Against the Current Episode 30

Does this outfit make me look younger? 🤣😂

Jinqi is so shameless with his undressed state.🤣😂 But I do have to give LanXiang credit for countering it nicely. 🤣 They are well matched. 😁 His takeaway from that was serendipity providing him a scenario where she is less ticked off with him,🤣😝His question to YuChan if this outfit made him look younger? 🤣😂🫣 Lan Xiang’s face when they reach their new residence. I am surprised she managed to stand.😔 None knew the significance of the location as she reeled with the emotional shock of it all. This was phenomenally acted and every emotion and PTSD reaction was palpable from her. 🌹👏🏻 Jinqi took it as travel fatigue having absolutely no clue what a blow this was for her. I am glad the little girl told on that deviant abusive husband. Jinqi has at least offered assist and placating the husband for now that a promotion is in the works. I never expected to be rejoicing that Ji’Er was found, but here I am happy to see her and their friendly embrace. Here she finds out that Ms Zhao is holding a specific grudge against her and is holding the indentured paperwork needed to buy their freedom. Jinqi has the perfect plan and all ready to write her thank you note to the empress. LanXiang slams him with not wanting to be like him using his power to get his way. He seems physically stricken after that but then reminds her she is his wife and he is permitted all wifely duties. She cowers at first but piped up with his complete lack of regard for her parents. She uses the rank of the Shens and asks if he would have been ok with treating them the same way with no prior notification and request. Would it not have been insulting and disrespectful to an official’s family yet hers was to consider it a great honor and show of respect. This is the first time JinQi was truly made aware of his own hypocrisy and had to own it. He was so sure she held Han in affection, but if he’d paid ANY attention at all, he would have noted she was no more in love with him than JinQi. 😝🙄 His counter remark was good luck getting Ji’Er back without a power play. I hope he reflects on this conversation and finds an impressive way to apologize to the Xus. LanXiang has had intel gathered and got her answers from Furong’s local troupe leader. Yu Chan is in JinQi’s side about using power believing it to be the way of things, but she did have one good point — time would be of the essence to get Ji’er back before more mistreatment. So she finds herself showing up at Dai residence during the middle of a croquet like game. Ms Zhao makes special effort to point out JinQi’s commander’s wife and belittle her by referring to her maid status and how she would not know how to play. Instead of a cowed maid, Ms Shen responds that she did not know that the wife of an officer would not only be invited but show up at a criminal’s home.🤣👏🏻When cornered about another relative she said explicitly what happened with him and Wo pirate when episode ends. I say that round went to Lan Xiang ( Jia Lan) 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻she found the right angle because next preview shows Ji’Er rescued. 🥳

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Five Stars

Jinqi, Jinqi! Being half-naked wasn't enough, he really pretended to be seasick out of nowhere, lol! 🤣And the way he changed clothes before going to talk to her to appear younger, I can't. 🤣He knows how to hold grudges because between how is not letting go of her "they are too old" comment and his fixation on "Han Liang". Man, just let it go, you're only hurting yourself, lol. 😆Poor Shen Jialan, barely arrived in the capital and she already has to face trauma by living in her former mansion. I felt so sad for her when she was visualizing how it used to be and noticing how it changed. 😢 (and the flashback of her mei mei 😭). And the fact she choose to sleep in her parents bedroom. 😭The past did not wait a minute to catch up to her, huh.And clueless Jinqi must have been thinking she had come around a bit because even though she refused his hand to get out of the sedan, they were holding hands while going through the residence and boom, she pushes all the Lin away. Can't imagine how she's coping with the past and the present constantly clashing in her mind. I'm glad she did not choose his method to get back Ji'er. I feel like it would be a waste of use of their imperial card. They just arrived in the capital, she may need it in the future to save him from a dire situation. Also, how she reminded him he disrespected her & her parents real bad. I enjoyed how they showed that the class system is well embedded in Jinqi's mind despite him being a good man and it unconsciously comes out even when he tries his best, with Lanxiang's family for example. What she said made him reflect. And another slap well deserved. P.S: I did not expect Lanxiang to have some backing in the capital thanks to Furong and Master Lu, that's so cool!

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I never wore straw sandals, but I, too, gave my all to survive.

Lin Jin Qi looked so helpless when he used that trick to let the white apron covering his torso slip down. Yet, as his body was revealed—leaving him half-naked before his wife—his masculine beauty failed to achieve the effect he had hoped for. It even seemed as though a tear was lingering amidst his beautiful eyelashes. (Lan Xian looks specifically at the scar near his neck and recalls what he had told her in an earlier conversation: “I never wore reed shoes, but I, too, gave everything to survive.” In this moment of vulnerability, Lin Jin Qi sought to quickly turn the situation around. He let himself slump against her shoulders—appearing, for once, fragile before his wife. He claimed he hadn't slept well, but Lan Xian countered: "You’ve caught a cold." She quickly covered him with that sheer white apron, wrapped him in a heavy quilt, and sat him down on the sofa. She called out for ginger soup to be prepared and advised him to let himself sweat out the chill. As she left the room, he remarked—feeling a touch of happiness—that, by a stroke of luck, she was no longer angry with him.They finally arrived at the capital, accompanied by the rest of the family. Lin Jin Qi offered his hand to help Lan Xian out of the carriage, but she refused it. She stood stunned when she realized which mansion they were to live in. Lin Jin Qi mentioned that he had just received the estate as a gift from the Emperor. However, he failed to realize that it was the former Shen family mansion—the place where Lan Xian (or Jia Lam) had lived with her family before they were massacred by the previous Emperor. She was overcome with sorrow and deep thought, while he remained oblivious to her feelings. She remembered everything that had happened there; every room she passed stirred up a memory. She entered a room other than the one Lin Jin Qi had selected. A maid informed him that she had chosen this different room for herself. Lin Jin Qi simply said that since it was his wife's choice, that was the room they would use.
There was a scene where Lin Jin Qi talked to Yu Chan, asking which outfit would make him look younger in Lan Xian's eyes. Yu Chan playfully replied, "You don't need to look younger; you're naturally youthful." Lin Jin Qi, in his playful manner, said, "No, I want to find a new outfit."
In another scene, we see that Lin Jin Qi’s half-sister is being mistreated by her husband—a fact revealed through subtle details, such as the young girl cowering in fear of her father and hiding behind...) ...Lin Jin Qi. As she leaves, her half-sister's husband treats her rudely, frightening the little girl. He asks her to intercede with Lin Jin Qi on his behalf to secure a high-ranking position. She promptly agrees to do so. Lin Jin Qi tells them that he will grant the request when the time is right, asking only for a little patience. She nods in agreement.In another scene, Lin Jin Qi and Lan Xiang are talking. Lan Xiang suggests they would be even regarding his use of a sleeping aid on her (he counters that he used a harmless, natural plant). She retorts that they would only be even if he helped her free Jier from the clutches of her captor, Xiao Tang. He suggests she use the Empress's influence to get Xiao Tang's family to release Jier. She replies that she does not want to be like Lin Jin Qi, using power to get whatever she desires. A clash of wills ensues between them. However, he calms down and tells her: "I want to see how you manage to free Jier without the backing of power."In another scene, Lan Xiang goes to the opera to see the troupe belonging to the friend she met in Jinlin.Later, she goes to meet Xiao Tang at the estate. She finds her playing a game resembling golf; Xiao Tang hits the target. Xiao Tang and the noblewomen present mock Lan Xiang for having been a mere maid who rose in status due to an imperial decree. But Lan Xiang strikes back by touching upon their own sore spots. She speaks truths they cannot bear to hear; two of them leave, leaving only Xiao Tang behind. The episode ends there. (Let's see how Lan Xiang will save her friend in episode 31).

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Refusing to use power to reach her goals

Of all the possible houses, they happened to move into the one that used to be the Shen residence... Really? All the memories flooding Jialan's mind just made me tear up. The little cousin, her parents, all the people she had in her life... 😢🤧And there it was, she said it out loud — she thinks Jinqi relies only on power and takes everything by force, and she dislikes that (I can't blame her, though, especially with the decree and the drugs fresh in everyone's mind). I know he's not like that (maybe sometimes). He has so many other qualities that Lanxiang won't be able to see properly before she stops seeing him as the person from years ago when the Lin family abandoned the Shen family and cancelled the betrothal. 😟But I like that she didn't want to solve the Ji'er indenture problem by using the imperial family again. I know she's well capable of thinking of a way herself. BUT what I did find interesting is that Ji'er's fate is yet again in Zhao Xingtang's hands. I knew we had to meet her again once the plot moves to the capital. But her messing with Lanxiang and not giving her Ji'er back voluntarily and easily will be her own downfall. And this time she might fall harder than before. I am so crossing my fingers for it! 🤞(I know I hoped she would find her happiness and I still do, but she has to stop being this kind of person and her family's pawn before that)And Xiulan's husband? We have to get rid of him somehow ASAP. If their daughter is that afraid of her own father, I won't accept it. And another thing I am afraid of — if he somehow gets that post he wants so much, he might cause trouble for Jinqi eventually because of his incompetence. 😤😠

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