Chapter Summaries

Xu Xinbo, Xu Rourou, and Madam Li fled the Xie Residence together, with Madam Li revealing that she and Xu Xinbo planned to elope. The chapter ended with Marquis Jing'an discovering that Madam Li and Xu Rourou were missing and ordering a search.

• Xu Xinbo persuaded Madam Li to flee with him and Xu Rourou, and she agreed despite her doubts about Xu Rourou.
• Madam Li arranged their escape through a secret passage, and the three left in a carriage with Huai Shan.
• Madam Li told Xu Rourou to call her Eldest Sister-in-Law and proposed that Xie Jin'an call Xu Xinbo Father.
• Marquis Jing'an found Madam Li's room empty, suspected she had a lover, and ordered servants to search the residence.
• Xie Jin'an defended his mother, but an old servant woman reported that Xu Rourou was missing too.

Xia Wanwan dreamed that Xie Huaishan would flee to Southern Mei and return years later to destroy her family, so Liu Wan ordered the Xie family stopped at the city gates. Xu Rourou and her companions reached the gate, but armed strangers surrounded their carriage.

• Marquis Jing'an and Xie Jin'an both suspected their wives of adultery and ordered a search for Xu Rourou's lover.
• Xia Wanwan told Liu Wan through her thoughts that she had dreamed Xie Huaishan would escape to Southern Mei, gain power, and return for revenge.
• Liu Wan sent Hidden Guards to prevent anyone from the Xie family, especially Xie Huaishan, from leaving the Capital.
• Liu Wan comforted Xia Wanwan by claiming she had dreamed the same thing, and the two shared their love for each other.
• Xu Rourou, Xie Huaishan, and their companions tried to leave through the city gate, but an incoming horse caused their carriage to lurch and the guards to collapse.
• Xu Xinbo stepped out of the carriage and found it surrounded by armed strangers, with an icy blade at his neck.

The Eldest Princess tried to take Xu Rourou and her family to Southern Mei, but the Ninth Prince’s forces surrounded them outside the Capital. With Marquis Jing'an and Xie Jin'an arriving, Xu Rourou was left fearing that she still could not escape her fate.

• The Eldest Princess ordered her assassins to take Xu Rourou, Xu Xinbo, Madam Li, and Xie Huaishan outside the Capital so she could kill the Xu Family without causing a commotion.
• Xu Rourou entrusted Xie Huaishan to Madam Li and told Xu Xinbo to escape with them if she died.
• Jing Wu’s flaming-arrow attack disrupted the Eldest Princess’s plan, and Imperial Guards surrounded her party as they tried to retreat.
• Xia Siheng arrived, and Xu Rourou pleaded for help, claiming the Eldest Princess had murdered her birth mother and was trying to kill them.
• The Eldest Princess demanded Xu Rourou be handed over for impersonating a member of her Imperial House, but Xia Siheng told her to consider how she would explain an execution to Marquis Jing'an.
• Marquis Jing'an, Xie Jin'an, and others entered the encirclement as dawn broke, and Xu Rourou collapsed, afraid she still could not escape her fate.

Madam Li publicly admitted her affair with Xu Xinbo and exposed Marquis Jing'an's failures, provoking him to attack them before the Imperial Guards restrained him. Xie Jin'an then asked the Eldest Princess to save Xu Rourou from Marquis Jing'an.

• Marquis Jing'an tried to kill Xu Xinbo after Madam Li named him as her lover, but Xie Jin'an restrained his father and urged him to calm down.
• Madam Li described her years of abuse and her long affair with Xu Xinbo, then mocked Marquis Jing'an's impotence in front of the gathered crowd.
• Xia Siheng ordered his men to seize Marquis Jing'an and noticed Liu Wan listening from the city wall with Xia Wanwan.
• Xie Jin'an defended Madam Li and argued that Marquis Jing'an had driven her to seek affection elsewhere.
• Xie Jin'an helped Xu Rourou up and begged the Eldest Princess to save her from Marquis Jing'an.

The Eldest Princess exposed that she could not bear children, shattering Marquis Jing'an’s long-running scheme to pass Xu Rourou off as her daughter. Xu Rourou admitted she had known the truth and explained why she had hidden it, while Xie Jin'an began to pity her.

• Xie Jin'an begged the Eldest Princess to claim Xu Rourou as her daughter, but she refused and revealed she had been unable to bear children since childhood.
• Marquis Jing'an realized his decades-long plan to use Xu Rourou’s supposed royal status had collapsed, then spat blood and fell into convulsions.
• Madam Li kicked Marquis Jing'an and felt relief after years of enduring his abuse.
• Xie Jin'an confronted Xu Rourou, and she admitted she had known she was not the Eldest Princess’s daughter.
• Xu Rourou said she had hidden the truth because she feared losing the Marquis's Residence's protection and being killed by the Eldest Princess.
• The Eldest Princess reminded Xie Jin'an that Xu Rourou had betrayed him with other lovers.

The Eldest Princess exposed Xu Rourou’s affair with her brother Xu Xinbo and revealed that Xie Huaishan was not Xie Jin'an’s son. After the truth destroyed the Xie family, she offered Xie Jin'an a chance to kill Xu Rourou in exchange for a post in Southern Mei, and he raised a sword toward her.

• Xu Xinbo announced that he was Xu Rourou’s lover, shocking Xie Jin'an and the Imperial Guards.
• Xie Jin'an punched Xu Xinbo, while Marquis Jing'an mocked his son for being cuckolded like him.
• Madam Li confronted Xu Xinbo about his affair with Xu Rourou, and the Eldest Princess revealed the siblings had been close since childhood.
• Xu Xinbo implied that Xie Huaishan was his child, and Xie Jin'an collapsed in grief and regret.
• The Eldest Princess offered Xie Jin'an a sixth-rank vice minister post in Southern Mei if he killed Xu Rourou, then had her people seize Xu Rourou and Xu Xinbo.
• Xie Jin'an took the sword Marquis Jing'an handed him, approached Xu Rourou, and slowly raised it.

Xie Jin'an refused to kill Xu Rourou despite pressure from the Eldest Princess and Marquis Jing'an, choosing not to betray his conscience or the Great Xia Dynasty. The Eldest Princess challenged his claims of honor by reminding him of the suffering he had caused Liu Wan and his daughter.

• Xu Rourou begged Xie Jin'an to spare Xie Huaishan and urged her son to live an ordinary, peaceful life.
• Xie Jin'an thrust his sword toward Xu Rourou but changed direction and wounded Xu Xinbo instead.
• Xia Siheng signaled the hidden archers to lower their arrows as Xie Jin'an declared he would not kill Xu Rourou or accept a post in Southern Mei.
• Madam Li praised Xie Jin'an for protecting his conscience, while worrying about the Xie family's concealed enterprise.
• The Eldest Princess accused Xie Jin'an of hypocrisy and reminded him that his former wife and daughter had suffered because of him and the Xie family.

Xia Siheng had the Xie family and the Xu Siblings taken to the palace, while Liu Wan and their daughter returned to the Ninth Prince's Residence. At the palace hearing, two witnesses appeared and left Marquis Jing'an trembling as his past crimes came to light.

• Xia Siheng ordered everyone at the city gate escorted to the palace after the Eldest Princess accused Marquis Jing'an of sheltering the Xu Siblings and deceiving the sovereign.
• Townspeople followed the procession, jeering at Marquis Jing'an and Xie Jin'an over the scandal in their family.
• Xia Siheng reunited with Liu Wan and their sleeping daughter, took them to the Ninth Prince's Residence, and kissed Liu Wan's forehead before leaving for the palace.
• Marquis Jing'an denied the accusations at the palace hearing until two witnesses arrived: the son of a villager he had murdered and the son of the bandit chief bribed to kidnap Minister Liu.
• Marquis Jing'an collapsed to the floor and trembled in despair.

Xu Daniu and the Eldest Princess exposed Marquis Jing'an for murdering Xu Daniu’s family and shielding the Xu family, while Minister Liu and a bandit’s son revealed his kidnapping plot. The emperor learned that Jing'an’s actions had thwarted an investigation into harmful substances for twenty years and condemned him as deserving death.

• Xu Daniu accused Marquis Jing'an of killing his family and presented a piece of Jing'an’s official robe as evidence.
• The Eldest Princess identified the Xu family children, and Xu Rourou confessed that Marquis Jing'an had helped her family escape and supported them for twenty years.
• Minister Liu accused Marquis Jing'an of colluding with bandits and kidnapping him, then refused to plead for Jing'an despite his earlier kindness.
• A bandit’s son presented an engraved gold ingot and letters linking Marquis Jing'an to the kidnapping, and the emperor confirmed the letters matched Jing'an’s handwriting.
• The emperor condemned Marquis Jing'an for delaying the investigation into harmful substances from Southern Yue, which had continued to devastate the Great Xia Dynasty for twenty years.

Marquis Jing'an was stripped of his title and sentenced to execution, while Xu Rourou and Xu Xinbo languished in prison. The Eldest Princess forced poison into Xu Rourou's mouth after Xie Jin'an refused to kill her, and Xu Rourou stopped resisting when she saw her son.

• The emperor stripped Marquis Jing'an of his title, imprisoned him, and ordered his execution in three days.
• Xu Rourou tried to treat the gravely wounded Xu Xinbo, who confessed that he had let Xu Bo poison their birth mother because he believed the adults' lies.
• Xu Xinbo told Madam Li that his affection had been false, leaving her devastated.
• The Eldest Princess offered Xie Jin'an a reward to make Xu Rourou drink poison, but he refused and was slapped.
• The Eldest Princess ordered her subordinates to force Xu Rourou to drink poison, and Xu Rourou stopped struggling when she saw her son.

Xu Rourou died in prison, remembering how jealousy and repeated attempts to poison Liu Wan had turned her life toward ruin, and refused a deity’s offer to return for revenge. Xie Jian, stripped of his title and imprisoned, urgently summoned his second son over the family’s underground businesses, while Xie Jinzhao concealed his intentions.

• As she died, Xu Rourou recalled her childhood, her love for Xie Jin'an, and how envy of Liu Wan led her to replace medicine with poison and plot against her.
• A deity offered Xu Rourou a return to the mortal world in exchange for her son’s soul, but she rejected the offer because she feared living without a mother’s love.
• Xu Xinbo watched Xu Rourou die, then followed her in death, and their bodies were carried out of the jail that night.
• Xie Jian, imprisoned across from them, asked Xie Jinzhao to bring his second son back so he could disclose something important about the Xie family’s underground businesses.
• Xie Jinzhao promised to return with his second brother within three days, warned Xie Jian to keep quiet, and left the prison with a cold smile.

Xia Siheng and the emperor discussed the Happy Powder and planned to investigate the Xie family’s suspicious losses before the next dockside exchange. Back at the Ninth Prince's Residence, Xia Siheng reunited with Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan, then asked what they should do with Xie Huaishan.

• Xia Siheng told the emperor why he suspected Xie Jian had links to the Happy Powder, and the emperor decided to compensate Minister Liu’s family.
• Xia Siheng warned that the Xie family’s enormous losses made its alleged Happy Powder business suspicious, and the emperor suggested using the Purple Gold Guard to investigate.
• Xia Siheng left the Imperial Study to return to Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan, while the emperor joked with Eunuch Yu about who was more handsome.
• Xia Wanwan woke at the Ninth Prince's Residence, asked Liu Wan where they were, and looked forward to hearing fresh gossip.
• Xia Siheng returned, teased Xia Wanwan about refusing his kiss, and withheld his news until she pleaded for it.
• Xia Siheng asked Xia Wanwan what she wanted to do with Xie Huaishan.

Xia Siheng tried to arrange a marriage proposal to Liu Wan, while Liu Shi and Qin Yan went to the Xie Residence to set off firecrackers. There, Li Duoduo discovered that Zhong Youyan had divorced Xie Jinqiu and was moving her belongings out of the residence.

• Xia Wanwan asked Xia Siheng to help her blow up the Male Lead, and he agreed.
• Xia Siheng told Liu Wan about the emperor's decisions and proposed preparing betrothal gifts to visit Minister Liu, but Liu Wan asked him to discuss it with her first.
• Xia Siheng said Xie Jian would be beheaded in three days, and Liu Wan later learned that her younger brother Liu Shi had gone to the Xie Residence with Qin Yan to set off firecrackers.
• Li Duoduo arrived at the Xie Residence and found Zhong Youyan directing servants to move her belongings out.
• Zhong Youyan showed Li Duoduo a divorce agreement and declared that she had divorced Xie Jinqiu.

Zhong Youyan tricked Li Duoduo into believing Fourth Master was dead, while Jin Yu silenced the witnesses. Outside the Xie Residence, Zhong Youyan’s servants dismantled the gate she had paid for as the Liu and Xie households clashed, leaving Liu Shi cheering as the fight broke out.

• Zhong Youyan showed Li Duoduo the Divorce Agreement and claimed Fourth Master was dead, then explained to Little Lucky Star how she could conceal his death.
• Jin Yu knocked Li Duoduo, her maid, and a sparrow unconscious to keep news from spreading.
• Carpenters began dismantling the Xie Residence’s front gate, and Xie Jinzhao accused Liu Shi of stealing it.
• Little Lucky Star announced that Zhong Youyan had hired the carpenters because she had paid for the gate and was now divorced.
• Qing Sheng threw two manservants out of the residence, Little Lucky Star led her people into a fight, and Wang Xia directed the carpenters to take the gate.
• Liu Shi cheered and ordered his men to light the firecrackers.

As the crowd blamed the Xie family for the deaths and suffering caused by its drug business, Xie Jinzhao began to see his family as monstrous and regretted helping force Zhong Youyan into marriage. He learned that Zhong Youyan had submitted a Divorce Agreement and was leaving, and the chapter ended with him being asked whether to stop her.

• Xie Jinzhao endured the crowd's firecrackers and accusations that his family had profited from a harmful drug and ruined countless lives.
• After hearing grieving people recount their losses, Xie Jinzhao questioned his family’s business and kicked his grandmother’s coffin while condemning her greed and vanity.
• Xie Jinzhao realized that his family’s actions made them seem like man-eating demons and regretted helping arrange Zhong Youyan’s forced marriage.
• A servant told Xie Jinzhao that Zhong Youyan had submitted a Divorce Agreement and was moving out, then asked whether they should stop her.

After Zhong Youyan left the Xie Residence with her divorce and dowry, Liu Wan and her family celebrated their freedom and planned their next steps. That night, Liu Wan caught Xia Siheng sneaking in to take Xia Wanwan on a mission to blow up Xie Huaishan, and insisted on going with them.

• Xie Jinzhao ordered his servant to let Zhong Youyan leave, and she departed with her people and dowry carts.
• Zhong Youyan told Liu Wan she did not regret her time at the Xie Residence and was proud to have fought oppression and grown stronger.
• Liu Wan returned to the Liu Residence, while Liu Shi asked her to wait a few days before visiting their father; Minister Liu celebrated outside the Xie Residence by dancing in red robes.
• Xia Siheng climbed into Liu Wan's bedchamber at night to take Xia Wanwan to blow up Xie Huaishan, but Liu Wan caught him.
• Liu Wan refused to let Xia Siheng take Xia Wanwan alone and said she would go with them.

The Eldest Princess discovered that her Imperial Grandparents’ souls were trapped in the gourds Xia Wanwan had given her and released them, only to be scolded by her Imperial Grandmother. Meanwhile, Xia Siheng and Liu Wan reached Xie Huaishan’s room while Jing Wu took Xia Wanwan to the adjoining room to deal with the ghosts.

• The Eldest Princess woke from a dream of her Imperial Grandmother and summoned Daoist Youmo to clear the remaining curse and search the room for souls.
• Daoist Youmo found souls inside the two gourds, released them, and the Eldest Princess recognized her Imperial Grandparents; her Imperial Grandmother berated her after the two souls merged.
• Xia Siheng, Liu Wan, Jing Wu, and Xia Wanwan sneaked into the compound to rescue Xie Huaishan, while Jing Wu carried Xia Wanwan toward the Eldest Princess’s room to blast the ghosts.
• Xia Siheng knocked out a guard and entered Xie Huaishan’s room with Liu Wan, then drew a dagger and said he had come to kill him.

Xia Siheng tried to kill Xie Huaishan, but A Shu intervened and revealed herself as the Ninth Prince’s spy before killing him herself. Xia Siheng protected Liu Wan, then joined Xia Wanwan on the rooftop to watch the drama below.

• Xia Siheng grabbed Xie Huaishan and prepared to kill him, while Liu Wan turned away and kept watch at the door.
• A Shu leaped through the window and knocked aside Xia Siheng’s dagger, then revealed she served him and killed Xie Huaishan herself.
• Xia Siheng covered Liu Wan’s eyes, assured her that Xie Huaishan was dead, and told A Shu to clean up the scene.
• Xia Siheng led Liu Wan to the rooftop, where Xia Wanwan was watching the commotion, and the family gathered to watch together.

Xia Wanwan learned that the Eldest Princess planned to sacrifice her and help an old ghost return to the mortal world, so Xia Siheng used Wanwan’s Explosive Talisman to destroy the ghost’s plans. The blast also destroyed another spirit seeking a body, and the authorities began searching for the bomber while Liu Shi complained to Liu Wan, unaware that her family was involved.

• The Eldest Princess promised the old ghost she would find it a suitable male body, while Xia Wanwan overheard their plot to kill her.
• Xia Wanwan gave Xia Siheng an Explosive Talisman, and he threw it onto the roof before retreating with her and Liu Wan.
• The explosion injured the Eldest Princess, Commandery Princess Yan'er, and Daoist Youmo, and it destroyed the divine soul of Xie Huaishan as he searched for a new body.
• The Eldest Princess demanded an investigation, and Liu Shi reported the bombing to his superiors, who ordered him to continue investigating with more manpower.
• Liu Shi visited Liu Wan and complained that he had to catch the serial bomber, while Liu Wan realized her daughter was likely responsible.

Liu Wan hid Xia Wanwan’s role in the explosions while Liu Shi prepared palace defenses and Eunuch Yu took the little princess to the palace. At the ruins, the Eldest Princess learned Xie Huaishan had been killed and suspected the Xie family.

• Liu Shi asked Liu Wan for help catching the Bombing Criminal, and she urged him to wait for the Ninth Prince.
• Xia Wanwan tried to ask who they would blow up, but Liu Wan covered her mouth and sent Liu Shi away with an excuse about fried pig’s trotters.
• Eunuch Yu came to take Xia Wanwan to the palace, and Liu Wan warned her not to go out at night.
• Daoist Youmo gathered the Eldest Princess’s ancestors’ soul fragments and said he needed the soul of someone born in a yang year, yang month, and yang day to restore them.
• A Shu reported that Xie Huaishan had been killed and that the explosion may have been a smokescreen, leading the Eldest Princess to suspect the Xie family.