Jade's Fateful Love Episode 7 Recap
> Jade's Fateful Love Recap
Yueling stepped out into the city streets with Zhou Shiyu, whom she knew only as Wen Yu. As they strolled, they heard children chanting a popular rhyme: "The Beishuo court has undergone many changes, the emperor is weak, ministers are powerful, and lords are numerous. Stability relies entirely on the Prime Minister. The South King and North King are incompetent. One is foolish and the other is useless."
Hearing the less-than-flattering description of the princes, Zhou Shiyu bought some sugarcoated haws and persuaded the children to change the rhyme to praise one of them. The children agreed, chanting, "The South King and North King are not equal. One is foolish and one is strong." Zhou Shiyu was pleased by this revised version. He then bought many sugar figures and asked the vendor to deliver them to the North Prince's Mansion.
The vendor, recognizing the address, insisted on giving them for free, recounting how the North Prince had saved his village from a plague, calling him a great man and his benefactor. This presented a different image of the North Prince than the popular rhyme suggested. Zhou Shiyu cryptically told her to remember the South Prince is a good-for-nothing, but the North Prince is not. Meanwhile, the South Prince, Zhou Zhixuan, attempted to solicit praise for his paintings from his servants.
The servants struggled to find genuine compliments for the unimpressive artwork, offering awkward and generic flattery. During this forced appreciation session, a steward reported that the North Prince, Zhou Shiyu, was out on the streets with the Princess of Dongyu, having fun. Hearing this, Zhou Zhixuan became determined to dress elaborately, go out, and outshine the North Prince to impress the princess, believing himself to be the most handsome man in Beishuo.
Separately, Xingyi, while drinking with Su Nian, described the free and happy life he and his sister enjoyed traveling throughout Dongyu, including riding horses on the grassland and trying local foods. Su Nian expressed her yearning for such a life. Xingyi, considering her a friend, promised to take her to Dongyu someday for horse riding. He revealed he was a prince of Dongyu and his sister, Yueling, was a princess.
Su Nian noted that with Yueling marrying the North Prince, returning to Dongyu might be impossible. Xingyi, however, confided that they had no intention of staying long in Beishuo and planned to secretly escape eventually. He added that he heard the North Prince was useless and that they possessed leverage against him, described as an account, which would make their departure simple. Su Nian voiced doubt about the North Prince truly being useless, suggesting normal leverage might not work.
Xingyi insisted their information about the leverage was significant. Regretting that she couldn't leave Beishuo, Su Nian wished she could see Dongyu's grasslands and taste its food. Xingyi offered to bring her to their residence to try Dongyu dishes made by their chefs. Later, Zhou Zhixuan, having dressed up, ventured onto the street to gauge public admiration.
His attempt was thwarted when an old woman complained about him blocking the way, dismissing his posing as "playing cool," calling him not handsome, and urging him to do something serious instead of standing around for an hour. Feeling hurt, Zhou Zhixuan proceeded to the House of Romance where he found Zhou Shiyu and Yueling. Seeing them, he criticized Zhou Shiyu for feeding the princess such simple food. Yueling responded by comparing Zhou Zhixuan to a "Peacock."
Zhou Shiyu, not wanting to argue with Zhou Zhixuan, decided to leave with Yueling to buy flower lanterns at the night market, avoiding further confrontation. Annoyed, Zhou Zhixuan ordered the best food and drinks in the establishment. Zhou Shiyu tried several times to find an opportunity to explain his true identity to Yueling on their way back, but various distractions, including Yueling wanting to look around and buy pastries, prevented him.
As they were about to return to the mansion, they were ambushed by black-clad assassins. Arrows were fired, striking Zhou Shiyu and Yueling, but they seemed to be reborn or heal moments later. Guards led by Lin Mu arrived quickly, shouting "Protect His Highness!" and greeting the North Prince. Zhou Zhixuan also arrived at the scene. Yueling, confused by the guards' cries and seeing only Zhou Shiyu present, asked if he was the North Prince.
When he confirmed it, also admitting that "Wen Yu" was another name he used, Yueling accused him of lying to her and stormed off, stating she couldn't be with a noble prince like him and didn't need his explanations. Zhou Zhixuan, witnessing their argument and sensing an opportunity, approached Yueling. Despite this, Zhou Shiyu warned Zhou Zhixuan to quickly return to his mansion, stating someone wanted to kill him on South Street and he should find garrison soldiers for protection.
Zhou Zhixuan was surprised by this apparent foresight and initially dismissed it as a lie, questioning who would dare kill him, but then felt as though he himself had been assassinated and frantically ordered his servant Yang Xu to quickly find guards. Back at the North Prince's Mansion, Yueling was deeply upset, feeling betrayed and disrespected by Zhou Shiyu's deception.
Zhou Shiyu attempted to explain that he hadn't intended to hide his identity and had planned to reveal it today, but his explanations were unsuccessful. Yueling accused him of fabricating a persona and manipulating even the children's rhyme for his own glorification, calling him shameless and a perfect liar who had deceived her from Dongyu to Beishuo.
She felt she was not worthy of his high status, but he insisted she was worthy as the Princess of Dongyu, adding that he had only just learned her identity himself. Yueling continued to call him a liar. To appease Yueling and improve her impression of the North Prince, Lin Mu suggested demonstrating Zhou Shiyu's virtues through practical actions.
As a first step, the House of Pretties was emptied and renamed the House of Breeze, filled with precious art and instruments from various countries, with the key given to Yueling. Yueling noticed the change, though a servant denied it had ever been the House of Pretties. Next, Lin Mu orchestrated the drying of numerous books throughout the eastern yard, loudly proclaiming Zhou Shiyu's extensive knowledge, talent, intelligence, and courage for everyone, including Yueling and Xingyi, to hear.
Following this, people whom the North Prince had previously helped, such as villagers saved from a plague, a man given land, and a merchant freed from gangsters, came to the mansion, presenting gifts and asking Yueling to convey their gratitude to the North Prince. Dozens of people expressed their thanks through her. Xingyi observed that the North Prince seemed to be a very kind-hearted person, making Yueling thoughtful.
Lin Mu reported the positive developments to Zhou Shiyu, believing his plan was working and Yueling's anger had subsided, claiming he heard Yueling even started praising him. However, when a servant presented a large spread of food, confirming it was arranged by the North Prince, Yueling reacted negatively. She expressed annoyance at their persistent efforts, stating she would not forgive him just because of these actions.
She specifically mentioned changing the House of Pretties and the noisy display of books, but was most frustrated by the numerous people who came to thank him, forcing her to expend energy in reciprocating their gifts, which she called adding unnecessary trouble. She accused him of being scheming. Just as the situation escalated and Yueling confronted Lin Mu about his actions, shouts of "Assassins!" erupted, interrupting the confrontation.
