Episode Summary
In the first episode, we meet Wu Zhen, a rebellious princess who is secretly the "Cat Duke," a powerful demon ruler of Chang'an's hidden Demon Market. After a Bat Demon escapes her grasp, she decides to lure a thieving demon out by throwing a lavish birthday party. This is where she crosses paths with Mei Zhuyu, a quiet and principled official from the largely defunct demon-hunting agency, the Xuanjian Division. While they both have secret identities and missions, their paths intertwine as Wu Zhen tries to solve the case of the thieving bat demon, Fu Xi, who is desperately searching for her lost partner, Fu Chao.
Spoiler Alert
"Moonlit Reunion" Episode 1 Recap: The Cat Duke and the Constable
Episode 1 of Moonlit Reunion begins in the sprawling Chang'an City, where a mysterious woman in a black cloak is chasing a Bat Demon across the rooftops. The chase is cut short when Huang Yi, a city guard commander, shows up, allowing the demon to escape. The woman quickly disappears over a wall and heads straight for the Ruyi Lounge.
Inside the lively lounge, a clever calico cat darts through the crowd and slips into a private room. In a flash, the cat transforms into the stunningly beautiful Princess Qinghe, whose real name is Wu Zhen. Now, Wu Zhen isn't your typical princess. Her father is a duke and her sister is the Empress, but she's a total rebel. She's over twenty, still single, and has a reputation for her wild lifestyle and a long list of nightly lovers. But here's the secret: many of those "lovers" are actually demons in disguise, and she is the "Cat Duke," a powerful figure who secretly hunts them down.
We learn a bit about the city's secret underworld. There's a place called the Demon Market, run by the Cat Duke and a Snake Duke, which keeps demons from causing chaos in the human world. They once helped establish an official demon-hunting agency, the Xuanjian Division, but it has since fallen into disgrace and is now basically useless.
Back at the lounge, Commander Huang Yi bursts in, looking for the woman in black. The lounge's manager, Hu Zhu, who is secretly a fox demon and the Cat Duke's second-in-command, smoothly sends him away. Upstairs, a young marquis named Gu Changhuai tries to propose to Wu Zhen, but she's not having it and literally kicks him over the balcony. This whole scene is witnessed by a man on the street, Mei Zhuyu.
After things calm down, Hu Zhu notices the faint smell of blood on Wu Zhen and realizes she's been fighting a demon. They figure the Bat Demon is connected to a string of recent robberies. Just then, Wu Zhen's maid, Ming Zhuang, arrives with gifts from the Empress, who is eager to marry her off. This gives Wu Zhen a brilliant idea: she'll throw a huge birthday party at the Ruyi Lounge. The plan is to use all the fancy jewelry her wealthy guests will be wearing as bait to lure the greedy thief demon out of hiding.
Meanwhile, we meet Mei Zhuyu. He works for the useless Xuanjian Division and wants access to its old, dusty files on demon cases. To get there, he intentionally annoys his boss, Xu Luan, and gets "demoted" to the records depository, just as he planned. No sooner has he arrived than his brother shows up and drags him to Wu Zhen's birthday party.
At the party, Mei Zhuyu ignores the festivities and reads his case files, which catches the eye of a young woman named Xie Yao. Her arrogant brother, Xie Loubai, starts mocking Mei Zhuyu. Just as a fight is about to break out, Wu Zhen steps in with a bow and arrow, pretending to defend Mei Zhuyu. It's all a setup. She uses the opportunity to confront a guest she recognizes as the Bat Demon from the other night, a demon named Fu Chao. He denies everything. Later, Mei Zhuyu hears a crash upstairs and sees Wu Zhen with her clothes in disarray. He misunderstands the situation, thinking she's with a lover, and leaves awkwardly.
The truth is, Wu Zhen had captured Fu Chao. She takes him to the Demon Market, where he explains everything. He and another demon, Fu Xi, were originally a pair of bat-patterned earrings. Fu Xi has been stealing gold to try and find him after they were separated. If they aren't reunited soon, she risks becoming a truly evil demon.
So, Wu Zhen hatches a new plan. She brings along her other deputy, a spirit called the Wordless Book. She goes to the Xuanjian Division to file a fake police report about stolen goods, which gets Mei Zhuyu assigned to her case. While she distracts him by asking him to grab her some snacks, the Wordless Book secretly searches the records for clues about Fu Xi. Mei Zhuyu seems to sense something is off, so Wu Zhen quickly grabs his sleeve to get his attention. As he helps her write her report, she finds herself intrigued by this serious, principled constable who chose a dead-end job just so he could fight for justice.
