Gu Chusheng falls to his knees following his act of taking the arrow for Chu Yu. Despite the pain, he rushes to try to save Chu Yu again after she finds herself hanging under a bridge following her attempt to dodge a few more arrows that were shot at her.
Yet again, Gu Chusheng has Wang Linlang see that in his heart, there is only Chu Yu. Chu Yu, on the other hand, seems to reject Gu Chusheng’s help when he tells her to hold on tight after she initially takes his helping hand. She releases her grip and appears to willingly fall into the area before where a river flowed.
It’s not clear if Chu Yu had let go because she couldn’t hold on anymore or if she’d rather fall than accept his rescue and owe him. From the gaze that feels almost like there was was defiance, it could be the latter.
Chu Yu doesn’t fall to her death, as Wei Yun suddenly appears and catches her in his arms.
Somewhere in the valley, Song Shilan and his people successfully catch the assassin. However, any information about who he is isn’t extracted, as the assassin poisoned and killed himself before Song Shilan could interrogate him.
Li Changming suspects North Qi as being behind the attack. However, a scene that takes place at Yao Yong’s residence sees it revealed that the assassin is one of Yao Yong’s people. The mission of this Yao Yong follower was not to directly attack Chu Yu. His task was only to gather intelligence, but for a reason that’s unknown, the follower went and decided to take out Chu Yu.
Yao Yong’s reprimand over the incident possibly hints at an order that may have been given behind his back and points to someone within Li Changming’s group of followers.
Whoever or whatever was behind the assassin’s actions isn’t looked into further by Yao Yong. Although he was not impressed with the follower’s actions, since he’s poisoned himself to prevent any interrogation from taking place, he lets the matter go.
Yao Yong was also unimpressed that Wei Yun got away despite the place being completely locked down with no possible way to run or hide.
Wei Yun later reveals to Chu Yu that it was with the help of fourth sister-in-law Yao Jue that he had managed to find a way out. He had run into her during his escape attempt and was told to go out a window behind the headboard of the bed. The window opens straight onto the Yao Mansion’s parapet wall, where Wei Yun and Wei Qiu could make their escape.
Before Wei Yun leaves, he seeks a favour from Yao Jue to help him with his investigation. He hands over a map to Yao Yong’s study with the suggestion she visit it and look around for evidence, as he suspects that Yao Yong might have committed treason and colluded with North Qi. Yao Jue is willing to help, agreeing to do her best with the request.
With Yao Jue aiding Wei Yun, there’s fear that Yao Yong won’t let her off if he finds out. He’s already given an order to round up all the men who were on duty and have them provide a detailed report about the matter. Wei Yun leaves Yao Jue for the time being but has the intention to come up with a plan to get her out of there.
Chu Yu’s decision to keep her suspicions about a traitor amongst Li Changming’s followers has the Eldest Princess of Great Sui call upon her to be honest with her and tell her directly should there be a next time. Li Changming has her know that she’s broad-minded enough not to lose the bigger picture over minor details.
With things made clear with Chu Yu, Li Changming moves to make things clear to her followers that even the slightest suspicion of colluding with North Qi will get them killed without a chance to prove their innocence. Two of her followers were killed on the spot because they had met with people from North Qi during their travels. They claimed innocence and that they didn’t commit treason, but Li Changming was not interested in giving them a second chance.
All of this was to let Xue Hanmei know that even he won’t be spared. Of all her followers, he seems to be the one she needs to be the most weary of. For one, he’s close to her. She favours him. Secondly, Xue Hanmei is revealed to be someone from North Qi.
A flashback reveals that she had saved him from a group of bullies out on the streets. Before meeting Li Changming, Xue Hanmei was living roughly. After taking him in, he was given a new name and a new life. It all hints at an unknown identity from North Qi, which is what appears to make Li Changming worried he could be capable of deceiving her.
Xue Hanmei claims innocence as well and calls upon her to kill him to prove his claims. Li Changming unsheathes a sword from one of her guards and points it at his neck. Fortunately for him, she’s not as cold and ruthless with Xue Hanmei as she was with her other two followers. Xue Hanmei is only warned that he’ll go the way the other two went if he ever deceives her.
Xue Hanmei claims he’s not deceiving her; otherwise, he would have just told her he’s from Great Sui. He keeps eye contact and denies having ever deceived her and promises that he will never betray her.
Gu Chusheng’s reason for marrying Wang Linlang is revealed further after the incident at Qinxi Valley. The Duke of Ning Wang Jingzhi looks to have blackmailed Gu Chusheng into marrying his daughter. He had given Gu Chusheng two choices. The first one is a path to success, which is to marry Wang Linlang. The second one is death, which is presumably to continue being exiled to the south-west border, facing death (Gu Chusheng doesn’t specify exactly what the path towards death entails).
He tells Wang Linlang that he had considered choosing death, suggesting just how unlikely it is he’ll end up falling for her and loving her. His decision to marry her was because he needed to stay alive in order to overturn the Lord of Qin treason case and clear his parents’ name.
Wang Linlang reveals no knowledge of the treason case or what happened to Gu Chusheng’s parents. With Gu Chusheng not denying his feelings for Chu Yu and revealing that this marriage was only possible because her father pressured him to marry her, Wang Linlang changes from being angry with Gu Chusheng for his actions at Qinxi Valley to fear he’d leave her.
She tells him that she’s willing to learn the poem and song he likes, even though she doesn’t like them. She can also learn from Chu Yu and be an eccentric and free-spirited woman for him.
Gu Chusheng’s only response to Wang Linlang is that neither of them can return to how it was at the beginning nor can they fulfill each of their own wishes. He seems to be thinking about the good times he had with Chu Yu when they were together, but now Chu Yu won’t even let him help her, let alone give him another chance to be with her. At the same time, he seems to acknowledge Wang Linlang’s hopes for their marriage when he married her, but things are what they are, and it can’t be changed.
Wei Yun has stopped struggling with his feelings for Chu Yu. Despite knowing it’s a relationship he shouldn’t pursue, he still wants to try just once. He knows people will be against it because of her being known as his sister-in-law in their eyes, but to him, Chu Yu is “a flower among three thousand flowers”. She’s special to him, and for her, he wants to try.
The episode closes with Wei Yun by Chu Yu’s side after he claims to be passing by an inn across from Spring Breeze House, where Chu Yu was drinking by herself. Ever since returning from Qinxi Valley, she’s been feeling displeasure over the injustice suffered by her father and all those who fought for the state.
Although Wei Yun had asked about the reason behind her bad mood, he knew exactly why she was feeling this way when Chu Yu had him make a guess on the exact reason. It gnawed at her that someone like Yao Yong, whom they believe is colluding with North Qi, is betraying Great Sui, but still he enjoys a great life with a high position and great rewards. But people like her father and the soldiers who fight hard for Great Sui end up dead.
Chu Yu expresses that she wants to kill Yao Yong with her own hands. However, she can’t because they lacked evidence against him. Wei Yun and Wei Qiu had discovered weapons in a secret room behind Yao Yong’s study (Episode 13). The discovery could be seen as planning a rebellion. However, these weapons will no doubt be moved. They failed to gather any evidence. They only managed to confirm that Yao Yong was suspicious.
When Wei Yun asks whether Chu Yu regrets starting her investigation, Chu Yu denies ever regretting it and insists on continuing no matter how many of these people there were or how powerful the forces are behind them. She’ll capture them all and make them kneel and repent before the graves of their fathers, brothers and the soldiers who died in battle. Wei Yun commits to do the same. No matter how difficult the matter is, he’s willing to do it with her.
Chu Yu calls Wei Yun over to the window after noticing the sky had broken into rain, as if it were crying and grieving along with them. She orders two bottles of wine, one for her and one for Wei Yun. She wasn’t drowning her sorrows with more wine but honouring her father and the soldiers. Wei Yun joins her, honouring his parents, brothers, and soldiers who died in Baidi Valley, which sees her add further, honouring all those who sacrificed their lives as well as their families, all for the sake of justice and peace.
Chu Yu takes a swig of the wine from her bottle after assuring Wei Yun her alcohol tolerance is high. She never gets drunk. Right after she says this, she gets sleepy by the balcony, causing Wei Yun to extend a hand ready to support her head, afraid she’d lean over too far. As she lay propped up by her elbow, Wei Yun remained watching her intently. The nature of Wei Yun’s feelings for Chu Yu is no doubt clear to Gu Chusheng, who catches the sight below.
