Recaps

Zhou Wanwan outmaneuvered her enemies as the Grand Princess lost her status and property, then found refuge with Zhou Wanwan’s family. At the empress dowager’s birthday banquet, Zhou Wanwan exposed Princess Jianing’s scheme with Xie Cheng'en and hosted the guests while the scandal unfolded.

• Zhou Wanwan secured foreign trade contracts and entertained the emperor, while Xie Cheng'en hired away her workers and boasted about his new business.
• At Madam Lu’s gathering, Zhou Wanwan exposed a plot against Liu Su'e, and the Grand Princess arrived to condemn the Lu Family.
• Old Madam Zhou persuaded the empress dowager that Zhou Fuyu was the Grand Princess’s son, and the empress dowager banished the Grand Princess, Zhou Fusheng, and Liu Su'e to the Cold Palace.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that the Grand Princess was Consort De’s daughter, helped her reject Song Qingfeng, and exposed the scandals of Princess Jing'an’s and Princess Ningyuan’s husbands.
• Zhou Wanwan helped uncover Song Qingfeng’s stolen soldiers and treasure, while the empress dowager confiscated the Grand Princess’s property and sent Zhou Wanwan to wash clothes in the Laundry Bureau.
• The Grand Princess divorced Song Qingfeng and moved in with Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e, where she delighted in Zhou Wanwan’s comfortable home and lavish hospitality.
• Before the empress dowager’s birthday banquet, Zhou Wanwan chose a painting as the Grand Princess’s gift, while the Grand Princess’s party endured mockery and restrictions at the palace gate.
• At the banquet, Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan presented insulting gifts, and Zhou Wanwan arrived in rags after Princess Jianing forced her to wash clothes.
• Xie Cheng'en entered the room with Princess Jianing and demanded Zhou Wanwan as his concubine, but Zhou Wanwan knocked him unconscious and hid in the Old Scholar Tree.
• Noble Consort Ning found Xie Cheng'en with Princess Jianing and ordered them out, while Zhou Wanwan served snacks and tea and entertained the guests as the empress dowager questioned the scandal.

Zhou Wanwan expanded her influence through palace workshops, businesses, and alliances while resisting Noble Consort Ning, the Zhou Family, and Xie Cheng'en. After Xie Cheng'en challenged her to pai gow with enormous assets at stake, Zhou Wanwan won the first hand and left him demanding another round.

• Zhou Wanwan emptied Empress Dowager Zhao’s palace treasury, took control of the palace textile offices, and replaced their old equipment with improved machines.
• Zhou Wanwan won over Zhao Nian'an and Aunt Li, exposed hostile palace workers, and rejected Noble Consort Ning’s offer to manage her businesses and take most of the profits.
• Noble Consort Ning arranged for the crown prince to make Zhou Wanwan a secondary consort, but Zhou Wanwan exposed spies around the crown princess and gained the princess’s loyalty.
• Zhou Wanwan sent aid toward Dongshan Prefecture, while Old General Xie marched to fight Great Qi and Xie Cheng'en began competing with Zhou Wanwan’s businesses alongside Princess Jianing.
• Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en opened rival shops, but Zhou Wanwan arranged for their workers and customers to support her interests and prepared to leave the Cold Palace.
• Zhou Wanwan moved her family from the Zhou Residence after Old Madam Zhou claimed it, then reclaimed the family’s former rewards and left the residence stripped bare.
• Zhou Wanwan supported Dongshan Prefecture students and her allies’ businesses as Cheng Chao refused to return to the Cheng Lineage and Shen Wanjun drew crowds to his brothel with performances and exotic animals.
• Xie Cheng'en challenged Zhou Wanwan to gamble against wealthy merchants, and Zhou Wanwan wagered up to ten million taels before winning with Supreme Treasure and ordering her allies to collect the winnings.

Zhou Wanwan outmaneuvered the Empress Dowager and Old Madam Zhou while using their schemes to secure wealth and protect her household. After Old Madam Zhou claimed Zhou Wanwan’s house as a filial offering, Zhou Wanwan and the Grand Princess appealed to the emperor, leaving the ownership dispute unresolved.

• Zhou Wanwan won Xie Cheng'en’s properties at dice, traded them back to Noble Consort Ning for unwanted palace ore, and began extracting its energy for her estates.
• Old Madam Zhou tried to force Zhou Wanwan into marrying Feng Wancai, but Zhou Wanwan and Old Scholar Tree frightened the visitors with ghosts and spirit-fed snakes until the old Taoist made them apologize.
• At the palace banquet, Zhou Wanwan exposed the Empress Dowager’s hostility toward the Grand Princess’s family, and an unseen rescuer saved the Grand Princess from Yu Jingchen.
• Zhou Wanwan’s people emptied Princess Jing'an’s and Princess Ningyuan’s estates, while the Empress Dowager’s investigators found no clues and her altered marriage edicts unexpectedly paired Yu Shu with Zhou Qingzhou.
• Old Madam Zhou borrowed Zhou Wanwan’s main courtyard for the wedding and demanded money and a banquet, but Zhou Wanwan refused to keep funding the relatives and earned 2,500 taels when Qian Huihui ordered food from the Xie Family.
• After Yu Shu arrived, Zhou Wanwan moved her parents and the Grand Princess into lavish neighboring homes she owned, while Yu Shu and Zhou Qingzhou clashed with Old Madam Zhou over the wedding gifts and household arrangements.
• When Yu Shu’s fifty-eight dowry chests went missing, Old Madam Zhou accused Zhou Wanwan of theft, but Zhou Wanwan showed that both houses belonged to her and Chen Ankang told the minister she lived next door.
• Old Madam Zhou appealed to the Empress Dowager, while Zhou Wanwan and the Grand Princess appealed to the emperor, and the Empress Dowager declared Zhou Wanwan’s house a filial offering to Old Madam Zhou.

Zhou Wanwan reached the border, rallied the defenders of Yanmen Pass, and used her trees to feed the starving, rebuild the city, and cure a plague. As she began planning new farmland and waterways, Noble Consort Ning arranged marriages for Zhou Wanwan’s friends, and the imperial edict named their matches.

• The Grand Princess and Zhou Wanwan hosted visiting princesses, who mocked their meal until Zhou Wanwan revealed a lavish feast and physicians confirmed the unusual quality of her produce.
• After learning the Xiao Family was being abused on the Yu estates, Zhou Wanwan helped them escape to Dongshan Prefecture and stripped the Yu Family’s connected estates of their crops and livestock.
• Zhou Wanwan exposed the corruption surrounding the border army, intercepted Noble Consort Ning’s supplies, and traveled with Qin Shan’s forces toward Yanmen Pass.
• Captured by Great Qi, Zhou Wanwan learned of its plan to massacre Yanmen Pass, escaped with Mu Qing, and joined the defenders as Qin Shan returned with the Border Pass Army.
• Zhou Wanwan took command at Yanmen Pass, removed generals who planned to abandon civilians, and helped Qin Shan repel Great Qi’s assault while distributing food to the starving.
• Zhou Wanwan recovered treasure, brought Suiyuan City’s trees and buildings to Yanmen Pass, and began rebuilding the city as more displaced people arrived.
• When Great Qi spread plague to the border settlements, Zhou Wanwan and the trees cured the sick and infected Lin Bahu in retaliation.
• Zhou Wanwan acquired 168 nearby estates to grow food, while Noble Consort Ning’s marriage edict matched Su Zhixia with Zhou Qingyan, Feng Yueyao with Zhou Qinghe, and Shen Yunshu with Zhou Qingchen.