Letters from the Past

While organizing the estate's archives at Xie Zheng's request, Changyu discovers a cache of old letters between Xie Zheng's deceased mother and an unknown correspondent. The letters hint at a long-buried secret about the Xie family's relationship with the imperial household and suggest that Xie Zheng's mother was once closely connected to the palace before being exiled to the border.

Changyu shares the letters with Xie Zheng, who is visibly shaken. He reveals that his mother died when he was twelve, and he has always believed it was from illness. But these letters suggest she was being slowly poisoned — and that someone in the palace wanted her dead. The parallels to the recent attempt on his own life are chilling.

Meanwhile, Qianqian has a private moment of crisis. She confides to her diary (in modern Mandarin, which the audience sees) that events are not unfolding as she expected. The timeline has changed, and she is no longer certain that everyone survives.