Recaps

Qiao Shuyi showed Zongzheng Heng the garden she had created and shared a tender moment with him beneath a flowering fringe tree. They vowed to share this life's springs and autumns, though both kept their true thoughts hidden.

• Qiao Shuyi guided Zongzheng Heng through her lavish garden and explained how she had gathered rare flowers from across the land.
• Qiao Shuyi ran beneath the blooming fringe tree and asked Zongzheng Heng to lift her onto his shoulders so she could reach its flowers.
• Qiao Shuyi recited a poem about using the fringe tree to see their hair turn white together, and Zongzheng Heng lifted her down and embraced her.
• Zongzheng Heng pledged that they would share this life's springs and autumns, and Qiao Shuyi asked whether it counted as their vow.
• Qiao Shuyi wondered whether Zongzheng Heng no longer wanted to kill her, while Zongzheng Heng privately considered sparing her life if she remained obedient.

Qiao Shuqin drugged Zongzheng Heng and trapped him in an empty room after he was weakened by medicinal powder, while he had been secretly planning to retrieve an antidote and search Qiao Nanyu’s study. The chapter ended with Qiao Shuqin approaching him after lighting suspicious incense, and Zongzheng Heng warning her that she was courting death.

• Hidden behind the rockery, Qiao Shuqin watched Qiao Shuyi and Zongzheng Heng together and resented their happiness so soon after her mother’s death.
• As Qiao Shuyi rested in the garden, Zongzheng Heng considered her future after the Prince of Jin'an's Manor fell, then resolved to torment her himself.
• Qiao Shuyi realized Zongzheng Heng’s words and chosen name revealed clues about his identity and ambitions.
• Zongzheng Heng hurried toward the back gate to meet the Cold Owl Guard for an antidote and planned to search Qiao Nanyu’s study for evidence.
• A maid spilled medicinal powder over Zongzheng Heng, leaving him dizzy and too weak to move, and Qiao Shuqin had a servant drag him into an empty room.
• Qiao Shuqin lit suspicious incense and began removing her outer robe as Zongzheng Heng lay helpless and threatened her.

Qiao Shuqin drugged Zongzheng Heng and tried to force herself on him to hurt Qiao Shuyi. Qiao Shuyi interrupted them and left Qiao Shuqin fearing what she might do next.

• Qiao Shuqin told Zongzheng Heng she wanted to make Qiao Shuyi suffer and began undressing him while he was drugged and unable to use his inner force.
• Qiao Shuqin urged Zongzheng Heng to join her in taking revenge on Qiao Shuyi, but he refused and turned his face away when she tried to kiss him.
• Qiao Shuyi burst into the room, while Fuzhi extinguished the incense and opened a window.
• Qiao Shuqin taunted Qiao Shuyi and claimed she and Zongzheng Heng were in love, but Zongzheng Heng insisted nothing had happened.
• Qiao Shuyi pulled Qiao Shuqin off Zongzheng Heng and threatened to find her other men, then said she despised violating a woman's body but that Qiao Shuqin had displeased her.

Qiao Shuyi punished Qiao Shuqin for drugging Zongzheng Heng and ordered him returned to Jinglan Garden, where she confronted him about why he had gone to the dispensary. When he could not explain, she decided to mark his body so he would remember that he belonged to her.

• Qiao Shuyi ordered Qiao Shuqin dragged to Concubine Song's memorial to kneel while breathing the incense she had used to drug Zongzheng Heng.
• Qiao Shuyi had Zongzheng Heng carried back to Jinglan Garden and tied to the bed while the drug still affected him.
• Zongzheng Heng begged Qiao Shuyi to believe that Qiao Shuqin had drugged him, but he could not explain why he had been near the dispensary.
• Qiao Shuyi accused Zongzheng Heng of planning to leave her and said she would carve her mark into his body.

Qiao Shuyi tattooed her pet name, “Shushu,” beneath Zongzheng Heng’s collarbone despite his furious resistance, intending to use the mark as leverage in the future. After she freed him, the drug overcame his reason and he took her, while she expected his hatred to return once it wore off.

• Zongzheng Heng realized Qiao Shuyi was about to tattoo him and struggled against the ribbons binding him.
• Qiao Shuyi explained that she wanted to mark him with her pet name so he would belong to her, and dismissed his warnings about the disgrace it would bring.
• Zongzheng Heng threatened to kill Qiao Shuyi, but she continued tattooing him while he was restrained and drugged.
• After half an hour, Qiao Shuyi finished tattooing “Shushu” beneath Zongzheng Heng’s collarbone and untied him.
• Zongzheng Heng pinned Qiao Shuyi down and, overcome by the drug, kissed and took her; she expected him to hate her once he regained his senses.

After waking beside Qiao Shuyi, Zongzheng Heng discovered the characters she had carved into his chest and threatened to kill her. Qiao Shuyi challenged his hatred and drew him back to her, and he kissed her while resolving to kill her someday.

• Zongzheng Heng woke beside Qiao Shuyi and found the characters she had carved into his chest.
• Zongzheng Heng grabbed Qiao Shuyi by the throat, but released her when she showed no fear of dying with him.
• Zongzheng Heng told Qiao Shuyi he would kill her someday, and she said she would willingly die by his hand.
• Qiao Shuyi argued that Zongzheng Heng should focus on the happiness of the moment instead of hatred, honor, and disgrace.
• Zongzheng Heng gave in to his desire and kissed Qiao Shuyi, while telling himself he would kill her before long.

After a day of intimacy, Qiao Shuyi teased Zongzheng Heng about his shame and jealousy, then dismissed Fuzhi and Qingyan to prove she cared only for him. Zongzheng Heng claimed he had stopped being angry, but his hatred and growing emotional turmoil remained as they returned to intimacy in the bathing pool.

• Fuzhi and Qingyan discussed Qiao Shuyi's long silence and learned that she had spent the day with Zongzheng Heng.
• In the bathing pool, Zongzheng Heng resolved to obtain the antidote to the Power-Dissolving Powder and kill Qiao Shuyi, while she offered to have his name carved into her body.
• Qiao Shuyi called in Fuzhi and Qingyan and ordered them to leave the manor, saying she had freed them from their contracts.
• Zongzheng Heng accused Qiao Shuyi of having no heart, and she told him that her heart belonged to him.
• Qiao Shuyi said she wanted to appear in Zongzheng Heng's erotic dreams and nightmares, and he pulled her against the pool's edge and kissed her.

While pretending to be Qiao Shuyi’s captive, Zongzheng Heng obtained the antidote to the Power-Dissolving Powder and gathered evidence of Qiao Nanyu’s secret military preparations. He ordered a covert operation to surround Qiao Nanyu’s forces and seize their supplies, while remaining at Jinglan Garden with Qiao Shuyi.

• Zongzheng Heng received the antidote and learned that the Cold Owl Guard had rescued Zhou Yan and discovered Qiao Nanyu’s hidden camp of several thousand soldiers.
• Zongzheng Heng obtained the layout of Qiao Nanyu’s study and the location of its secret compartment, where the prince’s letters were likely kept.
• After returning to Qiao Shuyi, Zongzheng Heng reflected on his attachment to her and decided she still had to die because she knew his fatal weakness.
• Zongzheng Heng gathered account books, secret letters, and maps documenting Qiao Nanyu’s troops, supplies, and weapons workshops.
• Zongzheng Heng ordered the Cold Owl Guard to deliver the evidence to Gu Huai'an and arrange for soldiers to enter Jinzhou, surround the hidden camp, take control of three granaries, and infiltrate the weapons workshop.

On the eve of Qiao Nanyu’s birthday banquet, Qiao Shuyi and Zongzheng Heng shared an intimate night as they both anticipated the coming destruction of the Prince of Jin'an’s Manor. Zongzheng Heng indulged in what might be their last tenderness before leaving, while Qiao Shuyi trusted that he would not kill her.

• Qiao Shuyi asked Zongzheng Heng to choose between two dresses for her father's birthday banquet, then flirted openly with him.
• Zongzheng Heng lifted Qiao Shuyi onto the table, and the two became intimate.
• Qiao Shuyi reflected that their bond depended on both their physical relationship and the attachment between them.
• Zongzheng Heng held Qiao Shuyi as she slept and wondered why she trusted him despite his threat to kill her.
• Qiao Shuyi had long known Zongzheng Heng was the emperor and chose to trust her judgment of him rather than live in fear.

At the Prince of Jin'an’s birthday banquet, Qiao Shuyi worried that Zongzheng Heng might move against her family, while the two exchanged flirtatious remarks. Gu Huai'an arrived with an imperial edict stripping Qiao Nanyu of his title and ordering the execution of all 137 members of the Qiao household, leaving Zongzheng Heng watching Qiao Shuyi as she knelt beside him.

• Qiao Shuyi wondered whether Zongzheng Heng intended to act against the Prince of Jin'an and considered how she might survive if he wanted her dead.
• Qiao Shuyi asked Zhigui whether he wanted many women, and they teased each other about what they liked most about one another.
• Gu Huai'an entered the banquet with guards and announced that he had come on the emperor’s orders to deliver an imperial edict.
• The edict accused Qiao Nanyu of treason and corruption, stripped him of his title, confiscated his property, and sentenced all 137 members of the Qiao household to execution.
• Qiao Shuyi knelt and thought about the power to decide life and death, while Zongzheng Heng watched her trembling form.

Gu Huai'an exposed Qiao Nanyu's rebellion and took control of the Prince of Jin'an's Manor, where the Qiao Family was sentenced to execution in half a month. Back in Jinglan Garden, Qiao Shuyi asked Zongzheng Heng to kill her, but he released her and she took his hesitation as proof that he cared for her.

• Qiao Nanyu tried to resist Gu Huai'an, but Gu revealed evidence of his rebellion and said the manor guards and military positions were already under control.
• Gu Huai'an confined the guests and Qiao Family to the manor and announced that the Qiao Family would be executed in half a month.
• Qiao Shuqin taunted Qiao Shuyi about their past, but Qiao Shuyi remained unconcerned about her impending death.
• Qiao Shuyi apologized to Zongzheng Heng for failing to give him the life of luxury she had promised and said the Qiao Family's downfall would not implicate him.
• Qiao Shuyi placed Zongzheng Heng's hand on her throat and asked him to kill her, but he let go; she embraced him, saying he could not bear to kill her.

Qiao Shuyi chose to spend one last day with Zongzheng Heng before he left, and he departed at dawn without waking her. He resumed his role as emperor in Jinzhou, where he ordered officials to deal with Qiao Nanyu’s followers and planned to question Qiao Nanyu himself.

• Qiao Shuyi told Zongzheng Heng she would not flee and invited him to spend one last day with her; he accepted.
• Zongzheng Heng left Qiao Shuyi sleeping at dawn and returned to his imperial duties.
• Zongzheng Heng entered the Jinzhou prefectural yamen and revealed his identity to the assembled officials.
• Gu Huai'an reported that Qiao Nanyu and his family were detained, the rebel troops dispersed, and evidence and weapons had been seized.
• Zongzheng Heng approved Gu Huai'an’s plan to punish proven ringleaders, deal proportionately with other officials, and reward informants.
• Zongzheng Heng told Gu Huai'an to prepare a verified list and plan within three days, and said he would question Qiao Nanyu the next day.

Zongzheng Heng struggled with his feelings as the Qiao Family’s execution approached, then rode to the Prince of Jin'an's Manor to stop Qiao Shuyi from dying. He learned she had escaped and was pregnant with his child, and ordered the Black Armor Guard to find her alive.

• Gu Huai'an told Zongzheng Heng that the empress dowager was arranging a consort selection and that both daughters of the Su Family would participate; Zongzheng Heng let the arrangements proceed.
• As the Qiao Family’s execution drew near, Zongzheng Heng could not stop thinking about Qiao Shuyi and realized he did not want her to die.
• Zongzheng Heng rode toward the Prince of Jin'an's Manor to prevent Qiao Shuyi’s execution.
• The commander of the Black Armor Guard reported that Qiao Shuyi had escaped after learning she was pregnant.
• Zongzheng Heng learned the child was his and ordered the guards to find Qiao Shuyi alive.

Zongzheng Heng learned that Qiao Shuyi was pregnant and rushed to stop her execution, while Qiao Shuyi staged her death by falling from a cliff to escape. She fell before he could reach her, and Zongzheng Heng ordered his guards to search for her, alive or dead.

• Zongzheng Heng ordered the Black Armor Guard commander to bring Qiao Shuyi back alive after learning she was pregnant, then raced toward the mountain.
• Qiao Shuyi and An Yi reached the cliff, where she planned to fake her death and escape to a hidden cave.
• The Black Armor Guards surrounded Qiao Shuyi and An Yi and attacked them with a rain of arrows.
• An arrow struck Qiao Shuyi's shoulder, and she fell from the cliff just as Zongzheng Heng arrived and shouted.
• Zongzheng Heng kicked the archer who had shot Qiao Shuyi, while An Yi stabbed himself and leaped after her.
• Zongzheng Heng ordered the Black Armor Guard to find Qiao Shuyi and bring her back if she was alive, or show him her body if she was dead.

Qiao Shuyi faked her death at the cliff and prepared new identities for her shadow guards as she planned to travel to Jiangnan while pregnant with Zongzheng Heng’s child. Zongzheng Heng found her clothes and what appeared to be remains at the bottom of the cliff, but ordered the search to continue.

• A Qi pulled Qiao Shuyi into a hidden cave, where she removed the arrow and revealed that she was wearing protective armor and was truly pregnant.
• Qiao Shuyi gave An Yi and A Qi new identities as Yan Po and Ling Han, then arranged for Yan Po to escort her to Jiangnan and Ling Han to build a business in Jinzhou.
• Qiao Shuyi told Ling Han to erase all traces of the cave and resolved to meet Zongzheng Heng again in two years.
• Zongzheng Heng’s guards found Qiao Shuyi’s waterlogged clothes and pieces of a corpse beside the river, and reported that jackals might have torn her apart.
• Zongzheng Heng ordered the guards to kill every jackal and search another hundred li along the riverbank.

After abandoning the search for Qiao Shuyi, Zongzheng Heng returned to Jinzhou and organized a force to repel the northern tribes. With the frontier defense underway, he planned to return to the capital, where the Empress Dowager’s consort selection awaited him.

• Zongzheng Heng ended his search for Qiao Shuyi and returned to the city after Gu Huai'an reported that allied tribes had reached Yanmen Pass.
• Zongzheng Heng ordered the weapons returned to Qiao Nanyu’s eight thousand surrendered troops and appointed Zhao Huchen to lead them against the invaders.
• Zongzheng Heng added five thousand Jinzhou soldiers to Zhao Huchen’s force and ordered him to set out for Yanmen Pass.
• Gu Huai'an told Zongzheng Heng that the Empress Dowager had summoned him to the capital and was preparing a consort selection.
• Zongzheng Heng decided to leave for the capital the next day and handle the consort selection after his return.

Qiao Shuyi helped Song Jue escape a man searching the caravan, then recognized him as a powerful figure from the novel she had known. She decided to make use of him for the future, when she would need help under another identity.

• A man in black stopped Yan Po’s caravan and demanded to search for Song Jue, who he claimed had stolen something from his master.
• Yan Po’s escorts searched the other carriages, but the man in black insisted Song Jue was hiding in Qiao Shuyi’s carriage.
• Song Jue hid inside Qiao Shuyi’s carriage, and she feigned panic to lure Yan Po inside; Yan Po killed the man in black and ordered his corpse buried.
• Song Jue asked Qiao Shuyi why she had helped him, and she jokingly said it was because he was handsome.
• Qiao Shuyi recalled Song Jue’s future role in Su Yunyan’s rise and decided to use his help when she appeared before Zongzheng Heng under another identity.

Qiao Shuyi, who called herself Susu, befriended Song Jue and gave him a jade pendant after asking him to help find her family someday. Meanwhile, the empress dowager arranged the imperial selection, favoring daughters of important officials and approving Vice Minister Su’s concubine-born daughter after his legitimate daughter was eliminated.

• Susu told Song Jue she had lost her memories and asked whether they had known each other before.
• Susu encouraged Song Jue to believe he would become a great general, and he warned her against trusting strangers too easily.
• Susu asked Song Jue to help find her family in Jiangnan and gave him a jade pendant as a token for finding her.
• The empress dowager reviewed the emperor’s list of officials’ daughters and ordered their families’ candidates selected first in the third round.
• Nanny Liu reported that Vice Minister Su’s legitimate daughter had been eliminated after breaking out in rashes, and the empress dowager approved selecting his concubine-born daughter instead.

Zongzheng Heng wandered the imperial garden, puzzled by his detailed memories of flowers and unable to stop thinking about the dead Qiao Shuyi. At Taiye Pool, he met Su Yunyan, who revealed her plans to win his favor and secure the future she believed the novel had promised her.

• Zongzheng Heng questioned Li De about unfamiliar flowers and trees in the imperial garden, including fringe trees.
• Zongzheng Heng wandered to Taiye Pool and saw Su Yunyan standing in a pavilion.
• Zongzheng Heng thought of Qiao Shuyi and tried to convince himself that he could forget her by choosing Su Yunyan.
• Su Yunyan greeted Zongzheng Heng and recalled how she had transmigrated into the Su Family and spent three years pretending to be devoted to him.
• Su Yunyan decided she would adapt her behavior to Zongzheng Heng's preferences and claim the ending she wanted.

Qiao Shuyi settled in Wu Commandery under the identity Liu Susu and began planning affordable pharmacies and a network of medicinal suppliers. On the Double Ninth Festival, Su Jingyun saw her at a medical shelter and was struck by her beauty.

• Qiao Shuyi bought a house, registered as Liu Susu, and had Yan Po open a discreet branch of the Yishun Escort Agency in Wu Commandery.
• Qiao Shuyi planned to open pharmacies for ordinary people and to buy medicinal herbs directly from local producers, while seeking a physician skilled in both medicine and poison-making.
• Qiao Shuyi ordered Yan Po to find a discreet, well-traveled physician and keep close watch on Su Jingyun.
• Su Jingyun went to Wu Mountain for the Double Ninth Festival with friends, despite preferring to avoid the crowds.
• Young Master Kong pointed out Qiao Shuyi at a medical shelter, and Su Jingyun stared at her before reproaching himself and warning Young Master Kong to speak respectfully.

Qiao Shuyi built a life in Wu Commandery as Lady Liu while carefully drawing Su Jingyun into a position where he would help her. Two years later, with her son Liu Xuan and the fringe tree she had planted, she prepared for Zongzheng Heng’s arrival and planned to take her child to the highest seat of power.

• Su Jingyun heard that Lady Liu had been abandoned while pregnant, had opened a pharmacy, and treated poor patients for free, and he felt sympathy for her.
• Qiao Shuyi deliberately arranged to meet Su Jingyun, gradually became familiar with him, and gained his help when other pharmacies threatened her business.
• Over two years, Qiao Shuyi expanded the Hall of Saving the World, while Su Jingyun’s support deterred the city’s pharmacies from causing trouble.
• Qiao Shuyi held her one-year-old son Liu Xuan beneath the flowering fringe tree and reflected that Zongzheng Heng would soon arrive.
• Qiao Shuyi told Liu Xuan she intended to take him to the highest place so he would have power and never be made to kneel.

Su Yunyan prepared to use the emperor’s southern tour to bring her elder brother back from Wu Commandery and secure support of her own. Zongzheng Heng promised to visit Wu Commandery, while Su Yunyan remained wary that the trip might bring another woman into his life.

• Su Yunyan encountered the demoted Cui Yingshuang on the way to Taiji Hall and offered to ask for her to join the southern tour, but Cui Yingshuang declined because she had to care for the eldest princess.
• Su Yunyan reflected on her lack of family support, her difficulty bearing children, and her plan to bring her elder brother Su Jingyun back from Wu Commandery during the southern tour.
• At Taiji Hall, Zongzheng Heng told Su Yunyan he wanted the rear palace to know she had his protection and urged her to focus on recovering her health.
• Su Yunyan asked Zongzheng Heng whether the southern tour would pass through Wu Commandery so she could see Su Jingyun.
• Zongzheng Heng said he would visit Wu Commandery, and Su Yunyan thanked him.

Su Jingyun woke from a dream of Liu Susu and realized his feelings for her had become romantic, though he believed they could never be together. A letter from his sister Yanyan, now Consort Shu, gave him a chance to advance to the capital, and he devised a plan to bring Susu before the emperor as a physician.

• Su Jingyun woke from a dream in which he and Liu Susu had become lovers, then recalled the moments that had changed his feelings for her.
• Su Jingyun received a letter from Yanyan announcing her promotion to Consort Shu and the emperor’s planned visit to Wu Commandery in three days.
• Yanyan urged Su Jingyun to impress the emperor and find a physician who could treat his recurring migraines so he could earn a transfer to the capital.
• Su Jingyun considered asking Liu Susu to treat the emperor and hoped her success might earn her an official medical post and allow him to seek imperial approval for their marriage.

Su Yunyan saw a Wu silk dress being carried into Zongzheng Heng’s bedchamber and wondered who it was meant for, but he described a different outfit for her without addressing the dress. During the southern tour, Su Yunyan’s conspicuous favor provoked Zhu Rongyu, and their sharp exchange ended with Su Yunyan leaving to attend Zongzheng Heng.

• Su Yunyan followed two palace maids carrying a Wu silk dress toward Zongzheng Heng’s bedchamber, then turned back when a eunuch summoned her.
• At dinner, Su Yunyan asked Zongzheng Heng about her common attire, and he recommended a plain azure gauze dress without mentioning the Wu silk dress.
• On the southern tour, Zongzheng Heng repeatedly summoned Su Yunyan to join him, while Zhu Rongyu grew resentful of her favor.
• Zhu Rongyu taunted Su Yunyan about attending Zongzheng Heng, and Su Yunyan retorted that Zhu Rongyu could advise him herself if she could get an audience.
• Su Yunyan left to attend Zongzheng Heng, while Zhu Rongyu remained angry and Su Yunyan dismissed her attempt to travel ahead of her.

Su Jingyun welcomed Zongzheng Heng and his party to Wu Commandery, then recommended Lady Liu as a physician who might cure the emperor’s migraines. Afterward, he told Su Yunyan that he loved Lady Liu and hoped to marry her despite her having a child, and Su Yunyan agreed to support him if Lady Liu could help the emperor.

• Su Jingyun received Zongzheng Heng, the court ministers, and the imperial consorts at his residence, where he reunited briefly with his younger sister, Su Yunyan.
• At the banquet, Su Jingyun praised Lady Liu’s medical skill and charitable treatment of the poor, and Su Yunyan persuaded Zongzheng Heng to let Lady Liu examine his migraines the next day.
• Zongzheng Heng granted Su Yunyan and Su Jingyun time to speak privately, and Su Jingyun confessed that he loved a woman who had borne a child.
• Su Jingyun revealed that the woman was Lady Liu and said he hoped to secure her a medical appointment and present her child as his own.
• Su Yunyan agreed to support Su Jingyun’s marriage plans if Lady Liu cured Zongzheng Heng’s headaches.