Chapter Summaries

Mei Zhongjun accused the judges of favoring Zhao Ruxi, but Peng Guoan defended his perfect score and the crowd challenged Mei's motives. Kang Shilin remained calm and asked Zhou Wenbai to explain his score, leaving the painting's quality under discussion.

• Mei Zhongjun accused Kang Shilin of favoritism and claimed Zhao Ruxi's painting could not be flawless under competition conditions.
• Kang Shilin asked Peng Guoan to explain his ten-point score, and Peng praised Zhao Ruxi's painting as equal or superior to Kang Shilin's work.
• Peng Guoan defended his impartiality, while people in the crowd criticized Mei Zhongjun and challenged him to compare his own painting with Zhao Ruxi's.
• Xiao Ge stayed quiet because Kang Shilin's calm demeanor made him suspect that Kang had another plan.
• Kang Shilin asked Zhou Wenbai why he had given Zhao Ruxi ten points, and Zhou explained the painting's merits at length.

Zhou Wenbai defended the perfect score for Zhao Zhiwei’s painting, but Mei Zhongjun accused the judges and Kang Shilin’s Northern Painting School of favoritism. Kang Shilin apologized to the judges and began a sorrowful speech, leaving his response to Mei’s accusation unfinished.

• Zhou Wenbai said Zhao Zhiwei and Zhong Lei were painters who performed especially well in competitions, and he stood by Zhao Zhiwei’s ten-point score.
• Fang Jingye and another judge agreed with Zhou Wenbai, while Kang Shilin asked whether they shared his view.
• Mei Zhongjun attacked Fang Jingye’s impartiality and accused Kang Shilin of using the Northern Painting School to control painting competitions.
• Kang Shilin apologized to Zhou Wenbai, Fang Jingye, and Peng Guoan for involving them in the dispute.
• Kang Shilin bowed toward the imperial palace and lamented that, despite his lifelong honesty, he was still being questioned in old age.

Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi withdrew from the painting competition after Mei Zhongjun’s accusations, turning his scheme against him and leaving the event in disarray. As they departed, Peng Guoan tried to stop them while Mei Zhongjun and Xiao Yuyue feared the consequences.

• Kang Shilin resigned as a judge and announced that Zhao Zhiwei would withdraw from the competition.
• Zhao Ruxi confirmed that she was withdrawing and would never enter another painting competition.
• Kang An rolled up Zhao Ruxi’s painting, and Kang Shilin left with Zhao Ruxi and his other disciples.
• Peng Guoan chased after Kang Shilin and asked him to reconsider, but Kang Shilin refused and continued toward the exit.
• Mei Zhongjun realized the crowd blamed him for driving Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi away, and he panicked.
• Zhang Xiuyan and Xiao Yuyue worried that the scandal would lead to ruin and an imperial investigation.

After Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi withdrew from the painting competition, Xiao Ge ordered an investigation into who had incited Mei Zhongjun to disrupt it. Eunuch Xie traced Princess Pingyang to a prime viewing room and connected her to the conflict, while Zhang Xiuyan publicly disowned his master.

• Xiao Ge let Kang Shilin leave, then ordered Eunuch Xie to question Mei Zhongjun and trace whoever had put him up to disrupting the competition.
• Peng Guoan ended the competition without awarding Zhang Xiuyan first place and said the emperor would decide how to handle the incident.
• Zhang Xiuyan publicly denied responsibility for Mei Zhongjun's actions, prompting the crowd to scorn him and pity his master.
• Eunuch Xie arranged for Mei Zhongjun to be followed and for everyone entering or leaving the grounds to be recorded.
• Eunuch Xie learned that Princess Pingyang had watched from the best room in the neighboring teahouse and recalled her recent conflict with Kang Shilin and Zhao Ruxi.

Xiao Ge learned that Mei Zhongjun had sought out a residence linked to Chen Dong’s family and ordered Consort Jin to deal with Pingyang, who had acted against Zhao Zhiwei and her master. Meanwhile, Zhao Ruxi refused to spend points on information and focused on saving enough to buy a Recovery Pill for her ailing father, though she lamented losing contest rewards.

• Eunuch Xie reported that Mei Zhongjun had visited a vacant estate belonging to Chen Dong’s brother-in-law, and Xiao Ge confronted Consort Jin about the trouble directed at Zhao Zhiwei and her master.
• Xiao Ge told Consort Jin that Pingyang had ordered the incident and left her to handle it; he spent the night at Noble Consort Cen’s palace.
• Consort Jin learned where Xiao Ge had stayed, smashed teacups, and summoned Xiao Yuyue the next day, stripping her of authority over the Capital Women’s Academy.
• Zhao Ruxi declined the system’s offer to reveal more information because she was saving points to buy a Recovery Pill for Zhao Yuanxun.
• Zhao Ruxi recalled that the Recovery Pill cost ninety thousand points after bargaining, while she had only seventy thousand, and regretted losing contest rewards after withdrawing.

After withdrawing from the painting competition, Zhao Ruxi returned home to her family’s support and learned that Xiao Ruotong had also become weary of judging competitions. Zhao Ruxi rejected the idea of becoming a judge next year, choosing instead to focus on painting, calligraphy, and her imperial examination plans.

• Zhao Ruxi decided to spend her spare time practicing painting and calligraphy while preparing for the imperial examination.
• Zhao Yuanxun and Zhao Jingtai returned home and praised Zhao Ruxi’s painting, while the Old Madam and Lady Zhu comforted her over the competition.
• Xiao Ruotong visited Zhao Ruxi after hearing what had happened and reassured herself that Zhao Ruxi was not upset.
• Xiao Ruotong suggested Zhao Ruxi might be nominated as a judge next year, but Zhao Ruxi refused because she planned to take the imperial examination.
• Xiao Ruotong said judging had brought troublesome social obligations, and she did not want to serve again either.

Xiao Ruotong confided in Zhao Ruxi about her mother’s pressure to marry, while Zhao Ruxi learned that Xiao Ruotong’s former husband had remarried. After Zhao Ruyu visited to check on Zhao Ruxi, Lady Zhu revealed that the Peng Family was considering a marriage alliance with Zhao Ruxi.

• Xiao Ruotong stayed to talk with Zhao Ruxi and said she did not want to marry, despite her mother’s repeated efforts to arrange a match.
• Lady Zhu told Zhao Ruxi that the Duke of Ying’s heir had married a legitimate daughter of the Duke of Wei’s family half a month earlier.
• Zhao Ruyu returned at her father-in-law Peng Guoan’s request to check whether Zhao Ruxi had been upset by the recent incident.
• Lady Zhu told Zhao Ruxi that Lord Peng was interested in a match between her and the Peng Family’s fourth young master, a promising young juren.

Zhao Ruxi told Kang Shilin she did not want to become a judge in next year's painting competition, and the emperor punished those who had undermined her first-place result. Eunuch Xie then offered Zhao Ruxi her master's judging position, leaving Kang Shilin to consider an opportunity Zhao Ruxi had already said she did not want.

• Zhao Ruxi rejected Lady Zhu's efforts to discuss a match with the Peng family and insisted she wanted to move to Beining to paint and read.
• Lady Zhu accepted Matron Zhou's reassurance that Zhao Ruxi's outstanding qualities would bring good matches to her.
• Zhao Ruxi told Kang Shilin that she did not want to fill his place as a competition judge, and Kang Shilin agreed that she should avoid the scrutiny.
• Eunuch Xie reported that the emperor restored first place to Miss Zhiwei, stripped Zhang Xiuyan of second place and barred him from competing, and banished Mei Zhongjun from the capital while barring his descendants from painting competitions for three generations.
• Eunuch Xie offered Zhao Ruxi the judging position for next year's competition, and Kang Shilin recognized its considerable honor and benefits.

After Zhao Ruxi declined the emperor’s offer to judge future competitions, Xiao Ge rewarded her by finding a post for her father, Zhao Yuanxun. Zhao Ruxi received 1,000 Wisdom Points and turned her attention to studying for the imperial examinations, while Xiao Lingyan ordered his subordinate to keep obstructing Xiao Yuyue.

• Zhao Ruxi and Kang Shilin declined the judging appointment, and Kang Shilin insisted her painting be exhibited for half a month before Xiao Ge took it.
• Zhao Ruxi sent Qingfeng to fetch her painting, which Eunuch Xie carried to the palace and presented to Xiao Ge.
• Xiao Ge praised Zhao Ruxi’s judgment and arranged a suitable post for Zhao Yuanxun after the New Year as compensation.
• Zhao Ruxi received 1,000 Wisdom Points the next day and studied harder for the imperial examinations.
• Xiao Lingyan learned that nothing serious had emerged from the investigation into Xiao Yuyue’s household and ordered his subordinate to keep making things difficult for her.

Xiao Yuyue lost influence and became a target of ridicule after Consort Jin’s fall from favor and the exposure of her consort’s secret family. Meanwhile, Zhao Ruxi’s painting won widespread acclaim, and Zhao Ruyu’s new circle of friends questioned her about Zhao Ruxi’s auctioned work.

• The emperor assigned the palace New Year banquets to Noble Consort Cen, while Consort Jin excluded Xiao Yuyue and announced that she would no longer manage the Capital Women's Academy.
• Xiao Yuyue’s family shops faced shortages and higher prices, and two children appeared at her banquet claiming her consort was their father.
• Xiao Yuyue blamed Zhao Ruxi for her troubles and planned to ruin her reputation, but the Earl of Suiping’s family stayed away while the old madam was ill.
• The Imperial Academy displayed its painting competition winners, with Zhao Zhiwei in first place and Zhao Ruxi’s painting among the top fifteen; visitors praised Zhao Ruxi’s work.
• The emperor praised Zhao Zhiwei’s painting, which he had bought for twenty-five thousand taels, and Qi Xuan and Xiao Ziyi asked Zhao Ruyu why she had not told them Zhao Ruxi painted the auctioned work.

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.