Spring of The Blade Episode 25 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
The morning after their wedding feast, Shen Run is found stabbed in his bed, and Feng En, now Acting Commander, defects to Hu Xing and blames Qingyuan. As Hu Xing celebrates and wins over the Marquis’s generals, Qingrong uncovers Madam Hu’s role in her mother’s death and poisons her, while Qingyuan discovers a hidden name in her mother’s bronze mirror: Lu Lingshu.
Whose Side Are You On?
Xie Shu insists to Commissioner Hu that he had no idea Shen Run was coming to steal Qingyuan. Shen Run was simply abusing His Majesty’s authority, and Xie Shu only found out at the last moment. Hu Xing asks if he’s using the new Emperor to intimidate him.
The new Emperor sent Shen Run and Xie Shu back to Hengtang one after the other so Shen Run could be the blade that cuts Hu Xing down, with Xie Shu standing beside it waiting for the order. Isn’t that so? Xie Shu begs his dear brother not to frighten him. Ever since he entered officialdom, Hu Xing has been his greatest support, and without him he’d be nothing.
It was Hu Xing’s own clever strategy to have him feign loyalty to the new Emperor, so how could he harbour any disloyalty? Hu Xing calls him Jingzhi, reminds him they’ve known each other for over twenty years, and tells him to sit.
Just About Her?
Xie Shu says Shen Run doesn’t know his place, and the moment he brought the Palace Guard into Hengtang, he fell into Hu Xing’s grasp. Hu Xing isn’t so sure it’s that simple. Could seizing Qingyuan so brazenly in front of everyone really just be about her? They realize Shen Run may have seen through the act they’ve been putting on for the new Emperor, pretending to be at odds.
If so, it’s far more serious. Either way, Xie Shu says, the man is a grave threat. Hu Xing asks if he means Shen Run can’t be allowed to live long. Xie Shu agrees. But he’s Xie Shu’s new son-in-law, Hu Xing points out, so could he really bring himself to do it? Xie Shu says that Qingyuan is his own flesh and blood, but when it comes to life and death, the greater good comes first. She’ll just have to suffer for it.
A Family Feast
That night at the Shen residence, the family celebrates with a wedding feast of good wine, laughter and food. Grandma Chen shows off her dishes, admitting pastries are her real specialty. Shen Run says he’d rather drink with family than trade empty pleasantries with outsiders, and they toast the happy occasion.
Dong Fangchun teases that everyone thinks Commander Shen is ruthless, yet with Yunya he’s gentle and considerate. She raises another cup, since she doesn’t know when they’ll meet again. Shen Che tells her that’s enough, since they still have to leave the city tonight. She asks if he thinks her tolerance is as poor as his, boasting that she’s a legend who can drink all night and never get drunk. Grandma Chen remembers her herbal chicken soup still on the stove and hurries off to fetch it.
After dinner, Shen Che tells his brother not to see them off any further. Qingyuan asks Fangchun to write when she can, so they can drink together when they meet again. Shen Che reminds his brother not to forget what he told him, and bids farewell to his sister-in-law. As they leave, Shen Run remarks that Che seems different somehow, and wonders if Qingyuan has noticed he appears to have feelings for Dong Fangchun.
Darling
Completely in love, Qingyuan asks Shen Run to call her “Darling.” He does, and asks if that’s what she wanted. What she wants, she says, is a marriage recognized in name and in law. He sweeps her into his arms and carries her to their marital bed.
A Knife in His Heart
The next morning, Qingyuan wakes to find a knife buried in Shen Run’s heart. He has been killed in his sleep. She screams his name. His aides rush in in disbelief, asking how anyone could get close enough to harm a man with the Commander’s skills.
Feng En arrives with the Palace Guard and accuses Chen Qingyuan of murdering her husband, a second-rank official and Commander of the Palace Guard, out of personal grudge. The evidence is conclusive, she was caught red-handed, and he orders her seized.
Fan Zhong and the others step in, demanding how he dares slander the Commander’s widow while his body is still warm, and what he’s really after. Feng En announces that Commander Shen died in the line of duty, and by His Majesty’s order, Feng En is now Acting Commander.
Catching the culprit is his duty, and being the Commander’s widow doesn’t clear her of suspicion. Shen Run’s men ask where an imperial order could have come from so quickly, accusing him of selling himself to Hu Xing. Feng En says His Majesty and Commissioner Hu will decide her guilt.
Distraught but defiant, Qingyuan reminds them she’s a Second-Rank Lady of Honour, appointed by His Majesty himself. To take her, they’ll need the Court of Judicial Review’s fish tally, a warrant from the Vice Censor-in-Chief and His Majesty’s own vermilion rescript. Only then will she so much as blink.
If this reaches His Majesty, every one of them will die before she does. Do they plan to torture a confession out of her, then silence her so she can’t take it back? She doesn’t think they have it in them. Feng En backs down and orders the Palace Guard to watch the Shen residence closely, especially the criminal woman who killed their Commander.
The Emperor’s Blade Changes Hands
At his office, Commissioner Hu hears from Xie Shu that the coroner has examined the body. The knife wound was dealt by Feng En, and Shen Run is unquestionably dead. Feng En kneels before Hu Xing, who praises him as a wise man who knows which way the wind blows.
Though he serves His Majesty, he understands the new Emperor’s ambitions are just a passing breeze. At most, it strips a few leaves, but the great tree’s roots run too deep to shake. Once the wind passes, everyone settles back into place, and those who bend too far with it meet a tragic end.
Feng En agrees, and says that with Shen Run dead, he has the best chance of becoming Commander, but needs Hu Xing’s help. Hu Xing says he always treats clever people well, and whatever he has, Feng En will share.
A Scholar’s Lament
Zhou Pei’an tells his fellow scholars that nine years ago, Shen Zhibai, the Jiangnan Transport Commissioner, sat in this very chair and wrote the Ten Suggestions on Equalization. They truly believed the people would finally be fed and clothed.
But he was framed by the officials who united against him and died in his prime. Nine years later, his son, Shen Run, carrying out the Emperor’s order to investigate those old cases, has also met a violent end. Outside, Shen Run’s funeral procession crosses the bridge.
A Toast to the Dead
Commissioner Hu throws a celebration for Hengtang’s officials with food, wine and courtesans, saying it lifts a weight from his heart to see them all return safely. He raises a toast to their old opponent, Commander Shen, who fought them for years. Today it can finally be put to rest, and they should send him off properly.
Across the city, Zhou Pei’an tells the scholars that they may be too insignificant to influence the court, but with refugees flooding Jiangnan, turning a blind eye would make all their years of studying the sages meaningless. Now that Commander Shen is dead, the corrupt officials he imprisoned have all been reinstated.
Is anyone in Hengtang still willing to hear the people? If not, they’ll go to the capital. If the capital can’t hear them, they’ll shout louder. If that’s still not loud enough, they’ll shout with their lives, until the heads of Hengtang’s hundred thousand people stretch all the way to the steps of the throne. He refuses to believe that even Hu Xing can keep them all under his thumb.
Hu Xing tells the officials that with Shen Run gone, Hengtang can finally see clear skies. He wants them all back at their posts to regroup and regain control. The rules remain as they always were, and their interests remain theirs. Any objections? The officials pledge their utmost devotion, and the party erupts in cheers that Hengtang is still theirs.
A Dull Victory
Hu Xing finds Pei Yuting alone in a pavilion, sombrely feeding the fish. He brings the first jar of aged wine they sealed when they arrived in Hengtang, which he always said must be saved for an important day with important people. He asks why she looks so downcast when today marks their victory.
She says it all suddenly feels dull. He reminds her that returning to Hengtang was her idea. Controlling the canal transport and fighting for headship of her family, hasn’t she got everything she wanted? Whatever else she wishes for, he’ll help her get.
Pei Yuting says that whether in the capital or Hengtang, it’s always the same handful of faces and families. Even if they win, it’s the same old play on a different stage, and she’s tired of it. They’d finally found someone interesting. Hu Xing teases that she’s met every kind of man, so why should Shen Run’s death make her sentimental?
It isn’t about him, she says. She just feels sorry for that perfect couple. Before she could tear them apart herself, death got there first, and it’s taken some of the fun out of the play. She drinks a little wine and feeds him the rest. He takes the ladle from her hand, and she rests her head on his shoulder as he comforts her.
For Whatever Humanity Remains
Zhou Pei’an tells the scholars that in the past they wrote articles to circulate in the capital, but this one isn’t for officials or to protect themselves. It’s for whatever humanity remains in their hearts. Anyone who doesn’t want to be implicated may leave, and those who stay will send it out with him.
The scholars refuse to be afraid. Shen Zhibai and Shen Run both gave their lives for the people, so how could they fear signing their names? One swears he’d die without regret pleading for the people, and they pledge to follow.
A Portrait of Two Mothers
Qingrong arrives to collect the yellow paper Zhou Pei’an kept for her. He tells her not to copy the wrong sutra this time, and she thanks him, since without him she’d never have known. Seeing how much she misses her mother, he offers to paint her portrait. Qingrong tells him what she remembers.
Her mother had a crisp, clear laugh and glossy dark hair, and her hands always smelled sweet. When she was pregnant with Qingrong’s brother, everyone fussed over her, but she’d still pick Qingrong up and spin her around the room. She spoke slowly and gently, and her hair at the temples was never out of place. She had deep-set eyes that curved slightly upward, but if anyone bullied Qingrong, those eyes would narrow, and she’d never back down.
Zhou Pei’an says her mother sounds truly special, but points out that however neatly her hair was combed, spinning a child around would have loosened it, and a crisp laugh doesn’t match slow, gentle speech. Could she be remembering two different women, one fierce outside but gentle within, the other gentle outside but fierce within, merged into one? He hands her the finished portrait. It looks like Madam Hu and Qingrong is surprised.
A Daughter’s Decoction
Qingrong brings medicine to an ailing Madam Hu, who says it started as a minor illness but keeps getting worse despite several doses. Qingrong says decoctions take time, and this one, brewed by her own hands, carries all her filial devotion. As she combs Madam Hu’s hair, she mentions that Mr. Zhou said her painting showed traces of two people. Madam Hu raised her, she says, and she barely remembers her birth mother. In her heart, her mother has always worn Madam Hu’s face.
Then she asks whether her birth mother really died from euphorbia. Madam Hu asks why she’s raising Mei Yinghua’s crime again. Qingrong says she heard her mother’s lips were purple, a sign not of euphorbia but of suffocation. Madam Hu says someone must have been filling her head with nonsense while she’s been ill.
Qingrong asks whether what Madam Hu had her copy wasn’t the Rebirth Sutra but the Soul-Suppressing Mantra. How could her loving mother have made her suppress her own birth mother’s spirit? Madam Hu panics. She couldn’t have, she insists. Qingrong must have copied the wrong one.
She rushes off to check, then frantically declares it was indeed the wrong sutra, some servant must have mixed them up, she’s to blame, and they’ll copy the right one later. Qingrong, in tears, asks if it was really just a mistake. Madam Hu asks if Qingrong truly believes she would harm her mother. Qingrong has been her daughter for nineteen years. How has Madam Hu treated her? Doesn’t she trust her?
Of course she trusts her, Qingrong says, and tells her it’s time for her decoction. Looking at the bowl, Madam Hu understands at once why she hasn’t been getting better. She accepts her fate. Unwilling to admit she killed Qingrong’s mother, she says she’ll certainly finish the decoction her daughter made for her, and drinks it quickly.
Purge the Corrupt
Zhou Pei’an leads crowds through Hengtang chanting for the corrupt officials to be purged and the Emperor’s court cleansed. At Hu Xing’s banquet, the officials grumble about the scholars shouting all day. Hu Xing magnanimously says young people are always hot-blooded. They note the leader is Zhou Pei’an, the provincial exam’s top scholar.
They sneer that even the palace exam’s top scorer comes along every three years, so what’s a mere Jieyuan? How many truly great families are there in the realm? Those students will never amount to anything, and whatever fuss they make, it can’t beat the uproar Shen Zhibai caused. Offend Commissioner Hu, and their whole families could be wiped out in an instant. Commissioner Hu shuts them up with irritation.
The Marquis’s Generals
Two generals arrive, Deputy Commander Wang and Deputy Commander Zhao, battle-hardened veterans and the Marquis of Danyang’s right-hand men. The officials fawn over Hu Xing’s good fortune. Hu Xing notes they’ve served Li Shaoqun, Marquis of Danyang, for a long time, but he’s now shut himself away. It’s time for them to step forward, look around and make a choice.
He’s heard the Marquis has become quite the benevolent man, wanting to use soldiers’ rations for disaster relief. While the Marquis is around, he keeps order, but once he’s gone, what could his pampered son accomplish? He’ll never hold things together. Hu Xing tells them to think carefully. The generals pledge to follow him.
Lu Lingshu
After Shen Run’s death, Qingyuan is taken back to the Xie residence, and heard it was Old Madam Xie who intervened, having Xie Shu persuade Hu Xing. Back home, she felt like a lost, wandering soul. Then she stumbled on a shocking secret. The night Third Madam gave her the bronze mirror, she’d been sitting at her desk when Baoxian called her for dinner. She set the mirror on its stand, and it fell. As the light caught its surface, it cast an image onto the wall, revealing a name: Lu Lingshu.
A Father’s Blessing
The Marquis of Danyang calls Chunzhi to Zhongwu Hall. Chunzhi asks whether his father has plans now that Hengtang has fallen into chaos since Commander Shen’s death. The Marquis says that since the wedding, Chunzhi hasn’t left the house or even gone to the military camp, and he’s been worried.
Chunzhi apologizes, starting to explain about Qingru. The Marquis says he knows Chunzhi still thinks of the Xie family’s fourth daughter. The moment he lifted the veil, his parents could see the reproach in his eyes. But that’s fate. He tells Chunzhi that he and his mother had their own troubles after their wedding. In a fit of anger, she packed her things and ran back to her parents.
Chunzhi has never heard this. The Marquis says marriage is a bond forged over three lifetimes and a thousand years, not something to sever over a few harsh words. He took two jars of his finest aged wine to Chunzhi’s grandfather, they drank deep into the night, and the next day his mother came home, with conditions.
He promised never to strike back or talk back, and he’s kept his word. Chunzhi smiles, recognizing the gentle nudge.The Marquis tells him a true man stands upright. The one who stays with you to the end isn’t your parents or children, but your wife. She’s a mirror reflecting your state of mind.
Qingru is a good girl, and when he reaches his father’s age, he’ll understand that what kind of wife and mother she becomes depends not only on her, but on him. Chunzhi promises to shoulder that responsibility.
The Marquis marvels at how quickly he’s grown up. People say he’s too kind-hearted and guileless to preserve the family’s future, but so what? He’s become exactly the man his father hoped for. From now on, whatever becomes of the Marquis’s household, it will have nothing to do with him. He need only be himself, and that is enough.
Spring of the Blade Episode 25 Recap: My Thoughts
Well, wasn’t that an anticlimax after the last episode! This drama has a habit of showing us the result first and explaining how we got there later, which can make things cryptic and leave you wondering what on earth is going on.
Judging by how fake that death looked, with Qingyuan not howling in grief and a very quick funeral, I think we can safely say it’s all a ruse. At the end of Episode 24, Feng En was angry at Shen Run for revealing the Emperor’s decree, which is against the law, and it ended with Shen Run telling him he could kill him, but not Qingyuan.
I’d say this is a very elaborate setup that will surely be revealed soon to convict Commissioner Hu. In such a short time, Shen Run is dead, and Feng En and the two generals have pledged loyalty to Hu Xing. If I were him, I’d be suspicious of how easily it’s all falling into his lap.
We’re given slightly more clarity on Pei Yuting and her motives, which weren’t very clear before. She just barged in on a couple of occasions and threw her authority around, and I didn’t really understand what she was about. With Commissioner Hu’s backing, she’s definitely one to watch. And what was her sadness about? Is she sad about Shen Run because she had feelings for him?
And who is Lu Lingshu??? I can’t wait to find out. Qingyuan moving back into the Xie residence is no doubt part of the plan too. Perhaps their ruse will help her kill two birds with one stone: have Xie Shu convicted of corruption and make him confess to the murder.
As for the Marquis of Danyang, he’s definitely in on this too. With what he said to Chunzhi at the end, he’s absolving his son of any wrongdoing in whatever he has planned.
With five episodes to go, the setup has begun and the downfall is coming. Even Madam Hu can’t escape the truth. This episode was fast-paced, with a lot happening at once, and I found it didn’t flow overly well. I’m happy the dialogue wasn’t as cryptic as it can be sometimes. I did miss seeing Xu Kai and Zhou Ye in this episode, though. Hopefully they’ll get more screen time in the next one.
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