The First Jasmine Episode 15 Recap
> The First Jasmine Recaps
The skeleton was finally pulled from the bottom of Yanru Pond. Terrified, Ye Ying shrieked that a ghost had grabbed her foot with immense strength, but Ye Wending harshly silenced her, dismissing her terror as being tangled in weeds. He then turned his suspicion on the sisters, demanding to know why they were wandering around the pond so late instead of resting in their rooms.
Ye Li quickly claimed she had invited Ye Ying to help her organize a ladies' banquet to promote Shengde Pavilion. When Ye Wending questioned their sudden close bond, Ye Li pointed out that as blood sisters who both married into royal mansions, they shared honor and disgrace, and supporting each other was far better than becoming a laughingstock to outsiders.
Meanwhile, the family elders noticed that the bones had been submerged for years and were intentionally weighed down with stones to prevent them from floating up. When one elder suggested reporting the murder to Jingzhao Prefecture, Ye Wending refused, fearing it would unearth old family scandals. He ordered everyone to stay inside and keep quiet. However, some elders feared the resentful spirit would haunt them at midnight.
Ye Li stepped forward, declaring that the spirit would do no such thing, as the skeleton belonged to Yanlu, the personal maid of her late mother, Xu Wanzhou. Ye Li confronted Ye Wending, reminding him of how he had broken into her mother's courtyard, stolen her belongings, and severely injured Yanlu. Though his men had claimed they were taking Yanlu to treat her wounds, she was actually murdered and discarded in the pond.
When Ye Wending blustered that bones could not prove identity, Ye Li pointed to the distinct silver bracelet on the wrist, a gift from her mother that she remembered from her childhood. She accused them of killing Yanlu and driving her sick mother out to die on the road to Lishan Mountain. Ye Wenhua, plagued by guilt, did not dare to look at Ye Li or the skeleton.
Ye Wending defended their actions, claiming that Xu Wanzhou had brought ruin upon the family by colluding with the traitor Mo Xiuwen. He argued that casting her out was a necessary sacrifice to save the lives of their entire clan. Ye Li exposed their hypocrisy, noting how they abandoned her dying mother the moment Lishan Academy was sealed. When a sudden guqin melody drifted from Xu Wanzhou's abandoned courtyard, terror gripped the family.
Wenhua's wife, Lady Wang, dragged him to investigate, only to find her own maid playing the instrument in a trance. When Lady Wang grabbed the guqin, she suddenly became possessed by Xu Wanzhou's spirit, demanding her belongings and terrifying Wenhua. A Daoist master arrived and quickly restored order, performing an exorcism with the paper golden lotuses Wenhua had folded. After Lady Wang fainted, the master urged Wenhua to write down his true feelings to appease the lingering spirit.
Heartbroken and terrified, Wenhua penned his confession, which the master secretly slipped into his sleeve before burning a blank paper. Having orchestrated the entire ruse, Ye Li later retrieved the written confession, only to find it was a blank page. Refusing to give up, Ye Li confronted Wenhua in his courtyard.
Driven mad by fear, Wenhua fled to Xu Wanzhou's old courtyard, where Ye Li finally forced him to confess that he had stolen the posthumous edict—meant to mobilize the Heiyun Cavalry—and delivered it to Dowager Consort Qin. Before Ye Li could leave, Madam Ye appeared, revealing that her senile behavior had been a ruse to deceive her.
Cursing Xu Wanzhou and Ye Li as jinxes, Madam Ye boasted that she had personally smothered the sick Xu Wanzhou to death at Zhengyi Temple. As Madam Ye prepared to kill Ye Li, a bolt of lightning struck a tree, causing a heavy branch to fall and crush the old woman. Finding Madam Ye pinned and helpless, Ye Li picked up a knife and advanced on her.
Meanwhile, Mo Xiuyao led Jingzhao Prefecture guards into the Ye Mansion and managed to call out to Ye Li, stopping her from committing murder. Days later, Ye Li resumed her daily routine, running laps to build her stamina. Back at the Ye Mansion, Wenshen comforted the dying Madam Ye, promising to take her to the beautiful Immortal Dwelling.
When Mo Xiuyao informed Ye Li that Madam Ye had passed away, Ye Li calmly prepared incense, paper money, and nine eternal lamps to pay her respects. At the funeral, Ye Wending furiously accused Ye Li of killing her grandmother, threatening her with the family's punishment rod. However, Wenshen urged them to let his mother rest in peace, and Ye Li's sister-in-law, Wen Ran, stepped forward to defend her.
Pointing out that Ye Wending had no evidence of murder, Wen Ran challenged him to take the case to Jingzhao Prefecture, forcing him to back down. Later, Ye Li accompanied Mo Xiuyao as he took his first steps since she successfully treated his disabled legs. Deeply moved to be standing on his own feet once again, Mo Xiuyao thanked her warmly.
