Chapter Summaries

Jin Shanyao proposed to Hongdou on Fan Er’s behalf and, mistaking the Du Household’s gathering for a challenge, crushed stones to prove her strength. The families agreed to the marriage, which was set for two months later, and Fan Er prepared to fetch the bride.

• Jin Shanyao brought Fan Er and the betrothal gifts to the Du Household and formally proposed to Hongdou.
• Hongdou’s parents agreed to the marriage without discussing birth dates or Fan Er’s family means.
• Jin Shanyao misread the Du brothers and children gathered outside as a challenge and crushed several stones in front of them.
• The Du Household accepted the betrothal gifts, and Fan Er’s wedding to Hongdou was scheduled for two months later.
• Hongdou’s eldest and second brothers warned Fan Er to treat her well, and he promised to welcome her home whenever she wished.
• Jin Shanyao arranged for everyone from Anzhi Hall and two dogs to attend Fan Er’s wedding and support the groom’s side.

Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi rushed to help Wang Xiaohua after she went into labor early while saving Madam Lu from falling into a well. They delivered a healthy boy and left Wang Xiaohua recovering, while Madam Lu apologized for causing the emergency.

• Jin Shanyao sold talismans at Anzhi Hall until Shopkeeper Wang arrived to report that Wang Xiaohua had gone into labor.
• Shopkeeper Wang explained that Wang Xiaohua had strained herself saving Madam Lu from falling into a well, and that the frightened midwife had refused to deliver the baby.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi hurried to the Lu home, where Jin Shanyao examined Wang Xiaohua and gave her a ginseng pill.
• Jin Shanyao delivered Wang Xiaohua's baby, and she announced that both mother and child were safe and the baby was a healthy boy.
• Wang Xiaohua held her son and told Madam Lu she did not blame her, while Madam Lu left the room to pay the consultation fee.

After helping Xiaohua survive childbirth, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi brought a confused Old Kong home, where he became convinced the bandit had given him children and grandchildren. At Green Mountain Academy, Zhao Boyong, Shiyan, Meng Anci, and Zhao Zhiyuan continued preparing for the examinations in their own ways.

• Jin Shanyao collected a tael from Madam Lu for delivering Xiaohua, while Shopkeeper Wang thanked her and promised her an ice lantern.
• Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao found Old Kong wandering, and Jin Shanyao carried him home while he wailed about his dead wife Xing'er and his imagined family with a woman bandit.
• At the Kong home, Old Kong mistook Kong Xiaobao for his grandson and lamented that he and the bandit already had children and grandchildren.
• Jin Shanyao returned to Anzhi Hall to draw talismans as the academy and provincial examinations approached.
• At Green Mountain Academy, Zhao Boyong rationed his heart medicine, Shiyan fretted over studying, and Zhao Zhiyuan assembled a Luban ball while reading.

Meng Anci left for the provincial examination with Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi’s encouragement, while Shiyan and Zhao Zhiyuan also entered the exam compound. Back at Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao heard news about Xiao Huzi and watched Meng Anzhi examine Zhao Zhiyuan’s Luban ball before an unfamiliar person asked whether the shop was hiring a shopkeeper.

• Jin Shanyao prepared Meng Anci’s luggage and took him to the examination compound, where Meng Anzhi encouraged him and he met Shiyan and Zhao Zhiyuan.
• Shiyan gave Zhao Zhiyuan’s Luban ball to Meng Anzhi to hold, and the three young men entered the examination compound.
• Meng Anci received a quiet seat, began answering the examination questions, and was noticed by an invigilator who saw Su Wenqian on his documents.
• At Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao saw Kong Xiaobao coaxing Old Kong away from the rouge shop and learned that Old Kong had been looking for his deceased wife.
• Shopkeeper Wang told Jin Shanyao that Xiao Huzi had passed the child scholar exam and credited Meng Anci’s tutoring; Jin Shanyao found Meng Anzhi studying Zhao Zhiyuan’s Luban ball.
• An unknown person entered Anzhi Hall and asked whether the shop was hiring a shopkeeper.

Jin Shanyao tested Shen Huaiyu’s medicinal knowledge and hired her on a trial basis, then worried with Meng Anzhi about Meng Anci during his examination. At the examination compound, Kong Xiaobao summoned Jin Shanyao to stop Old Kong from hanging himself.

• Shen Huaiyu introduced herself as a former chief shopkeeper and demonstrated her knowledge of herbs and pulse-taking.
• Jin Shanyao offered Shen Huaiyu a one-month trial at Anzhi Hall for ten taels of silver a month.
• Meng Anzhi worried about Meng Anci’s examination and fell asleep beside Jin Shanyao.
• Jin Shanyao checked on Meng Anci with her Spiritual Power and found him answering his examination questions without trouble.
• Kong Xiaobao rushed Jin Shanyao to the Kong Household, where Old Kong stood on a chair with a rope around his neck.

Jin Shanyao stopped Old Kong from hanging himself and reminded him that his wife Xing'er was dead and she was not a bandit. After Meng Anci returned from the provincial examination, he recovered from the ordeal, and the chapter ended with him meeting Shiyan's young cousin Ruan Xingmian.

• Old Kong accused Jin Shanyao of hiding Xing'er and tried to hang himself, but Jin Shanyao pulled away his stool and frightened him into stopping.
• Jin Shanyao told Old Kong that Xing'er had been dead for seven or eight years and that she was not a bandit, then asked Kong Dongsheng to fetch medicine to calm his nerves.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi met Meng Anci, Shiyan, and Zhao Zhiyuan as they left the provincial examination, and Meng Anci went home to rest.
• After recovering, Meng Anci picked up a Luban ball from Meng Anzhi's desk and said he would take it to Zhao Zhiyuan.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi toward Hat Mountain, where they encountered Shiyan with his cousin Ruan Xingmian; Meng Anci smiled at her before Shiyan took her home.

Jin Shanyao, Meng Anzhi, and Meng Anci shared a picnic with Xie Chao and Monkey Treasure on Hat Mountain, where Meng Anci revealed his teacher expected him to place in the provincial examination’s top fifty. When the results were posted, Meng Anci passed in fifth place and became a juren, though he was unsettled to rank below Zhao Zhiyuan.

• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anci brought food to Hat Mountain, where Monkey Treasure presented mushrooms she had picked and Xie Chao joined them.
• Xie Chao asked Meng Anci about the provincial examination, and Meng Anci said his teacher expected him to place in the top fifty.
• Jin Shanyao told Xie Chao that she and the siblings might leave early for the capital if Meng Anci passed, and Xie Chao hid his sadness at their possible departure.
• Xie Chao mistakenly thought Jin Shanyao had remembered his fondness for lamb tripe, then learned Qing He had prepared the hotpot ingredients.
• On the thirteenth day of the ninth month, the results named Wu Zhiyu first, Bao Qingshan second, Tan Ping'an third, Zhao Zhiyuan fourth, and Meng Anci fifth.
• Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao congratulated Meng Anci on becoming a juren, while he resolved to study the top candidates' examination papers to learn why he ranked below Zhao Zhiyuan.

Meng Anci collected his examination paper and met the top candidates, while Shiyan learned he had narrowly failed the provincial examination. At home, he argued with Madam Shi about staying with Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci, and she forbade him from pursuing Meng Anzhi.

• Meng Anci asked Wu Zhiyu to show him his paper, but Wu refused, while Zhao Zhiyuan shared his paper and teased Meng Anci about placing higher than him.
• Shiyan returned home after placing fifty-seventh and told Madam Shi and Ruan Xingmian that he had failed because the prefecture accepted only fifty candidates.
• Madam Shi tried to console Shiyan, but he worried that Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci would leave for the metropolitan examination and proposed staying with them.
• Shiyan defended his friends' support and their connection to the Shi Household Escort Agency, angering Madam Shi, who accused him of following them like a puppy.
• Madam Shi demanded to know whether Shiyan wanted to stay for his classmates or for Meng Anzhi, then forbade him from marrying her.
• Ruan Xingmian accidentally spilled tremella soup while trying to comfort Shiyan, and he reassured her before sitting alone with his thoughts.

Anzhi Hall celebrated Meng Anci passing the provincial examination, while Xiao Huzi visited to share his own county examination success. When Landlord Tian offered Meng Anci silver, Jin Shanyao threw him out, and Meng Anci vowed he would never accept bribes.

• Qing He and Nanny Chen prepared a feast at Anzhi Hall to celebrate Meng Anci becoming a juren, and Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi offered incense to their parents.
• Xiao Huzi visited Jin Shanyao to announce he was the only student at his school to pass the county examination, then ran to see Meng Anci.
• Wang Jinlian brought cotton cloth for Meng Anci's warm clothes and thanked him for tutoring Xiao Huzi.
• Landlord Tian visited Meng Anci and offered him two hundred taels of silver, but Jin Shanyao dragged him outside and threw him into the street.
• Meng Anci politely refused the silver and declared he would never accept or take bribes, while Landlord Tian left in embarrassment.

Meng Anci’s refusal to accept gifts impressed Zhu Huaizhang, while Jin Shanyao tried to recruit him for a dubious night-watch job. After visiting Old Kong, Meng Anzhi was startled when Shiyan confessed his love and proposed marriage, and she told him she did not like him.

• Jin Shanyao confiscated Zhu Huaizhang’s money pouch before letting him meet Meng Anci, and their conduct discouraged people from bringing gifts to Meng Anci.
• Zhu Huaizhang praised Meng Anci’s integrity and urged him to stay true to his principles, then rejected Jin Shanyao’s offer to pay him to guard her estate at night.
• Meng Anzhi visited Old Kong, checked his pulse, and advised Kong Xiaobao’s family to let him eat what he wanted.
• Shiyan nervously proposed to Meng Anzhi and promised to work hard and provide for her.
• Meng Anzhi helped Shiyan calm down and told him plainly that she did not like him.

Meng Anzhi rejected Shiyan’s marriage proposal and ended Anzhi Hall’s business contract with the Shi Household, while Jin Shanyao supported her decision. A month later, Shiyan asked Meng Anci to persuade Meng Anzhi to forgive him, but he could not bring himself to reveal what he had said to her.

• Meng Anzhi told Shiyan that she could only be his friend, then explained to Ruan Xingmian that she had to reject him clearly so he would give up hope.
• Meng Anzhi told Jin Shanyao she would not renew Anzhi Hall’s contract with the Shi Household Escort Agency, and Jin Shanyao agreed to find other agencies.
• Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan visited Shiyan after he failed the provincial examination and found him gaunt and withdrawn.
• Shiyan asked Meng Anci to forgive him for bullying him as a child and to ask Meng Anzhi to forgive him too.
• Meng Anci challenged Shiyan about whether he had upset Meng Anzhi, but Shiyan denied saying anything wrong and was left distressed by the resemblance between the siblings.

Jin Shanyao entrusted Anzhi Hall in Qingzhou Prefecture to Shen Huaiyu and left for the capital with Qing He and the others. They arrived at the capital branch and settled in, where Qing He reassured the kitchen worker Auntie Zhang about her job.

• Jin Shanyao left Shen Huaiyu in charge of Anzhi Hall, with Zhou Xiaosi and Qing Yang staying to support her.
• Qing Yang told Qing He that she and Zhou Xiaosi would watch over the shop and guide Shen Huaiyu while Jin Shanyao was away.
• Jin Shanyao, Qing He, Meng Anzhi, and the others traveled by ox cart for three days and reached the capital at night.
• Qin Baitang welcomed them to Anzhi Hall and showed them the clean rear courtyard where they would stay.
• Madam Qin prepared a meal, and Meng Anzhi happily reunited with her ginger milk pudding.
• Auntie Zhang worried that she might lose her kitchen job, and Qing He assured her that Anzhi Hall gave dismissed workers an extra month's wages.

Meng Anzhi began seeing patients at Anzhi Hall while Fu Congxi visited Jin Shanyao and discussed the coming New Year and her pregnancy. At the Su Household, Su Wenqian reviewed Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan’s essays and offered to tutor Meng Anci for the metropolitan examination.

• Qin Baitang set up a table for Meng Anzhi to see patients, while Physician Su doubted that she was old enough or skilled enough to treat people.
• Meng Anzhi visited Fu Congxi, who declined to stay for the New Year because she might go into labor and did not want to disrupt Meng Anci’s studies.
• Fu Congxi invited Qing He to sit with them, and Qing He wondered why Lu Chi often mentioned other women to his wife.
• Su Wenqian told Meng Anci that his and Zhao Zhiyuan’s essays were comparable, though Zhao Zhiyuan’s policy essay was more polished.
• Su Wenqian offered to teach Meng Anci about official administration before the metropolitan examination, and Meng Anci accepted.
• Su Wenqian asked why Meng Anci’s aunt had not visited, then said she could come or not as she pleased.

Jin Shanyao brought Meng Anci to study with Su Wenqian and gave him a wild orange tree she had dug up outside the city. After Su Wenqian insisted she compensate the landowner, Jin Shanyao planted two of the Su family’s trees on the barren hill and left silver behind.

• Jin Shanyao decided to take Meng Anci to the Su residence and searched for a suitable tree to give Su Wenqian, eventually digging up a wild orange tree outside the city.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anci arrived at the Su residence as Lord Li was leaving, and Jin Shanyao introduced herself to Su Wenqian as his elder niece.
• Su Wenqian objected to Jin Shanyao’s gift because the tree came from someone else’s land, but she planted it in his courtyard anyway.
• Madam Su found two holes in the courtyard and learned that Meng Anci had begun studying; Su Wenqian concealed why Jin Shanyao had removed the trees.
• Jin Shanyao returned to the barren hill, left two taels of silver, and planted two poplars as compensation for the orange tree.

Jin Shanyao backed Meng Anzhi's diagnosis of Madam Ren's infertility but claimed a little ghost's Yin Qi was preventing her from conceiving, angering Madam Ren and the people at Anzhi Hall. Madam Ren returned home dismissing the claim, though she wondered privately whether her residence might really be haunted.

• Jin Shanyao learned that Anzhi Hall stayed open for the New Year and that patients avoided Meng Anzhi because she was new.
• Madam Ren visited Meng Anzhi about her long-standing infertility, and Meng Anzhi diagnosed a deficient, cold womb pulse.
• Jin Shanyao confirmed Meng Anzhi's diagnosis, then said excessive Yin Qi from a little ghost was keeping Madam Ren from conceiving.
• Madam Ren left angrily after Suyue paid the consultation fee, and Jin Shanyao insulted Suyue as she followed her mistress.
• Jin Shanyao reprimanded Su Mu for fawning over Madam Ren, while Madam Ren later confided her fears about her husband's pregnant concubine and wondered whether her residence was haunted.

Madam Ren spent a lonely, sleepless night worrying that a ghost might be behind her inability to have children, while remembering her husband’s former devotion. At Anzhi Hall, Jin Shanyao sent the staff home for the New Year and celebrated quietly with the remaining household, secretly hiding the copper coin she found in a dumpling.

• Madam Ren woke in her dark room, remembered her husband’s affection and the purple porcelain vase, and feared a ghost was responsible for her childlessness.
• Meng Anzhi rewarded the physicians at Anzhi Hall, and Jin Shanyao let the staff take time off for the New Year.
• Qin Baitang invited Jin Shanyao to celebrate with his family, but she declined so they could enjoy their reunion.
• Jin Shanyao stopped Meng Anci from studying and carried him to the kitchen to help Qing He prepare dumplings.
• Jin Shanyao found the copper coin in a dumpling and hid it under her bowl while Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi searched for it.

Jin Shanyao secretly ate the lucky dumpling’s copper coin rather than let Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci overeat, then tried to pass it off as her own good fortune. The next morning, Madam Ren returned to Anzhi Hall seeking help with the little ghost Jin Shanyao had claimed was affecting her fertility, and began recounting her marriage.

• Jin Shanyao ate the final dumpling containing the copper coin and claimed it as her prize, while Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci realized she had tricked them.
• Meng Anci went to the study to keep studying for the metropolitan examination so Zhao Zhiyuan could not catch up.
• Madam Ren arrived at Anzhi Hall after her husband abandoned her during the New Year’s vigil, hoping Jin Shanyao could offer her a chance to have a child.
• Madam Ren asked whether removing the little ghost would let her become pregnant, and Jin Shanyao warned that she could not promise the outcome.
• Madam Ren told Jin Shanyao that her husband had once vowed to treat her well, but his family brought him a concubine because Madam Ren had borne no children; the concubine soon became pregnant.

Madam Ren told Jin Shanyao about her husband’s mistress and sought help conceiving a child, while Jin Shanyao concluded a ghost haunted the Ren residence. Jin Shanyao followed Madam Ren there and found black mist pouring from a courtyard.

• Madam Ren confessed that her husband had brought his mistress and their child into the Ren household, and Jin Shanyao questioned her belief that the affair was her fault.
• Jin Shanyao found no physical problem with Madam Ren and offered to remove the ghost haunting her home for five hundred taels.
• Madam Ren agreed to take Jin Shanyao to the Ren residence after recalling her husband’s promise that they would have children together.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi traveled with Madam Ren to the Ren residence, where Jin Shanyao saw black mist thickening around a courtyard and pouring through its doors and windows.

Jin Shanyao found the former emperor’s youngest daughter, a ghost hidden in a purple bottle, in Madam Ren’s room. She explained that the little princess’s presence had harmed Madam Ren and left her fate in Madam Ren’s hands for five hundred taels.

• Jin Shanyao revealed the black mist and pulled a little girl’s ghost from the purple bottle while Meng Anzhi and Madam Ren watched.
• Madam Ren recognized the ghost as the little princess, her childhood friend who had died in the palace fire.
• The little princess told Madam Ren how she had hidden inside the bottle after escaping from beneath a bed during the fire.
• Jin Shanyao explained that the bottle had been fired with Ghost One as a sacrifice, and that the little princess had avoided detection by hiding there.
• Jin Shanyao told the little princess that her Yin Qi had kept Madam Ren childless and demanded five hundred taels, leaving Madam Ren to decide whether the ghost stayed or reincarnated.

Madam Ren sent the little princess to reincarnate instead of letting Jin Shanyao scatter her soul, then paid Jin Shanyao five hundred taels. She later learned from Ren Hanzhong's private conversation with his mistress that he despised her and had kept the sinister vase to prevent her from conceiving.

• Madam Ren ordered Jin Shanyao to scatter the little princess's soul, but Jin Shanyao sent the princess to the Underworld to reincarnate.
• Madam Ren paid Jin Shanyao five hundred taels after learning the little princess's soul had not been destroyed.
• Madam Ren told Ren Hanzhong about the ghost and the vase, but he scolded her and took the vase away.
• Madam Ren followed Ren Hanzhong to his mistress's residence and overheard him call her stupid and say she was unworthy of bearing his child.
• Ren Hanzhong's mistress revealed that the vase had been used to prevent consorts from conceiving, and Ren Hanzhong admitted he had brought it back for that reason.