Episode Summary
Liao Tingyan navigates workplace politics, fending off a nosy immortal and jealous colleagues, while forming a seemingly friendly bond with Ye Ruling, who has ulterior motives. Sima Jiao, suspicious of Liao Tingyan, tests her by having her care for a magical flower. A cultural misunderstanding about asking for a day off leads to Sima Jiao calling her shameless. The episode culminates with Ye Ruling attacking the black snake, believing it was harming a poison-afflicted Liao Tingyan, and stealing its inner core.
Spoiler Alert
So, after a super scary run-in with her boss, Sima Jiao, where he looked like he was about to breathe fire, Liao Tingyan makes a break for it. Just when she thinks she's safe, she bumps into that immortal lady Sima Jiao had literally swatted away a few days ago. For a second, Liao Tingyan thinks she's seeing a ghost, but the lady's annoyed glare is proof enough she's still alive.
The immortal lady tries to get some gossip on Sima Jiao, but Liao Tingyan, with her "keep the boss's secrets" work ethic, just gives a vague "everything's normal." Seeing she won't get anything useful, the lady leaves in a huff.
Liao Tingyan just wants to chill and get by, a mindset the other girls at Three Saints Mountain just don't get.They're all super jealous she was chosen to serve Sima Jiao and treat her like she won the lottery or something. It's a tough gig, but at least one girl, Ye Ruling, is actually nice to her.
One morning, Liao Tingyan needs to get water and runs into the mean girls again. They start giving her the usual cold shoulder, and when Ye Ruling steps in to defend her, they just start mocking both of them for coming from small-time sects.Usually, Liao Tingyan would just ignore it, but when they insult her home sect, she can't hold back and gives them a piece of her mind. She’s really grateful to Ye Ruling, but here's the twist: Ye Ruling is just pretending to be her friend. Her real goal is to get close to Liao Tingyan to find a way to get Sima Jiao's attention for herself.
Meanwhile, Sima Jiao is getting more and more suspicious of Liao Tingyan. He can't figure her out at all. To see what she's really up to, he tightens security and decides to fully open the powerful barrier in his inner sanctum. He also gives her a new, weirdly specific job: watering a priceless magic flower every day, hoping it will tempt any infiltrators to make a move.
For Liao Tingyan, it's just another task from the boss, so she does it without a second thought. The most interesting part for her is when the "demon flower" somehow tells her Sima Jiao's childhood nickname. She finds it hilarious that this terrifying, bloodthirsty guy has such a soft, dorky-sounding pet name.
After a few days of non-stop flower-watering, Liao Tingyan decides she's entitled to a weekend, just like any other worker. She tries to ask Sima Jiao for a "shuangxiu" (a two-day break). He completely misunderstands and thinks she's asking to sleep with him. He calls her "shameless" and storms off, leaving Liao Tingyan totally confused and bummed out, thinking her vacation request was denied.
Later that night, the Gu poison inside her acts up. The big black snake, who usually just pops in for a snack, finds her in agony. It coils around her to carry her away, but just then, Ye Ruling shows up. Thinking the snake is attacking Liao Tingyan, she fights it and, surprisingly, manages to snatch its inner core.
Sima Jiao notices that Liao Tingyan shows no desire to steal the power of the divine flower. As a reward, he gives her two of its petals. Liao Tingyan, however, is afraid that her own power is too weak to handle their energy, so she just carefully puts them away for safekeeping.
