[ Episode Twenty-Seven ] [ Masterpost ] [ Episode Twenty-Nine ]
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The Sha Ya Case concludes, and the Merit Brush arc reaches a crisis point. Featuring Shen Wei comforting Zhao Yunlan (with hug!), Shen Wei watching Zhao Yunlan sleep, and Shen Wei having yet more secrets.
Sha Ya Escapes
The episode opens with an interrogation scene, where they try to get Sha Ya to cooperate with them.
Sha Ya offers help in return for the SID finding her girlfriend for her. The search leads the SID on a merry chase, and the minute she finds Hua Yuzhu, she goes back to the villains/Ya Qing.
Here's Zhao Yunlan tracking her down amidst a forest fire. With bonus zoomy!Shen Wei.
They hear a crow cawing and run off in the direction of that sound.
But they arrive too late to catch the culprits, and can only re-convene with the team to discuss what happened.
Kidnapped
Things don't get better from here. They return to the SID and get a visit from Vice-Minister Guo, who tells them that three people have been kidnapped from their car.
Zhao Yunlan is, of course, sitting on the table.
Minister Guo hands them a note from the kidnapper, and they discuss this escalation.
When Zhao Yunlan hears that his father was one of the kidnapping victims, he has another vision, and realizes this is what he was seeing that day when he almost ran into the streets blind.
The change in his expression here is A+.
Zhao Yunlan stumbles getting off the table. Shen Wei very handsily steadies him. (Compared to Vice-Minister Guo who just grabs his arm.)
This is totally a hug and nothing you say can change my mind. Zhao Yunlan is so distraught here. And Shen Wei just holds onto him and tries to keep him calm until he can stand on his own.
Vice-Minister Guo is not helping things by speculating that Wang Xiangyang is going to kill his hostages. Thankfully, Shen Wei offers a more plausible explanation, that this is all a game of vengeance.
The main task is given to the SID and Zhao Yunlan tries to analyze the kidnapping note. Shen Wei's attention, on the other hand, seems to be fully on Zhao Yunlan.
They have 12 hours to solve the case.
Shen Wei rushes towards an angry Zhao Yunlan.
Shen Wei comforts Zhao Yunlan, telling him that his father believes in him.
This scene gives me so many feelings, because Shen Wei is giving Zhao Yunlan a pep talk while also showing just how much he respects and admires his work as the Chief of the SID and the Guardian.
The pep talk gets Zhao Yunlan thinking about the note again. Shen Wei blinks very prettily at Zhao Yunlan as he walks away.
And now that Zhao Yunlan isn't leaning on him anymore, Shen Wei lets his own distress show 💔.
More Domesticity
Though it's hard to blame him considering the circumstances, Zhao Yunlan grabbing the Longevity Dial again is not the greatest life choice he could have made.
Shen Wei takes him home to rest and watches him sleep. I love Shen Wei fiddling with his fingers here, and as usual, the lack of glasses is nice to see.
Shen Wei doesn't get how someone this smart can be so dumb. This sentence, combined with his obliviousness to how attractive he is, just tells me that the man needs more mirrors in his apartment.
I enjoy the progression of how much closer Shen Wei sits to Zhao Yunlan while watching him sleep. This time, he's right on the bed with him!
9 parts exasperation, 1 part fondness.
Shen Wei tucks Zhao Yunlan's hand under the covers. Love that wrist grab.
Poor Shen Wei is suffering.
Shen Wei has some time to call forth the incense burner before Zhao Yunlan wakes up, at which point Shen Wei immediately rushes to his side.
Chasing Down the Clues
Now that Zhao Yunlan is awake, they start tracking down the clues.
Not perfect, but surprisingly synchronized running. Pretty impressive for running rather than walking.
Zhao Yunlan has a fun cheeky moment here, and Shen Wei has to hold himself back from making out with him. (Or is that last part just my shipper goggles?)
Shen Wei walks forward while Zhao Yunlan follows him with a giant shit-eating grin on his face.
They're blocked by two guys from the Crow Tribe. And the trash talk here is so fantastic. The two guys say they're here because they're under orders (奉命 Fèng mìng). Zhao Yunlan responds with "No, actually, you're here to give away your lives (送命 Sòng mìng)." That is a lot more clever on the wordplay that I could be on the spot.
But yeah, tl;dr - Zhao Yunlan goes all "Come at me, bro."
Fight! Shen Wei blocks an attack for Zhao Yunlan and gets hurt in the process.
Zhao Yunlan notices that Shen Wei isn't healing as fast as he used to. Shen Wei dodges the subject. Because an episode of Guardian isn't complete without Shen Wei, the Matryoshka doll of secrets, shedding another layer and coming up with another thing to hide from Zhao Yunlan.
The episode ends with them discovering someone being tied up/gagged in a phone booth.
[ Episode Twenty-Seven ] [ Masterpost ] [ Episode Twenty-Nine ]
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