The Rise of Ning

Yining goes to the temple to offer a prayer. She is being assassinated by a man in black. Yining realizes that the person is Shenyuan. Lu Jiaxue arrives in time and they fight. Shenyuan's crossbow accidentally hurts Yining.

Yang Ling is imprisoned. Lu Jiaxue purposely lets Luo Shenyuan whip Yang Ling to test him and Luo Shenyuan hits him badly. Later, Lu Jiaxue brings Yining into the prison and lets her see how cruel Shenyuan is to make her give up on Shenyuan.

At the Flower Festival, the young ladies gather in the flower hall for the feast, but they suddenly begin to experience itching. Shen Jiarou accuses the floral essence Yining gave them as the cause.

Shenyuan finally confirms Yining's feelings for him and happily tells her he will propose to her.

Wei Ling finds a teacher for Yining, who happens to be Luo Shenyuan. Shen Yuan teaches Yining how to write, and both feel a bit uncomfortable.

Great Madam Wei hopes that Yining will close down Yanrong Pavilion and stop showing herself in public for the sake of status and rank. Yining is unwilling to do so, and Wei Ting ends up saying something hurtful. Wei Ling steps in to teach Wei Ting a lesson.

Shenyuan becomes the top scholar and is appointed Senior Judge of Supreme Court. Yining congratulates him, but Shenyuan feels that Yining has been avoiding him lately.

Yining thinks she can't make her own decision no matter where she goes and decides to move to Yanrong Pavilion. She is going to be independent and self-sufficient with her own abilities.

Madam Zheng finally shares the truth from all those years ago, and Yining is able to confirm her real identity. Shenyuan swears that no matter what happens in the future, he will always protect Yining.

In a desperate move, Shenyuan asks Luo Chengzhang to write a guarantee and boldly rushes to the magistrate's office to demand the release of Luo Yining. Lu Jiaxue takes the lead and forcibly carries away Luo Yining, leading to a confrontation among the three in the jail.

Lin Mao wants to elope with Yixiu, but Yining stops them. Yining brings forth a witness from the day of the incident and embarrasses Chen Lan in front of everyone. Despite this, Chen Lan remains firmly opposed to Lin Mao and Yixiu being together.

Yining talks about her history with Lu Jiaxue. Shen Yuan feels bad for Yining and embraces her impulsively.

Shenyuan wants to rescue Chen Daoyan, but Lu Jiaxue holds Chen Daoyan hostage and threatens Shenyuan to surrender.

When Lin Hairu hosts a banquet for Shenyuan, Lu Jiaxue arrives uninvited, ostensibly to offer his congratulations but actually to test the waters, hoping to persuade Luo Shenyuan to give up any hope of overturning the case.

Shenyuan does his best to fight the kidnappers. Thankfully, Shao An and the others appear in time to save them. Yining takes care of Shenyuan all day and cries. She prays Shenyuan can wake up soon.

The Emperor has issued a decree for Wang Yuan to reopen the case of Chen Daoyan, and Shenyuan has decided to enlist Duke Ying to counter Wang Yuan.

Shenyuan persuades Old Madam Luo to hand over the testimony from back then. After reading it, Shenyuan finally realizes that the mastermind behind it all is the influential court minister, Wang Yuan.

Lu Jiaxue points out Yining is Mei. Mei argues that Mei was her servant who was dead. Lu Jiaxue cannot accept the fact that Mei is dead.

Yixiu secretly comes to visit Lin Mao, but is spotted by Lin Hairu. To keep his elder sister from worrying, Lin Mao pretends he has no interest in Yixiu and even says some harsh things, which Yixiu happens to overhear.

During the family banquet, Old Madam Luo formally announces Shenyuan's inclusion in the family registry, making him rightfully and officially a legitimate son of the Luo family, recorded under Lin Hairu's name.

Yining asks Madam Zheng about her mother's death, and Madam Zheng tells her about Gu Minglan's situation before her death. She mentions that her father had a great fight with Gu Minglan before she passed away. Yining becomes suspicious of the tea leaves.

During the Literary Competition Feast, Yining rushes to the stage to play 'Unarmored Conqueror' with Yi Yu to save the situation. Hearing the familiar melody, Lu Jiaxue rushes forward to ask Yining why she chose this song.

Lu Jiaxue arrives at Luo Residence to search for a wanted criminal. Shenyuan stands up against him but is pulled aside and flogged. Yining overcomes her fears and steps forward to intervene.

Shenyuan is accompanying Hairu and Yining to the country estate when they unexpectedly encounter a landslide. The carriage ropes tangle around Shenyuan's leg, nearly pulling him off the cliff.

Yining found out that there was something wrong with the tonic that her mother drank. So, she questions the physician who treated her. However, she can't find any further clues.

Yining suffers from a high fever and the physician's treatments don't work for her. Shenyuan recalls Physician Du's advice and begs Old Madam to let him try.

Yining is knocked unconscious. When she wakes, she finds the performer Lian Qing trying to take advantage of her. He even claims the sash as their love token. Yining tries to run from him.

Yining is afraid that Cheng Lang is sent by Lu Jiaxue to probe her and quickly burns the papercutting she made. Meanwhile, Cheng Lang goes to attend a lesson at Tingfeng Court to learn the status of every young master in Luo Residence.

Yining throws a birthday party for Shenyuan, inviting only Yixiu and Lin Mao. Shenyuan feels touched, and the four of them drink and play games together happily.

In the cave, Yining carefully helps Shenyuan with his bandages, and the two have a heartfelt conversation. Although Shenyuan doesn't explicitly say what he is up to, he promises Yining that he will never harm the Luo family or hurt her.

Yining is kidnapped by Fifth Master Qiao and his men in a small forest. At the same time, Li Yinglong is meeting with Lu Jiaxue in the same forest. Qi An leads his men to rescue Li Yinglong, while Shen Yuan fights Lu Jiaxue one-on-one.

Chengzhang is furious when he finds out that Yining has given his grandfather's paintings to Shenyuan. He instructs Butler Bai to retrieve it. Shenyuan, not wanting to trouble Yining any further, tells Shao An to cut off contact with anyone from Haitang House.

Shenyuan and Shao An catch Ying sneaking into Haitang House and adding some powder to Yining's incense burner. Later, Shenyuan returns the sachet of powder to Haitang House, where Yining sees his silhouette. This makes Yining start to suspect his Third Brother.

Yining gathers everyone at Muxi Hall to interrogate Yue and Madam Lv. She reveals that it was Madam Qiao who ordered Madam Lv to bring up the topic, ultimately forcing Madam Qiao to give up her authority to manage the household.

Yining brings Qing Qu to take a look at Shenyuan's scar and use acupuncture to see if his hand has recovered. Qing Qu finds something strange about the exploded fireworks and it is related to Madam Qiao's Bilian Court.

The legitimate seventh daughter of the Luo family, Luo Yining, has been raised in a villa since childhood. For Old Madam Luo's 60th birthday, she requests Yining to return to Luo Residence to attend the celebration. However, almost no one in the family welcomes her return. Later, someone tries to frame Luo Yining by using faulty fireworks, but Luo Shenyuan from the Luo family happens to witness the incident.