Recaps

Qian Shiyue struggled to answer Princess Liuli’s celebrated poem as East Lin put a rare yellow jadeite and a suspiciously dangerous reward on the line. She offered a verse that won applause, but Xia Wanwan judged it inadequate, leaving the contest unresolved.

• Princess Liuli mocked Great Xia’s talented ladies, and Xia Wanwan pointed out that East Lin had not yet announced the contest’s stakes.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin offered a supreme-grade yellow jadeite and a sovereign’s request if Great Xia defeated Liuli, while secretly arranging for the carver to reveal a humiliating message inside it.
• Qian Shiyue hesitated over Princess Liuli’s poetic challenge, then began composing after the Empress Dowager encouraged her.
• Qian Shiyue answered with a verse about blossoms rising from withered trees, and the hall applauded her effort.
• Xia Wanwan said Qian Shiyue’s verse fell far short of the original, suggesting Great Xia still faced defeat.

Xia Wanwan joined Princess Liuli’s poetry contest and completed the verse with a line that stunned the gathering, prompting Liuli to concede. After winning, Xia Wanwan claimed her reward and began drawing a design on the yellow jadeite, which Liuli recognized as a pile of shit.

• Xia Wanwan asked the Ruler of Eastern Lin to promise her a request if she won the contest, and he agreed.
• Xia Wanwan wrote the verse’s second half, astonishing the court with its grandeur.
• Princess Liuli admitted defeat, saying no verse could surpass Xia Wanwan’s.
• Xia Wanwan chose to have something carved from the yellow jadeite and began drawing her design.
• Princess Liuli recognized Xia Wanwan’s rough sketch as a pile of shit.

Xia Wanwan insisted that the Ruler of Eastern Lin honor his promise and have a carver turn the yellow jadeite into a pile of shit, while Xia Siheng rejected the ruler’s attempt to reconcile. As the carving began, the Ruler of Eastern Lin recalled how his ambition had led him to sacrifice his sister and betray the Late Emperor.

• Xia Wanwan argued that Princess Liuli had to honor the promise to carve whatever design she drew, and Qian Shiyue showed the officials her drawing of a pile of shit.
• Xia Siheng, Minister Liu, and Great Xia’s officials pressured the Ruler of Eastern Lin to keep his word, and he ordered the carver to proceed.
• The State Preceptor assured the Ruler of Eastern Lin that he would remove the cursing inside the jadeite before it could be revealed.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin asked Xia Siheng to forgive him for his mother’s suffering, but Xia Siheng rejected him and said Consort Ling was his only Imperial Consort.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin remembered sending his sister to Great Xia as part of a scheme to seize its territory and secretly killing the physician who could have cured the Late Emperor’s arm.

The Ruler of Eastern Lin’s scheme to sabotage a jadeite carving backfires when Xia Wanwan reflects his spell, turning the diplomatic gift into a public insult. After the Ruler spits blood in fury, he sees Yuanbao and recognizes him as Wushuang.

• The Ruler of Eastern Lin recalled murdering his brothers and father to seize the throne, and planned to make Xia Siheng emperor so East Lin could claim Great Xia.
• East Lin’s State Preceptor tried to place a curse on the jadeite carving, but Xia Wanwan reflected his spells back at him.
• The finished carving revealed the words “To behold this is to behold East Lin” above a lump of shit, provoking laughter throughout the hall.
• The emperor ordered the jadeite displayed on the Capital’s city walls, and Minister Liu carried it off before the Ruler of Eastern Lin could stop him.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin spat blood from rage, then encountered Xia Siheng’s family as Yuanbao announced that Shen Chuanlian had disappeared.
• Seeing Yuanbao, the Ruler of Eastern Lin dropped his medicine bottle and tearfully called him “Wushuang!”

Xia Wanwan hurried Yuanbao away after the Ruler of Eastern Lin mistook him for his lost love, Wushuang. Xia Siheng considered using Yuanbao to undermine East Lin, but Liu Wan objected, and the couple ended the journey teasing each other about their feelings.

• Xia Wanwan recognized that Yuanbao looked exactly like Wushuang and ordered him to flee before the Ruler of Eastern Lin could reach him.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin chased after Yuanbao, but Xia Siheng blocked him and told him to return to the Embassy.
• Liu Wan and Xia Siheng realized Yuanbao's resemblance to Wushuang might help them place a pawn near the Ruler of Eastern Lin.
• Liu Wan warned Xia Siheng not to involve Yuanbao without his consent and said he liked young, handsome boys rather than the older ruler.
• Xia Siheng grew jealous of Liu Wan's familiarity with Yuanbao, then brightened when she reassured him that she had loved him since childhood.

Liu Wan and Xia Siheng returned to the Ninth Prince's Residence and learned that Shen Chuanlian had vanished from Zi Mu's study. Liu Wan realized he was seeking answers about her Lotus Knot and offered to make him one, leaving him hopeful of learning more.

• Xia Siheng told Liu Wan that if his military campaign went badly, she should live as she wished, but promised to return and spend his life with their family if he survived.
• Yuanbao reported that Shen Chuanlian and Gu Ming had disappeared after Shen Chuanlian went to visit Zi Mu.
• Zi Mu revealed that Shen Chuanlian had questioned him about Liu Wan's distinctive Lotus Knot after seeing it on his jade pendant.
• Liu Wan found Shen Chuanlian in the Main Courtyard, where Pan Chun and Wang Xia had been trying to make him a Lotus Knot; he concluded that Liu Wan had an unusual, possibly innate connection to the design.
• Xia Wanwan tackled Shen Chuanlian and threatened him with her shovel, but Pan Chun explained that he had only asked them to make a knot.
• Liu Wan offered to make Shen Chuanlian a Lotus Knot and take him to choose a jade pendant to wear it on.

Yuanbao questioned Xia Wanwan about the possessive looks at the palace gates, while Shen Chuanlian waited outside the storehouse and remembered the abuse he and his mother suffered in Southern Yue. His memories reached the night he discovered the King of Southern Yue assaulting his mother, then turned to the events that had first made her a target.

• Yuanbao asked Xia Wanwan what had happened at the palace gates, and she wondered whether he had eaten Wushuang's corpse because he looked like the Ruler of Eastern Lin's unattainable love.
• Yuanbao denied eating anyone and told Xia Wanwan to watch Shen Chuanlian, who was waiting outside the storehouse as Liu Wan selected rewards inside.
• Shen Chuanlian recalled how palace princes and attendants had bullied him and his mother at Lianxin Hall, and how one prince had pretended to be his friend to exploit him.
• After a eunuch carried him away, Shen Chuanlian escaped through a dog hole and saw the King of Southern Yue assaulting his mother.
• Shen Chuanlian attacked the King of Southern Yue, but attendants restrained him, and his mother killed herself; her final letter later revealed the history behind her persecution.

Shen Chuanlian recalled the horrors that had driven him to become the Demon God and realized the Heavenly Dao had shaped his tragic fate. In the present, Liu Wan welcomed him into her family, and Liu Shi’s visit led to an invitation for everyone to share dinner together.

• Shen Chuanlian remembered his mother’s abuse and murder, the people’s cruelty, and his revenge on the Southern Yue Imperial House before he and the Patriarch of the Mystic Sect perished.
• Shen Chuanlian recalled seeing the Heavenly Dao at their deaths and realizing she had engineered his suffering to turn him into a demon, then sealed his divine soul in the World-Suppressing Tower.
• Liu Wan gave Xia Wanwan a Peace-Blessing Pendant and began tying a decorative cord for Shen Chuanlian, while Wanwan watched him warily.
• Liu Shi visited, played with Xia Wanwan, and brought dolls as gifts; Liu Wan tied a cord for Shen Chuanlian and invited him to stay for dinner.
• Xia Siheng gathered the family for dinner and said he had invited his father-in-law and the others; Liu Wan then told Liu Shi to buy a third doll for the family’s three children.

Liu Wan handed out toys to the children after the Liu family shared dinner at the Ninth Prince's Residence, while Liu Shi proudly claimed the role of her most loyal servant. As Xia Siheng tried to take the last toy from Liu Wan, a bout of coughing interrupted their teasing.

• Liu Wan sent Liu Shi to buy toys for Zi Xing and Liu Qingqing, and Liu Shi secretly kept one for himself.
• Minister Liu's family arrived for dinner, and Xia Siheng explained that he had invited them before the Ruler of Eastern Lin visited the next day.
• Liu Wan gave toys to Liu Qingqing, Xia Wanwan, Zi Mu, and Shen Chuanlian.
• Xia Wanwan chased Shen Chuanlian after he took his toy, and Gu Ming hurried after them.
• Xia Siheng reached for the toy Liu Wan had saved for Zi Xing, and their playful tussling brought them into an embrace before coughing interrupted them.

Shen Chuanlian realized Liu Wan was the reincarnation of his mother, the Lotus Sacred Body, while the Ruler of Eastern Lin prepared a plot involving Great Xia’s death warriors and the qilin. The chapter ended with the Ruler heading to the Ninth Prince’s Residence, intent on taking someone who resembled his dead beloved back to East Lin.

• Xia Siheng carried Liu Wan from the Flower Hall to their room, while their servants watched and snickered.
• Shen Chuanlian heard Gu Ming’s evidence that Liu Wan had the Lotus Sacred Body and wept with joy at recognizing her as his mother’s reincarnation.
• Xia Wanwan eavesdropped on Shen Chuanlian, then asked Yuanbao what the Lotus Sacred Body was and resolved to question the Grandmaster.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin told Duke Yan that he planned to use the death warriors he had raised in Great Xia, while keeping Duke Yan’s daughter as leverage.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin ordered Duke Yan to take the Phoenix Feather Plume to Phoenix Mountain and prepare its people before the death warriors moved out.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin set off for the Ninth Prince’s Residence, hoping to take the person who resembled Wushuang back to East Lin.

The Ruler of Eastern Lin mistook the Capital’s crowds for admirers, then learned they were mocking East Lin as the Shit Kingdom. He swallowed his anger and continued to the Ninth Prince’s Residence, while Qing Da hinted that he had helped spread the joke among the commoners.

• The Ruler of Eastern Lin ordered his palanquin slowed so the people of Great Xia could admire him.
• The commoners loudly discussed East Lin’s jadeite statue and called the country the Shit Kingdom, leaving the Ruler of Eastern Lin furious and humiliated.
• Eunuch Mo warned the Ruler of Eastern Lin not to jeopardize their plans, and he suppressed his anger and ordered his men to hurry to the Ninth Prince’s Residence.
• Qing Da returned to the Ninth Prince’s Residence and told Wang Xia and Qing Sheng that he had acted on the Princess Consort’s instructions to draw attention to the shit by the city gate.

Liu Wan and Xia Siheng prepared for the Ruler of Eastern Lin’s visit, intending to provoke him into giving Great Xia a cause for war. When he arrived and tried to excuse his role in Xia Siheng’s mother’s death, Xia Siheng erupted in anger.

• Qing Da reported that he had stirred the common folk into insulting Eastern Lin, hoping their words would anger its ruler.
• Liu Wan explained to Xia Siheng that repeated provocations could drive the Ruler of Eastern Lin into an outburst that justified war.
• Liu Wan and Xia Siheng dressed to receive the Ruler of Eastern Lin, and Xia Wanwan joined them at the entrance after being woken.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin criticized the Ninth Prince’s Residence and claimed Xia Siheng would have been better off if he had been taken to Eastern Lin as a child.
• When the Ruler of Eastern Lin blamed his mother’s death on assassins acting independently, Xia Siheng slammed his teacup down and filled the room with an icy aura.

The Ruler of Eastern Lin tried to use Xia Siheng’s concern for his grandmother to persuade him to withdraw troops from the border, then asked to meet Yuanbao. Xia Wanwan’s family devised a plan to keep the ruler longing for Yuanbao, and his stunned reaction suggested their scheme could work.

• The Ruler of Eastern Lin told Xia Siheng that his maternal grandmother was ill and suggested a visit might improve her condition, stirring Xia Siheng’s resolve to see her.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin asked Xia Siheng to withdraw the armored cavalry stationed on East Lin’s border, but Xia Siheng told him to seek the Great Xia emperor’s approval.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin asked to meet Yuanbao, who had carried Princess Ximing away from the palace gates.
• Xia Wanwan suggested showing the ruler Yuanbao while keeping him out of reach, and Liu Wan sent Pan Chun to fetch him.
• Yuanbao appeared dressed in smoky purple, and the Ruler of Eastern Lin dropped his teacup as he stared at how much Yuanbao resembled Wushuang.

The Ruler of Eastern Lin became infatuated with Yuanbao, whom he believed was Wushuang reincarnated, while Xia Siheng defended Liu Wan against the ruler’s criticism. The meal ended with Qing Da reporting that Princess Ximing and Princess Liuli were fighting.

• Yuanbao charmed the Ruler of Eastern Lin, rejected his attempt to rename him, and left after Xia Wanwan urged him to go.
• Xia Siheng told the Ruler of Eastern Lin that Yuanbao was a man, intensifying the ruler’s belief that he was Wushuang reincarnated.
• Liu Wan invited the group to lunch in the Flower Hall, where Xia Wanwan and Princess Liuli left the table together.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin criticized Liu Wan for not having children, and Xia Siheng warned him to stop meddling in the Ninth Prince’s family affairs.
• Qing Da rushed in and reported that Princess Ximing and Princess Liuli were fighting.

Xia Wanwan and Princess Liuli staged a fight to distract Qing Da so they could eat the feast food meant for Big Yellow, then discovered that they were both from the modern world. They bonded over their shared transmigration, and Liuli began explaining why she wanted to return home.

• Qing Da found Xia Wanwan and Princess Liuli apparently fighting and hurried to fetch the adults, afraid to intervene because they were both princesses.
• After Qing Da left, Xia Wanwan and Princess Liuli stopped pretending to fight, ate the food, and knocked Big Yellow unconscious when it barked.
• Princess Liuli told Xia Wanwan that she had transmigrated after tapping a novel recommendation, but remembered neither its title nor its plot.
• Xia Wanwan realized the book was actually historical records written by the Grandmaster, but kept that from Princess Liuli.
• The girls discovered they were both from the modern world and promised to be friends, then Xia Wanwan asked if Liuli wanted to return home.
• Princess Liuli said she did, adding that the people around her were fictional and that her Imperial Father frightened her.

Princess Liuli told Xia Wanwan about her fear of the Ruler of Eastern Lin and her Imperial Grandmother’s mysterious decline, but Liu Wan interrupted before they could say more. When the Ruler of Eastern Lin arrived, the girls loudly blamed each other over the missing food, and he ordered Liuli to apologize to Xia Wanwan.

• Princess Liuli told Xia Wanwan that her Imperial Grandmother had once raved about deaths before becoming mute, and that she feared the Ruler of Eastern Lin might kill her.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin approached, and Xia Wanwan pretended to cry after smearing saliva on her face.
• Liu Wan arrived alone, told Xia Wanwan she could eat more later, and helped her and Princess Liuli wake Big Yellow.
• When Xia Siheng, the Ruler of Eastern Lin, and the others arrived, Xia Wanwan and Princess Liuli blamed each other for the empty food bowl while Big Yellow silently bore the blame.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin ordered Princess Liuli to apologize to Xia Wanwan, and Liuli complied while the two girls exchanged rapid blinks.

Xia Wanwan agreed to let Yuanbao attend the Ruler of Eastern Lin’s appointment after plotting a countermeasure with him. After learning from Princess Liuli that the Empress Dowager might be in danger, Xia Siheng went to the palace, while Jing Wu struggled with his inability to protect Yuanbao.

• The Ruler of Eastern Lin gave Xia Siheng a brocade box containing a purple jadeite bracelet for Yuanbao and asked Yuanbao to meet him at the Emerald Mist House the next day.
• Yuanbao admired the bracelet, and Xia Wanwan warned him that the Ruler of Eastern Lin might have a scheme; she then whispered a plan to him, and he agreed to attend the appointment.
• Xia Wanwan told Xia Siheng that the Empress Dowager might be in trouble and explained what Princess Liuli had said, prompting him to go to the palace.
• Jing Wu silently watched Yuanbao and left without voicing his concerns about the appointment.
• Jing Wu punched through a tree trunk and lamented that his low status kept him from protecting Yuanbao, while Jing Er helped him put away the Rosy Cloud Immortal Dress he had bought.

Jing Wu secretly followed Yuanbao to the Ruler of Eastern Lin's private chamber and discovered a plot to drug him. The Ruler of Eastern Lin believed Yuanbao had drunk the drugged wine, but the chapter ended without revealing its effects.

• Jing Wu had bought a Rosy Cloud Immortal Dress for Yuanbao but felt unworthy after seeing the jadeite bracelet the Ruler of Eastern Lin had given him.
• Jing Er covered Jing Wu's duties so he could secretly follow Yuanbao the next day.
• At Emerald Mist House, Jing Wu overheard Eunuch Mo and the Ruler of Eastern Lin prepare drugged wine and recreate the scene of the ruler's past encounter with Wushuang.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin welcomed Yuanbao in a red dress and claimed he wanted to be friends with him.
• Yuanbao questioned the ruler, drank his cup of wine, and watched as the ruler eagerly drank his own.

Yuanbao manipulated the drugged Ruler of Eastern Lin into revealing his ambition to seize the throne, then incapacitated him before he could attack. Consort Xian took charge of the unconscious ruler and planned to use his own drug against him.

• Yuanbao told the Ruler of Eastern Lin that he loved the Emperor of Great Xia and would never give himself to anyone else, provoking the ruler's jealousy and rage.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin grabbed Yuanbao and said he would take him to sit on the dragon throne if the Emperor of Great Xia were gone.
• Jing Wu moved to intervene, but a Hidden Guard stopped him while Consort Xian watched from the sidelines.
• Yuanbao used spiritual power to make the Ruler of Eastern Lin topple over, then covered himself with Jing Wu's cloak and left the rest to Consort Xian.
• Consort Xian revealed her plan to use hallucinogenic pills to avoid sleeping with the ruler and poured more drugged wine into his mouth.

Yuanbao and Jing Wu returned to the Ninth Prince's Residence after escaping Consort Xian's scheme, and Jing Wu realized he loved Yuanbao. Meanwhile, the Ruler of Eastern Lin discovered he had been drugged and left with Eunuch Mo; on his way back, he encountered a woman named Linglong.

• Yuanbao and Jing Wu escaped the private chamber, and Jing Wu asked Yuanbao not to wear red because it looked like wedding clothes.
• Jing Wu told Yuanbao that red looked lovely on him when they were together, then took his hand and invited him home for grilled fish.
• Yuanbao decided he wanted to become a real woman before entering the Ninth Prince's Residence, and the two reported what had happened.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin found Eunuch Mo disheveled in the chamber, flew into a rage, and smashed the room before washing and changing.
• A beggar crashed into the Ruler of Eastern Lin's carriage, and his guard reported that beggars were bullying Linglong, who was offering herself for sale to bury her father.

The Ruler of Eastern Lin encountered Linglong, a woman who resembled both Yuanbao and Wushuang, and arranged for her to join him after she mourned her father. Meanwhile, Xia Siheng, the emperor, and the Empress Dowager plotted against the Ruler, then staged a public confrontation with Duke Yan to lure him into their trap.

• The Ruler of Eastern Lin spotted Linglong, intervened when a beggar threatened her, and offered to take her in after she buried her father and mourned for three days.
• The Ruler gave Linglong a token and told her to come to the Embassy after three days; once he left, Linglong's tearful expression turned cold.
• Xia Siheng, the emperor, and the Empress Dowager discussed their plan to exploit the conflict with the Ruler of Eastern Lin and use Duke Yan's family.
• The emperor summoned Duke Yan and accused him of secretly meeting the Ruler of Eastern Lin, while Duke Yan loudly challenged the emperor's claims of trust.

The Emperor of Great Xia forced Duke Yan to reveal that the Ruler of Eastern Lin planned to have the Qilin acknowledge the Little Imperial Prince, then ordered Duke Yan’s family killed and confined him. After East Lin’s informant helped him escape to the Embassy, Duke Yan asked to bring the coup forward and seize the throne.

• The Emperor of Great Xia threatened Duke Yan’s family and killed his younger son to force him to confess what the Ruler of Eastern Lin had told him.
• Duke Yan revealed that East Lin planned to have the Qilin acknowledge the Little Imperial Prince in two days, while concealing the plan to deploy death warriors.
• The emperor ordered Duke Yan’s wife and surviving son killed, then confined Duke Yan to the Duke’s Residence.
• East Lin’s informant reported Duke Yan’s plight, and the Ruler of Eastern Lin sent men to escort him to the Embassy.
• Duke Yan asked the Ruler of Eastern Lin to launch the palace coup on the day the Qilin appeared, kill the emperor, and seize the throne.

Duke Yan and the Ruler of Eastern Lin planned a coup for the day the Qilin appeared, aiming to kill the emperor and put Xia Siheng on the throne. The emperor, Xia Siheng, and the Empress Dowager learned of the plot through the rabbit’s transmitted images, and Xia Siheng was relieved that the rebellion had not made him emperor.

• Duke Yan told the Ruler of Eastern Lin that he would use Lin Jun and poison to keep the emperor in the palace while they seized power.
• Duke Yan claimed he wanted revenge rather than the throne and proposed making Xia Siheng emperor, while the Ruler of Eastern Lin planned to win Xia Siheng’s gratitude by staging an attack on his family.
• Duke Yan warned that Consort Jing’s rabbit might reveal their plan, but the Ruler of Eastern Lin dismissed the concern and continued plotting with him.
• The Empress Dowager, the emperor, and Xia Siheng watched the rabbit’s images as Master Youzheng translated the conspirators’ conversation.
• Xia Siheng flattered the emperor and pretended to rush off to fight the conspirators, then privately felt relieved that he had almost been made emperor.

Xie Jin'an went to the Qilin ceremony hoping to bring its blessings home to his newborn daughter, while the Ruler of Eastern Lin announced that the Qilin would choose a child as its master. Liu Wan prepared Xia Wanwan for whatever might happen, and Consort Jing insisted that only Xia Siheng’s child could be the prophesied divine descendant.

• Xie Jin'an followed the crowds to the ceremony after learning the Qilin might bestow blessings, and he encountered Xie Jinzhao and Li Duoduo there.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin displayed the Qilin Horn and announced that the Qilin would choose one child present as its master.
• Li Duoduo hoped her child would become the Qilin Lord, while Xia Wanwan asked Liu Wan whether she had ever seen a Qilin.
• Liu Wan warned Xia Wanwan not to panic when the Qilin appeared and told her to accept whatever happened.
• Consort Jing claimed the prophecy required the divine descendant to be Ninth Prince Xia Siheng’s child and privately believed her own son would be chosen.

Consort Jing tried to make Liu Wan regret not having another child before the Qilin chose its lord, but Liu Wan proudly defended her daughter. When the Qilin’s power spread through the capital, Shen Chuanlian rushed to reach it, only for Yuanbao to block his escape.

• Consort Jing told Liu Wan that her son’s divine marrow might make him the Qilin Lord, but Liu Wan said she had no regrets because her daughter was cherished by her family.
• The Sovereign led the ritual with the Qilin Horn, and its powerful light spread across the capital.
• Shen Chuanlian sensed the Qilin’s presence and ordered Gu Ming to take him to it so he could restore his power and true form.
• Liu Zimu tried to stop Shen Chuanlian from leaving, but Gu Ming used Teleportation to get past him.
• Gu Ming and Shen Chuanlian collided with Cat Bro, who asked Shen Chuanlian where he was going.