Episode Summary
Shen Yanzhou and Xiu Ju confess their love and demand a divorce from Shen Yanqing. Though heartbroken, Yanqing ultimately agrees, revealing their marriage was never consummated. Refusing to accept this, Zhuang Hui drugs Xiu Ju, planning to force the consummation. However, the vengeful Liu Ruyan hijacks the scheme, drugging Shen Yanzhou as well and sending him to Xiu Ju's room, aiming to publicly humiliate Shen Yanqing.
Spoiler Alert
A Love Triangle's Desperate Gambit
In a dramatic turn of events, the forbidden love between Shen Yanzhou and Xiu Ju finally comes to a head, threatening to shatter the fragile peace of the Shen family.
Shen Yanzhou and Xiu Ju confront his older brother, Shen Yanqing, declaring their love and presenting him with divorce papers. A devastated Shen Yanqing confesses that this betrayal from his own family is the only thing that could ever truly break him. He argues that his marriage to Xiu Ju, though loveless, was meant to protect them from the world, which would only see their love as a moral outrage. Shen Yanzhou, hardened by a near-death experience, fires back that he is done living a lie and accuses his brother of moral blackmail.
The confrontations don't stop there. Xiu Ju faces the family matriarch, Zhuang Hui, who furiously denounces her love for Yanzhou as incestuous and rebellious. In a stunning retort, Xiu Ju reveals that Zhuang Hui knew all along that she loved Yanzhou, even before the marriage was arranged. Later, confiding in Shen Zhile, Xiu Ju admits that while she was touched by Shen Yanqing's kindness, she refuses to be trapped in the "giant cocoon" of the Shen family. She is determined to break free and live her own life.
Heartbroken, Shen Yanqing asks Xiu Ju one last time if she ever had any feelings for him. Her definitive "never" crushes him. Drowning his sorrows in alcohol, he finally relents and agrees to the divorce, admitting he was wrong to think he could ever replace Yanzhou in her heart. He makes one crucial admission: he and Xiu Ju never consummated their marriage, so they were never truly husband and wife.
However, Zhuang Hui refuses to let go. She secretly plots to have the couple consummate their marriage, drugging Xiu Ju's soup to make it happen. But another player has entered the game. The scheming Liu Ruyan, who has returned to watch the family drama unfold, decides to stir the pot. She alerts Shen Yanzhou to the plot, but her true intention is far more malicious. Liu Ruyan reveals she has also drugged Shen Yanzhou and arranged for him to be sent to Xiu Ju's room, while the real Shen Yanqing is diverted elsewhere. Her goal is simple: to orchestrate a scenario where Shen Yanqing is publicly and shamefully cuckolded.
