Moonlit Reunion Episode 1 Recap
> Moonlit Reunion Recap
A woman cloaked in black agilely pursued a Bat Demon across the rooftops of Chang'an late one night. She called out, demanding to know where the demon was going. As she cornered her prey, Commander Huang Yi of the Jinwu Guards arrived with his men, drawn by the noise. The Bat Demon seized the chance to flee, prompting the woman to swiftly escape over a wall and head towards Ruyi Pavilion.
Inside the lively Ruyi Pavilion, a calico cat darted through the bustling hall, avoiding patrons and servants, and disappeared into a private room. In a flash, the cat transformed into County Princess Wu Zhen, adorned in a splendid gilded feather dress. Wu Zhen, daughter of the Duke of Wu and sister to the Empress, was known for her rebellious spirit and unconventional life, despite her noble lineage.
Rumors of her scandalous liaisons filled Chang'an, though few knew that many of her "lovers" were demons in disguise, for Wu Zhen was, in truth, the Cat Lord, whose purpose was to subdue evil creatures.
For centuries, a hidden place known as the Beast Market, managed by the enigmatic Cat and Snake Lords and their four deputies, had maintained balance, preventing other demons from causing chaos in the human world and allowing them to avoid their historical nemesis, the Celestial Master of Changxi Palace. The Cat and Snake Lords had even aided the court in establishing the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, tasked with investigating and eradicating demons.
Despite this initial purpose, the Bureau had become an empty shell over time, while the Beast Market continued to preserve peace between realms. Soon after, Commander Huang Yi led his Jinwu Guards into Ruyi Pavilion, demanding a search for a criminal. Hu Zhu, the Ruyi Pavilion manager and a fox demon who served as a deputy to the Cat Lord, greeted him with a warm smile. She calmly assured Commander Huang there were no criminals, only beauties.
When Huang insisted he had seen someone, Hu Zhu revealed that the Young Marquis of Yu'an had reserved the entire pavilion that day to propose to Lady Wu, suggesting Huang not ruin the important event. Upstairs, the Young Marquis, Gu Changhuai, presented a marriage proposal letter, offering himself as a birthday gift to Wu Zhen. Wu Zhen, scoffing at his presumptuousness and her own infamous reputation, swiftly kicked him out over the railing.
Below, Mei Zhuyu of the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs witnessed the dramatic scene, though he found little interest in such a spectacle, explaining to a vendor that he was new to Chang'an and unfamiliar with its famous tales. After the chaos subsided, Hu Zhu entered Wu Zhen's room, detecting the faint scent of blood and confirming Wu Zhen had fought a demon. Wu Zhen admitted the Bat Demon had escaped but noted that the encounter had given her clues.
She recalled recent theft cases where victims were adorned with gold, concluding they needed to set a trap to lure out the greedy culprit. Just then, Mingzhuang, Wu Zhen's maid, arrived with gifts and marriage proposals from the Empress. Mingzhuang explained that the Empress, wishing for Wu Zhen to finally marry, had ordered all noble families to submit marriage proposal letters from every eligible bachelor.
Wu Zhen immediately instructed Mingzhuang to announce a grand birthday banquet at Ruyi Pavilion for the next day, inviting noble ladies and talented gentlemen. No gifts would be accepted, but all guests were to "dress in their finest, wearing brocade and gold." Hu Zhu instantly understood this was Wu Zhen's plan to lure the demon.
Meanwhile, Mei Zhuyu learned from a colleague that angering Commissioner Xu Luan meant being transferred to the records archive, a gloomy place where past stewards had mysteriously resigned. Interested in the ancient, sealed demon scrolls within, Mei Zhuyu deliberately provoked Commissioner Xu with disingenuous flattery, implying Xu should lead the Bureau to glory by personally investigating cases. Enraged, Commissioner Xu promptly banished Mei Zhuyu to the records archive.
No sooner had Mei Zhuyu arrived than his fourth brother, Mei Si, burst in, dragging him to Wu Zhen's banquet to help the Mei family compete with the Xie family in numbers of eligible bachelors. Mei Si explained that the Empress had ordered families to submit name cards for Wu Zhen, and the arrogant Xie family had submitted nineteen, while the Mei family, with Mei Zhuyu, had barely scraped together twenty.
Mei Si assured Mei Zhuyu he was merely a "number" and Wu Zhen would never be interested in him. He then added that Wu Zhen's luck was poor this year and she needed gold in her Five Elements, so guests were advised to wear gold accessories, urging Mei Zhuyu to put some on. At the banquet, while others reveled, Mei Zhuyu sat quietly, engrossed in case files.
Xie Loubo, a self-proclaimed scholar from the Xie family, along with his younger relatives, approached Mei Zhuyu, taunting him as a mere collateral branch of the Mei family and sneering at his position in the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Mei Zhuyu retorted sharply, leading Xie Loubo to accuse him of trying to charm Wu Zhen with his looks.
Mei Zhuyu warned them to mind their words, prompting an enraged Xie Loubo to order a bystander to "teach this young lord a lesson." At that critical moment, Wu Zhen appeared, firing an arrow through the air. She declared her admiration for Mei Zhuyu, asserting that he was better looking than Xie Loubo and demanding Xie apologize.
While ostensibly defending Mei Zhuyu, Wu Zhen was subtly observing the bystander Xie Loubo had ordered, recognizing him as the Bat Demon she had fought the previous night, but the demon vehemently denied this. As Mei Zhuyu prepared to leave with Mei Si, he heard breaking cups from upstairs. Concerned, he investigated, only to find Wu Zhen looking disheveled. Misunderstanding the scene, he awkwardly withdrew, assuming she had been intimate with someone.
Later that night, after escorting Mei Si home, Mei Zhuyu returned alone to the records archive. As he opened the door, a faint demonic aura emanated from the ancient scrolls, and rustling sounds indicated unseen creatures. He formed a hand seal, and a talisman shot from his sleeve, slaying the insect demon that had possessed the texts. Meanwhile, Wu Zhen entered a ruined temple, and a turn of a withered well led her to the Beast Market.
She released the Bat Demon she had captured, Fu Zhao, who revealed that he and the malevolent Fuxi were once a pair of bat-patterned earrings, one male and one female, forged in the previous dynasty and given life by human spiritual energy. He explained that Fuxi had been attacking people and stealing gold in Chang'an solely to find him, her lost other half, and he feared she would turn demonic if they were not reunited.
Wu Zhen understood that her initial guess about the demon's obsession with gold was correct, but the motive was not greed, but a desperate search. Fu Zhao further explained that he, with his keen hearing, had heard Fuxi near Ruyi Pavilion the previous night and had disguised himself as a servant to attend the banquet, hoping to persuade her to stop.
Wu Zhen, knowing that Fuxi had likely already possessed someone else and was losing control, decided she needed to find Fuxi quickly to prevent further trouble, despite her own half-demon nature leaving her powerless during the day. Seeking aid, Wu Zhen asked her deputy, Wu Zishu, to accompany her, hidden, to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. There, she approached Mei Zhuyu, playfully accusing him of being heartless for not comforting her about her "lost gold and silver."
When Mei Zhuyu asked for details to help, she scoffed at his perfunctory response. Commissioner Xu, eager to impress, interjected, assuring Wu Zhen that her concerns were Mei Zhuyu’s and he would ensure her satisfaction. Wu Zhen then visited Mei Zhuyu in his office within the records archive. She requested him to write her complaint, but Mei Zhuyu insisted it must be her own handwriting.
Feigning hunger and dizziness, she asked him to make her a complicated meal, a ploy for Wu Zishu to search the archives for clues to the recent cases and Fuxi's whereabouts. While Mei Zhuyu was away, Wu Zhen explored his office, playfully calling it "Lovesick Lane." When he returned, Wu Zhen accepted the complaint form he had written, acknowledging his "exception" to the rules.
She then questioned why he, a talented man, chose to work in the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, a place "with no money or prospects." Mei Zhuyu calmly responded that his only goal was to "uphold justice and protect the innocent" and "support the righteous and drive out evil," stating that "it's the same wherever you do it, as long as you do your job well."
Wu Zhen mused that he aspired to be a "true gentleman," unlike her, who lived a life of pleasure and was reviled by the people of Chang'an. She asserted that she cared little for their opinions, adding that one cannot truly judge others without understanding their hardships.
