Chapter Summaries

Jin Shanyao misunderstood Su Wenqian’s books as a provocation, then learned they were ordinary advice books and gave him her own scolding manuals. Later, she explored Hat Mountain and encountered the immortal Xie Chao, who ordered her to leave.

• Jin Shanyao’s ghosts failed to enter the Su residence because Su Wenqian’s talismans drove them away.
• Jin Shanyao wrote four books prescribing how men should behave and brought them to the prefectural yamen, convinced Su Wenqian had insulted her.
• Old Madam Su explained that Su Wenqian’s books were common advice books for women, clearing up Jin Shanyao’s misunderstanding.
• Jin Shanyao gave Su Wenqian the books she had written, and he suppressed his anger because he owed her favors.
• Jin Shanyao wandered into Hat Mountain, where she met the immortal Xie Chao and tried to conceal her alarm before he told her to leave.

Jin Shanyao learned that Xie Chao was an exiled mountain god barred from leaving Hat Mountain, then returned with a human land deed to claim the mountain for growing medicinal herbs. After defeating and binding Xie Chao, she began patrolling her new turf while he insisted she would never take it.

• Jin Shanyao confronted Taishang Laojun and learned that Xie Chao had been confined to Hat Mountain for five hundred years after causing a devastating drought.
• Jin Shanyao retrieved the land deed from Anzhi Hall and returned to Hat Mountain to claim it from Xie Chao.
• Xie Chao challenged Jin Shanyao, but she overpowered him with her whip and bound him upside down from a branch.
• Jin Shanyao threatened to beat Xie Chao every day until he gave up the mountain, then began patrolling Hat Mountain and looking for his henchmen.

Jin Shanyao took control of Hat Mountain, gathered herbs, and received Lu Chi’s letter inviting them to a ginseng competition. At the academy the next morning, Meng Anci encountered Zhao Yushan, who tried to buy his black colt, but Meng Anci refused.

• Jin Shanyao threatened the plants on Hat Mountain, used Xie Chao as a warning, and collected precious herbs before leaving him to reflect.
• Jin Shanyao read Lu Chi’s letter and showed Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci how to retrieve fruit from water by creating a whirlpool.
• Meng Anzhi explained that the basin exercise was about muddying the waters and warned Meng Anci not to fall for the academy’s character test.
• Meng Anci arrived at the academy with Black Grand Marshal and told Shiyan he had retrieved the fruit.
• Zhao Yushan demanded that Meng Anci and Shiyan greet him, then offered to buy Black Grand Marshal, but Meng Anci refused.

Meng Anci impressed Master Cen by using a lesson from Jin Shanyao to explain how outside forces helped solve a problem. Jin Shanyao tried to recruit the resentful Xie Chao with food and red dates, but he remained unsure how to reject her as she left Hat Mountain.

• Meng Anci used water to float fruit out of a basin and explained that he had learned the method from his youngest aunt, earning Master Cen's praise.
• Jin Shanyao brought food from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to Hat Mountain and removed Xie Chao's Spiritual Power barrier.
• Jin Shanyao urged Xie Chao to eat and argued that treating humans with herbs did not violate the natural order, but Xie Chao threw away the chicken leg in anger.
• Jin Shanyao offered to make Xie Chao her follower and promised he could remain king of Hat Mountain while eating and drinking well.
• Jin Shanyao left Xie Chao a basket of red dates and departed, while Xie Chao stared at the food and wondered how to turn her down.

Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi answered a free house-call request and helped Chunniang deliver a baby girl. When Old Woman Cai tried to kill the newborn, Jin Shanyao knocked her unconscious, leaving Chunniang and her child safe for the moment.

• Jin Shanyao advertised Anzhi Hall’s consultations and free first-of-the-month house calls, and a man summoned her to help his wife give birth.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi entered the Cai household, where Old Woman Cai and the midwife dismissed Chunniang’s danger and insisted that the child be saved over the mother.
• Jin Shanyao slapped the midwife unconscious, and Meng Anzhi turned the baby into the correct position and delivered the child with Jin Shanyao’s help.
• Old Woman Cai discovered the newborn was a girl and tried to suffocate her in a basin, but Meng Anzhi rescued the baby and passed her to Chunniang.
• Old Woman Cai demanded the child and reached for her, so Jin Shanyao knocked her unconscious.

Jin Shanyao explained to Meng Anzhi how women’s lives were constrained by preference for sons and urged her to rely on her medical skills and independent judgment. Meng Anzhi passed the lesson on to Meng Anci, who mischievously used it to stir up a chase before heading to the academy.

• A man attacked Jin Shanyao after finding his mother and the midwife unconscious, but Jin Shanyao subdued him and confronted him about ignoring his wife and newborn daughter.
• The man reluctantly agreed to keep the baby, and Chunniang wept as she held her.
• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi that women were exploited and encouraged her to gain independence through her abilities and clear thinking.
• Meng Anzhi taught Meng Anci that family members should contribute, and he concluded that he was a burden who needed to study hard.
• At dinner, Meng Anci blamed Meng Anzhi for calling him a burden, prompting Jin Shanyao to chase Meng Anzhi with a broom before Meng Anci left for the academy.

Jin Shanyao tried to sell her storybooks to Xie Chao but was waylaid by First Madam Zhao, who attempted to buy her horse for far too little. Madam Su intervened, helped Jin Shanyao turn the confrontation around, and later received Old Madam Su’s advice to treat Jin sincerely.

• Jin Shanyao set out for Hat Mountain with storybooks, wine, food, and dates to persuade Xie Chao to work for her.
• First Madam Zhao tried to buy Jin Shanyao’s horse for a hundred taels, while her maid blocked the cart and the crowd praised her supposed generosity.
• Madam Su recognized Jin Shanyao and stepped in, presenting the hundred taels as payment for five talismans and revealing that the horse was worth at least a thousand taels.
• First Madam Zhao left in embarrassment without retrieving her money, and Jin Shanyao asked Madam Su how to learn her way of winning without shedding blood.
• Madam Su recommended two books on political scheming and household favor, then corrected Jin Shanyao’s mistaken use of a family title.
• Old Madam Su praised Madam Su for helping Jin Shanyao and told her to preserve their friendship by treating Jin sincerely.

Jin Shanyao visited Old Madam Su to learn the hidden tactics of household rivalry, then proposed entering her seventy-year-old wild ginseng in a competition under Qingzhou Prefecture’s name. The Su family welcomed the plan, which could benefit both the prefecture and Anzhi Hall.

• Jin Shanyao brought Old Madam Su two books and a seventy-year-old wild ginseng root, asking her to explain passages about household schemes.
• Old Madam Su taught Jin Shanyao how apparent apologies, public praise, and indirect provocation could conceal attacks, and warned her not to retaliate in a way that fulfilled an enemy’s plan.
• Jin Shanyao tried to interpret Madam Su’s wary greeting and praised Su Wenqian, amusing Old Madam Su with her clumsy use of the lessons.
• Jin Shanyao asked Su Wenqian to enter her wild ginseng in the capital’s competition under Qingzhou Prefecture’s name, with Anzhi Hall identified as its source.
• Jin Shanyao proposed having Qin Baitang accompany the ginseng and left the choice of a representative from the prefectural city to Su Wenqian.

At Green Mountain Academy, Meng Anci provoked Zhao Yushan and got Master Cen to punish him. On Hat Mountain, Jin Shanyao left food and storybooks for the hidden Xie Chao, who secretly inspected them but remained determined to reject her.

• Meng Anci criticized Zhao Yushan for relying on his mother, then baited him into insulting Willow and Poplar County in front of Master Cen.
• Master Cen sent Zhao Yushan outside and later comforted Meng Anci, while Meng Anci mocked Zhao Yushan again after class.
• Jin Shanyao broke through a barrier on Hat Mountain and left Xie Chao local dishes, wine, dates, and storybooks.
• Xie Chao watched Jin Shanyao leave to gather medicinal herbs, then emerged to inspect the food and books and recoiled from their suggestive titles.
• Jin Shanyao happily collected herbs and imagined making Xie Chao her hired hand, while Xie Chao watched her depart and insisted he would never agree to her plans.

Jin Shanyao pushed Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to study while arranging for Qin Baitang to take Old Medicine Zhou to a mountain ginseng competition. At Green Mountain Academy’s monthly rankings, Meng Anci placed first, Zhao Zhiyuan second, Zhao Yushan third, and Shiyan last, leaving Shiyan worried and Zhao Zhiyuan missing home.

• Jin Shanyao encouraged the children to study, secretly brightened their lamp, and gave them ginkgo-leaf tea.
• Jin Shanyao wrote to Qin Baitang, telling him to collect Old Medicine Zhou and take him to the capital for the mountain ginseng competition.
• Qin Baitang hurried to the capital, excited to represent Qingzhou Prefecture, as Green Mountain Academy posted its rankings.
• Shiyan found his name at the bottom, while Meng Anci and Zhao Zhiyuan placed first and second; Zhao Yushan came third and accused them of cheating.
• Meng Anci rebuked Zhao Yushan, and the three students left for class as Shiyan worried about disappointing Madam Shi.
• Zhao Zhiyuan quietly missed home, and Meng Anci wondered how to comfort him.

Zhao Yushan was punished for placing third in an academy exam, while Jin Shanyao used a divination to expose a con man courting Miss Zhang for her family’s wealth. Jin Shanyao talked Miss Zhang out of murder, though her unconventional advice left the young woman determined to vent her anger.

• Zhao Mingshu ordered Zhao Yushan to kneel in the ancestral hall after he came third in the exam, and Zhao Yushan blamed Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci.
• Zhao Zhiyuan tossed Zhao Yushan a bag of pastries, but Zhao Yushan threw it back and cursed at him.
• Jin Shanyao used Miss Zhang’s birth characters to locate the man pursuing her and learned he planned to exploit her family’s wealth.
• Jin Shanyao warned Miss Zhang about the man, then chased her down and held her back when she misunderstood an expression as advice to kill him.
• Jin Shanyao advised Miss Zhang to have children without being bound to a husband, and Miss Zhang left saying she would vent her anger without ruining her life.

After witnessing Chunniang’s abuse and learning how her baby was killed, Meng Anzhi decided to open a charity home for unwanted baby girls. Jin Shanyao enlisted Xie Chao to help grow herbs on Hat Mountain, leaving him bound to a plan he reluctantly accepted.

• Jin Shanyao explained that Chunniang had been sold after Old Woman Cai strangled her baby, and Meng Anzhi decided to establish a charity home for abandoned girls.
• Jin Shanyao supported Meng Anzhi’s plan and considered building the charity home at the foot of Hat Mountain.
• Jin Shanyao broke through Xie Chao’s barrier, but after he rejected her advances, she clarified that she only wanted to plant herbs on his mountain.
• Jin Shanyao defeated and bound Xie Chao, then proposed a residence and herb-drying area and assigned him to grow ginseng.
• Jin Shanyao pressed Xie Chao’s bloody thumbprint onto a blank sheet, while Xie Chao later decided that helping her grow herbs was preferable to risking his chastity.

Meng Anzhi diagnosed Wang Xiaohua’s persistent facial sores and treated her with medicine and ointment, despite the doubts of Xiaohua’s mother. The sores began to improve, giving Wang Xiaohua hope that Anzhi Hall could cure her.

• Wang Xiaohua told Meng Anzhi that her fiancé had broken their engagement because of her facial sores, and Meng Anzhi examined her and promised to find a cure.
• Meng Anzhi recorded Wang Xiaohua’s symptoms and drafted prescriptions, then Jin Shanyao reviewed the diagnosis and confirmed the treatment.
• Meng Anzhi gave Wang Xiaohua internal medicine and applied ointment to her face the next day.
• Xiaohua’s mother suspected Anzhi Hall was using her daughter for practice, but Shopkeeper Wang defended Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi.
• After several days, Xiaohua’s mother noticed fewer bumps on Wang Xiaohua’s face, and Wang Xiaohua confirmed the improvement in a mirror.

Meng Anzhi cured Wang Xiaohua’s facial sores, bringing new customers to Anzhi Hall, and Jin Shanyao encouraged her to expand her ointment into a business. The chapter ended with Meng Anzhi agreeing to hire people to make and sell it after the second estate was built.

• Wang Xiaohua’s sores vanished, and she praised Anzhi Hall and Meng Anzhi’s skill to people around the prefectural city.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi shopping, then picked up Meng Anci from Green Mountain Academy and celebrated Meng Anzhi’s success with a meal at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
• Wang Xiaohua continued promoting Anzhi Hall, and business at the shop boomed.
• While grinding ingredients, Jin Shanyao suggested that Meng Anzhi turn her ointment into face cream and hire people to produce it.
• Meng Anzhi agreed to hire workers to make and sell the ointment after the second estate was built, and Jin Shanyao offered to grow the medicinal ingredients she needed.

After Meng Anzhi prescribed medicine to a man with a cold while Jin Shanyao was away, the man died, and his family accused Anzhi Hall of killing him. Constable Wang took the corpse, the accusers, Jin Shanyao, and Meng Anzhi to the prefectural office to investigate.

• Meng Anzhi examined a man with cold symptoms and gave him a prescription while Jin Shanyao was away.
• Jin Shanyao reviewed Meng Anzhi’s case notes and prescription, found nothing wrong, and reassured her.
• The next morning, the dead patient’s wife and several men stormed Anzhi Hall and accused the clinic of killing him.
• Jin Shanyao used her Spiritual Power to examine the corpse, restrained the intruders, and sent Qing Yang to summon the authorities.
• Jin Shanyao identified herself as Anzhi Hall’s shopkeeper, while Meng Anzhi admitted she had prescribed the medicine and tried to take responsibility.
• Constable Wang ordered everyone involved, including Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi, to accompany him and the corpse to the prefectural office.

Jin Shanyao arranged a public trial to prove that Anzhi Hall had not poisoned Yang Kui, summoning his ghost before the crowd. The chapter left her holding Yang Kui in front of Su Wenqian as he prepared to question the spirit.

• Madam Yang accused Jin Shanyao and Anzhi Hall of poisoning Yang Kui, but Jin Shanyao denied the charge and asked for half a day to prove her innocence.
• Su Wenqian agreed to resume the trial after dark at the yamen gates, and Jin Shanyao reassured Meng Anzhi while they waited in jail.
• Meng Anci announced the nighttime trial to the city, drawing a crowd to the yamen.
• Jin Shanyao performed a ritual and used Spiritual Power to let the crowd see Yang Kui's ghost above his corpse.
• Yang Kui tried to attack Madam Yang, and Jin Shanyao grabbed him and presented him to Su Wenqian, who asked whether the medicine had caused his death.

Su Wenqian questioned Yang Kui’s ghost and learned that Madam Yang had killed him after he discovered her affair, clearing Anzhi Hall and freeing Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi. Jin Shanyao’s ghost-catching fame brought a crowd to Anzhi Hall, but her high prices sent everyone away.

• Su Wenqian questioned Yang Kui, and Jin Shanyao struck him whenever his anger raised chilling winds.
• Yang Kui explained that Madam Yang had killed him after he caught her leaving a cornfield with the village’s old bachelor.
• Su Wenqian confronted Madam Yang, who confessed, and the authorities arrested her while releasing Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi.
• Meng Anzhi and Qing He and Qing Yang recovered their voices with Jin Shanyao’s Spiritual Power-infused ginkgo drink.
• Su Wenqian panicked over ghosts at home, while Old Madam Su and his brothers took back or claimed his protective talismans.
• A crowd sought Jin Shanyao’s fortune-telling and ghost-catching services, but they scattered when she announced her fees.

Jin Shanyao’s attempt to attract customers turned into a public scandal when she mistook an old man’s need to untie his belt for something indecent. After the crowd quieted, the old man explained that he wanted her to summon his daughter’s spirit and discover how she had died.

• Jin Shanyao tried to lure Jiang Jinshu over for a fortune-telling, but Shopkeeper Jiang took his daughter inside to keep her away.
• An old man arrived seeking a divination, and Jin Shanyao tied his belt shut before learning that he needed it undone to reach his money.
• A passerby accused Jin Shanyao of pulling down the old man’s pants, and the crowd condemned her until she slapped one loud critic to the ground.
• The old man explained that his daughter had drowned at twenty despite being an excellent swimmer, and that the authorities had repeatedly ruled her death an accident.
• Jin Shanyao urged him to seek help from Lord Su, but the old man said he had witnessed her ability to summon spirits and begged her to uncover the truth.

Jin Shanyao helped Shen Gensheng expose Cao Wentian as the murderer of his daughter, then received Su Wenqian’s reward for solving the case. After Qin Baitang returned with business orders, Jin Shanyao rewarded him with a rare ginseng plant and reinforced his loyalty to Anzhi Hall and Lush Mountain.

• Jin Shanyao learned from the trees that Cao Wentian had drowned Shen Xiaoman and told Shen Gensheng to report the murder and dig beside the dried channel.
• Su Wenqian’s men unearthed a clay jar containing Cao Wentian’s jade pendant, and further investigation led to Cao Wentian’s conviction and execution sentence.
• Su Wenqian received a court commendation and gave Jin Shanyao his three-hundred-tael reward along with Shen Gensheng’s divination fee.
• Qin Baitang returned with orders from the capital, and Jin Shanyao sent face cream home for his wife and gave him the prized ginseng plant Xiaoqi.
• Jin Shanyao told Qin Baitang that she trusted him to manage Anzhi Hall and Lush Mountain, and that night she used her Spiritual Power to water the mountain’s plants.

After Zhao Yushan was beaten for placing third, he saw the Shi family celebrating Shiyan’s exam results and broke down before throwing himself into a river. The next day, First Madam Zhao asked Jin Shanyao to help her son, who had become unresponsive and suicidal after being rescued, and Jin Shanyao prepared talismans to investigate.

• Shiyan celebrated placing twelfth, while Zhao Zhiyuan discovered he had beaten Meng Anci on the examination.
• Zhao Mingshu beat Zhao Yushan for placing third and ordered him to kneel in the ancestral hall.
• Zhao Yushan followed the Shi family and saw their warmth toward Shiyan, then witnessed Meng Anci smiling at Anzhi Hall.
• Zhao Yushan stood on a bridge and plunged into the river when First Madam Zhao came to bring him home.
• First Madam Zhao told Jin Shanyao that Zhao Yushan had become unresponsive and tried to harm himself after being pulled from the river.
• Jin Shanyao agreed to investigate for a fee and prepared five talismans.