Things heat up for our couple this week, and one of the big bads gets caught in the act… of interpretive dance. Love has finally blossomed, but which incarnation of the prince will win the hand of our spicy real estate agent?
Xiao Tan helps 8th Prince figure out that the consort’s pregnancy is a sham after seeing Evil Consort indulging in both crab and nightly visits from the Emperor. Evil Consort is also getting a little nooky on the side, which was represented in a very interesting interpretive dance scene that leaves me wondering if I’m doing something wrong when it comes to sexy times. After alluding the Evil Consorts plots at taking 8th Prince down, they finally devise a plan where she gets caught in the act and gets kicked out on her bum. Well… she ends up in a cell where she can still wreak havoc. Come on, that eye makeup is too good to waste on death.
The boys continue to play mental chess circling around the secret identity issue and the man running around pretending to be 8th Prince. All the while Xiao Tan keeps falling for the slippery Mo Lian Cheng. And we get several yummy (and life-saving) kisses.
Interpretive Dance of Procreation
Kmuse: That moment when you are not really sure if they are having sex or practicing for the Chinese version of Dancing With the Stars. I was very confused and, well, just confused. I assume this was the PG way of saying they had sexy times but it was sure confusing for this Fangirl. Is Evil Consort trying to get knocked up so she can produce an actual child?
Drama Geek: Yes, she’s desperately trying to dance her way into being with child. I think she’s doing it with both the Emperor and her male pet every night so she can produce that heir she lied about. I admit, at first, I thought she was just trying to get sweaty so she could look sick. They did zoom in on her glistening shoulder after the dance was over.
Clkytta: I couldn’t stop laughing. This interpretive dance was just cracking me up so much. I loved that they were calling him her “pet”.
Kdrama Jen: This was even better than panning to the ocean to represent sexy times, like they did in Tribes and Empires. I was looking back at our messages back and forth as we all tried to figure out what the heck was going on during this scene. We sound like giggling middle schoolers who found the illustration of the reproductive system in the health book. “So, wait. THAT’s how it’s done?”
Swoony Archery Take Two
Drama Geek: We know every time the prince takes one step closer in pleasing his father, Evil Consort will create some other plot against him. She suggests that there should be a contest between 1st Prince and 8th Prince and Tan’er should be the prize. She, of course, has a backup plan and sends someone to shoot 8th Prince with poison that makes him sleep long enough to miss the archery match. Except she doesn’t realize there is a doppelganger there ready to take the prince’s place. This is all the writer’s ploy to get our OTP to recreate the archery scene from season one. Lian Cheng has to swoop in and help Xiao Tan shoot her arrow so that she can save her neck, and have the right to choose who she marries.
Kmuse: I was thrilled that they revisited this gem of a concept since I adored this scene in season one. There is something so swoonworthy about Lian Cheng standing firmly behind Xiao Tan and guiding her hands to victory.
Clkytta: Every time they redo one of the scenes from the first series it makes me so happy. When his arm swooped around her, I swear I got shivers.
Kdrama Jen: It’s like a back hug with a bonus! I love this!
Oops, I need that
Drama Geek: Not that Lian Cheng needed a reason to “deep kiss” his beloved, but when he falls sick in front of Xiao Tan and takes out his last pill, she thinks it’s candy and pops it in his mouth. Fearing for his life (cough) he has to take the medicine right out of her mouth, and then continue to kiss her.
Kmuse: Sexy kiss but I still find the idea of sharing candy/gum/magical medicine via mouth icky.
Clkytta: I don’t find this icky at all. Well, maybe in real life. Onscreen though, it looks awesome!
Kdrama Jen: I am not thinking too much about this in reality. I just love it any time the two of them get their smooches on.
Scar or Tattoo?
Kmuse: I laughed every time they referred to the Lian Cheng’s flower tattoo as a scar/wound. Now I am sure I didn’t see whenever Lian Cheng got his wound since I would have remembered a magical wound that resembled a modern tattoo………..maybe.
Drama Geek: His painted on flower tattoo that is supposed to be a scar is killing me. Especially since they keep pulling his shirt down over and over again. I had to do some detective work (by reading our old recaps!), but there is an instance where the original Lian Cheng saves Tan’er by taking an arrow to the chest and he almost dies. He’s connected to her soul already so if he died, she would have as well. This is where the original Tan’er finally seems to go all in for her love of the prince. There was no mention of a flower scar coming about, so I’m left thinking the show created it this season so we could tell them apart (and constantly have a reason to expose his chest).
Clkytta: That is the worst tattoo I have seen in a while. I wish our readers could have read all the different messages back and forth between the fangirls as we tried to remember where the heck that tattoo came from.
Kdrama Jen: I could not remember any of this, but obviously the location of the wound you sustained while saving your love is going to become a flower tattoo.
Give me your antibodies!
Drama Geek: Poor Xiao Tan has been struggling with the idea that Lian Cheng is in love with another woman altogether, and his affection has nothing to do with her. But Lian Cheng lays it all out there for her. He describes the person he’s in love with, and it is our girl down to the last detail. This all takes place in the rain, then he seals his assurance that he loves her, with another kiss. She proceeds to fall ill with a cold, and when Lian Cheng comes to visit her the next day he scoops her up in his arms and puts her to bed. For her health, of course. But our sassy girl just grabs him and plants one on him, claiming he needs to share his antibodies.
Kmuse: I was happy that he was finally able to convince Xiao Tan that he loves her and not just some look alike. But that causes so much confusion since If I believe that he and 8th Prince are two separate entities then isn’t Xiao Tan and season one Tan’er separate as well? My emotions are all in a kerfuffle.
Clkytta: It cracks me up that she gets wet and gets a cold. That is the oldest dumbest trope in the book. I’m happy with any scenes that give us a chance to see our OTP all snuggly and cute. Add in some kisses and I’m content.
Kdrama Jen: I approve of this treatment method! I am really hoping the stars will align and all of the various versions of 8th Prince and Xiao Tan will merge together and I won’t have to feel guilty for the way I keep cheering on the different combinations.
Cheating?
Drama Geek: The antibody kiss was interrupted by 8th Prince and this is when it really clicked for me that if Xiao Tan did anything with the prince, then I would consider it cheating. I know they’re technically the same person, but they aren’t. But then… is Lian Cheng cheating on Tan’er? My head hurts thinking about it.
Kmuse: See? Totally confusing. I need multiple Tan’ers & 8th Princes to be equal and paired off. We should start a petition demanding that no sexy princes or spunky realtors remain single by the end of this season. I need multiple happy endings for all!
Clkytta: I’m having a really hard time with thinking that 8th Prince and Lian Cheng are the same person. I know that they are, but they are different versions at different times. I’m gonna just admit that I’m in love with Lian Cheng, not 8th Prince.
Kdrama Jen: My head hurts. I think I need some of Lian Cheng’s antibodies to make it better.
Is the 8th Prince not as smart this time around?
Drama Geek: I think in an attempt to make Lian Cheng needed and in constant contact with one of his relatives, the writer has made 8th Prince a less capable character than his predecessor. He keeps getting tricked into being stabbed in an empty room or running off in the woods to get an antidote while Lian Cheng knows something’s not right immediately. I almost wish Lian Cheng would get sick so 8th Prince had to figure things out on his own.
Clkytta: I think it’s more that Lian Cheng has been through so much and he’s been to the future so he’s got a totally different view. 8th Prince is still in the world where he’s an authority figure.
Kmuse: I hadn’t really thought of this until you mentioned something. So, while I do agree that Lian Cheng is slightly smarter than 8th Prince, it isn’t overly noticeable.
Kdrama Jen: I think I am smarter than the me of my past too. I have gained wisdom by learning from the stupid things I have done. Lian Cheng did have to deal with some pretty intricate plots in the past. I think he has learned and is using that knowledge to help the 8th Prince.
Final Thoughts:
Drama Geek: Plot… What’s that?? What can I say, I’m in it for all the swoony archery sessions and yummy kisses. It is rare to find an OTP with this much chemistry. It really is true that I could watch them walk around and do nothing but fall in and out bed all day long. I’m trying to not let the multiple souls and bodies cause me too much distress, but I am starting to agree with Clkytta that we’ll need all of them to meld together by the end so that everyone is happy.
Clkytta: I’m not in this for a plot. I’m here for all the chemistry and fun shenanigans that these two/three/two, oh our OTP in all it’s forms, can get into. I’m gonna need something to happen soon with Lian Cheng and 8th Prince though because in my head they are now two totally different people and that means they need to mesh soon so I don’t get sad when or if one of them fades to nothing.
Kmuse: I need more smooches and bed scenes….and maybe a bath scene. The plot is just getting in the way of all that.
Kdrama Jen: Yes! What they said! Bring on the angsty bath scene and the magical time traveling bed!
Until the next stolen kiss,
The Fangirls
Dramas With a Side of Kimchi
Hello there! A few years too late but I’m watching this drama now: I think MLC had the tattoo done in “present day” as a way to cover up the arrow scar from season 1. An arrow scar (could be mistaken for a bullet scar too) would stand out too much in a modern setting, so MLC learned about tattoos and did one over the scar to hide it.
i agree. I think the arrow would that she shows him in the magic land at the end of season 1 is covered up by the tattoo.
Also he is in love with the right version Tan’er. He explains in the beginning of the series in episode one that when he shows up he actually shows up before she has been sent back in episode 1 but it’s the same her.
What he didn’t expect was to come back and his past self still be there or him to come back and not be in his past self’s body