EPISODE 5
The day has come for the King of Hui to return to his clan. Hanxiang asks the emperor if she can see her father off. The emperor agrees, but is worried about what may happen on the way. Even if Hanxiang was a regular princess with no suicidal tendencies, letting her travel that far from the palace is already a frowned upon feat, let alone in this case when she despises her life AND the arranged marriage.
So, the emperor decides to put his two favorite jail-busters to the job, Erkang and Yongqi. They are tasked with bringing Hanxiang back to the palace safely.
And you can bet that all hell breaks lose that day.
As soon as the King of Hui has said his goodbye and is out of sight, a group of men in black (and side braids) attack. One of them tries to take Hanxiang away.
But these guys aren’t exactly the best kidnappers ever, Erkang and Yongqi easily defeat them in a few moves and unmask the leader: it’s Meng Dan from the restaurant.
Hanxiang cries and begs them to spare Meng Dan’s life. She recites a song’s lyrics (could be a poem), basically saying that this man is the love of her life, and if he dies, she dies. They are like sand and wind in a desert — inseparable.
A bit dramatic, but Erkang and Yongqi get the point. They are quite moved, actually. They listen to Hanxiang’s explanation with puppy eyes, take pity on her and let Meng Dan go.
But what are they going to tell the emperor now? The entire Guard saw Hanxiang embracing this man in the middle of the desert!
Erkang decides: let’s tell the emperor the truth. And this is one hilarious conversation I have ever seen happen.
The emperor looks at both boys like they’ve lost their minds. What? You let the kidnapper go? You’ve investigated him? How? When? While you were fighting?
Anyway, Erkang’s reasoning is solid, he believes that 1) they should not hurt any Hui person because of the newly established alliance with the clan, and 2) capturing Meng Dan might make Hanxiang hate the emperor (more than she already does).
Very smart move, I like this Erkang more and more now.
The emperor agrees with his decision. For now.
Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi, like their guys, are over the moon with this story. So romantic and tragic! They say.
Well, guess what? Huang-Ah-Ma thinks differently.
While Erkang and Yongqi go back to the restaurant to check if Meng Dan has made it back, the emperor visits Hanxiang, and let’s just say that he is more than pissed.
When Hanxiang persists in her silence when questioned about her behavior earlier, he tries to choke her. Again… not exactly a glorious side of Huang-Ah-Ma. I admit that most of the time I forget he is an emperor who is used to getting any woman he wants and not just a pushover dad.
Luckily for Hanxiang, Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei get there just in time. Xiaoyanzi sees what’s going on from outside and jumps through the window into the room to cause a commotion.
And right away the emperor turns back into Pushover-dad mode. He scolds them for a bit, but says no more when Ziwei mentions that he might want to be careful regarding their relationship with the King of Hui.
That night, the two couples hold a quick meeting to exchange some info: Meng Dan is alive, and Hanxiang wants to send him a letter. But the Dowager and Empress just have to choose this time to visit them. At the announcement of their arrival, Jinsuo hides Hanxiang’s letter under a vase. Really? UNDER? Just shove it inside the vase!
I’ve gotta say, though, these kids look really suspicious with their doors closed and everything. No wonder the Dowager thinks they’re plotting something.
Nanny Rong quickly spots the poorly hidden letter and the Dowager insists on reading it. Out of options, Xiaoyanzi puts the letter in her mouth, chews and swallows it. Yuck. Even the Empress is like: this way more gross than I’d hoped for.
To help themselves, Erkang tells the Dowager that the letter actually contained a love poem from Yongzi to Xiaoyanzi. Well, I don’t think that helps a lot.
So the two poor girls get thrown into a dark room with a peephole that the Dowager pops in once in a while to remind them that they’re being punished and not allowed to talk.
Which is counterproductive, if you ask me. Cuz if you’d allowed those girls to talk, you’d actually know what they were hiding.