The Pei Family Legacy

With Prince Kang in custody, the truth about the Pei family massacre twenty years ago finally emerges. Prince Kang ordered the Pei family destroyed because General Pei discovered evidence of his corruption and planned to expose it — the same pattern as Jinzhou. Changyu's mother was General Pei's daughter, making Changyu the last surviving member of the Pei family and the inheritor of their name and honor.

The revelation transforms Changyu's position in court. She is no longer just a butcher's daughter who married above her station — she is the heir of a noble military family, wrongly destroyed by the man now in chains. The Empress Dowager formally recognizes her heritage, and the court that once mocked her bows in respect. Yet Changyu feels conflicted; she loved being Fan Dagui's daughter, and she has no desire for noble titles.

She writes a long letter to her father, telling him that no matter what name she carries, she is his daughter first and always. Fan Dagui, reading the letter in his shop in Qingzhou, weeps quietly over his butcher's block.