Against The Current Episode 42 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
When Lanxiang can’t bring herself to confess, Jinqi learns from his grandfather that the Cold Mountain Painting once belonged to the Shen family and finally realises his wife is Shen Jialan. Rather than demand the truth, he silently burns every trace of her past and vows she will always be Xu Lanxiang, his wife. Days later, the First Madam dies of a hidden illness, entrusting the household to Lanxiang, who outmanoeuvres a scheming Fengxian using the funeral plans her mother-in-law left behind.
The Question in the Box
Jinqi sets the box before Lanxiang and tells her he has always loved her with all his heart. Now that they have a child together, surely she can tell him where these things came from. He watches her intently, willing her to tell the truth. In the next room, Madam Xu’s gentle lullaby to Zhangcheng drifts through the air.
Lanxiang looks at him with trepidation, then answers lightly. Has he forgotten? He brought these things back to the residence himself, so why is he asking her? His hopes dashed, Jinqi takes the box and leaves without a word.
Madam Xu comes in with the baby, saying she just saw Jinqi rush out and asking if something is wrong. Lanxiang covers for him, saying the Old Master needed him urgently. Zhangcheng has woken up hungry and is sucking on her hand, and Lanxiang reaches out to hold her.
The Cold Mountain Painting
Jinqi goes to his grandfather, who is once again copying the Cold Mountain Painting. Jinqi absently grinds the ink without saying a word, until his grandfather remarks that he came in all worked up and hasn’t spoken since he arrived. Jinqi asks why, when his grandfather was never fond of the artist Li Yingqiu, he cherishes this painting so much. Even during festivals, he keeps it by his side instead of spending time with the family, as if sitting with an old friend.
His grandfather decides that now Jinqi is a father too, there are things he can finally tell him. The Cold Mountain Painting was a treasured piece in Grand Secretary Shen’s collection. After the Shen family’s property was confiscated, by a twist of fate Jinqi’s father-in-law recognised its worth and acquired it for his shop.
Only then did Grandfather get the chance to see it again. Jinqi is shaken and steadies himself, murmuring that this explains everything. As he pours tea and pays respects to Grand Secretary Shen, his grandfather says that seeing his grandchildren raise families and live well, he doesn’t regret choosing to save his own life back then.
But in the end, he failed to keep his integrity in his later years. He failed the teachings of the sages and Grand Secretary Shen’s faith in him. Jinqi asks about Shen Jialan, the young lady his grandfather once arranged for him to marry. What was she like?
His grandfather says he met her once, when she was six. She was pure and unspoiled, with a natural grace, and though she was a girl, Grand Secretary Shen treasured her dearly and taught her with great care. Then he closes the subject, saying it’s all in the past. Jinqi excuses himself, claiming he has letters to answer.
Alone, his grandfather remembers the old imperial edict condemning Grand Secretary Shen Qihan for deceiving the throne and disloyalty to the state, ordering all Shen men executed, the women enslaved in the Imperial Music Bureau and all property confiscated. He mourns that his old friend lies beneath the earth with his bones turned to dust, while he lives on with hair white as snow.
Ashes in Summer
That night, Lanxiang is puzzled that the Young Master has asked for a brazier in the middle of summer. Jinqi arrives with Lanxiang’s box. He tells her he was too blinded by appearances, and from beginning to end, he was the one who wronged her. She tells him he never did.
Without another word, he begins feeding her belongings into the fire, beginning with the Zhichun Hall account book. As each one burns, memories of their life together flood back: her asking whether he wasn’t afraid, her asking to save up her favours to claim all at once when she’d decided what she wanted, his telling her that as long as they care, their bond can never be broken, his declaring to the Emperor that he wished to marry her, his vow on their wedding day that they would share fortune and misfortune, her standing between him and danger to protect him, and his confession at the Shen grave that though he’s no gentleman and gets scared and acts on impulse, he will never betray her for as long as he lives.
Lanxiang watches through tears, understanding that he knows. Jinqi tells her that she is Xu Lanxiang. They are husband and wife who share every sorrow and joy and face every fortune and misfortune together. Every trace of her past goes up in flames, and her secret is sealed between them.
The First Madam’s Last Wishes
The First Madam is gravely ill. Madam Wu tells the family that before the Fourth Young Lady’s bridal gift ceremony, the First Madam discovered a dark patch on her abdomen that had ulcerated and begun to bleed. She secretly sent for a physician, who diagnosed a malignant sore with no cure. She kept it from everyone and ordered Madam Wu and Yinchen not to breathe a word.
Jinqi refuses to believe it and insists the physician must have been incompetent. The physician explains that the sore matches the classic signs of a malignant infection, which is extremely hard to treat. If it grows on a hand or foot, amputation may offer a slim chance, but on the abdomen, the infection has spread deep into her organs. He advises Jinqi to prepare for the funeral.
Jinqi weeps at her bedside, saying he failed her as a son by never noticing she was unwell. His mother teases him gently that experience wins out in the end, and that for all their cleverness, the young ones still couldn’t outwit her.
She turns to Xiushu and reminds her that birth, ageing, illness and death are part of life. Since Xiushu is with child, she may grieve, but she must not let sorrow harm her health, or her mother will never rest in peace. Xiushu promises that taking care of herself and living well will be the greatest way to honour her. Her mother says that’s the daughter she raised.
She calls for Lanxiang. She doesn’t worry about Jinqi, who knows what he’s doing. Her only worry is Xiushu, because the world is harsh on women. But seeing how Lanxiang has treated Xiulai, Xiuru and Suhua, she can finally rest easy. Lanxiang promises she has watched Xiushu grow up and will never let anyone mistreat her.
The First Madam then apologises. Ever since Lanxiang married into the family, she treated her coldly because of her background. She was foolish, and she wronged her. Lanxiang tells her that though she never warmed to her, she never treated her harshly or made things difficult.
She often stood up for her before the elders, and even if it was only for Jinqi’s sake, Lanxiang benefited from her kindness and has always been grateful. The First Madam hands her the household authority tokens. From now on, the Lin residence is in Lanxiang’s hands, and so is Xiushu. With those words, she passes away, as the family cries out for her.
A Power Grab at the Deathbed
Outside, the family kneels and wails. Jinqi’s father arrives grumbling about all the commotion in broad daylight, only to be told his wife has died. He is stunned. Second Aunt laments that Shunhua was gravely ill yet never told her, and now she has even left the household to the Young Madam.
After so many years as sisters, she says, Shunhua didn’t trust her at all. Fengxian seizes the moment. The household is huge, the funeral must be handled perfectly or Uncle Changzheng will lose face, and Lanxiang was born a servant with limited knowledge and experience. She’s bound to make mistakes and become a laughingstock. Fengxian offers to handle the funeral herself, and Jinqi’s father agrees.
Lanxiang steps forward and says that all the funeral arrangements have been made, and Father needn’t worry. Fengxian scoffs that a dead woman can’t arrange her own funeral, and that everyone can only rely on her now.
Lanxiang calmly asks her which feng shui master they should hire. Fengxian fumbles, saying she couldn’t possibly know on such short notice. Lanxiang tells her the First Madam already chose one, and sends Head Butler Yang with the Young Master’s calling card to invite Mister Zuo from Bajiao Street.
She asks Fengxian where the First Madam’s burial clothes are and who will dress her. Fengxian says there couldn’t possibly be any ready and they’d better hurry to buy some. Lanxiang tells the servants the clothes are in the attic of the rear house, inside the largest camphorwood chest, and asks Madam Wu to help her dress the First Madam one last time.
She keeps going, assigning every task. Xiulai is to have the coffin carefully carried from the room behind the family shrine without a single bump. Xiuwan and Suhua are to collect the mourning clothes and funeral banners from the storeroom and distribute them.
When Xiuru asks what she can do, Lanxiang entrusts her with what Mother cared about most, taking care of Xiushu through the busy funeral. Once the feng shui master sets the dates, Jinqiao and Jincen are to announce the death to each household so relatives have time to prepare.
Outmanoeuvred, Fengxian mutters that her mother-in-law has chest pains and takes Second Aunt away to rest. Lanxiang asks Jinqi’s father whether everything is properly arranged and invites him to correct anything amiss. He admits everything is in order, tells her to do her best since her mother-in-law put her in charge, and goes to keep the grieving Old Master company.
A Letter From the First Madam
Kneeling before the First Madam’s spirit tablet, Jinqi asks Lanxiang how she knew everything, even where the burial clothes were kept. Lanxiang says she was only following Mother’s wishes and saying whatever she could to reassure his father.
She shows him a letter that was tucked inside the household tokens. In it, the First Madam laid out every detail of her own funeral, from the feng shui master and burial clothes to the coffin, who should dress her and when to announce her death. Jinqi laughs through his grief and asks to keep the letter.
He then formally thanks Lanxiang for persuading him to resign and return to Jinling. Only because of that could he stay by his mother’s side and fulfil some of his duty as her son. Otherwise, he’d still be in the capital and might never have seen her one last time. Lanxiang says it was because he was willing to listen.
Jinqi reflects that his mother was a wise woman. She and his father didn’t get along, but she never took it out on the younger generation. Xiulai, Xiuru and Jinlan were never neglected in manners, learning or upbringing, and though they’re all very different, every one of them is good at heart.
She taught him from childhood that one tree alone cannot make a forest, and that he must treat his younger siblings sincerely for them to do the same. She also told him that Xiuru seems gentle but is strong willed, so Xiushu should spend more time with her rather than be left alone to dwell on things.
He breaks down. Lanxiang tells him to cry as much as he needs. Children wish to care for their parents, but sometimes their parents are gone before they have the chance. She’ll cry with him, and they hold each other in embrace.
Fengxian Won’t Let Go
Fengxian isn’t finished. She insists to Second Aunt that Aunt Shunhua must have been delirious from illness and misled by that servant. Second Aunt is kind-hearted, but she can’t let that servant do as she pleases, and they mustn’t let Aunt Shunhua become a laughingstock after her death.
Second Aunt, lost in grief, remembers how when she had a difficult labour with Jincen, it was Shunhua who sent for a physician and stayed by her side the whole time, practically pulling her back from death.
Fengxian presses that she mustn’t let Aunt Shunhua down and must hold the family together. When Second Aunt points out that Shunhua already put the Young Madam in charge, Fengxian says there’s still the Old Master. As long as he gives the word, that servant has no right to run the Lin family.
A Lesson in the Family Shrine
Xiulai’s children, fifteen-year-old Lu Jun and eleven-year-old Lu Yingzhi, find Lanxiang in the family shrine. They have something important to tell her. They show her one of the ritual vessels used for offerings to their grandmother. Madam Deng, who serves Fengxian, gave it to Yingzhi and told her to secretly hide it in the chest where Lanxiang keeps her personal clothes.
Madam Deng said that with the First Madam gone, the Second Madam would now run the household, which means Fengxian would be in charge. If they obeyed, the three of them could keep living at the Lin residence. If not, they’d be thrown out on the streets.
Jun points out that Fengxian looks down on them and on Aunt Lanxiang too, and suggests giving her a taste of her own medicine by slipping the vessel into Fengxian’s room instead. Lanxiang refuses outright.
Jun asks why a wicked person shouldn’t suffer the consequences of her own actions. Lanxiang explains that what Fengxian did was wrong, and if she did the same, she’d become just as wicked. Jun asks, if they repay resentment with kindness, what should they repay kindness with?
Lanxiang sits them down and asks what they live for. She tells them she lives for her parents, for her daughter Zhangcheng, and above all for herself. She lives for the tender green shoots of spring, the evening breezes and stars of summer, the blue skies and red leaves of autumn, and the white snow and red plum blossoms of winter.
She lives for the first fresh river fish of the year, for sweet soft pumpkin, for the fireworks on New Year’s Eve, and for the wonderful plays of the Furong Troupe. She has so many reasons to live. Then she asks them, what about you?
Against the Current Episode 42 Recap: My Thoughts
We were so close to watching Lanxiang reveal the truth, and Jinqi’s look of anticipation was heart stopping. In the end, it never came, and he had to let it go.
The scene where he visits his grandfather was so confronting. All that time spent recreating the Cold Mountain Painting over and over again was perhaps a form of penance. The original painting hung in his study like an altar where he paid his respects to his fallen friend every day, and he must have lived with that guilt every second.
He doesn’t regret saving his family back then, but in his later years he feels he has lost his integrity and finds it hard to live with. Jinqi’s devastation in that moment was incredible. It’s here that he has his epiphany, piecing together everything from the past and realising who his wife really is. Imagine working that out in your head. You would be reeling.
And finally, we have it. An unspoken truth, subtly revealed. Instead of forcing a confession or letting it break them apart, Jinqi mirrors Lanxiang’s own restraint and chooses protection over exposure. Burning everything in that box was his way of telling her that he knows and he accepts.
In declaring that she is Xu Lanxiang and that they are husband and wife through every fortune and misfortune, he seals a silent pact of devotion. In his eyes, she can finally be the person she always was, two identities that together shaped who she is today. In the end, he married a maid before he ever married the granddaughter of a Grand Secretary. I love Jinqi’s emotional intelligence, his silent protection and the depth of his love, choosing his wife and family over the political truth.
The First Madam’s death was unbelievably sad. I loved that Jinqi later thanked Lanxiang for helping him see what was important. Had he not resigned, he would never have been at his mother’s deathbed. There’s a lesson in that for all of us: be present.
What a beautiful and heart wrenching episode at the same time. So far, we have had two deathbed scenes and both were well done. Both from illnesses and a fact of life. But to be surrounded by your loved ones is a blessing and I’m glad the show made it so realistic.
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