Good Bye, My Princess Episode 4 Recap
> Good Bye, My Princess Recap
After Li Chengyin rescued Xiaofeng from the water, where she had been searching for his lost jade pendant, they rested by a lake. Xiaofeng reflected on her life as the Ninth Princess of Xi State, wishing she weren't a princess so she could avoid a political marriage to the Li Empire and instead marry someone she truly loved.
She openly admired her teacher, Gu Jian, describing him as an upright and heroic figure who was always there for her, though she lamented that a relationship with him was now impossible. To forget her sorrows, she wished she could jump into the mythical River of Oblivion in Sky Span Mountain, a legendary place whose waters were said to erase all feelings of love and grief.
Li Chengyin playfully dismissed her melancholy, joking that he was the best man in the world. Xiaofeng brushed off his remark, still worried about Gu Jian, but Li Chengyin reassured her of his cousin's formidable martial skills. General Gao Xian assigned Colonel Pei Zhao to patrol the desert with 2,000 soldiers, citing recent bandit activity. After Pei Zhao departed, Gao Xian was secretly given a portrait of Batuer, hinting at a hidden agenda.
Elsewhere, Second Prince Li Chengye instructed his trusted general, Li Yan, to escort the captured Batuer to the capital. Worried about the emperor discovering their scheme, Li Yan expressed hesitation, but Li Chengye stressed that the plan was crucial for his bid to become Crown Prince and insisted Li Yan personally oversee the journey to avoid suspicion. Following orders, Li Yan arranged for an imposter, a soldier named Leng Kun, to take the real Batuer's place.
Li Yan assured Leng Kun that his family had been taken care of and instructed him to completely abandon his old identity. While Xiaofeng waited in a ruined house in Gongyue City, Li Chengyin found and met with Gu Jian. When they returned, Xiaofeng was gone. Li Chengyin recalled hearing a signal arrow and guessed Xiaofeng might have mistaken it for Gu Jian's and gone to investigate.
Gu Jian immediately recognized it as a Shuobo trap and ordered his men to search. Xiaofeng had indeed been lured out and was being pursued by Shuobo cavalry. She was rescued by Heshi, a Danchi warrior, who confronted the Shuobo soldiers and warned them they were in Danchi territory. The Shuobo arrogantly claimed they were pursuing a runaway "slave." Realizing they were outnumbered, Heshi urged Xiaofeng to ride north to Khan Tida'er's encampment for reinforcements.
When she resisted, Heshi insisted it was for her own safety, as he needed all his men to fight, and sent her on her way before engaging the Shuobo forces in a fierce battle. In the imperial court, Empress Zhang expressed her concern to Right Minister Gao Yuming that Prince Xuande (Li Chengye) would gain the Emperor's favor for capturing the Crown Prince's alleged assassin, jeopardizing Li Chengyin's own ambitions.
Gao Yuming countered that Danchi's guilt was not yet proven and the Emperor's primary concern was the marriage alliance with Xi State. He suggested that if Li Chengyin could win the Ninth Princess's affection during his trip, his chances of becoming Crown Prince would greatly improve. The Empress agreed but worried that Li Chengyin's proud nature made him ill-suited to charm women. Exhausted, Xiaofeng eventually collapsed from her horse.
Li Chengyin and Gu Jian found her and brought her to safety. Gu Jian departed to seek help, leaving Li Chengyin to tend to her alone. Consequently, when Xiaofeng awoke, she only saw Li Chengyin. She urged him that they needed to get reinforcements for Heshi.
While she suggested the distant camp of Khan Tida'er, Li Chengyin argued it was more logical to seek help from the nearby Western Border Protectorate General Office, as it was their duty to maintain regional stability. Xiaofeng agreed, prioritizing Heshi's rescue. Meanwhile, Gu Jian reached Colonel Pei Zhao, explained the situation with the Shuobo attack, and requested aid.
Pei Zhao agreed but revealed that the Protectorate's camp had recently been moved due to expanding quicksand, a fact Gu Jian worried Li Chengyin wouldn't know. Gu Jian also asked Pei Zhao to keep Li Chengyin’s true identity as the Fifth Prince a secret from Xiaofeng. As Li Chengyin and Xiaofeng journeyed through the scorching desert, suffering from heat and thirst, Li Chengyin thought he saw water and rushed toward it, only to fall into a quicksand pit.
Xiaofeng threw him a rope and desperately tried to pull him out, her hands bleeding from the effort. As he continued to sink, Li Chengyin, using his alias Gu Xiaowu, urged her to let go to save herself, but she adamantly refused, declaring that they would face their fate together. Realizing he was doomed, Li Chengyin confessed that he had been using her from the very beginning. Devastated, Xiaofeng pleaded with him not to abandon her. With his final words, Li Chengyin told her she must live on before the quicksand completely submerged him, leaving her to watch in horror.
