Heroes Episode 26 Recap
> Heroes Recap
Wang Xiaoshi burst into a house, not to escape the surrounding chaos, but in search of Chancellor Cai. A nearby servant, seeing this, moved to protect the Chancellor, but Fu Zongshu intervened, instructing the servant to protect him instead. Inside, Yuan Shisanxian awaited Wang Xiaoshi, declaring that escape was impossible as the world belonged to them. Recognizing the chilling phrase his mother's killer had used, Wang Xiaoshi realized who he was facing.
He accused Yuan Shisanxian of assisting tyrants, but the latter, acknowledging their shared sect, offered to spare Wang Xiaoshi if he surrendered. Wang Xiaoshi refused, vowing he would not stop until Chancellor Cai was dead. Their intense battle began, with no one daring to interfere. Eventually, Wang Xiaoshi was thrown from the house, landing before Fu Zongshu, who was watching with amusement and proceeded to taunt him.
Enraged, Wang Xiaoshi flicked a chess piece with deadly accuracy, striking Fu Zongshu in the forehead and killing him instantly. Outnumbered and wounded by Yuan Shisanxian's arrow, Wang Xiaoshi was forced to retreat. Finding the city gates shut and the Ministry of Justice surrounding him, he offered to surrender to prevent further bloodshed. Just as he was about to be captured, members of the House of Sunset Drizzle, led by Shi Wukui, intervened.
They had horses waiting outside the city to secure his escape, assuring him that his two sworn brothers were waiting at Kushuipu. At Kushuipu, Su Mengzhen and the newly returned Bai Choufei waited. Su Mengzhen revealed his plan to step down from his duties for a time, entrusting Bai Choufei with managing the House. He warned Bai Choufei, who would be acting House Master, to rule with righteousness and not to kill indiscriminately, lest he turn friends into enemies.
Bai Choufei retorted that he only needed brothers, not friends. He correctly deduced Su Mengzhen's true plan: to send Wang Xiaoshi away and then take sole responsibility for the assassination of a high official. Bai Choufei strongly objected, but Su Mengzhen, as the current House Master, insisted the responsibility was his to bear. Wang Xiaoshi soon arrived, regretting that his actions had endangered the House.
Su Mengzhen and Bai Choufei reassured him, explaining that the Divine Marquis had already visited and promised to help clear his name, leveraging his status against the Youqiao Group. They stressed the urgency of his departure. Before he left, several House members who helped in the rescue pledged to follow Wang Xiaoshi on his journey. Afterward, the three men formalized their bond, taking an oath to be sworn brothers and entrusting their lives to one another.
Su Mengzhen urged Wang Xiaoshi to leave quickly and promised to look after Wen Rou. As he prepared to leave at dawn, Wang Xiaoshi was surprised to find Wen Rou waiting for him. She immediately began giving him instructions for their journey to Luoyang, telling him they would have to avoid the main roads and that she would handle acquiring supplies.
Though admitting she was unused to a hard life, she promised to learn survival skills like gathering firewood and pitching tents. She playfully warned him to be patient with her, or she would withhold his rations. Amused, Wang Xiaoshi embraced her, apologizing for the hardships she would face. Later, he began teaching her survival skills, such as how to read the moon for weather and where to set up camp.
When she worried about being separated, he promised to never leave her side. That morning, over a thousand court officers surrounded the House of Sunset Drizzle. Su Mengzhen prepared to take full responsibility. However, Bai Choufei intervened, publicly announcing his intention, as Vice House Master, to depose Su Mengzhen for incompetence, arguing that his poor leadership had allowed Wang Xiaoshi to assassinate a court official and endanger the entire House.
Understanding this was a ploy to protect Su Mengzhen, other high-ranking members voiced their agreement. Su Mengzhen protested, but Bai Choufei insisted, echoing Su Mengzhen's own words that sometimes a wrong choice must be made to achieve the right outcome. Presenting himself as the new House Master, Bai Choufei was shocked to find the official in charge was Lei Chun. It was revealed that after successfully managing the Six Half Hall, she had been made Chancellor Cai's foster daughter.
She advised Bai Choufei not to take the fall, but he insisted he had taken over from the terminally ill Su Mengzhen long ago and that all actions, including the assassination, were his command. Lei Chun ordered his arrest. She then confronted Su Mengzhen alone, revealing her bitter resentment over her father's death. Su Mengzhen offered to take Bai Choufei's place in the dungeons, but Lei Chun coldly refused.
She wanted him to suffer by watching his House be dismantled and his brother tortured. She taunted him for being unable to kill his enemy or save his brother, declaring this was a pain they would now share. Meanwhile, Fang Yingkan aggressively petitioned Chancellor Cai for more power, arguing he was more capable than the deceased Lei Sun and Fu Zongshu. Cai, viewing the martial world as a business, granted him Fu Zongshu's former position.
Later, Cai questioned Lei Chun's decision to only arrest Bai Choufei. Lei Chun explained that arresting the deeply-rooted but terminally ill Su Mengzhen would have caused a bloody, pointless war. In contrast, Bai Choufei was ambitious, resentful of his powerless position, and could be molded into a useful tool to eventually dismantle the House from within. Convinced, Cai agreed to let Bai Choufei languish in prison for a while before meeting him. He then introduced Fang Yingkan to Lei Chun.
Fang Yingkan, acting subserviently, mentioned his mission to assassinate Official Liu Anshi in the North and his plan to capture Wang Xiaoshi along the way to further prove his worth to the Chancellor.
