The First Jasmine (Mo Li): Ep 30 Recap - Two Lonely Graves Share the Same Moonlight
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, 27/28, 29
Main characters:
Bai Lu as Ye Li
Cheng Lei as Mo Xiuyao/Prince Ding
Novel fan translation: Mo Li
Ep 30: The marquis wants to trade the information of who tricked Mo Xiuyao's brother out of the imperial edict for the life of his son. Afterwards, he confesses.
Zhou Tianyang is kneeling outside of the Empress Dowager's palace. He's given a bow by the Empress Dowager, which he brings to his father in prison. The son thinks this is a good sign, but I'm pretty sure it's poison, which the marquis recognizes. Zhou Tianyang thinks he'll be able to get his father pardoned. The marquis tells his son to grow up (affectionate) and is clearly saying goodbye. After Zhou Tianyang leaves, the marquis drinks the wine and dies. The Empress Dowager celebrates with her most migraine-inducing headache to date!
Ye Li's maid gives her a box with two straw dolls still inside. Wen Ran (SIL) runs to Ye Li and says the marquis is dead.
This is the Promo of Deception
Gu Zheng is all excited that the Prince Ding name is cleared, but Mo Xiuyao is stunned by what the marquis told him. A'Jin asks if he wants to go home, to which he agrees. However, when he stands up he starts coughing blood and collapses.
In a flashback, the marquis tells Mo Xiuyao that Ye Li's mother was the one who stole the edict. He doesn't believe it at first, but is eventually convinced. He thinks of what Ye Li has said to him and it all lines up.
Ye Li throws away another doll. She's concerned that Mo Xiuyao didn't come home or send word of why he was late. A'Jin comes to get clothes but doesn't tell Ye Li when her husband will be home. We see them both sitting in different rooms being sad.
The marquis's body is sent back home with his son. It's been several days without Mo Xiuyao going home, so his sister-in-law asks when he'll be back since it's almost the anniversary of his brother's death. Ye Li has been waiting for him and not eating. He gives a vague answer.
Wen Ran asks Mo Xiuyao if he's fighting with Ye Li. She tells him that she didn't get along much with his brother because he was gone all the time and cold, but after his death she received a divorce letter and that's how she knew he loved her.
Ye Li goes back to the story teller. The lady in the story is going to be forced to marry a different man. Her ex-husband wants to come for her, but then his mother tells him that his ex-wife's brother murdered his father. He doesn't go to save his wife, so she commits suicide. He hangs himself. Ye Li remembers back to Mo Xiuyao saying the story couldn't end happily.
This is so ominous, since she was talking about moonlight
Ye Li goes home to find that Mo Xiuyao has finally come back. He asks if she knew that her mother had the edict. She explains that her mother was tricked.
She tells him how she promised his brother to take care of him, which was the worst idea of what to say since it reinforces that Ye Li is there out of guilt and not love.
He gives her something in a box that we can't see.
The writing here is so good because they aren't understanding the other's person's perspective. Ye Li is so focused on what her mom did and trying to make up for it. Mo Xiuyao wants to know that he's not just a charity case to her. What she's saying is actually making him feel worse. And I totally get why he didn't just go home for a few days but he's leaving her to stew and panic. I feel so badly for both of them.
GIVE ME MORE EPISODES! See you all tomorrow for MORE SADNESS (according to the schedule)
Posted Jun 23, 2026, 11:26 AM UTC