Till the End of the Moon Episode 2 Recap
> Till the End of the Moon Recap
Upon arriving in the past as Ye Xiwu, Li Susu found herself settled, having also located Tantai Jin, the future Devil God. While she couldn't kill him yet to prevent the impending catastrophe, she determined to make him suffer for the blood debts her family and sect would incur. As a bitter blizzard raged outside, Li Susu's resolve wavered as she worried about Tantai Jin, who had been kneeling in the ice and snow for three nights.
She questioned if she was doing the right thing, asking her father, Uncle Zhaoyou, and senior brother in her mind if she was mistaken. Meanwhile, Ye Bingshang, widely admired for her benevolent acts, continued her tradition of personally distributing porridge to the needy on the first and fifteenth days of each month. People praised her kindness, wishing for her marriage to Prince Lin and for them to have many children.
Prince Lin, having concluded his official duties, arrived to help her. A maid, unaware that Prince Lin was within earshot, gossiped about Ye Xiwu, calling her a shrew and recounting how she had pushed Ye Bingshang into the lake. Ye Bingshang gently admonished her maid for speaking ill of her sister. After they finished their charitable work, as dusk fell, Ye Bingshang prepared to leave, citing family rules.
Prince Lin wished to spend more time with her, lamenting the strict Ye family rules. The maid then revealed that Ye Xiwu had forced the Jing Kingdom's hostage prince, Tantai Jin, to kneel in the snow. Hearing this, Prince Lin was appalled by Ye Xiwu's mistreatment of a foreign prince and urged Ye Bingshang to return home and rest, as she was still recovering from her fall. Back at the mansion, Tantai Jin had been kneeling for four days.
Even the servants openly mocked him, splashing him with icy water and wishing him dead. Peeking out, Li Susu (as Ye Xiwu) concluded that he was likely feigning unconsciousness, understanding that in this hostile household, playing the victim was his only way to survive. The cruel taunts of the servants confirmed her fear that he would not survive the night in the freezing temperatures, and if he died now, the evil bone might activate prematurely.
In a moment of concern, Li Susu stealthily approached him, feigning disdain for her cloak by carelessly tossing it aside and telling him he could have the "ugly" garment. However, Tantai Jin, though shivering, sarcastically refused, saying he dared not accept it and that she could have Chuntao throw it away in the morning if she disliked it.
Li Susu inwardly acknowledged his resilient and cold nature, reminding herself that he was the future Devil God and she shouldn't show him any kindness. Yet, the larger mission of saving the Four Continents and Three Realms compelled her to act. Seeing him finally collapse, on the verge of death, she quickly took him back to her room. Inside her room, Li Susu warmed Tantai Jin's frozen body with her own and urgently instructed Chuntao to prepare a hot bath.
Chuntao, surprised by her mistress's sudden concern for Tantai Jin, was taken aback. Li Susu quickly covered her actions by claiming that as husband and wife, sleeping together was natural. As Tantai Jin's body began to recover, a demonic entity appeared in his mind, tempting him. Tantai Jin, weary of a life filled with pain, hunger, cold, humiliation, and powerlessness, readily agreed to surrender his body and soul for eternal peace.
However, the demon revealed that the time was not yet ripe; Tantai Jin must first endure the peak of human suffering and absorb boundless resentment before his life's end, only then would the sacrifice be accepted. Later, while Tantai Jin was still recovering, Li Susu attempted to locate the evil bone within his body by carefully examining him. He suddenly awoke, catching her in the act and asking what she was doing.
After a brief argument, Tantai Jin tried to return to the lake to resume his punishment, but Li Susu stopped him. She declared the punishment over, asserting that his public kneeling was an embarrassment to her as his wife. Tantai Jin, still sarcastic, apologized. She then asked Chuntao what else she was supposed to do for Tantai Jin every night.
Chuntao revealed that Ye Xiwu, fueled by resentment from their forced marriage, would whip Tantai Jin nightly as an outlet for her anger. Li Susu found the long whip hidden under the mattress. Despite telling herself that the future Devil God deserved it, she couldn't bring herself to inflict the pain, realizing that such torment would only harden his heart, not prevent his demon transformation.
She finally feigned exhaustion, declared she was too tired to continue, and told him they should just go to sleep. That night, Li Susu woke to find Tantai Jin burning with a high fever. Guilt-ridden, she realized his mortal body couldn't withstand days in the cold. She frantically called Chuntao to brew medicine.
After Chuntao prepared it, Li Susu personally fed it to the delirious Tantai Jin and placed a cool cloth on his forehead, recalling how her own father used to comfort her when she was ill. When he eventually stirred, she told him to rest, feeling the burden of having saved him but knowing it was necessary for her mission.
The next morning, Li Susu learned from Chuntao that Tantai Jin had gone to the Librarium to copy sutras, his usual routine when not being punished. She inwardly vowed that he owed her his life and would repay it someday. At breakfast, she met Ye Xiwu's family: the stern General Ye, her doting grandmother, her elder brother Ye Zeyu, and her father's concubines.
The grandmother fussed over her, concerned about her lack of warm clothing, and gifted her a white fox fur coat. Ye Zeyu asked for one too but was immediately chastised by his father for his idleness. Li Susu's father showed her great affection, serving her favorite dishes, which made Li Susu realize she was experiencing human family warmth for the first time. The grandmother expressed concern about Ye Xiwu's reputation following the lake incident.
Li Susu offered to apologize to Ye Bingshang, but the grandmother dismissed it, fearing Ye Bingshang's illness might spread. Just then, Ye Bingshang returned, apologizing for her late arrival due to her charitable duties. Observing Ye Bingshang's graceful demeanor and kind nature, Li Susu finally understood why both Prince Lin and Tantai Jin were drawn to her. Later, Li Susu discovered that Tantai Jin was not eating with the family.
Chuntao explained that he always ate in the kitchen with the servants and was often hungry. Upon arriving at the kitchen, Li Susu found the servants openly humiliating Tantai Jin, forcing him to wash dishes in icy water and offering him only a bucket of swill. She watched as Tantai Jin silently prepared to eat the dirty scraps. Outraged, Li Susu intervened, furiously scolding the servants.
She condemned their cruel behavior, reminding them that their current sycophancy could easily turn into disloyalty if the Ye family ever fell from grace. She then stopped Tantai Jin from eating the filthy swill, questioning his lack of self-respect. Tantai Jin replied that dignity was meaningless to him; survival was paramount, and if he had harbored any dignity, he would have perished long ago. Determined, Li Susu dragged Tantai Jin back to her room, presenting him with a proper meal.
He refused, suspicious that it was another of Ye Xiwu's tricks. He recounted the events of the Qixi Festival six months prior: Ye Xiwu, desperate to secure Prince Lin for herself, planned to drug Ye Bingshang with a love potion to force her into a compromising situation with the Fifth Prince, Xiao Liang. However, the Fifth Prince cornered Tantai Jin and, after mocking his lowly status, gave him the drugged pastry.
Coincidentally, Ye Xiwu herself accidentally consumed the portion meant for Ye Bingshang. With many palace witnesses to their compromised state, General Ye had no choice but to request an imperial decree for their marriage. Since then, Ye Xiwu's nature had grown increasingly cruel, finding pleasure in tormenting him. To prove the food was safe, Li Susu took a bite herself, assuring him there were no drugs.
She then declared that from that day forward, Tantai Jin would have all three meals in her room and would no longer eat food scraps. Alone, Tantai Jin pondered her strange change in behavior, wondering if she was devising a new form of torture. The demon in his mind confirmed that his father, King Tantai Wuji of Jing, was indeed dying, but this information was irrelevant as Tantai Jin was trapped in the Ye residence.
Meanwhile, the Sheng Emperor informed Prince Lin that Tantai Wuji's imminent death rendered Tantai Jin, the hostage, useless. However, Prince Lin astutely countered that killing Tantai Jin would only play into the hands of the ruthless Tantai Minglang, Tantai Wuji's expected successor. Impressed by his son's wisdom, the Emperor decided to summon Tantai Jin to assess his ambition.
If Tantai Jin showed a desire to reclaim his position and could stir chaos in Jing, the Emperor would assist him, only to eliminate him later. But if Tantai Jin proved unambitious, he would simply be replaced by a look-alike hostage, as long as Tantai Minglang was convinced.
