Chapter Summaries

Tang Zhuyun prepared to ask the emperor to let her raise Yanran, while Tang Mingfan and Nanny Rong supported her decision. At the palace, Consort De argued against separating Yanran from Tang Zhuyun, then challenged whether the imperial palace was a suitable home for the child.

• Tang Zhuyun asked Tang Mingfan about the Huaishang investigation and told him to keep its lead from Linlin.
• Tang Mingfan urged Tang Zhuyun to reconsider what she planned to tell the emperor, but she insisted it was her choice.
• Tang Zhuyun reassured Yanran before leaving for the palace with her and Nanny Rong.
• The emperor invited Yanran to come to him, but she clung to Tang Zhuyun and refused to move.
• Consort De asked the emperor to let Tang Zhuyun remain with Yanran and questioned whether the imperial palace was a good place for the girl.

Tang Zhuyun secured the emperor’s approval to become the Prince of Jin’s secondary consort and protect Yanran and the residence. She entered the residence in mourning with Yanran, determined to preserve what remained of the prince’s household, just as someone schemed to move something before Nanny Rong returned.

• Tang Zhuyun vowed to wait for the Prince of Jin and care for Yanran, so the emperor named her his secondary consort and granted her the treatment of a principal consort.
• The emperor ordered Linlin to smash the mourning basin, and Linlin explained that he had asked to honor the Prince of Jin after speaking with his family.
• Tang Zhuyun decided to return to the residence, hold a grand funeral for the Prince of Jin, and safeguard its properties and forces for Yanran.
• Tang Zhuyun urged Song Jingyang to retain the Prince of Jin’s forces, including the Golden Scale Guard, while Song Jingyang defended Huaishang’s loyalty.
• On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tang Zhuyun entered the Prince of Jin’s Residence with Yanran and Nanny Rong as its mistress.
• Someone hurriedly tried to move something before Nanny Rong returned.

Tang Zhuyun brought Linlin and Yanran to mourn the Prince of Jin, then let the household remain in disarray so she could judge who stood by them. Meanwhile, the supposedly dead Prince of Jin planned to return to the residence and learned that Tang Zhuyun had become a side consort.

• Tang Zhuyun let the maidservants carry off household valuables, then took Linlin and Yanran to mourn before the Prince of Jin’s coffin.
• The Prince of Jin told Huaishang to delay Tang Mingfan’s investigations and said he would return to the prince’s residence.
• Huaishang learned that Tang Zhuyun was now the emperor-appointed Side Consort and bought a book to give Tang Mingfan as cover for his visit.
• Tang Zhuyun moved with the children into Parasol Tree Residence and told Nanny Rong she would wait until after the arriving guests to restore order.
• Tang Zhuyun explained that the chaos would reveal whom they could trust, then called out to someone nearby.

Tang Zhuyun confronted Huaishang after he was caught near the inner courtyard, while the Prince of Jin hid nearby and mistook her sharp words for proof that she did not care for him. Later, Linlin and Yanran came to search the prince’s study for clues about his death, leaving the hidden Prince of Jin listening to them.

• Tang Zhuyun questioned Huaishang about entering the inner courtyard, warned him to avoid suspicion, and ordered him not to appear before her again.
• Huaishang returned to the Prince of Jin’s room and denied having known Tang Zhuyun before, while the prince questioned him about Jiangzhou and the pleasure boat.
• Huaishang recalled choosing a courtesan from Jiangzhou for a hundred taels, and the Prince of Jin reflected on his past and his distrust of women.
• Linlin brought Yanran to the Prince of Jin’s room to search his study for clues about whom he had exchanged letters with, while the Prince of Jin hid and listened.

Tang Zhuyun took Yanran and Linlin to place messages for the supposedly dead Prince of Jin on frozen river lanterns, while trying to comfort the grieving children. After they left, the Prince of Jin secretly collected the lanterns and was moved by the children’s notes but furious at Tang Zhuyun’s barely legible message.

• Linlin insisted that he could not ignore the Prince of Jin’s death, and the Prince of Jin was moved by the boy’s sense of responsibility.
• Tang Zhuyun found the children, took them away, and worried that Linlin would pursue the truth about the prince’s death and Huaishang’s role.
• Tang Zhuyun served the children porridge with minced sea cucumber, but Linlin refused to eat it.
• Tang Zhuyun suggested that Yanran and Linlin write messages to the Prince of Jin and send them on river lanterns, then wrote her own note with missing characters marked as x’s.
• Tang Zhuyun and the children set their lanterns on the frozen lake and returned home after she told them their loved ones became stars.
• The Prince of Jin secretly collected the lanterns, was touched by Linlin’s and Yanran’s messages, and grew angry while trying to decipher Tang Zhuyun’s note.

Tang Zhuyun discovered that someone had stolen the river lanterns and later endured the Seventh Prince’s harassment during the mourning for the Prince of Jin. She lured the Seventh Prince to the mourning hall and threw him over her shoulder, while the Prince of Jin watched from hiding.

• Tang Zhuyun went to retrieve the river lanterns, found them missing, and glimpsed a shadow near the lake before hurrying back.
• Tang Zhuyun received mourners the next day and used chili water to make herself cry as she worried about the children.
• The Seventh Prince complimented Tang Zhuyun and stayed in the residence despite repeated requests that he leave.
• Tang Zhuyun sent the children to bed and led the Seventh Prince to the mourning hall, while the hidden Prince of Jin watched with Song Jingyang.
• The Seventh Prince grabbed Tang Zhuyun’s chin, and she threw him over her shoulder.

Tang Zhuyun exposed the Seventh Prince’s attempt to assault her, leading the emperor to banish him and strip him of his title. After hearing Nanny Rong’s words, the emperor unexpectedly promoted Tang Zhuyun to the Prince of Jin’s principal consort.

• Tang Zhuyun beat the Seventh Prince, while Xiu'er raised the alarm and helped stage the discovery of his assault in the mourning hall.
• Tang Baixin arrived with the guests and took Tang Zhuyun to seek the emperor’s justice.
• The emperor banished the Seventh Prince from the capital without a title and reprimanded Consort Rong.
• The emperor questioned Tang Zhuyun about the incident, and Nanny Rong hinted that her promotion would be appropriate.
• The emperor decreed that Tang Zhuyun would become the Prince of Jin’s principal consort.

Tang Zhuyun tried to reassure her family that becoming a princess consort had not ruined her life, then spent the evening comforting Yanran and Linlin. After she saw what looked like the Prince of Jin’s face by the river, the children noticed that one dumpling had vanished from the offering bowl.

• Meng Yulan told Tang Zhuyun that her father and eldest brother were deeply worried about her becoming a princess consort, and Tang Zhuyun promised to speak with her father after the New Year.
• Tang Mingfan arranged for Linlin to stay at the prince's residence over the New Year, and Tang Zhuyun welcomed the company for herself and Yanran.
• Tang Zhuyun comforted Yanran by suggesting they float river lanterns, and she, Yanran, and Linlin wrote another letter to the Prince of Jin.
• As they floated lanterns, Linlin said she had dreamed the Prince of Jin came back, and Tang Zhuyun saw what appeared to be his resentful face across the river before falling into the water.
• After Tang Zhuyun and the children returned indoors, Yanran and Linlin noticed that one of the nine dumplings set out as an offering for the Prince of Jin was missing.

The Prince of Jin secretly watched Tang Zhuyun and wondered why he felt drawn to her despite believing she only valued his title. After deciding to postpone his visit to the Great Xiangguo Temple, he remained hidden at Song Jingyang’s place as Xiu’er arrived.

• Yanran believed the Prince of Jin had eaten a dumpling, while Tang Zhuyun guessed that a servant or animal had taken it.
• The Prince of Jin sneezed after seeing Tang Zhuyun’s river-lantern drawing, retrieved the lantern, and kept her note as evidence of her supposed crimes.
• The Prince of Jin ate the food Tang Zhuyun had sent to Nanny Rong and asked why the Emperor had made Tang Zhuyun his consort.
• Nanny Rong urged the Prince of Jin to live happily, and he decided to delay his trip to the Great Xiangguo Temple because Tang Zhuyun had plans.
• The Prince of Jin admitted to himself that he anticipated being with Tang Zhuyun and wondered whether he was ill.
• When Xiu’er called for Song Jingyang, Song Jingyang fussed over his appearance and asked the Prince of Jin to hide.

Tang Zhuyun asserted her authority over the Prince of Jin’s household by summoning its servants and ordering punishment for those who failed to appear. The chapter ended as she considered how to test the servants’ loyalty.

• Xiu'er told Song Jingyang to gather a hundred tall, young, strong guards for Tang Zhuyun, and the Prince of Jin ordered him to obey.
• Tang Zhuyun reviewed the household attendance and threatened to sell every absent servant to the mines.
• Song Jingyang brought in the nearly sixty missing servants, and Tang Zhuyun ordered the old kitchen woman who had missed the summons sold immediately.
• Tang Zhuyun rejected another servant’s excuse about her sick daughter and ordered her sold as well.
• Tang Zhuyun decided to sell all the remaining absentees, then paused to think of a way to test the servants’ loyalty.

Tang Zhuyun exposed and punished the servants stealing from the Prince of Jin’s residence, then grew uneasy when a book moved overnight. In the mourning hall, she discovered that the supposedly dead Prince of Jin was alive and hiding nearby.

• Tang Zhuyun made the servants report one another under rules that punished false accusations and protected those who named more thieves than named them.
• The guards questioned the servants, and by evening only eighty-six remained while almost all the stolen goods had been recovered.
• After finding her book inexplicably closed, Tang Zhuyun visited the mourning hall and urged the Prince of Jin to stop haunting her if he was alive.
• Tang Zhuyun called out that she could see the Prince of Jin, prompting Xiu'er to rush in with a peachwood sword.
• Xiu'er exposed the Prince of Jin behind the curtain and cried that he had no shadow, so he knocked her unconscious.
• Tang Zhuyun asked whether the Prince of Jin had just climbed out of the coffin, nearly making him faint.

Tang Zhuyun discovered that the Prince of Jin had faked his death and struggled to adjust to being tied to his dangerous secrets and political troubles. The chapter ended with Linlin mistaking her distress for grief and suggesting she might have a posthumous child.

• The Prince of Jin revealed himself to Tang Zhuyun, who scolded him for pretending to be dead and worried about the consequences of his return.
• Song Jingyang carried the unconscious Xiu'er away after the Prince of Jin knocked her out.
• Tang Zhuyun left without learning what had happened, then realized she had forgotten to ask whether the Prince of Jin had taken the ice lantern, frightened her by the river, eaten the dumplings, or closed the book.
• Tang Zhuyun reconsidered her plans after realizing she was tied to the Prince of Jin's conflict with the other princes, but felt Yanran would benefit from having her father alive.
• Yanran and Linlin tried to comfort the despondent Tang Zhuyun, and Linlin suggested she could give birth to a posthumous child.

Tang Zhuyun learned that the Prince of Jin had faked his death and confronted him after he returned to eat her food. She identified the well-tended horses in the stables as the flaw in his scheme, but the Prince of Jin insisted she was already too involved to leave.

• Tang Zhuyun sent Linlin and Yanran to study with Tang Baixin while Xiu'er remained convinced she had seen the Prince of Jin's corpse come back to life.
• The Prince of Jin climbed through Tang Zhuyun's window, admitted he had taken her river lantern, dumplings, and book, and demanded meatballs.
• Tang Zhuyun made the Prince of Jin mutton soup and asked him to explain his actions.
• Tang Zhuyun said she had suspected the Prince of Jin was alive because the horses in the stables were unusually well cared for despite the household's disorder.
• Tang Zhuyun asked whether the emperor knew the truth, and the Prince of Jin told her to let Nanny Rong visit the Great Xiangguo Temple without asking questions.
• Tang Zhuyun asked to be released from the marriage when the Prince of Jin came back to life, but he said he needed her to care for his children.

Tang Zhuyun spent New Year's Eve with the children before the Prince of Jin secretly returned to eat with her. When he refused to leave, she proposed that they live together without sharing a bed, and he rose and approached her.

• The Prince of Jin told Tang Zhuyun that he planned to leave the capital after the Lantern Festival, then hid when Xiu'er returned with talismans.
• Tang Zhuyun spent New Year's Eve teaching the children to play cards, and they fell asleep before midnight.
• The Prince of Jin appeared beside the brazier, ate the food Tang Zhuyun had saved, and refused to return to his coffin.
• Tang Zhuyun proposed that the Prince of Jin bring other women into the residence while she managed the household, as long as he did not share her bed.
• The Prince of Jin challenged Tang Zhuyun about whether she disliked men or only him, then stood and walked toward her.

The Prince of Jin took Tang Zhuyun out at night, despite her worries about the children and Huaishang. After introducing her to his horse Racing Thunder, he lifted her onto the horse and rode off with her.

• The Prince of Jin told Tang Zhuyun to dress warmly and come with him, while Huaishang stayed behind to watch Yanran and Linlin.
• Tang Zhuyun questioned whether Huaishang could be trusted, but the Prince of Jin dismissed her concerns and made her leave with him.
• The Prince of Jin introduced Tang Zhuyun to Racing Thunder and gave her candy to let the horse recognize her.
• Racing Thunder licked the candy from Tang Zhuyun’s palm, and the Prince of Jin lifted her onto the horse behind him.
• The Prince of Jin urged Racing Thunder forward and rode away with Tang Zhuyun.

The Prince of Jin brought Tang Zhuyun to the Great Xiangguo Temple to meet his deceased mother, Lady Xiao, and reveal the truth about his family. Tang Zhuyun recognized the memorial tablet despite pretending she could not read it, and the chapter ended as Nanny Rong hurried to retrieve something before they left.

• The Prince of Jin took Tang Zhuyun to a courtyard at the Great Xiangguo Temple and had her kneel with him before his mother's covered memorial tablet.
• The Prince of Jin introduced Tang Zhuyun to his mother as his daughter-in-law, and they kowtowed before Nanny Rong brought them tea.
• A breeze uncovered the tablet, revealing the name Lady Xiao, and Tang Zhuyun pretended she had not seen or recognized it.
• The Prince of Jin ordered Tang Zhuyun to copy the Hundred Family Surnames a hundred times and made her read the tablet aloud.
• Tang Zhuyun connected Lady Xiao's surname to a remark about Yanran resembling Xiao, while Nanny Rong explained that they had meant to reveal the truth that day.
• The Prince of Jin said he would take Tang Zhuyun back because the children were at the residence, but Nanny Rong hurried to a chest in the corner.

Tang Zhuyun received the Prince of Jin’s late mother’s coral bracelet, though she planned to keep it only for Yanran, and Master Hong'en invited her for tea and gave her prayer beads. Nanny Rong learned that the Prince of Jin considered Tang Zhuyun different from other women, while Tang Zhuyun remained unaware of his feelings.

• Nanny Rong gave Tang Zhuyun the Prince of Jin’s mother’s coral bracelet after the Prince of Jin agreed she should accept it, and Tang Zhuyun said she would keep it for Yanran.
• A young novice monk invited Tang Zhuyun alone to visit Master Hong'en, and she followed him after giving him candy and patting his head.
• Master Hong'en shared tea with Tang Zhuyun, gave her wooden prayer beads, and praised her good fortune; she offered him homemade candy and promised to send vegetarian dishes.
• Nanny Rong asked whether the Prince of Jin blamed her for giving Tang Zhuyun the bracelet, and he said he did not.
• The Prince of Jin admitted Tang Zhuyun was different, delighting Nanny Rong.

Tang Zhuyun returned from Great Xiangguo Temple with Buddhist beads and spent the New Year observing mourning with the Prince of Jin's household. After waking with a severe allergic reaction, she recovered and teased Huaishang about finding a wife, only to learn he was twenty-three and had no idea where to look.

• The Prince of Jin and Nanny Rong discussed Tang Zhuyun's responsibility, and Tang Zhuyun returned with Buddhist beads from Master Hong'en.
• The Prince of Jin carried Tang Zhuyun back to the residence, where she told him to leave unnoticed and went to sleep.
• Tang Zhuyun woke with swollen eyes from an allergic reaction and prepared medicine while Linlin and Yanran assumed she had cried over missing the Prince of Jin.
• Tang Zhuyun learned that nobody visited the residence for New Year's, then laughed with Xiu'er and Song Jingyang over gambling winnings and maid prices.
• Tang Zhuyun asked Huaishang about finding a partner, and he admitted that he was twenty-three and did not know where to look.

The Prince of Jin revealed himself to Linlin and Yanran on Linlin’s birthday, reuniting with his children after faking his death. Meanwhile, a drunken conversation raised the possibility that Linlin might be the Prince of Jin’s son from a night at a pleasure boat years earlier.

• Song Jingyang told Tang Zhuyun that Huaishang’s mother had sent Huaishang off to find a wife, then fought with Huaishang in the courtyard.
• Tang Zhuyun celebrated Linlin’s birthday, and Linlin wished for the Prince of Jin’s safety.
• The Prince of Jin entered the inner room and embraced Linlin and Yanran, revealing that he was alive.
• Tang Zhuyun went to cook while the Prince of Jin explained himself to the children, and Song Jingyang, Huaishang, and Nanny Rong shared a feast nearby.
• Huaishang recalled arranging for the Prince of Jin to meet a courtesan years earlier, and Song Jingyang wondered aloud whether Linlin could be the Prince of Jin’s son.

Nanny Rong, Huaishang, and Song Jingyang wondered whether Tang Zhuyun had been the woman who spent a night with the Prince of Jin, making Linlin his son. They found the possibility plausible but had no proof, so Nanny Rong planned to quietly investigate the princess consort and Xiu'er before telling the prince.

• Huaishang objected that the chance Tang Zhuyun had been on the flower boat was too small, but Song Jingyang and Nanny Rong considered whether Linlin might be the Prince of Jin's son.
• Nanny Rong scolded Huaishang for not remembering who had been with the prince, and Huaishang explained that he had chosen a heavily made-up woman in the dark and kept her from seeing the prince.
• Huaishang worried that the woman might have been the princess consort, and Nanny Rong concluded the prince might not have recognized her either because of the darkness and his heat poison.
• Nanny Rong ordered Huaishang to sound out the princess consort and Song Jingyang to question Xiu'er, while insisting they gather evidence before telling the prince.
• When Xiu'er returned with a meat dish, the three concealed their discussion, and she revealed she had won two hundred taels from Song Jingyang.