You may think you’ve got family problems, but they ain’t nothing on Zheng’s family problems.  This is a complicated clan to say the least, though that was pretty typical in societies where monarchies held the political power.  Zheng’s big dream to unify the Seven Kingdoms may be finally starting to take form, but he’s not going to get anywhere with it if he can’t get his own house in order.  And with Lu Buwei hopelessly entangled, that’s not going to prove an easy task.

First things first, however, and that’s consolidation of the victory at Zhuyong.  There’s only one problem with Xin having surprised Wu Fengming during his escape – he doesn’t know what Wu looks like.  Wu once again throws somebody under the bus to save himself – this time his old master Ling Huang.  He thinks fast, and maybe his arguments make sense – but again, this is not exactly noble behavior for Wu Fengming.  In practical terms this means Xin and Wang Ben come out of this roughly tied – each has taken the head of one Wei’s Fire Dragons – but if Xin had managed to claim Wu’s hide, that would have stolen the headlines.

The seasoned heads – Teng, Li Mu back in Zhao – reflect on the fact that these are momentous times.  A tense balance that’s held for roughly two centuries – since the 100 nations of the Middle Kingdom consolidated into seven – is finally about to give way.  In taking Zhuyong and Shanyang Qin has struck a serious blow against Wei, and the orders are to consolidate it by hurriedly turning Zhuyong into a full-on fortress and staging ground for further invasion.  In the way of colonizing nations since time immemorial Qin is cementing their hold by sending settlers to their conquered outposts. Shanyang has already been turned into a military city, with Zhuyong soon to follow.

Li Mu is content to watch Qin and Wei for the moment, but understands the urgency of preparing Zhao to defend itself against the threats to come.  Qin has seized the initiative but Chu is the sleeping giant, the true scale of their military power a great unknown.  Perhaps the salvation of Zhao and its fellow kingdoms is that Qin continues to distract itself with internal power struggles.  Li Mu sees Zheng as the greatest threat, but Zheng is far from secure in his position.  Lu Buwei is a perpetual danger, and now the wily Queen Dowager has decided to emerge from her two-year seclusion in the inner palace and claim a seat at the table.

We haven’t seen her for a good while, but this formidable woman is no ally to her son.  She has her own distinct and powerful faction, and at one time was Lu Buwei’s lover.  He manoeuvred himself out of that by bringing in a male prostitute, Lao Ai (Sakazume Takayuki) to take his place (I’m not exactly sure how that works).  Lao Ai is passing himself off as a eunuch but clearly is not, since he and the Queen Dowager have two kids.  The Queen marches into the council chambers and promptly demands that Shanyang be given over to her faction to rule – in exchange for the three royal families providing the funds to build it (and eventually Zhuyong up).

Zheng and Changwen and no fools and certainly see the danger here, but they have no idea of the extent of it.  Lu Buwei’s quick acquiescence suggests that he and the Queen may have been in cahoots, but even if not, she and Lao Ai have very big plans.  To create a “new nation” in this conquered territory, no less.  That sounds an awful lot like a secession from Qin and/or a civil war – and one can hardly think of sweeter music to the ears in Zhao and Wei.