In the thirtieth episode of the 30-part series, a summer birthday feast at the British Duke’s mansion turns into a public test for A Chou (阿丑). Once mocked as a night-soil woman, she now stands beside Lu Zhuo (陆濯) as the young madam. Heat presses on the guests; lotus scent drifts through the courtyard. A Chou’s calm answer is not a speech but a set of clever arrangements.
The feast should be a place of polite toasts and quiet rivalry. For her, it becomes a stage where every smile hides a trap. The real question is not whether she can impress the old nobles. It is who taught a woman from a mixed courtyard to read a room, answer an insult, and keep her footing. That answer waits in a humble alley, not in a noble hall.
Feast-Day Counterstrike
Xie Hualou (谢画楼) wants Lu Zhuo’s attention, and she cannot bear A Chou’s glow. She complains to him; he refuses the slight against his wife. His answer is blunt, and her visit gains nothing. Huo Jue (霍玦), Wei Rao’s (魏娆) cousin, tries a colder plan. With so many guests present, he hopes to swap Wei Rao back into the young madam’s seat and push A Chou aside. A Chou sees the scheme before it lands. Faced with his threat, she does not retreat. She asks why she should lose her place because someone else has changed her mind. Her refusal is simple: she has already survived worse.
Han Liao (韩辽) arrives next with a birthday gift and a sharper weapon: gossip. He and Lu Zhuo clash in court, so he digs into A Chou’s past. He finds Liu Po (刘婆), a former neighbor, and brings her to the feast. His aim is public shame. If Liu Po names the young madam as a night-soil woman, the noble guests will do the rest. But Liu Po looks at A Chou and says only that their figures are somewhat alike. She denies knowing her. Han Liao’s trap collapses. A Chou does not merely escape; she turns on him with a tongue sharp enough to strip paint. He leaves with his plan in pieces.
The feast also shows A Chou’s practical skill. She and Lu Zhuo prepare seven-wheel fans that cool the hall and carry lotus scent. Then comes a Changman lantern (常满灯), lit for the British Duke’s wife with a wish for long life and peace. The gift is new, the wording fits the occasion, and the hostess smiles. A Chou even performs a Nuo (傩) dance, surprising the room. Guests praise Lu Zhuo’s good fortune and his mother’s good judgment. A Chou holds her seat through effort, not luck. That is exactly why her enemies find her so irritating.
Liu Po’s Lessons
Liu Po’s denial is no accident. She and A Chou had agreed on it beforehand. The older woman once led a pleasure house, then illness and poverty pushed her into a crowded alley. There she lived near A Chou. She taught the girl characters, songs, and the courage to perform a Nuo (傩) dance. After the feast, A Chou sends Liu Po a sack of millet. Hidden inside are broken gold pieces. The gift says more than thanks. It honors the first sentence Liu Po taught her to write: do not forget old friends when fortune comes.
A Chou’s education did not come from one elegant tutor. A fallen scholar taught her lines; a woman from the pleasure house taught her music; a spendthrift who lost his family money taught her how people reveal themselves. None of them would impress a noble genealogy. Yet each gave her a useful piece of survival. They taught her to read moods, hold a tune, write a sentence, and stand straight when someone tries to shrink her. When she entered the duke’s house, she brought more than a face that looked like Wei Rao’s. She carried their lessons and the nerve she had earned in the alley.
Han Liao tries to use that alley as a stain. It is actually her foundation. A Chou believes courage clears the road for clear speech; if she does not shrink first, she can say what must be said. Liu Po understands this better than any noble guest. The millet and gold are a private thank-you, but they also seal a pact between two women who know how quickly fortune turns. The feast ends with A Chou still seated, Han Liao smarting, Huo Jue blocked, and Xie Hualou ignored. The real win is quieter: a woman from a mixed courtyard has learned to turn her past into armor, not shame.
