Chapter Summaries

Qu Nian went to Ren Yingying's quarters intending to share good news and make advances, but found her secretly examining a treasure from his family. He caught her hiding it and began rubbing her injured lower back.

• Qu Nian rehearsed how to tell Ren Yingying that Tang Zhuyun had given birth, then ordered a feast and went to her room.
• Qu Nian heard Ren Yingying tell Dog Meat to keep watch and entered despite her protests that she was not dressed.
• Qu Nian found Ren Yingying sitting with Dog Meat and claiming she had thrown out her back, while she tried to conceal something beneath the bed curtain.
• Qu Nian uncovered the treasure from the Prince of Jin's residence and accused Ren Yingying of taking it without permission.
• Ren Yingying admitted she had been curious and wanted to help the Consort of the Prince of Jin, and Qu Nian began rubbing her lower back.

Ren Yingying opened a hidden chest in the Prince of Min's Residence by focusing light through an agate pomegranate, revealing gold bars. Qu Nian let her keep the treasure and confessed that he belonged to her.

• Ren Yingying and Qu Nian tried to open the chest with the agate pomegranate, and Qu Nian soothed her curiosity by saying they could leave the chest for their children.
• Ren Yingying heard that the Consort of the Prince of Jin had given birth to another son and said she wanted to return to see Tangbao.
• Qu Nian burned his hand protecting Ren Yingying from dripping candle wax while she aligned the pomegranate with the chest.
• Ren Yingying concentrated the agate's light on the chest's pattern, causing the chest to crack open.
• Qu Nian pried off the lid and revealed neatly stacked gold bars, and Ren Yingying asked to keep the chest.
• Qu Nian told Ren Yingying she could have the gold and confessed, "I'm yours, never mind the things."

Qu Nian confronted Ren Yingying about keeping gold as an escape plan, confessed that he took their marriage seriously, and kissed her. Ren Yingying remained uncertain about her feelings and wrote Tang Zhuyun a letter seeking advice, while Xiu'er arrived with news for Tang Zhuyun.

• Qu Nian stopped Ren Yingying from looking away and accused her of saving money so she could run from their marriage.
• Ren Yingying rejected the idea of living as a proper couple and suggested Qu Nian take concubines, but Qu Nian kissed her instead.
• Qu Nian told Ren Yingying their marriage was binding and promised to wait until she came out of her shell.
• Ren Yingying admitted to Dog Meat that she struggled to get close to men, then decided to write Tang Zhuyun about the kiss.
• Tang Zhuyun nursed Wuji while Wuxian and Guagua watched, and Xiu'er arrived excited to share news.

Linlin returned home from the war in the Xia Kingdom and reunited with Tang Zhuyun and his younger siblings. Tang Zhuyun learned that Zhou Yanhui had become queen and was expecting a child, while Song Jingyang was expected to return after the birth.

• Linlin arrived home, and Tang Zhuyun embraced him and welcomed him back.
• Linlin held baby Wuji, greeted Wuxian and Guagua, and showed Wuxian how to solve the nine linked rings.
• Tang Zhuyun asked about Song Jingyang, and Linlin said Zhou Yanhui had become queen but had taken no royal consort.
• Xiu'er explained that Zhou Yanhui had adopted a boy, then planned to have a child of her own after he returned to his original family.
• Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er joked about Zhou Yanhui's ambitions and praised Tang Zhuyun for having four sons.

Tang Zhuyun resisted the idea of Yanran marrying Cui Xiaoqiu, while Xiu'er argued that the prince’s future status could protect Yanran from the Cui Family’s constraints. Linlin returned and met Wen Heng, whose thoughtful approach to governance impressed him.

• Xiu'er teased Tang Zhuyun about Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu, but Tang Zhuyun rejected the match because she feared the Cui Family and Madam Cui would constrain Yanran.
• Xiu'er suggested that if the prince took the throne, Yanran’s status as a princess would prevent her husband’s family from imposing rules on her.
• Mingzhu joked about avoiding marriage, while privately wishing Wu Zhenhai would give up pursuing her; Wu Zhenhai had recently argued that their age gap would matter less as they grew old.
• Linlin returned and met Wen Heng, whom Xiyou introduced as they discussed whether the emperor would summon the prince back to the capital.
• Linlin listened to Wen Heng discuss governing and judged that his humble background gave him insight into the suffering of ordinary people.

Tang Zhuyun learned that the emperor had ordered the Prince of Jin back to the capital and appointed Zeng Xiang to govern the border city, while she waited for the prince's response before deciding what to do. Mingzhu faced Wu Zhenhai's desperate plea not to leave and his question about whether he still had a chance with her.

• Xiu'er told Tang Zhuyun about Zeng Xiang's background and family, and Tang Zhuyun decided to wait for the Prince of Jin's reply before choosing how to respond to the edict.
• Tang Zhuyun said Linlin had likely discussed the situation with Great Confucian Scholar Kong and would come to her after making up his mind.
• Wu Zhenhai asked Mingzhu whether she would return to the capital, and she said she had not yet heard from her sister-in-law.
• Wu Zhenhai insisted Mingzhu stay in the border city, arguing that he needed to remain there to support the prince and asking her to help by looking after Wu Yu.
• Mingzhu rejected Wu Zhenhai's attempts to control her and returned inside, but he caught her sleeve and asked whether he still had a chance with her.

Wu Zhenhai tried to persuade Mingzhu to stay in the border city and be with him, but she refused to let him decide her future. She said she would go wherever her mother, brother, and sister-in-law went.

• Mingzhu shook off Wu Zhenhai and told him she wanted him to stay far away from her.
• Wu Zhenhai asked Mingzhu not to go to the capital and criticized her work at the prince's residence, but she explained that she valued the respect and care she received there.
• Wu Zhenhai pleaded with Mingzhu to marry him, even offering to resign and become her guard or marry into her family.
• Mingzhu mocked Wu Zhenhai and said that if she wanted a man, she could choose someone else instead.
• Wu Zhenhai argued that the capital could bring trouble because of Mingzhu's beauty, but she said she felt more at ease at the prince's residence.
• Mingzhu told Wu Zhenhai that her choice to leave or stay was her own and that she would go wherever her mother, brother, and sister-in-law went.

Mingzhu rejected Wu Zhenhai and agreed to remain in the border city while Tang Zhuyun returned to the capital with Song Jingyang. The chapter ended with Xiu'er staying behind to care for Wuxian and the children.

• Mingzhu refused to reconsider her decision, and Wu Zhenhai went to Tao Ma's house to drink and complain.
• Manniang told Wu Zhenhai that he could only win Mingzhu over by catering to her preferences, and Tao Ma explained that people believed Wu Zhenhai was cultivating and avoiding women.
• Wu Zhenhai gave Tao Ma five hundred taels and ordered him to spread the rumor that he planned to cultivate.
• Tang Zhuyun told Mingzhu and Xiu'er that she intended to return to the capital with Song Jingyang, leaving Mingzhu and Xiu'er to care for the children in the border city.
• Mingzhu agreed to stay, and Tang Zhuyun decided Xiu'er would remain because Wuxian needed her.

Tang Zhuyun prepared to leave the border city for the capital, while Linlin insisted on accompanying her and bringing Wen Heng. As she faced parting from her younger children and Xiu'er, her maid reassured her that they would care for them until she returned.

• Tang Zhuyun received chests of gold from Qu Hua and a letter and pomegranates from Ren Yingying, and decided the gold was a loan from the Prince of Min's Residence that she would repay.
• The Prince of Jin told Tang Zhuyun to stay in the border city but said Linlin should accompany her if she went to the capital; she kept his instructions from Linlin and began packing.
• Tang Zhuyun told Linlin to remain behind and care for his younger brothers, but Linlin said he would go with her and asked to bring Wen Heng.
• Linlin explained that Wen Heng wanted to return to the capital, and Tang Zhuyun let him make the arrangements himself.
• Xiu'er spent the night beside Tang Zhuyun and promised to care for the children, urging her not to worry while she was away.

Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er shared an emotional farewell and discussed Mingzhu and Wu Zhenhai before Tang Zhuyun left for the capital. Mingzhu saw her off, while Wu Zhenhai struggled to accept their parting and gave her banknotes as a final gift.

• Tang Zhuyun promised Xiu'er she would care for herself and agreed not to stand in the way if Mingzhu chose Wu Zhenhai.
• Xiu'er stayed behind and wept as Tang Zhuyun departed, while Mingzhu accompanied her to the city gates.
• Wu Zhenhai mistakenly thought Mingzhu was leaving with Tang Zhuyun and demanded to know whether she was reluctant to part.
• Wu Zhenhai embraced Mingzhu, then gave her banknotes as New Year's money and told her to go away.
• Wu Zhenhai watched Mingzhu leave and resolved to forget her, though he accepted that he had lost to her.

Mingzhu stayed in the residence after seeing Tang Zhuyun and the others off, while Wu Zhenhai tried to drown his disappointment in drink. When he discovered Mingzhu had never left, he rushed into her carriage and openly declared that he wanted her.

• Mingzhu comforted Xiu'er and helped care for the children at the residence, forgetting to return Wu Zhenhai's twenty thousand taels of silver.
• Wu Zhenhai spent several days drinking, then set out to take his horse for a ride.
• A subordinate told Wu Zhenhai that soldiers were brawling in the street over a young woman, and he rode out to stop them.
• Mingzhu's carriage was caught in the crowd on her way back from a temple, and Wu Zhenhai spotted her inside.
• Wu Zhenhai leaped into Mingzhu's carriage and wrongly assumed she had returned for him; she told him she had never left and ordered him to retrieve his silver.
• Wu Zhenhai declared in front of the crowd that he wanted Mingzhu, then scrambled out of the carriage as everyone laughed.

Tang Zhuyun and Linlin paused in snowbound Linzhou, where Linlin rescued an orphaned girl and later brought his mother plum blossoms. He began explaining his guess about why the Prince of Min’s ancestors had hidden so much gold, then recalled Mianmian’s newborn daughter and the name Huaishang chose for her.

• Mingzhu left in a carriage after Wu Zhenhai teased her and two suitors, and Wu Zhenhai headed to the prince’s residence to confront her.
• Tang Zhuyun and Linlin stopped in Linzhou because heavy snow made travel difficult, and Linlin arranged for the guards to rest while maintaining patrols.
• Linlin heard a child sobbing and learned a woman had died beside a wall, so he ordered the woman buried and the orphaned girl placed with a dependable family.
• Linlin brought Tang Zhuyun plum blossoms the next morning and said they would wait for clear weather before leaving.
• Linlin guessed that Lady Shen’s immense wealth explained the gold bars kept by the Prince of Min’s ancestors, then Tang Zhuyun recalled Mianmian’s daughter and Huaishang’s despair over her name.

Mianmian and Huaishang welcomed their daughter Xiaobai, while Mianmian insisted she wanted more children and Huaishang fretted over her health and spending. Tang Zhuyun and Linlin discussed Lady Shen’s rumored fortune as their party resumed its journey, and Yanran waited anxiously for her mother and brother to reach the capital.

• Mianmian laughed at Huaishang for worrying that their daughter would squander the family fortune, while he complained about the diapers and the cloth she had cut up.
• Huaishang arranged for the wet nurse to feed Xiaobai and urged Mianmian to protect her health, but Mianmian insisted she wanted more children and a remedy to improve her health.
• Mianmian nicknamed her daughter Xiaobai, and Tang Zhuyun later thought of the little girl while talking with Linlin about the wealth of the Wen Family and Lady Shen’s rumored riches.
• Tang Zhuyun declined Linlin’s suggestion to revisit Lady Shen Temple, and the group resumed its journey after the weather cleared.
• Yanran wondered how far her mother and brother had traveled, then Xiao Ye arrived as she reflected on how their arrival would limit her freedom.

Yanran, Qu Hua, and Jiang Ruo went to Houhai to watch an ice acrobatics troupe perform, where a handsome swordsman caught their attention. Qu Hua decided to take him home, while Yanran resolved to become his disciple and learn the performance.

• Yanran read a letter saying her mother and brother had reached Linzhou, while Qu Hua explained she had decided not to run away over her parents’ marriage plans for her and Mu Ziyu.
• Qu Hua invited Yanran and Jiang Ruo to watch ice acrobatics at Houhai, and Yanran planned to bring Sister Yuan before learning Meng Yulan had taken her away.
• On the carriage ride, Jiang Ruo revealed she had dressed up because Wen Heng was returning to the capital, and she argued with Qu Hua about her feelings for him.
• At Houhai, the group watched a swordsman perform with six women, and Qu Hua declared that she would take him home.
• Yanran decided to become the swordsman’s disciple so she could learn ice acrobatics and perform it for her parents.

Jiang Ruo fretted over Wen Heng’s return to the capital while Yanran and Qu Hua turned their attention to learning ice skating and the handsome mute man. The chapter ended with Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu heading out together to choose birthday gifts.

• Jiang Ruo admitted she still wanted Wen Heng and worried that he might return with another woman, while Qu Hua reminded her they had separated.
• Yanran discovered that the handsome man helping with ice skating was mute, and Qu Hua took him aside after he agreed to her whispered proposal.
• Yanran urged Jiang Ruo to stop brooding and learn ice skating, but Jiang Ruo went home still imagining a reunion with Wen Heng.
• Yanran played with a spinning top on the ice until Cui Xiaoqiu arrived to visit her.
• Cui Xiaoqiu asked Yanran to help choose a birthday gift for her mother, and Yanran asked her to help pick a gift for her brother too.

Qu Hua brought Li Yu home and recruited him to stay with her, while Yanran and Jiang Ruo discovered that someone had damaged the ice to endanger them. Jiang Ruo decided to take Yanran to her mother for help, and the Third Princess arrived to see the emperor.

• Qu Hua learned that the handsome performer could write, saw that he was named Li Yu, and asked him to stay with her to continue his studies.
• Yanran and Jiang Ruo returned to Houhai to practice skating, where Yanran found that someone had smashed and thinned the ice.
• Yanran told Jiang'er to inform her maternal grandfather at the Court of Judicial Review, while Jiang Ruo decided to bring Yanran to her mother for help.
• The emperor praised Jiang Maoshan's two silent cranes as auspicious gifts, and Wang Fu worried that they might peck the emperor.
• A young eunuch announced that the Third Princess had come to see the emperor.

The Third Princess went to the emperor to report that someone had endangered Jiang Ruo at Houhai, prompting him to order an investigation. After returning home, she gave a pair of cranes to Yanran, who later returned to the prince's residence and spotted Young Master Cui at the entrance.

• The Third Princess knelt before the emperor and said someone had deliberately weakened the ice at Houhai, putting Jiang Ruo in danger.
• The emperor ordered Wang Fu to have Yingtian Prefecture investigate the incident and gave the Third Princess two cranes.
• Jiang Ruo told Yanran that her mother needed to remind the emperor of their family’s importance, and the Third Princess later gave the cranes to Yanran.
• Yanran declined to stay the night with the Third Princess and returned to the prince's residence in the evening.
• Jiang'er saw Young Master Cui standing beneath a lantern by the entrance.

Yanran discussed the political situation with Cui Xiaoqiu, who explained that the emperor—not the Prince of Ding—was the Prince of Jin’s real opponent. Their conversation turned to marriage when Cui Xiaoqiu revealed that his family was discussing a match he did not want.

• Yanran welcomed Cui Xiaoqiu into her courtyard, gave him a hand warmer, and told him about the attempt to set her up.
• Yanran asked why the Third Princess had helped her, and Cui Xiaoqiu explained that the princess was choosing a political side.
• Cui Xiaoqiu told Yanran that the emperor feared the Prince of Jin’s growing power, while the Prince of Ding, Consort De, and the Lang Family were not serious threats.
• Yanran learned that Cui Xiaoqiu had left his family’s birthday banquet because his mother and aunt were discussing his marriage.
• Cui Xiaoqiu admitted he did not want the proposed match, and Yanran said her mother would let her refuse an unwanted marriage.

Cui Xiaoqiu confided in Yanran that his mother wanted him to marry a relative, and Yanran tried to help while teasing him about his future marriage. He quietly resolved to become someone worthy of the woman he loved, while Yanran planned to introduce him to one of her friends.

• Cui Xiaoqiu explained that his mother wanted him to marry a relative, though he had no intention of doing so.
• Yanran told Cui Xiaoqiu to talk to Madam Cui and said her own mother would soon arrive in the capital for the new year.
• Yanran offered to help Cui Xiaoqiu by pretending he was a cut sleeve, but he rejected the idea because he wanted to be open and upright for the woman he loved.
• Cui Xiaoqiu remembered how Yanran’s lively presence had once become a ray of light in his lonely childhood.
• Yanran said she would think about which of her good sisters to introduce to Cui Xiaoqiu.

Yanran made plans to go ice skating with Cui Xiaoqiu, while Qu Hua discovered that the man she had slept with was Mu Ziyu. Mu Ziyu proposed marriage and offered to stand up to Qu Nian for her, but Qu Hua remained reluctant.

• Yanran invited Cui Xiaoqiu to go ice skating with her the next day and considered inviting Qu Hua and Jiang Ruo too.
• Qu Hua confronted the man she knew as Li Yu after recognizing his voice and discovering he was Mu Ziyu.
• Mu Ziyu revealed that he had lost seventy jin over six months to win Qu Hua over and admitted Qu Nian had given him the idea.
• Mu Ziyu proposed that Qu Hua take responsibility for him and marry him, but she rejected the idea.
• Mu Ziyu offered to deal with anyone Qu Hua disliked and said she needed a man who would stand up to Qu Nian, leaving her tempted but determined not to marry him.