Episode 4 recap: The young emperor was deeply moved to tears after eating the braised dish with extra ingredients.
Rong'er was working as a maid in the palace, but she always wanted to escape from the palace. She realized the palace walls were very high and wondered how long a rope she would need to climb out. A small eunuch asked her to burn the newspapers, but Rong'er didn't understand why she had to do his work, and questioned him. She then saw an article about her own brother on the newspaper, realizing it was her heartless father who sent her to the palace.
Emperor Puyi was again wearing a guard's uniform, and Rong'er happened to run into him. She recognized him as the guard who had previously teased her and made Qing'er almost get punished. Rong'er went up to him and wanted to make him apologize to Qing'er, but Puyi refused. During the scuffle, Puyi knocked over Rong'er's freshly washed clothes. Puyi found Rong'er's purse on the ground quite nice and wanted to see what was inside. Rong'er told him there was a jade pendant inside and asked him to return it, but in the struggle, the purse ended up getting thrown into the river. Rong'er desperately wanted to go retrieve it, but Puyi held her back, saying he would get someone to help find the purse. Angry, Rong'er left, telling Puyi to rewash the dirtied clothes.
Puyi found Li Qi and asked him to help find the purse, then took the dirty clothes to wash himself. Li Qi said Rong'er was overbearing and advised Puyi not to bother, but Puyi had a good impression of her. Puyi and Li Qi returned the washed clothes to Rong'er, but she found they had been ruined from the washing. Rong'er broke down crying, thinking Puyi had purposefully sabotaged her clothes to get her in trouble. She complained to Puyi, and Li Qi reminded her not to speak so freely in the palace. Rong'er said she didn't even want to be in the palace, where they were always preaching about rules, feeling it was no place for a person.
Rong'er took the ruined clothes back, and Aunt Shuangxi saw them and punished Rong'er to rewash the clothes and work in the imperial kitchen for three days. Puyi sent someone to look for Rong'er and found she had been punished. That night, Puyi and Li Qi went to find Rong'er in the kitchen. Rong'er was angry to see them and almost hit Puyi, but Li Qi held her back. Puyi said he came to apologize and returned a new purse to her, but Rong'er refused it, saying the jade pendant inside had special meaning to her. Suddenly a small mouse appeared, startling Puyi and Li Qi, but Rong'er was able to chase it away, mocking their cowardice.
Seeing all the food that needed washing, Puyi asked Rong'er how long it would take, and she said until it was all done. Puyi offered to help her wash the vegetables with Li Qi. As they were working, Rong'er suddenly looked up at the sky, lost in thought. Puyi asked what she was looking at, and she said the moon was so full, and she wished she could leave the palace. Puyi asked if it was fun outside, and Rong'er described many exciting things she wanted to see, like the "eight oddities" on the bridges. Seeing Puyi's interest, she suggested he could go out and see for himself, but Puyi said he wasn't allowed to leave. Rong'er said it was unfair the emperor wouldn't let him out when even Li Qi could go. Just then, a rumbling stomach was heard, and Rong'er asked whose it was. Puyi pretended it was Li Qi's, and Rong'er offered to make them some delicious palace food for them to try.
Rong'er cooked a dish of braised intestines and lungs for Puyi, and Puyi found it very delicious. When he asked what it was made of, Rong'er showed him the pig lungs and intestines, and Puyi immediately vomited upon hearing that.
Grandpa Sun came to check on the new palace maids and how they were learning the rules. In reality, he was demanding money from the maids, and all of them paid him tributes except for Qing'er and Rong'er. When he approached Qing'er, he tried to flirt with her, but was stopped by Rong'er, who loudly confronted him about taking bribes. Angered, Grandpa Sun found a reason to assign Qing'er and Rong'er to work in the pastry kitchen, thinking they would have a difficult time there.
Li Qi went to the blacksmith's shop to investigate the weapon used by the assassin. The blacksmith said he had made a similar weapon for someone who would be coming to pick it up in a few days. Unbeknownst to Li Qi, the blacksmith was forced to say this.
Rong'er and Qing'er were assigned to the pastry kitchen, where Rong'er expected to learn how to make pastries, but instead they were given a lot of menial labor tasks.
When the palace maids came to collect their food rations, Rong'er discovered that the amount reported as 350 pounds was actually only 300 pounds, suspecting Grandpa Sun was embezzling the difference. Rong'er confronted him, but he falsely accused her of making a mistake and threatened to severely beat her. Li Qi intervened, saying the Emperor wished to avoid any private beatings of palace maids. However, Grandpa Sun still insisted on punishing Rong'er by having her do hard labor.
That night, Qing'er tried to borrow money from the other maids to bribe Grandpa Sun so he would stop troubling Rong'er. The other maids mocked Rong'er for not being able to borrow money herself. Rong'er then learned that Qing'er had already gone to bribe Grandpa Sun, who then dismissed the others and tried to take advantage of Qing'er, until Rong'er came to her rescue.
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