Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wanwan planned reforms for the Laundry Bureau and prepared a valuable painting for the Grand Princess to give the empress dowager at her birthday celebration. The Grand Princess set out for the palace with Zhou Wanwan’s family, where a guard stopped their carriage at the gate.

• Zhou Wanwan offered the Laundry Bureau workers extra allowances and began planning changes, including diverting a hot spring to the bureau.
• Old Ancestor warned Zhou Wanwan that the empress dowager planned to embarrass the Grand Princess at her birthday celebration, and the Grand Princess worried about having no suitable gift.
• The Grand Princess discussed the Xiao Family’s downfall with Nanny Gui, who suggested asking Zhou Wanwan to help find them.
• Zhou Wanwan and Old Ancestor chose one of Old Ancestor’s paintings as the Grand Princess’s gift, and the Grand Princess was delighted to receive a rare Mr. Nanshan painting.
• The Grand Princess traveled toward the palace in Zhou Wanwan’s spacious carriage with Liu Su'e and Zhou Fusheng, but a guard stopped them at the gate and ordered them to identify themselves and surrender their weapons.

Grand Princess Mingzhao was blocked from entering the palace by carriage and endured her sisters’ insults, but Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e remained loyal and used their tree people to reach the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility quickly. There, Mingzhao confronted the princesses after overhearing their gossip, then defended bringing her family when the empress dowager questioned her.

• A guard ordered Grand Princess Mingzhao to leave her carriage and walk, while Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan rode into the palace and mocked her.
• Mingzhao asked Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e whether they would still stand by her, and both promised not to leave her.
• Liu Su'e used the family’s tree people to carry Mingzhao, Zhou Fusheng, Liu Su'e, and Nanny Gui swiftly to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
• Mingzhao overheard the princesses spreading rumors about her poverty and family, then confronted them when they saw her waiting at the entrance.
• Old Madam Zhou criticized Mingzhao for bringing Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e, and the empress dowager asked why she had brought them again.
• Mingzhao replied that she had brought her family because the other princesses had brought theirs.

At the empress dowager’s birthday banquet, Grand Princess Mingzhao challenged the claim that Zhou Fuyu was her son, while Princess Jing’an’s birthday screen was revealed to depict the empress dowager among demons. Princess Ningyuan’s gift was then exposed as a burial robe, leaving the banquet in uproar.

• Grand Princess Mingzhao denied that Zhou Fuyu and Qian Huihui were her son and daughter-in-law, and argued that Zhou Fusheng and Zhou Wanwan resembled her and His Majesty more.
• Eunuch Hai fetched Zhou Wanwan from the Laundry Bureau, but she refused to change her tattered clothes before going to the palace.
• Princess Jing’an presented an embroidered birthday screen that showed demons and a figure dressed like the empress dowager impaled on a fork.
• Princess Jing’an denied altering the screen, and Princess Ningyuan claimed someone had framed her sister while Mingzhao pointed out she had no chance to do so.
• Princess Ningyuan presented the empress dowager with a robe woven with longevity characters, but the guests identified it as a burial robe.

Zhou Wanwan exposed the cruel treatment she suffered at the palace birthday banquet, while Grand Princess Mingzhao pleaded for her and the empress dowager defended her punishment. After Zhou Wanwan was sent to change clothes, Xie Cheng'en entered the room with a plan to make her his concubine, leaving her to confront him.

• Zhou Wanwan arrived at the empress dowager's birthday banquet in rags and blamed the palace for providing her no money or decent clothes.
• Grand Princess Mingzhao knelt and begged the empress dowager to spare Zhou Wanwan after hearing that she washed hundreds of clothes each day.
• Zhou Wanwan revealed that Princess Jianing had made her wash clothes, prompting Noble Consort Ning and the empress dowager to justify the punishment as useful training.
• The empress dowager ordered Zhou Wanwan to change clothes, and a palace maid led her into a room before leaving her alone.
• Xie Cheng'en entered with Princess Jianing and said he wanted Zhou Wanwan as his concubine; Princess Jianing fainted, and Zhou Wanwan warned Xie Cheng'en to let her go.

Zhou Wanwan avoided Xie Cheng'en’s scheme and watched Noble Consort Ning’s party discover Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en together. While Noble Consort Ning dealt with the scandal, Zhou Wanwan kept the guests fed and entertained, and the chapter ended with the Empress Dowager confronting her over the banquet.

• Zhou Wanwan knocked Xie Cheng'en unconscious and hid in the Old Scholar Tree as Noble Consort Ning and the ladies came looking for her.
• Noble Consort Ning and the guests found Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en inside, and Noble Consort Ning ordered everyone out.
• Zhou Wanwan reassured the guests, served snacks and milk tea, and invited storytellers to entertain them while they waited.
• Noble Consort Ning insisted Xie Cheng'en marry Princess Jianing, but rejected his demand to take Zhou Wanwan as a concubine.
• The Empress Dowager questioned how the scandal had happened, then returned to find Zhou Wanwan hosting the guests with food and drink.

Zhou Wanwan was sent to the Laundry Bureau after the Empress Dowager erupted at her birthday banquet, but she remained comfortable with the attendants and a hot spring in the Cold Palace. After the Empress Dowager ordered shadow guards to kill her, Zhou Wanwan subdued them and raided the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility’s treasure storehouses.

• Grand Princess Mingzhao presented the Empress Dowager with Mr. Nanshan’s Pine and Crane Longevity Painting, while the guests praised her and Zhou Wanwan; the Empress Dowager smashed Zhou Wanwan’s pastries and ordered her sent to the Laundry Bureau.
• The Grand Princess left the palace with Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e, while Zhou Wanwan’s attendants welcomed her and Old Scholar Tree showed her the hot spring built in the Cold Palace.
• The Empress Dowager questioned Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan about their gifts, then ordered shadow guards to kill Zhou Wanwan after Old Madam Zhou blamed her for the day’s events.
• Old Scholar Tree reported that the shadow guards had been subdued, and Zhou Wanwan decided to visit the Empress Dowager’s palace.
• Zhou Wanwan entered the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility’s storehouses with a group of trees and began taking its vast collection of treasures.

Zhou Wanwan and Old Ancestor’s trees stripped the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, leaving Empress Dowager Zhao’s palace and storeroom empty. When Empress Dowager Zhao went to question Zhou Wanwan, Noble Consort Cui appeared and frightened her into fleeing.

• Zhou Wanwan admired the palace’s treasures as the trees carried away nearly everything in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
• Empress Dowager Zhao woke on the floor, discovered her palace and storeroom had been emptied, and fainted.
• The emperor summoned officials to investigate, while the minister of the Court of Judicial Review suspected the empress dowager had offended someone.
• Empress Dowager Zhao visited Zhou Wanwan in the cold palace with Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan, but Zhou Wanwan denied seeing anyone the previous night.
• Noble Consort Cui appeared and demanded that Empress Dowager Zhao return her son, sending the empress dowager and the two princesses running.

Zhou Wanwan visited the Weaving Bureau, where she exposed and punished its matron for murdering senior palace maids who threatened her position. She put the rescued women in charge and introduced improved machines to the bureau’s 1,320 workers, who began producing soft, high-quality cloth.

• Zhou Wanwan learned about the palace’s weaving and textile offices and went with the Laundry Bureau’s senior palace maid to inspect the Weaving Bureau.
• The Weaving Bureau’s matron insulted Zhou Wanwan and ordered her subordinates to beat her, but Zhou Wanwan bound the matron and had her beaten.
• Zhou Wanwan brought forward more than a dozen senior palace maids whom the matron had tried to poison, and they accused her of murdering their colleagues to secure her position.
• Old Scholar Tree revealed that the matron had hidden many victims beneath the trees, and Zhou Wanwan appointed the surviving senior palace maids to manage the Weaving Bureau.
• Zhou Wanwan replaced outdated equipment with a hundred improved spinning and weaving machines, and the workers praised the soft cloth they produced.

Zhou Wanwan recruited palace workers from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau to produce her clothing designs and offered them extra wages. Aunt Li refused to involve the Embroidery Bureau, but Zhou Wanwan revealed that she had found Aunt Li’s daughter, Zhao Nian'an, alive.

• Zhou Wanwan offered the Textile Bureau workers extra monthly allowances, then went with them to recruit workers from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau.
• The auntie from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau agreed that all 892 palace maids and eunuchs would work for Zhou Wanwan.
• Zhou Wanwan showed the auntie clothing designs and arranged for the bureau to make a sample garment.
• Zhou Wanwan visited the Embroidery Bureau, but Aunt Li refused to participate because she feared Zhou Wanwan’s plans were dangerous.
• Zhou Wanwan summoned Zhao Nian'an, and Aunt Li tearfully recognized her daughter, who said Zhou Wanwan had saved her.

Zhao Nian'an told Aunt Li that Noble Consort Ning had destroyed the Zhao Family to obtain her embroidery skills, and Aunt Li and her apprentices agreed to serve Zhou Wanwan. Zhou Wanwan took control of the dyehouse, while Old Scholar Tree reported that several people who tried to betray her to Noble Consort Ning had been killed.

• Zhao Nian'an reunited with Aunt Li and revealed that Noble Consort Ning had framed the Zhao Family to get Aunt Li into the palace.
• Aunt Li accepted Zhao Nian'an's account, and she and her apprentices pledged to put Zhou Wanwan first.
• Zhou Wanwan confronted the dyehouse eunuch and forced him to agree to follow her.
• The dyehouse eunuch tried to report Zhou Wanwan to Noble Consort Ning, but trees killed him, and other palace workers who attempted the same also disappeared.
• Old Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that three people from the Embroidery Bureau, three from the Dyeing Bureau, and seven from the Textile Bureau had died, while none from the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau had.

Noble Consort Ning summoned Zhou Wanwan and tried to take control of her businesses, but Zhou Wanwan refused her offer. Afterward, Noble Consort Ning proposed to the crown prince that Zhou Wanwan be made a side consort.

• Princess Jianing accused Zhou Wanwan of causing her situation with Xie Cheng'en, and Zhou Wanwan mocked her before she fell to the ground.
• Noble Consort Ning told Zhou Wanwan that she had to remain in the cold palace because the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had declared her a disaster star.
• Noble Consort Ning offered to manage Zhou Wanwan's many businesses and take seventy percent of the profits, but Zhou Wanwan refused.
• Noble Consort Ning summoned the crown prince and proposed making Zhou Wanwan a side consort.

Noble Consort Ning and the crown prince schemed to bring six-year-old Zhou Wanwan into the Eastern Palace for her wealth, but the crown princess recognized the danger and sought her out. Zhou Wanwan exposed a spy among the crown princess’s servants and revealed that even her trusted wet nurse had been compromised.

• Noble Consort Ning persuaded the crown prince to take Zhou Wanwan as a secondary consort and use her to manage his estates and shops.
• The courtyard trees tripped the crown prince repeatedly as he left Noble Consort Ning’s palace, leaving him bruised and furious.
• The crown prince told the crown princess to choose new consorts and take Zhou Wanwan into the Eastern Palace, dismissing the crown princess’s objections.
• The crown princess decided to seek Zhou Wanwan’s help, but vines dragged her maid Yunshu into the woods before she could reach the shops.
• Zhou Wanwan confronted Yunshu, identified her as the crown prince’s spy, and revealed that she was carrying his child.
• The crown princess pledged herself to Zhou Wanwan, who said she had put the spies around her to sleep; the crown princess then questioned how her trusted wet nurse could have betrayed her.

Zhou Wanwan uncovered Noble Consort Ning’s influence and gained Bai Yue’s loyalty, while the crown prince reluctantly discussed taking Zhou Wanwan as a secondary consort. As trouble loomed in the capital and a possible snow disaster threatened Dongshan Prefecture, Zhou Wanwan ordered relief efforts and faced more than a hundred memorials, with her ambitious old subordinates arriving soon.

• Zhou Wanwan told Bai Yue that Noble Consort Ning had planted servants throughout the court and said the Xie Family would soon be sent to war and could be brought down.
• Bai Yue pledged loyalty to Zhou Wanwan and revealed that she controlled the Bai Family through its family token.
• Zhou Wanwan overheard the crown prince’s advisers disparage her as a possible secondary consort, while the crown prince acknowledged the value of her goods.
• Zhou Wanwan learned of a possible snow disaster in Dongshan Prefecture and ordered Uncle Scholar Tree to send people to help with relief.
• Zhou Wanwan reviewed more than a hundred memorials and learned that her old subordinates were arriving in the capital to push her toward seizing the throne.

The court struggled to find a commander to face Great Qi and its allies, so Old General Xie volunteered after Xie Cheng'en refused the assignment. As the old general marched out with over a hundred thousand troops, Shen Chaoge and Qin Shan discussed seizing the capital but decided Zhou Wanwan would not want the throne.

• The ministers refused to lead an attack against Great Qi, whose army was far better equipped than Great Xia's.
• Noble Consort Ning recommended Xie Cheng'en, but he went to the palace and pleaded to be excused from the battlefield.
• Old General Xie volunteered to lead the campaign, then scolded Xie Cheng'en for refusing the chance to earn military honors.
• Old General Xie departed with more than a hundred thousand troops, while Old Madam Xie urged him to stay safe.
• Shen Chaoge and Qin Shan considered taking the capital, but Qin Shan warned that Zhou Wanwan did not want to become empress.

Zhou Wanwan dismissed the Xie Family Army as unfit for war and arranged free lodging, meals, and clothing for scholars from Dongshan Prefecture. Xie Cheng'en bragged about earning 210,000 taels from his food delivery business, but the accounts showed only 2,000 taels remained after expenses.

• Zhou Wanwan compared her well-trained 200,000-strong army and other forces with the out-of-shape Xie Family Army, saying Great Qi would be defeated quickly if her troops fought.
• Xie Cheng'en and Princess Jianing mocked Zhou Wanwan and scholars from Dongshan Prefecture, so Zhou Wanwan ordered her restaurant to shelter and feed the scholars for free.
• Xie Cheng'en boasted that his food delivery business had earned over 200,000 taels that month, crediting Zhou Wanwan's trained team.
• The head steward told Xie Cheng'en that the business earned 210,000 taels but had only 2,000 taels left after costs.
• Xie Cheng'en reviewed the accounts and realized that expensive seafood, labor, and operating expenses left little profit.

Xie Cheng'en discovered that his takeout business barely made a profit and learned that Zhou Wanwan had many other, more lucrative businesses. He joined Princess Jianing in opening competing shops, while Zhou Wanwan remained confident they could not match her; the chapter ended as Xie Cheng'en and Princess Jianing prepared to sample a new snack supplier's goods.

• Xie Cheng'en complained that his takeout business earned only 2,000 taels a month and realized he could not easily cut staff or remove seafood from the menu.
• Xie Cheng'en questioned the kitchen steward, who showed that Zhou Wanwan's takeout ingredients cost far less than market prices and explained that she subsidized the business with profits from her other ventures.
• The steward listed Zhou Wanwan's many businesses, and Xie Cheng'en decided to compete with her by opening shops alongside Princess Jianing.
• Uncle Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that Xie Cheng'en and Princess Jianing were opening rival shops, but Zhou Wanwan said their lack of real skill would not threaten her.
• Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en opened a snack shop and went to try snacks from Xie Cheng'en's new supplier.

Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en tasted Xiao Jiu's premium snacks and decided to open a shop to compete with Zhou Wanwan. Their new shop drew a crowd of wealthy customers, while Zhou Wanwan's shop across the street saw little business.

• Xiao Jiu introduced his snacks and drinks, which Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en sampled and enjoyed.
• Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en agreed to copy Zhou Wanwan's snack business and try to ruin her shops.
• Xiao Jiu helped them open a decorated snack shop and offered to connect them with other suppliers from Jiangnan.
• Princess Jianing and Xie Cheng'en recruited wealthy friends to support the shop and prepared for its opening.
• The shop quickly attracted high-ranking officials and noble young ladies, and Princess Jianing watched Zhou Wanwan's business struggle across the street.

Xiao Jiu introduced nine wealthy Jiangnan merchants to Xie Cheng'en and Princess Jianing, who approved their goods and made them suppliers. After opening ten shops, Princess Jianing presented Noble Consort Ning with goods from the new businesses, while planning to bring Zhou Wanwan back from the cold palace.

• Xiao Jiu brought nine merchants' sons to meet Xie Cheng'en and Princess Jianing and described their trades.
• Xie Cheng'en's stewards inspected the merchants' goods, and Princess Jianing praised their quality and accepted a gift of gold ornaments.
• Xie Cheng'en and Princess Jianing signed agreements with the merchants and bought more than ten shops, opening them after rapid renovations.
• Princess Jianing told Noble Consort Ning that she and Xie Cheng'en had opened ten shops and that her snack shop was earning money.
• Princess Jianing presented Noble Consort Ning with luxury goods, ginseng, and snacks from the shops, and Noble Consort Ning asked if everything came from them.

Princess Jianing opened larger shops opposite Zhou Wanwan’s, and Noble Consort Ning ordered Zhou Wanwan to leave the Cold Palace. Zhou Wanwan reluctantly departed after arranging for the people and work she managed to be taken care of, then arrived at the market to find Princess Jianing boasting about her crowded shops.

• Princess Jianing and Noble Consort Ning agreed that Zhou Wanwan was no longer useful and decided she should leave the palace.
• Eunuch Hai told Zhou Wanwan that Noble Consort Ning had ordered her to leave the Cold Palace.
• Zhou Wanwan comforted the Cold Palace residents and arranged for their food, produce, books, and work to continue after her departure.
• Zhou Wanwan reassured the Imperial Household Department workers that she would protect them and collect their finished goods.
• Princess Jianing greeted Zhou Wanwan outside the Cold Palace and revealed that she had opened shops opposite Zhou Wanwan’s.
• Zhou Wanwan arrived at the market, where Princess Jianing showed off her larger, crowded shops and taunted her.

Zhou Wanwan discovered that Princess Jianing’s successful snack shop was secretly selling her own goods, then met with ministers who agreed it was too risky to rebel against Noble Consort Ning’s forces. The ministers departed, and the next morning the eldest princess urged Zhou Wanwan to eat more after noticing she had lost weight.

• Zhou Wanwan told her shopkeeper to attract ordinary customers with cheaper snacks while Princess Jianing pursued wealthy buyers.
• Xiao Jiu revealed that he and the mountain stronghold’s people were running Princess Jianing’s shop and selling Zhou Wanwan’s goods through Noble Consort Ning’s connections.
• Grand Tutor Zhao Muyuan and other ministers visited Zhou Wanwan, and they agreed that rebellion was premature because Noble Consort Ning commanded several million troops.
• Zhou Wanwan suspected Noble Consort Ning had summoned General Qin Shan and other officials to use them as cannon fodder, and she considered taking the imperial examination.
• The ministers returned to their homes, and the next morning the eldest princess urged Zhou Wanwan to eat more because she had lost weight.