Recaps

Tang Zhuyun foresaw and managed a devastating earthquake while Yanran secured funds for the border city and helped defend her family’s interests. The family welcomed Tang Zhuyun’s son Wuji, while Ren Yingying and Qu Nian’s relationship shifted and Linlin returned home.

• Tang Zhuyun’s pregnancy troubled the Prince of Jin, while a folk remedy from Wu Zhenhai eased her sickness and Yanran celebrated the coming baby.
• Yanran spotted danger at the Dragon Boat Festival, fought off assassins, and later learned that Zhao Kuo had helped rig the race for the Prince of Jin.
• Tang Zhuyun noticed signs of disaster and organized an evacuation, saving many residents when an earthquake struck and devastated the border city.
• Tang Zhuyun and Xiu'er concealed the city’s condition and sought relief, while Tang Baixin resigned from office as part of a plan with Meng Yulan.
• Yanran persuaded the emperor to provide another million taels, and Jiang Ruo and Qu Hua also sent money and valuables to the border city.
• Ren Yingying guided the Central Plains army through snowy mountains to the Northern Yi capital, while Qu Nian refused the gifts offered in peace talks.
• Tang Zhuyun gave birth to a healthy boy named Wuji, and Qu Nian and Ren Yingying opened a hidden chest of gold as their relationship grew closer.
• Linlin returned home and met Wuji, while Tang Zhuyun rejected a possible match between Yanran and Cui Xiaoqiu and Linlin listened to Wen Heng discuss governing.

Tang Zhuyun returned to the capital with Linlin and reunited with her family, while the Prince of Jin sought recognition for Linlin and Yanran received a new title. Around them, Mingzhu resisted Wu Zhenhai, Yanran and her friends faced romantic and political complications, and Ren Yingying and Qu Nian exchanged gifts and rescued a foreign prisoner.

• Tang Zhuyun decided to return to the capital with Song Jingyang, leaving Mingzhu and Xiu'er to care for the children, while Wu Zhenhai pleaded with Mingzhu to marry him and she refused.
• After Tang Zhuyun departed, Wu Zhenhai mistook Mingzhu’s carriage for her return from the capital, declared his feelings before a crowd, and was told to retrieve the silver she had forgotten to return.
• Linlin and Tang Zhuyun paused in Linzhou during heavy snow, helped an orphaned girl, and resumed their journey once the weather cleared.
• Yanran watched ice acrobatics, learned that Jiang Ruo feared Wen Heng’s return, and decided to become the swordsman’s disciple before discovering the performer was mute and known as Li Yu.
• After someone weakened the ice at Houhai, the Third Princess warned the emperor, and Cui Xiaoqiu told Yanran that the princess was choosing a political side and confided his worries about marriage.
• Qu Hua confronted Li Yu and learned he was Mu Ziyu, who had changed himself to win her over, but she refused his proposal despite being tempted by his offer to stand up to Qu Nian.
• Tang Zhuyun reunited with her family, then attended the palace banquet where the Prince of Jin asked the emperor to recognize Linlin as his eldest son and heir, and Yanran was named Commandery Princess Rouyi.
• Nanxing told Tang Zhuyun she was two months pregnant, Yanran encouraged Cui Xiaoqiu to exercise and pursue the examinations, and Ren Yingying and Qu Nian exchanged New Year gifts after he refused to visit her for the dancing girls.
• Ren Yingying rescued a wounded blond youth from a slave market and presented him to Qu Nian as a New Year’s gift, while Qu Nian refused to remove the dog tag she had accidentally given him.

Ren Yingying and Qu Nian grew closer through their journey and the search for Dog Meat, then returned to the capital amid political schemes around Mingzhu. Tang Zhuyun treated Yuan Yi’s daughter Doudou and learned how Yuan Yi had concealed the child’s birth after Fan Chun assaulted her.

• Qu Nian named Ren Yingying Lady Protector of the State as a New Year's gift, and Ren Yingying admitted that his devotion had stirred her heart.
• Ren Yingying helped Lu Jiu reconcile with Leertai, then learned that the Prince of Ding wanted Mingzhu and that Tang Zhuyun was recovering from pneumonia.
• When snow trapped the army and Dog Meat disappeared, Qu Nian stayed behind with Ren Yingying and two hundred guards to search for him, and they eventually found the injured dog.
• Ren Yingying returned to the capital and reunited with Tang Zhuyun, while Tang Zhuyun and Yanran confronted the Consort of Prince of Ding over her claim that Yanran had caused her pregnancy loss.
• Qu Nian reunited with Mu Ziyu, who said he wanted to marry Qu Hua, while Ren Yingying worked on a woman to impersonate Mingzhu for the Prince of Jin.
• Wu Zhenhai discovered Jianchun had sold Mingzhu’s portrait, punished her, and agreed with Mingzhu to end the investigation without involving her family.
• The Prince of Jin fought Yuan Han over Yuan Yi, then told Tang Zhuyun he had once been close to Yuan Fang and had no responsibility for Yuan Yi’s unmarried life.
• Tang Zhuyun treated Yuan Yi’s daughter Doudou, and Yuan Yi revealed that Fan Chun had assaulted her, that she had hidden her pregnancy, and that she had killed him the previous year.

Tang Zhuyun uncovered doubts about Doudou’s birth, while Yanran and Linlin investigated poisoned wheat seed tied to the Lang Family. As the court prepared to punish the family, Cui Xiaoqiu suffered a sabotaged examination and Yanran helped him recover.

• Tang Zhuyun found that Doudou’s blood type could not have come from Yuan Yi and urged her to investigate whether the baby had been switched.
• The Prince of Jin refused the emperor’s attempts to draw his sons into court politics and rejected a marriage decree for Linlin and Lang Xuan.
• Yanran helped Jiang Ruo reconcile with Wen Heng, then investigated a cheap wheat-seed sale after suspecting the seed was a trap.
• Yanran and Linlin exposed steamed wheat seed hidden aboard a boat, and evidence linked the scheme to the Lang Family as the Prince of Jin ordered further investigation.
• Lang Xuan arranged for Tu Wu to find Baoxuan in Linzhou and remembered her past life while trying to protect her family.
• Cui Xiaoqiu fell seriously ill during the provincial examination after incense was tampered with, and Tang Zhuyun found the added substance at his home.
• Cui Xiaoqiu challenged Cui Run over their mother’s control, while Yanran brought him food and encouraged him to return to the Imperial Academy.
• Linlin told Yanran that the court was investigating the wheat seed and the Lang Family, then recounted Lang Xuan’s warning that her family would keep making trouble.