Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yanchuan named the officials who would join the disguised merchant caravan, while Jiang Yingcheng watched the court officials quarrel over their lost vacation. The party set out for the south with hidden weapons and pastries, then reached Qu Chun, where the innkeeper came face-to-face with Emperor Mingze.

• Jiang Yanchuan selected more than twenty officials, including Yuan Liangping, Liu Hongfei, Zhuang Xuyao, and Pan Jifeng, for the merchant caravan.
• Jiang Yingcheng persuaded Jiang Yanchuan to let her watch the officials argue, then shared cookies with him as they quarreled.
• Jiang Yanchuan led the disguised caravan out through Shengping Gate before dawn, and Zhong Chengwang brought Jiang Yingcheng pastries.
• The caravan traveled for three days to Qu Chun, where Jiang Yanchuan ordered a day's rest because the officials' legs were sore from riding.
• The proprietor of Qu Chun's only open inn hurried out to greet the travelers and abruptly recognized Emperor Mingze.

Jiang Yanchuan and his retinue entered an inn despite the nervous innkeeper’s attempts to turn them away. Jiang Yingcheng used System Bro to uncover the innkeeper’s identity, leaving the group stunned when he returned with their fruit juice.

• The innkeeper claimed the inn was fully booked, but Jiang Yingcheng noticed the empty dining hall and called attention to his red eyes.
• Jiang Yanchuan carried Jiang Yingcheng inside and demanded a room, while the innkeeper reflexively agreed to serve her fruit juice.
• Eunuch Changshun ordered nearly every signature dish, and the innkeeper went to the kitchen to help prepare the food.
• Jiang Yingcheng asked System Bro for information about the suspicious innkeeper and discovered his name was Gu Ruizhou, from Cen Prefecture.
• Gu Ruizhou returned carrying the fruit juice and stopped when he saw the group staring at him in shock.

Jiang Yingcheng and the ministers discovered that the innkeeper Gu Ruizhou had once been a chancellor who was believed to have died in a fire. After learning he had burned down the grand residence bestowed on him by the court, Jiang Yingcheng vowed to recover the money for her father.

• Gu Ruizhou served Jiang Yanchuan and Jiang Yingcheng fruit drink at his inn, while Jiang Yanchuan wondered whether the innkeeper could be the long-dead Chancellor Gu.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered through the system that Gu Ruizhou had been chancellor and had supposedly died after setting the Chancellor's Residence ablaze.
• Jiang Yingcheng learned that the residence had been restored at great expense and was now occupied by Tan Wenhan.
• Jiang Yingcheng angrily decided to make Gu Ruizhou repay the cost of the residence to Jiang Yanchuan.

Jiang Yingcheng discovered that innkeeper Gu Ruizhou was the former upright official who had once advised Prince Jing, and she began plotting to claim his inn for her beautiful imperial father. Her revelations about Gu Ruizhou’s past left the officials sympathetic to him and uncertain about his chances of returning to office.

• Gu Ruizhou served Jiang Yanchuan and Jiang Yingcheng a meal, then happily counted the silver they had brought him while Jiang Yingcheng glared at him.
• Jiang Yingcheng and System Bro considered ways to force Gu Ruizhou to surrender his inn to the state, alarming the officials with their schemes.
• Jiang Yanchuan personally served Jiang Yingcheng food, and she decided she wanted another trip as a reward next year.
• Jiang Yingcheng read Gu Ruizhou’s information and learned he was a good official who had served as Prince Jing’s adviser.
• Jiang Yingcheng grew angry that Gu Ruizhou’s good deeds had boosted Prince Jing’s reputation, while the officials worried about Gu Ruizhou’s future return to office.
• Jiang Yingcheng suddenly reacted with delight after discovering something unexpected about Gu Ruizhou.

Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed Gu Ruizhou’s reasons for serving Prince Jing and faking his death, while Bi Honglang tried to confront Gu over the food at the inn. After Bi Honglang snapped at Jiang Yingcheng, he realized he had insulted the little princess and was horrified.

• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner thoughts revealed that Gu Ruizhou had joined Prince Jing’s camp because he believed Prince Jing was the crown prince named in the late emperor’s edict, and that Gu had faked his death to escape the camp.
• The officials panicked at Jiang Yingcheng’s revelations, then pretended to enjoy the inn’s simple food when she wondered if they disliked it.
• Bi Honglang decided to defend Jiang Yingcheng and Emperor Mingze by accusing Gu Ruizhou of serving them poor food and drink.
• Jiang Yingcheng corrected Bi Honglang, explaining that she was drinking a fruit beverage, but Bi Honglang told her to shut up without realizing who had spoken.
• Jiang Yingcheng praised the food and the officials’ cooking, and Bi Honglang recognized that he had just snapped at the little princess.

Jiang Yingcheng won over Gu Ruizhou by praising his cooking and encouraging him to open inns across Great Rui, while her inner thoughts exposed Gu Ruizhou’s past ties to Duke Wang. Duke Wang tried to leave the inn after the ministers heard the revelation, but a sharp clink from the hall stopped him.

• Jiang Yingcheng offered Gu Ruizhou her pastries and praised his dishes until his cold attitude softened.
• Jiang Yingcheng urged Gu Ruizhou to spread his recipes by opening inns across Great Rui, and he eagerly listened as they planned together.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner thoughts revealed that Duke Wang had helped Gu Ruizhou fake his death and escape, and that Gu Ruizhou had aided Duke Wang with schemes afterward.
• Duke Wang tried to flee under the pretext of relieving himself, but a cup clinked from the most deadly direction in the hall.

Jiang Yingcheng’s search exposed Duke Wang’s secret scheme with Gu Ruizhou to finance Gu’s new life after faking his death. Duke Wang stayed close to the little one as the officials learned how he had used their funeral contributions to fund the God of Food Inn.

• Emperor Mingze’s call stopped Duke Wang from escaping, and Lei Zhixin and Chu Jiaxu confronted him about the money entrusted to him for Chancellor Gu’s funeral.
• The officials realized their condolence contributions had likely funded the God of Food Inn, while Duke Wang tried to evade their accusations.
• At the inn, Duke Wang stayed beside Jiang Yingcheng as she spoke with Gu Ruizhou, and she suspected the two men had hidden more than their plan to fake Gu’s death.
• Jiang Yingcheng searched for information about Gu Ruizhou and Duke Wang, then discovered that Duke Wang had proposed using the funeral to collect more money for Gu’s fresh start.
• Jiang Yingcheng admired the scheme and thought she might use it herself, leaving Duke Wang terrified as the officials learned his secret.

Duke Wang faced his colleagues’ suspicions over the condolence money he had split with Gu Ruizhou, hoping Jiang Yingcheng would clear his name. She explained that he had used the money for the officials’ children, but revealed that his grandson Bingxu had given much of it to Sister Zhining.

• Duke Wang calmly ate soup while his colleagues realized he had secretly helped arrange Gu Ruizhou’s funeral to collect condolence money.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Duke Wang divided the money, giving one portion to Gu Ruizhou and keeping the portion from the Upright Officials.
• Duke Wang choked on his soup as his colleagues crowded around him and pressed him about ill-gotten gains.
• Jiang Yingcheng said Duke Wang had given the money to Bingxu to spend on the officials’ children, easing their suspicions.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Bingxu had treated Sister Zhining as a playmate and spent much of the money on gifts for her, leaving Duke Wang resigned.

Jiang Yanchuan revealed that he had long known about Gu Ruizhou and Duke Wang’s secret work, then summoned Gu Ruizhou and offered him a return to office. Gu Ruizhou hesitated to leave the inn, just as Chengcheng’s voice announced she had found him.

• Jiang Yanchuan told the officials that he had known about Duke Wang’s actions, leaving them furious that Duke Wang had let them worry.
• Duke Wang brought Gu Ruizhou to meet Jiang Yanchuan, and Gu Ruizhou feared he was about to be punished.
• Jiang Yanchuan reassured Gu Ruizhou that he had supported his and Duke Wang’s work in secret for years.
• Jiang Yanchuan offered to compensate Gu Ruizhou for the burned Chancellor’s Residence with the inn and appointed him County Magistrate of Quchun.
• Gu Ruizhou began to refuse the appointment because he had important matters at the inn, when Chengcheng’s voice said she had found him.

Jiang Yingcheng interrupted Emperor Mingze and the Upright Officials as they secretly discussed a report about Chi Yimian. Her thoughts revealed that she knew more about the Zhujin Kingdom’s plans than they expected, but a noise from the wardrobe abruptly drew everyone’s attention.

• Gu Ruizhou arrived outside the room, and the officials bundled him and Lei Zhixin into a wardrobe to keep them from interrupting their secret discussion.
• Jiang Yingcheng entered, complained that Jiang Yanchuan had left her alone, and tried to find out what the officials were discussing.
• Jiang Yanchuan soothed Jiang Yingcheng with a pastry and explained that Lu Yao had sent an urgent secret report.
• Jiang Yingcheng learned that Chi Yimian had offered information about the Zhujin Kingdom’s plans to attack Great Rui in exchange for an antidote, but she already knew the secret.
• Jiang Yingcheng thought that the Zhujin ruler had also contacted Prince Xin, then a thud from the wardrobe made everyone turn toward it.

Lu Yao arrived to report the interrogation results, startling Jiang Yingcheng, who mistook him for a ghost before System Bro confirmed his identity. After the officials dealt with Gu Ruizhou and the others, Duke Wang called the Little Highness an auspicious blessing.

• Lu Yao knocked on the door and announced that he had come to report his interrogation results, frightening Jiang Yingcheng into clinging to Emperor Mingze and shouting that a ghost was outside.
• Lu Yao recounted his journey and reported that the Delaying Potion had restored the Poison Needle victims enough for him to interrogate them; he shared the conspirators’ plans and additional findings with Emperor Mingze.
• Jiang Yanchuan and Lu Yao quickly reviewed the report, then Jiang Yanchuan left with the drowsy Jiang Yingcheng in his arms.
• Lu Yao discovered Lei Zhixin and Yuan Liangping standing in a wardrobe, and the officials brought them out before they and Lu Yao joined in punishing Gu Ruizhou and Duke Wang.
• Gu Ruizhou questioned the group, and Duke Wang proudly described the Little Highness as an auspicious blessing.

Jiang Yingcheng and her party stayed in Qu Chun after she resisted leaving, and they visited the county market despite the officials’ disappointment. At a toy stall, Jiang Yingcheng heard System Bro call someone a villain and wondered what kind he was.

• Jiang Yingcheng refused to leave Qu Chun, and Pan Jifeng tried to persuade her that the surrounding mountains were unsuitable for an outing.
• Jiang Yingcheng asked Gu Ruizhou to name Qu Chun’s unique features, but he could not think of any.
• After breakfast, Jiang Yanchuan brought the party to Qu Chun’s crowded market, where Gu Ruizhou announced he would cook a complimentary dish and hurried away.
• Jiang Yingcheng browsed toys and considered gifts for the princes before System Bro identified someone as a villain.
• Jiang Yingcheng wondered what kind of villain he was, startling the Upright Officials following her and Jiang Yanchuan.

Jiang Yingcheng exposed a toy vendor’s inflated price and bargained him down, but Jiang Yanchuan then bought every toy at the stall. When she realized how much he had spent and saw many more rebel-run stalls marked nearby, Jiang Yingcheng and the ministers were alarmed, and Gu Ruizhou returned in shock.

• The ministers rushed over after hearing Jiang Yingcheng call the toy seller a bad guy and the stalls rebel-run, while Lu Yao joked that they were not good people.
• Jiang Yanchuan set Jiang Yingcheng down and asked the vendor the price of a wooden tiger, and Jiang Yingcheng revealed that another craftsman sold carvings for fifty copper coins.
• The vendor lowered the tiger’s price, and Jiang Yingcheng negotiated it down to sixty copper coins despite holding up three fingers.
• Jiang Yanchuan bought all the toys at the stall because Jiang Yingcheng liked them, and she realized she had been charmed into buying toys she did not want.
• Jiang Yingcheng worried over the rising bill and the many rebel stalls still marked nearby, while Jiang Yanchuan and the ministers froze and Gu Ruizhou returned in shock.

Gu Ruizhou and the officials tried to turn a dispute over Jiang Yingcheng’s toy purchase into a chance to identify rebel accomplices at the market. As the accomplices gathered, Jiang Yingcheng secretly urged the officials to memorize their faces, until Jiang Yanchuan intervened.

• Gu Ruizhou realized Jiang Yingcheng had spoken only through her inner voice and tried to persuade the group to keep browsing.
• The toy vendor and several hostile young men confronted Gu Ruizhou for interfering with the sale.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s inner voice celebrated the gathered accomplices as second-class merits, while Gu Ruizhou defended his food and awkwardly said she wanted to open restaurants with him.
• Jiang Yingcheng hid behind Lu Yao and pretended to be frightened while telling him to memorize the accomplices’ faces for a later investigation.
• Jiang Yanchuan tapped the vendor’s bundle and asked whether he was still doing business.

Jiang Yanchuan and the Upright Officials followed the toy vendor Shi Ye to his hideout by pretending to buy more wooden carvings. Inside, they discovered rebels training a large group of men, whom Jiang Yingcheng recognized as their founding fathers.

• Jiang Yanchuan agreed to buy more wooden carvings, and Jiang Yingcheng persuaded Shi Ye that she needed many more as gifts for her friends.
• Shi Ye led Jiang Yanchuan, Jiang Yingcheng, and the Upright Officials through an alley to the rebels’ courtyard, repeatedly trying to keep them waiting outside.
• At the gate, Shi Ye showed a rebel the coins and explained that the group had come to buy more carvings, prompting the rebel to welcome them in.
• The Upright Officials entered the courtyard and saw groups of men listening to rebel speeches in four open side rooms.
• Jiang Yingcheng thought the men were the rebels’ precious founding fathers, not poor wretches.

Jiang Yingcheng and the officials discovered that the market vendors were genuine rebels who worked to fund their leader’s plans, then learned their leader preached that success would make them founding heroes. As Jiang Yingcheng browsed the rebels’ wooden toys, someone appeared and invited everyone to hear the faith’s teachings.

• Pan Jifeng and the other officials waited outside the market for the emperor’s party, then planned to seek the county magistrate if no one emerged.
• Jiang Yingcheng and the officials learned from System Bro that the vendors truly intended to rebel and were selling toys to fund their organization.
• Jiang Yingcheng discovered that the rebel leader motivated his followers by promising they would become founding heroes if their rebellion succeeded.
• A minor rebel leader inspected the visitors, sensed Jiang Yanchuan’s authority, and hurriedly laid out the wooden toys for Jiang Yingcheng.
• Jiang Yingcheng picked out toys for her friends and found a pavilion carving she wanted to give Jiang Yanchuan, but her purse contained only gold beans.
• Someone emerged from behind a screen and invited the group to listen to the teachings of their faith.

The Heavenly Origin Sect's leader welcomed Jiang Yanchuan and began lecturing the new followers, while Jiang Yingcheng struggled to stay awake. Her thoughts revealed that the sect leader had recruited people to dig for treasure using a fake map, and Gu Ruizhou realized his years of searching had been wasted.

• Jiang Yanchuan accepted the Heavenly Origin Sect leader's offer and joined the new followers in the hall.
• The sect leader turned the front hall into a classroom and began preaching to the new recruits and gathered followers.
• Jiang Yingcheng grew sleepy during the lecture, slapped her cheeks to stay awake, and asked the System for gossip.
• Jiang Yingcheng's thoughts revealed that someone had tricked the sect leader with a fake treasure map and that he had recruited followers to help dig for treasure.
• Gu Ruizhou realized he had spent years searching for the rebels without uncovering the truth and glared angrily at the Heavenly Origin Sect's leader.

A disturbance at the Heavenly Origin Sect courtyard brought the County Magistrate of Quchun and his soldiers to investigate Jiang Yingcheng’s reported abduction. Jiang Yingcheng exposed the sect leader’s corrupt ties to the magistrate and then claimed the sect wanted to rule Great Rui, leaving the sect leader horrified.

• A messenger warned the Heavenly Origin Sect that soldiers were approaching, and Jiang Yingcheng revealed that the magistrate had been taking protection money from the sect leader.
• The followers accused Duke Wang and his companions of bringing the soldiers, while Jiang Yingcheng hinted that the sect might be an evil cult.
• The County Magistrate of Quchun entered the courtyard to investigate a report that Jiang Yingcheng had been abducted and reunited her with Pan Jifeng and the others.
• The Heavenly Origin Sect leader claimed the courtyard was a legitimate workshop, but Jiang Yingcheng said he had announced plans to become masters of Great Rui.

Jiang Yingcheng provoked the Heavenly Origin Sect leader by accusing him of insulting the authorities, while the County Magistrate of Quchun used her claims as leverage. The magistrate ordered the sect members arrested after its leader secretly offered him a bribe.

• Jiang Yingcheng told the County Magistrate of Quchun that the Heavenly Origin Sect had called officials corrupt and claimed its followers were starving.
• The Heavenly Origin Sect leader protested, but Jiang Yingcheng secretly pulled faces at him while appearing innocent to the magistrate.
• Jiang Yanchuan called Jiang Yingcheng back to him and pointedly said the magistrate would handle the matter impartially.
• The Heavenly Origin Sect leader claimed his group were honest merchants and secretly offered the magistrate five fingers' worth of silver.
• The County Magistrate of Quchun accepted the offer and ordered his men to arrest the Heavenly Origin Sect members.

Jiang Yanchuan and his group faced arrest after the Heavenly Origin Sect Leader and Quchun's magistrate accused them of slander. Lu Yao revealed that he commanded the Embroidered Uniform Guard, leaving the magistrate sprawled on the ground in terror.

• The Heavenly Origin Sect Leader and the County Magistrate of Quchun ordered soldiers to arrest Jiang Yanchuan and his group, while the officials feared for the emperor's safety.
• Bi Honglang defended Jiang Yingcheng, who pointed out the instructor as the person who had made the incriminating statement.
• The County Magistrate of Quchun ordered the soldiers to close in despite Bi Honglang's attempt to hint at the consequences of arresting Jiang Yanchuan.
• Lu Yao stood and revealed his Embroidered Uniform Guard token, prompting the magistrate to recognize him as the commander.
• Lu Yao identified himself, and the County Magistrate of Quchun was knocked facedown before he could flee.