Introduction
In Shadow Love: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 8, we read about how Li Shuang found a little Jin An, who was affected by the magic Jade Linglong elixir that went into his body while he was Duan Aodeng, Prince of Annan of the Yao State. The effect made him a masked man in black, with a superpower to fight an entire army.
Because the Male Lead showed up in different appearances with different personalities, I used featured images of the couple’s pictures with his different looks. In the featured image of the first part, you saw him as Duan Aodeng. In this second part, he was the mysterious, black-masked, leather-clad character who helped Li Shuang fight the villains in Shadow Love ( 与晋长安 ).
Recap Episodes 9 to 18
Episode 9
While tending to her wound, Jin An found out that Li Shuang let him stay with her because he was homeless, same as she kept her female guards in her mansion. He also managed to control himself not to suck her blood when he saw her wound. When he finished and left the room, Ji Ran, one of Li Shuang’s commanders, warned him to respect her and not take advantage of her kindness.
Li Shuang noticed that Jin An acted strangely while they were in Ninglan and asked what had happened. Jin An told her the truth, but he chose to believe her. Li Shuang tested him and asked what if the man (Sorcerer Jin) told Jin An the truth. Jin An kissed Li Shuang’s wound and said that even if this blood contract was deliberately made by her, he wanted to have a deeper bond with her.
Li Shuang’s injury healed very slowly, so Lu Xin suggested Li Shuang to soak in a hot spring. While she was there, Sorcerer Jin came to control Li Shuang. Fortunately, Jin An felt pain and realized that Li Shuang was in danger. When he came to find her wearing the mask, Li Shuang was controlled by Sorcerer Jin and fought Jin An. He managed to pull the needle off her head and she was freed. Because Jin An was wearing a mask, he left her sleeping under a tree for Ji Ran to find her.
Episode 10
The Yao Army was approaching them, so Li Shuang had a strategy meeting with her generals. Jin An overheard their plan, and he made suggestions. Li Shuang listened to him. The Yao Army was defeated. Li Shuang praised Jin An that today’s victory should be attributed to Jin An, but Jin An felt uneasy. He said that those military strategies he gave were like they should be in his mind, and he didn’t know why. Li Shuang gave him new clothes and told him to put them on in front of her. She clearly saw that there was no wound on his body and was very surprised.
Li Shuang sent Jin An back to wait for her at home. Ji Ran took him, but he ended up challenging Jin An because he was suspicious of him. They fought, but Jin An didn’t want to strike Ji Ran; but only dodged. Jin An fell off the cliff. Ji Ran only thought that Jin An died (logically), and he was put in prison. Li Shuang sent a search team, but Jin An was nowhere around.
Of course, this is dramaland; nobody died after falling off the cliff. He ended up investigating Lord Li Zhangyi, whom Jin An was suspicious of his malicious intent to kill Li Shuang. Indeed, Lord Li wanted her dead, in the Yao Army’s hands. So he colluded with a Yao female spy. Jin An was able to catch her with the help of the female guards in the general mansion. Jin An then threatened Lord Li. Li Shuang was happy seeing Jin An again. But the happiness didn’t last long, since the Yao Army attacked them. Jin An felt abnormal again at this moment, and had the super power again. He fought side by side with Li Shuang. The two joined forces to kill the Yao commander and ended the war. Jin An quickly disappeared, but Li Shuang already knew that the masked hero was Jin An!
Episode 11
Luckily, the Yao female spy whom they caught was close to a courtesan whom Lord Li killed, so she talked. With the spy’s confession and proof of Lord Li’s coalition with the enemy, they took Lord Li to the Capital.
Lu Xin was saved by Ji Ran three years ago, so he was her hero, and she also fell for him. But Ji Ran liked Li Shuang, although he didn’t want to admit it. Lu Xin and us, the viewers, already guessed it. To repay Ji Ran, Lu Xin begged Jin An to talk to Li Shuang so she would release Ji Ran. Although Jin An was wary of Ji Ran, he thought that he had to thank Ji Ran for indirectly allowing him to catch the spy and obtain some evidence to save Li Shuang. So, he talked to Li Shuang, and she released Ji Ran.
The Yao Army launched a surprise attack on the neutral Ninglan, and Ninglan was lost. Li Shuang was determined to free Ninglan. However, the Yao Army was very large. Li Shuang was going to use herself as bait. She might lose and die, so she wrote a farewell note to her father and brother. Jin An read it, and he was sad that she didn’t mention him in the letter. Jin An finally revealed that he was the masked man. He put her hand on the magic core on his heart and changed into the masked man. He decided to hold back Yao’s main force (by himself) for her while she fought for Ninglan. They were originally one life, and no matter what, Jin An would not let Li Shuang lose. After Jin An and Li Shuang bid farewell to each other with deep affection, Li Shuang led her entire army of 10,000 and marched to Ninglan.
Episode 12
Li Shuang won big in Ninglan City, but not Jin An. Sorcerer Jin already told the military advisors of Jin An’s weakness. So, Jin An was captured by Yao’s army. Li Shuang disguised herself as a dancer and mixed into Yao’s army to save Jin An. The military advisor took a fancy to Li Shuang and put a dagger in her hand, asking her to stab Jin An to mock him. Li Shuang remembered that Jin An could quickly recover from his wounds as long as he sucked her blood. She resolutely slit her hand with the dagger and infused her blood into Jin An’s heart. The military advisor wanted to reward her, but she held him military advisor hostage and killed him, giving time for Jin An to transform. Jin An repelled Yao’s soldiers, took Li Shuang’s hand, and the two escaped from the place together.
Since Jin An escaped, Sorcerer Jin was severely punished by Empress Dowager Qin. Now we know why he had to obey her. He was poisoned and relied on her antidote to continue his life.
Jin An passed out after escaping with Li Shuang. She took care of him by herself because the fewer people who knew about his identity, the better. When Jin An woke up, he saw her sleeping on top of him. Seeing that looked tired, he knew that she had taken care of him for a long time. Jin An was worried that she would reject his supernatural powers, but Li Shuang said that good and evil lay in his heart. Jin An was worried that her weakness was related to him, and he did not want her to injure herself for him. Jin An said that the mysterious man in black not only had the super power, but also could heal his wounds. He asked her to unwrap the bandage around his body. Sure enough, the wound had healed, and the atmosphere between the two intensified.
Episode 13
Li Shuang kept getting dizzy, so Jin An insisted Lu Xin check on her. Lu Xin and Jin An persuaded Li Shuang to go to Cang Mountain to find the rare blood dragon herb that could only be consumed when it was fresh. Because of Li Shuang’s battle victory, the Emperor reinstated General Li Wei’s status. The situation after the victory in Ninglan was also peaceful. Li Shuang finally agreed to go with Jin An, Lu Xin, Ji Ran, Qiao Er, and Ouyang Jun. The latter was a bandit and Li Ting’s abductor, but Li Shuang managed to rehabilitate him onto the right path. Now he was the coachman of the entourage. Jun was fascinated with Qiao Er, the super guard, after witnessing her strength. I think these two would be a side couple. I didn’t usually put up stories on side couples, but this couple sounded interesting.
It turned out Lu Xin lied about the rare herb, since the blood dragon grew everywhere in Mount Cang. Anyway, they all had a great time, dancing, drinking, and eating. Relationships were getting better. Li Shuang and Jin An got closer to each other in a relaxing atmosphere. Ji Ran was friendlier to Lu Xin after Jin An’s advice. Jun and Qiao Er got to know each other.
Episode 14
Despite all the sweet times between Li Shuang and Jin An we could watch it this episode, let me summarize the scenes that actually move the plot:
Li Shuang and Jin An realized that the guy who kidnapped Li Shuang last time, Sorcerer Jin, held a key role in Jin An’s identity, so Li Shuang ordered Jun to find this man.
Prime Minister Zuo from the Yao Kingdom secretly sent men to find Prince Annan, after some of Prince Annan’s men told him that during the funeral, Prince Annan’s face on the body was ruined. They suspected that the prince was still alive.
To help Jin An recover his memory, he and Li Shuang thought again about Mount Wuling, where the healers with magic power lived.
Zhang Bu Du, the leader of Ninglan, whom Li Shuang met before and helped her in the military business and Jin An’s identity, was killed mercilessly together with his whole mansion. Li Shuang and Jin An wanted to visit him on the way back to the capital, so they sent away the entourage. However, when they arrived there, they were welcomed by this tragedy.
What excited me in this episode was the entrance of a new character, Mo Yin of Wuling Mountain. He seemed to be aware of the current situation, including Sorcerer Jin and the tragedy in Ninglan that he suspected had a connection with the Jade Linglong. Mo Yin decided to enter the arena.
Episode 15
Mo Yin went down to Lucheng, but he didn’t have the paperwork to enter the city. It happened that Li Shuang was there with her soldiers, they patrolled the area since tomorrow was the big holiday, the Lantern Festival. The security was tightened. Mo Yin didn’t have money to pay the fine, so he gave Li Shuang a jade hairpin. Mo Yin had to spend time in prison, but he was quite a magician himself, because he could leave the prison and give his cellmate a memory loss potion. It turned out, he was the owner of Wuling Mountain.
The Lantern Festival was best celebrated with loved ones. After patrolling, Li Shuang decided to be a regular citizen and celebrated the festival with Jin An. Because, as usual, Li Shuang got drunk, she initiated a kiss with Jin An!
Jun confessed to Qiao’er. She was a type of pragmatic woman, so although they hadn’t known long enough, she thought that Jun’s skills were very good. If they got married, they would produce a dozen of so strong kids who would protect Li Shuang, hahaha!
Lu Xin didn’t have much romantic luck. She confessed to Ji Ran, but Ji Ran politely refused her, stating that he was not worthy and that she was too intelligent and beautiful for him. Lu Xin spent her time alone drinking by the river. When she started staggered and almost fell into the river, someone pulled her back… he was Mo Yin! They then spent time talking. Lu Xin wanted to treat Mo Yin meal, but he saw soldiers coming, so he refused. After that, he disappeared like a vapor. But before he separated, he told her that she was the first person who had a nice chat with, so he would remember her.
Aww… would Lu Xin be with Mo Yin? They were both medical practitioners. This would be an interesting ‘love triangle’ to watch if Ji Ran actually hid his feelings for Lu Xin.
Episode 16
Back to our main couple. The next morning, Li Shuang and Jin An woke up and remembered their last night’s kiss. One was extremely annoyed, how could she be so eager? The other was equally regretful; he should have taken the initiative. Jin An decided that he should make clear of his feelings clear to Li Shuang. But she had gone to the military camp early in the morning and sent someone to remove the wine.
I wrote about an interesting ‘love triangle’ between Ji Ran-Lu Xin-Mo Yi, right? Starting this episode, we might witness another ‘love triangle’, but this one would be annoying.
The sick emperor wanted Crown Prince Muyang to offer a sacrifice in Lucheng. That was where Li Shuang lived. His Majesty sent the crown prince to Lucheng to reward the armies. Muyang wanted to see his old lover, Li Shuang, again. But was there any conspiracy behind it? The crown princess threw a tantrum because she was jealous of Li Shuang. Omg, I hope she wouldn’t be a nasty bitch who would cause trouble in the future. They were only married politically because her father was the Prime Minister of Taijin.
Lu Xin heard there was a prisoner who had an epilepsy attack, so she went to the prison to treat him as the military physician. The man took her hostage. His cellmate was Mo Yin, who sneaked back in after enjoying the Lantern Festival celebration last night. Mo Yin magically threw the man’s sword, which he had confiscated from a soldier nearby. However, before he properly rescued the damsel in distress, Li Shuang had marched into the prison and killed the prisoner because he had killed a guard.
Li Shuang then saw Mo Yin, whom she had arrested before. He showed her his paperwork, and she released him. When she wanted to return the hairpin, he refused. He smiled meaningfully at Lu Xin, who was standing next to Li Shuang.
We saw a flashback of how Muyang and Li Shuang became childhood sweethearts. When they were little, Muyang and Li Shuang were bullied together. Because General Li Wei brought her back and adopted her, she was bullied for being his bastard daughter. Muyang was bullied because his right hand was crippled. They fought the bullies together, but mostly Li Shuang was skilled enough to drive them away. After that, Li Shuang taught Muyang swordsmanship using his left hand.
The news about the Crown Prince’s visit was received differently. Li Shuang’s vice generals were worried that the court was coming for the mysterious savior, so Li Shuang ordered the soldiers not to talk about him. Li Shuang was worried that Jin An would be taken advantage of by the court. Jin An didn’t care; what he cared about more was how Li Shuang would introduce him. Her servant, her toy boy, or her future husband?
For me, as much as I liked the actor who played the Crown Prince, I was worried that his character was an obsessive ex-lover. He and the crown princess definitely didn’t love each other. He had a pearl hairpin he would like to put on Li Shuang properly. Three years ago, he had to marry someone else, so Li Shuang broke their engagement and returned the hairpin. The hairpin was left by his mother, and he never put it on the crown princess. He thought that his father had sent him to Lucheng because His Majesty had acquiesced to the relationship between himself and Li Shuang. Omg…
Episode 17
Poor Jin An, he was not happy that Li Shuang didn’t confirm their relationship, so he went to Lu Xin’s shop to complain and drink. He went home super late. He wanted to sneak into his room, but he was caught by Li Shuang. Li Shuang gave him a proper master-student tea ceremony. He had taught her how to be a lady: guqin, chess, calligraphy, painting, and etiquette.
Li Shuang also gifted him a necklace with a bead containing her blood. She said, because she would be busy with the crown prince’s visit, if something emergency happened to Jin An, it could calm him down. Li Shuang put the necklace around his neck. Jin An couldn’t help himself and hugged her.
Su Muyang sent a message to the welcoming team to just wait for him at the military camp. However, Li Shuang and her soldiers came to pick him up as per protocol. He was very happy to see her, but she was very business-like. Suddenly, assassins rushed out and attacked the entourage. Muyang was stabbed on his back while trying to protect Li Shuang. She ordered him to be sent straight to her mansion. At the General Mansion, Jin An smelled Li Shuang’s blood and rushed out to see her.
Luckily, His Highness’ wound was not serious. While Li Shuang was apologizing for her failure to protect him, he wanted to catch up with her. However, Jin An rushed in and pulled Li Shuang out to dress her wound. Li Shuang rebuked Jin An privately because protecting the crown prince was also part of her duty. Later, we knew that the assassination attempt was ordered by none other than the crown prince’s brother, Su Muli.
Li Shuang kept her distance and demeanor in front of the crown prince. When she came over to his tent, she brought a medicine made by Lu Xin. Li Shuang also said that Jin An was her friend, and she apologized on his behalf. The Crown Prince ordered his subordinate to investigate Jin An’s identity, and found that he was the one who killed the spy.
Episode 18
Hahaha, Jin An in this episode was so hilarious. He was like a jealous teenager.
After Su Muyang found out that Jin An was the one who killed the spy, His Highness gave a lot of rewards, but Jin An gave the rewards away to the guards. Su Muyang sensed Jin An’s hostility towards him, but when he learned that Jin An was very loyal to Li Shuang, he was happy. Su Muyang tried to befriend Jin An by inviting him to fish. His Highness caught a lot of fish in contrast to the inexperienced Jin An. In the evening, Muyang invited Jin An to drink together. Jin An begged Lu Xin for anti-drunk medicine, but he was such a pest that Lu Xin gave him a placebo. Jin An ended up very drunk because Su Muyang had a high level of alcohol tolerance. The drunk Jin An said that Li Shuang loved him hopelessly, and Li Shuang and Muyang’s relationship had been over for over three years.
Li Shuang was mortified when she found out that Jin An was drunk, lying on Su Muyang’s bed. The drunkard kept provoking Muyang by boasting that the jade hairpin in her head was given by him, and he put flowers on her head, too. Li Shuang pulled him into his room. He hugged her and cried loudly, lamenting why the crown prince bested him in everything. He held her tightly and didn’t let her leave, so she had to sleep next to him. The next morning, he didn’t remember, and she teased him to check himself in the mirror for traces of tears.
Su Muyang waited for her to have breakfast together and played fighting with branches to evoke her memory of their sweet times. While watching them play, Jin An’s strong sense of smell detected a strong gas out from Muyang’s body. Muyang felt weak after just playing. Jin An pulled open Muyang’s clothes, and his wound turned black, which was clearly a sign of poisoning.
Su Muyang picked up two branches and wanted to compete according to the habit of the two from childhood to adulthood. Jin An watched from afar and found that the smell on Su Muyang’s body was getting more and more fierce. Jin An pulled open Su Muyang’s clothes and saw that his wound was emitting black gas, which was clearly a sign of poisoning.
Lu Xin said that if Jin An had not noticed it in time, Su Muyang would have died suddenly. This kind of poison was so rare that Lu Xin was not sure that she could cure it. So she took Su Muyang to her place to take care of him. Li Shuang was worried that if the crown prince was not cured, the nine clans would be exterminated. If she could not pass this test, it would be fatal to the Li family and the Changfeng Army. Jin An told Li Shuang that he had extraordinary five senses, so Li Shuang gave him the things found on the assassin to smell.
Conclusion
Jin An was very hilarious in this second part! However, the appearance of Su Muyang, the crown prince, and Li Shuang’s childhood lover, was not a good sign. It was the end of all the cute and funny moments between Jin An and Li Shuang. We would enter the dark moments in the third part!
