New Life Begins

Li Wei of Ji Plains, Hao Jia of Yan Plains and Princess Shangguan Jing of Dan Plains are gathered in Xin Plains for the marriage selection. Meanwhile, the young masters are discussing these ladies except for Yin Zheng, the Sixth Young Master. Yin Zheng goes to the kitchen and finds Li Wei stealing his food. Suddenly, his old illness acts up, and Li Wei carries him out of the kitchen.

Li Wei just wants to fail the selection and go home. But she is chosen by Sixth Young Master. His Majesty doesn't know how to deal with her from her performance. In the end, Yin Zheng offers to marry her instead. His Majesty is thankful and promises to find a good first wife for him later. Shangguan Jing and Hao Jia are facing trouble with their married life too. Li Wei misunderstands that Yin Zheng has only half a month left to live. She does her best to take care of Yin Zheng. Her action confuses him until he sees her letters to her family.

Yin Zheng tops the exam but goes home to see Li Wei mourning in sackcloth. Seeing Yin Zheng in the pink of health, Li Wei realizes that she misunderstood it and is very devastated. Xin Plains Madam arranges a make-up wedding for them after knowing Yin Zheng has recovered. Li Wei tries every possible way to avoid it. Third Young Master is impeached for not attending the court for a long time. Xin Plains Master does not want to make a fuss and asks his brothers to get him back. But no one is willing to do the job, so Yin Zheng takes on the troublesome task and brings Li Wei to visit the Third Young Master.

Li Wei and Yin Zheng persuade the Third Young Master to return to the palace. Yin Zheng finally recognized Li Wei's ability. He requested for Li Wei's cooperation to enter the Imperial Court. Li Wei, Shangguan Jing, and Hao Jia became friends with Yuan Si Si after an event at the Hall of Education. When they heard that Li Wei was forced to eat bland food, they prepared their hometown dishes for her. Li Wei realized that she needed to win over Chef Liu Bao Quan. Finally, after some effort, Li Wei was able to obtain the right to order dishes.

Li Wei and Shangguan Jing are punished because they contradicted Madam Yan, even Yin Zheng is called to witness it. When Yin Zheng finds out about the whole incident, he doesn't blame Li Wei, he brings her back and treats her wound for her. Li Wei is touched and decides to help him with his stomach issue. Dan Plains is suffering from a flash flood. Yin Zheng does his best to come up with a solution. In the end, he's recognized by His Majesty. He is then asked to organize the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Li Wei and Yin Zheng impressed Xin Plains' Master. Xin Plains' Master wanted to reward his son, but Yin Zheng asked that Li Wei be allowed to meet her family. The Mid-Autumn Festival is actually also Yin Zheng's birthday but everybody was busy spending time with their family and forgot about Yin Zheng's birthday.

When they arrived in Dan Plains, Dan Plains' Master, Shangguan Yan, was angry at Yin Qi, so she made things difficult for him and evaluated him for expected husband's behavior. Yin Qi passed the tests and met Shangguan Jing. There, he understood that the lady was supposed to live a free life, but to maintain the hundred-year alliance between Dan and Xin Plains, she gave up that life and chose to live in a palace.

Due to the situation, Yin Zheng, who's best at hiding his feelings, ends up expressing his fondness for Li Wei in public. Dan Plains Master stopped putting them on the spot after that. She says that she'll allow Shangguan Jing, her younger sister, to return to Xin Plains with Qi as long as he can make her happy again.

Yin Zheng wants to gather funds to repay Xin Plains' debt. He realizes there were debts of former officials from the late Master's era. So, he works with Li Wei to acquire the help of Third Young Master who is well-versed in the business world.

Together with Third Young Master, Yin Zheng sends the collected fund to Jin Plains and finally convinces Jin Plains Master to accept the repayment in installments. The mission is successfully completed and Yin Zheng finally gets the opportunity to go to the court, which means he can start his own mansion. Yin Zheng takes this opportunity to ask Xin Plains Master to make Li Wei his legitimate wife, but Xin Plain Master slurs over it.

Yin Zheng feels nervous about attending court for the first time. Li Wei encourages him and promises to stay if she waits at home for him. Yin Zheng has no chance of speaking in court and has to remain silent under Yin Song's pressure.

On the night of the wedding, before Yin Zheng talks to Yuan Ying, she has already changed out of her wedding dress and she tells Yin Zheng bluntly that their marriage is a business deal between the plains masters.

Although Yuan Ying is strict, Li Wei admires her. She understands that Yuan Ying did so for her own good. She even persuades Song Wu, who treats Yuan Ying as her imaginary rival to stop being mean to her. She points out that Yuan Ying isn't someone who will be trapped in the mansion.

Yin Qi suddenly feels dizzy and starts to vomit. He seems to suffer from food poisoning. After looking at the menu, Li Wei realizes the amaranth, which replaces the lettuce, has caused food poisoning because it is consumed with turtle soup. Yuan Ying blames herself while Li Wei consoles her. She suggests Yuan Ying share the burden with her.

Yuan Ying has always been tiring herself out. She's even making arrangements in the middle of the night, calculating how to allocate the mansion's expenses and personnel. She's stressed out, and she falls sick because of it. Li Wei almost starts a clash with the government soldiers as she's worried for Yuan Ying's health.

It's time for another political marriage between Xin Plains and Mo Plains. According to custom, the princess of Xin Plains has to be married to Mo Plains. Plains Madam and Yin Song are not willing to marry Princess Shu Yu. They suggest granting Madam He's foster daughter, Song Wu, the title of princess and marrying her to Mo Plains.

Li Wei, Yin Zheng, and Yuan Ying work together to host a meeting with the envoys of Mo Plains and Mo Plains Madam. They use the lotus plumule tea to represent the suffering of the separation between a daughter and her mother. They express their willingness to give Mo Plains a hand. They also promise to personally depart to Mo Plains to help them out locally with their agriculture issues.

After finishing the tasks at hand, Li Wei suggested that since they were in Mo Plains, they should pay her grandfather a visit. Yin Zheng, the Fifth Young Master, and the Third Young Master all breathed a sigh of relief – they had not been sober since they came to Mo Plains, and they needed not to drink at Li Wei’s grandfather’s house

Song Wu realizes that Song Wu is the person she wants to spend her life with. In order to pursue Song Wu, Song Wu draws on Li Wei's parents' tactics back then.

Yin Zheng's new position requires him to organize the Envoy Banquet to treat his subordinates and envoys. Li Wei does her best to organize the banquet but the rules don't allow the concubine to attend the banquet.

Li Wei is busy preparing for the opening of their new restaurant. Yin Zheng helps her out in secret. He even sends a note that contains his suggestions to Li Wei in secret.

Third Young Master opens a rip-off of Nine Plains Gourmet Restaurant to compete against the women. He tries to steal their staff by offering high salaries. He also tries to steal their customers by starting a price war. However, they are prepared for the situation.

The restaurant is finally back to normal operation, and the sisters are all working hard for their careers. Under Yuan Ying's guidance, Li Wei's leadership skills have improved gradually. She even accepts Song Wu as an apprentice.

Yin Zheng and Li Wei asked for Madam He's help and took Great Madam to visit Hao Jia in Yin Song's mansion. Under Yin Song's coercion, Hao Jia had to pretend to be fine. After Li Wei and others left, Hao Jia had a complete showdown with Yin Song, but received even greater reprimand and humiliation. Hao Jia was completely desperate and chose to end her life.

Yin Zheng and Li Wei asked for Madam He's help and took Great Madam to visit Hao Jia in Yin Song's mansion. Under Yin Song's coercion, Hao Jia had to pretend to be fine. After Li Wei and others left, Hao Jia had a complete showdown with Yin Song, but received even greater reprimand and humiliation. Hao Jia was completely desperate and chose to end her life.

Madam He summons Li Wei to talk to her. Li Wei heard that Madam He had gone through the same situation. She consoles Madam He and asks her not to blame herself anymore. She asks Yin Zheng to be understanding toward Madam He and consoles him for all the suffering that he went through.

When Yin Zheng takes Yin Qi out on a mission, he learns about the impact of the road closure at the border between Dan Plains and Dai Plains on the local merchants and decides to let the people pass before reporting it. That is exactly what Yin Song wants and therefore, he's accused of overreaching his authority. As soon as Yin Zheng and Yin Qi return to Xin Plains, they are held accountable by the Xin Plains Master.

Yin Qi and Shangguan Jing have to move out of the mansion after being demoted. The restaurant is forced to close, so Shangguan Jing has to sell her most valuable weapons. The two of them have to live in such straitened circumstances for the first time. Yin Qi is not concerned on the surface, but in fact, he knows it and feels very uncomfortable, not wanting Shangguan Jing to suffer with him.

Yin Zheng visits Yin Song when his mansion is being cleared out. They advise each other. When Yin Zheng leaves, someone brings in poisonous wine granted by Xin Plains Master. Yin Song loses all his hope and drinks it. Yin Zheng feels something is wrong.

The Women's Chamber of Commerce is shut down. So, Hao Jia dresses up like a man to sell homemade make-up and fragrances that she's good at. Her business is a hit and she can now make a living for herself. Zhao Fang Ru has decided to leave Yin Song too. She's going back to Dai Plains to inherit her family's mining business and start a new life. At the prison, Hao Jia and Zhao Fang Ru work together to make Yin Song sign the divorce paper.

Xin Plains Master wasn't willing to let Yin Zheng divorce Yuan Ying. However, Yin Zheng uses the jade pendant he finds when he saves Yin Song and exchanges it for Yuan Ying's freedom.

Li Wei, Yin Zheng, and Yuan Ying analyzed why Jin Plains Master was stubborn. Li Wei finally realized that Jin Plains Master was not a person who only considered his own interests. The reason for his objection is that he was worried that his daughter and wife would be lonely for the rest of their lives. After saying out her thoughts loud and courageously, Jin Plains Master pondered for a long time, but still refused to admit it.

Yin Qi found Shangguan Jing, who was trying to travel the world, and he followed her. Shangguan Jing discovered him long ago. She wishes to convince him to head back. Yin Qi says that he's the Living Map of the Nine Plains and wants to be Shangguan's guide.

Madam He has to leave the palace. So, she entrusts Eleventh Young Master to Yin Zheng and Li Wei. He wants bedtime stories at night and he's picky about his food. He even asks a lot of sensitive questions. Yin Zheng and Li Wei can't take care of him and send him to school to be taught by a tutor. However, the naughty young master causes huge trouble at school.

A cold surge hits the border between Xin and Cang Plains. Xin Plains Master sends Yin Zheng and Fourth Young Master for disaster relief as a test of their abilities. Fourth Young Master goes to the bigger town, Wuxiang, while Yin Zheng chooses to go to the more remote town, Canghe. The town is bitterly cold, and Yin Zheng physically researches and distributes relief supplies, but he neglects his own health and unfortunately catches a cold. Yet, he still holds on to help the local people solve their problems.

Yin Zheng's illness gets worse after being dragged on for a long time and he faints. Fourth Young Master returns to Xin Plains as if nothing has happened but he hides Yin Zheng's situation from Xin Plains Master.

Xin Plains Master fell sick due to over-exhaustion. As his condition worsens, he doesn't allow people to visit him. Yin Qi rushes back to Xin Plains after hearing the news. Yin Qi is heartbroken when he saw his father being tortured by sickness. He decides to stay and take care of him.

Yin Zheng and Li Wei arrive in Ji Plains. Li Wen Bi doesn't want his daughter to stay in Xin Plains and objects to the marriage. He gives Yin Zheng many trials.

Li Wei helps Madam He to manage the Inner Court. After discussing it with her sisters, she decides to revise the syllables of the Hall of Education. The teacher in charge isn't willing to accept the change. They express their stand that people shouldn't force one's will onto another.

It's the Mid-Autumn Festival again. Li Wei and the others are secretly planning for Yin Zheng's birthday to give him a surprise. Everyone pretends to forget Yin Zheng's birthday, and he's used to everyone forgetting his birthday. So, he doesn't bring it up. When everyone is having fun, Yin Zheng feels depressed that Li Wei is absent because of the restaurant. But Li Wei shows up with the longevity noodles that she personally makes as a surprise for him.