Season 1 – Ep 15 + Ep 16 pt 1
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[Cathy]
We start off in episode 15 with Fan Xian and Wang Qi Nian seeking more information about who exactly ordered Fan Xian’s assassination. Fan Xian arrived at a general’s home. The general was in charge of overseeing weapons that somehow landed in the hands of the 2 female assassins that attacked Fan Xian. But as soon as he got there, Fan Xian saw that the entire household had been murdered.
Wang Qi Nian arrives to join Fan Xian who deduced that the household was only just murdered as a warning to Fan Xian. This means that the people behind the assassination are extremely well connected and powerful. Wang QI Nian also brings the clue that the token that was found to be left by the assassins is a design that is connected to the spies of the kingdom of northern Qi. So, Cheng Ju Shu seems to be connected to some type of spy organization.
Clues are getting cut off and it doesn’t seem like there’s a great next step for them. But Fan Xian rewinds it all to think from the very basics. Who exactly knew about Fan Xian making that trip on Niu Lan Street on that day at that time. The assassination could not have been spontaneous given the positioning of the ambush. That means that it was planned. The 2 parties that knew Fan Xian was making the trip that day were 1) the 2nd prince and 2) Si Li Li. Fan Xian doesn’t think the 2nd prince would plan this because that’s too obvious which leaves just Si Li Li.
[Karen[
So, the two head off to see her. But, they find out after heading to her residence, that her boat has burned and has disappeared. That only adds to her suspicion that she is somehow involved. Fan Xian is at a loss for what next to do and that is when Wang Qi Nian offers up his skills as an ace tracker. He is able to follow clues and track his target. This skill pleasantly surprises Fan Xian and they decide to chase after Si Li Li.
Before they leave though, Wang Qi Nian heads home to grab his toolkit specifically used during his search. We get a hilarious little clip where he sneaks home,, and comes out with a slap on his face from his, uhhh rather aggressive wife. In Season 1, we don’t ever see Wang Qi Nian’s wife and it’s a running joke on who she is. She finally gets casted in Season 2 with the beautiful Gao Lu starring as his wife and now the joke is – it totally makes sense why Wang Qi Nian is so afraid of his wife! I would be too if I was married to Gao Lu. We also hear Wang Qi Nian talk about how his daughter loves a type of pork called Wu Hua Rou and we do hear the cute little bumpkin talk about that in season 2.
[Cathy]
Fan Xian also takes this opportunity at night to say goodbye to Wan’Er before they head out in the morning. When the city gates open in the morning, Zhu Ge of the 1st bureau are waiting for Fan Xian and Wang Qi Niang. Zhu Ge wants to capture Wang Qi Nian for breach of conduct but are stopped by Fan Xian’s Father, Fan Jian. He arrives with his crew of red armored soldiers and just requests that Zhu Ge give him, Fan Jian a favor. Zhu Ge quickly backs off given the authority of Fan Jian and Fan Xian and Wang Qi Nian are cleared to go. What is really important about this little scene though is what Wang Qi Nian says as they leave. Hey, your father isn’t that simple because those soldiers in red are imperial troops. Even the likes of the Prince of Jing may not even have this type of entourage. What this tells us is that Fan Jian has military personnel akin to the Emperor himself even though that is at odds with his title of just a count as well as average court position. Zhu Ge recognized this as well which is why he did not put up much of a fight in front of Fan Jian. Clearly, there are very close ties between Fan Jian and the Emperor that it is not worth creating a fuss over.
Just how close, we see in the next scene. Fan Jian heads over to the palace to speak with the Emperor. He proactively apologizes for using the troops from the Emperor to help allow Fan Xian leave the city. There is back and forth with the Emperor as the Emperor tests why Fan Jian made such actions. Seems like Fan Jian knows exactly what the Emperor is thinking and that the Emperor has no problem with allowing Fan Xian leave the city. It’s a test to see if he has the skills to manage the imperial treasury. While the Emperor doesn’t deny that Fan Jian was able to see through his intentions, the Emperor adds a veiled threat by pointing out how much he knows of the comings and goings in the Fan family. That is a warning to Fan Jian that the Emperor sees all. For now, all they need to do is wait and see whether or not Fan Xian will be able to bring back Si Li Li.
[Karen]
After all of that back and forth, let’s turn to the chase. Fan Xian and Wang QI Nian leave the city and intercept a message from a carrier pigeon from the Overwatch Council. Zhu Ge has also been sending out teams to search for Si Li Li. There are at least 6 groups that are heading north and Zhu Ge is already on it, blocking almost every possible path to go north to the northern Qi kingdom.
As fan Xian and wang qi nian analyze a very rough map that Wang Qi Nian created, Fan Xian could not help shake off a gut feeling that something was wrong. Why would Si Li Li need to burn her flower boat and make it extremely well known to everyone that she was leaving the city? She could have snuck away in a much more subdued manner that would not draw as much attention. This could only mean that she purposefully drew attention to herself and all those 6 groups heading north? She is not in any of them. Fan Xian and Wang Qi Nian continue to analyze the map and deduce that she is likely trying to head to the Qi kingdom not by land, but by boat via the Dan Zhou port. The closest way there? To actually sneak back into the capital city and head through another gate.
[Cathy]
This is exactly the path that Si Li Li takes and she heads to an inn to feed her horse and rest for the evening. Luck would have it that Wang Qi Nian and Fan XIan were able to follow the path they think she will take and end up at the same inn. She sees them but they don’t see her. They head to a room and order food but when it arrives, Fan Xian, being a master of poison, immediately recognized that there’s poison in the food. Questioning of the tavern staff reveals that a young woman looked at the food.
Wang Qi Nian tears off to the room where this woman is indicated to have stayed and through smell, he confirms that it was indeed Si Li Li. The fragrance left in the room is exactly the fragrance used in the brothel that Si Li Li worked at. The 2 continue their chase on horseback. Wang QI Nian exhibits more of his tracking skills by sharing information about the horse Si Li Li uses as well as the tracks on the ground. Fan Xian once again has an odd feeling about all of this because it’s almost too easy. Si Li Li used poison even though she knows that Fan Xian knows poison so what’s the point? The tracks only show that she’s going one direction so they decide to continue.
[Karen]
Not long after, they actually see SI LI Li waiting for Fan Xian and Wang QI Nian at a little pagoda. Fan Xian wants to bring her in and interrogate her on why she was involved in the assassination attempt. However, she isn’t going to come in easily. She was surprised at Fan Xian skill in finding her route but she has plans of her own. Many of the bandits that were rumored about in the mountains were actually all northern Qi spies. Since it’s just the 2 of them chasing her, these bandits will come and dispatch them. It’s an easy story for how they died chasing her and she has any easy out. Si Li Li jumps on her horse and heads off as Wang Qi Nian and Fan Xian are faced with a large number of these bandits.
Wang Qi Nian is freaking out at this point because they are outnumbered but Fan Xian just focused on the ground which is moving. Turns out, the ground is moving due to a large cavalry coming in. Si Li Li is forced to retreat back to where Fan Xian and Wang Qi Nian are and these soldiers, the Black Knights, quickly kill all of the bandits surrounding Fan Xian and Wang Qi Nian. These soldiers, the black nights are personally directed by the Head of the Overwatch Council and are the most powerful branch of soldiers. We will leave it here as Si Li Li is now finally captured.
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[Cathy]
We don’t have much history in these two episode, so let’s instead talk about one aspect of Martial Arts 轻功. Wang Qi Nian boasts this as his unique skill which allows him to chase, steal, and spy on people.
Qing Gong has been featured in Chinese Wu Xia books and Chinese TV shows in the past century. Being an “master” in Qing Gong is what allows these martial artists to fly across the sky, scale buildings, and balance on top of bamboo trees. Think of several scenes from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon including the scene where Mu Bai and Jen are up in the bamboo forest fighting, that’s a prime example of Qing Gong. But what is it?
Qing Gong is a type of martial art that improves running, jumping, and maneuvering abilities but what we see from these martial arts movies are fictional. Qing Gong doesn’t go against the laws of physics. So – I mean, no, humans just can’t stand on top of a bamboo tree without falling. I
There have been historical records of Qing Gong, meaning that someone was able to jump / fall from a great height and survive or run extremely fast. One example dates back to the Tang Dynasty, during the 8th century CE.
The main features of Qing Gong are light and speed. Being light means that the body is able to move around lightly and transfer weight during jumps. Think of a person jumping down from the second floor of a building. A normal person probably would break a leg or land with a loud thud. A person with Qing Gon would land lightly and be able to transfer the force of gravity to the ground.
The other aspect of Qing Gong is speed. Speed, coupled with agility, is another big component of Qing Gong. In Chinese Wu Xia novels, they often depict these masters moving at such a fast speed, that others only see a blur. When you boil it down, it really is just speed. Throughout history, even members of the aristocracy wanted to master aspects of qing gong, or specifically speed. There was a prince named 萧琮 who enjoyed practicing qing gong or running in sand. Legend is, he was able to run for 300 Li or the equivalent of around 75 miles a day. That’s quite impressive! Like ultramarathon impressive!
[Karen]
Essentially, it’s the Chinese version of Parkour. It was just invented thousands of years ago and various different martial arts factions have different methodologies and ways to practice it. To me, it also seems like Qing going is a little bit more floaty / light than Parkour? But ultimately much of the basic physics is the same.
There’s a strong argument to be made that Qing Gong doesn’t exist anymore. There are existing documents of how to practice Qing Gong with the various martial arts sects such as Wu Dang, Shao Lin, or E Mei, but it’s extremely hard to even get to a fraction of the level that we see in the movies. One traditional way of training is to practice agility and movement on top of a bunch of wooden stilts. If you’ve seen Lion Dancing where the Lion Dancers are literally moving on top of these wooden stilts? Yep – those are the essentials for Qing Gong.
Qing Gong, like parkour, and honestly any other type of martial arts just requires constant practice. In the book and drama, Wang Qi Nian is a master of Qing Gong. This is quite funny because even in the book, he is a middle aged dude who’s rather unassuming and a little chubby. This will work in this fictitious world but in reality, Wang Qi Nian probably wouldn’t be light enough to be as fleet footed as we expect him to be.
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[cathy]
In the book, Fan Xian does not partake in the capture and chase of Si Li Li. He’s still at home recovering from his injuries from the assassination attempt. I like how Fan Xian is brought in on the action in the show because up until now, Fan Xian isn’t REALLY in the action in the book. The book also makes Si Li Li a lot less cunning than we see in the dramas. I mean, it outright states in the book that she isn’t smart but here, this woman clearly has a plan. When Si Li LI finally gets captured, it’s actually Chen Ping Ping and Fei Jie who capture her and have her sent to the capital. The different factions are moving their chess pieces around Fan Xian but, in the book, he is currently none the wiser. In the drama, he’s at least somewhat involved.