Recaps

Zhao Ruxi received the imperial betrothal to Xiao Lingyan, survived an assassination attempt, and earned imperial recognition for her farming tools and plans in Nanyang. As she returned to the capital amid the princes’ rivalry, she faced Cen Peixuan’s attempt to dictate how she should behave.

• Xiao Lingyan’s decree betrothed Zhao Ruxi to the Prince of Qi, and Zhao Ruyu learned the news while enduring mistreatment in Prince Jingping’s Estate.
• Three assassins attacked Zhao Ruxi’s carriage, but her companions subdued them, and the surviving attacker implicated the Crown Prince before dying by poison.
• Xiao Lingyan visited Zhao Ruxi while she recovered, and they reflected on how their staged assassination plot had implicated rival princes.
• Zhao Ruxi began brewing wine and demonstrated her new farming tools, which reclaimed far more wasteland than conventional tools and earned praise from officials.
• Xiao Ge rewarded Zhao Ruxi with an estate and other gifts, while her farming-tool designs were sent to authorities across the provinces.
• The wedding date for Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan was set, and Zhao Ruxi persuaded him that she should return to the capital despite the political danger.
• Zhao Ruxi reunited with her family in the capital and discussed the princes’ feud with Kang Shilin, anticipating that the succession struggle would soon erupt into a coup.
• Zhao Ruxi visited the pregnant Cen Peixuan, who criticized her work and threatened discipline by the Cen Family’s elders, but Zhao Ruxi refused to accept Cen Peixuan’s control.

Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan endured a succession crisis, Xiao Lingyan’s poisoning, and Xiao Lingheng’s rebellion while remaining committed to their marriage. After the rebellion was defeated and the Cen Family’s influence was curbed, Xiao Lingyan recovered enough to marry Zhao Ruxi at the Prince of Qi’s Residence.

• Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi agreed to stay out of the birthday banquet’s conflict, but the Crown Prince attacked the princes, killing the Prince of Qian and injuring the Prince of An.
• Xiao Ge survived an assassination attempt, the Crown Prince died, and Xiao Lingheng was captured after Xiao Lingyan helped expose his role in the plot.
• Xiao Lingyan was poisoned and fell unconscious, but Zhao Ruxi continued visiting him and insisted she would still marry him.
• As Xiao Lingyan recovered, Xiao Lingheng escaped and rebels surrounded the palace, so Noble Consort Cen hid Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan in a secret chamber.
• Xiao Lingyan revealed he could speak and told Zhao Ruxi that Xiao Ge was waiting to trap the rebels, and the system later reported that Xiao Lingheng’s forces had been defeated and he had died fleeing.
• Noble Consort Cen refused to force a Cen daughter on Xiao Lingyan, while Xiao Ge weakened the Cen Family and Xiao Lingpu urged Cen Hanchang to accept the losses.
• Xiao Lingyan recovered enough to speak and persuaded Xiao Ge to let the wedding proceed at the Prince of Qi’s Residence, where he and Zhao Ruxi completed their wedding rites.
• In the bridal chamber, Zhao Ruxi ordered Qingfeng to prepare hotpot and went next door to eat while Xiao Lingyan received Noble Consort Cen’s senior maidservant.

Zhao Ruxi’s farming innovations and irrigation works earned her a return to official service, while she helped Xiao Lingyan recover without exposing her to pressure to bear an heir. As Xiao Lingyan resisted the throne and concubines, the couple prepared to consummate their marriage and considered gradual reforms for Great Jin.

• Xiao Lingyan chose to remain paralyzed to protect Zhao Ruxi from the risks and pressure of childbirth, but agreed to recover after she confronted him.
• Zhao Ruxi’s farming tools and Nanyang irrigation works improved harvests and drew Xiao Ge’s praise, prompting ministers to seek her return to office.
• Zhao Ruxi accepted a nominal post in the Ministry of Works and demonstrated a horse-drawn harvester that outpaced thirty farmhands.
• Xiao Ge ordered farm tools made and sold at uniform prices, rewarded Zhao Ruxi with an estate and a shop, and joined her in a sealed-jar wine venture.
• Xiao Lingyan rejected proposals to take concubines and told Xiao Ge he would give up the throne rather than build a household that pressured Zhao Ruxi to bear a son.
• Zhao Ruxi proposed constitutional monarchy and an industrial revolution, while Xiao Lingyan judged the time unripe and planned gradual development of steam power and agricultural machinery.
• Zhao Ruxi refused Madam Tao’s offer of discounted glutinous rice, and news of the refusal deterred other families from seeking favor or offering daughters as secondary consorts.
• Xiao Ge ordered Xiao Lingyan examined and asked the Directorate of Astronomy to choose a date for the couple’s marriage to be consummated, while Xiao Lingyan reassured Zhao Ruxi about childbirth risks.

Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan welcomed their first son and later twins while Zhao Ruxi expanded opportunities for women and strengthened her family’s ties. The arc ended with Xiao Ge urging Xiao Lingyan to take the throne, while Xiao Lingyan offered to shoulder more state affairs instead.

• Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi consummated their marriage, and Zhao Ruxi soon learned she was pregnant.
• Lady Zhu and the old madam moved to the capital, and Zhao Ruxi gave birth to a son, Little Duo'er.
• Zhao Ruxi refused to help Zhao Ruyu pursue a place as the crown prince’s consort and advised her to seek independence through learning and business.
• Zhao Ruxi proposed releasing her handheld harvester plans for free and building a clothing factory with Grand Princess Shangde to employ women.
• Zhao Ruxi gave Kang Shilin a Recovery Pill, and he regained strength, clearer vision, and renewed progress in his painting.
• Xiao Ruotong and Zhao Ruxi discussed expanding the Women's Technical College and establishing a Great Jin Women's Federation, while Zhao Ruxi kept the system’s return-to-modern-times possibility from Xiao Lingyan.
• Zhao Ruxi gave birth to boy-girl twins, and Xiao Shaoduo promised to protect his younger siblings.
• Xiao Ge made Empress Cen empress and Xiao Shaoduo heir, then urged Xiao Lingyan to take the throne, but Xiao Lingyan offered to manage more state affairs instead.