Against The Current Episode 12 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
Lanxiang’s quick thinking earns her a substantial reward, but her hard-won wisdom about the household’s power dynamics tempers the family’s excitement over finally having enough for freedom. Meanwhile, ten days later, Jinqi’s own troubles deepen as the Zhao family’s influence starts closing in on his career, and a family squabble reveals just how little support he actually has at home.
A Question of Method
Old Master and First Madam discuss how the larkspur crisis was actually resolved, floating the idea that if enough men had worn the same flower ornament, Jinqi’s own wouldn’t have implied any romantic significance at all.
They’d sent people scrambling to find skilled women to craft more ornaments on short notice, unsure whether enough could even be made in time, until Lanxiang suggested checking Luxue Lodge directly, reasoning Young Lady Du surely wouldn’t have engaged in anything as improper as privately exchanging gifts without a matchmaker, more likely she’d simply made too many and one got mixed in by accident.
It comes out that Lanxiang had only been guessing, taking a desperate chance, but after asking Xiaolian directly, discovered Young Lady Du did have more larkspur ornaments stored in her room.
A Reward, and a Request
Jinqi tells Lanxiang that Yuchan mentioned her love of reading, and grants her open access to every book in the Inner Study going forward, excluding whatever’s locked away in the chests. Praising her bravery and resourcefulness in handling the entire crisis so swiftly, he asks what reward she’d like beyond the ten gold taels First Madam already gave her.
She requests a day off to visit her parents and have Uncle Liu craft a slingshot, along with a bottle of the army’s chilblain ointment for her mother’s hands, since she’s heard it works far better than anything sold at the pharmacies. He smiles at her lack of greediness and agrees readily.
A Quiet Kindness at Luxue Lodge
Elsewhere, Young Lady Du tends personally to Xiaolian’s injured hand after her punishment, insisting on applying the medicine herself rather than letting Lingdang do it, since she’s the one who actually studied medicine.
She gently scolds Xiaolian for taking all twenty strikes on one hand rather than splitting the punishment between both, though Xiaolian explains Yuchan had begged Nanny Wu to strike only the left hand so they could keep working with the right.
Du reflects on how kind Lanxiang was to help resolve the whole mess without malice, admitting she still doesn’t fully understand how Lanxiang came to know her given name in the first place. Xiaolian admits she let it slip during casual conversation, seeing nothing shameful in it, since they’re all girls together.
Grateful, Du sends Xiaolian off to rest properly, reflecting to herself, with a quiet sigh, on a line from a story she’d once read, about a man like a swift falcon who soars away the moment he misses his mark, wishing she had the freedom to simply move on the same way, though all she can do is long for it.
A Homecoming, and a Family Meal
Back home, Xu Wanquan and Xu Guihua dote on Lanxiang during her rare day off, applying the chilblain ointment and cooking a warm meal together. Guihua remarks on how much better her hands already look after just one application, and the family shares an easy, happy lunch, Wanquan joking that Lanxiang’s obvious cleverness must be exactly why Jinqi granted her the day off in the first place.
Lanxiang produces the reward she actually received, and her parents are stunned to discover it’s gold rather than silver, worth somewhere between seventy and eighty taels after exchange fees. Overwhelmed, Wanquan immediately proposes using it to buy freedom for all three of them, and even suggests going to arrange it that very moment.
A Harder Truth
Lanxiang stops him gently. The timing isn’t right yet, she explains. Buying freedom for the three of them wouldn’t actually cost more than a few dozen taels at the going rate, a sum that means nothing at all to people like Old Master and First Madam.
The real obstacle was never money, it’s First Madam’s willingness to let them go, something far harder to earn than silver, something that can’t simply be worked for or rushed. They need to plan carefully and wait for exactly the right moment before acting.
A Garrison in Mourning
Soldiers of the Shence Garrison arrive carrying two of their own dead, demanding answers for comrades who died for nothing. Commander Liang Yu, a third-rank commander, informs Lin Jinqi that four to five out of every ten padded coats supplied to the army were stuffed with either mouldy cotton or reed fluff, providing no real warmth at all and leaving soldiers to sicken and die in the cold.
Jinqi insists he personally inspected the shipments, but Commander Liang Yu points out the sheer scale involved, five to six thousand coats in total, made proper inspection of every single one impossible.
The soldiers, convinced Jinqi colluded with the merchants and pocketed bribes for himself, want him held responsible. Though certain of his own innocence, Jinqi is suspended pending a full investigation.
Facing His Men
Walking out to confront the assembled soldiers, Jinqi is devastated and mortified, fully aware they want him dead and are baying for blood. He steps forward regardless, reminding them he’s fought and bled alongside his brothers in arms, carrying his own wounds and scars to prove it. He vows to make uncovering the truth his absolute priority, promising he’ll bring them real answers.
Jinqi confronts Registrar Dai at the Ministry of Revenue, only to be reminded that heavy snow had cut off the usual supply routes, forcing them to rely on a local merchant, Lu Dalang, to fill the gap. The account books and warehouse records all confirm the goods were delivered in full and of sound quality. Whatever happened between the warehouse and the garrison itself, Dai insists, is simply not his responsibility.
A Trail Gone Cold
Nanke and Jiugao go looking for Lu Dalang themselves, only to find his house burned to the ground, the man himself having fled Jinling entirely some twenty days earlier.
Ten Days Later
The story jumps forward ten days. At the Lin residence, Young Lady Du finds Jinqi playing chess alone and offers to join him, praising his skill, though he politely declines, claiming exhaustion after a long day and asking for a rain check.
She brings up his recent suspension over the Shence Garrison affair, insisting both she and her brother firmly believe in his innocence regardless of what others say, and admits she came specifically out of worry, hoping to keep him company if something was troubling him. He thanks her but sends her off to rest.
A Family Crisis Unfolds
Aunt Lingxiao arrives in real distress, explaining that Xiuwan’s nearly settled marriage to the Xie family has suddenly collapsed. The family citing incompatible birth dates as their excuse. Jinqi admits plainly that the real reason has nothing to do with Xiuwan at all, it’s because of him.
First Madam confirms the fuller picture to Lingxiao and fills her in about Jinqi’s suspension. Combined with his earlier separation from the Zhao family, it’s become clear the Xie family backed out purely because they believe Jinqi will be permanently be suppressed by Zhao influence and never rise again.
Furious at the Xie family’s opportunism, Lingxiao is glad that she is able to see their true colours. She insists none of this reflects any flaw in Xiuwan, and reasons that marrying her into a family this eager to abandon someone at the first sign of political risk would only be condemning her to misery.
Jinqi and Frist Madam are overcome by her loyalty as she consoles Jinqi that the truth will come out soon enough. Jinqi promises to visit the Xie family himself and make sure no one dares speak ill of Xiuwan going forward.
A Father’s Cruelty, and an Uncle’s Contempt
Jinqi’s father, Lin Changzheng, storms in furious that his son is sitting home playing chess instead of actively working connections to save himself, warning bitterly that he’ll be dismissed and imprisoned any day now for having offended the powerful Zhao family.
First Madam defends her son, insisting he has a plan, but Changzheng scoffs, pointing out that the current assistant commander only holds his rank because he’s the Grand Secretary’s own grandson-in-law, not through any real merit, and that Jinqi’s decision to sever ties with the Zhao family now practically invites persecution.
His brother, Lin Changmin, a Taoist-leaning second uncle who’s spent decades avoiding worldly ambition entirely, calls Changzheng utterly vulgar for caring only about rank and flattery. He needles him further by asking why, if he admires Grand Secretary Zhao so much, he didn’t simply become his son-in-law himself rather than pushing his own son into the role.
The insult ignites a full physical scuffle between the two brothers, genuinely petty and comic, ending only when First Madam intervenes to calm things down, reassuring Jinqi not to take his uncle’s outburst to heart.
A Lead on the Case
Later, Jinqi checks in with his men on the search for Lu Dalang, the missing figure central to his ongoing case. Despite searching every waterway and overland route out of Jinling, no one has any record of him actually leaving the city at all.
Jinqi reasons Lu Dalang likely staged a false trail deliberately, and is probably still hiding somewhere within Jinling itself. But the city is far too vast to search corner by corner, especially now that Jinqi’s suspended and the Zhao family is actively working to limit his resources.
Lanxiang, walks in and offers a different angle entirely, she may not be able to find Lu Dalang directly, but she thinks she might be able to track down the women who actually sewed the padded coats connected to the case.
Against the Current Episode 12 Recap: My Thoughts
Young Madam Du is trouble. She’s playing the game well, and so far she’s kept her demeanour subtle. She may have failed to trap Jinqi this time, but there will be other opportunities no doubt. I liked that quiet scene between her and Xiaolian, her supposed kindness there complicates her character in interesting ways.
And that small wistful moment reflecting on wanting to be free like a falcon that never looks back suggests there’s real depth to her frustration with her own circumstances, even if her earlier scheme with the hairpin still colours how I see her.
Jinqi’s problems are only going to continue too, with the Zhao family clearly determined to punish the Lin family for dissolving the marriage and the humiliation it caused. The family squabble between Changzheng and Changmin was such a fun, almost comic detour after everything heavy in this episode, and it does real work painting a picture of exactly the kind of support Jinqi has at home.
His father cares purely about status and connections, his uncle’s checked out of worldly concerns entirely, and it’s really only his mother and grandfather in his corner. That context makes his composure under real political pressure feel even more impressive.
Thankfully we know Lanxiang will always help him outsmart them all, and that idea about tracking down the seamstresses is so clever. Everything I love about this drama continues to impress me. Good acting, clever plots, good side characters, and good pace. I’m enjoying it so much that I’m not even thinking about the romance for now.
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