BU BU JING XIN
EPISODE 23
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THE KANGXI EMPEROR’S MANDATE: RUOXI'S MARRIAGE TO YINTI
Ruoxi is in the garden picking plum blossoms and is told by
Wangxi that the emperor has commanded her to appear before him.
The emperor seems to be in a congenial and pleasant mood. She remembers
that not too long ago he was in a foul mood and tensions ran high when he
denounced Yinsi.
He seems to be an indulgent parent talking to his daughter but
Ruoxi is unprepared for what he has to say to her.
‘You’ve been in the palace for
many years and I have seen you growing up day by day.’
He praises her for having changed from the clueless, defiant, death-defying thirteenth sister to the present elegant, slender, cautious and careful young lady.
‘I have thoroughly thought
about your marriage.’
 
Aghast, Ruoxi quickly replies, ‘I'd rather serve you all my life.’
‘How can you not marry all your
life? No matter how reluctant I’m, I’ll have to let you go.’
Then, he drops the bombshell.
‘You’re almost the same age as
Yinti. Moreover, your relationship with him is good. I think he won’t ill-treat
you.’
Shock is registered on her face. She is thunderstruck,
speechless.
Li Dequan enquires why she has not responded to the emperor.
Her head must have been turning and turning in circles.
Finally, trembling with fear, she summons up her courage to
speak up. She is clearly flustered and finally utters the ‘no’ word, that she
is unwilling.
The emperor is livid and she quickly drops to her kness. He
allows no room for objections. It is difficult for the emperor to come to
terms with such rebellion. She is at the mercy of a powerful man whose sole
intent is to make her his daughter-in-law and the consort of Yinti.
‘Are you are not afraid that I
will punish you?’ the
emperor thunders.
‘I’ve disappointed you and
ought to be punished.’
‘If you defy the emperor’s
order, your whole family will be sacrificed,’ Li Dequan warns.
Determined to rid herself of the chokehold of the emperor, she
tries to reason with him about her father’s undying loyalty and patriotism. But
the emperor pounds his fist violently on the table.
Li Dequan, frightened of the emperor’s explosive temper,
swiftly drops to his knees.
She argues defiantly that he, being a kind-hearted emperor,
would not be unjust.
Bellowing angrily, the Kangxi emperor chastises her for her
impertinence and for defying him.
Li Dequan knows she is being foolhardy and that her words are
injudicious.
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THE KANGXI EMPEROR - BUSINESS AS USUAL: RUOXI IS FLOGGED -
REFUSAL TO OBEY THE MANDATE
There can be no defiance in the Forbidden City. Woe betide
anyone who messes with the Kangxi emperor! The emperor, unused to such outright
defiance, regrets having spoilt her. With callous indifference, he orders
that she be given 20 strokes of the cane. To add to her suffering, she would
be sent to the laundry department to wash clothes for the maids and eunuchs.
The tide has turned against Ruoxi.
The Kangxi emperor must have set his heart on the marriage
between his favourite son whom he is grooming for the highest position in his
empire, and Ruoxi, his favourite girl, who is intelligent and
knowledgeable, a valuable asset to the future emperor.
   
Taking umbrage at her boldness in disobeying his royal command,
he orders 20 strokes to be given to her. Tears fill her eyes.
After the flogging, she is carried back to her quarters piggy-back
style by Wangxi. Medicine is applied to her bloodied buttocks.
  
Ruoxi takes the caning to heart but she does not whisper a word to anyone
about what has transpired in her interaction with the emperor. None is any
wiser when she announces to them that she has been transferred to the laundry
department.
  
Yinti and Yin’e discuss the situation and how to plead for
mercy for Ruoxi. Overhearing the conversation, Mingyu declares that it
is no laughing matter, and they should not be impetuous. She gives Yin’e a
tongue-lashing for being a nosey parker and tells him to sober up.
Yinzhen is hesitant about seeing Ruoxi. He thinks perhaps, he
might do more harm than good. Yutan is crestfallen about Ruoxi’s plight and
their separation.
Yinti visits Ruoxi with some medicine for her. He is in the
dark about the incident, and she claims that she has said things out of turn and so, the emperor has been enraged.
Ruoxi reminisces about the ‘arrow’ incident. She dwells on the
arrow, which is wrapped in a red piece of cloth, for awhile.
She requests Yutan to follow Yinti to hand over some things to
her sister, Ruolan.
Ruolan, upon hearing about Ruoxi’s fate, pleads with Yinsi to
save her but he replies that the person who can help her is no longer him.
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YINZHEN AND HIS PLUMP RICE GRAINS
Yinzhen is intelligent enough to understand that he needs the support of the emperor. He is away from
the court and the limelight. He is in seclusion and isolated from the other princes.
Armed with the knowledge that agriculture is one of the
emperor’s priorities, he visits him to discuss the breed of rice that he has
been experimenting with. Yinzhen reveals, to the emperor’s delight, that the rice can
be harvested twice a year. He has bought some samples of the plump grains for
the emperor to examine.
Yinzhen proposes to have it grown so as to relieve the
prolonged food shortage. The emperor is taken up with the idea of promoting the new strain of rice
to ease the food shortage problem caused by the droughts.
Intoxicated with the genius and resourcefulness of his fourth
son, the Kangxi emperor invites him to return to the court to help him in the
administration work since he cares so much about the common people.
Yinzhen does not miss a beat when he emotionlessly stated that
he prefers the farmer’s lifestyle. He cleverly allays the emperor’s
suspicions about his ambition which is kept under tight wraps.
Is the emperor testing him? Is he trying to find out about his
covert ambitions?
After the audience is over, Li Dequan calls after Yinzhen but
he pretends not to hear it until it is clearly obvious that he cannot avoid
it.
   
Li Dequan requests a favour from Yinzhen since his
relationship with the emperor is close. He wants Yinzhen to speak up for
Ruoxi so that she is able to leave the laundry department as soon as
possible. He cannot bear her suffering and earnestly begs Yinzhen for help.
But Yinzhen coldly refuses. Showing his indifference, he
claims that all palace matters are of no consequence to him, so, he is unable
help. He also advises the chief eunuch to avoid trouble.
But as he leaves, his body language tells the viewers that he truly cares about Ruoxi but he is totally helpless. He is seen crunching his fingers. |
YINTI: APPOINTMENT AS GENERAL-IN-CHIEF FOR THE NORTHWEST BORDER
PACIFICATION CAMPAIGN
The emperor discusses the unrest in the Northwest with his sons.
Rebellions are rife in those areas.
Yinti is asked his opinion on the conflicts and he suggests that they should be
stopped before they get out of control. Sending an army is unavoidable. But understanding
the situation is important to quell it.
Yintang thinks that preventive measures must be taken. Yin’e echoes his opinion.
Someone has to be sent to quell the unrests. The Kangxi emperor
suddenly offers the leadership position to Yinti.
‘Yinti, I am appointing you as the
Great General. You will lead the army in in December.’ Do you accept?’
‘I will do as my imperial father
commands.’
‘You are really my brave son!’
Yintang and Yin’e congratulate him on his new appointment.
The emperor believes that he would come back triumphantly.
The emperor orders tea to be served. Yutan serves the tea.
The brothers artfully mention that they miss the tea that Ruoxi
serves but the emperor snaps that Yutan’s tea suits him.
Yin’e and Yinti eye each other guardedly.
Li Dequan instructs Yutan to take over Ruoxi’s place.
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CHANGE: RUOXI'S NEW LIFE IN THE LAUNDRY DEPARTMENT: RUOXI ARRIVES
AT THE COLD AND DAMP LAUNDRY DEPARTMENT WITH YUTAN
Ruoxi arrives at her new quarters with Yutan. Eunuch Zhang Qianyin,
the eunuch in charge of the laundry department, makes some veiled remarks
about Ruoxi.
 
Her living quarters are dismal. Yutan gives pieces of silver to
the other maids as a form of bribery. It is a tacit request to them to treat
Ruoxi well.
But the laundry maids turn out to be mean and talk
disparagingly about her.
Her daily routine has changed. She has to wash, scrub, and wring the
clothes. Her hands, soaked in water daily, become dry, rough, cracked and
inflamed. Her back aches. Because she is slow in her work, the food is
completely polished off by the other servants by the time she returns to her quarters in the evening.
The ointment that she rubs on her hands provides some relief.
Ruoxi is generous enough to offer it to the other maids but they remain
unfriendly to her.
Meanwhile, Ruoxi is being criticised for being slow in her laundry
work.
Eunuch Zhang tries to pick on her. He is sleazy and arrogant.
  
Later, he invites her to his room and he harasses her. But
being from the twenty-first century, she is not that easily intimidated by
him, especially when she knows she has the backing of the princes.
Unable to win her over, he tries to ingratiate himself with her and she puts him in his place. To her, he is like an obsequious and fawning wolf.
The young Eunuch Wangxi comes to encourage her. Yutan also visits
and comforts her, reassuring her that once the emperor’s anger has subsided,
he would recall her. Ruoxi is lucky to have friends who are concerned about
her.
YINZHEN VISITS RUOXI – REASON FOR DEMOTION
Yinzhen finally appears and asks about her welfare. They look
longingly at each other.
 
‘Why did Imperial Father
get angry?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘How’s everything?’
She confides that it is bearable as long as she is busy from morning till night.
Yinzhen studies her inflamed hands, coarsened by work, and says, ‘When you are by my side again, I won’t
let you suffer. When Imperial Father’s temper has subsided, I’ll ask him for
your hand in marriage.’
‘The emperor will not allow. He wants
to betroth me to Yinti,’ she
reveals.
‘Why did you not take the
opportunity to get out of the palace? Was it because of me?’
‘I went with my feelings. I’m
not willing. I don’t have any way to control myself.’
‘I will save Yinxiang and I will
marry you,’ he
promises. Then he hugs her.
When Ruoxi returns to her quarters, she discovers that her
things have been stolen. The magnolia hairpin and her snuff bottle given to
her by Yinzhen are missing.
She is furious that she is being bullied by the other maids and
threatens to tell Eunuch Zhang.
The thieving maid throws the magnolia hairpin on the floor and it breaks into two. What would be her next course of action?
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