Chapter Summaries

Ding Ruihan accused Jiang Lifeng of stealing her treasure, but Jiang Yingcheng uncovered her elaborate scheme and Jiang Lifeng countered by claiming his ancestral Jade Pendant had also gone missing. The hearing ended in an awkward standoff as he asked Zou Cailiang to investigate his own lost heirloom.

• Jiang Yingcheng defended Ding Ruihan, then pointed out how hard it was for her to save money in the Ding Residence.
• Ding Ruihan presented a shopkeeper's receipt and claimed an Itinerant Merchant had sold her treasure, while her maid slipped away to alert her accomplices.
• Ding Ruihan accused Jiang Lifeng of being her only recent adversary, prompting the courtroom to turn toward him.
• Jiang Yingcheng read Ding Ruihan's plan to frame Jiang Lifeng through planted stories, bribed shopkeepers, and a fabricated stolen pendant.
• Jiang Lifeng realized Jiang Yingcheng had replaced his missing Jade Pendant with a wooden Little Tiger charm and asked Zou Cailiang to help recover his ancestral treasure.

Jiang Lifeng accused Ding Ruihan of possessing a Jade Pendant supposedly bestowed by the Late Emperor, while Lu Yao backed up his claim that she had worn it. Ding Ruihan admitted she had possessed the pendant but insisted Jiang Lifeng had given it to her, and the chapter ended with public opinion turning against him as he smiled with apparent confidence.

• Zou Cailiang asked Jiang Lifeng to describe the lost treasure, and Jiang Lifeng claimed it was a unique Jade Pendant bestowed on his father by the Late Emperor.
• Jiang Lifeng excitedly confronted Ding Ruihan after she said she had seen the pendant, addressing her as Miss and asking her to reveal its whereabouts.
• Jiang Yingcheng wondered aloud whether she had heard of the pendant, and Ding Ruihan realized Jiang Lifeng and the others were setting a trap for her.
• Lu Yao told the crowd that he had seen a matching Jade Pendant hanging from Ding Ruihan's waist while boating with her on the Spring Reliance River.
• Ding Ruihan admitted the Jade Pendant had once been hers but insisted Jiang Lifeng had given it to her, prompting the crowd to accuse him of trying to reclaim a gift after their breakup.
• Ding Ruihan raised her head as public opinion began to favor her, but Jiang Lifeng smiled with apparent confidence.

Jiang Lifeng challenged Ding Ruihan to prove the jade pendant was a love token, exposing holes in her story before an unexpected witness arrived. The witness began implicating Ding Ruihan in a plan to report a stolen hairpin, while the crowd’s leading questions prompted him to confirm that someone had sold it to him secretly.

• Jiang Lifeng asked Ding Ruihan how she could prove they had shared a romantic past, and she countered by asking him to prove he had not given her the jade pendant.
• Jiang Lifeng questioned whether Ding Ruihan knew his full name or home, why she had gone boating with someone else, and where the pendant was; she could not answer.
• Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts reminded Jiang Lifeng of how Ding Ruihan had taken advantage of his generosity, and he withdrew his offer to let the matter end quietly.
• A bearded jewelry-shop owner entered the Government Office and testified that Ding Ruihan had asked him to witness her reporting a lost hairpin.
• A voice from the crowd led the shopkeeper to confirm that a mysterious person had sold him the hairpin cheaply, without yet identifying the seller.

Beard falsely identified Jiang Lifeng as the thief who sold the hairpin, but Zou Cailiang exposed the lie by revealing that Jiang Lifeng had been with the Emperor at the time. Ding Ruihan realized the man before her was Jiang Lifeng, the former prince consort she had once chosen.

• Jiang Yingcheng and Beard expected his testimony to expose Jiang Lifeng, while Ding Ruihan feared that Beard had failed to change his story.
• Beard recognized Jiang Lifeng and claimed he had come to his shop two days earlier to sell the stolen hairpin.
• Ding Ruihan begged Beard to stop talking, but he insisted on receiving the silver he had been promised.
• Zou Cailiang revealed that Jiang Lifeng had stayed with him and the Emperor until nearly midnight two days earlier, making Beard's accusation impossible.
• Ding Ruihan asked who Zou Cailiang meant by the young prince, and the onlookers mocked her for not recognizing the man she had called her lover.
• Jiang Lifeng introduced himself to Ding Ruihan as she recognized him as the man she had once chosen as her prince consort.

Jiang Yingcheng watched Prefect Zou sentence Ding Ruihan and her co-conspirator, but Zou Zi'ang arrived to defend Ruihan. When Jiang Yingcheng revealed Ruihan's backup plan to spread romantic gossip, Lu Yao and the others began exposing it in public.

• Zou Cailiang sentenced Ding Ruihan and her accomplice to prison for framing members of the imperial family.
• Zou Zi'ang arrived, called out to Ruihan, and insisted to his father that she had been misunderstood.
• Jiang Yingcheng snacked on melon seeds while the crowd watched Zou Zi'ang and Ruihan's emotional reunion.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that Ruihan had arranged for people to spread stories about her romance with Zou Zi'ang if her scheme was exposed.
• Lu Yao and the others began shouting about Zou Zi'ang's vows and accusing him of abandoning the woman he loved.

Ding Ruihan’s scheme to stir up gossip in court exposed Zou Zi'ang’s affair with her and drew attention to Zou Cailiang’s hidden concubines. The rumors spread beyond their control, leaving the three of them stunned as a witness revealed the location of Zou Cailiang’s outer courtesans.

• Ding Ruihan’s arranged troublemakers spread rumors about her relationships with Zou Zi'ang and Brother Wen, prompting Zou Cailiang to order the guards to seize the people disrupting court.
• Zou Zi'ang accused Beard of deceiving Ding Ruihan, but Beard knelt and testified that Ding Ruihan had recruited him to stage the case.
• Ding Ruihan wept, and Zou Zi'ang rushed to comfort her while Lu Yao’s thoughts exposed that she had many other devoted men.
• After hearing that Zou Cailiang kept several concubines in separate residences, Lu Yao, Jiao Hongmiao, and another accomplice decided to spread the secret.
• Lu Yao and the others stirred up the crowd, and one of Ding Ruihan’s witnesses claimed Zou Cailiang’s outer courtesans lived in Ningyuan Alley.

Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts and Lu Yao’s taunts exposed Zou Cailiang’s affair and children, while Zou Zi'ang realized Ding Ruihan had deceived him. A hired thug began revealing another secret about Phoenix Past Mountain before the bailiffs seized him.

• Jiang Yingcheng loudly asked what an Outer Courtesan was, and her thoughts made the courtroom mock Jiang Lifeng’s unexpected prospects as Ding Ruihan’s official husband.
• Zou Zi'ang questioned Ding Ruihan about their supposedly secret meetings, but her evasive reaction convinced him she had deceived him.
• Lu Yao challenged the hired thugs, prompting one to reveal that Zou Cailiang kept several Outer Courtesans and had children with one of them.
• Lu Yao taunted the thugs into hinting at a secret on Phoenix Past Mountain, but the bailiffs rushed in and captured the speaker.
• Zou Cailiang stood frozen behind the court desk as he realized his secrets were exposed.

Jiang Yanchuan and his party returned to the Capital, where Jiang Tinghuai and the officials welcomed them with plans to make the returning travelers face their accumulated work. At Chongyun Hall, General Gao Siyuan announced that General Kan Ruifeng had a matter to report, and Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts hinted that it concerned inferior goods mixed into military provisions.

• Zou Cailiang closed the case, imprisoned Ding Woman and Beard, and had the local thugs punished before dispersing the crowd.
• After Emperor Mingze’s visit made Jiang Yingcheng’s identity public, the princess stayed indoors as crowds gathered around her, and Jiang Yanchuan ordered the party back to the Capital.
• Jiang Tinghuai and the officials welcomed the returning party at the city gates, but Jiang Yingcheng panicked at their resentful expressions and ran to Jiang Yanchuan.
• Jiang Yanchuan took the returning officials, Jiang Yingcheng, and Gu Ruizhou to Chongyun Hall, where the officials confronted him with a backlog of government work.
• Gao Siyuan announced that Kan Ruifeng had a matter to report, and Jiang Yingcheng wondered if Kan had uncovered inferior goods in the military provisions.

During Morning Court, Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts revealed that someone had replaced the army’s medicinal herbs for the Beiming expedition with cheap, harmful substitutes. The officials learned that only one cartload had been tampered with, but they still did not know who was responsible or where the herbs were hidden, and Jiang Yingcheng wondered whether she could profit from the discovery.

• Kan Ruifeng began reporting on preparations for the Beiming expedition, but Jiang Yingcheng’s thoughts alerted the officials that the army’s medicinal herbs had been tampered with.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that the replacement herb could increase the soldiers’ risk of catching the plague, enraging the officials and making Kan Ruifeng cough.
• Kan Ruifeng stalled his report while Jiang Yingcheng read information from System Bro, and Jiao Hongmiao grew visibly distressed.
• Jiang Yingcheng revealed that the substitute herb was scarce and had only replaced enough medicine packets to fill one cartload because her father had returned in time to stop further tampering.
• The officials realized they still did not know who had tampered with the herbs or where the cartload was hidden, while Jiang Yingcheng wondered whether she could make a tidy profit.

Jiang Yingcheng’s idea to pose as herb merchants gave the Upright Officials a way to seize money from the corrupt faction while hiding their intentions. After court was dismissed, Yuan Liangping heard Jiang Yingcheng praise Grandpa Kan and realized she was behind him.

• Jiang Yingcheng imagined selling the corrupt officials herbs from Ruxin Town and collecting a deposit, prompting the Upright Officials and Jiao Hongmiao to see a chance to recover money.
• Kan Ruifeng reported that powdered wheat bran had been mixed into the medicinal herbs, and the Upright Officials condemned the adulteration to keep their scheme concealed.
• Jiang Yanchuan moved court along, while Dong Kangsheng kicked Pu Yuanzhou before he could step forward to speak.
• Jiang Yanchuan dismissed court, and the officials hurried off to pursue the herb-market plan.
• Jiang Yingcheng clasped Yuan Liangping’s finger from behind and praised Grandpa Kan, leaving Yuan Liangping reluctant to turn around.

Jiang Yingcheng learned that Jiang Yanchuan planned to lead the campaign in person and broke down over his secrecy. As officials debated the decision in the Imperial Study, they overheard that the Little Highness had cried in anger, and Jiang Yanchuan stopped tapping his desk.

• Jiang Yingcheng finished her writing lesson and promised Yuan Liangping she would have Jiang Yanchuan promote him when she grew up.
• Jiang Yingcheng learned through her thoughts that Jiang Yanchuan was discussing leading the campaign in person, a decision he had kept from her.
• Jiang Yingcheng accused Yuan Liangping of lying, cried, and resolved to confront Jiang Yanchuan after his state affairs were finished.
• Yuan Liangping signaled a eunuch to inform Jiang Yanchuan that Jiang Yingcheng had found out and was crying.
• In the Imperial Study, officials overheard the message about the Little Highness, the campaign, and her crying; Jiao Hongmiao and Jiang Yanchuan realized what had happened.

Jiang Yingcheng decided to join Emperor Mingze’s Personal Imperial Campaign to Beiming and used her Merit Points to prepare medicine for her family, soldiers, and ministers. Jiang Yanchuan drew her out from behind the bed curtains, where she realized how late it had become.

• Jiang Yingcheng reconsidered her wish to keep her imperial father from danger and decided that she wanted to go on the campaign too.
• Jiang Yingcheng ran back to Xianyang Palace while Emperor Mingze and Eunuch Changshun stayed behind, unsure how to approach her.
• Jiang Yingcheng browsed the Merit Points Shop and bought protective medicines for her siblings, relatives, soldiers, and the ministers remaining in the Capital.
• Jiang Yanchuan called for Jiang Yingcheng and threatened to send her visiting brothers and sisters away, prompting her to poke her head out from behind the curtains.
• Jiang Yingcheng looked at the moonlight and realized with surprise that it was already late.

Jiang Yingcheng gave her siblings gifts at Xianyang Palace, then revealed in her thoughts that she planned to sneak to Beiming in a provisions wagon if Jiang Yanchuan left her behind for the campaign. The princes and princesses stopped smiling as Jiang Yanchuan reacted, while transformed officials in the Capital City celebrated a mysterious buyer’s large order.

• Jiang Yanchuan brought Jiang Yingcheng to Xianyang Palace, where her siblings were waiting to see her.
• Jiang Yingcheng handed out the trinkets she had bought, delighting her brothers and sisters.
• Jiang Qiuyu praised Jiang Yanchuan for helping with the gifts, reminding Jiang Yingcheng that her father had sent her away earlier.
• Jiang Yingcheng thought that Jiang Yanchuan planned to leave her behind for the campaign and decided she would hide in a provisions wagon to follow him to Beiming.
• The princes and princesses forced smiles when Jiang Yingcheng wondered why they had stopped smiling, while officials transformed by Wu Leyong celebrated a mysterious buyer’s large order.

Jiang Yingcheng visited Clearheart Manor, where the men struggled to tie her hair before Zhang Yuke helped. When Jiang Yingcheng asked Zhang Yuke about selling a large stock of medicinal herbs, she learned someone else had already bought a batch, and Yan Yuebin spotted someone lurking near the shop.

• Jiang Yingcheng arrived at Clearheart Manor and asked the men there to tie her hair into little buns.
• The men failed to fix Jiang Yingcheng's hair, so Guan Xi invited Zhang Yuke to help; afterward, everyone ate lunch together.
• Jiang Yingcheng asked Zhang Yuke about a medicinal herb shop that might be for sale and claimed she wanted to sell herbs owned by her father.
• Zhang Yuke said someone in the city was already eager to offload a large stock of herbs, including the one Jiang Yingcheng had mentioned.
• On Everchestnut Street, Yan Yuebin and several ministers visited the herb shop they had taken over, and Yan Yuebin shouted at someone lurking by the entrance.

Jiang Yingcheng and Zhang Yuke visited the herbal medicine shop run by Yan Yuebin and his associates, where the ministers tried to conceal that they had taken over Jiang Yingcheng’s business. Hu Hongyuan struggled to explain their suspicious herb purchases as Jiang Yingcheng grew more doubtful and asked her system to investigate them.

• Jiang Yingcheng was caught peering into the shop when Yan Yuebin and the others returned, and Zhang Yuke claimed they had come to refill a patient's prescription.
• Yan Yuebin recognized the prescription's familiar ingredient and fled to the back, leaving Hu Hongyuan, Dong Kangsheng, and Lei Zhixin to handle the visitors.
• Hu Hongyuan told Zhang Yuke that the four men were newcomers who had taken over the vacant shop and had stockpiled herbs for a buyer.
• Jiang Yingcheng repeatedly suspected the men were profiteers, while Hu Hongyuan strained to justify their unusual herb sales.
• Zhang Yuke questioned Hu Hongyuan's odd explanations, and Jiang Yingcheng asked System Bro to look up the men's information.

Dong Kangsheng, Lei Zhixin, and their companions tried to keep Jiang Yingcheng from investigating their identities by diverting her with staged mishaps and gossip. Their efforts were interrupted when Yan Yuebin entered and reacted to the chaos.

• Dong Kangsheng and Lei Zhixin fell and pretended to be hurt, distracting Jiang Yingcheng from her spellcasting while Liaochen helped them up.
• Lei Zhixin insisted the herb sellers had kept stock for regular customers, and Jiang Yingcheng prepared to investigate whether he was telling the truth.
• Jiang Yingcheng overheard gossip about palace maids pursuing Liaochen and Wu Leyong, so the men encouraged her to focus on that instead.
• Dong Kangsheng, Lei Zhixin, and Zhong Chengwang staged more mishaps to keep Jiang Yingcheng distracted, and she wondered if they were fighting over an inheritance.
• Yan Yuebin returned from fetching medicinal herbs, saw Dong Kangsheng and Lei Zhixin in the chaos, and cried out in surprise.

Jiang Yanchuan tried to steer Jiang Yingcheng away from her plan to go to Beiming by pretending to be exhausted and letting her help review memorials. When she found a memorial about Beiming, she realized the matter concerned war, and Jiang Yanchuan prepared to speak to her directly.

• Jiang Yingcheng returned to Jiang Yanchuan upset because the money she hoped to gain had vanished, then remembered the gifts she had given her relatives.
• Jiang Yanchuan acted tired and let Jiang Yingcheng sit at his desk so she would stay near him while he worked.
• Jiang Yingcheng secretly altered or marked several memorials and slipped them into the reviewed pile.
• Jiang Yingcheng opened a memorial mentioning Beiming, looked at Jiang Yanchuan, and asked whether it concerned going to war.

Jiang Yanchuan tried repeatedly to talk with Jiang Yingcheng about the war with Beiming, but her attention kept turning to the memorials and their contents. After she and Jiang Yanchuan drew flowers on a memorial together, Eunuch Changshun accidentally struck a screen, and Jiang Yanchuan’s eyes lit up.

• Jiang Yanchuan tried to steer Jiang Yingcheng into discussing the war, but she handed him Grandpa Kan’s memorial and returned to reading.
• Jiang Yingcheng learned that Grandpa Kan and the others had made weapons from her blueprints and practiced battle tactics, then laughed over a county magistrate’s stolen treasures.
• Jiang Yingcheng accidentally doodled a flower on a memorial, and Jiang Yanchuan added a plum blossom to it.
• Jiang Yanchuan tried several times to discuss the war, but Jiang Yingcheng’s reactions to other memorials repeatedly interrupted him.
• Eunuch Changshun struck a screen while retreating, and Jiang Yanchuan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Jiang Yanchuan told Jiang Yingcheng he would lead the army on the Beiming Campaign, while she secretly planned to follow him. To keep her in the palace, he arranged for the Empress Dowager to take her to Changning Palace.

• Jiang Yanchuan made Eunuch Changshun read General Kan's memorial about the Beiming War aloud, then punished him with ten strokes after Jiang Yingcheng pleaded for him.
• Jiang Yanchuan told Jiang Yingcheng that he would march to Beiming, and she pretended she would stay in the palace while planning to hide in a carriage and follow him.
• Jiang Yanchuan urged Jiang Yingcheng to study with his former tutor, but she privately intended to leave before the tutor could stop her.
• Jiang Yanchuan decided that the Empress Dowager would take Jiang Yingcheng to Changning Palace and oversee her while he prepared for war.

Jiang Yingcheng ran away from home to avoid being sent to the Empress Dowager, while Xu Jiu and the others followed her outside the capital. After discovering that Xu Jiu had lied about Jiang Yanchuan’s plans, she continued onward and encountered a group of bandits.

• Jiang Yanchuan told Jiang Yingcheng to live with the Empress Dowager, but she insisted on staying with him and then ran away from home.
• Liaochen and the others followed Jiang Yingcheng, exposing Xu Jiu and his Shadow Guards hiding in trees along the way.
• Xu Jiu told Jiang Yingcheng that Jiang Yanchuan regretted upsetting her and would come take her back, but she learned through the System that her Imperial Father planned to send her to Changning Palace.
• Jiang Yingcheng continued outside the city with Xu Jiu, Liaochen, and the others, then recognized a group emerging from the trees as bandits.
• Jiang Yingcheng asked the scholarly-looking bandit whether he could write.