Fake Princess Episode 22 Recap
> Fake Princess Recap
Li Che presented a jade pillow to the Emperor for Consort Hui Zhu Yan. The Emperor inquired why Crown Princess Liu Yuyao was not present, to which Li Che replied that she was unwell and had gone to see a doctor. The Empress then deliberately brought up the martial arts competition to find a bride, suggesting that Crown Princess Liu Yuyao might be jealous and had left in anger.
Li Che immediately denied this, asserting that Liu Yuyao was a woman of principle who would not be upset over such minor matters. The Empress dismissed it as a joke, acknowledging the deep love between the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the Emperor then asked everyone to take their seats. During the birthday celebration for Consort Hui Zhu Yan, everyone raised their glasses, but many held their own thoughts. Li Che silently wondered about Chang Le's whereabouts.
The Empress then proposed that Zhu Yan perform a dance, and the Third Princess eagerly offered to accompany her on the guqin. Zhu Yan danced gracefully to the tune of "Everlasting Longing." However, she accidentally twisted her ankle, causing the performance to halt. The Emperor initially wanted her to continue, but Li Heng, visibly concerned for Zhu Yan's injury, suggested they engage in a couplet game instead.
Li Heng presented the first line, "Breeze in the rain, in the wind and rain, stands a sail," and Zhu Yan cleverly responded with, "Wearing stars and moon, under the stars and the moon, sailing far away." The Emperor praised her wit and offered a toast. During the birthday celebration, the Empress provocatively questioned Li Che about Crown Princess Liu Yuyao's whereabouts.
She then directly taunted him, calling him a "solitary star of disaster" and implying he brought misfortune upon his mother, Empress Shen, and potentially the Crown Princess. Li Che, enraged, almost reacted but controlled himself, remembering that Chang Le's departure was meant to secure his position as the Crown Prince, and he could not afford to be impulsive and ruin his future. After the banquet, Li Heng watched Consort Hui Zhu Yan escort the Emperor away, his heart heavy.
The Empress, observing his despair, curtly ordered him back to his sleeping quarters, an order Li Heng dared not defy. Back at his residence, Li Che was delighted to receive a message from Chang Le delivered by a dart. Meanwhile, Consort Hui Zhu Yan politely declined the Emperor's invitation to spend the night with him, citing that she had too much to drink.
Later, returning to her chambers (Xiyan Pavilion), she found a drunken Li Heng, who expressed guilt over his inability to protect her. Zhu Yan comforted him, reminding him that he was a favored son of heaven, loved by many, and there was no need for him to be so despondent over her.
She mused that if they could start over, without their current identities (you not being the Fifth Prince and I not being Miss Zhu), how wonderful it would be. Li Che arrived at the address specified by Chang Le. He waited eagerly, practicing what he would say to her, but Chang Le never appeared. After drinking some wine that was prepared for him by the inn servant, Li Che fell unconscious at the table.
This entire scenario was orchestrated by the Empress. The Empress and the Third Princess then entered Li Che's room. The Empress took the token from Li Che's waist and handed it to the Third Princess, who then undressed him and lay down beside him. The special envoy, concerned about the Third Princess's disappearance, urgently sought an audience with the Emperor, reporting that she was missing and had been heavily intoxicated at the banquet.
The Emperor immediately ordered a search for both the Crown Prince and the Third Princess. Meanwhile, Gongsun Mo, after waking up, received Li Che's token from a man in black. Soon after, a servant reported to the Emperor that the Crown Prince and the Third Princess had been found in an inn in the suburbs, suggesting the Emperor go see for himself. Separately, Li Heng woke up in Consort Hui Zhu Yan's fragrant boudoir, finding her sitting beside him.
He apologized for his drunken state from the previous night. Before leaving, he showed concern for her injured foot. The Emperor arrived at the inn with the Empress. The inn owner, at the Empress's behest, provided false testimony, claiming that Li Che had booked the entire inn, forcibly taken the Third Princess into his room against her will, and threatened the owner's family when he tried to intervene.
Enraged, the Emperor stormed into the room, ready to strip Li Che of his Grand Judge position and his title, declaring his actions an insult to royal dignity. However, to everyone's shock, the woman lying beside Li Che was not the Third Princess, but Crown Princess Liu Yuyao, who was actually Chang Le.
Chang Le explained the entire scheme: she saw the inn owner drug Li Che's wine, take his token, and then saw two unconscious figures being placed in the room. She moved the Third Princess to an adjacent room and stayed with Li Che to expose the setup, questioning whether Li Che was truly drunk and disorderly or if he was a victim of a meticulously planned trap. The Emperor ordered an investigation.
The inn owner, trembling, confessed that he was blindfolded during meetings with the mastermind and did not know their identity or gender, but he handed over the money bag he received. A courtier noted that the letter from the mastermind was illegible. The Third Princess pointed out that the sachet carrying the money looked like a palace item. The inn owner, under further pressure, then recalled a unique jasmine fragrance from the money bag.
The Empress quickly tried to deflect, mentioning that she had distributed different scents of thyme to the palace, but the head eunuch then confirmed that the specific jasmine fragrance was, in fact, distributed to the Empress's Qing Ning Palace. Highly suspicious, the Emperor ordered everyone to remain in the hall while he personally went to verify the records of the distributed fragrances.
