Chapter Summaries

Qin Changkong imprisoned General Qin, Old Madam Qin, and Zhou Wanwan in the Qin Clan’s side courtyard while Zhao Lili discovered that her iron mines had been stripped bare. The emperor of Great Qi learned that powerful wood-element spirits were behind the strange losses and sent Perfected Baoyi to investigate, but Baoyi discovered their master was a young child.

• Qin Changkong took General Qin and Zhou Wanwan to the Qin Residence and had them confined with Old Madam Qin in its side courtyard.
• Old Scholar Tree reported that Zhao Lili’s people found the iron mines empty, and Zhao Lili confronted the emperor of Great Qi about the missing ore.
• The emperor of Great Qi summoned ten officials from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, who divined that powerful wood-element spirits with a master in Great Qi were responsible.
• The emperor assigned Perfected Baoyi to investigate the spirits and gave him a carriage, guards, and a thousand taels of silver.
• Perfected Baoyi returned to his Daoist temple, complained that the payment was too small, and divined that the spirits’ master was a child only a few years old.

Zhou Wanwan took Qin Shuo out of the courtyard and showed him Madam Qin’s wedding preparations, where he learned that she planned to marry Darling Duan and that his children intended to drug him. After Old Ancestor revealed that Darling Duan was at a brothel, Zhou Wanwan went there to investigate.

• General Qin lamented his situation, and Zhou Wanwan reminded him that he was now her servant but could leave the courtyard if he wished.
• Zhou Wanwan had Old Scholar Tree carry her and Qin Shuo to the Qin residence, where she revealed that she was a former mountain king.
• Zhou Wanwan told Qin Shuo that Madam Qin would marry Darling Duan the next day, and he saw the residence decorated for the wedding.
• Qin Changfeng and Qin Changkong discussed secretly drugging their father, while Madam Qin celebrated her coming marriage and disparaged Qin Shuo.
• Old Ancestor said Madam Qin had paid for the wedding gifts with Qin Shuo’s rewards and claimed Darling Duan kept other women and was at a brothel.
• Zhou Wanwan asked Old Ancestor to take her to the brothel, and they arrived there with Qin Shuo.

Zhou Wanwan exposed Young Master Duan’s plans to marry Shen Yumei for her wealth, then helped Qin Shuo reclaim the Qin Clan’s property. The next morning, Shen Yumei found her household stripped bare and scrambled to prepare for the wedding.

• Zhou Wanwan and General Qin overheard Young Master Duan boast that he would marry Shen Yumei for her fortune, bring three freed courtesans into his household, and divorce Shen Yumei if she objected.
• Zhou Wanwan and Qin Shuo visited a former Qin residence now occupied by Young Master Duan, where Qin Shuo recognized his war spoils in the storerooms and Zhou Wanwan declared that she would take everything belonging to the Qin Clan.
• The Old Scholar Tree prepared an elaborate seafood breakfast for Zhou Wanwan and Qin Shuo, while Old Madam Qin lamented their situation.
• Shen Yumei discovered that her betrothal gifts, wedding clothes, jewelry, and household storerooms had vanished, and Qin Shuang found her own belongings gone as well.
• Shen Yumei ordered the steward to summon the authorities, then arranged an urgent delivery of replacement wedding items from Zhou Wanwan’s store.

Madam Qin prepared for her wedding to Duan Beishan while Zhou Wanwan and Qin Shuo watched the chaotic ceremony and its aftermath. Zhou Wanwan bet that the newlyweds would turn against each other within a month.

• Madam Qin ordered the wedding supplies delivered quickly, while Duan Beishan woke to find his home and wedding clothes missing and several women beside him.
• Duan Beishan rode to the Qin Clan home in his old clothes, where Shen Yumei questioned him about the women and he claimed someone had taken his house and sent them to him.
• Duan Beishan and Shen Yumei held their wedding at the Qin Clan home, despite the guests gossiping and Old Madam Duan criticizing Shen Yumei's age.
• Qin Changkong's wife and Qin Changfeng's wife urged Shen Yumei to live elsewhere, and Shen Yumei said she owned plenty of houses.
• After Shen Yumei and Duan Beishan spent time together, Qin Shuo called them adulterers, and Zhou Wanwan bet they would quarrel within a month.

Shen Yumei discovered that her home and all the goods in her shops had vanished overnight, while Shen Tao refused Qin Shuang’s demand for money. Qin Shuang’s children rejected her, and Shen Tao agreed to take Shen Miaomiao in after her fiancé broke off their engagement.

• Shen Yumei’s managers reported that everything in her shops, including the valuable jewelry, had disappeared, and she called for the county magistrate.
• Shen Tao arrived to investigate, urged Shen Yumei to let Zhou Wanwan go, and mocked her nephew when she defended him.
• Qin Shuang demanded ten thousand taels from Shen Tao, but he refused and reminded her that she had betrayed him.
• Qin Shuang’s sons announced they would live independently, and Shen Miaomiao blamed Qin Shuang for ruining her reputation and engagement.
• Shen Miaomiao told Shen Tao that the Ye Family had ended her engagement, and he agreed to take her home and buy her a residence.

Shen Miaomiao proposed marrying Shen Tao after learning he was not her real father, while Zhou Wanwan showed Qin Shuo an astonishing collection of military command tokens. At the Shen family gathering, Shen Zhao asked Shen Yumei to give him Zhou Wanwan so he could train her as his attendant.

• Shen Miaomiao chased Shen Tao and said she wanted to marry him as compensation for her ruined marriage, but he rejected her proposal.
• Zhou Wanwan showed Qin Shuo several tokens and staffs that could authorize someone to command troops, leaving him stunned.
• Qin Shuo and Zhou Wanwan went to the front hall at Old Madam Qin's request, where Shen Yumei revealed she had married Duan Beishan.
• Qin Shuo traded insults with Shen Yumei and Duan Beishan, while Shen Yumei threatened to make him and Zhou Wanwan cultivate land and eat wild greens.
• Old Master Shen and Shen Zhao arrived, and Shen Zhao asked Shen Yumei to give Zhou Wanwan to him so he could train her as his attendant.

Zhou Wanwan went with Shen Zhao to the Shen Clan after a teacup exploded in his face, leaving him scarred but unharmed. There, she learned Shen Yumei had lost her property and supplies, and settled in to enjoy the Shen Clan’s hospitality while waiting for the trouble to unfold.

• Shen Zhao tried to throw boiling tea at Zhou Wanwan, but the cup exploded in his face and left scars.
• Shen Yumei suspected Zhou Wanwan had caused the accident, but Zhou Wanwan denied doing anything.
• Shen Yumei told Old Master Shen that her houses, shops, and storeroom goods had vanished, and he advised her to find whoever was responsible and make amends.
• Shen Zhao took Zhou Wanwan to the Shen Clan and declared her his personal maid, then gave her a gold ingot when she said the kitchen lacked food and supplies.
• Zhou Wanwan’s tree companions cooked a lavish meal, and she asked them to send some to Old Madam Qin and Qin Shuo.

Zhou Wanwan cooked for Shen Zhao, but when he tried to strangle her, his fingers broke under mysterious circumstances. After the Shen family tried to punish her, their own dogs and rebounding stones injured them, while Zhou Wanwan remained unharmed.

• Zhou Wanwan served Shen Zhao a meal and offered to cook for him again in exchange for silver.
• Shen Zhao threatened Zhou Wanwan and grabbed her by the neck, but his fingers suddenly broke one by one.
• Old Master Shen ordered Zhou Wanwan locked in the dog cage, but the dogs attacked Madam Shen when she entered the courtyard.
• Shen Zhao accused Zhou Wanwan of letting the dogs loose and ordered servants to throw stones at her.
• The stones bounced back and struck the servants in the heads, killing them as Zhou Wanwan sat safely on the wall.

Zhou Wanwan escaped Shen Zhao’s attempt to imprison her, while Perfected Baoyi arrived to investigate the strange events at the Shen household. That night, the trees stripped the Shen Clan’s storeroom of its treasures, and the next morning the Shen family found themselves locked in a dog cage.

• Shen Zhao ordered his guards to seize Zhou Wanwan, but they repeatedly fell before they could reach her.
• Old Master Shen had Zhou Wanwan locked in the woodshed and invited Perfected Baoyi, a Daoist from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, to investigate the household’s strange misfortunes.
• Perfected Baoyi accepted a thousand-tael deposit and planned to search for the spirits the next day, while Zhou Wanwan and Old Scholar Tree inspected the Shen Clan’s storeroom.
• Zhou Wanwan admired the storeroom’s riches, and several thousand trees stripped it bare overnight.
• Old Master Shen, Shen Zhao, and Old Madam Shen woke up trapped together in Shen Zhao’s dog cage.

Perfected Baoyi and his disciples found the Shen Clan locked in dog cages after the mountain god’s visit, and Baoyi told Old Master Shen to stop cutting trees and sell the mountain estates. As guards inexplicably turned on one another, Zhou Wanwan charged Baoyi for breakfast and refused to share with Shen Zhao, leaving the Shen Clan to face the consequences of its hunger and mountain dealings.

• Perfected Baoyi woke at the Shen residence, discovered his belongings were missing, and found the Shen Clan members locked in dog cages.
• Baoyi freed the Shen Clan and told Old Master Shen that the mountain god wanted them to stop cutting trees and sell their mountain estates.
• Shen Zhao ordered guards to seize Zhou Wanwan, but the guards suddenly attacked one another while Zhou sat nearby.
• Zhou Wanwan charged Baoyi two taels for a lavish delivered breakfast, and he paid before enjoying the food.
• Shen Zhao asked Zhou Wanwan to give him her breakfast, but she refused unless he paid her.

Zhou Wanwan ate a lavish seafood feast with the trees while the Shen Clan struggled with missing food, fleeing cooks, and its dwindling wealth. The chapter left the Shen family waiting for a meal and Shen Zhao asking what Zhou Wanwan had cooked.

• Zhou Wanwan refused to share her breakfast with Shen Zhao, and Perfected Baoyi persuaded Old Master Shen to exchange thirty thousand taels in banknotes for gold to appease the mountain god.
• Perfected Baoyi secretly stashed the gold in a cave, then accepted another five thousand taels from Old Master Shen after the Shen estates sold for a steep loss.
• Old Madam Shen planned a large birthday celebration, but her steward reported that food had gone missing and several cooks had quit.
• Old Madam Shen drove Zhou Wanwan away after she suggested ordering food, and Shen Zhao then asked her to cook for him despite having no money.
• Zhou Wanwan had Old Ancestor and the trees prepare an elaborate seafood feast, which she enjoyed while the Shen Clan waited for its elderly cook to make lunch.

Zhou Wanwan’s strange luck frightened the Shen family into treating her generously, while Shen Zhao grew angrier at her. As Zhou Wanwan tried to rest, Old Scholar Tree warned that Shen Zhao planned to throw firecrackers into her room.

• Shen Zhao confronted Zhou Wanwan about the burnt vegetables, and she claimed people who treated her well received good luck.
• When Shen Zhao ordered servants to force Zhou Wanwan to kneel, they fell down instead, and several later slapped Perfected Baoyi.
• Perfected Baoyi warned Old Master Shen that Zhou Wanwan brought good fortune to those who treated her well and bad luck to those who mistreated her.
• Old Master Shen offered Zhou Wanwan servants and silver, while Shen Zhao and his brothers argued over her and the vanished Shen house.
• Old Scholar Tree told Zhou Wanwan that Shen Zhao had bought firecrackers and planned to throw them into her room while she slept.

Shen Zhao and his companions were injured by exploding firecrackers, and Zhou Wanwan escaped Old Madam Shen’s attempt to attack her before letting her drown briefly in the river. After Old Madam Shen reneged on her promise to hand over her money, the Old Scholar Tree sent her and Shen Zhao adrift at sea, where sharks approached them as Zhou Wanwan relaxed nearby.

• Shen Zhao and his companions were hurt when the firecrackers they brought to Zhou Wanwan’s room exploded, and Old Madam Shen blamed Zhou Wanwan.
• Zhou Wanwan evaded Old Madam Shen and let her fall into the river, then had the Old Scholar Tree pull her ashore after she promised to give Zhou Wanwan all her money.
• Perfected Baoyi discovered that the thirty thousand taels of silver had vanished, and Old Madam Shen denied promising Zhou Wanwan her money.
• The Old Scholar Tree tied Old Madam Shen and Shen Zhao to a door panel and sent them out to sea.
• Old Madam Shen and Shen Zhao woke adrift at sea and panicked when several enormous sharks approached, while Zhou Wanwan rested on the Old Scholar Tree and watched.

Shen Zhao and Old Madam Shen were rescued from the sea by pirates, but had to sell themselves to survive and were threatened into handing over their property. Back at the Shen residence, Old Master Shen gave Zhou Wanwan an estate to persuade her to leave, and she accepted it as the Shen family fled.

• Shen Zhao and Old Madam Shen drifted at sea for a day and a night before pirates offered to rescue them in exchange for a contract.
• Shen Zhao agreed to sell himself, and Old Madam Shen followed; the pirates fed them, dropped them near port, and ordered them to prepare their assets for collection.
• Back at the Shen residence, Old Madam Shen blamed Zhou Wanwan for their ordeal, while Zhou Wanwan denied responsibility and said she could not bear to leave the family.
• Old Master Shen offered Zhou Wanwan an estate and took her to see it, hoping to get her away from the Shen residence.
• Zhou Wanwan accepted the estate deed, the three members of the Shen Clan ran off, and Perfected Baoyi asked how she had managed it.

Zhou Wanwan accepted Perfected Baoyi and his two disciples into her service, then sent him to the Great Qi palace with Zhao Lili’s daughter, Yinyin, as a false spirit-controller. Consort Li ordered the girl beaten, only to discover Yinyin was her own daughter.

• Perfected Baoyi admitted he wanted to join Zhou Wanwan, and he and his two disciples signed contracts of servitude.
• Zhou Wanwan gave the group thirty thousand taels of silver and told Perfected Baoyi to present Zhao Lili’s daughter as the person behind the spirits.
• Perfected Baoyi brought Yinyin to the emperor of Great Qi, who questioned her about controlling spirits.
• Consort Li ordered Yinyin beaten, then recognized her daughter when the girl collapsed and called for an imperial physician.
• Yinyin woke up and cried out to Consort Li that she was hurt, while Perfected Baoyi had already fled.

Noble Consort Li’s daughter Yinyin was accepted as a princess by the emperor of Great Qi, while Zhou Wanwan learned about their situation and visited Shen Tao. After Shen Miaomiao rejected her mother’s plan to marry her to a fool and severed their relationship, Shen Bin arrived to support her.

• The emperor of Great Qi declared Yinyin his twentieth princess and rewarded Noble Consort Li, while Perfected Baoyi was promoted after claiming he had recognized the child as a lucky star.
• Zhou Wanwan and Old Scholar Tree discussed their looting of the Qin and Shen clans, then went to see Shen Tao after hearing Shen Miaomiao was pursuing him.
• Shen Miaomiao declared Zhou Wanwan her master and asked her to help persuade Shen Tao to marry her, but Shen Tao refused because he had raised her as his daughter.
• Zhou Wanwan told Shen Tao that Qin Shuang had betrothed Shen Miaomiao to Nie Jingshen, a fool, in exchange for generous gifts, and Shen Tao took her to confront Qin Shuang.
• Shen Miaomiao rejected the marriage, accused Qin Shuang of neglecting her, and declared their mother-daughter bond severed after transferring her household registration to Shen Bin’s household.
• Qin Shuang tried to keep Shen Miaomiao at home, but Shen Bin arrived and said she would not marry Nie Jingshen because her household registration was with him.

Qin Shuang and Jiang Ce seized Shen Miaomiao’s home and property and locked her up, planning to force her into marriage to a fool. Zhou Wanwan secretly reached Shen Miaomiao and told her to stay put so she could see how Shen Tao felt, leaving Shen Miaomiao worried that he would not come for her.

• Shen Bin and Shen Miaomiao rejected Qin Shuang’s blame and defended Shen Tao, while Qin Shuang and Jiang Ce plotted to claim the children’s assets through the Jiang clan.
• Jiang Ce and Qin Shuang brought more than a hundred Jiang Family members to Shen Miaomiao’s home and declared she would marry a fool because the betrothal gifts had been accepted.
• Qin Shuang slapped Shen Miaomiao, ordered her restrained, and had her locked in a woodshed until the wedding.
• Qin Shuang and Jiang Ce discussed taking Shen Miaomiao’s property and extorting money from Shen Tao if he tried to rescue her.
• Zhou Wanwan climbed into the woodshed, refused to free Shen Miaomiao, and reassured her that Shen Tao would come if he knew she was imprisoned.

Zhou Wanwan uncovered the Jiang Lineage’s fortune, which had been amassed by swindling women, and took its valuables and property. After learning that the family’s stolen treasures were hidden on an island, she set off for the coast with plants that knew the way.

• Shen Miaomiao told Zhou Wanwan that the Jiang Family had once been sea bandits and owned a vast island with treasure and a mine.
• Zhou Wanwan and Old Scholar Tree overheard the Jiang Lineage boasting about the women they had swindled and the property they planned to seize from Shen Miaomiao.
• Old Scholar Tree found a hidden basement beneath the ancestral hall filled with valuables and records of hundreds of shops and more than eighty estates, and Zhou Wanwan ordered everything taken.
• Zhou Wanwan gave the village trees spiritual power so they could walk, and an ancient ginkgo tree revealed that the Jiang Family’s goods had been hidden on an island.
• Zhou Wanwan gathered Old Scholar Tree, Old Ancestor, the ginkgo, and spice plants that knew the route, then hurried toward the coast.

Zhou Wanwan explored an island and discovered thousands of imprisoned workers, then learned Shen Miaomiao had been taken by the Jiang Family. Qin Shuang and Shen Yumei demanded five hundred thousand taels from Shen Tao to ransom her, threatening to send her to the Nie Family the next morning.

• The Old Scholar Tree and Old Ancestor helped Zhou Wanwan reach an island filled with luxurious wooden houses and hidden treasure.
• Zhou Wanwan discovered tens of thousands of people imprisoned on the island and decided not to act without more people.
• Shen Tao told Zhou Wanwan that Shen Miaomiao had been locked up by the Jiang Family, but Zhou Wanwan insisted on eating breakfast before discussing it.
• Shen Tao admitted he might marry Shen Miaomiao, and Zhou Wanwan urged him to think carefully about his feelings before making a decision.
• Zhou Wanwan left for Yanmen Pass, while Shen Tao confronted Qin Shuang and Shen Bin about Shen Miaomiao's disappearance.
• Qin Shuang and Shen Yumei demanded five hundred thousand taels from Shen Tao, or they would send Shen Miaomiao to the Nie Family the next morning.

Shen Miaomiao stayed at the Jiang estate while Zhou Wanwan discussed her feelings for Shen Tao with her. After discovering their village and possessions had been stolen, the Jiang Family planned to use Shen Miaomiao’s marriage to the Nie Family to rob them, but the chapter left off as the Nie Family arrived with betrothal gifts.

• Shen Tao searched for Shen Miaomiao with Shen Bin and Shen Yi, while Shen Yi suggested waiting at the Nie Family home.
• At the Jiang estate, Shen Miaomiao told Zhou Wanwan she admired Shen Tao’s sense of responsibility and resented her mother; Zhou Wanwan said Shen Tao might fear public gossip about their former father-daughter relationship.
• The Jiang Lineage patriarch and Jiang Ce discovered their village, ancestral hall, estate, shops, and even trees had been stripped away.
• The Jiang Lineage patriarch proposed staying at the Nie estate and taking the Nie Family’s possessions to replace what they had lost.
• The Jiang Lineage patriarch and Jiang Ce explained the Jiang Lineage’s scheme of profiting from marriages and children fathered outside formal marriages, which nearby trees overheard and planned to report to Zhou Wanwan.
• Jiang Ce tried to reassure Shen Miaomiao that the Jiang Lineage would protect her after she married into the Nie Family, and someone announced that the Nie Family had arrived with betrothal gifts.