Overlord Episode 29 Recap
> Overlord Recap
After Long Aoyi's gang demonstrated a remarkably fast method of transporting goods, piquing Li Qingliu's curiosity, he proposed to the Emperor a plan to utilize secret water transport channels to transfer grains from the south to the north, thereby alleviating the severe grain shortage in Chang'an. Du Changfeng and other ministers expressed concerns about the military resources required and the potential vulnerability to northern threats.
Prince Li Zhao also objected, reminding the Emperor that Li Qingliu had shares in the predecessor of Qinglong Firm, which violated the ban on officials engaging in commerce. Li Zhao pointed out that Long Aoyi, the "big boss" of Qinglong Firm, was currently residing and pregnant in Li Qingliu's mansion. Li Qingliu countered that he had completely divested from Qinglong Firm before coming to Chang'an and urged them to focus on the famine.
To demonstrate Qinglong Firm's efficiency, he presented fresh new rice from Lingnan, claiming it could reach Chang'an in just ten days. With other ministers, including Yuan Zai, supporting his proposal, the Emperor, recognizing the urgency, approved the use of civilian forces for the south-to-north grain transfer, placing it under the supervision of the Agricultural Agency and the Ministry of Revenue. Later, the Empress Dowager convened the imperial women, encouraging them to devise solutions for the Emperor's worries about the famine.
Concubine De suggested donating a portion of their monthly salaries for relief efforts. Du Xiaoxian agreed, proposing the establishment of porridge shops in neighborhoods to demonstrate the imperial family's compassion. When the Empress Dowager decided that everyone should contribute thirty percent of their monthly wage, Long Aoyi complained about having no salary and being forced to donate her own money, arguing that their collective contribution was merely symbolic.
Concubine De immediately admonished her for her lack of empathy and requested punishment. Considering Long Aoyi's pregnancy, the Empress Dowager ordered her to copy one volume of scripture as a penalty. Li Qingliu, finding Long Aoyi struggling with the task, offered to help. Long Aoyi, delighted, suggested she go for a midnight snack while he copied. However, Li Qingliu insisted she stay by his side. As he copied, Long Aoyi playfully complimented his features, teasing him about his beautiful eyelashes.
Li Qingliu responded with a witty remark about her "thinking bad ideas," leading to a playful chase and leaving the scripture copying unfinished. Meanwhile, a gang member delivered a coded message from Weng Dayou regarding the water transport channels. Long Aoyi quickly deciphered the rhyme, realizing it indicated convenient waterways beyond the official and civil routes. These secret branches of major rivers—Yangtze, Yellow, Han, and Wei—offered faster and more efficient routes for grain transport.
With both manpower and viable routes secured, Long Aoyi encouraged her gang members to redouble their efforts to assist the famine victims. In the following days, reports flooded in about 10,000, then 20,000 Dan of relief grains arriving at the Chang'an docks. The Emperor was overjoyed and publicly praised Li Qingliu. However, members of the Longzhu Gang discovered that the relief grains were not being distributed to the starving population.
Instead, they were immediately transferred to official barns by Ministry of Revenue carriages upon arrival, and then covertly moved to the military granary under the cover of night. Recognizing the gravity of this misappropriation, Li Qingliu promptly reported it to the Emperor.
However, Pang Shizhong and Du Changfeng, having coordinated their response, claimed that the volume of transported grain was small, leaving little after standard use, and that a significant portion had been diverted to military provisions due to the unsettled northern war and urgent military needs. They also reiterated that civilian transport capacity was limited.
As Du Xiaoxian's wedding approached, noblewomen visited her, expressing sympathy and criticizing Long Aoyi for her "shameless" behavior and for "taking herself as hostess of Prince Jun’s Mansion." Du Xiaoxian feigned innocence, emphasizing Long Aoyi's pregnancy with Li Qingliu's child and her own reluctance to jeopardize the imperial lineage. Meanwhile, Long Aoyi had befriended Concubine Han Zhaorong after successfully treating a birthmark on her forehead, which helped the concubine regain the Emperor's favor. Their newfound closeness attracted negative attention.
Among the visitors to Du Xiaoxian was Pang Yan, who, aiming to teach Long Aoyi a lesson, gifted her an elegant silk fan from Jiangnan, ostensibly as a gesture of friendship. Long Aoyi accepted the fan but later discovered Datura powder hidden in its pouch, immediately recognizing the malicious intent. During the Shangsi Festival, the Empress Dowager grew bored with the repetitive performances.
Long Aoyi seized the opportunity to volunteer, proposing a "skirt dance" from Jia'ermu, a region known for its women's free-spiritedness, claiming the dance required participants to shed their outer garments for a truly immersive experience. Despite Concubine De's disapproval, the Empress Dowager found the idea novel and intriguing, giving Long Aoyi permission to perform. The Empress Dowager then selected several women to participate, including Du Xiaoxian and Pang Yan.
During the performance, Long Aoyi subtly applied the Datura powder to their skirts. As an Indian snake charmer took the stage, the scent of Datura drew one of the snakes to attack Du Xiaoxian. Li Qingliu, rushing to her aid, swiftly killed the snake. Witnessing Li Qingliu's heroic act to save Du Xiaoxian, Long Aoyi was visibly enraged and jealous. As she departed, she warned him that "the most beautiful snake is the most poisonous," implying Du Xiaoxian's deceptiveness.
Later, Concubine De chided Du Xiaoxian for allowing Pang Yan to execute such a blatant scheme. She advised Du Xiaoxian, as the future mistress of Prince Jun's Mansion, not to stoop to bickering with a "lowly woman" but instead to leverage the fright she experienced to her advantage, thereby solidifying her position.
Back at Qinglong Firm, Gengzi's investigation revealed that all rice in the Chang'an market was sold out, with new rice being hawked on the black market at twenty times its pre-famine price. Long Aoyi, carrying a bag of this exorbitantly priced rice, went to confront Li Qingliu. To her frustration, she found Du Xiaoxian there, beneficently distributing porridge and steamed bread to the famine victims.
Du Xiaoxian deliberately provoked Long Aoyi, bringing up Li Zhao and their past closeness, including singing, drinking, climbing rooftops, and exchanging gifts. Li Qingliu, who was standing behind a curtain nearby, overheard the conversation and grew visibly jealous. Realizing Du Xiaoxian's manipulative tactics, Long Aoyi angrily threw the bag of black market rice at Li Qingliu, exposing the inflated prices, and stormed off.
Li Qingliu started to follow her, but Du Xiaoxian feigned sudden illness, compelling him to stay by her side. Meanwhile, Du Changfeng hosted a banquet for court officials, ostensibly to discuss his daughter's impending wedding. During the gathering, he publicly announced his intention to bestow all his family's wealth upon Du Xiaoxian as her dowry, assuring the imperial family that marrying his daughter would not be a disadvantage.
After Du Xiaoxian tearfully expressed her gratitude and left, Du Changfeng distributed boxes of gold to his fellow officials, implicitly sharing the illicit profits gained from the diverted relief grains. In court, Li Qingliu raised the issue of new rice being sold on the black market at twenty times the normal price. However, Du Changfeng, with Pang Shizhong's assistance, quickly countered by claiming they had already apprehended several profiteering merchants in the Southern City who had confessed their crimes.
The Emperor, satisfied, decided to drop the matter. Yuan Zai then intervened, highlighting that the problem of transport capacity had been worsening since the An-Shi Rebellion and had now reached a critical point. He proposed that this crisis presented an opportunity to mobilize all available resources to find a comprehensive solution. The Emperor agreed with Yuan Zai, issuing an edict for all ministers to devise a viable plan within three days, promising substantial rewards for any adopted proposals.
To tackle the transport challenge, Li Qingliu invited Minister Liu of the Ministry of Works to his mansion to discuss the official water transport channels. Long Aoyi, disguised as a young attendant, listened in. She learned that the Wei family of the former dynasty had held multiple positions as transport commissioners, and had meticulously documented the official channels for trade, but these records had been neglected in the current dynasty.
Following this, Long Aoyi asked her maid Xiaoqin to deliver a letter to Wei, Concubine Han's cousin, hoping to gain access to these maps. That same night, as Long Aoyi passed Du Xiaoxian's courtyard, she glimpsed shadows through a window, misinterpreting them as Li Qingliu undressing and kissing Du Xiaoxian.
Enraged, she stomped away, unaware that Du Xiaoxian had deliberately created the illusion, having merely asked Li Qingliu to help her with a piece of clothing and carefully positioned herself by the window to create the false impression. Later, Long Aoyi secretly met with Wei, successfully obtaining the detailed map of the official water transport channels. Wei, noticing her dedication, commented on her deep affection for Li Qingliu. However, still vexed by the earlier misunderstanding, Long Aoyi merely offered a dismissive reply before asking Wei to lend her some menswear.
