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[Karen]
In the last episode, Fan Xian and Wan’er went to visit Chen Ping Ping at his residence and then Fan Xian had to return back to the Overwatch Council because of developments regarding Bao Yue Pleasure House. Turns out, the so-called killers of Old Man Jin and Miss Jin were found but these 3 men resolutely stated under interrogation that it was actually Fan Xian who ordered them to do the killings. Obviously that’s not true but is a ploy by the 2nd prince to turn the eyeballs back onto Fan Xian and family. Essentially, Fan XIan has to give up his brother, Fan Si Zhe in order to save his own skin.
Luckily, Fan Xian has a few tricks up his sleeve to prevent this from happening. At the beginning of episode 14, the 3 men were slaughtered by a crew of masked men but security were able to apprehend someone. That someone turns out to be one of the 2nd prince’s retainers – Fan Wu Jiu.
[Cathy]
Turns out, Fan Wu Jiu and men had chased Fan Si Zhe when he was trying to escape to the Qi kingdom like 10 episodes ago. The goal was to kidnap Fan SI Zhe as a bargaining chip for the 2nd prince exactly to use in this type of scenario where the 2nd prince needs Fan Xian to back off. However, in the nick of time, none other than fan favorite Hai Tang Duo Duo shows up. Apparently, Fan Xian had sent a request to Hai Tang to help escort his brother and she, recognizing the value of Fan Xian as future leader of the imperial treasury, agreed. Hai Tang Duo Duo handily beat Fan Wu Jiu and Fan XIan’s men then took Fan Wu Jiu hostage. Now, it’s the perfect time to use this chess piece.
With Fan Wu Jiu now captured publicly, the eyeballs are currently back on the 2nd prince since everyone knows of their connection. The 2nd prince basically has no option but to focus on doing his best to separate any and all ties with Fan Wu Jiu. Otherwise, his plans of trying to frame Fan Si Zhe will come to the forefront. In prison, the 2nd prince’s other swordsman, Xie Bi An pays Fan Wu Jiu a visit and makes clear that Fan Wu Jiu is not to implicate the 2nd prince in any dealings. Fan Wu Jiu will need to take responsibility for the killings and also hints to an inevitable end in order to help the 2nd prince. Fan Wu Jiu is tearful about what is expected of him but understands.
[Karen]
I have 2 points to discuss about Fan Wu Jiu here. 1) How can he be held hostage by the overwatch council for many days after his defeat by Hai Tang Duo Duo and no one on the 2nd prince’s camp knew that he was missing? That seems like a complete oversight on the 2nd prince’s part and it makes this part of the story seem a little weak. And 2) we’re supposed to feel a gut punch about the sacrifice of Fan Wu Jiu or at least feel how cold hearted the 2nd prince is for giving up one of his trusted men but because Fan Wu Jiu was not in season 1, we do not see much of a relationship between the two to warrant much emotional impact. If it was Xie Bi An, perhaps? This was just not as effective as I think the screenwriter and director would have liked.
Moving on, we now turn to Fan Si Zhe and Hai Tang Duo Duo, who are now walking the streets of Shang Jing City, the capital of the Qi Kingdom. Evidently, Hai Tang was able to safely escort Fan Si Zhe to this destination. The tone immediately shifts as Fan Si Zhe can’t help but be comic relief. He is over there calling Hai Tang his sister in law because of all the rumors he’s heard about her and Fan Xian and due to the fact that she up and saved him. She is like, What the heck I have no connection to your brother! But he’s just enjoying the gossip. And DUDE HELLO – you’re not respecting Wan’Er AT ALL. Ugh.
[Cathy]
Hai Tang Duo Duo drops Fan Si Zhe off at the oil store that is the command center for the Qing kingdom spies in the Qi kingdom. The leader of this command center? Why a familiar face – Guo Bao Kun. Guo Bao Kun has been stationed here by Fan Xian as a front for this spy command center. Guo Bao Kun thinks he’s doing a fantastic job but we learn from Hai Tang Duo Duo and her martial arts brother Lang Tao that literally everyone knows that Guo Bao Kun is this spy leader and is probably the most obvious spy leader in the history of man. Hahahaha. In the mix of the once again super obvious yogurt product placement, we learn that literally the entire nation is helping round the lie that Guo Bao Kun is doing a great job. THey have to make up excuses to say why they aren’t capturing him and his spies. What’s even funnier is that even their master, the grand master Ku He, even knows of this little oil store. This implies that Guo Bao Kun must be soooo stupid, and probably loud, that everyone knows who he is. Guo Bao Kun is over there saying that he actually takes ALL of the spies on essentially company offsite or work retreats to build relationships. Fan Si Zhe is like…isn’t that a problem when all the spies are in one place which…yes that’s a total problem but Guo Bao Kun is like, NO I’m a total GENIUS. NO one has captured ANY of us. I’d like to think that Guo Bao Kun probably took his team of spies out somewhere near where master Ku He was hanging out and making a ruckus which is how Ku He learned about this dude. And Guo Bao Kun thinks he’s a master spy. Ahahahahaha
[Karen]
Anyways, Fan Si Zhe tells Guo Bao Kun that Fan Xian says it’s time to go home. He will honor their deal as it is time to help Guo BAo Kun’s father leave prison. Guo Bao Kun hears this and immediately drags Fan Si Zhe out the door for them to head back to the QIng kingdom. They are so dumb that they rented a carriage all the way to the kingdom’s border without even thinking about changing carriages at all. We see Hai Tang’s men report to her that they had to suppress multiple reports of Guo Bao Kun and FAn Si Zhe acting suspiciously in order for them to leave relatively unperturbed. Ahahahah these adorable dumb dumbs. They think they’re being smart by directly going to the QIng kingdom but in reality, they’re being protected by, as Hai TAng Said, the entirety of the Qi kingdom to get home safely. Ahahahaha
But now it’s time to return back to Fan Xian. Though he has essentially won the battle against the 2nd prince and protected his brother, the matter of corruption is still ongoing. Censor Lai Ming Cheng decides to pay Fan Xian a visit at his residence and hopes to work together. Lai MIng Cheng plainly shares that the corruption case has too many connections to the 2nd prince for the Censorate to handle alone and would like to review documents that the Overwatch Council holds. Fan Xian agrees as he rather appreciates Lai Ming Cheng’s integrity, even though Lai Ming Cheng is going to report Fan Xian for Bao Yue Lou as well. In Fan XIan’s eyes, it’s good to see someone willing to uphold the law to the extent that Lai Ming Cheng is willing to when so many others are disregarding it.
We end episode 14 with Fan Xian returning to the palace for essentially a trial with Lai Ming Cheng. This time, the Emperor holds court in his study, not in the main palace hall. We will see the exciting back and forth in episode 15.
[Cathy]
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That was the episode recap, let’s now move onto history.
The character 范无救 was imprisoned this episode after being captured by Fan Xian’s men thanks to the favor from Hai Tang Duo Duo. In prison, Wei Wu Jiu asks for a book. He says 圣贤书 and doesn’t care which one.
In Chinese, there’s this saying that originated from the Ming Dynasty of “两耳不闻窗外事，一心只读圣贤书” – The two ears don’t pay attention to the sounds outside, the sole focus it to read the writings of Sages”
圣贤书 in Chinese essentially translates to the revered writings. It doesn’t refer to any select piece or collection of writings but any important historical work. The term 圣贤 or Sages had been used for thousands of years. For the Imperial Entrance Exams, the men had to be well versed in the 4 books and 5 classics《论语》The Analects《孟子》Mencius《大学》The Great Learning《中庸》Doctrine of the Mean 。五经是《诗经》The book of song《尚书》the book of documents《礼记》the book of rites《周易》i Jing / Book of Changes 和《春秋》Spring and Autumn Annals.
In the world of Joy of Life, the same sages do not exist but it is still possible to have sages. Interestingly enough, the “book” that is given to 范无救 is 尚语. This does not exist in our world, so props to the production for thinking this through. I think they just smushed together Lun Yu or the Analects with Shang Shu or the Book of Documents to get 尚语.
[Karen]
Next let’s move onto a 红楼梦 or Dream of the Red Chamber reference. Fan Si Zhe is trying to gain favor with Hai Tang Duo Duo and calls her sister-in-law. He also says he doesn’t much like the sister-in-law he does have, well expects to have, because he says Lin Wan’Er is like 林黛玉, who is very frail and sickly.
林黛玉 is one of the main characters in the story. She is the granddaughter of Grandma Jia with her mother being the youngest daughter of the Jia family. The Jia family has the title of the Duke of Rong. She moves into the Jia manor after the death of her parents and is looked after by her maternal grandmother’s family. Her father was an official and well known scholar, having placed second in the imperial entrance exams as 探花. In the book, the story follows 林黛玉 as a young girl of around 10 through her younger teenage years. She is described to be a very beautiful and intelligent young woman with a weak constitution. The most famous version of Lin Dai Yu is from the 1987 drama version with 陈晓旭 playing Lin Dai Yu. Fan Si Zhe comparing Lin Wan’Er and Lin Dai Yu is honestly rather apt. When Lin Wan’Er first appears, she’s rather sickly but also very intelligent. Lin Wan’Er has a large inheritance as does Lin Dai Yu. The main difference is well, Lin Dai Yu doesn’t have a happy ending.
[Cathy]
Next up is a pop culture reference or, I’ll make it into a pop culture reference. When Hai Tang Duo Duo gets annoyed with 狼桃, she huffs and puffs and storms off says “烦死了!” or “So Annoying”. This is a pretty standard phrase BUT in recent years there’s been heavy usage of a short clip of Sun Wu Kong or the Monkey King from the 1986 version of Journey to the West also saying “烦死了” in basically the same way Hai Tang Duo Duo says it. That 1 / 2 second clip is now used all over Chinese social media to express annoyance. Just one random aside, a couple of years ago, some genius on Bilibili created a crazy video shipping 孙悟空 with 林黛玉. It garnered a TON of views and still gets referenced in some comments here and there. Hey, that’s some imagination!
[Karen]
After that, let’s talk about the significance of the red dates or 红枣. 红枣 or dried red dates are commonly used in Chinese cuisine for soup, congee, teas, and sweets. According to Chinese traditional medicine, consuming red dates will increase blood flow. The significance of Censor Lai bringing a bag of red dates shows that he REALLY doesn’t have any money. He sees on the table that 范闲 already has the red dates and at first hesitates in presenting them but still does so. That’s the most he can and will afford. We’ll talk about the significance of him even stepping into the Fan Manor in the next episode.
Censor lai also states a phrase of 捉襟见肘[zhuō jīn jiàn zhǒu] to explain that he doesn’t have more money to spend on lavish gifts. 捉襟见肘 is an idiom that is used to describe if one pulls or moves the shirt, then that exposes the elbow, describing the tattered state of the clothing. This is meant to represent a person who is currently experiencing hard times. A person with some money can afford to at least mend his own clothing. The idiom first appeared in Zhuang Zi which was written over 2200 years ago.
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[Cathy]
Let’s conclude with book differences! In the book, Wei Wu Jiu is NOT the one who is captured and imprisoned. Instead, its 谢必安 who tries to assasinate Fan Xian, to 谢必安’s surprise is able to defeat him. At this point in the book, no one knows Fan Xian’s real martial arts capabilities. Xie Bi An is captured but Fan Xian does not kill him then and there. Instead Xie Bi An is sent to prison and suspiciously dies in prison. The drama decided to swap the roles with Wei Wu Jiu taking Xie Bi An’s place. Hai Tang Duo Duo does not get involved as Fan Xian deals with Xie Bi An himself. In the book, Fan Si Zhe and Guo Bao Kun don’t have much involvement or connection. He is instead placed under the watchful eye of Hai Tang Duo Duo for a spell. So there’s no hilariously obvious escape from Fan Si Zhe and Guo Bao Kun. As for Censor Lai, he does NOT pay a visit to Fan Xian. He only has a very small role in the book.