General and I Episode 3 Recap, Plot

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Bai Pingting assisted Miss Hua in escaping her arranged matchmaking with General Chu Beijie, urging Miss Hua to meet Young Lord Chen by the river at Banshan Temple instead. Miss Hua confessed her disinterest in marrying Chu Beijie, having someone else in mind, to which Bai Pingting affirmed she would play the zither in Miss Hua's stead. Miss Hua gratefully departed.

Later, the Hua family patriarch and his wife frantically searched for their missing daughter when imperial soldiers suddenly stormed the manor. Chu Beijie himself escorted Miss Hua back, then revealed she had been secretly meeting with Young Lord Chen. A distraught Master Hua was then pressured by Chu Beijie to marry his daughter to Young Lord Chen, but Master Hua vehemently refused.

Chu Beijie declared that he would not pursue Miss Hua's transgression further, but demanded Master Hua promise him one thing. He then presented Bai Pingting, announcing that she would become Master Hua's adopted daughter from that day forward. Chu Beijie stated he would return in three days to collect her, warning that if Bai Pingting dared to escape, the entire Hua family would be executed.

After Chu Beijie’s departure, Master Hua pleaded with Bai Pingting to remain safely within the Hua residence for three days, regardless of her identity, promising elaborate betrothal gifts for her grand wedding. Bai Pingting, confused, asked if Chu Beijie intended to marry her. Miss Hua explained that in the Great Jin, a man truly wishing to marry a woman would guard her for three consecutive nights before the wedding.

While holding Bai Pingting’s hairpin, Chu Beijie was lost in memories of his childhood. He recalled being a young boy in a foreign land, desperately trying to find help for his gravely ill mother, only to be driven away by local villagers who feared her "outsider's disease." He collapsed in the desert, awakening later to the sight of a young girl clumsily playing a zither.

He commented that the music sounded terrible, claiming his mother was the world's best zither player, to which the girl countered that her father was. Her father, sensing an ominous aura around Chu Beijie, urged his daughter to leave, but the kind-hearted girl defied him to offer Chu Beijie some dried food. Chu Beijie now recognized this girl as Bai Pingting, realizing they had met before.

Meanwhile, He Xia returned to Puban City, where he was met by Garrison Commander Luan Shu. Luan Shu revealed that Bai Pingting had sent a letter in advance, predicting He Xia’s return and instructing Luan Shu to patrol the city's outskirts. He Xia was informed that Bai Pingting had been captured by Chu Beijie.

Luan Shu assured him that given Bai Pingting's intelligence and loyalty, she must have had her own reasons for appearing in Jin State and would surely emerge safely, urging He Xia to seek safety in Puban City first. Though concerned for Bai Pingting, He Xia agreed and ordered his troops to the city. Chu Beijie obtained a royal decree from the Jin King to bestow a marriage upon Miss Hua.

He then sent Chu Moran to the Hua Manor to finalize the wedding arrangements, emphasizing that the Prince Zhenbei wished to marry Bai Pingting, not Miss Hua. Chu Moran conveyed to Master Hua that all ceremonial procedures, including proposal and engagement, were to be completed that very day, with the wedding set to take place in three days.

He clarified that since Master Hua had adopted Bai Pingting, she was now considered "Miss Hua," and thus Chu Beijie was marrying a Hua daughter, dismissing Master Hua's concerns about a substitute bride and subtly threatening his family's silk merchant business. Inside the manor, Miss Hua tried to lift Bai Pingting’s spirits by reciting romantic poems about longing for a lover.

Miss Hua teased Bai Pingting, noting how General Chu had been captivated by her at first sight and was eager to marry her. Bai Pingting, however, responded that he had never even asked if she wanted to marry him. Miss Hua, undeterred, praised Bai Pingting's unique charm, then expressed her excitement that after Bai Pingting married, they could visit each other often. Bai Pingting, however, doubted they would meet so easily.

Miss Hua then proudly showed Bai Pingting around the expansive Hua family estate, including their renowned dye workshop, which produced exquisite silk. Bai Pingting remarked that it was due to such high-quality silks that foreign regions desired trade with the Central Plains. Miss Hua recalled her father saying that any king who could establish trade routes to regions beyond the Great Wall would conquer the world.

This sparked a memory for Bai Pingting: a voice from her past speaking of uniting the nine states through trade routes, a promise to share a future where all her wishes would be his. She promised back, "Promise." Recognizing the Hua Residence was tightly guarded, Bai Pingting began to formulate a plan to escape.

She casually mentioned the Jin tradition for brides to present their husbands with a clean, plain outfit as a wedding gift and asked to see the one prepared for her. The royal decree for the marriage arrived swiftly, officially conferring the title of Princess Consort Zhenbei upon the Hua family's daughter. Master Hua, though initially hesitant about the arrangement, accepted the decree, now elated at his family's elevated status.

Bai Pingting, outwardly calm and composed, received a message via a homing pigeon confirming He Xia's arrival in Puban City. However, her return message, simply stating "Stop War," was intercepted by the Hua Manor's guards. Chu Beijie, upon seeing the message, understood Bai Pingting's sharp intellect and realized she was not merely a bride-to-be but a strategist advocating for her master.

On the auspicious wedding day, Bai Pingting, dressed in a plain white gown instead of traditional wedding attire, insisted on personally dressing Chu Beijie, who wore a matching plain outfit she had prepared. Unbeknownst to him, the plain clothes had been soaked in a potent poison she had concocted. Chu Beijie, oblivious to her scheme, presented her with the "Phoenix Tree Zither," expressing his hope that they would play together in the future, signifying marital harmony.

Bai Pingting, acknowledging his musical talent, lamented that if not for the conflict between the Yan and Jin states, he could have been a true soulmate, but it was now too late. Moments later, Bai Pingting suddenly collapsed, having poisoned herself as well to ensure the plan worked, and Chu Beijie also began to struggle for breath from the poison on the garment. Despite his own deteriorating condition, Chu Beijie urgently summoned imperial physicians to attend to Bai Pingting.

Fortunately, Dr. Huo arrived in time to treat both of them, and they were declared out of danger. Chu Beijie confronted Bai Pingting, asking why she refused to marry him. He questioned whether her reluctance stemmed from a desire to avenge the Jing'an Prince's Manor or to maintain her chastity for the "useless man" who relied on her strategies. He then declared that if she wished to kill him, she should do so now, otherwise, he vowed to marry her.

Meanwhile, Zhang Gui Fei, who had a long-standing affection for Chu Beijie since childhood and was now the Jin King's consort, burned with jealousy upon learning of Chu Beijie's insistence on this marriage. She ordered an investigation into Bai Pingting’s identity. She was warned by Chu Beijie to respect her own position, but enraged, Zhang Gui Fei went to the Jin King and claimed that the woman Chu Beijie intended to marry was a spy from Yan State.

Episode 2 Recap

Episode 4 Recap