This is my sleeper hit of September. I didn’t expect to like a show with the actor Liu XueYi in it, and the number of episodes far exceeded my 30-episode cap. But that scene after the women hung themselves and the camera zoomed out to show the row of skirts and shoes floating in the air compelled me to stay and watch how the young heroine Shen JiaLan (aka Xu LanXiang) would overcome this tragic event and make sense of life afterwards.

Here are the other things that caught my attention in Episode 1.

1. The content warning

I like how this episode and all episodes hereafter begin with a disclaimer: “This drama does not correspond to any real historical dynasty. The systems, culture, attire and other dynastic elements have been adapted.” Obviously, the production team didn’t want to be accused of revising history or providing an alternate interpretation of history which could lead viewers to question the “official” state-approved accounts. Also, the disclaimer shields the production team from accusations that it undermines the current government by depicting the emperor as malevolent and giving the impression that all leaders are corrupt and untrustworthy.

2. The orchid

The cdrama is adapted from a web novel called, “Fate of the Orchid Fragrance.” The title sounds awkward to me, so let’s just change it to “Fate of the Fragrant Orchid” or “The Orchid’s Fragrance Remains.”

From the beginning, it’s been established that the orchid was the symbol of the women in the Shen family. The grandmother proudly claimed that her kinswomen resembled an orchid. She said, “The orchid symbolizes grace and integrity. Our family has always prized scholarship, and propriety. Our daughters are raised by those same principles. Every one of them is well educated, with the grace and strength of an orchid. They’re every bit as capable as any man.”

Noteworthy: When the emperor’s guards came to arrest the women and bring them to the Imperial Music Bureau (euphemism for state-sanctioned brothel), the pot of orchid was the first thing that was knocked down from the display table. It was an omen that the women’s virtue was going to be defiled.

I find it interesting that the heroine’s adoptive mother unintentionally upended the Shen matriarch’s virtue-signaling in Episode 2. As JiaLan (now named Xu LanXiang) wept her heart out after learning her fiancé married another noblewoman, her adoptive mother gathered her in her arms and encouraged her to let it all out. She said, “Cry it all out. Then we’ll live well afterward. Live with all your might. Live fiercely. Just like wild grass. Live shamelessly and freely. From now on, there’ll only be spring. And no winter. We’ll live without a care.”

See the contrast in mindset? Propriety be damned.

That’s one of the themes of this drama. It explores how far can a woman of virtue go without losing her dignity.

The Shen matriarch and the rest of the women in the Shen clan never needed to worry about physical and financial hardship, and so they can indulge in scholarship, propriety, decorum, fine arts, pretty things, and lofty principles.

Meanwhile, for people on the opposite end of the social class, these things are out of reach for them. Take for instance, the slaves who sometimes have no choice but to perform degrading acts in order to survive. In Episode 3, there was this scene when a servant introduced herself then was ordered to slap her face just because she happened to have the same surname as the Young Mistress of the House. Then she had to grovel and thank her Mistress for assigning her a new name.

Anyway, there’s a fine moment in Episode 13 when our heroine Xu LanXiang (LX) explained to Lin Jin Qi (JQ) the daily struggles of slaves like her.

LX: Young Master, have you ever heard this song? “Snatch mud from a swallow’s beak, shave iron from the tip of a needle, scrape gold from a Buddha’s face and search every inch. Find something where there’s nothing, hunt for peas in a quail’s crop, carve lean meat from a heron’s leg, and extract oil from a mosquito’s belly. What ruthless hands you have, sir.”

The English idiom for this is you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. No matter how hard you try, you cannot force something out of a person who has nothing to give.

JQ: What a biting song!
LX: Young Master, you’ve lived a life of privilege. You don’t know that for people at the bottom like us, sometimes just staying alive takes everything we have. If we want to rise above our station and live a little better, we may have to abandon our conscience and risk our lives. It’s not that I understand people so well. It’s just like those reed-down shoes [shoes stuffed with reeds/grass to keep feet warm in winter]. You’ve never seen them before, Young Master but we see them every day. There’s nothing unusual about them.

Because of the change in her circumstance, LanXiang no longer identifies herself as the graceful orchid she once was raised to be, but as the useful grass that can be dried and stuffed into shoes. But, of course, as the hero falls for her, this orchid metaphor is revived and he gifts her with a pot of orchid.

3. The opening music

Episode 1 opened with a song sounds straight out of a Chinese opera. The soloist sings, “Only when you reach your mid-thirties, do you learn how vast the world truly is. You worry about your aging parents, and your children yet to find their way.”

Initially, I thought that the song wasn’t referring to JiaLan, but to her mother. After all, JiaLan had just turned 15 years old; she was way too young to worry about her parents and future offsprings.

But after rewatching the episode, I realized that the song could have been a foreshadowing for two people. I’ll talk about the first one here: JiaLan.

While it’s true that worldly concerns usually only weigh down adults, and leave the young ones unbothered, this wouldn’t be the true for JiaLan. In a few days, she would quickly learn how vast and terrifying the world would be. And the yellow talisman she kept in her possession? Her mother teased her about it, thinking she had it made for her then-fiancé JQ. The lucky talisman was actually intended for her parents; she wished them to be safe and well. Even at a young age, she worried about them.

I thought that mother-and-daughter conversation inside the sedan chair was especially touching.

Her mother reminded her that, while her fiancé came from the illustrious Lin family, her own Shen family was just as impressive. JQ’s grandfather was the Minister of Personnel, but her grandfather was the Grand Secretary. In short, their marriage was a union of equals. More importantly, her mother reassured her that she had nothing to fear when she married into the Lin family because she would always have her parents’ full support.

Now, fast forward 6 years later (or 25 episodes later), and JiaLan (now as Xu LanXiang) is once again contemplating marriage to JQ. Though their marriage is no longer a union between equals (because JiaLan has been reduced to living as the daughter of ex-slaves), that scene in the courtyard when her adoptive parents gave her their full support mirrored that original scene inside the sedan chair.
This time, however, JQ’s grandfather can’t put the kibosh on the betrothal as he did years ago, as her marriage to JQ has been decreed by a new emperor (E3).

4. Betrayal or self-preservation?

It should go without saying that the Lin patriarch’s actions (and non-action) would live in infamy in the viewers’ mind.

Both the Lin grandfather and the Shen grandfather had served under the previous emperor (E1) who was deposed by the current emperor (E2). They counseled E1 to rein in the power of the regional princes, but E1 ignored their advice. Sure enough, one of those regional princes rose to power, deposed E1, and took over the throne as E2.

Time passed and someone in court was fanning the flames of E2’s grudge. The Lin patriarch “read the room” and he moved to preempt E2’s reprisal. He and his son (JQ’s father) were to resign immediately from the court and self-exile to the southern city of Jinling. He would also appeal to one of E2’s closest advisers, Grand Secretary Zhao, to intercede on his behalf. In return, he’d write a testimony detailing the deposed emperor’s misrule.

His intention was clear: to save everyone in his family. And he was willing to compromise his conscience for the safety and wellbeing of his kinsfolk.

When JQ asked his grandfather about also warning JiaLan’s grandfather, the Grand Secretary Shen, his father burst out in anger. He said, “We’ll be lucky to save ourselves. We can’t afford to worry about another family.”

Though his grandfather elicited no response, his silence is also an answer.

I think this is the point when JQ understood that royal politics was a zero-sum game: the Lin family’s gain was the Shen family’s loss. To protect their clan, they must hang the Shen clan out to dry.

His grandfather quickly dissolved JQ and JL’s upcoming betrothal, citing their incompatible birth charts of the children as reason. They abandoned the Shen family. The Shen men were executed, and the Shen women were hauled off to the Imperial Music Bureau. Then, to strengthen their bond with E2’s favorite adviser, Grand Secretary Zhao, they married off JQ to the Zhao’s granddaughter.

To be clear, JQ’s grandfather’s actions were a betrayal of his conscience, his friend/colleague, and the deposed emperor whom he counseled. But the deaths of the Shen clan cannot be imputed to him. For one, it was E2 who ordered the execution of the Shen menfolk. And for another, it was the Shen matriarch who implanted in their mind that, “as women of the Shen family, [they’d] sooner die with [their] honor intact than live in disgrace.”

5. The grand plaques

We should pay attention to the contrasting moral codes written on the grand plaques of the Lin and Shen families.

In the study of the JQ’s grandfather, his plaque said, “Ever Mindful of the Future.” It’s no wonder then that his priority wasn’t his political allegiance or standing, but the protection of his family and progeny. I would like to think that if it was only his neck he was concerned about, then he wouldn’t have worried about E2’s retribution; he would have stood his ground.

But he couldn’t sacrifice the lives of his people to uphold his personal integrity, dignity, and/or self-respect.

That’s why I think the opening song that goes, “Only when you reach your mid-thirties, do you learn how vast the world truly is. You worry about your aging parents, and your children yet to find their way” applies to JQ’s grandfather as well. Yes, he was way past middle age, so he understood the consequences of his next move, and worried about the wellbeing of his family members.

Meanwhile, in the study of the JiaLan’s grandfather, the plaque touted, “Integrity Above All.” This tells me that, even if the Lin grandfather had given the Shen grandfather warning about E2’s intention, he wouldn’t be able to convince the Shen patriarch to denounce the deposed emperor as he did, in order to protect his family. The Shen patriarch would choose death not only for himself, but also for his clan, than to live in disgrace. The plaque hanging above the main doors in the Shen residence also reiterates this moral code. It said, “Virtue Brings Honor.”

To me, the Lin patriarch and matriarch are hardliners. They hold a strict set of worldviews and expect others to adhere to their code of conduct. Even when the grandfather and father walked out to face their execution, they left an unyielding message for posterity, “A Clear Conscience Before Heaven and Earth.”

Note: in Episode 2, LanXiang learned that the bodies of her family members were interred. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that this was JQ’s doing. He must have felt guilty for their deaths.

6. Live!

I like that Xu LanXiang (formerly JiaLan) found her reasons to live.

Her adoptive father: If you kill yourself, you’ll be betraying your mother’s sacrifice, and LanXiang’s as well.
Her adoptive mother: And if you really do die here on this boat, and word gets out, we’ll probably be killed as well.
I think this is one of the many explanations for the title of the show, “Against the Current.” It would have been easy for LanXiang to follow her kinfolk to death; she was ready to kill herself. But in choosing to live in this new world so vastly different from her previous one, she demonstrates real courage, fortitude, and resilience.

I won’t do write-ups for all episodes. Only when the spirit moves me.