Legend of Zang Hai (2025) Episodes 10-20
From the point of view of his detractors and targets, Zang Hai would be considered something of a fraudster. He is ingratiating himself with the upper echelon types selling himself as their tool to great success only to see the tables turned against them at a later stage. Not that many would weep for the likes of Chu Huaiming or Zhuang Luyin. We are rooting for their downfall so there are various types of deception that we approve of… and heartily at that. If the cause is sufficiently just and if justice cannot prevail ordinarily. The set-up seems to be taking forever but if there’s one thing that Zang Hai is constantly learning from his teachers (and opponents), it is patience.
While patience is a virtue indeed, Zang Hai has been schooled by his teacher Gao Ming to study the ways of the human heart. Exploiting the desires/weaknesses of men is what other people do to feather their nests. Under the mask of obsequious humility hev plays the same game over and over, fashioning himself as a sword that shows no mercy.
From time to time I wonder about Xiang Antu, the owner of the largest pleasure house in town with plenty of spare coin to throw about serving as the love interest. My thoughts about her go from “oh, okay she’s not too bad” to “why the blah blah is she doing this?” She’s an entitled princess no doubt and she has her eye on the charming Zang Hai. She means to be the mother of his children any which way but just when things go her way, she is at pains to veil her intentions as the frontrunner, to put him in his “rightful” place. For the fear of being vulnerable I would imagine.. But when he concludes rightly she’s forcing him to dance to her tune in this unequal dynamic of her making, she’s offended that such a thought would ever occur to him. Nobody wants to lose in any transaction but the domineering Miss Xiang has to be the one calling the shots. She wants him to grovel so that she can be the one to set the terms of engagement. My other half is kinder than I am, he says she’s just someone who doesn’t trust people easily.
I’m sure it’s obvious to her that Zang Hai is a mine of secrets and she’s trying to pry them out of her using her wealth. Perhaps too she’s using her wealth to get close to him, to make sure that he won’t be the one fish that got away. Xiang Antu is a double-edged sword. While she can help, she can quite easily hinder.
Fortune favours the brave, it’s been said and that might be said about Zang Hai who often seems reckless in his opportunism and puts himself in harm’s way to prove a point. It’s classic 苦肉计 (the ruse of self-inflicted injury) I’ve seen commentary that he relies on luck far too often. Quite possibly. I’m inclined to think, however, that his audacity comes from conviction — a conviction of the rightness of his cause. He’s appealing to a court of appeal higher than the one governing the country. Like Edmund Dantes, he sees himself not just as an avenging angel but as a force for good that Heaven cannot abandon. The first thing he does as he takes office as the Imperial Astronomer is dismantle the corruption that has become best practice. His predecessor Chu Huaiming played the game and lost his life. Zang Hai, on the other hand, is keen to restore the place to what it once was when his father ruled the roost. He is a victim of injustice confident that heaven is on his side creating opportunities in the most unlikely places. Zang Hai also suffers survivor’s guilt. As the sole survivor of a family massacre, he is a single-minded man on a mission.
This is paralleled by the marquise’s second son Zhuang Zhixing who is starting his hero’s journey on the urgings of Zang Hai. He has been trained for uselessness by his stepmother and is content to do so until he discovers the true story behind his mother’s death. In that story is a lesson related to self-interest — a theme that runs right through the narrative. Zhixing joins the army on Zang Hai’s advice only to find that the modus operandi of self-interest pervades even those at the bottom of the economic ladder. His first battle is not with others but himself. Can he survive the harshness of being out of the family home? Does he want to succeed even when he can’t trust anyone to treat him with sincerity?
The mysterious artifact that saw the ruthless deaths of an entire household is revealed sooner than expected. Still it comes as no surprise that it is an object that commands great power. That’s a given in a world where might is right and all the players are scrambling for power. So the key mystery isn’t the artifact but a third person who conspired with known quantities Zhuang Luyin and the chief eunuch. Is this mysterious third person also Zang Hai’s masked benefactor? It’s a thought that must give one some pause. A new character is introduced as a contender for the role of third man/person, the powerful Prince Yongrong, the emperor’s brother. Is he an adversary to overcome or could he be an unexpected ally? It isn’t that clear.
Villains seldom see themselves as such. To them they are the protagonist while those who get in the way of their road to glory are the problem. Even when there are norms, rules and laws in place to restrain the appetites and excesses of the human heart, they think themselves above everything. Laws are for fools. Laws for them are to be broken and sidestepped. Loopholes are to be exploited. Somehow reputation and personal dignity must be maintained so everything becomes theatre as everything political has to be.
Zang Hai is to my mind a fascinating study in plot and storytelling more than character. One is never sure of where the story goes next or why it should be that the next step is the next step. There’s an urgent unpredictability because nothing can come too easily for Zang Hai who is a whippersnapper attempting to share a stage with far more experienced hands.