HESHEN cremates CHANG MEI’s dead body, following which he brings along DOUKOU to meet a mysterious man. The mysterious man hands him an empty edict, adding that the late QIANLONG arranged a back-up plan for him. Following DORJI’s arrest, he testifies that HESHEN and NOBLE CONSORT DOWAGER YING are the masterminds behind all this. In order to get away with it, NOBLE CONSORT DOWAGER YING shifts the blame to CONSORT XIAN, fortunately, ROYAL NOBLE CONSORT arrives in the nick of time to reveal the whole truth. Feeling uneasy, HESHEN specifically hires the blind fortune teller to predict his future for him, but the result is not what he wanted. With NAYANCHENG leading his troops to encircle and attack DOUKOU and LIU QUAN, LIU QUAN sacrifices himself to save DOUKOU.