Chapter Summaries

Cui Wan became separated from her father in a crowd welcoming the victorious Chu Family Army, and Chu Moqi rescued her from being trampled. She left with her father, but silently decided she wanted no one but the young Second Young Master Chu.

• Cui Minghai took his daughter Cui Wan out to the capital's main street and bought her candied hawthorns.
• The returning Chu Family Army stirred the crowd, and Cui Wan was separated from Cui Minghai and knocked to the ground.
• Chu Moqi used his silver spear to hold back the crowd and helped Cui Wan stand before rejoining the procession.
• Cui Minghai found Cui Wan and told her that Chu Moqi was the Marquis of Ningyang's second son.
• Cui Wan told herself she wanted no one else, while Cui Minghai warned her that their family was far beneath the Chu Family's standing.

Fourteen-year-old Cui Wan sought money for her gravely ill mother and was offered a marriage to Chu Moqi in exchange for agreeing. She accepted, though her uncle and aunt’s sudden kindness and Lady Li’s demand that she claim to be sixteen left her uneasy.

• Cui Wan cared for Yang Xiu and decided to ask Cui Minghe for silver to buy medicine.
• Cui Minghe and Lady Li discussed the Chu Family’s marriage agreement and chose Cui Wan instead of their daughter, Yaya.
• Lady Li persuaded Cui Wan to marry Chu Moqi by promising treatment and medicine for Yang Xiu.
• Cui Wan agreed to the marriage and asked Cui Minghe and Lady Li to continue caring for her mother.
• Lady Li told Cui Wan to claim she was already sixteen when she went to the Chu Family, and Cui Wan left with both excitement and unease.

Cui Wan accepted the marriage agreement with the Chu Family to secure treatment for her ailing mother, while Yang Xiu reluctantly supported her choice. As the wedding approached, the Cui Family took the Chu Family’s betrothal gifts for themselves and prepared Cui Wan for a marriage that left her hopeful and uneasy.

• Cui Wan accidentally caught Cui Ya meeting a mysterious man, and Cui Ya threatened her before giving her a silver bracelet as hush money.
• A physician told Cui Wan that Yang Xiu could recover with regular medicine and careful care.
• Cui Wan told Yang Xiu about the marriage agreement, and Yang Xiu mourned her young daughter’s impending departure but urged her to care for herself after marrying.
• The Chu Family delivered valuable betrothal gifts, which Cui Minghe and Lady Li moved into their own storeroom instead of giving them to Cui Wan.
• Yang Xiu advised Cui Wan not to fight over the gifts, and Cui Wan accepted that she and her mother could not afford to oppose her uncle and aunt.
• The Cui Family arranged Cui Wan’s bridal clothes and wedding preparations as the wedding day drew closer.

Fourteen-year-old Cui Wan was forced to marry into the Chu Family despite learning that the family had suffered defeat and her groom, Second Young Master Chu, was crippled and absent. A mysterious woman guided her through the wedding and into the bridal chamber, where Cui Wan caught her hand as she was about to leave.

• Yang Xiu tried to send Aunt Yue with Cui Wan, but Cui Wan refused to leave her mother without care and rejected Lady Li’s proposed dowry maids.
• As Cui Wan was carried to the wedding sedan, onlookers said the Marquis of Ningyang and Eldest Young Master Chu had died in battle and Second Young Master Chu was crippled.
• Cui Wan panicked and tried to refuse the marriage, but Lady Li threatened to cut off Yang Xiu’s medicine, and Cui Wan was forced into the sedan.
• At the Chu residence, a woman in pale clothes offered Cui Wan her hand and guided her out of the sedan and through the wedding ceremony without the groom present.
• The woman led Cui Wan to the bridal chamber, and Cui Wan caught her hand as she turned to leave.

On her wedding night, Cui Wan waited alone in the bridal chamber while Chu Moqi refused to see her and then went missing. After slipping out to find food, she lost her way in the dark and stumbled upon a motionless person who had grabbed her ankle.

• Tang Xiang comforted Cui Wan, apologized for Chu Moqi's absence, and asked her to wait while she and their mother-in-law tried to persuade him.
• Cui Wan worried that Chu Moqi did not want to marry her and feared being sent back to her uncle and aunt, who might stop paying for her mother's treatment.
• A servant announced that Chu Moqi was missing, and the household staff left to search while Cui Wan remained alone and hungry.
• Cui Wan removed her veil and heavy wedding clothes, found no one outside, and sneaked from the bridal chamber to look for food.
• Cui Wan lost her way in the dark outskirts of the residence, cried for her mother, and continued searching for a way back.
• Cui Wan felt an icy hand grab her ankle and saw a motionless person lying facedown nearby.

On her wedding night, Cui Wan fled the bridal chamber, tried to help an injured stranger in the rear garden, and escaped after he shoved and threatened her. She was found in the kitchen and returned to wait for Chu Moqi, but as she grew exhausted, someone violently burst into the room.

• Cui Wan found an injured man in the rear garden and tried to help him, but he shoved her away and warned her not to tell anyone about that night.
• Cui Wan ran for help, then hid in a kitchen storeroom and ate snacks until a cook and two maids found her.
• A maid told Cui Wan that Chu Moqi would soon come to the bridal chamber, and the maids restored her wedding clothes and veil.
• Cui Wan waited alone for Chu Moqi, grew tired and uncertain when he did not arrive, and nearly fell asleep.
• Someone violently burst open the bridal chamber door, leaving Cui Wan terrified of who had entered.

On their wedding night, Chu Moqi confronted Cui Wan and accused her of marrying into the marquis’s household for status, while Cui Wan recognized him as the injured man she had tried to help. Chu Moqi left the bridal chamber in anger, and Cui Wan cried herself to sleep, wondering why he despised her.

• Chu Moqi arrived in his wheelchair and roughly tore off Cui Wan’s bridal veil, startling her with his cold, angry appearance.
• Cui Wan recognized Chu Moqi as the injured man she had encountered in the garden, while he suspected she had married him for the household’s wealth and standing.
• Chu Moqi accused Cui Wan of seeking a higher branch and gripped her chin as she tearfully tried to address him as her husband.
• Chu Moqi warned Cui Wan to know her place and left the bridal chamber after she called him husband again.
• The maids helped Cui Wan change out of her wedding clothes, and she cried herself to sleep wondering whether Chu Moqi truly disliked her.

Cui Wan woke to find Tang Xiang caring for her after Chu Moqi had mistreated her on their wedding night, and Tang Xiang apologized while promising to protect her. As they went to pay respects to Wei Shuyun, Tang Xiang explained the family’s losses and Wei Shuyun’s decision to leave for Eternal Compassion Nunnery, while Cui Wan wondered whether Chu Moqi would see his mother off.

• Cui Wan woke late and Tang Xiang comforted her, then realized Chu Moqi had bullied her the previous night and apologized on his behalf.
• Tang Xiang introduced Qiaoju as Cui Wan’s maid and explained that Cui Wan could give orders as the household’s Second Madam.
• Tang Xiang apologized for escorting Cui Wan to the residence as a widow, and Cui Wan thanked her for helping her.
• Tang Xiang led Cui Wan to pay respects to Wei Shuyun and explained that Wei Shuyun planned to leave for Eternal Compassion Nunnery after Chu Moqi agreed to marry.
• Cui Wan asked whether Chu Moqi would see Wei Shuyun off, and Tang Xiang said she did not know whether he would come.

Cui Wan formally met her mother-in-law, Wei Shuyun, who announced she was leaving the Chu residence and urged Cui Wan and Chu Moqi to live well together and preserve the family line. After Wei Shuyun departed, Cui Wan found Chu Moqi watching from a corridor and prepared to settle into Orchid Courtyard, uncertain about the future.

• Cui Wan nervously offered tea to Wei Shuyun, who questioned her age and urged her to live well with Chu Moqi and leave an heir.
• Wei Shuyun said she would leave the residence, and Tang Xiang and Cui Wan escorted her to the main gate.
• Cui Wan cried over the family’s suffering, and Tang Xiang encouraged her to protect what mattered and keep living.
• Cui Wan and Tang Xiang noticed Chu Moqi waiting in his wheelchair after Wei Shuyun’s carriage departed, but he left without speaking.
• Tang Xiang explained that Cui Wan would live with Chu Moqi in Orchid Courtyard and invited her to visit Plum Courtyard whenever she needed help.

Cui Wan struggled to adjust to Chu Moqi’s rejection and began to understand his isolation, but a frightening encounter with two lookalike guards ended in her crashing into him. Chu Moqi left still guarded, though he found himself wondering whether Cui Wan was truly as foolish and guileless as she seemed.

• Cui Wan learned that Chu Moqi had moved into the neighboring room and spent their wedding night in the study rather than share the bridal chamber.
• Over the next few days, Cui Wan kept her distance from Chu Moqi and found a moment of happiness beneath the blooming osmanthus tree.
• Yan Qin told Cui Wan that Chu Moqi and his late elder brother had planted the tree, then Yan Huai appeared and repeated the same words, confusing her.
• Cui Wan mistook Yan Huai for Yan Qin, panicked, and ran into Chu Moqi’s wheelchair, crying that she had encountered a ghost.
• Chu Moqi angrily stopped Cui Wan from adjusting his blanket, and Yan Huai explained that he and Yan Qin were twins.
• As Yan Qin wheeled Chu Moqi away, Chu Moqi privately questioned whether Cui Wan was pretending to be harmless, then dismissed her as foolish.

Chu Moqi relived the battlefield death of his father and brother in a nightmare and nearly strangled Cui Wan when she entered his room to check on him. After his servants helped calm his spasming legs, he dismissed his guilt and told himself to keep her away, while Cui Wan cried in the next room.

• Chu Moqi dreamed that his father and elder brother died in battle and that his own spine was crushed before he attacked the Wute chieftain.
• Cui Wan entered Chu Moqi’s room after hearing him thrash and groan, and he mistook her for an enemy and strangled her.
• Cui Wan called him A-Qi until he recognized her and released her, leaving her coughing and terrified.
• Yan Qin and Yan Huai arrived, and Chu Moqi covered his spasming legs and ordered Cui Wan to leave while threatening her.
• Yan Qin gave Chu Moqi medicine and Yan Huai massaged his legs; Chu Moqi blamed Cui Wan for entering and dismissed his servants.
• Chu Moqi listened to Cui Wan’s muffled sobs from next door and resolved not to let her enter his room again.

After Chu Moqi ordered medicine sent to Cui Wan, he struggled with whether to apologize for nearly strangling her and went to see her. Cui Wan accepted the medicine but remained hurt and uncertain about his intentions, while Yan Huai planned to report her condition in a way that might push Chu Moqi to visit.

• Yan Huai changed Chu Moqi's soaked diaper, and Chu Moqi asked him to take medicine to Cui Wan and have Qiaoju check her injuries.
• Chu Moqi rebuffed Yan Huai's suggestion that he apologize, then struggled into his wheelchair and went toward the main room.
• Yan Huai delivered Snow-Skin Jade-Dew Ointment and Spirit-Calming Powder to Qiaoju, who let him speak with Cui Wan after checking with her.
• Yan Huai saw the bruises on Cui Wan's neck and told her to rest and use the medicine, while she wondered whether Chu Moqi had sent it out of guilt or self-interest.
• Cui Wan asked Qiaoju to apply the ointment, and Yan Huai hurried away planning to report how wretched she looked so Chu Moqi might visit her.

Cui Wan tried to seek comfort from Tang Xiang but was lost, slighted by a stewardess, and hurt by servants’ gossip about her marriage and Chu Moqi. That night, Chu Moqi inspected her injury and promised he would not hurt her again, leaving her frightened but somewhat reassured.

• Cui Wan left the Orchid Courtyard to visit Tang Xiang, but a stewardess sent her the wrong way and she overheard servants gossiping cruelly about her and Chu Moqi.
• Cui Wan returned to the Orchid Courtyard and hid herself away, while Yan Qin told Chu Moqi that her neck injury looked severe and might scar.
• Chu Moqi went to find Cui Wan, examined her wound, and discovered that the Snow-Skin Jade-Dew Ointment seemed to be helping.
• Cui Wan explained that she had only entered Chu Moqi’s room because she feared he was unwell, and Chu Moqi told her not to enter again while he slept and promised he would not hurt her again.
• Yan Huai admitted to Yan Qin that he had impersonated him and exaggerated Cui Wan’s injuries to prompt Chu Moqi to show concern.

Cui Wan received apologies from servants whom Chu Moqi had disciplined for disrespecting her, then found comfort in picking osmanthus and making cakes for the household. As Auntie Chen guided her to Plum Courtyard with cakes for Tang Xiang, Cui Wan noticed what looked like baby diapers drying in the laundry courtyard.

• Auntie Chen and two maids knelt before Cui Wan to apologize, and Cui Wan asked them only to guide her if she got lost again.
• Chu Moqi ordered the three servants to empty chamber pots for ten days and warned them never to disrespect Cui Wan again.
• Cui Wan picked osmanthus flowers with Qiaoju and made two batches of osmanthus cakes, sharing them with the servants.
• Cui Wan asked Auntie Chen to take her to Plum Courtyard with cakes for Tang Xiang, and Auntie Chen offered to show her around the residence first.
• While passing the laundry courtyard, Cui Wan spotted cloths that looked like baby diapers before continuing toward Plum Courtyard.

Cui Wan brought osmanthus cakes to Tang Xiang, who revealed that her twins had died in childbirth and Chu Molei had later died in battle. Meanwhile, Chu Moqi struggled to turn himself in bed, accidentally wet himself, and discovered Yan Qin and Yan Huai sneaking cakes that Cui Wan had shared with everyone except him.

• Cui Wan brought freshly made osmanthus cakes to Tang Xiang, who recalled that Chu Molei and Chu Qi had planted the osmanthus tree together.
• Tang Xiang told Cui Wan that her twin babies had died during childbirth and Chu Molei had died in battle the following spring.
• Cui Wan stayed with Tang Xiang, comforted her, and left Plum Courtyard after spending the evening together.
• Chu Moqi practiced turning himself over, succeeded after strenuous effort, and accidentally lost control of his bladder.
• Unable to find Yan Qin or Yan Huai, Chu Moqi transferred himself to his wheelchair and went looking for them.
• Chu Moqi caught Yan Qin and Yan Huai secretly eating Cui Wan's osmanthus cakes and learned she had shared them throughout the residence but not with him.

Chu Moqi confronted Cui Wan after she shared osmanthus cakes with everyone but him, revealing that he had wanted some. When Cui Wan brought him more the next day, he ate several and reluctantly let her call him “A-Qi,” leaving their relationship warmer but still awkward.

• Chu Moqi grew upset after learning that Cui Wan had given osmanthus cakes to the household but not to him, and he ordered Yan Qin and Yan Huai to prepare his bath.
• The next afternoon, Chu Moqi questioned Cui Wan about picking blossoms from the tree he had planted with Chu Molei and demanded to know where his cakes were.
• Cui Wan realized Chu Moqi had wanted some pastries and promised to make him more, while Chu Moqi denied caring and sent her out of his study.
• Cui Wan brought Chu Moqi fresh osmanthus cakes the following day, and he ate three while criticizing them and insisting they were too cloying.
• Cui Wan asked to call Chu Moqi “A-Qi,” and he agreed; she happily left the study as he sat listening to the name in silence.

Chu Moqi suffered a severe pain attack and lashed out at Cui Wan when she witnessed his distress, deepening his shame and isolation. Later, Cui Wan found him unconscious after he drank heavily and fell, and she stayed by his bedside to watch over him.

• Chu Moqi endured agonizing back pain and uncontrollable leg spasms during the rainy morning, while Yan Qin and Yan Huai tried to ease his suffering.
• Cui Wan peeked through the door, and Chu Moqi angrily warned her to stay away; she fled, shaken and confused.
• That night, Cui Wan heard a crash and found Chu Moqi unconscious on the floor beside his wheelchair, reeking of strong liquor and bearing a swollen forehead.
• Yan Qin and Yan Huai carried Chu Moqi to bed, checked him, and gave him sobering soup while Cui Wan treated his forehead with warm eggs.
• Cui Wan asked to remain and watch over Chu Moqi, and after Yan Qin and Yan Huai agreed to keep watch outside, she fell asleep beside his bed.

Cui Wan stayed beside Chu Moqi through the night, soothing him when a nightmare brought on spasms and distress. When Chu Moqi woke, he panicked over what she might have witnessed, drove her away, and blamed Yan Qin and Yan Huai for letting her stay.

• Cui Wan dreamed of her father and a young man in silver armor before Chu Moqi's moans woke her.
• Cui Wan cautiously soothed Chu Moqi through his nightmare until his breathing steadied and he fell back asleep.
• Cui Wan mourned the lost young man she associated with South Mountain, then fell asleep beside Chu Moqi's bed.
• Chu Moqi woke with a hangover and a painful bump on his forehead, saw Cui Wan sleeping nearby, and worried about what she had witnessed.
• Chu Moqi harshly ordered Cui Wan to leave, and she withdrew after reminding him to drink sobering soup and treat his injury.
• Chu Moqi pulled the quilt over his head in humiliation, then angrily blamed Yan Qin and Yan Huai for allowing Cui Wan to watch over him.

Chu Moqi confronted Cui Wan after she avoided him, only to discover that she was suffering from abdominal pain. He arranged ginger soup and a bed warmer, then awkwardly sent her an apology, leaving their relationship slightly warmer as Cui Wan rested.

• Chu Moqi grew increasingly agitated when Cui Wan avoided him and went to her room to demand that she make osmanthus cakes.
• Chu Moqi realized Cui Wan was genuinely ill, but misunderstood her abdominal pain and called women a nuisance before leaving in embarrassment.
• Cui Wan cried over Chu Moqi's words until maids delivered ginger soup and a bed warmer on Guard Yan's orders, and she suspected Chu Moqi had arranged them.
• Chu Moqi asked Qiaoju how Cui Wan was doing and told her to pass along that he had been talking nonsense.
• Yan Huai laughed at Chu Moqi's awkward apology, and Chu Moqi threatened him with more laps.

Cui Wan gave Chu Moqi a calming sachet she had embroidered, and he accepted it despite pretending to dislike it. The sachet helped him sleep without nightmares, while Yan Huai and Yan Qin discovered an unexpected bodily response and agreed to keep it secret from Chu Moqi.

• Cui Wan embroidered a rabbit sachet filled with calming aromatics and brought it to Chu Moqi, who took it and placed it against his chest.
• Chu Moqi hung the sachet by his bed, and Yan Huai teased him about keeping Cui Wan’s gift on display.
• Chu Moqi fell asleep peacefully without his usual battlefield nightmares and dreamed of Cui Wan calling him A-Qi.
• Yan Huai showed Yan Qin evidence of Chu Moqi’s unexpected bodily response, and the two servants agreed to keep it from him and everyone else.