Episode Summary
Jin An, with fragmented memories returning, decides to release Li Shuang. She performs a final dance for his birthday before they say a painful goodbye, where she rejects his hairpin and his offer for her to stay. She admits she knows his memory has returned but believes their duties make a future impossible. After burying his soldiers and renouncing his title as a warmonger, Jin An seeks peace. Li Shuang returns home only to face punishment from her own court.
Spoiler Alert
Loose Ends and Goodbyes
This episode felt like a long, slow punch to the gut. Just when you think things might look up, they get way more complicated.
A Reckoning in the Dungeon
Li Shuang finally confronts Jin An.She asks him why he admitted to being Xuan Yi Ke.He doesn't have a straight answer. His memory is still a mess of flashbacks. He knows he was Xuan Yi Ke, and he remembers loving a woman back in Tai Jin.It’s all there, just in pieces.
Then we get an update on the Empress Dowager. She’s not dead. She’s locked away in a dungeon, completely out of her mind. She and Duan Aoze drank something called "Bingti wine," which means he is unable to kill her. So, she's left to rot.
Li Shuang goes to visit her. The conversation is brutal. Li Shuang basically tells the Empress Dowager that everyone she cares about will live happily in the sun while she is forgotten. She twists the knife, too. She points out that while Jin An may have forgotten her, they truly loved each other once. The Empress Dowager, on the other hand, was never loved by Duan Aoze.
A Birthday and a Final Dance
The court is screaming for Li Shuang's execution. But Duan Aoze sees how Jin An feels about her. He wants peace, and more importantly, he wants his brother to be happy. He even gives Jin An a birthday present, which was a nice touch.
Jin An finds Li Shuang and they share a drink. He tells her he’s decided to release her along with the other prisoners of war. A message has already been sent to her army. Li Shuang realizes it's his actual birthday, not the one they agreed to share. That memory clearly stings.
So, she changes her clothes and performs a dance for him as a birthday gift. As she dances, all the memories of their past come flooding back for Jin An. He just sits there, watching her. It’s heavy.
After the fireworks, she pulls away from his embrace. She says she wants to take her brother, Li Wei, home. Jin An asks if they will ever see each other again. She doesn't answer. She just tells him to get some rest.
The Point of No Return
Later, Jin An sees her off. He packed her food for the long journey. He makes one last attempt. He asks if she would consider staying in Dayao, saying he would find a place for her.
She shuts him down completely. She says the past should be left in the past and that the Jin An she knew is dead. Then, he tries to return her hairpin. She refuses to take it. She tells him their story is over, so the hairpin is meaningless now.
Lu Xin tries to tell Li Shuang that Jin An has his memory back, but Li Shuang cuts her off. She says she already knows. But with their identities and their duties, it doesn't change anything. Inside the food box from Jin An are pear blossom cakes he made himself. Seeing them, Li Shuang finally breaks down and cries, saying goodbye to what they had.
Meanwhile, Jin An holds a funeral for the fallen soldiers. He declares that the warmongering King of Annan is no more and wishes for peace.
Li Shuang doesn't exactly get a warm welcome when she returns home with Li Wei's body. The court officials immediately demand that she be severely punished.
