Chapter Summaries

Zhao Ruxi arranged improvements for the estate and planned to turn its harvest into food for sale. When matchmakers arrived to propose marriages, she suspected the Eastern Palace was trying to manipulate her marriage and explained her concerns to Lady Zhu and the old madam.

• Qian Duoduo thanked Zhao Ruxi on behalf of the estate’s residents, and she promised better housing and a school for their children.
• Zhao Ruxi told Qian Duoduo to map the village and prepare adobe bricks before construction began.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Zhou Chun to find pastry cooks and buy two shops so she could sell processed food made from the estate’s harvest.
• Matchmaker Jiang praised Zhao Ruxi and left after Lady Zhu said she would discuss the proposed match with her daughter.
• Lady Zhu told Zhao Ruxi that two matchmakers had proposed marriages for her, and Zhao Ruxi suspected the crown prince was scheming against her through marriage arrangements.
• Zhao Ruxi told Lady Zhu and the old madam that she believed the Eastern Palace had sent Liu Zongyao to cause trouble and might now be targeting her reputation and marriage.

Zhao Ruxi warned her family about the crown prince’s marriage schemes, then arranged to help the Xu Family revive its business by teaching them to roast chestnuts. She perfected sugar-roasted chestnuts and summoned Sister-in-law Li to discuss the recipe.

• Zhao Ruxi urged the old madam and Lady Zhu to reject all the proposed marriages and keep watch on the men chosen for her.
• Zhao Ruxi asked how to handle Egret Manor’s surplus produce, and Lady Zhu and the old madam told her to sell or use it herself.
• Lady Zhu told Zhao Ruxi that competition had hurt the Xu Family’s cold mixed dishes business, so Zhao Ruxi promised to teach them a new way to sell chestnuts.
• Zhao Ruxi had Zhou Chun obtain quartz sand and instructed Sister-in-law Li to roast chestnuts with it.
• After tasting the first batch, Zhao Ruxi told Zhaoming to have Sister-in-law Li add sugar, then approved the finished chestnuts and asked for her.

Zhao Ruxi visited the Xu Family and showed them how to make sugar-roasted chestnuts using quartz sand, encouraging them to expand their snack business. She left after Xu Yongyi agreed to try the recipe and Xu Xue shared news of her success as a storybook writer.

• Zhao Ruxi brought roasted chestnuts to the Xu Family and explained how to make them with reusable quartz sand.
• Xu Yongyi, Madam Xie, Xu Chongwen, and Xu Xue tasted the chestnuts, and Xu Yongyi saw the potential to sell them at his stall.
• Zhao Ruxi gave Xu Yongyi her notes and quartz sand, suggested experimenting with other snacks, and declined a share of the new business's profits.
• Xu Xue told Zhao Ruxi that her new storybook had sold for a higher price after she negotiated with the shopkeeper.
• Zhao Ruxi praised Xu Xue's writing and encouraged her to keep going.

Zhao Ruxi told Xiao Lingyan that the crown prince was targeting her and worked with him to hide and sell the clocks they were producing. After Xiao Lingyan drove the crown prince out of the capital, Zhao Ruxi returned to her training classes and learned to ride.

• Zhao Ruxi told Xiao Lingyan about the crown prince's interference and marriage proposals, and asked him to resolve the threat to her workshop.
• Xiao Lingyan showed Zhao Ruxi tested springs and agreed to make clock parts for sale through Fu Yunlang as imported goods.
• Xiao Lingyan arranged a secret chamber and tunnel for storing and collecting the finished clock parts.
• Xiao Lingyan arranged for the crown prince to be impeached and caught drinking with a male courtesan, prompting the emperor to send him to another province.
• With the crown prince gone, Zhao Ruxi continued managing the training classes and learned to ride a horse with Gao Weiqiang's guidance.

Li Laosi complained about the Beining Workshop’s secretive methods and Feng’s strict inspections, but Blacksmith Li made him consider why the owner concealed the designs and warned him to keep quiet. After Zhao Ruxi finished teaching, Zhou Chun brought her pastries made by cooks he had arranged to prepare at the workshop.

• Li Si complained that the workshop gave the blacksmiths drawings without telling them what they were making, and Blacksmith Li warned him to stop talking.
• Blacksmith Li gathered his four sons and learned that Li Laosi had repeatedly ignored the drawings’ dimensions, resulting in rejected components and scrap.
• Blacksmith Li prompted Li Laosi to consider why the designs were concealed, and Li Laosi guessed that the owner was developing something new.
• Blacksmith Li explained that the secrecy protected the owner’s designs from being sold, and Li Laosi agreed to keep quiet.
• Zhou Chun brought Zhao Ruxi pastries prepared by cooks he had arranged to work near the workshop.

Zhao Ruxi proposed making dried rice noodles after her search for a suitable food product came up short, while her workshops continued producing goods for a future shop. She showed Wu Zong one of their iron safes and challenged him to open its unfamiliar lock.

• Zhao Ruxi told the cooks to try making dried rice noodles by grinding rice into slurry, steaming it, cutting it into strips, and drying them.
• Zhou Chun arranged the cooks' experiments and asked when the shop would open; Zhao Ruxi said it could open once she approved and ordered the staff to be ready.
• Zhao Ruxi packed up the pastries and took them to the painting academy, where she invited the students to eat and asked Wu Zong to inspect something from her workshops.
• Zhao Ruxi led Wu Zong to the Green Plantain Courtyard and challenged him to open an iron safe.
• Wu Zong examined the safe's unfamiliar lock, and Zhao Ruxi smugly assured him that he could not open it.

Zhao Ruxi showed Wu Zong that her iron cabinet lock was too difficult to pick and proposed using the Court of Judicial Review to publicize the cabinets. Wu Zong agreed to help, and Zhao Ruxi offered shares to her master and senior brothers in exchange for their support when the resulting attention brought trouble.

• Wu Zong tried and failed to pick Zhao Ruxi’s concealed lock, then praised the cabinet’s sturdiness.
• Zhao Ruxi explained that the iron cabinet could sell for eight hundred taels and Wu Zong agreed the price was reasonable.
• Zhao Ruxi proposed placing cabinets at the Court of Judicial Review and offering five hundred taels to anyone who could open one.
• Wu Zong recognized that the Court’s endorsement could make the cabinets famous and drive demand among wealthy families.
• Zhao Ruxi offered shares to Wu Zong, her master, and her other senior brothers, explaining that she expected powerful people to trouble her over the cabinet’s profits.

Zhao Ruxi arranged for Wu Zong to seek powerful allies for her iron-cabinet business while she developed recipes and production plans for her rice-noodle shops. After approving dried noodles and several dishes, she ordered preparations to open six shops in the city.

• Wu Zong agreed to approach Lord Zhang and their senior brothers about helping Zhao Ruxi, and Zhao Ruxi offered Lord Zhang or the Court of Judicial Review a free ten-percent share.
• Zhao Ruxi and her companions tasted the cooks' rice noodles and chose a recipe to test after drying.
• Zhao Ruxi directed the cooks to make braised rice noodles with inexpensive toppings and a soup noodle dish based on freshwater snails and pork bones.
• After finding that the dried noodles had a good texture, Zhao Ruxi ordered the cooks to train estate workers to make them and offered a reward for the best production group.
• Zhao Ruxi told Zhou Chun to buy four more shops, bringing the total to six, and assign cooks, managers, and estate workers to operate them.

Zhao Ruxi arranged to expand her workforce and sought advice about preparing Shi Chao and Jiang Zhenjiang to manage her shops. Shopkeeper Wang recommended two retired shopkeepers to guide them, and Zhao Ruxi left with their names.

• Zhao Ruxi told Zhou Chun to buy forty more people, train them, and promote two deputies to assist him.
• Zhao Ruxi visited Gathered Treasures Studio and asked Shopkeeper Wang how Shi Chao and Jiang Zhenjiang were progressing.
• Shopkeeper Wang praised both men’s diligence and said they were capable, though Shi Chao was more flexible and Jiang Zhenjiang was steadier.
• Zhao Ruxi explained that she needed experienced guidance before entrusting her important shops to the two novices.
• Shopkeeper Wang recommended retired shopkeepers Hu Mingda and Song Zhuo as advisers who could guide Shi Chao and Jiang Zhenjiang.
• Zhao Ruxi thanked Shopkeeper Wang with a bow, and he accepted her gratitude after reminding her not to put him in an awkward position.

Zhao Ruxi secured two experienced shopkeepers for her new businesses and arranged for the emperor to invest in her safe venture through Lord Zhang. The emperor’s backing seemed assured, and Wu Zong praised Zhao Ruxi’s cleverness.

• Zhao Ruxi persuaded Shopkeeper Wang to recommend her to two retired shopkeepers, and he sent them letters on her behalf.
• After the shopkeepers agreed to work for her, Zhao Ruxi offered each an annual salary of one hundred and eighty taels of silver.
• Wu Zong told Zhao Ruxi that Lord Zhang had agreed to place the safe at the Court of Judicial Review.
• Zhao Ruxi guessed that Lord Zhang had brought the emperor into the venture and explained why that approach benefited both Lord Zhang and her master.
• Wu Zong praised Zhao Ruxi’s intelligence, then patted her head as he called her a cheeky child.

Zhao Ruxi secured the emperor’s backing for her rice noodle business and shared a private promise of future profits with Wu Zong. Back in the capital, she introduced her family to the new dish and persuaded the old madam and Lady Zhu to make and sell dried rice noodles from their farms.

• Wu Zong told Zhao Ruxi that the emperor had invested six thousand taels and collected the other shareholders’ payments.
• Zhao Ruxi offered Wu Zong ten percent of her future profits in gratitude, and he agreed while saying he would tell their master.
• Zhao Ruxi returned to the capital and served her family rice noodles with braised meat and toppings.
• Zhao Ruxi explained her plan to open rice noodle shops and gave the old madam and Lady Zhu recipes for making dried rice noodles.
• Zhao Ruxi suggested that her family sell surplus dried rice noodles through grain shops, and Lady Zhu agreed to follow her advice.

Lü Yi went to the Court of Judicial Review to try opening an iron cabinet after hearing that the challenge offered five hundred taels of silver. As another man worked on the lock, Lü Yi examined the cabinet and concluded that the keyhole was the only possible way in.

• Zhou Guizi told Lü Yi that the Court of Judicial Review was offering five hundred taels to anyone who could open one of its iron cabinets.
• Lü Yi heard that many people had tried and failed, then agreed to go test his lock-picking skills.
• Lü Yi and his hoodlums pushed through the crowd and reached the front as a court runner selected the next person to try.
• Lü Yi watched the man work at the keyhole and inspected the cabinet's sturdy construction, ruling out its seams and hinges.

After the iron cabinet failed to yield to anyone, Guo Jitong questioned Zhang Changshen about buying one and learned it belonged to the emperor. Xiao Lingyan grew suspicious that Guo’s greedy reputation concealed a deeper purpose and ordered an investigation, connecting him to a possible plot involving delayed military provisions.

• Lü Yi spent his turn trying to pick the iron cabinet’s lock but failed and left with Zhou Guizi.
• Zhang Changshen told Guo Jitong that Baoning Pavilion sold safes, then warned him the iron cabinet was the emperor’s business and he should avoid crooked ideas.
• Xiao Lingyan overheard the exchange and, after boarding his carriage, ordered Xiao Liuzi to investigate Guo Jitong’s movements.
• Xiao Lingyan told Xiao Lingpu that Guo’s greed might be a disguise for investigating powerful families and their ties to successful shops.
• Xiao Lingyan recalled Zhao Ruxi’s account of provisions delayed by ten days and then burned near the border, suspecting the third prince had an accomplice in the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhao Ruxi used the emperor’s stake in the safe business to keep others from probing it, while sales quickly outpaced production. When Wu Zong told her the emperor had found twenty blacksmiths, she accepted the help and learned he had also rented a courtyard for them.

• Xiao Lingyan and Xiao Lingpu agreed to each buy one iron cabinet to support the emperor without drawing suspicion.
• Zhao Ruxi told Shi Chao and Song Zhuo to present the safe business as the emperor’s, and they moved the shop to the building he had given her.
• Customers bought the first few dozen safes in less than two days, leaving Shi Chao urging Zhao Ruxi to replenish the stock.
• Zhou Chun suggested assigning more blacksmiths to forge cabinets, but Zhao Ruxi refused because she feared the workers might expose the business’s secrets.
• Wu Zong told Zhao Ruxi that the emperor had found twenty blacksmiths for her, and revealed that he had already rented them a courtyard.

Zhao Ruxi expanded safe production after Xiao Ge sent blacksmiths to her workshop, and sales brought in a large profit. She calculated the first payout, increasing Xiao Ge’s share to account for his support and the extra workers.

• Xiao Ge heard officials complain that they could not buy safes and sent imperial-mausoleum blacksmiths to Zhao Ruxi.
• Zhao Ruxi organized the new blacksmiths into teams, increasing production to seventeen or eighteen safes a day while keeping supply limited.
• Zhao Ruxi’s shop sold safes for silver notes, and Wu Zong arranged for the proceeds to reach her discreetly.
• Zhao Ruxi kept the business secret from her family and planned to use her wealth to buy property in Jiangnan and move them there.
• After ten days, Zhao Ruxi counted 152 safes sold and set aside ninety thousand taels for the first profit distribution.
• Zhao Ruxi raised Xiao Ge’s share from twenty to thirty percent, giving him twenty-seven thousand taels for his investment and support.

Zhao Ruxi distributed ten days of dividends from the iron-cabinet business, astonishing her investors and prompting her senior brothers and the emperor to respond. With the venture running smoothly, she waited for Ma Sheng and the others to return from the south with jadeite.

• Zhao Ruxi sent dividend payments to Xiao Ge, Zhang Changshen, Wu Zong, Kang Shilin, Wu Huaisi, and Gong Cheng, who were surprised by the enormous profits.
• Gong Cheng tried to return his investment and withdraw, but Wu Zong persuaded him that accepting Zhao Ruxi’s repayment would strengthen their relationship.
• Wu Huaisi promised Wu Zong that he would help Zhao Ruxi if she ever got into trouble, then joked with Wu Zong about favoring their junior sister.
• Zhang Changshen delivered Xiao Ge’s dividends, and Xiao Ge praised Zhao Ruxi for sharing the profits and asked to be remembered in future ventures.
• Zhao Ruxi continued overseeing the smoothly running business while waiting for Ma Sheng and the others to return with jadeite.

Ma Sheng and the others returned to the capital with five boats of stones, and Zhao Ruxi arranged to have them transported and processed discreetly. After rewarding the travelers, she prepared a separate workshop in Beining to keep her jadeite business from interfering with Xiao Lingyan's secret tunnel.

• Ma Sheng and the others arrived at a river dock with five boats of stones, and Zhou Chun hired enough mule carts to haul them to the capital.
• Zhou Chun explained the stones as part of a plan to build a house for Zhao Family's old master, concealing their real purpose from the carting company's workers.
• Zhao Ruxi bought a two-courtyard house in Beining for a jadeite workshop, keeping it separate from the neighboring house used by Xiao Lingyan's people through the tunnel.
• Zhao Ruxi rewarded the returning travelers with ten taels each, told them to rest until after the New Year, and promised to hire them again for future stone shipments.
• Qian Buque and the other workers thanked Zhao Ruxi, then discussed how her generous pay and Ma Sheng's care had made their long journey worthwhile.

Qian Buque and the other men returned to the estate and were astonished to find the village rebuilt with orderly, spacious houses. Qian Duoduo explained that Zhao Ruxi’s support had persuaded everyone to build, and the brothers discovered that their family had built separate homes for them as well.

• Qian Buque and the others walked back from the county seat and were welcomed at the estate gate by Qian Youyu.
• The returning men saw the village’s new bluestone road and rows of mud-brick, tiled-roof houses and wondered if they were dreaming.
• Qian Duoduo explained that villagers who had hesitated to borrow for construction changed their minds after seeing the new houses and hearing Steward Zhou say Zhao Ruxi would help them earn money.
• Qian Duoduo confirmed that the men had returned safely and invited Qian Buque and Qian Bushao home to celebrate.
• Qian Buque and Qian Bushao learned that their father had built each of them a separate house using Zhao Ruxi’s promised monthly allowance as reassurance.
• Qian Duoduo said Zhao Ruxi had taught him a more economical house design that provided more space and comfort with less material.

Zhao Ruxi’s estate gained affordable mud-brick houses and a school where Cao Shu taught children, including girls. After Ma Sheng returned safely from the jadeite journey, he reported to Zhao Ruxi and reunited with Ma Wushi, who told him the safes were selling rapidly and had become famous in the capital.

• Zhao Ruxi sold the house design to builders from Beining County, who taught estate servants to build the inexpensive mud-brick homes.
• Qian Baolai told his father he was attending the new school, and Qian Duoduo explained that Cao Shu taught children of both sexes who were at least six.
• Zhao Ruxi had selected Cao Shu as a teacher, sent him to study at a city private school, and brought him back after the schoolhouse was completed.
• Ma Sheng reported that the jadeite expedition had returned with few difficulties, and Zhao Ruxi thanked him and gave him fifty taels of silver.
• Ma Wushi told Ma Sheng that safes were selling in large numbers and that the emperor’s public demonstration had made them famous.

Xiao Lingyan and Fu Yunlang presented a large Western-style clock to Xiao Ge, who rewarded Fu Yunlang but refused to join the clock business. Xiao Lingyan then scolded Fu Yunlang for trying to use the emperor’s name to attract buyers, while the chapter revealed that Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi had secretly arranged the clock scheme.

• Fu Yunlang offered Xiao Ge a Western clock for one tael, and Xiao Ge paid twenty taels after Xiao Lingyan explained the auspiciousness of the price.
• Imperial Guards brought in the oversized clock, and Fu Yunlang demonstrated its hands and winding mechanism to Xiao Ge.
• Xiao Ge rewarded Fu Yunlang with silver and fabric, then refused Xiao Lingyan’s offer to invest in the clock business.
• Xiao Lingyan told Fu Yunlang that only three clocks remained and that Fu Yunlang planned to auction them, then rebuked him for seeking the emperor’s backing.
• Xiao Lingyan’s secret arrangement with Zhao Ruxi was revealed: they had the clocks assembled in the south and used a missionary and Fu Yunlang to make their sale appear legitimate.