THIS IS FOR THOSE WATCHING THE DRAMA. Let's not keep bringing up the novel plot because this drama does NOT follow the novel at all, so it just make the discussion too confusing when people bring up the novel.
Episodes 5-9 are interesting in showing relationships. I'm calling this segment The Dog That Bit and Protected
1) XiyanGreenTeaPrince and Su Muo
2) the slowing changing one of MRJH and Mei Lin
3) General Luo Mei with a) MRJH and b) Crown Prince (I cackle at some of y'all's renaming him Clown Prince)
4) Xiyan Prince and Mei Lin
There is a lot of focus on (1). Su Muo was doing illegal trading behind Xiyan Prince's back. The Prince seemed a bit oblivious about how things work at this point, just into carving stuff and playing Go with the Emperor. It's ironic watching him repeatedly telling Su Muo he wanted to protect those he loved when it was Su Muo who saw things clearly, who told him in subtle terms that Mei Lin wasn't interested, that GOING BACK TO XIYAN was the key to protecting those he loved.
What do y'all think about Su Muo's disguise? That he could go in and out of the palace so easily was interesting, no? I thought the whole mystery of the burnt wrist and the whitening makeup powder was pretty well-done and again, Mei Lin showed her smarts piecing things together like a detective.
MRJH was starting to value Mei Lin's mind besides her warrior toughness. Mei Lin wanted to be his blade, but he wanted her to play being his woman, LOLOLOL. I find that kind of funny because she was so oblivious to his attraction for her.
Which brings us to #2, the changing relationship between the leads. MRJH certainly lost some of his bite in these four episodes. Do y'all agree?
Look at the scene of them going out on a date: the people didn't even notice their crazy Third Prince walking around him, that was how normal he was looking. Before, in the episode when he returned, people saw him and fear and hatred filled the air immediately, right? So he was unrecognizable when he was a happily-falling-in-love prince?
Yes, the date was fake, but were the growing feelings? He told her stories and she told him her past too, about the dog that bit her. The allusion that he was that wild dog who became her protector was quite obvious to him. Yet, it was very apt. He protected her from certain death in prison. He was looking for a cure for her poison (which yeah, he was the dog who bit her here since he was the one who poisoned her!). He also wanted to cure her loss sense of taste.
Also, we had viewed MRJH as something of a wild dog in Episodes 1-4, right? He was snarling and even rabid-like in his pretended madness. It all seemed to have calmed down in the palace into a bored, sardonic rhythm. He even told his father if the people believed a general like him could massacre 100,000 people, then they would believe that he had turned into a lecher. And whoosh, in come silly Concubine Yan to reinforce this.
But by the end of Episode 9, Mei Lin had the dog lantern, patting the wild dog who became her loyal companion, What does this foreshadow?
Of course, a historical romance must have rivaling hearts--here we have XiyanGreenTea Prince for Mei Lin and General Luo Mei for MRJH. Let's not even mention the Clown Prince for Luo Mei. What is this, a Venn Diagram? LOL
The conversations between these couples were illuminating. XiyanGreenTea remembered ten years ago Mei Lin saved him and Su Muo and gosh, it must be LURV. General Luo Mei kept wanting JingHe to be strong again so we know she thought he was a weak man now and needed her protection (she rushed back to the palace because she heard news of the assassination attempt by Mei Lin). Clown Prince? He mostly wanted Luo Mei because it was another thing he could have that belonged to his brother; of course, he equated that with love, but we know it was just part and parcel of all that was JingHe's that he wanted.
So the most realistic coupling here, and I laugh at it, is our main characters, MRJH and Mei Lin's! They actually started out talking about a partnership. Their cards were laid out on the table (saved the elephant in the room of who he was to her) and they had a plan for revenge. Their talk of affection was businesslike, yet we could see their actions weren't. He was remarkably gentle with her and she told him things she wouldn't have shared with anyone, least of all that Xiyan Prince.
Which brings us to #4 XiyanGreenTea and Mei Lin. And I must bring in Su Muo in the mix. Su Muo was XiyanPrince's dog--one who protected him. Mei Lin was an indirect cause of Su Muo's death and I wonder whether the Prince would figure this part out. He was grieving for his loss of Su Muo (death) and Mei Lin understood him enough to bring him embroidered Xiyan flowers as substitute for the real thing. And here we see a foreshadow, perhaps, for their future ahead.
Episode 9 ended with MRJH thinking about Mei Lin's dog story. He ruminated about all her past actions FOR him. He last words, "He bit you and yet you made him your friend. Foolish." What did Jing He mean? I'm sure he wasn't mocking Mei Lin. Perhaps he feared for the future. Should be interesting to see this dog turn into a puppy, yes? :)
Happy chitchat!
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