Rating: A-
Another episode, another mystery for Maomao, but this time it’s a longer one – taking up nearly the whole episode – and doesn’t involve the cause of harm or death, but rather the aftermath of it. In other words, the mystery is a puzzling will.
One slight beef I’ve always had with mysteries like this is why the writer of the will bothered with such a roundabout way to make a point after his death. If the man was particularly clever and/or a trickster type, that would make more sense, but no, this man was an ordinary (if exceptionally talented) metalworker. Given the way things turn out in the end, the deceased’s goal was probably to maneuver his sons into working together to continue the family business, with each taking on his own specialty, and do it in a way where they wouldn’t feel like they were being dictated to from beyond the grave. And he may well have intended that the family business should end if the sons couldn’t work together to solve the mystery. Even so, he went through an awful lot of trouble to set this up, to the point that I have to wonder how he was able to do it without his sons wondering what he was up to.
But that’s ultimately a minor detail. The cleverness of the whole set-up is a physical level beyond anything we’ve seen previously, but the clues are all there. Moreover, the episode doesn’t hide the clues until Maomao puts them together; an astute viewer will notice the square that isn’t sun-bleached on the table before Maomao does, as well as the conspicuous way the sunlight shines in.
While the mystery is the focus of the episode, though, Jinshi’s interactions with Lakan are nearly as interesting and revealing. I don’t doubt at all that an official could go far in a bureaucracy just by being an excellent judge of talent and recruiting the right people to work under him, but Lakan also clearly has a wickedly sharp intellect. This whole affair was a talent investigation, both for the metalworker and for Maomao, and there’s no question that he’s meaning Jinshi to ask Maomao about what could lower a courtesan’s value. A guy like him wouldn’t do that without ulterior motive.
Anothe random thought: Could the similarity in appearance that Maomao notices between Basen and Gaoshun be meant to indicate that Basen is Gaoshun’s son? Even if Gaoshun is a eunuch now, that doesn’t mean he was always one.
In general, this was another good-looking and solidly-executed episode all around. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the content covered by the next episode is adapted, as certain aspects of it are on the edgier side. Look forward to it!
USA Anime 