Introduction
As Qiao Man and Wei Shao managed to go through some major obstacles and got married, the second part of The Prisoner of Beauty ( 折腰 ) article series shows how they face family challenges.
Trust issue is their major relationship obstacle, therefore, I use the featured image above, taken from Episode 4, because I love that scene. As told in The Prisoner of Beauty: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 6, Qiao Man decides to trust Wei Shao, who is a stranger, rather than someone she knows but is deceitful. In turn, Wei Shao takes responsibility by protecting her because of the trust she puts in him.
Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 16
Episode 7
But Grandma is cool, tho. She doesn’t hold a grudge, although Qiao Man manages to explain what happened in the past from her grandfather’s POV.
There is a glimpse of Da Xiao and Bi Zhi’s life in this episode. To be honest, I really don’t care about them so I will just mention them here and there. Their subplot moves from an ordinary couple’s life to Bi Zhi becoming the city hero. This is also aligned with Qiao Man’s request, hoping that he will be the leader of Boya, which will fortify Yanzhou.
Now we’ll deal with Wei Shao’s mother, whom I will call MIL from now on. So MIL directly asks Wei Shao to take her niece Chu Yu to be his concubine. Although Wei Shao is upset, he doesn’t dare to refuse and just says he’ll think about it. This mom doesn’t know her son well, since she made too-small shoes for her son. When Qiao Man notices that Wei Shao limps a little bit from the new shoes, she gives him another pair of shoes she made, which, of course, fit well.
MIL complained to Wei Shao that Qiao Man refuses to make soup, with the excuse that she had to copy sutra ordered by Grandma. MIL is afraid of Grandma. Qiao Man admits to Wei Shao that she doesn’t know how to cook. However, she knows that his mother hates her, so if she tells the truth, the outcome will be worse. Wei Shao then mentions his mother’s desire for him to take Chu Yu as his concubine. When Qiao Man asks if he wants her to reject his mother, he simply says that he wants her to arrange it!
Qiao Man is so disappointed with Wei Shao. Earlier, he rejected his uncle’s demand for him to take concubines, and she thought he respected her, but that’s not the case. Qiao Man doesn’t want to be a pushover, so she knows that she needs to find an ally… so Grandma be it! She makes the sutra as an excuse to talk to Grandma, but the wise old lady can see through her excuse, and she’ll take care of it. The next time, she asks MIL to come and orders her to find a suitable husband for Chu Yu, and Grandma gives a big dowry. When Wei Shao heard that his wife had gone to Grandma for the concubine matter, he told her that it was decided between Grandma and him, not her. Upset, Qiao Man then excused herself. Chu Yu comes to bring Wei Shao snack, she wants to talk about the concubine matter. Wei Shao flatly refuses her snack and orders her not to enter his room anymore.
Chu Yu observes that there is a cherished box inside Wei Shao’s room, and only Qiao Man is allowed to enter his room. So she sneaks in and tampers with the box using a knife, as if Qiao Man were trying to open the box. Of course, when Wei Shao finds the box has been tampered with, he automatically thinks it was Qiao Man’s doing and chokes her angrily. He says the box contains military intel, so she must be a Qiao spy. Qiao Man knows this must be her MIL’s scheme, but how to prove it? Her maids ask around, but the servants don’t want to say anything. Yes, she can ask Grandma’s help, but what if Grandma gets tired of her one day? Dealing with MIL and Chu Yu will only solve this problem temporarily. Qiao Man would rather deal with her husband; if not, she’ll always be at his mercy.
Wei Shao is with his advisor and generals discussing the Canal, but he’s absent-minded and doesn’t listen to what they’re talking about, until Qiao Man marches into the room. Basically, she proves her innocence by opening the puzzle lock using mathematical logic. She declares why she needs to use a knife to open the box if she knows how to unlock the puzzle. Qiao Man humbly admits she opened the box just now, although he forbids her to. So she accepts any punishment and marches out. Gongsun Yang and the general are so in awe that I have to take a screenshot of their facial reactions! Wei Shao sends them out, and he’s drowned in sorrow. The box actually contains a memento of his late grandfather, father, and brother.
Funny lot: Wei Duo, Wei Xiao, Gongsun Yang, Wei Liang, and Wei Qu
Episode 8
After his sadness subsides, Wei Shao realizes someone must have framed Qiao Man. Who else to ask, so next he goes to see his mother, who happens to be with Chu Yu. He tells his mother directly about the box. When MIL accuses Qiao Man, Wei Shao knows it was his mother doing. So he lies that he gave the box to Qiao Man and even taught her how to open it. Why did she pry open the box with a knife? She uses the box to put jewelry in. A servant must have tampered with the box, and he demands that she investigate the servant. He also tells his mother that he has found a solution for Chu Yu’s future marriage, that he will marry her off into the household, so she can stay with MIL. Hearing that Chu Yu accidentally knocks down the shelf behind her and MIL prevents Wei Shao from checking out the noise. Before he leaves, he tells his mother not to bother Qiao Man with this matter anymore.
Her family sends a lot of valuable stuff to Qiao Man, it’s like a tribute. Zhang Pu tells her two shocking things: Firstly, that her uncle refuses to send troops to Boya to help Bi Zhi. To fulfill his promise to Qiao Man, Bi Zhi wants to achieve the Boya leadership, but bad guys are fighting him. Secondly, Wei Shao stations a military post in Panyi and sends troops. Qiao Man is angry at Wei Shao because he never told her about the troop. She vows that she’ll use Wei Shao’s resources to put up a Qiao flag in Boya!
Qiao Man wants to visit her MIL, but MIL feigns sickness. She knows that Chu Yu has been fanning MIL the hatred, even putting spies in the courtyard. Although Qiao Man is angry, she decides to treat her husband nicely. When Wei Shao comes to see his mother, MIL says that a wife should be his closest companion and true love, but Qiao Man isn’t. Wei Shao ponders these two new terms, so he asks Gongsun Yang about them. Hahaha, this precious guy, he’s not only a military advisor, but also a marriage counselor! Gongsun Yang defines what “close” 亲 (qin) and “love” 爱 (ai) mean; and wisely lists every person in Wei Shao’s life, starting with Grandma, to the generals. Wei Shao cannot say that any of them is his closest companion and true love. Finally, Gongsun Yang mentions Qiao Man, but Wei Shao denies that they are only married politically. The Advisor then mentions Qiao Man’s attributes that can be included as his close companion. When Wei Shao asks about “love”, Gongsun Yang just smiles and leaves.
Wei Shao has mixed feelings about Qiao Man being his “love”. The next day, he wants to accompany her to visit Grandma. When he sees the puddles of water, he remembers that he scooped her up to carry her along the wet yard. But Qiao Man had already stepped out of the puddles, and the scene where Wei Shao’s hand stopped in the air awkwardly, with a hint of helplessness on his face, is priceless! The next time, Wei Shao asks Qiao Man to bring him meals, which she does, but she refuses to go in. Poor Xiao Tan, Wei Shao’s servant, has to go back and forth relaying the messages! While Wei Shao thinks romantically about her, whether she’s his love or not, Qiao Man thinks politically about him, whether he found out about Boya or not. At night, Wei Shao asks her to bring him a meal again. Neither Xiao Tan nor Xiao Zao, her maid, is willing to take the food in. Finally, Wei Shao walks out and asks if she has been avoiding him. When she still refuses to enter his room, he hands her a gift box.
Xiao Tao tells her boss that the gift box is a rare armrest. The maid guessed that Wei Shao must’ve felt guilty. Qiao Man wants to use his guilt for her Boya plan. She buys a zither and tries to play it (badly). When Wei Shao comes over, Qiao Man cries and pretends that it’s her cousin’s zither and she misses her badly. To amend his relationship with his wife, Wei Shao sends a large supply to Boya led by General Wei Qu. Qiao Man sends a secret letter to Da Qiao, informing her about their plan. Wei Qu meets the Commander of Boya Forces, who is none other than Bi Zhi. When Wei Shao gets the report that the Commander of Boya Forces is his brother-in-law, he wonders where Boya’s loyalty lies: Qiao or Wei? Wei Shao wants to test his wife.
Episode 9
Wei Shao can’t find any hint that Qiao Man knew that her brother-in-law was Boya’s commander, so he feels at ease. As much as Qiao Man prepares her lie, but not about other stuff! When he asks about the armrest, she mentions that the bamboo material is soft, although it’s made of jade. She sewed him a pillow and has a flourishing descendant ( 千孙百子 = qian zun bai zi) pattern. He’s confused and wonders what she meant by that. Qiao Man is so embarrassed!
The Qiao girls successfully use their husbands to put up the Qiao flag in Boya! Poor Wei Qu is tricked into helping Bi Zhi raise the Qiao flag. Wei Shao scolds him and warns everyone to stay away from the Qiao Clan, or they will be dumb, hahaha! Since Boya has already been taken by the Qiao Clan, they plan to attack Xiaogang in the future. Upon hearing that, Qiao Man sends Zhang Pu to tell Da Qiao to dig a secret tunnel from Yanzhou to Xiaogang. After Wei Shao and his army take off, Grandma invites Qiao Man to play Go, and gently reminds Qiao Man of the reason she wants the marriage between the two feuding clans.
Two months later, the Army is back in triumph over Xiaogang. Wei Shao orders his generals to move back his stuff into the main chamber. Wei Shao is going to battle Qiao Man every inch of ground. Haha! Moving back Wei Shao’s belongings is not without a fight from the maids. But Qiao Man remembers Grandma’s advice on Go: “To win, you have to yield a little. But knowing how much to yield takes judgment.”
At night, while sleeping, Wei Shao has a nightmare. He wakes up, drawing his sword, right at Qiao Man’s neck! She sees him tossing and turning, so she wants to extinguish the candles. Qiao Man is afraid, because she heard people talking that he kills in his sleep. Wei Shao just grumbles, telling him to wear more clothes and not try to seduce him, lol. Wei Shao can’t sleep after that and goes to find Gongsun Yang and drinks at his place. The Advisor advises him to share his burden with his closest person, but Wei Shao says there is no one like that, no one understands him. Poor thing!
Another nightmare during a thunderstorm. Qiao Man finds him curled up in a room alone. He grabs her robe. She is a bit afraid, remembering the rumor about him, so she wants to leave. Wei Shao pulls her robe again and asks her not to leave. Qiao Man realizes he might be afraid of the dark. She then drapes her robe around him, hugs him, and comforts him.
When he wakes up in the morning, he finds her robe draped around him, and the candles are burning. Qiao Man is gone, playing Go with Gongsun Yang. She seeks his advice and wants to know what kind of person Wei Shao is. Tough on the outside and soft on the inside, big-hearted. If not, he won’t allow her to stay in Yujun. Qiao Man says she misjudges Wei Shao.
Episode 10
MIL still insists that her son take Chu Yu as his concubine, so she calls Qiao Man and is frank with her. The dialogue between Qiao Man and MIL is so hilarious, and Qiao Man is so dramatic about how she loves Wei Shao. Of course, nothing is unheard of in the household, so Wei Shao calls Qiao Man and asks if she really has feelings for him. Nah, Qiao Man says she only goes along with his will, which is not taking a concubine.
MIL last strike is inviting his son to drink wine and putting an aphrodisiac into the wine, omg! Her servant locked the room, Chu Yu is inside only in underwear. She hugs him, but Wei Shao breaks out of the room and escapes to his room. Qiao Man gives him water and closes the room since he doesn’t want people to see him like that. While she’s standing in front of him, he suddenly remembers Gongsun Yang’s words one by one about someone close to share his heart and not to bear everything alone. He promises to protect her and not to leave her homeless. With this, Wei Shao picks up Qiao Man, drops her on the bed, and forces a kiss on her. Qiao Man manages to slap him and tells him that she’s still mourning Grandpa for a year. Wei Shao is conscious again, apologizes, asks her for ice cubes, and jumps into the bathtub. Qiao Man still tends to Wei Shao even though she’s afraid of him to the bone!
The next day, Wei Shao orders his mother to send Chu Yu away. Grandma hears from the servants, too. She calls Qiao Man, but Qiao Man doesn’t want to say anything. Grandma likes it that Qiao Man covers for her husband, but she’s very angry at her DIL. Grandma goes to see MIL and forcefully sends Chu Yu away! But she has prepared a lot of dowry for Chu Yu.
Things are awkward after this. Wei Shao still thinks regretfully about what he did to Qiao Man last night, and even when he invites her to eat together, she’s very cautious. He sees her holding her chopsticks awkwardly with her hurt wrist, which he grabbed forcefully last night. At night, he wants to secretly put an ointment on her wrist, but she wakes up scared. He promises that what happened that night won’t happen again. For the next days, he avoids Qiao Man at all costs.
MIL invites Qiao Man to lash out her anger at her. They argue about Wei Shao, right when he’s standing outside! Qiao Man simply says that MIL doesn’t care and doesn’t love her son, but herself and Chu Yu. In anger, MIL threw the table upside down.
Episode 11
Qiao Man declares that since MIL doesn’t care about her son, she’ll take care of his every need from now on. Wei Shao hides and watches as Qiao Man leaves with dignity. His still wary, though, so he goes to see Gongsun Yang for advice. The Advisor tells him that Qiao Man also goes to see him for the same reason. However, the Qiao Clan crimes are unforgivable. Whatever he says, though, differs from his acts. At first, he volunteers to go to Panyi for routine inspection, but now he sends out the youngest general, Wei Du. Instead, he goes home and has a warm meal with his wife. He tells her to organize the birthday banquet for Grandma.
Qiao Man doesn’t know anything about organizing a birthday banquet, so she sweet-talks MIL to help her. With a promise that MIL can redeem herself through helping Qiao Man, MIL agrees. MIL warns Qiao Man for “that man” not to steal Wei Shao’s limelight. Aha… here comes the second ML, aka Wei Yan. He’s an illegitimate son of Wei Shao’s aunt and a servant. A playboy, and women in Yuju adore him.
Grandma gives Wei Shao and Wei Yan each a block of raw jade. Wei Shao gives the block to Qiao Man so she can make a jade bracelet for Grandma’s birthday gift. When she and her maids go to the jewelry store, they meet Wei Yan. Wei Yan tries to put a hairpin on Qiao Man, but she dodges. Later, he stole the jade bracelet and pretended that he had found it to gain Qiao Man’s favor. Luckily, Qiao Man already suspects him.
Episode 12
Let me just call Wei Yan Cousin. Qiao Man and her maids dislike Cousin for his indecency and are suspicious of him, but she doesn’t know how to bring it up to her husband. So, when she has a meal with him again, she deliberately tells Wei Shao that the day Cousin visited them was the day she lost the bracelet, and Cousin also found it. Wei Shao is disappointed because he hurriedly made a copy bracelet after he got the other block from Cousin.
Wei Shao is looking for Cousin in a brothel, and Cousin wants Wei Shao to go up instead of meeting him outside. Cousin gives Wei Shao a painting of a woman and asks him to find her for him because he likes her so much. Before Wei Shao leaves, Cousin deliberately gets drunk and stole Wei Shao’s token. He sends a brothel servant to return it to Qiao Man. Aha, it seems he’s also a spy for Bianzhou!
Wei Shao gives the painting to Wei Liang to find the woman and orders her to stay away from Cousin. When Wei Liang shows the painting to Xiao Tao, the maid knows right away it’s her boss. Xiao Tao also finds Wei Shao’s robe in the laundry basket, which he wore to the tavern; it reeks of alcohol and perfume. Before Wei Shao shows Qiao Man the painting, she puts down his token. At first, he doesn’t want to acknowledge going to the brothel. When Qiao Man tells him her concern about Cousin, he brushes her off.
I don’t like this episode, because basically, Cousin sows discord between Wei Shao and Qiao Man. The only cute thing is a bit more screen time on the bickering couple, General Wei Liang and Xiao Tao!
Episode 13
Cousin casually mentions to Qiao Man that Wei Shao intercepted her letters and read them in front of everyone. Qiao Man is very angry and retaliates. She wrote a letter that will definitely be intercepted again. For sure, Wei Qu gets the letter and Wei Shao asks him to read it in front of the generals, thinking that her letter only contains about wheat seeds and flattery words. Nobody dares to read it and suggest that he not send it because it mentions his name. When Wei Shao opens the letter, it only contains one sentence: “Wei Shao, shame on you!” Wei Shao is very angry and promises himself that he will deal with her when he goes home, although Gongsun Yang advises him to apologize to Qiao Man.
When Wei Shao gets home, Qiao Man is already waiting for him in front of the room. Wei Shao chickens out and hurriedly goes in and jumps into bed. With her little bit of patience left, Qiao Man asks him for any corrections to the banquet lists. Wei Shao doesn’t dare to look into her dagger eyes, says everything looks great, and then hides under the blanket. Qiao Man loses her patience and hits him with the last scroll, yelling his name. Wei Shao wakes up and is angry that she calls him by name. Qiao Man demands why he reads her letters. Wei Shao doesn’t dare to bring that up; instead, he criticizes her for discrediting him by calling his name. Afte r yelling back and forth, Wei Shao leaves, and Qiao Man throws all the scrolls on the door.
Qiao Man’s dagger eyes. Don’t mess with the little wife of the great ruler of Wei!
The next few days, Wei Shao doesn’t dare to go home and works himself to death. Worse, he makes the Advisor and the generals suffer along with him. Even when he finally let them off, he doesn’t dare to go home and crash on Cousin’s bed instead. Wei Shao asks Cousin why he told Qiao Man about him reading her letters, and Cousin bluntly says that he hates the Qiaos.
Wei Duo returns from Panyi with praises and an abundant harvest. It was suggested that they appoint Yang Feng to oversee the second canal construction from Xindu to Rongjun instead of the generals. Gonsung Yang advises Wei Shao to use this chance to make amends with his wife. When Wei Shao comes to his wife with this great news, she can see that these were Gonsung Yang ideas and will thank him, but she ignores Wei Shao.
The second villain finally arrives, Su E Huang aka Lady Yu Lou. But I will just name her Ex, because of the long names. Ex was betrothed to the Wei Clan when little, but after the Xindu massacre, she married the sickly Bianzhou’s leader, Chen Xiang. Her visit on the surface is to attend Grandma’s birthday, and the whole Wei Family seems happy for her visit. However, from previous scenes, we already know that Bianzhou is wary of Wei, especially after Boya is taken from Bianzhou by Yanzhou/Wei. The maids hear about the divination that whoever marries her will become the leader of the Central Plain. While Qiao Man’s maids are wondering what Wei Shao is thinking about his Ex’s visit, Qiao Man is more curious about the real reason for her visit.
Episode 14
I’m so proud of Grandma! Despite the oracle goddess’s arrival, which awed everyone, and the marriage turmoil between her grandson and Qiao Man, Grandma still stands by Qiao Man. When Ex visits Grandma, Qiao Man is there discussing the banquet arrangement. Qiao Man wants to leave, but Grandma tells her to stay. Upon seeing Qiao Man, after praising her beauty, Ex mentions the great Lord Qiao, aka her grandfather, which displeases Grandma. Grandma also interrupted the chit chat between Ex and MIL and dismissed everyone. After they’re gone, Grandma’s maid discusses Ex and thinks that Ex looks good, although she states that she endures hardship while in Bianzhou. MIL uses the opportunity to talk badly about Qiao Man. Ex meets Wei Shao in the garden to ask for his approval since she brings grains from Bianzhou. Luckily, at this time Wei Zhao is wise, he rejects the grains because it’s political. Besides, they got wheat from Yanzhou already, and he wants to honor Qiao and Wei’s alliance.
Qiao Man, however, is full of jealousy when she hears her husband met Ex privately. So, she completely ignores him when he comes home. When Wei Zhao sees a flower hairpin on the dresser table, he offers to buy more if she likes them. Qiao Man turns around angrily and snaps at him, stating she hates such fancy things since she was a child, and leaves.
The grain convoy from Yanzhou successfully enters the City. After her grain offer is rejected, Ex plans to tamper with Yanzhou’s grain. Cousin was the one tasked to inspect the grains. Ex secretly calls back Chu Yu, MIL’s niece, to take revenge on Qiao Man. On the day of the birthday banquet, each guest presents their gifts. Qiao Man presents her grains. It turns out the grains are cooked. The grains can no longer be planted. The guests blame Qiao Man that she wants to harm the people. At this time, Wei Shao comes in and reasons that if Qiao Man wants to harm people, she would have done it a long time ago. She might want to kill the Wei family, but never harm innocent people. Wei Shao explains to the guests what Qiao Man did back then in Xindu and Panyi. She risked her life and reputation to save people there, and later convinced them to build the Canal that Wei enjoys now. Then, Ex speaks out that the tampering must be after the grain entered the City, and the one who was responsible for checking it was Cousin. Wei Shao’s uncle uses this as a chance for Wei Shao to choose between his Qiao wife and his Wei cousin!
Episode 15
Didn’t I tell you that I’m proud of Grandma? She did it again! With a “thump,” Grandma passes out. Everyone is panicking, and the choice matter is no longer an urgency. Wei Shao orders his general to close the hall, nobody can go out, and rushes to bring Grandma to her chamber. There, she wakes up, and her fake fainting is just to save her grandchildren. Grandma tells Wei Shao about Cousin’s background. No, he’s not an illegitimate child. Grandma’s only daughter Qing Yun, Wei Shao’s aunt, was abducted and raped by Chen Pang, the brother of Bianzhou’s ruler back then. The Lord of Wei, Grandma’s husband, rescued his daughter, but she was already pregnant with Chen Pang’s child. Qing Yun died from heartbreak, and Grandma took care of her son, who is Cousin. They circulated a rumor that the child is the son of Qing Yun and her slave lover to avoid a political issue. When Cousin is back, Grandma’s keen eyes sense that her grandson has changed.
Grandma sincerely asks Wei Shao to be wise in his judgment. Wei Shao finds Cousin right away, who is dancing with girls, devil-may-care. Cousin understands that Wei Shao and Grandma suspect him, and accuses Wei Shao that he would rather trust a Qiao rather than his own family. However, Wei Shao manages to make Cousin confess that he knows he’s Chen Pang’s son. Cousin also asks Wei Shao if he’s not afraid that he covets Wei Shao’s place. When Wei Shao believes because Wei Yan is his own cousin, Cousin asks about Qiao Man, why Wei Shao monitors her letters?
Speak of the devil, Qiao Man and her maids are house-arrested because she’s a suspect. Her maids are worried about either being expelled or beheaded, but Qiao Man stays calm. Wei Shao defending her in front of people today gives her comfort and warmth as he trusts her and would save her. While packing, her maids found a box with the jade bracelet. Last time, Wei Shao hid in disappointment when Qiao Man found the jade bracelet. Qiao Man remembers seeing that box when Wei Shao came home one day for a meal. She realizes that he must’ve had it made asap to save Qiao Man from embarrassment and distress. Everyone is comforted and believes in Wei Shao’s good intentions. Qiao Man claims that the other bracelet is a love token from her and Wei Shao to Grandma, but this bracelet is a love token from her husband to her. Qiao Man quickly sends a ‘letter’ to Yanzhou. She knows it will be intercepted, so the message is actually for Wei Shao stating that she won’t blame of any of Wei Shao’s decisions. He returns the message for her to wait till tomorrow and meet him.
The next day, the Yanzhou’s grains are weighed, and there is a discrepancy between the weights when it was received and the current one. Qiao Man and her clan are innocent, but the issue is in the city granary, which is Cousin’s responsibility. Wei Shao still wants to investigate deeply because he doesn’t believe Cousin did this. The city gate is closed, and nobody can go in or out. When the city granary was inspected, witnesses say there was a woman who went in and out of the granary several times, and it was Chu Yu.
Qiao Man and her maids are finally released from the house arrest. Wei Shao comes home briefly to see his wife. They share trust and comfort dialogues before he takes off again for the investigation. Qiao Man calls him “hubby” (夫君 = “fu jun”). Everyone smiles, but Wei Shao is clueless about how to respond. Later, during the investigation, they found out that Chu Yu is dead. Ex’s cousin Zi Xin, who comes with her, killed Chu Yu. As serious as the issue is, Wei Shao doesn’t forget to ask Gongsun Yang how to call his wife at home. Smiling, Gongsun Yang answers “wifey” (夫人 = “fu ren”).
When Ex cannot get out of the city, because now the investigation is directed towards who killed Chu Yu, she visits MIL, who is distressed that Chu Yu is dead. Ex coaxes MIL to give a false confession that she was the one who ordered Chu Yu to tamper with the grains to avenge Qiao Man. Now the issue is no longer political but internal. The one who should punish her is Grandma. Wei Shao is not happy with the turnout because he knows, with Chu Yu’s death, the matter is not as easy as a mere woman’s revenge. But Gongsun Yang says that this saves both Qiao Man and Wei Yan. Now that the case is closed, the city gate is opened. Ex can easily escape, but Wei Yan stops her at the outskirts of Yujun and warns her not to come to Yujun anymore. Ex mocks him and reminds him that he’s not a real Wei Family, he wishes… With that, Wei Yan feels depressed and refuses to meet anyone. Qiao Man asks her husband if she can meet Cousin, as she feels that she and he are in a similar situation. But before that, she shares her map with Wei Shao and has an intimate moment when they’re close together. Her gaze towards clueless Wei Shao is so adorable.
Qiao Man goes to see Wei Yan at the tavern. She explains to him that she and he are in a similar situation and how she becomes a Wei but still a Qiao. Lastly, she tricks Wei Yan that Grandma is sick and waiting for him. Wei Yan leaves and goes to see Grandma. Of course, she’s not sick, but when he wants to leave, she asks tearfully if she’ll ever see him again.
Episode 16
Finally, Wei Yan and Grandma sit together, and she explains the whole thing. She doesn’t want to tell him because she saw how Wei Shao’s hatred towards Qiao made him. She doesn’t want Wei Yan to hate Chen Pang. Grandma and grandson reconcile. Qiao Man reaches out to MIL, too. She says that Wei Shao is not good with words, so he sent her here to tell that he doesn’t resent her, nor does Grandma. MIL is redeemed.
Qiao Man asks Wei Shao to take her to Rongjun with the excuse that she will teach wheat farmers. Oblivious Wei Shao doesn’t understand what’s special about wheat farming, although Nangong Yang explains that she just wants to be with him. They leave Yujun with the Advisor and Wei Yan to guard the city. During the break, Qiao Man chooses to sit next to her husband and eat hard bread. She is, again, completely smitten by her clueless husband.
Conclusion
In this intertwined love and hate, the feelings between Wei Shao and Qiao Man are quietly changing. The future may be full of challenges, but the warmth and understanding at this moment have laid a different foundation for their relationship. See you in the next part: The Prisoner of Beauty: Recap Episodes 17 to 26!
