Previously…
Ye Li came to the Capital not only to marry Mo Xiuyao but mostly to avenge her grandfather and Lishan Academy, where she was from. One villain down, how many more to go?
Let’s continue!
Recap Episodes 7 to 11
Episode 7
Ye Li started making positive impacts in Ding Mansion. She was happy when Mo Xiuyao took her advice to stop living in the past and live in the present by taking a position as Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. It was not an easy comeback, since some subordinates disrespected him. However, Mo Xiuyao keeps his composure and his authority.
Ye Li also takes care of her nephew-in-law by confronting his bullies at school. In the previous episode, she fought with him, and now she went to school to confront his bullying classmates, forcing them to apologize in front of their parents.
Having gained Mo Wuyou’s trust, together with her nephew-in-law Ye Li revealed the scam on Mo Wuyou’s mother, Wen Ran.
She also offered her husband to help heal his leg. Ye Li learned some medical skills while at Lishan Academy. She treated her new steward, Wei Zhuang, with his leg problem recently. Mo Xiuyao didn’t refuse nor agree.
But Ye Li was not all perfect either. An incident happened when a street performer’s monkey escaped and terrified her. That night, Ye Li had a nightmare of being attacked by monkeys. She ran outside and claimed that there were monkeys around. She had PTSD from being attacked by monkeys in Lishan Academy and was bitten by one. Although the whole mansion was searched for the monkeys, there were none. Ye Li couldn’t sleep, so Mo Xiaoyou stayed by her side until she was asleep. The next day, Mo Xiaoyou paid the monkey charmers to leave the Capital.
Episode 8
Mo Xiaoyou applied special ointment for Ye Li’s old scars bitten by monkeys. It was so effective that all scars were gone in two weeks. Ye Li asked for an ointment for her maid Qing Shuang, who was bitten by monkeys, too. Mo Xiaoyou had never seen the maid before. Ye Li explained that Qing Shuang and Qingyu were the maids who grew up with her. Mo Xiaoyou’s servant, Ah Jin, later said that he never seen Qing Shuang before. Hmm, did Ye Li hallucinate? First, the monkeys, now the servant…
Consort Dowager Qin Zheng held a banquet and invited Ye Li and Wen Ran, her sister-in-law. Knowing that Her Highness had never invited Wen Ran before, Ye Li realized Her Highness intended to hold a political rally to gather support for the Empress Dowager. At the banquet, Ye Li ran into her sister Ye Ying. Ye Ying hated Ye Li.
A clumsy maid accidentally soiled Ye Li’s dress and led her away to clean it up. No, it was not an accident. As soon as Ye Li left the gathering, Mo Jingli showed up and followed her. His wife, Ye Ying, became suspicious and followed him. Ye Li was brought into an empty room by the maid and left there, only to find Mo Jingli waiting for Ye Li! He desperately claimed that their broken engagement had been forced by the Empress Dowager and proposed that they elope. Ye Li was disgusted and flatly rejected him. Outside, Ye Ying overheard their conversation. Their convo turned political when Mo Jingli mentioned that Ye Li must have killed Lu Changfu out of love to aid him politically. Ye Li corrected him that she killed Lu Changfu to avenge the seven Lishan Academy scholars, not him. Oh no, this may turn out against Ye Li, since now Mo Jingli and Ye Ying know that Ye Li killed Lu Changfu!!! Ye Ying was heartbroken but also jealous of Ye Li.
Mo Jingli is the son of the former crown prince. He has been suspected by the Empress Dowager of planning a rebellion. For these years, he has had to pretend to be a playboy and a scumbag, making the Empress Dowager believe that he has no political ambition. Now his wife was very jealous of Ye Li, so Ye Ying hired an assassin named Han Mingxi. Ye Ying wanted him to kidnap Ye Li, and she would kill Ye Li with her own hands.
Remember when Mo Xiaoyou met the Emperor and asked His Majesty for one person? We know his identity now. He is Gu Zheng, a former minister who had tried to impeach Marquis Muyang eight years ago over the deaths of Lishan scholars and had insulted the Empress Dowager at the palace gates. He was supposed to be executed eight years ago, but it seemed Heaven didn’t agree with his execution, so he was imprisoned instead. As per Mo Xiaoyou’s request, the Emperor reinstated Gu Zheng.
Episode 9
Ye Li invited her steward and senior brother, Wei Zhuang, for a dinner at the Ding Mansion. Ye Li’s Third Uncle, Ye Wenshen, had moved to the Ding Mansion, too. Wei Zhuang seeked refuge there as he was falsely accused by a knife-wielding husband who suspected Ye Wenshen of having an affair with his wife. Dunno, but why I suspect that Ye Wenshen purposely moved there so he and Ye Li can plan their revenge easier? Whether it’s true or not, I see Uncle Ye Wenshen and Sis-in-law Wen Ran could be a secondary couple (or a third after Mo Jingli and Ye Ying).
Mo Xiaoyou came home from work to join the dinner. It was very lively; they even invited the servants to enjoy the meal, too! While eating, Ye Wenshen noticed that Wei Zhuang was no longer limping. Wei Zhuang credited Ye Li’s extraordinary medical skills for curing him. Mo Xiuyao quietly looked at his legs, he didn’t have any hope to cure them.
After dinner, when Ye Li tended to Mo Xiaoyou, she persuaded him to treat his legs. His nerves still had sensation, so he could still be healed. Ye Li explained that she had spent years under Master Helai from Lishan Academy studying medicine, acupuncture, and herb identification. Over the years, Mo Xiuyao has been looking for famous doctors to treat his legs, but none of them worked. Now he no longer had any hope of curing his legs, even bitterly told Ye Li to leave if she didn’t want to live with a crippled husband.
Mo Xiuyao didn’t know that Ye Li’s determination to cure him was from the final request of his late brother, Mo Xiuwen. At that time, Ye Li’s mother sent the young Ye Li to deliver a message to Mo Xiuwen before he was executed. Mo Xiuwen begged Lishan Academy to save his brother, whose legs were broken on the battlefield.
Mo Xiuyao was so busy working on Jingzhao Prefecture that he forgot his promise to accompany Ye Li to Zhengyi Temple. When he remembered, she had gone for three or four days! Mo Xiuyao went to the Temple with Feng Zhiyao. When he saw Ye Li, she was on a ladder, coloring the mural of the goddess. Mo Xiuyao was so captivated by his wife up on a ladder with her skirt blowing in the wind, like the goddess she painted.
The reason Ye Li went to Zhengyi Temple was to obtain a painting by the master painter Yun Songzi to sell at her shop. Because the painting hadn’t dried yet, Ye Li and Mu Xiuyao spent the night at the Temple. The place is very busy with visiting scholars, so they only have a room and a bed to share. Their closeness stirred Mo Xiuyao’s heart.
Episode 10
They couldn’t sleep, so Ye Li told Mu Xiaoyou about her hard life in Lishan Mountain. Finally, Ye Li drifted to sleep. Moved by her story, My Xiaoyou kissed her forehead when she was sleeping.
What happened the rest of the episode after they left Zhengyi Temple was quite confusing. I’ll try to recap it as far as I can understand.
On the way out of Zhengyi Temple, the carriage was ambushed by bandits. Feng Zhiyao initially wanted to give them money so the bandits would let them go, but apparently they were not bandits and were specifically targeting Mu Xiaoyou. Feng Zhiyao and A Jin stayed behind to fight them, and Ye Li drove the carriage to take Mo Xiuyao away. However, the carriage struck a rock and overturned. Ye Li dragged Mo Xiuyao to hide in the bushes. The bandits arrived and searched for them. Realizing that the bandits would find them soon, Ye Li tried to lure the bandits away from Mo Xiaoyou.
Ye Li’s senior brother, Li Feibai, showed up and blocked the bandits for Ye Li. Unfortunately, while running away, Ye Li met Han Mingxi. He asked if she was Prince Ding’s wife. Remember, Han Mingxi was tasked by Ye Ying to kidnap Ye Li. During a struggle with Han Mingxi, Ye Li fell off the cliff. Han Mingxi tried to catch her, but was only able to retrieve her Double Fish jade pendant. Only then did Han Mingxi realize that his target was actually his savior back then when he was really sick. He went down the cliff quickly to save Ye Li, but encountered Mo Jingli with his men. Mo Jingli captured Han Mingxi, although he adamantly said he wanted to rescue Ye Li. Mo Jingli found the unconscious Ye Li and took her to his villa.
Feng Zhiyao and A Jin found Mo Xiuyao. Mo Xiuyao was really worried about Ye Li. He sent A Jin to look for her, then handed the Jingzhao Prefecture token to Feng Zhiyao, instructing him to summon people from the Prefecture to help the search. A Jin didn’t find Ye Li, only the corpse of a white-banded snake, along with one of Ye Li’s shoes, her torn clothing, and a picture of her carried by their attackers. Only then did Mo Xiuyao realize that the target was Ye Li, not him.
After Ye Li woke up in Songyue Villa, she found that she couldn’t see anything. The doctor told her that she was bitten by a White Segment Snake. Its venom made her temporarily blind for a few days. Ye Li asked the maid who tended her to meet the villa owner and thank him. Mo Jingli came, but he didn’t dare to speak. Ye Li thought he was mute and asked him to relay a message to the Ding Mansion to tell her husband that she was safe. Hearing her mentioning that her husband was a kind person who would reward him, Mo Jingli was very jealous and left the room.
Episode 11
Mo Xiuyao found out that their attackers are the Red Scorpion Gang, which was hired by Ye Ying in the previous episode. The leader didn’t know the identity of the person who hired them. He only knew that the customer paid a lot of money for them to catch Ye Li. However, before he could do that, a skilled swordsman (Li Feibai) stopped them.
Seeing that a large number of guards from Jingzhao Prefecture had left the Capital, Ye Ying was worried that her plan had gone wrong. Since it was Ye Ying’s plan, she knew where she might find Ye Li. Ye Ying hurried to Songyue Villa to find Mo Jingli. On her way to the Villa, she bumped into Han Mingxi, who had escaped from Songyue Villa. He had been captured and tortured by Mo Jingli and his men, thinking that he was Ye Li’s attacker. Recognizing that the man was the assassin she had hired before, she rescued him.
Mo Jingli didn’t want to send a message to Mo Xiuyai, so Ye Li paid a gardener to deliver a message to her husband. From what the gardener and the maid said about the Villa owner, Ye Li could deduce that her savior was none other than Mo Jingli. After recovery, she asked to talk to him.
Ye Li was straightforward and wanted to draw a clear line with Mo Jingli, especially now that he was married to her sister. They ended up arguing. Ye Li would never forgive Mo Jingli. Her senior brothers escorted him down the mountains and they ended up died because of him.
Once receiving his wife’s message through the gardener, Mo Xiuyao rushed to Songyue Villa with Jingzhao Prefecture guards. Mo Jingli couldn’t do anything but let Ye Li go. Meanwhile, Han Mingxi woke up in front of Ye Ying, who was anxious about Ye Li’s condition. The confused Han Mingxi mocked Ye Ying. She wanted to kill Ye Li, but now she’s worried about her target’s life!
Returning home, Ye Li sent a message directly to Li Feibai right away. She wrote that besides the Red Scorpion Gang, there was another party looking for her in the forest that day. Li Feibai easily tracked Han Mingxi down, knocked him out, and took him to a dilapidated house. After receiving Li Feibai’s message, Ye Li left the house even though she was not fully recovered. Ye Li met Han Mingxi in the dilapidated house. Although they recognized each other from their previous meeting when Han Mingxi was sick, Ye Li went straight to business and demanded to know who hired Han Mingxi. Although Han Mingxi didn’t know Ye Ying’s name, he said it was a foolish woman. Ye Li could deduce the one who wanted to kill her was her own sister!
Ye Li asked Li Feibai for another favor, concerning her grandmother’s upcoming birthday. When Li Feibai guessed her savior must be Mo Jingli, Ye Li lied that it was Master Zhu from Lishan Academy. Li Feibai was surprised that Master Zhu went down the mountain and used only a stick, not his sword, to fight the snakes. We saw that it was actually Ye Li who fought the snakes, but one managed to bite her. Hmmm, why did Ye Li lie? Did she not want Li Feibai to know that Mo Jingli rescued her, or does Ye Li have a split personality? She took the identity of her master.
When Ye Li returned home that night, she was greeted by a very angry Mo Xiuyao. Her maid lied that Ye Li went to check her business account at the shop. However, he sent men to go to the shop, and Ye Li was not there!
TL;DR
- Ye Li made positive impacts in Mu Xiaoyou and his family’s life.
- Mu Xiaoyou started working at the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, and he also made progress.
- Mu Jingli becomes the obsessive Second Male Lead. Ye Ying, his wife/Ye Li’s sister, is jealous and wants to harm Ye Li.
Something is not right with Ye Li. She lied through her teeth, seemed to be hallucinating, and assumed someone’s identity. Let’s continue to find out what happened to her!
