Episode 8 recap: The Secrets on the Jade Ruyi.
In addition to making money from silk, there is another good news waiting for Xie Wei. After the Ministry of Justice reported the case, the Emperor summoned Duke Dingguo and questioned him with dissatisfaction. The military forces currently under the control of the Yan family were handed over to his uncle as a means to balance the power of the Yan family. Unexpectedly, his uncle was not content and even intervened in the transportation of goods. Duke Dingguo listened to the reprimand with sincere fear, thinking that the Yan family was targeting him.
After Duke Dingguo left, the Emperor happily told the old eunuch that with this lesson, Duke Dingguo would surely not dare to interfere in the selection of the Crown Prince. In order to silence the Ministry of Justice, he also gave them a sweet reward, exempting them from punishment for their ineffectiveness in handling the treason case and even commending them. Xue Shu felt annoyed because Jiang Xue Ning stole the limelight from her. In order to deal with Jiang Xue Ning, she approached her aunt and asked her to arrange a meeting with the Empress Dowager to introduce her classmates.
On the way to meet the Empress Dowager, Jiang Xue Ning saw a young eunuch being punished. She recognized him as Zheng Bao, a rising star in front of the Emperor. She managed to save him, and as Zheng Bao was leaving, he turned back and gave Jiang Xue Ning a grateful look.
After meeting the Empress Dowager, Xue Shu continuously called her aunt and held the Empress Dowager's hand, making everyone kneel for a long time. When everyone finally stood up, the Empress Dowager specifically mentioned Jiang Xue Ning, wanting to embarrass her publicly. However, Jiang Xue Ning's response was well-grounded, and because the Empress Dowager knew Jiang Xue Ning had a good relationship with Yan Lin, she didn't make it too difficult for her.
At that moment, someone sent a jade ruyi to the Empress Dowager in the name of the Emperor. Upon seeing the words on the jade ruyi, the Empress Dowager was furious and smashed it into two pieces, ordering an investigation to be conducted. This incident implicated Jiang Xue Ning and others. While waiting outside during the investigation, Jiang Xue Ning and the others knelt for a long time. As Bao Ling was having difficulty supporting herself, Jiang Xue Ning stood up and spoke on their behalf. At first, the responsible maidservant refused, but when Xue Shu saw the Emperor approaching, she quickly pleaded for everyone, and they were finally allowed to sit and wait on the side.
Because of that jade ruyi, the Empress Dowager fell ill, which made the Emperor extremely furious. Duke Dingguo suspected that this matter was related to Xie Wei, and the Emperor accepted his suggestion to test Xie Wei. Xie Wei immediately guessed that the jade ruyi incident was caused by Gong Yicheng, so when he met the Emperor, he truthfully expressed his views. He suspected that it was the Prince of Pingnan who intentionally created chaos in the capital city. He also advised the Emperor not to make too much noise about it to avoid causing unrest among the people. After Xie Wei left, Duke Dingguo walked out from behind, and based on Xie Wei's response just now, both he and the Emperor believed that Xie Wei had nothing to do with this matter.
Jiang Xue Ning and the others were chatting and did not understand why the Empress Dowager was so angry. Bao Ling explained to everyone that when the Prince of Pingnan invaded the palace years ago and couldn't find the Crown Prince, he captured 300 boys of the same age as the Crown Prince in the capital city. He intended to force the Crown Prince to come forward, otherwise, he would kill all 300 boys. Xue Ding Fei, the eldest son of the Xue family, stood up and pretended to be the Crown Prince, but even so, the Prince of Pingnan still ordered the killing of all 300 boys.
After the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he buried those 300 individuals together and erected a monument called the "Mound of Loyalty and Righteousness." The jade ruyi that the Empress Dowager smashed today had those three characters written on it. However, Jiang Xue Ning believed that if what Bao Ling said was true, the Empress Dowager should have pity for those people and should not have been angered to the point of smashing the jade ruyi. Therefore, she felt that there must be something suspicious about it.
Xie Wei noticed that Jiang Xue Ning was not skilled in playing the qin, so he brought her to his home for private teaching. While Jiang Xue Ning was practicing the qin, she saw a small cat running in and happily went over to pick it up. However, when Xie Wei heard the cat's meowing, he was reminded of the horrifying scene of discovering a wild cat among a pile of corpses. When Jiang Xue Ning brought the cat over, he abruptly struck the cat to the ground. To conceal his loss of composure, he also drove Jiang Xue Ning out.
Jiang Xue Ning didn't understand why Xie Wei treated her inconsistently. She felt depressed and unexpectedly saw the same small cat again. As she was about to leave while holding the cat, she suddenly heard Xie Wei secretly discussing the matter of the jade ruyi with someone. After listening to their conversation, Jiang Xue Ning realized that this matter was related to Xie Wei. She was feeling surprised when the cat suddenly meowed, and Xie Wei noticed someone eavesdropping. He rushed over and held a dagger to Jiang Xue Ning's neck.
Comments(Episode 8)