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ghost_valley2021-07-23 01:20 pm
shadaras) wrote in ghost_valley2021-07-23 01:20 pm
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[WoH Rewatch] Episode 7
Some fun things from last week’s comment section! There’s always a lot more in the comment threads than I pull out, of course, so it’s definitely worth checking out the whole thing. :)
We’ll be coming back to this thread about how long DPJ and Xie-wang might’ve been working together!
A side-by-side comparison of the fight between WKX/ZZS in ep6 and ep37: [link]
List of Scenes
Murder-wedding set-up
Xisang Gui’s introduction
The wedding itself
ZZS sitting in an inn; Chengling catches sight of him but doesn’t quite recognise him
Murder-wedding entertainment-brawl begins
Shen Shen tells Zhao Jing (and Chengling, listening through the door) how ZYS died
Deng Kuan almost becomes the last survivor of the brawl (but is stabbed)
Han Ying talks to Gao Chong (and implicitly threatens him/Chengling when Gao Chong stonewalls him)
Gao Chong rides out to retrieve Chengling
At Yueyang Sect, Gao Xiaolian is introduced and takes Chengling away so the uncles can be concerned about the state of the jianghu
ZZS observes Yueyang Sect and realises they’re using code he recognises from Tian Chuang
ZZS fights what turned out to be a Scorpion spy
WKX shows up to praise ZZS, tease ZZS, and call ZZS a killer
ZZS is concerned about WKX wearing the glazed armor so openly
WKX is plotting things and also lets the glazed armor get stolen
WKX tells Yueyang disciples that he and ZZS are invited to the Heroes Conference as ZJ’s guests
Gu Xiang beats up some fuckboys
Gu Xiang and Cao Weining meet, and he orders food for them
The fuckboys try to get Yueyang disciples to punish GX, but GX and CWN turn it back on them
ZZS and WKX enter the same inn, and ZZS pays the innkeeper for information
ZZS points out that GX is eating with someone, and WKX gets mad about it
WKX chases CWN off and scolds GX for talking to him
CWN doesn’t have money, and WKX decides to pay for him (using ZZS’s money) (because CWN and WKX both had their money stolen by Feng Buzhi)
GX realises who ZZS is
ZZS finally relents and lets WKX take his money
Timeline or Something
This episode could take place mostly on one day, but it’s also totally possible that the murder-wedding and travel sequences do indeed take place earlier than all the stuff in Yueyang itself. Very hard to say. At the very least, it doesn’t seem like those all take place at the same time; the murder-wedding is implied to be at night, while all the travel sequences take place during the day.
It’s also difficult to tell how much time has passed between last episode and this one. At the end of ep6, WKX was giving GX her orders (to infiltrate Yueyang Sect, presumably). It’s been long enough that she feels like she should’ve been able to do that already, but that could mean anything from a few days to a few weeks tbh.
I’m inclined to expect that about a week has passed? Which, along with how WKX had to get the glazed armor fakes made and then meet up with GX last episode, makes it feel like the total travel time between Taihu and Yueyang was probably 10-15 days? At the shortest, I guess it could be like a week? Probably something like that?
Recap
We begin at Luo Mansion, which is set up for a death-wedding. A bunch of men are locked up in a cage. Various ghosts show up (Happy Ghost, Wuchang Gui, Ghoul, Lovelace/Lustful Ghost) and wait for the wedding to start. Lovelace continues to be a creep. The ghosts bicker until Xisang Gui arrives, a long red cloth preceding her. It almost looks like she appears out of nowhere as the cloth falls.
Xisang Gui takes her seat, and Happy Ghost complains that he doesn’t want to act in this play. Xisang Gui hits him with that red cloth, which whips out of her sleeve. (I recall some debate about if Luo Fumeng really was the one who stole Mu Yunge; the cloth that yanked him away certainly acted like this cloth does now.) Wuchang Gui plays peacemaker, which is something he’s probably got a lot of practice at.
Xisang Gui starts the wedding ceremony, and Bai Wuchang and Hei Wuchang lead in Mu Yunge.
He’s bound and gagged and dressed in wedding red. Most of the ghosts seem sort of bored by this pageantry, but they’re still giving it their full attention. Mu Yunge is, of course, terrified as he’s forced to his knees.
Liu Qianqiao then enters, carrying a memorial tablet that stands in for the bride (Mo Yanwan, a disciple of Mount Emei Sect). She sets it down next to Mu Yunge, and he cringes away. Liu Qianqiao begins officiating the wedding. She calls Luo Fumeng by the title of “Owner of the List of the Unfaithful”, and names her as the matchmaker, with all the ghosts as witnesses.
Bai Wuchang forces Mu Yunge to make his bows while Mu Yunge whimpers and does his best to resist, and then the wedding is declared complete.
The scene changes to ZZS drinking by himself. He wants more of a specific wine, but it’s all been bought up by a VIP, so he needs to settle for something else.
Let’s be real; this screenshot (full size) is just because I would like to point out that he has four jars of wine on the table, all of which are empty, and some food that appears untouched. ZZS, your food issues!
Zhao Jing, Chengling, and Shen Shen enter this same inn, and ZZS watches them pass by. As they ascend the stairs, Chengling looks back and thinks to himself, “Why does he look like my shifu?”, proving that Chengling isn’t useless at observation. But as he passes by, he reconsiders, because “Shifu isn’t that handsome”. Alas for ZZS, but his disguise does work. Chengling continues on, wondering where ZZS and WKX are. ZZS watches him go, and calls him “little idiot” (mostly affectionate).
Back at the wedding venue! All the young men the ghosts had captured are brought out. They kneel, still bound but no longer gagged (Mu Yunge’s still gagged, though), and one of them speaks up, trying to bravado his way out of this. All it does is get him killed, as Liu Qianqiao tosses a dart at him.
Liu Qianqiao then tells them the rules: Anyone who talks without her permission will die, and only one of them will live (not that they care who).
She then asks one of the young men if he knows why Xisang Gui “presides over the List of the Unfaithful”. When he answers that she “kills all cheaters of the world”, she kills him with another dart to the heart and then declares his answer correct because she hadn’t given him permission to speak.
Liu Qianqiao describes Mu Yunge’s crimes, and then explains the entertainment (framed as justice) as the newly-unchained young men are herded into a little fighting square. “For the marriages [Xisang Gui] presides over, ten of the cheater’s friends and relatives will be invited as guests. Today, out of the ten of you, only one can leave alive.”
The ghosts line the edges of the arena as the young men try to reassure themselves they’ll be okay and that it’s “only death” at the worst. The Yueyang disciple—who I’m like 90% certain is Deng Kuan, btw, who probably got captured because he was doing the honorable thing of going “Run! I’ll protect you!” at Mu Yunge—especially doesn’t want to hurt his sect’s reputation. He tries to rally the others to fight the ghosts together, and Wuchang Gui just smirks at the concept.
When Deng Kuan asks if the devils will even keep their word (about allowing one of them to go free), Wuchang Gui says that “The ghosts on Mount Qingya do all kinds of bad deeds, but never break promises. The exact opposite of you daxia [chevaliers] who throw around empty words.”
Wuchang Gui asks them if they even have a choice (to fight or not), and then Liu Qianqiao asks what they’re waiting for. One of the young men throws a punch, and then another, and it turns into a proper brawl. Deng Kuan keeps trying to stop the fight, and the ghosts are delighted by this entertainment.
Back to Zhao Jing and Shen Shen! They’re drinking tea together, and talking about Chengling. Shen Shen calls Zhang Yusen an “aggressive person” and wonders how he only has this one useless child left; he doesn’t even consider Chengling an heir. Zhao Jing, continuing to be portrayed as the sensible point, points out that Chengling was born during peacetime (implying that maybe his older siblings hadn’t been?) and hasn’t experienced any challenges.
Shen Shen asks if Zhao Jing believes Chengling’s words about not remembering anything, and Zhao Jing asks why a child would lie to them and says that Shen Shen’s overthinking. Shen Shen then asks if Zhao Jing knew that ZYS and his sons were killed by língchí (凌迟, death by dismemberment / ‘death of a thousand cuts’) (youtube subs say ‘lynched’, which doesn’t make much sense but I guess the words sound similar!) (netflix subs say “sliced into pieces”, which is much more fitting).
As Shen Shen says that ZYS even “crushed his own skull” (presumably something similar to how Gao Chong later kills himself?), we’re shown Chengling outside the door to this room, listening in. Listening to this must suck for him! I had forgotten he heard this/learned what happened to his family in such detail!
Shen Shen continues to talk about how ZYS and his sons must’ve been tortured because Ghost Valley hadn’t found the glazed armor, and insists that Chengling must know something. And then he says he doesn’t know what’s gotten into Chengling to make him so distant and quiet, as if the TRAUMA of everything wasn’t enough explanation. (Chengling’s choosing to be distant to them, too, because of his father’s letter, but even if that weren’t helping he has reason for this...)
Chengling walks away, and Zhao Jing finally tells Shen Shen to stop talking because his “heart aches”, and Shen Shen slams down another cup of tea and scoffs “What use is that?” as the scene ends.
Back at the wedding brawl, people are dying! Lots of blood! The ghosts are delighted! Deng Kuan cries over his shidi falling, and Wuchang Gui exclaims over how emotional this scene is. He’s very pleased by Deng Kuan as the survivor, but then Xisang Gui says that there are still two survivors. The ghosts all look at her, and we see one of the supposedly-fallen men open his eyes.
He has a knife! I do not know how he got/kept that knife. But he stabs Deng Kuan, who hits him back, and then they both fall over, presumably dead or almost there. This does explain some things about how the ghosts/Scorpions have a mostly-dead Deng Kuan for their drama at the Heroes Conference, which is something I recall being a bit confused by on my first watch.
We cut to the Yueyang Sect itself now! Gao Chong is meeting with Han Ying! They’re both very polite to each other.
(Before I get into this: I would like to point out that Zhao Jing and Chengling are not here quite yet. We will be shown them arriving soon, but they aren’t here yet. Did Han Ying follow them 90% of the way and then speed ahead? I think that needs to be the case?)
Han Ying introduces himself as “天窗统领韩英” (tiānchuāng tǒnglǐng Hán Yīng), where “tongling” is his title, commander. I pull this out specifically because the youtube subs say “I’m the leader of Tianchuang, Han Ying”, and that’s misleading in a very specific way and I wanted to know if the subs were doing that on their own or not. (This is especially weird because later Gao Chong calls him “Han-tongling” and it’s translated as “Commander Han”)
Gao Chong asks why Han Ying is here, and Han Ying easily admits that he’s here to investigate the Glazed Armor, and asks what Gao Chong knows about it. Gao Chong says it’s just a rumour, and he lies beautifully; there's no hesitation or tremor in his voice at all. But Han Ying points out that “Honest men don’t lie” and tells Gao Chong to stop dodging his question. He says that if Gao Chong shares information with him, Tian Chuang will owe him a favor, and that they’ll have many opportunities to work together in the future, “or else…”
Gao Chong does not appear pleased by this idea! He brings up Tian Chuang’s reputation, quotes their poetic reason for being, and asks why Han Ying is talking to him when Tian Chuang “knows everything”; doesn’t this mean they aren’t living up to their reputation? Han Ying moves closer to him, and mentions that the Five Lakes Alliance is searching for “an orphan of the Zhang sect” (in an implicit offer to find him), which Gao Chong rebuffs as an internal matter that Han Ying shouldn’t be involved with.
Gao Chong rejects Han Ying’s request for information once more, and tells him to leave if he doesn’t have any other business. Han Ying snaps “Don’t make me do this the hard way”, and Gao Chong says that even if Tian Chuang rules over the northwest, they’re “in Yueyang City now, under the rule of the emperor” and not in Tian Chuang’s seat of power. He gestures at politeness, by saying that Han Ying could stay for dinner and be treated as a guest, but he doesn’t say it very welcomingly, and then he asks if Han Ying is staying or leaving.
They stare at each other for a moment, and then Han Ying lets out a brief chuckle and leaves without another word.
Gao Chong wonders to himself how Jin-wang found out about the glazed armor as he watches Han Ying go, then considers how Chengling has almost arrived. He decides he needs to hurry Chengling into the city, just in case, as the scene changes to Yueyang disciples on horses hurrying through a forest.
The Yueyang riders, led by Gao Chong himself, meet up with Zhao Jing’s party. (I continue to have weird feelings about Zhao Jing and Chengling riding in the same carriage.)
You can just see ZJ peeking out of the back carriage on the far right!
As soon as initial greetings have been exchanged, Gao Chong asks where Chengling is and orders his brothers to bring Chengling and ride to the city immediately; the rest of their luggage etc. can be brought by the servants.
ZZS watches all this from the sidelines, and then we cut back to Yueyang Manor.
Shen Shen asks Gao Chong why he’s so anxious, but Gao Chong doesn’t answer before Gao Xiaolian shows up.
I’m fascinated by how there’s a line of male disciples on one side and a line of female disciples on the other, and they have slightly different uniforms and also I cannot recall seeing female Yueyang disciples at other times. It’s cool that they’re there, though; I’d been assuming that the Five Lakes sects were all-male.
Zhao Jing comments on how she’s grown up, and introduces Chengling as her younger brother. Chengling is very quiet and bows a little, and the Gao Chong tells Xiaolian to take Chengling to rest. Xiaolian is very obedient about this, and takes Chengling by the hand and leads him away when he doesn’t respond.
Gao Chong orders all the other servants/disciples to leave too, so that it’s just him and his surviving brothers. Shen Shen asks about what’s going on again, and Gao Chong proclaims that the jianghu won’t be peaceful anymore due to the secret of the glazed armor being out.
Meanwhile, ZZS comes up to the outside of Yueyang Sect’s manor and contemplates how strong their defenses are and how cautious Gao Chong is. He tries to tell himself that Chengling will be safe now, and that Chengling’s got a good future ahead of him. He seems more wistful than happy about this, like he doesn’t really believe it.
Then we’re shown one of the Yueyang disciples tapping a particular rhythm on his leg, and this catches ZZS’s attention. He glances around, notices the steamed bun vendor picking up the same rhythm, and wonders when Tian Chuang sent spies into Yueyang Sect and what Tian Chuang wants.
(Since one is dressed as a disciple, if it were Tian Chuang I assume this can’t have happened just over the last at-most-four-months since ZZS left Tian Chuang… But it’s the Scorpions, who have had plenty of time to infiltrate all the Five Lakes Alliance sects, and where the fascinating thing is much more “When did you learn Tian Chuang code?”)
ZZS follows the steamed bun seller away, and then sets himself up to pass by and say what’s clearly a spy password. The steamed bun seller reacts like he doesn’t recognise it, and ZZS goes “What? Not Tian Chuang?”, but before he can think more about it the man draws a curved scorpion blade and goes to attack ZZS. This doesn’t end well for the spy, of course, because ZZS is very good; even when a hidden blade comes at him, that just inspires him to attack more strongly.
WKX isn’t the only one who’s good at choking people!
When the spy is knocked down, WKX appears to praise ZZS’s ability and tell him how fitting his name is. As he’s talking, the spy dies. WKX says it’s because ZZS attacked too harshly, but the framing implies that the spy took a pill.
WKX then also quotes a saying—“One has a fair and handsome face, but his heart is like a poisonous scorpion.” (Which is pretty much Zhao Jing, in this show, which makes it amusing to have it directed at ZZS right now.)—and asks ZZS why he can’t “be a good person like me”. ZZS sighs, and then WKX glances down and recognises the spy’s sword as being from the Scorpions.
ZZS asks what he knows, and WKX says he knows a lot of things; Tian Chuang in the north and the Scorpions in the south are the largest assassin organizations there are, and both are looking for the glazed armor. WKX calls Chengling ZZS’s disciple (and a treasure), and ZZS rolls his eyes.
Then ZZS notices the piece of glazed armor hanging from WKX’s belt like it’s a jade charm, and asks if WKX’s afraid he’ll run into trouble. WKX jokes about how good a person he is, and wonders why trouble would find him, since he’s “not like [ZZS], a merciless killer” who runs into trouble everywhere. ZZS sighs about all this (probably does hurt) and tells WKX to leave him alone so that he doesn’t “ruin the view” (by bringing trouble upon WKX).
When ZZS goes to walk away, WKX stops him with his fan, saying that so long as he doesn’t hide his “handsome face”, he won’t ruin the view. WKX also asks why ZZS’s in disguise (gesturing at his hat) and who he’s hiding from, and ZZS tells him “The sun”. This time, WKX lets him walk away, but follows quickly behind.
“Stay away from me; I want to live a few more years,” ZZS says as WKX catches up and complains about being left behind. Probably WKX takes this as a joke/general irritation, since he laughs a little, tells ZZS not to worry, and says that even though the whole jianghu wants the glazed armor that doesn't mean they’ll recognise the piece he’s got hanging in plain sight.
ZZS’s face during this whole conversation is rather flat and blank, and he walks away again to stare at some street stall. WKX follows, and asks ZZS not to be upset (because his words were meaningless). When ZZS doesn’t respond (and, in fact, turns away again), WKX starts looking at the jade pendants at the street stall in earnest and asks how much they are.
ZZS recognises one of the people on the street as “the Nine-Clawed Fox, Fang Buzhi” as WKX tries to get him to have an opinion about jade pendants. ZZS says he doesn’t like any, and WKX tells him to pick one anyway; he’ll switch the glazed armor hanging from his belt for a pendant if ZZS picks one. ZZS thinks to himself that WKX’s intentionally drawing attention to himself, and then turns and walks away silently again.
WKX watches him go, but this time he doesn’t immediately follow. Instead, he asks the stall owner how his plans are going, and she tells him “I made it and nobody noticed”. WKX is pleased by this, and talks about how the stage is set and that he’s looking forward to a fantastic play (put on by Tian Chuang, the Scorpions, the Five Lakes Alliance, and other martial artists).
He stays at the stall, quiet, as another man comes up beside him, glances over the wares, and then leaves. We’re shown the glazed armor at WKX’s side disappearing along with the thief, and WKX smiles ever so slightly.
The show cuts to WKX running to catch up to ZZS again, asking him to wait and wondering if he’s mad. ZZS doesn’t have a chance to respond before a Yueyang disciple (at the head of a line of disciples) asks if they’re here for the Heroes Conference. ZZS says “I guess so,” and the disciple asks for his name, his sect, and if he has an invitation.
ZZS calls himself an insignificant nobody, and WKX goes “Ah? He’s my brother, we were invited by Zhao Jing.” ZZS does that thing where he glances at WKX and doesn’t say anything to contradict him.
The Yueyang disciple immediately brightens upon Zhao Jing’s name being brought into it, apologises for questioning them, and wonders if they need someone to bring them to “the courier station”. (Presumably where guests are staying? Actually if I look at the hanzi (…去驿站休息) it looks like yeah it does outright say “take you to the courier station to rest”, but the subtitles didn’t translate the last bit? Weird.)
WKX waves him off politely, and the Yueyang disciples head out. WKX comments about how much money Gao Chong has spent to fortify the city, and that ZZS’s disciple will be safe here as a result. ZZS glances away, and WKX quotes poetry to complain about how worried ZZS is, then tells him they should find something fun to do and drags him away. ZZS lets him! There’s no complaining, or even brushing off his hands! So as much as he’s being stand-offish and quiet, he doesn’t actually mind WKX deciding he’s going to work to cheer him up.
The scene cuts to the inside of an inn, where a man comes up to the front and does some pointedly specific tapping of a chopstick before putting a tube of some sort on a tray walking away from the counter again. The camera pans over to follow not him but the waiter who takes that tray, and we get our first glimpse of Cao Weining! He is not doing anything interesting at the moment, just eating, and we don’t yet know he’s important.
The waiter brings food to a young lady, who’s wrapped up in a disguise and listening to some musicians play. She pays for the food, then takes the tube and departs, and behind her we see Gu Xiang.
This is such a cool character design and I cannot recall seeing her again.
Gu Xiang seems bored and also frustrated, since she’s supposed to be trying to get into Yueyang Sect and has no idea how to go about doing this. She considers selling herself as a servant, but then decides she’s “too pretty and charismatic” for that to be believable. From how she’s considering what WKX will say about her lack of success, she’s been here for a bit and doesn’t know when WKX planned on arriving.
The musicians ask for suggestions of music to play, and a drunk young fuckboy tells them to play “Eighteen Touches” (which I assume, but haven’t actively looked up, is a well-known bawdy tavern/drinking song). The musician says they can’t play it, and asks for another choice, and the rest of the drunk fuckboys come over to try and convince them.
One even goes towards the young woman, saying he’ll teach her how to play it. The musician blocks him from actually getting to her, though. Gu Xiang starts paying attention as the fuckboys wave a whole tael in the musician’s face to try and get him to play the song. He tries to get them to accept another song, but they shove him aside and grab the young woman away. The musician cries out that they’re stealing his daughter, and Gu Xiang gets up. She comes over and says that the musicians might not know the song, but she does, and she’s willing to sing it in exchange for their silver.
Okay despite how much these dudes are terrible, their actors have absolutely fantastic body language this entire time; it’s really fun to watch them be awful bros like this.
The fuckboys promise her double and hand over a tael immediately. She gives it to the musician and asks him to accompany her, and goes over to the fuckboys as they let the musician’s daughter go. She’s playing this up and acting like a dominatrix rather a lot as she slaps them while music plays and she recites (it isn’t quite singing) the song in question.
It takes about two slaps before they go to fight her instead, and the music stops as the musician hurries his daughter away. Gu Xiang has a lot of fun beating them up, breaking the tables in their room and slapping them around some more before they run away from her. She shouts after them, needling them about not wanting to listen to her sing anymore (or wanting to fight her anymore!), and follows them as far as the stairs they’re scurrying down.
The fuckboys promise retribution, since she’s stirred up trouble in the Five Lakes Alliance’s territory, and Gu Xiang basically says “Yeah? Go ahead, try it! I’ll wait!” as the fuckboys run out the door.
Gu Xiang turns and sees Cao Weining staring at her with wide-eyed awe. She asks what he’s looking at, and if he wants to hear her sing, and he smiles and says he wants to buy her a meal. Gu Xiang is distinctly more confused by this, wondering what he’s up to, but she decides she’s not scared of him.
The next shot is of them sitting at the table as food arrives, Gu Xiang tapping a chopstick impatiently. Cao Weining’s beautiful manners show her, as he invites Gu Xiang to try the food and tells her about it and how good it is. Gu Xiang does try the food, says it’s excellent, and CWN says he doesn’t have any skills “except tasting delicacies around the world”. Gu Xiang thinks this is a good skill, and that he seems like a good person, and only now does she ask for his name.
CWN introduces himself, and then asks for Gu Xiang’s name; he’s much more overcome by her than she is by him. However! Before Gu Xiang can introduce herself, the fuckboys return withthe police Yueyang disciples!
They all come up, the leader of the Yueyang disciples introduces himself (Zhu Yaozhi), and then he asks “Who started the trouble?”. Gu Xiang scoffs, and wonders “Why don’t you ask the girl you harassed for an explanation?” Zhu Yaozhi is very ??? about this; it’s clear that the fuckboys didn’t mention that element of what happened at all. He turns, and asks one of the fuckboys (Liu; probably a surname? It’s literally ‘six’, though.) what happened.
The fuckboys say Gu Xiang made it up, and then CWN speaks up. He explains exactly what he saw (the fuckboys harassing a girl and Gu Xiang rescuing her). Zhu Yaozhi apologises to CWN, and Gu Xiang grumbles about how he’s only trying to act nice now, and wonders if “harassing others and not helping the needy” is what chivalry looks like in the jianghu. She scolds him (and, by implication, the rest of Yueyang Sect) for their behavior.
Zhu Yaozhi tries to say that the Five Lakes Alliance won’t tolerate such behavior, but Liu doesn't belong to their sects. He does promise that he’ll give her an explanation for “such a rascality”, though, which is one of my favorite translations in the youtube subs. (I think the word being translated as ‘rascality’ is 恶性, èxìng?)
Gu Xiang sniffs and looks away, and Zhu Yaozhi scolds Liu for lying to him. He sends all the other guards (and the fuckboys) away, and then (very embarrassed) asks CWN not to tell anyone about what happened (especially not Zhu Yaozhi’s master). CWN agrees, of course, and then Zhao Yaozhi leaves.
Gu Xiang wonders that it all ended so easily, and that they aren’t fighting, and CWN is like “Yeah? They were in the wrong?” Gu Xiang seems rather confused by this form of conflict resolution, but is easily distracted by how CWN is asking her if she really likes to fight. She takes this as him questioning her skills, and he’s very much like “Of course you can fight!”, very wide-eyed, and says he likes to fight too.
Gu Xiang tries to get him to fight her, right then and there, but CWN says she doesn’t fight girls. When GX gets huffy about that, he quickly explains that he thinks she’s beautiful, so he wants to protect her, so how could he try to hurt her? GX’s face goes through a lot of confused emotions at this active softness, which she’s probably never experienced like this before, and then she covers by going for the food. CWN stops her, because the food has gone cold, and says he’ll order new fresh food for them to eat. GX acts grumpy for a moment, and then tells him to order, and they’re both smiling at each other as the scene cuts.
ZZS and WKX are walking through town together, and ZZS pauses to look at an inn. WKX teases him about his love for drinking (and asks if he’s addicted, which is tbh a fair question), but ZZS says that “This [inn] is where the martial artists [jianghuren] gather”, and one can hear about anything that might happen there. WKX pauses for a moment, and then comes back with some homophonic joke about “How do you hear about it?” vs “madness”? I do not know chinese enough to try and parse it out, but the subs say it’s a homophone and I believe them. ZZS scoffs a little and walks into Fengyan Pub (so sayeth the subs); WKX smiles and follows.
Inside, they take a seat. ZZS places a nut onto his chopsticks where they rest on his cup.
WKX watches with quiet/intent curiosity. He doesn’t ask, instead waiting to see what happens. A waiter comes over, and asks ZZS what he wants. ZZS asks about fresh tea leaves, and the waiter says he has tea from all over. When ZZS asks about “the kind roasted with raw rice”, the waiter hesitates, then says that it’s not in the city but the government has imported a batch. He says they don’t have money for it, and ZZS gives him some money, and then the waiter runs off, saying he’ll get it for ZZS at once.
WKX, who has been so nicely quiet this whole time, immediately turns to ZZS and asks what the code phrases meant. ZZS’s response is “Don’t you know the commonly used code phrases in the jianghu?”, but he doesn’t seem truly surprised by this; it feels like he’s more confirming something he already knew, and perhaps enjoying finding something he knows so well that WKX doesn’t. WKX laughs a little, very defensively, and protests that “How would I not know?” and that he’s the one testing ZZS.
ZZS lets out a huff of laughter and a true smile at WKX’s words, but he doesn’t respond before hearing Gu Xiang’s voice calling for someone to drink. ZZS turns to look up, but WKX doesn’t until ZZS calls attention to them (by saying Gu Xiang is being taken advantage of). It’s interesting, especially in light of how much time we spend thinking about ZZS’s senses degrading over the course of this show, that here at least he’s noticing something that WKX clearly did not.
WKX goes “Huh?” and then turns and looks, and the scene cuts to Gu Xiang and CWN’s conversation. GX is asking if he knows Gao Chong well, and CWN demurs, but says his master does (and they’re close friends). GX says that’s cool, and then introduces herself and says they should be friends. (The timeline here is fascinating; I always forget that they must’ve not been here too long before WKX and ZZS entered.) CWN seems delighted.
WKX is rather less delighted; he lets out a breath, snatches up his fan, and strides off. ZZS watches him go, but doesn’t seem immediately invested in following.
CWN is quoting poetry at Gu Xiang to say that he likes her name (a line each from two different poems, according to the subs), and Gu Xiang seems flattered but also confused by how literary he’s being. She does then follow that up with saying she knows someone who’d like to talk to him, because he also likes poetry and food. (CWN seems very !!! about this.)
That person, of course, is WKX, who is walking up the stairs behind GX. WKX says he doesn’t think he’d like to speak to GX, GX jumps up to welcome him, and CWN starts going ??? about who this even is that GX is so delighted by.
GX tells WKX to sit, but when he doesn’t she realises that perhaps she should be polite and introduce him and CWN to each other.
WKX seems very unimpressed with CWN (or, at least, he’s actively keeping an expressionless and stern face). CWN is very surprised that GX has a master and that she’s a maid and not a martial arts disciple (or a noble daughter), because he’d been afraid (he cuts himself off, but I suspect he was afraid he wouldn’t be good enough for her). (The word he uses here for “maid” is the same as earlier this episode when GX herself was going “I can’t pull off looking like a servant to sneak into Yueyang Sect”; that’s a cool callback/parallel between them.)
WKX says he doesn’t care what CWN’s sect is, pushes GX a little to the side, and then sits down. There, he asks if CWN (who’s still standing) knows GX well. He says he doesn’t, and is in full on deference mode as he offers that WKX eat with him. WKX interrupts this offer to tell him to scram (in more polite words, but the meaning is very clear). CWN bows, and apologises, and scurries off.
GX watches him go, then goes around the table to take the chair he’d been at. She asks WKX what “conveniently leave” means, because she doesn’t know it’s the polite form of “scram”. WKX explains, then asks how she met “such a crafty and shallow person”. Shallow might be an unkind reading of how CWN keeps all his emotions on the surface, but crafty is just WKX not knowing how to deal with someone who genuinely doesn’t have any plots and secrets hiding under the surface.
WKX goes on to complain about how CWN didn’t quote poetry well, and GX has no idea who the poet he’s referencing even is. He beckons her to lean across the table until he can grab her by the ear and tell her not to interact with “that uncultured boy” again. GX says that CWN seems very cultured, especially in comparison to her. WKX doesn’t have a great reaction to that, and is still not in a good mood.
GX then goes looking for ZZS, because she’s surprised he isn’t right beside WKX. WKX wonders why she wants to know about him, even asking “Do you want him to marry you?”, which says a lot about what’s on his mind with GX/CWN and also how he thinks about ZZS.
GX says she doesn’t dare; ZZS looks nice, but “when no one’s looking at him, his glance is even scarier than a ghost’s” (and GX should have a lot of reference points for a ghost’s glance!).
WKX smiles at this, and then goes back to wondering why she asked about him. GX says “When he’s around, you feel more like a person”. There’s a quiet moment as WKX’s face stops having any mask of emotion (he just looks like a person, and maybe a little tired) and he glances down at the table.
He’s saved from needing to come up with a response by the innkeeper shouting at CWN about how he’s dining and dashing and trying to pay with calligraphy. Both WKX and GX look down to watch. GX laughs, and shouts down about how he doesn’t have money. This incites the innkeeper to scold CWN even more (about inviting a girl to a meal without being able to pay), and even WKX is smiling now; he’s enjoying seeing CWN so wrong-footed.
GX says not to worry, because she has money, but WKX interrupts to ask how CWN could let a girl pay. WKX says he’ll pay, while walking over next to ZZS (still seated at the same table), and then goes “A-Xu, your wallet” as he extends his hand.
ZZS just looks at him, the faintest smile on his face, and then asks where WKX’s wallet is. WKX sighs, and says that one can make careless mistakes; he saw a handsome scholar on the street, but this turned out to be not a friend but a thief. WKX’s hamming it up a little as he says this, and ZZS smiles at the story.
CWN recognises the description of the scholar, though; he’d talked to the same man, and now CWN’s like “Oh! He must’ve stolen my wallet!” WKX doesn’t respond, but ZZS says (to WKX) “Even you fell into Fang Buzhi’s trap?” WKX just looks at him, and CWN is all “Aaaaah! The thief master?”, because he recognises the name.
GX inches down the stairs, money in hand. WKX lets out a big sigh and says that a “kind and weak scholar like [him]” takes beatings in the jianghu, and then asks for ZZS’s wallet again. ZZS refuses, asking why he should pay when they aren’t close, but he doesn’t look (or sound) particularly upset. He’s just enjoying making WKX make faces at him, I think.
GX asks who WKX’s talking to, and says WKX should leave him because GX has money. WKX tells her off, and ZZS smirks about how she didn’t recognise him. GX comes over, stares at ZZS more closely, and then recognises him (but doesn’t quite want to call him “sick dude” like this). ZZS’s amused, and WKX’s smug about his own good taste and being able to tell that ZZS was “no ordinary treasure”.
GX finally exclaims about how ZZS is “sick dude”. She reaches over to pats his face, which he allows, and comments on how his face is real and how “Master, this is the first time you’re right!” (about someone being hot, presumably.)
ZZS seems chill about all this, but WKX is not amused. He hits her hand away from ZZS’s face with his fan, and asks why ZZS lets GX touch him but attacks WKX every time he tries.
We get ZZS’s oft-quoted line about “If you were a cute girl, you could touch me too,” and WKX rolls his eyes. GX’s just happy to be called cute.
The innkeeper comes over with CWN and asks them to pay instead of being touchy-flirty. For the third time, WKX asks ZZS for his wallet. This time, ZZS pulls it out and (after a moment of pretending he won’t) sets it in WKX’s hand. WKX smiles and tosses it between his hands, surprised by how much money’s in there, and then opens the bag. As he does, ZZS says that WKX will owe him interest for borrowing his money.
WKX looks at him, torn between “What?” and amusement I think, and GX continues saying that they don’t need ZZS’s money and have their own. ZZS, because he’s having fun annoying WKX, says that if WKX doesn’t pay him back he’ll take GX. WKX tells GX to stop trying to pay, and gives ZZS’s money to the innkeeper. He overpays for CWN’s food, and asks for a full banquet to be brought for them, since ZZS is so rich.
The innkeeper invites them to the inn’s private room. WKX smiles at ZZS, who seems a bit exasperated (but not in a bad way). He tosses the money bag in his hand again, and the episode ends.
General Commentary
I’m fascinated by the murder-wedding. Xisang Gui says surprisingly little during it; Liu Qianqiao does most of the actual speaking, though Xisang Gui’s words are all very impactful. Xisang Gui is rather aloof/distant during the whole thing, though clearly she’s paying very close attention to everything that’s happening.
It’s also interesting that this is a well-enough known phenomenon that the one random dude knows exactly who Xisang Gui is and what’s going on—but not well-enough known that they know all the rules. It’s like seeing a folk horror story come to life, probably, where you’ve heard of this happening to people but often dismissed it as a legend.
Zhou Zishu spends so much more time smiling in this episode, especially when interacting with Wen Kexing. Despite how quiet he can be, and how they’re both throwing barbed words around, Zhou Zishu’s fairly clear about how he overall enjoys the experience of spending time with Wen Kexing. He’s not particularly demonstrative, but the lack of swatting Wen Kexing away (and the quiet smiles) are still very telling.
I love Cao Weining, and also how Gu Xiang and Wen Kexing react to him. Neither of them know what to do with his open-hearted earnestness, and it’s incredibly sad.
I think this episode is also the turning point from Wen Kexing paying for a lot of stuff for Zhou Zishu (because Zhou Zishu was pretending to be a beggar) and Wen Kexing demanding that Zhou Zishu pay for him. It’s a really interesting balance in their relationship. They both clearly have access to a lot of money, but I have no idea how/if either of them can replenish that money once they spend it. (Later, when Jing Beiyuan gets involved, I completely understand how they could get more money, but that’s not for a long while…)
I continue to be fascinated by the relationships between Tian Chuang and Scorpion. When did Scorpion get access to Tian Chuang signals? Does Han Ying know about this? (I don’t think so, but still!) It’s certainly a surprise to Zhou Zishu to see the Scorpion blade come out after he’s seen Tian Chuan signals, and this is the first sign to the viewer that the political relationships between these factions are all very tangled together.
Also, the way Han Ying talked to Gao Chong is interesting. He asks primarily about the glazed armor here, and doesn’t bring up Chengling at all except as a very deft polite threat. That does make it seem more likely that Han Ying was tailing Chengling specifically to end up at Sanbai Manor last episode (astrobadora suggested in comments)!
(Regarding that threat: Next episode is the kidnapping attempt! Gao Chong knows that Tian Chuang has implicitly threatened Chengling, and yet takes him out without much, if any, guard. I’ll have more to say about this next week, I know, but it makes me very curious how Gao Chong interpreted Han Ying’s words here. Did he simply not think Han Ying would continue going after Chengling once Chengling reached Yueyang? Did he think Han Ying would’ve left sooner? Did he think Han Ying didn’t have that many subordinates around?)
Everyone in the jianghu seems surprised that Prince Jin (and thus Tian Chuang) has heard about the glazed armor. I can’t tell if it’s “the information has spread that far?” or “he’s paying that much attention?” Maybe both!
There’s also Gao Chong’s comment that Yueyang City is “under the rule of the emperor”, which draws a specific contrast to how Prince Jin’s territory (Tian Chuang’s territory) isn’t. I definitely didn’t notice that the first time around, but it’s niggling in my head now. We almost never hear about imperial things from the jianghu! But at the same time, I think that now that I’m paying attention it hints at how Gao Chong is a good man (because he considers himself subordinate to the emperor) in contrast to Zhao Jing and Prince Jin wanting to become emperors in their own right.
Discussion Prompts/Questions
1. “When he’s around, you feel more like a person.” Gu Xiang has noticed this already, despite not having seen the most recent relationship developments between WKX and ZZS. Thoughts about what she’s noticed and why she’s bringing this up? Especially in contrast to her immediately previous statement about ZZS’s glance being “even scarier than a ghost’s”? (And to her having just met Cao Weining?)
2. I feel like the way Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu relate to money (and each other, through money) is fascinating but also I don’t have coherent thoughts of my own yet. If you do, I’d love to hear them! (But we’ll be getting more of WKX bothering ZZS to pay for him next episode, I believe!)
3. So much spy stuff this episode! Any particular bits of spy shenanigans and secret codes and message-passing that delight you?
4. A lot of time is spent on the murder-wedding this episode. It feels rather disconnected from the main plot on a first viewing, but on this re-watch I’m starting to see more connections sprinkled in. Any feelings about it? Or about Xisang Gui, since we’ve now met her properly?
5. Another open invitation to talk about Han Ying and his goals! And/or the Tian Chuang-Scorpion connection! I am interested in thoughts on both these things!
Next Time: GX and CWN flirt more (and so do ZZS and WKX). Gao Chong takes Chengling to see the Five Lakes Monument. Han Ying attempts to kidnap Chengling! Fang Buzhi realises he has multiple glazed armor pieces (and dies). WKX and ZZS meet Gao Chong properly.
We’ll be coming back to this thread about how long DPJ and Xie-wang might’ve been working together!
A side-by-side comparison of the fight between WKX/ZZS in ep6 and ep37: [link]
List of Scenes
Murder-wedding set-up
Xisang Gui’s introduction
The wedding itself
ZZS sitting in an inn; Chengling catches sight of him but doesn’t quite recognise him
Murder-wedding entertainment-brawl begins
Shen Shen tells Zhao Jing (and Chengling, listening through the door) how ZYS died
Deng Kuan almost becomes the last survivor of the brawl (but is stabbed)
Han Ying talks to Gao Chong (and implicitly threatens him/Chengling when Gao Chong stonewalls him)
Gao Chong rides out to retrieve Chengling
At Yueyang Sect, Gao Xiaolian is introduced and takes Chengling away so the uncles can be concerned about the state of the jianghu
ZZS observes Yueyang Sect and realises they’re using code he recognises from Tian Chuang
ZZS fights what turned out to be a Scorpion spy
WKX shows up to praise ZZS, tease ZZS, and call ZZS a killer
ZZS is concerned about WKX wearing the glazed armor so openly
WKX is plotting things and also lets the glazed armor get stolen
WKX tells Yueyang disciples that he and ZZS are invited to the Heroes Conference as ZJ’s guests
Gu Xiang beats up some fuckboys
Gu Xiang and Cao Weining meet, and he orders food for them
The fuckboys try to get Yueyang disciples to punish GX, but GX and CWN turn it back on them
ZZS and WKX enter the same inn, and ZZS pays the innkeeper for information
ZZS points out that GX is eating with someone, and WKX gets mad about it
WKX chases CWN off and scolds GX for talking to him
CWN doesn’t have money, and WKX decides to pay for him (using ZZS’s money) (because CWN and WKX both had their money stolen by Feng Buzhi)
GX realises who ZZS is
ZZS finally relents and lets WKX take his money
Timeline or Something
This episode could take place mostly on one day, but it’s also totally possible that the murder-wedding and travel sequences do indeed take place earlier than all the stuff in Yueyang itself. Very hard to say. At the very least, it doesn’t seem like those all take place at the same time; the murder-wedding is implied to be at night, while all the travel sequences take place during the day.
It’s also difficult to tell how much time has passed between last episode and this one. At the end of ep6, WKX was giving GX her orders (to infiltrate Yueyang Sect, presumably). It’s been long enough that she feels like she should’ve been able to do that already, but that could mean anything from a few days to a few weeks tbh.
I’m inclined to expect that about a week has passed? Which, along with how WKX had to get the glazed armor fakes made and then meet up with GX last episode, makes it feel like the total travel time between Taihu and Yueyang was probably 10-15 days? At the shortest, I guess it could be like a week? Probably something like that?
Recap
We begin at Luo Mansion, which is set up for a death-wedding. A bunch of men are locked up in a cage. Various ghosts show up (Happy Ghost, Wuchang Gui, Ghoul, Lovelace/Lustful Ghost) and wait for the wedding to start. Lovelace continues to be a creep. The ghosts bicker until Xisang Gui arrives, a long red cloth preceding her. It almost looks like she appears out of nowhere as the cloth falls.
Xisang Gui takes her seat, and Happy Ghost complains that he doesn’t want to act in this play. Xisang Gui hits him with that red cloth, which whips out of her sleeve. (I recall some debate about if Luo Fumeng really was the one who stole Mu Yunge; the cloth that yanked him away certainly acted like this cloth does now.) Wuchang Gui plays peacemaker, which is something he’s probably got a lot of practice at.
Xisang Gui starts the wedding ceremony, and Bai Wuchang and Hei Wuchang lead in Mu Yunge.
He’s bound and gagged and dressed in wedding red. Most of the ghosts seem sort of bored by this pageantry, but they’re still giving it their full attention. Mu Yunge is, of course, terrified as he’s forced to his knees.
Liu Qianqiao then enters, carrying a memorial tablet that stands in for the bride (Mo Yanwan, a disciple of Mount Emei Sect). She sets it down next to Mu Yunge, and he cringes away. Liu Qianqiao begins officiating the wedding. She calls Luo Fumeng by the title of “Owner of the List of the Unfaithful”, and names her as the matchmaker, with all the ghosts as witnesses.
Bai Wuchang forces Mu Yunge to make his bows while Mu Yunge whimpers and does his best to resist, and then the wedding is declared complete.
The scene changes to ZZS drinking by himself. He wants more of a specific wine, but it’s all been bought up by a VIP, so he needs to settle for something else.
Let’s be real; this screenshot (full size) is just because I would like to point out that he has four jars of wine on the table, all of which are empty, and some food that appears untouched. ZZS, your food issues!
Zhao Jing, Chengling, and Shen Shen enter this same inn, and ZZS watches them pass by. As they ascend the stairs, Chengling looks back and thinks to himself, “Why does he look like my shifu?”, proving that Chengling isn’t useless at observation. But as he passes by, he reconsiders, because “Shifu isn’t that handsome”. Alas for ZZS, but his disguise does work. Chengling continues on, wondering where ZZS and WKX are. ZZS watches him go, and calls him “little idiot” (mostly affectionate).
Back at the wedding venue! All the young men the ghosts had captured are brought out. They kneel, still bound but no longer gagged (Mu Yunge’s still gagged, though), and one of them speaks up, trying to bravado his way out of this. All it does is get him killed, as Liu Qianqiao tosses a dart at him.
Liu Qianqiao then tells them the rules: Anyone who talks without her permission will die, and only one of them will live (not that they care who).
She then asks one of the young men if he knows why Xisang Gui “presides over the List of the Unfaithful”. When he answers that she “kills all cheaters of the world”, she kills him with another dart to the heart and then declares his answer correct because she hadn’t given him permission to speak.
Liu Qianqiao describes Mu Yunge’s crimes, and then explains the entertainment (framed as justice) as the newly-unchained young men are herded into a little fighting square. “For the marriages [Xisang Gui] presides over, ten of the cheater’s friends and relatives will be invited as guests. Today, out of the ten of you, only one can leave alive.”
The ghosts line the edges of the arena as the young men try to reassure themselves they’ll be okay and that it’s “only death” at the worst. The Yueyang disciple—who I’m like 90% certain is Deng Kuan, btw, who probably got captured because he was doing the honorable thing of going “Run! I’ll protect you!” at Mu Yunge—especially doesn’t want to hurt his sect’s reputation. He tries to rally the others to fight the ghosts together, and Wuchang Gui just smirks at the concept.
When Deng Kuan asks if the devils will even keep their word (about allowing one of them to go free), Wuchang Gui says that “The ghosts on Mount Qingya do all kinds of bad deeds, but never break promises. The exact opposite of you daxia [chevaliers] who throw around empty words.”
Wuchang Gui asks them if they even have a choice (to fight or not), and then Liu Qianqiao asks what they’re waiting for. One of the young men throws a punch, and then another, and it turns into a proper brawl. Deng Kuan keeps trying to stop the fight, and the ghosts are delighted by this entertainment.
Back to Zhao Jing and Shen Shen! They’re drinking tea together, and talking about Chengling. Shen Shen calls Zhang Yusen an “aggressive person” and wonders how he only has this one useless child left; he doesn’t even consider Chengling an heir. Zhao Jing, continuing to be portrayed as the sensible point, points out that Chengling was born during peacetime (implying that maybe his older siblings hadn’t been?) and hasn’t experienced any challenges.
Shen Shen asks if Zhao Jing believes Chengling’s words about not remembering anything, and Zhao Jing asks why a child would lie to them and says that Shen Shen’s overthinking. Shen Shen then asks if Zhao Jing knew that ZYS and his sons were killed by língchí (凌迟, death by dismemberment / ‘death of a thousand cuts’) (youtube subs say ‘lynched’, which doesn’t make much sense but I guess the words sound similar!) (netflix subs say “sliced into pieces”, which is much more fitting).
As Shen Shen says that ZYS even “crushed his own skull” (presumably something similar to how Gao Chong later kills himself?), we’re shown Chengling outside the door to this room, listening in. Listening to this must suck for him! I had forgotten he heard this/learned what happened to his family in such detail!
Shen Shen continues to talk about how ZYS and his sons must’ve been tortured because Ghost Valley hadn’t found the glazed armor, and insists that Chengling must know something. And then he says he doesn’t know what’s gotten into Chengling to make him so distant and quiet, as if the TRAUMA of everything wasn’t enough explanation. (Chengling’s choosing to be distant to them, too, because of his father’s letter, but even if that weren’t helping he has reason for this...)
Chengling walks away, and Zhao Jing finally tells Shen Shen to stop talking because his “heart aches”, and Shen Shen slams down another cup of tea and scoffs “What use is that?” as the scene ends.
Back at the wedding brawl, people are dying! Lots of blood! The ghosts are delighted! Deng Kuan cries over his shidi falling, and Wuchang Gui exclaims over how emotional this scene is. He’s very pleased by Deng Kuan as the survivor, but then Xisang Gui says that there are still two survivors. The ghosts all look at her, and we see one of the supposedly-fallen men open his eyes.
He has a knife! I do not know how he got/kept that knife. But he stabs Deng Kuan, who hits him back, and then they both fall over, presumably dead or almost there. This does explain some things about how the ghosts/Scorpions have a mostly-dead Deng Kuan for their drama at the Heroes Conference, which is something I recall being a bit confused by on my first watch.
We cut to the Yueyang Sect itself now! Gao Chong is meeting with Han Ying! They’re both very polite to each other.
(Before I get into this: I would like to point out that Zhao Jing and Chengling are not here quite yet. We will be shown them arriving soon, but they aren’t here yet. Did Han Ying follow them 90% of the way and then speed ahead? I think that needs to be the case?)
Han Ying introduces himself as “天窗统领韩英” (tiānchuāng tǒnglǐng Hán Yīng), where “tongling” is his title, commander. I pull this out specifically because the youtube subs say “I’m the leader of Tianchuang, Han Ying”, and that’s misleading in a very specific way and I wanted to know if the subs were doing that on their own or not. (This is especially weird because later Gao Chong calls him “Han-tongling” and it’s translated as “Commander Han”)
Gao Chong asks why Han Ying is here, and Han Ying easily admits that he’s here to investigate the Glazed Armor, and asks what Gao Chong knows about it. Gao Chong says it’s just a rumour, and he lies beautifully; there's no hesitation or tremor in his voice at all. But Han Ying points out that “Honest men don’t lie” and tells Gao Chong to stop dodging his question. He says that if Gao Chong shares information with him, Tian Chuang will owe him a favor, and that they’ll have many opportunities to work together in the future, “or else…”
Gao Chong does not appear pleased by this idea! He brings up Tian Chuang’s reputation, quotes their poetic reason for being, and asks why Han Ying is talking to him when Tian Chuang “knows everything”; doesn’t this mean they aren’t living up to their reputation? Han Ying moves closer to him, and mentions that the Five Lakes Alliance is searching for “an orphan of the Zhang sect” (in an implicit offer to find him), which Gao Chong rebuffs as an internal matter that Han Ying shouldn’t be involved with.
Gao Chong rejects Han Ying’s request for information once more, and tells him to leave if he doesn’t have any other business. Han Ying snaps “Don’t make me do this the hard way”, and Gao Chong says that even if Tian Chuang rules over the northwest, they’re “in Yueyang City now, under the rule of the emperor” and not in Tian Chuang’s seat of power. He gestures at politeness, by saying that Han Ying could stay for dinner and be treated as a guest, but he doesn’t say it very welcomingly, and then he asks if Han Ying is staying or leaving.
They stare at each other for a moment, and then Han Ying lets out a brief chuckle and leaves without another word.
Gao Chong wonders to himself how Jin-wang found out about the glazed armor as he watches Han Ying go, then considers how Chengling has almost arrived. He decides he needs to hurry Chengling into the city, just in case, as the scene changes to Yueyang disciples on horses hurrying through a forest.
The Yueyang riders, led by Gao Chong himself, meet up with Zhao Jing’s party. (I continue to have weird feelings about Zhao Jing and Chengling riding in the same carriage.)
You can just see ZJ peeking out of the back carriage on the far right!
As soon as initial greetings have been exchanged, Gao Chong asks where Chengling is and orders his brothers to bring Chengling and ride to the city immediately; the rest of their luggage etc. can be brought by the servants.
ZZS watches all this from the sidelines, and then we cut back to Yueyang Manor.
Shen Shen asks Gao Chong why he’s so anxious, but Gao Chong doesn’t answer before Gao Xiaolian shows up.
I’m fascinated by how there’s a line of male disciples on one side and a line of female disciples on the other, and they have slightly different uniforms and also I cannot recall seeing female Yueyang disciples at other times. It’s cool that they’re there, though; I’d been assuming that the Five Lakes sects were all-male.
Zhao Jing comments on how she’s grown up, and introduces Chengling as her younger brother. Chengling is very quiet and bows a little, and the Gao Chong tells Xiaolian to take Chengling to rest. Xiaolian is very obedient about this, and takes Chengling by the hand and leads him away when he doesn’t respond.
Gao Chong orders all the other servants/disciples to leave too, so that it’s just him and his surviving brothers. Shen Shen asks about what’s going on again, and Gao Chong proclaims that the jianghu won’t be peaceful anymore due to the secret of the glazed armor being out.
Meanwhile, ZZS comes up to the outside of Yueyang Sect’s manor and contemplates how strong their defenses are and how cautious Gao Chong is. He tries to tell himself that Chengling will be safe now, and that Chengling’s got a good future ahead of him. He seems more wistful than happy about this, like he doesn’t really believe it.
Then we’re shown one of the Yueyang disciples tapping a particular rhythm on his leg, and this catches ZZS’s attention. He glances around, notices the steamed bun vendor picking up the same rhythm, and wonders when Tian Chuang sent spies into Yueyang Sect and what Tian Chuang wants.
(Since one is dressed as a disciple, if it were Tian Chuang I assume this can’t have happened just over the last at-most-four-months since ZZS left Tian Chuang… But it’s the Scorpions, who have had plenty of time to infiltrate all the Five Lakes Alliance sects, and where the fascinating thing is much more “When did you learn Tian Chuang code?”)
ZZS follows the steamed bun seller away, and then sets himself up to pass by and say what’s clearly a spy password. The steamed bun seller reacts like he doesn’t recognise it, and ZZS goes “What? Not Tian Chuang?”, but before he can think more about it the man draws a curved scorpion blade and goes to attack ZZS. This doesn’t end well for the spy, of course, because ZZS is very good; even when a hidden blade comes at him, that just inspires him to attack more strongly.
WKX isn’t the only one who’s good at choking people!
When the spy is knocked down, WKX appears to praise ZZS’s ability and tell him how fitting his name is. As he’s talking, the spy dies. WKX says it’s because ZZS attacked too harshly, but the framing implies that the spy took a pill.
WKX then also quotes a saying—“One has a fair and handsome face, but his heart is like a poisonous scorpion.” (Which is pretty much Zhao Jing, in this show, which makes it amusing to have it directed at ZZS right now.)—and asks ZZS why he can’t “be a good person like me”. ZZS sighs, and then WKX glances down and recognises the spy’s sword as being from the Scorpions.
ZZS asks what he knows, and WKX says he knows a lot of things; Tian Chuang in the north and the Scorpions in the south are the largest assassin organizations there are, and both are looking for the glazed armor. WKX calls Chengling ZZS’s disciple (and a treasure), and ZZS rolls his eyes.
Then ZZS notices the piece of glazed armor hanging from WKX’s belt like it’s a jade charm, and asks if WKX’s afraid he’ll run into trouble. WKX jokes about how good a person he is, and wonders why trouble would find him, since he’s “not like [ZZS], a merciless killer” who runs into trouble everywhere. ZZS sighs about all this (probably does hurt) and tells WKX to leave him alone so that he doesn’t “ruin the view” (by bringing trouble upon WKX).
When ZZS goes to walk away, WKX stops him with his fan, saying that so long as he doesn’t hide his “handsome face”, he won’t ruin the view. WKX also asks why ZZS’s in disguise (gesturing at his hat) and who he’s hiding from, and ZZS tells him “The sun”. This time, WKX lets him walk away, but follows quickly behind.
“Stay away from me; I want to live a few more years,” ZZS says as WKX catches up and complains about being left behind. Probably WKX takes this as a joke/general irritation, since he laughs a little, tells ZZS not to worry, and says that even though the whole jianghu wants the glazed armor that doesn't mean they’ll recognise the piece he’s got hanging in plain sight.
ZZS’s face during this whole conversation is rather flat and blank, and he walks away again to stare at some street stall. WKX follows, and asks ZZS not to be upset (because his words were meaningless). When ZZS doesn’t respond (and, in fact, turns away again), WKX starts looking at the jade pendants at the street stall in earnest and asks how much they are.
ZZS recognises one of the people on the street as “the Nine-Clawed Fox, Fang Buzhi” as WKX tries to get him to have an opinion about jade pendants. ZZS says he doesn’t like any, and WKX tells him to pick one anyway; he’ll switch the glazed armor hanging from his belt for a pendant if ZZS picks one. ZZS thinks to himself that WKX’s intentionally drawing attention to himself, and then turns and walks away silently again.
WKX watches him go, but this time he doesn’t immediately follow. Instead, he asks the stall owner how his plans are going, and she tells him “I made it and nobody noticed”. WKX is pleased by this, and talks about how the stage is set and that he’s looking forward to a fantastic play (put on by Tian Chuang, the Scorpions, the Five Lakes Alliance, and other martial artists).
He stays at the stall, quiet, as another man comes up beside him, glances over the wares, and then leaves. We’re shown the glazed armor at WKX’s side disappearing along with the thief, and WKX smiles ever so slightly.
The show cuts to WKX running to catch up to ZZS again, asking him to wait and wondering if he’s mad. ZZS doesn’t have a chance to respond before a Yueyang disciple (at the head of a line of disciples) asks if they’re here for the Heroes Conference. ZZS says “I guess so,” and the disciple asks for his name, his sect, and if he has an invitation.
ZZS calls himself an insignificant nobody, and WKX goes “Ah? He’s my brother, we were invited by Zhao Jing.” ZZS does that thing where he glances at WKX and doesn’t say anything to contradict him.
The Yueyang disciple immediately brightens upon Zhao Jing’s name being brought into it, apologises for questioning them, and wonders if they need someone to bring them to “the courier station”. (Presumably where guests are staying? Actually if I look at the hanzi (…去驿站休息) it looks like yeah it does outright say “take you to the courier station to rest”, but the subtitles didn’t translate the last bit? Weird.)
WKX waves him off politely, and the Yueyang disciples head out. WKX comments about how much money Gao Chong has spent to fortify the city, and that ZZS’s disciple will be safe here as a result. ZZS glances away, and WKX quotes poetry to complain about how worried ZZS is, then tells him they should find something fun to do and drags him away. ZZS lets him! There’s no complaining, or even brushing off his hands! So as much as he’s being stand-offish and quiet, he doesn’t actually mind WKX deciding he’s going to work to cheer him up.
The scene cuts to the inside of an inn, where a man comes up to the front and does some pointedly specific tapping of a chopstick before putting a tube of some sort on a tray walking away from the counter again. The camera pans over to follow not him but the waiter who takes that tray, and we get our first glimpse of Cao Weining! He is not doing anything interesting at the moment, just eating, and we don’t yet know he’s important.
The waiter brings food to a young lady, who’s wrapped up in a disguise and listening to some musicians play. She pays for the food, then takes the tube and departs, and behind her we see Gu Xiang.
This is such a cool character design and I cannot recall seeing her again.
Gu Xiang seems bored and also frustrated, since she’s supposed to be trying to get into Yueyang Sect and has no idea how to go about doing this. She considers selling herself as a servant, but then decides she’s “too pretty and charismatic” for that to be believable. From how she’s considering what WKX will say about her lack of success, she’s been here for a bit and doesn’t know when WKX planned on arriving.
The musicians ask for suggestions of music to play, and a drunk young fuckboy tells them to play “Eighteen Touches” (which I assume, but haven’t actively looked up, is a well-known bawdy tavern/drinking song). The musician says they can’t play it, and asks for another choice, and the rest of the drunk fuckboys come over to try and convince them.
One even goes towards the young woman, saying he’ll teach her how to play it. The musician blocks him from actually getting to her, though. Gu Xiang starts paying attention as the fuckboys wave a whole tael in the musician’s face to try and get him to play the song. He tries to get them to accept another song, but they shove him aside and grab the young woman away. The musician cries out that they’re stealing his daughter, and Gu Xiang gets up. She comes over and says that the musicians might not know the song, but she does, and she’s willing to sing it in exchange for their silver.
Okay despite how much these dudes are terrible, their actors have absolutely fantastic body language this entire time; it’s really fun to watch them be awful bros like this.
The fuckboys promise her double and hand over a tael immediately. She gives it to the musician and asks him to accompany her, and goes over to the fuckboys as they let the musician’s daughter go. She’s playing this up and acting like a dominatrix rather a lot as she slaps them while music plays and she recites (it isn’t quite singing) the song in question.
It takes about two slaps before they go to fight her instead, and the music stops as the musician hurries his daughter away. Gu Xiang has a lot of fun beating them up, breaking the tables in their room and slapping them around some more before they run away from her. She shouts after them, needling them about not wanting to listen to her sing anymore (or wanting to fight her anymore!), and follows them as far as the stairs they’re scurrying down.
The fuckboys promise retribution, since she’s stirred up trouble in the Five Lakes Alliance’s territory, and Gu Xiang basically says “Yeah? Go ahead, try it! I’ll wait!” as the fuckboys run out the door.
Gu Xiang turns and sees Cao Weining staring at her with wide-eyed awe. She asks what he’s looking at, and if he wants to hear her sing, and he smiles and says he wants to buy her a meal. Gu Xiang is distinctly more confused by this, wondering what he’s up to, but she decides she’s not scared of him.
The next shot is of them sitting at the table as food arrives, Gu Xiang tapping a chopstick impatiently. Cao Weining’s beautiful manners show her, as he invites Gu Xiang to try the food and tells her about it and how good it is. Gu Xiang does try the food, says it’s excellent, and CWN says he doesn’t have any skills “except tasting delicacies around the world”. Gu Xiang thinks this is a good skill, and that he seems like a good person, and only now does she ask for his name.
CWN introduces himself, and then asks for Gu Xiang’s name; he’s much more overcome by her than she is by him. However! Before Gu Xiang can introduce herself, the fuckboys return with
They all come up, the leader of the Yueyang disciples introduces himself (Zhu Yaozhi), and then he asks “Who started the trouble?”. Gu Xiang scoffs, and wonders “Why don’t you ask the girl you harassed for an explanation?” Zhu Yaozhi is very ??? about this; it’s clear that the fuckboys didn’t mention that element of what happened at all. He turns, and asks one of the fuckboys (Liu; probably a surname? It’s literally ‘six’, though.) what happened.
The fuckboys say Gu Xiang made it up, and then CWN speaks up. He explains exactly what he saw (the fuckboys harassing a girl and Gu Xiang rescuing her). Zhu Yaozhi apologises to CWN, and Gu Xiang grumbles about how he’s only trying to act nice now, and wonders if “harassing others and not helping the needy” is what chivalry looks like in the jianghu. She scolds him (and, by implication, the rest of Yueyang Sect) for their behavior.
Zhu Yaozhi tries to say that the Five Lakes Alliance won’t tolerate such behavior, but Liu doesn't belong to their sects. He does promise that he’ll give her an explanation for “such a rascality”, though, which is one of my favorite translations in the youtube subs. (I think the word being translated as ‘rascality’ is 恶性, èxìng?)
Gu Xiang sniffs and looks away, and Zhu Yaozhi scolds Liu for lying to him. He sends all the other guards (and the fuckboys) away, and then (very embarrassed) asks CWN not to tell anyone about what happened (especially not Zhu Yaozhi’s master). CWN agrees, of course, and then Zhao Yaozhi leaves.
Gu Xiang wonders that it all ended so easily, and that they aren’t fighting, and CWN is like “Yeah? They were in the wrong?” Gu Xiang seems rather confused by this form of conflict resolution, but is easily distracted by how CWN is asking her if she really likes to fight. She takes this as him questioning her skills, and he’s very much like “Of course you can fight!”, very wide-eyed, and says he likes to fight too.
Gu Xiang tries to get him to fight her, right then and there, but CWN says she doesn’t fight girls. When GX gets huffy about that, he quickly explains that he thinks she’s beautiful, so he wants to protect her, so how could he try to hurt her? GX’s face goes through a lot of confused emotions at this active softness, which she’s probably never experienced like this before, and then she covers by going for the food. CWN stops her, because the food has gone cold, and says he’ll order new fresh food for them to eat. GX acts grumpy for a moment, and then tells him to order, and they’re both smiling at each other as the scene cuts.
ZZS and WKX are walking through town together, and ZZS pauses to look at an inn. WKX teases him about his love for drinking (and asks if he’s addicted, which is tbh a fair question), but ZZS says that “This [inn] is where the martial artists [jianghuren] gather”, and one can hear about anything that might happen there. WKX pauses for a moment, and then comes back with some homophonic joke about “How do you hear about it?” vs “madness”? I do not know chinese enough to try and parse it out, but the subs say it’s a homophone and I believe them. ZZS scoffs a little and walks into Fengyan Pub (so sayeth the subs); WKX smiles and follows.
Inside, they take a seat. ZZS places a nut onto his chopsticks where they rest on his cup.
WKX watches with quiet/intent curiosity. He doesn’t ask, instead waiting to see what happens. A waiter comes over, and asks ZZS what he wants. ZZS asks about fresh tea leaves, and the waiter says he has tea from all over. When ZZS asks about “the kind roasted with raw rice”, the waiter hesitates, then says that it’s not in the city but the government has imported a batch. He says they don’t have money for it, and ZZS gives him some money, and then the waiter runs off, saying he’ll get it for ZZS at once.
WKX, who has been so nicely quiet this whole time, immediately turns to ZZS and asks what the code phrases meant. ZZS’s response is “Don’t you know the commonly used code phrases in the jianghu?”, but he doesn’t seem truly surprised by this; it feels like he’s more confirming something he already knew, and perhaps enjoying finding something he knows so well that WKX doesn’t. WKX laughs a little, very defensively, and protests that “How would I not know?” and that he’s the one testing ZZS.
ZZS lets out a huff of laughter and a true smile at WKX’s words, but he doesn’t respond before hearing Gu Xiang’s voice calling for someone to drink. ZZS turns to look up, but WKX doesn’t until ZZS calls attention to them (by saying Gu Xiang is being taken advantage of). It’s interesting, especially in light of how much time we spend thinking about ZZS’s senses degrading over the course of this show, that here at least he’s noticing something that WKX clearly did not.
WKX goes “Huh?” and then turns and looks, and the scene cuts to Gu Xiang and CWN’s conversation. GX is asking if he knows Gao Chong well, and CWN demurs, but says his master does (and they’re close friends). GX says that’s cool, and then introduces herself and says they should be friends. (The timeline here is fascinating; I always forget that they must’ve not been here too long before WKX and ZZS entered.) CWN seems delighted.
WKX is rather less delighted; he lets out a breath, snatches up his fan, and strides off. ZZS watches him go, but doesn’t seem immediately invested in following.
CWN is quoting poetry at Gu Xiang to say that he likes her name (a line each from two different poems, according to the subs), and Gu Xiang seems flattered but also confused by how literary he’s being. She does then follow that up with saying she knows someone who’d like to talk to him, because he also likes poetry and food. (CWN seems very !!! about this.)
That person, of course, is WKX, who is walking up the stairs behind GX. WKX says he doesn’t think he’d like to speak to GX, GX jumps up to welcome him, and CWN starts going ??? about who this even is that GX is so delighted by.
GX tells WKX to sit, but when he doesn’t she realises that perhaps she should be polite and introduce him and CWN to each other.
WKX seems very unimpressed with CWN (or, at least, he’s actively keeping an expressionless and stern face). CWN is very surprised that GX has a master and that she’s a maid and not a martial arts disciple (or a noble daughter), because he’d been afraid (he cuts himself off, but I suspect he was afraid he wouldn’t be good enough for her). (The word he uses here for “maid” is the same as earlier this episode when GX herself was going “I can’t pull off looking like a servant to sneak into Yueyang Sect”; that’s a cool callback/parallel between them.)
WKX says he doesn’t care what CWN’s sect is, pushes GX a little to the side, and then sits down. There, he asks if CWN (who’s still standing) knows GX well. He says he doesn’t, and is in full on deference mode as he offers that WKX eat with him. WKX interrupts this offer to tell him to scram (in more polite words, but the meaning is very clear). CWN bows, and apologises, and scurries off.
GX watches him go, then goes around the table to take the chair he’d been at. She asks WKX what “conveniently leave” means, because she doesn’t know it’s the polite form of “scram”. WKX explains, then asks how she met “such a crafty and shallow person”. Shallow might be an unkind reading of how CWN keeps all his emotions on the surface, but crafty is just WKX not knowing how to deal with someone who genuinely doesn’t have any plots and secrets hiding under the surface.
WKX goes on to complain about how CWN didn’t quote poetry well, and GX has no idea who the poet he’s referencing even is. He beckons her to lean across the table until he can grab her by the ear and tell her not to interact with “that uncultured boy” again. GX says that CWN seems very cultured, especially in comparison to her. WKX doesn’t have a great reaction to that, and is still not in a good mood.
GX then goes looking for ZZS, because she’s surprised he isn’t right beside WKX. WKX wonders why she wants to know about him, even asking “Do you want him to marry you?”, which says a lot about what’s on his mind with GX/CWN and also how he thinks about ZZS.
GX says she doesn’t dare; ZZS looks nice, but “when no one’s looking at him, his glance is even scarier than a ghost’s” (and GX should have a lot of reference points for a ghost’s glance!).
WKX smiles at this, and then goes back to wondering why she asked about him. GX says “When he’s around, you feel more like a person”. There’s a quiet moment as WKX’s face stops having any mask of emotion (he just looks like a person, and maybe a little tired) and he glances down at the table.
He’s saved from needing to come up with a response by the innkeeper shouting at CWN about how he’s dining and dashing and trying to pay with calligraphy. Both WKX and GX look down to watch. GX laughs, and shouts down about how he doesn’t have money. This incites the innkeeper to scold CWN even more (about inviting a girl to a meal without being able to pay), and even WKX is smiling now; he’s enjoying seeing CWN so wrong-footed.
GX says not to worry, because she has money, but WKX interrupts to ask how CWN could let a girl pay. WKX says he’ll pay, while walking over next to ZZS (still seated at the same table), and then goes “A-Xu, your wallet” as he extends his hand.
ZZS just looks at him, the faintest smile on his face, and then asks where WKX’s wallet is. WKX sighs, and says that one can make careless mistakes; he saw a handsome scholar on the street, but this turned out to be not a friend but a thief. WKX’s hamming it up a little as he says this, and ZZS smiles at the story.
CWN recognises the description of the scholar, though; he’d talked to the same man, and now CWN’s like “Oh! He must’ve stolen my wallet!” WKX doesn’t respond, but ZZS says (to WKX) “Even you fell into Fang Buzhi’s trap?” WKX just looks at him, and CWN is all “Aaaaah! The thief master?”, because he recognises the name.
GX inches down the stairs, money in hand. WKX lets out a big sigh and says that a “kind and weak scholar like [him]” takes beatings in the jianghu, and then asks for ZZS’s wallet again. ZZS refuses, asking why he should pay when they aren’t close, but he doesn’t look (or sound) particularly upset. He’s just enjoying making WKX make faces at him, I think.
GX asks who WKX’s talking to, and says WKX should leave him because GX has money. WKX tells her off, and ZZS smirks about how she didn’t recognise him. GX comes over, stares at ZZS more closely, and then recognises him (but doesn’t quite want to call him “sick dude” like this). ZZS’s amused, and WKX’s smug about his own good taste and being able to tell that ZZS was “no ordinary treasure”.
GX finally exclaims about how ZZS is “sick dude”. She reaches over to pats his face, which he allows, and comments on how his face is real and how “Master, this is the first time you’re right!” (about someone being hot, presumably.)
ZZS seems chill about all this, but WKX is not amused. He hits her hand away from ZZS’s face with his fan, and asks why ZZS lets GX touch him but attacks WKX every time he tries.
We get ZZS’s oft-quoted line about “If you were a cute girl, you could touch me too,” and WKX rolls his eyes. GX’s just happy to be called cute.
The innkeeper comes over with CWN and asks them to pay instead of being touchy-flirty. For the third time, WKX asks ZZS for his wallet. This time, ZZS pulls it out and (after a moment of pretending he won’t) sets it in WKX’s hand. WKX smiles and tosses it between his hands, surprised by how much money’s in there, and then opens the bag. As he does, ZZS says that WKX will owe him interest for borrowing his money.
WKX looks at him, torn between “What?” and amusement I think, and GX continues saying that they don’t need ZZS’s money and have their own. ZZS, because he’s having fun annoying WKX, says that if WKX doesn’t pay him back he’ll take GX. WKX tells GX to stop trying to pay, and gives ZZS’s money to the innkeeper. He overpays for CWN’s food, and asks for a full banquet to be brought for them, since ZZS is so rich.
The innkeeper invites them to the inn’s private room. WKX smiles at ZZS, who seems a bit exasperated (but not in a bad way). He tosses the money bag in his hand again, and the episode ends.
General Commentary
I’m fascinated by the murder-wedding. Xisang Gui says surprisingly little during it; Liu Qianqiao does most of the actual speaking, though Xisang Gui’s words are all very impactful. Xisang Gui is rather aloof/distant during the whole thing, though clearly she’s paying very close attention to everything that’s happening.
It’s also interesting that this is a well-enough known phenomenon that the one random dude knows exactly who Xisang Gui is and what’s going on—but not well-enough known that they know all the rules. It’s like seeing a folk horror story come to life, probably, where you’ve heard of this happening to people but often dismissed it as a legend.
Zhou Zishu spends so much more time smiling in this episode, especially when interacting with Wen Kexing. Despite how quiet he can be, and how they’re both throwing barbed words around, Zhou Zishu’s fairly clear about how he overall enjoys the experience of spending time with Wen Kexing. He’s not particularly demonstrative, but the lack of swatting Wen Kexing away (and the quiet smiles) are still very telling.
I love Cao Weining, and also how Gu Xiang and Wen Kexing react to him. Neither of them know what to do with his open-hearted earnestness, and it’s incredibly sad.
I think this episode is also the turning point from Wen Kexing paying for a lot of stuff for Zhou Zishu (because Zhou Zishu was pretending to be a beggar) and Wen Kexing demanding that Zhou Zishu pay for him. It’s a really interesting balance in their relationship. They both clearly have access to a lot of money, but I have no idea how/if either of them can replenish that money once they spend it. (Later, when Jing Beiyuan gets involved, I completely understand how they could get more money, but that’s not for a long while…)
I continue to be fascinated by the relationships between Tian Chuang and Scorpion. When did Scorpion get access to Tian Chuang signals? Does Han Ying know about this? (I don’t think so, but still!) It’s certainly a surprise to Zhou Zishu to see the Scorpion blade come out after he’s seen Tian Chuan signals, and this is the first sign to the viewer that the political relationships between these factions are all very tangled together.
Also, the way Han Ying talked to Gao Chong is interesting. He asks primarily about the glazed armor here, and doesn’t bring up Chengling at all except as a very deft polite threat. That does make it seem more likely that Han Ying was tailing Chengling specifically to end up at Sanbai Manor last episode (as
trobadora suggested in comments)! (Regarding that threat: Next episode is the kidnapping attempt! Gao Chong knows that Tian Chuang has implicitly threatened Chengling, and yet takes him out without much, if any, guard. I’ll have more to say about this next week, I know, but it makes me very curious how Gao Chong interpreted Han Ying’s words here. Did he simply not think Han Ying would continue going after Chengling once Chengling reached Yueyang? Did he think Han Ying would’ve left sooner? Did he think Han Ying didn’t have that many subordinates around?)
Everyone in the jianghu seems surprised that Prince Jin (and thus Tian Chuang) has heard about the glazed armor. I can’t tell if it’s “the information has spread that far?” or “he’s paying that much attention?” Maybe both!
There’s also Gao Chong’s comment that Yueyang City is “under the rule of the emperor”, which draws a specific contrast to how Prince Jin’s territory (Tian Chuang’s territory) isn’t. I definitely didn’t notice that the first time around, but it’s niggling in my head now. We almost never hear about imperial things from the jianghu! But at the same time, I think that now that I’m paying attention it hints at how Gao Chong is a good man (because he considers himself subordinate to the emperor) in contrast to Zhao Jing and Prince Jin wanting to become emperors in their own right.
Discussion Prompts/Questions
1. “When he’s around, you feel more like a person.” Gu Xiang has noticed this already, despite not having seen the most recent relationship developments between WKX and ZZS. Thoughts about what she’s noticed and why she’s bringing this up? Especially in contrast to her immediately previous statement about ZZS’s glance being “even scarier than a ghost’s”? (And to her having just met Cao Weining?)
2. I feel like the way Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu relate to money (and each other, through money) is fascinating but also I don’t have coherent thoughts of my own yet. If you do, I’d love to hear them! (But we’ll be getting more of WKX bothering ZZS to pay for him next episode, I believe!)
3. So much spy stuff this episode! Any particular bits of spy shenanigans and secret codes and message-passing that delight you?
4. A lot of time is spent on the murder-wedding this episode. It feels rather disconnected from the main plot on a first viewing, but on this re-watch I’m starting to see more connections sprinkled in. Any feelings about it? Or about Xisang Gui, since we’ve now met her properly?
5. Another open invitation to talk about Han Ying and his goals! And/or the Tian Chuang-Scorpion connection! I am interested in thoughts on both these things!
Next Time: GX and CWN flirt more (and so do ZZS and WKX). Gao Chong takes Chengling to see the Five Lakes Monument. Han Ying attempts to kidnap Chengling! Fang Buzhi realises he has multiple glazed armor pieces (and dies). WKX and ZZS meet Gao Chong properly.
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I was so sure she would turn up again because the spy stuff was framed so front and center, and then she just… didn‘t