Chapter Summaries

Kang Yannian and Wu Huaisi learned that the astonishing auction painting was Zhao Ruxi’s, and Kang Shilin and her senior brothers discussed her talent. The room’s surprise eased into teasing banter, while Kang Yannian remained conflicted about Zhao Ruxi.

• Kang Yannian, Wu Huaisi, and Gong Cheng were stunned by the painting, and Gong Cheng recognized it as Zhao Ruxi’s work.
• Eunuch Qin noticed Gong Cheng’s remark and looked toward Zhao Ruxi, but Wu Zong scolded Gong Cheng and ushered Eunuch Qin out.
• Gong Cheng apologized to Zhao Ruxi and praised her painting, while Kang Shilin admitted that even he felt unworthy of being her master.
• Wu Zong recalled seeing the painting before and described how it had left him speechless.
• Wu Huaisi struggled to believe Zhao Ruxi had painted it until Kang Shilin confirmed it and rebuked him for neglecting his junior sister.
• Zhao Ruxi joked with Wu Huaisi and Wu Zong, lightening the mood as Kang Yannian watched with complicated feelings.

Zhao Ruxi’s landscape painting, “Flying Torrent,” drew astonished praise as it was presented at the auction, and Guan Wentao opened bidding at eight thousand taels. Fu Yunkai’s private room immediately bid ten thousand taels, then raised the offer to fifteen thousand, leaving Fu Yunlang stunned.

• Kang Shilin watched the guests’ enthusiastic reactions to Zhao Ruxi’s painting and felt relieved that they recognized its quality.
• Wu Huaisi praised Zhao Ruxi’s painting and tried to grow closer to her, while she responded with her usual calm courtesy.
• Guan Wentao explained that the auction concealed the painters’ identities and announced “Flying Torrent” with a starting price of eight thousand taels.
• An attendant bid ten thousand taels for Fu Yunkai’s private room, surprising the guests and Fu Yunlang.
• Fu Yunkai’s attendant immediately raised the bid to fifteen thousand taels.

Xiao Lingpu impulsively bid on Zhao Ruxi’s painting, igniting a fierce auction that drove its price far above the earlier works. Kang Shilin asked the Fifth Prince to keep his own painting’s price below Zhao Ruxi’s, and Zhao Ruxi realized he was trying to shield her from resentment and rumors.

• Xiao Lingpu outbid Fu Yunkai for Zhao Ruxi’s painting, then admitted he could not afford to buy it.
• The painting’s price surged as bidders competed in jumps of thousands of taels.
• Kang Shilin explained that he had asked the Fifth Prince to keep his own painting’s price below Zhao Ruxi’s.
• Kang Yannian questioned his father’s decision, while Zhao Ruxi understood Kang Shilin was trying to protect her from backlash over her painting’s high price.

Kang Shilin defended Zhao Ruxi and explained why he supported her as her painting’s auction price climbed. The painting sold for twenty-five thousand taels after the Fifth Prince halted bidding on behalf of Eunuch Xie, who had not expected special treatment.

• Kang Shilin told Zhao Ruxi that her success would bring honor to him and that he had arranged to protect his own reputation as well as hers.
• Wu Zong pointed out that bidding had reached twenty-one thousand five hundred taels, and a servant soon raised the offer to twenty-five thousand taels.
• Guan Wentao abruptly ended the auction while servants were still seeking bids, and Zhao Ruxi’s painting sold for twenty-five thousand taels.
• Bidders realized that paddle number nine represented Eunuch Xie and inferred that the Fifth Prince had ordered the auctioneer to stop bidding.
• Eunuch Xie wondered why the bidding had been stopped, unaware that his imperial paddle had earned him special consideration.

Eunuch Xie prepared to bid on Kang Shilin’s painting, balancing the emperor’s interests against Kang Shilin’s request to keep the price down. As the bidding climbed, he decided to offer twenty-five thousand taels, while Zhao Ruxi and Wu Zong stayed out of the auction.

• Eunuch Xie recognized Kang Shilin’s painting and learned from Eunuch Qin that Kang Shilin wanted its price kept below the previous painting’s sale price.
• Guan Wentao opened bidding on Kang Shilin’s landscape painting Fairyland at ten thousand taels of silver.
• Zhao Ruxi and Wu Zong asked Kang Shilin whether they could bid, but he told them to stay out of it.
• Bidders drove the price to twenty thousand taels, partly encouraged by the high price of Zhao Ruxi’s painting.
• Eunuch Xie told his attendant to have the bidder with paddle number nine wait until the price neared twenty-four thousand taels, then bid twenty-five thousand.

At the auction, Eunuch Xie bid twenty-five thousand taels for Kang Shilin’s painting, matching the price of Zhao Ruxi’s and leaving both master and disciple with the highest sale of the night. After the auction, Zhao Ruxi discovered the silk gift was colorfast and found the subtle advertisement for Brocade Cloud Workshop carved on its box.

• Eunuch Xie’s attendant bid twenty-five thousand taels for Kang Shilin’s painting, and Guan Wentao sold it after the room fell silent.
• Kang Shilin accepted that his painting had fetched the same price as Zhao Ruxi’s, and Wu Zong and Wu Huaisi agreed the result was fortunate.
• Xu Zhou announced that eighty percent of the auction’s profits would fund a children’s home and concluded the event.
• Zhao Ruxi opened the silk gift at home, and Yicui washed it to confirm that its printed colors did not run.
• Qingfeng found the words “Brocade Cloud Workshop” carved on the gift box, revealing the workshop’s subtle advertisement.

Zhao Ruxi discussed the auction’s silk with her classmates before taking Beining Women’s Academy’s annual examination under supervisors from the Capital Women’s Academy. She suspected Madam Cui had arranged the shared examination to pit her against the Capital Women’s Academy, and she carefully prepared her answers to avoid giving the graders grounds to deduct marks.

• Zhao Ruxi told her classmates about the auction and praised the colorfast silk from Brocade Cloud Workshop, prompting them to plan a shopping trip during the holiday.
• Madam Cui introduced Stewards Zhang and Tao from the Capital Women’s Academy, who announced that the two academies would use the same examination questions.
• Zhao Ruxi suspected Madam Cui had persuaded Grand Princess Shangde to arrange the shared examination so Zhao Ruxi could compete with the Capital Women’s Academy.
• Zhao Ruxi began the daylong examination and deliberately worked at a measured pace, writing standard answers neatly to guard against biased grading.

Zhao Ruxi finished the annual exam and found He Yuqi crying at the academy. He Yuqi said she could not continue her studies and explained that her father favored her brothers and opposed her education, leaving Zhao Ruxi to hear the beginning of her troubles.

• Zhao Ruxi handed in her neatly completed exam paper, and Steward Tao praised her talent and handwriting.
• Zhao Ruxi bought and swallowed a Great Strength Pill before going to find the person sobbing behind a tree.
• Zhao Ruxi found He Yuqi, who said she could not continue studying and did not intend to return to her family home.
• Zhao Ruxi invited He Yuqi to the Green Plantain Courtyard, where He Yuqi explained that her mother had paid for her studies because her father believed girls did not need an education.
• He Yuqi told Zhao Ruxi that she had lived at the academy to study without distractions, and Zhao Ruxi recalled Teacher Cui praising her diligence and potential for promotion.

He Yuqi asked Zhao Ruxi for help finding work so she could support herself and avoid an arranged marriage, but Zhao Ruxi struggled to find a suitable position for her. When Zhao Ruxi returned to the academy, Madam Cui warned that Consort Jin might try to take Zhao Ruxi to the Capital Women's Academy and urged her not to risk offending the consort.

• He Yuqi told Zhao Ruxi that her father planned to keep her home after the new year and arrange her marriage, and she asked how she could earn her own living.
• Zhao Ruxi asked about He Yuqi's talents and suggested that she speak to Madam Cui about managing the academy, but He Yuqi said no such positions were available.
• He Yuqi apologized for troubling Zhao Ruxi and left, but Zhao Ruxi stopped her and returned to the academy to speak with Madam Cui.
• Madam Cui told Zhao Ruxi that Consort Jin might try to take her to the Capital Women's Academy and advised her to go if she wanted rather than risk offending Consort Jin.

Zhao Ruxi proposed that Madam Cui start a newspaper for women to support the academy, change families’ attitudes toward women’s independence, and provide women with income and jobs. Madam Cui decided the difficult venture was worth pursuing, though its practical challenges remained.

• Zhao Ruxi worried that Consort Jin might send her to the Capital Women's Academy, and Madam Cui promised to try to keep her at the academy.
• Zhao Ruxi told Madam Cui that He Yuqi needed work to support herself and avoid being married off by her father.
• Madam Cui explained that the academy could not afford to hire He Yuqi, and Zhao Ruxi suggested seeking another source of income.
• Zhao Ruxi proposed a newspaper for women, with articles that could influence families and paid submissions that would help women earn money.
• Madam Cui considered the risks of starting a newspaper but resolved to try because it could help women in hardship and advance the academy’s purpose.

Zhao Ruxi explained her newspaper plan to Madam Cui, then arranged to open her printing house after its preparations were completed. Grand Princess Shangde invited her to join the newspaper venture, but Zhao Ruxi refused and later hesitated when Madam Cui asked whether she would enter the year-end competitions.

• Zhao Ruxi described a newspaper divided into sections for women’s laws, serialized stories, and practical advice, and Madam Cui took notes.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Steward Zhou about the printing house, learned preparations were nearly complete, and told him to choose an auspicious opening day.
• Madam Cui invited Zhao Ruxi to meet Grand Princess Shangde, who expressed interest in the newspaper and offered her a share.
• Zhao Ruxi declined to invest in the newspaper, saying she would help with it if needed but did not want to meddle in nobles’ affairs.
• Madam Cui asked whether Zhao Ruxi would enter the upcoming year-end competitions, and Zhao Ruxi said she had not decided, claiming her master saw no need for her to participate.

Zhao Ruxi declined to promise Madam Cui that she would stay at the Beining Women's Academy, fearing that her hidden connection to Xiao Lingyan could endanger her family and allies. She visited Kang Shilin, praised his new painting style, and happily accepted one of his paintings as a gift.

• Zhao Ruxi asked Madam Cui when the exam results would be released, then left without promising to remain at the Beining Women's Academy.
• Zhao Ruxi considered the danger of clashing with Consort Jin while her workshop's connection to Xiao Lingyan remained hidden.
• Zhao Ruxi went to the Kang Residence and watched Kang Shilin finish a painting with Wu Zong.
• Kang Shilin said Zhao Ruxi's influence had inspired his new painting style and offered her one of his paintings.
• Zhao Ruxi chose Kang Shilin's favorite painting, while Wu Zong watched enviously.

Zhao Ruxi discussed how to protect herself from political pressure by entering the capital’s year-end competition and making her painting identity public. She entered the painting competition but decided to keep her mathematical talent hidden, and the chapter ended with her asking who would judge the painting contest.

• Zhao Ruxi told Kang Shilin that Madam Cui feared the Capital Women’s Academy might recruit her and that refusing could offend Consort Jin.
• Zhao Ruxi proposed entering the year-end competition and publicly claiming the painting that the emperor had purchased, and Kang Shilin and Wu Zong supported her.
• Zhao Ruxi chose to enter the painting competition, while declining Kang Shilin’s suggestion that she enter mathematics because public attention could bring trouble with Princess Xiangyang.
• Kang Shilin wrote to Fang Jingye to register Zhao Ruxi for the painting competition.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Kang Shilin who would judge the painting competition.

Zhao Ruxi worried that entering the painting competition under judges who had studied with her would invite accusations of unfairness, so she proposed a solution that Kang Shilin accepted. After Princess Pingyang visited the Earl of Suiping’s Residence, Zhao Ruxi realized she had come to secure her enrollment at the Capital Women’s Academy and heard that she had been admitted.

• Kang Shilin explained that he, Zhou Wenbai, and Fang Jingye were among the painting competition’s five judges, and Zhao Ruxi proposed a way to avoid criticism if she placed.
• Zhao Ruxi left the Kang Residence with Wu Zong and found Zhao Yuanxun waiting with a calling card from Princess Pingyang.
• Zhao Ruxi recognized that Princess Pingyang had likely come to invite her to the Capital Women’s Academy because of her annual examination results.
• Princess Pingyang praised Zhao Ruxi’s exam papers and formally informed her that she had been admitted to the Capital Women’s Academy after the new year.

Zhao Ruxi refused Xiao Yuyue’s invitation to study at the Capital Women’s Academy, explaining that her teaching duties and loyalty to her master kept her in Beining. Xiao Yuyue offered ways to overcome those obstacles, but Zhao Ruxi decided she could not safely accept the invitation.

• Zhao Ruxi told Xiao Yuyue she could not attend the Capital Women’s Academy because she needed to study under her master and teach portrait painting in Beining.
• Xiao Yuyue restrained her anger and proposed that Zhao Ruxi’s master return to the capital and that Zhao Ruxi attend private lessons on rest days.
• Xiao Yuyue explained that Consort Jin wanted Zhao Ruxi affiliated with the Capital Women’s Academy because Zhao Ruxi’s painting and examination results threatened its reputation.
• Zhao Ruxi considered accepting for the sake of the bigger picture but concluded Xiao Yuyue’s manner made the arrangement too risky.

Zhao Ruxi refused Princess Pingyang’s demand that she enter the Capital Women's Academy, explaining that she needed to remain in Beining with Kang Shilin. After Xiao Yuyue left, Zhao Ruxi warned her family to avoid banquets where the princess might target them, and they planned to use the old madam’s illness as an excuse to stay home.

• Zhao Ruxi told Xiao Yuyue that Kang Shilin wanted to remain in Beining and that she could not decide where her master taught.
• Xiao Yuyue threatened Zhao Ruxi with Consort Jin’s displeasure, but Zhao Ruxi maintained that her duties to Kang Shilin and the court prevented her from accepting the invitation.
• The old madam and Lady Zhu backed Zhao Ruxi, and the old madam explained that Zhao Ruxi needed to stay with Kang Shilin to learn painting.
• Xiao Yuyue left the Earl of Suiping's Residence after Zhao Ruxi politely refused her, and Zhao Ruxi saw her carriage off at the main gate.
• Zhao Ruxi reassured the elders that Kang Shilin could explain the situation to the emperor and advised her family to avoid upcoming banquets.
• The old madam proposed pretending to be ill so Zhao Yuanxun, Lady Zhu, and Zhao Ruxi could stay home.

Zhao Ruxi refused Princess Pingyang’s invitation to join Capital Women's Academy and informed her family and Kang Shilin, who decided to appeal to Xiao Ge before Consort Jin could make her own case. Kang Shilin began explaining how much Zhao Ruxi meant to him, leaving Xiao Ge to hear his plea.

• Zhao Ruxi wrote to Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui about Princess Pingyang’s angry response to her refusal, then sent Ma Sheng to deliver the letter in Beining.
• Zhao Ruxi told Kang Shilin what happened, and he agreed that refusing Princess Pingyang had been the right choice.
• Kang Shilin rejected Zhao Ruxi’s plan to avoid banquets and wait out the dispute, and he went to the palace to speak to Xiao Ge first.
• Xiao Ge dismissed the ministers who were admiring paintings and welcomed Kang Shilin, who asked to keep Zhao Ruxi by his side and began explaining his affection for her.

Kang Shilin asked Xiao Ge to protect Zhao Zhiwei from Consort Jin and Princess Pingyang’s attempt to force her into the Capital Women’s Academy. Xiao Ge promised to safeguard her, and Kang Shilin left him a painting as thanks.

• Kang Shilin told Xiao Ge that Princess Pingyang had threatened to force Zhao Zhiwei into the Capital Women’s Academy and asked him to stop them.
• Xiao Ge learned Zhao Zhiwei had ranked first in her year-end exam and understood that Consort Jin wanted to take her away from Grand Princess Shangde.
• Kang Shilin showed Xiao Ge a painting inspired by Zhao Zhiwei’s technique, impressing the emperor and strengthening his resolve to protect her.
• Xiao Ge considered supporting Zhao Zhiwei’s move to the capital, but Kang Shilin warned she would be bullied and distracted from her studies and painting.
• Xiao Ge promised to protect Zhao Zhiwei from interference, and Kang Shilin gave him the painting as thanks.

Kang Shilin secured Xiao Ge’s protection for Zhao Ruxi and agreed that she would enter the year-end painting competition. Meanwhile, Xiao Yuyue planned to ruin Zhao Ruxi’s reputation, and Consort Jin learned that Xiao Ge knew about Pingyang’s attempt to recruit her for the Capital Women’s Academy.

• Xiao Ge promised to protect Zhao Ruxi if she presented him with a painting like the one that had been auctioned.
• Kang Shilin reassured Zhao Ruxi and sent Wu Huaisi and her home after recounting his senior disciple’s past troublemaking.
• Xiao Yuyue complained to Consort Jin about Zhao Ruxi and planned to damage her reputation at upcoming banquets.
• Consort Jin waited for Xiao Ge and asked an attendant to learn whether Mister Kumu had visited him.
• Xiao Ge told Consort Jin he had been admiring paintings with Kang Shilin, then asked whether she had sent Pingyang to persuade Zhao Zhiwei to study at the Capital Women’s Academy.
• Consort Jin denied sending Pingyang and explained that Pingyang had acted on her own after Zhao Zhiwei placed first in Beining’s year-end examination.

Consort Jin persuaded Xiao Ge to protect Zhao Ruxi while securing a scolding for Grand Princess Shangde, who later compensated Zhao Ruxi with an adjoining estate. Zhao Ruxi accepted the gift and went with Zhou Chun and Ma Sheng to Egret Manor, where she found its residents thriving.

• Consort Jin told Xiao Ge that Zhao Ruxi had refused the Capital Women's Academy despite being expected to study there, and Xiao Ge agreed to scold Grand Princess Shangde while ordering that Zhao Ruxi be protected.
• Consort Jin sent Xiao Yuyue Xiao Ge's warning, and Xiao Yuyue resolved to avoid displeasing the emperor by treating Zhao Ruxi well.
• Xiao Ge summoned Grand Princess Shangde and rebuked her for causing trouble, then ordered her to make amends to Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi.
• Grand Princess Shangde asked Madam Cui how to compensate them, and eventually gave Zhao Ruxi an adjoining estate, which Zhao Ruxi accepted after Kang Shilin persuaded her.
• Zhao Ruxi took Zhou Chun and Ma Sheng to Egret Manor to ask Qian Duoduo to join them in managing the estate, and saw that the manor's residents had become prosperous.