Lady Gao gets straight to the point, she heard rumours that Ouyang was talking to a woman, so she wants to know who that was.
Ouyang’s response: Uhh… which one?
He isn’t very sharp.
While Lady Gao’s nanny shakes her head in disapproval, Gao herself is pretty relaxed about it. She tells Ouyang to introduce her to whatever friend he has, she doesn’t want to be seen as a jealous wife. Very classy and appropriate. And even though Gao speaks in her small, timid voice, Ouyang doesn’t dare make any objection.
Afterward, Ouyang and his assistant (the guy that got beat up by San-niang) have a discussion. We learn here that Ouyang actually has quite a few ladies after him. As difficult as I find that to believe, this is an important piece of info. All of those ladies have met with some misfortune in one way or another after Ouyang was engaged: fatal injuries, public humiliation, etc. Erm… this is scary, is the Gao family behind all these incidents? Ouyang is also afraid that if he makes the Gao family angry, he himself might end up stripped naked at a river bank.
Ouyang explains that he insulted Pan’er on purpose to make her leave the city because he is afraid she might get hurt the same way those ladies did. Hmm, that’s actually nice. OK, you get one point back for now, Ouyang.
Pan’er, on the other hand, decides to turn her misfortune into a business opportunity. She seeks out Ouyang and asks him to do three things, if he wants her to leave him without exposing his history with her, that is:
1. Write a divorce letter so she can burn it in front of her parents’ graves since they used to declare themselves engaged to the parents.
2. Help Yinzhang obtain a clean social status so she can be a musician as she wants. Ouyang promised to do this before he went away for the scholar exam.
3. Give back a painting (probably one that’s worth a lot of money)
Once Pan’er has left, Ouyang’s old caretaker De returns. He warns Ouyang that Pan’er might be scheming against him. This sways Ouyang’s confidence and he becomes reluctant to fulfill that grocery list she gave him.
Pan’er is appalled at his failure to keep a promise, so she teams up with a gang of guards to cause a commotion in front of his house, hoping to drive him out to talk, at least. Not the best plan ever, Pan’er.
Pan’er also has a little flashback involving her time with Gu Qianfan on the boat. He said he was worried about her eventual meeting with Ouyang. Their hands almost touched. *GASPS* The scandal!
Meanwhile, Gu Qianfan’s father takes him out for some father-son bonding time, asking him honest questions and advising him to switch to a safer job; but Qianfan is still not impressed.