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Wednesday 25 March 2015

Chinese Drama: 'Ming Yang Hua Gu' / 名扬花鼓 - Part 7

Dear Readers

Welcome back to Alice Chronicle for the recap of the Episode 32 of the Chinese drama 'Ming Yang Hua Gu'.

In episode 32, Xiao Zhu is trying to run away from Ming Yang's house before the King can meet him there.  However, just as Xiao Zhu was about to leave through the back door, Ming Yang's father comes in and asks him to follow him back inside to wait for the King's arrival.  Xiao Zhu is left with no excuse and has no choice but to meet the King.

The King is surprised to see Xiao Zhu and can't hide the smirk on his face just before standing up.

Ming Yang's father gestures Xiao Zhu to salute the King but he remains standing still in front of the King.

In fact it is the King who kneels down in front of Xiao Zhu to salute him..

Everyone in the room is surprised by the turn of events.



Xiao Zhu calmly takes the seat of the King while the latter stands next to him...

Me: Ok their monarchy / hierarchy is a bit complicated for me to understand...but what I understood here is that the King dressed in yellow robes on the left of the picture is a lower ranking king compared to Xiao Zhu who is like the direct successor to the Emperor or something like that...So Xiao Zhu is higher ranking than the king (dressed in yellow robes).
In fact, Xiao Zhu calls the King his uncle.


The King persists with Xiao Zhu that he has to return to the palace for his own safety.
Xiao Zhu refuses at first but the King manages to convince him to return back home.

Xiao Zhu speaks to Hua Gu privately before leaving.

He warns her of the possible dangers she might face in the palace but does not tell her clearly what he means by that.

Xiao Zhu tells her that many heads will fall because of her return to the palace.

He also asks her if she has ever thought about the reasons why she was driven out of the palace when she was a child in the first place.

Hua Gu does not understand him and it is already time for him to leave her to return to the palace.  Xiao Zhu gives Hua Gu one word of advice which is not to trust anything that they tell her in the palace.

However, just before leaving Xiao Zhu tells his uncle that he would like to bring Qing Er with him to the palace to help her recover her health.

Hua Gu and Ming Yang can't hide their happy smiles upon hearing the good news.

Xiao Zhu first asks Hua Gu and Ming Yang if they trust him to take Qing Er with him to the palace.

Both of them reply that they trust him and Qing Er thanks him for his kindness.


Xiao Zhu tells them that he is very thankful for the carefree days he spent with them and that he will miss those days which he will never be able to spend again.
As he leaves, just like a royalty would do, Xiao Zhu tells all of them to salute his leave.
At his words, all of them immediately drop to their knees to salute his leave.

Back to the palace, Xiao Zhu (I know he's the Emperor's successor, but I've gotten used to call him Xiao Zhu ^^'') tells his mother the Queen about his meeting with Hua Gu.  He tells her that Hua Gu is so kind that she never even questioned why her parents abandoned her when she was just a child and was even going to give her Princess identity to her best friend.

The Queen thinks back to her past memories of when she had just given birth to a baby.

The first question she asked after giving birth was whether the baby is a girl or a boy?

When the servant informed her that it was a girl, she felt sad.

Just then her older brother grabbed hold of the baby and told her that their future is doomed if people were to know that the baby is a girl.

But he has a plan to save the both of them and decides to get rid of the baby.

The queen left a bite mark on the baby girl's small chubby arm before asking her brother to take the baby and leave quickly.

Back to the present, the Queen tells her older brother to stop trying to harm Hua Gu.

However her brother replies that if Hua Gu is allowed in the palace then the both of them will be severely punished (possibly even killed).

The Queen then replies: 'If this happens then let me receive the punishment.  I cannot go on hurting a person born from my own flesh and blood.'

Her brother replies that it is too late and that their fate will not make much of difference based on her being alive or dead as she is not the only one involved in this treachery.

Meanwhile, Hua Gu is feeling gloomy after thinking back to what Xiao Zhu told her.

Worried about her, Ming Yang goes to see Hua Gu to ask her what Xiao Zhu told her that is weighing on her mind right now.

Hua Gu tells Ming Yang that before she only wished to see her mother and spend time with her like a daughter would.

But now, Xiao Zhu told her that her return to the palace would make her mother suffer along with many innocent people.

Ming Yang tells her that what happens within the palace walls is not as simple as she thought.

In fact, it is much more complicated and messed up than she thought.

Finally Ming Yang tells Hua Gu about a rumor going on the palace i.e. the Queen had given birth to a girl but in order to attain the position of  the queen, she switched the baby girl with a baby boy.

Hua Gu realizes that the baby boy is Xiao Zhu in this case.

Ming Yang tells Hua Gu that the reason why Xiao Zhu left the palace was probably because he did not want to die.
Also, the reason why there are assassins after Hua Gu is because someone from the palace wants her dead so that she cannot return to the palace to stir up trouble.


Hua Gu refuses to believe that her own mother would try to get rid of her and even if she did, Hua Gu does not want to get revenge on her or harm her.

Ming Yang tells Hua Gu that it is too late to step back now and that there is someone in the palace who wants her dead (he is surely referring to her uncle - the queen's brother).

Hua Gu still refuses to do anything to hurt her mother.



Hua Gu tells Ming Yang that she can refuse to return to the palace and to just live freely.  This way the sin committed by her mother will not be revealed and she will remain safe.

Me: Hum It's only now that I'm starting to understand how complicated and twisted the story plot is...not bad...the base of the story is quite original and interesting now that I think about it

However, Ming Yang tells Hua Gu that the King will not let her or her mother go so easily as he will insist on continuing the investigation to bring out the truth and punish her mother for her mistake.

Hua Gu tells Ming Yang that the only thing she wanted was to spend time with her family but now such a simple wish has turned into such a complicated situation.

Hua Gu asks Ming Yang to allow her to meet her mother before she enters the palace.
Ming Yang nods as he agrees to help her with this.

The next day, Hua Gu meets her mother for the first time at a temple.  The latter is not aware that she is Hua Gu.

Hua Gu starts the conversation with her by asking if she came to wish for peace in her family.

The Queen just tells Hua Gu that she seems to have a strong belief in the God of this temple.
She also asks Hua Gu what her wish to the God was.

Hua Gu replies that she wished that she can meet her family soon.

The Queen asks Hua Gu how come she was separated from her family when she looks so young.

Hua Gu replies that she was separated from her family at a very young age and does not know what her parents look like.
The Queen shakes her head sadly and tells Hua Gu that she is such a pitiful child.
She also asks Hua Gu how she managed to live so many years.
Hua Gu tells her that she lived with a theatrical troop and traveled all around the place with them.
The Queen still unsuspecting that Hua Gu is her daughter, asks her if it was hard living with the troop.
Hua Gu tells her that if she did not perform well then she would receive a beating, if she was sick, she could only endure it until she recovered and when there were festivals she had to perform to earn money for the troop.

The Queen tells Hua Gu that her own daughter must have lived the same difficult life as her.

The Queen adds that she has asked the God to allow her to meet her daughter soon and no matter what price she has to pay, she hopes that her daughter can live a happy & peaceful life.

Hua Gu then asks the Queen why she abandoned her daughter.

The Queen replies that it is a mistake which she made in the past but it's too late for her to regret it now.

She also tells Hua Gu that she left a bite mark on her daughter's arm so that when she grows up and sees the mark, she will always hate her mother.
The Queen says that if she had the chance to change the past, she would not commit the same mistake again.

The Queen then kneels down to bow & beg to the God to allow her to meet her daughter.

Hua Gu helps the Queen stand up again and tells her that seeing how sincere she is, the Gods will surely protect her.

The Queen then asks Hua Gu if she were in her daughter's position would she hate this kind of unscrupulous mother.

Hua Gu does not answer but runs out of the temple.

The Queen follows her outside and apologizes to her for asking her such a thing.


Hua Gu tells the Queen that she is fine and that she just didn't want to be seen in her highly emotional state.

The Queen gifts one of her hair pins to Hua Gu while telling her that she enjoyed chatting with her and felt like she was talking to her own daughter.

The Queen also adds that she cannot return back what she owes her daughter but by offering this hair pin to Hua Gu, her heart can feel a little better.

The Queen fixes the hair pin in Hua Gu's hair and cups her face gently in both hands then tells her that she is such a kind and pretty girl.


Hua Gu feels teary after hearing the Queen's words and turns away to hide her tears.
Realizing that the Queen is confused by her reaction, Hua Gu makes up the excuse that she is just feeling hungry because she did not eat in the morning.

Hua Gu gives the Queen some wild fruits to eat.  The Queen hesitates to eat the fruit at first but Hua Gu convinces her that it tastes very good.  The Queen is delighted by the taste of the fruit after taking one bite.  Hua Gu tells her that it is in fact not the food that tastes good but the relationship between people can make the food taste good.
Hua Gu adds that she is sure that the food her mother would prepare is the world's most delicious food.

Xiao Zhu arrives acting like he does not know Hua Gu and tells his mother the Queen that it is time to return back home.
Just as Xiao Zhu and the Queen have turned their backs to leave, Hua Gu can't help but call out the word 'mother'.
This episode ends with the two of them turning back to look at Hua Gu in shock.

In the next episode i.e. episode 33,

After Hua Gu called for her mother, the Queen turned around in surprise to approach her and check if she has heard correctly.

But Hua Gu just tells the Queen that she is a caring mother so she is certain that her daughter will not hold a grudge against her.

Hua Gu tells her not to feel sad because of this issue.

The Queen finally smiles at Hua Gu and thanks her for caring about her.


The Queen then turned around to leave while being accompanied by Xiao Zhu.

After the Queen left, Ming Yang comes to see if Hua Gu is alright.

Hua Gu can't hold back her tears anymore and walks towards Ming Yang to hug him for comfort.

Ming Yang tells Hua Gu not to cry because she finally made her wish come true after meeting her mother.

(Me: That was such a short lived happiness though...sadly for Hua Gu, she cannot reunite with her mother again... :(

Ming Yang tells Hua Gu to cheer up but the latter can only keep on crying from her heartache.

Ok now me move on to the palace, where Xiao Zhu is having a walk with the Emperor who is in fact his grandfather.

The Emperor tells Xiao Zhu that he felt lonely when he was not in the palace for a few days.

Xiao Zhu feels happy hearing this and replies that he will become a good man to make his grandfather proud of him.

They start playing a board game which is interrupted by a messenger who announces the


arrival of the King (who is in fact the grandfather's son and also Xiao Zhu's uncle).

Sitting on his throne, the Emperor meets his son (the King) accompanied by Ming Yang.  The Queen (Hua Gu's mother, Xiao Zhu and the Queen's older brother are also present in the hall.

The Emperor asks his son if he has found the Princess.

The King replies that they have successfully found the Princess who is now waiting outside.

The Kind nods with satisfaction and asks them to bring the Princess inside.


Ming Yang goes outside the room to get Hua Gu to come inside.

Hua Gu kneels down to bow at the Emperor.

The latter asks her to lift her head so that he an see her face clearly.

(Me: I wonder if this is all just a dream that Xiao Zhu is having...??)

The Emperor asks Hua Gu how does she know she is the Princess.


Hua Gu answers that she only knows that just like the Princess she is called Hua Gu and that she was brought up in a theatrical troop.

The King assures the Emperor that Hua Gu is the Princess.

The Emperor then asks the King: 'In this case, do you mean that the child that the Queen gave birth to at that time was not the Prince Yu Wen (i.e. Xiao Zhu) but was this girl Hua Gu standing in front of me?'

(Me: The situation is very risky right now...it's either the king who will get punished if he cannot prove his statement or the Queen, Xiao Zhu and the Queen's brother for having hidden the truth to the Emperor for so long.)

The Emperor asks the King what evidence he has to prove that Hua Gu is really the Princess.

The King replies that apart from the court lady Yu who has died, he does not have any other witness to prove Hua Gu's identity.

The King tells the Emperor that Hua Gu had in possession the jewel of a royalty i.e. the Queen's jewel since she was a child.  This means that the Queen threw away a child of her own flesh to adopt a boy from another family.

The Emperor asks the Queen if what the King (probably her brother-in-law) said is the truth.

Just then, Hua Gu falls onto her knees to tell the King that it is all her plan and that the Queen is not concerned about this.

Upon hearing Hua Gu's words, Ming Yang is shocked while the King tells her not to say any more words.

(Me: I know Hua Gu is trying to save her mother, but in doing so she might be stirring up other troubles... -___-  she might even risks her life and that of others by doing this or she might be sent to prison...because lying to the Emperor might a big crime at that time...let's see what'll happen...)

Hua Gu continues by saying that she lived a life of poverty in the theatrical group so she used this opportunity to disguise herself as the Princess to escape that life.
The King tells the Emperor that Hua Gu is lying but the latter persists that she is telling the truth.
The Emperor then asks Hua Gu why she is confessing all this only now.
Hua Gu replies that it is only after meeting the Emperor that she realized it was wrong and decided to confess.  The Emperor demands harshly Hua Gu: 'Aren't you scared to die?!'

The Queen finally speaks up and asks the Emperor for forgiveness.

She admits that she asked a court lady to take the baby girl to a theatrical troop at that time.

The Emperor is outraged and exclaims: 'How dare you commit such an awful deed?!'

The Queen replies that she recognizes the girl in front of her as the daughter she abandoned years ago.

Hua Gu exclaims that she is not her daughter and tells the Queen that she does not have to defend her.  The Emperor asks for silence and summarizes the discussion so far whereby the Queen is saying that Hua Gu is of royal blood while Hua Gu will not admit it.

The Emperor asks again which of them is tricking him.

The Queen answers that she would not dare trick him and states that at the time she abandoned her child, she left a bite mark on her arm so Hua Gu should still have it on her arm.

The Emperor asks Hua Gu to lift her sleeves to show everybody her arm.

Just before doing so Hua Gu tells Ming Yang who has kneeling next to her all this time that she is sorry.

Hua Gu finally lifts her arm with her sleeves lowered but there is no bite mark on it.  The Queen exclaims in surprise: 'How come the bite mark disappeared!?'

The Emperor replies that he had heard of the rumor of the baby which was abandoned long time ago but now he knows it is not true thus Hua Gu should suffer death.

The Emperor calls the guards to take Hua Gu away.  Both Ming Yang and Hua Gu can't hide their shocked expressions.

Me: Hum this time Hua Gu is playing with fire with her lies and she is going to suffer severe punishment for it... when will she learn to stop creating such reckless and dumb situations...

Later Ming Yang requests to meet the Emperor by the latter tells the messenger to inform him that he is feeling tired and will meet him another day.


After learning about what happened, Qing Er tells Ming Yang that Hua Gu is really the Princess because on her left arm there really was
a deep bite mark.

Qing Er affirms that she saw the bite mark when she went to the bathhouse with Hua Gu.

Ming Yang replies that Hua Gu purposely got rid of the bite mark in order to save her mother.

(Me: Well too bad they didn't have DNA tests at that time to check if Hua Gu and the Queen's DNA matched...)

Ming Yang tells Qing Er that he regrets bringing Hua Gu to the Palace.
Qing Er asks Ming Yang why he doesn't speak to the Emperor but Ming Yang tells her that the Emperor refuses to meet him.
Qing Er asks Xiao Zhu for help but the latter replies that it is too difficult for him.
She accuses him of not saying anything because he'll be the one to die instead of Hua Gu if he says the truth.
Qing Er tells Xiao Zhu angrily: 'If the Emperor knows that you are his fake grandson then why would he send Hua Gu to be killed.'
Qing Er blames Xiao Zhu for what is happening to Hua Gu.
Ming Yang asks her to calm down and tells her that it is not Xiao Zhu's fault.

Meanwhile, the Queen goes to visit Hua Gu in the prison.

The Queen turns Hua Gu's arm to take a look at it to find that the skin has been peeled off where the bite mark was supposed to be.

The Queen asks her why she did such a stupid thing then starts putting ointment and bandaging the wound.

The Queen cries while apologizing to Hua Gu for making her live through so many hardships.


Hua Gu replies that the Queen is not to be blamed for her own misfortunes and that since she is not her daughter, she does not have to take any responsibility for her.
The Queen blames herself for her weakness in having made such a bad decision which is now having a big repercussion.
Hua Gu tells her that she is sure that her daughter does not blame her at all.
The Queen tells Hua Gu that she cannot die and that the person who should die is herself for her wrongdoing.
Hua Gu replies with a smile that by giving her life she will be able to save many other unlucky people.

Later, the Queen goes to meet the Emperor to tell him that Hua Gu is refusing to admit that she is the Princess because she wants to protect her mother.

The Emperor then asks her if she is really willing to die to protect Hua Gu.  The Queen replies that she is not afraid of death and even tries to kill herself in front of the Emperor by taking off one of her hair pins to stab herself.  Fortunately the Emperor stops her from causing even more trouble and exclaims that he is the one to decide if he wants her alive or dead.

Moving back to Hua Gu, Ming Yang comes to visit her in the prison cell.

He came to dress her wound too, but Hua Gu shows him that her arm has already been bandaged.

Ming Yang asks her if it is the Queen who bandaged it and Hua Gu nods.

Hua Gu tells Ming Yang that she hopes her understands her decision and that she is really sorry.

Hua Gu hugs him and he hugs her back.
Ming Yang tells Hua Gu that no matter what decision she makes, he will be by her side to support her and he does not want to hear her say that she is sorry.

Ming Yang adds that everybody will die one day but only smart people will live everyday of their lives happily.

He then asks Hua Gu if she is one of those smart people.  Hua Gu nods and tells him although she doesn't have many days left, she'll live every remaining days happily so that she does not waste any of them.

With teary eyes and a slight smile, Ming Yang tells her that when she smiles she looks really pretty and makes his heart feel comfortable.  He also brought her favorite food for her to eat.

Ming Yang asks her to smile at him before eating.
Hua Gu smiles brightly and tells him that no matter what the situation is like, she will smile for him.

This episode ends on a somehow sad note, with Hua Gu's imprisonment and nearing death sentence.

Alright, bye for now.

Thank you for reading and see you with the next recap for the Episode 34 of 'Ming Yang Hua Gu'.

See you


Alice

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