Princess Agents Episode 1 Recap, Plot

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In a swaying prison cart, a young woman named Chu Qiao drifted in a vivid nightmare. Blood and chaos consumed her dreamscape, punctuated by voices calling out both "Chu Qiao" and "Jing Xiaoliu." She awoke, disoriented and hungry, only for a small girl called Curly to offer her half of a steamed bun. Chu Qiao introduced herself as Jing Xiaoliu, and Curly affectionately called her Older Sister Xiaoliu, admitting her fear about their unknown destination.

Chu Qiao reassured her they would be fine. The cart soon halted at a hunting ground. Soldiers roughly pulled away the white coverings and herded the girls into a tent, where new clothes were laid out. Each garment was embroidered with a different character, and the bewildered girls, uncertain of their fate, wondered what the symbols meant.

Meanwhile, in the bustling streets of the Western Wei Imperial City, several noble youths on horseback dashed through the crowd, drawing excited cries from onlookers. These were Yan Xun, the Heir Apparent of Northern Yan; Yuan Song, the Thirteenth Prince of Wei, also known as King Yu; Wei Shuye, the first son of Wei's prominent household; Zhao Xifeng, the second son of Zhao's household; and Yuwen Huai, the illegitimate grandson of Yuwen's third household.

Yuwen Huai, finding city horse racing too dull, proposed a more "stimulating" game with a prize of Princess Chun's fine wine. The group rode out to a vast hunting ground where the newly clothed female slaves were driven out of the tents and surrounded by armed guards. Each slave wore a character representing one of the young nobles' names. Yuwen Huai gleefully revealed the rules: this was no ordinary hunt.

The targets included both wolves and these "fresh beautiful female slaves." Each noble would receive a bag of arrows, free to shoot either wolves or other nobles' slaves. After one incense stick's time, marked by a sounding arrow, the winner would be the noble with the most surviving slaves under their name. Yuan Song immediately denounced the game as too cruel, refusing to participate, suggesting they find another form of entertainment.

Zhao Xifeng, however, found it exhilarating, arguing that protecting one's own slaves would be more strategic than just shooting wolves. He scoffed at the idea that they were more than mere criminals, destined for death anyway, claiming this was a chance for them to survive.

Yan Xun, recalling his father, the Marquis Northern Settler, who built his name on the battlefield, declared that while his family's swords could slay traitors and invaders, they would not stain themselves with the blood of innocent women and children. Zhao Xifeng, impatient, countered that if Yan Xun wouldn't play, his slaves should simply be killed, and then demanded the immediate release of the wolves.

Yuan Song suggested waiting for Yuwen Yue to arrive, but Yuwen Huai smirked, speculating that Yuwen Yue was likely enjoying a happy night elsewhere. At the Qingshan House of the Yuwen Manor, Yuwen Yue entered his room to find a beautiful woman named Cherry waiting for him. She claimed to have warmed his bed and tried to entice him, but Yuwen Yue remained impassive, calmly observing her. He subtly baited her, leading her to attempt an assassination.

With swift precision, he subdued her, revealing he had seen through her deception the moment he entered. Cherry confessed she had poisoned the incense burner, but Yuwen Yue coolly informed her that she was the one poisoned, implying Yuwen Huai would be disappointed. He then ordered his attendant, Yue Qi, to prepare his horse, heading towards the hunting ground. Meanwhile, at the hunting grounds, the gates opened, unleashing over twenty ferocious wolves that charged towards the screaming girls.

Chu Qiao quickly assessed her surroundings, urging the girls to abandon the open field and flee towards the rocky hills for cover. Arrows began to rain down from the platform. Girls fell quickly, but Chu Qiao, pulling Curly along, skillfully dodged both arrows and wolves, catching the attention of the nobles. When a wolf blocked their path, Chu Qiao told Curly to hide, intending to lure the wolf away.

Yan Xun, witnessing this, shot the wolf with an arrow, saving Chu Qiao. Just as she caught her breath, two more wolves surrounded her. Cornered and fighting for her life, Chu Qiao picked up a fallen arrow and plunged it into a wolf's throat. From a distant sand dune, Yuwen Yue, who had just arrived on horseback, observed the tenacious girl, internally acknowledging her as a "natural warrior."

As the number of girls in the arena dwindled, Yuwen Huai, intrigued by Chu Qiao's resilience, decided to join the hunt himself, riding into the enclosure with his men to pursue the remaining slaves. The other nobles followed, though Yan Xun continued to only target wolves, sparing the female slaves. More slaves fell as the chase continued across the barren land. Chu Qiao, clutching Curly's hand, ran relentlessly across the sand dunes, knowing that to stop meant death.

A sounding arrow finally signaled the end of the game, bringing all riders to a halt. Still unsatisfied, Yuwen Huai defiantly fired another arrow, striking Curly, who collapsed. Chu Qiao embraced her, frozen in grief. Furious that Chu Qiao, whose clothes bore the character "Yue," had survived, Yuwen Huai disregarded the game's end and fired another arrow at her. Yan Xun quickly loosed an arrow to intercept, but it only clipped a few feathers from Yuwen Huai's arrow.

In the critical moment, Yuwen Yue silently fired a crossbow bolt, deflecting Yuwen Huai's arrow and saving Chu Qiao's life. Overwhelmed by sorrow, Chu Qiao remained oblivious to the debate among the nobles over her survival. Her heart was consumed by hatred. When Yan Xun asked for her name, she coldly responded that she would tell him when she no longer had to look up to him.

Because of Yuwen Huai's displeasure, Chief Butler Zhu ordered Chu Qiao to be locked in the Yuwen family woodshed and subjected to torture. Lying injured on the ground, Chu Qiao seethed with anger, vowing that one day, she would make those nobles pay for the blood they shed in this world where human lives were cheaper than weeds. Later, the woodshed door creaked open, and a young man entered with a food box.

He immediately rushed to Chu Qiao, calling her "Xiaoliu" with a pained expression and identifying himself as her Older Brother Five, Linxi. Though Chu Qiao didn't recognize him, she tentatively accepted the bowl of rice with a piece of her favorite braised pork. She ate it tearfully, finding it the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.

Linxi told her that their sisters, Zhixiang and Xiaoba, were also in the manor and that he was now Yuwen Yue's book boy, a middle-ranked servant. He promised to get medicine for her before leaving. Elsewhere, Yan Xun sought out Yuwen Yue, asking him to help avoid Princess Chun's plan to host a birthday banquet for him. Yuwen Yue, with a cool demeanor, suggested hosting the banquet himself at Yuwen Manor to deter rumors, a solution Yan Xun reluctantly accepted.

Yan Xun returned a jade to Yuwen Yue and then playfully pressed him on why he saved a mere slave girl, teasing that Yuwen Yue must have developed feelings for her. Yan Xun described the girl as an interesting "wild kitten" from Northern Yan, with bright eyes and sharp claws, daring enough to fight wolves.

Yuwen Yue dismissed his taunts, inviting him to take the girl if he liked her, to which Yan Xun warned that he might just abduct her. Back in the woodshed, Chu Qiao lay unconscious but soon woke to find her sisters tending to her. Their care was cut short when Madame Song, the housekeeper, discovered them. Accusing them of laziness, Madame Song began whipping the sisters.

Chu Qiao, with a swift movement, used a special slingshot on her wrist to hit Madame Song's leg, forcing her to stop. Zhixiang, the eldest sister, warned Chu Qiao that such actions in the heavily regulated Yuwen Manor could lead to execution, as there were over a hundred reasons for a slave to be beaten to death. Meanwhile, at Yuwen Huai's Hongshan House, several young nobles engaged in a game of pitch-pot. A slender young woman then gracefully entered, effortlessly tossing a jade into the pot. Her beauty was striking, likened to a lotus and a willow.

Episode 2 Recap