When last we left the warlord and the beauty, we met his family, and they mostly suck.
His grandmother seems like a good egg, though
Man Man and her exchange gifts, and Grandma sends Wei Shao away. They talk about the usual: divination, the canal, and Man Man’s grandfather’s strong sense of guilt.
After that, she meets with Wei Shao’s horrible mom. Mom scolds her for being late and wants her to make soup. Man Man is already busy copying sutras for Grandma.
Wei Shao’s horrible mom gives him shoes that don’t fit, whines about how Man Man is making her suffer, and wants him to take his cousin as his concubine.
Then Man Man touches The Wrong Box
Wei Shao’s Special Box She Shouldn’t Ever Touch.
But she gives him shoes that fit. He asks about the stupid soup situation. Man Man can’t cook, but if she said that, his mom would think she was making excuses. Also, she left Man Man in the wind and rain for 3 days.
Wei Shao then asks Man Man to deal with the concubine situation. Man Man realizes his earlier kindness and declarations were him using her as a shield against his Uncle. But she will not let his mother push her around either.
She goes to Grandma, who says she’ll take care of it, and goes to Mom.
Wei Shao learns what happened and goes to Man Man, because this was a decision made between him and Grandma. She can’t interfere. He’s not getting any husband points yet.
Despite that, he’s disappointed when, instead of Man Man returning, his cousin enters his study. Cousin whines about not being his wife, and he sends her away. She’s not allowed to enter the study without permission.
Meanwhile, in Boya
The local general, Xue Tai, is forcing the locals to be his soldiers. Fan doesn’t want trouble and wants to run, but Bi Zhi believes trouble will happen anywhere. He thinks Boya could become a safe place. Plus, he can help support Panyi and Man Man.
Which I thought was the plan Man Man told Fan about? But she seems surprised. Anyway, Bi Zhi easily wins the support of everyone in town because he is super strong.
Fan sends a message asking her father for help. But her father sucks because he’s worried Wei Shao will be offended if they send troops.
Wei Shao thinks Man Man attacked his box with a knife
The box is symbolic, but not a euphemism. He blames her because she’s the only one allowed in the study. Wei Shao, no one here is a vampire. People can enter rooms without permission.
Wei Shao grabs her by the neck, saying she’s a Qiao and lies as easily as breathing. He threatens to kick her out if she touches his things again. Nope, no husband points.
Man Man tries to find out who did it, but everyone lies that they saw nothing. Now she’s the crashing-waves kind of water. And she crashes like a wave into Wei Shao’s meeting. Once they were married, she thought he might truly care about her, but he still guards against her and sees her as the enemy. She did not marry him to steal secrets.
She shows him that she could have easily opened the box. By doubting her, he has fallen into the enemy’s trap. He might one day think she’ll stab him in his sleep, and she doesn’t want him thinking that.
She touched the box, but didn’t open it because she knew it was important. And cutting it with a knife would cut up his heart.
He’s annoyed at her dexterity with words. She’ll accept punishment for touching it and never do it again, and can open it for him one day if he forgets how.
Wei Shao opens the box, which contains momentos from his dead grandfather, father, and brother. Wei Shao cries and asks himself who could have done it.
I was hoping cousin wouldn’t be evil, but she’s evil
She and Mom gloat about the situation. Because cousin did it.
Wei Shao arrives for “advice” from his Mom. He lies and says he gave Man Man the box, showed her how to open it, and that she put some jewelry in it. Some thieving servant must have tried to open it.
He asks his mom to look into it. And he’ll find someone to marry the cousin and be in their family. He asks her not to use this matter to trouble his wife.
Man Man gets a letter and learns that her Uncle refused to send troops. From her family Advisor, she learns that Wei Shao stationed troops at Panyi.
That upsets her more than being grabbed by the neck. She remembers grandpa talking about life with another being like building a kingdom. She shouldn’t have thought she could build a life with Wei Shao. Despite this, she still arranges for him to have his favorite food, nice bedding, and fixes Mom’s gifted shoes so they fit him.
He visits his “sick” mother. She whines about wanting his wife to be his closest and dearest. Like his evil cousin. She also insults Man Man for not knowing anything about him, despite it being clear Man Man already knows more about him, like his shoe size, than his mom.
Wei Shao’s poor Advisor plays Love Guru
Because Wei Shao is struggling with “closest and dearest”. They go through his family, but with each one, he feels something more familial, like expectations and duty. His Advisor teases that he could be closest and dearest, but between them, Wei Shao feels trust. His generals are like his brothers, but they will have their own lives one day.
Time for fun with Chinese characters. First the advisor writes 親 which is “qin” or “closest” in traditional (not simplified) Chinese. It contains 亲, which is the symbol for “blood”, as in blood relative, and 見, which is “to see”. Then he draws 愛, which he says is made of patience, care, and affection but the internet says is “hand reaching down 爫, cover 冖, heart 心, walking/moving 夂” so. I dunno.
But somehow this might help Wei Shao identify his “closest and dearest”.
Naturally, Wei Shao rejects the idea that Man Man could be his nearest and dearest. Plus, she’s always angry with him. But his advisor points out that Man Man getting angry at him proves she’s comfortable around him. Truth.
So he tries to suck less as a husband
He has the kitchen make her soup and tries to carry her over wet ground again. This time, she runs across it without noticing him. He tries to force her to visit him and receive a gift, creating more work for her maids and his assistant, then eventually hands it over directly. Man Man wonders if he is trying to make peace, and has a great idea on how to use his guilt.
She buys an instrument she can’t play and lies that it’s her cousin’s, crying that she misses her. Wei Shao promises to send it and anything else to her cousin. He’s curious why they are in Boya, but accepts her explanations.
So a huge amount of things are sent. His general Wei Qu goes as well, just to gather information. In all that stuff is a letter from Man Man, advising Fan to settle the people delivering the supplies to make it look like Wei troops are guarding Boya.
Wei Shao learns that the commander of the Boya forces is his brother-in-law. He asks Man Man if she knew, and she lies that she didn’t.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Wei Shao went into hyper-aggressive mode again, which I don’t mind because I don’t think he should be a sweet husband this early in our series. She must trust him like the advisor says, because she didn’t seem all that bothered by the near strangulation.
IRL I would never excuse that kind of behavior, but in this fiction, I can see that he’s used to violence. Not only did trusted allies betray his family, and he witnessed the slaughter, but he can’t trust most of the family he has left.
I think I have as much trouble as Man Man interpreting his actions. I suspect if she’d told him she wanted to send gifts to her cousin, he would have done it. But Man Man, too, is used to surviving in the world a certain way. Women are not valued, generally can’t compete physically, and Man Man has learned to manipulate weak men to survive. Her conversation in the last episodes about how daughters are stuck being outsiders was heartbreaking.
So they have a ways to go. The interesting thing is, underneath it all, I think they are both trying their hardest in their new roles as husband/wife. But they’re doing it separately, so it’s not quite working. They need to work as a pair.
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