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TL;DR Version
Our intrepid crew still needs Xiao Run/Chang Heng and Wan Qing/Chi Di to marry and murder. DFQC’s efforts to crush Xiao Run/Chang Heng’s hope work so well that he nearly leaves the city. Jie Li fixes things by getting Orchid and DFQC engaged to their admirers so they can perform a switch on the wedding night, but DFQC refuses to marry someone he doesn’t love.
Recap
Somehow they got out of the restaurant and back to the mansion, where Orchid and DFQC are unhappy and Shang Que and Jie Li are exhausted from clearing 500 posters. Everyone is in a mood about being stuck in ridiculous love squares and triangles, including Shang Que over Jie Li’s interest in Cricket.
They still want to get the original couple together. Orchid wants to see Xiao Run/Chang Heng and convince him to go for Wan Qing/Chi Di but DFQC doesn’t like that plan. Jie Li gets the idea to make her unappealing but DFQC isn’t satisfied with her efforts and makes Orchid look like a clown. She’s instructed to behave vulgar and rude and is forced to show up late.
Before he lets her go, DFQC gives a list of safety cautions that Orchid finds unusual from him, and hands her a pouch of food.
As DFQC, Shang Que, and Jie Li watch, Xiao Run/Chang Heng takes Orchid’s terrible looks and behavior in stride. Seeming to think it’s a test, he goes along with her and compliments her looks and actions. Orchid feels he’s still the kind and gentle Chang Heng. Shang Que grabs DFQC a few times to keep him from interfering, but DFQC isn’t going to kill Xiao Run/Chang Heng, just get rid of him.
He goes over and pretends Orchid is his pregnant wife, crushing Xiao Run/Chang Heng’s spirit.
DFQC holds Orchid’s hand as they walk away. They see people selling lanterns and decide to go on a date. Orchid asks DFQC about the wish he wants to write on his lantern, and he talks about killing all the fairies again. Only, he doesn’t need to wish that he’ll do it. He’ll just do it. And he can do whatever Orchid wishes for too so she doesn’t need to write it down.
Orchid wants peace. DFQC brings up the past and trapped soldiers that will never go home if that happens. Orchid realizes they’re still stuck and tells him they should move on and write their wishes.
He wishes Orchid will always be by his side. She wishes that after she leaves his side, he’ll be happy and not lonely. The lanterns float off into the sky.
Wan Qing is selling her possessions so she can be free to marry her dream lover. Xiao Run/Chang Heng is so crushed that he apologizes to DFQV, promises to never appear in front of Orchid again, and declares he’s leaving the city.
DFQC makes him wait so the rest of the crew can show up to see Xiao Run/Chang Heng off. DFQC wants one of the other three to fix the mess he’s made, but Shang Que and Orchid can’t convince Xiao Run/Chang Heng to stay.
Jie Li steps up and tells Xiao Run/Chang Heng that Orchid is DFQC’s younger sister. This is all a test so he can marry Orchid and he passed. DFQC is grumpy and demands Xiao Run/Chang Heng explain his love and how it’s different from other kinds of love, like the love between siblings. Jie Li brings up her own strange connection to Cricket. Xiao Run/Chang Heng speaks to the depths of his feelings and his sincerity. DFQC reluctantly agrees to let Xiao Run/Chang Heng marry his sister.
As they head home, DFQC thinks about how his own feelings match what Xiao Run/Chang Hang said, and if that means he’s in love.
Rong Hao and his henchwoman have slaughtered all the fairies who offered to help him.
Back at the mansion, everyone is still working out how to fix the new situation. Jie Li thinks everything is fine. There will now be two weddings, but they’ll switch partners for the wedding night so that the murder still happens. Orchid thinks this is immoral. DFQC doesn’t like it. Shang Que is with DFQC.
Jie Li points out this is the only way and Orchid agrees with her. She tells DFQC to go propose to Wan Qing. DFQC absolutely refuses to marry anyone except the person he loves.
Thoughts
Yeah, I can see cutting down the whole mortal realm section a bit. It’s like the earlier stuff with Orchid and DFQC hanging at her place. I like a lot of it, but it makes it’s point and keeps going for a little longer. And there’s some repetition too, with Orchid and DFQC still arguing about the same things without any change, both in regards to the love square and the bigger issue of Shuiyuntian and the Cangyan Sea’s enmity.
Plus, cutting it down would make the one Rong Hao scene here feel a bit less like a random thread.
But in this episode DFQC shows that he’s learned from Orchid and yet he’s still DFQC. He doesn’t want to kill Chang Heng to fix their problem, he wants to attack Chang Heng’s feelings. This feels like something he learned from Orchid. But in typical DFQC style, he goes overkill and nearly destroys Chang Heng in the process.
I’ve been uncertain at various points about what DFQC is really feeling, but I do think he’s been in love for a while. A possessive, controlling, scary, selfish sort of Moon Supreme love. But here he shows concern for Orchid’s safety and wants to make sure she eats. And after he hears what Xiao Run/Chang Heng says about love, DFQC might be able to label this emotion himself.
I guess he couldn’t really go to Orchid about it because it was about her.
Finally, I’ve mentioned it before I think, but it’s nice how much life matters in this show. Orchid can argue against DFQC wanting to kill all the fairies, but when it comes to his trapped soldiers, there’s nothing she can say. The lives of the Moon tribe have value just as much as the fairies. In other shows like this, it sometimes feels like no one but our main character’s lives have any value. It’s a refreshing change.