Tigers Sniff the Rose episode 9 recap: A pact sealed with a bite

In short

Chancellor Liu talks Yan Shang into staying, and he comes back to the princess as her adviser. She takes the blame for Zhang Renjing's death and gets the Elder Princess to bury the case.

What happens in episode 9

Chancellor Liu tells Yan Shang the real culprit is Yu Cheng'an, who protected Zhang Renjing while he killed innocents and passed it off as war merit. Liu once wanted to serve a wise ruler too. He has been watching Yan Shang and knows his family's story, and he urges him to stay and rise high enough to decide the fate of men like Yu Cheng'an.

Back at her residence, the princess is turning his dagger over in her hands when Chunhua says Yan Shang is back. She runs down the corridor, then puts on her cool face and teases him. She brings him clean clothes herself while he bathes, and he begs her to leave.

Yan Shang offers to be her adviser and help her bring down every one of her enemies. She shows him an embroidery of fish standing for Yu Cheng'an and his men, and officially takes him on as her male favorite. They bite each other's arms to seal the pact.

Yang Si, now handling the case at the Court of Judicial Review, has caught the Elder Princess's favorite, who says a scholar in white passed on the order. The princess tells Yang Si she killed Zhang herself when he came at her with a dagger. The dagger and her bloody cloak half convince him, but seeing Yan Shang makes him wonder.

She tearfully tells the same story to the Elder Princess of Luling, who says killing a mere captain is nothing. That night the Elder Princess scolds Yu Cheng'an for his choice of men and orders Zhang's body destroyed and the matter dropped. The princess then gives Yan Shang a quiet house of his own.

Why it matters

Yan Shang and the princess are now formal allies against Yu Cheng'an, with Chancellor Liu behind him and Yang Si growing suspicious.

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