Spoiler Warning
This article discusses major light novel spoilers from Volume 8, including Jinshi's attempt to leave the imperial succession, the Emperor striking him, Gyokuyou trying to call for help, Jinshi deliberately branding his left side, Maomao's treatment of the wound, and the hidden family truth behind the Emperor and Jinshi. Anime-only readers should stop here.
Scene Locator
The scene occurs in Volume 8, chapter 20, during the secret four-person meeting between the Emperor, Jinshi, Gyokuyou, and Maomao. Jinshi arranges a late-night gathering in a private imperial room with no ordinary attendants inside. Even Gaoshun and Hongniang are absent.
Jinshi explains that court factions are already treating him as a possible successor: powerful families are trying to bind him through marriage, while other forces have tried poison and violence. He asks the Emperor to grant him a separate name and reduce him to subject status, which would remove him from the imperial family. The Emperor refuses because the young princes are not yet secure.
The confrontation then moves very quickly. Jinshi presses the Emperor to demote him. The Emperor punches him. Gyokuyou tries to raise an alarm, but the Emperor catches her wrist and tells her not to worry. Only after that does Jinshi take the heated fire tool and make the hidden mark on his left side.
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The Short Answer
The Emperor hits Jinshi because Jinshi is no longer making a polite request. He is trying to force the ruler of the country to accept an irreversible succession decision while the imperial heirs are still children. The punch is an angry rejection of Jinshi's political ultimatum, but it also carries the pain of a father who cannot openly act as a father.
The Emperor stops Gyokuyou from calling for help because the room, the argument, and the people inside it must remain sealed. At that moment, outsiders would find the Emperor standing over an injured imperial prince during a secret succession dispute. Guards and attendants could turn one cry into a palace emergency, a rumor, or evidence of an imperial-family fracture.
After Jinshi brands himself, the reason for secrecy becomes even stronger, but the novel shifts the decision to Maomao. She considers calling for burn medicine and outside help, then rejects it because another physician would see the distinctive wound. In other words, the Emperor stops Gyokuyou after the punch; Maomao keeps the self-branding treatment private after the burn.
The Exact Order of Events Matters
Many summaries say that Gyokuyou tries to call for help after Jinshi harms himself and that the Emperor stops her. That compresses two separate moments. The novel's actual order is more revealing:
- Jinshi asks to be removed from the imperial family and pushes the Emperor after being refused.
- The Emperor strikes Jinshi hard enough to split his lip and knock him down.
- Maomao immediately checks Jinshi's mouth and begins wiping away the blood.
- Gyokuyou tries to cry out and seek help; the Emperor restrains her wrist.
- Jinshi stands, exposes his side, and burns the permanent mark into his body.
- Maomao treats the burn inside the room because bringing in another physician would expose it.
This distinction changes the Emperor's motive. He is not knowingly blocking emergency care for a severe burn when he catches Gyokuyou. The brand does not exist yet. He is containing the immediate aftermath of his own blow and preventing the private succession confrontation from bursting into the guarded palace outside.
It also changes how we read Jinshi. He brought Maomao sober because he expected medical help might be necessary. The Emperor realizes this after the punch. Jinshi has prepared the room, the medicine bait, and the only physician-like person he trusts, which makes his later action look planned rather than impulsive.
Why Does the Emperor Hit Jinshi?
Jinshi Turns a Request Into a Succession Ultimatum
Jinshi first builds a rational case. If the Emperor dies while the crown prince is still young, factions may demand that Jinshi take the throne. Removing Jinshi from the imperial family would protect Gyokuyou's son from that adult rival. The logic is serious, and Jinshi's lack of ambition is genuine.
But the Emperor cannot judge only Jinshi's intentions. The imperial line contains very few surviving males, the princes are children, and factions are already attacking or courting Jinshi. Granting Jinshi's request would remove the strongest emergency successor at the exact moment the dynasty remains fragile. From the Emperor's position, Jinshi is asking for personal freedom by making the state accept greater risk.
When Jinshi continues pressing after the refusal, he crosses from argument into coercion. He knows the Emperor cares about him. He knows the hidden family truth makes the request emotionally loaded. He also has Maomao and Gyokuyou in the room as witnesses. The punch is not good political procedure, but it is the instant when the Emperor's controlled authority breaks under a demand he cannot accept.
The Blow Also Has a Hidden Father-Son Meaning
Publicly, the Emperor and Jinshi are brothers. Privately, the story gives readers strong reason to understand Jinshi as the Emperor's hidden son. That family truth cannot be announced in front of Gyokuyou, yet it shapes the Emperor's reaction.
If Jinshi were only a younger brother and useful spare heir, the Emperor's anger could remain coldly strategic. Instead, his hand trembles after the blow, he is shocked by the branding, and he later addresses Jinshi with personal sadness while asking whether this is truly the path he has chosen. These details connect the scene to the question of whether the Emperor treats Jinshi as brother or son.
The punch therefore contains two failures at once. The ruler cannot grant Jinshi's escape from succession, and the hidden father cannot openly say why losing that possible future hurts him. Violence fills the space where honest family language is politically impossible.
Why Does the Emperor Stop Gyokuyou from Calling for Help?
A Cry for Help Would Break the Sealed Room
The room is chosen precisely because ordinary palace eyes and ears are absent. The Emperor, Jinshi, and Gyokuyou are discussing the Emperor's possible death, the weakness of the young heirs, attacks on Jinshi, and Jinshi's request to leave the royal family. None of this can become corridor talk.
If Gyokuyou calls out, guards will not enter calmly. They may believe the Emperor is under attack, that the Empress is in danger, or that Jinshi has started an imperial-family conflict. What they actually find would be almost as dangerous: Jinshi on the floor with a bleeding lip and the Emperor who struck him. Even without hearing the discussion, witnesses could create a damaging story.
The Emperor's grip on Gyokuyou's wrist is therefore an act of containment. It keeps security outside, keeps the succession dispute unofficial, and prevents his own violence from becoming a public incident. It also protects Gyokuyou from being tied to a report that could be interpreted as fear of Jinshi, fear of the Emperor, or a struggle over her son's position.
Maomao Is Already the Intended Medical Safety Net
The Emperor recognizes that Jinshi deliberately kept Maomao from drinking. That detail tells him she has been brought for a task, not merely to observe. After the punch, Maomao immediately checks Jinshi's teeth, identifies the split lip, and starts treating him. The injury is serious enough to show the Emperor's anger, but it does not yet require the room to be opened.
This does not make the Emperor's behavior gentle. He caused the injury and then controlled who could respond to it. But it explains why he can tell Gyokuyou not to panic: a capable, sober medical observer is already kneeling beside Jinshi, and the political cost of outside help is enormous.
What Changes After Jinshi Brands Himself?
Once Jinshi makes the mark, the crisis becomes medically worse and politically sharper. The Emperor is visibly stunned. Gyokuyou nearly collapses. Maomao checks the location, cools the burn, and searches the room for oil, wax, and medicinal ingredients.
At this point the text gives the secrecy judgment to Maomao. Going outside would be faster, but an outside physician would see a permanent mark shaped like the crest associated with Gyokuyou. That wound would reveal far more than self-harm. It would expose Jinshi's attempt to place himself beneath Gyokuyou's line and prove that he does not intend to become Gyokuyou's enemy.
This is why the scene needs Maomao. She can treat the body without creating an official record, and she can understand that the shape of the injury is itself classified political information. Her medical anger also prevents readers from mistaking the act for noble pageantry. For the wound's wider symbolism, see why Jinshi leaves the slave-like brand on his left abdomen.
The Emperor does not order everyone to ignore a dying man. Jinshi remains conscious, Maomao treats him, and the room contains enough medicinal material for immediate care. The terrible part is that Jinshi has designed a situation where secrecy and treatment can coexist only because Maomao is present.
Why Gyokuyou and Maomao Are Both Essential
Gyokuyou is essential because Jinshi's decision is about her child's future. His continued status as an adult imperial male can threaten the crown prince even if Jinshi personally refuses the throne. Gyokuyou must witness his promise because she is the person who would otherwise have the strongest reason to fear him.
Her attempt to call for help is also a humane reaction before it is a political one. She sees Jinshi struck to the floor and reacts with alarm. The Emperor's restraint reminds her, harshly, that she is not only a frightened witness. She is the mother of an heir inside a room where every visible reaction can become factional evidence.
Maomao is essential for the opposite reason: she is the least ceremonial person present. She checks teeth, wipes blood, cools burned skin, mixes treatment, and thinks about who must not see the wound. Her actions translate the royal family's emotional and political crisis into practical consequences.
Together, the two women keep the scene from becoming only an Emperor-Jinshi confrontation. Gyokuyou represents the succession line Jinshi is trying to protect. Maomao represents the physical truth of the price he chooses. Their roles connect this scene to Gyokuyou's road to empress and Jinshi and Maomao's difficult dynamic.
Is the Emperor Being Cruel or Protecting Jinshi?
He is doing both harm and protection, which is why the scene works. The punch is an abuse of power and an emotional loss of control. Stopping Gyokuyou also protects the Emperor from witnesses. The novel does not require readers to excuse either action.
At the same time, reducing the Emperor to cold cruelty misses his shock. He does not expect Jinshi to make the argument permanent on his own body. After the brand, the Emperor's anger collapses into disbelief and sadness. He asks whether Jinshi truly rejects the throne and whether he will regret his chosen path. His later silence in front of Gyokuyou suggests there are personal words he cannot safely say.
The scene therefore answers the larger succession question introduced by the Shrine of Choosing. The Emperor wants to preserve Jinshi as a possible answer to dynastic danger. Jinshi wants to remove himself before that possibility destroys Gyokuyou's line and his own freedom. The punch cannot resolve that conflict, so Jinshi escalates to the brand.
By the time the Emperor leaves, he has not won. Jinshi has not received formal permission to leave the imperial family, but he has made his refusal impossible to dismiss as laziness or mood. The Emperor walks away knowing that the person he could use as an heir would rather scar himself than accept the throne.
FAQ
Does the Emperor stop Gyokuyou after Jinshi brands himself?
No. In the Volume 8 scene, the Emperor punches Jinshi first. Gyokuyou then tries to call for help, and the Emperor restrains her. Jinshi brands himself immediately afterward. After the burn, Maomao is the person who decides that outside medical help would expose the wound.
Why does the Emperor punch Jinshi?
Jinshi keeps demanding removal from the imperial family even after the Emperor explains that the succession is too unstable. The punch is the Emperor's angry response to a political ultimatum, intensified by the hidden father-son bond he cannot acknowledge publicly.
Why can no one call an outside physician?
An outsider could see Jinshi's distinctive brand, learn that the Emperor and Gyokuyou were present, and turn the injury into evidence of a succession conflict. Maomao can provide immediate treatment without creating that leak.
Was Gyokuyou afraid that Jinshi would attack her?
The scene presents her first reaction as shock and an attempt to seek help after the Emperor's blow. Her deeper fear is political: Jinshi's royal position can threaten her young son's succession even when Jinshi does not want the throne.
Did Jinshi plan the entire incident?
The details strongly indicate preparation. He summons Maomao, keeps her sober, fills the room with medicinal materials, and has the heated tool ready. The Emperor's punch may not be part of his plan, but the self-branding is not a spontaneous accident.
What should I read next?
Continue with the full secret meeting analysis, the left-abdomen brand explanation, the Emperor's brother-or-son dilemma, and why Jinshi refuses to become Gyokuyou's enemy.