The Empress Dowager has had a failure of imagination. Her "son" and the Empress have found ways of spending their time * cough * and the General has her own reasons to pay the Princess a visit.
Eh, the royal couple are cute and fun in their own way, but the romance developing between these two is a different level - probably because we get to see more of its development, rather than having it presented as a fait accompli.
The General definitely cleans up well - Ming Wei is going to be blown away by her feminine charms . . .