Pursuit of Jade: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 6

Introduction

Before I started this drama, I had read praises about a gripping blend of slow-burning romance with strong chemistry, intense war, and character dynamics. Plus, high-quality production. However, I also read that the drama can be confusing because of abrupt scene jumps, complex political factions, hidden agendas, and vague character motivations. Well, I studied the political plot, alright.

With a long 40-episode storyline, I hope this recap helps viewers who have problems navigating the plot. Particularly because the story evolves rapidly from a small-town, fake-marriage scenario into a high-stakes, war-driven revenge drama. The recap highlights the development of the main characters’ relationship and other essential context for the complex, fast-moving narrative. Let’s start!

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Drama Info

Drama title: Pursuit of Jade (Native title: 逐玉)
Alternative title: Zhu Yu
Genres: Historical, Mystery, Romance, War
Aired: 6 Mar, 2026 - Mar, 2026
Episodes: 40  |  Duration: 45 minutes
Director: Zeng Qing Jie (曾庆杰)
Screenwriters: Zou Yue (邹越), Jin Zi (金子), and Zeng Zhen (曾珍)

Adapted from the web novel "Zhu Yu" (逐玉) by Tuan Zi Lai Xi (团子来袭).  

Where to read the English-translated novel: MyDramaNovel

Where to watch: WeTV, iQiyi, iFlix, and Netflix

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OSTs

Below are Tencent official links to the OSTs, with English and Pinyin lyrics. The English translation of the titles is by Peachey Blossom, based on fan-subbed full album audio.

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Trailer

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Synopsis

This drama follows Fan Changyu, a butcher’s daughter, and Xie Zheng, a fallen noble seeking revenge. Their fake marriage turns into true love, but war tears them apart. Determined, Fan Changyu wields her butcher’s knife on the battlefield, searching for justice and her husband. Meanwhile, Xie Zheng reclaims his title, fighting to protect his country and love. Reunited in battle, they stand together, defying fate, uncovering the truth, and returning home without forgetting their vows. (Source: WeTV)

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Characters

Main Characters

Supporting Characters

Relationship Chart

This translated chart is uploaded on MyDramaList by Slim Xtra. More character info: DramaWiki.

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Recaps Episodes 1 to 6

Episode 1

Fan Changyu and her lil sis Fan Changning had just become orphans. Their parents were killed by bandits. To survive, Changyu wanted to continue the family meat shop business. Today, she just finished working at a party. While walking home, she tripped on an unconscious man lying in the snow. He was wounded. Changyu wanted to run away, but then she saw a jade hairpin in his hand. It was identical to her mother’s. Sensing her late mother wanted her to save him, she dug him out and carried him home.

Her neighbor, Mrs. Zhao, urged her to take him to their home instead because Changyu is still single. Mr. Zhao is a doctor. When Changyu went to buy medicine, she bumped into her ex-fiancé and his mom. What are nasty people! Upon her return, the man woke up.

Meet our Male Lead: Xie Cheng. He is also the Marquis of Wu’an. However, at this time, he needed to hide his identity because he had been chased down after a battle. So, when Changyu asked his name, he lied: Yan Zheng, a refugee.

Mr. Zhao said that the medicines for Yan Zheng were expensive. Changyu pawned her mother’s jade hairpin to buy money for Yan Zheng’s medicines and two pigs to restart the business. Returning home, she threw a rock at a falcon in a tree. The rock hit the officials who were looking for illegal refugees. Yan Zheng lied that he lost his travel document. Changyu heard that the ones caught by the government would be sent to the war to die. She hid Yan Zheng in the pig pen, along with the pigs and the pig offal. Because of the foul smell, the official didn’t check the pen. Yan Zheng was saved.

Episode 2

The girls’ uncle wanted to take the land title deed, so he came with the Jins, a family of thugs. Changyu managed to kick them out with her fighting skills learned from her escort father, and Yan Zheng secretly helped her from his hiding place.

Constable Wang, who came with Mr. Zhao, told Changyu that her uncle could make a petition for the title deed and get it, unless Changyu married a matrilocal husband (a husband who marries into his wife’s family). The Zhaos right away thought of Yan Zheng as the best candidate, but Changyu was too self-conscious. She told Mrs. Zhao that Yan Zheng was like “a piece of tallow white jade… beautiful, lustrous, and valuable”, but she felt he could not be hers. Changyu compared him to Song Yan, her ex-fiancé, who studied to be a scholar. There was a big gap in social status. Wait until she finds out Yan Zheng is a marquis!

Since Mrs. Zhao wanted to propose to Yan Zheng for Changyu, she wanted to do it herself, but she didn’t have the courage. Instead, she practiced the proposal to the piglet. Yan Zheng overheard it, including the reason she needed a matrilocal husband. When Changyu brought him soup, he immediately agreed without her asking.

Episode 3

They made their marriage agreement. Changyu promised that once they had their wedding and she established her business, she would hire the best physician to treat him and then let him go. When Yan Zheng asked about her uncle, she would simply say that Yan Zheng was away for business, so the uncle wouldn’t dare to take the house deed.

The next day, Changyu went to the embroidery house to get her wedding dress (which was supposed to be for her and Song Yan). The owner told her that the country’s hero, Xie Zheng aka Marquis Wu’an, was rumored to have died in Chongzhou, but his body was missing. In the court, the Emperor wanted to announce Xie Zheng’s death and grant the marquis a posthumous title as a duke. Xie Zheng’s maternal uncle, the powerful Chancellor Wei Yan, disagreed. The announcement would boost the morale of the enemy to attack. The opposing factions, one led by the chancellor and the other by Grand Tutor Li Xing, secretly searched for Xie Zheng’s body.

On the way home, Changyu lost her shoes from the wolf attack. A travelling man offered her a ride in his carriage. He was Li Huaian, the Grand Tutor’s grandson. He was also looking for Xie Zheng, but didn’t think the marquis wanted to be someone’s matrilocal husband.

Changyu wanted to honor the fallen hero, so she asked Yan Zheng to accompany her late at night to pray for the marquis. Her father told heroic stories about Xie Zheng, and how he reclaimed lost territories from the enemies and avenged his father and the country. She forced Yan Zheng to kneel and pray in front of his own memorial tablet, lol!

The next day, Changyu went to see Constable Wang to help her with the house deed transfer and Yan Zheng’s travel permit. While she was with the constable, the debt collectors came back to find the title deed and came face-to-face with Yan Zheng.

Episode 4

Although Yan Zheng was a military man, with his current condition it was hard to fight four healthy men. Mr. Zhang and the neighbors came to help, and finally our valiant heroine arrived and threw the thug boss out. Yan Zheng gave the neighbors credits. When Changyu tended to his wound, she saw Yan Zheng’s trained physique, and knew he fought the thugs. Yan Zheng lied that he was an armed escort and learned martial arts.

While the neighbors celebrated their ‘victory’ against the thug, came a bad news that Changyu’s uncle filed a petition to get the title deed. Changyu was reluctant to ask Song Yan, the only scholar in the neighborhood, for help with writing the legal document. Yan Zheng offered to help writing it, and they even practiced rehearsing the court and calligraphy. Song Yan came over and Yan Zheng quickly hid himself. Song Yan offered to make Changyu his concubine, so she could keep the house. While they were arguing, Yan Zheng showed up and kicked Song Yan out. Changyu declared that Yan Zheng was waaay better than Song Yan and inadvertently kissed his cheek, which was reciprocated by Yan Zheng. After kicking Song Yan out, they both were so embarrassed with the sudden kisses.

On the wedding day, Song Yan came again to intercept the wedding, bringing their childhood love token doll, but Changyu stepped on it. Guests whispered that she married an ugly cripple, but when Yan Zheng showed up they were astonished to see such a handsome groom, even Changyu was also stunned seeing him.

Episode 5

Changyu’s aunt and uncle were suspicious that Changyu’s marriage was fake, so they sneaked into her house on the wedding night. Changyu and Yan Zheng saw them, so they pretended that they consummated the marriage using candlelights to create the illusion.

After getting enough money from selling meat, Changyu went to redeem her mother’s hairpin, only to find out that it was already overdue and was sold. Little that she knew Yan Zheng had bought back the hairpin. He got some money from his subordinate whom he secretly corresponded with. Yan Zheng lied to Mr. Zhang that he sold some essays to the book store.

On the way home from the pawnshop, Changyu was humiliated by her former MIL, because Song Yan’s fiancée, the county magistrate’s daughter, would come to pick Song Yan up. Yan Zheng came to the rescue, and brought a long list of what the Song family had owed the Fan family along these years, including the Mr. Song’s funeral cost and Song Yan’s three-year tuition fee. He got the info from the Zhaos. The public criticized them, so Song Yan wanted to pay but his mother refused. Song Yan’s fiancée arrived and threw money in front of Changyu. She only took the amount they owed her family.

At home, Yan Zheng gave Changyu her mother’s hairpin back. He lied that he sold an essay to the bookstore owner, and the man paid him money and a hairpin. He also gave the money to Changyu.

Episode 6

While helping Changyu with butchering the pig, Yan Zheng noticed that the knives she used were oddly similar to the ones belonged to He Jingyuan, a general he had sparred with as a child. Yan Zheng had watched Changyu when she was fighting the thugs with a stick, even her fighting style was similar. Yan Zheng was suspicious that her father was not a real butcher, but had a hidden identity.

The scene with the gyrfalcon was so funny. The bird was Yan Zheng’s messenger bird. Changyu noticed that the bird hung out by the tree next to the house often. She trapped it and wanted to sell it at the market. Yan Zheng tried to rescue his bird by saying that it was not worth of money, so she wanted to cook it instead. Finally, Yan Zheng lied that he knew a bit skill to tame the bird as a messenger bird, and it would worth a lot of money. Changyu gave the bird to Yan Zheng, who hurriedly bandaged the bird, only to be caught using the hair ribbon she bought for him!

I’m glad Changyu and the thug gang were finally on good terms, because they were afraid of her, haha! She employed them to do every honest work and they even called her “Great Auntie Fan”.

Yan Zheng secretly bought a lot of firewood, rice, flour, oil, and liquor for Changyu, plus a clam oil for her chapped hands. He asked the shop owner to tell her that it was her father who bought the supplies months ago for the new year necessities.

Court day. Changyu went by herself with the Zhaos and didn’t want to bother Yan Zheng to come because he couldn’t kneel too long. The magistrate was Song Yan’s father-in-law. During the court session, her uncle and aunt didn’t come, so she likely won the case. However, before the court ended, suddenly her aunt arrived with men carrying her husband body, wailing that Changyu had killed her uncle!

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TL;DR

• Changyu found Xie Zheng injured and buried under the snow. She rescued him.
• Because he was chased by his enemies, he lied that his name was Yan Zheng.
• Changyu’s uncle wanted to and could take her house, unless she married a matrilocal husband. Yan Zheng offered to be the one.
• They got married.
• Yan Zheng secretly contacted his people and helped Changyu with her needs and problems.

I knew that Changyu didn’t kill her uncle, but what did actually happen? Let’s continue to Part 2!

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