The Rise of Phoenixes Episode 9 Recap, Plot

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Zhuyin claimed that her and Ning Yi's lives were changed by the witchcraft case. One went from a high-ranking young lady to a courtesan, and the other from a prince second only to the emperor to a prisoner. Their dearest and most loved ones all lost their lives because of it. At the same time, she also stated that Ning Yi was different from other princes, someone truly worthy of trust, implying that Feng Zhiwei should see her true feelings.

But Feng Zhiwei turned her head away. Zhuyin was puzzled, why did Ning Yi help her everywhere, but she avoided him everywhere? The Crown Prince sealed all exits of Lanxiangyuan. Xin Ziyan and Ning Yi were greatly surprised. Ning Yi quickly told Ning Cheng to inform Dahua that Xin Ziyan was currently in Lanxiangyuan. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince, disguised, was heading towards Lanxiangyuan.

Dahua arrived at Lanxiangyuan with her people, seemingly ready to cause a scene, while Xin Ziyan was timidly hiding inside Lanxiangyuan. Feng Zhiwei, disguised in men's clothing, was entangled by Xin Ziyan, who begged her to save him, even using Prince Chu's token as a threat. With a furious roar from Dahua, everyone in Lanxiangyuan was stunned, and Feng Zhiwei could only take Xin Ziyan into a private room.

He thought he had escaped his 'tigress' wife's pursuit at home, but to his surprise, Dahua brought people upstairs. Feng Zhiwei could only hide Xin Ziyan in a box. When Dahua entered the room, she only saw Feng Zhiwei alone. She, in the guise of a young servant, teased Dahua, and finally managed to anger Dahua away. Xin Ziyan took out the token, and only then did Feng Zhiwei agree to let him out of the box.

Xin Ziyan stated that if she took this token, she could come to him in the future and he would grant her one request. Feng Zhiwei gladly accepted and suggested to Xin Ziyan that he jump out of the window. However, as soon as Xin Ziyan jumped down, he was apprehended as an assassin. Luckily, he ran into the Crown Prince, and his disheveled appearance amused the Crown Prince.

Afterwards, the Crown Prince ordered Xin Ziyan to fabricate the witchcraft case. The Crown Prince was indeed uneasy about Chang Hai and also worried that Prince Yan would seize his position as Crown Prince. Feng Zhiwei arrived at the private school; this time she came to bid farewell to the Master. The Master understood, saying, "Go if you must."

The Master spoke of Emperor Tiansheng releasing Ning Yi to suppress the Crown Prince and Chang Hai, and even bet that within half a year, either the Crown Prince or Ning Yi would be decapitated. In the imperial court, Emperor Tiansheng inquired about the investigation into the Bloody Butcher case. Ning Yi seemed distracted and did not answer. Emperor Tiansheng asked again, but received only the reply, "Your son is incompetent."

Emperor Tiansheng, awe-inspiring without anger, ordered Ning Yi to be escorted outside Chenming Palace to kneel for a long time in self-reflection. The Crown Prince took this opportunity to request that Ge Hongying, the meticulous strategist behind Prince Zhao, be dispatched to the border. After the court session, the Crown Prince again managed to draw Prince Zhao into a scheme, arranging for him to book Lanxiangyuan that evening to entertain several princes.

After leaving the private school, Feng Zhiwei returned to Lanxiangyuan. She wanted to stay there to repay Ning Yi's kindness for helping her. Under the name Wei Zhi, she asked Zhuyin for a job as a handyman. After the Master saw Feng Zhiwei off, he welcomed Qiu Mingying, who had driven Feng Zhiwei away precisely to protect her.

At Lanxiangyuan, Wei Zhi served wine while listening to the various princes criticize and backstab Ning Yi, secretly thinking, "Royal families truly have deep brotherly bonds, indeed." Zhuyin, fearing that Feng Zhiwei might cause trouble, instructed her not to serve inside the hall. Outside Chenming Palace, Ning Yi knelt under the scorching sun for hour after hour, his mind filled with childhood memories of playing and laughing with his mother.

At this moment, Zhuyin entered the hall, seemingly feigning resistance to the Crown Prince's teasing. However, seeing her like this, Feng Zhiwei felt very displeased, yet dared not say anything. Just then, a parrot flew into the hall and landed on Prince Zhao's shoulder, chirping, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince." The Crown Prince immediately became annoyed.

With Zhuyin fanning the flames from the side, Prince Zhao, startled, hurried to catch the bird, his comical appearance making Feng Zhiwei outside the hall cover her mouth and burst into laughter. Finally, Prince Zhao followed the parrot outside the hall. Feng Zhiwei, seeing the opportune moment, brought the bird to meet Prince Zhao. Wishing to use Prince Zhao to achieve her grand ambitions, she gave the bird to Prince Zhao to gain familiarity.

The bird stood on Prince Zhao's shoulder, shouting, "Crown Prince, spare my life!" Prince Zhao was very pleased and pretentiously declared, "Then I shall spare you." Unexpectedly, the bird flew down and landed on the hand of a mysterious person, beside whom stood Xin Ziyan. Xin Ziyan claimed this person was the Great Sorcerer and that the bird was a divine bird.

Prince Zhao laughed loudly, saying it was just an animal, and just now it had been staring only at him, calling him "Your Highness the Crown Prince." Upon hearing this, Xin Ziyan cryptically stated that the divine bird had glimpsed heavenly secrets, then hastily excused himself, leaving Prince Zhao behind, bewildered. Zhuyin pursued Feng Zhiwei, asking her why she had come to Lanxiangyuan. At this moment, Feng Hao, drunk, arrived at Lanxiangyuan, noisily demanding to find girls.

It turned out that the usually heartless and ungrateful Feng Hao was drunk this time for Feng Zhiwei's sake. After sobering up, Feng Hao saw Feng Zhiwei and bombarded her with questions. Feng Zhiwei simply took all the blame upon herself, then handed a piece of broken silver to Feng Hao, telling him to study diligently and then expand the Feng family's lineage. Seeing his elder sister staying so aggrievedly at Lanxiangyuan, Feng Hao felt utterly helpless.

Feng Zhiwei had to comfort him, saying she stayed there to repay someone's kindness. Emperor Tiansheng was angry at Ning Yi's incompetence but was too lazy to bother with him anymore, so he allowed Ning Yi to return to his residence. At this time, the Crown Prince felt that since Ning Yi had complied with his wishes, he prepared a generous gift for Ning Yi: an archer's ring.

Afterwards, Zhao Yuan came to help Ning Yi return to his residence and also presented a bottle of ointment to Ning Yi. Seeing the archer's ring in his hand, Zhao Yuan was greatly surprised, realizing it was a Buddhist sacred object. Seeing Zhao Yuan's fondness for it, Ning Yi, 'borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha', gave the archer's ring to him. For no other reason than that whenever Ning Yi was sick in the past, Zhao Yuan had always come to visit.

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