On the same day, Xiaoyanzi runs into the Fifth Prince Yongqi, the one who accidentally shot her at the hunting field.
He’s a very nice prince, not only does he not look down on Xiaoyanzi for being an outsider, he and his friend Fu Er’tai even hang out and drink with her. Er’tai is the brother of Er’kang, both brothers belong to the emperor’s personal Guard. Er’tai is also very nice.
Two friendly guys, just the luck a fake princess needs in this dangerous palace.
They give her some tips on how to be a proper royal. First thing first, she’s got to learn how to wear those shoes with the block heel in the center of the foot.
In the CENTER. That would have been a deal breaker for me, I can tell you that.
The emperor summons his advisors and they discuss what to do with Xiaoyanzi. The emperor wants to officially acknowledge her and give her a title, but his court advises him to only declare her his adopted daughter to avoid gossip. In the end, they agree on the title “Huanzhu” for her, which means “a pearl that has returned”. Very fitting.
The emperor, Lady Ling, and the empress have a talk with Xiaoyanzi later on. Even though the empress is clearly being sinister, she does raise some valid points. For example, Xia Yuhe was an accomplished and virtuous woman, so how come Xiaoyanzi so is undereducated and rash?
Xiaoyanzi answers honestly: who the heck knows?
But the emperor surprises everyone by saying that he knows why Xia Yuhe didn’t bother to educate her daughter: because she didn’t want Xiaoyanzi to be a proper lady and end up suffering like her. Not true, of course, but it’s hilarious (and moving) how much the emperor wants Xiaoyanzi to be his daughter that he unconsciously looks for any reason to make it true. Also, it is probably because he sees so much of himself in Xiaoyanzi’s recklessness that he doesn’t care a whole lot about her un-princessy behavior.
And that’s it, the emperor ends the Q&A session. Comes the day of the public celebration when the emperor takes Xiaoyanzi out to greet the people; hence, Ziwei’s hectic behavior at the beginning of the drama.
She runs after the procession and causes a commotion, this makes the head of the imperial Guard Fu Er’kang turn back to see what’s going on. Dude looks on for almost a full minute while Ziwei gets beaten by the soldiers before telling them to stop.
Ziwei crawls over to him and recites the first two verses of the poem the emperor wrote for her mom, and passes out. Which makes Er’kang’s eyes go as big as saucers.
Ziwei wakes up in the Fu manor. She has nothing to lose now so when asked, she tells the Fu family everything. This is too much for them to take, it also involves Lady Ling’s safety, so the Fu family hold a private meeting afterwards.
Er’kang talks first: Xia Ziwei is everything you can imagine a princess to be, and her story is too detailed to be fake.
Er’tai thinks differently: Xiaoyanzi may not behave like a noble lady, but look, bro, I’ve hung out with her and she seems way too innocent to be a criminal mastermind.
Each has his points, but it seems like the two brothers also judge this matter based on what turns them on about a woman. Er’kang is clearly smitten with Ziwei’s gentle grace, while Er’tai prefers the type who can do back flips in their high heels.
In the end, Er’kang seeks out Xiaoyanzi’s friends at the orphanage: Liu Qing and Liu Hong. They tell him what he needs to know.
BY THE WAY
Given that both Alec Su and Julian Chen, who play 5th Prince and Er’tai, belonged to the boy band “Little Tigers”, I’m surprised the third member of the band — Nicky Wu — was not cast for the role of Er’kang.
Zhou Jie definitely made his mark with the character, but Nicky Wu would have made a great Er’kang too?