Spring of The Blade Episode 20 Recap

**SPOILER ALERT**

TL;DR (Quick Overview)

Shen Run executes Hengtang’s corrupt officials but spares Xie Shu, newly made an earl, because the Emperor has secretly ordered him. Madam Hu is confined after Zhengjun tries to kill her, but before her downfall she taunts Qingyuan with a bombshell: Xie Shu killed her mother to protect a secret hidden in her bronze mirror. Furious that Shen Run won’t move against Xie Shu, Qingyuan returns his jade pendant and ends their alliance.

Lamps for the Underworld

As Fang Ruike begs Lord Xie to save him, Shen Run remarks that bloodshed in a mourning hall is a grave taboo, but he has a case to handle and can’t concern himself with that. His family’s case was only one old miscarriage of justice among countless tragic, wrongful cases Hengtang has seen over the years.

He’s come to bring Hengtang to order once and for all. These guilty lives can serve as extra lamps along the road to the underworld to guide the loyal and righteous dead, though he wonders if there will be enough.

A Son Who Will Always Obey

Xie Shu praises his good nephew for upholding Heaven’s will, saying that if Zhenglun knew of it from beyond the grave, he’d find peace. Shen Run observes that Lord Xie’s eldest son gave his life to make his father an earl, and with one offhand remark Xie Shu has decided all his son’s grievances are settled. Xie Shu replies that alive or dead, Zhenglun is his son and will always obey him.

Zhengjun cries out to Lord Shen that his brother was murdered by this poisonous woman. Xie Shu tells him to stop making a scene, and when Zhengjun insists he isn’t, Xie Shu silences him, asking if he hasn’t caused enough trouble today.

Shen Run asks whether seeing his old friend’s son brings Lord Xie any satisfaction. Xie Shu says it does. His old friend’s name is cleared, his long-held wish fulfilled, and he’s received even greater favour from His Majesty.

Shen Run regards him with contempt but goes no further. He orders the dead dragged out and buried and the living taken away. Then he crosses to Qingyuan, still kneeling in tears, and helps her up. Holding her hands, he looks at her and says it’s been a while.

A Mother’s Moment of Clarity

Zhenglun is honoured with a grand funeral procession through the streets. In her courtyard, Concubine Mei, lost in her madness, twirls among falling blossoms. As the procession passes, a flicker of recognition crosses her face, and she smiles and weeps with pride and grief. Watching, Qingyuan silently asks her eldest brother whether he finds today’s farce ridiculous, and asks him to watch patiently from above.

A Knife for the Head Madam

Consumed by rage, Zhengjun goes after Madam Hu with a knife. She screams for help and flees, crying that he’ll be struck down by Heaven for trying to kill the Head Madam. He tells her she caused his brother’s death and drove his mother mad, and he won’t let her go today. She falls to the ground as he taunts her to run and see how far she gets.

Xie Shu steps in, calling him a rebellious son. Zhengjun reminds his father that Zhenglun wasn’t only his brother, he was Xie Shu’s son too. He doesn’t need anyone deciding things for him, but how can he stand by with this poisonous woman right in front of him?

Qingyuan watches with quiet satisfaction. Xie Shu orders him confined for ten days. Zhengjun throws down the knife and says there’s no need. He’ll go to the estate himself to be with his mother, and walks out.

Confined to Wuzhu Courtyard

Afterward, Qingyuan argues that Second Brother can’t be blamed. Eldest Brother was named Commandant of Loyalty and Power by His Majesty, so if the culprit isn’t punished severely, how can his spirit rest, and what will Hengtang think of the family? Xie Shu tells her to say no more. He tells Wenzhuo she’ll be placed under house arrest in Wuzhu Courtyard.

Madam Hu is incredulous. She was nearly killed tonight, and instead of punishing her attackers, he’s confining her? Xie Shu says Zhenglun was the family’s most promising eldest son, and she has destroyed its foundation. This is a light punishment, offered only out of respect for her position, and she should use it to step back for a while.

Madam Hu asks who the most promising child really was. Has he forgotten the fully formed baby boy who died in her womb? He was the true legitimate eldest son. If Xie Shu hadn’t deliberately made her miscarry, that boy would be grown now, serving the country and bringing the family honour.

Instead, every night she hears him crying, begging his mother to save him. Xie Shu insists the miscarriage was an accident, as the physician made clear, and that she alone became obsessed. Madam Hu turns to Old Madam Xie and says karma has come due. Accident or not, doesn’t she know the truth perfectly well herself?

A Warning for Qingyuan

Madam Hu then turns to Qingyuan. Doesn’t she want justice for her mother? Then she should seek it properly. In this household, one grievance has always been answered with another. But the root of it all is her good father, the most heartless, venomous man in the world.

Madam Hu is blamed for Zhenglun’s death, but why not ask his father? Wasn’t Zhenglun’s death exactly what he wanted? Without it, he’d have no earldom today. Xie Shu tells her she’s gone too far and should mind her standing before the younger generation.

She retorts that she’s not Mei Yinghua. Didn’t he climb to his present rank on the strength of her family’s status? Before the funeral, she wrote to her brother, who’ll soon arrive in Hengtang, and he’ll have a proper talk with Xie Shu about her standing and her role in Zhenglun’s death.

A Memorial to the Throne

Xie Shu calls her arrogant, thinking her powerful brother lets her murder Xie flesh and blood and get away with it. Old Madam Xie has a document shown to her. Their elder brother, she’s told, is far too busy with official duties to come any time soon. It’s Xie Shu’s memorial to the Emperor, vowing that the Xie clan will serve His Majesty for generations and safeguard Jiangnan’s wealth and revenues to the death.

Old Madam Xie turns to Nanny Liu, declaring that she’s done every kind of evil and will be punished under family rules with twenty strokes, her survival left to fate. Nanny Liu begs for mercy as she’s dragged away. Old Madam Xie tells Hu Wenzhuo she’s become far too arrogant and her good days are over. Madam Hu refuses the servants’ escort and walks to Wuzhu Courtyard herself.

The Discipline Ruler

Xie Shu then turns on Qingyuan. In the mourning hall, everyone was trying to stop Zhengjun reading the letter, yet she seemed to be egging him on. Was she deliberately exposing the scandal? Qingyuan insists she never meant to shame the family. She simply can’t bear that Eldest Brother died unjustly.

He was a loyal subject who protected the people and brought the family honour, just like Father did when he went alone to the Northern Frontier, and he was destroyed by treacherous people. She must seek justice for him, whatever it takes.

Old Madam Xie reminds her that after the business with Mei Yinghua, she warned Qingyuan again and again not to stir up trouble. Whatever her excuse, she deliberately caused a scene in front of everyone and must be punished under family rules. She sends Yuejian for the discipline ruler, and Qingyuan’s hands are struck twenty times.

The Emperor’s Condition

Earlier, in the palace, the Emperor tells Shen Run that as a new ruler he does need to root out some of the late Emperor’s corrupt officials, and asks if Shen Run is using that to win permission for his revenge. Shen Run says he wouldn’t dare. It’s simply what he can do for His Majesty on this journey, and if he fails, he’ll accept any punishment.

The Emperor grants his wish, since he has both the desire to avenge his father and the resolve to ease the Emperor’s burdens. But there’s one condition. Blood will surely be spilled, yet there is one man he may not touch, and must even protect. Xie Shu. Shen Run protests that Xie Shu’s crimes are beyond measure, but the Emperor cuts him off.

He wants Shen Run to join forces with Xie Shu and bring down the person behind him. That is the price of his revenge, and it’s to remain top secret. Feng En later warns Shen Run not to forget His Majesty’s instructions, since the Emperor’s will is absolute and not a word can leak. Whomever Shen Run meets, Feng En will be standing guard outside.

Dried Persimmons for the Head Madam

Qingyuan visits Madam Hu in Wuzhu Courtyard with dried persimmons, Eldest Brother’s favourite. Madam Hu slowly eats one, savouring its sweetness, and asks if Qingyuan thought she wouldn’t dare. Does she expect her to be like Mei Yinghua, terrified of karma and driven mad by fear?

Madam Hu saw through her long ago. Qingyuan schemed her way back into the family to avenge her mother, and if petty tricks are all she has, she should give up. Madam Hu won’t go mad, and she won’t regret anything. Qingyuan says Madam Hu hid her hand far better than Mei Yinghua, and is even more ruthless.

She dared to move against an official with great military honours for her own petty interests, so why would she fear karma? Madam Hu asks why she’s here. If it’s to gloat, it’s too soon. She’ll be out of Wuzhu Courtyard before long. Qingyuan says the blood debt for her brother will be settled sooner or later, and she’s in no hurry.

She’s come to ask one thing. Nine years ago, a few days before her mother died, Madam Hu visited their home. What did she say to her mother? Madam Hu is surprised she knows. Qingyuan says she recognized the hairpin the moment she saw it.

Madam Hu laughs at her naivety. Does she think seeing her mother makes Madam Hu the murderer? She has the wrong person. Neither Second Madam nor Madam Hu harmed her mother, and Madam Hu knows exactly who did.

A Secret in the Mirror

But is knowing who enough? If Qingyuan thinks it’s all connected to Fifth Madam’s death, she’s far too naive. Back then, her father loved her mother so much that whatever she’d done, he’d never have harmed her. So why let her leave the residence, not search for her for nine years, then kill her the moment he found her?

Everything that happened to her mother, including her death, happened because Xie Shu has a secret he can never reveal, one that could shake the heavens. Madam Hu tells her it’s hidden in her mother’s bronze mirror. Whether Qingyuan can find it depends on her. But she’d better hurry, because once Madam Hu walks out of Wuzhu Courtyard, who knows who’ll be locked up next.

Tea With Lord Xie

Shen Run meets Xie Shu over tea and praises his memorial to the Emperor as brilliantly written. He wept his way into an earldom over his son’s death, exposed a few corrupt officials, and cleared himself of all blame. Xie Shu claims he was only a grieving father. Shen Run notes that he named only small fry and said nothing about the man backing him.

Xie Shu asks what man. With Shen Run turning Hengtang upside down, surely there’s nothing he can’t find. Shen Run says he has found him. Isn’t he right behind Xie Shu? That’s why His Majesty raised his rank and ordered Shen Run to protect him, to uproot his backer.

Xie Shu eagerly asks who it is. Shen Run asks whether he thinks staying silent will keep him safe. If his backer learns His Majesty means to support Xie Shu in replacing him, does he think the man will let him go? Xie Shu complains that Shen Run’s words have grown cryptic since his promotion.

All he knows is that Shen Run is here under orders to protect him, though he can’t imagine what from, and he promises not to trouble him unless something serious happens. Shen Run tells him an imperial decree may protect him for a while, but not forever. If he thinks an earldom and Shen Run’s protection will keep him safe from everything, they shall see.

Pieces on Both Sides

Old Madam Xie warns Xie Shu that the Hu family will soon learn Hu Wenzhuo has been confined, and with the situation so uncertain, a falling out would hurt both sides. They must show the Hu family their loyalty is unchanged. Since Qinghe’s engagement is already broken, why not send her birth details to the Hu family?

Xie Shu realizes she means to marry Qinghe into the Hu family to keep the alliance alive. And since Qingyuan and Shen Run are devoted to each other, let them stay entangled, so Qingyuan keeps Shen Run bound to the family. Like chess, Old Madam Xie says, you’re only truly safe with pieces on both sides. Xie Shu praises her wisdom.

A Woman in Costume

Walking back to his rooms, Xie Shu hears singing and sees a beautiful woman in opera costume. For a moment he thinks it’s Chunqing. It isn’t, but she smiles at him, and he’s bewildered and intrigued. Watching, Old Madam Xie smiles knowingly. It’s time, she says, for the inner household to welcome new brides.

Different Paths

At Danyue Pavilion, Shen Run jokingly says he heard he’s going to marry Qingyuan, and asks what she did to push Xie Shu so hard that he’s rushing to marry off two daughters to climb higher. Shen Run says he was trying to expose the forces behind Xie Shu and never meant to harm her eldest sister. If she ever needs help, she need only ask.

She reminds him that he once promised to avenge his father on everyone who framed him and the corrupt officials who oppressed the people. That includes Xie Shu, doesn’t it? He says yes, but he can move against anyone except Xie Shu.

When she asks why, he says His Majesty just made Xie Shu an earl, so moving against him now would be moving against His Majesty, and they’d all die. She says he’s lying and demands the real reason. He repeats himself. She asks what happens if she insists on going after Xie Shu. Then he’ll protect him, Shen Run says.

Qingyuan says that when she first met him as Yan Rui, everyone called him a corrupt official, yet he saved countless starving people in Hengtang. When he asked the Marquis for troops, he said he came for three things: disaster relief, bandit suppression and rooting out corruption. The Yan Rui in her heart was an upright hero who feared no power, and deep down he’d always been the Shen Run she knew.

She waited for him to come back so they could finish what they started. Now he’s back, and he wants to protect a corrupt official and a murderer, all because His Majesty forbade it and he’s scared? He’s truly disappointed her. Whether he’s Yan Rui or Shen Run, their paths have diverged, and they should part ways here. She hands back his jade pendant.

A Bitter Cake

At the snack shop, Chunzhi tries a pastry and wonders why it tastes different today, a little bitter. Qingyuan explains it’s a Solomon’s seal cake. As a child drifting from place to place, whenever they didn’t have enough to eat, her mother would gather Solomon’s seal from the mountains and make it into cakes, both filling and nourishing.

Hearing that, Chunzhi says the bitterness has a flavour all its own, and asks her to tell him about her past. Qingyuan tells him her mother was a concubine wrongly accused, who left the Xie family pregnant and raised her in a dilapidated house, poor but content. When she was nine, during heavy snow, she bumped into a prominent nobleman while playing in an alley.

That same day, a fire broke out at their home. Climbing a ladder to the attic, she saw that nobleman glaring at her mother, and her mother died in the fire. She often wonders whether her mother would still be alive if she hadn’t been out playing and buying sweets with her friend that day.

Chunzhi tells her it wasn’t her fault and asks why she never went to the authorities. The man was too powerful, she says. It would have been useless. Chunzhi is outraged and tearful, and promises to get justice for her mother.

She asks if he really means it. Of course, he says. Once they’re married, she’ll be the Young Madam of the Marquis’s household, and her mother will count as a relative of the Marquis’s family. A murderer who killed an official’s relative should be beheaded, and as Heir, he can bypass local government and petition the throne directly through the Eight Deliberations to make the murderer pay in blood.

Qingyuan thanks him, but starts to raise the matter of the marriage. Chunzhi stops her. He knows. He swears that in this life he’ll marry only her and never take a concubine, so she’ll never relive the tragedy her mother suffered amid the intrigues of the inner household. Qingyuan gazes at him, overwhelmed by his sincerity.

Spring of the Blade Episode 20 Recap: My Thoughts

Miao Pu, Miao Pu! That scene when Qingyuan goes to see her in Wuzhu Courtyard, she was unbelievable. Her acting was pure evil, and that slow bite of the dried persimmon made me want to slap her across the screen! What a wonderful actress. In this episode, she finally loses her temper, and so many truths are revealed. What’s in the bronze mirror???

Shen Run’s hands are now tied. Being unable to help Qingyuan take her revenge has cost him her, as they can no longer continue their alliance, personally or romantically. I can’t wait to find out what was in that memorial Xie Shu wrote to the Emperor, and I’m sure there’s a bombshell of a reason why he can’t be taken down just yet.

Chunzhi, how much do we love you! Any woman would be swept off her feet by your persistence and loyalty. Your love for Qingyuan is wonderful to watch, and your sincere promises are hard not to fall for. With Shen Run no longer an option for Qingyuan’s revenge, will Chunzhi give her the opportunity she needs?

There’s a massive power shift in this episode. Xie Shu is now untouchable, Madam Hu is revealing truths out of anger, and Old Madam Xie is manipulating her family to regain control and status by marrying off her two granddaughters, and now her own son too! Time for a new concubine to enter the household.

What an episode! So much happening and totally gripping! We now have multiple subplots running side by side, and it’s time to buckle up, I reckon! Dialogue was good, nothing ambiguous and storylines moved from one to scene to another without issues.

---

Thanks for reading! Would love to hear your thoughts about Spring of The Blade recap and review. Let’s chat below!

---

Spring of The Blade: All Episode Recaps and Full Reviews

Where To Watch: iQIYI