Well, even for me that may be a land speed record for predictions being blown up.  Our main cast was “pretty far removed from the main plot” for about half an episode.  And they’re tied back in via pretty convincing and logical means too.  Everything in a cutthroat environment like this is going to be about trust – every faction will have loyalists.  And when the chips are down, the leader is only going to be able to rely on those he can trust implicitly.  That makes anyone who falls into that category for Zheng, Lu Buwei, or Cheng Jiao even more critical.

If the prediction in my opening paragraph last week was a clunker, the one in the closer fared much better: “But why does Lu look so pleased with himself?  Of course if he manages to rid himself of either brother this was it’s a win for him, but it feels like there’s something more there…”  As usual Lu Buwei has a contingency in motion, and as usual he greases the gears with cash.  He’s planted an agent named Pu He in charge of Tunliu (I wouldn’t be surprised if this “epidemic” was an epidemic of poisonings), in preparation to use the city as a wedge between the king and his half-brother.

It makes perfect sense that the Zhao army would fold like a cheap tent upon Cheng Jiao’s arrival, since this was all part of Lu’s plan.  The plan makes perfect sense for Lu as well – if there are three factions jockeying for power in Xiang, the other two fighting is a win-win for him.  And at this point the two brothers are nominally allies against him anyway, so a wedge inserted between them serves multiple functions.  Cheng Jiao is greeted as a conquering hero but Liu Yi has already been taken into captivity, and the prince soon follows.  For what he’s doing Pu He only needs Cheng Jiao’s name, not his face.  At this stage, anyway.

Zheng is a clever politician, and he guesses more or less correctly what’s going on here.  For appearances sake an army “punitive force” has to be sent to take out the rebel army in Tunliu.  The king’s loyalist Bi – formerly of the Fei Xin force and now a general – commands it, but Lu has plans for them, too.  The rebel army (now 70,000 strong) marches out from the city to meet them, and the Zhao army arrives to put the squeeze on them.  Fortunately Zheng has sent the one ally he can trust above all others – Xin – to come to Bi’s aid.  The Fei Xin force is now 5,000, but they take the quality over quantity equation to the extreme.

It’s an interesting dynamic now, with the Fei Xin force basically in town as a rescue mission for Cheng Jiao.  With the Zhao army openly supporting the rebels that would certainly seem to risk exposing the treachery in Xiang should the rescuers prove successful.  As for the Fei Xin, Diao (who’s gotten a power-up herself) informs Bi that Qian Lei is now a battalion commander (I have no idea if this “Gouriki” formation is a real thing), and that the one who’s grown most of all is Xin.  He wields a poleaxe now in the manner of his mentor, and commands – as always – from the front.  All of his skills are going to be put to the test with the numerical odds he and old friend Bi are facing here.