The Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion Episode 15 Recap
> The Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion Recap
In Jichang City, after her carriage got lost in the crowd, Fu Rong stumbled upon a chaotic scene where men were forcibly seizing a young performer to serve Duke Su. Believing Duke Su was still in the capital, Fu Rong intervened, questioning their actions. The men confirmed Duke Su had arrived that morning.
Seeing the performer was distressed, Fu Rong offered to go in her place, claiming she was more presentable and would personally explain the situation to the Duke, giving only her surname, Fu. Meanwhile, at the ruined Yu Hua Pavilion, Xu Jin inspected the site with Shang Kai Yang, who explained the pavilion was being built with white marble before being destroyed.
Xu Jin deduced that Shang Kai Yang had moved his guards to the pavilion, leaving his residence vulnerable for Xu Jia to steal the public ledger. When Xu Jia reported finding no issues with it, Xu Jin, having found sulfur powder at the site, stated that "no problem is the biggest problem." He suspected Shang Kai Yang deliberately blew up the mountain to hide a major secret and ordered Xu Jia to keep watch for a hidden, true ledger.
Elsewhere, Wu Baiqi and Fu Xuan arrived at Yunluo Temple but found no sign of Fu Rong or Liu Ruyi. Realizing Fu Rong must have an urgent matter to attend to, Wu Baiqi offered to escort Fu Xuan back. Their journey was cut short by a sudden downpour, and their carriage wheel became stuck in a pit. Though Wu Baiqi urged her to stay inside, Fu Xuan insisted on helping.
Together, they pushed the carriage free but stumbled and fell in the mud, with Fu Xuan landing on top of a surprised Wu Baiqi. They decided to take shelter in a nearby dilapidated temple. That evening, Xu Jin returned to his room at the Jichang Residence to find Fu Rong tied up on his bed. The door was locked from the outside, and sleeping smoke filled the room.
As Xu Jin became disoriented, Fu Rong detected the scent of an aphrodisiac and felt dizzy herself. She managed to use a bladed fan to cut her ropes. As she watched Xu Jin's condition worsen, he turned towards her in his daze, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. She quickly tickled him to distract him, wondering who would use such a despicable scheme.
Just then, Liu Ruyi, who had snuck into the residence, was shocked to discover Fu Rong was the woman in the room. Duke An arrived shortly after, equally surprised. He reprimanded his subordinate, stating firmly that while anyone could be used to frame Duke Su, Fu Rong could not be harmed. He then led a dazed Fu Rong out. In her haste, Fu Rong forgot one of her shoes—a pair embroidered by her mother, Han Suniang—leaving it behind.
As they left, Fu Rong concluded the incident was a deliberate setup to frame Duke Su. In the ruined temple, Wu Baiqi and Fu Xuan lit a fire to dry their damp clothes. He urged her to sit closer to the fire, and she asked why he frequented Yunluo Temple. He explained he went monthly to light lamps for his late mother. He corrected Fu Xuan for calling her "Lady Xindu," stating that the Marquis was unworthy of his mother.
He then recounted his painful past: Feng Lai Yi was his mother's dowry, and she had worked herself to death managing it. While he was away managing the business's expansion, Marquis Xindu, greedy for Feng Lai Yi, drove his ill mother to her death by bringing his concubine and illegitimate son into their home. Upon his return, the Marquis blamed him and demanded the deed.
In response, he severed ties with his father and took his mother's surname, becoming Wu Baiqi. Deeply moved, Fu Xuan sincerely apologized for previously misjudging him. Wu Baiqi then draped his dry outer coat over her before settling in a corner to rest. Later that night, Princess Xihe arrived at the Jichang Residence. Finding the guards outside Duke Su's room knocked out, she burst in and found him disoriented. On the floor was a single embroidered shoe.
To explain her presence, she picked it up and lied to the groggy Duke Su, claiming she had just embroidered it for him. Duke Su, realizing he had been drugged in a setup with a woman he couldn't recall, sent the Princess away to investigate himself. Believing the shoe was left by the woman in the plot, the Princess ordered her servant to burn it immediately to destroy the evidence.
Meanwhile, conspirators discussed their confidence that the real ledger, hidden in a cellar, was encrypted and secure. However, Liu Ruyi had already located and retrieved the hidden ledger. As she tried to escape, she was surrounded by Xu Jia and his guards. She threw a volley of silver needles, including one from her cane, to create a diversion and flee, but she lost the ledger in the process.
The next morning, Duke Cheng arrived to expose Xu Jin's supposed indiscretion, accusing him of debauchery and disrespecting the Emperor. Xu Jin calmly allowed a search of his room, warning his brother of the consequences for leaving the imperial mausoleum without permission and for slander. When nothing was found, Duke Cheng hastily left. Xu Jin's men noted that Shang Kai Yang had seemed genuinely surprised by Duke Cheng's arrival, suggesting he wasn't part of this particular scheme.
The recovered ledger was now in Xu Jin's possession. He determined that while the numbers were correct, the text describing the constant replacement of craftsmen was the real problem. A hand-pulled cart delivered Fu Xuan back to the Fu Residence. Wu Baiqi urged her to rest and then unexpectedly offered her the position of bookkeeper at Feng Lai Yi. To his surprise, she accepted. He made her promise to keep his family history a secret, and they sealed it with a pinky swear, with Wu Baiqi playfully asking if she found him childish.
