EPISODE 31 – 35 RECAPS
These episodes are filled with Helian Zheng’s unsuccessful attempts to get it on with Zhiwei.
This man is so fascinated by her that he just CANNOT stop smiling and staring.
So he goes to Feng Zhiwei’s house, right, with no plan, and intends to charm her into being his concubine. His misogynistic comments are carried out in a way that lets us know he is the complete opposite of misogynistic on the inside (at least for now).
Feng Zhiwei responds by asking him to solve a riddle about seasons.
This riddle consists of four lines. The first two:
盐梅已佐鼎，曲糵且传觞
Taken from the poem The Dragon Boat Festival by Li Longji, aka Emperor Tang Xuanzong.
The next two lines:
未知口硬软，先拟蒺藜衔
Which literally translates to: soft or hard, it is unknown. Cautiously (something) takes a bite of puncture vine.
The particular poem that contains these line describes a horse eating grass in winter. And because this whole poem collection is about horses, there’s no indications in these lines that let Helian Zheng know that, oh, we’re talking about horses here.
So the two seasons Zhiwei is referring to are winter and mid-summer, which is when the Dragon Boat Festival takes place.
And Helian Zheng’s response to all of this is: huh?
This is not because he is unintelligent, but because coming from a different tribe, he is unfamiliar with these references from the Central Plain. Don’t bully him, people. I bet Zhiwei and Ningyi will look just as dumb if someone asks them to solve a riddle that is rooted deep in another culture out of the blue.
This isn’t a fair test if the goal is to test the guy’s intelligence but hey, truth be told, Helian Zheng is not exactly inviting Feng Zhiwei to play fair by clinging to her like this.
In this new arc, we get introduced to a new character: Chang Yuan. This man rules his own territory and is someone the emperor needs to maintain an alliance with.
Ning Yi, however, is aware of Chang Yuan’s corruption and has plans to expose him. They all meet at a banquet upon this new guy’s arrival.
Because of an unexpected mishap, evidence that is deemed insufficient, Ning Yi’s plan fails. The banquet ends in Chang Yuan’s favor.
He pats Ning Yi’s cheek in glee.
Hey look, I know you’re winning but that was a wrong move, man. You DON’T get to pet Ning Yi unless you’re Feng Zhiwei or his mom.
Moving on, because the emperor is aware that the silent battle for the throne between his sons is dividing loyalty within the court, he comes up with a plan: announcing that he has chosen an heir, whose name has been placed in a golden box, which, as of now, is off limits to all.
The goal is to see how each prince will react to this news so the emperor can spot and eliminate any potential threats. The box is given to Zhiwei for safekeeping.
Now let’s see which idiot will fall for that trap.
In episode 35, Helian Zheng makes another embarrassing attempt to pursue Zhiwei, which ends with him being literally thrown out of the door by Nanyi.
Our boy Nanyi’s patience is incredible. Imagine having to deal with both Ning Yi and Helian Zheng at the same time.