Episode Summary
On her first morning as Princess Consort, Qiao Manman tries to create distance from Fu Chengjin by implying they didn't share a bed, leading to her being sent back to her room without breakfast. Worried about the upcoming bridal return visit that would expose her, she feigns illness. An imperial physician, wishing to avoid palace drama, falsely confirms her serious illness, but Qiao Manman accidentally causes him to stab Fu Chengjin with an acupuncture needle. Later, she attempts to make Fu Chengjin sick by pouring cold water into his bath but ends up accidentally fracturing his neck. Meanwhile, the real Princess Aliya, suffering from amnesia after an accident, is found by Qiao Manman's brother, Ji Mo. Qiao Manman's uncle deceives Aliya into believing Ji Mo is her husband.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 3 Recap & Spoilers
Daybreak. On her first morning as a newlywed, Qiao Manman groggily awoke to find an old nanny (Lao Momo) staring intently at her, startling her upright. The Lao Momo claimed the Emperor had personally dispatched her to attend to the Princess Consort. Qiao Manman feigned agreement, but inwardly despaired; this was clearly a palace spy!
Custom dictated that the newlyweds share their first meal. Qiao Manman, however, was preoccupied. The customary bridal return visit to her family loomed in three days, and she dreaded that meeting Aliya's brother, Hursa, would blow her cover. Noticing her troubled expression, Fu Chengjin inquired. Qiao Manman deliberately insinuated that she had kicked off her covers the previous night, caught a chill, and thus had no appetite.
Fu Chengjin quickly saw through her ploy: Qiao Manman was trying to make the attending Lao Momo suspect they hadn't shared a bed or consummated the marriage. Seeing her so brazen on their very first day, Fu Chengjin decided on a strategic retreat. He declared that if she had no appetite, she needn't eat. And just like that, Qiao Manman was sent back to her room without breakfast, feeling utterly dejected.
Her maid, Chun Tao, frantically urged Qiao Manman to devise a plan. If their impersonation was discovered during the return visit, they could both face beheading. Panicked, Qiao Manman decided on a risky ploy: feigning illness. When Fu Chengjin heard Qiao Manman was unwell, he promptly summoned an imperial physician. Chun Tao blocked the doorway, desperately pressing Qiao Manman to think of something fast.
Qiao Manman planned to feign illness, but the imperial physician's intention to take her pulse sent shivers down her spine. Fortunately, the physician had his own agenda. Though he could tell from her pulse that she was faking, he wanted no part in the Prince's household conflicts. He immediately declared her genuinely ill, and seriously so, stating she would require several days of acupuncture to recover.
The sight of the physician’s long silver needles horrified Qiao Manman, and she instinctively shoved him. In the commotion, the needle ended up jabbing Fu Chengjin in the leg. Though in considerable pain, Fu Chengjin, committed to his charade of being disabled, gritted his teeth and endured it. He then had his attendant, Jiutian, wheel him back to his room.
Later that night, still agonizing over the looming return visit after her failed attempt to feign illness, Qiao Manman concocted a new scheme: make Fu Chengjin sick. Hearing he was bathing, she had Chun Tao distract Jiutian. Qiao Manman then snuck into his room with half a bucket of cold water, intending to pour it into his bath to give him a cold, thus preventing the visit. However, as she was about to tip the water in, she slipped. The bucket flew from her grasp and landed squarely on Fu Chengjin's neck, fracturing it.
Meanwhile, as days passed, the real Princess Aliya of the Xilin Kingdom had encountered danger during her escape. She struck her head on a rock and suffered amnesia. Qiao Manman's brother, Ji Mo, happened to pass by. Seeing Aliya in men's attire and injured, he mistook her for a fellow countryman in distress and immediately carried her back to his home.
With Aliya suffering from amnesia and Qiao Manman having deceitfully taken her place as the Princess Consort in the Prince's manor, Qiao Manman's uncle, wanting to prevent the truth from surfacing and causing further complications, decided to spin a web of lies for the amnesiac Aliya. He concocted a story that this was her home and Ji Mo was her husband. He claimed she had been perpetually angry lately, leading to discussions of divorce. In her despair, he alleged, she had attempted to drown herself in a river, hitting her head and thus losing her memory. Astonishingly, Aliya believed this fabricated story and began to regard Ji Mo as her husband.
