Where the Mask Ends episode 22 recap: The Empress deposed and Hong Xian taken

In short

The Emperor deposes the Empress and Prince Jing and names Prince Duan crown prince, so Bi Tao is avenged. But the new crown prince has Hong Xian kidnapped, and A Chou traces her to his house.

What happens in episode 22

Prince Rong rushes to tell the Empress Dowager about the Han family. The confined Empress has a maid smuggle out a plea for help, and the guards nearly find it until Consort Li arrives and lets the maid go. It's A Chou's idea: the Emperor is suspicious, and the capital commandant will note whichever back door the maid slips into.

Prince Rong storms off to the Emperor's hall. When Lu Zhuo tells him to calm down, he raises a hand to slap him, and Qi Zhongkai stops him. His reckless words settle it. The Empress and Prince Jing are made commoners and sent to the palace lane for the disgraced, and Prince Rong is warned that one more word will get him beaten to death. The Empress Dowager threatens to kill herself outside the hall, but the Grand Princess talks her round: give up her niece to save the Han family. The Empress collapses in the palace lane, and this time it's A Chou looking down at her.

Lu Zhuo calls at A Chou's estate three times and is turned away every time; Qi Zhongkai walks straight in. Han Liao's father kills himself to take the blame, Han Liao is demoted three ranks, and thanks to the Empress Dowager's tears the charge is hiding weapons, not treason. The Emperor names Prince Duan crown prince. With Bi Tao avenged, A Chou no longer cares who wears the crown.

Madame Qiao has died of illness in Shuzhou. Hong Xian and Runsheng are back in the capital but stay away, ashamed of how the family treated A Chou. The crown prince spots Hong Xian selling flatbreads and has her snatched. She and another captive girl escape and beg Wei Shu, now crown princess, for help, not knowing how cruel Wei Shu is behind her smile. The other girl is tortured to death, and Hong Xian's voice is destroyed with molten lead.

A Chou wakes from a dream of Hong Xian calling for help and sends A Man to look for her. On the way to the crown prince's banquet, Lu Zhuo stops her carriage. He won't hold her to her promise or force her; he'll wait until she asks him. He sends Zhao Bai with her and warns her to stay on guard. The banquet is all excess. A man named Cheng Yu fawns over her, claiming they met as children at the Liu family mill. She leaves early, and Wei Shu stands in the way so she never sees Hong Xian silently begging for help. Runsheng turns up in a gambling den, neighbors say Hong Xian was taken east, and the city's biggest servant broker, caught by Qi Zhongkai, admits the one powerful man with a taste for young girls whom the commandant won't touch is the crown prince.

Why it matters

The Han family's fall avenges Bi Tao, but it puts Prince Duan and Wei Shu next in line for the throne, and their first victim is A Chou's own sister.

Based on the episode synopsis, summarized in our own words: TVmao (电视猫) episode synopses, cited by Baidu Baike Baidu Baike: official synopsis, episode synopses, cast and 追剧日历