EPISODE 9
The assault of Hanxing gets so intense that Ziwei has to jump in and shield her, and in the process gets beaten too.
The emperor gets there… not really in time, but I guess he gets there eventually with Xiaoyanzi.
He orders for all the nannies to be beheaded, but then no one comes in to execute that order and the empress steers the conversation away from that. Darn it, those guards standing outside should be faster next time.
In a desperate moment, Hanxiang jumps through the window. Xiaoyanzi jumps after her and somehow… catches her even though they both jump from the second floor and there’s no realistic way Xiaoyanzi could have reached Hanxiang before Hanxiang hits the ground?
Anyway, they both live. The emperor is so angry that he threatens to skin the empress. No, not the empress, dude, just get rid of all those nannies, please.
The empress runs to the Dowager to get some support, but the smart Qing’er knows exactly what to say to ease the Dowager’s fury and the latter decides to let the whole thing go.
Ziwei takes this opportunity to point out to the emperor how miserable Hanxiang has been and asks if he would consider letting her go. The emperor makes no comment on it yet, but Ziwei is pretty sure she’s making progress. That’s a bit naive, there’s no way he is going to let his “possession” go, if anything, he’s probably thinking about buying her more jewelry and clothes.
The next day, the boys come over to catch up on the gossip, but their meeting is cut short by a direct summon from the emperor. He decides to be blunt with them this time about the matter of their marriages.
The emperor tells Xiaoyanzi that she’s still crap at poetry and literature, and the only reason she gets away with it is because she makes him laugh.
To Erkang, the emperor is even more straightforward: you’d better tell Ziwei what we talked about the other day, boy, it’s no longer a friendly suggestion, it’s about to become an arrangement.
Back at the girls’ residence, when Erkang finally tells Ziwei what’s going on, she reacts exactly as he’s anticipated.
She cries and accuses him of lying and being a player. She insists that Erkang has a past with Qing’er that he hasn’t told her about. I mean… being forced into an arranged marriage with someone doesn’t necessarily mean having a past with that person, but I can see where Ziwei’s coming from. After all, Qing’er did purposely give Erkang “looks”.
But in the end, Ziwei does let Erkang finish talking. And after an uncomfortable-looking kiss, she decides to trust him.
That is, until Jinsuo tells her about Erkang’s little meeting with Qing’er the other day and how Qing’er was crying afterward. Ziwei starts crying again and decides that she’s a fool for trusting Erkang. Guess you should have kissed better, Erkang.
Jinsuo slaps her own face in guilt for talking too much, and in the process reveals that she too is jealous of Qing’er even though she has no right to. Yeah, thanks for giving Ziwei another thing to blame herself for.
Ziwei summons Erkang the next day and asks him again: do you and Qing’er have a past?
Her coldness scares him so Erkang tells her everything. And what is it?
On a snowy night a long time ago, he and Qing’er sat next to each other under the moonlight and talked about… books.
Well, that’s not exactly anything hot but it’s enough for Ziwei to give him the death sentence.
Go ahead and marry Qing’er then, and don’t let Jinsuo down, you three-timing player — she says.
Erkang takes this as a terrible insult so he walks out of there without looking back.
THE GUYS’ EXPRESSIONS OF THE DAY
Having just finished rewatching this series, these posts are hilarious and the perfect way to come up for air
Hi! Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad people are still watching this show 😀