So -- if that's breakfast (aww, the SID is still adorned with fairy lights), what happened between the end of ep 20 and now?
Yeah, I think it's clearly breakfast. I think after discovering in the park that Zhao Yunlan had gone blind and Shen Wei's powers couldn't fix it, they went back to the SID to examine him with Lin Jing's equipment, yeah. And then by the time they were done with that it was quite late, not to mention they probably worked through the night on the previous night (trapping Zhu Jiu, then saving Chu Shuzhi, Guo Changcheng and Ye Huo), so when Shen Wei (probably) wanted to take him straight to the hospital, Zhao Yunlan insisted on going home and get some sleep first. (Half hoping the problem would have vanished by morning.)
Also, I'm never sure if people are staring because of ZYL's blindness or because of his table manners. ;-p
I don't think his table manners are that bad, considering he can't see his food or his utensils.
I thought it was more that he doesn't consider Professor Shen a field agent. Like, why is he getting involved in confrontations, when he was brought in to provide intel? I wonder if he's been keeping tabs on Professor Shen's involvement, trying to figure him out, and this is part of that.
I mean, he's already seen Shen Wei go to Dixing with Zhao Yunlan, and bring an unconscious Zhao Yunlan back - this isn't so far from that, surely? But yeah, totally agreed that he's trying to figure out Professor Shen.
Zhu Hong is the worst at secrets, lol. I wonder if she thinks Shen Wei revealed himself to her on purpose, so it's okay. Or she just can't keep it in.
She kept it in longer than I'd have expected! And I think she (fairly) thinks they'd have asked her to keep it to herself if they really didn't want it to get out.
Agreed! I think learning that he's not an ordinary-but-high-status Haixingren makes him feel more like one of them, plus he saved Sang Zan and has helped them with a lot of cases, in both his roles.
Yeah, they're getting a fuller picture of who he is and what he's done for them, and he's less the respectable Haixing professor who should belong to a completely different sphere ...
(See also my graphs post. *g*)
I love the graphs post! :D
I'm pretty sure Zhao Yunlan was fishing for a reaction, wasn't he? Otherwise, why look for the book when he currently can't see? (Does he have prior reason to think Shen Wei will react? I can't remember.)
Just what he said to Da Qing earlier, that Shen Wei never mentioned Kunlun. Yeah, he's fishing - dangling this in front of him and seeing what he'll do.
*points to icon, gleefully*
You used the wrong icon, alas. *g*
... They really didn't keep him in very long! And he doesn't seem to have any post-surgery effects or limitations. /very noticeable to someone who's partner had major surgery last year
Yeah, I wonder if that's a side effect of Zhang Shi's presence? Even if the heart issues were (partially or wholly) due to Zhang Shi's presence, there might be physical benefits as well?
I thought there was some implied "unlike you!" in there? (Or "Unlike how you were to my mum"?) Or maybe Zhao Xinci is just exasperated, as always, that Zhao Yunlan won't listen and immediately bend to Zhao Xinci's will. ;-p
Zhao Yunlan reads surprisingly earnest with that line to me, not pointedly comparing Shen Wei to Zhao Xinci or anything, just sincerely saying Shen Wei is good to him. But of course that's not something that sways Zhao Xinci.
Haha, yeah. Zhang Shi: silent for 20 years, then infodumps his entire ethical framework in the hopes of swaying Zhao Yunlan.
LOL!
I thought Ya Qing was checking up on Sha Ya to make sure she was proceeding with her plan to seduce one of the SID team. (I'm a bit vague on this subplot, though. Looking forward to revisiting it.)
I think so too! But I thought she looked like she'd been caught out with a genuinely fond smile when she wasn't supposed to actually like Lin Jing.
Hm. How could he know Ya Qing would be there, though?
Hmmm. If the Yashou Flea Market wasn't just a ruse for Zhao Yunlan's benefit, then it could probably be expected Ya Qing would use it to turn up in Snake territory? And they knew that she'd want to get back at them for the Zhu Jiu trap.
I thought that "Are you crazy?" was because Ya Qing was attacking a member of another Yashou tribe (and the niece of another Tribe Leader, for that matter!). I mean, it seems a fair question to me, especially given Zhu Hong is in no way a physical threat.
It goes together, though, doesn't it? She's rejecting other Yashou tribes; she's attacking other Yashou. Both seem like part and parcel of the same thing; she wouldn't be attacking a Snake if she wasn't positioning herself in opposition to the Snake Tribe. Or so it would look to Ying Chun.
when from Ya Qing's perspective, all she's been doing has been for the Yashou
Well, for the Crows. I mean, she just killed Jia-ge on pretty flimsy grounds. (I find that hard to forgive.)
1) I think from her perspective, she's doing it for the good of all Yashou as a society/culture, even if individual Yashou may have to be sacrificed for that goal. It's her whole thing, isn't it? She thinks she's doing awful things for a greater good.
2) I always thought she killed him, too, but this time round I was wondering if he's really dead. It's never said, is it? Perhaps she only knocked him out after all.
I always wonder what made ZYL blurt it out then. It's not like either version of Shen Wei is younger than him
I don't think it has to have to do with age; it's ultimately a cutesy nickname. I also don't think his calling out is very calculated in that moment, yeah - he's not consciously thinking about it. He can just hear Shen Wei's fury and is reaching for his usual make-light-of-things strategy, trying to de-escalate.
Yeah, I thought the hyping must be feeding into that, but you're right, Zhao Xinci's pressure, too (and doesn't he say in the lab that they'd had some setbacks? maybe he thinks brilliant Shen Wei can help with that).
Or if it doesn't help, at leas they'll look like they're trying! *g*
As far as Shen Wei's Envoy identity goes, I suspect we're supposed to infer he knows that too (but I still prefer a reading where he doesn't know yet ;-p).
Yeah, I think it's very likely he does know - that's my own headcanon, mostly.
I always connect this to Zhao Yunlan shouting to Shen Wei, as he leaves YOHE, saying whatever you decide, don't regret it. (IOW, I think he took some of this on board, despite himself.)
Ooh, yes, good point!
*rewatches* Oh, I wonder if there's an element of "treat me the same" with some irony about the fact that no one (except Da Qing) is? Maybe that's where the mocking, if any, comes from?
Yeah, I do think there's a bit of a mocking tone, and I couldn't figure out what it was about, but this makes a lot of sense to me!
"Don't you know in the past you used your gun to help us win the war?"? Like, it might well be something we did see, you know?
I guess? It just sounds more significant. Idk.
I think he might have cut her down or punished her in some other way, overstepping his jurisdiction, if Zhao Yunlan hadn't intervened, and that intervention was enough to remind Shen Wei that this was outside his purview (as well as blue-screening him, of course).
I'm not entirely convinced he'd be overstepping his jurisdiction - she's working with a Dixing traitor, was involved in Ye Zun's attack on Zhao Yunlan the night before in the park, and now he's just had to rescue Zhu Hong from her. I don't think he'd be expected to leave her alone when she's acting so decisively against both Dixing and Haixing. Killing her would probably be going too far, but I'm also not entirely certain what he intended to do to her.
in that Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are on quite different pages wrt the gravity of the situation and the appropriate lengths to go to
Lots of good points! Yeah, Shen Wei sees this as an existential threat while Zhao Yunlan doesn't quite grasp the scale of the potential danger yet, and Shen Wei is also increasingly looking at this as a war, which he is used to but this isn't quite yet. And also, as you say, Zhao Yunlan doesn't see Ya Qing with her hand on Zhu Hong's throat. But also, Zhao Yunlan's strategy is always de-escalation and trying to smooth things over first (until the very end after Shen Wei is dead), to the point where he sometimes inserts himself into situations where he doesn't have the full picture and can't know the stakes. It's the same impulse that has him interfering when Shen Wei is shouting at the Regent, too, isn't it? I think in this moment, having been yanked around, got Zhu Hong thrown at him, and having no clear idea what's going on around him other than things are escalating fast and he can't even see it, he instinctively reaches for his usual go-to because that's still something he can do.
I thought Zhao Yunlan's speech swayed her, and also his intervening with Shen Wei on her behalf, but she doesn't stop working for Ye Zun, so I'm curious to see what happens in the next episode and how her story continues.
I never really got the impression that she was swayed by Zhao Yunlan's words, but I also don't know where her head is at in this moment. I'll need to think about this more ... *poncers*
no subject
Yeah, I think it's clearly breakfast. I think after discovering in the park that Zhao Yunlan had gone blind and Shen Wei's powers couldn't fix it, they went back to the SID to examine him with Lin Jing's equipment, yeah. And then by the time they were done with that it was quite late, not to mention they probably worked through the night on the previous night (trapping Zhu Jiu, then saving Chu Shuzhi, Guo Changcheng and Ye Huo), so when Shen Wei (probably) wanted to take him straight to the hospital, Zhao Yunlan insisted on going home and get some sleep first. (Half hoping the problem would have vanished by morning.)
Also, I'm never sure if people are staring because of ZYL's blindness or because of his table manners. ;-p
I don't think his table manners are that bad, considering he can't see his food or his utensils.
I thought it was more that he doesn't consider Professor Shen a field agent. Like, why is he getting involved in confrontations, when he was brought in to provide intel? I wonder if he's been keeping tabs on Professor Shen's involvement, trying to figure him out, and this is part of that.
I mean, he's already seen Shen Wei go to Dixing with Zhao Yunlan, and bring an unconscious Zhao Yunlan back - this isn't so far from that, surely? But yeah, totally agreed that he's trying to figure out Professor Shen.
Zhu Hong is the worst at secrets, lol. I wonder if she thinks Shen Wei revealed himself to her on purpose, so it's okay. Or she just can't keep it in.
She kept it in longer than I'd have expected! And I think she (fairly) thinks they'd have asked her to keep it to herself if they really didn't want it to get out.
Agreed! I think learning that he's not an ordinary-but-high-status Haixingren makes him feel more like one of them, plus he saved Sang Zan and has helped them with a lot of cases, in both his roles.
Yeah, they're getting a fuller picture of who he is and what he's done for them, and he's less the respectable Haixing professor who should belong to a completely different sphere ...
(See also my graphs post. *g*)
I love the graphs post! :D
I'm pretty sure Zhao Yunlan was fishing for a reaction, wasn't he? Otherwise, why look for the book when he currently can't see? (Does he have prior reason to think Shen Wei will react? I can't remember.)
Just what he said to Da Qing earlier, that Shen Wei never mentioned Kunlun. Yeah, he's fishing - dangling this in front of him and seeing what he'll do.
*points to icon, gleefully*
You used the wrong icon, alas. *g*
... They really didn't keep him in very long! And he doesn't seem to have any post-surgery effects or limitations. /very noticeable to someone who's partner had major surgery last year
Yeah, I wonder if that's a side effect of Zhang Shi's presence? Even if the heart issues were (partially or wholly) due to Zhang Shi's presence, there might be physical benefits as well?
I thought there was some implied "unlike you!" in there? (Or "Unlike how you were to my mum"?) Or maybe Zhao Xinci is just exasperated, as always, that Zhao Yunlan won't listen and immediately bend to Zhao Xinci's will. ;-p
Zhao Yunlan reads surprisingly earnest with that line to me, not pointedly comparing Shen Wei to Zhao Xinci or anything, just sincerely saying Shen Wei is good to him. But of course that's not something that sways Zhao Xinci.
Haha, yeah. Zhang Shi: silent for 20 years, then infodumps his entire ethical framework in the hopes of swaying Zhao Yunlan.
LOL!
I thought Ya Qing was checking up on Sha Ya to make sure she was proceeding with her plan to seduce one of the SID team. (I'm a bit vague on this subplot, though. Looking forward to revisiting it.)
I think so too! But I thought she looked like she'd been caught out with a genuinely fond smile when she wasn't supposed to actually like Lin Jing.
Hm. How could he know Ya Qing would be there, though?
Hmmm. If the Yashou Flea Market wasn't just a ruse for Zhao Yunlan's benefit, then it could probably be expected Ya Qing would use it to turn up in Snake territory? And they knew that she'd want to get back at them for the Zhu Jiu trap.
I thought that "Are you crazy?" was because Ya Qing was attacking a member of another Yashou tribe (and the niece of another Tribe Leader, for that matter!). I mean, it seems a fair question to me, especially given Zhu Hong is in no way a physical threat.
It goes together, though, doesn't it? She's rejecting other Yashou tribes; she's attacking other Yashou. Both seem like part and parcel of the same thing; she wouldn't be attacking a Snake if she wasn't positioning herself in opposition to the Snake Tribe. Or so it would look to Ying Chun.
when from Ya Qing's perspective, all she's been doing has been for the Yashou
Well, for the Crows. I mean, she just killed Jia-ge on pretty flimsy grounds. (I find that hard to forgive.)
1) I think from her perspective, she's doing it for the good of all Yashou as a society/culture, even if individual Yashou may have to be sacrificed for that goal. It's her whole thing, isn't it? She thinks she's doing awful things for a greater good.
2) I always thought she killed him, too, but this time round I was wondering if he's really dead. It's never said, is it? Perhaps she only knocked him out after all.
I always wonder what made ZYL blurt it out then. It's not like either version of Shen Wei is younger than him
I don't think it has to have to do with age; it's ultimately a cutesy nickname. I also don't think his calling out is very calculated in that moment, yeah - he's not consciously thinking about it. He can just hear Shen Wei's fury and is reaching for his usual make-light-of-things strategy, trying to de-escalate.
Yeah, I thought the hyping must be feeding into that, but you're right, Zhao Xinci's pressure, too (and doesn't he say in the lab that they'd had some setbacks? maybe he thinks brilliant Shen Wei can help with that).
Or if it doesn't help, at leas they'll look like they're trying! *g*
As far as Shen Wei's Envoy identity goes, I suspect we're supposed to infer he knows that too (but I still prefer a reading where he doesn't know yet ;-p).
Yeah, I think it's very likely he does know - that's my own headcanon, mostly.
I always connect this to Zhao Yunlan shouting to Shen Wei, as he leaves YOHE, saying whatever you decide, don't regret it. (IOW, I think he took some of this on board, despite himself.)
Ooh, yes, good point!
*rewatches* Oh, I wonder if there's an element of "treat me the same" with some irony about the fact that no one (except Da Qing) is? Maybe that's where the mocking, if any, comes from?
Yeah, I do think there's a bit of a mocking tone, and I couldn't figure out what it was about, but this makes a lot of sense to me!
"Don't you know in the past you used your gun to help us win the war?"? Like, it might well be something we did see, you know?
I guess? It just sounds more significant. Idk.
I think he might have cut her down or punished her in some other way, overstepping his jurisdiction, if Zhao Yunlan hadn't intervened, and that intervention was enough to remind Shen Wei that this was outside his purview (as well as blue-screening him, of course).
I'm not entirely convinced he'd be overstepping his jurisdiction - she's working with a Dixing traitor, was involved in Ye Zun's attack on Zhao Yunlan the night before in the park, and now he's just had to rescue Zhu Hong from her. I don't think he'd be expected to leave her alone when she's acting so decisively against both Dixing and Haixing. Killing her would probably be going too far, but I'm also not entirely certain what he intended to do to her.
in that Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are on quite different pages wrt the gravity of the situation and the appropriate lengths to go to
Lots of good points! Yeah, Shen Wei sees this as an existential threat while Zhao Yunlan doesn't quite grasp the scale of the potential danger yet, and Shen Wei is also increasingly looking at this as a war, which he is used to but this isn't quite yet. And also, as you say, Zhao Yunlan doesn't see Ya Qing with her hand on Zhu Hong's throat. But also, Zhao Yunlan's strategy is always de-escalation and trying to smooth things over first (until the very end after Shen Wei is dead), to the point where he sometimes inserts himself into situations where he doesn't have the full picture and can't know the stakes. It's the same impulse that has him interfering when Shen Wei is shouting at the Regent, too, isn't it? I think in this moment, having been yanked around, got Zhu Hong thrown at him, and having no clear idea what's going on around him other than things are escalating fast and he can't even see it, he instinctively reaches for his usual go-to because that's still something he can do.
I thought Zhao Yunlan's speech swayed her, and also his intervening with Shen Wei on her behalf, but she doesn't stop working for Ye Zun, so I'm curious to see what happens in the next episode and how her story continues.
I never really got the impression that she was swayed by Zhao Yunlan's words, but I also don't know where her head is at in this moment. I'll need to think about this more ... *poncers*