BBJX: Episode 11

BU BU JING XIN EPISODE 11

STIRRINGS OF THE HEART: YINSI SAVES RUOXI FROM RUNAWAY HORSE Meanwhile, Minmin offers to teach Ruoxi horseriding. Without warning, she smacks the horse’s rump, a woefully careless act. The horse rears, tries to throw Ruoxi off and then, bounds away in distress, with Ruoxi screaming in fear and shock as she flails her hands and flops from side to side. Mimin tells her to hang on. Perhaps it is fated that Yinsi is nearby and on his horse and so, is on hand to help her. He rushes to her aid and his horse only slows down to a crawl after it has come abreast with hers, and he reaches out and catches her with his arms and pulls her over to his horse. Her right arm curls over his shoulders and they look at each other in relief. On catching up with them, Minmin chastises her for letting go of her reins. She is quite sorry about the mishap. If it had not been for the Beile, Minmin would be in deep trouble. Minmin offers to bring Ruoxi back but Yinsi takes advantage of the situation to send her back instead. They are seated very close to each other on the horse. Is the closeness not suffocating? He touched her hand which is injured. Ruoxi wants to indulge in the moment with her face touching his. Yinsi’s eyes are twinkling at her, as their bodies sway in harmony with the horse’s gallop. The intimacy of the moment makes her forget about his wives. She is a modern woman who has teleported to the past. How could she endure having to love a man with many wives? Is the feeling horrible, is it against the nature of things? She shuts her mind, savouring the rush of adrenaline that sends her heart beating. Her eyes graze his smile that is so betwitching that she gasps. She is unable to tear her  gaze from his as it burns into hers. She takes a peek at him and Yinsi says to her, ‘You have me in your heart’, knowing that he has conquered her heart. He may not have known it then but he is sure about it now. He is happy and smiles indulgently at her. When they arrive back at the camp, they walk back together and Yinsi asks her why she is with Minmin. They have met by chance and Minmin, knowing that she wants to learn horseriding, has offered to teach her some skills. Yinsi understands her desire and offers to teach her, and she readily accepts his offer.

COURT POLITICS: YINZHEN TRIES TO CLIP YINGSI'S WINGS AT KANGXI’S BEHEST Back at the capital, there is a meeting of the court officials and  the princes, including the 13th Prince, the 10th Prince and the 9th Prince, with Yinzhen. An announcement is made that a few ministers and officials are to be transferred. Minister Zhang Donglai would be transferred to be the governor of Shanxi and Li Shanzi would be dispatched to Hunan as the governor there. All those who are named are allies of or those in favour of and loyal to Yinsi, the 8th Prince. They are dispatched to other places in order to diffuse the power and influence of Yinsi. This triggers the voices of discontent among the brothers who support Yinsi. Yintang, the 9th Prince has come to the conclusion Yinzhen has taken advantage of the emperor’s absence to get rid of those who are aligned to the 8th Prince for his own personal gain. Yintang looks as if he is gnashing his teeth, and he could not get a grip on his temper. He must have clenched his hands so hard that his nails bite into his palms when he denounces Yinzhen as despicable. Yinxiang, the 13th Prince, rises to Yinzhen’s defence. To their shock, Yinzhen divulges that it is the order of the emperor to carry out his imperial wishes, and he, Yinzhen is the instrument of execution. He is just following the imperial orders.  If the Prince Yinsi Faction have any suspicions, they could very well ask the emperor when he returns. Well, the emperor’s endorsement would suffice. He has properly put them in their place. Yinzhen considers himself to be fair, and is loyal to the emperor. If he is accused of deception, playing favourites and eradicating allies, he would not back down. He threatens that he would definitely eradicate those who are corrupt, and try to win support and abuse power for political gain. The emperor hates the princes who try to gain power through political patronage and corruption. The strong message imparted is that the emperor would not hesitate to punish them, and there would be harsh penalties for non-compliance. The effect of his threat is temporary, at best. Yinzhen questions them about Yinti’s absence. Yin’e, the 10th Prince explains that he has fallen ill.   However, Yintang sarcastically elaborated the story that Yinti has gone hunting a few days ago and saw a fox exploiting another’s power. He couldn’t kill the fox so he fell sick. It seems Yintang is unafraid of Yinzhen. Yintang was, in fact, using the Chinese idiom, ‘The Fox Borrows The Terror Of The Tiger’ to illustrate his point. The idiom is often used to analogize a person who adroitly takes advantage of somebody else's power to bully others. Is his outburst justified? He is implying that Yinzhen is using the emperor’s power to force all of them into a corner. Yinzhen is sufficiently wise and patient to understand Yintang’s personality and temperament, and intelligently sidesteps the bomb set for him by saying that he would not let such foxes off so easily. ‘The Fox Borrows The Terror Of The Tiger’ In the Period of the Warring States, the Chu State had a very capable minister called Zhao Xixu. He was well respected and held in awe by the people of other countries as well as his own. One day, the king asked his ministers "I hear every state in the north is afraid of our minister Zhao Xixu, is that so?" At the question, almost all the ministers kept silent except for one called Jiangyi, who attempted to curry favour with the king. He said, "Your Majesty, you know, it's you who people are in awe of and respect, not him! Have you ever heard the story ‘The Fox Borrows The Terror Of The Tiger’? Well, here is the story. One day a tiger was hunting in a forest. An unlucky fox was caught by the tiger. For the fox, the inescapable fate was death. Despite the danger, the fox thought hard to find a way out of his predicament. The fox exclaimed to the tiger, "How dare you try to kill me!" On hearing those words the tiger was surprised. The fox raised his voice arrogantly. "To tell you the truth, the Forest God has bestowed the title ‘The King of Animals’ on me! If you kill me, it is against the Forest God's will!’ Seeing that the tiger has become suspicious, the fox added, "Let's test this out. Let's go through the forest. Follow me and you will see how frightened the animals are of me." The tiger agreed and so, the fox walked arrogantly ahead of the tiger through the forest. As you can imagine, the animals were all terribly frightened on seeing the tiger and fled immediately. Then the fox boasted proudly that the other animals feared him. The foolish tiger nodded and agreed that the fox was the king. When Minister Jiangyi finished telling the story, he declared: "It seems as if the northern neighbours are afraid of Minister Zhao Xixu. In fact, they are afraid of Your Majesty just as the animals were afraid of the tiger, not of the fox." The king was very pleased with Minister Jiangyi. The idiom is often used to analogise those who take advantage of the name or the power of a powerful person to bully others. Later, Yinxiang discusses with Yinzhen on how to stop the shenanigans of the Eighth Prince Faction. If the mischief and manoeuvrings continue, there would not be any brotherly affection left between them. Yinxiang wants to look for Yinti. Yinzhen advises him that if he has any brotherly affection, he should not go because if he fails to find him, all of them would be in trouble. He suspects Yinti, his biological brother has gone north of the Great Wall Of China to secretly meet Yinsi. Yinti’s disobedience is a crime punishable by death. This puts him in danger, and Yinzhen hopes that Yinti would make it back safely. The Kangxi emperor knows that many court officials have started taking sides and shown preferential support for Yinsi. Yinsi needs their patronage to succeed.  Now Yinsi is isolated from them and is forced to fight his own battles in the Mongolian Steppe. The emperor has cropped Yinsi off from his power base and probably hopes that ‘Divided, the Eighth Prince Faction would fall. With his policy, ‘Divide et Impera’ or ‘Divide and Rule / Conquer’, the emperor has regained the upper hand.  Yinsi’s cronies, instead of climbing up the ladder of power, would now be forced to disappear from the centre of power. Yinsi would be robbed of his power and his power base would be considerably weakened. All these are done according to the emperor’s wishes. No communication is allowed. The Kangxi emperor does not want any interference, meddling or appeals from anyone to thwart his decisions. This brings us to the question of obedience to the emperor through the voice of Yinzhen. Yinzhen’s status is raised considerably during Yinsi’s absence. The emperor Kangxi has, in effect, executed the struggle of attrition between two brothers or the Prince Yinsi Faction - Prince Yinzhen Faction. Now the playing field has been levelled. Perhaps the Kangsi emperor’s tactic has effectively ruined Yinsi’s chances of rising to power again. It is clear that he is using one brother to curb the power of the other. There is a long running rivalry between Yinsi and Yinzhen. Perhaps he is trying to curb the conflicting and chaotic accession to the throne. What does the Kangxi’s strategy bode for Yinsi’s future? What does Yinsi’s faction has at stake? Would this power cleansing reduce Yinsi’s confidence and increase his inferiority complex? Would this strategy suffice to bring conflict among the brothers down?  Does the Kangxi emperor understand that the levelling of the playing field would give Yinzhen  an advantage as it is a warning to prevent court officials from joining Yinsi’s ranks. What we know is that the rivalry between the two brothers and their supporters would lead to a long drawn rivalry even after Yinzhen has ascended the throne and is fully entrenched in his power. In the course of time, Yinzhen would ensure that Yinsi’s ambitious spirit is broken.

YINZHEN JOINS FORCES WITH NIAN GENGYAO Yinxiang and Yinzhen visits the courtesan, Luwu. It is the first time that Yinzhen is meeting her so Yinxiang cheekily requests that she sings for them. Luwu wisely rejects the request by saying that the imperial entertainment at the palace is better. Yinzhen praises her for being beautiful and wise. They have everything they want so they are not in need of anything. She has a pot of green tea for them. She is praised for her tea-making skills and she explains that she has Ruoxi to thank for. Yinzhen is impressed with Ruoxi’s people skills and acknowledges that Ruoxi can be friends with everyone.  He humbly concedes that he is the only one whom she considers to be too dangerous and threatening to befriend. However, Yinxiang tries to console him. Ruoxi probably treats him differently because in her heart, he is special to her. A man by the name of Nian Gengyao requests to meet with the princes. Yinzhen discusses the possibility of making him the governor of Sichuan to reward him for his work. Nian Gengyao had actually been working for Yinsi, the 8th Prince, and because of the work of some evil doers, his services had been terminated.  Luckily, Yinzhen is his saviour. Yinxiang demands to know whether he would still be the eyes and ears of Yinzhen if he is made the governor and he indicates that he is totally loyal to him.

STEALTH: YINTI MEETS YINSI WITH RUOXI’S HELP When Ruoxi is alone, she thinks about Yinsi’s sacrifices and wonders why she has held back her feelings and has not been touched by his loving gestures for so long. What is she going to do with the relationship? She has a lot of fears. He has too many wives and he is too ambitious for her. Out of the blue, the disguised Yinti appears in her tent. She is shocked that he is crazy enough to have broken the royal edict – that there should not be any communication between those in the Capital and those in the Mongolian Steppe. The emperor has forbidden the other princes who are stationed at the Capital from coming to the expedition place. The two groups are to be separated and be held incommunicado. But Yinti has disobeyed the emperor’s mandate and has boldly come to meet Yinsi. There are people who assist the emperor or belong to the Crown Prince’s faction who are bound to recognise him. Ruoxi enquires about the happenings in the capital but he tells her it is in her interest to be ignorant about it. Ignorance is bliss. He explains that he needs to have personal contact with Yinsi. Communicating face to face with Yinsi would prevent one from being misunderstood. He requests for her help. Ruoxi is in a playful mood as she looks mischievously at his disguise. She is curious about his false moustache and wants to twirl it but he is strong enough to prevent her from tugging at it. They are both at ease with each other, teasing each other. She insists on twirling it but he objects. She pouts, puffs out her cheeks, so finally, he gives in and allows her to touch it. She laughs merrily. Satisfied, she agrees to find a way to help him meet Yinsi secretly. She makes fun of him and suggests that he should disguise himself as a lady in order to meet Yinsi. It is disrespectful to even mention that to a prince, so to discipline her, he pinches her cheeks. The viewers can see their obvious camaraderie. He likes her but he knows that her heart belongs to Yinsi. Ruoxi allows him to stay with her even though it is inconvenient. An assistant of Yinsi sends some ointment to her and Ruoxi sets up a meeting. Yinti complains that he is forced to apply Yinsi’s ointment on her hand. She, in her flirty response, reasons out that she has to prepare his meals and be his messenger to send messages to Yinsi on his behalf, so what’s so difficult. That night, when the time is ripe for the meeting with Yinsi. she leads Yinti out and tells him to wait for Yinsi in the forest. Then, she goes to inform Yinsi of their meeting. She tells him to be careful and he is very happy about her concern for him. He goes off but he does not know that he is being followed. Yinti conveys to Yinsi the sad news that all those ministers who are supportive of him are being deployed or sent far away. Yinzhen is helping the emperor to reduce his powers. Yinti is fearful that by the time he returns to the capital, he would be powerless. They discuss the details of the emperor’s strategy. The list of court officials to be transferred has been sent by Yinzhen to the emperor.

YINGREN’S MANHUNT: SHOOT TO KILL – A DETERMINED ATTEMPT TO KILL YINSI & YINTI   Meanwhile, Yinreng’s spies report to him about the spotting of Yinti in the area. The Crown Prince does not want to report to the emperor that Yinti has violated the imperial edict, as he has his own way of dealing with it. Yinreng probably thinks he would a fool to set his personal interests aside. He is going for the jugular and he is going to pretend that the intruders are thieves, and this is his excuse to kill his two brothers. It is revenge time.  It is also hunting time with his bow and arrow but he is hunting for human targets, the princes.  Being a skilful archer, he can hit bullseye most of the time. Shooting with precision is not a problem because he has been practising his archery in the Mongolian Steppe. Yinreng now puts practice into reality. He takes the opportunity to get rid of his rivals. He instructs his sidekick to order the soldiers to go on a hunting trip for thieves. Meanwhile, Yinti tells Yinsi to get an excuse to leave earlier for the Capital but they know that it is impossible. The Crown Prince is like a wild animal bent on revenge. He and his men arrive on foot at the princes' meeting  place. The Crown Prince signals for his bow and arrows to be handed over to him.  He takes careful aim and Yinsi is shot. However, both manage to scramble for safety and to escape. Yinsi flees for the safety of his own tent in the Manchurian camp while Yinti flees to the Mongolian camp.

HOODWINKED: MINMIN IS TRICKED BY RUOXI TO HELP YINTI Ruoxi is worried. Minmin arrives to ask her for some advice. They go for a walk.  Minmin enquires why Yinxiang, the 13th Prince, is not present on the trip. She is also curious about the beauty of Yinxiang's wives. It is obvious that she likes him and is willing to admit that she admires him, including his voice. She remembers him smiling at her as he watches her singing performance, and her heart has beaten very fast. She seems to be enamoured of him. She has never seen a man quite like him.  But her father refuses to allow her to marry him. The reason is that the imperial wives are seldom happy. She is from the grassland so she should live in the grassland. She knows that liking a person is out of one’s control. Unknown to them, Yinsi has been shot in the shoulder but both of the princes have managed to escape. They manage to put some distance between themselves and Yinreng’s men.   Ruoxi and Minmin’s girl talk is disrupted by the commotion. They are told that there are thieves in the camps. Ruoxi realises that something is wrong and that there is a search for an injured intruder. She realises one of the princes must be hurt. Ruoxi asks Minmin where  would fugitives normally hide in the Mongolian camp. She searches for Yinti and finds him unhurt, and she begs Minmin to shelter him in her tent. Yinti informs her that  Yinsi has taken an arrow for him and is injured. In her panic and desperation, Ruoxi tells Minmin some lies, including Yinti being her secret lover who has come from afar to see her since they cannot meet in the palace. Palace etiquette makes it difficult for them to meet. But, unluckily, Yinti has been mistaken for a thief. Ruoxi has betrayed a confidence. But it is not that she has no qualms about lying or pangs of guilt but the tense moment demands that she lies to Minmin. She is ashamed of the deceit and she knows one day, when Minmin discovers the truth, their friendship might be affected. Minmin, being trusting and gullible, believes her and hides Yinti in her tent. Yinti has no choice. It is not like he is flooded with many options. Beggars cannot be choosers. It is better to be safe than be sorry. Knowing that he is in trustworthy hands, Ruoxi leaves. Minmin makes him sit down, and like a curious cat, prods him on his romance with Ruoxi. And he manages to dream up a pack of lies to amuse her. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince has ordered his men to search the Manchurian and Mongolian camps for suspicious characters. Dissatisfied with the fruitless efforts, he wants to search the tents a second time. The Mongol general allows him because Yinreng rationalises that they cannot allow the thieves to get away. Safety and protection is important for everyone, more so, for the imperial family. But Yinreng’s efforts are futile. His henchmen could not discover anything. Fearful that the matter might come to the knowledge of the ‘Wangye’ or the Mongol lord, the Mongol general decides to abort all searches. Things might get complicated. Who is to take responsibility? Yingren is still not satisfied. He knows the only place that has not been searched is Minmin’s tent. He intends to personally search the place. Although advised against it, he stubbornly pursues it. It is his best opportunity to trap them or is it? Perhaps the Crown Prince has also some lecherous designs on his mind. The Crown Prince argues that if Minmin has nothing to hide in her tent, why can’t he go in? On hearing the commotion outside, Minmin instructs Yinti to hide and she blows out all the candles. The Crown Prince creeps in without permission. Knowing that the intruder is the Crown Prince himself, Minmin is merciless as she single-mindedly beats him up in the dark, and the embarrassed Crown Prince is forced to flee. Outside the tent, Minmin feigns surprise on seeing that the ‘thief’ who has surreptitiously crept into her tent is no other than the Crown Prince himself. Being greatly humiliated, the Crown Prince is forced to stop his search.

A VIEW TO KILL: YINSI IS SHOT Yinsi analyses the meeting with Yinti and the shooting incident. According to Yinti, their faction has been put at a disadvantage. The Kangxi emperor is presently making a big change or drastic move to change the status quo. Their supporters are being transferred. Yinsi knows that the Crown Prince is just waiting for him to make a false move or to go against the imperial edict so that he can trap him. Ruoxi visits Yinsi and he invites her to sit down. The physician is changing his bandages. He mentions that the medicine has been brought along in preparation for situations like this. Yinsi, being cautious, seems to have anticipated such life-threatening situations. Nothing is to be taken for granted. The Crown Prince has made the first move to kill him. When Yinreng aimed his arrow at him, he was determined to kill, not injure him. Granted that there are no fool-proof ways of dealing with such threats, he must at least be prepared.  There are no guarantees, but the medicine that is prepared is one of the most solid approaches to protecting his life especially, when they are far from the capital, and outside of the protection of the Great Wall. Ruoxi helps to bandage him and he smiles. She tells him not to worry as the Yinti has escaped and is in a secure place. She wants to leave but he detains her and doesn’t allow her to go. The Kangxi emperor has orchestrated the whole thing. He has decreed that they cannot communicate with the Capital while the expedition group is north of the Great Wall. The Crown Prince has also taken precautions to prevent him from doing so. Spies have been placed everywhere to track his every move. Is there a conspiracy to weaken him? It is entirely the emperor’s idea but it is carried out in the Capital by Yinzhen while the Crown Prince watches him with an eagle eye while he is on the expedition. The Crown Prince is quite pally with Yinzhen. Kangxi’s intention is quite clear by now. He wants to effect control over the princes, particularly, Yinsi, the 8th prince. There is a web of deceit surrounding his plan. The plan has been carefully crafted to manipulate him emotionally. The expedition is a cover for wresting power from Yinsi. There is a coalescence of interests in place. Ruoxi knows how Yinsi’s life would end. She asks him about his future plans since the emperor has spelt out quite clearly his decision concerning the power struggle. If she really wants to know, he would share his thoughts with her gradually. She wonders how the Crown Prince could be so unscrupulous as to shoot his younger brother with an arrow. He is ruthless to have used the logic, ‘Killing a thief with an arrow is allowed’.  She chews over the incident and cringes. It is just the beginning. The real suffering would come when Yinzhen ascends the throne. It will be the start of the horror of horrors. Yinsi could sense that she is unhappy, as her thoughts  seem to be far away. ‘What is hidden in your heart? Are you scared? Don’t be scared. You have me and I won’t allow any harm to come to you.’ He hugs her. She is not sure about responding  but in the end, her hand rests on his back. The Crown Prince is still not satisfied with his search and wants to search Yinsi’s tent as well. But Yinsi is not afraid and instructs his servant to bring a cup of boiling hot water.