When last we left our problematic secondary characters, they were attracting clingy love interests.
Like the Princess
She’s interested in Fu Yi, not our leads, but Miao Miao keeps throwing herself between them for Mu Yao’s sake. But Mu Yao gets upset and leaves anyway, Fu Yi chasing her.
The princess is irritated and recognizes Miao Miao as Lin Yu, but does not punish her. In a flashback, we see Fu Yi likes to hand safety sachets out to all the ladies. The princess regretted not pursuing him then and thinks this is her chance. She’s not afraid of embarrassing herself for love.
Miao Miao is moved. I’m not. Chasing someone who has said “no” several times is icky. Have I watched romances where that happened and liked them? Yes of course I have.
The Marquis shows up to “rescue” Miao Miao and be ridiculous. The princess chases him with a stick. Poor Miao Miao stands between them.
Sheng is afraid of love! Poor Sheng!
He stares at his gift for Miao Miao while remembering his mom’s warning against letting love ruin his life like hers. This is an epidemic. First the Marquis’s father, then Cui Cui’s grandfather, and now Sheng’s mother.
Sheng throws the gift because he can’t handle feelings.
Miao Miao realizes that by changing the lantern scene, she ruined a pivotal romantic moment between Mu Yao and Fu Yi. She needs to create a new one. She consults a child, Cui Cui, and a man who can’t deal with feelings, Sheng, for help.
There’s a meteor shower tonight, and she wants Cui Cui to create a swing in a clearing. She can’t explain what she wants, but somehow Sheng knows. Is this a clue? Something to do with the game plot and the fact that at the end we will have to end up back IRL?
They sit together. She looks happy and he looks conflicted. Before he can talk about his feelings instead of throwing things, she drags him away.
Because Fu Yi and Mu Yao have arrived
While they hide behind a rock, Sheng asks if liking someone means you have to express it. Not catching on, Miao Miao is pro-expressing love. Sheng worries about a bad ending, and starting a romance only for it to be doomed. I get it Sheng, anxiety is the worst.
Miao Miao says the ending is not the only important part. Proving she hasn’t watched enough dramas with terrible endings.
The meteor shower starts, and Sheng almost touches her fingers. Miao Miao misses it because she’s watching the action on the swing.
Fu Yi and Mu Yao enjoy the OST before he confesses. They kiss, but it’s interrupted when Mu Yao hears a voice. Sheng and Miao Miao come out, but no one hears anything except Mu Yao. No one questions what Sheng and Miao Miao were doing behind a rock either.
The show needed a wooden bracelet and a demonic statuette
The bracelet is part of the Marquis’ grand scheme to propose to Miao Miao. It came from his father, who woke up to find it with no memory of how he got it. He felt it belonged to the woman he loved, but never had anyone to give it to.
With that history, Marquis is determined to give it to Miao Miao.
The demonic statuette is the master of the Princess’s maid, Pei Yun. It knows the bracelet is transformed hair from Goddess Mei. Whoever wears it will fall in love with the person who gave it to them. Its powers cannot be detected or broken.
The demonic statuette and Pei Yun plan to use it for revenge. She wants the Marquis, the Dowager Consort, or both to die. I’m not sure. And she trusts a talking, demonic statuette.
Miao Miao’s belief in love moves Sheng to action
He gets Cui Cui to lure Miao Miao away, then does something with tons of flowers.
The Marquis, also knowing Miao Miao is out, also sets up a grand romantic scene. Neither guy is aware of the other’s efforts.
Miao Miao returns and thinks everything she sees is Sheng’s work. It’s not. The Marquis descends from the sky and bounces against the ground. Then he confesses. Miao Miao is disappointed he’s not Sheng.
Cui Cui finds Sheng ready with a single rose. Where are the other flowers? They go looking for Miao Miao.
Miao Miao tells the Marquis she’s in love with someone. Not him someone. The Marquis isn’t a jerk, he tells her he’s happy for her and gives her the bracelet anyway. Miao Miao tries to refuse but he sticks it on her wrist.
Now she wants to marry the Marquis! He’s delighted and questions nothing. Sheng saw the whole thing.
Sheng questions A LOT
But Mu Yao and Fu Yi accept the sudden marriage invitation with only a little surprise. With no help from them, Sheng still won’t give up. He runs various magical tests but, as promised, there’s no evidence of magical intervention.
Still, he follows her into a carriage with the Marquis. To the men’s surprise, Miao Miao wants him to come along to help pick a wedding dress.
Not that he gets to help. She meekly agrees with the Marquis, who picks a colorful, unique gown. She tells Sheng she likes whatever her love likes.
Sheng still has plenty of jerk left in him, because when Miao Miao says she knows Sheng cares about her, he denies it. He says he dislikes everyone besides his sister. But that Lotus Heart Lake thing looks unhappy.
Miao Miao’s real feelings are still there somewhere because she doesn’t want the Marquis to call her Miao Miao.
We get Demon Sheng again!
First, he kidnaps the Marquis, strangles him, and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t leave Miao Miao alone. Right, the princess not taking no for an answer is annoying but this works for me. I’m a hypocrite.
To his credit, the Marquis refuses to abandon Miao Miao.
But he recognizes Sheng’s hair ribbon from some childhood flashback. As Miao Miao finds them, the Marquis pulls it off. Demon Sheng time!
The Marquis faints in her arms.
Demon Sheng wants to know if Miao Miao is afraid of him. She’s confused while he has dramatic, demon-fire tears. She was the only one not afraid of him, but now she is. She denies it but he thinks she’s lying.
The bracelet stops her when she reaches for him. Sheng puts the hair ribbon back on and returns to his human form. Poor sad human Sheng.
More on all this old history at the Imperial Capital
Guo tells Mu Yao a great demon was behind the fire at Xingshan Hall. It lured a wizard into working for it and gaining the trust of the Dowager Consort. The demon created a Life Suction formation over the hall, which would sacrifice human lives for greater demonic power.
The demon nearly got it to work, but Mu Yao’s father destroyed it before it was finished.
Later, we see Pei Yun’s meet-cute with the demon statuette, finding it in a burned building that has to be the Xingshan Hall. It’s implied her sister died in the fire. They vow to get revenge on the wedding day.
Mu Yao enters the hall after Pei Yun is gone, and finds a hidden formation with her father’s energy. He didn’t kill the demon, but sealed it, possibly because the demon was too powerful. Mu Yao sees a vision of her father, throwing the demon back into the burning building.
And we’re out!
Pei Yun and the statuette are more talk than action
So far they’ve done nothing. The Marquis got the bracelet on Miao Miao’s wrist and planned the wedding. And won’t it not being the princess ruin whatever they have planned? Do they know he’s marrying Miao Miao now?
Pei Yun is awfully accepting of a demonic statuette. I assume it’s the real reason her sister died.
In general, I dislike magical items creating magical conflict instead of character-motivated conflict. In this case, I like Sheng having to do the work in the relationship. And I like that we can tell that Miao Miao is still drawn to him. So it’s kinda working for me.
I like that Miao Miao orchestrated that romantic scene for Fu Yi and Mu Yao. It felt like her being clever and working with what she knows of the book and the game, instead of trying to force things by telling everyone they’re a team.
When do we see someone pull the sword out of the stone? Sheng? Maybe? And when will Fu Yi knowing he’s a demon do anything? What does the Marquis know about Sheng from his childhood? I need to know now!
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