Stand By Me Episode 22 Recap
> Stand By Me Recap
Yan Zhi reflected on the Right Chancellor's peculiar, cunning, and insidious nature. Although she found his words untrustworthy, they seemed reasonable. She mused that if the Right Chancellor, a close friend of her grandfather, could command Han Yue and manipulate the Zheng family descendants to orchestrate these events, he might be feigning obedience to Chou Ziliang while harboring ulterior motives. She pondered what to do if he turned out to be an ally instead of an enemy.
Meanwhile, Cheng Ruoyu expressed deep remorse to Qi Yan for his injury, apologizing for her delayed arrival. She insisted on remaining by his side, fearing further assassination attempts. However, Qi Yan, already prepared for the dangers ahead, told her it was unnecessary and that he would not have been injured had she not been there. He then stated that it was getting late and he needed to attend court, dismissing her from accompanying him.
Later, Cheng Ruoyu untied Xia Ziyuan, who defiantly told Ruoyu to kill her rather than try to change her mind. Ruoyu revealed the truth about the Chaolu Rebellion, explaining that Qi Yan had rescued Han Yue from a mass grave, where he was barely alive, and arranged for Han Ding to take him to Baizhang Temple. Xia Ziyuan refused to believe her, clinging to her memory of Qi Yan seizing the Han family's estate.
Ruoyu countered that Qi Yan, as a powerless prince at the time, could only obey Chou Ziliang’s orders. She argued that if Qi Yan was truly ruthless and power-hungry for the throne, Chou Ziliang would not be trying to force his abdication now. Xia Ziyuan dismissed this, claiming Qi Yan merely wanted to assert his independence and declared she would never forgive him.
Cheng Ruoyu then accused her of being a coward, choosing to assassinate the relatively weak Qi Yan rather than confront the powerful Chou Ziliang, merely to assuage her grief for her family. When Ruoyu noticed old wounds on Xia Ziyuan, the latter confessed that the eunuch Wang Lin had surrounded Xingzi Forest, killed 32 Zhenwu Army soldiers, and tortured her before she managed to steal a key and escape.
She vowed to return the humiliation tenfold and, irrationally, blamed Qi Yan for her suffering. Finding Xia Ziyuan utterly unreasonable, Cheng Ruoyu gave up trying to reason with her. Elsewhere, Qi Yan discussed the precarious situation with Qi Chen, urging him to leave the palace as the Lucong crisis might escalate after Princess Ninghe's death. Qi Chen, concerned, asked what would become of Qi Yan if everyone left.
Qi Yan solemnly replied that this was his personal life-and-death game, and he intended to hold on until the very last moment. As Qi Chen left, he saw Cheng Ruoyu talking with Li Zening and silently withdrew. Li Zening provocatively questioned Ruoyu about her father, Li Deyun's, meeting with Qi Yan. An attendant of Yan Zhi observed the exchange, noting that His Majesty's two women were confronting each other.
Yan Zhi deduced that the court was looking for someone reliable, skilled in martial arts, and fearless to go to Lucong, believing Cheng Ruoyu to be that person. Meanwhile, Li Zening's attendant mentioned that the Grand Empress Dowager had given Ruoyu the Peach Blossom Bracelet, to which Li Zening scoffed, saying Ruoyu did not deserve such fortune and that only she was worthy of His Majesty.
As Yan Zhi and Yan Xiu passed by, an attendant identified Yan Zhi as Chou Ziliang's adopted daughter, earning a dismissive glance from Li Zening. Yan Zhi and Yan Xiu discussed the situation in Lucong, noting that Chen Yintai was consolidating power, and Princess Ninghe's former allies were losing support, with some already defecting to Chen Yintai.
Yan Zhi suspected a pre-arranged plot involving the murder of Princess Ninghe to fuel their ambitions, emphasizing the need for a carefully chosen envoy to assess the situation and control Chen Yintai's actions. Qi Yan and Li Deyun were discussing candidates for the Lucong mission when Cheng Ruoyu burst in, volunteering to lead the effort to quell the rebellion. Qi Yan immediately refused, but Ruoyu appealed to Li Deyun for support.
Li Deyun, however, deferred the decision to Qi Yan and then excused himself to attend to state affairs. Undeterred, Ruoyu insisted on helping Qi Yan, despite his concerns for her safety. Qi Yan then informed her that he had other plans for her, as Uncle Wang (likely Li Deyun, given his departure) had specifically requested her to accompany him back to his secluded residence for safety.
Ruoyu, however, declared she had her own way and was not afraid, wishing to help Qi Yan with his plan. Cheng Ruoyu decided to take Xia Ziyuan with her to Lucong. Yan Zhi visited Ruoyu, initially to inquire about the Peach Blossom Bracelet. Ruoyu stated she had already returned it, to which Yan Zhi commented that it was wise to return things that don't match.
Ruoyu retorted, questioning if Yan Zhi was a better match and reminding her of Qi Yan's repeated rejections. Xia Ziyuan, upon hearing Yan Zhi, erupted in curses, calling her a treacherous servant and attempting to attack her. Yan Zhi quickly knocked Xia Ziyuan unconscious and suggested Ruoyu kill her, deeming her a troublesome threat. Ruoyu firmly refused, stating she doesn't kill people.
Yan Zhi then, having learned of Ruoyu’s intention to go to Lucong, offered her assistance in navigating the many palace informers. Seeing that they shared the same objective, Yan Zhi secretly escorted Cheng Ruoyu and Xia Ziyuan out of the palace in a carriage, where guards mistakenly identified Yan Zhi as the Chessmaster and saluted her. In the carriage, Ruoyu asked for advice on investigating Chen Yintai, assuming her imperial envoy status would grant her easy access.
Yan Zhi sarcastically told Ruoyu to rely on playing it by ear, and then dropped them off safely outside the city, providing them with a good horse to evade the Xiangqi Camp's pursuit, though she refused to escort them further for fear of drawing Chou Ziliang's attention to herself. Yan Xiu, observing Yan Zhi's actions, questioned why she was helping Ruoyu, suggesting she was trying to win favor. Yan Zhi replied that she would claim she was coerced.
To make her story more convincing, Yan Xiu drew his sword and lightly injured Yan Zhi’s arm. Yan Zhi then returned to Chou Ziliang, fabricating a story that Cheng Ruoyu had coerced her out of the palace and stolen her horse, and asked for soldiers to pursue Ruoyu. She further misled Chou Ziliang by claiming to have heard Ruoyu say she was going to Zhaoyi to meet Liu Congjian's nephew, Liu Zhi.
Chou Ziliang, initially skeptical, grew furious when Yan Xiu presented an intercepted memorial confirming that Liu Congjian had died and Liu Zhi was secretly petitioning the emperor to inherit the Jiedushi position. Enraged by Liu Zhi's audacity and the delayed intelligence, Chou Ziliang immediately redirected his resources to deal with Liu Zhi.
He ordered his Right Attendant to eliminate Liu Zhi and capture Cheng Ruoyu, while punishing his Left Attendant with ten lashes for failing to protect Yan Zhi, whom he believed was kidnapped and, in his eyes, the "Chessmaster." Cheng Ruoyu and Xia Ziyuan rode day and night to Lucong. Along the way, they witnessed dilapidated cities, suffering populace, and the unrest of the vassal states, all under the covetous eyes of foreign tribes.
Xia Ziyuan blamed Qi Yan's incompetence, but Ruoyu argued that the root cause was the eunuch faction's usurpation of power, which prevented Qi Yan from realizing his ambitions. Meanwhile, Qi Yan was plagued by a nightmare of Chen Yintai assassinating Cheng Ruoyu. Waking in a cold sweat, he clutched the Peach Blossom Bracelet beneath his pillow, a poignant reminder of his longing for her.
His relief came when Han Ding reported that Cheng Ruoyu had safely reached the border of Lucong and that there were secret operatives providing protection. Capitalizing on Chou Ziliang's misdirection, Yan Zhi was pleased that he was now fixated on Liu Zhi, giving Cheng Ruoyu precious time in Lucong. Cheng Ruoyu and Xia Ziyuan arrived at Chen Yintai's camp, where he was drinking with his officers.
Ruoyu boldly declared her purpose: she was sent by imperial decree to investigate the death of Shi Quanzhong, Princess Ninghe's husband and the former Regional Commander. The officers reacted with hostility, but Chen Yintai quickly intervened, urging Ruoyu and Xia Ziyuan to rest in their tents. That evening, Ruoyu explained to Xia Ziyuan that she deliberately revealed her mission, confident Chen Yintai wouldn't dare kill her, to draw out Princess Ninghe's loyalists in the vast camp.
Just as she predicted, a figure secretly delivered a list of Shi Quanzhong's loyal guards who opposed Chen Yintai, instructing them to meet at Sifang Station. Soon after, Chen Yintai's men arrived to summon them, but Ruoyu fought them off. A masked shadow guard then appeared and escorted Ruoyu and Xia Ziyuan away.
Ruoyu entrusted the list and the meeting with Princess Ninghe's loyalists at the inn to Xia Ziyuan, instructing her to tell them to hold their position as His Majesty had his own plans. Ruoyu, sensing unrest, decided to return to the camp to investigate the night's events. Upon her return, she learned that Chen Yintai had been killed by his own subordinate, Zhang Jiang, thus ending the rebellion in Lucong.
Back in the capital, Chou Ziliang learned that Chen Yintai had met with Cheng Ruoyu three days prior. Enraged by this delayed intelligence, he severely chastised Yan Zhi, Yan Xiu, and Wang Lin for their inaccurate reports. As Cheng Ruoyu and Xia Ziyuan journeyed back, they had to constantly evade the Xiangqi Camp's secret sentries.
By the time they reached the capital's gates, the two-month deadline had expired, and the city's defenses were too heavily guarded for them to enter conventionally. Ruoyu, recalling Yan Zhi's words, decided to take a gamble and use a secret passage leading into the Xiangqi Camp from the outskirts, hoping to bypass Chou Ziliang's pursuit.
At the morning court, civil and military officials pressed Qi Yan to hold Li Deyun accountable for the Lucong situation, as the two-month deadline had passed. Li Deyun advised a strategy of "ignoring and observing," arguing that previous interventions had only backfired. Chou Ziliang vehemently opposed this, demanding that Qi Yan uphold his promise and dismiss Li Deyun. Qi Yan, after a moment of silence, declared his intention to issue a self-reproach edict, taking responsibility for Li Deyun's actions. Chou Ziliang objected, claiming such a precedent would undermine Daxing's laws, but Qi Yan firmly asserted his authority, declaring, "The law was written by me. I am the law."
