Recaps

Su Qiao navigated the princes’ schemes and rescued Xi Hanzhou after he was drugged and framed. She uncovered that Eunuch Yu had secretly been dosing him for years, and Xi Hanzhou agreed to obtain rare herbs while concealing the extent of his illness.

• Zuota sought permission to marry Su Qiao to Gulun, but Xi Hanzhou declared he would not let her marry beyond the frontier, and the Emperor rejected the proposals.
• Imperial Noble Consort Yun announced Su Qiao as Xi Hanzhou’s future Secondary Consort, while Batie offered increased warhorse tribute and Xi Hanzhou insisted Su Qiao would stay.
• Su Qiao kissed Xi Hanzhou after he accused her of trying to seduce him, then gave him a Scented Pouch that eased his headache and calmed him.
• Imperial Noble Consort Yun urged Xi Muyan to marry Su Qiao to build support against Xi Hanzhou, while Prime Minister Su urged Su Qiao to accept marriage to Xi Muyan as a secondary consort.
• Su Qiao confronted Prime Minister Su over his indulgence of Su Yuxin and warned that the family’s conduct could damage his political standing.
• Su Qiao went hunting, then rushed into the woods after 444 reported that Xi Hanzhou had been separated from his guards and was near Consort Shu.
• Su Qiao knocked out Consort Shu, treated the drugged Xi Hanzhou, and secretly brought him back to camp, where she helped him regain consciousness.
• Su Qiao identified a medicinal scent on Eunuch Yu and accused him of secretly drugging Xi Hanzhou for ten years, but Eunuch Yu died by biting through his tongue.
• Su Qiao explained that the drug could cause fatal bleeding in Xi Hanzhou’s brain, and Xi Hanzhou agreed to obtain rare herbs while pretending his illness was severe and reporting the attack to the Emperor.

Su Qiao treated Xi Hanzhou after his poisoning, and the two agreed to marry under her conditions while keeping their relationship secret. Back in the capital, Xi Hanzhou defended her against the Su household, Su Yuxin was sent away, and Su Qiao began investigating a concubine as she teased Xi Hanzhou about the Emperor’s gifts.

• Xi Hanzhou learned Consort Shu had been ambushed, then smelled Su Qiao’s scented pouch and fell asleep as memories of his past life returned.
• Su Qiao’s father warned her to keep away from Xi Hanzhou, while Su Yuxin insulted the Crown Prince and was ordered to remain confined.
• Gu Jincheng introduced himself to Su Qiao as her uncle, apologized for her family’s neglect, and warned her about the Princes and the Emperor.
• After learning Xi Hanzhou had been poisoned, the Emperor questioned Su Qiao about her medical knowledge and ordered her to care for the Crown Prince on the journey back.
• Xi Hanzhou told Su Qiao he wanted to marry her, and she gave him a contract setting rules for their marriage, which he sealed.
• Su Qiao studied Xi Hanzhou’s condition and completed a Medical Book, while she and Xi Hanzhou agreed to keep their relationship and commitment secret until he could protect her.
• Xi Hanzhou confronted Su Yuxin at the Su estate, threatened the household, and defended Su Qiao before presenting her with gifts and asking her to return to the palace.
• Prime Minister Su sent Su Yuxin to Guanyin Temple and planned to arrange her marriage, while Madam Su secretly wrote to the Fourth Prince’s residence and Su Qiao asked 444 to investigate a concubine.
• Su Qiao asked Xi Hanzhou about the beauties sent by the Emperor and joked about keeping handsome men, making him jealous.

Su Qiao treated Xi Hanzhou, built a reputation through her popular stories, and won the Emperor’s favor while uncovering danger around Xi Hanzhou and the Emperor. The Emperor ordered Su Qiao’s mother’s dowry returned and arranged Su Yuxin’s marriage as the Fourth Prince’s Secondary Consort, leaving Madam Su questioning Su Qiao’s supposed leg injury.

• Su Qiao refined her prescription, treated Xi Hanzhou, and helped ease his illness while the Emperor secretly named her a County Princess.
• Aunt Qiu won Prime Minister Su’s favor and became Noble Concubine, while Su Yuxin returned to the residence and prepared for the Fourth Prince.
• Su Qiao’s stories and plays became popular, and she secretly investigated Gu Qirou and Su Yunhe while Xi Hanzhou arranged for her work to be published.
• Xi Muyan promised Su Qiao he would marry her after the new year, then promised Su Yuxin he would marry only her after she confronted him about his marriage arrangements.
• The Emperor questioned Su Qiao about her books, ordered the return of her mother’s dowry, and grew kinder to her after hearing about her childhood.
• Su Qiao discovered that Xi Hanzhou’s poison might have shortened his life, and she and Xi Hanzhou suspected the Emperor had also been poisoned.
• The Emperor appointed Grand Tutor Jiang’s granddaughter as the Fourth Prince’s Primary Consort and Su Yuxin as a Secondary Consort, and Su Qiao told her family about the decree while reclaiming her mother’s dowry.
• Madam Su urged Su Yuxin to secure Xi Muyan’s heart and remove obstacles, then questioned whether Su Qiao’s apparent leg problem was genuine.

Su Qiao exposed the Su family’s crimes at Old Lady Su’s birthday banquet and gained a County Princess title and estate, while Xi Hanzhou secured the Emperor’s trust and permission to marry her. When Xi Muyan poisoned the Emperor and moved against the throne, Su Qiao and Xi Hanzhou rushed to the palace, where the Emperor revealed his history with Yun Yujin.

• Xi Hanzhou taunted Xi Muyan for claiming Su Qiao as his future side consort and admitted that he had taken her from him as part of their trap.
• Su Qiao escaped the planned carriage accident that left Su Yuxin with severe leg injuries, then confronted her and discovered the Su women had expected the accident.
• Su Qiao defended Xi Hanzhou against accusations of treason, and the Emperor rejected Xi Hanzhou’s offer to relinquish the Crown Prince position while agreeing to his marriage to her.
• At Old Lady Su’s birthday banquet, Su Qiao’s hypnotic suggestion and drugs led Madam Su and Gu Qirou to confess their roles in harming Gu Qiyan and plotting against Su Qiao.
• Old Madam Gu confronted Su Yunhe over his affair with Gu Qirou, while Nanny Lai confessed to misleading Gu Qiyan during her pregnancy before Prime Minister Su’s people killed her.
• Su Qiao left the Su estate with Xi Hanzhou for her new County Princess estate, and Su Yuxin stabbed Madam Su to death before Prime Minister Su sent her away.
• After learning Xi Muyan had poisoned the Emperor, Su Qiao summoned her hidden guards and went with Xi Hanzhou through a secret passage to the Imperial Bedchamber.
• Xi Muyan confronted the Emperor, who accused him of poisoning Xi Hanzhou and revealed that he had given Yun Yujin the Sterilization Drug to punish her.