Siege in Fog Episode 2 Recap
> Siege in Fog Recap
Yi Liankai initially believed Qin Sang's visit to Zhishan was out of self-interest and quickly rejected her request, leading to an acrimonious parting. Later, when Qin Sang relayed this outcome to Deng Yulin, Deng Yulin expressed anger at Yi Liankai's refusal. To Deng Yulin's surprise, Qin Sang defended Yi Liankai, suggesting he had his own complex reasons.
Qin Sang explained that Yi Liankai’s clever strategy to lift the Zhishan siege made her realize he was more capable than she had previously thought. Deng Yulin remained skeptical, attributing Yi Liankai's success to luck, noting that if the wind had shifted, they all could have perished. Despite her doubts, Deng Yulin still needed Yi Liankai's help to rescue her cousin and resolved to beg him herself if Qin Sang couldn't secure his assistance.
Qin Sang, however, insisted she would try again to avoid Deng Yulin resenting her. Meanwhile, Yi Liankai's successful defense of Zhishan raised suspicions with Commander Yao Jingren, a close subordinate of Commander Li Chongnian, who was stationed on the border. Yao Jingren, feigning cordiality, praised Yi Liankai for his "clever tactics" in repelling the enemy.
Yi Liankai modestly dismissed the praise, attributing his success to Murong Feng's cowardice and lack of strategic thinking, stating he only started a fire, and Murong Feng was too afraid to advance further. Yao Jingren continued to flatter Yi Liankai, declaring him a "late achiever" who would soon be renowned across Jiangzuo. He then revealed that Commander Li had sent his personal guards to congratulate Yi Liankai and invite him to Yizhou for a visit.
Just as Yi Liankai was processing this, Qin Sang arrived accompanied by Gao Shaoxuan, the Governor-General's son. Yao Jingren then involved Qin Sang by asking her about the incident, but Yi Liankai quickly interjected, asserting Qin Sang knew nothing of military matters. Qin Sang, however, bravely spoke up, defending Yi Liankai's actions and subtly threatening Yao Jingren by highlighting the severe consequences if anything were to happen to a high-ranking officer on Zhishan.
Yao Jingren grew angry, dismissing her words as a woman's interference. Yao Jingren then proposed a challenge: a shooting contest where one person hits a ball and the other shoots, with the first to hit winning. Yi Liankai, realizing he couldn't refuse, accepted. However, before the competition could begin, Aide-de-Camp Song, sent by Yi Lianshen, arrived. Song declared he was under Yi Lianshen's orders to escort Yi Liankai safely back to Fuyuan.
Seeing the intervention, Yao Jingren reluctantly backed down, bidding Yi Liankai farewell. After Yao Jingren departed, Yi Liankai instructed Aide-de-Camp Song to familiarize himself with the area and organize his hunting rifles, subtly acknowledging Song's marksmanship. Yi Liankai then turned to Gao Shaoxuan, requesting his help to release an old friend, Pan Jianchi, who had been mistakenly imprisoned as a member of the Tian Meng Association.
He explained that his father, Yi Jipei, was strict about such matters, and asked Gao Shaoxuan to intervene with his father, the Governor-General, to avoid suspicion. Gao Shaoxuan readily agreed to the seemingly minor request. Later that evening, Qin Sang found Yi Liankai in his study, staring at a scroll with his teacher Fan Zhiheng’s calligraphy.
She challenged him, asking why he kept the painting if he lacked the courage to fulfill his teacher's dying wish, suggesting he might as well burn it for light. Yi Liankai curtly told her to mind her own business, claiming that avenging his teacher was a matter for his father and second brother, not him. Qin Sang scoffed, pointing out that he even outsourced the task of rescuing Pan Jianchi to Gao Shaoxuan.
She questioned what he was truly afraid of and accused him of being unambitious, suggesting Fan Zhiheng would regret giving him the scroll. Yi Liankai countered that he wasn't afraid, but merely respected his second brother, Yi Lianshen, who aimed to eliminate the Tian Meng Association, and he could not risk offending him by directly assisting Qin Sang in such a matter. Qin Sang cynically asked if he was afraid of upsetting others.
As they spoke, Yi Liankai noticed Qin Sang was wearing the perfume he had given her. He playfully asked if she was trying to charm him. Qin Sang, slightly embarrassed, stated that as his wife, she simply didn't want him to suppress his talents. She reminded him that Fan Zhiheng had inscribed the words "Great Marshal's Mansion" on the scroll as a dying wish for him, and asked if his reluctance to achieve it stemmed from fear or inability.
Meanwhile, Yi Jipei was informed that Yi Lianshen had diverted troops to Zhishan while engaged in a fierce battle with Li Chongnian's forces. He pondered whether Yi Lianshen was genuinely driven by a thirst for revenge or merely seeking to display the Yi family's fraternal bond, finding either reason foolish. Yi Jipei confided in Yi Lianyi, expressing frustration that two of his three sons caused him such worry.
He also had his car repeatedly circle Fuyuan, hoping to draw out anyone planning to assassinate him, but the city remained quiet. He worried if this silence was a blessing or a harbinger of something worse, noting that if they weren't directly targeting him, it implied a much larger scheme at play.
Yi Lianyi suggested he, as a "useless" man injured years ago, could serve as a shield, but Yi Jipei lamented that if Yi Lianyi hadn't been hurt, he wouldn't have to bear such burdens in his old age. Later, Yi Jipei staged an assassination attempt on himself by shooting his own driver, fabricating a scenario of danger. At Changye Prison, Gao Shaoxuan visited his father, Governor-General Gao, and secured Pan Jianchi's release.
Pan Jianchi, upon learning Yi Liankai was his rescuer, asked Gao Shaoxuan to take him to Yi Liankai. When they met, Yi Liankai made a jest about Pan Jianchi's good looks. Yi Liankai then pressed Pan Jianchi on why he chose to see him before his cousin, Deng Yulin. Pan Jianchi revealed his strategic insight, stating that Zhishan was a place of hidden talents, not merely amusement.
He analyzed the geopolitical landscape: the powerful Murong family in the north, Jiang Shuangxi's ambition in the northwest, and the encroaching Japanese in the northeast. He declared that while Yi Jipei possessed the tiger's heart and Yi Lianshen the tiger's guts, the true "eye of the tiger" for the Yi family, which had long dominated Jiangzuo, was Yi Liankai. Pan Jianchi's bold assessment angered Yi Liankai, who immediately pulled out a pistol and aimed it at him.
Just then, Qin Sang and Deng Yulin arrived. Qin Sang froze, recognizing Pan Jianchi; memories of him, then known as Li Wangping, saving her during a student protest flooded her mind. Their eyes met, filled with unspoken history. Yi Liankai, noticing their intense connection, deliberately put his arm around Qin Sang and introduced her to Pan Jianchi as his wife, making a possessive declaration.
Deng Yulin, sensing the tension, interjected, subtly berating Pan Jianchi and urging him to leave Zhishan, but Yi Liankai, with a significant glance, invited Pan Jianchi to join him hunting the next day, to which Pan Jianchi replied with caution about stray bullets. Concurrently, Deng Yulin angrily confronted Pan Jianchi in his room, addressing him by his old name, Li Wangping, and accusing him of manipulating the situation.
She insisted he leave Jiangzuo immediately and not appear before Qin Sang again, warning him against using this opportunity to get close to Yi Liankai. She reminded him that it was Yi Liankai who married Qin Sang despite her family's downfall and public mockery, unlike Pan Jianchi who, as soon as he heard rumors, "escaped like a rat."
Pan Jianchi, in turn, swore that he would not harm Qin Sang or Yi Liankai, provided Qin Sang chose to be with Yi Liankai. Lost in these painful memories, Qin Sang forgot the running water in the bathtub, which soon overflowed. Yi Liankai, returning to the villa, saw the water seeping from under the bathroom door. Alarmed, he loudly knocked and called her name. When she didn't respond, he grew frantic, ready to break the door down.
Just as he was about to, Qin Sang opened it, her face devoid of emotion. Seeing her detached state, Yi Liankai, consumed by worry and anger, harshly scolded her. Qin Sang simply asked, "Are you finished?" before turning away. Late that night, Yi Liankai stood in his study, gazing at his teacher Fan Zhiheng's scroll. He spoke aloud of his guilt that the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, yet his teacher's remains were still in enemy territory.
He acknowledged that while outsiders might see him as a frivolous spendthrift, his actions were part of Fan Zhiheng's strategic plan to conceal his true abilities, serving as a protective shield. He confessed his lack of desire to follow in his father's footsteps but admitted he had to accept his destiny. Yi Liankai vowed that since this path was his teacher's dying wish, he would follow it, even if it meant facing bloody struggles. Unknown to Yi Liankai, Qin Sang was listening from just outside the study door, having overheard his entire confession.
