The eighth day begins in the Crown Princess's residence, washed in cold jade dawn before the private tea audience.

Physician Han brings the morning medicines that will help Lin Wei survive possible poisoning, but his manner is wrong.

Lin Wei leaves for the tea pavilion under the eyes of maids and guards, carrying the weight of the plan.

Lin Wei arrives at the tea pavilion, where the Empress Dowager and Old Qiu wait.

The Empress Dowager treats Lin Wei tenderly while testing whether she has become obedient.

Lin Wei plays the part of a frightened puppet asking for instruction.

The Empress accepts Lin Wei's apparent surrender, and the tea pot becomes the center of the scene.

Lin Wei commits to the risky plan: one pot, two cups, the same stream.

Lin Wei drinks first, trusting the antidote routines and the princess's borrowed body.

The Empress accepts the performance of loyalty and drinks from the poisoned pot.

Several minutes pass with no visible effect, making Lin Wei doubt the trap.

The poison finally takes hold of the Empress Dowager.

Lin Wei empties the pavilion and faces the poisoned Empress alone.

The Empress tells Lin Wei that Yu Yan died the previous night.

The Empress reveals that the jade face box has gone cold and Lin Wei's original face is lost.

The Empress is dead. Lin Wei must immediately control the witnesses and reach the hidden chamber.

Lin Wei races through the palace toward the secret medical chamber, no longer caring if her royal composure cracks.

The secret medical chamber has become a death chamber; Yu Yan is covered, and the physicians are silent.

Lin Wei finds the jade face box desiccated and the Face-Cultivation Ledger confirms the graft is permanent.

Lin Wei realizes she can no longer clearly remember her own face.

The palace gong announces the official story while Lin Wei stands trapped inside it.

Lin Wei returns to the pavilion, now emptied of the Empress, and decides her next move.

Consort Min arrives and immediately understands that the balance of power has changed.

Lin Wei and Consort Min face each other across the cold tea table, the old favor transformed by death and power.