The Love Rectangle
Episode 4 of Yanxi Palace: Princess Adventures begins where the last one ended, with the Queen speaking to Siwan and requesting she make a complaint the following day. Fuca, as it happens, was listening the whole time and as the Queen leaves, they discuss how to come out of this situation on top, with him reminding her that if she openly takes Zhaohua’s side and shows favouritism, she could be overthrown. Meanwhile Zhaohua is approached by her Mother who warns her against doing anything rash and reminding her that Siwan’s ultimate aim is to win over Lhawang, prompting her to head out and visit the Hall again. As she does, ministers implore the Emperor to punish his daughter. Zhaohua barges in though and admits to him that Siwan is smitten with Lhawang and that’s why she’a acting the way she is. Caught off-guard by this revelation, Siwan approaches Fuca and asks him what to do next. Midway through their conversation, Zhaohua arrives prompting her to ask him why he tried to frame her but he simply shrugs his shoulders, reminding Zhaohua that he was only trying to help her win over Lhawang. Outside the palace however, Zhaohua is snatched up by Fuca while in Lhawang’s carriage. After riding out to the countryside, Fuca admits that he likes her and is only doing all this to win her over. After having her admit the truth about her colour blindness to him, he pledges that every word is coming from his heart. As he embraces the naive Princess and tells her he loves her, as we know this is all an elaborate ploy to leap-frog his way into bettering himself no matter what. It works too, and as Zhaohua speaks to her Mother, she tries in vain to have her see the truth. Only, she doesn’t see to reason and instead pursues Fuk’anngan as the one for her to marry. Meanwhile, our cunning guard helps Siwan as she stumbles in the palace and boasts about his accomplishments, going on to admit that this was his plan the entire time. At Yanxi Gate, a cheeky Zhaohua heads out dressed as one of the guards to sneak out and meet Fuca. As she’s taken away in a horse-drawn carriage, Fuk’anngan takes her to a place full of men working for him who surround her in the courtyard. Helpless and alone, they reach out to grab her while Fuk’anngan listens, waiting for an opportune time to burst in and act the hero. Unfortunately it backfires and as he takes her back to the palace, he laments her Mother for forcing this to occur and, shaking with rage, she walks away from him. As the episode closes out, Fuk’anngan drowns his sorrows in alcohol while Zhaohua has flashbacks to the time at the temple. There’s plenty of drama to digest during this episode and a lot of character development for our main cast. Seeing Zhaohua surrounded was pretty tense and worked to develop her character too, humbling her to the more desperate and realistic depiction of the world outside the palace walls. Given the princess began the series as a cold, bratty princess, seeing her develop into a more mature and rounded young woman has probably been the highlight of this series so far. For now though, there’s plenty to chew over and the final two episode of the season look set to round things out nicely. Are there more surprise in store for us?
