EPISODE 23 RECAP
Er’kang and Yongqi plead their case to the emperor later that day. They ask him to understand their difficulty because they are in love with Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei.
So basically they’re asking the emperor to understand Xiaoyanzi’s mistake, believe that Ziwei is the real princess, AND cancel the marriage contract between Er’kang and Saiya. You know… it’s amazing that the emperor even lets them talk this much. These guys would have been executed a long time ago had this been any other emperor in drama-land.
Although, in the end, Er’kang does say something that’s worth thinking about: the girls’ biggest crime is wanting to have a father. He also says that he’d rather die than marry Saiya.
The emperor tells them both to get lost.
In the imperial prison, the three girls get beaten and forced to sign a confession paper saying that they’ve conspired with the Fu family to assassinate the emperor. Hmm… This thing has the empress’ nail polish all over it. Ziwei refuses to sign that ridiculous confession, of course. They get beaten some more. Noo… we can use some of Er’kang’s recklessness right now, otherwise, these girls will surely die.
The emperor does some thinking that night. About time, too. He recalls now that both Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei have given him hints that he’s got the wrong girl. But he too has been blinded by emotions. Again, he WANTED Xiaoyanzi to be his daughter, just like how she wanted a family.
After some immense inner conflict, the emperor admits to Lady Ling that he understands now. OK, let’s go! Free the girls from prison.
The torture gets worse for Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei, and Jinsuo. They’re now bleeding all over. But in the middle of all, an imperial edict — brought in by Yongqi, Er’kang and Er’tai — arrives with an order to release the girls.
Yeah no, that’s not an imperial edict. No imperial edict needs to be delivered by a prince and two imperial bodyguards at the same time. But by the time the jailers realize that, it’s already too late. The boys, aided by Liu Qing and Liu Hong, attack them and manage to get the girls out.
The emperor summons his advisors and asks for their opinions. Seems like he already makes up his mind and just needs to make it official. Most of the scholars are on Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi’s side. They all love the two girls for bringing laughter to this boring palace. Plus, Ziwei saved the emperor’s life during the trip, so that balances out her offences. This imperial court is way more progressive than we can ever imagine.
Although, the good mood doesn’t last long
The emperor and his scholars, including Er’kang’s dad, make a trip to the prison to release the girls. But they only find a bunch of bleeding guards lying on the ground. Who did this? The famous Fu brothers who have been favored by imperial grace. The look the emperor gives Lord Fu is phenomenal.
He’s like, yeah, my son did this too, but let’s focus on yours first. As everyone scrambles to deal with the problem, the emperor swears he will have them all executed if he finds them. No, he won’t.
After much discussion, Er’tai volunteers to go back and face the emperor so the other four can escape.
But as they watch Er’tai walks away in the direction of the palace with a miserable face — probably on purpose — guilt consumes them and they realize that they won’t be able to live with a straight face if they let Er’tai die for them. So they all hop on the carriage and head back. This is the worst prison escape ever.
It doesn’t take the imperial officials long to find the kids, of course, because they run into them like two minutes after heading out. This is the least exciting chase ever!