The Fu family gather again to decide what to do. For a head guard and an older brother, Er’kang is pretty hot-headed. He considers taking the matter to light without much reservation. Er’tai has a better idea, why don’t they bring the Yongqi (5th Prince) here and tell him the truth? The chance of people getting beheaded is lower that way.
In addition, Lord Fu has a reminder for everyone: the emperor LOVES Xiaoyanzi. She makes him laugh all day, so it’s not a good idea to speak against her no matter the truth.
That night, Er’kang takes a stroll around the manor and overhears Ziwei singing in her room. It’s a gloomy song that moves Jinsuo to tears and sends butterflies through Er’kang’s stomach.
He comes into the room and talks to Ziwei. Er’kang reveals to Ziwei the reason he believes her: his crush on her instincts. Because her story, even though detailed, can still be made up. Liu Qing and Liu Hong’s word isn’t necessarily trustworthy.
Xiaoyanzi is getting bored out of her head; plus, the guilt is making her lose sleep at night. So one night, she decides to put on a disguise and climb over the palace wall. She gets caught, of course. The emperor is furious that she still thinks it fits to associate herself with her old friends at the orphanage. Xiaoyanzi can’t contain herself anymore and spills the beans:
I am not a princess. I don’t even know who my father is.
But once again, the emperor chalks it up to a simple reason: Xiaoyanzi is still mad that he abandoned her “mom”. He apologizes and grants her special permission to leave the palace whenever she wants, as long as she brings some guards along.
This kills Xiaoyanzi immediately. She breaks down and gives up telling him the truth, sinking deeper into the criiiiiime.
On the way back to her room, Xiaoyanzi bumps into Er’tai and Yongqi. They nearly injure her thinking she was an intruder. When they all calm down, and when Yongqi is done admiring Xiaoyanzi, she asks them for a favor: she wants to go out to see her “sister Ziwei”.
This triggers another round of discussion among the Fu brothers. Ziwei wants to see Xiaoyanzi too for an explanation. They decide to tell Yongqi everything because only he can help arrange a meeting for the two girls.
Yongqi and Er’tai come to see Xiaoyanzi again; this time, she admits to lying to the emperor.
Yongqi is like, OH MY GOD What were you thinking? Pack your thing, we’re getting you outta here.
And Er’tai is like, how are we gonna explain to people if they find a princess missing, calm the freak down, you two.
Xiaoyanzi wonders in tears whether the emperor would really execute her if he found out the truth.
YONGQI & ER’TAI: *nod in unison* Yep, girl, he would.
At this time, the empress comes. She’s hoping Xiaoyanzi will do something wrong so she can continue with her (true) theory that Xiaoyanzi is not the emperor’s daughter. Although, trust me when I say that the empress isn’t the real problem here, it’s her Nanny Rong. This woman is the stuff of nightmare. She creeps behind people, kicks them at the knees, whispers gossip loudly, and cries and screeches murder all day.
Xiaoyanzi asks the empress whether she is here to execute her, which makes the latter angry because, where did Xiaoyanzi even get un idea like that? Well, it probably has to do with the fact that Yongqi just made the “beheading” gesture at her a second ago as a warning.
After some arguing and some threats from the empress, Xiaoyanzi flies up a tree and stays there until the emperor comes.