
Serena read her fortune on day one—and decided doing nothing was the winning move. She sleeps, eats, and stays far away from palace drama. Then one missing cat turns her quiet life into everyone’s problem.

The episode opens with the Empress, frustrated by her lingering illness, venting her anger on the imperial physician. Her rival, Noble Consort Liu, arrives ostensibly to "visit" but actually to flaunt her superiority and provoke the Empress. To escape her predicament, the Empress dispatches her trusted attendant, Nanny Qiu, to seek help from Talent Su Xing, who lives near the Cold Palace and is known for her fortune-telling abilities. Su Xing desires nothing more than a "slacker" life, but casually reveals that the Empress's illness is caused by a jade piece carved with a lotus flower hidden beneath her pillow. The next day, the Empress recovers and sends Nanny Qiu with generous rewards. Faced with a lavish feast and gifts, Su Xing realizes she has drawn too much attention and worries she can no longer maintain her low-profile lifestyle.

This episode tells how Concubine Su (Su Xing), who was rewarded for helping the Empress, was met with jealousy from Consort Liu. In the imperial garden, Consort Liu publicly challenged Su Xing on the topic of predicting offspring, intending to frame her. With her keen observation skills, Su Xing cleverly pointed out that the face powder used by Consort Liu contained musk red saffron powder, which causes infertility, thus successfully resolving the crisis. However, Consort Liu, enraged and humiliated, did not give up. That night, she sent people to forcibly abduct Su Xing under the pretext of "poisoning," foreshadowing the arrival of a new wave of danger.

The episode opens with the low-ranking concubine Su Xing accused of poisoning by Noble Consort Liu, facing a death sentence. With witnesses and evidence seemingly against her, Su Xing, using her expertise in pharmacology, calmly refutes the accusation. She points out that Noble Consort Liu's discomfort is actually caused by the interaction between her own perfume and ginseng tea, not poisoning. Exposed, Noble Consort Liu is furious. The next day, Su Xing wakes up unharmed to learn that Noble Consort Liu has feigned illness and sealed her palace, while Su Xing receives a reward from the Empress. Facing palace intrigue, Su Xing declares her desire to "lie flat" and remain a passive observer, uninterested in the power struggles.

This episode tells how Consort Liu, jealous of the Empress and Concubine Su (Su Xing) being favored, plots to frame Su Xing. She instigates palace maids and instructs the eunuch Xiao Tingzi to give false testimony, accusing Su Xing of practicing witchcraft to harm the Second Prince. Su Xing, who has been in a "lying flat" state and is unprepared for palace intrigue, is suddenly arrested. In the great hall, she is trapped by irrefutable evidence and witnesses, facing accusations of a capital crime and finding herself in a desperate situation.

Su Xing is framed by a eunuch for using a wooden effigy to curse the Second Prince, facing execution by the Emperor. With her meticulous logic and memory, she first points out the error in the birthdate on the evidence, then provides a perfect alibi, dismantling the eunuch's accusations one by one. After the eunuch is sentenced to be beaten to death, he desperately seeks help from Concubine Liu, revealing her as the mastermind behind the plot, and Su Xing begins to perceive the true conspiracy.

Su Xing designs a trap for Consort Liu, leading to her house arrest. The Empress is also reprimanded by the Emperor for her poor supervision. The Emperor becomes intensely curious and suspicious of Su Xing's seemingly supernatural foresight and boldness. He orders her to be moved to a side hall of his own chambers for close observation. After half a month of observation, the Emperor finally confronts Su Xing, demanding she divine the fate of his empire as a test of her true abilities and intentions.

The episode opens with Su Xing, a talented diviner, playfully refusing the Emperor's request to divine the nation's fortune, citing it would shorten her lifespan. She boldly demands a thousand taels of gold as her consultation fee. Intrigued by her audacity and unique personality, the Emperor, though slightly displeased, orders her confined to a side hall of his Qiankun Palace. Su Xing, unfazed, happily indulges in the delicacies from the imperial kitchens, embracing a "slacker wins" life philosophy. However, this singular "favor" stirs up ripples in the harem, attracting gossip and jealousy. Ultimately, in the imperial court, a group of officials led by the Grand Tutor collectively petitions the Emperor, citing it as "improper conduct," and requests Su Xing be moved out of Qiankun Palace, bringing the conflict into the open.

To eliminate rivals, Consort Liu instructs her maid to contact Prime Minister Sun. Together, they stir up trouble in court, rallying officials to force the Emperor to move the beloved Talent Su (Su Xing) out of Qiankun Palace. The Emperor is furious. While he appears to favor Su Xing, he secretly wants to keep her close to monitor her special abilities. Just as the confrontation escalates, an urgent report arrives about a severe drought in the southern territories, breaking the stalemate. Meanwhile, rumors spread among the populace, blaming Su Xing for the natural disaster, labeling her a "demonic consort bringing ruin to the nation." Her maid, Chun Tao, is deeply worried, but Su Xing remains unfazed. She calmly reveals the true nature of the disaster and issues a biting critique of imperial power.

The Southern territories are suffering from a severe drought. A group of officials, led by Prime Minister Sun, use this natural disaster to attack the Emperor, targeting Consort Su, whom the Emperor favors, and forcing him to write a decree of self-condemnation. Meanwhile, the Empress reveals to her confidante that these rumors are all part of her scheme to force the Emperor's hand and assert her own status. However, on the fifteenth night, when the Empress fully expects the Emperor to seek solace in her palace, he instead goes to Consort Su's chambers. This completely thwarts the Empress's plan, leaving her in shock and humiliation.

A severe drought plagues the land, with courtiers blaming the Emperor for the calamity, causing him great distress. His concubine, Su Xing, eases his worries by stating, "A natural disaster is just a natural disaster," and cleverly uses the analogy of "digging a pit to pour foul water" to subtly suggest that the drought in the southern territories might be man-made. The Emperor understands her implication and immediately dispatches people to secretly investigate the south. He eventually receives an urgent secret report, confirming Su Xing's suspicions. Enraged, he uncovers the hidden conspiracy behind the disaster.