Tigers Sniff the Rose episode 12 recap: The princess says no

In short

The Emperor offers Yan Shang the princess's hand and he accepts, but she refuses in front of the court. Yu Cheng'an pushes to send her back to the frontier, and the Elder Princess drugs and abducts Yan Shang until the princess takes him back at knifepoint.

What happens in episode 12

Learning Yan Shang is unmarried, the Emperor decides to give him the princess. Li Zhi puts Wei Shu forward instead, but the Emperor would rather not send his daughter into a great clan like the Wei. Yang Si, urged on by the Crown Prince, asks for her too.

Yu Cheng'an walks in uninvited and recognizes the wine as frontier tribute. Meng Baiyu is dead, he says, but his younger brother Meng Zaishi has taken his post, and by local custom a widow passes to her husband's brother. The Emperor brushes this aside and confirms the match. Yan Shang accepts. The princess stands up and says no.

Outside she tells Yan Shang and Yang Si why: if Yu Cheng'an wants her sent back, any husband she takes will die for it, and she won't ask that of anyone. Meanwhile Li Zhi praises Yan Shang to the Elder Princess, who takes one look at him and wants him. Feng Xianyu watches, torn.

Yan Shang waits outside the princess's gate in the rain. Yu Cheng'an summons her, and on the way out she throws him her umbrella. Yu Cheng'an shows her a letter from Meng Zaishi saying he still can't forget her. While she is away, the Elder Princess has Yan Shang drugged and carried off.

A note thrown over the wall tells the princess where he is. She rides to her aunt's house and, when the Elder Princess refuses to give him up, holds a dagger to his throat: if she can't take him, she'll destroy him. Her aunt lets them go. In the carriage the drug takes hold and they kiss. At home he says he knows she feels what he feels. She tells him it's impossible: she has unfinished business, and she will never love anyone again.

Why it matters

Episode 12 makes the princess's past marriage a live threat through Meng Zaishi, and shows she'd rather push Yan Shang away than put him in danger.

Based on the episode synopsis, summarized in our own words: TVmao (电视猫) episode synopses