When last we left our problematic secondary characters, they were dragged to the capital for a Princess with problems.
Not demon problems
But our demon catchers are stuck figuring out why she’s ranting and raving.
On the way back from the palace, they’re invited to a banquet by their mysterious benefactor. They go to a fancy pavilion and into a gaudy, ostentatious room. It belongs to the Marquis, who fell in love with Miao Miao at first sight.
Miao Miao remembers him as being a minor character in the book and completely different from the silly buffoon in front of them. I wish I knew more about what happened in the book. Was it all about Sheng, Fu Yi, and Mu Yao’s dissolving relationship? That’s all we ever get.
Besides using cheesy pickup lines on Miao Miao, the Marquis explains how impossible it would be to poison the Princess with her incense. His right-hand man drags the Marquis out of the room to stop him. He wanted to use the dreaming incense to escape marriage but didn’t expect it to drive the Princess mad.
Miao Miao watches true crime IRL
Because she knows it’s always the husband or boyfriend. But what is the Marquis’s motivation?
Mu Yao and Fu Yi go to the Astronomical Bureau. The Maquis works there so maybe they can find the drug he used. Sheng and Miao Miao are supposed to go home but overhear people outside the Treasure Boutique talking about the Marquis shopping there.
They sneak in with Cui Cui standing watch. There is no mention of the demons Miao Miao almost rescued but forgot. Poor suffering demons. They go through potions and ingredients and look at the store ledger. Miao Miao wants to take everything to Fu Yi because he’s so knowledgeable, and Sheng gets offended.
A bottle gets knocked over sending a glittery pink haze around our leads. Sheng turns sweet, soft, and apologetic. Miao Miao is flattered and into it, listening to Sheng confess and then preparing herself for their kiss.
But it’s not Sheng who is charmed. Miao Miao is staring into nothing and smiling. He tries to free her, but she stops him to apologize, confess, and go in for a kiss.
Because they’re both hallucinating. We don’t see kissing but the Dust Demons enjoy the show. Cui Cui finds them kissing the air and shakes them out of it. He tells them the Whale Blood they knocked over lets people see their true feelings.
Of course, neither will admit to what they saw.
Cui Cui gets MVP of the episode for seeing the demons trapped in the store. Miao Miao asks Sheng for help, and a ton of Pokemon flee the store with Sheng, Miao Miao, and Cui Cui. A colorful explosion lights up behind them. That kinda makes up for the forgetting thing.
Did anything happen at the Astronomical Bureau?
All we know is Mu Yao and Fu Yi saw the ultimate weapon, Crescent, vibrating in the stone. Mu Yao urges Fu Yi to test if he’s the next Heavenly Demon Catcher. He can’t pull the sword out. That’s it for that. We don’t see her try.
The lingering effect of the Whale Blood keeps Miao Miao and Sheng awake. They disrupt Cui Cui’s sleep too, but won’t admit their feelings.
The drug they found is what poisoned the Princess, but she shouldn’t still be affected. That’s the next mystery. But they don’t need to solve it because they’ve been called to the Astronomical Bureau to meet with the Chief.
It’s their friend Guo. He tells them that the Princess is acting, which I hadn’t figured out yet but our heroes knew so I’m behind in the game. The Princess doesn’t want to marry the Marquis either. Guo hasn’t told the Dowager Consort out of self-preservation. It’s best not to get involved with royals misbehaving.
Guo has another reason for calling them there. He wants to figure out why the Dowager Consort leveled the Qilin Mountain and killed all the demons, even Dust Demons.
Sheng does not take this well
He leaves and Miao Miao follows him out. The mountain may have been his home, so the woman in his memories is his mother. He’s upset he can’t remember more. Miao Miao calms him and he reminds himself he doesn’t want to remember the past anyway.
Guo explains to Mu Yao and Fu Yi that he wants to learn the Dowager Consort’s motive for his own sake. His master and other disciples died as a result of the mountain’s destruction. He wants to tell them why when he meets them in the underworld.
Mu Yao will help him if he finds info for her on Xingshan Hall, where there was a fire 10 years ago. She wants to know if the Dowager Consort was involved. I’m guessing this is connected with her family?
Love hexagon time!
As bad luck would have it, the Princess is in love with a man who saved her years ago. That man is Fu Yi, who she’s been looking for ever since. She arranges a meeting with him.
Sheng, Mu Yao, and Miao Miao wait to see the Dowager Consort because she’s busy. Sheng uses magic to eavesdrop as the Marquis passionately argues against marrying her daughter.
It’s a surprisingly frank conversation. Dowager Consort doesn’t want her daughter to marry him either but is obligated by family ties. The Marquis saw his father’s life ruined by a loveless marriage and doesn’t want the same fate. The Dowager Consort understands, but will not cancel the marriage.
So he demands to be punished for drugging the princess, breaking the engagement via imprisonment. The Dowager Consort reluctantly calls for guards to take him away, prompting our heroes to rush in to share the truth.
But the Princess beats them to it
She walks in and says she’s all better! Fu Yi cured her! Fu Yi stands there looking miserable. The Marquis stares at Miao Miao, annoying Sheng.
Dowager Consort is done with everyone, as I would be too.
Our heroes leave but they can’t escape the Princess and Marquis. The Princess wants Fu Yi to have a drink with her. Mu Yao looks upset. The Marquis wants to flirt with Miao Miao. Sheng is upset.
Fu Yi catches up with Mu Yao. He tells her he’s not friends with the Princess. Mu Yao says she trusts him, he doesn’t tell her his past but doesn’t lie either then closes the door on him.
Miao Miao sees this and worries. And gets another invite from the Marquis that pisses Sheng off.
Poor Cui Cui is stuck on the outside of all this nonsense
Miao Miao is confused by Sheng’s behavior and doesn’t believe Cui Cui when he says Sheng likes her. Cui Cui has a terrible story about how his grandfather the 1000-year-old bamboo was mean to a tree demon he liked. The tree demon left with a bird demon and never returned. His Grandfather has been in pain and single for the last 900 years. Cui Cui worries about Sheng meeting the same fate. Fair.
Miao Miao realizes she doesn’t know Sheng’s favorability and calls for the Dust Demons, but they’ve vanished. Cui Cui explains the Crescent weakens Demons, so they’re hiding. He thinks Miao Miao should ask Sheng directly.
She won’t, so Cui Cui asks Sheng directly. Sheng denies it, and Cui Cui warns him against becoming like his grandfather.
Miao Miao ignores her romance problems and focuses on Mu Yao and Fu Yi. They go shopping with her, and Fu Yi buys a hairpin for Mu Yao.
But then the Princess shows up to give them a ride. Fu Yi turns her down, but the Princess leaves her carriage to see him.
We’ve got not just one clingy un-lovable interest, but two
Not sure I like that. The Marquis and Princess are so unlikeable that they’re not real rivals for love against Sheng or Mu Yao. They’re more annoying than threatening. But I think it’s more about them pulling the group apart than love rivalry. That’s the real threat that will lead to the Bad Ending.
I’m more interested in this supreme weapon of the Heavenly Demon Catcher. Fu Yi isn’t it, did Mu Yao try? It’s going to be Sheng, right? He’s our male lead. Does Miao Miao know anything from the original story? While it’s cute (and useful) that she was so uninvested in the novel she can’t remember it, sometimes I wish she knew more.
Crescent is very Excalibur. I wonder if China has any similar legends or stories. Also, considering translation who knows for sure what Marquis means here but maybe Wikipedia knows.
I haven’t forgotten that Fu Yi has a “recording” of Sheng in demon form. That’s waiting to explode at some useful time, and Miao Miao seems to have no idea.
These two episodes were very light after the stuff about the impending Bad Ending and the horrible way demons have been treated. It felt like the person going through the most emotional turmoil was the Marquis, and I don’t care about him.
I like these light moments, but I like the high drama better. Luckily, I think more is coming.
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