Moonshine and Valentine Episode 16 Recap
> Moonshine and Valentine Recap
Helan Jingting, having lived for centuries, impressed Pipi with his vast knowledge of poetry, literature, foreign languages, and even various instruments. Pipi admired him as he meticulously wrote characters with an inkstick. Eager to expand her own knowledge, Pipi searched through Helan Jingting's extensive library for ancient texts. While doing so, she inadvertently discovered a portrait of a woman named Huiyan.
The discovery of the portrait sparked unease within Pipi, making her wonder about this woman Helan Jingting might have loved. Later, Pipi contacted Su Mei by phone, showing her the portrait and asking about Huiyan. Su Mei laughed, explaining that the women in the images, one from the Song Dynasty named Ning Wen and another from the Ming Dynasty named Xiang Ding, were all Pipi's past incarnations, and all of them were Huiyan.
Seeing Pipi’s disbelief, Su Mei began recounting the history of Helan Jingting, which began over nine hundred years ago. Su Mei revealed that Lord Qingmu, the highest leader of the Fox Clan, had fallen in love with a human woman, leading to the birth of Helan Jingting. Because human-fox unions were forbidden, Helan Jingting was born with a weak constitution and was blind.
Though Qingmu was strict with his only child, believing an unhealthy young fox should be abandoned, he kept Helan Jingting. Growing up, Helan Jingting consumed only flower petals, a mystery believed to be linked to his mixed heritage. To cure his blindness, Lord Qingmu sought advice from a master.
The master advised that when Helan Jingting turned seventeen, a Yang year, he should find a human girl with a pure Yang aura, make her fall in love with him, and then, on a pure Yang day, consume her liver to regain his sight. Qingmu arranged for a young girl, Huiyan, to grow up with Helan Jingting. On Helan Jingting’s seventeenth birthday, which was a full moon night, his father, Qingmu, made him drink a soup.
When Helan Jingting later discovered it was made from Huiyan’s liver, he was devastated. He broke ties with his father, vowing revenge for Huiyan. Despite drinking the soup, Helan Jingting’s vision only returned at night, possibly due to his human bloodline. Pipi questioned why Qingmu would let them grow up together if Huiyan was just a medicinal guide.
Su Mei speculated that perhaps Qingmu, having fallen for a human himself, wanted Helan Jingting to experience love and then loss, a harsh lesson against loving humans, ensuring he would never repeat his father's mistake. Helan Jingting was exiled for a century but never forgave his father. He eventually fled to the south, where he amassed power and waged the three-year-long Troubled Times of Zhenyong against Qingmu.
After the war, the Fox Clan split along the 30th parallel north, with Helan Jingting becoming the Right High Priest of the South Fox Clan, while Lord Qingmu appointed his favored student, Zhao Song, as the Left High Priest, ruling the North Fox Clan, setting them as opposing forces. Pipi listened silently, tears streaming down her face as she empathized with everyone in the story, especially Huiyan.
Yet, she struggled to accept that she was Huiyan, stating she was Guan Pipi. She felt a deep insecurity, fearing she was just a shadow of Huiyan, and wanted Helan Jingting to love only her in this lifetime, not the lingering presence of his past love. Meanwhile, at Xiaoju’s cafe, her eccentric mathematician father eagerly presented complex equations to her. Xiaoju, accustomed to his "useless" theories, paid little attention.
Kuan Yong, however, was fascinated and even joined in the calculations, pointing out errors. Xiaoju's father insisted that everything in the world should be like mathematics, with a clear, standard answer, a world of black and white. But Xiaoju disagreed, explaining that some things, especially emotions, don't need to be fully understood or clearly defined; the world of feelings is often ambiguous. Her candid words seemed to lighten the awkwardness among her, Xiu Xian, and Kuan Yong.
Xiu Xian, teasingly, offered to let Xiaoju live with him and Kuan Yong in their house when she grew old. Xiaoju playfully refused, reminding them that as a fox, she wouldn't age, and would look the same even when Xiu Xian and Kuan Yong were old men. At the Fox Clan's Northern territory, Qian Hua, dressed in a beautiful white wedding gown, met with Zhao Song.
While Zhao Song expressed his desire for a real wedding and a bride who truly loved him, he acknowledged that their current arrangement was a staged event. Qian Hua reminded him that she had been through a similar fake wedding for Helan Jingting before. Their plan was to draw out Princess Zhaoyan.
Zhao Song promised Qian Hua that if Princess Zhaoyan didn't appear by the end of the ceremony, he would find an excuse to cancel it, sparing Qian Hua and the Tushan family further shame. He confessed that his initial act of giving her the Pearl of Charm was selfish, but his current desire for a genuine union was heartfelt. He vowed to continue pursuing Qian Hua, hoping she would one day willingly marry him.
Just as Zhao Song left, Bozhong arrived, accompanied by Princess Zhaoyan. Princess Zhaoyan, famous for her powerful aura, immediately sensed the underlying intentions. She directly addressed Qian Hua, acknowledging that Qian Hua’s true purpose for the wedding was to save the human girl afflicted by the Flower of the Fox. Princess Zhaoyan stated her conditions for revealing how to save the girl: Qian Hua must marry Zhao Song.
Regardless of whether their love was real or feigned, Princess Zhaoyan insisted that Qian Hua bearing Zhao Song’s name as the Left High Priestess was the only way for Zhao Song to legitimately lead the Fox Clan. Suddenly, Zhao Song re-entered, demanding an explanation from Princess Zhaoyan and ordering the wedding canceled. He loudly declared to his father, Lord Qingmu, that their marriage was a pretense solely intended to lure Princess Zhaoyan.
Qingmu angrily rebuked Zhao Song, accusing him of breaking off an engagement he had personally arranged for Qian Hua and Helan Jingting, and accusing Zhao Song of always loving Qian Hua and plotting against Helan Jingting. Zhao Song, fueled by resentment, retorted that he couldn't get anything because he wasn’t Qingmu’s biological son, throwing back the gifts Qingmu had given him and asserting his freedom to love whomever he pleased.
Qingmu, enraged, declared that Zhao Song could love anyone but Qian Hua, insisting she must marry Helan Jingting, whom he referred to as "Axi." Zhao Song, furious, questioned Qingmu's extreme favoritism towards Helan Jingting, whom he called a "hybrid." Back with Qian Hua, Princess Zhaoyan confirmed that she knew about Qian Hua's plan because Bozhong had approached her earlier.
Qian Hua explained her reasoning: Helan Jingting, as the Right High Priest, had long opposed Lord Qingmu, causing the Fox Clan to split and advocating for integration with humans, which directly countered Princess Zhaoyan’s beliefs. In contrast, Zhao Song aligned with Zhaoyan's views, making him a more suitable heir. Qian Hua believed that her marriage to Zhao Song would garner support from the northern Fox Clan families, pressuring Qingmu to change his successor. Princess Zhaoyan complimented Qian Hua’s intelligence but revealed that there was also a personal reason for her targeting Helan Jingting: Helan Jingting was her sister Princess Xiyan's son.
