Romcom/Romance Checklist
How much of the plot is angst/romance?
0.5 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5The ML:
Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General / The FL:
Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / Describe the Relationship (the tropes):
Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (FL/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):
Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Ending:
Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / BadFanFanX: My love for this mini series, and namely, Cheng Lei as Xiao Han Sheng has finally made me capitulate to recapping this one... Yes, this is My Journey to You's Gong Shang Ju (2ML)! Watched this one so many times... ^____^
Mini Recaps
[Ep1] Shi Qi is a painter at the brothel and is kind to the courtesans. The Prime Minister's daughter, Shen Qin persuades her to do a painting for her by mentioning that she has information of her sister’s whereabouts. Shen Qin actually wants a painting of herself and Prince Ning in a very compromising position.
[Ep2] Shen Qin wakes up the next day and finds out it's her wedding day – to General Xiao Han Sheng. But it's actually Shi Qi who now has Shen Qin's face! Shi Qi's first encounter with her groom is a bloody one as he kills a man and the blood splatters onto her.
Shen Qin’s brother has threatened a servant and is forcing her to kill "Shen Qin". When she attempts to suffocate her, Xiao Han Sheng happens to timely interrupt her and quickly dismisses her.
Before their wine cup ritual, Xiao Han Sheng removes her veil and up close, she immediately recognizes him as her rescuer from before. [Flashback scene here.] But he doesn’t recognize her as she now has Shen Qin’s face. When he returns with a new bottle of wine, she tries to tell him that she’s not who she looks like… but he just wants them to proceed with the ritual.
[Ep3] The slaughter starts right outside her room and she becomes frightened by the noises. Eventually one assassin breaks down her door and makes a beeline for her, and she falls backwards onto the ground trying to get away from him. However, Xiao Han Sheng stops the assassin from succeeding as he shoots an arrow with deadly accuracy into the man's back and thereby killing him.
Yun Nuo complains loudly that he didn't save him as he's his military advisor! xD After Xiao Han Sheng helps her up, he tells her hat she can leave in the morning, negating their marriage.
Elsewhere, Prince Ning becomes livid as he listens to Shen Qin's brother gleefully telling him about the assassination attempt. Her brother claims that he did it to make Xiao Han Sheng look bad. But to Prince Ning, Shen Qin is his.
The next morning, Shi Qi leaves the General's Manor and meets with Shen Qin who now has her face.
[Ep4] A eunuch with the royal decree arrives to deliver this decree but he's unable to meet the newlyweds as Shi Qi is gone. Xiao Han Sheng doesn't expect her to return and is willing to face whatever the consequences are for his missing bride.
Later, Xiao Han Sheng finds Shi Qi watching the fireflies in the courtyard. (~4:00)
SQ: Every time I see fireflies, I’m filled with hope. For someone wandering in the dark, even the slightest glimmer of light brings hope.
Xiao Han Sheng is caught off guard by the familiarity of her words. When he asks why she returned, she says that she can’t be ungrateful and abandon him. (The same words uttered by the woman who had saved him.) And then he notices the tear mole by her right eye. (~6:00) He reaches over to touch it but they’re interrupted by her maid, Fu Ling, who is in the process of moving her belongings into the side annex where she plans to stay.
After Prince Ning finishes his business with Xiao Han Sheng at the General's Manor, he finds Shi Qi and drags her into a corner but she refuses to pick up where [he thinks] they left off.
Back in his quarters, Xiao Han Sheng is now looking a piece of metal in his hands. When he had saved her from the soldier who was holding her hostage, he'd shot an arrow into the guy and it'd clipped off this part of her earring. (~7:55) However, he had been so severely injured and had told her to leave him behind. But she’d refused to leave him as he'd saved her and she couldn't abandon him and be ungrateful. She had told him that she was going to take him with her.
Later, Yun Nuo tells her that the General has someone else in his heart.
After Prince Ning finishes his business with Xiao Han Sheng at the General's Manor, he finds Shi Qi and drags her into a corner but she refuses to pick up where [he thinks] they left off.
[Ep5] Shi Qi tries to tell Prince Ning that she's not – But he tries to kiss her and she shoves him away. He's delighted at the thought of the two of them having a go here in the General's Manor. (~00:17) He also thinks she's being prudish as she's now married. When Xiao Han Sheng shows up, she quickly gives Prince Ning a hard shove, far away from her. Prince Ning quickly gives the excuse that he and Shen Qin used to study together, so he was just chatting with her. Xiao Han Sheng gives him the stink eye.
Back at the brothel, Prince Ning is angered by the offer of very underaged girls. (~2:22) While he's raging at the madam, he’s continuously slapping Shen Qin’s brother's face over and over. xD Shen Qin with Shi Qi's face bumps into Prince Ning and becomes his new paramour.
Shi Qi knows that both Shen Qin and Prince Ning have her cornered but she can’t bear to betray her savior, Xiao Han Sheng. A little girl interrupts her thoughts, and she finds out that she's Xiao Han Sheng's daughter, Yuan Bao.
Yuan Bao is now attached to Shi Qi...especially as she doesn't want to go back to school. When her father tries to take her away, she grabs onto Shi Qi's dress and exposes his wife's undergarments. Oops. (~9:00) He tries to coax her into letting go but she won't. So he’s forced to let her stay with Shi Qi. He leaves and Yuan Bao sweetly says that from now on, she's her mother.
[Ep6]
Fu Ling tells her that Yuan Bao is actually the deputy general's daughter and with both of her parents deceased, Xiao Han Sheng had adopted her.
Elsewhere, Xiao Han Sheng is looking into the former Crown Prince's death, and Yun Nuo wants him to use his wife's connections to do so. He won't use her like that, and he believes it's easy to cover up an issue but harder to present to be someone else.
Yuan Bao and Shi Qi are now "camping" outside when her father finds them. Our littlest matchmaker pulls him in to join them and then tells him to make a wish as her mother just said that one firefly represents one wish. He's surprised and asks Shi Qi where she heard this. She says it was from a book. Yuan Bao asks for her father to read her a story. Shi Qi tries to leave but he holds onto her wrist and tells her to stay for the story on fireflies.
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| The "little" details. |
Eventually, Yuan Bao falls asleep onto Shi Qi's lap, and Shi Qi starts drifting off to sleep as well. Xiao Han Sheng quickly catches her head with his shoulder. As the two sleep, they become surrounded by fireflies and Xiao Han Sheng remembers when the woman saved him after he injured himself saving her. She really had returned and dragged him on a frame behind her while tied to a rope, slung over her left shoulder. When she had tripped and fallen in exhaustion, she'd looked around in the darkness and noticed the fireflies in the field. She had said as long as there were fireflies, there was hope but then she'd passed out. When he had woken up later, he had noticed her bloodied shoulder and then her tear mole. In the present, Shi Qi wakes up and Yuan Bao talks in her sleep and asks her father to not send her away and then pulls on Shi Qi's clothes, which reveals the large scar on her left shoulder.
He stares at this scar intently, which makes her look down at what he's looking at. When she goes to pull up her robe, he stops her and asks how she has this scar. But they're interrupted by the sudden arrival of the eunuch. The eunuch had previously stopped by Prince Ning's to accept a big bribe on keeping mum on some records, and Shen Qin had spiked the wine with something. Our couple finally complete their nuptial wine ritual.
Elsewhere, Shen Qin gets her way with Prince Ning after plying him with wine.
When Shi Qi says she's going to leave to return to her room, he asks if they’ve met before. She asks how they could have. He asks about how she knows about the fireflies and she says she doesn't know who told her. He then admits that he remembers the person who told him about the fireflies, who had a tear mole by her eye, her voice, and every single word she said, and her every move. And if she appears before him, he wants to ask if she still remembers him. She looks away and says she probably remembers. Then she turns away and says she's going to leave now.
XHS: I want to tell her right now. These past three years, she has never left my mind. I want to ask her if that arrow startled her. She tears up at this. I want to ask her if the injury on her shoulder still hurts. I also want to ask if she's like me. In her dreams, does she see the forest from that night? She closes her eyes as tears fall. She opens her eyes and sees her face in the mirror.
SQ with a sigh: It's a pity, General. I'm not her.
XHS: You are.
SQ: General, you're mistaken. Look carefully. Am I her? He stares at her for a moment. And then he walks to the door, opens it and pauses.
XHS: Her looks aren’t imprinted in my eyes, but in my heart... If you really aren’t her, treat my statements as utterances for her three years ago.
He starts to cross the threshold and she finally runs to him and hugs him tightly. She slowly closes the door and they two kiss passionately... and then he carries her off to bed. (~9:53) 🔥
Epilogue: Shen Qin had poured an aphrodisiac into their wine. But the eunuch had tripped and spilled this imperial wine!
[Ep7] Shi Qi finds out from a gloating Shen Qin that she had drugged the wine with an aphrodisiac, and it will reoccur once a month.
Shi Qi goes to speak to him about it. When she says it’s Shen Qin, he’s confused. (~1:50, His eyebrow quirk here. Hehe.) She ends up saying that it’s herself… He asks why she drugged him and herself then. Ha. She tells him that this side effect will happen once a month and suggests that they avoid each other at that time. He unhappily says they’ll see.
She goes to see her courtesan friend, Ying Xiu and fills her in on what’s happened. And he talks to Yun Nuo, who loudly repeats what he tells him. (~4:20, Xiao Han Sheng's face. lol) He still has faith in her while Yun Nuo suspects that she’s trying to get close to him to find the evidence on the Crown Prince’s death.
Later, Yun Nuo draws her attention to the jade pendant in the study. It’s what Shen Qin has been asking about. Shi Qi leaves with the pendant.
[Ep8] She goes on her own to meet Prince Ning with the pendant. When he tries to kiss her, she manages to get away from him. But when he tries a second time, she grabs at her hairpin and snaps her pearl bracelet in the process of getting away from him. When he moves towards her, she places the hairpin against her own neck and tells him to say back. He's outraged but manages to back her up against a column and then restrains her hand with the hairpin up above her head. He asks if she’s fallen in love with him and then leans down to kiss her. She quietly stays there as a lone tear slips down her face. But then a sword appears at Prince Ning’s neck which makes him roar “Who is it?!” Standing directly behind him is Xiao Han Sheng holding that sword and a relieved Shi Qi tearfully sees him and answers "General". (~2:25)
Xiao Han Sheng flings Prince Ning away from her and plants him on his butt. He then stands over him and places the knife blade back at his throat, and the outraged prince says he dares to touch him. Xiao Han Sheng stares him dead in the eyes and says "Your Highness, try me." Suddenly, Prince Ning seems afraid and is very apologetic. He admits that he was rude and he won't do it again. Xiao Han Sheng doesn't say anything but slowly reaches over to remove the hairpin from Prince Ning's hand and then he throws his knife straight into the floor.
Xiao Han Sheng gently walks over to his wife and she tearfully says "General". He quietly says he'll take her home and then gathers her up into his arms and he walks them outside into the bright sunlight.
Back at home, he asks his petrified wife why she met him in private. She doesn't answer as she hugs her knees to her chest. But he notices the scratch on her neck and leaves her alone.
Days later, Shi Qi goes to see her husband and brings him the divorce papers. She also returns the jade pendant to him and says that she had actually made a copy of it and gave the decoy to Prince Ning. He asks her what else she’s hiding but she says that she can't tell him right now. He says since she can’t tell him, he'll wait until she does as he rips up the papers. He continues saying, before that, she's not allowed to leave his side and he's tired.
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| Ecstatic. |
Once she leaves, he continues tearing up the papers and then throws it up into the air and revels in the confetti. (~10:00, his sweet face.)
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| And then busted. XD |
But she catches him as she came back to ask for her hairpin. He loses his blissful smile.
He awkwardly reaches over for the hairpin and then hands it to her with his arm behind his back and avoids all eye contact. xD!!
As it turns out, the pendant that Yun Nuo left was only a copy. Yun Nuo is amazed by Xiao Han Sheng's intuition about her as she didn't betray him, and she even did them a huge favor. Yun Nuo's report on her: She treats the servants well, protective of children and the servants speak highly of her. However, he wants to give another test, and Xiao Han Sheng says to stop with his tactics and he'll verify for himself.
So Xiao Han Sheng goes to the market to get her candied hawthorns and says they're for Yuan Bao who likes them. Before he leaves, he adds on that children shouldn't have too many sweets so one is for Yuan Bao and one is for her. She brings the treat to Yuan Bao and Xiao Han Sheng peeks at them from a distance. (~13:00.)
Epilogue: Xiao Han Sheng had approached a little boy at the market and offered to buy the candied hawthorn from him but was accused of stealing it. xD He had returned home and asked Yun Nuo to find someone to take care of an emergency mission – buy two sticks of hawthorn.
[Ep9] Xiao Han Sheng brings flowers for his wife's quarters but then the wind blows down some papers. When he goes to retrieve them, his wife appears and tries to take them from him. He looks at the papers in his hands, and comments that he didn't know the Prime Minister's daughter could draw. She says it was just something she did casually. It's a detailed portrait of Yuan Bao. He then looks at the other piece of paper... and reads aloud the poem. (~1:19)
萧萧梧叶
送寒声
Leaves rustle, bidding farewell to the sounds of winter
(Xiao Han Sheng's name 萧寒声 is in the poem.)
With twinkling eyes, he asks her if this is also a casual writing. She doesn't look at him and looks around uncomfortably before answering that she wrote what Yuan Bao was learning in school. He nods and then returns the painting to her and keeps the poem for himself before walking away.
She then notices the pot of flowers and walks over to admire them with a small smile. He returns and asks if she likes the flowers. She softly says yes and he says that's good that she likes it before leaving again.
Yun Nuo tells Xiao Han Shen that Shen Qin has a serious allergy to flower pollen and her handwriting differs from this poem. Shen Qin also avoids sweet foods, prefers spicy foods, and her temperament – she'd rather die with honor (win) than survive in disgrace (concede to anyone ever). His wife's physique, preferences and temperament, and even handwriting are all so vastly different from Shen Qin. Yun Nuo says if she's the person who saved him three years ago, but her appearance is so different – so who is she? Xiao Han Sheng wonders if this is what she can't tell him yet. Yun Nuo asks what he'll do if she's the fake Shen Qin. He replies, so what – she's his real wife so it's fine.
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| Once again, peeking at his wife. |
It's raining heavily and her quarters have a leaky roof, so he goes inside and carries her out, like a bag of rice over his shoulder. She’s unhappily protesting which is seen and heard by Yuan Bao and Yun Nuo. Our little matchmaker knows better than to interfere and drags Yun Nuo away with her. (~4:30) Xiao Han Sheng wants her to stay with him… as in he wants her to sleep next to him in the same bed. But she ends up sleeping in the other bed in his room, which is across the room from his. At least he can stare at his sleeping wife tonight.
The next morning, he wakes up and she's gone so he runs out to look for her. Yun Nuo tells him that she hasn't left as she's just out playing with Yuan Bao. Yun Nuo then tells him that they've located the eunuch at a refugee camp outside the city. Before he leaves, he tells Yun Nuo that he has an urgent matter for him: To chop that bed and use it as firewood! xD! (~8:15)
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| Royal sneer. |
Prince Ning has discovered that the pendant is a fake. Shen Qin's brother tells him that Xiao Han Sheng has discovered the eunuch's whereabouts. So he suggests to Shen Qin's brother that something could happen to Xiao Han Sheng, and her brother quickly runs off to start setting everything into motion.
Knowing that her husband is away, Prince Ning goes to see Shi Qi and asks her about the pendant. He tries to close to her again and she backs away from him. When he tries to run out of the room to greet Fu Ling who is looking for Yuan Bao, she hits him on the head with a teapot. He then yells that she dares to hit him, so she hits him again to get him to shut up. 🙌
[Ep10] Prince Ning wakes up and she’s already bandaged him up. He’s outraged but he still tries to crawl out of there. She calmly orders him to come back and he sits right back down. xD (~00:50) His humiliation isn’t complete until she kicks him out like unwanted goods and closes the door on his face. (~2:00) But before he leaves, he tells her that she might be a widow after today.
So our dumb Shi Qi goes to save her husband, all by herself, who has been ambushed by Prince Ning’s men… She gets shot in the chest an arrow! What kind of general is he?! Back at home s he cradles her in his arms, he repeats over and over that “It's okay, it's going to be okay” and this is as much for himself as for her. (~5:24) He’s also injured but he’s much more worried about her and asks Imperial Doctor Xun to tend to her first. He has to hold onto her when the doctor pulls the arrow from her chest and her pained scream makes him yell “fu ren” at her as she finally passes out again. (~6:20) It was a poisoned arrow intended for him.
He later berates Yun Nuo for letting her go to such a dangerous place without assistance. He wants him to find out where the poisoned arrow came from. Yun Nuo says he'll apologize to his wife later, and then takes his leave. Xiao Han Sheng then goes to see his sleeping wife and says, "As long as you are safe and sound", as he strokes her temple, "who you are, explanation or not, they are all not important." (~8:40)
Back at the brothel, Prince Ning finds out that not only did they fail to kill Xiao Han Sheng, but they also injured his wife with a poisoned arrow. A livid Prince Ning viciously kills the assassin relaying this update.
[Ep11]
Shi Qi finally wakes up from a nightmare where Shen Qin threatens her. But she continues to hallucinate that she’s here and demanding to know where the jade pendant is. In a panicked state, she runs out into the courtyard and continues yelling about Shen Qin, and how she’s not – Xiao Han Sheng runs over to comfort her, and finally hugs her as he tells her to not move because of her injuries. Yun Nuo says he’ll get Doctor Xun, and she finally calms down in Xiao Han Sheng's embrace.
She asks him if anyone came from the Prime Minister’s Manor and he says no. He asks her what she was saying about not being – and she says she’s not wanting to take her medicine. He smiles wryly at this and then sweeps her up into his arms. Back in her bad, he proceeds to feed her the medicine. This continues until her flowers bloom... and soon she’s almost fully recovered. (~4:15, the details!)
When she tries to send him away as she needs to change her dressing, he insists on helping her. The wound still hurts so he tells her to bear it – and then feeds her a piece of candy. (~5:00, I think he’s much sweeter.) Once he's done, their lips hover near each other for a long moment, but then she pushes him away and says she’s hungry.
With such a look of love, he gently says that he’ll get her something.
Later, he finds out that Dang Gui [the Butler] has dispatched the repairs for his wife’s quarters. So he asks for the work to be reviewed, but Dang Gui quickly says that he already has. Giving a death glare, Xiao Han Sheng asks for them to redo the repairs. Dang Gui says replies that she's already moved her belongings in. Xiao Han Sheng demands to know who told them to help her with that, and Dang Gui crows that he did. Xiao Han Sheng gives him a grimace before walking away. Teehee.
So Xiao Han Sheng has more decorations placed in her room. He tells Shi Qi that once she’s recovered, they’ll select an auspicious date and complete their marriage rituals as only after they’ve completed all of these important rituals can she truly be his wife. Already consummated... *smirk* She smiles tenderly at him but thinks about how she’s not herself. He sighs softly at the look in her eyes, and says it’s getting late and tells her to get some rest. He starts to walk away but she gently grabs onto his sleeve and says “General”. He turns back around and asks what’s that matter, and she just looks at him as her eyes well up with tears. She wants to tell him that she’s Shi Qi but she can’t so she says it’s nothing and drops his sleeve. He pulls her into his arms and kisses her. (~10:24) *swoon*
When he stops, he asks her if she wants him to stay, she only wordlessly looks at him. So he carries her over to the bed and the two continue kissing… until she suddenly pushes him away and asks if the aphrodisiac is acting up again. (~12:00) He smiles and says no, that’s never been the case and returns to kissing her.
[Ep12] Doctor Xun tells Shi Qi that she’s recovered well… and that she’s pregnant! Yuan Bao is happy to become to a jiejie. Shi Qi asks for the doctor and Fu Ling to keep this a secret from her husband for the time being. Doctor Xun reports back to Prince Ning, who now thinks it’s his child. Lest we’ve forgotten, the real Shen Qin is already pregnant with Prince Ning’s child, and when she'd informed him that at the time, he had thought she’d been lying.
Disguised as a man, Shi Qi visits Ying Xiu at the brothel. When asked why she was dressed like this, she replies that she didn’t want to ruin her husband’s reputation. She wants to stay at the manor, especially as he treats her better with every passing day. She doesn't know if she should tell him the truth. Her friend suggests that she can either decide to stay, or leave and treat that life as if it was only a dream. One only has to care about staying by their loved one's side. When she goes to leave, Prince Ning barges in as he’d spotted her earlier, and shoves Ying Xiu out the room. He returns the repaired bracelet to her. It’s missing one of its 17 pearls, and has been replaced by one of his own gold beads. He’s suddenly very sweet to her and agrees to visit her with a proper reason, and he’ll listen to her requests. He then says he knows that she’s pregnant, and she realizes that he thinks it’s his child. When he tries to hold her hand, she shakes his hand off, and says she needs to return home as it's getting late. He lets her go without a fight.
She leaves the brothel and Prince Ning sends his men to tail her. She can’t get rid of them but luckily her husband has been tailing her himself. When she almost hits him with a broom, he tells her it's him. She tells him that someone was tailing her. He says it’s okay and he’d take her home. She smiles and then gives him a great big. *hearteyes*
[Ep13] Shi Qi tells Yuan Bao that she fell in love with her father a very long ago. Shi Qi shows her the first painting she has of him, from the first time they met (three years ago). It’s a portrait of him as the archer before. Hehe. Mother and daughter dearly miss Xiao Han Sheng as he’s been away for days now.
Prince Ning suddenly realizes that he’s deeply in love with Shen Qin. Well, who he thinks is Shen Qin. He returns drunk to the real Shen Qin and calls her “Shen Qin” and she thinks he truly recognizes her but no… he’s picturing the face of Shen Qin. When he snaps back to reality, he's unhappy to see this "Shi Qi" before him.
Back at the manor, Shi Qi is not sleeping well as she dearly misses her husband. When she rolls over in her restless sleep, he’s suddenly there, laying right next to her. She asks when he came back and he teases, when she was asleep. She smiles and he pulls her into his arms and she finally sleeps peacefully. (~6:10, Squeeeeee.)
Later, Shen Qin’s brother kidnaps his “sister”, and he's miffed that she doesn’t recognize him. He then promptly delivers her to Prince Ning. Prince Ning apologizes for her brother’s actions and then he asks to listen to their child. She allows it and so he presses his ear to her stomach, but a ball suddenly flies towards them. He catches the ball and wants to be mean to the boy who accidentally sent it flying. She grabs onto his arm, and he’s forced to be very nice to the boy but his face scares the poor kid who runs away crying. Such a mean face! When she manages to get away Prince Ning, she encounters her “brother” who blocks her way and snorts at her. Prince Ning slaps him for snorting at her and tells him to scram. xD! What the sister doesn't give him, the brother receives his wrath instead.
Shen Qin is angry that she’s done so much for Prince Ning, yet he’s fallen in love with Shi Qi. So she sends the painting of "Shen Qin" and Prince Ning to Xiao Han Sheng from the Prime Minister’s Manor. He looks at this scandalous painting just as his wife enters the study.
[Ep14] She's made him some soup as he's been working late and getting little rest. He studies his wife closely and moves her face in his hand and thinks that she's definitely not the real Shen Qin. She finally moves her face away from his hand and asks what he's doing and he says that he'll drink it later and leaves with a smile.
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| The smirk. |
He shows the painting to Yun Nuo, who is shocked by its content. He asks if he, the military advisor should be looking at something like this, especially as his wife is in it! Xiao Han Sheng asks if he thinks it's her, and tells him to look at it closely. Yun Nuo is appalled that he wants him to scrutinize this but he opens the scroll again and says that the man isn't him. Yun Nuo says he sure is generous as he can look at his wife with another man... Xiao Han Sheng says with this painting, he's even more certain that his wife isn't the real Shen Qin now. Yun Nuo asks how could he know with just this painting – and then he sees Xiao Han Sheng's smirk. (~1:11, Because he was her first...)
Xiao Han Sheng is trying to figure out how to ascertain her true identity as he accompanies his daughter who is working on her homework. She asks him to check her writing but he’s in a daze. She tells him since Uncle Yun isn’t here, she’ll be his temporary military advisor. He tells her that he’s not sure what her mother’s thoughts are. She asks if he’s curious to know whether her mother likes him. And so she shows him the earliest painting that Shi Qi has of him…shooting an arrow. Her mother said that she did this after meeting him for the first time, and she fell in love with long ago. Our General beams here and his daughter smiles at this. Now he asks her what else she’s told her as there should be no secrets between father and daughter. Haha.
He goes to see Ying Xiu and asks about Shi Qi, this portraitist, who is gorgeous, elegant, intelligent, gentle and kind. He asks if she’s very close friends with her, and she slides the wine cup over to him and says it’s true. He then asks if she’s married and she pours him another drink and after he downs that, she answers yes. He then slides the archer painting over to her and asks if the signature is hers or not. He says he only needs a yes or no answer and then drinks the last cup of wine. He smiles, thanks her, and then rolls up the painting.
He returns home saying her real name "Shi Qi" over and over. He shows up behind her and says her name, which she absentmindedly answers yes. She stands up and asks him what he called her. He smiles and says oh, nothing. She asks why he's here to see her and he gives her an even bigger smile before saying nothing and walks away. (~6:35, This giddy guy!)
Later Shi Qi returns to her quarters and finds a lock on her door. She asks Dang Gui who locked this and is told that the General did... When she asks her husband why he locked her room, he says that she wasn't in it so it needed to be locked. Teehee. He tells her that he's out of ink and asks her come grind some for him. While she's trying to grind it for him, he moves the inkstone into different spots, until she's forced to sit down right next to him... and then he drags it across until she practically falls onto his lap. She removes herself and tells him to give the key to her. He replies that it dropped into the lake so she can only sleep here. XD! He asks why a married couple would sleep in separate rooms. She asks why he's teasing her and then says she's leaving. She starts walking away and he says because he saw a painting.
She turns back and asks him which painting and then he reveals the archer painting.
[Ep15] When he asks if she's seen this one before, she gives a tiny gasp before saying she has. He walks closer to her but she keeps walking backwards until she's up against a wall. He asks when she did this painting, and she says a long time ago. He asks how long ago, and she replies before he knew her. He asks why she drew him and she can't get out any words.
He gently bidongs her and asks why again. She finally admits that she likes him. He asks what she means by that. She replies that she respects, adores, admire, idolizes and... Just as he's about to kiss her, she pushes him away and runs away as she's gagging. (~0:20, Squeeeeee. Except that last part.)
On his own, Xiao Han Sheng meets with Doctor Xun who tells him that she’s recovering well so he doesn’t need to worry. When he asks if there are any abnormalities with her health, the doctor stutters a non-response. Xiao Han Sheng sternly says he can continue stuttering but if anything bad happens to his child, he’ll hold him responsible. The doctor asks if he’s known all along, and Xiao Han Sheng breaks out into a smile and says no, he just found out.
Later he puts a cloak on her and then takes her out on a date at the night market. (~2:24) When he buys her a stick of candied hawthorn, she thinks it’s for Yuan Bao and wants to return home immediately. He turns her around and tells her to eat it as it’s not good for Yuan Bao’s teeth. So she goes to take a bite, and he places his lips on the other side of the fruit. His inner thoughts: He knows that she has troubles that she cannot reveal but he will face everything with her, Shi Qi. (~4:10) When they end up looking at baby lockets, he asks if these aren’t for newborns, and she says she’s just casually browsing. They walk away, and not far behind them is Prince Ning, who is wearing a mask, who takes notice of what she just looked at. And trailing him is Shen Qin...
Xiao Han Sheng has now had Yun Nuo obtain a locket with a personalized engravement.
It’s the signature block from her paintings. He then asks for an exquisite brocade box, too. Yun Nuo protests at these menial tasks for a military advisor… so Xiao Han Sheng flatters him into agreeing to.
Shen Qin has invited Shi Qi for a chat. Shi Qi asks for their faces to be swapped back and she’ll tell her husband the truth. But Shen Qin is worried about how Prince Ning will take this. To the real Shen Qin, Prince Ning is her savior as she sustained an eye injury (impaired vision in the right eye) from a fireworks incident with her brother.
Afterwards, Shi Qi walks through the market lost in her thoughts as she wonders about being reunited with her sister, having her old face back but losing her identity as the General’s wife, etc… A man bumps into her and she falls down in pain, and Prince Ning arrives to catch her. He says he’ll take her back to his manor, and she insists on returning to the General’s Manor. He agrees and takes her home. He yells for the doctor and places her down into a chair. He continues fussing over her and Dang Gui tells him to watch his behavior as he’s touching her. Prince Ning gives him a real mean glare but when Dang Gui reaches over to punch him, Xiao Han Sheng stops him and calmly tells Fu Ling to get the doctor and keep everyone else away from here.
After everyone leaves, Xiao Han Sheng forcefully yanks him away from his wife. Prince Ning is outraged that he dares to hit him, so Xiao Han Sheng returns to kick down onto the floor. Ha! He returns to his wife, and when Prince Ning stirs around, Xiao Han Sheng gives him a hard stare and says she’s his woman, and he dares lay a hand on her again, he’ll kill him. Ou. Angry mode. (~11:30) Shi Qi wakes up and he sweetly asks her if she’s in pain. She only says “General” and he lifts her to carry her to her room. Prince Ning calls after him and asks whose child he thinks she’s pregnant with. He turns back around and Prince Ning gloats that it’s his. Shi Qi asks to be put down and Prince Ning tells her to tell him whose child she’s carrying and then he snickers at this.
Shi Qi looks at her husband and says she’s sorry for lying to him for so long. She tells Prince Ning that she’s not Shen Qin, but he’s confused. She turns back to her husband and tells him that she’s really not Shen Qin as she’s just a nameless painter, and their faces were swapped. Prince Ning asks what nonsense she’s uttering. She ignores him and tells her husband that she’s sorry as Shen Qin swapped their faces and had her marry him in her place. Prince Ning says she’s a liar, while her husband gently strokes her face and then hugs her. Prince Ning screams that he doesn’t believe her. So she says she has a way to prove that she’s not Shen Qin.
[Ep16] Shi Qi relays the story of Shen Qin’s eye injury, and asks Prince Ning to test her vision. He writes something on a piece of paper and then holds it up from a distance – and she’s able to see that he wrote the word “regret”. She points out that has a tear mole by her right eye which Shen Qin doesn’t have. He then walks over to touch her face, but Xiao Han Sheng grabs his arm and moves it away from her. She tells Prince Ning that he should care about the real Shen Qin, and he stumbles away in utter confusion.
After he leaves, she apologizes to her husband again and he tells her that she doesn't have to explain right now and should get some rest. The doctor says she’s fine and just needs something to revive her qi and blood. Later, she tells her husband what her real name is, and what had happened between her and Shen Qin. He asks what the reason is for her continued secrecy. She replies it’s because of him. All these years she’s been looking for him, hoping to see him again, but when she finally met him again she couldn’t tell him her true identity. She then goes on about how she doesn’t want to leave this place, and part with its people and names everyone except him. She doesn’t want to cause trouble for him, so she says she’ll go find Prince Ning and explain it fully.
When she gets up to leave, he reaches over and holds onto her elbow. He tells her don't leave. With a smile, he pulls her into his arms and hugs her. He tells her that she doesn’t need to worry about Prince Ning, and he forbids her from leaving with their child. She pulls back and asks how he knows about their child. He says this isn’t all that he knows – as he even knows her name isn’t Shen Qin, but Shi Qi who paints for the government.
He then says that he’s very glad that he didn’t marry Shen Qin,but Shi Qi. The two look into each other's eyes with their foreheads touching. (~5:12, thank the Director for this!)
Prince Ning is totally losing it as he recalls her recoiling from him over and over. The real Shen Qin insists on staying at his side but he’s not interested. He’s too busy worrying about his lost love.
Back at the manor, Xiao Han Sheng can’t stop calling his wife by her real name over and over. He tells her to stop calling him General, and try calling him by his name. So he has her read her poem which ends with his name Han Sheng… He says that she should call him this from now on, or husband. She nods in agreement. (~7:15) When he goes to kiss her, she realizes that it’s still not over. And so he offers her the real jade pendant. Yuan Bao joins them and asks if her meimei has grown any. Her father teases her for bothering her mother about this. She then asks if she can give birth to her sister in the year of the cat as she likes cats. Her father corrects her and says that she’ll be born in the year of the tiger. Our couple suddenly realize that’s what the token is – a tiger representing Prince Ning’s birth year.
Later Shi Qi gives the pendant to Shen Qin, who breaks smashes it right before her. When she’s told where her sister is, Shi Qi heads in that direction and Shen Qin follows behind her while wielding a very sharp dagger.
[Ep17] Shi Qi turns around and grabs her sister's arms to stop her. Xiao Han Sheng arrives and heads towards them with the sword drawn. Shi Qi tells him to not kill her. Before he can reach her, Prince Ning clocks Shen Qin on the head with an inkstone. When Prince Ning tries to kill her, Shi Qi reminds him that she’s really Shen Qin. He's unable to accept this. Shi Qi and Xiao Han Sheng leave to find her sister, who is this crazed woman who is stabbing someone over and over. But this woman denies being her sister, as she’s actually the real Shen Qin…another one of Shi Qi's sister's face swap victims. So the woman we know as “Shen Qin” is actually Shi Qi’s sister!
Later Shi Qi’s sister shows up at the General's Manor angrily demanding to know what they’re going to do to Prince Ning.
[Ep18] Shi Qi's sister refuses to acknowledge being her sister as she resents and loathes her existence. Due to Shi Qi's illness, she had been sold as a thin horse (a rich businessman's plaything), and she'd swapped faces with Shen Qin so she could start over. She also points out that if it wasn't for her, how could she have married Xiao Han Sheng. Xiao Han Sheng tells Shi Qi's sister that Prince Ning should go to the palace and explain everything so he might have a chance of living. She angrily rejects his advice.
Shi Qi's sister returns to Prince Ning and tries to convince him of this but he's obsessed with finding the baby locket he bought for Shi Qi. She tries to slap some sense into him but he won't enter the palace as he knows then he'd really never see Shi Qi again.
Prince Ning then tries to kidnap Shi Qi but he doesn't get far as Xiao Han Sheng and his soldiers are blocking his way out. Prince Ning keeps Shi Qi hostage with a knife at her neck, even as Xiao Han Sheng has an arrow nocked and aimed at his throat.
Shi Qi moves to block the arrow's path as she remembers how deadly accurate he is and tells him to wait so he’s forced to stand down. She then softly tells Prince Ning to say what he wants to say. He asks about her preferences and then if she ever loved him even for a moment. She tenderly looks over at Xiao Han Sheng and says no. Prince Ning laughs sadly at this. When she tells him to go to the palace and tell them what happened, he says he won’t and he knows for sure that she’s not Shen Qin as she doesn't know him at.
He then pushes her away from him, and then stabs himself in the abdomen with the knife. He dies saying Shi Qi’s name. Her sister arrives to see him dead on the ground and then to Shi Qi’s horror, she also kills herself. She dies with her bloodied hand linked with Prince Ning’s. Shi Qi sobs in devastation.
One Year Later.
Baby Fu Bao is here…and being taken care of by our military advisor, Yun Nuo, who fails in not making her cry. Fu Ling scolds him and takes the crying baby away from him. lol
Shi Qi, Xiao Han Sheng and Yuan Bao are together at the night market. While Xiao Han Sheng leaves to get candied hawthorns, it starts snowing and mother and daughter play in it. A woman runs by and bumps her umbrella into Shi Qi’s. Shi Qi sees her face – it’s her sister and a man runs over to join her and strokes her hair – it’s Prince Ning. With tears in her eyes, she just watches the couple leave.
Xiao Han Sheng returns with the candied hawthorn but doesn’t know what she’s looking at.
SQ: Han Sheng. In this world, are there really people with the same faces?
The End.
Remarks
Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Violence
[First Impression (Ep1-)] Hooked immediately! I've watched this many times prior to this recap. ^__^
Zeng Qing Jie is the same director behind other mini fan favorites: The Killer is Also Romantic, Destined to Meet You and Provoke.
[Actors/Actresses] No idea who Cheng Lei was before this mini, but I've been totally infatuated with his Xiao Han Sheng. I didn't know who the FL/2FL actresses were before this either but they were both convincing in their dual roles. Ahhh, and our villain, Prince Ning - it took me a while to realize Wang Ze Xuan was ML's goofy best friend from Our Secret. He's anything but in this. (I'll probably never get over the fact that it's the same actor. lol)
[Behind the Scenes] No subs.
→ BTS for poster shoot.→ Ep6. Our CP plus Yuan Bao. Who knew this intimate moment took this much effort to engineer?! lol [There's a spoiler at the 2:20 mark!]→ Ep8. Prince Ning and Xiao Han Sheng's blade moment.
→ 2CP's seduction scene.
[Ending] Happy in the falling snow.
[Highlights] His celebratory dance...in Ep8. *chortle* And his confession in Ep6.
[Review & Rating]
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