Chapter Summaries

Zhou Wanwan defended her cosmetics as Princess Jianing promoted them at the empress dowager’s gathering, unaware that the empress dowager and Princess Jianing had joined forces with Noble Consort Ning. The grand princess was drugged and targeted by Yu Jingchen, but Zhou Wanwan’s friends rescued her and left her in a tree; the chapter ended as Princess Jianing and the others opened a room where Shangguan Wan'er claimed the grand princess was inside.

• Zhou Wanwan refused to challenge Princess Jianing’s cosmetics sales, while Shangguan Wan'er and several noble ladies criticized her products.
• The empress dowager revealed to Old Madam Zhou that she had gone into business with Princess Jianing and promised to issue a decree for her.
• The empress dowager kept the grand princess at the gathering, and Yu Jingchen later tried to force her to become his concubine.
• An unseen rescuer knocked Yu Jingchen down, neutralized the grand princess’s toxins, and carried her to a tree outside.
• Princess Jianing led the court ladies to a room after they heard suspicious noises, while Shangguan Wan'er warned Zhou Wanwan that her grandmother was inside.

Zhou Wanwan’s friend saved the Grand Princess from Yu Jingchen, while the Empress Dowager was left entangled in a scandal with him. After tending to the medicinal herb fields, Zhou Wanwan decided to plunder Princess Jing'an’s and Princess Ningyuan’s estates.

• Shangguan Wan'er told Zhou Wanwan that she would marry into the Zhou Family and force Shangguan Yun'er to marry a sixty-year-old man.
• Yu Jingchen was found with the Empress Dowager, who later wept over the scandal while Old Madam Zhou tried to comfort her.
• More than two hundred court ladies and over five hundred young ladies left the palace after witnessing the incident, and Princess Ningyuan and Princess Jing'an worried about the public shame.
• The Grand Princess thanked Zhou Wanwan’s friend for saving her from Yu Jingchen, and Zhou Wanwan assured her that the Empress Dowager would not die from the scandal.
• Zhou Wanwan inspected the medicinal herbs grown from Lingbao’s roots, then used spiritual power to accelerate their growth.
• Zhou Wanwan announced that she would next plunder Princess Jing'an’s and Princess Ningyuan’s estates.

Zhou Wanwan had Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan’s estates and businesses emptied overnight, leaving the princesses furious and the empress dowager demanding an investigation. The Court of Judicial Review found no clues, and its minister pressed Chen Ankang to identify the culprit, but Chen Ankang refused to point him anywhere.

• Zhou Wanwan’s people stripped the princesses’ estates, warehouses, shops, money houses, and grain shops of their goods and valuables.
• Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan returned from the palace and discovered their estates had been emptied, then both fainted in rage and shock.
• Old Madam Zhou visited the empress dowager, who accepted the situation and enjoyed the company of young men; the empress dowager rewarded her with gold, silver, and jewels.
• The empress dowager learned the princesses’ estates had been looted and ordered the minister of the Court of Judicial Review to investigate.
• The minister found no clues and asked Chen Ankang to point him toward the culprit, but Chen Ankang said there was no trace to follow.

The Empress Dowager’s investigators found no clues about the vanished estates, while Old Madam Zhou blamed Zhou Wanwan. After the Empress Dowager arranged marriages for several young women, Zhou Wanwan intercepted the edicts and secretly changed the matches, leaving the Yu Family outraged.

• The Brocade Guard, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, and the Censorate searched the estates but found no footprints or other clues, and the Empress Dowager received their report.
• Old Madam Zhou suggested Zhou Wanwan was behind the impossible disappearances, and the Empress Dowager recalled her strange success and influence.
• The Empress Dowager declared marriage arrangements for Su Zhixia, Feng Yueyao, and Shen Yunshu, prompting Zhou Wanwan to order the trees to intercept the edicts and arrange matches for Yu Yao, Yu Fei, and Yu Shu instead.
• The Old Ancestor changed the edicts, and the Yu Family erupted in anger when the new marriage arrangements reached them.
• Old Madam Zhou told Zhou Wanwan and the eldest princess that the Empress Dowager’s edict would soon arrive and claimed she had been promised equal treatment in the household.

The Empress Dowager’s marriage decrees unexpectedly matched the Yu family’s three daughters with Zhou Qingzhou, the Crown Prince, and a poor scholar, leaving the families furious and confused. Zhou Wanwan refused to give up her courtyard for the wedding unless Old Madam Zhou paid her.

• Old Madam Zhou taunted the Grand Princess and Zhou Wanwan, while Zhou Wanwan defended her right to decide who lived in her residence.
• A eunuch delivered a decree betrothing Yu Shu to Zhou Qingzhou, surprising Old Madam Zhou, who had expected Shen Yunshu to be named.
• Noble Consort Ning and Madam Yu confronted the Empress Dowager after the decrees paired the Yu daughters with unexpected suitors; the Empress Dowager could not explain why the names had changed.
• The Empress Dowager insisted the marriages would proceed and promised larger dowries and an official post for the poor scholar.
• Old Madam Zhou ordered Liu Su'e to clear Zhou Wanwan’s main courtyard for the wedding, but Zhou Wanwan demanded two thousand taels per night and threatened to expose Zhou Qingzhou’s dependence on her home.

Zhou Wanwan let Old Madam Zhou borrow her main courtyard for two thousand taels, while planning to claim the betrothal gifts brought into it. As the Yu Family’s three daughters’ wedding day arrived, Old Madam Zhou demanded money and property from Zhou Fusheng’s family, but he, Liu Su’e, and the grand princess refused to give her anything.

• Old Madam Zhou paid Zhou Wanwan two thousand taels to borrow her main courtyard, intending to benefit from Zhou Wanwan’s good luck, while Zhou Wanwan planned to claim the belongings brought there.
• Old Madam Zhou took the palace’s twenty-eight chests of betrothal gifts to the Yu Family, where Madam Yu insulted their contents and Old Madam Zhou argued back.
• The empress dowager questioned the decree that had granted the gifts, but her female official told her it was in her handwriting and advised her to stay quiet.
• On the wedding day of the Yu Family’s three daughters, Old Madam Zhou demanded five thousand taels from Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su’e, then asked for ten shops and ten estates instead.
• Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su’e claimed they had no money to give, and the grand princess also said she had nothing left to contribute.

Old Madam Zhou pressured the Grand Princess’s family into giving up their gold-plated jewelry, and Zhou Wanwan spread the story to expose how the Zhou family treated them. As Yu Shu’s wedding began, Old Madam Zhou demanded a fifty-table banquet, but Zhou Fusheng refused, and Liu Su'e reminded the gathered guests that they had already surrendered their jewelry.

• Old Madam Zhou persuaded Liu Su'e, the Grand Princess, and Zhou Wanwan to give her their jewelry for Zhou Qingzhou’s marriage, while promising not to ask them for silver.
• Zhou Wanwan arranged for news of the jewelry to spread, and Madam Yu and her daughters discussed Yu Shu’s marriage and plans to profit from Zhou Wanwan’s businesses.
• Yu Shu arrived at the Zhou home for her wedding, and Old Madam Zhou demanded the fifty-table banquet she claimed Zhou Fusheng had agreed to prepare.
• Zhou Fusheng denied agreeing to provide the banquet, and Qian Huihui knelt and begged him to save the wedding as guests criticized the family.
• Liu Su'e reminded everyone that she had given Old Madam Zhou her gold jewelry the day before after being promised there would be no further demands.

At Qian Huihui’s banquet, Zhou Wanwan refused to pay for the food and exposed Madam Tang for starving and exploiting her mother-in-law. She then turned Qian Huihui’s guilt trip back on her, but Old Madam Zhou challenged Zhou Wanwan’s claim that her business was struggling, prompting her to call for the account book.

• Qian Huihui asked Liu Su'e and Zhou Wanwan to arrange food for fifty banquet tables, but Liu Su'e refused to commit on Wanwan’s behalf.
• When Madam Tang criticized Zhou Wanwan as unfilial, Zhou Wanwan had Old Madam Tang brought in and called a doctor, who found that the old woman was malnourished and starving.
• Old Madam Tang drank the rice broth and demanded that Madam Tang return her estate, two shops, and house, which Madam Tang reluctantly did after Zhou Wanwan threatened to take the matter to court.
• Zhou Wanwan told Qian Huihui she could not afford the banquet because her food delivery business had no orders and she was struggling to pay her employees.
• Old Madam Zhou questioned Zhou Wanwan’s claimed expenses, and Zhou Wanwan asked Zheng Xing'an to bring the account book.

Zhou Wanwan refused to let Qian Huihui and Old Madam Zhou pressure her into paying for Zhou Qingzhou's wedding banquet. After the Xie Family quoted an exorbitant price for a last-minute order, Qian Huihui asked Zhou Wanwan to provide cheaper food, but Zhou Wanwan refused.

• Zhou Wanwan confronted Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui about repeatedly taking help from her family without offering anything in return.
• As the bride arrived, Qian Huihui begged Zhou Wanwan to arrange the banquet, but Zhou Wanwan refused and joked that she would pay only if the bride married her.
• After the wedding rites, Zhou Qingzhou blamed Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e for the banquet trouble, while Zhou Wanwan challenged him and Qian Huihui.
• Qian Huihui agreed to order fifty tables from the Xie Family, but Steward Xie said a last-minute order would cost eighty taels per table.
• Qian Huihui asked Zhou Wanwan to supply ten-tael tables instead, but Zhou Wanwan said her household had stopped work and refused.

Zhou Wanwan used the Xie Family’s kitchen and treefolk to fulfill Qian Huihui’s banquet order for a profit, then returned to the family courtyard. The next morning, Old Madam Zhou summoned Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e to welcome the new bride, where relatives mocked them and demanded Zhou Wanwan share her money.

• Qian Huihui paid the Xie Family to prepare a fifty-table banquet, and Zhou Wanwan earned 2,500 taels from the order.
• Zhou Wanwan told the Grand Princess that the relatives who had moved into their home would eventually support them and that she expected them to reveal their gold jewelry.
• The Grand Princess refused Old Madam Zhou’s tea-serving summons, and her female official slapped the maid who delivered it.
• Old Madam Zhou persuaded Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e to attend the bride’s welcome gathering, where Zhang Guilan taunted Liu Su'e about relying on her daughter.
• Zhou Wanwan answered Zhang Guilan by pointing out that her brothers and she were scholars, and Qian Huihui urged her to hand over her money for the male cousins.

Zhou Wanwan exposed the Zhou family’s hypocrisy over their gifts and revealed that their servants had left without making breakfast. Old Madam Zhou ordered Zhou Wanwan’s family to move to the side hall, while Zhou Wanwan questioned whether they truly meant to drive them out.

• Zhou Wanwan claimed bandits had stolen the money she was returning to her hometown, leaving her family poor.
• Old Madam Zhou welcomed Yu Shu with gold jewelry, and the family gave her gifts before Zhou Fusheng’s family presented a red envelope containing only 200 wen.
• Zhou Wanwan accused the Zhou family of giving Yu Shu jewelry they had taken from her family, but Zhou Qingzhou and Yu Shu dismissed her claims.
• At the dining hall, Zhou Wanwan explained that the servants had left over unpaid wages and said Yu Shu should prepare breakfast as the new bride.
• Yu Shu demanded that Zhou Wanwan’s family move to the side hall, and Old Madam Zhou ordered them to stay out of the main courtyard.

Zhou Wanwan moved her family into a lavish house next door and recreated courtyards suited to the Grand Princess and her parents. She left with Old Ancestor to watch Yu Shu confront Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui over the gold jewelry they had given her.

• Old Madam Zhou ordered a maid to make breakfast after Zhou Wanwan’s family left the main courtyard.
• Zhou Wanwan took Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e through a hidden door into a much grander neighboring house, revealing that she owned many properties.
• The Grand Princess recognized her restored courtyard and thanked Zhou Wanwan for recreating it with her favorite flowers and belongings.
• Liu Su'e found a vegetable garden, cats, and her dogs in her courtyard, while Zhou Fusheng worried about failing the provincial examination and being mocked as a peasant.
• Old Ancestor told Zhou Wanwan there was a spectacle next door, and she went with him to watch Yu Shu accuse Old Madam Zhou and Qian Huihui of giving her scrap-metal jewelry.

Yu Shu accused the Zhou family of humiliating her with fake jewelry and a vegetable-only dinner, then left with Zhou Qingzhou after he promised to buy her food. Zhou Wanwan returned to her family’s lavish dinner, where Dean Zhu warned that he would test her studies after the meal.

• Yu Shu called the Zhou family’s welcoming jewelry fake, and Old Madam Zhou gave her an imperial bracelet while Qian Huihui reluctantly added one of her own.
• The Zhou family served a table of vegetables, and Yu Shu left in anger after learning the household had no rice or cook.
• Zhou Qingzhou blamed Zhou Wanwan for the trouble and promised Yu Shu roast duck, roast chicken, and other favorite dishes.
• Zhou Wanwan went home to a lavish dinner with the Eldest Princess, Liu Su'e, Zhou Fusheng, and the others.
• Dean Zhu told Zhou Wanwan he would check whether she had memorized her assignments, and she admitted she had been busy with other projects.

Zhou Wanwan studied for the juren exam under Dean Zhu, who praised her preparation and promised more tutoring. Meanwhile, Yu Shu discovered that all fifty-eight chests of her dowry had vanished, and the Zhou family accused Zhou Wanwan before learning she no longer lived in their side courtyard.

• Dean Zhu ate with Zhou Wanwan’s family, dismissed rumors that she was impoverished, and tutored her in the study.
• Dean Zhu praised Zhou Wanwan’s knowledge, said she could pass the juren exam, and advised her to keep studying under her own name.
• Old Ancestor told Zhou Wanwan that he had moved Yu Shu’s dowry out of the neighboring house to keep Zhou Qingzhou from taking it.
• Yu Shu found her fifty-eight chests of dowry missing and demanded that Zhou Qingzhou return them.
• Old Madam Zhou accused Zhou Wanwan of stealing the dowry and urged the minister of the Court of Judicial Review to arrest her.
• Chen Ankang told Old Madam Zhou that Zhou Wanwan lived next door, not in the empty side courtyard.

Zhou Wanwan exposed that both houses belonged to her and challenged Old Madam Zhou’s accusation that she had stolen the dowry. At the palace, the empress dowager sided with Old Madam Zhou and declared Zhou Wanwan’s house a filial offering from Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e.

• Zhou Wanwan told the neighbors that her grandparents had taken over the house she lent them and presented a contract showing the house was hers.
• The minister’s subordinate confirmed that both houses were registered under Zhou Wanwan’s name, and the minister said this undermined Old Madam Zhou’s accusation about the stolen dowry.
• Old Madam Zhou went to the palace to appeal to the empress dowager, while Zhou Wanwan accompanied the grand princess to speak with the emperor.
• The grand princess argued to the emperor that Zhou Wanwan should not have to surrender her house, and the minister reported the dispute to him.
• The empress dowager rebuked the grand princess and declared Zhou Wanwan’s house Zhou Fusheng and Liu Su'e’s filial offering to Old Madam Zhou.

Zhou Wanwan let Old Madam Zhou take three houses while secretly moving everything out and settling the Grand Princess in a much grander residence. As the Grand Princess appreciated Wanwan’s care, several princesses arrived asking to see her.

• The empress dowager ordered Zhou Wanwan to give her houses to the Zhou Family, but the emperor stopped her from demanding more of the dowry.
• Old Madam Zhou took three houses, and Zhou Wanwan told her she could keep them while privately planning to take things slowly.
• Zhou Wanwan and the Grand Princess moved to an extravagant five-courtyard residence after Zhou Wanwan’s people emptied the houses they left behind.
• The Grand Princess praised Zhou Wanwan’s generosity and reflected on how much better her life had become.
• A steward announced that several princesses had come to see the Grand Princess.

The eldest princess and Zhou Wanwan faced ridicule from Princess Jing'an, Princess Ningyuan, and their companions, who believed the family was destitute. The visitors mocked the lavish courtyard and the all-green dinner table, while Princess Taiping stayed by the eldest princess's side.

• Princess Jing'an, Princess Ningyuan, and the other princesses visited the eldest princess, pretending to offer help while criticizing her fine furnishings and fragrant incense.
• The eldest princess revealed that dozens of servants attended her and credited Zhou Wanwan for arranging them; Zhou Wanwan then arrived and welcomed the visitors to dinner.
• Princess Jing'an and Princess Ningyuan mocked the Zhou Family's supposed poverty, and the eldest princess left with Princess Taiping as the others gossiped about the family.
• Zhou Wanwan led the group to a table of green dishes, prompting the princesses and noble ladies to laugh at the meal and question whether Xiao Zhiyu's family was related to the eldest princess.
• Princess Jing'an, Princess Ningyuan, and another princess criticized the food and suggested the eldest princess should accept their support.

Zhou Wanwan answered the princesses’ mockery by serving an extravagant feast and telling them about her rare rice, produce, herbs, and wines. Imperial Physician Liu and Imperial Physician Jiang examined the ingredients and confirmed that they differed from ordinary ones.

• The princesses mocked the Eldest Princess and Zhou Wanwan for their supposed poverty, while the Seventh Princess objected to their hostility.
• Zhou Wanwan ordered the food served, and the princesses were stunned by the lavish spread of rare seafood, game, and other dishes.
• The princesses praised the wines and offered to buy jars, while Zhou Wanwan explained that the rice was Dongshan Prefecture’s white jade rice.
• Zhou Wanwan claimed her organic vegetables, fruit, and medicinal herbs were healthful, prompting Princess Ningyuan to summon Imperial Physician Liu and Imperial Physician Jiang to verify them.
• Imperial Physician Liu and Imperial Physician Jiang examined the rice, vegetables, and herbs and said they differed from ordinary varieties.

Zhou Wanwan proved that Dongshan Prefecture’s produce was exceptionally pure and nutritious, then explained how she planned to profit from the publicity. Xiao Zhiyu brought the Eldest Princess news of the Xiao Family’s suffering, and the chapter ended as the clan prepared to fight their farm managers.

• Imperial Physician Jiang and Imperial Physician Liu tested Zhou Wanwan’s rice, vegetables, and herbs, and more than a dozen physicians confirmed their superior quality and health benefits.
• Zhou Wanwan told the Eldest Princess that word of Dongshan Prefecture’s life-prolonging rice would spread through the capital, drawing buyers to the goods only she controlled.
• Xiao Zhiyu told the Eldest Princess that the empress dowager’s family had forced the Xiao Family into hard labor and prevented its women from earning a living.
• The Eldest Princess, Zhou Wanwan, Zhou Fusheng, and Liu Su'e traveled with Xiao Zhiyu to the Xiao Family’s farm and witnessed a manager berating the clan.
• Xiao Jingyuan and the Xiao clanspeople lamented their abuse, then resolved to seize weapons and fight the farm managers.

Xiao Zhiyu returned with the Grand Princess and Zhou Wanwan, who offered the Xiao Family a new home and work managing her estates in Dongshan Prefecture. After sending them there, Zhou Wanwan discovered the Yu Family owned dozens of connected estates and began taking their crops, trees, fish, and animals, leaving the estate managers bewildered the next morning.

• The Xiao Family fought back against the estate guards, while unseen tree people disarmed and dragged the guards away; no Xiao Family members were hurt or missing.
• Xiao Zhiyu arrived with the Grand Princess, Zhou Fusheng, Liu Su'e, and Zhou Wanwan, and Xiao Jingyuan greeted the Grand Princess.
• The Grand Princess asked whether the Xiao Family would leave with her, and Zhou Wanwan offered them work managing her estates in Dongshan Prefecture.
• Zhou Wanwan gave the Xiao Family money and sent them toward Dongshan Prefecture in treehouses carried by tree people.
• After learning that the Yu Family owned dozens of connected estates, Zhou Wanwan took their crops, trees, fish, and animals.
• The estate managers woke to find the estates emptied, including their fruit trees, poultry, and dogs.