The First Jasmine Episode 14 Recap
> The First Jasmine Recaps
On the day of the grandmother's birthday, the Ye Mansion was bustling with festive energy. Guests arrived from all over, bearing exquisite gifts such as a golden-thread nanmu longevity cane from the Wang family and peach cakes with a 100-blessings pattern from Zuixian Tower. Wang Shi was busy greeting the attendees, introducing Ye Li to several relatives who had recently returned from Lanyi.
When Ye Li paid her respects to the grandmother, the elderly woman's fading mind mistook her for her late mother, Xu Wanzhou. Ye Li's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly masked her sadness. Despite the crowded halls, the head of the household, Ye Wenhua, was nowhere to be seen. Worried about his absence, Wang Shi dispatched the butler, Fu Bo, to fetch him.
In his private room, Ye Wenhua was in a state of exhaustion, having spent several sleepless nights folding paper ingots in anticipation of a Daoist master's arrival. Fu Bo eventually persuaded him to make an appearance, reminding him that both of his daughters, who were now princess consorts, had returned for the banquet, and that his presence was required before the clan elders.
Although Prince Ding, Mo Xiuyao, was absent due to his demanding new role as Jingzhao Prefect, Prince Li, Mo Jingli, made a grand entrance. He took to the stage and played a rendition of the "Green Plum Prelude." While the guests whispered that he had come solely for his wife, Ye Ying, his gaze remained fixed entirely on Ye Li. The celebratory mood was soon shattered when an uninvited guest, General Wang, barged in.
Trembling with rage, he publicly accused Ye Wenshen of seducing his wife and disrupting his household. When Ye Wenshen denied the accusation, General Wang drew his blade and lunged at him. Before any blood could be spilled, Mo Xiuyao’s subordinate, A Jin, arrived with guards and swiftly subdued the attacker.
A Jin then presented Prince Ding’s birthday gift to the grandmother: a precious pillow carved from Zhongnan Mountain's cold jade and treated with healing herbs according to the legendary "Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold." The guests gasped at the luxury and thoughtfulness of the gift. To resolve the domestic dispute quietly, A Jin politely requested Ye Wenshen to accompany them to the prefectural office. Amidst the chaos, a highly intoxicated Mo Jingli was escorted away to rest.
As the feast concluded, Ye Li prepared to depart for the night. However, her uncle, Ye Wending, and Wang Shi insisted she stay, noting that the hour was late and her sister was also lodging at the mansion. Yielding to their requests, Ye Li agreed to stay. As she walked through the estate, young Ye Rong joined her, holding a toad he had caught at the banquet.
Although he failed to scare Ye Li, he declared he would use it to scare Ye Ying instead. When Ye Rong referred to Mo Xiuyao as a cripple, Ye Li’s face darkened, and she sternly warned him that she would stuff the toad down his throat if he ever used that word again. Left alone, Ye Li wandered into the quiet, overgrown courtyard that once belonged to her mother. The familiar surroundings unleashed a flood of painful memories.
Years ago, Wanzhou had held the posthumous edict tight, pleading with Wenhua that surrendering it would lead to General Mo Xiuwen's death. Unmoved by her pleas, Ye Wending and Wenhua had forced their way in to seize the document. Wanzhou’s loyal maid, Yanlu, was violently shoved, striking her head against a cabinet and falling unconscious. Following the incident, Wanzhou fell terribly ill and was locked away, neglected.
On her deathbed, she had begged a young Ye Li to go to the execution ground to apologize to Mo Xiuwen and offer whatever help they could—a debt she owed to the Prince Ding's Mansion. Ye Li's reflections were interrupted by a noise nearby. Entering a quiet room, she found Mo Jingli drunk and on the verge of self-harm. She quickly intervened to stop him. Half-unconscious and believing he was dreaming, Mo Jingli stared at her.
Noticing numerous scars on his arm, Ye Li asked what he had endured at Lishan Academy, to which he evasively replied they were from monkey bites. Believing it was a dream, Mo Jingli bared his soul, confessing how deeply he missed her, recalling the melody of "Green Plum Prelude" and the sweet mulberry wine they once shared. Conflicted by guilt and unfinished ambitions, he expressed his self-loathing.
Ye Li listened in absolute silence, her heart hardened by the lives of her Lishan companions. After binding his wound, she left him alone in his dream. Meanwhile, at the Jingzhao Prefecture, Feng Zhiyao presented a crucial lead to Mo Xiuyao. They deduced that the assassin who killed Yuan Fang had not fled the capital but had instead hidden inside the city.
A suspicious group of herb merchants from Cangbei, who had entered the city the morning after the murder, caught their attention. Furthermore, they learned that one of the assassins had rare, jade-green eyes. Their scouts had located this individual, known as the Red Fox, at a Hu wine tavern in Penglai Alley. Mo Xiuyao immediately ordered Wang Suwu to mobilize the prefecture guards to capture the group.
However, a spy among the guards caught wind of the operation and secretly sent word to Mo Jingli. At the Ye Mansion, Mo Jingli woke from his drunken stupor. Upon receiving the secret message about the Red Fox being compromised, he hurriedly left. Ye Ying, consumed by jealousy, orchestrated a trap to confront Ye Li. She sent a messenger claiming that the second master wished to meet Ye Li.
Sensing the deception, Ye Li redirected the meeting, instructing the servant to have Ye Ying meet her at Yanru Pond instead. When they met, Ye Ying bitterly accused her sister of lacking shame and pestering her husband. Ye Li remained unfazed, instead confronting Ye Ying with her knowledge of the attempted assassination. She reminded her sister that under the Chu Code, hiring assassins to murder a princess consort fell under the Ten Abominations, a crime unforgivable even by imperial amnesty.
Ye Li warned her to control her own husband rather than lashing out in madness. When a hysterical Ye Ying lunged at her, Ye Li stepped aside. Ye Ying lost her footing and tumbled into Yanru Pond, where she was horrified to discover a human skeleton resting beneath the dark water. At Penglai Alley, the prefecture guards sealed all exits and closed in on the Red Fox and his accomplices.
A fierce battle erupted, but just as the guards were about to secure a victory, a mysterious masked figure in black intervened, enabling the Red Fox and themselves to escape. Arriving at the chaotic scene, Mo Xiuyao ordered an immediate lockdown of the Chongren, Shengye, and Yongxing wards. He commanded the city guards to search the canals thoroughly, insisting that the fugitives be found, dead or alive.
Back at the Ye Mansion, a sleep-deprived and terrified Ye Wenhua was tormented by nightmares once again. In his delusion, he saw the specter of his deceased wife, Xu Wanzhou, who questioned him about the whereabouts of the imperial edict used to deploy the Black Cloud Cavalry. Overwhelmed by fear and guilt, Wenhua muttered frantically about purging his house to settle their past sins.
