diff --git a/backend/src/server.js b/backend/src/server.js
index 5395ff7..4ac3fa7 100644
--- a/backend/src/server.js
+++ b/backend/src/server.js
@@ -421,16 +421,22 @@ const EMBED_INJECT = `
 </script>
 `;
 
-function _renderEmbed(filePath, slug) {
+// Always injected (plain + embed): deep-link helper so /textbook/<slug>#sec-pN
+// actually opens § N. Without it the page ignores the hash and shows §1.
+const DEEPLINK_INJECT = `\n<script defer src="/js/textbook-deeplink.js"></script>\n`;
+
+function _renderTextbook(filePath, slug, embed) {
   let stat; try { stat = fs.statSync(filePath); } catch { return null; }
-  const cached = _embedCache.get(filePath);
+  const cacheKey = `${filePath}|${embed ? 'e' : 'p'}`;
+  const cached = _embedCache.get(cacheKey);
   if (cached && cached.mtime === stat.mtimeMs && cached.slug === slug) return cached.html;
   let html;
   try { html = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf8'); } catch { return null; }
-  const inject = EMBED_INJECT.replace('__LS_SLUG__', JSON.stringify(slug));
+  let inject = DEEPLINK_INJECT;
+  if (embed) inject += EMBED_INJECT.replace('__LS_SLUG__', JSON.stringify(slug));
   if (html.includes('</head>')) html = html.replace('</head>', inject + '</head>');
   else html = inject + html;
-  _embedCache.set(filePath, { mtime: stat.mtimeMs, slug, html });
+  _embedCache.set(cacheKey, { mtime: stat.mtimeMs, slug, html });
   return html;
 }
 
@@ -443,13 +449,10 @@ app.get('/textbook/:slug', (req, res, next) => {
   res.setHeader('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate');
   res.setHeader('Pragma', 'no-cache');
   res.setHeader('Expires', '0');
-  if (req.query.embed === '1') {
-    const html = _renderEmbed(filePath, req.params.slug);
-    if (html == null) return next();
-    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
-    return res.send(html);
-  }
-  res.sendFile(filePath, err => { if (err) next(); });
+  const html = _renderTextbook(filePath, req.params.slug, req.query.embed === '1');
+  if (html == null) return next();
+  res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
+  return res.send(html);
 });
 
 // Catalog: /textbooks → frontend/textbooks.html (explicit to avoid conflict with /textbooks/ directory)
diff --git a/frontend/js/textbook-deeplink.js b/frontend/js/textbook-deeplink.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d702290
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/js/textbook-deeplink.js
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/* textbook-deeplink.js
+   Injected by the server into every /textbook/<slug> page.
+
+   Makes deep links like  /textbook/<slug>#sec-p13  (and #p13) actually open § 13.
+   The static algebra/geometry pages ignore location.hash in their own init()
+   (they always show §1), and textbook-tracker.js only matches the bare "#pN"
+   form via .para-pill — so exam-prep's "#sec-pN" links never navigated.
+
+   This helper is page-agnostic: it activates the target section by clicking the
+   matching paragraph card/pill, which works on both the static pages
+   (.psel-card[data-id]) and the math6-engine pages (.psel-card / .para-pill),
+   falling back to goTo()/scrollIntoView. Idempotent; safe alongside
+   textbook-tracker.js (a repeated activation of the same § is a no-op). */
+(function () {
+  'use strict';
+
+  // "#sec-p13" | "#p13" -> "p13"  (null if not a paragraph anchor)
+  function targetId() {
+    var h = (location.hash || '').replace(/^#/, '');
+    if (!h) return null;
+    var m = h.match(/^sec-(p\d+)$/) || h.match(/^(p\d+)$/);
+    return m ? m[1] : null;
+  }
+
+  function go() {
+    var id = targetId();
+    if (!id) return;
+    var card = document.querySelector('.psel-card[data-id="' + id + '"]');
+    if (card) { card.click(); return; }
+    var pill = document.querySelector('.para-pill[data-para="' + id + '"]');
+    if (pill) { pill.click(); return; }
+    if (typeof window.goTo === 'function') { try { window.goTo(id); return; } catch (e) {} }
+    var el = document.getElementById('sec-' + id) || document.getElementById(id);
+    if (el && el.scrollIntoView) el.scrollIntoView({ behavior: 'smooth', block: 'start' });
+  }
+
+  // The page's own init builds the cards/sections on DOMContentLoaded; run after
+  // it (microtask + a slower pass for engine-rendered math5/6 pages).
+  function boot() {
+    setTimeout(go, 60);
+    setTimeout(go, 350);
+  }
+
+  if (document.readyState === 'loading') {
+    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', boot);
+  } else {
+    boot();
+  }
+  window.addEventListener('hashchange', go);
+})();