Festival of Lights · Diwali
Zhou Wanwan moved her family to Wild Field Village, where they gathered food, hid supplies, and prepared for the coming locust plague and drought. After uncovering the Zhou family’s hidden stores and acquiring weapons and a ginseng companion, she sought herbs to treat Zhou Fusheng’s injured leg while Lin Shouyi warned the villagers.
Zhou Wanwan prepared her family and Liu Family Village for the coming locust plague and drought, gathering grain, building shelters, and uncovering the Liu clan’s hidden refuge. The locusts destroyed the crops and grain prices soared, leaving Zhou Wanwan worried that their stores would not last through a prolonged drought.
Zhou Wanwan protected Liu Family Village from hostile neighbors and corrupt officers while building its defenses, developing new industries, and securing official support. As drought threatened, she expanded trade and prepared the village for winter, while Old Madam Zhou renewed her feud with Zhou Wanwan.
Zhou Wanwan exposed the Cheng household’s abuses, helped Feng Jiao break free from Cheng Xiao, and prepared Liu Family Village for hardship. After Cheng Xiao and Jiang Wu drove the villagers from their homes, Zhou Wanwan led them to Black Wind Stronghold, where she found their new quarters unfit for winter.
Zhou Wanwan built up Black Wind Stronghold, rescued displaced people, and used the trees to expose corrupt officials and punish those who harmed others. After taking in the Zheng sisters and stripping the Li household, she left the sisters with a place in her growing community and planned to deal with Miss Xu next.
Zhou Wanwan built Black Wind Stronghold into a refuge, gathering families, craftsmen, guards, and tree spirits while defeating the prefect’s forces. After rescuing enslaved Great Xia people and taking resources from Khotan, she returned to find the stronghold under attack and turned the prefect’s weapons against his soldiers.
Zhou Wanwan expanded her allies and resources by taking over Lion Camel Ridge, rescuing exiles and prisoners, and settling thousands of people there. She returned to find Black Wind Stronghold burned, healed its injured residents, resolved Liu Fugui’s marriage dispute, and put captured bailiffs to work farming.
Zhou Wanwan claimed treasure, aided famine-struck villages, and showed the Zhou family how prosperous Black Wind Stronghold had become. Pei Yong and Shen Chaoge joined her, while the Zhou family stayed in the stronghold and plotted to uncover its secrets for the county magistrate.
Zhou Wanwan traveled to the Northern Desert, rescued Han captives, and built up her estates and restaurant in Peerless City while using the tree people to strip corrupt households of their wealth. She helped Pei Shuang escape her abusive marriage and ended the stretch searching for Noble Consort Ning’s jade mine.
Zhou Wanwan emptied a jade mine, outwitted Yunxi’s powerful young families, and gathered wealth and allies through the Jianghu Alliance. As she took the scholar examination, she dealt with an attempted murder and left the Lu and Qian families’ homes stripped, while Shen Yu'an’s family prepared to flee the prefect’s demands for Black Wind Stronghold.
Zhou Wanwan helped her family and Gu Sinian through the examinations while confronting the prefect, the Jianghu Alliance, and Lu Lan’s circle. At the Lu Family gathering, she exposed Shangguan Wan’er’s insults, intervened in the Marchioness of Loyalty and Valor’s household, and was challenged to a contest with a prize still to be decided.
Zhou Wanwan wins the literary contest and secures Zhou Qingyan’s match with Su Zhixia before exposing and confronting the Lu Family. After discovering Long Aotian’s estate and its struggling businesses, she takes charge of his assets and begins investigating the managers.
Zhou Wanwan exposed the Zhou family’s schemes, collected an enormous debt from Shen Wanjun, and forced Fang Ting to face the consequences of her wagers. She expanded her stronghold and took in two abused siblings, then left Prefect Fang confronting her over Concubine Mei.
Zhou Wanwan protected Zhou Xiaoyan from a forced marriage, raided a bandit stronghold, and clashed with Lord Shen while promoting sweet potatoes. After healing Old Master Xie, she faced arrest by Nie Shi'an and was urged by Madam Shen to escape.
Zhou Wanwan outmaneuvered the Nie Family, won a public contest for the Zhou brothers, and used her power to leave the Nie household in disarray. As famine worsened, she organized relief and a farming plan for refugees, then returned to the Nie Family’s new residence and was drawn into a gathering of young ladies.
Zhou Wanwan built her business, secured the Xiao Family Army, and exposed plots within the Cui and Luo families. After helping Cui Zhining and Madam Cui the Younger, she uncovered Cui Wenyuan’s hidden wealth and began moving against the clans driving up grain and salt prices.
Zhou Wanwan exposed the Cui Family’s schemes, dealt with the Zhou family’s disastrous wedding banquet, and rescued women from exploitation while famine spread. After using cinnabar to strengthen her tree allies and moving her business, she entered Heavenly Demon City, where she confronted Princess Liuli and learned that Xue Ya and Xue Lang were dead.
Zhou Wanwan looted the Cui and Nie families, strengthened her allies, and began taking up neglected legal cases. After winning justice for Lady Fang and uncovering the Wang family’s crimes, she appraised treasures at Nie Shi’an’s gathering and decided to build her own museum.
Zhou Wanwan turned the bandits drawn to Nie Shi'an’s gathering into an opportunity to expand Black Wind Stronghold, then faced family debts, household conflicts, and accusations of theft. After uncovering the State-Pacifying Temple abbot’s crimes, she exposed his theft of the golden Buddha, but the governor’s arrival left her facing a powerful new threat.
Zhou Wanwan exposed Wen Jingshan’s massacre, left her post, and pursued White Deer Academy while confronting schemes among the academy’s families. After winning the entrance examination and taking Luo Xue into her service, she turned to the worsening drought and sought a plan to aid the refugees.