Recaps

Xia Wanwan helped draft a proposal for the people before discovering a sealed golden sword in Xia Qianlin’s consciousness and sensing trouble in his parents’ relationship. When she learned the emperor and empress had started fighting, she hurried off with Xia Qianlin to watch.

• Xia Wanwan helped officials draft a proposal and checked it before asking the emperor for roasted pig’s trotters.
• The emperor invited the Empress Dowager, Consort Ling, and others to lunch, and Xia Wanwan asked for the Crown Prince to join them.
• The adults sent Xia Wanwan and Xia Qianlin to the imperial garden while they tried to resolve the emperor and empress’s conflict.
• Xia Wanwan entered Xia Qianlin’s sea of consciousness, found a sealed golden sword, and learned evil spirits had troubled him as a newborn.
• Xia Wanwan read Xia Qianlin’s palm and sensed that his parents’ relationship faced a tribulation.
• A young eunuch reported that the emperor and empress had begun fighting, so Xia Wanwan urged Xia Qianlin to go watch.

The Empress Dowager confronted the emperor over his favoritism toward Noble Lady Snow and the harm it caused the Empress and Crown Prince. She forbade him from visiting Noble Lady Snow and ordered that she be given a choice of white silk or poisoned wine if she continued threatening suicide.

• Xia Qianlin and Xia Wanwan arrived at Dragon Glory Hall and found the emperor being scolded while the Empress sat with Xia Siheng and Liu Wan.
• The Empress Dowager condemned the emperor for letting Noble Lady Snow insult the Empress, take her privileges, and raise a son who attacked the Crown Prince.
• The emperor explained that Noble Lady Snow had once saved his life and had spent seven years raising their son in hardship, leaving him consumed by guilt.
• The Empress Dowager warned the emperor to protect the Empress and Crown Prince, and threatened to deal with them herself if Noble Lady Snow and her son plotted against them.
• The emperor promised not to visit Noble Lady Snow and begged the Empress Dowager to spare her and her son.
• The Empress Dowager ordered a nanny to tell Noble Lady Snow the emperor would not come and to give her white silk or poisoned wine if she persisted in threatening suicide.

Xia Siheng explained how the Emperor’s favoritism toward Noble Lady Snow had stirred resentment in the harem, while the Emperor insisted he could still tell right from wrong. Xia Wanwan spotted a red worm in the Emperor’s eye, and Xia Siheng suspected Noble Lady Snow and the Eleventh Imperial Prince had something to do with it.

• The Empress Dowager threatened Noble Lady Snow and her son before leaving, while the Empress and Xia Qianlin also departed.
• Xia Siheng told the Emperor that his generous rank for Noble Lady Snow had fueled her arrogance and caused conflict in the harem.
• The Emperor defended his actions, but Xia Siheng challenged him over protecting Noble Lady Snow after her son injured the Crown Prince.
• Xia Wanwan noticed a red worm flash through the Emperor’s eye and offered Xia Siheng eye drops and ointment.
• Xia Siheng agreed to have an Imperial Physician examine the Emperor, then suspected a Gu Worm and grew wary of Noble Lady Snow and the Eleventh Imperial Prince.

The Empress Dowager visited Noble Lady Snow after she threatened suicide, questioned her claims of misery, and exposed the danger in her words. When Noble Lady Snow insisted she could not live unless her confinement was lifted, the Empress Dowager ordered her to choose between White Silk and poisoned wine.

• Noble Lady Snow staged a suicide threat to draw His Majesty to Falling Snow Hall, but learned the Empress Dowager had stopped him.
• The Empress Dowager arrived and had servants punished for their disrespect, frightening Noble Lady Snow and Xia Qianxian into paying their respects.
• The Empress Dowager heard Noble Lady Snow blame her distress on confinement while defending the Empress's punishment of Xia Qianxian.
• The Empress Dowager doubted Noble Lady Snow's story after noticing her hands showed no signs of hard labor.
• Noble Lady Snow said her melancholy would worsen and she might die unless her confinement was lifted, so the Empress Dowager presented her with White Silk and poisoned wine.

The Empress Dowager punished Noble Lady Snow by forcing her to drink poisoned wine that left her mute, then warned Xia Qianxian never to harm the Crown Prince again. Back at the Liu Residence, Xia Siheng prepared to tell Liu Wan something serious about Xia Wanwan, leaving Liu anxious about what he knew.

• The Empress Dowager forced Noble Lady Snow to drink poisoned wine, leaving her mute, and threatened Xia Qianxian over his treatment of the Crown Prince.
• The Empress Dowager told Consort Ling and Liu Wan that she had spared Noble Lady Snow's life to avoid a rift with the emperor.
• Consort Ling teased the Empress Dowager about her beauty, then left with Liu Wan to visit Xia Wanwan.
• Xia Siheng brought Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan back to the Liu Residence, then went to the study with Liu Wan to discuss the emperor and the suspected gu worm.
• Xia Siheng told Liu Wan that Xia Wanwan had not personally told him what he knew, and asked her not to be upset before revealing something serious.

Xia Siheng learned that many people could hear Xia Wanwan’s thoughts, then worked with Liu Wan to arrange a plan to examine the Emperor’s Gu Worm and secure support for a new law. After Consort Ling persuaded Xia Wanwan to help her become beautiful, the officials’ banquet ended with the initial review looking promising but some ministers still hesitant.

• Xia Siheng told Liu Wan that he could hear Xia Wanwan’s thoughts, and Liu Wan revealed that several members of her family and possibly Qingqing could hear them too.
• Xia Siheng arranged for Master Shunfeng to bring Daoist Qianyun from Jiangnan to examine the Emperor’s Gu Worm, while Liu Wan took charge of the officials’ banquet.
• Consort Ling asked Xia Wanwan to bury her beneath the Coral Tree to make her beautiful, but Xia Wanwan offered to help her without being buried and drew on the Coral Tree’s spiritual energy.
• Xia Siheng hosted officials at Emerald Mist House to win support for the new law, and Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan listened from a nearby private room.
• Xia Siheng told Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan that the initial review should pass, though some officials with sons remained hesitant about the law.

Xia Wanwan reflected on the difficulty of protecting women’s rights, while Liu Wan and Xia Siheng planned how to win support for their proposal. After dinner, Xie Jinqian privately approached Liu Wan and offered to help her leave Xia Siheng.

• Xia Wanwan worried that men saw women’s freedom as a threat, and Xia Siheng reassured her that her father and maternal grandfather would support her.
• Xia Siheng explained that he had investigated officials’ households, and Liu Wan asked for a booklet of the opponents’ family details so she could find ways to persuade them.
• Xia Siheng left early, and Liu Wan encountered Xie Jinqian waiting outside the private room with Jing Wu and Yuanbao.
• Xie Jinqian claimed that he needed to discuss Wanwan, prompting Liu Wan to let him into the room despite Jing Wu’s objections.
• Xie Jinqian created a barrier around the room, and Xia Wanwan recognized that he had practiced cultivation for two and a half years.
• Xie Jinqian told Liu Wan he suspected Wanwan’s parentage and offered to take her away if she did not want to marry Xia Siheng.

Liu Wan rejected Xie Jinqian’s offer to take her away and revealed that she had loved Xia Siheng since childhood. She explained that she had married Xie Jin'an only because he resembled Xia Siheng holding winter plum blossoms, leaving Xie Jinqian stunned and Xia Wanwan excited by the revelation.

• Xie Jinqian confessed that Xia Qianhui had admitted Xia Wanwan was Xia Siheng’s daughter and offered to take Liu Wan away if she did not want to marry him.
• Liu Wan accused Xie Jinqian of disguising his selfish desire to keep her close as concern for her happiness.
• Xie Jinqian promised Liu Wan respect, protection, and power in Southern Yue, but Liu Wan said he did not understand her and asked whether he found her disgusting for being his former sister-in-law.
• Liu Wan told Xie Jinqian that marrying Xia Siheng had been her lifelong wish.
• Liu Wan recounted meeting Xia Siheng as a child, helping save him, and falling in love with him after seeing him protect plum blossoms.
• Liu Wan revealed that she married Xie Jin'an partly to repay the Xie family and partly because he reminded her of Xia Siheng, while Xia Wanwan reacted with astonishment and excitement.

Xie Jinqian revealed that a dream had shown him the Xie family’s original fate and explained how he had tried to change it, but he still distrusted Xia Siheng and warned Liu Wan against marrying him. Liu Wan refused to let him decide her future, and Xie Jinqian challenged her to a bet.

• Liu Wan asked Xie Jinqian whether he still intended to separate her from Xia Siheng, and he insisted Xia Siheng did not love her.
• Liu Wan reminded Xie Jinqian that the Xie family had schemed to secure her marriage after her aunt died, and he admitted the blame lay with his family.
• Xie Jinqian told Liu Wan that he had dreamed of the Xie family’s future, her death, and his own execution, then described how he learned he was Southern Yue’s Second Imperial Prince and worked to escape that fate.
• Xia Wanwan realized Xie Jinqian had dreamed the same events as the novel, while Liu Wan considered his fear that their changed fate made the future uncertain.
• Liu Wan told Xie Jinqian she would decide whether Xia Siheng could be trusted and warned him not to sabotage their wedding.
• Xie Jinqian flashed a menacing look and challenged Liu Wan to make a bet about her love for Xia Siheng.

Liu Wan accepted Xie Jinqian’s wager about Xia Siheng, then hurried to the palace after learning he had gone there for an emergency. There, Xia Siheng revealed that the emperor’s Gu Worm had struck, and the Empress Dowager demanded his plan to deal with it.

• Xie Jinqian wagered that Xia Siheng would break Liu Wan’s heart before the wedding, and Liu Wan accepted his challenge.
• Liu Wan learned that Xia Siheng had entered the palace and decided to go there with Xia Wanwan and Yuanbao.
• Master Yuantong confirmed that the emperor’s Gu Worm had struck, and Xia Siheng said the emperor’s love for Noble Lady Snow might be caused by the Gu.
• The Empress Dowager ordered Nanny Wei to investigate Noble Lady Snow and ordered Eunuch Yu to keep the emperor’s condition secret.
• Master Yuantong warned that the emperor faced unbearable pain and could die in a future Gu attack, then the Empress Dowager asked Xia Siheng to explain his plan.

Xia Siheng had the Emperor treated with medicines Wanwan provided, which made him vomit Gu Worm eggs and briefly eased his pain. The Empress Dowager summoned Noble Lady Snow, and the Emperor suspected she had been harmed when he saw her damaged voice and Xia Qianxian’s panicked defense of the Empress Dowager.

• Xia Siheng urged the imperial physicians to use Wanwan’s Eyedrops and Erythromycin Ointment on the Emperor despite their uncertainty about the medicines.
• The Emperor was forced to take the medicines, vomited Gu Worm eggs, and learned that the mother Gu still endangered him.
• Nanny Wei reported that Noble Lady Snow was unharmed and had requested an audience, so the Empress Dowager ordered her brought in.
• Noble Lady Snow’s presence eased the Emperor’s pain, but he noticed she could no longer speak and suspected the Empress Dowager was responsible.
• Xia Qianxian knelt and insisted that Noble Lady Snow had damaged her own voice and that the Empress Dowager had not harmed her.

The Empress Dowager and Xia Siheng argued over whether Noble Lady Snow had planted a gu in the emperor, while Master Yuantong searched for a way to identify the caster. Xia Wanwan proposed using a spirit needle to make the caster suffer through their linked Gu Worms, and Imperial Physician Huang was left holding the needle.

• The emperor defended Noble Lady Snow, insisting there was no evidence she had afflicted him with gu, while the Empress Dowager demanded her execution.
• Master Yuantong said he needed at least three days to search the Scripture Repository for records about the caster’s backlash, so the Empress Dowager ordered a one-day search.
• Noble Lady Snow privately thought she could escape after meeting her contact that day, before Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan arrived at Dragon Glory Hall.
• Xia Wanwan explained that pricking the Gu Worm in the emperor’s heart would hurt the caster even more because the two worms were linked.
• Master Yuantong confirmed the needle’s spiritual energy would benefit the emperor, and Xia Wanwan handed it to Imperial Physician Huang to use.

Xia Wanwan used the Spirit Needle to seal the Divine Gu in the emperor, causing Noble Lady Snow to suffer its backlash. She and Xia Siheng realized Noble Lady Snow was the Male Gu, leaving the court to face the task of killing it before the emperor’s Female Gu could be removed.

• Xia Wanwan persuaded the Empress Dowager to help hold down the emperor and used her stethoscope to locate the Gu Worm before stabbing it with the Spirit Needle.
• The emperor screamed as blood and green pus sprayed from his wound, while Noble Lady Snow collapsed in pain from the linked Gu Worms’ backlash.
• Xia Qianxian charged at Xia Wanwan, but Xia Siheng stopped him and flung him into a corner.
• Xia Wanwan turned the Spirit Needle into spiritual mist and sealed the Female Gu in the emperor’s heart, healing his wound but leaving the worm inside.
• Xia Siheng explained that the Male Gu had to be killed before the Female Gu could be removed, and Xia Wanwan identified Noble Lady Snow as the Male Gu.

Xia Wanwan exposed Noble Lady Snow as a male gu worm who had impersonated Xue'er and planted gu in the emperor. As Noble Lady Snow attacked, a mysterious newcomer arrived and severed her hand with the Returning Blade.

• Master Yuantong identified Noble Lady Snow as a sentient male gu worm, and the emperor learned that she had impersonated Xue'er and planted gu in him.
• Noble Lady Snow revealed that her gu family had found Xue'er through the jade pendant the emperor gave her, then blamed him for Xue'er's suffering.
• Xia Wanwan slapped Noble Lady Snow and refused to undo the seal on the emperor's heart.
• Noble Lady Snow broke free of the seal, struck Master Yuantong down, and lunged at Xia Wanwan.
• The Returning Blade cut off Noble Lady Snow's hand, and everyone saw a mysterious newcomer standing nearby.

Yuanbao fought Noble Lady Snow after she unleashed the Red Ghost Demonic Arts, but Xia Wanwan stopped her attack and brought her down. Xia Wanwan revealed that reinforcements had arrived, leaving the reason behind Noble Lady Snow’s attack to be uncovered.

• Yuanbao caught the Returning Blade and challenged Noble Lady Snow, who joined with Xia Qianxian after he transformed into a bladed arm.
• Yuanbao lured Noble Lady Snow into the Front Courtyard, where she unleashed the Red Ghost Demonic Arts and knocked him down.
• Xia Wanwan caught Noble Lady Snow’s blade with her bare hands, then hurled it back and pierced Noble Lady Snow through the heart.
• Xia Siheng stopped Xia Wanwan from killing Noble Lady Snow so they could question her about the attack on the emperor.
• Xia Wanwan divined that Noble Lady Snow had acted because reinforcements had arrived that day.

Xia Wanwan roasted the captured gu worms for Yuanbao and revealed that she was avoiding extracting the worm inside the emperor so sorcerers would not track her. At Falling Snow Hall, the Empress Dowager and Xia Siheng investigated Noble Lady Snow’s suspicious absence and confronted the palace maids guarding the entrance.

• The emperor ordered the two captured worms killed, and Xia Wanwan roasted them over a fire for Yuanbao, explaining that eating the spiritual gu could improve his cultivation.
• Yuanbao ate the worms as Xia Wanwan recounted how she had once roasted a pig farmer’s piglets and narrowly avoided punishment.
• Xia Wanwan admitted she would wait for the Daoist Healer to remove the worm from the emperor because she did not want sorcerers to trace its death back to her.
• The Empress Dowager and Xia Siheng reached Falling Snow Hall, and Xia Siheng recognized a senior palace maid who had previously reported Noble Lady Snow’s suicide threat.
• The Empress Dowager ordered Xia Siheng to hide, then demanded to see Noble Lady Snow, while Nanny Wei challenged the palace maids over Noble Lady Snow’s unexplained absence.

The Empress Dowager came to Falling Snow Hall to confront Noble Lady Snow, but Chunhua revealed that her mistress was absent and asked a mysterious woman for help. The woman emerged looking exactly like Noble Lady Snow and went to face the Empress Dowager, leaving Xia Siheng convinced she was behind the Gu Worm plot.

• The Empress Dowager ordered the doors of Falling Snow Hall opened after Nanny Wei accused Noble Lady Snow of making her wait.
• Chunhua told the mysterious woman behind the screen that Noble Lady Snow had been summoned away and had not returned.
• The mysterious woman concluded that the Empress Dowager likely knew Noble Lady Snow was with the emperor, whose Gu Worm had flared up.
• The mysterious woman emerged looking like Noble Lady Snow and told Chunhua to go see the Empress Dowager.
• Xia Siheng followed them and suspected Chunhua had deliberately steered the mysterious woman into confronting the Empress Dowager.
• The Empress Dowager saw the woman enter and was shocked that she looked exactly like Noble Lady Snow.

Noble Lady Snow, an impostor sent to replace the vanished divine gu, tried to appease the Empress Dowager after being accused of disobedience. Nanny Wei punished her by pricking beneath all ten fingernails, while Chunhua’s hints left the Empress Dowager aware of the Eleventh Imperial Prince’s absence.

• The Empress Dowager accused Noble Lady Snow of disobeying her orders and threw tea at her.
• Noble Lady Snow claimed she had fainted and Chunhua had helped her return, while Chunhua added that the Eleventh Imperial Prince, Xia Qianxian, had helped too.
• The Empress Dowager decided to punish Noble Lady Snow, and Nanny Wei suggested driving needles beneath her fingernails.
• Nanny Wei pricked Noble Lady Snow beneath all ten fingernails as she screamed in pain.
• Nanny Wei claimed Noble Lady Snow had sent the Eleventh Imperial Prince to attend the emperor, and Chunhua realized the Empress Dowager had understood her hint.

Chunhua exposed the false Noble Lady Snow to the Empress Dowager, who planned to trap the impostor and her allies. The false Noble Lady Snow remained focused on finding the divine Gu and entered Dragon Glory Hall after being told the emperor wanted to see her.

• The Empress Dowager ordered Chunhua punished, and Chunhua stayed behind to reveal that the woman posing as Noble Lady Snow was an impostor.
• The Empress Dowager summoned Xia Siheng to arrange a trap, then asked Chunhua to act as part of her plan.
• The false Noble Lady Snow returned and followed the Empress Dowager toward Dragon Glory Hall, still unable to sense the divine Gu.
• Chunhua falsely claimed that the real Noble Lady Snow had instructed her to tell the impostor that the grand plan was nearly complete.
• Nanny Wei summoned the false Noble Lady Snow into Dragon Glory Hall, saying the emperor wanted to see her.

Noble Lady Snow entered Dragon Glory Hall, believing her divine gu had brought her close to completing her plan, while the Empress Dowager and her allies used her to expose the scheme. She persuaded the emperor to promise anything she asked, then requested that he give Qingli City to the Nanmei Kingdom.

• Chunhua revealed that she had followed the Empress Dowager’s instructions to steer Noble Lady Snow toward her plan and expose its purpose to those inside Dragon Glory Hall.
• Noble Lady Snow entered the Imperial Bedchamber, where the emperor pretended to be lovesick and the Empress Dowager left them alone.
• Noble Lady Snow took the emperor’s hand, and he clung to her while insisting he would give her anything she wanted.
• Noble Lady Snow recounted her ties to Qingli City and asked the emperor to give the city to the Nanmei Kingdom.

The emperor let Li Siqin expose her identity and threaten him into drafting a document ceding cities, while he coaxed information about her family and Southern Mei from her. When Li Siqin took him behind a screen to retrieve his seal, she encountered three hidden spectators, and a toddler cast an Immobilization Spell.

• The emperor tore off Noble Lady Snow's human-skin mask, revealing Li Siqin, who threatened him with a dagger and ordered him to write a document ceding cities.
• Li Siqin forced the emperor to prepare ink, and he drew out that she belonged to Southern Mei's Li Family of magic arts practitioners.
• The emperor wrote the document, and Li Siqin checked it before demanding he stamp it with the imperial seal.
• The emperor claimed his private seal was hidden behind a folding screen and led Li Siqin there at dagger point.
• Li Siqin came face to face with three hidden spectators, and a toddler shouted an Immobilization Spell.

Li Siqin’s attempt to seize the emperor was exposed, and she broke free of Xia Wanwan’s Immobilization Spell to take the court hostage. The emperor destroyed the document she demanded, leaving the standoff unresolved.

• Xia Wanwan immobilized Li Siqin and released the emperor, while Xia Siheng summoned the guards.
• The Empress Dowager, the Empress, Liu Wan, and others entered, revealing that they had witnessed Li Siqin’s scheme.
• The emperor identified Li Siqin as the Li Family’s Saintess, and Chunhua denied betraying her because Li Siqin was not her mistress.
• Li Siqin broke free of the spell, lifted the court members into the air, and sent a guard crashing into a wall.
• Li Siqin threatened the Empress Dowager and demanded the emperor’s sealed document, but the emperor tore it to shreds.

Yuanbao defeated Li Siqin and helped protect the imperial family, while Xia Wanwan kept her powers hidden to avoid drawing danger to her family. After learning that Daoist Qianyun and Uncle-Master Shunfeng had been ambushed in the Eastern Woods, Xia Siheng left with Yuanbao to rescue them.

• Yuanbao defeated Li Siqin, sealed her spiritual power, and Xia Siheng ordered the guards to take her to jail for interrogation.
• The emperor asked Xia Wanwan to remove the gu worm in his heart, but she said she needed a professional Daoist to handle it.
• Master Yuantong reported that Daoist Qianyun and Uncle-Master Shunfeng had been intercepted by a skilled magic user in the Eastern Woods outside the Capital.
• Xia Siheng told Xia Wanwan to remain in the palace and left with Yuanbao to find Daoist Qianyun and Uncle-Master Shunfeng.
• Liu Wan worried that Xia Siheng was walking into a trap, while the emperor privately mocked his younger brother’s affection for her.

Commandery Princess Yan'er confronted Xie Jinqian after their plot to seize Qingli City failed, but he persuaded her to wait for his next move. When Xia Siheng arrived at the inn, Xie Jinqian signaled his hidden forces and fighting broke out nearby.

• Commandery Princess Yan'er accused Xie Jinqian of failing to secure Qingli City and losing the Li Family's divine gu while Li Siqin was imprisoned.
• Xie Jinqian explained that he had intercepted Daoist Qianyun and blamed Southern Mei's people for failing to bewitch the emperor before he regained his senses.
• Commandery Princess Yan'er feared the Li Family and Southern Mei would turn against her, so she asked Xie Jinqian what to do next.
• Xie Jinqian told Commandery Princess Yan'er to wait, and she chose to trust him once more.
• Xia Siheng arrived at the inn with his men, and Xie Jinqian signaled his hidden forces as fighting broke out nearby.

Xia Siheng arrived at the inn and suspected the battle between Daoist Qianyun and a black-robed man was a trap to lure him away. As he and Daoist Qianyun prepared to strike together, Xie Jinqian watched from above and mistakenly concluded that his sister-in-law liked effeminate men.

• Master Shunfeng told Xia Siheng that he and Daoist Qianyun had been drugged at the inn, and that Daoist Qianyun was fighting the black-robed villain.
• Xia Siheng suspected the ambush was meant to draw him in, then signed Master Shunfeng's order before the monk left with Master Yuantong.
• Xia Siheng and Jing Wu joined the battle, and the black-robed man repeatedly sent Xia Siheng flying while Xie Jinqian watched from upstairs.
• Daoist Qianyun caught Xia Siheng and gave him a black elixir, claiming it would increase his power and protect his heart meridians.
• Xia Siheng swallowed the elixir, while Xie Jinqian decided that his sister-in-law liked effeminate men.