Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yingcheng recruited the hungry Martial Arts Grandmaster Liaochen by offering him gold, and he agreed to join her. As the group descended the mountain, Liaochen recognized Wu Leyong, who fled before Liaochen could pursue him while carrying Chengcheng.

• Liaochen lamented losing his kasaya and welcomed Jiang Yingcheng's group into the temple for food and warmth.
• Jiang Yingcheng offered Liaochen gold beans, and he accepted her offer to provide for him and join her.
• The group rested at the temple, then began descending the mountain with Liaochen carrying Jiang Yingcheng.
• The group encountered Wu Leyong wearing a new Human-Skin Mask, and Liaochen recognized him as the man who had stolen his kasaya.
• Wu Leyong fled into the forest, and Jiang Tinghuai stopped Liaochen from chasing him while he carried Chengcheng.

Jiang Yingcheng brought Liaochen, a Martial Arts Grandmaster, before Jiang Yanchuan and persuaded the emperor to appoint him as her imperial guard. When Liaochen heard her thoughts reveal that his supposedly dead wife had betrayed him with his rival, he begged leave to return home and confront them.

• Liaochen carried Jiang Yingcheng to Jiang Yanchuan and nervously saluted the emperor.
• Jiang Yingcheng asked to bring Liaochen to the palace, and Jiang Yanchuan appointed him as her imperial guard.
• Liaochen realized he could hear Jiang Yingcheng's thoughts and learned she knew about his revenge and the man he had killed.
• Jiang Yingcheng's thoughts revealed that Liaochen's wife was alive and had run away with his rival.
• Liaochen asked Jiang Yanchuan for leave to return to his hometown and deal with his wife and rival.

Jiang Yingcheng’s hidden maps led Great Rui’s officials to discuss Beiming’s resources, while her thoughts revealed that Emperor Jiang Yanchuan would be poisoned in three years. She then disclosed a secluded refuge in Beiming where a legendary former-dynasty general lived, leaving the generals eager to bring him to Great Rui.

• Liaochen distracted Jiang Yingcheng from exposing his marital past by offering to bring her pastries from his hometown.
• Jiang Yanchuan and his generals examined Jiang Yingcheng’s maps, pretending they had investigated the marked locations while praising the unknown mapmaker.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that Jiang Yanchuan would die of poisoning in three years, alarming everyone who heard her.
• Kan Ruifeng explained that Great Rui’s spies had found no further leads, prompting Jiang Yingcheng to ask System Bro for more information.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that skilled refugees and the legendary general Liang Qilüe lived in a hidden refuge in Beiming, and the generals considered accelerating their campaign.

On the journey back to the capital, Jiang Yingcheng turned military officials’ conversations into ideas for her notes while Yuan Liangping reluctantly wrote them down. At the palace gates, a maid named Xiwu accused Consort Wan of hiding a witchcraft doll bearing Emperor Mingze’s birth date.

• Jiang Yingcheng greeted Yuan Liangping and had him teach the royal children and write down passages for her collection of characters.
• Jiang Yingcheng overheard military officials discuss Beiming’s weapons and General Liang Qilüe, and added the topics to her plans for notes.
• Yuan Liangping escaped the Imperial Carriage when the procession reached the palace gates, while Jiang Yingcheng used a maid’s cry to get carried by Jiang Yanchuan.
• Xiwu introduced herself as a palace maid from Noble Consort Rou’s residence and announced that Noble Consort Rou had found a witchcraft doll bearing Emperor Mingze’s birth date in Consort Wan’s residence.

Jiang Yanchuan investigated the Witchcraft Doll found in Jiang Yingcheng’s hidden sweet box while Noble Consort Rou gave her account of how she had discovered it. Jiang Yingcheng realized a court historian had leaked Jiang Yanchuan’s birth date and hour and planned to expose the culprit.

• Jiang Yanchuan brought Jiang Yingcheng to Starfrost Hall, where Fang Siwan and Noble Consort Rou awaited them.
• Jiang Yanchuan examined the Witchcraft Doll and gathered Jiang Yingcheng’s scattered sweets back into her box.
• Jiang Yanchuan ordered Xiwu to receive twenty strokes for reporting the matter to the assembled officials.
• Noble Consort Rou claimed she had found the doll while visiting Consort Wan and thought the box belonged to the Eleventh Princess.
• Jiang Yingcheng recognized that a court historian had leaked Jiang Yanchuan’s birth date and hour and planned to use notes to expose him.

Jiang Yingcheng uncovered Zeng Wencheng’s scheme to sell Emperor Mingze’s birth details, then dug up Noble Consort Rou’s scandals after Rou accused her of witchcraft. Rou’s claim that Jiang Yingcheng had changed dramatically in just a few days left the emperor and others facing her renewed accusation.

• Jiang Yingcheng learned that Zeng Wencheng had sold Emperor Mingze’s birth details to women throughout the harem, while Fang Siwan silently denied buying them.
• Noble Consort Rou urged Emperor Mingze to take rumors of witchcraft seriously, prompting Jiang Yingcheng to investigate Rou’s past.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered that Noble Consort Rou had stolen her elder sister’s chance to enter the palace by plotting to ruin her sister’s chastity.
• Jiang Yingcheng learned that Noble Consort Rou’s first love was Prince Jing, Jiang Yi'an, and that she had named her son Jiang Huai'an after him, alarming Emperor Mingze and Eunuch Changshun.
• Noble Consort Rou argued that Jiang Yingcheng’s sudden change from timid to lively proved something unusual had happened to her.

Noble Consort Qing exposed Noble Consort Rou’s role in buying Emperor Mingze’s birth details, and Zeng Wencheng confessed after Jiang Yanchuan confronted him. Jiang Yingcheng recovered from her fear while her father comforted her, then revealed where she had hidden the box; her thoughts suggested Noble Consort Rou had bribed servants in her mother’s hall.

• Noble Consort Rou claimed Jiang Yingcheng might be possessed by an evil spirit, but Jiang Yanchuan mocked the accusation and comforted his frightened daughter.
• Noble Consort Qing arrived with Zeng Wencheng bound and presented a booklet documenting his sales of Jiang Yanchuan’s birth details.
• Noble Consort Rou slipped by revealing knowledge of Consort Wan’s possible involvement, and Jiang Yanchuan questioned Zeng Wencheng, who confessed.
• Jiang Yingcheng feared she and System Bro would be treated as dark and unholy, so Jiang Yanchuan held her and reassured her.
• Jiang Yanchuan asked where Jiang Yingcheng had hidden her box, and she pointed beneath a plant stand while thinking Noble Consort Rou had bribed servants in her mother’s hall.

Jiang Yingcheng exposed Noble Consort Rou’s attempt to frame Fang Siwan, and Eunuch Changshun uncovered tribute bracelets hidden by the bribed maids. Emperor Mingze confined Noble Consort Rou to Flowing Splendor Hall while the truth was investigated, and Noble Consort Qing stayed behind after hearing Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts about Gaoyang’s tribute.

• Jiang Yingcheng recognized that the palace maids had helped Noble Consort Rou and worried about how to alert her father.
• Eunuch Changshun stumbled into the maids, found their hidden bracelets, and recognized them as tribute from the Gaoyang Kingdom.
• Emperor Mingze rejected Noble Consort Rou’s excuse and ordered her confined to Flowing Splendor Hall pending an investigation.
• Noble Consort Rou pleaded that she had not framed Fang Siwan, but attendants dragged her from Starfrost Hall.
• Noble Consort Qing decided not to leave after hearing Jiang Yingcheng think that Gaoyang pretended to be poor despite being wealthy.

Jiang Yingcheng read about the Gaoyang Kingdom’s emperor and discovered the truth behind his frugal image and tribute jewelry. Just as Noble Consort Qing prepared to leave, Jiang Yingcheng found a ledger of Zeng Wencheng’s transactions that also implicated Auntie Yushi.

• Jiang Yanchuan sent the bribed palace maids to the Eastern Depot, and Jiang Yingcheng kissed him before returning her attention to the gossip panel.
• Jiang Yingcheng praised the Gaoyang Kingdom’s emperor for enduring insults to save money, then learned that he forced his consorts to live frugally and denied the little princesses pastries.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered that the emperor imposed harsh policies and crushing taxes while hoarding a mountain of gold, and that his consorts wore low-quality tribute jewelry for a year to improve its appearance.
• Noble Consort Qing realized she had received such jewelry and hurried to leave Starfrost Hall so she could clean herself.
• Jiang Yingcheng found Zeng Wencheng’s transaction ledger and was shocked that Auntie Yushi had delivered it despite her own transactions being recorded inside.

Noble Consort Qing escaped punishment after reporting the consorts who bought Emperor Mingze’s birth date, while Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice nearly exposed Noble Consort Qing’s wish for a baby. At court, Pan Chengbi tried to take the blame for Noble Consort Rou, but officials began discussing her schemes as Jiang Yingcheng prepared to dig up more gossip.

• Noble Consort Qing handed over the page recording her purchase, and Emperor Mingze rewarded her for reporting the matter instead of punishing her.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice revealed that Noble Consort Qing wanted to ask for a baby, leaving her too embarrassed to request a reward.
• At court, Pan Chengbi asked to be dismissed from office to answer for Noble Consort Rou’s actions against Jiang Yingcheng.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice accused Noble Consort Rou of planting a Witchcraft Doll and framing her, and she set out to uncover Pan Chengbi’s scandals.
• The Ministers of Revenue and Works and other officials openly discussed Noble Consort Rou’s actions and the search of Zeng Wencheng’s residence.
• The officials stopped their denunciations when Jiang Yingcheng’s excited inner voice suggested she had found fresh gossip.

Jiang Yingcheng exposed that Pan Chengbi’s son was actually Pan Jifeng’s child and that Prince Jing had secretly advanced Pan Chengbi’s career through criminal schemes. She revealed that letters linking Prince Jing to the Pan household were hidden in Pan Jifeng’s courtyard, leaving the military generals eager to help retrieve them.

• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Pan Chengbi’s wife had conceived with Pan Jifeng and that Pan Chengbi’s son and the servants knew the truth.
• Xin Anzhi and another official reminded Pan Chengbi that his wife had announced her pregnancy at a winter solstice banquet, making him realize the premature-birth story had concealed the affair.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Prince Jing had supplied Pan Chengbi with achievements that helped him earn promotions.
• Jiang Yingcheng disclosed that Prince Jing had ordered the Xiangzhou governor to torture wealthy merchants and sent the seized wealth to his private treasury before handing evidence to Pan Chengbi.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that letters between Prince Jing and the Pan household were buried beside a path in the rockery at Pan Jifeng’s courtyard, and the military generals silently volunteered to dig them up.

Jiang Yingcheng searched among the military officials for someone to retrieve letters from the Pan Residence, while her gossip exposed several officials’ embarrassing family matters. She remembered that Zhu Qian had raised the Gaoyang Kingdom’s tribute and urged the system to uncover Pan Chengbi’s crimes.

• Yan Yuebin pretended to cough to attract Jiang Yingcheng’s attention, but she decided he seemed unwell and moved on.
• Dong Kangsheng drew Jiang Yingcheng’s notice, and she revealed that his youngest son had tried to take Pu Mingxu’s daughter Yun Sui home.
• Jiang Yingcheng exposed Gao Siyuan’s romantic connection to Pan Luoxi, leaving Gao stunned and the officials gossiping.
• Jiang Yingcheng passed over Lei Zhixin and rejected more than a dozen military officials as she searched for someone to help retrieve the Pan Family’s letters.
• Jiang Yingcheng recalled Zhu Qian’s concerns about the Gaoyang Kingdom’s tribute, blamed Pan Chengbi for derailing the matter, and asked the system to find evidence of his crimes.

Jiang Yingcheng revealed more of the Pan Family’s crimes, and Jiang Yanchuan used Lu Yao’s report of alleged land seizures to keep Pan Chengbi under investigation. The chapter ended with Jiang Yingcheng abruptly wondering where the ruler of the Gaoyang Kingdom hid his treasures.

• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Pan Chengbi had helped slaughter an entire village to conceal a plague and had threatened an imperial commissioner by kidnapping his family.
• Jiang Yanchuan signaled Lu Yao to report Pan Chengbi for allegedly seizing commoners’ farmland.
• Lu Yao asked that Pan Chengbi remain under the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s watch until the accusation was investigated.
• Jiang Yanchuan ordered Lu Yao to investigate within three days and clear Pan Chengbi’s name, while Jiang Yingcheng hoped the delay would let her expose the Pan Family’s crimes.
• Jiang Yingcheng suddenly wondered where the ruler of the Gaoyang Kingdom hid his treasures.

During court, Jiang Yingcheng exposed Gaoyang’s ruler as a cruel tyrant who had hoarded wealth and deceived Great Rui. Her thoughts persuaded the officials that helping Gaoyang’s rebels could let Great Rui take control without a costly invasion, and Jiao Hongmiao petitioned to send troops.

• Jiang Yingcheng compared Gaoyang’s ruler with Emperor Mingze and revealed that Gaoyang’s people suffered crushing taxes and forced labor.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered that Gaoyang’s ruler had hidden his wealth in more than a dozen locations and a secluded tomb.
• Zhu Qian argued that Gaoyang’s ruler had repeatedly swindled Great Rui and boasted of deceiving other nations.
• Jiang Yingcheng suggested secretly aiding Gaoyang’s existing rebel groups so Great Rui could later help rebuild the country and gain influence.
• Jiao Hongmiao petitioned Emperor Mingze to send troops to Gaoyang to rescue its people.

Jiang Yingcheng welcomed Lin Jinshu as her new study companion, then took him to Noble Consort Qing to collect a greeting gift before planning more visits. On the way, Jiang Tinghuai and the others hurried to help Imperial Physician Du reach the Third Prince, whose condition seemed critical.

• Eunuch Changshun rushed Jiang Yingcheng to the Academy, where she met Lin Jinshu at a newly added desk beside hers.
• Jiang Tinghuai explained that the Empress Dowager had taken Lin Jinshu in as her great-grandson and arranged for him to stay at Changning Palace.
• Jiang Yingcheng brought Lin Jinshu to Anqin Hall and pressured Noble Consort Qing into giving him a pouch as a greeting gift.
• Jiang Yingcheng studied System Bro's map of the imperial harem and planned which consort to visit next, despite Jiang Tinghuai's attempts to return to the Academy.
• A palace maid hurried Imperial Physician Du toward the Third Prince, and Jiang Tinghuai carried the physician's things so they could move faster.

After learning that Jiang Zhuolan had been deliberately attacked and was near death, Jiang Yingcheng used her Merit Points to summon a Medicine Ball and secretly fed it to him. The chapter ended as Emperor Mingze entered and the Medicine Ball had not yet melted.

• Yuzhu told Jiang Tinghuai that Jiang Zhuolan had fallen, struck his head, and lost consciousness.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice revealed that someone had pushed Jiang Zhuolan and struck his head with a rock to keep him from exposing the attacker.
• Imperial Physician Du judged Jiang Zhuolan’s deep forehead wound grave, and Consort Xuan collapsed in despair.
• Jiang Yingcheng decided to use her Merit Points to save Jiang Zhuolan, while Jiang Tinghuai and the others discreetly shielded her.
• Jiang Yingcheng summoned a huge Medicine Ball and forced it into Jiang Zhuolan’s mouth just as Emperor Mingze arrived.

Jiang Yingcheng secretly tried to help Jiang Zhuolan by getting the Medicine Ball in his mouth to melt, while Jiang Yanchuan distracted the others. The Medicine Ball melted and Jiang Zhuolan recovered from immediate danger, but Jiang Tinghuai remembered that Hanying might be involved in the plot against him.

• Jiang Yanchuan stalled Consort Xuan and Imperial Physician Du while Jiang Yingcheng nudged the Medicine Ball farther into Jiang Zhuolan’s mouth.
• Jiang Yingcheng tried to soften the Medicine Ball with warm water, but Imperial Physician Du caught her and Jiang Yanchuan lifted her into his arms.
• The Medicine Ball melted, and Imperial Physician Du found Jiang Zhuolan’s pulse steady and declared him out of danger.
• Consort Xuan rushed to Jiang Zhuolan’s bedside in tears, while Jiang Yingcheng thought he needed discipline for sneaking away from his guards.
• Jiang Tinghuai recalled Jiang Yingcheng’s warning about Hanying and resolved not to let the suspected conspirator escape.

Hanying lied about how Zhuolan was injured while Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice revealed that Hanying and an accomplice had pushed him down and struck his head with a stone. As Consort Xuan recovered and grew closer to Jiang Yingcheng, the emperor prepared to hear more, and the little princess turned her attention to protecting the pretty consort and confronting Hanying.

• Hanying told Emperor Mingze that Zhuolan had slipped and fallen from the artificial hill, concealing that he had been attacked.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice revealed that Hanying and another person had pushed Zhuolan down and smashed a stone onto his head.
• Consort Xuan learned that Zhuolan’s condition had stabilized after Jiang Yingcheng gave him medicine, and she greeted the little princess.
• Jiang Yingcheng decided she would protect Consort Xuan and glared at Hanying as the first person she would deal with.

Jiang Yingcheng learned that Hanying had helped Consort Hui and her accomplice attack Jiang Zhuolan, then exposed Hanying by claiming her unconscious brother had spoken. Hanying denied the accusation and blamed Consort Hui and the man beside her.

• Jiang Yingcheng recalled how Jiang Zhuolan had witnessed Consort Hui’s illicit affair and been struck with a rock after Hanying betrayed him.
• Consort Xuan broke down in grief but resolved to stay and see Hanying exposed.
• Jiang Yingcheng pretended to hear Jiang Zhuolan move and speak, then accused Hanying of smashing his head with a rock.
• Hanying denied striking Jiang Zhuolan and accused Consort Hui and the man beside her of attacking him.

Hanying accused Consort Hui and a mysterious man of killing the Third Prince, but Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts exposed her lies and revealed a plot involving the Anping Kingdom. After Hanying was taken away, Jiang Yingcheng discovered that the Third Prince’s head wound had vanished after she touched him.

• Hanying claimed Consort Hui and a mysterious man murdered the Third Prince, while Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that Hanying had delayed calling for help.
• Hanying presented a jade pendant engraved with “Qi,” and Jiang Yanchuan and the others recognized it as belonging to the Anping Kingdom’s Imperial Family.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts exposed a scheme to plant the pendant in Consort Xuan’s palace and frame her for colluding with the enemy; she also revealed that the conspirators had targeted her.
• Jiang Yanchuan ordered the guards to take Hanying to Xing Junchu, and they dragged her away as she begged for mercy.
• Jiang Yingcheng touched the Third Prince and noticed that his head wound had disappeared, leaving her alarmed about how to explain it.