Unchained Love Episode 8 Recap
> Unchained Love Recap
After agreeing in a crucial meeting to forge a jade emblem for the Yuwen family, Xiao Duo declined a princess's invitation for spring wine, citing urgent business. He insisted on traveling to the Imperial Mausoleum immediately, despite the difficult, rain-soaked path. At the Mausoleum, Bu Yinlou waited anxiously as a storm rolled in. She grew convinced that Xiao Duo knew she had beaten Eunuch Liu and was deliberately making her wait as a form of psychological torture.
Though her attendant, Tong Yun, urged her to leave, Bu Yinlou stubbornly remained, determined not to give him the satisfaction. She vowed that if they ever met again, the first one to speak would be a dog. When Xiao Duo finally arrived, Bu Yinlou, sticking to her vow, remained silent. Breaking the tension, Xiao Duo apologized for his tardiness. To her surprise, he presented her with a unique goldfish kite.
Though feigning annoyance, Bu Yinlou admired the gift and confessed she only calmed down because she found him handsome. Seizing the moment, Xiao Duo playfully announced he was "abducting" her from the Imperial Mausoleum. Their escape was facilitated by a fabricated "flu epidemic," announced by Eunuch Liu under Xiao Duo's direction, which restricted all movement and provided the perfect cover for Bu Yinlou's absence.
Xiao Duo clarified he wasn't there to punish her for hitting the eunuch, but because he had overheard her expressing a deep longing to see her mother. As they approached her family’s old residence in Fushui Town, Bu Yinlou hesitated, explaining that her sick mother had been sent there by her father. She feared her mother was angry with her for entering the palace, as her mother had always wished for her to escape the family's control.
Xiao Duo reassured her, certain her mother would only feel concern, not anger. Instead of her mother, they were confronted by her father, Grand Tutor Bu. Reacting with alarm instead of joy, he accused her of escaping the Mausoleum and tried to drag her to the magistrate to confess a crime punishable by the execution of their entire family. Xiao Duo swiftly intervened. Feigning ignorance, Grand Tutor Bu claimed Bu Yinlou's stepmother had already recovered and returned to the capital.
He then questioned Xiao Duo about the Emperor's true intentions and urged his daughter to serve the new Emperor well. As they departed, he presented Xiao Duo with a "mountains and rivers painting" that, as Bu Yinlou discovered, contained hidden gold leaves. Enraged by her father's blatant attempt to sell her, Bu Yinlou threw the painting to the ground, calling him shameless, only for Xiao Duo to wryly point out that it was his money she was tossing.
In the carriage, Xiao Duo revealed his deep understanding of her past—neglected by her father and mistreated by her stepmother, she had developed a sharp, cautious demeanor as a survival mechanism. Furious that he had seen through her carefully constructed facade, Bu Yinlou stopped the carriage. Dropping all pretense, she demanded to know his true intentions, asking incredulously if he really wanted to be "sisters" with her.
In response, Xiao Duo offered her a cherry, suggesting its sweetness could dispel bitterness. With the Mausoleum temporarily out of reach, Bu Yinlou decided they should enjoy the night. They took a boat out on the water, and she playfully taught the inexperienced Xiao Duo how to row. She gifted him a handmade Madiao card, humorously labeling him "Xiao Duo," the "God of Calamity" who was "stunningly beautiful."
In turn, Xiao Duo examined her card, which depicted "Bu Yinlou" as a "Consecrated Salted Fish" with "no special powers," a useless card. She defiantly declared that she made the rules and could use her "useless" card to tear up an opponent's hand, amusing Xiao Duo with her shamelessness.
As she became more inebriated, Bu Yinlou tearfully recounted her lonely childhood and how her dream of having a real home was shattered when she realized her father’s house was just another cage for her and her mother. Drunkenly, she wished people could be free to be with whomever they wanted. When Xiao Duo asked whom she wanted to be with, she whispered, "You," before passing out in his arms.
Meanwhile, a drunken Tong Yun and Cao Chunang bickered at the Mausoleum. Their argument was interrupted by a bruised and terrified Beauty Li pounding on Bu Yinlou’s door, begging for help. Before the inebriated Tong Yun could react, Eunuch Liu appeared and dragged Beauty Li away. He revealed that a witness had seen her enter his room on the night of his beating, confirming her complicity.
After tormenting her and asserting his absolute authority in the remote Mausoleum, he forced her to swallow an unknown substance. When Bu Yinlou and Xiao Duo returned, a horrified Tong Yun recounted the events. Bu Yinlou found a broken Beauty Li, who warned her not to interfere, claiming she had "figured it out" and would now rely on Eunuch Liu for survival.
When Bu Yinlou argued that the eunuch was despicable, Beauty Li countered by asking who she "could" trust, accusing a guilt-stricken Bu Yinlou of abandoning her by not opening the door the previous night. Bu Yinlou admitted she hadn't been there but couldn't explain why. Resigned, Beauty Li told her to leave, stating grimly, "I will not die."
