As much as I love Jing Yan and Lin Shu’s bromance, Prince Jing and Mei Chang Su’s master
As much as I love Jing Yan and Lin Shu’s bromance, Prince Jing and Mei Chang Su’s master-strategist dynamic is pretty intriguing too especially when you’re re-watching and know how close they were in the past. Prince Jing makes it clear from the very beginning that he despises strategists for the way they manipulate people and situations but he accepts Mei Chang Su’s offer on the condition that the latter does not use unscrupulous methods. By all accounts, their relationship does not require anything more intimate than discussing court matters and how to maneuver a situation. That is why when Prince Jing asks why can’t he visit Mei Chang Su when he’s ill, the latter is taken aback by this notion. In that scene, Prince Jing did have a matter to discuss but his teasing is surprising. It could be that he was impressed with Mei Chang Su’s ideas when he invited him to his mansion previously but somewhere in the back of his mind, he’s thinking that maybe he doesn’t have to be so cold and formal to his strategist. And then he starts to notice the little things in Mei Chang Su that remind him of Lin Shu.Later, it’s clear that Jing Yan cares a bit more about Mei Chang Su than he needs to. This is made even clearer when Meng Zhi becomes part of their cabal and it’s obvious how different Jing Yan treats them even though they’re both his allies and technically working for him. I like that the show gives you just enough exposition to makes you wonder just how much of Jing Yan’s attachment to Mei Chang Su is due to his seeing bits of his best friend in his strategist. And how much of Lin Shu is he projecting onto Mei Chang Su? Lin Shu’s absence is still very painful for Jing Yan and now he meets this person who tugs at his Lin Shu heartstrings.Come episode 33 when their relationship seems about to fall apart, Jing Yan’s anger is understandable but also close to unreasonable. He refuses to give Mei Chang Su the benefit of the doubt or a chance to discuss matters despite all the previous occasions where he has proven himself to be unlike other strategists. Jing Yan tells Zhan Ying that he’s disappointed hence his extreme action of wanting to sever ties to the strategist but his response is obviously someone who’s emotionally hurt that Mei Chang Su isn’t the person that he imagined or perhaps wanted to be. It takes someone like Zhan Ying, who’s not emotionally involved, to be able to consider the situation with a calmer perspective.When Mei Chang Su is arrested by the Xuan Jing bureau, Jing Yan so badly wanted to go rescue him but was restrained by Zhan Ying’s reasoning. I can totally see Jing Yan spending those three days pacing about furiously and helplessly in his room with the fear of history possibly repeating itself. What if he couldn’t help Mei Chang Su in the same way that he couldn’t help Lin Shu previously? By the time Mei Chang Su is summoned by the emperor for questioning, Jing Yan was willing to lead a rebellion to rescue him like one would for a brother-in-arms not a mere strategist. This time he’s not miles away when his best friend is in trouble. To Jing Yan, Mei Chang Su must seem like something of a second Lin Shu except of course, you see the irony in that statement. -- source link
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