This is the recap for The Double: Episode 1. The girl runs in the woods with a red dress. The guy chases her and they have a kiss. The girl Xue Li is woken up by the thunder in the bed. She tries to wake up her husband. But she finds out that he’s a strange man.
Our lady Xue Li. She’s also known as Xue Fangfei. She lies in the bed of her room. She has a sweet dream. She and her husband have fun in the woods. She runs and he chases her. Everything is good. They have a kiss. But the good is ruined by the lightning. Xue Li finds out that she’s sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband. I wonder who did the man climbed to Xue Li’s bed. Where is her husband? I come up with an idea that someone in the house helped the man.
Xue Li is startled to ask the man who he is. He hugs her to kiss her. Her mother-in-law Madam Shen and her sister-in-law Shen Ruyun break into the room. Shen Ruyun screams after she saw it. Shen Li is locked up in the wooden house. Her hands are tied up by the rope.
The man has guts after the lady found out that he’s in the bed with her. He doesn’t choose to leave. He chooses to enjoy her again. Fortunately, Xue Li’s mother-in-law and her sister-in-law break into the room. The man doesn’t get what he wants. I wonder how will happen to the man. Because I don’t see the man since then. Does he get killed? Will he be sent to the police station?
Her husband Shen Yurong walks into the wooden house. She cries to tell him that she was wronged. He lifts an axe and he cuts off the rope. He takes her to leave the wooden house. Shen Yurong and Xue Li are in the carriage. He lets her drink the wine. She falls asleep in his arms.
The one who gets punished is the madam in the family. I’m surprised. But I understand it. Because it’s an established fact that our female lead slept with a man even if she didn’t know it because she fell asleep. But her in-laws don’t think so. They think she cheated in their minds. Chastity is also very important to a woman in ancient times.
The female lead’s husband shows up in the end. He looks like a scholar. I get the reason why Xue Li married him. I saw him with an axe. Will he help his wife flee? He’s the master of the family why he cannot guard his wife. Does he fear his mother?
Xue Li tries to tell his husband Shen Yurong that she was wronged. But he has no expression on his face. He uses the axe to break the chain. Oh man you did a great job. Do you agree? I think he doesn’t have guts to go against his family. But he can let his wife flee at least. Will he run away with his wife?
Shen Yurong is the only hope to Xue Li in the family. I thinks he’s an angel when he tells her that he’s going to take her away. But it smells fish when he feeds her the wine. She drinks the wine because she trusts him. She pays for her trust then.
Xue Li wakes up from a pit. She finds out that her hands are tied up again. Shen Yurong carries a lantern outside the pit. He looks at Xue Li. She cries to ask him why he ruined her reputation and wants to bury her. He reveals he had no choice. He thinks the person can kill him like kill an ant.
The carriage goes some distance. Shen Yurong finds a clearing to bury Xue Li. He ties her hands up and he throws her into a pit. Xue Li realizes that her husband set her up with his family after she found out that she’s in the pit. She blames him but she makes an excuse for him. She realizes that he has a woman outside so that he wants to get rid of her. She still takes his side and she thinks he can divorce her if he doesn’t like her.
I actually don’t like the role Shen Yurong. He has a pretty and virtuous wife. But he still wants to get rid of his wife. He looks like a gentleman. But his inside is dirty. Xue Li didn’t know his true face until he wants to bury her.
But we are told that Shen Yurong was forced to hurt his wife. We see the tears on his face. It seems that there was a powerful woman fell for Shen Yurong. Is she pretty? I can accept it if the lady is pretty. Oh no. You shouldn’t think so. Let’s support Xue Fangfei.
Shen Yurong asks Xue Li to close her eyes. But she grabs his shovel when she reminds him that her father and her brother won’t forgive him. He shakes off her hands and he thinks she will see her family soon. He reveals Chancellor Xue was sentenced to death and Xue Zhao encountered bandits when he was on the way to see Xue Li.
Xue Li isn’t the one who will wait to be killed. She tries to snatch the weapon from her husband. But she fails because she’s weaker than him. She brings up her family and she threatens her husband. But she’s told that her family is dead. Shen Yurong actually made some preparations before he set up his wife. He knew her family will take revenge for her if he kills her. So he killed them first. I have to say that he’s a terrible husband.
Shen Yurong cries to apologize to Xue Li. He thinks he let her down. He hits her head with the shovel. He yells in the rain and he buries her in person. He throws the jade flute to her. The petals fall to the ground. Shen Yurong rides the horse away. A hand shows up from the grave with the flute.
Shen Yurong is heartless to kill his wife in the end. But he yells to express his rage. He’s an ant just like what he said. He knows it’s unfair to Xue Fangfei. But he has no choice. He loses his wife forever when he hits her. The music appears. It expresses Shen Yurong’s sadness. The song is beautiful. Shen Yurong leaves a flute to Xue Fangfei. He says goodbye to her. It seems that the flute is the token of their love. But Xue Fangfei is alive after Shen Yurong left. Because we see a hand grabbing the flute from the soil.
The beauty dances in the room when Shen Yurong walks into the room with the maid. She tells Shen Yurong not to move because she worries that he will dirty her floor. The beauty is the elder princess Wan Ning. Shen Yurong reports to her that he buried Xue Fangfei. Xue Fangfei is Xue Li’s another name.
We go to a palace. We see a beauty wearing a gorgeous dress to dance. She holds a red fan. Shen Yurong shows up. It seems that he came to report to the beauty that he has killed his wife. But she disallows him to step on her carpet. I find out that she actually looked down on him. We don’t know Shen Yurong’s identity. But we know he comes from a rich family according to the house he lives. Why does the beauty look down on him? It makes me wonder the identity of the beauty. We are told that she’s the princess. She gives an order to him and she asks him to come to her.
Wan Ning is shocked that Shen Yurong buried Xue Fangfei. She reveals she just wished Xue Fangfei to be a concubine. She wonders why he buried Xue Fangfei. He grabs his fists tightly. He points out that she let his sister and his mother ruin Xue Fengfei’s reputation for making him do so.
Wan Ning looks innocent after she’s told that Shen Yurong killed his wife. She reveals she just wished Xue Fangfei to serve them.
Someone was dead outside Shen House. Madam Shen admitted it to Shen Yurong that she wronged Xue Fangfei. She reminded him that all of the family will be killed if she doesn’t get rid of Xue Fangfei. She asked him to make a choice.
Wan Ning hugs Shen Yurong from his back. She wonders if he thinks it’s unfair to Xue Fangfei. He denies it. She wonders if he feels sorry for Xue Fangfei after he refused to smile. He asks her not to speak. She laughs to tell him that she doesn’t like a murderer. She decides to give a crime to him.
Shen Yurong is furious to ask Wan Ning what she wishes him to do. She reminds him that only she can save him. She lets him beg her. He gets on knees to her and he begs her. She’s furious and she tries to slap him with her fan. But she thinks he’s good.
She wonders if his wife still loved him when he buried his wife. He’s furious to grab her neck. He threatens to die with her. She laughs and she thinks he won’t let her die. He releases her and he gets on knees to her again. She laughs. She thinks he’s the husband she loves. She tells him to go home because she knows he will be busy. She dances.
Duke Su Xiao Heng breaks into the warehouse. He stands on the chair when the workers are shocked looking at him. Shopkeeper Jia scolds the workers for not working. But he sees Xiao Heng. Xiao Heng asks Shopkeeper Jia about his salt business.
Shopkeeper Jia asks the workers to kill Xiao Heng. But the workers are scared. Shopkeeper Jia has to flee with the workers. He’s caught by Xiao Heng’s follower. He gets on knees to Xiao Heng. He asks him for his mercy. The follower Wen Ji asks Xiao Heng to leave the guy to him. He plans to take Shopkeeper Jia to his personal jail.
Someone casts a dart to Shopkeeper Jia when Shopkeeper Jia tries to confess. Xiao Heng blocks the killer’s dart with his fan. He lets his another follower Lu Ji go to chase the killer. Shopkeeper Jia reveals the one who gave the goods to him was Young Master Qin.
Xiao Heng drinks tear on the street. Lu Ji reports to him that he didn’t catch the killer. Xiao Heng decides to return to his house. But he sees Shen Yurong with the coffin of his wife. Wen Ji thinks Shen Yurong is a good husband. Xiao Heng laughs. He thinks Wen Ji is very silly.
The lady Jiang Li walks her maid Tong Er in the woods. They see Xue Fangfei lying in the river. They save her. Xue Fangei wakes up. She grabs Tong Er’s hand. She asks her who she is. She pushes her away. Jiang Li comforts Xue Fangfei that they came to help her. She reminds her that she passed out by the river.
But Xue Fangfei doesn’t trust Jiang Li. She grabs her flute back. Tong Er introduces Jiang Li as the daughter of prime minister. Xue Fangfei has a headache. She tells Tong Er and Jiang Li to leave. Jiang Li and Tong Er go to pick some fruits for Xue Fangfei.
Xue Fangfei remembers his father didn’t agree to the marriage of her and Shen Yurong. But Shen Yurong promised that he will protect her all his life. Xue Fangfei tries to jump into the river. But Jiang Li stops her. She reminds her that she can only have a chance when she’s alive.
But Xue Fangfei thinks she doesn’t deserve to be alive because she didn’t see through someone. Jiang Li persuades Xue Fangfei not to let someone else’s mistake punish her. She reveals she has the same feelings as her because she was betrayed by someone before. She reminds her that those people fear them to live. She thinks it’s the best fighting back when they’re alive. She leaves some fruits to Xue Fangfei. She leaves with Tong Er.
Jiang Li prepares some cakes for Xue Fangfei. She’s going to leave Good Women Hall with Tong Er. But the lady stops them. She tells them that they don’t have to go to cut wood. Jiang Li tries to go out in the evening. But she finds out that the lady is waiting for her.
The chief beats Jiang Li. Tong Er tries to protect Jiang Li. But she’s taken aside. The chief lets the ladies beat Jiang Li one by one. Xue Fangfei remembers Jiang Li told her that those people fear her to live. She visits the Good Women Hall. She sees some ladies walking out of the house. She learns that Jiang Li was beaten.
She walks into the house and she sees Tong Er. She asks her about Jiang Li. Tong Er thinks Jiang Li is to be like so because of Xue Fangfei. She asks Xue Fangfei to get out. Xue Fangfei follows Tong Er to the room. She finds out that she’s taking care of Jiang Li.
Jiang Li wakes up. She sees Xue Fangfei. She persuades her to leave the place. Xue Fangfei cries. She thinks Jiang Li shouldn’t risk her life to deliver food to her. Jiang Li mentions she would pass away without Tong Er. She tells Xue Fangfei that she saw herself when she saw her. She thinks the beating is nothing. But she wants to sleep.
Xue Fangfei decides to go to let Jiang family pick Jiang Li up. Jiang Li reveals she save Xue Fangfei for letting Xue Fangfei tell her family that she endured it enough. But she thinks it’s too late. She mentions those people though she killed her mother and her brother. She cries to deny it.
We go to ten years ago. Jiang Li shows the chrysanthemums to her mother Ji Shuran. But Ji Shuran rolls down the stairs. She’s bleeding. She blames Jiang Li for doing it to her. She passes out. We return to the present. Jiang Li tells Xue Fangfei that she didn’t expect that her mother would wrong her.
She reveals she has locked up in Good Women Hall for ten years. She adds that nobody trusted her even if she kept explaining it. Xue Fangfei believes that Jiang Li isn’t such a person. She promises to help her. Jiang Li gives the hairpin to Xue Fangfei. She asks her to let her father know that she didn’t do anything wrong.
Jiang Li hates everyone in Jiang family. She wishes them not to have good endings. Xue Fangfei persuades Jiang Li to live. Jiang Li walks out of the room. She sees the pear tree which blooms. She sees her real mother Ye Zhenzhen. She walks in the pear petals. She thinks it’s beautiful. But she falls to the ground. She passes away.
Tong Er runs to Jiang Li. She cries and she tries to wake her up. Xue Fangfei thinks the heaven like to be kidding. She mentions the good girl died there. The chief returns. The follower persuades the chief to let Jiang Li work. Tong Er plans to take revenge for Jiang Li. She grabs the scissors. But Xue Fangfei stops her. She claims that she will ask for the justice on her own.
SEE ALSO: The Double: Episode 2 Recap
The chief walks into Jiang Li’s room. She finds out that Jiang Li is dead. She tries to flee. But Xue Fangfei blocks her way. She reminds her that she cannot avoid the punishment because the daughter of prime minister passed away in Good Women Hall. She asks her to let her be Jiang Li.