Episode One Summary SPOILERS

This episode introduces us to the Sheng Family, Gu Ting Ye, and the children. The spotlight is on the adults, and introduces us to our first crisis which must be managed: what to do when the second sheng child begins to gamble away the dowry.

Note: This summary is very thorough, I can't promise future summaries are this thorough, I just want the reader to understand the kind of tone the show has.Our story begins with a little girl who is perhaps six sobbing outside of a tiny house (this is Xiao Tao, although we only learn this later). Her reason for crying is as follows: she went to the kitchen for Mistress Wei's weekly allotment of coal however she was not only denied this but chased out by Miss Gan (the head of the kitchen).

Xiao Die, an older servant in her late teens, tells the little cry not to worry and confronts Miss Gan angrily. The argument is interrupted by Miss Zhou, the personal servant to Mistress Lin (a concubine to the Master). Miss Gan denies Xiao Die's accusations while Xiao Die insists that Miss Gan is not only lying but that she has been embezzling food and coal from the Mistress she serves.Miss Zhou appears disgusted by the actions of Miss Gan and her staff and demands to know how they could dare do this to a pregnant Mistress Wei. The kitchen staff appear victimized and insist that these claims made by Xiao Die are not only false but that the kitchen has been giving her extra allotments and as a result were forced to deduct the difference or face an enormous deficit in the kitchen books.

Xiao Die appears to be used to this kind of behavior and rolls her eyes before demanding that the books be brought out as evidence--if they took too much, they would have had to stamp the receipt with their fingers as proof. Miss Zhou appears to be patient and understanding as she asks Xiao Die to calm her anger and just admit her wrong--Miss Zhou appears both gracious and willing to forgive her.Xiao Die appears even more indignant after this show put on by Miss Zhou (because this is a show of false concern) and instead opts for the next level of attack: she will report this situation to Big Madame. The kitchen staff do not like this and hold her arms, insisting that she cannot because the Big Madame is handling the Engagement Ceremony today and cannot be bothered (Big Madame is the First wife and traditional head of the inner house).

Xiao Die states that even if she does not see her today she will report it tomorrow and does not care if she is flogged. Miss Zhou finally orders Miss Gan to provide charcoal, and Miss Gan appears incredibly put out by this, as if they are all a victim, and states she will do this if only because of the Engagement Ceremony tonight.The kitchen staff deliberately give her a lot of coal and Xiao Die takes all the coal that would make up what is owed to them and leaves. Miss Gan mutters that Mistress Wei is pregnant and overstepping her boundaries but Miss Zhou gives her a look to be silent.Upstairs Big Madame is extremely angry. The betrothal gifts have arrived but she accuses the house of Yuang of playing a shameful trick on her family: the Count and his wife initially agreed to personally come and ask for marriage instead they sent their eldest son Yuan Wenchun to do this with the gifts.

It is a huge sign of disrespect.

Madame also uses this as an opportunity to vent her frustration on her husband: she believes that if this was Molan (the daughter of Mistress Lin) her husband would be as outraged as her however it is only his eldest daughter Hua'er, and thus he cares less. Her husband doesn't understand why she believes that kind of nonsense (although you will later learn that Big Madame is not lying, and her anger on this subject will remain for the whole show).She accuses him of essentially throwing her a lot of nonsense and playing up how majestic and sensible the House of Yuan is and their offspring are great, and that the fiance Yuan Wenshao is great, but this breaking of a promise is proof (in her mind) that these are lies. The Madame angrily tells him that Hua'er is her firstborn and no one is allowed to bully her (this is important, this defense of her child, because our female lead does not experience this kind of protection).

Her husband then proceeds to tell him that he adores her, that when they lived in Yuanzhou he adore her, but since they moved to the capital, he picked the local house of Yuan because he believes that Wenshao is not only a good kid but their daughter will have a smooth life in the future. He then begins to placate her with more sweet words and is able to calm her down and pander to her needs, and reminds her that their daughter will live in wealth but her concern is her daughter being bullied. Her husband insists that if she is bullied he will intervene.He then leaves her and immediately gives orders to unload the boat (clearly he planned on doing what he wanted he was just trying to make things harmonious). Meanwhile, the coal that was given to mistress Wei is incredibly smoky--they run outside, unable to breathe, and Xiao Die is furious but her Mistress tells her to not only not report this but to just wear more clothes. She reminds her to lay low and just accept things as they are.

Xiao Die reminds her that her daughter, Sixth Miss, and our female lead (she is only eight) will be cold so Mistress Wei gives her a bracelet to pawn--it is the last piece of her dowry. Apparently she has been selling things for years to have enough food and coal. This angers Ming Lan (who I will refer to as Mi'er) and she doesn't understand why her mother won't report this. Her mother tells her to visit her grandmother, Old Madame, gain her favor and be raised by her (presumably for protection) but Mi'er doesn't understand this. Mi'er encourages Xiao Die to sell the coal instead of pawning the bracelet (the first sign of showing that she is a clever person). The betrothal party arrives and it is HUGE (we are talking servants for blocks). The Sheng family is formally sitting together, with all the daughters and sons ready to receive the party. The Count of Zhonqing of Donjuang, House of Yuan is formally announced as having arrived with the gifts and that they are asking permission for the Second Son of the Count, Wenshao, to enter in order to offer for the hand of their daughter as the legitimate wife (i.e. First Wife, the one with all the power, the one whose status matters most in the inner house). They grant permission.

Now is a time for celebration, games, drinking, catching up. Everyone congratulates the parents. Mi'er's goal (along with Xiao Tao, who is her personal servant) are all about eating food.Old madame speaks with Hua'er and congratulates her (essentially) and Big Madame learns that their second son is about to lose the dowry in game of touhu (dart throwing into a container)--he is gambling. The Big Madame is trying to figure out how to stop this without causing a scene and the Old Madame is pissed--but they can't intervene without losing face because he agreed to gamble and must take responsibility for his actions even though he is losing. She asks Hua'er what to do and Hua'er obediently tells her that she will listen to her, but Old Madame tells her she must be more assertive because in the future she will be in charge of difficult decisions and fixing messy situations. The person playing against the second son is Gu Ting Ye (our male lead/he looks to be about fourteen or fifteen) and he is kicking this kids butt. Unfortunately, a huge crowd has gathered to witness the game (and perhaps witness the family experience a huge humiliation).

Master Sheng approaches his future son in law about mitigating it but he tells him that they are in his house and must obey him (i.e. I am not going to take the blame for this) but the Master tells him he is responsible because he brought Gu Ting Ye but the son in law replies that it was Master Sheng's son who enticed him to play--now he can do nothing. This is where we learn that the boy is Mistress Lin's son, and that Big Madame CLEARLY hates her. Molan is reporting to her mother, Mistress Lin, that she tried to stop her brother. Mistress Lin's response to her daughter is important, because Molan, who is about ten, insists she won't go back to the banquet. Mistress Lin indulges her daughter, tells her not to worry, and does not address the issue of her children's behavior (a lot of parents would become visibly angry or even tell their daughter never to imitate this behavior but all she does is tell Molan not to worry she will handle it). The Master Sheng and son in law continue their wordplay, pushing blame back and forth in a polite way, until finally Master Sheng pulls out the big guns and accuses his son in law of trying to humiliate the family but the son in law is able to dodge this. He goes to address it. Elsewhere Mistress Lin tries to figure out a strategy and decides on blaming it on her son being drunk, and then Big Madame slaps her.

Mistress Lin falls to the ground and appears very weak and scared, whispering apologies and even shifting the blame to Big Madame but she does it in a very sly way. Big Madame threatens Mistress Lin--if this blows up basically I will kill your kid. Mistress Lin begs very prettily and plans to pass on a message to her son--that he must acknowledge the fault, and tells Miss Zhou that she allow him to be caned this time because it is to big of a problem for her to properly cover up.Old Madame listens to Hu'er who says that her parents must be on the same side, not argue in front of the guests, in order to graciously handle what appears to be an inevitable loss of face. However, Big Madame is having trouble keeping her cool and argues with her husband quietly and focuses on Mistress Lin (whom she hates) and states it is all that woman's fault. Her husband begs her to be patient and not make it worse by showing that she is angry.Mi'er is standing behind her second brother, Chungfei, and watches as her father steps in and first gives him encouragement but he still fails.

Gu Ting Ye coolly--but arrogantly--tells the kid to admit his loss. Master Sheng pulls him away and Mi'er steps forward to take over. Shocking everyone. (This is the meeting of our leads for the first time). Gu Ting Ye is about to pull out because she is a girl but she tells him that she won't give up. Ming'er shocks and impresses everyone with her skill. She is REALLY good and even her father pulls her aside and embraces her, asking her where she learned to play so well. But the show escalates. Ultimately it is a draw. They would have kept playing but a strong wind comes in. Everyone goes inside and just to prove to himself that he would have won, he throws the arrow again, this time without looking (basically we learn that Gu is arrogant, skilled, and willing to take risks). It is important to note how so much can ride on something so tiny.

After this, Gu Ting Ye encounters the first son, Changbai, who is apparently very critical of Gu's behavior. But because of a map of the provinces, the two somehow wind up getting over this initial dislike and becoming friends. Changbai is reluctant to change his opinion but eventually seems to find Gu's bowing of his head and promises genuine. He also seems to like that he takes responsibility for his errors. We also learn Gu's nickname is zhonghuai.Back home, Mistress Wei lectures her daughter and cautions her to be prudent. She lays out the facts for her daughter: Big Madame is the legitimate wife and from a prestigious family which can back her up. Mistress Lin is the most favored wife so she has the Master to back her up. Mistress Wei tells her that she was sold here because her family was ill and they needed the money. Ming'er counters: you have told me to be sensible and prudent--and we learn here that Eldest sister is not so bad because she gifted Mistress Wei with a cloak when it was cold. Mistress Wei explains this is because Eldest Sister dotes on Ming'er but because she is protested, she won't really suffer, but her Ming'er will.That night Chungfei is punished severely.

The Fourth miss yells at her father that her older sisters are crying, Molan begs her to be understanding and Mistress Lin resorts to what will be a very consistent behavior later on: victimizing herself so that others who seek to address bad behavior look evil She insists that Big Madame is merciful and kind and see he is weak and can only beg. Big Madame is direct and calls her out for this but it only adds more strength to Mistress Lin's act. Mistress Lin is smart, she asks that her son be beat 20 strokes or 30, and in doing so Big Madame appears to be harsh and the mother good but powerless. It is obvious that Master is reluctant to do this but he agrees with Big Madame's insistence that the boy is beat, and so we hear him being caned. Afterwards, Big Madame walks with her youngest daughter and is grumpy about how smart Mistress Lin is: it seems that Mistress Lin currently holds the keys to the house, something that should belong to her, and she planned to use this to get them back but because she insisted on the punishment first she couldn't without looking bad.

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