Overlord Episode 4 Recap
> Overlord Recap
Rumors spread rapidly throughout the city that the Longzhu Gang had stolen the gold thread. People gossiped, and silk workers caused trouble for Song Laosan, a butcher, accusing him of short-changing customers. An old silk worker even complained that the loss of the gold thread had caused widespread unemployment among silk workers, cutting off their wages. Feng, worried, sent someone to find Second Master Lyu for help, but he was busy looking for Dachun and could not be reached.
Meanwhile, Du Xiaoxian was distraught after receiving a reply from the Persian merchants, who refused to postpone the delivery of the Persian Princess’s dowry. Her maid informed her that the Military Officer was rigorously searching for the gold thread, and no suspicious items had left the city, leaving Du Xiaoxian anxious about how to proceed if the thread was still within the city walls. Inside the prison, Long Aoyi discovered Fatty and Skinny had been jailed.
Before they could explain, a jailer ordered Long Aoyi to leave. She noticed his suspicious gait and disheveled uniform. As he forced her to move, Li Qingliu intervened, questioning the jailer. When the jailer’s sleeve was pulled back, a Snake Gang tattoo was revealed on his arm. With their identities exposed, the fake jailers attacked with swords. While Li Qingliu fought them off, Long Aoyi quickly freed Fatty and Skinny, who then tearfully informed her that Dachun was dead.
The Snake Gang members pursued Long Aoyi. Fatty threw a sabre to her, but upon seeing the weapon, Long Aoyi was overwhelmed by traumatic childhood memories and fainted. Just in time, Li Qingliu intervened, fighting off the attackers and saving Long Aoyi. During the skirmish, he sustained an injury. After Long Aoyi regained consciousness and saw Li Qingliu's wound, she tore a strip of fabric from her own clothes to bandage his arm, thanking him for saving her.
Long Aoyi questioned Dachun's death. Fatty explained that Dachun was found hanged on a withered tree in the ruins, wearing his torn uniform, and had left a note falsely claiming Long Aoyi ordered him to steal the gold thread. Skinny emphasized Dachun's filial piety, stating he would never die without providing for his parents or seeing them one last time, urging Long Aoyi to clear his name. Outside, Yan Bin, after pulling strings, secured Li Qingliu's release.
Li Qingliu, dismissing his minor injury, instructed Yan Bin to post a reward of 10,000 taels from Xinsilu for the gold thread. Overhearing this, Long Aoyi declared she would claim the reward herself, intending to investigate Dachun's true cause of death. To secure her release, Li Qingliu approached the county magistrate, asserting that Long Aoyi was a friend of Prince Li Zhao. Fearing repercussions and unwilling to offend the prince, the magistrate quickly agreed to release her.
Du Changfeng prepared a grand banquet at Du’s Mansion to celebrate Prince Li Zhao’s recovery. Li Qingliu received his invitation and returned to Xinsilu to freshen up. Meanwhile, Li Zhao, on a pretext of purchasing clothes but actually investigating, visited Xinsilu. He criticized the establishment’s hygiene and lack of consideration for customers, noting a fluff that could cause allergies and counters too high for a dwarf. Li Qingliu arrived and greeted Li Zhao, just as Long Aoyi entered the premises.
A Xinsilu employee tried to shoo her away, calling her a beggar, but Li Qingliu ordered them to let her in. Long Aoyi, recognizing Li Zhao from their previous encounter in jail, sarcastically remarked on his "exaggerated outfit bedecked with jewels," noting he was different from ordinary nouveau riche. Li Qingliu apologized for their previous misunderstanding at the big bazaar and asked how he could assist Li Zhao.
Li Zhao declared he sought a garment Xinsilu wouldn't have: the legendary Red Cloud Soft Xuan. Li Qingliu explained that, according to the Public Clothes Records, "Xuan" denoted a pure, solid-colored ceremonial dress, while the Red Cloud Soft Xuan required red cloud patterns, a feat beyond human capability. He politely told Li Zhao that he was in the wrong place for such an item, suggesting he'd have to "visit the heavens" to find it.
Li Zhao, acknowledging Li Qingliu’s extensive knowledge, stated he wouldn't press the matter. With his heart set on Long Aoyi, Li Zhao decided to playfully challenge Li Qingliu. He requested a custom dress that was "as light as Empress Zhao's pleated dress and as magnificent as Princess Anle's hundred-bird dress," hinting that Li Qingliu, hailed as a "rare talent in Sichuan embroidery" and a top candidate for silk guild leader, should find this a simple task.
Li Qingliu accepted the challenge, stating he would "try his best." After leading Li Zhao and Long Aoyi to a reception area, Li Qingliu retrieved a unique piece of Peacock silk, the only one of its kind, created using Xinsilu's proprietary weaving techniques. Li Zhao, impressed by the fabric, instructed Li Qingliu to make the dress to Long Aoyi’s measurements.
Later, when Long Aoyi attempted to put on the finished dress, she struggled, finding it tight and eventually tearing the waist. Embarrassed and fearing Li Qingliu's reaction to the 10,000 tael garment, she questioned whether it was a dress or trousers. Li Qingliu arrived, and after a maid confessed that Long Aoyi had torn the dress herself, he calmly blindfolded himself.
He then helped Long Aoyi into the garment, gently guiding her movements, and patiently mended the torn section while she wondered if he genuinely couldn't see her. Long Aoyi emerged, transformed and elegant in the exquisite gown.
Li Zhao was captivated, praising the "floor-length dress with the pattern of a begonia in mist, covered with a Pinyue silk cloak embroidered with a butterfly," which, as Li Qingliu explained, drew its inspiration from the imagery of a butterfly landing on a begonia and had broadened sleeves adapted from Dashi State to suit Long Aoyi's lively nature. Li Zhao expressed his admiration for the dress.
He then asked Long Aoyi if she liked it, to which she replied she couldn't afford it and didn't particularly want to wear it. Li Zhao, intending to gift it to her, also presented her with a Yulan hairpin, a royal gift for envoys, which Long Aoyi initially dismissed as a "magic trick" and asked for food instead.
Seeing Li Zhao feign sickness and helplessness as a "poor non-native" for the banquet at Du's Mansion, Long Aoyi relented and agreed to accompany him, declaring she would go with him "even if it's hell."
On the way, as they rode in Li Zhao's majestic carriage with Li Qingliu seated between them, Li Qingliu repeatedly thwarted Li Zhao's attempts to converse or show affection to Long Aoyi, even snatching away a cushion Li Zhao offered her after she bumped her head. At Du’s Mansion, Du Changfeng greeted Prince Li Zhao and Li Qingliu. When Long Aoyi stepped out of the carriage, exquisitely dressed, Du Changfeng initially mistook her for a noble lady.
However, upon learning she was Long Aoyi, the renowned new master of the Longzhu Gang, his demeanor shifted to disdain. He ordered his staff to "keep an eye on Long Aoyi" and instructed Du Xiaoxian to lead Prince Li Zhao inside.
As the banquet commenced, Du Changfeng delivered a speech celebrating three points of happiness: welcoming Prince Li Zhao, the prince’s recovery, and news of His Majesty’s triumphant return after suppressing a rebellion, for which Du Changfeng himself was promoted to Left Guarding General. While Du Changfeng and Li Zhao exchanged polite pleasantries, Long Aoyi was engrossed in the food, eating without decorum. She was publicly chastised by the Du’s Mansion steward, who even attempted to expel her.
Li Zhao, however, intervened, ordering a dish to be served to her. Long Aoyi then began to eye the meat on Li Qingliu’s plate, first subtly trying to take some, then openly wrestling it from him.
During a discussion about government investment, Li Qingliu firmly refused to accept the 100,000 taels of gold assigned to Silver City, arguing that such "investments" were essentially heavy taxes that had been abolished in the first year of Wude’s reign and only existed in the capital. Du Changfeng deflected, comparing it to the upcoming guild leader selection, where Li Qingliu’s victory wasn't yet official, to which Li Qingliu replied that he would "naturally try my best."
Meanwhile, Du Xiaoxian's maid informed her that Li Qingliu had secured Long Aoyi's release and taken her to Xinsilu, surmising it was likely related to the gold thread. Du Xiaoxian, preparing for a "dance," declared that her father would not let her "red tassel on the spear" talent go to waste. Observing the unusual intimacy between Li Qingliu and Long Aoyi, and Li Zhao’s growing jealousy, Du Changfeng signaled for Du Xiaoxian to join the banquet.
During a poetry game where guests proposed "toast poems," Long Aoyi, with her limited education, offered a crude couplet about a dead horse being "half meat, half crap," drawing scorn and accusations of being "a lowly girl." Offended, Long Aoyi rose to leave, declaring she wouldn’t "serve the upper class." As she turned, she tripped on her dress and stumbled into Li Qingliu’s arms, shocking everyone present, including Li Zhao and Du Xiaoxian.
Du Xiaoxian, who had secretly harbored feelings for Li Qingliu for years, was incensed to see him so close to a "lower class" woman. She then challenged Long Aoyi to perform a dance for entertainment, assuming Long Aoyi wouldn't know how. The other upper-class guests quickly joined in, throwing gold and jewels at Long Aoyi and making sarcastic remarks, encouraging her to dance.
Li Zhao wanted to defend Long Aoyi but was stopped by a warning from his attendant that his mother, Empress Zhao, had sent someone, making him hesitant to openly show his affection for Long Aoyi. Unwilling to be humiliated, Long Aoyi defiantly added her own silver to the pile of offerings from the guests. She then confidently stepped into the center of the banquet hall and commenced a dance that astonished everyone present with its artistry and skill.
