Introduction
In Tigers Sniff the Rose: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 12, it seemed that Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang had added more enemies than they got rid of! Let’s see how they remove the obstacles one by one in this part!
In the image, notice that there is a sword between them. Yan Shang carefully asks Mu Wanyao, who is in a dark mood: “Your Highness is bringing a blade. Is it to intimidate them, or do you intend to draw blood?” I love the story following this image. Out for revenge!
As a forewarning, this third part was hard to write, and on screen, some events are hard to watch!
Drama Recap Episodes 13 to 17
Episode 13
Sure enough, Liu Wenji regretted everything he said to Yan Shang and Chun Hua, and he stood waiting for her early in the morning in front of the princess’s mansion. When Chun Hua saw Liu Wenji’s sincerity, she was already willing to forgive him. But she was on her way to visit her family, and they should discuss their relationship after she returned.
This visit turned out to be a nightmare! Her family was despicable! They weren’t satisfied with the money she and the gifts her mistress gave them. They wanted her to use her mistress’s influence to get them jobs. They even expect her to marry a powerful official so the family can enjoy the benefits! Chun Hua couldn’t stand it anymore and ran to the hill.
There the real nightmare began! Prince Jin, Mu Ti, was hunting to avoid his angry wife, Liang Ling Yi. When he saw Chun Hua, he lusted after her and immediately started making advances. He didn’t back down when he learned Chun Hua was his fiery sister’s maid. Prince Jin followed her home, and her family welcomed him, much to Chunhua’s disgust.
Let’s go back to our main couple first. We discovered that Li Zhi was behind the event last night. He coaxed Grand Princess to covet and take Yan Shang, so Mu Wanyao would discard him. Then his disciple, Wei Shu, would have a stronger chance to get the princess. Wei Shu was shocked to hear his teacher’s plan, and apologized to Yan Shang. Mu Wanyao overheard Wei Shu’s explanation about what her uncle did to Yan Shang, so she decided to avenge him. Li Zhi had meddled too long in her and her mother’s lives!
Mu Wanyao went to see Wei Qiao, Wei Shu’s older cousin. She complained that her uncle wanted her to marry his cousin, whom she thought was not on Wei Qiao’s level. She preferred Wei Qiao, who was more good-looking and intelligent than Wei Shu. Wei Qiao wasn’t Yu Cheng’an’s advisor for nothing. Right away, he could see through Mu Wanyao’s motivation. He realized Li Zhi had been manipulating his innocent cousin for his own gain. After warning Wei Shu not to follow Li Zhi’s advice blindly, Wei Qiao went to take a look at Li Zhi’s records. Wei Qiao found Li Zhi’s misdeeds and sent the evidence to the court. Before long, Li Zhi received an imperial order demoting him and sending him away to Qiongzhou. Mu Wanyao went to see her uncle outside the capital and told him that the him. He had spent years sacrificing other people’s happiness for his own power and wealth. He pressured her mother into marriage, tried to force her into another political marriage, and even schemed against Yan Shang. She considers his punishment well deserved.
Yan Shang was shocked when he learned how Mu Wanyao avenged him. He warned her that working with someone like Wei Qiao was dangerous—she might be using him this time, but she was also getting involved with Yu Cheng’an’s people. Mu Wanyao wasn’t worried since she focused on achieving her goal.
Chun Hua just returned to the capital when she got a message that her mother was sick. When she rushed home, her mother was not sick. It was her family’s trick to force her to marry Prince Jin as his concubine. Chun Hua refused to marry anyone. And this was when her sister-in-law came with a bowl of warm soup…
Episode 14
Chun Hua woke up in the middle of the night. Prince Jun lied next to her snoring, and her clothing was in a mess. We understood already that she was drugged—inside the chicken soup—and raped. Chun Hua screamed at the top of her lungs. Her family didn’t even console her. They said the Prince liked her. Chun Hua ran out of the house, all the way to the capital, to the princess’s mansion. Her family didn’t even chase after her, but console the upset prince! Chun Hua told Mu Wanyao everything.
Poor Liu Wenji! He decided to write a letter home telling his father that he wanted to marry Chun Hua. He wandered outside the princess’s mansion, hoping to see her and tell her the good news. Unfortunately, Chun Hua never showed up. She begged Mu Wanyao—who later told Yan Shang—not to tell Liu Wenji of what happened to her.
Mu Wanyao wasn’t going to let her wretched brother or Chunhua’s family get away with this. The next day, she headed straight to Chunhua’s family home with her sword, accompanied by Yan Shang. Prince Jin was still there. Mu Wanyao kicked open the door and gave everyone a confrontation they won’t forget! She stabbed her brother on his leg—too bad not on his manhood!—and cleverly turned the situation around by telling him that if he returns to the palace injured, he can claim Chunhua’s brother and sister-in-law tried to assassinate him. Her frightened brother understood immediately what she wanted and agreed. The punishment of assassinate attempt would be exile—the lightest—to death penalty—the worst—. Mu Wanyao also made it clear to Chunhua’s family that the girl had cut all family ties with them.
But just when things seemed to be under control, a much bigger problem appeared. Zheng Xing, Yu Cheng’an’s trusted eunuch, was chasing villagers out of their homes because the land was being taken over to build a hunting ground. When Prince Jing ran outside in a panic, he got shot by one of Zheng Xing’s men. When Zheng Xing found out about it, he ordered his men to kill the prince and the commoners who saw the incident rather than risk having his crimes exposed.
Mu Wanyao, Yan Shang, and Fang Tong, saw what happened and understood that Zheng Xing wanted to silence everyone. She decided to kill Zheng Xing with her crossbow, since Zheng Xing was one of the fish in her embroidery, aka her target. Zheng Xing was shot to death.
Zheng Xing’s men immediately surrounded the house. Yan Shang realized that the princess could be in serious trouble if she was identified as the killer, so he grabbed the crossbow and claimed that he shot the eunuch. He even stated that he killed Zheng Xing because the man was abusing innocent people and driving villagers from their homes. People cheered him up, but that didn’t mean it saved his life!
Yan Shang was taken to the capital and was brutally tortured in the Investigation Office. Mu Wanyao desperately tried to find a way to rescue him using his brother’s testimony, but the prince was too chicken to stand up against Yu Cheng’an. So, she went straight to her father and begged him to issue a pardon. The Emperor eventually gave in, when Mu Wanyao argued that Yan Shang was a talented man who could save the nation.
When the Emperor was playing chess with Chancellor Liu, the latter pointed out that the pardon might actually lead to Yu Cheng’an issuing a death warrant to Yan Shang. Meanwhile, while being beaten and badly injured, Yan Shang asked to see Yu Cheng’an.
Episode 15
On the way to the Investigation Office, Mu Wanyao suddenly realized that the Emperor’s pardon equaled to Yu Cheng’an’s death warrant. She stopped by the Crown Prince’s mansion.
Mu Wanyao came up with an unusual plan. She asked the Crown Prince to rally public demand for Yan Shang to be punished and executed! It sounds crazy, right? But she understood the political situation. Yan Shang would be accused of breaking the law by killing an official attendant. With the public already rallying behind Yan Shang, executing him would make Yu Cheng’an look responsible for the death of someone who had stood up for ordinary people. The Crown Prince quickly saw the advantage: whether Yan Shang lived or died, he had nothing to lose. The news of Yan Shang’s chivalry spread like wildfire. The students at the Imperial Academy organized petitions and signed their names to demand Yan Shang’s release. His popularity was becoming a serious political problem for Yu Cheng’an.
Yu Cheng’an finally met Yan Shang. He was curious why Yan Shang had killed his attendant and had announced his responsibility. Yan Shang answered him cleverly. Killing Zheng Xing was to protect Yu Cheng’an’s reputation. The public hated Zheng Xing because of his bullying and oppression. Yu Cheng’an shouldn’t have his reputation damaged by such a troublesome subordinate. As for confessing publicly, Yan Shang said he simply wanted to survive by making the people support him and demand his release.
Yu Cheng’an was secretly impressed! After discussing the situation with Wei Qiao, they realized that either killing or keeping Yan Shang locked up would not be good for them. Yu Cheng’an decided to release Yan Shang after treating his injuries. Ten days later, Yan Shang finally walked out of the Investigation Office amidst the welcome and cheers from the Imperial Academy students and a huge crowd! Chancellor Liu Xiang formally took him as his student.
Although things finally ended well with Yan Shang, but not with poor Chun Hua. She found out that she was pregnant from the rape and desperately wanted to abort the baby. Chun Hua used a lethal dose of mercury and almost killed herself. Luckily, Mu Wanyao found out and saved her. As she watched Chun Hua suffer, Mu Wanyao remembered their past in North Jing. The memories overwhelmed her. By the time Yan Shang found her, Mu Wanyao was sitting alone on the stairs, looking completely broken.
Mu Wanyao and Chun Hua’s hardship in North Jing
Episode 16
Mu Wanyao finally told Yan Shang about her experience in North Jing. It was a devastating one. Yan Shang also realized why Mu Wanyao was so determined never to marry again. He confessed his love to her and declared that he would do anything for her. When Mu Wanyao still doubted him, he stopped trying to explain and kissed her instead. She kissed him back and finally let go of their reservations.
Kissing in tears
Zheng Xing’s death was not over yet. Although his death was justifiable for Yan Shang to defend the people, officials found out that Zheng Xing’s man had shot Prince Jing. After investigating what happened, Yu Cheng’an decided to shift the blame onto Chun Hua, as her beauty had caused all the troubles. He ordered her to be taken to the Investigation Office and beaten up. While the arrest order arrived, the Imperial Physician who examined Chun Hua told Mu Wanyao that the baby was alive. The abortion attempt failed.
Mu Wanyao realized that Yu Cheng’an tried to cover up their land seizures by making Chun Hua the scapegoat. Mu Wanyao saw only two possible ways to save her:
- Liu Wenji could take Chun Hua away and hide in the countryside.
- Or Chunhua could marry Prince Jing as his secondary consort.
Chun Hua chose the second option as she didn’t want to implicate Liu Wenji and make him suffer.
Mu Wanyao took Chun Hua to the prince’s residence and announced that Chun Hua was pregnant with his child. She demanded that he marry her properly as a secondary consort and take responsibility for both her and the baby. The childless prince was delighted and immediately agreed. The wedding was arranged for the very next day.
When Liu Wenji learned that Chun Hua was getting married, he was completely shocked. Since Mu Wanyao had already anticipated that he might cause trouble, she had him locked in her mansion!
The scene where Liu Wenji saw Chun Hua’s shadow outside his door was very heartbreaking. He desperately begged her to explain why she was suddenly marrying Prince Jing. But Chun Hua didn’t give him an explanation. She simply left the pair of earrings he once gave her as a love token outside the door.
The next day was Chun Hua’s wedding. When Yan Shang brought Liu Wenji food, Liu Wenji broke free. He ran after the bridal sedan, shouting Chun Hua’s name. The prince’s men beat him up, while Chun Hua sat inside the sedan, listening to his desperate cries and silently crying.
What a painful ending!
Episode 17
When Yu Cheng’an learned that Chun Hua was pregnant and had become Prince Jing’s secondary consort, he was happy that this matter was sorted out according to his plan. Hmmm… I wonder what his real plan was. He also instructed his adopted son, Yu Xianyao, to get close to Chancellor Liu (perhaps to keep an eye on Yan Shang?)
Luckily, Chun Hua was treated well in Prince Jin’s household because she was pregnant and the Jins were childless—plus Mu Wanyao’s threat to her bro—. But I don’t trust Liang Ling Yi, the princess consort.
One fish—Zheng Xing—is gone; time to kill the next fish: Yu Xianyao. While at Chancellor Liu’s home, he was captivated by his daughter’s beauty. But Liu Ruo Zhu was a very talented blind woman. Yu Xianyao wanted to harass her. Seeing this, Yan Shang intervened and took Yu Xianyao to the brothel, with an excuse to thank Yu Xianyao for releasing him.
The broken-hearted Liu Wenji went to a brothel and got drunk. There he saw a bully harassing a young woman. Thinking of what had happened to Chunhua, I assumed he had found out that she had been raped. He fought the bully. The bully and his men beat Liu Wenji up, including stabbing Liu Wenji on his groin. Yan Shang finally found him bleeding to death. When he brought Liu Wenji home and summoned a physician, the doctor said that Liu Wenji survived, but he would not be able to have sexual relations as a man. Liu Wenji wanted to die.
Yan Shang persuaded Liu Wenji to keep living. He told his friend that he couldn’t let the people who had hurt him get away with it so easily.
Summary
Don’t mess with the princess! In Episode 13, she went against her own uncle to avenge Yan Shang. But the ending makes me especially worried about Chun Hua. That bowl of chicken soup might look innocent, but the timing is suspicious!
Episode 14 is emotionally heavy, especially for Chun Hua, but it also gives us another powerful example of Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang standing up for others.
Episode 15 gives us a satisfying political maneuver to get Yan Shang released, but the emotional focus shifts to Chun Hua and Mu Wanyao.
Episode 16 gives us one long-awaited happy moment with Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang, but Chun Hua and Liu Wenji’s story moves in the opposite direction.
Episode 17 is another emotionally painful one, especially for Liu Wenji. Chun Hua’s wedding is heartbreaking enough, but what happens to him afterward makes things even worse.
The story gets darker and darker. How dark will it be in the next part?
