Eps 6 to 10: The mission at the Yezhou banquet
For XJ, his mission is to get the military funds and provisions due his Xiao army that were being held by the Yezhou magistrate, Sun Xiangfu. He and his nephew, Dr. Cheng Lisu, were invited to attend a banquet at Sun’s residence. He knew the invitation was a pretext to ambush him.
But rather than avoid the situation, he decided to face his enemies. His reasoning? “A stab in the back is hard to dodge. We should strike first.”
As for HY, XJ assumed that she was willing to take the place of Cheng Lisu and go to Yezhou with him to atone for accidentally breaking his precious zither while she was drunk. But she corrected his misconception and said that she wanted to go:
a) to ease his burden of getting funds while fending off an assassination, and
b) to prove to him that she was worthy of a slot in his elite battalion. She had been passed over for Lei Zhou whom they both knew was a spy.
But unexpected things happened along the way.
1. They met Chu Zhao, who was Minister Xu’s trusted aide.
2. HY encountered Ding Yi again but this time, her brother’s hired assassin didn’t recognize her.
3. HY foiled Ding Yi’s attempt to poison XJ and XJ fended of the female assassins pretending to be dancers hired by Ding Yi.
4. HY was only temporarily blinded by the poison but she capitalized on the situation.
5. HY slew Ding Yi. She deliberately prolonged their duel as payback for his attempt to kill her.
6. They discovered that the magistrate’s son was responsible for the abduction, rape, and murder of many women in Yezhou.
7. Chu Zhao figured out that HY was a girl and appeared in awe of her.
8. XJ realized that Minister Xu was embezzling large sums of money from the military with the assistance of the Yezhou magistrate. But he lost the ledgers to Chu’s bodyguard so he couldn’t prove it in court.
9. The people of Yezhou were willing to repay XJ for the service he did for them and their missing daughters. XJ’s mission: success.
10. HY no longer had to hide her sex from XJ because he admitted knowing it all along.
11. As I commented on another thread, two men knew HY’s real sex: XJ because she rested against him while they were riding on a horse (Ep 4), and Chu Zhao because of the sword dance (Ep 7). Two men however suspected that XJ and HY are in a gay relationship: the spy recruit Lei Hou because he was lurking outside XJ’s chambers, and XJ’s bodyguard, FeiNu.
12. XJ was satisfied that HY didn’t join the Xiao army with the intention of harming XJ or his men. HY’s mission: successful!
Did I forget anything else?
Next thread…
A lot of things happening. Connections between past and present for HY. From capital to garrison for XJ. HY saves XJ from blinding powder. Then she makes the connection between the female victims and the merchant allies of Magistrate Sun.
I am not sure, were they both on the roof at the same time in their blacks…
@ibisfeather, both HY and XJ were on the roof in their stealth outfits, spying on the conversation between Magistrate Sun and Ding Yi. They were on opposite sides of the roof ridge.
Yes, @Welmaris. They were spying on the bad guys. From Ep 9
The climax of that scene for me though is her jumping in the bathtub with XJ to hide from the bodyguard Ding.
😂 XJ decided to punish her by conversing with Ding a little longer to force her to stay underwater a little longer.
But she got him back good when she threatened to spread a rumor about him having a romance by exposing the little detail about a mole on his waist. 😂😂
@Packmule3, that was an excellently played scene, with XJ and HY together in the bathtub. Although actor Ryan Cheng hasn’t been able to emote much yet in his role of XJ, who’s known for being steely and cold-hearted, I did see a touch of mischievousness in him when he challenged Ding Yi to search every inch of his room.
I suppose Chinese censors clamp down on nudity in film (unless they’re burned or desiccated corpses à la Coroner’s Diary), but it has bothered me that those who suffer serious bodily injury aren’t disrobed so their wounds can be cleaned and treated. HY’s shoulder was run through by a sword, but XJ only dabbed at the exit wound. XJ also had a wound in her side, but we see her laying, clothed and bloodied, with covers over most of her body. In the real world, she’d probably die of infection.
While I’m on the subject of wounds: plot armor for leads means that until there’s a sad ending, the horrific-looking wounds they receive–even if run through with sword, spear, and/or arrow–miraculously miss major vessels and organs, don’t shatter bones, and don’t allow deadly pathogens entry into the body. They may run a fever or be comatose for a time, but will awaken with full alertness and quickly recover former strength. Support characters may be unfortunate enough to suffer broken bones. Background characters die after the slightest contact with a sharp object, and their battle armor is ineffective.
😂😂 Yes, the PLOT armor is definitely stronger than any body armor in this drama. For any historical cdrama with warriors, for that matter.
Hi @Packmule,
This is all great fun.
Would you be able to move my posts about this from the general discussion? I wrote about this section in posts on August 10th, 8.49 am and 10.43 am. It would be great to add to this discussion.
Many thanks!
I’ll try to move them here @Kate. Am traveling right now.
Moving @Kate’s comment here.
********
Comments on adventures at the House of Magistrate Sun – smoke and mirrors and grotesque reveals.
On the negative side – for my personal taste there was a bit too much going on overall. Too ornate a plot. There were the very publicly botched attempted assassinations and the He Ru Fei’s servant/assassin creeping around – very obviously – trying to kill the FL while she maintained the pretence of blindness. The hidden ledgers. Mutterings and whisperings. Then the grotesque discovery of bodies.
It all felt a bit much to me in terms of competing storylines
But I did enjoy the way the show used all this and played with the second bout of temporary blindness (how absurd really!) to bring the ML and FL together in plot-created closeness.
XJ could be tender towards HY because of the role she was playing and it was lovely to see the barriers coming down albeit in controlled conditions.
We also had a re-run of them bathing together in different circumstances! LOL. XJ retained his cool despite having the FL at very close quarters in the bath. I loved the timing of his final comment … ‘Get out!’… after she was getting too used to this type of proximity! She has brought up as a man so has some social boundary issues and is instinctively at ease with XJ because she trusts him. She knows what sort of man he is from her time with him at the academy etc
Then there was the revenge by the FL on her assassin and the reveals there to the listening XJ. I am sure he was not thrown off the track by her rather too smiling reassurance that she was merely ‘in the moment’. He has some evidence now of a significant backstory and motivation for the FL.
All good – I just hope the plot avoids getting too busy in future episodes.
Moving @Kate’s comment here.
********
Ep 10 onwards
Another small point – a direct comparison between the 2 MLs. The conversation about the female victims takes place twice in quick succession. Mr Charming 2 ML reveals his ruthless need to focus on the plan. Mr Brusque also tells the FL in another conversation that he will not change direction.
Both men are challenged by their female colleagues to take seriously this gross crime against women.
It is XJ who takes action despite his apparent reluctance in the face of the FL’s arguments. Given the way he plays his cards close to his chest it is most likely already part of his plan and he is simply testing her determination here. She contributes significantly too with her insights into the wealth of the victims and men attending the tax related meal.
Either way, we get deep insights into the under the surface quality of both prospective suitors and – of course – the strategic brilliance of XJ in managing to achieve his goals while handling the apparent inconvenience of the murders together with his compassion.
The partnership between FL and ML bodes well and they know it by now.
Thank you @Packmule!
I agree, @Kate.
The screenwriter deliberately juxtaposed XJ’s and Chu Zhao’s responses to their females’ request to seek justice for the abducted, raped and murdered women.
I mentioned this before in my thread about villains and antagonists —
Chu Zhao refused to get involved because he assumed his involvement in the case would negatively impact his real mission. His female bodyguard was visibly disappointed in him.
XJ refused HY’s request because he was going to incorporate the missing women’s case in his bigger mission to oust the corrupt magistrate Sun and get his army’s funding.
I’m not sure if he:
-was testing to see HY’s reaction when he didn’t give in to her request.
-changed his mind after he saw how important this was for her.
-wanted an element of surprise when he revealed what he’d been planning all along.
-preferred to do acts of service for her in a low-keyed, inconspicuous, understated manner.
I like that HY immediately understood XJ’s scheme once she saw his bodyguard drawing sketches of the missing women. I like how rarely they misunderstood each other.
Done, @Kate!
Pingback: Legend of the Female General: Eps 11 to 14 Open Thread – Bitches Over Dramas
Merci beaucoup @Packmule!
@Packmule3,
I like your observation about the way the ML and Fl maintain good mutual understanding.
That said, ironically, they are doing that against the background of her concealment of her identity and what is probably the biggest misunderstanding or opaque place in the story – the duplicity of He Ru Fei at that tragic battle with XJ’s Father.
So the future is hopeful once they can get past that obstacle!
* the apparent duplicity of He Ru Fei *
ep12. Just musing on the confrontation at the garrison while XJ is off with tghe main force of the battalion. HY challenges the chieftain ti a duel very cleverly using rhetoric which slowly boxes in the chieftain.
Is it a cynical use of the ‘manipulation of an opposing ethnic force greater in numbers but vulnerable because of its own traditional battle customs’?
It does strike me as so, because even though one could argue that her previous experience as a general on the borders could have given her this cultural knowledge, the literary trope is that a youth with undisclosed actual experience of the opposing culture (childhood best friend, nursemaid or perhaps experience as a hostage or captive) uses that experience as his edge.
And the current look which the actress and director are projecting about her on is that she is fresh and youthful, in which case her backgroound as upperclass ‘boy’ in the chinese capital would not have given him any edge.
This is a backwards sort of reasoning, probably fallacious, but this ep. makes me feel as if XY as a ‘hero’ is a cynical presentation.
havent started todays set of eps.13-14 yet.
oops wrong thread, will repost
or not. pc3, could you help?