Chapter Summaries

Chu Moqi learned that Cui Wan was coming of age and reluctantly decided to arrange a hairpin ceremony and birthday gift for her. He overcame his reluctance to leave the residence, visited the Flowing Cloud Pavilion, and bought an assortment of hairpins so his sister-in-law could choose the best one.

• Yan Huai and Yan Qin told Chu Moqi that Cui Wan was nearing her fifteenth birthday, and Yan Qin suggested arranging a hairpin ceremony and gift.
• Chu Moqi considered giving Cui Wan his dagger, but Yan Qin and Yan Huai persuaded him that a hairpin would be more suitable.
• Chu Moqi agreed to visit the Flowing Cloud Pavilion, but ordered Yan Qin and Yan Huai not to let Cui Wan find out.
• Chu Moqi went to the Flowing Cloud Pavilion in his wheelchair and claimed he had come to inspect the accounts.
• Chu Moqi asked about fashionable hairpins and had the shop wrap several for him to take home and choose from.

Chu Moqi asked Tang Xiang to choose a hairpin for Cui Wan and arrange her fifteenth-birthday coming-of-age ceremony. Tang Xiang presided over the ceremony and gave Cui Wan the jade hairpin Chu Moqi had chosen, then hinted that someone might be waiting for her in Orchid Courtyard.

• Chu Moqi brought Tang Xiang a box of hairpins and asked her to pick one for Cui Wan; she chose an elegant green-jade hairpin carved with bamboo and magnolia.
• Chu Moqi asked Tang Xiang to perform Cui Wan's coming-of-age ceremony because his mother was away, and Tang Xiang agreed to arrange it.
• Qiaoju woke Cui Wan and helped her dress for the ceremony, while Cui Wan wondered whether Chu Moqi would attend.
• Tang Xiang presided over Cui Wan's three-stage hairpin ceremony in the main hall, using the green-jade hairpin Chu Moqi had selected.
• Tang Xiang served Cui Wan longevity noodles after the ceremony and sent her back to Orchid Courtyard, hinting that someone might be waiting there.

Cui Wan celebrated her coming-of-age ceremony, received a jeweled dagger as a birthday present from Chu Moqi, and later got drunk and blurted out that she wanted to consummate their marriage. She fell asleep on his lap, leaving him flustered but unable to stay angry with her.

• Tang Xiang encouraged Cui Wan to return to Chu Moqi, and Cui Wan hurried to the study hoping he would notice her new look.
• Chu Moqi called Cui Wan pretty only indirectly, then gave her a jeweled dagger as a birthday present; she thanked him and left happily.
• Cui Wan celebrated with Yan Qin, Yan Huai, and Qiaoju, drank sweet plum wine, and became drunk.
• Cui Wan stumbled into Chu Moqi's room, clung to him, and declared that she wanted to consummate their marriage.
• Cui Wan insisted that she was grown up, called Chu Moqi "Uncle Moqi," and fell asleep across his lap.

After Cui Wan got drunk and clung to Chu Moqi’s sleeve through the night, Chu Moqi’s prolonged, strained wheelchair posture left him in severe pain and with signs of pressure sores. Ashamed of needing intimate care, he refused to let Cui Wan see him and sent her away, while despairing over his dependence.

• Chu Moqi carried the sleeping Cui Wan to bed, covered her with a quilt, and stayed when she gripped his sleeve and called him A-Qi.
• Cui Wan woke with a hangover and found Chu Moqi in pain after spending the night in his wheelchair, but he left without explaining what had happened.
• Yan Qin and Yan Huai helped Chu Moqi return to his room, relieve himself, and treat the pressure sores on his waist and buttocks.
• When Cui Wan came to check on him, Chu Moqi ordered Yan Qin to send her away, and she left in tears.
• Alone, Chu Moqi lay face down while his injuries remained exposed and sank into despair over his dependence and loss of dignity.

Cui Wan accidentally knocked Chu Moqi’s spear from its rack and discovered how painful it was for him to struggle to lift it. She recalled that he had saved her as a child, but Chu Moqi said he did not remember and harshly sent her away after she asked whether he had loved anyone.

• Cui Wan brought Chu Moqi bird’s nest soup, and he let her into his study after seven days apart.
• Cui Wan recognized Chu Moqi’s spear as the one that had helped him save her on Vermilion Bird Street five years earlier, then accidentally knocked it to the floor.
• Chu Moqi checked that Cui Wan was unharmed, scolded her for touching the weapon, and struggled to return the heavy spear to its rack.
• Cui Wan asked whether Chu Moqi remembered saving a little girl five years earlier, but he claimed he had saved too many people to remember.
• Cui Wan asked whether Chu Moqi had liked any of the women who admired him, and he answered yes before rebuking her and driving her from the study.
• Alone, Chu Moqi looked at the spear and his legs and bitterly called himself a cripple.

Qiaoju took Cui Wan out to lift her spirits, but Cui Wan remained troubled by her strained relationship with Chu Moqi and refused to buy anything. When she heard street idlers slander Chu Moqi and Tang Xiang, Cui Wan confronted them, and they harassed and injured her before fleeing from an outraged crowd.

• Qiaoju persuaded Cui Wan to leave the residence and help choose winter fabric for Qiaoju's mother.
• At Flowing Cloud Pavilion, Cui Wan admired the jewelry but declined to take anything from the household shop.
• Cui Wan refused Qiaoju's offers of food and asked to return to the residence.
• Cui Wan heard idlers spread rumors about Chu Moqi and Tang Xiang, then shouted that they were lying.
• The idlers surrounded Cui Wan and Qiaoju, shoved Cui Wan to the ground, and fled when bystanders intervened.
• Qiaoju helped the sobbing, injured Cui Wan back to the residence.

After Cui Wan was injured defending Chu Moqi and his sister-in-law from slander, Chu Moqi scolded her, then gently treated her wounds and secretly punished the men who had attacked her. He spared the men but forced them to crawl out of Orchid Courtyard, and ended the night looking toward Cui Wan’s darkened room.

• Cui Wan returned to Orchid Courtyard injured and tearful, and Yan Qin and Yan Huai told Chu Moqi that someone had bullied her.
• Chu Moqi demanded the truth from Cui Wan, scolded her for confronting the men, then returned with medicine and carefully bandaged her hand.
• Chu Moqi told Cui Wan that the men had been in the wrong and warned her not to recklessly stand up to them again.
• That night, Chu Moqi had Yan Qin and Yan Huai beat the four men who had slandered and hurt Cui Wan.
• Chu Moqi threatened the four men with mutilation, then spared them on the condition that they crawl out through the dog hole and keep silent.

After seeing Cui Wan endangered by street thugs, Chu Moqi secretly assigned Changfeng to protect her. Changfeng posed as a penniless young woman so Cui Wan would take her in, and waited as Cui Wan went to ask Chu Moqi for permission to let her stay.

• Chu Moqi ordered Yan Qin to fetch Changfeng from the Shadow Guard Camp, while Yan Huai revealed Changfeng had once beaten him after mistaking him for Yan Qin.
• Chu Moqi instructed Changfeng to stay by Cui Wan's side and protect her without revealing that he had sent her.
• Five days later, Cui Wan found Changfeng pretending to have fainted outside the residence and brought her into Orchid Courtyard to warm her.
• Changfeng claimed she was an orphan rejected by her relatives and begged Cui Wan to let her stay, while Qiaoju questioned her story.
• Cui Wan said she needed to ask Chu Moqi before taking Changfeng in, then left to find him as Changfeng recognized how kind and vulnerable she was.

Cui Wan pleaded with Chu Moqi to let Changfeng stay, and he agreed after she coaxed and massaged him, then hugged him in delight. Changfeng began serving Cui Wan, while Chu Moqi privately cherished the embrace and remained unaware of Yan Huai’s hint about a change in his body.

• Cui Wan brought Chu Moqi soup and nervously asked him to let Changfeng stay at the residence, and he feigned anger before giving in to her pleading and massage.
• Cui Wan excitedly hugged Chu Moqi after he agreed, then fled the study in embarrassment while he sat smiling at the memory.
• Qiaoju objected to Changfeng’s stiff manner as she helped Cui Wan prepare for bed, but Cui Wan defended her and Changfeng adjusted her movements.
• Chu Moqi practiced turning over and suffered leg spasms, while Yan Huai massaged him and teased him about his good mood and bulging diaper.
• Yan Huai hinted that Chu Moqi should keep his diaper from getting dirty the next morning, but Chu Moqi did not understand, then drifted back to thoughts of Cui Wan’s embrace.

Chu Moqi teased Cui Wan by saying she had gained weight, and she avoided him for two days. After Yan Huai explained why she was hurt, Chu Moqi awkwardly tried to make amends, and Cui Wan forgave him, laughing as she ran toward the dining hall and invited him to chase her.

• Chu Moqi told Cui Wan she had put on weight, and she left lunch upset.
• Cui Wan avoided Chu Moqi and ate little for two days, while he assumed she would soon get over the joke.
• Yan Huai explained that Cui Wan was hurt by Chu Moqi's remark and urged him to apologize and coax her.
• Chu Moqi entered Cui Wan's room and found her worrying that she was fat, then asked her to eat with him.
• Cui Wan said Chu Moqi must dislike her for being fat, and he awkwardly insisted she was cute and not fat.
• Cui Wan laughed, ran toward the dining hall, and told Chu Moqi to chase her; relieved, he followed in his wheelchair.

Cui Wan played in the snow while Chu Moqi watched from his study, remembering his family and the life he had lost. When he eventually came outside and got stuck in the snow, Cui Wan freed his wheelchair, and the two ended the afternoon playfully holding hands.

• Cui Wan and Qiaoju played in the snow while Chu Moqi watched from the study window and dismissed Cui Wan’s invitation to join them as childish.
• Chu Moqi called Cui Wan back to warn her not to catch a chill, then remembered playing in the snow with his late father and elder brother.
• Chu Moqi came outside in his wheelchair and got stuck in the snow, and Cui Wan pushed him free despite his embarrassment.
• Cui Wan threw a snowball at Chu Moqi, who retaliated by dropping snow down her collar.
• Cui Wan caught Chu Moqi’s hand to stop him from fighting back, and he let her hold it as she laughed against his chest.

Cui Wan discovered that Chu Moqi had a high fever and severe leg spasms after playing in the snow, and she cared for him through the night, including changing his diaper when he begged her not to leave. By dawn, Chu Moqi woke humiliated and despairing, while Yan Huai concealed Cui Wan’s involvement and let him believe she had only appeared in a fever dream.

• Cui Wan found Chu Moqi burning with fever and suffering violent leg spasms, so Yan Qin treated him while Yan Huai fetched medicine.
• Chu Moqi shivered and clung to Cui Wan, who discovered his soaked diaper and changed it when he begged her to stay.
• Yan Huai arrived with the medicine and saw the aftermath, while a mortified Cui Wan begged him not to tell Chu Moqi before retreating to her room.
• Chu Moqi woke at dawn, realized he had wet himself, and erupted in shame and self-loathing.
• Chu Moqi asked whether Cui Wan had visited, and Yan Huai falsely claimed she had been turned away and that Chu Moqi must have dreamed of her.

On New Year's Eve, Cui Wan coaxed the withdrawn Chu Moqi into joining the household reunion dinner and watching fireworks with her. Though the evening briefly warmed him, Yan Huai's careless remark about Chu Moqi's disability revived his despair, while Tang Xiang watched them and remembered A-Lei.

• Chu Moqi secretly practiced using the chamber pot alone, fell, and withdrew further from Cui Wan as his shame and despair deepened.
• Cui Wan waited for Chu Moqi before the reunion dinner, then pushed his wheelchair toward the main hall and asked why he had been ignoring her; he agreed to let her walk beside him.
• At dinner, Tang Xiang left the seats of Chu Moqi's deceased family members vacant, encouraged Cui Wan to serve him a ruyi roll, and gave the couple New Year's money and her blessing.
• Cui Wan urged Chu Moqi to watch fireworks with her, and he reluctantly agreed after Tang Xiang teased them about being alone together.
• When Yan Huai pointed out that Chu Moqi could not run from a lit firework, Chu Moqi felt like a burden, though Cui Wan continued enjoying the fireworks beside him.
• Chu Moqi watched Cui Wan's happiness in the firelight, while Tang Xiang secretly watched them and remembered A-Lei and their child.

Cui Wan tried to receive Chu Moqi’s visiting relatives, but they insulted her and demanded control of the household’s property until Changfeng intervened. Chu Moqi arrived, drove them away, and comforted Cui Wan, leaving the two of them to return together.

• Yan Huai told Chu Moqi that the collateral relatives had come straight to Orchid Courtyard, and Chu Moqi initially refused to see them.
• Cui Wan persuaded Chu Moqi to let her receive the visitors, and he insisted that Changfeng accompany her.
• The relatives questioned Chu Moqi’s health and Cui Wan’s ability to bear an heir, then demanded that she let them manage the family’s shops and fields.
• When the relatives berated Cui Wan, Changfeng stepped forward and warned them to watch their mouths.
• Chu Moqi entered the hall, reminded the relatives that they had abandoned the family during its hardships, and ordered them never to return.
• Cui Wan cried behind Chu Moqi’s wheelchair, and he comforted her before inviting her to return with him.

On Lantern Festival, Chu Moqi refused to accompany Cui Wan to see the lanterns, so she went with Changfeng and encountered Li Yuezhou, who questioned her about her imprisoned father and escorted her home. Chu Moqi confronted Li Yuezhou at the residence gates, and after the man left, his suppressed fury erupted.

• Cui Wan asked Chu Moqi to attend the Lantern Festival with her, but he refused and told her to go with Changfeng.
• Cui Wan met Li Yuezhou in the crowded streets, and he offered vague reassurances when she asked about her father, Cui Minghai, and the old case.
• Li Yuezhou won Cui Wan a rabbit lantern and insisted on escorting her back to the residence, while Changfeng watched him warily.
• Chu Moqi waited outside the gates past nine and confronted Li Yuezhou when Cui Wan returned with him.
• Li Yuezhou criticized Chu Moqi for restricting Cui Wan, and Chu Moqi warned him to observe proprieties before Li Yuezhou departed.

Chu Moqi’s jealousy over Cui Wan’s time with Li Yuezhou drove him to destroy her lantern and forcibly kiss her, leaving her frightened and driving her away. Three days later, he sent candied hawthorns as an apology, and Cui Wan went to his study and coaxed him into sharing them.

• Cui Wan returned happily with the rabbit lantern Li Yuezhou had won, and Chu Moqi crushed it before wheeling away in anger.
• Cui Wan followed Chu Moqi to Orchid Courtyard and explained that she had asked Li Yuezhou for help saving her father, but Chu Moqi’s jealousy and insecurity grew worse.
• Chu Moqi dragged Cui Wan onto the bed and forced a kiss on her until she bit his lip; he then told her to leave, and she went away in tears.
• Three days later, Changfeng delivered candied hawthorns from Yan Huai as an apology for the broken lantern, and Cui Wan carried them to Chu Moqi’s study.
• Cui Wan offered Chu Moqi a candied hawthorn and said she would not accept his apology unless he ate with her, so he took one and they sat together.

After Emperor Yongchang’s death, Chu Moqi learns that his wife Cui Wan’s father, Cui Minghai, is expected to be freed under the general amnesty. A mysterious note invites Chu Moqi to meet Cui Minghai before the release, and Chu Moqi decides to go despite knowing it is a trap.

• Emperor Yongchang died, and Crown Prince Xiao Ling'an ascended the throne as Emperor Kangshun and declared a general amnesty.
• Chu Moqi saw that Cui Wan hoped her father, Cui Minghai, would be released from prison the next day.
• A black-clad intruder shot an arrow into Chu Moqi’s study, but Chu Moqi pinned the intruder’s clothing to the wall with a hidden mechanism, and the intruder escaped.
• Yan Qin removed a note from the arrow inviting Chu Moqi to meet Cui Minghai at Spring Breeze House that night.
• Chu Moqi recognized that the invitation was a trap but decided to go and told Yan Qin not to inform Cui Wan.

Chu Moqi met Cui Minghai, who questioned whether Wanwan truly loved him and announced that he would take her to her parents’ home. Believing he had no right to stop her, Chu Moqi agreed, then collapsed from violent leg spasms and asked Yan Qin to hide his condition from Wanwan.

• Chu Moqi secretly left home in a wheelchair to meet Cui Minghai at Spring Breeze House, and Yan Qin carried him up the stairs to the private room.
• Cui Minghai questioned Chu Moqi’s identity and release before revealing that he intended to take Wanwan home.
• Cui Minghai challenged whether Wanwan loved Chu Moqi or merely felt gratitude and dependence, and questioned whether Chu Moqi could care for her with his impaired legs.
• Chu Moqi agreed that Cui Minghai could take Wanwan home the next day, saying he would not stop him.
• After Cui Minghai left, Chu Moqi collapsed as his legs spasmed violently, and Yan Qin carried him downstairs.
• Chu Moqi asked Yan Qin to make sure Wanwan did not see him in that condition when they returned.

After Cui Minghai was released from prison, Cui Wan joyfully reunited with him and agreed to visit her parents, while Chu Moqi hid how deeply he dreaded her leaving. As her carriage departed, Cui Minghai quietly asked whether Chu Moqi had treated her well, and Cui Wan praised her husband without reservation.

• Cui Wan dressed in her best clothes and eagerly told Chu Moqi that her father could leave prison, while Chu Moqi struggled to eat.
• Cui Minghai arrived at the residence, and Cui Wan introduced Chu Moqi as her husband and assured her father she was happy with him.
• Cui Minghai invited Cui Wan to visit her parents, and Chu Moqi reluctantly agreed despite wanting her to stay.
• Chu Moqi embraced Cui Wan and praised her appearance before she left with Cui Minghai in a carriage.
• After Cui Wan departed, Chu Moqi mourned that he had not told her he loved her, while Cui Minghai asked her whether Chu Moqi had treated her well.

After Cui Wan left, Chu Moqi sank into despair and neglected his health, while Tang Xiang urged him not to reject Wanwan if she returned. Back at her family home, Cui Wan was imprisoned by Cui Minghai and realized the divorce agreement he gave her was forged, leaving her desperate to reach Chu Moqi.

• Chu Moqi refused treatment and care for his aching legs and worsening bedsores, and he ordered Yan Qin and Yan Huai not to invite another physician.
• Tang Xiang confronted Chu Moqi about driving Wanwan away and urged him to care for himself in case she came back.
• Cui Wan asked Cui Minghai to return to the marquis's residence, but he called Chu Moqi a cripple and forbade her to go.
• Cui Minghai locked Cui Wan in a woodshed and gave her a divorce agreement that appeared to be in Chu Moqi's handwriting.
• Cui Wan noticed the agreement lacked Chu Moqi's distinctive strokes and realized that Cui Minghai had forged it.