Season 1 – Ep 22
In the last episode, we met Chen Ping Ping, the Chief Justice or Director of the Overwatch Council. He is oddly nice towards Fan Xian and even helps him cover up any involvement in Lin Gong’s death. Instead, Chen Ping Ping directs the fire towards the Northern Qi kingdom which gives the Emperor the perfect excuse to go to war.
The matter at hand now is more personal. Fan XIan has a suitcase from his deceased mother that is missing a key. Uncle Wu Zhu appears and after clutching his head, writhing in pain, remembers something. The location of the Tai Ping yard where Fan Xian’s mother used to live. It’s outside of the city and Wu Zhu immediately wants Fan Xian and himself to head over there but Fan Xian holds him back. They need to come up with a better cover to go there without attracting suspicion. What better way to seek that place out than a picnic?
And so, Fan Xian invites his brother, Fan Si Zhe, who literally only cares about making money in his little book shop, his sister, Ruo Ruo, as well as Wan’Er plus her older brother, Da Bao. Ling’Er also joins the group and, annoyed by Fan Xian’s antics, sits with Ruo Ruo and Fan Si Zhe even though poor Fan Si Zhe is absolutely terrified of her.
The group heads out and it’s an adorable little scene. Fan Xian and Wan’Er watch as Fan Si Zhe and Ling’Er get into a quarrel with Da Bao laughing along. The three of them are having a fantastic time but what seems to be a simple picnic on the surface, has multiple players with various plans being put into motion.
On one hand, Wan’Er is contending with the aftermath of a late night visit from her father the night before. The Chancellor Lin Ruo Fu told his daughter that on this picnic, or spring outing, she is to direct Fan Xian into the woods, alone. There will be fighters that attack him. She is to pretend like she doesn’t know about this. She remembers his words and is currently conflicted on what to do.
The entire reason why the Chancellor wants Wan’Er help lure Fan Xian into a trap is because he doesn’t fully trust that he is not involved with Lin Gong’s death. While it’s evident that Fan Xian didn’t leave the capital to kill Lin gong, but Lin Ruo Fu needs to confirm there isn’t a swordsman under Fan Xian’s employ that is powerful enough to be Lin Gong’s killer. Look, I actually really appreciate this. You can’t become the chancellor without extra thought. He needs to be EXTRA sure that Fan Xian is acting alone before he entrusts the Lin family to Fan Xian.
But before Wan”er is able to take Fan Xian to a quieter part of the woods, Ruo Ruo arrives with a flower garland and uses picking more flowers as an excuse to take Fan Xian away. They are on a mission to find Tai Ping Yard. Both Wan’Er and Fan Xian are hiding their secrets but only one party was able to enact their plan as envisioned, and that is Fan Xian.
The problem with Lin Ruo Fu’s plan is that the crown prince randomly shows up. He heard reports of Lin Ruo Fu and Wan’Er’s visit as well as her excursion today and takes this opportunity to discuss Lin Ruo Fu’s suspicions with Wan’Er. He wants Wan’Er to tell her father that the person who killed Lin Gong was indeed a Grand Master. Her father will know what that means immediately. Yes, this is all super important intel but because Wan’Er left to chat with a young man on her own, the killers that Lin Ruo Fu had stationed in the woods mistook the Crown Prince for Fan Xian. This drama is brilliant in making this potentially tense scene rather hilarious since these killers quickly let slip they were sent here by the Chancellor. The Crown Prince has no option but to be held hostage by these ignorant killers despite Wan’Er’s indignance. These bumbling idiots who are supposed to be highly trained assassins have no idea what to do next since it doesn’t seem like anyone is there to save this fake Fan Xian.
Meanwhile, Fan Xian and Ruo Ruo’s plans are going relatively according to plan. They are able to find the location of this Tai Ping yard but as they get close, an arrow shoots towards them. Wu Zhu knocks Ruo Ruo out in order to talk with Fan Xian about what to do next in the face of this very powerful archer. The plan is for Wu Zhu to distract this archer while Fan Xian heads into the property to search for the key.
In a super badass move, Wu Zhu pulls one of the arrows that was shot through a nearby tree and doesn’t even shoot it, he throws it back towards the property. The arrow breaks through the wall, that was how powerful the throw was. Fan XIan is dumbfounded by Wu Zhu’s prowess and asks, are you even human? Haha. If he only knew.
Shortly after, Yan Xiao Yi walks out with a procession of guards who put together a rather delicious spread of food. Yan Xiao Yi is a 9th level archer and head of the imperial guard of the Qing Palace. Which, should already tell you who’s in the property. Let me take a moment to be a hua chi. Woaaah Yan XIao Yi and Wu Zhu are so handsome in this scene!
Yan Xiao Yi is waiting to meet who this powerful archer is which provides the perfect opportunity for Fan XIan to sneak into the yard. He does so while Yan xiao yi chomps on his water melon and lamb leg. In an awesome exchange, as Yan Xiao Yi is about to leave, Wu Zhu throws another arrow back to Yan Xiao Yi who returns fire. He shoots several more arrows at a tree where Wu Zhu is hiding behind and his arrows are so powerful that they actually cause the tree to fall. But, Wu Zhu is smart enough to hide underneath the fallen stump so that it doesn’t look like anyone is there. Yan Xiao Yi recognizes that this was probably a distraction and hurries inside the property. Honestly, one of my favorite exchanges in the series. So freaking cool!
At this point, Fan Xian has been wandering around, searching for where the key to his mother’s suitcase could be hiding. In what looks like is a woman’s bedroom, he sees a figure sitting in the room, looking towards the water. Fan Xian is surprised to see that it is none other than the Emperor.
The Emperor simply and nonchalantly takes the dagger that Fan Xian was holding behind his back and turns around to ask why Fan Xian was here. He can only stutter an excuse that he found this place and wanted to grab some water to drink. The Emperor asks if Fan Xian knows who lives here and he lies that he says he doesn’t know. The Emperor says an old acquaintance lived here and we pan up to see a rather modern contraption on the ceiling. A ceiling fan, likely made to cool the room. Not unlike stuff Fan Xian made in his own room.
At this point, Yan Xiao Yi arrives to ask whether or not the Emperor has seen any trespassers. The Emperor quickly opens the door to show that he’s ok because Yan Xiao Yi can hear if there is more than 1 person in the room. The Emperor allows Fan Xian to leave but not before ordering an entire battalion of soldiers to come guard this place in the future. Fan Xian is quite surprised at Yan Xiao Yi’s hearing abilities. He is one of the most powerful individuals in the land, outside of the 4 grand masters. But as the Emperor says, when you reach the 9th level, you are not like other humans.
We’ll leave it at that. This episode is fantastic in introducing us to Yan XIao Yi, a formidable foe that will prove to be quite a challenge for Fan Xian in the future. We learn the important nuggets that anyone at the 9th level and above can hear the breathe of multiple people behind walls. We learn that Wu Zhu is likely someone that is ranked 9th level and above. As for the Emperor, we learn that he has very close ties with the person who lived at Tai Ping Yard, aka Fan Xian’s mother. It is all making a lot more sense as to what kind of relationship the Emperor has with Fan Xian.
The other plot piece we didn’t touch up on is with Chen Ping Ping. He learns from Ying Zi that there are people in the Capital and in the Overwatch Council itself that are more eager to bring war to the capital of the Qi kingdom. They want to eliminate the Qi kingdom. This is completely at odds with what the Emperor wants. Chen Ping PIng is exceptionally ruthless with these people and is okay with having those people killed. Zhu Ge in turn warns Yan Ruo Hai who seems to BE one of those people wanting to wage more war in the Qi kingdom in order to recover his son.
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There’s a few snippets of history in this episode.
The first one is 母夜叉 and it’s what Fan Si Zhe describes Ye Ling Er as he cowers away from her. It’s quite funny.
Ye Cha or Yaksha actually originates from India and is included in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. Originally these are spirits that eat ghosts. They were adopted into Buddhist texts and then traveled to China over the course of centuries.
However, the meaning of Yaksha or Ye cha transformed over the centuries in China. The Chinese really only keep the female ye cha or 母夜叉 and this female yaksha now means a strong and mean woman. It’s a derogatory term to insult a woman for not being properly feminine. The woman can be feisty but there’s still a negative connotation. In classical texts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties – so between the 14th centuries onwards, there’s several examples of women being named 母夜叉. This includes Water Margin 水浒传 with 孙二娘 and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio or 聊斋志异 with a whole ghost story about a 母夜叉.
Tying this back to the drama – Fan Si Zhe calling Ye Ling Er a 母夜叉 is rather an insult to 叶灵儿.
The next topic to discuss is 蚕食. Chen Ping Ping discusses this while at the Overwatch Council with regards to the upcoming war with the Northern Qi kingdom. 蚕食 translates to silkworm eating. If we think about it, a silkworm will gradually consume a mulberry leaf slowly yet meticulously until the leaf is gone.
This phrase then is used to describe warfare where one side gradually chips away at the opposing force. This was first used to describe how the Kingdom of Qin gradually consumed and conquered the other 6 kingdoms during the Warring States in the 3rd century BCE. The Kingdom of Qin, which was a mighty power in the West slowly conquered the neighboring kingdoms until Qin Shi Huang unified the kingdoms under the Qin Dynasty.
The term of 蚕食 was documented in 史记 Records of the Grand Historian that was published in the 1st century BCE.
During the 3 kingdoms era in the 3rd and 4th centuries, politician and strategist Zhu Ge Liang also used this tactic of 蚕食 to gradually eat away at the Wei forces.
There’s the other way to describe 蚕食 in negotiations where both parties seem to be in a stalemate, but as long as one party gives an inch, then the other has the opportunity to gradually overcome the other.
Book differences
The book differs significantly from the events of the book. First, book Fan Xian heads to the outskirts of Tai Ping Yard with Ruo Ruo under the pretense of visiting another merchant. They know and can tell that there’s heavy guard there AND that it has now been converted to a summer house for the royal family. Fan Xian kneels and pays his respects to his mother on the other side of the river. There’s none of this going on a fake day trip out with Lin Wan Er. Second, book Fan Xian doesn’t trespass on the grounds, instead, returns back to a nearby village. They do encounter the Emperor’s bodyguard Gong Dian. Fan Xian and Gong Dian get into a mini tussle but this time Fan Xian loses. This is the first time in the book that Fan Xian encounters the Emperor, who was sitting in a horse carriage instead of being at the Tai Ping Yard. Fan Xian doesn’t immediately know who the man is but makes the correct calculated guess that the man is the Emperor. Third, because Gong Dian was with the emperor, Yan Xiao Yi is not introduced in the book, which is a bummer because his entrance here in the drama was so cool.
In the book, we are also introduced to the meaning of Ye Qing Mei which means – 看轻天下须眉. This translates to Looking down at the men of the world. 须眉 represents mustache and eyebrows and that represents men. 须眉 is used in other Chinese idioms. Anyways – in the book, Fan Xian has a moment of silence when he pays his respects to his mother. He reminisces about his home world and his life in this world and concludes that his mother’s name really is to be a woman who is no less and even better than all the other men in this world.