One good thing that came out of my Covid is that I had time to catch up on this cdrama. I’ll write my commentaries on the episodes I liked, and they won’t be in sequence.

I like this cdrama better than “The Princess Royal.” I lost my patience with the female lead in TPR. I get that she was a product of her upbringing but her tsundere-ness (or is the delivery/performance of the actress) was such a big turn-off. It’s always an uphill struggle for me to finish love stories where one half is patently more in love than the other half. As much as I don’t like to see a heroine acting like a doormat, I don’t like watching Pei WenXuan playing a chump.

Anyway, about this Episode 15, here are my three takeaways.

1. Cui Jui (real name: Lord Huaiyang/Cui Xing Zhou) always appeared in the village where Lui MianTang (MT) was staying whenever there was news from the battlefront. He didn’t say so, but I think he rushed down to her side to allay her fear about his safety.

a. In the first instance, there was a report that the patrol squad was ambushed while scouting enemy territory. Lord Huaiyang supposedly had to rescue them and several men were injured or killed. MT was gripped with terror when she heard this because Cui Jui (CJ) had told her that he was promoted to the patrol rank.

After regaining her composure, she charged out of the room, ready to look for him in the camp herself.

That’s when she saw CJ standing at the doorway. He walked quickly to her with arms outstretched and she ran to embrace him.

MT: (hiding her distress) Are you hurt? Where are you injured?

He must have known then that going to her side was the right thing for him to do. She needed to see him so she’d believe that he was fine. Of course, she was unaware that he was Lord Huaiyang who went out to rescue his men.

He patted her cheek in comfort.

CJ: I’m fine. Everything will be okay. I’ll make sure to bring you home safely.
MT: (nodding) Mmm.

b. In the second instance, word traveled fast in the village that Lord Huaiyang won the battle.

Before MT could go out and confirm the news, he appeared at the doorway. By the look of his unsteady gait, he must have left his men as soon as the battle was over and rushed home to be at her side.

They slowly walked towards each other. He was obviously exhausted after fighting all night, but he was savoring his homecoming.

Then, he fainted in her arms from exhaustion.

To me, he could have rested in camp after the night of killing, but he dashed to be at her side. He wanted to be home in person when she heard the news. He wanted to reassure her that he was alive and to share his victory with her.

I like that the director took the same camera shots of them walking towards each other and hugging in the middle of the composition. The similarity of the camera shots drew our attention to the differing mood of the scenes.

In the first scene, CJ was comforting MT because she feared the worst thing had happened to him. There was urgency and uncertainty in that hug which they tried to hide with their smiles. The future was unknown and they must be strong for each other.

In the second instance, the tables were turned, and she was the one comforting him. After fighting all night, he was grateful to finally come home and rest with her. He was able to accomplish his mission because she had been his rock and anchor.

2. From the get-go, Lord Huaiyang’s mission to defend the Jinjia Pass was intended by the generals/monarchy to fail so they could eliminate Lord Huaiyang himself.

Although Lord Huaiyang strategized so he could increase his chance of victory “by at least 30%” or to a virtual tie, he needed MT’s ground intelligence to tip the scales in his favor. She found and collected enough root plants which he then used to poison his enemy’s horses. The poison was the tiebreaker. Without her input, his military operation wouldn’t have succeeded.

I like how this foreshadowed the couple’s peak performance. When Lord Huaiyang and MT put their heads together, they were formidable.

3. Other things:

a. MT fainted by the riverbank and when she came to, she was at home in bed with Lord Huaiyang/CJ at her side. She remembered bits and pieces of her past life in her dreams.

MT: I dreamed of being taken into the deep mountains. I struggled desperately, but my tendons were still cut, and I was thrown off a waterfall.
CJ: What else did you dream about?
MT: The villain had his face covered, so I couldn’t see his face.

He gripped her hands.

CJ: Forget it. In the coming days, let’s focus on getting better. Drink your medicine first.

Previously, he wanted to know the details because they would be useful for his mission to capture the bandits. But now, he seemed to be in two minds about it. On the one hand, he needed to know when her memory was restored as that would mean his lies were over. But on the other hand, he didn’t want her to remember the details anymore when remembering hurt her so.

b. Lady Shi (aka the future empress) met Lord ZiYu at the restaurant.

I found the guy’s obsession with MT melodramatic. (Just get over it!) But I gave him brownie points for eating pork hocks with Lady Shi, and not shaming her for her “unladylike” taste in food.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Next up:
Episode 13 The Divorce
Episode 35 The Wedding