Spring of The Blade Episode 30 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
Wearing her mother’s costume, Qingyuan confronts Xie Shu with the truth: he killed his birth father, his adoptive mother and Chunqing, whom he poisoned on Hu Xing’s orders to protect his place in the Xie family. Shen Run arrives with news that the Emperor has made Qingyuan matriarch, the Xie fortune has gone to the people, and the equalization reforms begin in Hengtang. The couple set the Xie ancestral hall alight, Xie Shu chooses to die in the flames, and the sisters and the lead couple are left to find their own peace.
Her Mother’s Costume
Qingyuan stands before Xie Shu in the costume Chunqing wore to sing the Tale of the Pipa. He tells her only she is worthy of it. He was obsessed with her mother’s performances when he married her, but afterwards he never saw her wear it again, and she never came back. Qingyuan says her mother can never come back. Xie Shu agrees that the dead don’t return, but says it’s good that Qingyuan has.
His biggest regret is never holding her as a baby or hearing her call him father, and he knows how much he owes her. But he remembers one thing. A little girl once ran into him with her arms open, calling him uncle, and he knew at a glance she was his and Chunqing’s child. She had her mother’s eyes and little nose.
Xietang
Then he announces his great news. The Emperor has pardoned the Xie family. In all of Hengtang, he is now the only powerful man left, and this is more glorious than all the Xie ancestors put together, a hundred or even a thousand times over. Qingyuan congratulates her father on protecting the family’s dignity and asks whether he feels joy. Of course he does, he says, and she’s too young to understand.
Does she know how powerful Shen Zhibai once was, what kind of man Eunuch Xia was, or how arrogant Hu Xing was? They weren’t the only ones riding roughshod over him. There were thousands more, and every one of them has fallen.
The only one left is him, the weakest of them all, now second only to the Emperor. Hengtang might as well be called Xietang. Then he remembers she’s married to that boy Shen Run, but it doesn’t matter. He’ll always be her father, everything will be hers, and she can give Shen Run half.
My Father Killed My Mother
Qingyuan says yes, he is her father. As a child she longed for a father’s love, something others had so easily, and she fears she’ll never be worthy of it in this life. Because her father killed her mother. Every night since that night nine years ago, her dreams remind her that he isn’t her father but her enemy.
Every time he talks about how much he loved her mother, she feels disgusted. She has been waiting for the day she takes everything from him and destroys him. He has killed so many people that his hands are soaked in blood. Does he remember who the first one was?
The First Murder
Years ago, before he married Chunqing, Xie Shu went to the brute who raised her, offering money if he’d stop bullying her, since she was his daughter after all. The man laughed. He could even marry her, he said, because she wasn’t his daughter at all.
Then he told Xie Shu a secret of his own. Xie Shu was his biological son, and if he didn’t believe it, he could go home and ask Old Madam. From now on, if Xie Shu didn’t want Chunqing to know, he’d have to keep paying, because he would never be rid of him.
Xie Shu came back with money and asked to trade it for Chunqing. The man refused, saying he’d be taking far too big a loss. So Xie Shu killed his own father. Shen Zhibai saw it happen. Xie Shu begged him never to tell anyone, insisting he’d only done it to save Chunqing, who had never known a single good day under that man. Soon afterwards, he asked Chunqing whether she would marry him if his mother agreed, and she said of course she would.
Hu Xing’s Choice
Years later, Chunqing wrote to Xie Shu begging him to save Shen Zhibai, and the letter ended up in Hu Xing’s hands. Hu Xing told him he didn’t care about Jin Chunqing, or whether Xie Shu was really a Xie son. But Shen Zhibai held the key to Hengtang’s future and the court’s politics, and with this letter, Chunqing had dug her own grave.
So would his dear brother-in-law kill her and keep his wealth and glory, or give it all up and go back to his birth family to sell charcoal and forge iron? The choice was his, but whichever path he took, he had to walk it to the end.
Nine Years Without Resentment
On a snowy night, Xie Shu went to Chunqing’s home and told her his mother was ill and had asked him to visit. After nine years apart, he said she must hate him. How could she? Chunqing replied. She’d been alone since childhood with a horrendous father and thought she could never escape that fate, until he burst into her life and ended her suffering.
Whatever his reasons, he saved her, married her into the Xie residence against all pressure, and even when they forced her out, she knew he did it to protect her. When he raged that everyone who hurt her deserved to die, she told him she blamed no one, and neither should he.
They beat her so badly, yet somehow the little girl in her belly survived, and she believes that was Heaven’s will. They have a child, she told him. He saw her, didn’t he? She’s lovely and looks just like him.
A Cage That Was Empty
Xie Shu offered to prepare her medicine and told her to rest. Chunqing told him she’d been content these nine years. Whenever she looked into their daughter’s eyes, she saw his reflection, and it felt as though they had never been apart.
Writing that letter had made her realize that although he seemed to be living the better life, he was really the pitiful one. When she learned she was a Xie daughter, she glimpsed that cage for a moment too, but when she walked out and looked back, she saw it was completely empty.
She told him she was leaving Hengtang with Yunya to settle somewhere with warm springs and flowers in bloom. She would often think of how he looked when they first met, when he and Shen Zhibai had endless things to talk about and do every day. She didn’t understand any of it, but loved listening. The Hengtang he described was truly wonderful, and she wished she could live there for just one day.
Xie Shu gave her the poisoned medicine. As she died, he told her there was no turning back for him, and that in the next life they could be husband and wife again. Hidden above, young Qingyuan watched it all before the fire began.
Are You Happy Now?
In the present, Xie Shu demands to know who has been spreading these rumours and insists she’s got it wrong. Qingyuan lays it out. He killed her mother, his own birth father and his adoptive mother. Shen Zhibai kept his secret all his life, and Xie Shu had his whole family executed and used their blood to pave the way for his career. Is he happy now? Xie Shu flies into a rage, swearing to kill whoever told her.
Chunqing’s Letter
Qingyuan produces Chunqing’s letter. Xie Shu snatches at it, sneering that he could forge a thousand copies of trash like this. She tells him he’s scared. Hu Wenzhuo kept this letter for nine years, and he never once dared to look back at it, because he wanted to forget why he killed her mother and the filthy thoughts behind it. Today she’ll make him remember every word.
In the letter, Chunqing wrote that when she first met Xie Shu, he still had light in his eyes, a light that gave her hope in the abyss. The new Hengtang he and Shen Zhibai dreamed of was something she longed for, and those days were the happiest of her life. But she feared the Xie family’s secret would swallow that light inch by inch and turn him into someone else.
More than saving Shen Zhibai, the person she truly wanted to rescue was the pitiful man fate had pushed into the abyss, the husband she once loved so deeply. There was still time, she wrote. If he saved Shen Zhibai, he would be saving himself.
Xie Shu admits it. He swears every word he’s told her today is true. He is the man who killed her mother, the woman he loved most. He’s known countless women in his life, but only ever loved Chunqing, and he killed her. Isn’t that absurd? Shen Zhibai, his family, his friends, everyone around him. He has killed so many that when he tried to write them all down, he couldn’t keep up.
Every Head Madam Named Chunqing
He announces that he’ll revise the Xie genealogy. The Xie family said Jin Chunqing could never enter it. Too bad, because he’s putting her in himself, starting from the very first ancestor. Every ancestor’s mother, foster mother and birth mother will be named Jin Chunqing, and so will every head madam of every generation.
He wants the whole world to know her name. To avenge her, every generation of the Xie family will have been raised by Jin Chunqing. Those bastards took his Chunqing away, he rants, and now they’ll all have been raised by her. Isn’t that satisfying?
A Pardon That Doesn’t Protect Him
Qingyuan tells him there’s no chance left for him. Xie Shu waves the imperial edict. He doesn’t need anyone to give him a chance, because His Majesty has pardoned all his crimes. Shen Run arrives and explains that His Majesty spared the Xie family because of its past achievements and its standing on the Northern Frontier. That doesn’t mean Xie Shu remains part of it. Qingyuan is not only his daughter but now the Emperor’s chosen matriarch of the Xie family.
Earlier, Shen Run had confronted the Emperor. A man who poisoned the woman he loved, killed his own father, drove his adoptive mother to her death, harmed the loyal and preyed on the people would make the world doubt His Majesty’s justice if he still received his grace.
The Emperor feared Hengtang would fall into chaos without Xie Shu, and reminded Shen Run that he had already died once, so how many lives did he have left to clean up this mess? Shen Run said he only had one life, as did Shen Zhibai and Zhou Pei’an. But if they didn’t break the deadlock and push the reforms through now, how many more loyal men would die, and how many more nine years would they wait before His Majesty decided?
If no one else could take over Hengtang, he recommended Chen Qingyuan, the Xie family’s only true bloodline, under whom the family would surely change. The Emperor agreed, ordering Shen Run to investigate Xie Shu and appointing Qingyuan as matriarch.
A Girl as Matriarch
Xie Shu can’t believe it. A mere girl as head of the Xie family? If a woman could lead the family, would Lu Lingshu ever have traded her own daughter for a poor boy like him? He turns to Shen Run, calling him a brat.
No matter how much Qingyuan annoys him, he’ll always be her father, everything he has is hers, and what’s hers will be Shen Run’s in the future. What did he come into this world for, if not fame and wealth? Xie Shu can give it to him in an instant. They’re family, so what are they fighting over?
Qingyuan tells him she doesn’t care about anything the Xie family owns, and has already given it to those who need it more. Shen Run confirms that she has handed the Xie fortune to the refugees and the people to support the new policies in Hengtang. Xie Shu refuses to believe it. Who would give away mountains of gold and silver to strangers?
The Silver Coin
Shen Run holds up a silver coin and asks if he remembers it. Years ago, after he and Shen Zhibai brought down a corrupt official together, Xie Shu minted this coin to mark the beginning of their work for a better life for the people.
The two of them swore that as long as they stood united, they would make every corrupt official in Hengtang spit out every tael, and that however hard it was, they would survey the land, equalize taxes and collect by acreage.
Xie Shu laughs that they were young and foolish. Shen Run asks if it’s really so laughable. What he calls foolish is about to become reality. Starting today, the equalization policy will be trialled in Hengtang, and if it succeeds, it will be rolled out across the country.
Burning the Xie Family
Qingyuan tells him they’re going to burn down the Xie family. Xie Shu protests that he endured humiliation his whole life and has only just taken hold of the estate. He hasn’t enjoyed it for a single day, and they want to burn it? It was all hers to begin with. Can’t his daughter leave him even a bite to eat?
Before he killed all those innocent people, Qingyuan asks, did he ever think of leaving them a bite to eat? For her mother, Jin Chunqing, for Shen Run’s father, Shen Zhibai, and for all the wronged souls he killed, they’ll return it all to him. Shen Run sets the ancestral hall alight.
All Flowers Fade Under the Full Moon
Inside the burning hall, Xie Shu remembers his dream during the Lantern Festival, of a boy singing that all flowers fade under the full moon. The full moon was Qingyuan, whose name means it. He should have known the hundred-year-old Xie family was doomed the moment she appeared.
So there really is such a thing as Heaven’s will. His lifelong obsession has come to nothing, yet cost so many lives, and the blood on his hands can never be washed clean. Let the fire take everything, he cries. He calls out to Chunqing and to his mother that he has come to atone, and dies in the flames.
Watching, Qingyuan and Shen Run reflect that they never expected him to choose to die there. Perhaps only at the very end does a person finally understand certain things. He probably wanted to atone.
Yunji Snacks in the Capital
Qinghe and Lanshan live a beautiful life together. She kept the promise she made to her fourth sister when she left Hengtang, to open Yunji Snacks branches all over the world. Now there’s even one in the capital. She remarks that every shop looks almost the same from outside but is different within, and Lanshan learns that each one adjusts its prescriptions to suit the local climate, food and people.
A Light for an Empty Room
At the Marquis’s residence, Qingru spends her days alone. The old Marquis has died, the old Madam has gone to a manor to recover, and Chunzhi, now the Marquis, is busy with the army from dawn until late.
One night, Qingru tells her maid to put out the lamp. Her maid asks why, since she always leaves it burning for the Marquis until the third watch, and what if he comes home early tonight? There’s no need, Qingru says. A lamp left burning only lights an empty room.
Chunzhi finally comes home, calling out to a surprised and joyful Qingru. He shows her that an arrow’s fletching has torn through the cloth she wrapped around his bow, and asks his darling to mend it for him one more time.
A Hairpin and a Book
In the capital, a young man tells Qingrong her hairpin is elegant and unique, perfectly suited to the flower shadows in the poem. Flattery won’t get him out of paying for the book, she replies. Later he returns, saying the money is a small matter, but he was passing by and saw her door ajar, and asks if he might sit with her for a while.
Madam Hu’s words echo in her mind: in her life she won’t only meet Mr. Zhou, she’ll meet so many people, and she will live a good life.
Catching Up with Her Mother
Shen Run and Qingyuan settle into a quiet life together in the countryside. Watching her at work, he tells her his wife is so impressive that her medical skills seem to be catching up with her mother’s.
Spring of the Blade Episode 30 Recap: My Thoughts
The finale was as expected. They honestly could have condensed Episodes 28, 29 and most of this one together. But I do appreciate a satisfying ending where everything we hoped for is justified and happy. Xie Shu dying was the only viable ending to satisfy the hunger for revenge that drove this drama. Even the birdcage was finally empty, free of the pitiful life this man led.
I did wonder how Xie Shu found out he’d been swapped, and it makes sense now that he didn’t know either until his birth father told him. He was a normal scholar from a wealthy family who was manipulated into becoming the man he became. Power, wealth and greed eventually ate his soul.
I enjoyed seeing the fates of the three sisters at the end. It was lovely to see Qinghe and Lanshan living the life they deserved, Qingru and Chunzhi on the road to a happy marriage, and Qingrong possibly meeting someone for her future.
And of course, Shen Run and Qingyuan got their happy ending. I couldn’t tell whether the final scenes meant they went back to Anxiang Village or whether it was a throwback, because the scenes looked the same. Either way, we know they both got the revenge they wanted, and they managed to bring Shen Zhibai’s dream of equality to life.
I’m still unhappy that our leads, especially Xu Kai, got so little screen time in the last three episodes, which were dominated by Old Madam Xie, Xie Shu and a ton of flashbacks retelling the truth. From Episode 26 onwards, the show tapered off for me, moving too slowly and repeating too many of the same ideas. But all in all, it’s definitely worth the watch and a great period drama.
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