Yeah, that's a good point about the gun - we don't really know much about it. My original impression was that Zhao Yunlan had actually shot Shen Wei, confident that since Shen Wei himself came up with the idea of using the gun, it would be safe - but then I had second thoughts, because as you say, would Zhao Yunlan really take that risk?

But it's entirely within his character to boast to Shen Wei that he had it all planned, rather than admit that the whole sequence of events depended on some quick thinking by everybody concerned. It's his way of lightening the aftermath of a very fraught situation, similarly to how he teased Shen Wei when his blindness was cured by the Longevity Dial.

Yes! That's the perfect way to describe it. I don't think he was thinking about Shen Wei at all when he got those earplugs, just about having a defence against the mind control, and when the moment happened, he took advantage of it to fake out Zhu Jiu. Shen Wei then promptly revealing himself as the Envoy was just the cherry on top. *g*