Recaps

Tang Zhuyun and the Prince of Jin reached the border city, where Tang uncovered Zhou Xu’s plea for help and navigated a gathering of local families. At the Prince of Min’s residence, Ren Yingying protected Qu Nian, learned more about Qu Hua’s plans, and waited for a chance to act while preparing medicine for the border city.

• Jinghua confessed to poisoning the Prince of Jin and warned him that a secret edict promised rewards for his death, while Tang Zhuyun asked her about Qu Nian’s strange condition.
• Ren Yingying learned that Qu Nian was behaving like a dog and that the emperor might target the Prince of Jin, while the Prince of Jin set out to investigate the alleged edict and rumors against Tang Zhuyun.
• Tang Zhuyun met Zhang Jin, who warned that someone was searching for the man involved in the slander against her, and the Prince of Jin took him away to investigate.
• Yanran helped rescue Jiang’er from a thief who had trained girls to steal, and Tang Zhuyun took Jiang’er and fifteen other girls into her care.
• Qu Nian shielded Ren Yingying from shards when an incense burner exploded, and Ren Yingying suspected someone had tampered with it to drive her away.
• Tang Zhuyun hosted a banquet and discovered that Zhou Xu had sought her help to treat her mother and escape Lady Wang’s control, while Yanran’s tiger startled the guests.
• Qu Hua returned and kicked Qu Nian, so Ren Yingying defended him and told the women they might face a lifetime as widows before noticing possible iron chests beneath the pond.
• Qu Nian overheard Qu Hua discussing her plans and killing people who claimed to be him, then returned without revealing himself, while Nanxing joined Ren Yingying’s household and Ren Yingying sent medicine to the border city.

Tang Zhuyun sheltered Concubine Yu while investigating whether she was Bai Lu, and Zhou Xu maneuvered between Wu Zhenhai and the Zhou Family to protect her aunt. The search remained unresolved as Linlin prepared to investigate through the Zhou Family’s spring outing.

• Yanran met Xiao Pang, learned he was her biological father, and told him she would care for him while remaining devoted to the family that raised her.
• With Linlin’s comfort, Yanran accepted that Xiao Pang’s absence did not diminish her worth and returned home to help search for her grandmother.
• Tang Zhuyun sheltered Concubine Yu after discovering she had been poisoned, while Zhou Xu warned that the Zhou Family would not support the Prince of Jin’s military ambitions.
• Wu Zhenhai and Zhou Xu resumed their affair as she played on his feelings and sought his help, then revealed that Zhang Qian was urging the governor-general to oppose the Prince of Jin.
• Concubine Yu tried to hang herself, but Linlin and Tang Zhuyun intervened, and Tang Zhuyun began to suspect she was Bai Lu.
• Concubine Yu protected Tang Zhuyun and the children from Jiaojiao, then agreed to stop trying to die after Zhou Xu confronted her.
• Tang Zhuyun arranged for Linlin to investigate Concubine Yu through the Zhou Family’s spring outing while keeping the Prince of Jin uninformed.
• Zhou Xu asked Wu Zhenhai to make clear-broth noodles after he discovered her bruised knee and learned she had been forced to kneel for four hours.

Tang Zhuyun and her companions uncovered Concubine Yu’s identity and rescued Zhou Xu from the Zhou Family, while Wu Zhenhai’s schemes pushed Zhou Xu to plan her own return. The arc left Zhou Xu preparing to use the Zhou Family’s concern for its reputation against them, as Tang Zhuyun’s household faced her approaching childbirth.

• Wu Zhenhai told Zhou Xu to attend the spring outing, then arranged a bandit attack and staged a rescue to make himself appear her savior.
• Tang Zhuyun learned that Concubine Yu was the Prince of Jin’s birth mother and Zhou Xu’s mother, and Concubine Yu begged her to save Zhou Xu.
• Tang Zhuyun and Ren Yingying found Zhou Xu injured in the Zhou Family’s woodshed, and Tang Zhuyun brought her to the prince’s residence as her sister.
• Zhou Xu recovered at the residence but chose to return to the Zhou Family, hoping to disgrace Lady Wang and Zhou Fu before her wedding.
• Zhou Xu met Wu Zhenhai at the Dingfeng Teahouse, rejected his advances, and learned Wu Guang had been ordered to discourage her from marrying Wu Zhenhai.
• Wu Zhenhai discovered that Wu Shao liked Zhou Fu and stormed home to confront his son, while Zhou Xu told Tang Zhuyun about the meeting.
• Tang Zhuyun agreed to investigate Wu Zhenhai’s son, and Yanran confided her fear that childbirth could kill Tang Zhuyun or herself.

Zhou Xu escaped the Zhou Family by faking her death, took the name Huo Mingzhu, and returned openly at her own funeral. As the Prince of Jin’s household welcomed newborn children and Song Jingyang returned to Xiu'er, Mingzhu settled into her new life and remained uninterested in marriage.

• Tang Zhuyun urged Zhou Xu to return to the Zhou Family, where Zhou Xu set a trap that exposed Zhou Fu and Wu Zhenhai together.
• Wu Zhenhai believed Zhou Xu had died in a fire, while the Prince of Jin helped her escape and Ren Yingying reshaped her face as Huo Mingzhu.
• Wu Zhenhai arranged Zhou Xu’s funeral and buried her beneath the parasol tree, while Governor-General Zhou compelled him to agree to marry Zhou Fu.
• Mingzhu attended her funeral openly with the Prince of Jin, then returned when Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er went into labor.
• Tang Zhuyun gave birth to twin sons, and Xiu'er delivered a daughter named Song Shu while Mingzhu took charge of household preparations.
• The Prince of Jin and Tang Zhuyun decided not to tell Mingzhu that Wu Zhenhai had buried her coffin beneath the tree, and Song Jingyang returned to Xiu'er.
• Ren Yingying removed Song Jingyang’s facial scar, while Mingzhu told Ren Yingying she was not considering marriage.