When last we left our Handsome Stranger and the Pig Butcher, she finally found out Yan Zheng’s true identity.
Which isn’t Yan Zheng, but I’m still calling him that
Anyway, he gets them wet riding through a river. Once on the other side, Changyu gets off the horse and is understandably PISSED. Over the real identity thing, not being soaking wet.
He’s upset she was in the battle, but she fought because he lied and she was afraid for his life. When she tries to leave, he shoves her against a tree, saying he can die but she must live well. If he dies, she can take Ning and live however she wants, find a gentle scholar and have kids, whatever.
Now she’s crying, and he gives her a forehead kiss, and he’s crying. I’m not crying, but it is A Moment.
Then he says that as long as he lives in this lifetime, she is his. That earns him a slap, and she takes his horse.
The youngest of Jin’s guys, who Changyu promised to keep safe, is hurt. Changyu is devastated to discover he was stabbed by the very young soldier she allowed to live. She immediately blames herself.
Then the Grand Princess shows up and tells everyone he’ll be fine. So. That’s nice.
Sun has also been injured
But he’s well enough to report to Yan Zheng about how Shi Yue got Yuanqing back. Still, he wants the Grand Princess told he’s on death’s door.
Tao shows up instead so Sun can realize Tao knows Changyu, but this never goes anywhere. Then the Grand Princess arrives, sees he’s fine, and leaves.
He chases after her and apologizes, discovering she lost her shoes while running to him. She’s too upset to forgive him, and leaves to care for people who are actually wounded.
Yan Zheng finds Changyu and explains why he’s lied this whole time. That’s not the problem for Changyu. The problem is she feels that he’s not Yan Zheng. Since Yan Zheng never existed, they were never married, and can simply part.
She sees him as a hero of the realm, with a high status, who would be laughed at for marrying her.
He sees a heroine of great merit. He dramatically reintroduces himself and asks for her hand in marriage, while she cries. But she pulls away from him, and he looks destroyed as she leaves.
Yan Zheng, Sun, and Tao discuss politics stuff whatever
During which Yan Zheng’s wife comes up, but even though Sun knows Tao knows Changyu, he explains nothing.
Also, Sun gives us Qi’s backstory. The Crown Princess and her son died in a fire at the Eastern Palace. The boy was burned so badly his face could no longer be shown.
Yan Zheng wants this all investigated. He doesn’t know that Qi is Changxin’s oldest son.
When it’s just Yan Zheng and Tao, they chat about Changyu AGAIN without knowing it’s the same person. Yan Zheng asks Tao to adopt her. Tao is the best, because he agrees BEFORE he asks her name. Then Yan Zheng says Changyu and they both put it all together.
That night, neither Changyu nor Yan Zheng can sleep
She finds him stabbing fish. Back when he had his first few battles, stabbing fish was how he was able to sleep without nightmares.
They spar together and eat freshly cooked fish together. She makes more noise about how he shouldn’t treat a butcher woman so well, and he tells her she’s the best woman he knows and he likes her.
He never wanted to marry anyone, since he always figured he’d die in battle. But since he’s met her, he fears death a little.
He asks what she wants in the future, which is to rebuild her town. Then, he wants to be posted there and help her rebuild. She’s surprised, but he says living there with her was the happiest time of his life. He misses it.
Instead of startling her with a random kiss and getting hit, he gives her a nice side hug.
The guys are making things for the ladies
Sun finds the Grand Princesses’ shoes and repairs them. Yan Zheng reforges Changyu’s knives into short blades, anointing them with his blood. How sweet.
Tao asks Changyu to be his daughter. She resists, because she wants to be able to stand on her own. Which is a fantasy but whatever, Tao’s into it.
Tao convinces her by talking about how he wants a daughter, and it would honor the bond between them. After that, Changyu kowtows and becomes his daughter.
Now that she knows Yan Zheng is okay, Changyu is leaving. Tao thinks she’d be a great commander, but Changyu doesn’t like war. Not the killing, and not the innocents who die in it. Girl, same.
She goes to the Grand Princess for help getting Ning and Mr Zhao home. She’s realized the Grand Princess is someone important, but the Grand Princess isn’t ready to reveal she’s the Grand Princess. But she gives Changyu a hug.
Then she’s gone, leaving Yan Zheng the vaguest letter ever
He immediately rides after her. Changyu realizes this is on her for the bad communication, and sits to talk with him.
She loves him, Yan Zheng, because after thinking about it, she knows he’s Yan Zheng. She wanted to cut ties, but he won her over by talking about their future together.
But right now, she wants to save Qian. He offers to do it for her. But she says if she relied on him, she wouldn’t be her. He understands, and knows he can’t change her mind.
Later, Yan Zheng is resting his head on Changyu’s shoulder, but it’s time for her to go. He wants her to say she likes him, but she gives him a kiss instead. He returns it.
Back at the camp, he orders that a discreet squad watch over Changyu.
Sun brings the Grand Princess her shoes
But she’s still upset with him. Until he coughs up blood on the furniture. Now she’s upset he didn’t tell her he was in bad shape. He explains his feelings are like his injury, where it seems he deceived her, but he didn’t mean to. Before he can name these feelings, he’s interrupted.
Instead, he tells Yan Zheng that he revealed the Grand Princess was at his school to her mother, but didn’t expect her to be engaged to Li. But, the Grand Princess has followed him and overhears this. Oops.
Enough romance! Time to war. And we finally get to see Prince Changxin. He’s a guy. He blames all their failures on Qi and shouts at him. Yuanqing arrives to defend him.
But later, alone, Qi helpfully tells us that he doesn’t want his father’s throne, he wants to kill Changxin and Yuanqing.
Nanny’s son and Bao are still on the run, when bad guys try to kill them. Bao uses the whistle Ning gave him and Yan Zheng saves him just in time.
At Qi’s gloomy place, Qian has special soup for him, which she proves isn’t poisoned by drinking. He declares he’ll drink it even if it is poisoned, and she offers to poison the next one. He says he’ll drink it. Romantic?
For a moment, he’s feeling like maybe things are sorta ok. Then a maid brings in a lit candle. Oops. Qi is ready to kill her.
Back at camp, Nanny’s Son explains to Yan Zheng that Qi’s mother set that fire on purpose, to give Qi a chance to survive. But they don’t know who wanted to kill them in the first place.
And Yan Zheng learns Qi is Changxin’s eldest son.
Our leads really aren’t the best at communicating
I feel like we missed the scene, possibly way back in Changyu’s town, where they both understood they wanted the marriage to be real. Instead, we got a lot of Changyu being anxious he’d leave, and him not leaving yet. Then they had a big fight, and he left.
While he was gone, she sent him their divorce decree he didn’t want. Then she followed him, and when she found him, acted like he was her husband and they had agreed to be married for realsies. Until she found out he was the Marquis.
I’m glad he chased after her, because otherwise they’d still be in this weird “we want to be together but not state it out loud” place.
And I’m not thrilled about them being apart again. One, because I just don’t care about Qian and Qi that much. Two, because I like seeing couples work together, not independently. But within the context of this story, I understand Changyu wanting to find and rescue her friends.
I wonder if she’ll ever learn that she can’t save everyone, and it’s not her fault when she doesn’t? Is this a problem of super strength? It deludes you into thinking you’re a god who can control life and death?
Well, hopefully this next separation will be shorter than the last.
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