BU BU JING XIN
EPISODE 4
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FATE AND DESTINY
THE CHINESE
MEANING
Ruoxi
diligently practises her calligraphy. Her sister, like a guardian angel,
watches over her in the distance. She writes the word ‘life’ 命. She seems miserable.
For a
modern girl like her, she believes she is the master of her destiny and her
life.
However,
in traditional Chinese
culture, the Chinese believe that life is related to ‘fate and destiny’ or yuánfèn.
It is decided at birth
that people would be chained or fettered to their fate or destiny. There is a
power beyond their control, and this invisible force drives their life.
Romantically, ‘yuanfen’ means
‘the binding force that links two people together in their relationship’. Their
relationship is predetermined.
It is
autumn and the leaves are falling around her. Ruoxi rues over the autumn breeze that
causes the leaves to fall.
She is
solemn and laments that, ‘They are
weeping and are in pain. They don’t wish to fall to the ground. They cannot
escape their fate.’
It is
apparent that a sense of gloom has enveloped Ruoxi.
Yinsi,
the Eighth Prince and Yinti, the Fourteenth Prince appear. Yinti questions
her whether she is bemoaning the short life of the flowers or expressing her
irritation at the songs of the birds?
They query her about whether she loves Yin’e, the Tenth Prince. A rumour has been spreading
like wildfire in the Forbidden City that she has gone bonkers because of his
impending marriage to Mingyu.
Ruoxi
is always full of surprises. She does not evade the issue but when she
explains that the rumour is groundless, they must have been astonished. She describes Yin’e as simple-minded and easy-going, and she can be herself in his presence. That is what makes her happy. But
the ‘love’ she has for him is not what they imagine it to be. She is not in
love with him but she just feels sorry for him because he has lost his
liberty to decide who he wants to marry, and his destiny is forced on to him. His
fortunes have changed and the person who determines his fate is the Kangxi emperor.
They
are shocked by her atrocious thoughts as the one whom she is referring to is
the ‘Son of Heaven’. To speak against him is considered to be treason.
Yinsi
harshly orders her not to repeat her seditious thoughts. He grabs her chin, and
cups her face in his hand and unceremoniously turns it to face him so that
she is forced to look directly into his eyes.
He
forces what he has just said down her throat. He insists that she does not
repeat her ridiculous thoughts and opinions for they might reach the ears of
the ‘Son of Heaven’, his imperial father. He wants to drive it home that it
is impossible for her to pin her hopes on being free from the grim rules of
the palace and the laws of the emperor. She reels in shock at his
manhandling.
Is her fate
also sealed and inescapable? It is doom and gloom for her at the moment. The
thought of her dreadful future drains away her energy. She swallows hard.
Soon,
she would learn to tone down her fiery passion, her infinite zest for life,
her fierce independence and adapt to Qing conservative life, like a bird in a
gilded cage. It is, therefore, better for her to accept the reality as soon
as possible.
It is
interesting to note that Yinsi, the Eighth Prince is with her when she
ponders over ‘life’. Her life would be eventually linked to his in a deep and
passionate way.
But, they
are star-crossed lovers as their relationship is ‘opposed by fate’ or ‘thwarted by certain
circumstances’.
The Chinese proverbial
saying, yǒu yuán wú fèn (有缘无分) means "have
fate without destiny" refers to couples who are fated
to come together, but are not destined to stay together. It means that they are fated to meet each
other, but not destined to be together for whatever reason.
"Yuan" is responsible for bringing
two people together. "Fen"
is responsible for ensuring that the two people stay together. If they are
destined together, they would be drawn inexorably to each other.
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CALLING THE SHOTS: THE EMPEROR’S WORD IS LAW - NO FREEDOM TO
LOVE - YIN'E'S ARRANGED MARRIAGE
Ruoxi returns home and sits, in a very
unladylike manner crouched on the chair. She is a totally confused girl, unable to
accept the fact that the Dragon emperor decides on one’ death and life. In
truth, a disabling fear grips her heart. Her sister is concerned about the
coldness of her hands and asks for ginger tea to be brought to warm her up.
Dismayed that she might have a hand in
Mingyu’s fate, Ruoxi wonders if Mingyu has agreed to marry the Tenth Prince
as an act of vengeance, knowing that Yin’e likes her. It rankles her that Mingyu might have made a
total ass of herself. But, then, what can the poor girl do?
Ruolan explains that the imperial family
members are mere ‘chess pieces’ that belong to the emperor. Marriages are
political strategies that are well-thought out and predetermined, not sudden
passing thoughts.
Concubine Hui acts according to the
emperor’s desires. She chooses an appropriate time to act out a show with the
emperor. Nothing is a coincidence. The emperor lays out the laws of the
imperial court and enforces them.
In the Forbidden City, all the prestigious
positions are bestowed by the emperor. If one follow rules and etiquette,
then one can have peace. If the emperor smiles, one can have blessings but if
he is angered, lives can be lost and an entire clan can be exterminated.
After her reflection on Ruolan’s words, Ruoxi
is properly contrite and reassures her sister that she has understood what is
being said. Her mood improves.
Yinti visits Ruoxi and requests that she
visit and console Yin’e who is in a depression over his impending
marriage. He has not attended court since the Mid-Autumn festivities.
Yin’e does not want to be disturbed and is
highly emotional. He confides in her that he is troubled. Standing by the
round marble table, she tries to temper his anxieties by analysing the
situation for him. She asks pointedly whether his troubles are caused by the
fact that he does not like Mingyu but is forced to marry her. Is he drinking
to drown his sorrows?
To Ruoxi’s surprise, he expresses that he
is enamoured of her. He is troubled because he loves her but he cannot marry
her. Alarmed that he has offered to make her his Ce’fujin (2nd
consort), she quickly rejects his offer. Her body language speaks volumes and
she does not mince her words when she states that she would not even want to
be his first consort.
Now that he understands her feelings, she
advises him to look at the larger picture. Why should he be so silly as to prolong
the pain? Just accept whatever comes to him or else it would make his imperial
brothers enormously worried.
He reassures Ruoxi that he has already accepted
the emperor’s mandate but is just throwing a tantrum. He desires to know
whether she has ever liked him, to which Ruoxi answers positively. However,
she does not spell out clearly the difference between ‘like’ and ‘love’.
He then admits his own shortcomings, being
playful and not wanting to study. He has been perceived as being ‘stupid’. He
has tried his best, but he could not measure up to his other brothers,
Yinzhen, Yinsi and Yinti. His lack of intelligence is frequently on people’s
lips and he is made the laughing stock in the palace. Only Yinsi protects him
and guides him. He has no idea if he is a slow-witted fool or just a
simpleton.
Yes, indeed he is simple-minded or else why
could Ruoxi bully him? It is because he is simpleminded that she likes to
play with him. When he is happy, he shows he is happy and the converse is also
true. He wears his heart on his sleeve. According to Ruoxi, his emotions are
obvious for all to see and he is not like most of the people in the Forbidden
City who put on a mask and are hypocrites who beat around the bush.
‘When I’m with you, I'm very happy. Like
you, I’m in touch with my true feelings’. She is able to connect with him
because she can feel the free range of her feelings and she doesn’t need to
hide her feelings in his presence. It is only with him that she can be
herself, which is a compliment to him.
After she leaves, Mingyu invites him to go to the Crown Prince’s equestrian event but he refuses. When she goads him that
Ruoxi would be there, he playfully retorts that he would also be there. It
infuriates Mingyu that her prince likes another.
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SPLENDOUR IN THE SNOW: YINSI MAKES A MOVE - THE SEDUCTION OF A YOUNG LADY 
Then winter arrives. Ruoxi goes out to take a breather.
Then, Yinsi appears and they walk in the snow. She nearly trips and he catches her in his arms. His hand brushes her hand as he slips
his hand into the cuff of her sleeve.
He deliberately touches her. It is an intimate gesture.
Is he indicating that he is interested in her? Is she trying to
second-guess his actions?
Is it the beginning of his seduction of her? If not for her
modern psychology, her mental age of a 25 year-old in a 14 year-old body, and
her experience in the twenty-first century, she would have immediately swooned over him.
When he holds her hand and brings her to his residence, she
wonders about the reason why he is doing it.
They look into each other’s eyes. He has probably fallen for her dazzling beauty.
When she is seated in his manor, she drinks hot tea and eat her biscuit while studying his
mansion more closely. She had been there once after her fight with Mingyu.
After some awkward moments, he tells an aide to bring her back
as he does not wish to add to her discomfiture.
Does she have feelings for him? He is such a charismatic man.
‘The virtuous prince.’ Are her feelings for him for fun or for real?
She thinks to herself. ‘Just because of his ambitious fight
for the throne, he is hated by the emperor and stripped of his titles, and
imprisoned till death.’
While back at Ruolan's place, her sister announces that when Yin’e is married, he would be given
a residence by the emperor. To Ruoxi, however beautiful a residence is, it is just a
gilded cage.
To avoid further rumours and trouble, Ruoxi decides not to go
to the wedding festivities, but the maid advises her to go because court etiquette
is important or else her sister would be in hot soup.
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YINSI AND YIN’E’S DISCUSSION ON LOVE & MARRIAGE ON YIN’E’S
WEDDING DAY: YINSI - ‘LOVE IS ONLY A
DREAM’
Ruoxi and her sister, Ruolan, arrives for Yin’e’s wedding. Her sister reminds her to be mindful of her
words and not incur the wrath of the others.
Ruoxi wants a moment alone to gather her thoughts together and
so, her sister enters the palace leaving her alone by herself.
Yinzhen, the Fourth Prince, arrives on his horse and dismounts. Startled
by her frown, he advises her to put a smile on her face. The haughty prince is
oozing with condescension. He tells her that he understands her predicament
but based on her personality, he knows that she is not in love with Yin’e in
spite of the scandalous rumours.
She does not want to confirm nor deny the truth of every slanderous
detail spread about her, and demands to know whether he is trying to pry into
her business. It is not easy to
weasel out an answer from her.
Everyone seems to think she is sad about Yin’e’s marriage.
She is not bothered to explain anything to him. Instead, in response, she
uses his previous advice , ‘Make the
best of it’ to hit back at him. Her reply is meant to make fun of him and
to confuse him.
He tells her that she has used the wrong idiom. What was he
thinking?
Meanwhile, Yin’e is all properly groomed and attired in his his
wedding finery. He is the ‘king’ for his wedding day but he refuses to make his appearance at the
ceremony.
Yin’e throws tantrums and refuses to go through his 'sham' marriage. He is not a consenting partner in this 'phony' marriage and is not
going through it without putting up a fight. He powerless in the whole affair.
He is steered towards a marriage with a partner he does not even like. The idea
of going through the arranged marriage is abhorrent and torturous.
Shouldn’t he be allowed to marry for love? The arranged
marriage is like a business transaction and his life is being derailed.
Yinsi and Yinti arrive to see Yin’e struggling with his
feelings. Yin'e wants to stand his ground and bring his foot down and does not want
to take it lying down.
Yinsi cajoles him not to be stubborn as he is lucky to have a
wife from a powerful background.
Yin’e questions Yinsi about his feelings towards Mingyu’s
sister, Gololo Minghui, knowing that his marriage is not too happy. Does Yinsi love her?
Yinti interrupts to prevent him from embarrassing Yinsi.
Surprisingly, Yinsi sees no reason to hide the truth. He tells
him that Minghui is bestowed on him by the emperor as the Di’fujin or First Wife.
She is from a family with good connections, being the precious daughter of the
Heshou E’fu family.
Yinsi’s back is turned towards Yin’e, and the viewers understand
his true feelings. He states categorically that Mingyu is his first consort, and will always be that in this life.
His analysis of the marriage union makes it seem like it is a
contract. His tone is one of firm determination. The Chinese who are
passionately in love with their partners often talk about meeting their
beloved in their next life when they die but Yinsi states matter-of-factly that perhaps, in
his next life, it would be someone else, so, actually, it is clear that Minghui
is not the love of his life.
When Yinsi faces Yin’e again, his eyes are full of sadness but
spiked with wisdom. He advises Yin’e not to be idealistic, and that even a
prince who has riches in the world needs to make sacrifices. He should be
practical and not allow himself to be ruined by romantic tangles and should
marry a woman who can help his future, someone who is of an advantage to him.
The emperor is doing what he thinks
would benefit Yin’e because he has Yin’e’s interests at heart.
What Yinsi wants to convey to Yin’e is that a marriage of
convenience or an arranged marriage, even if it is based on cold calculation,
is lasting. Love or romance between a man and woman is only just ‘a lovely
dream’, ‘a fairy tale’ and is not everlasting. One day, one might wake up and
discover that romance has walked out of the window. Does it mean that Yinsi
has reservations about real love?
Resistance is useless and he cannot sabotage the emperor’s
orders.
Finally, to everyone’s relief, Yin’e agrees to go through the
nuptials for fear of further incurring the wrath of the emperor.
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SAD REMEMBRANCE - YINXIANG MOTHER’S DEATH ANNIVERSARY: RUOXI
COMMISERATES WITH YINXIANG
While the others are celebrating the
happy event, Ruoxi goes outside. The air is biting cold. Yinxiang, the
Thirteenth Prince, seems miserable. He is mistaken that Ruoxi is sad because
of Yin’e’s marriage. She, on the other hand, suspects that he likes Mingyu. He is sad because it is actually his mother's death anniversary but his imperial father has forgotten all about it.
He assumes command of the situation
and grabs her hand and brings her on his horse for a ride. He thinks they
could commiserate together.
The winter snow has blanketed the entire forbidden City. They stop at the woods. He forces her to drink some wine because of the freezing cold. And he goes off to collect some twigs to light a fire. 
Even though Yinxiang is a good
drinker, his tongue is loosened and he entertains her with stories of his
life while under the influence of the free-flowing liquor that he has brought
along.
She is muddled up in her head after a
few drinks. She confides in him that she is not from their era but 300 years
in the future. She feels weird and out of place in the Qing era and she is
fearful of being forced to join the ‘Maiden selection for the imperial harem’.
After their conversation, they
finally realise that they are mistaken about their presumptions about each
other’s love lives.
Meanwhile, an attendant reports to Yinsi and Ruolan that Yinxiang and Ruoxi are missing and instructions are
given to have men stationed at his residence, and if there is any news, they
should report to him.
Yinsi is not worried that Ruoxi would
be violated because he trusts Yinxiang. He knows that Yinxiang understands his
boundaries. She should be safe in his hands.
He makes a decision to stay at
Ruolan’s residence until Ruoxi comes back.
It is morning and Ruoxi returns. She
is so exhausted that she is allowed to sleep until evening. The loving Ruolan
orders ginger soup to be prepared for her.
When fully awake, Ruoxi discusses love
with her sister. She insists that she is not sad over Yin’e and Mingyu’s
marriage. She spells out clearly that they are mistaken about her feelings.
Ruoxi believes being in love is just
as bad as being blindly married to someone one is not in love with.
EQUESTRIAN ACTIVITIES:
YINGREN’S INVITATION
Yinreng, the Crown Prince gives out
invitations to all the princes and their consorts to attend his equestrian event
but Ruolan feigns illness and does not
want to go.
Ruoxi persuades her to be less
anti-social. She is often cooped up in the residence, that is why she’s sick.
Does she not like horse-riding? Think
of a free-spirited horse in a wide expanse of grassland. Ruolan stares at the
the painted screen and Ruoxi notices that her sister is absorbed in studying the ancient
painting of a horseman in the grasslands.
When questioned later, the maid
divulges that the painting reminds Ruolan of her beloved deceased general,
Qing San. No one mentions the matter anymore. It would be revealed later that
the Han general trained her in horse riding. Ruolan is said to be madly in
love with him.
The Crown Prince has organised a horse-racing
competition for those present, and Mingyu wants to win the competition and
rewards.
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