The Glamorous Imperial Concubine series (so far....)

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 30

 Xiangyun got her comeuppance, Lian Cheng insisted on stripping her empress title away and whilst she cried ("WHY? WHY I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY HEART, WHY DO I FEEL I AM NOT NOT EVEN QUALIFIED TO STAND ON THE SAME DIRT AS MA FUYA IN YOUR HEART? I EVEN LEARNT TO BE MORE LIKE HER AND DISCOVERED PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKED ME AND CARED FOR ME AND THE MAN I LOVE WAS BEGINNING TO SHOW ME SOME AFFECTION AND THEN SHE HAD TO COME BACK!! MY LIFE IS DESTROYED BY MA-FU-YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"), begged ("PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, I KNOW I AM WRONG! DON'T ABANDON MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!") and everything else she did in capital letters, I still didn't have one shred of pity for her. Lian Cheng looked at her indifferently (my god this man has style!!) as he said in even voice (though he winced a bit when Xiangyun cried her heart out); "I have given you ample opportunities but you have never appreciated them. I shall never give you any more chances. I will order the minister of rites to write this edict; you will be stripped off your empress title" and mother naturally protested and said he can't start a war with Chu (interesting since in episode 1-3 we are told Chu needed Northern Han and now we are told Northern Han can't afford to offend Chu so did Fuya's uncle actually did well these few years?!) and if he insisted, he might as well strip off his mother of her title and this is why I love Lian Cheng because he doesn't give a damn as he said "Mother, I am the emperor, my word is my bond. I am not afraid of Chu. But if you insist, fine! Strip me off my title as well, strip us three of our titles then!" and he walked away and as usual, mother is lost for words.

Now you may wonder how come mother and son is always at loggerheards, why weirdo Lian Xi (who I am beginning to not hate anymore) would want to be so brother-brother with the man whose mother killed his mother? It was explained when they were children, Lian Cheng really loved Lian Xi and Lian Xi's mom was ok person when I suppose father died, mother wanted to consolidate power and so killed off everyone, including Lian Xi's mom's entire family (as powerful general) on some trumped up charges and then poisoned the mother. She wanted to kill Lian Xi too but Lian Xi's mom begged Lian Cheng to protect him which he did, helped him to escape and gave him a lot of gold leaf but Lian Xi cried his brother was abandoning him when Lian Cheng shook him, slapped him and said sternly "Be a man! Never cry! Go run, hide, stay alive! Never be weak, never cry! Go!" and Lian Xi said "I won't cry!" as Lian Cheng hugged him he pushed Lian Cheng away, wiped away his tears and said "I will grow up, and then I will come back to find my enemy! I promise I will stay strong!" and Lian Cheng said "Good!"

Weird isn't it? There is little Lian Cheng hearing this brother saying he will come back to kill his mother and he said YEAH YEAH! Anyway adult Lian Xi said he joined some sect, learnt how to poison and came back to serve Lian Cheng. Lian Cheng did say "I know my mother did you wrong, but for me, can you let bygones be bygones?" and Lian Xi said "Brother, I have told you I only serve you, I will only listen to you. I can't let that evil woman go" and Lian Cheng actually pitied Lian Xi!! But if Lian Xi really wanted to kill the empress dowager, he would have easily done so a long time ago. So my feeling is he didn't kill her because of Lian Cheng.

Now this is what is so very strange about this Northern Han family. You think Lian Cheng is such a badass, such a bad person. But as a child he showed the makings of a tough guy, he is smart, like his sister Lian Si said, he constantly seeks intelligent capable people to serve his empire and he is shrewd. But his only downfall is Fuya. Anyway this family is strange; he has siblings who love and respected him. Lian Si, even if she is hot headed or spoilt, when Qiyou said he will destroy her brother, she jumped to Lian Cheng's defence. Lian Xi, for all his weirdness, whose mother was killed by Lian Cheng's mother served and owed total loyalty to Lian Cheng. Lian Cheng for all his anger issues with his mom (for killing people for no good reason- to him he never asked her to secure the throne for him), behind her back did try to help her in his own ways whilst he really love his brother. The empress dowager did all she did for Lian Cheng, not for herself because if it was, she would have easily usurped his throne, since he never wanted to be emperor anyway. Han is basically a more united family than Shu.

Look at Shu. I have said how divided they were. In Qiyou's own words when he found out Fuya is now Imperial Concubine Di, after Lian Cheng took her to see him and he was so shocked and angry he laid there in blood, vomiting more blood as he said bitterly "My father never loved me. My mother abandoned me. Even my brother refused to help me. I had nothing but I had you to hang on to, with the hope of going back home to see you just once more but now you've abandoned me too.. now you're .. LONG LIVE IMPERIAL CONCUBINE DI!!!" as he dramatically kneel on the floor and cried out those last words and it was heartbreaking to see him as a broken man. Fuya could only begged for his understanding but he was too angry to see that she was trying to save him.

Meanwhile Lian Cheng is weird. He saw how Fuya cried when she saw him all beaten up bloodied (Lian Si thought it fun to have him duel with the 3 Wu brothers over the jade pendent), he actually monetarily looked almost guilty. He knows Fuya loves Qiyou, he knows he is the one holding her back but he also genuinely believes with time she will love him back. This is where why I love Wallace Huo. That momentary shifting eyes cast downwards, that look of guilt, that he knew he was the barrier. Fantastic moment, same way like how Yan Kuan dramatically fell to his knees crying Fuya's new title, that moment of absolute desolute (I will check the spelling later), that whole image of a truly broken man, that moment when hope became hopelessness, his sarcasm as he said she was always acting and he fell for her acting.. that moment of utter abandonment, that he is in the end all alone. Two great moments in one episode. I am in heaven!

Anyway Lian Cheng looked at Fuya crying, holding to a pot of is it blossom? Not flowered yet which Qiyou threw away, which she took from Shu a more spring time place and that thing won't flower in the cold climate of Han and Lian Cheng said he will nurture it to flower and Fuya like how Qiyou said "It will never flower in this cold climate" which means her love will never materialise for Lian Cheng since she loves another and Lian Cheng looked at her and said "It will flower, I will prove to you there can be spring in Northern Han" which to imply with time and effort, she will love him back and she cried (tears of guilt perhaps because she knows she is using his heart to protect Qiyou?) as she said "He will never forgive me, he will never ever forgive me, I will not have his heart any more" and Lian Cheng said idealistically and in his own infuriatingly optimistic way; "Then you can have my heart, I shall give all of me to you, in time when you accept me, you will feel happy again"

Infuriating isn't it? Lian Cheng knows her heart is with Qiyou. She made it very clear, in fact these 2 are more open about one another than Fuya with Qiyou. She was very blunt; "My heart is with Qiyou" but he is even more blunt; "I am patient; I can wait" and his words "I will prove to you there can be spring in Northern Han" is in a way romantic, poignant, utterly infuriatingly stubborn, way too optimistic and in the end tragic because even if the flower blossoms, her heart is now with Qiyou as she told him "Qiyou and I have been through many obstacles together, I love him.. I love him through the passage of time..." as Lian Cheng said "I may have missed you the first time around, but god has returned you to me and I will never waste that opportunity. I am a patient man..."

These 2 are saying the same thing but in total different direction! I pity Fuya because she is now the prisoner in a sense to save Qiyou. She can never leave if she wants Qiyou to live. Qiyou can never leave because Lian Cheng knows if Qiyou leaves, Fuya will leave too. I pity Lian Cheng because all these love, all these effort, it will mean nothing. To Fuya, he is a friend, and no more, which is why she can be so honest with him. She asked "Will you kill Qiyou?" and he said "He is a prisoner, he is smart, he is capable but no, I will not kill him". Usually this kind of question will land someone into prison or death but Fuya can be so honest because even if she is sorta forced to remain, she trusts Lian Cheng implicitly. She feels Lian Cheng will never hurt her, even if she is using him, and in a way hurting him. It is a very strange relationship isn't it? And perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this triangle love, because everyone is just so darn honest with one another. And she did say if he kills Qiyou, she will die with him which means Lian Cheng will never kill Qiyou.

The same way I feel about Lian Xi and Lian Cheng, and in a way even Lian Si and Qiyou. Lian Si may be spoilt, but she is not cruel. Same as Lian Cheng; he may be temperamental, even mean but in the end he is not evil per se, even if he kicks Xiangyun around, she deserves it. She dug her own grave when she blamed Fuya for poisoning her and at that very moment of that accusation, Lian Cheng knew Xiangyun's memory loss was faked. Why? Simple. He trusts Fuya implicitly. In his eyes he knows, not just believes but HE KNOWS Fuya will never ever do such a horrible thing. So Xiangyun was stupid to blame Fuya because she can never win. Lian Cheng will be prepared to go to war for Fuya, no matter what. Is this a sign of a fool in love? Maybe but you gotta admit, Lian Cheng is normally right in the way he assess people. He knew Xiangyun's personality and he always got it right to be suspicious of her. She felt she gave so much to him, she did everything and he was slightly moved but she failed because Fuya came back. Truth is she failed because he never trusted her and when he almost could, she did something so stupid to destroy that trust. Lian Cheng is that sort of man whose trust once broken, will not easily be fooled twice. His closeness to Lian Xi is from childhood and Lian Xi never broke that trust; hence their closeness. His mother broke that trust when she did all she did in the past and she never gained his trust since. Qiyou is different. He was always treated as a pariah and yet deep down he craves for love; for his mother's love, for his father's attention; he did all he did for Qixing but he felt genuine hurt when Qixing abandoned him because deep down he volunteered to protect his own brother. He gave, they took and never reciprocate. For Lian Cheng, he wouldn't be bothered. For Qiyou, he still tried. And so imagine Fuya, in the middle with Qiyou who knew she loved him and so he won't give up that hope as against Lian Cheng who knew Fuya never loved him but is affectionate to him and he felt she was genuine to him and so he will never let go because she was his one person in his life that is genuine to him with no ulterior motive, like his brother. But I do think Fuya has an ulterior motive even if a very noble one.

Meanwhile I am not sure why he did that but spineless Fuya's brother, Nu (slave) suddenly sat on Lian Cheng's throne chair. I mean no one saw it. And it took about 2 whole minutes for him to circle the chair, touched it, as if making slow passionate love to that chair and then sat on it. WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!! Anyway he sat and guess what? Someone kicked him and he shouted with authority "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!!!" and it was Lian Xi and he got all scared and fell down and thank you to the Liu family for having such badass coolness, Lian Xi basically fly kicked that Nu who flew to the floor and Lian Xi continued kicking and then strangling Nu who was begging for his life as Lian Xi said "That chair.. is meant for the emperor.. and how dare you sit on my brother's throne? What are you? Tell me, WHAT ARE YOU?!" and I think he said dog I think, can't remember. Lian Xi was right. Kick him some more!! KICK! KICK! KICK!! You know, I am beginning to like Lian Xi. Anyway when alone, Nu said bitterly "Who am I? I remember! I am the prince of Chu. I am not even interested in this throne! One day, I will get back my own throne, and I will destroy all of you, you Liu Lian Cheng, LIu Lian Xi, Meng Qiyou, I will show you all what I am made of!!!"

AND PLEASE don't tell me in the end he became Chu emperor and usurp all lands? Please don't! There can be no justice if that is the way! I want Qiyun as Emperor of Shu, Lianxi (no other choice) as Emperor of Northern Han and Chu basically go belly up in the end! Please tell me that is the ending because nothing is worse than that dog becoming emperor!! Even Lian Cheng, Qiyou, Fuya, everyone dying also not as bad as that dog becoming emperor!! NEVER! NE-VERRRRRRRRRR!!

By the way, strange! Lian Xi once poisoned Fuya. But he doesn't know Fuya the Di Consort is actually Fuya! So strange! And Lian Cheng said he will introduce both of them one day, since one is master of poison, the other master of healing. And I just realised for all the Fuya talks, Empress Dowager of Han NEVER met Fuya before! Strange eh?

Anyway tragedy coming soon. Oh I know Lian Cheng is gonna die. But I always thought he will be fool in love. Somehow I don't see that fool in him, not yet anyway. I just feel he knows the situation since Fuya told him the truth, he has eyes he can see and his heart could feel and yet... he is hopeful that Fuya will "see the plum flower or whatever the flower is blossoming in the cold hard winter of Northern Han". That line in itself, when uttered by the optimistic boyishly handsome Lian Cheng who was smiling like a very happy boy made it even more tragic.

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 28

Anyway Fuya arrives at Han and is Princess Di Lian. Lian Cheng accepts her and later we know he knows that she is Fuya the moment she spoke, if not he wouldn't have bothered.


Here I must say I love Wallace's performance in the way he sat (such cocky confidence), his slightly bigger eyes when Fuya spoke and the casual way he accepted her making her think she won when we knew he knew that she didn't know that he knew she was Fuya. Anyway he even dared her when he said "I shall let you remain and see with my own eyes how you will hurt me and destroy my kingdom". Xiang Yun wasn't happy but can she do anyway? Empress Dowager was very happy that Lian Cheng was visiting this Di Lian often and hoping for a grandson and she said to that effect, for Xiang Yun to hear. Xiang Yun was betting Lian Cheng wouldn't bother with that Di Lian but she bet wrongly and she wondered why? WHY?! When will Xiangyun learn even if Fuya or no Fuya, he will never ever ever ever ever touch her?! WHEN?! Maid suggested why he only loved Fuya and suddenly seems to dote on this woman? Could she look like Fuya? And Xiangyun suddenly realised; "No.. she is Ma Fuya!"


Meanwhile reunion scene between Fuya and Lian Cheng and Lian Cheng before that went to Qiyou and said Shu sent a princess with marriage in mind and Qiyou laughed and said "My father didn't have a daughter" but Lian Cheng already knew since he said to Fuya (her face covered by an elaborate mask); "Everyone knows the dead Shu emperor did not have a daughter. How dare you pretend to be a Shu Princess coming here to seek a marriage as an alliance of peace, MA-FU-YA? Surprised I know who you are? The moment you spoke, I knew it was you. I have never forgotten you voice, your smiles, never..." and he removed her mask and cried as he hugged her fiercely "Never ever leave me again, never...I want to show to you my Northern Han kingdom..." and Fuya seems.. numbed.

And yet I felt Fuya was cheating Lian Cheng's heart. But he knew, so what to do eh? Poor guy, foolish but still poor guy. Xiangyun meanwhile through her maid tried to ascertain whether it is Fuya in that part of the palace and dared to challenge the authority of the emperor by trying to barge into the place. When will Xiangyun learn, she will never ever win? Ever?


Anyway on the roof scene, Lian Cheng did say Xiangyun will never hurt Fuya again since she changed and Fuya said she knows but wondered what woman will share her husband willingly and Lian Cheng said "To tell you the truth, Xiangyun and I never went through the rite of husband and wife (aka consummate the marriage aka sex)..." and Xiangyun earlier also said "There are many women in here and no one has ever got near his heart..." so Lian Cheng has been a celibate all these years?! Woahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! And one scene some said he got concubines, some scene he seems to only have 1 woman that is the empress. So which is which?


I must note though, in front of Xiangun Lian Cheng calls himself "zhen" (I when used by emperor) but in front of Fuya it is "wo". I like the consistency in that. In front of Fuya, he is not the Emperor, he is Lian Cheng. Fuya did say she has changed, she has matured so all those talks by Lian Cheng about giving her freedom etc, would never work. True since she wants to leave with Qiyou and I doubt Lian Cheng will now ever let Qiyou go, because as long as he is in Han, Fuya will remain. In a way I sorta pity Fuya but again being very consistent, Fuya in the end is really all about me, myself and I. Why I said that is because she doesn't care shit about Lian Cheng. She is using his affection for her to buy time, of course this series wouldn't show Fuya as so manipulative but truth is she is.


Qiyun went home, Qixing walked by and with that smug face looked at Qiyun who promptly sent down on his knees and greeted him and Qixing said "I (he started as wo and then changed to zhen) shall forgive you for your insurbodination and so you may now return to your place and spend the rest of your days painting and writing poems..." and he left. Qiyun looked at him and said to himself "Why have you change brother ever since you became emperor? I only hope you will not be more cruel in future". This is because what Qixing meant is Qiyun is now under house arrest. I hate Qixing now. Since Qiyou will die, I suppose Qixing will be disposed, I think in the end Qiyun will be the emperor of Shu in the end, much like Weirdo brother will be emperor of Northern Han when the 2 most capable ones die for a woman. Stupid.

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 27

Tonight's episode is ... sad. Su Yao dies because her father's pigeon got intercepted and she requested to see Fuya so that she can tell Fuya who is the other spy, a lie of course since she doesn't know. Instead she said to Fuya that Lian Cheng wanted Fuya and the question now is "Is your love more important or Qiyou's life?". Suyao is a rather intelligent woman. Pity she got executed. Quite realistic look, her hair like everywhere, pale and all. Poor girl. And she went nowhere with Qiyun. In fact hers was like an unfinished story. So anyway Fuya volunteered herself as some Shu princess to offer marriage to Han royalty, Empress Dowager was very impressed with her guts but the stupid emperor only allowed a few maids and no escorts. Instead Qiyun volunteers to be escort.


At this point I was like wondering what did Fuya ever done to deserve so many to sacrifice for her?


1. Suyao died for her in a way since she never told empress dowager she was Chu princess and why there was a Shu-Han war in the first place. Her reason was because fuya was like a sister to her. But what did Fuya did for her? Nothing. Maybe she tried to help but essentially nothing.


2. Qiyun is going to escort her, rather dangerous job. What did she do for him? Nothing but why did he do it? Because she looks like his mom.


3. Lian Cheng started a war for her and his reason is because he loves her; he remembers her perkiness, her everything and she is worth even going against his mother. What did she do for him? Nothing.


4. Qiyou. Fine, you can say she is gonna sacrifice herself to Han to save Qiyou. That is hardly a sacrifice because if Lian Cheng has his way, she would be empress. Of course you can say she is going away from the love of her life but seriously, is Lian Cheng that terrible? Not a bad prospect. Even if Northern Han is darn cold.


I am also at a lost as to who I hate most but I can rate it as such for my top 3;


No. 3 - Han Ming for what he did to Qiyou, for that old hag.


No. 2 - Qixing for what he did to Qiyou or did not do. What a coward!


No. 1 - Fuya's brother. He is worst because he has no reason to do what he did. Han Ming did it for love. Qixing to preserve his own life. This brother? Not that he is afraid of dying since he was experimented on and love? Was he in love with weirdo perhaps? He is the worst.


My sister suggested Lian Cheng but that is because she is Qiyou's camp. But if you look at Lian Cheng, he doesn't know Fuya is happy at Shu. In his mind, she is suffering. His intentions are both good (to rescue her) and selfish (he wanted her) but at least there is a purpose. Fuya's brother has no purpose. And there is like a setup scene of him liking Lian Si who out of the blue decided she likes Qiyou who has to abide to whatever she has to say because she is keeping his jade pendant. All in all, one huge merry go round and it is still within the clutches called LOVE.


The only sane one is the weirdo who isn't in love with anyone. Lian Cheng cryptically said to him "You have suffered for so many years and I thank you for all you did for me. I hope one day you will find that woman you will fall for, like I did when I met Ma Fuya". Yes, weirdo doesn't understand why Lian Cheng did so many things for one woman and weirdo said he won't fall for anyone. Please don't tell me in the end he falls for the most destructive person, MA FUYA. Yes, most destructive. All for her, dies for her, hates for her, loves for her, the universe revolves around her, even the bigger universe revolves around the universe which revolves around her. I don't hate her but frankly I have had about enough of all the hot guys and pretty women dying, fighting, suffering for her. The book must be unbearable. And will this series ever explain who and what is the connection between Weirdo, Lian Cheng and mommy dearest? Ever?


Anyway Lian Cheng had an argument with his mom. His mom got sick when Suyao's father brought back a letter written by Fuya imitating Suyao saying Qiyou is the unwanted prince, Lian Cheng is being tricked into the city, etc. When Lian Cheng rushed back, he sarcastically said "Apparently mother, you're supposed to be in bad health. You.. look good...and you have lied to me, yet again" and mother said "So did you, all the war and money spent and lives wasted for one woman" and Lian Cheng said "I see you intend to interfere with my decisions yet again...how.. surprising" and he walked away but mother was actually sick, just Lian Cheng didn't know.

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 26

 Lian Cheng successfully kidnapped Qiyou after Qiyou was betrayed, beaten down and shot by an arrow by Lian Cheng, but not before he saved his own uncle and some soldiers. Lian Cheng won't kill him because he wants to exchange Qiyou for a very valuable treasure. Qiyou knows what he wants, even the Chu general knows what he wants. Only stupid sister Lian Si doesn't. Can't blame her.


Meanwhile back at Shu, I was so gobsmackingly irritated by Qixing. He is so afraid of dying he refuses to be Emperor. Han wanted Qiyun to be Emperor but Qiyun says he will lead army to save Qiyou, thereafter titled Emperor Han Cheng or something like that whilst Qixing becomes emperor. And yet Qixing refuses to give an edict to save Qiyou, and Fuya thought maybe empress dowager Du refused but instead she herself wanted to lead an army to save her son and she knew there was a spy, question is spy in army or spy in palace? Well, we all know the answer don't we? Both! And Fuya guessed the palace spy is Su Yao since why would any person keep so many pigeons? But the thing is Su Yao actually wanted Northern Han to invade Shu to save Fuya from the dead lusty emperor. Su Yao also can only go home when Shu losses.

Anyway Qixing becomes emperor. Very nice emperor clothes by the way, a pity I simply hated that Qixing by then. He was such a coward he flat out refused to save Qiyou despite ministers begging him to save his own blood brother. Meanwhile Lian Cheng said he will use Qiyou to march into the Shu city, which is by strapping poor Qiyou onto a vertical board, put him in front as they marched towards Shu's gates and guess what? Qixing ordered the archers to open fire!! One hit Qiyou on the right side, away from his heart but still, he already got shot with an arrow near his heart and beaten half to death! At this moment all I could think was even his own blood brother abandons him!! The abandonment thing will be complete when Fuya goes over to Northern Han. Poor Qiyou but he smiled as he thought of Qixing "It was worth loving you my brother" because by being cowardly and therefore indifferent to Qiyou's plight, Qixing inadvertantly saved Shu people, which is what Qiyou wants. Poor Fuya fainted at the sight of Qiyou got hit by arrow. I suppose Lian Cheng then pulled back. Was he shocked at Qixing's indifference?


I was. Because I know Qixing is young, but wasn't he brave to stand up to his mother with regards to Fuya? But why how he is so damn afraid of death he ran around crying like some little sissy? I feel it is such a big sudden change. Give him a bit if dignity but no... I feel this is a plot device to show how pitiful Qiyou is.


Qiyou, you have my sympathy!!


Anyway Lian Cheng started the whole war for Fuya only. All those "I want to usurp Shu's power" is just nonsense talk. It is all for a woman he thinks he needs to rescue when she doesn't want to be rescued. I wonder did he see her when she was shouting for Qiyou at the fort's tower since Qiyou saw her? Maybe he was very very far away.


At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 25

Anyway plenty of things happened. Emperor died. Yes he did. How? Whilst forcing poor Fuya to marry him and brave Qiyou came forward with Qiyun to fight the wedding, Fuya managed to slip the poison into his wine BUT thought to herself she wouldn't want to carry the blame of killing Qiyou's father, so she decided to drink the poisoned wine except when she took the other cup which she was meant to feed to the emperor if I remember correctly, he didn't trust her, took the other cup and drank it and when his minister ran forward and said "Chu-Han is attacking Shu!", he laughed and then died, just like Fuya's father died. And guess who cried the loudest? Not Qiyou, he was surprised but that's it, after all his father wanted to kill him just 5 minutes ago if his mother didn't run forward and screamed no no no, not Qiyun who was shocked and ran to him but then 5 minutes before his father almost disowned him despite loving him the most (the emperor loves only himself, at the end of the day), definitely not Han who secretly smiled nor Han Ming but the empress, Du Fei Hong. In the end she cried the loudest because she truly loved him. When she ordered Fuya to be arrested, Qiyou came to her defence but she slapped Qiyou hard, basically calling him a traitor for siding with the enemy but she has no proof. To Fuya, the emperor died of some stroke but she knew the truth of course. So the empress could do nothing.


Funeral, and Empress walked to the armour dress of the late Emperor and this to me is one of tonight's 2 best scenes; She cried, bitterly as she said (and she was cupping his golden mask) "I have not hold your face like this for a very long time. You were a poor nobody when I saw your potential, I married you and my family made you great, fought together with you to establish an empire, you loved me once but when you became an emperor, what did you do to me? You abandoned me! You took away my son from me! You ungrateful bastard! You loved that Concubine Mei, and then that Han Zhao Yi and all your concubines and women and you cast me aside. And you even wanted to take away your son's woman! Those women, they never loved you, they wanted you that, but not me, never me. But you.. you abandoned me... but I will not abandon you and the empire you created, the one you sat on so comfortably. I will preserve it for you and when in the next lifetime, please, let us not meet again..." and she cried bitterly. I do think she loved him wholeheartedly, but when next she saw Han, Han laughed and wondered were those crocodile tears? She didn't know perhaps Du did loved her husband. Anyway since Chu-Han was attacking, she was advised to put the crown prince as emperor and then the emperor personally lead the army into war. Qixing was such a disappointment, flat out refused and ran and ran and cried and all, such a coward and his mother could do nothing but called him "You're such a coward!! How can my family of great generals, your father a warrior have such a cowardly sun?" and she was also bitter. Han suggested there are 2 other sons to choose from whilst Empress tried very hard not to kill off Han since now is not the time.


Meanwhile Fuya refused to see Qiyou since she made a very unbreakable vow in the last 2 episodes but Qiyou who knew thanks to Grandpa Hua went to his father's armour and said "No parents will wish badly for their children but father, you did just that... how could you be so heartless?" and here I cannot believe how darn pious Fuya was when she said to him "Don;t hate your father, he was lonely, he was in fear, he trusted no one" and Qiyou was right when he said his father brought it upon himself. Basically there was no love lost between father and son and Qiyou basically made an even worse vow, that he will bear all of Fuya's pain and misery alone and Fuya stopped him and he was logical and very manly when he told Fuya he didn't believe in such ridiculous vows and so they got together in the end.


Meanwhile for some unknown reason where Qiyun vowed to be emperor and then that thought was lost, now he wanted to kill himself to reunite with his parents since he felt he was all alone. He almost plunged the knife when Qiyun stopped him and said he still has Qiyou as family. Rather touching. Then they had small talks where Qiyou wanted to go to battle for Shu but was afraid people think he was usurping his brother's position when Qixing ran in and begged for help and basically everyone reprimanded him for being a coward. Even when Qiyou said he will accompany Qixing to the battlefield, Qixing was such a coward. I know he is young, but not a shred of courage and his mom walked in and in anger, stripped him off his title (to his delight I am sure) and made Qiyou crown prince and to make him emperor!!!!!!


And here comes the next best scene, Qiyou and Empress alone, always filled with a lot of misunderstanding. Qiyou wasn't happy and said he will go to battlefield but he will not be emperor and Empress said "Didn't you always want to be emperor?" and Qiyou said "No. Pan Yu has taught me there are more important things than that, all I want is to live the rest of my life with her in peace" and empress looked at him hard as she said bitterly "And am I not worth your effort? Am I not your mother who gave birth to you after 9 months?" and Qiyou looked at her and smiled as he said "My mother? Yes, you're my birth mother but have you ever been my mother? Why did you strip me off my title in the first place?" and she said "You know it was your father's wishes, not mine" and he said "And yet you have never come to comfort me, not a word of sympathy, yes you're my mother..and yet you're not..." and Empress Du looked at him and said "I know what you want for you to be emperor..." and she kneel and begged him and he looked quite surprised as he slowly said "What choice do I have? You would send me to my death mother, so easily. I can tell you're not doing this for them or for yourself..." as he walked away as the empress looked at him with tears when with his back facing her he said bitterly "You're doing this for your favourite son, Qixing..." and he walked away.


This is a significant scene. Qiyou didn't quite notice how his mother was the first to rush out to his defence when his father wanted to kill him. His heart is bitter. I think he loves his mother and yet resented that he thought she would willingly send him to his death for Qixing. He has nothing against Qixing but he feels his mother rejected him for Qixing. Empress Du meanwhile sent Qiyou because he was the best choice. She wanted to save Shu but to Qiyou she just used him as a scapegoat when in truth she loves him a lot. So why can't these two just meet in the middle? Will I ever see them reconciled? Why Empress Du was so cold to Qiyou? Why?


Qiyun suggested Qiyou to run away since no one cared for him in the palace anyway so why die for them? But Qiyou was a much better man, he refused to run, Fuya refused to run. he even sent his favourite mistress away, just in case but mistress was bitter because the one who got to stay by his side and die with him was Fuya, not her. In this scenario, dying with him is greater honour than to be sent away to a long and fruitful life. This ain't Titanic! In Chinese version, to show a greater love, Rose will die with Jack.

Now before you go DAMN LIAN CHENG!! do remember, it is Han Ming's fault, never Lian Cheng.


You know, I really like Qiyou for his coolheadedness but I also pity him for his misfortune. I still don't get why Empress Du treats him that way when she clearly loves him because when he left with his army, Han said Du was sleeping so to Qiyou his mother didn't even bother to say goodbye when she was clearly sending him to his early death (and he did it willingly, was it for Qixing? Maybe. For Shu, probably but I know in his heart it is because of his mother's request. He wants her approval, he begs for it) and so he left when Du was late because she was scolding Qixing for not sending his brother off and in the end she said bitterly "I am ashamed of having you as my son!!" and she rushed out but Qiyou has already left. Anyone blind can see Empress Du cared for Qiyou and Han traded some insults with her which made Fuya stared at her very hard with a disgusted look as Empress Du rushed off and ran after him and in the end could only squeek "You er....". I strongly believes she loves Qiyou.

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 23

* Ham sap = lusty

First, Qiyou is now officially the Prince of Reject, because his own true love rejected him in front of everyone! But of course Fuya has a reason and the reason is simple. During dinner, in conversation with the ham sap emperor, he admitted pitting son and mother as enemies, then bringing Han in to push the empress off power and he knew Han hated him! So he knew a lot of things! He confessed to really liking Fuya, hence marrying her but if she refuses, he will make Qiyou's life a living hell. So he made Fuya swear that she will marry him, never betray him, if not her parents shall suffer in hell, she will not have children, etc. Such a cruel bastard since she might be having HIS children! He doesn't care! Moreover he did mention he was the one who made Han infertile, not the empress because he didn't want someone who hated him so much to have his child. Cruel!! Fuya tearfully agreed. The empress plan was to have Qiyou confess his relationship with Fuya in open court amongst officials, which he did, and then Qiyun also came forward and said he loved her too and so did Qixing, and so the officials said what a joke to have father and all 3 sons fighting over a woman and asked emperor to reconsider.

Meanwhile Han applauded the empress on her brilliant strategy as the empress said "I am betting he won't kill all 3 of his sons.." but Han did say something like the empress still gambled away 2 of her sons' life potentially and the empress looked worried.


Anyway emperor summoned Fuya and Fuya said she loves the emperor and willingly marrying him, threw down the jade thing Qiyou gave her and she said, to EVERYONE'S surprise that "How can I choose a discrowned crown prince when I have such a powerful man who will treasure me?"


And so wedding date set, Fuya cried in front of grandpa Hua either earlier or later found out Han Ming and Yun Zhu are siblings and Concubine Han is not his sister. Anyway Concubine Han met with Fuya and said she will cure her mom's poison if Fuya will poison the emperor. And she and Han Ming ponder the day their parents' deaths shall be avenged. Where was I? Oh yes Su Yao overheard Fuya crying and knew she said what she said to protect Qiyou. She wondered why her dad has yet to reply her. She begged Qiyun to help Fuya but Qiyun said he has neither power nor army so how?


MUCH EARLIER we see Chu and the concubine pressuring evil uncle to make her empress. Meanwhile he got Xiangyun's letter asking him to help in the war against Shu which he refused. This man loves only himself and said he just became emperor, a war would be too burdensome. Man, THREE YEARS and that is still short? For some Emperors, that is a lifetime! BUT when he read the second letter which said Fuya is not dead and in Shu, I think he agreed. Why is he so afraid of Fuya? If the brother is dead, naturally he must be emperor. Not that Fuya can be emperor!


Qiyou knew in his heart Fuya was threatened by his father and he can't think of how to help her when Qiyun came, Qiyou was frosty to him until Qiyun said he doesn't love Fuya, he was just trying to help her and Qiyun said he now understood Qiyou's feelings of having such a despicable father who didn't care for him. He hatched a plan and Qiyou went away dressing like a soldier. Not sure what he will do but Qiyun promised to use his life to protect Qiyou if Qiyou was caught. Errrr... what about the whole "I wanna be emperor" speech much earlier? Forgotten?


Meanwhile in Northern Han, Empress Dowager is sick again. But I believe this is editing problem because Empress Dowager said she used her sickness as a trick to make Lian Cheng remarry Xiangyun and become Emperor and Xiangyun muttered to herself "Well let him bury that Ma Fuya's things, what do I care?" and shocked, Empress Dowager said "How did you remember Ma Fuya?" Ahhhh caught!! And Empress Dowager said "Maybe Cheng er told you about Ma Fuya" and she said "Yes yes". But later the maid asked if Empress Dowager believed her and she said "To think I used tricks, obviously she is a class above me in trickery!!". The empress dowager ain't stupid but again bad editing. This should have been before the wedding in Northern Han. Now it is just messy. Like last episode was Lian Si poisoned and suddenly this episode moved to Shu.

 

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 22

To cut the long story short, this episode again showed some bad editing as it started with Lian Cheng mama coughing blood and begging her son to take the throne and consummate the marriage to give her grandsons. Taking the throne is easier for him than to sleep with Xiang Yun. And maybe I heard wrong but is the minister also called Xiang Yun?! Anyway we learn Fuya's best bud in Shu (that crown princess candidate) is actually the daughter of this minister, a spy!! So... it means Northern Han is really well prepared, with Lian Cheng's spy in the form of his weirdo brother and the minister's spy, in the form of his daughter. Anyway minister found out Fuya isn't dead but he won't tell Lian Cheng but as he told the empress, eunuch overheard. Lian Cheng meanwhile became emperor, sulkily so and then had to remarry Xiang Yun and as she said she will sleep elsewhere, he basically pulled apart her clothes, threw her to bed and you know... about to rape her. But it is only rape if she doesn't want it but she wants it. They have yet to do the deed, since still removing tons of layers of clothes when eunuch rushed in said got some military stuff and Lian Cheng ran out and was told Fuya is now Pan Yu and she is being forced to marry the emperor of Shu whilst 3 princes were fighting over her. Lian Cheng was overjoyed. In fact, some good acting from Wallace as he nervously paced around and around and then laughed whilst eyes is teary. And so he faced the minister called Xiang Yun and Xiang Yun cried "Your majesty can't start a war against Shu for a woman!!" and he basically threatened the minister with death to his entire family if he doesn't cooperate. Meanwhile in the park he was discussing with his eunuch to call for some general for some meeting when eunuch asked "Your majesty, is it worth starting a war over a woman?" and in tradition of treating their servants better than their wives, he looked at the eunuch kindly, sort of and said "Saving Fuya is one part of the reason. Emperor of Shu has been unpopular lately for his philandering and womanising way, this is the perfect time to take over Shu and establish our control over the central plains". And so eunuch understood and Xiang Yun, the empress overheard and angrily cried "MA FU YA!!! YOU DESTROY MY HAPPINESS, AGAIN!!!" and her maid was shocked to know her mistress remembers Ma Fuya and tearfully said "My Lady... why do you wish to suffer so..." but Xiangyun swore "I will kill her this time!!!!!!".


Sort of. I really hate that actress and her voice. Anyway yes, Lian Cheng made it as if he wanted to take control over central plains etc, but you know, the truth is if there isn't Fuya in Shu, I doubt he would start a chess game with Shu, more so war. Even if he did notice Qiyou and observing him. And not so hastily. Anyway in his mind all he heard was Fuya now forced to marry someone as old as her father, a ham sap emperor and so he must rescue her. Can't blame him.


And so he presented his case to the empress dowager who flatly refused, saying he is a new emperor, too soon, too fast and they have to worry about Zhou as well. Lian Cheng looked at his mother and said "And so you will refuse my request? Then why am I the emperor when in effect you're making the decisions?" and his mother stared at him as she said "Don't insult yourself this way and have others think of you being unfilial!" and he wanted to fight his case when suddenly someone said "I agree!" and it was the empress, Xiangyun who said she will ask her father from Chu to provide supplies and they will win! The dowager was moved and thanked Xiangyun and Lian Cheng looked rather... surprised by her intervention. And so Xiangyun wrote to her father and her maid asked "Why do you want to help his majesty find Ma Fuya?" and Xiangyun said "Helping him will earn his gratitude. And I will tell my father Fuya is in Shu as soon as the city is captured and guess what father will do? This will eliminate all worries and will kill all hope for Lian Cheng who will then turn back to me"


Sorry girl, I think he'd rather jump off the cliff with Fuya!


And so the war started, Lian Cheng still unsure what to think of Xiangyun's generosity and at the camp, his sister Lian Si appeared and you see a bit bro-sis closeness. At night Lian Cheng went quietly into the forest and.. let off a firework like "Pop!!!" in the sky and I was thinking all the secrecy and he ended up using the noisiest communication tool. Anyway weirdo guy flew to him and I suppose this is where we are supposed to go "WHAT?! THEY KNOW EACH OTHER?!" when I already knew they're brothers. Weirdo said he got a spy in Shu and says Shu is in a mess right now. The spy is Fuya's brother, now like a dog when suddenly they heard something and Weirdo threw a poisonous dart and it hit Lian Si's arm and Lian Cheng rushed to her and surprise surprise Weirdo doesn't know Lian Si at all, and as Lian Si was dying, Lian Cheng said "Please help her" but Weirdo said "Why should I?" and he said "She is my sister!" and Weirdo said "The empress dowager's daughter? All the more reason I won't help. I will only help you!" but Lian Cheng said please and so dog had to suck out her poison as she slowly fainted.

At point of posting, am watching until ... EPISODE 21

This episode is rather sad, for the empress. I seriously do not care about Fuya who digs her own grave and bury herself in it. The empress knew the emperor is up to no good and told him she has adopted Fuya as her daughter and so asked him to write an edict to that effect. Concubine Han came in and argued against that and in the end the emperor said he shall know what edict to give. Lo and behold, he sent his gaurds lar, Minister of Rites lar, etc etc etc and Qiyou and gang went with them and the emperor it seems is back to being his "ham sap" self and decided to make Fuya his concubine, as in Concubine Yu. Fuya said no, the alternative is death and Qiyou said "You must accept or you will die!" and in the end she had to say yes and she was taken away, in other words kidnapped. Grandpa Hui was so angry he slapped Qiyou! He said "I was wrong about you! I thought you will protect her but you pushed her to him instead!" and Qiyou calmly said "What do you expect me to do? The alternative for her is death! I am sure Fuya shall think of a way.." and frankly I am with ... Grandpa Hua in this. Fuya should just kill herself and thus thereby ends the tale of Qing Shi Huang Fei.

Anyway Fuya went to the emperor and asked his eunuch quite politely but in modern speak "Where the hell is that old man?" and eunuch smiled and said "Oh niang niang, you musn't be so hasty to serve the emperor! oohhh oooohhh" and Fuya was very angry and said in a very authoritative voice (after all she is a princess) "Hold your tongue! How dare you speak that way to me, I am after all Concubine Yu!" and the emperor walked in, pleased with her attitude but in the end, what Fuya said is simple; she doesn't want to marry the emperor, the emperor wants her, she asks him to take back edict, he refuses and said he shall wait and bid his time for her to fall for him and marry him willingly, as that is what will happen eventually. Oh, and she did want to scar her own face but he stopped her.

Meanwhile Qiyou went to see the empress!! Basically he asked her to help Fuya to escape his ham sap father's clutches and this is where Kara Hui was awesome. She looked hard and long at him and with some tears in her reddened eyes she looked at him and asked "Why come to me? Why not Concubine Han?" and Qiyou said quietly "You're my mother..." and Empress was taken aback by that answer and quietly said "I am happy you came to me to ask for my help, even if it is for another woman. I wonder, if it was me in that situation, would you have begged for help like you did just now?" and Qiyou was quiet and wanted to answer when she said "Never mind, never mind, why would I want to insult myself anyway since I know your answer..." but Qiyou wanted to protest as he said "Mother..." and Empress said "This matter can be salvaged but you will have to do something drastic. We shall have to gamble on your father's love for you, if he has any he will act as I anticipated..." and never knew the plan since not told but when Qiyou was leaving empress said "You do as I told you, things would hopefully be salvaged" and Qiyou thanked her and was leaving when she looked at him and tearfully cried "You-er!!" and Qiyou stopped, looked back but the empress waved him away and so he left. Empress was near tears as her white haired bodyguard (why does she have white hair? Will this series ever explain?!) asked "My lady, why did you help him?" and Empress said sadly "My son has never come to beg me for help, and here he is today, for the first time, asking me to help him. He is after all my son, I must help him, even if it to help another woman..."

I have no doubt the empress loves Qiyou very very much. Her every behaviour, the way her eyes reddened when he replied "Because you're my mother" confirmed that. When she cried out "You-er!!" and yet didn't quite run to him and say "Mommy loves you!!" I was like "Qiyou, YOUR MOM LOVES YOU!!!!". I tell you, Qiyou is at his best when he is with the empress. His every behaviour, the way he stood, still with attention, the way he looked to the floor and yet looked at her. It must have took him a long time to finally come to her, after all he thought she abandoned him, she didn't want her and so to ask for the one person whose love he craved the most (apart from his father) would be very difficult because he thinks she never loved him when WE ALL KNOW she loves him a lot. If she didn't, he would have been dead a long time ago. But empress, why... why do you boycott your own son? WHY?! There is a hint of jealousy when she asked him if he would save her like he is trying to save Fuya and her reply to herself was in her heart she thinks she is of no importance in HIS heart when I know in MY heart Qiyou will do all he can to save her. Whatever their issues may be, Qiyou craves for her love and whatever her issue is with him, she craves for his love and yet neither could meet half way or any way for that matter. It was a heartbreaking scene and the best tonight. Yan Kuan is at his best when he is with Kara Hui. His every behaviour screams that he fears and loves his mother, there was awkwardness and yet there is this maternal bond that is unbreakable. Kara Hui is at her most heartbreaking whenever she is with Yan Kuan in mother-son scene, you know she loves him and yet convinced herself he doesn't love her. What a sad story!!

Meanwhile, Concubine Han was very happy Fuya became the concubine and was saying loudly "Du Fei Hong! You think you can win? See where I am now!!!" and suddenly Empress' loud voice said "Is that you talking behind my back my dear sister, celebrating your victory?" and Concubine Han jumped up and smile, sniggered and then smilingly answered (as she ALWAYS DOES); "Of course not my sister, of course not" and there they are, word games and biting and all again except this time Han said Empress has lost the battle and the empress asked why she said that and Han said because whatever she did, Fuya is still the concubine and the empress has nothing left. That the empress is a woman subject to her own feelings, loyalty and sense of righteousness, that if she was a man she would have been very successful but as a woman, such qualities are not appreciated by a man. So the empress lost to Concubine Mei, then to her and now to Fuya. Empress laughed and that shook Han a bit as she said "My dear sister, you think you're so smart, but let me tell you where you're wrong... I have lost the emperor's favour since a long time ago. Did I really lose to Concubine Mei? Look where she is now. Dead. And you? You may be a concubine amongst all concubines, but you're still a concubine. As for me, I am still an empress, I am still the ruler of the royal harem. As for Pan Yu, yes she is his favourite now but do I care? Of course not. But you should care, since your position depends on him favouring you. And how you would be so sure Pan Yu is on your side? I am not worried. She has the same qualities as I, she is loyal, she is ruled by her heart and she knows her right from wrong. She and I would click together. And who do you think she will align herself with? You or the one who speaks the same language as her, me? My sister, you're the one who has lost!" and she laughed very very hard and left and Han knew the empress was right.

AND the empress IS RIGHT! After all she doesn't care for the emperor's love, she is the empress, she is above all. Han is in danger is Fuya gets favoured, not the empress!

However, I feel the empress was a bitter woman. Everytime she talks about the emperor, she would say he is a man without a heart or a "long sum gau fai" man which usually refers to a husband who mistreats his wife as in casting her aside. So yes, she must have loved him deeply and my feeling is he married her because she was his general's daughter, to consolidate power, wasn't out of love. In the last few episodes he mentioned he was a new Emperor, meaning he forged an empire, he wasn't of royal blood, he was always in battle, his mother starved to death and so he took part in some uprising. He had a hard life. The empress must have been his loyal general's daughter.

Anyway the empress acknowledged what she said to Han was more to shake her because she too fears the effect of Fuya on the emperor. Deep down she craves for the emperor's love.

Meanwhile, Fuya again with the emperor who was sick of being gentle with her when she accused him of marrying her because she looked like Concubine Mei and so he had abandoned his love and return to his lust. He was very angry and questioned her is she was in love with someone else and then he just carried her to bed and was about to rape her when he saw something dropped out of her pocket and it was the jade thing he gave his son Qiyou to give to the woman he loves and he knew his rival is Qiyou and he said "So .. it is him.." and he left her.

So poor Qiyou, whatever his mom planned, must fail since the emperor would probably want him dead. Fuya should just kill herself.

Got a bit of Northern Han in this episode where Empress was walking with her maid who turns out to be a bodyguard as well when suddenly she was attacked and fight fight fight and the girl turned out to be her daughter. Let me tell you this; Northern Han may be cold, but at least the mother dotes on her children, EVEN if one son is forever melancholic. It's his problem, not hers. Compared to Shu where everyone backstabs everyone else, Northern Han seems like such a happy family.

You know, I may pity Qiyou, but I pity the Empress the most. Mostly because she is such a sad sad woman, but mostly because of Kara Hui who should win an award for this role, whilst her dubber should win an award as well. Ruby Lin may be a poor actress (oh dear lord, how wide eyed can she be throughout?!) but she has a talent for casting.

As for Lian Cheng, if he had a father like that, I am sure he would have gallopped away with Fuya and never to return. Qiyou somehow couldn't do it. Maybe in his heart he doesn't want to leave his mother.


(by:point2entertainment)