Resumo do episódio 15 de Heart of Loyalty
> Resumos de Heart of Loyalty
While waiting for Princess Zhao Yu, Mo Yan and Zhan Zhao discussed the investigation of stolen funds. Mo Yan, lamenting that she had no right to eat when the princess hadn't, reflected on Zhao Yu's predicament of being married off to Liao, expressing deep sympathy for her. Zhan Zhao acknowledged that individuals of the imperial family often have no control over their own destinies.
Mo Yan then questioned Zhan Zhao about their plans to investigate the whereabouts of the stolen money in Liao. Zhan Zhao reiterated their primary duty was to protect the princess, and subtly implied he did not want Mo Yan involved in the investigation. He then asked Mo Yan if Official Bao had assigned her any secret missions, to which she replied no. Mo Yan insisted they would have ample time for investigation after the princess's wedding.
She also pointed out the disrespect shown by Prefect Li's wife, Madam Pang, who, despite being Grand Preceptor Pang's daughter and the princess's aunt, did not personally invite Zhao Yu to her residence. Mo Yan found it curious that Grand Preceptor Pang, a cunning man, would marry his youngest daughter to Li Hu, the prefect of Jinyang, when his other daughters held high positions.
Zhan Zhao clarified that the Emperor himself had betrothed Madam Pang to Prefect Li, recognizing Li Hu's talent. Zhan Zhao suspected Grand Preceptor Pang, being cunning and crafty, had ulterior motives for arranging Zhao Yu's marriage to Liao, and Mo Yan wondered if it was connected to the stolen money. Mo Yan lamented Zhao Yu's lack of choice in marrying for the sake of the Song empire, and Zhan Zhao gently comforted her by stroking her hair, understanding her sadness.
Later, Madam Pang visited Zhao Yu, sharing her own longing for her family and homeland, separated by thousands of miles, and her sorrow at never truly being understood or able to share her past experiences. She spoke of her own arranged marriage, instigated by the Emperor's admiration for her husband, and how she was reminded of herself when she saw Zhao Yu.
She then subtly encouraged Zhao Yu to escape, saying Zhao Yu was too young to suffer a lifetime of loneliness like her. As night fell, Zhan Zhao and Mo Yan, along with Ning Jin who arrived with dinner, discovered Zhao Yu was missing from her room.
Mo Yan feared Zhao Yu had attempted to flee her marriage, prompting Zhan Zhao to worry about her safety in the bustling, diverse city of Jinyang, a mixed bag of people due to the cross-border market. Ning Jin immediately ordered a search. Zhao Yu, contemplating her escape from the back gate, was met by Madam Pang.
While Madam Pang ostensibly advised her to accept her fate, she deliberately opened the gate, allowing Zhao Yu to slip away upon hearing the approaching guards. Madam Pang then falsely told the searching guards that she had not seen the princess. To aid the search, Li Hu closed the cross-border market in Jinyang, claiming his foster sister was missing, which angered Liao merchants.
Some openly speculated that the Song princess, meant to marry the Liao crown prince, was the one missing, perhaps fleeing due to her perceived ugliness. Ning Jin furiously defended the Song empire against the Liao merchants' insults, but Zhan Zhao intervened, calmly suggesting that Li Hu's public charade might distract Zhao Yu and buy them time. Zhan Zhao then proposed they split up to cover more ground, with him taking one route and Mo Yan accompanying Ning Jin.
Mo Yan uncharacteristically chose to go with Ning Jin, stating they would be faster, while Ning Jin boasted of his own cleverness and speed compared to Zhan Zhao. Meanwhile, Zhao Yu, having found and donned a Liao woman's attire left by Xiao Guan Yin, managed to evade the searchers. She witnessed Liao men bullying a Song bookseller. When she tried to intervene, Yelv Hongji, who was traveling incognito, stepped in and skillfully subdued the aggressors.
Yelv Hongji, carrying a portrait, then asked Zhao Yu if she had seen the woman in the picture, noting she wore the same outfit. Zhao Yu, after confirming his honorable intentions and his genuine affection for the woman in the portrait whom he called his beloved and promising not to force her if she didn't reciprocate, revealed that she found the clothes in a discarded basket and had not seen the person.
She concluded that the woman in the portrait must be Yelv Hongji's beloved. With limited funds, Zhao Yu tried to purchase the cheapest horse available. Mo Yan and Ning Jin eventually located her at the horse market. Ning Jin attempted to reason with Zhao Yu, urging her to return for the sake of their lives and the diplomatic consequences. Zhao Yu defiantly stated she would not marry a stranger she did not love, regardless of his qualities.
Mo Yan, deeply empathetic to Zhao Yu’s feelings, offered her money to buy a faster horse and make her escape, jokingly attributing it to "promoting friendship between the two countries." However, Zhan Zhao arrived with soldiers, insisting Zhao Yu return. He harshly reprimanded Mo Yan for putting individual feelings above national affairs, arguing about the dangers of her escape and the implications for the Song people.
Mo Yan, feeling that her concerns for Zhao Yu’s personal happiness were being dismissed, retorted that forcing someone into a loveless marriage was more painful than death. When Zhan Zhao raised his voice, Mo Yan was deeply hurt, questioning if he would also send her to Liao if she were the one to be married. Meanwhile, Xiao Guan Yin, having switched into Song attire, found Yelv Hongji and confessed her feelings to him, but he gave no definitive answer.
Zhao Yu finally arrived in Liao, but her reception was notably cold, with no one to greet her outside the camp. The masked Yelv Pusanu, the cold but trusted deputy envoy to Yelv Chongguang, the Ruler of the South, watched her from the city walls. Yelv Pusanu informed Zhao Yu that Yelv Hongji was hosting a welcoming banquet and demanded her attendance.
Zhao Yu, exhausted, initially resisted, but Yelv Pusanu abruptly left after delivering the message, stating his role was only to inform. Moments later, she was horrified to witness him summarily execute a captured deserter. At the welcoming banquet, Empress Dowager Xiao immediately began making disrespectful comments about Song and its contributions, asking if the Song princess felt at home with the Song porcelains that were tributes to Liao.
While Zhao Yu silently fumed, Xiao Guan Yin performed an impressive dance for Yelv Hongji. Afterward, Xiao Guan Yin provocatively challenged Zhao Yu to a dance, proposing that the winner would receive a prize from the loser. Empress Dowager Xiao supported Xiao Guan Yin's challenge. Ning Jin, unaware that Zhao Yu had never learned to dance (as her little royal uncle often took her out to play soccer instead of attending dance lessons), accepted on her behalf.
To save Zhao Yu from embarrassment, Mo Yan volunteered to compete. Mo Yan playfully boasted of her dancing skills, claiming she was "second to none in Shuzhong," but her dance was an unconventional and simple performance, which Yelv Hongji charitably described as courageous but "not quite suitable for the occasion" and "unsatisfactory," resulting in her losing to Xiao Guan Yin. As her prize, Xiao Guan Yin took Zhao Yu's beautiful jade hairpin.
To reclaim the hairpin, Ning Jin challenged Xiao Guan Yin's brother, Xiao Xin, to a literary competition, the theme being "love." Xiao Xin added a condition: if he won, Mo Yan would become his personal servant. Ning Jin struggled initially, seemingly lost in thought, but Mo Yan's urgent whispers and presence inspired him. Xiao Xin recited his ornate poem first. Then Ning Jin, looking at Mo Yan, delivered a deeply emotional and eloquent poem.
Yelv Hongji, impressed by the genuine emotion, declared Ning Jin the winner. Xiao Guan Yin, reluctant to return the hairpin, deliberately dropped and shattered it on the floor, offering only a single cup of wine as an apology. When Zhao Yu indignantly tried to confront her, Empress Dowager Xiao intervened by offering Zhao Yu a toast, further pressing her.
When Ning Jin offered to drink on Zhao Yu's behalf, stating the princess suffered from a stomach illness and couldn't drink, Xiao Guan Yin mocked Song women for being petty. Empress Dowager Xiao continued the insult, suggesting that Zhao Yu's inability to hold her liquor made her worthless and questioning how she could marry into Liao.
Infuriated, Zhao Yu smashed her wine cup, declared that she would not marry, stating that Yelv Hongji already had a beloved, and then, pointing directly at Zhan Zhao, announced that he was her own heart's desire.
