Marco hunts for a traitor, while the Blue Princess’s secret is revealed.
Who hired the assassins that nearly murdered Kublai?
I almost expected to hear theLaw & Order chung-chungsoundas they interviewed a multitude of suspects.
Credit: Phil Bray/Netflix
In a way, hes the Mongol mirror to Jia Sidao, the cunning Chinese warmonger.
But Marco doesnt have the advantage of those insights.
Looks like a match.
And yes, Sanga regularly traveled to Kochkor, the Hashshashin outpost.
But could he have engineered this conspiracy all by himself?
Question the man who sent Sanga to Kochkor, says Sangas widow, bitterly.
That man would be Ahmed.
But Ahmed is too sly, especially when the two flat-foots come straight at him with their careful questions.
He is just a simple bookkeeperI tally, I account, I servearmed only with an abacus.
I simply state fact, he says, explaining his only purpose.
He practically shames their suspicions in his retorts.
I speak truth, he says, describing his value to the Khan.
Which is more meaningful?
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For Marco, Ahmed and Yusef are the only primary suspects.
And of the two, hes more suspicious of Yusef.
But there are others still to consider, like lord Kaidu.
Kaidu seeks to ensure your safety, she tells Kublai, who has a benevolent soft spot for her.
Could it be a blind spot as well?
Tart language from a royal princess.
Shes not a real princess after all.
Only Tulga knows her secret.
But Marco is slowly piecing that puzzle together.
How is it that a peasant weds a princess?
he asks her later, with more than a little jealousy.
In Xiangyang, Jias recent successes have blinded him to his vulnerability.
She is no longer to be a spy, but an assassin.
But it is the Empress who showcases her many skills.
No doubt she has the Princess in mind.
You dont think people will assume that the two assassination attempts are linked?
And that Kublai will be forced to exact revenge on the Chinese rebels for this flagrant act of war?
Untrue by an inch, untrue by a mile, Hundred Eyes had advised him.
Little does Marco know that he, himself, is under a cloud of suspicion.
Did [Polo the elder] abandon his son to serve his purse… or his pope?
he asks the khan in private.
Such an accusation rings hollow in the face of Marcos worldly naivety.
And then there was Niccolos strange farewell behavior when he and Uncle departed from Cambulac following their punishment.
We will meet again, he says.
If so, will Christian knights be with him?
