Glory Episode 6 Recap
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Rong Shanbao decided to put the suitors' sincerity to the test by taking them to the tea plantation for a hands-on competition. Under the guidance of Steward Cheng and a local tea-picking girl named A-yi, the men were instructed on the rigorous standards of harvesting and processing tea. A-yi emphasized that they must only pick the freshest bud heads and work with extreme speed to meet the evening deadline.
While Wen Can felt such manual labor was beneath a gentleman, others like Yang Dingcheng and his companions initially treated the excursion as a leisure trip. However, the atmosphere shifted when Shanbao announced that each man must personally pick and fry their own tea leaves for evaluation. This left many of the pampered suitors scrambling, while A-yi bluntly mocked them for being less capable than the local village men.
During the harvest, Lu Jianglai (still acting as Wen Can's servant, Fusheng) quietly assisted Wen Can, even sharing his own harvest to ensure the young man stayed in the competition. Bai Yingsheng, realizing he lacked the physical stamina for the labor under the scorching sun, decided to feign a fainting spell to escape the work. While the group was distracted by Bai’s collapse, a masked figure took advantage of the chaos.
Using the name of Wen Can's family to lure him away to a secluded slope, the saboteur pushed Wen Can down the hillside. Lu Jianglai was the first to notice Wen Can was missing and rushed to find him lying with broken legs. Acting quickly, Lu organized a rescue. As Shanbao arrived and assisted by tightening the ropes, Lu Jianglai hauled the injured Wen Can up the steep incline on his back.
Despite the ropes cutting into his palms and his shoulders bleeding from the strain, Lu remained stoic. Shanbao watched him closely, her respect for his resilience and character deepening. Once back at the residence, Wen Can’s mother arrived. She revealed that she had been intercepting letters to keep Wen Can's father in the dark about his son's pursuit of Shanbao, as the father viewed the marriage as "selling his son" for wealth.
She encouraged Wen Can to use his injury to gain Shanbao’s sympathy, noting that Shanbao, raised by her grandmother, was wary of calculating men and favored those who seemed guileless. Seeing Lu Jianglai’s injuries, Shanbao personally delivered medicine and fine Wu silk to him. She assigned a servant named Jun Dai to care for him and informed Lu that he no longer needed to serve Wen Can. Most significantly, she returned his jade thumb ring.
As Lu Jianglai placed the ring on his finger, his memories flooded back—revealing his past as a high-ranking official who had been framed before arriving in Linji. The following day, a tea-tasting ceremony was held to judge the suitors. It began with a hidden test of character: the suitors were served water they were told was legendary spring water from Huishan.
While many sycophantically praised the water’s divine quality, Bai Yingsheng remained silent, remembering the advice given to him by the blind Fifth Miss, Yunshu, to "drink more tea and speak less." It was soon revealed that the jars contained only ordinary mountain water, exposing the other suitors as hypocritical flatterers. When the tea leaves were finally judged, He Xingming and Yang Dingcheng produced top-grade samples, while Bai Yingsheng’s tea was rated as medium.
Just as the results were being finalized, Lu Jianglai arrived, dressed in the new robes Shanbao had given him. He presented a batch of tea on behalf of the bedridden Wen Can. Shanbao noticed a unique roasted aroma in the leaves. Lu Jianglai explained that he had used a special warming technique to counteract the dampness from recent rains. Though he had performed the work, he humbly credited Wen Can's instructions and the old tea masters.
Impressed, Shanbao included Wen Can in the next round. This growing favor drew the ire of the stern household manager, Ms. Yan, who confronted Lu Jianglai for overstepping his social standing. However, Shanbao intervened immediately, publicly declaring that Lu Jianglai had her personal permission to move freely within the mansion.
