Chapter 64: Suddenly, Prince Qin,Li Shimin,Finds Himself Living Dangerously in the Tang Court

We're in the seventh year of the wood rain from Suitangyani Chapter 64.

Now for those who might think this sounds a bit dry.

It's anything but.

Let me stop you right there.

It reads less like a dusty chronicle and more like well like the script of a high

stakes political thriller or maybe even a noir film it really does it has

everything secret meetings bribery forbidden romance and this looming sense of

dread but to look past the drama and understand the the mechanics of a coup in

the making right we're gonna see how a chance encounter a few glasses of wine and

some fancy belts and some fancy belts yeah essentially doomed to dine as

these peace so let's set the stage the text it paints this picture of the

emperor the founder of the Tang Dynasty exactly and he's in a bad way he's

aging he's unwell and he is retreated into the dang sale palace and crucial

context here he hasn't just retreated no he's locked it down he's barred entry

to almost everyone in political terms that is a massive danger signal oh it's a

huge one it's a power vacuum when the central authority the emperor goes

silent the gravity in the palace just shifts everyone else starts scrambling for

position precisely and orbiting the silent center we have our key players on

one side we have the hero of the era Kenwai also known as Lisha mean the guy

winning all the wars right but he's not in this scene no he's conspicuously absent

and that absence is what drives the whole plot so instead we are focusing on his

rivals and this is where the Sui Tang Yanyi gives us such incredible

character studies it really does we are introduced to two of the emperor's

favorite concubines ladies hang and lady in these two are fascinating if you

look the text closely it gives us their backstory which is well it's vital for

understanding their motivation what is they were favorites of the previous

dynasties emperor Sui Wendy which is wild to think about I mean the Sui

dynasty falls chaos ensues total chaos a new dynasty rises and somehow these two

women managed to not only survive the purge but claw their way back to the

very top of the hierarchy under the new emperor that is some serious survival

instinct right exactly that tells you everything you need to know about their

political acumen they aren't as decorative they are survivors and the text

makes a point of their age they're over 30 right which in ancient

imperial terms especially for concubines that's often considered past prime but

the source makes a very specific point to say they are more interesting as they

age I loved that line it says they're mocking in playful nature became more

refined it paints them as experienced operators they know where the bodies are

buried because I mean they probably have it's exactly and because the current

emperor has you know settled into a routine these two women have the run of the

place but they have a grievance they do they've formed a clique with two of the

emperor's sons Prince Gian Cheng and Prince Yuan Ji but they absolutely despise

the other one leash you mean so why is that is it just a personality clash well

it's structural and it's personal leash him and is the military man he relies on

merit on results right the text says the ladies feel he treats them with a cold

formal bow so he's not playing the game he doesn't play their game of flattery

in access he respects the office not the influence pedaling whereas the other

princes Gian Cheng and Yuan Ji are more than happy to play that game more than

happy so you have this tense atmosphere the emperor's sick the palace is

quiet to quiet and frankly these powerful women are bored bored them in a

palace is dangerous very dangerous lady in decides she needs entertainment so

she sends her maid a girl named Xiaoying to go invite another consort to play

kuju okay hold on kuju that's basically kickball essentially yes it's an

ancient Chinese sport very similar to football or kickball well so think about

the juxtaposition there the emperor is arguably dying a few halls away the

political situation is a powder kick and they want to play kickball it just screams

detachment it shows they're living in a total bottle yeah so they send this

maid shoying out into the empty corridors and this is it this is the

inciting incident the simple errands turns into a conspiracy how because the

palace isn't as empty as it seems shoying bumps into the two princes

Zhang Cheng and Yuan Ji now I want to dig into this interaction because the

power dynamics here are so strange they are aren't they you have two royal

princes sons of the emperor and a maid you would expect them to be

commanding you know get out of the way or where is your mistress but that's not

what happens at all Xiaoying actually schools them she does she's laughing but

she's reprimanding them she says why are you here now why didn't you come

during the birthdays right she mentions ladies Zhang's birthday was on the

10th and ladies on the 13th she's basically saying you guys missed the

giant parties where you could have blended in now the palace is on lockdown

and you're wandering around like idiots and it reveals that the maid feels

comfortable enough to speak down to princes yeah that implies her mistresses hold

the real power here and look at the prince's reaction they don't get angry they

tried a charmer they do the text describes them as men of wine and color that's a

loaded phrase it is what exactly does color mean here in this context color implies

lust or superficial pleasure it marks them as unserious men and then

Prince Jiang Shang physically pulls Xiaoying aside note the setting he pulls her

behind a flower barrier it's such a cinematic detail it's secretive it's

intimate and a little bit predatory it is he starts interrogating her but

really he's flirting to get access he wants to know if they can visit the

ladies and here we get to the McGuffin of the scene if you will your pride the

the princes realize they need Xiaoying's help to sneak in yeah so to prove they

are serious they untie their belts and these are not just any belts no these aren't

just leather straps the source calls them and I practice this eight treasure ten

brocade union silk bird belts boy to mouthful sounds expensive it's incredibly

opulent but think about the symbolism in the Tang dynasty your dress code was

your identity the belt held your road together it secured your chaotic human

form into a civilized silhouette so by taking off their belts and handing them

to a maid they're literally undoing their propriety it's an intimate almost

desperate gesture they are handing over a symbol of their status to a servant

just to buy access it signals a complete lack of boundaries a total lack and it

works showing takes the belts and the princes rush home to get real gifts right

boxes of pearls and jade and they hatch a plan to sneak back in but they don't

use the front door of course not no they agree to use the who's them in the

rear butchers gate the name says it all doesn't it this isn't the golden gate

of heavenly peace no this is where the sausage gets made literally it's the

service entrance so it's where they take out the trash it's likely where waste

was removed or animals were brought in for the kitchens for princes of the

blood to sneak through the butchers gate I mean it metaphorically drags them

down into the muck they're debasing themselves completely all to maintain this

political alliance so fast forward a bit they grab their golden dragon boxes

full of treasure they sneak through the butchers gate and shying is waiting for

them and there's a tiny detail here I want to ask you about the text says

showing is standing there biting her finger it's a great psychological touch

isn't it it is what does that suggest well biting the finger usually suggests

anticipation mixed with anxiety she knows she's facilitating something elicit

if they get caught she's the first one to lose her head but she leads them in

they end of the private chambers and here is where the scene shifts from a

high-smovie to more of a social drama yeah the princes having snuck in through

the trash entrance suddenly try to act like royalty again it's absurd theater

they try to perform the grand ceremony kneeling on carpets hailing the

consorts they're trying to maintain the facade of we are loyal sons paying

respects to our father's wives but the ladies hanging in they're having none of

it not at all they physically stop them they physically stop them they drag them

up ladies and says don't do that you'll kill us with that kind of formality and

lady in insists on common family courtesy that phrase common family courtesy is

the key to the lock isn't it it is by rejecting the formal protocol the ladies

are destroying the hierarchy in a formal setting there's a wall between prints

and emperors consort by saying let's just be family they are leveling the

playing field they're creating a conspiratorial space where they are all just

partners so they move the party upstairs to a tower the text compares the view to

the key young banquet which is the gold standard for parties in this era yes and

the table is piled with delicacies from land and sea contrast this with the

emperor who is sick and isolated nearby these four are creating a bubble of

extreme luxury and pleasure right in the middle of a crisis once the wine

starts flowing the conversation finally turns to the real reason they're there

politics this is the intellectual core of up until now it's been sneaking and

right now they are negotiating a pact the princes start with the confession they admit we

wanted to come earlier but we were afraid of father which is so telling they fear the emperor

but they don't respect him if they respected him they wouldn't be there exactly and then they pivot

immediately to their common enemy of course the ladies start complaining they say he's arrogant

that he relies on his merits it's so ironic they are angry yeah that he's actually good at his

job well competence is often a threat to those who rely on favoritism but then the ladies drop

a bombshell they reveal a specific piece of political maneuvering this is the Lu Yang incident

right historically there was a proposal for Lee Shaman to move to Lu Yang and establish his own

base of operations there which would have been smart it would have separated the brothers

and kept the peace it would have Lee Shaman would have been safe there he would have had his own

independence but the ladies reveal that they are the ones who killed that plan exactly they claim

they went to the emperor repeatedly whispering in his ear manipulating his emotions to keep Lee

Shaman in the capital why why keep him close if they hate him so much because if he's in Lu Yang

he has an army he has autonomy he's out of their reach if he's in the capital trapped in the palace

protocols he is under their thumb that is chilling they're keeping him within striking distance yes

and then ladies anger delivers the line that basically seals the deal what's up she says as long

as the four of us work together we don't have to fear chin Wang flying up to the heavens wow

that is the thesis statement of this entire chapter yeah as long as the four of us work together

it's the formalization of the block the princes provide the legitimacy and the connections

to the outer court and the concubines provide the access to the emperor's ear the inner court

it's a pincer movement like Shaman is surrounded and notice the self justification in there yeah

they don't say let's destroy him so we can grab power no no they say we need to protect ourselves

because he is so arrogant and dangerous everyone is the hero of their own story right especially then

so they have the agreement but they don't stop there the text says the tone shifts again

we go from political strategy to what the outline calls the descent into debauchery yeah the text

doesn't hold back here they start playing drinking games guessing fingers and fists the source

explicitly states wine is the matchmaker of color there's that word again color implying lust

and it says the princes fein drunkenness wait fein so you think they aren't actually drunk the text

suggests they use the appearance of drunkenness to lower the boundaries further if you're drunk you

can get away with behavior that would be unacceptable if you were sober plausible deniability exactly

but we have to talk about the taboo here i mean for a modern listener this sounds like a wild party

but in the context of confusion values it is nuclear in a confusion society filial piety respect for

your father is the foundation of the entire universe and these princes are partying with their

fathers wise while their father is sick just rooms away it's almost incestuous it is framed as

incestuous treason it creates a picture of total moral rot the author is signaling to the reader

look at these people they have no moral compass and the text explicitly links this party to the

violence that comes later it says of 10,000 evils lusts is the first it leads hands and feet to kill

one another hands and feet it's a common metaphor for brothers oh wow so it's saying this lust this

lack of discipline is the direct cause of the fratricide the brother killing that happens later

yes it's framing the political history through a moral lens the source is arguing that it was the

inevitable explosion caused by this kind of corruption the emperor is on his deathbed or at

least he's very very sick and that means a power vacuum is opening up it is the core conflict is

between his sons it's the ultimate sibling rivalry okay so who are the players on one side you've

got what you might call the establishment brothers that's the crown prince jian cheng and prince

Yuanji and then on the other side you have the second son Lee shaman who is known by his title

Qin Wang and just for context Qin Wang is the competent one he's the golden child he's the

military genius the one actually holding the empire together yeah and because of that his brothers

are frankly terrified of him they know if he's still standing when their father dies their own

power is threatened so they want him gone that's the basic tension that's the baseline it's a

political powder keg so with all that going on the scene we're jumping into doesn't start in a

war council it starts with a party and party might be too polite a word I think it is it's incredibly

reckless these two brothers jian cheng and Yuanji deep inside the palace and their father is sick

just a few rooms away exactly but instead of you know praying or governing they're drinking

and they are not drinking alone they're with concubine Zhang and concubine Yin and we need to be very

clear about who these women are yeah these are not just some random courtiers these are the emperor's

favorite concubines they are for all intents and purposes their father's wives that is a massive

taboo it's huge and the tang court this is it's beyond scandalous it's incestuous it's treasonous

if this gets out it is a capital offense but reading the source they don't seem not worried about it

the language is almost poetic it mentions pure wind and jade chime sounds so elegant well that's

the narrative style right it's describing this scene of total relaxation they've sent all the servants

away they're drinking wine playing music the text uses a very specific phrase they're engaging in

the wushan cloud dream which sounds lovely but i have a feeling it's not about the weather no it's

a very famous literary euphemism for sexual intimacy so let's just be blunt while the emperor is

fighting for his life down the hall his sons and his wives are having an elicit orgy and they're

described as being full of joy totally comfortable in their betrayal that comfort is what gets me it

implies they feel untouchable i think they do it's the arrogance of power so let's do the split screen

well this is all going on to the concubines chambers where's our other main character where is

kinweng he is living in a completely different reality the text really emphasizes his filial piety

for six or seven days he has not left his father's bedside six or seven days straight the phrase is

mourning an evening inspection he is personally serving the medicine day and night so he must be

exhausted he is running on fumes hasn't gone home hasn't changed his clothes he's the dedicated son

keeping his father alive while his brothers are you know tearing the family apart down the hall the

contrast is just brutal the partyers and the caregiver and this is where the plot starts to move right

the emperor starts to get a little better yeah thanks to kinweng's care his fever breaks he wakes up

sees his son looking like a total wreck and basically says okay i'm feeling a bit better you've

done enough go home take a bath get some rest and shinweng being the good son he follows orders he

bows out and this is the moment he's leaving the emperor's quarters it's dusk the palace is

shadowy and he's walking past a building called the fen gong lu the separation palace tower and he

stops why because in a palace that should be completely somber and quiet he hears music zither's

in singing right and his raider just goes up i mean remember this guy's a general he notices when

things are out of place why is there a party happening so he gets closer to the wall to listen he

gives the shock of his life he does he hears a voice he recognizes making a very specific toast

the text quotes it directly this large cup should be for big brother to drink but i finished it

first big brother that's the smoking gun he knows that voice it's prince Yuanji talking to crown

prince jian cheng he knows where they are concubine zang's apartments and he puts it all together

in an instant my brothers are in bed with my father's wise the text says he realizes they're

engaging in lust and chaos oh and his blood just runs cold i can imagine his first reaction has to

be just pure fury oh absolutely the text says he wants to knock on the door he wants to burst in

catch them in the act drag them out it's the natural reaction that the eye open up basically but

then he freezes and this is what makes shinweng so fascinating he stops his hand he starts thinking

two three steps ahead he thinks about the emperor exactly he realizes if i cause a scene right now

if i expose this insistent reason in some violent way the shock of it will kill my father who's barely

holding on as it is right a scandal this huge would be a death sentence for the old man so that is a

terrible position to be in you can't ignore the crime because it's dangerous but you can't expose

the crime because that's deadly so he has to thread this impossible needle he needs a way to stop them

without blowing up the whole palace he decides on a a silent warning he's gonna leave a message

but not a note he takes off his jade belt and we have to pause on the belt because in the tang dynasty

a jade belt isn't just an accessory it's a symbol of his specific rank and identity it's intricate

valuable and instantly recognizable as his totally it's like leaving his driver's license tape to

the door so what did you do with it he hangs it on the coiling dragon and colorful phoenix gate

right outside their little party palace and his lot of his very well it's very confusion he thinks

they'll come out they'll see it they'll know it's mine and they'll realize i was here i heard them

and i chose to spare them he's trying to shame them he's hoping that the fear of being caught will

force them to reform their past wrongs he's betting on them having a conscience or at least a sense

preservation i know what you did i have the leverage so the straighten up yeah it's a power move

but it's a merciful one it is he hangs the belt and he goes home he thinks he's handled it

but he has made a critical critical error he assumes his enemies think like he does he assumes

they'll feel gratitude for his mercy spoiler alert yeah they do not not even a little bit

so let's fast forward a few hours it's the fifth watch so about five in the morning

suns coming up the party is breaking up it's the walk of shame a very emotional one the text

describes john shang holding the women's hands they're all weeping and they're actually

talking about their paranoia they're saying we're so afraid of kinh wang if he ever gets power

he won't spare us which is pretty ironic considering what's waiting for them right outside the gate

oh yeah they walk out and the night guard who has probably been standing there all night wondering

what to do awkwardly holding this belt he approaches them and says uh your highnesses i don't know

who hung this here but here it is and the reaction total panic the text says their colors change

they go white they recognize it instantly that is chin wangs belt so for a second his plan actually

works they're terrified they are they realize he was here he heard us he has proof for a moment they

are completely paralyzed they think they're doomed but panic is a funny thing it can paralyze

you or it can make you incredibly dangerous and concubine zang she is dangerous she is the pivotal

character in this entire story while the men are just standing there shaking she snaps into survival

mode she sees an opening she looks at the belt and she basically says stop crying if we do nothing

we die but he isn't here we have his belt why are we the victims she's going to flip this grip

completely she suggests a counter attack she uses this really vivid phrase with my one mouth

biting him hard let's see where he can escape to you biting him hard she means framing him she decides

they're going to take this evidence of his mercy and twist it into evidence of a crime he committed

they're gonna accuse him of breaking in they're gonna accuse him of sexual assault which is

it's diabolical yeah but she's smart about it she looks at the belt it's a beautiful pristine

jade belt you can't go to the emperor and say he tried to attack me and then politely took his

belt off and left it behind it doesn't fit the story of a violent struggle not at all so they

have to tamper with the evidence this is the CSI moment of the story it's forensic counter warfare

the concubines take this incredibly expensive jade belt and they destroy it they get scissors or

knife and they literally cut the connections they sever the silk holding the jade plaques together

they rough up all the edges they're manufacturing a struggle exactly they need the belt to look like

it was ripped off a man's body by a woman fighting for her life a broken belt tells a story of violence

and chaos a pristine belt tells a story of well of undressing they need the first story that is

just so dark they're literally cutting the truth out of the object and once the prop is ready it

show time concubines zang and yin they don't wait to be summoned they just burst into the emperor's

chambers the performance begins and it is a performance they throw themselves on the floor the text

describes them as tearful distraught hair a mess makeup running they are selling the trauma and then

they drop the lie what exactly do they tell the emperor they claim that in the middle of the night

chinwang broke into their palace they say he was greatly drunk that he used sweet words and

flirtatious language to try to seduce them which if you know anything about chinwang is already

huge red flag a huge one and they say when they refused him he turned violent he tried to force

himself on them and in the struggle they managed to grab his belt and tear it off just as he fled

and here's the proof here's the broken belt they present the physical evidence look at this snap

look at this tear this proves he attacked us wow so put yourself in the emperor's shoes you're sick

you're just waking up they're screaming women on your floor and they're telling you your war hero

son is a predator you'd think he'd just snap but the emperor and I love this detail in the text

he doesn't buy it not at first he sees a hole in the plot he has this moment of just lucid critical

thinking he looks at them and says hold on leash him in was with me all night nursing me I send him home

myself he was stone cold sober he hasn't had wine in a week so where is this greatly drunk coming

from he catches them on the timeline his alibi is himself exactly he knows the entire premise of

their story is flawed he knows his son's character chinwang is disciplined and the emperor even

offers them an out an alternative theory right there on the spot he tries to rationalize it for them

yeah he says look I see the belt it's his but maybe he walked too fast and it fell off or maybe he

just lost it in the garden and one of your servants found it and now you're using it to flume him

because you don't like him well he basically calls them out he says you're framing him he is so close

to the truth he is standing right on top of the truth he has the logic he has the character assessment

but the concubines they know that logic is brittle especially for a sick old man they know

emotion is a slight jammer so when the facts fail they pivot to feelings they just double down they

don't argue the timeline they argue their relationship with him how can you trust him over us they

say we have served your majesty for years have we ever lied to you have we ever falsely accused

and they just turn up the volume the text says they use enchanting and seductive states along with

all the weeping is using their beauty and their grief as a weapon they just overwhelm him it's

emotional attrition they just wear him down until he breaks and he does that's exactly what happens

the emperor is physically too weak to keep fighting this battle he is forced act he can't just

have his wife screaming on the floor all day he has to resolve the chaos so what does he do does he

order an execution does the belt condemn Ken Wang he steps back from that ledge he doesn't execute

him but he compromises his own logic he writes a note and summons a high official a man named

Lee gang and he orders Lee gang to go to Chiang Wang's house and interrogate him he just wants to

know why Ken Wang entered the palace so it becomes a legal matter go get his statement but the damage

is done the seat of doubt is planted and most importantly the physical evidence that cut up belt

is now officially entered into the record as proof of an assault the meaning of the object has been

completely overridden completely it is such a tragic irony Chiang Wang tried to take the high road

he tried to protect his father from the pain of the truth and because he didn't just kick down the

door and expose the ugly reality right then and there he gave his enemy is the exact tool they

needed to destroy him it really highlights this brutal lesson in high stakes politics doesn't it

that half measures are deadly they are Chiang Wang tried to navigate a middle path this silent

warning but in doing so he surrendered control of the narrative that is the key phrase control

of the narrative absolutely when he left that belt he left an object and objects you know despite

what we said at the start they don't really speak for themselves they have to be interpreted right

and by leaving the belt and walking away he let concubines Zhang be the interpreter he let her

write the caption for the photo and she was a ruthless editor I mean she literally edited the belt

with a pair of scissors to fit her story she understood that the emperor and I think people in

general we struggle to disbelieve what we can see with our own eyes he could see the broken belt

that visual evidence was so powerful that it overrode his own knowledge of his son's character

and the impossibility of the timeline okay so let's go back to that belt Chiang Wang hangs it up he

goes home and the text says he's just tossing and turning on night can't sleep son comes up he's

trying to do some paperwork and then a knock on the door it's Lee gang the sensor and a visit from

the sensor is a really good news he's not there for tea he's got an oral decree from the emperor

so word travels fast oh yeah the emperor's heard about the belt and he's demanding an answer

he basically asked what was that stunt all about why is your belt on my gate and this puts

Ken Wang in a terrible spot doesn't it the whole reason he did it is because his father's

favorite concubine are spreading lies about him exactly so he can't tell the truth without calling

his father's lover's liars but if he stays quiet he looks guilty he's totally trapped he is he's

trapped by this idea of filial piety you just don't attack your father's household yeah so he tells

Lee gang he refuses to be blackened like white silk being dyed yeah but he can't speak plainly

so instead of a direct answer he does the most classically Chinese literary thing imaginable he writes a

poem he writes a poem a juju a four-line verse very restrictive he writes it seals it and hands it over

I love this part because it really shows you that poetry wasn't just art back then it was a

communication tool it was code a secure channel yeah so let's break it down the key lines are

something like family chickens and wild birds each leave their nests ugly states need not be

knocked over one by one it sounds like something out of a nature documentary right but family

chickens and wild birds is so loaded okay so what's the subtext the family chickens are the

legitimate family the sons the wild birds are the interlopers he's talking about the concubines

consort Zang and consort Yin he's basically calling them an invasive species in the family nest

so dad there are predators in the house but then the poem gets a more personal the last two lines

are hard to speak of the scene and emotion at the time speaking clearly might scorch the sacred

heart that phrase scorched the sacred heart is brilliant the sacred heart is the emperor Ken Wang

is saying look I know what's going on I know the secrets the plots the affairs but the truth is

so ugly that if I told you it would destroy you it would burn you wow so he's protecting his father

by keeping a secret but at the same time he's warning his enemies that he knows the secret exactly

it's weaponized ambiguity it forces the emperor to think wait what does he know that I don't

it just plants that seed of doubt so does the emperor get it he opens the letter he reads it and

not really no he's just baffled the text says he calls it a riddle he turns to Lee gang for help

and Lee gang wants no part of this absolutely not he's a savvy bureaucrat he just quotes this old

legalist maximum to catch an adulterer catch the pair to catch a thief catch the loot the ancient

version of pics or it didn't happen pretty much yeah he's telling the emperor to just ignore the

rumors and the poetry there's no hard evidence do nothing just wait and watch so the emperor is

just sitting there confused holding this poem and then two more people show up right but it's not

the wild birds it's two other consorts you and in lieu and you'd expect them to just pile on but

they do the exact opposite this is where it gets really interesting it feels like a courtroom

drama it really does consorts jang and yin have already accused kin Wang of trying to seduce them

but you and in lieu they come in and defend him with just cold hard logic it's not emotional at all

so what's their first point it's about opportunity they remind the emperor about what happened

when chin Wang conquered Lou Yang he had the entire sui treasury and the sui haram at his fingertips

thousands of women unimaginable wealth and what did he do he sealed it all up sent the women home

took nothing for himself so the logic is if he didn't touch the thousands of women he could have had

with zero consequences why would he risk his life for his father's concubine it's a devastatingly

effective point it makes the accusation just look absurd but then they bring up a second argument

and this one involves themselves the land grant incident yeah they remind the emperor that they

had asked for land for their families the emperor even said yes but chin Wang refused to sign

off on it he blocked his own father's decree because it was against the law he told them no it's

against the rules and they use that now they say look this guy cares more about the law than

getting on our good side if he was trying to seduce us he would have given us the land that's brilliant

they're not saying he's a nice guy they're saying his entire profile his data proves he's incapable

of this crime and it works the emperor is completely swayed he realizes the accusations are just

as the tech says blowing on fur to find flaws nitpicking so he drops the whole thing okay so logic

wins the day permanent anyway but this is the tang court so stability doesn't last a messenger

bursts in and it's tragic news princess pingyang has died and we should be clear she wasn't just

any princess no she was a general she raised her own army the army the lady and helped her

father win the throne she was a major player the emperor is heartbroken he's weeping but in the

middle of his grief another report comes in the two human tribes and the Turks are attacking the

border and this is where you see the cold reality of running an empire he turns to chai show that's

pingyang's husband who just became a widower and he orders into the front he literally says

finish her funeral quickly then get on your horse and go fight sorry for your loss now go to war

it's brutal but it shows that personal grief just doesn't matter when the state is at risk

so chai show is sent off and that takes one more ally of kinweng out of the capital

which leads us to the imperial garden and the genre of our story is about to shift big time we're

going from courtroom drama to well an action movie the setup is casual enough the emperors

watching his sons prince key and prince kin testing out some horses and prince key is the younger

brother who hates kinweng he's allies with the crown prince and with kinweng is his bodyguard

the legendary general uchi jing day the emperor says something nice about uchi skill with a weapon

the single whip and prince key just snaps he's so arrogant he just can't stand it he calls uchi a

fraud and challenges him to a duel right there in front of their dad it's a total ego trip he wants

to use these heavy cavalry lances shuo to humiliate uchi in public and the terms are nuts prince key

wants to use a real sharp lated spear he's playing for keeps but uchi is so confident or maybe just

so contemptuous that he ups the stakes is as fine use your blade i'll take the spearhead off mine

i'll just use the wooden shaft he's basically saying i can beat you with a stick can you imagine

the disrespect it's a massive flex so they mount up prince key is in full armor he charges

but he doesn't go for uchi first he takes the swing at kinweng a warning shot that looks an awful

lot like attempted murder kinweng backs off and uchi steps him and it's not even a fight it's a

masterclass prince key is trying to skewer him with a lethal weapon and uchi just weaves and

dodges and literally snatches the spear out of his hands he disarms him three times he takes his

weapon away from three different times oh that is beyond humiliating for a royal prince and that's

when the game ends prince key is enraged he gives a signal to one of his generals a guy named

Huangtai sui who's been waiting on the side and this is it this is where it all goes south

Hongtai sui charges but he's not going for uchi no he makes a b-line straight for chinweng it's a

blatant assassination attempt in front of the emperor total chaos yeah chinweng is fighting for his

life and uchi has to intervene again he dodges Huangtai sui's spear hits him with his whip to throw

him off balance and then actually grabs the spear wrestles it away and kills Huangtai sui with his

own weapon it does settles there's a dead general in the garden and prince key just tried to have

his brother murdered in broad daylight you'd think this would be the moment the emperor finally acts

uchi reports i killed him because he was trying to kill the prince it's an open and shut case

but prince key just starts screaming right he flips it completely in silly chinweng ordered his

guard to murder my beloved general execute uchi it's just unbelievable audacity and chinweng is

just standing there like are you kidding me if uchi hadn't killed him i'd be the one who's dead

so the emperor has to make a ruling hmm after seeing his cold logic earlier what does he do he fails

he just completely fails utterly he admits you she saved chinweng so he pardoned him

but then he turns to his sons one of whom just tried to murder the other and lectures them

on brotherly love you're joking he says boys play nice he basically says you need to support

each other stop fighting it makes me sad he treats a clear assassination attempt like two kids fighting

over a toy that is just staggering it's the emperor's fatal flaw he can't separate being a father

for being the emperor he wants family harmony but the situation demands justice by refusing to punish

prince chi he's basically saying it's okay he's signaling that there are no consequences for trying

to kill chinweng none and that leaves kinweng in an absolutely terrifying position logic saved him once

brute force saved him a second time but his luck is going to run out the message is clear the

system will not protect you your father will not protect you if you want to live you're on your own

and that just forces everyone to escalate if the ref won't call a foul the game just gets dirtier

and a lot more violent