Mengfei Comes Across Episode 8 Recap
> Mengfei Comes Across Recap
Imperial Physician Liu Jinyan had recently been suffering from severe procrastination. When a colleague asked him to sort newly arrived medicinal herbs, he repeatedly claimed he would "go right away" but remained seated, prompting his colleague to exasperatedly point out that his tardiness extended even to summons from the Emperor. Liu Jinyan admitted to his dilatory habits, expressing feelings of "nervousness, melancholy, and self-loathing," but insisted his procrastination was "late stage" and "beyond cure."
Soon after, Liu Jinyan was summoned to Changji Hall, where the Emperor sternly reprimanded him. The Emperor revealed a flood of complaints from concubines about Liu Jinyan's persistent delays in attending to their medical needs, sometimes arriving at night for a daytime call. Ignoring Liu Jinyan's attempts to explain, the Emperor called his performance "terrible" and demanded he be more proactive, questioning if he intended for patients to die or heal themselves.
The Emperor reminded Liu Jinyan not to presume upon their childhood friendship and warned him that further complaints would result in severe punishment. Liu Jinyan bowed, promising to overcome his procrastination. Meanwhile, in Fanghua Palace, the Emperor had not forgotten that Princess Meng had generously given a purse to a fake envoy. He sent his attendant Fu Xi to remind her to embroider a new one.
Fu Xi explained that the Emperor specifically requested a white purse, as any accidental bloodstain from a pricked finger would necessitate starting over, effectively turning it into a punishment and greatly increasing her workload. Princess Meng understood the hidden meaning but accepted the task cheerfully. That night, Princess Meng was on the palace rooftop, diligently embroidering the white purse, carefully covering her hand to avoid pricking herself. Xiao Guiren discovered her and learned of her insomnia.
Xiao Guiren then revealed that Liu Jinyan had "corrupted everyone in the palace," causing concubines to fear seeking medical attention due to his erratic treatments. She implored Princess Meng to find a solution. Princess Meng, determined to help, vowed to bring Liu Jinyan to Fanghua Palace the next day and guide him back to the right path, even if it meant "breaking her tongue."
The next day, Princess Meng feigned illness and invited Liu Jinyan to Fanghua Palace, with Yan Fei and Xiao Guiren hidden nearby. Liu Jinyan, surprisingly punctual, immediately launched into a self-deprecating monologue, declaring himself "shameful, useless, and incompetent." When Princess Meng mentioned her insomnia, Liu Jinyan expounded on his theory that "insomnia and failure are almost indistinguishable," as failures couldn't sleep, and insomniacs felt like failures. He questioned if Princess Meng, too, felt tired and without purpose.
Princess Meng found herself agreeing, feeling a lack of motivation. Liu Jinyan then declared, "Useless waste is waste," lamenting that "life without desire is true despair." He confessed that the only reason he was still alive was his unfulfilled wish to meet his idol, "An Arrow Holy Hand Hua que Miao."
Princess Meng, only familiar with renowned physicians like Hua Tuo, Bian Que, and Sun Simiao, questioned this name, but Liu Jinyan passionately defended Hua que Miao as a brilliant, elusive doctor, a "combination" of all great physicians, and insisted he wanted to live long enough to "bury him." He then asked Princess Meng if she had any unfulfilled wishes. When she replied no, he deemed her "even more of a failure" and "beyond cure."
After Liu Jinyan left, Princess Meng initially felt "brainwashed" by his negativity but quickly snapped out of it, realizing her attempt to help had backfired. She tried to tempt him with food, but he rejected it, stating, "food passes through the intestines, depression remains in the heart." Yan Fei suggested a "little red flower" task tracker for motivation, while Xiao Guiren advocated for intense physical training.
Princess Meng, however, decided that the only way to help Liu Jinyan was through a "misery comparison." Princess Meng gathered Liu Jinyan along with Yan Fei, Qu Pin, and Xiao Guiren for another attempt to cure his gloom. She began recounting the personal misfortunes of her friends, hoping to show Liu Jinyan he wasn't the most miserable. She detailed how Yan Fei had been unjustly labeled a "demon concubine" and excluded, forcing her to invent things to pass the time.
Then she spoke of Qu Pin, a young beauty who entered the palace but received little attention from the Emperor, finding solace only in food. Next, she shared Xiao Guiren's tragedy: her fiancé, General Shen Shang, vanished in battle, leaving Xiao Guiren unable to move on. Each story drew a sympathetic "miserable" from Liu Jinyan.
Finally, Princess Meng revealed her own plight: forced into palace life despite preferring a leisurely existence, now constantly bearing the brunt of the Emperor's frustrations with his father. She concluded that everyone present was profoundly miserable. Her friends, however, were furious at having their private lives exposed. Princess Meng apologized profusely, explaining her intentions to comfort Liu Jinyan.
To appease them, she agreed to buy Qu Pin a new set of rouge from the royal women's workshop, new fabrics for Yan Fei's clothes, and to meticulously clean and oil Xiao Guiren's collection of over one hundred swords before dark. Later, Yan Fei reported that Liu Jinyan had stopped spreading negative energy to others, but was now harming himself, reportedly consuming croton and attempting to hang himself with noodles.
Yan Fei further revealed that Liu Jinyan was currently standing on the roof of the Imperial Hospital, looking distressed. Concerned about the severe negative impact this could have on palace morale and the medical profession, Princess Meng decided to act. They orchestrated a plan for Xiao Guiren to impersonate Hua que Miao on the rooftop, with Yan Fei providing a disguised voice.
Liu Jinyan was ecstatic to meet his idol, though he noted the voice's direction seemed "a little off," which Yan Fei attributed to the strong wind. As the fake Hua que Miao, Yan Fei (through Xiao Guiren) shared wisdom about self-belief and overcoming life's low points. Just as the fake idol "departed," the Emperor unexpectedly arrived, demanding to know what they were doing. Princess Meng quickly explained they feared Liu Jinyan was contemplating self-harm.
Liu Jinyan, however, clarified that he consumed croton to treat his "intractable old constipation" and was merely on the roof for night duty, amusing himself by seeing "how far he could spit." The Emperor, shaking his head in disbelief, simply walked away. Liu Jinyan remained invigorated by his encounter with his "idol," enthusiastically publicizing the meeting to his colleagues and even to newspapers, claiming to have rediscovered "the meaning of life."
He eagerly asked Princess Meng to arrange another meeting with Hua que Miao. Princess Meng, hesitant and struggling for an excuse, eventually claimed that Hua que Miao had gone into "closed-door cultivation" for his medical studies, a concept Liu Jinyan questioned but ultimately accepted after Princess Meng asserted all "divine doctors must go into closed-door cultivation."
As they spoke, Bao Qu passed by Fanghua Palace with his guards, excitedly announcing the capture of an "assassin"—an old man who had repeatedly tried to force his way into the palace, claiming "impersonation" and "rights infringement" because he had been "written into a false story." Bao Qu, proud of catching his "first assassin this year," mentioned the old man was in jail awaiting "strict interrogation," but struggled to recall his "convoluted" name, only managing "Hua. . ."
Princess Meng's intuition immediately told her that this "assassin" was the real Hua que Miao. After Bao Qu left, she told Liu Jinyan she had "good news and bad news." The good news was that he could indeed meet his idol, who was "200% the old man Bao Qu mentioned," and was currently "in jail." Liu Jinyan initially dismissed this as Princess Meng making excuses for not arranging a meeting.
Princess Meng then delivered the bad news, confessing that the Hua que Miao he had met earlier was a fake created by her to help him. However, Liu Jinyan's widespread boasts about the encounter had inadvertently attracted the real Hua que Miao, leading to his arrest. She urged Liu Jinyan to rush to the jail and rescue the old man before his "old body" suffered any harm, warning that otherwise, he would truly have to "send his idol to Kulin." Shocked by Princess Meng's "creativity" in her elaborate rescue attempt, Liu Jinyan immediately ran off to find Bao Qu.
