Recaps

At the Double Ninth Banquet, the Empress Dowager tried to embarrass Qi Yuanzuo by making him recite a chrysanthemum poem. He answered with his own verses and challenged her assumptions about how flowers should be loved.

• Shi Yu arrived at the banquet with the Empress Dowager and explained that he had hurried to the palace after learning his mother had been executed.
• The Qi Emperor seated Shi Yu beside him, then praised Grand Commandant Yin for his loyalty to the Crown Prince as Yin wept over his past actions.
• The ministers composed chrysanthemum poems while Qi Yuanzuo watched them flatter the Qi Emperor and noticed the Empress Dowager being ignored.
• The Empress Dowager demanded that Qi Yuanzuo recite a poem, and Shi Yu's remark that he could not recognize all his characters made it difficult for the Qi Emperor to refuse.
• Qi Yuanzuo explained that he had turned a Green Light Gathering Emerald blossom into a cake, then recited lines about plucking flowers while they bloomed and making chrysanthemums bloom alongside peach blossoms.

At the palace banquet, Qi Yuanzuo recited three poems, drew attention, and watched the Emperor promote Lady Xiao after her dance. When the Qi Emperor took him out of the palace, Qi Yuanzuo heard a strawberry seller and suspected he had found the Transmigrated Woman.

• Qi Yuanzuo recited three unfinished poems and claimed he had read them in a book called Miscellaneous Notes, while the Qi Emperor covered for him.
• At the evening banquet, Qi Yuanzuo watched the performances, and the Qi Emperor promised to take him out after the festivities.
• The Qi Emperor promoted Lady Xiao to zhaoyi after praising her dance, while Consort Yin performed among Persimmon Lanterns and hoped for a child of her own.
• The Qi Emperor and Qi Yuanzuo left the palace in ordinary clothes with attendants after the banquet began to disperse.
• Qi Yuanzuo heard a seller advertising strawberries on the street and suspected she was the Transmigrated Woman.

Qi Yuanzuo and the Qi Emperor encountered Jiang Erya, a transmigrated girl whom her father was selling along with her strawberries. After Qi Yuanzuo bought the fruit and intervened when her father beat her, he persuaded the Qi Emperor to buy Jiang Erya too, leaving her with a new master and a chance to escape her family.

• Qi Yuanzuo spotted Jiang Erya selling strawberries and learned that her father planned to sell her if the fruit did not sell.
• Jiang Erya's father tried to sell her as a maid, but the Fat Eunuch rejected him and asked about the strawberries.
• Qi Yuanzuo ate a strawberry, declared it delicious, and the Qi Emperor paid Jiang Erya's father for the fruit.
• Jiang Erya's father beat her when she offered herself to the group, so the guard dragged him away and beat him on Qi Yuanzuo's order.
• Qi Yuanzuo bought the strawberries and asked Jiang Erya to promise she would work for him.
• Qi Yuanzuo asked the Qi Emperor to buy Jiang Erya, and the Qi Emperor agreed.

After the Qi Emperor allowed Jiang Erya to stay with Qi Yuanzuo, the Crown Prince overheard a conversation hinting at a painful secret involving Su Changhe. He then questioned the female lead’s backstory, decided the original novel might be a lie, and resolved to learn martial arts as fear for his safety overwhelmed him.

• The Qi Emperor accepted Su Changhuai’s assessment that Jiang Erya’s arrival was a coincidence and let her remain because Qi Yuanzuo liked her.
• The Qi Emperor reminisced with Su Changhuai about their shared past and Su Changhe’s death, urging Su Changhuai not to resent him and to marry.
• Qi Yuanzuo woke in the carriage and inferred that Su Changhe had chosen to die in an incident connected to the Qi Emperor, while wondering whether Consort Xian was involved.
• Qi Yuanzuo questioned 88 about Jiang Erya’s past and concluded that the original novel’s account of her family might be a fabricated version of events.
• Fearing the female lead, his brothers, and even his father, Qi Yuanzuo suffered a panic episode, took his medicine, and decided he had to build his health and learn martial arts.

Jiang Erya entered the palace under Crown Prince Qi Yuanzuo’s protection, hoping to secure her place by offering to grow strawberries. After she accepted the name Jiang Liang, Qi Yuanzuo assigned her a place in the Hall of Inherited Blessing and ordered her to learn palace rules and keep him company.

• Qi Yuanzuo divided his strawberries among his father, eldest brother, and attendants, then summoned Jiang Erya to ask where she had found them.
• Jiang Erya told Simiao she had no strawberry seedlings but could grow the fruit from a seed, and Qi Yuanzuo recognized the seed as a pumpkin seed.
• Jiang Erya asked to be called Jiang Yao, but Simiao reprimanded her for rejecting the name Qi Yuanzuo would grant.
• Qi Yuanzuo reminded Jiang Erya of her promise to serve him, named her Jiang Liang, and ordered her to plant the seed in the Hall of Inherited Blessing.
• Qi Yuanzuo gave Jiang Liang two servants, a second-rank palace maid’s allowance, and instructions to learn the rules and play with him.

Qi Yuanzuo rushed to the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard and saved the Third Prince from suffocating amid heavy incense, striking Lady Zhou when she obstructed him. The Third Prince survived, while the Eldest Prince realized Lady Zhou had tried to use her son’s death to frame the Crown Prince, and the Third Prince was left grieving his mother’s betrayal.

• The Qi Emperor appointed Zhang Yao as the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor and demoted Lady Zhou after refusing to visit her sick son.
• Qi Yuanzuo and the Eldest Prince went to the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard, where the Third Prince was struggling to breathe in a room filled with heavy fragrance.
• Qi Yuanzuo ordered the windows opened and the Third Prince taken outside, but Lady Zhou resisted and accused him of trying to kill her son.
• Qi Yuanzuo slapped Lady Zhou, took the Third Prince outside, and the physicians revived the child after he stopped breathing.
• Qi Yuanzuo comforted the shaken Eldest Prince and said he could not understand why Lady Zhou would harm her own son to target him.
• The Eldest Prince recognized Lady Zhou’s scheme, while the Third Prince reflected bitterly on his mother’s betrayal and the affection he had once discarded.

The Qi Emperor confronted Lady Zhou after her overpowering perfume made the Third Prince and Crown Prince ill, then heard the Empress Dowager’s inquiry into the incident. Lady Zhou was sentenced to the cold palace, but she tried to kill the Third Prince, and Qi Yuanzuo caught him as he fell.

• The Qi Emperor arrived at the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard, kicked Lady Zhou, and heard accusations that her perfume had endangered the princes.
• Bolao explained that the Crown Prince had tried to open the windows and save the Third Prince, while Lady Zhou had restrained the child.
• Lady Zhou claimed the Crown Prince had struck her and called herself his consort mother, prompting the Qi Emperor to draw his sword before the Empress Dowager arrived.
• Zhaoyi Xiao and Zhaoyi Wei explained the perfume’s origin, and a test showed that Lady Zhou had used too much of it.
• The Qi Emperor ordered Lady Zhou confined to the cold palace, but she seized the Third Prince and dropped him; Qi Yuanzuo caught him.

After Lady Zhou was sent to the Cold Palace, Qi Yuanzuo investigated the incident and learned that jealousy had driven her to frame him. He spent time with Jiang Liang and questioned 88 about its family, but Jiang Liang still earned no affection points from him.

• The Qi Emperor sent Lady Zhou to the Cold Palace and agreed to let the Empress Dowager care for the Third Prince.
• Qi Yuanzuo sent Simiao to investigate and learned that Lady Zhou had overused the Fragrance Balm, then tried to frame the Crown Prince out of jealousy.
• Qi Yuanzuo rewarded Tabbyback and caught Jiang Liang trying to plant seeds in autumn, then asked her to teach him Five-in-a-Row.
• While helping Jiang Liang dig up the seeds, Qi Yuanzuo heard 88 lament its three sons and questioned whether he was male or female.
• Qi Yuanzuo and Jiang Liang played Five-in-a-Row, but despite his happiness, she earned no affection points from him.

The Qi Emperor tried to persuade Consort Yin to raise the Third Prince as a loyal ally to the Crown Prince, while the Empress Dowager’s secret dealings horrified the Third Prince. The next morning, Qi Yuanzuo noticed Bolao was missing and went fishing, where a turtle eagerly chased his hook.

• The Qi Emperor cuddled Qi Yuanzuo, promised to begin his lessons soon, and left after the child fell asleep to visit Consort Yin.
• The Qi Emperor proposed that Consort Yin raise the Third Prince, but she refused; after he suggested they retire together, she accepted his invitation in hopes of becoming pregnant.
• The Empress Dowager questioned whether the Third Prince resembled the Qi Emperor, then met with people involved in a secret arrangement that the Third Prince overheard and found horrifying.
• Qi Yuanzuo woke, asked where Bolao was, and went to breakfast without asking about him again when he did not return.
• Qi Yuanzuo took Jiang Liang to the Golden Pool to fish, where a turtle repeatedly chased and bit his hook.

Qi Yuanzuo punished Bolao for attacking Lady Zhou and confronted him about his deception and motives. Bolao secretly welcomed the Crown Prince’s anger, convinced it proved Qi Yuanzuo cared about him.

• Qi Yuanzuo rejected the turtle Bolao suggested keeping and avoided Bolao’s attempt to pick him up.
• Qi Yuanzuo ordered Bolao to kneel and struck him, then drank his medicine and accepted Jiang Liang’s osmanthus candy.
• Bolao remained kneeling until night while Qi Yuanzuo watched him, then the Crown Prince ordered him brought inside.
• Qi Yuanzuo accused Bolao of going to the Cold Palace, fighting, and trying to kill Lady Zhou, and said he had uncovered evidence against him.
• Qi Yuanzuo kicked Bolao in a rage, while Bolao savored the Crown Prince’s attention and believed it showed he cared.

Qi Yuanzuo confronted Bolao over his unauthorized actions against Lady Zhou, then discovered oleander pollen on Tabbyback that could have poisoned him. After confirming he was safe, he suspected several members of the court, including the Empress Dowager, of targeting him.

• Bolao begged Qi Yuanzuo for forgiveness and claimed he had only sent servants to guard the Cold Palace, while Qi Yuanzuo warned him not to act on his own again.
• Qi Yuanzuo noticed a faint fragrance and sweetness on his fingers after touching Tabbyback, then found white powder hidden in the cat's fur.
• The imperial physician identified the powder as oleander pollen, which could cause fatal throat swelling in someone with Qi Yuanzuo's weakened heart and lungs.
• Qi Yuanzuo washed his hands, ordered Tabbyback bathed, and told Simiao to report the discovery to his imperial father.
• Qi Yuanzuo reasoned that Consort Xian, Zhaoyi Xiao, Zhaoyi Wei, or the Empress Dowager might have arranged the poisoning.

The Qi Emperor comforted Qi Yuanzuo after confronting the Empress Dowager over the poisoning, then recalled his past with Su Changhe and the Crown Prince’s mother. The next morning, Qi Yuanzuo deliberately let the Eldest Prince hear clues pointing toward Consort Xian, leaving the Eldest Prince rushing to investigate.

• The Qi Emperor held Qi Yuanzuo and wept after the Empress Dowager admitted to poisoning Tabbyback, then promised that in six months no one would be able to hurt his son.
• The Qi Emperor told Qi Yuanzuo about his mother, Su Changhe, and his guilt over Su Changhe’s death, while realizing Consort Xian also had a connection to oleanders.
• Qi Yuanzuo told 88 that his intuition suggested he was close to discovering the truth about Su Changhe’s death.
• Qi Yuanzuo vomited after taking his medicine, and the Eldest Prince rushed to care for him and summoned the imperial physician.
• Fat Eunuch told the Eldest Prince that someone had poisoned Tabbyback, and the Eldest Prince remembered seeing a matron rub powder onto the cat’s head for Consort Xian.
• Qi Yuanzuo listened in secret and concluded the Eldest Prince’s reaction made Consort Xian seem responsible, while Jiang Liang wondered why Qi Yuanzuo’s affection score for her remained zero.

The Qi Emperor confronted Consort Xian over her schemes against the Crown Prince, accused her of poisoning Zuo'er, and revealed that Qi Chengyou was Su Changhe's son. After Consort Xian was confined to Condensing Dew Pavilion, the Eldest Prince searched her hidden letters and discovered one was written by Su Changhe.

• The Qi Emperor accused Consort Xian of using the Fragrance Balm Recipe and oleander pollen in plots against the Crown Prince and struck her when she denied it.
• Consort Xian argued that Qi Chengyou was the Qi Emperor's son, but the emperor declared that he was Su Changhe's child and explained why he had tolerated the boy's survival.
• The Qi Emperor demoted Consort Xian to Lady and confined her to Condensing Dew Pavilion, while the Eldest Prince overheard the punishment and realized his mother had poisoned the little Crown Prince.
• The Eldest Prince recalled a hidden compartment beneath the Buddha statue in Little Buddha Hall and suspected its letters explained Consort Xian's urgency to target the Crown Prince.
• After nightfall, the Eldest Prince pried open the compartment, took out four letters, and recognized the first as Su Changhe's final letter.

After discovering letters that revealed his mother Lady You’s past and his true parentage, Qi Chengyou rejected her attempt to turn him against the Crown Prince. Lady You lost control when he vowed to protect the Crown Prince, including from her.

• Qi Chengyou read four letters revealing Lady You’s jealousy of Eldest Miss Yin Family and her relationship with Su Changhe.
• Lady You found Qi Chengyou in the hall and told him the Qi Emperor suspected he was not his son, then blamed the Empress and Crown Prince for his neglect.
• Qi Chengyou realized Su Changhuai was his uncle and reconsidered how sincerely the Crown Prince had treated him in his previous life.
• Lady You urged Qi Chengyou to fight the Crown Prince, but he refused and declared that anyone who harmed the Crown Prince, including her, would be his enemy.
• Lady You snapped, tore her Bodhi Beads apart, and went mad at Qi Chengyou’s vow.

Qi Chengyou left Lady You after rejecting her, and she recalled how she had helped the You Family murder Su Changhe and forge his suicide note. She resolved to keep living and destroy what the Empress cared about, while the Qi Emperor and Qi Yuanzuo shared a warm moment over the Crown Prince’s past constipation.

• Qi Chengyou kowtowed to Lady You and left despite her threat to disown him.
• Lady You remembered that the You Family had murdered Su Changhe and that she had forged his suicide note to conceal the crime.
• Lady You blamed Qi Chengyou’s coldness on his father and decided to keep reading scriptures while waiting to ruin the Empress’s family.
• Lady You imagined the Qi Emperor discovering the truth about Su Changhe and resolved to live long enough to destroy everything the Empress cared about.
• The Qi Emperor teased Qi Yuanzuo about vomiting his medicine, then recalled how the Crown Prince had once cried over his constipation.

Qi Yuanzuo went to the Southern Academy to prove he could study with the Eldest Prince, and amazed Grand Tutor Zhang Yao by mastering the three primers. Zhang Yao agreed to ask the Qi Emperor to let the brothers study together, while Jiang Liang grew suspicious of the Crown Prince’s extraordinary abilities.

• Qi Yuanzuo bet the Qi Emperor that he could pass the Grand Tutor’s test and earn permission to study with the Eldest Prince.
• The Eldest Prince escorted Qi Yuanzuo to the Southern Academy, where they encountered Shi Yu, sent to study by the Empress Dowager.
• Zhang Yao tested Qi Yuanzuo on the Thousand Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Three Character Classic, and found that he could recite and understand them all.
• Qi Yuanzuo’s handwriting proved far worse than his knowledge, so Zhang Yao began by teaching him how to hold a brush and agreed to discuss joint lessons with the Qi Emperor.
• After Qi Yuanzuo left for the privy, Jiang Liang suspected something was wrong with him and decided to test him.

Jiang Liang tried to determine whether the little Crown Prince shared her knowledge by testing him with Arabic numerals, but his reaction gave her no confirmation. She planned to investigate the Imperial Garden, while Qi Yuanzuo suspected that Jiang Liang’s system had exposed something about him.

• Jiang Liang questioned Bolao about the Crown Prince, and Bolao warned her against reaching above her station before sharing details about threats to His Highness and his habits in the Imperial Garden.
• Bolao told Jiang Liang that the Crown Prince often visited the Nine Bends corridor and gazed east from outside it.
• Jiang Liang drew Arabic numerals in the dirt and watched the little Crown Prince’s reaction, but he called them ghostly drawings and told her to erase them.
• Jiang Liang concluded that the Crown Prince did not recognize the numerals, yet decided to look for something unusual in the Imperial Garden.
• 88 told Qi Yuanzuo that Jiang Liang’s test had frightened it, and Qi Yuanzuo suspected that her system was why she sensed something was wrong with him.

Qi Yuanzuo reasoned out that Jiang Liang’s system likely rewarded her for others’ affection, and he understood why she was testing him. When he returned to class, Shi Yu challenged him to consider the human cost of the Crown Prince’s lavish clothes.

• 88 asked Qi Yuanzuo why he kept Bolao and Jiang Liang alive, and Qi Yuanzuo explained that he wanted to use them and observe their choices.
• Qi Yuanzuo deduced that Jiang Liang could earn random system prizes by gaining other people’s affection, and that she suspected he might also have an adult soul.
• Qi Yuanzuo concluded that Jiang Liang saw herself as a wage worker rather than a servant and wanted to confirm whether he was like her.
• Qi Yuanzuo found Shi Yu feeding ants outside the classroom and challenged his comparison of the ants to common people.
• Shi Yu pointed out that the Crown Prince’s firegrass clothes and pearl ornaments had cost the lives and labor of many people.

The little Crown Prince refuted Shi Yu’s accusation about tribute and humiliated him, winning the Qi Emperor’s approval and the Eldest Prince’s loyalty. Meanwhile, the Third Prince heard the Empress Dowager announce that she was pregnant.

• The little Crown Prince explained the tribute system to Shi Yu and argued that his fine clothes reflected Great Qi’s prosperity and the Qi Emperor’s governance.
• The little Crown Prince mocked Shi Yu for exposing himself, and Shi Yu fled in embarrassment.
• The Qi Emperor joyfully tossed the little Crown Prince into the air, while the Eldest Prince decided to support him and protect him from his brothers.
• The Qi Emperor ordered the little Crown Prince to attend lessons with the Eldest Prince, and the Crown Prince said he wanted to share his classroom.
• The Empress Dowager told the Third Prince that she was pregnant and ordered someone to summon the emperor and Princess Baozhu to celebrate.

The Empress Dowager announced that she was pregnant, provoking a vicious confrontation with the Qi Emperor while the Third Prince remained trapped between them. The Qi Emperor slapped her and fled, leaving the Empress Dowager laughing and raging on the floor.

• The Empress Dowager held the month-old Third Prince and said she wanted to raise him into a lecherous, vicious brute.
• Princess Baozhu arrived, and the Empress Dowager summoned the Qi Emperor to share her good news.
• The Empress Dowager announced that she was pregnant and told Chongsi he would become an elder brother.
• The Qi Emperor condemned the Empress Dowager and traded cruel insults with her as the Third Prince was thrown against a pillar and carried away for an Imperial Physician.
• The Empress Dowager cursed the Great Ancestor, and the Qi Emperor slapped her before fleeing with Fat Eunuch.
• The Empress Dowager lay on the floor, laughing and crying as she raged about her marriage and the child taken from her.

After the Empress Dowager’s violent confrontation left the Qi Emperor and Third Prince unconscious, Qi Yuanzuo cared for them and pieced together his father’s childhood wounds and growing need for control. The Third Prince woke with a serious head injury and repeatedly forgot who Qi Yuanzuo was, leaving the Crown Prince to wonder whether he had become stupid.

• Princess Baozhu fled the Hall of Nurturing Origin as guards rushed in and killed people amid the bloodshed.
• The Qi Emperor summoned Qi Yuanzuo, clutched him while lamenting his lonely childhood, and then fainted after vomiting blood.
• Imperial Physicians treated the Qi Emperor and examined the Third Prince, whose skull had caved in after the Empress Dowager knocked him against something.
• Qi Yuanzuo stayed beside his father and injured brother, reflecting that his father’s unmet need for affection could turn into controlling behavior toward him.
• The Third Prince woke, briefly recognized Qi Yuanzuo, then repeatedly forgot him and resumed sucking his hand, prompting Qi Yuanzuo to wonder if he had turned stupid.

Qi Yuanzuo arranged care for the injured, hungry Third Prince while the Qi Emperor remained unconscious. Jiang Liang went to investigate the Imperial Garden, where Zhaoyi Wei had her beaten, leaving Jiang Liang determined to stop pursuing dangerous clues.

• The Fat Eunuch changed San'er's wet diaper, and Qi Yuanzuo arranged for Wet Nurse Zhang to care for the hungry Third Prince.
• Qi Yuanzuo entrusted San'er to the wet nurse and asked where Jiang Liang had gone.
• Jiang Liang walked through the Nine Bends covered walkway and stood among the chrysanthemums to gaze east.
• Zhaoyi Wei accused Jiang Liang of damaging the flowers and ordered her servants to slap her twenty times.
• Jiang Liang returned to the Hall of Inherited Blessing bruised and dusty, deciding not to seek justice or pursue her suspicions.

Qi Yuanzuo comforted the heartbroken Qi Emperor with a handmade strand of grass beads and resolved to help him kill the Empress Dowager. After sending Qi Yuanzuo to lessons, the Qi Emperor headed to the Hall of Nurturing Origin with a cruel plan, while Qi Yuanzuo noticed Jiang Liang’s injuries and Bolao’s subtle reaction.

• Qi Yuanzuo gave the waking Qi Emperor honey water and handmade grass beads, promising to protect him and comfort him when he was hurt.
• Qi Yuanzuo told 88 that the Empress Dowager had to die and that he would help the Qi Emperor do it, despite the consequences.
• The Qi Emperor joked with Qi Yuanzuo about getting him an ox to ride to school, then prepared to visit the Hall of Nurturing Origin and torment the Empress Dowager.
• Qi Yuanzuo saw that Jiang Liang’s face was swollen, learned that Zhaoyi Wei had hit her, and noticed Bolao’s faint, shrewd smile.

The Qi Emperor weighed the Empress Dowager’s military leverage and decided to publicize her pregnancy, while she relived the grievances that fueled her hatred of the imperial family. After lessons, the little Crown Prince gathered ten people and set out to fight Zhaoyi Wei for hitting one of his people.

• The Qi Emperor recognized that the Empress Dowager’s military tally and Sima Shu’s command of the Garrison City Army prevented him from moving against her, so he planned to expose her pregnancy and prepare for the worst.
• The Empress Dowager recalled being separated from the Qi Emperor as an infant and resolved to keep tormenting him, then sent word that she wanted to see the Crown Prince.
• After afternoon lessons, the little Crown Prince returned to the Hall of Inherited Blessing and learned that the Qi Emperor had left.
• The little Crown Prince asked Fat Eunuch for ten strong people and announced that he was going to fight Zhaoyi Wei because she had hit one of his people.
• The Eldest Prince followed the little Crown Prince eagerly, while Jiang Liang reacted to the mention of Zhaoyi Wei and Bolao silently ground his teeth.

Qi Yuanzuo punished Zhaoyi Wei and her servants for beating Jiang Liang, then exposed Wei’s attempt to use him to win the emperor’s favor. The emperor was delighted by the Crown Prince’s actions, while Qi Yuanzuo later joked to 88 about a grotesque plan for his family if they ever became enemies.

• Zhaoyi Wei invited the emperor to the Bright Elixir Pavilion, expecting the little Crown Prince’s arrival to help her win favor.
• Qi Yuanzuo questioned Jiang Liang, then ordered Zhaoyi Wei and the two servants who had slapped her to be restrained and beaten.
• After Jiang Liang and Zhaoyi Wei admitted fault, Qi Yuanzuo ordered the three to be beaten to death, but let them go once Wei confessed that she had overstepped.
• Qi Yuanzuo revealed that Wei had hoped to use his visit to curry favor with the emperor, while the emperor watched and celebrated his fighting spirit.
• The Eldest Prince admired Qi Yuanzuo’s manner and asked why he had spared Wei; Qi Yuanzuo said he had gone to fight, not to kill.
• Qi Yuanzuo told 88 that if he and his family ever became enemies, he would kill them all and arrange their bodies to disgust them.