Chen to take the family seal to the Government Office and formally cut ties with Chen Haitang.
• Three days later, Lan Ruoyue returned to Xiehe Medical Hall and berated the elderly physician for its dwindling number of patients.
• After the physician directed her to the Marquisate of Southern Pacification, Lan Ruoyue found a huge crowd praising Jiang Shuyue's treatments.
• When Lan Ruoyue threatened the crowd with a whip, a fat man confronted her, and her maid identified her as someone valued by His Majesty.
• Lan Ruoyue apologized and claimed she had come to exchange medical knowledge, then privately dismissed Jiang Shuyue's cures as a performance.
• Xiangxiang warned Lan Ruoyue that Jiang Shuyue's reputation was overtaking hers, and Lan Ruoyue insisted that no one could outdo her at acting.

Lan Ruoyue came to pressure Jiang Shuyue into sharing her medical remedies, but Jiang Shuyue avoided her with a nap and made her wait for hours. When they finally met, Jiang Shuyue responded to Lan Ruoyue’s irritation with a boast about her blissful life, leaving Lan Ruoyue fuming.

• Lan Ruoyue used her saintly image to persuade the crowd to clear a path to the Marquis's Residence, while Jiang Shuyue decided to avoid her by taking a nap.
• Lan Ruoyue planned to use public pressure to obtain Jiang Shuyue’s treatment formula, but the steward told her the remedies belonged to Jiang Shuyue and warned that waking her could trigger heart palpitations.
• Lan Ruoyue waited inside the residence and praised the ordinary tea and overly sweet pastries, while Sangshen was offended when Lan Ruoyue scolded her as a servant.
• After more than two hours, Jiang Shuyue arrived and joked that she had slept after overeating, then told Lan Ruoyue her husband let her sleep and eat as she pleased.
• Lan Ruoyue grew angry at Jiang Shuyue’s remarks, which left the meeting on Jiang Shuyue’s boast about her blissful life.

Jiang Shuyue traded barbed remarks with Lan Ruoyue, who tried to hide her discomfort while claiming she wanted a healing prescription for the common good. Jiang Shuyue challenged her motives, leaving Lan Ruoyue's request unanswered.

• Lan Ruoyue warned Jiang Shuyue that the Marquis of Zhennan might take a concubine if she gained weight, but Jiang Shuyue bragged that she never gained weight and said the Marquis had dismissed or given away most of the beauties sent by the palace.
• Jiang Shuyue asked whether Lan Ruoyue had been hurt by a man, while Huahua revealed that Lan Ruoyue was desperate to urinate and had a rigid back from wearing a corset.
• Lan Ruoyue brushed off Jiang Shuyue's concern and said she had come to discuss a matter that would benefit the nation and its people.
• Lan Ruoyue asked Jiang Shuyue for a prescription to use at her clinic, claiming it could help the common people, and Jiang Shuyue asked what that had to do with Lan Ruoyue.