Season 1 – Ep 29
[Karen]
In the last episode, we learned the earth shattering truth of where Fan Xian and his mother came from. Both of them have modern day knowledge from when the world froze over in an ice age. His mother was one of the individuals that woke up from deep sleep and came to this current world of the Qing Kingdom. Meanwhile, Fan Xian is actually an experiment where memory became data and was awoken in a baby. More importantly, is the suitcase that Fan Xian’s mother left him held none other than a sniper rifle. This weapon is exceptionally out of place in this world of Qing Yu Nian but will be a key item all the way into the end game.
In episode 29, Fan Xian doesn’t have too much time to digest all this information. Why? Because he still needs to somehow sneak back into the palace to return the fake key that he didn’t have the opportunity to do last night. Fortunately, he has someone in his life that is able to take him to the palace without any question. That person? His fiancé, Lin Wan’Er.
He sneaks to her residence to discuss this plan. She’s embroidering at the moment and a little surprised at this request but indeed says it is not difficult to go to the palace at all. Fan Xian actually reveals to Wan’Er the reason why he needs to go to the palace and shares that he stole from the palace last night and needs to sneak back to the palace to replace something. Wan’Er is surprised that he told her this but he says he wasn’t going to lie to her, a way to build their relationship. Fan Xian is to pretend to be a eunuch that joins Wan’Er to the palace to visit the Empress Dowager.
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Once in the palace, Wan’Er successfully brings the Empress Dowager out of her palace under the guise of perfuming the rooms to rid the place of insects. This gives Fan Xian the opportunity to sneak in. But while Wan’Er and the Empress Dowager are out in the gardens, Li Yun Rui is taking the time to reassess what happened last night. They think that someone tried to assassinate her and had a team member distract the Eunuch Hong Si Xiang. But, the more Li Yun Rui thinks about it, the more she thinks something is off. Why did it take so long for an assassin to distract Hong Si Xiang while another was trying to assassinate her? She realizes that someone wasn’t trying to kill her, but this person came by chance. She informs Yan Xiao Yi of her suspicions and orders that the rest of the palace spend time assessing whether or not they lost anything.
Yan Xiao Yi also arrives at the Empress Dowager’s residence. He can tell someone is hiding in her bedroom, despite one of the maids saying no one is inside. But he doesn’t have a chance to inspect the rooms before the Empress Dowager returns. She is worried about her secret compartment in her bed and inspects it, but doesn’t find anything amiss. Fortunately, Fan Xian was able to replace the fake key just in the nick of time and he returns to the crowd of eunuchs standing behind Wan’Er.
However, the Princess Royal Li Yun Rui finds this all very confusing. There is someone hiding in the Empress Dowager’s rooms the day after assassins snuck into the palace? And there were assassins that were able to escape from the likes of Hong Si Xiang? The only plausible answer is that the assassins were ordered from none other than the Empress Dowager herself. Looks like Fan Xian is able to sneak under the radar. She has not thought about whether there was someone like Wu Zhu running around.
In any case, no one is any the wiser of Fan Xian’s multiple excursions to the palace. As Fan Xian and Wan’Er head home though, she requests that Fan Xian make her a special poem just for her. He says he’ll need to think about the poem which surprises her. He made more than a hundred classics yesterday, how come when it comes to her, he needs to think about the poems? Turns out, with his drunken recitation of various poems last night, he is now deemed around the capital as the Poet God.
The Overwatch Council is spending quite a bit of time going over the various poems that Fan Xian recited. They’re all wondering where various locales or stories are related to. I find the head of the 8th bureau wondering what the Yellow River is rather hilarious because the Yellow River is one of the most important river systems in all of China. But evidently, this doesn’t exist in the Qing world. Chen Ping Ping is over there doing I guess physical therapy or some type of upper body work out to help keep in shape despite losing the use of his legs and instructs the head of the 8th bureau to publish Fan Xian’s works. They want to ensure that he IS viewed as a poet god. Someone with this type of literary excellence is just what the Qing kingdom needs.
As the public is reading through the compilation of Fan Xian’s works though, the sky is filled with floating papers. On them? Is a detailed account of how the Princess Royal betrayed the Qing kingdom to the northern Qi kingdom and that she had an affair with Zhuang Mo Han. News travels very fast to the Emperor and the Princess Royal as basically everyone in the capital has seen the language written on the paper. The one other person who’s exceptionally upset at seeing the details is Yan Ruo Hai. He is angry that the Princess Royal betrayed his son and got him captured in the Qi Kingdom. He says as much to Zhu Ge and continues to share his displeasure that this may all be a ploy to get his son removed from the picture by none other than Chen Ping Ping in order to bring Fan Xian up the ranks.
Speaking of Chen Ping Ping, he pays Fan Xian a visit at his residence. Fan Xian is over there pleased with himself at spreading all these papers with the help of Wu Zhu across the city. He thinks that no one will be able to confirm that it was Fan Xian who spread these rumors but Chen Ping Ping arrives to throw cold water on him. Chen Ping Ping and the 8th bureau were quickly able to confirm that, based on the paper quality Fan Xian used, the paper came from Fan Si Zhe’s book store. Luckily, Chen Ping Ping is here to help Fan Xian. He advises Fan Xian that he’ll need more evidence to connect the Princess Royal with betraying the country.
That evidence? Will come from Guo You Zhi. During the banquet, his son Guo Bao Kun stated that he was here to watch Fan Xian lose his reputation and be ridiculed in the kingdom. That betrays the fact that he knew something was going to happen, which means that his father, head of the Ministry of Rites was likely the in between between the Princess Royal and Zhuang Mo Han. This is strictly forbidden for the Princess Royal to create a faction and sure enough, Guo You Zhi is immediately captured and sent to prison. His son, Guo Bao Kun, is of course upset that his father is captured but there’s nothing he can do. The episode ends with Guo You Zhi telling his son to keep his distance as a way to protect him. Meanwhile, Li Yun Rui is summoned to the Palace for an interrogation by the Emperor. Fan Xian’s plan of kicking Li Yun Rui out of the palace is now fully underway.
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There’s a bunch of history in this episode, mainly because of all the poems that Wan Er recites as she’s wondering why Fan Xian could create all of these rather melancholic poems even though they’ve only known each other for a short time.
Wan Er recites lines from several poems. I’ll recite the specific lines, and then the full poem where appropriate.
The first one is
鹊桥仙 – Magpie Bridge Immortal
纤云弄巧，飞星传恨，银汉迢迢暗度。金风玉露一相逢，便胜却人间无数。
柔情似水，佳期如梦，忍顾鹊桥归路。两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮
The delicate clouds shift and transform, while the falling stars in the sky delivers the sorrowful longing. Tonight, I quietly cross the boundless and distant silver river of the milky way. I meet my beloved on this crisp autumn evening on the 7th Day of the 7th month. This reunion surpasses countless bonds of couples on earth
Tender affections flow like water. The reunion is just a fleeting dream. Parting, I cannot bear to gaze upon the magpie bridge. If love between us two remains steadfast, we should not covet the fleeting embraces of the day
We talked about this poem slightly in our discussion of Episode 21 of Empresses in the Palace This poem is referencing the famous valentine‘s day story of 牛郎织女。this is one of the most famous love stories in China. Essentially there’s a fairy named 织女， which directly translates to seamstress or weaver, who lives up in the heavens. She secretly comes down to earth where mortals lives and marries 牛郎, or a cow herd.
Their marriage angers the heavenly father and they are punished, separated forever. But, their love is so moving that magpie birds build them a bridge such that the two lovers may meet on the magpie bridge every year 7th day of the 7th Month – or valentines day.
There’s some controversy on why this poem was originally written. Some believe that the Song Dynasty poet 秦观 wrote it in 1097. He met a female courtesan who was from Chang Sha as he was being banished. The poet appreciated her beauty and the two spent several passionate days together. He promised that he would return for her but could not do so. He wrote this poem during the Qi Xi festival in 1097 expressing his love. There’s other theories that he wrote the poem for his wife instead. As I read these theories, I was like…sooo…he had a wife but was writing this love poem about other women? hm….
What’s interesting is that Wan Er recites 金风玉露一相逢，便胜却人间无数。or I meet my beloved on this crisp autumn evening on the 7th Day of the 7th month. This reunion surpasses countless bonds of couples on earth. This isn’t the most popular line. Indeed, The last 2 lines of the poem are much more famous – 两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮 If love between us two remains steadfast, we should not covet the fleeting embraces of the day, which is what was quoted by Zhen Huan.
锦瑟 – ornate Zither
锦瑟无端五十弦，一弦一柱思华年。
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶，望帝春心托杜鹃。
沧海月明珠有泪，蓝田日暖玉生烟。
此情可待成追忆，只是当时已惘然。
Why does this ornate zither have 50 strings? Every string and bridge reminds me of my youth
Zhuang Zhou dreams of turning into a butterfly; The Shu King shares his love with the cuckoo bird
The merpeople shed tears in the moonlight, only in the warm sun shining on lantian can transform the jade to mist
Why do I remember these moments now, because back then my heart was confused.
This poem was written by the poet 李商隐 who lived from 813-858 CE. He was a famed poet and had success in his early years but suffered many hardships in his middle and later years including banishment and the loss of his wife. He most likely wrote this poem in his later years. This is another poem that is unclear as to why the author wrote it. Some believe it’s a love poem to a young maid. Some say it’s a love poem to his deceased wife. Others say it’s about his love for his country. Regardless – there’s no denying the nostalgia felt in this piece.
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雨霖铃 Yǔ Lín Líng·寒蝉凄切 Hán Chán Qī Qiè Rain Bells: The Mournful Cry of Cold Cicadas
寒蝉凄切，对长亭晚，骤雨初歇。都门帐饮无绪，留恋处，兰舟催发。执手相看泪眼，竟无语凝噎。念去去，千里烟波，暮霭沉沉楚天阔。
多情自古伤离别，更那堪冷落清秋节！今宵酒醒何处？杨柳岸，晓风残月。此去经年，应是良辰好景虚设。便纵有千种风情，更与何人说
The autumn cicadas cry with much sorrow and urgency, facing the long pavilion, just as the heavy rain stops in the evening. A farewell banquet is held outside the Capital but I am in no mood to drink. I linger but the boat is departing. Holding hands with tearful gazes, we cannot say anything to each other. Thinking about leaving, thousands of miles away, the foggy sky of the land stretches endlessly
Since ancient times, the moment of parting has been the most heart wrenching for lovers. It’s even worse in this cold autumn. Who knows where I’ll wake from my drunken stupor. Probably along the banks of the willows, facing the harsh morning wind and the fading moon of dawn. This separation will last years. Lovers cannot be together. I can foresee the beautiful nights in the future will mean nothing to me. With my tender affections, to whom can I confide in?
This is another poem about parting by Sony Dynasty poet 柳永 born around 984. After years of trying, he finally passed his imperial entrance exams in 1034, He pushed for several reforms in his roughly 20 years in office but met much resistance. During his time in the capital, He wrote some poems that angered the Emperor. Disheartened, he wasted away in the brothels for a time. As he was leaving to head south away from the capital, he wrote this poem for a past lover.
江城子 – River City Poem – Remembering a Dream on the Night of 1075
十年生死两茫茫。不思量，自难忘。千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。纵使相逢应不识，尘满面，鬓如霜。
夜来幽梦忽还乡。小轩窗，正梳妆。相顾无言，惟有泪千行。料得年年肠断处，明月夜，短松冈。
You and I, one alive, one dead, have been apart for 10 years. I miss you but I am lost that I cannot see you again. I do not want to dwell on memories but I cannot let go. Your grave lies a thousand miles away so I cannot tell you about the anguish in my heart. Even if we were reunited, you probably would not recognize me. Because of my travels, I have become old and gray. In the evening, I dreamed of returning to our hometown, watching you comb your hair in front of the windows. We gaze at each other silently, thousands of words not knowing what to say. Only silent tears fall. I imagine your small grave with the moon shining brightly on the small pine tree, is where you also break your heart from longing each year.
This is a funeral lament that the Song Dynasty poet Su Zhi wrote for his wife 王弗. They married when he was 19 and she was 16. They had a happy marriage but she died when she was only 27. This was a huge blow to Su Shi as is evident by this poem that he wrote ten years after her death.
Because this is very much a funeral poem, no wonder Wan’er questions Fan Xian about who this is about because i mean, the person died for at least 10 years, haha.