Previously…
So many revelations in The First Jasmine: Drama Recap Episodes 12 to 15! Will we find out another shocking part of the past in this part?
Let’s continue!
As a note, there are side stories about Marcus Muyang’s sons and the visit of Princess Lingyun from Cangbei that I think are fillers in this part, so I didn’t cover much.
Recap Episodes 16 to 22
Episode 16
Before departing the Ye Mansion, Ye Li had a private talk with her stepmother, Madam Wang. She asked why Ye Li didn’t expose her affair with her lover. Ye Li said that Madam Wang had helped her expose her father’s crime towards her mother by pretending to be a ghost. Besides, what happened to her mother was not Madam Wang’s fault. Ye Li only advised the madam to be a good mother to Ye Ying and Ye Rong.
The relationship between Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao got better. He was very worried about her after her mental breakdown at the Ye Mansion last time and took extra care of her. Ye Li was very touched and decided to come clean with her husband—well, partially—about what she did back at Ye Mansion to reveal what actually happened in the past. She also revealed that her father married her mother for her dowry. However, once the Lishan Academy closed its doors, her mother was abused by the Ye Family until her death. Now that everything was over, she felt relieved. She didn’t tell him about the connection between his brother and her mother, tho, and her promise to his brother.
After taking her husband to work, Ye Li walked back home but stopped by Xiangqi Building to see Li Feibai. He confirmed that the edict was not with Marquis Muyang but with Dowager Consort Qin. That woman was as scary as, if not scarier than the Marquis. She was meticulous and ruthless at her dirty deeds.
At work, Mo Xiuyao didn’t let go the failed operation looking for Red Fox/the man in black mask. He suspected there was a mole in the Jingzhao Prefecture. Meanwhile, Ye Ying confronted her husband that she knew he had left the Ye Mansion last night. Mo Jingli lied that he passed out from being drunk and never left the Ye Mansion.
Ye Li patiently helped Mo Xiuyao to stand up again. With great difficulty, he took a few steps. Although he fell, his condition was getting better and better. Mo Xiuyao’s attitude got better at work, too, and he was very grateful to Ye Li.
Episode 17
The Third Uncle Ye Wenshen apparently knew Dowager Consort Qin. He was a disciple of Zhou Xiankun, an observatory officer from the Bureau of Astronomy. Mr. Zhou who had been extremely close to Dowager Consort Qin when he was still alive. Ye Wenshen did not know why Dowager Consort Qin had hidden that edict, but warned Ye Li it would be extremely difficult to obtain it from her.
Mo Xiuyao had completely healed from his leg illness, but he kept it secret. He instructed Ye Li that only her three maids could enter his pavilion. Ye Li asked why her close maid Qingshuang was excluded. Mo Xiuyao knew that there was no maid named Qingshuang, but Ye Li turned around and talked to “Qingshuang”. Mo Xiuyao was concerned because, according to Feng Zhiyao’s investigation, Ye Li returned from the mountain alone and often talked to herself. So he consulted with a physician. The physician told him that his wife needed companionship. She only created “Qingshuang” as a coping mechanism, since she missed her mountain home and she received no warmth in the Ye Family. As Ye Li had helped Mo Xiuyao to heal his legs, he decided to help Ye Li heal her psychological trauma.
Episode 18
To make Ye Li not feel lonely again, Mo Xiuyao accompanied her pretty much everywhere. He also invited her to come with him to his workplace. They were inseparable. Mo Xiuyao even arranged for them to sleep together. He said they had been married for so long and should consummate their marriage, lol. When Ye Li had a food allergy and developed rashes, he still slept with her and held her hands to prevent her from scratching her skin.
Get back to business. Jingzhao Prefecture’s investigation into Yuan Fang’s murder had narrowed down to Mo Jingli. But not only them, but Marquis Muyang had also found out that Mo Jingli killed Yuan Fang to drive a wedge between him and the Empress Dowager. Acting as the Imperial Court of Judicial Review, he and his men raided the Li Mansion. Realizing he had been cornered, Mo Jingli burned all the important documents and ordered his guards to escort Ye Ying back to her family. While burning the paper, the mansion caught fire, and Mo Jingli supposedly burned to death, along with his three servants. Ye Li didn’t believe that the cunning Mo Jingli was dead, although his physician confirmed Mo Jingli’s identity by matching the corpse to his old injury and a missing left molar that had been extracted earlier that year. Well, I don’t believe that Mo Jingli died, either!
Episode 19
Even the Empress Dowager ordered Marquis Muyang, who was the boss of the Imperial Court of Judicial Review, to take control of the capital’s gates and major roads, looking for Mo Jingli. They are to seize all letters, documents, and arrested witnesses linked to Mo Jingli and the Eastern Palace. Even Ye Ying, who wanted to commit suicide following the ‘death’ of her husband, was arrested too, if Ye Li hadn’t stepped in to defend her sister. She pointed out that the Empress Dowager’s decree only for the mansion to be sealed and searched, not the arrest of the princess consort. Besides, their marriage was arranged by the Empress Dowager. After that, Ye Li sat down to comfort her sister. She couldn’t bring herself to hate the pitiful Ye Ying, despite what the Ye Family did to her. Ye Ying told Ye Li about her husband’s last words, may they meet again when heaven permits. That cause Ye Li to guess that Mo Jingli didn’t die.
Ye Li obtained old maps of the area from Wei Zhuang. After studying the maps, she deduces that Mo Jingli likely dug a secret passage connecting his mansion to the underground drainage canals. Ye Li sneaked out of Ding Mansion at night wearing dark clothes and was followed by Han Mingxi, her assassin/savior, who wanted to pay his twice-in-a-lifetime debt to her. They ended up working together, sneaked into Li Mansion, and found a secret passage towards the ancient underground waterways.
Ye Li briefly explained to Han Mingxi that she was looking for Mo Jingli, whom she thought was not dead, and had escaped through the main flood drainage canal. Han Mingxi promised to keep their mission a secret. As they emerge from the tunnels, they are suddenly ambushed by a band of masked men in black!
Episode 20
Ten assassins were fighting them, and Han Mingxi was outnumbered. He was wounded and fell to the ground. At this critical moment, Ye Li’s alter personality, Zhu Fuzi or Master Zhu, emerged and used a high-level sword technique to kill the remaining assassins. After they were all dead, she carried the injured Han Mingxi to Li Feibai at Xiangqi Pavilion. On her way back home, she almost got caught by her husband, who came home from work. Luckily, she went home before Mo Xiuyao did.
At the court session, the Emperor declared that Mo Jingli’s case was under the sole jurisdiction of the Imperial Court of Judicial Review and ordered Mo Xiuyao to stay out of the matter.
While her husband was attending the court, Ye Li visited Li Feibai and told him that Master Zhu arrived at the nick of time to rescue her and Han Mingxi. Li Feibai was confused, since he had searched for the master everywhere in the capital. Only when Ye Li mentioned that every time she encountered danger, Master Zhu would appear. Li Feibai remembered Ye Li talked to her maid “Qing Shuang” while nobody was there. Li Feibai asked Han Mingxi if anyone else was there besides the two and the assassins. Han Mingxi’s answer confirmed Li Feibai’s suspicion that Ye Li was Master Zhu!
Ye Li, Li Feibai, and Han Mingxi went around visiting the families who had generously helped the Lishan Academy’s scholars in the past to repay their debts. It was touching!
To avoid public talk, the court stated that Prince Li was dead due to an accidental fire, and he was to be buried in a simple ceremony in the southwest of the city.
Episode 21
I was not sure if Princess Lingyun from Cangbei had any important role in the main plot, but her sneaking out of her delegation to meet Feng Zhiyao secretly was cute. They met a long time ago, but he didn’t know that she was a princess. He only knew she came to their state to conduct business, but she actually came to select a husband as per the two states’ agreement. It was clear that Feng Zhiyao liked her.
The princess’s maid, Su Zuidie, was betrothed to Mo Xiuyao in the past. She had posed as the princess in the carriage while Princess Lingyun was meeting Feng Zhiyao, and saw Mo Xiuyao again. Apparently, this “maid” still had her lingering feelings for her former betrothed. I hope she won’t give trouble to our couple with her one-sided love!
Episode 22
Mo Xiuyao received an info that Cangbei has colluded with an insider to assassinate a minister. The plot was closely tied to Marquis Muyang. Mo Xiuyao demanded to see the Emperor immediately, but he had to wait in a side hall instead. However, a eunuch locked him up instead, and a group of assassins barged in to kill Mo Xiuyao. He used his wheelchair to fight them, and they were not his match! Eventually, his wheelchair shattered, and Mo Xiuyao stood up and defeated them.
Meanwhile, in the martial arts arena where the Great Chu and Cangbei were supposedly having a friendly match, a cocky Cangbei general defeated the Great Chu’s top warrior. He then challenged anyone to fight him, and the prize would be two hundred Cangbei war horses for anyone who could defeat him. As a prize, he demanded the Lanyun Spear, a treasured relic of Prince Ding’s Mansion, revealing that his father had been killed by that spear.
Mo Xiuyao was not in the arena to say yay or nay to the general’s demand. When Ye Li had to defend Prince Ding’s Mansion, she calmly revealed that the general was a traitor who betrayed his former alliances before finally aligning with Cangbei. The general was very angry with the public humiliation and lunged towards Ye Li. Suddenly, Mo Xiuyao leaped into the arena, grabbing a nearby spear to intercept the attack. The crowd was shocked to see the supposedly crippled Prince Ding now standing tall and easily defeating the Cangbei general.
Empress Dowager didn’t really like Mo Xiuyao concealing his recovery. Mo Xiuyao apologized and explained that he was not fully recovered because his legs were still weak, but the assassination attempt shattered his wheelchair, and he was forced to stand on his legs to rescue his wife. Mo Xiuyao quickly brought up the emergency: the intercepted Cangbei letter and the assassination attempt on him within the palace.
Marquis Muyang offered to investigate the matter, but Empress Dowager gave the case to the Jingzhao Prefecture instead. Later, they found the dead bodies of eunuchs who were involved in this case, including the eunuch who had trapped Mo Xiuyao. They also found out the reason Cangbei wanted to eliminate Zhong Xingtong, the Vice Director of the Ministry of Works. He was the brain behind the Great Chu’s advanced forging technology, and was developing a highly destructive and portable siege crossbow at this moment. Killing him was a huge advantage for Cangbei.
Princess Lingyun feigned ignorance when the Empress Dowager confronted her with the intercepted letter. She explained that her younger brother had just ascended the throne, and the court was still unstable. Their visit was to establish friendly relations with the Great Chu, but she could imagine that someone was stirring up internal trouble.
Empress Dowager did not push her further; instead, Her Highness asked if the princess had someone she fancied during the matchmaking event. Princess Lingyun said there was an old friend she liked in the Great Chu, but he was neither a royal member nor a nobleman. Yay, he must be Feng Zhiyao! The princess said she would tell the Empress Dowager when the time was right.
Su Zuidi was punished by Princess Ling Yun to kneel for two hours for her mistakes, until Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li finished talking to the princess. Mo Xiuyao delivered the princess’s pardon, and Su Zuidi took her chance to explain to her former betrothed what happened to her family back then, that the betrothal was cancelled. Later, when Mo Xiuyao’s sister-in-law returned from her mother’s house, she found Su Zuidi collapsed on the road after being attacked. Wen Ran took her to Prince Ding’s mansion to be treated. Ye Li had no reason to refuse and didn’t ask her husband about his relationship with his former betrothal either. Mo Xiuyao took the initiative to explain his relationship with the Su family. Su Zuidie was the daughter of the former chief of the Eastern Palace guards. They had been betrothed in their youth, though they had no real connection with each other. After her family was exiled, they had lost all contact.
Li Feibai climbed the mountains and finally returned to Lishan Academy, only to find it in ruins with no survivors, leaving him in utter shock!
TL;DR
- Following the Ye Family’s drama, Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao’s relationship got better. Ye Li helped Mo Xiuyao with his legs, and Mo Xiuyao helped Ye Li with her psychological trauma.
- Mo Xiuyao’s legs were healed completely and he could walk again, yay!
- Mo Jingli feigned death in the fire after he was cornered by Jingzhao Prefecture as well as Marquis Muyang, in connection with the murder of Yuan Fang.
- Ye Li worked together with Han Mingxi to investigate the underground canal to search for Mo Jingli. While being attacked by assassins, her alter personality, Master Zhu, emerged with highly martial arts skills.
- Princess Lingyun from Cangbei, a neighboring state, came to the Great Chu with her entourage for a friendly visit. Along with her visit came also troubles.
- Mo Xiuyao had to show up in public in his perfect condition to rescue his wife.
- The Lingshan Academy apparently was in an absolute dilapidation and abandonment!
I don’t like and was suspicious of this whole Su Zuidie thing. Let’s see if my suspicion was right in the next part!
