Summary Episode 21 Recap: It turns out that former Secretary Du actually is with the assassins, but he had placed a plaster over his shoulder to hide his tattoo. However, nobody has outed him yet. Qing evades Mo Yu and overhears Chu preparing for some kind of action planned for the next day. She finds traces of gunpowder on the walkway, and fearing some kind of attack to be initiated by Chu, follows the guards, who carry boxes to a storage area. She sneaks in and pours an entire bucket of water into the boxes of gunpowder to sabotage the ploy. At the gates of the palace, a stream of potential matching ladies arrives for crown prince Ji Yun's tea party. Some of the prospects size up Yao and are shocked that a coroner was invited, thinking it ominous, and perhaps even a faked invitation. Yun arrives, greets Yao and escorts her inside. This enrages one of the candidates, who vows to make Yao regret showing her face. Wan'er is upset because Gong declined her invitation to attend the party. She wanted him to meet her mother there. Qing thinks it could be a little early in their courtship for him to meet the parents, and adds that her family can be intimidating. Since Qing is afraid Chu is up to something, she wants to follow him, so she tells him she will accompany him so they can show people they're a couple. Chu doesn't think affection is a show, but he takes her hand anyway and they proceed toward the tea party. Yao finds her seat at the party next to Wan'er, and Wan'er asks why she didn't dress up like Wan'er asked her to. Yau said she had to come straight from an autopsy with no time to change clothes, so her work outfit is the best she could do. The other women gasp and loudly gossip about how inappropriate it is to show up at a blind date like that. This is the first Yao has heard this is a date with Yun. Wan'er asks if she'd told Yao would she have come? In Wan'er's opinion, Yao is the one who really needs to be at this event, loudly adding the rest are just foils. Chu and Qing arrive with her majesty the Empress' party and are seated at the family table. After asking prince Yun to let her know which lady he likes, the Empress specifically asks Qing to help Yun by keeping her eye out. Just then, Chu offers to feed Qing a sweet and as she takes a bite all of the ladies swoon at the romantic gesture. Yun however, looks away. Chu then brushes some sweet off of Qing's cheek, and the Empress remarks how relieved she is seeing them so in love. The troublemaker drops her fan, and Yao goes to pick it up, but the agitator yells not to touch anything, then addresses the Empress that there's a coroner there who just had been touching a corpse. Surprised, the Empress calls up Yao, who identifies herself as the coroner. Both Qing and Wan'er jump up to admit to inviting Yao. But the mean girl persists, saying even so, common and lowly Yao might bring ominous vibes to the party. At that moment, the Duke walks up, demanding to know who is calling his daughter lowly. The Empress asks the Duke to explain how Yao is suddenly his daughter. He explains to everyone that after years of fruitlessly searching for her, he finally was able to find out that his missing daughter had been adopted by an old coroner after bandits had killed his wife on the road, and that Yao is his daughter. He invites Yao to come live with him, and will wait until she's ready to do so. The Empress is impressed that Yao is the daughter of a Duke, but Qing points out that regardless, Yao has a reputation as the top female coroner in Shengjing, and thus outshines the others who rely on comparing family backgrounds. The Empress feels that the event helped the Duke find his match and thus is another reason making it a joyous occasion. She then recognizes Yao's elegant, refined and outstanding abilities, adding that she really likes Yao. She asks Yao to come to the palace more often in future to keep her company. As the party disperses, Yun mentions that since Wan'er will stay at the palace that night, Qing will have to return to the library by herself. Chu informs Yun that Qing is now living with him. That being the case, Yun asks Chu to treat Qing well. Chu says he has great affection for his princess consort and will certainly do so, but Qing doesn't believe him for a minute. Chu adds he should worry about his own marriage prospects and grabs Qing's arm to go, but Qing wants Yun to accompany Yao since she doesn't know her way and tends to get lost. In the carriage, Yun comforts Yao, pointing out that a family could be a good thing for her. She opens up to him that after her foster father's death she was alone, and has gotten used to it, so she's unsure how to handle this sudden turn of events. Yun mentions that having a stable place could be just what she needs now. Yao thanks him and asks him to call her Xiyao instead of Miss Lin, and he does so. Yao apologizes for messing up his blind date and he explains it was just to appease his mother anyway. She then asks him what he's looking for in a consort. He doesn't need any specific criteria, and it wouldn't be based solely on background, because he thinks character is more important. What would be even better is if their interests and aspirations align. Yao thinks he's completely different from the rest of the royal family and tells him he's the greatest man in her heart. Yun looks stunned and Yao says she believes relationships aren't one-sided, so it's better to openly express one's feelings because even if they get rejected, at least there's a response, and that's better than ending without closure. Yun replies that she's also different from other women. They share smiles. Xiao Yan has caught Du infiltrating the palace guards. That evening, seated outside on the garden bridge with Chu, Qing reflects how she was tense all day thinking Chu was up to something, when he was looking to catch Du Hui. She still doesn't know what the gunpowder was for though, until Chu tells her he has a surprise for her. The fireworks start, but they're duds due to being waterlogged by Qing. When Chu asks rhetorically what is going on, Qing admits to accidentally ruining them because she thought they were to be used for something nefarious. Chu somehow interprets this as Qing knowing that Chu has feelings for her, and Qing asks how does what he's saying have to do with the fireworks? Chu simply says that whether she admits it or not, what he wants has never been unattainable. Qing still has a perplexed look as Chu says he's awaiting the good news from his princess consort. At the library, Wan'er finds a volume that might interest Qing in her search for the totem. Qing finds two emblems that are similar to what she's been looking for; the Tiger Totem, a symbol of loyalty and bravery once associated with a Fuyu assassin group, and Red Luan Constellation signs, symbolizing a life-and-death covenant. Chu interrogates Du. He won't give up any information, and brushes off the totem as a prank. In Chu's research, he noticed that Du Hui comes from Fuyu, and even though Liang has a lot of people from Fuyu, still, Chu says Du was a strategist for Fuyu. Gong mentions that a strategist is a third-grade minister, and thus it makes no sense that he would move to Liang and accept a demotion to secretary. Gong thinks it possible Du was running from a criminal record in Fuyu. Chu orders Xiao Yan to send a message to Fuyu asking for all of the files of any strategists in Fuyu around the time that Du left. Qing returns home to show Chu the book with the Red Luan Constellation sign and Tiger totem. She says the two symbols are similar but different and intertwined, just like the symbols found on Du Hui's body and the assassin in black. Both symbols come from Fuyu. Qing asks what does this represent? Chu is touched that Qing's been spending so much time at the library to try to help him find the totem. Qing says whether Chu's guilty or not, being falsely accused is too unfair. This time she is standing by him and vows to find the person who framed him. Chu interprets this as a sign of their bond, but Qing says that helping him is one thing, and it doesn't mean she has feelings for him. He asks what it means exactly then. She says it means she's helpful and not to overthink it. Chu agrees not to rush it then.

• Costume Drama
• History
• Fantasy
• Mystery
• Romance