The First Jasmine (Mo Li): Ep 27/28 Recap - I Like it Here
Previous recaps: Ep 1-4, Ep 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18, 19/20, 21/22, 23/24, 25/26
Main characters:
Bai Lu as Ye Li
Cheng Lei as Mo Xiuyao/Prince Ding
Novel fan translation: Mo Li
Ep 27: Ye Li thinks the Emo Prince Li is behind the assassination. He would use the destabilizing war to take back the country.
On his way back, Mo Xiuyao sees a man on horseback, he seems suspicious so they chase him. This is the messenger that they were worried about getting to Cangbei last episode.
He predicts that they will send a messenger by another route and sends Wang Suwu to patrol near the mountain. He'll return to the capital.
Han Mingxi offers to plead guilty in Ye Li's place, saying his brother will save him. Ye Li thinks this is a dumb plan, instead she's going to pretend to be sick.
Ye Li tells Gu Zheng to watch Su Zuidie. She also seems to have hid the imperial edict in the restaurant or perhaps in her own clothes.
Su Zuidie goes to visit the marquis
Why do all evil guys have bonsai trees? Are tiny trees evil?
Su Zuidie tells the marquis that his man has been captured. She then reveals that he killed her father. Now why she wants to work with him instead of kill him I cannot say... Anyway, she tells the marquis that it's time to act. She seems to really hate the Prince Ding household. Is it just because they broke the engagement?
Finally someone addresses that the case around Ye Li is just dumb:
Consort Qin wants to go home and care for her father, though in reality she's just getting out of dodge before things go down. Smart woman.
The consort also has all the transcribed documents from Zhou Xianhkun burned by Third Uncle. The marquis hears that she's fled and wonders where he will go when the Empress Dowager comes for him. His subordinate says as long as Ye Li is the murderer, they can frame Mo Xiuyao for rebellion and with that, and the war, no one will have time to be against the marquis.
Gu Zheng sends men out to find Su Zuidie. Han Mingyue is angry that Su Zuidie implicated her brother. She says the marquis will make Ye Li confess, so her brother will be released. As for Ye Li, it really seems unlikely that Prince Li wanted her to be executed so I'm curious if Su Zuidie will get in trouble for that.
The Marquis Muyang sends an assassin to kill Ye Li to start the war.
Han Mingxi has to help her because she doesn't manifest her Battle Alter. Ye Li survives and then uses the attack to talk her way out of prison. She confronts Su Zuidie. Su Zuidie's primary grudge is against the Empress Dowager, but she also blames Mo Xiuyao for not saving her (he was also in prison at the time) and now for serving the Dowager Empress.
Su Zuidie is arrested for the murder.
Zhou Tianyang is staying in the palace with the Empress Dowager. He's clearly a hostage, but he doesn't seem to be aware of this. His father tells him that his mother is ill and he should ask to go home. The Empress Dowager seems to be in a funk over the consort leaving or because she sees her allies turning against her.
The crisis with Cangbei is over since Su Zuidie confessed. Ye Li accuses the marquis of trying to silence and assassinate her in court.
Ep 28: The Marquis Muyang is shocked, shocked I say, that people could bring such accusations against him.
Mo Xiuyao returns with letters that prove the marquis has been collaborating with Cangbei. Then Ye Li pulls the edict out of her sleeve and presents that as well. The shocked breathing from Mo Xiuyao is very cool here. The duke swears that the edict is real and the marquis cannot believe he didn't burn that thing. The emperor orders him investigated.
Ye Li is sick from swallowing a hairpin to throw up blood
Ye Li is sick in bed, she tries to tell Mo Xiuyao how she got the edict but he stops her and tells her to wait until she recovers. Hallucination Maid shows up crying and scared that they will be thrown out when he learns the truth. Ye Li decides to wait until the case finishes
Feng Zhiyao has been waiting for his sworn brother for three days with his little pot of flowers 😭😭😭
He sees the funeral procession of the Cangbei princess. Afterwards, he goes to see Mo Xiuyao worried about his friend. He thinks it was just a coincidence that she showed up exactly at the same time as the princess and disappeared when the princess died. Turns out her super secret fake name was just the two characters of her name reversed (this is funny even if the moment is serious). Her identity is confirmed as Ye Li painted a portrait of her.
Feng Zhiyao gets his token back. This is too sad. Han Mingyue finds Su Zuidie, so it looks like she's not done yet.
Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao have gone fishing at a very pretty river.
Apparently he is very bad at fishing outside of the pond at the house. Fishing is boring and stupid anyway He does catch one fish and they have a fire BBQ. Ye Li notices Mo Xiuyao has some white hair. He says it's hereditary, worry will turn his hair white (less dramatic than poison...). Ye Li says he should dye it and he gets jokingly offended.
Li Feibai visits and is worried about Mo Xiuyao finding out about Ye Li's mother. She says it will be fine, he promised to stay with her through anything. Li Feibai is having trouble with his courtesan girlfriend, so he had scratch marks but in a non-sexy way.
Han Mingxi goes back to his sect. Prince Li is alive and in charge. He's very angry at Su Zuidie for implicating Ye Li
Han Mingxi is anti-Emo Prince and Su Zuidie, but his brother stops him from killing her to our great disappointment.
This episode is cruel because it has cuteness but we're just on pins and needles waiting for the angst to drop. Eeeeeee... And who is the final boss? Prince Li?
Posted Jun 21, 2026, 11:25 AM UTC