Chapter Summaries

Jin Shanyao discovered that Zhao Yushan’s despair came from his father’s harsh treatment, not ghosts or possession, and asked Meng Anci to talk with him. Meng Anci’s outrageous advice sparked a fight and helped Zhao Yushan reconcile with Zhao Zhiyuan and commit to studying together, while Meng Anci quietly negotiated a higher payment.

• Jin Shanyao examined Zhao Yushan, found no possession or illness, and told the Zhao family that Zhao Mingshu’s beatings and scolding had driven the boy to despair.
• Zhao Cheng asked Jin Shanyao to help Zhao Yushan, so she sent Meng Anci to speak with him.
• Meng Anci joked about Zhao Yushan’s suicide attempts and suggested he run from his father’s punishments, provoking Zhao Yushan to attack him and Zhao Zhiyuan.
• Zhao Zhiyuan comforted Zhao Yushan by admitting his own fear of Meng Anci and explaining that he had learned to treat him as a rival rather than resent him.
• Zhao Yushan and Zhao Zhiyuan agreed to study together and try to surpass Meng Anci, who left while signaling Zhao Zhiyuan to raise his promised payment from two taels to five.

Jin Shanyao rescued Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci from Zhao Mingshu’s pressure, then sold Zhao Cheng talismans before realizing she had pushed the children too hard with their studies. She took Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi to Hat Mountain and showed them their newly finished estate, where Meng Anzhi could establish a charity hall.

• First Madam Zhao reunited with Zhao Zhiyuan, and Zhao Cheng thanked Meng Anci and Jin Shanyao for helping the children.
• Jin Shanyao pressured Zhao Cheng into buying five talismans for a hundred taels, and he asked whether she would take him as a disciple.
• Jin Shanyao felt guilty about making the children study so much and took Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi to Hat Mountain despite their protests.
• Jiang Jinshu watched Jin Shanyao carry the children away and feared that she was an old monster who ate children.
• At the finished second estate, Meng Anzhi admired the grounds, and Jin Shanyao offered the third courtyard for her charity hall.
• Jin Shanyao proposed taking the children to pick mushrooms and hunt pheasants, then offered to teach them to hit birds with stones.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to Hat Mountain to gather mushrooms and hunt pheasants, while Xie Chao watched them and questioned her bond with the children. After the children shared honey-roasted chicken with him, Xie Chao accepted the mountain ginseng seeds Jin Shanyao gave him to plant.

• Xie Chao sensed the children and discovered that Jin Shanyao had made protective ginkgo-leaf necklaces for them.
• Jin Shanyao taught Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to hunt pheasants, and they gleefully gathered mushrooms and fought Xiaoli for its honeycomb.
• Jin Shanyao remembered her promise to care for the children and regretted having pushed them too hard in the past.
• At the springs, Meng Anci challenged Xie Chao, and Jin Shanyao revealed that she had hired him as Hat Mountain's keeper.
• Jin Shanyao gave Xie Chao mountain ginseng seeds to plant, and Meng Anzhi offered him a honey-brushed chicken drumstick and promised to bring red dates next time.

Jin Shanyao spent the night coaxing Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to sleep, then the children went back to their routines the next day. A fire broke out at the Brocade Workshop, and Meng Anzhi evacuated the household as the flames threatened the street.

• Jin Shanyao asked Xie Chao to watch over the estate at the foot of Hat Mountain, and he reluctantly agreed.
• Jin Shanyao used a Method Formula to put Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to sleep while they lay with her.
• Wang Xiaohua told Meng Anzhi that her mother had arranged a match for her, while Meng Anzhi noticed a spark-covered tabby cat fleeing the Brocade Workshop.
• The Brocade Workshop caught fire, and Meng Anzhi rang a gong and tried to organize the neighbors into a bucket line.
• Jin Shanyao told Meng Anzhi to evacuate with Qing He and the others, and Meng Anzhi fled with the cash box as Qing He and Qing Yang carried bundles of books.
• Qing He ran back into the courtyard after realizing the old ox was still there.

Jin Shanyao helped save the third shop from the fire that destroyed Brocade Workshop, then warned her family not to risk their lives for possessions. That night, Shopkeeper Jiang's ghost appeared at Anzhi Hall, asking Jin Shanyao for help.

• Jin Shanyao ordered everyone to protect the third shop and used her whip to stop the fire from spreading, while rescuing Jiang Jinshu.
• Su Wenqian learned the fire began when Jiang Jinshu's tabby cat got into the stove, and Madam Jiang mourned her husband and the loss of her shop.
• Jin Shanyao found Qing He, Qing Yang, and Meng Anzhi preparing to flee with belongings and told them that saving their lives mattered more than money or possessions.
• Meng Anci returned home safely, but Jin Shanyao made him help grind medicinal powder instead of going straight to study.
• Shopkeeper Jiang's ghost called to Jin Shanyao from outside Anzhi Hall, and she brought Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci with her to confront him.

Jin Shanyao let Jiang Fu'an’s family speak with his ghost briefly, then helped his widow and daughter after their home burned down. Three days later, at Jiang Fu'an’s funeral, his mother demanded Madam Jiang give the family shop to his nephew.

• Shopkeeper Jiang offered Jin Shanyao his hidden savings in exchange for seeing his family, and she accepted a copper coin to let him appear before Madam Jiang and Jiang Jinshu.
• Jiang Fu'an revealed where he had hidden money and urged Xiu'er not to remain a widow, but Jin Shanyao ended their meeting when his ghost began to fade.
• Jiang Jinshu paid Jin Shanyao another copper coin and wished for her home to be restored, so Jin Shanyao told Madam Jiang to keep an earthenware basin as her daughter's meaningful keepsake.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci back inside while Jiang Fu'an remained outside, grieving that he could no longer live with his family.
• Three days later, Jin Shanyao and the two children attended Jiang Fu'an’s funeral, where his mother pressured Madam Jiang to surrender the shop to the eldest son's family in exchange for a nephew carrying the funeral banner and smashing the basin.

Jin Shanyao interrupted Su Wenqian’s ruling that Madam Jiang’s shop belonged to the Jiang clan and redirected the case to the valuable dowry basin Jiang Fulu’s family had broken. Su Wenqian began reconsidering the case, though he wondered whether Jin Shanyao had understood the real issue.

• Madam Jiang offered twenty taels for a Jiang clansman to carry the funeral banner and break the basin, and Fu’an’s eldest brother arranged for his son to do it.
• Jiang Fulu took Madam Jiang to court, claiming that funeral customs gave his family the shop, and Su Wenqian ruled that the law awarded it to the clan because Madam Jiang had no male heir.
• Jin Shanyao angrily challenged Su Wenqian’s ruling and argued that Jiang Fulu should pay for breaking the basin.
• Su Wenqian asked whether the broken basin was the funeral yin-yang basin, and Madam Jiang revealed that it was a precious dowry basin inherited from her mother.
• Su Wenqian turned his attention to the broken basin, while Jin Shanyao dismissed him as a muddleheaded official and he wondered whether she had intended to guide Madam Jiang.

Jin Shanyao helped Madam Jiang win compensation and sever Jiang Jinshu’s ties with the Jiang family, then returned to Anzhi Hall as business grew increasingly busy. When Jin Shanyao considered buying help, Qing He worried she might be replaced, and Jin Shanyao left to hire people.

• Su Wenqian exposed that the broken basin was not the yin-yang basin, and Madam Jiang demanded seven thousand taels in compensation.
• Jiang Fulu transferred his shop to Madam Jiang and obtained an officially stamped document severing Jiang Jinshu from the Jiang family in exchange for the remaining debt.
• Madam Jiang and Jiang Jinshu thanked Jin Shanyao, while Jiang Jinshu offered her savings and promised to fill her purse with embroidery earnings.
• Madam Jiang rebuilt the Brocade Workshop with help from her natal family as Anzhi Hall’s divinations, treatments, and face cream sales kept the household busy.
• Qing He clung to Jin Shanyao when she announced she would buy workers, and Jin Shanyao reassured her before heading out to hire people.

After Qingzhou Prefecture’s wild ginseng competition brought new business to the city, Jin Shanyao bought twenty servants to expand the family’s medicinal herb operation. Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci assigned them to the estate or Anzhi Hall, then admitted how nervous they had been while managing the group.

• Old Medicine Zhou told Jin Shanyao that counterfeit goods had been delivered to Anzhi Hall in Willow and Poplar County, and Jin offered to supply his pharmacy with herbs from Hat Mountain.
• Jin Shanyao bought twenty servants and brought them to Anzhi Hall, where Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci assessed their skills.
• Wu Yong identified himself as a former household steward, several servants demonstrated farming skills, Chen Guini offered her domestic skills, and Zhou Xiaosi displayed an exceptional memory.
• Meng Anci kept Chen Guini, Zhao Caigu, and Zhou Xiaosi at Anzhi Hall, while Meng Anzhi appointed Wu Yong steward of the estate and sent the other servants there.
• Qing He and Qing Yang took the servants to their quarters, while Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci admitted to Jin Shanyao that they had been nervous managing the group.
• Meng Anci explained that he kept Zhou Xiaosi at Anzhi Hall to observe his character and use his memory to recognize customers, rather than expose him to confidential ointment formulas at the estate.

Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi ran Anzhi Hall’s monthly free clinic, treating a starving family who had fled to Qingzhou Prefecture after the blind grandmother’s son was falsely imprisoned and died. The old woman began explaining their plight, leaving their fate unresolved.

• Jin Shanyao showed her new household the medicinal herb gardens on Hat Mountain, where Meng Anzhi taught the servants to identify and harvest herbs.
• A boy begged Jin Shanyao to save his sick younger sister, and Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao examined the children and their blind grandmother.
• Meng Anzhi diagnosed the girl with a chill and hunger, and the boy with indigestion after he admitted eating tree roots and Guanyin clay.
• Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi gave the family porridge, buns, and medicine, and learned that officials had wrongly imprisoned the grandmother’s son and confiscated the family’s home and fields.
• The blind grandmother recounted her family’s losses and began describing how the three survivors ended up begging on a street corner.

Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to Hat Mountain, where Xie Chao teased Meng Anci and Jin Shanyao tossed Xie Chao in return. The group shared food and gathered deer antlers before heading home.

• Meng Anci brought home pork that Master Cen had rewarded him with for doing well on his exams.
• Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci to Hat Mountain to check the herbs and set a harvest date.
• Xie Chao tossed Meng Anci into the air, and Meng Anci pretended to be frightened to get Jin Shanyao to defend him.
• Meng Anzhi suggested Jin Shanyao toss Xie Chao, and Jin Shanyao sent him into the air with her whip.
• Xie Chao gave Meng Anci a translucent lotus, then shared food with the group while Meng Anci played chess with him.
• Jin Shanyao packed the deer antlers onto the old ox as the group prepared to leave.

Jin Shanyao agreed to help Su Wenqian catch the fake medicine sellers in exchange for a one-year tax exemption. After locating their hideout through divination, she told Su Wenqian when to raid it and unnerved him with her ominous remarks.

• Qing He told Jin Shanyao that Old Medicine Zhou had fought his son over fake medicine and that someone had tried to sell suspicious herbs at Anzhi Hall.
• Su Wenqian arrived and pleaded with Jin Shanyao to help stop fake medicine dealers from damaging Qingzhou Prefecture's reputation and the livelihoods of herb growers.
• Jin Shanyao first demanded the prefecture's herb procurement rights, then settled for a one-year tax exemption, which Su Wenqian granted.
• Su Wenqian brought out the case files, and Jin Shanyao used her Spiritual Power to locate the gang's hideout on West Street.
• Jin Shanyao told Su Wenqian to raid the hideout the next morning and made a dark remark about letting ghosts handle the gang, frightening him into rushing away.

Jin Shanyao sent Ghost One and Ghost Two to frighten counterfeit medicine dealers in Qingzhou Prefecture. The dealers confessed to their crimes and fled the prefecture, while the ghosts hoped Jin Shanyao would help them reincarnate.

• Jin Shanyao named the wandering ghosts Ghost One and Ghost Two and ordered them to terrorize counterfeit medicine dealers on West Street.
• Jin Shanyao promised to recite the Rebirth Incantation if Ghost One and Ghost Two completed the task, and the two ghosts hurried to West Street.
• Ghost One and Ghost Two trapped the dealers in nightmares about their families suffering and dying from counterfeit medicine, then appeared to them as ghosts.
• The terrified dealers confessed to Su Wenqian that they sold counterfeit medicine and begged to be taken to the prefectural yamen.
• Su Wenqian ordered his constables to arrest the dealers, and counterfeit medicine sellers thereafter avoided Qingzhou Prefecture out of fear of its ghosts.

Jin Shanyao took Ghost Two, revealed as Shen Xiaoman, to visit her father before sending her to the Underworld, but Old Man Shen died by suicide to follow her. Ghost One also asked to bring his new wife, and Jin Shanyao ultimately sent all four ghosts to the Underworld after explaining that sharing their Merit would reduce their rewards.

• Jin Shanyao restored Ghost Two’s memories and agreed to let her visit her father, Old Man Shen, in Stone Gate Village.
• Ghost Two reunited with Old Man Shen and said goodbye, but after she left, he took his own life to follow her.
• Old Man Shen’s ghost reached the mass grave, where Ghost Two pleaded with Jin Shanyao to let them reincarnate together.
• Ghost One revealed that he had married a female ghost and asked Jin Shanyao to send them to the Underworld together.
• Jin Shanyao explained that sharing their Merit would divide it among them, and then sent Ghost Two, Old Man Shen, Ghost One, and his wife to the Underworld.

Jin Shanyao reflected on her recent decision to help the Lin family and accepted Jiang Jinshu’s earnings as repayment for a debt of gratitude. When heavy rain drove the Lin grandmother and grandchildren into Anzhi Hall for shelter, Meng Anzhi welcomed them and arranged food and dry clothes.

• Jin Shanyao threatened the ginkgo tree after it silently complained about her, then told Meng Anci that trees should avoid being too softhearted.
• Jin Shanyao decided Lin Mo was filial and clever despite his misfortune.
• Jiang Jinshu gave Jin Shanyao the copper coins she had earned embroidering handkerchiefs, and Jin Shanyao returned her father’s pouch after reinforcing it.
• Meng Anzhi invited Lin Mo, Old Madam Lin, and Lin Yue into Anzhi Hall to escape the heavy rain, and had Nanny Zhao provide them with dry clothes, hot water, and food.
• After dinner, Lin Mo hesitated to leave Anzhi Hall when the rain stopped, and a young boy who resembled Miss Meng asked him whether there had been enough food.

Meng Anci offered Lin Mo a place in the Meng household and drafted a restrictive ten-year contract, hoping to secure him as an accountant. Jin Shanyao rebuked Meng Anci for exploiting Lin Mo’s hardship, leaving him to reconsider how to earn Lin Mo’s loyalty.

• Lin Mo correctly calculated the medical hall’s sales, prompting Meng Anci to offer him work in the Meng household.
• Lin Mo agreed to serve for ten years so his grandmother and sister could have security, and Meng Anci began drafting a contract.
• Meng Anci wrote clauses restricting Lin Mo’s freedom and deducting his family’s living and medical costs from his wages.
• Meng Anzhi brought Meng Anci to Jin Shanyao, who scolded him for using a contract to take advantage of Lin Mo.
• Jin Shanyao advised Meng Anci to help Lin Mo through his troubles instead of trying to bind him, and Meng Anci realized his approach had been wrong.

Meng Anci took in Lin Mo, his grandmother, and his sister to work at the estate, where Lin Mo found renewed hope of clearing his father’s name. When Jin Shanyao discovered Fan Er had a plague, she ordered medicine and disinfection across the estate.

• Meng Anci told Lin Mo he would not need to sign a contract and offered the family work and shelter at the estate.
• Meng Anzhi organized the estate servants into teams to harvest, clean, and dry herbs.
• After more than a month, Meng Anzhi learned Lin Mo was a junior licentiate and encouraged him to become a renowned bookkeeper to help clear his father’s name.
• Jin Shanyao learned Fan Er’s fever had worsened and went with Meng Anzhi to examine him.
• Jin Shanyao diagnosed Fan Er with a plague and ordered Wu Yong to distribute medicine and disinfect the estate.
• Meng Anzhi asked whether Fan Er would recover and whether the illness would spread, and Jin Shanyao reassured her before Fan Er fainted.

Jin Shanyao sneaked into Su Wenqian’s study after he barred her from the prefectural office at night, then reunited with Old Madam Su and warned Su Wenqian about a plague at her estate. Su Wenqian accepted her prescription, while Old Madam Su angrily confronted him over the ban.

• The gatekeeper refused to let Jin Shanyao enter the prefectural office after sunset, so she climbed over the wall and crawled through Su Wenqian’s study window.
• Su Wenqian mistook Jin Shanyao for a ghost and tried to strike her with an inkstone before recognizing her and pulling her inside.
• Jin Shanyao summoned Old Madam Su, who scolded Su Wenqian for turning her friend away and chatted with Jin Shanyao about buying talismans for her family.
• Jin Shanyao drew talismans for Old Madam Su, accepted money for them, and urged Su Wenqian to spend more time with his mother.
• Jin Shanyao told Su Wenqian that a servant at her estate had a minor plague and gave him a prescription to distribute among the households.
• Jin Shanyao asked Su Wenqian to lift his after-sunset ban, and Old Madam Su angrily called him the one who looked like a ghost.

Su Wenqian investigated a possible epidemic after Fan Er died, but the illness soon reached Green Mountain Academy through Shi Chang'an's son, Shiyan. As the academy was sealed off, Jin Shanyao sent Xiaoli inside with pastries for Meng Anci and medicine for Shiyan.

• Su Wenqian questioned Shi Chang'an about his contacts, ordered him isolated, and secretly prepared Qingzhou Prefecture for a possible epidemic.
• Shiyan fell ill at Green Mountain Academy, and Master Cen carried him to the infirmary after he fainted.
• Soldiers sealed Green Mountain Academy, while Meng Anci and the other students were kept inside amid reports of an epidemic in Jing'an Prefecture.
• Madam Shi blamed Jin Shanyao for Shiyan's illness, and Jin Shanyao knocked her unconscious before returning to Anzhi Hall.
• Jin Shanyao sent Xiaoli into the academy with pastries for Meng Anci and ginkgo nuts for Shiyan, and Xiaoli delivered the bundle to Meng Anci.

Meng Anci tried to get his aunt’s medicine to Shiyan, who was gravely ill in the academy’s medical courtyard. After Shiyan swallowed the medicine, Meng Anci returned to the classroom, reclaimed his bedding from a classmate, and Jin Shanyao reassured Shiyan’s family that he would recover.

• Meng Anci gave Zhao Zhiyuan pastries and asked Master Cen to pass Jin Shanyao’s medicine to Shiyan, but Master Cen refused.
• Shiyan heard that Meng Anci had medicine for him and repeatedly tried to leave his bed to find him.
• Master Cen brought Meng Anci to the medical courtyard, where Meng Anci tossed white fruits to Shiyan and Shiyan swallowed them.
• Master Cen scolded Meng Anci and sent him back to the classroom, where Meng Anci kicked a classmate and reclaimed his bedding.
• Jin Shanyao told Madam Shi that Shiyan would recover, then warned Shi Chang'an to give the household her prescription against the epidemic.
• Shi Chang'an and Madam Shi returned home and brewed medicine for everyone in the household.