The drama's premise of cruelty, betrayal, death, and revenge has become disappointingly soft after this episode. The show, initially about a girl's survival and quest for justice after her family's murder, and an evil princess sinister plot as why she killed her and the whole family, has devolved into a mere jealousy and stupidity.

The plot loses impact as key characters presumed dead are revealed to be alive, undermining the FL motivation for revenge. The FL actions in this episode tarnishing her own reputation mirror her enemy's, further weakening the narrative. With six episodes remaining, the writers have squandered the opportunity for a compelling revenge story by removing the stakes and emotional weight of the characters' losses.

I love the romance part and how it progressed so far, and is fun to watch.

Exactly. As I'm on E38,

The story about ML waiting 8 years for his father revenge doesn't have much impact. This is because the main revenge plot is already solved and not much damage done to either party.

Instead of feeling moved, I'm left thinking that Xiao Heng's father and his 100 men might suddenly show up alive. They could be working as slaves in some mine in Dai Country.

You are right. In the novel, she really died and it's transmigration so her father and brother being alive, is just as bitter because she is dead and there will be no reunion (especially because her father is "demented"). The drama kept them alive and glossed over the emotional toll their return should still have. 

The novel has a big plot that was cut out, and this loss of momentum excluded it was a necessary cut and was done really well. In the novel, Princess Wanning has an illegal torture dungeon in her mansion. It gets raided by Duke Su and he saves both Ruo yao and the brother, he didn't know who he was and sends him to his Manor to be nursed back to health, he also thinks he's the last Xue and doesn’t talk about his past. One day Jiang Li sees him and starts hugging and crying on him. 

It's long winded and emotionally fulfilling in the novel