Episode Title:
Groundwork
Episode Description:
A court lady runs for her life, away from an unknown creature that killed her later. The next day, news of the dead woman on the foot of a fallen tree, that of the court lady from Quechao Palace, reaches Shouxue, and, after asking Dan Hai, deduced it was a human who did it. Meanwhile over a board game, Gaojun talks to Xue Yuyong on how to break the Raven Consort's constraints when Shouxue, in eunuch garb, arrives, and knows of Yuyong's plans to retire from his position. When she asks Gaojun about the slain court lady, Wei Qing mentions the name Xue Cheng, which leads to the Magpie Consort, who has been mourning the loss of her brother, and Gaojun is considering sending her back to her parents, but hesitates because of the politics behind it. After words of warning from Yuyong not to be too friendly with the Emperor, Shouxue asks Wen Ying to look into the Magpie Consort...
