EPISODE 15 RECAP
Er’kang carries Ziwei out of the dark chamber. The emperor asks her to name the people who tortured her beside Nanny Rong. She slowly, SLOWLY kneels down and says: nope. What?? Are you kidding me? Name all of them, Ziwei! If not for your sake then for the other maids who might have been tortured by those old nannies all these years.
When they’re back at Xiaoyanzi’s place, the emperor asks the Boy Trio what the heck happened. They patiently — even Er’kang is surprisingly patient — explain to the emperor that it was the overnight chess session the other day that got Ziwei in trouble.
The emperor is livid that his attention has turned out to be bad luck for Ziwei. He directs Er’kang to get some bodyguards to protect Xiaoyanzi’s place lest something like this happen again.
Great acting from Zhang Tielin here, monologues aren’t easy to do but he absolutely nails them here. Somehow, he manages to mix stage acting and film acting without looking out of place.
The emperor goes in to visit Ziwei afterwards. She insists that he leave the matter alone. She probably doesn’t want the First Couple to fight, which can lead to other complications. Still, this empress does not deserve your sympathy, Ziwei. At least let your friends kick Nanny Rong’s butt or something.
When the emperor leaves, Er’kang rushes in. Jinsuo and Xiaoyanzi warn him beforehand that Ziwei is much more attached to the emperor now that he has rescued her and personally sent her home, so Er’kang had better leave his “we should run away” speech for another time. And yayy, Er’kang actually carries out a conversation with Ziwei without panicking this time.
The emperor and empress talk later that night. He patiently explains that to him, both Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei are children, and he does not regard Ziwei the way the empress assumes at all.
The emperor then warns his wife for the final time to leave Xiaoyanzi alone.
A few days later, the emperor officially tells the kids they can come with him on his trip to the country. Xiaoyanzi is so happy she starts to ramble, and during her rambling, the emperor catches her by surprise by suggesting that she’s reached that age when she needs to think about her future. You know, MARRIAGE.
This scares all of them, especially the boys.
The emperor adds that since Xiaoyanzi likes the Fu family so much, he can let her have Er’kang. Xiaoyanzi trips and falls at this, and I’m pretty sure Er’kang’s soul gets sucked out of his body for a second.
Later ON, the Boy Trio holds an urgent meeting. The emperor might have sounded like he was joking, but there’s a solid chance that he will consider marrying Xiaoyanzi to Er’kang, they’re the same age, after all.
Er’tai feels a little indignant that people only consider Er’kang, because, why, he (Er’tai) is old enough to marry Xiaoyanzi too! Plus, Er’tai thinks he should do what he can to prevent the scenario of Xiaoyanzi once again taking something that belongs to Ziwei, aka Er’kang.
Also, If Er’tai and Xiaoyanzi marry, XYZ and Ziwei can be sisters forever. Win-win. Er’kang is elated to hear this idea.
But somebody isn’t happy: Yongqi. Hey what about me? He says.
Er’kang is like, er… what about you?
Turns out, Yongqi never bothered to control his feelings towards Xiaoyanzi because he has known since the beginning they are not siblings.
But Er’tai isn’t giving up: well, I like Xiaoyanzi, so unless you order me to back out, I will fight for her.
Er’kang is so done at this point. He can’t believe his two friends are trying to make the situation more complicated than it already is.
Yongqi does the gentlemanly thing and offers to give up, because he treasures his friendship more.
And then Er’tai is like, hah, just kidding, I think Xiaoyanzi likes you, so go for it.
And Yongqi blushes like a teenager. Well, I guess he is a teenager. But yayy, I am on this ship, Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi are adorable. Seriously, how can anyone not be on this ship?
Er’kang, however, is more logical about it. He thinks there’s no way Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi can be together. One — Xiaoyanzi is Yongqi’s “sister” now. Two — even when the truth is revealed (if they can manage it without anyone getting beheaded) Xiaoyanzi will be back to being a commoner, a marriage to a prince is out of her league unless she agrees to be a concubine. Three — there’s no chance in hell Xiaoyanzi will agree to that.
Yongqi is like, oh yeah? You think my situation is hopeless? Check this out: Huang-ah-ma doesn’t know Ziwei is his daughter, there’s a chance he might want her as a concubine.
OH NO! This sends Er’kang into a state of frenzy and once again, he goes with: let’s tell the emperor everything! Tell him everything now! Now!
I don’t think the emperor thinks of Ziwei that way, but it’s fun to watch Er’kang freak out.
Funny I thought what if it was the emperor from ruyi or zhen huan drama that would all of their concerns from fake daughter to Ziwei being concubine would very valued they would now on thin ice 😂
Yes, exactly, those emperors don’t kid around XD