Resumen del episodio 17 de Faithful
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Seven years ago, Lin Rulan's mother meticulously combed her daughter's hair, performing the traditional wedding rituals and wishing her a happy life. However, Lin Rulan interrupted her, saying it was enough. Her mother worried about the vibrant red wedding dress Lin Rulan wore, fearing it was against custom for a concubine and might cause trouble with Wu Lian's main wife.
Lin Rulan confessed that she had dreamed of wearing a self-embroidered wedding dress since childhood, and if she didn't wear it today, she might never have another chance. Lin Rulan's mother was heartbroken, weeping with sorrow and helplessness. When the Wu family's sedan arrived, Lin Rulan's brother carried her out from the back of the courtyard. Maintaining a smile despite her inner turmoil, Lin Rulan expressed her gratitude for her brother's lifelong affection, knowing he had always doted on her.
She then bid farewell to her heartbroken parents, consoling them not to worry. Her parents urged her to take good care of herself, not to worry about them, and to always send a message if she encountered difficulties, rather than facing them alone, regretting that they couldn't protect her. Lin Rulan apologized for disappointing them and, still smiling, said she wished to be their daughter in her next life.
Her mother, trying to lighten the somber mood on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, admonished her for speaking such inauspicious words. Meng Wan watched from a distance as Lin Rulan's sedan disappeared, feeling helpless and heartbroken. Inside the sedan, Lin Rulan's smile faded, replaced by a steely determination. The sedan brought Lin Rulan to the Wu family mansion, where she was assigned to an abandoned room.
Wu Lian’s main wife instructed a servant to bring wedding candles and a screen for Lin Rulan’s room, acknowledging that Wu Lian clearly held no regard for his new concubine. The servant questioned the need for such kindness, but the main wife dismissed it, saying it was merely basic necessities that cost little. As evening fell, a sudden downpour began.
Lin Rulan asked a servant about Wu Lian’s return, but the servant disdainfully told her that concubines should wait and that the master was busy. Growing hungry, Lin Rulan went to the kitchen to prepare some supper for Wu Lian. The kitchen staff refused to light the fire for her, stating it was against the rules. An older maid, however, took pity on her and offered some leftover sweet fermented rice soup.
She advised Lin Rulan to humbly apologize to Wu Lian and behave herself, assuring her that he would eventually accept her. Lin Rulan gratefully accepted the food. Lin Rulan then took the sweet fermented rice soup to Wu Lian’s study. Wu Lian greeted her coldly, asking her purpose. As she presented the food, he mocked her past defiance in court, asking if she had finally given up her stubbornness and ceased her suicidal threats.
Lin Rulan, feigning submission, replied that she had been unreasonable before, and her parents had since scolded her. She stated that as a weak woman now belonging to the Wu family, she wished only to live a quiet life under his care. Wu Lian smugly remarked that he had predicted she would eventually "learn to behave," implying her earlier resistance was foolish. Lin Rulan meekly agreed. Wu Lian then dismissed her, and she left, her mission seemingly unfulfilled.
Later, Lin Rulan invited Wu Lian to ascend the Yanyu Embroidery Building, reminiscing about her childhood dream of standing with him at its highest point on their wedding night, overlooking the illuminated Huaizhou City. She softly asked if he would fulfill this small wish. Amused by what he perceived as her newfound compliance and sincerity, Wu Lian agreed to accompany her to the tower. Meanwhile, Meng Wan delivered a letter from Lin Rulan to Shen Mu.
The letter contained an urgent message, indicating Lin Rulan's life was in danger. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Shen Mu immediately gathered Zhao Gang, another constable, and rushed to the Yanyu Embroidery Building. At the top of the tower, Lin Rulan revealed her true intentions, telling Wu Lian that she was no longer the naive girl who had been infatuated with him.
She spoke of her disillusionment, realizing that her initial affection was self-deception, and his sweet words were merely a ploy to manipulate her. She declared that he was nothing but a despicable coward who preyed on weak women, predicting that his hypocrisy would be exposed, and he would end his days ridiculed, isolated in a prison cell with vermin, and ultimately die alone. Enraged, Wu Lian grabbed her throat.
As people outside pounded on the door, demanding entry, Lin Rulan, with a defiant gaze, pulled a hairpin from her hair, as if to strike him. Wu Lian seized her wrist, but in a shocking move, Lin Rulan plunged the hairpin into her own neck, simultaneously grasping Wu Lian's hand. With her last breath, she declared, "I won't admit defeat," before throwing herself from the tower. Shen Mu and Zhao Gang witnessed Lin Rulan's fall.
She lay on the ground below, a tragic figure in her red wedding dress, now stained with crimson. Shen Mu, horrified, ordered Zhao Gang to arrest Wu Lian. Meng Wan arrived moments later, deeply grieved to see Lin Rulan's lifeless body, her red wedding dress now a stark scarlet. Wu Lian was swiftly arrested and taken to the Yamen.
However, by the next morning, he was released, and the case was closed, officially declared as Lin Rulan's attempt to frame him. Prefect Chen angrily confronted Shen Mu, rebuking him for unauthorized arrests and calling him "foolish" for apprehending someone as influential as Wu Lian. He argued that it was "just a concubine" and any excuse would suffice to close the case, fearing the repercussions from Mrs. Ning.
Shen Mu vehemently countered that Lin Rulan was a legally recognized concubine, not a maid, and Wu Lian had no right to kill her, demanding justice according to the law. Prefect Chen, calling Shen Mu "stubborn," dismissed him and announced his transfer to Sheyang County. Unwilling to back down, Shen Mu beat the drum of injustice, demanding a retrial for Wu Lian, asserting that a case must be heard when the drum is struck.
Prefect Chen reluctantly opened a private court session, stating that there was no law requiring public trials. Shen Mu presented his account, detailing how he and Zhao Gang witnessed Lin Rulan falling and how Wu Lian discarded the hairpin. He also mentioned Lin Rulan's letter, fearing for her life, refuting the claim that her wedding day was a joyous occasion.
However, when Zhao Gang was called to testify, he betrayed Shen Mu, claiming he "didn't see clearly" from a distance due to the height of the tower, and thus could not confirm Wu Lian's guilt. Zhao Gang later confessed to Shen Mu that he feared his scholarly elder brother's future in the capital would be jeopardized if he angered powerful figures like Mrs. Ning and the Empress Dowager.
He urged Shen Mu to apologize to Prefect Chen and let the matter go. Prefect Chen, seizing on Zhao Gang's inconclusive testimony, closed the case, declaring no evidence of Wu Lian's guilt, and warned Shen Mu against further protests, threatening severe punishment for disturbing the court. Wu Lian emerged from the Yamen, free. He mockingly acknowledged Shen Mu's disappointment, maintaining his innocence and dismissing Lin Rulan's actions as a "foolish" scheme to frame him with her death.
Shen Mu, disillusioned by the corruption and injustice, retorted that Lin Rulan was "kind," which led her to believe in justice, but everyone had failed her. Feeling that justice had been entirely abandoned, Shen Mu resigned from his position. Meanwhile, at the Wu family mansion, Lin Rulan's distraught parents sought to reclaim their daughter's body.
A servant, however, cruelly informed them that since Lin Rulan had married into the Wu family, she belonged to them, "alive or dead," and refused their plea, citing Wu Lian's potential wrath. Unexpectedly, Wu Lian's main wife intervened, chastising the servant for allowing the "imprudent" parents inside, but then, surprisingly, permitted them to take Lin Rulan's body, promising to handle Wu Lian's reaction.
It was also noted by another servant that many families were withdrawing their daughters from the Yanyu Embroidery Building, unsettled by the "ominous" deaths of two girls within a few months. Meng Wan, after collapsing from grief and exposure to the rain, lay unconscious for two days. Upon waking, her mother anxiously explained she had been feverish and deeply heartbroken, fearing Meng Wan would worry her to death.
Rulan's family delivered a letter addressed to Meng Wan, which they had found on Lin Rulan's dressing table. In the letter, Lin Rulan apologized for deceiving Meng Wan, stating she could not live a life of compromise beside a "cold beast" and would never forgive herself if she did. She asked for Meng Wan to allow her this one final act of willfulness.
Lin Rulan bequeathed a painting to Meng Wan, a depiction of a kite, recalling a cherished memory of them flying it together, a moment when Meng Wan had smiled purely and cut the string, letting the kite soar freely. Lin Rulan concluded her letter by urging Meng Wan not to repeat the "foolish things" she once contemplated and to live well, carrying both their shares of life.
The letter transported Meng Wan back in time, to when she had been sexually assaulted by Wu Lian. Disgusted and traumatized, she tried to drop out of the Yanyu Embroidery Building, but her mother, who had sacrificed her last valuable possession (a bangle) to send Meng Wan to school, brutally forced her to return, telling her to "die in the Yanyu Embroidery Building" if necessary. Overwhelmed and despairing, Meng Wan had attempted to hang herself.
But at that critical moment, a young Lin Rulan, a new student, had knocked on her door. Lin Rulan, with a bright smile, introduced herself, complimented Meng Wan's embroidery, and offered her a homemade chestnut cake, which she had saved especially for her. Meng Wan, hesitant at first, tasted the cake, and for the first time, spoke her name, "Meng Wan," to Lin Rulan. This simple act of kindness had pulled Meng Wan back from the brink, rekindling her spirit. With renewed resolve after reading Lin Rulan's final message, Meng Wan was determined to live well and seek justice.
