Recaps

Liu Wan dismissed corrupt accountants and began investigating the Prince's Manor's missing funds, while Xia Siheng went to the palace to hear evidence against a court official linked to East Lin and Princess Ximing. The chapter ended with the Empress Dowager presenting the evidence to Xia Siheng.

• Jing Er told Liu Wan that Xia Siheng had been summoned to the palace after the Empress Dowager identified a high-ranking official connected to East Lin and Princess Ximing.
• Jing Er explained that Xia Siheng had bought the manor's shops years earlier to trace money Ruyun had diverted, and that he wanted Liu Wan to find the culprit and recover the funds.
• Liu Wan ordered the three accountants who had falsified records for Ruyun dismissed from the Prince's Manor.
• Jing Er told Jing Wu that Xia Siheng had prepared the investigation for Liu Wan, and wondered if Ruyun had been left for Liu Wan to deal with.
• The Empress Dowager showed Xia Siheng evidence that the substance used to sever Consort Xian's rope came from East Lin and that a high-ranking Imperial Court official had colluded with East Lin.

The Empress Dowager told Xia Siheng to deal with Duke Yan’s East Lin conspiracy without publicly convicting him or tarnishing his father’s name, and Xia Wanwan eagerly joined the plan to help pass the new law. After they left, the Empress Dowager summoned the Emperor and warned him not to approve a memorial.

• Xia Siheng examined evidence linking Duke Yan to East Lin’s plot to replace the Empress and Consort Xian and influence Great Xia’s succession.
• The Empress Dowager instructed Xia Siheng to preserve Old Duke Yan’s reputation while resolving the matter and handed him a list of officials opposing Xia Wanwan’s new law.
• Xia Siheng said he and Xia Wanwan would handle Duke Yan, and Xia Wanwan agreed after hearing that his estate held plenty of secrets and gossip.
• The Empress Dowager let Xia Siheng take Xia Wanwan home, then ordered Eunuch Yu to summon the Emperor.
• The Empress Dowager threw a memorial before the Emperor and warned that she would never spare him if he approved it.

The emperor consulted the Empress Dowager about Eastern Lin’s demand that Xia Siheng visit, and she refused to let Great Xia yield to the pressure. Meanwhile, Ruyun plotted to drug the Prince during the Consecration Ceremony, while the Eldest Princess of Southern Mei learned that a Demon God sought the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup to resurrect himself.

• The emperor told the Empress Dowager that Eastern Lin had sent a treasure and demanded Xia Siheng visit with his family, and she ordered him to refuse and return the treasure publicly.
• Ruyun took the yin drug and planned to have Steward Qi put the yang drug in the Prince’s food or medicine during the Consecration Ceremony.
• The Eldest Princess of Southern Mei learned that her emperor had refused to save General Li Meng and ordered her to bring back the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup for a Demon God’s protection.
• A Shu killed the messenger after he relayed the emperor’s order, and the Eldest Princess realized the Demon God wanted the deity’s ashes in the cup to rebuild his body and resurrect himself.

At the Divine Temple’s consecration, the Grandmaster’s Divine Soul appeared and used his dwindling power to answer the crowd’s desperate prayers. Xia Wanwan begged him to stop, but he continued helping people, leaving her crying over how weak he had become.

• Zhong Fu boasted to everyone on the way up God of Wealth Mountain that the Zhong Family had funded the Divine Temple and that Zhong Youyan was a Commandery Princess.
• The emperor removed the red cloth from the Divine Statue, and light from the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup made its eyes shine as five-colored rays spread over the crowd.
• Xia Wanwan saw the Grandmaster’s Divine Soul and learned that he was too weakened by past battles to grant her three promised wishes for now.
• Worshippers prayed for help with illness, injustice, poverty, and safety, and the Grandmaster spent his remaining divine power granting blessings.
• Xia Wanwan cried out for the Grandmaster to stop using his power, but he continued helping the crowd until Liu Wan carried her aside and wiped her tears.

Xia Wanwan learned that her transmigration was arranged by the Grandmaster to stop Jiyan, and that the events she had thought were a novel were real history. As the Eldest Princess prepared to leave Great Xia with the sacred relic, Xia Siheng agreed to escort her, planning to use the trip to confront the East Lin spy Aye.

• The Grandmaster revealed that Xia Wanwan had been brought to the past to eliminate Jiyan, who had trapped Xie Huaishan in the World-Suppressing Tower until the twenty-first century.
• Xia Wanwan realized that the book she had read was a historical record and became furious at the Grandmaster, while Liu Wan and the imperial women tried to comfort her.
• The Eldest Princess asked the emperor to let her take the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup and leave for Southern Mei with the Glazed Glass Lamp, and he agreed.
• The Eldest Princess requested Xia Siheng escort her out of the city, and he accepted while planning to kill Aye, the East Lin spy who had once handed his birth mother the White Silk.
• Xia Wanwan cried and threw a tantrum to get Father to take her along, while the Eldest Princess complained about bringing the little girl.

Before leaving with Xia Siheng, Xia Wanwan gave Liu Wan a protective wooden gourd, and the Eldest Princess realized that Wanwan was the mysterious expert. At the Divine Temple, Gu Ming attacked during the Consecration Ceremony, and Liu Wan reached for the gourd as the crowd faced his threat.

• Xia Wanwan gave Liu Wan a wooden gourd and taught her to say “mommy mommy hum” to deal with danger.
• The Eldest Princess realized Xia Wanwan was the Spirit Child and the mysterious power protecting the Great Xia Dynasty.
• Xia Siheng rode out with Xia Wanwan while the Eldest Princess's procession left the city.
• At the Divine Temple, the incense snapped, dark clouds gathered, and evil spirits attacked those who remained to offer incense.
• Gu Ming, the Baleful Aura Master's Left Guardian, appeared and shattered Master Yuantong's barrier after demanding that everyone leave.
• Liu Wan reached toward the gourd in her cuff as Gu Ming threatened the people and the Divine Temple.

Gu Ming tempted the common people to drive the emperor out of the Divine Temple so he could destroy the Divine Statue. As they wavered, the Deities’ promised blessings began to come true, leaving Xie Jin'an and others astonished.

• The emperor confronted Gu Ming with the Imperial Sword and refused to leave the Divine Temple.
• Gu Ming promised wealth, health, and fulfilled wishes to anyone who pushed the emperor out, and the common people began to rise against the imperial guards.
• Zhong Fu offered the crowd silver notes, but Gu Ming’s power forced him to his knees, and Gu Ming urged the people to drive out the emperor.
• The sick child in the woman’s arms woke and began crying, and the woman said the Deities had promised the child would recover if she did good.
• The middle-aged merchant and others said the Deities had also spoken to them, promising that the wicked would face consequences and that the old and ill would find peace; Xie Jin'an confirmed he had heard a voice too.

Xie Jin'an and the people of Great Xia stood against Gu Ming to protect the emperor, but Gu Ming unleashed his ultimate attack. Liu Wan used the Gourd to stop one strike and faced the demonic storm as it swept the crowd away.

• Xie Jin'an urged the people to defend the emperor, and they gathered around him rather than hand him over to Gu Ming.
• Gu Ming forced the crowd to their knees and attacked Liu Wan and the Imperial Family, prompting the emperor to rush to his mother's aid.
• Xie Jin'an shoved the emperor out of danger and prepared to take Gu Ming's fatal strike, but Liu Wan stood up and used the Gourd to absorb the black energy.
• The emperor drew the Imperial Sword and threatened Gu Ming, who dismissed him and gathered demonic wind to kill the mortals and destroy the Divine Statue.
• Gu Ming unleashed his ultimate attack, scattering the crowd as Liu Wan chanted, "Abracadabra!"

Liu Wan and the women joined forces to capture Gu Ming in the gourd and destroy the evil spirits. As Xia Siheng escorted the Eldest Princess out of the city, he revealed that Southern Mei’s imperial death warriors had tried to kill her before, and an ambush began on the mountain road.

• Gu Ming ordered the evil spirits to attack Liu Wan, but the emperor drew the real Imperial Sword and Zhong Youyan pulled Liu Wan to safety.
• Zhong Youyan, the Empress Dowager, Consort Ling, and Liu Wan worked together, allowing Liu Wan to bind Gu Ming with the gourd and suck him inside.
• The evil spirits vanished, and the people in the Divine Temple cheered as Liu Wan recognized that the Divine Statue approved of them all, especially the little dumpling.
• Xia Siheng told the Eldest Princess that the mountain bandits he had defeated were Southern Mei death warriors marked with purple cuckoo tattoos.
• The Eldest Princess realized her younger brother had ordered her death, and arrows suddenly rained down on her carriage as Xia Wanwan excitedly prepared to fight.

Xia Siheng and the Eldest Princess faced Southern Mei death-sworn warriors while East Lin assassins watched from hiding, each group seeking the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup. The Eldest Princess realized her brother had ordered her death and offered the cup to draw the assassins closer, while waiting for East Lin to make its move.

• Aye and the East Lin assassins watched the attack and decided to wait for the two groups to weaken each other.
• Xia Siheng urged the Eldest Princess to leave the conspicuous carriage and help turn the Southern Mei assassins against the East Lin attackers.
• The Eldest Princess recognized the attackers as Southern Mei death-sworn warriors and realized her brother had betrayed her, so she resolved to withdraw from government and live for herself.
• The Eldest Princess stepped out and told the death-sworn warriors to stop, but they kept advancing toward her.
• Aye held back his East Lin assassins as the Eldest Princess claimed the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup was in her carriage and had attendants bring it out.

Aye’s East Lin assassins attack the Southern Mei Death Warriors, only for Aye to realize Xia Siheng had maneuvered both sides into fighting. Xia confronts Aye and recounts how Aye’s actions led to Xia’s birth mother’s death, leaving Aye facing the consequences of the past.

• Aye ordered the East Lin assassins to attack the Southern Mei Death Warriors as they surrounded the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup.
• A Southern Mei Death Warrior attacked the Eldest Princess, and Xia Siheng saved her by killing him.
• Aye realized Xia Siheng had anticipated both attacks and staged the handover to provoke the two forces into battle.
• Xia Siheng exposed Aye’s hiding place with a flying broken sword and confronted him with the sword raised.
• Xia Siheng accused Aye of helping drive his birth mother to her death, while Aye defended his actions as obedience to East Lin’s orders.

Xia Wanwan used a Five-Lightning Strike Talisman to unleash heavenly lightning on the fighting forces while Aye and Xia Siheng battled on the hillside. As the survivors closed in on her, she gathered them together and prepared a devastating final strike.

• Aye explained to Xia Siheng that he had reported the Princess’s letter out of loyalty to his Sovereign and country, and the two resumed their fierce duel.
• Xia Wanwan climbed onto the abandoned carriage and summoned lightning, prompting Jing Wu to direct his men to retreat behind a safety line.
• Xia Wanwan’s lightning struck the Southern Mei Death Warriors and East Lin assassins, while Jing Wu’s men kept them from entering the safe zone.
• The surviving fighters realized Xia Wanwan was summoning the lightning and charged toward her, but she welcomed them and gathered power for an enhanced attack.
• Xia Wanwan ignored Heavenly Secrets’ attention, raised her pink Little Iron Shovel, and called down an earth-shattering bolt beside her.

After Xia Wanwan annihilated the attackers with lightning, the Eldest Princess revealed that Southern Mei had allied with the Demon God and asked Xia Wanwan to prepare to face him. The Eldest Princess offered rare cultivation resources to persuade Xia Wanwan to go to Southern Mei, and Xia Wanwan stopped at the mention of spirit herbs and pills.

• Xia Wanwan blasted the attackers into ashes, then told Jing Wu she had done it because corpses frightened her.
• The Eldest Princess asked Xia Wanwan to deal with the Demon God, while Jing Wu insisted that no one interfere in the Ninth Prince's duel.
• The Eldest Princess told Xia Wanwan that Southern Mei's emperor planned to offer the Gold-and-Jade Glazed Cup to the Demon God, and she believed Xia Wanwan was the Spirit Child who could oppose him.
• Xia Wanwan secretly divined that she still could not defeat Jiyan and worried that he would discover her identity.
• The Eldest Princess offered Xia Wanwan third-rank spirit herbs, Fifth-Rank Spirit Pills, and other resources, and Xia Wanwan turned back in surprise.

Xia Wanwan gave the Eldest Princess spirit herbs and pills she considered trash in exchange for a promise to keep her power secret. After the Southern Mei convoy departed, Xia Siheng finished taking revenge on his enemies, but Xia Wanwan began crying at the sight of the bodies.

• Xia Wanwan showed the Eldest Princess spirit herbs and fifth-rank pills, then gave her some as long as she kept Xia Wanwan’s power secret.
• Xia Wanwan touched the Eldest Princess’s forehead with spiritual power and warned that her head would explode if she broke her promise.
• The Eldest Princess reflected that Southern Mei was threatened by Southern Yue and had made a bargain with the Demon God to preserve its realm.
• After A Shu led the Southern Mei convoy away, Xia Siheng drove his sword through Aye’s chest, completing his revenge.
• Jing Wu told Xia Siheng that all the enemies were dead and that the Eldest Princess had been threatened while Princess Ximing erased the guards’ memories.
• Xia Wanwan praised her father, then covered her eyes and sobbed at the bodies, prompting Xia Siheng to hurry to comfort her.

Liu Wan uncovered the Moji Tavern as an East Lin spy base and learned Ruyun planned to drug Xia Siheng. Chunhua intercepted Ruyun’s attempt and prepared to turn the poisoned dish against the captured spies.

• Xia Siheng stabbed Aye’s corpse several more times to calm Xia Wanwan, then used a talisman to burn it to ashes.
• Liu Wan found evidence that the Moji Tavern had evaded twenty thousand taels in taxes and sent Jing Er to have its occupants arrested.
• Wang Xia told Liu Wan that Ruyun planned to drug Xia Siheng and take his child back to East Lin, so Chunhua proposed a counterplan.
• Jing Er reported that the Moji Tavern was a spy base led by Wu Bi, whose members were now held in the Government Office jail.
• Ruyun slipped an aphrodisiac into a dish meant for Xia Siheng, but Chunhua’s cook had switched it aside and Chunhua ordered the drug mixed in and sent to the captured spies.

Xia Siheng returned to the Prince's Manor after avenging his mother, and Liu Wan comforted him as he grieved. At dinner, Ruyun came to seek forgiveness while secretly planning to drug Xia Siheng, and Liu Wan made her serve the meal.

• Xia Siheng returned bloodied from battle with the sleeping little princess, and Liu Wan sent the child to rest.
• Liu Wan embraced Xia Siheng and comforted him as he quietly wept over his mother's death and his revenge.
• Liu Wan allowed Ruyun into the Main Courtyard after Ruyun knelt outside and asked to be forgiven.
• Ruyun knelt before Liu Wan while secretly thinking that a drugged dish would make Liu Wan beg her for help.
• Liu Wan told Wang Xia to invite Xia Siheng to dine and said Ruyun would serve him.
• Xia Siheng sat beside Liu Wan, and Ruyun began serving him while asking him to lift her confinement.

Ruyun tried to drug Xia Siheng with a dish she believed Liu Wan had cooked, but the original food went to Big Yellow, whose antics frightened Ruyun into fleeing. After learning the truth, Xia Siheng discovered that the soy-braised chicken drumsticks he had sent away were the dish Liu Wan had made for him.

• Ruyun piled the supposed drugged dish into Xia Siheng's bowl, but he and Liu Wan ate it without any effect.
• A kitchen hand revealed that a male dog had eaten Liu Wan's original dish and that the food on the table was a replacement.
• Ruyun ordered the dog killed, but Big Yellow charged into the courtyard, and she fled through the back gate.
• Liu Wan and Xia Siheng learned that Qing Da had staged the incident to fool Ruyun, while Wang Xia went to spread word that East Lin's spies had been captured and ransom money was required.
• Xia Siheng ordered Big Yellow to receive the soy-braised chicken drumsticks, then learned from Liu Wan that they were the dish she had cooked for him.

Xia Wanwan and Xia Siheng both craved Liu Wan’s drumsticks, while Big Yellow lost his to a thief and then nearly lost the last one to Xia Wanwan. Liu Wan discovered her husband and daughter’s snacking and made them eat a whole plate, then sent more drumsticks to Qing Da and Big Yellow.

• Qing Da found Big Yellow’s drumstick stolen, but Xia Wanwan took the dog’s remaining drumstick and returned it after learning Big Yellow had no others.
• A hidden figure tossed a picked-clean drumstick bone at Xia Wanwan before vanishing.
• Liu Wan found Xia Siheng with sauce around his mouth after he had eaten drumsticks in the Small Kitchen.
• Xia Wanwan told Liu Wan she wanted to catch the thief who had stolen Big Yellow’s drumstick, and Liu Wan realized Xia Siheng and his daughter had both been sneaking food.
• Liu Wan made Xia Siheng and Xia Wanwan finish six drumsticks, then prepared more to share between Qing Da and Big Yellow.
• Wang Xia delivered the drumsticks to Qing Da’s courtyard, where Qing Sheng handed them to her father.

Chunhua confronted the jailed East Lin spy Wu Bi with evidence about his past and demanded the names of Great Xia officials working with East Lin. When he refused to talk, Ruyun arrived at the jail and was thrown into his cell.

• Qing Da ate both chicken drumsticks instead of sharing them with the dog, while Wang Xia and Qing Sheng also secretly shared their portions.
• Wu Bi told his follower that Chief Aye would likely rescue them before dawn and worried that Ruyun might have been caught.
• Chunhua confronted Wu Bi with his history and revealed that Ruyun was his friend’s younger sister and an East Lin spy.
• Wu Bi refused to give Chunhua a list of Great Xia officials who dealt with East Lin, even after she told him Chief Aye had been killed and Ruyun’s mission had failed.
• Ruyun came to the jail claiming she had brought money for the detained merchants, and Wu Bi shouted for her to run before she was thrown into his cell.

Ruyun and Wu Bi realized that Liu Wan and Xia Siheng had exposed their spy network after replacing Lingling with an impostor and killing their allies. Wu Bi accepted that they would have to die, but Ruyun refused to submit to her fate.

• Ruyun questioned how Liu Wan had learned of her plan to drug the Prince, and Wu Bi pointed out that she had missed the news of the raid on their allies.
• Ruyun discovered that the Lingling beside her was an impostor because the real Lingling had been killed the previous night.
• Wu Bi deduced that Xia Siheng and Liu Wan had uncovered their plot, while Xia Siheng killed Commander Aye and Liu Wan eliminated their contacts in the Prince's Manor.
• Wu Bi said their mission had failed and urged Ruyun to take her own life before East Lin's agents arrived.
• Ruyun pleaded that she had sacrificed much for East Lin and declared that she would not accept death.

Ruyun manipulated Wu Bi into taking a drugged drink and sleeping with her, hoping to become pregnant and secure her survival. After Wu Bi killed himself, an envoy arrived and demanded to know whether her claimed child was truly Xia Siheng’s.

• Ruyun decided that bearing a child she could pass off as Xia Siheng’s would give her a chance to escape and survive.
• Wu Bi and the spies in the neighboring cell chose to kill themselves rather than be captured or betray East Lin, and Chunhua left the jail.
• Ruyun secretly drugged Wu Bi’s wine, slept with him, and persuaded him that the child might help her return to her brother.
• Wu Bi killed himself, and Ruyun concealed the truth from the arriving envoy by claiming she had conceived Xia Siheng’s child.
• The envoy warned that their lord could verify the divine fetus and asked Ruyun whether the child was truly Xia Siheng’s.

Ruyun escaped the Jail by claiming she carried a divine fetus and was taken to a hidden estate, where Consort Jing planned to steal the fetus for herself. The Empress Dowager learned of the rescue and revealed she had already sent an undetectable expert to follow the East Lin group.

• Ruyun convinced the envoy she was pregnant with a divine fetus, and he used the Illusory Mystery Art to carry her out of the Jail through a fog that trapped their pursuers.
• The envoy brought Ruyun to a lavish estate in Hezhou, where Consort Jing questioned her about conceiving with the Ninth Prince and ordered her to rest until an imperial physician checked her in two months.
• Consort Jing revealed she was also two months pregnant and planned to take the divine fetus from Ruyun and place it in her own womb, ordering the envoy to find a powerful practitioner.
• The envoy kicked a rabbit into Consort Jing's room, and she eagerly held it while the Palace Maid watched.
• Chunhua reported Ruyun's rescue to the Empress Dowager, who said she had sent an expert to follow the East Lin group undetected and confirmed Chunhua was partly right about the expert's identity.

The Empress Dowager revealed that her spy was Extremely, a rabbit raised by Master Youzheng. At the Ninth Prince’s Manor, the children played in the mud, and Liu Wan and Xia Zhao settled on how they would address each other.

• The Empress Dowager told Chunhua that Extremely, Master Youzheng’s rabbit, had been spying for her and had reported back through the bronze mirror.
• Xia Siheng returned to the Ninth Prince’s Manor after agreeing to the Empress Dowager’s plan, then watched Xia Wanwan dig holes and play in the mud with the others.
• Xia Zhao scolded Liu Zi Xing for burying Liu Qingqing, but Qingqing insisted she had asked him to do it and enjoyed the game.
• Xia Siheng pointed out that Liu Qingqing seemed to be developing unusually early, like Xia Wanwan had as a baby.
• Liu Wan arranged for the muddy children to wash up, while Xia Siheng asked how Liu Wan and Xia Zhao addressed their overlapping family relationship.
• Xia Zhao said she called Liu Wan Imperial Aunt, while Liu Wan called Xia Zhao Eldest Sister-in-Law.

Liu Wan promoted Chen Huan to steward of the Back Kitchen, while Xia Zhao teased her and Xia Siheng about romantic matters. At dinner, Yuanbao announced that her confession had succeeded, only to reveal she was dating the young woman’s cat.

• Chen Huan explained his background, and Liu Wan recommended him for the vacant Back Kitchen steward position; Xia Siheng left the decision to her.
• Xia Zhao teased Liu Wan and Xia Siheng about the intimate gifts she had sent Liu Wan, leaving them flustered and curious.
• At dinner, Liu Wan encouraged Xia Wanwan and Liu Qingqing to behave, while the children shared their mischievous thoughts.
• Jing Wu complained that Yuanbao had taken his grilled fish to court a woman, and Yuanbao asked Liu Wan to defend her.
• Yuanbao said the young woman had accepted her confession, but revealed she was now together with the woman’s cat.

Yuanbao revealed that he had courted a tomcat, then left angrily after hinting that a “damned old bastard” had harmed him. Later, Xia Siheng explained the plan to remove Duke Yan, but when Xia Wanwan threatened to kill him with lightning, Heavenly Secrets answered with thunder.

• Yuanbao told Liu Wan and the others that he had pursued a tomcat, and stormed off after vowing to find the old bastard who had wronged him.
• Xia Zhao left with Liu Qingqing, who kissed Liu Zi Xing goodbye and promised to visit him again.
• Xia Siheng told Xia Wanwan that Duke Yan was an East Lin spy and that removing him would clear opposition to her new law.
• Xia Wanwan threatened to strike Duke Yan down with lightning, and thunder rumbled in the clear sky as Heavenly Secrets warned her again.