Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wanwan’s team defeated Nie Feng’s side in cuju and archery, while Madam Nie accused Zhou Wanwan of seeking revenge. Nie Feng fainted after his disastrous archery performance, and Zhou Wanwan denied responsibility for his condition.

• Zhou Wanwan fielded eight women to play cuju against Nie Feng’s team, and the spectators doubted they could win.
• Zhou Qingchen blocked Nie Feng’s shot, and the women overwhelmed the opposing defense to help the Zhou Family win the match ten to nothing.
• Madam Nie berated Nie Feng’s players, and Zhou Wanwan mocked them before the final archery match.
• The four Zhou brothers hit the bullseye with every arrow, while Nie Feng and his invited archers performed poorly.
• Nie Feng fainted in anger, and Madam Nie accused Zhou Wanwan of trying to bring her down.

Zhou Wanwan forced Madam Nie to honor the wager after Nie Feng fainted, then divided the winnings among her companions. The Nie family lost the jewels, while Zhou Wanwan’s allies celebrated their gains.

• Zhou Wanwan offered to treat Nie Feng for payment, but Madam Nie ordered her and her companions to leave and threatened her over the wagers.
• Zhou Wanwan demanded that Madam Nie admit the Nie Residence could not accept defeat, and Nie Shi'an persuaded his wife to hand over the winnings.
• Zhou Wanwan gave Madam Shen the two chests she had won, and Shen Congrong praised her while criticizing the Nie family.
• Zhou Wanwan told Shen Wanjun, Cheng Chao, and Fang Zhiyuan to collect their shares; Cheng gave his to Zheng Xing'an, and Fang celebrated his hundred thousand.
• Zhou Wanwan's guards carried away the remaining valuables, leaving Madam Nie baffled by their sudden appearances.

At the Nie Family’s outing, Lu Yao was rescued from the water, and Zhou Wanwan learned from Old Scholar Tree that Lu Yao was Lu Xuening in disguise. Zhou Wanwan then discovered that Lu Xuening’s mother, Lu Zhiwei, was posing as a sixteen-year-old and was being presented as a prospective palace entrant, leaving Zhou unable to contain her laughter.

• Zhou Wanwan joined the pleasure-boat outing, where Lu Yao fell into the water and Nie Feng rescued her.
• Lu Lan introduced Lu Yao as her younger sister, and Madam Lu and Madam Nie reached an agreement after the group returned to shore.
• Old Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that Lu Yao was Lu Xuening, who had changed her face.
• Zhou Wanwan noticed a woman watching her viciously, and Old Scholar Tree revealed she was Lu Xuening’s mother.
• Lu Lan introduced the woman as her sixteen-year-old aunt, Lu Zhiwei, and Old Madam Lu praised her beauty and talents while announcing she would enter the palace.
• Zhou Wanwan laughed and mocked Lu Zhiwei for pretending to be young despite being nearly forty.

After Madam Nie ordered venomous creatures placed in Zhou Wanwan’s room, Zhou Wanwan used Uncle Scholar Tree and his trees to strip the Nie Family’s house and trap Madam Nie and Nie Shi'an in a hidden chamber. The family found its home gone the next morning, while Zhou Wanwan denied responsibility and accused them of stealing her valuables.

• Lu Yao and Lu Zhiwei revealed their plan to send Lu Zhiwei into the palace selection and use Shen Yunshu to get the Nie Family’s money, while Zhou Wanwan declined to interfere.
• Madam Nie warned Zhou Wanwan to behave, then ordered an old maidservant to put venomous snakes, scorpions, and centipedes in her room that night.
• When the creatures entered her room, Zhou Wanwan told Uncle Scholar Tree to carry away Madam Nie’s house and imprison Madam Nie and Nie Shi'an in the hidden chamber.
• The Nie Family’s servants awoke to find the house gone, and Nie Feng discovered his bed had been moved beside the latrine.
• Zhou Wanwan suggested Madam Nie and Nie Shi'an might be in the hidden chamber, and Nie Feng’s searchers found and rescued them.
• Madam Nie accused Zhou Wanwan of bringing people to the Nie Family, but Zhou Wanwan denied it and accused the family of taking her gold, silver, and jewels.

After Zhou Wanwan’s jewelry was stolen, Nie Shi'an moved his family to a shabby residence and asked Prefect Fang for help, but Prefect Fang urged him to let Zhou Wanwan go. The chapter ended with Prefect Fang explaining to Fang Zhiyuan that Black Wind Stronghold was too powerful to confront, while Fang Zhiyuan continued praising Gu Sinian.

• Zhou Wanwan demanded breakfast and complained that the Nie family had left her in a dusty, empty room at their new residence.
• Nie Shi'an confronted Prefect Fang about the thefts, but Prefect Fang denied knowing who was responsible and advised him to release Zhou Wanwan.
• Nie Shi'an rejected Prefect Fang’s claim that Zhou Wanwan was behind the trouble and left without agreeing to let her go.
• Prefect Fang and Cheng Xiao complained that Fang Zhiyuan and Cheng Chao had become devoted followers of Gu Sinian and Zhou Wanwan.
• Fang Zhiyuan praised Gu Sinian, and Prefect Fang explained that Black Wind Stronghold was so formidable that even generals had failed to defeat it.

Zhou Wanwan settled into a shabby courtyard that her helpers transformed, then punished Nie Feng when he came to attack her. Nie Feng fled to Madam Nie with his hair burned off, claiming he had accidentally hurt himself, while Madam Nie mistook him for a bald intruder.

• Old Scholar Tree and the others renovated Zhou Wanwan's courtyard, where she and Zheng Xing'an enjoyed fruit and discussed their produce sales in the capital.
• Nie Feng barged into Zhou Wanwan's courtyard and ordered his servants to beat and tie her up.
• Zhou Wanwan magically bound Nie Feng and his servants, then threatened to roast Nie Feng over a bonfire until he begged for mercy.
• Zhou Wanwan released Nie Feng after he admitted he was wrong and warned him not to provoke her again.
• Nie Feng ran to Madam Nie's courtyard, where she mistook him for a bald monk and had him beaten before recognizing him.
• Nie Feng lied that he had burned himself while tending a fire, and Madam Nie told him to focus on martial arts and his studies.

Nie Feng planned to secretly torment Zhou Wanwan while she lived at the Nie residence, but Zhou Wanwan spent the evening grilling vegetables and seafood for her visitors. Shen Congrong paid ten taels for a feast, got drunk praising the food and wine, and Nie Shi'an arrived to find the gathering.

• Nie Feng blamed Zhou Wanwan for his defeat and decided he would find a way to get rid of her, while his manservant said her ropes had resisted a dagger.
• Zhou Wanwan grilled vegetables and seafood as Gu Sinian, her three brothers, and Shen Congrong climbed over the wall to visit her.
• Shen Congrong asked Zhou Wanwan to cook lobster, paid her ten taels, and waited in the pavilion with fruit and fruit tea.
• Zheng Xing'an prepared a seafood feast, and Shen Congrong praised the lobster, oysters, fish, and wine before drunkenly asking Zhou Wanwan to become sworn siblings.
• Nie Shi'an arrived with a manservant and accused Zhou Wanwan of living comfortably instead of struggling for food.

Zhou Wanwan returned Shen Congrong’s food and learned that Nie Shi'an was keeping her to claim credit for the sweet potato harvest, while the famine outside the city worsened. She left the city with Old Scholar Tree and witnessed starving people threatening to take a woman’s infant, as the child’s father agreed to help them.

• Zhou Wanwan sent Shen Congrong’s seafood, wine, and fruit back with him, and Nie Shi'an stopped the Nie Family from providing her meals.
• Nie Shi'an told Madam Nie he was holding Zhou Wanwan so the Nie Family could claim credit if the sweet potatoes succeeded, and he planned to win her trust.
• Old Scholar Tree warned Zhou Wanwan that disaster victims were starving as drought drove grain prices up, and she asked him to take her outside the city.
• Old Scholar Tree carried Zhou Wanwan to a vast camp of desperate refugees outside the city.
• Five starving people surrounded a woman and demanded her two-month-old child, and the child’s father offered to hold her down so they could take him.

Zhou Wanwan rescued Guiying and her child from starving villagers who planned to sell or eat them, then learned that the locals were waiting for government relief grain. After Guiying’s husband accused Zhou Wanwan of abducting his family, he led several officers to confront her.

• Zhou Wanwan asked Guiying to join her at the mountain stronghold, and Guiying agreed to go with her and her child.
• Guiying’s husband proposed capturing Zhou Wanwan for food, but Guiying and other women formed a human wall to protect her, forcing the men to flee.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that the villagers had exhausted nearby wild plants and were waiting for the authorities to distribute relief grain.
• Guiying’s husband threatened Zhou Wanwan for interfering with his plans, then accused her to several officers of abducting his wife and child.
• Guiying’s husband led the officers to Zhou Wanwan and demanded they beat her with boards.

Zhou Wanwan challenged the officials over their refusal to distribute grain to the disaster victims and learned they were deliberately waiting for the victims to weaken. After physicians confirmed that Cheng Xiao’s son Cheng Yue had suffered brain damage during birth, Zhou Wanwan went to meet with the magistrates of Anyi County, Huaiyuan County, and Chengping County to discuss what to do next.

• Zhou Wanwan went with the constables to the county yamen and confronted Cheng Xiao and the officials about their grain stockpiles and the starving disaster victims.
• Cheng Xiao said the officials were wearing down the disaster victims to prevent a riot, while Shen Yu'an and the magistrates of Anyi County, Huaiyuan County, and Chengping County argued that the people deserved to know no grain would be distributed yet.
• Zhou Wanwan told Cheng Xiao that his son Cheng Yue had a problem, prompting Cheng Xiao to take the child to two physicians.
• The physicians told Cheng Xiao and Feng Caigu that Cheng Yue had been deprived of air during a prolonged birth and would have below-average intellect and difficulty learning.
• Zhou Wanwan went to Yunxi County to discuss the next steps with the magistrates of Anyi County, Huaiyuan County, and Chengping County.

Zhou Wanwan organized disaster preparations across four counties, then returned to the Nie Family and uncovered Madam Nie’s plot to poison her with Mind-Bewildering Powder. When Nie Rou stole the poisoned clothes and confronted Zhou Wanwan, Zhou Wanwan used Old Scholar Tree’s power to make Nie Rou and her matrons slap themselves while she ate in front of them.

• Zhou Wanwan told the four county magistrates to stockpile water and grain and prepare coarse-grain relief to deter people seeking free food.
• Zhou Wanwan overheard a flowering crabapple tree reveal that Madam Nie planned to send her clothes and sachets laced with Mind-Bewildering Powder.
• Madam Nie gave Zhou Wanwan clothes, sachets, and jewelry, but Nie Rou intercepted the gifts and claimed them for herself.
• Nie Rou wore the clothes, then went to Zhou Wanwan’s courtyard and ordered her matrons to smash Zhou Wanwan’s lavish meal.
• Zhou Wanwan used Old Scholar Tree’s power to make Nie Rou and the two matrons kneel and slap themselves while she ate the dishes in front of them.
• After Old Scholar Tree released them, Nie Rou ran to Madam Nie and asked what they would have for dinner.

Nie Rou coveted Zhou Wanwan’s comfortable courtyard and was knocked unconscious when she tried to claim Zhou Wanwan’s bed, while Zhou Wanwan planned to indulge her appetite. Later, Zhou Wanwan returned to Black Wind Stronghold and proposed distributing porridge to disaster victims, though her ministers worried they could not sustain the effort.

• Nie Rou complained to Madam Nie about Zhou Wanwan’s food and courtyard, so Madam Nie brought her to see it.
• Madam Nie ordered Zhou Wanwan to become Nie Rou’s personal maid and gave Nie Rou the courtyard.
• Nie Rou ate Zhou Wanwan’s fruit, then Old Scholar Tree knocked her unconscious when she tried to climb onto the golden-thread sandalwood bed.
• Zhou Wanwan told Zheng Xing'an to serve Nie Rou plenty of fruit, fish, meat, desserts, and pastries whenever she visited.
• Zhou Wanwan returned to Black Wind Stronghold and proposed distributing porridge made with sweet potatoes, sweet potato leaves, and coarse rice to disaster victims.
• Zhao Muyuan and the ministers warned Zhou Wanwan that they could not keep distributing porridge indefinitely.

Zhou Wanwan arranged drought relief by offering refugees wasteland, seeds, and well-digging in exchange for a share of their harvest. Meanwhile, the Nie Family found its residence and possessions gone again and set off for Young Madam Nie’s powerful maiden family, while Nie Rou continued treating Zhou Wanwan as a maid.

• Zhou Wanwan proposed planting sweet potatoes and cassava, digging wells, and leasing wasteland to refugees for a portion of their harvest.
• Shen Yu'an announced the farming offer to refugees at porridge stalls across four counties, and nearly all of them signed up for land.
• Nie Rou, Madam Nie, and Nie Shi'an woke to find the Nie residence and their belongings missing, and Young Madam Nie offered to take them to her family.
• The Nie Family traveled by carriage to Young Madam Nie’s maiden home, while Nie Feng warned Nie Rou that Zhou Wanwan was a scholar and should be respected.
• Nie Rou insisted Zhou Wanwan become her maid, and Nie Feng failed to make her understand his warnings.

Zhou Wanwan accompanied Nie Rou to the Cui Family residence and supplied rare fruit, but refused to eat the leftovers offered to her. Nie Rou led the Cui Family’s young ladies to Zhou Wanwan’s courtyard to see what she was really eating.

• Nie Rou asked Zhou Wanwan to bring fruit to the Nie Residence, and Zhou Wanwan arrived with watermelons and crates of assorted fruit.
• Nie Feng warned Zhou Wanwan not to harm his family, while Madam Nie introduced her to the Cui Family as a child her husband had brought home.
• When Nie Rou demanded more fruit, Zhou Wanwan charged fifty taels; Young Madam Nie paid her and gave her extra money to obtain more.
• The Cui Family’s young ladies offered Zhou Wanwan unwanted leftovers, but she refused and walked away.
• Nie Rou claimed Zhou Wanwan ate better than she did, so Cui Yingying and the others followed Nie Rou to Zhou Wanwan’s courtyard, where they found her enjoying a hearty meal in the shade with ice to keep cool.

Zhou Wanwan charged Nie Rou and Cui Yingying for lavish meals and insisted on advance payment for a banquet. At Cui Yingying’s flower-viewing gathering, Lu Lan and Shangguan Wan’er mocked Zhou Wanwan over her supposed wealth and the theft at the Nie residence, and Cui Yingying demanded that Zhou bring out her rare flowers.

• Nie Rou and the Cui sisters ate Zhou Wanwan’s seafood feast, then Nie Rou paid ten taels and Cui Yingying paid a hundred taels in advance for a banquet.
• At Cui Yingying’s gathering for young ladies from Dongshan Prefecture, Lu Lan warned her about Zhou Wanwan, and Shangguan Wan’er mocked Zhou Wanwan’s interest in money.
• Lu Lan accused Zhou Wanwan of becoming wealthy from bets and claimed the winnings had been stolen at the Nie Family residence; Zhou Wanwan concealed her delight at the revelation.
• The young ladies complained that the Cui Family’s flowers were ordinary, so Cui Yingying pulled Zhou Wanwan aside and ordered her to bring out her rare flowers.

Zhou Wanwan lent Cui Yingying her rare flowers for the banquet under a contract, then refused the guests’ demands to take them and named prices that enraged them. Prince Rui arrived and admired the plants, while Lord Cui claimed Cui Yingying had cultivated them.

• Cui Yingying signed Zhou Wanwan’s contract, and Zhou Wanwan brought her rare flowers and plants to the banquet.
• The young ladies admired the flowers and demanded pots, but Cui Yingying explained that they were borrowed and not for sale or for giving away.
• Nie Rou revealed that the flowers belonged to Zhou Wanwan, and Lu Lan and Shangguan Wan'er demanded to take some.
• Zhou Wanwan offered to sell the flowers at steep prices, dismissed the young ladies’ complaints, and called them paupers when they balked.
• Prince Rui arrived, praised the rare orchids and other flowers, and asked who had cultivated them.
• Lord Cui claimed Cui Yingying had cultivated the flowers and urged her to pay her respects to Prince Rui.

Zhou Wanwan sold Prince Rui rare flowers and plants, then impressed him with her tea, fruit, and meal. Prince Rui agreed to buy her flowers and arrange regular deliveries of fresh produce and game.

• Prince Rui admired the flowers at the Cui Family and agreed to buy them from Zhou Wanwan for eight hundred thousand taels of silver.
• Zhou Wanwan showed Prince Rui more than thirty rare plants in her courtyard, and he offered a million taels for them.
• Zhou Wanwan served Prince Rui milk tea, pastries, and fresh fruit, and he arranged to buy fruit for his residence.
• Nie Rou told the watching noblewomen that Zhou Wanwan was a maid of the Nie Family, while Zhou Wanwan ignored her claim.
• Zhou Wanwan served Prince Rui a feast made with food from Black Wind Stronghold, and he arranged daily deliveries of vegetables, fruit, and game.

Zhou Wanwan turned her mountain stronghold’s produce and cooking into a delivery business for Prince Rui and his officials, securing orders for ingredients and banquet meals. After displaying valuable medicinal herbs, she clashed with the Cui household, which demanded she prepare a feast while refusing to pay.

• Zhou Wanwan offered Prince Rui’s officials overnight delivery of fresh ingredients and cooked meals, and one official ordered banquet dishes for twenty tables.
• The officials ordered monthly supplies of vegetables, fruit, and game, while Zhou Wanwan showed them tea and valuable medicinal herbs for sale.
• Zhou Wanwan planned to expand her business through direct deliveries, using more than a hundred thousand trees as silent, speedy delivery workers.
• Nie Rou accused Zhou Wanwan of forgetting her place and seeking out Prince Rui, but Zhou Wanwan replied that he had come to her and that she was conducting legitimate business.
• Madam Nie, Madam Cui, Cui Yingying, and Young Madam Nie criticized Zhou Wanwan and demanded that she prepare a lavish banquet for dinner.
• Zhou Wanwan asked Young Madam Nie to pay for the banquet in advance, but Madam Nie claimed Zhou Wanwan had been eating at the Cui residence for free and should not ask them for money.

Zhou Wanwan exposed Nie Shi'an's mistreatment of her before Prince Rui, who promised to protect her. She then examined Prince Rui's Consort and discovered that a slow-acting poison was destabilizing her pregnancy.

• Madam Nie sent attendants and then more than twenty martial artists to punish Zhou Wanwan, but they returned bruised or disappeared, leaving her unharmed.
• Nie Shi'an demanded that Zhou Wanwan reveal what happened to the missing martial artists, and Prince Rui intervened when he heard him threaten her.
• Zhou Wanwan told Prince Rui that Nie Shi'an had confined her after she shared news about a high-yielding crop, while Nie Shi'an denied imprisoning her.
• Prince Rui promised to stand up for Zhou Wanwan and told her to come to him if she encountered further trouble.
• Prince Rui asked Zhou Wanwan to examine his pregnant consort, and she diagnosed a slow-acting poison that was weakening her vitality and destabilizing the pregnancy.

Zhou Wanwan cured Princess Rui and investigated who had poisoned her, discovering that her half-sister Luo Qitong and their mother were plotting to kill her and take control of the Luo family. The chapter ended with Zhou Wanwan revealing the plot to Prince Rui and waiting to see how he would respond.

• Zhou Wanwan used Old Scholar Tree to remove the poison from Princess Rui and her unborn son, then accepted payment from Prince Rui to investigate the culprit.
• Old Scholar Tree's agents reported that Princess Rui's maid had been stealing her jewelry and secretly poisoning her; they identified the maid as Princess Rui's half-sister.
• Zhou Wanwan told Prince Rui and Princess Rui that Luo Qitong was responsible, and Prince Rui paid her to investigate further.
• Zhou Wanwan rode Old Scholar Tree to the Luo family home and overheard Luo Qitong and Mother Luo discussing their plan to kill Princess Rui and seize the family's title, property, and power.
• Luo Qitong said she planned to marry Prince Rui and kill his child, and Zhou Wanwan told Prince Rui what she had heard.