I missed that how did they callout to those dramas?
Moonlight: The ML being the secret author the whole time Egg and Stone: The slow motion fall through air, just like in Caeser's wheelchair scene. Love Between Fairy and Devil: Pointing behind Shangque and shouting "Jieli" to get him to turn around.
First 3 Episodes Analysis AKA All the Background Stuff we are too Busy Laughing to Pay Attention to (Medium Length):
So Bing Chang *cough* the Mirror Demon said “The brides were always deluded. Just like my Master.” Thus, her Master was a woman. More specifically her Master was “Infatuated and misled. For that heartless man who married another woman, she was willing to give up everything.” (Episode 1)
Liu Fuyi reacts immediately to this information, recognizing the story of his Master. And we know he is a demon, because in the novel Mu Yao said “So you really are a demon. You all lied to me.” All. Meaning more than one person lied about being a demon.
For the rest of the scene, the shards of mirror reflect mostly Liu Fuyi and the Mirror Demon, as they were both disciples of the same Master and could see themselves in each other. Upon Mu Sheng’s destruction of the Mirror Demon’s realm, Liu Fuyi immediately argues that they should imprison her in the Demon Trap Tower, rather than killing her. He steps in to protect her.
We also learn Liu Fuyi is a rather high-ranking demon. He is able to trace the energy of a single burnt fragment of the Mountain and Sea Map. That is impressive. Neither Mu Sheng nor Mu Yao were able to do that. (Episode 3)
So, who is their Master? The Resentful Woman. Only 9th Level (Episode 3) female demon we know of. Honestly, in principle I get suspicious when the back-story involves a malicious woman who tried to take over the world and was conquered by a man. It usually gives off major Green Phoenix via Blue Whisper vibes and ends up being revisionist history.
So, why did the Resentful Woman send Liu Fuyi here? Well, we know from the book that he wanted the Hundred Demons Mountain and Sea Map, which reveals the movement of demons. If I was the Demon Queen, I would want to protect my people also. But there is also a second reason. Or more specifically, 2 potential specific reasons.
The first is to track the movements of and thus find her son (she needs the map for that). The second is to watch over her son (if she currently knows where he is).
Her son being Mu Sheng. We know that he is adopted into the Mu family. We also know he is a demon, thanks to the novel. At first I thought this was some sort of peace treaty mutual hostage exchange. (Wasn’t sure who the humans/demon hunters gave the demons). But they also could have simply captured him.
The Resentful Woman reappeared 10 years ago. And the Mu family was massacred 7 years ago. Sounds like she spent 3 years looking for her son, as she did not have the Mountain and Sea Map. The only survivors of the massacre were Mu Sheng (obviously) and Mu Yao, who he would have attempted to protect and thus the Resentful Woman spared. The Resentful Woman also went out of her way to specifically introduce herself to Mu Sheng, telling him to “remember my name” (Episode 3).
So, the Mus are all the descendants of Mu Qingshi and the woman he betrayed the Resentful Woman with and married. (Also, most likely how she got the name the Resentful Woman.) And that is how the Mu’s also got hold of the Mountain and Sea Map. Mu Qingshi stole it from the Demon Queen.
Also, Mu Sheng is Fu Zhou, the FL’s favourite author. For some reason, I can not fathom, Ling MiaoMiao misses her name in the introduction to the novel. (Episode 1)
They also use some very specific dates. She has been his fan for 10 years. The Resentful Woman reappeared 10 years ago. It took Fu Zhou 3 years to write his latest novel. It took the Resentful Woman 3 years to find him.
So, this (Fu Zhou) is his name now and he has waited years for their time-lines to line-up again and how we will have our happy ending.
As to Mu Sheng being a demon. Aside from the plot drop in the book (Episode 1), there are several clues:
He can fly. (Episode 1). He has demon eyes. (Episode 3) He has super-speed (Episode 2). He routinely casts and summons talismans and curses out of thin air (while everyone else must paint them on paper). His demon sight is also intriguing - it seems more a way to trace energy, than enhanced vision. Otherwise FL’s (Ling MiaoMiao) hair would have matched the hair he had (Lin Yu’s), as they were from the same body. Yet, they did not match - which means he is not examining colour, but energy or soul.
In Episode 3, Liu Fuyi tells him, “I have no choice, but to reprimand you as an elder brother.” What an odd thing to say. He didn’t propose to his sister, so how could he be an elder brother? Unless they come from the same clan? Or his Master is Mu Sheng’s mother.
Liu Fuyi and Mu Sheng are also the only of the 3 demon hunters that seem to possess the ability to shut and seal doors with their magic, but not Mu Yao. Which would make sense if they are both demons.
Also, Mu Sheng’s bracers are intriguing. They are how he summons his sword, yes. But they also seem to be how he channels his fire and conjuring abilities. Channel or allowed?
It took his mother 3 years to find him in the care of the Mu’s. But even without the Mountain and Sea Map, she should have been able to trace his energy. Again, we see that he specifically has the ability to trace a soul’s energy in Episode 2 (How he is using the hair to find the one who tore the talisman off his sister’s door) and that other high-level demons can track energy, even in extreme situations. Like a single fragment of a map. A single burnt fragment. A single burnt fragment at the button of a very deep lake.
So, why couldn’t the Resentful Woman trace her son’s energy? It must have been dampened somehow. Thus, the bracers are some sort of energy dampener, both preventing him from being tracked and suppressing his powers to a certain degree, in order to 1. Keep him from realizing he is a demon and 2. An attempt by the Mu family to make him “safer” to have around.
"Everything is on fire! Must get everything done!, because this will consume by soul for 2 to 5 hours on a quotidian basis in order to watch the new episodes and write round-ups." mode has been activated.
Mu Heiress Theory/Crack Theory (which got slightly less so, the, more I thought about it) (Post Episode 8) (short):
What if Shen’s aunt (Wei Qiu) is the “Mu heiress” and her female assistant is the actual Mu heiress?
• The Mo Mystic said Wei Qiu fought the Mu family. He said there was no winner. What if there was a truce? He said “We don’t know if the Blood Amber Stone is with the Mu Family or Wei Qiu.” (Episode 4) What if the answer was both? • The female assistant being the heiress would be the smart move and fit the Mu Family theme of messing with people’s minds. • It would present a stronger leadership, as Wei Qiu is not blood Mu and therefore consistently stable, while the actual heiress, as the “assistant” could slip away whenever she had a fit of berserkness. • The jewelry presentation makes more sense then. Wei Qiu wearing extremely noticeably hoop earrings with supposed shards of the Fantasy Stone to command immediate attention and identification as the “Mu heiress”. While the actual Mu heiress wears a simple pearl choker and stud earrings. (I can not yet see if she is wearing the pearl ring both Mama Mu and Jin Jingxue wear, as quite similar to Jingxue, she has a penchant for gloves.) • The Wei soldiers following her (an actual Wei) would make more sense (and be less terrifying) then the Mu heiress using her Mu powers to control them. It would be exhausting to control that many people at once. • This also presents an interesting fluctuation in the dynamics of the 3 Families. If Wei and Mu are willing to cooperate, that would mean that it is the Mo Family that despite how they present themselves are not the peaceful ones. • This would also fit narrative tropes, as Shen with his mixed Wei/Mo heritage would be the one to take over Mo power, restore their honor and ally with Mu and Wei houses. (Which honestly he is already super-primed to do, given his half-brother is Wei and his ward/future love interest is Mu. See previous analysis of the heritage of the major characters: https://mydramalist.com/707003-ru-yue#comment-18291227 )
Also, as an aside: Nice power move from the Mu heiress in Episode 8. Mind controlling one of the guards from the Department of Economic Development to block Li Guisheng (Li Yingliang’s Captain) and then escort her into the building. Subtle, terrifying and effective. Eliminates any need for power plays.
Mi Lan's father and his 8th wife and son are fleeing to the South. They are going there because of the animal attacks. The south is where the 3 Outer Families are from. The attacks are 100% political issues amidst the 3 Families.
The cast choice for this is what is pulling me in. I want to what kind of chemistry they will have together. Sally, sporadic projects, but nails her roles. ZLX - he has been on fire lately and his craft has grown so much. Chang Long - usually a support role, but I have always enjoyed his portrayal of characters is getting a main role slot. I haven't seen Darren in anything since No Boundary.
Did Jin Jingxue just ask to be invited inside Li Yingliang's house?! (Remember in Episode 6 when Shen Zhiheng asked to be invited into the Department for Economic Development?)
Side notes, not explored include red camellias and Li Yingliang’s Captain’s quilt made by his mother.
Okay, let’s break down the 3 families and who belongs to what family.
Mi Lan is from the Mu Family. On her mother’s side. Mama Mu is semi-insane, raging over tiny things and occasionally seeing reality for a brief moment (once when she throws her daughter on the ground in Episode 2 and once when her daughter is devastatingly ill in Episode 4). The Mu family curse is to go berserk. Her husband seems remarkably tolerant of her behavior, including her physical violence against himself (she cuts him with her nails across the cheek in the first episode). It is almost as if he knows this is not a choice on her part. (Side note: You could even make an argument for a mixed Mu/Wei heritage with those nails.)
The fact that she is of the Mu clan also adds depth to her saying "I can't control others, but I can control you” in Episode 3, since the Mu family gift is controlling other’s minds. Was she cast out of the family for not possessing the gift? But she still has the curse. A likely trigger point for her near-permanent state of berserkness was that her daughter possesses the gift, while she does not. A second potential trigger is the 8th wife of her husband giving birth to a son, while she has not. (I wonder if she once had a miscarriage, due to hurting herself in a state of berserkness and thus her husband does not attempt to have an heir with her anymore?). These two factors combined could definitely take her berserkness from occasional fits to a near-constant state.
Mi Lan has most likely repressed these aspects of her gift and curse due to the psychological and physical abuse she has endured. I also wonder if her gift was only recently activated (perhaps a few months before the beginning of the show), thus triggering her mother’s more constant berserkness, as it is only just occurring to her to cut her hair. (Episode 3) Surely if she had been abused for years this would have occurred to her before now? Surely if her mother had been abusing her continuously for years, her father would have not left Mi Lan under her care?
There are other aspects of Mi Lan’s gift however, that she has not repressed.
It would be a fallacy to assume that Mi Lan’s heightened senses of hearing and smell are the traditionally cliche compensation of certain sense in the absence of others. While we have yet to see another character have such an acute sense of smell, we have seen two other characters with a heightened sense of hearing.
Both Shen Zhiheng (when he hears Mama Mu attacking Mi Lan upstairs from the party, Episode 1) and Li Yingliang (he is quite inept at hearing all the gossip being said about him, even from the other side of the banquet hall, Episode 1). In fact, the show goes out of it’s way to remind us that Li Yingliang has excellent hearing, when he has Mr. Wang (one of the men who was saying malicious things about him at the party) beaten to a pulp and forces him to transfer the development rights of something to him.
The show also makes certain Li Yingliang and Mi Lan meet in Episode 1 and have a pleasant relationship, where she can trust him, as he gives her a ride back to her house. Could they potentially be related?
We have also seen two different things that could be the Fantasy Stone (the Mu’s portion of the star, green set in silver). A charm of a green stone set in silver is on Mi Lan’s walking stick as a charm and her mother has a ring that fits this description as well.
In fact. Mi Lan’s mother has two rings of note. The first, on her left hand is a green ring set in silver. This is potentially the Fantasy Stone, if it is not on Mi Lan’s walking stick. It is also difficult to notice by design, as Mama Mu is literally always wearing green. The second, she wears on her right hand and the design involves a pearl. Again, it is hard to notice given most of the time, accompanying her green dress are ropes and ropes of pearls.
It is the exact same ring that Jin Jingxue wears. The exact same design. The best close-up of this on Mama Mu is when Shen Zhiheng stabs her through the hand with his match in Episode 1. As for Jingxue, the ring is showcased multiple times at the dance that takes place in Episodes 2 and 3, as she pinches Li Yingliang repeatedly, when she dances with both him and Dr. Situ and each time she takes both gentleman’s arm. In most other scenes she is wearing gloves, so it is quite difficult to notice. This design has not been shown to us as one of the 3 stars, so we are left to speculate what it could be. My current theory is that it is something all members of the 3 families wear, so they can recognize each other and obviously they could not all wear their specific stone.
And if Mi Lan is a Mu, she can't live past the age of 30 (this tidbit is courtesy of the character I will for now affectionately dub the Mo Mystic in Episode 4). This makes sense given the killing of the red camellia; one of the flower's meanings is dignified death (which I originally read as a somewhat twisted, sweet gesture from Shen Zhiheng wishing her well in the suicide that he asked her to delay, so she could help him) and Sheng Zhiheng saying "I'd better keep my dignity till the end." in Episode 2.
At the same time, this conversation between Dr. Situ and Shen Zhiheng also affords me a tad of hope that Mi Lan might find a way to outwit the curse, because the earlier part of his conversation with Dr. Situ in this scene was: SZH: "I can't let others know that I escaped death." Situ: "So what if they can tell? You didn't really die." SZH: "Surviving a near-death experience is always daunting."
How would she do this? After all, half of Shen Zhiheng’s life is hers (Episode 2). The question is which half? The Wei half or the Mo half?
That’s right; Shen Zhiheng is both Wei and Mo. He is very obviously Wei. He possesses both super strength and speed, the Wei family gifts. This is later confirmed in his conversation with the Mo Mystic in Episode 4. His paternal aunt is Wei. I say paternal because we learn his didi had a different mother than him in his roof-top anger rant in Episode 4. This means that the Shen family is either a cadet branch of the Wei family that Wei Qiu’s (his aunt) sister married into OR the public face name his father’s family (Wei Qiu’s brother) uses. It does not make sense for Wei to be her married name, as these gifts and curses are granted by birth, not marriage.
The reason I say she was his paternal aunt and his father is of the Wei family is because of Dr. Situ. Of the 3 strong and 2 weak candidates the show has given us for who is Shen Zhiheng’s didi, Dr. Situ seems to instantly understand the effects of a severe near-death experience on the gastro-workings of a vampire/Wei a bit too well and seems to intimately grasp potential motivations and concerns Shen Zhiheng’s didi might have.
What he does not fully understand is Shen Zhiheng’s healing abilities. He can’t accurately calculate how long it should take him to heal. Nor does he understand Shen’s approach to humanity. He doesn’t understand the idea of hiding your ability to come back from the dead from your enemies (Episode 2), trying to find peace with those that have hurt you (their car ride in Episode 3) and most notably in Episode 3 when he actively encourages Shen Zhiheng to just kill those causing the issue - to which Shen Zhiheng just stares at him (accompanied by humorous background music) and the ensuing commentary on the Doctor’s side makes it is clear this is a conversation they have had before, that killing is a hard line for Shen Zhiheng and Dr. Situ sees it as a viable option.
He also possesses a just-under-the-radar arrogance that one might expect from someone who has learned over the decades that they are "better" than other people due to their super-powers, combined with his superior intellect and skills (being a doctor) and not being tempered by the Mo family philosophy: chastising the gang member holding him at gun-point that it is "just removing a bullet" (Episode 1), referring to Jin Jingxue by her given name (Episode 3) and literally dancing as he operates on Shen Zhiheng (Episode 2).
After Situ leaves Shen’s house (Episode 3), Shen muses “If violence worked, what would be the point of sticking to my principles?”
He deeply understands Shen’s Wei side, but not the powers and philosophy of his Mo side. And honestly, Wei is right there in his alias: Situ Weilian.
This concept of sticking by one’s principles, despite it being difficult, aligns with the guiding principle “As a human you can cultivate or help others. You can be like water. Keeping your goodness in the darkest abyss. And you won’t be blamed,” something both Shen Zhiheng and the Mo Mystic manage to simultaneously recite. This sounds very much like something the Mo family would have as a mantra, given their charge was they “needed to overcome ordeals, in order to gain the strongest power of them all.”
Why would they both know this very specific mantra by heart? Perhaps it is something they both grew up hearing over and over again? The Mo Mystic also points out that amongst the millions of paths Shen Zhiheng could have chosen, he chose the “rockiest”. Sounds like something a Mo would do.
And to top it all off, the Mo Mystic gives Shen his own Three-Legged Golden Crow, one of the exclusive emblems of the Mo family (along with deer and masks).
All in all, yes - Shen Zhiheng is paternally Wei and maternally Mo.
This also might explain what led to Shen Zhiqian/Dr. Situ and his mother being burned alive at the stake, like witches in Salem. In Episode 4, Shen says that his (Shen Zhiqian’s) mother destroyed the Shen family. It sounds like some sort of betrayal occurred and dealing with intermarriage between 2 of these families sounds quite rife with tensions that could be exploited.
On the subject of Zhiqian/didi, I think it is a fallacy to assume the person who took the bait and came to the morgue is his didi. There is only one thing we know about them. They had similar abilities to Shen. Which is not as straight-forward as it seems. At first blush that must mean they are Wei, correct?
Well - yes. No. Maybe. Lobster.
There are actually a few options here.
1. They are Wei. 2. They are Mo. They did wear a mask and masks are one of the symbols of the Mo family. And more importantly, we don’t actually know what the Mo’s family curse (other than it is an ordeal) or gift is (other than it is the strongest power of them all). What if the Mo family’s ability consists of mimicking other’s abilities or temporally stealing them? 3. It could be a Wei or a Mo controlled by a Mu. Remember their ability is to control others minds. (In fact, once you take the abilities of an emotionally stable Mu into account any assumptions we have get quite dicey. There could simply be a puppet master at work and anyone’s actions or choices could not be of their free will.)
So the question is: What is the strongest power of them all that the Mo family possesses? Well, we have plenty to choose from thanks to the Mo Mystic. Fortune-telling? Herbalism? Vision questing/planting of dreams? Communication with animals?
I would hazard a guess though that it is something with healing or immortality.
Shen Zhiheng can heal, while Situ (his Wei half-brother) can not. In fact, Situ became a doctor because he needed some healing abilities, and as he could not possess them through supernatural means, he had to take a more traditional route. He also can not seem to wrap his head around the mentalities formed when one has this gift. And most noticeably, Shen Zhiheng’s blood is able to temporarily grant Mi Lan sight (Episode 1) and the rumors that he waters his flowers with blood. It is very obvious that the FULL extent of his powers are neither activated nor known to him.
So, if Shen and Mi Lan were to marry, it would be a joining of all three families. And thus all three stones. Which may be another avenue for Mi Lan to live past 30.
1 
Egg and Stone: The slow motion fall through air, just like in Caeser's wheelchair scene.
Love Between Fairy and Devil: Pointing behind Shangque and shouting "Jieli" to get him to turn around.
Moonlight: Episode 1
Egg and Stone: Episode 2
Love Between Fairy and Devil: Episode 2
Liu Fuyi reacts immediately to this information, recognizing the story of his Master. And we know he is a demon, because in the novel Mu Yao said “So you really are a demon. You all lied to me.” All. Meaning more than one person lied about being a demon.
For the rest of the scene, the shards of mirror reflect mostly Liu Fuyi and the Mirror Demon, as they were both disciples of the same Master and could see themselves in each other. Upon Mu Sheng’s destruction of the Mirror Demon’s realm, Liu Fuyi immediately argues that they should imprison her in the Demon Trap Tower, rather than killing her. He steps in to protect her.
We also learn Liu Fuyi is a rather high-ranking demon. He is able to trace the energy of a single burnt fragment of the Mountain and Sea Map. That is impressive. Neither Mu Sheng nor Mu Yao were able to do that. (Episode 3)
So, who is their Master? The Resentful Woman. Only 9th Level (Episode 3) female demon we know of. Honestly, in principle I get suspicious when the back-story involves a malicious woman who tried to take over the world and was conquered by a man. It usually gives off major Green Phoenix via Blue Whisper vibes and ends up being revisionist history.
So, why did the Resentful Woman send Liu Fuyi here? Well, we know from the book that he wanted the Hundred Demons Mountain and Sea Map, which reveals the movement of demons. If I was the Demon Queen, I would want to protect my people also. But there is also a second reason. Or more specifically, 2 potential specific reasons.
The first is to track the movements of and thus find her son (she needs the map for that). The second is to watch over her son (if she currently knows where he is).
Her son being Mu Sheng. We know that he is adopted into the Mu family. We also know he is a demon, thanks to the novel. At first I thought this was some sort of peace treaty mutual hostage exchange. (Wasn’t sure who the humans/demon hunters gave the demons). But they also could have simply captured him.
The Resentful Woman reappeared 10 years ago. And the Mu family was massacred 7 years ago. Sounds like she spent 3 years looking for her son, as she did not have the Mountain and Sea Map. The only survivors of the massacre were Mu Sheng (obviously) and Mu Yao, who he would have attempted to protect and thus the Resentful Woman spared. The Resentful Woman also went out of her way to specifically introduce herself to Mu Sheng, telling him to “remember my name” (Episode 3).
So, the Mus are all the descendants of Mu Qingshi and the woman he betrayed the Resentful Woman with and married. (Also, most likely how she got the name the Resentful Woman.) And that is how the Mu’s also got hold of the Mountain and Sea Map. Mu Qingshi stole it from the Demon Queen.
Also, Mu Sheng is Fu Zhou, the FL’s favourite author. For some reason, I can not fathom, Ling MiaoMiao misses her name in the introduction to the novel. (Episode 1)
They also use some very specific dates. She has been his fan for 10 years. The Resentful Woman reappeared 10 years ago. It took Fu Zhou 3 years to write his latest novel. It took the Resentful Woman 3 years to find him.
So, this (Fu Zhou) is his name now and he has waited years for their time-lines to line-up again and how we will have our happy ending.
As to Mu Sheng being a demon. Aside from the plot drop in the book (Episode 1), there are several clues:
He can fly. (Episode 1). He has demon eyes. (Episode 3) He has super-speed (Episode 2). He routinely casts and summons talismans and curses out of thin air (while everyone else must paint them on paper). His demon sight is also intriguing - it seems more a way to trace energy, than enhanced vision. Otherwise FL’s (Ling MiaoMiao) hair would have matched the hair he had (Lin Yu’s), as they were from the same body. Yet, they did not match - which means he is not examining colour, but energy or soul.
In Episode 3, Liu Fuyi tells him, “I have no choice, but to reprimand you as an elder brother.” What an odd thing to say. He didn’t propose to his sister, so how could he be an elder brother? Unless they come from the same clan? Or his Master is Mu Sheng’s mother.
Liu Fuyi and Mu Sheng are also the only of the 3 demon hunters that seem to possess the ability to shut and seal doors with their magic, but not Mu Yao. Which would make sense if they are both demons.
Also, Mu Sheng’s bracers are intriguing. They are how he summons his sword, yes. But they also seem to be how he channels his fire and conjuring abilities. Channel or allowed?
It took his mother 3 years to find him in the care of the Mu’s. But even without the Mountain and Sea Map, she should have been able to trace his energy. Again, we see that he specifically has the ability to trace a soul’s energy in Episode 2 (How he is using the hair to find the one who tore the talisman off his sister’s door) and that other high-level demons can track energy, even in extreme situations. Like a single fragment of a map. A single burnt fragment. A single burnt fragment at the button of a very deep lake.
So, why couldn’t the Resentful Woman trace her son’s energy? It must have been dampened somehow. Thus, the bracers are some sort of energy dampener, both preventing him from being tracked and suppressing his powers to a certain degree, in order to 1. Keep him from realizing he is a demon and 2. An attempt by the Mu family to make him “safer” to have around.
AKA
All the Background Stuff we are too Busy Laughing to Pay Attention to (Medium Length):
"Everything is on fire! Must get everything done!, because this will consume by soul for 2 to 5 hours on a quotidian basis in order to watch the new episodes and write round-ups." mode has been activated.
• The Mo Mystic said Wei Qiu fought the Mu family. He said there was no winner. What if there was a truce? He said “We don’t know if the Blood Amber Stone is with the Mu Family or Wei Qiu.” (Episode 4) What if the answer was both?
• The female assistant being the heiress would be the smart move and fit the Mu Family theme of messing with people’s minds.
• It would present a stronger leadership, as Wei Qiu is not blood Mu and therefore consistently stable, while the actual heiress, as the “assistant” could slip away whenever she had a fit of berserkness.
• The jewelry presentation makes more sense then. Wei Qiu wearing extremely noticeably hoop earrings with supposed shards of the Fantasy Stone to command immediate attention and identification as the “Mu heiress”. While the actual Mu heiress wears a simple pearl choker and stud earrings. (I can not yet see if she is wearing the pearl ring both Mama Mu and Jin Jingxue wear, as quite similar to Jingxue, she has a penchant for gloves.)
• The Wei soldiers following her (an actual Wei) would make more sense (and be less terrifying) then the Mu heiress using her Mu powers to control them. It would be exhausting to control that many people at once.
• This also presents an interesting fluctuation in the dynamics of the 3 Families. If Wei and Mu are willing to cooperate, that would mean that it is the Mo Family that despite how they present themselves are not the peaceful ones.
• This would also fit narrative tropes, as Shen with his mixed Wei/Mo heritage would be the one to take over Mo power, restore their honor and ally with Mu and Wei houses. (Which honestly he is already super-primed to do, given his half-brother is Wei and his ward/future love interest is Mu. See previous analysis of the heritage of the major characters: https://mydramalist.com/707003-ru-yue#comment-18291227 )
Also, as an aside: Nice power move from the Mu heiress in Episode 8. Mind controlling one of the guards from the Department of Economic Development to block Li Guisheng (Li Yingliang’s Captain) and then escort her into the building. Subtle, terrifying and effective. Eliminates any need for power plays.
The south is where the 3 Outer Families are from. The attacks are 100% political issues amidst the 3 Families.
Okay, let’s break down the 3 families and who belongs to what family.
Mi Lan is from the Mu Family. On her mother’s side. Mama Mu is semi-insane, raging over tiny things and occasionally seeing reality for a brief moment (once when she throws her daughter on the ground in Episode 2 and once when her daughter is devastatingly ill in Episode 4). The Mu family curse is to go berserk. Her husband seems remarkably tolerant of her behavior, including her physical violence against himself (she cuts him with her nails across the cheek in the first episode). It is almost as if he knows this is not a choice on her part. (Side note: You could even make an argument for a mixed Mu/Wei heritage with those nails.)
The fact that she is of the Mu clan also adds depth to her saying "I can't control others, but I can control you” in Episode 3, since the Mu family gift is controlling other’s minds. Was she cast out of the family for not possessing the gift? But she still has the curse. A likely trigger point for her near-permanent state of berserkness was that her daughter possesses the gift, while she does not. A second potential trigger is the 8th wife of her husband giving birth to a son, while she has not. (I wonder if she once had a miscarriage, due to hurting herself in a state of berserkness and thus her husband does not attempt to have an heir with her anymore?). These two factors combined could definitely take her berserkness from occasional fits to a near-constant state.
Mi Lan has most likely repressed these aspects of her gift and curse due to the psychological and physical abuse she has endured. I also wonder if her gift was only recently activated (perhaps a few months before the beginning of the show), thus triggering her mother’s more constant berserkness, as it is only just occurring to her to cut her hair. (Episode 3) Surely if she had been abused for years this would have occurred to her before now? Surely if her mother had been abusing her continuously for years, her father would have not left Mi Lan under her care?
There are other aspects of Mi Lan’s gift however, that she has not repressed.
It would be a fallacy to assume that Mi Lan’s heightened senses of hearing and smell are the traditionally cliche compensation of certain sense in the absence of others. While we have yet to see another character have such an acute sense of smell, we have seen two other characters with a heightened sense of hearing.
Both Shen Zhiheng (when he hears Mama Mu attacking Mi Lan upstairs from the party, Episode 1) and Li Yingliang (he is quite inept at hearing all the gossip being said about him, even from the other side of the banquet hall, Episode 1). In fact, the show goes out of it’s way to remind us that Li Yingliang has excellent hearing, when he has Mr. Wang (one of the men who was saying malicious things about him at the party) beaten to a pulp and forces him to transfer the development rights of something to him.
The show also makes certain Li Yingliang and Mi Lan meet in Episode 1 and have a pleasant relationship, where she can trust him, as he gives her a ride back to her house. Could they potentially be related?
We have also seen two different things that could be the Fantasy Stone (the Mu’s portion of the star, green set in silver). A charm of a green stone set in silver is on Mi Lan’s walking stick as a charm and her mother has a ring that fits this description as well.
In fact. Mi Lan’s mother has two rings of note. The first, on her left hand is a green ring set in silver. This is potentially the Fantasy Stone, if it is not on Mi Lan’s walking stick. It is also difficult to notice by design, as Mama Mu is literally always wearing green. The second, she wears on her right hand and the design involves a pearl. Again, it is hard to notice given most of the time, accompanying her green dress are ropes and ropes of pearls.
It is the exact same ring that Jin Jingxue wears. The exact same design. The best close-up of this on Mama Mu is when Shen Zhiheng stabs her through the hand with his match in Episode 1. As for Jingxue, the ring is showcased multiple times at the dance that takes place in Episodes 2 and 3, as she pinches Li Yingliang repeatedly, when she dances with both him and Dr. Situ and each time she takes both gentleman’s arm. In most other scenes she is wearing gloves, so it is quite difficult to notice. This design has not been shown to us as one of the 3 stars, so we are left to speculate what it could be. My current theory is that it is something all members of the 3 families wear, so they can recognize each other and obviously they could not all wear their specific stone.
And if Mi Lan is a Mu, she can't live past the age of 30 (this tidbit is courtesy of the character I will for now affectionately dub the Mo Mystic in Episode 4). This makes sense given the killing of the red camellia; one of the flower's meanings is dignified death (which I originally read as a somewhat twisted, sweet gesture from Shen Zhiheng wishing her well in the suicide that he asked her to delay, so she could help him) and Sheng Zhiheng saying "I'd better keep my dignity till the end." in Episode 2.
At the same time, this conversation between Dr. Situ and Shen Zhiheng also affords me a tad of hope that Mi Lan might find a way to outwit the curse, because the earlier part of his conversation with Dr. Situ in this scene was: SZH: "I can't let others know that I escaped death." Situ: "So what if they can tell? You didn't really die." SZH: "Surviving a near-death experience is always daunting."
How would she do this? After all, half of Shen Zhiheng’s life is hers (Episode 2). The question is which half? The Wei half or the Mo half?
That’s right; Shen Zhiheng is both Wei and Mo. He is very obviously Wei. He possesses both super strength and speed, the Wei family gifts. This is later confirmed in his conversation with the Mo Mystic in Episode 4. His paternal aunt is Wei. I say paternal because we learn his didi had a different mother than him in his roof-top anger rant in Episode 4. This means that the Shen family is either a cadet branch of the Wei family that Wei Qiu’s (his aunt) sister married into OR the public face name his father’s family (Wei Qiu’s brother) uses. It does not make sense for Wei to be her married name, as these gifts and curses are granted by birth, not marriage.
The reason I say she was his paternal aunt and his father is of the Wei family is because of Dr. Situ. Of the 3 strong and 2 weak candidates the show has given us for who is Shen Zhiheng’s didi, Dr. Situ seems to instantly understand the effects of a severe near-death experience on the gastro-workings of a vampire/Wei a bit too well and seems to intimately grasp potential motivations and concerns Shen Zhiheng’s didi might have.
What he does not fully understand is Shen Zhiheng’s healing abilities. He can’t accurately calculate how long it should take him to heal. Nor does he understand Shen’s approach to humanity. He doesn’t understand the idea of hiding your ability to come back from the dead from your enemies (Episode 2), trying to find peace with those that have hurt you (their car ride in Episode 3) and most notably in Episode 3 when he actively encourages Shen Zhiheng to just kill those causing the issue - to which Shen Zhiheng just stares at him (accompanied by humorous background music) and the ensuing commentary on the Doctor’s side makes it is clear this is a conversation they have had before, that killing is a hard line for Shen Zhiheng and Dr. Situ sees it as a viable option.
He also possesses a just-under-the-radar arrogance that one might expect from someone who has learned over the decades that they are "better" than other people due to their super-powers, combined with his superior intellect and skills (being a doctor) and not being tempered by the Mo family philosophy: chastising the gang member holding him at gun-point that it is "just removing a bullet" (Episode 1), referring to Jin Jingxue by her given name (Episode 3) and literally dancing as he operates on Shen Zhiheng (Episode 2).
After Situ leaves Shen’s house (Episode 3), Shen muses “If violence worked, what would be the point of sticking to my principles?”
He deeply understands Shen’s Wei side, but not the powers and philosophy of his Mo side. And honestly, Wei is right there in his alias: Situ Weilian.
This concept of sticking by one’s principles, despite it being difficult, aligns with the guiding principle “As a human you can cultivate or help others. You can be like water. Keeping your goodness in the darkest abyss. And you won’t be blamed,” something both Shen Zhiheng and the Mo Mystic manage to simultaneously recite. This sounds very much like something the Mo family would have as a mantra, given their charge was they “needed to overcome ordeals, in order to gain the strongest power of them all.”
Why would they both know this very specific mantra by heart? Perhaps it is something they both grew up hearing over and over again? The Mo Mystic also points out that amongst the millions of paths Shen Zhiheng could have chosen, he chose the “rockiest”. Sounds like something a Mo would do.
And to top it all off, the Mo Mystic gives Shen his own Three-Legged Golden Crow, one of the exclusive emblems of the Mo family (along with deer and masks).
All in all, yes - Shen Zhiheng is paternally Wei and maternally Mo.
This also might explain what led to Shen Zhiqian/Dr. Situ and his mother being burned alive at the stake, like witches in Salem. In Episode 4, Shen says that his (Shen Zhiqian’s) mother destroyed the Shen family. It sounds like some sort of betrayal occurred and dealing with intermarriage between 2 of these families sounds quite rife with tensions that could be exploited.
On the subject of Zhiqian/didi, I think it is a fallacy to assume the person who took the bait and came to the morgue is his didi. There is only one thing we know about them. They had similar abilities to Shen. Which is not as straight-forward as it seems. At first blush that must mean they are Wei, correct?
Well - yes. No. Maybe. Lobster.
There are actually a few options here.
1. They are Wei.
2. They are Mo. They did wear a mask and masks are one of the symbols of the Mo family. And more importantly, we don’t actually know what the Mo’s family curse (other than it is an ordeal) or gift is (other than it is the strongest power of them all). What if the Mo family’s ability consists of mimicking other’s abilities or temporally stealing them?
3. It could be a Wei or a Mo controlled by a Mu. Remember their ability is to control others minds. (In fact, once you take the abilities of an emotionally stable Mu into account any assumptions we have get quite dicey. There could simply be a puppet master at work and anyone’s actions or choices could not be of their free will.)
So the question is: What is the strongest power of them all that the Mo family possesses? Well, we have plenty to choose from thanks to the Mo Mystic. Fortune-telling? Herbalism? Vision questing/planting of dreams? Communication with animals?
I would hazard a guess though that it is something with healing or immortality.
Shen Zhiheng can heal, while Situ (his Wei half-brother) can not. In fact, Situ became a doctor because he needed some healing abilities, and as he could not possess them through supernatural means, he had to take a more traditional route. He also can not seem to wrap his head around the mentalities formed when one has this gift. And most noticeably, Shen Zhiheng’s blood is able to temporarily grant Mi Lan sight (Episode 1) and the rumors that he waters his flowers with blood. It is very obvious that the FULL extent of his powers are neither activated nor known to him.
So, if Shen and Mi Lan were to marry, it would be a joining of all three families. And thus all three stones. Which may be another avenue for Mi Lan to live past 30.