If you haven't read spoilers then the upcoming development might come as a shock to you especially if you're a Qi Zhen x Yun Xian shipper. I wouldn't fear too much though just because the drama has long forgotten to be fair to Qi Yu.
By the way, I never realized almost all my cover photos are of Qi Zhen...!
[Episode 45] Yun Xian
has fallen sick after being stabbed but Qi Yu actually thinks she’s feigning
weakness. It takes a bit of convincing from his trusty eunuch for him to visit
Yun Xian and then it takes some more convincing from Cun Xia for him to believe
Yun Xian is seriously ill, that is, she is seriously ill with an emotional
sickness.
EDS is once again angry at Qi Yu because this time he’s pushed the blame
onto her for Qi Zhen being locked in his ward when it was all Qi Yu’s doing. EDS
is still awesome though; she threatens Qi Yu she’ll team up with Shi-Tai to
throw him over and promote the Crown Prince (who’s still a baby) as the next
Emperor. Qi Yu doesn’t take her bluff but she explains she can always look over
the crown just as she did for Qi Zhen and so the threat manifests and Qi Yu is
silenced, fearing for his future outlook.
I thought Mei Ling was scared too as she scurries to make peace between
Qi Yu and EDS but once EDS faints over, that evil smile of hers makes me wonder
why I bothered believing in those few moments of her supposed vulnerability.
She had poisoned EDS with a tasteless and senseless “poison”: alcohol. In
normal individuals, this substance isn’t toxic but individuals with a history
of a stroke, a daily dosage of this can be detrimental. I’m not twisted but I actually like her use of
medical knowledge even though it’s to harm someone. Something like this makes
her a way better foil to Yun Xian who uses medical knowledge to save lives.
Mei Ling had also put something in her tea to induce stroke like syndromes. Qi
Yu isn’t appalled one bit and actually appreciates Mei Ling’s extreme lengths
for him. Oh these two. They
are PERFECT for each other.
Qi Zhen and Yun Xian coincidentally bump into each other and when he sees
the bandage around her neck he instantly regrets letting her return to Qi Yu
side. He wants to see her injury closely. Why? Oh because he wants to. Of course, Qi Yu
spots this exact moment and literally throws Yun Xian away.
Throwing her on the ground wasn’t enough, he also rapes her. LJSDKLJFLSKJD..He thought
she had already done it with Qi Zhen since they looked so intimate but after
he’s done with ravaging her, he’s like, ‘Oh, so you are a virgin. I’m sorry.’ You had no idea how close I was to
dropping this drama. He takes her hand in his and hits himself “cutely”
expecting to be forgiven just like that.
[Episode 46] Two months have passed and Yun
Xian still hasn’t spoken a word to Qi Yu. During these months, Yun Xian has
been keeping herself busy with her medical office (i.e. pharmacy) and grooming
her future “doctresses”. I think it’s interesting to note that she’s keeping
herself busy because she feels guilty for Qi Zhen’s current detriment rather
than for her being raped. See
the importance of Qi Zhen in her heart? It's enough to dismiss her own sexual assault.
She does eventually forgive Qi Yu but it has nothing to do
with the power of love. She needs to be on the ‘Emperor’s’ good side if she
wants her pharmacy to run smoothly. So our innocent and pure Yun Xian is no longer innocent and pure.
Actually, she has already lied to Ye Xian before so I really shouldn’t be that surprised.
 |
| Qi Yu is like, Come, let us go to bed. |
Yun Xian “serves” him that night and they’re supposedly
lovey-dovey now but Yun Xian admits later on that for the very first time she
had to pretend she was in love with Qi Yu. Then again, Qi Yu isn’t
unconditionally in love with her either. He’s been keeping tabs on all her and
her family’s activities because he suspects her of sending help to Qi Zhen. And
well, she is. But he doesn’t catch it.
Yun Xian had enlisted the help of Huo Guang and Li San (the
soldiers) to send food to Qi Zhen. Minister/General Yu is also helping out. I’m happy they recalled old
characters but that was way too short. At least they’re still alive, unlike
Zhou Qiang…
 |
| So glad Cun Xia's a good guy |
There’s also someone else who needs help: EDS. She’s being
treated by Cun Xia for stroke-like conditions but Cun Xia clearly knows EDS
isn't in a stroke. When Yun Xian learns of EDS’s detriment she confronts Cun
Xia and he’s definitely guilt-ridden but he can’t get over his inferiority
complex against Yun Xian until she tells him Doctor Liu’s answer to his
question is “He is.” When Cun Xia had thought Doctor Liu died, he had asked his
gravestone whether he was his best disciple. Doctor Liu had overheard the
question and told the answer to Yun Xian.
Cun Xia is moved to tears and finally
agrees to team up with Yun Xian. These two actually make a pretty cute duo. They manage to
entrust EDS under Tai Shi’s care without raising Qi Yu’s suspicions.
Qi Yu has other things to worry about. The ministers thinks
he's unworthy of being an emperor and pick on unnecessary things e.g. Yun Xian’s pharmacy being a bad influence on all females. Without a second
thought, Qi Yu barges into her pharmacy and demands to close it but Yun Xian’s
like ‘Zhu Qi Yu, if you dare close my pharmacy,
don’t you ever see me again.’ She doesn’t even bother calling him ‘Your
Highness’. And that was the only truth she has ever spoken to him since
pretending to forgive him.
(Oh by the way, she also found out a ton of Qi Yu’s
disgraceful deeds against EDS and Qi Zhen. She feels more disappointed than sad
about how heartless Qi Yu has become which means she doesn’t care enough about Qi Yu to be sad about it, or
at least that's how I understood it).
Yun Xian isn’t about to let her dream be destroyed without a
fight so the next morning she walks right into the court meeting, which is
completely off limits to girls (EDS and the Empress being an exception) and demands
for the exact reason against her practicing medicine but no man can properly speak
up to her. Finally one of them manages to explain but it’s a lousy excuse:
because girls can’t be doctors. Yun Xian’s like ‘According to your logic, if you are both a female and sick, you shall
remain sick for the rest of your life.’ But these men are still stubborn
pigs and remain adamant on punishing Yun Xian with that lousy logic.
Then Minister Yu comes with Qi Zhen’s royal edict, which is
a privilege of only the Emperor. But hey he is still the “Great-Emperor” and
it’s not a normal edict, it’s an atonement for his crime. Here he takes the
blame for Yun Xian opening up her pharmacy because it was his idea to relieve
the numerous civilians with healthcare at times of war when men are off to
battle. So Qi Zhen not only shoulders the responsibility for Yun Xian but he also
wins the favour of all the ministers. Meanwhile Qi Yu sits there being useless.
[Episode 47] Qi Yu whispers to her coldly, ‘He sure treats you differently’. Yup.
But that’s not the only thing that’ll upset him. A plague (the
Black Death?) takes over the city and while he’s running away to another
island after he’s left it in a mess, Qi Zhen bravely steps in to clean the
mess. Yun Xian was supposed to join Qi Yu on the island but unluckily
her boat sinks (gee I wonder
who’s behind that).
With Yun Xian’s help, they instantly contain the epidemic.
It’s got to do with the usage of Rhubarb.
A quick Google search
tells me Penicillin is based on the same idea but obviously Penicillin wasn’t
discovered then. She also introduces the triage system to distinguish
which patients should be prioritized to maximize the number of survivors. Very
modern.
Something not so modern is she doesn’t forget her scamming
ways as she effectively uses her Zhu You to treat patients.
Yun Xian feels indebted to Qi Zhen for his sacrifice (shielding
her from punishment) but he's like, that’s
nothing because they promised to die together anyways. When Yun Xian is
tired, Qi Zhen attentively makes a cover for her, which reminds her of the time
they were in the tree hole. This
moment is, well I think it is, quite symbolic because it highlights the changing
dynamics of what these two men mean to her. In the tree hole she was thinking
about Qi Yu but now her thoughts are of Qi Zhen only.
Qi Zhen does a perfect job of handling the plague. In
everyone's eyes he’s the only one worthy of being the Emperor. And then the
scaredy-cat Emperor returns now that the city is safe but once again he catches
Qi Zhen and Yun Xian looking intimate. Really? As the emperor that's the first thing he cares about? Qi
Zhen was feeling her forehead because he thought she had contracted the
disease. But nope. She's pregnant. That's even worse than getting the disease. At least that can be
healed!
I think Yun Xian looks happy after the initial shock, which confuses me. Or is she just feeling the joys of a life growing within her
regardless of who the father is?
[Episode 48] Bearing a child for the Emperor is
a daunting task. You get physically harmed and your life is in jeopardy. First
Qi Yu’s mom slaps her and then Mei Ling is plotting to poison her. And what’s
worse is the father of her child being oh so pathetic.
Ye Xian had requested an alliance and the ministers unanimously
press for Qi Yu to attend this meeting but Qi Yu chickens out. The funny thing
is he’s actually playing hooky – pretending to break his leg to skip out. I can’t even properly laugh at
this ridiculousness. Once again Zhen confidently volunteers himself to
handle the alliance.
That night Yun Xian refuses to see Qi Yu and he doesn’t
persist either because he’s aware of how shameful he was. He finally recognizes
his own incompetence compared to Qi Zhen. He regrets fighting against Qi Zhen for
this position. It’s a little
too late now?
 |
| Princess appears too. Why? No clue. |
Ye Xian’s (who is the king now that he has overtaken the
throne) appearance is purely to make an alliance. And he and Qi Zhen are like
buddies now. Did I miss
something? He makes an offhand comment that he thought he ought to save
Qi Zhen from his in house arrest, which sounded quite sincere. In gratitude
towards Qi Zhen for settling the peace treaty, Ye Xian gives him the title “Royal
Uncle Grand Emperor” or something like that. Like Qi Zhen’s title isn’t already complicated enough.
I do like
Ye Xian’s appearance but it sort of popped out of nowhere with no real
substance. I think it’s already established that Qi Zhen is much more worthy of
being the emperor with the epidemic. Plus, since when did Ye Xian respect Qi
Zhen and vice versa? Qi Zhen didn’t know Ye Xian helped him escape so shouldn’t
he be more wary of Ye Xian? As for Ye Xian, Qi Zhen stole his girl! I don’t know anymore. I guess his appearance just makes Emperor Qi Yu more laughable.
Hearing of Qi Zhen’s success with the alliance, Qi Yu is genuinely
happy at how admirable Qi Zhen is. He’s so happy he doesn’t realize he’s taken the
poison in Yun Xian’s stead. Mei Ling had disguised the poison in Yun Xian’s
favourite drink. This poison is diamond (or some other mineral) dust. Again, I
like how smart Mei Ling is with her poisons. She even introduces animal testing
with increasing dosages in a very systemic way. Very scientific in fact.
Show, if you were trying to redeem Qi Yu's character just to make me sympathize with his current detriment, well you've royally screwed up. I feel zero ounce of sympathy for him since you've thrown his characterization in the trash long ago.
[Episode 49] Cun Xia diagnoses Qi Yu’s disease
incorrectly but he doesn’t know it. He’s even brazen enough to not let Yun Xian
confirm it. And that’s the fatal mistake. He’s been giving the wrong
prescription while the poison stays within Qi Yu, perishing his health even more. It’s
too late when Cun Xia discovers the source of the poison from Mei Ling (and she’s
extremely guilty for poisoning the love of her life).
Soon Yun Xian also picks up on the severity of Qi Yu’s
condition and confronts Cun Xia. He’s caught in a tight spot but Mei Ling comes begging Yun Xian to save Qi Yu and that’s when Qi Yu overhears that
Mei Ling had poisoned him. For once he pops out at the right time. Without any
lingering sentiments, he sends her to the cold palace and within seconds Mei
Ling turns crazy on the spot. And that’s the end to her. I'd say Qi Yu has gotten rid of the one girl that loves him the most.
The Empress title now
belongs to Yun Xian.
Yun Xian creates the very first research group, enlisting
all the young students to experiment with different methods to detoxify the
toxin that’s eating up Qi Yu’s insides. Then one of the female students finally
finds an approach to eliminate the poison. Using the understanding of oil and
water solubility, the poison is soluble to oil so ingesting (pig) oil can absorb
the poison. And Qi Yu’s imminent death is prevented but that doesn’t mean he’s
completely healed. The aftereffect of that poison has taken a huge toll on his
health.
Qi Zhen, who just came home from meeting Ye Xian, visits Qi
Yu at his bedside. Qi Yu vows to him that whether Yun Xian gives birth to a boy
or girl, their child will be named Jian Ji, after Qi Zhen’s son, Jian Shen. It’s
his way of showing gratitude towards Qi Zhen and acceptance of his superiority.
However, when mom hears of Qi Yu’s decision of letting Qi
Zhen take the throne (after he dies) she yells harshly at Yun Xian for negatively
influencing his son. Qi Yu tries to cover her ears. Honestly his mom is the
worst. When his health is like this, all she cares about is her own future if
she’s under the rule of Qi Zhen.
The last scene of this episode gives Qi Yu and Yun Xian some
alone time as his death is just right around the corner. He wants her to
promise they’ll be together for their next life, and their next next life, and
their… you get it. But Yun
Xian, I must say, does a great job in avoiding that promise. She’s like,
you’ll definitely get better this life.
♦ ♦ ♦ Comments ♦ ♦ ♦
This section isn't about the drama. I said what I wanted to say in my green comments.
I just want to clarify I'm not trying to be mean by withholding the last episode but I had wanted to add my little review with the last episode so that may take one or two days to be posted. I work like a snail sometimes. My apologies. Another thing I'd like to apologize about is my Mandarin skills. I had mentioned this probably a year ago and in my About Me section which I'd rather you not check that out, it hasn't been edited for a while. I don't speak Mandarin, I learned the language purely from watching dramas. I'm pretty good with understanding it but I am lacking when it comes to historical jargon. But it shouldn't be too bad ^^". Do correct me if I make any mistakes though.
See you again in my next and final post for this drama!
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