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

‘He sounds like he is reading from a prepared script’ – Jinshi

Therein lies the key to unraveling the Shi family’s plot. After spending most of the backend of the season apart, all the key players converge at the Shi fortress. Jinshi, fully accepting his role in the royal family, leads the Forbidden Army to put an end to Shishou’s treasonous plot. The result is never really in doubt, especially since Shisui has made their job considerably easier by blowing up the armaments at the fortress. This allows the story to focus more on the tragic nature of the Shi family rather than the battle. And they are, each in their own way, terribly tragic.

Shishou, ostensibly a success story given how he rose from being the member of a minor branch of a noble family to a position of such power in the royal court, is in fact tormented by his love for Shenmei. Forced with losing her once when she entered the palace, and once more when she refused to run away with him, he dedicated himself to gaining enough power to be able to ask for her back from the emperor. He raised up the Shi family and shifted their focus from the slave trade to expanding and staffing the rear palace for the previous Emperor (explaining why he was so favored by the previous Dowager Empress). He even married the Emperor’s unacknowledged daughter and has a child with her to satisfy the Emperor about her future and then used that to secure Shenmei’s return. And for what? Only to see Shenmei consumed by thoughts of revenge, spurning him even as she is by his side and indulging in all sorts of vices. Faced with the impossible choice of betraying his emperor or satisfying his wife’s lust for revenge, he decides to make himself the lodestone for all the corruption in the kingdom. Going back to Jinshi’s view earlier, it felt like Shishou was playing a role because in a sense he was – he never fully shook off his loyalty to the Emperor. Of course, there is a sense here of whitewashing the narrative after the fact. If Shishou was truly loyal, he would have planned for a way to cleanse the corruption once he had gathered it all to himself rather than relying on the royal family’s ability to uncover the plot. In my opinion, he was trying to avoid fully committing to either path, and used this as a justification to avoid feeling guilty over his actions. And that ultimately leads to his death as the fortress is overrun. 

Then you have Shenmei, who is clearly the villain of the story (though a highly incompetent one without Shishou behind her). But just consider how her quest for revenge, which became the whole driving force of her life, arose out of her simple failure to understand her true position in the rear palace – a hostage to keep the Shi family in line rather than a cherished consort with any shot at becoming Empress. How different might she have turned out if her father has properly explained this to her at that time rather than raising false hopes. Perhaps she may even have learnt to appreciate Shishou’s utter devotion to her and come to find some contentment in her life with him and their daughter (Side note: I do think she would have still treated Suiren and her mother badly because of her fundamental flaws of pride and vanity).

Also consider Suiren and her mother. The Emperor thought his daughter would be protected by marriage with a loyal retainer. And for a time she was, until Shenmei returned and then proceeded to torment and torture both of them. While it seems that Shishou may have been ignorant of the extent of the torture, he clearly knew at least some of it was happening and did nothing to protect them. How traumatizing for a young Suiren to have her world completely upended like that (even to the extent of having her name stripped from her).

And finally, there’s Shisui. In another world where her parents were semi-normal, she might have grown up to be a bright, lively young girl. Perhaps she may have even entered the palace willingly and won the Emperor’s favor. And that would have been enough. But alas this is not that world and so she grew up starved of affection and treated as a mere tool for her mother. But a person can only bend so much before they break and Shisui almost singlehandedly takes down all their plans. However, she is smarter than her mother and secures Jinshi’s pardon for the members of the clan that she truly cares for before apparently being killed. 

With all the loose ends tied up, Jinshi finally reunites with Maomao. I think this is the most affectionate we’ve seen him be although his pushiness did come across a bit creepy in juxtaposition to Maomao’s weirded out reaction. At least by their second meeting she seemed a lot more open to him as well (which definitely helped dial down the ick factor). 

So we end the season with a rare period of peace both inside and outside the palace. Gyokuyou has safely delivered a new Royal heir and will be crowned Empress, Jinshi is no longer pretending to be a eunuch and is taking on more responsibility as befits his position, Maomao’s back at the pleasure district working as an Apothecary and Luomen has stayed on at the palace to help with medical matters. Now that all secrets have been revealed it will be interesting to see how the dynamic between Jinshi and Maomao continues to evolve in the next season.

Stray Musings

• A part of me cheered when they revealed that Shisui is still alive. Perhaps freed from her family she can now truly live the life she wants
• The children (including Kyou-u) are alive! And safe under the watchful eye of Ah-Duo. Except Kyou-u who has amnesia and is working with Maomao instead
• I feel like it was some small relief to Shishou at the end to discover that his daughter was actually more like him (and braver to boot) than he thought
• I wonder how much the fact the Jinshi is no longer next in line to the throne influenced his decision to step up as Moon Prince. I still credit Maomao’s influence as the deciding factor, but this would have also probably helped