K-Drama 
Lan Xiang warns Lin Jin Qi about the dangers of blindly serving the emperor and urges him to consider the Lin family’s future. After Second Master’s death and news of the Old Madam’s passing, Lin Jin Qi decides to resign and return to Jinling. Back home, Lan Xiang grows closer to Lin Jin Qi and helps prepare for Fourth Miss’s upcoming marriage.
(Source: kisskh)
- Aired: October 01, 2026
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Against the Current Episode 39 Reactions
LanXiang picked a very jarring way to make her point to LanXiang. This play was all about a favored general who then became an irritant and was finally killed off by the emperor he served and thought so well of. She literally had JinQi out of his seat watching in shock as he realized it was pointed directly at his chosen career and how it plays out over time. With the chatting of Eunuchs later it does make you think when rather than if history repeats itself. Here we see JinLan’s passing. He was surrounded by all he loved most and the way he wanted tho not the time he wanted. He saw his son born and thriving, he received promises from JinQi and LanXiang that his wife and daughter would be looked after and he could rest easy. He did not get to say a proper goodbye to his mother, but he got to live freely in the capital with no hovering parent making him feel trapped in a gilded cage. He got to be his own man and leave on his own terms. He was willing to take the risk he might not get to see his mother again to get that free time with his wife. The gma also passing was a surprise because she had the reboots of health after stroke. This sometimes happens and then they are gone when things seemed most promising. Since his promotion, the military has been downsized and the emperor will not give him leave to go home since it is so distant. It would require a minimum of three months travel time and his gpa fears he will be replaced. His career is heading to the later half of the play where the dominant general is no longer required and the loyalty of so many troops considered a danger rather than defense. LanXiang offers to take JinLan’s wife and child and XiuWan home because they truly want to be with family now. Unfortunately we do not get to see the homecoming or LanXiang reuniting with her parents and sharing where there missing family is buried. There is a two year time jump and JinQi is finally allowed to come home. We get glimpses of the children growing up and plans for the third daughter’s wedding. I am hoping she sees the wisdom and use LanXiang’s law books can provide. Leave it to the youngest son to have his wife present a cricket as a wedding gift. I’m sure this story will be passed down far longer than they will want to hear it.🤣😂🫣😝 This episode has JinQi and LanXiang finally consummating their marriage. He has come to her so he is not as concerned of his post. We did not get to hear any correspondence while they were separated or what finally won her heart making her anticipate his return. This was indeed a misstep since they are the main couple, but I wasn’t really annoyed by it. Once she saw him as the one who gave her family a resting place and honored her bday that she had forgotten, he was finding a place in her heart. This separation gave him time to learn what was important and be reminded that loyalty to the emperor did not guarantee peace or longevity. I think he is coming around to living a simpler life. I also noted Scholar Lu’s grin at JinQi’s entrance. I think he knows what JinQi did for the Shens and has forgiven him. He was still more child than man at the time and not equipped to disregard his parents and Zhaos. I enjoyed this episode and thought it continued well with the exception of not enough insight into the budding romance of the leads. It should have been allowed the same impact on audience as the decree.
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We didn't get enough of the FLs perspective to feel her commitment to their romantic life. Huge ball drop for such an otherwise momentous episode.
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Episode 39 is worth rewatching. I already thought this was one of the best episodes of the series, but watching it again made me realize how much I completely missed the first time.This episode is really about change and time.The jumps in time aren’t just there to move the story forward. They show us how much everyone has changed. I especially loved seeing the young lotus root vendor again…now grown up and with a son of her own helping her sell lotus roots. Such a simple scene, but it tells us that life has moved on.And those two years apart for Lanxiang and Jin Qi weren’t wasted either. Their love needed that time. The seed was already planted, but the separation gave them time to heal, grow and finally understand what they meant to each other.But there is also a much darker story happening. Listen to the poem. Watch the crickets. Listen to the story about the general who was betrayed after the Emperor trusted a eunuch. It isn’t just a story from the past…it is a warning. People hungry for power can be like ants eating the roots of a plant. At first you don’t see the damage, but eventually the whole plant can die. And with that hunger for power comes war and death.Then watch Jin Qi walk away from the palace. Lanxiang and Jin Qi have always looked at duty differently. Jin Qi believed in serving the Emperor and doing what was right. Lanxiang had already seen what palace politics could do to an entire family. Now Jin Qi finally understands what she has been trying to tell him.He leaves the palace and comes home. And for the first time, husband and wife are looking in the same direction. Only then do they finally consummate their marriage. After all those episodes, all those secrets and two years apart, it doesn’t feel too late…it feels like the right time.Even that part of the episode is filled with little symbols…the birds, the gourd, the ducks and then her pregnancy. One part of their lives has ended and another has begun.And then…the cricket returns. Maybe they can leave the palace behind…but the past may not be finished with them yet.Wow. I watched Episode 39 the first time for the story. I watched it again and discovered the story underneath the story.
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I wish there had been one more scene before they consumed their marriage properly, but the progression still makes sense. They must return to Taiping to be comfortable, Linqi must choose Lanxiang's way if he wants this marriage to work and while they decide on it during their conversation, Linqi is only disillusioned with the court once he hears the eunuchs talk politics and remembers the failed rebellion. For historical dramas it is often forgotten just how much time travelling takes, so the time skips feel excessive, but we've been eased into them in the last episodes and it has always been important how far apart the Lin family home and the capital are. Not the strongest episode but it packs a punch.
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Too much time skips in this episode, left us (or me) with not too deep storytelling. It’s kind of downgrading compare to the other episodes which despite didn’t tell us explicitly, still give us a lot to digest.
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Her showing him her way was something a bit different from what I expected. I thought she would tell him her true identity now, but I guess it isn't time yet. My next guess regarding this is that she might reveal it after she has cleared the Shen family's name, which will very likely happen in one of the last episodes. 🤔But, honestly, I was a bit disappointed with the time skips which altogether covered almost three years, and my guess here is that it was the director's choice of how to cover for that enormous amount of episodes they had to cut (68 down to 47 is a lot). 😞 With those few scenes we got, it showed how much closer Jinqi and Lanxiang have become over those years. They actually consummated their marriage finally and are even expecting their firstborn now! 🤗 Such a wonderful journey of love, but sadly we didn't get to see much of it... 😔But what made me the saddest was Jinlan's death. I knew that dreadful moment was looming, but I hoped it would still come later than it did... At least he saw his son born. 😢🤧
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Yeah, where did all the important facts go? Why does this always happen with c-dramas rushing storylines towards the end? Oh well, this would've been such a great TV series, but then.. oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Time jump of 2 years loosing consistency on one hand and inesplicabile imagination of the ml seeing himself killed or injured in battle. Then the sudden desire of the main leads to consumate their marriage after probably 4 years not telling viewers what triggered it? The marriage of the little sister (4th) surpassing the 2nd sister still spinster. this episode is a hit and miss durle either to poor editing or rushed screenplay. My very first complaint in this entire time and do hope it will be the last.
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This series has been so awesome… then this? They skipped all the good stuff. They’ve jumped years into the marriage and skipped any sort of wooing or romance. Last episode she was still angry about being there. Now, all of a sudden, they’re all lovey dovey? That’s the story I was waiting to see. And they skipped it entirely.. Now the Lin family is marrying off someone else. When and how did they end up back at her family’s home? None of it makes any sense. I was expecting it to be a dream sequence, but no one woke up. I’m actually a little angry they made me wait an extra day for this. Where is the story?
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