Recaps

Lou Yun avoided Cui Hao’s punishment with Wan’er’s help, then secretly tripped Cui Hao as she left. Two days later, Pei Qing accompanied Lin Shuo to Pleasant Breeze Courtyard to receive the honored guest, only to discover that the guest was A Zi.

• Cui Hao demanded that Lou Yun demonstrate the skills she had been taught, but Wan’er stopped her and persuaded her to let Lou Yun skip the lessons.
• Lou Yun secretly sent qi beneath Cui Hao’s feet, causing her to fall and scrape her face; afterward, Lou Yun thanked Wan’er.
• When the girls were brought downstairs to meet the honored guest, Lin Shuo arrived with Pei Qing and threatened Cui Hao before leading them inside.
• Pei Qing recalled that Lin Shuo had invited him along after explaining that Lord Lin had tasked him with entertaining an honored guest and earning control of Pleasant Breeze Courtyard.
• A Zi arrived as the honored guest, recognized Pei Qing, and praised him, then focused his attention on Pei Qing while the others tried to curry favor with him.

Lin Shuo tried to recruit A Zi into a scheme to sell enslaved women abroad, while Pei Qing and Lou Yun investigated the prefect’s residence and shared personal secrets. The chapter ended when Wan'er and A Zi unexpectedly climbed through Pei Qing’s window and found him and Lou Yun together.

• Lin Shuo proposed that A Zi help transport enslaved women abroad, and A Zi agreed to sign a contract the following day.
• Lin Shuo gave Wan'er to A Zi and let Pei Qing take Lou Yun back to the prefect’s residence.
• Lou Yun told Pei Qing about a secret passage between the residence and Pleasant Breeze Courtyard, and Pei Qing shared what he had learned about the guarded rooms.
• Pei Qing told Lou Yun that his mother led the Beast Taming Pavilion and that his representative animal was a tiger.
• Wan'er climbed into Pei Qing’s room, and A Zi fell onto his back while trying to follow her through the window.

Lou Yun and Pei Qing investigated suspected trafficking at the Pleasant Breeze Courtyard, where Xie Wan told them how the Lin family had ruined her family. After assigning A Zi to investigate a hidden box and A Tu, Lou Yun and Pei Qing were left alone together, and Lou Yun persuaded the bashful Pei Qing to share the bed.

• A Zi explained that he had brought Xie Wan to the Pleasant Breeze Courtyard after learning she had disappeared following her father's arrest.
• Xie Wan recounted that Lin Bian had arranged her father's wrongful execution and that Lin Shuo had forced her and her mother into the courtyard; she asked Lou Yun to seek justice.
• Xie Wan told Lou Yun and Pei Qing that many women at the courtyard had been sold after sudden family troubles, and she mentioned Cui Hao's forbidden box.
• Pei Qing tasked A Zi with investigating Cui Hao's box and verifying Xie Wan's suspicions, while Lou Yun added that he should look into A Tu; Lou Yun and Pei Qing planned to investigate the Lin residence.
• Lou Yun teased the nervous Pei Qing as they prepared for bed, then discovered there was no spare bedding in the room.
• Lou Yun offered Pei Qing the choice of sharing her bed willingly or being tied up, then pulled him onto it; Pei Qing began to protest.

Lou Yun and Pei Qing spent the night together after Pei Qing coaxed her into granting his request, and the next morning they learned Lin Bian and Lin Shuo would be away signing a contract. They used the opportunity to sneak into the prefect’s late wife’s residence, where they found her belongings still carefully maintained.

• Pei Qing said he had begged Lou Yun to sleep beside him, then teased and enticed her until she agreed to stay the night.
• Lou Yun recalled an old encounter involving Lou Ze'an and a masked child who had come to retrieve a cat.
• The next morning, Pei Qing nearly fell from the bed while climbing off Lou Yun, and a maid misread their position when she entered.
• An attendant told Lou Yun and Pei Qing that Lin Shuo’s lessons were canceled because he would accompany Lin Bian to sign a contract.
• Lou Yun and Pei Qing slipped out through a window and entered the prefect’s late wife’s residence, finding her belongings clean and undisturbed.

Lou Yun and Pei Qing opened the mechanism hidden beneath Xu Ying’s memorial plaque and recovered a blue booklet, while A Zi stole the register of the girls’ sale contracts from the Pleasant Breeze Courtyard. Lin Bian realized they had been tricked and rushed home, where the three investigators reunited and Pei Qing prepared to write to His Majesty.

• Lou Yun and Pei Qing discovered that the plaque in Xu Ying’s room concealed a three-layer mechanism, and they survived its hidden weapons and poisonous smoke.
• Pei Qing and Lou Yun chose the correct rod on their final attempt and found a blue booklet inside the compartment.
• A Zi searched the Pleasant Breeze Courtyard for Cui Hao’s little box while Lin Bian and Lin Shuo waited for him.
• Cui Hao admitted that the register of the girls’ contracts of sale had disappeared, and Lin Bian realized they had fallen into a trap.
• A Zi, Lou Yun, and Pei Qing reunited at Pei Qing’s quarters, where Pei Qing asked A Zi to summon Xiao Jin and began preparing a letter to His Majesty.

Pei Qing summoned Su Ren to Jiangling while he and Lou Yun waited as Lin Bian tightened the search for A Zi. After Lin Bian ordered Pleasant Breeze Courtyard destroyed, Pei Qing warned A Zi with beetles, and A Zi led a rescue of the women trapped there.

• Pei Qing sent a message to the capital requesting Su Ren’s help, while Lin Bian’s troops searched the estate and later sealed off Jiangling.
• Su Ren set out from the capital, but Lin Bian grew impatient and ordered Pleasant Breeze Courtyard destroyed.
• Pei Qing used trained beetles to warn A Zi that Lin Bian was attacking Pleasant Breeze Courtyard.
• A Zi gathered members of the Beast Taming Pavilion and took Xie Wan to rescue the women, evading soldiers on the way.
• A Zi and Xie Wan entered the courtyard, where they found Xiao Liu dead and the girls under attack; A Zi’s reinforcements helped them fight and evacuate the women.
• Xie Wan led A Zi to a room where a group of women were still safe, and urged them to leave with her.

Xie Wan rallied the captive women to escape the Pleasant Breeze Courtyard, while Pei Qing and Lou Yun helped Su Ren arrest Lin Bian and his associates in Jiangling. After Lin Bian killed himself and the others were taken into custody, the party began its journey back to the capital, where Pei Qing faced his first night camping with the army.

• Xie Wan tore up her indenture and persuaded the captive women to escape and testify against Lin Bian, and A Zi led the final group out of the Pleasant Breeze Courtyard.
• Lin Bian ordered Zhang Dequan to take Lin Shuo away from Jiangling, but Pei Qing and Lou Yun confronted them as troops arrived.
• A Zi guided Su Ren to Jiangling and gave Pei Qing the evidence, while Xie Wan led a squad to rescue the women.
• Lin Bian killed himself rather than be arrested, and Lou Yun stopped Lin Shuo from attacking Pei Qing as the remaining suspects were taken into custody.
• After two days, Pei Qing assigned local officials to oversee Jiangling and departed for the capital with Su Ren's army and Lou Yun.
• The army camped in the wilderness, where Pei Qing stood uncertainly as the soldiers prepared for the night.

Lou Yun supported Pei Qing as he faced the crowd’s admiration, while Su Ren reunited with her and a soldier thanked Pei Qing for helping his late wife. After returning to the capital, Lou Yun investigated the conspiracy and considered pursuing Zhang Dequan.

• Lou Yun taught Pei Qing to gather and stack firewood, then promised to teach him anything he did not know; he affectionately asked her to be his private teacher.
• Su Ren recognized Lou Yun as his cousin, pledged the Su family’s support, and left after an awkward reunion.
• Wu Lao’er gave Pei Qing malt candy in gratitude for saving his wife, and Pei Qing remembered her and offered him comfort.
• Pei Qing shared the candy with Lou Yun, who took a piece from his fingers and called it sweet.
• Lou Yun returned to her residence and learned from Ying Yi that the second prince had made no unusual moves while she was away.
• Lou Yun reviewed the shadow guards’ information, suspected Li An had not acted alone, and considered investigating Zhang Dequan.

Lou Yun helped Pei Qing with his workload and discussed the corruption weakening Great Yan, then arranged to target the minister of rites in Li An’s case. At court the next day, the Lin Bian case reached a temporary conclusion, and Lou Yun announced that she had uncovered the truth behind the attack on Lord Li.

• Lou Yun brought Pei Qing wontons, stopped him from working through his meal, and ordered him to have policy essays screened before they reached him.
• Pei Qing explained that noble families and Chancellor Xu had weakened Great Yan’s talent pool, so he tried to guide even poor students’ essays.
• Lou Yun decided to pursue the minister of rites in Li An’s case and said Great Yan needed new pillars of support.
• Pei Qing reported the Lin Bian case at court, leading Lou Qing to punish the minister of rites and more than twenty accomplices while A Tu’s escort team was imprisoned.
• Chancellor Xu challenged Lou Yun and Pei Qing over Lord Li’s case, and Lou Yun announced that she had uncovered the truth and ordered the suspects brought in.

Lou Yun revealed that Cui Rou and Li An’s male bedmate had killed Li An, and the censor-in-chief confessed after his role in harming witnesses was exposed. After Cui Rou was spared execution, Pei Qing and Lou Yun shared a meal, where Lou Yun asked about his relationship with Lou Ze’an and Pei Qing remembered the accident that had once made them appear to kiss.

• Lou Yun explained that Cui Rou and Li An’s male bedmate had killed Li An and staged the fire, while Cui Rou had sought the imperial preceptor’s help to expose the trafficking network.
• Lou Yun accused the censor-in-chief of failing his duties and harming witnesses, and Xu Lin forced him to confess by threatening to expose his crimes to his family.
• Pei Qing and Lou Yun secured Cui Rou an exemption from execution, and she bowed to them as she was led away.
• Lou Yun took Pei Qing to Rain Ripple Pavilion for the pork hock he was owed and asked what relationship he had with Lou Ze’an.
• Pei Qing recalled how he and Lou Ze’an had collided at the training grounds four years earlier, then fought after Pei Qing punched him.
• Pei Qing realized Lou Yun had mistaken the collision for a kiss and resented her for thinking he and Lou Ze’an had shared a romantic interest.

Lou Yun and Pei Qing grew closer while preparing for New Year’s Eve, but their duties kept them apart until the night of the imperial sacrifice. After the ceremonies, Lou Yun hurried to the Stargazing Tower to keep Pei Qing from spending the new year alone.

• Pei Qing blamed Lou Ze'an for his past awkward encounters with Lou Yun, while Lou Yun unknowingly soothed him by sharing food.
• Pei Qing planned to lodge poorer examination candidates at an inn, and later gave his students the afternoon off so he could spend time with Lou Yun.
• Lou Yun stayed with Pei Qing as he rested, unaware it would be their last quiet time together before New Year’s Eve.
• Pei Qing led the sacrifice to Heaven in elaborate ceremonial robes, then secretly showed Lou Yun a playful glint as he handed her incense.
• After completing the palace banquets, Lou Yun rushed toward the Stargazing Tower to join Pei Qing before the new year began.

On New Year's Eve, Lou Yun joined Pei Qing at the Star-Picking Terrace, where they shared a kiss and agreed to stay up together. Later, they went in disguise to a scholars' inn to meet candidates before the palace examination, but a debate over the Imperial Preceptor and Master Jiang Wen began to divide the scholars.

• Pei Qing watched the New Year's fireworks alone until Lou Yun arrived and wished him a happy New Year.
• Lou Yun and Pei Qing kissed, and Pei Qing persuaded her to stay up with him.
• Pei Qing took Lou Yun in disguise to an inn for scholars and met Fan Buluo, who enthusiastically praised the Imperial Preceptor.
• Xie Wan served tea to Lou Yun and Pei Qing, then playfully encouraged Lou Yun.
• Fan Buluo repeatedly tried to hold Lou Yun's hand, so Pei Qing interrupted him with tea and earned his gratitude.
• A scholar praised Master Jiang Wen's literary talent as equal to the Imperial Preceptor's, and others proposed attending Jiang Wen's lecture at Purple Bamboo Garden.

Lou Yun and Pei Qing attended Jiang Wen’s lecture, and Pei Qing grew uneasy about the scholar’s suspiciously timely arrival. After noticing irregularities in the palace examination rankings, Pei Qing secretly inspected the candidates’ papers and discovered signs that several essays had been written by the same person, but Jin Yu heard him.

• Lou Yun and Pei Qing listened to Jiang Wen’s lecture, and Pei Qing felt that Jiang Wen’s manner was strangely familiar.
• Pei Qing learned that Luo Fengchen, Fan Buluo, and Bian Yi had taken the top three places and insisted on examining their papers before the results were posted.
• Pei Qing told Lou Yun they would raid the Ministry of Rites the following night, then slipped there alone that evening.
• Pei Qing found that Luo Fengchen’s and Bian Yi’s essays had unusually similar structures despite their different apparent styles.
• Pei Qing searched more candidates’ papers, found additional suspicious essays, and accidentally alerted Jin Yu with a slight movement.

Pei Qing was caught while sneaking into the palace and wounded by Jin Yu, but Lou Yun rescued him and brought him back to the imperial preceptor's residence. Overwhelmed by the sight of his injury, she left and suffered a bout of madness at the crown prince's residence, where her shadow guards restrained her until dawn.

• Jin Yu trapped Pei Qing and shot him with a three-feathered arrow carrying body-weakening powder.
• Lou Yun caught Pei Qing as he collapsed, split Jin Yu's incoming arrow, and fought her way out with him.
• Lou Yun treated Pei Qing's wound but ignored his pleas, then left when he fell asleep in tears.
• Lou Yun returned to the crown prince's residence and struck Ying Yi during a bout of madness, prompting him to summon the other shadow guards.
• After a night of destruction inside her room, Lou Yun emerged exhausted at dawn and asked Shutang to bring water.

After Lou Yun ignored Pei Qing following court, he broke down and fainted, then clung to her when he woke. Lou Yun comforted him and explained that her earlier disappearance had been caused by her recurring madness.

• At court, the officials argued over whether to repost the examination results, and Lou Qing ordered the Minister of Rites, Pei Qing, and the Chancellor to review the papers.
• Lou Yun walked away from Pei Qing after court, leaving him standing in the snow until Mo Chi found him and he fainted.
• Pei Qing woke to find Lou Yun beside him and begged her not to leave him again; she soothed him and said she was not tired of him.
• Lou Yun told Pei Qing that her madness had caused her earlier disappearance, and Pei Qing realized she had suffered another episode.

Lou Yun learned from Mo Chi that Pei Qing’s fear of being abandoned came from repeated childhood neglect, and promised not to leave him alone again. As Pei Qing oversaw a resit of the imperial examination, Lou Yun reunited with Bu’er, who arrived at the crown prince’s residence and criticized its furnishings.

• Lou Yun told Pei Qing that he had erred by hiding things and rushing into danger, then playfully made him call her “wife-mistress.”
• After changing Pei Qing’s dressing, Lou Yun heard Mo Chi explain that Pei Qing had been abandoned three times and had once been left waiting alone in the snow; Lou Yun promised to be more careful with him.
• The Ministry of Rites confirmed suspicious problems with the candidates’ papers and arranged a resit with new procedures to prevent cheating.
• Pei Qing prepared to serve as chief examiner, while Lou Yun continued tending to his injured shoulder.
• Bu’er arrived at the crown prince’s residence by climbing over the wall, and Lou Yun invited him inside.
• Bu’er looked around the residence and told Lou Yun that it did not suit her.

Lou Yun changed Pei Qing’s dressing while Bu’er grew jealous and tried to attack him with gu insects. After Pei Qing left, Lou Yun dropped her gentle manner and demanded that Bu’er explain why he had come or leave.

• Bu’er confronted Lou Yun about the ointment and gauze, grew angry at the thought they were for another man, and threatened her with a rattlesnake; Lou Yun kicked him away and warned him not to damage her room.
• Pei Qing arrived, and Lou Yun told him to enter while Bu’er refused to leave; Bu’er secretly sent his gu insects toward Pei Qing.
• Pei Qing calmly handled Bu’er’s rattlesnake and explained that he had learned how to control gu insects, leaving Bu’er furious when the snake would not bite him.
• Lou Yun finished changing Pei Qing’s dressing, reassured him that Bu’er would not hurt her, and sent him back to rest.
• After Pei Qing left, Lou Yun called for Ying Yi and demanded that Bu’er either explain why he had come or get out.

Bu'er told Lou Yun that her madness might be a curse tied to her soul and offered to help discover its trigger, so she let him stay. Pei Qing later learned that Bu'er claimed to be the only one who could save her, while Bu'er taunted him as useless.

• Bu'er explained that Lou Yun's episodes might come from a curse that could persist across lifetimes and be broken by finding its trigger.
• Lou Yun recalled her imprisonment in the Underworld and her journey into this world, then agreed to let Bu'er stay and help investigate the curse.
• Bu'er repeatedly provoked Pei Qing when he visited Lou Yun, knowing Pei Qing would not complain to her.
• Bu'er lured Pei Qing aside and boasted that he had found a way to save Lou Yun, then mocked him as trash.

Lou Yun learned that Fan Buluo had become the top scholar and listened as Pei Qing celebrated the imperial examination system’s progress, then spent the day with him. The next day, Bu’er tried to provoke Lou Yun’s curse with a seductive dance, but she rejected his idea and ordered Ying Yi to make him clean up.

• Pei Qing told Lou Yun that Fan Buluo had taken first place and explained how a commoner-born top scholar could weaken the aristocratic clans’ control of court.
• Lou Yun kissed and teased Pei Qing, who agreed to spend the day with her.
• Bu’er suspected that desire might trigger Lou Yun’s curse and left to prepare another plan.
• Lou Yun returned the next day to find her bedroom filled with smoke, gauze, and burning incense, where Bu’er appeared in revealing clothes and danced.
• Lou Yun rejected Bu’er’s attempt to trigger her curse and ordered Ying Yi to keep him there until he cleaned the room.

Bu'er drugged Lou Yun and gave her an antidote that triggered the curse she already carried. As Lou Yun lost control and attacked the hidden guards, Bu'er was left cornered in the study with her.

• Bu'er threatened Ying Yi, who exposed his situation and warned him after destroying one of his gu insects.
• Lou Yun realized Bu'er had drugged her and summoned Ying Liu to examine her.
• Ying Liu told Lou Yun the antidote would take four hours to prepare, so Lou Yun demanded the antidote from Bu'er.
• Bu'er handed over a porcelain bottle, and Lou Yun swallowed its contents before he revealed that he had used a drug to trigger her curse.
• Lou Yun's eyes turned blood-red, and she began beating back the hidden guards who tried to move her to her bedroom.
• Bu'er hid in a corner as Lou Yun approached, while Ying Yi accused him of ruining everything.

Pei Qing arrived as Lou Yun’s curse-driven madness threatened Ying Yi, then calmed her enough to uncover that the curse was triggered by desires she had long suppressed. Lou Yun had him chain her to the bed and asked him to stir those desires so she could break free of the curse.

• Ying Yi rescued Bu’er from Lou Yun, but Lou Yun turned on Ying Yi until Pei Qing arrived and shielded him.
• Lou Yun mistook Pei Qing for a kitten and invited him to come with her, then retreated when his touch stirred her killing intent.
• Pei Qing embraced Lou Yun and asked what hurt, prompting her to recall how she had been taught to hide her emotions and suppress her desires.
• Lou Yun asked Pei Qing to chain her to the bed and explained that desire triggered her loss of reason.
• Pei Qing agreed to provoke Lou Yun’s desires, reassured her that she would not hurt him, and asked what she had thought when she first desired him.

Lou Yun and Pei Qing struggled over whether to give in to their desires, with Pei Qing urging her not to suppress herself and Lou Yun fearing she would hurt him. The chapter ended with Lou Yun giving in to his pleas as they began their first intimate encounter.

• Pei Qing admitted he had considered his desires and slapped himself, prompting Lou Yun to break free of the chains and demand an explanation.
• Pei Qing told Lou Yun what he wanted, and she revealed something about herself before he agreed to proceed.
• Lou Yun bit Pei Qing, then stopped when she feared she would hurt him, but Pei Qing reminded her that she had promised to let him help her.
• Lou Yun and Pei Qing struggled beside the bed, and she briefly tried to restrain him with chains before throwing them aside.
• Pei Qing challenged Lou Yun to punish him, and their argument turned into forceful kisses as he urged her to give in.

Lou Yun teased Pei Qing until he was exhausted, then gave him space when he avoided her out of embarrassment. She later spotted him secretly buying an erotic book and imagined he was studying it for her, leaving her eager to see him again.

• Lou Yun tormented Pei Qing, then helped him wash after he pleaded for mercy.
• Pei Qing avoided Lou Yun afterward, so she accepted Su Ren's invitation to spar at the barracks.
• Lou Yun spotted Pei Qing in disguise buying a concealed book from a bookshop.
• Lou Yun bought a copy and discovered it contained erotic illustrations, while Su Ren guessed she liked men who would become husbands in her household.
• Lou Yun fantasized about Pei Qing studying the book for her, then beat Su Ren soundly when he interrupted her reverie.

Xu Lin maneuvered Fan Buluo into accepting the prefecture of Jiangling, while Pei Qing regretted being unable to keep his student in the capital. After Lou Yun and Pei Qing discovered that the reported Jiangnan drought was fictitious, Pei Qing prepared to leave the capital secretly to investigate.

• Xu Lin argued that Fan Buluo should become prefect of Jiangling, and Fan Buluo accepted the post despite Pei Qing's objections.
• Pei Qing apologized to Fan Buluo for failing to keep him in the capital, and Fan Buluo vowed to live up to his teacher's teachings and return after accomplishing something.
• Lou Yun comforted Pei Qing as he blamed himself, while Lou Qing watched them from a distance without interrupting.
• After Fan Buluo departed, news of a Jiangnan drought reached court, and Lou Yun and Pei Qing suspected something was wrong with Xu Lin's relief arrangements.
• Lou Yun and Pei Qing's men confirmed that no drought had occurred, and Pei Qing decided to travel south to investigate before the scheme could proceed.
• Lou Yun accompanied Pei Qing through the quiet streets as he left the capital secretly for Jiangnan.

Lou Yun learned that the Huang River had breached its dikes and set out for Jiangnan to lead flood relief, despite Xu Lin’s schemes and Pei Qing’s absence. Her journey was plagued by rain and assassination attempts, and she was left facing a mudslide blocking the road near Jiangnan.

• Lou Yun received Pei Qing’s message that the Huang River had breached its dikes and challenged Xu Lin over the false drought reports.
• Lou Yun volunteered to travel to Jiangnan for flood relief, and Lou Qing privately expressed concern and considered her as a possible heir to Great Yan.
• Lou Qing’s eunuch revealed a note warning that Xu Lin had embezzled disaster funds and that Jiangnan lacked supplies.
• Lou Yun departed with her guards, and Su Changqing and Su Ren came to see her off in the rain.
• Lou Yun’s journey was delayed by persistent rain and repeated assassination attempts, and her party discovered a mudslide blocking the road near Jiangnan.