His Fierce Little Princess

A young child collapses outside a house, weakly repeating that she is dying. The people inside coldly tell her the house is not hers and order her to die elsewhere. She eventually loses consciousness and slumps to the ground.

The Jiang family discusses marrying Jiang Li off to Third Young Master Zhao for business gain. Jiang Li storms in and exposes how she was locked up and denied food and water. She denounces her father Jiang Cheng and grandfather as unfit parents, then demands to choose a different father.

Jiang Li denounces Jiang Cheng and his wife as unfit parents and refuses the Zhao marriage. Impressed by her wit, Old Master Jiang offers to take her in and asks whom she wants as her father. Jiang Li points toward the back of the crowd.

Jiang Li points at Jiang Xun, shocking everyone. Jiang Cheng mocks Jiang Xun as a worthless playboy, but Jiang Xun claims her as his daughter and vows never to sell her off. Later, he asks why she chose him.

Jiang Li kowtows to Jiang Xun, who is moved to spoil her with new clothes and a princess room, vowing to back her no matter what. Sensing the Jiang family's power structure, she resolves to win Old Master Jiang's favor and seize the business empire. After learning from Li Shen that Jiang Xun is obsessed with crocodile fighting, she hatches a plan.

Jiang Li cries and claims she misses home. When Jiang Xun tries to comfort her, she says his sports cars, crocodiles, bar, and mahjong matter more than she does, and that Jiang Yue’er called her unloved. Jiang Xun immediately orders Li Shen to sell the cars and bar, throw out the mahjong, and slaughter the crocodile to cook for her.

Jiang Xun slaughters his beloved crocodile and enjoys the meal with Jiang Li. When Li Shen relays that Old Master Jiang wants to see Jiang Li, Jiang Xun makes him wait and insists on finishing the crocodile first. They eventually head to the old house, where the old master has grown impatient.

Jiang Li apologizes for being late, explaining that Jiang Xun slaughtered his beloved crocodile for her. The stunned Old Master Jiang tastes the meat and finds it delicious. He then calls Jiang Li over, assigns her a task, and promises a great reward if she succeeds.

Old Master Jiang assigns Jiang Li a task: make Jiang Xun presentable before the birthday banquet, and she will receive Cloud Sparrow Manor. Jiang Xun refuses at first but soon begins posture training under Jiang Li. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng and his wife plan for Jiang Yue'er to perform a princess's incomplete score at the banquet to outshine Jiang Li.

Jiang Xun shows off his new formal look to Jiang Li, who decides he still needs a bit more work. As the banquet is about to start, guests gossip about his absence and mock the idea of him practicing etiquette.

Jiang Xun and Jiang Li offer birthday wishes to Old Master Jiang, who rewards Jiang Li with the ten-billion-yuan Cloud Sparrow Manor for reforming her father. The guests are stunned and begin to reassess the father and daughter's standing in the family. Ye Yafang urges Jiang Yue'er to steal the spotlight during the gift presentation.

Jiang Yue'er performs a fragment of the lost melody Cloud Beyond Clear Tones and wins praise, but Jiang Li privately scoffs at her poor playing. When Jiang Yue'er pointedly asks what gift Jiang Li has brought, Jiang Li calmly announces that her present is the complete score of that very piece.

Jiang Li insists she can play the complete Cloud Beyond Clear Tones. Jiang Yue'er mocks her and vows to do a thirteen-jin handstand if she succeeds. Jiang Li then performs the piece before Master Sun, stunning everyone and leaving Jiang Yue'er in disbelief.

Master Sun explains that the true Cloud Beyond Clear Tones makes water ripple, and the wine in his cup indeed trembles as Jiang Li plays. Jiang Yue'er refuses to accept it, questioning Jiang Li's background, so Master Sun verifies the piece again on the spot.

Master Sun asks Jiang Li to transcribe Cloud Beyond Clear Tones for the nation, and she agrees at once, earning his high praise. Delighted, Old Master Jiang rewards her with ten percent of Jiang Group shares and takes her to meet other music masters. Jiang Li then reminds Jiang Yue'er to honor her handstand wager.

A woman suddenly appears and clings to Jiang Xun, begging him not to make her terminate the pregnancy while bringing up an incident from nine years ago. Jiang Xun flatly denies knowing her as the confrontation spirals into chaos. The woman then collapses with bleeding, escalating the crisis.

The birthday banquet is cut short, and Old Master Jiang summons Jiang Xun for a furious reprimand. Jiang Xun insists he does not know the woman who collapsed, but the old master accuses him of cowardice and orders him to kneel before his late mother's memorial tablet. Jiang Li voices her belief in her father's innocence, only to be silenced by Ye Yafang.

Jiang Li confronts Ye Yafang at the banquet, questioning why she insists on Jiang Xun's guilt and pointing out that Jiang Cheng personally handling the public relations crisis is suspicious. She reveals she has already sent Li Shen to collect evidence for a paternity test, then volunteers to join her father in the ancestral hall.

Jiang Li stays with Jiang Xun in the ancestral hall. He praises her cleverness for suggesting the paternity test, which infuriated Ye Yafang. Jiang Li says she believes in his kindness, and Jiang Xun admits that in nine years, only she has trusted him, calling Old Master Jiang a muddled old man who cannot tell right from wrong.

Jiang Li presses Jiang Xun about the past, and he admits that nine years ago, Jiang Cheng framed him with poison, a woman, and a staged paternity test at a banquet. Jiang Li notes the identical pattern, and Jiang Xun suspects Jiang Cheng is behind today's scheme, driven by his ambition to seize the Jiang Group.

The investigation finds the troublemaker has no tie to Jiang Xun, but the media in both scandals were arranged by Jiang Cheng, with seventy percent of the reporters overlapping. Old Master Jiang summons Jiang Cheng, then has him dragged into the courtyard and whipped. Ye Yafang tries to intervene and only earns him ten more lashes.

Ye Yafang blames Jiang Cheng for his recklessness, which has left Jiang Li and Jiang Xun holding twenty percent of the shares, second only to Jiang Cheng. Convinced Jiang Li is the true asset, she orders Jiang Cheng to win her back with gifts and sweet talk, aiming to consolidate their control and keep Jiang Xun in check.

Old Master Jiang offers to enroll Tangtang in the best international school, and Jiang Xun seizes the chance to demand the top class. After everyone leaves, Jiang Li returns alone and tells her grandfather she has something to ask him.

Jiang Li asks Old Master Jiang about his true feelings for Jiang Xun. He admits Jiang Xun is his first child and he has always cared deeply, but their bond broke after he remarried. Jiang Li comforts him and cryptically promises she has a way to change her father, asking for his cooperation.

Jiang Li returns from her new school and Jiang Xun anxiously asks how she is settling in. She says it went well but admits she has a few homework problems she cannot solve and sweetly asks him to teach her. Jiang Xun agrees confidently, only to freeze when he sees the questions.

Jiang Xun struggles through Jiang Li's second-grade homework, giving absurd answers to simple fill-in-the-blank questions. Before Jiang Li can react, a woman claiming to be her mother barges in uninvited, saying she missed her daughter on her first day of school and has brought gifts.

The woman claiming to be Jiang Li's mother offers clothes and accessories, then says she and her husband can tutor Jiang Li. Jiang Li refuses the gifts, insisting her father can buy her anything and teach her too. Jiang Xun backs her up, and Jiang Li has Li Shen see the visitors out and take the gifts with them.

After being turned away, Jiang Yue'er and her mother complain to Jiang Cheng that Jiang Li only cares about Jiang Xun. Jiang Cheng tells his wife to keep an eye on Jiang Xun so he won't ruin the upcoming executive president selection. Meanwhile, Jiang Xun helps Jiang Li with idiom exercises, secretly using his phone to look up answers, and she then asks him about appraising jadeite transparency.

Jiang Li presses Jiang Xun on jadeite appraisal. He excuses himself to cut an apple, then struggles with the material alone. Li Shen reminds him that Old Master Jiang is an expert, so Jiang Xun reluctantly calls his father to ask about transparency grading, blurting out that his daughter will be taken away if he doesn't get an answer.

Jiang Li listens to Jiang Xun explain jadeite transparency, then immediately asks about sunk costs. He dodges by offering to cut watermelon. When she follows up with financial management, he escapes again to wash grapes. Old Master Jiang notices Jiang Xun's unusual string of questions and decides to visit him in person.

Jiang Xun explains the bullwhip effect to Jiang Li, then dodges her follow-up questions by claiming a stomachache. Old Master Jiang, listening outside, realizes his son is merely parroting lessons to impress the child and decides to teach him personally.

Old Master Jiang personally teaches Jiang Xun about jade, but Jiang Xun struggles to keep up. The two argue over teaching methods, and Jiang Xun storms off, refusing to continue. Li Shen tells Jiang Li that the young master was beaten and scolded as a child and has refused to study ever since, then begs Jiang Li to intervene.

Old Master Jiang offers to find Jiang Li a tall, handsome professional tutor, and she eagerly agrees, insisting on the most handsome and professional one. Jiang Xun overhears and feels jealous. After school, he tries to teach her himself, but Jiang Li declines, saying she will just learn from the new tutor. Li Shen is confused, but Jiang Li explains she is using reverse psychology to cure her father's stubbornness.

Jiang Xun plans to go out and enjoy himself, but Jiang Li's enthusiasm for the new tutor leaves him unsettled. Li Shen points out that a teacher is like half a father, making Jiang Xun fear he is losing his standing as her adoptive father.

Fearing the new tutor will replace him in Jiang Li's eyes, Jiang Xun rushes to Old Master Jiang. He pleads with his father to stop the tutor and suggests a relay teaching plan, but the old master refuses outright.

Jiang Xun begs Old Master Jiang to stop hiring a tutor for Jiang Li. The old master instead proposes a contest: Jiang Xun and Jiang Cheng must each submit a proposal for the Aurora Dynasty jewelry project. Whoever wins the project gets custody of Jiang Li. Jiang Cheng is confident, and Jiang Xun has no choice but to accept.

Jiang Cheng taunts Jiang Xun, claiming Jiang Li herself proposed replacing her useless father. Jiang Xun takes it to heart and begins to doubt himself, convinced his clever daughter has long looked down on him. When Jiang Li appears, Jiang Xun asks if she knows about the custody decision, and she says she does.

Jiang Li assures Jiang Xun she never considered returning to Jiang Cheng. She insists he is far more capable than his brother and urges him to seize the opportunity. Jiang Xun takes the project proposal from Old Master Jiang and realizes its requirements are not as difficult as he feared.

Jiang Li admits to Old Master Jiang that she scripted the earlier act to restore Jiang Xun's confidence. The old master laments his unreliable children but praises Jiang Li as the family's rare promising sprout. Jiang Li then asks him for one more favor.

Jiang Li asks Old Master Jiang for one more favor, and he worries about showing too much favoritism. She points out that Second Uncle has planted a spy by his side, so the old master relents and reveals that only Master Sun has the elusive museum director's contact.

Jiang Li urges Jiang Xun to move the project forward, but he realizes they need museum authorization and doesn't know how to reach the director. Jiang Li tells him to ask Master Sun, so Jiang Xun brings in his friend, Master Sun's grandson, who reveals the old man is obsessed with stone gambling and is about to buy a jade said to be Princess Lila's favorite.

Master Sun listens as a seller boasts about a jade supposedly beloved by Princess Lila, claiming it resonates with music. The seller asks five million, and Master Sun agrees to buy. Jiang Li arrives and bluntly declares the stone is a fake.

Jiang Li proves the so-called antique jade is a fake with a waxed cement skin that sheds powder and repels water. Master Sun confirms the forgery, and a hidden Bluetooth speaker is discovered inside. Jiang Xun's friends are stunned by his insight, while he silently credits his daughter's grueling training.

Jiang Li and Jiang Xun visit Master Sun to deliver a music score and ask for an introduction to the National Museum director. Jiang Cheng bursts in with a team of experts, offering them as leverage to secure the introduction first. Master Sun states that coming to him for the director is useless.

Master Sun reveals that the museum director is eccentric, seeing only one person a month on his own terms. Jiang Yue'er begs Master Sun for an introduction, convinced that securing a meeting will win back her father Jiang Cheng's affection. Jiang Li and Jiang Xun watch from the sidelines, noting that Yue'er's efforts are really about helping her father steal the project.

Jiang Yue'er boasts that her father Jiang Cheng accompanied her to meet the museum director, mocking Jiang Li for being alone. She threatens to throw Jiang Li and Jiang Xun out once her father inherits the family business, then feigns an apology and demands Jiang Li kneel. Jiang Li coldly retorts that she is unworthy.

After Jiang Li hits her, Jiang Yue'er threatens to tell her parents. Jiang Li exposes that she is merely an adopted daughter and her parents have little love for her. In a panic, Jiang Yue'er blurts out that Jiang Li is Jiang Xun's biological daughter, and Jiang Li forces her to explain.