For @agdr03,

What amuses me about this Chinese romcom is that it’s low-key subversive. General Ji Heng is showing tenderness (and what the poets call the “first stirrings of love) for a person who he thinks is a man. If Tian Qi had been a real dude, I doubt this Cdrama would pass the Ministry of Culture. 😉

I’ll post this one first then follow up with Ep 14.

*********

My highlights for this episode:

1. General Ji’s annoyance when his nephew called Tian Qi “mom.”

That first meeting between his nephew, Ru Yi, and Tian Qi reminds me of the game show, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader.”

Ru Yi has no problems recognizing that Tian Qi is female, so why hasn’t Ji Heng figured out that Dr. Cutie is a girl. I think he’s in denial. After all these weeks in her company, he can’t entertain the thought that Tian Qi is feminine although everything attests to her being female. Tian Qi is simply “forbidden fruit.”

As it is, he can’t admit that he’s attracted to her because it’ll mean a same-sex attraction and that’s taboo. lol.

He’s tense and easily angered because of his warring emotions for her: attraction, revulsion, repression, and let’s not forget jealousy. He’s jealous that his brother and Tian Qi can display camaraderie. When he saw the Tian Qi playfully tapping Ji Zheng, he displaced his jealousy by barking at his nephew Ru Yi instead.

In his eyes, the three of them, Tian Qi, his brother Zheng and his young nephew, look comfortable together.

Then the poor Ru Yi accidentally calls Tian Qi “mom.” I guess, to a boy who grew up as an orphan, Tian Qi presents a mother figure.

RY: Mom, let’s play with the turtle.
TQ: Shhhh…
JH: (shocked) Mom?
JZ: (stepping in) Brother, Ru Yi lost his mother at an early age so…

It’s nice of Zheng to remind JH to be more understanding with their nephew. Having lost his mother and father at a young age, he attaches himself to nurturer, and identifies a nurturing person as a mother.

JH: (quickly changing tack) Tian Qi. How dare you? Ru Yi has just returned to the mansion and you brought him here and play with a turtle? This is not decent. (I think the subber meant “appropriate.”)
TQ: My lord I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let master RY play with the turtle, nor should I let him call me “mom.”

She’s apologizing for two offences here: She’s apologizing that she allowed herself to be called “mom” when she wasn’t related in any way to the child. She’s overstepped her boundaries. But we know that the real offense here, as far as JH is concerned, is that she’s called by a female term and allowed Ru Yi to be confused by her gender.

RY: Big uncle (“big” here refers to Ji Heng’s seniority, it’s my fault. I’ve crossed the line.
JH: (turning to his next victim, his brother) Zheng, you seem to be in a good mood, having fun with Dr. Tian and Ru Yi. Did you forget that I asked you to come to my study?
JZ: I… (couldn’t deny it)
JH: Never mind. Tian Qi, send RY to madame’s room. Reflect on your misbehavior today. (addressing his brother) You, come with me.

See? Ji Heng descends upon the happy group and breaks them up. All because of his jealousy that he isn’t part of the group.

TQ: Thank you, my lord, for sparing me.

I really should start counting how often she thanks him in each episode.

Here, I thought she said this with a bit of sass. It’s like her saying, “thank you for not killing me.” She lives to see another day and to be scolded again because he’s moody. lol.

But little Ru Yi has his revenge when he reports back to his grandmother/Ji Heng’s mother that Ji Heng doesn’t want to share Tian Qi with him. Ji Heng can’t deny this, without looking defensive, so he argues that Ru Yi just wants to play all day with Tian Qi.

His mom observes that everybody seems to like this Dr. Tian.

Later, she requests to have Dr. Tian at her side attending to her. Again, Ji Heng can’t fight with his mother over Dr. Tian, without looking like he’s guarding her at his side.

So he agrees to let her go. He knows however that his mother has an ulterior motive, yet undisclosed, for wanting Tian Qi at her palce.

Although this Cdrama doesn’t promise big twists and turns, I like that the plot is organic. The development of the story isn’t too crazy to be believable.

Given that Dr. Tian is male, Ji Heng can’t appear to show partiality for her. Moreover, since it’s his mother making the request and he’s a filial son, he can’t appear to be blocking her.

Of course, he doesn’t know that Tian Qi already knew of his mother’s request and had already started scheming the night before.

2. The fake “chickenpox”

Upon learning that Ji Heng’s mother requested her to be transferred to her mansion, Tian Qi knows that there’s a plot afoot to have her killed. She figures that her nemesis, Chen Wuyong, conspired with Ji Heng’s mother to get her out of Ji Heng’s household.

She reasons, “I’m the Imperial doctor sent by His Majesty, and I’m also the general’s personal doctor. If she wants to hurt me, she needs to ask the general about it.”

Note: “It” means to request for her transfer.

Tian Qi continues, “She needs an excuse to take me away from General Ji, and then kill me secretly. As a mother, she needs a reason to take away her son’s servant so that it won’t hurt her son’s feelings. She can say that she wants me to take care of her since I’m a good doctor. That’s the only possible reason she can offer to take me away.”

Bravo! I like that she’s thinking this through like in a chess game. By deliberating over the problem and the right response, she can block Ji Heng’s mother without offending her.

She explains to her mentor Dr. Ding, “I’m saying that I must stay near General Ji and hold on to him. And then play it by ear. I’ve to do my best to stay by his side.”

Her plan is to fake a highly contagious disease, chicken pox, by ingesting herbs that will trigger skin rashes similar to chicken pox. It’s an ingenious plan. Madame Ji wants to kill her, so she “kills” herself first with her own specially concocted poison.

I like her self-reliance and her quick action. She doesn’t wait for somebody to rescue her.

The following morning, Madame Ji formally made the request. When Ji Heng looks for her in his quarters, he’s told by his assistant that she suddenly caught chicken pox and had a fever. She was quarantined because her illness was highly contagious.

Ji Heng is surprised.

JH: All of a sudden? Is anyone looking after him?
Asst: Dr. Ding is there.
JH: (rushing off) I’d better check on him.
Asst: My lord, don’t. It’s contagious. You should be careful.
JH: (impatiently) I already got chicken pox in childhood. I’m safe.

But on his way to Tian Qi’s place, he begins to put two and two together: his mother’s sudden request for Tian Qi’s services, and Tian Qi’s sudden absence due to an illness.

He stops to address his assistant.

JH: I want to ask you something. After Madame returned, did anything unusual happen?
Asst: I know that several days ago, Chen Wuyong visited Madame with Zhi Jin.
JH: Zhi Jin? The maid who worked for Madame Shu?
Asst: Exactly. Since Madame talked to Zhi Jin, the rumor spread out saying that Tian Qi is a jinx, and he curses his masters.
JH: Curse his masters? Nonsense.
Asst: But earlier, Tian Qi worked for the Princess Shuncheng. You know she ended up…
JH: He has worked for me for a long time. If he really is a jinx, why is it that I haven’t been killed yet?
Asst: (gasping and falling down to his knees) My lord, you’re blessed and fortunate. Don’t say anything ominous. I said too much. Punish me please.

His assistant, Mr. Sheng, is a superstitious sort. I think he doesn’t like Ji Heng speaking of his death so freely and loudly, as this might court bad luck. pen. Fortunately, Ji Heng doesn’t believe in such nonsense.

JH: Sheng Anhuia, do you know why Tian Qi have chicken pox?
Asst: I don’t know.
JH: I’ve figured out why Tian Qi got sick suddenly. He must have gotten information and came up with a trick to save himself. He’s quite smart.

lol. I like that smile. He’s impressed with Tian Qi’s cleverness. But he also must have felt flattered that Tian Qi is going to great length to stay by his side.

JH: Let’s go back.
Asst: My lord, what about Tian Qi?
JH: If I go see him now, he’ll probably die sooner.

lol. He means that if his mother found out that he visited Tian Qi while she was sick, his mother would only become more determined to get her out of his sight. Nothing good will come from his visiting Tian Qi so he’s going to avoid her.

JH: (continuing) And it’s not the chicken pox that’s trying to kill him. I just can’t go against mother because of him. (thinking to himself) Tian Qi, Tian Qi. Should I save you? How?

At this point, Tian Qi and Ji Heng are of the same mind. They want to stay together, but they can’t let others know, least of all, Madame Ji.

3. Zheng’s reaction

While Ji Heng devices a plan to get Tian Qi out of his mother’s clutches, Zheng quickly moves to attend to Tian Qi’s needs. He hears of her chicken pox while having dinner with Ji Heng and his stepmother.

The dinner itself is interesting because we learn a few things about their family dynamics.

For one, when they were little, Ji Heng became jealous when his mother paid more attention to Zheng and put more of Zheng’s favorite food onto his bowl than Heng’s bowl. lol. Heng hasn’t lost this jealous streak in him. He still gets jealous whenever Tian Qi and Zheng are together.

For another, Heng’s mother was probably overcompensating and lavishing attention on Zheng out of guilt. She was involved in getting Zheng’s own birth mother killed.

Also during the dinner, Heng’s mother brought up the topic of Zheng’s marriage. It was time for him to get married and start a family, she said.

JZ: Mother, I’m not in a hurry. Besides, I’m always drifting. There’s no girl that would like to marry me.
JH: (chiming in) Not a big deal, Zheng. If you’re in love, let me know. I’ll report to His Majesty and ask him for permission to let you marry her. Then no girl would dare reject your marriage offer.

The image of Qian Ti walking in the rain flashed in Zheng’s mind and he unconsciously smiled. Awww. It was love at first sight for him.

His stepmother asked, “Why are you smiling? Are you in love already? Who is she? Tell me.”

JZ: (addressing his brother) I’m not. Though if I do, I’ll turn to Ji Heng for help. You would help me?
JH: (laughing) Of course, anytime.

Then, it was Heng’s turn to be prodded into marriage but he used the latest assassination attempt to cry off. His mother worried that no one was taking care of him as his personal doctor was sick.

And that’s how Zheng discovers that Tian Qi is sick. He goes to her place immediately after dinner to check on her. When he hears her collapse, he barges in to help her back up to bed.

Dr Ding tells him to leave because the “fake” chicken pox is contagious. But he’s adamant that he’ll stay by Tian Qi’s side

JZ: It doesn’t matter. I’m strong enough. I won’t get infected. Tian Qi, he’s my friend. Let me take care of him.

Awww. If there was any moment that Ji Zheng rose in my estimation, it was now.

He attends to her all night, and sleeps by her side. And unlike Ji Heng who already had chicken pox so he had no fear of catching it again, Zheng brushes aside fears of catching Tian Qi’s illness.

Meanwhile, back in his palace, Ji Heng paces back and forth. He almost puts on his robe (with a dramatic flourish, mind you) to go and visit Tian Qi.

But he has second thoughts and sits back down again. He imagines her sleeping in her usual bed – which tells me that he’d watched her sleep, too (pervert! lol) —

and wonders how she’s doing.

Although I understand that Ji Heng’s hands are tied, I still go with the adage, “Faint heart never won fair lady.” I wish he sent a note to ask how Tian Qi was doing instead of merely wondering about her condition.

In this instance, Zheng >> Heng.

There you go, @agdr03. Comment away.