Episode Summary
Ling Cangcang is forced to marry Emperor Xiao Huan, the man who killed her master. Her attempts to resist or escape fail, as Xiao Huan uses her family and her sworn brother to control her. The wedding is a tense affair, and the morning after, he gives her a horrific gift to prove his power. Flashbacks show that they met a year earlier when he was in disguise as a commoner named Bai Chifan.
Spoiler Alert
A Wedding Invitation Written in Blood
An Emperor Who Won't Take No for an Answer
The show kicks off with a tense meeting. Ling Cangcang has called the emperor, Xiao Huan, to a private spot. She wants answers. She pulls a sword on him and asks why he killed her master.
Xiao Huan is completely unbothered. He tells his guards to back off. He says he had his reasons but won't explain them. As she lunges with the sword, he doesn't even flinch. He just tells her she isn't ruthless enough to actually do it. Then he drops the bomb. He tells her to go home and prepare for their wedding. He's making her the empress. He tries to touch her head, but she pulls away. The hatred is real.
A Desperate Escape
Cangcang goes straight to her father, Ling Xuefeng. She tells him there is no way she's marrying Xiao Huan. Her dad is not on her side. He reminds her that Xiao Huan is the emperor. Defying him is not an option. He helped put Xiao Huan on the throne, but that doesn't give them a free pass.
Cangcang is devastated. She says she would rather die than marry him. She doesn't know the whole story. We learn Xiao Huan killed her master because the man was just using her. Heartbroken, she finds her sworn brother, Luo Xianxue. They decide to run and find a way to get revenge together. They don't get far. Xiao Huan and his men stop them on the road.
Her father rushes to the scene. He begs the emperor to forgive his daughter. But Cangcang is defiant. She screams that she will never marry him. Xiao Huan just looks at her like she's a naive child. He says what he decides, happens. Period. Luo Xianxue grabs Cangcang's hand, ready for a fight to the death. Xiao Huan's eyes lock onto their joined hands. The jealousy is obvious. He warns Luo Xianxue that he already told him back in Nan Chu not to try anything stupid.
Luo Xianxue attacks anyway. He's no match for the emperor. Seeing no way out, Cangcang puts a sword to her own throat. That's when Xiao Huan plays his final card. He threatens her entire family, the whole Ling clan. Her father, seeing this, offers to give up his power and go into exile if the emperor will just let his daughter go. Seeing her old father begging on her behalf is too much for Cangcang. She finally breaks. She agrees to the marriage.
The Worst Wedding Night Ever
I Do (Not)
Xiao Huan has his man, Hong Qing, take Cangcang away. Once she's gone, her father's "worried dad" act vanishes. He and Xiao Huan have a cold exchange. Ling Xuefeng basically says, "You got what you wanted, so what's the problem?" This relationship is clearly more complicated than it looks.
The wedding happens. It's as awful as you'd expect. During the ceremony, Cangcang refuses to take Xiao Huan's hand. He threatens her under his breath, so she complies just to keep up appearances. Later, in their chambers, she refuses to drink the ceremonial wedding wine with him.
Xiao Huan gets angry. He's convinced she's in love with Luo Xianxue. He uses her sworn brother to threaten her again. He starts reminiscing about their past. He says she once promised him she would be his queen, but then she fell for someone else. He calls himself Bai Chifan. Cangcang just looks in the mirror and mutters that Bai Chifan never really existed.
A Truly Awful Gift
The next morning is even worse. Xiao Huan comes to see her. He tells her she can finally go home to visit her family. For a second, she relaxes. Then he gives her a "gift." It's a box containing one of Luo Xianxue's severed fingers!
She is horrified. He tells her he just "damaged" one of his fingers as a warning. Then he takes a hairpin, one he gave her a long time ago, and forcibly shoves it into her hair. This guy does not play around.
One Year Earlier: The Meet-Cute That Wasn't
The Emperor in Disguise
The episode flashes back to a year ago. Xiao Huan is a new emperor. He's already facing opposition in court from a group of ministers led by Cangcang's father, Ling Xuefeng.
Frustrated, Xiao Huan learns that Cangcang is in a place called Nan Chu. He decides to go find her himself. He seems confused why her powerful father would let her be in a potentially dangerous place. Then he sees she's protected by the very skilled Luo Xianxue and understands. So, Xiao Huan ditches his royal identity. He adopts the alias Bai Chifan to get close to her.
Meanwhile, the Empress Dowager is already plotting against him. She sends the Ninth Prince, Xiao Qianqing, to find Cangcang and to make sure Xiao Huan has an "accident" along the way. The Ninth Prince doesn't seem very interested in fighting his brother, though.
A Mission and a Prank
In another brief flashback, we see Cangcang with her master, the Ghost King. She tells him she doesn't care about being an empress. She just wants to be a wandering swordswoman.
Back in the main flashback timeline, Cangcang is on a mission. She needs to steal an official seal from the Ninth Prince, Xiao Qianqing. She has Luo Xianxue pose as a different prince to create a diversion. To get close to Xiao Qianqing, Cangcang pretends to be an acupuncturist. While "treating" him, she draws a goofy-looking bird on his back to buy herself more time. It's a small moment that shows her playful side, which has been completely crushed in the present day.
