When last we left the warlord and the beauty, Man Man told Wei Shao so many lies.
And she tells a few more
Kinda. Bi Zhi is alone and without support from her family. But she’s using this to convince Wei Shao that Bi Zhi is no threat.
Then she accidentally reveals she hasn’t looked at his gift. Or the fabric used to make the pillow she gives him. But he’s happy with his pillow.
Bi Zhi and Wei Qu hunt CG animals (which I’m okay seeing die at least). Xue Tai sees the Wei arrows and assumes Bi Zhi has Wei Shao’s support. Fan manipulates the situation so that Bi Zhi flies a flag for Qiao. Wei Qu thinks Wei Shao would want them to stay out of it.
Wei Shao did not want that, and is Not Happy
Everyone realizes that Man Man set everything up. Wei Shao orders his men to stay away from the Qiao clan, because they’ll make you dumb.
Now that the Qiao have Boya, Panyi doesn’t matter. So he’ll take over Xiaogang to open up a new front and monitor Boya. Also, all Man Man’s letters must come through him.
Wei Shao turns his meal with Man Man into a show of power, piling her bowl with meat. He accuses her of manipulating him and making him feel guilty. She points out that he felt guilty because he did something wrong.
Despite his scolding and saying she could have been honest, which I’m not sure about, Man Man is pleased by Bi Zhi’s success. He feels she is still Qiao, and she feels that if they are one family, why should it matter if Boya is under Qiao or Wei.
Her ability with words drives him crazy, so he warns that he’ll always hold a blade at the Qiao clan’s throat.
Man Man agrees that the Qiao are not to be trusted
She sends her sick Advisor to tell Bi Zhi to mine near Xiaogang to build a secret tunnel for troops to defend against Wei. Then she watches her husband head out to war.
Time for Go with Grandma. Grandma advises that the game is not about trying to get all the pieces, but learning when and how much to yield. This is not just advice about Go.
Grandma is happy Man Man saw Wei Shao off, but she’d rather he didn’t have to fight. Accepting Man Man marrying into their family was hard. Her grandfather’s betrayal cost her her husband, son, and grandson. But the dead cannot come back. If she kills Man Man’s family, would that relieve her pain?
She wants Man Man’s marriage to resolve this hatred and bring Wei Shao peace. Man Man feels she’s let her down. Grandma says things take time, and they should take it slow.
Two Months Later
Wei Shao won Xiaogang and is back. Also, he wants his bed back. The maids and generals battle it out, and the generals get Wei Shao’s stuff into the chamber.
Man Man understands Wei Shao wants to reclaim something after she took over Boya, so she accepts the situation. But he pulls a sword on her in the night. And confuses her by telling her not to seduce him.
Man Man’s maids worry, but Man Man feels that Wei Shao is all talk. He’s never actually hurt her.
Wei Shao is in some room, I can’t tell them apart, having nightmares. When Man Man checks on him, he grabs her cloak and asks her to stay. She realizes he’s afraid of the dark and comforts him. When he wakes up, her cloak is on him, and the candles are lit.
Man Man plays symbolic Go again, this time with Wei Shao’s Advisor. Wei Shao doesn’t resent her for Boya, and she doesn’t know what to do. The Advisor knows Wei Shao comes off cold, but he’s soft and big-hearted on the inside. Otherwise, he would not have allowed her to stay. Man Man feels she misjudged him.
Wei Shao’s Mother Continues to be The Worst
She throws a fit over Man Man changing the candle budget. Which Man Man did for Wei Shao, looking for candles that don’t smoke or go out.
Man Man also sends letters to her aunt, lying about sleep problems to get advice. Wei Shao reads them and does not handle this attention well. He accuses Man Man of causing a stir in the household and then insists on paying for the candles. Man Man is confused.
Cousin manipulates Mom into pushing Man Man about her becoming Wei Shao’s concubine again. It’s Man Man’s turn to be madly in love. She cannot bear to see him take on a concubine.
As usual, Mom tells Wei Shao. He goes to Man Man, who tells him she doesn’t want him to have to do anything he doesn’t want to do. He should make his own decisions. If he wants a concubine, she’ll let it happen, but she won’t let anyone force him.
This time, he finds her words comforting. Then he ends the conversation by warning her not to seduce him again.
Cousin isn’t done being horrible yet
She cries dramatically over having to leave. Mom can’t lose her only sympathetic companion, so she drugs her son with an aphrodisiac. Then has him locked in a room with the Cousin, dressed in her sexiest historical lingerie.
Wei Shao kicks the door open and shakes his finger at Mom, before stumbling off. He makes it to the bedroom. Despite throwing up and guzzling water, he loses control and takes Man Man to the bed. They grapple until she slaps him and reminds him that she’s in mourning.
He apologizes and explains he ate something unclean at his mother’s. With her help, he takes an ice bath. She can’t help but peek. Seeing the wounds on his body, she asks if they were from the recent fight, and he replies all manly about them being nothing.
Mom cries a lot, because that’s all she ever does
Wei Shao is done. But even then, Mom whines until she gets 3 more days to find Cousin a good husband. Wei Shao is in tears as he leaves.
Grandma goes to Man Man to find out what happened. But Man Man makes excuses and lies. Grandma already knew what happened and is pleased that Man Man protects Wei Shao.
But Grandma is also done, and drags the Cousin away from Mom. No 3 days for her.
Man Man tells Wei Shao that she didn’t tell Grandma anything. He sees red marks on her wrist from where he grabbed her while drugged. At night, he can’t sleep and goes to put balm on her wrist. But she wakes up and moves away from him. He wants to know if she’s scared of him.
She doesn’t answer right away. He gives her the balm and promises that what happened yesterday won’t happen again.
Wei Shao is in a Bad Mood
He takes a meaningless job to inspect the canal to escape it all.
Man Man knows he’s avoiding her, but she can’t avoid his Mom. She stops crying and has Man Man visit so she can yell at her and blame her for All The Things. Man Man tries to apologize and leave, but Mom won’t stop.
Wei Shao listens from the hallway.
A little more ranting from Mom and Man Man is done. She yells at Mom for forcing the Cousin on Wei Shao despite him not wanting her. She asks if she loves her son, considering what she’s done to him.
Mom throws the table!
Finally, Man Man is getting to the heart of the issue
Wei Shao was furious when she might have damaged his box, and exasperated when she took Boya. He understands military and strategy, and her desire to protect her family. He does not understand feelings. His advisor tries to help but…
Noticing Wei Shao’s wounds may have given Man Man a different glimpse at the bigger picture, too. The eager way she sent Fan’s husband to fight for her family rubbed me the wrong way, even if it’s probably the right thing to do. She doesn’t want to see the people get hurt, but her brother-in-law and husband are people too.
I feel slow, but it finally occurs to me how scary Man Man’s family is to Wei Shao’s family. I can see the Qiaos are weak and useless. But regardless, their decision led to so many deaths. In Wei Shao’s mind, they’re just as much a threat to him as he is to them. He has to be constantly guarding against them, just as she’s guarding her family against his revenge.
But I think she’s gone from manipulating him for her family to trying to understand him better so she can meaningfully help him.
And he’s gone from trying to kill it with a sword to running away. Poor Man Man, there’s still plenty of work left to be done.
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