Siege in Fog Episode 40 Recap
> Siege in Fog Recap
On a train, Min Hongyu and Zhang Linzhi approached Yi Liankai's compartment. Min Hongyu confidently told Yi Liankai that she had secured a private room for thirteen days in Qianping as soon as she arrived, ensuring their immediate departure once they were found. She sent Zhang Linzhi out to fetch a bottle of red wine for Yi Liankai. Just then, Qin Sang arrived at the compartment and saw Min Hongyu collapsing into Yi Liankai's arms, crying.
Qin Sang's anger flared, but she held her composure. A soldier's address to Min Hongyu as "Third Mistress" finally provoked Zhu Ma, who angrily reprimanded him. Suddenly, Yi Liankai stood up and, in front of Zhang Linzhi, slapped Qin Sang fiercely. After berating her, he deliberately embraced Min Hongyu and left with her. Only then did Zhang Linzhi realize Yi Liankai had vanished. Qin Sang was later returned to the Yi family mansion, where Yi Lianshen greeted her.
He noted her return, but inquired why Yi Liankai was not with her. Qin Sang, instead of answering, stated her intention to greet her father first. Yi Lianshen calmly told her not to rush, then instructed Zhang Linzhi to escort Qin Sang to her room to rest.
Shortly after Qin Sang departed, Zhang Xikun confronted Zhang Linzhi, slapping him across the face and reprimanding him as "useless" for allowing Yi Liankai to escape, adding that he shouldn't have trusted Min Hongyu in the first place. Zhang Linzhi defensively explained that Min Hongyu had been constantly with Yi Liankai since their arrival in Qianping, and given her known association with Yi Lianshen, he hadn't suspected any deceit.
Yi Lianshen then declared that it was not just Min Hongyu, but all women in the world who could not be trusted. Qin Sang was led by soldiers into a room, which was then locked. Inside, she discovered First Mistress Murong Qin and the other women of the family confined. Confused, Qin Sang asked what had happened. Murong Qin explained that a significant event had unfolded.
She recounted a recent family dinner where Yi Lianshen had provoked Yi Jipei over Min Hongyu, culminating in him angrily throwing his bowl and leaving the table. Yi Jipei furiously called his son back, delivered a harsh slap, and disowned him, declaring he had no such unfilial son. Fan Yanyun attempted to console Yi Lianshen, but he pushed her hand away. Later, Yi Jipei invited high-ranking military officers to the mansion for dinner.
He publicly announced that, in his capacity as Jiangzuo Inspector, he was stripping Yi Lianshen of all his military duties. As he spoke, Yi Lianshen dramatically burst in with his troops, coldly declaring to his father that he was there to revolt. Yi Jipei laughed incredulously, asking what he was revolting against. Yi Lianshen retorted that he was revolting against Yi Jipei himself. At that moment, soldiers aimed their rifles at Yi Jipei, who, enraged, collapsed from a stroke.
Following this, Yi Lianshen placed all members of the Yi family under house arrest. Murong Qin lamented the situation, worried for Yi Liankai and distressed that Yi Lianshen had also separately confined Yi Lianyi, who had a leg condition. Yi Lianshen then summoned Min Hongyu. In front of the incapacitated Yi Jipei, he informed her that Yi Liankai and Qin Sang had arrived in Qianping and requested her assistance in bringing them home with her men.
Min Hongyu agreed to help, but expressed curiosity about Yi Lianshen's insistence on Yi Liankai's return. Yi Lianshen glanced at his father and said that Yi Jipei would worry if Yi Liankai did not come back. In another part of the mansion, Fan Yanyun, also confined, taunted Yi Lianshen through the door, ridiculing him for his domestic tyranny.
She questioned his motives for imprisoning his own family, including the elderly and the vulnerable, urging him to take up arms and fight on the battlefield against true enemies instead of displaying his authority at home. Overcome with tears, she confessed her regret at misjudging him and acknowledged her despair, even admitting uncertainty about the father of her unborn child. She defiantly told him to lock her up as well.
Yi Lianshen remained silent, only quietly stating that he would grant her wish if it was what she desired. Meanwhile, on a street, Min Hongyu noted Yi Liankai's worried expression and reassured him that Qin Sang was likely home safely. She then reflected on her own life, admitting she knew no truly good people, suggesting Yi Liankai was merely "a good one among all the bad people."
Min Hongyu expressed her greatest fear was not death, but a life worse than death, and asked Yi Liankai to give her a swift end should she ever find herself in such a predicament. He agreed. Back at the Yi mansion, the confined women complained about the meager and inedible food.
When Xiao Rong suddenly developed a high fever, the Sixth Mistress frantically called out to the guards to summon a doctor, reminding them that Xiao Rong was Yi Lianshen's sister. Doctor Sun eventually arrived and diagnosed Xiao Rong with a simple cold, prescribing medicine. Desperate, Qin Sang and Murong Qin pleaded with Doctor Sun to help them escape. Qin Sang donned a soldier's uniform while Murong Qin dressed in Doctor Sun's clothes.
Their attempt was swiftly thwarted by Yi Lianshen and his advisor, Pan Jianchi. Qin Sang confronted Yi Lianshen, pointing a gun at him and demanding to see Yi Jipei. Yi Lianshen calmly mocked her gunmanship, stating he would not flinch. He dismissed her threats, reminding her that Yi Jipei was ill and would see no one. Yi Lianshen ordered them returned to their room, then harshly punished the guard responsible for their attempted escape.
He warned Qin Sang to wait for Yi Liankai's return without further schemes. Zhang Linzhi later reported to Yi Lianshen that despite extensive defenses and wanted posters, Min Hongyu and Yi Liankai remained at large. Pan Jianchi suggested that Yi Liankai was unlikely to seek refuge with Li Chongnian due to his existing animosity with Fu Rongcai.
Yi Lianshen, gazing at Yi Liankai's picture on a wanted poster, mused on how his once familiar brother now seemed like a stranger, lamenting their fractured relationship. Elsewhere, Yi Liankai and Min Hongyu were at a street food stall, enjoying oily tofu. Min Hongyu reminisced about her childhood dream of owning a tofu stall and living a simple, happy life. Yi Liankai inquired why she dedicated herself to Li Chongnian.
Min Hongyu explained that Li Chongnian had taught her all her skills, and without him, she would have nothing. Yi Liankai promised her an oily tofu stall if he ever regained control of Jiangzuo, cautioning her that holding onto the past would prevent her from finding happiness. In his study, Yi Lianshen pondered over an old photograph of Yi Jipei and Yi Shoucheng. He began to burn it but hesitated, unable to destroy the image completely.
He then summoned Qin Sang to the dining room. Qin Sang questioned his urgency, pointing out that Yi Jipei highly favored him, and the Yi family would eventually be his. Yi Lianshen countered that if he did not act, Yi Liankai would utterly consume him. He then accused Yi Liankai and Fu Rongcai of being responsible for Qin Sang's mother's death. Qin Sang calmly stated she was aware.
Yi Lianshen, puzzled, questioned why she still trusted Yi Liankai, who was effectively half her mother's killer. Qin Sang saw through his attempt to create division, reminding him that as an expectant father, he should be wary of others condemning his child's father as unfaithful and unfilial. His expression darkened, and he ordered her to be sent back to her room. Yi Liankai and Min Hongyu subsequently returned to Yizhou. Li Chongnian expressed surprise at Yi Liankai's unexpected reappearance.
Yi Liankai confessed that he had been held hostage in Qianping and had to exert considerable effort to escape back to Yizhou. Fu Rongcai immediately proposed forming an alliance with Yi Lianshen and handing over Yi Liankai as a gesture of goodwill. Yi Liankai merely laughed, declaring his intention to borrow Li Chongnian's army to fight Yi Lianshen. He argued that Yi Lianshen, being ambitious, would undoubtedly turn against Li Chongnian after consolidating power.
He further suggested that their internal struggle would weaken the Yi family, allowing Li Chongnian to reap the benefits. Fu Rongcai challenged Yi Liankai's confidence in defeating Yi Lianshen, warning that if Li Chongnian lent his troops and Yi Liankai lost, it would provide Yi Lianshen with a pretext to attack Yizhou. Even if Yi Liankai won, Fu Rongcai feared intervention from Murong Chen and Gao Peide, who might help Yi Lianshen secure Jiangzuo.
Yi Liankai confidently asserted that Gao Peide would not intervene, as he had sent Gao Peide's son, Gao Shaoxuan, to Yizhou under the guise of Qin Sang's illness, effectively holding him hostage. Li Chongnian acknowledged Min Hongyu's accurate assessment of Yi Liankai as a "dragon among men." Yi Liankai then revealed that he controlled the Yi family's economic lifeline, assuring Li Chongnian that with financial power, he could overcome any obstacle.
Later, Li Chongnian brought oily tofu to Min Hongyu and questioned why she had brought Yi Liankai back, asking if she wasn't afraid he would kill him or hand him over to Yi Lianshen. Min Hongyu replied that the decision to kill or spare Yi Liankai was Li Chongnian's, but Li Chongnian deferred the choice to her.
Min Hongyu reflected on the two brothers: one seemingly a fierce warrior yet a "trapped beast," the other appearing a dissolute playboy but in truth a "dragon among men," admitting her uncertainty on whom to support. Back at the Yi mansion, Yi Lianshen was seen flipping through a photo album, his gaze fixed on old pictures of himself, his brothers, and his father, lost in a maelstrom of complex emotions.
Separately, Min Hongyu questioned Yi Liankai's harsh decision to leave Qin Sang alone in Fuyuan instead of bringing her to Yizhou. Yi Liankai explained his belief that Qin Sang was safer as Yi Lianshen's hostage than she would be under Li Chongnian's control. Min Hongyu expressed her hope that Qin Sang would eventually understand Yi Liankai's true intentions.
