Episode 7 recap: Little Qiangzi was used by the Queen to secretly probe his secret techniques.
The Emperor, in order to test Yan Zhang Yun's identity, specifically passed on the sword techniques that he and Qin Yan practiced when they were young to Little Qiangzi, and had Little Qiangzi duel with Yan Zhang Yun. This strategy was seen through by Yan Zhang Yun, who decided to turn the tables and deliberately got injured by Little Qiangzi in an old wound.
The Emperor did not know how to face Qin Yan, after all, the Qin family was destroyed, and the jade seal that had been forced upon them when they were young. Little Qiangzi wrote many secret techniques for the Queen at night, in order to gain the Emperor's favor. When Little Qiangzi returned to his room late at night, Yan Zhang Yun questioned him about his late return. Little Qiangzi claimed that the Emperor had personally taught him martial arts recently, and believed that with diligent practice, he would be able to defeat Yan Zhang Yun in a few days. Yan Zhang Yun was suspicious of the Emperor's intentions and still doubted Little Qiangzi's identity, using his martial arts skills to probe Yan Zhang Yun's own identity.
As expected, a few days later, the Emperor had Little Qiangzi duel with Yan Zhang Yun, and the martial arts he used were the Qin family techniques that Yan Zhang Yun had practiced with the Emperor when they were young. Yan Zhang Yun guessed the Emperor's intentions and deliberately did not evade Little Qiangzi's attacks, purposely getting injured.
The Emperor insisted on personally caring for Yan Zhang Yun and examining his chest wound, but did not see any old scars on Yan Zhang Yun's chest, leaving with mixed feelings. When everyone left, Aicheng realized that Yan Zhang Yun's martial arts were so strong that he should not have been injured, and Yan Zhang Yun then tore off the old skin covering his wound, having prepared for it in advance to avoid the Emperor's scrutiny.
On the way back to the palace, the Emperor recalled how he had been forced to place the jade seal on Qin Yan's family in the past, leading to the death of his good friend Qin Yan's entire family. Whenever he thought of Qin Yan, he felt deeply guilty. Little Qiangzi apologized to Yan Zhang Yun for injuring him during the duel, blaming his strong desire to win, and promised to take good care of him from now on.
The Queen decided to summon Little Qiangzi to her side to attract the Emperor's attention, but the bad-tempered Yan Zhang Yun was worried and did not want to let him go. When the Queen visited Yan Zhang Yun under the pretext of checking on his injury, she seized the opportunity to borrow Little Qiangzi, claiming a shortage of manpower.
On the way back, the Queen did not expect Yan Zhang Yun to not only agree, but also immediately throw out Little Qiangzi's luggage. Little Qiangzi, knowing he had offended the Queen before, in order to save his life, first praised the Queen profusely. The pleased Queen then instructed Little Qiangzi to write a hundred secret techniques that would make the Emperor happy, overnight.
The next day, the Queen looked at the thick stack of secret manuals, and took out one to test immediately. However, the maidservant next to her did not trust Little Qiang. So the Queen ordered Little Qiang to use this manual first on Yan Zhang Yun.
Soon, Little Qiang approached Yan Zhang Yun gently, but Yan Zhang Yun directly turned him away at the door.
Seeing the failure, the Queen had to test the next secret manual. Little Qiang solemnly picked up a dagger and begged the Queen multiple times if she could spare him. Little Qiang cried as he showed his injured arm to Yan Zhang Yun, hoping to be reinstated in the Qianyu Guard. Seeing the wound, Yan Zhang Yun felt very sympathetic, but he still sternly rejected him. Heartbroken, Little Qiang returned to the Phoenix Palace, declaring that he would never take Yan Zhang Yun as his superior again.
Seeing the secret manuals failed, the Queen ordered the men to torture Little Qiang. He was held down and his feet were tickled with feathers, but he just burst out laughing all day. That night, Little Qiang lay motionless on the bed, and his comrades brought white flowers to visit him. Wei Tian Jiao said Little Qiang liked the silver of the white flowers, not the flowers themselves. Little Qiang blew the jade whistle a few times and then sadly threw it away, saying he would never believe in Yan Zhang Yun again.
In the middle of the night, Yan Zhang Yun came to Little Qiang's room to wipe his wounds, but discovered they were fake. Angry, he left. When Little Qiang woke up, he found the wounds had faded. Before he could recover, the Queen's maidservant hurried him to work. To avoid going to the Queen, Little Qiang deliberately left a resignation letter in a prominent place on Yan Zhang Yun's desk, but it was buried under Changsheng's books.
Little Qiang walked very slowly, hoping Yan Zhang Yun and his comrades would come to persuade him to stay. But when he reached the last palace gate, no one came. Disappointed, he was then caught by Changsheng, who was escorting a criminal. Little Qiang was dumbfounded - since joining the Qianyu Guard, he had always been taken care of by Yan Zhang Yun. He never expected Yan Zhang Yun to be so heartless, wishing for him to leave. So Little Qiang left the palace alone.
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