Episode 3
So what next – well let’s start off with a general recap. This episode is pretty simple. We follow how the 4 new ladies (and other characters) fare in the palace. Basically the ladies are brought to the palace and are settling in. 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) is placed at 常熙堂 Cheng Xi Tang。She has maids that she brought with her and can pay tips to the eunuch. 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) is by herself and does not give any money. What’s worse, she’s stuck sharing a palace with the haughty 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun)。
甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) is placed, by the grace of a meddling 华妃 (Hua Fei), to smaller and farther quarters within the palace. She now lives in 碎玉轩 (Sui Yu Xuan). She shares the space with a younger girl 淳常在, who is not even 14, who was also selected as a concubine. Blegh – Doesn’t that just make your skin crawl?
They kind of just gloss over the fact that she’s so young and is supposed to be, you know, a woman for the emperor.
Anyways, the girl is very cute, bubbly and loves to eat desserts.
甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) also meets her servants. Her main maid, 瑾汐 (Jin XI), who previously attended on former concubines, is quite kind to 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan), gives her pointers on things here and there. The head eunuch is a man named 康陆海 (Kang Lu Hai), who seems jovial enough。甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) points out that she wants loyalty and solidifies it with giving 康陆海 (Kang Lu Hai) a large sum of money.
(Cathy)
As everyone is settling in, we see that there are plenty of gifts being bestowed upon the various new ladies including 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan)，夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang). These gifts, which include lavish jewels and fabrics, are from 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) and 华妃 (Hua Fei) as they begin to create alliance within the palace. 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) accepts them but does not use them, instead she tells her servants to document them and to put them in storage. She knows exactly what 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) and 华妃 (Hua Fei) are doing and tells her servants to keep quiet.
I feel bad for 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) because she’is not given many gifts since her family has no connections or power. She isn’t a threat at all to anyone but also can’t be of help. She has no money either. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) who lives in the same palace as her, sees this and does not hesitate to make fun of her for it. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) also makes it known that she prefers gifts from 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) rather than 华妃 (Hua Fei). She basically shouts it from her door. Bad mistake…
To make herself feel better, 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) goes to find 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) who are at 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan)’s palace. Upon hearing about 安陵容 (An Ling Rong)’s situation, 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) and 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) give her some of the gifts that they received and 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) is very grateful. Here though, the class difference is very evident in their interactions. 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) has no support, no money, and received no gifts. Despite being good “friends”, there is always going to be that distinction between her and the other two ladies.
(Karen)
A few days later, the entire 后宫 (Hou Gong, Palace Harem) is presented to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) in their first official 请安, or greeting. 华妃 (Hua Fei), as is her MO, asserts her dominance over all of the ladies. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) is asked to speak and she again makes it known that her clothes are from 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress), much to the annoyance of 华妃 (Hua Fei).
沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) gets into a bit of trouble with 华妃 (Hua Fei) and is bailed out by 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan). When everyone is dismissed to leave, 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) does not hesitate to follow 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan)，沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang), and 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) out and continues to boast.
华妃 (Hua Fei) is in the background hearing this conversation. Once she’s had enough, she steps in…and… we’ll discuss this scene.
After the encounter with 华妃 (Hua Fei), 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan)，沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang), and 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) are shell shocked by what they just experienced. They stumble to a remote corner of the palace. They don’t have time to recover before bumping into some eunuchs running away from something. 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) goes to investigate. She finds 福子 (Fu Zi)’s body in a well. The same girl,that was gifted to 华妃 (Hua Fei). Yep, she’s 100% dead.
(Cathy)
The news of 福子 (Fu Zi)’s death travels quickly to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) and she’s extremely angry. Verbal jabs, she can handle, but to kill a servant that she sent, that is inexcusable. Ok you might think, why do I care about this maid right now but it’ll pay off in the next episode.
甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) returns to her quarters 碎玉轩 (Sui Yu Xuan), still in a daze. Her servants are extremely excited to tell her the news that the new concubines will be able to “serve” the emperor starting tomorrow night!
They all tell her she’s got to be the first one!
(Karen)
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress)’s head eunuch, 江福海 (Jiang Fu Hai)， goes to 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s palace, ready to interrogate her about the whereabouts of 福子 (Fu Zi). BUT 华妃 (Hua Fei) turns the tables and asks HIM where she went. She simply says that she doesn’t know where she is. She acts shocked when 江福海 (Jiang Fu Hai) tells her the news that 福子 (Fu Zi) is dead.
And that’s the end of the episode!
(Cathy)
So, we know that the ladies are now in the palace and getting their first taste of what life will be like for the rest of their lives. I really like this scene because
You see the difference between 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) and 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang). 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) are more well versed on how to play the rules. They constantly are “tipping” the eunuchs around them. 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) doesn’t have that type of money and as a result is left to fend for herself.
You also see that eyes and ears are everywhere in the Forbidden Palace. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) makes herself an easy target for 华妃 (Hua Fei) because she’s literally shouting her preference of 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) to everyone。
(PAUSE)
The big scene that we want to discuss revolves around the official 请安 or greeting. This is the first time we see the new ladies meet the other concubines. Let’s just say…this 请安 is a life or death situation.
We’ll start with 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) getting ready in the morning. One of the new maids suggest that she dresses lavishly for the event, but 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) requests for the exact opposite. She says to dress and style normally.
An official greeting is a big deal. It’s the first impression that you make on the other concubines in the 后宫 (Hou Gong, Palace Harem)。Everyone is watching you so you have to think about what type of impression you make. I don’t think zhen huan knows that she’s favored by the emperor but she’s smart in not to show off too much.
(Karen)
At 景仁宫, the new concubines present themselves to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). 华妃 (Hua Fei) as usual is still not there. She saunters in a little bit later.
(Cathy)
When she does, everyone turns around to greet 华妃 (Hua Fei). There’s a funny bug in this scene, you’ll notice 曹贵人 on the top right turning around to see where 华妃 (Hua Fei) is during her curtsey. Haha, she doesn’t know when to get up.
(Karen)
I swear, every single time we have a 请安, drama happens.
(Cathy)
Well to be fair, this is the only time the ladies all have to be at one place at the same time. When else are they going to start showing off?
Well 华妃 (Hua Fei) sits down and 齐妃 (Qi fei) asks, “You woke up so late, are you feeling unwell?”.
(Karen)
I’m watching this and I don’t know why 齐妃 (Qi fei) even does this and provokes 华妃 (Hua Fei)? She never wins against 华妃 (Hua Fei)。
华妃 (Hua Fei) responds in the most 华妃 (Hua Fei) way and says, “皇上 (The Emperor) stayed up late reading documents so I stayed up late with him. This morning he told me to sleep in.” All of the other concubines lower their eyes because she’s boasting that 皇上 (The Emperor) was with her. 华妃 (Hua Fei) then goes on to say “皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress)，you aren’t mad are you?”
(Cathy)
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) really is the only one that can handle this situation. Well of course she can’t say, yes I’m mad. She responds “well today’s the first time we meet the new concubines. We have new sisters here, they can keep us company”. This is a subtle jab reminding 华妃 (Hua Fei) that even though you are the favorite, these new ladies might take that from you.
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) being 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun), actually says out loud to the girl next to her, “Who is 华妃 (Hua Fei) showing off to?” and of course 华妃 (Hua Fei) hear’s this. 华妃 (Hua Fei) gives 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) a dirty look.
It’s time for the formal greeting, with the 3 kneels from the ladies.
(Karen)
Let me explain. All of the new ladies are presented to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). They conduct what is called 三跪九叩. The translation is 3 kneels and 9 bows (or kowtow). Basically, you get on your knees, kowtow 3 times, stand up, and do that 2 more times total. This is one of the most formal greetings you can do.
In this drama, however, the women kneel, but don’t bow. Instead, they raise their right hand up to their temple three times. Apparently, this is done to substitute the bowing because back then, there was no hairspray but the concubines had hair piled high on the tops of their heads in elaborate styles. So…. what could happen when you kowtow with that elaborate hair? It falls out. Having a bad/messy appearance is another sign of disrespect so, this was the compromise for the concubines. It was a more practical matter to raise your hand up to your temple than to bow so many times and risk your hair falling out.
At least, this is what I read from an interview with the cultural etiquette instructor for the drama, who incidentally is also playing the imperial doctor, 温实初 (Wen Shi Chu)。
(Cathy)
Look at the seated concubines in the background when 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) and them are doing the formal greeting. Everyone’s yawning, looking away, whatever else. It’s quite funny. I’m not even talking about the scene where it specifically pans to them, but literally as they are performing the ritual.
The bloopers of this scene are quite hilarious because they kept having trouble coordinating everyone to have the same timing for kneeling and the hand gestures.
(Karen)
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) allows them to stand up and tells the new concubines to meet the other consorts.
The new concubines greet 华妃 (Hua Fei) with a curtsey. She’s gonna show them who’s boss! Yay!
华妃 (Hua Fei) does NOT tell them to stand up, so they are still in their curtseys. Generally, once someone greets you, you allow them to get up immediately, as the 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) did earlier. 华妃 (Hua Fei) does not.
She instead has a conversation with 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) and says, “The jade that the Imperial Household Department sent this year isn’t very good. They aren’t very clear. It’s harder to get good jade anymore.” She’s ignoring the other women on purpose.
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) doesn’t even miss a beat and responds “华妃 (Hua Fei), at your age, you don’t need jade. So the ones that the Imperial Household Department sends you will be newer jade. Besides, with someone like you, where else are you going to get better jade?”
华妃 (Hua Fei) seizes the opportunity to respond “Of course you’re right, jade is a bit old for me. I don’t deserve to wear it. 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress), if you don’t think it’s beneath you. I’d like to give you my pair of earrings.”
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) does not take the insult. She says “I just received a set of Eastern Pearls, that I had made into earrings. If I accept your earrings, wouldn’t that be too extravagant? 皇上 (The Emperor) would get mad.” She then gently reminds 华妃 (Hua Fei) that the new concubines are still kneeling and only then does 华妃 (Hua Fei) tell them to get up.
(Cathy)
Ok let’s really dissect what just happened here. 华妃 (Hua Fei) compares the new ladies to the jade, saying that they aren’t very good. 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) responds by saying of course they can’t compare to you. 华妃 (Hua Fei) then takes the comment as another comparison on jade itself. Jade is usually worn on older ladies and makes the jab to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) saying that she’ll gift them to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) since she’s older and deserves them, 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) does not accept her gift but instead mentions Eastern Pearls. She won’t take jade because of them. This may not seem like much, pearls, what’s the big deal?
Well Eastern Pearls are actually very valuable. They are difficult to find, highly regulated on where they can be picked, and only sent to the royal court. Certain Eastern Pearls are restricted so that only the Emperor, Empress, and Empress Dowager can wear them. Even with 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s wealth, she cannot wear the Eastern Pearls. 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) won’t stoop down to wear jade if she has the Eastern Pearls. If you look at 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress)’s earrings in this scene, she does seem to be wearing pearls, whereas 华妃 (Hua Fei) is wearing jade.
I will have to give my props to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). She knows she can’t compete with 华妃 (Hua Fei) on certain things so she responds in the way she can, with power bestowed upon her by rank and title. Things that 华妃 (Hua Fei) no matter how much favoritism she has, cannot have.
(Karen)
华妃 (Hua Fei), annoyed, now directs her ire to 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun). She asks who it is and 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) greets her. She’s brash, and actually looks at 华妃 (Hua Fei) straight in the face. Notice 颂芝 (Song Zhi) in the background chuckling? She’s laughing at her.
华妃 (Hua Fei) comments on 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun)’s appearance. The fabric must be very expensive! She responds yes, this was a gift from 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress)! I wore it specifically for today! 华妃 (Hua Fei) says at least you are a grateful person and 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) gives her thanks. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) is such a dumb girl. She doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong and gained the favor of the Empress. You haven’t even established yourself and you are now openly flaunting your allegiance to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress)! This is a sure way to make enemies. Are you sure 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) will have your back?
(Cathy)
华妃 (Hua Fei) next turns on 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) and 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan). She asks for them and they greet her. Notice, they don’t look directly at her. Their eyes stay down. 华妃 (Hua Fei) treats them much more seriously. They are legitimate threats. 华妃 (Hua Fei) comments on the simplicity of 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan)’s attire. If 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) wore something extravagant, similar to 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun), she wouldn’t be left off the hook so easily and would have most definitely been criticized for flaunting her wealth and interest from the emperor. 华妃 (Hua Fei) continues to say “皇上 (The Emperor) has an eye for selecting beauties”. This puts both 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) AND 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) at the disadvantage. Now the other concubines know exactly who to target.
(Cathy)
Now 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) tries to appease the situation. She comments on 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s beauty saying that she’s the true beauty of the palace, we are only fireflies, how can we compete? Her choice of words is terrible because she uses the idiom 国色天香 Guo Se Tian Xiang to describe 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s beauty and 华妃 (Hua Fei) immediately latches on this and uses this as ammunition.
(Karen)
What’s the big deal? 国色天香 is an idiom used to describe a stunningly beautiful woman. The direct translation is “National Beauty, Heavenly Fragrance”. This describes a peony flower and who does the peony flower represent? As the National Beauty, it is the EMPRESS!
沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) just inadvertently used a phrase reserved for 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) on 华妃 (Hua Fei). This could be disastrous. 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress), if she wanted to, could punish her for it. 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) does not have a response and it looks like she’s in deep trouble. 华妃 (Hua Fei) has landed a blow.
(Karen)
甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) swoops in and saves the day and says “皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) rules over us like the moon shines brightly over the earth. 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s stunning beauty is like a shining pearl. We cannot compete” 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) in quick succession uses 4 idioms. 母仪天下，明月光辉 Mu Yi TIan Xia, Ming Yue Guang Hui to describe 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). 母仪天下 is the phrase to describe 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) as it literally means, being the mother of the empire. She still uses the same 国色天香 Guo Se Tian Xiang for 华妃 (Hua Fei)but says that it’s like 明珠璀璨 Ming Zhu Cui Can (a flashing pearl)。This doesn’t quite elevate her to the status of Empress and the use of 母仪天下 trumps everything else. This gets 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) out of her bind and she’s grateful for it.
(Cathy)
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) is impressed. 华妃 (Hua Fei) is too but not in a good way. 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) just exposed herself as a quick thinker and one who is educated enough to keep up with 华妃 (Hua Fei). This is not the type of attention she wanted. At least 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) has the comment sense to NOT look up during the exchange.
皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) wraps up the proceedings. Reminding the ladies to focus on having children, not get into squabbles of jealousy, and to support each other. Haha, that’s not happening.
(Karen)
甄嬛 (Zhen Huan)，沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang)，and 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) leave together and right outside, 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) catches up to congratulate 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) on being able to cater to both 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) and 华妃 (Hua Fei). She insults 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) some more, asking 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) and 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) why they even bother giving stuff to the servants.
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) does not understand the whole value of keeping your mouth shut in the Forbidden Palace. Anyone could be listening! Of course, who is? 华妃 (Hua Fei) and her entourage walk out of 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress)’s palace to this scene and hears everything but the other ladies don’t notice.
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) is still going on and on “saying my family doesn’t need this stuff. 沈贵人 sure knows how to bribe people”. 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) gets mad and wants to say something but is stopped by 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang)。
(Cathy)
You… can’t bring up your family in any situation like this. There will always be someone with a more powerful family. She may have been a big fish in a smaller pond, but now she’s just a minnow in the 后宫 (Hou Gong, Palace Harem)。Indeed, 颂芝 (Song Zhi), 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s servant, sneers to say the 夏 family can’t even lift a shoe compared to us.
(Karen)
I don’t know what happens with 安陵容 (An Ling Rong), maybe it’s because she’s with her friends, but she finally grows a backbone and initiates a conversation. This part is quite clever.
She praises 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun)’s family for being a highly decorated military family. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) takes the complement and rubs it in saying, we’ve been courageous for generations. Nothing like your lowly family.
安陵容 (An Ling Rong) then apologizes again for what happened at the selection. 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) turns around because she doesn’t quite get what 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) is trying to do. Well 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) continues, “I went back to reflect on my actions, and then I realized. It must be because you come from a decorated military background, you must be well educated in both letters and military acumen. No wonder you were so imposing. You truly represent your family”
(Cathy)
The phrase 骁勇 means strong, brave, imposing. This is generally positive but only for males. It could be negative since it means all you have is strength and not brains. It has a negative connotation to females because females are not supposed to be “strong” or “imposing”. They need to be meek and demure. This is an insult to 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) that she’s masculine and has no brains.
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) doesn’t even realize this. She plays right into the insult and accepts the praise, saying “Of course, this is my family tradition!”
Everyone around her starts giggling. They all get the insult but 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) doesn’t. 华妃 (Hua Fei) can’t take it anymore. How can someone in the palace be so dumb? And at the level of a First-Class Attendant? She signals for 周宁海, her head eunuch, to take care of her.
(Karen)
At this point, 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) sees everyone laughing and figures it out. She’s furious and lifts up a hand, looking to slap 安陵容 (An Ling Rong)。 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) stops the first attempt but she tries again. This time she’s stopped by 周宁海 (Zhou Ning Hai), the head eunuch。He grabs her arm and forces her to kneel.
It’s time for 华妃 (Hua Fei) to um…how should I say this… make her grand entrance.
(Cathy)
She saunters over and says – “The autumn views in the imperial garden are usually beautiful but someone has broken this tranquility”
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) has the gall to say, “安答应 was disrespectful, I just wanted to punish her a little bit”
Wow, that is not what you should say…
(Karen)
华妃 (Hua Fei) responds “Are the Empress and I no longer in 后宫 (Hou Gong, Palace Harem)？ When did the xia family start running hou gong? You need to start handing out punishment? I don’t think you can handle the burden” Oh my goodness, look at her eyes. They are literally shooting out daggers. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) overstepped her authority. In a strict hierarchical society, this will not be tolerated and 华妃 (Hua Fei) does not. She’s had enough with this girl and this gives her the opportunity to dole out a punishment.
Here is the literal killer line. “The maple leaves aren’t red enough this year” to which 颂芝 (Song Zhi) chimes in “I heard maple leaves need to be bleached with blood to be really red”. “Oh really? Let’s gift 夏常在 a 一丈红 then. We’ll use her blood to bleach the maple leaves in my garden.”
(Karen)
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) and us don’t know what that is and is cold heartedly explained by 周宁海 (Zhong Ning Hai), 华妃 (Hua Fei)’s head eunuch, “This is a form of palace torture. A long thin wooden stick (called 杖) is used to beat your lower body until everything is reduced to a bloody mess. The red (or 红）from far away looks amazingly beautiful. That’s why it’s called 一丈红.” (Yi Zhang Hong) It’s also a word pun, the 丈 is a unit of measurement. That’s pretty accurate as with the stick, you are reduced to a pile of red.
夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) hears this and slumps to the ground. She is petrified. What a terrifying punishment and one that is so severe too! She starts begging 华妃 (Hua Fei) for forgiveness but it’s too late. She is dragged away for this punishment to be executed. If this doesn’t kill her, at the very least, she will be disabled for the rest of her life.
(Cathy)
That’s crazy! The title of 一丈红 (Yi Zhang Hong) seems quite pretty actually but the real meaning is so brutal. People may be familiar with medieval torture chambers in Europe, but the types of torture and punishment techniques the Chinese had were equally if not more brutal.
(Cathy)
华妃 (Hua Fei) turns to the remaining ladies and reminds the rest of them that just because you 3 aren’t punished doesn’t mean you are off the hook. Go back to your palaces and reflect on your actions.
安陵容 (An Ling Rong) is scared out of her mind and her knees give way. I mean I would be too! Someone just got killed in front of their eyes!
Holy crap! We thought 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) would be a bigger character in this drama. It’s only episode 3 and she’s killed off! 华妃 (Hua Fei) just showed us exactly what she’s capable of! She was pissed off that 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) was openly aligning with 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). She needed to get rid of her. 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) did herself no favors by being so stupid. Word travels about everything you do. She did not have the clout to protect herself. As a lowly First Class Female Attendant, how are you going to compete with a favored Consort? And one with a powerful brother? You can’t. You flaunt it, you die.
(Cathy)
What a welcome. This is as much a warning to the new concubines as it is to 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). 华妃 (Hua Fei) can do whatever she wants to the people in the palace.
Funnily enough, later on in the episode when 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress) finds out about 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun)’s fate, she doesn’t really care about. She even agrees with 华妃 (Hua Fei). Like I said earlier, 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) didn’t even get assurance of protection from 皇后 (Huang Hou, Empress). 华妃 (Hua Fei) didn’t have any reservations to serve out her punishment.
后宫 (Hou Gong, Palace Harem) is a cruel place. It’s truly life or death.
(Karen)
I also want to note that the actress who plays 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun) is named 颖儿(Ying’Er)。 She’s actually quite well-known in the Chinese entertainment industry, at least when this was being broadcast. She had acted/even headlined more dramas than, for example, 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang). Therefore, when this drama was airing, everyone was completely shocked that such a big name actress would be killed off within 3 episodes of a 76 episode drama. This shows the unpredictability of the characters in the show. You’re kind of wondering now, who will live and who will die.
Remember how during the Selection, 皇上 told 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) how he would not let her, as a beauty, wither and die in the palace because it is a place that nurtures beauty? Just one episode later we see that that was complete BS!
—
(Cathy)
So what happens next? We mentioned this earlier in the recap. Pretty much the 3 ladies, 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan), 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) and 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) walk away shocked and scared. They come across some servants running away from something. 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) being brave, goes to check it out and finds the dead body of 福子 (Fu Zi) in the well. She is further shocked and they each scurry back to their quarters, absolutely scared of what happened that day.
In the next episode, we see how 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan) handles this situation.
(Karen)
I also want to note and emphasize here that even though we’ve been saying how 华妃 (Hua Fei) has been brash and ruthless, she is also smart. She is able to pick up on tiny details, such as the mistaken phrase used by 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang). 华妃 (Hua Fei) can turn conversations around very easily and insult people in the most passive aggressive way. Yes, she benefits from having a powerful brother, but she’s no walk in the park either. She knows how to solidify her power in the 后宫 (Hou Gong, Palace Harem) and is ruthless when needed. Perhaps more than necessary, but she isn’t dumb by any measure. There is a reason why she is able to survive and attract the attention of the 皇上。
We also see in this episode that 沈眉庄 (Shen Mei Zhuang) is not quite as adaptable as 甄嬛 (Zhen Huan). She can’t get herself out of her bind. To be fair, I don’t think many people could. 安陵容 (An Ling Rong) is no pushover either. She showed that she could handle herself in front of 夏冬春 (Xia Dong Chun). She just doesn’t have a family to back her up.
That’s it for this episode. The drama was confined to just the ladies today, let’s see what happens when the new concubines because available to serve the Emperor.