Introduction
After the Wei Family dramas in The Prisoner of Beauty: Recap Episodes 7 to 16, Wei Shao and Qiao Man start having personal time and developing their feelings, but not without any obstacles.
Remember the second part, in which its featured image represents the first time Qiao Man breaks the trust issue between them by running towards him? This featured image shows that now the trust is two-way. Wei Shao used to sleep by himself because of the PTSD and doesn’t let anyone, even his generals, be by his side when sleeping. Wei Shao slept peacefully next to Qiao Man until morning.
"I just want to get closer to you. Over time, you grow closer to me, too."
Drama Recap Episodes 17 to 26
Episode 17
After a long journey, they retire. Wei Shao has a headache. Qiao Man offers to massage his head with acupuncture points. When her hand touches his head, he subconsciously avoids it. Gradually, the massage comforts him, and he falls asleep. Qiao Man expresses her feelings to him, that she just wants to get closer to him, and over time, he will get closer to her. The next morning, he wakes up and finds himself asleep next to Qiao Man, and his headache is gone.
Wei Shao is shy seeing Qiao Man staring and smiling at him, so he turns around and asks Wei Liang:
Wei Shao: “Tell me if the Lady is looking this way.”
Wei Liang (looking at Qiao Man making eye contact with Wei Liang): “No, she isn’t.”
Wei Shao turns around and sees his wife still smiling at him! Just about when Wei Shao wants to scold Wei Liang, there are shots of arrows by assassins (sent by his uncle). Someone shot the horse that pulls Qiao Man’s cart, and it ran away to the cliff. Qiao Man doesn’t dare to jump. Wei Shao cuts the reins that connect the horse and tries to turn the cart around with his might. Qiao Man jumps and lands onto him. He’s proud that he could save her, but he’s injured from a poisoned arrow and collapses!
Wei Qu is able to detoxify Wei Shao, but he remains unconscious till the toxin is gone. Qiao Man and the generals analyze the situation. They suspect Wei Dian, Wei Shao’s uncle, is the culprit, and they must travel to Rongju. Wei Shao wakes up in Rongju, and Qiao Man has gone to negotiate with Mayor Yuan Wang. The mayor refuses the canal using the wheat excuse. He’s close to Wei Dian.
When Qiao Man is back, Wei Shao is awake. She’s so happy that she runs all the way along the deck and hugs Wei Shao. She reports to him her unsuccessful meeting and proposes the sowing discord strategy between Yuan Wang and Wei Dian. The next day she invites Yuan Wang to play Go all day long, and her maid stole his shoes. The maid claimed the shoes floated away. They give him a new pair of shoes. Wei Dian asks Yuan Wang about his day and feels odd they only played Go. So he sends someone to keep watch on the Mayor’s mansion. Wei Qu then arrives with a box and deliberately drops it clumsily, and the spy sees some gold and silver. But what is given is only the Mayor’s shoes. But in Wei Dian’s eyes, Yuan Wang accepts bribes and doesn’t want to tell him.
Wei Shao smells bad, so Qiao Man forces him to bathe. She sees all the wounds on his back and touches one gently, hoping he won’t get hurt again. He holds her hand, and their time is intimate though short.
The next in sowing discord is proposing to daughter of Yuan Wang who is verbally promised to be engaged to Wei Dian’s son. Wei Liang and Wei Qu are picked to propose, Wei Liang with some reluctance because of Qiao Tao. Qiao Man assures Yuan Wang will reject, and he did. However, Wei Dian get a report that the proposal entourage leaves Yuan Wang’s house beaming and Lady Qiao goes to jewelry store.
Episode 18
Wei Dian calls Yuan Wang at night and they become suspicious with each other and end up arguing. Wei Dian thinks Yuan Wang hides things and Yuan Wang is angry Wei Dian spying on him. When Yuan Wang leave, he’s ambushed on the way by masked men. They use the arrows they collected from being ambushed last time. It turns out to be Wei Qu and Wei Duo in disguise. Wei Liang suddenly comes out of nowhere to rescue Yuan Wang. The fight moves to a dark spot, and while Wei Duo is creating a sword slashing sound, Wei Qu splashes blood on Wei Liang’s face. Yuan Wang is grateful to Wei Liang and suspects Wei Dian orchestrates the ambush. He sees Lady Qiao right away and gives his full support for the wheat planting, as well as rallies people to fight. While Wei Dian is preparing to go to the battle, Wei Qu stabs him to death. With their boss dead, after pardoning the soldiers, Yuan Wang gets additional workers for building the Canal. But they get news that Chen Xiang is dead, and Chen Pang now rules over Bianzhang.
Qiao Man asks Wei Shao to reward her for helping him with the Rongju case, but he doesn’t know what to give. He’s too shy to tell his generals that he wants to reward his wife, so he goes around and around. While in the market, they offer candies, books, even pieces of jewelry, but he gets a better idea… 500 fine horses for Yanzhou! When Qiao Man shows her reluctance, he offers exchanges like weapons, battle rams, etc. While laughing, Xiao Tao assures her boss that it’s practical and for sure, his father-in-law, Qiao Man’s father, will love those horses!
Qiao Man tries hard to give hints to Wei Shao about romantic stuff, like the sweet osmanthus fragrance and stargazing. The stargazing part is especially hilarious. Qiao Man already dresses prettily for the ‘date’, but Wei Shao ends up inviting Panyi mayor Yang Feng, who will oversee the Rongju Canal project. Yang Feng gets Qiao Man’s hint that she wants to be with her husband alone, but instead Wei Shao keeps the mayor and sends her back down, lol! Still, he remembers how pretty his wife was last night, before he draped her robe all around like a mummy.
Yuan Wang asks for audience. His daughter falls for one of the two generals who went to propose to her last time. No, not Wei Qu, who helped her up when she fell to the ground after peeking at them, but Wei Liang! Wei Shao and Qiao Man make a bet since she believes Wei Liang won’t agree. She knows something is going on between Wei Liang and Xiao Tao. Sure enough, Wei Liang disagrees. Xiao Tao is upset, so Wei Liang gives her his prized possession, a golden arrowhead gifted by his boss, as a love token.
Episode 19
Wei Liang is teased mercilessly by the other generals, especially because he bragged he wouldn’t marry a Qiao in the past. Wei Shao sees Xiao Tao walking by with the golden arrowhead, but before he can ask, Qiao Man hurries him to go to the market. Wei Shao doesn’t object to Wei Liang marrying Xiao Tao, he says she’ll be a Wei like Qiao Man did. Qiao Man is slightly unhappy hearing that. Later, they go shopping for mementoes. Last, they stop by a jewelry store. Wei Shao picks the hairpin proposed by Wei Qu before for Qiao Man. He wonders why she likes shallow stuff like that. Qiao Man is angry and walks home fast, leaving Wei Shao carrying all the items bought. She’s even angrier when she sees Xiao Tao cherishing the golden arrowhead given by her beloved. Knowing that Wei Shao gave golden miniatures to his generals according to their preferences, she realizes that it’s not that he doesn’t want to give gifts, but he doesn’t know what to give her. When Wei Shao finds out Qiao Man’s shopping items are all for Grandma and MIL, he gives her the pieces of jewelry she likes earlier.
These two are so adorable!
While waiting for the girls to get ready, Wei Shao teases Wei Liang about Xiao Tao. Wei Liang says he can’t help it and list love symptoms he’s experiencing now. Wei Shao ponders and feels he’s experiencing the same now. Qiao Man doesn’t want to go back home so soon; her mission to make Wei Shao fall for her isn’t finished. So she schemes together with Panyi mayor Yang Feng. Yang Feng suddenly realizes he forgot to bring his precious textbook for waterworks, and he asks if they can stop at Panyi on the way home. Qiao Man chimes in and says they may want to check out the progress along the way.
Wei Liang gets a tip-off from Xiao Tao that her boss wants to get closer to his boss, so he needs to make a distraction. Wei Liang gets advice from Wei Qu that they need to create a sense of loss from their boss. So Wei Liang takes Wei Duo and the ladies to the woods and asks them to wait. He hurries back to the camp, and Wei Qu pretends to worry that something might happen to their lady. Sure enough, when they look for the ladies, Wei Duo, whose ears are clogged from the sand, doesn’t know he has to watch for the ladies, and Qiao Man and Xiao Tao are missing. It turns out that Qiao Man and Xiao Tao are with a group of refugees. The worries make Wei Shao forbid Qiao Man to go anywhere and sit next to him.
Episode 20
Wei Shao asks Qiao Man to teach him to observe the stars, so he and Qiao Man hang out by themselves in a tent far from the rest is cute.. Especially, he notices the hairpin he gave is in her hair. He confesses that he’s worried when she was lost last time, he’s so scared that Qiao Man would suddenly disappear from his eyes like his family members. He’s even more afraid of losing this hard-won peace, and was afraid that the happy life he had finally had would be destroyed in an instant. After listening patiently, Qiao Man then makes a solemn vow of loyalty and expresses her willingness to follow Wei Shao and never leave him.
Back in Yujun, Wei Shao thinks more and more about his relationship with Qiao Man, and realizes he has fallen in love with her. However, he gets flashbacks of his dead elders, and they seem angry that he falls for their common enemy. He asks Wei Yan’s advice, and Cousin doesn’t help either, stating that he can’t fall for Qiao Man because she’s a Qiao. All warning from his family weighs him down, and he chooses to move to the government office to sleep.
During the trip, Wei Shao already tells his desire to extend the Canal to other states, but not sure if other leaders would agree. They plan to organize a big deer hunting event for the other states. Grandma sees this as an opportunity to appoint Qiao Man to organize it, since some buildings are dilapidated. She knows that Wei Shao has slept out for days and figures out he may have fallen for his wife. With this appointment, she knows that her grandson won’t be able to avoid his wife.
Episode 21
I’m glad the mystery of the half token is cleared up. When Ex came to Grandma’s birthday banquet last time, she wore a half token. The other half is worn by Wei Shao. Qiao Man and all of us believe that Wei Shao and Ex were betrothed in the past. Thankfully, that’s not the case. During Wei Shao’s alienation from Qiao Man, she keeps taking care of him. When she finds the secret box in the dresser, she sends it to him. At this time, Wei Shao is no longer clueless. He goes back home and explains to his wife about the half token. Apparently, the half token he wore belongs to his late brother, who was almost betrothed to Ex before his death. Therefore, after he died, Ex was free from betrothal and she married the Bianzhou’s leader. Brother asked Wei Shao to give the half token to Ex, and he carries the other half himself as it’s his brother’s belonging.
Wei Shao comes back home with the box, and he wants to stay overnight. He opens the box in front of Qiao Man, and there are mementos from the late elders. He showed the half token to her and explained to her what I wrote above. Moreover, Wei Shao tells Qiao Man that before his brother died, he wanted Wei Shao to promise two things: one is to give the half token to Ex, which he fulfilled. The second promise he failed to fulfill. Qiao Man doesn’t have to know what the second promise was, because it concerns the Qiao Clan. He praises his brother as the most talented man, but she quietly hugs Wei Shao from behind and tells him that he’s the best leader. He then asks her what her pet name is, and she says “Manman” and he repeats it gently.
The most talented poet in the country, Gao Shan, is invited to the Deer Hunting Party to decorate some walls with poems. When Wei Shao hears that the poet is “young” and “handsome,” he rushes out to the venue. He hears the poet praising Qiao Man’s beauty while creating poems. In jealousy, Wei Shao pulls Qiao Man away, and takes her for a ride on his horse, haha!
Episode 22
Qiao Man knows that Wei Shao is jealous of Gao Shan, so she wears the hairpin he gave her last time and grinds ink for him. He boasts of his intelligence, and she praises what he’s done for Wei. But Qiao Man becomes Gao Shan’s muse, so he composes a song for her. Wei Shao sends him far away to the border of Wei to inspect the inscription there.
The harvest ceremony is beautiful. Specifically, Qiao Man and Wei Shao look magnificent here! They’re like the power couple. During the lantern festival, Wei Shao takes Qiao Man to send the lantern boat with wishes, even though he doesn’t believe in such things. He writes something anyway, and his wish is for them to stay united forever. She doesn’t let him see her long wish. So, after he sends her home, Wei Shao takes his general to find the lantern boat in the river, with the excuse that he needs to know what the Wei people wish. He’s disappointed when he reads her long wish and she mentions everyone in the family but not him. Wei Shao is grumpy afterwards, and even though he’s sick, he does overtime. Qiao Man doesn’t know what he’s angry about, so she sends Xiao Tao to ask Wei Liang. When Wei Shao doesn’t come home again for dinner, Qiao Man gets drunk, and Wei Shao has to carry her back. Eventually, she tells him that what she wrote is a regret that she couldn’t see her family, so she only sent wishes from afar.
Episode 23
Seeing her, he can’t help but kiss her forehead. She says that since he kissed her, it means he’s not angry anymore. She then kisses him. Oh, it’s only a dream! The next day, they wake up, and she sleeps on his arm while he sits next to her bed. She sees the scratch on his neck and wonders if she scratched him last night. It was her pinwheel that scratched Wei Shao. The generals wonder about the scratch, and Wei Shao simply says his cat scratched him, although he doesn’t have one.
Xiao Tao wants to give a heart-guarding mirror as a gift to Wei Liang. She brings it to her boss, so Qiao Man can put an inscription on it. Wei Shao sees the finished gift and thinks that it’s for him. He brags about it in front of his generals. It turns out Wei Liang has the same gift he mentioned, and he realizes that the gift he saw is not for him. Wei Shao changes his words and says he’s wrong and that the one he received from his wife is (better) made of white jade, trimmed with golden thread, and two mandarin ducks on it Wei Shao hints to Qiao Man about his injured heart, but Qiao Man thinks he’s sick instead and wants to call the doctor. Wei Shao mopes all day long, especially since Wei Liang is so proud of his lover’s gift and shows it off. So, Wei Liang asks Xiao Tao if her boss gives his boss a heart-guarding mirror. Since there is no such that, Qiao Man frantically makes one. He’s so happy receiving it.
Happiness doesn’t stay long, as long as Ex is still alive, and she tries to sow discord again. She pretends that the Governor of Yanzhou, Qiao Man’s uncle, wants to take her as part of the beauties he collected, so Xiao Ci abducted her. Her voice is hurt and her jade pendant is broken. Since Wei Shao promised his brother he would take care of Ex for him, he’s angry with Yanzhou and canceled the invitation to Yanzhou, including Boya. Uncle is indeed collecting beautiful girls to marry off, knowing he gained such a fortune from his daughter and niece, he even stated that Yanzhou and Wei are together in it. Qiao Man asks for forgiveness on behalf of Yanzhou, and Wei Shao returns the invitation to Yanzhou/Boya. She’s disappointed she can’t see her family.
Aside, Liu Yan killed his father and step-mother, since he’s waited for a long time to take revenge on Wei, but they’ll send his little brother instead. After Liu Yan becomes the Lord of Liangya, he buries his little brother alive with his parents.
Episode 24
Qiao Ci, Qiao Man’s cousin and Da Qiao’s brother, runs away to Yujun instead of returning back to Yanzhou. He wants to attend the Deer Hunt. Qiao Man knows that her husband is still angry, so she meets her cousin outside Yujun with the company of Wei Yan. At this time, I will call Cousin Wei Yan, since there are two cousins here. Qiao Ci says he never met any Lady Yulou, the one who told Wei Shao that Qiao Ci abducted her.
Qiao Man takes Qiao Ci to see Grandma and MIL first, and Grandma graciously gifts him a short sword that belongs to her husband. Wei Shao is still angry when he sees Qiao Ci. Later, Qiao Man comes with Wei Shao to visit Ex, and returns the jade pendant Qiao Man had fixed. She brings in a fake Qiao Ci to apologize to Ex. It turns out Ex lied that Qiao Ci abducted her, so she accepts the apology. Then, when the real Qiao Ci is brought in, she pretends she doesn’t see his face, only the abductor told her that he was Qiao Ci.
Cousins unite… in the tavern! Wei Yan takes Qiao Ci to the tavern, but he’s uncomfortable with it. When Qiao Man finds out, she punishes him and scolds Wei Yan, but Wei Shao feels sorry for him. Wei Shao seems to make friends with Qiao Ci, especially since both provoked Qiao Man! To make her not angry, he gives her a new invitation. Bi Zhi was supposed to represent Yanzhou, but since the invitation was cancelled, it’s too late to send an invitation. Wei Shao personally invites Qiao Ci to represent Yanzhou and will train the boy himself. He also moves him to the mansion.
Wei people look down at a 15-year-old boy representing Yanzhou, so Xiao Tao makes a bet backed by Wei Liang. Qiao Man worries about her cousin Qiao Ci. Wei Shao assures her by holding her hand. The next match is between Yanzhou and Wushan. Yanzhou is represented by Qiao Ci, and Wushan is represented by Ex’s cousin, the one who killed Chu Yu before.
Episode 25
Ex’s cousin cheats by hiding a secret knife that wounded Qiao Ci, and his spear breaks into two. Wei Shao does something that shows his full trust in Qiao Ci. He lends him his late brother’s famous spear! Even Ex recognizes that spear. With that, Qiao Ci fights with all his might and wins the competition! The opponent’s hidden weapon is revealed, and he’s disqualified from the rest of the matches. Ex pleads for her cousin and promotes her big army given by the ex-general of Bianzhou, that get expelled by the current Bianzhou leader Chen Pang. Wei Shao is uninterested, but someone is, and that is Liu Yan!
After the competition, the Wei held a banquet for the leaders. Wei Shao introduces his dream to spread the Canal Project to benefit other clans. When some hesitate, Qiao Ci gives his analysis on how every clan suffers from natural disasters and how the canal can benefit their people. Everyone agrees and wholeheartedly supports the project, but not Liu Yan.
Episode 26
Ex asks to stay a little bit in Yujun because she has nowhere to go and reminds Wei Shao of his promise to his brother to take care of her. Both Wei Shao and Qiao Man feel something is not right with Ex, but don’t know what. Ex keeps asking Wei Shao to come to discuss this and that with her.
Gao Heng is back to Yujun after Wei Shao ‘exciled’ him to Yunzhong. Because of jealousy of Gao Heng, Wei Shao sent his generals to a remote place to bring back the Moya Inscription stone block, which both his wife and Gao Heng admire. The problem is that the Moya Inscription is a historical relic created by a poet from the previous dynasty. The scholar is very angry, especially because there is a chip on the stone block. Qiao Man immediately praises the master for his expertise and begs him to stay to restore the relic, despite Wei Shao’s objection. Wei Shao is pissed off so he goes to see Wei Yan and complains about Gao Heng. His cousin warns him that he also keeps Ex in Yujun, despite Wei Shao’s objection that he only takes care of Ex for his late brother’s sake.
When he comes home, he’s still mopey, but Qiao Man is able to soothe him with her sweetness. But Ex keeps asking him to come to see her even late at night. After pondering Wei Yan’s advice on there are many ways to care for Ex for his late brother’s sake, for example, sending her away with financial support. So the next day, Wei Shao wants to send her away with jewelry and money, but Ex feigns sickness.
Gao Heng finally finishes restoring the Moya Inscription, and Wei Shao comes to meet him. He’s shocked seeing that Gao Heng is very muscular, and he wears clothes like a Greek. After returning back to his office, Wei Shao tries to do weightlifting, and Wei Liang secretly laughs at him. Until the Greek god, eh, Gao Heng, comes to inform him that he’s finished with the restoration. Wei Shao, Qiao Man, Wei Yan, and Ex see the famous scholar off. Ex, looking for any way to create trouble, sees something off with Wei Yan looking at Qiao Man. She right away realizes that Wei Yan has a crush on his sis-in-law!
Conclusion
Oh my God, when will we get rid of this evil woman? What are the last trials and conflicts Wei Shao and Qiao Man have to go through? Follow The Prisoner of Beauty ( 折腰 ) and let’s continue with the final part!
