The Vendetta of An 长安二十四计 - Discussion - Episodes 18-19
The Vendetta of An 长安二十四计 - Discussion - Episodes 18-19
Welcome to the episode discussions for The Vendetta of An! Join us as we walk down the long road to revenge...
🔥🗡This post is for episodes 🩸18 and 19 only🩸 please use spoiler tags for express episodes or previews, thank you!🗡🔥
Discussion Schedule: Posts will follow the Youku regular VIP schedule.
📅Youku Airing Sched: 1 ep tomorrow 12/21. After that ?? why must youku keep it a secret from us, don't we have enough schemes going on here...
Links to all discussions at bottom of post
Host Notes:
It's been a long day and I'm still working on episode 19 recap. FEEL FREE TO DISCUSS. It will be added in a bit, but wanted to put the discussion up in the meantime because AAAHHH so much is happening!!
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... Previously on The Vendetta of An ...
[DETAILS REFERENCE CORNER]
Character Flashcards: linked post contains character name card pics from all currently recapped episodes, the show has not provided one for every character. Spoiler Note : if you are watching slower than release, sort comments by 'old' on the Flashcard post to avoid later eps.
Timeline: years are approximate +/- 1yr
- 30 years ago/1st year of Qiansheng: 1st Emperor Xiao invades and takeover Chang'an with the 4 military commanders
- ? Liu Ziwan founds Huben Army
- 25 years ago/6th year of Qiansheng: Liu Zhi/Huai'an born, Yan Fengshan captured in Tiemo
- ? years ago (possibly same year captured possibly later?): Yan Fengshan escapes captivity, adopts Wang Pu, child Huai'an sees young Wang Pu at some point "19 years ago"
- ? Liu Li/Bai Wan born
- ? Huai'an mother died ("in the north when he was young")
- 16 years ago/16th year of Qiansheng: Huai'an age 9, entered imperial academy with Xiao Wenjing
- 15 years ago/17th year of Qiansheng: Huai'an age 10, Huben mutiny and murder of his father, estimating Bai Wan age as about 3-4 at this time
- Huai'an ages 10-17: hiding out in Nanwei Trough, working as a boatman
- 7 years ago/24th year of Qiansheng: Huai'an age 17, arrived in Huainan and became registrar
- 4 years ago/28th year of Qiansheng Era/1st year of Wenchang Era: Huai'an age 21, General Yan takeover w/Xiao Wenjing on throne
- Now/4th year of Wenchang Era: Huai'an age 25, Xiao Wuyang deposes Xiao Wenjing, Huai'an arrives in Chang'an
Rogue's Gallery:
❕At Large: Qingyi
⚡In Charge: Yan Fengshan
❌Dead: Pu Nichuan, Liu Ziyan, Wei Qianting
❓Whereabouts unknown: Hooded Figure
EPISODE 18
[RECAP]
Opening Scene: Chancellor Gao and Gu Yu have a secret conversation in the palace grounds. Gu Yu is still hiding in the storm drain and Gao asks him if his hand has healed. They acknowledge their past positions at odds with each while each serving the Emperor. Gao ends the conversation by saying "time is runing out, but good thing it's a gentle night."
Taiyiji Clinic: Ye Zheng is finishing up reading **Huai'an'**s letter out loud to Wumei, and Shen Xiaoqing. He is upset at what sounds like a farewell. Shen Xiaoqing reassures him Huai'an will be ok.
Cangyue Tower: Wuyin Chong and Fang Genghui arrive at their accommodations for the night. Chen Zhiying tells them they can meet with General Yan tomorrow at dawn at the palace. Wuyin Chong thinks everyone in Chang'an is out of their minds, he can't believe all the hidden identities and schemes that are afoot. Welcome to the show my dude. He is already exhausted and he's only been in Chang'an for a few hours.
\"what is UP with this town???\"
But he can't get any sleep in his room because a doubly disguised deposed emperor is in there with his axe. Xiao Wenjing says they know one another and need to talk. He PEELS UP HALF HIS FACE mask to confirm his identity. They repeatedly remind each other that being two men alone in a room together at night could potentially be gay which in my gay mind, is a pretty gay thing to bring up. But moving on...
We find out Wuyin Chong is also a prince. They sit down to a meal to await some other arrivals so Xiao Wenjing can prove he isn't just a lone weirdo with an axe.
Ive seen human face masks in other dramas but for some reason this scene freaked me out!
Yesterday we learned that Chancellor Gao, in addition to being the lantern lighter, is still the one to deliver memorials to "the Emperor" aka Yan Fengshan. So he is allowed to leave the palace under heavy guard to bring a cart full of memorials to the General's house early each morning.
Tonight we see the memorials being collected by Gao but he's wearing a cloak. As he makes his way down the street, we see Commander Wang leaning against a wall, waiting for him to pass. As he does, Wang steps out to fight the soldier following him, takes him out, and then is taken down himself by a bunch of arrows from hidden soldiers. It happened so quick I didn't even process it at first. RIP Commander Wang.
'Gao' continues to make his way down the street and we cut back to Xiao Wenjing and Wuyin Chong, just two dudes having dinner. Ye Zheng is sitting on a rooftop nearby looking cool. 'Gao' arrives and takes down his cloak...it's Gu Yu.
Wuyin Chong continues to have the vibe of bemused "what the fuck is going on in this town?" as Xiao Wenjing and Gu Yu try to convince him not to negotiate with Yan Fengshan. Gu Yu is being very intense again but Wuyin Chong knows his own place and power and doesn't seem intimidated by them.
When he leaves he says,
"This has been the most unforgettable night of my life. Tonight has made me fall in love with Chang'an all over again."
he's having the longest night in chang'an
Alone, Xiao Wenjing and Gu Yu acknowledge each other and that Huai'an is likely captured by now. Gu Yu says,
"On the road to killing Yan Fengshan, all of us must pay a price."
And then asks Xiao Wenjing for wine... to pour out for Chancellor Gao.
Taiqing Hall: We cut to Gao pulling himself up the final steps into the main hall of the palace. He makes it all the way to dais with the throne and touches it, imaging he can the Emperor standing on the other side of the room, looking out over his kingdom. Guards arrive at the entrance to the hall and shoot him full of arrows.
Two big character deaths in a short span of time and in the service of one scheme.
Bai Wan's Courtyard: Huai'an is sitting in his sister's courtyard were Yan Fengshan left him. He is looking around, remembering her. Remembering feeling at ease here, napping peacefully on the porch. He goes over and kneels on the earth above of her grave. Chen Zhiying interrupts him by bringing him some water to wash the blood off his hands and face, says Yan Fengshan wants him treated like a guest. He asks Chen Zhiying if she was involved in Bai Wan's death and upon confirmation, tells her she will die for this.
Yang Chuhao House: Yang Chuhao is burning letters, we see a flasback to his last meeting with Huai'an where Huai'an handed over the blackmail material in return for his cooperation. Huai'an says "back then you did not help my father get rid of Yan Fengshan. I will not question your motives" but that Yan Fengshan will soon realize his involvement in the Tiemo envoy scheme and come for him. Yang Chuhao needs to leave. We see Su enter, he immediately sees what his boss is doing and offers to go get the ledgers "we can't let anyone see." He's all in on burning anything incriminating. This causes Yang Chuhao to start laughing, the kind of laugh you do when everything has gone wrong and its all you can do.
Palace Grounds: In the morning ahead of meeting with Tiemo Envoy, eunuchs wash all the blood off the throne room steps. Feng Ganghui arrives to give a message to Yan Fengshan on behalf of Wuyin Chong (traveling all that way and then not even meeting him... power move). Wuyin Chong has changed his mind, he doesn't think their potential agreement is still in Tiemo's interests but he is willing to keep holding back the Baiwenhu Army in the north. Basically, the current status quo will stay the same. Wuyin Chong seems to be hedging his bets amidst all these schemes within schemes.
We see the head eunuch sitting on the steps near the storm drain. He is pouring out wine in memory. Yan Fengshan comes by for a chat, he knows the eunuch played a role in the delivery of messages outside the palace for Gao. He is surprised Chancellor Gao and Gu Yu joined hands and that Gu Yu survived hidden for so long. He tells the eunuch to stop being so defferent to him, he can see the man's sharpness and Yan Fengshan likes to have smart enemies.
"A man who has served three emperor's has eyes sharper than a blade. You know perfectly well whether or not I intend to kill you.
He tells him he would have killed him if he hadn't already captured Huai'an. So it seems his self sacrifice has kept at least 1 person alive."A man who has served three emperor's has eyes sharper than a blade. You know perfectly well whether or not I intend to kill you. He tells him he would have killed him if he hadn't already captured Huai'an. He also mentions he was the one who helped him get this job in the palace in the first place.
Cangyue Tower: Fang Genghui comes back from the palace to tell Wuyin Chong they should leave before they get caught up in any more schemes but Wuyin Chong doesn't think that Yan Fengshan will make a move against them right now. But he agrees, it is time to leave. It seems they have some other appointment they need to keep.
Bai Wan's Courtyard: Huai'an has been given clean clothes to wear, his all white outfit with the fur lined cape. He is sitting, seemingly relaxed, in the chair in the courtyard. Yan Fengshan is approaching in all black. We are back to some chess piece imagery. Just as he is arriving, Huai'an strategically takes out a piece of Bitter After to set the scene. His eyes are closed as Yan Fengshan enters.
Yan Fengshan says he chewed a lot of Bitter After while infiltrated the north as a scout. Huai'an says "the whole game has been thrown into chaos." Yan Fengshan says,
"Victory and defeat are common in warfare. One who care too much about gains and losses cannot be a true commander.
Speaking of which, you hold onto gains and losses quite a bit."
He summarizes Huai'ans wins and kills saying that only he and Chen Zhiying are left on Huai'an's kill list and we here Huai'an respond with his line from the trailers,
"On the road to revenge, I cannot let even one of my enemy's come to a good end."
They talk about Yang Chuhao. Huai'an says he didn't kill him because "standing by and doing nothing is not deserving of death. I have my principles". Yan Fengshan says he has his principles and so Yang Chuhao will certainly come to a bad end.
They mention Su and Huai'an says he looked into him, he's not Huben. Yan Fengshan confirms but says that a man so close to Yang Chuhao, who is smart enough to handle the accounts, "must have a story behind him....
...he's like you."
[NOTES]
lol at youku just not having an english subtitle for that final line, it seems pretty important! I switched to chinese subs and used my phone's translation app to get "he looks like you" but thanks to you all express watchers and mandarin speakers for solving this mystery yesterday in another post. The consensus seemed to be that the meaning is "he's like you" and the comparison becomes clear in the next ep.
📜Schemes and Secrets: Gu Yu escape, Xiao Wenjing identity reveal to envoy, Tiemo backing out of negotiation, Gao knowing the eunuch was complicit, something up with Su, subtitles keeping secrets of their own 😆
EPISODE 19
.......your call is important to us, thank you for holding, please wait while.......
^((I spent most of my last two work days listening to hold music and now my brain is gone))
[RECAP]
[NOTES]
📜Schemes and Secrets:
[REFLECTIONS]
Okay wow, we are just offing people left and right. I mean that has been a theme of the whole show but it still came as shock. But I refuse to believe Ye Zheng is dead until we see it for sure. Hope his shifu comes and saves him.
Huai'an's most anticipated meeting does not seem to be going how he anticipated or is this all part of his plan? Does he even know anymore? We still have a good amount of eps left, I can't really guess where we are going except that it's gonna be intense.
Episode 20 watchers, sorry these posts are behind y'all. Please be extra careful about character living or dying spoilers. Thank you!
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Links to Discussion Posts:
Index | Masterpost (Eps 1-3) | Eps 4-5 | Eps 6-7 | Eps 8-9 | Eps 10-11 | Eps 12-13 | Eps 14-15 | Eps 16-17
Other useful links: Airing Schedule | DramaWiki | MDL| Weibo | OST info
Posted Dec 21, 2025, 4:21 AM UTC