Untouchable Lovers Episode 54 (Ending) Recap
> Untouchable Lovers Recap
Liu Chuyu sent Rong Zhi back to the Northern Wei army. Looking at the injured and unconscious Rong Zhi, she couldn't help but caress his pale face. After Rong Zhi woke up, Liu Chuyu was still angry. She no longer dared to trust Rong Zhi. Shen Yu came in and told Rong Zhi that Tuoba Hong had ordered him to retreat. The situation was just right, and Shen Yu felt that retreating would be too much of a pity.
Rong Zhi had already saved Liu Chuyu, and he decided to retreat. He understood Tuoba Hong's concerns. Forced by Rong Zhi to get into the carriage, Liu Chuyu was unhappy. It wasn't until Qing Yue came in with a happy face, and Liu Chuyu heard her say that Shen Yu, for the sake of the princess being the regent's beloved, dared not touch her, that Liu Chuyu's expression improved. On the other carriage, Rong Zhi's lips curved slightly upwards.
Halfway there, a eunuch suddenly appeared, saying that Tuoba Hong had set up a banquet in the northern suburbs to celebrate the regent's achievements. Rong Zhi took Liu Chuyu to the banquet. Tuoba Hong and the Empress Dowager stood together in the hall to welcome them. Tuoba Hong toasted the meritorious official Rong Zhi, but Rong Zhi, feigning discomfort, did not drink the wine.
As songs and dances filled the air, Tuoba Hong suddenly spat out blood, accusing Rong Zhi of poisoning him. Rong Zhi knew this was a "Hongmen Banquet" (a treacherous feast); it turned out Tuoba Hong had been waiting for him here. Tuoba Hong's men suddenly made a move, abducting Liu Chuyu. The Empress Dowager forced Rong Zhi to take a heart-eating poison pill. Rong Zhi, to save Liu Chuyu, had no choice but to surrender.
He laughed, saying the Empress Dowager was indeed the most vicious woman in the world, so cruel even to her own brother. Tuoba Hong thought he had won, but Rong Zhi said he was "plotting with a tiger for its hide" (dealing with a dangerous person). He told Tuoba Hong to ask what the Empress Dowager's biological son was called. Tuoba Hong now only wanted to kill Rong Zhi.
He ordered his men to act, but Shen Yu suddenly burst in with his people. It turned out Rong Zhi had been prepared all along. Rong Zhi had already given up his military power. Even if the situation reversed, he would not regret it. He had many loyal warriors who would assassinate the Northern Wei imperial family relentlessly if he died today. The Empress Dowager knew this was no joke.
She convinced Tuoba Hong to let Rong Zhi and Liu Chuyu go, and also promised Rong Zhi that she would not trouble the people he left behind. Shen Yu remained in Pingcheng, and Liu Chuyu entrusted Qing Yue to his care before leaving. Rong Zhi took Liu Chuyu far away, stopping only after they had traveled a long distance.
He knew Liu Chuyu was still angry, so he deliberately lied, telling her that the medicine he took would only make him lose his martial arts, and he could rise again whenever he wanted. He urged Liu Chuyu to leave, and Liu Chuyu turned and left without any hesitation. Rong Zhi watched her retreating figure and suddenly spat out blood. Liu Chuyu heard the sound, turned back, saw Rong Zhi's state, and rushed over to check on him.
Rong Zhi told Liu Chuyu that someone once wanted him to use her blood to defy fate and reach the pinnacle of his life, but he didn't believe it. He returned the sachet Liu Chuyu had given him, saying that he had always believed fate was in his own hands, and he wanted Liu Chuyu to believe that too and live well. Rong Zhi was in a very bad condition.
Liu Chuyu cried, telling him not to give up, that there would surely be a way. Rong Zhi shook his head, saying that no matter how clever he was, he could not defy fate. In the past, he desired the empire, but ever since Liu Chuyu came to his side, he gradually stopped wanting it. Now that he was about to die, he asked Liu Chuyu not to remember him.
Rong Zhi cried out in agony, clutching his head, blood continuously flowing from his mouth. Seeing Rong Zhi collapsed on the ground, Liu Chuyu cried in pain. Rong Zhi's body was brought back. Tuoba Hong ordered him to be cut into a thousand pieces, but the Empress Dowager stopped him in time, saying Rong Zhi had served with great merit and she wanted to give him a grand burial.
Tuoba Hong had previously planned with the Empress Dowager to drink poisoned wine himself, just to pin the crime of poisoning the emperor on Rong Zhi. Although he had taken an antidote beforehand, Tuoba Hong's face remained grim. At this moment, Hong Xiu successfully gave birth to a baby boy. The Empress Dowager said she would name him Tuoba Hong.
Tuoba Hong didn't think much of it at the time, not realizing something was wrong until the Empress Dowager ordered Hong Xiu to be executed immediately. According to the ancestral system of Northern Wei, when an imperial prince was enfeoffed as Crown Prince, his birth mother had to be executed immediately. However, the child was still so young, there was no need to immediately enfeoff him as Crown Prince.
The Empress Dowager, with a smile, told him that this child was not to be made Crown Prince, but to be made emperor. The Empress Dowager told Tuoba Hong that her own biological son was named Tuoba Hong. Tuoba Hong suddenly remembered Rong Zhi's earlier words, that he was "plotting with a tiger for its hide." Now he suddenly understood everything.
Back then, the Empress Dowager's biological son was perfectly healthy, but as soon as the news spread that he was to be made Crown Prince, he suddenly died mysteriously. Thinking back now, it was all done by the Empress Dowager. To save her own life, she personally killed her son and supported Tuoba Hong's ascension. Now that Tuoba Hong was disobedient, she was going to support a newborn child to take power.
It was too late for Tuoba Hong to understand everything; the Empress Dowager had already bribed everyone around him, completely isolating him. Dressed in common clothes and wearing a veil, Liu Chuyu returned to her princess's manor in Southern Song on a moonlit night. She looked at her former residence, now changed beyond recognition. The sound of a zither suddenly came from the courtyard. Liu Chuyu followed the sound and surprisingly saw Rong Zhi sitting there playing the zither.
She cautiously called out Rong Zhi's name, fearing it was just a hallucination. Rong Zhi heard Liu Chuyu's voice, stood up, and then fell back down. He hadn't been poisoned to death by the heart-eating poison; it was just too potent. Now he couldn't see, and his legs couldn't walk. But Liu Chuyu didn't care; as long as Rong Zhi was alive, she was content.
Earlier, Rong Zhi had made an agreement with the Empress Dowager: he would relinquish his power and help the Empress Dowager expose the forces Tuoba Hong had secretly cultivated. In return, the Empress Dowager would completely restore his freedom. Moreover, with Rong Zhi blind and his legs injured, he would no longer pose a threat to the Empress Dowager. Meanwhile, in the imperial palace in Pingcheng, the Empress Dowager meticulously cared for the newborn Tuoba Hong.
She repeatedly called out "Hong'er," though it was unclear whom she was calling. In the sixth year of Yanxing, Emperor Xianwen Tuoba Hong died mysteriously, and Tuoba Hong ascended the throne. The Empress Dowager presided over the court, honored as Grand Empress Dowager. After her ascension, she implemented the Equal-field System left by Rong Zhi, which received great acclaim. In the Princess's Manor in Jiankang, Liu Chuyu, dressed in light-colored clothes, stood on a bridge fishing.
Looking at the large fish on her hook, Liu Chuyu was overjoyed and shouted Rong Zhi's name, asking him to come and admire her catch. Rong Zhi ran over, carrying a wooden bucket. Liu Chuyu saw that his eyes were now clear and his legs strong, and couldn't help but call him a liar. Rong Zhi had bribed Qin Gu, one of the Empress Dowager's attendants.
The medicine he took only created the illusion of temporary disability, and he would fully recover in less than a year. In terms of strategy, Rong Zhi was in no way inferior to the Empress Dowager. He originally had the opportunity to conquer the world, but for Liu Chuyu, he willingly gave it up. It truly can be said, "If one desires a single heart, what does it matter if it costs the empire?"
