Season 1 – Ep 31

 

[Karen]
In the last episode, we found out that, despite the drama’s best efforts in misleading us, Zhu Ge was the spy in the Overwatch Council working for the Princess Royal, not Yan Ruo Hai. Zhu Ge had set a trap to rid Yan Ruo Hai before he could implicate the princess royal but this was actually a trap set by Chen Ping Ping instead. Chen Ping Ping, Fan Xian, his black knights and the eunuch Hong Si Xiang were all present to hear Zhu Ge confess his betrayal. He ended his life knowing he would likely be tortured for information and wanted to die with dignity.

This information travels fast back to the Emperor via Hong Si Xiang. The Princess Royal’s involvement in the Overwatch Council oversteps the Emperor’s boundaries on absolute authority which is something he cannot allow. It is night time and she is now kneeling outside of his study, awaiting judgement.

Meanwhile, in the Fan manor, Fan Xian’s father pulls Fan Xian to his study. He actually suggests that Fan Xian should go to the palace to request for forgiveness on the Princess Royal’s behalf. After all, she is his fiancé’s mother. Plus, she has many loyal to her in the capital. It’s better to let things go so that his future aspirations at court go more smoothly. If he ultimately seals the Princess Royal’s fate, will this cause problems with his relationship with Wan’er in the future.

Fan Xian is shaken by this suggestion and heads out to clear his head.

[Cathy]
At the palace, one person is very eager to help save the Princess Royal’s life and that is oddly, well not so oddly, the Crown Prince. He requests an audience with the Emperor to beg for leniency but the Emperor is waiting for someone else. That person? Fan Xian, who actually shows up momentarily. Are we getting hints of favoritism here? FanXian is more important than the Crown Prince.

But, in another surprising twist, Fan Xian ultimately decides to NOT request leniency for Li Yun Rui. This response actually pleases the Emperor. He thinks this is the right choice because someone with as much power as Fan Xian will receive, he must be alone at the top. Fan Xian, meanwhile, simply is acting with his heart. If he requests for leniency, that will undermine Teng Zi Jing’s value in life. People like the Princess Royal and the Emperor don’t think Teng Zi Jing is worth anything. He’s just a bodyguard. But Fan Xian wants to ensure Teng Zi Jing’s life is avenged since the Princess Royal caused his death. In this act, he is saying that Teng Zi Jing’s life is just as important as any other. He is not willing to step back for his personal gain while undermining the justice Teng Zi Jing deserves. That brings forth the strong view of equality and righteousness sorely lacking in this time period.

[Karen]
The Emperor is disappointed with this response because he thinks Fan Xian is too emotional but doesn’t comment further. No one else will ask for leniency so it’s time to offer his judgement. The Princess Royal is to leave the capital and head back to her vassal land holdings of Xin Yang.

The Princess Royal tears up when she walks out, following this verdict.

—

As the Princess Royal is packing up, the rest of her palace is exceptionally empty. All the maids are seeking employment elsewhere. Wan’Er, despite her frail health, arrives to speak with her mother. This is a very interesting conversation, one that i quite like because on one side, we see how actually crazy the Princess Royal is and how terrible a mother is, and the other, we see how independent Wan’Er is.

The Princess Royal thinks she is protecting Wan’Er by staying far away from Wan’Er all throughout her upbringing so that Wan’Er doesn’t get implicated in any of the actions her mother is involved in. Any other person might think, ok wow, she IS thinking of me despite not having a maternal relationship with her. Wan’er never really saw her mother growing up and this is the reason why her mother gives. But Wan’er asks the right question. Why can’t you NOT do those things for me. So that I don’t have to worry about the terrible things you’ve done or worry about being implicated.

[Cathy]
The Princess Royal also says that BECAUSE Wan’er loves Fan Xian, she has to kill him. The logic there being that Fan Xian is here in the capital and will be embroiled in a lot of turmoil. He will likely not have a great fate which is why the Princess Royal must kill him to protect Wan’Er from getting hurt. Once again, what kind of logic is that? The one thing that your daughter likes, you need to destroy? Again, someone else who can’t think independently might have backed off here and ended the engagement with Fan Xian but Wan’er can see who truly was good and caring to her. It is Fan Xian, not her mother. Despite her saying that she did all this to help Wan’Er, most of these actions were done because of her own ambitions for power.

The last question that Wan’Er asks her mother is exceptionally pointed, is what man ultimately caused you to sacrifice so much. The words that Li Yun Rui tried to impart on Wan’Er are turned back against her. She doesn’t answer because she knows she gave too much for this man and it is unreciprocated. Wan’Er leaves as Li Yun Rui cries her sadness. It is the one time we see true vulnerability from her.

[Karen]
In the end, the Princess Royal was trying to manipulate Wan’Er to listen to her and weaken Fan Xian. I do think the Princess Royal cares for Wan’Er but she definitely puts Wan’Er below her ambitions. There’s only a small sliver of love for Wan’er while she loves herself and power more. She is someone I think would benefit from therapy because she has quite the twisted sense of reality. But it really is this crazy persona that makes her so interesting. Li Yun Rui is always so calm and soft spoken but she emanates something writhing just beneath the surface.

The next day, Li Yun Rui heads out of the capital. Fan Xian and the Crown Prince see her off. The Princess Royal and Fan Xian have a rather fake pleasant exchange where while the words were said in a pleasant manner, the meanings underneath were all meant to be daggers. The Princess Royal leaves with one ominous threat “I left you a gift”. She doesn’t elaborate before heading off.

[Cathy]
This is the last time we see the Princess Royal in the drama this season. Funnily enough, the actress for the Princess Royal, Li Xiao Ran, has been making waves with her recent appearance in the reality show 一路繁花 The Blooming Journey and not in a positive way. This is essentially Divas Hit the Road but with many ladies in their 60s and 70s. Li Xiao Ran is the youngest woman, being in her late 40s. She looks SO good for her age, but also she’s revealed to be quite a toxic mean girl. Viewers were hoping that she would be a little bit like her character of the Princess Royal and this is meant positively. Like she should be cunning and know how to manage the older women. Instead, she’s over there bullying the other women. It has not been great.

–

[Karen]
The rest of the episode consists of Fan Xian meeting his future Father in Law, Chancellor Lin. He is not perturbed whatsoever that the Princess Royal left the capital. Instead, he is there to give guidance to Fan Xian. There’s been many voices at court hollering about how Fan Xian is likely the traitor that betrayed Yan Bing Yun’s whereabouts to the Qi Kingdom. With all this noise, the Chancellor thinks that Fan Xian will be summoned to the palace shortly. Once there, the Emperor will likely request Fan Xian do…something. The chancellor warns Fan Xian to not accept anything the emperor asks for. He is able to refuse. Once he does so, Fan Xian and Wan’er will marry.

And what happens? A summons from the palace arrives. We’ll see what happens next episode for that very tense meeting.

[Cathy]
There isn’t much history in this episode as we briefly say goodbye to the Princess Royal so let’s talk about the Princess Royal and her connections.

In the book the Princess Royal 李云睿 was known as the most beautiful woman in the Qing Kingdom. She is revealed to be a cunning and ruthless woman who will not hesitate in resorting to murder to get her way. From a historical perspective, she has a lot of similarities to Princess Tai Ping who was the only surviving daughter of Emperor Tang Gao Zong and then Empress Wu Zhao and lived from around 665 to 713. She was a favored princess, and due to the influence of her powerful mother, was very involved in politics throughout her life. I won’t go too into details about her life as there are plenty of dramas and books about her. I put the Princess Royal of Joy of Life to have similarities with Princess Tai Ping because 1) they’re both last name Li, 2) the Crown Prince’s name is 李成乾 who is from the Tang Dynasty, just a generation older than Princess Tai Ping, and 3) the Princess Royal’s one-time beau Lin Ruo Fu is also based off of a Tang Dynasty character. That character is none other than 李林甫, the powerful chancellor from Emperor Tang Xuan Zong’s reign and a major antagonist in our previous drama The Longest Day in Chang An.

[Karen]
林若甫 – the cunning chancellor in Joy of Life sounds a lot like 李林甫, the real life Chancellor during the Tang Dynasty. They were both all powerful for a time but book Lin Ruo Fu has the foresight to give up power at a certain time.

There’s one phrase that I do want to highlight when Fan Xian gives the Princess Royal a final sendoff. He says – I’m here to see you “上路”. This when translated directly simply means “on the road”. However, this does have a more sinister connotation. In Chinese – 上路 also means to go to the next life and you’ll hear it a lot when eunuchs are sent to kill off a concubine. At this moment, I am 60% sure that Fan Xian only meant this innocently BUT because he was just expressing how much he wanted her to be literally kicked out of the city, I can’t help but believe that he also wants her inevitably killed.

–
[Cathy]
Book differences

So the drama deviates heavily from the book in this episode in a good way. In the book, the Emperor is angered by rumors that Fan Xian spreads about the Princess Royal, and ships the Princess Royal off to her holdings of 信阳 Xin Yang. She’s basically unceremoniously tossed out as an afterthought. Fan Xian just watches coldly from the sidelines.

There’s no interaction between Fan Xian and the Princess Royal or even between Lin Wan Er and her mother. The drama does a much better job in giving Wan Er more agency and fleshing out her relationship with her mother because we really don’t get any of that in the book. At least we got this scene in the drama. Otherwise, we just get the Princess Royal as a crazy woman with barely any redeeming qualities.