Spring of The Blade Episode 13 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
Qingyuan wins Yan Rui an audience with the Marquis of Danyang, where he reveals his true mission and asks for troops. At home, Second Madam’s attempt to expose Qingyuan as an impostor backfires, exposing her as the real poisoner, while Yan Rui turns Lord Wei’s grain into relief for the refugees.
A Grandmother’s Ultimatum
Qingyuan kneels before Old Madam Xie, who reminds her that the Xie family didn’t come this far easily, and that to stop being humiliated, it has always come down to one thing: fighting back. Madam Hu tries to plead on Qingyuan’s behalf, but Old Madam Xie tells Qingyuan to get up and asks her directly whether she’ll go to tomorrow’s southern opera. After a moment’s thought, Qingyuan summons her courage and says she will.
Seats at the Opera
At the opera hosted by the Marquis of Danyang, Qingyuan’s maid marvels that her mistress managed it at all. When Madam Hu found the invitation, she was sure they’d never be allowed to come, yet Qingyuan got Old Madam Xie to approve it herself.
Qingyuan explains that her grandmother doesn’t actually want her marrying Young Master Li either. But with Concubine Mei confined to Liuhua Courtyard, no one is running the household, and Old Madam Xie hasn’t decided who should take over.
If Second Sister marries well and Qingyuan is won over to First Madam’s side, Grandmother will have no pieces left to play. Seated beside Chunzhi, Qingru tells him to stop staring and enjoy the opera, since that little vixen was handed to Lord Yan long ago. Chunzhi asks her not to speak of Qingyuan that way. Madam Hu remarks to Old Madam Xie what a fine pair Qingru and Chunzhi make, and Old Madam Xie tells her to just watch the show.
Qingyuan’s maid grumbles that Madam Hu is being underhanded, deliberately seating the Heir next to Second Lady and pushing them to the back row when he was the one who invited them. Qingyuan says it doesn’t matter. It’s exactly what she wanted, and Madam Hu has saved her a lot of trouble.
An Audience Above the Stage
Qingyuan slips into a dark, empty room and climbs the stairs to where the Marquis watches the opera from above. She introduces herself as the fourth daughter of Army Inspector Xie and explains that the snacks on the table are an apology for offending him the other day. She asks how he found them. He asks what formula she used, since they’re herbal.
She explains she simmered astragalus, codonopsis, pinellia and earthworm into a broth and mixed it into the filling, drawing on a classic decoction for clearing blood stasis. It’s meant to treat his lung abscess and heart condition, caused by phlegm and stagnant blood blocking his channels and slowly failing his organs.
A Secret Laid Bare
The Marquis is stunned. Not even his own son knows about his illness, and he demands to know who told her. Qingyuan explains that outside her shop she noticed his hoarse voice and clubbed fingers, and that even in late spring he felt the cold enough to need a hand warmer. These are signs of deep internal cold and failing organs. If she’s right, he didn’t withdraw from the world because of some eccentric nature, as people claim.
Five years ago, he discovered his old injuries had grown into a serious illness, and that’s what changed him. He’s furious at her presumption. She tells him there’s more. To win an audience with him, she studied his entire life. She knows he went to war at fourteen and took six stab wounds capturing northern invaders, killing hundreds and holding the banner high alone until reinforcements came, leaving wounds that never fully healed.
She knows that when he pushed for the Prince of Han to be named Crown Prince, he knelt all night in the snow and contracted a lung ailment. And she knows that to protect the people here, he kept command of his troops while giving up political power, shutting himself away for years.
Who Sent Her
He demands to know who sent her. Downstairs, Chunzhi notices her seat is empty. The Marquis answers his own question. It’s Yan Rui. Qingyuan admits it. Lord Yan told her she must find a way to meet him in person, no matter what, because he wants to borrow troops.
The Marquis says that all along he thought she’d calculated every move to marry his son, never imagining she’d turned mouthpiece for a corrupt official who squeezes provisions and plunders the people wherever he goes. Qingyuan insists Lord Yan isn’t the corrupt official everyone believes him to be. His aim is the same as the one the Marquis has always stood for, even if they take different paths.
The Marquis asks if she’s finished, then draws his sword. Qingyuan’s eyes widen in fear. Below, Qingru claps loudly, gushing that she’s never seen such a fine performance, to the visible disapproval of Madam Hu and Old Madam Xie.
Hearing footsteps, the Marquis swings, but Yan Rui hurls a teacup at the blade and knocks it off course, so it only slices a lock of Qingyuan’s hair. Yan Rui introduces himself and greets the Marquis, remarking that he’s finally shown himself, and that Yan Rui knew all along he was up here listening.
The Marquis says one test was all it took to flush him out. Yan Rui explains that since His Lordship kept avoiding him, he had no other choice. The Marquis observes that Yan Rui reminds him very much of an old friend of his.
The Reason for the Troops
Yan Rui wonders which old acquaintance could have left such a deep impression, then gets to the point. Hengtang has long been rotten to the core, and no one can save it. The Marquis explains he hid his illness to keep Hengtang’s military command stable and stop the region from falling into chaos, which he supposes is at least one good deed for its people. He asks what Yan Rui really wants the troops for.
Yan Rui says he came to Hengtang for only three things: disaster relief, wiping out bandits and rooting out corruption. As he speaks, Qingyuan watches him with open admiration. That, he says, is exactly why he needs troops.
The Marquis asks why he should trust him. Yan Rui replies that the Marquis has endured his illness and shut out the world for years to keep Hengtang at peace, so why not seize this chance to tear out the Jiangnan Transport Commissioner, the region’s scourge, once and for all?
A Gamble Offered
The Marquis says it all sounds easy for Yan Rui. Win or lose, he can dust off his robes and go back to the capital to report, while the Marquis is left behind to clean up his mess. Everyone in Hengtang curses Yan Rui as a corrupt villain who extorts grain, hoards wealth and preys on the people.
If the Marquis killed him here, he’d face no consequences, and the people would cheer. So why shouldn’t he? Yan Rui says His Lordship has a good eye, and he knows the Marquis never meant to kill Qingyuan. It was only to draw him out, and now here he is, and the Marquis may do with him as he likes.
But even if he kills one corrupt official, can he kill every corrupt official in Hengtang? Qingyuan adds that since Lord Yan has come to borrow troops, he must already have a plan. They want the same thing, and what one man can’t achieve alone, the two of them together might. Yan Rui tells the Marquis it all comes down to whether he’s willing to take the gamble.
A Disgruntled Shopkeeper
In her quarters, Second Madam pours over a confession letter while the shopkeeper Qingyuan dismissed stands by. She asks if every word he’s told her is true. He insists that vicious girl left his whole family homeless and without a living, and that the letter alone is enough to finish her. Second Madam says she knows.
A Meeting With Master San
Lord Wei and Xie Shu ride out to meet a bandit leader called Master San, who asks whether Lord Wei has more good business for him. Lord Wei has heard that Master San looted government grain but has found no way to sell it, and now there’s a golden opportunity. On the eighth of next month the court will be buying grain.
Master San has the grain, and Lord Wei and Xie Shu have the official channels. A few of his men need only pose as grain merchants and sell it in separate lots, and once the money is split, they’ll all be richer than they could ever spend. There’s just one small extra task. When it’s done, Lord Wei needs Master San to kill someone. Master San calls that routine.
Asked for his view, Xie Shu says secrecy is the key to success, and gathering a pack of criminals like this means that if things spiral, they’ll all be ruined. He wants no part in it and will stick to the old rule of seeing and knowing nothing.
Lord Wei reminds him they’re both already in this game and he can’t back out now, nor forget whose side he’s on. He introduces him to Master San, and Xie Shu reluctantly turns back to pay his respects.
A Witness in the Rain
On a rainy night, Second Madam escorts Old Madam Xie across the courtyard, insisting she isn’t trying to find fault with Qingyuan. Her maid Chuntai simply ran into the shopkeeper while out on errands, and she didn’t dare draw conclusions without Old Madam seeing the witnesses and evidence herself. Old Madam Xie tells her to stop trying to sway her and show her the evidence.
Dong Fangchun is tied to a pillar. The shopkeeper claims that for more than ten years, the Fourth Lady and this woman have been running cons together and fleecing people, and that they even have a criminal record in Liuzhou, along with an unknown male accomplice. Dong Fangchun protests that it’s all lies.
Second Madam reminds Old Madam that the horses that vanished the night of the fire were bought from Miss Dong, including the white horse Yunduo, which was brought into the residence that very afternoon. And now Qingyuan has hired this same woman to run her shop. She can no longer say whether Qingyuan planted spies in the household long ago or whether such coincidences really happen.
The shopkeeper begs for justice and presents a confession letter from Maping County in Liuzhou, bearing the names Jin Yunya and Dong Fangchun. He claims he discovered the Fourth Lady was a fraud with no Xie blood at all, and that’s why she drove him out.
Second Madam adds that she always said Qingyuan was really a Chen and never one of them, and now it seems she isn’t even a real member of the respectable Chen family. Old Madam Xie, furious and convinced, declares what a scheming Fourth Lady they have.
Awaiting Judgement
Qingyuan’s maid tells her everyone is waiting. Rubbing a token between her fingers, Qingyuan says she knew from the day she arrived that this moment would come. She just didn’t expect it so soon.
In the hall, Second Madam laments that no one could have imagined the Fourth Lady was an impostor out to swindle the family, and what a pity the real child died in a fire long ago. She asks Xie Shu what should be done. Drive the fraud out, of course, he says.
A Plea From the Heart
Qingyuan enters and kneels, asking why she’s been summoned. Old Madam Xie asks if she recognizes the woman tied up before them. Qingyuan asks why her dear friend Fangchun has been bound. Old Madam Xie has the confession letter shown to her and explains that someone has testified that as children, Qingyuan and Miss Dong swindled people in Liuzhou, and that she later schemed her way into the family.
Qingyuan admits she grew up with Fangchun but asks what’s wrong with that. She lost her mother young and had no home, and without Fangchun she might have died. If anyone’s to blame, it’s her, for having no one willing to take her in while she wandered the streets.
They only brought her back because they needed a charm against misfortune, so what scheme could there have been? All she ever wanted as a child was a home. She never imagined that after finally returning, all that would await her was suspicion.
Second Madam retorts that if the real Qingyuan grew up with no one, she could only blame her mother for committing murder. Is Qingyuan now going to blame Old Madam for sparing her mother’s life and sending her away?
She may act pitiful, but they already know the truth. The real Qingyuan died in that fire, and she’s an impostor. Qingyuan asks why Second Madam is framing her and turns to her father, asking whether he denies her too.
A Snowy Night, Forgotten
Xie Shu says he doesn’t want to believe it, but someone has testified that she isn’t his daughter, so she must explain herself. Qingyuan asks if he really doesn’t remember. Nine years ago, on a snowy night, she ran into him, the only time she ever spent with her father.
She recalls a group of children playing chase, a little girl colliding with a stranger who asked whose child she was. But Xie Shu says there’s too much in the past for him to remember everything. Second Madam presses that Jin Chunqing died in a fire even an adult couldn’t escape, so how could a small child have survived?
Qingyuan cries that she was too young to remember how she got out. Qinghe speaks up, asking why they’re forcing Fourth Sister to relive the fire that killed her mother, and suggests there must be a misunderstanding, but she’s told to stay out of it.
Qingyuan turns on Second Madam. She knows exactly why Second Madam staged all this. She’s afraid Qingyuan will expose what she’s hidden all these years, and now she’s forced her to reveal it in front of everyone. Her mother never killed anyone.
The person who poisoned Concubine Xia with euphorbia was Second Madam. Second Madam denies it and tells Qingyuan to clean up her own mess before pointing fingers.
Third Madam Speaks Out
Third Madam steps forward and declares that everything Qingyuan says is true. Second Madam sneers that she has no say here. Third Madam agrees she doesn’t, but says she can no longer watch Qingyuan suffer false accusations, and today she’ll speak for what’s right. Jin Chunqing didn’t kill anyone.
Asked to explain, she confesses that back then, it was Concubine Mei who asked her for euphorbia, which must have gone to Cui’er. She recalls how Cui’er, when questioned, claimed Fourth Madam gave her the pregnancy tonic. Third Madam never knew it would be used to harm anyone, never imagined Concubine Xia would die, and watched Chunqing be falsely accused and driven out.
She was too weak to speak up, and has lived with a guilty conscience ever since. Thankfully Heaven sees all, and Qingyuan’s return has finally given her the chance to tell the truth. Distraught, Third Madam kneels sobbing on the floor. Qingrong watches in disbelief, realizing that everything she believed for years about Qingyuan’s mother killing hers was a lie.
A Charade Exposed
Qingyuan explains that a few days ago, Third Madam drank too much at a small gathering and the truth slipped out, which somehow reached Second Madam’s ears. Second Madam then cooked up this charade to make Qingyuan end up like her mother, driven out and disgraced for life with nowhere to seek justice. Now that the truth is out, she begs her father and grandmother to clear her mother’s name.
Second Madam demands to know what justice there can be without proof, insisting she harmed neither Fourth nor Fifth Madam. When everyone stares at her, she turns on Madam Hu, accusing her of being the one who told her about the euphorbia. Madam Hu asks if she’s lost her mind dragging her into this. Old Madam Xie silences them all, lamenting what a cursed family this is.
Qingyuan challenges Second Madam. If her made-up stories count as evidence that Qingyuan isn’t Father’s daughter, then Third Madam’s testimony is enough to send her to prison and have her pay with her life. Second Madam tells her to produce proof, then.
Lord Yan’s Gift
Yan Rui strolls in, remarking how lively the Xie residence is again. Xie Shu tells everyone to rise, admitting he’s failed to manage his household, with servants and women making scenes and all propriety gone, and notes coldly that Lord Yan comes and goes as if the place were unguarded.
Yan Rui says he puts it too strongly, since they both serve the Emperor and are practically family. On such a fine day, he’s brought everyone a gift. His men drag in Chuntai, Second Madam’s maid, caught the night before as a thief working inside the household.
Chuntai begs Second Madam to save her. Yan Rui warns that the hardest thief to guard against is the one under your own roof. Second Madam demands how Chuntai could steal after being treated so well. Chuntai insists she wasn’t stealing, only delivering money on Second Madam’s behalf, which Second Madam flatly denies.
A Blackmail Letter and A Trap Revealed
A flashback shows Chuntai delivering a letter to Zhengjun, who has her read it aloud. It’s addressed to Madam and asks whether she remembers her old acquaintance Cui’er, demanding fifty taels of silver by the next night or they’ll all go down together. Zhengjun, outraged that some Cui’er dares threaten his mother, asks who she is. Chuntai tells him to calm down and says she’ll go find Second Madam.
Qingyuan thanks Lord Yan for bringing the evidence she wanted, then asks her father and grandmother whether her friend may now go. They let Dong Fangchun leave. Old Madam Xie thanks Lord Yan for returning the thieving maid and suggests they shouldn’t keep him from his duties. Yan Rui says he couldn’t possibly leave before the ending of such a brilliant show, and asks her not to rush him. Old Madam Xie closes her eyes in exasperation.
Yan Rui points out that if Qingyuan calls this maid her witness, she must be involved. Qingyuan admits it. She wrote the letter, posing as Cui’er, the medicine servant who once attended her mother and the only witness who testified against her. It was never about money. It was a trap to draw out the real murderer.
Xie Shu explodes at Mei Yinghua. Second Madam turns on Chuntai, calling her an ungrateful wretch who acted on her own and is now dragging her mistress down. Madam Hu gently urges Chuntai to say who gave the order. Second Madam insists they can punish Chuntai however they like, but why pin it on her, and besides, they still haven’t settled whether this Qingyuan is real.
Swift Punishment
Old Madam Xie cuts her off, asking how she dares behave so insolently with Lord Yan present. She’ll decide this herself, and orders Donglin to drag the maid away and punish her under family rules. Chuntai is hauled out, still begging Second Madam to save her.
Yan Rui remarks that the Xie family is truly interesting. He expected a petty household matter and instead found a case involving human lives, and asks Xie Shu what’s to be done. Xie Shu says Lord Yan has misunderstood.
These are trivial quarrels among the women of the house, which always feel like life and death, and as they say, not even immortals can settle family disputes. Fourth Madam’s case was settled long ago, and a few servant girls are a household matter he can handle himself.
The Drums Sound
The city drums begin to beat. At the wharf, men hurry to secure cargo while a grain merchant demands his money from Lord Wei, who tells him to be patient, since the drum has sounded and the money is on its way.
At the Xie residence, Madam Hu says something major must be happening. Zhenglun notes it’s the eighth, the day the court collects grain. Yan Rui corrects him. That isn’t the signal for collecting grain. It’s an imperial order to open the granaries and distribute it. Xie Shu asks how they can be distributing grain when they were meant to be buying it. Qingyuan stares at Yan Rui in shock, while he looks thoroughly pleased with himself.
Riders race through the streets announcing Lord Yan’s order to open the granaries and hand out grain, and the crowds can hardly believe it. At the wharf, Lord Wei insists it’s impossible, since the government granaries are empty. Word reaches him that all the grain he collected has gone straight to the refugees. The merchant demands his money, and there is none. Lord Wei is left horrified.
Spring of the Blade Episode 13 Recap: My Thoughts
What an episode! Qingyuan did so well to get the Marquis of Danyang’s attention, and even managed to secure an audience despite how notoriously difficult that is. She used Chunzhi to stoke the Marquis’s irritation, banking on the fact that he’d see her if it became a family matter. He was shocked to learn she was merely a go-between, there to give Yan Rui the chance to speak with him.
The whole exposure of Second Madam was brilliant! Qingyuan outsmarted everyone and laid a trap that Second Madam fell into spectacularly. Watching Qingrong realise she’d blamed the wrong person her whole life must have been devastating for her. And Yan Rui’s uninvited entrance into the hall is always so much fun to watch, as he grates on Old Madam Xie to no end.
As for the grain arc… OMG! Finally, all his hard work is paying off. Everyone who took him for a corrupt official will now have to face the truth behind his deception, and those who were actually corrupt will have to pay.
In this episode, we see Qingyuan’s open admiration for Yan Rui for the first time, as he reveals his three main objectives. She’s come to realise that he isn’t a corrupt official at all, and that it was nothing but a ruse to catch the real culprits. Perhaps we’ll finally see a turn in their relationship, now that they no longer need to play this cat and mouse game with everything out in the open.
Again, a lot happens in this fast-paced drama. But for once, I didn’t get irritated with the dialogue. There were no cryptic conversations, and every scene worked.
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