Choice Husband Episode 4 Recap
> Choice Husband Recap
Shen Miao woke up next to Pei Yanzhen and, remembering the previous night, believed she had once again forced herself on him. Overwhelmed with regret, she imagined herself being put on trial by Magistrate Jia for seducing Official Pei, with even Lvying testifying against her. In her dream, Pei Yanzhen cried and accused her, but she adamantly declared she would not divorce him.
Upon truly waking, Shen Miao tried to clarify the situation, assuring Pei Yanzhen that "it was an accident" and a "misunderstanding." As they rode back to Pei Residence in their carriage, Shen Miao was about to speak to him, but they arrived before she could. At the Pei Residence, Zhan Yue confronted Pei Yanzhen, presenting him with contraceptive herbs he had prepared for Shen Miao, assuming it was part of Pei Yanzhen's strategy involving her.
Pei Yanzhen refused to take them. Zhan Yue pressed him, questioning if he genuinely cared for Shen Miao or merely used her as a pawn, warning that Shen Miao would be devastated if she ever discovered their marriage was entirely a scheme. Pei Yanzhen maintained that what happened last night was a misunderstanding. Later, Shen Miao found the bowl of herbs. She asked Pei Yanzhen what she should do if someone lied to and used her.
She stated she would either avoid them or simply ignore them if they were inseparable. After their conversation, as Shen Miao was about to drink the herbs, Pei Yanzhen knocked the bowl away, spilling its contents. Pei Yanzhen began to intentionally avoid Shen Miao after the Tianxiang Parlour incident. Shen Miao, noticing his distance, sought Lvying's advice on how to mend his "broken heart."
Lvying suggested a plan, which Shen Miao adopted, ordering several of the Shen family's rice shops in Lingzhou City to change their names to "Pei's." Meanwhile, at the County Yamen of Lingzhou City, Magistrate Jia tried to publicly humiliate Pei Yanzhen, accusing him of being late and of staying overnight in a brothel. Pei Yanzhen cleverly retorted, implying Magistrate Jia had set him up. When Magistrate Jia became increasingly aggressive, Shen Miao arrived and bravely defended her husband.
She reminded Magistrate Jia that Pei Yanzhen was the son-in-law of the powerful Shen family and warned him that her father could write to the Emperor about the matter. Magistrate Jia, seething with anger, backed down and left. Shen Miao, concerned about Pei Yanzhen, took him home. Despite his initial reluctance due to official duties, other officials encouraged him to go, joking about him being a "dignified kept man."
At home, Shen Miao declared that Pei Yanzhen needed to learn martial arts to protect himself. She wanted him to use a spear, but Pei Yanzhen preferred a sword. During their training, a spear rack accidentally fell. Pei Yanzhen quickly shielded Shen Miao, taking the brunt of the impact. Shen Miao, to her own surprise, used her spear to cut the other falling weapons.
When she questioned her newfound power, Pei Yanzhen quickly attributed it to her exceptional martial arts skills before excusing himself to return to the yamen. Unbeknownst to Magistrate Jia, Zhan Yue had been observing him. Magistrate Jia, after checking a hidden ledger in his study and assuring himself of its safety, placed it back. However, Zhan Yue later stole the ledger. The incriminating ledger was soon presented to the imperial court.
The Emperor was furious upon learning that Lingzhou City's national treasury was empty and that Magistrate Jia, along with the Ministry of Personnel, had been involved in widespread corruption. He ordered all the implicated officials to be thrown into prison. Pei Yanzhen was lauded for his role in exposing the corruption and for being the dynasty's top scholar (zhuangyuan), and many ministers advocated for his promotion.
Responding to both the people's wishes and the court's recommendations, the Emperor appointed Pei Yanzhen as the Magistrate of Lingzhou City. Meanwhile, the Empress Dowager, observing Pei Yanzhen's rapid ascent and his ties to the Shen family, instructed Jingde to pluck the tallest peony from her garden, symbolizing her intolerance for anyone who "outshines" others.
She then explicitly told the Emperor not to intervene in any matters concerning Lingzhou City, suggesting that Pei Yanzhen's ambitions were far greater than just wealth or a government position. Jingde expressed concern for Pei Yanzhen, but the Empress Dowager asserted that problems must be uprooted to prevent them from growing back. Ninth Princess overheard this conversation and worried for Pei Yanzhen.
Pei Yanzhen and Zhan Yue later observed the numerous shops in Lingzhou City bearing the Pei family name, confirming Shen Miao's grand gesture. Pei Yanzhen was touched. He stopped at a market stall to buy the finest donkey hide, intending to make a shadow puppet for Shen Miao. Zhan Yue, seeing this, teasingly suggested Pei Yanzhen should make one for him too, but Pei Yanzhen simply told him to buy his own.
Later, Shen Miao and her Madam were watching a play, whose plot strangely mirrored Shen Miao and Pei Yanzhen's recent experiences, depicting a rich young lady whose husband was abducted on their wedding day. Madam quickly stopped the performance, reprimanding the troupe for gossiping about the Shen and Pei families. Shortly after, the Pei Clan Leader, accompanied by other elders, arrived at the Pei Residence, furious. He attempted to strike Pei Yanzhen with his cane, but Pei Yanzhen blocked him.
The Clan Leader demanded that Pei Yanzhen divorce Shen Miao, claiming that the marriage was a disgrace to their family. He presented a convoluted lineage, asserting that Shen Miao was Pei Yanzhen's "very distant niece," making their union incestuous and a stain on the family's honor. Shen Miao found the elaborate explanation amusing, but Pei Yanzhen dismissed the elders' accusations as "meaningless and pedantic."
He declared that if the elders insisted on the divorce, he would willingly remove his name from the family genealogy to protect his marriage. News of this defiance reached the Empress Dowager. She suspected Pei Yanzhen had ulterior motives beyond merely leveraging the Shen family's wealth for his career.
She ordered Jingde to use Pei Yanzhen's upcoming birthday as an excuse to send gifts to the Pei Old Residence and discreetly investigate whether an infant was indeed born into the Pei family on the Dragon Boat Festival twenty years ago. Pei Yanzhen then asked Shen Miao to return to Shen's Residence for a few days, explaining that the Pei family elders would cause trouble, and he did not want her to be frightened.
Shen Miao was initially reluctant, arguing that she could not abandon him after he had offered to resign for her. However, Pei Yanzhen then presented her with the shadow puppet he had crafted himself, acknowledging its crude workmanship but calling it the "latest model." He affectionately told her, "If love between both sides can last for aye, why do they need to stay together night and day?"
He asked her to wait for him for a few days, and Shen Miao, deeply moved, agreed. Upon her return to Shen's Residence, her younger brother asked if she had been divorced, but Lvying quickly silenced him. Shen Miao's father inquired about her true feelings regarding the divorce, suggesting this was a good opportunity if she desired it. Shen Miao replied that Pei Yanzhen's sincere actions meant she could not abandon him at such a critical moment.
She then asked her father if her refusal to divorce would implicate Pei Yanzhen. Her father expressed concern that without the support of his clan, Pei Yanzhen's career advancement would become difficult.
