Recaps

Ren Yingying offered Nanxing cosmetic surgery, and Nanxing later revealed that her breasts had grown after taking medicine from the Princess Consort. Pei Shen discovered the change while tending to Nanxing, while Tang Zhuyun waited for Yanran, who had been stopped on the way.

• Ren Yingying joked with Nanxing about her body and offered her a free cosmetic procedure, but Nanxing said she would think about it.
• A few days later, Pei Shen returned from the spring examinations and found Nanxing pale and bedridden with menstrual pain.
• While rubbing Nanxing’s lower belly, Pei Shen noticed her enlarged breasts and briefly suspected she was an impostor before recognizing her.
• Nanxing told Pei Shen that the change came from medicine given by Her Highness the Princess Consort, and Pei Shen accepted the explanation with relief.
• Ren Yingying wrote to Tang Zhuyun to boast about her work, while Tang Zhuyun sent someone to find Yanran after she failed to arrive for a meal.
• Someone had stopped Yanran on her way.

Yanran met Xiao Pang, her biological father, and explained that although she would provide for him in his old age, her love and companionship belonged to the family who had raised her. Xiao Pang left with the painful understanding that Yanran neither hated nor resented him, but did not consider him a parent in her life.

• Yanran recognized Xiao Pang as her biological father and asked whether her father had allowed him to leave or he had escaped.
• Xiao Pang explained that he could control himself and had begged Yanran's father to let him move about freely.
• Yanran told Xiao Pang she knew the history of her parents and felt no longing for them because her father, Mother Consort, and Brother had given her everything she needed.
• Yanran promised to provide Xiao Pang with care and silver in his old age but said she would give her company to the family who had raised her.
• Yanran said she understood the reasons behind her biological parents' choices, held no resentment, and would make the best arrangements for Xiao Pang when she grew up.

Xiao Pang warned Yanran to avoid the Zhou family and revealed that he had disguised himself as a woman to watch the banquet. Yanran felt upset after their conversation, but Linlin comforted her and helped her see that a parent's choice to leave did not measure a child's worth; she left with a new resolve to go home and do something important.

• Xiao Pang warned Yanran to stay away from the Zhou family, then admitted he had dressed as a woman to attend the banquet and keep watch for them.
• Yanran told Xiao Pang she would feel upset if she ever had to stand against him, then went to the garden to be alone and let herself cry.
• Linlin found Yanran, wiped her tears, and took her out for grilled meat instead of letting her return to Tang Zhuyun for the meal.
• Linlin told Yanran that even gold was not treasured by everyone, helping her understand that people who leave do not define her value.
• After eating, Yanran arranged for grilled meat to be sent to the prince's residence and told Linlin she wanted to go home because she had something more important to do.

Yanran urged the Prince of Jin to meet Xiao Pang, who revealed he had information about the Prince’s mother and a portrait hidden in a border city. Tang Zhuyun also received a letter from Ren Yingying asking to bring Qu Nian’s four concubines to seek refuge, while Yingying’s plans for Dog Meat alarmed her.

• Yanran told Tang Zhuyun that Xiao Pang said he might help with the search for her grandmother but wanted to speak with the Prince of Jin, and Tang Zhuyun encouraged her to tell him.
• The Prince of Jin met Xiao Pang, who shared information about his mother and said he had a portrait of her hidden in an old house in a border city.
• The Prince of Jin sent someone to inspect the house before planning to retrieve the portrait, while Tang Zhuyun agreed the city’s vast size made finding her missing relative difficult.
• Xiu'er brought Ren Yingying’s medicine and a letter in which Yingying asked Tang Zhuyun to shelter Qu Nian’s four concubines.
• Tang Zhuyun told the Prince of Jin that Ren Yingying had also mentioned castrating Dog Meat, and the Prince dismissed the idea as ordinary.

Qu Nian fled Qu Hua’s guards and was injured by their bait before Ren Yingying treated him. Nanxing told Ren Yingying that she felt closer to Pei Shen and no longer considered herself unworthy of him, while Ren Yingying joked about Qu Nian’s sex and sent him scrambling away.

• Qu Nian escaped Qu Hua’s guards, but one of them hit him with a raw bone and scraped his side.
• Qu Nian ran to Ren Yingying, who found and treated his injury while Nanxing worried that he might need a veterinarian.
• Nanxing admitted that her misgivings about Pei Shen were fading and that she now dared to look at him without feeling unworthy.
• Nanxing said she wanted to see Pei Shen lose control because of her, and Ren Yingying teased her about their intimacy.
• Ren Yingying suggested granting Qu Nian’s supposed wish to become a female dog, and Qu Nian yowled and fled her arms.

Ren Yingying and Nanxing discussed Qu Nian’s unusual intelligence and Qu Hua’s troublemaking, then planned how Ren Yingying could investigate what was beneath the pool. Ren Yingying gave Jinse a pair of earplugs and asked her for a favor, leaving Qu Nian wary of her next scheme.

• Ren Yingying joked about altering Dog Meat’s body, and Nanxing remarked that Qu Nian seemed to understand their conversation and act like a man.
• Ren Yingying told Nanxing that Qu Hua had turned against her after Ren Yingying mocked her suspicion that someone was using a voodoo doll against her brother.
• Ren Yingying admitted she was desperate to investigate what was under the pool, so Nanxing suggested she claim she wanted to play in it that night to keep others away.
• Pei Shen came to pick Nanxing up, and Nanxing promised Ren Yingying she would sneak over later.
• Ren Yingying summoned Jinse, who explained she was making cotton earplugs because the sound of her own qin playing bothered her.
• Ren Yingying gave Jinse a pair of earplugs from her operating room, and Jinse gratefully accepted as Ren Yingying asked her for a favor.

Ren Yingying and her companions hauled a locked chest from the pool and sent a rubbing of its hidden-lock pattern to Tang Zhuyun for help opening it. Meanwhile, Zhou Xu brought her bound aunt to Tang Zhuyun, who prepared to examine her while guarding against trouble.

• Ren Yingying asked Jinse to play a suggestive melody to distract Qu Hua while she retrieved something from the pool.
• Ren Yingying, Nanxing, Jinjin, and Qu Nian pulled a heavy chest from the pool and found a hidden lock carved into its top.
• Ren Yingying set aside paper covered with six portraits of handsome men, and Qu Nian tore the portraits to shreds.
• Xiao Ye arrived with Tang Zhuyun's letter, and Ren Yingying sent him back with a rubbing of the lock and an explanation.
• Zhou Xu brought her bound aunt to the prince's residence, and Tang Zhuyun went out to see her with precautions in place.

Tang Zhuyun examined Zhou Xu’s concubine mother and discovered that she had been poisoned, not afflicted with consumption or lung disease. Zhou Xu chose to have her treated, and Tang Zhuyun said she would prepare medicine the next day.

• The Prince of Jin joined Tang Zhuyun on her way to see Zhou Xu, but Tang Zhuyun went ahead because Zhou Xu had brought her concubine mother.
• Zhou Xu told Tang Zhuyun that she had tied up Concubine Yu because her face was injured and her mind was unwell.
• Concubine Yu begged Zhou Xu to take her back, but Zhou Xu refused and threatened to die alongside her if she kept speaking of death.
• Tang Zhuyun examined Concubine Yu and determined that she had been poisoned rather than suffering from consumption or lung disease.
• Zhou Xu asked Tang Zhuyun to save Concubine Yu, and Tang Zhuyun offered to prepare medicine the next day.

Zhou Xu offered to use her relationship with Wu Zhenhai to help Tang Zhuyun and the Prince of Jin secure military power, asking Tang Zhuyun to shelter her mother in return. Tang Zhuyun agreed to protect Concubine Yu temporarily, while Zhou Xu left to pursue her plan.

• Zhou Xu asked Tang Zhuyun to find shelter for Concubine Yu, then warned that the Zhou Family would not help the Prince of Jin consolidate military power.
• Zhou Xu privately told Tang Zhuyun that Wu Zhenhai, a man her grandfather relied on, was her lover and might be persuaded to help.
• Zhou Xu offered to leave Concubine Yu in Tang Zhuyun's care and said a guard could follow her to verify her claims.
• Tang Zhuyun agreed to shelter Concubine Yu temporarily after Zhou Xu paid a thousand taels and promised to help.
• Zhou Xu said goodbye to Concubine Yu and left without looking back, while Tang Zhuyun arranged for her to stay until morning.
• As Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er walked back, Xiu'er suddenly remembered something.

Tang Zhuyun returned to find the Prince of Jin furious after a maid tried to curry favor with him, then learned he was upset because his birth mother's portrait had been ruined. She told him about Zhou Xu's claim to be Wu Zhenhai's lover, and he insisted it was impossible.

• Xiu'er recalled that a young married woman at a banquet had said she was Wu Zhenhai's daughter, leading Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er to worry about Zhou Xu's past.
• Tang Zhuyun returned to the residence and found the Prince of Jin raging after a maid had tried to ingratiate herself with him.
• Tang Zhuyun ordered the guards to sell the maid far away if she was still alive, then calmed the Prince of Jin and learned his mother's portrait had been blurred by water damage.
• Tang Zhuyun told the Prince of Jin that Zhou Xu claimed to be Wu Zhenhai's lover, and he firmly said it was impossible.

Tang Zhuyun and the Prince of Jin investigated Zhou Xu’s claims about Wu Zhenhai and learned that Zhou Xu had secretly met him. They decided to keep Concubine Yu at the prince’s residence while waiting to see whether Zhou Xu could help them.

• The Prince of Jin told Tang Zhuyun that Wu Zhenhai had children, had been a widower for years, and openly accepted male lovers after being caught with a man.
• Tang Zhuyun questioned whether Wu Zhenhai had a hidden ailment, while the Prince of Jin suspected Zhou Xu was lying about her relationship with him.
• Tang Zhuyun and the Prince of Jin shared a tender moment when their unborn child moved, and they promised to keep searching for her mother.
• A guard reported that Wu Zhenhai had taken Zhou Xu away, believing she had slipped out to meet him secretly without his knowledge of her visit to the prince’s residence.
• The Prince of Jin decided to keep Concubine Yu under his protection, and Tang Zhuyun joked with him before Zhou Xu became intimate with Wu Zhenhai.

Zhou Xu manipulated Wu Zhenhai into indulging her, then told him she had once ended a pregnancy caused by their affair. Wu Zhenhai was left furious and demanding the truth, while Zhou Xu remained unmoved.

• Wu Zhenhai and Zhou Xu slept together, and he accused her of deliberately provoking him to ask for favors.
• Wu Zhenhai proposed asking the governor for permission to marry Zhou Xu, but she mocked the idea and their ruined reputations.
• Wu Zhenhai asked whether Madam had been making things difficult for Zhou Xu, then said he should marry her before she became pregnant.
• Zhou Xu said she would simply end a pregnancy and revealed that she had already ended one of Wu Zhenhai's children.
• Wu Zhenhai demanded to know whether she had ever been pregnant, and Zhou Xu said she had ended the pregnancy when it was two months along, three months after their relationship began.
• Zhou Xu told Wu Zhenhai not to pretend to be devoted or compassionate because neither of them was that kind of person.

Zhou Xu rejected Wu Zhenhai’s attempt to care for her and left without showing him affection, prompting him to investigate whom she had been meeting. Meanwhile, Tang Zhuyun and Xiu’er discussed Zhou Xu’s visit and continued trying to uncover the truth about Concubine Yu’s condition.

• Zhou Xu told Wu Zhenhai she would cover up the marks with powder, refused his offer of tonics, and insisted he call her Zhou Xu rather than by her childhood name.
• Wu Zhenhai escorted Zhou Xu back to her room, then ordered someone to investigate whom she had recently been in contact with.
• The next day, Tang Zhuyun learned that Zhou Xu had stayed with Wu Zhenhai for two hours and that he had escorted her home.
• Xiu’er suggested Zhou Xu might have been plotting with Wu Zhenhai, while Tang Zhuyun wondered if he had been unable to perform.
• Tang Zhuyun and Xiu’er discussed Concubine Yu, and Xiu’er recalled that Concubine Yu had seemed afraid of something.

Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er discussed Concubine Yu, pregnancy, and the Prince of Jin's efforts to feed hungry baby birds. Xiu'er then discovered that a woman who had tried to enter the prince's bed had died, and warned the residence's servants against scheming.

• Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er wondered why Concubine Yu still wanted to return to the Zhou family despite Zhou Xu's threats.
• Xiu'er explained that thinking of her past had moved her to write Song Jingyang a letter, leaving her with little sleep.
• Tang Zhuyun told Xiu'er how the Prince of Jin had enlisted Eighth Master to help feed the baby birds.
• Xiu'er searched for Yanran and Jiaojiao, then saw guards carrying away the woman who had tried to climb into the prince's bed.
• Xiu'er told the gathered maids and older servant women that anyone seeking to scheme in the residence could be made an example of.

Xiu'er checked on Nanny Jing and Concubine Yu after arranging a birthday celebration for Nanny Jing. Concubine Yu maintained her appearance of madness while worrying about her daughter Zhou Xu, who had not yet come to visit.

• Yanran tried to catch koi so she could find out whether they tasted terrible, while Xiu'er reminded her that the prince had chosen them.
• Xiu'er visited Concubine Yu's courtyard and persuaded Nanny Jing to consider an opera troupe for her birthday.
• Concubine Yu asked whether Nanny Jing was the prince's wet nurse, then covered her ears and screamed to preserve her appearance of madness.
• Concubine Yu worried about Zhou Xu's future and resolved to speak with her when she visited, but Zhou Xu's plans changed.

Zhou Xu secretly tried to leave the governor’s residence to seek help from the prince’s household, but Wu Zhenhai caught and abducted her. As he rode away with her bound across his horse, she decided to claim she was the prince’s woman and use the prince’s residence to escape.

• Zhou Xu slipped out of her courtyard and persuaded a guard to help her pass through the governor’s residence, rewarding him with money and promises.
• After the guard helped Zhou Xu over the wall, she headed toward the prince’s residence and sensed someone following her.
• Wu Zhenhai seized Zhou Xu, tied her hands with a horsewhip, and threw her across his horse.
• Worried Wu Zhenhai might turn her over to the Zhou Family and endanger her aunt, Zhou Xu decided to claim she belonged to the prince and seek the princess consort’s protection.

Wu Zhenhai confronted Zhou Xu after discovering she had been intimate with several guards, but her brazen flirtation kept throwing him off balance. He demanded an explanation, and the chapter ended with him trying to hold back his desire and insisting she answer him.

• Wu Guang told Wu Zhenhai that Zhou Xu had been involved with guards, including Gao Dasheng, who had spied on her tryst and was later seduced by her.
• Wu Guang named more guards involved with Zhou Xu, and Wu Zhenhai secretly watched her behave intimately with one of them.
• Wu Zhenhai took Zhou Xu to a private residence, bound her hands, and demanded that she explain herself.
• Zhou Xu feigned innocence and teased Wu Zhenhai, then admitted she had no shame about their relationship and implied he had benefited from her affairs.
• Wu Zhenhai fought his desire for Zhou Xu and struck the bed with a feather duster, demanding an explanation.

Zhou Xu taunted Wu Zhenhai and tried to persuade him to marry her by presenting herself as helpless and devoted, then exposed his jealousy over her supposed lovers. The chapter ended with Wu Zhenhai silently untying the riding whip from behind her back.

• Zhou Xu teased Wu Zhenhai about his sexual prowess and asked whether he would marry her.
• Wu Zhenhai admitted he would think of a way but worried that marrying her would ruin his standing with the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Xu pretended to confess that she loved Wu Zhenhai and had been forced to use her body to survive, then admitted she had lied.
• Wu Zhenhai demanded to know how many men Zhou Xu had been with, and she gave him a mocking answer.
• Zhou Xu challenged Wu Zhenhai to let others sleep with her, and he stepped forward to untie the riding whip behind her back.

Zhou Xu talked Wu Zhenhai into helping her after claiming that Concubine Yu had been taken to the Prince of Jin's residence. Wu Zhenhai promised to find Concubine Yu and began considering how Zhou Xu could visit the prince's residence.

• Zhou Xu teased Wu Zhenhai after they were intimate, while Wu Guang waited outside and grew frustrated that she had won him over again.
• Wu Zhenhai scolded Zhou Xu for flirting with other men and ordered her to come to him if she encountered trouble.
• Zhou Xu told Wu Zhenhai that Concubine Yu was missing and that a maid had reported people from the prince's residence taking her away.
• Wu Zhenhai promised to find Concubine Yu, and Zhou Xu asked whether she could go to the prince's residence to investigate.

Zhou Xu pressed Wu Zhenhai to help her enter the Prince of Jin’s residence and find her aunt. Wu Zhenhai finally proposed that she tell the prince about Zhang Qian’s efforts to turn the governor-general against him.

• Wu Zhenhai warned Zhou Xu that her past actions made it difficult to enter the prince’s residence, but said the princess consort might be willing to help.
• Zhou Xu asked Wu Zhenhai to devise an excuse for visiting her aunt, and they considered why the prince’s household might have taken her in.
• Zhou Xu threatened to approach the prince’s residence through an affair with a guard unless Wu Zhenhai found a way to help.
• Wu Zhenhai told Zhou Xu to inform the Prince of Jin that Zhang Qian kept urging the governor-general to oppose him, and to recount the details accurately.

Zhou Xu brought Zhang Qian’s schemes against the Prince of Jin to Tang Zhuyun, then visited Concubine Yu and found her acting strangely about leaving the prince’s residence. Concubine Yu begged to go home, and Zhou Xu resolved to keep her there while discovering why she feared the residence.

• Wu Zhenhai carried Zhou Xu back to her courtyard and gave her a thousand taels of silver before she went to the prince’s residence the next day.
• Zhou Xu told Tang Zhuyun what Wu Zhenhai had revealed about Zhang Qian, and Tang Zhuyun sent Xiu'er to inform the Prince of Jin.
• Yanran brought Tang Zhuyun a dead koi and asked to eat it, but Tang Zhuyun told her to bury it and refused to increase her allowance.
• Zhou Xu saw Concubine Yu smiling as she spoke with Nanny Jing, but Concubine Yu became agitated when she noticed Zhou Xu and begged to go home.
• Zhou Xu told Concubine Yu to stay and recover, then decided to find out why Concubine Yu opposed staying at the prince’s residence.

Zhou Xu pleaded with Concubine Yu to stay after revealing that the Zhou Family planned to marry her to an abusive peasant, and Linlin began investigating their ties to Wu Zhenhai. After Concubine Yu tried to hang herself, Tang Zhuyun recognized something familiar in her expression, leaving her and Linlin suspicious of who Concubine Yu really was.

• Zhou Xu showed Concubine Yu the marks on her wrists and told her the Zhou Family wanted to marry her to a cruel peasant.
• Tang Zhuyun told Linlin about Zhou Xu and Wu Zhenhai, and Linlin said he would visit Concubine Yu to learn whether she was truly mad or had another motive.
• Tang Zhuyun, Xiu'er, Linlin, and Yanran ate grilled koi before they were summoned because Concubine Yu had tried to hang herself.
• Concubine Yu survived but withdrew into silence, believing that her death might free Zhou Xu from the burden of caring for her.
• When Concubine Yu looked up at Linlin, he sensed something unusual, and Tang Zhuyun recognized a familiar expression in her face.

Tang Zhuyun grew more suspicious that Concubine Yu was Bai Lu and arranged for Zhou Xu to be brought to the residence while treating Concubine Yu with care. Concubine Yu protected Tang Zhuyun and the children from Jiaojiao, and the family ended the tense visit laughing together.

• Tang Zhuyun arranged for Zhou Xu to be summoned under the pretext of questioning her about a missing pomegranate, while Linlin comforted Concubine Yu and helped her sit.
• Tang Zhuyun wondered whether Concubine Yu was Bai Lu and kept her suspicions to herself while Nanny Jing applied ointment to Concubine Yu's neck.
• Yanran whistled for Jiaojiao, and Concubine Yu rushed to shield Tang Zhuyun and the children when she saw the tiger.
• Linlin reassured Concubine Yu that Jiaojiao was tame, and Tang Zhuyun excused Yanran from copying the Classic of Poetry after Concubine Yu spoke up for her.
• Yanran offered to let Concubine Yu stroke Jiaojiao, and Xiu'er joked that Yanran kept offering the tiger's backside to people.

Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er suspected Concubine Yu might be Bai Lu, while Zhou Xu confronted her mother over her attempt to die and persuaded her to promise she would live. After Tang Zhuyun agreed to look after Concubine Yu, Zhou Xu resolved to keep trying to turn Wu Zhenhai against the Zhou Family and prove useful.

• Yanran let Concubine Yu touch Jiaojiao, and Tang Zhuyun privately remarked on Yanran's silliness.
• Tang Zhuyun told Xiu'er that Concubine Yu sometimes resembled Yanran and suspected she might be Bai Lu, then asked her to investigate Concubine Yu's age and when she joined the Zhou Family.
• Zhou Xu arrived, put a dagger in Concubine Yu's hand, and told her they would die together if she tried to kill herself again.
• Zhou Xu rebuked Concubine Yu for thinking her death would spare her daughter, and Concubine Yu promised she would stop trying to die.
• Tang Zhuyun gave Concubine Yu calming medicine and agreed to have her cared for, while Zhou Xu resolved to keep trying to turn Wu Zhenhai and the Zhou Family against each other.

Tang Zhuyun and Linlin planned to investigate whether Zhou Xu was Concubine Yu’s daughter without alerting the prince or the Zhou Family. Meanwhile, Zhou Xu used her relationship with Wu Zhenhai to seek comfort after being punished, leaving him worried about her bruised knee.

• Tang Zhuyun agreed that Linlin would sound out Concubine Yu and keep the prince uninformed until the truth was known.
• Linlin suggested using the Zhou Family’s spring outing to investigate, and Tang Zhuyun assigned Xiu'er and Yanran to make contact.
• After Concubine Yu tried to take her own life, Zhou Xu decided she had little time and needed to hurry.
• Zhou Xu summoned Wu Zhenhai to her bedchamber and teased him into sleeping with her.
• Wu Zhenhai noticed Zhou Xu’s bruised, swollen knee and learned she had been made to kneel for four hours.
• Zhou Xu asked Wu Zhenhai to make clear-broth noodles, and he reluctantly gave in to her request.