Flourished Peony 国色芳华 Episode 20

There were not enough guest rooms in Huanyun Tower, so Mudan had to squeeze into one room with Yunniang and ask her for business advice. Yunniang's idea was to know how to use people well and put talented people in positions where they can give full play to their talents. Liu Chang asked King Ning to cancel his marriage with Li Youzhen, and even resigned from his post as Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Revenue for this. Prince Ning seemed to admire Liu Chang as a gentleman, but in fact he wanted to transfer Liu Chang to a difficult place to serve, so that he could realize his mistakes and come back to apologize to the Princess of Ji'an. When Liu Shen learned that Liu Chang had broken off the engagement with King Ning, he was furious. Liu Chang suggested that he could ask Chen Gong to speak well of him in front of King Ning in order to save his father's position. Liu Shen had no time to vent his anger on him, and he went to bow down to Mr. Chen happily.

After Chen Gong's mediation, King Ning thought that Liu Shen had some ability to win people's hearts and minds and could collect money for him, making him a good and obedient dog, so he tacitly agreed that Liu Shen's position would remain unchanged. Sheyan was working hard for Jiang Changyang outside. Jiang Changyang went to the stable office to pick a horse for Sheyan. He happened to meet Director Ge and two other officials who were bullying and harassing Liu Chang and forcing him to drink the water in the stable. Jiang Changyang helped Liu Chang escape from the clutches of Ge Shuling temporarily, and then asked Liu Chang why he didn't follow suit and please the county lord, so that his career would be bright from then on. However, Liu Chang's self-esteem made him unwilling to do so. He firmly believed that he could rise to the top with his talent and then propose to He Weifang again. Jiang Changyang was more concerned about whether He Weifang was willing.

Shengyi wants to go home to see her family and her younger brother Liulang. Mudan sees Shengyi off and encourages her, saying that she is the most promising daughter in the family and has a bright future ahead of her, and they will definitely not look down on her again. Shengyi thought so at first, but when she returned home, the reality was that her father and brother treated her coldly and accused her of being lazy, which was why Wang Qing beat her. Shengyi felt extremely sad, but fortunately her younger brother Liulang understood her. Unexpectedly, his father also chose a husband for Shengyi, a widower in his forties from the Zhou family. His mother actually thought that Shengyi would live a much more stable life if she married a widower than in Chang'an. Shengyi was despaired after hearing this. When she returned to Chang'an and heard what Mudan said to Lu Gengchun, she laughed at herself for having no talent and nothing that could make Mudan proud.

Shengyi was very discouraged and left alone to burn paper to commemorate his unborn child. He ran into Wang Qing who was there to commemorate his child. Shengyi was already feeling empty and sad at this time, and Wang Qing took advantage of the situation, admitted his mistakes, apologized and asked for forgiveness. All kinds of promises came from his mouth, which touched Shengyi's heart. Mudan knew that Shengyi would come back tonight, so she roasted a chicken and made nourishing soup for her. Unexpectedly, the roast chicken was stolen by the greedy Jiang Changyang, who asked Chuanyu to deliver the dendrobium. Mudan gave the tonic soup to Shengyi and told her not to think too much, which touched Shengyi deeply. Cui Mao, who killed the official and tried to escape, was caught by Jiang Changyang again and locked in a secret room and interrogated severely. Cui Mao's crimes are too numerous to list, but he has always refused to reveal who the mastermind behind the crime was.

Jiang Changyang is good at interrogating people and is good at taking advantage of their weaknesses to make them tell the truth. Cui Mao's weakness is his own son. Jiang Changyang promised that once Cui Mao confessed and told the truth, he would send Cui Mao's wife and children out of Chang'an safely so that they could spend the rest of their lives in peace and tranquility. Shengyi looked much better after eating the Dendrobium. To thank Jiang Changyang, Mudan gave him some delicious baked cakes she made herself.