The Long Ballad Episode 36 Recap
> The Long Ballad Recap
Elder Qin couldn’t find any trace of Lithospermum, not even in the most hidden corners of the black market. He sensed trouble. Changge decided to stay in the Northern Desert, determined to bring the herb back to the Eagle Division no matter what. Meanwhile, the mischievous girl was dragged out of the inn for not paying. She met her uncle but refused to go with him and tried to escape. On the street, she ran into Changge and Mimi.
At first, Changge didn’t want to get involved, but the girl realized Changge was avoiding officials, so she grabbed her hand and screamed that Changge was kidnapping her. Helpless, Changge knocked the girl out and took her back. The girl woke up, wanting to know who Li Changge really was. She suspected that anyone avoiding soldiers must be a bad person. Changge tried testing her, but the girl spoke nonsense.
Changge decided not to let her go and warned her to behave or she’d be fed to wolves. Then, Changge left the room and posted someone at the door. But the clever girl slipped her ropes and tried to escape, only to overhear a conversation between Mimi and Changge. She came out to speak with them, revealing her name was Pearl and that she was from the Southern Desert.
She had snuck into the Northern Desert to see the Qihan Festival, and the people on the streets were sent by her father to bring her back. After eating her fill, Changge asked Pearl about the Lithospermum in the desert. Although trade was banned, Pearl cleverly pointed out that during the Qihan Festival, people threw Lithospermum at the Plague God to drive away disease. That would be their only chance.
During the festival, Changge’s group disguised themselves as the Plague God and accepted the people’s ritual, winning cheers from the crowd and collecting enough Lithospermum. However, their bold actions angered the original “Plague God,” the Desert King, who started investigating them. Changge and her group were preparing to leave but were stopped by the Desert King, who summoned them. He had discovered their carriage was filled with Lithospermum and wanted to know why.
Changge hid the real reason and claimed she was hoarding the herb for profit. The Desert King didn’t suspect anything else, but neither did he plan to release them easily. Knowing Pearl was from the Southern Desert, he had them all imprisoned until the Southern Desert group returned. While imprisoned, Changge learned from Pearl that the Northern and Southern Deserts were enemies.
Though the Northern Desert was under the control of Asher’s Tribe, it had always been a source of shame. Realizing that Asher’s Tribe and the Northern Desert were at odds, Changge tried to request an audience with the Desert King to propose a deal, but no one took her seriously. News of Changge’s imprisonment in the desert reached Yicheng.
She instructed Raymond to keep an eye on Changge and also ordered him to bring the wives and daughters of both the Northern and Southern Desert Kings to use as leverage. She was already recruiting ten thousand soldiers each from both regions to form a private army. To prevent interference from Changge, Yicheng sent someone to warn Mimi and reminded her of her mission.
She also dispatched a new face to the Northern Desert to monitor the Eagle Division’s movements there. The Southern Desert King came to reclaim Pearl. The two kings nearly clashed due to their temperaments. Since Pearl was in the Northern King’s hands, he used cavalry as leverage. The Southern King had no choice but to exchange a cavalry unit for Pearl. Pearl was taken out of the prison, and Changge’s group learned she was the princess of the Northern Desert.
When Pearl returned to her father, she didn’t forget Changge. She pleaded with her father to save them. Though reluctant at first, upon learning the Lithospermum was to save lives, the Southern King paused and decided to meet Changge. Before Changge entered the hall, she saw the Royal Court’s envoy, who had come with two orders: both kings must recruit another ten thousand soldiers for Dingxiang’s garrison and send their wives and daughters to the Yurt Court.
Although the Northern King had no wife or daughter, even his concubine wasn’t spared. Message delivered, the envoy prepared to leave. At the gate, he saw Changge. Though they hadn’t met, he recognized her from a portrait and gave her a scrutinizing look. Changge noticed the envoy’s expression and realized he meant trouble. She quickly revealed her identity to both kings—she was a strategist of the Eagle Division, and she came seeking Lithospermum to treat the sick.
If they let that man go, none of them would have peace. Now that the Royal Court had abandoned the Eagle Division, the Northern and Southern Deserts should form an alliance with them.
