The Princess's Gambit Episode 24

The making of an emperor

4th prince has made it a point to oversee the care of scholar’s body. He has resolved to get examinations reinstated. His determination is shown by kneeling until the emperor makes a decision on the matter. The second brother is not showing a kind face to this. He is at first flippant, but once seeing the emperor is considering it, his avaricious nature is showing through and third prince and Ms Meng plan to make use of it and crush him with it. The chancellor also makes use of it. By pretending to side with emperor’s callous position on 4th son, he puts it in place with nobles and common men. Does the emperor dare stand up to the nobles or the rebellion of the people? He manages to manipulate the two princes being made directors of the examinations and for him to be in charge of the scholar hall. The chancellor was intended to throttle the flow of the commoners making it more difficult for them to participate, but the chancellor had other plans. He has extended the invitation far and wide to all remote quarters that 4th prince fought for them to have the right to be recognized if qualified. This is starting a grassroots movement in favor of 4th prince rule. The empress and third prince want to counter and Ms Meng as a leader of noble family can choose to favor the noble side of the discussion. She and third prince wisely surmise that second brother will sell off questions to lazy nobles and that this will trip up the second son. They both know the chancellor was behind moving the body and getting the rebellion started. They are still deciding how to deal with him. Third prince trying to distract with the princess. He hopes to make chancellor less focused by keeping his lover close yet distant. He is hoping the yearning lover will be less prepared for confrontation in future. The bodyguard has healed and back in the game peripherally. She has gone to Princess to let her know she has healed. The sis has also been sticking her nose in and fortunately was quieted by bodyguard before they were both discovered. Like 4th prince she has good intentions, but she is loud, impulsive and shortsighted. She inadvertently causes more harm than help. I hope the writer gives her more wisdom and has her train with bodyguard rather than sticking in at wrong times. The princess is complying with noncompliance. She sees through the plan of the third prince and while appearing to follow instructions she has insured the chancellor will be even more focused on the tasks at hand. The POS Meng scholar expects to do well on the future exam. Guess he expects uncle to pay for it.😝 The lovesick puppy eyes of the third prince as admonished to not fail the empress again. She is in for the long game and has chosen the prince most attuned to her thoughts and methods of execution. She has spent lots of time forging this alliance and I wonder if she has any contingency plan if this goes sideways. Is she as smart as she thinks she is, or is she simply a bully in the right place at the right time til knocked on her arse. This remains to be seen. For now, Ms Meng is the best piece on the board for opposition. She has working knowledge of all the key players. She is always underused and underestimated. Looking forward to how she pivots the pieces to take on the chancellor.

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