EPISODE 11 – 15 RECAP
The Fifth Prince, Ning Yan, is tricked into believing that he is the future king. He is not exactly smart. A fake fortuneteller was all they needed to send in to fool him.
Feng Zhiwei, working as a waiter at a restaurant/pub, finds herself entangled in these political battles. Ning Yang makes go bury a wooden doll somewhere in the Crown Prince’s garden, in an effort to put some voodoo magic on him. Innocent and perhaps a little arrogant, Zhiwei recklessly takes the leap and does as told.
Some time afterwards, the Crown Prince throws a small party and invites all of his brothers over to show off his new air conditioning system: they put blocks of ice inside cauldrons, and the servants fan out the cold air from the ice to keep the room cool. Wow… I’m appreciating my AC a lot more now.
After this party, Ning Yi finds out about Zhiwei’s involvement with that wooden doll and he is ridden with worry. This is the kind of thing that can easily get her killed.
So, Ning Yi and his boyfriend Xin Ziyan come up with a genius plan to counter the 5th Prince’s plan, which is… making Zhiwei go out and do the exact same thing again.
No, seriously, they ask her to go to that spot, dig up the other doll and bury another one in its place.
Of course, Ning Yi is Ning Yi. Unlike 99% of C-dramas’ male leads other people, when he says he has a plan, he has a plan.
Through a series of occurrences, the Crown Prince finds that doll.
Turns out, it’s a “cursed” doll with the emperor’s name on it. Evil, evil Ning Yi.
So now the 5th Prince is in big trouble for messing around with sorcery, or such is the sin they charge him with. That leads to him being tricked and killed by the Crown Prince.
One enemy down. He was never a worthy enemy, anyway.
During all of this, the Second Prince Ning Sheng remains calm and unbiased. But I mean… almost every guy in here starts out calm until they messes with Ning Yi and loses it. Even the emperor sometimes.
Meanwhile, per Ning Yi’s suggestion, Zhiwei decides to sign herself up for an education at Xin Ziyan’s academy.
On the way to this institution, she encounters Gu Nanyi, a mysterious stranger who’s apparently on a mission to ensure her safety.
After unsuccessfully questioning his weird behaviors — and why he only eats pork pieces in even numbers — Zhiwei lets him come along.
At the academy, we learn that not only is Nanyi a picky eater, he’s also a grumpy roommate who makes Zhiwei sleep on the floor and then stalks her from his bed. But overall, he seems more socially awkward than sinister.
At the academy, Zhiwei meets many more people, among them is Princess Shaoning.
There are also two nicest guys in the whole show: Yan Huaishi and Prince Ning Ji, the youngest prince of the bunch.
COMMENTS
By the end of episode 15, we are sure of one thing, the emperor understands everything about every single one of his sons. There’s no pulling the wool over his eyes. he knows their personalities and does not shy away from turning them against one another to protect his position.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love them, but he loves his powers more. And he can’t risk having any of his kids not being under his control. That’s why he’s constantly having emotional conflicts with himself, like: do I really wanna do this?
His answer to that, though, will always be: better safe than sorry.