The Princess's Gambit Episode 26

Episode 26: Exploiting the Chancellor's Weaknesses

I watched episode 26 just now. This episode was really interesting. There was even a bit of a partnership between Shen Zai Ye and Jiang Tao Hua. We saw several pieces of the mystery begin to come together. Jiang Tao Hua let herself be helped by Shen Zai Ye. Shen Zai Ye's weakness is being exploited by the 3rd prince. The king was persuaded by SZY's arguments. Even his sister helped find a clue favorable to the 4th prince. Qigntai finally treated SZY with respect and not as the "treacherous chancellor". And I liked their little talk: SZY and Qingtai. Only the look of SZY's aide was a little disappointed with Qingtai, but she is just like him, serving her masters to the end. But SZY said (don't regret it). Meng Zhen and Shen Zai Ye making the deal for the antiduct: this moment was interesting.

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Spy vs spy

The players are circling wanting the truth spun from their view. Third prince is not concerned with the actual truth as long as he can tie it to 4th prince. The princess and chancellor both know 4th prince is innocent and wanting the truth discovered. Ms Meng has a POS relative that wants to spend more effort spending and cheating than simply putting in the work to accomplish the task on his own. Circumstances point to the arrogant scholar that wanted to buy exam question. He argued with 2nd prince and pushed him, then fled from the scene rather than try to help injured prince. There is a slight discrepancy with lotus footprints and possibly two spots with blood clues. The investigation is still in progress. Ms Meng is becoming more like her father. She tortures scholar parents to get confession about pendant and then has aide’s parents to impede investigation. She stands her ground with chancellor over antidote pills and reach an agreement. The third prince makes a point to delay antidote to see how chancellor will react. He is like the cat that likes to play with his food. He rather likes smiling from the sidelines watching the discomfort caused by his machinations. Ms Meng is going to a dark place but fully invests herself. This is her only means to control her life so she will do nothing half assed. She knows what her brother endured and willing to uphold his legacy at all costs. She knows the chancellor has a deep grudge against her family, but I am not sure she knows why. She most likely thinks it is due to her family ties to silver mine rather than a very personal vendetta because of his parents’ murders. I also don’t know if third prince understands the tie between chancellor, 4th prince and Meng family. He is hitting the right tones to make these resonate with the chancellor, even if unknowingly. Does the household wear the same soled shoes or was Princess also there? That is a big question for chancellor. The bodyguard is being sent home to find Prince. The princess will not be swayed and has given her a general direction to head to find him. I believe she is cutting off chancellor and guard so they aren’t a weakness for her til she has antidote recipe. She also wants them distant in case her luck runs out and she dies waiting on antidote. I enjoyed watching the pair interrogate jade crafters. They both reached same conclusion. The princess’ knack with art and memory is a valuable skill set. Third prince would be handling things differently if he was aware. As the characters play different players in chess, I wonder what they see and how it makes them strategize. I would like to see Ms Meng and Princess play a game and Princess and chancellor. That would make for some interesting interactions. The emperor is in increasingly poor shape but at least coherent enough to recognize the significance of the evidence and to let the chancellor investigate. I hope the emperor changes the exam question to level the playing field for all participants.

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