The Sleepless Princess Episode 34 Recap
> The Sleepless Princess Recap
Minister Su, following the Emperor's command, dispatched soldiers to apprehend Luo Ji, dead or alive. Nannan, distraught, argued that the Prince had stepped in front of the arrow himself, but Minister Su slapped her, angered by her defiance. He expressed regret for spoiling her and sternly forbade her from any further contact with Luo Ji. Later, Luo Ji secretly visited a heartbroken Nannan.
Lamenting that he was now a wanted man, he vowed to stay away from her to avoid causing her more trouble. Moved by his selflessness, Nannan kissed him. Luo Ji then revealed his plan to join General Xue Yao in apprehending Dong Shi to obtain the antidote for the Emperor, hoping this could atone for his perceived crime. In the palace, Tao Yao was burning paper offerings for the late Xue Mu, praying for Chu Yue and Xue Yao's happiness.
She was interrupted by Dong Shi's apprentice, who was also her sworn brother, sneaking into the palace for a rare herb. He confided in her that Dong Shi, driven mad by his inability to obtain the birthstone to resurrect his lover, planned to unleash a poisonous fog throughout the palace during the full moon as an act of revenge.
Realizing the immense danger, Tao Yao attempted to flee to warn Chu Yue, but she was spotted and fatally stabbed by palace guards who mistook her for an assassin. Despite her severe injuries, Tao Yao managed to reach Chu Yue. With her dying breath, she revealed Dong Shi's plot to fill the palace with poison gas to lure Chu Yue back, take her birthstone, and resurrect his lover.
She warned that Dong Shi had secret passages and begged Chu Yue not to return to the palace, before passing away. Devastated, Chu Yue asked Uncle Liao for a way to save Tao Yao. Uncle Liao gave her a token left by her father, the Da Guo Shi. Upon lighting it, Chu Yue entered a dream state and asked her father how to revive Tao Yao.
Da Guo Shi explained that while the birthstone could predict the future and alter destiny, which was already an act of defying natural law, it could not bring someone back from the dead, as that fundamentally violated the laws of heaven and earth. He warned that if she tried, both she and her beloved would fall into an endless abyss.
Believing her life would be meaningless if everyone she loved died for her, Chu Yue decided to use her final chance to see the future. She was jolted awake by a horrific vision of what was to come and resolved to stop Xue Yao from returning to the palace. Meanwhile, General Bai Liqi interrogated captured members of the Qingyun tribe.
They confessed that Dong Shi used a secret passage into the Imperial City, through which an associate named Domoto would smuggle out treasures for Dong Shi to sell. The proceeds were used to hire assassins. While they didn't know the exact exit, they said it was near Daluo Mountain, where contacts would meet them, mask them, and transport them by carriage before they could continue on their own.
Xue Yao immediately ordered a thorough search within a ten-li radius of Daluo Mountain to find the passage. Chu Yue rushed to Xue Yao and, in a desperate bid to protect him, lied that Dong Shi was hiding in a mountain villa in the northwest. She urged him to go there, capture Dong Shi to achieve great merit, and then marry her. That night, Xue Yao held Chu Yue as they slept, sharing a moment of their former intimacy.
The next morning, one of Xue Yao's subordinates reported that he had searched the location Chu Yue described but found no villa. Xue Yao correctly surmised that Chu Yue was trying to keep him from returning to the capital. Just then, King Shun arrived to dissuade him, but Xue Yao was resolute.
He declared he would go where he needed to go to confront the fate she had envisioned, stating that if it was his destiny to die, it was his alone to face, and he would not let Chu Yue die for him. Xue Yao had Chu Yue bound to prevent her from following, but she threatened to take her own life if he left her behind. King Shun intervened, suggesting they find another way.
Chu Yue recalled that her vision of the disaster took place in a secret chamber in the palace. Based on this, they strategized a new plan. Xue Yao, moved by her pleas, finally agreed to let her accompany him. Meanwhile, Na Xi received news that the dark steel ore mine had been destroyed, the metallurgist assassinated, and her brother's treasured jade thumb ring stolen. Concluding that Xue Yao was responsible, she vowed revenge.
Following Uncle Liao's guidance, the group entered the secret passage but were ambushed. Xue Yao was struck by Dong Shi's hidden weapon. Chu Yue threatened to kill herself to stop Dong Shi, who then urged her to cherish her life, revealing that Xue Mu's dying wish was for him to spare her. Hearing this, the weakened Xue Yao looked at Dong Shi with sudden realization, identifying him as Guan Shan. Overwhelmed by the revelation and his injury, Xue Yao then coughed up a large amount of blood and lost consciousness.
