Episode 34 Recap - In a Class of Her Own (2020)

Episode 34 recap

In which the Academy rise up to take down Lord Han and the heroine turns herself in

Commander Lei watches, worried, as Feng Cheng Jun is taken away... At the Han manor, Miss Han pleads with Lord Han to see reason and not to use his office to pursue petty personal vengeance, but he slaps her for speaking up for Feng Cheng Jun. (🐼:Not a nice man that one😠).  

In dorm room 2, Xue Wen Xi is distraught and wants to rush to Feng Cheng Jun's rescue, but Yu Le Xuan reminds her to keep the big picture in mind. He says that Feng Cheng Jun's background will protect him - they will need more evidence to pin anything on him - and that he must have confessed to protect someone. (🐼:Looking at you, girlfriend). And Xue Wen Xi realises that Feng Cheng Jun must have found out that she's a girl. 

Ep 34: Lei Ze Xin wounded, Yu Le Xuan worried

Lei Ze Xin stirs. He says that he never killed anyone - it must have been a set up by Lord Han. He also mentions that there was also another person in black distributing pamphlets who Lord Han also tried to implicate...

Elsewhere, Han Sheng Zhi is devotedly caring for the wounded Miss Mu. He asks if she ever truly loved him when they were together, or whether it was solely to investigate the past. She replies that she did love him, but nothing matters now, she only wants redress for her family. 

Ep 34: Righteous anger from Mo Xiao Huan

At the Academy, all are united in rage at what Lord Han has done, in bringing violence to their grounds in defiance of the Emperor's edict. Especially incensed is the normally ridiculous Principal Feng and Mo Xiao Huan, whose grandfather happens to be a big wig at court - one of the founding ministers of the empire. The whole Academy decide to protest Lord Han's misdeeds by writing to their relatives in power and Mo Xiao Huan says he will get his grandfather on the case.   

Lord Han publicly breaks off the marriage alliance between the Han and Feng families on the pretext of Feng Cheng Jun's crimes of spreading sedition. Governor Feng asks him where his proof is. He says the pamphlets accuse him, so why would his son spread these rumours? Lord Han says it's a ploy. Governor Feng then asks, since Gu Da Cho is dead, who can say that he, Governor Feng, didn't take bribes? He says he will ask Master Wang to investigate all the accounts of bribery, starting with himself. Lord Han says there is no need as he can investigate, but Lord Mo (grandfather to Mo Xiao Huan) steps in to say that Lord Han is not qualified to investigate the case as he has ignored an imperial edict in assaulting students of the Academy and is a criminal. (🐼:Go Grandfather Mo!👍) Master Wang steps in - going forward he will personally investigate the case. Governor Feng is placed in jail - but Master Wang goes to visit him there, saying he understands that Governor Feng is trying to bring down Lord Han's cronies and power structure by putting himself in danger, and that he will clear his name. 

Ep 34: Xue Wen Xi confesses 

Meanwhile, Xue Wen Xi arrives to turn herself in as the distributor of the pamphlets to save Feng Cheng Jun. But Lord Han says that she must have been in league with him, as two black robed persons were sighted, one tall, one short... (🐼: Oh 💩, that was not smart).

When Lei Ze Xin and Yu Le Xuan find out, the wounded Lei Ze Xin resolves to go to the rescue. Yu Le Xuan tries to stop him - "who will discover the truth if we are all caught?" 

But Lei Ze Xin says he must rescue Feng Cheng Jun and "Wen Bin" if there is any hope left, just as he too would rescue Yu Le Xuan if it was he that was captured.(🐼:💛) Before he leaves, Lei Ze Xin kneels to his master Teacher Liu, in thanks for his rescue and his master tells him that his father also helped that night.

Ep 34: Father and Son reconcile💛

Lei Ze Xin visits his father at the Lei manor. There is a touching father and son reconciliation scene. Commander Lei tells Lei Ze Xin that he has never forgotten his eldest son - he only disowned him at his request to protect the rest of the family, and has been tirelessly investigating the past in secret so that it won't endanger Lei Ze Xin(🐼:💛). 

But to prevent his son going to his death, Commander Lei locks him in. 

Despite being wounded, Commander Gu didn't die and is able to indicate that the assassin had a prominent scar on his hand (so it wasn't Feng Cheng Jun). He and Commander Lei figure out that it was Commander Xu, under Lord Han's orders. On Commander Gu's testimony and that of those at the Academy about Feng Cheng Jun's whereabouts on the night in question and because of Feng Cheng Jun's total lack of injuries, Master Wang rules that the assassin cannot have been Feng Cheng Jun, to Lord Han's annoyance.  Master Wang also asks why "Wen Bin" has been placed in a county jail and not sent to him for interrogation. 

Feng Cheng Jun goes to see his father in jail, saying he does not believe that his father took bribes or organised the killings. Governor Feng tells him that the truth will eventually come to light. 

Back at the Lei manor, Lei Ze Xin pleads with his father to let him go to rescue his innocent brothers, Feng Cheng Jun and "Wen Bin". Commander Lei tells him that Feng Cheng Jun has been released and that Master Wang will see to Wen Bin's safety. He tells his son not to be so reckless in future and to recuperate from his wounds. 

But Lord Han plans to have "Wen Bin" killed en route to Master Wang, and she is surrounded by assassins... 

Thoughts

🐼:This episode was somewhat chaotic - the stand out moment for me was the touching reconciliation between Lei Ze Xin and his father and Lei Ze Xin's determination to rescue his brothers. Though honestly, I think Yu Le Xuan is the only one using his brains in this, the others are all just frantically reactive...