Nirvana in Fire 琅琊榜 - Episode 47 (Recap)

kakashi: This is another brutal heartbreaker of an episode! One of those that pretend everything is well and then BAM! You cry buckets. 

Eleanor: This show knows how to make me weep. 

Jin Dong's hair also makes me weep. 

Episode 47

Ohhh, it's "choose a wife"-day! The one catching everyone's eye is Miss Liu, the granddaughter of Minister Liu Cheng from the Grand Secretariat. Consort Jing seems to like her! Then I'll like her too. Not sure about that hairpiece though. Limp algae?
She looks awfully tired and her voice was annoying.
She's not me. I can't really be that happy with her ;) JK I'll trust Consort Jing on this one.

At Mei Changsu's, Xiajiang's whereabouts are discussed. Wei Zheng, now serving in Sir Su's household (I hope he hides well!!), reports that he's being hunted like a dog. But Mei Changsu isn't even worried about him much. He is concerned for Xiadong, however: The Emperor has granted her amnesty from the death sentence, but she's still in prison, so she's quite the opposite of safe from the Emperor's wrath.
I can't even remember why she's in prison. Shouldn't she have been freed because it turned out that XiaJiang was such a bastard?
I think that because she was trained by Xia Jiang, she's under suspicion and seeing as the evil Xia Jiang has skipped town, the Emperor is imprisoning her. Or maybe there are also other reasons too. 

Enter Gong Yu with a tray. Side-eye from Nihuang (wait... is she living there as well? side-eye from me too!) Yes, she is there "to recover", as Mei Changsu says, and not to work. She says she's almost fully recovered - and makes the brave offer to switch places with Xiadong for a few days. She is skilled in the Art of Masquerade (wait! Is she worshipping the Many-Faced God?). I don't find this a particularly good idea, but everybody else does, simply because they get together Beauty and the Beast quicker. Man, this woman is so eager to please Mei Changsu, it's creeping me out again. 
Whatever, it gets her out of Nihuang's hair and it gets (haha) Beauty and the Beast together. Plus, it was a nice offer. She's not a bad girl.
Haha. Beauty and the Beast. I like it! No she isn't a bad girl, but yeah, give it a rest dear, Mei Changsu isn't ever going to love you. 

And then, it's time to hunt Banruo. Ahahahaaaaa, Fei Liu is having a great time. Until Lin Chen turns up (yay, Jing Dong!!) and does not give him the promised present, but insists that woman is his present. Like all pretty women.
Somehow I don't think Fei Lui is at that point in his life, Lin Chen. Didn't he have white hair before? I might be confusing him with the flute-playing Sung Hoon from Faith, though.
LOL. I think you might be. Haha. Fei Liu - if ever one is having a bad day, one need only watch Fei Liu and one will feel better. 

Meng Zhi brings Mei Changsu confirmation that Prince Jing will be made Crown Prince soon. Mr. Su is relatively unimpressed about that though, cause he knew it already ... he is still very much worrying about Xiadong. And then, Li Gang (why was he not at Mount Jiu An?) brings news that Xie Yu died in a rock slide. Squashed to death. Or so they say. His death is very convenient to Mei Changsu: Remember that confession letter in Princess Liyang's possession that can be read after her husband's death? Yup. Though they need to wait a bit for an opportune moment.
Who here thinks he's not dead?
I can't remember what I thought when I watched it. haha. Sometimes I feel like I'm half expecting plot points to unwind like they would in a K-drama (but they don't) so maybe he is dead. Let's hope so because Mei Changsu really does need that letter. 

Li Gang notices a very grumpy Fei Liu at the door and asks what's wrong with him. Mei Changsu smiles and says he's been like that for a full day already. It most certainly means that Lin Chen has arrived.
My immediate thought: your house is so big you don't even know when you have guests? But then we learn our Fei Lui-teasing womanizer has been off having fun.
Haha. Grumpy Fei Liu is as adorable as a basket of kittens. 

Also still very unhappy: Prince Jing. He's lonely and has nobody to talk to, the poor man. His two Minister buddies are quite concerned, especially since everything is going so smoothly. They dare brazenly suggest he may be thinking of the past, of Prince Qi ... yup, that's definitely it. Jingyan eagerly asks Shen Zhui for details of what happened, since he was not present - and hears horrible tales of bloodshed, whole families butchered, much different from this time with PrinceYu.
What a pick-me-up THAT was, guys.
Humans. We are quite an evil and terrible species sometimes. 

Because they guess correctly that he is thinking of all the injustice, his two ministers caution him to wait. He cannot bring this up in front of the Emperor yet! Xiajiang might be a hunted criminal, but the Emperor values his reputation before everything and would feel humiliated. And he must be super careful not to make the Emperor suspicious of him. That's exactly what happened to Prince Qi.
But if he does any good at all at his job as crown prince, won't that just make the Emperor be paranoid?
Yeah, that Emperor is so unstable. I think though if he were to bring up the Chiyan case at this moment, it would most definitely make the Emperor paranoid. If they wait until Mei Changu has placed more pieces on the weiqi board of this plan, then perhaps even if the Emperor goes all paranoid, they will be strong enough to stop anything totally terrible from happening. Patience my Prince. Patience. 

After running out of women to chase, Master Lin Chen finally makes an appearance at the Su Mansion. The dubbing is horrendous, haha, poor Jin Dong. Lin Chen is a real character, rude and annoying, but quite endearing at the same time. He laughs about Nie Feng's fur, loudly demands food and gets into a friendly fight with Mei Changsu seconds after his arrival. The scene ends with him checking the pulse of both his patients simultaneously.
I don't actually like him very much. Weirdly playful for a grown man, and just RUDE.
Jin Dong was rightfully pretty angry about the dubbing too. Ugh. I think that his irritatingness would have somehow been much better with the nuances of his mellifluous voice. It would have tempered it a bit I think. 

Later, in the courtyard, Lin Chen tells Mei Changsu: "He looks worse than you but you are more sick than him." Ah, but the question is: can Lin Chen cure the patient? He thinks he can - but there are a few things he needs to tell Nie Feng first; after Xiadong arrives. Lin Chen also tells Mei Changsu he has a present for him: it's Banruo. She does not know where her master is (since he dumped her during their escape), but seeing how the city gates are guarded, he is most probably still in the city.

Because no one has ever, ever, ever snuck past a guarded gate.

I think he's likely still in the city because he has some nefarious plan afoot. Xia Jiang is a pesky snake slithering between the corridors and shadows - waiting to strike. 

You're correct! There's a man I've never seen before (he is revealed as Minister Fan shortly after) and a woman I haven't seen before either, named Yao Zhu. They talk about Xiajiang in "the hidden room" ... where Minister Fan soon turns up. Our Big Bad gets news of who is to be Prince Jing's new wife. He is confident that Prince Jing's happiness is short lived, though... His Majesty will soon find out who Mei Changsu truly is and that will also be the end of Prince Jing. He needs Minister Fan for his evil scheme, or rather, his niece, who is a concubine. Oh my. The poison-hint, that is what gave MCS away?! Damn.

Xiajiang is the LAST person you want knowing your secrets.

Can Xia Jiang please die already? Someone poison him please. 

The two men in the courtyard are discussing the Hua Tribe now. How many are secretly hiding in the city? Banruo, who is confined outside the city, either does not know or keeps her secrets really well. Lin Chen suggests Mei Changsu (or rather, Prince Jing if he becomes Emperor) has a big problem at hand. Yes, in fact, the Lin family is directly involved in this mess. As we know, it was Mei Changsu's father who hunted them down after they became a threat.

Wait. Are Lin Chen and Lin Shu related?

Nope, but the problem is that General Lin hunted down Hua tribe members. I think that's the trouble Lin Chen was referring to. That and if they don't root them out, they might try an uprising and try dethrone the Emperor. 

But first, it's Crown Prince coronation time!!! What is that? When Daddy needs to get up, he winces in pain. Bowel issues? Or something more serious?!

You should take bowel issues seriously too, Kakashi.

Maybe all his evil deeds are finally causing a psychological break that is manifesting as physical symptoms. Also, Prince Jing is walking up those stairs like a boss. Dang he looks AMAZING!!!

But our dear Prince still isn't happy. When he goes to see his momma, he is decidedly out of it. And it's not because he needs to get married either. No, it's still that thing with the old case, and his mother knows this full well. Another warning from her, then: Do sit still, son.

Patience is a virtue, Jingyan.

Patience my dear Prince. Patience. You've got this. Just sit tight for now. 

Since Prince Jing is now moving into the Eastern Palace, the tunnel between Mei Changsu's house and Prince Jing's old house needs to be destroyed. That's a bit sad... And then, it's time to reunite Nie Feng and his wife (yup, no more shipping Meng and Xiadong, sorry!). Not an eye remains dry during this... poor, poor Nie Feng is so ashamed of his appearance, but Xiadong does not even seem to see it.

He's all fuzzy and warm. It might be nice.

When Mei Changsu puts his hand on Nihuang's hand, I might have started crying. This show. T___T

In comes Lin Chen and spoils the mood: time to discuss the illness and the poison. And thus, we learn everything about the Poison of the Bitter Flame - the most mysterious poison in the world. It can kill you or it can save your life, and it can make you suffer like you're in hell. And this is what happened to General Nie Feng: the poison had already reached his heart, when he fell into a snow hole, where snow bugs bit him and saved him (they eat burnt flesh and spit out poison). Haha, this is TOTALLY like Lost Tomb and those flesh-eating beetles.
I am so grossed out.
*cries* this is so painful and horrible. Wait, can someone please poison Xia Jiang this way? 

The poison makes your bones deform and the flesh swell up. And then, you grow white hair and your tongue stiffens, so you can no longer speak. The poison attacks many times a day. When it does, the person needs human blood to stop it. It is horrible torture. It seem General Nie Feng was able to restrain himself all those years, a true feat. And then, Xiadong asks the prize question: can it be cured? Lin Cheng says yes, he can. There are two ways: A thorough one and a not so thorough one. Uh-oh, here it comes...
Finally, some answers.
Why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to like this answers he gives. 

To cure the Poison of the Bitter Flame is super painful. You have to rearrange the bones and tear off the skin. And to fully cure it, you have to remove the poison from the bone marrow. After that, you're bedridden for about a year, until your bones have reformed. The benefit: you regain the ability to speak and you look normal after this -but completely different from before. The downside: your body will be destroyed in the process. You lose all ability to fight, will constantly be sick and cold. You will not live for very long afterwards.
So, live like the missing link, drinking blood and grunting at people - or suffer dearly for a couple years, then die - but at least look normal doing it?
Normal-ish, but able to think clearly, while not in extreme pain. Pain. I hate that word with a burning passion. 

 

That is the moment when everyone in that pagoda realizes who among them already went through this horrible, horrible procedure. Oh no.... dear Meng, your raging will not change anything. And neither will Nihuang's silent tears.
Fine. Who did this to them?
I don't think anyone did it, but it's definitely fallout from the Chiyan masssacre. 

Mei Changsu takes Meng and his Nihuang with him, to explain - and Lin Chen continues to explain about the less thorough treatment. With this option, you keep the poison in the body but you control it. The upside: no future attacks, no need to drink blood. You live for a long time. The downside: the white fur stays and the tongue won't work. Of course, Xiadong immediately decides they will go for this option.
I'm with her.
Yeah. Me too. I'm sure they can figure out other ways to communicate. 

Comments

Ah, so sad. So, so, sad... To find out this way what your beloved friend and lover had to go through... to find out he is doomed, after suffering like crazy. To realize he never told you because you would have raged at him or tried to protect him. To realize he sacrificed his life for his revenge and there is no turning back. 

It would be heartbreaking. Plus, Mei Changsu is probably hating that now they know, because of course people will treat him even more preciously than they did before.

I think it also shows just how dedicated Mei Changsu is to clearing his name and restoring the honour of the Chiyan army and their families. He is sacrificing himself completely to do this. *cries*

We know everything about the effects of this horrible poison now, but where does it come from? Is it in the environment at Meiling or is it a form of chemical or biological warfare used by those horrible men who should die a thousand deaths? Can Xiajiang DIE already?!

And then come back to life so we can kill him again?  In the meantime, though, let's focus on our loved ones.

I think the beetles injected the poison, right? And yes, please, please can Xia Jiang die soon. He's making me nervous. 

It's fully explained in 49 - it's the combination of things at Meiling. Fire, snow, and beetles. Or something like that.