Legend of Zhen Huan recap episode 8 甄嬛传 甄環傳 第8集
The episode opens with an eunuch writing Zhen's name on a nametag, signalling she is ready to serve the emperor.
The trees in the Suiyu Xuan courtyard have blossomed flowers. Xiaoxiazi comes with the message that Zhen is to pack her things. She has been summoned to the summer pools, served by hot springs, outside the palace, with Jinxi to serve her.
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The Empress is informed by Jianqiu that Zhen will be going to the pool with her and the emperor too. She sends Jianqiu to convery to the emperor with an excuse that she will not be going along.
QiFei, who is with her, asks why she does not want to go along as there are seperate pools for the use of empress and concubines. She won't be disturbed by Zhen. The empress says she wants to make it conducive for the emperor to carry out his "intentions".
QiFei remarks that she is very considerate and virtuous, and compares Huafei to her, who will only know how to throw a jealous fit.
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In a pool filled with rose petals, Zhen is soaking in it. YZ comes upon her. Zhen teases if YZ wants to be Emperor Cheng of Han.* After a short conversation, YZ brings her to his bed.
Zhen says she sees YZ not only as the Emperor, but as her husband too. She wants to know how to serve him as a husband, not only as an emperor. He is touched as no one has said that to him before. He tells her to relax...
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The episode opens with an eunuch writing Zhen's name on a nametag, signalling she is ready to serve the emperor.
The trees in the Suiyu Xuan courtyard have blossomed flowers. Xiaoxiazi comes with the message that Zhen is to pack her things. She has been summoned to the summer pools, served by hot springs, outside the palace, with Jinxi to serve her.
---------------
The Empress is informed by Jianqiu that Zhen will be going to the pool with her and the emperor too. She sends Jianqiu to convery to the emperor with an excuse that she will not be going along.
QiFei, who is with her, asks why she does not want to go along as there are seperate pools for the use of empress and concubines. She won't be disturbed by Zhen. The empress says she wants to make it conducive for the emperor to carry out his "intentions".
QiFei remarks that she is very considerate and virtuous, and compares Huafei to her, who will only know how to throw a jealous fit.
-------------------
In a pool filled with rose petals, Zhen is soaking in it. YZ comes upon her. Zhen teases if YZ wants to be Emperor Cheng of Han.* After a short conversation, YZ brings her to his bed.
Zhen says she sees YZ not only as the Emperor, but as her husband too. She wants to know how to serve him as a husband, not only as an emperor. He is touched as no one has said that to him before. He tells her to relax...
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Huafei is sadly looking at the moon with tears on her face. She knows that YZ finally is having consummating the relationship with Zhen and compares her with Yang Guifei. (Yang Guifei managed to enrapture Tang Gaozong by soaking in a hot spring too, and thereafter occupied Tang Gaozong's attention solely. )
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Zhen wakes up and is picking at the wicks of the candles. She chats with YZ about the customs of the civillians which use red candles with dragon and phoenix patterns, which signify being together until old age.
YZ remarks that he has been through the custom once. Zhen asks isn't it twice since there are 2 empresses?
"No. The current empress was promoted from my 2nd ranked wife. We did not have to go through the customary wedding. It's hard to have a lady with such ordinary desires as you by my side. I will not let you down."
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The next day, we see that Shen looks for An to have a chat. An remarks that Shen has dark eye circles. Shen can't sleep as the emperor is having a new woman. An speaks of her humiliating experience of being sent back from the emperor's bed and Shen comforts her again.
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Zhen is back to the palace and pays formal respects to the Empress again. She does the 3 kneel 9 swings kowtow. (In the cast interview, they call this the japanese fortune cat bow.) It is the rule that a new concubine must pay their respects to the empress the day after serving the emperor for the first time. The empress is very gracious and friendly to Zhen. The empress does not like to burn scents and only uses fresh fruits and flowers for their fresh and natural scent.
Li Pin and Cao Guiren are just arriving at the Empress with their entourage as Zhen is leaving. Zhen is asked by Xiaoyunzi to go to the garden;she is not to go back to Suiyu xuan as they are preparing a surprise for her.
Kang Luhai, who is with Li Pin's entourage, makes an excuse to go to the restroom, but in fact he goes after Zhen. Li Pin remarks that he had served Duanfei before and Li Pin accepted him as she thinks he has experience.
Cao Guiren says to Li Pin, "This Kang Luhai is still so sneaky. Jiejie has a good nature. This type of disloyal servant which abandons their master, I would not dare to touch."
Kang Luhai catches up with Zhen. He beats around the bush until Zhen asks him to be direct. He says he wants to come back under her employment.
Zhen clearly does not want him back. "Does Li Pin know your intentions? I'm afraid Li Pin will be unhappy. Besides, I am just a Guiren. How can I request for her servant?"
At this moment, Li Pin, Cao Guiren and their entourage catches up with them from behind and hears the following.
"Little master please don't worry. You have the favor of the emperor. Just one word from you, who will dare to say no to you?"
Li Pin exclaims in fury, "How dare you!"
After greetings, Li Pin addressed Zhen, "I heard that His Majesty had assigned many new servants to Wan Guiren. I did not know that Wan Guiren has not enough servants in spite of that, to the extent that you have to poach my useless servant."
Zhen quickly refutes calmly, "This is not the case. Sister Li Pin was kind enough to take in Kang Luhai. Since he is your servant now, of course there is no reason for me to take him back without rhyme or reason. Even thou little sister is young and ignorant, I will not make this kind of mistake. "
Li Pin is mollified with Zhen and starts on Kang, her maid punishes Kang by asking him to slap his mouth repeatedly.
Li Pin exclaims "This eunuch wants to keep looking for a higher tree to perch on. Everyone says eunuchs are people without root (penis) and have no dignity. Nowadays these servants do not have any respect for me anymore. He forgot how much begging he did for me to save him from the tomb of the living dead. Now he wants to bite the hand that fed him. I'm discipling my servant. It's unfortunate that Wan Guiren has to see this scene."
Both Cao Guiren and Zhen are shown to be uncomfortable at her vulgar speech.
Zhen replies "He is sister's servant, it's your right to discipline him anyway you want. It's just that the imperial garden is such a public place with so many eyes, it may create rumours and ruin sister's reputation. If sister thinks this servant is horrible, do bring him back to your own gong for punishment."
Li Pin considers her words and drops it, and goes on to pay her respect to the empress.
Kang Luhai thanks Zhen for saving him. He is aware that if not for how she put her words across, Li Pin would not drop the issue. She tells him to tread carefully and leaves without sparing a 2nd glance for him.
On the way back, Xiaoyunzi remarks that Kang must be having a hard time since going over to Li Pin as even Li Pin's maid can scold him and order him to slap himself. Zhen says for a servant serving a master, the only criteria is loyalty. A person who job hops because of benefits will only gain a bad reputation, and his master will not use him for big tasks.
Xiaoyunzi says Li Pin's words were terribly ugly to hear. Zhen says she likes the directness thou, as it shows Li Pin is a person without much subfertuge.
When they enter Suiyu Xuan, all the servants are lined up to greet her together with the home affairs supervisor Huang Guiquan. Suiya Xuan has undergone a small retrofitting under the orders of YZ. He has also bestowed the customary wedding upon her, "Jiao Fang". The wall gives out a very nice scent. Mud is smeared on the wall to signify warmness and many children. This Jiao Fang ceremony is only done for the wedding of a main wife and empress, not for normal concubines. Only Huafei had had this ceremony done for her too.
On the bed, there are longans, peanuts and red dates scattered. They generally signify having many children. *
Zhen goes to visit Shen. Shen teases her that normal concubines will be carried in a blanket to serve the emperor to his bed, but for her, the emperor accompanies her instead. They talk about Li Pin, and Zhen does not take Li Pin's tantrum seriously. Shen wants Zhen to beware of Huafei as YZ is treating her as well as Huafei, which will incur much jealousy. Zhen has realistic expectations of the future, in that there will be many jealous concubines who will make things difficult for her. Shen advises her to torlerate it as they can't match up to Huafei in terms of favor or family background. They should wait it out to compete with her, otherwise it will be like an egg hitting a rock.
Zhen then asks if Shen is angry or jealous of her.
Shen replies "We came to the palace together. I already knew that there will be this day. Even thou his majesty has not summoned me for many days, with you gaining favor, I will benefit from it too. Also we grew up together and are like sisters. Even thou I am envious, I am not angry. I am a little jealous thou. But look, there are so many concubines in the palace. Yesterday there is Huafei, today there is you, who knows who it will be, come tomorrow? How will I live my life if I have to be jealous of everyone?"
An is at her doorstep looking at the full moon with her maid Baojuan. She misses home. Baojuan asks her to hang around Zhen to get an oppoutunity to see the emperor as they are close like sisters. She wants her to work on her networking. An does not want to do that as it may cause Zhen to be irritated with her. Even thou Zhen has given her 2 pieces of material to make clothes with, it's only a form of politeness. No matter how deep the relationship is, it can be cracked if there is no consideration. Baojuan has a look of dissatisfaction on her face that An does not want to take her advice. An then adds "For Sister Mei, even thou her relationship with Zhen is so good, she also can't sleep the first night Zhen served the emperor."
Xu gonggong, the head supervisor from Jingshifang, comes to inform Zhen to prepare herself to serve the emperor tonight.
Zhen is sent to wait by YZ's bedside. "Do I need to change my clothes?"
FangRuo Momo tells her to wait as it's YZ's instructions.
YZ comes and brings her a snack. It is a bowl of jiaozi, dumplings. He tells her to try it. She tries one and spits it out, saying it is raw. (sheng). "Sheng" is a pun in Mandarin as "giving birth". It turns out to be a practical joke played on her by YZ, but this is one of the civillian customs for newlyweds too. Zhen is amused and touched.
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Li Pin and Cao Guiren are at Huafei's place with Cao's baby daughter. Li Pin is complaining to huafei about the Kang Luhai issue. Huafei tells her it is her own fault for not being able to discipline her servants. And to take her complaining down a notch. If Zhen oversteps her boundary like Yu, she will lose all favors. Cao says Zhen did back down to Li Pin.
Li Pin still grumbles that Zhen is gaining so much favor that YZ keeps visiting the harem recently, and mostly to visit her. YZ even grants her the jiaofang full wedding customary like Huafei. Huafei is displeased.
"Will you be mute if you don't talk?"
Cao Guiren says, "Niang niang have you seen a good dog? A dog that bites, doesn't bark."
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Zhen attends to YZ in the evening. He is waiting for her outside his hall, showing his eagerness. She had accompanied him to play chess in the afternoon, then went back and come again.
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Huafei is with Li Pin and Cao Guiren in her Gong. They are checking the jingshifang records. Zhen has served YZ consecutively for 3 days and Huafei is furious.
Li Pin commented angrily, "What a seductive thing. She only knows how to entangle his majesty."
Huafei "It's his majesty who likes her to entangle. Even if others want to do it, they also can't."
Cao Guiren, "The Yu in the past was heavily indulged, but it's not even to this extent."
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Yu is shown poking needles in a makeshift voodoo doll of Zhen and cursing her. She is kneeling in front of a statue of Guanyin Goddess while doing it.
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Zhen is late to pay respects to the empress and apologizes. The empress excuses her as she has served YZ several nights in a row and it is tiring. Pan to sour looks on Qifei and Huafei. The empress is gracious and gifts her a "holy blanket" blessed by lalmas which will bless her with a son.
Huafei "Oh yes, if in the future you get a son, you will catch up to Qifei."
Li Pin "Qifei is a fortunate lady. Unlike 4th Ah-ge's mother, she has not even managed to look at 4th ah ge and she ... "
Empress is displeased and cuts in "Why mention 4th Ah-ge without any rhyme or reason? Princes are not fodder for gossip! I can let it slide when you say it to me, but if his majesty hears of it, he will get angry."
She dismisses them and leaves in a huff.
Qifei tells Li Pin, "Why did you mention 4th Ah ge all of a sudden? Look, you made her angry."
Huafei "She being angry will only hurt herself. What concern is it of yours?"
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Zhen asks Shen what is the backstory. Shen is not so sure, but she has only heard that 4th mother is of low status and ugly, YZ dislikes her and thus dislikes her son too. He is raised in Yuan Ming Yuan and disallowed to be in the palace.
Zhen "If 4th prince's mother is lowly and ugly, why would his majesty have sexual relations with her?"
Shen "It happened when YZ was still a prince. He was drunk. Because of this incident, he was hugely admonished by Kangxi. At that time it was dangerous as 9 princes were fighting for the throne, so YZ also blamed 4th prince. This topic is taboo, just pretend you don't know of it."
Huafei and Li Pin catches up to them.
Li Pin "Wan Guiren has always risen early to pay respects to the empress. It's so rare that you're late today. "
Zhen "Because older sisters are hardworking, little sister is lazy."
Li Pin says sourly, "We can't say that Wan Guiren is unattentive. Attending the emperor is hard work and you're bound to be tired. Unlike the rest of us, we are so free. "
Zhen replies cautiously, "Li Pin niang niang has served the emperor for a long time, you must know what to say and what not to say. Little sister is young, I await your instructions. I have entered the palace for a short time and am inexperienced, if I had said anything wrong, hope niang niang do not hold it against me."
Huafei arrows Shen, "Wan Guiren is busy attending the emperor, and Shen Guiren has time freed up. Are you free to make a copy of Nu Lun Yu for me? It's good to remind the harem of how to be virtuous, and to be careful of their words and actions."
Shen agrees. There is no choice.
Huafei starts to needle Shen, "Shen Guiren seems to have become slimmer. Is it because his majesty has not summoned you recently?"
Shen dismisses it, "Niang niang likes to joke. It's only because the weather is hot and it affects my appetite."
"Oh, so that's the reason. I was thinking it was because Wan Guiren is thick with favour, and Shen Guiren is uncomfortable with it. As Wan Guiren is pretty and intelligent, having the favor of the emperor is natural, others cannot be compared to Wan. But Wan Guiren and Shen Guiren are as close as sisters, how can you forget to share the favour with your sister? "
End of episode 8
*Peanuts (hua sheng) and red dates(hong zao) makes a pun in Mandarin that says zao sheng gui zi. (Have a blessed child early.)
*Emperor Cheng of Han has a fetish and loved to watch his concubine Zhao Hede bathe. They're a pretty much notorious couple in history so it's actually not a compliment to be compared to him.
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Zhen wakes up and is picking at the wicks of the candles. She chats with YZ about the customs of the civillians which use red candles with dragon and phoenix patterns, which signify being together until old age.
YZ remarks that he has been through the custom once. Zhen asks isn't it twice since there are 2 empresses?
"No. The current empress was promoted from my 2nd ranked wife. We did not have to go through the customary wedding. It's hard to have a lady with such ordinary desires as you by my side. I will not let you down."
---------------
The next day, we see that Shen looks for An to have a chat. An remarks that Shen has dark eye circles. Shen can't sleep as the emperor is having a new woman. An speaks of her humiliating experience of being sent back from the emperor's bed and Shen comforts her again.
---------------
Zhen is back to the palace and pays formal respects to the Empress again. She does the 3 kneel 9 swings kowtow. (In the cast interview, they call this the japanese fortune cat bow.) It is the rule that a new concubine must pay their respects to the empress the day after serving the emperor for the first time. The empress is very gracious and friendly to Zhen. The empress does not like to burn scents and only uses fresh fruits and flowers for their fresh and natural scent.
Li Pin and Cao Guiren are just arriving at the Empress with their entourage as Zhen is leaving. Zhen is asked by Xiaoyunzi to go to the garden;she is not to go back to Suiyu xuan as they are preparing a surprise for her.
Kang Luhai, who is with Li Pin's entourage, makes an excuse to go to the restroom, but in fact he goes after Zhen. Li Pin remarks that he had served Duanfei before and Li Pin accepted him as she thinks he has experience.
Cao Guiren says to Li Pin, "This Kang Luhai is still so sneaky. Jiejie has a good nature. This type of disloyal servant which abandons their master, I would not dare to touch."
Kang Luhai catches up with Zhen. He beats around the bush until Zhen asks him to be direct. He says he wants to come back under her employment.
Zhen clearly does not want him back. "Does Li Pin know your intentions? I'm afraid Li Pin will be unhappy. Besides, I am just a Guiren. How can I request for her servant?"
At this moment, Li Pin, Cao Guiren and their entourage catches up with them from behind and hears the following.
"Little master please don't worry. You have the favor of the emperor. Just one word from you, who will dare to say no to you?"
Li Pin exclaims in fury, "How dare you!"
After greetings, Li Pin addressed Zhen, "I heard that His Majesty had assigned many new servants to Wan Guiren. I did not know that Wan Guiren has not enough servants in spite of that, to the extent that you have to poach my useless servant."
Zhen quickly refutes calmly, "This is not the case. Sister Li Pin was kind enough to take in Kang Luhai. Since he is your servant now, of course there is no reason for me to take him back without rhyme or reason. Even thou little sister is young and ignorant, I will not make this kind of mistake. "
Li Pin is mollified with Zhen and starts on Kang, her maid punishes Kang by asking him to slap his mouth repeatedly.
Li Pin exclaims "This eunuch wants to keep looking for a higher tree to perch on. Everyone says eunuchs are people without root (penis) and have no dignity. Nowadays these servants do not have any respect for me anymore. He forgot how much begging he did for me to save him from the tomb of the living dead. Now he wants to bite the hand that fed him. I'm discipling my servant. It's unfortunate that Wan Guiren has to see this scene."
Both Cao Guiren and Zhen are shown to be uncomfortable at her vulgar speech.
Zhen replies "He is sister's servant, it's your right to discipline him anyway you want. It's just that the imperial garden is such a public place with so many eyes, it may create rumours and ruin sister's reputation. If sister thinks this servant is horrible, do bring him back to your own gong for punishment."
Li Pin considers her words and drops it, and goes on to pay her respect to the empress.
Kang Luhai thanks Zhen for saving him. He is aware that if not for how she put her words across, Li Pin would not drop the issue. She tells him to tread carefully and leaves without sparing a 2nd glance for him.
On the way back, Xiaoyunzi remarks that Kang must be having a hard time since going over to Li Pin as even Li Pin's maid can scold him and order him to slap himself. Zhen says for a servant serving a master, the only criteria is loyalty. A person who job hops because of benefits will only gain a bad reputation, and his master will not use him for big tasks.
Xiaoyunzi says Li Pin's words were terribly ugly to hear. Zhen says she likes the directness thou, as it shows Li Pin is a person without much subfertuge.
When they enter Suiyu Xuan, all the servants are lined up to greet her together with the home affairs supervisor Huang Guiquan. Suiya Xuan has undergone a small retrofitting under the orders of YZ. He has also bestowed the customary wedding upon her, "Jiao Fang". The wall gives out a very nice scent. Mud is smeared on the wall to signify warmness and many children. This Jiao Fang ceremony is only done for the wedding of a main wife and empress, not for normal concubines. Only Huafei had had this ceremony done for her too.
On the bed, there are longans, peanuts and red dates scattered. They generally signify having many children. *
Zhen goes to visit Shen. Shen teases her that normal concubines will be carried in a blanket to serve the emperor to his bed, but for her, the emperor accompanies her instead. They talk about Li Pin, and Zhen does not take Li Pin's tantrum seriously. Shen wants Zhen to beware of Huafei as YZ is treating her as well as Huafei, which will incur much jealousy. Zhen has realistic expectations of the future, in that there will be many jealous concubines who will make things difficult for her. Shen advises her to torlerate it as they can't match up to Huafei in terms of favor or family background. They should wait it out to compete with her, otherwise it will be like an egg hitting a rock.
Zhen then asks if Shen is angry or jealous of her.
Shen replies "We came to the palace together. I already knew that there will be this day. Even thou his majesty has not summoned me for many days, with you gaining favor, I will benefit from it too. Also we grew up together and are like sisters. Even thou I am envious, I am not angry. I am a little jealous thou. But look, there are so many concubines in the palace. Yesterday there is Huafei, today there is you, who knows who it will be, come tomorrow? How will I live my life if I have to be jealous of everyone?"
An is at her doorstep looking at the full moon with her maid Baojuan. She misses home. Baojuan asks her to hang around Zhen to get an oppoutunity to see the emperor as they are close like sisters. She wants her to work on her networking. An does not want to do that as it may cause Zhen to be irritated with her. Even thou Zhen has given her 2 pieces of material to make clothes with, it's only a form of politeness. No matter how deep the relationship is, it can be cracked if there is no consideration. Baojuan has a look of dissatisfaction on her face that An does not want to take her advice. An then adds "For Sister Mei, even thou her relationship with Zhen is so good, she also can't sleep the first night Zhen served the emperor."
Xu gonggong, the head supervisor from Jingshifang, comes to inform Zhen to prepare herself to serve the emperor tonight.
Zhen is sent to wait by YZ's bedside. "Do I need to change my clothes?"
FangRuo Momo tells her to wait as it's YZ's instructions.
YZ comes and brings her a snack. It is a bowl of jiaozi, dumplings. He tells her to try it. She tries one and spits it out, saying it is raw. (sheng). "Sheng" is a pun in Mandarin as "giving birth". It turns out to be a practical joke played on her by YZ, but this is one of the civillian customs for newlyweds too. Zhen is amused and touched.
------------------
Li Pin and Cao Guiren are at Huafei's place with Cao's baby daughter. Li Pin is complaining to huafei about the Kang Luhai issue. Huafei tells her it is her own fault for not being able to discipline her servants. And to take her complaining down a notch. If Zhen oversteps her boundary like Yu, she will lose all favors. Cao says Zhen did back down to Li Pin.
Li Pin still grumbles that Zhen is gaining so much favor that YZ keeps visiting the harem recently, and mostly to visit her. YZ even grants her the jiaofang full wedding customary like Huafei. Huafei is displeased.
"Will you be mute if you don't talk?"
Cao Guiren says, "Niang niang have you seen a good dog? A dog that bites, doesn't bark."
----------------
Zhen attends to YZ in the evening. He is waiting for her outside his hall, showing his eagerness. She had accompanied him to play chess in the afternoon, then went back and come again.
-------------------
Huafei is with Li Pin and Cao Guiren in her Gong. They are checking the jingshifang records. Zhen has served YZ consecutively for 3 days and Huafei is furious.
Li Pin commented angrily, "What a seductive thing. She only knows how to entangle his majesty."
Huafei "It's his majesty who likes her to entangle. Even if others want to do it, they also can't."
Cao Guiren, "The Yu in the past was heavily indulged, but it's not even to this extent."
--------------------
Yu is shown poking needles in a makeshift voodoo doll of Zhen and cursing her. She is kneeling in front of a statue of Guanyin Goddess while doing it.
---------------
Zhen is late to pay respects to the empress and apologizes. The empress excuses her as she has served YZ several nights in a row and it is tiring. Pan to sour looks on Qifei and Huafei. The empress is gracious and gifts her a "holy blanket" blessed by lalmas which will bless her with a son.
Huafei "Oh yes, if in the future you get a son, you will catch up to Qifei."
Li Pin "Qifei is a fortunate lady. Unlike 4th Ah-ge's mother, she has not even managed to look at 4th ah ge and she ... "
Empress is displeased and cuts in "Why mention 4th Ah-ge without any rhyme or reason? Princes are not fodder for gossip! I can let it slide when you say it to me, but if his majesty hears of it, he will get angry."
She dismisses them and leaves in a huff.
Qifei tells Li Pin, "Why did you mention 4th Ah ge all of a sudden? Look, you made her angry."
Huafei "She being angry will only hurt herself. What concern is it of yours?"
-------------
Zhen asks Shen what is the backstory. Shen is not so sure, but she has only heard that 4th mother is of low status and ugly, YZ dislikes her and thus dislikes her son too. He is raised in Yuan Ming Yuan and disallowed to be in the palace.
Zhen "If 4th prince's mother is lowly and ugly, why would his majesty have sexual relations with her?"
Shen "It happened when YZ was still a prince. He was drunk. Because of this incident, he was hugely admonished by Kangxi. At that time it was dangerous as 9 princes were fighting for the throne, so YZ also blamed 4th prince. This topic is taboo, just pretend you don't know of it."
Huafei and Li Pin catches up to them.
Li Pin "Wan Guiren has always risen early to pay respects to the empress. It's so rare that you're late today. "
Zhen "Because older sisters are hardworking, little sister is lazy."
Li Pin says sourly, "We can't say that Wan Guiren is unattentive. Attending the emperor is hard work and you're bound to be tired. Unlike the rest of us, we are so free. "
Zhen replies cautiously, "Li Pin niang niang has served the emperor for a long time, you must know what to say and what not to say. Little sister is young, I await your instructions. I have entered the palace for a short time and am inexperienced, if I had said anything wrong, hope niang niang do not hold it against me."
Huafei arrows Shen, "Wan Guiren is busy attending the emperor, and Shen Guiren has time freed up. Are you free to make a copy of Nu Lun Yu for me? It's good to remind the harem of how to be virtuous, and to be careful of their words and actions."
Shen agrees. There is no choice.
Huafei starts to needle Shen, "Shen Guiren seems to have become slimmer. Is it because his majesty has not summoned you recently?"
Shen dismisses it, "Niang niang likes to joke. It's only because the weather is hot and it affects my appetite."
"Oh, so that's the reason. I was thinking it was because Wan Guiren is thick with favour, and Shen Guiren is uncomfortable with it. As Wan Guiren is pretty and intelligent, having the favor of the emperor is natural, others cannot be compared to Wan. But Wan Guiren and Shen Guiren are as close as sisters, how can you forget to share the favour with your sister? "
End of episode 8
*Peanuts (hua sheng) and red dates(hong zao) makes a pun in Mandarin that says zao sheng gui zi. (Have a blessed child early.)
*Emperor Cheng of Han has a fetish and loved to watch his concubine Zhao Hede bathe. They're a pretty much notorious couple in history so it's actually not a compliment to be compared to him.