Chapter Summaries

Nie Shi'an brought Zhou Wanwan to his countryside estate, where she collected foreign crops and fruit trees to grow for profit. She asked him to credit Tang Jingyuan and Su Yan for the sweet potato report and help them return to office, leaving her with a way to build connections at court.

• Nie Shi'an showed Zhou Wanwan the foreign crops and seeds he had gathered and offered her whatever she wanted.
• Zhou Wanwan selected five strong seedlings of each unfamiliar crop and took two trees of each fruit variety.
• Nie Shi'an promised to include Zhou Wanwan's name in the sweet potato report, but she asked him to credit Tang Jingyuan and Su Yan instead.
• Zhou Wanwan explained that Tang Jingyuan and Su Yan had been framed and had evidence that could help restore them to office.
• Nie Shi'an agreed to help submit their evidence, and Zhou Wanwan planned to use their return to court to establish connections there.

Zhou Wanwan confronted Old Madam Zhou about the mountain bandits’ complaints and ordered the three named strongholds to pay double tribute. The Zhou Family then tried to claim her house and insisted on staying, and Zhou Wanwan let them in despite the steward’s concerns.

• Zhou Wanwan returned home and found the Zhou Family waiting for her in the main hall.
• Old Madam Zhou warned Zhou Wanwan that collecting protection fees was against imperial law and named Jumbled Stone Stronghold, Tiger Claw Stronghold, and Yellow Earth Slope as the complainants.
• Zhou Wanwan told Old Madam Zhou to inform the three strongholds that they would have to pay double tribute.
• The Zhou Family demanded money and tried to move into Zhou Wanwan’s house, while Zhou Fusheng clarified that the house belonged to Zhou Wanwan.
• Qian Huihui and the others agreed to stay in the side courtyard, and the steward warned Zhou Wanwan that they had already started making demands.

Old Man Zhou, Old Madam Zhou, Qian Huihui, and Zhou Qingzhou moved into the side courtyard and tried to make Zhou Wanwan feed them and hand over her food delivery business. When their schemes failed, Zhou Qingzhou went to a brothel and charged 3,560 taels to the Zhou Residence, expecting Zhou Wanwan to pay.

• Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui agreed to endure the shabby side courtyard until they could bring the rest of the Zhou family over.
• Old Madam Zhou and Zhou Qingzhou demanded dinner and tried to take control of Zhou Wanwan's food delivery business, but Zhou Wanwan refused them.
• Old Madam Zhou told Zhou Qingzhou that Zhou Wanwan's food delivery and errand services earned a fortune, and Qian Huihui said their family should claim a share.
• Zhou Wanwan explained that she kept the Zhou family at the residence so they would have to watch her family live well, while trees around the home kept watch on them.
• Zhou Qingzhou told his friends at a brothel that Zhou Wanwan was the boss of the Black Wind Stronghold, but they did not believe him.
• Zhou Qingzhou ran up a 3,560-tael bill at the brothel and told the madam to send it to the Zhou Residence for Zhou Fusheng to pay.

Zhou Qingzhou’s brothel debt brought creditors to the Zhou residence, where Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e refused to pay for him. His parents and Old Madam Zhou were left to deal with the bill while Zhou Wanwan observed her parents’ growing confidence.

• Zhou Qingzhou signed and thumbprinted a bill, and the brothel sent it to the Zhou residence demanding payment.
• Zhou Fusheng questioned his sons and Gu Sinian, then learned that Zhou Qingzhou owed 3,650 taels.
• Qian Huihui and Old Madam Zhou urged Zhou Fusheng to pay, but he told Zhou Fuyu that Qingzhou’s parents should handle the debt.
• Zhou Wanwan asked the Old Scholar Tree whether her father would give in, and it noted that both her parents had been improving.
• Zhou Qingchen challenged Old Madam Zhou’s praise of Zhou Qingzhou, while the creditors demanded to know who would pay.
• Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e left the side courtyard, leaving Qian Huihui and Old Madam Zhou to face the creditors.

Zhou Wanwan confiscated the hidden money of Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui, leaving them unable to pay Zhou Qingzhou’s brothel debt. After Fang Ting refused to help her husband, Zhou Wanwan arranged for the brothel’s men to seize him at the gambling table.

• The Old Scholar Tree found Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui’s hidden money, and Zhou Wanwan confiscated it as rent and compensation.
• The brothel’s enforcers demanded payment for Zhou Qingzhou’s 3,650-tael debt, but Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui had no money left.
• Qian Huihui asked Fang Ting to save Zhou Qingzhou, but Fang Ting refused to pay and challenged the enforcers to report her to the authorities.
• The brothel’s madam decided not to pursue the debt against Fang Ting because her father was Prefect Fang.
• Zhou Wanwan went to the brothel and offered to help seize Zhou Qingzhou, then the enforcers dragged him away from a gambling table.

Zhou Wanwan refused to help Zhou Qingzhou pay his gambling and other debts, and Prefect Fang was summoned to the yamen. Zhou Qingzhou’s relatives and Fang Ting were brought in as creditors demanded repayment.

• Zhou Wanwan told Zhou Qingzhou she had no obligation to support him after he asked her to pay his debts.
• Cheng Chao said Zhou Qingzhou owed the gambling house eleven thousand taels, and Zhou Wanwan insisted he repay all his creditors.
• The adviser woke Prefect Fang and told him Zhou Qingzhou had been brought to the yamen; Prefect Fang arrived and learned the debt exceeded fourteen thousand taels.
• Zhou Qingzhou asked Zhou Wanwan to pay, but she refused and reminded Prefect Fang that Zhou Qingzhou was his son-in-law.
• Cheng Chao and a madam demanded payment from Prefect Fang, then summoned Old Madam Zhou, Old Man Zhou, Qian Huihui, Zhou Fuyu, and Fang Ting to the courtroom.
• Cheng Chao told Fang Ting she would have to repay Zhou Qingzhou’s debt and said he would take what he was owed from her dowry.

Fang Ting left Zhou Qingzhou and returned to the Fang residence, where Prefect Fang and Madam Fang argued over whether she should stay. Zhou Wanwan treated Madam Fang after she fainted, but the family dispute remained unresolved.

• Fang Ting demanded her dowry back and asked Prefect Fang to let her divorce Zhou Qingzhou.
• Prefect Fang agreed to take Fang Ting home temporarily, and she moved back to the Fang residence that night.
• Madam Fang objected to Fang Ting's return, while Prefect Fang blamed her for Fang Ting's unhappy marriage.
• Concubine Mei pleaded with Prefect Fang to spare Fang Ting, and Madam Fang fainted from anger.
• Madam Fang's head maid fetched Zhou Wanwan, who treated her and suggested Fang Ting establish her own household.
• Prefect Fang and Madam Fang argued over who was responsible for Fang Ting's situation and whether she could remain in the family home.

After Concubine Mei and Fang Ting sabotaged Madam Fang’s daughters’ engagements, Zhou Wanwan helped Madam Fang uncover their scheme and arrange for Fang Ting to reunite with Xunhuan. The chapter left Madam Fang learning that her daughters’ former fiancés might have been poor matches after all.

• Prefect Fang blamed Madam Fang for causing turmoil in the household and stormed out, and Zhou Wanwan suggested that Madam Fang consider divorce.
• Madam Fang told Zhou Wanwan that both Fang Shu and Fang Yu’s engagements had been broken off and suspected Fang Ting was behind it.
• Zheng Xing'an reported that Concubine Mei and Fang Ting had spread rumors to ruin the two girls’ prospects.
• Madam Fang arranged a reunion between Fang Ting and Xunhuan, and Fang Ting said she would set up her own household to be with him.
• Zhou Wanwan warned Madam Fang that both former fiancés had serious flaws and advised her to investigate their families again.

After learning Zhou Wanwan had helped Fang Shu and Fang Yu avoid disastrous engagements, Madam Fang proposed a business partnership with her and decided to leave Lord Fang. Lord Fang blamed Zhou Wanwan for the family conflict and went to confront her at the surveillance commissioner's office, where he learned she was asleep.

• Madam Fang investigated Fang Shu and Fang Yu's prospective families and found both engagements were fraught with serious problems.
• Zhou Wanwan proposed partnering with Madam Fang to expand their shops in the capital, and Madam Fang agreed to an equal division of profits and promised her brother's support.
• Madam Fang told Lord Fang she wanted a divorce because his actions had jeopardized their daughters' marriages, but he refused and blamed Zhou Wanwan for influencing her.
• Lord Fang went to the surveillance commissioner's office to confront Zhou Wanwan, and Nie Shi'an told him she was taking a nap.
• Lord Fang demanded that Zhou Wanwan be woken, furious that she was sleeping after supposedly tearing his family apart.

After Prefect Fang blamed Zhou Wanwan for his wife demanding a divorce, a group of prominent families accused her of robbing their homes. The officials debated who should investigate, and Zhou Wanwan declined to take the case.

• Prefect Fang woke Zhou Wanwan and accused her of turning his wife against him, but she pointed out that his own favoritism had caused the trouble.
• A yamen runner reported that seven or eight prominent families had been robbed, and their heads arrived to demand justice.
• Family Head Xie accused Zhou Wanwan of stealing the families’ wealth, but she said she had spent the night at the prefectural yamen and denounced their earlier mistreatment of her.
• Zhou Wanwan argued that her sweet potato crops had helped Dongshan Prefecture endure the drought, while Prefect Fang denied that she deserved credit.
• Nie Shi'an suggested that Zhou Wanwan investigate the robberies, but Prefect Fang objected because he suspected her, and Zhou Wanwan agreed to stay out of the case.

Zhou Wanwan challenged Chen Ankang to solve two long-unsolved cases and secured a written wager promising her five thousand taels and his service if she solved them. Chen Ankang then investigated a prominent family’s vanished treasures but found no sign of entry or footprints.

• Nie Shi'an put Chen Ankang in charge of the case, and Chen Ankang introduced the stolen golden Buddha and the murders of more than twenty women as two unsolved cases.
• Zhou Wanwan mocked Chen Ankang and challenged him to promise a reward if she solved both cases.
• Chen Ankang wagered five thousand taels and his service against Zhou Wanwan’s promise to kowtow and apologize if she failed; they signed three copies of a contract.
• The Xie family head accused Zhou Wanwan of replacing the family’s treasures with fakes, but Chen Ankang questioned his story and inspected the empty storeroom.
• Chen Ankang found no footprints, damage to the windows, or signs of entry through the roof, and he could not explain how the treasures had disappeared.

Zhou Wanwan went to the State-Pacifying Temple to investigate the golden Buddha statue, but encountered the Lu sisters and rejected Lu Zhiwei’s proposed business partnership. She left planning to let Lu Zhiwei and Lu Yao proceed with their plans before revealing the truth and making her move.

• Zhou Wanwan told Nie Shi'an she would investigate the theft of the golden Buddha statue at the State-Pacifying Temple.
• Zhou Wanwan encountered Lu Lan, Lu Zhiwei, and Lu Yao at the temple, and Lu Yao boasted that Lu Zhiwei would enter the palace as a consort.
• Lu Zhiwei invited Zhou Wanwan to discuss supplying goods to her shops and proposed a profit split that Zhou Wanwan rejected.
• Lu Zhiwei threatened Zhou Wanwan after she refused the deal, but Zhou Wanwan left without backing down.
• Zheng Xing'an asked why Zhou Wanwan did not expose Lu Zhiwei, and Zhou Wanwan said she wanted to wait until Lu Zhiwei and Lu Yao were further along with their plans.

Zhou Wanwan uncovered the State-Pacifying Temple abbot’s crimes and captured him after revealing her stronger allies. She found his hidden treasure cellar and began inspecting its priceless artifacts.

• Zhou Wanwan followed the monks to a locked meditation room, where the abbot revealed he had been a bandit who built the State-Pacifying Temple to amass wealth.
• Zhou Wanwan guessed that the abbot had stripped gold from the giant Buddha to pave his luxurious room, and he admitted he cared only about himself.
• The abbot threatened Zhou Wanwan with his Earth Ranking strength, but Old Scholar Tree restrained him and Zhou Wanwan showed him tokens belonging to experts ranked in the top 100.
• Zhou Wanwan asked the potted plants where the bandits hid their treasures, and a peony revealed they were beneath a bluestone slab.
• Zhou Wanwan and her companions entered the hidden cellar, where Old Ancestor identified several valuable antiques, including a rare celadon vase.

Zhou Wanwan uncovered the abbot’s hidden treasures and learned that he had arranged her kidnapping for the Lu Family. She brought him to the judicial commissioner’s yamen, where she gathered officials as witnesses to resolve the State-Pacifying Temple case and celebrate with barbecue.

• Zhou Wanwan used the temple trees’ clues to find the abbot’s jewelry cache in a mountain cave and his hidden chamber beneath the pagoda, where a golden Buddha and bodhisattva remained intact.
• Zhou Wanwan questioned the abbot, who admitted that he had paid Lu Family patrons to kidnap and possibly kill her, and she ordered him to reform while keeping the golden Buddha as the charge against him.
• Zhou Wanwan took the abbot to the judicial commissioner’s yamen that night and woke Nie Shi’an, Prefect Fang, Chen Ankang, Shen Congrong, and other officials.
• Zhou Wanwan said the State-Pacifying Temple case had been solved and that she had called the officials to witness it before treating them to barbecue.
• Shen Congrong praised the barbecue and suggested adding it to Zhou Wanwan’s delivery menu, while Nie Shi’an asked what had happened at the temple.

Zhou Wanwan recovered the golden Buddha and exposed the abbot, but the governor intervened and threatened her Black Wind Stronghold. After the abbot and governor tried to intimidate her, Zhou Wanwan invited the officials to barbecue while they complained about her subordinates.

• Zhou Wanwan brought the abbot and his subordinates back, and the abbot confessed to taking the golden Buddha.
• Zhou Wanwan showed Chen Ankang and the other officials the enormous golden Buddha in her courtyard.
• The governor arrived, revealed the Buddha had been beneath the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, and defended the abbot.
• The abbot privately threatened Zhou Wanwan and demanded his treasures and everything in Black Wind Stronghold.
• The governor threatened to kill everyone in the stronghold, and Nie Shi'an explained the governor's powerful family and ties to the abbot.
• Zhou Wanwan offered the officials barbecue, while they complained about being hauled to the investigation by her subordinates.

Zhou Wanwan hosted the officials with a lavish barbecue, secured several meal orders, and then followed the Old Scholar Tree to spy on the governor and the abbot. The next morning, Hu Yiming woke naked in the street, was mistaken for a beggar, and ended up trapped at Widow Zhuang’s home before fleeing and discovering that everyone was afraid of him.

• Zhou Wanwan served the officials a feast and took orders for late-night meals at several price tiers.
• The Old Scholar Tree brought Zhou Wanwan to the governor’s residence, where she overheard the governor and the abbot discuss the abbot’s failure to deal with a child and their plans for him to leave the next day.
• Hu Yiming woke up naked in the street, where onlookers mocked him and Widow Zhuang took him home.
• Widow Zhuang kept Hu Yiming inside for three days, and he escaped when she left for her stall.
• Hu Yiming could not find his home, and neighbors fled or fainted when they saw him.

Hu Yiming returned alive to find his family holding his funeral, while Zhou Wanwan and Nie Shi'an discussed the strange disappearance of the Hu residence and turned to investigate the Desolate Forest Body-Dumping Case. Zhou Wanwan reached the abandoned farmland where the bodies had been found and learned that a village there had once died in a single night.

• Hu Yiming found an old servant, learned his family believed him dead, and rushed to the funeral being held for him.
• Hu Yiming arrived at the mourning hall, frightened the mourners, and ordered the funeral dismantled before his family returned the contributions.
• Nie Shi'an and Zhou Wanwan compared the Hu family's vanished house with the disappearance of Nie Shi'an's own family home and discussed the unresolved cases.
• Zhou Wanwan decided to investigate the Desolate Forest Body-Dumping Case after eating and napping.
• Zhou Wanwan inspected the abandoned farmland and learned from a constable that a village there had been wiped out in one night many years earlier.

Zhou Wanwan investigated the murders linked to Broken Kiln Village and discovered that the trail led to Governor Hu Yiming’s villa. There, she overheard Hu Yiming’s adviser reveal that they controlled a coal seam and had found black fire oil.

• Zhou Wanwan questioned the trees near the murdered women, but their identical answers made her suspect they were hiding something.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that the villagers of Broken Kiln Village had been poisoned through their well and that some of the victims were daughters who had married away and later concealed their origins.
• Zhou Wanwan followed a clue west and traced the killer to Governor Hu Yiming’s villa.
• The courtyard trees told Zhou Wanwan that Hu Yiming kept thousands of deathsworn who frequently killed people and dumped their bodies.
• Zhou Wanwan overheard Hu Yiming and his adviser discuss their coal seam and discovery of black fire oil.

Zhou Wanwan discovered that Governor Hu Yiming was secretly extracting coal and oil from the mountains after massacring Broken Kiln Village to conceal the resource. She and the Old Scholar Tree took the coal and oil for themselves and sought to learn whether anyone from the village had survived.

• Zhou Wanwan and the Old Scholar Tree followed Hu Yiming and his adviser to a mountain where they found extensive coal deposits and oil seepage.
• A wild jujube tree revealed that the authorities had burned every resident of Broken Kiln Village more than twenty years earlier after villagers discovered and sold the oil.
• Hu Yiming and his adviser discussed storing and transporting the oil, and the adviser said they had already shipped some away to sell.
• Zhou Wanwan chose a secluded mountain hollow for storage cellars, and the Old Scholar Tree sent trees to build them.
• After Hu Yiming and his men left, the Old Scholar Tree knocked them unconscious, and thousands of trees carried away the coal and oil.
• Zhou Wanwan worried that no Broken Kiln Village survivors remained, so the Old Scholar Tree asked the village trees to reveal whether anyone had survived.

Zhou Wanwan found the surviving villagers of Broken Kiln Village and learned how the authorities had massacred their community to seize its coal and oil. She brought the survivors’ families to the stronghold and prepared to take the six adults to seek justice, while the mountain’s resources were nearly removed.

• The willow tree led Zhou Wanwan to a mountain cave where six adults and their children from Broken Kiln Village had been hiding for more than twenty years.
• Zhou Wanwan showed Liu Hu a register of people believed killed and offered to help the villagers confront the county magistrate.
• Liu Hu recounted how Wen Jingshan had tortured villagers to learn the mine’s location and then surrounded and burned their village.
• Old Scholar Tree carried Liu Hu’s family to the stronghold, where Zhou Wanwan said the children could stay and the six adults would come with her to seek revenge.
• Three days later, Zhou Wanwan had moved most of the mountain’s coal and petroleum, leaving a small pile behind, and invited the officials over again.