Previously…
In Pursuit of Jade: Drama Recap Episodes 26 to 33, with Xie Zheng’s identity revelation, the arc moved to the military camp and ended with defeating the rebel enemy.
This is the final part of the episode recap series. We will venture into the political world of the Great Yin. How will everything end?
Recaps Episodes 34 to 40
Episode 34
The Chancellor Wei and the Grand Tutor Li fought during the court session. The chancellor had an upper hand because of the recent victory of his nephew, Xie Zheng, so the Emperor was leaning towards his side. Grand Tutor Li was displeased and started investigating the tragedy from 17 years ago, and realized the key person was the late Wei Qilin, aka Changyu’s father.
Princess Qi Shu refused the betrothal to Xie Zheng and went straight to her brother and beat him up. Qi Shen was not only a puppet emperor, but he was also a coward and scared of his sister. He ran to Wei Yan for help. Chancellor Wei suggested that the emperor grant rewards to Changyu and promoted her as the Flower-Crowned (Zanhua) General and ranked fourth grade. With it, she got half of the power from Li Jing’s army. Of course, the Grand Tutor didn’t like it. He decided to raise the previous emperor’s grandson Qi Min to the throne. Having seen how Qi Min brutally killed Sui Yuanqing, Li Huaian disagreed with his grandfather. Grand Tutor Li put him in house arrest.
I really love that during her procession to the palace, her crown was so pretty! Changyu now had to adjust to the fake and hi-so life in the capital, and she didn’t like it. Luckily, there was Xie Zheng, who became her comfort. He promised her to investigate the past tragedy.
Episode 35
Qianqian and Bao’er who lived in hiding were found and caught by Qi Min.
Changyu had to receive some etiquette lessons, and they sent Song Yan, her ex-fiancé, who was now a scholar for the Ministry of Rites. Song was so scared of Changyu, the pig butcher squad took advantage of bullying him, and he received a death glare from Xie Zheng. Because he failed to recognize the Marquis of Wu’an and loathed him as a matrilocal husband, Song Yan was fired.
Xie Zheng returned to the capital before being summoned by the emperor, only to have a date with Changyu. Xie Zheng was so grateful to Song Yan that he failed to appreciate Changyu. Before, Changyu said that Yan Zheng was an uncovered jade that didn’t belong to her, even if her name was engraved on it. But for Xie Zheng, Changyu was the jade.
Episode 36
Now it was Xie Zheng’s turn to receive honor and celebration when he officially returned to the capital. He wore his majestic pheasant feather crown. Girls threw silk handkerchieves at him. He ignored them all but stopped, waiting for Changyu to throw something at him. Changyu didn’t have a silk handkerchief, so she threw her hair tie, and he caught it. With a big smile, he proceeded.
After officially returning to the capital, Xie Zheng went to see his maternal uncle, Chancellor Wei. He was praying in front of Xie Zheng parents’ graves. The uncle reminded Xie Zheng’s mistake marrying a traitor’s woman and ordered him to break up with Changyu. Xie Zheng refused, so Wei Yan caned him 180 times, as per Xie family law. How could a Wei execute a Xie family law, no matter that Wei Yan had raised Xie Zheng for 17 years? When Changyu came, Xie Zheng was bloody beaten. Xie Zheng introduced Changyu to his parents, and they kowtowed.
Meanwhile, Qianqian pretended to be sweet and loving with Qi Min, for the sake of her son and subordinates, or they would’ve been punished or killed. She made him kneel to propose to marry her, but she delayed her answer. When he let his guard down and slept next to her, she stole his tiger tally and gave it to her maid, with an instruction to give it to Changyu.
During his investigation, Xie Zheng got a message back through the gyrfalcon with a letter stating that his uncle, Wei Yan, had a sweetheart, Qi Rongyin. They promised to marry each other, but Qi Rongyin was chosen to be the imperial concubine.
Episode 37
During the palace banquet, Xie Zheng used the opportunity to meet a so-called witness with Princess Qi Shu’s help. She asked her maid to spill the wine on Xie Zheng’s clothes, so he had to go out to change clothes. While outside, Xie Zheng and Princess Qi Shu met the witness, but the old woman was incoherent. Wen Yan followed Xie Zheng, but was stopped by Changyu, pretending to offer him a toast. Xie Zheng, Qishu, and the witness seemed to be drugged with aphrodisiacs. Qi Shu and the maid fainted, while Xie Zheng cut himself to counteract the drug effect.
Eunuch Li led palace guards to search the Cold Palace because he wanted to frame Xie Zheng with Qi Shu. Luckily, the princess’s maid informed Changyu. She found him and dragged the semi-horny Xie Zheng to hide.
Someone reported the matter to the Emperor, so His Majesty ordered an investigation. Soon, the Cold Palace was caught in fire, but Princess Qi Shu was still inside. Gongsun Yin risked his life to save her. He performed CPR to save Qi Shu, as taught by Qianqian in the past. But this method was unknown in the era, so Yin asked them to say that an imperial physician saved the princess, and he was never there. Later, he stayed by the princess’s side, waiting for her to wake up. In the novel, Qianqian was actually a transmigrator from the modern world.
Grand Tutor Li took the advantage to ask permission from His Majesty to investigate this matter. While the guards were looking for the arsonist, Xie Zheng and Changyu appeared together. Xie Zheng reasoned that he fell into the pond, and Changyu saved him. The Grand Tutor and the eunuch accused the two. However, the imperial guards caught Li Huaian, who escaped from his grandfather’s house arrest and went to the banquet.
To save Li Huaian, the Emperor shifted the blame to Eunuch Li. Eunuch Li pretended he was angry because Xie Zheng had cut his ear. Xie Zheng took the advantage to unsheathe the sword that was given to him, and killed the eunuch in the name of the Emperor. It seemed the culprit was dead, but Wei Yuan slapped the Emperor and warned His Majesty because a similar incident had happened 17 years ago, too.
Episode 38
The aphrodisiacs still took effect on Xie Zheng. When they were back in the carriage, Xie Zheng couldn’t control his desire anymore and started kissing Changyu. Back in the mansion, Xie Zheng was thrown into the bathtub, but he didn’t let Changyu go. She ordered Xie Wu to fetch the imperial physician, but his brothers, the pig butcher squad, told Xie Wu that this matter didn’t need a physician to cure. This was confirmed by the imperial physician who came later and left quickly when seeing that Changyu was with Xie Zheng. Changyu was worried that Xie Zheng was delirious, so she asked if he knew who she was. When Xie Zheng clearly stated her full name, she couldn’t help but kiss him back. They finally consummated their fake marriage.
In another place, Grand Tutor Li and Qi Min had a good time laughing after knowing Wei Yuan slapped the Emperor. Yes, Qi Min was the one who set the fire. Moreover, he pitched Wei Yuan against Xie Zheng, too, by delivering a fake tiger tally through Qianqian. The one Qianqian stole was fake, and Qi Min pretended to sleep. Her maid was killed at the general mansion doorstep. Luckily, Shi Sanniang arrived with the (real) tiger tally and Sui Yuanqing’s head. Changyu didn’t want the head. Sanniang was nice to Changning when she was in their hands, so Changyu promised to help her with a new life, even though she had massacred Lin’an town.
With the tiger tally in hand, Changyu decided it was time to open her father’s case. She wanted to strike the Dengwen Drum and file an imperial appeal. According to the custom, before striking the Dengwen Drum, they must parade through the streets and voice their grievances publicly. When people knew that Changyu was the so-called traitor’s daughter, they threw bad vegetables at her.
Xie Zheng had a dream about his mother giving him osthmanthus cake. That was a sign, so he took out the box with an old and moldy osthmanthus cake, her last gift. Underneath the box, there was another box, which contained a letter. It was written by Consort Shu, Qi Rongyin, to Wei Yan. This letter could prove that after reading her plea for help, Wei Yan returned to the capital and abandoned the soldiers in Jinzhou, ultimately leading to the tragedy.
Knowing that Changyu was in the court addressing her grievances against Wei Yan, Xie Zheng ran with the letter to the court. Was this a trap? Since Qi Ming had already led men to storm into the palace and take control of the gates!
Episode 39
Wei Yan argued that the letter and the Tiger Seal were fakes. Grand Tutor Tao was the one who made the Seal. Tao Yi confirmed that the Seal was authentic. However, before the Emperor ordered Wei Yan to be arrested, he already had his soldiers outside. But what surprised everyone was that Qi Min had led men to break into the palace. He also brought Qianqian, shackled and wearing the empress’s dress.
Qi Min managed to enter the palace and sat on the emperor’s throne. This Emperor Qi Sheng was a coward; he just handed Qi Min the imperial seal. Wei Yan and Xie Zheng went to the city gate to declare that Qi Min had rebelled. While they were fighting Qi Min’s soldiers, Li Huaian led his soldiers to free the Emperor, but His Majesty had gone crazy.
Qi Min was no match for both Xie Zheng and Wei Yan. When he was blocking Qianqian from an arrow, he fell off the wall. Qianqian, in shackles, fell with him, but Changyu caught her. Although obsessive, Qi Min loved Qianqian, so he let his hand slip from the shackle. He fell heavily to the ground, spat blood, and fainted. Since the enemy was down, Xie Zheng settled his grievance against Wei Yan. He defeated Wei Yan.
With what had happened, Princess Qi Shu asked her mother about the past. It was actually the late Emperor who set fire to the Qingyuan Palace back then, and the water to put out the fire was replaced with oil. Consort Shu was not pregnant with Wei Yan’s child. It was a setup by the former emperor to lure Wei Yan, who was fighting alongside Crown Prince Chengde and Xie Linshan, back to the capital. The two died during the battle.
We got a further story from Wei Yan, who was playing chess with Tao Yi. The Emperor was afraid of Crown Prince Chengde’s power. During the banquet at the Crown Prince’s palace, the young Wei Yan said forbidden words about abdicating the Emperor.
Episode 40
Five people heard Wei Yan’s words: Wei Yan himself, Chengde, Tao Yi, Xie Linshan (Xie Zheng’s father), and Li Xing, the Grand Tutor. Someone leaked it to the emperor: it must be Li Xing. The emperor gave false promises to his other son, Prince Changxin. When Jinzhou was surrounded by the enemy, Prince Changxin refused to send reinforcements. Before returning to the capital, Wei Yan handed the tiger tally to Wei Qilin. After being setup of abandoning the army and the deaths of Chengde and Xie Linshan, Wei Yan put the blame on Wei Qilin. Wei Yan didn’t want Xie Zheng to know, so he sent people to hunt down Wei Qilin and his family, who had run away to Lin’an.
The aftermath of the rebellion: Qi Min (who was Chengde’s son) was imprisoned and sentenced to die by poison. Qianqian volunteered to deliver the sentence by putting the poison in the soup. Qi Min knew there was a poison, but he accepted and asked her to feed him. Before death, he told Qianqian he fell in love with her when she saved him, because she didn’t flinch seeing his hideous face from the burn. But he hoped they wouldn’t meet again in their next life. Qi Min died in Qianqian’s arms.
Because Qi Sheng had gone crazy, Yu Bao’er, became the emperor, and his name was changed to Qi Yu. Qianqian became the Empress Dowager. Wei Qilin’s name was cleared and given a posthumous title, Count Zhongyong. The late General Meng Shuyuan, Changyu’s maternal grandfather, as Marquis Wusu. Since Qi Yu was still young, Xie Zheng became the Prince Regent, taking charge of the central administration. Changyu was promoted to Grand General of Huaihua and first in rank.
The cute thing was that when Qi Yu was eating sweets with Changning, he asked her if she wanted to be his empress. The lil Changning didn’t understand the weight, only agreeing with a pinky swear. But Qianqian said the emperor had to wait until he was of coming age, and still should ask Changning again.
The Li Family donated their whole fortune to the country to atone for Li Xing’s crimes. Li Huaian requested to be sent to the border to atone for his crime of colluding with Qi Min. After that, Changyu, Xie Zheng, Changning, and the Jins returned to Lin’an. Changyu acknowledged Mr. and Mrs. Zhang as her foster parents. One year later, Wei Yuan was sentenced to death, drinking poisoned wine prepared by Xie Zheng. Five years later, when a foreign country attacked the Great Yin, Xie Zheng and Changyu fought side-by-side. At this time, they already had two kids.
With the ending of WHAT IF (the tragedy from 17 years ago didn’t happen), the scene didn’t make sense. But it shows Qi Min became the emperor, with friends like Xie Zheng, Changyu, Gongsun Yin, Qi Shu, and Li Huaian. Qianqian was the restaurant owner, but her soup still made the emperor vomit. They must have been enemies in their past life.
Summary of Final Part (Major spoiler not hidden)
- Changyu was summoned to the capital and promoted as a general.
- Xie Zheng and Changyu consummated their “fake” marriage.
- Changyu addressed her grievance about her father’s false accusation.
- Qi Min invaded the palace and was defeated.
- The tragedy from 17 years ago was revealed.
- The good guys got their rewards, the bad guys got their punishment.
- Bao’er became the emperor, and Qianqian Empress Dowager. Xie Zheng became Prince Regent and Changyu the first-ranked general.
Mini Review
- Story and plot: The main romance part is great with sizzling chemistry. The drama takes time building the romance in Lin’an town. However, the mystery/political part is confusing. The capital arc and the tragic backgrounds are told so fast. Additional info in Sportskeeda and the MDL review by scarfie clarifies some of my confusion. The war part is underwhelming, with not many fighting scenes. Some unnecessary scenes/subplots. (+0.5 for romance)
- Characterization and acting: For Xie Zheng, it seemed the production team exploited Zhang Linghe’s face card, with the excessive “he is handsome, isn’t he?” phrase in the dialogues. I rather think Tian Xiwei looked very pretty with her dimple, and stunning when she was wearing the Zanhua crown. The marquis Wu’an prowess in military isn’t shown despite his killer reputation. On the contrary, Changyu military’s reputation seemed convenient. Her killing two feared warrior enemies despite her lack of military training, and still getting away from military punishment, baffles me. Her superhuman strength is out of place, since this is not a fantasy/supernatural drama.
- Other characterization and acting were superb, especially Deng Kai and the newcomer Lin Mu Ran as the obsessive and unhinged Sui brothers. Qi Min and Qianqian’s toxic romance is another level. The kids, Bao’er and Changning are super cute. (+1.0 for all characterization/acting)
- This is a drama made with pretty stuff, visually stunning with cinematography, costume, makeup, setting, etc. The director, Zeng Qingjie, did a marvelous job capturing the beauty. (+1.0 for visualization, +0.5 extra for directing)
- Final rating: 9.0/10, based on my rating system.
逐玉
