When last we left the warlord and the beauty, our beauty cried over the death of her beloved grandfather.
But the news makes Wei Shao smile, Kinda
Except, Man Man has to go into mourning, so she shouldn’t get married. He believes her family delayed this announcement to interfere. But Man Man feels her grandfather would have wanted the marriage to proceed.
To make things official, Wei Shao gallops dramatically and gets the lynx Liu Yan’s family never provided.
And with that, it’s wedding time! A very, very glum wedding. When she stumbles, Wei Shao keeps her from falling, but then he refuses to participate in the rituals. He pours the nupitual cup out in front of his family memorial tablets. She gets teary-eyed at the insult.
Alone, he promises that even if he slaughters her family, he will not harm her or leave her homeless. On the condition that she’s a Wei, and not a Qiao. After he leaves, she collapses, sobbing. It’s a lot.
Man Man tells her grandfather’s memorial tablet that Wei Shao is a good man, but she will always be a Qiao, and put Qiao first.
On the road again!
They travel fast to reach Wei Shao’s family in Yujun in time for the family memorials, even though Man Man is recovering from the injuries she got in the fire.
Wei Shao puts his cousin in charge of bringing Man Man into the city at an appropriate time. His generals watch at the gate, while the carriage with all the women sits out in the wind and rain.
Man Man understands it would be inappropriate to go inside during the memorial. Not that she’s missing anything. Wei Shao’s Uncle, Wei Dian, arrives late and complains about Wei Shao. When Wei Shao asks him why he never sent reinforcements, Wei Dian denies receiving the request. It’s not a fun time.
Meanwhile, trapped in a tiny, cold carriage
Man Man gets sicker but insists on waiting outside. They’re stuck, with the generals and cousin standing there watching for two days.
Then men show up to send them back to Yan, handing over a letter of divorce. Man Man is unconscious, and the maids don’t believe it. The generals send a message to Wei Shao but do nothing as the men force the carriage onto the road.
Wei Shao is shocked that his cousin didn’t bring his wife in. On cue, the cousin arrives and explains that his mother is behind everything.
Man Man’s maid, Tao, begs the generals for help. She’s sure this is a mistake. They aren’t. She’s afraid Man Man won’t survive the trip. When they don’t do anything, Tao tries to physically stop the men from moving the carriage.
Just as the generals might do something, Wei Shao heroically rides out of the city. He brutally kicks one of the guys pushing the carriage and sees sickly Man Man inside.
He carries her, in the rain, slowly and dramatically. Probably not a good idea, but it looks great.
Someone even set up romantic candle lighting for them
Man Man is settled into his chamber, and Wei Shao’s advisor lectures him for leaving his bride outside for days. He thinks Wei Shao owes Man Man an apology.
As soon as Man Man wakes up, Wei Shao’s mother wants to move her into a side chamber. Wei Shao checks on her, and instead of an apology, warns her that these things might happen. He’s ready to set up a spare bed, but she tells him about the side chamber.
While coughing dramatically, she says she’s fine and prepares to move. When she stumbles, he grabs one of her bandaged hands, and she cries in pain. Then thanks him for the balm.
He says he’ll take the side chamber. She stops coughing and climbs into his bed. As he leaves, he looks very confused.
She tells her maids that, after being left outside for three days, how can she just obey? 1000%.
Wei Shao’s mother and cousin are pleased with their scheming
Until they learn that it’s Wei Shao sleeping in the dusty, miserable, old side chamber.
Wei Shao wants troops stationed at Panyi to guard the canal and threaten the Yan. Advisor doesn’t want him to cause unrest with the Qiao clan, and worries about how Man Man will react. Wei Shao isn’t going to worry about this.
Man Man coughs dramatically and talks nonsense about mint leaves when Wei Shao shows up to get his room back. He gives her one more day, even though he suspects she’s faking.
His bigger problem is that Wei Dian wants to force a concubine on him. To stop him, Wei Shao declares his love and connection with Man Man.
Man Man is bewildered by the attention from the Wei family maids
Until she hears about what he said to his Uncle.
Her family sends her a letter about being a good wife, and Man Man recognizes that her Uncle wants her to get Wei Shao not to target them. Uncles are the worst. She doesn’t think it’ll be that easy.
Man Man overhears Wei Shao talking her up to the elders to keep them from giving him a concubine. He makes an exception to his “no ladies in the study” rule, and holds Man Man’s hand and brings her in. Now she’s confused. He introduces her to everyone and acts the perfect husband.
Alone, she thanks him for letting her stay in the main chamber, and now that she’s recovered, he can come back. But he carries her over some wet ground and tells her to stay in the main chamber.
Man Man learns this isn’t the first time he’s carried her
Because she was unconscious and sick, she missed that super romantic moment. She realizes he did not mean to leave her out there and feels bad. I think leaving her out there on accident is still not great. He didn’t apologize.
Still, she goes to the side chamber where all the servants are gossiping, and brings him a cloak. He sees the servants watching and puts it on her, pleasing her maids.
After he leaves, she notices how much the side chamber sucks. One of her maids comments on how it sucks because your own family plans to marry you off and treats you as an outsider, then your new family treats you as an outsider. Ugh, that’s too much reality.
Man Man says Wei Shao sees her as a wife and treats her well, so she should treat him well, and have his room improved. By his servants since it’s their job.
Tao approaches the general she has a yelling-relationship with, Wei Liang, and acts friendly to get info on Wei Shao, to pass on to Man Man. Liang and the other generals decide this means she likes Liang. I guess military strategy and relationship strategy are different.
Wei Shao learns that Man Man has prepared a meal of his favorite dishes for him.
The next day, he meets with her to take her to meet his grandma. She wants to do well on this first meeting, and he’s very tsundere and walks too fast. She gets him to understand that he has long legs and, in her nice clothes, she can’t walk fast.
So he tilts his head, gets frustrated she doesn’t understand, tells her to go ahead of him, stretches a minute, and then runs after her.
That was a silly way to end the episode.
But in general, this show has been better about ending episodes in cliffhangers than most Chinese dramas I’ve seen.
Poor Man Man, she’s gotten her husband to stop trying to kill her, but now she has to deal with his mother. Wei Shao also has to deal with his family, with his Uncle constantly trying to usurp him. Why can’t we all just get along? Well, it’s a historical-ish cdrama. That’s why.
That’s also why some very silly things happen, like slow walks in the rain and down candle-lined streets while carrying a sick person. But it looks romantic and dramatic, and I want to live in this reality for a little while.
I’m also enjoying how they’re moving from city to city. It gives the show a more epic feeling to be traveling so much and meeting different people. We aren’t stuck in bedrooms, classrooms, and offices here.
Is Wei Shao finally taking his advisor’s advice in being nice to Man Man? How much of what he’s doing is a defense against his Uncle, and how much is him treating her as a wife? It’s hard for me to tell. Would he really have stuck her in that awful sidechamber?
Sometimes he seems deliberately cold. Other times, he comes off as oblivious, like when walking too fast. My partner is wonderful, but he, too, forgets that my legs are shorter than his. It’s not a sign of being a monster.
I mean, he did get the lynx for her. I think that counts for something.
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