Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wanwan persuaded Eunuch Hai to abandon Noble Consort Ning’s order and join her, while Zhao Qingxi agreed to return to the capital with him. Zhou Wanwan’s family decided to move to the capital too and left that night without Eunuch Hai, who wondered whether Zhou Wanwan could be trusted.

• Zhou Wanwan told Eunuch Hai the truth about the Ning Clan and urged him to stay in Dongshan Prefecture, but he worried about the danger to his followers if he failed to return.
• Eunuch Hai invited Zhao Qingxi to accompany him, and she accepted; Zhou Wanwan gave Zhao Qingxi a hundred taels of silver for her work at the embroidery workshop.
• Zhou Wanwan told Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng she planned to go to the capital, and they decided the whole family would travel together.
• Old Madam Zhou and Old Man Zhou asked to travel with them, and Zhou Fusheng agreed to pick them up when the family left.
• Zhou Wanwan had Old Scholar Tree carry her family to the capital that night, leaving Eunuch Hai behind; the next morning, Eunuch Hai asked Zhao Qingxi whether Zhou Wanwan was reliable.

Zhou Wanwan and her companions traveled toward the capital by sea aboard Old Scholar Tree, while Gu Sinian offered her his savings and she explained that her family already had houses and money there. The group caught fish for dinner, and Zheng Xing'an described the four skilled maids accompanying them.

• Zhao Qingxi explained to Eunuch Hai how Zhou Wanwan had helped the Black Wind Mountain Stronghold and settled Dongshan Prefecture's refugees, then Eunuch Hai agreed to set off.
• Old Scholar Tree and Old Ancestor carried Zhou Wanwan and her family across the sea at great speed, while Zhou Wanwan and Gu Sinian discussed where they would live in the capital and Gu Sinian offered her his savings.
• Zhou Wanwan told Gu Sinian that she had her own money and that her family owned several houses in the capital, then joked that she would prepare his betrothal gifts when he married.
• Old Scholar Tree used his roots to catch a net full of fish, and Zhou Wanwan chose a few for dinner and ordered the rest returned to the sea.
• Wanshuang prepared dinner as Zheng Xing'an introduced Tingfeng, Xunying, Yingyue, and Wanshuang's skills and palace etiquette training, and Zhou Wanwan praised them.

Zhou Wanwan and the tree spirits fought off dozens of great white sharks during their journey to the capital, absorbing their energy and making salt along the way. She reached the capital and woke in a huanghuali bed, unsure where she was.

• Zhou Wanwan and her family were surrounded by dozens of great white sharks, and Old Scholar Tree proposed controlling them by driving roots into their bodies.
• Old Scholar Tree and Old Ancestor absorbed energy from the sharks while Zhou Wanwan replenished their energy for two days and one night.
• Old Ancestor and Old Scholar Tree defeated the sharks, and the tree spirits gained strength from the energy they absorbed.
• Old Ancestor and Old Scholar Tree made more than a dozen sacks of salt as they continued toward the capital.
• Zhou Wanwan planned to enter their courtyard at night to avoid attracting attention, then woke in a huanghuali bed and wondered where she was.

Zhou Wanwan settled into her capital residence, where her takeout business had expanded into a citywide delivery network and restaurant. After hearing gossip about Shangguan Wan'er’s unhappy engagement and cruel stepmother, Zhou Wanwan decided to visit her, while her trusted aides returned to the capital.

• Zheng Xing'an escorted Zhou Wanwan to the dining room, where the household waited for her before eating.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that her capital business now included the Moon-Gathering Tower, ten takeout locations, banquet services, and deliveries of household goods.
• The trees told Zhou Wanwan that Shangguan Wan'er’s fiancé was cold toward her and that her stepmother mistreated her while the General of Agile Cavalry favored the stepmother’s daughter.
• Zhou Wanwan said she would visit Shangguan Wan'er the next day to see what was happening for herself.
• Cheng Chao, Shen Wanjun, and Chen Ankang returned to the capital, and Chen Ankang argued with his parents about his loyalty to Zhou Wanwan.

Chen Ankang returned to Upper Capital to reclaim the Chen Family residence, but Huo Lingchuan challenged him to find lodging despite the Huo Family’s threats. After Chen Ankang’s former friends refused to shelter him, the chapter ended with Huo Lingchuan’s companions spotting Miss Lin, who had once been engaged to Chen Ankang.

• Chen Ankang went to the Chen Family’s old residence, where Huo Lingchuan mocked him for becoming a servant and claimed the house had been sold.
• Huo Lingchuan bet that Chen Ankang could not find a suitable place to stay, while Chen Ankang wagered his gold, silver, and jewels against the return of the residence.
• Madam Huo taunted Mother Chen about the family’s misfortune and Chen Ankang’s young master, and Madam Chen defended her son.
• Chen Ankang visited his former friends, but they shut their doors, while Huo Lingchuan and his companions ridiculed him.
• Huo Lingchuan’s companions spotted Miss Lin and remarked that she had once been engaged to Chen Ankang.

Zhou Wanwan intervened when Lin Xi pressured Chen Ankang to sign a guarantee, insisting they both sign and challenging Lin Xi's insults about Dongshan Prefecture. Lin Yue then offered to marry Chen Ankang, but Lord Lin objected, and Zhou Wanwan claimed she approved the match.

• Lin Xi denied her betrothal to Chen Ankang and demanded that he sign a letter promising not to bother her, while Chen Ankang was hurt by her public rejection.
• Zhou Wanwan arrived and said Lin Xi should sign a guarantee too, then presented terms requiring both parties to leave each other in peace and protect each other's reputations.
• Lin Xi signed the guarantee and insulted Chen Ankang and Dongshan Prefecture, while Zhou Wanwan challenged her to help the prefecture's people if she looked down on their poverty.
• Lin Yue offered to marry Chen Ankang in her younger sister's place, saying the Lin Family should honor its agreement with the Chen Family.
• Lord Lin rejected Lin Yue's offer and questioned Zhou Wanwan's authority to decide his daughter's marriage, but Zhou Wanwan said she approved it.

Zhou Wanwan used evidence of Lord Lin’s corruption to make him agree that Lin Yue could leave the family with her mother’s dowry if Madam Lin mistreated her. Hiding with Lord Lin, Zhou Wanwan witnessed Madam Lin abuse Lin Yue and reveal that she planned to give Lin Xi Lin Yue’s dowry.

• Zhou Wanwan showed Lord Lin an account book documenting his years of embezzlement and confronted him over his neglect of Lin Yue.
• Zhou Wanwan and Lord Lin agreed that Lin Yue would have nothing more to do with the Lin Family if he witnessed Madam Lin mistreating her, while Lin Yue’s mother’s dowry would go to Lin Yue.
• Zhou Wanwan took Lord Lin to the Lin residence, where they secretly watched Madam Lin slap Lin Yue and order her to kneel in the courtyard.
• Madam Lin told Lin Xi that she had arranged for her to marry Huo Lingchuan and planned to send Lin Yue to Chen Ankang.
• Madam Lin promised Lin Xi that she would take Lin Yue’s dowry, claiming she could excuse its disappearance by blaming thieves.

Zhou Wanwan forced Lord Lin to provide Lin Yue with her late mother’s dowry after exposing Madam Lin’s mistreatment of her and the theft of most of the estate. As Lin Yue prepared to marry Chen Ankang in three days, Zhou Wanwan revealed that he had loved Lin Yue all along.

• Lord Lin agreed to arrange Lin Yue’s dowry after Zhou Wanwan threatened to report him to the censor and pointed out that Lin Xi should receive no more than Lin Yue.
• Lin Yue told Lord Lin she had lived in a woodshed, eaten scraps, and worked as a delivery worker because Madam Lin had neglected her.
• Lord Lin ordered Madam Lin to return Lin Yue’s mother’s dowry, but Zhou Wanwan revealed that most of it was gone.
• Lord Lin found the storerooms nearly empty, and Zhou Wanwan used an account book to accuse Madam Lin of sending large sums and valuables to her natal family.
• Zhou Wanwan told Lin Yue to wait for Chen Ankang to fetch her in three days and revealed that he had gone to Dongshan Prefecture because he loved Lin Yue, not Lin Xi.

Lin Yue refused Madam Lin’s demand to abandon her dowry claim, so Madam Lin plotted to ruin her reputation. She lured prominent families to Lin Yue’s courtyard, where suspicious sounds from the room led the guests to prepare to expose whoever was inside.

• Lin Yue rejected Madam Lin’s pleas to drop the dowry dispute and said the Chen Family should focus on returning what was owed.
• Madam Lin told Lin Xi she had kept some of the dowry goods and then plotted to ruin Lin Yue’s reputation; Lin Xi agreed to help draw guests to the scheme.
• Madam Lin invited more than thirty madams and young ladies to admire the lotuses and claimed Lin Yue was too spoiled to come greet them.
• Madam Lin led the guests to Lin Yue’s courtyard, where they heard suggestive sounds coming from her room.
• Madam Chen protested that the person inside might not be Lin Yue, while Madam Huo mocked her and the guests proposed entering to see for themselves.

Lin Yue exposed a plot to ruin her reputation after the guests discovered Lin Xi in the bed instead. The minister arrested the men and Jin Changshun, while Madam Lin continued blaming Lin Yue and Lord Lin confronted her.

• The madams found Lin Xi in Lin Yue’s room, and Lin Yue arrived and denied being involved.
• Madam Lin accused Lin Yue of arranging the incident, but Lin Yue said she had summoned the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to investigate.
• The minister questioned the six ruffians, who named Jin Changshun as the man who paid them to carry out the plot, and ordered them taken to the death cells.
• The minister had Jin Changshun arrested, and Lin Yue revealed that her chastity was intact as the madams criticized the Jin Family.
• Lord Lin returned and slapped Madam Lin, while Lin Yue accused her of mistreating her and stealing her dowry.

After Madam Lin and Jin Changshun were exposed, Lord Lin tried to recover Lin Yue’s dowry and keep her at home, while Zhou Wanwan helped Lin Yue leave the danger behind. Lord Lin sent Lin Xi to a nunnery, and Zhou Wanwan accompanied Chen Ankang to visit the disgraced Huo Family.

• Lord Lin confronted Madam Lin over her role in Jin Changshun’s arrest, while Zhou Wanwan arranged for Lin Yue to leave her residence and demanded that the Lin Family return her dowry.
• Madam Lin admitted she had moved Lin Yue’s dowry to her maiden family’s estate, but Lord Lin found the storeroom empty when he went there with her.
• Zhou Wanwan and Chen Ankang discussed Lin Yue’s recovered dowry and Huo Lingchuan’s loss of the Chen Family’s old residence.
• Lord Lin took Madam Lin’s own dowry to compensate Lin Yue and sent Lin Xi to a nunnery for the rest of her life.
• Zhou Wanwan accompanied Chen Ankang to the Huo Family, where Madam Huo berated Huo Lingchuan for his disastrous bet and marriage to Lin Xi.

Chen Ankang and Zhou Wanwan visited the Huo residence, where Huo Lingchuan attacked Chen and was struck in the face by a rebounding boot. At the Lin residence, Chen Ankang’s lavish betrothal gifts stunned the gathered madams, while Madam Lin hinted that she resented Lin Yue receiving what had been intended for Lin Xi.

• Chen Ankang brought Huo Lingchuan a wedding invitation, and Huo Lingchuan threw a boot that the Old Scholar Tree bounced back into his face.
• Zhou Wanwan predicted that Huo Lingchuan might try to marry Lin Yue himself, and Chen Ankang worried about Lin Yue’s safety.
• Chen Ankang’s betrothal gifts arrived at the Lin residence, where Madam Huo and other madams gathered to mock the Chen Family.
• Zhou Wanwan told the madams that Princess Jianing had invited her to become a study companion, and they reacted with alarm and pity.
• The madams saw Chen Ankang’s forty-eight trays of betrothal gifts, and Madam Lin remarked that the gifts had been meant for Lin Xi.

Lin Xi tried to replace Lin Yue at the weddings so she could marry Chen Ankang and claim Lin Yue’s gifts, but Black Wind Stronghold had anticipated her scheme. Lin Xi ended up married to Huo Lingchuan, and the chapter left them arguing over whether to divorce.

• Lin Yue received a wedding dress and jewelry from the young miss of Black Wind Stronghold and learned she was welcome there as a member.
• Lin Xi burst in, announced that she had taken control of Lin Yue’s attendants, and said she would marry Chen Ankang while sending Lin Yue to the Huo Family.
• Lin Yue fainted, but the stronghold’s arrangements ensured she reached the Chen Family, where Chen Ankang reassured her that everything had been arranged.
• Huo Lingchuan completed the wedding ceremony with Lin Xi, believing she was Lin Yue, while Lin Yue married Chen Ankang and recognized him as her childhood friend, Brother Kang.
• The next morning, Huo Lingchuan discovered Lin Xi in his bed and demanded a divorce, while Lin Xi refused to become a public laughingstock.

Zhou Wanwan was arrested after someone accused the Hundred Herbs Hall of selling fake medicine that caused a death. At the Shuntian Prefecture, she exposed the accuser’s story as fabricated, and he admitted he had been paid to frame the pharmacy.

• Zhou Wanwan and Chen Ankang mocked Huo Lingchuan and Lin Xi as a perfect match, and Huo Lingchuan threatened Chen Ankang with his saber.
• Zheng Yuanbao told Zhou Wanwan that the Hundred Herbs Hall had been sealed after rumors spread that its medicine was fake and someone had died.
• Shuntian Prefecture bailiffs arrested Zhou Wanwan and brought her before the prefect, who accused her of selling poisoned medicine.
• Zhou Wanwan challenged the accuser’s evidence by pointing out the packet’s wrapping did not match the pharmacy’s and asking for the required prescription and signature.
• The accuser confessed that someone had paid him to blame the Hundred Herbs Hall for his father’s death, and Zhou Wanwan asked the prefect to investigate.

After learning Shangguan Wan'er had arranged the attack on her pharmacy, Zhou Wanwan visited Madam Shangguan with gifts and confronted her about the accusation. Madam Shangguan admitted that her eldest daughter was behind the schemes, leaving her worried about the damage to her and Shangguan Yun'er's reputations.

• The Shuntian prefect ordered an investigation into who had manipulated the pharmacy case, while Old Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that Shangguan Wan'er was responsible.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that Madam Shangguan enjoyed shopping at her businesses and arranged a visit with gifts for her and Shangguan Yun'er.
• Madam Shangguan and Shangguan Yun'er eagerly admired the clothes, cosmetics, and jewelry Zhou Wanwan brought.
• Zhou Wanwan told Madam Shangguan that she had traced the false claim about the pharmacy to her eldest daughter.
• Madam Shangguan complained that her eldest daughter kept causing trouble and had made people believe that she and Shangguan Yun'er were cruel schemers.

Zhou Wanwan persuaded Madam Shangguan to rely on her, offering money and a share of her shop’s profits in exchange for promoting its clothes and jewelry. Shangguan Wan'er learned Zhou Wanwan had visited and prepared for a flower-viewing banquet, where she planned to make her beauty stand out.

• Zhou Wanwan pointed out Madam Shangguan’s lack of money and influence, and Madam Shangguan agreed to accept her help so she and Shangguan Yun'er could live comfortably.
• Zhou Wanwan offered to replace Madam Shangguan’s servants with trusted people and gave her ten silver ingots to dress for a flower-viewing banquet and promote Zhou Wanwan’s shop.
• After Zhou Wanwan left, Madam Shangguan told Shangguan Yun'er she trusted Zhou Wanwan because she had given them valuable goods and money, unlike the General of the Cavalry.
• When Shangguan Wan'er returned home, she learned that Zhou Wanwan had visited Madam Shangguan but could not find out what they had discussed.
• Shangguan Wan'er prepared an elegant outfit for the flower-viewing banquet, hoping to impress Zhou Mingyang, and told her mother to bring Madam Shangguan and Shangguan Yun'er so her beauty would stand out.

Madam Shangguan and Shangguan Yun'er arrived at the Yongning Earl’s Manor in lavish clothes, drawing attention and making Shangguan Wan'er jealous. When Wan'er accused her mother of favoring Yun'er, Madam Shangguan told the gathered madams that Wan'er controlled the household accounts and asked her to say who was really in charge.

• Shangguan Wan'er left without Madam Shangguan and Shangguan Yun'er, while Yun'er said she planned to anger Wan'er by pursuing Zhou Mingyang.
• Madam Shangguan and Shangguan Yun'er arrived at the Yongning Earl’s Manor dressed in fine clothes and jewelry from the Four Seas Rare Goods Store.
• Madam Shangguan told the gathered madams about the store and claimed she could get them a twenty percent discount.
• Shangguan Wan'er grew jealous when she saw their outfits and accused Madam Shangguan of buying Yun'er fine clothes while leaving her with nothing.
• Madam Shangguan said Shangguan Wan'er managed the household accounts and asked her to tell everyone who was really in charge.

Zhou Wanwan exposed Shangguan Wan'er’s mistreatment of Madam Shangguan and was introduced by the Countess of Yongning as her fortune-telling goddaughter. After a skeptical official’s wife paid Zhou two thousand taels to investigate her son’s exam failures, Zhou took her into a side hall for a private reading.

• Madam Shangguan and her matron said Shangguan Wan'er gave them only one tael of silver a month, and Zhou Wanwan explained that she had rented them their clothes.
• Shangguan Wan'er challenged Zhou Wanwan’s presence, but the Countess of Yongning introduced Zhou as her goddaughter and praised her fortune-telling.
• The Countess of Yongning told the guests that Zhou Wanwan had passed the xiucai exam at six and correctly predicted falling grain and salt prices during a drought.
• A fourth-rank official’s wife paid Zhou Wanwan two thousand taels to learn why her son kept failing the tongsheng exam and how he could pass the xiucai exam.
• Zhou Wanwan asked the Countess of Yongning to leave the side hall so she could give the woman a private reading.

Zhou Wanwan revealed that the minister of the Court of State Ceremonial's wife had a missing younger son and that her older son had abandoned him, then gave her the boy’s location. The flower-viewing banquet began with flower-themed takeout, until Shangguan Wan'er mocked the crayfish served there.

• Zhou Wanwan told the minister of the Court of State Ceremonial's wife that her older son was violent, deeply indebted, and responsible for abandoning her missing younger son.
• The lady paid Zhou Wanwan ten thousand taels, and Zhou Wanwan later gave her an address where her fourteen-year-old son lived with an unkind adoptive family.
• The lady left by carriage to find her younger son, while the other ladies doubted Zhou Wanwan's fortune-telling.
• The Countess of Yongning began her flower-viewing banquet with flower-themed dishes, fresh seafood, and milk teas that the guests praised.
• Servants brought out basins of crayfish, and Shangguan Wan'er sneered that the dish was fit for fallen families.

At a banquet, Zhou Wanwan served crayfish and drew the young ladies to her side, while Shangguan Wan'er insulted her and Shangguan Yun'er. Zhou Mingyang defended Yun'er and rejected his engagement to Shangguan Wan'er, who retaliated by exposing Madam Shangguan’s past as a Yangzhou skinny horse and casting doubt on Yun’er’s marriage prospects.

• Zhou Wanwan defended her crayfish business against Shangguan Wan'er and offered the guests garlic and thirteen-spice crayfish.
• The women and young ladies enjoyed the crayfish, and several young ladies gathered around Zhou Wanwan to ask about her fortune-telling and scholarship.
• Shangguan Wan'er mocked Zhou Wanwan, and Shangguan Yun'er challenged her before pretending to retreat in tears.
• Zhou Mingyang defended Shangguan Yun'er, condemned Shangguan Wan'er’s treatment of her, and said he would not marry her.
• Madam Shangguan told Zhou Wanwan that she had secretly taught Shangguan Yun'er the skills of a Yangzhou skinny horse.
• Shangguan Wan'er revealed Madam Shangguan’s past in front of the guests, and Zhou Mingyang’s mother reminded him that his marriage had been arranged between their families.