The Long Ballad Episode 16 Recap
> The Long Ballad Recap
Asher Sun came to see Li Changge. He forbade her from seeking death—if she died, he would slaughter everyone in Junzhou. What he wanted was to make Li Changge disappear from Tang completely and become his slave. On the steppe, the law of survival was the law of the jungle. Keeping Li Changge was like harboring a future threat—it wasn’t easy. He threatened her with the lives of the people, ready to see what she was capable of.
As a slave, Li Changge left with the Asher army. Looking back at the vast land behind her, she realized she could never return to Chang'an. Though Hao Dou hadn’t killed her, he had assigned men to spy on her. If she secretly colluded with the Asher tribe, she was to be killed. Even if she didn’t, the tribe wouldn’t keep her alive. He hoped Li Changge would truly sacrifice herself for the country. Hao Dou sent word to Chang’an.
Upon learning of the northern frontier’s loss, Li Shimin mobilized troops toward Junzhou, vowing to drive out the Asher tribe. The army stayed behind to calm the northern citizens. Fang Xuanling knew Li Shimin was deeply worried about both Li Changge and Li Leyan. With Leyan missing and Hao Dou still in the north, Fang hoped Du Ruhui could ask his adoptive son Hao Dou to help find her. After all, no one in the north had seen Leyan’s face.
Du Ruhui knew what Fang meant, but he had no interest in these minor matters and told Fang to handle it himself. Xufeng found out news from Junzhou: the city was saying Li Changge was dead. Elder Qin, however, believed she was still alive—taken by Asher Sun to the steppe. With many eyes and ears there, they couldn’t act rashly. They would first ensure Yuan Niang’s safety, then use their old intelligence network to find Li Changge’s whereabouts.
Asher Sun knew Hao Dou had spies on Li Changge. He had Mu Jin stage a show: first, knock Li Changge unconscious with a hood over her head, then kill a slave of similar build to fake her death. The spies believed she was dead. Wei Shuyu came to Junzhou searching for Leyan and happened to meet Hao Dou. Hao Dou informed him of Li Changge’s supposed death. Junzhou had fallen, and a captive like her could not have survived.
With Li Changge “dead,” Wei Shuyu was grief-stricken, but Hao Dou urged him to keep searching for Leyan. If she had been in Junzhou, she would have left traces, but since there were none, she must not be there. Wei Shuyu had come to the wrong place. Li Leyan arrived in Yunzhou on foot, dirty and disheveled. She went to the local magistrate’s office, asking him to send a message to Chang’an or Luoyang.
Seeing she had no proof, the magistrate thought she was a fraud and drove her away. Wandering alone on the streets, Li Leyan cried with grievance. The next day, Li Changge woke up, still unsure why Mu Jin had knocked her out. Mu Jin himself didn’t understand Asher Sun’s motives but didn’t think highly of Li Changge’s pride—he felt it natural for her to suffer a little. Since then, Asher Sun had ignored Li Changge completely.
Mu Jin couldn’t understand why—after going to great lengths to save her, why let others mistreat her? Asher Sun knew the more he cared for her, the more pain she would feel. Rather than letting her hate herself, it was better she hated him. All he wanted was for her to live on. When he heard she had fainted, Asher Sun rushed to check on her. Upon waking, Li Changge showed him no gratitude.
Seeing her refuse food and water, he grew worried and had to provoke her—hoping to ignite her desire for revenge and reignite her will to live. Wei Shuyu and Hao Dou arrived in Yunzhou, showing Leyan’s portrait to the local authorities. The officials then realized the young woman who had come a few days ago was the real princess and quickly sent out orders to find her. Meanwhile, Leyan was buying pancakes when a boy stole her pouch.
Unaware, she even offered to share the pancake with him out of kindness. Only after a nearby woman pointed it out did she realize the pouch was gone. It was embroidered by Li Changge herself, and Leyan ran through several streets trying to get it back. She didn’t care about the money, only the pouch. The boy took the money but threw the pouch back. Holding it, she thought of Li Changge deeply.
At that moment, government officials were searching the streets with her portrait. Mistaking them for people trying to arrest her for impersonating a princess, she fled and ended up hiding in a textile shop owned by the woman from earlier. Hiding in a water vat, she begged the woman to shelter her for a day. Seeing she meant no harm, the woman agreed. In the Asher tribe, Li Changge saw the boundless steppe.
Watching Asher Sun distribute gifts to the children, she was reminded of her own childhood when she and Li Leyan once begged Li Shimin for gifts. Elsewhere, Li Leyan remained at the textile shop for the day, thanking the kind woman and promising to repay her one day. When Hao Dou and Wei Shuyu heard that the officials had lost track of Leyan, they flew into a rage and decided to go find her themselves the next day.
