Recaps

Gu Wanning maintained her divorce from Xu Weibei despite his attempts to win her back and the Grand Princess’s efforts to arrange another marriage for him. She bought land and considered her future while her family debated a possible match between Xu Weibei and Gu Xiaoxiao.

• Gu Wanning visited Princess Qingyi with the concubines and learned that Qingyi had difficulty conceiving.
• The Grand Princess brought Xie Yun to Princess Qingyi’s residence and threw hot tea at Gu Wanning, but Qingyi shielded her.
• Gu Anwei defended Gu Wanning, and Xu Weibei told the Grand Princess that he wanted no one but Gu Wanning.
• Gu Wanning refused Xu Weibei’s offer to remarry and urged Third Concubine to consider leaving the Marquis’s Residence.
• Xu Weibei rejected a match with Xie Yun and attacked the Xie Residence’s gate.
• Gu Wanning bought land, and Zhi Nu decided to apply to the Imperial College.
• First Concubine promised to marry Qin Lie if he resigned, but he refused.
• Gu Anqi warned Gu Yuanshi against proposing Gu Xiaoxiao to Xu Weibei, while Gu Wanning decided she could support Xu Weibei as a friend but not as his wife.

Gu Xiaoxiao’s plot to drug Xu Weibei exposed a secret about his health and drove a wedge between him and Gu Wanning. As Gu Wanqing brought Gu Xiaoxiao to the Prince of Qin’s residence and Xu Weibei withdrew, Gu Wanning focused on her crops and shop while Xu Qiaoqiao reunited with Fang Tingxiu.

• Gu Anqi rejected Gu Yuanshi’s suggestion to marry Gu Xiaoxiao to the Marquis and made her choose between an older widower and returning to the countryside, so Gu Xiaoxiao accepted the match but began plotting against Gu Wanning.
• Xu Weibei visited Gu Wanning after working in the fields, and when he later drank wine at the Gu family home, he became flushed and ill after Gu Xiaoxiao brought him quail soup.
• Third Concubine identified the cause as an aphrodisiac, and Xu Weibei ordered Gu Xiaoxiao punished before Third Concubine explained that his unusual reaction pointed to a longstanding condition.
• Gu Xiaoxiao confessed that she had schemed to avoid marrying the widower by pursuing Xu Weibei, and Xu Weibei demanded that Gu Yuanshi send her away and move up her wedding.
• Gu Wanqing returned and offered to take Gu Xiaoxiao to the Prince of Qin’s residence, then told Gu Wanning that the Prince had threatened the Gu family and that she had shut him out after he forced himself on Yun’er.
• After learning that Jiaoniang’s paternity had been slandered, Xu Weibei disappeared after drinking and summoned Physician Bian, while Gu Wanning waited and continued sending him food as he withdrew from her.
• Gu Wanning and Xu Qiaoqiao opened their shop, and after Fang Tingxiu arrived, Xu Qiaoqiao took him aside and asked why he had not sent word after passing the examinations.

Xu Weibei’s illness and Linglong’s revelations sparked rumors that drew Gu Wanning back into his troubles, even as she insisted she would not rekindle their marriage. The concubines departed, Gu Wanning remained uncertain about Xu Weibei, and Gu Anqi began planning action against the Zheng Duke’s Residence.

• Fang Tingxiu and Xu Qiaoqiao reconciled after she explained why she had rejected him, while Xu Weibei struggled with jealousy over Gu Wanning’s closeness to Fang Tingxiu.
• Xu Weibei helped clear the Xue family’s name, while Linglong demanded recognition for herself and A Yi and threatened to expose his secrets.
• After Xu Weibei was poisoned, Gu Wanning discovered his condition came from a folk remedy and warned him that Linglong’s revelations could expose him to rumors.
• Gu Wanning defended Xu Weibei to the Grand Princess, and Xu Weibei publicly admitted that his condition had caused their divorce before carrying Gu Wanning home when she pretended to faint.
• Xu Weibei sent his concubines away, while Gu Wanning learned that Third Concubine suspected someone close to him had caused his condition.
• Xu Weibei refused to meet Gu Wanning or accept her food, and she resolved to give him space despite admitting she could not bear to leave him.
• Gu Anqi rejected a marriage proposal from the Zheng Duke’s Residence and later agreed with Gu Wanning to wait before taking action against the family.

Gu Wanning stood by Xu Weibei while he was imprisoned, despite pressure from the Grand Princess and her own family’s political caution. After Gu Yuanshi’s reforms helped expose the Zheng Duke’s Residence, Xu Weibei was released, but he insisted that being together required marriage.

• Gu Wanning learned Xu Weibei had dragged Zheng Jian into the city and found Zheng Jian bloodied at the Marquis’s Residence, then resolved to save Xu Weibei.
• Gu Wanning visited Xu Weibei in Dali Temple, confessed her love, urged him to live, and continued sending him meals as he wrote her daily letters.
• The Grand Princess confronted Gu Wanning and tried to stop her reconciliation with Xu Weibei, while Gu Wanning refused to accept her as a future mother-in-law without conditions.
• Gu Wanning overheard Gu Yuanshi explain that he could not openly support her because of his position and the emperor’s concerns, while Xu Weibei learned that Gu Yuanshi’s land survey had angered the Prince of Qin.
• Gu Wanqing gave Gu Wanning shop deeds for a dowry and asked her to help An-ge if needed, but Gu Wanning refused the gifts and urged her to keep them for her own security.
• Fang Tingxiu gave the emperor evidence that the Zheng Duke’s Residence had backed his rival, so the emperor exiled the household, reduced Xu Weibei’s punishment, and released him.
• The emperor told Gu Yuanshi he welcomed a marriage between Gu Wanning and Xu Weibei, and sent word for them to meet after Xu Weibei’s release.
• Xu Weibei joined Gu Wanning after villagers thanked her for the corn harvest, asked her not to let the Grand Princess divide them, and refused her proposal to stay together without marriage.