Song of Phoenix Episode 17

ep 17 spoilers ahead

spoilers ahead

1.While Tian Ji acknowledges that the Queen has her reasons for doing this, this is an important chance to forge an alliance within the harem and gain access to the king. Elsewhere, the king tells his mother an extravagant celebration will be ordered to celebrate her birthday; all of Chu wil celebrate. Again he mentions Sister Bazi (the girl her married the foreign king of Qin) however his mother reminds him that is the fate of royal woman (tell Bazi that; she is pretty angry about the whole thing)

2.Meanwhile, Bazi and the king of Qin play chess together (I really dislike his facial hair). Li Ji storms in, drinks their wine, spills it on himself, and reports some bad news: Zhan and Yan have crowned kings; soon Song will (essentially a number of clans are rebelling and declaring their own state....it is the warring period). As a result of this meeting, his brother receives permission to draft more soldiers. Qin's military success has made every state their enemy (not to mention their desire to expand). Zhang Yi believes they should not force people into the military because they will make poor soldiers. Thus, he offers rewards to those who agree to fight and those who die will be rewarded. Every family must give one person, and somehow they must keep it secret.

3.Meanwhile, Master Liu continues to extort grain from the farmers, who are bordering on starving. They .earn Qu Yuan is returning. It seems the superstitions of the commoners have them very afraid. They give up food to a spirit these lords fear, and the following day the shrine is a mess (it killed the puppers!) they believe demons are responsible.

4.Elsewhere, we go to Qu Yuan, Chou Nu, and Yi'er During this kite scene, you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. I swear, I am pretty sure if that kid wasn't there, those two would, (*cough*) anyways, you get the idea. While fetching his kite in the woods, Yi'er investigates and finds an old man with white hair eating raw animal meat. He insists it is a ghost (I wouldn't explore I would run away from the shaking bush I think given the time period, he would to). The three return and Qu Yuan turns this into an episode of Criminal Minds as he examines the remains....animal remains....(given how strict China is about the mention/portrayal of ghosts it is interesting to see it)

5.After returning home, they relate what they saw. Father Mo explains...via flashback....that a family fleeing some thugs were about to be beaten to death when from the trees (like a tiger)(this scene is funny)a white haired demon with claws appeared and got rid of them. One thug fell to his death...the other went mad....(how do they know this happened). To further persuade Qu Yuan, he speaks of this ghost demon breaking into peoples homes and devouring live animals...It seemed it ate the entire Lan Niang family (the ones being bullied)....and he warns Qu Yuan to stay the night to avoid this terrible calamity.....(I think he stayed just to sleep in the same room as Chou Nu...)

6. Meanwhile, Xia'er searches the gambling houses for Cang Yun (she should have a servant with her, at least. These are not places a lady should be, if we are shooting for historical accuracy). Poor Xia'er. I wish Cang Yun hadn't run off like that.

7.Meanwhile, Father Mo relates that every magistrate has tried to gt rid of this ghost. However, during his investigations, Qu Yuan discovers a hand print. They locate someone who once worked for Lord Jing but he is ruled out. Chou Nu thinks they should just ignore this case. Qu Yuan thinks they should take the initiative, lure it out, and capture it.

8.Master Liu is summoned by Qu Yuan. They get him to donate food to lure the 'ghost' out. He is reminded by his biddies to be patient (they should just give up this plotting). They believe he will die. (I have no idea why Chou Nu is there; Father Mo is arguably the most liberal father on the planet to let his daughter out to hunt a ghost with a bunch of men, none of who are her husband. Historical inaccuracy, I think).Unfortunately, they make noise, scaring him off, and they wait until he has at least a full minute head start before chasing it down (really?!) Chou Nu uses a pitch fork and they learn it bleeds, meaning it must be human. they follow the blood (Is this the Li Niang family?) They wind up in a cemetery
and there is some necessary screaming.....and Qu Yuan gets blood thrown in his face (I am not even going to ask why he did this......everyone think she is the ghost.......this makes no sense.....and now some men appear (working for Lord Cheng, etc.) to kill them....

Comments:
I did not like this episode because it felt a lot like filler. other than little bits of into (for instance, that more states are declaring independent/crowning kings/rebelling) not a whole lot happened.

I wish the show could afford to invest in more side actors. I think I was spoiled by Eternal Love, where there were so many side characters written in that were well acted.

It should be noted that everything in this plot is being filmed to establish emotion. For instance, these two are filmed side by side, like two young lovers. Together. No obstacles. We know that won't last.

Also, the other plot line, with the harem, is being slowly built, and the plot line with Qin. Eventually, these plot lines are going to cross paths, and it can't be good for our lovers :D

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