Where the Mask Ends episode 26 recap: A deadly reading, a palace brawl and a plague trap

In short

Yi Jiang reads a deadly ordeal in A Chou's face, and the spring banquet turns into a trap to take Hong Xian for the crown prince. A Chou goads Consort Zheng into a fight, Liu Shuo claims Hong Xian to save her, and A Chou turns Wei Shu's plague plot into a win.

What happens in episode 26

Yi Jiang's reading is grim: A Chou faces a deadly ordeal, and if she doesn't survive it, she won't live past twenty. Consort Li is furious and Yi Jiang apologizes, but A Chou laughs it off and says she has eighty years left. The banquet is really a trap. Consort Zheng wants Hong Xian as the crown prince's concubine. A Chou refuses because Hong Xian can't speak, but Wei Shu tries to push Hong Xian's head down to make her bow and give thanks.

A Chou asks to speak to Consort Zheng up close and whispers that she isn't empress yet, so she should stop acting like one. Consort Zheng jumps up to slap her, and A Chou drops to the floor looking wronged. Consort Li slaps Consort Zheng twice, and the two women end up fighting. When the Emperor and Liu Shuo arrive, Consort Li speaks first, and Consort Wang and Xie Hualou both back A Chou. Then Liu Shuo says he wants Hong Xian himself, which saves her from the crown prince. Consort Wang, after hearing Yi Jiang out, now believes A Chou has a ruler's talent but a short life.

In the carriage, Liu Shuo tells Xie Hualou he only asked for Hong Xian to save her, and that if she marries him she will have every honor a prince's wife should. She is moved, and asks him to warn A Chou that Wei Shu has been in contact with refugees from Ancheng. Liu Shuo visits Lu Zhuo with the same warnings: Yi Jiang is never wrong, and the Eastern Palace may move. Lu Zhuo, taking the reading seriously, sends Zhao Song and Zhao Bai to follow A Chou everywhere. A Chou tells A Man to pack money so Hong Xian can slip away at night, but Hong Xian won't leave her in danger. A Chou promises to avenge her on the crown prince.

Qi Zhongkai, still angry that Lu Zhuo married A Chou, takes it out on the camp until Lu Zhuo spars with him. When trouble breaks out at the Zhuyu estate, he rides along. The Ancheng refugees there have the spring plague. Lu Zhuo stops A Chou from going near a sick little girl, but she touches her anyway and promises the refugees a sick ward on the back hill, food, water, herbs and doctors. They pray for her long life. The plot meant to ruin her has made her their hero. The steward who let the refugees in says a stranger paid him two gold beads, and Lu Zhuo and Qi Zhongkai know it was the Eastern Palace.

On a lucky day, Liu Shuo comes to marry Hong Xian. A Chou knows Hong Xian and Xiao had feelings for each other, so she lets Xiao help Hong Xian into the bridal carriage, a quiet goodbye to a love that never had a chance. A Chou then wants to move to the estate, and Lu Zhuo moves with her. She plans to strike back at everyone pushing her. He doesn't want to hear the plan, but gives her free use of his people.

Why it matters

The prophecy of a deadly ordeal hangs over the rest of the series, and the crown prince's side has moved from palace politics to a plague plot, so A Chou's counterattack starts here.

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