Hmm… what are Peng Xiaoran and Feng Shaofeng doing here?
Anyway.
EPISODE 1 RECAP
The kingdom of Dachao is the big boss. Tribes and smaller states submit to their demands in order to maintain peace. The female lead Yezi (Peng Xiaoran) is from one of those tribes.
She is best friends with a princess. Her life would have been peaceful if it weren’t for her unusual association with misfortune.
It seems that from a very young age, she has been a trouble magnet. People associate her with bad luck and she gets hostility whenever she goes. Good excuse for leaving this tribe, which I gather she will very soon.
The princess, though, is a great friend to Yezi.
One day, the tribe hosts a martial competition. But before they can begin, a lone wolf creeps close and decides to go straight into this gathering for an attack. It’s just a very social wolf, I guess. *eye-roll*
People scream in fear and retreat to the back. But Yezi and the princess think differently, they believe that standing right where they are and hugging each other is going to show that wolf who’s boss.
When the wolf is about to attack, Yezi pushes the princess aside and prepares to face death alone. Nobody tries to take on the wolf to save her because this tribe worships wolves. Pretty bad luck for Yezi.
But of course, Yezi doesn’t die here. Someone (Feng Shaofeng) zooms out and gives the wolf a good kick, knocking it to the ground. Yezi then has a long minute to admire this person’s back before he turns around, walks over, and offers her his hand. As if they didn’t have a predator problem to worry about at the moment. He also spends some time teaching her how to hold a knife and defend herself.
The wolf attacks again, and the man gives it a few more kicks before killing it. The tribe is not exactly grateful for his help, they berate the man for killing their “god” and call Yezi out for bringing them bad luck again. Please, people, these two just gave you some cheesy drama to start your day with laughter, why are you being mean to them for?
If there’s anyone who should be angry, it’s the wolf. This whole act is so insulting to wolves that I don’t even know where to begin. Do drama writers really think that these intelligent animals have nothing better to do than lying around after getting kicked, waiting for couples to make heart eyes at each other, and THEN launching hopeless attacks again?
Next, the man ignores the mean people’s insults and tells Yezi that she deserves better. He gives her a token and declares that if she wants to, he will make anyone who hurts her his enemy and the enemy of his kingdom. Erm… pretty intense for a first encounter, don’t you think?
Having been bullied all her life, Yezi takes that token without hesitation. She feels a little dizzy here and passes out right into the man’s arms. You can see that this is more than the guy bargains for even though he himself has been weird since minute one.
It turns out that this man is from the kingdom of Dachao, he’s here on a political mission. He needs to take a princess from this tribe back to his kingdom for a marriage alliance and the princess they choose happens to be Yezi’s ginger-haired friend.
This distresses everyone because it is rumored that ladies at Dachao are not treated well. Because of this, Yezi decides to take action.
She comes to the man’s tent, drugs all the guard and gets him to talk to her alone. But he turns down her idea immediately because not everyone is qualified to be married into Dachao. By the look on his face, though, he probably can’t wait to take her home for more wolf-dancing.
Yezi puts something in his drink too and tells him after he’d consumed it that only she has the antidote, so he’d better give her what she wants.
But he overpowers her and refuses her proposal again. It’s a saving grace for the writing at this point because if a young, inexperienced woman can outsmart a warrior who kills wolves and negotiates peace treaties, then I wouldn’t know what to say.
COMMENTS
Peng Xiaoran looks great in tribal clothing as she does in Goodbye, My Princess.
I realize that this recap has probably made Feng Shaofeng’s character sound more attractive than he actually is in the drama, so let me clarify that his acting is a little confusing in here. It’s kind of a slight downgrade from Minglan. Then again, that may be because of the writing, which is the most problematic aspect of all. At points, it puts a limit on Peng Xiaoran and Feng Shaofeng’s acting because they have to operate within a specific mold this genre has established with little creativity.
Although, amid it all, two characters seem interesting enough. The oldest princess of the tribe and a general who acts as an assistant for the male lead. Right now, they keep eyeing each other with a hint of history there.
Hopefully, that will be developed in a good way.