Fake Princess Episode 13 Recap
> Fake Princess Recap
Li Heng confessed to the Empress that he had long been in love with Zhu Yan and vowed to marry no one else in this life. The Empress was furious, reminding him of her high hopes for him. She commanded him to abandon the idea of eloping and confined him to Qing Ning Palace until the Grand Wedding concluded.
Li Heng reiterated that he spoke the truth because he had made a promise to Zhu Yan and had a foolproof plan. This plan, however, was to threaten his own death. The Empress was deeply hurt, questioning if he still considered her his mother. Li Heng knelt, stating he understood her words but had to go against her will in this lifetime, promising to repay her kindness in the next.
The Empress then played an emotional card, telling him he was her only child and she could not bear to lose him. She agreed to help him, before collapsing to the floor. Li Che entered the water dungeon and immediately jumped into the pool to wake Chang Le. Still believing her to be Yuyao, he called out her name.
Chang Le, weak and distressed, told him to believe she hadn't lied and pleaded with him to rescue her bandit brothers who were still held by Liu Sheng if she were to die. Li Che firmly declared he would not let her die. He used a dagger to cut her iron chains and helped her walk out. Outside, facing the guards, Li Che held the dagger to his own artery, threatening to take his life if they stopped him.
Lord Xie, witnessing this, dared not obstruct him and instructed his men to step back, clearing a path for Li Che and Chang Le. The Empress sought out her father, Liu Xiangguo, to request his help for Li Heng. She argued that since his granddaughter, Yuyao, was married to the Crown Prince, their family would be safe, but Liu Xiangguo dismissed her, ordering his servants to detain Prince V in a wing-room until the wedding concluded.
The Empress protested, accusing her father of killing Heng, but Liu Xiangguo remained resolute, declaring he would rather have no such grandson if he was so easily swayed. Meanwhile, Li Che tenderly cared for the heavily injured Chang Le at a small inn. He expressed disappointment at the simple food provided. Chang Le jokingly remarked that he would now have to become a bandit like her, eating only steamed buns and salted vegetables.
Li Che, embracing the idea, stated that such days would be frequent and he would slowly adapt, even offering to learn domestic chores. Chang Le, however, playfully dismissed his offer, stating she would handle those tasks. Li Che once again professed his deep feelings for Chang Le, telling her that seeing her suffer made him disregard the throne and any thoughts of revenge.
He was overjoyed to learn her true identity was Chang Le, not Liu Sheng's granddaughter Yuyao, and suggested calling her "Lele." Chang Le, finding the nickname "so gross," playfully rejected it. Their affectionate banter was interrupted by Brother Qin, who emerged, telling them to stop. Chang Le explained Brother Qin was her sworn brother from the mountain village.
Initially surprised and feeling betrayed, Li Che heard Brother Qin reveal he had joined the Crown Prince's residence solely to ensure Chang Le's safety and had no intention of harming Li Che. He apologized for concealing his identity, which Li Che graciously accepted. Brother Qin then revealed he had been monitoring the dungeon to rescue Chang Le and followed them after she escaped, admitting he had overheard their romantic conversation but felt it inappropriate to interrupt.
Brother Qin urged Chang Le and Li Che to leave the inn quickly, warning that General Shen's extensive network of spies would soon locate them. As they departed, General Shen appeared with a large contingent of soldiers, encircling the trio. Chang Le, still weak, leaned heavily on Li Che. Brother Qin valiantly fought against the soldiers but was eventually overpowered due to being outnumbered. Li Che and Chang Le were forced to kneel before General Shen.
Li Che pleaded with his grandfather, General Shen Ao, to spare Chang Le's life, asserting her innocence. General Shen then recounted the tragic history, beginning with the Li Kingdom's invasion when Li Che was seven. He described how the former emperor, Li Changye, influenced by Zhao Gang, doubted General Shen's loyalty and refused him adequate troops, forcing Empress Shen Yujun, Li Che’s mother, to lead a small army to prove the Shen family's loyalty.
Though she repelled the invaders, she suffered fatal wounds and died on the way back. General Shen revealed how Li Changye refused to apologize, leading to General Shen’s own over ten-year imprisonment for calling the emperor "fatuous." He asked Li Che if he remembered these events, and Li Che confirmed he remembered everything, especially how Liu Sheng later instigated Zhao Gang.
General Shen then explained that he had preserved Li Che's position as Crown Prince to ensure Li Che would ascend the throne and force Li Changye to publicly acknowledge his fatal error in causing Empress Shen's death, thereby avenging the Shen family. Li Che then declared his true love for Chang Le, stating that if she were to die that day, he would surely die with her, just as General Shen had grieved for Empress Shen.
General Shen, however, remained unyielding, giving an order to his soldiers to kill Chang Le, even if it meant killing Li Che as well. As Li Che frantically pulled out his dagger to intervene, Chang Le swiftly pricked an acupuncture point on him, paralyzing him. She then crawled to General Shen, offering herself to die in exchange for Li Che's life. She told Li Che that as a mere "little thief," her life was not worth his sacrifice.
She praised his earnestness, foresight, and benevolence, expressing her firm belief that he would become a good emperor under whose reign the people of Pei Kingdom would live in peace and banditry would cease. After speaking her last words, Chang Le drank the cup of poisoned wine offered by General Shen, who had outlined a cover story of the Crown Princess accidentally ingesting poison. She collapsed lifelessly before Li Che, who wept inconsolably.
The Empress visited Li Heng, who remained under house arrest. He confronted her about her promise to help him. She reassured him that she had everything prepared and would have him freed within three days. This, however, was a deceptive ploy concocted by the Empress and Liu Xiangguo to prevent Li Heng from causing further trouble. Elsewhere, Zhu Yan was packing her belongings, fully intending to elope with Li Heng as planned.
Her maid, Qi, urged caution, questioning if Li Heng might abandon her, but Zhu Yan remained steadfast in her belief that he would find a way to escape with her, even vowing to die if he didn't return. Just then, a letter from Li Heng arrived via a dart, dispelling Qi's doubts, and she began to diligently help Zhu Yan prepare her luggage. Chang Le awoke to find Li Che lying beside her and gently roused him.
Believing they were both poisoned with only one antidote left, Li Che insisted she take it. Chang Le, however, cleverly feigned swallowing the pill, then returned it to him, declaring that if only one of them could live, it must be him. Overwhelmed by her repeated self-sacrifice, Li Che pulled her into a fervent embrace, transferring the antidote from his own mouth to hers in a deep, desperate kiss.
Meanwhile, a jailer informed Gongsun Mo of a development, and Gongsun Mo promptly ordered Nong Ying to be untied. Their passionate moment was interrupted by General Shen's sudden entrance. Fearing the worst, Li Che begged his grandfather for more time with Chang Le. To their astonishment, General Shen revealed that the "poisoned" wine was merely a strong tranquilizer, and the "antidote" was just a tonic pill.
He confessed it was all a test, and witnessing Chang Le's genuine willingness to die for Li Che, he had decided, for the first time, to fully trust her. A joyful Li Che realized they were both safe and could now live together, promising to care for her forever. Chang Le gratefully thanked General Shen, who then instructed her to call him "Grandpa," signifying her acceptance into the family.
General Shen, now known as Shen Ao, told Li Che to work with his counselors to devise a plan to rescue Chang Le's friends, as having them as hostages put them at a disadvantage. He himself would deal with a "little rat" in his house.
Li Che expressed profound gratitude to his grandfather, acknowledging that Shen Ao had deliberately forgone a golden opportunity to bring down Liu Sheng (by revealing Chang Le was not Liu Sheng's granddaughter Yuyao, and thus not a genuine Crown Princess) simply to ensure his and Chang Le's happiness. Chang Le, too, reflected that despite their outward ruthlessness, the people in the palace were ultimately kind. Soon after, Lord Xie was brought before General Shen as a suspected spy.
General Shen revealed that a fake letter, meant to mislead him into killing Chang Le, had raised his suspicions. He further exposed Lord Xie's secret meetings with Liu Sheng, confirming his betrayal through his own network of spies within Liu Sheng's camp. Though Lord Xie desperately offered to atone for his crimes by serving General Shen, Shen Ao scornfully refused, declaring his contempt for traitors.
General Shen then decreed that Lord Xie would also "accidentally eat poisonous food and die," planning a similar cover-up for his demise. Separately, Liu Xiangguo summoned Nong Ying for questioning. He suspected her due to a missed contact and her report about Chang Le's drunken boasts regarding Liu Sheng and her imprisoned friends.
Nong Ying also reported the failure of Liu Sheng's assassins and expressed doubt about Li Che single-handedly defeating them, leading Liu Xiangguo to question Chang Le's whereabouts during the attack. This was part of a pre-arranged plan by Li Che and his advisors to use Nong Ying to feed Liu Xiangguo controlled information and gauge his reactions.
Despite his inherent suspicion, Liu Xiangguo seemingly accepted Nong Ying's explanations and sent her back to monitor the Crown Prince, though he secretly ordered a change in the prisoners' locations within the dungeon as a precaution. Meanwhile, Chang Le and Brother Qin were covertly observing Liu Sheng's residence. They identified the kitchen as a likely hidden entrance to the dungeon, a fact that surprised Chang Le given her past presence there.
Brother Qin advised against immediate rescue, stressing that with Liu Sheng's heightened suspicion, security would be tight. Their goal was merely to confirm the entrance and formulate a detailed plan for a future rescue attempt. Observing closely, they saw their friends, Aunt III, Shitou, and Zhang Meng, being relocated from the dungeon. Realizing this implied the existence of other exits or entrances, they decided to follow the relocated prisoners to gather more intelligence.
