72/73: Whodunit?

[ajk]

Aw, come on everybody, where are all the wild speculations about who poisoned DJY? I figured the board would be full with everybody accusing somebody of doing it. Isn't that why the Internet was created in the first place--to spout conspiracy theories?

So many suspects. The prince, the empress, Li Wen, Li Wen's underlings, Xue Rengui, on and on. (I have my own suspect, and it's none of the above.) Let's get some betting action going here! Maybe Vegas has a line going.

It's actually kind of a neat plot twist, and I'm glad they didn't reveal it in #74. Will be interesting to see how long they tease it out.

[Lady1044]

I suspect it's one of those you mentioned however, I could be wrong. It seems the story will drag on for a long time. I will be watching to the end.

[kathleen34]

Thanks for the fun challenge, ajk.

Like you, I don't go with 'any of the above' ... here's my long thought-out guess: It could easily be Li Kaigu ... smirkster has hated DJY since forever. He may be Chulin's 'husband'... with DJY's baby boy let's not forget... but he's a man driven by love and hate.

He could have poisoned both cups knowing full well that LiWen would surface as the top suspect. If this guess is viable, can you imagine how crazed he must have been when our always-smiling villan, Xue Rengui jumped in to save DJY by seeking immediate medical attention? 'All of the above' have strategic reasons for wanting DJY dead. However, Li Kaigu is motivated by true hatred. If I'm wrong here, my grace will be very measureable.

[pip]

Cute bit on conspiracy theories and the Internet, AJK!

A friend nominated Shin Hong as the poisoner - - AJK, was that your thought? My friend puts absolutely nothing past Shin Hong.

I seem to recall hearing Empress Wu Zetian musing to herself about who it was, so I cut her from my list of suspects. At this point, I think it was the Crown Prince. His knowing that both cups were poisoned was an intriguing tidbit. I think Li Kaigu has his hands full with the Crown Prince, and has shifted his focus away from DJY. I admit that Li Wen has a lot to gain from killing DJY, but I don't think he would do it at the risk of damaging the Empress' position, which would also damage his own position.

Nothing like a good conspiracy discussion to get the blood moving!

[zorro]

Well, I'm not that "friend", but that's my nomination as well.

But this human hunt thing has me frustrated. He drank the damn poison for God's sake, which was "supposed" to let him live. Not to mention killing Wugol, it goes on and on.

It makes the scene between Xue and DJS meaningless, as XR only saved him long enough to be hunted. Thumbs down.

[ajk]

Welcome, Lady1044; hope we see more of you here. (Prospect Heights...Ever been to Peep’s Hot Dogs? mmmmm good Chicago dogs)

Okay, you all stuck your necks out so I should too. This will sound crazy but here goes. I think whoever poisoned him had absolutely no intention of killing him, and may even have been trying to help him. If they wanted him to die, he’d have gotten a lethal dose. I think the motive was one or both of two things. One, it got DJY out of that predicament. If he passed the cup test and then told the empress he’d never serve her, he probably would have been executed right then and there. Or two, it was to stir up trouble in the Tang court and get somebody deposed.

At first I figured DJY poisoned himself, even though we didn’t see evidence of it. But then the palace servant turned up dead, and obviously he didn’t do that. So I’m convinced it was Chulin! She doesn’t want DJY dead, not only for the bouncing-eyeballs personal stuff but because the non-Chinese are trying to save him (which seems kind of ridiculous, but that’s beside the point). Plus she hates Li Wen, hates the prince, probably doesn’t care much for the empress either, and if any one of them took the fall for the poisoning then she’s done well by it. Plus, whoever did it had to be able to get around the palace unobtrusively, and she’s shown she can do that. Plus, she had that potion made for DJY from the infirmary. How would she know which potion he should have?

Li Kaigu is definitely a good suspect and he definitely has the cojones to try it, but I just never saw him as being all that clever. Shin is clever enough, but does he have enough cojones to kill a servant? Maybe, but Chulin is clever enough to think of it and brave enough to try it.

And as far as all of that both-cups-were-poisoned stuff, I think that’s a false lead. If the empress ordered the same liquid to be put in both cups, then whoever poisoned the liquid could have poisoned it before it was poured into the cups. And we don’t really even know if both cups were in fact poisoned. He drank them both, and it took a few minutes for him to keel over, so it might have been one or the other but not both.

So that's the horse I'm betting on! Fit me for a straitjacket, but we'll see. Anyway, it's a fun angle and I hope they don't reveal the answer too abruptly.

[kathleen34]

WOW! such intriguing scenarios, ajk. And I hope they draw it out to build on the the suspense.

[zorro]

Great theory aj, but are you saying Chulin would have killed the servant? Likewise I don't think Shin could kill anybody either, but he usually finds someone he knows who will.

And whoever it was would've had to put poison in both cups if in fact they wanted to be sure he drank it. Judging by everyone's surprise, I don't think the perp or anyone for that fact thought DJ would drink both cups.

Namseng??

[pip]

I agree that Shin Hong and Chulin seem unlikely to be able to kill the maid, but each is fully capable of having someone killed. Chulin has declared her allegiance to her child above everyone else, so I believe she is capable of killing on her son's behalf.

Let us not forget that poison is generally considered a woman's weapon.

Having said that, I don't think it was Chulin.

AJK, I like your suggestion that the poisoning may have been done to help DJY. This puts a whole, new light on things, looking at it as an attempt to save him. That speculation opens the door to more suspects, even to the ever-resourceful and clever Mimosa, who always finds a way to accomplish things.

Well, at this point I'm holding out for my choice of the Crown Prince, but it remains to be seen. Perhaps tonight will give us some clues!

[ajk]

Yeah, you're right Zorro, I suppose they would have had to poison both cups. It was obvious to me that he'd drink both—what else could he do—and even Heuk Sedol said "Let me drink them both" or some such words. But I suppose it wasn't a guarantee so it had to be both. Still, if the only way to make it work was to poison both, then the prince saying that they were both poisoned doesn't make him more of a suspect. (Geez this is giving me a headache.)

But certainly yes Chulin could have killed the servant; she jumps into those battles so a simple murder would be no problem. Namseng! Wouldn't that be hilarious if he came out of the woodwork? pip, that's a good point, it certainly could be a surprise person if the help-him angle is correct. Hadn't thought about Mimosa. Well, whatever happens I just hope that they give us a good explanation for it and make the story plausible. A few times they've really laid some eggs plot-wise.

[tinkerbell]

I haven't even seen this episode yet, but although poison is a woman's choice a lot of the time, it's not always. In AOW Kyung Dae Sung was being poisoned by one of his men (not to kill him but to keep him sick. Eventually he succumbed nonetheless). How many Romans or other civilizations used poison to kill others or themselves? I guess the suspect list is pretty long.

[Nalbal]

I decided, while still watching the episode, that the person who poisoned the wine wasn't any of the people that were present for "the Empress' test". At first I thought that it might be Kaigu, but then I changed my mind: this is because I watched all of their faces (Kaigu+Chulin, Li Wen, the Empress+politicians, etc..), and on every single face was pure surprise. It looked like that what occurred was totally unexpected. Then that's just me.

The two people that I think must have done it are the Prince Xian, and Shin Hong. Why Shin Hong would do it I have no idea, but it usually seems that the least likely suspect turns out to be the one who did it. Besides, Shin Hong seems capable of anything and everything.

[teacher]

Will we ever find out who the poisoner was???

[aosy]

Hi do you really want to know? If you have taped Ep73, see it again, you will find the culprit inadvertently let slipped that DJY had drank both cups of poisoned wine. Only him who ordered it and the General Hechi Changzil (hope I have got it right) who knew it through the imperial physician tending to DJY. Earlier nobody knew that both cups contained poison coz the poison only reacted after DJY drank the second cup and that was not immediately. It's a HIM.