Overlord Episode 34 Recap
> Overlord Recap
Prince Jun, Li Qingliu, knelt for six hours outside the Imperial Palace, pleading with the Emperor. He submitted a letter explaining that Long Aoyi had primarily operated in Jiannan Dao and that the Longzhu Gang was a civilian organization. The Qinglong Firm, he stated, was established jointly by them, without others' involvement, thus ruling out any possibility of forming cliques.
Li Qingliu suggested that the accusations against Long Aoyi might stem from a desire to conceal a truth they had uncovered. He described Long Aoyi as a woman of jianghu origins, unruly but fundamentally kind, who only wished to be with him and did not understand the gravity of falsely claiming to carry a royal heir. Acknowledging the disrespect, Li Qingliu claimed the deception was his idea and bravely offered to bear all punishment himself.
An imperial decree soon arrived, suspending the harsh interrogation of Lady Long Aoyi due to inconclusive evidence. The trial was ordered to be stopped, and Long Aoyi was to be taken to Prince Jun’s Mansion. The Emperor declared he would personally preside over the case on a later date.
When Long Aoyi was brought before the Emperor, she confessed to her crime and expressed deep regret, explaining that her admiration for Prince Jun led her to the drastic decision of faking pregnancy. As the Emperor was about to sentence her, Li Qingliu interjected, falsely claiming that Long Aoyi had genuinely been pregnant but suffered a miscarriage.
He stated it was his idea to hide this fact, as he feared separation from her and wanted to wait until she was truly pregnant again. However, Du Xiaoxian then requested to summon Ezi, a maid from Prince Jun’s Mansion. Ezi presented several padded pillows of varying sizes, confirming they were used by Long Aoyi to simulate pregnancy at different stages and, importantly, that Long Aoyi had kept this secret from Li Qingliu.
Long Aoyi, seeing Li Qingliu still trying to protect her, then affirmed that she acted alone, accepting full responsibility. Enraged, the Emperor ordered her immediate execution. At this critical moment, Concubine Han stepped forward, pleading for Long Aoyi and citing her positive influence on the harem. Princess Shengping also interceded, reminding the Emperor of Qinglong Firm's significant contributions, such as establishing water transport and solving Chang’an's food shortage.
Li Qingliu, Consort Dowager, Concubine Han, and Princess Shengping all knelt to beg for mercy. However, Du Xiaoxian vehemently argued that Long Aoyi might next try to pass off an illegitimate child as a royal heir, thus defiling the royal bloodline. The Emperor, swayed by Du Xiaoxian's words, reaffirmed the order for her execution.
Just as she was about to be taken away, the Consort Dowager intervened again, reciting a poem contrasting the restrictive palace with the freedom of a soaring dragon. She advised the Emperor to sever Long Aoyi’s ties with the royal family and let her return to where she came from. The Emperor spared her life but demoted her to a commoner, banishing her from the Imperial Palace and Prince Jun’s Mansion.
As Long Aoyi was being removed, Li Qingliu cried out for her to wait for him. Following this, Yuan Zai suggested to the Emperor that a swift marriage for Prince Jun would help him regain focus. The Emperor agreed and entrusted Yuan Zai with arranging it. However, Li Qingliu defied the imperial order, stating his unbreakable promise to Long Aoyi. The Emperor, enraged, declared that the Tang royal family would never permit him to marry a lawbreaker.
Li Qingliu countered that in true love, worldly standards were meaningless. The Emperor flew into a fit of rage that a prince would humble himself for a "lower-class orphan." Li Qingliu, undeterred, declared he would rather renounce his royal status than abandon Long Aoyi. Enraged to the point of collapse, the Emperor ordered Li Qingliu confined to his mansion until the wedding. Meanwhile, the Qinglong Firm was sealed by officials, who claimed it was due to Long Aoyi's deceit.
Xiaoqin frantically searched for Long Aoyi. Disguised, Long Aoyi cleverly evaded her pursuers in the market after recalling an acrostic poem from Li Qingliu that served as a coded warning about an ambush. Xiaoqin eventually found Li Qingliu, who sadly confirmed Long Aoyi had been banished. Just then, an imperial decree arrived, ordering Li Qingliu to marry Du Xiaoxian in three days and conveying Yuan Zai's instruction that Li Qingliu was not to leave his mansion before the wedding.
Du Changfeng expressed his desire to eliminate Long Aoyi, but Yuan Zai cautioned him, reminding him that Long Aoyi was not to be touched until the water transport was secured. Yuan Zai alluded to the Emperor's worsening health, suggesting it was time for a "newcomer" to ascend the throne. Imperial physicians later confirmed the Emperor was in a coma, kept alive by needles, and advised the Crown Prince to govern in his stead.
Outside Prince Jun’s Mansion, members of the Longzhu Gang loudly denounced the royal family as heartless. Inside, Du Xiaoxian diligently embroidered Li Qingliu’s wedding robe. When she presented him with the finished attire, he urged her to find someone who could truly love her. Du Xiaoxian, however, stated that she no longer sought love, only a respectable status. She left in a fury, trashing her room. Du Changfeng arrived, calmed her, and handed her a bottle of Yuzhu powder.
He explained his treacherous plan: with the Emperor critically ill, the Crown Prince would inherit the throne should he die. If the Crown Prince then suffered an "accident," Yuan Zai would advocate for Li Qingliu to become the new Crown Prince. Du Changfeng instructed Du Xiaoxian that someone would poison the Crown Prince’s tea during the wedding ceremony, but if that failed, she was to apply the Yuzhu powder to the Crown Prince's teacup to ensure his demise.
Du Xiaoxian reluctantly agreed. On the day of the wedding, the Consort Dowager, the Crown Prince, and Princess Shengping arrived at the mansion. Long Aoyi, heavily veiled and disguised, watched from the crowd as Li Qingliu escorted Du Xiaoxian inside. Yuan Zai’s hidden operatives successfully infiltrated the mansion. During the ceremony, the Crown Prince acted on behalf of the ailing Emperor. As Li Qingliu and Du Xiaoxian performed the rituals, Li Qingliu appeared distracted.
During the tea ceremony, as the Crown Prince prepared to accept the first cup, Li Qingliu deliberately spilled it, then subtly ordered Yan Bin to find a woman wearing a veil, stating he had a bad premonition. Later, Yuan Zai confronted Long Aoyi in her former room, teasing her about the wedding. Long Aoyi dismissed his provocations, reminding him their marriage was a pretense. She shrewdly observed Yuan Zai's nervous finger rubbing, correctly inferring he had something bothering him.
Yuan Zai then asked if she wanted to know how her master, Feng, truly died. Long Aoyi recounted the horrific memory of finding Feng fatally wounded. Yuan Zai callously revealed that Feng's death was a direct consequence of her raising Long Aoyi in Silver City, as it was Long Aoyi's presence that exposed Feng during his search for the commoner prince. Realizing Yuan Zai's culpability, Long Aoyi, overcome with fury, declared her intention to avenge her master, but Yuan Zai's subordinates quickly restrained her.
