I first discovered Ruby Lin through her dramas Qing Shi Huang Fei and Schemes of a Beauty. (Both of which I found at Viki.com) So I went looking for more of her work and found she was in Three Kingdoms. I started watching the first episode over at DramaFever and it was awful. But then I realized I was watching the wrong version! Yep, there's Three Kingdoms and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Now I've found the right version so let the everlovin' adventure begin.
Boy, this has the longest opening credits.
It's a turbulent time in China. As mentioned in the other Three Kingdoms drama, there are some kind of rebels called The Yellow Turbans, but we don't get to them much in this episode. There's a child emperor on the dragon throne but the real power is the craggy old Dong Zhou. His ministers don't like him.
It's old man Wang's birthday and he's invited all of the ministers to a party at his house. All the ministers, that is, except Cao Cao. He's considered a lackey of Dong Zhou's so he's not allowed to play any reindeer games. Cao Cao does what any excluded guest would do and he crashed the party. Old man Wang is kind enough to allow him to stay, seating Cao Cao waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down there at the end.
As the party proceeds, Wang tells his guests they're not here to celebrate his birth day but to commemorate his death day. These are dark days in the empire and that rat, Dong Zhou, is just plain awful. The other guests start weeping and wiping their eyes with their sleeves, as ancient Chinese do. Cao Cao, however, starts laughing. Wang asks him why he's laughing and Cao Cao says all this crying isn't going to get rid of Dong Zhou. (He does have a point.) Cao Cao goes on to brag that he has it in him to cut off the rat's head and hang it from the gate! This shocks the party goers and old man Wang has Cao Cao physically thrown out of the house.
As Cao Cao is starting to leave he's stopped by one of Wang's servants. The servant explains that his master had to publicly throw Cao Cao out because what he said was so dangerous. (That there should be a warning sign to old man Wang: that Cao Cao can't keep his mouth shut when he needs to.) The servant further asks Cao Cao to wait in the study until the party guests all leave as Wang really wants to talk to him.
After the party, Wang comes to the study and acts much more respectful of Cao Cao, even calling him General Cao Cao. As they discuss the situation, Cao Cao explains that he's just been acting like Dong Zhou's toadie so that Dong Zhou won't suspect him. Cao Cao refers to an earlier failed assassination attempt on Dong Zhou and explains that DZ wears a suit of armor under his clothes at all time. Cao Cao has heard that Wang has a special weapon, the Seven Star Dagger, that can cut through anything. Cao Cao asks to borrow the dagger, and since Dong Zhou's household is so used to seeing Cao Cao they won't suspect him of smuggling in a weapon.
Next we see Cao Cao entering Dong Zhou's house. Here we meet DZ's son, Lu Bu. There's some chit chat and DZ sends LB off to go get a better horse for CC. The two men talk some more, Cao Cao laying it on thick with all the, "You're the greatest! You're the smartest!" That's how a lackey goes. Dong Zhou trusts his friend enough to lay down and take a nap as Cao Cao fans him. As he checks to make sure no one else is around, Cao Cao pulls out the dagger and starts towards his intended victim. Then he muffs it! He totally muffs it and wakes Dong Zhou up!
At least he thinks quickly. When Dong Zhou asks what's he doing, Cao Cao improvises with, "Look at this fantastic weapon I've come across. It's called the Seven Star Dagger and see, it cuts through this copper mirror with one swipe. It slices, it dices, it juliennes! I'm so not worthy of this dagger so I came to give it to you." Dong Zhou happily accepts the knife and Cao Cao makes his polite exit.
Out in the courtyard Lu Bu rides up. Cao Cao thinks he's been caught until Lu Bu reminds him he was to receive a horse. Cao Cao has some trouble controlling the horse, probably because it senses the man's nervousness. OMG, this man has NO poker face! Lu Bu muses to himself that for a calvary officer Cao Cao seems a rather inept rider. Cao Cao rides off for the gate while Lu Bu goes inside.
Dong Zhou shows off his cool new toy to his son, telling him it's called the Seven Star Dagger. Lu Bu asks, doesn't old man Wang have a knife called the Seven Star Dagger? Why would he give it to Cao Cao? Dong Zhou mentions that Cao Cao had been acting rather nervous when he presented the knife. Dong Zhou didn't get where he is by being stupid. He quickly adds up that 2 + 2 = assassination attempt and orders the capture of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao is hiding out in some tall grass while groups of DZ's men search for him. Meanwhile Lu Bu goes to Cao Cao's house and slaughters everybody. Then, as Chinese dramas tend to do, the episode just ends. There's no real closure to the episode. Sometimes it feels like they just cut off in the middle of a scene. Other times it just peters out and fades to credits. Chinese TV needs to take some pointers from Korean dramas. At least they end with a cliffhanger.
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