An Oriental Odyssey Episode 30 Recap
> An Oriental Odyssey Recap
Zhao Lanzhi offered a drink to Mu Le, thanking him for his crucial help in defeating State Preceptor Tianqiao and suggesting they let go of past grievances. However, Mu Le ignored him and declined, stating he didn't deserve it. Ye Yuanan intervened, admonishing Mu Le for his disrespect and urging him to make peace over a drink. She then apologized to Zhao Lanzhi for Mu Le's stubbornness, asking him not to take it to heart.
Ye Yuanan then inquired if Zhao Lanzhi truly knelt for three days and three nights for her, to which he responded by asking if she wouldn't do the same for him. He then directly asked if he was the person she cared for the most. When Ye Yuanan hesitated and asked why he was asking, Zhao Lanzhi asserted that Mu Le was the one she cared for most.
Ye Yuanan denied it, explaining that as Mu Le was a former servant of the Ye Mansion who had saved her multiple times, it was only natural for her to be kind to him. She then turned the question back, asking Zhao Lanzhi what her place was in his heart. Zhao Lanzhi, visibly nervous, took her hand and stammeringly conveyed his feelings for her. Feeling a bit awkward, Ye Yuanan pulled her hand away and asked him to leave first.
Mu Le, having overheard Ye Yuanan and Zhao Lanzhi's conversation, saw Zhao Lanzhi depart. Ye Yuanan then pondered the Empress's recent awards, deciding to give Mu Le his share. When she approached him, Mu Le expressed that he didn't care about money; he cared about her. He then embraced her, questioning why Zhao Lanzhi was allowed to hold her hand but he wasn't.
Ye Yuanan, shocked, pushed him away and retorted that she didn't owe him anything for bringing Tianshu back or saving her life, as he had done all those things willingly. She stated that while she treated him well because he was a member of the Ye family and kind to her, it didn't give him license to act presumptuously towards her. Mu Le apologized and left, clearly hurt.
Later, Nanny reminded Ye Yuanan that despite her frustration with Mu Le's ambitious and difficult nature, he was still of slave status and, as a wanted criminal from Huodu Mountain, faced severe limitations in life. Recognizing this, Ye Yuanan resolved to make proper arrangements for him, despite her personal feelings. Ming Hui awoke feeling wonderfully free, having not slept so soundly in a long time without the pressure of schemes or the Divine Beads.
Her family later discussed the numerous marriage proposals she had received from prominent families. Ming Hui, however, dismissed these suitors, noting that after the incident with Xianya, many had called her a "bane" and no one had dared to propose then. She correctly perceived these new proposals as attempts to curry favor now that her trusted status with the Empress was known.
While her brother urged her to find a caring husband, Ming Hui stated she already had someone in mind. Meanwhile, the Empress officially appointed Tianshu as the new State Preceptor of the Tang Empire, thanking him and urging him to swiftly decode the secrets of the Nine Divine Beads to help achieve world unification. Zhao Lanzhi was also honored with five years' official salary.
Ye Yuanan was promoted to Director of Registration, and Princess Minghui to Director of Communications, both within the General Palace Service, receiving fifth-rank official status and five years' salary. State Preceptor Tianshu declined the Empress's celebratory banquet, citing his deep focus on decoding the secrets of the Nine Divine Beads in the Futu Pagoda. The Empress, though displeased, allowed it, recognizing his critical mission for the empire's unification.
She then summoned Ye Yuanan and Princess Minghui, expressing her fondness for them and offering to grant them one unfulfilled wish each. Ye Yuanan, seizing the opportunity, requested that the Empress remove Mu Le's slave identity and pardon him for his past actions as a bandit from Huodu Mountain, acknowledging his loyalty and significant contributions to defeating State Preceptor Tianqiao. The Empress readily agreed to her request.
However, when it was Ming Hui's turn, she boldly declared her wish to have Zhao Lanzhi as her husband, stunning the Empress and visibly upsetting Ye Yuanan. The Empress, suspecting Ming Hui was merely competing with Ye Yuanan, dismissed Ye Yuanan to speak privately with Ming Hui.
She tried to dissuade Ming Hui, pointing out Zhao Lanzhi and Ye Yuanan's deep mutual affection and willingness to sacrifice their lives for each other, and questioned why Ming Hui would choose him when there were many other eligible men. Ming Hui, however, asserted that her desire for Zhao Lanzhi was genuine, admiring his upright and brave character, and insisted he was the only man she wanted.
The Empress, still hesitant about forcing a marriage without love, ultimately stated she would grant the marriage only if Zhao Lanzhi himself came to her and expressed his willingness to marry Ming Hui. Later, a distressed Ye Yuanan confronted Zhao Lanzhi, accusing him of having a "filthy, ambiguous relationship" and an "affair" with Princess Minghui, having learned of Ming Hui's request for a marriage decree.
Zhao Lanzhi vehemently denied her accusations, clarifying that before the truth of the Tianqiao case emerged, Minghui was an adversary to both of them. He promised to go to Prince Yu's Mansion the next day to clarify matters with Minghui and resolve all old scores. The following day, Zhao Lanzhi visited Minghui.
He started by attempting to apologize for any past wrongs on his and Ye Yuanan's part, asking Minghui to consider his request to retract her marriage proposal as a matter of maintaining proper professional boundaries. Minghui, however, was furious. She questioned his right to apologize for Ye Yuanan and accused him of seeing everything Ye Yuanan did as "cute" and "adorable."
She reminded him of specific instances where she had witnessed his subtle affections for Ye Yuanan, such as picking up discarded flowers and gently touching her hair. Minghui then definitively stated that Ye Yuanan was not joking, and she truly did ask the Empress for their marriage because she "must have what Ye Yuanan has" and wanted nothing but him. Zhao Lanzhi reiterated his refusal, calling her demand "ridiculous."
Minghui then reminded him of a past agreement made in prison, where to save Ye Yuanan from torture, Zhao Lanzhi had promised to grant Minghui "anything" she desired, a promise that resulted in Tianqiao breaking one of Minghui's fingers. She warned him that a debt must be repaid. Zhao Lanzhi acknowledged the debt, offering to give his life if needed, but adamantly refused to marry her.
Minghui then issued a chilling warning, comparing his debt to a gambler's, implying that if she let him go today, he would return in a few days, and his "interest may get doubled." A jubilant Ye Yuanan rushed to Mu Le with the Imperial edict, announcing that the Empress had granted her wish to remove his slave identity and pardon his past as a bandit, freeing him to pursue his own path.
Mu Le, however, was indifferent, throwing the edict aside and accusing Ye Yuanan of acting only to clear the way for her marriage to Zhao Lanzhi, stating he would uncover his own identity. Ye Yuanan, angered by his ingratitude, began to retrieve the discarded edict from the ground, but in her confusion, she mistakenly picked up a carrot, believing it to be the decree, and admonished Mu Le about the importance of enshrining it.
Mu Le, witnessing her strange behavior, grew worried. Her family quickly summoned a doctor, who, despite finding no significant illness from her pulse, attributed her sudden visual impairment to overwork and stress, prescribing medicine for stimulation and improved eyesight. However, her condition worsened, and she began to lose her sense of taste and struggle with other perceptions, such as mistaking her younger sister, Yuanning, for a child.
When Zhao Lanzhi arrived to visit, he asked if she had eaten anything unusual or met anyone specific. Unable to speak clearly, Ye Yuanan wrote down "Minghui" and then "fight." Zhao Lanzhi immediately recalled seeing Minghui's bleeding hand during their earlier confrontation at Prince Yu's Mansion and her cryptic warning about his "debt" doubling if he didn't comply, instantly realizing Minghui's involvement in Ye Yuanan's mysterious illness.
Ming Hui, meanwhile, played the zither, reveling in her triumph and confidently expecting Zhao Lanzhi to soon come to her. She recalled an earlier conversation with the former State Preceptor, where she had requested a potent poison. He had provided her with a colorless, tasteless, and undetectable substance, explaining that it wouldn't kill immediately but would gradually strip the victim of their five senses, forcing them to contemplate becoming a servant or ending up a corpse at her feet.
Driven by urgency and fury, Zhao Lanzhi stormed into Prince Yu's Mansion, brushing past guards and a hesitant Prince Yu, exclaiming that "someone is dying," and intent on confronting Ming Hui.
