Hola dear readers. I took a little longer than usual to finish this Spring of the Blade Ending Explained article. I hope this one will answer Sook Ming’s questions about what eventually happens to Shen Run in the end. Yes, I know the whole drama is confusing, but I tried my best to put everything together for you and for my dear readers. 😉
And FYI, since Xie Qing Yuan changed her name (again) midway through the story, I’ve decided to write her name simply as Qing Yuan, without using any surname, to avoid adding even more confusion. Well, before I start to rambling about everything, let’s get down to business. Happy reading!
Spring of the Blade Ending Explained
What Happened to Shen Run and Xie Qing Yuan / Chen Qing Yuan / Chen Yun Ya on Spring of the Blade Ending?
Hu Wen Zhao sabotaged Qing Yuan and Chun Zhi’s wedding by replacing Qing Yuan with Xie Qing Ru. When Qing Yuan appeared, she was forced to be Chun Zhi’s concubine. Naturally she refused, doh. Hu Wen Zhuo humiliates her in front of everyone, but Shen Run arrive just in time.
Read the Spring of the Blade drama review
Before the watching crowds, he knelt and propose to her. What makes people gasps was how he lowered himself to Qing Yuan. An imperial edict approving their marriage was already in his hand. Hu Wen Zhao and Xie Shu objected.
Suddenly, Hu Xing arrived. Although Shen Run held the trump card, he didn’t reveal it immediately. He wanted to see how far they would go and what lay behind their masks.
Hu Xing used Marquis Dan Yang’s army to threaten him. If the Marquis refused to make Qing Yuan a concubine, he could disband the army. Marquis Dan Yang was forced to agree. But another edict soon left Hu Xing and the others stunned
. Feng En read it aloud, condemning the Xie family for abusing Qing Yuan, restoring her Chen surname, removing her from the Xie genealogy, and granting her the title of Second-Rank Lady of Honor.
Shen Run wasn’t finished. To rub salt in the Xie family’s and Hu Xing’s wounds, he decided to hold his wedding at their own venue with Granny Chen as the elder present. By the end of the ceremony, only the newlyweds, Granny Chen, and the watching crowds smiling. Those seated on the platform could only swallow their resentment.
Shen Che was unhappy with the marriage. Qing Yuan intended to move against Xie Shu, and he feared that this would interfere with the monarch’s plan. Shen Run reminded him that their purpose had changed. They were no longer seeking revenge only for the Shen family. Like their father, they now should fight for the people and the world.
The following day, Shen Run took Qing Yuan to the abandoned Shen residence. He explained that he had not forgotten his revenge. But first, he wanted to expose the powerful people behind his father’s death and continue his legacy. Qing Yuan reassured him that since they were married, his path was hers too.
That night, they celebrate the wedding. Later, Shen Che and Dong Fan Chun bidding farewell while the newlyweds spent the night together at the bridal chamber. In the morning, Qing Yuan wake up to the dead Shen Run. After the incident, she was taken back to the Xie residence.
Shen Run’s death also set Hengtang in motion. Corrupt officials celebrated, while Zhou Pei’an and other scholars mourn him. Zhou Pei’an reminded his fellow scholars that Shen Zhi Bai’s Ten Suggestion of Equalization had once given the commoners hope for better life.
Now that Shen Run was gone, they could no longer stay idle while the corruption run rampant. Meanwhile Shen Che and Dong Fan Chun also rallied the refugees against injustice in Hengtang. Their goal is the same: to bring down Hu Xing and the Xia faction.
However, Shen Run wasn’t actually dead. He had staged his death with Feng En’s help. He was sent by the emperor to work with Xie Shu against Hu Xing, only to discover that the two were already allies. The break the strong alliance, Feng En pretended to betray Shen Run and pledged loyalty to Hu Xing.
Feng En personally explained the plan to the emperor to clear Shen Run of any suspicion of deceiving the monarch. He also secretly brought Magistrate Ye, Shen Run’s long-time ally, to Hengtang. The Magistrate was also inspired by Shen Zhi Bai’s legacy and wanted to introduce the land reform to ease the people’s burden and break the nobles’ monopoly over land.
This would put Hu Xing’s forces against the masses. With the uprising looming, Shen Run needed someone to stir things up at court. Because even though Marquis Dan Yang’s death shocked the court, the emperor had yet to decide what to do.
The clash between the Dan Yang army and the people eventually erupted, claiming Zhou Pei’an life. But Chun Zhi, Shen Run, and the remaining troops soon put an end to the uprising. Meanwhile at the capital, the emperor punishing Eunuch Xia with a cup of poisoned wine.
Hu Xing still believed he could escape punishment. When Feng En arrived with poisoned wine, Hu Xing finally understood that Eunuch Xia could no longer protect him. Shen Run told him that it was Xie Shu who presented the evidence against him and Eunuch Xia.
Knowing that there were no turning back, Hu Xing revealed some secrets to Shen Run. First, Shen Zhi Bai was indeed innocent. Hu Xing had tried to frame Shen Zhi Bai but failed. It was Xie Shu who later forged false evidence that led to the destruction of Shen family.
Second, Xie Shu did it not only for the sake of the promotion but also because Shen Zhi Bai knew the secret of his birth. Hu Xing refused to explain further and drank the poison wine bestowed by the emperor.
While Shen Run deals with Hu Xing and Eunuch Xia, Yuan continued investigating Lu Ling Shu. She first approached Mei Ying Hua, but her deteriorating mental state made it impossible to get any answers.
She later visited Hu Wen Zhuo, who revealed that Jin Chun Qing had once asked her to plead with Hu Xing to spare Shen Zhi Bai and deliver a letter to Lu Ling Shu. Jin Chun Qing had planned to take Qing Yuan away from Hengtang after meeting Lu Ling Shu. Jin Chun Qing actually never wanted her daughter to be trapped inside the Xie residence.
Then something shocking happened. Hu Wen Zhuo revealed Xie Shu’s secret before the watching crowds. Qing Yuan went to see the Old Madam Xie, Xie Cheng Yuan. She finally admitted that she was Lu Ling Shu, Jin Chun Qing’s biological mother. Qing Yuan asked whether abandoning her own daughter had also been a path she had chosen.
The Old Madam recounted the past. After her husband died shortly after Jin Chun Qing’s birth, the main branch of the Xie family weakened. Other branches are eyeing their wealth and property, ready to tear them apart.
Lu Ling Shu feared losing her position and the family’s power. She therefore exchanges her baby girl for a baby boy from the outside. She gave up her own surname, became Xie Cheng Yuan, and devoted herself to raising the boy as the Xie family’s heir. That boy was Xie Shu. She spent her life and the family’s money to paved way for him and securing the family’s future.
But when Xie Shu and Shen Zhi Bai dreamed of abolishing the power of noble clans for the sake of ordinary people, she opposed them. The Old Madam reminded Xie Shu that his status didn’t come from his hard work, it came from the Xie family.
She forced him to marry Hu Wen Zhuo to strengthen the family’s influence. Xie Chen Yuan was proud of what she builds and believe that the family mattered more than her daughter.
But Qing Yuan reminded her that she had once tucked the bronze mirror into Jin Chun Qin’s swaddling clothes, perhaps hoping to see her again. The Old Madam had also secretly watch Jin Chun Qing and when she married into the Xie family, she gave her the luxurious Danyue Pavilion. Yet she never brought herself to reclaim her daughter.
But then Qing Yuan revealed that she had missed the main point. Everything that had happened, all the suffering and bloodshed, stemmed from the Old Madam’s insistence on swapping the babies. Yet the Old Madam remain believed that it was simply a woman’s fate. her priority was to continue the bloodline and protect her husband’s family.
Qing Yuan She also gave the old madam Jin Chun Qing’s letter, which she got form Hu Wen Zhuo. In it, Jin Chun Qing had tried to understand her mother’s failure as a form of love and atonement. Jin Chun Qin also questioning why her mother left her with an alcoholic father who harassed and treat her like an ATM.
Meanwhile, Lu Ling Shu was living a comfortable and safe life behind the Xie family’s walls. Then Qing Yuan revealed that the one responsible for Jin Chun Qing’s death was Xie Shu. The Old Madam finally broke down and cried.
After the old madam died, her confession letter reached the emperor. Xie Shu claimed that he knew nothing about his birth origin, but the claim was too unconvincing. Magistrate Ye saw through it. Xie Shu had sent the letter himself, wagering that the emperor would accept his sincerity.
The emperor is furious, yet he couldn’t afford to act. The court was still unstable, and he needed Xie Shu to balance things out between the gentry and noble families in Hengtang. So, he swallowed his anger and turned a blind eye, and the new policies would have to wait.
Shen Run went before the emperor to begged for a way out. He reminded the monarch about how corrupt Xie Shu’s mentality was and how many blood stained his hands. He then offered a solution: make Chen Qing Yuan the matriarch of the Xie family.
She was its only true bloodline, and she would bring change to the family. The emperor agreed and declared that Hengtang would be the first place the new policies took place.
When Shen Run told him, Xie Shu refused to believe it. He offered money and fame to Shen Run and claimed that they are family. Qing Yuan said that she wasn’t tempted by it all. She had already distributed the Xie family’s wealth to people in need.
She and Shen Run then confronted Xie Shu and told him they would bring the Xie family down. They eventually burned the family residence and Xie Shu in it.
In the end, after everything was over, Shen Run and Qing Yuan left for a small village by the sea, where they could finally live quietly and happily.
What Happened to Hu Wen Zhuo and Xie Qing Rong on Spring of the Blade Ending?
After Xie Qing Ru got married, Xie Qing Rong took care of her ailing mother. She prepared decoctions every day to help Hu Wen Zhuo recover.
Xie Qing Rong visited Zhou Pei’an to collect the rebirth sutra he had promised her. Back then, during first meeting, he had revealed that the sutra she had been copying was actually meant to suppress souls. Qing Rong confronted her mother about it.
Hu Wen Zhuo panicked and blamed a servant for mixing up the text and begged Xie Qing Rong to trust her. Xie Qing Rong didn’t convinced but still handed her the medicine. Hu Wen Zhuo hesitated before drinking it. Watching her mother empty it, Xie Qing Rong smiled.
As Hu Wen Zhuo’s condition worsened, she told Xie Qing Rong that she had arranged for her to return to the capital and live with the Xia family. She mentioned about Zhuo Pei’an and said that she had considered him as a good match for Xie Qing Rong. unfortunately, he was now dead. Hu Wen Zhuo advised her daughter to choose a husband who would leave her with no regrets.
Hu Wen Zhuo reminded Xie Qing Rong to sever ties with Xie family and never return to Hengtang. She should introduce herself as Xia Ying Ying’s daughter and start anew. When Hu Wen Zhuo asked for her medicine, Xie Qing Rong intentionally let the cup fall to the floor. Hu Wen Zhuo urged her to make another batch, Xie Qing Rong left with reddened eyes.
Meanwhile, Qing Yuan visited hu Wen Zhu to ask about Lu Ling Shu. Hu Wen Zhuo was furious that Qing Yuan had spared Xie Shu while her brother and Hu family perished. Hu Wen Zhuo then revealed the truth about Jin Chun Qing. Back them, Hu Wen Zhuo and all the concubines have been jealous of her because Xie Shu genuinely loved her, while their marriages were merely marriage of convenience.
Before she could deal with Jin Chun Qing, Xia Ying Ying arrived and became the fifth concubine. She is a relative of the powerful Eunuch Xia who was forced upon Xie Shu.
After witnessing the confrontation between Jin Chun Qing and Xia Ying Ying, Hu Wen Zhuo saw an opportunity to eliminate them both and use the secret to threaten Xie Shu. She offered to help him kill Xia Ying Ying. At first, she plans to use euphorbia, but the plot failed, so Hu Wen Zhuo eventually strangled Xia Ying Yin gin her bed and leave the room in panic.
Outside, Hu Wen Zhuo found the young Xie Qing Rong alone. She intended to kill her too but couldn’t bring herself to do it. The soul-suppressing sutra had also been her doing.
Hearing all the truth ignite the anger in Xie Qing Rong’s chest. She pushed Hu Wen Zhou away, refused to be touched by her. Fear of being disowned by her, Hu Wen Zhuo grovelled at her feet, begging for forgiveness.
But no matter what her mother said, Xie Qing Rong only gave her a cold stare. However, when Hu Wen Zhuo coughed up blood, she was horrified. all this time, she had been tampering Hu Wen Zhuos medicine with a drug that could make her lethargic, not dying. Consumed by fear, Xie Qing Rong ran out of the hall. Before following her, Hu Wen Zhuo handed Qing Yuan a letter she had keep for nine years.
Outside the residence, the skies are dark and the rain was heavy. Under the stare of the watching crowd, the dignified Madam Xie, Hu Wen Zhou, crouched on the street as she begged Qing Rong to leave the Xie family, Xie Shu, and the hellhole she had called home. Just then, Xie Shu appeared at the doorstep.
Hu Wen Zhuo accused him of ruining her life. When he ordered her to stop tarnishing his reputation, Hu Wen Zhuo laughed cynically. She vowed to make things right for Qing Rong by destroying him and exposing his secret, bringing an end to the Xie family.
Standing in the pouring rain, she shouted that Xie Shu was not the biological son of the Xie family but an impostor. His real father was a street gambler who had sold him to the family.
After revealing the truth, Hu Wen Zhuo vomited a large amount of black blood. Unable to bear watching her mother suffer, Qing Rong rushed to her side. Hu Wen Zhuo confessed that she had deliberately added something to her medicine to worsen her condition.
She wanted to untie the knot in her daughter’s heart and atone for her sins. After apologizing, she died. Despite everything she had done to Xia Ying Ying, Hu Wen Zhuo had sincerely loved Xie Qing Rong.
Later, Qing Rong took over Zhou Pei’an’s job at the bookshop, where she eventually met another man willing to sit with her.
What Happened to Xie Shu and Hu Xing on Spring of the Blade Ending?
In front of the public eyes, Xie Shu and Hu Xing had been pretending to be at odds. But in reality, they have been secretly becoming allies for years. Both agreed that Shen Run was dangerous for their business and must be eliminated.
After Shen Run’s staged death, Feng En appeared to defect to Hu Xing and asked for the position of Imperial Guard commander. Hu Xing accepted him, believing he had gained a useful ally.
Hu Xing began to covet Dan Yang army. He recruited Generals Wang and Zhao, two of Marquis of Dan Yang’s generals and trusted men. He planned to use them to control the troops. Hu Xing knew Marquis Dan Yang was not truly on his side and wanted to eliminate him. He didn’t even considered Chun Zhi as a potential enemy because he regarded him as a useless heir.
Hu Xing asked Marquis Dan Yang to silence Zhou Pei’an and the scholars who were exposing corruption. The marquis refused. He mocked the struggles Hu Xing had gone through to reach his current position. He killed those people who stand in Eunuch Xia’s way, including Shen Zhi Bai, because his reform plan threatened the faction’s shady dealings.
The marquis had once been ordered to investigate Shen Zhi Bai but had intentionally let Hu Xing off the hook to protect himself. Later, the marquis kept a firm grip on the army to prevent Hu Xing and Eunuch Xia from infiltrating it.
Hu Xing believed the marquis was as blind as Shen Zhi Bai had been. He argued that the real problem was the Jiangnan tax revenue and that the late emperor would never have allowed the treasury to become unstable.
He also knew the marquis was terminally ill and that is the main reason why he stayed behind closed doors. The marquis refused to change his decision. He chooses to drink the whole jar of wine Hu Xing prepared for him. The Marquis of Dan Yang was sent back by his treacherous generals. And that was the end of Marquis Dan Yang.
After the marquis died and Chun Zhi was drowned in grief, Generals Wang and Zhao turned the army against the people. Zhao shot Zhou Pei’an, who died during the clash. When Zhao swing his blade to kill a villager, Chun Zhi shot him with an arrow.
Seeing Chun Zhi, Shen Run, and the rest of the troop, the soldiers who followed Wang and Zhao dropped their weapons. General Wang tried to flee before drop dead from Chun Zhi’s arrow. The confrontation ended, but the cost was heavy.
In the capital, hundreds of officials impeached Eunuch Xia for inciting the uprising. The emperor held him responsible for the unrest and was sentenced to death. Hu Xing’s protection disappeared with him. When Shen Run visited Hu Xing, the latter still believed he could return to the capital and escape.
But the arrogance stopped when Hu Xing saw Feng En’s arrival with poisoned wine bestowed by the emperor. Shen Run told Hu Xing that it was Xie Shu who had given the emperor evidence of Hu Xing and Eunuch Xia’s crimes.
When Hu Xing questioned Shen Run and the emperor’s ability to implement the policy, Shen Run answered that he believed the new emperor would listen to the people.
Knowing his fate has sealed, Hu Xing admitted that Shen Zhi Bai had been innocent. Years ago, he had tried to frame him but failed. It was Xie Shu who had forged the evidence that led to the death of Shen Zhi Bai along with the whole Shen family.
Hu Xing then told Shen Run the last secret, Xie Shu had Shen Zhi Bai killed not only to gain a promotion but also to protect the secret of his birth. Hu Xing drank the poisoned wine without offering any more details.
With Hu Xing and Eunuch Xia gone, Xie Shu became the next target. Hu Wen Zhuo’s revelation of his birth secret caused an uproar in Hengtang. The noble families, scholars, and commoners all demanded punishment. The emperor gave Xie Shu three days to explain himself or prove his innocence.
Xie Shu turned to Old Madam Xie, telling her that his death was a small matter compared with the fate of the Xie family. The old madam had devoted her life to making the Xie family powerful, so she agreed to take the blame. She insisted that she was doing it for the family, not because of his hypocritical pleas. Xie Shu thanked her, hiding his own calculation behind a show of gratitude.
But that night the old madam learned something shocking from Qing Yuan, that Xie Shu had killed Jin Chun Qing. The next day, Xie Shu visited her and reminded her that it was time for her to die. She told him she knew what he had done. Instead of panicking or flustered, Xie Shu was exceptionally calm. He said that it was good that there was no secret between them, mother and son, anymore.
Xie Shu had prepared strategy to kill, if the Old Madam Xie refused to die. He had Yue Jian arrived with poison. The old madam cursed him, but Xie Shu argued that she and the Xie family were the ones who had truly killed Jin Chun Qing.
The Old Madam Xie regretted everything, but unfortunately, it couldn’t fix anything because it was too late. Xie Cheng Yuan or Lu Ling Shu later hanged herself. The emperor accepted her confession and Xie Shu escaped from punishment.
But his victory was hollow and soon, Xie Shu began to lose his mind. He heard the voices of the dead calling his name. In the hall, Xie Shu thought he saw Jin Chun Qing dancing in her blue dress. But the woman who turned around was Qing Yuan.
Xie Shu showed her the imperial edict pardoning the Xie family and declared that Hengtang now belonged to him because Shen Zhi Bai, Eunuch Xia, and Hu Xing were all gone. He even imagined that the city should be renamed Xietang
Qing Yuan then revealed that she knew that he was the real killer who took her mother’s life. She also knew that Xie Shu also killed his biological father, whom also Jin Chun Qing’s adoptive father. Xie Shu recalled the past. He had begged the man to stop harassing Jin Chun Qing.
The man refused. Instead, he claimed to be Xie Shu’s biological father. And now, he wanted to extort money from Xie Shu. When they meet again, Xie Shu killed him.
Shen Zhi Bai witnessed the murder and heard the man identify Xie Shu as his own son. Xie Shu begged Shen Zhi Bai to keep the secret. When Jin Chun Qing arrived, Xie Shu proposed to her, and she accepted.
Years later, Xie Shu learned about his origin and Jin Chun Qing’s real identity. But Hu Xing had given him pressure to kill both Shen Zhi Bai and Jin Chun Qing because of the plea letter she sent to Hu Xing. After nine years, Xie Shu went to visit her.
Xie Shu could not accept that Jin Chun Qing did not share his hatred toward the Xie family. She even wanted to leave Hengtang with Qing Yuan. Xie Shu truly loved Jin Chun Qing. But in front of power and wealth, nothing matters, including her.
So he put poison in her medicine and Jin Chun Qing died. That night, Qing Yuan had seen enough to know that Xie Shu was responsible, but the letter Jin Chun Qing left behind finally confirmed the truth.
Qing Yuan read the letter to him. Jin Chun Qing remembered the days when she, Xie Shu, and Shen Zhi Bai could spend time together freely. She had listened to their ideas and believed they could make the city a better place. But she also understood that the Xie family’s secret had begun to consume Xie Shu.
The person she really wanted to save was not Shen Zhi Bai, but Xie Shu himself. By then, however, Xie Shu had let hatred, obsession, and regret to take over his life. At the ending, he lost his mind, and when the ancestral hall burned around him, he only remembered the old madam’s final lesson: everyone must pay for their sins.
What Happened to Xie Qing Ru and Li Cong Xin / Chun Zhi on Spring of the Blade Ending?
Following Hu Wen Zhuo’s arrangement, Xie Qing Ru successfully marry into the Li family. Chun Zhi was smiling during the wedding until he realized that the bride behind the red veil was not Qing Yuan.
When Hu Wen Zhuo suggested that Qing Yuan could also marry into the family as a concubine, Chun Zhi was briefly hopeful. That hope disappeared when Qing Yuan rejected the arrangement. She would rather die than become his concubine.
On their wedding night, Xie Qing Ru waited excitedly in the bridal chamber. She had finally achieved her dream of marrying into the Li family and becoming Chun Zhi’s wife. But Chun Zhi did not share her happiness. He sat outside the room, mourning the woman he had lost. His disappointment continued, and he began neglecting his training and refusing to visit the military camp.
Marquis Dan Yang tried to make his son understand that his marriage to Xie Qing Ru was now a fact. Xie Qing Ru was a good girl and could become a good wife and mother. More importantly, the marquis knew that trouble was brewing inside his army.
After he proposed using the army’s rations to help people affected by disaster, he sensed that some of his generals were not loyal to him. He truly did not want Chun Zhi to inherit the burden of his position.
The marquis told Chun Zhi to become the good man he had always wanted him to be. Even without his parents, the marquis title, or the Dan Yang army, he could still help the people. He left the household and Hengtang in Chun Zhi and Xie Qing Ru’s hands, telling his son that he was the last trump card he could leave behind.
Chun Zhi only began to understand his father’s words after the marquis died. However, grief had drowned her in alcohol. Until Shen Run, who was still alive, came to see him. Shen Run reminded him that the Dan Yang army had once been the last righteous force in Hengtang, but it had now become a weapon used against the people.
Chun Zhi had a responsibility to stop it. Shen Run invited him to join the movement, but Chun Zhi hesitated. Before he could decide, Xie Qing Ru entered and said that she had already prepared his bow. Chun Zhi finally took Shen Run’s hand. Xie Qing Ru told him that since she was his wife, she would stand by his side.
At the ending, after the conflict ended, Chun Zhi is busy with the army. Xie Qing Ru could only wait alone in an empty house. Tired and hopeless, she almost gave up waiting. Until one night, Chun Zhi returned, all smiles, and called her “my wife”.
My Musing
Okay, I was a little confused here. We were told that Lu Ling Shu swapped the babies shortly after Jin Chun Qing was born. However, in episode 28, Xie Shu mentioned that Xie Cheng Yuan swapped him when he was young.
Otherwise, he would still be forging iron by the furnace. Wait a minute. He was still a baby. How could a BABY possibly work as a blacksmith? Tell me, did I miss something here?
And that’s not the only confusing part. There was a scene where Lu Ling Shu mentioned that her husband, Old Master Xie, died shortly after Jin Chun Qing was born. But when Jin Chun Qing discussed Xie Shu’s secret with Hu Wen Zhuo, she said that Old Master Xie had died before Xie Shu was even born.
Now which versions are we supposed to believe? Did I miss an important detail? Did I fall asleep during the binge-watching? At this point, I can’t sleep until I know the truth. Should I just read the original novel?
Anyway, dear readers, that bring us to the end of this rather long journey. Thank you for staying with me until the end. and I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. Until next time, dear readers. Goodbye!
