Previously…
Pursuit of Jade: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 12 ends with a shocking proposal. What is it?
I screenshot the featured image, because this scene was my favorite in this part. It also inspired a multi-talented artist to draw the family picture.
Recaps Episodes 13 to 19
Episode 13
Qianqian wanted to borrow Yan Zhen for one day, posing as her husband, to meet Qi Min. The rewards were quite high. At first, Changyu and Yan Zhen were reluctant. However, when Yan Zhen heard that this pesky suitor had the same name as the guy who bought and hoarded 200K shi of grains, Yan Zhen wanted to check him out. This guy was suspected of being behind the acquisitions in Jizhou. With permission from Changyu, Yan Zhen agreed to the charade.
Qi Min was shocked seeing Yan Zhen, not only that he was introduced as Qianqian’s husband, but more that this “husband” looked like the “deceased” Marquis of Wu’an! The meeting was tense. Yan Zhen went straightforwardly, mentioning the 200K shi of grain. Qi Min’s guards were prepared, but Yan Zhen broke a chopstick and threw it at the door. Qi Min was shocked to see blood dripping on the paper door from one of his guards. He quickly retreated.
Qi Min didn’t harass Qianqian anymore, but his focus was now on Yan Zhen. He knew Chancellor Wei was looking for Yan Zhen. Instead of turning the fugitive, he decided to lure Yan Zhen to his side. He sent his subordinate to meet Yan Zhen. The guy told Yan Zhen that Chancellor Wei had looked for people who used to work for him and knew what happened 16 years ago, and killed them. Yan Zhen guessed that Changyu’s father worked for the chancellor. When the man asked Yan Zhen to side with them, Yan Zhen asked for the 200K shi of grain instead. Qi Min agreed.
Qianqian heard rumors that Changyu never had sex with her husband, so she asked her bestie about it. Changyu lamented that sooner or later, Yan Zhen would leave her. Qianqian advised Changyu to have a child with Yan Zhen. The child would only be good-looking, so it would be a blessing. Changyu thought about it, and the opportunity came during the New Year’s Eve celebration. Changyu drank so much to give her courage to seduce Yan Zhen, but she passed out.
Episode 14
On New Year’s Day, Qianqian came with gifts and brought a long Bao’er. Finally, that poor child could breathe fresh air! Bao’er and Changning went out playing, and while the maid didn’t look, they were gone. They met an old woman who asked Bao’er’s name and birthdate. This boy was smart; he didn’t give out his name and faked his birthdate. That old woman was a spy from Qi Min. Qi Min knew the child might lie, so he had his men catch one of Qianqian’s servants who provided the child’s real name and birthdate. What??? Bao’er was his child??? I thought the Qi Min was. Qianqian also didn’t think this “Qi Min” was the man she had known. Luckily, at this time, Qi Min’s mission was Yan Zhen, so he wouldn’t act rashly.
These kids are adorable!
Gongsun Yin visited Yan Zhen to inform him of important stuff. But before that, he drew Yan Zhen, Changyu, and Changning together as a family, and gifted the drawing to them. Yin told Yan Zhen about the dire situation in Jizhou. Wei Xuan arrested General He Jingyuan when he attempted to stop Wei Xuan’s army from harassing the civilians. Yin urged Yan Zhen to return and stabilize the army. Yan Zhen wanted to leave in three days after Changyu’s birthday.
Meanwhile, Princess Qishu and Li Huaian were on a forced date arranged by her mother. The princess bluntly said she was not interested in him. He said the marriage was decided by their elders, and it was not what he wanted either. Qishu had a eureka moment, and she asked him to join her with a plan that would bring peace for them both. Li Huaian was interested to hear the details. While they were whispering, her mother was spying on them and was happy seeing them close to each other.
Episode 15
A big shock for Changyu after the New Year! Her grandfather told her that her father was not his biological son. Seventeen years ago, her father and mother came to Lin’an and paid a lot of money to ask the grandfather to take her father as his son. His own son was snatched by child traffickers. Several days before the death of her parents, they came to the “grandfather” with a suicide note stating that it was better for them to die, so their pursuer would leave the girls alone. Her uncle, who died, had burned the suicide note to seize the deed. Changyu wanted to avenge her parents, but Yan Zhen stated that it would be hard to do because of the politics at a higher level.
The political situation in the Great Yin was in turmoil with the Wei and Li factions, and the army was in a dire situation. It was time for Yan Zhen to go. He didn’t want to take her and Changning with him because life in the frontier was hard. Besides, he wanted Changyu to be free. Changyu had an intuition that her husband would depart soon. But before that, came a local trouble. The Yixiang Restaurant was framed for poisoning the customer, and Qianqian was arrested. Qianqian begged Changyu to take care of Bao’er and hide him.
Episode 16
Changyu wanted to rescue Qianqian right away, but Yan Zheng stopped her. He explained about the bigger conspiracy and the riot plan. She listened to him and alerted Constable Wang to lock the city gates. The riot was planned by Sui Yuanqing. He was the son and successor of Prince Changxin, and the brother of Sui Yuanhai. Sui Yuanqing wanted to find his son’s brother, too. Meanwhile, Changyu hid Bao’er inside the hidden room in the restaurant. Sui Yuanqing’s men seized Magistrate Cui’s mansion. When Changyu arrived there, his daughter pleaded for her to save her father. Changyu agreed if Cui Qianjin released Qianqian.
Wearing a mask to hide his identity, Yan Zheng warned Constable Wang that any guard wearing red ribbons were impostors, so they were arrested. Earlier, his Blood Robe Cavalry and He Jingyuan’s Jizhou Army intercepted the 200K shi grain, which was distributed to the townsfolk to calm the unrest.
On her attempt to rescue Magistrate Cui, Changyu disguised herself as his maid, and engaged in a duel with Sui Yuanqing. His soldier attacked her from behind, but Yan Zheng shot a crossbow to kill the man. Sui Yuanqing realized that the masked guy was the marquis and the “maid”‘s husband. Yan Zheng chased Sui Yuanqing to the edge of the cliff and shot Sui Yuanqing when he insulted Changyu. Yuanqing fell into the water, but I doubted he died, though. Yan Zheng and Changyu reunited.
Episode 17
It was time for Yan Zheng to return as the marquis. That meant a reluctant farewell with Changyu. She already anticipated that, so she gave him money, clothing, shoes… and a divorce paper! Yan Zheng was angry and accused her of wanting to get rid of him badly. Their convo turned hostile, and they provoked each other. When Changyu walked away, Yan Zheng chased her angrily and kissed her. She slapped him mightily. He kissed her again and asked her to wait for a year for him to take down his enemy. She was so angry having to wait for him; either he would die or not. When she asked why she had to wait for him, he didn’t reply. Yan Zheng felt Changyu had abandoned him at the same place where she had saved him before. When Changyu arrived home, she found Yan Zheng’s birthday gifts: a birthday wish, silver, and handmade wrist guards. She broke down in tears.
Now I would officially change his name to Xie Zheng, as he and his army left the town.
Because of the looming war, the military draft started in Lin’an. Every man was drafted, even the Jins and the old Mr. Zhao. Changyu heard that her husband was caught for a draft, too. She wanted to give him supplies, but was stopped by the soldiers. The young male characters in the drama were pulled by their relatives to support their sides. Marquis Wu’an returned with all his glory, and Chancellor Wei, his maternal uncle, welcomed him happily. His treatment of his nephew was better than that of his own son, Wei Xuan. Or… was that his real son?
wasBecause of the turmoil, Qianqian decided to leave the place with Bao’er and invited Changyu to join her. Changyu wanted to stay at Lin’an and wait for her husband and the other men. The farewell between the kids was so cute; they exchanged (love) tokens. Changyu was lucky she didn’t go with Qianqian, because soon, bandits came to attack Lin’an and ambushed Qianqian’s carriage. She and Bao’er were saved by masked soldiers, who were none other than Sui Yuanhuai’s men!
Episode 18
I told you that Sui Yuanqing wouldn’t die, right? He was saved by Shi Sanniang, the female bandit chief of Qingfeng Stronghold. She fell in love with him, so he paid her and the bandits to attack Lin’an, to find Changyu, whom he could use as leverage against Xie Zheng. They killed everyone who didn’t want to tell the whereabouts of Changyu: Constable Wang, Chef Li, Changyu’s neighbors, even Magistrate Cui and his daughter, who were grateful to Changyu in the previous episode. The wretch Mrs. Song was the one who told the bandits where Changyu lived, but she was killed, too. Changyu, Mrs. Zhao, and Changning took refuge in a shelter. Changyu lured the bandits away to save Mrs. Zhao and her sis, but was caught by the bandits. She managed to escape, and Yuanqing cornered her at the cliff. Refusing to surrender, with a mocking smile, Changyu threw herself down the cliff.
Xie Zheng was well aware of the massacre in Lin’an, because the gyrfalcon he sent to check on Changyu came back wounded. Xie Zheng rushed asap to the bloody place with a hundred soldiers. They rescued some people alive, but no bodies of Changyu, Changning, or Mrs. Zhao. He used the ribbon he snatched from Changyu when he force-kissed her during their farewell and sent his bird to find her.
They found her hanging on the cliff side, wrapped around vines. Xie Zheng released her and ordered his guards to find a shelter and hang the bandits on the city wall with their guts open for three days. They found a home, but there was only a blind woman inside. She knew a little about medicine and could tell Changyu was on the verge of death because of hypothermia. The woman told Xie Zheng that Changyu needed scraping therapy for blood circulation. Xie Zheng told the woman he was Changyu’s husband and that he would scrape her.
Episode 19
Xie Zheng took off Changyu’s clothes and scraped her body to promote circulation. She got better but was still unconscious. At night, she had a nightmare, and he stayed with her. His subordinates were surprised because their leader never treated a woman like this, and wondered if he would marry her. Xie Zheng promised she would marry Changyu. Since she didn’t reply, he took it as a yes.
Xie Zheng found out that Sui Yuanqing had paid the bandits to massacre Lin’an Town. He left two of his subordinates and marched to find them. Meanwhile, at Qingfeng Stronghold, Sui Yuanqing told Shi Sanniang that Changyu had killed her second-in-command and brother, so Shi Sanniang vowed to kill Changyu. The bandits took Changning because of the expensive pendant on her neck, given by Bao’er. Knowing that the girl looked like the one in the family painting, Yuanqing wanted to use her as leverage against Xie Zheng.
Changyu finally woke up, but she thought the two men guarding her were bandits. So she subdued them and carried the old blind woman to run away. On the run, she saw Li Huaian and his men. Upon hearing the news of the massacre, Li Huaian went to search for her and Changning. She was so happy seeing him that her wristguards, given by her husband, fell down the slope. While retrieving it, Changyu slipped and almost fell if she had not been caught by a masked man. Of course, he was Xie Zheng! He was angry because Changyu risked her life to get the wristguards. She only said that they were given by a friend. Changyu fought the masked man and ran away to find Li Huaian. Xie Zheng let her leave because he didn’t want Li Huaian to find him.
These Sui brothers were cruel. Sui Yuanqing began to torture Changning; luckily, the bandit lady boss, Shi Sanniang, pushed Yuanqing away and showed kindness to the little girl. In another place, his bro Sui Yuanhai tortured Qianqian by killing the servants and craftsmen ordered to make her clothing and jewelry. When Qianqian remained indifferent, Yuanhai used Bao’er to threaten her. Qianqian didn’t have any choice but to follow his demands.
Back in town, Changyu was completely lost. Many deaths, including the people she cared about. Outside the people I mentioned in the previous episode, the bandits also killed her “grandfather” and nasty “aunt”. She found Mrs. Zhao, and the woman tearfully reported that the bandits had taken Changning. Changyu didn’t want to rest, but put up name plates on the graves while remembering them. Returning home, Changyu vowed in front of her parents’ tablet that she would find and save Changning, Yan Zheng, and other survivors from Lin’an Town.
TL;DR
- The pesky suitor was gone temporarily.
- Yan Zheng and Changyu suppressed the riot in Lin’an.
- The war was looming. Yan Zheng bid farewell to Changyu and returned to the Capital as Xie Zheng, Marquis Wu’an. The men from Lin’an were drafted.
- Bandits attacked Lin’an. Many people died. Changning was captured by the bandits. Qianqian and Bao’er were “rescued” by Sui Yuanhuai.
- Refusing to surrender, Changyu jumped off the cliff. Xie Zheng rescued her, but then left her without revealing his identity.
- Changyu vowed to avenge the death of the people she knew, find her husband, and rescue her sister and other survivors.
So many things happened! Let’s follow Changyu looking for everyone in the next part!
逐玉, Zhang Linghe, Tian Xiwei
