The Legend of Rosy Clouds ไบ็ง่ก: Episodes 19-20 Discussion
Welcome to the discussions for The Legend of Rosy Clouds!
๐This post is for episodes 19-20 please use spoiler tags for any eps beyond these๐
๐Other media spoilers: Please use spoiler tags when discussing significant plot points from the Saiunkoku Monogatari light novels, anime, or manga.
Links:
Index | Masterpost | Ep 1-3 | Eps 4-6 | Ep 7-8 | Ep 9-10 | Eps 11-12 | Eps 13-14 | Eps 15-16 | Eps 17-18 |
Airing Schedule | MDL | Dramawiki | Flashcards
Discussion posts will be a day behind the iQIYI airing schedule, with your hosts posting according to their own timezones and availability. Next up will be u/Alarming_Tea_102 with ep 21-22
๐บiQIYI is dropping to a 1 ep/day schedule for eps 23-27, posts will continue to follow their schedule.
Content note: Episode 20 contains a scene where an off screen character's gender nonconforming appearance is played for a joke/shock moment. If you want to discuss this scene, please be mindful that there are gender nonconforming people in this space. Thank you.
Episode 19
Gao Ran rejoins the Guardian Corps while Fan Yun and Tian Xing stumble upon an embezzling scheme while working in the Services Bureau.
New characters: none
Fan Yun and Tian Xing
Qi Zheng is trying to keep a respectful distance between himself and Fan Yun while she works at the palace, but seems to be leaving her snacks. She and Tian Xing are still tasked with the grunt work but Bo Qin stands up for them once again.
When Tian Xing mentions that his reward gold from the exam never made it back home where he sent it, Fan Yun begins to suspect something is financially amiss at the Services Bureau. Meanwhile Jiang Shu has similar suspicions and Qi Zheng suggests they should have Fan Yun investigate.
Fan Yun and Tian Xing conveniently stumble upon a ledger (did Jiang Shu put it there?) that shows the Services Bureau gets most of its goods from Juyun Pavilion at higher than market rate. Lords Lu and Cai vehementally deny anything could be going on so Fan Yun set up a meeting with Lou Qiyan to gather more intel.
I wonder if Lord Lu truly doesn't know whats going on and only Lord Cai does? What do you think?
Fraternal Feelings
When Yan Jiang tries to stand up for Fan Yan with Lord Cai, he learns his father had already made the same request. Lord Cai, for some reason, takes this opportunity to try and stir up trouble between Yan Jiang and Fan Hui. Yan Jiang does have some insecurities about being adopted and Fan Yun being the favored Fan family child. We see some flashbacks of his early days with Fan Hui.
Meanwhile Gao Ran has rejoined the Guardian Corps at Qi Zheng's request but this doesn't stop him from cooking and bringing food to his sister.
Later, while patrolling the grounds, he hears a loud commotion and rushes into a room only to find Qi Zheng, Wei Ying, and Yan Jiang drinking. They invite him to join and in their drunkenness we get further glimpses to some of the things on their mind. Wei Ying is frustrated by Shisan who has gone home for a meeting with a potential marriage match, a man named Sima Xun. Yan Jiang is worried than Fan Hui adopted him on a whim and might disregard him with the same ease. Qi Zheng wishes he could spend more time with Fan Yun.
this was my favorite scene of the ep, I took so many screenshots
the boys all try to blame their feelings on Gao Ran/Fan Yun
Desert Interlude
Towards the end of the ep there is a seemingly very random cut to Yong City in the desert, where vultures are lurking as people are struggling to cross the desert on foot. A child with bloody hands and face kneels in the sand and tries to wake their mother who appears to have died.
Episode 20
Fan Yun and Tian Xing's investigation into the Services Bureau leads them to a haunted house. Meanwhile, a delegation from Yong City arrives seeking help for a plague outbreak and somehow these two plots collide and end in a kidnapping.
New characters: Shi brothers, Shi Wei, Shi Meng, Shi Gang, Shi Yi
Shi Brothers
So much of this story line does not make much sense to me. Please let me know if you've got a better grasp of it than I do. The Shi brothers (and their parents) traveled from Yong City to plead with Qi Zheng to appoint someone to help them deal with the ongoing plague. While the brothers were drinking with Qi Zheng, their parents died on the palace grounds of said plague. Presumably they were sick when they arrived and this isn't a surprise? Were they seeking medical help and that's why Jiang Shu is there? Why didn't they mention this to Qi Zheng? If you're parents are deathly ill why are you getting drunk with the not-emperor?? So many questions.
Compared to the brief scene in the desert we saw last ep, which was very bleak, the introduction and attitudes of the Shi brothers to the plague seems so odd to me. Does the show want this to be a comical subplot? Are we supposed to forget about the child covered in blood? Tonal whiplash.
The brothers seeks assistance from Lord Cai who suggests they can solve their problem by coming up with a scheme to trap whoever Qi Zheng appoints to Yong City in the said city forever. The show is not clear about what problem exactly this is going to solve. Yong City having a governance problem and that is exacerbating the plague? I guess? Lord Cai seems to just want a way to get rid of Tian Xing, who is from Yong. Fan Yun is also brought up and we find out the brothers think that a woman in government has caused this plague. But if they arrived with that belief, why weren't they petitioning Qi Zheng to remove her? Again, too many questions.
Qi Zheng and Fan Yun
Fan Yun gets reported for falsely accusing the Services Bureau of financial crimes, they are going to hold a hearing "tomorrow" (in quotes because what is time on this show). She and Qi Zheng take a walk through the gardens, passing by the spot where they had their first meeting. He encourages her not to give up on the investigation and reminds her she was quite capable of finding out information before she ever had connections to the palace.
He also gifts her a hand carved hairpin, although he tries to deny and play down the clear importance of it.
I spent a lot of time making you a heartfelt and romantic gift, no big deal
Scooby-Doo Sidequest
Inspired by Qi Zheng's reminder, Fan Yun takes Tian Xing to a teahouse to listen to a local storyteller. She explains she has deduced that the southern suburb of the city is the most likely place to hide a bunch of stolen funds since its pretty abandoned. She prompts the storyteller for info on the southern suburb and this leads her and Tian Xing to a spooky abandoned house that's rumored to be haunted.
The house is indeed haunted, by people pretending to be ghosts. Tian Xing ghost pranks the ghost prankers to scare them off, leaving he and Fan Yun free to investigate a suspiciously fancy new coffin in the middle of this dusty abandoned home. Underneath the coffin is a secret compartment full of money and jewels, including the pouch of Tian Xing's reward gold.
I was kind of hoping there were stairs to a hidden lair in the coffin
Kidnapped!
On their way to report what they found (I had questions about why they both had to go, shouldn't someone have stayed to watch over it? That stash is 100% going to be gone when they go back to show their evidence), they get kidnapped.
The Shi brothers have set up for a marriage ceremony and the groom is to be Tian Xing. They want to marry him to their sister, or more accurately, to a painting of her since she is (presumably) back at home in Yong City. Alcohol seems to be the trigger for the Tian Xing/Tian Yue switch, so Tian Yue is able to fight them off and get Fan Yun out of danger.
putting the veil over the swords to make the kidnapping wedding appropriate did make me laugh
dont worry kid, the audience is also confused
As they run through the city to escape, Lou Qiyan hears of Fan Yun being kidnapped so he and his men can arrive just in time for a dramatic horseback rescue.
did he time his entrance specifically for the lighting
๐PEERING AROUND CORNERS CORNER๐
Discussion
Things I liked about these eps:
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Seeing more Gao Ran and his role as big brother to both Fan Yun and Qi Zheng (also it is funny to me that they share a brother).
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Qi Zheng keeping his distance but still showing he cares. Such a contrast to Lou Qiyan who is always disrespecting boundaries.
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Fan Yun mentoring Tian Xing. Obviously he is a smart kid, but she has more life experience and I like that she gets to teach him things he might not learn from books.
Things that didn't work:
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the portrait joke: an unecessary addition to the scene. Forcing a teen to marry a painting is already a whole ordeal.
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as mentioned in the recap, the whole Shi brothers/plague/Yong plot is messy to me and has a lot of gaps in it. Maybe we will get answers next couple eps? Maybe?
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the repetitiveness of Lou Qiyan and Fan Yun's scene about the price hikes, it was just the exact same situation as the exam related price gouging.
Things I'm thinking about:
- Gao Ran and Shisan: Since Shisan's last few scenes with Gao Ran have not worked for me but the show clearly wants them to, I liked that here we got a few scenes about them but without her present so we could see his POV. In her presence, Gao Ran often has his guard up, but here he got to be a little less guarded and from his expression, seems to be sorting out how he feels.
- The way Fan Yun just accepts whatever is going on with Tian Xing/Yue and doesnt make a big deal about it cracks me up actually. Oh, you have alcohol induced super powers? Okay lets go!
Let me know your thoughts on these eps, I know the show isn't really living up to collective expectations but I feel like we have still been having some fun and interesting conversations. Thanks for joining!
me getting read to explain my latest TV obsession to anyone who will listen
Posted Jun 29, 2026, 12:10 AM UTC