Introduction
I had some contemplation before I chose the featured image above. There are so many official posters of Wei Shao and Qiao Man, as well as beautiful screenshots of the couple could be created. However, I made this one to continue the featured images of the second and third parts. As you know, Part 2 featured image is when Qiao Man put her trust in Wei Shao for the first time, and Part 3 featured image is when Wei Shao put his trust in Qiao Man for the first time. This featured image is taken during the Wei Clan harvest festival in Episode 22, when Wei Shao takes bundles of wheat given by dancers and puts together a ‘bouquet’ for Qiao Man. They smile at each other happily. Continue to the final part, this featured image symbolizes how their trust towards each other results in a bountiful harvest and prosperous life, starting with both the Wei Clan and the Qiao Clan, continues to the surrounding states.
The beauty of not holding onto past grudges…
Drama Recap Episodes 27 to 36
Episode 27
There is a girl who is Qiao Man’s look-alike, whom Wei Yan has kept as her maid and also model for his painting. For a long time, the girl thought that she was his muse and that he liked her. Wei Yan starts talking oddly when drunk, especially since he knows that Wei Shao and Qiao Man now love each other. Finally, the girl realizes he painted his sis-in-law, not her. That girl reports to Wei Shao that his cousin shows disrespect to Lady Qiao. Wei Shao checks his mansion and is very angry seeing the painting. His wife’s face is definitely in the painting. Wei Shao burned the painting and the place down. Both Wei Shao and Wei Yan threaten the girl to kill her if she tells Qiao Man.
However, Wei Shao cannot unleash his anger on Wei Yan. Instead, he’s angry at his wife, especially when he sees Wei Yan’s gift to Qiao Man for New Year Festival. Of course, Qiao Man doesn’t let him take his anger out on her, especially since he broke the hairpin he gave her. She says he’s always suspicious of her. Qiao Man goes to bed angry, and in the morning, her maid says that Wei Shao leaves the house with red eyes. He goes to meet Wei Yan and has a big fight. When he gets home, he apologizes to Qiao Man, and they make up again.
Episode 28
MIL and Grandma cannot be informed of what happened between Wei Shao and Wei Yan, but the smart Grandma is suspicious. She calls Wei Shao, Qiao Man, and Wei Yan in. Nobody tells her what happened; she later heard it from the Nanny. Grandma reminds Wei Yan not to covet a friend’s wife. It seems the relationship between the two cousins is mended, however, Wei Yan thinks he shouldn’t live in Yujun anymore. Especially people from Bianzhou come and want to take him back, and gossip spreads in the city about the ‘affair’. We know that Ex is behind this; she coaxes that look-alike girl to tell Wei Shao and spreads the gossip. Ex comes to tell Wei Shao about it, and Wei Shao says he’ll punish whoever is involved in this gossip. Grandma is brokenhearted when Wei Yan comes to say farewell, falls down, and hits her head. Wei Shao cannot stop his cousin from leaving; Wei Yan’s mind is set let him take the blame. He even severs his pinky to swear he won’t invade Bianzhou, gives his wine pouch to Wei Shao, and leaves.
Grandma is okay. Wei Shao is also brokenhearted that people close to him end up leaving him. Qiao Man assures her she won’t leave him and tells her suspicion that someone must be behind this. The next day, Ex is brought to justice. The look-alike girl confesses. She mocks Wei Shao that he believes a commoner’s words than hers. Then her cousin is brought over, he gets 30 lashes for punishment. He confesses that he switched the grains, framed Qiao Ci, and spread the rumor. When he’s taken to be executed, along with the look-alike girl, he blames his cousin, Ex, for planning all these. Of course, Ex defends herself with all her wits and still coaxes Wei Shao to go against Qiao Man. Wei Shao even knows her fake oracle sign, he says his brother knew about the fake sign, but he loved her anyway. For the sake of his brother, Wei Shao won’t execute Ex, but she receives physical punishment that breaks her nose. I assume that’s because Wei Yan loses his pinky finger. Ex is banished from Yujun but she manages to kill the maid who mocks her, wears a golden mask, and heads towards Liangya State to make a coalition with Liu Yan. Liu Yan says he’ll marry her.
Episode 29
The one-year mourning period for Grandpa has passed. Wei Shao set up a worship altar with Grandpa’s memorial tablet for Qiao Man to worship Grandpa at home. It’s time for the marital consummation. Everyone anticipates this day, not only Wei Shao and Qiao Man. The generals talk about it grudgingly because Wei Shao hints at how great it is to be married. Grandma and MIL tease Qiao Man, they want her to have loose clothes that fit when she gets pregnant. Qiao Man’s Nanny gives her the sex education book to Qiao Man to read, her Aunt puts it hidden under the dowry chest.
Wei Shao and Qiao Man have already gotten steamy, but darn it, that consummation time is interrupted! Yanzhou is attacked by Liangya and the troop marches through a secret passage in just half a day. Oops, that secret passage Qiao Man told Da Qiao, and Bi Zhi secretly constructed with an excuse of mining! Wei Shao and Qiao Man argue about the secret passage… aww, there’s still a little bit of mistrust left. Wei Shao has to go fight Liangya, so he says farewell to Grandma. Grandma tells him to play Go a little bit with her, but she actually gives him wise advice:
If we don't send troops now [to help Yanzhou], how are we different from Lord Qiao, who broke his promises back then?
Let's repay hatred with kindness.
Can I adopt her as my Grandma?
Although Wei Shao is still angry at his wife, he decides to defend Yanzhou. But he doesn’t even bid farewell to Qiao Man, only to Grandma and his mother. Still, Qiao Man beat the war drum when the troop leaves to encourage them. To make up for her mistake (of constructing a secret tunnel), Qiao Man decides to go to Boya, asking for reinforcement. Grandma and MIL agree, and even let her take General Wei Xiao and 500 soldiers with her.
Meanwhile, Wei Yan in Bianzhou wants to help his cousin give reinforcement. At first, the generals looked down at him because they had heard about him. However, he defeats some in a few brawls while still protecting a general. In the end, they all bow down to him. Although I’m still confused, since when does he know and practice martial arts?
Episode 30
Qiao Man goes to Boya to ask for their help, but Da Qiao doesn’t want to help her. They argue, and Da Qiao says she’s unlike Qiao Man, who has a heart to protect people. She’s only an ordinary woman who can only protect one person, and that is her husband, Bi Zhi. Meanwhile, Qiao Man sends her husband to war (and may die) for her. Despite Da Qiao’s selfishness, Qiao Man realizes that her cousin’s argument is partly true. She never wants to be selfish with Wei Shao and demands that he protect Wei and Yanzhou.
Luckily, they brought the map that Grandpa gave her. After studying the map, Qiao Man recalls all of Grandpa’s teachings and devises a plan with General Wei Xiao. They then break the dam to fill the reservoir and support Wei Shao’s troops from behind. She plans to prevent the Liangya troops from crossing the river. Meanwhile, Qiao Ci and his troops help Wei Liang secure the two cities. Qiao Man also floats lantern boats that flow down the river from the dam to communicate with Wei Shao and tell him that she supports him from behind the line. The Liangya Army is attacked from different directions and defeated.
Episode 31
On the way home after the victory, Wei Shao and his troops meet Bi Zhi, who knows nothing about the war, since his wife didn’t tell him anything. Only then does he realize that Qiao Man has guarded the read with only a few hundred soldiers and managed to somehow win. We then see what happened. When the Liangya army was ready to cross the river, Qiao Man stood on the riverbank. She warned them they would be drowned and suggested that they just go back. Because serving a tyrant like Liu Yan isn’t worth their lives. He even killed his own father and half-brother. The Liangya’s general, who leads the army, remembers when Liu Yan killed his family. The Liangya soldiers see many birds flying, indicating that a big Wei army is coming. That was a trick planned before; they released the birds they caught before to trick the Liangya army. The Liangya soldiers retreat. Liangya suffers a major defeat, more than half of the army is dead, only 1/10 generals are alive, and many soldiers run away (from the similar numbers, I assumed they were the ones Qiao Man talked to across the river).
After reprimanding her for disobeying his military order, lol, Wei Shao and Qiao Man reunite. He lets go of his hatred by accompanying her to see her family in Kangjun. Da Qiao, who knows that her cousin went to fight the Liangya army with a few hundred soldiers, regrets that she didn’t want to help her and worries about Qiao Man’s life. She, too, goes to Kangjun with Bi Zhi to meet Qiao Man.
Episode 32
Qiao Man and Da Qiao reconcile in Kangjun. They don’t talk much, rather superficial. Then Qiao Man asks Da Qiao to play harp (konghou), and Qiao Man dances. The dance is so beautiful, too bad Wei Shao doesn’t see her dancing, since it’s a time for the cousins. Somehow, both feel, their relationship is no longer the same. They both still hold onto their own principles of protecting their beloved. Qiao Man tells Wei Shao about what Da Qiao told her back in Boya, that she didn’t care about her husband and sent him to die. Wei Shao says, that she is different. She not only care about her family, but also her people.
Wei Shao also has a chance to talk to his father-in-law. It seems this guy is better than the uncle, who is the Governor of Yanzhou. Wei Shao calls him “father” and kowtows to him. However, Wei Shao still holds a grudge against the uncle and would rather he not call his name “Zhong Lin”, and he would rather call him “Governor” instead of “Uncle”.
Uncle and Da Qiao still argue over Boya and Bi Zhi. She refuses to be a tool for her selfish father to back him up. Especially since he still looks down on Bi Zhi.
Wei Shao and Qiao Man continue Round 1 to consummate their marriage, which was interrupted when Liangya attacked Yanzhou back then. Their romantic scene sure makes audiences blush!
Before they leave, Qiao Man’s father again expresses his remorse on behalf of the clan and his father. He worships towards Wei’s direction, kowtows three times to the spirits of the late Lord of Wei, Wei Shao’s father, and Wei Shao’s brother. He also expresses gratitude to Grandma and Wei Shao for treating and accepting his daughter. Dad should’ve been the Governor of Yanzhou instead of the greedy uncle!
When they’re back, it’s time for Wei’s ancestor memorial rite ceremony. One year ago, Qiao Man and her entourage had to wait outside Yujun until the ceremony was over. This time, Wei Shao wants her to join them in praying for his late grandfather, father, and brother. At the end of the worship, Wei Shao introduces his wife, Lady Qiao, to the ancestors.
Episode 33
Wei Shao’s mom, MIL, believes that if Qiao Man wears clothes from a pregnant woman, Qiao Man will get pregnant. Wei Shao half believes, half disbelieves her, so he orders General Wei Liang to go to Boya, with the excuse of bringing supplies, but actually wants to borrow Da Qiao’s pregnant clothes. Poor Wei Liang, he wants to ask his boss for time to get married to Xiao Tao, but he has to go to Boya. Meanwhile, Qiao Man has missed her period for a month. Dang, their first time in Yanzhou sure is effective! And she’s already looking for baby names. Da Qiao is confused when Qiao Man asks for her clothing. Instead, she prepares for luxurious clothes and cuts the strings of her beloved konghou to give them to her.
The last ode to the generals
Rumors are going around in Yanzhou, kids singing rhymes, breaking the relationship between Dad and his brother, it makes Qiao Man’s uncle, the Governor of Yanzhou, start to worry about his position. Is this Ex’s doing? In the past, she succeeded in creating several discord. Qiao Man has a nightmare; she and her father run, chased by wolves. She’s worried about her father, so Wei Shao suggests she invite her father to stay in Yujun. Wei Shao orders one of the generals to go. Nobody wants to go except Wei Liang. He wants to propose to Xiao Tao, but still needs to save money for the dowry. Xiao Tao says she doesn’t need money or jewelry, just give her an orchid from Yanzhou. So, Wei Liang offers to go to Yanzhou to pick up Qiao Man’s father and an orchid from Yanzhou.
Oh no, Yanzhou’s governor is coaxed by Zhang Pu to meet the only one who can help him… Liu Yan!
Episode 34
Uncle tries to talk to Dad to ally with Liangya against Wei, but Dad refuses. He is drugged by his own brother and becomes blind. Next, they go to Boya. Da Qiao, who had already delivered a baby, was happy that her father had finally come to visit as if he acknowledged her and Bi Zhi. However, her own dad takes her and their son as a hostage to make Bi Zhi surrender to Liu Yan and help them fight Wei. At first, he was forced to fight General Wei Liang, who arrived at Yanzhou to pick up Qiao Man’s father and get orchid plants. Wei Liang fights with all his might, but dies outnumbered. He’s able to help Qiao Ci out. He and Aunt were imprisoned by his own uncle earlier. Qiao Ci rides hard and arrives in Yujun in a bloody mess. After he’s awake, still in grief and shocked, he tells everyone what happened in Yanzhou. He gives the bloody orchid. Wei Liang threw the orchid to Qiao Ci to give the plant to Xiao Tao. She cannot accept that her beloved has died. Wei Shao issues an order to attack Liu Yan, who is now in Panyi.
Episode 35
Wei Shao bids farewell to Qiao Man, not sure if he’ll come back before the delivery, or if he’ll ever come back. They encourage each other and stay united. They put trust in each other.
Appreciating Wei Shao in his golden armor
Liu Yan wants the mayor of Panyi to blow the Canal to drown the Wei army. The mayor of Panyi, Yang Feng, who pretends to obey them, tries to prevent that from happening. When his tricks don’t work, he takes the governor hostage in front of him. But Liu Yan doesn’t care about the Governor of Yanzhou anymore. He killed him and Yang Feng altogether. The Governor of Yanzhou is finally dead!
Qiao Man, after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, Fei Fei, pledges her full allegiance to Wei. She gives a speech in front of the Wei in Yujun to stay united and fight together.
Wei Qu, who is ordered to get Wei Liang’s body back and take Qiao Man’s father out, finally found Wei Liang’s body hanging from a tree. After releasing him, he looks for Qiao Ping, who is imprisoned. Some Yanzhou soldiers, who are ordered to guard the prison, want to kill them. Wei Qu reasons with them that their governor is dead now, so the Yanzhou prefect, Qiao Ping, is the leader of Yanzhou.
Episode 36
Qiao Ping takes charge. He tells his Yanzhou soldiers to listen to him now that his brother is dead. The Yanzhou soldiers believe him and Wei Qu orders them to catch the Lingya leader. Qiao Ping also asks them to prepare the finest coffin for Wei Liang.
Yanzhou will retake Panyi as per Qiao Ping’s order, led by Wei Qu. Yujun is about to be besieged by Liangya, but suddenly Wei Yan shows up. He is followed by several loyal generals. Since General Wei Xiao and General Wei Duo are ordered to protect the Wei Family, Wei Yan leads the army to protect Yujun. Wei Shao enters Panyi. Liu Yan and his uncle are already waiting, and Bi Zhi will fight Wei Shao. Bi Zhi apologizes to Wei Shao and cuts family ties, because his wife and baby are under Liu Yan’s hostage. Liu Yan brings Da Qiao out to encourage Bi Zhi to fight Wei Shao. Da Qiao remembers her words to Qiao Man. She still holds her principle that she doesn’t want to send her husband to fight and die for her; instead, she only has one person to protect, and that is her husband. With that, she frees herself from Liu Shan, who’s holding her, and jumps down. Bi Zhi tries to catch her, but she lands just a few meters away from him and dies, smiling at him. Bi Zhi wails bitterly, holding his wife’s dead body. After this, the battle between the Liangya and the Wei is very fierce. Bi Zhi and his Qiao army join Wei Shao and his Wei army to fight Liangya.
Chaos in Liangya’s capital, and everyone flees. The maids want to loot the jewelry, and Ex fights them. One of Liangya’s generals comes to rescue Ex and kills all the maids. However, he’s seen Ex’s disfigured face, so she kills him. Before dying, the general says that Liu Yan has already seen her disfigured face, but he still loves her anyway and orders him to rescue her. In madness, Ex kills herself. Both her lovers, Wei Shao’s brother and Liu Yan, loved her for who she was, but she’s too psycho to realize that.
Now with Wei Shao and Bi Zhi joining hands, Liu Shan, Liu Yan’s uncle, wants to take him away because the situation has become too dangerous for them. However, Liu Yan doesn’t want to go. Liu Shan tries to knock the sense of his nephew, who promises he’ll kill Wei Shao himself for his wife. Liu Shan says that whoever conquers the world cannot be controlled by a woman. Liu Yan becomes angry and kills his own uncle. Eventually, Liu Yan is cornered by both Wei Shao and Bi Zhi, and they kill him together.
Wei State united all nine states together in harmony under Wei Shao’s leadership, and the Yongning Canal supported their life together. Scholar Zhen Shi composed a beautiful ode for all the epic effort.
Wei Yan’s father finally dies, and Wei Yan becomes the leader of Bianzhou. He makes an agreement with Wei to support each other.
Bi Zhi leaves Yanzhou with his son. We don’t know where he’s heading. The Qiao Family bids him goodbye and will forever remember Da Qiao’s love and sacrifice.
Xiao Tao, General Wei Qu, General Wei Xiao, and General Wei Duo pay respect to General Wei Lian’s graveyard and bury their golden miniature weapons together. They will always be brothers.
Wei Shao is too busy spending time with his wife and his baby girl, so he passes the deer offering ritual ceremony to Grandma to conduct.
THE END
Conclusion
The Prisoner of Beauty ( 折腰 )… what an epic drama! Everyone gave it all, from the director with superb shots and camera angles, the screenwriters with the witty and meaningful dialogues, all actors and actresses from the leading to the supporting roles, and all the special effects departments for the beautiful costumes, makeup, sets, and props.
I said it again… the beauty of not holding onto past grudges…
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The Prisoner of Beauty: Drama Info and Recap Episodes 1 to 6
