Introduction
In transmigration dramas, where the protagonists enter stories they were familiar with, knowledge of the plot gives them a god-like mode. They use this foresight to manipulate events, which creates a satisfying sense of competence and control. However, teamworking with other people, whether they’re transmigrators or fictional characters, are still crucial for the survival of the “gods”.
In the first part, How Dare You!? – Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 8, we saw how surprised and happy Yu Wanyin and Xiahou Dan were when they found out that there was another transmigrator besides them, as shown in the featured image. Let’s see in this second part if this transmigrator is willing to work with them, or if the person has another agenda or mission to accomplish.
Recap Episodes 9 to 16
Episode 9
As we knew in Episode 8, Wanyin bumped into Prince Duan again. He pretended to be concerned about the boat incident, but actually, he was dying to know who killed his skilled assassins. Wanyin pretended not to know and was scared about what happened on that day. She only said she had a “sky eye”, a supernatural talent to see the future. Prince Duan was happy with her “superpower” and asked her to help him, after giving her a sob story about his miserable childhood. Wanyin didn’t want to help him, but she was also worried that the prince would go to Yong’er, who seemed fall for the prince, and Yong’er would tell the truth. So she asked Dan for help.
That night, Dan performed an exorcism ceremony, accusing Yong’er of being an alien from another world, since he heard she uttered strange words when she was with him last time. His Majesty wanted to execute Yong’er, so she lied that she possessed divination skills, which manifested when she was drunk. Yong’er kept the same story when she met Prince Duan again. Therefore, the prince was satisfied that Wanyin’s story matched Yong’er story. Their knowledge of the future just because they knew divination.
Two of the scholars, Cen Jintian and Li Yunxi, met with Dan and Wanyin to discuss the economy, especially to prevent drought. After they left, the atmosphere between Dan and Wanyin became intense. Dan sensed Wanyin doubt in him, so he asked if she suspected him of the fire incident, as well as the boat incident. In fact, both tragedies would benefit him. Although shocked, Wanyin calmly stated that her doubt came from His Majesty himself. They discussed the economy with all scholars for four hours on the boat, and another four hours with Cen Jintian and Li Yunxi today. Dan’s knowledge of business and economy, as a CEO, should surpass that of these ancient scholars. However, she realized that his knowledge of those two aspects was as poor as hers, who didn’t come from a business/economy background. Which company did he work for? Who was he really?
Episode 10
At first, Dan said that he had lost his memory, so he didn’t have such knowledge. Although she was still suspicious, she promised to stop prying into his background if it caused him distress and left disappointedly.
Wait… we got a scene where Crown Prince was transmigrated into the ancient world, after peeking into the cheesy Transmigrated: The Devil’s Beloved Consort novel on his phone during math class. Who is this crown prince? The younger Dan, or the current Crown Prince? The child actor played the current Crown Prince.
At night, Dan had a migraine again. Feeling pity, Wanyin gave him a head massage. Dan confessed that he was never a CEO, but a struggling bit part actor. When he met Wanyin at the first time, she guessed he was an “alpha male boss” aka CEO, so he went along with her guess.
Who was this “Mr. Bai”? He kept sending letters to His Majesty to eliminate the “demonic consort” Wanyin.
When Wanyin was at the library with her maid, suddenly they saw hydrangea flowers in the garden, planted with a formation of “SOS”. Shocked, she ran to the garden to see the formation. It was raining outside. While pondering, the Crown Prince came with an umbrella. Before Wanyin could confirm if the little prince was a transmigrator or not, he was pulled away by the eunuch. Wanyin reported her findings to Dan. He revealed that he planted the flowers, asking for help to find out if anyone understood the meaning. Now that Wanyin had replied to his plea, he would renovate the flower formation, so Yong’er wouldn’t find out.
The Empress Dowager’s birthday was coming. Dan used this chance and planned to build his step-mother a mausoleum as a birthday gift. Wanyin fanned her mother-in-law that Her Highness should accept such an expensive gift to honor her, despite the country’s economic crisis. Dan’s actual target was the Minister of Revenue, who was on the Empress Dowager’s side. To fund the project, the tax was increased. This tax hike caused public protest, which was Dan’s plan, and was orchestrated by the scholars. In front of the angry people, the Minister of Revenue was called. He couldn’t argue that this was to fund the mausoleum project, which was, in fact, Dan’s idea. Dan promised that he would investigate the state treasury, which made the people overjoyed.
When Prince Duan heard about the protest, he knew his half-brother caused this trouble to dismantle the Empress Dowager’s power. He decided to add fire to the fuel.
At the end of the episode, there was “Zhang Shan’s Diary”. Wait, so the transmigrated Crown Prince who planted the hydrangea formation was Zhang Shan, aka Dan, not the current Crown Prince? Now, this was confusing because the younger version of Zhang Shan/Dan was played by the same actor who played the current Crown Prince!
Episode 11
After finding that the state treasury was completely depleted, thanks to the Great Xia’s corrupted ministers, Dan demanded that the Minister of Revenue replenish the state fund or his entire family would be executed, as his twin brother had been. His twin brother was the former Minister of Revenue, who was killed in Episode 2. Prince Duan added to the funding problem by ordering General You of the Right Army to send an urgent request for military rations, or they wouldn’t be able to defend the border. The Empress Dowager ordered the Minister of Revenue to okay General You’s request, but refused the reduction of the budget for building her mausoleum. Well, that didn’t help.
The Minister of Revenue was at the point of emotional breakdown when the scholars came to the “rescue”, as already planned together with Dan. I had to post the picture of the Minister of Revenue having a mental breakdown, because the actor was so hilarious! The Minister of Revenue then proudly presented the plan, and His Majesty feigned reluctance to approve it.
During the field trip to see the millet planting, Dan and Wanyin were ambushed by an assassin in the middle of the forest. Beizhou subdued him, but the man claimed was not an assassin but a disciple of the famous master called Nameless to bring a message from his master. Reading the cryptic message about Dan, Wanyin was convinced that this Nameless Master had a true foresight of Dan and suggested Dan to take in A Bai, that intruder, to be their guard.
Well, apparently, that was Dan’s trick on Wanyin. He had known A Bai and Nameless for a long time. Nameless was the one who wrote letters for him to kick out Wanyin, and A Bai had collected medicinal herbs to help Dan with his insomnia. When alone, Dan told A Bai to pretend they were strangers in front of Wanyin. A Bai asked him if she was the person he was waiting for. Dan admitted he was waiting for someone else, the Female Lead of the novel. However, Wanyin showed up at the right time and saved his life. A Bai concluded that Dan might have fallen for Wanyin.
Episode 12
A Bai performed martial arts skills to lure Wanyin out of the palace, because he knew his master disliked her. He conjured falling petals while describing how beautiful was outside the palace. However, Dan became jealous and took her away, haha!
A Bai, who knew the enemy’s state Yan, told Dan that the Yan State Prince, Prince Tu’er held a personal grudge against Dan regarding a woman named Shanyi. Shanyi was Tu’er’s childhood sweetheart, who was sent to the Great Xia as a dancer and became a consort. Later, Shanyi tried to assassinate His Majesty and was executed. Wanyin suggested a peace talk between the Great Xia and Yan State.
Meanwhile, again, Prince Duan looked for Wanyin, because he heard a mysterious master was protecting the Emperor at Zhaoyang Palace. Wanyin became suspicious that there was a mole inside their side. After setting up a trap, it was found that her own main, Xiao Mei, was the mole! Xiao Mei revealed her resentment against the tyrannical Emperor, and preferred her mistress to be with Prince Duan instead. Xiao Mei was locked away. She then tried to assassinate Consort Shu, whose brother framed Wanyin’s father. The assassination attempt failed, and Xiao Mei killed herself. Consort Shu used this incident to accuse Wanyin of ordering the assassination. The Empress Dowager ordered Wanyin to be punished in the Cold Palace
In “Zhang Shan’s Diary”, the Crown Prince Xiahou Dan witnessed Empress Dowager kill her own mother; she might have poisoned her, too, because the mother had orchestrated the Empress Dowager’s miscarriage in the past.
Episode 13
Following Wanyin’s banishment to the Cold Palace, she and Dan staged a scene of a ruthless emperor and a wronged consort to deceive the public, specifically the Empress Dowager and Prince Duan. Prince Duan sent Wanyin letters, promising her that he could help her out if she went to his side. Wanyin wrote back and claimed she saw a vision of Consort Shu’s family plotting to murder her. His advisors confirmed that Consort Shu’s family had indeed been plotting in secret. The fact that Wanyin found out merely with her supernatural power, intrigued the Prince.
Dan and his secret guards dug a tunnel to the Cold Palace, with decorations, eating utensils, foodstuffs, to make hotpot, haha! The four of them, Dan, Wanyin, Beizhou, and A Bai, ate hotpot together. Wanyin told them that she had been getting letters from Prince Duan, and he was specifically curious about Dan’s secret bodyguard.
A Bai would leave the place to go back to his master. Before leaving, he urged Wanyin to leave with him. Not that he fell for her, but his master prophesied doom if Dan and Wanyin were together. One of them would die. Wanyin declined. She told A Bai that in her world, she was a corporate slave and lived like a robot. In this world, despite the danger, she felt her life had meaning, and she had a mission to change the world for others. Later, Dan secretly told A Bai that if he should ever fall, Bai must be the one to take Wanyin out. A Bai and his master knew that Dan and Wanyin came from another world.
To trick the prince, Wanyin replied to his letter and told him that this man had a long scar on his face. It happened that Beizhou knew the Empress Dowager had a secret guard with a long scar on his face. The guard frequented Beizhou’s business place. Prince Duan’s assassins followed this man, along with his advisor, as a spy. Beizhou killed the secret guard and disguised himself as the man. Then Beizhou staged an assassination with the help of his men, using retractable fake knives. He faked death. The spy-advisor identified the man as the Empress Dowager’s secret guard!
Prince Duan was shocked and couldn’t believe that the Empress Dowager protected Dan. He realized that she must have sent this guard to spy on His Majesty, and he unintentionally helped Dan by killing the spy!
Episode 14
His Majesty and Wanyin had a meeting with the scholars, while Beizhou sneaked A Bai out of the city.
Because Prince Duan acted “poor me” in front of Yong’er, she ended up feeling pity for him, and they slept together in Episode 13. She lost her virginity, and she was afraid that she would get pregnant. As people knew that she hadn’t slept with the Emperor yet, her getting pregnant meant she had an affair with someone. Yong’er planned to seduce His Majesty to sleep with her. When Wanyin heard that Yong’er wanted to meet Dan, she was suspicious that Prince Duan sent Yong’er over, so Wanyin decided to take a peek through the secret tunnel. Wanyin was shocked to see that Yong’er was wearing clothes in Wanyin’s style and tried to seduce Dan. Knowing her plan, Dan wrapped her in a blanket, tied her up, and told the eunuch to send her back to her place. Later, when Dan went to the secret tunnel, he was surprised to see Wanyin stuck in the opening. Sheepishly, Wanyin said that because of all the hotpot parties, she gained weight, haha!
In “Zhang Shan’s Diary”, we found out that the malicious Empress Dowager wanted to make Dan her puppet emperor, so she made sure he only got a basic education. The second prince, Prince Duan, became his study companion. And when Dan made a mistake, Prince Duan was the only one who received punishment. No wonder Prince Duan hated his half-brother so much!
Episode 15
A lot of chaos was going on. The court has been deadlocked with arguments for half a month, as the Empress Dowager opposed the peace talks between the Yan State and the Great Xia to keep Prince Duan’s troops occupied at the border. His Majesty fell ill, not because of the court headache, but because the envoy he sent to the Yan State was detained. Wanyin wanted to help Dan, so she made a protest, claiming that Consort Shu had framed her. When Consort Shu came with the harem to confront Wanyin, Wanyin sent a secret letter to inform His Majesty.
No clue how Wanyin could get a megaphone in that ancient time…
Wanyin mocked Consort Shu and the women, and everyone chased after her. Dan arrived just in time when Consort Shu was axing the door to reach Wanyin! Dan placed Consort Shu under house arrest. He was angry at Wanyin, too, since she didn’t want to wait patiently for him to restore her status. But Wanyin said she didn’t want his protection. She wanted to fight side-by-side with him.
They decided to make a scheme out of this. His Majesty would investigate Wanyin’s grievance and found that she was framed. Her position as Noble Consort was restored, but her heart had grown distant and as she grew closer to Prince Duan. That way, the villains wouldn’t be suspicious.
Speaking of suspicion, the Empress Dowager was suspicious that Yong’er was pregnant because she vomited during the commotion with Consort Shu. She sent a young physician, who happened to know Yong’er. Yong’er signaled the physician to say that she was not pregnant. However, he warned her that she couldn’t hide her pregnancy too long, because the Empress Dowager was still suspicious of her, as there was a rumor that Dan was impotent, because he never slept with anyone. Dan and Wanyin also suspected that Yong’er was pregnant with Prince Duan’s child. Yong’er sent a letter to him, but he was busy with political affairs. The Yan State delegation for the peace talks came, and Prince Duan was misled into thinking that it was a fake delegation to counter the Empress Dowager’s power. Prince Duan and his faction support the delegation’s entry, which made the Empress Dowager angry.
Since Prince Duan didn’t reply Yong’er’s letter, she could only beg the young physician to give her meds for an abortion. Finally, out of pity, the young physician brought a secret brew that could induce abortion. He warned her before taking, this was not good for her body. But Yong’er wanted to be alive. If her pregnancy were revealed, the affair punishment would be death, as she never slept with His Majesty. The eunuch could vouch for that.
Episode 16
Prince Duan finally sent Yong’er a medication for abortion, which she took, too, despite her maid’s warning, since she already taken the one the physician gave her. At the banquet to celebrate Dan’s birthday as well as welcome the Yan State’s envoy, Yong’er was in pain. The Empress Dowager’s senior maid gave Yong’er and Wanyin grape wine from the Yan State and watched them to make sure they drank the wine. Seeing Yong’er was really sick, Wanyin drank her wine.
After the banquet, Yong’er disappeared. When Wanyin went looking for her, she found Yong’er leaning against a tree with blood on her skirt. Wanyin had to piggyback her because Yong’er couldn’t stand anymore. They bumped into the Empress Dowager and her entourage, who were just back from the banquet. Yong’er passed out. When the royal physician examined her, he declared that Yong’er suffered from a miscarriage caused by an abortifacient. Yong’er denied being pregnant and taking the drug. Someone must’ve poisoned her, thinking that she was pregnant. She looked at Wanyin. Of course, Wanyin became a suspect, and the Empress Dowager took this opportunity to seize Wanyin.
Wanyin argued that she had just returned from the Cold Palace and had no opportunity or reason to harm Yong’er. If she wanted to kill Yong’er, she wouldn’t have saved her. Wanyin then feigned a sudden, sharp stomach pain. She said she hadn’t eaten anything, just drank the wine brought by the Empress Dowager’s maid. She begged the Empress Dowager to seek justice for both her and Yong’er. Since the accusation returned back to the Empress Dowager, she couldn’t do anything than retreated.
Once the Empress Dowager was gone, Wanyin confronted Yong’er and tried to knock the sense of her. Wanyin urged Yong’er to realize that Prince Duan, with his power over the Imperial Guards and the city’s security, could easily have protected her if he truly loved her. She was only his political puppet.
To convince Yong’er that she only wanted good things happened on her, Wanyin revealed her card, that she was also a transmigrator as Yong’er did.
Conclusion
Oh man, I don’t know… judging by Xie Yong’er ambivalent personality, I’m worried that Yu Wanyin’s decision to reveal herself as a transmigrator was not a good thing. I knew that Yu Wanyin wanted desperately to save her modern fellow, that she risked herself to reveal her identity. In my opinion, Wanyin had a common cognitive bias known as in-group bias: the assumption that shared origin (culture, ethnicity, hometown, or shared experience) equates to safety. But since we’re halfway through How Dare You!? (成何体统), I guess the revelation is needed?
I couldn’t believe how Yong’er (her modern name is unknown, so I just used her character name) could enter the novel as a Female Lead, considering how stupid she was.
Enough rant, let’s just continue to the third part of this article series.
