Tensions within the Gu Family escalate as 1) the 4th and 5th aunt first try to blackmail Ming Lan into helping their sons, 2) Gu Ting Ye's younger brother is taken in for questioning and 3) a stalemate occurs between Gu Ting Ye and his older brother on conditions to help the family.

Elsewhere, the Empress Dowager is furious that Gu Ting Ye devised a trick to take the Imperial Seal from her for the Emperor