The First Jasmine (Mo Li): Ep 1-4 Recap - 4 Dolls
Main characters:
Bai Lu as Ye Li
Cheng Lei as Mo Xiuyao/Prince Ding
Ep 1: Our heroine used to reside on the Mountain of Irate Monkeys,
but now she's back home, having her dowry stolen by her stepmother
However, she and her little half brother carried out a daring plan and got all her stuff back. (with the help of her Uncle who is my favourite character so far). Well, everything except her snake of a fiancé, Prince Li, who ditched her for her sister
I don't know if that was his choice or not, but I'm giving him side-eye anyway
But no worries! She got a new fiancé! He's got a severe leg injury. But he doesn't show up at the wedding because he's doing homework or something, so she goes off looking for him. A very slimy court official, Lv Cheng, claims Mo Xiuyao can't go get married until he finishes all his scripture copying, but Ye Li manages to talk her way out and get married (success!) unfortunately, her husband isn't very thrilled about it and he tells her they can get divorced in a year.
He's worried about being stabbed by Bai LU
Me, who was trained in proper wheelchair etiquette at the hospital: You do not touch or move a wheelchair without the user's permission!
Also me: Nevermind, turns out the evil court official is running around un-accessibility-ing the wheelchair users house, I forgive Ye Li.
This is a whole new level of EVIL
Ep 2: So Ye Li's family recalled her to the capital but didn't send any travelling money so she had to talk her way into it. Lovely people. When she gets back, she stakes out her future husband's house. A shopkeeper outside tells her that the family is in disgrace after the older brother moved troops illegally and was executed. We also find out the pastry Ye Li brought on the wedding day was from a shop outside his house that he used to visit.
Ye Li gets all dressed up to see her widowed sister-in-law, but she won't come out to see Ye Li. It seems like she's pretty severely depressed. This will be a theme in the Prince Ding manor. The kid is her son, whom she neglects (not that we can blame her with the aforementioned depression)
Ye Li has a nightmare about the monkeys and then makes plans with her maid, but as one of my friends pointed out, that maid very well may not exist because only one pair of shoes:
Ye Li can't visit her husband because of Lv Cheng, so she goes to visit her uncle for reconnaissance and plotting (I assume). The next sequence is very important for us learning that the male lead is Handsome, Strong, Yet Miserable (thank you A Dream Within a Dream, didn't end up enjoying the drama but that is a great line). Turns out every month they carry out some evil torture ritual where all Mo Xiuyao's homework gets burned and he gets flogged. I'm sure that's very conducive to healing. Anyway, that's the Miserable, here is Strong and Handsome:
The bath scene we've been owed since How Dare You!?
Ye Li tries to bond with her husband but he is not interested. We learn that they've met once before, when he saved her from bandits.
Palace politics: The emperor is young, but not that young, and gambling instead of doing stuff liking ruling. His mother is ruling for him and annoyed by his antics.
Ye Li forces her way into her husband's room and brings him food. He seems only mildly annoyed by her? Progress!
Ep 3: A General named Yuan Fang has been murdered. Turns out he was trying to collect evidence of Marquis Muyang diverting military funds for the emperor. So the emperor has his own plots! He's not sure if his mother is on his side or Marquis Muyang's. (Why is everyone always stealing either military funds or grain? Be more creative evil dudes)
Ye Li has lamp related plans...
Lv Cheng and a general on Marquis Muyang's side are trying to steal the body of the murdered general. A guard from Ye Li's household shows up and identifies Lv Cheng by another name. Turns out Lv Cheng is actually Lv Boying and he offended the dowager empress in the past by cutting down her favourite tree. He is promptly arrested. The Marquis Muyang then apologizes to the empress dowager. She seems pretty angry with him.
Marquis Muyang goes to visit Lv Cheng in prison and is royally pissed off that he got in trouble because of him. So they bury him alive and plant a new tree on top.
A very incompetent spy sneaks into Prince Ding's manor. He turns out to know Mo Xiuyao and tells him what happened to Lv Cheng
Mo Xiuyao goes to visit his wife, and she pretends to just be using magic to "get revenge" on Lv Cheng. He doesn't believe her. She keeps being nice to him and bringing him food and he seems suspicious of her.
Marquis Muyang has plots and it seems like Mo Xiuyao's brother was framed. The empress dowager goes along with the marquis's personal appointment, which does not impress the young emperor.
Ep 4: Ye Li is getting intel from Lishan mountain.
History lesson: 8 years prior, the emperor and crown prince died, the empress dowager took over. Ye Li's grandfather closed Lishan in protest, the empress sent troops to isolate them under the excuse of protection. The officials from Lishan were mostly killed.
Ye Li goes to meet a man from Lishan mountain, but he runs away from her.
Mo Xiuyao has locked himself in the study and isn't eating. Ye Li tries to send him food, but he's found passed out on the floor. Ye Li goes and finds that he's saved a bunch of stuff about his brother's execution. So she decides to burn it all
Well that's one way to deal with trauma?
Mo Xiuyao tells her to GTFO of his house, but she's like, "Nah, I'm staying forever."
Okay, so earlier Ye Li was sewing some special silk that is super fancy but combustible. Turns out to be a "present" for the newly appointed lacky of the marquis.
Ye Li likes to set things on fire
We get Mo Xiuyao's backstory/side of the last episodes. His leg was injured fighting but never treated because the whole treason thing happened right after and he was imprisoned. He does remember Ye Li! She saved him with snacks!
It turns out Mo Xiuyao was on a mission to save General Yuan Fang on his wedding day and that's why he was so late (he got in through a secret passage in the study). Since the wedding, he's been watching her be weird: running around for exercise, drinking secret alcohol, and planting rocks.
She's also totally hallucinating that one maid.
The second time he was "in the study and not eating" he was actually yelling at the emperor for failing to protect General Yuan Fang. That's it for today.
The title: It seems like Ye Li has four dolls representing people she wants to take down and we are already down two!
Notes: I haven't read this novel, but maybe I will because that seems like something I would do. I've previously recapped Love Beyond the Grave, Pursuit of Jade, and How Dare You!? and I'm mostly watching this because it has Cheng Lei in a bath
I have a weird work schedule right now, so I'll try to have these up in the morning but we will see.
What do you think so far?
Posted Jun 9, 2026, 5:49 PM UTC