Glory Episode 18 Recap
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Following Lu Jianglai’s warnings of extreme weather, the skies suddenly darkened. At the Rong Residence, Rong Yunyin remained defiant, mocking Rong Shanbao for "wasting" family funds on government embankments. She accused her sister of merely trying to exert authority, dismissing the rain as harmless. However, as Lu Jianglai urged her to look up, the temperature plummeted, and heavy hail began to fall.
Realizing the hail would devastate the tea crops and that the breached dikes posed a lethal threat to the lower fields, a panicked Yunyin rushed to the plantation. Despite suffering from a high fever, Rong Shanbao insisted on heading to the fields to manage the disaster. Her cousin Wen Can tried desperately to stop her, arguing that the harvest was not worth her life, but she remained resolute.
Lu Jianglai, deeply concerned, caught up with her on the treacherous mountain path. Ignoring the risk of landslides, he carried her on his back through the storm to ensure she reached the plantation safely. At the tea fields, Yunyin’s lack of leadership led to chaos. She lashed a worker named A Song, who had collapsed after working three days straight. The laborer A Yi intervened, and the other workers, fed up with Yunyin’s cruelty, declared a strike.
Rong Shanbao arrived just in time to restore order. She publicly disciplined Yunyin, ordering her to take a hoe and clear silt alongside the laborers to understand their hardships. Turning to the workers, Shanbao appealed to their shared history, reminding them that tea was their collective livelihood. By promising extra wages and rice, she successfully motivated them to save the harvest. While the crisis was being managed, He Gui, a ruthless non-native merchant, intercepted Rong Yunxi.
Claiming the Rong family owed him a massive debt of tea, he attempted to kidnap her as collateral. However, Shanbao had prepared for such trouble. Her subordinate, Xiangling, intervened and revealed their knowledge of He Gui’s past crimes in Pingjiang. Informed that his associates were already captured outside the city, the merchant was forced to retreat. Meanwhile, Yang Yitang took advantage of the chaos to sneak into Shanbao's room, searching for clues regarding his "aunt."
Back at the residence, Old Madam was furious over the flooding of eight hundred acres. Yunxi tried to shift the blame to Yunyin’s arrogance but eventually had to admit her own negligence. While Yunyin was sentenced to manual labor at the plantation, Shanbao introduced a young girl to the household. She told Old Madam the child was an orphan of a tea worker killed in the flood.
Privately, however, Shanbao confronted Yunxi, revealing she knew the child was actually Yunxi’s secret daughter from her past entanglement in Fuzhou. Shanbao used this to remind Yunxi that the Rong bloodline must be protected, urging her to raise the girl properly within the family. In secret, Lu Jianglai continued his investigation into the Wei family case. He met a subordinate to discuss finding a ledger belonging to a mistress of Xu Song, which allegedly recorded extensive bribes.
His subordinate worried that Lu’s upcoming marriage into the Rong family would compromise his impartiality, but Lu insisted he would remain fair, even if it meant a future legal confrontation with Shanbao. Suspecting Lu Jianglai had secrets, Yang Yitang began tailing the family’s servants and followed Lu to a tea house. Hoping to find evidence of Lu keeping a mistress, Yang Yitang snuck into the premises but was caught by Shanbao and Xiangling.
He tried to frame Lu, claiming he followed him to investigate "romantic secrets." However, the visit was a ruse; Shanbao and Lu were actually visiting Old Man Hu, an injured master tea-maker. When Shanbao returned home to verify the claims, she found Lu Jianglai calmly discussing elegant magnolia embroidery patterns for their wedding shoes, completely debunking the thief's accusations.
