Episode 22 recap: Zhao Guan Shou seeks the services of a divination expert.
Fei Tang says that if she weren't a woman, she would have already beaten Zhao Guan Shou. Ye Liu Xi says that in the future, when she becomes the king, Chang Dong can write a memoir called "The Man of the King" when he gets old. Gao Shen says they are not suitable for each other, and forcing a relationship is not good for anyone. Ding Liu asks if they can take photos here and suggests taking one. Zhao Guan Shou asks the divination expert about the outcome of Ye Liu Xi's return this time, whether it is auspicious or ominous. The divination expert says that the interpretation is "meeting again on the Golden Rope Mountain."
Early in the morning, Fei Tang gets up and practices with her sword, while Ye Liu Xi gives her pointers. A He, seeing this, feels speechless and thinks that she doesn't even need a sword to defeat Fei Tang. Fei Tang says that if she weren't a woman, she would have already beaten A He. A He says that even if she were a woman, Fei Tang wouldn't be able to beat her, which frustrates Fei Tang. Ding Liu observes their banter and thinks that A He is different for Fei Tang.
Ye Liu Xi and the others go out shopping, with A He following behind them. Fei Tang asks why A He insists on following them, and A He says it's arranged by Zhao Guan Shou to ensure their safety. Fei Tang thinks they would be safest if A He weren't around. Lao Li also goes out shopping and sees someone demonstrating Fang Shi tools. He goes over to watch the commotion, and the Fang Shi there recognizes the Fang Shi emblem of the Li family and mocks Lao Li, saying that they didn't expect anyone from the Li family to survive and have the audacity to come to this place. They believe that if it weren't for the Li family preventing the shadow puppets from standing up again, they wouldn't have reached this point.
Ding Liu asked if they could take photos here and thought they could go in and take one. Fei Tang didn't let A He go in and asked him to wait outside. They took several photos here, and Ding Liu heard that there was a jewelry stall nearby, so he went to take a look. Gao Shen saw Ding Liu looking at a hair clip and bought it for her. Ye Liu Xi and Chang Dong were by the river, enjoying the scenery and talking about Gao Shen and Ding Liu.
Chang Dong said that although Gao Shen wasn't very romantic, he was very responsible and valued the role of a wife more than the person he liked. Liu Qi knew this, which is why she let Ding Liu marry Gao Shen. Chang Dong said that Ding Liu still wanted to believe that the person she liked should come to marry her riding a colorful cloud, so she didn't like the way Gao Shen was. Ye Liu Xi thought they could help and said that if she was happy, she wanted others to be happy too, and if she was in a relationship, she wanted others to be in a relationship as well. Ye Liu Xi said that when she becomes the king in the future, Chang Dong could write a memoir called "The Man of the King". Otherwise, he could only write about an ordinary man, and that wouldn't be very interesting. Chang Dong thought being ordinary was fine.
Fei Tang went out for a walk and found many old items. The people here didn't value these old items, so they were sold at low prices. Ding Liu was also happy and said that they could trade with the people inside the pass in the future. Someone came over and told Ye Liu Xi that Zhao Guan Shou wanted them to go over.
Zhao Guan Shou came to ask Yan She whether Ye Liu Xi's return this time was auspicious or ominous. The fortune-teller used the Yan She prophecy and said that the prophecy indicated that an old acquaintance would meet again on Jin Suo Mountain, and the remedy was for the dragon to fly and wash the vermilion bead. Ye Liu Xi wanted to ask something else, but the fortune-teller said that was all the Yan She prophecy revealed. Ye Liu Xi and the others left first, and Chang Dong noticed a change in Zhao Guan Shou's expression when he heard the words "dragon flying."
Zhao Guan Shou arranged for someone to check Ding Liu. Yi Sheng said that the knife didn't damage Ding Liu's brain, so he was fine, but the wound hadn't fully healed yet and needed more rest. Ding Liu wanted to know if the patch of scalp could grow hair again, and Yi Sheng said there was no problem. Gao Shen gave the hair clip he bought to Ding Liu and told her to use other hair to cover it for now.
During the meal, Gao Shen said he had something to say and asked everyone to be witnesses. Ye Liu Xi and the others thought Gao Shen was going to confess his feelings. However, Gao Shen said that they were not suitable for each other, and forcing a relationship wouldn't be good for anyone. He said he would go back and explain it clearly to Qi Ye.
In the first act of the novel, Chang Dong transforms into Ding Zhou and performs shadow puppetry on Huimin Street. There are also behind-the-scenes clips of Bai Yu's shadow play, and I'm looking forward to this scene in the storyline.
On this evening, the shadow play began promptly at seven o'clock. By six fifty, the seats below the stage were already filled with people. Ding Zhou lifted the curtain slightly to look down. Most of the audience consisted of parents with their children.
The children couldn't sit still, twisting and turning on their seats, asking in a buzz of voices, 'When will the cartoons start?'
Ding Zhou could foresee what would happen next: after the performance began, the children would find it uninteresting.
They knew that shadow play was far different from cartoons. They would complain about the obscure and difficult-to-understand singing, and would want to go out and play. The adults would scold them, and the children would cry and make a fuss.
In the midst of this chaos, Ding Zhou would continue to perform the play, accompanied by Qin Yun's traditional singing style. It seemed quite dull to think about it, but for most of the time that people are alive, things are inherently dull.