Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wanwan tested powerful new explosives, then discovered a mountain bandits’ hidden storehouse filled with wine, wealth, supplies, and weapons. As her group began moving the cache, a voice from a wine jar revealed that the wine came from Clear Creek Winery.

• Zhou Wanwan and the Luban Village craftsmen tested their improved explosives, which blasted half the top off a barren mountain.
• Trees and nearby plants helped Zhou Wanwan uncover a cave where mountain bandits had hidden supplies and valuables.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that the bandits had hidden their cache after receiving advice from her spirit-medium grandmother, Old Madam Zhou.
• Zhou Wanwan’s group began carrying away the cave’s wine, silver, valuables, provisions, weapons, and other supplies.
• A voice inside a wine jar told Zhou Wanwan that the wine had come from Clear Creek Winery at the foot of the mountain.

Zhou Wanwan rescued Zhao Qingxi from her abusive uncle and aunt at Clear Creek Winery, then saved her younger brother Zhao Qinghe from their relatives’ cruelty. She brought the siblings to the stronghold, where she offered them a home, schooling, and the chance to brew wine for her.

• Zhou Wanwan heard a wine jar tell her that a young brewer at Clear Creek Winery was being abused, and she went there with Old Scholar Tree.
• Zhou Wanwan interrupted Zhao Qingxi’s uncle and aunt as they beat her, and Old Scholar Tree dragged the couple outside while Zhou Wanwan took Zhao Qingxi home and healed her injuries.
• Zhao Qingxi told Zhou Wanwan that her younger brother Zhao Qinghe was also being bullied, so Zhou Wanwan returned to the relatives’ house with her.
• Old Scholar Tree restrained the family members who were tormenting Zhao Qinghe and piled pigs on the boy who had been riding him, breaking his back without killing him.
• Zhou Wanwan brought Zhao Qingxi and Zhao Qinghe to the stronghold, offered them a place to stay and attend school, and asked what kinds of wine they could brew.

Zhou Wanwan welcomed Zhao Qingxi and Zhao Qinghe to make wine at the stronghold, then learned Old Madam Zhou’s stolen supplies had left her furious. At breakfast, Zhou Wanwan mocked her uncles for freeloading, and Fang Ting’s attempt to claim Zhou Wanwan’s seat ended with a maid pinning her down as Fang Ting threatened to take Zhou Wanwan to the authorities.

• Zhao Qingxi described her family’s wine recipes and specialties, and Zhou Wanwan offered her and Zhao Qinghe ingredients, rooms, and a place to make wine.
• Zhao Qingxi and Zhao Qinghe admired the stronghold’s high-quality grains and medicinal herbs, while Zhou Wanwan pointed out blossoms and fruit trees they could use.
• The Old Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that bandits had reported their mountain supplies stolen and that many of the supplies had belonged to Old Madam Zhou.
• At breakfast, Zhou Wanwan and Zhou Fusheng teased Zhou Fu'an, Zhou Fukang, and Zhou Fuyu about Old Madam Zhou’s accusation that people were eating for free.
• Fang Ting ordered Zhou Wanwan out of her seat, but Zhou Wanwan’s maid pinned Fang Ting down and held a knife to her throat.
• Fang Ting threatened to take Zhou Wanwan before the authorities, and Zhou Wanwan replied that Fang Ting’s father had told her to discipline his concubine-born daughter as she pleased.

Zhou Wanwan enforced her authority over the Zhou Family and brought Fang Ting to the busiest street in the city to make her fulfill their agreement. Fang Ting resisted as Zhou Wanwan gave her the choice to kneel willingly or be forced to kneel.

• Zhou Wanwan made Fang Ting kneel during breakfast, while Zhou Fusheng ignored Old Madam Zhou until the meal was over and explained that Zhou Wanwan had special privileges.
• Zhou Fusheng told the family that Zhou Qingyan's fiancée was a young lady from the capital whose father was a fourth-rank Hanlin Academy official, and the Zhou Family and neighbors laughed at him.
• Zhou Wanwan dismissed the family's mockery and left, while her maids stopped Zhou Fuyu from taking the leftover pastries and a woman dislocated his arm.
• Zhou Wanwan reminded the bound Fang Ting that she had to kowtow a hundred times in the city, then had her brought before a stage on the busiest street.
• Fang Ting refused to kneel, and Zhou Wanwan told her she could kneel herself or be forced to do so.

Zhou Wanwan imprisoned Concubine Mei in a cage after defeating her men, then made Prefect Fang come to negotiate. The chapter ended with Zhou Wanwan dismissing Concubine Mei’s status as merely the prefect’s concubine.

• The Old Scholar Tree forced Fang Ting to kowtow a hundred times, and Zhou Wanwan sent her back to her parents’ home.
• Concubine Mei arrived with men to punish Zhou Wanwan, but Zhou Wanwan’s young subordinates quickly defeated them.
• Zhou Wanwan locked Concubine Mei in an iron cage and sent Cheng Chao to tell Prefect Fang what had happened.
• Cheng Chao told Prefect Fang that Zhou Wanwan had caged Concubine Mei, and Prefect Fang brought his men to confront her.
• Prefect Fang demanded to know what Zhou Wanwan wanted, and she replied that Concubine Mei was only his concubine.

Zhou Wanwan forced Prefect Fang to hand over a chest of Persian gemstones and discovered that chalcedony greatly strengthened Lingbao and the trees at her stronghold. After Zhou Wanwan returned home, Fang Ting remained furious and her maids pointed to powerful young ladies in Upper Capital City who also hated her.

• Zhou Wanwan threatened Prefect Fang and demanded the rare Persian treasure as compensation for his concubine and daughter trying to seize her.
• Prefect Fang delivered a chest of jade and gemstones, and Zhou Wanwan took it after finding that she especially liked the chalcedony.
• Zhou Wanwan used the chalcedony to channel energy into Lingbao, medicinal plants, and the stronghold's trees, which reported growing stronger.
• Zhou Wanwan returned to the Zhou Family home and fell asleep, while Fang Ting complained that her father had warned her not to provoke Zhou Wanwan.
• Chunhua urged Fang Ting to stay away from Zhou Wanwan, but Qiuyue said Lu Xuening and Shangguan Wan'er also hated her.

After Lu Xuening and Madam Lu faked their deaths, they went to the Jianghu Alliance to change their faces and plan revenge on Zhou Wanwan's family. Their transformation took just over a month, and both women emerged with new appearances.

• Madam Lu learned that Lu Xuening's engagement was over and that her husband intended to divorce her, so she decided to fake their deaths and start over.
• Madam Lu and Lu Xuening staged their deaths on the road to the capital, then went to the Jianghu Alliance for new faces.
• Madam Lu told Lu Xuening they would get close to Zhou Wanwan's family and destroy them after Lu Xuening married into the Zhou Family.
• An old woman bound Lu Xuening and repeatedly treated her face with needles and medicinal paste, causing her intense pain.
• Madam Lu paid the old woman with jade bangles and ruby-inlaid gold hairpins to give her a beautiful new face and make her look sixteen again.
• After a little over a month, the old woman completed the procedures, and both Madam Lu and Lu Xuening had changed appearances.

Madam Lu and Lu Xuening returned to the city after becoming strikingly beautiful, while Zhou Wanwan’s growing popularity in Zhou Family Village intensified Zhou Mei’s resentment. The chapter ended with Zhou Mei asking Old Madam Zhou to punish the village children who sided with Zhou Wanwan.

• Madam Lu urged Lu Xuening to pose as her younger sister so she could seek a powerful marriage, and they returned to the city with their guards.
• Madam Lu and Lu Xuening found the city changed and moved into the small courtyard house they had bought near the Zhou family.
• Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui worried about unexplained shortages, rising prices, and worsening heat, while Old Madam Zhou said the famine might last beyond three years.
• Zhou Mei confronted Zhou Wanwan and accused Zhou Nian and the other village children of following Zhou Wanwan, but Zhou Nian denied being engaged to Zhou Mei.
• Zhou Mei went home crying and told Old Madam Zhou that the children had bullied her and Zhou Nian wanted to break off their engagement.
• Old Madam Zhou promised to confront the children’s parents.

Old Madam Zhou threatened to withhold relief grain and water from the families who defended Zhou Wanwan, while Zhou Wanwan traded insults with Zhou Mei. Zhou Wanwan then learned that Zhou Xiaoyan was being forced to marry a butcher who had killed five wives and promised to help Zhou Dazhu, who admitted he loved Xiaoyan.

• Old Madam Zhou threatened Daniu, Erniu, Zhou Mangui, and Zhou Shiwa with losing village relief after they defended Zhou Wanwan, and Daniu and Zhou Mangui rejected her threats.
• Zhou Mangui ended the proposed betrothal between Zhou Nian and Zhou Mei, and Zhou Mei accused Zhou Wanwan of seducing men before Zhou Wanwan and Zhou Nian answered her.
• Daniu told Zhou Wanwan that Old Madam Zhou had arranged for Zhou Xiaoyan to marry a butcher who had beaten five wives to death for twenty taels of silver.
• Zhou Xiaoyan begged Zhao Zhaodi to save her from the marriage, but Zhao Zhaodi refused and demanded that Zhou Dazhu pay the bride price if he wanted to marry her.
• Zhou Wanwan found Zhou Dazhu worrying outside her home, invited him to come with her, and learned that he had loved Zhou Xiaoyan since childhood.

Zhou Xiaoyan refused to marry the butcher her family had chosen and nearly killed herself, but Zhou Wanwan saved her. Zhou Dazhu and Daniu's wife negotiated to buy Zhou Xiaoyan and Zhou Xiaoting, and Zhou Wanwan brought witnesses to ensure the agreement was recorded.

• Old Madam Zhou and Zhao Zhaodi pressured Zhou Xiaoyan to marry the butcher, while Zhou Qingyuan told her to obey.
• Zhou Xiaoyan tried to dash her head against the wall, but the Old Scholar Tree caught her with a net, and Zhou Wanwan helped her up.
• Zhou Dazhu offered to buy Zhou Xiaoyan and Zhou Xiaoting so Zhao Zhaodi could not marry Xiaoting off to the butcher.
• Daniu's wife negotiated the price down to fifty taels for both girls, and Old Madam Zhou agreed.
• Zhou Wanwan insisted on a contract and brought the town chief and several wealthy local households as witnesses.

Zhou Wanwan brought the town chief and several wealthy men to witness Zhou Xiaoyan and Zhou Xiaoting severing ties with their parents and leaving the Zhou Family. After Zhou Dazhu paid fifty taels for the deed, Zhou Wanwan comforted Zhou Xiaoyan and arranged for her wedding to be celebrated properly.

• Zhou Wanwan confronted the town chief and wealthy men in Zhou Family Village and told them to witness the deed.
• Zhou Xiaoyan and Zhou Xiaoting put their fingerprints on the deed after Zhou Xiaoyan challenged Zhao Zhaodi and Zhou Fukang over their mistreatment.
• Zhou Dazhu paid fifty taels to the Zhou Family and took Zhou Xiaoyan home with him.
• Zhou Wanwan reassured Zhou Xiaoyan that the sale was not her fault and said she should come with her before the couple formally married.
• Zhou Wanwan urged Zhou Dazhu and Zhou Xiaoyan to hold a proper wedding celebration and said she had sent someone to fetch supplies.

Zhou Wanwan and Liu Su'e comforted Zhou Xiaoyan and prepared an elaborate dowry for her wedding to Zhou Dazhu. At dawn, villagers gathered to inspect the eight-bearer dowry, and some mocked the match and doubted Zhou Dazhu could afford it.

• Zhou Wanwan gave Zhou Xiaoyan a bridal gown and gold jewelry, recalling how Xiaoyan had once treated her kindly.
• Liu Su'e promised to act as Zhou Xiaoyan's mother and send her off as a bride with an eight-bearer dowry.
• Old Madam Zhou and her family complained that Zhou Xiaoyan had rejected the butcher and planned to demand an apology before attending the wedding feast.
• Firecrackers drew villagers to Zhou Xiaoyan's courtyard, where they saw the eight-bearer dowry and speculated about who had provided it.
• Some villagers uncovered the dowry and mocked Zhou Dazhu's poverty, questioning how he had paid fifty taels for the two sisters.

Zhou Xiaoyan received a lavish dowry from Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e and began her wedding ceremony with Zhou Dazhu. Her biological family interrupted the ceremony to claim the dowry, and Zhou Qingyuan urged her to hand it over.

• Villagers admired Zhou Xiaoyan's eight bridal gift loads and her splendid wedding dress as Zhou Dazhu arrived.
• Zhou Xiaoyan bowed farewell to Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e, served them tea, and received red envelopes.
• After hearing about the dowry, Old Madam Zhou sent Zhou Fuyu, Zhou Fukang, and Zhao Zhaodi to seize it.
• Zhou Fuyu interrupted the wedding and demanded the dowry, but Zhou Fusheng said the family-severing agreement left Zhou Xiaoyan with no ties to them.
• Zhou Xiaoyan and Zhou Wanwan challenged Zhao Zhaodi's claim, while Zhou Qingyuan asked Zhou Xiaoyan to give up the dowry and void the agreement.

Zhou Wanwan and Cheng Chao punished Zhou Qingyuan and his family after they caused trouble, while Zhou Qingyuan and Zhou Qingzhou plotted to rise above the Zhou Fusheng family. That night, bandits sent to steal Zhou Xiaoyan’s dowry found the chests empty and failed to start a fire, as Zhou Wanwan watched and prepared to follow them back to the mountain.

• Cheng Chao fired Zhou Qingyuan for backing his parents, then hired Zhou Dazhu and Zhou Erzhu as attendants.
• Zhou Qingyuan returned home and joined Zhou Qingzhou in boasting that they would surpass Zhou Fusheng’s family.
• Zhou Wanwan had Zhao Zhaodi and Zhou Fukang thrown into the stinking ditch, where Zheng Xing'an kicked Zhao Zhaodi back in when she climbed out.
• Qian Huihui and Old Madam Zhou planned to steal Zhou Xiaoyan’s dowry, so bandits from Dragon and Tiger Mountain entered Zhou Dazhu’s room that night.
• The bandits found the dowry chests empty and could not keep their fire starter lit, while Zhou Wanwan said they would follow the bandits up the mountain.

Zhou Wanwan and her trees stripped Dragon and Tiger Mountain’s hidden storehouse, while Old Madam Zhou deflected the bandit chief’s accusations by blaming White Tiger Stronghold. The Zhou family continued secretly stockpiling grain and medicine, unaware that trees were following the Qian brothers.

• Dragon and Tiger Mountain’s men returned empty-handed and planned to ask Old Madam Zhou what had gone wrong.
• Zhou Wanwan returned to the mountain with trees, found its hidden cellar with their help, and carried away its food, valuables, and weapons.
• The bandit chief confronted Old Madam Zhou about the stolen treasure, and she suggested his rivals at White Tiger Stronghold were responsible.
• Old Madam Zhou told Qian Huihui to buy more grain, and Qian Huihui sent her three brothers out to purchase grain and medicinal herbs.
• The Qian brothers set off on their errands as trees followed them, and the eldest brother sensed they were being watched.

After Zhou Wanwan’s family left the Zhou household, Old Madam Zhou tried to pawn the jewelry she had kept, only to learn it was fake. Zhou Wanwan continued tending her ginseng, unconcerned by Old Madam Zhou’s curses.

• Zhou Huihui discovered that all three granaries managed by the Qian brothers had been emptied and fainted.
• Old Madam Zhou blamed Zhou Wanwan for the family’s misfortunes and demanded that Zhou Fusheng, Liu Su'e, and Zhou Wanwan leave.
• Old Madam Zhou refused to return Zhou Wanwan’s jewelry, and Zhou Wanwan’s family departed with the goods and people from the mountain stronghold.
• Old Madam Zhou took Zhou Wanwan’s gold lock and another piece of jewelry to a pawnshop, where the head shopkeeper identified both as fakes.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that Old Madam Zhou had cursed her all night and said she was not bothered as she checked on her ginseng harvest.

Zhou Wanwan returned to morning court and ordered sweet potato vines distributed so people could plant them during the famine, though many county magistrates remained skeptical. At the prefectural yamen, Lord Shen confronted her over the silver Shen Wanjun had lost, then ordered her locked up.

• Zhou Wanwan agreed to resume morning court and proposed telling people about the famine and planting sweet potatoes throughout her territory.
• Zhao Muyuan delivered sweet potato vines to county magistrates, and six agreed to try planting them after he explained their potential yield.
• Zhou Wanwan brought more sweet potato vines to the prefectural yamen, where a runner called her a harbinger of doom.
• Lord Shen accused Zhou Wanwan of swindling Shen Wanjun out of 108.4 million taels and refused to repay the debt.
• Zhou Wanwan demanded to confront Shen Wanjun, but Lord Shen ordered guards to lock her in a woodshed for three days, and Prefect Fang objected.

Lord Shen locked Zhou Wanwan and her maids in his woodshed, but Zhou Wanwan enjoyed the Shen Clan’s courtyard and secretly feasted on food from its kitchen. As Lord Shen entertained guests and dismissed Prefect Fang’s warning about her, Shen Wanjun rushed in and pleaded for Zhou Wanwan to be released.

• Lord Shen took Zhou Wanwan to his home and ordered the steward to lock her and her maids in the woodshed.
• The steward boasted about the Shen Clan’s lavish courtyard, and Zhou Wanwan settled into the spacious woodshed with help from Old Scholar Tree.
• Old Scholar Tree brought Zhou Wanwan and Zheng Xing'an food and desserts from the Shen Clan’s kitchen, leaving the cooks baffled by the disappearing dishes.
• Lord Shen told his guests that Zhou Wanwan was behaving and mocked Prefect Fang for fearing a little girl.
• Shen Wanjun heard Zhou Wanwan had been locked up and begged Lord Shen to release her, but Lord Shen said he intended to avenge him.

Zhou Wanwan stayed in the Shen Clan woodshed while Shen Wanjun brought her silver and shared grilled fish with her. As the Old Scholar Tree’s spirits dismantled the Shen residence overnight, Lord Shen and Madam Shen woke on a field ridge, and the household discovered most of its buildings were gone.

• Shen Wanjun argued with Lord Shen about locking Zhou Wanwan in the woodshed, then tried to visit her and was turned away by the guards.
• Zhou Wanwan enjoyed a boat ride and grilled fish made by Zheng Xing'an and the Old Scholar Tree, and Shen Wanjun later brought her ten thousand taels in silver notes.
• The Old Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that more than three thousand tree spirits and vine monsters were dismantling the Shen residence and moving its structures and ornaments.
• The Shen kitchen staff found that food and hot water had disappeared, and Madam Shen failed to discover what had caused it.
• The steward found that nearly all the Shen residence buildings were gone, while Lord Shen and Madam Shen woke among vegetable rows on a field ridge and hurried toward the main courtyard.

Zhou Wanwan’s family found the Shen Clan’s Jiangnan residence mysteriously stripped of nearly every building, and Lord Shen moved her to the clan’s old residence. There, she discovered that treasure was buried beneath the trees and promised to help them walk in exchange for it.

• Lord Shen found his Jiangnan courtyard’s buildings gone, but Prefect Fang could find no clues and urged him to release Zhou Wanwan.
• Lord Shen kept Zhou Wanwan imprisoned and moved her to a small woodshed at the Shen Clan’s old residence.
• Zhou Wanwan ate the food Old Scholar Tree brought and explored the courtyard with him after dark.
• The trees revealed that the Shen Clan had buried treasure beneath them, and Zhou Wanwan offered to make them walk in exchange for it.
• Zhou Wanwan replenished the trees’ energy, and they pulled their roots from the ground and began digging up buried chests.
• The jujube tree opened an iron chest full of fine jade, while the pomegranate tree uncovered a large wooden chest.