The First Jasmine: Ep 5/6 Recap - The Wife is Suspicious
Previous recaps: Ep 1-4
Main characters:
Bai Lu as Ye Li
Cheng Lei as Mo Xiuyao/Prince Ding
Ep 5: Mo Xiuyao and the emperor are planning some investigation and assassination. He is still trying to get rid of Ye Li for her safety, who is concerned that he might be leaving her out of something fun and illegal:
She makes him talk about their past instead and very much does not leave.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, Mo Xiuyao was trying to assassinate the same guy as Ye Li and she managed to get there first. We see a little montage of some other murders and a burn list. Apparently more than 4 people need to die.
The emperor gets his own guy into the military position in the Jingzhao prefecture instead of the man who just became a human torch and then they suggest Mo Xiuyao as the new magistrate.
Ye Li visits a Lishan grave with Li Feibai. We find out that the other three assassinations weren't done by Lishan, so apparently everyone is trying to kill the Marquis Muyang's men (it was probably the emperor's faction). Li Feibai, the former head of the Ye family's guards, is quitting his job with them and staying in the capital. He plays along with Ye Li talking to the non-existent maid.
Nothing important to say here except the Empress Dowager was friends with Ye Li's mom and she has great style
Mo Xiuyao has a friend over who wants to borrow his warhorse and that was a bad idea. But it does seem that Mo Xiuyao is worried about his wife's safety.
The friend tells Ye Li that Mo Xiuyao should get out more. Ye Li replaces blackmails all her dishonest stewards with associations to Lishan and then hires the poor man associated with Lishan from last episode to manage things for her.
Apparently both Ye sisters married guys who lock themselves away and don't eat (or is it deception?)
These marriages are going so well
The Empress Dowager invites both couples to visit the palace. Mo Xiuyao clearly finds his wife suspicious but he can't exactly decide what her deal is
Ep 6: Ye Li is an expert at buttering up royalty! Her stepsister is so jealous. Then Prince Li, who was previously engaged to Ye Li, plays angsty qin, while having a Ye Li flashback, and it gets so intense he breaks a string.
It sounded really cool before that
The sister accuses Ye Li of stealing all the Ye family money and dragging them down with her Lishan association. Mo Xiuyao watches amused as Ye Li defends herself, and then claims it was too complicated for him to get involved (I think he just enjoyed watching)
The Empress Dowager calls Ye Li back alone. We learn that her mother is dead, which the Empress Dowager seems quite sad about. It seems like the stepsister and her prince don't get along very well (probably because he still like Ye Li).
Ye Li wants a saw. Mo Xiuyao is suspicious so he follows her. She sneaks into someone's house to cut down a tree. He bring her back for interrogation (lol)
She tells a story about how the tree was ruining someone's luck at the imperial exams so she cut it down for him. (somehow I doubt this is the truth). Mo Xiuyao asks why she practices running so much and she says she wants to run faster. We see a flashback of her trying to escape the mountain. She promises not to cut down anymore trees late at night (lol).
Okay, so no it's a real request to chop down a bad luck tree? The man's dad showed up!
The father is excited to hear about his son and requests Ye Li send him a letter. She agrees but... does anyone else get the feeling that maybe not only the maid is dead? How many people are left on this Lishan mountain...
She didn't send the letter she put it in a box...
Ye Ying is trying to get her husband to notice her by commanding a peacock via flute. Good luck to her I guess?
Ye Li sees a bunch of boys chasing another boy and runs after them. Oh, it's the nephew, Mo Wuyou. He's the cutie who picked up Ye Li at the wedding.
Ye Li gets rid of the bullies and then tells her husband that someone should actually be protecting and taking care of Mo Wuyou. Which is very correct, they should do that!
Idiom of the day: "cunning as a squid" are squids cunning? I only think of them as delicious!
Excited for more tomorrow!
Posted Jun 10, 2026, 12:57 PM UTC