A few more months in Liang

[schneefink]

The dramatic ending for Prince Yu. He learns of his birth mother, feels like everything was always stacked against him, his rebellion fails, he breaks down, and his father still doesn't regret what he did to Jinghuan's mother, Princess Linglong, namely betraying her and her people and doing his best to kill them all. All for the pursuit of power, yeah he's not the good guy. Jingyan had to beg the Emperor not to kill the 20,000 soldiers who were misled and surrendered when they found out. Lives can be cheap.
Consort Hui is the one to read the edict that the Empress loses all her privileges, after all the years of torment I bet that was satisfying.
Jinghuan finds out that his wife is pregnant and that he still has something left to lose, so he kills himself to protect his child. Mei Changsu secretly saves his wife and the child will be raised a commoner, much smarter for everyone.
(Speaking of children of dead princes, it was Prince Ji who saved Tingsheng. Didn't see it coming, makes sense though. I like that Mei Changsu is still teaching Tingsheng. Lin Shu taught Yujin too; Prince Ji must have meant Lin Shu when he said there was a marriage contract planned if Yujin had been born female, that's a fun image.)

The Battle at Jiu An mountain was very dramatic! From the very beginning, with the interlude of Jun Niang saving Tong Lu so he can tell Mei Changsu that Prince Yu is planning to rebel, then sacrificing herself for him, then Tong Lu doing the same so Zhen Ping can escape. Tragic heroic ending.
The big battle had great atmosphere and filming, from the masses of soldiers dying and yet individual moments of "our" heroes and the fear of the ones inside the Inner Hall. Zhen Ping and Meng Zhi with opportunities to be heroic, Gong Yu (who disguised herself and joined the army!) fighting and Yan Yujin defending her and Fei Liu defending him, too old Marquis Yan and too young Tingsheng inside, with Lin Shu who must have had flashbacks to Meiling: attacked by soldiers who were supposed to be on their side, waiting for reinforcements.
Then Nihuang arrived like an avenging goddess of war :) Smart of Jingyan to send a message to her. I'd been hoping we'd see her again soon. At least we got confirmation that she and Lin Shu were exchanging letters.

Consort Jing finally met with Mei Changsu, and confirmed his identity. Just like this 'verse has flying and minor telekinesis, she must have minor healing powers, to accurately diagnose and recognize him just by taking his pulse. She promises not to tell her son, lucky for Lin Shu.

Poor Jingyan. He got an enormous dose of guilt for how he'd treated Mei Changsu, then he manipulated the Emperor into practically ordering him to become friends with him. He trusts him even more, is even more protective of him ('nothing can be allowed to happen to the Emperor and Mother. And Mei Changsu'), telling him there's no need for etiquette. At the same time he's becoming more suspicious, no wonder when there are hints everywhere, he even gets a burst of inspiration but then his "test" fails and he worries he's going crazy. Poor guy, it seems like everyone knows but him, and he knows they have secrets they're not sharing.
He's Crown Prince now and is going to marry (apparently his concubine is always sick, that's why we haven't seen her before), but he's probably lonelier than ever, and that's not going to change. Hard times ahead.
He did find out a bit more about what happened at Meiling when he met Wei Zheng (who apparently came back to the Capital later with Lin Chen? Why?) So Xie Yu didn't only claim to have defeated the Chiyan army of 70,000, he also claimed to have defeated the Da Yu Royal Army of 200,000, no wonder he rose in esteem. The Chiyan defeating the Da Yu and Xie Yu eliminating the remains makes much more sense.
At least Jingyan has some loyal and competent ministers. Shen Zhui and Cai Quan do lament a system where an Emperor rules all, but better Jingyan than any alternative.

Nie Feng! In his yeti form, apparently. Finally we learn more about Bitter Flame poison. Snow beetles, apparently, who only poison burn victims at Meiling. There must have been more victims but they died afterwards. Nie Feng somehow survived for thirteen years, respect.
I wonder how long it took for Lin Shu to get to Langya Hall, half-dead and in shock, ouch. Did he choose the complete treatment immediately or only later? Someone mentioned something about the poison affecting him two years ago, but maybe that was just a bigger recurring attack. It would be difficult to build up the Jiangzuo Alliance without being able to speak or show oneself. On the other hand he could have managed, and if one only has limited time left after the complete treatment he may have waited so he has more time in the Capital.
Aww, Nie Feng and Xia Dong are together again. Temporarily, but Xia Dong will get out of prison eventually. She promised to look after Nihuang after Lin Shu is gone (who lied to Nihuang about how much time he has left…)

Xia Jiang is still plotting, and he figured out Mei Changsu's true identity. Not bad. He told the Emperor, the Emperor will investigate, there's a lot at stake.
Nie Feng could be a great witness in the Chiyan case, since he was "framed" as "whistleblower" and therefore not considered a traitor. Since Xie Yu is dead Grand Princess Liyang should also give up his confession. But Mei Changsu is seriously sick, bad timing.

Lin Chen appears in Jinling. He's a lot of fun! Nobody else teases Mei Changsu like he does, and Mei Changsu likes it. They clearly became very good friends while Lin Shu was recuperating.
Lin Chen of course also teasing Fei Liu :) We also saw Fei Liu sparring with Meng Zhi (for some reason I'd thought that they were equal, apparently Meng Zhi is still a bit better) and allowing him to touch his hair, and Mu Quing asked to play with him, aww, and Zhen Ping stopping him killing the pigeon asking Lin Chen to come. Good thing they all know each other well.