So into the fog they go: Eyepatch leads, and then the heroes. Mr. Ye hangs back and watches, suspiciously. There is some sort of maze or pattern? And Hua Rong and Shang Cheng have both figured it out (boop!). The pattern/maze was actually invented by SC (Yun He?)–so why is the Mengdie Villa using it? Hmmmm.
On exiting, Mr. Ye catches up with them instantly. He claims they merely followed the tracks, but SC gives a warning glance to HR and the Bros.
And now! An ominous rope bridge! Mr Ye attempts to cut the ropes while HR and SC are on it, but are stopped instantly. They are men from Mengdie Villa! They escape with a smoke bomb, stage left.
And now! falling rocks–and a mysterious purple-robed girl who warns them just in time! She’s stuck on the mountain with an injured leg and her father was killed by the boulders the day before. SC volunteers to go set off the trap, but Purple Girl says it’s unnecessary–she knows a good route, but needs them to take her with them. She kneels to them and refuses to get up until the hero promises! She needs the white jade for their village!
She starts to limp off. Lol, Shaggy refuses to carry her, because he has a girlfriend. So it falls to Blue Bro…..who promptly collapses. Yeah, she is definitely aiming at getting SC to carry her. They pause to rest and get caught in another trap: poison gas. And yes, Purple Girl is one of the Mengdie people–their leader?
OK NOW I LOVE THESE HEROES. They promptly get straight back up (faking it) and take Purple Girl and her men hostage. (SC switched out her poison gas pellets ealier.)
Purple Girl offers a compromise: they fight. If SC wins, she tells him everything. SC does not fight women. Purple Girl, reasonably enough, launches herself at HR. (Kid, that is the mistake everyone makes.) Buuuuuut she recognizes his technique as being the same as Hero Yun He’s (hah, that’s two women who saw through his disguise instantly), and promises them the explaination anyway.
Oh, they’re asking about the Three Arrows Sneaky Guy from before. He was part of their order–for just a couple of months–and then got thrown out after breaking the rules repeatedly. They have been inundated with people coming after the white jade (heh, they’re almost all in the dungeons)–and they DON’T have it anyway. Hm. So why did the Grandmaster sic the dogs on them?
HR, meanwhile, is wondering at the abrupt change in Purple’s attitude, and suspicious. She asks outright as to why…..and gets the answer. It’s cause of….Shang Cheng (“Situ Cheng”)–they met three years before, although SC genuinely has no clue.
Anyhow, the boys are brainstorming. Which, given what they’re starting out with….
LOL: “Blue Bro, are you going to die if you don’t flatter me for one minute?…then shut up.” Shaggy, meanwhile, has his eye on the ball. Were they lying about Three Arrows? No. Were they lying about not having the white jade? Yes. (Oh!)
HR is also thinking.–they’ve been lured to the Villa by the ultimate villain, because…he wants to get both of the white jade pieces together!
Aw, Blue Bro….just keeps putting his foot in his mouth. Nevertheless, Shang Cheng’s very laudable decision to tell HR about what did happen between him and Miss Tang/Purple Girl, gets slightly derailed by said Miss Tang.
Meanwhile! HR has broken into the Villa storeroom and is investigating. (And reassuring herself that she is prettier.) OH LOL, when she overhears SC and Miss Tang about to come in, she smacks the Yun He doll.
MT has sussed out that SC is also Hero Yun He! But, he tells her that a) she’s got the wrong person, b) he’s married. Interestingly, MT is the first person who takes the news that they are married seriously. Everyone else so far has just kind of ignored it when SC calls HR his wife. Anyhow, MT fell for him three years ago when Yun He saved her from thugs. (LOL, SC covering for HR when she slips up. TEAMWORK!)
Oh sheesh HR, stop being jealous for absolutely no reason. But they do make up within two minutes…which Miss Tang observes, regretfully. Meanwhile, Blue Bro is running his mouth off at the Mengdie men, which interrupts SC’s attempts to talk to HR. And then it happens again.
HR herself wonders why they haven’t met Miss Tang’s father, the actual owner of the Villa. So she and Miss Tang agree to be sisters, introducing themselves properly. HR is 18, and Miss Tang Chudie is 19. HR is slightly annoyed at finding that this is the famed Tang Chudie and no one told her….and starts drinking. And then excuses herself hastily. Shang Cheng excuses himself even more hastily. The Bros decide to remain, but Miss Tang sends her men off. Uh oh.
Shang Cheng has the unenviable task of trying to explain things to his drunk wife. Lol, she snatches a bottle from a passing servant, and SC grabs it from her and drains it before she can get any drunker. Is this going to end up like the last two times they got drunk?
So Miss Tang is getting the Bros drunk and listening to Blue Bro babble on about The Boss and Sister-in-Law’s epic love for one another. She zeroes in on the fact that the wedding wasn’t technically legal and that they plan to marry again. Blue Bro passes out, and Mr. Ye (the second disciple of Mengdie Villa) shows up to discuss things with Miss Tang. Oh….another unrequited lover? Also, one of the junior disciples eavesdrops, hearing Miss Tang explain that Shang Cheng is Hero Yun He.
Lol, Shang Cheng is attempting to put Hua Rong to bed. She’s resisting. All the girls are in love with him! She suggests that he seduce Miss Tang. He doesn’t actually like that idea. Neither does Hua Rong, actually. She’s still afraid that she’ll lose him one day. But Shang Cheng promises that if she doesn’t leave him, he won’t leave her.
………..DUDE YOU ARE JUST SETTING YOURSELF UP THERE, YOU KNOW.
Rated: I’m not sure how this is going to go horribly wrong and then go completely right in the space of three more episodes, but I have great trust in the writers.
Riders of Skaith 
One thought on “The Romance of Hua Rong – Ep 20”