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Episodes 1 to 5: The mystery of the beheaded bride
Episodes 6 to 10: Dark secrets in the purple bamboo grove
Episodes 11 to 15: The monster of Samyuan village
Episodes 16 to 19: The ballad of the Shuangqing Troupe
Episodes 20 to 21: The mannequin in the bridal gown shop
Episodes 22 to 24: The power struggles of crown princes
Episode 25 to 30: Death by a thousand cuts The punishment of the Heavenly Way cult
It was Yan Chi who mentioned that the victim resembled the “Lingchi execution in history.”
Just as a background info –
Lingchi, translated as “slow slicing” or “death by a thousand cuts,” was a state-sponsored form of execution in Imperial China. While there was a bureaucracy handling the administration of the judicial system (e.g., Shen Wan’s father was an official in the Ministry of Justice and Li Muyun is the Minister of the Supreme Court), the emperor was the highest judicial authority in the land (“the buck stops with him”) and made the final decision of executions by lingchi.
Lingchi was generally reserved for heinous crimes like mass murder, patricide (because it violates filial piety), serial rape, treason, and emperor assassination. But it stands to reason that it was also abused to silence the opponents, rivals, and dissidents of the emperor.
Interestingly enough, there was also a religious aspect in sentencing an individual to death by lingchi. (source: www.ancient-origins.net) We all know that filial piety is a core tenet in Confucianism. It’s believed that the bodies (including our hair) are a gift from the parents and ancestors, and cutting the body is viewed as disrespecting the gift, and immoral. Thus, when an individual is sentenced to death by a thousand cuts, his/her body (and the soul) is considered “destroyed,” and immoral even after death.
What’s the relevance to the cdrama then?
Three things:
1. It makes me wonder how this Confucian mindset of filial piety/respecting the body affects the autopsies. I guess autopsies are given a pass since they’re done in pursuit of a higher cause, namely, justice.
2. I think it’s historical whitewashing when a) the people at the autopsy looked baffled at what they were seeing, and b) Shen Yan’s assistant coroner said, “in all my years, I’ve never witnessed such cruel methods until now. Come on now!!! Perhaps it was their first time actually seeing a lingchi victim up close, but this execution method was hardly unheard of in Imperial China.
3. I wonder how the screenwriter will connect this mystery to the palace intrigues, and what new revelations about the emperor will come of it. In the previous case, I noted that the power struggle between the foreign visitors exposed the a) current power struggle between the Crown Prince and Prince Cheng, b) the averted power struggle between Prince Rui and the current emperor, and c) the potential power struggle between Yan Chi and his BFF Yan Li. I wonder what the screenwriter will expose via this gruesome lingchi punishment.
That’s it, folks.
Will continue watching Ep 25, and get back to you all.
Hi @pkml3. Thanks for this. You put into writing what I was thinking when I watched the foreign princes betraying each other for power. It was the what could have been with Yan Chi’s father and his uncle who’s the current emperor.
I did not think of Yan Chi and Yan Li as vying for power since they are not interested in it for its own sake (at the moment) but I was thinking of Prince Cheng and the Crown Prince and their respective mothers.
If these horrible tortures are not something that annuls the king’s mandate to rule, then I’m also wondering what political connection it has. However as crimes (might they be to do with some group or cult?) that are being carried out and if linked to someone vying for power, it would seriously undermine their chances to retain favour.
I think there is another clue here in this murder related to the treatment of syphilis. I can’t remember exactly.But I think they may find a mercury ball and smell cinnabar, Maybe just smell the cinnabar. The corpse is found near the brothel and someone comments on the dead person deserving his fate because he was frequenting the brothel. Are some of these murders linked in some way? And How does syphilis and its treatment fit in here?
I too wonder if this organization that gets mentioned is a cult or something similar.
And what is the significance of the death by a thousand cuts?
@GB, I’ll reply to you on the other thread, Eps 23-24. 🙂
@monmor,
Now that I’m watching Ep 26, I think I’ll rename the case.
The punishments of the Heavenly Way Cult
2. Symbolism
The flower: in Episode 25, an intoxicated Yan Li was kicked out of a brothel. He began talking to a tree with blooming red flower. Then, he collapsed on the ground and a man in shadows approached him. What happened to him next is a mystery. The next time we see him (Episode 26), he appeared behind a floral curtain, dancing blind-folded in the middle of a prostitutes. He was brothel.
Significance: The killer (or killers) painted a Black Unrighteous Flower at the scene of the crime. The target appeared to be people who frequented brothels (I’m not sure about this one, though) or lived a dissipated life.
@pkml3, @MM,
I note here that in Episode 27, Shuo Xi Army’s grain provisions have been compromised and the emperor is taking the opportunity to send both the CP and YC out of the capital to attend to feeding the troops and finding out how the grain would become mouldy.
This comes also under the shadiness of the emperor because he is strangely adamant that the CP must go in person to oversee the work, when I’d think it was something that could have been deputised.
So Shen Wan remains in the capital with just Li and Yue Ning to keep her safe. I guess we’re gearing up for more suspense and conflict.
Notes on Prince Cheng and his Mother:
We find also that Prince Cheng and his mum have had for a year, a spy in Shuo Xi army named ‘Zheng’. The mum consort is aggrieved that Zheng knows nothing but asks for money.
Cheng thinks that their spy can rise a bit in the ranks or get noticed with the mouldy provisions case. Once he gets into a position to hear more info, he would be able to pass it on to Prince Cheng and mum.
Mum is afraid that YC’s investigations will end with wiping out their people planted in army (a waste of money to her). Prince Cheng aims to take over command of the army.
I think this drama is Doing well With two major plots at once Which should Eventually weave into each other.
The competition for the throne of course, is more standard fare but it is very interesting how it is done here. I thought the Rivalry between the princes’ from the foreign lands was An interesting way of Of Presenting what we were suspecting With the royal family. I did not see it as foreshadowing although I suppose it was, because of course we already know this is what is going to happen because of the genre. Also, the competition for the throne is made more interesting because of the emperor And our uncertainty about his motives There are so many potential candidates and already a competitive history between the emperor and his brother.
About the murder cases, Interesting symbolism going on here. Cinebar was used to make red paint in ancient china. It is also a poison and supposedly a cure for syphilis. In this drama The syphilis theme seems to be both a symbol and a clue perhaps. Time will tell.
Syphilis and the clues related to syphilis could be seen as symbols of society’s moral decay and punishment for Transgression. Cinebar Which contains Mercury Has been used to create the red color for painting and is also a poison and a treatment for syphilis. It is probably what is coloring the red in the flower.
Since I think almost every murder has evidence of mercury and or cinnabar, it relates somehow to the Murderer, possibly to the cult using this flower symbol.
I am looking forward to today’s episodes and more exchanges about this drama.
Hi @MM, while not all the murders are necessarily connected, one common thread in most of them has to do with the moral decay as you put it, with victims seeming to be people who visit brothels or who are immoral.
I’m about to watch the part on the 3rd victim of the Heavenly Way cult… someone frozen to death. I’ll find out if he was immoral too!
@MM @pkml3 I’ve come to the part in Episode 28 where Ning and Li are interrogating the girls in the brothel (the link to the 3 murders) and they are playing good cop/bad cop to get the girls to give info LOL.
Episode 28 – We find out that the ‘punishment’ murders of the Heavenly Way seem to go beyond just 3.
So with the investigations of the drinking couple Yong and Li we find out the name of the killer. We even get to see his face at the end. He seems to be working mainly alone although as part of the cult – a vigilante group who mete out punishment according to some calculated date.
The question is: is killer is really doing the killings on his own initiative or is he’s being directed by someone nearer ‘heaven’. They do not all live bad or dissipated lives, so it seems even innocent people can be victims, after befriending the killer through the brothel.
Episode 29 – We find out that the released Mr Zheng has become a valuable researcher for YC and SW. He comes up with the times and the locations of the next murders based on his compass and star-gazing! I’m glad to see him out of jail and actively participating in solving the murders.
@GB Do you
Think there is a connection back to the murders of all the little girls in the well? I am scared there might be. And that that may be the Most Sordid crime that was being covered up.
Thanks, @GB.
I’m late for the show because I had zoom this morning. (What’s the point of having a time off when I still have to sit in on meetings? grumble. grumble. grumble.)
Heavenly Way is giving me the vigilante vibes. Who are they that they’ve appointed themselves enforcers and judges of law, order, and morality in the kingdom? Do they have aspirations to be a shadow government, e.g., implement the things the emperor can’t do? Or are they destabilizing the monarchy on purpose by showing the incompetence of the emperor and his bureaucracy? What gives?
@ pm3 yes what gives?And is the king involved in some way?
One thing for sure…
it can’t be the two princes, the CP and Prince Cheng, because they can’t be bothered. I don’t think the emperor is directly involved because he has his Ministry of Justice to do his bidding without going underground.
But the leader of the Heavenly Way can see himself as doing the emperor’s work for him. Let me watch the episodes first. I’m talking through my hat right now.
@pkml3 I’m sorry to hear about your Zoom meeting. But it’s great that you’re able to be here in the morning.
@plml3 and @MM
About the murders of those young girls … no, the current deaths do not seem to be linked to them.
I’ve started on Ep 30 and am unwilling to watch it until the end for ‘cowardly’ reasons. The plot against SW with YC away to see his dad is being played out and I’m almost certain Ep 30 will end with a cliffhanger of SW being in grave danger – possibly moral as well as physical, since it’s her reputation that bad Prince Cheng is out to destroy – and we have to wait some 17+ hours to watch the next episode.
To your questions on whether the murders have a connection to the emperor, it’s still not clear. At the moment, the clues have ended with the killer offing himself. There seems to be really a vigilante cult of the Heavenly Way and there are still many unknown members of it out and about, but the main serial killer is dead. The buck at the moment stops with him as he appears to be the head of the cult.
I nodded off and woke up to find that SW was given permission to investigate a dead body in Prince Jin’s confiscated house or rather, in the grounds of his home. I’ll have to rewatch that part maybe.
SW’s need to be married off now is on the minds of the older royal folks. On the whole they appear to be okay with her marrying YC, but now Prince Cheng’s plot against her is in action as well. ☹️😬
Oh the ending of Ep 30 was not bad. It is still a cliffhanger but not as I expected.