Against the Current Episode 34

Connecting the dots and kiss waiting for follow-up slap😁

LanXiang is celebrating her bday by quietly mourning her parents. She is missing the comforting memorial of the Xu family and wondering where her family and real LanXiang buried. Jinqi is sad for her but he doesn’t know why she is melancholy. Her friends from the troupe show up and a private show has been arranged for her bday. As they chat, she is connecting the dots that means rebellion afoot. She sends an odd message to JinLan and takes off from the residence telling them to lock the gate and let no one enter. The emperor has given JinQi a personal firearm bypassing the rule usually required ti]o have one. Prince Han is on the way to his fiefdom and JinQi is under orders to treat Han’s soldiers respectfully and deliver supplies to assist against the bitter cold. He has arrived and cordially invited in but there is an ambush waiting for him and a high bounty on his head. Jinqi politely refuses all attempts to get him inside and then goes to LanXiang who has showed up at the scene. The commander is not happy to have his plans thwarted but moving on to plan B. LanXiang fills JinQi in on the wall plans the Lus have given Han supporters. There is an underground passage that will allow a person to get through. This is how troops were snuck in and why all the dogs killed in the neighboring village. The Lus are backed by Han and the only giveaway was not ordering the opera troupe to play as usual which was a customary treat the commander indulged in. The message to Jin Lan was a warning that the royal brothers at war with each other. He prepares things by having low key wardrobe for everybody with emphasis on survival over saving treasures. It is a bit far fetched JinQi would need instruction on city defense but they want focus on LanXiang. He is again leaving her to take care of a royal but that’s the job.😡I loved her calling out to be careful. 🥰 Finally a sign of true concern. Jinqi turns back and steals a cheek kiss 🥰🤣 She yells in protest and tells her she can slap him when he gets home.🤣😁🥰 Things get very real when the eunuchs are killed and the commander rebelling. JinQi’s firearm came in handy, but Han’s men showed up flipping the truth to make it seem JinQi rebelling. 🤬JinQi is downed with an arrow and all looks lost. He did well putting the tokens as heart guards. He also outfoxed Dai and commander by getting to the armory first.👏🏻💪🏻 I think he has an explosive surprise waiting for him and preview shows the Han commander completely pissed if his plan was foiled. 🥳Congrats to LanXiang and JinQi for thwarting the plan. For this episode I think LanXiang did a damn fine job connecting the dots with opera troupe. That is something JinQi would not have noticed in particular, The rest with the maps etc should have been JinQi’s wheelhouse once pointed out. The story is Qia Lan centered, but it doesn’t have to undermine JinQi’s commander insights to have them work together and devise a plan. That aside, the fighting scene is intense and there is a nice overview of preparations in the capital to thwart Han’s rebellion via his own private army and Dai as backup. Can’t wait for JinQi to kick their asses next episode.

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Five Stars

It seems like someone developped a thing for his wife's slaps... 🤭🤭🤭
Absolutely did not expect a kiss but hey, they both find each other bold so... ^^

OMG, what a tense episode. Felt so bad for Lanxiang on her birthday. You can tell she feels for herself but also her parents who lost their daughter. 😭
It was as if she wanted to be drunk to drawn the pain away yet knew she couldn't because talking too much is not allowed. 😭
Poor Jinqi >< who planned a nice bday but could not understand her sadness and her being unable to explain it... 😢

Capital arc is going down! I did not expect Prince Han to rebel so soon nor the apparition of guns. Now I'm scared for Jinqi so bad 😨
I was happy to see the second brother being so swift and reactionary after receiving Lanxiang's message to the main residence. Because he was giving "I cannot take/make any decision to save lives. That's Jinqi thing" during the water poison gate. But seems like it was the elders control that made him not dare to act.
(P.S: I love his relationship with his wife, they always look like a loving couple ^^)

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I’ll Let You Live a Little Longer

As Lin Jin Qi recovers, he holds onto the edge of her garment and asks her to keep talking to him. He reveals his concerns, noting that the current emperor is more benevolent than the previous one and expressing hope that Prince Han will abandon his ambitions. "The Lu family—father and son—are very petty; be careful of them. I will reinforce your security," Lin Jin Qi tells XLX. "Han Lian, you placed third in the imperial examination; do you blame me for the imperial decree?"The emperor is informed that Prince Han intends to visit the tombs to bid farewell to the late emperor and empress—the parents of both himself and the current emperor. At this moment, the emperor acknowledges their shared maternity and hopes Han will depart peacefully for his fiefdom. Before that, however, the emperor grants Lin Jin Qi an important insignia, authorizing him to outrank many officials and make decisions—specifically, allowing him to supersede Commander Chen Qi (a veteran who served the late emperor) and the arms inspector. Lin Jin Qi accepts the token and vows to deliver supplies to the soldiers, demonstrating the emperor's benevolence.Lan Xian visits a Buddhist temple to seek blessings for the birthday of Lan Xian (the maid whose identity she assumed). Upon leaving the temple, the head monk mentions something strange: all the dogs in the village have been killed—an act the locals attribute to "ghost soldiers." Lan Xian immediately finds this fact suspicious.Shortly after, she encounters Lin Jin Qi, dressed in a black mink coat over a red outfit. He appears somber; following a ritual, he hangs a wish upon a tree. He asks Lan Xian if she wants to know what his wish is. She simply replies that, whatever it may be, she hopes it comes true. As the two of them walk on, we see an inscription on the ribbons hanging from the tree: “May our love last forever.”For Lan Xian’s birthday, Lin Jin Qi prepares a special moment—the most touching one for me in an episode filled with moving scenes. He tears up because, while talking to her, he glimpses tears in her eyes. He doesn't understand her feelings, yet he realizes she is deeply sad. He asks if he has done something to upset her; she apologizes, saying she was the one who made a mistake and upset him. Seeing the sadness in both their eyes as they fail to understand one another brings a tear to my eye as a viewer. It is as if there is something neither of them can quite reach. She is slightly tipsy and says she will stop before she gets truly drunk. When the maids return with more food, they find LJQ alone and sad, drinking by himself.When Lan Xian meets her friends from the opera troupe at her home, she learns of something related to Prince Han’s sinister plans. The troupe had not been summoned, and she connects this fact to the incident involving the dead dogs.Lan Xian meets Yuchan and the other maids and discovers that LJQ is about to deliver supplies to Prince Han’s troops. She asks for a carriage so she can warn LJQ. She gives Yuchan a code phrase to deliver to Lin Jin Qi’s brother, Jin Lan (who is ill): tell Master Jin Qi that he wants to eat rice and beans cooked over a straw fire.When Lin Jin Qi arrives at the troops' camp with the supplies, he walks into a trap intended to kill him. The commander allied with Prince Han has put a price of 100 taels on LJQ’s head. LJQ, having already been warned by Lan Xian, breaks free from the villain; as LJQ leaves—refusing the invitation to enter the barracks—the villain says, "I'll let you live a little longer."LJQ gets into the carriage and speaks with Lan Xian, who explains everything she has discovered. Combining this with his own information, he decides he must leave immediately to thwart the enemy's plans. As he mounts his horse—looking every bit the handsome soldier in his gallant armor—he rides a short distance toward a nearby tree. Suddenly, Lan Xian calls out from the carriage, "Lin Jin Qi, be careful." He pauses for a moment; the camera shows his serious expression as he remains facing forward. Then, a youthful smile breaks across his face; he turns his horse around, approaches the carriage, and plants a kiss on Lan Xian—one that is both passionate and cautious—prompting her to shout his name as if slightly annoyed (or perhaps not?). He rides off, calling out, "If you want to slap me again, save it for when I get back."At the Lin household, Jin Lan receives the coded message sent by Lan Xian. He immediately grasps the situation: Prince Han is staging a rebellion against the current emperor—a move that could implicate Lin Jin Qi—and troops will need to be held in reserve somewhere. He tells his wife he is feeling better, noting that he has taken better care of his health over the past year and is strong enough to handle the situation.Lin Jin Qi arrives at Commander Chen Qi’s barracks, warns him of Prince Han’s rebellion, and asks him to mobilize the troops. However, Commander Chen draws a pistol and nearly shoots LJQ and Nan Ke, who throw themselves to the ground to dodge the bullet.But LJQ was prepared and struck the wicked commander first with another pistol.Once outside the tent, LJQ alerted the soldiers to what had happened and urged them to unite to stop Prince Han. Suddenly, Prince Han himself arrived with another troop, spreading lies about LJQ and twisting the facts. He shot an arrow at Lin Jin Qi; it pierced the hand LJQ had raised to protect his heart. NanKe wept in desperation, begging him to wake up.With a sinister expression, Prince Han ordered them to take LJQ’s body away and behead him. However, NanKe rebelled and overpowered the four soldiers; meanwhile, LJQ regained consciousness and removed the arrow, which had been blocked by the rectangular gold insignia she had received from the emperor.Prince Han went to the armory, but LJQ had arrived there first—using the insignia that authorized entry—and had already taken all the weapons.The camera shows LJQ, her hand bandaged and bloodied, about to light a gunpowder fuse. Prince Han, his face twisted in rage and malice, recalls the events and realizes how she survived. The camera shows the fuse igniting. The episode ends. (What will Episode 35 bring?)

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