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

My favorite episodes are generally ones which focus on the rear palace. The more intimate setting allows us to get to know a smaller cast of characters better. However as Maomao grows closer to Jinshi, her world (and ours by extension) is forced to expand beyond the rear palace. The fact that this pair of episodes takes place almost entirely outside the palace is indicative of this and of the resultant tonal shift from rear palace shenanigans for status, to more Machiavellian political plotting and power plays.

Jinshi has to attend a hunt being held by Lord Shishou, disguised as a high ranking, masked nobleman. Although it would be more accurate to say he is attending as his true self rather than hiding behind his Jinshi persona. In any event, he asks Maomao to come along and is resolved to reveal all his secrets to her on the trip. Given his increasing reliance on her, not to mention his growing affection, this makes sense. He is after all the Emperor’s younger brother (as strongly implied earlier and confirmed by Gaoshun here) and currently the heir to the throne, at least till another son is born. He therefore very much has a target on his back. While he may be able to hide from it by keeping his face covered as the prince and masquerading as a eunuch, that is not sustainable in the long term. As such, bringing Maomao fully into the fold will give him another powerful asset on his side as he navigates this treacherous environment. Additionally, not knowing could place Maomao in danger given her closeness to him, especially if others were to discover that Jinshi and the Emperor’s brother are one and the same.

Unfortunately, Maomao has other plans. While escaping an assassination attempt, they end up stuck in a cave and Jinshi attempts to tell her, only to be stymied when she quickly starts talking about frogs (yes frogs!) and ends up inadvertently insulting him in the process. Now throughout the series, we’ve seen Maomao solve mysteries from the slightest of clues in a Sherlock Homes-ian manner, even beyond cases that rely on her knowledge of medicine. So it seems unbelievable that she wouldn’t have figured out Jinshi’s true identity even with so much evidence staring her in the face. And it is unbelievable. Maomao can, and probably on some level already has, connected the dots on her own. But she is still clinging desperately to the illusion of safety that ignorance provides. Hence why she continually forces herself to not dwell on it and shuts down Jinshi in the cave when he tries to be honest. Given her growing importance to Jinshi, this is not necessarily the best strategy as ignorance may be bliss but forewarned is forearmed. However, considering her inexperience with relationships, it is likely she isn’t fully aware of quite how dear she is to Jinshi (although that may be a bit clearer now after his actions in the cave) and hence does not foresee any potential danger from their association.

Jinshi tries again at the end of the episode but honestly, did he really expect her to be in any state to listen after finally getting the bezoar she has been lusting after for so long? And so despite the promise at the start, Maoamao remains (more or less) in the dark. At least she now knows he isn’t a eunuch so some progress at least?

Stray Musings

• My favorite episodes are generally ones which focus on the rear palace. The more intimate setting allows us to get to know a smaller cast of characters better. However as Maomao grows closer to Jinshi, her world (and ours by extension) is forced to expand beyond the rear palace. The fact that this pair of episodes takes place almost entirely outside the palace is indicative of this and of the resultant tonal shift from rear palace shenanigans for status, to more Machiavellian political plotting and power plays.
• Jinshi has to attend a hunt being held by Lord Shishou, disguised as a high ranking, masked nobleman. Although it would be more accurate to say he is attending as his true self rather than hiding behind his Jinshi persona. In any event, he asks Maomao to come along and is resolved to reveal all his secrets to her on the trip. Given his increasing reliance on her, not to mention his growing affection, this makes sense. He is after all the Emperor’s younger brother (as strongly implied earlier and confirmed by Gaoshun here) and currently the heir to the throne, at least till another son is born. He therefore very much has a target on his back. While he may be able to hide from it by keeping his face covered as the prince and masquerading as a eunuch, that is not sustainable in the long term. As such, bringing Maomao fully into the fold will give him another powerful asset on his side as he navigates this treacherous environment. Additionally, not knowing could place Maomao in danger given her closeness to him, especially if others were to discover that Jinshi and the Emperor’s brother are one and the same.
• Unfortunately, Maomao has other plans. While escaping an assassination attempt, they end up stuck in a cave and Jinshi attempts to tell her, only to be stymied when she quickly starts talking about frogs (yes frogs!) and ends up inadvertently insulting him in the process. Now throughout the series, we’ve seen Maomao solve mysteries from the slightest of clues in a Sherlock Homes-ian manner, even beyond cases that rely on her knowledge of medicine. So it seems unbelievable that she wouldn’t have figured out Jinshi’s true identity even with so much evidence staring her in the face. And it is unbelievable. Maomao can, and probably on some level already has, connected the dots on her own. But she is still clinging desperately to the illusion of safety that ignorance provides. Hence why she continually forces herself to not dwell on it and shuts down Jinshi in the cave when he tries to be honest. Given her growing importance to Jinshi, this is not necessarily the best strategy as ignorance may be bliss but forewarned is forearmed. However, considering her inexperience with relationships, it is likely she isn’t fully aware of quite how dear she is to Jinshi (although that may be a bit clearer now after his actions in the cave) and hence does not foresee any potential danger from their association.
• Jinshi tries again at the end of the episode but honestly, did he really expect her to be in any state to listen after finally getting the bezoar she has been lusting after for so long? And so despite the promise at the start, Maoamao remains (more or less) in the dark. At least she now knows he isn’t a eunuch so some progress at least?