branchandroot

In keeping with my tendency to have interesting thoughts right before I have to go off and do something else for a while (in this case, all the chores I put off to attend a wedding), I find myself thinking about how Shen Wei reacts to Zhao Yunlan's relationship to his father, and what it suggests about how much he knows when--and also how he's situating himself.

We know that Shen Wei is known to Zhao Xinci, and given that no point is made of how calmly Zhao Xinci takes Professor Shen's civilian appearance, it seems reasonable to suppose that identity was also known to Zhao Xinci before his retirement. This actually makes me think that their relationship was probably on the chilly side of collegial, since Shen Wei's entire reason for keeping it from Zhao Yunlan was to prevent ZYL being involved in anyone who might be coming after the Envoy in either of his persons. Shen Wei doesn't care if Zhao Xinci is caught up in that, but also doesn't seem to believe that Zhao Xinci would take the opportunity to make trouble for Professor Shen, despite what must have been Zhao Xinci's very evident hostility toward his people. So I'm reading this as limited trust in Zhao Xinci's professionalism, but some trust. Collegial but chilly.

Given Zhao Xinci's mono-focus on his work, I doubt he ever mentioned his son to Shen Wei. At least (I speculate) until Zhao Yunlan was made Chief of the SID. Because something must have kept Shen Wei from visiting the unit tasked with apprehending his people or making himself known to its Chief, after being willing to have the previous one know of his civilian identity. My personal theory is that Zhao Xinci asked Shen Wei to only visit if it's unavoidable in the course of business. How he justified that... well, I could certainly see him suggesting that Yunlan would likely be disrespectful and frustrating to deal with. But given how Shen Wei later says (even after seeing what an asshole Zhao Xinci is capable of being to his son) that Zhao Yunlan was made Chief because Zhao Xinci believes in him, it also seems likely that there was something in what Zhao Xinci said that could be interpreted as pride in his son.

And I could also see Shen Wei, who is very aware of how feared he is, interpreting this as Zhao Xinci wanting to protect his son.

So, entering the window of canon, when Shen Wei notes that Zhao Yunlan gets all white-knuckled while discussing his father, and deflects questions about it later, my theory is that he thinks this is a normal degree of father-son tensions going on. He's seen, by then, that Zhao Yunlan is Zhao Xinci's opposite in a lot of ways--intuitive, brilliant, unconventional--so it's quite reasonable to think that they would not always get along, probably have difficulty communicating. But if said difficulty affects Zhao Yunlan so, then it probably also seems reasonable that they do love each other still.

Which further suggests that, when Shen Wei goes along with Zhao Yunlan to visit his mother's grade, and Zhao Yunlan tenses up over seeing the flowers his father had brought, Shen Wei isn't talking at random. When he brings up the fact that many of his people resent him for his apparent betrayal of Dixing's interests, not understanding that he's just trying to keep the peace, he's also talking about Zhao Xinci. He's trying, sidelong, to help reconcile father and son, because he hasn't yet seen anything except understandable family tension surrounding what he already knows is Zhao Xinci's tunnel vision over his work and the family tragedy that was, in part, a result of it.

Similarly, when he goes to talk with Zhao Xinci behind Yunlan's back, asking Zhao Xinci to keep the Ministry away from Zhao Yunlan, as far as he knows he's asking someone else who loves Zhao Yunlan to help protect him (an impression that Zhang Shi reinforces). I think he knows perfectly well Zhao Yunlan will be pissed off, if he learns of it. I also think there's some consternation in Shen Wei's reaction, when Zhao Yunlan asks if he can ever trust Shen Wei again, because of this. My reading, here, is that he still doesn't understand why Zhao Yunlan reacts that badly.

As an aside, I also think Shen Wei's attitude toward Zhao Xinci during that interview reflects most strongly where he's situating himself, in this relationship. He's remarkably conciliatory, given his shock, disbelief, and anger in the lab, when he realizes what the Institute is doing with that 'serum experiment'. And I theorize that it's because he's not just speaking with the Director of the Bureau of Supervision--he's speaking to his beloved's father. He's speaking to prospective family in-law. He's trying to be proper about it.

Which brings us to the roof, when the SID arrives just in time to keep Zhao Xinci from getting killed, and Yunlan offers himself in his father's place, and his father proceeds to heap contempt on him in an effort to prevent Wang Xiangyang from thinking he can hurt Zhao Xinci by taking Yunlan up on it. It obviously hurts Zhao Yunlan, by he's not shocked. He expects those kind of words, if not perhaps quite that virulence.

What fascinates me is Shen Wei's response. He's shocked, I think. But he doesn't, then, respond with anger toward Zhao Xinci. Instead he turns his whole attention on Zhao Yunlan, ignoring even the bad guys, everything channeled into concern for Yunlan. As homicidally protective as he is of Yunlan at pretty much every other moment, that caught my attention. Together with his attitude toward Zhao Xinci when they meet in re the experiment and Yunlan, it makes me think that Shen Wei still has Zhao Xinci marked off, in his head, for familial treatment. When Zhao Xinci attacks Yunlan, that doesn’t seem to undo his status-marker. My reading is that Shen Wei ignoring Zhao Xinci is how he’s dealing with the conflict between that and his essential need to erase anything that threatens Zhao Yunlan.

Which suggests, in turn, that there is /all sorts/ of glorious awkwardness in their future. I do have to suspect that Shen Wei’s treatment of Zhao Xinci as family is contingent on Zhao Yunlan continuing to demonstrate some desire for that to be the case. If Yunlan ever fully and finally decides that he’s done trying, Zhao Xinci would be well advised to keep his head down lest he lose it.