My Sassy Princess Episode 12 Recap
> My Sassy Princess Recap
Xu Shijin revealed to Liu Ling that their gathering in Yejing was the first time she, Shen Yu, and Liu Ling had been together. Liu Ling, observing Xu Shijin and Shen Yu, confessed that seeing them together made her think they were a perfect, innocent couple, and she admitted to once envying Xu Shijin's closeness with Shen Yu.
Liu Ling expressed her regret that if the past misfortune in Jiangzhou hadn't occurred and Xu Shijin's parents were still alive, Xu Shijin and Shen Yu would have married and lived a carefree life. Xu Shijin, however, dismissed "if" as the most beautiful lie and insisted on facing reality. She explained that to seek justice for her wrongly deceased parents, she had to personally sever her ties with Shen Yu.
She characterized Shen Yu as an unworldly person, indifferent to fame or gains, who preferred a leisurely life, while her path to revenge required her to be worldly. Her greatest fear was that Shen Yu would be implicated because of her. Liu Ling then questioned her own feelings for Shen Yan, believing they paled in comparison to Xu Shijin's devotion to Shen Yu. Xu Shijin reassured her that emotions cannot be compared in such a way.
Afterward, Liu Ling requested to be dropped off at a tavern in the city, wanting to walk alone. At the Beidian Administration, Shen Yu informed Shen Yan that he had found information regarding Lu Mingshan, noting that an important item related to him was located in the north. Shen Yan considered requesting permission to go north, but Shen Yu reminded him that the Double Seventh Festival was approaching.
He detailed that Lu Mingshan was hosting a large banquet at his mansion, inviting noble ladies to celebrate the festival with his granddaughter, Liu Runxiang. Shen Yu emphasized that this event would be the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the mansion and steal the Kun Jade. Shen Yan agreed to handle this before heading north to Xuanwu Town. Shen Yu then mentioned that Princess Changle, Liu Ling, was deeply distressed because she felt helpless about Shen Yan's recent troubles.
She had bought more than ten pots of wine and was likely drinking alone in her room, trying to forget her worries. Shen Yu suggested Shen Yan visit her if he had time. Later that night, Liu Ling, heavily intoxicated, welcomed Shen Yan, inviting him to join her in forgetting their worries. She then questioned why he was appearing in her dream again, as they had agreed not to meet.
She wondered why she only smiled when she saw him, rather than crying from missing him, pondering if this meant her feelings for him weren't genuine, and thus she shouldn't meet him. Shen Yan calmly suggested she was drunk. When he turned to leave, Liu Ling frantically begged him not to abandon her in her dream, expressing her wish to hold him forever and never wake up.
She eventually fell asleep in his arms, and he gently placed her on her bed. The next morning, Liu Ling awoke still believing the previous night was a dream, wishing to go back to sleep and playfully complaining about Xu Shijin's early arrival disturbing her beautiful dream. Xu Shijin, amused, hinted at important matters concerning Shen Yan. Liu Ling quickly apologized and eagerly asked for details.
Xu Shijin revealed that Shen Yan and Shen Yu planned to infiltrate Lu's Mansion and steal the Kun Jade during the Double Seventh Festival banquet. Liu Ling realized the difficulty of such a task and offered her assistance, asking what she needed to do. Xu Shijin suggested that Liu Ling was the most suitable person in Yejing to create a diversion during the "Daughter's Festival."
Liu Ling enthusiastically agreed, stating she had long sought an opportunity to retaliate against Lu's family, who had framed her using Yue Ling and caused the death of Shen Oink, her pet pig. She then hinted at a secret plan she would execute on the day of the banquet. On the Double Seventh Festival, Liu Ling, accompanied by a dozen of her personal guards, audaciously forced her way into Lu's Mansion, causing a significant commotion at the entrance.
Despite the steward's attempts to stop her by stating no uninvited guests could enter, Liu Ling asserted her authority, complaining that the Lu family had deliberately excluded her from their grand banquet. Inside, Liu Runxiang expressed her displeasure at Liu Ling's uninvited and disruptive presence. Lu Mingshan quickly tried to slander Liu Ling, claiming that his maid, Yue Ling, had a miscarriage because of Liu Ling and subsequently took her own life in grief.
Liu Ling, however, refuted his claims, first by presenting a doctor from Huichun Clinic. The doctor testified that the medicine given to Yue Ling for her condition would take effect within an hour. Liu Ling questioned why Yue Ling only suffered a fall and bled days after entering the Hou Mansion, suggesting Yue Ling might have known her fetus wouldn't survive and planned to frame Liu Ling, seeking refuge at the Dingbei Duke Mansion before her miscarriage.
Dismissing Lu Mingshan's protests, Liu Ling then presented Yue Ling's corpse, shocking everyone present. She declared her intention to seek justice for Yue Ling, who had died unjustly. Citing a coroner's report from the Administration of Beidian, Liu Ling stated that Yue Ling's body showed signs of suffocation, not drowning, indicating she had been smothered to death and then dumped in the river to make it appear as a suicide.
She demanded an explanation from the Lu family, highlighting that Yue Ling entered their mansion alive but was found dead after being in their care. As a servant reported that the butler had discovered a thief trapped in the study, Lu Mingshan declared that Yue Ling's case could wait and rushed towards the study. Liu Ling blocked his path, challenging him to guess the thief's identity.
Lu Mingshan prioritized catching the thief, but Liu Ling refused to move, reminding him that as "Jiangzhou's No.1 Wicked Woman," she did not pick places to cause trouble, and would not leave until Yue Ling's case was resolved. Lu Mingshan asserted his right to deal with his own maid, as Yue Ling was their property.
Liu Ling countered that before her death, Yue Ling had sought refuge at the Dingbei Duke Mansion and her indenture was personally delivered by Lu Mingshan's aunt, making Yue Ling a person of the Dingbei Duke Mansion. Liu Ling then ordered her guards to beat Lu Mingshan, offering rewards for each strike. Lu Mingshan was severely beaten amidst the chaos. Meanwhile, Shen Yu, who had already infiltrated the study, had knocked out Liu Runxiang and hidden with her.
When Lu Mingshan was being beaten by Liu Ling's guards, Shen Yan seized the opportunity to retrieve the Kun Jade from Lu Mingshan's person. Still bruised, Lu Mingshan attempted to unlock the study door, but Liu Ling forbade it, invoking her status as a princess. Lu Mingshan defied her, claiming he would bear the consequences if the Emperor chose to protect her. At this moment, Shen Yan appeared, casually asking Lu Mingshan if he had lost something.
Liu Runxiang's voice was then heard from inside the study, claiming she had been hit. Shen Yan declared it was a misunderstanding and led Liu Ling away. Furious about the missing Kun Jade, Lu Mingshan ordered his butler to search the room and instructed Hu Xiao to secretly monitor Shen Yan and Xu Shijin, and to kill Shen Yan when the opportunity arose to retrieve the jade and avenge his humiliation.
Later, Liu Ling questioned if the chaos at Lu's Mansion was part of Shen Yan's plan. Shen Yan confirmed it, explaining that he had repeatedly pressured the Lu family using Yue Ling's case to make Lu Mingshan uneasy. Knowing Lu Mingshan's cautious nature, he predicted Lu Mingshan would carry the Kun Jade on him.
Shen Yan stated that the study was a trap, so he allowed Lu Mingshan to believe he had the upper hand, making him relax his guard, which then created the opportunity for Shen Yan to act. He also remarked on Shen Yu's unchanged mischievous nature. Shen Yan then asked Liu Ling to walk with him, stating he had something important to say before he left.
Liu Ling initially hesitated, but Shen Yan pressed her, asking how long she intended to ignore him before his departure. He revealed he had received a secret imperial edict from the Eastern Palace and would be heading north to Xuanwu Town the next day, requesting an explanation from her before he left. As they walked past a stall selling "red strings for love" from the Vega Temple, Liu Ling attempted to thread a needle but failed.
Shen Yan then tried and easily succeeded, giving her the red string. He noted that he had obtained the string while she could not, pondering if he was not the one for her. Liu Ling confessed that she had an emotional barrier she couldn't overcome, making her unable to think about their future or promise him a lifetime. She felt she didn't deserve him and didn't want to hold him back.
Shen Yan smiled, reminding her of what she had said the previous night. Suddenly, a Jinlin Guard reported that criminals being escorted by the Ministry of Punishment had been hijacked and were loose on the streets. Shen Yan acknowledged the report and told the guard to go. Liu Ling suggested he had work to do and she should return home, but Shen Yan insisted she accompany him.
He told her that while she knew "Shen Yan," she didn't know "Stern-faced Yama," and proposed taking her into "Yama's world" to revisit the discussion of whether she still felt she didn't deserve him. He asked if she was afraid, and Liu Ling bravely replied she was not, as long as he was with her. They arrived at the scene where the escaped criminals were causing chaos.
Liu Ling was visibly frightened, almost dropping a jade bracelet she was trying to buy. Shen Yan told her to wait there. He confronted the criminals, declaring himself "Stern-faced Yama." With lethal efficiency, he eliminated them, stating that the Jinlin Guard's job involved killing, and his hands would never be clean.
He acknowledged they were bad people who deserved their fate, despite the sadness their situation evoked, and proclaimed that "the one who kills must be prepared to be killed," and that "Stern-faced Yama lives an unstable life involving bloodshed." He then turned to Liu Ling and asked if she still believed she didn't deserve a man like him. Liu Ling admitted her fear, stating it was the first time she had witnessed that side of him.
She initially suggested he leave her, but then retracted, asserting she would not go because he had asked her to wait. She reiterated that she didn't deserve him, but she couldn't bear to see him navigate the treacherous path between life and death alone. She offered to accompany him so he wouldn't be lonely, until he found someone who could promise him a lifetime. Deeply moved, Shen Yan responded, "You won't leave, and I won't abandon you."
All past grievances dissipated, and they finally succumbed to their emotions, sharing a passionate embrace and kiss on the rooftop. Meanwhile, Xu Shijin was outside the palace celebrating the Double Seventh Festival. Drawn by beautiful singing, she entered a place where a woman named Ru Yu was performing. Xu Shijin expressed her admiration for Ru Yu's voice and requested her to sing a few more songs for sentimental reasons.
Ru Yu smiled, remarking that Xu Shijin's words reminded her of a certain gentleman who always spoke similarly. Shortly after, Shen Yu, passing by, saw Xu Shijin. He then approached a fireworks vendor, bought all the fireworks available, and had them wrapped for himself. He then set them off from a distance, watching Xu Shijin smile as she gazed at the display.
