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extrapenguinThese were about Pingjing's growth into a military leader, with him showcasing his smarts in a military context. He's quite good about the use of spies, it seems, and wanting to know what Prince Kang and Ruan Ying were talking about is understandable. The psychological warfare of going to ambush the Da Yu army so they get defeated during an eclipse is A+. Also the Da Yu aesthetic was good-looking; well-chosen clothes, Pingjing. And the guard armor. (Poor Hu Song, though.)
The Da Yu internal politics was interesting to witness. Prince Kang is an idiot with something to prove – the scene with him killing his nephew was very chilling. Ruan Ying seems more reasonable, what with wanting Kang to bring the boys back, but nope. Kang seems intent to get them all killed.
Minister Xun seems to be trying to subvert/take down the Empress with his niece Xun Anru? (Is she Feizhan's sister?) Anru certainly is not on the Empress's side. The Xun family plot also seems to be to instil doubts about Tingsheng into wee Yuanshi, who looked positively tiny in his Emperor robes. Luckily, Feizhan managed to get some measure of doubt at his mother into Yuanshi's head by reminding him to keep his Imperial Father's final words in his heart – ie, "trust Tingsheng". Feizhan really does seem to have terrible luck with his family. The Empress is an asshole and also kinda dumb. In the Yulin Army reorganization bit, she came and overplayed the Xun hand, and oversold it so much even Yuanshi was suspicious. Also, does Minister Xun know Pingzhang gave back the seal of Do All The Things via Feizhan, or is he simply choosing to pretend ignorance?
Meng Qianxue and wee Ce'er (Xiao Ce? Xiao [syllable]ce, probably.) are still on Mount Langya, away from court intrigues, exactly where Tingsheng wants them. Langya is apparently between Jinling and the north border of Da Liang – I'd always thought it was down southwards.
Yuanqi's been growing cannier, and given the way Tingsheng stared at the wax seal, I think he may suspect Yuanqi of opening and reading the letter. Yuanqi went out to sow seeds of discord and recruit Minister Xun to his faction, going straight for the heavy stuff like accusations of disloyalty. I do wonder what his goal is – he can't simply be jealous about Pingjing accomplishing things. (The best cure for that would be to sod off elsewhere where one wouldn't be comparing oneself constantly against Pingjing, but, whatever.)
Lots of nice conversations – the one where Tingsheng gives Pingjing the Changlin Army Seal especially. Lin Xi and Pingjing's reunion conversation was sweet as well. Tingsheng with the golden armor given to him by Fei Liu! (Perhaps it'll go to Ce'er?) The conversation between Tingsheng and Yuanqi, where Tingsheng told Yuanqi that it is not one's circumstances that define one, but one's heart. Yuanqi went home and monologued about getting doubts in his resolve, that's how good and touching Tingsheng's words were. Also something that Yuanqi really needed and should've got much earlier.
The Da Yu internal politics was interesting to witness. Prince Kang is an idiot with something to prove – the scene with him killing his nephew was very chilling. Ruan Ying seems more reasonable, what with wanting Kang to bring the boys back, but nope. Kang seems intent to get them all killed.
Minister Xun seems to be trying to subvert/take down the Empress with his niece Xun Anru? (Is she Feizhan's sister?) Anru certainly is not on the Empress's side. The Xun family plot also seems to be to instil doubts about Tingsheng into wee Yuanshi, who looked positively tiny in his Emperor robes. Luckily, Feizhan managed to get some measure of doubt at his mother into Yuanshi's head by reminding him to keep his Imperial Father's final words in his heart – ie, "trust Tingsheng". Feizhan really does seem to have terrible luck with his family. The Empress is an asshole and also kinda dumb. In the Yulin Army reorganization bit, she came and overplayed the Xun hand, and oversold it so much even Yuanshi was suspicious. Also, does Minister Xun know Pingzhang gave back the seal of Do All The Things via Feizhan, or is he simply choosing to pretend ignorance?
Meng Qianxue and wee Ce'er (Xiao Ce? Xiao [syllable]ce, probably.) are still on Mount Langya, away from court intrigues, exactly where Tingsheng wants them. Langya is apparently between Jinling and the north border of Da Liang – I'd always thought it was down southwards.
Yuanqi's been growing cannier, and given the way Tingsheng stared at the wax seal, I think he may suspect Yuanqi of opening and reading the letter. Yuanqi went out to sow seeds of discord and recruit Minister Xun to his faction, going straight for the heavy stuff like accusations of disloyalty. I do wonder what his goal is – he can't simply be jealous about Pingjing accomplishing things. (The best cure for that would be to sod off elsewhere where one wouldn't be comparing oneself constantly against Pingjing, but, whatever.)
Lots of nice conversations – the one where Tingsheng gives Pingjing the Changlin Army Seal especially. Lin Xi and Pingjing's reunion conversation was sweet as well. Tingsheng with the golden armor given to him by Fei Liu! (Perhaps it'll go to Ce'er?) The conversation between Tingsheng and Yuanqi, where Tingsheng told Yuanqi that it is not one's circumstances that define one, but one's heart. Yuanqi went home and monologued about getting doubts in his resolve, that's how good and touching Tingsheng's words were. Also something that Yuanqi really needed and should've got much earlier.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-11 19:49 (UTC)I loved the short scene with the Emperor and Feizhan. The Emperor doesn't really have many confidants, and his mother is more likely to try and isolate him further. Pingjing also isn't in the capital much. Maybe eventually Yuanshi can become closer with his brothers. (Btw I think we still haven't seen or heard of even one Imperial daughter?)
I'm curious about where Xun Anru fits into things. At least we finally saw another former concubine, and it looks like they're all terrified of the Empress Dowager, unsurprisingly. I don't doubt that the Empress Dowager will "fall", i.e. lose power, but I wonder if Minister Xun goes down with her. I wonder what he's planned to do now: he can't very well sabotage Pingjing, that would be disastrous. He can however try to balance Pingjing's success (I'm just counting on that rn, optimism) with the accusation of disloyalty to the former Emperor's loyalty.
I'm still not sure where Yuanqui will fall, I'm holding out hope he'll find his way out of the jealousy/revenge cycle but not much.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 13:20 (UTC)Yuanshi's brothers seem to be like 5+ years younger than him, which is a largeish gap to close. IIRC they were like 3 and under 1 when Yuanshi was already 11? So yeah, Yuanshi has no real equals in age; Pingzhang, Pingjing, and Yuanqi are all senior by 9+ years, and his brothers are way younger. I do understand the principle of cast minimization, but yeah, an imperial daughter would be nice to see or hear about.
I, personally, found the Empress Dowager's arc's ending satisfying, but idk how you'll find it. The next eps were nice, I hope you'll like them.