Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yingcheng pitched a treasure-hunting business to Ying Sinan and Ying Minxing, proposing that she supply treasure maps while they used their skills and connections to expand the operation. After Ying Minxing returned her confiscated gold and agreed to the idea, an excited stranger offered to join them.

• Jiang Yingcheng showed Ying Sinan her proposal and suggested that they and Ying Minxing work together to find and market treasures.
• Ying Minxing arrived with Wen Ruxin, returned Jiang Yingcheng's gold beans, and accepted that she was the Princess of Great Rui.
• Jiang Yingcheng persuaded Ying Minxing that they could expand the treasure business across Great Rui and attract customers from neighboring countries.
• Ying Sinan questioned whether they were really planning to rob graves, but Ying Minxing dismissed his objections.
• An excited voice offered to join the proposal, leaving Jiang Yingcheng startled.

Jiang Yingcheng’s treasure-hunting plans drew Jiao Hongmiao and the Gu Residence’s men into a meeting with Ying Minxing and the county officials. The group accepted her mysterious map of buried treasures and moved to organize an expedition.

• Jiao Hongmiao arrived and joined Jiang Yingcheng’s plan to find buried treasure.
• Jiang Yingcheng invited Jiao Hongmiao to join the others, then gathered everyone at the inn.
• Ying Minxing asked the Gu Residence’s men to identify themselves and grew alarmed as they introduced themselves under aliases.
• Jiang Yingcheng presented another stack of papers and claimed it listed treasure sites like Yuntong Mountain.
• The Gu Residence’s men accepted Jiang Yingcheng’s explanation and urged everyone to begin organizing the search.

Ying Minxing watched Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts expose Bi Honglang’s private schemes and reveal how much he and Bi relied on their wives. As Jiang Yingcheng prepared to publicly share Ying Minxing’s embarrassing home life to help him, Ying Minxing tried to stop her.

• Ying Minxing questioned whether the officials truly believed Jiang Yingcheng’s claims, while Jiao Hongmiao urged him to be patient.
• Bi Honglang challenged Ying Minxing’s qualifications, and Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that Bi relied on his wife to gather information for his impeachment memorials.
• Ying Minxing asked Bi Honglang about his children after learning he had none, provoking the officials’ surprised approval of Ying’s bluntness.
• Bi Honglang criticized Ying Minxing for consulting his wife, and Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Bi’s wife secretly gathered intelligence from other officials’ households.
• Jiang Yingcheng decided to explain Ying Minxing’s troubles at home to help him connect with Bi, and Ying Minxing coughed desperately to silence her.

Jiang Yingcheng and the officials agreed to visit the Spring Reliance River, where Ying Sinan planned to enjoy the scenery and show off. After Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Ying Sinan had triggered the tomb’s traps that injured the officials, they beat him before the outing, and the chapter ended with him noticing an approaching boat.

• Jiao Hongmiao and the officials discussed what to do in Jiangnan, while Jiang Yingcheng eagerly named the local treats she wanted to eat.
• Ying Sinan proposed boating on the Spring Reliance River, and Jiang Yanchuan agreed after asking Jiang Yingcheng if she wanted to go.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that Ying Minxing had faked his fainting and that Ying Sinan had accidentally triggered the tomb mechanisms that trapped the officials.
• The officials gave Ying Sinan a beating, then he led them onto a boat on the Spring Reliance River with bruises covering his face.
• Ying Sinan turned when someone noticed that another boat was heading toward them.

Jiang Yingcheng invited Ding Ruihan onto the pleasure boat, where Ding Ruihan focused on Jiang Yanchuan and left Ying Sinan dejected. Suspecting Ding Ruihan had ulterior motives, Jiang Yingcheng prompted System Bro to search her background and began reading the results.

• Jiang Yingcheng invited the women on the neighboring boat aboard, and Ding Ruihan accepted.
• Jiang Yingcheng brought Ding Ruihan to Jiang Yanchuan, who introduced himself as Gu Chuan.
• Ding Ruihan paid little attention to Ying Sinan and charmed Jiang Yingcheng with pastries, leaving Ying Sinan drinking in despair.
• Jiang Yingcheng grew suspicious of Ding Ruihan's interest in Jiang Yanchuan and urged System Bro to investigate her.
• System Bro found Ding Ruihan's extensive life history, and Jiang Yingcheng began reading it.

Jiang Yingcheng discovered that Ding Ruihan was a Slender Horse, giving the officials a lead to investigate the trade, but she also realized Ding knew Emperor Mingze’s identity and might pose a threat. The chapter ended with Ding reaching into her sleeve as the officials suspected she was drawing a concealed weapon.

• Jiang Yingcheng learned that Ding Ruihan had been bought by the Ding Residence as a child and trained as a Slender Horse, prompting the officials to see a chance to track down the people behind the trade.
• Jiang Yingcheng realized someone had discovered Jiang Yanchuan’s identity and sent Ding to approach him, alarming the officials.
• Jiang Yanchuan called Jiang Yingcheng to his side and wiped her face and hands while Ding Ruihan watched and then offered to perform music.
• Ding Ruihan played for the boat, but Jiang Yingcheng noticed her reaching into her sleeve and wondered if she was taking out a concealed weapon.
• Lu Yao rushed in front of Emperor Mingze and ordered Ding Ruihan not to move.

Lu Yao’s outburst over Ding Ruihan reaching into her sleeve caused confusion aboard the pleasure boat, but Ding Ruihan knelt and presented a letter to Emperor Mingze. Ying Sinan realized that “Gu Chuan” was the emperor, and Jiang Yanchuan opened the letter, leaving its contents to be revealed.

• Lu Yao drew his sword and pretended he had been moved by Ding Ruihan’s zither playing, while the officials tried to conceal their alarm.
• Ding Ruihan knelt and announced that she had an important matter to report to the emperor, holding up a letter.
• Ying Sinan realized Ding Ruihan had addressed “Gu Chuan” as His Majesty and panicked over his past familiarity with the emperor and Jiang Yingcheng.
• Jiang Yingcheng urged everyone to look at Ding Ruihan’s letter, and Jiang Yanchuan ordered Lu Yao to take it.
• Lu Yao checked the envelope for poison and passed it to Jiang Yanchuan, who opened it as the nearby officials and Jiang Yingcheng peeked at the writing.

Jiang Yingcheng decoded a letter revealing Prince Xin’s plot to endanger Jiang Yanchuan during his Jiangnan journey. She then realized that Western Liang’s Second Prince had infiltrated the enemy squad, and began considering how to capture him.

• Ding Ruihan told Jiang Yanchuan that her family had prepared her to infiltrate his party and pass along information.
• Jiang Yingcheng listened as System Bro decoded the letter, then cried that she wanted to go home.
• Jiang Yanchuan comforted Jiang Yingcheng while she thought that the Ding family planned to trap him for enemy spies acting on Prince Xin’s orders.
• Jiang Yingcheng realized that Western Liang’s Second Prince was among the infiltrators and wondered whether capturing him could bring money and territory to Great Rui.
• Jiang Yingcheng opened the Merit Shop and judged that defeating the lone squad would be easy.

At a gathering aboard the Painted Pleasure Boat, Jiang Yingcheng tried to warn Emperor Mingze that Western Liang posed a threat, while Lu Yao pretended to interpret a letter to conceal what they knew from nearby officials. Her thoughts revealed Western Liang had vast hidden mineral deposits and ancient tombs, and that its favored second prince would soon arrive, prompting the court to consider capturing him.

• Lu Yao examined the letter and falsely claimed Jiangnan merchants had obtained Emperor Mingze’s itinerary to arrange marriages into the palace.
• Jiang Yingcheng worried that the Ding Family would be mistaken for ordinary schemers and thought Western Liang’s envoys would arrive in two days.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed in her thoughts that Western Liang had unknown mineral deposits and ancient tombs beneath its land.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered that Western Liang’s king favored his second prince over the Crown Prince and suggested capturing him for greater leverage.

Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts exposed foreign spies operating in Wind Brocade Commandery, including a connection to Western Liang, while Lu Yao accidentally revealed the first part of the plot by inventing intelligence that proved true. Emperor Mingze ordered a secret investigation, and Jiao Hongmiao urged a military response against neighboring countries.

• Jiang Yingcheng worried about warning Emperor Mingze in time, and Lu Yao claimed the Embroidered Uniform Guard had intelligence about suspicious foreigners in Jiangnan.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that Lu Yao’s fabricated intelligence was true and that Western Liang and the commandery prefect were involved in a larger scheme.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered that foreign spies had several bases in Wind Brocade Commandery and thought their locations aloud.
• Jiao Hongmiao proposed borrowing troops to patrol the streets, but Jiang Yanchuan ordered Xu Jiu to search the named locations and keep any discoveries under surveillance.
• Jiao Hongmiao urged Great Rui to use the spy affair as a reason to send troops against neighboring countries.

Minister Jiao Hongmiao and other officials urged Emperor Mingze to attack wealthy neighboring countries, while Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed the Pingxu Kingdom’s hidden gold and two ineffective spies. The officials began scheming to manufacture a pretext for war, but Censor-in-Chief Bi Honglang objected, leaving the court’s decision unresolved.

• Jiao Hongmiao called for an attack on neighboring countries, and Lei Zhixin mocked his sudden eagerness to spend military funds.
• The ministers urged Emperor Mingze to defend Great Rui’s national dignity, while Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed Western Liang’s immense buried treasures.
• Jiang Yingcheng realized Pingxu’s spies had sent only two greeting letters, then disclosed that the kingdom possessed two unmined gold mountains containing over a million taels of gold.
• Jiang Yingcheng imagined staging an accident and fabricating evidence against the spies, alarming the officials who could hear her thoughts.
• Chu Jiaxu suggested forging evidence, and Jiang Yingcheng’s violent plan involving torture and a false confession left the officials stunned.
• Bi Honglang stood beside Ding Ruihan and declared that the proposed course of action must not be taken.

Bi Honglang questioned the plan to send troops, prompting Lu Yao to invent a history of surveillance and praise a mysterious informant to explain why Great Rui had delayed. Chengcheng responded to the praise by revealing more intelligence about Pingxu Kingdom, while Ding Ruihan and Ying Sinan were left reeling after overhearing court secrets.

• Bi Honglang warned Jiang Yanchuan that dispatching troops could damage Great Rui's trade and economy.
• Jiang Yanchuan claimed Lu Yao had reported suspicious people in Wind Brocade three months earlier, and Lu Yao improvised an explanation about spies near classified strongholds.
• Bi Honglang pressed Lu Yao about why Great Rui had not used false intelligence sooner, so Lu Yao blamed a mysterious expert whose warnings had deterred Pingxu Kingdom.
• Lu Yao praised the expert, and Chengcheng, pleased by the compliments, revealed military and strategic information about Pingxu Kingdom and planned to send it to General Kan.
• After the lake excursion ended, Chengcheng told Ding Ruihan that Jiang Yanchuan was asking her a question, leaving Ding Ruihan nervous.

Jiang Yanchuan questioned Ding Ruihan about the letter, and she begged for a new identity so she could escape the Ding Mansion. As Jiang Yingcheng uncovered the women’s hidden scheme, Duke Wang prepared to plead for Ding Ruihan.

• Jiang Yingcheng asked Ding Ruihan why the women had given her the letter, then decided to investigate the matter herself.
• Jiang Yanchuan offered Ding Ruihan the chance to withdraw, frightening her into agreeing to speak.
• Ding Ruihan described being sold to the Ding Mansion, forced through its training classes, and sent to seek a wealthy patron.
• Ding Ruihan asked for a new identity to escape her life in the Ding Mansion.
• Duke Wang prepared to appeal to Jiang Yanchuan on Ding Ruihan’s behalf, while Jiang Yingcheng realized the women had set a chain of traps.

Ding Ruihan pleaded with Jiang Yanchuan to free her, but Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts exposed her careful schemes and her plans to escape the Ding Residence. The ministers learned that her chosen sucker, Yuan Liangping, had arrived to rescue her.

• Ding Ruihan begged Jiang Yanchuan to let her live an ordinary life, and the ministers initially sympathized with her.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Ding Ruihan had spent years selecting wealthy, lovestruck men and had refused to return to her birth parents despite their offer to buy her back.
• Jiang Yingcheng exposed Ding Ruihan’s hidden savings, her plan to approach Jiang Yanchuan if he desired her, and her backup plan to report the Ding Residence and disappear under a new identity.
• The ministers noticed Ding Ruihan had not pleaded for the maids waiting outside, who knelt in fear of their fate.
• A pleasure boat rushed toward them as Yuan Liangping called out to reassure Ding Ruihan, and Jiang Yingcheng identified him as the ultimate sucker.

Jiang Lifeng disguised himself as Nie Wen and tried to take Ding Ruihan away in front of Emperor Mingze, but she refused to leave. As Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice revealed that Lifeng had stolen the Prince of Nanyang’s official seal for Ruihan, the officials watched the confrontation unfold.

• Jiang Lifeng leaped onto the pleasure boat and claimed he was Nie Wen, there to rescue Ding Ruihan from the Ding Residence.
• Emperor Mingze asked Ding Ruihan whether she wanted to leave with Jiang Lifeng, and she said she could not go with him.
• Jiang Lifeng asked whether anyone had bullied Ruihan, while she shook her head and acted as though she could not reveal her grievances.
• Jiang Yingcheng and Lu Yao munched biscuits as they watched Jiang Lifeng plead with Ruihan to trust him and promised he had brought enough betrothal money.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice revealed that Jiang Lifeng had stolen the Prince of Nanyang’s official seal for Ruihan.

At the Painted Pleasure Boat, Jiang Lifeng realized Princess Mingxi could reveal his secrets through her thoughts, while she exposed how Ding Ruihan and the master of the Ding Residence had repeatedly deceived him. The chapter left Jiang Lifeng struggling to respond as he heard that his gifts had been used to buy more time.

• Jiang Lifeng accused Emperor Mingze of having learned something about him, then became distracted by Princess Mingxi’s cute appearance.
• Jiang Lifeng recognized Jiang Yingcheng as Princess Mingxi and nearly asked whether she had spoken before an exaggerated coughing fit interrupted him.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Ding Ruihan was older than Jiang Lifeng and that the master of the Ding Residence had helped her deceive him.
• Jiang Yingcheng explained that they had staged fake marriage offers to trick Jiang Lifeng into sending gold, silver, and jewels to buy Ding Ruihan more time.

Jiang Lifeng realized that Ding Ruihan and Master Ding had been deceiving him about the money he gave them, after Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice exposed their scheme. He asked Ding Ruihan where the money was now, leaving her stunned.

• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice recalled how Master Ding repeatedly swindled Jiang Lifeng, and revealed that Master Ding and Ding Ruihan split the money between them.
• Jiang Lifeng reconsidered Ding Ruihan’s gifts and realized they had been cheap food, poor-quality tea, and trinkets, despite his belief that she had treated him with devotion.
• Duke Wang and Chu Jiaxu mocked Jiang Lifeng’s supposed devotion to love while he tried to hide his embarrassment.
• Ding Ruihan called to Jiang Lifeng anxiously, and he asked her where the money he had given Master Ding was being kept.
• Ding Ruihan’s eyes widened as everyone watched her.

Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts exposed Jiang Lifeng’s thefts and gifts to Ding Ruihan, including an imperial Jade Pendant. Jiang Lifeng learned the pendant was still in Ding Ruihan’s purse and prepared to take it back, but someone sensed killing intent.

• Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that Jiang Lifeng had stolen two paintings by the Painting Sage and given them to Ding Ruihan.
• Jiang Yingcheng listed more stolen treasures Jiang Lifeng had given Ding Ruihan, including the Cloud-Rolling Sword, the Yanlin Bottle, and the Jade Pendant bestowed by Emperor Mingze.
• Ding Ruihan said her father had sold the other objects, but she did not know where; Jiang Lifeng panicked about the missing Jade Pendant.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Ding Ruihan still had the Jade Pendant in her purse, and Jiang Lifeng decided to snatch it back.
• Someone cried out that there was killing intent.

Jiang Yingcheng stole Ding Ruihan’s pouch amid a panicked search for assassins, first mistaking a dropped coin for danger. A Shadow Guard then confirmed that real villains had been apprehended and advised bringing the pleasure boat ashore.

• Jiang Yingcheng cried that she sensed murderous intent, prompting the courtiers to panic as she slipped away to steal Ding Ruihan’s pouch.
• A sound at the window intensified the alarm, but Jiang Yingcheng realized it came from a Shadow Guard accidentally dropping silver.
• Lu Yao threw his prized knife toward the window, and it fell into the water as Jiang Yingcheng snatched Ding Ruihan’s pouch and returned to Jiang Yanchuan.
• Jiang Yanchuan helped Jiang Yingcheng settle down and gave her fruit tea while the courtiers continued searching for danger.
• A Shadow Guard reported that he had apprehended the villains and recommended bringing the pleasure boat ashore, shocking Jiang Yingcheng and the courtiers.

After Shadow Guards uncovered an underwater gang extorting boat passengers and learned that the local Prefect protected them, Emperor Mingze ordered an investigation. As Ding Ruihan discovered her purse was missing, she accused Jiang Lifeng, while the real thief, Jiang Yingcheng, tried to avoid blame.

• A Shadow Guard reported that he had discovered and captured men hiding beneath the boat, and Emperor Mingze ordered their interrogation.
• Jiang Yingcheng's thoughts revealed that the criminals routinely robbed scholars on the river and that the Prefect secretly took bribes to let them continue.
• Emperor Mingze sent a Shadow Guard to deal with the corrupt Prefect and the extortion ring.
• Ding Ruihan realized her purse was missing and suspected Jiang Lifeng, while Jiang Yingcheng privately admitted she had taken it.