RECAP
According to the evidence and how the case is being presented, reason belongs to Pan’er. But unsurprisingly, the judge is like: yeah, I can’t argue with your logic, but it’s part of my job to take a stand against smart women, for emperor and country. Cool?
He sentences her to public flogging. But before the punishment can be carried out, Gu Qianfan’s assistant is here for the rescue!
He brings with him another official, who in turn talks to the judge. The latter finally agrees to hand out punishments according to the severity of the offenses, which means Zhou She gets what he deserves – exile and flogging. Bottom line: the justice system is all about connections and money.
Pan’er and Qianfan meet again. He advises her to rethink her decision to confront her fiancé because the capital city is an even more dangerous place than here. The people there are more calculating, and there’s a chance even he won’t be able to help her.
But on the other hand, Qianfan helps get a travel carriage ready for Pan’er and her friends. Understandably, Pan’er tells him to make up his mind. What does he want her to take away from his advice, exactly?
Pan’er then says she will find a way to repay what she owes him, otherwise, it wouldn’t be right.
Don’t forget the interest, he responds. The quasi-flirting is going strong.
They part ways afterward. Gu Qianfan visits his father. They don’t have a very good relationship, and you can see why. They father won’t stop nagging Qianfan about the career he has chosen and being nosy about Qianfan’s personal business. It’s also worth nothing that Qianfan actually takes after his mother’s family name. So there was some drama there.
During a heated conversation, Qianfan calls out his father for betraying his mom for a prostitute back then. Not a good argument right now because — as the father points out — Qianfan himself is involved with Pan’er, who is also seen as a prostitute. Yep, sounds like Daddy has Qianfan followed, no wonder he’s pissed.
The father, who clearly doesn’t know how to interpret social cues, moves on to say he can introduce Qianfan to some well-born ladies. That’s the last straw. Qianfan cuts the convo short and walks out of there.
At the capital city, Pan’er actually gets ahold of her fiancé, aka Mr. Third Place, who is… well, not someone I thought Pan’er would invest her time in. But he seems nice enough.
UNTIL they start talking.
They sit down for tea at a restaurant. He says he will give Pan’er a big wedding. AFTER he and Lady Gao have their marriage ceremony, indicating he will have Pan’er as a concubine. How the heck can this guy think that he and his embarrassing, mediocre academic achievement deserve both Pan’er AND a noble lady?
COMMENTS
It’s great to see the drama make Pan’er smart, but not too smart that she could overpower a system rooted in misogyny overnight. She is independent, but not overly proud and is graceful when help is given. Both empowering and somehow very believable as a woman of that time period.