The First Jasmine (Mo Li): Ep 34 Recap - Rivers of Blood Flow Beneath My Feet
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, 30, 31, 32, 33
Main characters:
Bai Lu as Ye Li
Cheng Lei as Mo Xiuyao/Prince Ding
Novel fan translation: Mo Li
Ep 34: Ye Li buries everyone and then digs a grave for herself. She lies down in it and then it starts snowing. Her "grandfather" appears and leads her out, telling her not to come to the back mountain because of wild monkeys. Once she crosses the bridge, she sees everyone who died and goes back with them.
In the present, the sun comes up as Ye Li cries in front of her grandfather's grave.
Back in the border city, Suixue pass, the artist we saw last episode goes out at night to find... Emo Prince! (Mo Jingli) Han Mingxi is with his brother. He tells him that working in a shop is actually really great. He wants his brother to leave with him and go live a normal life, instead of working with Su Zuidie and Prince Li. The painter was making a map for Prince Li. He also finds out that Ye Li returned to Lishan, but doesn't know Mo Xiuyao followed her.
Angsty Qin Time!!!
It is right and good to play Angsty Qin in the snow while your men storm the mansion of a general (he trying to start a war again? one trick pony)
The inspector comes to Lishan and sees the gravesite. It looks like Ye Li finishes the last book and puts them away. A message is sent to the Empress Dowager which confirms that everyone died of illness. It was three years into Lishan being sieged and they had mostly run out of supplies, which meant they couldn't combat the illness. This is pretty logical, malnutrition would lower immunity.
The emperor's advisors seem to be suggesting he should use the news of Lishan dying to take power from his mother. He thinks the dowager will hand over power to him soon, but his advisors aren't so sanguine. The next day, some poor eunuch is obligated to read an anonymous poem condemning the Empress Dowager in court.
The emperor pretends to defend his mother from suggestions that she hand over power, but then basically sends her off to retirement. She's literally and metaphorically shaken
Ye Li explains that the last of her four dolls was for the Empress Dowager. She tells Mo Xiuyao she won't act rashly. He basically says, "Babe, I support your revenge plots." (I paraphrased heavily)
The Empress Dowager has a bad dream about how she betrayed everyone and now she's being betrayed. She was a student at Lishan and was resentful that she didn't have opportunities like a man. So she decided to change it...
We have a montage of her being the puppet master behind everything. (To be honest though, as a ruler in this era, she's not bad? People have done much much worse than her. She actually let as many people as she could live (Prince Li should not be alive). The land is peaceful. If she hadn't hurt the mains, would anyone care? It just feels a little bit like, "This woman rose above her place, let's put her back down". Anyway)
Tomorrow fast track drops!
Posted Jun 27, 2026, 11:24 AM UTC