I’m not sure if the imperial-palace portion of the series is over or if we’ve just been taking a long break from it, but Wai Siu-bo is on the move again. On the plus side, it keeps things from getting too formulaic, but as a downside, it minimizes certain relationships on the show
Having completed his mission and taken some detours/gotten captured a few times, Wai Siu-bo makes his triumphant return to the palace. However, there’s still a lot up in the air, and the emperor has more tasks for him. Along the way, Siu-bo meets another prospective wife (or two??) and has a run-in with members of another martial arts sect.
Like I said, we just got back to the palace and Wai Siu-bo gets sent off again almost immediately. His new adventures are as interesting as ever, but I had been hoping for him to get wrapped up in the palace intrigue for a little longer. He meets emperor’s half(?)-sister the princess in this episode, which is a ton of fun. They tussle but good—the princess bites his finger!—but it kind of backfires on Siu-bo in ways he didn’t expect.
Additionally, sending Wai Siu-bo off again so quickly means we don’t get much time with him and the emperor, and I really enjoy their friendship. It’s clear they both care about each other deeply, but the power dynamic makes it so interesting. For all that the emperor is like, “Call me Little Yeun!”, he has zero qualms about asserting his authority, and when it comes down to it, he never lets their friendship get in the way of the fact that Siu-bo is his servant and needs to do what he says. I’d have liked to get more of them here. I especially enjoy Siu-bo trying to hide an embarrassing byproduct of an encounter with the princess and the emperor trying to help him feel better about it.
But once the second mission commences, there is entertaining stuff going on there. Meeting adepts from the Wangwu school offers up a new sect that Wai Siu-bo has to navigate. His ability to balance so many different groups with conflicting loyalties is impressive, particularly when he first meets a new group of warriors and has to suss out whether he should say he backs Qing or Ming. And I’m always here for Siu-bo talking like his life literally depends on it—in this episode, he winds up with a sword at his neck and someone manages to become the one in control of his situation. Tony Leung Chiu-wai strikes such a good tone with scenes like this. They’re often funny, but they’re not so over-the-top that you can’t believe he could get these guys in his good graces, and there’s usually some suspense that maybe his lies won’t cut it this time.
And yes, Wai Siu-bo is almost definitely in the market for at least one new “wife.” He’s instantly taken with Tsang Yau, one of the Wangwu warriors, and she seems pretty taken with him in turn. He’s lucky to have had minimal jealousy between his various women so far. Fong Yee is the toughest one to crack, but she hasn’t met this latest one yet. If it goes further, we’ll see how she reacts when she does.
Side note: it tickles me that most of the women Wai Siu-bo falls for are undeniably tougher than him but it never seems to pose an issue for him. On the contrary, whenever a fight breaks out, he’s not afraid to stand behind one or more of his ladies for protection. What’s more, all of them seem pretty cool with that dynamic. There’s a sweet scene in this episode where Sheung Yee says, “If the monks bully you, just tell me. I will avenge for you.” Even though Siu-bo habitually pretends to have much more martial arts knowledge than he actually does, he doesn’t feel the need to keep up that act with his women.
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