Prayer plates are hung and wishes are made. Chu Yu and Wei Yun successfully made it to the top of Tugu Temple and got there first. Wei Yun had wanted to hear about Chu Yu’s wishes, but Chu Yu couldn’t let him know. It won’t come true otherwise. As for Wei Yun’s wish, it came true the moment Chu Yu finally accepted his feelings.
Standing under a bit of shelter to wait out the sudden rain, Wei Yun asked whether Chu Yu was willing to be with him. “You know me, respect me, and love me. There’s no reason that I don’t like you,” she told him.
Not only this, she even made the first move to give him a kiss on the cheek. This turned into a kiss on the lips when Wei Yun suddenly turned to face her, not realising what she was about to do. On their way back, Chu Yu even tells Wei Yun not to be so hesitant with holding her hand and takes it in hers.
With how they still needed to focus on finding out who the mastermind is, being Yao Yong, they had planned to keep their relationship a secret for the time being. However, their new relationship is caught by Jiang Chun and Wang Lan, who were out together a short distance from them. They didn’t go up to Wei Yun and Chu Yu to confront them, though. They excused the closeness as Chu Yu having a tendency of not paying attention to appropriate behaviour between men and women because she was from a military family. Then they left the scene with a concerned look.
Song Wenchang and Chu Jin’s relationship hits a block. Chu Jin had originally wanted to get to the top of Tugu Temple to hang her prayer plate first, and Song Wenchang had wanted to help her get there first and even made her a golden prayer plate. However, upon discovering that Chu Yu and Wei Yun had gotten there first, she let go and hung a plain one. She realised she didn’t have high ambitions.
Unlike the ones Song Wenchang had recently discovered he had, Chu Jin’s were simple. She doesn’t reveal exactly what wishes she had, though. Hanging the plain prayer plate where there was a free hook around the middle level represented her simple wishes. She didn’t need Song Wenchang’s customised golden prayer plate, which appears to represent standing out amongst the rest and high ambitions.
At the current time, Song Wenchang’s desire to make something of himself for his family as well as for her (by going on the battlefield should there be another need for him) doesn’t align with Chu Jin’s desire for a man who doesn’t. As Chu Jin takes her leaves, Song Wenchang promises to find a way to make both their wishes come true.
Tuantuan and Chu Linyang’s relationship is also a no-go. Chu Linyang definitely has feelings for her. He was seen at his desk drawing an ink painting of her and smiled when he looked at his own painting. However, in front of her, he insists that he had no feelings for her.
Advised by Song Wenchang, Tuantuan sets up a medical clinic on the street where she convinced passers-by of her medical diagnostic skills. It’s a plan to give free medical advice in exchange for their help with delivering letters containing poems that expressed her feelings and a desire for him to go to her to express his feelings for her. Since she’s had no luck seeing him when she went to him, she hoped the many letters she sent through the help of many passers-by would bring him to her.
The scheme worked. Chu Linyang heads straight to her after reading the poems to have her believe he only saw her as a sister and had let her practise her medical skills on her like a brother would let a sister. He insists it was to repay her for her help in Qinxi Valley, where she helped cover for Chu Yu.
Tuantuan doesn’t believe his words. She can feel he has feelings for her, but Chu Linyang was insistent. He leaves her shouting after him after wishing her to take good care of herself and to find a good husband.
Meanwhile, at the Eldest Princess’ Mansion, Xue Hanmei’s true identity and his intentions are finally exposed. Zhao Yue is his real name. His true intention is to annex Great Sui. That time when bandits tried to hurt Li Changming during Yao Yong’s rebellion (Episode 17), that was Xue Hanmei’s plan to dispel the distrust and suspicion Li Changming had of him during that time.
This was all exposed after Li Changming had Xue Hanmei’s garden searched after looking for the pattern matching the note Chu Yu handed over. The search saw a broken medicine bottle being found. Presumably, this had Li Changming look into Xue Hanmei’s identity and discover his real name.
Just so Li Changming knows, Xue Hanmei tells her that he had no intention to harm her because he does have feelings for her. Li Changming, though, although her heart seems to be with him, his deception and him using her to harm her country see her attempt to kill him. She had drugged his wine earlier, and that appeared to knock him out. Li Changming moves to thrust a knife into him after a brief moment of hesitation but fails, as Xue Hanmei suddenly wakes.
Li Changming is overpowered for a short period, but a throw of a teacup sends the guards storming in. Xue Hanmei and Xiang (Li Changming’s maid) are taken away. It looked like the situation was finally under control. However, when Li Changming moves to leave her room to see His Majesty, she is blocked. Xue Hanmei had escaped the guards’ swords.
