Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wanwan exposed Shangguan Wan'er’s attempt to discredit her stepmother by revealing a deed that made Shangguan Wan'er owe her one hundred thousand taels of gold and become her servant if she failed to repay it. The gathering turned against Shangguan Wan'er, while Madam Zhou proposed a match between Zhou Mingyang and Shangguan Yun'er.

• Shangguan Wan'er brought out a deed she claimed proved her mother had been a Yangzhou slender horse and demanded that Madam Zhou read it aloud.
• The Countess of Yongning read the deed, which said Shangguan Wan'er owed Zhou Wanwan one hundred thousand taels of gold and would become her servant if she failed to repay it.
• Shangguan Wan'er called the deed fake, but Zhou Wanwan said the debt was due the next day and that Shangguan Wan'er had kept the deed in the box herself.
• The gathered madams condemned Shangguan Wan'er for mistreating Madam Shangguan and Shangguan Yun'er, and Zhou Mingyang rebuked her.
• Madam Zhou praised Shangguan Yun'er and said she would send a matchmaker to her home the next day.

Zhou Wanwan and Old Ancestor used a forged contract to expose Shangguan Wan'er, whose signature and fingerprint were verified as genuine, leaving her liable for her debt and bound to servitude. Zhou Wanwan learned how Old Ancestor arranged the scheme and resolved to avoid further robberies in the capital as her Four Seas Rare Goods Store gained publicity.

• Shangguan Wan'er claimed the contract was forged, but the Court of Judicial Review minister summoned experts to examine it.
• The experts confirmed that the signature and fingerprint belonged to Shangguan Wan'er, and the minister told her to repay Zhou Wanwan and honor the contract.
• Shangguan Wan'er was taken to a side courtyard as Madam Shangguan praised Zhou Wanwan and pledged herself to her.
• Zhou Wanwan asked Old Ancestor how he had anticipated the scheme, and he explained that his trees had spotted Shangguan Wan'er examining the box.
• Old Ancestor revealed that he had copied Shangguan Wan'er's handwriting and counted her gold to set the contract amount, while Zhou Wanwan decided she needed to behave in the capital and rely on her store instead of robberies.

After Zhou Wanwan’s divination led a madam to her long-lost son, she attracted a crowd seeking readings. Her investigation exposed an engaged young lady’s fiancé as deceitful, and as word spread, hundreds queued to see Zhou Wanwan, who limited herself to three readings a day.

• The madam returned with her son, whom she had found after more than ten years, and credited Zhou Wanwan with divining his address.
• A young lady paid Zhou Wanwan six thousand taels to learn about her fiancé, Shen Wenyan, and Zhou Wanwan sent Old Ancestor to investigate him.
• Old Ancestor reported that Shen Wenyan was selfish, impoverished, and secretly supporting his cousin and their children with plans to exploit the young lady’s dowry.
• The young lady investigated Shen Wenyan’s cousin, found two children who looked like him, and her family broke off the engagement that evening.
• As news of Zhou Wanwan’s accurate readings spread, hundreds of people queued outside her home, and she announced that she would only read for three people each day.

Zhou Wanwan used her knowledge to advise two women facing trouble and diagnosed a sick customer, earning large fees in return. After warning the first woman about a bribe and helping Shen Yumei plan to reclaim her dowry and divorce her husband, she sent the last customer away with medicine and instructions to stop drinking.

• Zhou Wanwan told an official's wife that her husband would not be promoted and urged her to return a bribe publicly and prepare a grand gift for his superior's child's celebration.
• Shen Jiamu's wife, Shen Yumei, asked Zhou Wanwan whether she should divorce him after learning he was keeping her younger sister as a mistress.
• Zhou Wanwan advised Shen Yumei to gather evidence, claim her dowry, and sue if necessary, then agreed to help in exchange for twenty percent of the listed property.
• Shen Yumei signed a contract and agreed to follow Zhou Wanwan's arrangements without yielding to pleas from her family.
• Zhou Wanwan took a customer's pulse, blamed his illness on heavy drinking, prescribed medicine, and warned him to abstain from alcohol while taking it.

Zhou Wanwan helped Shen Yumei expose Shen Jiamu’s affair with Shen Yulan before the Shen Lineage and their families. When Shen Jiamu blamed Shen Yumei’s supposed infertility, physicians revealed that he was the one unlikely to father children.

• Zhou Wanwan arranged for Shen Yumei, the Shen Lineage, both families, and Shen Jiamu’s acquaintances to witness the affair.
• The crowd caught Shen Jiamu and Shen Yulan in bed and heard their plans to frame Shen Yumei so Shen Yulan could marry him.
• Shen Yumei demanded an amicable divorce, while her mother blamed her and Shen Jiamu threatened her.
• Shen Yumei called on physicians to examine Shen Jiamu, and they said he would have difficulty fathering children.
• Shen Jiamu insisted the physicians were wrong because Shen Yulan was carrying his child.

Shen Yumei confronted the Shen Clan over Shen Jiamu’s affair with Shen Yulan, while her advocate Zhou Wanwan forced the family to negotiate a divorce settlement. Shen Jiamu signed the agreement, and Father Shen ordered a doctor to determine whether Shen Yulan’s unborn child was his.

• Shen Yumei challenged Shen Yulan’s claim that she was only three months pregnant and suggested a doctor check her pulse.
• Zhou Wanwan’s people restrained Mother Shen’s servants, and Zhou warned the Shen Clan that Shen Jiamu would likely lose in court.
• Shen Jiamu threatened Shen Yumei and Zhou Wanwan, but Zhou broke his finger and demanded that he sign the mutual divorce agreement.
• Shen Yumei refused Father Shen’s offer to let her remain with Shen Jiamu as his wife while Shen Yulan became a concubine.
• Father Shen made Shen Jiamu sign the divorce agreement, then ordered a doctor to check whether Shen Yulan’s child belonged to the Shen Clan.

Zhou Wanwan discovered that Shen Yumei was the long-lost daughter of the chief of the Court of Judicial Review and reunited her with Madam Jiang. Shen Yumei rejected the Shen family’s demand that she return to Shen Jiamu, and the chief arrived as the confrontation continued.

• After the physician estimated that Shen Yulan was more than five months pregnant, Zhou Wanwan took Shen Yumei in and asked Old Scholar Tree to investigate her family.
• Old Scholar Tree learned that the Shen family had adopted Shen Yumei after she was stolen from her birth parents, whose father had become the chief of the Court of Judicial Review.
• Madam Jiang paid Zhou Wanwan to find her missing daughter, and Zhou Wanwan revealed that Shen Yumei was staying with her; the two women reunited.
• Shen Jiamu and Shen Yumei’s adoptive parents arrived, and Mother Shen urged Shen Yumei to become Shen Jiamu’s concubine while Father Shen threatened to call her unfilial.
• Shen Yumei refused to return, Madam Jiang defended her, and the chief of the Court of Judicial Review arrived and recognized Zhou Wanwan.

Zhou Wanwan helped Shen Yumei expose the Shen family’s role in her kidnapping and secure punishment for those who had wronged her. After Lord Jiang rejected the Shen family’s attempt to seek forgiveness, he rewarded Zhou Wanwan, who suggested Chen Ankang as a subordinate.

• Madam Jiang introduced Shen Yumei to Lord Jiang, and Zhou Wanwan explained how Shen Jiamu had mistreated her before their divorce.
• Shen Yumei rejected Shen Jiamu’s pleas and accused the Shen family of stealing her from her birth family.
• Zhou Wanwan produced the human traffickers and a midwife, who testified that Mother Shen had paid to have Shen Yumei taken as an infant.
• Lord Jiang ordered the traffickers and Shen family members exiled to Ningguta, while Shen Yumei refused to help them and Shen Jiamu was dragged away.
• Father Shen and Mother Shen returned Shen Yumei’s dowry, estate, and shops, but Lord Jiang sent them away; he then rewarded Zhou Wanwan, who pointed to Chen Ankang as a possible subordinate.

Lord Jiang offered Chen Ankang a position at the Court of Judicial Review if he solved two unsolved cases: a boy who vanished from a locked room and an unidentified man found dead in another locked room. Zhou Wanwan began investigating the boy’s disappearance and, after questioning his family, offered to examine his bedridden wife’s pulse.

• Lord Jiang presented the two cases and said Chen Ankang could work under him if he solved them.
• Zhou Wanwan explained that she wanted Chen Ankang placed at the Court of Judicial Review to strengthen their influence at court.
• After Old Scholar Tree found no trees in the boy’s courtyard to question, Zhou Wanwan and Chen Ankang went to investigate the family’s home.
• The wealthy man said his son vanished from a locked room while two people guarded the door, and explained that the boy could not tolerate flowers, so the courtyard had no trees.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that the boy’s wet nurse had been away and that his mother was bedridden and mentally unwell.
• Zhou Wanwan asked to read the mother’s pulse, and the wealthy man agreed.

Zhou Wanwan discovered that Song Rusheng had hidden her son to protect him from her husband and his lover, then offered to help her claim her share of their assets. Song Rusheng signed Zhou Wanwan’s contract, and the chapter ended with Zhao Hu and the wet nurse plotting together in Song Rusheng’s home.

• Zhou Wanwan and Chen Ankang suspected the wealthy man, his wife, and the wet nurse were involved in the boy’s disappearance.
• Song Rusheng visited Zhou Wanwan and confessed that she had secretly taken her son away because the wet nurse, her husband Zhao Hu’s lover, was turning the child against her.
• Song Rusheng explained that Zhao Hu controlled the family’s wealth and threatened that she would have nothing if she left him.
• Zhou Wanwan offered to uncover Zhao Hu’s assets in exchange for twenty percent and asked Song Rusheng to decide whether she wanted a divorce.
• Song Rusheng signed the contract and returned home, where she overheard Zhao Hu and the wet nurse discussing their affair and the wet nurse’s hopes of becoming his principal wife.

Song Rusheng endured Zhao Hu’s confinement and mistreatment while hoping Zhou Wanwan could help her protect the family property. Zhou Wanwan arranged for Zheng Yuanbao to approach Zhao Hu with rare medicinal herbs, and the chapter ended with Zheng revealing a thousand-year-old ginseng root.

• Song Rusheng told Lüzhu she was waiting for a chance to keep the family property from falling into Zhao Hu’s hands and was willing to trust Zhou Wanwan’s help.
• Zhou Wanwan learned that Zhao Hu owned twenty estates and more than ten shops, with banknotes held under the wet nurse’s name, and planned to lure him with medicinal herbs.
• Zheng Yuanbao met Zhao Hu with the clan uncle’s introduction and displayed rare medicinal herbs, but Zhao suspected he was trying to swindle him.
• Zheng Yuanbao insisted he had more than twenty medicine halls and revealed a thousand-year-old ginseng root to prove the quality of his goods.

Zheng Yuanbao used his impressive medicinal-herb stock, a grand pharmacy, rare tea, and claimed connections to win orders from the capital’s herb merchants. After a foreign merchant bought their goods at high prices, Zhao Hu and the others eagerly placed even larger orders, while Zhou Wanwan hinted that this was only the first step of her plan.

• Zheng Yuanbao displayed his high-quality herbs, negotiated contracts with the merchants, and led them to United Hearts Hall.
• Zheng Yuanbao served rare palace tribute tea and showed Zhao Hu Academician Wang’s calling card, persuading Zhao Hu to place a ten-thousand-tael order with a thirty-percent deposit.
• Zhou Wanwan told Zheng Xing'an that Zhao Hu’s deposit was only the first step of her plan.
• A foreign merchant bought Zhao Hu’s delivered herbs, earning him ten thousand taels in a single day.
• Zhao Hu increased his next order to fifty thousand taels, and the other merchants followed as the foreign merchant bought their herbs at double the price.

Zheng Yuanbao and Zhou Wanwan tricked the capital’s herb merchants into paying millions of taels, while Zhao Hu discovered that his foreign supplier had vanished and turned to Song Rusheng for help. Song Rusheng revealed she could walk, seized control of the household with Zhou Wanwan, and ordered the wet nurse punished for harming her son.

• Zheng Yuanbao sold herb merchants contracts requiring full payment upfront, and Zhou Wanwan arranged for their group to leave that night with more than thirty million taels.
• Zhao Hu boasted to Song Rusheng that his latest herb deal would make him rich, then let the wet nurse humiliate Song Rusheng in her room.
• An assistant reported that the foreign merchant and his caravan had disappeared, leaving Zhao Hu worried about the three million taels of herbs he had ordered.
• Song Rusheng refused to help Zhao Hu and suggested breaking the wet nurse’s legs; Zhao Hu ordered it, but Song Rusheng then stood up and revealed she had never been unable to walk.
• Zhou Wanwan entered and declared that the household answered to her, while Song Rusheng accused the wet nurse of repeatedly feeding seafood to her allergic son and ordered her legs broken.

Song Rusheng recovered her dowry and rejected Zhao Hu after his medicine scam collapsed. Zhou Wanwan investigated the theater murder and accused Marquis Yongning, Xiao Heng, of killing Su Ling and his brother Su Heng, leaving Xiao Heng denying the charge.

• Zhao Hu returned Song Rusheng's dowry, and she offered it to Zhou Wanwan, who asked her to manage her medicine shops instead.
• A shop assistant reported that Young Master Zheng had disappeared with the merchants' money, and officials confirmed the medicine-shop scheme had been a fraud.
• Zhao Hu begged Song Rusheng to take him back, but she refused and told him to repay his debts.
• Zhou Wanwan traced the theater murder to Marquis Yongning's Residence and had Xiao Heng arrested after identifying his imperial jade thumb ring.
• Zhou Wanwan accused Xiao Heng of secretly loving performer Su Heng, killing him after their quarrel, and poisoning Su Ling, while Xiao Heng denied everything.

After helping the Court of Judicial Review solve a case, Zhou Wanwan left Chen Ankang in its service and rejected the minister’s offer of a post. She confronted Old Madam Zhou’s family when they came seeking refuge, then tried to persuade her nervous parents to attend the Grand Princess’s birthday banquet.

• The Court of Judicial Review praised Zhou Wanwan’s investigation and offered her a registrar position, but she credited Chen Ankang and had him stay to work there.
• Zhou Wanwan confronted Old Madam Zhou and her family at her residence, showed the neighbors their agreement severing ties, and sent them away.
• Old Madam Zhou decided to attend the Grand Princess’s birthday banquet and publicly expose Zhou Wanwan’s family.
• Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng worried about attending the banquet, but Zhou Wanwan encouraged them and reminded Zhou Fusheng of their standing in the capital.

Zhou Wanwan visited the grand princess’s residence, where her fortune-telling exposed Madam Hu’s role in her younger sister’s death. The gathering descended into chaos as Madam Hu denied the accusation.

• Zhou Wanwan reassured the Marchioness of Yongning that her husband’s scandal had improved her position, and the marchioness said Shen Zhiyu had been forced to pass on his title.
• Shangguan Wan'er introduced Princess Jianing to Zhou Wanwan, but the princess’s knees cracked and she fell to the ground when she demanded Zhou Wanwan kneel.
• Old Madam Zhou told the grand princess that her son was dead and that she would soon adopt a child from the imperial clan.
• A madam criticized Zhou Wanwan for turning away her relatives, and Zhou Wanwan accused the madam, later identified as Madam Hu, of killing her younger sister.
• Madam Hu’s stepmother sent a maid to investigate, and the maid reported that the younger sister had drowned in a river the previous night.
• Zhou Wanwan said Madam Hu had killed her sister because the sister had rejected Madam Hu’s husband, and Madam Hu denied pushing her into the water.

Zhou Wanwan presented the grand princess with unusual fruit, then faced accusations from Shangguan Wan'er and Old Madam Zhou before the grand princess asked her to divine whether her missing son was alive. Zhou Wanwan began investigating the child’s disappearance at the grand princess’s residence, while Princess Jianing arrived and threatened her.

• Zhou Wanwan gave the grand princess a variety of fruit, and the grand princess praised most of it but disliked the durian.
• Shangguan Wan'er questioned where Zhou Wanwan’s fruit came from, and the grand princess rebuked her for being mean and spiteful.
• Old Madam Zhou accused Zhou Wanwan of stealing valuables and houses, but Zhou Wanwan challenged her to provide proof and said Old Madam Zhou was slandering her over a house and her grandson’s gambling losses.
• The grand princess asked Zhou Wanwan to divine whether her missing son was alive, and Zhou Wanwan asked where he had disappeared before requesting to search the residence.
• Princess Jianing arrived, accused Zhou Wanwan of using sorcery, and threatened her after Zhou Wanwan remarked on her bad temper.

Zhou Wanwan investigated the disappearance of the Grand Princess’s child and exposed Nanny Huang’s role in taking the child, allegedly at the urging of the second branch of General Dingbei’s Residence. When the Grand Princess confronted Shen Huizhen, her mother-in-law defended the household and blamed Zhou Wanwan, leaving Zhou Wanwan shocked by how badly the Grand Princess had been treated.

• Zhou Wanwan questioned the courtyard trees and learned that Nanny Huang took the Grand Princess’s child and that the second branch was involved.
• The Grand Princess summoned Nanny Huang, who denied the accusation until the Grand Princess brought in her family.
• Nanny Huang confessed that she had taken the child because her son owed gambling debts and had been threatened.
• The Grand Princess confronted Shen Huizhen, who denied harming her son, while Nanny Huang’s confession implicated the second branch.
• The Grand Princess’s mother-in-law defended Shen Huizhen, scolded the Grand Princess, and accused Zhou Wanwan of misleading her.
• Zhou Wanwan laughed at the old madam’s claims and lamented how the Grand Princess had been treated.

Zhou Wanwan exposed the plot to abduct the Grand Princess's son and learned that he had been left in Zhou Family Village in Dongshan Prefecture. Suspecting a connection to Zhou Fusheng, she went to fetch him from the banquet.

• The Grand Princess rejected the old matriarch's accusations, protected Zhou Wanwan, and took medicine for her heart condition.
• Zhou Wanwan had Shen Huizhen's wet nurse brought in and accused her of taking the Grand Princess's son to the countryside.
• The wet nurse confessed that Shen Huizhen had ordered the child abandoned and that her sister had carried him away.
• The wet nurse's sister said she had left the child at a family's door in Zhou Family Village, Dongshan Prefecture, with a hundred taels of silver.
• Zhou Wanwan recognized the village name and went to pull Zhou Fusheng away from the banquet.

At the Eldest Princess’s banquet, Zhou Wanwan revealed that her father, Zhou Fusheng, might be the princess’s long-lost son, Xiao Huaijin. The Eldest Princess recognized him by his jade pendant and birthmark, then declared that Zhou Wanwan looked exactly like the emperor.

• Guests praised the banquet’s takeout dishes and learned that Zhou Wanwan owned the business, angering Shangguan Wan'er and Princess Jianing.
• Princess Jianing planned to ask Noble Consort Ning to punish Zhou Wanwan and make her a study companion, while Shangguan Wan'er warned her not to underestimate the girl.
• Zhou Wanwan brought Zhou Fusheng to the Eldest Princess and explained that he had been found as a child with a hundred taels and a jade pendant.
• The Eldest Princess recognized the pendant bearing Xiao Huaijin’s name and embraced Zhou Fusheng as her long-lost son; he confirmed he had a red birthmark on his shoulder.
• When the Old Madam accused Zhou Wanwan of staging the reunion, the Eldest Princess said Zhou Wanwan looked exactly like the emperor, leaving the Old Madam terrified.