EPISODE 8 RECAP
The girls and their maids tend to each other’s injuries.
They find out that they all have one thing in common: all of their moms died early and they all had to fend for themselves.
I’m glad all these girls cry together because if it was just Jinsuo crying to Ziwei about how they are the victims of the world, I would have to forward that scene.
A bit later, the emperor talks to Erkang and Yongqi, asking them why they have been causing so much trouble these days.
When the boys look back at him with blank faces, the emperor pulls his most fearful card: your marriage engagements are in danger.
Erkang is like: whaaaat a promise is a promise and you promised Ziwei to meeee.
And Yongqi is like: let’s just pick a date and get it over with, please, please.
But the emperor can’t do that. You see, the matter of marriage in the royal family has to be run by the Dowager. If she says no, even the emperor has to step back.
Now, regarding Xiaoyanzi, the emperor would like Yongqi to pay more attention to her education. The Dowager likes girls who can recite poems, not girls who eat papers with poems on them.
Regarding Ziwei and Erkang, the emperor proposes a solution that he obviously thinks is great: Erkang can marry both Ziwei and Qing’er. Problem solved.
Not.
Erkang is like: oh gods and buddhas and deities, just kill me now, kill me before Ziwei does.
He turns down this idea, of course. And I just love how the emperor is just saying it like it’s a normal Erkang should accept with a happy face.
Walking out of the building, Erkang and Yongqi discuss their unfortunate circumstances. Erkang makes Yongqi promise he will not tell Ziwei about the emperor’s suggestion back there.
Well, sorry, Erkang, but the emperor already beats you to it.
He visits the two girls later that day to assure them that they are still his absolute bestest best daughters in the world and that nothing will ever make him think badly of them. Oh no, the GUILT Ziwei must be feeling for plotting behind his back.
Then, the emperor also hints to Ziwei that some “things” in life cannot go as we want.
Xiaoyanzi, on the other hand, is more concerned about being able to go out whenever she wants than about her engagement to Yongqi.
The next day, when Erkang and Yongqi are on their way to visit the girls, they discover that someone has been spying on them.
It is a eunuch who is no match for Erkang and Yongqi, and they would have caught the guy if Xiaoyanzi hadn’t jumped in to “help” them.
You two men are crappy fighters! Xiaoyanzi comments after the spy has gotten away.
But adorable Yongqi, even when he has been bumped on the head, punched in the eye, and insulted by Xiaoyanzi, he still cares about the bump she got on her forehead more.
They let that pass and move on to the real reason why they need to see Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi. Yongqi has prepared a book of idioms for Xiaoyanzi to learn.
Xiaoyanzi agrees to give it a try, but after a few minutes, it becomes clear that she’s a hopeless case. Recognizing characters is already a giant task for her, let alone remembering their figurative meanings.
But you know what Xiaoyanzi is really good at? Making Yongqi laugh. No matter how crappy she is at idioms and poetry, she can light up his face like no one else with a few jokes and then all is forgotten.
You’ve still got the Dowager to deal with though, XYZ, so maybe memorizing some of those idioms wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Speaking of the Dowager…
One day, the two girls walk around the garden with Hanxiang and bump into the Dowager and empress.
They Dowager doesn’t like how Hanxiang still wears her tribe’s clothes so she orders the empress to “help” Hanxiang change into a proper Manchurian outfit. The empress happily jumps at the opportunity, which results in Hanxiang being beaten and pinched in the most brutal way by Nanny Rong and her equally crazy friends.
Xiaoyanzi runs to get the emperor, who kind of makes fun of her at first and is like: what, did someone steal your lollipop again or something?
But after hearing what’s really going on, he abandons his calligraphy work and leaves with Xiaoyanzi right away. Imagine what he would do to the empress this time.