The Glory Episode 21 Recap, Plot

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Today, Lord Deng’s daughter-in-law, Zhang Wanjun, received a chastity memorial arch personally inscribed by the emperor, bringing great honor and prestige to the Deng family. To celebrate, Lord Deng hosted a banquet, inviting the nobility and high-ranking officials of the capital to congratulate them.

Fu Yunxi personally escorted Zhuang Hanyan to the entrance of the Deng residence, reminding her to be cautious and to keep a close watch on Lord Deng, as he did not know exactly who would be delivering the letter today. Zhuang Hanyan arrived uninvited to visit Lord Deng, yet he did not show any suspicion. On the contrary, he had previously observed that she was a clever girl.

However, one of Lord Deng’s subordinates mentioned that Zhuang Hanyan was skilled at currying favor with the powerful and had previously received a bracelet from Imperial Concubine Miao. Lord Deng seemed to have guessed her true intentions for coming. The banquet soon began, and Zhuang Hanyan keenly noticed that Zhang Wanjun and her daughter, Deng Chan, seemed a bit uneasy, glancing past the screen toward someone outside. Before she could think further, she saw Lord Deng leave the banquet hall.

Without hesitation, she quickly followed, but unfortunately, she lost track of him. Meanwhile, Fu Yunxi had secretly entered the Deng family’s gift storage room, inspecting all the presents from the guests but finding nothing suspicious. Just as Zhuang Hanyan and Fu Yunxi thought their plan was about to fail, a man entered the inner courtyard. This man was Cheng Lei from the Censorate.

Believing him to be the one delivering the letter, Zhuang Hanyan deliberately claimed she had been sent by Lord Deng to receive the item, demanding that Cheng Lei hand it over. However, he refused. Fu Yunxi suddenly emerged from behind and knocked him out, then searched him and found a book.

They took it back to the carriage to examine it, only to discover that it was just a copy of "The Tale of Blossoms and Moon", filled with numerous annotations. These notes revealed emotional entanglements between Cheng Lei and someone named Yao Jian. Zhuang Hanyan and Fu Yunxi suspected this to be a scandal within the Deng family. Since Lord Deng prided himself on his integrity and strict family discipline, any exposure of such a scandal would damage his reputation.

They decided to use this as leverage to force Lord Deng into revealing the names of the other officials involved in the impeachment petition. The author of "The Tale of Blossoms and Moon" was Zen Zhixue, and the only one in the Deng family with "Zen" in their name was Deng Chan. When Lord Deng discovered Cheng Lei unconscious in the inner courtyard, he immediately had him captured and interrogated about his illicit affair.

Deng Chan stepped forward and admitted that she was Zen Zhixue. She was soon to marry Young Master Zheng, yet she suddenly confessed to having ties with Cheng Lei, bringing great shame to Lord Deng. However, he remained indifferent to Zhuang Hanyan and Fu Yunxi’s threats. Instead, he declared that he would annul the Deng family’s engagement and have Deng Chan marry Cheng Lei instead. At that moment, Deng Chan’s mother, Zhang Wanjun, rushed out in tears, vehemently opposing the decision.

She accused Cheng Lei of being unworthy of her daughter and pleaded for Deng Chan to marry into a respectable family. Cheng Lei, in turn, looked at Zhang Wanjun with a gaze full of sorrow—something that did not escape Zhuang Hanyan’s notice. Deng Chan clutched her mother’s arm, signaling her to stop speaking, and firmly stated that she was willing to marry Cheng Lei. The night’s events left Zhuang Hanyan and Fu Yunxi full of suspicion.

They ordered people to secretly watch over the Deng residence and soon discovered that Zhang Wanjun went to meet Cheng Lei in private. Zhuang Hanyan realized that Cheng Lei’s true love was actually Zhang Wanjun, while Deng Chan had gone to break off her engagement with Young Master Zheng. However, in her conversation with Zheng, she revealed that she had never loved Cheng Lei—her heart had always belonged to Zheng alone.

As Zhang Wanjun and Cheng Lei secretly met, Lord Deng suddenly arrived with his household guards. He furiously accused Zhang Wanjun of being unchaste and ordered both of them to be captured. Zhuang Hanyan immediately stepped forward to intervene, criticizing the double standard that allowed men to take multiple wives and concubines while women were forced to abide by strict moral codes. She argued that such shackles should be broken.

Enraged, Lord Deng attempted to punish her, but Fu Yunxi arrived just in time to stop him. Zhang Wanjun also refused to remain silent any longer. For years, the world had praised her as a devoted widow, but in reality, her marriage had been filled with misery. All of her husband’s literary works had been written by her, yet he had only repaid her with beatings and abuse. From this day forward, she vowed to reclaim her identity.

Despite being twelve years older than Cheng Lei, she declared that she would still pursue her own love. Furious, Lord Deng ordered her to be locked up, insisting that Cheng Lei must marry Deng Chan the next day and warning Fu Yunxi and Zhuang Hanyan not to interfere in Deng family affairs. However, with Zhuang Hanyan’s help, Zhang Wanjun feigned a suicide attempt by setting fire to her room, then secretly escaped with Cheng Lei, leaving the capital behind.

Meanwhile, the person who arrived for the wedding was not Cheng Lei but Young Master Zheng. Zhuang Hanyan had taken Zhang Wanjun’s place in the locked room. By the time Lord Deng realized the deception, Zhang Wanjun was already gone. Holding the imperial commendation decree in her hands, Zhuang Hanyan threatened to burn it in the fire.

Left with no choice but to protect his family’s century-old honor, Lord Deng reluctantly complied with her demands and revealed that the mastermind behind the impeachment of Imperial Concubine Miao was Yao Zhidong. If they wanted to solve the problem, they would have to deal with him. As he watched Zhuang Hanyan and Fu Yunxi leave, Lord Deng clutched the imperial decree to his chest, fervently proclaiming to his ancestors that he had preserved the family's honor.

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