A Dream of Splendor Episode 35 Recap
> A Dream of Splendor Recap
Gu Qianfan wanted to explain his previous encounters and why he had not appeared sooner, but in Zhao Pan'er's view, Gu Qianfan had had the thought of breaking the engagement and had never thought of facing it together with her, but instead chose to escape. This cowardly behavior was perhaps even worse than Ouyang Xu's, which was truly disappointing. As soon as she finished speaking, Chi Yanei hurried over, grabbed Zhao Pan'er, turned, and left.
Gu Qianfan stood on the bridge looking at Zhao Pan'er's receding figure, ultimately still not mustering the courage. Chi Yanei knew Zhao Pan'er was sad, so he took her to see the lantern and fireworks display and eat special Tokyo delicacies. Zhao Pan'er sat high up, drank and played finger-guessing games with Chi Yanei. She won three times in a row, finally lessening some of her unhappiness.
Just as Chi Yanei was about to confess his feelings to Zhao Pan'er, who knew Zhao Pan'er directly exposed his thoughts, stating that she had grown up in places of entertainment since childhood and naturally had seen such scenes many times. The eunuch brought the Suhe Yujin Wine to the Emperor, but the Emperor, remembering that Empress Liu Wan was afraid of thunder and lightning, ordered the eunuch to send it to the Empress's palace.
Meanwhile, Chi Yanei's declaration of love was fruitless, and he was instead mocked by Zhao Pan'er, even losing the bet again. Zhao Pan'er bought puppets to cheer Chi Yanei up, and at the same time asked him about Gu Qianfan's affairs, only then learning the relationship between Gu Qianfan and Xiao Qinyan. Chi Yanei told the truth as it was. That year, Gu Shuniang and Xiao Qinyan married in another place, keeping it a secret from their families.
Not long after, Gu Shuniang took Gu Qianfan and entered the capital under the cover of night. Chi Yanei lived opposite the Gu family's residence, and thus heard Old Master Gu fly into a rage. From then on, Gu Shuniang's public identity was Gu Qianfan's aunt, but those in the know understood they were mother and son. Old Master Gu also refused to acknowledge Xiao Qinyan, stating that the Gu family would never accept such a despicable son-in-law.
After understanding the whole story, Zhao Pan'er also instructed Chi Yanei not to reveal it to others, to avoid causing unnecessary trouble. When Zhao Pan'er returned home and saw the yellow flowers outside the door, she knew Gu Qianfan had come alone. Forcing back her sorrow, she stepped on the yellow flowers, and then entered the house. Song Yinzhang accompanied Zhao Pan'er back to her room, found that the window was still open, so she helped close it.
Unexpectedly, she accidentally knocked over a teacup, causing the teacup and papers to fall to the ground. Zhao Pan'er didn't pay attention and told Song Yinzhang to go back first. But as she was also preparing to rest, she suddenly saw the banknotes left on the floor reflected in the bronze mirror, and then learned through Chen Lian that Gu Qianfan had sold his house to raise money.
--- A little beggar came to Yong'an Tower, openly snatching the pastries Chi Yanei had given Zhao Pan'er, which angered Chi Yanei so much that he ordered He Si to catch the person. The commotion attracted many guests to watch. Just as Chi Yanei was scolding, Sun Sanniang saw the little beggar's appearance and couldn't help but freeze in place. She never expected the little beggar to be Fu Zifang, and instantly rushed downstairs to hug him tightly.
No news came from the palace for a long time. Ouyang Xu felt it was very suspicious. Hearing that the imperial physician hadn't come today, he immediately realized something unexpected had happened. At this time, Lei Jing reported the investigation results to the Emperor, confirming that what Zhao Pan'er said was true, and felt that the Hat Demon case and the Night Banquet Scroll matter actually had another mastermind, deliberately stirring up court conflict.
After all, if the Emperor considered the Night Banquet Scroll to be real, Empress Liu Wan and the Crown Prince would surely be deposed. Not only would Xiao Qinyan be implicated, even a legitimate heir would need to be chosen from the imperial clan. If the Emperor considered the Night Banquet Scroll to be false, Qi Mu would certainly be guilty. The Empress would also likely suffer humiliation due to her reputation being tarnished, affecting her standing with the Emperor.
Even if Prince Sheng were to be made Crown Prince then, with both the Empress's faction and the pure faction suppressed, the regents the Emperor could choose in the future would likely all have to come from the imperial clan. The Emperor felt what he said was reasonable. And in fact, Lei Jing's scheme also succeeded because of this. The Empress finally rode out the storm and continued to sit firmly in the imperial harem.
Lei Jing went to see Xiao Qinyan alone, using the Night Banquet Scroll matter to show favor to him, expressing willingness to join forces with him. When Xiao Qinyan ascends to the position of Chancellor, he naturally could also get many benefits. Because the Empress had regained favor, Qi Mu and others successively lost the Emperor's trust.
Xiao Qinyan was overjoyed, believing that if this happened just a couple more times, it would be absolutely impossible for the pure faction to make a comeback. Gao Gu reprimanded Ouyang Xu for fabricating and deceiving, inventing the origin of the Night Banquet Scroll. Not only did he fail to bring down the Capital Security Office and the Empress's faction, he even implicated the pure faction.
Originally, Gao Gu wanted to use this opportunity to break off the engagement, but Ouyang Xu continued to threaten him with the undergarment, leaving him with no options. On the way back, Ouyang Xu discovered that undergarments embroidered with names were being sold everywhere on the streets, which meant he would soon lose his leverage over the Gao family. Left with no choice, he came to Gao Hui to dissolve the engagement, but was instead humiliated by Gao Hui.
