Episode 1 recap: The princess and her prince consort killed each other, only to be reborn.
On a cold winter night, the bright moon hung over the palace of the Han dynasty, casting light on the vast crowd gathered in front of the palace. Empress Shanguan Ya led the officials to demand an audience with the emperor, but they were blocked by a troop of imperial guards in full armor, holding long spears and showing no emotion, like statues standing in the cold wind, forming an impenetrable barrier until Chief Councilor Pei Wen Xuan appeared.
Although the empress' matter was urgent, she did not dare to confront Pei Wen Xuan directly. Pei Wen Xuan went to see the seriously ill Emperor Li Chuan alone and had already prepared the edict of abdication. Li Chuan on his deathbed instructed Pei Wen Xuan to depose Crown Prince Li Xin and support the eldest prince Li Ping as the successor, and to suppress the power of the aristocratic families, especially Princess Li Rong, and if she dared to have any rebellious thoughts, Pei Wen Xuan should represent the common people to eliminate her.
In the palace of Princess Li Rong, the cultured and gentle Su Rong Qing, the steward of the princess' residence and the person Li Rong trusted the most, often attended to her as she was suffering from a stubborn illness. As the struggle for the heir was nearing its end, Li Rong knew that the aristocratic families were the root of her brother Li Chuan's troubles, and she had to act before Pei Wen Xuan did, by supporting Li Chuan's son Li Xin to secure the future of her family.
Although Pei Wen Xuan was Princess Li Rong's prince consort, they were estranged, with different goals and even hostile intentions. Tonight, Pei Wen Xuan suddenly visited the princess' residence, obviously for the issue of the heir. Li Rong did not refuse to see him, but confronted him weakly from her sickbed.
The young Pei Wen Xuan had been extremely handsome, and even in his later years, he still had a composed demeanor that few young people possessed. Unfortunately, Pei Wen Xuan had a love interest, and since Li Rong learned that it was Consort Qin Zhen Zhen, and about his subsequent actions, she had no more respect or affection for him.
Pei Wen Xuan disliked Su Rong Qing, so Li Rong found an excuse to send him away first, pretending to be unaware of the events in the court, and responded to Pei Wen Xuan lightly, believing that the legitimate eldest son should be the heir, while also noticing the sachet he wore on his waist.
The two did not see eye to eye, and Pei Wen Xuan warned Li Rong to back off in time, mocking her for taking a liking to the palace-tortured Su Rong Qing, which angered Li Rong deeply. Shortly after Pei Wen Xuan left, Li Rong, after taking some medicine, suddenly felt excruciating abdominal pain, and then coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Su Rong Qing was stunned for a moment, anxiously called for the imperial physician, who diagnosed Li Rong as having been poisoned by a fragrant beauty.
Li Rong thought of the sachet that Pei Wen Xuan was wearing, and about Qin Zhen Zhen's death from the poison, which filled her with sorrow. She realized that this person had ultimately made a move against her.
That night, Li Rong instructed Su Rong Qing to gather the elite forces of the Princess' Residence and ambush Pei Wen Xuan on his way home, to completely end his life. Li Rong's last words before passing away were a regret that she had missed Su Rong Qing, wishing she could start over.
Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, she lost consciousness. When she next opened her eyes, she found herself back in the Changле Palace from her younger days, and confirmed through a conversation with her personal maid Jing Lan that she had been reborn at the age of eighteen. This was the year when her father, the Emperor, was arranging a marriage for Li Rong, who would eventually marry the scholar Pei Wen Xuan from a humble background.
Li Rong did not dare to, nor wish to, think about what would happen next. She only knew that she had to change the course of her past life, starting by preventing the marriage to Pei Wen Xuan, in order to avoid the future tragedy. After freshening up, Li Rong went to the palace to meet her father, the Emperor Li Ming, whom she had not seen for ten years, and felt a mixture of emotions.
As Li Rong was the legitimate daughter of Emperor Li Ming, her status was naturally noble. At least before the age of eighteen, their father-daughter relationship was still relatively good, and she cherished the familial affection in the royal household, even fantasizing that if everything were to start over, they could have been an ordinary father and daughter. Unfortunately, the next moment, Li Ming, as the suspicious and aloof emperor, shattered the warm atmosphere of their reunion.
Li Ming summoned four princes' portraits for Li Rong to choose from as her potential husband. While these princes seemed noble and handsome, three of them were actually lacking in character and ability, only Pei Wen Xuan was relatively decent, but he had fallen into poverty due to his father's early death.
Li Ming deliberately selected these four, intending to suppress Li Rong's maternal clan. If the Crown Princess were to marry a powerful and influential son-in-law, the entire Great Xia Dynasty might fall into the hands of the Empress' family. Li Rong cleverly avoided choosing a husband, using the excuse of hosting a spring banquet to invite the four princes and other distinguished young men. Emperor Li Ming readily agreed to this.
At the same time, Pei Wen Xuan suddenly found himself back in the 24th year of Yongning, the very year when Qin Zhen Zhen had proposed to break off their engagement. When he received the invitation to the banquet from the Princess' Residence, he was no longer as surprised and flattered as before, but rather confident that his appearance had indeed caught the Princess' attention. Although the two had vastly different personalities after their rebirth, they both had their own calculations and began a quiet battle.
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