Chapter Summaries

Tang Zhuyun dreamed of her childhood and the grandfather who had loved her, and woke grieving that she could not tell him she loved him before he died. Emperor Wen comforted her and later learned that a seal matching her description had appeared in Liaodong, while life around them continued to improve.

• Tang Zhuyun dreamed of her childhood with her grandparents and remembered how her grandfather gave her a seal pendant before he died.
• Tang Zhuyun cried out to her grandfather in the dream, then woke to Emperor Wen comforting her and heard him offer to have a new pendant made.
• Xiao Ye brought back Linlin's letter from Liaodong, and Emperor Wen noticed that it described a seal like the one Tang Zhuyun remembered but kept the letter from her.
• Emperor Wen learned her grandfather's name, arranged a memorial tablet and everlasting lamp for him, and went to offer incense.
• Lei Qun's grandmother was executed, the White Lotus Sect was defeated, and Tang Zhuyun continued teaching as the academy took shape.

Emperor Wen brought Tang Zhuyun a seal identical to the one from her previous life, easing his fear of losing her and giving her a connection to her beloved grandfather. The chapter left them together in peace, with Tang Zhuyun promising her grandfather she would be happy.

• Emperor Wen learned that Tang Zhuyun had left the palace with Lu Zhenyan and found her teaching at the academy.
• Emperor Wen joined Tang Zhuyun at the academy, then took her to the Four Seas Tower for a meal.
• Emperor Wen presented Tang Zhuyun with a seal identical to the one from the provincial museum in her previous life.
• Tang Zhuyun cried as she recognized the seal and told her grandfather that she had found someone and would be happy.
• Emperor Wen embraced Tang Zhuyun and resolved to cherish her forever.

Qu Hua’s impulsive decision to marry Mu Ziyu sparked a fierce quarrel with Qu Nian, while Ren Yingying helped settle the wedding preparations. As Lang Xuan and Yanran set out for the wedding, Lang Xuan nervously tried to imitate Tang Zhuyun’s dignified style, and Linlin grew jealous of how close she and Yanran looked.

• Qu Hua announced that she would marry Mu Ziyu despite not being sure he was the one, and Qu Nian angrily objected to her rushed wedding plans.
• Ren Yingying questioned Qu Hua’s haste, but Qu Hua insisted she wanted to marry and arranged to wed before she could change her mind again.
• Qu Nian and Qu Hua quarreled over the wedding and Jingjing, while Dog Meat barked at Qu Nian when he ordered it to keep Qu Hua away.
• Qu Hua’s wedding was settled, and Lang Xuan agreed to attend with Yanran after asking Linlin.
• Lang Xuan dressed carefully to uphold her role as crown princess and admitted she was copying Tang Zhuyun, while Yanran chose a carefree outfit.
• Linlin saw Lang Xuan and Yanran walking arm in arm, abandoned his plan to ride a horse, and offered Lang Xuan his hand as Yanran happily went to the horse.

Lang Xuan attended a gathering at the Prince of Liaodong’s Residence and proved adept at handling the high officials’ wives, despite her nerves. When she overheard a woman disparage her, she confronted the speaker with a calm smile, leaving everyone unsure how she would respond.

• Lang Xuan insisted she would attend the gathering without Linlin’s help, and Linlin sent her with Yanran after giving her a sweet.
• At the residence, Lang Xuan impressed Yanran by warmly greeting the women and recalling details about their families.
• Yanran took Lang Xuan to a quiet spot, where they listened to young ladies showing off their talents nearby.
• A woman criticized Lang Xuan’s lack of artistic talent and said she had married the Crown Prince anyway.
• Lang Xuan stopped Yanran from retaliating, approached the woman, and calmly helped her up as the onlookers waited to see what she would do next.

At the Prince of Liaodong’s Residence, Lang Xuan calmly asserted her status as the crown prince’s legal wife, then impressed the gathered women with her calligraphy. When Wang Rong challenged her skill, Lang Xuan appeared to yield, but her thoughts made clear she had no intention of accepting the slight.

• Lang Xuan answered the women’s insults by declaring that she was the crown prince’s original, legal wife.
• Mu Qing tried to provoke Lang Xuan into displaying a talent, and Yanran rebuked Mu Qing and Mu Xue for their remarks.
• Lang Xuan wrote a line wishing the crown prince a long life, and Yanran showed it to the crowd, who praised Lang Xuan’s calligraphy.
• Wang Rong claimed her calligraphy was better than Lang Xuan’s, and Mu Qing encouraged her to demonstrate it.
• Lang Xuan said she believed Wang Rong’s calligraphy was better, while privately resolving not to accept the challenge as a loss.

Lang Xuan punished Wang Rong for disrespecting her, then Qu Hua rejected the Prince of Liaodong’s authority during her wedding and left with Mu Ziyu and Madam Xi for a mountain stronghold.

• Lang Xuan threatened Wang Rong and ordered her confined to her home for three years after Yanran and the other noble ladies pleaded for mercy.
• Lang Xuan and Yanran watched the wedding ceremony, where Qu Hua refused to bow to the Princess of Liaodong because she was not Mu Ziyu’s birth mother.
• Mu Ziyu supported Qu Hua and said he would not stop her from speaking against his stepmother.
• The Prince of Liaodong threatened to punish Mu Ziyu, but Madam Xi arrived and challenged him to lay a hand on her son.
• Madam Xi invited Qu Hua and Mu Ziyu to leave for a mountain stronghold, and Qu Hua accepted as Yanran joined them.

Mu Ziyu stayed in Liaodong to help Linlin face the coming war with Oirat, while Qu Hua remained with him. After several battles drove Oirat into retreat, Linlin prepared to pursue its army and try to end the threat to Liaodong.

• Mu Ziyu left the Prince of Liaodong's Residence, and the Prince of Liaodong refused to replace him as heir apparent despite the Princess Consort of Liaodong's urging.
• Mu Ziyu decided to stay in Liaodong and assist Linlin in the coming war, while Qu Hua chose to remain there with Madam Xi.
• Ren Yingying and Qu Nian left Liaodong for the capital with Jingjing and Dog Meat, and Zhao Qing stayed behind after Yuanyang agreed to consider marrying him.
• After the Oirat People arrived with the first snow, Linlin sent generals to fight them, then allowed Yanran to lead troops with Cui Xiaoqiu protecting her, and they won a victory.
• Two months later, Linlin pursued the retreating Oirat army with most of his forces, leaving six thousand soldiers and Yanran to defend the city with Lang Xuan.
• Linlin told Lang Xuan not to open the city gates until Oirat had withdrawn.

While Linlin campaigned against the Oirats, Lang Xuan struggled with longing and worry, then chose to keep Jinzhou’s gates closed when Goryeo attacked and Linlin was endangered. Linlin returned safely, comforted her, and promised they would never be apart again.

• Lang Xuan asked Linlin not to take Wei Jun, and Linlin left Wei Jun behind as he divided his army and pursued the Oirats.
• Lang Xuan kept busy caring for Jinzhou’s people while waiting for Linlin’s letters, then learned of his great victory and his return.
• Goryeo sent twenty thousand soldiers to attack Jinzhou and intercepted Linlin as he rode ahead with two thousand elite soldiers.
• Yanran wanted to lead troops out to help Linlin, but Lang Xuan used Linlin’s seal to order the city gates kept closed and the city defended.
• Linlin returned unharmed, embraced Lang Xuan, and reassured her that he had ordered her to protect Jinzhou.
• Linlin promised Lang Xuan they would never be apart again and said he would take her to the capital to meet his parents.

As New Year passed, Lang Xuan and Linlin spent the night keeping vigil together, and she planned to make him longevity noodles for his fifteenth birthday. Cui Xiaoqiu redirected Yanran from her handwriting lessons by suggesting there might be a traitor who had leaked Yuwen Duo’s itinerary, and she began to suspect Wei Jun.

• Cui Xiaoqiu carried the drunk Yanran away, while Linlin and Lang Xuan kept vigil together and talked until they fell asleep.
• Lang Xuan woke first and set out to make Linlin birthday noodles, while he revealed he had been awake and watching her.
• Yanran lost interest in receiving New Year visitors and tried to study handwriting, but she kept sleeping instead.
• After Linlin warned Cui Xiaoqiu, Cui Xiaoqiu persuaded Yanran to investigate the suspicious timing of the Goryeo attack rather than keep studying.
• Yanran ruled out the Crown Princess and began considering whether Wei Jun had leaked Yuwen Duo’s itinerary.

Cui Xiaoqiu explained that Wei Jun had passed information to Zhao Yingzhu on the crown prince’s orders, setting up a pretext to send troops against Goryeo, while Lang Xuan learned the truth and reconsidered her past with Yuwen Duo. After the campaign and Yanran’s efforts to find Xiao Ye a mate, Yanran returned to the capital and was stopped by a new palace rule forbidding riding during the midday rest.

• Cui Xiaoqiu explained to Yanran that Wei Jun had deliberately fed Zhao Yingzhu information at the crown prince’s instruction so the crown prince could act against her in Goryeo.
• Linlin told Lang Xuan that he and Wei Jun had arranged the deception, and Lang Xuan wondered whether Yuwen Duo had also pretended to be injured while waiting for her in her previous life.
• After the first month, Linlin took Lang Xuan back to the capital while Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu led troops into Goryeo and defeated its forces in less than four months.
• Yanran helped Xiao Ye approach a female eagle, and the pair eventually bonded before Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu returned to the capital.
• An Imperial Feathered Guard stopped Yanran before the imperial study and told her that a new decree banned riding in the palace during the midday rest.

Yanran returned to the palace and discovered that her mother had given birth to a baby girl, Xingan'er, whom Emperor Wen doted on. Yanran eagerly welcomed her little sister and offered to choose her proper name.

• Yanran arrived at the imperial study, mistook the sounds inside for her parents fooling around, and kicked open the door after learning the Empress was away.
• Emperor Wen scolded Yanran for startling Xingan'er and told her that the baby was her new little sister.
• Tang Zhuyun’s contraceptive implant expired without her noticing, and she discovered her pregnancy only after three months.
• Tang Zhuyun gave birth to a healthy daughter, Xingan'er, and Emperor Wen wept with joy.
• Yanran held Xingan'er, delighted in her, and promised to teach her riding and archery when she grew up.
• Yanran asked for Xingan'er's proper name and offered to choose one herself.

Yanran visited Emperor Wen and celebrated the birth of her little sister, Xingan'er, while Emperor Wen worried that Cui Xiaoqiu could not have children. Cui Xiaoqiu explained the situation to his mother and prepared her for the possibility, and the chapter ended with Yanran excitedly telling him about Xingan'er.

• Emperor Wen told Yanran that her little sister could not be named until she turned one, and Yanran offered to raise her.
• Emperor Wen suspected Cui Xiaoqiu could not have children and wondered whether doctors might help him.
• Cui Xiaoqiu told Madam Cui that an injury had affected his ability to have children, while leaving her hope that treatment could help.
• Cui Xiaoqiu told Madam Cui that Yanran accepted him and would protect him from gossip about having no children.
• Madam Cui warmly welcomed Yanran the next day, and Cui Xiaoqiu said he had persuaded his mother to like her.
• Yanran told Cui Xiaoqiu that Emperor Wen had given her a little sister named Xingan'er, and he tightened his grip on her hand.

Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu visited her maternal grandparents’ home, where Yanran brought Little Tangyuan back to the palace and watched her train. Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu confirmed they would marry in the third month of the following year, with friends and family returning to the capital for the wedding.

• Cui Xiaoqiu asked Yanran whether she resented Emperor Wen doting on Xingan'er, and Yanran said she was happy for her little sister.
• Yanran told Cui Xiaoqiu how the empress came to have another child, then invited him to visit her maternal grandparents’ home.
• Yanran brought Little Tangyuan into the palace, praised her strength, and joined her in martial arts practice and archery.
• Little Tangyuan asked whether Yanran was married, and Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu agreed that they would marry.
• Yanran’s wedding was set for the third month of the following year, and relatives and friends from across the realm began returning to the capital.

Lang Xuan helped prepare Yanran’s wedding, which began with Yanran briefly disappearing to practice her sword and continued with an embarrassing exchange about erotic pictures and toys. As the wedding day unfolded, Mingzhu gave Yanran gemstones and Wu Zhenhai escorted his pregnant wife away, while Cui Run quietly reflected on his past love and his service to the country.

• Linlin carried out sweeping reforms and appointed young officials, including Gao Zheng and Cui Run, while Lang Xuan learned to help Tang Zhuyun manage affairs.
• Yanran was missing on her wedding morning, but Lang Xuan’s search found her practicing her sword in the pavilion on the lake.
• Lang Xuan gave Yanran an erotic picture scroll, and Yanran showed her a box of moving figures she planned to take to the bridal chamber.
• Mingzhu gave Yanran gemstones and revealed that she was pregnant after Tang Zhuyun felt her pulse.
• Wu Zhenhai escorted Mingzhu from the palace, and Cui Run saw them before leaving with thoughts of his lost love and his duty to the country.

Lang Xuan worried about Yanran’s wedding night, but Linlin distracted her and kept her from getting up on time the next morning. After meeting Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu at court, Yanran planned to spend the day with him rather than visit his family.

• Lang Xuan sent a palace maid to check on Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu at the princess residence while Linlin teased her about being distracted.
• Lang Xuan explained that Yanran had shown her an intimate object, and Linlin drew her into bed before the palace maid returned.
• The next morning, Linlin woke Lang Xuan so they could join Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu in paying their respects to Imperial Father and Imperial Mother.
• Yanran told the family she had mistaken an injured owl for an assassin during the night and had rescued it.
• Cui Xiaoqiu urged Yanran to keep quiet about their wedding night, and she proposed visiting his parents before deciding they should go have fun instead.

Yanran joined the women gathered at Tang Zhuyun's Palace of Eternal Peace, where she caught up with Qu Hua and heard about her new life as the Princess Consort of Liaodong. Qu Hua ended the visit doting on Qu Jingjing and imagining her becoming a female prince.

• Ren Yingying teased Jinse about her relationship and urged someone to tell the suitor that she approved.
• Tang Zhuyun asked Hua Cha about the grandmothers, and Hua Cha assured her that they were well.
• Yanran reunited with Qu Hua, who explained that Mu Ziyu's father had suffered a stroke and Mu Ziyu was soon to become the new Prince of Liaodong.
• Qu Hua complained about the scrutiny and burdens of being a princess consort, though she had sent her difficult mother-in-law to a nunnery.
• Qu Jingjing shared Yanran's apple with Qu Hua, then guarded the fruit platter as Qu Hua joked that Jingjing would grow up to be a female prince.

Ren Yingying told Tang Zhuyun that Qu Nian had a system whose secret mission ended after she became pregnant, and they speculated about their children’s futures. After Wuji rejected the toddler Qu Jingjing, the friends discussed their families, the academy, and plans to travel together in the years ahead.

• Ren Yingying revealed that Qu Nian had a system, which disappeared after she became pregnant, and she and Tang Zhuyun wondered what its mission had been.
• Ren Yingying suggested that Qu Jingjing might one day become empress and joked that Wuji could give her the throne, while Tang Zhuyun dismissed the idea as chaotic.
• Ren Yingying imagined Wuji and Qu Jingjing becoming a couple, but Wuji told Jingjing to stay away, making her cry as he went to play with Little Tangyuan.
• Ren Yingying said she planned to stay for about two years to help with the academy, and she and Tang Zhuyun discussed traveling together after Emperor Wen stepped down.
• Ren Yingying and Tang Zhuyun imagined taking boats down the canal to Jiangnan and seeing how the people lived.

Guagua confessed to Xiu'er that she loved Wuxian and asked her mother to stop others from arranging his marriage. When Guagua told Wuxian she wanted to marry him, he agreed, choosing her because he did not want her to cry.

• Xiu'er questioned Guagua about rejecting prospective matches, and Guagua admitted she liked someone but hesitated to reveal who.
• Guagua confessed that she loved Wuxian and asked Xiu'er to speak with the empress about his marriage; Xiu'er warned her that Wuxian might not return her feelings but agreed to consider it.
• Guagua asked Wuxian whether he wanted a wife, and he said he did not want one, then added that having Guagua was enough.
• Guagua told Wuxian she wanted to marry him, and he agreed after she reassured him that she did not think he was stupid.
• Wuxian wiped Guagua's tears and held her as she cried with happiness.

Qu Jingjing traveled to the frontier under the pretext of meeting Wuji, fell for a foreign emperor, and married him far from home. When he revealed himself to be a scoundrel, she killed him, took his empire, and became an empress who expanded her power across the surrounding nations.

• Qu Jingjing rejected every prospective husband in the capital, while Ren Yingying proposed that she meet Wuji at the frontier.
• Qu Jingjing set off with Seahorse and a retinue of guards, and Qu Nian failed to persuade her to stay.
• Qu Jingjing married a foreign emperor several thousand miles beyond the Central Plains frontier, despite Qu Nian's misgivings.
• After her husband showed his true nature, Qu Jingjing killed him and took his empire.
• Qu Jingjing ruled as empress, campaigning east and west while avoiding an invasion southward into the Central Plains.

Xiu'er died after a lifetime spent beside Tang Zhuyun, and Song Jingyang soon died beside her. As Tang Zhuyun mourned them, she and Emperor Wen agreed on a password to recognize each other in another life, and a sudden gust made her wonder whether Xiu'er had returned.

• Xiu'er told Tang Zhuyun and Song Jingyang that she was ready to die, while urging Tang Zhuyun to take care of herself and promising they would meet again.
• Three days later, Xiu'er died smiling in Song Jingyang's arms, and Song Jingyang refused to leave her before dying beside her that night.
• Tang Zhuyun returned to the palace and later visited Xiu'er's wake at the Marquis of Liyang's Residence with Emperor Wen.
• Tang Zhuyun recalled Xiu'er poking Emperor Wen with a peachwood sword when he had feigned death, then mourned that Xiu'er could not return.
• Emperor Wen and Tang Zhuyun agreed to use “I love you” as a password in their next lives, and Tang Zhuyun called out to Xiu'er when a gust of wind opened the door.