Episode Summary
In this episode, Jiang Taohua discovers clues linking Mu Wuyin to Shao Yuanhua while plotting to find his secret estate. Meng Zhenzhen successfully halts her cousin's adoption by vowing to become ruthless for her family's sake, and she proposes an alliance with Mu Wuyin. The King of Qi, pleased with Mu Wuyin's medicinal aid, summons Jiang Taohua, forcing Mu Wuyin to arrange an interception. The plan fails, and Jiang Taohua is abducted and left in a mass grave, where a distraught Shen Zaiye discovers what appears to be her body, leading to a dramatic cliffhanger.
Spoiler Alert
The Princess's Gambit: Episode 22 Spoilers
In the aftermath of her harrowing experiences, Jiang Taohua’s stay in Mu Wuyin's residence becomes a new battlefield of wits. A shocking discovery in his secret chamber—a bracelet belonging to Shao Yuanhua—fuels her suspicions about their connection, while her concern for the missing Qingtai grows with each passing day. To uncover more, Taohua cleverly feigns being a picky eater, a ruse that grants her access to the kitchen where she learns from a cook about Mu Wuyin's secret second estate.
Meanwhile, the Meng family is in turmoil. While Meng Zhenzhen is mourning her late brother, Meng Huaijin, she receives infuriating news. Her cousin, Meng Huairui, has gained the favor of the King of Qi with a brilliant policy paper. Consequently, her father, Meng Zhongyan, plans to formally adopt Huairui as his heir, a position that also includes the marriage arrangement with Li Hanyue. This is a bitter pill for Zhenzhen to swallow, as her own brother had to kneel for three days and nights to win their father's approval for that same betrothal. Knowing Huairui plagiarized the work and fearing he will bring ruin to their family, Zhenzhen is determined to intervene.
She confronts her father just as he is about to finalize the adoption. She passionately argues against it, proposing a bolder path: supporting the seemingly unambitious but deeply cunning Mu Wuyin. To prove she has the necessary ruthlessness for the political games ahead, Zhenzhen kneels and vows to kill anyone who stands in the Meng family's way. Impressed by her transformation, her father agrees to reconsider and entrusts her with command of a loyal assassin. Later, Zhenzhen warns a defiant Meng Huairui to confess his plagiarism or face death, a threat her father overhears with admiration.
Alliances begin to shift across the capital. While Shen Zaiye pines for Jiang Taohua, keeping her chambers, the Zhengchun Pavilion, waiting for her, he knows he cannot bring her back until an antidote for her poison is found. Meng Zhenzhen arranges a meeting with Mu Wuyin to propose their alliance, but he insists she best him in a game of wits first.
The situation escalates when the King of Qi, suffering from a sudden headache, finds immediate relief from medicine sent by Mu Wuyin. Greatly impressed, and hearing that a woman resembling Jiang Taohua is staying at Mu Wuyin's residence, the King summons her to the palace, curious about the woman who has captured the attention of the famously aloof prince. This royal command sends Mu Wuyin into a panic. He abandons his game with Meng Zhenzhen just as she is about to win and rushes to intercept Taohua. His plan is to substitute her with a look-alike at the city gates.
However, the plan goes awry. Jiang Taohua is knocked unconscious in her carriage and taken to a desolate mass burial ground. As news of her disappearance spreads, both Meng Zhenzhen—who begins to suspect Taohua's death was faked—and a frantic Shen Zaiye are set in motion. Shen Zaiye races to the burial ground, his heart pounding with dread. There, he spots a familiar peach blossom peeking from under a tattered cloth covering a body. With trembling hands, he reaches down to uncover the truth.
