Obviously, the crowning ceremony for Zheng is a nexus event for Kingdom.  But that’s no different from reality – such events always were in the feudal world.  This was a moment of reckoning, when schemes and rivalries which have been kicked down the road have to be resolved one way or the other.  Those who sought to usurp influence from him and those who sought to be part of his influence have to act, because  what has been fluid will become rigid.  Shit or get off the pot.

In Ai, things are coming to head with the secret of the Queen Dowager and Lao Ai’s children having leaked.  The force behind this is the wily old minister Hu Li (Nishimura Tomomichi).  He first seeks to bully Lao Ai into acting behind the Queen’s back to attack Qin, and when he refuses, to usurp power altogether.  In hindsight the import of the Queen Dowager having secret children is obvious – they represent a serious threat to the king in Xianyang, as potential rival heirs to the throne.  Qin has already been pushed to the edge of action by Ai’s rebellion – they can’t possibly sit by and let Ai harbor potential usurpers of their own throne.

The Queen reckons that Hu Li, a native of Chu, is acting as an agent for that country.  But in the end it doesn’t matter, because the scandal has robbed her of options.  When Hu Li presents this as a choice between ordering an invasion of Xianyang or beheading the Queen and Lao Ai (and their children, who he’s holding hostage) he has the mob solidly primed to back him up.  The Queen Dowager considers an invasion of Qin to be a fool’s errand –  it’s not as if they have the troops to hold it, even if they somehow take it (unless they conveniently go into alliance with Chu) – but has no choice but to play along.

Meanwhile, at the Wei frontier the Fei Xin force is finding outstanding success on the battlefield.  Xin’s mind is elsewhere, as he thinks about the milestone his spiritual brother is about to achieve in his absence.  A message for Diao arrives from the high commander, telling her by which means to attack their next target, Yuan, and – cryptically – to “mind the weather”.  The message has arrived with the wax seal broken, and is obviously the product of an espionage campaign – presumably to prevent the Fei Xin force from returning to Xianyang to defend against the invasion from Ai.  I suspect Diao has realized something is amiss and is putting on an act for the messenger, but we’ll find out soon enough.

The main event, however, is happening in Yong – the ancient capital of Qin, where the investiture of Zheng as 31st King of Qin is to take place.  All the bigwigs of Qin are there (which is why Ai has chosen to invade Xianyang), along with emissaries from the other kingdoms.  That includes the Queen Dowager, ostensibly there as the king’s mother, but in truth to bargain.  There’s a lot of mystery behind her presence – does she plan to double-cross Hu Li and try and circumvent an invasion she expects to fail?  Or is she simply going to run interference for it?

And then there’s Lu Buwei.  Seems like you could end every Kingdom post that way, doesn’t it?  He’s always got a plan working, and he references the “gamble he took 23 years ago” finally paying dividends.  There are several questions at the forefront with Lu here, most obviously how brazen he intends to be in trying to keep Zheng from consolidating power.  But his role in the Ai affair remains the greatest mystery – is he directly involved, or merely leveraging it to his advantage (as he does everything else)?