Tigers Sniff the Rose episode 21 recap: The hairpin and the fish token

In short

In flashback, the princess survives years of abuse from Meng Baiyu, turns his nephew Meng Zaishi against him, and kills him with Chunhua's help. She then tricks Meng Zaishi and escapes with Meng Baiyu's token.

What happens in episode 21

The princess wakes in Meng Baiyu's bed, covered in bruises. Only Chunhua is left; the other maids she brought have been tortured to death. Meng Baiyu beats and humiliates her for any reason. At one feast he pours a jug of wine over her head in front of his officers. She goes outside to stab herself with her late mother's hairpin, but Meng Zaishi snatches it and mocks her for being too weak to live. That makes her want to survive.

She starts obeying Meng Baiyu in everything and wins his trust. When an aide reports that Meng Zaishi is secretly training troops, Meng Baiyu plans to kill him at a banquet. Pouring wine, the princess slips Meng Zaishi a warning. He stands up and says the troops were a birthday gift for his uncle, and someone is trying to split them. Meng Baiyu believes him.

She keeps working on Meng Zaishi: a hero like him shouldn't be his uncle's dog, and she doesn't want to share that brute's bed. He doesn't say yes, but he doesn't say no. Then a doctor tells her she is pregnant. To end it she takes a mercury brew and bleeds badly. Meng Zaishi brings a pill that would save her and the baby. She throws it away and pulls through.

Meng Baiyu comes home, learns she lost the child and beats her half to death. Chunhua smashes a wine vessel over him, and when he draws his blade on the maid, the princess drives her hairpin into his neck. Together they have killed him.

She tells Meng Zaishi his uncle is dead and others will want his post, so he'd better move fast. He promises to take control in three days and come back to marry her, and takes her hairpin with him. When he reaches her rooms, Meng Baiyu is dead, but his fish token, a military pass, is missing. The princess, dressed as a carter, is already driving out of the city while Chunhua shows the guards the token and says they're fetching medicine for the princess. She was betting that Meng Zaishi wanted the post more than he wanted her.

Why it matters

Episode 21 reveals how the princess escaped her marriage, and why Meng Zaishi kept her hairpin and still wants her.

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