The Empress of China Episode 16

ep 16 spoilers ahead

16/96!

1.At the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince discusses with Changxin that General Hou is returning, having just defeated a Tibetan arm that was invading Jianun Circuit. He says his presence will be good for the Crown Prince as Hou, Du Zenglun, Yu Zhining, Li Ji, and Wei Zheng are all loyal to him (it seems now is the time to consider building up alliances). A clandestine meeting his been arranged at a sword school (not sure who will be in attendance).

2.Elsewhere, Hou Junji arrives. He is so respected that he can enter the council room with his armor and weapon and does not even have to bow to the emperor when in army (he still bows). Just before he appears, Crown Prince nominates him to take care of the issue of Qu Wetan who has colluded with Mongols, disregarded orders, and is blocking trade routes in the desert. Minister Wei objects, and is in the middle of calling Hou old as he walks in. This naturally annoys Hou who becomes belligerent, but stops when the emperor tells him to. He then sarcastically compliments Minister Wei and says there is no way someone like Wei could be treacherous or backstabbing (bwahhaa)

3.Hou receives the order and the crown prince is smug (this is a victory for him). Elsewehere, Prince Wei meets with Consort Wei (I was confused before, although they have the same name there is no relation)--he plans to use the calamity to his advantage and use it to take down Cairen Wu and discredit the crown prince. He encourages Consort Wei to remain patient and to not let her personal feelings get in the way.

4.At Xingyun court (Master Li/Taoist/astronomer) someone breaks in and hides just before he enters. Someone--Cheng Gong Gong who serves Consort Wei and tortured Wu earlier in the series--appears with an offer to ally with him and set up Wu. He wants to set her up as a witch, and plant incriminating evidence. Master Li refuses, and makes it clear that although he believes Wu should die, he will not assist in crimes. After he leaves, he calls out the intruder...

5.The intruder is Wu, and she knocks him out, she uses his knife to threaten him, tie him and, and basically rips into him about how he is a hypocrite, casually destroying peoples lives without thought or care, and hiding behind the 'good of the state' when all he and the ministers care about his power. Master Li disagrees and claims his intentions are pure and he is guided by reason and she accuses him of having no heart and breaks down in tears. The emperor comes, and Master Li conceals her presence, and then she thanks him but he makes it clear they are not friends, he merely does not seek to unjustly harm people (uh-huh)

6.The ministers congregate and learn ants outside the city have clumped together to form a sentence that shares the calamity with everyone (an easy trick that you can do with sugar or honey) while the commoners whisper that the crown prince lacks virtue (you can cause rumors very easily) They blame it on the crown prince and his lack of virtue.

7.The Taoist goes into 10 day seclusion and will have a name of who the Wu to kill is,

8.Chong'er, the son of Minister Wei, questions if Wu is a threat. Minister Wei says she is a threat, not to the current emperor but the next one. He says to not be blinded by kindness--she is extremely smart and capable and should be treated as a danger.

9.Worried for her safety, the emperor restricts Wu's movements so that she will be by his side by day and will only leave the palace with him, and will only accept food from a pre-approved person.

10.Elsewhere, crown prince lets off some steam during a sword duel and expresses his extreme frustration over Cairen Wu and how it implicates him.

11.Master Li mysteriously dies, and in his hand clutches a note, with Ru Yi's name on it (how convenient). Crown Prince wants to demand Wu's death, but his tutor cautions him. he tells him that he is always watching Prince Wu but that there are other princes--he tells him he should be worried about Prince Wei whom he knows is close with the Wei clan and Consort Wei. He cautions the crown prince and suggests he ally with Cairen Wu because 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' and she could be a friend in the future...in addition to this, he needs the harem on his side moving forward and since Cairen Wu is smart and favored by the emperor, he should use her.

12.Elsewhere, Xu Hui continues to hear whispers from the same eunuch, and while he praises Wu and says that although Xu Hui is ignored what ever good things happen to her will roll over to Xu Hui (its like saying, the emperor doesn't care about you but don't worry you will get the scraps). Xu hui looks increasingly anxious....

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