This is the recap for Story of Yanxi Palace Episodes 1-2. Some pigeons fly through the sky. The lady takes the girls to the palace. Wei Yingluo is one of the girls.
Story of Yanxi Palace: Episode 1 Recap
Note: These are specific plot spoilers for Story of Yanxi Palace Chinese Drama Episodes 1-2.
The lady asks the girls not to look for the forbidden city because it’s a honored place. The ladies have a talk in the garden. One of the lady thinks Wu Ya is pretty. She thinks her hairpin is beautiful as well. The girl Ji Xiang sees the ladies. She wonders who they’re. Another girl Ling Long reveals those girls passed the reelection and they’re called elegant ladies.
Ji Xiang finds out that those ladies’ clothes are beautiful. She believes that she will be pretty if she wears those clothes. Jin Xiu reveals those ladies coming from noble families and they’re masters once they get into the palace.
She thinks they can only be maids even if they pass the election. She pushes Ji Xiang and she makes her pour water to Wu Ya. Ji Xiang tries to go to clean Wu Ya’s skirt. But Wu Ya slaps Ji Xiang when she thinks she’s a lowly maid. She reveals she bought the dress for the election.
The lady Wuya Qingdai thinks she cannot go to see Emperor since Ji Xiang got her clothes dirty. Ji Xiang tries to wipe Wuya Qingdai’s dress. But she gets kicked away. She asks the master for her mercy. The lady Lu Wanwan asks Wuya Qingdai to forgive the maid.
Wuya Qingdai talks back that she didn’t ask Lu Wanwan about it. Aunt Fang persuades Waya Qingdai not to get angry. Wuya Qingdai decides to let Ji Xiang compensate her with her hand. She steps on her hand. Ji Xiang cries because she feels hurt.
Wei Yingluo walks to Wuya Qingdai. She removes her foot when she asks her for her mercy. Wuya Qingdai blames Wei Yingluo for wishing to get her mercy because she’s just a little maid. Wei Yingluo reminds Wuya Qingdai that she shouldn’t touch the blood because she needs to take part in the election.
But Wuya Qingdai claims that she’s not happy because her shoe is dirty. Wei Yingluo takes a look at Wuya Qingdai’s shoes. She mentions she embroidered a lotus under her shoe. She wants to shoulder the worry with her. She takes out her bag and she drops the powder on the floor.
She asks Ling Long for the her sachet. Ling Long hands over her sachet to Wei Yingluo. Wei Yingluo drops the rose petals on the powder. She mixes the powder and the petals. She holds the mixture and she lets Wuya Qingdai steps on her hands.
Lu Wanwan watches it. She thinks Wei Yingluo is pretty. But the lady Nalan Chunxue looks down on Wei Yingluo. She thinks she’s nature to be a maid. Wei Yingluo lets Wuya Qingdai walk around. Lu Wanwan finds out that Wuya Qingdai left the lotus marks on the floor.
Wei Yingluo mentions the Consort Pan of South Qi Kingdom got favor from Emperor because she left the lotus marks. She wishes Wuya Qingdai to achieve her dream. Wuya Qingdai forgives Ji Xiang after Wei Yingluo served her like a pug. She leaves.
Wei Yingluo helps Ji Xiang up. She uses a handkerchief to dress her wound. Jin Xiu thinks Ji Xiang was too stupid. Ji Xiang yells at Jin Xiu because she thinks she wouldn’t make the mistake if it wasn’t Jin Xiu. She shows her injury to Ling Long. Aunt Fang stops the maids. She takes them to leave the place.
Ji Xiang walks Wei Yingluo. She wonders why she helped Wuya Qingdai because she thinks the lady is very evil. Wei Yingluo reveals she thinks it’s not a good thing. The maid walks to Empress when she’s trimming the branches. She persuades her to go to prepare for the election.
Another maid Er Qing calls Empress. It makes Empress Fucha turn around. She takes a look at the first maid Ming Yu. Empress Fucha thinks she doesn’t have to prepare for it because it’s the ladies stage. She prefers to take care of flowers there.
Ming Yu reminds Empress Fucha that she will give the one in the Chuxiu Palace a chance if she doesn’t attend the election. Er Qing stops Ming Yu. She persuades Empress Fucha that Empress Dowager will scold her if she doesn’t go to take a look at the election. Empress Fucha agrees to it. She takes over the bracelet from the servant.
Consort Gao is on the sedan chair. The servants carry her. She’s calm and she wears the gold nails. She looks like the master of the palace. She walks into Empress Fucha’s palace in her maid’s help. She greets Empress Fucha. She has a seat and she mentions the ladies are pretty.
But Empress Fucha thinks morality is very important to the ladies. Consort Gao reminds Empress Fucha that it will affect the princes looks if they choose ugly concubines. Empress Fucha mentions Consort Gao is pretty. Consort Gao thinks she deserves it.
Emperor shows up. Empress Fucha greets him. He helps her up. We learn that he’s Emperor Qianlong. He has a seat. The eunuch Li Yu announces the beginning of the election. The first lady walks into the palace. She’s the daughter of Dali Temple Chief. Her name is Suochuoluo Yuli.
Emperor Qianlong takes a look at the lady. He thinks it’s hard to her to stand there because the wind is big. Consort Gao agrees to what he said that the lady is too skinny. The second lady walks into the palace. She’s the daughter of Shangsi Department Chief. Her name is Gan Ruyu.
She greets Emperor Qianlong. He looks at her and he wonders if she ate five meals per day. The third lady is the daughter of capital magistrate. Her name is Zhangjia Ruhong. Emperor Qianlong wonders if she wore the soy sauce to enjoy sunshine. She’s confused.
Consort Gao hints at the lady what Emperor Qianlong meant is that she’s too black. The fourth lady is the daughter of Taichang Temple Chief. Her name is Wuya Qingdai. Consort Gao notes the mark on the floor. Emperor Qianlong asks Wuya Qingdai about it.
She reveals it’s called Step Lotus. He lets Li Yu take off her shoe. Li Yu shows the shoe to Emperor Qianlong. Emperor Qianlong finds out that the lady carved a lotus shape under her shoe. He asks his followers to take away Wuya Qingdai.
She explains it to him that she just faked the Step Lotus. She asks him for his mercy. She asks Empress Fucha to save her then. Empress Fucha persuades Emperor Qianlong that the lady did nothing wrong for wishing to get the first place.
She thinks the lady will have no face to see people if she was kicked out from the palace. He mentions he didn’t allow Han Clan girls to tangle their feet. He’s surprised that Wuya Clan learned it. He reveals the consort Pan Yunu was an evil consort and the emperor Xiao Baojuan was a bad emperor.
He points at Wuya Qingdai when he thinks she plans to bring chaos to the court. He thinks she will bring trouble if he chooses her. He decides to punish her father. Wuya Qingdai is taken away. She tells Emperor Qianlong that she did it because the maid tricked her. Lu Wanwan is startled after she saw Wuya Qingdai taken away. She wonders what mistake the lady made.
The maids embroider in the room. Manager Wu shows up. He tries to take a look at the works of the maid. But Aunt Fang takes him to the warehouse because the test doesn’t end. Ji Xiang gets her works dirty by the blood. Jin Xiu thinks Ji Xiang is too stupid.
She believes that she will get kicked out even if she joins the palace. Ji Xiang asks Ling Long to find a way for her because they grew up together. But Ling Long refuses to help Ji Xiang because she doesn’t complete her works. Wei Yingluo exchanged her works with Ji Xiang’s works. She tells her to wipe off her tears.
Ling Long reminds Wei Yingluo that she doesn’t have any time to embroider. But Wei Yingluo tells Ji Xiang to complete the works for her. Madam Zhang returns. The time is up. She lets the maids drop their needles. Manager Wu returns.
Ling Long hands over her works to Manager Wu. Manager Wu’s name is Wu Shulai. He takes a look at Ling Long’s works. He thinks it’s good. He takes a look at the maid’s works. He thinks he thinks she should get the first place. But Ling Long lets him take a look at Wei Yingluo’s works.
Manager Wu walks to Wei Yingluo. He takes a look at her works. He shows the works to Madam Zhang then. She praises Wei Yingluo and she thinks the maids got talent. But Jin Xiu reports to Manager Wu that Wei Yingluo took the person to cheat.
Nalan Chunxue is the fifth lady to walk into the palace. She’s daughter of the assistant minister. Emperor Qianlong takes a look at her earrings. He asks her about it. She mentions the rule her father told her. She thinks she forgets her ancestors if she wears one ring like other Han Clan girls.
He praises her for not forgetting the tradition. He keeps her. She’s happy to thank him. She leaves. The sixth lady is the daughter of Guanglu Temple Chief. Her name is Lu Wanwan. Emperor Qianlong leaves because he has a business. He lets Empress Fucha make the decision for him. It makes Lu Wanwan cry. Consort Gao isn’t interested in Lu Wanwan since Emperor Qianlong left. She leaves as well.
Jin Xiu reports to Manager Wu that Wei Yingluo helped Ji Xiang complete the works. She thinks the two should be kicked out according to the palace rule. Ji Xiang gets on knees to Manager Wu. She tries to confess. But Wei Yingluo claims that they didn’t cheat.
She shows the two works to Madam Zhang. She makes her believe that she and Ji Xiang completed the works together. She reminds Jin Xiu that she didn’t complete the works when she handed it over to Ji Xiang. She thinks it wasn’t a cheating. Manager Wu laughs. He praises Wei Yingluo. He lets the followers take away the maid. He asks Madam Zhang to keep the girls because he thinks their embroidery skills are good.
Empress Fucha returns to her palace. Ming Yu is furious to blame Consort Gao. Empress Fucha persuades Ming Yu not to make each other unhappy because of a little thing. Ming Yu tells Empress Fucha that she doesn’t like the arrogant looks of Consort Gao.
She reminds her that she’s the empress of the empire. Empress Fucha stops Ming Yu. Ming Yu explains it to Empress Fucha that she feels wronged for her. Empress Fucha persuades Ming Yu to endure it. But Ming Yu reminds Empress Fucha that Emperor Qianlong favored her most. She thinks she doesn’t have to endure it.
Er Qing stops Ming Yu. She hints at her that Empress Fucha is tired. Emperor Qianlong sends the plaque and the painting to Empress Fucha. She lets the maid hang the plaque. She asks Ming Yu and Er Qing to leave. Er Qing drags Ming Yu when Ming Yu insists on staying in the place.
She hints at her that Empress Fucha isn’t happy. Ming Yu wonders why Empress Fucha isn’t happy since Emperor Qianlong just gave her a painting. Er Qing mentions the Tai Si Painting. She reveals Tai Si was the empress of Emperor Zhouwen. She adds that Empress Taisi was liked by Emperor Zhouwen and the people in the nation.
Ming Yu thinks it’s a good thing. She believes that Emperor Qianlong wishes Empress Fucha to be a good empress like Tai Si. But Er Qing mentions Empress Fucha gave up herself after she lost the Second Prince. She thinks Emperor Qianlong did it for reminding Empress Fucha the duty as a empress of the nation. Ming Yu disagrees. She thinks Emperor Qianlong wants to tell Empress Fucha that she’s the master of the six palaces no matter what happens.
She reminds her that Emperor Qianlong has cared for Long Spring Palace. She thinks Empress Fucha kept a distance from Emperor Qianlong because of the case of Second Prince. The lady Jia Ping walks into Consort Gao’s room. Consort Gao is furious to throw the tea cup to Jia Ping after she got the West Palace Teaching Silkworm Painting from Emperor Qianlong.
She thinks Emperor Qianlong is reminding her that she should be a good consort. She mentions Empress Fucha became the empress since she got into the palace. She complains it to Jia Ping that Emperor Qianlong only loved Empress Fucha.
She thinks Emperor Qianlong wants to tell her that she bullied her empress. Jia Ping tells Consort Gao that she misunderstood Emperor Qianlong. She reveals Emperor Qianlong gave the painting to all of the consorts. She thinks Emperor Qianlong wishes everyone to learn from the late consorts.
Consort Gao thinks Jia Ping is a good talk. She lets her have a seat. Jia Ping volunteers to shoulder the worry for Consort Gao. She thinks Emperor Qianlong’s paintings represent the images of the ideal consorts in his mind. She mentions Consort Xu’s painting. She thinks he wants to tell everyone to learn from the consort.
Consort Gao learns that Emperor Qianlong wished them to be a perfect woman. She wonders if the guy wished to get a goddess. We go to Consort Xian’s room. Consort Xian’s mother scolds Consort Xian when she thinks Consort Gao’s position is higher than Consort Xian.
Consort Xian claims that she doesn’t want to listen to it. Consort Xian’s mother thinks the place is a cold palace. She regrets for sending Consort Xian to the palace because she didn’t get any benefit from the family. She complains it to Consort Xian that Consort Xian’s father has worked in his position for twenty years.
She asks her to beg Emperor Qianlong to change her father’s position. But Consort Xian doesn’t want to give Emperor Qianlong a hard time. She gives the painting to the maid Zhen Er. Consort Xian’s mother gets angry. She thinks Consort Xian isn’t a good daughter. She leaves the room.
Zhen Er persuades Consort Xian to be nice to Consort Xian’s mother. Consort Xian puts the painting on the table. She lights the incenses and she praises for seeing Emperor Qianlong each day. Emperor Qianlong is reading the papers in his study. The eunuch asks Emperor Qianlong if the twelve paintings is the wish he had to the consorts.
He claims that he saw many women in the palace. He wonders where to look for the woman who has all of the virtues. Emperor Qianlong explains it to the eunuch that he just thought the consorts are too idle. He thinks the consorts can think about it for a long time.
He tells the eunuch that the consorts are stupid like him. He adds that the women will only think that he’s reminding them to be good women. He thinks he will be peaceful if the consorts become good women. The eunuch learns that Emperor Qianlong is playing with the consorts.
The gates are closed in the evening. Consort Gao is carried to go through the hallway. Wei Yingluo and the maids greet Consort Gao. Jin Xiu thinks it’s the ceremony mount. Aunt Fang scolds Jin Xiu. She thinks she knows nothing. She reveals the one who just left was Consort Gao. She adds that it’s called ceremony stick.
Ji Xiang is surprised that Wei Yingluo isn’t interested in it. She wonders where Consort Gao is going to go. Aunt Fang tells Ji Xiang not to care for it. She thinks the maids don’t have the good luck. Emperor Qianlong is having dinner.
Consort Gao meets with the consorts in the room. But she’s told that Consort Chun doesn’t come because Consort Chun doesn’t recover. She blames Consort Chun and she thinks the consort is an illness beauty. Consort Ying agrees to what Consort Gao said. She mentions they were talking about to go to see Consort Chun.
But Consort Gao thinks the consorts don’t have to care for it. Because she knows Empress Fucha will care for Consort Chun. She notes that Concubine Yi is single. She asks her about it. Concubine Yi confesses it to Consort Gao that Lady Yu is sick.
Consort Gao offers to let a doctor see Lady Yu. But Concubine Yi rejects it when she claims that it’s just a little cough. Consort Gao mentions the new concubines are going to come to the palace. She tells the concubines to cure their illnesses. The eunuch walks into the meeting room.
Story of Yanxi Palace: Episode 2 Recap
Jin Xiu pours water in Wei Yingluo’s bed because Steward Wu praised her. Wei Yingluo gives her a lesson, and claims she doesn’t come there to make friends. She warns Ji Xiang not to be kind, and learn to protect herself.
She lies in bed, and remembers the looks of her sister Wei Yingning lay in casket. She wants to find out the reason why her sister was dead.
Concubine Yu doesn’t want to sleep with emperor, and claims she is ill. The Senior Concubine suspects her, and sends a doctor to see her giving her loquat medicine.
Yi Bing asks Fu Cha a favor, and claims imperial concubine poisoned in the medicine. But they get nothing. The imperial concubine blames Concubine Yu that she didn’t respect her. Yi Bing has to take the responsibility.
Aunt Fang finds powders in Wei Yingluo’s bag, and scolds her. But Wei Yingluo claims it’s just dirt. She asks Madam Zhang about her sister. But Madam Zhang warns her that the maid shouldn’t call concubine’s name.
Concubine Yu feels shamed because Yi Bing is slapped. Madam Zhang says that the status of concubine is lower than maid. Concubine Yu grumbles why she couldn’t detect the toxic of loquat, Wei Yingluo points out that the stone is poisonous. Concubine Yu wants to take her to see Fu Cha, but Madam Zhang refuses it.
Madam Zhang punishes Wei Yingluo to kneel, and thinks about her mistakes. Wei Yingluo claims she did nothing wrong, so Madam Zhang takes her to see the scene of Yi Bing’s suicide. Wei Yingluo is shocked.
Concubine Yu is mad because of Yi Bing’s death, and asks Wei Yingluo to tell the truth. But Madam Zhang tells her she will be death if the imperial concubine knows it. Wei Yingluo reminds her sister, and thinks Yi Bing should fight with them.
She gets angery, and hits the tree Ling Bai. The emperor passes by, and gives her the punishment, but she explains that she knows nothing about Ling Bai.