ep 5 spoilers ahead

In a lot of ways, the intelligence of Lu Zhen reminds me of Dong Yi (Kdrama/palace drama)

1.So Lu Zhen is lectured by the prime minister. It is pretty harsh and she basically tells her to shut up who cares about Ah Bi (the girl who implicated her and was slapped last episode). She is imparting some valuable lessons about palace life--basically get used to it and learn to not make a mistake so that others have an opportunity to implicate you.

2.Ah Ning appears to be a friend and tells her to ignore Ah Bi, who appears to be the daughter of an important official a.k.a. she is spoiled and doesn't have to work hard to get her way

3.The officials teach the girls etiquette (I really don't like these costumes) and they are very impressed with her and curious to see how she develops because they easily notice she pretends to be dumb (she makes deliberate mistakes)(this may imply that she is trying to avoid standing out in order to get her revenge)

4.Lu Zhen has an impressive knowledge because of her background with goods so she is able to teach the girls things, continuing to garner the admiration of her teachers and undoubtedly fanning the flames of jealousy in Ah Bi.

5.Ah Bi tries to stir up trouble by playing a prank on Lu Zhen. She doesn't make a scene and uses it as a chance to have fun with the other girls and even claims responsibility (smart girl). The teachers watching in the shadows gives us some foreshadowing: they say it is good the girls can laugh now because soon they will no longer be able to laugh and be old, like them, also implying I think that once they become official servants sh*t will get real

6.Imperial Consort has seen Lu Zhen and believes she is too pretty so she tells one of the female ministers loyal to her that she needs to remove her from the palace because she is too pretty. This minister pours hot water on her, and says she must be kicked out for breaking a jade cup. But Lu Zhen notices the cup is not jade, is in fact cheap, explains why, and offers to pay for it. The higher up female minister walks by and the woman pouring the water takes responsibility (I wonder if she is buying bad cups and pocketing the money...)

7.This Ah Bhi is diaboloical (and so clearly guilty she doesn't even try to hide it! how does no one notice it??) she sets up our girl in by pouring water on everyone's bed except Lu Zhen. Not being a moron, Lu Zhen clearly points out there is no evidence and she had no time. She even dumps water on her own bed but they aren't buying it. Lu Zhen is punished to sleep in the storage room and scrub chamber pots all night. But we learn something important: the female minister who has it in for her does not report it to Yue GuGu (the minister who seems supportive of Lu Zhen) at Lu Zhen's request, meaning she knows that it is poor plot. I think these are good trials for Lu Zhen as they will prepare her for what is to come.

8.I pity her (can't handle bad smalls) but OMG she is so smart and cute she ties a scarf around her nose with flowers on it so she can smell flowers bwahaha-

9.In a good scene finally we see our heroine showing some pluck. She is told to scrub the chamber pots again. She confronts this minister and asks if she is doing this because of Madame Shangyi (sorry if I spelled it wrong) and then tells her off, basically that Minister Lou personally vouched for her and she would be offending the Minister by picking her., She refuses to do the work and leaves. this is observed by Yue GuGu (her other minister supporter) and she seems to like what she is seeing.

10. Madame Shangyi enlists the aid of Ah Bhi and her buddy to take down Lu Zhen. In front of Minister Lou they accuse her of being the girl in the wanted poster. Unafraid to lie, she says it is a coincidence. Madame Lou protects her and tells her that she looks like someone worth cultivating adn hopes to one day introduce her to the Dowager Empress (that's a big deal!). Also, Ah Bhi took the time to 'make peace' with Lu Zhen having realized just before this that she shouldn't go up against someone with powerful allies. Thus, Ah Bhi's 'buddy' is thrown under the boss and ordered to be beaten for lying.

11.Never one to miss a beat...So the girl who was beaten returns. Ah Bhi gives her the cold treatment and completely distances herself from her. It is Lu Zhen who offers out an olive branch (probably knowing that yesterday's enemy can be today's friend if you do something for them)

12.It seems that evil stepmom is using her relationship with the royal family (and money) to place her daughter (the half sister) in the palace. Minister Lou has recognized the resemblance that Lu Zhen has with people she knows (perhaps she knew Lu Zhen's mother?). She is investigating why the step mom seems to not know Lu Zhen (I bet it has something to do with her stealing Lu Zhen's dowry...)

13.After trading a dance of words, in which the empress feigns concern for Ah Zhan, she admits that he has found her out (i.e. her plots to kill him) and says she will do anything if he promises to not kill the emperor and protect her family name (seems he arrested the assassins, who are his uncle, so brother of the empress). He makes it clear that she had better leave him alone before agreeing to not tell the emperor (who is on good terms with him) the truth (it is likely the empress realizes that her son may turn on her if she pushes him too far) Since he has evidence of her families involvement (the assassins were dumb enough to leave their family token there) he also insists she return full military power to the emperor, stay out of politics, and retire to the dowager palace.

14.SO many parallels to Dong Yi! It seems that Minister Lou has been grooming our Lu Zhen in order that she catch the eye of the emperor, and basically obtain power through that. I doubt they know that Lu Zhen is uninterested in being used in such a way....

15.Ah Zhan wants to find Lu Zhen and feels he owes her a debt...but isn't sure if she is alive or dead. Little does he know how close she is...

I liked this episode much more because our female lead finally took her enemies head on and she did it in an intelligent way. I also appreciate that this shows has some parallels to Dong Yi in that we have a smart female lead who is being cultivated by a powerful woman who will probably wind up being her enemy some day...

I don't like Ah Bhi, not because she is awful but because her utter lack of effort to disguise her plotting seems to be just a little to risky. If she turns out to be a long-term villain I will be annoyed because she isn't very powerful; yes she has a father but during times like these families rise and fall so easily and she is just a woman (and not that smart) in a man's world. She is not nearly as smart, as say, a villain like Su Jin (eternal love)

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