Aramintai

2. SML gets summoned back after the coup and gets locked up in the palace for years and forced to act like a hedonistic clown so that nobody'd sus him.
3. He did. Main question is why didn't he show the edict publicly right at the gates?
6. FL's sick mother and FL were returning to the mountain when evil grandma killed her at one of the stopping points.
7. This happens even before the emperor dies. It was when she was travelling with her mother to some location. This could be point 1.
8. This is also before all the coup events.
10. FL doesn't randomly do this. Her mother while being mistreated at her husband's mansion tells FL to visit ML's brother at the execution block. Then she waits for ML being delivered for his own trial to give him that food. FL already knew all about their situation from her mother.
12. Can be combined with 6.
15. The cause of this, btw, is that SML refused to marry her on his advisors' orders. They've been goading him on the path of revenge and taking the throne, and FL would be detrimantal to his goals because she's connected to the tarnished Lishan faction. So the dowager married him off to her step-sister, because step-sister had no blood relationship to Lishan. And so as not to leave FL without a husband married her off to ML.

It was shown. He wanted a guy from prison, the funny gnome who works in his prefecture.

Very understandable. Besides FL's schemes and mysterious tragedy at mount Lishan, there's nothing new here indeed. Though there are lots of characters, the plot is quite predictable, to a point where you can start seeing separate arcs. Even that edict plot device was obvious from the start will create a conflict between the leads at some point.
This drama mostly is riding on the emotional deep dive into FL's psychological trauma.

If she was taught under him, it was no more than around 3 years, none of it was shown though. After the plague - self taught. And still doesn't compare to somebody practicing for years. They also always bang on in other cdramas that to master acupuncture you have to practice for years. But she's a genius here, I suppose.

She tells ML herself and it was shown how she was studying alone.

I def don't want it to go to SML either. He's broken and unhinged, probably will kill ML and force FL to be his concubine if he grabs power. There were already thoughts like these coming from him.

More like learned from books. The physician was already dead from the plague when she started. So she had no actual practice, but was better than all those other practicing physicians that ML invited before, somehow.

More like steps to shock therapy, lol.

Somehow I think her punishment will be mild. I also don't think SML will get the throne, the young emperor will hold it.
At this point I think the only interesting mystery left to be resolved is whether the princess is alive. The rest is gonna be the usual fighting & politics.

She has plot armor, obv.

I'm not holding my breath here, it's very pegi 12 so far.

What's up with that one I wonder. ML needs an heir immediately?

Why didn't FL go down the mountain again for help after witnessing all being near death or dead? She didn't seem to go nuts immediately. Going down the mountain to let people know and help with the bodies would have been the first thing that should have been done. Instead she chose to bury them all by herself for days and went nuts in the process. Is it because of their principles? But it was shown she didn't agree with them if everybody died.

Also, should ML be doing this shock therapy? The doctor said less triggers in her life, not more. This could baackfire even worse than before, with her resetting her memory again.

So in episode 33 -

Ok. I didn't like that one, nor the present day sequel.

She never told him because at first he definitely would have divorced her right then and there because of her family's involvement. And she was still scared he would do so until the end, so dissuaded herself from telling him. In marriage, the husband holds all the power there it seems.

What's worse, it wasn't actually her family's involvement that got him so angry, but her pitying him. So it was mainly hurt pride talking, making him forget everything he experienced with her.

So yea, I understand ML's pathetic excuses too, but I just think he handled it very poorly and had a ginormous overreaction with immediately wanting divorce, instead of cooling down and thinking more rationally. Just a forced drama for the sake of moving the plot to the mountain.

Ah, you guys are such ML apologists. Don't get swayed by the grey hair. Besides the point of what happened to his brother, which FL had nothing to do with anyway, is that any way to handle your marriage? One big misunderstanding and "imma divorcing you, go back to the mountain"? It's just a dick move in general, ML got off easy. And after what he learned of FL's past he should be apologizing for the rest of his life.
And him getting angry at her for pitying him was shown to be hypocritical since he himself ran off to the mountain pitying her after what he learned.

Yea, you're right, I rewatched that episode again. What a ginormous overreaction from one misunderstanding. Anyway, I think he'll just shred those upon return. But he needs to be apologizing for the rest of his life, the dick.

Which other one did you like?

Same, I just don't like xianxias in general and those she was in had mediocre plots.