The Eternal Love 2 Episode 16 Recap
> The Eternal Love 2 Recap
Liu Shang and the Eighth Prince engaged in a game of chess in the study, with Qu Xiaotan serving tea and incense nearby. Their bond had deepened since they worked together to thwart Noble Consort Dugu's schemes. The Eighth Prince inquired about Liu Shang's chess teacher, to which Liu Shang replied that he learned from a Taoist priest who also taught him the art of inference.
The Eighth Prince remarked on the peculiar sensation of playing against Liu Shang, feeling as though he was competing with himself. As Qu Xiaotan observed their pleasant conversation, Yu Hao entered with a report: the Emperor had not summoned Noble Consort Dugu to his chambers the previous night, and her palace remained closed with heightened security. The Eighth Prince instructed Yu Hao to proceed with their pre-arranged plan.
Curious, Qu Xiaotan asked about the news, but the Eighth Prince and Liu Shang merely exchanged knowing smiles, prompting Qu Xiaotan to playfully comment on them being "good friends." Liu Shang, unfamiliar with the term, asked for its meaning, and Qu Xiaotan explained it referred to friends drawn together by destiny, a sentiment the Eighth Prince readily embraced. Meanwhile, Noble Consort Dugu, increasingly pressured by the Eighth Prince, grew anxious about her fake pregnancy being exposed.
Despite a month with her male companion, she had yet to conceive. In her desperation, she lashed out at him, threatening to have him castrated if she didn't show signs of pregnancy by the next day. Under the cover of night, the Emperor quietly made his way to Noble Consort Dugu's sleeping quarters. To his horror, he found her and her male companion in bed together. In disbelief, he tore aside the bed curtains.
Startled awake, Noble Consort Dugu immediately knelt and pleaded for mercy, claiming she was coerced. Enraged, the Emperor summoned Imperial Doctor Gao and commanded him to re-examine Noble Consort Dugu's pulse, threatening to execute his entire clan if there was any error. Knowing he could no longer conceal the truth, Imperial Doctor Gao, trembling, confirmed that Noble Consort Dugu was not pregnant.
The Emperor, suppressing his fury, sat on the edge of the bed, observed the tearful Dugu, and let out a soft sigh. Soon after, the Eighth Prince and Liu Shang received news that the Emperor, having discovered Noble Consort Dugu's deception, had banished her to the Cold Palace, with her male companion and Imperial Doctor Gao slated for execution. Qu Xiaotan then realized the elaborate scheme they had orchestrated.
Liu Shang explained their meticulous planning: upon learning of the fake pregnancy, they had continuously monitored her palace. They discovered a pattern: whenever she sealed off her palace and increased security, she would have her male companion secretly brought in. By advising the Emperor not to visit her, they forced the desperate Dugu to act. All that remained was to subtly guide the Emperor to her chambers at the opportune moment.
Liu Shang further revealed that Eunuch Xue, the Eighth Prince's informant, was the one who conveyed news of Noble Consort Dugu's supposed illness to the Emperor, prompting his visit. After hearing the full extent of the plan, Qu Xiaotan expressed her immense admiration for Liu Shang. A jealous Eighth Prince, finding an excuse to send her away, confronted Liu Shang directly about his feelings for Tan'er.
Liu Shang’s forthrightness left the Eighth Prince with no recourse but to declare a fair competition for Tan'er’s affections, vowing not to use his princely status to gain an advantage. As they spoke, two cloaked figures suddenly burst into the study. One held a sword to the Eighth Prince’s throat, revealing himself as General Wei, who had come to avenge his family’s massacre.
With Noble Consort Dugu's downfall, General Wei felt he had no choice but to take this desperate action. He accused the Eighth Prince of sending the Capital army to burn down his mansion five years prior while he was away at war, leading to the death of his entire family due to political differences. Hearing General Wei’s accusations, Liu Shang seized an opportunity to fend him off, then questioned whether the fire at Wei’s mansion occurred during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
He explained that on that day five years ago, a grand banquet was held in the palace, and the Eighth Prince had recalled the Capital army to provide security, making it impossible for them to have committed arson. When General Wei remained unconvinced, Liu Shang stated that palace records could verify his claims.
He then asked General Wei if the arsonists bore a specific mark identifying them as members of the Hongshun Hall, an organization of rebels from the previous dynasty. Liu Shang revealed that several other fires had occurred in the city that same day, all attributed to three recently apprehended Hongshun Hall rebels, whose interrogation exposed that Noble Consort Dugu herself had instigated the arsons.
General Wei, realizing he had been manipulated, was overwhelmed with despair and attempted to end his own life as an act of atonement. However, the Eighth Prince intervened, preventing his suicide and thereby securing General Wei’s unwavering loyalty. Upon receiving news of Noble Consort Dugu's downfall, Qu Pan'er informed the Grand Prince, cautioning him that Liu Shang was intricately involved in this and the Eighth Prince's recent exoneration.
Just then, a guard reported that the Emperor had been afflicted by a sudden, severe illness that morning, leaving all imperial doctors helpless as the princes rushed to the palace. Hearing the symptoms—alternating heat and cold with convulsions—Qu Pan'er deduced that the Emperor's condition was due to withdrawal from the tonic soup provided by Noble Consort Dugu. She promptly offered to visit Dugu to obtain the antidote.
The Eighth Prince and Liu Shang hastened to the palace, where they found the Emperor unconscious. A eunuch reported no irregularities in the Emperor's diet, save for the nourishing soup he had been regularly consuming from Noble Consort Dugu. Liu Shang quietly told the Eighth Prince that the Emperor had likely been poisoned and advised him to seek the antidote from Dugu while he remained to attempt detoxification.
Simultaneously, Qu Pan'er reached Dugu first, proposing her release in exchange for the cure. Dugu revealed that the antidote required drinking the blood from a close kinsman's heart. Shortly thereafter, the Eighth Prince and Fourteenth Prince arrived. Dugu cunningly directed them to a remote location, using a "lure the tiger out of its den" stratagem to incriminate them. Learning that the Eighth Prince had left the palace, Liu Shang immediately deduced Noble Consort Dugu's sinister plot.
Witnessing the Emperor’s agony intensify to the point of vomiting blood, Liu Shang was filled with immense anxiety. He remembered that the poison was Soul-Stealing Powder, made from Soul-Stealing Grass, which he had encountered in the Xuanling Continent. He knew the only way to counteract the addictive poison was by ingesting the blood from a kinsman's heart.
With time running out, Liu Shang used some of his own heart blood to save the Emperor, an act observed by the Grand Prince. Liu Shang pledged his life on the efficacy of the medicine. When the imperial doctors expressed skepticism, the Grand Prince interjected, claiming he had ordered Liu Shang's actions. Just then, the Emperor began to awaken.
The Grand Prince, seizing the opportunity, announced that the poison required a kinsman's blood and publicly declared that the blood used was his own, taking full credit. He then asked Liu Shang for confirmation, leaving Liu Shang no choice but to silently acquiesce to the lie. Having stolen the credit, the Grand Prince remained puzzled by Liu Shang's knowledge of the cure and began to suspect he might also be of royal lineage.
Anticipating this scrutiny, Liu Shang had instructed Qu Xiaotan to purchase animal blood to create a blood bag. On their way back to the mansion, Mo Liancheng, still in his Liu Shang disguise, was ambushed by a man in a bamboo hat, who stabbed him in the chest. Qu Xiaotan, panicking, rushed him back to the mansion. In this moment of crisis, she confronted her true feelings, crying as she leaned down to kiss him.
As she kissed him, Mo Liancheng's eyes fluttered open. When she desperately tried to examine his wound, she discovered the blood bag concealed on his chest; he was unharmed. Mo Liancheng gazed at the tearful yet smiling Qu Xiaotan with deep affection, softly promising to take her back with him once all matters were resolved. To definitively ascertain Liu Shang's lineage, the Grand Prince intentionally ingested a dose of the poison, having Mo Jingkang’s blood prepared as a contingency.
With everything in place, the Grand Prince consumed Liu Shang's blood. To his surprise, it had no effect. Only after taking Mo Jingkang’s blood did his symptoms alleviate. At that point, he concluded with certainty that Liu Shang was not of royal blood.
