Episode Summary
Su Ehuang arrives in the city with her brother Su Zixin, but is relegated to a posthouse, suspecting Xiao Qiao's influence. Her famous peony hairpin sparks a trend, though Xiao Tao rejects a similar gift. Su Ehuang attempts to curry favor with Xu Furen and Wei Furen while subtly undermining Xiao Qiao. Her gift of grain is declined by Xu Furen, pending Wei Shao's approval, which he ultimately withholds, much to Xiao Qiao's relief and Su Ehuang's calculation. Xiao Qiao becomes jealous after learning Wei Shao met Su Ehuang. Su Ehuang, realizing Wei Shao is distancing himself for Xiao Qiao, plots to sabotage the Qiao family's wheat seeds. At Xu Furen's birthday banquet, Wei Dian accuses Xiao Qiao of providing cooked seeds. Wei Shao defends Xiao Qiao, proposing to weigh the seeds to find the culprit, with Su Ehuang pointing to Wei Yan as the one who initially weighed them.
Spoiler Alert
So, Su Ehuang, along with her brother Su Zixin, makes her grand entrance.Wei Liang and Wei Qu are there to roll out the welcome mat at the city gates.But instead of getting the VIP treatment at Wei Hou's mansion like she probably expected, Su Ehuang and her bro are shown to the local posthouse. Ouch. Su Ehuang immediately suspects this downgrade is Xiao Qiao’s doing. You can almost see the steam coming out of her ears.
This Su Ehuang has quite the reputation, especially for her signature peony flower hairpin. It’s become such a trend that women all over the city are sporting similar floral accessories. Wei Liang, bless his heart, even buys one for Xiao Tao.But Xiao Tao, who’s already not thrilled about Su Ehuang’s visit and definitely not keen on being her student, is so annoyed she literally stomps the hairpin under her foot.Talk about a statement!
The next day, Su Ehuang goes to see Xu Furen, who’s busy planning a birthday banquet with Xiao Qiao. Xiao Qiao, ever polite, tries to excuse herself when Su Ehuang arrives, but Xu Furen insists she stays.Right there in front of Su Ehuang, Xu Furen makes it clear how much she admires and likes Xiao Qiao. Su Ehuang, not one to miss a beat, then "accidentally" brings up Qiao Gui's fame, which clearly ruffles Xu Furen's feathers. Su Ehuang quickly apologizes, feigning a slip of the tongue – yeah, right. Wei Furen, on the other hand, is all smiles and warmth for Su Ehuang, even privately complaining to her about how Xiao Qiao is supposedly always working against her.
Su Ehuang came bearing gifts – specifically, grain for the upcoming birthday feast. However, Xu Furen doesn't accept it, wisely stating that grain isn't just any old gift and needs Wei Shao's approval.Wei Furen quickly chimes in, assuring everyone Wei Shao will definitely accept it and starts to ramble about Wei Shao and Su Ehuang's supposedly close past. Xu Furen, not having any of it, cuts her off and has Su Ehuang escorted out.
Truth be told, Xu Furen has her own reservations about Su Ehuang. The backstory is that Su Ehuang was originally supposed to marry into the Wei family. But after some drama in Xindu, she ended up marrying Chen Xiang of Bianzhou. Now she’s back, hinting that her marriage isn't going well and that’s why she hasn’t visited in years. Yet, she looks pretty well-off, well-fed, and has clearly put on some weight, so Xu Furen is understandably a bit suspicious.
Meanwhile, on another front, Xiao Qiao's father (or leader figure), Qiao Zhugong Qiao Yue, sends Zhang Pu with a delivery of wheat seeds. This puts Yanzhou in a bit of an awkward spot – if they accept Su Ehuang's grain, they'd lose face. Su Ehuang then scores a private meeting with Wei Shao. She tries to play the nostalgia card, talking about their past, and also expresses her "affection" for Xiao Qiao, suggesting that managing the Wei household must be tough for her. She also subtly hints that Xiao Qiao should stay out of political affairs, given the long-standing feud between the Qiao and Wei families. Su Ehuang insists the grain she brought isn't from Bianzhou but bought with her own money, so Wei Shao shouldn't have any reservations.But Wei Shao, in a move that probably surprised Su Ehuang (and relieved Xiao Qiao), doesn't accept the grain.Xiao Qiao herself had been wondering about Su Ehuang's motives and was worried about Yanzhou's reputation.
When Xiao Tao spills the tea to Xiao Qiao about Wei Shao meeting Su Ehuang, the green-eyed monster pays Xiao Qiao a visit.So, when Wei Shao pops into her room later that evening, Xiao Qiao gives him the cold shoulder.Wei Shao spots a flower hairpin on the table (the one Wei Liang bought for Xiao Tao) and, not knowing the backstory, assumes Xiao Qiao likes it. He even offers to take her shopping for one. Xiao Qiao, still salty, snaps that she’s hated those kinds of flashy things since she was a kid.Poor Wei Shao is left completely bewildered.
With the Qiao family's wheat seeds now in the city, Su Ehuang realizes Wei Shao rejecting her grain was his way of keeping distance, likely for Xiao Qiao's sake.So, she decides it's time to mess with the wheat seeds and activate her "hidden chess piece."
Wei Yan is put in charge of the Qiao family's wheat seeds.Su Ehuang, playing a double game, praises Xiao Qiao to Wei Shao, expressing how much she "cares" for her.But behind the scenes, she has Su Zixin contact Zheng Chuyu, who’s now married.Zheng Chuyu then goes crying to Wei Furen, claiming her husband beats her, and somehow, they both decide Xiao Qiao is to blame for Zheng Chuyu's miserable life.
Fast forward to Xu Furen's birthday banquet. Wei Dian dramatically announces that the Qiao family's wheat seeds are cooked, framing Xiao Qiao.The court officials are all up in arms, demanding Xiao Qiao be severely punished.But then, Wei Shao makes his entrance! He declares that he doesn't believe Xiao Qiao would do such a thing. He even lists all the ways she's helped him win over the people since they met. He says he might believe Xiao Qiao capable of killing a Wei family member (ouch, but okay), but never would she harm the common folk.
Wei Shao, ever the pragmatist, suggests weighing the wheat seeds. He wants to compare the current weight to the weight recorded when the seeds first entered the city. If the seeds were cooked, they'd naturally be lighter, and that would pinpoint where the tampering happened. Su Ehuang chimes in, agreeing with the plan and helpfully (or not so helpfully?) points out that Wei Yan was the one who handled the weighing when the seeds arrived.
