Previously…
The massacre in Lin’an town in Pursuit of Jade: Drama Recap Episodes 13 to 19 was brutal. Now we’re ready to embark on a new journey with Fan Changyu to find her missing loved ones and to avenge Lin’an town!
By the way, this kissing scene was not in this part.
Recaps Episodes 20 to 25
Episode 20
Changyu started searching for her sis. She went to any human trafficker group and freed children, and she became famous as “Butcher Beauty from Jizhou”. But one time mistake, misunderstanding a father as a human trafficker, landed her in jail. Li Huaian had to bail her out.
Sui Yuanqing left the Qingfeng Stronghold, with Shi Sanniang and Changning, for his father’s mansion. Meanwhile, his father had retreated to another place. He met his brother, Sui Yuanhuai. Yuanhai informed his brother that Xie Zheng had destroyed the grain supply route, but Yuanqing boasted that he held a “pleasant surprise” for Xie Zheng. He then sent Xie Zheng the family portrait and a message that he held Xie Zheng’s daughter.
Xie Zheng and Gongsun Yin met with General He Jingyuan to make a strategy. Xie Zheng had a chance to ask the general what happened to the Fan couple. General He Jingyuan admitted that Fan Erniu, the father’s name, was his former comrade. He and his wife had committed suicide after being pressured by He Jingyuan himself, under Chancellor Wei’s order. Zie Zheng then asked the general to spread a rumor that Changning was his daughter, so they wouldn’t kill her.
Episode 21
The little Bao’er was traumatized by Sui Yuanhuai’s cruelty of beating a maid to death in front of him. He consumed ink to get sick so he could see his mother. His nanny was afraid he would die, so she suggested to Sui Yuanhuai to give Bao’er a companion. Well, we knew Changning was at the same place, as a hostage. Sui Yuanhuai took Changning to be Bao’er’s companion. They reunited. Changning became Bao’er’s comfort.
In the previous episode, Changyu was arrested because she was suspected of being a rebel. Changyu was put in a labor camp and paired with an elderly scholar called Tao Yi, or Old Man Tao. We know later, this scholar was Xie Zheng’s teacher. The more the merrier, they got more companions: the Jins, who were Changyu’s employees at the meat shop last time: Jin Yuanbao, Man Di, Man Cang, and Man Wu. She shared the tragedy in Lin’an, which affected their family, too. She told them that Sui Yuanqing was the mastermind behind the massacre, and they vowed to avenge together.
Bao’er nanny, who was also Sui Yuanhuai’s nanny, begged Qianqian to put up an act for the sake of her son, and added that he was “the bloodline of the Great Yin Dynasty”… hmmm… so Qianqian began teaching the children a game, and instructed them to smile and play merrily to lower the guards’ vigilance. Unfortunately, Sui Yuanqing came to take away Changning.
Episode 22
Changyu noticed a quarry worker who was rewarded with a drumstick because he carried baskets of stones to the mountain without using a cart. She struck a deal with the supervising general: if she could carry two massive baskets of stone up the mountain alone, her companions would be rewarded with drumsticks. Wait, that general was Pei Yi, General He’s subordinate, who was given a “heinous task that might bring condemnation from the whole world”. Pei Yi didn’t believe it, so he challenged her that if she could do it, he would reward the group with one chicken each. Changyu used her father’s techniques to carry the baskets of stone up to the mountain.
When she came back, Pei Yi gave her and her friends baskets of chicken. While they were eating, Tao Yi whispered to Changyu that he noticed her shoes’ soles had changed from yellow mud to black mud. He deduced she scouted a hidden forest path. Changyu acknowledged she was investigating the dam. He asked her to go up the mountain to take a look tomorrow evening.
Qianqian worked together with the old nanny to smuggle Bao’er out. Sui Yuanhuai was very angry and locked Qianqian up. His subordinate, the nanny’s son, reported that Bao’er was taken away by the enemy’s men, but Yuanhuai suspected betrayal.
After following Tao Yi’s advice and examining the dam in the evening, she reported to Tao Yi what she saw. Tao Yi thought that was not good so he asked to see General Pei. Tao Yi saw through the plan: to blow up the dam and flood the enemy. That was the plan agreed upon between General He Jingyuan, Xie Zheng, and Gongsun Yin. However, it was not a good project because the water flow was low. Tao Yi had a better technique. General Pei was impressed by the old man’s knowledge. Tao Yi was the former Minister of Works and the current Grand Tutor! Tao Yi didn’t want to tell General Pei why he was enslaved in the quarry. He asked what would happen to the workers and soldiers who were working at the dam? Be drowned, of course. With Tao Yi’s plan, at least half of the people would be saved.
The next day, there was an announcement that the war needed more people, so half of the workers and soldiers had to go to war. They drew lots. Changyu and the Jins stayed, and Tao Yi would go. However, Tao Yi knew that it would be the opposite. The ones who stayed would be blasted together with the dam, and the ones who went to war would be freed. He exchanged the draw with Changyu, stating that he was too afraid to go to war.
When she left, the Jins traded lots with four other people who didn’t want to leave the camp; they wanted to live or die together with Changyu… awww! At night, Man Cang and Man Wu overheard soldiers talking that the dam would be blasted and the ones stayed would actually die. They reported this to Changyu. She realized Tao Yi knew about the plan and sacrificed himself. They decide to rescue Tao Yi.
When they returned, they saw a fight breaking out between the soldiers and the enemy spies. They rescued Tao Yi. Before his death, General Pei, who was now called General Tang (?), informed them that three spies had run away. If they reported Marquis Wu’an’s plan to the enemy, the plan to destroy the enemy by drowning them would fail. Changyu and her friend managed to kill the spies before they could send a signal flare.
On the battlefield, Xie Zheng, who had only brought a thousand soldiers, was face-to-face with Sui Yuanqing. He not only brought way more soldiers than Xie Zheng did, but also his prized hostage: Changning. Xie Zheng’s plan was blown when Changning saw Xie Zheng and called him “brother-in-law”. Sui Yuanqing was enraged at the deception and wanted to kill Changning. Xie Zheng shielded her and managed to save Changning and capture Sui Yuanqing. He and the soldier rode hard towards the gorge to trap Sui Yuanqing’s soldiers. At the right time, the dam exploded!
Episode 23
Sui Yuanhuai was watching everything that happened on the top of the mountain. At first, he wondered why Marquis Wu’an would risk himself trying to save his sis-in-law with only a thousand soldiers, considering Sui Yuanqing came with a huge army. However, after hearing the dam explosion, Sui Yuanhuai realized the marquis’s trick to trap the enemy in the narrow gorge. While he didn’t care that his bro was captured (he was not his biological bro!) and the soldiers were only loyal to Sui Yuanqing, he realized that Qianqian was still locked up, and the manor was on a low elevation. Surely the dam water would flow into the manor, and Qianqian would drown. Yuanhai rushed back to save her. However, because of the flooding water, Yuanhai found the runaway nanny. She managed to let Bao’er flee with her son before Yuanhuai killed her.
Changyu and her friends presented the spy tokens to Xie Zheng’s soldiers as proof that they had taken care of the enemy’s spies. She didn’t mention her name, but the whole group’s name “Northwest Pig Butcher Squad”. That was an interesting name, but unfortunately, when the soldier told Xie Zheng the name of the group that killed the spies, he didn’t think it was Changyu and her friends. He thought she was in Jizhou with Li Huaian, looking for Changning. She did go there with him, but left for the enemy area when she heard there was a group of child traffickers, and ended up at the quarry camp. Xie Zheng sent a message through his bird to Changyu that her sister was saved.
Meanwhile, the Northwest Pig Butcher Squad and Tao Yi arrived at the army camp and met Mr. Zhao and Li Huaian. She told Mr. Zhao about the massacre, and Mr. Zhao told her that he had given the supplies she sent for Yan Zheng. Since she sent a divorce letter to Yan Zheng, Mr. Zhao advised her that Yan Zheng had feelings for her, so better to reconcile when they met again. She also received a message from her husband that Changning was saved. Now that she knew both her sis and hubby were saved, Changyu focused on helping with the war.
Xie Zheng, who was left with only 800 soldiers after the battle with Sui Yuanqing, decided to make himself a bait to prevent the two enemy armies from reuniting. But the supplies were low. Changyu volunteered to lead a supply team to help the marquis’ army. Although Mr. Zhao was worried, but Tao Yi believed she was now a capable military leader.
Episode 24
Princess Qi Shu arrived with her maid, and they volunteered to serve as temporary imperial physicians. Xie Zheng was not happy to see them; he rebuked the princess who had sneaked out during the incense offering. The princess argued that she was blessed; besides, the pig butcher squad was by her side. And we saw the scene where the princess, her maid, and the supplies were helped by the squad, and Changyu threw the princess with her superpower to avoid the arrow shots.
Changyu and Xie Zheng were at the same camp, but when Changyu looked for her husband, nobody knew Yan Zheng. Gongsun Yin accidentally bumped into her and reunited her with Changning! What a heartfelt reunion. Changyu also found out Gongsun Yin’s real name and that he was the advisor for Marquis Wu’an.
Changning didn’t know where Yan Zheng was. She told Changyu in summary about Sister Fairy, Bao’er, Big Villain, and Little Villain. Changyu worked in the medical tent. There was when she reunited with her husband. His guard right away “evacuated” the other injured patients, since they didn’t know that the marquis was in the tent. Changyu brought the princess, whom she misunderstoodly called Qi Beholden (and the disguised princess didn’t refuse such a name). Since Xie Zheng and Qi Shu knew each other, Qi Shu was surprised that the husband Mrs. Fan had been looking for was the marquis, and Xie Zheng was surprised that the princess became a skilled physician. Qi Shu didn’t reveal Xie Zheng’s identity, but warned Changyu in front of Xie Zheng about handsome men who played tricks and lied to women, lol.
Qi Shu also had a reunion with Gongsun Yin when his famous fan was snatched by her maid. Gongsun Yin asked if she was here for him, and was worried about her mother. Qi Shu retorted that if the marquis and the conselor could be here for people, why not her, a princess royal physician? She remembered his advice at the academy to stay away from him because of her mother, so she treated him coldly.
Changyu also recognized the two guards whom guarded her and she tricked last time. But they lied they never seen her and Xie Zheng dismissed them soon.
Changyu followed Mr. Zhang’s advice to reconcile with her husband. However, their private moment was interrupted by Gongsun Yin. He warned Xie Zheng that althought the Xie family guards would keep tight lips and nobody in the camp knew Marquis Wu’an, but everyone in the camp knew that Mrs. Fan had found her husband. Yin warned Xie Zheng about Chancellor Wei, who ordered the Fan sisters to be killed last time. Xie Zheng decided not to stay at the same tent with Changyu.
Episode 25
This episode was sweet ‘n’ sour in my opinion, because everyone had to lie for Marquis of Wu’an, even the princess. She rebuked Xie Zheng to tell his wife the truth, or the marchioness would be livid.
I like the princess now that she has found her mission for her people. She worked so hard finding herbs and concocting medicine that she passed out after smelling so many herbs. Gongsun Yin was verrry worried about her and insisted on taking care of the princess.
When Changyu found that Sui Yuanqing was held in the camp, she and her squad dragged him to the mountain and beat him up to avenge Lin’an and their families. They used Sui Yuanqing to force Shi Yue, the enemy’s army general, to surrender meat and grain to them to save his boss. Although the Pig Butcher Squad returned as heroes with much-needed supplies, their unauthorized mission was a violation of military law, and Chang Yu had to be punished. Xie Zheng had his subordinate pose as the Marquis behind the screen, who ordered Changyu to receive 30 strokes. Xie Zheng then insisted on taking the punishment in her place. However, Changyu didn’t want her husband to suffer more injury. When they started to execute the punishment, she shielded him from behind.
TL;DR
- In her quest to find her sister, Changyu became a heroine for the kidnapped children, landed in a quarry camp, met Tao Yi, who became her teacher, and reunited with her subordinates, the Jins. They became the Northwest Pig Butcher Squad heroes.
- The dam explosion. Sui Yuanqing was captured. Changning was rescued. Sui Yuanhuai rescued Qianqian from the dam flood. Bao’er ran away with the nanny’s son. The nanny was killed.
- Changyu reunited with Changning and her husband, but everyone had to lie to her to cover Xie Zheng’s identity, including the princess.
- Qi Shu reunited with Gongsun Yin.
- Changyu and her Pig Butcher Squad beat the crap out of Sui Yuanqing, but they violated the military law.
I’m pretty sure nobody would get punished, but how would they get away with it? Let’s continue!
逐玉, Zhang Linghe, Tian Xiwei
