steppingonyourshadow

[steppingonyourshadow]

Lee watches Legend of Zang Hai: Episodes 31-40

Plot, language, culture, history, Chinese TV and novel tropes, and general commentary.

Episodes 1-10 here, 11-20 here and 21-30 here.

Episode 31

Zang Hai refuses your nonsense binary and also your useless Confucian values

Also: a good man knows when he needs to grovel.

The Queen is such a fantastic character, a great combination of sentiment and absolute authority.

I love that Antu knows what she wants and goes after it. But I also get what the Queen is saying - Zang Hai's priority is always going to be his revenge.

I love this line from Zang Hai about Zhuang Zhixing being a monster he hand-crafted and nurtured with his own hatred.

Zang Hai is right that Zhuang Zhixing hates him but Zhuang Zhixing doesn't just hate him. As Zhou Qi said, Zhuang Zhixing loves and hates Zang Hai.

Antu understands Zang Hai well in part because she also spends a lot of time playing a role.

Ba-gongzi: you're a well matched pair because you're both terrible and would have terrifying offspring.

And then Antu looks like she's considering the idea, lol.

Aw, Zang Hai is doing so much better now he's not trapped in that death spiral.

Don't worry, Gao Ming, Zang Hai's face is fine as it is.

Zang Hai is still calling Antu "dianxia" (title for a princess).

Aw, the puppet theater bit is so cute. I love the way they talk around their feelings.

The shot of the two of them with the screen between them is so good. What a gorgeously shot scene in general.

This is a good sincere grovel from Zang Hai. He could make it prettier but it wouldn't be as sincere.

I really like this song too - 风月局中 by Curley Gao.

Hahaha Zang Hai being like have mercy on my weak body is extremely good.

He genuinely does think he doesn't deserve to be happy though. Thankfully she'll bully him into it.

You can tell he's back in flirt mode when he starts talking like this - the "please invite me here often" stuff. The key being that he's giving her the initiative and inviting her to make moves.

Loooooove this kiss scene, his face when she bites him!

And then because he's a bitch, he brings up her whipping him as a child.

Antu: our parents did what???

It's just so nice that he has someone he can totally trust to talk to now, what with my increasingly dark feelings about Gao Ming/the masked man.

This animated fresco bit explaining the history of Dong Xia and the guixi is so cool. As I understand it, it also fits pretty well into DMBJ canon.

Unlike his father, Zang Hai doesn't give a fuck about Great Yong having the guixi, so he's perfectly happy to take the deal that means Dong Xia will get it.

Died laughing at Zang Hai's response to the Queen making him choose, he really is the worst/best.

Nobody's forcing Zang Hai into some nonsense binary where he can't have genuine feelings while also having other priorities (like the Queen herself with Kuai Duo). He's respectful to the Queen but he's not giving an inch.

Vice Minister of Works creeping around inside the palace complex. As you do.

I love his little satchel with its spring-loaded little compartments.

So the Emperor was after the guixi from the beginning and Kuai Duo went to Dong Xia to look for it. But Kuai Duo - loyal, upright Kuai Duo - didn't give him the key. So it's just a cool paperweight.

I love the scenes of the Queen and Zang Hai bonding over Kuai Duo.

Aw, that's why Zang Hai prefers to work there, his dad used to.

(Fun AU idea though!)

The Queen: if only he had come to Dong Xia, your family would be alive.

ZH: eh, no point in dwelling on what ifs.

Again, unlike Kuai Duo, Zang Hai is not at all bothered about selling out his emperor.

Interestingly, when the Queen faults Kuai Duo's blind loyalty to his Emperor, Zang Hai points out that Kuai Duo's sense of justice also kept him from giving the Emperor the key.

Zang Hai explains the paramount place of the Emperor in Confucian morality and then immediately also shows his total disregard for those values. Of course he doesn't have the values his dad had - his moral education and socialization ended when he was 10.

Zang Hai's answer to every problem: I'll do it and just die.

Episode 32

Zang Hai finds out even more gossip about his father's personal life, and for once he's on the other end of a con

How to break into the Emperor's own quarters as a Vice Minister by Zang Hai.

"Why don't you try it for me" is such a nice way to say he doesn't want the food. Zang Hai should give lessons in tact and human interaction.

15 January on the Lunar calendar is the Lantern Festival, the final day of Lunar New Year celebrations.

Not the most inconspicuous outfit for a break in but how do you make Zang Hai look inconspicuous? He's wearing the same clothes as the other officials down to the cloak, he's just wearing them better.

Bet you Zang Hai was pretty surprised to discover the Emperor's hobbyist space.

But not as surprised as he's going to be when he uncovers evidence of the secret 20 year woodworking-based friendship between his father and the Emperor.

There's something really lovely about Kuai Duo's lengthy friendship with the Emperor (who would've been a prince when they met) being revealed via their works and the signatures on them.

The Emperor as the deer (鹿) and Kuai Duo as the waterfowl (雁).

The oldest work here is from the 15th year of the Wuhe era and the carver would've been young (the characters are wonky). The next is from Wuhe 18, with much prettier characters, and then the third one from Wuhe 20. All bearing the deer and waterfowl signatures.

Wuhe was the era name of the previous emperor so Kuai Duo was friends with the current Emperor from the 15th year of his father's reign. We know from the Queen of Dong Xia & Yongrong that Wuhe's reign lasted 35 years. So this was a 20 year friendship before the Emperor ascended

Then we have the final carving, with just the deer signature, from the 9th year of the current era. 9 years after the Emperor ascended, Kuai Duo came back from Dong Xia with the guixi and was killed. So no more waterfowl.

If you had any doubt the waterfowl is meant to be Kuai Duo, seeing the character for waterfowl underneath the guixi should resolve that.

The painting Zang Hai sees hiding the entrance to the secret passage is from Song dynasty great Zhao Boju.

You can see the missing mortise and tenon detail that caught Zang Hai's attention if you look closely.

Presumably the secret passage was so Kuai Duo could come and see the Emperor without anyone noticing. Which means they must have been very close.

In order to make sure the Bureau would be empty Zang Hai put up a notice saying the Ministry of Works was carrying out pest extermination in the Bureau and everyone had to clear out. Of course, he's the Vice Minister of Works. Also see the smoke wafting around.

Very funny that Zang Hai's scheme was to make counterfeit copies of the guixi.

Horror movie jumpscare by Shi Quan there.

Honestly though, this one stings. Dude, Zang Hai was genuine toward you! Do you know how rare that is???

(Xiao Zhan is looking particularly good under this lighting and in his red robe tbh.)

Shi Quan: your complexion doesn't look too good (meaning he's gone pale with shock etc)

The audience: what are you talking about

Zang Hai goes from shocked to outwardly calm so fast.

I really like this scene with "Shi Quan". Such great tension.

The Lu family all together, aw, how heart-warming. This would be a great gangster AU.

The first thing Zang Hai says to Cao Jingxian is basically - bitch, how are you still alive.

Cao Jingxian says like his father, Zang Hai uses humility to hide aloofness/a sense of moral superiority. Except Zang Hai is using false humility to hide his true self, not any kind of moral judgment.

Now Cao Jingxian is laughing at the Marquis for being duped by his enemy.

Zang Hai: you're the one who killed the Marquis, not me. Also you're gonna end up just as dead, just wait.

Honestly, I would not laugh at Zang Hai when he's got that smirk on.

Ah, see Shi Quan did feel something real. Look at him promising to keep the Bureau running well once Zang Hai is gone.

Love the Queen's style.

Zang Hai is so useless in a fight, haha. Antu has to protect him and he spends most of it running away.

This is such a cool fight scene for Antu.

Aw, the Queen wants to avenge Kuai Duo too. Don't listen to Cao Jingxian! Just kill him!

Ah, fuck. What great last words though ("有憾无悔"). She lived a life of duty for her country, with unfulfilled desires but zero regrets.

This scene with Antu and Zang Hai under the fireworks is so gorgeously shot.

What an absolute disaster - lost the guixi, the Queen is dead, Cao Jingxian is still out there and he knows everything, and someone needs to explain what happened.

The Emperor is pretty terrifying in this final scene.

Episode 33

Zang Hai's greatest poor little meow meow performance yet, for the greatest audience

Poor Antu, her mom's dead and she has to deal with being a suspect to guixi theft. She knows she's in big trouble too.

These scenes of Zang Hai in his courtyard are so pretty.

Thankfully Cao Jingxian is badly injured again (although somehow still not dead).

Cannot believe Cao Jingxian is just gonna give the guixi to the third man. Goddamn.

Loved Antu's girlfriend and Antu's boyfriend fretting together over her safety. On the other hand, Antu's sister was pretty eager to get rid of a rival for the throne, huh.

You just know Zang Hai is about to do something crazy.

Enjoyed Zang Hai looking at Gao Ming with his sad puppy eyes until he agreed to make the fake warrant.

Now, why do I get the feeling that Zang Hai is lying to Gao Ming and co?

She's worried for her people, aw. It's a shame, she'd make a good queen.

Antu, immediately: don't do anything stupid for me

Zang Hai: too late, I already did.

Zang Hai didn't tell the crew what he was gonna do because he didn't want them to be implicated but also I wonder if he trusts them all completely anymore.

Zang Hai's confrontation with the Emperor takes up the entire rest of the episode and it's such an incredible scene - writing, acting, the way it moves the story forward, what it reveals about the past.

Zang Hai begins by referring to himself as 罪臣 - your vassal who has sinned/offended. This form of address is itself an admission of wrongdoing and immediately gets the Emperor's attention.

Zhang Guoqiang who plays the Emperor is so good. Initially some folks said he was miscast because he lacked authority. But thinking that the Emperor must be this impressive domineering figure is itself a trap that those used to seeing authority glorified fall into.

Zheng Xiaolong's emperors are all too human, petty and unjust and even pathetic. Zhang Guoqiang is perfect as a reluctant sovereign, unsuited to the job but unwilling to let go of power, paranoid and fearful and selfish. A petty tyrant.

The way he goes nuts as soon as Zang Hai mentions the thing he lost, phew.

…what's the point of tying him up, my dude. (It's so he could tell everyone to leave without fear of attack, but still.)

You can tell by what Zang Hai goes on to say that he knows the depth of the Emperor's sentiments for Kuai Duo is limited by a sovereign's selfishness (just like the Marquis' feelings toward Zang Hai) but he's gambling on there being enough guilt and nostalgia left to save him.

I did have to laugh at "raise your head", such a palace intrigue cliche but here deployed for such a wild reason (the Emperor trying to see any resemblance to his friend).

The way the Emperor's face changes when Zang Hai starts talking about the deer, damn.

Well, he can't murder his bff's son, especially since he's partially responsible for his bff's family dying.

Bwhaha the Emperor realising that Zang Hai is the reason the Marquis and Cao Jingxian ended up like this is very funny.

Bloody hell, I can't believe Zang Hai basically accused the Emperor of creating this mess. (He's right, but most people wouldn't say it.) He goes from saying this sinner begs forgiveness while trembling and sweating to pushing his luck so quickly, I love him.

Once again, we could all learn a lesson from Zang Hai on how to optimally phrase a request. Love the way he asked the Emperor to help resolve the mystery (when he's actually asking for the truth of what happened to his father).

The Emperor grinning at the bird cage while asking Zang Hai if he knows how to make them is probably the first genuine positive expression we've seen on his face.

And yes, this flashback with him and Kuai Duo as kids is very cute. But it's abundantly obvious that he's not a great candidate for Crown Prince. He's not the oldest or born to the Empress and his foremost interest is woodworking. But he was clearly his father's favourite, and clever enough to win the battle.

Do you remember how during the saga of the Dowager Empress' burial, Zang Hai managed to come up with an excuse to keep a prince/lord from coming to the capital? That prince is the Emperor's older brother, and was born to the Empress. He would've been the prime candidate.

Banishing a rival like that to the provinces is a time-honoured practice for Emperors who can't kill them outright. But this way he remains a threat, especially with the Emperor childless.

The Emperor obviously suffered a lot from the schemes of previous Empress/his brothers.

Kuai Duo saved his life. And what did he do for Kuai Duo in return?

You can tell Zang Hai's really not that impressed by his woe is me, it's so hard to be born royalty story, haha.

Jumpscared by CGI deaged Cao Jingxian.

All joking aside, veeeeery interesting that Cao Jingxian is the one who suggested using Zhuang Luyin. There have been a lot of hints throughout the show that Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin used to be close, particularly from Zhuang Zhifu (who seemed very familiar with Cao Jingxian).

I'm impressed that Kuai Duo wouldn't give up the key to his friend and Emperor because he knew it was wrong to use the guixi.

The Emperor is so scary and awful in this flashback scene. The way he just turns on a dime, phew.

Oh god, now he's saying Kuai Duo knows too many of his weaknesses. Then it makes sense that he let Kuai Duo die.

The word he used is 软肋, literally rib cartilage, but meaning one's fatal weakness/Achilles' heel.

Remember what Gao Ming said - when you've done too much for someone selfish, it breeds entitlement and resentment, not gratitude.

Notice how Zang Hai hasn't mentioned the existence of the key either.

Episode 34

The crowning poor little meow meowing, Zang Hai's second and third and fourth fathers, and one brief moment of respite.

Look at the way the Emperor turned on Kuai Duo as soon as he got the guixi.

Using the "reward" of a cabinet post to tie him down for the Emperor's use and keep him under control - and he says it's a gift but what kind of gift gets imposed on you and can't be refused?

Outright refusing would be a death sentence. Saying he's leaving for health reasons is the safest move but the Emperor is still gonna hate it and suspect him. You can't just leave the Emperor's side when he wants you there.

The Emperor just about lets him go once he assures him that no one else knows anything and he's not hiding anything. But he's not gonna protect Kuai Duo either and isn't that upset that someone else silenced him forever. Doesn't even investigate.

Zang Hai didn't actually need to get on his knees here to answer the Emperor about what happened that night but as soon as he did I think the entire audience knew it was all going to be all right. This is his S-class killing move after all.

This is possibly his finest performance yet, using the brutal truth to scare some guilt out of a man who barely feels anything other than fear and a desire to cling to power.

Zang Hai can recount that night with a smile on his face but it's more effective here to cry like a child. The Emperor must feel that Kuai Duo gave his life for him.

Zang Hai is angling for the exact line the Emperor ends up saying - that he wronged Kuai Duo and owes him. And by transitive properties of family connection, he now owes Zang Hai.

Ah, Cao Jingxian is finally dead. A great villain and very interesting character. Hope we find out more about him.

The third man is terrifying. But see how Zang Hai immediately figured out his moves?

Look how happy the Emperor is that Zang Hai is showing him his weakness (Antu), unlike Kuai Duo who seemed too eager to escape and not leave anything for the Emperor to coerce him with.

Of course Zang Hai is doing this on purpose (and it dovetails with his real objective).

Let's check in with how Zang Hai's reputation is looking: A young man with no scholarly credentials somehow became the Marquis' only aide. The Marquis then got him a 5th level post and gifted him a fancy estate. He then betrays the Marquis and lands his son's 3rd level job.

In between he's seen buttering up Lord Yongrong, and now after seeking a night-time audience with the Emperor to confess crimes, rather than being punished, he's given more authority the next day.

Cannot even imagine what gossip is saying at this stage.

Gao Ming slapping Zang Hai because he's so mad and then immediately feeling awkward and guilty and not knowing what to say is such a Chinese parent-child coded interaction.

(There is a great behind the scenes video about what director Cao wanted from this scene.)

Loooooove this carriage scene with Zang Hai looking at Antu so tenderly.

Who else cracked up when Antu's reaction to Zang Hai saying Cao Jingxian was dead was to assert that Zang Hai must have done it? She knows him too well.

Also loved Zang Hai cheering Antu up from her spiral about losing all her status and titles by reminding her that he's just a poor nobody, so they're now equal!

And him quietly leaving Ba-gongzi and Antu to catch up once she turns up.

I don't trust Gao Ming but Zang Hai clearly sees him as a parent, and this feels like a positive turning point for them.

Gao Ming's passive aggressive anger is so funny with Zang Hai grovelling so easily.

Aw, this definition of shifu is so lovely - someone who walks alongside you and holds up the sky for you.

Zang Hai even says outright that he sees Gao Ming as a parent. This is so moving, especially with XIao Zhan's lovely voice/delivery.

And then Zang Hai says he'd do the same thing again - that's him in a nutshell, of course he would.

I was genuinely very moved also by Gao Ming saying as a parent he'd rather die for his children than live on without them. He's really come around on what he wants from Zang Hai.

Gao Ming rightly crowning Zang Hai the greatest con artist of them all, hee.

But all that aside, he asks Zang Hai three times what happened with the Emperor and Zang Hai finds a way not to tell him each time. He loves Gao Ming but doesn't entirely trust him.

Dying laughing at Gao Ming making these specific dishes just so he can use them to passive-aggressively scold Zang Hai for being heartless and not talking to him and acting on his own.

Also very cute that Antu immediately tries to drink for Zang Hai.

This is such a beautiful, heart-warming scene (look at this beautiful patchwork family!) and I'm scared it's gonna be the last brief happy moment before everything goes to hell.

Zang Hai is in full melon eating mode watching Liu Chu and Gao Ming and it's so funny.

When Liu Chu first appeared I think a lot of Western viewers misunderstood her message or only heard the first half. She never wanted Zang Hai to be emotionless.

Oh man, look at Zang Hai's face. He looks like a kid who can't believe he gets to have this and doesn't feel like he deserve it. What a great bit of acting from Xiao Zhan.

(Honestly I'm scared considering there are 6 eps to go.)

I love this speech from Antu about how they all chose to accompany Zang Hai along this path.

And she's right, he needs her to be his bodyguard.

Also enjoyed her saying after you're done we'll leave and go wherever you want (our girl with all the domineering ML dialogue).

Me hoping desperately to see Zang Hai be suspicious of the masked man, but of course I'm not gonna see it on his face.

The Shi-daren they're discussing is the current 首辅 (senior grand secretary), effectively the Prime Minister, the foremost civil official.

Episode 35

Shit gets so real so fast and Gao Ming and Zang Hai keep breaking my heart

This is the most shocked we've ever seen Zang Hai.

He's very grateful but I don't know that he trusts Zhao Bingwen (same as how he feels about Gao Ming).

Have you noticed how Zang Hai acts most child-like around Gao Ming? He sajiaos and pouts and lets himself look vulnerable, hopeful, despondent. And he says here that he trusts Gao Ming with his life (but he doesn't trust him with all the info).

Notice Gao Ming saying that it's okay to lie sometimes so long as your feelings are genuine. He would say that.

Zhao Bingwen goes around doing people big favours so they incur debts to him. Like a dodgy lender but for 恩 (the debt you owe someone who has done something for you).

Hey, we finally have an actual name for Ba-gongzi ("eighth young master" is her art name/alias).

Say what you will about Zhao Bingwen, he also seems like a decent dad.

Zang Hai immediately notices Shi Yiping's collection of great works of art, including a segment of A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, one of the most famous Chinese paintings ever (top painting in the first pic), as well as many other famous Song dynasty works.

The one non-famous, non-Song painting in the middle there sticks out like a sore thumb. More on that later.

Bwhaha, Shi Yiping saying he didn't expect someone like Zang Hai to be able to befriend a clean official like Zhao Bingwen. Once again reminding us that Zang Hai has the worst possible reputation among the court due to the way he came by his promotions (and his behaviour re Zhuang Luyin).

Shi Yiping calls Zhao Bingwen a great 伯乐 (Bo Le), a term derived from a man from the Warring States period who was great at picking horses, meaning someone who is good at discovering and promoting talent. Which is very accurate.

Shi Yiping pointedly bringing up Zhuang Luyin, who Zang Hai used and discarded, and Cao Jingxian who tried to fuck with Zang Hai and ended up dead. You can see why anyone might be wary of Zang Hai, lol.

Wanting to use Zang Hai as a knife is dangerous shit. And even more dangerous is when he wants to get close to you.

Hey, it's obsequious climber Zang Hai. We haven't seen this version of him for a while.

Finally someone just says it to his face - you rose through the ranks too quickly and it's sus as hell.

(Look at how old the other 3rd ranked and above guys are.)

I enjoyed Zang Hai sparring with Shi Yiping and was genuinely worried he'd be blamed for Shi Yiping's murder but of course the plot is much more clever than that.

Very cool fight between Lu Yan, Shilei and Antu (now Zang Hai's bodyguard).

That one extremely out of place modern painting depicting Dong Xia among the collection of masters is what clued Zang Hai in on the guixi's hiding place. Hold that thought.

(Zang Hai immediately hiding the two fishes, lol)

Zang Hai asking the Emperor for that Dong Xia painting is really smart and works on a number of levels. Not only is it a clue, he also gets to remind the Emperor that the Emperor knows his weakness (the Dong Xia princess) and he's safe to use.

Look at the way Zang Hai's face changes when he's leaving the palace. He knows this isn't over.

Zhao Bingwen basically outright telling Gao Ming that if Zang Hai doesn't give up the guixi key he's going to be eliminated. God he's scary.

Zang Hai being like oh yes I'll just threaten to leave, that will flush out whoever is behind all this. Nice.

This scene with Gao Ming broke my heart. They have such a lovely relationship and the sense of dread hanging over it is so strong.

Please note Zhao Bingwen doing the classic Chinese polite fight posturing of first refusing the gift/promotion and then "reluctantly" agreeing to it.

A small detail you might have missed is that Zhinu is about 20 at the beginning of the story but "Zang Hai" is 18. Hence folks joking about anti rumours of Zang Hai having cosmetic surgery and faking his age (both true in his case, and common accusations hurled at modern idols).

Episode 36

The truth hurts more than any lie.

(I'm obsessed with this set of cream robes on Zang Hai, he looks like Zhou Gongjin from RotK and that thought haunts me.)

Antu giving away Zang Hai's money to their servants and Zang Hai basically saying 'that's totally fine because I'm planning to spend the rest of my days as your sugar baby, if that's okay with you'.

Zang Hai mostly calls Zhao Bingwen "benefactor" in private now.

I don't think it's news to Zang Hai that Great Yong is not in good shape. But it's so sick that a few good men aren't going to be able to reverse the tide - the system itself is the disease.

The term in Chinese for what Zhao Bingwen is trying to do to Zang Hai is 道德绑架 (moral blackmail). How could you do this when people are suffering, etc. The term refers to when others (often family) try to trap you into doing things that are very bad for you using appeals to morality. They're trying to impose a moral debt that you don't owe onto you.

But Zang Hai has never been vulnerable to this stuff.

Instead of being fooled by this talk, he's realised Zhao Bingwen is suspicious because he wants to make Zang Hai stay and is only staying to investigate him further.

Also Zhao Bingwen's whole thing makes no sense - Zang Hai doesn't have any special talent in statecraft, his skills are geomancy, construction and manipulating people.

Bwhaha, no one else wants Zang Hai to stay. How bad is his reputation?

You can see that it's breaking Zang Hai's heart that he can't talk to Gao Ming.

Oh god, "is that your idea or Zang Hai's?"

Zhao Bingwen now outright threatening Gao Ming with killing Zang Hai with that reference to what happened in the past.

Everyone else in the Cabinet is clearly wondering how on earth this 19 year old (Zang Hai's fake age) with the terrible reputation managed to win Zhao Bingwen and the Emperor's favour to such an extent that he's managed to enter the Cabinet so quickly.

Ba-gongzi (tsundere): oh so you can't see Zang Hai and that's why you remembered I exist.

They're so cute.

Oh man, of course the painting belongs to Zhao Bingwen.

Thankfully Antu thought of the same line Zang Hai fed the Emperor (that he wanted the painting for her).

Zhao Bingwen keeps going on about the people but he won't let money be spent on the most urgent needs (disaster relief and prevention). Then proposing to raise the salaries of the highest officials…lol.

What a guy. What a "clean official".

Aw at Antu feeling bad about lying to Ba-gongzi for the first time. It's for her own good!

Fortunately for her (and because Zhao Bingwen is a pretty good dad), she hasn't had to be involved in any of these awful dealings and shouldn't be implicated.

Nooooo, Ba-gongzi, don't tell your dad!!! At least it's just Antu's cover story.

I saw so many posts about this scene of folks being thankful Zhao Bingwen didn't say "it's time to get married". So many of us just expect that kind of nonsense from a character like Zhao Bingwen.

Poor Zang Hai, doing three jobs at once (Cabinet, Vice Minister of Works, Chief Astronomer), working overtime, and still getting shit about how he came up through being the Marquis' favourite and creating problems for other people.

Poor Shi Yiping was fighting both Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin? Man, poor guy.

Really enjoying how Zang Hai gets this guy to talk by deliberately goading him with accusations and rumours about Shi Yiping.

By the way, does he look familiar to you? He should. He's one of Yongrong's people. He spoke about having read Zang Hai's memorials at Yongrong's terrifying party in episode 20. So that should tell you something about why he's helping Zang Hai.

So we have a vital new piece of information - Cao Jingxian's name before he became an eunuch and had to give it up.

I feel bad for him now. He clearly had grand ambitions and talent but back then you weren't allowed to take exams to be an official if you had any physical "imperfections".

(Yes, this is super bad and ableist. It's from the same school of thought that resulted in the idea that good looks equal virtue equals fitness for some grand role, which still persists today.)

So Zhuang Luyin, Cao Jingxian and Zhao Bingwen studied together. That's the connection.

We've had so many hints that Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin were close to lead us to this point. But Zhao Bingwen hid himself well.

Zang Hai crying to himself about the entire past 10 years of his life being a lie, god.

Both actors are so good in this scene with Gao Ming, really subtle and beautiful performances that convey a lot with and without words.

Zang Hai's quiet "I don't think so" in response to Gao Ming saying he'd get found out at court because Gao Ming has lied successfully to him for so long, oof.

Think back on the times when Gao Ming must have worked with Zhao Bingwen to deceive and hinder him, too (throwing out Yongrong as a smokescreen for example).

But the feelings were real. If you doubt that, think about this - when did Gao Ming start cooking all the food? When he became worried Zhao Bingwen might poison Zang Hai.

Episode 37

Shit gets so real in the worst way and…talk about sympathy for the devil

God, the sense of dread is just palpable throughout these episodes.

And finally we've come to the end of the road - Gao Ming can no longer put Zhao Bingwen off. Zhao Bingwen's right though, if Zang Hai didn't want the key found, no one was gonna find it.

This motherfucker saying he's doing it for Zang Hai's own good. Bullshit.

Can't believe I got fooled by Shi Quan again! What a guy.

I love this detail that Kuai Duo spent so much on the kids he adopted as his students that his own family's standard of living was closer to that of commoners than a 5th ranked official.

Zang Hai obviously chose the dishes to send a message (just like Gao Ming a few eps ago). The two he highlighted are common home cooked comfort food.

Wow, Zang Hai really just came out and said it with "should I call you my benefactor or my enemy".

That little glance at Gao Ming and reference to how well the shifus taught him…ouch.

And we have the triumphant return of Zang Hai looking at an enemy like they're dead already.

You know what's fucked up, I honestly felt a warm glow seeing Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin in the flashback. At least with them, you always knew exactly where you stood.

Zang Hai kindly offering Zhao Bingwen a quick death in return for saving his life (as opposed to having his entire life destroyed first), aw.

Zhao Bingwen is the kind of psychopath who doesn't feel any kind of gratitude or emotional burden or debt or guilt. So he's perfectly happy to kill Kuai Duo after Kuai Duo spoke up for him and saved his job, and to kill Zang Hai after using him for half his life.

The Emperor whining yet again about how sad and hard his life is as the most powerful man around and how it was a betrayal for Kuai Duo not to tell him everything.

The Emperor: tells Zang Hai to get up.

The audience: no, no, he's more comfortable down there actually, that's where he can unleash his powers with maximum effect.

What possible good could a man who is already all-powerful do, handed a weapon like the guixi?

To the Emperor's credit (limited), he knows that what Zang Hai is saying makes sense and is dealing with him accordingly.

Hahaha, the key being hidden under Zhao Bingwen's chair is so funny.

Zang Hai just out here saying shit about the possibility of future emperors using the guixi to do wrong. (He's right, of course. No one who is already all powerful should have even more tools of conquest.)

Fucking Shi Quan, god. But if you think back you can see where he must've been working for Zhao Bingwen in the past too - for example he's the reason Zang Hai started investigating the coin that led him to Yongrong.

All Zang Hai cares about now is making sure Zhao Bingwen dies (and the guixi doesn't get stolen again).

Oh good, the Emperor does suspect Zhao Bingwen at least a little.

The Emperor is turning into Gollum with his precious over here.

He really doesn't seem to have much fun - not much company in the palace, no concubines, no kids, just his projects and his guixi.

Dude, Zang Hai is gonna say "I told you so" if it fucks you up.

At this point prison is basically a natural habitat for Zang Hai, almost as comfortable as a tomb.

Man, Zhao Bingwen got off so easily with the Emperor poisoning himself with the guixi (or did Zhao Bingwen lend a helping hand? He does love poisoning people.)

Bullshit he was going to leave Zang Hai alone. No way.

Zhao Bingwen has a fatal misunderstanding of Zang Hai if he thinks he's like his father.

This is such a great scene with just the two of them matching wits.

Man, Gao Ming having played a part in the Kuai family being killed really blows. (He covered for Zhao Bingwen so Zhao Bingwen could go back to the capital, meet up with the other two, and get Zhinu.)

Poor kid getting bullied at private school vibes in this flashback.

See, they reference the rule about how anyone with any physical "imperfections" can't become an official.

Zhuang Luyin's father had died in battle so while high born to begin with, his family had fallen on hard times.

Man, kid Cao Jingxian was so cute. These poor kids. And neither Cao Jingxian nor Zhuang Luyin were bad kids either. Zhuang Luyin wanted to save that child before Zhao Bingwen stopped him.

As Zang Hai says, Zhao Bingwen really had a hand in making them into the awful people they became.

Cao Jingxian's actor answered a question on social media about why he didn't resent Zhao Bingwen with "resenting a fellow victim rather than the actual aggressor responsible is the mentality of a loser".

So they really were good mates! Even more impressive that Zang Hai wrecked the relationship between Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin.

Thankfully for Antu and co, Zang Hai is the kind of person who would have five separate hiding places prepared in every town.

Yongrong was most likely to benefit from the Emperor dying (being the likely heir to the throne) but let's put a pin in the real reason he's being detained at home.

Oh no, Ba-gongzi…well, at least now she knows her dad is involved.

Zhao Bingwen had to dangle the mystery of the third person in front of Zang Hai so that he didn't just kill Zhuang Luyin and Cao Jingxian immediately and be done with the whole thing (as he almost did twice).

Lots of comments from netizens about how colonial/imperialist Zhao Bingwen's whole fantasy of conquest is, with folks calling him a fascist and his agenda Make Da-Yong Great Again, etc.

Given what we know now, it seems as though Zhao Bingwen had the shifus teach Zang Hai specifically with dealing with Zhuang Luyin (and Cao Jingxian) in mind. Given his knowledge of Zhuang Luyin it would've been easy to nudge Zang Hai's education in a direction that would help him to gain Zhuang Luyin's favour.

Do you remember the story I told about Diaochan earlier in this thread? How during the Three Kingdoms period she was gifted by her benefactor Wang Yun to the warlord Dong Zhuo and also to his adopted son Lu Bu to make them turn on each other?

Zhao Bingwen is Wang Yun in this analogy.

I also told the story of Xi Shi, which was directly evoked in the show via Kun Opera. In the story of Xi Shi, the strategist Fan Li presents her to King Goujian of Yue so that Goujian can give her to King Fuchai of Wu as a gift. Zhao Bingwen is Fan Li and Goujian in this analogy.

He's the person who trains the spy/operative for their mission of wrecking someone's life (and/or their country).

But Zang Hai was too smart a pawn, too brilliantly opportunistic, and kept doing stuff he couldn't anticipate.

Episode 38

So many tears. What an episode.

Poor Gao Ming is in a state. Zhao Bingwen is right though, this day was always going to come. What he owes Zhao Bingwen was always going to come into conflict with his developing paternal feelings for Zang Hai.

How gracious of Zhao Bingwen to leave Zang Hai a nice looking corpse.

Liang Chao is so good in this scene.

Zang Hai immediately realises that Gao Ming made those dishes. I know a lot of folks were confused by this, but think back to a few eps ago when they had a meal to celebrate getting Antu out of jail and Gao Ming cooked a table full of dishes he could use to shade Zang Hai.

These are the exact dishes Gao Ming made for that meal. That's why Zang Hai knows something is up.

You gotta pay attention to the details in this show.

Look at Zang Hai's face once he realises what's up, aw.

Zang Hai can't even be bothered to say anything else to Zhao Bingwen, lol.

Gao Ming - who said he'd rather die than have Zang Hai die before him - having to watch Zang Hai be executed is just absolutely horrific.

This torture method was reportedly invented in the Ming dynasty. Because it doesn't leave any physical trace, it was often used on officials.

This is a really tough scene to watch.

Thank God for Yongrong's timely interruption. By this point we have had a whole bunch of hints that he's on Zang Hai's side and wants to help him, and not just because of the hidden succession struggle (in which Zhao Bingwen has picked a side).

Even without the rest of the episode, you know as soon as Gao Ming is offered tea that he's toast, right? Zhao Bingwen all but makes it obvious. He doesn't want to leave this loose end.

This entire underworld scene is so beautiful and XZ is so good.

Hard not to tear up when his mother still managed to recognise him. And then him putting his arms around her like a child as if he could prevent her from leaving him that way.

Of course Zang Hai doesn't want to go back. He never wanted to keep living as the only one left. To him, going to the underworld is going home.

In a funny way this "death" is therapeutic for Zang Hai - to hear his family tell him that he should live and he deserves to live.

(The joke people make about Wang Zanghai's immortality is that he can't go to the underworld because he's put too many enemies in there and they'd all want to settle scores.)

Zang Hai: urgh, I guess I'm back.

Ba-gongzi does something remarkable here too, putting Antu above her father and helping them get word out.

Oh wow, I did notice Zang Hai stumbling when he left his cell. So Gao Ming drugged the food.

The fact that the Emperor died saying Zang Hai's name is really gonna make his bad reputation even worse and amplify the chatter about how he got to where he ended up.

Yongrong turned out to be such a reliable ally. Zhao Bingwen imprisoning him provides a pretty good clue that Zhao Bingwen is tangled up with the prince who had been forced to stay in the provinces (the now-ailing Emperor's brother, the late Dowager Empress' son).

Xing Dou and Gao Ming were like two dads arguing over how best to raise their kid, each of them wanting the best for him. Xing Dou's wish was never going to come true, though - Zhao Bingwen would never allow it.

Using a cart labelled as transporting diseased bodies to get Zang Hai and Antu out is genius. One last brilliant con from Gao Ming.

Him having saved all the money Zang Hai gave him for Zang Hai is so Chinese parent it guts me.

This is Gao Ming's penance for the part he played in lying to and manipulating Zang Hai all this time. Xing Dou must have felt the same when he chose to die. Those feelings were real after all.

"You big liar." :(((

Zang Hai is right, from Antu's sister's point of view, she's going to think Antu's there to make trouble for her, if not make a play for the throne.

Well, at least the Queen doesn't want Antu to marry the old man, just the younger one.

The practice of marrying princesses off for diplomacy was very common and normal and a princess would be expected to do her duty. But Dong Xia is matriarchal, hence Antu's outrage.

The new Queen comes across quite badly in these scenes, but nothing she's doing is that unusual. All of this is normal statecraft and succession struggle stuff. Perhaps we're less used to it coming from a female ruler?

Episode 39

Zang Hai back in his native habitat (not prison, manipulating a member of the Zhuang family).

Zang Hai: prison again?

Not sure why they need to have him chained by the ankle, considering, but it's a change of pace I guess.

The moment Antu showed up I knew they were gonna put on some kind of act.

Ah, see, Antu's sister was probably more like a sister to her before absolute power got in between them.

Antu switches to calling the Queen jiejie instead of bixia here when she's asking to have Zang Hai come with her, and the play on familial sentiment actually works because there's a human under there after all.

At least now the Queen knows about the threat posed by Zhao Bingwen. Problem is she has no idea how to counter it.

She's alone too - just like the Dongxia Emperor. Because that's what absolute power does.

They even put Zang Hai in Dongxia fancy servant clothes, hee.

Remember what Ba-gongzi said about Antu and Zang Hai - they're both schemers. Together their powers are amplified.

Zhuang Zhixing to the rescue! I love that Zang Hai knew Zhuang Zhixing would help him, even though he also knows Zhuang Zhixing has very mixed up feelings about him.

He's a general now! And Zang Hai addresses him as one, with deference. Bet that's exciting for Zhuang Zhixing.

Zhuang Zhixing says the general died of illness and he got appointed to replace him. "Sickness", huh?

(Zhuang Zhixing is fated to have almost all his big achievements come from some kind of dodgy deal or nepotism.)

Somewhere in the underworld, Zhuang Luyin just became enraged by Zhuang Zhixing blaming him for the lie about Zang Hai's 3rd enemy.

Zhuang Zhixing: Are you proud of me now??? Are you?

Meanwhile Zang Hai is already suspicious and testing him about Zhao Bingwen.

Zang Hai is so unimpressed by this transparent lie, too.

Here's the thing about Zhuang Zhixing. He's lying to Zang Hai (again) but at the same time he's inviting him to hang out and drink, because he both loves and hates Zang Hai and above all just wants his attention. What would they even talk about?

"No hurry. We have plenty of time."

Oh, he fully thinks he has Zang Hai in his power, that's hilarious.

There it is. Zhuang Zhixing has been working with Zhao Bingwen for ages. Which would be bad, except Zang Hai knows how to deal with Zhuang Zhixing. It's the kind of thing he's best at.

Zhuang Zhixing keeps flipping between calling Zang Hai "xianshang" (teacher) and using his name, which tells you something about his mental state.

XZ said Antu and Zang Hai were Mr and Mrs Smith and they really are. Except Antu has to do alllllllllll the fighting and heavy lifting, lol.

(A lot of the time she's the one carrying their stuff, haha.)

Zhuang Zhixing's attempts at menace just aren't on his father's level, and you can see just how unimpressed Zang Hai is. The worst part is he can't even be bothered pretending to be menaced.

See, I said Zang Hai would know how to turn Zhuang Zhixing. It took him barely any time to come up with the right angle - firstly, making Zhao Bingwen responsible for all that befell Zhuang Zhixing's family.

The way Zang Hai phrased it here - "the first thing he did was send me to your father's side" - really evokes those stories of Diaochan and Xi Shi we've been talking about.

Zhao Bingwen consciously created Zang Hai to deal with Zhuang Luyin.

Secondly, Zang Hai evokes the idiom 狡兔死, 走狗烹 (the hunting dog is boiled when the sly rabbit dies) to impress upon Zhuang Zhixing that Zhao Bingwen kills his former allies, to appeal to his self-interest/strong sense of self-preservation. Which is why he's with Zhao Bingwen to begin with.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Zhixing is not thinking about any of this important stuff:

"Is that all you have to say to me?"

Oh my god, dude. This is what we call 恋爱脑 (lovesick brain). This impression is only reinforced by what he says next.

"Will you serve me like you served my father" - excuse me???

Okay, we're gonna pause and talk about this in detail because it's such a wild thing to say.

He of all people knows why Zang Hai served his father with such deference and care. Obviously he's not saying he wants Zang Hai to secretly plot his death.

…so what kind of relationship does he think Zang Hai had with his father that he also wants to have?

At this point netizens said Zhuang Zhixing had finally stopped reading novels on Fanqie only to switch to Jingjiang.

(Fanqie is for more general audience works, Jingjiang has a lot of tropey danmei, including the "stepmom" trope Zhuang Zhixing comes so close to evoking here. As the famous line from Huai Shang's The Deepest Color of the Night goes, "I'm not here to inherit the estate, I'm here to inherit you".)

Meanwhile, Zang Hai: focus for the love of the nonexistent gods

Zhuang Zhixing punching the tree in frustration/rejected proposal 🤝 Zhuang Luyin having a go at Zang Hai's lantern in lieu of actually touching a hair on Zang Hai's head.

The next moment is incredible - Zang Hai knows he's won and all he has to do is wait for Zhuang Zhixing to come crawling back and act right. The tapping killed me.

And now for the DMBJ portion of this program.

Zang Hai is such a materialist, wow. Typical engineer.

We're back we're we started, with the cold open.

Zhang Mie 张灭 from the story of the Dongxia queen is actually the DMBJ character/title Zhang Qiling 张起灵. (Qi/起 means to lift. If you lift the top half off the character ling/灵 you get mie/灭).

I say title because every generation's leader from the Zhang clan is named Zhang Qiling.

In DMBJ, the Zhang family use the guixi to control the flow of history and they're opposed by the Wang family (as in the antagonist Wang Zanghai we keep talking about). And they did the same here.

This also explains Dongxia's royal line being matriarchal - each Queen can ensure that they pass on the blood that can stop the guixi.

Poor Antu having to protect her weakass boyfriend again, haha.

Remember Xing Dou taking to Zang Hai about observing the movement of the wind? And if you think back to the guy with Kuai Duo in ep 1, he killed himself too. It all lines up.

The benefit of Zhuang Zhixing's past is that no matter how many times he flips it's believable. (I personally think he's working with Zang Hai - otherwise what he said makes no sense).

Episode 40

Some things end and others begin.

The absolute height of black humour for Zhao Bingwen to call Zhuang Zhixing loyal.

(I've said before that aspects of his story remind me of Lu Bu and Lu Bu is known for, among other things, turning his back on 3 different father figures consecutively.)

The now late Emperor was childless. Typically, he would've picked a son from among the royal family to adopt as his successor. Prince Linzi who we've heard about a lot was born of the previous Empress, so any sons of his would be very royal and a good pick. The other choice would be the late Emperor's brother, Yongrong.

But Zhao Bingwen was the all-powerful Grand Secretary doing the picking, and he's not going to pick someone in a different faction to him, who wouldn't let him do whatever he wanted. Even if he was already consorting with Prince Linzi (likely), he wants someone much easier to control than that.

So he picked Prince Linzi's son, who has a good claim anyway, and who's guaranteed to not have as strong a base already, and who'll be grateful to him.

This is also positive for Zhuang Zhixing because he's in the same faction as Zhao Bingwen by association. Hence the promotion - the new emperor will be keen to secure the loyalty of someone with a military command.

Zhao Bingwen knows what to say to Zhuang Zhixing with "you've already overtaken your father".

Poor Zang Hai has to bend down so far when he's being escorted around. Tall people problems.

See, I knew Zhuang Zhixing and Zang Hai were putting on an act here immediately because 1) Zhuang Zhixing simply does not yell at Zang Hai like that and 2) Zang Hai is doing his "I'm a morally outraged Great Yong loving clean official" persona he always does for Zhao Bingwen.

(But Zhao Bingwen doesn't know that and tells them off for arguing like a tired parent.)

See, that glance is exactly like when they used to look at each other behind Zhuang Luyin's back.

When has creating a zombie army ever been a good idea???

Zang Hai just looking at Zhao Bingwen all amused and superior - I know something you don't know.

Oh lol, Zang Hai removed the pages about the problems with the zombie soldiers to lure Zhao Bingwen into going to the cavern. Amazing.

Praying for the Queen to use her brain instead of purely acting out of fear as she has been. Antu does very well here appealing to whatever good instincts she has, her fear of the guixi (not knowing anything about it), as well as any sentiment she has left.

Zhuang Zhixing: you're gonna backstab me? I've already backstabbed you.

His deal with Zhao Bingwen was never built on full trust. In this way he's smarter than his father, who seemed to have trusted Zhao Bingwen entirely and listened to him for his whole life, including leaving his son in his care.

Zang Hai rolling his eyes at Zhao Bingwen really cracked me up.

And then we have the final appearance of vengeance demon Zang Hai - pretending to be a necromancer edition. Just incredibly satisfying and fun.

He manages to kill with his will and words just like Xing Dou said he could in episode 2.

Netizens said that in one way the show was like one of those transmigration novels where the protag/player has a system controlling their actions, except the protagonist ends up overthrowing the system and finding their own way.

He goes from being a game piece to the person playing.

Fuck yeah, Antu to the rescue of her weak and helpless boyfriend.

I laughed at Zang Hai falling over - he really had to get all the typical FL tropes in there before the end. (Can't hold his own in a fight, physically weak and clumsy, can occasionally self-rescue a little.)

That shot with Zang Hai hugging Antu and then looking at Zhuang Zhixing and Zhuang Zhixing looking back is extremely Zang Hai has a wife and a husband.

(Or maybe two husbands. Antu clearly thinks Zang Hai is her wife.)

Antu's face when Zang Hai said he wanted to study the guixi before destroying it was at least a little concerned, haha.

(But of course it can't be destroyed at this stage, it has to keep appearing in future DMBJ canon.)

Zang Hai calls Zhuang Zhixing "General Zhuang" again.

The nice thing about Zhao Bingwen's nonsense is that he did it without the Emperor's permission, so all the Emperor has to do to maintain peace is to repudiate him (even though they were allies).

Especially with the guixi "destroyed".

Zhuang Zhixing is all happy because he thinks they're both back in court and he has time to work on his relationship with Zang Hai again, this time as relative equals.

Zang Hai cannot believe that Zhuang Zhixing, a literal general, wants to race against someone as physically incapable as him, haha.

Zang Hai's encounter with the new Emperor is worth breaking down in some detail.

First, we have the return of careful, deferential Zang Hai (waiting for the Emperor to finish playing before announcing his presence). Which we know is not how he'd behave given a choice. And then responding to the Emperor's praise with extreme humility, pointing to his own lack of family status and qualifications.

Zang Hai wisely shows no interest in the items, because to do so would be to hint that he's still attached to the old Emperor.

The Emperor: I hear you were a favourite of the old Emperor.

The Emperor: So what should I do with these things that the old Emperor treasured?

The Emperor: We should burn these things the old Emperor liked, so he can enjoy them in the afterlife. Like you, for example.

Here I must remind you for almost the last time that Zang Hai's reputation is that of someone who climbed rapidly via favouritism and backstabbing and murder. With many rumours about how he came by that favouritism (given his total lack of family background). So of course the new Emperor is wary of this treacherous snake and doesn't want him around.

Zang Hai: please let me retire. Yes, I'm 19. But you want me to retire.

(Please don't think the Emperor actually wants him to stay. This is just how fancy Chinese people talk.)

You can also see this from the Emperor's extremely aggressive opening to the weiqi game, btw, because this show spared no detail.

Aw man, what a lovely scene with Liu Chu visiting Gao Ming with his favourite wine. Lucky she never got too involved with Zhao Bingwen.

Normally someone like Ba-gongzi would be punished heavily for what her father did. But she's ended up with a really prestigious role - because, again, her father supported the new Emperor's claim to the throne, and if he hadn't done something mad he would be in a good position.

The theory about Shi Lei and Guan Feng is that they've been asked to keep running Pillow Pavilion and they're the beginning of the DMBJ Wang faction.

Zhuang Zhixing is back where he started but now being called Marquis. He got what he wanted (and what he promised his father).

The cycle begins again with two ambitious rulers and an ambitious Marquis. All alone.

This city - no, this country, the crumbling edifice of feudalism - is gonna eat you alive. The only victory is to remove oneself from the system, like Zang Hai and Antu.

Once directors Zheng Xiaolong and Cao Yiwen decided they wanted to do this project with Xiao Zhan, they spent a long time revising the original script (by the author of DMBJ and a frequent collaborator), a process which included 10 months of meetings with the author/IP holder.

The result is a show which managed to convince skeptics among DMBJ fans and had them thanking the directors for filling in many gaps in their canon/setting.

(Fans used to say that Wang Zanghai was an all-powerful antagonist the author came up with to fill plot holes.)

Wang Zanghai will go on to find the secret to eternal life, build grand tombs, and create a faction in opposition to the Zhang family.

As for Great Yong, there's gonna be a big rebellion and the capital will be sacked within these characters' lifetimes, ending the dynasty.

So there are lots and lots of potential sequel hooks especially considering the rest of Wang Zanghai's life and said crumbling edifice of a dynasty. But I'm happy with the open ending we have.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Lee watches Legend of Zang Hai: Episodes 21-30

Plot, language, culture, history, Chinese TV and novel tropes, and general commentary.

Episodes 1-10 here and 11-20 here.

Episode 21

Zang Hai does DIY, and also some deadly court intrigue

Zang Hai's tour of suspicious people's houses continues with Zhao Bingwen.

Immediately we see from him fixing the tiles on his place that at least his image is that of a clean official, one who doesn't care about money and is very into Confucian morals.

So of course he's contemptuous of an obsequious climber nepo baby like Zang Hai.

And in response Zang Hai turns on a dime into a completely different persona, a "clean official" like Zhao Bingwen.

I love Zang Hai's response here - he doesn't care what anyone says about him, and hey he's totally fine, so all the stuff they said must be false slander, right?

(To 参 someone is to basically tell on them to the Emperor and everyone else at court. It's like an earlier version of the call out post.)

Zang Hai tells Zhao Bingwen that he intends to make the various shitty factions fight each other (which is, to be fair, his speciality).

And in return he faces his nth rendition of "so I hear you're the Marquis' man, what's up with that?"

Zhao Bingwen's not wrong - if you have grand designs, you need to first acquire the power and climb high enough to effect change.

Now he's being asked by a member of the cabinet to do DIY on his house. Lol.

This entire next sequence is so tense. I kind of love that in this show the other characters are so smart that Zang Hai's casual lies don't always work and sometimes he needs a hand (see also last ep).

This also shows you the benefits of staying perfectly calm and sticking to your story in such a scenario.

Ba-gongzi being a powerful man's child was already clear from her being able to run into Antu like that and her clothes but it's pretty cool that Zhao Bingwen is so permissive.

You gotta help out your girlfriend's boyfriend whenever you can, right?

So according to the records Zang Hai found, Zhao Bingwen has an alibi.

I like how instead of saying girls shouldn't do work that requires them to be in public (in accordance with traditional values), Gao Ming says "I'd just laze around and enjoy the money".

The 话本 (script form novel primarily to be read out loud) that Zang Hai found for Ba-gongzi is 韩擒虎话本, a renowned work in the medium from the Tang Dynasty. Fun fact, the copy we have now from that era is in the British Museum.

Zang Hai low key suspects that Ba-gongzi is being used by her dad to spread whatever message he wants to get to the general public.

Zang Hai is telling Antu the truth - he's not curious about other people's secrets because he's only interested in his own revenge.

Aw, he still thinks he could finish up his business and then come find her. That's so good, such an improvement on just wanting to die.

By late Ming court sessions were sort of a formality and a time waster (it required the officials to get up very early and spend a lot of time waiting) as you can see here. One Ming emperor failed to attend court for over 20 years.

So favoured eunuchs basically ended up in charge, like Cao Jingxian here.

The thing they're all holding is a 笏 (hu), originally intended for officials to jot notes on, but by the Ming dynasty it was more of a ceremonial requirement for court. They were usually made of ivory.

It's abundantly clear that this is meant to be late Ming because, to put it flippantly, everything is so fucked. The government can't even afford to hold imperial examinations to select new officials once every three years.

Look, Cao Jingxian is giving Zang Hai shit already.

Meanwhile, the Marquis: yeah, that's my man, he's a kanyu genius.

I often say that Romance of the Three Kingdoms helps decode every other Chinese story, and hopefully you're starting to see that since I keep using stories from RoTK to illustrate what's going on in the show.

For example, Cao Jingxian giving Zang Hai this job is an obvious trap.

One of the most famous stories in RoTK is Zhou Yu ordering Zhuge Liang to construct 100,000 arrows in 10 days, an obviously impossible task, because he wanted an excuse to punish and even kill him, to make Zhuge Liang submit to his authority.

That's what Cao Jingxian is doing.

Zhuang Zhifu fucking with Zang Hai like he's begging for a higher spot on Zang Hai's murder list.

Really enjoyed Zang Hai countering with "aren't we both from the same family?" and using his father against him (which only works because he's so close to the Marquis).

And then Zhuang Zhifu has to do what he wants because he knows Zang Hai is close to his father. Closer than he is, by some measures.

Now he's pulling a "participate in my corruption or else". Eesh.

If I were Zang Hai, I wouldn't eat any food Lu Ran handed me, geez. Look at that smirk.

Cao Jingxian: look, it's Zhuang Zhifu who's fucking with you, why don't you betray the Marquis and come to my camp.

The Marquis seems positively nice compared to Cao Jingxian - or at least he does everything in the open (as Zang Hai says, he hasn't interfered with Zang Hai's business at all).

Aw, Gao Ming being like most importantly you need to try and stay alive.

Zang Hai will do a lot for revenge, but he refuses to be one of those dirty officials. He only returns evil to evil.

The difference between Zang Hai and your standard protagonist is that he's far more ruthless toward himself. He's willing to offer up his pride, dignity, reputation - all the things a man is meant to value more than his life - in service of his goals.

Episode 22

Court intrigue (and Zang Hai's shit-stirring) intensifies

Oh look, Smirky is back.

The problem with backing a venomous snake into a corner is that it's gonna bite you. And that's Zang Hai, as Xiao Zhan has said.

Using shadow puppetry to show Zang Hai's internal thought process is so cool.

The Marquis is an easy target precisely because his achievements were so monumental. Someone in that position is already the target of suspicion and suppression by a wary Emperor. It would be easy for Zang Hai to create a situation where that wariness tips over into mistrust. As he says, making the Marquis harm himself.

But with Cao Jingxian around the best play is to make him and the Marquis fight each other.

Zhuang Zhifu tells us that Zang Hai's lovely residence was gifted to him by the Marquis, and is actually bigger than Zang Hai is allowed to have as a fifth ranked official. Again, please imagine just how bad this looks from the outside and what gossip would've been saying about that.

Zhuang Zhifu and Zang Hai both say "we're part of the same family" a bunch of times this ep and it never fails to crack me up.

Haha, Zhuang Zhifu really isn't capable of any kind of subterfuge. God, he's an idiot. It's almost cute.

Wow, Zang Hai really was planning to just not have the project finish on time, blame Zhuang Zhifu and pull his poor little meow meow act on the Marquis again, huh.

God I love his smirk of "I'm plotting something nasty".

Cao Jingxian: the Marquis hates betrayal, he'll kill Zang Hai for sure for pulling Zhuang Zhifu down with him.

My dude, you do not know the extent to which Zang Hai has the Marquis in the palm of his hand.

The note says Zhuang Zhifu is appropriating funds from the treasury meant for tomb construction.

Haha, the Marquis is mad he's dumb enough to get caught. Now he has to clean up after his idiot son.

Hey, Zhuang Zhifu, you know who the Marquis has never hit (despite all his posturing)?

Here's Zang Hai with his little meow meow act right on schedule, on his knees begging for forgiveness. He's even calling himself 小人 (this insignificant one) again.

The Marquis doesn't even yell at him and gives him so many chances to explain himself. But do you see why?

This is a test. If Zang Hai had given in to the Marquis' coaxing and told the truth (that he'd been forced into the dodgy dealings by Zhuang Zhifu), then he would've failed the test. What the Marquis cares about most is loyalty. Being willing to hold the bag is demonstrating loyalty. By refusing to implicate Zhuang Zhifu and taking all the blame, Zang Hai passes the test.

This is easy mode for him - absolute loyalty is at the heart of his con. He destroys existing relationships and replaces them with dependence on him (as Madame Jiang said).

A fun detail - in this scene Zang Hai is wearing the outfit Lord Yongrong gave him, which is probably the fanciest he owns.

Kind of goes with the whole "I suddenly care about money" act.

Zang Hai's guide to surviving a crisis: just get on your knees, say it's all your fault, and please punish me. (Only works for him though.)

The Marquis saying so indulgently "just be smarter next time" made me laugh so hard. God, I love their scenes together.

What a great time for Zhuang Zhixing to remind the Marquis that he has another son who's actually smart and could amount to something. And Zhuang Zhixing is just basking in the approval he hasn't had for so long. Oof.

Zang Hai is so smug right now. He's made it so that the Marquis' fortunes are even more tied to his, and the Marquis now has to defend him.

And in court we see the Marquis stepping up to support his man and fight Cao Jingxian.

Bwhaha, Zang Hai barely had to say anything. Look at that little smirk and those eyes, he's so pleased to have caused this fight.

Sometimes I just have to stop and marvel at the fact that this amazing character exists and Xiao Zhan plays him.

Cao Jingxian marvels at the Marquis' uncharacteristic behaviour and uses the term 护短 which basically means when you cover for the shortcomings of someone close to you so they don't get punished.

I mean yes, Cao Jingxian is right that the Marquis is after the guixi but also, he's fallen headlong into a trap based on false info Zang Hai wanted him to have.

Ba-gongzi telling Antu "I'm on your side" is very cute.

Cao Jingxian seems quite familiar with Zhuang Zhifu.

Oh. So Zhuang Zhifu has been appropriating government money forever and Cao Jingxian (along with his father and grandfather) has been covering for him. Cool.

As comical as Zhuang Zhifu can be as a character, it's worth remembering the cost of his crimes in actual human lives (for example the people who died when the substandard levee collapsed).

Even Zhuang Zhifu knows what he's being blackmailed into doing is bad and stupid but does he have a choice at this point?

Zhuang Zhifu insists on gifting Zang Hai his mutton fat jade ornament, an expensive type of jade known for its purity and lustre. It symbolises all the gentlemanly qualities but also other more earthly qualities like tenderness and nobility.

Oh man, what a great episode. Shit is getting so real.

Episode 23

In which Zang Hai causes even more problems on purpose and oh nooooooo impending heartbreak

Haha Zang Hai really is trying to make this fool proof to make sure Zhuang Zhifu gets caught in his trap. (Literally showing him the sketch! Telling him that he can't hold his liquor and babbles when drunk!)

Hint hint hint - please get me drunk.

Once again I am going to tell you a story from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, captured in the idiom 蒋干盗书. Jiang Gan was an official under the warlord Cao Cao who volunteered to go and talk his old pal Zhou Yu into surrendering to Cao Cao. Jiang Gan was also an idiot.

Zhou Yu set him up by planting false letters of surrender from two of Cao's important generals for Jiang Gan to steal.

He then proceeded to get drunk with Jiang Gan and allow Jiang Gan to steal the letters and take them back to Cao Cao (so Cao would kill the generals).

That is of course exactly what Zang Hai did to Zhuang Zhifu here - luring him into taking false information to his master, so that it will be believed and acted upon.

Cao Jingxian continues to be amazed by how much the Marquis trusts Zang Hai, which is very amusing to me.

I kind of laughed at Zang Hai saying that Madame Jiang was trying to alienate him from the Marquis and chase him out. It's entirely true and makes sense as part of his act, but it's just so hilariously concubine coded.

Zang Hai's drunk acting is the funniest scene so far in the entire show

See how masterfully Zang Hai is lying here with the truth. He says "that thing" is in the basement - he never says the guixi. How he makes Zhuang Zhifu think he's been so clever to get all this info out of him.

Cao Jingxian is trying to stir shit but he's not wrong that the Marquis trusts Zang Hai more than his family, that Zang Hai has clearly chosen to help Zhuang Zhixing, and Madame Jiang has less influence on the Marquis these days as a bed companion (vs Zang Hai as a confidant).

Then Zang Hai drops a bomb re Zhuang Zhixing knowing about Madame Jiang's murder of his mother to force Zhuang Zhifu into action. Because he wants Zhuang Zhifu to stab him. He even waited until he'd been stabbed to give the signal to Shilei to come rescue him.

The phrase 以身入局 (to commit one's body to the scheme) is often used to describe the show and it's so apt. More than any other protag I've seen in this genre, Zang Hai has turned his own body into a tool for his revenge.

Also dang that was a cool fight scene.

Haha, Cao Jingxian is happy either way - maybe Zang Hai dies, and either way he can use it to get Zhuang Zhifu, since he no longer cares about keeping the peace with the Marquis.

Pictured: probably Zang Hai's ultimate, crowning poor little meow meow moment.

He's got the Marquis genuinely panicking, and even half-dead still managed to convey that 1) he's so loyal he's still trying to cover for the man who stabbed him, and 2) it's all Cao Jingxian's fault.

Cracks me up that we keep being reminded of Zang Hai's lack of physical strength and yet every time we see him shirtless he seems, uh. Perfectly fit.

Cao Jingxian thinks he's being targeted unfairly, but of course from the Marquis' POV he's just retaliating after being backed into a corner.

Interesting that he intends to try and bring Cao Jingxian down using official channels (having other officials report him for his crimes).

Every time they use Kun Opera in the show it gives me chills. I'll write a bit about a specific piece later.

Laughing a bit at how many layers Zang Hai has to take off to get in the water. I counted four.

The thing about the guixi is that even if the Marquis or Cao Jingxian got hold of it, they don't know how to use it.

Oh man, the tension of the audience knowing the hostage has to be Antu but Zang Hai doesn't know yet.

Zang Hai being like 'a 10 year old could plot a murder' makes a lot more sense when you saw what he was like as a 10 year old

The way Zhuang Zhixing's face changes whenever he's looking at Zang Hai is really something.

Meanwhile, Zang Hai is just faithfully trying to fulfill his side of the bargain by making Zhuang Zhixing the preferred heir. He knows the Marquis so much better than anyone else that it's almost easy.

People sure love to put their sword on Zang Hai's shoulder near his neck.

Oh man, she's planning to grab the guixi and then tell him everything nooooooooo

(I love the way Zhang Jingyi plays this, her hurt and vulnerability is so youthful and raw.)

She's trying to keep him out of danger :((( And he was planning to not show up because his revenge is still paramount and he wants to keep her out of danger :(((

My poor kids, tomorrow you'll be enemies and the angst will be delicious.

Another banger of an episode. Genuinely afraid of what's coming. (Zang Hai's smile was so chilling, oof.)

Episode 24

Nothing good happens at banquets.

The world's most awkward birthday party.

Sending memorials to the Emperor about Cao Jingxian is basically suicide because Cao Jingxian is the one reviewing the memorials, not the Emperor. Just late Ming things.

Zang Hai is wearing such a festive red. It's the Marquis' birthday but also a day of celebration for him, the culmination of a lot of plotting.

They're right that Cao Jingxian is terrible. Who's gonna sign on to openly go up against him though, when his power is so entrenched and the risks of backlash are so high?

Bwhaha, the shots of Zang Hai watching this, he might as well have popcorn.

I love all these hints of a long shared history between Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin and them having been very close once upon a time.

We all know that Zhuang Luyin is a great villain but Cao Jingxian is also such a wonderfully effective bad guy. What a performance.

Haha, Zang Hai doesn't even move to leave until the Marquis tells him to.

Remember the Marquis saying he'd crush Zang Hai's kneecaps for Zhuang Zhifu? And now - that's karma for you.

Ah, Cao Jingxian's play is to make it seem like Zhuang Zhifu's corruption was to fund a potential rebellion for the Marquis. That's the kind of crime your entire clan gets executed for.

Did you think for a second that the Marquis would give himself up to save his idiot useless son?

Hahaha, the Marquis' shocked face when Cao Jingxian stabbed himself.

And now the two of them are trapped in ZH's misinformation vortex. "Even if I had it" is not a good thing to say here, dude.

Cao Jingxian really loses it when the Marquis calls him 老阉狗, a super insulting term for enunchs. (It literally translates as old castrated dog.)

What a treat to get to watch the Marquis in his element. Seeing him fight really establishes how fearsome he is and how trying to kill him in a direct confrontation would always have been suicidal.

Zang Hai is killing his heart (destroying what he cares about most, as Zang Hai explained to Zhuang Zhixing in his Vengeance 101 class), but he's not going to stop there.

Guan Feng calling Antu "that fierce/aggressive woman" is very funny. (Again, makes sense once you realise she's from a matriarchal society. Remember, she whipped Zhinu for peering into her carriage.)

As we know, Zang Hai has a glorious future of setting traps like this for unsuspecting would be break-ins ahead of him. Joking aside, he's genuinely pretty scary in this scene.

The way Zang Hai looked at masked Antu in this scene, oooh boy. Like looking at a dead person. Do not get yourself a man who looks at you like this.

You know, in case you've forgotten how ruthless he is to his enemies.

迷香 (stupefying incense) is a pretty common plot point in costume dramas/novels. Effects vary from inducing sleep to inducing strength loss to aphrodisiacs.

Aw man, Antu doesn't want him to see that it's her.

His crazed reaction and the way he actually stumbles over his words when questioning her :(((

XZ's so good here, you can really see the way this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Before he started wanting something with Antu, the only thing keeping Zang Hai alive was his revenge. And now those two things have dovetailed in the worst way possible.

Zang Hai actually uses Antu's full name (the full name that he knows) here when telling her his secret.

Extremely dark joke alert but netizens were saying that in a way Antu had now met the parents. (It is traditional to take one's spouse to see one's parents' graves.)

The laser guided karma here is very Zheng Xiaolong - the man who threatened to kill Kuai Duo's family to get him to give up the seal is threatened with the same by Cao Jingxian. The Marquis even says it himself.

And Zang Hai presiding over it all like the vengeful ghost he is, having told Zhuang Zhixing not to turn up until it's truly dire. (Think about what it says about Zhuang Zhixing that he listens.)

Aw, Zang Hai was not very happy Zhuang Zhixing got hurt saving his father.

Boy, look at the Marquis' thousand yard stare.

Haha, Zang Hai even gave himself an injury to make his actions seem less suspicious.

One last classic "please punish me" for the road, and finally the Marquis goes hang on, this is a bit convenient…But he still only suspects Zang Hai of being in league with Zhuang Zhixing.

And by this point he can't do anything about it, he has to rely on Zang Hai because there's no one else. Zang Hai has forced him into a corner.

Gah, the way Zang Hai looked down at the fallen Marquis with cold pleasure at the end there. So good.

Huang Jue is so good you can almost feel sympathy for this tremendously bad and selfish person. And the key is he doesn't play it with any irony or self-pity or desire to white-wash him. He's just this unrepentantly high-handed, rule by brute force, ambitious guy.

Ooh, that look on Madame Jiang's face. That's trouble.

Now Zhuang Zhixing has pretty much everything he wants, what's he gonna do?

Episode 25

More sweet sweet laser guided karma, Zhuang Zhixing gets everything he wants but in the worst way, and the boy who loves to keep people in his basement

Genuinely a bit scared heading into this episode.

Here's something else about this show - it's episode 25 and we're only now seeing the Emperor. And he's not glorified, he's both terrifying and kind of pathetic. I grew up watching amazing political intrigue dramas (such as those based on the novels of Eryue He) but they glorified the Emperor and imperial power to a sickening extent.

Why should I root for this man who already has everything and uses his power to compel others? Who wants to watch an all-powerful man angst about his entirely self-inflicted loneliness?

But I knew Zheng Xiaolong wouldn't do me wrong like that because his work always portrays imperial/feudal wealth and power critically and with an eye on its fatal flaws.

And now it's Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin's turn to act like poor little meow meows. That's how it is in front of the Emperor - you get punished and have to say thank you. And in the Marquis' case he has to suggest his son's punishment and be thankful for it.

Zhuang Luyin asks for Zhuang Zhifu to be stripped of his rank and become a 庶人 (a commoner who isn't allowed to take any official position again) in return for sparing his life. He also asks to retire from his position at court (致仕) in recognition of his own fault.

So he took Zang Hai's good advice. You can see how surprising it was by the way the other officials on their knees turn to look at him.

And as Cao Jingxian says, it gives him nothing to fight against.

(Zhuang Luyin's status as Lord of Pingjin is hereditary and separate from his court role so he still has that.)

Cao Jingxian uses Antu's full name - Ming Xiang Antu 明香暗荼 (tu is a kind of flower).

Ming is the dynastic last name of the Dong Xia queens. My personal theory is that Xiang is the father's last name (which follows the mother's because Dong Xia is matriarchal).

Aww, Ba-gongzi is worried about Antu.

Zang Hai being like if you find her please let me know, you absolute bastard.

You can almost see Liu Chu thinking "wtf is wrong with this guy, why does he have such a well appointed murder basement"?

Zang Hai found the only woman in the Revenge Gang to come and take care of Antu. That's kind of nice? Ish?

Bwhaha, Liuchu's accusing look at Zang Hai as Antu collapses.

How do you keep a physically more powerful person captive as a weak person? Answer: by drugging their food.

Our protagonist has had a preference for keeping people in his basement since he was a kid.

He heard "lock up your heart" from Liuchu and got "lock up the person you like". And his basement/dungeon is what kept him alive all those years ago. In his fucked up little brain he thinks of it as the safest place to be.

Zang Hai accusing Antu of playing with him is extremely funny (it's the kind of thing a woman who has been robbed of her innocence by a scoundrel would say) but also it's in keeping with his green tea methods to act the victim when he's the one imprisoning her.

Zang Hai has started calling Antu 殿下 (dianxia, honorific for princes).

Zang Hai probably planned to disappear the princess from the beginning in order to get the Dong Xia side to make a move. But it being Antu really fucked him up precisely because he had caught genuine feelings for her and wasn't just using her.

The Marquis is a realistic man, he knows it's over for him now.

Zhuang Zhixing offers to go fight at the border so he can earn some glory and get promoted that way but that takes time. The Marquis wants him to enter the martial imperial exams instead.

If Zhuang Zhixing wins the whole thing he can get appointed to a position in court, likely with some military authority.

Look at him, he's just so eager for his father's regard.

The Marquis is wining and dining his former subordinates who are in charge of the martial exams. Pretty obvious bit of corruption about to happen.

Zhuang Zhixing will never be able to escape the nepo baby accusations.

Meanwhile the man himself is still in his shonen protag lane - if I try really hard, that'll do it right?

But he's already starting to want more than just his father's regard. He wants power and prestige. And Zang Hai can see that too. He's being quite supportive though.

BTW, remember they're meant to be basically the same age but Zang Hai is just so much more worldly. Zhuang Zhixing is a guile hero too, he's just in the same show as the ultimate guile hero.

I'm really gonna miss these conversations with the Marquis.

Zang Hai totally has the initiative now though, he's just leading the Marquis wherever he wants him.

The status difference between a 嫡出 (born of the father's official wife) and 庶出 (born of anyone else) child of a noble/wealthy family in the Ming dynasty was massive, as Zang Hai says here. It affects how you're treated your entire life, including marriage and promotions.

Zang Hai has now achieved what he promised Zhuang Zhixing - Shen Wan will now have a wife's title (of equal status to Madame Jiang) and even have her spot in the Zhuang ancestral halls and the ancestral grave site. And Zhuang Zhixing will be the Marquis' official heir.

Meanwhile, what the Marquis thinks happened is that Zang Hai spotted an opportunity to strengthen his hand and built Zhuang Zhixing up in order to further his own ambitions, and the Marquis is allowing it because it's ultimately good for the family.

I like this bit with Zhuang Zhixing thanking Zang Hai and then Zang Hai toasting the watching Marquis before he actually drinks. Such a fun illustration of the dynamic between the three of them.

Zhuang Zhixing is right, Zang Hai has gotten him here. Zang Hai js right too - Zhuang Zhixing is there thanks to his own choices.

Madame Jiang knows karma's coming for her. Don't you worry, your son's got enough karma debt of his own. He's lost his position and is lucky he hasn't lost his life.

(The plaque says the deceased Madame Shen Wan, virtuous wife.)

Episode 26

The showdown of the century x2 and every single popular ship BEs in the same episode

Madame Jiang was stewing but not furious when she thought her status was secure. As the Marquis' wife she is legally Zhuang Zhixing's mother regardless of birth. But the elevation of Shen Wan to wife changes all that. And as a noble's daughter she can't stand a nobody being equal to her.

She almost came out with the truth about Shen Wan's death there, ooh.

Don't force a woman like Madame Jiang into a corner.

(Say it with me - nothing good happens at banquets.)

Zang Hai has to pull Zhuang Zhixing back from the brink there - he knows too well how Zhuang Zhixing feels and he's much more used to controlling it.

Ah, the Marquis wants to pack them all away.

Of course the Marquis isn't going to spare any sentiment, he's a selfish bastard, always has been.

I like that someone as terrible as Madame Jiang is still portrayed with empathy on this show and still gets great moments of her own.

Zang Hai himself is immune from the lust for power but Zhuang Zhixing isn't. He's gone from venerating his father to thinking he could easily supplant him.

Zhuang Zhixing says he was jealous his dad saved Zang Hai from the fire but he doesn't say who he was jealous of. Does he even know?

Zhuang Zhixing was jealous that his selfish father would risk his own life for someone and that someone wasn't a member of his own family but Zang Hai. That's the most straightforward canonical explanation for what he said. What a show.

(Zhuang Zhixing also really wanted to go in there and save Zang Hai himself but Zang Hai explicitly told him not to and to leave it to his father, knowing the Marquis would come. That's canon too.)

You can see that Zang Hai knows exactly where Zhuang Zhixing is going with this speech. And the way he looks at Zhuang Zhixing goes from warm to cold before Zhuang Zhixing even asks him to spare his father.

The thing is if the third person had been the Emperor, Zang Hai would still probably go after him.

Netizens say Zang Hai is refreshing because he's an anti-圣父 (holy father) protagonist - he's not preachy and insistent on moral purity (which would balk at rebellion).

Zhuang Zhixing, you are not equipped to stand in Zang Hai's way. And he must know that morally he's got no leg to stand on especially since as he said Zang Hai got him here (and he owes Zang Hai a filial debt/duty as his teacher/先生 which he's turning his back on).

I love Xiao Zhan's performance here, he's always on the edge of totally losing it in these scenes with Antu. They are having a fairly sensible argument about the possibilities but I really don't know how much Zang Hai is processing.

Zhuang Zhixing got himself a minor position in court as a military official (minor because he's in green) as the winner of the martial exam.

Aw, Zang Hai even looks pleased for him. That's nice.

Girl boss Madame Jiang is wearing the official vestments of the wife of a first ranking official, topped by a 五翟冠 (five pheasant crown) befitting her rank. If she was a member of the imperial family, it would be a phoenix crown.

You can see from the painting how accurate it is.

Side note, you can also see the Emperor in his court clothes, mostly in yellow and gold with dragon patterns.

Madame Jiang is referred to by her official title 庄蒋氏 (Madame Zhuang Jiang) and refers to herself as 命妇 (basically her class - a noble's wife).

Madame Jiang has invoked 击登闻鼓喊冤, a longstanding tradition in which the imperial palace must always have a drum which in theory anyone can hit if they have a grievance, and it must then be dealt with.

Really enjoyed watching Zang Hai go from surprised to looking pleased all without moving a muscle on his face. Xiao Zhan's micro-expressions are just incredible.

Meanwhile Zhuang Zhixing just continues to live to have his precious illusions shattered. You thought you earned that? Nah.

Of course everything the Marquis is being accused of is true and has been true forever, but it didn't matter before.

Look at that smug bitch face on Zang Hai, my god.

I've been looking forward to this next scene for so long and it was so good I wrote a lot of notes watching it, so let's get into it.

Zhuang Luyin's sitting there like a lion at rest, fully confident that he's going to survive this because he's got people all over the military and they'd be upset if he got executed.

Zang Hai's not just here to gloat. He's here to make sure Zhuang Luyin doesn't get out of this. Keep that in mind when you think about what Zang Hai says next.

He's sensible though, he doesn't start until the door is locked.

(Zang Hai sitting down looool.)

This is the first time he's ever looked at Zhuang Luyin straight on. First time he isn't using the honorific you.

You know Zang Hai's con has been massively successful because Zhuang Luyin's first thought is that Zang Hai has just joined Cao Jingxian rather than the whole thing having been a con from the beginning.

Also very funny: Zhuang Luyin immediately throwing the wine away.

I kind of love that Zhuang Luyin is unrepentant to the end.

You don't have to believe in karma for it to happen to you, dude.

Now, who believes the Marquis when he says the first thing he's gonna do when he gets a chance is kill Zang Hai?

I don't. If he could mean that, he wouldn't have lost.

Then we have the key information Zang Hai came to convey - that the Emperor wants Zhuang Luyin dead, and will indulge Cao Jingxian if Cao Jingxian can make it happen.

He wants Zhuang Luyin to take desperate measures.

Zang Hai: I'm not an amateur villain giving the gloating speech too early, c'mon.

This is a beautiful villain monologue though. Even complete with the guy on the other end being like if you're a man, fight me like one!

Zang Hai being able to say in the midst of his gloating speech that "oh and your son hangs on my every word" is incredible. What a show.

Get yourself a hero who gets challenged by the villain to fight like a man and responds by saying he doesn't care about methods, only results, and anyway, don't try and make me feel bad, I'm not even human anymore.

Xiao Zhan is incredible here.

And here we have Zhuang Luyin realising his son is more like him than he thought.

Huang Jue is really good here - he really gets across his very mixed feelings toward Zang Hai, toward his own son, and then his despair at the end.

Oof, Zang Hai is at least a little bothered by that comment about what his (proper, honorable) father would think of him. He's just absolutely at the end of his tether.

This wordless scene is amazingly acted by XZ, the transition from struggling to keep it together to being able to let those feelings go and regaining his determination to proceed at the end.

Episode 27

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players

Madame Jiang tells Zhuang Zhifu's wife to take the poisoned tea to her 小叔子 (literally small uncle, specific term for BIL).

But Zhuang Zhixing knows better than to drink anything from her side of the family.

So the Zhuangs lose everything.

You kind of have to hand it to Madame Jiang, she always does the most.

And once again we see laser guided karma - the poisoner ends up dying by poison, and Zhuang Zhixing has his promised revenge.

Lol, as if Zhuang Luyin would ever kill himself.

He's lost his position but the Emperor has basically decided to let him live. But remember what Zang Hai told him (to make him think that his life is in danger unless he does something).

Love that Zang Hai even predicted he'd do a blood letter and planned to replace it.

Haha, this is such a dark move by Zang Hai to turn it into a threat to expose Cao Jingxian. He's destroyed their relationship completely. 借刀杀人 (to kill with a borrowed knife) is such a great stratagem.

Zang Hai probably wanted to get Cao Jingxian to snuff Zhuang Luyin in jail. Except Cao Jingxian had an even better idea - force Zhuang Luyin to launch a coup and the Emperor will have to kill him and his entire remaining family.

Zang Hai asking Antu "can I sit here for a while" in the dungeon he made that he's locked her in lmao

(Okay, yes, he's in a mood and he wants to hang out somewhere he's comfortable - underground - with someone he likes.)

And now he's crying like she's been doing god knows what to him loooool

All joking aside, it's pretty obvious what's eating him at this point, when he's finally so close to paying off one of his blood debts.

The use of Kun Opera in the rest of the episode is absolute genius and really elevates the whole thing alongside the great cinematography and direction and performances.

So let's talk a bit about this particular piece.

Cao Jingxian's band plays selections from 浣纱记, a Ming dynasty Kun Opera adaptation of the Han dynasty historical text 吴越春秋. The opera depicts the comeback triumph of the King of Yue over the King of Wu during the Warring States period.

The most famous part of this story is the King of Yue's use of the beauty plot. His strategist Fan Li presented him with the beauty Xi Shi, who he in turn gifted to the King of Wu. Xi Shi then entranced the King of Wu and engineered the fall of Wu so that Yue could rise again.

Xi Shi is still synonymous with beauty in Chinese culture to this day.

The selections played by Cao Jingxian's trope depict the King of Wu hunting. So obviously Zhuang Luyin is the King of Wu in this analogy. (And Zang Hai is both Fan Li and Xi Shi.)

Cao Jingxian being a fan of Kun Opera came from the actor Xing Minshan, who was originally a Kun Opera artist. He suggested this specific piece to co-director Cao Yiwen, who thought it was a great backdrop to show Zang Hai's plotting, Cao Jingxian's viciousness and Zhuang Luyin's final struggle.

Bwhaha Zhuang Luyin's face when they show up to "rescue" him. He knows he's toast now unless he actually does a coup and succeeds.

To 清君侧 (clear the sovereign's side) is a nice way of saying seize the Emperor so you're not yelling something really subversive like "kill the Emperor".

Gotta admit Zhuang Luyin is pretty cool in war mode. That moment when he kills the leader of the guards through a crowd with one arrow? That's what he's like when he actually wants to kill someone. Remember this for later.

Zang Hai knows exactly what Cao Jingxian is up to - Cao Jingxian wants Zhuang Zhixing to also be done for treason.

Aw, look at Zang Hai trying so hard to spare and save Zhuang Zhixing, that's really sweet.

(See, he was genuine toward you, you idiot.)

The Ming dynasty actually did have an Emperor who was obsessed with woodworking and carpentry. That was the Tianqi Emperor who couldn't read and had no interest in court affairs, leading to the dominance of the eunuch Wei Zhongxian (remember I said Cao Jingxian was based on him?)

No wonder the empire is in such a rotten state with this guy in charge. No wonder Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin and their people have been allowed to do so much wrong.

Not sure what Zang Hai thinks he's gonna accomplish here with his little crossbow.

Actually I do know, he's trying to distract Zhuang Luyin and slow him down (and succeeds, because Zhuang Luyin loses his mind upon seeing him) but what a way to do it.

Yeah, yeah, Zhuang Luyin keeps saying he's gonna kill Zang Hai, but let's be real, we've seen what happens when he actually wants to kill someone. I'd love to know what the hell he would've done if Zhuang Zhixing hadn't shown up.

Even Zhuang Luyin is stunned by Zhuang Zhixing deciding to betray him like this and drop the head of one of Zhuang Zhixing's uncles at his feet.

The joke I kept seeing was that Zhuang Luyin and Zang Hai reacted to Zhuang Zhixing's shocking bad behaviour like divorced parents:

ZH: you birthed this brat! Zhuang Luyin: you taught him!

Zhuang Zhixing is right of course - doing a coup will make the Zhuang family notorious forever. But he has to convince a man whose first instinct is self-preservation to put their family's future first.

Episode 28

The wheel of karma grinds exceedingly fine

Zhou Qi is really fantastic in this scene and really sells the character arc and Zhuang Zhixing's descent. And Huang Jue is incredible - for someone so ruthless and selfish to have this moment of genuine feeling and have it land like this.

Zhuang Zhixing really is his father's son.

There's an idiom, 虎毒不食子 (a vicious tiger still won't eat its own young). And so the Marquis turned his own blade aside rather than kill his only remaining child. And Zhuang Zhixing will never get to beat his father fair and square.

Zhuang Zhixing never wanted to kill his father. Even tried to stop Zang Hai. But that's the choice he's made by showing up rather than leaving (as Zang Hai told him to) - to end his father's life in exchange for preservation of the family name and his own fortunes.

The woman who made the Marquis powerful was the seed of his destruction. The man who forced Kuai Duo to kill himself is forced to kill himself to save his son. Laser guided karma.

Zang Hai ends up looking so relieved, aw. (Relieved as in the sense of relieved of a burden.) You did it!

Zhuang Luyin really was a true 枭雄 (Chinese term meaning a vicious, ambitious great "hero" - keeping in mind heroes do not have to be morally correct, just great men).

In a Confucian society killing one's father is a paramount crime, barely conceivable. But in this case as Zhao Bingwen says, Zhuang Zhixing's loyalty and filial duty to his sovereign should appropriately trump his filial duties to his father.

(Zhao Bingwen speaking for Zhuang Zhixing though…mmm.)

Love this dressing up scene. Zang Hai's path of murdering his way up continues to bear fruit.

He's being rewarded for turning his back on Zhuang Luyin at just the right time with Zhuang Zhifu's old job - so he's now a third level official.

Again, please imagine just how bad Zang Hai's reputation must be among the officials. He's just about an adult, the Marquis got him a fifth level post out of nowhere and a fancy residence, and then he backstabs the guy for his son's even fancier job.

Lol and he has to keep doing his old job too, that's kind of funny.

The plaque on his residence has now changed to 藏府 because he's now high enough level to have his residence be called a manor (like the Marquis').

Look at the contrast between Zang Hai the aide approaching the Marquis' manor in the early days and Zang Hai, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Works. These halls that seemed so all encompassing and massive now seem diminished.

In the end, Zhuang Zhixing's choices put power and carrying on the family name ahead of all else.

But Zhuang Zhixing is worried about the karmic backlash of his vengeance unlike Zang Hai, who only sees it as his duty and doesn't care if it damns him.

And now he has no family left, just like Zang Hai.

Zang Hai and Zhuang Zhixing are both right - the Emperor is half hoping Zhuang Zhixing will die but also he is a Zhuang and if he turned out to be useful, all the better. Zang Hai, for one, still has genuine hopes for Zhuang Zhixing's future.

Boy, Zhuang Zhixing's "congratulations" here is really fucked up.

Asking Zang Hai whether he's happy is meaningless. He's never happy and that's not something he's allowed to want.

Zhuang Zhixing is at least aware that he in the words of netizens 即要又要 (wants incompatible things) and lost himself as a result.

Remember Zhuang Zhixing asking about unconditional kindness? Here's Zang Hai trying to help him start again (a chance he won't allow himself).

Aw, Zhuang Zhixing called him xianshang again.

"Move forward, don't look back."

Cao Jingxian musing on the risks of leaving Zhuang Zhixing alive to come back and take revenge on him is very funny because he still hasn't realised that's exactly what Zang Hai is.

We've talked about this before - for Zang Hai this isn't a fun game. He feels duty-bond to avenge his family and is just afraid he'll die before he can do it and that his family will blame him for failing. It's such a horrifically heavy burden and why he can be so reckless.

Zang Hai saying to the masked man that he'd destroyed a naive kind boy for the sake of vengeance, using his hatred, is very interesting. That's what the masked man did to him at a much younger age. Whereas Zhuang Zhixing was an adult who made his own choices, not just vengeance but to seek power.

Traditionally very powerful eunuchs dependent on the trust of an emperor tended to do very badly once that emperor died childless.

On another note, can you see that Zang Hai is acting here, even in front of his benefactor? See the moment he changes demeanour and switches to talking about his murder plot?

Even the masked man is like what did you do, you demon???

What did you think Zang Hai went to the Marquis' residence for, the nostalgia?

Chekhov's murder device finally gets used.

If the masked man hadn't stopped Zang Hai, he would've used it to kill the Marquis ages ago and the show would be much shorter.

Ah, see, Zang Hai is planning to use Antu to lure the Queen to the capital.

Antu calls Liu Chu jiejie which is cute.

(We must of course remember that Liu Chu and Gao Ming both work for the masked man, not for Zang Hai.)

Antu: don't kill my mom! Zang Hai: busy making sure she has a warm bed to sleep in Antu: I'm going to kill you if you kill her Zang Hai: sure, do whatever you want to me. Antu: she'll kill you! Zang Hai: that sounds great, actually.

Poor Antu, haha.

All jokes aside, Zang Hai doesn't put up any airs around her now and this is when we see just how badly he's been ground down, how little desire for life he has left.

Episode 29

Vital to make a positive first impression on one's future MIL

Wow, so the Emperor just can't be bothered holding court if Cao-gonggong's not there to do everything for him, huh. Bloody hell.

Lord Yongrong is here to do his favourite thing: stir shit and gossip.

I can't with the inherent comedy of Zang Hai not wanting to bother with him anymore (because he's not useful) and this only making Yongrong more determined to talk to him.

Hard to top the actual dialogue here for comedy.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"I'm going to tell you even if you don't want to hear it."

We all thought Yongrong was some terrifying villain from his first appearance but he's just a bitchy gossip.

Zang Hai: I have no idea what could possibly be wrong with Cao Jingxian 😇 (Oh damn, he's not dead?)

Also Zang Hai: let's be real, so many people want that fucker dead. Yongrong: yes, including me!

(These two are kind of similar, don't you think?)

Really enjoyed Cao Jingxian saying only Zang Hai could do something this intricate and cool to try and kill me. Now that's a reputation.

Zang Hai hiding and staring at Antu like a creeper inside his own house, lol

I love this fancy cream outfit on him - it's giving Three Kingdoms strategist.

Zang Hai's relationship with Gao Ming is so interesting and so goddamn sad. It should be Zang Hai's closest relationship but the show keeps reminding us that Gao Ming is basically a tool of the system (if this were a transmigration novel) keeping Zang Hai on task.

I don't know what the shifus expect him to do with Antu when they're all obliged to drive him on toward his revenge.

Zang Hai cooks and cleans. Not sure if Dong Xia ladies expect that of their malewives but he's got that down.

Wow, Zang Hai really was about to just quit and go to Dong Xia. He really doesn't give a fuck about the job. Or anything else, really. He's wandering around like the walking dead, like he knows his days are numbered.

We know that the Marquis conquered and occupied Dong Xia for Great Yong. That's also why Antu was sent over as a hostage, to ensure Dong Xia's continued servitude as a tributary of Great Yong. Hence the Queen bringing all this stuff with her.

Love how bad ass she is. You can instantly tell this is a ruler who is suited to wielding power (unlike the Emperor).

The Queen of Dong Xia is played by the great Yu Nan, an award-winning film actress who has done a ton of great work and been in a few Hollywood films too.

Kind of funny that they're literally just lying to her about Antu having disappeared.

The Emperor addresses the Queen respectfully using a special honorific "you".

See where Yongrong is standing? Aside from the Emperor, he has the highest status in the entire Empire.

The only other contender for succession is the former Emperor's other son, who has his own territory and isn't allowed to come to the capital. I hope you haven't forgotten about him because he's about to become important.

Giving this Emperor a woodworking puzzle is a genius move but if no one can solve it, it's also a tremendous embarrassment for the court.

Cracks me up that Yong Rong lands Zang Hai in it here.

The key to solving the puzzle is a deep understanding of the Yellow River Map (Hetu) and Luoshu Square, two ancient diagrams said to come from various Chinese creation myths, and which were used in geomancy, fortune telling, science and architecture.

Of course Zang Hai recognised it - he would've seen the Hetu in his teacher's room growing up and been taught from it.

(Do you remember Xing Dou's tattoo? We saw a bit of it - the character "death".)

[Screenshots of Xingdou with the Hetu in the background]

The jade fetus is a DMBJ reference btw.

The idea of a rock or something similar absorbing energy and incubating a living creature is a general Chinese mythology thing but in this case it's a specific reference to something found in a Wang Zanghai-related location.

If Zang Hai solves the puzzle he's admitting to the Queen that he's connected to Kuai Duo. But in that situation he basically has to do it.

Haha, now she's gonna make him spend time with her.

Antu being mean to Shilei to make Zang Hai come see her is very funny. Also funny: Zang Hai turning up just to clean.

Um, by "you'll be free soon" clearly he means "your mom is about to kill me".

By crying a lot and being so depressed about it he's stockholmed her into believing that maybe her mother really was responsible for his family dying.

(Or at least she thinks he believes it and is trying to come up with a way to prevent them from killing each other.)

Like with Zhuang Zhixing, he's not going to stop just because someone he likes has asked him not to kill their parent. (He's more sorry about it this time though.)

Oh the literal lock, him locking up his heart :( with that scary face on :(

There's always tension and weird vibes whenever Zang Hai gets into a carriage with someone. And somehow he's always the poor little meow meow in the corner.

I love this carriage scene with the two of them testing each other and not giving an inch. Her giving him shit and him being a bitch back.

(Aw, Antu wrote home about him, that's cute.)

Unfortunately, everything the Queen says does make it sound like she was involved in Kuai Duo's death.

Hilariously my first reaction to Zang Hai agreeing to take her to Antu was "don't trust him queen!!!"

I mean.

Episode 30

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a domineering Dongbei lady in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a pretty Southern man.

Zang Hai's dodgy behaviour here just screams "it's trap!!!"

Also he's being so rude to the literal sovereign of a neighbouring country, haha. I guess to him all enemies are the same.

Look at that smirk.

The show once again reminds us that this man will go on to create elaborate mausoleums full of deadly traps and terrifying monsters (fandom calls them his "little pets").

I don't think Guan Feng is equipped to deal with Antu.

Lmao Guan Feng, what kind of person does he think Zang Hai is that he believed Antu's lie about being pregnant?

(Awwww, Guan Feng calls himself a member of the Kuai family.)

The difference between Antu and Zhuang Zhixing is that Zhuang Zhixing was trying to get Zang Hai to give up his revenge (just a wild thing to ask morally and in every other way) whereas she knows he has to fulfill his duty and is trying to stop him getting himself killed.

Liu Chu's reactions here are interesting - she's clearly not allowed to do anything to stop Zang Hai (remember who she works for) but she also clearly doesn't want him to die and is willing to facilitate someone else who has a chance of stopping him.

This scene is so gorgeously lit and shot.

I love the way they both use the tragic story of the princess to talk around their actual dispute (very Chinese, lol).

Zang Hai repainting the fresco really is peak please seek help crazy behaviour. Also amazing time management with his two jobs.

The Queen reading Zang Hai for filth here: The masked man and the shifus have trapped Zang Hai in his hatred since he was a child. And when it looked like he might escape, Gao Ming kicked him back in. Hatred is his entire life force at this point.

Haha, don't disrespect his crossbow!

"Let's die in an explosion together" - another completely insane self-destructive move from the master of those (but he made sure the attendants weren't gonna get caught in the crossfire).

I love the way both Yu Nan and Zhang Jingyi play this reunion, so understated and full of restrained feeling.

Antu could've calculated that Zang Hai would give up because he can't bear to hurt her, but she sees more than that - she knows what giving up would do to him.

Thankfully, Zang Hai has just enough kindness left at his core to not become a total villain. And that's what finally gets the Queen to confide in him. (Again, I imagine her impression of him couldn't have been great, daughter kidnapper and all.)

Aw, she knows the name Zhinu.

The Queen saying that Zang Hai is a lot like his father must be so healing to hear after what the Marquis said (that his father would hate to see what he's become).

Unlike his son, Kuai Duo is scrupulously polite.

Love the Queen's style, asking if he's married and then when he says yes immediately offering to take the whole family. Real queen shit.

(Netizens contrasted her "the more the merrier" approach with emperors who had the husbands of women they wanted put to death so they could make the women their consort.)

The Queen: imperialism sucks actually

Kuai Duo is a traditionalist in terms of his loyalty to his emperor, but he's also citing other Confucian ideals about the importance of the people and their welfare.

Kuai Duo saying he gave his kids those childish names because he wanted them not to grow up too fast is heartbreaking considering Yuenu never grew up and what Zhinu turned into. (Nu/奴 means slave but it's also a cute suffix for baby names. So Zhinu is like "baby boy".)

The Queen is sovereign to her own people so they call her bixia (title for the emperor) but the Great Yong folks call her dianxia (title for those a step below emperor) because her country is a tributary to their emperor.

Cute that the Queen kept an eye on Kuai Duo after they parted.

See, she's so principled she wouldn't use the guixi even if she had it because she knows it's bad. Kuai Duo should've let her take it. (Of course he didn't, though, he's too stuck in his loyalty to the Emperor.)

You can really see she's related to Antu. They're both very strong people who are willing to bend for love.

I'm quite into this relationship tbh. Love that both of them used the hug for nefarious purposes.

I can see why she says he died of 不识时务 (being inflexible/unable to adapt to circumstances). Also why she didn't want to tell anyone about it, and wouldn't tell Zang Hai until she was sure about him.

Aw, Zang Hai's face. Now he's all polite to his father's old friend.

Every time he comes into contact with someone/something related to his childhood/family he cries like a little kid.

All the parent figures who had positive relationships with his parents tell Zang Hai to live well instead of encouraging him to focus on revenge. I think even the shifus have softened, possibly because they're worried he's too close to the point of no return.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Xiao Zhan gets called youthful, gives his parents all the credit for birthing him that way.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Xiao Zhan on how he decided Zang Hai was low maintenance and didn't spend much time on his look.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Lee watches Legend of Zang Hai: Episodes 11-20

Plot, language, culture, history, Chinese TV and novel tropes, and general commentary.

Episodes 1-10 here.

Episode 11

Aka this show has so many plot relevant bathing scenes

Antu's face in this scene is so funny. She's such a tsundere.

But you know why Zang Hai refused to be friends - he had no use for her and didn't want to get involved with her since he was gonna die at any time anyway.

Zang Hai found the persona to use for Antu pretty quickly - she just wants him to show weakness and ask her for mercy and he's happy to do that. And to follow up the carrot with some stick (threatening her with the Marquis).

Their conversation about the power of false rumours and how impossible they are to shake once they're out there broke my heart a little. Xiao Zhan knows that all too well.

The thing is that his act doesn't fool Antu but it doesn't have to. She just wanted to see him ask for the favour, and he knows that too.

The moment where they both empathise with the Dong Xia merchant having a hard time so far from home is really nice.

Ba-gongzi compares Zang Hai to the Sleeping Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix, two legendary strategists from Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong).

Zang Hai spends a lot of this episode apologising to people essentially because he let his death drive take charge for a bit.

God, I love his plotting face.

Zhuang Zhixing's mother was a 淑人 (rank for the wife of a third level rank official) which I think means she was a wife, not a concubine.

Zang Hai has actually correctly read Zhuang Zhixing here: he plans to dangle in front of him the prospect of power and his father's respect, two things it turns out Zhuang Zhixing does want, even if he doesn't yet know it.

Yay, Antu backstory.

Honestly she's very well-adjusted for a hostage/prisoner of war.

This bit with Ba-gongzi is adorable. I ship it. (I ship many many pairings in this show. Benefit of a great ensemble with a lot going on.)

On one level Zhen Pavilion is a dream come true for two young women. On another level, Antu is being allowed to operate it so it can be used by various interests to conduct their business.

Zhuang Zhixing hearing a recitation of his alleged vices and objecting to being characterised as someone who patronises prostitutes is very funny.

(Also kind of very Jingjiang ML of him. We'll return to this subject.)

Zang Hai is running a scheme of course but he's also right when he says Zhuang Zhixing is more like the Marquis than his brother. Zang Hai himself got a glimpse of Zhuang Zhixing's intelligence at their second meeting while Zhuang Zhifu is clearly a moron.

This crucial scene taking place in the bath with them both half-naked is incredible.

Zang Hai's doing a twist on the persona he presents to the Marquis here, a little devious, ambition to the fore.

Zhou Qi's performance is great here - you can see he does have both the hunger and the intelligence despite his careless front. Those qualities have just been buried to date.

Supporting the second son to supplant the wife's son is such a classic harem intrigue move.

Zang Hai's not wrong though - he sees right through what Madame Jiang is doing to Zhuang Zhixing and Zhuang Zhixing knows it too.

Zhuang Zhixing's very funny and accurate original name for Zhinu was 恶童 (rascal, evil/mean brat, that kind of thing).

Both of the Marquis' children sense the danger better than he does.

Both of them: it's not normal for someone to appear and cause the death of your two closest advisers immediately just by saying some stuff and then you think he's just the best.

The moment Zang Hai decides he's gonna come clean is so well acted and he's genuinely chilling here.

Great yandere flavour.

That first hint of real surprise when Zhuang Zhixing wants to let him go is lovely.

Zang Hai shows his real face with Gao Ming - filled with rage, hate, and a vicious dedication to vengeance.

But he doesn't want to kill Zhuang Zhixing because Zhuang Zhixing hasn't done anything to him. He doesn't deserve it, even though he's threatening to kill Zang Hai.

Gao Ming uses Zang Hai's family's deaths to spur him fairly unkindly here but he's got a point - Zang Hai needs to make a choice.

Don't doubt that Zang Hai means it when he says that if he has to, he'll do it.

What a shabby grave for Zhuang Zhixing's mother considering his status and who she was married to. Oof.

Bwhaha, the danger music when Zang Hai shows up.

Great cliffhanger.

Episode 12

AKA Zang Hai was prepared to dig a grave either way

Zang Hai flat out telling Zhuang Zhixing he was planning to murder him and changed his mind, haha.

His greatest strength is probably improvising well under pressure.

Something about how these two are the same age but Zang Hai is a vengeance demon constantly plotting and tormented and Zhuang Zhixing has managed to remain soft and sheltered and comfortable.

Zang Hai says to Zhuang Zhixing that they will have to "ask" his mother out of the grave, basically the most polite possible way he could express "dig her up", because he's a respectful boy.

Zhuang Zhixing is smart enough to know that what Zang Hai is saying is right - the wife of the Marquis should not have been buried so shabbily, and it's insulting and wrong to deny her a place in the family ancestral hall.

Her dishonour impacts him as her son too.

And some part of Zhuang Zhixing must believe Zang Hai because how else is he losing a fight to notoriously weak and feeble Zang Hai?

Very funny to me that once Zang Hai dropped his act he's just straight up blunt and almost disdainful with Zhuang Zhixing.

This sequence with Zhuang Zhixing and his family really illustrates how effectively Madame Jiang has managed to sideline him.

Very nice touch with the flowers by Zang Hai.

The Marquis seems completely in earnest when he says he doesn't want to think about Zhuang Zhixing's mother.

Appealing to sentiment with a man like the Marquis is a fool's game but Zhuang Zhixing is needy and (spoiler) destined to want and run after emotionally unavailable people.

Obviously the Marquis is bound to his children by duty and blood (and not having any better options) but you can really see that he likes Zang Hai more than both of his kids sometimes.

Zang Hai creeping like the vengeful ghost he is.

And then giving a lecture on grave etiquette while opening Zhuang Zhixing's mother's coffin because he's a tomb nerd.

In ancient times for fancy burials the coffin (棺) would be enclosed by an outer coffin (椁) and this prevented rapid decay. Zhuang Zhixing's mother had such a shabby burial that she only had the inner coffin.

Zang Hai quotes from the Han dynasty text 春秋繁露 to explain the relevant rules.

Ironically, if Madame Jiang had been a little less mean and afforded her rival a proper burial in accordance with her status, her crime would never have come to light.

(Putting a marker in the role karma - actual karma, not the popular usage - plays in this narrative.)

The original character of Wang Zanghai was a bit of a clean freak and I like seeing touches of that here - he wrapped his shovel and is using gloves to handle the skeleton.

Madame Jiang casually ordering a maid who did something she didn't like beaten to death. It doesn't matter who, hereditary nobility sees the lives of commoners as cheap and expendable.

Like Zang Hai says, destroying a woman by questioning her virtue is a technique many have employed since time immemorial.

And the Marquis, newly stripped of military command, needed the support of Madame Jiang's powerful father. He's the type of man to place utility above all.

Zang Hai clearly feels pity for Zhuang Zhixing as he goes through his long dark night of the soul. He's the kind of person who is absolutely ruthless, even cruel, to cruel people but who feels a lot of empathy for the powerless and for decent people.

Zang Hai is speaking from experience when he says that the Marquis likes who are of use to him and it's not hard to earn his affection. It's a little harder if you're not an expert manipulator like Zang Hai but Zhuang Zhixing is a smart cookie, he can learn.

This is both the formation of a bond and a purely transactional relationship.

As he says, Zhuang Zhixing knows that he might be unable to go through with it, and not just because he's struggling between love for his shitty dad and his duty to get his justice for his mother.

Zang Hai says that in order to get his revenge, not only can he not kill his foe (the Chinese word is 仇人, there is no English word strong enough), he has to 百般亲近 (er, become intimate in all ways) with him. Um.

From here on Zhuang Zhixing starts calling Zang Hai 先生 (teacher/master), a title that confers not only authority on Zang Hai ("you have to do everything I say") but also imposes filial duties on Zhuang Zhixing.

Zhou Qi has said that Zang Hai was a ray of light in Zhuang Zhixing's life and that begins here.

But also - I'm gonna tell you a story from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Wang Yun, a Minister, gifts the beautiful, clever dancing girl Diaochan to the tyrannical warlord Dong Zhuo as a concubine and also betroths her to Dong Zhuo's (adopted) son, legendary general Lu Bu.

Diaochan brilliantly schemes her way into getting the two of them to turn on each other, and Lu Bu allies with Wang Yun to kill Dong Zhuo, ending his reign of terror.

This is known as the interlocked chain scheme.

(Diaochan does not end up with Lu Bu in my favourite version.)

This story is incredibly famous and often referenced (including by some RedNote posts I saw commenting on this show and certain similarities in Xiao Zhan's performance and Diaochan's in the 1990s RotK).

In this conversation between Gao Ming and Zang Hai we get the first hint of a connection between Zhuang Zhifu and Cao Jingxian - one born out of corruption, since Cao Jingxian is head of the body that approves ZZF's construction projects. Tale as old as time.

Spoiled rich kid Zhuang Zhixing in boot camp is very funny.

As is Zang Hai reminding Zhuang Zhixing "you said you'd follow my every word" with that look on his face.

Chu Huaiming making moves like he's eager to join the other two Stooges in death.

(Poor Zang Hai's reputation, already in tatters being called underhanded and ruthless, and only about to get worse.)

Cao Jingxian is portrayed as a fan of 昆曲 (Kun Opera) because the actor who plays him came up doing Kun Opera.

Cao Jingxian refers to himself as 咱家, a form of address only for high status eunuchs.

Episode 13

To borrow a phrase from netizens, our man "acts the son with the father (deferential mode), the father with the son (brat tamer mode), and like a club host with Antu (flirty mode)".

[Xiao Zhan in grey robes]

Zang Hai says "Xiang-laoban" (boss Xiang) so flirtatiously. He's totally in his comfort zone playing the supplicant and making the other person feel powerful. But he also calls her a friend.

Antu notes the nice robes Zang Hai has on, made of 浮光锦 (fuguang brocade, foreign tribute fabric so exceedingly rare even among the Emperor's harem), gifted to him by the Marquis.

Cracks me up how she always sounds like she's angling to replace the Marquis as his benefactor.

Antu gets such a kick out of playing the domineering CEO/sugar daddy ("I'll end up owning you" and her reaction to Zang Hai saying he'd have to sell himself to the Pavilion as a slave) and Zang Hai knows it.

Girl, he's playing you! But I guess so long as you're enjoying it.

Love their abacus-based flirting.

I keep seeing the phrase 女a男o (female alpha/male omega) used to describe this ship and it cracks me up every time.

Xiang means fragrant, which is why there are so many perfume jokes.

The "tu" in Antu 荼 looks a lot like the character for tea 茶 so that's why you'll see jokes about her not being tea because it's all with Zang Hai.

Zang Hai putting Zhuang Zhixing in yet another hole in the ground and peering down at him, what a familiar sight.

Compared to Zang Hai, who had been unusually single-minded and resolute even as a child, Zhuang Zhixing is much closer to the average person's tolerance for pain and difficulty.

I love that Zang Hai doesn't put on any deferential, easygoing airs around Zhuang Zhixing ever since he came clean, but his entire "xianshang" brat tamer thing is also another kind of persona, one that he knows works on Zhuang Zhixing.

In another show, Zhuang Zhixing would be the main character. He's much more of a conventional ML than Zang Hai (which is why Zang Hai is so interesting).

I mean, look at this shonen training montage.

Great to have a show where secondary characters can get these big moments and arcs.

The song that plays in the background of the training montage is called 转身苍茫 and the lyrics are very interesting.

黑夜里的光 多想将你收藏 命运却捉弄 多荒唐

"a light in the darkness, how I long to make you mine But fate intervenes to make fools of us, so absurd"

The sports anime baddies call Zhuang Zhixing Zhuang Er (literally the second Zhuang), a direct, borderline rude form of address.

They taunt him by saying he's nothing like his father. Which would actually be a good thing, because his father is awful.

But Zhuang Zhixing does want to be like him.

The sport they're playing is called 步打球, a real ancient Chinese sport first recorded in the Tang Dynasty, when it was very popular.

I don't know how anyone can eat at the Marquis' table, the vibes are so bad.

Zang Hai is subtly making his play here to back the dark horse candidate son for succession (and Madame Jiang is gonna notice her new rival soon if she hasn't already).

It's so funny how much happier the Marquis is listening to Zang Hai talk compared to his own wife and kid. Helps that he knows exactly what to say of course.

The issue with Zang Hai helping Zhuang Zhixing gain favour is that Zhuang Zhixing is only going to get more addicted to his father's approval after not having it for so long.

Lol this secret little glance between Zang Hai and Zhuang Zhixing right under his father's nose.

See these outfits with the hats, that's the secret police that Cao-gonggong heads.

"Gonggong" is the form of address/title for eunuchs.

This conversation between Cao Jingxian and the Marquis is incredible:

"Where did you find such a treasure? Were you afraid I'd snatch him away?"

Talking about Zang Hai's "clever mouth".

"On account of my loneliness, be so good as to reluctantly part with your treasured possession."

I don't know if it comes through in the subs just how objectifying Cao-gonggong's words are. And he's doing all this to Zang Hai's face.

The Marquis' face going from pleased to be showing Zang Hai off to bothered that Cao-gonggong is coming on so strong.

The Marquis: he's terrible, ignore him asking for you, don't be tempted to go into the secret police

You can really see how much the Marquis now trusts Zang Hai with after these months helping run his household.

1) Cao-gonggong's adopted son being like you're such solid pals but the Marquis wouldn't give this insignificant little aide to you, how odd.

2) Even Cao-gonggong instinctively senses something off with Zang Hai.

Zang Hai's bad reputation is gonna get even worse with guys like Chu Huaiming telling tales about him.

But also, Chu Huaiming's right. Zang Hai is coming for him next.

Cao Jingxian's adopted children all have fire themed names - 烬, 烟. You can see from the 火 radical on the left.

This scene with the secret police is about a particular kind of art of being a bureaucrat/official dealing with a difficult boss - if your boss wants the answer to be A, it can't be B.

We kind of already had hints but this village makes it clear that Zang Hai is only a single piece in a much larger plan by the masked man.

Episode 14

In which netizens start calling Zang Hai 搅货 (roughly, shit-stirrer) because he's constantly causing problems on purpose.

Zang Hai: Xiang-laoban, won't you please do a murder for me.

The way Antu speaks to him is very much that of a boy teasing a girl (which makes total sense once you know her cultural background).

Antu: Why don't you go ask your Marquis.

Ah, she's still jealous.

Zang Hai long sigh: even though I'm so important to the Marquis, he still won't piss off Cao-gonggong for me.

As for our secret police friend, killing fellow killers is one thing. But a random innocent, just for his clothes? Karma's gonna get you.

Antu: I have plenty of money, I want you.

Zang Hai is so adorably polite and proper in this scene.

Fun fact, Ming dynasty hair soap was mostly made from wingleaf soapberry, which naturally contains Saponins.

Zang Hai just can't resist snarking when he's with peers, haha.

The pinky swear of murder is so cute.

Notice how Zang Hai isn't just saving himself like he said. He already has a plan for how to use this murder to further his plot.

Did you notice all the handwriting practice in the background during ep 3?

The person getting water had a Cao residence plaque, which is why Lu Jin followed them.

Goddamn that was cool. Mr and Mrs Smith vibes (as both actors have said).

Given what she knows of him - a scholar type - it is wild for him to react so calmly to a body. But tombs are a speciality, of course he isn't afraid of bodies.

Aw, her being all aren't I great and him in full murder scheme mode shushing her.

Very funny:

1) Gao Ming having to wear big heels to pretend to be Zang Hai

2) Zang Hai's stick on comedy beard and Antu having to remind him to sit more like a general.

Chinese palm reading is an ancient tradition (entirely separate from its European and Indian counterparts) which looks at both lines and zones. The main lines are life, wisdom, love, fate and marriage.

(Antu actually ends up being right about all of this.)

This whole scene is so flirty and cute and well done.

I love that Antu is pursuing Zang Hai so aggressively and shamelessly (again, this makes sense once you find out her cultural background).

Antu: You don't want to tell me and you want me to do all this, so I'm a game piece just like Zhuang Zhixing? You're using me?

I do think Zang Hai is in earnest here when he says they're friends. (He's genuine with Zhuang Zhixing too, by the way.)

Her just poking him with the knife - hot.

"If you keep going, I'm afraid you might rewrite my destined marriage, career path and even my life."

There he goes flirting again, the rascal.

Poor Zhuang Zhixing just earned himself some rare father-son bonding time and Madame Jiang's already here to spoil it.

(Zhuang Zhixing has to call her mother because she is his father's wife.)

Unfortunately, she is very good at this kind of manipulation and Zhuang Zhixing just isn't on her level.

BTW the Marquis calls himself "this Marquis" even with his wife. I can't recall hearing him say "I".

Here Antu's worried about Zang Hai and trying to save him and he's just focused on causing problems on purpose.

This is not the first time we've seen him deploy 离间计 (making people turn on each other by sowing suspicion) and it won't be the last.

Zhuang Zhixing having a real like father like son moment.

The idiom "虎父无犬子" is now being used to describe him - meaning "a tiger father will not beget a dog son”. But again, I'm gonna remind you that being like his father is both good and bad.

Bwhaha, Zang Hai coming out to greet Cao-gonggong is perfect. Look at him doing his I'm so innocent, I've never done a thing wrong act.

Cao-gonggong angrily spitting out the cliche line "don't think that just because the Marquis really likes you, I can't touch you".

Zhuang Zhixing and Zang Hai glancing at each other behind the Marquis' back again.

I love this shot of the actual responsible party just standing there as Cao Jingxian and Zhuang Luyin are subtly going at each other.

Just glorious:

Episode 15

The one with the delightful date and also more of Zang Hai's submissive little lamb murder routine

I like that the Lu adopted siblings seem to really be family and Lu Yan is genuinely upset.

Putting a marker in Cao-gonggong asking her to get her "oldest brother".

Zang Hai's scenes with the Marquis are all such fascinating performance pieces.

He has to nudge the Marquis toward the answer he wants but carefully enough that the Marquis doesn't get suspicious and thinks he's the one making the choices.

For example, here he wants the Marquis to believe that Cao-gonggong is coming after him. And the Marquis obliges with "he's just jealous I have you and he doesn't".

(Because they're both looking for the same thing.)

Zang Hai begging the Marquis for protection is such a master stroke. As is refusing the offer of a position in court and claiming that he just wants to stay and serve the Marquis.

Meanwhile, please picture my face as the Marquis assures him that even if he goes into court "you're still mine".

Antu being absolutely delighted by Zang Hai's handmade gift and trying to hide it is very cute.

And now he's going in with "can't you see we're the same". Potent combination.

中元节/Zhongyuan Festival aka the Ghost Festival is 15 July in the Lunar Calendar. It is believed to be when the deceased visit the living and a time to transmute and absolve the sufferings of hungry ghosts.

Amused by Zhuang Zhixing in the background of all these scenes with the family sneaking anxious glances at Zang Hai

In the date scene Zang Hai is wearing a 网巾 (Wangjin), a type of headgear worn by men in the Ming dynasty. The Korean manggeon is a derivative of the Wangjin.

Pillow Pavilion is named for the idiom 高枕无优 (to rest easy, literally to pile up pillows for a worry-free rest). A lovely sentiment from someone who can't go home herself.

For the first time, Zang Hai calls Antu Miss Xiang rather than Xiang-laoban, and she's into it.

She's being aggressive but he's flirting back too and he's got game.

(Remember, he's trained in being able to perceive what others want and fear and manipulate them with it.)

Zang Hai does an unusual thing here when he readily admits that the performer is pretty. But he has such a great answer to the usually deadly "who's prettier" (implying Antu can't be compared with ordinary women).

"Bad things always happen when we get together" is so funny.

I really like how light their interactions are. She's able to be a bit princessy with him and he's pleased to indulge and tease her.

This very genuine moment when she's empathising with his losses is lovely.

Zang Hai says he isn't worthy of commemorating (lighting incense and making offerings to) his family yet :( presumably because he hasn't avenged them.

Zang Hai talks about the Four Guardians - the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North - appearing among the Chinese constellations.

They're telling stories about the heavens but actually talking about her and her longing for home and they both know it.

This is what I like about them - they're trading off the initiative and both hiding actual sentiment behind teasing, flirting and posturing.

This is a very old school Chinese depiction of romance in its restraint, the use of stories and analogies, people saying one thing and meaning another. That also makes it realistic.

(Which is why it's been so widely praised and compared positively to actual romance dramas.)

I enjoyed the danger music for astrology. (Actually for meteorology tbf.)

The instruments depicted are all real instruments used by the historical Bureau of Astronomy to track weather patterns. You can probably see why that was seen as a kind of fortune telling.

I mentioned before how Chu Huaiming is bad at his job. I'll explain more later but just know for now that he misreads the key line he's using to predict rainfall.

For Zang Hai this is the opportunity he's been waiting for but he also just wants to save people.

The Marquis is unwilling to act for a few reasons:

1) he's become risk adverse with age; 2) he doesn't care about the suffering of the people; and crucially, 3) if there is a problem in Zhongzhou it will fall on his military rival which is all the better for him.

What Zhuang Luyin didn't consider (because I assume he doesn't know) is that the levees were built poorly by his own corrupt son.

I love it when Zang Hai says some straight up villain dialogue like declaring he's gonna use the Marquis to fuck Chu Huaiming up and replace him.

For this scheme he has to do something very dangerous - publicly disobey the Marquis.

I really enjoyed Zang Hai using the historical example of the great statesman Zhuge Liang, my ultimate blorbo, who was a legendarily accurate predictor of weather (vital for war).

The scene with the Marquis and Chu Huaiming went viral and rightly so because it is both fantastically tense and comedy gold.

the Marquis waving his sword around threateningly but never actually hurting a hair on Zang Hai's head.

Zang Hai looking at CHM like he's a dead man - just for a second - before he starts his submissive little lamb act

Zang Hai tossing the stick before he drops to his knees, so fast even the camera can't follow him, and his wide-eyed poor little meow meow act

Here's a cartoon that was extremely popular on RedNote and being used as a sticker all over the place.

I saw a lot of discussion about this because it is something unique to Zang Hai as a ML - his lack of shame and self-consciousness about having to get on his knees and please his enemy if he has to.

He doesn't care and isn't humiliated or shamed because it's all part of his method

Part of Chinese astrology is the belief that for prominent people like generals and emperors, the stars will tell you if they're about to rise, die or have a calamity, if you knew how to read them correctly.

Hence the reference to a "general star".

Despite his scary posturing the Marquis is listening and taking in Zang Hai's words, you can tell.

What a fun episode!

Episode 16

Third blood to Zang Hai's clever mouth

Ah, Madame Jiang does see the danger and she's finally making moves against Zang Hai. Too late though.

She says that if the Marquis 舍不得 (can't bring himself to kill Zang Hai), she'll do the killing. But the problem isn't the act, the Marquis just doesn't want Zang Hai dead.

Prison is nothing for someone who is most at home in a tomb, underground.

Chu Huaiming thinks the idiom is 毕星好雨 (the third character being "good", read as hǎo). But as Zang Hai says it, it's actually hāo (meaning tendency), so the phrase becomes 'this particular kind of arrangement of the heavens connotates rain', not that the rain will be good/positive.

The Marquis believes Zang Hai's well crafted bullshit, is the thing. He genuinely does fear for his life.

Zhuang Zhixing: if my father finds out you were lying about the star, he's gonna kill you Zang Hai: lol

Honestly, that's nothing compared to all his other lies.

He's still just worried for the common people, aww.

This next scene with Chu Huaiming is one of my favourite scenes in the show to date. Just so satisfying and Zang Hai has never been as attractive as when he's luring Chu Huaiming to his doom.

Just the most deserved "I told you" of all time.

Also funny - Chu Huaiming starts out calling Zang Hai 老弟 (literally old-younger brother, kind of like "mate" or "bro") and moves on to Zang-xiong (older brother Zang) when he's really begging.

Notice how from the camera angles it looks like Chu Huaiming is the one in jail.

Zang Hai's "are you trying to beg me?" with that contemptuous look on his face - so good. And then when Chu Huaiming does beg, he even pretends to consider it.

Oof, this loss of control by Zang Hai is quite scary and so well done.

It's all Karma, baby. And Zang Hai is the agent carrying it out - he bears not only his blood feud but he's also picked up those of others who've died on the way.

There was a great video from a firefighter explaining that Zang Hai did everything right here - including pouring the wine on his outer robe.

Here's why I keep saying Zang Hai intends to kill Chu Huaiming - if he only wanted him gone, he wouldn't need to provoke Chu Huaiming into attempted murder. He made Chu Huaiming do that and then acted so convincingly shocked and appalled (all the while having told Zhuang Zhixing not to save him).

Fire is obviously traumatic for Zang Hai and that comes through beautifully in his performance. But he's the kind of man who can use his own worst traumas to advance his cause.

The man who nearly caused Zhinu to die by fire now saves Zang Hai from a fire. He even gets injured to save Zang Hai from injury.

You might think that this could cause Zang Hai to waver, but of course this was part of his plan all along.

This scene with Chu Huaiming is so funny. What he's saying is actually right for once but the Marquis is so not in the mood to listen to him.

The funniest part - the two Zhuangs turning to look at poor bedraggled Zang Hai and then looking back at Chu Huaiming more angrily as if to say how dare you.

If she didn't before, Madame Jiang now realises the severity of her problem when she hears that Zang Hai is the one attending to her husband, who got injured saving him, and she and her son are being told to stay away.

As she says to her son, we've had a march stolen on us.

The Marquis really going for Zang Hai's feelings here:

"Thankfully I have you"

"Now I realise I think of you as family"

"It's difficult for me to trust anyone, don't betray me"

Most people might waver a little here. Meanwhile Zang Hai's resisting the urge to murder.

Chu Huaiming might as well have been given a death sentence - exile is pretty rough, especially immediately after taking 50 strokes with a large stick.

You know Madame Jiang's headache has a name and it's Zang Hai.

(The wound tending took all night? Hmm.)

Oh Madame Jiang, speaking directly against the new favourite never goes well! She was actually doing all right until she started sounding self-interested by bringing Zhuang Zhixing into it. Now all she's gonna get is the Marquis directly rebuking her.

Bwhaha, Zang Hai being outside the whole time and listening in is classic harem intrigue stuff. What a great micro expression shift as he's waiting for Madame Jiang to leave.

Interesting that Zang Hai is willing to admit to having a close relationship with Zhuang Zhixing. It does fit with his ambitious striver persona and as he explains, he's still working for the Zhuang family's future.

Think of how wild it sounds for Madame Jiang to accuse Zang Hai of orchestrating his own death. He did! But it sounds stupid.

Zang Hai and the Marquis are certainly acting like a pair of zhiji now. The Marquis shows Zang Hai and his views and ideas respect and of course Zang Hai's doing his whole I'm giving you everything routine.

Of course, Gao Ming is right. The Marquis is an incredibly selfish man and he saved Zang Hai because Zang Hai is useful and also his possession, and he's the one who decides when to break his toys.

But Gao Ming isn't saying this with no agenda either.

So let's talk about another classic Chinese scheme - 苦肉计, 34th of the 36 Stratagems. It usually involves hurting yourself to gain an enemy's trust.

Zang Hai's version is luring his enemy into hurting himself to save Zang Hai and tying them together that way. Because he knows the Marquis will see it as both suddenly realising that Zang Hai is important to him and think that Zang Hai will be more ride or die now that he owes him.

That's Chinese political intrigue fiction for you - the schemes go many layers deep.

I laughed at the netizen commenting they could no longer hear Zang Hai saying 小人 (this insignificant one) or Marquis without giggling, because of Zang Hai's constant declarations that he belongs to the Marquis (and the Marquis' declarations that he's his).

Great ep.

Episode 17

In which Zang Hai benefits from nepotism.

The Marquis and Shen Wan are described as having been 青梅竹马 (childhood sweethearts).

So he turned his back on Shen Wan twice for the sake of advancing himself and his family. Three times really - by marrying Madame Jiang, then by choosing Madame Jiang again, and the poisoning.

This is a really interesting concept from Gao Ming - that when you owe someone a lot, it actually breeds either complacency or resentment toward them rather than more gratitude.

The conversation between the Marquis and Zang Hai is one of those classic Chinese conversations that's about something else neither party will name but both know exactly what they're actually talking about.

Here Zang Hai functions as a 解语花 (empathy flower) for the Marquis - a clever beauty who gets him. He cleverly shows empathy with the choices the Marquis had to make but counsels him to move past his own guilt and treasure what he has left.

The way Zhuang Zhixing immediately knows that his dad is treating him better because of something Zang Hai did. Before Zang Hai started speaking for him, he wasn't even eating at the family table.

Zang Hai having to stand in the murder basement next to the grotesque trophies from his parents and do his usual obsequious act while they look on is another level of cruel and unusual torture.

The Marquis is right about one thing - no one is more heartless than an emperor. A vassal who has done too much great work and achieved fame is rewarded with being seen as a threat and having his power stripped away.

Zang Hai is very good at divining the Emperor's intent. He's proven that several times already. He's a natural politician.

The guixi (癸玺) is an item from DMBJ/Lost Tomb, where it's called guixi/鬼玺 (ghost seal) and is a national treasure of Dong Xia, used by its founder to create zombie armies.

Oh god Zang Hai having to say blank faced (even smiling) that his dad was destined to die because he stole from the Marquis.

What a moment. Perfectly acted.

Love Zang Hai's little upward glances in this scene where the Marquis is pouring out his hopes and dreams, like he's so into what the Marquis is saying. Remember, he's taller than the Marquis so he has to carefully put himself in a position to look up like that.

Zang Hai is testing Gao Ming here with his question about the guixi. You see it, right? He can't fully trust anyone.

Bwhaha Zhuang Zhifu's face as his dad announces that he's gone and gotten Zang Hai this job.

Can you hear the message underlying Madame Jiang's seemingly nice words? (How she's actually accusing him of having come by his advancement using improper means.)

Imagine how bad this looks from the outside: A very young man who has never been through the imperial examinations becoming a fifth ranked official just because he has a powerful man backing him, all in the space of 6 months.

(In the Ming dynasty you basically had to come up through the exams if you were a commoner.)

And the Marquis wouldn't even let him live in Chu Huaiming's old house so he's gifting Zang Hai a nice new place.

Gossip will say he got there being obsequious…if he's lucky.

Haha even the Marquis telling him to stop referring to himself as 小人 (this insignificant one) and use 下官 (this lesser official).

There were very specific rules governing Ming official dress. Zang Hai is a 5th level official so his robes are blue, and the 8-9 level officials below him wear green. 1-4 get to wear red.

The animal embroidered on the front is also specific to one's rank - Zang Hai's 5th rank is a silver pheasant.

There are also rules about the style of belt and hat for each rank.

Zang Hai's father was a 纯臣 (pure official) - an ideal Confucian, loyal to the Emperor, no desire for power or wealth. But that can't be Zang Hai. That's why he takes the carriage. He has to put on the act of someone who wants to be a 权臣, who's ambitious and after more power.

We're gonna come back to the significance of the residence later.

The plaque says 藏宅 (Zang Residence). Because of his rank his place can't be called 府 (Estate/Mansion) like the Marquis' place.

钦天监 (the Bureau of Astronomy) does a lot more than watch the stars. They're in charge of the calendar, gathering materials for royal construction, keeping time, predicting the weather and a bit of telling the future.

Can you tell that his new underlings are mocking Zang Hai? Congrats, you've started to understand how fancy Chinese people express themselves.

(They're pointing out his youth and inexperience and the unconventional way he got there.)

But Zang Hai is totally unfazed. He's the one giving people shit, he doesn't take shit unless it's for a reason.

This burial specialist shop talk is cute. Zang Hai definitely knows his way around a body.

I like Shi Quan and I feel like Zang Hai does too despite his bad attitude.

Love this scene with Gao Ming acting like a parent with their child on the first day of school.

And then he gives us a cold dose of reality when he forcefully reminds Zang Hai of who he is and what he exists for.

As always there's one rule for the powerful, and one rule for everyone else.

The abolished practice of 嫁殇 that Zang Hai referred to is one in which parents would hold weddings for betrothed couples when both died before they could marry. Or if one of them died.

Episode 18

As the idiom goes, 新官上任三把火 (literally, a new official lights three fires upon taking office).

These scoundrels thought that they could perhaps push their new superior around a bit because he's young and uncredentialed.

Hard to look at that face and imagine how vicious and ruthless Zang Hai could be, I guess.

I love it when Zang Hai gets his scary face on.

Like Gao Ming said, inside the Marquis' house all he had to do was keep the Marquis happy. Out here there are so many more terrifying, powerful people to deal with who won't be spooked by his backer.

Of course Chu Huaiming is dead. Zang Hai's vengeance isn't satisfied with anything less than death.

How can you say no to that face, Shi Quan? Especially when he's asking you so nicely to please write him letters if he falls below your standards.

The barbarity of the ruling classes as depicted on this show is really something else. Literally murdering poor kids for profit so that dead rich kids can have their own spouses in the afterlife.

I love it when Zang Hai has his murder face on.

Aw, Shi Quan smiling as he brings the hammer down.

Spooking the rest of them into confessing their sins up front is a nice move.

Zhuang Zhixing's problem is that he's torn between several competing desires. And now to those we can add "wants Zang Hai to pay attention to him" and "feels bad about his father's close relationship with Zang Hai".

What kind of line is "you're going further and further away from me"?

Gao Ming saying he wants the residence to be a resting place for Zang Hai, awww.

This dinner is so nice. So great to see him with companions instead of doing this totally alone.

Antu notes that Zang Hai has started referring to himself as 本官 (this official) and counsels him to not forget his origins.

He calls her 我的贵人 (my benefactor) which is very cute especially in that flirty tone.

They have such nice chemistry and Zang Hai is so light around her.

Lol Antu sounds jealous again talking about how the Marquis must really care for Zang Hai to give him such a nice residence.

(It's even in the style of his supposed home province.)

Uh oh, Gao Ming's face. That's the look of "danger danger, the revenge puppet might is showing signs of caring about something that might make him not wholeheartedly devoted to dying for his vengeance".

Oh man you can see Zang Hai be tempted by having something nice in his life and also his awareness that he can't do this to her and of his duties to the dead.

Such a well acted moment.

Zhuang Zhixing is doing a good job here persuading his father.

Interesting that he's using his mother's last name to anonymise himself. Even that's a well designed detail to try and move his father into agreeing.

What Gao Ming does to Zang Hai here is so cruel I can barely watch it.

Especially saying he's home after their previous conversation about home.

This scene is amazingly shot though, the transitions are gorgeous.

I hope Gao Ming feels bad seeing Zang Hai cry like a child. Most of Zhinu never left that hole in the ground and Gao Ming is telling him to stay in there forever.

Episode 19

In which our vengeful ghost deals with demands for emotional connection from two directions.

Aw, Zhuang Zhixing wanted to say goodbye. So Gao Ming taking Zang Hai to be re-traumatised/reprogrammed actually prevented two meetings.

Zhuang Zhixing's inner spoiled rich kid gets him in trouble immediately. He's never had to go through life without the protection of his father's name and status, entirely on his own, and this is a harsh introduction to the life of the masses.

Zang Hai is very patient when he needs to be.

Antu wanting to get all dressed up to see him, aww.

The thing is Zang Hai knew exactly what she was doing by having him wait and what she wanted him to do - and what he was doing by leaving.

Once again we're in Zhuang Zhixing's shonen anime/男频 (male oriented novel) storyline of self-improvement and levelling up through hardship.

Zhuang Zhixing needs the part of him that's like his father to succeed in this environment.

I know a lot of you on here love Zhuang Zhixing and I like him too but I also find him so frustrating. Dude's just learning now that people treat you different based on your station in life (which would be naive now but is wildly so in his context).

Like Zhou Qi said, he's forever torn between his emotional needs (as someone desperate for any scrap of genuine attention/affection) and what would benefit him (because fundamentally he has a chip on his shoulder that leads him to desire power and respect and recognition).

Zang Hai is in stern and disappointed teacher mode but he did bring snacks.

There's a phrase "follow a slap with a treat" that describes how he handles Zhuang Zhixing pretty well.

"If I wasn't the Marquis' son, would you have tried to get close to me?"

Obviously not, my man!!! His life is vengeance! Your association is based on mutual interests! He told you so! Why would he ally with you if you were gonna be on dad's side?

But he is a shonen/male oriented novel protag I guess.

This is when netizens started saying Zhuang Zhixing needed to uninstall the 番茄小说 (Fanqie novel) app. (Fanqie is Douyin's app for fiction and has mostly free novels aimed at young readers.)

But it's not surprising that he'd subconsciously placed Zang Hai in the same category as his mother.

Zang Hai is his teacher/guide and plays the same role as a wife in the family power structure relative to Zhuang Zhixing (the one who forms and strengthens the connection with his father).

(In case that needed explaining - in a feudal family the man is all powerful and his immediate connections who are his spouses derive power from making their agendas sound like something that benefits him. The children need their mother's connection to advance themselves.)

But also…Zang Hai does do things out of care for you that aren't part of your deal, you dummy.

Lol, Zang Hai really cleaned out the Bureau if there are only three direct underlings left.

Yongrong collects (likely Song dynasty) currency. He's an antiques guy, basically.

Now that Zang Hai is a fifth ranked official, he's been elevated far above an ordinary person, but he's still nothing next to the truly powerful like Prince/Lord Yongrong. He can't even get a meeting with the guy.

Zang Hai investigating the burial practices case necessarily involved accusing a lot of powerful people of dodgy dealings. But he doesn't care about that. He only cares about the good opinion of people he needs for his revenge.

What Lord Yongrong walks into is a meeting of Cabinet.

Netizens commented on how scary they find Yongrong compared to the Marquis. Because the latter while cruel isn't nearly as inscrutable.

Yongrong refers to himself as 本王 (this lord/prince).

Extremely funny:

1) Zang Hai knew it was Antu immediately

2) now Gao Ming does want him to get close to Antu?

3) Gao Ming being so outraged at the idea of Zang Hai selling their house

Antu is so determined to be tsundere and she's having trouble because Zang Hai is being so coolly polite.

Of course what she really wants isn't money, it's to know him.

"I don't dare take the residence the Marquis gifted you" - there she goes again being jealous.

Now he's throwing a tantrum and leaving because he can't give her what she wants and she's the one who breaks first.

Aw, she saw that he couldn't tell her even though he might have wanted to. That's so lovely.

Episode 20

Now this is Chinese political intrigue. Also a new candidate for worst party ever.

Back then if you wanted to visit with someone important, first you had to put in a 拜贴, basically a name card that also states the purpose of your visit, to see if the VIP wants to receive you or not.

We talked before about the importance of the Four Pillars of Destiny. Zang Hai here has put together a false set in order to create a persona.

The persona he created with it is someone exactly like his act - clever, ambitious, has great luck with patrons.

And there he goes, getting to jump the queue again because of a clever trick. You can imagine what those still waiting in line will be saying about him.

Yongrong immediately starts mocking/belittling Zang Hai, first for being a grasping climber, and then making fun of his commoner origins.

(Hopefully you're getting that just from what he says but if not - trust me. This is how fancy Chinese people do it.)

As always Zang Hai just takes all of it in stride and never even has a second of being pissed.

He's got his obsequious act on again like he does for the Marquis (and is referring to himself as "this subordinate official").

What an incredibly uncomfortable scene.

When this episode first aired, "Lord Yongrong scary" trended and the actor even posted a meme joking about it.

The big deal coin set that made antique collector Yongrong so happy are 贞祐通宝, coins issued by an Emperor of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the 1200s. So quite an antique even during the Ming dynasty.

Zang Hai gives the wrong answer to "so what do you want for your bribe" by essentially hinting that he wants Yongrong to be his patron. As Yongrong says, he belongs to the Marquis (people keep saying that to poor Zang Hai lol) and can't serve two masters.

Zang Hai initiates his tried and true method for getting out of trouble - getting on his knees nicely and looking very innocent and pitiful.

The bird echoing his begging for mercy is a chilling little detail.

Now Yongrong's comparing Zang Hai to the caged bird and indirectly calling him a 畜生 (literally means livestock and is used as a very bad insult to mean someone so terrible that they're subhuman).

Zang Hai finally had to tell him something plausible (that he wants to use Yongrong to meet more powerful people). Which is also kind of true.

And in return he gets a lesson in how to bribe correctly.

Hopefully everyone got that Yongrong didn't actually have a problem with Zang Hai's clothes. He's saying that Zang Hai needs to shed his loyalty to the Marquis and become one of his people to proceed.

See how the new outfit is almost exactly the same?

I love the danger music because this is super perilous.

Bad things tend to happen at banquets in Chinese political intrigue shows/novels.

In case we needed reminding of the terrible reputation that Zang Hai is building for himself.

Yongrong introducing him to his partisans also has the connotation of "these are my people, don't bother them".

Remember, he's the heir to the Empire by default. Emperor is childless.

In this show it pays to pay attention to details - what people say, what they don't say, every scrap of writing and clothing and set dressing.

If Yongrong really did investigate the deaths of the Kuai family then that seemingly clears him.

Of course, anyone who was desperate to kill the so called burglars is very sus.

Zang Hai is doing his I'm just a poor little meow meow trying to stay alive in this big bad world act again

A 花魁 is the number one, headlining courtesan of an establishment.

Zang Hai carefully tests Yongrong and Yongrong just comes out and says oh you mean the guixi.

Something that was a secret out of reach when he was a commoner is just amusing dinner party chat for the powerful.

Oh no, what is Antu doing.

Bwhaha, Antu is so mad Zang Hai took her gift and gave it to Yongrong. But it seems like she's after the guixi too.

Getting drunk at meals and parties has been an occupational hazard of being a Chinese politician/bureaucrat from time immemorial until today.

God this scene is tense.

Zang Hai's drunk acting is superb.

Thank god for Liu Chu. So glad she was the courtesan, and obviously she knows Yongrong well.

Did you notice that Liu Chu is only the second person in the show to call Zang Hai handsome?

She's amused by Zang Hai calling her 姑娘 (guniang) because that's a respectful form of address for a young woman, not often used for courtesans.

Now poor Zang Hai's really drunk. Thank god for Liu Chu or who knows what might have happened.

So Yongrong is a red herring…if Liu Chu can be believed.

Her conversation with Gao Ming is interesting - he's concerned that Zang Hai still cares about other people.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Xiao Zhan on a scene in Legend of Zang Hai that was really challenging to film and his own contribution to it.

[steppingonyourshadow]

Lee watches Legend of Zang Hai: Episodes 1-10

Decided to clean up and post my commentary thread here for easier reading.

Plot, language, culture, history, Chinese TV and novel tropes, and general commentary.

Episode 1

Man, I kind of can't believe it's actually here? And it looks so good?

You can tell by the mode of dress etc that this is an alternate history Ming dynasty.

The Ming dynasty ruled from 1368 to 1644 (Elizabeth I died in 1603, if that helps you situate yourself). It was a time of great flourishing of the arts and literature but fewer advancements in science.

The nation of Dong Xia/冬夏 is an invention of the Lost Tomb franchise. There was a real East (also Dong) Xia but it was destroyed by the Mongols long before the Ming dynasty.

On a less scholarly note the child actors are all absolutely adorable.

Kuai Duo's job is 钦天监监正 - basically, the imperial astronomer. It was an important, extremely politically sensitive role (and we'll talk about why later) but not a super highly ranked one.

Think of it as architect, astrologer and astronomer all in one.

Our protagonist says his dad Kuai Duo is an expert at 堪舆 (kanyu), a term we're gonna come across a lot.

Kanyu (Chinese geomancy) is the proper term for what is now popularly called fengshui - a combination of philosophy, astrology, geography and anthropology.

So funny to me that baby Zhi Nu (Nu is a suffix for child names, which is why both kids' names have it) is already digging tunnels what with his character being based on a Lost Tomb legend who would go on to make a lot of them.

Zhi Nu/Zang Hai's parents are played brilliantly by a duo who really look like they could be Xiao Zhan's parents, the Hong Kong actor and singer Wallace Chung and the Taiwanese actress and singer Michelle Chen.

Michelle previously encountered Xiao Zhan during his survival show days.

In an episode full of horrifying, tragic moments I think I was most struck by Gou Li's decision to impersonate Zhi Nu (and therefore die for him).

What a well-shot, well-made, amazingly acted episode.

Episode 2

The selection that the masked man recites to Zhi Nu is from the poem 即事 by the Song dynasty poet and philosopher 王安石. It's about how small our lives are in the grand scheme of creation.

1) Masked Man is so sus. He's so clearly pushing Zhi Nu along this path for his own reasons. 

2) The cosmetic surgery scene depicts real techniques and tools from traditional Chinese medicine.

Oh before I go on, I should say that if you came into this expecting straightforward good and evil instead of complex people, you're watching the wrong show.

Everyone in China knows Zheng Xiaolong, he's made so many classic shows and he's known for portraying complex humanity.

Kuai Duo was (and Zhi Nu is) an expert in building with 榫卯 (Mortise-and-tenon), a construction technique first used in China during the Neolithic period, in which wood components were made to interlock with perfect fit, without using screws or glue.

The death puzzle is solved by Zhi Nu using a poem by a 易学 (literally the study of changes) scholar. 

易学 derives from I Ching (the Book of Changes) and is the study of philosophy, science, divination and meteorology from a Chinese worldview. 

We talked about kanyu before and how it's geography and architecture and astronomy.

Not sure how they're translating the other thing Zhi Nu is learning but it's basically how to win friends and influence people (con artistry, except sometimes you're not lying).

The scene with Liu Chu is really interesting because (spoilers) it turns out Zang Hai is a natural at manipulating others' feelings, as she says. 

But he's also inherently a little impulsive, as she also points out.

The puzzle scene is incredible. Our boy is so fucked up. The fact that he recites the massacre of his family so calmly and with a smile just makes it even more fucked up.

Zang Hai's making a murder list, he's checking it twice, he already knows they're all terrible motherfuckers.

Episode 3

One thing I have to commend this show for is that all the actors feel like they belong in this era. No one has overly modern posture/affect/speech (a very common problem with idol dramas that always takes me out).

Xing Dou quotes from the Song dynasty poem 晏殊: "觥船一棹百分空。何处不相逢" - no need to be sorrowful at parting, we could always meet again elsewhere.

Which is certainly interesting in context.

The fireworks are 药发木偶, an art form originating in the Song dynasty in which artisans made puppets of popular characters and installed fireworks to make them dance. They were used for celebrations.

The beautiful screen here is actually a hand-carved lantern - another traditional art form.

I love how much Zang Hai has going on behind his eyes at all times. 

Let's be real, Xiang Antu is letting him off easy not only because she wants to fuck with him but also because she thinks he's cute.

Shadow plays have their own English wiki entry.

The use of instruments to change one's voice to suit the role like Ba-gongzi does here is a part of the tradition.

The play is a convenient recap of the political situation - a heir-less emperor, and two of the political powers (the Marquis and Cao-gonggong with his secret police).

Eunuchs could be very powerful during the Ming dynasty.

The Emperor is the child of the Dowager Noble Consort and of course he wants his mother to remain buried with the previous emperor rather than have her dug up and the Dowager Empress put in to replace her as tradition demands (because the Dowager Empress was the wife).

See, what was Liu Chu saying last ep about not being taken in by a friendly face?

I love that Zang Hai can't fight and is even a little clumsy. Pure guile protag (I was going to say hero but that word is so loaded in English).

From this ep you may have seen that kanyu fengshui is not just decisions about buildings. It's actually mostly politics.

We're going to return to this idea. 

Three things about Zang Hai:

1) man loves to smile humbly head bowed at someone he wants to murder

2) he's learned the best way to avoid being fooled is to fool everyone else

3) that self-destructive, reckless streak is a mile wide.

Zang Hai figures out that the solution to the tomb is contained in phrases from 滴天髓, a famous divination text

Two things about the Marquis (fandom calls him by his title Lord/Duke Pingjin):

- clearly very sensitive to any implication that he's past it, that retainer was very silly 

- note him saying his residence would burn down if he left it to Chu-daren.

Episode 4

Did you see how he gave himself barely a second to grieve and rage?

(Insert kitten thinks only of murder meme here.)

Zang Hai only had a second to feel emotions because he then immediately had to put on his most harmless smol bean facade, down to bowing his back like a peasant awed to be surrounded by power and wealth. Someone who knows his place.

This first meeting is electric, my god.

I said before that kanyu is politics. The issue here is that none of the other fengshui masters managed to 1) come up with the correct political solution that suited the Emperor and 2) give a convincing explanation for it that suited tradition and the rules.

Zang Hai saw that he needed to offer a story and a solution that would accomplish two things:

1) allow the burial to proceed (so appeasing broadly held values) in a way that doesn't degrade the Emperor's own mother

2) kept powerful regional lords from coming to the capital.

The spirits stuff is all politics and everyone knows it's politics but it needs to have a justification that makes it sound like it's from on high. 

This is the kind of ambiguity that you have to get very comfortable with in traditional and modern Chinese culture.

This scene is so tense I barely breathed. Masterful direction and performances all around.

One thing folks keep commenting on is how unique Zang Hai is as a protagonist - and one of those traits is his willingness to be totally shamelessly obsequious when it helps him.

Did you notice the big clock outside during the scene where they're waiting for noon?

Sundials have been in use in China for telling time since the Han dynasty.

Zang Hai references my OG historical blorbo Zhuge Liang's famous "with deference and prudence, to the state of one's depletion, until one's death" (鞠躬盡瘁，死而後已) in trying to pledge himself to the Marquis.

Except of course he's on his knees begging his enemy to take him on.

Zang Hai is also unique as a protag in this genre because as netizens say he's "绿茶" and "毒蛇" (green tea bitch and venomous snake).

Green tea (bitch can be omitted) means to act harmless and sweet in order to manipulate people, which is what he's doing here with the Marquis.

His fundamental sense of justice can be seen in how he saved the child and tried to get his fellow tomb sufferers a burial.

But he's not your conventional heroic morally pure protagonist in the Western sense.

The production actually built the Marquis' residence using period appropriate construction techniques. It took six months. The design was in part based on the Song dynasty painting 七夕乞巧图.

Zang Hai has managed to get himself a role as a 幕僚 to the Marquis, but what is that? The modern equivalent is basically a military general's staff, in ancient terms a strategist, advisor or aide.

Zang Hai was able to pull off his performance at the tomb because he noticed that the Imperial Observatory (responsible for burials) had become so corrupt that they'd dared to use substandard construction and materials on the Emperor's tomb, leading to it not being watertight.

The way the Three Stooges discuss Zang Hai is so slimy, full of insinuation about his youth. The truth is that they're incredibly bothered and threatened by his mere existence, as they ought to be.

(Two of them are playing Chinese chess.)

Zang Hai things:

1) He looks so good in that retainer's uniform.

2) Thank god he's so wily and such a good actor. Having to deal with the petty jealousy and bullying of Yang Zhen must be infuriating.

3) You can kind of see him plotting murder behind those eyes, can't you.

Episode 5

Oh god what a tense episode.

A note about forms of address. Before Zang Hai's employment by the Marquis, he uses 草民 to refer to himself in front of the powerful, basically "this peasant". 

Once he's employed, he switches to 小的 or 小人 ("this insignificant one").

The secret basement room has a super special lock (see the 士 character on it? That means it's an anti-theft lock with a very specialised key).

This is a hilarious second meet cute between Zang Hai and Zhuang Zhixing, two sneaks sneaking around, one of them much better at it than the other.

Zang Hai cannot resist giving Zhuang Zhixing attitude even while keeping his humble obsequious smol bean act up, hahaha.

Zang Hai's enormously clever long distance romancing of the Marquis works because no man, no matter how powerful or cruel, can resist the allure of someone who knows them.

And of course Zang Hai knows him entirely, he's spent years studying him in order to kill him.

The Three Stooges know that Zang Hai's smol bean act is just an act, but that's fine - they're meant to To them, he's cosplaying a clever boy desperate for advancement and willing to abase himself for it.

What they don't know is how far he's willing to go.

This conversation between Zhuang Zhixing and Antu about the Marquis' spoils of war from Dong Xia is a heavy hint as to her secret identity.

Dying that Zhuang Zhixing has been taking dad's spoils to fund his lifestyle and owes like 300x Zang Hai's monthly salary to Pillow Pavilion.

The worst party of all time:

1) the way this show builds tension is incredible.

2) Zang Hai is playing smol bean and thinking about murder again

3) lord this show is brutal. Thank god for Antu.

One of the common themes in the work of Zheng Xiaolong is the fundamental injustice of feudal society. Look how cheap the lives of common people are to those with even a little power like the Three Stooges.

Zang Hai is himself one of the common people, of course. That's why his situation is so precarious. He doesn't have any kind of protagonist halo keeping him out of the clutches of the powerful.

And again we see his compassion and sense of justice come to the fore.

Another thing that sets him apart:

He spends about 2 seconds raging about the injustice and then gets down to solving the immediate problem. Plotting murder is for the long term.

The retainers trying to get face time in front of the Marquis despite Yang Zhen's obstruction reminds me strongly of an Emperor's harem vying for any scrap of his attention (which is of course the subject of director Zheng Xiaolong's most famous work, Legend of Zhen Huan).

One more thing aboth the terrible party - we all get why Zang Hai said no to the girl right? Not because he has some kind of sexual purity thing going on, or a need to maintain a reputation, but because he can't let himself be owned by Yang Zhen.

Love this bath scene, so much to unpack:

- Zang Hai going from obsequious smile to looking at Zhuang Zhixing like he's a dumbass as soon as his back is turned

- how incredibly sinister Zang Hai seems particularly toward the end - that smile!

Zhuang Zhixing asking Zang Hai to bathe with him might have the air of a rich frivolous gongzi flirting with a cute servant if not for Zang Hai's scary scheming face (especially with that "why do you keep asking about my father" exchange) 

Zhuang Zhixing with a "let them eat cake" moment - as Zang Hai says, of course Zhuang Zhixing can afford to look down on those who need to spend their days eking out a living.  He doesn't have to worry about any of that.

A final note about the poor singing girl. Her song is in a folk style called 挂枝儿 and the song is called 蜻蜓 (Dragonfly).

The lyrics are flirty (appropriate for a sexy party), common (because the Three Stooges have common taste) and a warning to Zang Hai that he can't escape.

Episode 6

Yang Zhen's idea isn't that bad except for the part where it's a trap to kill Zang Hai.

The idea of one's 八字 came up a lot in this episode. 

Your 八字 is determined by your birth year, month, day and hour.  Chinese folks believed it could tell you whether two people were compatible, and what someone was best suited for.

Zang Hai very calmly telling Gao Ming that the Three Stooges definitely plan to make him a human sacrifice and sounding amused about it is pretty fucked up. 

Also fucked up to be building your own burial chamber.

We're gonna return to this idea many times so I'll just flag it for now - Zang Hai pretends that he fears death when he wants someone to think so but he really doesn't.

Because in his head, he's already dead. He's a vengeful ghost come to claim his due.

One of my favourite Zang Hais is when he's Just Asking Questions, all innocent (knowing that what he's asking is a deadly secret).

Xiao Zhan is so good at playing very smart people.

The device in the flashback is an armillary sphere - an astronomical device invented in 4th century BC.

This one in particular is a copy of a sphere invented in the Yuan dynasty which was, fun fact, melted down for scraps by a German missionary in the Qing dynasty.

Really enjoyed Zang Hai's guide to proper tomb construction (again, linking to something fans of the Tomb franchise would know about the original character of Wang Zanghai).

They're making 三合土 (tabia) - a real ancient Chinese construction material made from clay, lime and sand.

Zhuang Zhifu is your classic fuerdai - dad got him his cushy job and he can't even do it without doing a corruption and getting in trouble.

Even as thick as he is, he still managed to recognise that his dad is already a bit fond of Zang Hai.

Poor Zang Hai having to pretend he doesn't know who his own father is.

Loved "I'm not working for him, I'm working for me".

Using sticks to tell fortune in China dates back to the Jin dynasty and is still practiced in temples today.

Gao Ming quotes from the classic divination text the Book of Changes. 

(You can tell Gao Ming taught Zang Hai how to lie, he's great at this.)

One thing that really sets this show apart is that not only is Zang Hai starting from a position of total powerlessness, his enemies are extremely powerful *and* pretty clever. So his plotting needs to be even more intricate to fool them.

These poor folks "volunteering" to be buried as a human sacrifice so they can save their families.

And then Zang Hai just smiling a little like he's thinking "these lowlifes are so predictable".

Episode 7

We start with some classic bullshitting about the will of heaven from Chu-daren.

Everyone knows what he's actually happening but there's nothing to be gained from pointing it out. Same with the "volunteers" for human sacrifice.

Corruption is so rife in Great Yong that officials take a cut from even the money used to compensate the families of the human sacrifices.

Here Zang Hai refers to himself as 卑职 (this humble official), a form of address used by those of lower rank toward those of higher rank. 

Chu-daren is his boss. Zang Hai's path to advancement is through murdering all his immediate superiors.

Fans have been posting about how this show really exposes the fantasy of transmigrating to the past and being able to do well with "modern smarts" as just that - a fantasy out of step with the harshness and unfairness of feudal society. 

There's a colloquial Chinese phrase which is roughly "if you want to look pretty, wear mourning colours" (wearing very plain colours complements and elevates true beauty).

Imperial Chinese government officials were classified into a 9 rank system. Every single thing about their treatment was strictly in accordance with their rank. 

The Marquis is the first ranked military official in the country.

Loved Zang Hai's speech about how we can't wait for posterity to improve the world, we have to do it ourselves.

These men are all going to die anyway but they still have something to fear - the worst crimes were punished with death of one's entire clan.

Zang Hai came prepared, of course, but his enemies have done the same.

I genuinely gasped when the trap mechanism activated.

"Get up, we're going home" really got me. 

Zang Hai definitely should murder every single one of these scumbags.

God the scene with Ji-bobo (Uncle Ji) is so moving and well acted.

Lovely to tell him to live well but how can he when he's living on knives and murderous intent?

The shot of Zang Hai wiping blood onto his face ("sealing tears with blood") is incredible. Such a great idea.

Having Gao Ming make the Marquis think that Zang Hai is his lucky totem is so smart, I love it.

They're all so scared when he walks out of the royal tomb, like he's a ghost. And he is.

I love that Zang Hai not only plotted to come out of this alive but also to take down Yang Zhen at the same time, and he's clearly been planning all this ever since the birthday party from hell. Incredible.

Zang Hai uses the will of heaven and the well established rules governing imperial burials to apply pressure to not just the Marquis but the entire body of governing officials masterfully.

The Marquis correctly perceives that Zang Hai isn't afraid to die.

The Marquis immediately abandoning Yang Zhen and even tricking him into walking into the tomb is very funny and in character. Of course he's going to trade you in for a younger model, dude.

Love Zang Hai's facial expressions throughout this scene. Xiao Zhan has never looked better.

Xiao Zhan said that when he first read the script he was already picturing how he'd play this scene and you can really see why. It's amazing and he does an amazing job with it.

Episode 8

The one with the famous carriage scene.

The thing is this is kind of a rigged game. If the Marquis had really made up his mind to kill Zang Hai, he would not be in this carriage. He's in the carriage because the Marquis finds him amusing and wants to give him a chance.

Zang Hai's performance (not Xiao Zhan's, the character's) here is very interesting. He has the Marquis' number and has calibrated this persona to appeal to him. 

Let's call this persona smol bean white lotus Zang Hai - a docile, clever boy with nothing to his name, eager to advance.

I almost choked at Zang Hai's line about wanting to serve the Marquis with an unsullied/pure name.

Along with Zang Hai's delivery and the way the scene is shot, the subtext here is uh, rich. And will only get more so as the episode goes on.

The other thing Zang Hai is counting on is that the Marquis knows his underlings are a problem.

Zang Hai isn't just trying to save his own life, he's laying the groundwork for murder number two by making a paranoid man question his underling's loyalty.

Huang Jue's performance here is also really interesting because although his words are severe, it's crystal clear from body language and his face that he likes what Zang Hai has to say (especially the seemingly sincere praise for his abilities and achievements).

"My life is in the Marquis' hands" is such a clever thing to say in this moment.

The Marquis does enjoy resting his sword on Zang Hai's neck, doesn't he.

Qu Jiao, dude, don't you know questioning the Marquis' ability to command Zang Hai is like questioning his masculinity. Doing it in front of Zang Hai is even worse.

(More seriously this is Zang Hai's scheme of turning the Marquis against Qu Jiao working.)

I spent a lot of text on this scene but you gotta understand it was so viral and resulted in so many memes.

This one compares Zang Hai's poor little meow meow act to a famous scene from a Korean show.

Also I laugh at the green tea way Zang Hai looks at Qu Jiao here every time.

Nepo baby dummy Zhuang Zhifu isn't smart enough to perceive that his father wants Zang Hai around but his smartest moment might be perceiving the danger.

Again I almost choked laughing at his suggestion of marking up Zang Hai's face, like we're in a palace intrigue drama.

At this point there's really no suspense to the decision to kill Qu Jiao, at least once you've seen the look on the Marquis' face at Zhuang Zhifu's suggestion. Zang Hai isn't surprised either.

Notice how he doesn't sleep though :(

This next sequence can be read on a few levels if you're familiar with palace/household intrigue tropes (like the Chinese audience would be).

Consider what we're shown of Zang Hai's sudden elevation:

1) the Marquis has given him rooms next to his own, in the inner courtyard.

2) all the gifts. 

3) the retainer pointing out that even when Yang Zhen was in favour, he never got this treatment.

4) getting to eat with the Marquis' family. 

5) the Marquis offering to let all the other aides go and only use Zang Hai.

The text layer is that he's being treated as a very favoured courier. 

The subtext layer is how this feels like the entry of a new, highly favoured wife into a household/palace.

(Reminder that the director of this show directed the most famous palace intrigue drama of them all.

Folks see parallels between the relationship of the Emperor and Zhen Huan in Legend of Zhen Huan vs Zang Hai and the Marquis.)

Of course, the warlord/favoured strategist relationship is also traditionally very charged and intimate. See Sun Ce/Zhou Yu, Liu Bei/Zhuge Liang.

Zang Hai gets into character immediately, promising undying dedication and service and saying he's the Marquis' man (can also be translated as "this insignificant one belongs to the Marquis"). 

To which I can only quote this genius RedNote post:

"Marquis, when a perfectly suited person appears who shares all your interests, gives extremely strong emotional support and meets your every need, don't doubt, it's just a pig slaughtering scam designed specifically for you."

This wordless scene with Chu Huaiming is so good. Next on the murder list and I think he knows it, now that the other two Stooges are gone.

The Marquis knows that Zang Hai is ambitious and even dangerous but he's confident that he can handle it, that Zang Hai can be tamed for his use and his family's use.

The way Antu forces Zang Hai into this meeting is so funny. I love their scenes together. Zang Hai clearly enjoys fucking with her and she's into it too.

The way his posture changes when he decides to drop the act.

Some culture stuff:

The drawings are 界画 (boundary drawings), a form of traditional Chinese art featuring detailed renderings of architecture. 

The painting in the background of Zang Hai's quarters is Hundred Cranes from Lu Ji, from the Ming dynasty.

The quarters chosen by the Marquis for Zang Hai are called 飞鸿印雪, from a poem by the great Song dynasty poet, writer and early food blogger Su Dongpo.

It depicts the faint, temporary marks left by the feet of waterfowl in snow. Zang Hai shows as much of himself as those steps.

Episode 9

AKA "in Great Yong all the domineering CEOs want me"

Antu really is bringing the domineering CEO energy - saying the Marquis sure is lucky to have Zang Hai and that anything the Marquis could give Zang Hai, she could too.

Antu to Zang Hai:

(Meme explanation.)

Antu is only saying out loud what everyone else is wondering - how has this very young man who came from nothing managed to rise so quickly? What kind of methods might he have employed?

(The actual answer is murder, of course.)

Zang Hai puts on a different act for Antu - an ambitious striver dazzled by the prospect of power and making a name for himself.

Antu's agenda is pretty obvious too. She doesn't want the Marquis to regain military power and threaten Great Yong's neighbours again.

It's not easy to be the man closest to the one in power. There's an idiom 伴君如伴虎 (to accompany the king is like living with a tiger). Keeping the favour of a tyrannical, mercurial man isn't easy, particularly with so many gunning for you or trying to get something from you.

All sorts of people will be trying to butter him up for access to the Marquis because it's clear that he's the flavour of the month and may well have influence over the Marquis. But there's no such thing as a free lunch.

This show portrays the complexity of corruption and bribery and how it can become formalised. 

Zang Hai brilliantly turns the potential massive liability into another way to score points with the Marquis, by helping improve his reputation.

Zang Hai apologises for acting without prior authority but he knows the Marquis will be happy and you only have to look at the Marquis' face to see he's right. 

Again he emphasises his awareness that he's the Marquis' man and his actions reflect on his master.

Again: everyone likes an underling who anticipates their every need and constantly thinks of the best thing for them.

The Marquis' affection toward Zang Hai is that of the powerful toward something in their power that they can give treats to for good behaviour. Like a pet. But free access to his private sanctum is a pretty big gift.

Zang Hai's clothing and guan have gotten much nicer too. 

Aw, Antu and Ba-gongzi are cute.

The use of children's rhymes to spend rumours or influence the discourse was very common back in the day.

In this case the rhyme is even correct. 

(In the original script Wang Zanghai was plagued by rumours of having obtained his position by seduction. Not a joke.)

Zang Hai's face at the concept of apologising to Antu, haha.

Have you noticed that his actual personality isn't deferential at all, it's actually impatient, kind of bratty and even mean at times (while being fundamentally sentimental and moral)?

Oh now this is a dilemma, the poison is an obvious trap but...

Christ, this trauma train. He was having a decent run pretending to be a living person and now the vengeful ghost is back in charge.  And he can't even do proper rites for his parents yet.

Oh right, *this* scene.

Look, I'm sure that's not the first person to want to wear that face.

Zang Hai getting them to take his shirt off by saying "actually you need more than my face" is very funny also.

Zang Hai's physical attempts to get out of danger are always so action movie female lead coded - he's allowed to do smart things like cut the rope but he's very easily overpowered and can never get out of danger by himself without using guile.

Oh wow, it's the other aide. I forgot about him. I also forgot Guan Feng got told to go into the hills! 

This is so lovely for Zang Hai. He's no longer alone. There's someone else on this path with him.

Episode 10

AKA the one with ethical archaeology and such a tense scene I almost couldn't watch

(Also, big fan of these robes.)

Kuai Duo teaching his son to preserve tombs and respect the dead and also murder tomb raiders is also a fun reference to Lost Tomb Wang Zanghai making all those tombs with extensive defences.

Pay attention to the story of Liu Xian and his shifu. I suspect it's going to be very relevant to Zang Hai's own story, quite aside to the tomb's plot relevance. 

衡 is an interesting character to use to encompass the virtues of the ideal Confucian - it means balance.

There's a sort of unreality to Zang Hai saying they'll succeed and all run away to somewhere nice where no one knows them. He doesn't even really believe it himself. 

Zang Hai being in charge of rites for the Marquis' parents must make him even more furious - the Marquis' parents get to enjoy worship and offerings from their descendants, while his own parents had their bodies desecrated and don't even have their proper resting place.

His father didn't want his craft to be used to kill. But his father is dead. Zang Hai cannot be the ideal gentleman his father wanted him to be.

I don't think I breathed during this scene with Zang Hai's doctored incense. 

But as netizens say, the moment Zang Hai starts begging for mercy with wet eyes you know he's gonna be fine.

The thing about men like the Marquis is that them liking you doesn't mean they trust you. In fact if they feel especially drawn to someone, that'll just make them more suspicious, particularly if that person is very clever. They'll also turn on a dime at any moment.

So the Marquis' feelings are genuine - like Huang Jue said, he probably wishes someone so good looking, capable and talented was part of his family. 

And his treatment of Zang Hai is genuine. But that doesn't mean Zang Hai is ever out of danger.

By the time he goes to see the Marquis, Zang Hai has fully recalibrated and is thinking rationally again.

Being a frightened little flower in need of protection works for the Marquis. Like Huang Jue said, the Marquis is into the green tea routine but only if it's from Zang Hai.

What kind of flex is "uncountable number of people want to kill me", Zhuang Luyin? 

He calls Zang Hai his 心腹 - confidant (literally "vital organs").

The Ming dynasty was plagued by powerful eunuchs who were effectively rulers. The character of Cao Jingxian was probably based on Ming dynasty eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the most infamous eunuch in Chinese history, whose power rivalled that of the Emperor. 

Every time we see a glimpse of Zang Hai under his masks it's just knives and rage and screaming.

The only thing keeping him tethered to life is revenge and that's a pretty horrible state to be in.

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If you are interested in my culture/history/language/plot commentary on Legend of Zang Hai, my live watch thread is now complete.

What a character. What an ensemble. What a great show.

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Xiao Zhan on the complexity of Zang Hai as a character and how that makes him more appealing

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Xiao Zhan on the work he did to improve his dialogue delivery for Legend of Zang Hai

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Xiao Zhan on his favourite costume details from Legend of Zang Hai

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Xiao Zhan is asked about the role sentiment plays in Legend of Zang Hai and shows that he's even more ruthless than Zang Hai himself

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Xiao Zhan agrees that like Zang Hai he's good at perceiving people but points out a key difference between him and the character

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Xiao Zhan on whether Zang Hai was ever happy and what Antu means to him

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Xiao Zhan on a scene that left an impression on him - his confrontation with the Marquis (which was his first scene with Huang Jue)

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Sohu tries to get Xiao Zhan to divulge an unknown fact about himself and he can't think of any he wants to share.

And then they start making suggestions such as "do you like to look in the mirror after showering".

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Xiao Zhan on what Zang Hai would be doing if he didn't have revenge as his life goal