My Divine Emissary Episode 6 Recap
> My Divine Emissary Recap
Li Mengmeng told Zhou Quan that naturally, her career was the most important thing, and His Majesty Qi Yan could only rank after money. Qi Yan overheard this and instructed Lu Huan to confiscate all the silver Li Mengmeng had. Seeing this, Zhou Quan quickly fled the eunuch quarters. Kong An saw her running and instinctively chased after her. Zhou Quan, frightened, tripped and fell.
Kong An rushed over to help her up, but she told him to stop pretending and asked why he was chasing her. Kong An explained he chased because he saw her running out suspiciously. Noticing her hand was bleeding, he gave her the healing ointment His Majesty had granted him, saying it was very effective. Back with Qi Yan, Li Mengmeng tried to soothe his anger, asking why he was still upset since he had already confiscated her money.
She reminded him she had even cheered for him in court until her voice was hoarse, though Qi Yan suspected she was only cheering for her money bag. Li Mengmeng apologized and offered to make him a delicious delicacy from her hometown to help him feel better. Li Mengmeng then prepared a dish, explaining that soaking the powder in cold water would make the noodles smoother and more elastic.
When she opened the pot, Qi Yan smelled it and recoiled, asking why it smelled like feces if it was a delicacy from her hometown. Li Mengmeng told him it was called snail rice noodles and, despite the smell, it was very fragrant and delicious when eaten. Qi Yan was reluctant, calling it feces, but Li Mengmeng dared him to try it. He took a bite and immediately fainted on Li Mengmeng's bed.
Li Mengmeng tried to wake him, panicking and thinking she would surely be beheaded this time. She thought about trying to return using the water tank. Standing by Qi Yan's side, she confessed that when she first met him, she truly disliked him because he always threatened her with beheading. However, after spending time together, she realized he wasn't a tyrant. She apologized, blaming the snail rice noodles for his apparent demise at such a young age.
She told him goodbye and said she hoped to compensate him in an afterlife before jumping into the water tank. Qi Yan immediately rose from the bed and pulled her out, revealing he was just playing a prank on her because she always made him angry. Li Mengmeng was furious, saying nobody jokes about someone's life. Qi Yan countered, asking if only she was allowed to lie to him.
She insisted joking about life was unacceptable and that the prank wasn't funny. Just as she finished speaking, Qi Yan collapsed again, this time genuinely fainting onto the floor. He barely managed to tell her to quickly summon an imperial physician. It turned out Qi Yan was severely allergic to peanuts, a fact Li Mengmeng was unaware of when she prepared the food. When Qi Yan woke in Qingyan Palace, he asked for Eunuch Li.
Lu Huan arrived and told Qi Yan that Eunuch Li was a traitor, alleging he was instructed by Prince Heqin to feed His Majesty food containing peanuts, thus harming him. Qi Yan dismissed this, showing Li Mengmeng items that Lu Huan had found in her bag. Among them was a picture that Lu Huan insisted looked like Prince Heqin, though Li Mengmeng claimed it was someone from her hometown called Bai Lian.
He also showed her a packet of powder, calling it something amazing the Noble Consort had asked Li Mengmeng to keep for her when she left the palace. Not knowing what it was, Qi Yan ordered Li Mengmeng to open it. As she opened it, they both leaned in to smell the contents. The powder entered their noses, and Li Mengmeng felt it happening again before they both lost consciousness and collapsed.
While they were unconscious, Li Mengmeng removed her outer layer of clothing. Qi Yan, coming to slightly, saw this and realized with surprise that she was a woman. The next morning, Li Mengmeng was mortified by what had happened during the night, wondering how she could ever face Qi Yan again.
Guards arrived to remove the water tank and other items from her room on His Majesty's orders, claiming the tank was unlucky and unsafe and that it was to prevent Eunuch Li from attempting suicide again. Li Mengmeng protested, insisting she wasn't trying to kill herself but merely trying to prevent others from using the water. She also demanded her scissors back. Meanwhile, the half-yearly eunuch assessment for new recruits began.
Li Mengmeng observed the assessment, which included height checks, and wondered why eunuchs needed to be assessed. An official explained it was necessary because someone had recently disgraced their name. Li Mengmeng saw the High Priest who had conducted the rain praying ceremony and worried about being recognized.
In the Imperial Study, Zhen Xu was attempting to brief Qi Yan on matters concerning taxes and canal construction for Lu County, but Qi Yan was clearly distracted, his mind preoccupied with Li Mengmeng and the ongoing issues in Lu County. Qi Yan asked Lu Huan why Li Mengmeng was absent, and learned she was participating in the eunuch assessment. Qi Yan remarked that it was perhaps good for her to experience some hardship and learn discipline.
The assessment included a body examination as the final item. Li Mengmeng, fearing her female identity would be revealed, tried to claim a stomach ache to escape but was ordered back. Qi Yan, reflecting that the eunuch assessment served him, decided he should go observe it himself. As Qi Yan was about to leave for the assessment, Qi Su intercepted him.
Qi Su stated he wanted to see how Qi Yan would react to the body check portion of the assessment, which he noted was a new addition. He pointedly asked if Qi Yan wasn't interested in learning more about Eunuch Li. Qi Yan immediately ordered Lu Huan to bring Li Mengmeng to the Imperial Study to await him.
At the same time, the High Priest, recognizing Li Mengmeng from the rain praying ritual, showed a picture of her to Chancellor Cui Anshi, identifying her as the disappeared Emissary Xiao. They questioned why the Emissary was hiding by the Emperor's side as an eunuch. Chancellor Cui went to inform the Empress Dowager. Cui Wan'er was with the Empress Dowager, who informed Chancellor Cui that a physical examination had confirmed Cui Wan'er had not consummated her marriage with Qi Yan.
The Empress Dowager blamed herself for spoiling Qi Yan. Chancellor Cui blamed Li Mengmeng, whom he called a "demon" for bewitching Qi Yan and preventing the consummation, arguing that the drought persisting after Emissary Xiao's appearance proved he was a fake. Granny Sun added that Eunuch Li had been present in the inner palace on the day of the scheduled consummation and was seen coming out. The Empress Dowager ordered Eunuch Li to be brought to her.
At the eunuch assessment, as Li Mengmeng was about to undergo the body check, Granny Sun arrived and announced she was there on the Empress Dowager's orders to summon Eunuch Li, taking Li Mengmeng away. Qi Su spoke to Qi Yan, implying Li Mengmeng was being targeted just as "Minister Li" had been, and questioned Qi Yan's intentions.
Qi Su stated his concern was that Qi Yan was allowing a woman of unknown origin by his side when he had not yet had a child with the Noble Consort Cui Wan'er, especially since Qi Yan knew Qi Su and Cui Wan'er cared for each other before he married her and made her a laughingstock. Qi Su warned that if Qi Yan continued this "ridiculous act," he would not be kind to the little eunuch.
Qi Yan asserted that Li Mengmeng was his person and it was none of Qi Su's concern. Li Mengmeng was brought before the Empress Dowager and Chancellor Cui. The Empress Dowager immediately addressed her as Emissary Xiao and showed her items related to the ritual, asking why she had faked being a divine emissary and was now hiding by the Emperor's side as an eunuch, demanding to know her true intentions. Li Mengmeng claimed she was innocent.
She explained she had hidden her identity because on the day of the ritual, she had perceived a "bad aura" around His Majesty and chose to stay to help him dispel misfortune. Chancellor Cui dismissed this as utter nonsense, calling her an ominous demon trying to bewitch the Empress Dowager as she had bewitched Qi Yan. He argued that His Majesty, being the Son of Heaven, could not possibly have a bad aura and demanded proof.
Li Mengmeng offered to demonstrate if His Majesty was brought there. Chancellor Cui accused her of trying to use the Empress Dowager to summon Qi Yan to save herself. He declared that impersonating a divine emissary, misleading people, and obstructing the imperial marriage was a capital offense. He recommended she be immediately imprisoned, personally interrogated by him to uncover the truth, and executed without delay. The Empress Dowager agreed to Chancellor Cui's proposal.
Li Mengmeng was taken and interrogated, likely by Chancellor Cui or his subordinates. They demanded to know who had instructed her to appear at the rain ritual and to obstruct the imperial marriage. She repeatedly insisted that she had not been instructed by anyone. Her interrogators called her stubborn and threatened her with torture.
They described the method of "lingering death," explaining it involved using a small knife to cut off pieces of flesh bit by bit, a fate worse than death. They warned they would start with her face if she didn't confess. Li Mengmeng demanded to see His Majesty, but they told her she could not see him just because she wished to. As they prepared to begin torturing her face, someone ordered them to stop.
