Chapter Summaries

Jin Shanyao exposed Zhang Banxian’s fraud and watched Lady Li take revenge on Young Master Wang, then comforted Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci. The chapter ended with Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi surprising Meng Anci with a bow, arrows, and a foal, before revealing that Meng Anzhi had a horse too.

• Lady Li revealed that Young Master Wang had persecuted her, then possessed him and caused his death; Jin Shanyao drove Zhang Banxian away with a flaming torch.
• Jin Shanyao reassured Meng Anzhi that she should not live to please others and warned her that people could betray her.
• The next day, Jin Shanyao saw Madam Wang’s funeral procession and heard that Young Master Wang’s abuse of Lady Li had become village gossip.
• On the journey home, Meng Anci teased Meng Anzhi and insisted that the three of them should never keep secrets from one another.
• Meng Anci received a bow and arrows from Meng Anzhi, then discovered that Jin Shanyao had also given him a foal.
• Meng Anzhi revealed her own bow and arrows, and Meng Anci realized she had received a horse too.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi up White Head Mountain, where she played at being its fearsome ruler while the children hunted rabbits. The children each managed to shoot a rabbit, and Jin Shanyao agreed to roast them all for lunch.

• Meng Anci fed his foal and proudly told Meng Anzhi that he had named it Black Grand Marshal, while she named hers General White.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi up White Head Mountain with their bows and arrows so they could hunt.
• Jin Shanyao shouted and laughed on the mountain, then pretended to capture the children and make them her attendants.
• Dahuang and Xiaoli drove a group of wild rabbits toward the children, and Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi each hit one after several attempts.
• Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi argued over whose rabbit should be roasted first, and Jin Shanyao said they would roast them all.

Jin Shanyao spent the day on the mountain with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, while Meng Anci eagerly prepared to ride to the academy with his bow and arrows. He placed first in his first exam, and the chapter ended with Shiyan charging at him and crashing into a wall.

• Jin Shanyao roasted rabbits with Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, then taught Meng Anzhi how to identify licorice while the children hunted and gathered herbs.
• Meng Anci stayed up late finishing his schoolwork, then carefully cleaned his bow and arrows and cuddled them under his quilt.
• Meng Anci rode Black Grand Marshal to Green Mountain Academy, drawing attention from the other families and Shiyan.
• Master Zhao announced that Meng Anci had taken first place, ahead of Zhao Zhiyuan, while Shiyan accused him of cheating.
• After class, Shiyan and the other children surrounded Meng Anci and demanded to see his paper; when Shiyan charged at him, Meng Anci dodged and Shiyan hit the wall.

Meng Anci came first in the academy’s year-end examination and returned home with Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi, while privately worrying that Shiyan’s family might confront him. The next day, Madam Shi blocked the academy entrance and accused Meng Anci of injuring her son.

• After Shiyan hurt his head, Meng Anci denied pushing him when Master Zhao questioned him, and Master Zhao let him go home.
• Meng Anci showed Jin Shanyao his examination paper and told her he had come first.
• Jin Shanyao made winter clothes for Meng Anzhi and suggested buying a shop in the county town.
• Meng Anci worried that Shiyan might die or that his family would come after him.
• Madam Shi arrived at the academy with Shiyan and servants, pointed out Meng Anci, and berated him for hurting her son.

Madam Shi accused Meng Anci of cheating and blamed him for Shiyan’s injury, but Jin Shanyao defended her nephew and fought the Shi Household men. Meng Anci beat Shiyan in a fight, and Master Zhao arrived as Jin Shanyao released Madam Shi.

• Madam Shi accused Meng Anci of cheating and causing Shiyan’s injury, but Jin Shanyao believed Meng Anci when he denied it.
• A Shi Household servant threatened Meng Anci, and Jin Shanyao kicked the man down before defeating the men Madam Shi had brought.
• Jin Shanyao made the servant who had insulted Meng Anci face him, and Meng Anci punched the man in the eye and mouth.
• Jin Shanyao released Shiyan and challenged him to fight Meng Anci; Meng Anci dodged Shiyan’s attacks, knocked him down, and struck his injured head.
• Madam Shi pleaded with Jin Shanyao to stop, and Master Zhao arrived and asked her to release Madam Shi, which she did.

Master Zhao defended Meng Anci at Green Mountain Academy and warned Madam Shi to stop causing trouble, while Shi Chang'an later reprimanded her. Jin Shanyao bought a shop in Meng Anzhi’s name and hired locals to clean it, ending up with a basket of vegetables as a pledge.

• Madam Shi demanded that Master Zhao expel Meng Anci, but he refused and threatened to bar the Shi Household’s children from Green Mountain Academy if she insulted his student again.
• Madam Shi sent Shiyan into class and left with her injured servants, while Jin Shanyao urged Meng Anci to go to class and accepted Master Zhao’s advice about teaching him to use reason.
• Shi Chang'an confronted Madam Shi at home, blamed her for taking Shiyan to make trouble, and ordered her not to fight with household servants again.
• Jin Shanyao bought a main-street shop near Qin Baitang’s and had the deed written in Meng Anzhi’s name.
• Jin Shanyao offered payment for people to clean the shop, and one woman left her basket of vegetables as a pledge while she went to fetch help.

Jin Shanyao opened her new county-town shop with Meng Anzhi and arranged to hire servants to keep it clean. She put the shop in Anzhi’s name, leaving Anzhi and Meng Anci stunned and determined to honor her generosity.

• Jin Shanyao showed Meng Anzhi their newly bought shop, and the two welcomed patients while a local woman and her family cleaned the premises.
• After paying the cleaners, Jin Shanyao decided to hire servants and took Meng Anzhi to collect Meng Anci from the academy.
• Meng Anci eagerly explored the shop, and Jin Shanyao told the children they would visit it after eating at Top Scholar Tower.
• On their way back to Little River Village, Meng Anzhi asked why the property deed bore her name, and Jin Shanyao explained that Anci already had a house and land, so Anzhi should have property too.
• Meng Anzhi reflected on how unusual her opportunities were, while Meng Anci resolved to study hard and care for Jin Shanyao in her old age.

Jin Shanyao bought several servants to help with her work and teach the children, including the dangerous-looking Lu Chi, whom she recognized as having extraordinary fortune. She left the two cousins, now named Qing He and Qing Yang, at the empty shop while she went to find a carpenter.

• Jin Shanyao harvested the garden’s talking vegetables and decided to buy people to handle the work.
• Jin Shanyao advised Meng Anci to avoid public violence, and Meng Anzhi resolved to act whenever her brother could not.
• At the slave market, Jin Shanyao noticed Lu Chi’s dense red fortune and bought him for seventy taels despite his hostility.
• Jin Shanyao also bought the famine-stricken cousins Qing Zhaodi and Qing Pandi, whom she renamed Qing He and Qing Yang.
• Jin Shanyao carried Lu Chi to the empty shop, checked the contracts, and left with Meng Anzhi to find a carpenter.

Jin Shanyao hired a carpenter to renovate her property and examined Lu Chi, discovering that he had endured years of abuse and carried several poisons. As she opened Anzhi Hall and treated customers, Lu Chi learned that she planned to purge his poisons and began wondering who she was.

• Jin Shanyao ordered an old carpenter to rebuild the rooms and furnish the shop as Anzhi Hall.
• Jin Shanyao examined Lu Chi, treated his wounds, and found several poisons in his body that would take three months to purge.
• Jin Shanyao opened her shop to a crowd seeking fortune-telling and consultations, while Qing He and Qing Yang watched in amazement.
• Lu Chi regained some movement, dressed himself, and recalled that he was the heir of the Marquis of Zhenyuan and had been abducted and sold.
• Lu Chi realized Jin Shanyao might cure the poison that famous physicians had failed to treat, and wondered who she was when the door opened.

Lu Chi met Meng Anci, who challenged him about his identity and learned that his sale deed named him Gouya. Meanwhile, Diao Siniang persuaded Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi to exploit Meng Anci’s possible future success, and the two uncles began ingratiating themselves with him.

• Meng Anci confronted Lu Chi, called himself his master, and teased him about the name Gouya on his sale deed.
• Villagers learned Jin Shanyao had bought servants and a county-town shop registered in Meng Anzhi’s name, prompting resentment from the first and second branches of the Meng Household.
• Diao Siniang proposed letting Jin Shanyao fund Meng Anci’s education so the family could later benefit from his status, and suggested they could disqualify him by accusing him of being unfilial if he resisted.
• Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi approached Meng Anci with candy and fruit, claiming they had missed him and that his father had appeared in a dream asking them to look after him.
• Meng Hongde mistook Meng Anci’s dejected expression for proof that his flattery had worked.

Meng Anci outwitted Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi when they tried to learn whose name was on the shop deed, while Meng Hongyi sent Wang Guihua to ingratiate herself with Jin Shanyao. At home, Lu Chi discovered Meng Anzhi fed expensive mushrooms to the dog and learned that Meng Anci was eating mushroom-filled meatballs too.

• Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi tried to coax Meng Anci into stealing the shop deed, but he loudly exposed their scheme to Meng Anzhi and warned them not to try again.
• Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi fled, then argued at home over who had pushed them to question Meng Anci.
• Meng Hongyi ordered Wang Guihua to get close to Jin Shanyao, and she reluctantly agreed after he argued that their children needed food for the New Year.
• Lu Chi complained that he had to eat the same fried meatballs as Dahuang, but their taste quickly won him over.
• Lu Chi saw Meng Anzhi serve morels to the wildcat and Dahuang, then learned from Meng Anci that the meatballs contained several prized mushrooms, including matsutake.

Jin Shanyao dismissed Lu Chi’s objections to her using wild ginseng and sent him to clean the latrine, where he overheard villagers discussing Meng Anci’s uncles and the risk they posed to the boy’s reputation. Lu Chi warned Jin Shanyao that the uncles could threaten Meng Anci’s eligibility for the imperial examinations, then bargained for food and wine in exchange for further help.

• Jin Shanyao used a wild ginseng root to make tea, and Lu Chi scolded her for wasting something valuable before she taught Meng Anci to put his own well-being first.
• Jin Shanyao ordered Lu Chi to clean the latrine, and he fled after vomiting from the stench.
• Lu Chi overheard two women say Meng Anci’s uncles might damage his reputation if he took the xiucai examination.
• Lu Chi told Jin Shanyao that exam candidates needed family records and guarantors, and that Meng Anci’s uncles could report him for disrespecting elders.
• Jin Shanyao agreed to excuse Lu Chi from cleaning the latrine, and he demanded braised meat and osmanthus wine before explaining how to handle the accusations.

Jin Shanyao planned to sever her family’s ties with the Meng branches and helped Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi target their uncles’ weaknesses. A staged fortune-telling scheme led Meng Hongde to blame Meng Hongyi for Tietou’s coma, and the brothers agreed to sever ties.

• Lu Chi told Jin Shanyao that moving households, making a living elsewhere, or being raised by someone else could justify severing family ties, and she ordered him to clean the latrine.
• Jin Shanyao reassured Meng Anci that he could take the county-level examination, and the children identified their uncles’ fondness for their sons and greed for money as weaknesses to exploit.
• Meng Anzhi placed a calming sachet on a path Tietou would take, while Meng Anci arranged for people to crowd a fortune-telling stall with questions about feuding brothers.
• After Tietou fell into a deep sleep, Meng Hongde brought the blind fortune-teller home, and the man blamed a brother for causing misfortune and financial loss.
• Diao Siniang accused Wang Guihua’s family of bringing trouble, and Meng Hongde suspected Meng Hongyi of conspiring with Jin Shanyao before declaring their relationship over.
• Meng Hongyi and Wang Guihua agreed to sever ties, but Meng Hongde demanded that Third Brother’s two children be called in too, prompting Meng Hongyi to ask whether he still suspected him of colluding with Jin Shanyao.

Jin Shanyao and the children signed and registered a document severing their ties with the Meng family. After moving into the renovated shop, Lu Chi found himself drawn into the children’s cloth-pouch throwing game, which left him confident he would win.

• Jin Shanyao brought Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to the Meng family gathering and agreed to sign the document severing ties between the branches and their children.
• Jin Shanyao took the signed document and household registration papers to the county yamen and registered the separation.
• When the first snow fell, Qing He, Qing Yang, and Lu Chi moved into the renovated shop, where Lu Chi resumed his chores and privately vowed to get revenge on Jin Shanyao.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci began tossing cloth pouches at a bucket, and Lu Chi demonstrated a successful throw before agreeing to compete with Meng Anzhi.
• Meng Anzhi’s first pouch caught on the bucket’s rim, and Lu Chi looked toward Jin Shanyao as if the miss proved his confidence was justified.

Lu Chi began teaching Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, including archery and combat, after Jin Shanyao challenged him to teach the six arts. On the day of the academy’s riding and archery competition, the family arrived, where other parents looked down on Meng Anzhi’s clothes.

• Meng Anzhi outsmarted Lu Chi in a throwing game, then revealed she had been reading a wide range of books.
• Lu Chi offered to teach the children and agreed to teach Meng Anzhi archery, while Jin Shanyao arranged for her to get a bow and arrows.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci took on archery and combat lessons after academy classes, and Lu Chi also wanted to teach them music.
• On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi dressed in red to support Meng Anci at the academy’s riding and archery competition.
• Jin Shanyao, Meng Anzhi, Meng Anci, and Lu Chi arrived at Green Mountain Academy, where other parents whispered contemptuously about Meng Anzhi’s clothes.

At the academy horse race, Meng Anci rode ahead of Shiyan, whose horse suddenly bolted. Meng Anci risked a dangerous maneuver to bring the runaway horse down, while Jin Shanyao secretly protected him with spiritual power.

• Jin Shanyao mocked Madam Shi after she snubbed her, then watched Meng Anci enter the race on Black Grand Marshal.
• Meng Anci rode ahead of Shiyan as the children raced around the track, while Madam Shi urged her son to use his whip.
• Shiyan's horse bolted, and Meng Anci rode alongside him, demanding fifty taels of silver in exchange for saving him.
• Meng Anci ignored Lu Chi's order to return and charged at the runaway horse's hindquarters as Jin Shanyao enveloped him in spiritual power.
• Meng Anci knocked the runaway horse off balance, causing it to fall and throw Shiyan to the ground.

After Meng Anci nearly endangered himself during a horse race, Lu Chi spanked him, prompting Jin Shanyao to beat Lu Chi in return. Lu Chi then recognized Zhao Cheng, reunited with an old contact, and sent a letter to the Eastern Palace while remaining at Meng Anci’s home.

• Lu Chi spanked Meng Anci for recklessly controlling a horse, and Jin Shanyao seized Lu Chi and beat him for humiliating the child.
• Meng Anci stuffed a handkerchief into Lu Chi’s mouth and told him to accept his place as a servant, while Lu Chi vowed revenge against the Meng Household.
• Zhao Cheng approached Lu Chi at the riding ground, recognized him as the Young Lord, and Lu Chi embraced him with relief.
• Lu Chi asked Zhao Cheng whether he still had contacts in the capital and instructed him to deliver a letter to the Eastern Palace.
• Zhao Cheng offered Lu Chi a place to stay, but Lu Chi said he was staying at Meng Anci’s house and asked Zhao Cheng to pass any news to the child at the Enlightenment Academy.

Meng Anci was punished for recklessly saving someone, but Jin Shanyao forgave him and taught him to use a slingshot. The household celebrated his bravery over grilled meat, while Lu Chi received another poison treatment and discovered Jin Shanyao’s needles did not hurt.

• Meng Anzhi scolded Meng Anci for charging at a mad horse, and Jin Shanyao demonstrated her slingshot to Meng Anzhi.
• Meng Anci apologized to Jin Shanyao, who forgave him, gave him a slingshot, and taught him how to use it.
• Lu Chi arrived at Anzhi Hall and joined the household for a celebratory grilled-meat dinner.
• Meng Anci apologized to Lu Chi for stuffing a handkerchief in his mouth, explaining that he had been trying to protect him from Jin Shanyao.
• Jin Shanyao treated Lu Chi with silver needles, and Lu Chi was surprised that they only made his skin itch.

Jin Shanyao cured Lu Chi’s lifelong poisoning and the empress learned he was alive, while Jin Shanyao later treated a man who fainted in the street. The chapter ended with her taking Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci back to their New Year shopping.

• Jin Shanyao told Lu Chi that his poison was completely cleared and gave him white fruit to use if he was poisoned again.
• The empress received Lu Chi’s letter confirming he was safe and discussed whether he should avoid or reclaim his place as Marquis Zhenyuan.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to shop for New Year goods and bought them firecrackers and treats.
• Jin Shanyao examined a man who had fainted, diagnosed his heart trouble, and revived him with a silver needle.
• Jin Shanyao charged the man one tael and advised him to visit Physician Meng if he fainted again, then carried the children onward.

Jin Shanyao received a lovingly made hairpin from Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci, then got a stiff neck from sleeping too carefully with it. Meanwhile, Lu Chi burned his father’s letter after learning that his father had requested his younger brother be named heir apparent, and Jin Shanyao congratulated him for reasons he misunderstood.

• Qin Baitang wished Meng Anci a happy birthday and gave the children twenty copper coins for the New Year.
• Meng Anci encountered Master Zhao at home and claimed that only a few policy essays remained unfinished.
• Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci gave Jin Shanyao a wooden hairpin they had secretly commissioned, and the children kissed her cheeks.
• Jin Shanyao slept carefully to protect the hairpin and woke with a stiff neck, pretending she was showing it off.
• Lu Chi burned his father’s letter after learning his father had requested that his younger brother become heir apparent.
• Jin Shanyao noticed Lu Chi’s strong red luck and congratulated him, but he assumed she was celebrating his misfortune.