EPISODE 13
Ziwei works out the voodoo doll scheme as soon as she and the girls are put in prison. Unfortunately, that’s not going to help anyone because very few people are actually interested in the truth at this point.
At a meeting afterward, Erkang tells the emperor and dowager the same things Ziwei has realized about this shady scheme. But the dowager chalks everything down to Erkang and Yongqi just wanting to cover up for the girls’ crime, she suspects Erkang of treason, and you know what? Erkang takes that personally. And rightly too, he went through all that trouble to throw a birthday party, okay? There was no time for treason!
Now, while the two boys beg the emperor to save Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi, he gives them all kinds of hints, telling them to shut up and not make things worse. The emperor doesn’t believe any of this shenanigan, but he needs to appear impartial in front of the dowager.
Erkang finally remembers that his parents exist and that they’re smart too, so he turns to them for help. Lord Fu has an idea: investigate the guards of Shufang Palace (Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei’s residence), one of them must be a traitor.
Erkang puts on his mean face and gets to work, but their investigation is a long shot since they have little evidence to prosecute any of the guards.
During this time, the dowager does what she does best: bullying Ziwei and attempting to torture her into confession. They try to break her fingers but Ziwei doesn’t confess.
In the end, the dowager threatens to kill Xiaoyanzi and the other girls, this is where Ziwei budges and says that she did everything. Mostly to save her friends.
It’s the most unreal confession ever made but it’s all the dowager has been waiting for. She latches onto Ziwei’s words and is extremely proud of herself for uncovering a crime. Words cannot describe this woman’s incompetence at this point.
The emperor and Lord Fu discuss the problem the following day. The emperor already knows who’s behind the voodoo doll business, but he can’t officially prosecute the person without evidence. So his idea is to leave the girls in prison for now because at least there they won’t be subjected to more harm. Which would have been a good idea if the jailers actually honored the law. But hey, gotta do what the dowager wants and be jerks to these helpless girls first.
Next, the dowager makes Xiaoyanzi come to the torture chamber, but they get almost nothing out of her except gibberish that drives them crazy.
The next day, Erkang and Yongqi barge into the emperor’s study to beg him to save the girls. After their indignant rants, the emperor is like: I was about to go save them until you two marched in here and deterred me, fools. Didn’t Lord Fu tell you the plan?
And Erkang is like: erm… no, he didn’t.
I cannot believe these men, how can they be so slow and ineffective in their communication at a time like this?
Anyway, they all go to see the dowager and demand Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi be brought in. You see, because the princesses and servants at Shufang Palace are like family to each other, they each volunteer to take all the blame. So now no one really knows who did it.
The emperor is furious to see Ziwei once again damaged.
At this time, Qing’er speaks up. Guess what? She’s been examining the doll closely and has drawn a few conclusions. That’s right, with all their planning and grand brainstorming, none of these guys thought about examining the evidence of the crime.
EXPRESSIONS OF THE DAY
