@GB,
I’m reposting my reply to you (with edits) out here so it’s easier for me to find for reference in the future.
Yes, the 9th prince did not seem at all inclined to go near the emperor. He also remained mute with everyone at first. Shen Wan managed to get him to speak by pretending that she could not understand him. And wonder of wonders, he was able to muster speech.
Now that he can speak, I wonder if anyone will be worried about what he might say, since he was likely a witness to the events that led to his mum’s murder. He might end up in danger, now that he has a voice again. And especially so if he is able to reveal secrets surrounding Prince Jin’s death as well.
The 9th prince, Prince Sui, is a witness so we’ll keep an eye on him.
That he looked scared of his own father made the emperor a shady character to me. The emperor summoned him to his side but he stayed put. But when the Empress Dowager called him to her side, he obeyed. On the side, Yan Chi filled Shen Wan on the background story. The boy had been in Hanguang Hall when his mother, the Consort Jin/concubine of the emperor, was supposedly killed by Prince Jin. (Oof! Too many Jins!) Hmmm… did he happen to see the emperor too in Hanguang Hall that night?
The 9th prince also accidentally knocked over his book and spilt ink on his clothes when the Empress Dowager was raving about how filial the emperor was, and how the country was thriving under his reign.
Clearly, the show is setting us up to see that the emperor wasn’t as benevolent as he seemed.
Another thing.
Did you notice that side-eye the emperor gave Prince Cheng (the wannabe CP) at the end of the Case of the Rapist Tailor? Yan Chi informed the royal court that the evidence was stolen/destroyed so the emperor ordered him to open an investigation and pursue those who obstructed justice. Prince Cheng looked nervous and the emperor gave him a side-eye.
I don’t know what to make of it. Either the emperor already suspected that Prince Cheng had a hand in it since he knew well his son’s character OR the emperor himself ordered (or nudged?) Prince Cheng to do something and obstruct the case so he had an excuse to depose the CP for incompetence.
I want to think of the emperor as benevolent because of kind treatment of Shen Wan but from the beginning, we were told to be wary of him.
I can’t remember the episode (it happened during either the first or second case) when Yan Chi said that given the assassination attempts on him and his father AND the obstacles he was getting while investigating Prince Jin’s death, he suspected that there was a high-level conspiracy going on.
High level = at a prince and/or emperor’s level
Then, in Ep 5 at 30:33, he informed his Uncle Yue that the emperor had given an order that the Shuoxi Army might be summoned but not relocated. I understood that to mean that the army could be taken over by the emperor at will but the army would remain encamped in the outer region, far away from the capital.
This move sounded suspicious to me. It sounded like a power grab.
Also noteworthy is Yan Chi’s occasional brash behavior. This is so out of character because he’s known to be able to read the room, to have great situational awareness, and to say the right words. But there were a couple of occasions when I think he was deliberately calling attention to himself.
One example: in Episode 5.
The case of the headless bride had been resolved and the Duke of Song’s servants came to retrieve the dowry from the Yue residence. Yan Chi stood at the gate of the residence and yelled at the Duke’s servants, “Go back and tell Marquis Song: His Majesty has already shown mercy as he’s merely demoting him from Duke to Marquis. But if he [meaning the Marquis] keeps pestering me, one word from me is enough to turn the Marquis Mansion into the Song Mansion.”
There! He was bragging about his relationship to the emperor. He knew that this message would be relayed to the Marquis and the Marquis would write a letter of complain again to the emperor.
His uncle warned him that these were reckless words. Doesn’t that seem out of character to you, @GB? We know him to be a cautious man. Shen Wan said so numerous times. So why did he do this? Why was he attracting attention to his influence in the royal court?
Secon example: in Episode 24.
The emperor called him into his private room to rebuke him for his public rejection of the Wacko Princess. He reminded him that his father had spent a number of years of diplomacy, of brokering peace in the northwest. But Yan Chi replied defiantly, “If they’re angry about this, I don’t mind leading troops to take down Beidai and Xihan again.”
AGAIN.
He was definitely bragging. Even the emperor pointed out, “Reckless words,” but then switched the topic to the security of their guests. It’s as if the emperor backed down because he knew that Yan Chi spoke the truth. He had played a pivotal role in defeating the two kingdoms, and he could do so again.
Aside from these boastful moments, he admonished the Beidain delegate about the importance of family unity. At first glance, it appeared as if he simply got carried away in the heat of the moment, but then I wondered whether he intended his words to provoke the emperor, poke at him, or guilt-trip him.
Anyway, the emperor is beginning to look shadier and shadier to me.
We’ve had seven cases so far. All but two of them, namely the Qin family’s dark secrets and the doctor’s organ harvesting, could be linked to the royal court and the emperor.
Let’s go down the list.
1. The case of the beheaded bride
It was the emperor who ordered the marriage. He wanted to force an alliance between his crony, the Song family, and the Yue family. A connection with the Yue family would invariably hook in Yan Chi as he was a favorite of the Yue matriarch, the Grand Princess.
2. The unsolved case of the gold heist plus the corruption in the salt trade
It was the emperor who ordered a) Yan Chi to investigate the corruption, b) the Qin to attend Prince Yu’s party. I suspect that he wanted to entrap the Qin family in a bribery/corruption scandal, and c) the Minister of Justice to investigate the corruption, too.
Fortunately, Yan Chi gave Shen Wan heads-up about the potential danger of associating with the corrupt trade commissioner. She warned her cousin not to offer a position to the commissioner as this would embroil the Qin family in a corruption investigation.
3. The case of the sexual assaults in the capital
It was the emperor who was pressuring the Crown Prince to solve it quickly. My guess is he set it up in order to depose him and replace him with Prince Cheng. Fortunately, the Qin Marquis was able to recommend Shen Wan’s services to solve the case.
4. The case of the attempted assassination of the foreign dignitary
Again, the emperor set up the Crown Prince to fail. Though he knew the CP wasn’t up to the task, he still thought it was a great time to test the CP’s skill in securing the parameters at such a high profile, high stakes diplomatic encounter. Odd, right?
5. And now, this case of the Heavenly Way cult
As I said before, I wonder how it links to the emperor again.
It seems to me that the emperor is pulling the strings, but to what ends, we still have to discover in future episodes.
I agree with you wondering how this all links back to the emperor. I too think he might be shady.
SW Uses the idea of letting the bird fly free to communicate with the young boy about Escaping his cage. She let him use his own agency to release the bird.
I mean She encourages him to choose for himself.
Yes, @monmor.
There’s a bit of psychology there, too. He identifies with the caged bird (he caught it himself, didn’t he?) so the act of freeing the bird is in essence freeing himself too.
I thought it worked for him and the Crown Prince who was secretly observing them. The CP is a caged bird, too.
He admires Shen Wan, but it seems to me that he has more affinity with the Qin 1st daughter. Both will be out of their depths however as CPs and rulers of the kingdom.
BTW, do we know who rescued Yan Li — and how? — when he collapsed in the middle of the road that night?
Yes, I knew from this that the emperor was not really on the side of Prince Cheng. The look he threw him was not one of collusion but of disapproval and suspicion, hence I’d guess he had heard bad reports about Prince Cheng and was watching for confirmation.
I know from how the emperor looks askance at the Crown Prince, that he does not approve of him also. He might be deliberately pushing the CP into a position that is not sustainable for him, to have him ousted ultimately, although I don’t know if he would want Prince Cheng to become the next CP either. He does not show him much favour as well.
In the show, Lost You Forever, I was struck by how the king selected a nephew instead of either of his sons to be the next king. That other king had the security of the realm in mind and approved the ideals of unity instead of pitting one part of the realm against another to balance power.
In this series, the king is not clearly shown to be interested in his realm. He may just be wanting to put in power those who will not oppose his nefarious deeds.
If he looks to his nephews, then I guess we’re back to considering the potential conflict between Yan Chi and Prince Li who may be placed in positions where they have to vie for power. (I will then worry about the relationship of the girls who like the 2 guys, and who will then find themselves on opposing sides).
@pkml3
Me too. I wanted Shen Wan to have good backing and for Yan Chi to have a good father figure to turn to since his own father seems to have practically rejected him. I wondered where he got that long slash wound on his back from and how many other injuries he suffered. I suspect that some of them came from his own father. I believe he at least has the Qin Uncle who seems to be on his side
But, yes, the thought of the assassination attempts made on YC and his father always directed suspicion at the emperor, since he was the one to benefit from ensuring that there were no other claims to the throne in the event he was committing crimes on the side.
How the emperor cut YC off when he was admonishing (I should look up that speech again) the foreign prince for betraying his brother, indicates that the emperor is not at peace with the sentiments YC spoke of. It could also have been, as you say, a subtle poke at the emperor.
So instead of providing good backing, this emperor might be a real thorn that Shen Wan should stay far away from. Unfortunately, now she cannot, and not especially when she wants to investigate the Jin case and her father’s case as well.
@pkml3
I feel the same … the emperor could make use of the soldiers any way he wished, but other than that, they were to remain at the border. He kills two birds with one stone … he has the Shuo Xi army to keep the foreigners in line, and at the same time he ensures that they are not nearby as a threat to himself, should anyone want to depose him.
Whenever a character behaves out of character, they are likely putting on a show for someone: to allay suspicions, to distract or redirect suspicions, or to take on suspicions so as to protect someone else. In the case of bragging about defeating Beidai and Xihan again… I felt there might have been also an implied warning, that if he was forced to take on something that he did not want (like marry the foreign princess) he’d rather fight than give in. Also it was a reminder to the emperor that he was capable and not a pushover. He would push back.
@pm3 Yes the boy is freeing himself. At first I was thinking he was freeing himself from his trauma, perhaps a first step. At least now he has a voice, in contrast to the Murder victim Who had his tongue sliced out.
There are so many images of dehumanization in this drama- the above, headless corpses and mannequins, flaying. Skin provides protection and integrity for a human being.