Chapter Summaries

Liu Wan celebrated Little Wanwan’s first spoken word, arranged support for her congee shed, and recruited Qing Da as a steward. She punished Xu Rourou for challenging her authority, leaving the household conflict unresolved.

• Little Wanwan called Liu Wan “Mama,” delighting her, and Liu Wan learned that Liu Shi had obeyed her request to smear ink on Xie Jin'an and the others.
• Little Wanwan recalled that a flood would soon let her father earn merit and promote Xu Rourou, while Liu Wan sent expense lists to Madam Li and her family home for the congee shed.
• Qing Da thanked Liu Wan for saving him, and she appointed him steward of the Second Courtyard and arranged to hire his strong daughter as a maid.
• Liu Wan had Xu Rourou kneel in the sun, then explained that she was being punished for challenging Liu Wan’s authority over the congee shed donation.

Liu Wan faced down Xu Rourou and Madam Li as both challenged her authority, while Little Wanwan's thoughts revealed Madam Li's past schemes. After Madam Li demanded control of the household, Liu Wan surrendered the keys and jade pendant, and Madam Li's hair caught fire as she left in chaos.

• Liu Wan ordered Xu Rourou to kneel until sunset and warned her not to act like Huai Shan's mother.
• Madam Li arrived to defend Xu Rourou and accused Liu Wan of disrespecting her and mismanaging the Marquis's Residence.
• Little Wanwan silently exposed Madam Li's history of plotting against the family and mocked her charred appearance.
• Madam Li tore up Liu Wan's donation list, declared the household opposed it, and demanded the storeroom keys and Matriarch's Jade Pendant.
• Liu Wan agreed to hand over the household items and shut the door on Madam Li, whose hair caught fire as her attendants scrambled to help.
• A matron carrying Xie Huaishan discovered the child had wet himself while Madam Li fled back to her courtyard.

Liu Wan allowed Xu Rourou to take Xie Huaishan to the Fourth Master's courtyard while Xie Jin'an and Madam Li dealt with the aftermath of their bizarre blackening. After handing household finances back to Madam Li and hearing that the heir and Concubine Xu were fighting, Liu Wan and Little Wanwan were left anticipating the new commotion.

• A servant extinguished the fire on Madam Li's head with Xie Huaishan's soiled diaper, and the maids escorted her away while Little Wanwan laughed at the scene.
• Liu Wan told Pan Chun to inform Xu Rourou that she could accompany Xie Huaishan to the Fourth Master's courtyard, and Xu Rourou took the child there.
• Xie Jin'an failed to scrub the blackness from his face, beat his servant and the Residence Physician, and asked Xu Xinbo to invite Master Yuantong for help.
• Xie Jin'an learned that Xu Rourou and Xie Huaishan had gone to his Fourth Brother's courtyard, then frightened the old madam into fainting when he appeared before her.
• Wang Xia returned from the Minister's Residence with Liu Wan's hundred-tael banknote, and Liu Wan explained that Madam Li had inherited the household's debts after taking over its finances.
• Pan Chun reported that the heir and Concubine Xu were fighting, and Little Wanwan eagerly listened for gossip.

Liu Wan’s schemes deepened the mistrust between Xie Jin'an and Xu Rourou, while the shy but superstrong Qing Sheng proved invaluable in her courtyard. As refugees arrived after flooding in a neighboring county, Xie Jin'an volunteered for relief work, and Xu Rourou tried to reconcile with him while avoiding his ink-blackened face.

• Liu Wan learned that Xie Jin'an and Xu Rourou had argued over her visit to the Fourth Master, then told Pan Chun to claim she was ill if either came looking for her.
• A servant reported that Madam Li fainted after seeing three ink-blackened people, and Xie Jin'an took Xu Rourou back to his courtyard.
• Liu Wan warned the newly arrived Qing Sheng not to accept food from others or visit the Third Master's courtyard, then assigned her heavy chores.
• Qing Sheng lifted a water-filled vat and completed a day's worth of heavy work in half a day, convincing Liu Wan she had found a remarkable talent.
• The Liu Minister's Residence distributed porridge and organized relief for refugees after floods displaced people from a neighboring county.
• Xie Jin'an volunteered to provide disaster relief, and Xu Rourou embraced him from behind and pleaded for reconciliation while avoiding his face.

Xie Jin'an and Madam Li sought Master Yuantong’s help with the strange misfortunes at the Marquis’s Residence, and he used a talisman to steer them away from the deity they had offended. In the imperial court, Liu Shi was assigned to disaster relief and Liu Wan’s family received imperial rewards, leaving Madam Li furious and accusing Liu Wan of giving the credit to outsiders.

• Xie Jin'an welcomed Master Yuantong, who said Madam Li and the others had angered a powerful deity and gave them a talisman to worship.
• Master Yuantong reported the Coal Mine Spirits’ strange journey and the refugees’ prayers to the emperor, recommending that they be sought out to aid flood victims in Anyuan County.
• Minister Liu redirected the relief mission toward his third son, Liu Shi, and the emperor assigned Liu Shi to provide disaster relief.
• The emperor rewarded Minister Liu’s wife with the title of Third-Rank Imperial Lady and promised a separate reward for his married daughter, Liu Wan.
• Madam Li saw imperial gifts being carried into Liu Wan’s storeroom and accused her of giving the Marquis’s Residence’s credit to outsiders.

After the palace’s rewards went to Liu Wan and her birth family, Madam Li and the Marquis’s household demanded a share. Liu Wan exposed their hypocrisy and defended her rewards, leaving Madam Li furious and their family dispute unresolved.

• Madam Li, Xie Jinzhao, Xie Jinqiu, and Li Duoduo criticized Liu Wan for directing the rewards to the Minister’s Residence and demanded that they belong to the Marquis’s Residence.
• Liu Wan reminded Madam Li that she had rejected Liu Wan’s original plan, then defended her birth family and warned that slandering an imperial lady was an offense.
• Madam Li ordered the matrons to seize Liu Wan, but Qing Sheng dropped her Iron Rod and flung two matrons away with her bare hands.
• Liu Wan rebuked Xie Jinzhao for refusing to donate, challenged Xie Jinqiu to give up his century-old ginseng, and mocked Li Duoduo for coveting the rewards.
• Madam Li called Liu Wan a shrew, and Liu Wan answered with a taunt.

Liu Wan stood her ground against Madam Li and Xie Jin'an while considering her future in the Marquis's Residence. An imperial decree then upended the household when Xie Jin'an, Madam Li, and Xu Rourou's brother were taken away.

• Madam Li accused Liu Wan of mistreating her and demanded that Xie Jin'an divorce her, but Xie Jin'an stopped short of confronting Liu Wan.
• Liu Wan reassured Xie Zi Mu and Xie Zi Xing, then learned Zi Xing's new servant had been badmouthing her.
• Wang Xia returned from watching the Front Courtyard and revealed that the imperial decree ordered Xie Jin'an, Madam Li, and Xu Rourou's brother to be bound and taken away.

Liu Wan dealt with the household’s troubles while learning that Xie Zixing had been lured into using banned Happy Powder on Flower Street. She sent Qing Da and martial servants to seize two people, as Xie Zixing was confronted over a ten-thousand-tael bill.

• Wang Xia told Liu Wan that the heir and his wife had been sent to Anyuan County after being mistaken for Coal Mine Spirits.
• Wang Xia persuaded Xu Rourou to take Young Master Huai Shan to visit Fourth Master by suggesting he might manage the Marquis's Residence.
• Xie Zimu warned Liu Wan that Xie Zixing had gone to Flower Street, and Little Wanwan revealed that Madam Li had sent a servant to lead him there.
• Liu Wan sent Qing Da and martial servants to Flower Street to seize two people, despite the danger to her reputation.
• At a Gambling House, Xie Zixing learned he owed ten thousand taels for Happy Powder, and the Female Gambling Housekeeper's enforcers surrounded him when he could not pay.

Xie Zixing was rescued after a Gambling House lured him into taking banned Happy Powder and trapped him in a debt he could not pay. Liu Wan confronted him at the Xie Residence and made him choose between reforming and leaving, while Xie Zimu realized someone had deliberately harmed him.

• Xie Zixing refused to gamble or let the Female Gambling Housekeeper take him to the Marquis's Residence, so her thugs beat him until Qing Da arrived with servants and rescued him.
• Qing Da reported that the authorities had shut down the Gambling House, confiscated the powder, and taken Xie Zixing's servant into custody.
• Liu Wan scolded Xie Zixing for neglecting his studies and her teachings, while he begged her forgiveness and asked Xie Zimu to plead for him.
• Xie Zimu turned away, but Xie Zixing heard his sister's thoughts and realized he had been tricked into taking the powder.
• Liu Wan gave Xie Zixing the choice to study, train, and quit the powder or leave the Xie Residence; he chose to stay and promised to change.
• Xie Jinzhao defended Xie Zixing's right to enjoy himself, but Liu Wan challenged his motives, and he fell silent.

Xie Zimu reminded Xie Zixing of their painful past and urged him to value Liu Wan’s care, while Xie Zixing worked through his addiction and tried to improve. Liu Wan encouraged Qing Sheng to share her first homemade pastries with her father, and Qing Sheng agreed to bring him along that evening.

• Liu Wan rewarded Qing Da and criticized people who led others astray, leaving Xie Jinzhao unable to respond.
• Xie Zimu told Xie Zixing about his mother’s death and how Liu Wan had given him a new life, prompting Xie Zixing to promise to work hard.
• Xie Zimu resolved to earn his scholarly honors ten years early so Xie Huaishan could not take them from him.
• Xie Zixing endured withdrawal, gradually recovered, and began studying and helping around Liu Wan’s courtyard.
• Liu Wan asked Qing Sheng about her friend Xiao Guo and encouraged her to share the pastries she learned to make with her father.
• Qing Sheng thanked Liu Wan and decided to take her father with her that evening.

Qing Da discovered that Xie Jinzhao and Xiao Guo had set a trap for Qing Sheng, then beat Xie Jinzhao after he mistook Qing Da for his daughter. The household gathered in Third Master's courtyard, where Qing Da accused Xie Jinzhao of trying to assault Qing Sheng.

• Qing Sheng practiced shaping pastries with Xiao Guo while Qing Da waited outside the kitchen.
• Xiao Guo gave Qing Sheng fruit wine, then pretended to have a stomachache and left; Qing Da found Qing Sheng unconscious inside.
• Xie Jinzhao entered the dark kitchen, mistook Qing Da for Qing Sheng, and tried to seduce him.
• Qing Da punched and kicked Xie Jinzhao out of the kitchen, then beat him while servants gathered to watch.
• The supervising matron brought Xie Jinqiu to Third Master's courtyard, and Qing Da accused Xie Jinzhao and Xiao Guo of plotting to assault Qing Sheng.
• Xu Rourou arrived with her child and covered the child's eyes after seeing the half-dressed Xie Jinzhao.

After Xie Jinzhao’s assault on Qing Sheng was exposed, Xie Jinqiu tried to handle the household dispute but was publicly undermined. He asked Liu Wan to take charge, yet Little Wanwan’s thoughts revealed his hidden schemes, so Liu Wan sent him to the Old Madam, who warned Xie Jinzhao that his scandal could jeopardize Xie Jinqiu’s marriage to the wealthy Zhong Family’s Daughter.

• Qing Da reenacted Xie Jinzhao’s words, and Xie Jinzhao admitted he wanted to take Qing Sheng as a concubine or expel her and her father.
• Xie Jinzhao mocked Xie Jinqiu’s authority, and Xie Jinqiu told him the matter was not over.
• Xie Jinqiu visited Liu Wan and asked her to take charge of the household after the incident left him anxious.
• Little Wanwan’s thoughts revealed that Xie Jinqiu was a schemer who would exploit Fourth Aunt’s wealth and secretly harm Liu Wan.
• Liu Wan advised Xie Jinqiu to take the dispute to the Old Madam, and he brought her century-old ginseng before doing so.
• The Old Madam rebuked Xie Jinzhao and warned that his scandal could make the Zhong Family break off Xie Jinqiu’s engagement, costing the residence vital wealth.

Xie Jinqiu was ordered to settle Xie Jinzhao’s attempt to assault Qing Sheng by offering her family money or threatening to have her drowned. After Qing Da and Qing Sheng sought Liu Wan’s advice, she urged them to demand more silver, while Little Wanwan tried to get in on the household gossip.

• Old Madam told Xie Jinzhao to apologize to Qing Da and Qing Sheng, and ordered Xie Jinqiu to offer them money or threaten to drown Qing Sheng in a pig cage.
• Xu Rourou brought Xie Huaishan to Xie Jinqiu, who asked whether the infant was truly destined to join the Imperial Family’s genealogy and hinted he might acknowledge him as his son.
• A hidden onlooker saw Xie Jinqiu straighten Xu Rourou’s hairpin, and Wang Xia later whispered what she had witnessed to Liu Wan.
• Qing Da and Qing Sheng thanked Liu Wan for protecting Qing Sheng, then told her Xie Jinqiu had offered them money to keep quiet or threatened them with her death.
• Liu Wan advised Qing Da and Qing Sheng to take advantage of Xie Jinzhao’s apology by asking for more silver.

Liu Wan disciplined Little Wanwan for sneaking donkey-hide gelatin cake, then planned a palace visit and her elder brother’s wedding while the Zhong Family moved to end its engagement with Xie Jinqiu. Xie Jinqiu pleaded with Liu Wan to use her standing to save the match, leaving her facing his request to vouch for him.

• Qing Da and his daughter accepted Liu Wan’s advice to leave and wait for a chance to take revenge.
• Little Wanwan secretly sucked on donkey-hide gelatin cake, suffered a nosebleed, and was punished alongside Xie Zixing.
• Xie Zixing learned from his sister’s thoughts that his father had a mistress and resolved to train harder and smash the gifts his father had given Liu Wan.
• Liu Wan told Pan Chun she would visit the palace to help prepare the Princess’s dowry before attending her elder brother’s wedding, and she ordered Wang Xia to find a baby-food cook.
• The Zhong Family demanded to break Xie Jinqiu’s engagement because he kept a mistress who had borne him a child.
• Xie Jinqiu asked Liu Wan to clear his name and persuade the Zhong Family to preserve the marriage.

Xie Jinqiu tried to pressure Liu Wan into helping him preserve his engagement to the Zhong Family, but she refused and Little Wanwan reflected the Old Madam’s curses back onto her. The Old Madam suffered a stroke and was left helpless as the household struggled to care for her, and the chapter ended when a nanny brought her a letter.

• Xie Jinqiu accused Liu Wan of opposing his marriage to Zhong Youyan and tried to force her to receive Madam Zhong, but Liu Wan sent word that she would support the Zhong Family’s decision to end the engagement.
• When Xie Jinqiu’s men blocked Qing Sheng, she threw them outside and went to deliver Liu Wan’s message.
• The Old Madam prayed for misfortune to befall Liu Wan, and Little Wanwan reflected the curses back onto her.
• The Old Madam suffered a stroke and collapsed, while Xie Jinzhao and Xie Jinqiu struggled to find people willing to care for her.
• The Residence Physician treated the Old Madam, who regained consciousness that evening but could not get up.
• A nanny hurried in and handed the Old Madam a letter.

Zhong Youyan learned from Mama Qing that Xie Jinqiu had a biological son, then sent the Zhong Family to publicly shame the Marquis’s Residence. Liu Wan refused to intervene directly and sent the Third Master to handle the escalating scandal.

• Madam Zhong told Zhong Youyan that Liu Wan respected the Zhong Family’s decision, but Zhong Youyan insisted she would not marry Xie Jinqiu if the rumors were true.
• Zhong Youyan abducted Mama Qing and her old friend, then paid Mama Qing to reveal that Young Master Huai Shan was Xie Jinqiu’s biological son.
• The Zhong Family hurled dung outside the Marquis’s Residence, and the hired women abused and splashed Xie Jinqiu until he collapsed.
• Liu Wan told Wang Xia to summon the Third Master, while Pan Chun noted that sending him would make the situation more interesting.

Xie Jinzhao tried to silence the Zhong Family’s public protest over Fourth Master Xie’s affair, but his servants’ violence drew Qin Yan and Lord Qin into the dispute. The chapter ended with Qing Da bringing out the bound, gagged Zhong Family women, making the kidnapping accusation harder to deny.

• Xie Jinzhao came to the Marquis’s Residence gate and found it covered in dung while Zhong Family women publicly accused Fourth Master Xie of keeping a mistress and fathering a child before marriage.
• Xie Jinzhao ordered his servants to seize the protesting women and beat the crowd; Qing Da struck Qin Yan, and the servants took the women inside.
• Xie Jinzhao offered to dissolve the engagement if the Zhong Family’s young lady met Fourth Master Xie at the Emerald Mist House.
• Qin Yan brought Lord Qin to confront Xie Jinzhao, and townspeople confirmed that the Marquis’s Residence servants had beaten the crowd.
• Xie Jinzhao denied kidnapping anyone and ordered the Zhong Family women brought out, while Qing Da gagged them before presenting them.

Lord Qin arrested Xie Jinzhao after Qing Da framed him with the bound serving women, while Xie Jinqiu followed his brother’s advice and drugged Zhong Youyan at their meeting. After the Zhong Family discovered what happened, Zhong Youyan agreed to marry into the Jing'an Marquis Manor, leaving its household facing her anger.

• Lord Qin had Xie Jinzhao arrested after finding three bound serving women, and Xie Jinzhao realized Qing Da had set him up.
• Xie Jinqiu told Xu Rourou he intended to marry Zhong Youyan and later read a letter from the arrested Xie Jinzhao advising him to force the marriage.
• At the Emerald Mist House, Xie Jinqiu drugged Zhong Youyan and caught her as she collapsed, then attempted to take advantage of her.
• Little Lucky Star raised the alarm, and the Zhong Family arrived and took Zhong Youyan and Xie Jinqiu back to their estate.
• After learning her clansmen had plotted against her and seeing her paralyzed Hidden Guard, Zhong Youyan angrily agreed to marry.

Liu Wan entered the palace with Little Wanwan and learned that Consort Ling’s worsening leg condition was caused by a ghost. After Little Wanwan was buried beneath the coral tree with the Empress Dowager and appeared to rejuvenate her, the Empress Dowager decided to make her a princess.

• Liu Wan heard that Xie Jinqiu’s engagement scandal had ended with the Zhong Family setting a wedding date, then declined her Charity Hall duty because she was going to the palace for the Fifth Princess’s wedding.
• Liu Wan learned from a eunuch that Consort Ling could no longer move her legs, while Little Wanwan sensed that a legless ghost was haunting her and hinted that a Late Emperor’s consort was involved.
• The Empress Dowager welcomed Little Wanwan beneath the coral tree and had a pit filled with soil so they could lie buried together.
• The Empress Dowager emerged feeling better and looking decades younger, while Little Wanwan ate dirt and called her a pretty big sister.
• The Empress Dowager declared that she would make Little Wanwan a princess, despite the child’s attempts to invoke her parents and grandmother.

The Empress Dowager brought Little Wanwan to the Imperial Study and proposed making her a princess, even suggesting harsh punishments for anyone who objected. The emperor heard Little Wanwan’s thoughts and delighted in her praise, but the Empress Dowager’s threats left him grimacing.

• The Empress Dowager decided to take Little Wanwan to meet the emperor and make her a princess, while Liu Wan stayed behind with Xia Zhao.
• At the Imperial Study, the emperor and ministers discussed flood relief and agreed that Marquis Jing'an's Heir Apparent and his companions could remain in Anyuan County.
• The Empress Dowager arrived muddy with Little Wanwan, and the emperor dismissed Minister Liu after Little Wanwan’s thoughts revealed that the Empress Dowager wanted privacy.
• Little Wanwan praised the emperor’s looks in her thoughts and smoothed the furrows from his brow, making him beam because he alone could hear her.
• The Empress Dowager demanded that the emperor make Little Wanwan a princess and threatened prison, confiscation, and execution for those who resisted.