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The Wei-Qiao pact broke when Qiao forces abandoned Wei in battle. Wei Shao lost his brother, father and grandfather when Xindu fell. Years later, he killed Li Su and retook Xindu. Qiao Man was sent as a bride to unite the clans.

Part of Qiao Man's dowry included Panyi which was Wei Shao's next target, but his advisor is saying to form the marriage alliance instead and gain Panyi without bloodshed. The marriage talks break down because Wei Shao's side wants to gain the Panyi seal before the marriage ceremony. In the meantime, Qiao Man keeps busy helping rebuild where she can and gaining the love of the people, attracting Wei Shao's attention. At one crucial point, Qiao Man acts as Wei Shao's foil in front of the people to bring out what he truly needed to accomplish. He recognizes it for what it was, and she accomplishes a great deed, but he still felt manipulated. Before they part, she gives him a gift from Nanny Zhong, Wei Shao's grandmother's maid. It was a plaque that said: Stay united as on; do not part in anger.

Qiao Man gives Wei Shao the Panyi seal but he banishes her. Liu Yan rescues and escorts her to Panyi, seeking to renew their betrothal. Wei Shao pursues them, while Qiao Man stops Liu Yan's plan to flood Xindu.

Qiao Man hides from the Wei army who wants to kill her for morale, but in the end, she ends up in between both armies. Liu Yan professes his love and calls her his jewel, to which she replies, "but you treat others as ants." She runs into Wei Shao's arms and the two armies battle. She holds a grudge toward Wei Shao, who wants her killed even after she had helped him in battle. They clear up their misunderstanding, but he's still resisting the marriage alliance because of his grudge against her family. He seems to be slowly softening towards her.

Qiao Man mourns her grandfather while honoring his last wish. At her subdued wedding, the Wei clan acknowledges Qiao Gui's natural death. During memorial rites in Yujun, Wei Shao's cousin denies the ill Qiao Man entry.

Wei Shao lets Qiao Man recover from fever in his private chamber despite preferring solitude. She fakes slow recovery after feeling neglected. He protects Lady Wei's reputation and shows public affection, while she cooks his favorites.

Wei Shao introduces Qiao Man to his grandmother, Lady Xu, who has approved of this marriage. Lady Xu asks Qiao Man to transcribe some scriptures for her. Qiao Man uses this transcription work as an excuse to not make soup for her mother-in-law, Lady Zhu, who already hated her. Wei Shao is asked to have dinner with his mother, and he is asked to take his cousin, Chu Yu, as a concubine.

Seeing some scratches on a treasured box, Wei Shao accuses Qiao Man of trying to open his box to obtain military secrets. She admitted to touching it out of curiosity but did not open it. To clear her name, she opened the puzzle box in front of him within seconds, proving that she didn't need to scratch it to open it. He then went to Lady Zhu to ask for her help in investigating it. She immediately accused Qiao Man. Qiao Man worries about Qiao Fan, so Wei Shao send supplies to Boya, where General Wei finds out Bi Zhi is now Commander of Boya. Wei Shao wonders what his wife is up to.

Xue Tai, upon learning that the caravan that traveled from Yunju were indeed soldiers, decided to withdraw instead of engaging Wei Shao's forces. Qiao Fan decided that a flag of ownership on a hilltop was needed. General Wei Qu, remembering Wei Shao's words that this was not meant for battle, declined writing Wei on the flag, so Bi Zhi decided on Qiao. Wei Shao was unhappy with his decision, treating it as losing Boya to the Qiao clan. He then proceeded to reclaim Xiaogang for the Wei clan.

Qiao Man understands her role as Lady Wei through memories and advice. Her mother-in-law insists that Wei Shao take a concubine, but she refuses. Lady Zhu drugs Wei Shao causing an incident that hurts Qiao Man, driving them apart.

Lady Xu arranges Chuyu's marriage via uncles. Lady Zhu blames Qiao Man who defends herself. Wei Shao observes their fight and her sincerity becoming kinder. At Lady Xu's birthday prep his cousin Wei Yan returns, meeting Qiao Man at a shop.

Wei Yan meets Wei Shao at a tavern, steals his jade token to send to Xiao Qiao, and reveals his attraction to her. When Xiao Qiao later proposes a famine solution, Wei Shao accuses her of stalling for Yanzhou's benefit.

Wei Yan creates tension between Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao to weaken their alliance. Wei Shao grows distant. When sharing canal news, Xiao Qiao's response suggests he only values his advisor's input. Lady Yulou, his ex-fiancee, plans to visit.

Lady Yu Lou tries to break the Wei-Qiao alliance by reminding Wei Shao of past betrayals. When diplomatic efforts fail, she plots with Su Zi Xin to smuggle Chu Yu into Yunju to cause trouble.

Wei Shao is stuck between damning his wife or his beloved cousin, Wei Yan. With Xiao Qiao's encouragement, he decides to go forward with the investigation, which clears his wife. The Clan elders demand an explanation, while Lady Yulou and her cousin tie up loose ends. Lady Xu imparts a secret to Wei Shao about Yan's parentage and how the Wei-Bianzhou rift began. Someone takes the fall for the seed debacle, thereby closing the investigations and opening the gates of Yunju.

During the granary investigation, Wei Yan felt under suspicion, like an outsider in his own home. Looking back, he felt that their grandmother thought less of him, because she expected less of him, while Lady Xu's expectations of Wei Shao were so much more. Wei Shao tried to speak to Yan but couldn't reach him. Xiao Qiao asked her husband to trust her and she would try. Her attempt had Yan running to Lady Xu's quarters, worried for her well-being. Finally, the two open up to each other about Yan's parentage and her concerns about him being the heir to Bianzhou. In the meantime, Chen Xiang passes away, leaving Lady Yulou's fate at the hands of Chen Pang, who started governing to avoid leaving Bianzhou without a leader. Wei Shao decided to oversee the canal building to Rongjun, and Xiao Qiao found a way to join her husband.

Xiao Qiao's schemes to sow discord between Prefect Yuan Wang and General Wei Dian works as planned. After an attack on the Prefect's carriage, Yuan Wang assumes it's the General's doing, so he runs to Lady Qiao for help. Wei Dian hears of his betrayal and readies his troop to attack, but he doesn't get a chance. Prefect Wang takes over his troops and conscripts them into building the canal. Eager for a closer alliance, Prefect Wang approaches Wei Shao to revisit the marriage proposal. He says that his daughter is quite taken by General Liang and would like to arrange that marriage. Wei Liang adamantly refuses and runs off to speak with an upset Xiao Tao.

On their way to Rongjun, the Lord of Wei's caravan is attacked and he is grazed by a poisonous arrow. While Wei Shao is unconscious, Xiao Qiao works with the Generals on their next steps. She was more than relieved to find him awake upon her return from meeting with the Prefect of Rongjun, Yuan Wang. Xiao Qiao discusses her next steps with Wei Shao, and he trusts in her ability to accomplish their mission. She feels empowered and very much the Lady of Wei.

In Yanzhou, Qiao Ci throws a fit over his uncle's use of women to build alliances. He plans to run away, except that his aunt Lady Ding finds him before he can leave, and she ends up joining him. They visit his cousin Qiao Fan in Boya. Xiao Qiao and Wei Shao have gotten closer on their journey, esp. as they have realized they have shared values when it comes to protecting the people, giving them shelter, providing them a way to feed themselves and making sure there's lasting peace. For the first time, Wei Shao openly admits how he feels about his wife and she does the same. Unasked for, Xiao Qiao offers a vow of loyalty to Wei Shao, cementing their newly-found closeness. But when they returned to Yunju, Wei Shao is again filled with doubts, and he moves to the government office.

Wei Shao spends all his time, including sleeping, in the Government Office. Xiao Qiao sends all creature comforts, hand warmers and his favorite foods, through Tan. But an innocuous comment makes her think twice, and she sends pastries from Dahuan, along with Wei Shao's treasured puzzle box. He returns home and explains the contents of the box and starts sleeping at home again. In the meantime, Xiao Qiao has been busy renovating the Deer Hunt venue and meeting with the renowned poet, Zhen Shi.

General Xue Tai finally locates Lady Yulou, but to her surprise, it was not to confine her in Bianzhou, but to serve her as their Lord commanded before he died. Chen Pang was the one who gave the command to have her live out her days in Yulou Pavilion. General Xue gave her his military token so she now has an army of 50,000 soldier at her command. Wei Shao and Xiao Qiao celebrate the New Year in grand style, looking very much like the Lord and Lady of Wei. Afterwards, they light boat lanterns and set them off with their wishes. Ever curious, Wei Shao instructs his Generals find her boat so he could read her wish. He was dismayed when his name was left out, and he behaves poorly at home. Confused at his sudden change of mood, Xiao Qiao prepares his favorites foods and caters to him in every which way, but Wei Shao know how to hold a grudge.

Drunk Xiao Qiao kisses husband, both forget. She helps Xiao Tao buy mirror for General Liang. Wei Shao thinks it's his, gets jealous, then gets own. Qiao Ci escapes to Deer Hunt. Yulou invents kidnapping story to explain her stay at Yunju.

Qiao Ci arrives unexpectedly in Yunju. After clearing his name with Xiao Qiao's help, he reveals why he left Yanzhou. Liu Yan becomes Lord of Liangya. Qiao Fan learns they're uninvited to the Deer Hunt. Lady Yulou urges Zi Xin to fight.

Qiao Ci and Zi Xin have an exciting match, but Qiao Ci's spear breaks and Wei Shao stops the match, saying they didn't properly provide a weapon so they'll replace it. Bo Gong's battle spear is then brought out for Qiao Ci, who wins the match. Refusing to concede defeat, Zi Xin brings a hidden blade to stab Qiao Ci who was quick to react. Wei Shao was furious and Lady Yulou had to apologize on his behalf. Lady Yulou announces that she has an army of 50,000 and is looking for a new spouse. Xiao Qiao guides her younger brother through the politics of the Deer Hunt and also lets him know of the significance of the spear he used at the tournament. At the end of the feast, Wei Shao talks about the canal project. After learning how much Qiao Ci was coached by Xiao Qiao for the canal discussions, Wei Shao was moved and asks his wife if she wants to be his "true wife?" To which she replies, "...am I not your true wife to you?"