Reel Tastes & Travels – a light dose of entertainment to wake you up

‘Each small bottle may not be considered poisonous, but if you mix them together, what may happen?’ – Maomao

I always love the episodes that focus on the women of the inner palace and their dynamics and this one is no exception. Taking a bit of a break from the broader political scene and newer characters, here we revisit an old acquaintance, Lady Lihua from the Crystal Pavilion. One of the maids from the Crystal Pavilion has seemingly disappeared and the lady from the clinic, Shenlu, asks Maomao if she can investigate.

In a sign of how much she has matured since the start of the series, Maomao employs some restraint. Instead of rushing headlong into the situation and try and brute force her way into Lihua’s palace, she pauses to bring Jinshi into the loop. Cast your mind back to the season 1 episode where Maomao was tasked by the emperor to help Lihua recover. At that time, despite the imperial mandate (and implied punishment for failure), she was reluctant to ask for any help to get past the attendants and in fact only made progress once Jinshi practically forced his way into the situation. Now, smart enough to know she is persona non grata among Lihua’s attendants, she actively seeks to involve Jinshi and also forms a plan with the palace doctor’s help to infiltrate the Crystal Pavilion in disguise.

The sinister Lady Shen is a (temporary) blocker but as before, Jinshi’s word eases their way in. On hearing a cough from a storage shed, Maomao finally makes her move, revealing her identity and using the ensuing confusion to have the doctor check the building. The missing maid is found there, apparently just in the nick of time.

However, there is a bigger scheme at play and everyone gathers in Lihua’s salon for the grand reveal. Lady Shen tries to cover her tracks claiming that the maid was kept there to prevent disease from spreading within the palace. Ostensibly a fair reason, but Maomao reveals that the sick maid was in fact a decoy to mask the smell of the fragrances stored in the shed, the very same ones that were banned after the caravan left. The evidence indicates that Lady Shen was trying to make an abortion pill – another attempt at Gyokuyou?

No, in fact it is Lihua who is the target this time. As hinted at earlier, Lihua is indeed pregnant. Lady Shen, despite being Lihua’s cousin and head attendant, has long harboured bitter resentment against her for being selected as consort over her. With this context, past events such as Lihua’s first child’s unfortunate death, and the continued use of the face powder which almost cost Lihua her life, acquire a more sinister shade. Were they really unfortunate accidents and misguided attempts at helping Lihua, or were they part of Shen’s machinations to bring Lihua down? There is no clear answer given but it does not require too big a stretch of the imagination.

Till now, Lihua has largely been a passive figure, more or less rolling with events as they occur to her. But here, we see how much she too has changed and the steel core that exists below her gentle façade as she reacts to Shen’s betrayal. Yet, even at the height of her emotion, she is wily enough to take Shen’s punishment in her own hands, and mete out a punishment sufficiently humiliating for one as proud as her, while also protecting the reputation of their family from public infamy. However, the big mystery still remains – where did Shen acquire this knowledge in the first place and who is the actual puppet master responsible?

Stray Musings

• It’s good to see the network of friends/allies that Maomao has built up within the palace.
• I loved Maomao’s observation on how Shen, ruled by her emotions, could not be as suited to the role of consort as Lihua, despite her belief in her own superiority