And the Winner Is Love Episode 15 Recap
> And the Winner Is Love Recap
Shangguan Tou arrived as the Abbot spoke with Shangguan Xingzhou about the raging Flu epidemic. Volunteering to alleviate his father’s burdens and personally seek a cure in Peace County, Shangguan Tou declared his intent to inspect the affected areas, find methods to slow the disease, and discover a cure as soon as possible. Pleased by his son’s initiative, Shangguan Xingzhou readily agreed. Meanwhile, Zhong Xuezhi, accompanied by Zhu Sha and Liu Li, journeyed through the affected regions.
They visited a desolate village where a woman, fearing contagion, warned them that all the residents of a nearby house had perished from the Flu. Upon reaching Peace County, Zhong Xuezhi encountered a scene where villagers, desperate to stop the epidemic, sought help from a shaman who blamed the disaster on divine wrath and advocated human sacrifice. Zhong Xuezhi bravely intervened, urging the crowd to reject such superstitious practices.
She emphasized that the Flu was a disease requiring medical treatment, not demonic expulsion, and, despite the doctors themselves falling ill, implored everyone to trust in their efforts. Zhong Xuezhi promised that the Hall of Flames would find a cure, asking everyone to remain in their homes and avoid contact to prevent further spread until a solution was found.
Later, as Zhong Xuezhi walked through the market, a rabbit flower lamp caught her eye, stirring memories of a Qiqiao Festival when Shangguan Tou had given her a similar one. Recalling how he had expressed that such lamps could carry wishes and messages to loved ones, she felt a pang of longing. She decided to buy the lamp but had to leave to get more money.
Moments after she departed, Shangguan Tou, who had earlier been informed by his subordinate about the magistrate's decision to centralize patients in a suburban medical hall, passed the same stall. Seeing the rabbit lamp, he, too, was overcome with nostalgia, remembering the same Qiqiao Festival and how he had bought a rabbit lamp for Zhong Xuezhi, knowing she was born in the year of the rabbit.
He bought the lamp, but then a little girl, Ying, approached, wanting the lamp to wish for her sick mother’s recovery. Tou, unwilling to shatter her innocent hope, gifted the lamp to her. When Zhong Xuezhi returned with Zhu Sha and Liu Li, the vendor informed her the lamp had been sold.
Disappointed, she soon spotted Ying playing with the very lamp, who told her a kind "brother" had given it to her and that her mother was in the medical hall. Following Ying's directions, Zhong Xuezhi, immune to poisons due to the Poison Immune Pill, entered the medical hall alone, instructing Zhu Sha and Liu Li to wait outside due to the highly contagious nature of the Flu. Inside, she was confronted with a grim scene of death and suffering.
She offered help to a patient and, to her surprise, found Shangguan Tou already there, quietly assisting the doctor. Though a year had passed since their last meeting, both were deeply emotional but chose to set aside their personal feelings, focusing instead on finding a cure.
Zhong Xuezhi spoke with the doctor, who confirmed the Flu was incurable and that the patients were merely abandoned there to prevent further spread, surviving only on occasional alms of herbs and food left outside. The doctor also revealed that the source of the epidemic was Qingxi Village. Acting on this new lead, Zhong Xuezhi dispatched Zhu Sha and Liu Li to Qingxi Village for investigation, while she remained in the medical hall to care for the sick.
Shangguan Tou informed her that he had already sent for Herbal Medicine Master Yin Ci from Moon Valley, who was experienced with epidemics. With medical supplies dwindling, Zhong Xuezhi volunteered to buy more, only to find exorbitant prices at local pharmacies. Seeing her distress, Shangguan Tou took the prescription and, using his influence and resources, procured a substantial amount of medicine. As they moved the supplies, Zhong Xuezhi noticed Shangguan Tou seemed unwell.
Later, she witnessed him use his inner strength to stabilize a patient who was trying to leave to see her daughter, Ying. Zhong Xuezhi confronted him, asking why he would risk his health for her and the patients, always making sacrifices that left her feeling indebted. Shangguan Tou simply replied that if she felt she owed him, she could repay him slowly.
That evening, sitting together, Zhong Xuezhi reflected on their long acquaintance, noting how she had continuously accrued debts to him. She recalled a past promise to give him something most important to her, a promise he never claimed. Shangguan Tou admitted he had never intended to ask for anything, using the promise as a test to see if she was worthy of his protection. He assured her she owed him nothing.
Zhong Xuezhi confessed to having imagined many scenarios for their reunion, some years later, perhaps even with him married, but never in the midst of an epidemic. Shangguan Tou, however, found their unusual reunion in the epidemic-ridden Peace County to be the best possible arrangement. Meanwhile, Zhu Sha and Liu Li arrived in Qingxi Village, a ghost town filled with graves. The eerie silence, even lacking the calls of birds, suggested the environment was too toxic for any living creature.
They discovered a dead chicken and a centipede, deducing that the centipede had killed the chicken and was likely the origin of the Flu. They collected the centipede and quickly left the hazardous village. Unbeknownst to them, a cult leader was deliberately cultivating centipedes to spread the Flu, celebrating its rampant spread, particularly to the Sword Manor, and plotting to infect the Shangqing Sect and Emei Sect.
However, Feng She, tasked with spreading the disease to Emei Sect, secretly crushed the centipedes, unwilling to commit such heinous acts. Separately, Yuwen Muyuan, returning from his mission, encountered two ill refugees. Realizing he might be infected, he immediately ordered the Hall of Flames disciples to fumigate all areas he had visited and prohibited anyone from approaching him. At the Sword Manor, Lin Zongxing sent Xia Qingmei and Lin Fengzi to Peace County to investigate the epidemic.
Upon arrival, Fengzi, hearing that Shangguan Tou was at the medical hall, eagerly sought him out. Shangguan Tou, however, reacted coldly, pulling her aside to firmly reiterate that he had never reciprocated her feelings, calling her affection unrequited and stating that they would always remain strangers. Deeply hurt, Fengzi later met with Xia Qingmei, who had learned from locals about the Shark Sect’s Green Spring Elixir—a secret medicine capable of curing the Flu, but jealously guarded for their own disciples.
Distraught by Shangguan Tou’s harsh words, Fengzi tearfully expressed her decision to forget him and return home. Xia Qingmei comforted her, and they departed for Sword Manor, where Xia Qingmei reported his findings about the elusive Green Spring Elixir to Lin Zongxing. Back in her room, Fengzi remained heartbroken, Shangguan Tou's words echoing painfully in her mind.
