Glory Episode 17 Recap
> Glory Recaps
After being cast out of the Rong Residence to preserve the family’s reputation, Lu Jianglai is followed by a mysterious woman and her child, who publicly claim he is her husband. At the gates, Xiu Qiong heartlessly orders his belongings to be burned to avoid "dirtying" the property. While others condemn him for his alleged abandoned family, Yan Bailou stands up for Lu Jianglai, recalling how he risked his life for Rong Shanbao.
However, he is warned to focus on his studies at Dongquan Academy to remain a worthy match for the fifth sister, Rong Yunshu. Unbeknownst to the onlookers, Lu’s exile was a calculated move; a light tap on his shoulder from Rong Shanbao earlier that day had served as a silent signal to set a trap for those pursuing him. Lu Jianglai follows the woman to a ruined temple, where she offers him a cake.
Sensing her watchful eyes, he takes a few bites and fakes unconsciousness. Once he "collapses," her accomplice, Clerk Qing from the prefectural office, emerges with a blade to murder him and stage a fire. However, Lu Jianglai springs into action, capturing Qing with the help of the Rong family’s hidden guards. During the scuffle, Lu mocks the idea that he would ever settle for a fraudulent marriage when his standards for a partner are exceptionally high.
Under Lu Jianglai’s stern interrogation in the Rong family’s private prison, Clerk Qing confesses that Prefect Xu Song is behind the assassination attempt. Xu Song is deeply implicated in the old Wei family case and feared the reopening of Madam Yang’s coffin. Lu realizes that while he has the confession, the key to the case remains finding the missing Madam Yang.
Meanwhile, Prefect Xu Song resents the Rong family’s defiance of tax officers and views Lu Jianglai’s presence as a perfect opportunity to frame the family for harboring a criminal and uproot them entirely. Relentless storms soon batter Linji, threatening the tea plantation. Fearing for the crop, Rong Shanbao braves the rain for a day and a night to inspect the fields. She returns soaked and shivering with a high fever.
Lu Jianglai, deeply concerned, pulls her into the room and insists she rest. He laments that while she exhausts herself for the family, her sisters are more interested in power than cooperation. He advises her to "let go" and allow her sisters to take charge, predicting their incompetence will soon be revealed. He also asks Shanbao to promise that if he ever makes a mistake in the future, she will remember his current help and forgive him once.
When Rong Shanbao reports the disaster to the Old Madam at Chongxi Hall, her lingering illness becomes impossible to ignore. The Old Madam orders her to rest and appoints the second sister, Rong Yunxi, and the fourth sister, Rong Yunyin, to manage the plantation. This shift in power immediately goes to their heads. Rong Yunyin arrives at the plantation wielding an iron whip and an arrogant attitude.
She ignores the expert advice of the manager, Yi, ordering the tea trees to be fertilized immediately despite the waterlogged soil. Yunyin even accuses Shanbao of embezzling embankment funds, demanding to see the ledgers and threatening workers with lashes if they follow Shanbao's old methods. While the plantation falls into disarray, Rong Yunxi engages in shady business. She meets with Master He, a tea merchant with a pirate past whom Rong Shanbao had previously banned.
Ignoring family standards, Yunxi accepts his "gifts" and promises him the first harvest of autumn tea in exchange for money. Meanwhile, a hidden secret comes to light as it is revealed that Rong Yunxi is secretly involved with a widower tea seller in Lotus Lane who has two children—a match the Rong family would never permit. The temporary peace is broken by Lu Jianglai’s growing unease.
While tuning his zither, he notices the strings are loose and the wood is damp, signs of extreme humidity. Observing a reddish tint in the southern clouds, he realizes a catastrophic storm is approaching. He attempts to warn Rong Shanbao but encounters Rong Yunshu instead. The blind fifth sister dismisses his concerns, coldly suggesting he focus only on keeping Shanbao company. Her chilling demeanor reveals to Lu Jianglai that she is far more ruthless than her sisters, leaving the Rong family vulnerable to the impending disaster.
