The Vendetta of An Episode 6 Recap
> The Vendetta of An Recap
Following Liu Ziyan's surprise attack, Xie Huaian lay critically wounded with a knife plunged into his neck. He urged Bai Guan to flee, but she stayed by his side, calling out his name in distress. Ye Zheng arrived and fought Liu Ziyan, who, despite his injuries, managed to escape. Ye Zheng immediately rushed to find a physician for Xie Huaian. Soon after, Zhu Zhi Guang, the master physician, arrived, taking in Xie Huaian’s grave condition.
He immediately ordered his subordinates to prepare an anti-bleeding decoction. With the dagger still in Xie Huaian's neck, Zhu Zhi Guang declared he would personally remove it and asked for assistance to stop the bleeding. When his fearful subordinates hesitated, Bai Guan bravely stepped forward, stating she was not afraid. With Bai Guan’s calm assistance, Zhu Zhi Guang successfully extracted the blade, and quickly applied anti-bleeding powder to the gushing wound, tightly bandaging it.
Though the bleeding was controlled, Xie Huaian remained unconscious. Zhu Zhi Guang explained that due to severe blood loss and the critical location of the injury, he couldn't guarantee when Xie Huaian would wake. He might remain in an eternal coma, slowly aging while others passed. However, if he did regain consciousness, there was still a chance for survival.
Bai Guan, though deeply saddened, believed her brother would wake, convinced he had too many unfulfilled wishes, especially avenging their family, to simply give up. She had already placed her Bamboo Carved Amulet, which she had worn since childhood and believed offered protection through past trials, into his hand. Meanwhile, Zhu Zhi Guang also noted that Xiaoqing and her messenger had been targeted, indicating a need for a joint investigation.
Ye Zheng and Xiao Wenjing took turns guarding the unconscious Xie Huaian. Xiao Wenjing, observing Bai Guan's attentiveness, wondered about her relationship with Xie Huaian. Ye Zheng, irritated, told him it was none of his business. However, Xiao Wenjing recounted how, as a former imperial family member, he remembered Xie Huaian having a younger sister whose first birthday gift was a distinctive Bamboo Carved Amulet. He had seen Bai Guan place a similar one in Xie Huaian's hand.
Realizing the truth, Ye Zheng quickly silenced Xiao Wenjing, emphasizing that Xie Huaian did not want Bai Guan to know her true identity as a member of the ill-fated Liu family. Xiao Wenjing, worried about Xie Huaian’s condition and his own fate, recounted a prophecy by the Grand Preceptor Cen Weizong who foretold Xiao Wenjing would live to 83.
Xiao Wenjing humorously suggested that if Xie Huaian protected him to that age, then Xie Huaian himself must also live that long, implying his own survival depended on Xie Huaian's. Bai Guan, undeterred by the grim prognosis, told the unconscious Xie Huaian that she would undertake the task he assigned once dawn broke, but ultimately, he had to wake to complete his revenge.
Meanwhile, Liu Ziyan, seriously wounded, returned to Hidden Soldier Alley, only to be denied entry by an old gatekeeper. He relayed General Yan Fengshan’s orders: Liu Ziyan was no longer welcome. His failures, including losing the deposed emperor, disobeying orders to kill Xie Huaian (which failed and resulted in Qingyi's death), and mobilizing Huben forces without authorization, showed he had lost sight of the bigger picture.
Realizing he was abandoned, Liu Ziyan fought his way through the surrounding soldiers, escaping with his life. Desperate, Liu Ziyan sought refuge with an old subordinate, Xingzi, a former Liu family servant who had remarried and lived an anonymous life. Xingzi, startled by Liu Ziyan's sudden appearance, offered to tend to his wounds with the Liu family’s anti-bleeding mix.
Liu Ziyan, recognizing Xingzi's new family, threatened them, reminding Xingzi of his complicity in the murder of Liu Ziwen, which Xingzi claimed was proof of loyalty to survive. Liu Ziyan demanded that Xingzi arrange a licensed carriage to take him out of Chang'an in two days, setting a rendezvous at sunset by the Yanping Gate. Xingzi agreed, recognizing he had no choice.
Liu Ziyan made it clear that after this, they would be even and would never see each other again. While Xie Huaian recovered, Bai Guan, acting on his wishes, ventured into the city. She found a woman selling accessories, who, by her accent, was not from Chang'an. The woman and her husband, from Huzhou, struggled to make a living in the expensive Capital. Bai Guan helped her gather her wares from the sudden rain and subtly probed her.
The woman mentioned her husband refused to leave Chang'an, even after their daughter turned six. Bai Guan then presented a bangle, confirming it was the woman's missing daughter's. Bai Guan revealed that the woman’s husband owed a blood debt from fifteen years ago and that their daughter would be returned safely once that debt was cleared. The woman was overcome with emotion. During his two-day unconsciousness, Xie Huaian experienced vivid flashbacks.
He revisited the traumatic day he saw his father brutally murdered by his uncle. He recalled fleeing the Grand Preceptor's Residence with his young sister, walking seventy li through snow and cold to Nanwei Trough. When he left his starving sister in a thatched hut to find food, she was taken by a kind-hearted person.
Believing she would have a better chance at life if she wasn't burdened by the ill-fated Liu family name, he hid among the reeds of Nanwei Trough, working as a ferryman for seven years, secretly watching her grow up with her caring foster family. He also saw his father in his dream, his hands cold, confirming his unjust death.
Xie Huaian vowed that revenge was the only reason for him to live, despite his father's plea for him to choose a more peaceful path. Miraculously, after two days, Xie Huaian regained consciousness, confirming Bai Guan's belief that his strong will for revenge would bring him back. Xiao Wenjing initially misinterpreted Xie Huaian’s first words as wanting his mother or water, but Bai Guan understood it as "I want revenge."
Xie Huaian quickly learned that Liu Ziyan had not yet left the city. " Good," he declared, "That means I still stand a chance to hunt him down. Liu Ziyan doesn't deserve to live until now." Two days later, on a rainy night, Liu Ziyan rode out of Chang'an in Xingzi's carriage. He mused on his departure from the city he had survived in for so long, unaware of the trap laid for him.
Along the road, Xie Huaian and Ye Zheng had replaced Xingzi as the carriage driver. Liu Ziyan, resting inside, suddenly felt a knife pierce his chest. Liu Ziyan, now fatally wounded, taunted Xie Huaian, saying that if he died, Xie Huaian would never know his father's last words to Liu Ziyan. Xie Huaian dismissed the notion, stating it no longer mattered.
Just as Liu Ziyan had stabbed his father repeatedly years ago, Xie Huaian exacted his vengeance with precise, repeated stabs, killing Liu Ziyan. After Liu Ziyan’s death, Xie Huaian stepped out of the carriage. Xingzi, witnessing the scene, knelt, begging for his daughter's life. He confessed his past cowardice and selfishness, explaining he was forced to betray Liu Ziwen to protect his own parents.
Xie Huaian turned him around, revealing his daughter, now safe and reunited with her mother, calling out for him. Xie Huaian, understanding Xingzi’s forced complicity, declared his debt was settled and allowed him to leave with his family, stating he was different from those who would punish the innocent. As Xingzi departed, an old dog, Dahuang, barked and rushed towards Xie Huaian. Xie Huaian recognized their family dog from his childhood.
Dahuang led Xie Huaian, Bai Guan, and their companions to a stone tablet in a nearby forest. The inscription revealed that in the 17th year of Qiansheng, kind commoners, respecting General Liu Ziwen, had found his remains and pooled their efforts to give him a proper burial there, performing rites on behalf of future generations to comfort his heroic spirit. Xie Huaian was deeply moved to find his father's grave and to know that his father was not forgotten by Chang'an, realizing his son and daughter were both still alive.
