Chapter Summaries

Newly appointed prefect Zhu Huaizhang arrived in Qingzhou and immediately inspected its records, focusing on Anzhi Hall and its ties to former prefect Su Wenqian. After finding its taxes and purchases apparently legitimate, Zhu ordered an investigation into Anzhi Hall and Su Wenqian, while Su returned home and complained about the scrutiny.

• Zhu Huaizhang arrived at the Qingzhou prefectural yamen and completed the formal handover with Su Wenqian.
• Zhu inspected the granaries, pharmacy supplies, and records, then questioned Su about Anzhi Hall's rapid growth and five mountains.
• Su defended his focus on people's livelihoods and left, telling Zhu to examine Anzhi Hall's taxes and the jobs it provided.
• Zhu reviewed Anzhi Hall's land and tax registers, found no clear evidence of special treatment, and ordered Li Xiao to investigate its conduct and its relationship with Su Wenqian.
• Su Wenqian returned to the inner residence and reassured Madam Su that Zhu's thorough inspection could keep future trouble from implicating them; Madam Su refused to prepare food for the new prefect.

Li Xiao investigated Anzhi Hall and found a notice advertising divination and other services, prompting Zhu Huaizhang to condemn its fortune-telling. Zhu planned to address it after spring plowing, while his painful childhood history explained his deep hatred of diviners.

• Li Xiao asked Qingzhou residents about Anzhi Hall and learned its herbs cost more, but the people praised its quality and Little Doctor Meng’s generosity.
• Li Xiao saw a young boy buy talisman papers at Anzhi Hall, tore down the shop’s notice, and brought it to Zhu Huaizhang.
• Zhu Huaizhang criticized Su Wenqian for allowing the notice and told Li Xiao to focus first on seed and farm-tool prices before dealing with Anzhi Hall.
• Zhu Huaizhang explained that a diviner’s false claim had helped drive his mother and him from their home, and that the resulting family dispute had nearly cost him his scholar’s title.
• Zhu Huaizhang resolved to confront Qingzhou’s diviners after spring plowing, despite the notice reviving the painful memories behind his hatred of fortune-tellers.

Su Wenqian left Qingzhou Prefecture as the people turned out to see him off, while Zhu Huaizhang took over as prefect. Jin Shanyao rejected Old Medicine Zhou’s plan to court the new prefect, then welcomed Niu Dadan and learned that Niu Zhuangzhuang no longer needed medicine.

• Zhu Huaizhang reviewed Qingzhou Prefecture’s accounts and recognized Su Wenqian’s achievements before learning that the people had gathered to see Su off.
• Zhu Huaizhang and Su Wenqian exchanged farewells, and Su’s carriage departed as the official transition was completed.
• Old Medicine Zhou urged Jin Shanyao to attend a meal with the new prefect, but she refused and warned him against appearing ungrateful to Su Wenqian.
• Jin Shanyao discovered that her notice had vanished again and suspected a rival in the same trade.
• Niu Dadan delivered two hundred sacks to Jin Shanyao, and Meng Anzhi told Niu Zhuangzhuang that he had recovered and could stop taking medicine.

Jin Shanyao told an old man that his missing ox had returned to its seller, but newly appointed prefect Zhu Huaizhang accused her of swindling and tried to arrest her. Zhu followed the old man to the seller’s home, where the seller denied having the ox and accused the old man of trying to cheat him, leaving the old man collapsing into Zhu’s arms.

• An old man asked Jin Shanyao to locate his missing ox, and she requested five copper coins for her divination.
• Zhu Huaizhang arrived with Li Xiao, called Jin Shanyao a swindler, and accused her of cheating the old man; she countered by accusing Li Xiao of stealing her notices.
• The old man defended Jin Shanyao, and she told him that his ox had gone back to the seller’s home; Zhu ordered Li Xiao to arrest her, but Li Xiao could not move her.
• Jin Shanyao urged Zhu to follow the old man, so Zhu and Li Xiao went with him to Liu Laogen’s home.
• Liu Laogen denied the ox was there and accused the old man of trying to swindle him; the old man collapsed, and Zhu caught him.

Jin Shanyao was summoned to answer for a village brawl, but she identified the missing ox hidden in Liu Laogen’s haystack. When the ox appeared dead, Meng Anzhi revived it, leaving the villagers impressed and Zhu Huaizhang stunned.

• Li Xiao brought Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi to Liu Laogen’s home at Zhu Huaizhang’s command, where Meng Anzhi gave the unconscious Old Man Guo a ginseng pill.
• Jin Shanyao told Old Man Guo that his missing ox was in the haystack behind Liu Laogen’s house, despite Zhu Huaizhang dismissing her claim.
• Old Man Guo found the ox tied up in the haystack and accused Liu Laogen of hiding it, then blamed Zhu Huaizhang for stopping him from searching sooner.
• Meng Anzhi used needles and a pill to revive the ox, which had stopped breathing, and the villagers praised her.

Jin Shanyao mocked Zhu Huaizhang with her ox and learned that his prefecture had ordered millet planted based on her drought prediction. Zhu Huaizhang distrusted her warning and bought grain as a precaution, while Jin Shanyao and the Meng siblings relaxed after finishing their work.

• Zhu Huaizhang warned Jin Shanyao not to swindle the people, but she raced ahead of his carriage with her ox and teased him.
• Zhu Huaizhang learned from an old farmer that the prefecture had told households to plant drought-resistant millet, and Li Xiao suspected Su Wenqian had issued the notice.
• Constable Wang explained that Jin Shanyao had previously predicted the location of stolen tribute and warned of a plague, but Zhu Huaizhang dismissed her as a charlatan.
• Fearing famine if Jin Shanyao's drought prediction proved wrong, Zhu Huaizhang ordered the assistant prefect to use half the treasury's silver to buy grain.
• After a month of work, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi rested while Meng Anci cared for them and was assigned books to study.
• Meng Anci told Jin Shanyao that Lord Zhu had bought a large supply of grain and asked whether he would be stuck with it.

Jin Shanyao warned Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi against using their household fortune to exploit people during the drought. As the June heat intensified, Xiao Huzi fainted from heatstroke, but Jin Shanyao and the others cooled him until he woke; he was to remain at Anzhi Hall until his condition stabilized.

• Jin Shanyao cautioned Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi not to profiteer from the drought or bully the common people.
• Shopkeeper Wang noticed the cool air around Anzhi Hall and learned from Jin Shanyao that Cooling Talisman Paper cost twenty taels.
• Wang Jinlian rushed into Anzhi Hall carrying Xiao Huzi after he passed out.
• Jin Shanyao diagnosed Xiao Huzi with heatstroke and had Meng Anzhi, Qing He, and Shopkeeper Wang help cool him with well water and cloths.
• Xiao Huzi woke, realized he was naked in front of everyone, and complained that they were looking at him.
• Jin Shanyao dressed Xiao Huzi and told Wang Jinlian he could stay at Anzhi Hall until his condition stabilized.

Xiao Huzi recovered from heatstroke at Jin Shanyao’s home after being punished for arguing with his father about flatbread. When he heard silkworm farmers had suffered losses in the heat, he proposed selling cooling talismans, but Meng Anci’s fall distracted Jin Shanyao from the plan.

• Xiao Huzi complained to Jin Shanyao that she was eating iced milk curd without sharing, and she promised to treat him once his condition stabilized.
• Xiao Huzi told Meng Anci that his father had blamed him for asking for rice, beaten him, and made him stand outside in the heat.
• Wang Jinlian and Huzi’s father arrived with Xiao Huzi’s belongings, and his father apologized for the quarrel about rice and flatbread.
• Huzi’s father explained that the heat had ruined many silkworm cocoons and warned that cloth and grain prices might rise.
• Xiao Huzi offered to buy cooling talismans from Jin Shanyao and resell them to silkworm farmers, but Meng Anci fell and Jin Shanyao went to help him.
• Jin Shanyao advised Xiao Huzi’s parents to stock up on grain, while Xiao Huzi silently envied the care she gave Meng Anci.

Zhu Huaizhang stopped a rain-praying ritual in Hu Family Village and returned to the city, where he found a crowd buying Jin Shanyao’s Cooling Talisman Paper. Convinced she was swindling them, he ordered her arrested, but the customers defended her.

• Zhu Huaizhang interrupted Spirit Granny’s rain ritual and ordered Constable Wang to take her to jail for questioning.
• Zhu Huaizhang learned that people were lining up outside Anzhi Hall to buy Jin Shanyao’s Cooling Talisman Paper.
• Zhu Huaizhang confronted customers who praised the talismans and accused Jin Shanyao of swindling them.
• Zhu Huaizhang ordered Constable Wang to arrest Jin Shanyao, and the crowd protested, citing her past ghost-catching and case-solving.

Jin Shanyao went to the prefectural yamen after Zhu Huaizhang ordered a crackdown on diviners, and she ended up imprisoned with practitioners from across the city. In jail, she snapped a peachwood sword in half and pretended its owner was her junior brother, leaving both of them wary of revealing their deceptions.

• Jin Shanyao accompanied Zhu Huaizhang to the prefectural yamen, drew a talisman for a customer, and told the waiting crowd to take their business to Anzhi Hall.
• Zhu Huaizhang ordered Constable Wang to arrest everyone in the city who practiced divination, fortune-telling, feng shui, or related arts.
• Jin Shanyao questioned a spirit medium in the jail and met an old blind man who had been arrested while choosing a child's name.
• More diviners were brought into the cell, and Jin Shanyao confronted a man who claimed Taishang Laojun had given him a peachwood sword.
• Jin Shanyao accidentally snapped the sword in half, and she and the man silently agreed to hide what had happened.
• Jin Shanyao called the man her junior brother and claimed Taishang Laojun had once enlightened her, prompting him to edge away.

Jin Shanyao exposed a fellow prisoner as a fraud, but Zhu Huaizhang insisted she was the real swindler and put her on trial. As other impostors were punished, he turned his attention to Jin Shanyao, while privately recognizing that her talismans and Daoist arts seemed genuine.

• Jin Shanyao called out a man for passing off a poplar sword as peachwood and claiming it held divine lightning, then tied him to herself when he tried to flee.
• Zhu Huaizhang ordered Jin Shanyao to explain her alleged fraud, but she denied cheating anyone and tried to sell him heart-nourishing ginseng pills.
• Zhu Huaizhang convicted Su Lingniang of deceiving villagers with false rain prayers and sentenced her to twenty strokes and three years of penal servitude.
• Zhu Huaizhang sentenced Blind Chen for fraudulent fortune-telling connected to child trafficking, then sentenced Wang Zhen'an for attempted murder under the pretense of exorcism.
• With the other prisoners taken away, Zhu Huaizhang faced Jin Shanyao, who protested that she had not swindled anyone, while he held her cooling talisman and reconsidered whether Daoist arts were real.

Jin Shanyao was sentenced to a month in jail after Zhu Huaizhang found grounds to punish her, but a crowd gathered outside the prefectural yamen to plead for her release. As Zhu Huaizhang listened to their accounts of her kindness, he realized the petition and gathering had been organized by Meng Anci.

• Zhu Huaizhang sentenced Jin Shanyao to half a month in jail for causing a disturbance, then extended her sentence to a month and fined her one tael for breaking a cell bar.
• Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi led a crowd to the prefectural yamen with a ten-thousand-name petition, and Meng Anci said he had come to speak in Jin Shanyao's defense.
• Villagers, students, Zhao Cheng, and people helped by Anzhi Hall described Jin Shanyao's aid and pleaded with Zhu Huaizhang to release her.
• Jin Shanyao listened from jail as Niu Zhuangzhuang spoke about how she had cured him and helped his family earn money, then called for him to stop kneeling.
• Zhu Huaizhang asked the crowd to rise and speak, but when they remained kneeling, he realized the gathering had been organized and looked toward Meng Anci.

Zhao Cheng challenged Zhu Huaizhang’s handling of Jin Shanyao’s detention and Meng Anci’s petition, prompting Zhu to admit his failure and release Jin. As the siblings left for Anzhi Hall, Zhu revealed that he had planned to release Jin anyway and struggled with the heat after returning a borrowed Cooling Talisman Paper.

• Zhu Huaizhang criticized Meng Anci for rallying the people to pressure the yamen, while Jin Shanyao listened from her cell.
• Zhao Cheng defended Meng Anci and questioned whether Zhu had followed proper procedures or managed the crowd, and Zhu admitted he had failed in his duty.
• Zhao Cheng told the crowd that Zhu had agreed to release Jin Shanyao, and the siblings waited outside the yamen for her.
• Jin Shanyao left the yamen and reassured Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci before returning with them to Anzhi Hall.
• Zhu Huaizhang told Li Xiao he had intended to release Jin after half a day, then tried to buy a Cooling Talisman but refused when he learned it cost one tael of silver.

Li Xiao failed to post Jin Shanyao’s notice at Anzhi Hall, so he put it on the neighboring rouge shop instead. Jin Shanyao sent ghosts to torment Li Xiao and Zhu Huaizhang, but when the ghosts stopped visiting, Zhu Huaizhang still could not sleep.

• Li Xiao repeatedly tried to paste Jin Shanyao’s notice onto Anzhi Hall’s wall, then stuck it to the neighboring rouge shop and returned to the yamen.
• Jin Shanyao warned Li Xiao that she would send ghosts to visit him after he stole her notice and pasted the wall.
• Ghost One and Ghost Three visited Zhu Huaizhang at night, thanked him, and frightened him; Ghost One pinned him down and shook him when he asked whether Jin Shanyao had sent them.
• Li Xiao told Zhu Huaizhang that Ghost Two had kept him awake, and Zhu Huaizhang refused to confront Jin Shanyao or back down.
• The ghosts visited the yamen regularly for fifteen nights, then failed to appear; Li Xiao celebrated, while Zhu Huaizhang remained sleepless and ordered him out.

Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi planned to sell affordable cooling balm amid poor harvests and rising hardship. At the mass grave, Ghost One revealed how she sacrificed herself to save Tian Family Village, while Tang Qiao told how they were separated in death; Jin Shanyao left without learning more about their romance.

• Qing He worried that Lord Zhu had repaired the road and increased patrols, but Jin Shanyao reassured her that he was too busy with the worsening crop crisis to spy on them.
• Meng Anzhi showed Jin Shanyao her cooling balm, and they agreed to have Wu Yong organize its production at the estate.
• Jin Shanyao told Ghost One that she had earned enough Merit to qualify for reincarnation, but Ghost One chose to wait and accumulate Merit with Tang Qiao.
• Ghost One revealed that she was Tian Yingying, who had sacrificed herself in a kiln so Tian Family Village could produce a tribute porcelain vase and escape punishment.
• Tang Qiao explained that the village concealed Tian Yingying's sacrifice, later forgot her, and eventually wanted to move her grave; he also said he had died for love and wanted to remain with her.
• Jin Shanyao asked whether the village had fired more purple porcelain, then slapped Tang Qiao when he called her a loveless bachelor and ended her Spiritual Power connection.

Jin Shanyao taught Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci not to look down on independent individuals, then inspected the drought-stricken estate and found Xie Chao exhausting himself to save Hat Mountain’s plants. She strengthened his mountain’s sun-shielding barrier and left him to consider her advice.

• Jin Shanyao lectured Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci about respecting those who could live independently, and the siblings responded with dutiful stories about helping animals and people.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi inspected four mountains and found their medicinal herbs still green despite the drought.
• Jin Shanyao visited Hat Mountain, where Wu Yong and the estate workers were resting, while Meng Anzhi stayed behind to speak with Steward Wu.
• Jin Shanyao found Xie Chao depleted from using his Spiritual Power to irrigate Hat Mountain and urged him to stop exhausting himself out of guilt over West Long.
• Jin Shanyao reinforced Hat Mountain’s sun-shielding barrier, gave Xie Chao her remaining ginkgo nuts, and went back down the mountain.

Zhu Huaizhang opened Qingzhou Prefecture’s granaries to lower grain prices and rejected Zhou Yan’s pressure to divert grain and tax Anzhi Hall. Jin Shanyao then proposed a ruthless scheme against Jing’an Prefecture, but Wu Zhuangzi fled before she could finish explaining it.

• Zhu Huaizhang decided to release grain in Qingzhou Prefecture, despite Li Xiao’s concerns about the coming harvest.
• Zhou Yan asked Zhu Huaizhang for grain and urged him to raise Anzhi Hall’s taxes, but Zhu Huaizhang refused to sacrifice the people or the hall for his career.
• Zhu Huaizhang’s grain release lowered prices in Qingzhou Prefecture, and residents bought limited amounts according to their household registrations.
• Wu Zhuangzi told Jin Shanyao about Zhou Yan’s demands, and she suggested trading Qingzhou’s old grain for Jing’an’s farming tools and selling the tools back at a high price.
• Wu Zhuangzi hurried away from Jin Shanyao before she finished urging Zhu Huaizhang to act ruthlessly.

Jin Shanyao advised Madam Jiang against sending Jiang Jinshu to the distant Cloud Brocade Workshop, while Meng Anzhi encouraged the girl’s interest in embroidery and reading. Jinshu stayed with the Meng siblings and visited their vast study, leaving her future training undecided.

• Meng Anci overheard Jin Shanyao discussing how to make others carry out schemes and admired his aunt’s tactics.
• Jiang Jinshu offered to embroider a morning glory for Meng Anzhi, who drew the flower for her and invited her to see the study.
• Madam Jiang asked Jin Shanyao whether to send Jinshu to the Cloud Brocade Workshop, and Jin Shanyao advised against it because of the distance and harsh conditions.
• Jiang Jinshu told Meng Anzhi she did not want to leave her mother, and Meng Anzhi persuaded her to test a jar of ointment for her.
• Meng Anzhi took Jinshu to the study, where Jinshu marveled at the books and asked how Meng Anzhi grew accustomed to studying.

Zhu Huaizhang learned about Anzhi Hall’s Cooling Salve and ordered a purchase for the yamen, while Anzhi Hall’s hiring drive drew a huge crowd. Jin Shanyao advised Zhang Jiuwei on selling scarce, stronger wine, and the chapter left Zhang trying to embrace Jin despite her warnings.

• Li Xiao tried to take Wu Zhuangzi’s last bottle of Cooling Salve for Zhu Huaizhang, but Zhu Huaizhang inspected it and ordered Wu to buy salve for the yamen with an official procurement list.
• Zhu Huaizhang asked Li Xiao whether Anzhi Hall’s medicine was truly effective and ordered the city guards to alert him when his mother and wife arrived.
• Anzhi Hall advertised jobs that offered Cooling Talisman Paper and unlimited cold drinks, drawing a large crowd of applicants.
• Zhu Huaizhang passed the hiring queue, asked Constable Wang about it, and decided to let Anzhi Hall continue hiring.
• Anzhi Hall harvested and sold its medicinal herbs, and Zhang Jiuwei told Jin Shanyao that poor grain yields and rising wine costs threatened her family business.
• Jin Shanyao advised Zhang Jiuwei to make Jade Flask Spring stronger and market only ten jars of Jade Flask Spring Essence as a rare luxury, then warned Zhang not to hug her.

Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi paid Anzhi Hall’s taxes, and Zhu Huaizhang apologized to Jin Shanyao for his past accusations before asking Meng Anzhi to examine his mother. Meng Anzhi found that Old Madam Zhu’s vision might improve with treatment, while Zhu’s offer to restore Jin’s reputation ended in a comic dispute over what the notice should say.

• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi paid Anzhi Hall’s tax after hearing that Zhu Huaizhang had reduced taxes by thirty percent.
• Zhu Huaizhang apologized to Jin Shanyao and asked her to examine his mother, but she refused and sent Meng Anzhi instead.
• Meng Anzhi examined Old Madam Zhu and said treatment might help her see nearby objects clearly, though her vision would not fully return to normal.
• Zhu Huaizhang thanked Meng Anzhi and carefully recorded her prescription and care instructions.
• Zhu Huaizhang apologized again to Jin Shanyao and offered to post a notice clearing her name, but refused her requested praise for Anzhi Hall.