Tigers Sniff the Rose episode 35 recap: The lights of Lanyang

In short

Yan Shang reveals he knew the silent servant was Mu Wanyao, and regains his sight after she brings a physician to Lanyang. In the palace, the Emperor dictates a will naming the deposed Crown Prince as his successor, alarming Liu Wenji.

What happens in episode 35

The Emperor asks Liu Wenji to write down his last wishes. Liu Wenji expects him to favor Prince Jin, whose little son has delighted him. Instead, the Emperor names the deposed Crown Prince Mu Xun. Prince Jin is unfit to rule, he says, and confining Mu Xun was a lesson: power must be given by the Emperor, never taken. Liu Wenji fears the future ruler will not spare Prince Jin, putting Chunhua and her child at risk.

In rain-soaked Lanyang, Yan Shang is recovering from his collapse. When the princess brings his medicine, he addresses her by her title. He has known who she is. Hurt that he kept silent, she asks whether he feared she would leave. He asks when she is going, and she angrily orders an immediate departure before she loses the will to go.

Yan Shang finds her outside in the rain. She says his blindness would normally bar him from continuing as magistrate, though his good record could justify an exception. He thanks her and says he never expected another chance to say goodbye. She gets into the carriage in tears. On the road she stops to help a poor mother who has collapsed, taking her to a nearby clinic.

The physician is Lin Dao, the husband Chancellor Liu chose for his daughter Liu Ruozhu. He has restored other patients' sight, though not his wife's congenital blindness. The princess brings him to treat Yan Shang. Acupuncture makes Yan Shang cough up dark blood and suffer a severe headache, but his sight does not return at once. The next day Lin Dao and his wife leave apologetically, continuing their medical travels and search through old books.

Before the princess and Yang Si leave, Yan Shang invites them to Lanyang's temple fair. She is pleased to see the town thriving. She and Yan Shang retreat from the crowds to the city tower and lean against each other. Another fierce headache frightens her, but when it passes he sees distant lights. She pulls off his eye covering, and he looks at her through tears, telling her she is at her most beautiful tonight.

Why it matters

Episode 35 restores Yan Shang's sight and brings the leads close again, while the Emperor's succession plan leaves Liu Wenji afraid for Chunhua and her son.

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