Chapter Summaries

Xiaole rushed to the Earl of Suiping's Residence to report that Zhao Ruxi had topped the provincial examination, while the crowd at the results list refused to believe the news. Zhao Yuanxun, Lady Zhu, and the old madam celebrated her achievement as official runners arrived to deliver the same good news.

• Xiaole shouted that Zhao Ruxi had taken first place, but the people reading the list dismissed him and debated whether the name belonged to someone else.
• Xiaole escaped the crowd and raced toward the Earl of Suiping's Residence, hoping to arrive before the official runners and earn a larger tip.
• The gatekeepers and matrons recognized Xiaole's excitement and let him hurry into the residence to report the results.
• Zhao Yuanxun, Lady Zhu, and the old madam anxiously questioned Xiaole, who confirmed that Zhao Ruxi was the top provincial graduate.
• A maid announced that the runners had arrived to confirm Zhao Ruxi's first-place result.

Zhao Ruxi learned that she had placed first in the provincial exam, astonishing her family, the examiners, and Emperor Xiao Ge. The result stood, and officials and commoners discussed it without challenging the examination rules.

• Zhao Yuanxun celebrated Zhao Ruxi’s top score while Lady Zhu helped receive the yamen runners and the old madam wept with joy.
• Zhao Ruxi was surprised by the result but trusted the system’s points, which had already shown that she ranked highly.
• Qin Ke and the other examiners confirmed Zhao Zhiwei’s identity and agreed that her essays deserved first place, so Qin Ke went to report the result to Xiao Ge.
• Xiao Ge approved Qin Ke’s decision to uphold the posted list and rejected any suggestion of changing the examination rules.
• Officials and commoners discussed Zhao Ruxi’s first-place result, but no one dared challenge it.

Zhao Zhiwei’s first place in the provincial examination won praise across the capital and prompted Grand Princess Shangde to consider rewarding her with another manor. Consort Jin learned of the result and reacted with shock, while her resentment toward Zhao Zhiwei remained hidden beneath her concern about losing the emperor’s favor.

• People across the court and capital discussed Zhao Zhiwei’s first-place result, and candidates bought her essay as a model and vowed to work harder.
• Kang Shilin, Grand Princess Shangde, and Madam Cui received the news and celebrated Zhao Ruxi’s success.
• Grand Princess Shangde decided to choose a suitable manor as a reward for Zhao Zhiwei, recalling how well she had managed Little Peach Manor.
• Consort Jin asked what place Zhao Zhiwei had achieved, and a young eunuch told her she had come first.
• Consort Jin sat up in shock and made the young eunuch repeat the result.

Consort Jin swallowed her anger over Zhao Zhiwei’s examination success, while Zhao Ruxi’s achievement brought a flood of marriage proposals to the Earl of Suiping’s Residence. Lady Zhu and the old madam were reluctant to marry her off, believing she was too capable to be confined to a husband’s household.

• Consort Jin learned that court officials largely accepted Zhao Zhiwei’s provincial examination result and decided she could not safely retaliate.
• The manager of the Capital Women’s Academy relaxed after several days passed without Consort Jin ordering her to target Zhao Ruxi.
• Lady Zhu received congratulations and marriage proposals for Zhao Ruxi, including an offer from Prince Jingping’s Estate for its fourth young master.
• The official matchmaker bluntly urged Lady Zhu to accept quickly, but Lady Zhu said she would consult the old madam and the earl.
• While Zhao Ruxi was away at the Beining estate, Lady Zhu told the old madam about the proposal and admitted she felt no eagerness to marry her off.
• The old madam agreed that Zhao Ruxi’s abilities made her more than worthy of the young men available and said she could not bear to see her married away.

Zhao Ruxi’s family decided to let her choose whether to marry and began preparing to refuse Prince Jingping’s Estate’s proposal. In Beining, Zhao Ruxi met Xiao Lingyan to discuss their preparations for the coming border crisis and the political dangers that might follow.

• The old madam and Lady Zhu agreed that Zhao Ruxi should choose whether to marry and considered a successful palace graduate as a possible future match.
• Zhao Ruxi agreed to meet Xiao Lingyan after worrying that the coming war and political upheaval might leave them no chance to meet again.
• Xiao Lingyan told Zhao Ruxi that provisions, catapults, and crossbows had been secretly transported to the border, while his agents watched suspected conspirators and princes.
• Xiao Lingyan raised the risk that preventing this year’s deaths could change next year’s coup, and Zhao Ruxi advised him to survive the crisis and strike first afterward.
• Xiao Lingyan asked whether Zhao Ruxi planned to take an official post immediately or wait until after the metropolitan and palace examinations.

Zhao Ruxi weighed whether to go to Jiangnan or remain in the capital, where her family, master, senior brothers, and Xiao Lingyan needed her. Xiao Lingyan proposed that they become engaged before the coming coup, arguing that either his death or survival would leave her with advantages.

• Zhao Ruxi decided that leaving for Jiangnan now would separate her from her family and master and prevent her from helping Xiao Lingyan through the winter crisis.
• Xiao Lingyan asked Zhao Ruxi whether she had considered marriage, and she said she could postpone the decision for a year or two.
• Xiao Lingyan proposed that they become engaged but wait to marry until after next year's coup had settled.
• Xiao Lingyan explained that if he died, the engagement would let Zhao Ruxi choose whether to remain single or marry later without being bound to his family.
• Xiao Lingyan said that if he survived and Xiao Lingpu became emperor, Zhao Ruxi would gain the status and freedom of an imperial prince's consort.

Xiao Lingyan confessed his love to Zhao Ruxi, and she agreed to become engaged to him. They decided to keep their relationship secret until the following year, preserving Zhao Ruxi’s usefulness as a hidden ally in Xiao Lingyan and Xiao Lingpu’s political struggle.

• Xiao Lingyan told Zhao Ruxi he would marry only her and confessed that he liked her.
• Zhao Ruxi teased Xiao Lingyan about his confession, then agreed to get engaged to him.
• Zhao Ruxi asked why Xiao Lingyan had not confessed in their previous lives, and he admitted he had feared she would reject and mock him.
• Xiao Lingyan regretted that they had not confessed sooner, and Zhao Ruxi reflected on the aunt she had left behind after their transmigration.
• Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi agreed to keep their relationship secret until next year because their concealment aided their political plans.

Zhao Ruxi and Xiao Lingyan discussed keeping their relationship secret, and he guessed that she had a system. After Zhao Ruxi returned to the Earl of Suiping's Residence, Lady Zhu told her that Prince Jingping's Estate had sent a matchmaker to propose marriage.

• Xiao Lingyan agreed to meet Zhao Ruxi infrequently and asked to exchange letters every ten days, while she told him to write if he needed information that was difficult or costly to obtain.
• Xiao Lingyan guessed that Zhao Ruxi had a system and asked whether she was the female lead, but she refused to answer directly.
• Xiao Lingyan encouraged Zhao Ruxi to focus on the imperial examinations and promised to help her obtain a noble title, then asked for a parting show of affection; Zhao Ruxi left without granting it.
• Lady Zhu told Zhao Ruxi that Prince Jingping's Estate had sent a matchmaker to propose marriage to its fourth young master.
• Lady Zhu explained that the fourth young master studied and loved painting, and had asked his mother to arrange the proposal after admiring Zhao Ruxi's paintings.

Zhao Ruxi discussed marriage proposals with Lady Zhu and learned that Xu Chongwen was betrothed to Seventh Granduncle’s granddaughter. Later, she asked the system whether she could use her points to buy a pill for Xiao Lingyan, but the system stayed silent.

• Zhao Ruxi told Lady Zhu to reject every proposal and promised she would marry by seventeen, while Lady Zhu reassured her she would not be forced into marriage.
• Lady Zhu told Zhao Ruxi that Xu Chongwen was betrothed to Seventh Granduncle’s granddaughter, and Zhao Ruxi approved of the match.
• Zhao Ruxi learned that Madam Xie wanted to keep looking for a suitable match for Xu Xue, then declined Lady Zhu’s request to find a wife for Zhao Jingli among her classmates.
• After returning to Slender Bamboo Courtyard, Zhao Ruxi opened the system screen and asked whether she could buy a pill for Xiao Lingyan.
• Zhao Ruxi argued that Xiao Lingyan had to survive for her own prospects as a prince’s consort and pointed out that the system had allowed her to buy Recovery Pills for her family and master.

Zhao Ruxi bargained with the system for a Taste Discerning Pill to protect Xiao Lingyan from suspected poisoning and planned to buy a Recovery Pill later. She arranged to meet Xiao Lingyan so she could watch him take the pill, while he eagerly prepared for a private romantic meeting.

• Zhao Ruxi negotiated a discounted price for the Taste Discerning Pill and Recovery Pill, but agreed to buy the Taste Discerning Pill first because she lacked enough points.
• Zhao Ruxi suspected that the Third Prince would poison Xiao Lingyan and believed the pills could protect his life.
• The system bought the Taste Discerning Pill, and Zhao Ruxi wrote Xiao Lingyan a letter asking to meet so she could watch him take it.
• Xiao Lingyan happily arranged a private meeting at Zhao Ruxi's warehouse residence in Beining and arrived half a shichen early.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Qingfeng to boil water so she could make tea, and Xiao Lingyan teased Wang Tong for failing to notice Qingfeng's feelings.
• Wang Tong reflected that he and Qingfeng cared for each other and continued waiting near the letter room to see her collect their correspondence.

Zhao Ruxi gave Xiao Lingyan a mysterious pill and brewed tea for him, revealing that the tea now tasted different to him. Xiao Lingyan detected lotus leaf in the second cup, leaving them to wonder how the pill had changed his sense of taste.

• Wang Tong and Qingfeng left the courtyard, and Xiao Lingyan told Zhao Ruxi he wanted the two of them to marry after their own wedding.
• Xiao Lingyan tried to hug and kiss Zhao Ruxi, but she turned him down and said she had something serious to discuss.
• Zhao Ruxi brought out the Guzhu Zisun tea Xiao Lingyan had given her and sent Qingfeng and Wang Tong to guard the outer courtyard.
• Zhao Ruxi tapped the empty air, produced a pill, and told Xiao Lingyan to swallow it; he took it without hesitation.
• After drinking tea Zhao Ruxi had brewed, Xiao Lingyan said he could distinguish its flavors and detected lotus leaf in the second cup.

Zhao Ruxi explained that the pill she gave Xiao Lingyan helped him detect changes in food, then asked him to spar so she could test her own pills. After she narrowly lost to Xiao Lingyan’s full-speed attacks, she asked how her abilities would rank in Great Jin.

• Xiao Lingyan realized Zhao Ruxi had secretly put dried lotus leaf powder in his teacup and asked whether his pill had sharpened his sense of taste.
• Zhao Ruxi said she had saved for two years to buy pills for them and asked Xiao Lingyan to spar with her.
• Xiao Lingyan attacked Zhao Ruxi in the courtyard, but she dodged his early strikes with ease using her enhanced agility.
• Xiao Lingyan increased his speed to its full extent and struck Zhao Ruxi twice, ending the spar.
• Zhao Ruxi asked Xiao Lingyan whether her skills made her a martial arts expert in Great Jin.

Zhao Ruxi discussed her new strength and martial training with Xiao Lingyan, who offered to teach her martial arts. At the academy, Madam Cui asked whether Zhao Ruxi would continue receiving guidance for the metropolitan examination, but Zhao Ruxi insisted the Imperial Academy’s teachers should not keep tutoring her.

• Xiao Lingyan asked Zhao Ruxi to describe their sparring, and she revealed her strength by crushing a stone in her palm.
• Xiao Lingyan offered to draw martial arts moves for Zhao Ruxi and teach her in person, then demonstrated fist techniques before Wang Tong hurried him away.
• Zhao Ruxi returned to Green Plantain Courtyard in disguise and then went with Qingfeng and Lady Luo to the academy.
• Madam Cui asked whether Imperial Academy teachers had discouraged Zhao Ruxi from returning, explaining that Grand Princess Shangde had asked her to find out.
• Zhao Ruxi said she needed guidance but refused to let the teachers continue tutoring her because their extra lessons had drawn public criticism.

Zhao Ruxi explained why she had stopped attending the Imperial Academy and focused on learning Great Jin’s affairs of state for the metropolitan examination. Support from Xiao Lingyan, Grand Princess Shangde, Madam Cui, and Kang Shilin gave her new materials and a way to keep receiving the academy teachers’ guidance without drawing criticism onto them.

• Zhao Ruxi told Madam Cui she expected to pass the metropolitan examination but needed to study Great Jin’s policies and current affairs.
• Madam Cui agreed to ask Grand Princess Shangde for court gazettes and to find books about conditions in Great Jin.
• Wang Tong delivered essays, five years of court gazettes, and memorial documents that Xiao Lingyan had gathered for Zhao Ruxi.
• Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui sent Zhao Ruxi books and court gazettes to help her study.
• Kang Shilin arranged for the Imperial Academy teachers to send examination questions through him so they could mark Zhao Ruxi’s essays without appearing to teach her directly.
• Kang Shilin offered to ask Zhao Ruxi’s three senior brothers to send books and articles related to their government offices.

Zhao Ruxi studied the books and essays her senior brothers gathered to prepare for the metropolitan examination, while winter arrived in the capital. At dinner, Zhao Yuanxun reported that livestock were dying in the north and warned that the border might become unstable, leaving Zhao Ruxi concerned that the first coup was approaching.

• Kang Shilin sent Zhao Ruxi half a carriage load of books and essays to help her study Great Jin's policies, laws, and affairs.
• Zhao Ruxi arranged to store the books in the Martial Observation Hall so Xu Chongwen, Zhao Jing'an, and others could read them without causing gossip in her courtyard.
• Zhao Ruxi spent the autumn studying while her businesses and estates continued to run with little attention from her.
• When the first snow fell, Zhao Yuanxun told Zhao Ruxi that cattle and sheep were dying in large numbers beyond the pass and that the border might not remain peaceful.

Zhao Ruxi worried about the border crisis but chose not to seek details that might expose Xiao Lingyan’s plans. She and Xiao Lingyan reduced contact for safety, and after a month without letters, she still had no news of his situation.

• Zhao Ruxi asked Zhao Yuanxun about the danger at the border, and he reassured her that the troops had supplies, guards, and nearby cities to support them.
• Zhao Ruxi decided not to write to Xiao Lingyan about the border and instead practiced calligraphy to earn points for gathering information later.
• Xiao Lingyan sent Zhao Ruxi a carefully coded letter about the border, and she replied that he should avoid sharing sensitive plans through letters or speech.
• Wang Tong introduced Wu Wei as the new shadow guard who would deliver messages, then explained that Xiao Lingyan would stop writing so often to protect Zhao Ruxi.
• Qingfeng told Zhao Ruxi that Wang Tong had promised to ask for her hand if he was alive and well the following year, and Zhao Ruxi urged her to wait quietly.
• After a month without letters from Xiao Lingyan, Zhao Ruxi asked Zhao Yuanxun about the border, and he and the old madam reassured her that Great Jin was strong.

Zhao Ruxi learned that Xiao Lingyan and Xiao Lingpu had the border crisis under control, easing her fears for them and her family. The next day, she was practicing calligraphy when the County Princess of Qingyang arrived.

• Lady Zhu asked Zhao Ruxi why she was concerned about the border, and Zhao Ruxi claimed she was studying for the metropolitan examination.
• Zhao Ruxi warned Lady Zhu not to let Zhao Yuanxun ask about the sensitive border situation.
• Zhao Ruxi paid the system three thousand points to learn about Xiao Lingyan and the border.
• The system reported that Xiao Lingyan and Xiao Lingpu were prepared for schemes by the third prince and the crown prince, and intended to expose their brothers' actions to Xiao Ge.
• Reassured by the princes' plans, Zhao Ruxi returned to reading and calligraphy.
• Yicui announced that the County Princess of Qingyang had arrived, and Zhao Ruxi went to receive her.

Xiao Ruotong told Zhao Ruxi to stop copying Master Mingcang and develop her own calligraphy style. Zhao Ruxi wrote freely for the first time and earned 156 Wisdom Points from the system.

• Xiao Ruotong examined Zhao Ruxi's calligraphy and praised how much she had learned from Master Mingcang.
• Xiao Ruotong urged Zhao Ruxi to break free of the copybook and let her own style emerge.
• Zhao Ruxi realized the system's points had kept her focused on copying Master Mingcang rather than innovating.
• Zhao Ruxi entered a focused, relaxed state and wrote more than forty characters in her own uninhibited style.
• Xiao Ruotong admired Zhao Ruxi's writing, and the system awarded Zhao Ruxi 156 Wisdom Points.

Zhao Ruxi’s calligraphy inspired Xiao Ruotong to make a bold breakthrough in her writing and find peace after the burdens of her marriage. The two celebrated their progress together over tea and snacks in Zhao Ruxi’s courtyard.

• Zhao Ruxi counted the characters in her calligraphy and wondered whether her points depended on how much she had written.
• Xiao Ruotong saw Zhao Ruxi’s work, experienced an epiphany, and wrote more than a hundred characters in a freer, more inspired style.
• Zhao Ruxi praised Xiao Ruotong’s calligraphy, and Xiao Ruotong thanked her for helping her progress and overcome her lingering depression.
• Xiao Ruotong hugged Zhao Ruxi and asked for tea and snacks, and they settled in Zhao Ruxi’s main room to enjoy them together.

Xiao Ruotong confessed to Zhao Ruxi that she had fallen for Wu Zong and asked her to find out whether he would consider marrying her. Zhao Ruxi agreed to ask him at their gathering at the Kang Family home two days later.

• Xiao Ruotong praised Zhao Ruxi’s comfortable sofa and asked to borrow the carpenter who had made it.
• Xiao Ruotong told Zhao Ruxi that she had fallen for her third senior brother, Wu Zong, after seeing how kindly he treated Zhao Ruxi in Beining.
• Xiao Ruotong said Wu Zong did not know her feelings and asked Zhao Ruxi to ask him whether he was willing to consider a match.
• Zhao Ruxi agreed to raise the matter when she met Wu Zong at the Kang Family home in two days.
• Xiao Ruotong admitted she had rarely spoken with Wu Zong, and Zhao Ruxi changed the subject by offering her pastries.