Fall in Love Episode 36 (Ending) Recap
> Fall in Love Recap
With Xu Guangyao formally receiving military authority from Xu Bojun, the battle for Jiangcheng intensified. Liu Fu's forces, having been unexpectedly caught off guard by Chen Shaowu's soldiers, found themselves pinned down. Frustrated by this stalemate, Liu Fu summoned Chen Shaowu's widow. He explained that Tan Xuanlin, who had publicly killed her husband, was now targeting all their old comrades in Jiangcheng, and desperately pleaded for her help.
Chen Shaowu's widow, seeking an opportunity for revenge against Tan Xuanlin for destroying her family, agreed to intervene. Her presence led to Chen Shaowu's troops ceasing fire and subsequently shifting their allegiance to Tan Xuanlin's side. This allowed Liu Fu's men to continue their assault on Tan Xuanlin's position. Though a machine gun post remained at the bell tower, Tan Xuanlin's forces were greatly outnumbered and outgunned, leading to fears that their defensive line would soon collapse.
Tan Xuanlin, informed that they had fewer than five hundred men remaining and only three heavy machine guns from the emptied armory, quickly formulated a new strategy. He planned to establish two machine gun positions at the first-floor entrance and a mobile machine gun at the second-floor windows, creating a devastating crossfire. His men would be divided into three defensive lines: the first directly at the entrance, with two ambush points on the second-floor roof.
One hundred men would be stationed on either side of the main entrance to prevent any breach, while the rest would hide in the back courtyard's four wings, ready to trap any enemy who dared to enter. Tan Xuanlin declared their army had faced and overcome many battles against overwhelming odds. He vowed to fight to the last man, ensuring Liu Fu would not live to see the dawn.
The conflict erupted into a fierce battle, with bright explosions and choking smoke filling Jiangcheng. Having formally passed all military authority in Yuecheng to Xu Guangyao and entrusted his son to his officers, Xu Bojun appeared fatigued. He immediately instructed a subordinate to keep a close watch on Mu Wanqing, planning to use her life to prevent Xu Guangyao from intervening if he attempted to save Tan Xuanlin in Jiangcheng.
Just as Xu Bojun had anticipated, Xu Guangyao, now in command, swiftly deployed a division from Yuecheng to Jiangcheng, stating his intention to eliminate Liu Fu, who was disrupting his father's peace talks with the Revolutionary Army. Xu Guangyao declared this move would demonstrate their sincerity for peace, and he ordered his troops to reach Jiangcheng by daybreak.
While Xu Guangyao's adjutant prepared the troops for departure, Xu Yuan confronted Mu Wanqing, accusing her of returning to help Tan Xuanlin secure reinforcements. Xu Yuan then held Wanqing at gunpoint. When Xu Guangyao arrived, he asserted that his father had given him military authority and the right to act as he saw fit.
Xu Yuan countered that while Xu Bojun had agreed to peace talks, he had never agreed to spare Tan Xuanlin, accusing Xu Guangyao of colluding with an enemy who had caused their father so much damage. He vehemently expressed his unwavering loyalty to Xu Bojun, who had saved his life on the battlefield and raised him, condemning Xu Guangyao as a treacherous and ungrateful son.
Xu Guangyao then revealed the true story of Xu Yuan's origins, a detail recorded in his own mother's diary. During the Shandong uprisings in the 22nd year of the Guangxu reign, Xu Bojun, then a patrol battalion commander, had led his troops to suppress the rebels. In the process, he killed a rebel couple who were carrying a baby. The infant, only a few months old, was left behind.
Xu Bojun approached the baby, intending to use its swaddling clothes to wipe the blood from his bayonet. However, as he bent down, a supposedly dead rebel soldier fired an arrow at him. That very act of bending saved Xu Bojun's life, as the arrow missed. Believing the baby brought him good luck, he took the infant home and raised him as his own.
Xu Yuan was utterly devastated by this truth, realizing that his lifelong loyalty had been built on a lie. In his profound despair, he allowed Mu Wanqing and Xu Guangyao to leave, then tragically took his own life. Mu Wanqing entered Xu Bojun's room to inform him of Xu Yuan's tragic death and confront him with a long list of his misdeeds.
She accused him of murdering her brother, framing Military Governor Luo, tricking her own father into supplying his army, and using Mu Wanting to manipulate Min Dacheng into committing atrocities. She further recounted how he tried to kill Tan Xuanlin when he investigated her brother's case, which ultimately led to her father's death, and even Miss Gu's demise at his hands. Xu Bojun, enraged, attempted to shoot Wanqing, but his hand failed him.
She easily disarmed him, opened the window, and forced him to witness Xu Guangyao in the courtyard, valiantly preparing his troops for their march to Jiangcheng. Xu Guangyao was addressing his soldiers, declaring that he would lead them on a new path toward freedom, self-independence, and national prosperity, and that the true ownership of the land lay in the hearts of the people.
Overwhelmed by the sight of his son embracing these ideals and the weight of Wanqing's accusations, Xu Bojun coughed up blood and collapsed, passing away. Meanwhile, Liu Fu, frustrated by his inability to breach the garrison despite their numerical advantage, ordered his men to infiltrate Tan Xuanlin's headquarters by wearing captured Tan Army uniforms.
He also commanded that all cannons usually targeting the Revolutionary Army along the river be brought to bear on the garrison, vowing to see if Tan Xuanlin's machine guns could withstand his artillery. Inside the besieged garrison, Tan Xuanlin quickly identified the infiltrators by their distinct fur boots. As the relentless cannon bombardment began, Tan Si urged Tan Xuanlin to retreat.
Tan Si was gravely injured while protecting Tan Xuanlin during the intense shelling, and though Tan Xuanlin desperately tried to carry him to safety, Tan Si gradually succumbed to his wounds. Despite Tan Xuanlin's resourcefulness, his dwindling forces were overwhelmed. He and Lao Fu, who tended to Tan Xuanlin's inflamed wound amidst the chaos, led the remaining men in a desperate retreat towards the complex terrain of the old city, hoping to use its layout to their advantage.
Liu Fu, however, ordered the old city to be razed to the ground if necessary, determined to eliminate Tan Xuanlin. Despite their desperate struggle, Tan Xuanlin and his remaining men were ultimately encircled by Liu Fu. Liu Fu furiously revealed his motive for relentlessly pursuing Tan Xuanlin: revenge for his only son, whom Tan Xuanlin's father had executed for embezzling military funds.
Liu Fu shockingly admitted that he had been the one to leak Tan Xuanlin's father's marching route to Xu Bojun, leading to his death, and vowed to end the Tan family line that day. Enraged, Tan Xuanlin brandished his knife as Liu Fu raised his gun. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and Liu Fu fell. Mu Wanqing and Xu Guangyao had arrived just in time, turning the tide of the battle.
Following the intense conflict, Tan Xuanlin formally joined the Revolutionary Army, welcomed by Mr. Liao, who had introduced him to this path, and by Marshal Shaojun, a peace envoy sent by Military Governor Pei. Shaojun, accompanied by his sister Sangyu, whom Tan Xuanlin had come to cherish, greeted Tan Xuanlin warmly. Another commander, Wu, also joined Tan Xuanlin, abandoning his post as Shanghai Defense Commander to follow him. With the battle concluded and new alliances forged, an uncertain future awaited them all.
