Ouch. Yang Ying's learning curve is steep and brutal. It harkens back to Empress Zhaojie's final words of wisdom to Ruyi -- "Don't give your heart too easily to a man." Words to live by indeed. The thing that shocked me the most was how easily Qingyun turned against A'Ying -- in the end he was a complete coward. Yikes. His desperation turned nasty when things didn't go his way. He should have kept his mouth shut at the end. In an instant, he transformed their relationship into a honey trap. But maybe it's for the best. I imagine he would be an utter nuisance if he allowed to live after the incident.
It was a perfect storm of different things all happening at the same time that create this tragic situation. At least she gets to live to tell the tale with a few battle scars to show for it. Security was lax. But when Mr Du protested quite harshly (rightly so) she then pulled rank. She was too starry eyed about romance and first love -- too many novels -- and too trusting although he took advantage of that. Her newfound confidence was misused and misplaced. Then of course Dad and Mum weren't home so the kids were scrambling around wondering how much they should do to put a kibosh to this troublesome teenage romance that they were privy to. Sun Lang was not the right person to keep an eye on things between them. Shishan would have been better because he knew exactly what they would get up to. Fortunately Yuan Lu survived the attack otherwise she would have a hard time living with herself. This Qingyun was really manipulative. He knew exactly what buttons to push.
Episodes 13 and 14 are definitely setting up for later happenings in the state of An. It also appears to telegraph possible ominous outcomes when things really heat up.
It doesn't look like the Emperor of An has much respect for his own offspring and is using an outsider to do his actual bidding.. He aims to embark on an expansionist agenda and yet I wonder what for and who for if his own sons are not likely to hold on to new territories for long given their short-sighted perspective. In fact, I imagine that they will be making competing claims. This of course plays into the hands of Li Tongguang who has a very different agenda. Or so he says. He claims to have a peacemaking agenda which is why he is eager to have some Wu presence in An.
The other thing that strikes me again is how both nations treat their operatives. The defeat of Wu is unfairly blamed on the foot soldiers and An also has a habit of disposing of their recruits and field operatives with no thought to their value as human beings. In her conversations with both Ruyi and Yuanzhou, Meiniang highlights yet again how disposable the Zhu Yi Wei are once they've outlived their usefulness. They are quite literally cannon fodder for the powers that be.
Best kissing scene ever. .:P LOL. I laughed so much that it brought tears to my eyes. An ancient confetti/bubble…
What Shisan says about falling in love with someone being the death of him. That sounds pretty ominous. I hope that's metaphorical and not literal. Because it would absolutely break my heart if he died because of a woman.
Best kissing scene ever. .:P LOL. I laughed so much that it brought tears to my eyes. An ancient confetti/bubble machine. Love it. The maple leaf was priceless.
Shishan isn't entirely a goofball. He is quite perceptive in his own way. His scheme did work. Perhaps not in the way that Yuanzhou expected. What it did do is force the leads to confront each other and communicate honestly which is essentially what they should have done in the first place.
Hilarity aside, that scene affirms that everything that happens is a team effort. Even the romance. This is about a team becoming a family. The romance isn't just between the two people, it is about all 8 building bonds over all kinds of events. It is a family celebration because if Mum and Dad aren't happy... Mum especially... no one will be.
Episode 13 is a laugh a minute. Lately I feel like I'm watching Journey to the West (especially in that brothel scene) and that Yuan Lu, Shishan, Qian Zhao and Sun Lang are like Monkey, Pig and Sandy in different ways.
I'm not sure what they trying to achieve with Li Tongguang. I appreciate that he's taken Chu Yue down a peg or two as she rather deserves it. I imagine he's trying to be menacing but he comes across as a smug schoolboy bully trying to be menacing. On other occasions I can't be sure what they're going for. The performance leaves me a bit cold to be honest.
4 
It was a perfect storm of different things all happening at the same time that create this tragic situation. At least she gets to live to tell the tale with a few battle scars to show for it. Security was lax. But when Mr Du protested quite harshly (rightly so) she then pulled rank. She was too starry eyed about romance and first love -- too many novels -- and too trusting although he took advantage of that. Her newfound confidence was misused and misplaced. Then of course Dad and Mum weren't home so the kids were scrambling around wondering how much they should do to put a kibosh to this troublesome teenage romance that they were privy to. Sun Lang was not the right person to keep an eye on things between them. Shishan would have been better because he knew exactly what they would get up to. Fortunately Yuan Lu survived the attack otherwise she would have a hard time living with herself. This Qingyun was really manipulative. He knew exactly what buttons to push.
It doesn't look like the Emperor of An has much respect for his own offspring and is using an outsider to do his actual bidding.. He aims to embark on an expansionist agenda and yet I wonder what for and who for if his own sons are not likely to hold on to new territories for long given their short-sighted perspective. In fact, I imagine that they will be making competing claims. This of course plays into the hands of Li Tongguang who has a very different agenda. Or so he says. He claims to have a peacemaking agenda which is why he is eager to have some Wu presence in An.
The other thing that strikes me again is how both nations treat their operatives. The defeat of Wu is unfairly blamed on the foot soldiers and An also has a habit of disposing of their recruits and field operatives with no thought to their value as human beings. In her conversations with both Ruyi and Yuanzhou, Meiniang highlights yet again how disposable the Zhu Yi Wei are once they've outlived their usefulness. They are quite literally cannon fodder for the powers that be.
Shishan isn't entirely a goofball. He is quite perceptive in his own way. His scheme did work. Perhaps not in the way that Yuanzhou expected. What it did do is force the leads to confront each other and communicate honestly which is essentially what they should have done in the first place.
Hilarity aside, that scene affirms that everything that happens is a team effort. Even the romance. This is about a team becoming a family. The romance isn't just between the two people, it is about all 8 building bonds over all kinds of events. It is a family celebration because if Mum and Dad aren't happy... Mum especially... no one will be.
(More under spoiler tags)
I'm not sure what they trying to achieve with Li Tongguang. I appreciate that he's taken Chu Yue down a peg or two as she rather deserves it. I imagine he's trying to be menacing but he comes across as a smug schoolboy bully trying to be menacing. On other occasions I can't be sure what they're going for. The performance leaves me a bit cold to be honest.
And it's not romance heavy. The male camaraderie is just as good.
There's still Prince Danyang to contend with and he has plenty of supporters in Wu.
I imagine at this point even Yang Ying would be preferable.