Chapter Summaries

Ye Tangtang reassured Shen Qingqing after sneaking out, while Ye Yubei revisited a memory of his younger self meeting Shen Qingqing in the palace. The memory ended with Lady Xin ordering Xiaocui to strike Shen Qingqing as Ye Yubei tried to protect her.

• Ye Tangtang gave Shen Qingqing roast squab and buns, promised to take guards when she left the palace, and snuggled in her mother's embrace.
• Ye Yubei watched his younger self mock Shen Qingqing's embroidery, then take her pouch and complain about her poor meals.
• After Little Ye Yubei stormed off, Shen Qingqing began receiving lavish food, gifts, and additional maids, while she repeatedly sent him away in a huff.
• Lady Xin barged into Shen Qingqing's courtyard, accused her of bewitching His Majesty, and ordered Xiaocui to smash her mouth as Ye Yubei moved to shield her.

Ye Yubei recovered his memories of meeting Shen Qingqing and punished Consort Shu for tampering with them. At court, he exposed Grand Secretary Lu’s concealment of the Qi Prefecture plague, removed him from office, and ordered relief for the refugees, leaving Ye Tangtang hopeful that her father’s throne was safe.

• Ye Yubei remembered his first meeting with Shen Qingqing and recalled sending Lady Xin to the Cold Palace and making Shen Qingqing his Lady-in-Waiting.
• Ye Yubei learned that Consort Shu had altered his memories and ordered Wang Fude to accompany him to the Palace of Gathered Purity the next day.
• At court, Ye Yubei confronted Grand Secretary Lu over concealing the plague and refugee crisis in Qi Prefecture.
• Ye Yubei stripped Grand Secretary Lu of his post, ordered the Qi Prefecture Magistrate imprisoned, appointed Zhang Judai as Grand Secretary, and directed the granaries to aid the refugees.
• Ye Tangtang told Shen Qingqing that she had reported the refugees to her Emperor Father after seeing them herself, and Shen Qingqing praised her concern for the people.

Empress Lu sought Consort Shu’s advice after Emperor Ye Yubei punished her father, Grand Secretary Lu. Ye Yubei summoned Consort Shu and accused her of using incense to make him forget his past, then called Lingyun in as evidence.

• Ye Tangtang went to the Academy after Shen Qingqing refused to excuse her from lessons.
• Empress Lu learned that Ye Yubei had stripped Grand Secretary Lu of his position and summoned Consort Shu for advice.
• Consort Shu urged Empress Lu not to provoke Ye Yubei while the refugee epidemic remained unresolved.
• Eunuch Wang summoned Consort Shu to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where Ye Yubei invited her to play a game.
• Ye Yubei confronted Consort Shu about her Jialuoduo Incense, called Never Forget, and accused her of making him forget his past.
• Consort Shu denied the accusation, and Ye Yubei summoned Lingyun to present evidence.

Consort Shu was exposed for using incense that caused hallucinations and memory loss, stripped of her title, and confined. Ye Tangtang then learned that Consort Shu was pregnant with Prince Yue’s child, not Ye Yubei’s, leaving Ye Yubei to confront the revelation that his own Fifth Brother had fathered the baby.

• Lingyun revealed that Consort Shu’s incense blend caused hallucinations and memory loss, and Consort Shu admitted adding some ingredients while denying knowledge of the agarwood.
• Ye Yubei stripped Consort Shu of her title and sent her to the Palace of Gathered Purity to await punishment.
• Ye Tangtang celebrated Consort Shu’s downfall, then returned to the palace and heard the system announce new gossip.
• The system revealed that Consort Shu was pregnant, and Ye Tangtang and Shen Qingqing realized the child was not Ye Yubei’s.
• Ye Tangtang identified Prince Yue as the father, and Ye Yubei recognized him as his Fifth Brother.

Ye Tangtang left the palace to inspect the porridge stalls and brought Jun Yuyuan along, while Ye Yubei told Shen Qingqing that Consort Shu’s incense had made him forget their love. At the stalls, grateful disaster victims praised Ye Tangtang and mistook her and Jun Yuyuan for a couple.

• Ye Tangtang persuaded Ye Yubei to let her visit the disaster-relief porridge stalls, and Shen Qingqing reminded her to eat lunch first.
• Ye Yubei told Shen Qingqing that Consort Shu had used incense to make him forget the person he loved, and he apologized for abandoning her in the Cold Palace.
• Jun Yuyuan appeared in Ye Tangtang’s carriage, tried her spicy snack, and was struck in the stomach by her Iron Head Technique after teasing her.
• Ye Tangtang and Jun Yuyuan reached the porridge stalls, where displaced people thanked Ye Tangtang for helping them the day before.
• The crowd praised Ye Tangtang and assumed she and Jun Yuyuan were a couple, despite her insisting they were ordinary friends.

Ye Tangtang handed out porridge and buns to disaster victims with Jun Yuyuan, boosting her and Emperor Father's reputations among the people. When Prince Yue arrived and eyed her suspiciously, she hid behind Jun Yuyuan, sensing that she had become his target.

• Ye Tangtang bought stuffed buns with her gold sycees and helped distribute them alongside Jun Yuyuan, while the victims learned she was the Ninth Princess.
• The victims praised Ye Tangtang and Jun Yuyuan as a well-matched couple, and Jun Yuyuan declined to correct them while they continued serving food.
• A toddler hugged Jun Yuyuan, kissed him, and then kissed Ye Tangtang; Jun Yuyuan wiped her cheek and falsely claimed the child had left drool there.
• Prince Yue arrived and announced that he had opened another porridge tent at the West City Gate, but the victims praised Ye Tangtang for feeding them.
• Ye Tangtang said Emperor Father had ordered the relief effort, prompting the victims to praise him, while Prince Yue glared at her and she hid behind Jun Yuyuan.

Ye Tangtang returned to the palace and found Ye Yubei staying overnight with Shen Qingqing, while Ye Muxue and Empress Lu worried that she had exposed their family’s political troubles. After Ye Tangtang woke from a nightmare about being strangled, Ye Yubei assigned eight personal guards to protect her, leaving her confident she could go wherever she pleased.

• Ye Tangtang withheld a scandal about Consort Shu and the King of Yue from Jun Yuyuan, then returned late and saw refugees sleeping in the snow.
• Chunyu told Ye Tangtang that Ye Yubei was with Shen Qingqing, and Ye Tangtang assumed they were making her a little sister.
• Ye Muxue complained to Empress Lu that Ye Yubei had stayed at the Palace of Gathered Elegance, and Empress Lu suspected Ye Tangtang had revealed her family's political troubles.
• Ye Tangtang suffered a nightmare in which someone grabbed her by the throat, and Shen Qingqing and Ye Yubei comforted her until she fell asleep again.
• Ye Yubei assigned eight personal guards to protect Ye Tangtang, who delighted in her new freedom to swagger around the palace.

Ye Tangtang showed off the eight shadow guards Emperor Father had assigned to protect her, then invited Jun Yuyuan to accompany her outside the palace. At the Palace of Gathered Purity, Physician Liu discovered Consort Shu was pregnant, and Ye Yubei confronted her about the child’s father while keeping her alive for now.

• Ye Tangtang paraded through the palace with eight shadow guards, stirring envy in Ye Muxue and astonishment among her imperial brothers.
• Ye Tangtang showed the guards to Jun Yuyuan and invited him to inspect construction on her houses for disaster victims; he agreed to go with her.
• Ye Yubei visited the sealed Palace of Gathered Purity, where Consort Shu pleaded that she had not used incense to harm him.
• Physician Liu examined Consort Shu and announced that she was more than a month pregnant, leaving her stunned and terrified.
• Ye Yubei accused Consort Shu of carrying another man's child and hinted that he knew the father was connected to a possible rebellion.
• Ye Yubei left Consort Shu confined in the palace, saying he would spare her for now because she was still useful.

Ye Tangtang visited the porridge stall, where Prince Yue’s relief efforts had drawn disaster victims away from the Emperor’s distribution site. She suspected Prince Yue was seeking political advantage because of Consort Shu’s arrest, then angrily called men scumbags, leaving Jun Yuyuan baffled by her accusations.

• Ye Tangtang asked the guards to serve generous portions of thicker porridge, then played with the baby who called her the prettiest big sister.
• Jun Yuyuan stopped the baby from kissing Ye Tangtang, but grew jealous when she gave the baby three lollipops after giving him only one.
• Lord Zhang told Ye Tangtang that half the disaster victims had gone to the West City Gate for Prince Yue’s sweet porridge.
• Jun Yuyuan explained that Prince Yue’s relief work had won him public praise and made his reputation eclipse the Emperor’s.
• Ye Tangtang suspected Prince Yue had acted because Consort Shu was arrested, then called him and other men scumbags.
• Jun Yuyuan asked Ye Tangtang why she was angry, while she privately decided he would have many women if he could perform.

Ye Tangtang and Jun Yuyuan were ambushed by a large group of assassins while traveling through the snow. Jun Yuyuan protected her and helped defeat the attackers, but he collapsed against her afterward despite insisting his wound was minor.

• Ye Tangtang told Jun Yuyuan about Prince Yue's affair with Consort Shu and joked that she would marry many princess consorts herself.
• Assassins attacked Ye Tangtang's carriage, and Jun Yuyuan pulled her out as arrows destroyed the carriage and killed its horse.
• Ye Tangtang and Jun Yuyuan fled toward the woods while Jun Yuyuan fought the attackers and told her to keep her distance.
• Jun Yuyuan rushed to save Ye Tangtang from an archer's arrow, then dodged more arrows while carrying her from the treetop.
• After the assassins were defeated, Ye Tangtang bandaged Jun Yuyuan's injured arm and checked on the wounded shadow guards.
• Jun Yuyuan suddenly collapsed against Ye Tangtang, then wrapped his arms around her while the shadow guards noted his injury was only a cut.

King of Yue revealed his rebellion plans to Liu Rumei after she confronted him about his weapons and troops, then confined her. After a second assassination attempt on Ye Tangtang, she returned to the palace with Jun Yuyuan and told Ye Yubei that he had saved her.

• King of Yue berated his guards for failing to abduct Ye Tangtang and ordered them to receive fifty strokes.
• Liu Rumei confronted Ye Yuqing about his troops, weapons, and plans to rebel, and he admitted she had discovered his scheme.
• Ye Yuqing told Liu Rumei he would spare her if she behaved, then had her confined to her room.
• Ye Yuqing vowed to rescue A Yue and their child from the palace and make Ye Yubei pay.
• Ye Tangtang returned to the palace bloodstained after another attack, and Ye Yubei called for imperial physicians.
• Ye Tangtang told Ye Yubei that Jun Yuyuan had saved her during both attacks.

After Jun Yuyuan rescued Ye Tangtang from another attack, Ye Yubei rewarded him with gold while ordering an investigation into the attackers. Ye Tangtang shared a meal with Jun Yuyuan, then noticed a possible problem with the incense just before Shen Qingqing fainted, leaving Ye Yubei rushing to her side.

• Ye Yubei thanked Jun Yuyuan for saving Ye Tangtang and promised Bai Yu would investigate the attacks.
• Ye Tangtang asked Jun Yuyuan for his reward money, and he agreed to give her all of it.
• Ye Tangtang invited Jun Yuyuan to eat hot pot, and Shen Qingqing wondered why they were so close.
• After Jun Yuyuan left, Ye Tangtang noticed Shen Qingqing thought the incense smelled different and suspected it might be dangerous.
• Shen Qingqing fainted, and Ye Tangtang cried for help as Ye Yubei hurried to the Palace of Gathered Elegance.

Imperial physicians discovered that Shen Qingqing had been poisoned and might never conceive again, while Ye Tangtang accused the Empress of harming her. Lingyun traced the dangerous incense to Consort Shu, whom Ye Yubei confronted, but she denied reaching Shen Qingqing and taunted him about his past.

• Imperial Physician Liu diagnosed Shen Qingqing with poisoning and warned that her health had been damaged so severely that she might never conceive again.
• Ye Tangtang told Ye Yubei that Shen Qingqing had complained about the incense and accused the Empress of harming her after a visit to Phoenix Hall.
• Lingyun examined the incense and identified duo luo, saying Consort Shu was likely the only person capable of making it.
• Ye Yubei stormed into Consort Shu's quarters, seized her by the throat, and demanded to know why she had tried to murder Shen Qingqing.
• Consort Shu denied responsibility and mocked Ye Yubei over his past and his doomed love.

Ye Yubei confronted Consort Shu and the Empress over the plot against Shen Qingqing, uncovering the Empress’s crimes and ordering her deposition. The Empress then revealed that Shen Qingqing had chosen to drink the medicine herself, leaving Ye Yubei shaken.

• Ye Yubei released Consort Shu and threatened to use her pregnancy and the King of Yue’s secret weapons program against him and the Lu Family.
• Ye Yubei confronted the Empress about the incense planted in Shen Qingqing’s room, and a young eunuch testified that she had ordered him to replace it.
• The Empress denied responsibility, but Ye Yubei accused Lu Yuanxi of orchestrating events thirteen years earlier and making Shen Qingqing drink a substance.
• Ye Yubei kicked the Empress away and announced that he would depose her and confine her to the Cold Palace.
• The Empress claimed Shen Qingqing had willingly drunk the medicine and hated Ye Yubei, and he hurled her to the floor.

Ye Yubei feared Shen Qingqing no longer loved him after learning she had willingly drunk safflower, but she reassured him that she had once wanted only to survive and had since decided to give him another chance. The Empress and Ye Muxue faced the collapse of their influence as Ye Yubei returned to Shen Qingqing and reconciled with her.

• The Empress told Ye Yubei that Shen Qingqing had happily drunk safflower to ensure she would never bear him another child, and Ye Yubei left in despair.
• Ye Muxue found the Empress in the ruined palace, and the Empress warned her that the Lu Family had fallen and her own position as Empress was in danger.
• Ye Yubei confronted Shen Qingqing at the Palace of Gathered Elegance, but Ye Tangtang stopped him from hurting her.
• Shen Qingqing admitted that she had willingly drunk the safflower to focus on surviving with Ye Tangtang, but later chose to give Ye Yubei another chance because she still loved him.
• Ye Yubei embraced Shen Qingqing, and Eunuch Wang dragged Ye Tangtang away before her parents could kiss.

Ye Tangtang discussed finding a suitable man to have a healthy baby with, while Jun Yuyuan tried to persuade her that he was the best choice. Their conversation was interrupted when the King of Yue and Lord Lu’s forces surrounded the imperial city, and Jun Yuyuan asked whether Tangtang would leave him.

• Ye Tangtang decided she would choose a handsome, capable man to have a daughter with and set out to find the Young Marquis.
• Jun Yuyuan warned Ye Tangtang that the Young Marquis was unhealthy and suggested that Jun Yuyuan himself fit her ideal requirements.
• Ye Tangtang thought Jun Yuyuan could not have babies, angering him as he denied the rumor.
• Palace guards reported that the King of Yue and Lord Lu’s troops had surrounded the imperial city, and Ye Tangtang realized the unrest had begun earlier than expected.
• Jun Yuyuan took Ye Tangtang somewhere safe, and she said she would stay with Emperor Father because he now remembered and treated her well.
• Jun Yuyuan asked Ye Tangtang whether she would leave him.

Prince Yue and Grand Secretary Lu surrounded the Imperial City with a much larger force than the Imperial Guards could muster, leaving Ye Yubei short on time and options. He told Ye Tangtang that she and Consort Shu should escape through the palace secret passage, but she refused to leave him behind.

• Ye Tangtang and Jun Yuyuan learned that Prince Yue and Grand Secretary Lu had encircled the palace with twenty thousand troops, and Jun Yuyuan insisted she stay beside him.
• Ye Tangtang watched Prince Yue's army from the city wall, blamed the altered plot on herself, and bit Jun Yuyuan after he called her stupid.
• Ye Yubei arrived at the gate tower, where Prince Yue demanded that he hand over Consort Shu and Grand Secretary Lu claimed the Lu Family had been driven to rebel.
• Ye Yubei threatened Lu Qin with an arrow and learned that fewer than three thousand Imperial Guards were available, while reinforcements would take three days to arrive.
• Ye Yubei ordered Consort Shu brought to him and told Ye Tangtang to escape with her through the Imperial Palace Secret Passage, but Ye Tangtang hugged his arm and refused to go.

Ye Tangtang used explosive packs to attack Prince Yue and his forces, turning the standoff in Ye Yubei’s favor. The chapter ended when Commander Bai reported that Consort Shu had poisoned herself to avoid implicating Prince Yue.

• Ye Yubei tried to persuade Ye Tangtang to leave while he faced the King of Yue, but she refused to let go of his arm.
• The King of Yue taunted Ye Tangtang about his earlier attempt to have her killed, so she prepared her explosive packs.
• Ye Tangtang lit an explosive pack and threw it beside the King of Yue, injuring him and leaving his legs numb.
• Ye Tangtang threw a second explosive pack, but the King of Yue’s people scattered before it could hurt many of them.
• Commander Bai arrived alone and told Ye Yubei that Consort Shu had taken poison and killed herself to avoid implicating Prince Yue.

Ye Yubei concealed Consort Shu’s death while the King of Yue threatened to attack the imperial city unless she was released. As the palace prepared for a siege, Ye Tangtang and Shen Qingqing stayed with Ye Yubei, and Jun Yuyuan promised to protect Ye Tangtang.

• Commander Bai told Ye Yubei that Consort Shu had poisoned herself, and Ye Yubei ordered him to keep her death secret.
• The King of Yue demanded Consort Shu’s release and threatened to raze the imperial city, while Grand Secretary Lu urged him to attack.
• Ye Yubei arranged for the palace residents to flee through a secret passage, but Ye Tangtang and Shen Qingqing refused to leave him.
• Ye Tangtang asked Jun Yuyuan to protect her, and he agreed; Ye Yubei accepted his help as the palace faced a possible siege.
• Ye Tangtang gave Jun Yuyuan an explosive pack for protection and returned to her palace with Shen Qingqing.

As the King of Yue’s forces attacked the imperial palace, Jun Yuyuan agreed to escort Ye Tangtang to safety. Ye Tangtang instead opened her mystery boxes, found a handgun, and fired at the King of Yue, leaving both armies stunned.

• Ye Tangtang woke to fighting outside and joined Jun Yuyuan on the city wall.
• Ye Yubei asked Jun Yuyuan to escort Ye Tangtang out of the city, and Jun Yuyuan agreed.
• Ye Tangtang used her points to open 138 mystery boxes while preparing to leave.
• Ye Tangtang found a handgun and fired at the King of Yue, who fell from his wheelchair as the combatants stared at her.