Secrets are revealed left and right this week as Lian Cheng & Xiao Tan try to come to terms with their current situation and relationship. But can true love triumph where only one person remembers an epic past love?
Lian Cheng’s secret identity is hanging on by a thread. By the end of this week everyone, including 8th Prince, suspects his secret (or at least that he is the doppleganger) and Xiao Tan is able to confirm Lian Cheng’s real identity.
Xiao Tan’s identity as Tan’er is also discovered by her faithful friend/maid Jing Xi. After some time to come to terms with the situation, their friendship survives. Thank goodness since their sismance moments are pure gold.
Our OTPs relationship hits a snag as Xiao Tan questions whether Lian Cheng’s feelings are valid since he fell in love with a version of her that doesn’t exist. This fills me with concern about where the story is going to take us. Do I start wishing for a relationship with past prince or do I jump on board the Lian Cheng train despite the possible issues they might have in the future?
Two times the jealousy
Kmuse: I just can’t get enough of this love triangle. It gets even better as 8th Prince starts crushing on Xiao Tan and gets jealous of his very attractive advisor (Lian Cheng). Amongst all this testosterone Xiao Tan just has her eyes on the prize… a monetary prize. She is so adorably greedy.
Drama Geek: One thing does not waiver about any version of Xiao Tan. Money speaks to her. I do love that this version seems pretty determined to become independent and not rely on any of the versions of Lian Cheng.
Clkytta: I love how greedy Xiao Tan is. The jealousy is hilarious, especially when the men need to be more concerned about Xiao Tan chasing after assets instead of abs.
Kdrama Jen: I feel like this love triangle is hurtling toward becoming a love dodecahedron. We have Lian Cheng, Lian Cheng pretending to be handsome advisor, Current 8th Prince, First Prince, and then different versions of Xiao Tan perhaps coming into play in the future. If we keep adding past and future selves, then I am going to have to go study my geometry in order to describe it!
Private Investigator Tan’er
Kmuse: Having promised Lian Cheng that he could have Xiao Tan as his personal maid, 8th Prince starts to regret his promise and get jealous. Trying to keep the two from any romantic shenanigans, 8th Prince uses money to tempt Xiao Tan into being his spy. And, of course, gives her a list of things she can’t do so she isn’t tempted romantically. I seriously can’t stop laughing at all the many “rules” that Xiao Tan is given by the two men.
Drama Geek: Did 8th Prince really think putting her in the house of his advisor to spy wasn’t going to go all wrong? Xiao Tan isn’t really known for following the rules, and she breaks almost all of them right away. Hey, when there’s a sexy guy asking you to help him change, what’s a modern girl to do but try to see how that body looks under all those robes?
Clkytta: I think the problem here is that neither man seems to understand that they aren’t dealing with Tan’er, but Xiao Tan. Xiao Tan doesn’t play by their rules and she doesn’t even really understand why she should have to. So telling her no is really telling her “don’t get caught”.
Kdrama Jen: Yeah, so about these “rules” set down by 8th Prince. I feel ya, Xiao Tan. How can she possibly stay a meter away from such temptation? Besides, are they really rules or simply strongly worded suggestions with the threat of death hanging over anyone daring to disobey? Oh, right. We have that whole royal edict-thing. Still, I can understand her curiosity and independent nature…
Sexy Tattoos
Kmuse: Woohoo for sexy bath moments. Sadly, no one actually got in the bath. Opportunity lost.
Drama Geek: Okay, so the stand in is both shorter AND doesn’t have a developed upper body. Can anyone help the fangirls out with this tattoo? When did Lian Cheng get this thing? I’m having a hard time remembering, and I know the 8th Prince doesn’t have one. (I may have watched the part where they show the real Lian Cheng with the same open shirt and messy hair a few times. He’s super hot that way.)
Clkytta: I have no memory of a tattoo. Also, I agree with Drama Geek that it’s distracting that the body types and heights aren’t matching up. All he’s done is put on a mask.
Kdrama Jen: His fighting skills are a perfect match for 8th Prince’s. It does not matter that his voice is not the same, he is a different height, and even his hair looks different. As long as you put on a mask, then all of that does not matter.
Jing Xi finds out the truth
Drama Geek: In the first season Jing Xi rocked when it came to helping Xiao Tan and her multiple personalities. LOL. She even came up with a system to accommodate each girl. This time her Tan’er isn’t around at all, so you can understand how upset she was when she found out the truth. It took a bit for her to come back around, but she is now on board to help Xiao Tan out. I love these two together.
Clkytta: I love this character and I’m glad the truth is finally out. I knew Jing Xi was starting to get hurt that Tan’er couldn’t seem to remember things. I’m ready to see how she manages to protect Xiao Tan in this timeline.
Kmuse: I like that this season they are much more equals then servant and master. Their friendship feels a lot more grounded this time around.
Kdrama Jen: I have always enjoyed this sismance. I am still hoping Jing Xi gets a loveline in this iteration.
You can’t trick yourself for long.
Drama Geek: We knew it was only a matter of time before 8th Prince figured out who his pretty advisor really was. I was happy that Lian Cheng didn’t fall for the setup and tricked the old guy into impersonating him. Though, it didn’t really pacify 8th Prince for long. He knows there is something fishy going on with Liu Shang. I love that Xiao Tan suspects the 8th Prince has taken a liking to his new advisor. Well… he did try to spy on him in the bath so you can’t blame her. Plus, they are a pretty pair.
Clkytta: I’m wondering how long this decoy will last. 8th Prince is pretty smart and I think he’s going to find out what’s really going on.
Kmuse: What I love is that 8th Prince is totally oblivious to the signs of interest he is giving off that can be misinterpreted. Cracks me up every time Xiao Tan starts talking about enjoying a good Yaoi storyline. Hahaha
Kdrama Jen: One of my favorite aspects of this drama is how Xiao Tan makes random comments every so often that just make me giggle. Sometimes it feels that she has adjusted to this past life very quickly, so when she adds commentary that clearly shows her modern views, I find it refreshing.
The Mask is out of Bag
Drama Geek: This scene and the ones to follow just made me giggle in delight. They tumble into the water, and off comes the mask, and the charade. At least with Xiao Tan. I LOVE footloose and fancy-free Lian Cheng. He smiles all the time, and is even more flirty. If that’s possible. Modern Lian Cheng with long hair and flowing robes are the best combo.
Clkytta: Yes! Everything Drama Geek said! Plus, now we get a twist on the “who are you?” shennanigans cause she’s totally going to be the one to let the cat out of the bag. You know she will!
Kmuse: I like that Modern Lian Cheng is all on board the wooing train once again. He is determined to win the love of his life again… and again. It really is sweet.
Kdrama Jen: Lian Cheng pursuing his love and being all flirty is a highlight of this drama. They can leave out all of the politicking and just show him trying to win Xiao Tan’s heart and I will be happy.
Drunken confessions
Drama Geek: My heart hurt for both of them. Xiao Tan isn’t wrong that she’s not really the person he’s in love with. And it’s a bit unfair of him to expect her to just fall right into his arms (though, I’d fall into them without any problem). It is hard for him too, because she’s supposed to be his bride, and the person he’s had an epic romance with, but she isn’t. It’s kind of like when the Doctor created another him from his severed hand and left him with Rose Tyler on the other Earth. It wasn’t really her doctor, but at least she wasn’t alone.
Clkytta: I felt like Xiao Tan really expressed herself well here. She’s so far out of her element and timeline and now she’s got all this pressure to be someone who looks like her. I think she finds comfort in him being someone she knows from the future, but she’s still not Tan’er.
Kmuse: I am not sure which Lian Cheng she is going to go for….if either of them. This version of her is a lot more independent than either of season 1’s Tan’ers. Considering the chemistry and the type of show this is I am sure there will be a love line. But not sure who it will be with as of yet. This whole multiple version thing is really cramping our romantic forward movement.
Kdrama Jen: Yup. I definitely am going to need to brush up on my geometry. This is no ordinary love triangle.
Final Thoughts:
Drama Geek: My head hurts trying to figure out which prince I should ship. At first, I was thinking more past and present, but now I’m beginning to lean toward alternate realities. If that’s the case, then they really are rivals for her affection. They are two separate entities. But there is a wild card out there. Where is the Xiao Tan who fell in love with Lian Cheng last season? Will I drive myself crazy expecting her to return? They’ve also eluded to Lian Cheng blinking out of existence because of touching his blood relatives. What would happen then? Poor Xiao Tan is falling in love with modern Lian Cheng because he’s not letting 8th Prince have a chance. Can they all just merge into each other and have one big love party?
Clkytta: The only way to make sense of any of this is to think of it as nonsense. What I mean is we need to suspend our belief that they are following any of the storylines from last season. These characters look the same, but no one is who they were, not even Lian Cheng; he’s changed from losing Tan’er. So ANYTHING goes here. Honestly, I’m not even writing off First prince (yeah yeah I know he’s not going to be the one, but darn it, he’s so hot!) cause he’s giving me some SLS feels or is it 8th Prince giving me SLS and I’m having third lead feels for First prince? What was my point again? Oh yeah, I think there’s a chance that we have some merging of souls because something will happen to prove that these are the same people from different timelines and not different realities.
Kmuse: Is it wrong that I am not trying to even make sense of this muddle of a timeline and just enjoying the cute chemistry. Whoever she ends up with I will ship because both versions are essentially the same guy. And if there is one thing I love it is this girl’s personality with that guys’ personalities (either one). Which works out since whoever is left standing at the end I will be happy with.
Kdrama Jen: I am with my fellow fangirls on this one. I am willing to quiet my brain and stop trying to figure out how this whole time travel/multiple dimensions is supposed to work because the chemistry is so spot on. Plus, I heard a rumor that there might be a THIRD season, so I am just going to enjoy all the hijinx and banter and oodles of OTP awesomeness because this is likely to get even more complicated in the future!
Until the next stolen kiss,
The Fangirls
Dramas With a Side of Kimchi