Editor: This episode was originally published on April 9, 2013. Updated to include explanation of some scenes.
Episode 2 begins with Wu Kui joining a group of people where the Bearded Man is trying to sales talk the townsfolk into buying his miracle drug. Wu Kui bumps into Lei-er. Both of them watch the Bearded Man make his sales pitch. At first Wu Kui dismisses the sales pitch as just another scam, and was about to leave when he hears Bearded Man saying that the miracle drug he is selling will make them strong. Wu Kui’s desire to cure his physical weakness overcomes his good sense. He turns back and continues to listen.
Wu Kui is still skeptical and was about to leave again when Bearded Man calls Lei-er to demonstrate the effect of his miracle drug. Lei-er tries to hide at first because she has just been recently scolded by Grandma for showing her strength to the public. However, she still ends up standing beside Bearded Man. Wu Kui still skeptical. Lei-er takes the drug, her face turns red, Bearded Man asks for drinking water. Wu Kui offers his water. Lei-er drinks the water and redness of her face fades.
Bearded Man tells Lei-er to demonstrate her strength, Wu Kui tries to stop her. He tells her that the human body has a limit on the amount of weight it can carry, the stone lion looks 10x heavier than Lei-er, so she might end up getting hurt. But Lei-er doesn’t listen to Wu Kui’s warning, and lifts the giant statue, everyone is amazed, including Wu Kui.
Pandemonium follows as everyone wants to buy the miracle drug, with Wu Kui leading the pack. Upon returning to the inn where he and Master Yuan Tou checked in for the day, Wu Kui swallows the miracle drug and almost chokes on it. Thankfully, Master Yuan Tou came in and helped dislodge the drug from his throat.
Master Yuan Tou is skeptical about the miracle drug that Wu Kui bought, but Wu Kui says that he is starting to feel something going on inside his body… His stomach is churning, energy is flowing, his face is burning. But soon Wu Kui realizes that he has to visit the comfort room to relieve his stomach of its contents….. several times until he has become so weak.
Lei-er and the Bearded Man return to the inn where they are staying. Lei-er asks when she will get her share of the day’s earnings. The Bearded Man tells her that if he gives her share today, he can only give 40%, but if she can wait until the next day, he will give her 50%. Lei-er agrees to get her share the next day.
Lei-er goes to her room to sleep but pretty soon she also begins to experience stomach discomfort. When she asks for the Bearded Man, she was told the man has left already.
Lei-er returns to the place where the Bearded Man sold his miracle drugs the day before, only to be met by angry people who are all suffering from indigestion. They are demanding the return of their money because the drug is fake. Since Bearded Man is not around, the angry people accused Lei-er of being in on the scam perpetrated by Bearded Man. A chase ensues, with Wu Kui making an appearance in time to save Lei-er from a beating.
Wu Kui tells the angry mob that people should discuss things instead of using force to settle issues. This makes the mob suspect him of being in cahoots with Lei-er and the Bearded Man. Lei-er explains that Wu Kui does not work for the Bearded Man. Wu Kui’s stomach starts acting up again and was about to leave but the mob would not let him unless he returns their money.
Wu Kui ends up giving Lei-er money just so he could escape.
Master Yuan Tou writes a letter to Wu Kui telling him that he has to go away to look for the rare herbs that will cure Wu Kui’s weakness. He does not know how long it will take, but he promises Wu Kui that he will return as soon as he completes his task. He tells Wu Kui to wait for him at the inn. He leaves the letter on top of the table, but a wind blows it off the table to land on the floor so that Wu Kui does not see it upon his return to the inn.
Wu Kui arrives at the inn and tells the attendant to inform Master Yuan Tou that they have to leave immediately. The attendant informs him that his Master packed up his things and left the inn already. Wu Kui thinks that his Master left because he is ashamed to face Xiao DingBang because of their lies, but he is also thankful that his Master has left already so he will be saved from Wu Kui’s new troubles.
Wu Kui starts packing up his things and instructs the attendant to prepare a horse and cart for him, and to look for some farmer’s clothes and a straw hat for him.
We then jump to another scene. A group of merchants/traders are accepting applications for the police force they are forming to keep the peace in Shanhai Town. However, the proceedings are interrupted when a bully and his gang begin heckling the crowd. I will call this man Watermelon Guy as he keeps eating watermelon.
Watermelon Guy has an ulterior motive in disrupting the proceedings, he really wants to be appointed Captain of the police force. But before that could happen, one of his gang mates, Wu Chuzi, accidentally shots him with the rifle owned by Watermelon Guy. Wu Chuzi is the fat guy in the picture below. He is one of the characters that will play a crucial role in this drama so let us remember his face.
Wu Chuzi thought that he will be punished for killing Watermelon Guy. However, Xiao Ding Bang arrives and determines that actually Wu Chuzi helped their town in getting rid of a bully, so in effect Wu Chuzi did their town a great service. He recommends that Wu Chuzi be given the opportunity to be Captain of the police force.
Lei-er finally escapes from the angry mob and is walking along when she meets up with Xiao Wu Kui who has disposed of his Western clothes and hat, and is now wearing peasant garb and a straw hat. He still looks so handsome, though!
They recognize each other. Lei-er apologizes for what happened, and promises to return his money once she has earned enough. Wu Kui says something that makes Lei-er think that she does not have to pay him back, so she keeps thanking him. However, in her exuberance she ends up pushing Wu Kui around, which angers him.
He begins to sum up what she actually owes him. Aside from the money he lent her, she also needs to pay him for damages: mental damage, physical damage, loss of face, loss of reputation, etc. etc.
They begin to argue. Lei-er tries to escape, but Wu Kui follows her in his cart.
The bandit group led by Dumb Wolf stops a caravan of travelling people. A fight ensues and pretty soon Wu Kui and Lei-er accidentally find themselves in the middle of the fight.
The person being escorted reveals herself – a beautiful woman.
The fighting stops once the men gets a glimpse of her. Even Wu Kui is taken by her prettiness. She tells the bandits to stop fighting, she will just pay toll. But the bandits want everything she has, not just a portion of what she has. Fighting resumes.
To save the beautiful woman from the bandits, Wu Kui joins the fight and soon finds himself fighting with Dumb Wolf. Woah! Way to go Wu Kui! I love JHJ’s fight scenes! Wu Kui is strong at first but we know that he knows up to 3 moves only. He starts to breathe deeply and his stance is not so steady.
While the fight is underway, Lei-er tries to escape by climbing up the side of the hill.
Wu Kui knows that he will lose the fight if it goes too long, so he starts to talk his way out of the situation. He tells the bandits that because of his martial arts skills if they continue fighting him, the bandits will all die laughing. Dumb Wolf thinks he is just bluffing, so he continues his attack on Wu Kui.
Meanwhile, Lei-er slips down from the side of the hill, straight to Wu Kui’s back. As soon as her hands touch Wu Kui’s back a spark ignites from her hand and travels to Wu Kui’s body. Which then gives Wu Kui’s hands the strength to push off Dumb Wolf strongly.
Dumb Wolf heavily and painfully lands on the ground. Wu Kui is amazed at his strength. While the bandits are distracted, Wu Kui drives the beautiful woman’s caravan away from the bandits. Lei-er hitches a ride with them.
As Wu Kui drives the cart, every time he hits a bump in the road the woman who is clinging to his back changes – first the beautiful woman, then Lei-er. Wu Kui’s tone of voice and facial expression change depending on which woman is clinging to his back – soft and concerned when it is the beautiful woman; sharp and strict when it is Lei-er’s turn.
They keep hitting bumps on the road until the caravan lay damaged on the road. Lei-er fell off first from the back, then Wu Kui out front. Wu Kui saves the beautiful woman, with both of them landing on the ground with the beautiful woman on top of Wu Kui. Awkward!
The 3 are stranded. For some reason, Wu Kui begin to recognize Lei-er as a girl he met somewhere else, not just at the marketplace in Guangzhou. Lei-er becomes hungry, begins to look around for food.
Wu Kui asks for the beautiful woman’s name and she replies: “Moya.” Wu Kui tells her his name.
Moya comments that his clothes does not seem to suit his status, as Lei-er treats him as someone who is her better. Wu Kui replies that the clothes are his disguise because he got into trouble because of Lei-er. Wu Kui reveals that he is on his way home to Shanhai Town, and Moya replies that she is on her way there too.
Lei-er catches frogs for food. However, when she offered some of her catch to Wu Kui and Moya, Moya turns down the offer. Wu Kui says no also despite feeling very hungry because he wants to impress Moya. Foolish boy!
THOUGHTS
First of all thanks to Charlene and other Chinese fans for all their inputs; they made understanding this episode a lot easier.
This episode continues to introduce some of the major characters aside from Lei-er and Wu Kui who will figure prominently in the story.
This episode also further establishes the personalities of the main characters: Lei-er is positive, cheerful and strong. Wu Kui is physically weak but intelligent; he uses his intelligence to get out of the troubles he gets into. He also has a tendency to lie or to embellish to cover up his physical weakness. Wu Chuzi started out as the minion of a bully. Will he continue on his bullying ways or will he change after being given another chance after killing his former boss? Dumb Wolf is strong, but seems a bit lacking in the brains department. Moya seems to be a sweet, pretty woman, or at least that is what she presents to those she meets.
One of our visitors in the blog, Liv, mentioned the soft lighting used in the drama, and that the soft light brings out JHJ’s brown eyes. And she’s right! I especially love the picture below showing JHJ’s brown eyes… so beautiful!
I love how expressive everyone is but without overacting. Even JHJ is more expressive here than in his Korean dramas, but without going overboard with the facial expressions. I also noticed that the cameramen really loves JHJ’s face, they keep giving him close ups! I think he is the character in this drama who gets the most close up shots! Which makes JHJ fans very happy! 🙂
I am looking forward for more hijinks now that most of the major characters have met already.
.
Credit: Video as labelled and Charlene for help in the recap. Thanks!
10 thoughts on “King Rouge: Episode 2 recap (Updated)”
Hi Prissymom,
Since I don’t understand what they are saying I’ll just interpret what I think the scenes are based on some clues I can see… 🙂
With regards to the angry mob… I think they are demanding for their money back and Wu Kui gave them the money. If you notice that before he was able to leave to go to the toilet, he took out bills from his pocket and gave it to Lei-er. The mob descended on her as soon as they saw the money.
I’ll cheat a bit since I already seen later episodes… 🙂
The monk wasn’t exactly leaving for good. I think he left a letter to Wu Kui to explain where he’s going and that he’ll be back.
The scene where the man with the watermelon… I think is gathering of merchants. The men in on the top of the stairs including Wu Kui’s father are head merchants in their town. The gathering looks like they are recruiting people. There are people lining on the side where I think is where the towns people can sign up… the table contains papers that look like application forms. Other people in the background looks like they are trying to impress the employers…. some are trying to lift weights(perhaps to show that they are capable of carrying and lifting the merchandise). I think watermelon guy works on contract with the merchants as guards for their travelling merchants… Since there are bandits robbing merchants while they are travelling through the mountains. (The watermelon guy looks like a gangster. I supposed it’s part of the job to intimidate people).
With regards to Wu Kui confrontation with Alyan (aka Dumb Wolf). To get himself out of the fight, he made comments about the bandits outfit. Since people in town dresses in a more traditional chinese costume, the bandit’s outfit looks outrageous and loud to normal folk.
Wu Kui is really putting his best foot forward to impress Moya. I find it funny that because he was so hungry, he’s tempted to eat the frog that Lei-er cooked. But one look of disapproval from Moya is all it takes to stopped him.
i find Lei-er child-like. She’s very trusting and always look at the good in people. Which is why she’s taken advantage of by other people who knows her personality. She’s very compassionate and would give even her last money for someone who needs it more.
LIV you are right that the angry mob being fooled by the miracle pill gets their compensation from Wu Kui. He is being mistaken as one of the fraudsters because he is the first person to buy it.
Letter from Monk to Wu Kui is that he is leaving to find the rare herbs to prepare for a medicinal pill to cure his weakness, he does not know how long that will take but promised to come back once he completes the task.
Counter with Dumb Wolf ends up with Wu Kui bluffing that he is going to hurt him badly after the 3 moves they are still in a tie. Once he used his full strength the opponent will be injured physically as well as the inner strength.
thanks for posting the recap. it seems that the drama is pretty fun to watch. I will look for the drama now.. and I’m now curious about the story and how JHJ seems looked very very handsome in this drama! 😉
yup prissymom.. unfortunately, it doesn’t have yet english subtitiles. What I love most is that JHJ style is very charming, good looking and young, just like in 49 Days. A little bit different with his “quite old” style in King’s Daughter.. hehe. just my 2 cents 😉
Well, in “King’s Daughter” JHJ’s character was raised by a strict king. Myeong Nong grew up knowing that he is the crown prince, the future king of his kingdom. King Muryeong raised him to be aware of the enormity of the responsibilities that go with the crown prince title. So adult Myeong Nong has to exude a mature and dignified aura.
While in “49 Days” there are no such high expectations of Han Kang even if he grew up rich. He can do whatever he wants. He can work if he wants to work, or not, if he doesn’t.
Here in “King Rouge”, even if his family (especially his father) expects Wu Kui to take over the management of the escort agency someday, it seems their expectations of Wu Kui are tempered by the knowledge of his physical weakness. And it seems that while growing up, Wu Kui has been coddled by Aunt Gui so Wu Kui has a tendency to be a bit immature.
Simply JO HYUN JAE 
Hi Prissymom,
Since I don’t understand what they are saying I’ll just interpret what I think the scenes are based on some clues I can see… 🙂
With regards to the angry mob… I think they are demanding for their money back and Wu Kui gave them the money. If you notice that before he was able to leave to go to the toilet, he took out bills from his pocket and gave it to Lei-er. The mob descended on her as soon as they saw the money.
I’ll cheat a bit since I already seen later episodes… 🙂
The monk wasn’t exactly leaving for good. I think he left a letter to Wu Kui to explain where he’s going and that he’ll be back.
The scene where the man with the watermelon… I think is gathering of merchants. The men in on the top of the stairs including Wu Kui’s father are head merchants in their town. The gathering looks like they are recruiting people. There are people lining on the side where I think is where the towns people can sign up… the table contains papers that look like application forms. Other people in the background looks like they are trying to impress the employers…. some are trying to lift weights(perhaps to show that they are capable of carrying and lifting the merchandise). I think watermelon guy works on contract with the merchants as guards for their travelling merchants… Since there are bandits robbing merchants while they are travelling through the mountains. (The watermelon guy looks like a gangster. I supposed it’s part of the job to intimidate people).
With regards to Wu Kui confrontation with Alyan (aka Dumb Wolf). To get himself out of the fight, he made comments about the bandits outfit. Since people in town dresses in a more traditional chinese costume, the bandit’s outfit looks outrageous and loud to normal folk.
Wu Kui is really putting his best foot forward to impress Moya. I find it funny that because he was so hungry, he’s tempted to eat the frog that Lei-er cooked. But one look of disapproval from Moya is all it takes to stopped him.
i find Lei-er child-like. She’s very trusting and always look at the good in people. Which is why she’s taken advantage of by other people who knows her personality. She’s very compassionate and would give even her last money for someone who needs it more.
LIV you are right that the angry mob being fooled by the miracle pill gets their compensation from Wu Kui. He is being mistaken as one of the fraudsters because he is the first person to buy it.
Letter from Monk to Wu Kui is that he is leaving to find the rare herbs to prepare for a medicinal pill to cure his weakness, he does not know how long that will take but promised to come back once he completes the task.
Counter with Dumb Wolf ends up with Wu Kui bluffing that he is going to hurt him badly after the 3 moves they are still in a tie. Once he used his full strength the opponent will be injured physically as well as the inner strength.
Liv and Charlene, thank you for your inputs. I understand everything now.
I really find Wu Kui’s bluffing so funny.
Pingback: King Rouge: Episode 3 recap (Updated, 04.10.2013) | Simply JO HYUN JAE
Pingback: King Rouge: Episode 3 recap (Updated) | Simply JO HYUN JAE
thanks for posting the recap. it seems that the drama is pretty fun to watch. I will look for the drama now.. and I’m now curious about the story and how JHJ seems looked very very handsome in this drama! 😉
it is a funny drama. there are sad moments too, but it is generally a light and fun watch.
yup prissymom.. unfortunately, it doesn’t have yet english subtitiles. What I love most is that JHJ style is very charming, good looking and young, just like in 49 Days. A little bit different with his “quite old” style in King’s Daughter.. hehe. just my 2 cents 😉
Well, in “King’s Daughter” JHJ’s character was raised by a strict king. Myeong Nong grew up knowing that he is the crown prince, the future king of his kingdom. King Muryeong raised him to be aware of the enormity of the responsibilities that go with the crown prince title. So adult Myeong Nong has to exude a mature and dignified aura.
While in “49 Days” there are no such high expectations of Han Kang even if he grew up rich. He can do whatever he wants. He can work if he wants to work, or not, if he doesn’t.
Here in “King Rouge”, even if his family (especially his father) expects Wu Kui to take over the management of the escort agency someday, it seems their expectations of Wu Kui are tempered by the knowledge of his physical weakness. And it seems that while growing up, Wu Kui has been coddled by Aunt Gui so Wu Kui has a tendency to be a bit immature.
Pingback: King Rouge: Episode 14 recap (Updated) | Simply JO HYUN JAE