Xiaoyanzi and the desert man take the fight outside where everyone can watch.
When Xiaoyanzi loses — because of course she loses, this guy is a desert thief with a gang who was going to kidnap a princess — she playfully throws some stuff at the man, not letting him off.
The man, in turns, “playfully” lifts her off the ground and spins her in the air and scares the daylight out of Yongqi.
This causes Yongqi and Erkang to enter the fight. The man’s followers get in too, and now everyone is fighting each other.
But mid-fight, Erkang realizes that the desert man is bleeding severely and this no way could be the work of Xiaoyanzi. Erkang calls off the fight immediately to see what’s going on. I’m beginning to like this upgraded version of Erkang, he has been acting as the calm voice of reason in these episodes.
The man thanks them all for stopping, then passes out without any warning.
They bring him inside. Jinsuo patches up his wounds.
The man wakes up shortly and thanks them again for healing him and… surrounding his bed while he was unconscious like a bunch of kids seeing a strange animal at the zoo.
Here we learn who this man is. Name: Meng Dan, Erdan for short. He is from the tribe of Hui and has been through something dreadful which he can’t share yet.
They exchange contact info, it’s all thanks to Xiaoyanzi’s meddling nature that they got to make friends with each other. Erdan later says he would like the gang to keep his identity a secret. Maybe he should lose the turban and the braids first if a low profile is the goal?
That day, when the gang arrives back at the palace, Erkang decides he needs to talk to Ziwei.
What is it about? Qing’er and Jinsuo. Hmmmm…
Here goes: Erkang used to be betrothed to Qing’er. But it was a long time ago and nobody seems to remember it now.
Ziwei FREAKS OUT. Well, this I did not expect.
She makes all kinds of assumptions and starts shooting questions at Erkang like a loose canon. I guess I can kind of understand Ziwei’s insecurities. Qing’er is pretty great, she basically has everything Ziwei has on top of the Dowager’s automatic approval.
This frustrates Erkang because Ziwei is showing very little faith in him. But I mean, he and Qing’er really did give each other a lot of looks, and Ziwei caught those. In this world, unusual looks = instant marriage.
Speaking of the Dowager, she’s hosting a dinner and has sent for Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi. Oh no. Again.
And again, Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi are late.
Where were you two? Asks the Dowager, who, of course, is just waiting for them to say something wrong.
Despite Qing’er, the Emperor, and Yongqi’s help, Xiaoyanzi messes up again with her answers and gets pinched by Nanny Rong on the Dowager’s order.
But our girl isn’t easily bullied. She pretends to faint, making Yongqi and the Emperor jump up in worry. Ziwei is scared to death and has no choice but to act along.
Afterwards, the girls get excused and sent home so Xiaoyanzi can be “looked at”.
But while Xiaoyanzi celebrates her victory over Nanny Rong, the Emperor pays them a surprise visit.
Guess what? He comes to let Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei know that he saw through their act earlier on, and he isn’t thrilled to be forced to act with them.
Erkang tells the truth about where they all went. Just to the new restaurant in the city to support their friends’ business. And the Emperor is like: erm… that’s it? You could’ve told the truth back then, you fools. We were expecting something scandalous, this is not even interesting.
The Emperor then gives them a fair warning: this is the palace of princesses, Erkang and Yongqi should keep out if they don’t want people to start talking and potentially ruin the girls’ reputation. That’s true, these guys are the ones in a hurry to get married yet somehow Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi get all the blame for being “improper”.