Serenade of Peaceful Joy Episode 53 Recap, Plot

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Zhao Zhen and Zhang Maoze grew up together and had a deep bond. Even if Zhang Maoze and Instructor Jia were the same kind of people, Zhao Zhen would still try his best to save Zhang Maoze. Zhao Zhen was inherently benevolent, and what he most disliked doing was sentencing people to death. He always felt that even those who deserved execution by law should not be put to death, neither reasonably nor emotionally.

He forbade Zhang Maoze from dying, wanting him to live and atone for his mistakes. Zhang Maoze felt ashamed and grateful. He knew his actions had caused trouble for Cao Danshu and unnecessarily drawn enmity towards her. He decided to heed Zhao Zhen's words and do his best to make amends for his wrongdoing. Zhang Maoze summoned Zhang Chengzhao and told him that his wrongdoing, according to the law, warranted a beating and expulsion from the palace.

Zhang Chengzhao had entered the palace at the age of eight, growing up within its walls, and had no idea what the world outside was like. Zhang Chengzhao would rather die than leave the palace. Seeing Zhang Chengzhao repeatedly beg for mercy, Zhang Maoze agreed to let him stay and work for him. Zhao Zhen, after finishing dealing with Zhang Maoze's matter, went to the rear garden to attend a palace banquet.

Zhao Huirou held Zongshi's son, Zhao Zhongzhen, and brought him before Zhao Zhen to play with him. Zhao Zhen looked at Zhao Zhongzhen with a touch of sadness, thinking of Zui Xinglai when he was Zhao Zhongzhen's age. Zhao Huirou also felt a little sad hearing Zhao Zhen mention Zui Xinglai. Zhao Zhen extricated himself from the sorrowful mood and asked Zhao Huirou to send a plate of snacks that Miao Xinhe loved.

After Zhao Huirou was seated, Cao Danshu announced to everyone the promotion of Miao Xinhe to Shuyi. Cao Danshu also suggested to Zhao Zhen to promote Zhang Bihan's rank, elevating her to a Consort. Zhao Huirou, not understanding Cao Danshu's intention, angrily left the banquet. Zhao Zhen also somewhat failed to understand why Cao Danshu suddenly made this request.

However, Cao Danshu's reasoning was simple: the imperial court had been arguing about Zhang Bihan's rank for a long time, and now a conclusion would help stabilize both the imperial court and the inner palace. Zhao Huirou hid in a corner of the rear garden and secretly cried. Other palace maids dared not follow. Liang Huaiji stepped forward to comfort Zhao Huirou.

Zhao Huirou was unwilling to let Zhang Bihan overshadow Miao Xinhe, and furthermore, a death had occurred in Xiangluan Pavilion, yet Cao Danshu did not thoroughly investigate it and even promoted Zhang Bihan to Consort. Zhao Huirou was both angry and anxious, and even though she was hungry, she refused to return to the banquet. Liang Huaiji then suggested taking her to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Just as Zhao Huirou's mood improved slightly, she looked up and saw Cao Ping being very intimate with another woman. Cao Ping played a tune on the konghou and regarded Miss Ying as his confidante. Zhao Huirou felt a bit jealous. In the evening, Liang Huaiji was heating taro for Zhao Huirou in her room. Zhao Huirou was cold and tired, so she asked Liang Huaiji to sit beside her so she could lean on him.

Liang Huaiji could not bear to refuse. Zhao Huirou leaned on Liang Huaiji, but her heart was still thinking of Cao Ping. To win over Cao Ping, Zhao Huirou decided to learn to play the konghou. Zhang Bihan was furious when she learned that Cao Danshu was going to promote her to Consort, thinking that Cao Danshu wanted to buy her off with this small favor. Zhang Bihan was throwing a tantrum in Xiangluan Pavilion when Zhao Zhen arrived.

Before Zhao Zhen could even speak to persuade her, Zhang Bihan declared that she detested Cao Danshu, and whatever Zhao Zhen said would only make her detest Cao Danshu more. Zhao Zhen embraced Zhang Bihan and gently comforted her, saying that he wouldn't reason with her. He said Zhang Bihan was just an overgrown child, mischievous and willful, but not bad at heart.

Zhao Zhen wanted Zhang Bihan not to harbor resentment towards others, attributing the deaths of several of her young children to his own failure to fulfill filial piety towards his birth mother. As Zhao Zhen spoke, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest. Zhang Bihan put aside her anger and quickly helped Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen endured the pain and continued to admonish Zhang Bihan, saying that he didn't expect her not to resent others, but he demanded that she not harm others out of resentment, nor intentionally provoke Cao Danshu. Zhang Bihan had no choice but to thank Zhao Zhen for his grace and requested that Xia Song preside over Instructor Jia's funeral. Zhao Zhen agreed to Zhang Bihan's request and decided to promote Zhang Bihan to Noble Consort.

Although Zhang Bihan was promoted to Consort, she was disappointed in Zhao Zhen internally, unwilling to be intimate with him, and did not allow Zhao Zhen to stay in Xiangluan Pavilion. Zhang Maoze personally escorted Instructor Jia's body to Xia Song and conveyed Zhao Zhen's message. Zhang Maoze told Xia Song that Zhao Zhen had always admired Xia Song's talent, and Zhao Zhen remembered all the beneficial things Xia Song had done for the people while guarding the border.

Zhao Zhen knew that Xia Song was not completely useless, nor was he the "great traitor" people claimed him to be. Xia Song was deeply moved and presented the book he had authored to Zhang Maoze, asking Zhang Maoze to pass it on to Zhao Zhen. Zhao Huirou's personal maid, Xiaoye'er, was lectured by Granny Li, Zhang Bihan's palace steward, for discussing a scandal involving Zhang Bihan's uncle's family.

Zhao Huirou was displeased with Zhang Bihan's arrogance and also commented a few times. Miao Xinhe heard the commotion and entered the room to stop them, also ordering two palace maids to kneel as punishment and fast. Zhao Huirou couldn't bear to let the two go hungry, so she brought them food. As they ate, they mentioned that Granny Li had also bullied Liang Huaiji.

When Zhao Zhen and Wen Yanbo were discussing matters in Chongzheng Hall, Wen Yanbo reported to Zhao Zhen that Khitan Crown Prince Yelü Hongji had infiltrated the Song envoy delegation and was discovered by Fu Bi. Upon hearing this news, Zhao Zhen suddenly brought up that Fu Bi's eldest daughter was of marriageable age, and he had a candidate in mind and wished to act as a matchmaker.

Minister Pang Ji did not respond to this, continuing to say that Yelü Hongji entering the palace under a hidden identity might be detrimental to Zhao Zhen, hoping Zhao Zhen would take careful precautions. Pang Ji and others hoped that Zhao Zhen would detain Yelü Hongji in the capital and seize the opportunity to discuss border trade with Zongzhen, the Khitan ruler. Zhao Zhen grew somewhat annoyed, dismissed the matter, and decided to consider it further back in his residence.

Zhao Huirou, under the guise of flower arranging, deliberately used an old, broken vase to display flowers for Zhao Zhen. As expected, Zhao Zhen mentioned that Zhao Huirou's vase had a chip. Zhao Huirou took the opportunity to say that she didn't have a good vase, while Zhang Bihan's Ninghua Palace had Dingzhou red porcelain vases. Hearing Zhao Huirou's words, Zhao Zhen's face turned ashen, and he went to Ninghua Palace. Zhang Bihan was eating alone in the palace hall.

Zhao Zhen arrived and casually asked why no one was serving her. Zhang Bihan replied that Instructor Jia used to accompany her for meals. Zhao Zhen became somewhat annoyed as soon as Zhang Bihan mentioned Instructor Jia, saying that if Instructor Jia's crimes were thoroughly investigated, he might very well be able to exterminate her entire nine generations of relatives. Zhang Bihan was indifferent, saying that Instructor Jia, like herself, was an orphan and had long since lost her family. Zhao Zhen was enraged and warned Zhang Bihan not to go too far.

Episode 52 Recap

Episode 54 Recap