An Oriental Odyssey Episode 36 Recap
> An Oriental Odyssey Recap
To get close to Prince Ying, Ye Yuanan set out for Suoluo's palace. As palace security was strict, Ling Xi offered to help her enter safely and meet Prince Ying. Ye Yuanan, however, claimed her only desire was to kill Prince Ying. Ling Xi then bribed a palace steward to facilitate Ye Yuanan's entry under the identity of Nana, Lord Shiwag's daughter, as palace rules required daughters of nobles to serve as maids.
Lord Shiwag, sympathetic to Nana, agreed to the plan. Despite lacking talent, Ye Yuanan performed poorly during the maid selection. Ling Xi had pre-emptively arranged for her subpar embroidery to be swapped, winning the supervisor's approval. Her dancing was equally clumsy, but Ling Xi had also taught her a magic trick, which, combined with Ye Yuanan's quick wit, charmed the supervisor enough to include her in the list of maids, despite her lack of traditional talents.
Just as Ye Yuanan was successfully added to the candidate list, Zhenzhen arrived unexpectedly, startling Ye Yuanan. Although Zhenzhen found Ye Yuanan's face familiar, she didn't suspect her true identity, believing Nana merely resembled Ye Yuanan. Ye Yuanan successfully entered the palace as Nana, but the steward informed her that she had to start with basic tasks, and meeting Prince Ying would not be easy, much to Ye Yuanan's frustration.
After entering the palace as a new maid, Ye Yuanan noticed a brilliant light emanating from the King's chambers. Other palace maids explained that this was the light of the Nine Divine Beads, which Prince Ying had brought back from Tang to treat the ailing King. His Majesty, who had been on the verge of death, showed immediate improvement and was now recovering daily. The maids lauded Prince Ying as Suoluo's hero and predicted his rightful ascension to the throne.
However, Ye Yuanan inwardly scoffed, thinking a "thief who cheated others" hardly deserved the throne. Prince Ying himself was later seen with his father, who cautioned him not to be enchanted by the powerful beads. While in the palace, Ye Yuanan stumbled upon the wooden waist tag bearing the name "Mu Le," which she had given him. Just then, Prince Ying and Zhenzhen entered the room.
Prince Ying immediately realized his waist tag was missing and Zhenzhen offered to send people to search for it. To avoid detection, Ye Yuanan quickly threw the tag from her hiding spot. Prince Ying spotted it on the floor, seemingly relieved, and showed no suspicion of anyone else being in the room.
When Zhenzhen asked about the tag's significance, Prince Ying explained it was merely an object he brought from Tang, but he felt an inexplicable familiarity with the name "Mu Le." Ye Yuanan later sought out Ling Xi, recounting that Prince Ying couldn't recall that "Mu Le" was his own name on the tag she had given him.
Ling Xi concluded that Prince Ying must have lost his memory, making it impossible for him to remember Ye Yuanan or return the Divine Beads. Ye Yuanan lamented her initial plan to give Mu Le a "fierce beating" after retrieving the beads, admitting everything had now become complicated. Ling Xi suggested that if they could arrange a meeting between Ye Yuanan and Prince Ying, he might regain his memory.
Meanwhile, General Bokai, a supporter of the imprisoned Prince Heng, convened with Prince Heng's men. General Bokai expressed his disdain for Prince Ying, who had monopolized governing power. He revealed that Prince Ying had refused to use the Divine Beads to wage war on Champa, calling it a waste of a natural treasure.
Concluding that they could not stand idly by, General Bokai asserted that Prince Ying must be eliminated to utilize the Divine Beads, and tasked two assassins with the mission. Ling Xi's bribed contact, Ying Wa, arranged for Ye Yuanan to serve wine to Prince Ying and Empress Tuoyue in the royal garden, instructing her to perform well, as she had been "deliberately replaced" for this task.
As Ye Yuanan carried the wine, she accidentally tripped, spilling some wine onto a nearby mango. The mango immediately turned black, confirming her suspicion that the wine was poisoned. Realizing it was the eunuch who had been "examining" the wine, she rushed to confront him. She found him with a wasp tattoo on his hand. When she accused him of poisoning the wine, he initially denied it but confessed under threat.
He then attacked her, declaring he would rather fight than be humiliated. In the ensuing struggle, Ye Yuanan splashed the poisoned wine onto his face. He accidentally ingested some, succumbed to the poison, and died. To prevent exposure, Ye Yuanan threw his body into a nearby lake. Unaware of the first assassin's fate, General Bokai grew suspicious when "Wasp" failed to report back for two days, fearing he had been caught.
He dispatched another assassin to the palace to kill Prince Ying. While Ye Yuanan was assisting Ying Wa with preparing offerings, she learned about various exotic fruits, including a "durian," which she found particularly smelly. Ying Wa instructed her to deliver a fruit basket to Prince Ying. Ye Yuanan soon spotted the second assassin and fought with him, using a salak fruit and other items to knock the assailant unconscious.
Prince Ying, hearing the commotion, emerged from his chambers and saw Ye Yuanan next to the unconscious assassin. Prince Ying demanded to know who she was. Ye Yuanan, mistakenly believing he was merely pretending not to know her, lashed out at him, hitting and berating him for being "disobedient." Prince Ying, having no memory of her, was bewildered by her aggression and ordered Zhenzhen to arrest and interrogate her.
Fearing exposure, Ying Wa attempted to flee and was intercepted by Ling Xi. Ying Wa complained bitterly about Ye Yuanan being a troublemaker and having attempted to assassinate Prince Ying. Ling Xi, however, advised him against running, warning that if Ye Yuanan confessed, he would be apprehended regardless of where he went.
Knowing Zhenzhen's cruel methods, Ling Xi provided Ying Wa with "blue bat spit" to give to Ye Yuanan, claiming it was a "cure-all medicine" that would prevent her from confessing. In the dungeon, Zhenzhen interrogated Ye Yuanan, who maintained she was Nana and that she was merely protecting Prince Ying. Zhenzhen, convinced Ye Yuanan was a Tang spy, forced her to ingest an "ambrosia beetle," warning it would consume her internal organs if she didn't tell the truth.
Ye Yuanan fainted, surprising Zhenzhen, who remarked that no one had ever withstood her beetle's torture and wondered if Ye Yuanan had been telling the truth. After Zhenzhen left, Ye Yuanan opened her eyes, relieved that Ling Xi's medicine had worked. She realized she couldn't passively await her fate. Desperate, Ye Yuanan sent a guard to relay two words to Prince Ying: "Mu Le." Upon hearing the name, Prince Ying immediately went to the dungeon.
Ye Yuanan then experienced severe abdominal pain due to the "gu" poison's effects, prompting Prince Ying, feeling compassion, to carry her out of prison and back to the palace for treatment. Zhenzhen, who harbored feelings for Prince Ying, was disheartened to learn he had taken Ye Yuanan to the palace, but felt powerless to intervene. In the palace, Prince Ying informed Ye Yuanan that her stomach had been burned, and though the medicine was bitter, it would cure her.
He then pressed her for the truth, disregarding whatever she might have told Zhenzhen. He demanded to know her true identity, how she knew him, the meaning of "Mu Le" on the wooden tag, and what had transpired between them.
Ye Yuanan, in her mind, imagined herself flying into a rage, revealing her identity as Ye Yuanan, accusing him of being Mu Le, the name she gave him, and branding him a thief for stealing the Divine Beads, which led to her family's imprisonment. In her imagined fury, she kicked and choked him, while he imagined himself calling for guards to "tear this nut apart." However, Ye Yuanan's thoughts quickly returned to reality.
She reminded herself that if Prince Ying truly had no memory, he wouldn't believe her wild accusations. Recognizing he was now a prince, not her former horse slave, and that anger could lead to her death, she decided to be cautious. When Prince Ying pressed her again, she calmly claimed to be Nana, Lord Shiwag's daughter, and that "Mu Le" was her nickname, explaining her mother was from Tang.
She then concocted a romantic tale: they met at a Water Lantern Festival, she fell in love at first sight, they traveled together, and he promised to be with her always. As a token of her affection, she gave him the wooden tag before he left for Tang. She concluded her story by saying he had stolen her heart.
Though Prince Ying found her story "moving," he still couldn't recall any of the events she described and sensed she was lying. Nevertheless, acknowledging she had saved him, he allowed her to stay as his personal maid-in-waiting, intending to keep her close and observe her intentions. Ye Yuanan, believing him still easily fooled, was secretly amused by her success. Despite her success, Ye Yuanan's palace life proved challenging.
She was constantly bullied by other palace maids, forced to do heavy labor, and given only flower petals to eat. Unbeknownst to her, this treatment was orchestrated by Prince Ying, who aimed to push her and force her to reveal her true motives. Ye Yuanan endured the arduous tasks, feeling deeply wronged. While sadly washing clothes, a steward ordered her to smile, demanding gratitude and respect for her master.
