Previously…
By the end of The First Jasmine: Drama Recap Episodes 23 to 28, Mo Xiuwen, the Prince Ding Mansion, and the Black Cloud Cavalry names were cleared up once Ye Li revealed the former emperor’s edict to summon Mo Xiuwen back to the Capital back then. But we know bigger secrets were not out yet, so let’s continue!
Recap Episodes 29 to 33
Episode 29
While watching the bright moon at night with Mo Xiuyao, Ye Li vaguely said that she had watched the moon every night while at Lishan Academy. Mo Xiuyao asked about the other disciples, and Ye Li said she didn’t know where they were. Ye Li promised she would take him to Lishan Academy one day to watch the moon, which she said was different than the one at the Capital.
Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao went to Qingfeng Mingyue Tower to listen to a storytelling. The story had a similar vibe to their romance, in which the couple hid a dark secret that could jeopardize their relationship. The story was not finished. When they discussed the story, Mo Xiuyao believed the ending would be sad, and the couple would not end up together. Ye Li didn’t like it, she preferred the fictional couple to have a happy ending. At home, Mo Xiuyao suggested to Ye Li to let her maid “Qing Shuang” to go home, since he would be with her from now on. Ye Li finally agreed to let “Qing Shuang” go.
However, we know that Marquis Muyang would do anything to get himself out of jail. He demanded to see Mo Xiuyao for important info. And we know what that would be. Ye Li seemed to have a hunch that her skeleton in the closet would come out soon. Before Mo Xiuyao left to see the marquis, she ran after the carriage and made a promise that they would come back to Qingfeng Mingyue Tower to listen to how the storytelling would continue. Gongshu Yang therefore had someone pass the message to A Jin, who hurriedly informed Mo Xiuyao.
Episode 30
Alright, Marquis Muyang didn’t want a get-out-of-jail card. Even if he confessed, the matter would not be over, so he wanted to make a deal with Mo Xiuyao. He only wanted Mo Xiuyao to swear that as long as Mo Xiuyao was alive, he would protect his son Zhou Tianyang from death. As an exchange, he told Mo Xiuyao the identity of the person who stole the late emperor’s edict from Mo Xiuwen. His brother trusted this person completely, but the person then hid the document and stood idly by as Mo Xiuwen was executed and the Black Cloud Cavalry was torn apart. Later, poor Zhou Tiangyang brought food and wine from the Empress Dowager for his father, not knowing that it was his last meal and the wine was poisoned. That was the way for Her Highness to silence the marquis.
Although Marquis Muyang was dead, Mo Xiuyao was not happy at all because of the secret the marquis had told him. He was very depressed and stayed all night at the Jingzhao Prefecture Hall, when he suddenly vomited blood and fell to the ground unconscious. Mo Xiuyao didn’t return home, neither send anyone back to message Ye Li. She seemed to have a premonition and couldn’t sleep all night.
The case of the Marquis of Muyang was widely implicated. The young emperor issued an order to spare his son’s life. He left the capital and went to Lingnan to find his mother. The Black Cloud Cavalry was fully exonerated, with survivors restored to their posts or compensated. Mo Xiuwen’s noble title was posthumously restored. On the anniversary of Mo Xiuwen’s death, Wen Ran, Mo Wuyou, and Mo Xiuyao went to pay homage to his grave. Since Mo Xiuyao didn’t return home, Ye Li almost didn’t eat or drink, and lost a lot of weight. Wen Ran saw it and persuaded her brother-in-law to cherish Ye Li before she was gone.
Mo Xiuyao finally returned home and went to Ye Li’s room. She was just back from listening to the storyteller and was heartbroken with the tragic ending. Mo Xiuyao questioned Ye Li about whether what the marquis said was true. Ye Li admitted that her mother was deceived by the Ye Family into getting the imperial edict from Mo Xiuwen. She wanted to save him and asked Mo Xiuwen about the location of the imperial edict. Ye Li also admitted that she had known this from her mother. The reason why Ye Li never told Mo Xiuyao was that she was worried that he would drive her out of the mansion. She also wanted to stay to heal Mo Xiuyao’s legs and reverse the case for Mo Xiuwen and the Black Cloud Calvary. Mo Xiuyao was angry at what Ye Li said. He declared that he could never forgive her mother on behalf of his widowed sister-in-law, the fatherless Wuyou, and the tens of thousands of dead Black Cloud Cavalry soldiers.
Although Ye Li denied that her devotion to him was not merely to atone for her mother’s sin and guilt, Mo Xiuyao didn’t believe her.
Episode 31
This was a heartbreaking scene. Mo Xiuyao chose to write a divorce letter, stating that Ye Li had repaid her debt and no longer needed to force herself to remain by his side. Moreover, he returned her entire dowry and property, wishing her a peaceful parting free of resentment. Heartbroken, Ye Li spent the entire night alone in a dark room, where she suddenly saw her younger self. Her dissociative identity disorder had progressed to three personalities: Qingshuang, Master Zhu, and now a child version of herself!
The next day, Ye Li refused breakfast and left Prince Ding’s mansion to return to Lishan Academy in the mountains. She only brought her windchime. The windchime, which she had originally brought from the Lishan Academy, symbolized her finding a sense of peace and gradually viewing the mansion as her home. Accompanying her were her other personalities: Qingshuang and Master Zhu.
After burying his days at work, Mo Xiuyao didn’t want to come home. Instead, he joined the banquet held by the Jingzhao Prefecture officials to celebrate the promotions of Gu Zheng and Wang Suwu because of their contributions to the Marquis Muyang’s case. By the end of the evening, Mo Xiuyao was completely drunk. A Jin took him back home. Mo Xiuyao spent the entire night in Ye Li’s room, imagining that she was still there.
The following morning, Mo Xiuyao woke up, still in Ye Li’s room. He accidentally discovered that none of Ye Li’s letters addressed to her master and brothers in Lishan Academy had ever been sent, nor the nectar she brewed for her master. Sensing something was wrong, he took the letters to find Ye Li’s senior brother, Li Feibai.
Li Feibai was very angry when finding out that Ye Li had left the Mansion and returned to the mountain. Mo Xiuyao was shocked when hearing that Lishan Academy was a desolate place. He realized that her creating Qingshuang was to cope with her longstanding loneliness.
Mo Xiuyao’s hair turned white overnight, much to the shock of his sister-in-law and the court. He requested the Emperor to retire from his position as the Prefect of Jingzhao and appointed Gu Zheng as his successor. He also requested an imperial decree allowing him to enter the Lishan Academy to bring Ye Li home. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager were suspicious that his sudden resignation might be a calculated political retreat. However, noting his genuine sorrow, the Empress Dowager decided to test him and issued a decree appointing Mo Xiuyao as the Lishan Pacification Commissioner, granting him imperial credentials and gifts to present to the scholars on the mountain, and ordered Grand Eunuch Shunxi to accompany him. Along the way, the envoy stopped at a small teahouse near the foot of the mountain. The owner sighed that business was bad since hardly anyone passed by anymore.
Episode 32
The envoy finally arrived at Lishan Academy. They called at the main gate for some time, but no one answered. Mo Xiuyao finally pushed the gate open himself, only to find the courtyard covered in dead leaves. It did not look like anyone had lived there for years. The Lishan Academy had fallen into ruin.
Mo Xiuyao and A Jin went to search for Ye Li. A Jin found her quietly organizing books by herself. When she turned around, she acted as if their argument had never happened, and she wondered why his hair had turned gray. his heart, and all he could manage to say was, “I’m sorry.”
Eunuch Shunxi asked Ye Li where everyone from the Lishan Academy had gone. Ye Li calmly replied that they were harvesting rice in the fields behind the mountain and would return before sunset. She appeared completely sincere, so Shunxi believed her. Because everyone was starving, Ye Li told them there was rice and flour in the kitchen, and they were welcome to help themselves. But when Eunuch Shunxi and two young eunuchs checked, they found that all the rice and flour had become moldy and spoiled. Soldiers searched the entire academy without finding a single person. Shunxi immediately ordered them to inspect the rice fields behind the mountain. The fields had likewise been abandoned for many years.
Unaware of Ye Li’s illness, Eunuch Shunxi bluntly stated that there was no one left on the mountain. Ye Li could not believe what she was hearing and ran toward the fields. The illusions of her grandfather, Qingshuang, and her senior brothers, that she had painstakingly created for herself, were shattered by the eunuch’s words. Unable to bear the truth, she broke down in tears, biting herself in anguish, and she finally fainted.
That very night, Eunuch Shunxi hurried back down the mountain with the others and returned to the capital immediately to report everything to the Empress Dowager. Mo Xiuyao stayed by to care for Ye Li. He wrote a letter of his own and instructed A Jin to deliver it to the emperor.
The next morning, Ye Li behaved as though nothing had happened, cheerfully preparing a meal for him. Mo Xiuyao realized that her illness had become even more severe. She had selectively forgotten everything that had happened the previous day.
Inside the academy’s library and editing room, Mo Xiuyao discovered a wheelchair covered in spiderwebs, along with acupuncture charts detailing the meridians of the human leg. He realized how tirelessly Ye Li had studied to treat his crippled leg.
Immersed in her delusions, Ye Li also introduced Mo Xiuyao to her late grandfather as well as her senior brothers and sisters. Knowing the seriousness of her condition, Mo Xiuyao chose not to expose the illusion. Instead, he sat down and politely greeted each of the teachers and family members who existed only in her imagination. Mo Xiuyao vowed to the phantom group that he would cherish Ye Li with his life and never let her feel lonely again.
Episode 33
Mo Xiuyao investigated what actually had happened and came across the graves of her grandfather, Master Zhu, and many others. One grave was empty, marked with a wooden tablet bearing Ye Li’s name. Only then did Mo Xiuyao realize that everyone at Lishan Academy had already died. Ye Li had borne the weight of all those deaths alone. Mo Xiuyao shared with Ye Li his vulnerable past when he was terrified of death when he first joined the army with his father and brother. For a few days, they lived like a commoner married couple, supporting one another and simply enjoying each other’s company.
Eunuch Shunxi reported to Empress Dowager that everyone from the Lishan Academy had fled; only Ye Li remained. However, the emperor received Mo Xiuyao’s letter, informing them that everyone from the Lishan Academy had died from illness, except Princess Consort Ding. With such conflicting information, the Empress Dowager appointed Gongshu Yang as the Imperial Inspector and ordered him to investigate the truth.
Mo Xiuyao realized that Ye Li would eventually have to face reality. He gently persuaded her to accompany him behind the mountain. Ye Li finally saw the countless graves. She froze in disbelief before collapsing into uncontrollable sobs. The painful memories she had buried for eight long years gradually came flooding back. A devastating plague had broken out at the Lishan Academy. Everyone except Ye Li fell gravely ill. She had tried to go down the mountain to seek help, but her senior brothers caught her, forcibly brought her back, and locked Ye Li up. They were too proud to surrender to the Empress Dowager.
Left completely alone, Ye Li carried the bodies of her grandfather, her teachers, all her senior brothers and sisters, even Qingshuang, to the bamboo grove behind the mountain, burying each of them with her own hands. As the grief and loneliness mounted day after day, her state of mind gradually gave way. Ye Li retreated into hallucinations, creating an imagined world in which the people she loved had never truly left her.
TL;DR
- Marquis Muyang revealed to Mo Xiuyao the secret before his death sentence, that the one who cheated Mo Xiuwen for the imperial edict was Ye Li’s mother, Xu Wanzhou.
- Mo Xiuyao divorced Ye Li. Ye Li returned to the mountains. Mo Xiuyao found that the letters she wrote to her grandfather and senior brothers were never sent. Li Feibai told Mo Xiuyao that Lishan Academy was a desolate place.
- Mo Xiuyao resigned from his position as the Prefect of Jingzhao and requested an edict to go to Lishan Academy.
- Mo Xiuyao and the envoy found the desolate Lishan Academy with nobody there but Ye Li. She pretended that nothing had happened, and her mental condition got worse. Mo Xiuyao stayed at the mountain to take care of Ye Li.
- The tragedy of Lishan Academy was revealed: due to a plague, everyone died and left Ye Li alone grieving. She eventually created an imagined world in which the people she loved were still alive.
What a devastating story! Could Mo Xiuyao heal Ye Li completely? Let’s continue to the next part!
