Category: Recap

Episode 20 – Recap

Yizhen has thought things through and asks to adopt Fengqing. Fengqing enters the Xu family as Xu Ling’an and Yizhen’s adopted son, and is given the name Sijie. Concubine Qin is disappointed. Lianfang says a few words to put a wedge between Concubine Qin and Shiyi.

Lingkuan comes to thank Shiyi for what she did for the brothers and his wife. Shiyi gets him to help her investigate her mother’s death by subtly questioning the servants that were present that day.

Madame Luo falls ill, so Shiyi visits home. Madame Luo praises Shiyi for how she handled Fengqing’s (a.k.a. Sijie) adoption, because it is the most beneficial outcome for Xu Zhun. Through Amber, Madame Luo knows that Lingyi and Shiyi have not consummated their marriage yet, so she tells Shiyi to push her maids towards Lingyi and see which one he’ll take as a new concubine. 

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Dongqing is angry at Amber for telling Madame Luo information about Shiyi. Shiyi points out that Amber didn’t tell Madame Luo that they’re investigating her mother’s death. Shiyi guesses that Madame Luo is holding something over Amber’s head to make her obedient, but Amber doesn’t tell her what because she believes that Shiyi cannot help her with this matter. 

We find out in a brief flashback scene that Amber has a missing older sister, and that she’s serving Madame Luo in order to find her older sister.

Lingyi gives Shiyi a jade hairpin that is very similar to one she lost. [Called it.] He had secretly talked to Dongqing to find out what it looked like. Their attention is drawn away by Xu Zhun crying. He is crying because his wooden sword broke. Shiyi gets Lingyi to make him a new one. Then she suggests that Lingyi spend more time with Xu Zhun.

Danyang is talking with Madame Xu. When Lianfang comes into the room, Danyang throws shade at her while complimenting Shiyi. Lingkuan, Xu Zhun, and Lingyi eventually join them. Danyang points out how Lingyi has changed (for the better) since Shiyi joined the household.

Lingyi realizes that he is catching feelings and this makes him awkward around Shiyi. He thinks he should kill his feelings in order to be a strong pillar for the Xu family. Fu Linbo tells him he is human and thus subjected to emotions just like everyone else.

Lingyi coincidentally finds out that Shiyi is secretly teaching the women refugees how to embroider at Xianling Pavilion. He is upset at first and wants to drag her away, but after talking to Fu Linbo and one of Shiyi’s students, he changes his mind. He tells Fu Linbo to station some people outside of Xianling Pavilion to surreptitiously protect Shiyi.

Lianfang is trying to instigate shit again by talking bad about Shiyi in front of Madame Xu. Lingyi overhears and defends Shiyi.

Episode 19 – Recap

Luo Shiyi and Xu Lingyi wake up in bed together. Lingyi notices that Shiyi is wearing a simple silver hairpin, and Shiyi tells him she lost a jade one that she had liked. [Watch, he’s going to get her a new jade hairpin.] They have a cute moment where Lingyi childishly tries to keep Shiyi from leaving the bed, and then Shiyi helps Lingyi get dressed. Lingyi has a smug and happy look on his face when Shiyi hugs him to help him put on his belt.

Yizhen and Fengqing seem to be getting along well. Both Shiyi and Lingyi want to have Yizhen raise Fengqing, but Yizhen is still not over the loss of her son and doesn’t think she’s a good choice. If Yizhen won’t take Fengqing, then Shiyi would rather raise the child herself because she doesn’t think Concubine Qin and Lianfang would be good for him. Lingyi agrees with her thoughts but insists on putting Fengqing under Concubine Tong’s name instead.

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Lingyi and Lingkuan have a falling out over the matter with Fengqing. Shiyi counsels Lingyi. The brothers talk and make up. Lingkuan goes to his father-in-law to beg forgiveness for his past transgression that resulted in Fengqing.

Lianfang goes to instigate trouble with Danyang, hoping that Danyang will have an accident at Shiyi’s place. Shiyi cushion’s Danyang’s fall with her own body and cautions Danyang against listening to outside rumors. Danyang realizes that Lianfang tried to set her up, so she goes and slaps that green tea bitch in the face. [Ha! I wanted her to slap the other cheek too.]

Danyang guesses the truth about Fengqing and tells Lingkuan to spend more time with Fengqing as his “uncle.” Lingkuan thanks her and assures her that she and their son are the most important to him.

Lin Shixian visits Shiyi at Xianling Pavilion and gives expensive hand cream out to everyone as a guise for giving Shiyi a present. Shiyi thinks he’s a nice guy and wants to repay him for his help with the rice someday. 

Episode 18 – Recap

Master Jian asks Shiyi to help teach the women refugees how to embroider. Shiyi agrees. Amber is afraid that Madame Xu won’t like Shiyi showing her face in public like this. But Master Jian is asking because she doesn’t want Shiyi to forget her love for embroidering. So Dongqing and Amber dress Shiyi up as an unmarried lady whenever she goes to the Xianling Pavilion to teach embroidery.

Shiyi reunites with Lin Shixian at the Xianling Pavilion. Turns out he invested in Xianling Pavilion and is considered its owner.

That night, Lingyi calls Shiyi to his room, and there is a bedraggled child sleeping in his bed. He doesn’t explain anything and tells her to find some trustworthy servants to take care of him, so she puts forth Dongqing and Amber’s names. 

Despite trying to keep things under wraps, news of the child spreads. Everyone thinks it’s Lingyi’s illegitimate son. 

Luo Zhenxing comes to visit Shiyi and advises her on how to best handle the child’s situation so that it would be the most beneficial to her. He suggests giving the child to Concubine Qin, because he heard from Yuanniang that she’s nice and easy going. He tells Shiyi not to adopt the child under her name no matter what, because then the child would become a legitimate son of the main wife, and he would be above any biological child she later has because he is older. He thinks Shiyi should agree to taking the child into the Xu family because Lingyi has already decided on such, and if Shiyi disagrees it would harm the harmonious feelings between husband and wife. [Gosh, someone give this man a Brother of the Year Award. He rushed to counsel her as soon as he found out, because he’s afraid that she might not know how to handle such a situation, and he also considered all angles, even the benefit of the child.]

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Shiyi guesses from the start that the child is not Lingyi’s bastard, but Lingkuan’s. Lingyi is surprised but pleased by her understanding of him. Lingyi then tries to explain the misunderstanding that led to Lianfang becoming his concubine. [He wants her to know that he only has her in his heart. Hehehe.]

Lingyi exposes the truth about the child to his mother and brother. Turns out the child, Fengqing, was a child that Lingkuan had from a dalliance before his marriage to Danyang, and no one was aware of this at the time. Everyone unanimously agrees to keep the truth from Danyang until she gives birth. 

Concubine Qin comes to beg Shiyi to give Fengqing to her. Shiyi says she’ll talk to Lingyi, but doesn’t promise anything.

On the other side, Lianfang is asking Madame Xu to give Fengqing to her [and she even admits that her purpose is to get Lingyi to visit her more often via the child. She admits it! But Madame Xu is just like “oh it’s been hard on you.” Excuse you people!]

After a discussion, they decide to let Fengqing interact with both Concubine Qin and Lianfang to see which one is more suitable to be his adopted mother. Shiyi originally spoke up for Concubine Qin, but after watching Fengqing interact with the adults, she feels that Xiang Yizhen would make the best adopted mother for Fengqing.

At Xianling Pavilion, Lin Shixian asks Master Jian about Shiyi’s background [to better pursue her]. Master Jian is afraid of people making trouble for Shiyi if they overhear that she’s Marquis Yongping’s wife, so she says she doesn’t know and that she’s probably from an ordinary family. [Poor guy, he’s getting his hopes up. Pretty sure he would give up graciously if he knew that she was already married.]

At night, Lingyi finds Shiyi has fallen asleep next to Fengqing and carries her to bed. She wakes up while he is tiptoeing across the room and quickly pretends to be asleep again. He notices that she’s awake, but just tucks her into bed.

Episode 17 – Recap

After going over all the household records, Shiyi meets with the senior maids in charge of the different departments within the manor. She rewards one of them (Mrs. Li) for a job well done and punishes two of them (Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Zhou) for embezzling money.

At night, Dongqing wants to play a trick on Amber by jumping out and scaring her, but ends up scaring Fu Linbo instead. Fu Linbo reacts instinctively and brings her to the ground with martial arts. She bites his arm in retaliation. [Smells like the set up to a side pairing.] 

Lingyi is working in his study and hears someone coming in. He thinks it’s Shiyi and happily gets up to greet her only to see that it is Lianfang and becomes disappointed. Then they talk about the refugees. Lianfang doesn’t care about what happens to the refugees or common people, and this irks Lingyi.

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Shiyi goes to Lingyi’s room to search for clues about her mother’s death. Lingyi bumps into her before she can leave, so she makes up an excuse about getting his measurements to make him new clothes. He tells her instead of taking measurements from his old clothes, it is better to take it directly from his body. [Oh ho ho.] They talk about the refugees, and Shiyi shows that she cares for them, a stark contrast to Lianfang’s response. Shiyi makes a passing comment that Lingyi would look good in any clothing because he has a nice body. This leads to Lingyi admiring himself in the mirror more often. [Lmao.]

Lingyi is pretty certain that the moldy rice incident was caused by the Ou family, because they want the Xu family to lose the government’s trust. Lingyi is watching the military provisions, because that is a good place to hoard lots of moldy rice. He is just waiting for the Ou family to make a move.

Concubine Wen tries to get Shiyi to be business partners by bribing her with money and jewelry, but Shiyi rejects her. Lingyi finds out and he remarks that Shiyi is really different from her older sister. [I think they’re different too, but this is a little unfair to Yuanniang. Yuanniang was trying to pave a smooth path for Xu Zhun because she felt that she could not depend on Lingyi. Pretty sure she wanted to earn that extra money for Xu Zhun’s sake and not because she’s just greedy for money.]

Lingyi gets Steward Bai to give Shiyi more money “for household uses.” Then he presents her with the land deeds from her dowry. He had purchased them back and added more deeds to connect all the land together. He stays at her place for lunch. She likes Yuhang dishes, which is not Lingyi’s usual fare, but he finds it tasty because he is eating with her. When he eats the same dishes again, but by himself, he finds the taste lacking even though it’s the same chef.

Episode 16 – Recap

The Ou family is trying to instigate trouble with the soup kitchen. They planted their people within the refugees to stir up trouble. Shiyi gets hurt. Lingyi returns in time to bring the situation under control.

Lingyi finds Lingkuan singing opera at home, and he is angry that Lingkuan was playing around while such a big thing was happening to the Xu family.

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Lianfang once again escapes blame due to Madame Xu’s bias, but she has to give up her nanny who took the blame for everything. [Well, it was all her fault, but Lianfang counts as an accomplice for covering up for her, so she should’ve been punished too.] Before leaving, the nanny tells Lianfang to be vigilant against Shiyi. [Geez, even when she’s exiting the stage, she still has to add oil to the fire.]

Because of this incident, Lianfang has to give up management of the household affairs to Shiyi.

Episode 15 – Recap

Mrs. Zhang (Lianfang’s nanny) is embezzling money by substituting the good rice for the soup kitchen with moldy rice. She is using vinegar to wash away the moldy smell of the bad rice, but this doesn’t remove the toxicity of the rice. Concubine Wen finds out about this and tips Shiyi off through a circumspect way.

When Mrs. Zhang realizes that she’s been found out, she comes clean to Lianfang, who tries to cover up for her nanny.

Shiyi storms the soup kitchen and finds the moldy rice. She berates Lianfang and then takes over command of the situation. They rush to gather good rice for the soup kitchen, but someone behind the scenes is buying up all the rice. Shiyi takes all the land deeds from her dowry and goes to Master Jian for help. She is willing to trade the deeds for rice. Master Jian agrees to help her find people willing to trade rice for her land deeds.

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

At this time Lin Shixian returns to the capital and ends up helping Amber, who was trying to purchase rice within the capital. A store owner is refusing to sell Amber rice. Lin Shixian’s servant shows the store owner a token with the surname “Ou” on it [implying that he is of the Ou family]. The store owner then agrees to sell the rice at market price to Amber. [I see a new ship. ♡ New ship as in I ship them, but Lin Shixian is clearly going to be besotted with Shiyi first. I hope they get together in the end though. They’re both nice people and deserve to be happy together.]

Episode 14 – Recap

Lingyi and Fu Linbo talk about the issue with Lianfang, the puppy, and Mrs. Liu. Fu Linbo swears to find Mrs. Liu no matter what so that they can find out exactly what transpired. 

Fu Linbo then reminds Lingyi to thank Shiyi for helping Xu Zhun recover. So Lingyi sents Zhao Ying to present a brocade-feather fan that he personally made to her. Zhao Ying tries to hint at Shiyi to give a return gift to Lingyi, but Shiyi misunderstands his eye signals and gives him money for the delivery instead. Zhao Ying reports back to Lingyi. Lingyi is disappointed by Shiyi’s lack of response. Fu Linbo subtly teases Lingyi, so Lingyi sends him to patrol the city at night.

We get a snapshot of Erniang’s situation. Wang Yu got drunk and beat her. His mother only lamented that he went for Erniang’s pretty face too. She gives Erniang some jewelry from her dowry and tells Erniang to be more submissive and obedient to Wang Yu and to bear some children, then her days will be better. After she leaves, Erniang swepts the jewelry onto the floor and blames Shiyi for her current predicament.

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Shiyi goes to talk to her sister-in-law for Wuniang’s sake. [I think she is the widow to Lingyi’s first brother, but I’m not sure as this is the first time she appears in the show, as far as I remember.] They discuss and agree to give Wuniang fifty tael of silver each as a gift instead of investing as business partners.

Lingyi is going out for a period of time because a flood has displaced a lot of people. Amber suggests Shiyi make a new pair of shoes for him for the journey and also as thanks for the fan he gave her. Lingyi is thrilled to receive the shoes, but tries to act cool about it. He chided Shiyi for not using the fan he gave her, but then he also doesn’t wear the shoes she made for fear of dirtying them.

Lingyi is planning to open a soup kitchen for the displaced refugees, and Madame Xu puts Lianfang in charge of it.

Concubine Wen is put in a tight spot because after Lianfang took over managing the Xu family affairs, she switched from using the Wen family’s fabrics to the Zhang family’s. This means the Wen family is losing a lot of money. Concubine Wen tries to suck up to Lianfang, but Lianfang disses her instead, so now Lianfang is firmly on Concubine Wen’s blacklist.

Madame Xu and Xiang Yizhen go to Ci’an Temple to pray for the refugees, leaving only the main wife and the concubines in the manor…

Episode 13 – Recap

Wuniang hears from her husband that Xu Zhun is sick. Knowing that this would make Shiyi’s days at the Xu manor bad, Wuniang decides to pay her a visit. She wants to bring a gift too, but finds out that her family’s money has been used up. Her husband brings up the idea of opening a dried fruits shop to earn extra income, and suggests partnering up with the Xu family through Shiyi. Wuniang agrees to ask, and offers to use the bird’s nest from her dowry as a gift.

Shiyi enlists the help of Xu Yu and finds out about the contaminated puppy. Wuniang visits at this time, so Shiyi exchanges clothes with her to sneak out of her courtyard (apropos of her being grounded). She finds and brings the puppy to Lingyi. The physician examines the puppy and confirms that it has tinea. Madame Xu tries to downplay the issue by saying Xu Zhun’s illness is an accident. The physician clearly looks like he wants to say something against that, but doesn’t. Lianfang is caught red handed, but tries to play innocent. She is let off the hook due to Madame Xu’s favoritism. 

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Under Shiyi’s care, Xu Zhun gets better. Even Madame Xu has to acknowledge this and return Xu Zhun’s care to Shiyi. This ends her grounding.

Lianfang pretends to be reflecting and repenting by praying for Xu Zhun’s wellness and not eating. She grows weak and Lingyi is forced to pay her a visit. Lianfang keeps playing innocent, but Lingyi gives her a warning instead and says he’ll drop the issue since Xu Zhun got better. He also asks after the whereabouts of Mrs. Liu and Lianfang says she’s been dismissed due to her negligence with Shiyi’s care.

Episode 12 – Recap

Shiyi and Dongqing escape from their holding place and the kidnappers give chase. They run into Master Jian and Zhenxing halfway. The men that Zhenxing brought with him chase off the kidnappers and Shiyi is saved. Shiyi then pretends like she was strolling on the streets and gets Lingyi’s subordinates to escort her back to Luo manor.

On the carriage ride back to the Xu manor, Shiyi hints to Lingyi that there is something off about the two bodyguards assigned to her. She also points out how she should thank Lianfang for specifically accompanying Lingyi to come pick her up. Lingyi understands right away and promises to investigate the two bodyguards.

Back at the Xu manor, there is a sweet moment between Shiyi, Dongqing, and Amber. Shiyi thanks them for looking out for her, and gives them two hairpins from her dowry as a sign of her gratitude towards them.

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Lingyi scolds Lianfang for what happened with Shiyi and hints that he knows this was her doing.

Lianfang brings back a contaminated puppy and Xu Zhun gets infected with ringworms by playing with the puppy. She also told Xu Zhun to keep it a secret that he’s playing with the puppy. So everytime he gets better, he gets worse right away, because he keeps going back to the puppy and no one else knows this.

Madame Xu claims that Shiyi doesn’t know how to take care of children, because Xu Zhun got sick and banned her from taking care of him, effectively grounding her within her courtyard. Then she lets Lianfang take care of Xu Zhun.

Episode 11

Shiyi can’t find any clues in the main Xu manor and wants to go to the Xu villa to check the old fabrics there. Serendipitously, Danyang meets a fortune teller who tells her to stay away from people born in the year of the ox during her pregnancy. [This smells like Lianfang’s doing again.] Shiyi – born in the year of the ox – happily agrees to go to the villa. 

After finding a clue, Shiyi goes out to meet Master Jian to consult her expertise. The head maid of the villa assigns two bodyguards to go with Shiyi. When Shiyi leaves Xianling Pavilion, the two guards are gone. An old woman tricks Shiyi and Dongqing away to a quiet place, and they are kidnapped.

This was all Lianfang’s plan to discredit Shiyi, because once a woman spends a night outside unaccounted for, people will assume she’s been defiled or is a loose woman.

[I think Amber really shone in this scene. She is restricted by her status in society, but she keeps calm and firm, and seeks help for Shiyi in a way that would be most beneficial to Shiyi. Master Jian and Shiyi’s older brother, Luo Zhenxing, were also MVPs. Zhenxing wanted to alert the authorities to find his little sister as quickly as possible because he’s genuinely concerned for her safety. Doing this however will alert everyone that Shiyi has been kidnapped and thus put her chastity into question. But he is ready to take care of her for life if the Xu family doesn’t want her anymore. Master Jian is aware that this is exactly what the kidnappers want to happen. Once Shiyi’s chastity is called into question, her status in the Xu family will become shaky and her days will be like living hell, so she cautions them not to go to the authorities just yet.]

Recap by Vanilla Muse. Please read this on vmnovels (dot) com

Lingyi returns from a long trip away and finds out that Shiyi was sent to the villa because of some superstitious fortune telling. He is incensed and insists on bringing her back right away. Lianfang pretends to be concerned about Shiyi, but she is secretly stirring up shit again. She tells them that Shiyi is with her maternal family, because she is too picky about the conditions of the villa. She accompanies Lingyi to the Luo manor in order to force them to admit that Shiyi is missing. Madame Luo saw through her schemes right away. [I dislike both Lianfang and Madame Luo, but it sure was satisfying to see Madame Luo put Lianfang in her place.]