Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xu secretly tried to leave the governor’s residence to seek help from the prince’s household, but Wu Zhenhai caught and abducted her. As he rode away with her bound across his horse, she decided to claim she was the prince’s woman and use the prince’s residence to escape.

• Zhou Xu slipped out of her courtyard and persuaded a guard to help her pass through the governor’s residence, rewarding him with money and promises.
• After the guard helped Zhou Xu over the wall, she headed toward the prince’s residence and sensed someone following her.
• Wu Zhenhai seized Zhou Xu, tied her hands with a horsewhip, and threw her across his horse.
• Worried Wu Zhenhai might turn her over to the Zhou Family and endanger her aunt, Zhou Xu decided to claim she belonged to the prince and seek the princess consort’s protection.

Wu Zhenhai confronted Zhou Xu after discovering she had been intimate with several guards, but her brazen flirtation kept throwing him off balance. He demanded an explanation, and the chapter ended with him trying to hold back his desire and insisting she answer him.

• Wu Guang told Wu Zhenhai that Zhou Xu had been involved with guards, including Gao Dasheng, who had spied on her tryst and was later seduced by her.
• Wu Guang named more guards involved with Zhou Xu, and Wu Zhenhai secretly watched her behave intimately with one of them.
• Wu Zhenhai took Zhou Xu to a private residence, bound her hands, and demanded that she explain herself.
• Zhou Xu feigned innocence and teased Wu Zhenhai, then admitted she had no shame about their relationship and implied he had benefited from her affairs.
• Wu Zhenhai fought his desire for Zhou Xu and struck the bed with a feather duster, demanding an explanation.

Zhou Xu taunted Wu Zhenhai and tried to persuade him to marry her by presenting herself as helpless and devoted, then exposed his jealousy over her supposed lovers. The chapter ended with Wu Zhenhai silently untying the riding whip from behind her back.

• Zhou Xu teased Wu Zhenhai about his sexual prowess and asked whether he would marry her.
• Wu Zhenhai admitted he would think of a way but worried that marrying her would ruin his standing with the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Xu pretended to confess that she loved Wu Zhenhai and had been forced to use her body to survive, then admitted she had lied.
• Wu Zhenhai demanded to know how many men Zhou Xu had been with, and she gave him a mocking answer.
• Zhou Xu challenged Wu Zhenhai to let others sleep with her, and he stepped forward to untie the riding whip behind her back.

Zhou Xu talked Wu Zhenhai into helping her after claiming that Concubine Yu had been taken to the Prince of Jin's residence. Wu Zhenhai promised to find Concubine Yu and began considering how Zhou Xu could visit the prince's residence.

• Zhou Xu teased Wu Zhenhai after they were intimate, while Wu Guang waited outside and grew frustrated that she had won him over again.
• Wu Zhenhai scolded Zhou Xu for flirting with other men and ordered her to come to him if she encountered trouble.
• Zhou Xu told Wu Zhenhai that Concubine Yu was missing and that a maid had reported people from the prince's residence taking her away.
• Wu Zhenhai promised to find Concubine Yu, and Zhou Xu asked whether she could go to the prince's residence to investigate.

Zhou Xu pressed Wu Zhenhai to help her enter the Prince of Jin’s residence and find her aunt. Wu Zhenhai finally proposed that she tell the prince about Zhang Qian’s efforts to turn the governor-general against him.

• Wu Zhenhai warned Zhou Xu that her past actions made it difficult to enter the prince’s residence, but said the princess consort might be willing to help.
• Zhou Xu asked Wu Zhenhai to devise an excuse for visiting her aunt, and they considered why the prince’s household might have taken her in.
• Zhou Xu threatened to approach the prince’s residence through an affair with a guard unless Wu Zhenhai found a way to help.
• Wu Zhenhai told Zhou Xu to inform the Prince of Jin that Zhang Qian kept urging the governor-general to oppose him, and to recount the details accurately.

Zhou Xu brought Zhang Qian’s schemes against the Prince of Jin to Tang Zhuyun, then visited Concubine Yu and found her acting strangely about leaving the prince’s residence. Concubine Yu begged to go home, and Zhou Xu resolved to keep her there while discovering why she feared the residence.

• Wu Zhenhai carried Zhou Xu back to her courtyard and gave her a thousand taels of silver before she went to the prince’s residence the next day.
• Zhou Xu told Tang Zhuyun what Wu Zhenhai had revealed about Zhang Qian, and Tang Zhuyun sent Xiu'er to inform the Prince of Jin.
• Yanran brought Tang Zhuyun a dead koi and asked to eat it, but Tang Zhuyun told her to bury it and refused to increase her allowance.
• Zhou Xu saw Concubine Yu smiling as she spoke with Nanny Jing, but Concubine Yu became agitated when she noticed Zhou Xu and begged to go home.
• Zhou Xu told Concubine Yu to stay and recover, then decided to find out why Concubine Yu opposed staying at the prince’s residence.

Zhou Xu pleaded with Concubine Yu to stay after revealing that the Zhou Family planned to marry her to an abusive peasant, and Linlin began investigating their ties to Wu Zhenhai. After Concubine Yu tried to hang herself, Tang Zhuyun recognized something familiar in her expression, leaving her and Linlin suspicious of who Concubine Yu really was.

• Zhou Xu showed Concubine Yu the marks on her wrists and told her the Zhou Family wanted to marry her to a cruel peasant.
• Tang Zhuyun told Linlin about Zhou Xu and Wu Zhenhai, and Linlin said he would visit Concubine Yu to learn whether she was truly mad or had another motive.
• Tang Zhuyun, Xiu'er, Linlin, and Yanran ate grilled koi before they were summoned because Concubine Yu had tried to hang herself.
• Concubine Yu survived but withdrew into silence, believing that her death might free Zhou Xu from the burden of caring for her.
• When Concubine Yu looked up at Linlin, he sensed something unusual, and Tang Zhuyun recognized a familiar expression in her face.

Tang Zhuyun grew more suspicious that Concubine Yu was Bai Lu and arranged for Zhou Xu to be brought to the residence while treating Concubine Yu with care. Concubine Yu protected Tang Zhuyun and the children from Jiaojiao, and the family ended the tense visit laughing together.

• Tang Zhuyun arranged for Zhou Xu to be summoned under the pretext of questioning her about a missing pomegranate, while Linlin comforted Concubine Yu and helped her sit.
• Tang Zhuyun wondered whether Concubine Yu was Bai Lu and kept her suspicions to herself while Nanny Jing applied ointment to Concubine Yu's neck.
• Yanran whistled for Jiaojiao, and Concubine Yu rushed to shield Tang Zhuyun and the children when she saw the tiger.
• Linlin reassured Concubine Yu that Jiaojiao was tame, and Tang Zhuyun excused Yanran from copying the Classic of Poetry after Concubine Yu spoke up for her.
• Yanran offered to let Concubine Yu stroke Jiaojiao, and Xiu'er joked that Yanran kept offering the tiger's backside to people.

Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er suspected Concubine Yu might be Bai Lu, while Zhou Xu confronted her mother over her attempt to die and persuaded her to promise she would live. After Tang Zhuyun agreed to look after Concubine Yu, Zhou Xu resolved to keep trying to turn Wu Zhenhai against the Zhou Family and prove useful.

• Yanran let Concubine Yu touch Jiaojiao, and Tang Zhuyun privately remarked on Yanran's silliness.
• Tang Zhuyun told Xiu'er that Concubine Yu sometimes resembled Yanran and suspected she might be Bai Lu, then asked her to investigate Concubine Yu's age and when she joined the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Xu arrived, put a dagger in Concubine Yu's hand, and told her they would die together if she tried to kill herself again.
• Zhou Xu rebuked Concubine Yu for thinking her death would spare her daughter, and Concubine Yu promised she would stop trying to die.
• Tang Zhuyun gave Concubine Yu calming medicine and agreed to have her cared for, while Zhou Xu resolved to keep trying to turn Wu Zhenhai and the Zhou Family against each other.

Tang Zhuyun and Linlin planned to investigate whether Zhou Xu was Concubine Yu’s daughter without alerting the prince or the Zhou Family. Meanwhile, Zhou Xu used her relationship with Wu Zhenhai to seek comfort after being punished, leaving him worried about her bruised knee.

• Tang Zhuyun agreed that Linlin would sound out Concubine Yu and keep the prince uninformed until the truth was known.
• Linlin suggested using the Zhou Family’s spring outing to investigate, and Tang Zhuyun assigned Xiu'er and Yanran to make contact.
• After Concubine Yu tried to take her own life, Zhou Xu decided she had little time and needed to hurry.
• Zhou Xu summoned Wu Zhenhai to her bedchamber and teased him into sleeping with her.
• Wu Zhenhai noticed Zhou Xu’s bruised, swollen knee and learned she had been made to kneel for four hours.
• Zhou Xu asked Wu Zhenhai to make clear-broth noodles, and he reluctantly gave in to her request.

Wu Zhenhai returned to Zhou Xu’s room with noodles, and their teasing turned to Zhou Xu’s forced marriage plans and his growing determination to intervene. He told her to attend an upcoming spring outing and promised to settle the Zhou Family’s scheme, then asked her for help.

• Wu Zhenhai came back to Zhou Xu’s room, woke her, and gave her a bowl of noodles he had made.
• Zhou Xu told Wu Zhenhai that the Zhou Family might marry her off and that she would accept whoever her mother and the other woman chose.
• Zhou Xu said she would make trouble or even butcher her husband’s family if they mistreated her.
• Zhou Xu revealed that the mother and daughter planned to use her to test the princess consort before arranging her marriage to anyone.
• Wu Zhenhai grew angry at the marriage plan, told Zhou Xu to attend an upcoming spring outing, and promised to settle the matter soon.
• Wu Zhenhai asked Zhou Xu to help him with something, and she told him to get on his knees and ask.

Wu Zhenhai asked Zhou Xu to watch over his daughter Wu Chanjuan, who was facing pressure from the Che Family because she had not conceived. At the spring outing, Zhou Xu provoked Old Madam Zhou and Xiu'er before being taken away, while Yanran and Xiu'er prepared to carry out their own plan.

• Wu Zhenhai asked Zhou Xu to observe Wu Chanjuan and find out whether the Che Family was mistreating her.
• Zhou Xu decided to wait and see how Wu Chanjuan was coping before interfering.
• The Prince of Jin brought his family to the spring outing and escorted Tang Zhuyun to the women’s gathering.
• Zhou Xu challenged Old Madam Zhou’s remarks about Tang Zhuyun’s pregnancy, prompting Xiu'er to trade barbs with her.
• Zhou Fu tried to smooth things over, but Old Madam Zhou ordered Zhou Xu taken away.
• Yanran promised to teach the others a lesson, and Xiu'er reminded her to follow their plan.

Tang Zhuyun and the others attended a Zhou Family outing where Zhou Fu tried to impress the Prince of Jin, while Yanran suspected the family had interfered with Linlin’s performance. The outing turned dangerous when roaming bandits abducted a woman, and the Prince of Jin rushed back to Tang Zhuyun with Linlin.

• Yanran played with the other girls while Xiu'er discreetly questioned the Zhou Family's maids, and Old Madam Zhou offered Tang Zhuyun servants from the border city.
• Zhou Fu resented her grandmother and arranged a disturbance so she could show off her riding and archery skills before the Prince of Jin.
• Yanran returned upset that Linlin had performed only averagely, and she and Xiu'er told Tang Zhuyun they had uncovered something about Concubine Yu.
• An arrow flew near the gathering, prompting Zhou Fu to head toward the commotion, but the Prince of Jin arrived carrying Linlin on horseback.
• The Prince of Jin told Tang Zhuyun that roaming bandits had abducted one of the women.

During a bandit attack at the spring outing, Zhou Xu was abducted, and Tang Zhuyun insisted that the Prince of Jin go rescue her. The Prince of Jin rode out with Wu Zhenhai, while Xiu'er suspected Wu Zhenhai had been stalling.

• Tang Zhuyun grew alarmed when the group discovered that someone had been taken, and the Prince of Jin said Wu Zhenhai was leading the defenses.
• Tang Zhuyun recognized Wu Zhenhai as a handsome man and watched him answer the Prince of Jin for the confusion.
• Zhou Fu cried out that Zhou Xu had been abducted, and Wu Zhenhai confirmed it.
• Tang Zhuyun urged the Prince of Jin to rescue Zhou Xu, insisting he treat it as if he were saving her.
• The Prince of Jin left with several dozen men alongside Wu Zhenhai, and Xiu'er accused Wu Zhenhai of stalling rather than wanting to save Zhou Xu.

Tang Zhuyun and her family returned to the prince's residence after Zhou Xu was abducted, and Linlin proposed telling Concubine Yu about the danger to draw out the truth. Tang Zhuyun suspected the incident was a secret kidnapping connected to Wu Zhenhai.

• Tang Zhuyun, Linlin, and the others returned safely to the prince's residence after the strange bandit attack.
• Xiu'er reported that Zhou Yushan and Madam Zhou had abused Concubine Yu, causing her to miscarry twice, while Yanran said Zhou Xu had always been treated badly by the Zhou Family.
• Xiu'er suggested Zhou Fu might have followed the Prince of Jin after seeing him visit Zhou Xu, because she had taken a fancy to him.
• Linlin proposed telling Concubine Yu that Zhou Xu was in danger, reasoning that she might reveal her identity to persuade the Prince of Jin to save her daughter.
• Linlin admitted he had deliberately lost the riding and archery contest to encourage the Zhou Family's arrogance, and Tang Zhuyun suspected the bandits had secretly abducted someone rather than staged a robbery.

Tang Zhuyun learned that Concubine Yu was Bai Lu, the prince’s long-lost birth mother, and that Zhou Xu was her daughter by Zhou Yushan. As the prince went to rescue Zhou Xu, Concubine Yu revealed how Xiao Wu and Zhou Yushan had tormented her, while Zhou Xu remained bound in a carriage and feared she might die before the Zhou Family fell.

• Tang Zhuyun and the others considered why Wu Zhenhai might want to marry Zhou Xu, then returned to the residence to question Concubine Yu.
• Linlin spoke privately with Concubine Yu, who ran out in tears and begged Tang Zhuyun to save Zhou Xu.
• Concubine Yu confessed that she was Bai Lu, the prince’s birth mother, and that Zhou Xu was her daughter by Zhou Yushan.
• Concubine Yu explained that Xiao Wu had given her to Zhou Yushan, who abused her to curry favor with Xiao Wu and vent his own feelings.
• Xiu'er grew furious after overhearing Concubine Yu’s story, while Linlin promised that they would not let her suffer again.
• Zhou Xu, still bound in a carriage, searched for a way to escape and worried she would die before seeing the Zhou Family fall.

After Zhou Xu was abducted from a spring outing and taken into the mountains, she tried to seduce her captors to create a chance to escape. She remained bound and blindfolded as a second man threatened her.

• Zhou Xu woke in a moving carriage after being knocked unconscious and suspected someone had helped the kidnappers seize her.
• The carriage carried Zhou Xu into a deserted mountain area, where a large man took her into a forest hollow.
• Zhou Xu pretended to be ill and tried to seduce the man, but strange birdcalls prompted him to gag her and leave.
• The man returned, covered Zhou Xu's eyes, and later groped her chest; Zhou Xu resumed her attempt to charm him.
• A different man slapped Zhou Xu, ordered her to be quiet, and seized her by the throat when she kept speaking.

Zhou Xu endured a staged kidnapping and believed an unknown man was assaulting her, until she recognized Wu Zhenhai and attacked him. Wu Zhenhai revealed that he planned to claim he had rescued her from bandits and marry her, leaving Zhou Xu furious but trapped by his scheme.

• The man freed Zhou Xu's upper body but kept her legs bound and ordered her to slap herself.
• Zhou Xu tried to learn who had abducted her, and the man named Wu Zhenhai as the reason for his actions.
• Zhou Xu secretly took a gold hairpin and waited for a chance to defend herself.
• After recognizing Wu Zhenhai by his touch, Zhou Xu tore off her blindfold and tried to stab him with the hairpin.
• Wu Zhenhai explained that he would present the incident as a bandit kidnapping and marry Zhou Xu as her rescuer.

Zhou Xu and Wu Zhenhai were caught together by the Prince of Jin, who chose not to use the affair against Wu Zhenhai. The Prince of Jin returned to Tang Zhuyun and explained what he had seen, leaving her and Xiu'er to consider Wu Zhenhai's intentions toward Zhou Xu.

• Wu Zhenhai explained that he had arranged the bandit attack and began making his encounter with Zhou Xu look convincing.
• The Prince of Jin arrived with guards, saw Zhou Xu and Wu Zhenhai together, and told them he would not make an issue of it.
• Wu Zhenhai said the Prince of Jin had done him a favor rather than gained leverage, and Zhou Xu realized she was caught in a contest between Wu Zhenhai and the Zhou Family.
• The Prince of Jin returned to Tang Zhuyun and told her Zhou Xu was safe and that Wu Zhenhai seemed to be considering marrying her.
• Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er discussed Wu Zhenhai's motives, while the Prince of Jin acknowledged that Wu Zhenhai had given Zhou Xu some thought.

Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er decided they had to rescue Zhou Xu and Concubine Yu from the Zhou Family and Wu Zhenhai, but Tang Zhuyun worried about how to tell the Prince of Jin that Zhou Xu was his sister. She planned to fake the women’s deaths and use Ren Yingying’s technology to give them new faces so they could be brought back unnoticed.

• Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er agreed that Wu Zhenhai was unsuitable for Zhou Xu and that the marriage was too far along to stop directly.
• Tang Zhuyun decided they had to bring Zhou Xu and Concubine Yu back without openly acknowledging them as family.
• Tang Zhuyun proposed faking their deaths and changing their faces rather than sending them away or starting a fight with the Zhou Family.
• Tang Zhuyun planned to ask Ren Yingying to alter their appearances, while Xiu'er noted Zhou Xu could imitate others and Concubine Yu rarely went out.
• Tang Zhuyun admitted she was most worried about telling the Prince of Jin the truth, and Xiu'er went to ask around.