Consort Xian tells her Mother that she can't do anything because the Emperor already made his decision and that it would be wrong to ask him to change it, especially if her brother was really at fault.
The Imperial Doctor visits the Empress for a check-up for her cough. She seems fine but asks about Lady Yu and her pregnancy. He says things don't look so good due to Lady Yi's death. She told the doctor to help her to the best of her abilities.
Lady Chun visits Consort Xian and sees that she is practising calligraphy. Consort Xian says that she couldn't ask the Emperor for the favour even though it is her brother. Lady Chun told her that although she isn't able to, she could always ask the Empress to do so. Consort Xian says that it is against her principles to ask the Empress to help as she doesn't want to get involved in the palace politics.
The Empress sends Ming Yu to send herbal medicine to Lady Yu in hopes that she would get better soon. However, Ming Yu pushes the responsibility to Ying Luo. As Ying Luo delivers the presents, she realizes it seemed awfully quiet, only to find a servant strangling Lady Yu. Lady Yu passes out but Ying Luo manages to knock the servant unconscious after some struggling. She goes out to find help only to see Noble Consort Gao arrive with her entourage and runs back inside the room.
The Empress asks Er Qing how long Ying Luo was gone for...
Back at Lady Yu's place, Ying Luo thinks of a plan to call for help - sending a smoke alarm. Noble Consort Nao breaks in and asks her servants to strangle Ying Luo, only for Fu Heng and the other soldiers to run in to help with the 'fire'. They both accuse each other of attempting to kill Lady Yu. They wake up the servant who tried to kill Lady Yu and he confesses that it was the Empress that told him to do it. The Empress comes in at that time and gets angry at the servant for lying. Ying Luo says that it wasn't the Empress since she sent her to send medicine to Lady Yu. She reasoned that she severely injured the servant and there is no reason why the Empress would send her to ruin her plans if she truly wanted to kill Lady Yu. She shoots back at Noble Consort Gao, asking why she was there if she didn't bring any gifts. She eventually gets Noble Consort Gao to apologize to the Empress for accusing her of being the one who instigated it.
Lady Yu finally wakes up but is scared once she sees the Empress, traumatized by the experience.
Next, Fu Heng finds Ying Luo, who is tending to her wounds from today's encounter and gives her some ointment. He asks her more about the accident, about why she chose to make a smoke alarm even though it was dangerous and she said that she was only brave enough to confront Noble Consort Gao because the Empress was there. This makes Fu Heng smile, and Ying Luo states that it was the first time she saw him smile. Fu Heng then finds out that her mother died when she was born and her elder sister raised her. As he leaves, she asks if he knows who "Amo" is. She then proceeds to tell him that she is her sister.
Ying Luo then goes back to the Empress and asks for forgiveness. Qing Er suggests that they should report this to the Emperor but the Empress refused. The Empress is worried about Ying Luo since she offended Noble Consort Gao. However, Ying Luo says that she already offended her and it wouldn't have made a difference.
Noble Consort Gao is mad that her plans didn't go through. Lady Jia consoles her, saying that Lady Yu is traumatized by the experience so they still gained a little bit from the plan. A servant then comes in with a dog, which is a gift from Noble Consort Gao's brother. She names the dog Snowball.
Fu Heng talks to his friend and fellow bodyguard, Hai Lancha. He comments on the injuries sustained by the servant who tried to kill Lady Yu, saying that Ying Luo seemed to be ruthless. They are then interrupted by Snowball running in the background, and he comments on how he is being treated better than the servants.
Ying Luo tells Auntie Zhang that she told Fu Heng who his sister is. She suspects that he knows her and has something to do with her death.
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It seems like this is just the beginning of the scheming between Noble Consort Gao and Ying Luo / Empress. It's one of my favourite parts of historical dramas so I hope there is more to come!
I'm also a little uneasy about the tension between Ying Luo and Fu Heng. Part of me wants thinks Ying Luo is purposely seducing him with the exchange of the ointment... and he doesn't seem like a bad guy so I really hope he doesn't fall into her trap!