Episode Summary
The Shen family is released, but Shaoguang decides to follow her old script to win over a suspicious Lin Yan. A misunderstanding leads Lin Yan's subordinate to try and bury the family alive, but Shaoguang stops him. She then saves Lin Yan from city guards, leading to a tense confrontation and a truce. Shaoguang earns some of Lin Yan's trust with a sentimental dish, just as he receives a new mission connected to his family's past. The Shens decide to start selling crepes again to earn money.
Spoiler Alert
A Misunderstanding Gets Deadly
The Script is the Key
The Shen family is free, but they aren't exactly safe. Shen Shaoguang is sharp. She knows Lin Yan didn't buy their flimsy excuse for being in his house. She starts thinking about what to do next.
Then she has a wild realization. Everything happening to them feels strangely familiar. It’s almost exactly like a time-travel script she once wrote. In her story, the ancestor is cold and distant. He only warms up after the family cooks him a specific lamb dish on a full moon. After he eats it, he lets them go home.
So, Shaoguang comes up with a new plan. If reality is following her script, they should just stick to it. Lin Yan has been eating nothing but coarse grains. Food is the obvious way in. They'll use cooking to lower his suspicions and get closer to him.
Buried Alive?
Lin Yan has his own agenda. He dresses in all black to sneak into the Dali Temple. He needs to look at some old case files. On his way out, he runs straight into Shaoguang, who was just leaving the kitchen.
He immediately thinks she's a spy who will expose him. He grabs her and demands to know who she's working for. Of course, she thinks he's discovered their whole time-travel secret. She tries to explain that her family is poor, unconnected, and completely harmless.
Lin Yan hears something totally different. He thinks she's saying her spy network has abandoned her. He demands she take him to meet her boss.
After they separate, he decides the Shen family is a liability. They're useless to him now. He tells his subordinate, Liu Chang, to "deal with them." This is a terrible choice of words.
Liu Chang takes the order literally. He drugs the entire Shen family. He drags them out into the courtyard and starts digging a hole to bury them. Just as he's about to finish, Shaoguang wakes up. She sneaks up behind Liu Chang and knocks him out.
An Uneasy Truce
A Narrow Escape
Lin Yan's secret mission didn't go so well, either. Patrol guards spot him leaving the temple. He has to run for it. He manages to escape and makes it back to the government office where he's staying.
He walks in to find Shaoguang frantically trying to wake her family. The guards are right outside the gate. Shaoguang sees her chance. She tells Lin Yan she can get him out of this mess. But he has to remember that he owes her for saving his life.
She takes his cloak and hat. She walks to the gate and tells the guards she broke curfew to find food. The guards are still suspicious. So, Lin Yan steps forward. He claims Shaoguang is his guest and he was too lenient. He pays the fine, and the guards finally leave.
The Way to a Man's Heart
The moment they're gone, Shaoguang is furious. She pulls Lin Yan's own sword from its sheath and threatens him. She says her family might be clumsy, but they would never hurt anyone.
Lin Yan is completely baffled. He wakes up the unconscious Liu Chang and asks why he tried to kill the Shens. Liu Chang explains he was just following orders. They all finally realize it was one giant, almost-fatal misunderstanding.
Shaoguang tells Lin Yan she had prepared a huge meal for him. And in return, he suspected her and tried to have her family killed. For the first time, Lin Yan looks genuinely guilty. He and Liu Chang both apologize. After they all eat, Lin Yan even offers to do the dishes.
Shaoguang lets her brother, Shaojie, handle the cleanup. She takes Lin Yan to the courtyard. She gives him a bowl of rice tofu. This dish is a specialty from his hometown, Qingyang. He is visibly moved. He thinks only people from his region know the recipe. He has no idea that in her time, you can find any recipe online. She even made it sweet, just like his mother used to.
New Plans and Old Mysteries
A Princely Mission
The drama doesn't stop. Lin Yan receives a message by carrier pigeon. It's from the Prince of Zhao, the man who raised him. The Prince gives him a new mission. He must get close to Princess Fuhui and gather intelligence on the court.
This is unusual. The Prince of Zhao normally avoids court politics. The Princess's husband, Xiao Wulang, has been in a coma for years after a fall from a horse. Lin Yan remembers his father's old notes mentioned Xiao Wulang. He suspects this is all connected to his family's murder.
Back to Business
The Shen family is also busy scheming. The dad, Shen Jianshe, does a test run of the spring water lamb dish from Shaoguang's script. The plan is to cook it for Lin Yan on the night of the full moon.
The full moon is still a few weeks away, though. Shaoguang suggests they use the time to earn some money to take back to the future. The family agrees. The next day, they're going back into business selling their jianbing guozi.
