Episode 10 recap: Yun Wei Shan helps Gong Zi Yu pass the first trial.
A servant in the kitchen encountered Yun Wei Shan and hastily bowed before turning to ask the cook, Jin Fan, about the food. Yun Wei Shan gave him the carefully selected pastries to pass on to Jin Fan. The women inside the palace appeared to be happy on the surface but were actually imprisoned for life. The men in the palace had the ability to resist external threats, yet they remained hidden in the valley, only concerned with a peaceful life and ignoring the storms outside. That's why Gong Zi Yu didn't have deep feelings for the palace.
Yun Wei Shan found Lady Wu Ji and asked her if she had lost something. Lady Wu Ji immediately attacked her and questioned if she had taken it. Yun Wei Shan noticed that her techniques were similar to Han Ya Si's and mentioned the name "Nameless," but Lady Wu Ji didn't understand what Yun Wei Shan was referring to. Yun Wei Shan changed her statement, saying that she had no evidence to prove that she took anything from Lady Wu Ji, and instead claimed that Gong Yuan Zheng and Jin Fan were the ones who took Lady Wu Ji's belongings. Lady Wu Ji told Yun Wei Shan not to get involved, but Yun Wei Shan stated that she and Gong Zi Yu would share both glory and loss. Lady Wu Ji pointed out that the stolen item did indeed affect Gong Zi Yu, as it was the medical records of Gong Zi Yu's birth mother.
Gong Zi Shang wanted to personally protect the medical records, but Jin Fan was worried that Gong Zi Shang would be implicated because of them, so she took the records to protect them herself. Shang Guan Qian overheard a conversation between Gong Shang Jue and Gong Yuan Zheng and was caught in the act. To make up for her mistake, she offered to retrieve the records herself. Xue Gong Zi was concerned that Gong Zi Yu, who had always been sensitive to the cold, would encounter trouble in the first trial, but he also believed that Gong Zi Yu was not the same as before, no longer a spoiled child. Xue Zhong Zi hoped that Gong Zi Yu's abilities would surpass Gong Shang Jue's.
Gong Zi Yu ate the food prepared by Yun Wei Shan before entering the icy lotus pond. He took a deep breath and jumped into the pond but found that his internal energy wasn't enough, leaving him with only a breath of air. If he continued to dive deeper, he would suffocate. In the dilemma between life and completing the trial, he chose to continue diving. Just as he was about to suffocate underwater, Yun Wei Shan provided him with the last breath of oxygen, allowing him to successfully retrieve the treasure box and resurface.
Xue Gong Zi was curious about how Gong Zi Yu broke through the ice. It turned out that Yun Wei Shan had tied a rope around her waist before entering the water, and Gong Zi Yu pulled her back to shore after he swam ashore. Gong Zi Yu performed artificial respiration on Yun Wei Shan in time, and when he saw her wake up, he couldn't help but kiss her again. The two of them blushed and lowered their heads, remembering their intimate moment just now. Gong Zi Yu opened the treasure box but found it empty, suspecting that the secret was invisible. Xue Zhong Zi was worried that Gong Zi Yu was being too stubborn. He had been waiting for him by the pond and would agree to send someone to rescue him as soon as he obtained the box.
Gong Zi Shang arrived at her experimental base and encountered her younger half-brother. This half-brother, who shared the same father but had a different mother, expressed that their mother and father didn't like her. Just when she was feeling sad, Xiao Hei came to comfort her. Her motivation was to pursue Jin Fan. Gong Zi Shang recalled a time when she had a high fever and fainted during an experiment. Jin Fan carried her to see a physician, and to get her to take the medicine, he hid it in a snow pear. Since then, she had fallen in love with him at first sight.
Yun Wei Shan returned to her room and found Shang Guan Qian there, teasing her that the portrait of Gong Zi Yu should be a map of the palace. Shang Guan Qian asked Yun Wei Shan to steal something from Jin Fan, but Yun Wei Shan didn't want to risk her life. She knew that Shang Guan Qian wanted the medical records, and if she stole them, she would lose her identity as Gong Zi Shang's personal attendant, and her mission would fail. Yun Wei Shan tried to stop Shang Guan Qian from taking the medical records, but she was no match for her. Shang Guan Qian warned her that if she didn't help, she wouldn't show her any mercy.
Yun Wei Shan made dumplings using bitter gourd and had them sent to Jin Fan by a servant. Shortly after eating them, Jin Fan started vomiting and having diarrhea. While Gong Zi Shang was occupied with Jin Fan, Yun Wei Shan stole the other half of the medical records and gave them to Shang Guan Qian. When Jin Fan was getting dressed, she discovered that the medical records were missing. Gong Shang Jue saw the other half of the medical records and asked Shang Guan Qian to play chess with her, questioning how she obtained the records. Shang Guan Qian revealed that she used Yun Wei Shan to get them and that she had evidence of Yun Wei Shan's innocence when she was searched by the guards. At that time, she owed someone a favor.
Gong Zi Shang confronted Yun Wei Shan with the pastries, asking her about mulberries, bitter gourd, and the cold desserts. To prove her innocence, Yun Wei Shan ate the pastries in front of everyone. Jin Fan suspected that Yun Wei Shan knew about his internal techniques and had ulterior motives for giving him the food. Gong Zi Yu saw the water lotus in the pond and expressed his desire to have a few, but Xue Gong Zi refused.
Jin Fan locked Yun Wei Shan in a room. Gong Zi Yu began practicing the Xue family's knife techniques. Although there were only three moves, each move was complex. Gong Zi Yu vowed to master them successfully and show Gong Shang Jue that he couldn't be underestimated. Gong Zi Yu didn't have much attachment to the palace gates. He longed for freedom. Xue Zhong Zi changed his address to "Zhi Ren Da Ren" (Master Zhi Ren), believing that Gong Zi Yu was worthy of the title "Zhi Ren." Xue Zhong Zi spent four years creating the Xue family's knife techniques, while Xue Gong Zi spent four years to master them. Jin Fan, the Green Jade Guard, couldn't be commanded by just anyone. The former Zhi Ren had repeatedly requested the elder to assign the Red Jade Guard, Jin Fan, to Gong Zi Yu. From that moment on, Jin Fan and Gong Zi Yu were destined to be together for life. Jin Fan was the youngest Red Jade Guard and represented the high hopes of the former Zhi Ren for Gong Zi Yu.
Never in a million years did I expect to witness the true intricacies of female rivalry. The level of difficulty and complexity in the game of female rivalry has surpassed that among the male characters in the same drama. I would even believe it to be a dual female lead drama because the challenges and struggles faced by the female protagonists in terms of life and death surpass the difficulties of the male protagonists' growth and seeking revenge for their fathers and brothers. Therefore, the dramatic intensity is firmly held by the female characters in this story.