Glory Episode 28 Recap
> Glory Recaps
At the Linji Prefectural Office, the alliance between Lu Jianglai and Rong Shanbao was strained by a lack of transparency. Lu Jianglai questioned his subordinate, Jun Dai, eventually punishing him with ten strokes after discovering he had helped Shanbao hide Bai Yingsheng’s whereabouts. Lu Jianglai felt marginalized, realizing that Shanbao had many more secrets than he had anticipated, particularly concerning Bai Yingsheng’s role in gathering evidence against Jiang Yiqian.
The history between Bai Yingsheng and the Rong family was fraught with betrayal. Previously, Shanbao had warned Bai not to trust Rong Yunshu, but he had insisted on defending her, even making a wager that she still possessed some goodness. He was proven wrong when Yunshu pushed him into the river to drown. After being saved by Shanbao, Bai spent his time meticulously gaining Jiang Yiqian’s trust to gather evidence of the official’s crimes.
Before departing for the capital to take the imperial exams, Bai sought out Rong Yunshu one last time. When she tried to abuse him as she had in the past, he caught her hand, no longer blinded by his feelings. While she spat venomous words, accusing him of being a tool and lamenting her status as a "weed" in Shanbao's shadow, Bai told her he would only remember her as the girl he first saw—quietly smelling orchids in a garden.
With that, he severed his ties to the Rong family forever. Tensions reached a breaking point at the Rong Residence when Rong Yunshu’s desperation turned into madness. She revealed that her blindness had been a ruse for years, part of a long game to secure justice for her mother and a place in the family shrine. She attempted to force medicine down the throat of her ailing grandmother, venting years of harbored hatred.
When Shanbao arrived and intervened, Yunshu, realizing her schemes had failed, lunged at her sister with a dagger. Yan Bailou threw himself in front of Shanbao, taking the blade himself. Horrified by the blood, Yunshu dropped the weapon and was promptly locked away in the family shrine on Shanbao’s orders. Witnessing Yan Bailou risk his life moved Grandmother deeply.
She recalled a similar sacrifice from many years ago involving Bailou’s grand-uncle, the Ninth Young Master, who had saved her from quicksand during a tea trade journey. Recognizing the noble nature of the Yan men and seeing the potential to secure a new tea route through the Yan family's influence in Shu, Grandmother decided an alliance was the only way forward. She urged Shanbao to agree to a marriage with Yan Bailou.
Though her heart was heavy, Shanbao felt she could not refuse her grandmother’s dying wish and agreed. Meanwhile, Lu Jianglai’s past resurfaced with the arrival of Xu Meiying, the daughter of his late mentor, Minister Xu. Following her father's sudden death on his journey home, Meiying sought Lu Jianglai’s protection. She also brought along a mysterious beggar whose tongue had been cut and tendons severed.
Lu Jianglai arranged for the Xu family to stay in the rear quarters and summoned a doctor for the crippled man, hoping to uncover the grievances he clearly carried. Rong Shanbao’s heart grew heavy when she saw Lu Jianglai and Xu Meiying together in mourning clothes. Rumors quickly spread that they were fiances destined for marriage.
Xu Meiying also warned Lu Jianglai that marrying into the Rong family as a live-in son-in-law would hinder his political aspirations and his duty to the Emperor. When Yan Bailou regained consciousness, Grandmother personally tended to him and reaffirmed her promise to hold a wedding. Faced with her grandmother's command and the sight of Lu Jianglai with another woman, Shanbao did not object, telling the recovering Bailou to focus on his health so the ceremony could proceed. At the government office, Lu Jianglai encouraged the crippled beggar to practice writing with his mouth, determined to help the man find justice.
