Against The Current Episode 45 Recap
**SPOILER ALERT**
Table of Contents
TL;DR (Quick Overview)
Grieving Shaohui, Jinqi and Lanxiang see through Du Cuique’s plan: her revenge on the Lins is only a diversion to burn the grain bound for the besieged capital so she can become King of Jinling. On the night of the attack, Jinqi defeats Zhang Shuizai at the provision boats, while Lanxiang and the household women turn their lamps into a trap, and Du Cuique dies in flames after Xiuru’s pipa saves Lanxiang. With the Duke of Xiang secretly dead to protect morale, a wounded Jinqi carries the provisions to the capital, just as word arrives that the Wona army has retreated.
Too Late
Nanke bursts into the residence after curfew, calling for His Lordship. He reports that while Marquis Yuan was inspecting the coast, his soldiers drank poisoned water and were ambushed by pirates. Marquis Yuan is dead. Jinqi can barely take it in.
Nanke explains that Jinqi had sent him to warn Shaohui, but by the time he reached the Zhejiang coast it was too late. He found only Ding Peng, badly wounded, who told him to bring the larkspur flower ornament to Jinqi as quickly as possible. Ding Peng also warned that Du Cuique’s next target is the Lin residence.
Jinqi recognises the ornament as Du Cuique’s mark. He blames himself for not killing her when he had the chance. Consumed by grief, he decides to go to Duke Xiangguo right away, ask him to send someone else to the capital, and stay behind to make Du Cuique pay for Chengze’s death. Lanxiang stops him, holding him back as he repeats that Chengze once saved his life. She tells him she knows.
Memories of Shaohui flood back: the words that once woke Jinqi up and set him on the path from scholar to soldier, Shaohui asking Jinqi to simply call him Yuan in private, his declaration that he had never failed the Emperor or the people, his plea for Fengtai to help the Crown Prince escape Jinling, his insistence that helping was only right because they were family, his belief that a man should seek high office and honours for his wife and children, and his final warning that the eunuchs wield great power and Jinqi must be careful.
Striking at Her Sorest Point
The next day, constables parade Du Cuique’s portrait through the streets, announcing a reward of twenty taels for leads and fifty for help capturing her. They publicly declare that the fugitive Du Cuique, a native of Jinzhou born into a military household, fled her exile, willingly sank into depravity with a pirate leader, and then conspired with his men to poison him.
Du Cuique is enraged. Striking at someone’s sorest point is an underhanded tactic that would never occur to a man of Jinqi’s privileged upbringing. Only that lowly servant Xu Lanxiang knows what she wants and what she despises. Zhang Shuizai offers to kill Lanxiang and wash away the humiliation with her blood, but Du Cuique says this time she will do it with her own hands.
Mao Suitang’s Information
Du Cuique receives Mao Suitang, who humbly refuses to sit. With a new Emperor on the throne, there’s a new Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Mao is no longer an attendant eunuch but a lowly one with no standing. Still, he has information to sell. Jinqi suddenly fell seriously ill and asked Duke Xiangguo for sick leave to recover at home.
The Fourth Young Lady has already returned to the Lin residence, and even Xiuru, recently widowed, has set aside Marquis Yongchang’s funeral to return home while she fights bitterly with the Yuan family. With troops from everywhere rushing to the capital, Jinling has no one to spare.
Du Cuique wonders why Duke Xiangguo would agree to the leave. Mao says not even the Duke can defy illness, so his son, Assistant Commander Xu, will escort the provisions in Jinqi’s place. Mao discreetly steps outside.
Zhang Shuizai wants to go with her to take revenge on the Lins and leave the provisions to the third chief. Du Cuique reveals her true plan. She used revenge as a diversion to keep Jinqi in the city and away from the real target. Tonight’s attack on the Lins is only a show.
Her real goal is to burn the provisions. Without them, the capital is certain to fall, and once the Wona army destroys the imperial court, she’ll no longer be a pirate but the King of Jinling. Zhang Shuizai promises her a fire that will light up the whole city.
Preparing for the Night
Xiulai, Xiuwan and the others worry about Xiuru. Things between her and Shaohui weren’t what they once were, but with his sudden death, they fear she won’t be able to accept it. The old Xiuru would already be in tears, but now they can’t tell how she’ll react. Xiuwan says what matters most right now is dealing with that murderous ghost, Du Cuique.
Xiuru returns with her daughters. That night, Lanxiang has everyone sleep together on bedding spread across the floor and forbids anyone from wandering. Xiulai and Xiuru bicker over who should sleep on the outside to protect the others. Xiulai insists that as the eldest sister, she should face danger first. When Suhua asks where Lanxiang is, they explain she went straight to take care of Uncle Xu and Aunt Guihua.
At her parents’ home, Lanxiang tests Zhangcheng on her characters, delighted when her daughter knows the words for child, grandchild and great-grandchild. Lanxiang’s mother is unwell. Lanxiang apologises for being an unfilial daughter who can’t stay home to nurse her. Her mother teases that Zhangcheng is her precious darling now, and Lanxiang will have to take second place.
She urges Lanxiang to go and do what she needs to do. Zhangcheng gives her grandmother one of two little birds her grandfather made, and begs her to get well soon so she can tell her stories from the plays. Before leaving, Lanxiang tells her father to bolt the door, keep the lamps out, stay still and silent, and make it seem as though no one is home, no matter what he hears. Her father jokes that when the Emperor’s army reached Jinling years ago, he was better at hiding than anyone.
Back at the Lin residence, Fengxian complains that even prisoners don’t suffer like this. She tells Second Aunt there’s a curfew with soldiers guarding every ward, so Lanxiang is worrying over nothing and frightening everyone, and suggests they all go back to their own rooms.
Second Aunt surprisingly refuses to back her, saying Lanxiang runs the household now, so if Fengxian wants to go back, she can ask Lanxiang herself. Fengxian scoffs that Du Cuique is only one woman, so how dangerous could she be?
Jinling Burns
That night, fires break out across the city. Du Cuique explains her plan. Jinling has twenty-five wards, and three months ago she sent men to infiltrate them, learn the terrain, find places to start fires and secretly spread rumours that the Wona were bloodthirsty killers. Now, with only a few men, the entire city is thrown into panic as voices scream that the Wona have breached the capital and reached Jinling.
At the docks, the provisions are inspected and loaded, and the order is given to set sail, with a reminder that the fate of the realm is at stake.
The Bride at the Gate
Dressed in bridal robes, Du Cuique leads a group of pirates to the gates of the Lin residence. Lanxiang emerges with the maids and the women weavers, each holding a lamp. Du Cuique mocks her. As Marchioness of Jing’an, she should at least have sent a few soldiers to put on a show of strength. Does she really expect a handful of women to cry, make a scene and threaten to hang themselves to scare her away?
Lanxiang tells her the Imperial Theatre has been staging a new play called The Tale of the Burning Lamps, and she really should see it. Du Cuique demands to know where Jinqi is. Lanxiang explains that as Commander of the Longjiang Garrison, His Lordship was ordered to escort provisions to the capital, and naturally he is guarding them against traitors conspiring with Wona to burn them.
Du Cuique is shaken and asks when Lanxiang realised her plan. Lanxiang says it was the day they received the flower ornament. Someone who operates in the shadows would take revenge by plotting from a dark corner. Yet Du Cuique openly killed Marquis Yongchang and deliberately let Ding Peng escape with the ornament.
That wasn’t like her, so Lanxiang and Jinqi calmed down and thought it through. Du Cuique replies that the autumn weather is dry, and a few sparks are all it takes to burn the provisions. Whether Jinqi can protect them remains to be seen. Either way, Lanxiang will die tonight, and she draws her firearm.
The Fight on the Boats
At the provision boats, Zhang Shuizai scatters sulphur powder over the grain, but before he can set it alight, Jinqi appears. The two fight desperately. Jinqi flicks a blade away from his back, smothers a flame with his bare palm, and tucks a torch into his belt as the battle rages.
Ten Thousand Lamps
At the Lin residence, Lanxiang recalls the scripture: from one lamp, many lamps are lit, until ten thousand lamps shine bright. Xiuru begins playing her pipa. At the signal, the women blow out their lamps and hurl them at Du Cuique and her pirates, drenching them in oil. The pirates realise too late what it is.
Lanxiang warns the women to stay back. Du Cuique has a firearm and must be carrying incendiary charges, and if they catch fire, they’ll explode. Soaked in oil, the pirates can no longer light their fuses without setting themselves ablaze. Du Cuique screams at them to kill that wretched servant.
Then voices ring out that Zhang Shuizai is dead, every pirate sent to burn the provisions has been killed, and His Lordship has won a decisive victory. The pirates panic, crying that it’s a trap, and flee. Abandoned, Du Cuique tells Lanxiang that if she wants her dead, fine, then she can come to hell with her.
Lanxiang throws a flame at her, setting her alight. Burning, Du Cuique lunges at Lanxiang in one last attempt to take her down too, but Xiuru hurls her pipa and knocks her back. The explosion engulfs Du Cuique, and she is reduced to ashes.
The women rush to Lanxiang, who assures them she’s fine. Xiuru reflects that these past few years, whenever she couldn’t sleep alone, she played the pipa to pass the time. She never imagined she’d one day use it to take revenge. One of the weavers says Du Cuique truly got what she deserved, and asks hopefully whether they’ll get the reward for helping capture the pirates. They’re told the Madam has promised fifty taels, and everyone will get a share. The women cheer.
Xiaolian asks Lanxiang whether His Lordship really won and if anyone was hurt. Lanxiang admits the city gates are closed, so she has no way of knowing what happened outside. She was simply giving Du Cuique a taste of her own medicine, having people shout those words as a bluff to throw the pirates into disarray. Quietly, she says His Lordship promised he would bring Nanke and Jiugao home safely.
Not One Cut Fewer
At the boats, Nanke and Jiugao arrive in time to help the wounded Jinqi subdue Zhang Shuizai, who sneers at them as cowards for fighting three against one and dares Jinqi to kill him with a single strike. Jinqi severs the tendons in his hands and feet but refuses to kill him. He orders him sent to the Ministry of Justice.
Robbing imperial tribute, murdering court officials, colluding with Wona to burn the provisions and committing treason all carry death by a thousand cuts, and Jinqi wants the executioner told there must be a thousand cuts, not one fewer. Nanke promises that to honour the spirits of Marquis Yuan, Commander Ding and all their fallen brothers, there will be more, not fewer.
The Duke’s Last Order
Jinqi apologises to Assistant Commander Xu for keeping him waiting. The pirates scattered sulphur over the provisions, and he stayed to make sure every grain was cleaned. Xu tells him he killed over a hundred pirates and captured more than twenty alive. Jinqi says that as the bait, he has fulfilled his mission, and thanks Duke Xiangguo and Assistant Commander Xu for their help.
Xu reflects that the Xu family descends from a founding general, and with his father’s generation only the third since then, their ancestor’s valour hasn’t been forgotten. Then he tells Jinqi he must hurry back to oversee his father’s funeral. Jinqi is stunned. Xu explains that on the night Nanke delivered Jinqi’s secret letter asking the Duke to support their plan to turn the pirates’ scheme against them, his father was already struggling to hold on as he made the arrangements.
Not long after Nanke left, he died. Before his death, he ordered them to keep it secret to protect morale. If they failed to protect the provisions, the realm and the family would both be lost, and he would rather be left unburied. If they succeeded, his son was to return and lay him to rest.
Jinqi asks Xu to offer three sticks of incense before the Duke’s spirit tablet on his behalf, and to tell him that Jinqi will deliver the provisions safely to the capital and hand them to Minister Han. Wounded but undeterred, Jinqi gives the order to set sail and press on day and night for the capital. Then news rings out. The Wona army has withdrawn.
Against the Current Episode 45 Recap: My Thoughts
What on earth, Episode 45! Thank you, thank you, thank you that Du Cuique didn’t last any longer than she needed to. I was literally on the edge of my seat.
Firstly, let’s talk about her lofty ambitions. This girl is cray! King of Jinling?? As usual, her belief that she can gain power and status through underhanded means shows she learned nothing from last time. I have to say, though, Zheng Hehuizi makes a fantastic villain. I could feel her anger and insanity through the screen.
Using revenge as a diversion was so clever, with the added bonus that she could take her revenge at the same time. I guess her greed got the better of her, and if she thought she could outsmart Lanxiang, she had another thing coming. Turning up at the house in a wedding gown was diabolical. I’m assuming she hoped to kill Lanxiang and finally rub it in her face that her plan to marry into the Lin family all those years ago would come to fruition.
I loved that the same metaphor Lanxiang used with Xiuwan, of many lamps lighting a whole street, became the very thing that brought Du Cuique down. The writers are brilliant at weaving metaphors through the entire drama. And having Xiuru deliver the blow that saved Lanxiang, avenging her husband, while Lanxiang dealt the final strike, was such a top tier moment for the women of this show. Pure poetic justice.
The fight between Jinqi and Zhang Shuizai was absolutely epic. When Jinqi flicked the blade off his back and then smothered the fire with his palm, I was like, heck yeah! And when he tucked the torch into his belt, I wondered why, until the camera panned across to Lanxiang and her own torch. So freaking good!
The choreography was fantastic and the actors were super convincing. Zhang Shuizai was fighting for his obsession with Du Cuique, and Jinqi was fighting for revenge. His anger was all consuming, and I felt every bit of it. Seeing his ruthless side resurface as he demanded not a single cut be spared felt completely earned after everything the villains had done.
Even with the villains vanquished, there’s a deep sense of melancholy. The Duke of Xiang’s quiet sacrifice, holding on just long enough to support Jinqi’s plan, was sad. And despite being wounded, Jinqi refuses to rest and pushes on to the capital. Amazing how he and Han Liang are now fated to meet again.
This drama is truly incredible. It creates scenes with so much variety, from slow and heartfelt to dramatic and high stakes. Two more episodes to go. The countdown is awful, and I already know this is one of those dramas that will leave me with post drama blues for some time.
Thanks for reading! Would love to hear your thoughts about Against the Current recap and review. Let’s chat below!