Queen Dugu Episode 8 Recap, Plot

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> Queen Dugu Recap

Mantuo, driven by vanity and ambition, began to pursue Yuwen Yong, hoping to become a princess. However, Yuwen Yong was perceptive and quickly recognized her true intentions. His subordinate reported that Mantuo's orchestrated encounters, such as playing the flute for him and meeting him unexpectedly, were all deliberate attempts to gain his attention.

Yuwen Yong suspected she disdained her fiancé Yang Jian and harbored feelings for him, ordering a thorough investigation into his household staff as he believed someone had been bribed to reveal his schedule. Meanwhile, Li Cheng eagerly showed Jialuo architectural plans for their future mansion, detailing a pond, a makeup building, and her favorite pavilion. Jialuo, however, was distracted and unresponsive.

When her maid, Xia Ge, arrived to announce that Yuwen Yong wished to see her, Jialuo quickly excused herself to Li Cheng, citing an emergency, and promptly left. Meeting Yuwen Yong, Jialuo inquired if he was looking for her. They exchanged pleasantries; Jialuo mentioned she was fine with her engagement, as there was no rush to marry, and asked about his work.

Jialuo then expressed her relief that he was in the capital, meaning they no longer needed to feign animosity in front of Taishi Yuwen Hu. She invited him to be the best man at Banruo’s upcoming wedding, to which he agreed. He then told her he had something important to discuss. Jialuo immediately dismissed his concerns about Mantuo, insisting that Mantuo was not the kind of person to betray Yang Jian.

Yuwen Yong challenged her, asking if she believed he would lie and urged her to be cautious, calling Mantuo "complicated." He also mentioned Mantuo speaking ill of Jialuo in front of him. He showed Jialuo a confession from Mantuo’s servant, Qiuci, who admitted to bribing Yuwen Yong’s groom for his schedule. Jialuo questioned Mantuo's motives for luring him, stating her disbelief. Yuwen Yong conceded he wasn’t entirely certain but promised to find out more.

Earlier, Yang Jian had visited Mantuo, showing her plans for a music room he intended to build for her. Mantuo, however, was cold and told him she felt uncomfortable seeing him, wondering how long this discomfort would last before leaving. Later, Qiuci brought Mantuo a message from Yuwen Yong's servant, inviting her to meet at Tianxiang restaurant the following afternoon. Mantuo, expecting this, instructed Qiuci to stay home, dress as her, and feign illness.

When Mantuo arrived at Tianxiang restaurant, Yuwen Yong greeted her warmly, stating her lateness made him anxious. Mantuo, playing coy, said she wasn't used to his sudden change in demeanor. Yuwen Yong countered that he would be condemned if he pretended to be foolish. Mantuo then confessed she had been thinking of him and had always held feelings for him, but he had only ever had eyes for Jialuo. Yuwen Yong, feigning apology, offered her a drink.

He then asked her directly what she liked about him. Mantuo launched into a discourse about the "Dugu's country" prophecy, interpreting it as "the one who gets Dugu's woman can have the empire." She asserted that Banruo had married Yuwen Yong’s older brother, Yuwen Yu, solely for her queenly ambitions, not out of love. Mantuo then openly declared her own desire to be empress, claiming she was smarter than Banruo despite sharing the same blood.

She proposed that if she and Yuwen Yong married, with Taishi Yuwen Hu's trust in him and her family's support, they could seize the throne. Yuwen Yong, playing along, called her ambitious and brave, then questioned how they would deal with the current Emperor. Mantuo suggested that Taishi wanted the Emperor dead, and her father could be persuaded not to support him.

She further proposed eliminating Yuwen Yong’s other older brother, Yuwen Yu, or at least crippling him to prevent him from being Emperor. When Yuwen Yong brought up her engagement to Yang Jian, Mantuo confidently stated she had ways to make Yang Jian withdraw from the engagement. She suggested inviting Yang Jian to a banquet, getting him drunk, and setting him up with another woman to create a scandal, forcing him to marry her and break off his engagement to Mantuo.

Having overheard everything from behind the screen, Jialuo could no longer contain her rage. She kicked over the screen, confronted Mantuo, and denounced her as vicious. Mantuo, realizing she was caught, accused Jialuo and Yuwen Yong of colluding to set her up. Jialuo retorted that she had initially disbelieved Yuwen Yong but now saw Mantuo's betrayal of Yang Jian with her own eyes. She questioned Mantuo's conscience for failing Yang Jian.

Mantuo dismissed Jialuo's concerns, but Jialuo declared that this matter now concerned their father and Banruo, and she would tell them immediately. Mantuo desperately chased after Jialuo, begging her not to tell their father, promising to give up her ambitions and marry Yang Jian. Jialuo insisted she had to tell the truth to clear her own name. Seeing Jialuo's unwavering resolve, Mantuo, in a calculated move, leaped into a nearby pond.

Jialuo, panicking, grabbed a bamboo pole and urged Mantuo to grab it. Just then, Yang Jian arrived. Seeing Jialuo with the pole, he accused her of hitting Mantuo and immediately jumped into the water to save Mantuo. Mantuo, feigning distress, cried out, "Jialuo, don't push me, okay? I didn't see anything. I won't tell anyone?" She then added, "Mantuo, it is fine. Don't hurt me. It's okay. Don't hurt me," further implying Jialuo was attacking her.

Jialuo denied pushing her, but Yang Jian believed Mantuo. Mantuo then dramatically claimed it was her own fault and that she had jumped into the water herself, before pretending to faint. Back at the mansion, Xia Ge reported that the doctor found Mantuo only scared, with no serious injuries. Dugu Xin instructed her to inform him when Mantuo woke up. He then questioned Jialuo about the incident.

Jialuo maintained that Mantuo had fallen herself after Jialuo circumvented her while Mantuo was trying to stop her from returning home. She explained she used the pole to try and save Mantuo, and Mantuo’s screams were from fear, not an attack. Dugu Xin pressed for details about their return from Tianxiang restaurant. Before Jialuo could fully explain, Mantuo, now awake, dramatically intervened, crying, "Father! Don't ask!" and insisted it was her own mistake, not Jialuo’s.

Dugu Xin, still confused, insisted Jialuo tell the truth. Jialuo asked Yang Jian to leave, but Mantuo quickly jumped in, claiming Jialuo had met Yuwen Yong at Tianxiang restaurant merely to talk about old times, swearing on it. She then falsely accused Jialuo of accidentally pushing her into the water because Jialuo didn’t want her to complain. Jialuo retaliated, exposing Mantuo's desire to be empress, her attempt to seduce Yuwen Yong, and her plot to frame Yang Jian.

Mantuo countered, accusing Jialuo of jealousy, wanting to dump Yang Jian, and aspiring to be Yuwen Yong's queen. Jialuo reiterated that Yuwen Yong and she were just distant friends, and she was engaged to Yang Jian, even offering to call Yuwen Yong to testify. Dugu Xin, ignoring Jialuo's protestations, asked if she had met Yuwen Yong at Tianxiang restaurant, to which she truthfully replied yes.

Disappointed, Dugu Xin chastised her for meeting another man privately while engaged and ordered her to the ancestral hall to confess, not to leave without his permission. Jialuo asked if he truly believed she had pushed Mantuo, but he simply repeated his command. As Mantuo was taken to her room, Yang Jian expressed his suspicion about the situation, but Dugu Xin downplayed it as a "little girl's quarrel," promising to investigate later.

Later that night, Jialuo knelt in anger in the ancestral hall, telling her maid, "Let me die. Father doesn't love me anyways." Dugu Xin visited her, bringing her favorite porridge and reassuring her that he knew her character and did not misunderstand her. He explained he had to punish her publicly in front of Yang Jian to contain the scandal.

Jialuo then recounted Mantuo's entire scheme: her desire to marry Yuwen Yong, become empress, and her plan to set up Yang Jian to break their engagement. Dugu Xin was distraught by Mantuo’s actions but advised Jialuo that exposing the truth would bring immense shame to the Dugu family and jeopardize Banruo's impending marriage. He asked Jialuo to stay in the ancestral hall for a few days for the family's sake, promising to deal with Mantuo later.

Jialuo, though still wronged, agreed. Dugu Xin lamented Mantuo’s change and his own aging, expressing his desire to see his daughters safely married. Jialuo impulsively declared she wouldn’t marry Li Cheng and would stay with him, which he dismissed. In her room, Mantuo expressed relief at having escaped ruin, blaming Yuwen Yong and Jialuo for setting her up. She instructed her servant to spread rumors that Yuwen Yong and Jialuo frequently met privately, intending to ruin Jialuo's marriage.

When the servant cautioned against it, Mantuo insisted she couldn't care less. Banruo, having overheard Mantuo's malevolent musings, confronted her, calling her an actress who was defaming her sister. She made it clear that she and their father were not as easily deceived as Yang Jian. Mantuo apologized, claiming she was only anxious and had to lie because Yang Jian was present.

Banruo questioned if Mantuo would have gone so far as to accuse Jialuo of murder if Yang Jian hadn't been there. Mantuo, suddenly remorseful, begged Banruo not to tell their father or Yang Jian. Banruo, pulling Mantuo to a cliff edge, challenged her: "You will not stop dreaming? You will not dream to be a queen?" Mantuo admitted her ambition. Banruo sternly reminded Mantuo of their family's unity, then declared that the Queen of their country could only be her.

She warned Mantuo to quietly marry Yang Jian, or she would push her off the cliff "just as today." Mantuo was terrified and later expressed hatred for both Banruo and Jialuo. Yang Jian visited Mantuo again, informing her that her father believed Jialuo had accidentally pushed her. He tried to comfort her, offering to take her for a walk in a few days to lift her spirits. Mantuo, however, asked him to do her a favor.

Complaining about Jialuo and Yuwen Yong destroying her reputation, she asked Yang Jian to write to the Emperor, fabricating accusations of treason against Yuwen Yong, knowing the Emperor disliked him. When Yang Jian refused, citing the seriousness of treason, Mantuo escalated, demanding he implicate the Prince of Ningdu (Banruo's fiancé) as well, to ruin Banruo's marriage and prevent her from showing off. Yang Jian questioned her hatred for Banruo, who wasn't involved in the incident.

He advised Mantuo, soon to be a duchess, to calm down and resolve sisterly conflicts amicably, using his own relationship with his younger brother as an example. Mantuo angrily told him to leave, accusing him of not helping her with this "little thing." Qiuci, Mantuo's servant, interceded, explaining Mantuo's emotional state due to the recent scare and her early loss of her mother, stating that Yang Jian was the only one she trusted.

Yang Jian, softening, promised not to be angry and asked Qiuci to help Mantuo relax, promising another visit. As Yang Jian left, his attendant Zheng Rong questioned Mantuo's character, wondering if her status as a concubine's daughter made her inherently manipulative. Yang Jian angrily rebuked Zheng Rong, reminding him Mantuo would be his wife and defending her, arguing that her early suffering justified her temporary emotional outbursts.

He then punished Zheng Rong by ordering him to sleep in the horse shed for several days. Back in her room, Mantuo continued to lament about Yang Jian, giving Qiuci a purse containing some of her hair. She instructed Qiuci to tell Yang Jian that she regretted her outburst and was too ashamed to see him, requesting they only meet on their wedding day, while secretly revealing she never wanted to see him at all.

Seeking answers, Yang Jian went to Yuwen Yong. Yuwen Yong, intending to protect the Dugu family, fabricated a story. He claimed that Emperor Yuwen Jue, who disliked him, had set the trap to prevent him from fostering good relations with Dugu Xin. He said the Emperor had used their names to invite Jialuo to the meeting and sent people to mimic voices, creating misunderstandings between them.

Yang Jian, sensing the lie, stated he wasn't an idiot and didn't believe it, remarking on Yuwen Yong’s poor lying skills. He recalled Yuwen Yong’s previous lie about not liking Jialuo. Yang Jian then directly asked if Mantuo had indeed expressed a desire not to marry him and instead wished to become Yuwen Yong’s queen. Yuwen Yong denied it. Yang Jian, seeing Yuwen Yong’s discomfort, chose not to press further but insisted on knowing the truth.

Yuwen Yong then vaguely admitted to having many inconveniences he couldn’t explain, but he asserted that all the misunderstandings were orchestrated by Taishi Yuwen Hu, who sought to disrupt Banruo's wedding to the Prince of Ningdu. He swore to God that if he was lying, he would die young. Meanwhile, Jialuo, still concerned, asked Banruo if Yang Jian should be kept ignorant of Mantuo's true character.

Banruo, however, insisted they follow their father's wishes and that it was not Jialuo's concern. As Banruo prepared for her wedding, Jialuo helped her pack. Banruo showed Jialuo an outfit, stating she wanted it to accompany her to the palace, and reassured her that once she became queen, Jialuo could visit her more often. On the eve of Banruo's wedding, Yuwen Hu unexpectedly arrived at the Dugu mansion, and Banruo instructed Jialuo to guard the door and prevent anyone from entering while they spoke.

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