Stand By Me Episode 9 Recap
> Stand By Me Recap
Qi Yan held a blood-stained handkerchief, his mind drifting to a past encounter with Emperor Wen. He recalled a time they secretly met at a puppet show, where they vowed to unite against Chou Ziliang. The world believed Qi Yan was responsible for Emperor Wen's death after the Chaolu Rebellion, but Qi Yan knew he had endured the pain and humiliation to eventually fulfill their shared ambition.
News arrived that Ninghe Princess had been rescued from Lu Cong rebels by Zhenwu's Princess Misha and was being escorted back to Heng'an, expected in half a month. Chou Ziliang, feigning surprise, probed if Ninghe Princess had willingly returned, then swiftly coerced Qi Yan into issuing a decree for all court officials to grandly welcome her outside the palace gates, which Qi Yan reluctantly did.
Cheng Ruoyu, suspecting Chou Ziliang's ulterior motives, attempted to find any record of conflict between him and Ninghe Princess but found nothing. Qi Yan then recounted the history: Chou Ziliang had convinced the late emperor to marry Ninghe Princess off to a regional commander, even though another princess was initially chosen. Before her departure, Ninghe Princess had confronted Chou Ziliang, who cruelly told her to "return after death." She swore vengeance.
Cheng Ruoyu was convinced Ninghe Princess was the "third person" they were seeking, but Qi Yan disagreed, speculating she was either forced to return due to chaos in Lu Cong or was merely a "bait" chess piece, much like A-Wu, making her return ill-advised. Chou Ziliang discussed his plans with Yan Zhi and Yan Xiu to publicly execute Ninghe Princess upon her arrival, intending to intimidate other officials. He expressed an unexpected concern about Qi Yan's growing intelligence and cunning.
He reflected on how he had personally taught Qi Yan martial arts when Qi Yan was younger, noting Qi Yan's exceptional talent, mastering three years' worth of skills in just three months. This led Chou Ziliang to shift Qi Yan's focus to hunting and later alchemy, sending Cheng Xi to Qi Yan's side. Chou Ziliang lamented his past misjudgment, seeing it as "one wrong step leads to every step being wrong."
An Wang arrived to meet Chou Ziliang, carrying a cricket, a sign of his decadent nature that subtly pleased Chou Ziliang. Later, while hunting with Cheng Ruoyu, Qi Yan conceived a plan: he proposed that the three hundred dead soldiers from Yuzhen Workshop should openly enter the city with Ninghe Princess. He tasked Cheng Ruoyu with this mission, acknowledging the inherent danger from Chou Ziliang. In her excitement, Cheng Ruoyu accidentally slipped and fell into Qi Yan's arms.
A returning guard witnessed the scene. Qi Yan, annoyed by the intrusion, shot an arrow that hit the guard's helmet, startling him, and then scolded him to "Get out." Cheng Ruoyu, blushing profusely, quickly fled the scene. Soon, rumors of Qi Yan and Cheng Ruoyu's intimacy spread throughout the palace.
Cheng Huaizhi, Cheng Ruoyu's uncle, met her with great excitement, congratulating her as he believed Qi Yan was smitten and intended to elevate her status, even mentioning that imperial visits to maids were recorded. Despite Cheng Ruoyu's embarrassed denials, Cheng Huaizhi refused to believe her, already envisioning her as a concubine. Cheng Ruoyu was vexed by the endless gossip from the palace maids.
To further his strategic deception, Qi Yan deliberately wrote several notes, giving a fake one to Cheng Ruoyu to send to Ninghe Princess via pigeon, while burning the others. As Cheng Ruoyu released the pigeon under the cover of night, she was intercepted by Yan Xiu. Yan Zhi demanded to know the contents of the bamboo slip, but Cheng Ruoyu, following Qi Yan's prior instructions, defiantly destroyed it and refused to confess.
Yan Zhi threatened to imprison and torture Cheng Ruoyu's aunt, Cheng Xi, and all members of the Ziyi Bureau, but Cheng Ruoyu staunchly declared she would rather die with them. Qi Yan had orchestrated this, knowing Cheng Ruoyu's stubborn nature would make her refusal to confess appear genuine, thus lending credibility to a "discovered" fake message. Meanwhile, Gao Ping, Chou Ziliang's spy, retrieved fragments of the burned notes.
Yan Zhi, piecing together keywords like "Revenge," "Danger," and "Change route to Luoyang," correctly deduced that Qi Yan was attempting to divert Ninghe Princess to Luoyang to save her. Yan Zhi mockingly acknowledged Qi Yan's cleverness and confirmed Chou Ziliang's unwavering intention to publicly execute Ninghe Princess in Heng'an to assert his authority.
She warned Cheng Ruoyu against interfering and implicitly advised Qi Yan to consolidate his own power before challenging Chou Ziliang, revealing that Chou Ziliang had brought An Wang back to Heng'an, implying An Wang was being considered as a successor. A servant then reported that Qi Yan was awake and asking for Cheng Ruoyu, prompting Yan Zhi to release her, telling her to return to "her good Majesty's side."
Yan Zhi then ordered her forces to block all roads to Luoyang and send additional soldiers to Jinyang to intercept Ninghe Princess. Back in his bedchamber, Qi Yan, feigning sleeplessness, summoned Cheng Ruoyu. Cheng Huaizhi, ever the opportunist, immediately instructed a eunuch to meticulously record the event of Qi Yan calling Cheng Ruoyu to "accompany him." Soon after, Gao Ping arrived with medicine from Chou Ziliang for Qi Yan's leg.
Gao Ping witnessed Qi Yan seemingly asleep with Cheng Ruoyu in his arms. Qi Yan then, in a dramatic display for Gao Ping's benefit, loudly dismissed Cheng Ruoyu, accusing her of acting recklessly due to his favor and pleading for A-Wu, ordering Cheng Huaizhi to confine her without his permission. This public dismissal was a calculated move to reinforce his feigned infatuation and further deceive Chou Ziliang. Inside, Qi Yan explained his deeper "counterintelligence strategy" to Cheng Ruoyu.
He revealed that Chou Ziliang's apparent military power was limited to Heng'an; Qi Yan had already sent twelve edicts to regional commanders across the land, ensuring that if he were to die, these commanders would support a new prince, thereby plunging the empire into chaos. This precarious balance prevented Chou Ziliang from acting recklessly beyond the capital. Qi Yan reiterated his commitment to saving Ninghe Princess, even at the risk of further enraging Chou Ziliang.
He then dispatched Cheng Ruoyu on a clandestine mission to Qishan to assess the readiness and loyalty of the three hundred dead soldiers who were to be brought into the city with Ninghe Princess. Following Qi Yan's public dismissal of Cheng Ruoyu, Cheng Huaizhi promptly instructed Li Rong to find someone who resembled Cheng Ruoyu to send to Qi Yan's bedchamber, as Cheng Ruoyu had already secretly departed for Qishan on her mission.
Meanwhile, Zuo Ma, acting covertly, infiltrated Yan Zhi's art studio in search of evidence. He inadvertently triggered a trap, injuring his arm with a poisoned dart before managing to escape. Yan Zhi, upon discovering the disturbance and the poison on her painting, immediately deduced that Zuo Ma was the intruder and concluded he must have found something significant, ordering his capture.
