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The Emperor stops the fight before Baili Qi can do any damage to Jingrui - even though Jiingrui very unfairly has a sword and Baili Qi doesn’t – and there follows one of my very favourite sequences in the whole series. The Emperor catches Nihuang and MCS whispering together and invites them to share it with the class court, so the two of them perform a fantastic double act that gradually pushes the Emperor into accepting that three kids should be picked from the servants’ prison to whup Baili Qi. I do wonder here just how much of this MCS discussed with Nihuang beforehand – did he specifically tell her to suggest the servants from the prison, or did she spot where his idea was going and run with it? Baili Qi and Commander Meng have both clearly been briefed on what to say, but I’m not sure if Nihuang was given advance warning or only got those few whispered lines at the feast.

Meng nips out from the dinner to pick out Tingsheng and two random boys. I feel terribly sorry for the little boy who is almost picked but then rejected for having weedy shoulders. The other three are brought into the palace but are too scared to raise their heads in front of the Emperor, which explains why he doesn’t spot Tingsheng’s apparent slight resemblance to Prince Qi. If the resemblance is so slight, you do have to wonder how Prince Jing figured out his identity, though. Or at least you do on the umpteenth viewing; before that, there’s far too much going on for this sort of petty question to raise its head.

The Dowager Empress (deceased) is cleverly introduced as a concept by having Consort Hui have to go to her palace as a punishment, which leads to Concubine Jing finding out about the date rape wine and realising it ust be intended for Nihuang. She tries to find a way to warn her from no motive other than altruism, which I appreciate, but the scene with the Grand Empress Dowager and the silk pouch is also very skilfully used to let us know that Jing mère was sent into the palace to be Consort Chen’s doctor by the Lin family.

MCS offers his services to Prince Jing, but having obsessed over this scene so many times already, I can’t say I noticed anything new this time around, except that thanks to the silk pouch scene we know, at least with hindsight, that what Prince Jing means when he tells MCS his mother has no powerful relations who could help him try for the throne is that this because her relations were the Lins and so are all DEAD.

Liyang pays a visit to Nihuang, who is out of town and so can’t be warned about the wine. This clears up why Liyang has to ask MCS for help, but perhaps more importantly it also reveals that Xie ZYu has spies following his wife everywhere. Could this man be any more loathsome? It’s SOOOO satisfying, when he strolls out of his study to smugly exercise his conjugal rights, to watch the old lady’s maid get rid of him. It’s a shame she never crops up again, she’d have made a valuable member of the Jiangzuo Alliance.