One and Only Episode 18 Recap
> One and Only Recap
Liu Hui ultimately, out of kindness, stopped the Empress Dowager's cup of poisoned wine, but the Empress Dowager bestowed the poisoned wine upon Liu Hui instead. Liu Hui was ultimately killed by his own kindness, dying in the Empress Dowager's bedchamber. On the other side, although Liu Hui's child was born, his mother Consort Jiang was tragically killed by the Empress Dowager, and the Imperial Grandson also did not survive.
The Empress Dowager, however, intended to stage a "civet cat for the prince" plot. Now that the Empress Dowager had the overall situation under control, Qin Yan seized a horse and fled south, but the Empress Dowager didn't care about this insignificant person Qin Yan. She only appointed Yuan Wu as the commander of the Imperial Guard and executed the eunuchs and palace maids involved in Liu Hui's matter. Cui Feng had prepared the divorce papers.
He would give the divorce papers to Cui Shiyi. As long as Cui Sanzhe dissolved their marriage, Cui Shiyi would hand these divorce papers to Xinghua, allowing Xinghua to leave the mansion freely. Inside the Cui Mansion, Cui Sanzhe received Xie Chong's personal belongings and a letter. The letter reminded Cui Shiyi to be cautious in everything, as changes had occurred in the palace. The atmosphere inside the palace was unusual.
Cui Shiyi and Xinghua were summoned into the palace at this time. The two of them rode together in a new carriage. Xinghua only hoped that Cui Shiyi could be wholeheartedly kinder to Liu Zixing. At the palace entrance, Liu Zixing came to pick up Cui Shiyi. Currently, everyone in the palace was celebrating the newborn prince, but Liu Zixing had never seen the prince.
He wanted to step forward and assist Cui Shiyi, but Cui Shiyi somewhat avoided Liu Zixing. Liu Zixing's face darkened, and he was quite angry. The two arrived at the Empress Dowager's bedchamber. The Empress Dowager hosted a banquet with singing and dancing. At the banquet, Cui Shiyi also saw Consort Jin. She only felt that there was strangeness everywhere in the palace. The Emperor, the new prince, and Consort Jiang had not been seen.
Not until midnight did the Empress Dowager summon everyone and announce the matter of Liu Hui's demise, asking everyone to shave their heads and temporarily reside in the palace to pray for Liu Hui's soul. Consort Jin was unwilling to shave her head. She also knew that the Empress Dowager trapping her legitimately in the palace was to threaten her father.
The Empress Dowager forcibly ordered people to send her and a group of other consorts to a nunnery, leaving Cui Shiyi behind. Cui Shiyi had a special status. She did not dare to deny the Empress Dowager's words and only respectfully agreed, staying by the Empress Dowager's side. The Empress Dowager requested Cui Shiyi to write three letters for her. The first letter was to Zhou Shengchen.
She wanted Zhou Shengchen to enter the capital again to stabilize the populace and support the eldest Imperial Grandson in taking the throne. Cui Shiyi was unwilling to let her master fall into danger, and therefore was unwilling to write this letter for the Empress Dowager. Considering that Cui Guang had saved her twice, the Empress Dowager did not kill Cui Shiyi but only imprisoned Cui Shiyi and Consort Jin in the palace.
Cui Shiyi and Consort Jin recalled the matter of the Empress Dowager designing a plan to eliminate Gao Guojiu that year and were very worried that the Empress Dowager would use the two of them to eliminate their respective master and father. The Empress Dowager closed the gates of Zhongzhou city and kept waiting for the Prime Minister to arrive. However, the Prime Minister was stopped en route by Zhou Shengchen's Nanchen Royal Army.
Zhou Shengchen learned from the Prime Minister about all the changes in the palace. Since the Empress Dowager wanted to enthrone the new emperor and regain control of the court, he decided to counter her scheme with one of his own. Following Zhou Shengchen's instructions, the Prime Minister still stayed by the Empress Dowager's side, supporting the enthronement of the new emperor, and began preparing the enthronement ceremony for the Empress Dowager.
The new emperor's identity was fake, and the Empress Dowager feared the matter would be exposed. The Prime Minister mentioned the person Liu Zizhen, saying he was the bloodline closest to the imperial family, and could first be brought into the palace. Later, a suitable opportunity could be found to support Liu Zizhen in taking the throne.
