Overlord Episode 3 Recap
> Overlord Recap
Accompanied by members of the Longzhu Gang, Dachun's mute mother came to Long Aoyi to report that her son had been missing for several days. She explained that Dachun worked for Long Aoyi’s gang, and her family depended on him. Long Aoyi immediately reassured the mother, promising to send her men to search for Dachun.
She asked when the mother last saw him, and through hand signs and a flashback, the mother indicated that Dachun had been taken away by some people during dinner a few nights prior, promising to return soon. Long Aoyi then told the worried mother that she would dispatch her men right away to find her son. Xiaoqin suddenly remembered seeing Wu, the tomb robber, before the auction.
He had mentioned seeing Dachun at the city gates that very morning, before he set up his stall, but Dachun had disappeared before Wu could greet him. As Long Aoyi prepared to investigate this new lead, Li Qingliu arrived in a rage. He held up the "rare item" he had bought for ten thousand taels, revealing it was merely a cobweb whisk. Long Aoyi laughed at his misfortune, remarking that he had been lucky not to have wasted more money.
Li Qingliu accused her of orchestrating a swap during the auction, replacing the gold threads with the whisk. He denounced the Longzhu Gang as despicable thieves and demanded his gold threads back. Long Aoyi retorted, telling him to watch his words and hands, and sarcastically suggested he was "enchanted" and should "take it as a lesson." Li Qingliu continued to press, threatening that Long Aoyi could not leave until she returned the gold threads.
He then presented a piece of fabric he claimed was found at the theft site, identifying it as belonging to a Longzhu Gang member. Long Aoyi recognized it but maintained her innocence, stating that her gang never engaged in "stealing, fraud, and gambling." The surrounding crowd, having witnessed the exchange, began to whisper, accusing Long Aoyi of using underhanded tactics to rise to power in the Longzhu Gang.
Some mentioned past incidents, like a "breaking the bowl" trick at Wanhua House. Realizing her explanations only made things worse, Long Aoyi fell silent, while the crowd urged her to return the threads. At that moment, Xiaoqin spotted Dachun in the crowd and ran after him. Long Aoyi also tried to pursue him but was grabbed by Li Qingliu. As Li Qingliu began to carry her away, Long Aoyi spotted Prince Zhao, Li Zhao, and called for his help.
Li Zhao intervened, but in the ensuing scuffle, Li Qingliu knocked him unconscious. Officers quickly arrived on the scene and, seeing the unconscious prince, arrested both Li Qingliu and Long Aoyi, locking them up in the same cell. The officer emphasized the gravity of offending a royal prince, especially the sixth son of His Majesty, Prince Zhao of the Tang Dynasty. Du Xiaoxian, learning of Li Qingliu's arrest, rushed to her father, Du Changfeng, for help.
Du Changfeng, however, explained that Li Zhao's injury had already alarmed Concubine De in the palace. He reminded Du Xiaoxian of Concubine De's influence and the potential consequences for them both if the central government got involved. While he considered Li Qingliu like an adopted son and wanted to help, he admitted that Li Qingliu's imprisonment was unavoidable due to Concubine De's involvement. He promised to plead for a lighter sentence.
Soon after, Li Zhao regained consciousness and immediately demanded to be released. He summoned Du Changfeng, claiming to be perfectly fine and instructing him to release Long Aoyi and Li Qingliu. However, Du Changfeng revealed that their imprisonment was by Concubine De's imperial decree. Hearing his mother's name, Li Zhao's assertiveness faltered, and he reluctantly accepted the situation, knowing he could not openly defy her.
Du Changfeng further explained that he had sent an emergency dispatch to Chang'an, informing Concubine De of the prince's injury, and she would likely send an imperial doctor. Meanwhile, Qiyan rejoiced upon hearing that both Long Aoyi and Li Qingliu were imprisoned. He congratulated his subordinates for their success in discrediting Long Aoyi.
Worried that the truth about the fabricated evidence might come out, he strictly ordered his men to keep the incident with the "incomplete and blurred fabric" a secret. He also promoted some of his men, telling them they no longer needed to sell peppers at the black market, and could now serve as his aides. Later, Xiaoqin attempted to visit Long Aoyi but was blocked by the jailer.
Yan Bin, leveraging Li Qingliu's influence, bribed Officer Zhu, enabling both him and Xiaoqin to enter the prison. As they entered, Yan Bin playfully reminded Xiaoqin that she "owed him this time." Inside the cell, Long Aoyi and Li Qingliu continued their rivalry. Li Qingliu drew a line on the floor with a wheat straw, declaring it a boundary neither should cross, stating he didn't want to stay with a "thief."
Long Aoyi accepted the challenge, agreeing to shrink her space if she ever crossed the line. When Xiaoqin and Yan Bin arrived, their bickering subsided. Long Aoyi, eating simple steamed buns and vegetables brought by Xiaoqin, eyed Li Qingliu's elaborate, three-tiered food box.
Yan Bin, lamenting Li Qingliu's hardship, displayed various delicacies, describing each one in detail, from "vinegar powder bolete with seafood soup" to "yak beef baked with cumin," "sour and spicy crab roe lava cake," and "apple jam with bamboo quail eggs." He then proudly presented a "black truffle and bursting-juice Liaodong sea cucumber" as Li Qingliu's favorite.
However, a quick, stealthy swap by Xiaoqin meant that when Li Qingliu finally went to eat his sea cucumber, it was replaced by plain seaweed soup. Yan Bin, enraged, called Xiaoqin an "ugly girl" for stealing the dish, but Xiaoqin cleverly retorted, "Ugly? Why do you gaze at an ugly girl?" Yan Bin, outmatched in the verbal spar, could only sputter a denial. Separately, Li Qingliu met with Officer Zhu to discuss his release. Zhu, however, saw an opportunity.
He hinted at the gravity of Li Zhao's injury and suggested Li Qingliu could use this chance to "pull himself out of the quagmire" and prove his innocence by handing over the Customs Seal for silk market trade to the government, which would also benefit the government by diversifying market channels.
Li Qingliu initially seemed to agree but then warned Zhu that his continued detention could delay the production of gold-thread clothes for Persian merchants, potentially damaging the Tang Dynasty's diplomatic relations with Persia and incurring the wrath of both the Fabric Bureau and the central government. Officer Zhu, despite the threat, remained unyielding. Xiaoqin informed Long Aoyi that the timing of Dachun's disappearance perfectly aligned with the gold thread theft, suggesting he might be involved.
Long Aoyi, cautious not to jump to conclusions, instructed Xiaoqin to assign men to watch Dachun's mute mother's home, believing that if Dachun was alive, he would eventually return home and the truth would be revealed. Meanwhile, to secure her business, Du Xiaoxian reluctantly sought help from a lecherous Mr. Dong. She offered to sell him a discounted plot of land in a desirable area in exchange for gold threads.
Despite her efforts, the cooperation failed, and she narrowly escaped Mr. Dong's advances, lamenting that she had to endure such harassment to protect the reputation of her silk store, which she and Li Qingliu had built over many years. Under the cover of night, Dachun secretly met a mysterious man, attempting to return the stolen gold threads.
Dachun, feeling guilty about implicating the Longzhu Gang, wanted to cut ties and go home to his mother, but the mysterious man double-crossed him, killing him and staging his death to look like a suicide by hanging. Later, as military guards inspected people entering and exiting the city, the mysterious man tried to sneak through. He was nearly caught when he saw Du Xiaoxian speaking with a Military Officer, discussing the search for the stolen gold threads.
To avoid being recognized, the mysterious man quickly fled. Back in her cold cell, Long Aoyi shivered. She noticed Li Qingliu had a blanket. To get it, she began telling a story to a nearby prisoner about a brutal torture method called "Phoenix Spreading its Wings to Dry," which involved stretching victims on a wooden cross.
While everyone was captivated and disturbed by her gruesome tale, Long Aoyi swiftly snatched Li Qingliu's blanket and covered herself, remarking how "comfortable" it was. Li Qingliu, realizing her trick, could only tell the other prisoners to stop looking at her.
