Jade's Fateful Love Episode 2 Recap
> Jade's Fateful Love Recap
While eating roast fish, Yueling noticed that Zhou Shiyu was wearing a jade pendant similar to her own. They discussed the pendants' origins. Yueling's pendant was given to her by her mother, while Zhou Shiyu received his from a traveling necromancer who told him it would bring him fortuitous encounters. When the two pendants are combined, the necromancer claimed they would bring peace to the two states.
Yueling wondered if their survival during past assassination attempts was thanks to the pendant. Zhou Shiyu replied it was possible, but cautioned that their current safety didn't guarantee future safety. Meanwhile, the Roufeng Sect Chief was informed by Nan Xun that the Princess of Dongyu had escaped and the escort was largely dead or injured, with some guards having fled.
The Chief angrily ordered Nan Xun to find the princess within one day, alive or dead, threatening severe punishment for failure. Later, while resting by a lake, Yueling offered Zhou Shiyu water scooped in a lotus leaf, claiming it was sweet. After taking a sip, Zhou Shiyu agreed it tasted sweet. However, upon seeing Yueling's feet in the water, he angrily threw the leaf away, declaring he would rather not drink the water, despite just having praised its taste.
Continuing their journey the next day, Yueling struggled to keep up with Zhou Shiyu's pace, worrying they wouldn't reach the Capital City by the agreed time. She admitted she wasn't good at walking, only riding horses, and asked Zhou Shiyu to carry her. Although he initially hesitated due to propriety, he eventually agreed, remarking on how quickly she adapted to her new role.
He warned her that if they didn't find the real princess, she would have to take on the role and become the true Eldest Princess in Beishuo. Elsewhere, Nan Xun reported to the Roufeng Sect Chief that the princess was not found in the forest. During the report, someone (Xingyi) was apprehended. When questioned about the princess's whereabouts, Xingyi offered to lead them to her if they first cured him of his poison, claiming he was dying.
The Chief, eager for information, agreed and gave him an antidote, ordering Nan Xun to make him lead the way, threatening him with a miserable life if he tried any tricks. Xingyi complained about having to run behind their horses while still weak, leading the Chief to pull him onto his horse. However, Xingyi gave conflicting directions, and the Chief, realizing he was being fooled, threw him off the horse, deciding to abandon Xingyi and find another way.
Near the Capital City, Zhou Shiyu and Yueling rendezvoused with men sent by his side. Yueling immediately asked about Xingyi. Zhou Shiyu's men informed her that Xingyi was still on his way and would be escorted to the Capital. Zhou Shiyu reassured Yueling that Xingyi would be safe as long as she maintained her disguise. They soon arrived at the bustling Capital City, which captivated Yueling.
Earlier, following Roufeng Sect rules after Su Nian's mission failed, Nan Xun proceeded to punish Su Nian with a whipping, acting on the Chief's orders. Upon arriving at a residence prepared for her in the Capital, Yueling was greeted by Eunuch Li, who explained that due to pre-marriage customs, the Emperor could not meet her yet but had sent many items and arranged a banquet as a gesture of goodwill and care. Yueling accepted graciously.
Following the Emperor's gifts, representatives from various powerful factions, including the Old Imperial Consort, the North Prince, and the South Prince, arrived with opulent imperial dishes to celebrate her arrival. Zhou Shiyu immediately went to see Emperor Zhou Chenyu to report the substitution and the loss of the real princess. The Emperor was not concerned about the substitute's identity, stating that securing the alliance with Dongyu to gain their support against his uncle's influence was the primary objective.
To prevent complications before his uncle returned from suppressing rebels, the Emperor planned to announce the formal recognition of the marriage (conferral of consort title) soon and ordered Zhou Shiyu to ensure the princess's safety at the residence by adding more guards. Zhou Shiyu confirmed he would protect the princess and agreed on the urgency of the formal announcement before the uncle's return, stating that the alliance would bring peace between the two states.
Back at the residence, Yueling eagerly enjoyed the array of exquisite dishes. Zhou Shiyu arrived to check on her, and Yueling, in good spirits, invited him to join her meal. They both ate some pastry. Moments later, they felt drowsy and collapsed, appearing dead. A maid named Taozi, hidden nearby, emerged and seemed pleased with the outcome. However, to her shock, Yueling and Zhou Shiyu suddenly rose, unharmed. Yueling confronted the maid, realizing she was involved in a poisoning attempt.
To extract a confession, Yueling threatened to disfigure her face with a corrosive substance. The maid initially claimed ignorance but, under pressure, falsely implicated the North Prince. Zhou Shiyu immediately recognized this as a lie, noting the clumsy method of poisoning the food suggested the involvement of someone less cunning, identifying her as a servant of the simple-minded South Prince Zhou Zhixuan.
With further pressure from Yueling, the maid finally admitted her true allegiance, although she initially denied being directly ordered to poison by the South Prince himself. Taozi was subsequently sent back to the South Prince's mansion. The butler, Yang Xu, scolded her for her failure, lamenting that she had embarrassed the South Prince.
South Prince Zhou Zhixuan, holding a pet piglet, reacted with exaggerated confusion and anger when told Taozi had tried to poison the princess, claiming he never ordered it, despite Yang Xu and other maids confirming he had.
The conversation highlighted Zhou Zhixuan's erratic behavior, poor memory, simple thought process, naming his maids after fruits and poetic concepts, his focus on his pet Piggy, and his bitter rivalry with the North Prince, whom he blamed for taking credit he felt he deserved. He was furious that Zhou Shiyu and the princess had survived.
Taozi tried to explain she nearly succeeded, only for Zhou Zhixuan to express contradictory anger – first that she failed, then that if she had succeeded, he would have been in trouble too. He dismissed her as an idiot. Yang Xu then mentioned that North Prince's men had delivered Taozi back to the mansion, and also brought a letter from Zhou Shiyu. The letter simply stated, "I'll let you go this time.
Hope you'll behave yourself," which further enraged Zhou Zhixuan. Later, Yueling and Zhou Shiyu discussed the recent events. Yueling expressed her frustration at facing another attempt on her life after surviving the assassins on the road, wondering why people in Beishuo were so eager for the princess to die. Zhou Shiyu explained that the political landscape was complex, with those who desired peace supporting the marriage and those who sought chaos opposing it.
He noted that the identities of the initial assassins were still unknown, and now the unpredictable South Prince was causing trouble. Yueling dismissed the South Prince as useless and lacking brains, which Zhou Shiyu agreed with. Yueling then sarcastically commented on the "talents" within Beishuo's royal family, calling both the North Prince and South Prince useless. Zhou Shiyu humorously called this flattery.
Yueling reminded him that they were "in this together," bound by their shared fate (implied by their circumstances and the pendants), and that she considered him a friend—righteous, kind, and brave. Getting to the point, she admitted she wasn't scared, but as she had to maintain her disguise as the princess, she couldn't afford to get hurt. She asked Zhou Shiyu to stay and protect her in the room. When he questioned how they could sleep given their restraints, she suggested loosening them slightly so he could sleep on the floor.
