Episode 23 recap: Prince hosts a banquet for the Guo family, but trouble arises, and the Chun family suffers.
Early in the morning, Du Ruyu discovers a lantern that has fallen to the ground under the eaves. She grabs a ladder to hang it back up but nearly falls. Fortunately, Ke Ling arrives in time and supports her, swiftly hanging the lantern back up. However, they find that the lantern falls again. At that moment, Wang Gong Gong enters with his subordinates and announces that he will take Ke Ling to the palace to meet the Dowager.
Du Ruyu gives numerous reminders and instructions to Ke Ling as she sees her off, feeling anxious herself. The Guo family comes to pay their respects, and Prince specially arranges a banquet to entertain them. Guo Guo Wang requests to meet the son-in-law (Li Teng Yun), who nervously steps forward to greet him. Guo Guo Wang scrutinizes him for a long time, greatly startling Prince, Shi Zi, and Li Teng Yun.
They believe that Guo Guo Wang suspects Li Teng Yun's identity, but after carefully examining him, Guo Guo Wang remarks that he looks very much like Prince. This relieves everyone's tension. Guo Guo Wang then summons his daughter, Wu Lan Gong Zhu, but instead, a fat and old woman enters the room.
Li Yun feels like dying when he sees her and asks Shi Zi to make him a cup of poisoned wine to drink. Prince orders them to meet the princess, but Guo Guo Wang hastily clarifies that the woman is not Wu Lan Gong Zhu but his beloved concubine. This eases everyone's worries.
Just then, Wu Lan Gong Zhu gracefully enters the room. Seeing her exquisite beauty, Li Teng Yun's previous gloom instantly disappears, and he becomes ecstatic. Ke Ling has been gone the entire day and hasn't returned. The family gathers for a meal, and Jin Rong joyfully remarks that Ke Ling will enter the palace, while she herself will enter Shi Zi's residence. The whole family has now become part of the imperial relatives and can enjoy a good life.
Lu Bu Ping also daydreams about having Shi Zi as her brother-in-law and a prince as her brother-in-law. Everyone talks excitedly, except for Du Ruyu, who feels uneasy and worried that something might have happened to Ke Ling. Guo Zhen Sheng comforts her, saying that Ke Ling has grown up and is mischievous. What could possibly go wrong? So, they stop discussing it and start eating.
Suddenly, many soldiers burst in through the main gate and start searching everywhere without explanation. They lock the entire family inside the rooms, while Wang Gong Gong orders that the Chun family members are not allowed to step outside until Chun Ke Ling is found. Upon hearing that Ke Ling is missing, Du Ruyu becomes even more anxious. Wang Gong Gong took Ke Ling away in the morning, and now they are being arrested at the Chun residence. What is happening? But no one pays attention to them. Guo Zhen Sheng and Jin Rong try to find a way out but are rudely stopped by the guards.
Finally, the three sisters begin speculating on the places Ke Ling might have gone, and the soldiers believe them and go to search.
After seeing the guards withdraw, the Chun family hurriedly climbed over the wall in the backyard to escape. However, they were caught by the soldiers and thrown into prison. When Shi Zi learned about this, he bribed the jailer and Li Teng Yun to visit them in prison.
They finally got a rough understanding of what had happened. It turned out that Chun Ke Ling had escaped while on the way to the palace. Si Huang Zi went to look for her, but both of them disappeared. Naturally, the Dowager was anxious and searching everywhere. Shi Zi assured everyone that he would find a way to rescue them.
Meanwhile, Si Huang Zi and Ke Ling had been saved by the three ruffians from earlier, but Ke Ling had sustained a head injury and had not yet regained consciousness. Shi Zi and Li Teng Yun were racking their brains to find a way to save the Chun family when the leader of the ruffians sent his subordinate with Si Huang Zi's token to find Shi Zi. Shi Zi rushed over with his men and finally saw Si Huang Zi and Ke Ling.
It turned out that when Ke Ling was on her way to the palace, Wang Gong Gong had been incessantly lecturing her about the rules inside the palace, which made her even more frightened. So, she escaped secretly. Si Huang Zi heard about it and came to find her, but Ke Ling didn't want to go back to the palace, so she ran ahead while Si Huang Zi chased after her. As a result, they fell into a trap dug by the three ruffian brothers.
The three brothers wanted to turn over a new leaf and were preparing to fill in the trap when they saw Si Huang Zi and Ke Ling. After rescuing the two, Si Huang Zi sent them to find Shi Zi and deliver the message. Shi Zi returned to the palace and pleaded with the Dowager not to punish the Chun family. When Ke Ling saw her family, she realized the trouble she had caused and repeatedly apologized, but no one blamed her.
The Chun family was released, but Chun Madam was blindfolded and taken into the palace. The Dowager rewarded Du Ruyu with a lot of money and asked her to leave Jianglin with her family, but Du Ruyu refused. The worried family members finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Du Ruyu safely return home.
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