Chapter Summaries

Meng Anzhi recovered enough to speak without pain, while Jin Shanyao treated Niu Zhuangzhuang and promised to teach Anzhi the needling technique. On their way home, they witnessed Boss Zheng mistreat Lü Pan'er, and Jin Shanyao urged Anzhi to become strong enough to stand up for herself.

• Meng Anzhi woke to find her throat no longer hurt and her neck wound had faded, then joined Jin Shanyao and Meng Anci for breakfast.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi brought food to Niu Dadan's family to thank him for saving Anzhi.
• Jin Shanyao examined Niu Zhuangzhuang and began acupuncture treatment, promising Sister-in-law Niu that repeated treatments could help him recover.
• Jin Shanyao asked whether Fifth Master Dong had said anything, but Meng Anzhi pretended to be mute and gestured about her ordeal.
• Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao saw Boss Zheng slap Lü Pan'er, and Jin Shanyao told Anzhi to build her strength so she could make others listen.

At Green Mountain Academy, Meng Anci and his friends worried that Meng Anzhi had not spoken since being held hostage, so Shiyan suggested provoking her into an argument. Meng Anci’s scheme worked, and the chapter ended with Meng Anzhi speaking again and warning him to stay away from Shiyan.

• Meng Anci, Zhao Zhiyuan, Zhao Yushan, and Shiyan discussed Meng Anzhi’s continued silence, and Shiyan proposed provoking her into speaking.
• Shiyan taught Meng Anci to insult Meng Anzhi and gave him a dead twig to use in his plan.
• Meng Anci teased Meng Anzhi in her study, then falsely claimed she had insulted Qing He’s cooking and Jin Shanyao’s congee.
• Meng Anzhi chased Meng Anci and beat him after he sought Jin Shanyao’s protection, while he explained that he had only wanted her to talk again.
• Meng Anzhi finally spoke, ordered Meng Anci to get her water, and told him to stay away from Shiyan.

At Anzhi Hall, Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao treated patients and helped a frightened girl face her fear of needles. The chapter ended with Meng Anzhi telling a hesitant farming couple that the woman was four months pregnant, leaving their anxious reaction unexplained.

• At Green Mountain Academy, Meng Anci told Shiyan that Sister Anzhi had started speaking but had beaten him after he followed Shiyan’s awkward advice.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi treated Niu Zhuangzhuang, whose father Niu Dadan helped around Anzhi Hall to repay their kindness.
• A girl accused Meng Anzhi of hurting her with acupuncture, so Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao used a trick to remove the needles and teach her not to fear them.
• A farming couple came to Anzhi Hall, and Meng Anzhi diagnosed the woman as four months pregnant despite her insistence that she had not conceived in five years.

Jin Shanyao beat Boss Zheng after he rolled his eyes at her, then defended herself in Su Wenqian’s courtroom and helped expose Boss Zheng’s intimidation of Zheng Laosi and Chen Maimiao. After Su Wenqian dismissed the case, Jin Shanyao asked to see the land register so she could negotiate buying Qingzhou Prefecture’s remaining barren mountains.

• Jin Shanyao overheard Boss Zheng harassing Zheng Laosi and Chen Maimiao after they visited Anzhi Hall, then followed Boss Zheng when he rolled his eyes at her.
• Boss Zheng challenged Jin Shanyao to hit him, and she punched both his eyes and beat him until he fell to the ground and complained.
• In court, Jin Shanyao said Boss Zheng had agreed to be hit, while Boss Zheng denied it and demanded compensation.
• Su Wenqian questioned Zheng Laosi, who confirmed Boss Zheng had asked Jin Shanyao to hit him, and Boss Zheng withdrew his complaint and left.
• After Su Wenqian dismissed the court, Jin Shanyao asked him to sell her the four remaining barren mountains and requested the fish-scale land register.

Jin Shanyao bought several barren mountains after bargaining Su Wenqian down to a one-year tax exemption, then sold Beating-Resistance Talisman Paper to Xiao Huzi and his classmates. When their mothers arrived to retrieve the children, Jin Shanyao challenged them to question the schoolteacher about why the young students had been beaten.

• Jin Shanyao bargained with Su Wenqian over the barren mountains and secured a one-year tax exemption before signing the contract.
• Back at Anzhi Hall, Xiao Huzi brought his classmates to buy Jin Shanyao's Beating-Resistance Talisman Paper, offering her a deal to attract more customers.
• Jin Shanyao inspected the children's ruler marks and drew talismans for them as the young customers crowded around her.
• Wang Jinlian and several mothers arrived, angry that the children had skipped school and spent money at Anzhi Hall.
• Xiao Huzi defended Jin Shanyao, and she showed the mothers the children's beaten palms and questioned whether their teacher knew how to teach.

Jin Shanyao expanded Anzhi Hall’s mountain planting plans and prepared for its growth, while supporting Xie Chao and testing a prospective mountain caretaker. The chapter left Tao Yunshan assigned to Lush Mountain and Qin Baitang ready to establish Anzhi Hall in the capital.

• After Xiao Huzi challenged the parents’ practice of hitting children for poor grades, the families left Anzhi Hall without taking their pooled copper coins, leaving Jin Shanyao to reflect on how hard money was to earn.
• Jin Shanyao spread grass seeds and tended the vegetation on four mountains, then visited Xie Chao and asked him to care for Crescent Moon Mountain and plant more mountain walnuts for gifts to people in the capital.
• Xie Chao gave Jin Shanyao seasoned dried matsutake, and they discussed his hope of returning to West Long to make amends for the drought and her plan to become a mountain god.
• Qin Baitang brought Tao Yunshan to Anzhi Hall, where Jin Shanyao tested his herb knowledge and approved him to look after Lush Mountain.
• Jin Shanyao thanked Qin Baitang for recommending Tao Yunshan and urged him to contact her if he faced trouble in the capital; Qin Baitang resolved to establish Anzhi Hall there.

After Qin Baitang left Lush Mountain in Tao Yunshan’s care, Jin Shanyao continued running Anzhi Hall. When Chen Maimiao came to wait outside the hall, Jin Shanyao protected her from Boss Zheng and gave her a safe place to rest until her husband arrived.

• Qin Baitang checked Lush Mountain’s accounts against Jin Shanyao’s and advised Tao Yunshan to be cautious in business and seek help when uncertain.
• Jin Shanyao noticed Chen Maimiao waiting outside Anzhi Hall and let her remain there.
• Boss Zheng tried to take Chen Maimiao home, but Jin Shanyao startled him into leaving with a passerby.
• Zhou Xiaosi brought Chen Maimiao a chair and sweetened hot water after recognizing that she was pregnant.
• Zheng Laosi came to fetch Chen Maimiao and gave her a bun, which she ate before they went home together.
• Zhou Xiaosi closed Anzhi Hall and told Jin Shanyao that Anci had not returned yet.

Meng Anci brought Dahuang along for the academy’s river excursion and rented him a separate boat. When Shao Lishan criticized him for spending money on a dog while porters struggled, Meng Anci challenged Shao to help an injured worker instead and then boarded the pleasure boat.

• Meng Anci told Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi about the river excursion, and Jin Shanyao insisted Dahuang should come along.
• Meng Anci helped Zheng Laosi lift a sack of rice at the ferry landing, then rented a boat so Dahuang could follow the students’ boat.
• Shao Lishan accused Meng Anci of flaunting his wealth and humiliating poor workers by treating Dahuang to a boat and food.
• Meng Anci defended the expense as business for the boatman and challenged Shao Lishan to buy medicine for Zheng Laosi.
• Shao Lishan said he would give Zheng Laosi medicine later, and Meng Anci boarded the pleasure boat.

Meng Anci reconsidered his plan to retaliate against Shao Lishan after seeing him help an injured man, while Shiyan decided to let the insult go. Later, Jin Shanyao comforted Meng Anci over his disagreement with Shiyan and urged him to accept others as they are without forcing himself to change.

• On the pleasure boat, Master Li rebuked Shao Lishan and Shiyan for fighting with fellow students and reminded them they might need one another in the future.
• After reaching shore, Meng Anci and Shiyan planned to retaliate against Shao Lishan, but saw him give medicinal wine and his money pouch to an older man.
• Shiyan decided to abandon the plan because Shao Lishan seemed kind, while Meng Anci questioned whether kindness shown to someone else should change how he felt about Shao Lishan.
• At Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao had Qing He prepare tangyuan after learning Meng Anci had skipped his meal and seemed unhappy.
• Meng Anci told Jin Shanyao that he and Shiyan seemed to think differently, and she advised him to accept friends’ shortcomings or let them go without changing himself.

Niu Dadan brought Niu Zhuangzhuang to Anzhi Hall for a follow-up and was encouraged by Jin Shanyao to start making hemp sacks, while Chen Maimiao continued waiting outside the hall. Wang Xiaohua returned after a year of mourning and asked Meng Anzhi to check her health, explaining that she hoped to become pregnant before her father-in-law remarried and divided the family property.

• Niu Dadan told Zhou Xiaosi that Niu Zhuangzhuang had improved and offered Jin Shanyao fifty copper coins for the medicine.
• Jin Shanyao urged Niu Dadan to save for a weaving frame and promised Anzhi Hall would buy his hemp sacks, and he vowed to supply them.
• Jin Shanyao later reflected that Niu Dadan would become Qingzhou Prefecture's largest hemp sack merchant and provide Anzhi Hall with high-quality sacks.
• Wang Xiaohua returned after her year of mourning and reunited with Meng Anzhi.
• Meng Anzhi checked Wang Xiaohua's pulse and found her healthy, and Wang Xiaohua explained that her husband wanted her to have a child before his father remarried.

Jin Shanyao rescued Zheng Laosi and Chen Maimiao from Boss Zheng, then forced Boss Zheng to work at the docks for her. Months later, Meng Anzhi examined Chen Maimiao’s pregnancy and agreed to deliver her baby.

• Wang Xiaohua and Meng Anzhi watched Zheng Laosi and Chen Maimiao share a flatbread and joked about testing their own husbands.
• Zheng Laosi brought Chen Maimiao home after earning three hundred wen, but Boss Zheng stopped them, took Zheng Laosi’s purse, and struck him.
• Jin Shanyao seized Boss Zheng’s purse, declared him her friend, and ordered him to earn three hundred wen carrying loads at the docks the next day.
• Jin Shanyao returned both purses to Zheng Laosi, who hurried away with Chen Maimiao.
• Months later, Old Woman Zheng brought nine-month-pregnant Chen Maimiao to Anzhi Hall for a checkup and asked Meng Anzhi to deliver the baby.
• Meng Anzhi found the baby healthy, agreed to visit when Chen Maimiao went into labor, and quoted a fee of three hundred wen.

Boss Zheng harassed the heavily pregnant Chen Maimiao outside Anzhi Hall, but Shopkeeper Wang intervened and drove him away. Jin Shanyao learned what happened and resolved to have Ghost One frighten Boss Zheng that night, while she encouraged Zhou Xiaosi to keep studying medicine.

• Old Woman Zheng celebrated Chen Maimiao’s pregnancy and left her waiting outside Anzhi Hall while she went to buy cloth.
• Boss Zheng confronted Chen Maimiao and touched her belly, taunting her about the child’s conception.
• Shopkeeper Wang stepped in to protect Chen Maimiao, and Zhou Xiaosi came out when Boss Zheng threatened to wreck the shop.
• Boss Zheng left after Shopkeeper Wang threatened to report him to the authorities.
• Jin Shanyao heard about the harassment and decided Ghost One should scare Boss Zheng that night.
• Jin Shanyao encouraged Zhou Xiaosi to continue studying medicine and promised to make him Anzhi Hall’s resident physician once he mastered it.

Jin Shanyao sent Ghost One to scare Boss Zheng for bullying people outside Anzhi Hall, but Ghost One found him abusing Zheng Laosi and extorting him over what happened to Chen Maimiao. Ghost One confronted Boss Zheng and forced him to confess that he had assaulted Chen Maimiao and threatened Zheng Laosi to keep exploiting them.

• Jin Shanyao ordered Ghost One to give Boss Zheng nightmares and warn him not to bully anyone outside Anzhi Hall.
• Ghost One searched for Boss Zheng, then discovered him cornering Zheng Laosi and demanding two-thirds of his wages.
• Ghost One followed Boss Zheng home and appeared beside him as a bloody ghost.
• Ghost One threatened Boss Zheng until he confessed that he had assaulted Chen Maimiao and planned to use the incident to control Zheng Laosi and her.

Ghost One failed to complete her task after Jin Shanyao stopped her from killing Boss Zheng, then struggled to understand Jin Shanyao’s warning. The next day, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi checked Chen Maimiao and her baby in Hexi Village, while Zheng Laosi returned briefly from the docks to ask after his wife.

• Ghost One attacked Boss Zheng, but Jin Shanyao pulled her back to Anzhi Hall and warned her against taking a life.
• Ghost One promised to finish her task the next day, then spent the night with her male ghosts trying to decipher Jin Shanyao’s words.
• Old Woman Zheng brought Chen Maimiao boiled eggs and prepared white-flour noodles while neighbors gossiped about Boss Zheng’s frightening night.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi visited Chen Maimiao, confirmed that she and the baby were healthy, and encouraged her to ease her worries.
• Zheng Laosi returned from the docks with a fish, asked whether Chen Maimiao was well, and went back to work after Jin Shanyao reassured him.

Jin Shanyao refused Madam He’s demand to treat Boss Zheng, then inspected the herb-covered mountains and arranged to send Anzhi Hall’s best herbs to the capital. That night, she treated Zhao Boyong’s severe heart condition while Meng Anzhi watched and learned.

• Madam He demanded that Meng Anzhi treat Boss Zheng, but Jin Shanyao knocked her off the cart and refused to help.
• Madam He poured well water on Boss Zheng to wake him, and he agreed to attack Anzhi Hall the next day despite warning her not to provoke it.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi inspected the overgrown medicinal mountains, and Jin Shanyao decided they would harvest what they could and clear the land later.
• Jin Shanyao read Shopkeeper Qin’s letter and told Meng Anzhi to have Wu Yong and Tao Yunshan send all the top-grade herbs to the capital for retail sale.
• Old Medicine Zhou brought Zhao Boyong to Anzhi Hall during a severe heart attack, and Jin Shanyao diagnosed him with a dangerous chest impediment.
• Jin Shanyao began acupuncture treatment while Meng Anzhi observed, and Old Medicine Zhou tried to record the acupuncture points he could see.

Jin Shanyao treated Zhao Boyong’s heart condition and advised his family to help him avoid overwork and competition. After the Zhao family left, Meng Anzhi documented the acupuncture method while Old Medicine Zhou eagerly studied it.

• Jin Shanyao revived Zhao Boyong with a ginseng and aconite decoction and explained that his congenital illness required rest, regular medicine, and avoiding anger and overwork.
• Madam Zhao revealed that Zhao Boyong had overexerted himself trying to reclaim first place from Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan, then realized Meng Anci had overheard her.
• Jin Shanyao advised Madam Zhao and Zhao Boyong not to measure themselves against others, and Madam Zhao took her son home after paying the consultation fee.
• The servant boy told Madam Zhao that Jin Shanyao had once accurately told his fortune, and Madam Zhao instructed him to bring Zhao Boyong to Anzhi Hall if he had another attack.
• Meng Anzhi arranged the acupuncture notes and demonstrated the needle positions to Old Medicine Zhou, who left clutching his notes with delight.

Meng Anci encouraged Zhao Boyong to seek treatment and prepare for the examination, while Ghost One went to scare Boss Zheng but lost her chance and returned to the mass grave. There, Tang Qiao distracted her with his advances.

• Meng Anci assured Zhao Boyong that treatment at Anzhi Hall could help him recover and succeed in the October examination.
• Shiyan lamented the approaching examination, and Zhao Zhiyuan told him his results reflected his actual ability.
• Ghost One decided to scare Boss Zheng again, while Tang Qiao offered to accompany her and later fended off other male ghosts competing for her favor.
• Ghost One found Boss Zheng being threatened over his gambling debt and followed him back to Hexi Village, but she arrived too late to scare him.
• Ghost One returned to the mass grave, where Tang Qiao embraced her and charmed her into forgetting her failed task.

Chen Maimiao gave birth to a boy with Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao assisting, while Boss Zheng disrupted the delivery and later demanded money from Zheng Laosi. Jin Shanyao turned the ox cart around to collect more, but she and Meng Anzhi arrived as Boss Zheng threatened to reveal a secret about the child.

• Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao hurried to Zheng Laosi's home to help Chen Maimiao give birth.
• Boss Zheng's arrival frightened Chen Maimiao and interrupted her pushing, but Jin Shanyao drove him away.
• Meng Anzhi delivered a boy, and Old Woman Zheng paid the two women three hundred wen.
• Jin Shanyao decided their delivery fee had been too low and turned the ox cart back toward Zheng Laosi's house.
• Boss Zheng demanded thirty taels from Zheng Laosi and hinted that Third Aunt did not know the truth about the child.

Boss Zheng exposed that Zheng Laosi was not the newborn’s father and demanded the family’s land deed, prompting Zheng Laosi to attack him. Jin Shanyao saved the baby and checked Zheng Laosi, then demanded payment for the delivery and for Meng Anzhi treating Chen Maimiao.

• Boss Zheng threatened Old Woman Zheng for money or the land deed, and Zheng Laosi agreed to hand over the deed to keep a secret from being revealed.
• Boss Zheng took the newborn and claimed he was his own son, revealing that Zheng Laosi had been outside the door on the night Chen Maimiao conceived the child.
• Chen Maimiao demanded an explanation from Zheng Laosi as her bleeding resumed, while Boss Zheng taunted the family.
• Zheng Laosi stabbed Boss Zheng in the lower back, and Boss Zheng tried to throw the baby to the ground.
• Jin Shanyao caught the baby with her whip, while Meng Anzhi helped Chen Maimiao and Jin Shanyao stopped Zheng Laosi from holding the knife.
• Jin Shanyao checked the baby and Zheng Laosi, then told the Zheng family to pay one wen for the delivery and fifty wen for Meng Anzhi’s treatment.

After Boss Zheng fled, Chen Maimiao confronted Zheng Laosi for knowingly letting the assault happen and demanded a divorce, while Zheng Laosi pleaded and then blamed her. Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi left the Zheng Household, and Jin Shanyao warned Meng Anzhi not to take advantage of timid people.

• Old Woman Zheng struck Zheng Laosi and left the room with Old Man Zheng after Boss Zheng escaped.
• Chen Maimiao asked Zheng Laosi why he had not stopped Boss Zheng, and he confessed that he had hidden his infertility and wanted a child to preserve his family line.
• Chen Maimiao described the remedies and humiliation she had endured, then demanded a divorce.
• Zheng Laosi begged Chen Maimiao to stay, then accused her of unfairly blaming him and refused to agree to a divorce.
• Old Woman Zheng gave Jin Shanyao copper coins and pushed her and Meng Anzhi out of the Zheng Household.
• On the way back, Jin Shanyao said Zheng Laosi had likely let Boss Zheng act, then told Meng Anzhi not to bully people because they were timid or weak.