I think I have to explain that this is genuine, turn your brain off and enjoy the pretty colors and pretty people entertainment. There’s enough characterization–Hua Rong remains, thus far, plucky and undefeated; Chang Sheng remains sly and stalwart, though lovestruck; and now Mr. Jin seems like a more masculine version of Hua Rong, someone who wants to be a chivalrous hero but doesn’t quite have allllll it takes to get there. Also, this thing is funny. And right now, funny plus light plus nothing bad has happened to the characters I like yet means it is taking me out of my daily troubles and away from my stress-laden job (ever tried to feed a tiger something they didn’t want to eat? How about having the audacity to fill up their water bucket? Let me tell you: they DO NOT LIKE THAT.)
So! Back to the episode. Someone is outside, and judging by the hail of arrows, it’s not actually Chang Sheng. To begin with.
Lol. By the time HR gets to the door, though, he’s slaughtered the ninjas (presumably Pei Yong’s) and is posing amid the rubble. STOP SMIRKING BOY……..aaand HR just got caught in her own rope trap. CS takes the opportunity to gloat a bit, but Mr. Jin is still a chivalrous hero! How can anyone treat a girl like that!
CS retorts that what he gets to save his wife and also talk to her in private, get lost please? And they are married. But! more ninjas arrive! Run away!
Oh no! The Cliff! But they can make it safely down to the cave/tombs below, although kung fu master Chang Sheng beats the rush by flying down. And takes the opportunity to have a quiet word with his wife. Fortunately, the rest of them aren’t far behind.
Also fortunately, Hua Rong is still a heroine with a head….well, something like one…on her shoulders. She starts immediately leveraging CS’s jealousy against Mr. Jin’s existence and orders him to find them a way out. Mr. Jin has sent his sidekick to get help! Chang Sheng retorts that his brethren will also show up and be muuuuch more effective in rescuing their master’s lady.
HR doesn’t like that term–and points out that she might have married him, but her agreement was under duress. Yue Feng backs her up on this. CS retorts that he at least had good intentions.–and he’s really genuinely not going to let her go, forever.
HR tells him she hates him and will continue to run away, forever. Does she like Mr. Jin? HR barely hesitates before lying that she does. This is going to lead to nothing but trouble. Oh boy. CS takes this about as well as could be expected; especially when Mr. Jin points out that CS evidently doesn’t respect her wishes. Also, killing him, Mr. Jin, won’t solve your problems….
And then the ninjas find them.
CS declares he will protect them anyway, bbbbut oh, no need; the sidekick has brought the constables. The party departs. So, not only do they have constables, there is a whole carriage. Aaaand then the pirate bros arrive! To defend the Boss’s Lady!….boss, did she just leave again? CS orders them to a) shut up, b) get on the case of Mr. Jin. And c) SHUT UP.
Hua Rong and Mr. Jin, however, are about to enter phase two of their relationship. She has confessed that she liiiikes him. Even though it was a total lie, Cdrama conventions must be followed. But Mr. Jin agrees to help her, as a chivalrous hero would do anyway. Within the space of one more scene, Jin’s sidekick is grumbling about “hos before bros” under his breath, anyway, heh.
Aaaand then Chang Sheng catches up again. There is some squabbling re: lack of rooms and an innkeeper who wants to err on the side of cau–oh, no, ok, profit. LOL. He asks if CS’s carrying a Japanese sword. CS replies he’s carrying a Japanese pumpkin, Blue Bro presses another silver piece into Innkeeper’s hand, and Innkeep agrees that it’s a delicious-looking pumpkin. HR rolls her eyes.
CS is being incredibly petty right now, but Jin comes to the rescue. Poor CS is left twitching and frustrated, swearing to teach Mr. Jin a lesson. Meanwhile! Blue Bro tells him that Mr. Jin is very mysterious, but they have found who the ninjas were: brothers of a gang called the Black Dragon. Why were they after Hua Rong? Did she see something she shouldn’t have? CS swears they will pay for meddling with his woman! He decides to take the offensive. Ah, lol: the master of the Black Dragon gang is very mysterious.
LOL: “This year, everybody wants to be mysterious,” Chang Sheng grumbles. You said it, bro. While it might not seem to be the best plan to make a big fuss, CS is in the mood to do so. He wants to turn the place upside down. Hey, I’m all for it, just as long as the kung fu is plentiful.
So we cut back to Pei Yong and the veiled guy–who wants to know where the girl is that he ordered them to get. He tells them to focus on the girl, he’ll take care of the other things. Yessir.
So! Lol, CS is waiting outside for HR with his back turned and pirouettes to face her as she comes skipping out. HR won’t go out…with CS. But she goes with Mr. Jin. CS glowers and plots revenge. Seduction by annoyance, however, is not a winning tactic. And all it does is get him drugged by HR so she and Yue Feng can go walking in peace. This might be the first time CS actually got caught in one of HR’s traps.
Mr. Jin and CS have a small conversation. And, oh, this might be the point where the seeds of (I think) Chivalrous Disguised Hero Chang Sheng are planted. But CS does have a point: he is honest, and everyone else is duplicitous. The conversation ends with Mr. Jin daring CS to reveal his origins…if he ever finds out about them. And then he gets the second last word in by daring CS to find out what HR’s feelings are and consider them.
Meanwhile! Hua Rong sees injustice being done! It’s Hui, the girl sold to the brothel in episode one and then rescued. But her father has gambling debts and is about to sell her again. Hua Rong does have enough kung fu to keep an elderly peasant off of her, heh. Hua Rong buys Hui off instead. Back at the hotel, HR calls for a bath (for Hui), which is overheard by CS, who immediately goes off into a daydream of interrupting said bath on his own. Whatever happens next, poor Hui is going to end up traumatized, isn’t she?
Oh LOL. Except it’s Jin who catches him. And…
…CS is having a rough day. Well, act like a dumbass, get exposed as a dumbass. So. Except that while getting dressed, CS finds Jin’s jade pendant of some kind. Jin snatches it back, but! The mystery thickens.
Shaggy Bro, who is standing guard, inadvertently spooks Hui. Is this the beginning of a(nother) bumbling romance? Oh whoops. Looks like HR scored a direct hit to CS’s nuts. Girl, you may end up regretting your aim, there…And then Shaggy commences to spook Hui even more while trying to make amends. Lol. Chang Sheng suggests a relaxing outing. Which is a great idea….except that they all go off and leave him.
Rated: I’m actually kind of ready for the plot to show up at this point. At least the love triangle angle is still a fake triangle, instead of a real one. Mr. Jin shows no appearance of genuine feelings for HR and may end up with Hui anyway? And rather than, as I feared before, Hua Rong being lobotomized and turned into a shallow mess of a character, Chang Sheng has got the bumbling and repeatedly humiliated role now. It’s a turnaround all right, but I do wish they’d, you know, do something constructive instead.
I wish I had better internet…
Riders of Skaith 
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