Chapter Summaries

After sleeping through court, Shen Yuxi went to the Imperial Medical Academy and used the Omniscient Encyclopedia System to explain the reasoning behind her epidemic prescription. The imperial physicians understood the treatment, while Shen Yuxi privately felt like a fraud.

• Shen Yuxi arrived at morning court exhausted from staying up all night and slept against a pillar while Emperor Xuanzhao and the officials discussed state affairs.
• Imperial Physician Han asked Shen Yuxi to visit the Imperial Medical Academy and explain parts of her epidemic prescription.
• Imperial Physician Han and Imperial Physician Tang questioned the prescription’s ingredients and dosages, so Shen Yuxi consulted the Omniscient Encyclopedia System.
• The system explained how the ingredients addressed dampness, lung obstruction, fever, and epidemic toxins, and Shen Yuxi repeated its reasoning to the physicians.
• The imperial physicians praised Shen Yuxi and annotated the prescription, while she thought that she felt like a fraud.

As Qingzhou’s epidemic worsened, Shen Yuxi learned through the system that corrupt officials and merchants had worsened the crisis by stealing relief supplies and price-gouging. She agreed to go to Qingzhou to gather evidence against the county magistrate, leaving Emperor Xuanzhao furious at the corruption and the court focused on her mission.

• Jia Kun proposed sending Shen Yuxi to Qingzhou, and the system exposed that his son was imprisoned and Jia Kun had badly injured himself.
• Minister Shen offered to go to Qingzhou himself, but Shen Yuxi argued that she should go instead because her father was old and needed at court.
• The system revealed that Qingzhou’s relief grain had been skimmed, the county magistrate had seized government grain, and merchants had raised food and medicine prices.
• The system said the county magistrate’s private assets were worth half a year of the treasury’s tax revenue and urged Shen Yuxi to gather evidence in Qingzhou.
• Emperor Xuanzhao and the officials turned their attention to Minister Shen, while Mo Xuanchen resolved to send Shen Yuxi gold and silver.

Shen Yuxi persuaded Emperor Xuanzhao to let her travel to Qingzhou during its epidemic, hoping to expose the county magistrate and seize his hidden wealth, while Mo Xuanchen volunteered to accompany her. The next morning, they set off with imperial physicians and guards, and Mo Xuanchen surprised Shen Yuxi by riding in her carriage.

• Shen Yuxi learned from the system that the Qingzhou county magistrate had hidden wealth and asked Emperor Xuanzhao to send her to Qingzhou.
• Mo Xuanchen offered to accompany Shen Yuxi, and Emperor Xuanzhao granted permission for their journey.
• Madam Shen scolded Shen Yuxi for volunteering, while her family prepared supplies for her trip.
• Shen Yuxi left for Qingzhou with Mo Xuanchen, imperial physicians, and five thousand imperial guards.
• Mo Xuanchen chose to ride in Shen Yuxi's carriage, dismissing her concerns that others would misunderstand.

Shen Yuxi traveled with Mo Xuanchen to Qingzhou, where Magistrate Zhao Panggua welcomed them with an extravagant banquet despite the people suffering from an epidemic and food shortages. Mo Xuanchen confronted Zhao Panggua, who denied wrongdoing and offered to send the banquet food to relief stations.

• Shen Yuxi pretended to sleep in the carriage beside Mo Xuanchen as they traveled to Qingzhou.
• Fang Yu ordered Zhao Panggua to walk ahead of Mo Xuanchen’s carriage, and Zhao fell after an hour and knocked out a front tooth.
• Zhao Panggua recognized Shen Yuxi as the female official appointed by Emperor Xuanzhao and stared at her until she moved closer to Mo Xuanchen.
• At Zhao Panggua’s residence, Shen Yuxi saw the lavish banquet, and Mo Xuanchen accused the magistrate of feasting while the people suffered.
• Zhao Panggua claimed he had donated his household’s food and borrowed the banquet dishes, then offered to send the food to relief stations.

Shen Yuxi exposed County Magistrate Zhao Panggua's crimes to Mo Xuanchen, who trusted her and led men into Zhao's study. They uncovered a secret chamber filled with gold, silver, and jewels, leaving Zhao to arrive and witness his hidden fortune being revealed.

• Mo Xuanchen ordered Zhao Panggua to prepare rooms for him, Shen Yuxi, and their companions at the magistrate's residence.
• After dinner, Shen Yuxi followed the system's directions to the kennel and retrieved a key hidden in the wolfdog's droppings.
• Shen Yuxi told Mo Xuanchen that Zhao Panggua had taken bribes, seized farmland, and exploited his office, and Mo Xuanchen said he trusted her.
• Mo Xuanchen's men knocked out the guards at Zhao Panggua's study and forced their way inside.
• A servant woke Zhao Panggua and told him the fourth prince's men had entered his study, so Zhao rushed there.
• Zhao Panggua arrived to find the underground secret chamber open and chests of gold, silver, and jewels being carried out.

Mo Xuanchen and Shen Yuxi uncovered Magistrate Zhao Panggua’s vast hidden fortune and decided to use it to aid Qingzhou during the epidemic. At the overcrowded shelters, Shen Yuxi encountered a boy begging her to save his gravely ill grandmother.

• Mo Xuanchen questioned Zhao Panggua about his hidden wealth, and Zhao denied embezzling it before being taken into custody.
• Mo Xuanchen decided that Zhao Panggua’s confiscated money should be spent on the people of Qingzhou during the epidemic.
• Shen Yuxi followed a physician through the epidemic shelters and saw soldiers preparing to remove a seriously ill elderly woman to make room for others.
• The woman’s grandson Douzi protested and pleaded for her to stay, while Shen Yuxi approached to intervene.
• Douzi knelt before Shen Yuxi and begged her to save his grandmother.

Shen Yuxi learned that powerful people were bribing soldiers and physicians to steal epidemic resources, while Mo Xuanchen led imperial guards to confront the bandits connected to Zhao Panggua. The chapter ended as the bandit chief, Cheng Wuneng, knelt before Mo Xuanchen and begged for an audience.

• The system told Shen Yuxi that nobles were secretly manipulating medical assessments to obtain more medicine during the Qingzhou epidemic.
• Cui Mingjian covered Douzi’s mouth, then warned him to keep quiet and promised the best treatment for his grandmother and twenty taels of silver.
• Cui Mingjian had the two soldiers involved in the scheme dragged away and executed.
• Shen Yuxi decided that Mo Xuanchen was the only person powerful enough to stop the nobles from taking epidemic resources.
• Mo Xuanchen led a hundred imperial guards to wipe out the bandits who had partnered with Zhao Panggua and protected his assets.
• The bandits knelt at their stronghold’s entrance, and Cheng Wuneng bowed before Mo Xuanchen.

Mo Xuanchen spared Cheng Wuneng and the bandits on the condition that they descend the mountain and help treat epidemic patients. After returning to the county magistrate’s residence, Mo Xuanchen quietly lingered outside Shen Yuxi’s room while the system worried that he was falling for its host.

• Cheng Wuneng pleaded for his sworn brothers’ lives, and Mo Xuanchen asked why the bandits had avoided the epidemic.
• Cheng Wuneng explained that the bandits had stayed on the mountain, eating wild fruit and game and drinking from their own pond.
• Mo Xuanchen ordered everyone in the stronghold to descend the mountain and assist physicians, giving them a chance to atone and live.
• Shen Yuxi bathed alone after Zhao Panggua was jailed, while the system remained blocked from speaking to her.
• Mo Xuanchen returned to the residence, ordered troublemakers to be cast aside or executed if they resisted, then stopped outside Shen Yuxi’s room to listen to her sleep.
• The system noticed Mo Xuanchen’s growing feelings for Shen Yuxi and warned him not to interfere because he had a canon partner.

As Mo Xuanchen and Shen Yuxi visited the epidemic-stricken areas, Douzi thanked Shen Yuxi for helping his grandmother and innocently praised her as a perfect match for Mo Xuanchen. Mo Xuanchen took the boy’s words to heart, while Douzi belatedly realized he had spoken to a prince.

• Cui Mingjian cautiously suggested that Lord Little Shen accompany him to the hardest-hit areas instead of Mo Xuanchen, but Mo Xuanchen’s silent look made him back down.
• The former bandits worked among the patients in matching clothes and face coverings, though the sick remained wary of them.
• Douzi told Shen Yuxi that his grandmother was improving and thanked her for helping them.
• Douzi saw Mo Xuanchen and told him that he and Shen Yuxi made a perfect match, which pleased Mo Xuanchen.
• Shen Yuxi warned Douzi not to say such things and explained that he did not know Mo Xuanchen was a prince.
• Douzi realized Mo Xuanchen was the Fourth Highness and worried that his words had been disrespectful.

Shen Yuxi and her companions learned that Wanxue had married Chen Shisong for the love and care he once gave her, while his family treated her harshly. The system revealed that Chen Shisong had taken up with the Duke Who Stabilizes the Nation’s youngest daughter after reaching the capital, leaving Wanxue devastated and Shen Yuxi furious.

• Little Douzi learned Mo Xuanchen was a prince and hurried home after Shen Yuxi dismissed him.
• The system told Shen Yuxi that Little Douzi had a rare antibody that protected him from the epidemic, but Shen Yuxi said the new prescription meant he would not need to be sacrificed.
• The system recounted how Wanxue married Chen Shisong for his kindness despite his family’s contempt and mistreatment of her.
• Wanxue overheard Shen Yuxi and the system discussing her past and realized that Shen Yuxi knew her story.
• The system revealed that Chen Shisong had become involved with the Duke Who Stabilizes the Nation’s youngest daughter shortly after arriving in the capital, and Wanxue was struck with grief.
• Shen Yuxi called Chen Shisong a heartless bastard and compared him to Chen Shimei.

Shen Yuxi learned that Wanxue’s husband, Chen Shisong, was pursuing Shangguan Niao despite already having a wife, and resolved to gather evidence before helping Wanxue. After Qingzhou’s epidemic eased, Shen Yuxi and Mo Xuanchen returned to the capital, where Emperor Xuanzhao punished Zhao Panggua and the Shen family welcomed Shen Yuxi home.

• Shen Yuxi heard that Chen Shisong had promised to marry Shangguan Niao, and the System confirmed that Shangguan Niao knew he was married.
• Wanxue broke down after realizing Chen Shisong had betrayed her, while Shen Yuxi decided to gather solid evidence before confronting her with the truth.
• After nearly a month in Qingzhou, Shen Yuxi and Mo Xuanchen received Emperor Xuanzhao’s order to return to the capital as the epidemic subsided.
• Emperor Xuanzhao sentenced Zhao Panggua to death by a thousand cuts and ordered the Zhao family enslaved and imprisoned before their execution after autumn.
• Shen Yuxi refused to share a carriage with Mo Xuanchen on the return journey and joyfully reunited with her family at their estate.

Shen Yuxi returned to the Shen residence and learned she had to attend court the next morning, while Emperor Xuanzhao decided to make his sons handle the memorials he had left unfinished. Eunuch Yang reflected on the emperor’s hidden plan to protect Mo Xuanchen and eventually place him on the throne.

• Madam Shen welcomed Shen Yuxi home with a feast, and Shen Yuxi promised the tearful Liuying she would take her along on future trips.
• Shen Yuxi grumbled that Emperor Xuanzhao had denied her time off and ordered her to attend court the next day.
• Emperor Xuanzhao guessed Shen Yuxi was cursing him and decided to stop reviewing memorials, ordering that the crown prince and fourth prince handle them after court.
• Eunuch Yang considered the court’s uncertainty over the succession and understood that Emperor Xuanzhao had made the crown prince a target to shield Mo Xuanchen.
• Eunuch Yang recalled how Mo Xuanchen had led the Mo Family Army to defeat the Zhou Kingdom and become feared across the kingdoms.

Shen Yuxi returned to court after resolving the Qingzhou epidemic and received a reward, then asked Emperor Xuanzhao for leave. She secured three days off and learned more about Chancellor Xue’s opposition to her appointment.

• Shen Yuxi returned to court and wondered why the officials were staring at her, while the system said they had missed her.
• Emperor Xuanzhao praised Shen Yuxi for exposing the Qingzhou county magistrate, providing an effective prescription, and saving the people, then awarded her a thousand taels of gold and a hundred mu of fertile land.
• Shen Yuxi asked for leave, and Emperor Xuanzhao granted her three days after she complained about his refusal.
• Shen Yuxi focused on Chancellor Xue and recalled that he had once led officials in opposing her appointment, while the system explained he had not challenged her because Emperor Xuanzhao insisted on keeping her.
• Shen Yuxi agreed to the three days off despite privately wishing for a longer break.

During court preparations for the spring examinations, Shen Yuxi was appointed chief examiner and tried to retaliate by asking the system to reveal Emperor Xuanzhao's gossip. The system exposed the emperor’s childhood laxative mishap and identified Director Han as the physician who had caused it, leaving the court staring at the embarrassed director.

• Minister Shen reported the Ministry of Rites’ preparations for the spring examinations, while Shen Yuxi blamed the Duke Who Stabilizes the Nation for his younger daughter’s conduct until the system explained his battlefield scar.
• Yan Huai proposed strict safeguards for examination papers, and Emperor Xuanzhao ordered the ministries to cooperate in preparing the examinations.
• Emperor Xuanzhao appointed Shen Yuxi as examiner, and Minister Shen offered to select assistants for her.
• Shen Yuxi asked the system to expose Emperor Xuanzhao’s gossip, prompting the system to recount how he drank laxative as a child after a young physician called it immortal water.
• The system revealed that the physician was Director Han, and the assembled officials turned to look at him as he tried to act unconcerned.

Shen Yuxi learned that Mo Xuanchen had been a mischievous child and became flustered when the system teased her about blushing at him. After accepting the Duke of Dingguo’s birthday invitation, she went with Minister Shen to discuss her spring examination duties, while Chen Shisong dismissed his wife Wanxue as he spoke intimately with Shangguan Niao.

• The system recounted Emperor Xuanzhao’s childhood antics and said Mo Xuanchen had been even naughtier before later events changed him.
• Shen Yuxi blushed when Mo Xuanchen smiled at her, then denied to the system that he was the reason.
• Minister Shen asked Shen Yuxi to accompany him to the Ministry of Rites for guidance on her metropolitan examination duties, while the Duke of Dingguo invited her to his birthday banquet.
• Shen Yuxi suspected the Duke of Dingguo’s invitation was a trap, but accepted after the system explained he wanted to build a relationship with her.
• Shangguan Niao flirted with Chen Shisong and mocked his lack of concern about the upcoming examination; Chen Shisong said he despised his wife Wanxue and regretted being unable to marry Shangguan Niao.

Shen Yuxi visited the lane where out-of-town scholars were lodging on the eve of the spring examination and learned about Lin Shubai and Yan Qinghe’s difficult lives. The scholars continued studying under harsh conditions as they faced the examination.

• Chen Shisong promised Shangguan Niao that he would divorce Wanxue after the spring examination and marry her with her father’s approval.
• Shen Yuxi returned from the Ministry of Rites and fell asleep, while Liuying helped her to bed.
• Shen Yuxi visited the crowded lane where poor scholars were studying and questioned the system about the court’s lack of lodging for them.
• Lin Shubai rebuked a fellow scholar for joking that Shen Yuxi had come to see him, concerned for her reputation.
• The system revealed that Lin Shubai’s impoverished family sacrificed to support his studies, while Yan Qinghe had endured mistreatment by his adoptive parents and was determined to change his fate.

Before the spring examinations, Shen Yuxi encouraged Lin Shubai and the other candidates to rest, then arrived as chief examiner and oversaw the start of the exam. When a candidate fainted from overwork and lack of food and sleep, the system explained his condition, and the imperial physician confirmed he would recover with rest and food.

• The system praised Lin Shubai’s talent and predicted he could place in the first class, easing his anxiety before the examinations.
• Shen Yuxi told Lin Shubai and the other candidates that studying longer would not change their foundations, and Lin Shubai went to sleep, prompting the others to rest too.
• Shen Yuxi arrived as chief examiner, addressed the candidates, and ordered them to enter after the bell rang.
• Shen Yuxi inspected the examination papers and made rounds while the candidates wrote, and Lin Shubai worked with focus and confidence.
• A candidate collapsed during the examination, and Shen Yuxi asked the system to examine him.
• The system identified exhaustion from poor eating, lack of sleep, and nervousness; the imperial physician confirmed the candidate needed rest and food to recover.

Shen Yuxi supervised the imperial examination, exposing several examinees who cheated and ensuring the papers were collected and secured. After the exhausted examinees finished the test, they received a hearty meal that Shen Yuxi had chosen.

• An examinee woke after fainting and learned he had too little time left to finish his exam paper.
• The system alerted Shen Yuxi that an examinee had hidden a cheat sheet under his tongue, and she had him taken away.
• Shen Yuxi spotted another suspicious examinee, and the system revealed that he had hidden his cheat sheet in his body; a clerk took him away.
• The system exposed several more examinees using the same method, and Shen Yuxi had them removed.
• The examination ended, and Shen Yuxi and the vice minister of rites checked, sealed, and arranged for the papers to be copied.
• The examinees received a meal of braised pork and pastries, which Shen Yuxi had specified.

During the spring examinations, Shen Yuxi discovered that Chen Shisong had plotted with Shangguan Niao and a childhood friend to murder his wife, Wanxue. Chen Shisong collapsed after reacting to Shen Yuxi’s revelations, and she left him ineligible to continue the examination while reflecting that his crimes merited thirty years in prison.

• Shen Yuxi learned that Chen Shisong and Shangguan Niao had planned to kill Wanxue after the examinations and that Chen had paid his childhood friend to stage her drowning.
• Chen Shisong dropped his chopsticks, recognized that Shen Yuxi knew his secrets, and accused her of being a ghost.
• Chen Shisong suffered severe pain and vomited blood when he tried to expose what he had heard, while Shen Yuxi told Bao Cheng she was unharmed.
• The vice minister of rites ordered Chen Shisong taken to a side hall, and Shen Yuxi instructed Bao Cheng to keep him under guard because he had cheated.
• The system explained that Wanxue had refused to leave home with Chen Shisong’s childhood friend and later stayed with her natal family, preventing the murder plot from being carried out.

Shen Yuxi’s warning led Lu Song to intercept a letter proving Chen Shisong and Gao Kai had plotted to murder Wanxue. After the spring examinations ended, Chen Shisong was arrested, and Shen Yuxi met Lu Song to discuss the evidence before encountering Shangguan Niao on the road.

• Shen Yuxi learned that Chen Shisong’s childhood friend had written a damning letter and arranged for Lu Song to intercept it at the West Street mail station.
• Lu Song retrieved the letter, which showed Gao Kai had tried to lure Wanxue out so he could drown her at Chen Shisong’s instruction.
• After the spring examinations ended, Shen Yuxi went to the Court of Judicial Review, where bailiffs arrested Chen Shisong as he left the examination compound.
• Lu Song told Shen Yuxi that Gao Kai had confessed, retained Chen Shisong’s letters, and agreed to testify, while the court lacked evidence to charge Shangguan Niao.
• Shen Yuxi’s carriage met Shangguan Niao’s in a narrow alley, where Shangguan Niao angrily demanded that Shen Yuxi back up.