Recaps

Zhao Ruyu heard that Princess Pingyang had lost authority over the Capital Women's Academy, a change absent from her previous life, and grew convinced Zhao Ruxi had altered events. She visited Zhao Ruxi at the Earl of Suiping's Residence and demanded to know how she had done it.

• At a gathering at the Duke of Wei's Residence, Qi Xuan gave Zhao Ruyu an invitation for Zhao Ruxi, while Xiao Ziyi urged Zhao Ruyu to make sure her fifth sister attended.
• The young ladies discussed Princess Pingyang losing control of the Capital Women's Academy, and Zhao Ruyu worried that the course of events had changed from her previous life.
• Zhao Ruyu brought the invitation to Lady Zhu and used it as a reason to visit Zhao Ruxi.
• Zhao Ruyu asked Zhao Ruxi how she had caused Princess Pingyang to lose her authority, but Zhao Ruxi pretended not to understand.

Zhao Ruyu questioned Zhao Ruxi about her remarkable painting and success, then invited her to a flower-viewing banquet at the Duke of Wei's Residence. Lady Zhu and the Old Madam considered whether Zhao Ruxi should attend, suspecting the invitation might be a ploy.

• Zhao Ruyu wondered how Zhao Ruxi had become so talented and influential, and Zhao Ruxi claimed heaven favored her.
• Zhao Ruxi pretended to cough, and Qingfeng and Dianjiang played along to make Zhao Ruyu fear catching an illness.
• Zhao Ruyu told Zhao Ruxi that Sister Qi Xuan admired her painting and had invited her to a flower-viewing banquet.
• Zhao Ruxi returned to her calligraphy practice, deciding she had no time for social gatherings.
• Lady Zhu discussed the invitation with the Old Madam, who suspected Zhao Ruyu and the young ladies had arranged it without the Duke of Wei's adults' knowledge.

Lady Zhu apologized to the Duke of Wei’s Residence for Zhao Xi’s absence from Qi Xuan’s banquet, and the old duchess discovered that Qi Xuan had pressured her to attend. The old duchess reprimanded Qi Xuan and warned her family that Zhao Ruxi’s growing reputation could raise the Earl of Suiping’s Residence.

• The old madam advised Lady Zhu to explain that Zhao Xi was ill and could not attend the banquet, then apologize after she recovered.
• Lady Zhu visited the Duke of Wei’s Residence, explained Zhao Xi’s absence, and accepted wild ginseng from the old duchess for Lady Tang.
• The old duchess summoned Qi Xuan and made her repeat what she had said to Zhao Xi, and Qi Xuan admitted she had been wrong to pressure her.
• The old duchess rebuked Qi Xuan and warned the household not to look down on the Earl of Suiping’s Residence because Zhao Ruxi’s talent and future marriage prospects could bring the family greater influence.
• The younger women accepted the old duchess’s lesson to treat others kindly and not judge them by their current standing.

Zhao Ruxi used Grand Princess Shangde's influence to reduce unwanted social invitations as her paintings brought a flood of marriage proposals, which she refused until she was sixteen. The chapter ended when Qingfeng secretly showed her a letter she had found beside her pillow.

• The old duchess told Qi Xuan and the other girls to attend her lessons, while Lady Zhu went to explain Zhao Ruxi's situation at the Duke of Wei's Residence.
• Zhao Ruxi sent Kang Shilin a letter asking him to seek Grand Princess Shangde's help in protecting her from social distractions while she prepared for the imperial examinations.
• Grand Princess Shangde publicly praised Zhao Ruxi and warned others not to disturb her, leading to fewer invitations and more polite messages of admiration.
• After Zhao Ruxi's paintings impressed influential families, marriage proposals arrived in an endless stream, including one from the Duke of Wei's Residence.
• Zhao Ruxi told Lady Zhu she would not consider marriage before sixteen, and Zhao Yuanxun agreed to respect her decision.
• Qingfeng found a letter beside her pillow and secretly handed it to Zhao Ruxi.

Zhao Ruxi refused Xiao Lingyan’s request to meet and later received a letter in which he argued against women marrying young. She answered with a curt question, leaving Xiao Lingyan to face her rejection.

• Zhao Ruxi read Xiao Lingyan’s invitation to meet and told him they should communicate by letter unless meeting was necessary.
• Xiao Lingyan read her reply, then wrote her a letter warning about the difficulties women faced in marriage and asked his subordinate to deliver it during the day.
• Wang Tong slipped Xiao Lingyan’s letter through Qingfeng’s window, and Qingfeng brought it to Zhao Ruxi.
• Zhao Ruxi wrote a four-word reply, “What’s it to you?”, and told Qingfeng to let Wang Tong watch her place it on the windowsill.
• Xiao Lingyan received Zhao Ruxi’s reply and found her blunt question inside.

Fu Yunkai visited Zhao Zhiwei’s painting repeatedly and, after Huang Zhen suggested he request a painting from her, asked Chang'an to find out when he could see her. Chang'an learned that Zhao Zhiwei was staying home while ill and that the Wife of the Earl of Suiping had rejected all marriage proposals until Zhao came of age.

• Huang Zhen told Fu Yunkai that the Emperor had added Zhao Zhiwei’s painting to his collection and suggested that Fu ask her for a painting of his own.
• Fu Yunkai asked Chang'an to learn whether and when Zhao Zhiwei went out near the Earl of Suiping's Residence.
• Chang'an learned that Zhao Zhiwei was home recovering from an illness and that several prominent families had proposed marriage.
• An attendant told Chang'an that the Wife of the Earl of Suiping had rejected the proposals and would only discuss Zhao Zhiwei’s marriage after she came of age.

Chang'an confirmed that Fifth Miss Zhao was not engaged, giving Fu Yunkai hope, while Zhao Ruxi spent the New Year at home exchanging letters with Xiao Lingyan and Xiao Ruotong. After Zhao Ruxi returned to Beining Academy, she received a letter from Fu Yunkai.

• Chang'an paid the shop assistants to verify that Fifth Miss Zhao had not been engaged, and the Earl of Suiping's Residence's gatekeeper confirmed it.
• Fu Yunkai ordered Chang'an to watch for Zhao Ruxi, but she stayed home through the New Year and did not attend any banquets.
• Xiao Lingyan sent Zhao Ruxi entertaining letters, while Xiao Ruotong wrote to her about the many marriage proposals she was receiving.
• After the fifteenth day of the first month, Zhao Ruxi returned to Beining Academy to study while waiting for the visiting officials to arrive.
• Zhaoming gave Zhao Ruxi a letter from Fu Yunkai, and she recognized his distinctive handwriting.

Zhao Ruxi met Fu Yunkai at a teahouse after he asked why she had refused his marriage proposal. She rejected his praise by warning him that she was petty and willing to use any means against those who offended her.

• Zhao Ruxi verified that Fu Yunkai was waiting at the teahouse, then rode there with Qingfeng, Lady Luo, and Ma Sheng.
• Fu Yunkai asked Zhao Ruxi why she had refused his marriage proposal.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Fu Yunkai why he had wanted to marry her, and he praised her talent, ambition, and sincerity.
• Zhao Ruxi told Fu Yunkai that she was not broad-minded or sincere, enjoyed using petty tricks, and would take down anyone who offended her.

Zhao Ruxi rejected Fu Yunkai’s proposal, explaining that their expectations and desired lives were incompatible. When Chang'an accused her of looking down on border soldiers, she condemned his moral blackmail and left, while Fu Yunkai recognized that no one owed him marriage because he served at the border.

• Fu Yunkai admitted he might regret marrying Zhao Ruxi if she differed from his imagined ideal, but promised he would take responsibility rather than abandon her.
• Zhao Ruxi ended their discussion, saying she could not accept a husband often away at the border or endure Fu Yunkai’s mother’s faultfinding.
• Fu Yunkai asked Zhao Ruxi to give them time to get to know each other, but she insisted they could never be compatible and left the room.
• Chang'an accused Zhao Ruxi of looking down on border soldiers, and she denounced him for using their service to pressure women into marriage.
• Fu Yunkai silently recognized that soldiers’ service did not entitle them to force anyone to marry them.

Fu Yunkai ended his meeting with Zhao Ruxi and ordered his men to keep their exchange secret, while Xiao Lingyan learned that Fu Yunkai had threatened her and went to the palace. There, he told Noble Consort Cen that he already liked someone, but refused to identify Zhao Ruxi or discuss marriage without her consent.

• Chang'an tried to defend Fu Yunkai, but Zhao Ruxi countered his words with a warning about the political danger of spreading them.
• Fu Yunkai told Chang'an to treat the meeting as though it had never happened, and the two parted without Zhao Ruxi promising to speak of it.
• Xiao Lingyan's gray-clad subordinates reported Fu Yunkai's conversation with Zhao Ruxi to him.
• Xiao Lingyan angrily ordered his subordinate to return to protecting Zhao Ruxi, then went to the palace.
• Noble Consort Cen offered Xiao Lingyan portraits of young women, but he refused to look and said he already liked someone.
• Xiao Lingyan withheld Zhao Ruxi's name because he knew she would object to him discussing their relationship without her approval.

Xiao Lingyan arranged for Eunuch Zhang to alert him if anyone sought an imperial marriage decree, while Zhao Ruxi reviewed the newspaper project and diagnosed its printing problem. The newspaper’s organizers were left needing a cheaper way to print it.

• Xiao Lingyan sent Xiao Liuzi to bribe Eunuch Zhang to report any requests for imperial marriage decrees, and Xiao Ge learned of their plan and accepted it.
• Noble Consort Cen questioned Xiao Liuzi about Xiao Lingyan, but he refused to reveal anything.
• Madam Cui brought Zhao Ruxi a sample newspaper and asked her to identify what was wrong with it.
• Zhao Ruxi noticed the vertical layout and handwritten text, then asked whether they had encountered printing difficulties.
• Madam Cui explained that woodblock printing was too costly for the newspaper’s small circulation and that they could not produce the borders or illustrations Zhao Ruxi had suggested.

Zhao Ruxi used the problem of printing a women’s newspaper to direct Madam Cui to her inexpensive new printing press. Madam Cui found the inconspicuous Wang Printing House and negotiated a surprisingly cheap order, but she suspected the owner was trying to swindle her.

• Zhao Ruxi explained that she had developed lead type, printing ink, and a press to make large-scale newspaper printing affordable.
• Zhao Ruxi gave Madam Cui the address of an inexpensive printing house, then went to her separate lessons to study for the preliminary scholar’s examination.
• Madam Cui traveled to the south of the capital and found Wang Printing House hidden in an alley.
• The elderly owner examined Madam Cui’s newspaper and quoted three taels for three hundred copies.
• Madam Cui doubted the low price, and the owner impatiently demanded a hundred copper coins as a deposit if she wanted to proceed.

Madam Cui collected the newspapers from Wang Kun’s printing house and found they were printed quickly and at an unexpectedly low price. She and Grand Princess Shangde suspected Zhao Ruxi had secretly covered the costs, but Zhao Ruxi denied it, leaving them wondering who had paid the difference.

• Madam Cui paid Wang Kun a hundred wen deposit and received a receipt promising the newspapers in ten days.
• Madam Cui collected the matching newspapers ten days later, paid the remaining two thousand nine hundred wen, and learned Wang Kun could print three hundred more at the same price.
• Madam Cui brought the newspapers to Grand Princess Shangde, and they wondered whether Zhao Ruxi had secretly paid the difference.
• Madam Cui confronted Zhao Ruxi about covering the printing costs, but Zhao Ruxi swore she had not paid anything.

Zhao Ruxi explained the unusually cheap newspaper printing to Madam Cui, and an investigation confirmed Wang Shixing’s background and his reasons for accepting the order. Grand Princess Shangde decided to invest in Wang Shixing’s printing house while keeping the newspaper’s printing costs low.

• Zhao Ruxi told Madam Cui that she had found Wang Printing House through Broker Wang and explained why its printing costs were cheap.
• Madam Cui sent a guard to investigate Wang Shixing, whose family had been secretly helped by Xiao Lingyan’s men after losing their fortune and facing prison in Jiangnan.
• The guard confirmed Wang Shixing’s background and reported that the family had accepted the newspaper order because of Broker Wang’s connection and their reluctance to refuse him.
• Grand Princess Shangde independently investigated Wang Shixing and then proposed investing three thousand taels for a thirty percent share in his printing house.
• Grand Princess Shangde told Madam Cui to offer the investment, set printing prices slightly below other shops, and preserve the low price for the newspaper.

Grand Princess Shangde expanded Wang Printing House with imported printing presses and ink, using paper and printing methods developed through Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan’s efforts. The workshop’s cheap, high-quality books transformed the market, while the great families began copying its technology and fighting to reclaim their business.

• Grand Princess Shangde bought Wang Printing House from Wang Shixing and sent people to Jiangnan, where they acquired three more presses, metal type, and ink.
• Grand Princess Shangde moved the workshop to her courtyard in Beining, installed four presses, and opened it with paper supplied by Xiao Lingyan’s paper mill.
• Wang Printing House’s Four Books and Five Classics became popular for their low prices, durable paper, and clear printing, prompting Grand Princess Shangde to expand.
• The great families obstructed Grand Princess Shangde’s business and infiltrated the workshop, then sent people to Jiangnan to buy presses and ink and lowered their prices.
• Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan’s presses and paper sold widely, and book prices across Great Jin fell.

Zhao Ruxi improved the estate’s livestock, farming, and food production before preparing for the county examination. Madam Cui feared rivals might interfere, so Grand Princess Shangde asked Xiao Ge to appoint an upright examiner; Zhao Ruxi entered the exam room and met the other female candidates.

• Zhao Ruxi arranged for estate households to raise livestock, tested earthworm farming, planted fruit trees, stocked the pond with fish, and shared fertilizer methods.
• Madam Cui worried that Consort Jin or Princess Pingyang would sabotage Zhao Ruxi during the county examination, and Grand Princess Shangde agreed to seek the emperor’s help.
• Grand Princess Shangde asked Xiao Ge to appoint a fair official to oversee the female candidates, and he agreed.
• Zhao Ruxi arrived at the examination grounds and met three candidates from the Capital Women's Academy and another woman sitting alone.
• The candidates stopped talking as Zhao Ruxi prepared her writing materials, while the assistant examiners watched over the quiet room.

Zhao Ruxi took the county examination in the capital and finished her paper early. The results were posted the next day, and she was named first on the list, surprising even herself.

• Zhao Ruxi learned that Qin Zhe, the renowned calligraphy master, was the chief examiner, while Xie Yu served as deputy chief examiner.
• Zhao Ruxi confidently answered the examination questions, checked her work, and submitted her paper while a third of the incense remained.
• Zhao Ruxi returned home early, and her family worried about how she had performed as they waited for news.
• The next day, a servant checked the posted results and reported that Zhao Ruxi had topped the list.
• Zhao Ruxi acknowledged that she had expected to answer correctly but was still surprised to come first.

After Zhao Ruxi took first place in the county examination’s first session, she warned her family not to assume she would top the overall results and explained that her fame might have influenced the prefect. The family learned Zhao Jing'an had ranked eighty-eighth, while public complaints about Zhao Ruxi ended after candidates inspected her flawless paper.

• Zhao Ruxi told her grandmother and parents that her first-place result might reflect deference to the emperor and did not mean she would win the overall examination.
• A servant reported that Zhao Jing'an ranked eighty-eighth and the Xu family's young master ranked forty-fifth in the first session.
• Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu reassured themselves that Zhao Jing'an still had two sessions to improve and could try again next year if needed.
• Lady Zhu sent a servant to learn how people were reacting to Zhao Ruxi's result.
• The servant reported that candidates had protested and demanded to see the papers, but the prefect displayed the top ten papers under guard.
• After examining Zhao Ruxi's error-free paper and beautiful handwriting, the candidates accepted her result and praised her scholarship and painting.

Zhao Ruxi advanced through the county examination, placing second in the comprehension test and seventh in the final test. Her family suspected the officials had suppressed her ranking, while Zhao Ruxi remained determined to prove herself.

• Kang Shilin, Madam Cui, and Grand Princess Shangde celebrated Zhao Ruxi's first-place result, and Grand Princess Shangde prepared a calligraphy copybook as a reward.
• Zhao Ruxi finished the second examination early, and the next day the results placed her second.
• The Old Madam, Lady Zhu, and Zhao Yuanxun suspected Zhao Ruxi had been unfairly ranked, while Zhao Ruxi said she would give her best in the final examination.
• Zhao Ruxi sat the final examination, which included essays, a poem, and arithmetic problems, but expected the capital prefect to suppress her ranking.
• When the final results came out, Zhao Ruxi placed seventh, and the elders grew indignant on her behalf.

Grand Princess Shangde rewarded Zhao Ruxi with a treasured copybook by Master Mingcang. Lady Zhu then asked Matron Yin to urge the Grand Princess to have the second- and third-session examination papers posted, and the Grand Princess called for Madam Cui to discuss whether Zhao Ruxi had been unfairly ranked.

• Grand Princess Shangde sent Matron Yin to deliver a copybook by Master Mingcang to Zhao Ruxi as a reward for her examination result.
• Zhao Ruxi gratefully accepted the copybook and promised to thank Grand Princess Shangde in person after the county examination results were posted.
• Lady Zhu asked Matron Yin to request that the examination papers from the second and third sessions be posted, questioning whether Zhao Ruxi's work had been deliberately ranked lower.
• Matron Yin agreed to convey Lady Zhu's request to Grand Princess Shangde and accepted a modest jade gift from Matron Zhou.
• After Matron Yin reported Lady Zhu's words, Grand Princess Shangde summoned Madam Cui and asked whether Zhao Ruxi might have been suppressed and what the academy's masters thought of her work.

Grand Princess Shangde weighed whether to challenge Zhao Ruxi’s ranking in the imperial examinations, but recognized that intervening would invite political attacks and might change nothing. Zhao Ruxi hurried to Beining to apologize for her mother’s words and urged Grand Princess Shangde not to risk her position over the results.

• Madam Cui praised Zhao Ruxi’s essays, and Grand Princess Shangde considered going to the palace to complain about the capital prefect’s handling of the examination.
• Grand Princess Shangde reasoned that demanding the examination papers be posted would expose her to accusations of meddling in government, while the prefect had already ranked Zhao Ruxi among the top five.
• Zhao Ruxi arrived at Beining after Matron Ruan told her what Lady Zhu had said to Matron Yin.
• Zhao Ruxi apologized for her mother’s remarks and asked Grand Princess Shangde to forgive her.
• Zhao Ruxi explained that intervening in the examination would put Grand Princess Shangde in the wrong and that the rankings could not be changed merely by posting the papers.

Zhao Ruxi persuaded Grand Princess Shangde not to challenge the capital prefect over her examination ranking, explaining that doing so could let him portray the princess as interfering with the exams. She reassured Madam Cui that later examinations used anonymous papers and stricter procedures, though Grand Princess Shangde still resented Zhang Li for lowering Zhao Ruxi’s ranking.

• Zhao Ruxi apologized on her mother's behalf, and Grand Princess Shangde warmly assured her that Madam Cui had done nothing wrong by seeking justice for her.
• Zhao Ruxi argued that the capital prefect might have passed her over to uphold the authority of the examinations, and Grand Princess Shangde realized Zhang Li could be using her as an example to deter powerful people from interfering.
• Madam Cui asked whether women would always be suppressed, and Zhao Ruxi explained that later examinations concealed candidates' names and had multiple examiners review copied papers.
• Madam Cui and Grand Princess Shangde were reassured that anonymous examination procedures could prevent candidates from being ranked by sex, but Grand Princess Shangde remained angry at Zhang Li.

After the county examination, Grand Princess Shangde planned to show Zhao Ruxi’s essay to the emperor, while Zhao Ruxi explained that she did not intend to remain in officialdom and wanted to devote herself to painting. She then proposed that women needed independent income to improve their standing, leaving Madam Cui eager to hear how more women could earn money.

• Zhao Ruxi advised Grand Princess Shangde to wait until the county examination results and essays circulated before raising doubts about Zhang Li with the emperor.
• Zhao Ruxi told Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui that even if she earned the jinshi degree, she would eventually leave official service to pursue painting and study.
• Madam Cui accepted Zhao Ruxi’s choice and said her painting and the newspaper idea could help improve women’s circumstances.
• Zhao Ruxi argued that women needed their own income to gain a stronger voice at home, prompting Madam Cui to ask how they could help more women earn money.

Zhao Ruxi showed Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui her improved spinning mule and proposed opening textile factories throughout Great Jin with the emperor’s investment. The chapter left Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui eager to help establish both the factories and Zhao Ruxi’s planned technical academy for women.

• Zhao Ruxi proposed a textile workshop that would hire women and produce affordable fine cloth.
• Zhao Ruxi brought Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui to Green Plantain Courtyard to see her textile machine.
• Zhao Ruxi demonstrated a spinning mule that could spin yarn quickly using animal power, and explained that it could run on water power.
• Zhao Ruxi said she had developed the machine and described how its low costs could make fine cloth affordable to commoners.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Grand Princess Shangde to invite the emperor to invest in textile factories and proposed using her profits to establish a free technical academy for women.
• Grand Princess Shangde agreed to help establish the academy, and Madam Cui agreed to join her.

Grand Princess Shangde brought Zhao Ruxi’s labor-saving spinning machine to the palace so Xiao Ge could see its potential. The carpenters assembled it and taught the eunuchs to operate it, and the emperor was invited to watch.

• Grand Princess Shangde asked Zhao Ruxi to bring the spinning machine to the palace, but Zhao Ruxi sent the two carpenters who had built it instead.
• Zhao Ruxi reassured the nervous carpenters and instructed them to assemble the machine and teach the eunuchs, without demonstrating it before the emperor.
• Grand Princess Shangde brought the carpenters and machine to the palace gates, then went inside to tell Xiao Ge about it.
• Xiao Ge summoned Grand Princess Shangde and ordered the chief steward to bring the machine and carpenters into the palace.
• The guards inspected the carpenters and machine, and the carpenters assembled it and taught the eunuchs to operate it.
• The eunuchs invited Xiao Ge to see the spinning machine.