KJ2025

Three to one

The siblings arranged for the three shards to locate in one spot and YeTan decided that they could decide if staying or going. The sisters agreed to a meeting spot to head for a far off location that would keep them safe from the politics of war. What they did not count on was the poison in third Prince serving as a tracker for empress. She found them and a battle started. The three shards showed up of their own volition. They found out when they combined they had tremendous fighting power. After YeTan was struck by a severe blow, they joined all the other shards and the Empyrean Prince was reborn. The battle ended with the second son doing a valiant thing, he saved his mother. He was not fit to rule but he did have a shard of pure courage and love for his mother. It is a shame he was sacrificed, but this is probably the best thing he could have done that would give his life some righteous purpose. In those few minutes, he was the loving son that sacrificed all for the love of his mother. It was a beautiful moment. While she grieved the others went to their respective safe spots. Once in the heavenly realm, I am annoyed that the emperor is am ass. He is so tunnel visioned on what he thinks the proper behavior for the realm that it is devoid of many common enjoyments of emotion. He considers emotions an evil and had the prince shown any, he would have killed him I am about sure. His mother was disappointed at the don’t touch me version that returned and his rebuke of YeTan for running to him happily made his father ever so proud. The dad disgusted me in that moment because until he saw that, he was afraid his son loved his wife. This was not a victorious return for me, it was a bully demanding stoic behavior 24/7. I loved the thoughtful goodbye gifts from the three earthly shards. I think these three embody the best and most capricious parts of the prince’s personality. I am hoping he will share more emotion with YeTan privately and explain that he was just keeping his father happy. In the void the empress is complaining about the loss of her son tho she was the one that instigated it. The tyrant knows it is futile to take on the heavenly realm as they currently are. Both kingdoms have serious flaws but the void is still the most weak. Since he won’t start a war, at the end of the episode the empress is calling for the army.

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Mr smooth talker made chaste

YeTan discovers that Mr suave and debonair is too sly for her. She goes to plan B. This time she takes him to a ‘fortune teller’ that tells him to change his ways or his life will be short. She gets beast prince to give her earrings that will read minds and then sees how things go. She arrives to find that all the women he had charmed formed a mob and put a chastity belt on him. Since YeTan considers this just punishment, she doesn’t hurry herself to rescue him. QingKui has her own troubles. She still doesn’t know third Prince is poisoned, but she is aware empress and second son on a mission to get soul shards. She goes to empress seeking a bargain for sister’s life. She then misdirects them for as long as possible to give YeTan more time. This is where I get grieved with YeTan. She did not consider the danger of her sis and other shards while she is playing games with third shard.😝 QingKui would have weighed all the circumstances where YeTan always goes for what is closest. Now QingKui knows about the poison but foolish brave third prince is now facing accelerated poisoning and the empress is royally ticked with both of them. Third shard is realizing the grief he causes women and now taking responsibility to apologize. He will see them en masse again next episode.

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I can’t tell if he is a good man or bad man, but I know he really likes you

The child has summed up the chancellor pretty accurately. He isn’t really either. His moral compass is ambiguous because it walks a fine line in between. He does what is required no matter which side it is on. His thought process is rarely shown via his actions. Just like the vault escape they do not show her actual rescue from water. This is disappointing and not sure if events edited out or bypassed due to budget. The lovable granny is sacrificed and the child is now on her own til brother returns. The 4th Prince now knows the weight of blood on his hands and will weigh his decrees more before sending up the chain. He sees the reality of what the chancellor said and witnessed the prior preparations he had in place to prevent a massacre. I am hoping he will seek more counsel than his own in future. The princess has been out for several days. The little girl shares her puzzlement of the chancellor, not being able to decide if good or bad. She further whispered in confidence how he had not left her side. The chancellor takes on the heavy task of lighting the funeral pyre and the granddaughter is doing her best to bite a hunk out of his arm and blaming him personally for everything that had happened. He agrees with her. I think he is glad to have a scar to remind him of the innocents who pay the ultimate price for the power games of the royals and nobles. He challenges the girl to a game—he wins, she lives quietly in peace with her brother and puts this behind her—she wins, he must avenge the grandmother’s death and make it right. She wins the game. She has successfully beaten the wicked chancellor that brought death to her village. She also has enlisted the good chancellor that will avenge the great wrong and make right the theft of property and lives taken by greedy nobles. The prince and princess survey the mountains trying to determine the best route for carts. Here by studying and viewing from several angles, they begin to decipher the meaning behind the painting. After returning the wife is told by brother he has figured out how to dissolve their marriage but that chancellor needed closely watched during hunt. The third and 4th prince have added a change. Together they persuaded the emperor to change location of the hunt to crown prince hunting grounds. Again he runs and cries to Meng first son because his rash actions has again left a trail probably visible from space because he is greedy, careless, cowardly, and mentally incompetent for long term goals.😝 The chancellor and Princess have arrived while crown prince is saying they won’t live to return home. I am not sure if Princess has managed to get sister included after her ‘arrow incident’, but if it could be done, sis might also be there next episode.

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Hide and seek

Well the two princes showed up just in time. Kinda funny seeing psycho prince going to his friend. They’re going to tell dad what am I going to do?😝 He is a scary person but also a cowardly bully. 😝Seeing him and Meng made me curious about boy that saved Chancellor. Family or noble? Meng family must be local crime lords. They seem to run the operation and have embedded themselves for years. They will have a little black account book for all the nobles that have participated in the gambling hall and benefited from laundering counterfeit money to the masses. I really didn’t expect them to burn down the house, but chancellor had a point. The silver and gold won’t burn; just the incriminating evidence. Luckily and not, the prince responded quite promptly with the news before chancellor’s report. The emperor is not impressed that he watched and waited rather than correct his brother earlier. It is decided that a slap on the wrist will cover it as their hub has been dismantled. There is a heart in psycho Prince. He was truly distressed that oldest Meng son bore his punishment. He even fought for him to end it. The uncle then admonished him to be wiser and think of the consequences of his actions. The lesson didn’t sink in too far since he still manhandled a poor servant girl. Our Princess is very shrewd . She drew a full map for the chancellor and only half the map for her antidote handler. Unfortunately her tattoo was visible to Prince so he stormed into fabric shop. Fortunately the antidote made her flower invisible. But, she gave herself away talking too much. He recognized her voice. She is now being relentlessly hunted by his guards. They have to find her or not come home, so they are not going to stop looking for her. Her bodyguard comes and pleads her case to chancellor but is told the princess is clever enough to get herself home. As she slips down a large slope she is caught in his arms so he obviously rethought his response for aid. They manage to give the guards the slip and camp out in an animal den. So fun when she wakes up leaning on his shoulder and he’s like…I wasn’t being nice to you😂These two have such sweet moments in spite of their tense and life threatening circumstances.🥰A little girl finds them and basically tells them to get lost🤣 She has no patience for uppity people and doesn’t want to waste time or resources on them. She is not happy about the chicken sacrificed for them. When a traveling merchant come through the Princess buys treats for the girl. She begrudgingly accepts them.😂She is adorable and has a very sharp tongue for such a young lady. They can’t return to the house because they know they won’t survive, so they persuade the young girl to invite them home and while there, they notice counterfeit money has already made it to remote villages. The chancellor decides to stick around for awhile and wants the princess to chat with the women to find out as much as possible. He has not commented on what he is going to do other than say it was more important.😝 I like them better in the plainer clothes. They really do look like a couple dressed like this. The chancellor is already plotting how to proceed and so is the princess. She is going to learn what that painting means so she can find a way to tell all the royals to kiss off and get her brother safe. These two are interesting. They both stay quiet even if not calm when under duress and they consider collateral damage of their choices while also thinking outside the box on the fly. They are quite a remarkable pair.

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Bargaining chips

The princess and bodyguard get to the maid and break food carrier revealing painting. The princess gets the painting, memorizes the features and drops it into the fire destroying it. The chancellor and prince both see and the prince snidely wishes him a happy marriage celebration. He is unhappy about the painting but satisfied that chancellor didn’t get it either. The sister gets herself in trouble with the psycho prince and right when things look bad the eunuch comes in with a gift for the sister from emperor. The prince then offers a jade piece and leaves, I wonder if the jade piece is the one that opens the door of the vault in gambling house. The chancellor is ready to literally throttle the princess. She reminds him that the only way he gets the painting is her recreating it. He shrewdly tests her memory and skills with a series of ink paintings, where she successfully provides a decent rendition of them in correct order. She makes a three part negotiation to give him painting in three installments. Rather than recreate the painting, she recreates the signature block and has her bodyguard leave to make inquiries. In this episode, I feel sympathy for the wife. She is in exact same boat as the princess and is pressed for intel as well. It is more sad that this day is also her bday and only brother remembered her. I wonder if the chancellor was even aware? She tries to offer a divorce and the chancellor refuses. She is now basically a prisoner in house with no visitors or visiting permitted. She will have to plead sick until further notice. The Princess’ bodyguard has not returned and she tries a revised deal with the chancellor. He has his own issues because he has two weeks to solve counterfeit case or his records go to Prince and he is punished. He had already decided to visit gambling house but now doesn’t feel the need for the painting. He feels she overplayed her hand with triple request so now even tho he could get whole painting for finding bodyguard he is not interested. The Princess then finds the sister who helps her get to the gambling house. They are caught by chancellor and aide and while the Princess successfully gives them the slip the aide takes sister home. While the chancellor gambles to find source of counterfeit money, he wrongly assumed Princess wouldn’t be able to get in. She again successfully hides amongst the help and actually gets to third floor where she thinks bodyguard is being held hostage. The chancellor seas the vault door and that jade seal required to open it. He’s coming from basement and Princess from third floor. She comments that both of them not having a good night and coming up empty handed. Can’t wait to see his response next episode.

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Family discord

Challenge accepted and they agree to be a couple in love to spur on the one with the map. Did not expect humor, this episode in beginning felt like a completely different drama. The princess is now playing the part of the indulged concubine….the immediate separation and brushing of robes once entered the chambers 🤣 Him peeling shrimp for her. If she only knew what memories this evoked for him. The cooking scene. Let me put the spiciest spice on these delicate shrimp.😂 must eat they are watching.😂 They play off each other nicely and then tuck into their respective corners plotting. The sister has arrived home. She is over the top but likeable. She has found a location for women trafficking but the crowd doesn’t believe her. Throwing rocks at the Prince😂 he is not street smart enough to understand the significance of the act. The meeting with her and the bodyguard. I enjoyed this sparring match. The sister has preconceived bias about Princess but she respects the abilities of the bodyguard and speaks in her defense when the chancellor got the wrong opinion. They decide on a wedding fit for a princess figuring this will give the map holder opportunity to pass it off. They look beautiful and elegant in their ceremonial attire and it’s a shame it’s a sham. The Princes four are all in attendance which is an unusual accomplishment. I like how the three brothers make the psycho brother look cheap. The maid of the wife has passed a message to him and the pieces are in place. The wife gets the sister involved as a distraction and is somewhat successful. The princess and bodyguard see the maid leave and know the handoff is about to take place while the psycho prince threatens sister for assaulting him. The Princess has decided what her move will be when the episode ends.

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A little payback chancellor

I love how she quietly gets back at chancellor. The nice big piece of pork and getting others involved to be sure rituals are correct so that he has to show up😂 He got her back with the toast until she kissed him and gave it back.😂Beautiful move. Her truthful responses and then calm demeanor when her poison counteracted the truth drug. The wife is the dangerous one. She has intercepted the painting. The chancellor has countered since none of them have seen it. She can’t be certain if he is bluffing or telling the truth. She tries to frame the princess and is almost successful. The princess is caught sneaking into secret compartments but she astutely figures out which servant led her there. The writer of this gave her astute attention to detail. The chancellor has tea with his wife and warns her of mixed loyalties. He then has a meal prepared for Princess that has all her country favorite dishes, but she is scared to eat them. He leads her on a chase with chopsticks and surprisingly chooses a piece of pork to eat. He leaves after telling her she is going to attend a banquet with him. She suggests Lady Wen the appropriate one but he comments that her eye for detail will come in handy. He and the prince are playing chess with dangerous moves. I am hoping the Princess does well. Guess we will find out next episode. They have rated this drama 6.9 whatever haters did this, ignore. This is a min of 8.5 just these 3 episodes. It is action packed, well acted and plot so far decently written with lots of intrigue and harsh political moves. This is literally do or die so life is always on the line in this drama. There are no kind sides.

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Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

The princess ingeniously got herself out of a precarious situation. She manages to find a solution that pleased the emperor and kept her alive from her prison guards at the palace. It is hard to decide which country is the most cruel hers or the new one. She was forced to take a poison pill prior to leaving to keep her in line. If she passes on the required intel she gets the antidote and she and brother get to live another month. Her fake hanging has the chancellor intrigued but also alert she might be trouble for him. He therefore determines she deals with whatever his harem dishes out. This is the second drama I have watched with Meng ZiYi. She has done an incredible job of running through a gamut of emotions these two episodes. She knows the emperor will never allow her to marry the prince so she bargains for the chancellor. She even agrees to be his concubine. I liked how she corrected the pretend seamstress. This one will deliver the antidote on a regular schedule. The princess responds to great incivility with calmness and cool demeanor. She remains courteous and respectful while holding a line that lets them know there is a point she will defend herself. When presenting the toasts to the harem she performs admirably. The first concubine could not complain of wedding gown color or name addressed and I smiled when she failed to upset cup for serving. The third trial of kneeling was rather cruel. Nails were hid in the pillow and they mocked her for trembling so early. I would have been screaming by that point. She knows that she must find a painting that has a map everyone wants. The chancellor is also trying to track it down. He sees that she is going through the hazing better than expected and he is intrigued but on guard. He has no intention of trusting or making things easy on her. She is still kneeling on nails when episode ends.This was also a very eventful episode. Well done.

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Perpetrators and peaches

Seems like first son in-law capable of handling two households and two murders. It was despicable what he did. His daughter will make up for it and carry on DuoBao’s legacy part two. The governor is going to take care of part one. I’m glad the patriarch of family was well aware of DuoBao’s parentage but still considered him his son and heir. I do not know if the elder got second daughter and son in law pardoned but I hope not. They both went through the motions of trying to kill him even tho not the first. DuoBao has quite a legacy for his short life. He was the best of the Cao family. May his niece continue the work and live to surpass him. The peaches have arrived and anybody of royal importance has had reason to leave. The six will make their way to Chang’an with two sets of assassins….one set for each detective. Yang wants Lu gone and prime minister want Su gone, and both royals playing hardball for who’s in charge. All set for season 3. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

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Who isn’t guilty?

I give up on this group. They are all deceitful wretches. At least the eldest never considered killing the boy. But wanting to kill dad instead doesn’t make them good people. The butler and last wife should not gain 60% of the inheritance. The officials should be held accountable for accepting bribes to change the rules. Funny to see old man’s trick with pole, especially after Su was breathless and wheezing trying to cover same distance. The child thanked his father for the ice cream that killed him.😭 This whole miserable lot need locked up and key thrown away. The mom and butler had no reason to kill the boy. They are far from innocent but at least hopefully not guilty of that. I want them to wrap this up because circling around this vile family is getting tedious. They are all guilty of something in this group. Hopefully the writer doesn’t toss in a way for little granddaughter to be with the guilty.😝 she is the last that can be blamed.

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Redneck

Wow just when you think family can’t stoop lower. Third daughter dipped ice cream garnish in poison which was why DuoBao was making so many kitchen trips. This poison causes intense thirst. Interesting technique with rice ball and boiled vinegar cloth. Definite evidence of poisoning. The slickest part is she stashed it with rouges to look like another cosmetic. She nodded at father before separated so did they collude because son not interested in making money? The butler wife scenario is plausible to me., that they could pair up after funeral party. There is also something a bit off with official and third daughter. Elder son in law singing like canary because he is tired of family machinations. But you still have to wonder how those two could choke and suffocate a young boy and then marvel that the job was easier than expected. I am very sorry this child was killed, but he is better off in heaven than with this odious group. Once he had the inheritance what other malevolent plans would he have encountered? The granddaughter needs to marry outside of the family when grown and move far far away to never be heard of again by them. 😝Every person in this place has attitude about sheriff doing his job. I did like the thumbs up from Su when Lu threatened the governor with a report to the royals. That got his attention. And Su making him stick around two hours for their poison litmus test was deserved. He needed to see with his own eyes that more was going on. What a loathsome batch of miscreants. There is a special place in hell for those who kill innocents. Let them have their real inheritance.😝🤬

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Familial greed

The old man was a surprise. The contempt and almost disgust he had for his young son’s interest. Quite the polar opposite of all his philanthropy the day before. After seeing their actions youngest daughter and granddaughter are the only decent ones. The eldest has a chip the size of a mountain on her shoulder. The obedient daughter that did everything asked of her without standing up for herself til inheritance time. Daughter two is a thoughtless shopaholic with a cool breeze elder for hubby and wife is wondering what her lot will be with son gone. She was a 50 percenter…….maybe she will join 10% Club. Was the dad wanting son buried with him to honor him? Or hide evidence? Mr dancer has no defense except his wife wanted it done when shown his nail paint chip from the scene. All children and in-laws but third sis and granddaughter resented DuoBao. I don’t think they wanted him dead, but they resented the boy getting the bulk of inheritance. Considering how the father really felt about his son’s interests, I’m surprised he was getting the lion’s share too actually. After all this I guess custom demands the funeral feast even as murder investigation continues. This is a sad sorry bunch with two exceptions. The mother has a right to be distraught, but it seems overdone. Which is she crying over most? Her son or the loss of inheritance?

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Customs and family greed

When they get to the caves little DuoBao is a walking Wikipedia of all information of caves and surrounding areas. He takes them to the best cave where it looks like a picture of him is on the wall. This is the providers of the cave. At the gate, one official is clearly snide to Lu. It can only be assumed as an official he had privy to all Lu’s demotions without the understanding of the why’s. The Governor is the regular overly gracious official greeting them in to keep everything status quo. As they are entering they see lots of celebration about the upcoming boat festival. Cloth goods and abundant food is being distributed among the poor and an elderly man is responsible for it all. They are introduced later at a welcoming celebration. Everybody is having a good time til they hear of the 60 year funeral celebration. When one reaches 60 they are taken to a cave and provided for by their family until it is sealed a brick at a time. This has been a longstanding custom of this family but there are loud protests from all the guests. The elderly host finally apologizes for the downer to the meal but makes it clear he has no intention of changing the custom. Later that night an assassin enters the home and stops when sees Fei. Yingtao is good and got a weapon to his leg. He escapes but they guard the gate and make all exiting walk out the gate to catch the assassin. They get the guilty party and head back to interrogate. It is revealed that the son in law is unhappy that his wife only gets 10% of the inheritance. It was also revealed that the well loved butler took a bribe to reveal the will’s contents. The daughter was not aware of the plan til her husband arrived home injured. They devise a plan to sneak him out but it was thwarted at the gate. The elder wants him harshly punished. But as they are debating this the butler reveals that little DuoBao was murdered. This stuns the old man and he looks broken. It remains to be seen what will happen to the official for his murder attempt.

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Justice served and on to Mogao Caves

Su and Lu spent much time deliberating who may have done what that caused the designer’s death. What was determined is that no individual act had. It was decided that no murderer was involved in the case. However, when they reported their findings to the magistrate he said the killer had confessed to the crime, the town had already been notified, and the night market was back in business. This had our detectives a bit surprised but they agreed with him and left. Su spent several hours kneeling in apology towards Di. By the time Lu arrived, he gave responses and they agreed to move on from the case. The bottom line, the serial killer decided on death if he could not marry his lady and chose to do what he did best for a good cause for a change. When interviewed, he had no problems with the decision and told how he did it. Our guys could not argue that it was not a possibility. The wronged women could now have a much improved life and more lives were most likely saved. Fei’s cure has the shop owner cured and on her feet again, the one with market is selling lime and not pursuing men not wanting marriage, and the two sisters can now be together and enjoy each other’s company no matter where they end up. The icing was the name changed back to Shen on the fabric store. No trace left of the serial womanizer other than memorial stone. He can measure the flames where he is going😝 the cousin will now be a much better man as a result of seeing where his laziness was heading him. He has made some true friends and will now make something of himself, even if just a quiet honest life. Finally, XueHuan is back🥳😁 He was most happy to run into Lu, literally😂 Lu was helping build a canal for Yunding and was a mess and did not want to get his disciple dirty. I don’t think the disciple cared. 😂They find out when returning to town that Lu has a new Jove. He will be escorting 18 crates of royal golden peaches. This is not a job Lu expected to get. The young disciple challenged by the constable.😂It was a close match and Lu instructed him on footwork to take the win.😂 lead constable very loyal but also most determined to find himself on the wrong side of a challenge.😂 Lu and Su learn the XueHuan was sent by the princess to give Lu a bead on the climate in Chang’an. She wanted the boy to help protect Lu and to let him know that it was still not safe for him to return to the capital. This is in direct contrast to the imperial order instructing him to accompany the peaches there. They know it is a test of Lu’s loyalties. He seriously considers not going back and finishing the canal, working for the people of Yunding. However, Su reminds him he can’t just ignore a royal order. Lu wants the others to stay behind but that is resoundingly rejected and they decide to tour the Mogao caves en route to Shazjou. For tonight, they plan to order an expensive meal and drink heartily. The line of the poem recited by Lu at the end of the episode is especially poignant. I am so happy to see XueHuan finally included back in story, but I am not so happy with the royal conflict being brought to their doorstep. They are obviously heading for a season 3 with this job heading back to Chang’an.

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Sweet poison

The designer was a womanizing serial killer. He had sweet words followed up by sweet poison. I am glad the innkeeper got ChuBin out of the coffin in time. I a, not sure why she didn’t just go home to her sister.They could have take. Care of him before any more victims. There is a line that wants to kill him, and he has it coming.😝He is vile. Fei is again an angel with medicine. He has found the wife in time and with maximum doses of antidote for several months will be fine. He used his early skills with pharmacist to poison and his tailoring skills to measure and seduce them. He even had sweet words til they were trapped. I am sure he was going to let the servant girl take the fall for the wife’s death and be on his way with the heiress. I am glad he was taken out first. He had a much kinder death than the ones he dished out. I’m with XiJun on this, if the accuse and find the servant guilty, Lu deserves to be deserted. For everything that he got by with, they should just agree justice served.

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