The Legend of Dugu Episode 36 Recap
> The Legend of Dugu Recap
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Mantuo showed no surprise upon learning of Li Cheng's ruined reputation, confirming that she had orchestrated the scandal involving the Yang woman. She sternly told Qiuci that only dead people keep secrets and ordered her to ensure the Yang woman's permanent silence. Qiuci, impressed, praised Mantuo's increasingly sharp strategies. Mantuo explained that Li Bing would not easily disinherit Li Cheng, his eldest son whom he had personally trained for over a decade.
Her current plan was a "soft knife" to slowly chip away at Li Bing's trust, as Li Cheng's reputation was now irrevocably tarnished. While Mantuo received a massage from wet nurse Gu, whose eyes showed a fierce glare, she instructed Qiuci to inform Li Bing that her disturbed pregnancy prevented her from overseeing the ongoing ceremony. Mantuo skillfully maintained a facade of generosity in front of Li Bing, even speaking well of Li Cheng.
She dismissed his recent scandal as a youthful mistake, suggesting he was simply tricked, and assured her husband she would handle any internal gossip in the household. Li Bing, touched by her apparent magnanimity, called her a good wife. He mentioned that Li Cheng had spoken ill of her, but Mantuo brushed it off as trivial, advising Li Bing to focus on more important military and political affairs and the heir's conduct.
She then proposed sending Li Cheng away after the New Year, ostensibly to avoid further gossip. Li Bing, still enraged by his eldest son's actions, resolved to send him back to the harsh Houfang City for a difficult time, even ensuring he received extra silver charcoal.
Privately, Mantuo confided in Qiuci that once her child was born on New Year's Day, Li Bing would be too preoccupied with joy to care about Li Cheng, and in a few years, the dangerous conditions of Houfang City might naturally remove him from contention. She emphasized that all her actions were for her unborn child. Mantuo was strolling in the garden when she was suddenly struck by sharp abdominal pains. A doctor confirmed she was experiencing premature labor.
Despite the doctor's warnings about the risks to both mother and child from delaying the birth, Mantuo adamantly insisted on giving birth on New Year's Day. After Mantuo had struggled for hours, the midwife suggested waiting until the following day, which was Buddha's birthday. Mantuo agreed, ordering the midwife to delay the birth until an auspicious moment. The midwife, astonished, remarked she had never encountered anyone wishing to postpone labor.
Li Bing, anxious, rushed to the room but was advised to wait outside the delivery room, which was considered an inauspicious place for men. He expressed his deep longing for a new child, as the Li household had been without one for many years. Wet nurse Gu then persuaded the tired Li Bing to return to his room to rest and deliberately sent away the doctor and housekeeper, entering the delivery room alone.
After hours of arduous labor, Mantuo finally gave birth, but her joy turned to bitter disappointment when it was announced that she had borne a girl. Overwhelmed, she refused to look at the infant. In a shocking act, wet nurse Gu snatched the newborn from the midwife, lifted it high, and violently smashed it to the ground. The baby immediately began bleeding from its nose and mouth.
Wet nurse Gu, no longer pretending, revealed her true motive: revenge for Feng, her former mistress, who had committed suicide in a well. She confessed to deliberately inducing Mantuo's premature labor and, finding both mother and child safe, decided to kill the infant to inflict profound pain upon Mantuo.
Wet nurse Gu smugly admitted to having sent Li Bing, the housekeeper, and the doctors away, claiming she had convinced them Mantuo, angered by their failure to delay the birth, wanted them gone. She gloated that it was now too late for anyone to intervene. Witnessing her daughter's brutal death, Mantuo was consumed by a murderous fury. She grabbed a knife and plunged it into wet nurse Gu's chest, killing her. In her rage, she also killed two attending maids.
Mantuo then turned to the terrified midwife, who pleaded for her life. Mantuo explained that even if she spared her, Li Bing would surely execute her for the death of the child. She offered the midwife a grim alternative: claim that assassins, sent by Li Cheng's uncle, the Liang family of Longxi, were responsible for the murders and the baby's death.
In return, Mantuo solemnly swore to ensure the midwife received a proper burial and that her son would live a life of wealth and prosperity. With no other choice, the midwife agreed to die and implicate Li Cheng's uncle. Mantuo then arranged everything, and instructed Qiuci to run out of the room, scream for help to draw attention, and then dramatically faint by hitting her head against a wall, making her injuries appear credible.
Alerted by the commotion, Li Bing rushed to the scene. Upon entering the room, Li Bing was met with a gruesome spectacle: several dead bodies, blood everywhere, an unconscious Mantuo, and his newborn daughter lying lifeless. Distraught, he confirmed the child was not breathing. He then noticed the midwife, barely clinging to life, and demanded to know what had happened.
The dying midwife, adhering to Mantuo's fabricated story, gasped that several assassins had stormed in, attempting to kill Mantuo, and had brutally dropped the baby. She claimed to have feigned death and overheard the assailants mention they wouldn't have killed the child had they known it was a girl, and that they were reporting back to "Master Liang" to claim their reward. Hearing this, Li Bing was consumed by a burning rage.
When Wang Shi returned, she found the Li household in chaos. She advised Li Bing on how to manage the crisis, pointing out that the incident was already public knowledge and could provoke the wrath of the Emperor and Empress, especially as Mantuo was the Queen's sister. She acknowledged the midwife's testimony implicating Li Cheng's uncle, the Liang family, but noted the lack of concrete evidence.
Wang Shi argued that the imperial court would prioritize political stability over evidence and would ultimately hold Li Bing accountable. She emphasized that Mantuo would never kill her own child to frame Li Cheng. Wang Shi urged Li Bing to act preemptively by stripping Li Cheng of his title and exiling him to a distant borderland like Nanning. She also advised Li Bing to promise the court that Mantuo's future son would be named the heir.
Despite Li Bing's initial reluctance to disinherit his own son, Wang Shi convinced him this drastic measure was necessary to protect the Longxi Duke house from imperial wrath and Yuwen Hu's covetous gaze. Li Bing ultimately conceded, recognizing it as their only recourse. Wang Shi then visited a recovering Mantuo, informing her that Li Cheng had been officially exiled to Nanning and that Li Bing had promised the court her future son would be the heir.
Wang Shi praised Mantuo's "calm and opportunistic" handling of the crisis. However, Mantuo broke down in tears, lamenting that she had essentially killed her own daughter, never even seeing her face, by letting her die. Wang Shi tried to console her, attributing the tragedy to the child's "unfortunate fate" and reminding her of the future male heir.
Mantuo, however, expressed deep hatred for Li Bing, blaming his favoritism towards Li Cheng for forcing her to resort to desperate measures like seeking wet nurse Gu's help to manipulate her pregnancy. She accused Li Bing of being "wolf-hearted" for leaving the delivery room due to the cold while she risked her life to give birth, believing his absence directly led to her daughter's death. Wang Shi tried to soothe her, reminding her that Li Bing was still her husband.
Meanwhile, Jialuo and Yang Jian enjoyed a loving relationship. Despite Yang Jian being stationed at Xishan Camp, he frequently rushed back to visit Jialuo. They teased each other affectionately, with Yang Jian even hunting a wild chicken for Jialuo's soup. Later, Jialuo visited her sister Banruo in the palace. Banruo, pregnant and feeling her child kick, expressed happiness seeing Jialuo so in love, comparing her relationship with Yang Jian to her own reconciled marriage with Yuwen Yu.
Banruo subtly hinted at her distrust of Mantuo. Jialuo expressed concern about Yuwen Hu's unusual silence following recent events, but Banruo reassured her, believing Yuwen Hu felt guilty and would uphold his promise to not hinder their family. When a eunuch delivered urgent news from Longxi to Banruo, she quickly concealed it from Jialuo, claiming fatigue and dismissing her. Once Jialuo departed, Yuwen Yu joined Banruo, infuriated by the news from Longxi.
He denounced Li Bing's "premeditated plan" to resolve the crisis by exiling Li Cheng and promising Mantuo's future son the heirship, deeming it an attempt to manipulate the court without concrete evidence. Banruo, however, asserted that Mantuo, despite her foolishness, was still their sister and deserved protection.
She directed Yuwen Yu to issue an imperial decree: Li Cheng would be stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner, his uncle, the Grand Duke of Tang (of the Liang family), would be fined one year's salary for "carelessness," and Mantuo would be elevated to the title of Duke of Chengyang County. Banruo also cautioned Yuwen Yu to keep this information from Yang Jian, fearing his "soft-hearted and nostalgic" nature might cause complications.
As they discussed, Banruo suddenly experienced abdominal discomfort, prompting Yuwen Yu to immediately summon a doctor. An imperial decree arrived, formally promoting Mantuo to Duke of Chengyang County and urging peace within the Li family. Li Bing expressed gratitude to Wang Shi, acknowledging that her swift counsel had minimized the fallout to merely a salary penalty, and the consequences would have been dire otherwise.
While he pitied Li Cheng for losing his title, Wang Shi offered a glimmer of hope, suggesting Li Cheng might still have a chance at heirship if Mantuo failed to produce a son. Later, Wang Shi subtly bribed the imperial envoy, requesting him to discreetly suggest to Li Bing that the Emperor was troubled by recent Turkic border disturbances and might look favorably upon Li Bing volunteering to inspect the northern cities.
