My Uncanny Destiny Episode 1 Recap
> My Uncanny Destiny Recap
In the distant past, Muxi City was ruled by Lord Ye Tang, who was childless until his wife became pregnant in her forties. The future of the Ye family lineage and the safety of Muxi City depended on this child. During his wife's difficult labor, Ye Tang, knowing she was invigorated by the drumbeats from her time with him on the battlefield, ordered all street drums in Muxi City to be beaten simultaneously to aid her delivery.
Hearing the widespread drumming, Xuanyue City mistook it for a military attack and prepared for battle. However, Ye Tang was only focused on his wife's delivery. The labor tragically resulted in his wife's death, but she gave birth to a daughter. Fearing that news of a female heir would lead to a power struggle, Ye Tang concealed the truth, killing everyone who knew the child was a girl.
He declared that his wife had given birth to a son who would be the future lord of Muxi City. Meanwhile, the lord of Xuanyue City, having waited in vain for an attack all night, was enraged by the perceived deception. He declared eternal enmity with Muxi City, vowing to fight to the death.
The Xuanyue lord passed away shortly after, instructing his son, Liu Xuanming, on his deathbed to remember that the people of Muxi City were treacherous and to never have dealings with them, demanding vengeance so he could rest in peace. Years passed, and conflict between Muxi and Xuanyue cities intensified. Ye Tang raised his daughter, Ye Zhaonan, to act as a boy, doing everything a boy would do, even asking if she should pee standing up.
After Ye Tang's death, Ye Zhaonan, still disguised as a man, inherited the position of city lord. She aspired to make Muxi City prosperous but was unaware of the treacherous path ahead. As lord, Ye Zhaonan issued a decree stating that all citizens, regardless of gender or social status, were equal. Men's positions would be open to women, and women's tasks could be done by men, promoting shared prosperity and great unity.
Upon hearing of Ye Zhaonan's succession, Liu Xuanming, the lord of Xuanyue City, vowed fierce revenge, declaring that he would capture Ye Zhaonan alive and dismember him to appease his hatred. In the Muxi court, ministers were dissatisfied with Ye Zhaonan's reforms, arguing they disrupted tradition and ethics by allowing men to engage in singing and dancing while women took up martial arts or business.
They urged her to repeal the order, but Ye Zhaonan countered by citing historical female generals like Fu Hao and Zhong Wuyan, asking where the classics stated that men were superior or that roles were strictly segregated. When a minister questioned if men could give birth as women do under her reforms, Ye Zhaonan retorted that perhaps it was because a woman's belly could hold others, but theirs had no room for women. Dismissing their objections, she adjourned the court.
General Jinfu detained Ye Zhaonan, expressing concern that his sister, Zhilan, married to Ye Zhaonan for months, had not yet consummated the marriage, questioning if Ye Zhaonan had some hidden issue as rumored. Ye Zhaonan angrily dismissed it as a private matter not for court discussion. Zhilan, determined to make the marriage real, resolved to get Ye Zhaonan's favor that day.
Ye Zhaonan, however, confided in Eunuch Sun that the marriage was arranged by the former king to pacify General Jinfu and that she was currently facing the difficulty of her impending period. She planned to go hunting and pretend to be injured by a fake assassin, arranged by Eunuch Sun, to gain time to avoid Zhilan. Ye Zhaonan returned to her room to change her sanitary towel but found Zhilan waiting for her.
Zhilan questioned why Ye Zhaonan kept her distance despite being married. Declaring their status as a true couple, Zhilan attempted to consummate the marriage. Ye Zhaonan tried to gently dissuade her, saying Zhilan wouldn't be happy with her, but Zhilan was insistent. In the struggle, Zhilan accidentally pulled on Ye Zhaonan and discovered blood, mistakenly concluding that Ye Zhaonan had hemorrhoids.
Liu Xuanming discussed his plan to ally with Tianmu City, whose princess was on her way for a political marriage, to jointly attack Muxi City. However, he was impatient and wanted to personally kill Ye Zhaonan, whom he dismissed as a weakling.
While Ye Zhaonan was hunting, following her plan to go towards the cliff, Jinfu was secretly arranging for the top assassin, Tan Rang, to kill Ye Zhaonan, specifically instructing the assassin to retrieve the Golden Seal from Ye Zhaonan. After Ye Zhaonan's death, Jinfu planned to have spies he had planted in Xuanyue City assassinate Liu Xuanming, allowing Jinfu to legitimately claim the throne of Muxi City.
During the hunt, Ye Zhaonan reached the planned cliff edge and encountered Liu Xuanming. Liu Xuanming initially mistook Ye Zhaonan for an assassin sent for him, perhaps charmed by his perceived handsomeness, and told him to make the cut quickly. The real assassin, Tan Rang, arrived. Seeing two individuals, Liu Xuanming became confused, now believing Ye Zhaonan had sent an assassin after him, and offered extra money for them to attack him together, much to Tan Rang's outrage.
Liu Xuanming and Tan Rang began fighting, and Liu Xuanming fell from the cliff. Ye Zhaonan grabbed him, but they both fell down. Upon hearing that Ye Zhaonan's body wasn't found and the Golden Seal was still with him, Jinfu was furious with Tan Rang, calling him trash. Jinfu ordered the news of Ye Zhaonan's disappearance suppressed, claiming the lord was ill and in seclusion. He was informed that Zhilan, worried, had gone to search for Ye Zhaonan alone.
Calling her naive, Jinfu ordered his subordinates to find her immediately. He then confirmed his spy network in Xuanyue City was ready to assassinate Liu Xuanming that night, reiterating the critical importance of retrieving the Golden Seal from Ye Zhaonan. Meanwhile, Ye Zhaonan and Liu Xuanming were hanging from a tree branch over the cliff. As Liu Xuanming climbed up using Ye Zhaonan, almost losing his pants in the process, he discovered that Ye Zhaonan was a woman.
Having hit her head during the fall, Ye Zhaonan was unconscious. Liu Xuanming took her back to Xuanyue City. There, his physician examined Ye Zhaonan, noting her pulse but being unsure when she would wake. Liu Xuanming ordered her treatment, acknowledging she was injured saving him. Elsewhere near the Xuanyue border, Zhilan was captured by guards while searching for her husband, prompting dismissive remarks from the guards about the number of Muxi people wandering the area.
That night, Jinfu's three assassins, already inside Xuanyue City, prepared to carry out the assassination of Liu Xuanming during the watch change at midnight. They cautiously entered Liu Xuanming's chamber, locating the person sleeping in the bed and mistaking this person, who was Ye Zhaonan, for Liu Xuanming.
