Introduction
In the second part of this article recap series, How Dare You!? – Drama Recap Episodes 9 to 16, the plot put all the chess pieces down onto the political board. A lot more questions emerged from the second part: Who is the girl who transmigrated as Xie Yong’er? What about the prophecy of A Bai’s master, and how would the drama address that prophecy? What is the time comparison in the novel and in the real world? Most importantly, how old is Zhang San in the real world? So many questions, I hope the drama will answer my questions.
Usually, I put an image of the leads kissing on the final part of any recap/highlight article series. This scene was taken from the last episode in this part, in Episode 24. Moreover, I already chose a fitting image to feature in the final part of this series. Let’s continue!
Recap Episodes 17 to 24
Episode 17
Dan entered the room when Wanyin was trying to convince Yong’er to side with her by revealing her identity as a transmigrator. Yong’er saw him and told him that his favorite consort had gone crazy, talking weird things. He calmly said, “Let me answer her for you.” And then he said in English, “Fine, thank you! And you?” Yong’er was in shock, and she actually passed out. When she regained consciousness, she confronted Wanyin and Yong’er, accusing them of making fun of her by not telling her their identities. Dan couldn’t stand it anymore and pulled Wanyin away. When she confronted him outside, he told her that he had to put on a front for the Empress Dowager’s spies. He intimidated, she enticed. However, he said that Yong’er was their real villain in this situation right now. Uhm, and I agreed with Dan. Yong’er’s whining had the same “poor me” mentality as Prince Duan gave her last time.
Dan then gave her some snacks, because Wanyin hadn’t eaten yet. They talked about what they were in the real world. When Wanyin said that she was an ordinary person in the real world, Dan caressed her hair and said that she must be good-looking in the real world, too. Things became romantic, but Wanyin was shy. So she said, she had to go back, soon!
The Empress Dowager wanted to kill the envoy from Yan State, so she sent her assassins to a tavern where the delegation was having a meeting. The scholars, Li Yunxi, Cen Jintian, and Yang Duojie, happened to be there, too. They informed the Emperor quickly. The Emperor’s men came to the rescue, and Prince Duan’s spies were there, too. The aftermath leads to a startling discovery. The envoy was an impostor who was replaced by none other than the Prince of Yan State, Prince Tu’er. He came this time to avenge his childhood sweetheart. Ten years ago, she was sent to the Great Xia as a dancer in the peace talks. Prince Tu’er’s uncle, at that time, was the king of Yan, lied to the prince that she was killed in Xia when the Emperor of Xia (Dan’s father?) tried to rape her. Since then, Prince Tu’er had planned to avenge her. He didn’t realize that he became a chess piece in a power struggle of the Great Xia.
In “Zhang Shan’s Diary”, things got interesting. Last time, little Dan buried a box with a note in modern Chinese in his SOS garden. If anyone who found the box was also a transmigrator, he wanted to meet the person. Little Dan tended the garden every day to make sure no non-transmigrator would mess with the box. In this episode, he finally got an answer with a meeting time and place!
Episode 18
Prince Duan executes his grand scheme through Minister Mu Yun, Prince Duan’s spy, who pretended to be loyal to the Empress Dowager. Minister Mu suggested to the Empress Dowager to force Dan to accompany her to Mount Bei. This place was where they were building the mausoleum for her. If he didn’t want to go, the Empress Dowager insisted that Wanyin go with her. Dan didn’t want the Empress Dowager to abuse Wanyin anymore, so he had to go. Minister Mu suggested that while His Majesty was away, they would kill the Yan State delegation, and the blame would be on Prince Duan. However, Prince Duan already had an intricate plan to make the Empress Dowager and His Majesty fight each other, and in the end, he would be the new emperor.
Meanwhile, Wanyin and Yong’er bonded, and they chatted like two girls from modern times. Wait, so Yong’er was Ma Chun Chun, who was the Female Lead who transmigrated from the novel Transmigrated: The Devil’s Beloved Consort. Because when Wanyin asked where she was from, Yong’er said she was from City A and never heard of Beijing, where Wanyin came from. When they were chatting, Prince Duan’s letter came to Yong’er to woo her again. To counter this, Wanyin let Yong’er read Prince Duan’s letters to her while she was confined in the Cold Palace, and he used the same romantic lies on both of them. Chun Chun was a university student who had never been in love. So, she was actually a 2D character. No wonder, her fate as Xie Yong’er was to fall for her Male Lead from the novel, which was Xiahou Bo, aka Prince Duan.
Yong’er met Prince Duan with Dan’s spies behind them. She lied that His Majesty forced her to spy on Prince Duan and begged him to take her away. Prince Duan said that it was not the right time. Prince Duan told her that he would assassinate His Majesty in Mount Bei, but to tell His Majesty that he didn’t have any ulterior motive.
To prepare for Dan’s dangerous journey, Wanyin and Beizhou developed a gun-lie crossbow based on modern technology, with a super long name as shown in the image below. Fortunately, Dan and Wanyin didn’t believe Yong’er’s message that Prince Duan didn’t have any plan for Dan.
In “Zhang Shan’s Diary”, Dan went to the meeting place and encountered a young maid. Unfortunately, that maid didn’t have any clue what he was talking about, even when he said in English, “Hello, how are you?” She just happened to work close by and saw a wandering figure. She was curious and dug the box. Dan was so angry that he accidentally killed the maid. But I wonder who the wandering figure the maid saw? Was it Dan, or a real transmigrator who did not really trust Dan? Also, no wonder Dan cried when he heard Wanyin greet him in English with the same phrase he did.
Episode 19
Prince Tu’er received a mysterious letter written in his native tongue, informing him that the Great Xia emperor and the Empress Dowager had gone to Mount Bei, and the Yan State delegation would be attacked. That letter was from Prince Duan, by the way. He sent his lackeys, Minister Cao to ambush the entourage in Mount Bei, and Minister Mu to attack the Yan State delegation.
Meanwhile, Minister Mu was also a double agent. The Empress Dowager sent him to attack the Yan delegation. Prince Tu’er didn’t fully trust the letter, so he and his men kept vigilant for any attack, and killed Minister Mu’s men easily, since Minister Mu sent just a few people in the name of the Empress Dowager. Prince Tu’er believed the Great Xia didn’t have any intention of peace between both countries, so he and his men disguise as the Great Xia soldiers and went to Mount Bei to attack the royal entourage.
Zhao Wucheng, the Commander of the Imperial Guards, knew that these Great Xia soldiers were fake but still allowed them to pass through the city gates. This commander, although he appeared to be by Prince Duan’s side, was an opportunist. He would be on whichever side had the upper hand.
Meanwhile, at the palace, Yong’er knew she was under Prince Duan’s surveillance and couldn’t easily meet Wanyin. To communicate secretly with Wanyin, she spent the morning in her courtyard, slowly “roasting” paper offerings for her lost child. When Wanyin realized this, her secret guards retrieved the burnt paper and revealed a hidden message telling Wanyin that the Emperor was in grave danger because the Yan people were planning an assassination. Wanyin then coordinated with Yong’er and her maid. Yong’er feigned collapse to distract the spying eunuch, while Wanyin stole the royal token. She and the secret guards then rushed to Mount Bei. On her way there, Wanyin rescued Yang Duojie, Dan’s advisor from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau, who was intercepted by Prince Duan’s men. Lord Yang had been sent down the mountain by His Majesty to inform the Imperial Guards.
Episode 20
Wanyin eventually reached Dan, who fought valiantly but was wounded. She was so relieved that he was alive that she hugged and kissed him.
The Yan State was defeated, the assassins were killed, but Prince Tu’er was spared by Dan. He mocked that Dan’s wound was poisoned and that the Yan State killed the Great Xia envoy that had been sent and kept as a hostage last time. Dan tried to reason with Prince Tu’er, whose mission was to avenge his beloved woman who died in the Great Xia. Dan pointed out that Shanyi, that woman, might have been either manipulated or threatened to assassinate the previous emperor. And Tu’er might have been used by the Yan King as a pawn to die in the Great Xia, so there would be a war between the two countries.
As Prince Duan’s men approached the people at the Mountain Bei, Wanyin took Dan, Beizhou, Empress Dowager, and Prince Tu’er into a secret shelter built under the mausoleum, while his secret guards would lure the enemies away. Meanwhile, at the Capital, Lord Yang’s last obstacle was Zhao Wucheng, the Commander of the Imperial Guards, who arrested him. Remember, he was the opportunist, who, at this time, was on Prince Duan’s side. Lord Yang warned him that he would be a scapegoat. Whether the Emperor survived or not, someone must take the blame for the military’s delayed response.
Episode 21
Inside the underground shelter, the Empress Dowager tried to kill Dan, because she didn’t want peace between their country and the Yan State. Luckily, Beizhou intercepted her attack. Prince Tu’er offered a slow-acting poison to incapacitate the Empress Dowager. Beizhou forced the Empress to take it. Although it seemed cruel, the Empress Dowager and Prince Duan were more cruel to Dan; they had poisoned Dan for a long time.
Prince Duan’s men found the secret shelter when they saw blood on the crack of the entrance. They started battering the opening. Minister Yang and Deputy Commander Fu He arrive with the Imperial Guards to rescue His Majesty and the others in the secret shelter. Deputy Commander Fu He stole the Tiger Tally to mobilize the army, while Commander Zhao Wucheng ran away. Deputy Commander Fu He was promoted to be the Commander and Grand General of the Imperial Guards, while the previous commander became a wanted man.
Yong’er brought the young imperial physician Xiao Tiancai to tend His Majesty, since Dan had to hide his injuries from Prince Duan. The physician discovered a miracle: the new poison from the Yan State was clashing with the old toxins inside Dan (the poison he had been fed by the Empress Dowager since child). This created a poison-fighting-poison effect, and Dan’s wounds began healing.
Although His Majesty was healing, he was unconscious for days. Wanyin and the others planned tricks to fool the enemies. The Empress Dowager’s faction members were not allowed to see Her Highness. The Empress Dowager’s condition worsens, leaving her delirious and unable to speak. His Majesty’s loyal eunuch, Eunuch An, disguised himself in the Emperor’s robes and stayed in the Empress Dowager’s quarters, pretending that His Majesty was busy caring for his “ill” mother.
Prince Duan investigated the aftermath of his men’s attack and found traces of explosives, the scent of sulfur, and the unique weapons of a master fighter.
Prince Tu’er hid within the imperial palace’s secret tunnels and disguised himself as a eunuch for safety. There, Dan and Tu’er finalize the peace treaty. Dan would announce that the King of Yan sent his own prince to negotiate a peace treaty. The King of Yan didn’t have any choice but to accept the terms. Prince Tu’er agreed to the plan but demanded a swift strike against the current King of Yan to prevent a civil war. Dan promised to support him.
After Prince Tu’er returned to his hiding place, Dan and Wanyin acknowledged their romantic feelings for one another because they realized how fragile life was in the novel. However, Wanyin was curious about how Dan knew specific details about the past. We knew from “Zhang Shan’s Diary” that Dan had transmigrated since he was in the middle school, right? However, he was afraid to reveal the full truth of his origins, so he lied that he gathered info about Xiahou Dan’s past. Wanyin didn’t probe further, since Dan’s wound opened up.
Episode 22
Because the court ministers grew suspicious and restless, due to both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager being indisposed, Dan forced himself to attend the court meeting. Wanyin put makeup on him so he looked afresh, while physician Xiao Tiancai gave him an energy booster. The double agent Minister Mu questioned the Empress Dowager’s condition and the Yan State’s assassination attempt. Dan lied that the Empress Dowager was the victim of a conspiracy led by the former Commander of the Imperial Guards, Zhao Wucheng, which made her sick. Zhao Wucheng, who had run away, was assassinated. Lord Yang, Dan’s ally. came up to tell the other ministers the entire treasonous plot. Lord Yang, who was from the Imperial Astronomer Bureau, claimed that he had predicted the commander’s betrayal through celestial omens and rescued the Yan envoys. To honor the Empress Dowager’s wish for peace, Prince Tu’er came forward and signed the peace treaty.
Now that the Empress Dowager was debilitated with stroke symptoms (face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty), the consorts and concubines sucked up to Wanyin, because she was His Majesty’s favorite consort. The relationship between Wanyin and the harem got better through the shuttlecock kicking sport, even with Consort Wei. At first, the women played at Wanyin’s residence, but they exhausted a lot of chicken feather because the shuttlecock fell into the water, and the secret guards grew concerned for the chicken. So they moved to Cold Place for a larger space, and Consort Wei, who fell from favor because of her father, was banished to the Cold Palace. Consort Wei ended up very good at this sport.
Together with Wanyin, Dan reviewed the stack of memorials written by the ministers and officials, and Dan promoted some of them who were righteous. They also secretly made a pact with the scholars to protect their cover as loyalists since Prince Duan remained a threat.
Episode 23
Yong’er warned Dan specifically about Minister Mu, who was a double agent. Dan publicly criticized Minister Mu, who in turn complained about the complexity of his task in the Ministry of Personnel. When His Majesty asked if anyone could volunteer to help Minister Mu, Yang Duojie, the Imperial Astronomer, volunteered. Yang Duojie was promoted to the Vice Minister of Personnel, while Minister Mu was ordered to stayvacation, effectively stripping him of his power. Minister Mu complained to Prince Duan, who himself was bothered by the failing attack in Mount Wei. He found three right things, though: One, the Emperor’s strange firearms. Two, the survival of a high-level guard they thought was dead. And three, the most crucial one was the betrayal of Yong’er. Meanwhile, the traitor, Yong’er, was having hotpot with Dan and Wanyin.
Things didn’t stay calm too long, though. Scholar Li Yunxi sent a letter to Dan informing him that his fellow scholar Cen Jintian’s health had gone down rapidly. He had been sickly for a while, even before their first meeting on the boat. Wanyin insisted on meeting Mr. Cen on behalf of His Majesty, since there were Prince Duan’s spies in the palace, so it was risky for Dan to sneak out. Wanyin left the palace secretly with royal physician Xiao Tiancai and several secret guards.
Firstly, Wanyin attended the funeral of Wang Zhao, the late envoy to Yan State, who had to be buried in an anonymous grave on the outskirts due to the political tension. Next, she visited the bedridden Cen Jintian, who had finished writing manuals on the cultivation and storage of the Yan millet, which would be important for the coming drought. Unfortunately, on the way home, Wanyin’s entourage was ambushed. Prince Duan, pretending to save them, took her hostage in his carriage. She lied to Prince Duan, claiming she was actually scouting an escape route to flee the palace.
Episode 24
Prince Duan still used the “poor me” strategy, but it was a fact we had seen before in the “Zhang Shan’s Diary”. His ambition was rooted in a childhood of deep-seated humiliation. He revealed that he was the child of a palace maid. The Empress Dowager ordered his mother to be beaten to death. As a study companion to the Crown Prince, who was Dan, Prince Duan was the one forced to be punished whenever Dan made a mistake. Because of Wanyin’s “supernatural power” to foresee the future, he offered her to be the most honored woman in the world by his side or be doomed as a demonic consort.
Eunuch An and Bei Zhou fetched her back to the palace. Wanyin persuaded Prince Duan to let her go, promising him that they would communicate through secret letters. When she was back at the palace, Dan was very angry that she left without his permission and ordered the three secret guards who accompanied her to be buried alive. Wanyin pleaded for their lives, since they were only protecting her. Dan refused to listen and ordered her to be confined to her bedchamber until the day he died. What???
Sensing something was wrong with Dan, Wanyin desperately needed to see him and managed to reach his room. She found out that he was sick because of the old poison (not the one from the Yan State). When he had agonizing headaches, he would lose his self-control, and he bound his own wrists to the bed to prevent himself from hurting people. When she saw his room was in a mess, she felt overwhelming pity. They reconciled and… ended up sleeping together!
Following the deed, Dan crowned Wanyin as his empress. As the new Empress, Wanyin got even closer to the other consorts and concubines by organizing group exercises. When Dan visited Wanyin during the group exercise, she pulled him into their activities, and they ended up playing the children’s game of “Eagle Catches Chicks.” It was so cuuute!!! When he felt what he did was embarrassing, Wanyin said that a good ruler should enjoy the company of his people.
Before they had a chance to enjoy the hotpot, they were informed that the Empress Dowager was dying, and called Dan and Wanyin. However, even in her final moments, she was still a witch and not remorseful. Dan told her that he would send his beloved grandson to keep her company in her mausoleum forever. Wanyin was now the Empress and would provide him with a new heir. The Empress Dowager counter-mocked that she had poisoned him for a long time, which caused his chronic headaches. With her last breath, she ordered the young crown prince to throw a poisonous powder on His Majesty. Wanyin shielded him and was struck with the powder. In a rage, Dan choked the crown prince’s throat and demanded the antidote to save Wanyin!
Conclusion
Oh my gosh!!! There was A LOT of stuff going on… made me worry that the last eight episodes would be more angsty, with more heartbreaking moments. I didn’t want more deaths of the innocent and good characters. But knowing that How Dare You!? (成何体统) is a historical Chinese drama, and this kinda of subgenre loves to kill many people; it couldn’t be helped. I just hoped that Xiahou Dan and Yu Wan Yin would survive until the end, and Zhang San and Wang Cuihua would meet again in the modern world. Let’s continue to the last part of this recap series!
