Episode Summary
This episode reveals that the Empress Dowager caused her own daughter's trauma, while Ling Cangcang discovers evidence linking her master to the Ghost King. This discovery was orchestrated by her other master, Ling Xuefeng, who is secretly her father. The Emperor, Xiao Huan, knows this truth but is bound by a promise to keep it secret, causing a major rift between him and Cangcang.
Spoiler Alert
The Dowager's Dirty Secret
We start with Ling Cangcang. Her jade pendant is still glowing. She knows the princess's poison was destroyed. So why is it still reacting? She rightly suspects there’s more poison hidden somewhere in the palace.
The show then cuts to the royal family’s ongoing drama. Empress Dowager Liu and her son, Xiao Qianqing, go to see Princess Xiao Ying. She is not doing well. The princess is just on the floor, drawing things. She only seems to recognize her brother. She doesn't even know her own mother. In a moment of clarity, she begs her brother to help her kill "those people." It’s obvious she is still trapped in the trauma of that fire.
The Empress Dowager is furious. Her daughter was finally showing signs of recovery. Now all that progress is gone. Xiao Qianqing has had enough of his mother's act. He finally confronts her. He knows she was the one who started the fire that destroyed his sister's mind.
She slaps him hard across the face. It’s a predictable, but still shocking, move. He tells her he doesn't care about the power she’s fighting for. He just wants his family to be safe and whole again. He flashes back to how his sister used to be. She was happy and carefree. It’s a genuinely sad moment.
A Master's Betrayal?
A Drunken Confession
Meanwhile, Ling Xuefeng is busy making political moves. He wants to plant his students in the royal court. His adopted son, Luo Xianxue, comes to him with news. Ling Cangcang is investigating her master Lilu’s death on her own. Ling Xuefeng realizes she never really let it go. He decides he needs to feed her a carefully crafted version of the truth to control the situation. This guy is so shady.
Luo Xianxue goes to see Cangcang. He brings some really good wine. She notes that her master never liked that particular kind. The guilt is eating her up. She feels like a failure because she still doesn't know who killed her master.
She gets drunk and starts seeing things. She mistakes Luo Xianxue for the Emperor, Xiao Huan. She starts yelling at "him," accusing him of hurting her master. But when it comes down to it, she can't bring herself to actually draw her weapon on him. For Luo Xianxue, this is devastating. He realizes his adopted sister is still in love with the Emperor. That has to sting.
The Ghost King's Mask
The next morning, Cangcang asks what she said while she was drunk. Luo Xianxue lies and says she didn't say anything. They then feel a cold draft and discover a hidden cellar.
They go inside. They find some of her master's old belongings. They also find a Ghost King mask. The Ghost King is a notorious killer. Cangcang is in complete denial. She refuses to believe her beloved master was a murderer. It just doesn't make any sense to her.
The Emperor's Game
A Court of Lies
Let’s check in on the other palace schemes. Xiao Qianqing is on edge. The Emperor, Xiao Huan, has postponed a major state ceremony. Qianqing knows this means he’s planning something. His friend, Zhong Lin, is also panicking. He’s been impersonating a dead official named Song Lanxi. If he gets caught, he’s finished.
Zhong Lin comes up with a wild plan. He fakes an attack on himself. He gets a head injury and wraps his head in tons of bandages. This way, no one can get a good look at his face. It's ridiculous, but it's also kind of brilliant. Xiao Qianqing helps cover for him in court. When the Emperor shows up unexpectedly, Zhong Lin has to hide.
Xiao Qianqing then has a tense conversation with the Emperor. He subtly reminds Xiao Huan that revealing the real Song Lanxi is dead would look bad for the Emperor, too. Xiao Huan sees this as a threat. He realizes Xiao Huan is trying to pressure him into forcing Ling Xuefeng out of hiding.
The Truth Hurts
Later, Xiao Huan tries to make peace with Ling Cangcang. He even brings her some soup he made. This gesture completely backfires. She immediately accuses him of planting the Ghost King mask in the cellar. She thinks he is trying to frame her dead master. They have a huge fight and leave on terrible terms.
Then, we get the real story. We learn through a flashback that Xiao Huan once told her master, Lilu, a world-shattering secret. Ling Cangcang's othermaster, Ling Xuefeng, is actually her biological father. He stole her when she was just a baby. On his deathbed, Lilu made Xiao Huan promise he would never tell Cangcang the truth. He wanted to protect her from the pain.
Xiao Huan has been carrying this massive secret this whole time. He kept his promise. But now, the manipulative Ling Xuefeng is using his silence to turn Cangcang against him.
