The Sleepless Princess Episode 10 Recap
> The Sleepless Princess Recap
Disturbed by a prophetic nightmare of being intimate with Xue Yao, Chu Yue flees to the palace to avoid him. While Bai Liqi suspects she has gone to complain to the Emperor about her treatment at the Xue mansion, Chu Yue's true intention is simply to put distance between herself and the general, a risk she feels she must take to clear her mind.
However, Xue Yao soon arrives at the Golden Bird Palace, insisting she return to the Xue mansion. Chu Yue, accusing everyone in the mansion of bullying her, refuses to go back. Xue Yao tries to reassure her, promising to smooth things over with his aunt. He then questions why she came to the military camp only to leave a Lirenhua flower and depart.
When Chu Yue confronts him about a woman in the camp, Xue Yao explains that she was brought by his subordinate without his knowledge and is irrelevant to him, declaring this his only explanation. When he attempts to physically carry her back, an infuriated Chu Yue demands a divorce and has Tao Yao begin drafting a He Lishu (divorce letter).
Their heated exchange over the letter's terms is interrupted by Gao Gonggong, a eunuch, who summons Chu Yue to the Emperor. Before the Emperor, Chu Yue is interrogated about any abnormalities concerning Xue Yao and asked if she has recalled the assassin's identity. Secretly wishing for her benefactor to remain undiscovered, Chu Yue feigns memory loss. The Emperor confesses to having disturbing dreams in which Xue Yao resembles the assassin, but Chu Yue dismisses his fears.
The Emperor expresses his deeper worry that Xue Yao might harbor resentment and abandon his military duties. As she is dismissed, the He Lishu, which she only intended to use to scare Xue Yao, slips from her sleeve and is discovered by the Emperor. Enraged, he accuses her of disloyalty in her mission to monitor Xue Yao and lectures her for attempting to divorce her husband unilaterally.
Citing Xue Yao's alleged philandering, Chu Yue bets she can gather proof within a month. The Emperor, though still displeased, orders her to return to the Xue mansion and continue her surveillance. Later, Chu Yue bluntly admits to Xue Yao that she slandered him to the Emperor and showed him the He Lishu.
Subsequently, the Emperor summons Xue Yao and tests his loyalty by asking him to evaluate two military strategies, which Xue Yao recognizes as being from King Shun and Prince Ning. Claiming to be a mere brute unskilled in literature, Xue Yao deftly avoids choosing a side. The Emperor then fondly recalls Xue Yao's elder brother, Xue Mu, praising his sacrifice in saving the imperial ancestral tablets during the Yinghua Hall fire.
A flashback reveals a young Xue Yao being bullied, only to be protected by Xue Mu, who comforted him by explaining that their parents live on in the "frontier wind," not in ancestral tablets, and promised to always protect him. Back at the Xue mansion, Xue Yao discusses his palace visit with Bai Liqi while bathing. Bai Liqi finds Xue Mu's death—saving tablets in a fire—to be peculiar and uncharacteristic of the late general.
Xue Yao remains wary, sensing the Emperor intends to replace him with King Shun, a notion Bai Liqi finds doubtful given the king's poetic, rather than military, nature. Meanwhile, Xu Xingchen searches the library for records of Chu Yue's father, the Grand National Master, but finds them suspiciously absent.
Dong Shi, the master's sole disciple, appears and explains that his master used birthstone predictions to save the Emperor multiple times, ultimately dying from exhaustion after using all twelve of his prophetic chances to protect the Nansang State. He reveals his desire to prevent Chu Yue from suffering a similar fate, as the birthstone has inadvertently entered her body. Xingchen vows to protect his imperial sister and uncover the truth behind her attempted assassination.
Xue Yao later demands that Chu Yue return the He Lishu. Unwilling to leave the mansion without having fulfilled her mission for the Emperor, Chu Yue follows Xue Yao to his bathing chamber. There, she initiates a flirtatious encounter, offering to massage his back while secretly planning to stay and gather incriminating evidence against him within the month. Annoyed by her antics, Xue Yao rebuffs her advances and leaves.
Xu Xingchen visits Chu Yue, troubled by the Emperor's command for him to draft military strategies. He confesses his aversion to official life, admitting he once planned to take Chu Yue away from the palace to protect her from her "strange illness." Seeing her seemingly settled, he feels lost. Chu Yue reassures him, encouraging him to follow his own path, promising to support him whether he chooses to serve in court or live in seclusion.
Touched, Xingchen affirms his only wish is to be wherever she is. Tao Yao informs Dong Shi that Chu Yue has now had ten prophetic dreams. Dong Shi sternly warns her to ensure Chu Yue does not interfere in any future dreams that do not directly involve her, as doing so again could be fatal. Later, Chu Yue tells Dong Shi that she has stopped having nightmares since being with Xue Yao.
Dong Shi recalls his master's teaching that individuals with a strong malevolent aura can suppress such ominous forces, speculating that Xue Yao's reputation as a fearsome general might be the cause. Chu Yue discovers from Xue Yao's aunt that he knelt for the duration of an entire incense stick as punishment on her behalf, an unprecedented act of defiance. That night, she seeks out Xue Yao to ask about it, feeling a sense of obligation.
She confesses her one-month bet with the Emperor to find evidence for their divorce. Acknowledging the unyielding nature of imperial decrees, Xue Yao agrees to "cooperate" with her plan, reasoning it is better to keep her close and monitor her actions. As Chu Yue settles to sleep on the floor beside his bed, she quietly wonders why he, unlike others, seems capable of suppressing her nightmares.
