Introduction
This is the final part of the article recap series. At the end of the third part, How Dare You!? – Drama Recap Episodes 17 to 24, we know that one big villain has defeated, but there is one final boss villain to go. As we can expect in a historical Chinese drama revolving around the cutthroat nature of the imperial court, death is the ultimate, definitive consequence in these power struggles. I was struggling to finish this drama because of the noble but heartbreaking sacrifice.
That being said, this featured image was taken by the end of the final episode. It was during the coronation ceremony for Yu Wanyin. At least, Xiaohou Dan and Yu Wanyin survived and received glory and honor as the Emperor and the Empress of the Great Xia. Should we say it’s a happy ending? And how about the modern world? Let’s continue!
Recap Episodes 25 to 32
Episode 25
Dan collapsed because of the rage. Wanyin immediately took charge, instructing that the Empress Dowager’s death be kept secret until Dan woke up, and that the Crown Prince be under heavy guard. To the outside, it was reported that the emperor passed out with grief because of the Empress Dowager’s dire situation.
Wanyin, who inhaled most of the poisonous powder, remained unharmed. Yong’er, who visited Dan and Wanyin, hypothesized that the poisonous powder was merely a trigger that affected only Dan, who carried the poisonous seed. They told Dan about this theory when he woke up. It made sense that the Empress Dowager had poisoned him since he was young, possibly from his food or drink. This explained the uncontrollable rage he experienced from time to time, which earned him the reputation of a tyrannical emperor. They need to find the cure for the poison seed inside Dan in the Qiang State, from where the Empress Dowager came.
The Empress Dowager was buried on the third day to prevent Prince Duan from mobilizing his army. Physician Xiao Tiancai suggested a risky strategy of curing poison with poison, since he couldn’t figure out the chemical components of the poison trigger. He believed in a fifty-percent chance of success. He also begged Wanyin to help Yong’er leave the palace to be free from Prince Duan. Wanyin acknowledged she had already planned to do that, and would send Yong’er away in secret during the funeral procession to ensure her safety.
The last gathering
Winter Solstice came, with the Dongzhi Festival (冬至) celebration on the shortest day of the year. Everyone made and ate dumplings. Before Yong’er left, she, Wanyin, Dan, and Beizhou celebrated the festival by making dumplings together, so were the scholars. Meanwhile, Prince Duan was cooking up his next scheme, which would accuse Wanyin of being former Commander Zhao Wucheng’s lover before entering the palace and carrying his child. Apparently, the former Commander of the Imperial Guard didn’t die, and Prince Duan faked the assassination???
Episode 26
During the funeral procession, Prince Duan executed his plan. As Dan had anticipated, there was an ambush with massive boulders rolled down from the mountainside during the procession. Since he had thought about the escape route, Dan escaped injury. The Imperial Guards quickly captured the leader of the assassins, Zhao Wucheng. This man and Prince Duan staged a plan last time, with Zhao Wucheng accusing Prince Duan of being the mastermind and the prince proved that several assassins were servants from the Yu’s residence. Prince Duan showed up letters between Zhao Wucheng and Yu Wanyin and the sachet she gave him before, to frame Wanyin for an illicit affair with Zhao Wucheng. Before Zhao could utter Wanyin’s full name, Dan shot him dead on the spot.
Continuing with his accusation that Wanyin had an affair with Zhao Wucheng, Prince Duan ordered his troops to eliminate Wanyin and purge the Emperor’s side. Amidst the chaos, the scholars Yang Erlan and Li Anxian pushed another giant boulder onto the rebels. Prince Duan wanted to capture Wanyin as leverage against Dan. To his shock, the female mourner walked by the Empress Dowager’s side was not Wanyin, but Beizhou in disguise! At that moment, the boulder pushed by Yang Erlan and Li Anxian struck and crushed Prince Duan’s leg. Beizhou rescued Dan and fled. Prince Duan’s men abandoned the funeral procession to rush him back to the capital.
Where was Wanyin? To keep her safe, Dan drugged her with a sedative given by Physician Xiao Tiancai. She woke up in Yong’er carriage, away from the Empress Dowager’s procession. But they were not safe, either. The disgraced Murong Yun, the double agent, followed Yong’er carriage and set a tripwire, which overturned the carriage. Yong’er stepped out to confront Lord Mu to stall the time, while Wanyin tried to dig her gun out of the wreckage. Lord Mu stabbed Yong’er to death. When Wanyin finally managed to retrieve her weapon and kill everyone, including Lord Mu, she was too late to save her bestie. Yong’er died in Wanyin’s arms, after comforting her that hopefully this was just a dream, and she would wake up in the modern world. She promised to look for Wanyin in whatever city called Beijing, but Wanyin knew that Yong’er, aka Ma Chun Chun, was only a 2-D Female Lead in the novel Transmigrated: The Devil’s Beloved Consort. The grieved Wanyin then sent Yong’er away for the last time with a floating raft.
Meanwhile, Beizhou struggled to carry the injured Dan to safety. Dan, sensed that their farewell was near and confessed to Beizhou that he was not the real Xiahou Dan, but a lone soul inhabiting the body. Apparently, Beizhou already knew this. He said he understood that this Dan was not the son of his beloved. However, if Xiahou Dan’s mother were still alive, he didn’t want this Dan suffer either. As Prince Duan’s men closed in, Beizhou entrusted Dan to the imperial guards and told Dan he would stay behind alone to hold off the enemy! Oh no, don’t tell me Beizhou would die, too???
Episode 27
After sending away Yong’er for the last time, Wanyin was determined to find Dan. A secret guard handed her Dan’s letter. It was a long letter, and Dan revealed that he had been in the novel since he was a teenager. He tried to find other transmigrators, but never found them. He had lived in the novel longer than he lived in the real world. Dan would have lost his sense of home if Wanyin hadn’t arrived. Wanyin was his home. He gave her a skylark hairpin and told her to run away.
Along with the secret guards, Wanyin disguised herself as a commoner to obtain info about the capital. Nobody could leave the city. She assumed Dan fell into the hands of Prince Duan, but he was safe. Dan was imprisoned and tortured. Prince Duan wanted Dan to write an edict he had drafted.
Because of the injury from the ambush, Wanyin was not feeling well. Since she was not as agile as the secret agents to jump over houses and walls, a mute girl she met helped her to hide. The little girl was a local, so she knew the way around. Wanyin named her Huahua.
Episode 28
Luckily, Wanyin and her group eventually met A Bai. Still remember him, right? The guy whose master predicted that Dan and Wanyin couldn’t be together, or there would be a calamity. A Bai, whose name was actually Lin Xuanying had been ordered by his master to protect Dan. So he infiltrated the Right Army, and now he was Deputy General. Dan had secretly trained secret guards to infiltrate and control the army. Li Xuanying showed the crossbow designed by Beizhou and Wanyin and modified by Dan, which was now called “Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire”, and had multiple firing capabilities. The Right Army would be deployed to intercept the Left and the Central Armies.
Lin Xuanying also handed over the secret edict left by Dan to Wanyin, declaring that if Dan died, the little Crown Prince would succeed the throne with Wanyin acting as regent. Yu Wanyin angrily questioned why they didn’t rescue Dan instead and ordered Lin Xuanying to discard the secret edict. She decided to lead the Right Army.
Meanwhile, at the Capital, the ministers knelt to seek an audience with Dan, but suddenly they received the news that the Emperor had died! However, the Right Army received secret news that Dan was still alive.
Episode 29
Dan escaped and went to the Right Army camp to reunite with Wanyin and Lin Xuanying. Later, Lin Xuanying introduced His Majesty to the other generals, and they were in unison that the rebellion to retake the Capital was actually the right path. Everyone expressed their willingness to follow orders, and morale was high.
Prince Duan discovered that the emperor’s body was fake and suspected that the Central Army was hiding Dan. The generals from the three armies were summoned to enter the city and disarm themselves. The Imperial Guards searched all soldiers in the three armies. Wanyin realized that the search targets were Dan and herself.
Episode 30
During the search, the disguised Wanyin was discovered. She was dragged away and taken to the foot of the city wall. There was a mute woman who secretly slipped a gun to her. The Central Army rebelled and began the siege, and the Central Army and the Imperial Guards had a standoff. Dan disguised himself as a soldier and took control of the Imperial Guard Commander, Fu He.
Dan and Wanyin went to the city wall to show themselves in front of the fighting armies and the Right Army soldier shouted, “His Majesty is here! Surrender!” All soldiers of the Left and Central Armies knelt and hailed “Long live the Emperor!” The rebellion was quelled. Prince Duan ran away, holding the young Crown Prince and Wanyin’s family as hostages. Fortunately, Lin Xuanying killed Prince Duan’s guards who were with him.
Dan entered the palace and saw a corpse in a coffin that looked very much like him. Physician Xiao Tiancai explained that the person was Beizhou in disguise to save Dan. After His Majesty was taken by his guards and separated from Beizhou, Beizhou disguised himself as Dan and injured himself. He was ready to sacrifice himself. Beizhou then told Xiao Tiancai that he was not Dan and asked the physician to buy time. Upon hearing this, Dan was heartbroken, and his illness flared up.
Episode 31
Prince Duan was captured and imprisoned in the water prison. He still arrogantly believed that his failure was due to the “Heavenly Eye” and bad fate, not his own mistakes. Wanyin visited him on behalf of Dan, who was sick. She pointed out that the root of his tragic outcome was not fate, but his distrust of people and his abandonment of Xie Yong’er.
Dan reformed the court with the help of the loyal scholars to eliminate Prince Duan’s faction and the remnants of the Empress Dowager’s faction.
Wanyin handed Physician Xiao Tiancai a letter from Yong’er, written before her departure with Wanyin. Xiao Tiancai was the one who begged Wanyin to tell Dan to free Yong’er from being a concubine and let her leave the palace. There was a romance bloomed between the two. Xiao Tiancai was happy receiving the letter, unaware that she had died! Wanyin couldn’t tell him, let him believe she traveled the world and be happy.
The mute girl, Hua Hua, poisoned Wanyin’s porridge, claiming that only by killing the emperor could Wanyin obtain the antidote. She was from the enemy’s country and pretended to be mute. She was ordered to poison Wanyin because if Dan died, Wanyin would be the leader of the Great Xia.
Episode 32
Wanyin was ready to die, as per the old prophecy. However, she didn’t die! Hua Hua just wanted to threaten her, but the little girl committed suicide instead. Before dying, Hua Hua mentioned that Wanyin was very kind and benevolent, so she couldn’t kill her. Hua Hua gave her a flower.
Wanyin was mourning everyone who died: Xu Yao (Prince Duan’s advisor), Du Shan (the scholar who died on the boat), Xiao Mei (Wanyin’s maid), Wang Zhao (the envoy sent to the Yan State), Yong’er, Cen Jintian (the sick scholar), Beizhou, and now Hua Hua.
The flower given by Hua Hua before her death was the same as the flower bestowed on Yong’er by the Empress Dowager. Apparently, the Empress Dowager was also from the Xiang State, an enemy state. Did she poison the previous Emperor (her husband), too? How about the current Crown Prince? Xiao Tiancai studied the flower and confirmed that it could cure Dan’s poison. Wanyin fed Dan the medicine made by the physician, and he was cured.
Scholar Er Lan was actually a woman. Since she revealed her gender, Wanyin asked her to stay temporarily and build a women’s academy. Wanyin dismissed the harem; the consorts and concubines were free to go or do anything their dreams, and were given compensation.
Wanyin officially ascended the throne as the Empress of the Great Xia in a coronation ceremony. After the ceremony, she and Dan took a walk and imagined how they would meet again in the modern day. Dan predicted that they would meet on the subway. He proposed to her again as Zhang San to Wang Cui Hua, and they shared a sweet kiss amidst the gorgeous fireworks.
The scene was back in the modern day, with Wang Cuihua still on the subway. People surrounding her were no longer frozen. She saw the novel Transmigrated: The Devil’s Beloved Consort laying on the subway floor. Someone picked it up. It was Dan! No, he was Zhang San, I meant. Zhang San smiled and asked her in English, “How are you?” In tears, Cuihua replied, “I’m fine, thank you! And you?”
THE END.
Conclusion
It was a beautiful romance, and I absolutely loved the double happy ending. However, I still have tons of questions. Why was their fictional adventure cut like that? Did they die of old age? Who was their successor, and what happened to the young Crown Prince? Who was the Master Nameless, A Bai’s master? How could this master, a mere 2-D fictional character predict the arrival of Xiahou Dan from another world? How could Prince Duan have his own mind, which was different from the novel plot? How could Zhang San, who had been gone from the real world for 16 years, adjust to a completely different world? How could he age in the real world, while Wang Cuihua didn’t age at all, since she was just back a few minutes passed 12 after the world froze around her? So many unexplained things! This drama has plot holes, perhaps cut by the censorship.
The most important thing that made me love How Dare You!? (成何体统) is that the couple works together as a team, either before or after they get together. In this drama, the major, refreshing element is the trust between Yu Wanyin and Xiahou Dan, who communicated well and avoided unnecessary misunderstandings. Since the beginning, after they uttered the tandem phrases, “How Are You?” and “Fine, thank you! And you?” they functioned as a team and combined their skills to navigate challenges rather than falling into petty conflict.
Though I still couldn’t figure out why the drama’s English title was: “How Dare You!?”
