Episode Summary
Li Shande is tasked with a seemingly impossible mission: transporting fresh lychees from the distant southern region of Lingnan to the capital, Chang'an, in just three days for the Imperial Consort's birthday. Failure means certain death, which would leave his young daughter, Xiu'er, orphaned and sold into slavery to cover his debts. Meanwhile, his brother-in-law, Zheng Ping'an, pursues a dangerous scheme of his own, murdering a man named Ma Guiyun to impersonate him on a secret mission to Lingnan. To cover his tracks, Zheng Ping'an murders another man, Pan Bao, a crime that Li Shande accidentally witnesses but is warned to ignore. After blackmailing his corrupt superiors for travel funds and tearfully entrusting his daughter to the care of an embroidery workshop, Li Shande begins his desperate, high-stakes journey south.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 2 Recap & Spoilers: The Lychee Run
A memory haunts Li Shande. He recalls the day his daughter, Xiu'er, turned one month old. He had just bought a grand house with a sweet osmanthus tree in the courtyard. He and his wife, Jinniang, stood there, filled with hope, imagining a beautiful future together.
Now, standing in the courtyard of that same old house, Li Shande is a man crushed by fate. The osmanthus tree is withered and dead, a bitter reflection of his own life since losing Jinniang. As sorrow overwhelms him, his eyes fall upon an official document. The words "Fresh Lychee" jolt him back to the horrifying present. This is his impossible mission, and he is running out of time.
Shaken into action, he rushes to Leyou Garden to seek help from the eunuch Yu Cheng'en. He needs to understand the specifics of the Emperor's request for fresh lychees. The meeting only confirms his worst fears. Yu Cheng'en makes it brutally clear: Li Shande is the unfortunate soul chosen for this task, and the lychees must travel from the distant southern region of Lingnan to the capital, Chang'an, in a mere three days—an impossible feat of logistics. There is no room for failure. If the lychees do not arrive on time, Li Shande will pay with his life.
Meanwhile, a separate, bloody plot unfolds. Li Shande's brother-in-law, Zheng Ping'an, has just killed a man named Ma Guiyun while gathering intelligence in Pingkang Fang. When his associate, Lu Huan, confronts him, Zheng Ping'an reveals a daring plan: he will impersonate the dead Ma Guiyun and travel to Lingnan to deliver a military fish tally to a certain He Youguang. There's a problem, however. A man named Pan Bao, who is currently in the capital to deliver rare trees to the Emperor, has seen the real Ma Guiyun's face. He must be eliminated.
Using a pass for the Imperial Gardens Department procured by Lu Huan, Zheng Ping'an gains access to Leyou Garden and sets an ambush for Pan Bao.
The two desperate missions collide at the garden. As Li Shande is absorbing the grim reality of his situation from Yu Cheng'en, he stumbles upon the ambush. Zheng Ping'an intercepts Pan Bao, using a token taken from Ma Guiyun's body to claim the man is dead. He pulls Pan Bao aside and shoves him into a nearby river. Li Shande, acting on instinct, rushes over and pulls the drowning man from the water. But his heroism is futile. Zheng Ping'an's men immediately grab Pan Bao and force him back under the surface until he is dead, making it look like a drunken accident. A horrified Li Shande can only watch, and Eunuch Yu Cheng'en coldly advises him to forget what he saw and mind his own business.
Dejected, Li Shande heads home. He is met by his old colleagues, Han Shisi and Zimei, who have come for a drink. The weight of his task finally breaks him, and he dissolves into tears. When they learn of his mission, they are outraged on his behalf. The situation is dire; Li Shande recently borrowed 150 guan to buy the house, and if he dies, his debt will force his beloved Xiu'er into slavery. Han Shisi examines the document closely and makes a crucial discovery: the deadline, June 1st, is Imperial Consort Yang's birthday. Realizing there is no way out, he advises his friend to at least entrust Xiu'er to someone reliable.
That night, Li Shande tells Xiu'er they will move into the new house after he returns from his trip, and that she will stay with her uncle, Zheng Ping'an, for now. But his plan is thwarted. Zheng Ping'an is also preparing for a perilous journey. He gives all his money to his servant, Gou'er, and frees him from servitude, urging him to flee. Gou'er, fiercely loyal, refuses to abandon his master and swears an oath of allegiance in blood. Knowing the danger ahead, Zheng Ping'an reluctantly allows him to stay. With nowhere else to turn, Li Shande takes Xiu'er to a local embroidery workshop for safekeeping. As he leaves, he writes a last will, leaving the old house and all his possessions to his daughter.
His troubles are not over. Men sent by a moneylender named Seventeenth Lady accost him, demanding the deed to his house as collateral. When they threaten Xiu'er, Li Shande leverages the only power he has, warning them that he is on an urgent mission for the Emperor. The threat works, and they flee.
Desperate for funds for his journey, Li Shande confronts his superior, Bureau Chief Liu. When Liu refuses, Li Shande, now a man with nothing to lose, snaps. He threatens to expose the corruption of Liu and his colleagues, listing their various crimes of graft and embezzlement. Stunned into submission, they give him the money.
Li Shande takes the money to Seventeenth Lady, who accepts the payment but gives him a final warning: be back by June 1st, or she will still claim his daughter as a slave.
The time for farewells arrives. In a heart-wrenching scene, Li Shande says goodbye to Xiu'er, who gives him a handkerchief she embroidered herself. With tears in his eyes, he leaves her. Han Shisi and Zimei are there to see him off, and the friends share a somber goodbye.
Then, Li Shande is on the road. He rides for Lingnan with frantic urgency, pushing his horse to its limits day and night, braving the elements. The horse eventually collapses and dies from exhaustion. Undeterred, Li Shande finds a new mount and continues his relentless, desperate journey south.
