Rating: A
The Incident may be over, but the mysteries surrounding it aren’t, and as this great follow-up shows, they may not be for quite some time. Jinshi has always given the impression of having far more on his plate than Maomao was ever aware of, and this episode only codifies more clearly how broad and deep that plate is.
The most immediate concern is, of course, Maomao’s rescue of him from the falling beam. Having Maomao recuperate in his own bed certainly is a strong statement (though Maomao is either oblivious to that or deliberately avoiding it), but the real matter here is Maomao laying out the conspiracy she saw last episode which drove her to action. With all the details taken together, there’s no way it doesn’t look highly suspicious, but as I mentioned last time, only a person positioned exactly right, with direct exposure to all of those incidences, could have made the connection that each incident was related. Even the metalworker matter comes into play, with a crucial part (which was stolen under cover of the fire) having been recast with the special metal that melts at low temperatures – and because that part was directly over a ceremonial brazier, the opportunity for it to fail presented itself. Everything else was just to cover that crucial point up; even the metalworker’s death now looks suspicious, too.
All of this brings up one really big question: was Suirei really the mastermind here in the attempt on Jinshi’s life? If so, why? At the very least, she had accomplices and, we can presume, some degree of backing, but it’s quite possible the details were her orchestration. The comment she made to Maomao on the hill a couple of episodes back sounded a bit like a challenge at the time, and now it’s clear that it was intended to be a hint about her false-death trick – in other words, the same gimmick used by Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. That is a hallmark of a mastermind, as is her manipulation of the doctor. That she was adopted by the doctor’s former master because of her displayed talents further lends credence. Every proper detective needs a Moriarty, so this is likely not the last time Suirei will clash wits with Maomao, and the latter clearly wouldn’t have it any other way. At the very least, the extent of this conspiracy is far from being fully revealed.
The episode also does confirm two points that have long been suspected: Basen is, indeed, Gaoshun’s son (his youngest, in fact) and neither Jinshi nor Gaoshun is actually a eunuch. In fact, the name “Jinshi” is likely every bit as much artifice as the identity and persona he takes on during his work in the Rear Court. He’s even lying about his age by a few years. Whether or not he’s actually Ah-Duo’s son (and thus the current emperor’s son and true successor, rather than brother) remains nebulous, though Jinshi’s own reflections on the matter point towards that truth as much as Maomao’s own suppositions did back when Ah-Duo left the Rear Palace.
Things are afoot elsewhere, too. Maomao is returning the Rear Palace because Gyokuyou may be pregnant again (and it keeps Lakan firmly at a distance) and new courtesan Loulan is proving to be quite the oddball with her dramatic fashion changes; everything suggests that she’s doing it deliberately to discourage the Emperor from getting too close, though for political reasons, he can’t completely ignore her. The anime-original scene of someone whispering in her ear after the incident with Suirei also seems highly suspicious, but given what seems to be coming up next, we may not see anything more come of that for a while (if even at all this season).
In fact, based on the final scene with Lihaku and the Next Episode preview, it looks like the adaptation is going to skip a story where Maomao helps out the eunuch doctor in the Rear Palace with a family business problem. That chapter always felt like a side story to me anyway, and upcoming the story involving Lihaku and Pai Lin is a much juicier affair anyway. Should be good fun!
USA Anime 