Season 1 – Ep 30

 

[Karen]
In the last episode, the Princess Royal’s involvement in betraying the Qing kingdom in order to bring down Fan Xian has come to light. Remember, in the background, the Princess Royal does NOT want Fan Xian to gain power over the Royal Treasury so she is doing this all to ruin Fan Xian and potentially get him killed. Guo You Zhi, the head of the ministry of rites is imprisoned for helping the Princess Royal since they are not allowed to create such factions. Guo Bao Kun, Guo You Zhi’s son pleads with the guards to save his father and then also runs to plead with Fan Xian. Unfortunately, there’s nothing Fan Xian can do because Guo You Zhi did indeed break the law.

Meanwhile, the Princess Royal is summoned to the Emperor’s study along with Chen Ping Ping. It is a tense exchange where she is holding back tears as she begrudgingly offers back power over the Royal Treasury. However, after the Emperor coughs as a signal, Chen Ping Ping wheels forward to ask about the Princess Royal betraying the country, she adamantly denies it. She refuses to acknowledge that SHE was the one to share Yan Bing Yun’s identity to the Qi Kingdom and thereby getting him captured. Instead, she skillfully deflects the accusation over to Fan Xian. From her intel, she knows that Fan Xian met Yan Bing Yun while he was en route to the Qi Kingdom. Therefore, it’s just as plausible that Fan Xian was the one to betray the whereabouts and identity of Yan Bing Yun to the Qi Kingdom. When the Emperor hears this, he questions Chen Ping Ping on its veracity. Chen Ping Ping can only say he’ll head back to confirm. This leaves the Princess Royal smirking because she is able to say that if she has suspicion on betraying the country, Fan Xian does too. The Emperor leaves and the Princess Royal wheels Chen Ping Ping out of the study, unable to hide her glee. On Chen Ping Ping’s part, his entire stature is cold as ice.

[Cathy]
Wang Qi Nian informs Fan Xian of this twist. He is now just as suspicious as the Princess Royal which does not bode well for him. He heads to meet Chen Ping Ping after a summons and initially was rather dejected about his plan of kicking the Princess Royal out of the palace failing. However, Chen Ping Ping is less worried. He is actually rather at ease in his rooms and tells Fan Xian to drink tea. Why? Because the Princess Royal made a fatal mistake. She revealed to the Emperor and to Chen Ping Ping in their little exchange earlier that she has intel in the top secret confines of the Overwatch Council. That entity is solely under the Emperor’s direct control. The fact that she knew this info means that she is getting too connected with someone or with certain people in the Overwatch Council. His power is being diluted. The Emperor will not allow anyone to test his power or authority. Betraying the country? Eh, that’s not THAT bad for a Princess Royal. But reaching over to test the Emperor’s power? That is taboo. Something the Emperor cannot allow. Not only that, the Overwatch Council has a traitor. Someone willing to report to the Princess Royal. Next stop for the group? Finding that snitch.

[Karen]
Prime suspect number 1 is Yan Ruo Hai. We see Shadow Master Ying Zi talk to him in private and next thing we know, Yan Ruo Hai is off to speak with Zhu Ge. He doesn’t hide the fact that he was involved with assassinating Chen Ping Ping and he asks Zhu Ge for some men. He needs men to help receive a member of the Qi Kingdom envoy who can be a witness to the fact that the Princess Royal and Zhuang Mo Han were sharing secrets. Yan Ruo Hai does not trust Chen Ping Ping anymore because Chen Ping Ping is putting too much effort in Fan Xian and this likely caused his son Yan Bing Yun to be captured. He wants to borrow some men from Zhu Ge in order to secure this witness and implicate the Princess Royal for her traitorous actions.

Zhu Ge takes a moment to consider this request, but not before Yan Ruo Hai implores him and states that Zhu Ge is the only one he trusts now. Zhu Ge agrees and lets him borrow 3 men. Shortly after we see Yan Ruo Hai and the three men head to a bamboo forest to secure the witness. Once the witness, who is bound and gagged, is handed off, Yan Ruo Hai is shocked to find that the 3 men quickly kill the witness instead of listen to his orders of bringing the witness back to the capital. In a split second, more men arrive and Yan Ruo Hai is surrounded and none other than Zhu Ge arrives.

[Cathy]
Yan Ruo Hai is surprised at this turn of events as it seems like Zhu Ge is intent on killing him. Yan Ruo Hai pushes back on whether Zhu Ge realizes this might be Chen Ping PIng’s plot to lure him out. Zhu Ge, to his credit, shares that he sent out all of his spies to check the various top fighters in the Overwatch Council. No one has left the premises, not even Shadow Master. He personally confirmed this before leaving to chase after Yan Ruo Hai. As for the Black Knights? They are also under his scrutiny. Not a single soldier has left the Capital since Chen Ping PIng returned to the capital. No one is coming to save Yan Ruo Hai. Yan Ruo Hai is confused. Why on earth would Zhu Ge come forth to stop him? All he wants to do is secure a witness to confirm that the Princess Royal was a traitor. Then it dawned on him. Zhu Ge is the Princess Royal’s spy in the Overwatch Council. He is here to kill Yan Ruo Hai only to protect the Princess Royal. Plot Twiiist!!! Be honest, the first time you watched this scene, did you see it coming? I definitely did not.

[Karen]
Zhu Ge is ready to silence Yan Ruo Hai who desperately cries out, Hurry Up and come out. If you don’t, I’ll ACTUALLY DIE! I actually laughed there because who shows up afterwards? Fan Xian, wheeling none other than Chen Ping Ping. With a wave of his hand following his icy cold stare, Chen Ping Ping directs his black knights to dispatch Zhu Ge’s men. A flurry of arrows shoot from all directions and easily kill Zhu Ge’s allies, leaving Zhu Ge alone and shocked at this turn of events.

He cannot understand how these Black Knights arrived. He knows of their movements every day and no soldier left their barracks in the city. Chen Ping Ping reveals that this group of men were stationed outside the city all the way back when they were capturing Si Li Li. He left a specific group of men outside of the city precisely for this moment. The moment Teng Zi Jing was sent with a fake secret order from the Overwatch Council to kill Fan Xian, he knew there must be someone in the palace issuing these orders. But not only that, Chen Ping Ping knew there must be a traitor in the Overwatch Council helping this person in the palace. Everything that’s happened lately was all a plot to lure out the traitor. As for Yan Ruo Hai’s supposed anger towards Chen Ping Ping? All similarly a ruse, done in order to draw out who in the Overwatch Council is opposed to Chen Ping Ping.

[Cathy]
With the facade over and clearly having lost, Zhu Ge doesn’t mind responding to Yan Ruo Hai’s question of why he decided to turn to the Princess Royal. His response is actually really interesting. Zhu Ge doesn’t think he’s necessarily the bad guy which makes him a good antagonist. He cares for the Overwatch Council but recognizes that it has unparalleled and unchecked power. What happens if the person leading the Overwatch Council decides to rebel? Who will be able to stop it? He is worried that one day, the Overwatch Council will go rogue on its own and no one or no entity will be able to stop it. Therefore, there needs to be someone who restrains the beast. That person must be in the imperial family and the Princess Royal. She is not of blood relation and she is a woman. Her life or death can be decided by the Emperor with one order. She is the safest person to give the power of the Overwatch Council to. Uhh Sexist much? He cannot give the power over to the likes of the Crown Prince for that could have similarly disastrous consequences.

[Karen]
What’s fascinating about Zhu Ge is that in his mind, he is doing all of this for the greater good of the Qing kingdom. He thinks he is saving the Qing Kingdom from the Overwatch Council and ensuring the Kingdom’s longevity. As he says, he doesn’t care about the Princess Royal’s character, just her status to help protect the Qing kingdom. He is even willing to commit suicide in order to prevent the truth about his interactions with the Princess Royal from being revealed to the Emperor, thereby protecting the Princess Royal again. Unfortunately for him, the Eunuch Hong arrives as he overheard the entire exchange. He will report every last word to the Emperor. But even as Hong Si Xiang hears everything, Zhu Ge is still adamant in dying. He knows he lost and Chen Ping Ping even allows this to happen. Zhu Ge is exceptionally proud. He will not want to be subject to interrogation. With that, Zhu Ge ends his life. He has no regrets for what he’s done because everything is all for the Qing kingdom.

In the Palace, the Princess Royal was originally still rather pleased with herself. She thought that Yan Ruo Hai would be finished off by Zhu Ge. To her credit, she quickly realized the moment that Hong Si Xiang was not in the palace that SHE was the one likely tricked. The comet that is falling? It’s the death of Zhu Ge that it’s reflecting. Not Yan Ruo Hai.

The episode ends with the Princess Royal being summoned once again to the palace. She is now in big trouble and we shall see if Fan Xian steps in to request for leniency on her behalf.
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[Cathy]
This episode was really plot heavy so not much history but there’s one line that the Princess Royal references when she believes she’s on the cusp of squashing Fan Xian. The line she quotes is 高处不胜寒. This is one of the poems that Fan Xian “creates” on the spot during the banquet in episode 27.

I’ll do a quick refresher on the poem.

水调歌头

【宋】苏轼

明月几时有？把酒问青天。 不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间。

When did the beautiful moon appear? I raise my glass to ask the heavens. At the palaces in the sky, what month and year is tonight?

I want to ride a wind to the heavens, but am afraid that in the beautiful jade tower, I cannot handle the frost of sky. At this moment under the moonlight, I can enjoy my dancing shadow. How can the heavens be better than the earth?

This poem was written by famous Song dynasty author Su Shi during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1076. The topic of the poem was on the moon, and in remembrance of his younger brother, who he had not seen in over 7 years, wrote this poem. It focuses on his love for humans and life but also heavily features partings and reunions.

You’ll notice that the poem is about parting but the Princess Royal interprets 高处不胜寒 as – I alone am at the zenith without friends. It feels as though I might be pulled from the top.

The Crown Princess relishes this – she’s fine without friends as long as she has the power. There’s also another interpretation of the phrase, typically of someone who has mastered a skill and has found no match. The person becomes more isolated, feels lonely, and cold.

This phrase of 高处不胜寒 is used pretty regularly so much so that I honestly forgot it came from this original poem. Authors and screenwriters typically have extremely power hermits say this phrase to indicate that they have tired of the world.

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Book difference

The drama does an excellent job expanding the character of Zhu Ge and giving us the red herring in the form of Yan Ruo Hai. There’s very little written in the book about Zhu Ge. Chen Ping Ping is investigating who spread all of the flyers around the city and had all of the Directors of the 8 bureaus in attendance. Chen Ping Ping just quietly stares at Zhu Ge until Zhu Get comes to the realization that he’s the primary suspect as a traitor