Episode 12 Summary: Intrigue Abounds

So this episode had a LOT going on in it:

1. Ruo'er reacts to Min Dai's visit by banning her from ever entering her palace.

2.The emperor stays by Li'er's side until she is recovered. It seems they have a descent dialogue at first before it returns to her saying she hates him again. He seems to be killing her with kindness and takes care of her wounds personally and tells her that she is never to answer to any summons unless he has granted permission first and he tells her 'you are mine'.

3.Li'er is conferred a new tittle--the highest title in the harem beneath the Queen--she is named a Madame for giving birth to a son and given a lot of gifts. At the same time this happens, Ruo'er is tearing up her room as she is enraged.

3.Later that night, she goes for a moonlit stroll and takes out the purple scarf and thinks about Jing and how she misses him. The emperor is behind her and it doesn't seem like he noticed. He does tell her he has changed his mind and will keep the child close, because he believes it will keep her close. He also tells her that as long as she is by his side he is happy and will not force her and will wait until she comes to him willingly. (This seems out of his personality but then you can't call it a romance if he forces her).

--Now a lot of political stuff happens--

4.Ghao, the eunuch who has been serving the emperor, is apparently sympathetic to Zhao as it is his country. He visits the Prince of Yan, who has been held hostage (recall he was drinking with the emperor after his little brother's betrayal) and tells him that the emperor has given Zhao some sort of sign or tacit permission that it is okay to attack Yan. He tells him that this could be a great chance for Zhao and Yan to unite as allies against the emperor whom he suspects may be manipulating the states against each other.

5.Prince Yan points out that he is powerless to do anything as he has been a hostage for years. Ghao sends out a messenger to the Zhao army, but this messenger is caught and forced to reveal the contents of the message: that the emperor plans to use the attack on Yan as an excuse to attach Zhao.

6.The King of Zhao is furious when he learns about this cunning trick and vows to kill Zheng. Unfortunately, he immediately dies after. It could have been a stroke or heart attack from the stress. he bleeds from the mouth so it could have been poison. Anyways, his death scene was fairly dramatic and I liked it.

7. Meanwhile, Ghao Zhao is angry that his messenger was intercepted because this means that the emperor is aware that someone in the palace is plotting against him. he is thankful that his identity isn't revealed but realizes he needs to replan his course of action. So he contacts Crown Prince Jia (recall he worked to incite little brother to rebel with the letter)

8.Li Si makes an announcement that the emperor is looking for new talents to differentiate between friend and foe--this is leaning towards a merit system and not a hereditary one. I think.

9.Needing to change his plan quickly, Ghao Zhao appeals to Ruo'er who agrees to fund him if she in turn does something for him--kill Li'er's child.

10. Elder Disciple continues to sneak into the palace (this made no sense at first but it does later) and she continues to tell him things she shouldn't, like how she has never had sexual relations with the king. He tries to kill the emperor but he was pretending to be asleep--his guards rush in but he escapes (so they were actually aware someone was sneaking in).

11.Tiang Ming is kidnapped and the emperor vows to kill every servant looking after him unless he is found.

--I forgot to add (update) that there is a scene in this episode in which Jing basically breaks down in tears and thinks back on the choices he made/words he said to Li'er regarding her desire to live peacefully in isolation. He is filled with such regret for this --it's a good scene, minus the flashbacks, which I think this show uses far too much of--

Thoughts: So this episode was hard to follow if only because I am bad with names and a lot of people who had cameos earlier were brought in. Also, Ghao Zhao looks really different with his hat off so I didn't make the connection between him and someone else from earlier. I think the king's paranoid makes sense, as it seems he has collected a number of people over the years from other states to secure peace when needed and he has a lot of spies around him. Some of the writing was a bit redundant, like the I hate you stuff. The focus of this episode was clearly politics but they continued to give screen time to the main couple to please viewers watching this purely for romance, i think. Which I can understand; a lot of people abandon a show if it focuses too heavily on palace intrigue. This is something I think that Chinese dramas are superior in writing compared to Kdramas (just my opinion).

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