Episode Summary
Waking up six months in the past as the wealthy Song Yimeng, Song Xiaoyu decides to alter her tragic fate. While trying to learn about her original fiancé, Chu Guihong, she instead hears tales of the powerful seventh prince, Nan Heng, who strategically rescued Chu Guihong on the battlefield. Now back in the capital but under suspicion and house arrest, Nan Heng plots to marry Song Yimeng to secure a political alliance with her influential father. Forced to attend a royal banquet, Song Yimeng finds herself caught in escalating court drama when she publicly rejects the advances of another prince, Nan Rui, setting the stage for future conflicts.
Spoiler Alert
"A Dream Within a Dream" Episode 2 Recap: A Second Chance and a Palace Storm
Waking up with a splitting headache and muttering about "cracking the new process," Song Xiaoyu quickly realizes her world has been turned upside down—or rather, backward. She's no longer in the tragic timeline she knows but has been thrown six months into the past, still inhabiting the body of Song Yimeng, the eldest daughter of the powerful Song family. When she steps outside and sees no wedding procession, the reality hits: she has a second chance. For now, she decides to lean into the lavish lifestyle of a high-born lady, ordering her maids Zhixia and Yingqiu around with modern sensibilities (like demanding seedless grapes), all while secretly plotting how to change her grim destiny. Her first step is to gather intel on her ill-fated fiancé, Chu Guihong.
However, when she asks her maid Zhixia for information, she gets an earful about someone else entirely: the formidable seventh prince, Nan Heng.Zhixia launches into a tale of Nan Heng's strategic genius on the battlefield. In the battle for Youcheng, Nan Heng found his rival, Chu Guihong, captured by the enemy, General Fang. To secure his release, Nan Heng wagered the city itself on a game of chess with the general. Cocky and underestimating the prince, General Fang agreed. Nan Heng, claiming he wanted the satisfaction of killing Chu Guihong himself, masterfully won the game. He secured Chu Guihong's release, and his attendant, Fugui, hastily whisked the prisoner away before the enemy general could realize he'd been played.
Annoyed that the conversation has strayed so far from her intended target, Song Xiaoyu tries to steer Zhixia back to Chu Guihong. But it seems all roads lead to Nan Heng, as Zhixia can't help but praise his military feats, like leading the Xuanjia Army against 30,000 enemy soldiers. Resigning herself to Nan Heng’s "plot armor," Song Xiaoyu lets her continue. The story takes a darker turn as Zhixia recounts how Chu Guihong's military blunders led to the deaths of border soldiers, prompting a furious Nan Heng to order his execution. The sentence was only stopped by the timely arrival of the 18th prince, Nan Rui, and an imperial edict delivered by Song Yimeng's own father, Song Yude, who was in disguise. This revelation alarms Song Xiaoyu; her father's involvement with the princes suggests he's entangled in the dangerous struggle for the throne, a political mess she desperately wants her family to avoid.
The flashback connects directly to Nan Heng's current predicament. Upon returning to the capital, he is met not with a hero's welcome but with suspicion and rumors of treason. The Emperor, seemingly favoring the younger Nan Rui, places Nan Heng under a form of house arrest in the suburbs, forbidding him from entering the palace. Feeling wronged and politically isolated, Nan Heng realizes he needs to consolidate power. He learns that Song Yude, the head of the Six Ministries, holds significant influence. His new strategy: marry Song Yude's favored daughter, Song Yimeng. He commands his attendant to ensure she attends an upcoming banquet.
Forced by the inescapable pull of the "plot," Song Yimeng attends the banquet against her will. There, more court drama unfolds as Prince Nan Rui becomes infatuated with her sister, Song Yiting. He makes a grand, clumsy gesture with chrysanthemums, only to be publicly and humiliatingly rejected by Song Yimeng herself. This public confrontation only escalates the tensions between the factions, throwing another wrench into Song Xiaoyu's plans to rewrite her story. With a politically motivated marriage proposal from the dangerous Nan Heng looming and palace rivalries heating up, her fight to defy fate has just become infinitely more complicated.
