Recaps

After the palace intrigue ended, Xiao Yu encountered a masked boy and his venomous snake, Little Eight. He followed the snake to the Cold Palace, where a fire had broken out at the Southern Zhao hostage’s residence, and rescued it, believing its master Qi Yunheng had already left.

• Emperor Jinyuan buried Consort Liu and Shen Zhuocheng together, confined the consorts who had watched the spectacle, and sent Sun Wenxun back to his county with a dangerous assignment.
• Sun Wenxun resolved to make his county prosper so he could someday return to the capital and help Wanwan.
• Xiao Yu caught a venomous snake on the Eastern Palace roof and met a masked boy who demanded it back, then fled after Xiao Yu remarked that he smelled nice.
• When the boy did not return, Xiao Yu followed the snake’s directions and realized they were heading to the Cold Palace.
• Xiao Yu learned that the burning residence belonged to the Southern Zhao hostage, entered the flames, and rescued the nearly lifeless snake.
• Xiao Yu took the snake in and promised to bring it to its master in the Southern Border someday.

Emperor Jinyuan questioned Xiao Yu about the Southern Zhao hostages’ deaths and faced ministers’ objections to Fang becoming empress. Xiao Yu challenged the ministers to explain how virtuous their own marriages were, leaving them speechless.

• Emperor Jinyuan asked Xiao Yu what he thought of the Southern Zhao hostages dying in a fire, and Xiao Yu concealed that they had escaped.
• Xiao Yu recalled that Qi Yunheng might return to Southern Zhao and later join the Prince of Zhennan, while Emperor Jinyuan learned that Cao Lin had forged the decree that led to the prince’s death in another timeline.
• Emperor Jinyuan kept Xiao Yu in the Imperial Study when the Censor-in-Chief, the Minister of Rites, and the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau arrived to oppose Fang’s coronation.
• The ministers argued that Fang brought ill fortune and was not virtuous enough to be empress, and Emperor Jinyuan angrily defended her.
• Xiao Yu praised the ministers’ talk of virtuous wives and asked them to describe their own exemplary marriages, leaving them speechless.

Xiao Yu exposed the officials’ marital scandals when they challenged Emperor Jinyuan over the Empress’s appointment, driving them from the Imperial Study. After Emperor Jinyuan offered him a reward, Xiao Yu asked to leave the palace.

• Emperor Jinyuan praised Censor Lu’s marriage, and Xiao Yu revealed that none of Lu’s sons were his, causing the censor to collapse.
• Emperor Jinyuan introduced Director Yin Huizhou as another example of a devoted husband, but Xiao Yu exposed Yin’s secret mistress and hypocrisy about taking a concubine.
• Yin Huizhou fled the Imperial Study, and the minister of rites promised to ensure the Empress’s investiture went smoothly before leaving too.
• Emperor Jinyuan offered Xiao Yu a reward, and Xiao Yu asked to leave the palace, leaving the emperor speechless.

Xiao Yu persuaded Emperor Jinyuan to let him leave the palace and explored the capital with Qinggeng and Xiao Ba. After a stranger helped him get his change back from a bun vendor, Xiao Yu insisted on returning the favor and invited him to eat noodles.

• Xiao Yu convinced Emperor Jinyuan to give him a token to leave the palace, and Emperor Jinyuan worried that Qi'an would eventually leave him.
• Qinggeng argued with Xiao Ba until Xiao Yu returned and explained that the snake was only staying with him temporarily.
• Xiao Yu took Qinggeng and Xiao Ba into the capital, where Qinggeng eagerly bought meat buns.
• A stranger named Shen Zhijie returned Xiao Yu's silver and explained that the buns cost only sixty coppers.
• Xiao Yu offered to treat Shen Zhijie to a meal, and they sat down at the Ruyi Noodle Stall for noodles with gravy.

Xiao Yu went with Shen Zhijie to find Shen Wuji, only to learn that Shen Zhijie and Shen Yuzhu were his children. After Xiao Yu’s thoughts revealed that a fake father would ruin both cousins’ lives, Shen Zhijie resolved to protect his family and brought Xiao Yu to meet Shen Wuji.

• Shen Yuzhu mistook Xiao Yu for a kidnapped child before he revealed that he was Prince Yu.
• Xiao Yu told Shen Zhijie that he had come to thank Shen Wuji for donating a hundred thousand taels, and Shen Zhijie revealed that Shen Wuji was his father.
• Xiao Yu’s thoughts described how an impostor would deceive Shen Zhijie and Shen Yuzhu, leading to their deaths.
• Enraged by the future he heard, Shen Zhijie split a table in two and decided to take Xiao Yu to his father immediately.
• Shen Zhijie brought Xiao Yu to the Shen Residence and shouted for Shen Wuji, who angrily called for him to come to the study.

Shen Zhijie tested whether his father had been replaced, then Xiao Yu visited the Shen household and asked about recent changes. Shen Yuzhu learned that her absent father had built a new family and resolved to rely on the relatives who had raised her.

• Shen Zhijie questioned Shen Wuji about personal memories, confirmed he was his real father, and introduced Xiao Yu.
• Xiao Yu gave Shen Wuji a thousand taels on behalf of the emperor and asked whether anything unusual had happened in the household.
• Shen Wuji mentioned a letter from his younger brother, and Shen Zhijie complained that his uncle had been away for years and had not visited Yuzhu.
• Xiao Yu thought that Second Uncle Shen had a wife, concubines, and children elsewhere, and Shen Yuzhu overheard him when she returned with food.
• Shen Yuzhu remembered that her father had left her with Shen Wuji and his wife without even naming her, and decided she no longer wanted him.

Xiao Yu comforted Shen Wuji after Yuzhu’s distress and met Madam Shen, whose thoughts revealed that Duan Wu planned to steal Shen Wuji’s identity using a human-skin mask. Shen Wuji resolved to stop Duan Wu, only to learn that he had arrived at the estate.

• Shen Wuji sent Shen Zhijie to find Madam Shen and remind him that Yuzhu would always belong to their family.
• Xiao Yu told Shen Wuji that he missed his parents and siblings, and Shen Wuji offered to help him if needed.
• Madam Shen joined Shen Wuji and Xiao Yu, and her thoughts revealed that Duan Wu coveted her and planned to impersonate Shen Wuji with a human-skin mask.
• Shen Wuji decided to go to the Court of Judicial Review and have Duan Wu and the mask-maker caught before they could switch faces.
• The steward announced that Duan Wu had arrived at the estate, and Shen Wuji furiously ordered him to leave.

Xiao Yu visited the Shen Residence, where Su Yan reunited warmly with him, while Emperor Jinyuan learned of their meeting and waited for Xiao Yu to return. At the chancellor’s residence, Chancellor Cui urged the Sixth Prince to endure rather than rush into revenge against Xiao Yu.

• Shen Wuji reluctantly admitted Su Yan, who greeted Xiao Yu and lifted his nephew into his arms after Xiao Yu initially ignored him.
• Emperor Jinyuan heard that Xiao Yu had given Shen Wuji one thousand taels and that Su Yan had visited the Shen Residence, then ordered the palace gates closed an hour later.
• The Sixth Prince asked Chancellor Cui to help him avenge Xiao Yu for the injuries he had suffered.
• Chancellor Cui told Xuan'er to be patient and learn to endure until he grew up.

The Sixth Prince returned to the palace after Chancellor Cui urged him to follow his guidance, but Xiao Yu’s dismissal further angered him. Xiao Yu then protected Qinggeng and Xiao Ba from Commandant Cao’s search of the Eastern Palace, leaving Cao to withdraw without finding them.

• Chancellor Cui told the Sixth Prince that the palace would eventually be his if he obeyed, and the Sixth Prince agreed.
• At the palace gates, the Sixth Prince encountered Xiao Yu, restrained his anger, and carried Xiao Yu’s message to the Emperor.
• The Crown Prince waited anxiously for Xiao Yu, who returned and reassured him after he worried Xiao Yu had abandoned him.
• Qinggeng warned Xiao Yu that Cao Lin had recognized him, so Xiao Yu hid Qinggeng and Xiao Ba inside the Sealing Scroll.
• Cao Lin sought permission to search the Eastern Palace, but Xiao Yu threatened him and his men with fifty strokes if they found nothing.
• Cao Lin withdrew with his men, while Xiao Yu resolved to find a future chance to punish them for killing his father in his previous life.

Empress Fang gave birth to a healthy princess, and Emperor Jinyuan named her Xiyue after hearing her thoughts approve the simpler name. Xiyue realized she had been reborn into a novel as a palace princess, and her family welcomed her.

• Three years after Emperor Jinyuan and Empress Fang's wedding, the Empress went into labor while Emperor Jinyuan, Xiao Yu, and the Crown Prince waited anxiously outside.
• An elderly matron announced that the Empress had delivered a healthy little princess, and Emperor Jinyuan hurried to see the Empress before holding his daughter.
• Xiao Yu introduced the baby to the Crown Prince and himself, while Xiyue privately wondered if she had transmigrated into the novel she had been reading.
• Emperor Jinyuan first proposed Xi as the baby's name, but changed it to Xiyue after hearing her thoughts complain that Xi had too many strokes.
• The Empress held Xiyue and welcomed her into the family as Emperor Jinyuan and the others reacted to the baby's candid thoughts.

Xiao Yu asked Emperor Jinyuan to let him leave the palace, but Emperor Jinyuan instead proposed that he marry the infant Princess Xiyue. Xiao Yu fabricated a story about loving a man to escape the betrothal, and Emperor Jinyuan agreed to drop the marriage proposal while postponing Xiao Yu’s move until Prince Yu’s Residence was built.

• Xiao Yu asked Emperor Jinyuan to let him move out of the palace, but Emperor Jinyuan refused because he did not want Xiao Yu away from him.
• The Empress brought Little Xiyue to the Imperial Study and tried to mediate between Emperor Jinyuan and Xiao Yu.
• Emperor Jinyuan proposed a childhood betrothal between Xiao Yu and Xiyue, with them to marry when she turned fifteen, and Xiao Yu objected to the plan.
• Xiao Yu claimed that he preferred men and had fallen in love with the former Southern Zhao Hostage, then admitted that the story was made up.
• Emperor Jinyuan dropped the betrothal proposal and said they could discuss Xiao Yu leaving after Prince Yu’s Residence was built.

Qi Yunheng exposed the Eighth Prince’s attempt to poison him and turned the poisoned pastries against the boy. After the Eighth Prince confessed that the Eldest Imperial Brother had ordered the poisoning, Qi Shi arrived and accused Qi Yunheng, leaving him to confront her over how she had treated him.

• Qi Yunheng read memorials accusing him of killing his father and brothers, then granted the Grand Tutor leave to join them.
• The Eighth Prince brought Qi Yunheng pastries laced with poison, but Qi Yunheng ate them without appearing harmed.
• When Qi Yunheng challenged him, the Eighth Prince ate the remaining pastries and soon collapsed in pain, accusing Qi Yunheng of poisoning him.
• Qi Yunheng confronted the Eighth Prince about trying to kill him, and the boy admitted that the Eldest Imperial Brother had ordered him to poison Qi Yunheng.
• Qi Shi arrived, accused Qi Yunheng of poisoning Yunqin, and he demanded to know whether she had ever worried about him as her child.

Qi Yunheng confronted Lady Qi over the poison and her affair, then wounded himself after she called him a demon and denied he was her son. He ordered her and the unconscious eighth prince expelled from the palace, but Uncle Fu knocked him unconscious to stop him from bleeding to death.

• Lady Qi demanded the antidote, and Qi Yunheng accused her lover and the eighth prince of plotting against him.
• Lady Qi slapped Qi Yunheng and cursed him, saying she regretted giving birth to him.
• Qi Yunheng cut his arm and begged Lady Qi to accept him, but she stabbed him in the chest with his dagger.
• Qi Yunheng ordered the guards to remove Lady Qi from the palace and told Uncle Fu to throw out the unconscious eighth prince.
• Qi Yunheng refused treatment so his blood could drain away, and Uncle Fu knocked him unconscious to save his life.

After lying unconscious for three days, Qi Yunheng woke when Uncle Fu enraged him with news about Xiao Yu and Little Eight. He then mistook Little Eleven’s candy for poison and ordered Uncle Fu to remove the frightened boy from his bedchamber.

• Uncle Fu cared for Qi Yunheng and, hoping to rouse him, told him Xiao Ba had changed loyalties and Xiao Yu had confessed his love for him.
• Qi Yunheng woke in a fury and ordered Little Seven to have Little Eight bite Xiao Yu, then cursed everyone for betraying him.
• Alone, Qi Yunheng recalled his encounters with Xiao Yu and angrily decided the prince had harbored indecent intentions toward him.
• Little Eleven came to visit Qi Yunheng and offered him candy, but Qi Yunheng shoved him down and accused him of trying to poison him.
• Little Eleven ate the fallen candy to prove it was safe, but Qi Yunheng still ordered Uncle Fu to carry him out.

Xiao Yu discovered that rumors about his supposed taste for men had spread through the Jin Kingdom and went with Shen Zhijie to help Shen Yuzhu. There, they learned that Xie Guifan claimed Shen Yuzhu was his fiancée, and Xiao Yu recognized him as the abusive man from his previous life.

• Xiao Yu realized people were staring because rumors that he liked men had spread, and he asked Shen Zhijie to investigate who had started them.
• Xiao Yu and Shen Zhijie hurried to the Ruyi Noodle Shop after seeing Xie Guifan pressuring Shen Yuzhu to marry him.
• Shen Yuzhu rejected Xie Guifan's argument that marriage was the proper path for her and said she could support herself.
• Shen Zhijie defended Shen Yuzhu and insisted she would always have a place in his home, even after he married.
• Xie Guifan produced a marriage contract allegedly written with Shen Yuzhu's father's consent and claimed she was his rightful fiancée.
• Xiao Yu recognized Xie Guifan as the man who had abused Shen Yuzhu and tried to sell her to a brothel in his previous life.

Xiao Yu intervened when Xie Guifan tried to force Shen Yuzhu into marriage and discovered that her father and Duan Wu had conspired to sell her. He left the Shen siblings behind and had the Imperial Guards seize Xie Guifan, who begged to be released.

• Shen Zhijie punched Xie Guifan after he taunted Shen Yuzhu with their Marriage Contract, but Shen Yuzhu stopped Zhijie from striking him again.
• Xiao Yu learned that Duan Wu and Second Uncle Shen had schemed with Xie Guifan to marry Yuzhu for status, leaving her heartbroken by her father's betrayal.
• Xiao Yu confronted Xie Guifan and declared that he had taken a liking to him, while Imperial Guards blocked Xie Guifan's servants from intervening.
• Xiao Yu ordered the Imperial Guards to escort Xie Guifan to his Private Residence, and Xie Guifan resisted and pleaded to be released.

Xiao Yu defended Shen Yuzhu from Xie Guifan, but accidentally tore Xie Guifan’s robe and sparked rumors that he had assaulted him. After advising Shen Yuzhu that marriage should depend on mutual affection, Xiao Yu returned to the palace, where Emperor’s anger awaited him.

• Xiao Yu grabbed Xie Guifan to stop him, accidentally tearing his robe, and Xie Guifan fled in humiliation while onlookers drew their own conclusions.
• Xiao Yu told Shen Yuzhu to consider whether she wanted to marry Xie Guifan and assured her that her happiness mattered more than other people’s opinions.
• Shen Yuzhu thanked Xiao Yu and invited him to eat noodles before he returned to the palace.
• The Crown Prince told Xiao Yu that the Marquis of Pingxi had accused him of violating Xie Guifan and demanded an explanation from Emperor.
• Dequan stopped the Crown Prince from entering the Imperial Study, and Xiao Yu went in to face Emperor while the Crown Prince waited outside.

Xiao Yu defended his abduction of Xie Guifan before Emperor Jinyuan, who ordered him confined to the Eastern Palace after scolding him over his conduct. In Southern Zhao, Qi Yunheng learned that Xiao Yu’s actions had stirred the Jin Kingdom’s Southern Border Army and smashed his desk in anger.

• Xiao Yu entered the Imperial Study and clashed with the Marquis of Pingxi, who accused him of wrongdoing.
• Xiao Yu said Heir Xie had tried to abduct a woman and that he had abducted Xie in return, prompting Emperor Jinyuan to demand the marquis answer for his grandson’s conduct.
• The Marquis of Pingxi fainted after hearing Xiao Yu’s thoughts about Xie Guifan’s future, and Emperor Jinyuan sent him to the Imperial Medical Bureau.
• Emperor Jinyuan showed Xiao Yu impeachment memorials and a warning from his father, then ordered him to remain in the Eastern Palace.
• In Southern Zhao, Uncle Fu told Qi Yunheng that the Jin Kingdom’s Southern Border Army was agitated because Xiao Yu had abducted a man in Capital City, and Qi Yunheng smashed his desk.

Qi Yunheng sent Xiao Yu poison over rumors that Xiao Yu had sullied his reputation, but Xiao Yu refused to drink it and sent back a letter declaring his love. Qi Yunheng replied with an insult, and Xiao Yu ended the exchange by throwing Fuxi and Xiao Ba out of his room.

• Qi Yunheng angrily called Xiao Yu a liar and ordered Uncle Fu not to mention him again.
• Fuxi arrived in the Jin Kingdom with poison from Qi Yunheng, ordering Xiao Yu to end his life.
• Xiao Yu refused the poison and sent Qi Yunheng a letter explaining himself.
• Qi Yunheng read Xiao Yu's declaration of love, blushed, and struggled to write a reply before sending back the word “Wan.ton.”
• Xiao Yu threw the letter and Fuxi out the window, then sent Xiao Ba back to Qi Yunheng and shut the window.

Qi Yunheng and Xiao Yu exchanged letters through their birds, with Xiao Yu teasing Qi Yunheng as he tried to draw a reply from him. Qi Yunheng ended the chapter blushing over Xiao Yu calling him “Ah Heng” and deciding to visit Jin Kingdom once Southern Zhao was settled.

• In Southern Zhao, Qi Yunheng worried that Xiao Yu had stopped replying, then sent Xiao Ba back with another letter asking why.
• Xiao Yu comforted Xiao Ba, read Qi Yunheng’s question, and replied that he did not want to answer; when Qi Yunheng asked why, Xiao Yu asked if he had nothing better to do.
• Qi Yunheng wrote that he was busy but still made time to reply, and Xiao Yu sent back a message telling him to wash up and go to bed early.
• Qi Yunheng angrily corrected Xiao Yu’s “Little brat” insult, while Little Eleven mistook the character he wrote for “Huo” and was ordered to copy it fifty times.
• Qi Yunheng read Xiao Yu’s teasing offer to call him “Ah Heng,” blushed, and told Uncle Fu he wanted to visit Jin Kingdom after Southern Zhao was settled.

Three years later, Prince Yu Xiao Yu tried to capture a face-changing mask maker at Fortune House, but the target escaped when the masked Qi Yunheng crashed into his room. Xiao Yu treated Qi Yunheng’s abdominal wound without recognizing him, while Qi Yunheng silently judged Xiao Yu for his flirtatious reputation.

• Xiao Yu used himself as bait at Fortune House to lure the face-changing mask maker, but the man escaped when a dagger flew into the room.
• Qi Yunheng, wearing a Ghost Mask and wounded in the abdomen, collapsed onto Xiao Yu after entering through the window.
• Xiao Yu asked Shen Zhijie to bring hot water and medicine, then sent him away when Qi Yunheng refused to let him treat the wound.
• Xiao Yu cleaned Qi Yunheng’s wound and stopped him from removing his mask, then insisted that he liked women.
• Qi Yunheng blushed and privately thought Xiao Yu was wicked and frivolous, based on rumors and their first encounter.

Qi Yunheng reunited with Xiao Yu after six years, but Xiao Yu did not recognize him and treated him as a stranger. Their tense dinner with Su Xun ended when Qi Yunheng left after being challenged over his right to control Xiao Yu.

• Qi Yunheng resented Xiao Yu's warmth toward him, then learned from Xiao Yu's thoughts that he remembered their old friendship and was thinking of writing to Ah Heng.
• Xiao Yu worried about Qi Yunheng's wound and invited him to eat; Qi Yunheng gave his courtesy name, Yuchu, and agreed to go with him.
• Xiao Yu and Qi Yunheng ran into Su Xun, who invited them to dine together at Spring Drunk House.
• When a male courtesan approached Xiao Yu, Qi Yunheng ordered him away and asked whether Xiao Yu came there often.
• Su Xun challenged Qi Yunheng's right to control Xiao Yu, and Qi Yunheng left through the window into the night.

Xiao Yu told Su Xun he planned to leave the palace and establish his own household, then secured Emperor Jinyuan’s permission to move into Prince Yu’s Residence after the autumn hunt. He told the disappointed Crown Prince that it was time for him to take a Crown Princess.

• After Qi Yunheng left, Su Xun teased Xiao Yu about their relationship, then asked what he planned to do next.
• Xiao Yu told Su Xun he wanted to leave the palace and establish his own household, and asked him to reassure their grandfather that he knew what he was doing.
• Xiao Yu asked Emperor Jinyuan for permission to move into Prince Yu’s Residence, and the emperor agreed he could leave after the autumn hunt.
• Emperor Jinyuan reminisced about Xiao Yu after he left the Imperial Study.
• Xiao Yu told the Crown Prince that he was happy to be moving out, then said it was time for the Crown Prince to take a Crown Princess.

Xiao Yu protected the Crown Prince from an assassin, who wounded him with a poisoned arrow, and treated the injury while the Crown Prince nearly confessed his feelings. Xiao Yu learned the poison required the poisoner's blood to cure, then received a jealous letter from Qi Yunheng as he tried to discover whether Qi Yunheng had come to the Jin Kingdom.

• The Crown Prince confessed that he did not want to take a Crown Princess, and Xiao Yu promised no one would force him while Xiao Yu was there.
• Yuchu attacked Xiao Yu and the Crown Prince with arrows, and the Crown Prince was struck while shielding Xiao Yu.
• Xiao Yu carried the wounded Crown Prince inside, removed the arrowhead, and discovered the wound had been poisoned.
• Xiao Ba identified the poison as a Southern Zhao gu poison that required the poisoner's blood as a catalyst for the cure.
• Xiao Yu caught Fuxi and questioned it about Qi Yunheng's arrival in the Jin Kingdom, then read Qi Yunheng's jealous letter about his closeness with the Crown Prince.

Xiao Yu realized that Yuchu was Qi Yunheng and tracked him to the abandoned residence where he had once lived as a hostage. After confronting him about their past and the rumors Xiao Yu had spread, Qi Yunheng began to say what he wanted.

• Xiao Yu suspected Yuchu was Qi Yunheng, then threatened Fuxi until the bird revealed Qi Yunheng's whereabouts.
• Xiao Yu left Qinggeng to watch over the Crown Prince and went to the ruined residence where Qi Yunheng had lived as a hostage.
• Xiao Yu found Qi Yunheng in the dark, recognized his mask, and dragged him outside by the arm.
• Qi Yunheng accused Xiao Yu of being forward and recalled how Xiao Yu had claimed to love and pursue him.
• Xiao Yu admitted the rumors he had spread had been his fault and asked Qi Yunheng what he wanted.