Introduction
If you think that there is a lot of stuff going on in the previous part, Shadow Love: Drama Recap Episodes 19 to 28, the final part is full of angst. Brace yourself!
The featured image is taken from Episode 31, when the once-lovers have to come face-to-face opposite each other as the army commanders of their warring states. In this image, the Male Lead is Duan Aodeng, Prince of Annan, who always wore a mask in battles. No wonder, when he was Jin An, nobody in Taijin recognized him as their enemy, a member of the royal family of Yao State.
No worries with the outcome of their battle, though. If you’re curious how Love Shadow ( 与晋长安 ) ends, take a peek at the last image of the last episode! I was gonna put that as the featured image, but I think it’s spoilery, lol.
Recap Episodes 29 to 38
Episode 29
After Jade Linglong was taken off Jin An, and Li Shuang and Jin An got married in the last episode (aww… Mo Yin helped with their wedding arrangement!), the newlyweds were ready to return to Lucheng. Lu Xin decided to return to Wuling Mountain to learn medicine. Besides, the love between her and Mo Yin started blooming. Yay!
This was from Episode 27. But I loved this mountain top outdoor patio.
They didn’t even have a chance to catch up with the Changfeng Army, at the bottom of the Wuling Mountain, Muyang’s aide and the imperial guards already waited for them. The Changfeng Army was arrested. The Aide used Jiran and other soldiers as leverage because they left the post without permission. Li Shuang and Jin An didn’t have any choice but to go to the Capital instead of going home to the General Mansion in Lucheng.
Muyang held a banquet for the Yao State envoy, who demanded the disbandment of the famous Changfeng Army if they were sincere about the peace between the two states. His Highness agreed, but Li Shuang protested. Muyang casually said that she should go home and get married. Jin An was there too, and he requested a reward so that he could marry Li Shuang. Muyang said that he and Li Shuang had already agreed that when she came back to the Capital, she would be his consort. Of course, the news that Li Shuang would be Muyang’s consort was heard by the Crown Princess, who later barged in angrily. Muyang calmly said that she was his concubine instead. The Prime Minister, the Crown Princess’s father, overheard it and later threatened Muyang to put her daughter as the empress if Muyang wanted him to keep supporting his throne.
Although Jin An was angry at His Highness, he was not angry with Li Shuang. They came home to the Li Mansion. So sad, Jin An didn’t even remember Li Ting, though in the past they were sworn brothers. Although judging from Li Ting’s behavior, Jin An felt that he was close to Li Ting before.
Episode 30
Jin An didn’t care that the emperor wanted to take his wife as his consort. He went to ask permission from General Li Wei. Li Shuang’s father found that Jin An had a great character. He didn’t want his daughter to be confined in the cage as the empress and used her to control him. Although General Li Wei found that Jin An only had basic martial arts and his superpower was gone (Li Shuang told him that Jin An was a black masked man with strong power before), he approved of his son-in-law.
At that time, General’s servant came bringing the military flag of Prince Annan. General Li Wei apparently encountered the prince during a battle before. Jin An suddenly felt dizzy. At night, while sleeping, he had a flashback in his dream.
Meanwhile, the convoy from Yao State returned to his country and reported to the Empress Dowager that he saw a Prince Annan look-alike. Empress Dowager decided to tell the Emperor of Taijin about Jin An.
Muyang purposely exposed his father-in-law’s corruption through one of the ministers, and now every minister wanted His Majesty to punish the chancellor. Muyang ordered for execution, including his family, which one of them was the Crown Princess. To move fast, he just let them commit suicide in prison. His last convo with the Crown Princess was so despicable. Although the Crown Princess was a spoiled, arrogant brat, Muyang was a cold-blooded killer.
Appreciation to Cheng Xiao ( 程潇 ) for playing the crown princess.
The news about the sudden death of the chancellor and the crown princess went to General Li Wei, and he called Li Shuang to inform her. He told her to run away and said that he had already permitted Jin An to take her away. Too late, suddenly the servant said that the Emperor had arrived. After killing his wife and his father-in-law, Muyang went straight to the Li Mansion with the box of hairpins. Li Shuang, politely told him about what he did. She knew that Muyang had poisoned Jin An with Kongqin Water, so he was abducted by Sorcerer Jin. Li Shuang also pointed out the mysterious death of Su Muli, and the last one about the chancellor and the crown princess’s deaths. Muyang was angry and smashed the box with his right hand. Oopsie, now she also knew that he had faked his disability! Muyang left angrily, but still threatened to force her to become his consort.
Jin An wandered around aimlessly, and two people were following him. He caught them and… omg he remembered their names! They were his people. His people reported that his brother was killed by General Li Wei, aka his father-in-law. They didn’t know that the Emperor of the Yao State was imprisoned by his own wife. Poor guy, he went home in a daze and didn’t want to say anything to Li Shuang.
Meanwhile, the Emperor got a breaking news… eh shocking letter from the Yao State. It was said that Jin An was Prince Duo Aodeng!
Episode 31
General Li Wei had his birthday, which turned out to be a day of assassination. Jin An arranged a dancing troupe that turned out to be assassins who attacked the general. However, the Emperor sent imperial guards to arrest Jin An, so they killed the assassins immediately. Jin An escaped and was immediately chased by Li Shuang. In the forest, Li Shuang caught up with Jin An and asked why he wanted to kill her father. Jin An said that Li Wei killed his brother. Li Shuang didn’t believe him. Jin An asked if she wanted to go with him, but she refused and cut ties with him. Li Shuang stabbed Jin An, but then she left. This is a must trope in Chinese historical romance; the FLs love to stab their MLs! She was arrested by the imperial guards because she let Jin An go. Jin An escaped with the help of his aides.
When Jin An woke up again, I would call him Prince Annan or Aodeng/Duan Aodeng now, because he was completely aware as the prince and asked his aides about the updates. He remembered everything until the day he went to the cave to rescue his brother. The Queen Dowager told the court that the Emperor was dead, killed by Li Wei of Taijin, but Aodeng was suspicious that his wife had anything to do with his brother’s death.
Aodeng made a grand entrance in the court, and every minister welcomed him. Knowing that she didn’t have much influence and popularity in the court, Queen Dowager reinstated his princely status. Right away, Aodeng threatened his sister-in-law to behave. He couldn’t let her die because her son, the Emperor, was still young.
Back in Taijin, Li Shuang was under house arrest. The Emperor visited her and told her that Jin An was Duan Aodeng, the brother of the late emperor. He showed her the letter from the Queen Dowager. He told her the reason why Jin An wanted to kill her father because he was Duan Aodeng, and the former Emperor was killed by her father. Li Shuang remembered what Jin An said in the woods. The Emperor sent her to attack the Yao State to amend for her mistake, while Duan Aodeng was still in the weakest state, because his army had been disbanded. Poor Li Shuang, she had to announce to the Changfeng Army that the sweet guy who had been around her and them for so long turned out to be their enemy.
Upon hearing the battle news, Aodeng consolidated the army and went to war. Eventually, he and Li Shuang were face-to-face. He introduced himself as Prince Annan, Duan Aodeng, and for her to remember his name when she was in hell. Li Shuang asked if he remembered anything. She didn’t see any trace behind his mask that he remembered her; instead, he only knew her father had killed his brother. It turned up that the Changfeng Army was tricked by Aodeng, and they were ambushed from two directions. Really, the Changfeng Army ran away? What was convenient was that, because only Li Shuang was left. Aodeng decided to capture her instead of killing her.
Episode 32
Aodeng wanted Li Shuang to sign a declaration that Taijin had lost, so he could get as many prisoners of war back, but Li Shuang refused. She said Why didn’t he just kill her now, but he said that he knew the Emperor of Taijin, and she shared a deep relationship and received Li Shuang’s glare at him. She was a good bargaining chip for him. Aodeng also pressed the wound on her left palm, which caused excruciating pain, an irony because that wound she caused when she cut her hand to feed Jin An. After knowing that Aodeng didn’t recognize her at all, she also didn’t try to remind him.
The envoy who came to Taijin last time became the Empress Dowager’s lackey. He suggested that the Empress Dowager work together with Li Shuang, because he knew Aodeng had tried to assassinate Li Shuang’s father. The envoy was sent to the prison to persuade Li Shuang, but she refused to cooperate. The envoy tortured Li Shuang mercilessly and even released her to be raped by the soldiers. Luckily, Aodeng’s aide reported that the Empress Dowager’s lackey went to the prison to see Li Shuang. Aodeng rushed to the prison and saw she was about to be raped. Aodeng hit the soldiers and the Empress Dowager’s aide and carried Li Shuang out. At a glance, seeing what Aodeng had done, Li Shuang saw Jin An’s character in Aodeng and whispered Jin An’s name.
Aodeng felt uneasy when Li Shuang, in her delirium state, kept calling Jin An’s name. He took her to a little cottage in the military camp to recuperate, and threatened her not to kill herself, or some of her soldiers they captured would die. However, Li Shuang went hunger strike, so Jin An threw some candies to her. Li Shuang remembered when she gave Jin An candies, so she wanted to keep the candies. She negotiated with Aodeng to give proper meals to her soldiers who were imprisoned.
Empress Dowager still tried to kill her brother-in-law, so she gave Li Shuang a poison powder to put into Aodeng’s food. His aide reported to him, so he decided to eat with her to test her.
Episode 33
Luckily, Li Shuang did not put the poison in their food, because she had a chance to talk about Jin An. In fact, Li Shuang started her attempt to stir Aodeng’s memory of Jin An. She also started to find any chance for him to visit her. He started to wonder about his past life when he had amnesia, but his aide lied about it because he knew Li Shuang was once Aodeng’s wife. The next day, Li Shuang played guqin badly, lol, since the last time Jin An taught her how to play
Lu Xin and Mo Yin left Wuling Mountain to practice medicine, and heard that Taijin attacked Yao State, but the latter won, and Li Shuang was captured. won the battle. They also heard that the famous Yao State’s general, Duan Aodeng, was back. Upon hearing that, they decided to rescue Li Shuang.
Li Shuang’s father, General Li Wei, finally won the court’s argument for a peace talk and offered himself to be an envoy to the Yao State. It was a do-or-die mission; the parting between him and Li Ting was quite heartbreaking. I had a hunch he might not make it!
Episode 34
It was a stormy night and raining hard. Aodeng remembered his aide had told him about the leaky roof at the cottage where Li Shuang stayed. Aodeng decided to go to repair it himself. Lol, when he climbed to the roof of the yard in the rain, he accidentally fell into the house. He made a fool of himself and injured his waist. Li Shuang applied medicine to him, and the atmosphere between the two changed subtly. Because it was a stormy night, Aodeng waited for the rain to stop, and he fell asleep next to her. He thought that he had lived on the battlefield for a long time and was extremely vigilant, but he didn’t expect that he would let his guard down!
Mo Yin and Lu Xin sneaked into the Yao State’s army camp, where Li Shuang was held. They also found out that this mighty general and prince of Yao State was none other than their long-time acquaintance, Jin An. Mo Yin cast a spell on the soldier who guarded the cottage. They couldn’t see them, and Lu Xin met Li Shuang. However, Li Shuang didn’t want to leave with Lu Xin because there were Changfeng Army soldiers who were imprisoned with her, too. Lu Xin promised to watch over her until the peace talk meeting, and Aodeng released Li Shuang.
Aodeng and Li Shuang’s relationship gradually eased up until one day Aodeng found mysterious drawings of their relationship. Mo Yin had an idea to make copies of the carvings depicting Jin An and Li Shuang’s relationship, and secretly put them on Aodeng’s desk. Aodeng started to get glimpses of his memories back. He was angry and went to Li Shuang for the answer, but she didn’t want to say anything. He demanded to know, since Li Shuang had two chances to kill him, one with the poison given by the Empress Dowager, and two when he fell asleep next to her, why she didn’t kill him. Was that because he was Jin An?
Aodeng forced a kiss on her. What? Why? Because he lusted after her, or to test if she acknowledged him? Li Shuang pulled out the jade hairpin given by Jin An and stabbed him (this was the third time she stabbed him, lol), and said: “You look like him, but you’re not him.” Aodeng then left angrily.
Aodeng threw the drawings on his aide and questioned the security, since someone had sneaked into his room easily. Aodeng got a hint that the aide had hidden something from him. The aide said that he couldn’t say anything to him because of national security. Right at that time, there was a report that General Li Wei from Taijin came with the prisoners of war.
Episode 35
When Mo Yin heard from Lu Xin that Li Shuang was given Brain Devouring Powder from the Empress Dowager to kill Aodeng, he became suspicious of the source because the poison was very rare. They decided to sneak into the Empress Dowager’s chamber and accidentally found a secret passage. Yay! And they found Duan Aoze, the former emperor of Yao State, who was confined in the secret chamber!
Meanwhile, the Empress Dowager was angry at Li Shuang since she hadn’t given the poison to Aodeng, so she gave Li Shuang a visit and threatened her because her father was approaching. Li Wei and Aodeng were face-to-face anyway, and he brought the Yao State’s prisoners of war. Li Wei didn’t seek battle but peace.
While they were talking, the Empress Dowager suddenly showed up on the palace balcony, bringing Li Shuang with her, tied up. The Empress Dowager ordered her imperial guards to kill everyone on the ground: Aodeng, Li Wei, the Yao prisoners of war, and the Taijin soldiers. Li Wei shielded Aodeng, so he got shot by arrows. Before he died, he told Aodeng that he was ready to die for the peace of the two countries and begged Aodeng to spare Li Shuang’s life.
Aodeng climbed the wall to reach the balcony and captured the Empress Dowager. I was surprised he had such skills despite not being the black masked man anymore! The empress was brought to justice in front of the court. Both sides brought their secret weapon. Aodeng took out the Brain Devouring Pill she gave Li Shuang to kill him. The Empress Dowager revealed that Aodeng was Jin An, who, during his amnesiac state, killed the Yao soldiers!
During the commotion of who should arrest whom, suddenly Duan Aoze showed up in a wheelchair, helped by Mo Yin and Lu Xin. Everyone was shocked that the Emperor was still alive! Empress Dowager insisted that she did it because she overheard that the Emperor wanted to pass the throne to Aodeng instead of her son. The Empress Dowager pulled out a knife to kill Aodeng, but Li Shuang, who stood next to her, took the knife and wanted to kill that crazy woman. However, Mo Yin used his magical skill to drop the knife from Li Shuang’s hand. Hmm... I wonder why?
General Li Wei’s body would be burned before sending him back to Taijin. Aodeng told Li Shuang that he died saving his life, so next time if she wanted to avenge her father on him, let her be. However, Li Shuang knew her father saved Aodeng because of the peace between the two countries. Li Shuang expressed her love to her adoptive father, her best wishes for his next life, and kowtowed three times before Li Wei’s body was burned.
After the cremation, Li Shuang and Aodeng went home in a carriage, and she carried her father’s ashes. Li Shuang asked Aodeng why he admitted that he was the masked man-in-black. Aodeng said, when his sister-in-law accused him, he had flashbacks that he was that person. He also acknowledged that he fell for a woman from Taijin. When Aodeng said that, he turned his head and didn’t want to look at her. Li Shuang flatly said that it wouldn’t end well. He asked what if he was not Prince Annan. Now it was Li Shuang’s turn to avoid answering Aodeng and ask to see the Empress Dowager instead.
Ah, now I knew why Mo Yin stopped Li Shuang from killing the Empress Dowager. Apparently, she drank Double Blossom Wine with Duan Aoze. That means, if she dies, he dies, too?
Episode 36
The scene when Li Shuang visited the Empress Dowager in the dungeon and mocked her, I think it’s super unnecessary. It’s just a fan service to did justive to viewers’ hate of the master villain. Actress Zhao Yuan Yuan ( 赵圆瑗 ) did a great job being a psycho empress and an unwanted woman. We got to know the past how the Empress hooked up with the Emperor. Below was my appreciation of the actress’s acting.
Appreciation to Zhao Yuan Yuan ( 赵圆瑗 ) for playing Consort Qin/Empress Dowager
Aodeng expressed his gratitude for saving his brother, but Lu Xin was still salty at him, lol. Especially since he didn’t admit that someone else (Li Shuang) saved him, too. After he left, Lu Xin lamented to Mo Yin that Aodeng still didn’t remember his past. Mo Yin revealed that Aodeng remembered them. He called them Mr. Mo and Miss. Lu, however, they never revealed their names to anyone.
Aodeng was called by his brother, and His Majesty showed the official’s request to execute General Li Shuang. Aodeng argued that they wanted Taijin to lose the capable generals so the Yao State could attack Taijin. Of course, His Majesty knew about his brother’s special feelings for Li Shuang, but Aodeng affirmed his loyalty to the Yao State. His Majesty advised him to follow his heart.
Today was Aodeng’s birthday. His brother prepared a banquet at the palace, but he rather spent his birthday with Li Shuang. At first, she didn’t know it was his birthday. People lit firecrackers and fireworks to celebrate the return of His Majesty. Later, a servant told him to come to the palace for his birthday banquet. However, he said it was late and refused to attend the banquet. Li Shuang remembered when they made a pact to have a birth date together, because Jin An was amnesiac at that time, and Li Shuang didn’t know her real birth date either. Li Shuang then changed her mourning clothes to a beautiful gown and toasted a birthday wish for him. She then performed a sword dance with a tree stick to remind him of their sword dance together in the past. Aodeng ended up hugging her, and they enjoyed the fireworks together, like they did last time. Aodeng asked what her future plan was. She wanted to return to Taijin as her father’s wish, bringing her father’s ashes. He asked again if they would meet again in the future. Li Shuang said he was drunk and excused herself.
The next day, it was time for Li Shuang and her entourage to return to Taijin. Aodeng wanted them to keep in touch, but Li Shuang didn’t want to. She knew his memory had returned, but they were like an ill-fated couple due to the warring countries. It’s better to cut ties. However, she didn’t let Lu Xin take away the snacks Aodeng cooked for her.
Episode 37
When Li Shuang showed up in the court to give an account of what happened in Yao State, the officials demanded that she be punished. They listed her crimes one by one, starting from the beginning, when she accepted Jin An without any knowledge that he was Duan Aodeng. The Emperor argued on her behalf, but they insisted a capital punishment for her. Not only that, they wanted His Majesty to strip off her noble status, off the Li Family name. Li Shuang was angry that the officials meddled in her family’s matter. However, as for letting Duan Aodeng into Taijin and letting him go, she took responsibility for it. She requested death punishment if her blood would appease people’s anger.
The ministers’ demands were ridiculous, but I knew that this was needed for the plot. I knew Li Shuang grew tired of palace politics, and her contributions to the country were not counted in.
The farewells were quite sad. First, we saw the farewell between Li Shuang and her brother. At first, Li Ting wanted to do a jailbreak, rescuing his sister with their father’s army. Li Shuang reprimanded her brother, poor guy felt left alone. Li Ting had grown up and now had to bear the Li family name. Second, there was the farewell between Duan Aodeng and his brother Duan Aoze. Aodeng felt so heavily burdened, having killed many of his countrymen and Yao State soldiers, that he felt he was not worthy to be a royal member and a general anymore. His Majesty pardoned him to avoid execution or exile, but stripped his status and job. Third, there was the farewell between Muyang and Li Shuang. The minister pestered him every day to execute Li Shuang. Upon hearing that Aodeng got demoted in the Yao State, the Emperor knew that it was time for Li Shuang’s final journey. They met for the last meal, and His Majesty asked Li Shuang, “What if they were born in ordinary families and she never met Ji An?” However, Li Shuang said living with what-ifs alone was not fulfilling, as what was missed, it was missed. Li Shuang drank the wine and died. His Majesty put her on his shoulder and cried. He declared that she died suddenly from illness and posthumously conferred the title of Empress with the name of Wude.
The Emperor of the Yao State visited his brother to inform him about Li Shuang’s death. Aodeng was very angry and wanted to take Li Shuang’s body back. His Majesty warned him that she would be buried in the imperial tomb, and there would be a lot of guards. Both countries were finally at peace; bringing soldiers to Taijin meant war.
What was the solution? Aodeng wanted to go back to Wuling Mountain to retrieve Jade Linglong. That was the only way he could take back Li Shuang’s body as a black-masked commoner, without implicating any of Yao State’s resources. After bringing the body back, he would kill himself.
In Wuling Mountain, Mo Yin had already anticipated Aodeng’s visit. Aodeng begged Mo Yin to lend him Jade Linglong to take Li Shuang back. At first, Mo Yin disagreed because of how much pain Aodeng went through to take out Jade Linglong. However, Aodeng forced it through and stood on the circle and sacrificed his blood. A miraculous phenomenon happened, and he became the masked man again. Aodeng promised to bring the Jade back. Mo Yin was surprised; he always thought Jade Linglong recognized its master by blood, but now it recognized its shadow puppet instead. Perhaps this was fated.
Episode 38
Aodeng… (I was really confused now, should I call him Aodeng, Jin An, or Xuan Yi Ke, aka the Masked Man? Lol) crashed the funeral, and after mourning Li Shuang, he wanted to take his wife away. It was ridiculously hilarious, the CGI of him holding the casket with one hand like a platter. Anyway, Aodeng wreaked havoc at the funeral, which was cautiously prepared by Li Muyang. They had some arguments about the deceased.
The emperor finally realized that he should let go of Li Shuang with Aodeng, and guess what… he faked her death by giving her the imperial emergency magical thing called Dream Powder! He put the powder in the wine for Li Shuang’s execution. She would wake up in 3 days. It was the only one left, but His Majesty said he owed Li Shuang too much, so he gave it to her. I wonder what he would do with Li Shuang if Aodeng didn’t come to take her away?
The Emperor declared that from now on, there would be no more General Li Shuang from Taijin, nor Prince Annan Duan Aodeng from Yao State.
Aodeng brought the comatose Li Shuang to Wujin Mountain. Aodeng was by Li Shuang’s side day and night, hardly eating, drinking, or sleeping. Lu Xin and Mo Yin took care of them. Finally, Li Shuang woke up… Hahaha, she tricked that poor Aodeng with amnesia, the scriptwriters’ beloved trope in dramaland.
Taijin and Yao State signed a peace treaty and they no longer fighting.
Before Li Shuang and Jin An (that was what they called him) left, Lu Xin checked them, and she concluded Jin An had a normal pulse. The blood master and the shadow puppet had emerged. Jin An was his own master; the Jade Linglong became only a strengthening effect. Mo Yin didn’t take the Jade Linglong of Jin An’s body because he thought the shadow puppet was only a heartless killing machine in the past. But Jin An was full of love and kindness. It would be hard for anyone else to take it from him, since the Jade Linglong had chosen him.
Ji Ran replaced Li Shuang as the General in the Changfeng Army. He was still sad with the ‘death’ of his former superior. Li Ting became a skilled and mighty soldier, and the deputy generals saw that he had character and personality resemblances with Li Shuang and Li Wei. After practicing, Li Ting went back to his room and saw a food box. When he opened it, it was full of his favorite snacks. He knew it came from Li Shuang. He ran out looking for her, but she was nowhere around. He knew she was alive but didn’t want to be found.
Jin An and Li Shuang went to visit Ouyang Jun to see his orphanage. Remember Jun? Since his beloved Qiao was an orphan who was taken in by Li Shuang before, he built a small orphanage in her legacy. Jin An and Li Shuang babysat the kids for a while when Jun was out doing errands. Jin An felt it was too tiring taking care of the little monsters. More importantly, it was time to have their own troublemaker. Time to make babies!
THE END
Conclusion
What a whirlwind of drama, full of twists and turns. Previously, I was worried about how they manage the supernatural part (Jade Linglong, shadow puppet/masked black man/Xuan Yi Ke). Despite the bad CGI, lol, the plot wrapped nicely. The actors and actresses, main and supporting, good and bad roles, gave it their all. Especially Ryan Cheng/Cheng Lei/丞磊, who pretty much played three characters with different personalities: the arrogant and temperamental Duan Aodeng/Prince Annan, the sweet and gentle Jin An, and the mysterious and tortured Xuan Yi Ke/masked man.
