Chapter Summaries

Fu Yunlang worried that auctioning his clocks would bring little profit, but Xiao Lingyan encouraged him to pursue business and proposed opening an auction house. The chapter ended with Fu Yunlang eager to hear more about Xiao Lingyan’s plan to attract wealthy bidders.

• Fu Yunlang realized that selling the three clocks might earn him little after costs, while the emperor’s safe business offered a steady profit.
• Xiao Lingyan reminded Fu Yunlang of his potential, and Fu Yunlang resolved to prove himself to his father and brother through business.
• Fu Yunlang admitted he did not know how to auction the clocks, so Xiao Lingyan explained the private bidding method he had researched.
• Fu Yunlang feared the clocks would sell at a loss because he lacked access to wealthy buyers, and Xiao Lingyan suggested opening an auction house that would charge ten percent of each sale.

Xiao Lingyan arranged an auction for Fu Yunlang’s clocks and visited Kang Shilin to persuade him to feature Zhao Ruxi’s paintings. Kang Shilin enthusiastically praised his disciple, leaving Xiao Lingyan on good terms with him.

• Xiao Lingyan agreed to sell Fu Yunlang’s clocks at an auction ten days later and declined to take a commission on them.
• Xiao Lingyan sent Kang Shilin a calling card, hoping to include one of his paintings and introduce Zhao Ruxi’s work to a wider audience.
• Kang Shilin arranged to meet Xiao Lingyan the following evening and welcomed him when he arrived with gifts.
• Xiao Lingyan explained his auction plans and suggested it would be the ideal place for Zhao Ruxi’s new painting style to debut.
• Kang Shilin praised Zhao Ruxi’s paintings at length, and Xiao Lingyan’s thoughtful agreement pleased him.

Xiao Lingyan persuaded Kang Shilin to contribute a painting to the auction supporting Zhao Ruxi, and arranged for Xiao Ge to buy it while keeping its price close to hers. After the painting course ended, Zhao Ruxi proposed turning its close-knit class into a membership-based painting salon.

• Xiao Lingyan suggested that Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi each contribute a painting to the auction, with Kang Shilin's painting placed near the finale.
• Xiao Lingyan proposed secretly buying Kang Shilin's best painting back if necessary, but Kang Shilin rejected the scheme to protect their reputations.
• Kang Shilin chose a painting favored by Xiao Ge and asked Xiao Lingyan to arrange for a palace attendant to buy it, while keeping its price only slightly above Zhao Ruxi's.
• Kang Shilin declined to include paintings by Lord Wu and Lord Gong, and Xiao Lingyan promised to send him the auction date and invitations.
• Xiao Lingyan sent a letter asking Zhao Ruxi to meet him in Beining the next day.
• After the painting course ended, Zhao Ruxi proposed that Kang Shilin establish a membership-based painting salon for the former students.

Zhao Ruxi met Xiao Lingyan, agreed to help him secretly make crossbow components, and heard about his suspicions concerning Guo Jitong. Xiao Lingyan then appealed to her as his most trusted confidante while discussing his plans for the dangers ahead.

• The Northern Painting School was named after its members voted on a name for their monthly salon.
• Zhao Ruxi visited Xiao Lingyan, who gave her pastries and tea and asked how she had been.
• Xiao Lingyan asked Zhao Ruxi to have her workshops make crucial components for a divine arm crossbow and a doucun crossbow, and she agreed to do so discreetly.
• Xiao Lingyan explained that he suspected Guo Jitong served Xiao Lingheng and planned to watch him and the Ministry of Revenue.
• Zhao Ruxi asked whether Xiao Lingyan had a plan for the dangers expected in a year and a half and two years, and he said he trusted her more than anyone and needed her advice.

Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan finalized a political scheme and discussed profits from their clock business and auction houses. Xiao Lingyan then asked whether the jadeite stones had been opened, leaving their quality unresolved.

• Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan refined their plan and agreed to adjust it as events unfolded.
• Xiao Lingyan told Zhao Ruxi that Fu Yunlang’s clocks had arrived in the capital and explained the deal’s profits.
• Zhao Ruxi resented Fu Yunlang’s expected earnings but accepted that he was taking the public risks and would need to fund border supplies.
• Zhao Ruxi urged Xiao Lingyan to expand auction houses across Jiangnan and the provinces before rivals copied the business.
• Xiao Lingyan asked Zhao Ruxi how the jadeite raw stones had turned out after being cut.

Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi planned how to sell jadeite and make crossbows, while Fu Yunlang sought his elder brother’s approval for his work arranging the clock auction. The chapter ended with Fu Yunkai praising Fu Yunlang, who resolved to keep following the Fifth Prince’s advice.

• Zhao Ruxi told Xiao Lingyan that most of the raw stones bought by his subordinates contained excellent jadeite, and they agreed to introduce it in Jiangnan after the clocks had been auctioned.
• Zhao Ruxi warned Xiao Lingyan that he would need his own workshop if he wanted to produce many crossbow parts, and Xiao Lingyan said he needed only thirty to equip his shadow guards and give one to Xiao Lingpu.
• Fu Yunkai returned to the capital, and Fu Yunlang greeted him excitedly, hoping his elder brother would see him in a new light.
• Lady He told Fu Yunkai that Fu Yunlang had brought back Western Ocean water clocks and arranged for three to be auctioned, and Fu Yunkai asked what His Majesty had thought of them.
• Fu Yunlang offered to lend the auction proceeds to help at the border, and Fu Yunkai praised him for growing up and attending to serious matters.
• Fu Yunlang felt reassured by Fu Yunkai’s praise and resolved to stay close to the Fifth Prince and seek his advice.

Fu Yunkai returned from the frontier, met Xiao Ge, and went to find Xiao Lingpu, where he learned that Xiao Lingyan had started a new business. Xiao Lingpu explained the auction to him while Xiao Lingyan returned to his work.

• Fu Yunkai reported to Xiao Ge, who asked about the border and then dismissed him.
• Fu Yunkai learned that Xiao Lingpu and Xiao Lingyan were at a teahouse in the south of the city and rode there.
• Fu Yunkai passed Baoning Pavilion and heard how its safes had become so popular that they sold out shortly after opening.
• Fu Yunkai met Xiao Lingpu and Xiao Lingyan at the shop with the covered signboard and learned from Xiao Lingyan that it was his new business.
• Xiao Lingpu took Fu Yunkai to a private room and explained the auction while Xiao Lingyan returned to his work.

Xiao Lingyan prepared a teahouse as an auction venue and carefully assigned its rooms and seats to avoid offending the capital’s powerful families. Meanwhile, Xiao Lingpu pressed Fu Yunkai to consider marriage, and Zhao Ruxi suspected Zhao Ruyu had come seeking a place at the auction.

• Xiao Lingyan bought and renovated a former storytelling teahouse, then arranged the auction seating by rank and divided the downstairs seats between noble families and officials.
• Xiao Lingpu asked Fu Yunkai about his marriage, and Fu Yunkai reluctantly agreed to meet Miss Mu after Xiao Lingpu proposed arranging an introduction.
• Zhao Ruxi returned to the marquis's residence and learned that the eldest young master and Zhao Ruyu were visiting the old madam.
• Zhao Ruxi guessed that Zhao Ruyu might want her help attending the auction, since Fu Yunlang could not secure her a private room.

Zhao Ruxi refused Zhao Ruyu’s request to attend the capital auction and helped Zhao Jingli consider a new pursuit after he struggled with painting. She began testing his arithmetic skills, while Zhao Ruyu declined advice to make a living through music.

• Zhao Jingli visited the Earl of Suiping's Residence hoping Zhao Ruxi would advise him after he gave up learning painting.
• Zhao Ruyu asked Zhao Ruxi to take her to the auction, but Zhao Ruxi refused because her private room had no space for her.
• Zhao Jingli scolded Zhao Ruyu for asking to attend, and she backed down rather than argue.
• Zhao Ruxi suggested Zhao Jingli try a different direction and asked how well he handled arithmetic.
• Zhao Ruxi invited Zhao Ruyu to join them in studying, but Zhao Ruyu declined and dismissed the idea of earning a living through music.

Zhao Ruxi tested Zhao Jingli’s mathematical ability and decided he could build a future through the subject, but she was too busy to teach him herself right away. She offered to ask her retired mathematics teacher to take him on, leaving Zhao Jingli apologetic and Zhao Ruyu uneasy.

• Zhao Ruxi checked Zhao Jingli’s completed problems, explained the two he had missed, and confirmed he understood them by having him explain his solutions back to her.
• Zhao Ruxi decided Zhao Jingli had a talent for mathematics and offered to teach him regularly, while ruling out having Qingfeng tutor him because she did not want Qingfeng’s prospects harmed.
• Zhao Ruxi changed her plan and said she would ask her retired mathematics teacher from the Ministry of Revenue to teach Zhao Jingli, since her own work left her too busy.
• Zhao Jingli apologized for troubling Zhao Ruxi, while Zhao Ruyu stayed silent and Zhao Ruxi let him believe she was annoyed.

Lady Zhu learned why Zhao Ruxi had declined to teach Zhao Jingli and supported her decision, while Zhao Ruxi sought out Master Gan to ask him to tutor her brother. Gan Lun made her solve a difficult problem before agreeing, and the chapter ended with Zhao Ruxi calmly explaining her solution.

• Matron Yuan told Lady Zhu that Zhao Ruxi would not teach Zhao Jingli mathematics, and Lady Zhu decided to pay for him to study with an academy teacher instead.
• Zhao Ruxi visited the academy and asked mathematics teacher Gan Lun to take Zhao Jingli as a student.
• Gan Lun required Zhao Ruxi to solve a difficult problem before he would agree to teach her brother.
• Zhao Ruxi solved the problem quickly, surprising Gan Lun, who asked her to explain her reasoning.
• Zhao Ruxi confidently explained her approach, drawing on her knowledge of Great Jin mathematics and Empress Shengyao's writings.

Zhao Ruxi arranged for Gan Lun to teach her cousin Zhao Jingli and reminded Gan Lun not to reveal her name when sharing her mathematical solutions. Gan Lun went to the Ministry of Revenue to present a difficult problem his student had solved, leaving the officials curious about the unnamed talent.

• Zhao Ruxi asked Gan Lun whether he would attend the auction, and Gan Lun agreed to teach Zhao Jingli the next afternoon.
• After Zhao Ruxi left, Gan Lun hurried to the Ministry of Revenue to see his friend Qi Xugu.
• Gan Lun told Qi Xugu that his student had solved a difficult problem, but Qi Xugu assumed Gan Lun had done it himself.
• Gan Lun explained that he kept Zhao Ruxi's name secret because her fame could bring her trouble.
• Qi Xugu summoned ministry officials, including Guo Jitong, to hear Gan Lun present the solution, while Gan Lun refused to identify his student.

Gan Lun presented Zhao Ruxi’s solution to a notorious Ministry of Revenue salary problem, impressing the officials while admitting he did not understand all of her methods. Qi Xugu drew him aside and pressured him to reveal which student had solved it, leaving Gan Lun caught between protecting Zhao Ruxi’s identity and his colleague’s appeal for help.

• Gan Lun read aloud the Ministry of Revenue’s long-unsolved problem about calculating reassigned officials’ salaries.
• Gan Lun explained that Zhao Ruxi had solved the problem using sequence and function-optimization methods, though the officials struggled with parts of her approach.
• Qi Xugu ushered Gan Lun into an inner room before the other officials could question him further.
• Qi Xugu asked Gan Lun whether he understood Empress Shengyao’s mathematics books, and Gan Lun admitted he did not.
• Qi Xugu threatened to report Gan Lun to the emperor unless he named the student who had solved the problem, then appealed to their decades of friendship.

Gan Lun refused to reveal Zhao Ruxi’s difficulties to Qi Xugu but offered to bring her the Ministry of Revenue’s hard mathematical problems, then regretted that social barriers would keep her from serving as an official. Zhao Ruxi joined Kang Shilin’s party at Fifth Highness’s auction, which began after Eunuch Xie arrived on the emperor’s behalf.

• Qi Xugu asked Gan Lun for mathematical help, and Gan Lun promised to bring the Ministry of Revenue’s difficult problems to Zhao Ruxi while keeping her circumstances secret.
• Gan Lun regretted that Zhao Ruxi’s talent could not easily lead to an official post for a woman, though he thought she could gain fame as a scholar and painter instead.
• Zhao Ruxi returned to the capital, changed for the evening, and met Kang Shilin and his party before they traveled to the auction house.
• At the auction house, Zhao Ruxi noted its limited seating as Kang Shilin’s group settled into their private room and several princes arrived.
• A servant reported that Eunuch Xie had come to attend for the emperor, and Xu Zhou, a retainer of Fifth Highness, began the auction.

Xu Zhou explained that Xiao Lingyan’s auction would donate most of its profits to a children’s home and described its commission system and anonymous bidding rules. The guests began drawing numbered tokens, and Kang Shilin’s private room received number eleven while Wu Huaisi’s received number twenty-three.

• Xu Zhou announced that eighty percent of the auction profits would fund a children’s home for homeless child beggars, while the rest would maintain and expand the auction house.
• Xu Zhou explained that the auction house would take a ten-percent commission and let people sell unwanted valuables to buyers who wanted them.
• Xu Zhou announced that owners’ identities would remain confidential and that guests would bid using numbered tokens rather than their seats or private rooms.
• Wu Huaisi praised anonymous bidding for helping prevent disputes, while Kang Yannian agreed.
• Two attendants asked Kang Shilin to draw a token; he received number eleven, and Wu Huaisi’s private room received number twenty-three.

At Xiao Lingyan’s auction, the organizers arranged separate bidding systems for nobles and powerful ministers before unveiling a rare revolving heart vase. As guests examined it, Zhao Ruxi recognized the design as an imitation of a famous vase from her previous life, while Xu Zhou entertained the crowd with its supposed romantic origin story.

• Wu Huaisi stayed with Kang Shilin in his private box while guests drew bidding numbers, which the attendants displayed in separate areas for nobles and powerful ministers.
• Xu Zhou explained how guests could place bids through attendants stationed outside the boxes and in the aisles.
• Xu Zhou introduced the revolving heart vase as a unique porcelain piece, and its ingenious construction stirred excitement among the guests.
• Zhao Ruxi recalled a famous Qing-dynasty vase sold at auction in her previous life and realized Xiao Lingyan had commissioned a knockoff.
• Eunuch Qin accompanied an attendant as the vase was carried around for close inspection, while Xu Zhou told the story of the porcelain master who made it to win back his wife.

Guests examined the revolving vase before Guan Wentao began its auction, and Zhao Ruxi joined the bidding to support Xiao Lingyan. Gong Cheng placed a bid but was quickly outbid as the price climbed past six thousand taels.

• Eunuch Qin and an attendant showed the revolving vase to the guests, and Gong Cheng marveled at its craftsmanship while learning that no one could make another.
• Guan Wentao opened the auction with a starting price of three thousand taels.
• Zhao Ruxi bid three thousand three hundred taels to keep the bidding lively and encouraged Gong Cheng to join in.
• Gong Cheng bid four thousand five hundred taels, then showed no disappointment when another bidder raised the price to four thousand seven hundred.
• Gong Cheng estimated the vase could normally sell for five or six thousand taels and said competing buyers might push it higher as the bidding reached six thousand two hundred taels.

Zhao Ruxi watched the first auction lot sell for 8,500 taels before the auction house presented an unidentified painting. The painting proved to be a rare work by Zuo Qiusheng and sold for 16,700 taels, while Zhao Ruxi’s own painting remained scheduled for later in the evening.

• The revolving vase sold to guest number thirty-two for 8,500 taels, and Guan Wentao reminded buyers to complete their purchases by noon the next day.
• Guan Wentao introduced the second lot without identifying its painter, and Wu Zong realized that concealing Zhao Ruxi’s identity would help her painting receive a fair appraisal when it was auctioned.
• Eunuch Qin and two attendants unrolled the second lot in the private rooms, where Wu Zong and Kang Shilin recognized it as a painting by Zuo Qiusheng.
• Kang Shilin urged his companions to buy the rare painting, but it sold for 16,700 taels to an unknown bidder.

Fu Yunlang watched as the auction presented his Western mechanical clock, which amazed the assembled lords with its self-swinging pendulum and precise timekeeping. As bidding began at ten thousand taels, Xiao Lingpu defended merchants and praised Fu Yunlang’s work, while Fu Yunkai’s earlier remark had left his younger brother hurt.

• Fu Yunlang attended the auction with Fu Yunkai in Xiao Lingpu’s private box and eagerly awaited the appearance of his clock.
• Guan Wentao introduced the Western clock as a precise alternative to water clocks, and Eunuch Qin brought it onto the stage.
• The lords crowded forward to admire the clock’s ornate design and pendulum, while Xiao Lingpu learned from Fu Yunlang that he had brought it back from the south.
• After Fu Yunkai called his brother’s work mere trade, Xiao Lingpu defended merchants and encouraged Fu Yunlang to continue.
• Xiao Lingyan’s clock opened for bids at ten thousand taels, delighting Fu Yunlang.

Fu Yunlang’s Western Ocean mantel clock sold for far more than it had cost, while Xiao Lingpu explained why the remaining clocks would be saved for another auction. The next lot was Zhao Ruxi’s powerful waterfall painting, which left the men in the private room overwhelmed and its painter unidentified to Xiao Lingpu.

• Fu Yunlang told Fu Yunkai that he had paid five thousand taels for the clock, which sold anonymously for twenty-two thousand taels.
• Fu Yunkai warned Fu Yunlang not to reveal that the clock belonged to the Fu Family, lest their rivals accuse them of profiteering.
• Xiao Lingpu explained that Xiao Lingyan planned to auction the remaining clocks later, after buyers had become eager for more.
• Eunuch Qin brought in Zhao Ruxi’s new waterfall painting, which she had created after recalling the grandeur of Victoria Falls and given to Kang Shilin.
• Fu Yunkai and the others were struck by the painting, but Xiao Lingpu said he did not know who had painted it.