dangermousie | They could not be a more epic OTP if they tried

WTF WANYAN HONGLIE, BRILLIANT PLAN TO GET YOUR ADOPTED SON BACK!

FRAME HIM AND HIS OTP FOR MURDER, SEND A GOON SQUAD TO HUNT THEM AND FIGHT THEM AND WOUND THEM, GET HIM AND HIS OTP ARRESTED AND BRUTALLY TORTURED AND THEN OFFER HIM A CHOICE - HE COMES BACK AS SONNY OR HIS OTP DIES. BRILLIANT, THAT WILL MAKE HIM LOVE YOU LIKE A FATHER!!!!

Oops, did I leave my capslock on????? CAPSLOCK OF RAAAAAAAGE.

I can't help but think it's unfair that Guo Jing and Huang Rong get to cavort around in the woods and learn martial arts from crazy old beggar dude but YK and Nianci are getting horribly tortured.

OK, I have a guilty confession. I sort of slash Ouyang Ke and Yang Kang. Come on, you got to admit it would be hot - mainly because I think either of them has chemistry with anything that moves. Though seeing that OK is here to frame YK for murder, maybe they wouldn't work out after all :)

Enjoy your 2.5 seconds of happiness, woobies.

They are framed, hunted and on the run. And YK is confronted by his own powerlessness.

And then he takes Nianci to bury his parents. Now here is a guy who knows how to show a girl a good time.

A kindly village neighbor brings food and Nianci, trusting and sweet, is about to eat it when YK (who is paranoid and smart) warns her.

And sure enough, when she can't sleep, she discovers he went to the neighbor's hut to kill him - Nianci stops him in time but clearly YK's uniformly horrible time since he left the palace is slowly making him lose any optimism or faith in human goodness he may have had - I can't really blame him either, but it's such a dark place to be. I think if it wasn't for Nianci, he'd just snap one of those days and be gone to the dark side forever, and I would totally understand. His experiences later in the week are not likely to make his issues better, either.

I think I sort of stopped breathing there for a bit. (And yes, she initiates the kiss).

And then he stops. Dammit, Yang Kang, stop being so awesome!

Though perhaps it's just as well they did not get any further because the 'kindly' neighbor did betray them (YK's bleak view of human nature proved correct) and the soldiers are here. Oh God. Could these two be any more amazingly epic? No way.

This may sound bizarre but I love that he does not argue when she says she wants to die fighting by his side but 'allows' her to walk out and fight the hordes - because that is treating her as an equal, as capable of decisions. Not to mention for someone with his (justifiable) trust issues, this must be like water in the desert - he desperately needs someone to love him like that - simply and utterly.

But, as per plan, they get captured by them capturing Nianci first and so YK loses focus.

And then they get brought in front of an official and questioned and tortured. I really love that YK draws so much strength from Nianci's quiet encouragement (e.g. not to start mentioning that he is adopted Jin prince but stick to his heritage). He needs her faith and approval more than anything - because he can never bear to disappoint her no matter the cost.

So they get taken to the dungeon for some really horrible torture. Torturer dude has a really good time whipping Nianci as YK has to watch, bound and helpless, despite YK yelling at him to be a man and hit him instead. (Side note - torture dude, if I were you, I'd ductape your head firmly to your shoulders. Something tells me if YK ever gets out, you will be needing that tape to hold it attached).

Finally bored, torture dude switches to YK and decides to really make him grovel which - ain't happening. To be fair to the hardworking public servant, he tries his best, even rubbing salt into his wounds (wtfdiediediediediedie)

OMG OH MY AMAZING OTP.

The fun and games get interrupted when YK is dragged away. He believes he is going to be executed but instead he is made unconscious and wakes up in Ouyang Ke's lush quarters. The final stage of Honglie's plan is in motion - after framing, hunting, and torturing his kid, he (through OK) offers Yang Kang a choice - come back to be the Prince of Jin to dear stepdaddy's side, or else Nianci dies and YK wouldn't even be able to die instead or beside her.