Royal Nirvana: Season 1

On returning to the Liang Empire from a mission to Northern Yan, Minister Xu meets Prince Yu, and tells him that a pouch containing the name of a gifted scholar from Langya Hall will be the key for Prince Yu to become king. He goes to Langya Hall for the pouch, with Prince Xian's people immediately following him, and they both receive a pouch containing the name: Mei Changsu, leader of the Jiang Zuo Alliance and first in Langya Hall's list of gifted scholars. Both princes vow to get Mei on their

At the Ning mansion, Meng Zhi notices and fights Fei Liu, Mei Changsu's bodyguard. When Mei steps in to stop the conflict, the general states that Mei must be a very powerful individual to have a strong bodyguard. Xie Yu, a Crown Prince Xian supporter and his son Xie Bi, a Prince Yu supporter, both realize that their guest is Mei Changsu, and quickly notify their masters. Prince Jing returns to the capital after making a military report. As the competition commences, Jingrui, Yujin, Mei Changsu

During their walk, Nihuang and Mei Changsu see Prince Jing trying to rescue a servant boy named Tingshen, who was about to be whipped to death. Mei offers to free the boy for Prince Jing. As he walks back to the Ning manor, he encounters Meng Zhi, who recognizes him and offers to help Mei in his plans. He later secretly visits Mei, and asks what happened at the battle in Meiling, but Mei promises to tell him later. Mu Qing, Nihuang's younger brother, asks Mei to help him form a plan to keep his

At the banquet, Mei Changsu asks the Emperor to allow him to use three servant children, including Tingshen, to battle competitor, Baili Qi. The Emperor agrees, as he did not want Mu Nihuang to be married to the Northern Yan. Meanwhile, Concubine Jing, Prince Jing's mother, meets Consort Hui, and offers to go with her to the deceased Empress Dowager palace to pay their respects to her. On their way back, they overhear a servant talking about Qing Si Rao, a strong concoction that knocks people ou

The three children compete with Baili Qi, and eventually win. After the match, Princess Nihuang conveys her suspicions to Mei Changsu, who informs her that the match was fixed; Baili Qi is actually a member of the Jiang Zuo Alliance, and the events leading up to the match were arranged in order to secure Tingshen's freedom. Mei then warns Nihuang to be careful of what she eats or drinks when she is summoned by the Empress. However, he soon realizes that the Empress is not the one behind the act,

The emperor becomes suspicious of Prince Jing on how he knew that the princess was in danger. Before he can answer, Prince Yu comes and tells the emperor that it was he who told Prince Jing to save Nihuang, taking all the credit. Princess Nihuang realizes that it was Meng Zhi who told Prince Jing; Meng Zhi admits that he was carrying out Mei Changsu's plan. After that, Prince Jing visits Mei and tells him his rules: Mei cannot use certain people, especially the innocent, in his future plans. Mea

Xia Dong, Jingrui, and Yujin travel back into the capital. Xie Bi tells Jingrui that their father told him to stop serving Prince Yu, causing Xingrui to realize that the Marquise was a Crown Prince Xian supporter. Xia Dong arrives at Xie Yu's manor to meet Mei Changsu. After her visit, she also tells an eavesdropping Xie Yu that she knows it was he who sent the assassins against her, but promises to keep it a secret, as Xie Yu brought back her husband's, Nie Feng's, body twelve years ago. Knowin

Mei Changsu is attacked by Zhuo Dingfeng and his son, but are quickly fought off by Fei Liu. The next morning, Crown Prince Xian receives news from the Minister of Revenue, Lou Zhijing, that he had may be implicated as he was responsible for some of the corpses. Prince Xian and Xie Yu then try to find a way to save the minister, who was a crown prince supporter. As for Mei Changsu, he buys a house that has a back wall that connects to Prince Jing's manor, making it possible for the two to secret

After Mei Changsu moves into his new house, Prince Yu visits and asks him to help him save Duke Qing. However, Mei advises him to drop the Duke, and instead support Prince Jing. After much persuasion, Prince Yu agrees. The next day, Mei goes to see Prince Jing to help him prepare for the case as well as the future, such as keeping capable and neutral officials as acquaintances. Prince Yu and Prince Xian argue against each other about who would replace Lou Zhijing as Minister of Revenue. After th

The Emperor of Liang appoints Shen Zhui as the new Minister of Revenue, as he is not part of the fights for the throne. Prince Jing chooses neutral officials in three departments to oversee his case. After the fall of both Duke Qing and Lou Zhijing is set in stone, Mei Changsu decides to attack Prince Yu's Ministry of Personnel next. He notifies Gong Yu, and secretly arranges for He Wenxin to accidentally murder the son of a Crown Prince supporter, causing Wenxin's father, He Jingzhong, the Mini

Although it is revealed that Prince Ji, the Emperor's little brother, is a witness of the murder case, Prince Yu is determined to save He Wenxin's life for He Jingzhong's sake. Xie Yu and Crown Prince Xian has Minister Chen Yuan Zhi, the minister of Rites, convince the emperor to reinstate Concubine Yue to her original position, as her demotion apparently causes problems with the New Year ceremony protocols. The emperor acquiesces, and prepares to reinstate her. However, Mei Changsu finds a flaw

Mei Changsu meets Master Zhou, and the two talk about Official Li, a past imperial tutor who taught Lin Shu. After Master Zhou leaves, Princess Nihuang confronts Mei, and correctly deduces that Mei is Lin Shu, her past fiance, which brings her great joy. Meanwhile, Shen Zhui meets Prince Jing in the streets of the capital, and together they investigate the canal ports. Shen Zhui explains to the prince that the ship's cargo should not weigh as much as it's supposed to, causing him to believe that

Since Minister He became sickly after hearing his son would be executed, Prince Yu decides to try to save his son. Meanwhile, Yujin and Jingrui come to visit Mei Changsu. Yujin brings in tangerines, but when Fei Liu turns them down, Mei suspects that the fruit was part of a shipment of smuggled gunpowder. When Prince Jing goes to visit his mother, Concubine Jing tells him about the herb that caused the Empress' illness; Prince Jing later relays the information to Mei. Mei realizes that it is Mar

Mei Changsu promises the Marquise that he would keep the incident a secret, because he wanted to save people with devotion and loyalty like Yan Que. To save Minister He's son, Prince Yu captures a tramp to be executed in He Wenxin's steed. However, Mei leaked the incident to Xie Yu, who used the opportunity take down both Minister He and the Minister of Justice, Qimin. On New Year's night, when the Emperor sends out twelve teams to present the royal dishes for the twelve vassal families, one of

The Emperor has Xuanjing Bureau investigate the murder of the team. Xiao Jingrui becomes suspicious of his brother-in-law Qingyao, thinking that he must be working for his father. Xie Yu tells Qingyao and Dingfeng to get rid of Shen Zhui, claiming that the minister is accusing the Crown Prince for being involved in an illegal gunpowder factory. Meanwhile, Jingrui invites Mei Changsu to his birthday party; after they leave, Mei orders Li Gang to have someone challenge the martial arts experts sen

Zhen Ping successfully injures all nine martial arts experts sent by Zhuo Dingfeng, putting Xie Yu's plan to weaken the Imperial guards and Meng Zhi on hold. After visiting General Nie Feng's grave with Xia Dong, Mei Changsu orders Zhen Ping to protect Shen Zhui. While following Qingyao, Jingrui finds his brother-in-law and Zhuo Dingfeng about to assassinate Shen Zhui, and intercepts just in time. During the Lantern Festival, Jingrui, Yujin, and Mei Changsu go to Miaoyin Court and invite Gong Yu

Qin Banruo advises Prince Yu to make the gunpowder case a bigger issue to give a bigger blow at the Crown Prince. Before the factory is closed down, Prince Yu explodes the building, causing many civilian deaths and injuries. Prince Jing arrives with his troops to aid the people; Mei arranges the prince to not follow protocol so that people would see Prince Jing's good deeds. After hearing Shen Zhui's testimony, the Emperor permanently grounds the Crown Prince. Prince Xian also fails to get Princ

Qin Banruo explores the secret room, but accidentally breaks Fei Liu's toys, causing her whereabouts known. After the guests leave, Mei Changsu asks Princess Nihuang and Meng Zhi not to reveal his identity to Prince Jing, as it may ruin future plans. Prince Jing recommends Cai Quan to be the new minister of justice. Meanwhile, news spread that Southern Chu envoys are to arrive at the capital to seek a marriage alliance. Meng Zhi visits Prince Jing's manor, and finds the secret passage in the bui

After finding the secret passage, Meng Zhi expresses his loyalty to Prince Jing and offers to help him in his fight for the throne. After his visit to Concubine Jing, the Emperor promotes her to Consort rank. The Emperor also sends Princess Nihuang back to protect the Da Liang border from the Southern Chu. That night Gong Yu attempts to assassinate Xie Yu, but was then injured and "saved" by Qin Banruo. Banruo later tells Prince Yu information Gong Yu gave to her; Prince Yu later asks Mei how he

Prince Yu prepares to enact his plan to take down Xie Yu. That night at Jingrui's birthday party, Southern Chu's prince, princess, and official Yue Xiuze come uninvited, with Yue wanting to duel with Zhuo Dingfeng. Wary that a showcase of his skills would be evidence for New Years murder case, Zhuo purposely injured himself. However, the Chu princess, Yuwen Nian, asks Jingrui to go to Southern Chu with her, as he is her brother. Xiao Jingrui's birth is exposed, causing Gong Yu to burst out laugh

Xie Yu commands the city guard barracks to guard the mansion, so that Prince Yu's army cannot easily save the guests. The Zhuo family, Jingrui, Princess Yuwen Nian, Yujin, Mei Changsu, Fei Liu, Meng Zhi, Xia Dong, Yue Xiuze and Gong Yu escape through a trap door and flee to the manors back gardens. Right when Xie Yu commands the guard barracks to release arrows at the guests, Liyang arrives to stop Xie Yu and let Prince Yu's army into the manor. When the manor is seized, Liyang makes Prince Yu s

Grand Princess Liyang apologizes to the Zhuo family and confronts Xie Yu. Although they profess their love for one another, Xie Yu is unwilling to commit suicide to save the Xie family's reputation. The next day, the daughter of the Xie Family, Xie Qi dies from childbirth. After Xie Yu's imprisonment, Xia Jiang, director of the Xuanjing Bureau, comes back to the capital and reprimands Xia Dong for being entangled in Xie Yu's conflict with the Zhuo's. Xia Jiang then asks the Emperor to let him in

To verify the deal between Xia Jiang and Xie Yu, Prince Yu arranges a meeting between Xie Yu and Mei Changsu. Meanwhile, Mei has Fei Liu send Xia Dong a letter, asking her and Prince Jing to meet at the prison where Xie Yu is held. While interrogating Xie Yu, Mei receives information about why Xie Yu killed a certain man, Lin Congxin: Lin Congxin made a counterfeit letter written apparently by general Nie Feng, and Xia Jiang used the letter as evidence that the Chiyan army are planning to rebel.

Although Mei Changsu advises Prince Jing to not look into the Chiyan case any further, he finally acquiesces. Just then, they are notified of the Grand Empress Dowager's death, which causes great sadness in Mei. Princess Nihuang visits him, and the two reminisce about their past. Xie Yu is sent to exile, but before he goes, Princess Liyang and his family see him off. Liyang has him write a confession for Mei, so Xia Jiang cannot get rid of him so easily. The Emperor visits Consort Jing and her s

The Emperor chooses Prince Jing to be the new leader the Capitol Patrols as well as allow him to see his mother whenever he wants to. Sir Shisan informs Mei that he has uprooted over half of informants in Qin Banruo's network, although Mei worries that there are still more that are not under her control. When Prince Yu suddenly arrives at the residence to talk to Mei about Prince Jing's sudden rise to power, the strategist advises him to hold back on his power and wait for the Emperor's suspicio

Grand Princess Liyang allows Princess Nian to take Xiao Jingrui to Southern Chu, and Mei Changsu sees him off. Banruo plans to have Jun Niang seduce Tong Lu to get information on Mei Changsu's network. Mei arranges for Prince Jing to give the emperor a bow for his birthday. The Emperor later becomes sick. Prince Jing lets his mother borrow Mei's travelogue book. Jun Niang acts as a damsel in distress to grab Tong Lu's attention.

After being bedridden for a few days, the Emperor decides to go on a walk and visit Crown Prince Xian. However, the emperor catches his son dancing and drinking, although it is not allowed during the mourning period. He is angered and asks Meng Zhi to seal the Eastern Palace, but as it was only verbal decree, Meng cannot fend off the people who doubt his actions. However, Mei tells him to stop trying to get the decree, or the emperor would be suspicious the Meng Zhi is a Prince Yu's supporter. P

Consort Jing tells her son to trust Mei Changsu. After learning that Consort Jing has seen his book, Mei is worried that she may have found out about his secret identity. Meanwhile, Prince Jing is promoted to a noble prince with five pearls (ranking system), causing Prince Yu to be furious and as well as compete with Prince Jing like he did before with Prince Xian. Shen Zhui meets Prince Jing and pleads to him to help with the relief for drought victims in five states. However, Prince Yu is give

Mei Changsu uses the case of one of the five state's envoys sending gifts to Prince Yu to give Prince Jing his chance to be in charge of the disaster relief. Prince Yu is hit hard by his failure, but after much persuasion by Qin Banruo, he finally picks himself back up to try and fight back at Prince Jing. They plan to reopen the Chiyan case, with the help of Xia Jiang, to probe into Prince Jing's weakness. Mei Changsu realizes that Consort Jing has realized his identity. He later goes to the Ya

Mei Changsu asks Marquise Yan to help Prince Jing in his fight for the crown; he later agrees. Zhen Ping finds Tong Lu acting suspiciously whenever he comes to visit Mei. Xia Jiang and Prince Yu secretly meet and devise a plan to catch Prince Jing off guard and make him lose favor. The Emperor reminisce about Consort Chen, who killed herself when her son committed suicide as a result of the Chiyan case. He also announces that he will have to leave the palace for three days to guard Grand Empress