The Flame's Daughter Episode 8

WOWZA Does S**t start to get real

This Episode Was FANTASTIC.  Here is my extremely detailed description of what occurred.

1. Our episode begins with Miss D of Blade City being lectured by her brothers, Wu Xia (the leader) and Wu Hen for her actions.  They are very angry that she destroyed the flat bread stall because it served as a clear warning to Yin Xue, whom, we know, they desire to 'possess'.  It clearly tells them that they should escape and are in danger.  Miss D defends her actions, insisting that she did this for the family because it protects them from any consequences that may occur from being caught collecting illegal taxes by the flame villa however they dismiss this.

2.Wu Xia provides important plot information as he reminds their sister why they are enemies of the flame villa.  It is because of their father.  In the past, New Blade City held the title as the most dominant pugilist tribe.  Lie Ming Jing (Flame Leader/Ge'er's father) and his godbrother, Zhan Fei Tian (presumably Zhan Feng's father) defeated their father on the Peak of Mt. Tai (recall that Zhan Fei Tian is very, very dead as Flame Leader prayed before his memorial tablet).  Evidently, they held an illegal match and broke the pugilist rule of one-on-one, overwhelming their father and then founding the Flame Villa with this success.  Their father died of depression, having lost his title.

---Ahem, that would mean the two most powerful pugilist tribes have a lot of personal vendettas against the Flame Villa--

3.Meanwhile, at Thunderbreak Manor, Master Xie patiently tries to explain to Xiao Feng (his grandson) that Miss D actually did a kindness by destroying the bread stall because she was worried about the safety of Team Flame Daughter, however Xiao Feng sees the world very simply and does not understand.   After sending the child to bed, Cao Ren Qiu--son in law of Master Xie and Xiao Feng's father--has an argument with Master Xie.  

4.The issue is rooted in the fact that Cao Ren Qiu believes that Top Blade City will soon take action.  It should be good, as it would provoke the Flame Villa, however, Master Xie sees the heart of the matter: isn't it strange that in spite of their vast intelligence network, which includes the Azhure Dragon Manor, Flame Lord does not know about the illegal taxing?  That would mean that someone is keeping him in the dark, and the only person capable of doing that would be someone close to him, in the high ranks--i.e. one of his disciples.  To expose Top Blade City would be to place Thunderbreak Manor, a pugilist manor which could never hope to compete with these top pugilist tribes, in direct danger (it also fractures this very fragile peace).  Hence, Master Xie's son in law believes they should get out of dodge before they get caught up any more in this mess, but Master Xie believes that to leave would mean to abandon the city and leave its people defenseless, so he chooses to remain behind.

5.Meanwhile, back at the bread shop, Master L uses a whistle for the first time.  It summons his personal bodyguards from the shadows. He gives them commands to remain on guard for an ambush and decides to hang around a little while longer, out of kindness, I assume, to Team Fire Daughter.  At the same time, Yin Xue shoots an ice dagger through the roof of his room and exposes Security Guard Hueng (recall that she works for Prince/Senior Yu).  She manages to dodge it, and then in the blink of an eye, Yin Xue has teleported to the roof, revealing yet another power.  After making it clear he knows who she is, and congratulating her for dodging an attack that only ten people in the world could avoid (she dismisses it as luck but thanks him) he encourages her to guard Ge'er because he can't always protect her.  She promises to do so.

6.The following morning, Xiao Feng is shocked and horrified--he discovers his grandpa sitting in his throne chair, slumped over, dead.  (I think this is an important manner to kill because it sends a powerful message to who finds him--)

7.The Flame Villa is stunned to learn of Master Xie's crude murder, and immediately dispatches Feng'er to investigate.  Flame Lord awkwardly asks Feng to not let him down, and then says that things in the past are complicated, and is about to say something more, presumably about his parents, but decides not to.  After Feng leaves, House Keeper Yi Lang (disciple number 3) wonders if Feng is to be trusted.  Flame Lord doesn't say 'yes'.  He says 'we have no choice but to'.  He then has House Keeper promise to support Feng if he inherits the Flame Villa but makes it crystal clear that should Feng choose to walk a path of darkness, then House Keeper is in no way expected to follow him 0_o.

8.MW, Master Zhongli (the guy who played Star Lord from Eternal Love) reports to Die yi about the incidents in Ping An Town.  Before you wonder how she got there, we then learn that Dieyi has fled the relative safety of Fire Villa to deliver snacks to her mistress and because she is worried for her.  We know this because Xunyi (the other maid) reports this to Jie (recall, he is another disciple) who thinks there is nothing to worry about, showing that he has a lot of heart but is even more dense than our female lead (who isn't really dense, more like not wanting to accept reality).

9.Feng takes his mistress with him, fearing for her safety, and goes to lead the investigation.  MW back at Thunderbreak Manor, Top Blade City has taken over the place and refuses to let the family of Master Xie view the corpse or mourn it, citing that they must protect the crime scene.  However their firm refusal to let the family in is something that even Miss D finds odd (which tells us,, audience, that she is not in anyway privy to the secrets and plots her brothers are planning, maybe to protect her, or maybe because they do not trust her).

10.Locally, the town believes that Top Blade City is behind this murder.  Gossipers share that godfather Tian (that would be Feng's father) died under similarly strange circumstances.  Thunderbreak Manor, everyone concludes, was the least suspicious of the pugilist clans.  Ge'er overhears this gossip, but is distracted by Xiao Feng who arrives, traumatized by the events.  She decides to send a messenger to Senior Yu to ask about this death.   Upon receiving it, Prince Yu gives orders to that a message is to be sent to Top Blade City--no one is to harm Ge'er--which begs the question--how much does Senior Yu know, how involved is he, and can he be trusted??

11.Dieyi arrives and Guard Hueng intervenes, believing her to be an outsider.  Only after Master Li steps in to defend her is she cleared, and Hueng apologizes.  (Which begs another question: how did a woman with no training in martial arts make it to this dangerous place completely unaccounted, on foot, before Feng'er?)
She reports that Feng'er will be investigating this case, and Ge'er's face just falls, and Yin Xue who is constantly observing her, clearly sees this.

12.Feng'er arrives, and Ge'er tries to give him bread.  He accepts it, but is, if anything, frigidly polite.  It is for our female lead yet another confirmation of the truth she is still trying to avoid accepting (and has even been running from) and that is that he truly does not seem to care for her.  Perhaps to break the awkward tension left in his wake, Yin Xue laments the fact that Ge'er forgot to ask for money and gave away all that free bread...

13. Back at Thunderbreak Manor, the son in law of Master Xie gives the coroner's report--that Master Xie died from poisoning, presumably over a long period of time.  Feng examines the body.  He understands that son in law, who has no training in martial arts, could not know the truth, but it is clear that Master Xie died from an internal force attack.  He confronts Wu Xia, who repeats the same thing.  Wu Xia then flips open a fan that say Dark Palace on it, and Feng hesitates, choosing not to report what he truly thinks.  Basically Feng does not confirm or challenge this finding. (Feng is...pro bad guy?)

14. Top Blade City invites Feng to lodge at their home but he rejects it, choosing to stay in the manor.  Extremely pissed, Xiao Feng insists before his father, Feng, and Top Blade City that his father died from internal force and basically states that he hates his father for not knowing martial arts and thus not being able to see this. He also accuses him of being a coward before running off.

15. Xiao feng goes to Ge'er and delivers his report to Team Flame Daughter.  Ge'er is confident that she will able to see the body because Feng would not dare to insult her so in front of the whole clan, in fact, she is confident that the flame villa clan will want her to look at the body.  She will get Feng to acknwowledge the real crime.  Yin Xue reminds her that Feng may not give her a chance.  But she is very confident, asking him to ask her yet again (I have lost track of how often he has asked her this) 'You believe in him still?' Her silence is a yes.

16.MW, Wu Hen carefully tells his brother that Xiao Feng's dad isn't so bad (it is unclear if he is tacitly protecting an innocent bystander or not).  Wu Xia laughs at this and says Feng'er is not stupid.  (It seems like sides are being picked, and Wu Xia is implying that Feng'er wants to be on the winning side?)

17.Elsewhere, Ge'er is stunned as Feng'er adamantly refuses to give her access to Master Xie to pay her respects.  He refuses to look her in the eyes.  It is evident she is disappointed and unable to account for his reasons for choosing to deliberately hide the truth.  Furthermore, Feng issues a blanket decree that no one is to see the body.  Before she leaves, she tells Feng that she trusts him to handle this fairly.

18. Together again, Team Fire Daughter (currently consisting of Master Li of Thunderclap, Dieyi the maid/halfsister of Master Li, Xiao Feng, Guard Hueng, and Yin Xue) discuss this event.  Master Li acknowledges that Yin Xue was in fact correct about Feng.  Yin Xue tells everyone that it seems that the truth is complicated a.  Ge'er STILL defends Feng'er, and again Yin Xue asks her 'You still trust him?'.  She affirms this.  And Yin Xue leaves, slamming every door on his way to his room, so he is clearly angry about her refusal to accept the facts that Feng is not the person she believes him to be.  (it must be frustrating because it is something she has to accept; no one can tell her this).

19.In a clear betrayal of truth, Feng'er has Cao Ren Qiu arrested for the murder of his father in law.  Wu Xia is satisfied with this.  He gives the order that Master Xie's name be slandered and that he be blamed for illegally collecting a tax, and then he calls this karma that he is killed by his own family.  

20.At the episodes end, Feng sits in a room alone. From the shadows a voice gently chastises him for his soft heart and implores him not to forget his father. Feng promises that he will not.  The camera then pans to this guys face--he is a young man....but who could he be....?

This episode was GREAT.

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