The Chinese term people use when they want to pay respects or prostrate towards someone in order to form a master-disciple relationship is “拜師” (bài shī), which is a respectful term that literally means bow to the master. I wasn’t sure of the best…

In this section, we find out some more of the little snake demon and the dragon deity’s backstory. Shao Zi reacts hilariously at first, but goes into panic mode upon hearing the rest of the story. The scholar…reveals a rare flash of sensibility.

As we know by now, Yi Mei Tong Qian loves being cheeky with her writing. Here’s another bit of information about peonies that’s relevant in this chapter: The 藥 (yào) in 芍藥 (sháo yào), the Chinese word for peony, also means “medicine.” Eastern medicine…

The last two sections were a bit of an interlude, but now we finally begin getting into the meat of this arc. Some information relevant to this section: Shao Zi has been referring to the “expert” as 高人 (gao ren), which refers to a…

It was mentioned in a past footnote, but here’s some information that becomes relevant again this chapter: Peony in Chinese is 芍藥 (sháo yào) while Shao Zi’s name, which means spoon, is spelled 勺子 (sháo zi). The two “shao” are different characters but share…

Another day, another set of problems for Shao Zi. Let’s hope she gets through this one in one piece.