When last we left our Handsome Stranger and the Pig Butcher, he agreed to marry her.
But once she legally has the house, he can come and go as he pleases
Yan Zheng worries that if he leaves, her Uncle will try to take the house again. Changyu isn’t worried once the deed is in her name, but she’ll take care of Yan Zheng if he stays.
He wonders why she’d keep someone as injured as him around, and she says he’s good-looking. Cute.
Still, he plans to leave once he’s better and will repay her. He tries to get an idea of how she’d want to be repaid, and she can only think in larger and larger numbers of pigs.
Changyu goes into town to get wedding garments for Yan Zheng. While there, she learns Marquis Wu has died.
But who is Marquis Wu?
Yan Zheng sneezes. Right. Of course.
At the palace, the emperor wants to bestow the title of Duke on him posthumously. Then the Chancellor convinces the court to keep his death a secret and confuse the enemy.
Outside, the Chancellor and Grand Tutor politely discuss the war, but once apart, they seem to be working against each other. Both want to find the Marquis’ missing body. Even more than that, the Chancellor wants to find a token.
Also, I really love those long-winged hats.
Suddenly, Changyu fights off a wolf and is limping, half barefoot, in the forest. What? Anyway, she gets a ride home with a stranger named Li and his attendant.
While the strangers wait for thank you chestnuts from Mrs. Zhao, Changyu walks in on Yan Zheng putting on his robes. Flustered, she leaves and knocks. Then she has to get close to him with a ruler to get measurements for the wedding clothes.
He sees her hurt foot and insists on helping.
Meanwhile, our strangers quietly discuss their search for the Marquis Wu, which led them here. They hear Changyu yell as Yan Zheng resets her ankle, and learn she has an injured husband.
The strangers are now interested in Changyu, learning her full life story from Mrs. Zhao and Ning. But the Marquis once refused a princess. They doubt he’d marry into a pig butcher’s family.
Yan Zheng watches them leave and recognizes them as He Jingyuan’s people. I’m not sure who that is yet. Then he watches Changyu write his name in the sand.
Only to add a few strokes and turn it into Marquis Wu’s name
After that, she wants to meet with him secretly in the middle of the night. Either she’s figured it out or something naughty is going on. But probably neither.
Neither! She wants his help in secretly honoring Marquis Wu, as per government orders. She reveals she made Yan Zheng a memorial tablet, but used that writing in the sand to figure out how to change the name. Yan Zheng/Marquis Wu isn’t thrilled.
He wants to know why she’s mourning a person rumored to be a bloodthirsty demon who butchered cities. But Changyu’s father praised him, and she does too. He didn’t do anything the enemy wouldn’t have done.
The ones who condemn him are scholars, not common people suffering the reality of war. And it was fair after the gruesome way his father was killed.
Yan Zheng is impressed by her strong opinions, and coughs as she pays her respects to… him. Then she guilts him into bowing to himself. He asks that the fog clear and the truth be revealed.
I guess she’s selling meat for more than one day
It’s the sales that are over. Except now her competitor is using them, so she does too, getting all the customers again. This competitor has an important clerk cousin, so I suspect this will become a thing later.
A bird message notifies Yan Zheng that “Wuqi” has arrived at the local bookstore. Right after, Mr Jin and his goons show up to search for the deed again and find it.
So Yan Zheng comes out, sits down, and tells them to return the deed, and he’ll let them go. They are not intimidated by his tired, injured appearance.
But Mr Zhao and some older villagers saw them and show up ready to fight. With brooms. Their enthusiasm is greater than their skill, but Yan Zheng sneakily shoves and knocks them around to guarantee victory.
Then Changyu comes and sends Mr Jin flying with one blow. She sees Yan Zheng, further injured for his efforts, and is furious. Mr Jin and his goons pay for the damage and run.
Changyu can tell from his injury that he was a part of the fighting
He says he was an armed escort, like her father. She doesn’t want him hurt protecting her belongings, but when he pulls out the deed, she gets teary and thanks him.
Next, Yan Zheng helps her prepare to fight her Uncle’s petition in court. She’s super impressed with what he writes for her. She used to think her Ex-Fiancé was the most impressive person in the world. She didn’t expect him to be better.
Memorizing this speech, however, is a lot. She struggles so much that he suggests she recite a poem instead. She still doesn’t do great, but her enthusiastic attempts make him smile.
Exhausted by her efforts, she falls asleep
Yan Zheng catches her cheek in his hand before she hits the table. Then she sleep-cries for her mother. Later, he fakes sleeping, so when she wakes up, she won’t know how they ended up that way.
Then Ex-Fiance arrives and magnanimously offers to take her as his concubine. He thinks this is better than marrying an injured refugee. Changyu thinks Yan Zheng is better than him in every way.
When Ex-Fiance grabs her arm, Yan Zheng sends him flying outside. He makes a show of pulling Changyu close against his side. Ex-Fiance loses his mind and babbles about adultery as Changyu kisses Yan Zheng’s cheek, and then he kisses hers.
Ex-Fiance leaves, and now neither of them can handle the cheek kisses they shared.
The next day, Changyu literally runs away rather than face him
Then, I think Yan Zheng uses the pretext of selling an essay to get Mr Zhao to retrieve money from his contact at the bookstore. Too much money. Yan Zheng doesn’t know how being poor works. But Mr Zhao is happy Changyu has such a husband.
And he also got back Changyu’s hairpin.
Meanwhile, the wedding garments have arrived, and there are fancy undergarments for Changyu. Oh my!
This leads to silliness where Yan Zheng tries to hide the hairpin in her place (why?), only for her to show up and hide the undergarments. In the end, he doesn’t even return the hairpin.
Then it’s wedding time!
The gossips are here! They’re certain Changyu’s husband will be Very Ugly.
And Creepy Ex-Fiance is here to give her one more chance. He’s brought clay dolls she made him when they were children as proof she really loves him. He offers them to Yan Zheng.
Yan Zheng comes out, and he’s not ugly. He ignores the Ex-Fiance, but Ex-Fiance Will Not Be Ignored. So Changyu knocks the clay dolls to the ground and stomps on them.
The wedding starts as the Ex-Fiance yells nonsense.
It’s a sweet, small-town, in-home ceremony. Because Yan Zheng is marrying in, he agrees to obey Changyu. But she wants them to make decisions together.
After the guests leave, Mrs Zhao gives Changyu a “manual of the bedchamber arts” with naughty pictures inside. Oh my. Changyu says Yan Zheng is too hurt, but Mrs Zhao says it’ll be useful soon.
Changyu is sent up to her bridal chamber, but leaves when she sees Yan Zheng is topless. She quickly apologizes and comments to herself about how she keeps forgetting there’s a man here.
Not the most climactic place to end an episode
It’s romantic because this is a romance and I’m good for it, but really, marrying a near stranger is terrifying. Changyu doesn’t strike me as overly trusting. It feels more like a desperate situation, a handsome man, a different time, and fiction.
I was surprised to learn his identity already. But I guess there’s no reason to keep it secret from the audience. Plus, it gave us a taste of the court politics that I’m sure will be important later. I’m not sure who the big bad is there yet.
Is it too much to hope that we’re done with the Ex-Fiance?
I really enjoy seeing Changyu and her neighbors living their day-to-day small-town lives. It feels poor, but peaceful, and removed from the war they keep mentioning. Which I’m sure will be a major part of the story later, so let’s enjoy this peace while we can.
Even then, I’m guessing we’ll hit some problems with the other pig butcher and Yan Zheng hiding from the people trying to find him. I’m looking forward to it, because I’m hoping it’ll bring our silly, shy couple closer together.
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