The Princess's Gambit Episode 10 Recap
> The Princess's Gambit Recap
Meng Huaijin learned from Meng Zhenzhen that Shen Zaiye and Jiang Taohua had been gone for five days, leading him to suspect the matter was related to the Crown Prince. Meng Huaijin felt for Meng Zhenzhen, who was under confinement, and promised to quickly get Shen Zaiye to lift her restrictions. However, Meng Zhenzhen did not feel wronged; instead, she felt more at ease than ever before, believing that as a Meng family daughter, she should endure such circumstances.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince, who had been searching for Shen Zaiye and Jiang Taohua for five days without success, was furious and about to lash out at his subordinates when Meng Huaijin arrived. The Crown Prince ordered his men to extract five hundred thousand taels of silver from the mine within five days. Meng Huaijin advised against such a large-scale operation, but the Crown Prince ignored him, telling Meng Huaijin not to meddle.
In the Crown Prince's view, Meng Huaijin was good in every aspect, just too overly cautious. The Crown Prince spoke of his father fearing the power of noble families and how having the Meng family's support gave him the backing of major clans. Meng Huaijin noted the silver mine was the lifeblood of the nation and should be handled with caution. Witnessing the Crown Prince's temper, Meng Huaijin decided against mentioning Shen Zaiye for the moment.
Wei Wuxia and Xiang Qingying heard about villagers disappearing after being recruited for labor. They decided to write a petition on the villagers' behalf and went to the local official, Censor Zhou. Censor Zhou was known for his integrity and lived in a thatched cottage outside the village to be accessible to villagers. There was a saying that he would not change his dwelling as long as a single person remained homeless.
Wei Wuxia believed he was a good official and submitted the petition, confident that justice would be served for the villagers. When Wei Wuxia and Xiang Qingying returned, they met Zhan Lu, who was looking for Shen Zaiye, and brought him to the Chancellor. Upon hearing they had reported the matter to the authorities, Shen Zaiye got into a disagreement with Wei Wuxia.
Shen Zaiye believed officials protected each other, and filing a report at this time would only alert the enemy. He argued that the world was vast, and they couldn't possibly solve every such problem; this wasn't striking at the root. Wei Wuxia, however, believed they should address each injustice they encountered to uphold the law, arguing that ignoring visible wrongdoing was unacceptable and only by tackling issues case by case would justice return little by little.
Shen Zaiye did not argue further. Censor Zhou went to the Crown Prince to report, informing him about the villagers' petition regarding the recruitment issue and showing him portraits of Xiang Qingying and Wei Wuxia. The Crown Prince grew fearful that this matter might reach his father, King Qi, and asked Meng Huaijin for advice.
Meng Huaijin blamed the Crown Prince for not listening to him, stating that the gambling house incident should have been resolved, but he insisted on seeking revenge, which drove Shen Zaiye and Jiang Taohua to Tianshui Village, closer to the counterfeit money operation. Now, with Wei Wuxia involved, it had become an inescapable deadlock. Despite this, Meng Huaijin couldn't bear to see the Crown Prince in difficulty and suggested sending assassins to kill everyone involved.
From a distance, Shen Zaiye observed Censor Zhou leaving his cottage and realized the Crown Prince had been alerted and was moving quickly, likely on Meng Huaijin's advice. He ordered his men to gather for defense. Jiang Taohua noticed Wei Wuxia hadn't eaten since returning and specially brought him some taro. This reminded Wei Wuxia of his childhood, when his mother always made taro for him, a food he couldn't eat now.
Jiang Taohua mentioned she often ate taro in Beiyuan and felt a sense of familiarity with Wei Wuxia, which he reciprocated, hoping she would regard him as a younger brother. Jiang Taohua praised Wei Wuxia's ideas about reporting issues through official channels, but deep down, she agreed with Shen Zaiye's perspective, fearing collusion among officials and alerting the enemy. Shen Zaiye was listening to their conversation nearby.
Wei Wuxia spoke of a person from his past who taught him – his cousin. He described his cousin as a genius whom he spent his life trying to measure up to. His cousin had taught him that only by governing with righteousness could a nation achieve lasting peace. His cousin's family were distinguished scholars and generations of loyal officials, but they were implicated by Wei Wuxia's mother's incident and slaughtered, leaving no one alive.
The cousin had disappeared long ago. Jiang Taohua was surprised by this history. She sensed Shen Zaiye nearby, but when she looked, he was gone. In a bamboo forest, Shen Zaiye saw Lian captured by two men who accused her of tricking them previously and wanted to take her to Shen Zaiye to kill him.
Shen Zaiye suddenly appeared, killed one of the men, captured the other, forced a poison into him, and compelled him to lead the way to the workplace (mine). The captive, threatened, agreed. Shen Zaiye then approached Lian, who was scared and fell back onto the ground. Lian had been gone a long time, and her Granny was very worried, searching everywhere. Shen Zaiye appeared indifferent to Lian's disappearance, mentioning children sometimes lose track of time playing.
Jiang Taohua noticed blood on Shen Zaiye's clothes and, recalling his vengeful nature, suspected he had killed Lian. She confronted him privately. Shen Zaiye did not deny it, stating he was petty and did not tolerate betrayal, implying he had killed her. He also warned Jiang Taohua to be loyal and do her work properly for her own safety, accusing her of faking loyalty while hiding half of the Sunlight over a Thousand Peaks painting as a potential bargaining chip.
Jiang Taohua tried to explain, but Shen Zaiye cut her off, saying he wouldn't believe her words now. When Jiang Taohua returned, she found Lian eating sugar rolls that Xiang Qingying had taken her to town to buy. Jiang Taohua realized she had misunderstood Shen Zaiye. That night, she went to apologize. She swore that keeping the half painting was for a reason but she would never do anything to harm Great Qi or Shen Zaiye.
She vowed that if she was lying, she would never see her family again, stating it was the most solemn oath she could make. Shen Zaiye asked why a maid was worth such an oath, and Jiang Taohua replied that Qingtai was not just a maid but family to her. Remembering Jiang Taohua calling for her mother in her sleep and seeing the depth of her oath, Shen Zaiye accepted her explanation and forgave her.
Jiang Taohua knew Shen Zaiye had plans for the night and offered to accompany him. Shen Zaiye did not object. They met up with the captive who was meant to lead them to the workplace (mine). However, they were ambushed on the way.
Shen Zaiye revealed he had anticipated trouble and made arrangements: he had instructed Zhan Lu to have men ready to support them and told Xiang Qingying and Wei Wuxia to wait outside the village and evacuate the villagers if they detected enemies. He also told Wei Wuxia about a house where the villagers could wait. Granny had gone back to the village to retrieve Lian's brother's things and hadn't returned.
Wei Wuxia sent Xiang Qingying ahead with the villagers while he went back to look for Granny. Elsewhere, Shen Zaiye intended to cover Jiang Taohua's escape, but she was struck and knocked into the water. Her leg became entangled in water weeds, leaving her unable to move. As she called for help, she was shown becoming still in the water.
