Episode Summary
In the capital, the Left and Right Chancellors engage in a tense political standoff. In the south, Yun Qing successfully turns official Zhao Xinmin against the corrupt Attendant Yu by revealing a bloody family secret, securing crucial evidence. Faced with a preservation crisis, Li Shande innovates by using bamboo tubes for the litchis after Attendant Yu's actions lead to the destruction of litchi trees and a violent clash with the native Dong people, leaving A-Tong injured. The litchi convoy, stained by the conflict, finally reaches Chang'an. At the celebratory banquet, instead of accepting praise, Li Shande publicly confronts the Right Chancellor, revealing the exorbitant financial and human cost of the mission and questioning the morality of the entire endeavor.
Spoiler Alert
"The Litchi Road" Episode 34 Recap: The Price of a Single Fruit
A Serpent's Garden
The political chess match in Chang'an intensifies. In a bold, passive-aggressive move, the Left Chancellor approaches his rival, the Right Chancellor, in the opulent Leyou Garden. He kneels in mock penance, "thanking" the Right Chancellor for exposing the corruption of his own man in Lingnan, Song Wuji. The gesture is pure political theatre, a test of the shifting balance of power. The Right Chancellor, unfazed, uses a metaphor of an "old peony tree" that still holds the emperor's favor, a sharp warning to the Left Chancellor not to overstep his bounds. The exchange is brief but dripping with venom, a clear sign of the dangerous power struggle consuming the court.
Blood Feud and Bamboo Solutions
While the chancellors trade veiled threats, multiple crises are converging in the south. In Chang'an, Attendant Yu uses the Noble Consort's upcoming birthday as a pretext to brutally extort money from the citizens, leaving a trail of misery. Determined to bring him down, Yun Qing summons Zhao Xinmin, a key official from Lingnan. She presents him with a pearl hairpin, a relic from a dark past. When Zhao feigns ignorance, Yun Qing reveals the horrifying truth: Attendant Yu murdered Zhao's parents for that very hairpin and then had the killer castrated and thrown into the sea. Shattered by the revelation, Zhao Xinmin finally breaks and hands over years of incriminating evidence against He Youguang, Attendant Yu's powerful ally. Yun Qing immediately dispatches Zheng Ping'an to ride for Chang'an with the proof, aiming to topple the entire corrupt enterprise.
Meanwhile, in the litchi orchards, Li Shande is frantic. The master craftsman Su Liang is missing, and with him, the secret of the double-walled urns needed to preserve the fruit. On the brink of failure, inspiration strikes from a humble meal of bamboo-tube rice. Li Shande realizes he can use sealed bamboo sections as a substitute. He rallies the men to begin a desperate, round-the-clock effort to harvest and prepare the bamboo.
Their work is violently interrupted by the arrival of Attendant Yu and his soldiers. To fulfill a last-minute additional order of thirty litchi clusters from the Right Chancellor, the soldiers begin hacking down entire trees. The destruction enrages the native Dong people, who rely on the orchards for their livelihood. A-Tong leads the charge to defend the trees but is brutally beaten by the soldiers. When Li Shande tries to intervene, Attendant Yu silences him with a chilling threat against his daughter, Xiu'er, back in Chang'an. Powerless, Li Shande can only watch, earning a furious accusation of cowardice from the wounded A-Tong.
A Bitter Departure
The orchard is a scene of devastation. Li Shande, watching his hard work and the lives of the Dong people ruined, drowns his sorrows in wine. Zheng Ping'an urges him to endure before setting off on his secret mission to the capital. The situation escalates further when Attendant Yu, obsessed with finding the missing pearl hairpin, massacres the entire staff of a local tavern in his search. This final atrocity cements Zhao Xinmin's resolve to see him destroyed.
As the litchi convoy prepares to leave, Li Shande attempts to say goodbye to A-Tong but is turned away; he is only met with the sight of the injured and resentful Dong people. On the day of departure, Su Liang is finally released. He returns to find his beloved orchard in ruins. Heartbroken and disillusioned, he declares his intention to leave Lingnan forever. The litchis, preserved in bamboo and stained by blood and tears, begin their long journey north.
The Reckoning in Chang'an
On the first day of the sixth month, the day of the Noble Consort's birthday, Li Shande and Attendant Yu's convoy finally arrives in Chang'an. Crowds line the streets to witness the miracle of fresh litchis from the south. The Right Chancellor is ecstatic and grants both men the honor of attending the celebratory banquet at Leyou Garden.
Amidst the dazzling splendor and celebration, Li Shande is a somber, brooding figure. The Right Chancellor, in a grand public gesture, promotes him to the official rank of "Litchi Envoy."This is Li Shande's moment. He steps forward and kneels before the entire court. He doesn't offer thanks, but a stunning indictment. He announces that the transport cost a staggering two million cash, and that the price of a single litchi is equivalent to ten years of a commoner's income.
Looking the Right Chancellor directly in the eye, he asks the question that hangs heavy in the air: "For the sake of litchis, you drain the people's livelihood. Which is more important: the state or the tribute?"
A dead silence falls over the magnificent hall. The triumphant smile on the Right Chancellor's face freezes into a mask of shock and fury.
