Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhou exposed Wang Junyang’s killers at the duke’s wedding, then helped Chu Huaiyin uncover Meng Fushan’s role in the Qing Garden plot. Meng Fushan named a Liu Family adviser as the man behind the scheme, while Chu Huaiyin faced the challenge of clearing Meng Zhou of rumors linking him to the previous dynasty.

• Meng Zhou ordered the arrest of three men who had murdered Wang Junyang, and Chu Huaiyin intervened when the old duke tried to detain him at the wedding feast.
• Meng Zhou frightened the prisoners by impersonating Wang Junyang, and they confessed the next day; Lady Lin’s husband’s killer was exposed, and her clansmen stopped harassing her.
• Meng Zhou and Chu Huaiyin decided to arrest Meng Fushan after Guan Jiasheng’s mother revealed that Meng Fushan had threatened her.
• Ji Yang confronted Meng Fushan in prison as false A Hu and his adoptive parents accused him of plotting to assassinate Guan Jiasheng and stealing Qing Garden’s plans.
• Rumors falsely branded Meng Fushan a remnant of the previous dynasty, and Chu Huaiyin pressed him to explain the Qing Garden scheme rather than let Meng Zhou be implicated.
• Meng Fushan admitted that he had concealed the transport of Lake Tai stones for a Liu Family adviser, whom he identified as the likely mastermind behind the plot.

Meng Zhou dealt with the aftermath of Meng Fushan’s execution while a hidden conspiracy remained unresolved and the Feng Kingdom’s envoys arrived in the capital. At the welcoming banquet, a floral fragrance stirred his pregnancy-related reactions, and Chu Huaiyin took him to the imperial study afterward.

• Chu Huaiyin had Meng Fushan executed, spread a tale that turned public opinion against him, and razed the Meng Residence; Meng Huaidao lost his post but was otherwise spared.
• Guan’s mother let Meng Zhou keep Guan Jiasheng’s identity, and Meng Zhou arranged to bring Guan Jiasheng to the capital while investigating the suspicious fake A Hu.
• Meng Zhou met the pregnant Shen Baiqing at a teahouse, where Shen challenged him to spar before Chu Huaiyin arrived and took Meng Zhou away.
• Chu Huaiyin offered Meng Zhou the vacant left chancellorship, while Meng Zhou remained unsure whether to accept it or pursue an appointment outside the capital.
• At the banquet for the Feng Kingdom’s envoys, Chu Huaiyin rejected their offer of dancers, then kept Meng Zhou behind and discovered his aroused reaction to the floral fragrance.

Meng Zhou visited Shen Baiqing and formed a paid information-sharing arrangement with Afu, then returned to the Guan Residence, where matchmakers were proposing marriages for Guan Jiasheng. Chu Huaiyin heard that Meng Zhou was letting the matchmakers stay and became alarmed.

• Chu Huaiyin teased Meng Zhou in the imperial study, but Meng Zhou escaped by summoning Xiao Jiu in Chu Huaiyin's voice.
• Meng Zhou learned that Chu Huaiyin had offered Afu one thousand taels to watch him, then persuaded Afu to sell Chu Huaiyin minor information for a share of the money.
• Meng Zhou visited Shen Baiqing at the Ji Residence and helped him finish pigeon soup while discussing the Shu Region case.
• Meng Zhou returned to the Guan Residence and found matchmakers seeking a marriage with Guan Jiasheng, including one who angered Mother Guan by boasting about descendants and imperial ties.
• Chu Huaiyin heard that seventeen or eighteen matchmakers had visited the Guan Residence and that Meng Zhou had not turned them away.

Meng Zhou visited the residence Chu Huaiyin had prepared for him, where their teasing turned intimate before they discussed the Feng Kingdom’s proposed canal. The next morning, Meng Zhou went to Jiang Yao’s grave intending to tell Jiang Yi the truth, while Chu Huaiyin hurried to find him.

• Meng Zhou rejected the matchmakers, and Chu Huaiyin ordered them to leave and declared that he would decide Guan Jiasheng’s marriage.
• Chu Huaiyin brought Meng Zhou to his prepared residence, threatened to stop him from marrying, and drew him into an intimate encounter.
• Meng Zhou and Chu Huaiyin discussed the Feng Kingdom’s proposal to connect a canal through Shu Region, and Meng Zhou advised delaying the decision until Ji returned.
• Meng Zhou prepared offerings for Jiang Yao’s death anniversary and resolved to reveal his identity to Jiang Yi rather than erase the original Meng Zhou’s existence.
• Meng Zhou went to Jiang Yao’s grave early, where Jiang Yi arrived and questioned why Official Guan was there; Chu Huaiyin rode toward the Guan Residence to fetch Meng Zhou.

Meng Zhou revealed his true identity and his mother’s suffering to Jiang Yi, who accepted him as his nephew and promised to keep his secret. Chu Huaiyin confronted Meng Zhou about disappearing, and Meng Zhou reassured him that he would remain Meng Zhou, while keeping his pregnancy hidden.

• Jiang Yi recognized Meng Zhou as Jiang Yao’s son, heard how the Meng Residence had treated Jiang Yao, and asked Meng Zhou to call him Uncle.
• Meng Zhou agreed to keep his secret, and Jiang Yi promised to treat him as the surviving twin he had failed to protect.
• Chu Huaiyin kissed Meng Zhou in the woods and asked whether he would suddenly disappear; Meng Zhou assured him he would not abandon his identity.
• Meng Zhou explained that he had lost his memories after falling into Qianyang Lake and had once wanted to abandon the name Meng Zhou; Chu Huaiyin believed him.
• Meng Zhou rejected Chu Huaiyin’s request for another kiss and returned to Jiang Yi, while Chu Huaiyin left for his duties.
• A pale traveler wearing a straw hat entered the capital at daybreak with a middle-aged man following him.

Guan Jiasheng returned to the Capital and switched identities with Meng Zhou, while their investigation into the Feng Kingdom’s delegation continued. Chu Huaiyin discovered at court that the man before him was Guan Jiasheng rather than Meng Zhou and dismissed the court in alarm.

• Guan Jiasheng told Liu Yixiu that he had returned to consult Meng Zhou, and asked him to set off fireworks near the Feng Kingdom envoys’ guesthouse to test their reaction.
• A Hu overheard his adoptive parents mention Feng City after the fireworks sounded twice, while Meng Zhou and Liu Yixiu watched Miss Shui Bi leave the guesthouse under guard.
• Meng Zhou and Guan Jiasheng secretly exchanged identities, and Meng Zhou promised Liu Yixiu an imperial physician appointment in exchange for the half of the medical book hidden beneath his bed.
• Meng Zhou fell ill overnight and went to Li Wenle’s home for treatment, while Chu Huaiyin stayed awake worrying about him.
• At morning court, Chu Huaiyin recognized Guan Jiasheng instead of Meng Zhou, ordered him to stay, and dismissed the officials.

Chu Huaiyin searched the city for Meng Zhou, found him asleep at Li Wenle’s home, and carried him back to the palace. Meng Zhou woke chained to the dragon bed, but discovered the chain was not secured; Chu Huaiyin had left the key beside him and hurried back when he heard Meng Zhou was frightened.

• Chu Huaiyin ordered the city gates sealed and searched the inn, where he learned Meng Zhou had left during the night without taking the inn’s quilt.
• Chu Huaiyin received a report that Shui Bi had met the wanted Liu Residence adviser, then ordered the captured adviser’s martial arts crippled and severe torture administered.
• Chu Huaiyin found Meng Zhou sleeping at the wet nurse’s home and carried him, bundled in a quilt and pillow, back to the palace.
• Meng Zhou woke in Chu Huaiyin’s bedchamber with a shackle on his wrist and panicked before realizing its chain was not attached to anything.
• Chu Huaiyin returned after Xiao Jiu reported Meng Zhou was awake and shaken, asking why no one had seen the key he left beside the bed.

After Chu Huaiyin freed Meng Zhou and apologized for frightening him, the two made up, and Jiang Yi arrived after learning that Meng Zhou was pregnant. They agreed on a cover story to restore Meng Zhou’s identity but could not settle where he should live, while Meng Zhou continued concealing his pregnancy from Chu Huaiyin.

• Chu Huaiyin found Meng Zhou outside, covered him with a fur cloak, unlocked his handcuffs, and promised never to frighten him that way again.
• Meng Zhou and Chu Huaiyin made up, and Chu Huaiyin offered to restore Meng Zhou’s position as an adjudicator; Meng Zhou refused the conditions Chu Huaiyin proposed.
• Li Wenle told Jiang Yi that Meng Zhou was three or four months pregnant, and Jiang Yi rushed to the palace, suspecting Chu Huaiyin was responsible.
• Chu Huaiyin and Jiang Yi agreed to claim that fishermen had rescued Meng Zhou and that the corpse had been misidentified, but they argued over where Meng Zhou should live.
• Meng Zhou suggested that Jiang Yi stay with him at the Meng Residence, satisfying neither man, and later introduced Physician Liu to Chu Huaiyin.
• Liu Yixiu became an imperial physician and proposed teaching Chu Huaiyin medicine, prompting Meng Zhou to pull him away before he revealed the pregnancy.

Meng Zhou returned to the Guan Residence and then moved in with Jiang Yi, while Chu Huaiyin gave him Zhang Si’s confession exposing an eighteen-year conspiracy against Great Wei and the Jiang Clan. Chu Huaiyin invited Meng Zhou to the Bestowal Altar, and Meng Zhou decided to use the climb as a chance to reveal his pregnancy by pretending to faint.

• Meng Zhou left the palace with Liu Yixiu after Chu Huaiyin refused to let him visit the dungeon, and Liu Yixiu suggested a treatment for Guan Jiasheng’s impotence.
• Guan Jiasheng visited Liao Yunlan’s grave, reunited with his mother, and told Meng Zhou he would not seek treatment or remarry because he did not want to betray his late wife.
• Jiang Yi took Meng Zhou to the general’s residence, questioned him about Chu Huaiyin and the pregnancy, and approved of his refusal to enter the palace as a consort.
• Chu Huaiyin gave Meng Zhou Zhang Si’s confession, which revealed how the Feng Kingdom’s agents had engineered the Jiang Clan’s defeat, the Qianyang Lake explosion, and the theft of Jiang Yao’s dowry.
• Chu Huaiyin invited Meng Zhou to the Bestowal Altar, and Meng Zhou agreed after deciding he could pretend to faint on the mountain and let an imperial physician reveal his pregnancy.