Aramintai

It would have been proper only if the drama ended on that note, likely with FL dying. But we still have 5 more episodes to get a semblance of a happy ending, instead of ending on dark revenge.

We don't really know how mentally strong he is, he never witnessed a close person's death and never been in love before. Investigating cases isn't the same.
He's been shown acting decisively and maturely when it mattered, but this here problem is of another caliber.

And then you'd go down to prison to be executed and your family's honor wouldn't be restored. A waste of life for immediate gratification.
Thankfully there are people in FL's life who stopped her from making that mistake.

He's a weak ruler afraid of being deposed, that's his evil.

There's no crown prince character in this drama, and I think it's too late to introduce him now. He's been mentioned here only.
As for the synopsis - it could have been copied from the novel. Which the drama may not follow to a T. Also, there are tons of other concubines in the palace - it can be some other concubine. We have five more episodes. But again, it'd be kinda a lame to introduce a new character at this point.
As for the emperor's behavior towards consort Shu - she's the villain's sister, so he distanced himself from her after hearing the news and even imprisoned her to that cold palace or whatever to atone. It was common practice for relatives to go down with the criminal back then.

I guess the guy's really sensitive and fell really hard, lol. What I find more funny though is how he thinks he's so clever, but can't figure out FL's moves or that she's lying to him. She's plotting something again and pushed him away on purpose, let's see how they gonna reconcile next. I guess it's time for that mandatory period in every drama - the break up period, lmao.

Me too, and it's not because I like her character, which I do, but it would also make FL look like an idiot - she's very sharp when it comes to reading people. Flawlessly pretending to be a kind and doting mother for years before everybody and then suddenly turning 180 would be nuts. But I wouldn't rule it out, I guess. We've seen plently of ambitious concubines in this drama.

Looks like you really don't like FL's character and are inventing things to bitch about. But that's fine, there are plenty of other dramas out there with traditional male female roles.

Is it consort Shu like some people believe here? Or somebody else?
I think I've seen mention about Wu Zetian equivalent in the novel. Though consort Shu's character kinda doesn't fit a conniving tyrant, unless of course she's a well mimicing total psycho.

So, those who've read the novel - I've seen somebody mention there's a villain behind a villain or somesuch? There are five more episodes, they can't all be about giving the villain a poetic justice.

He was outsmarted by her, he always thinks he's so clever, lol.

The real villains here are incompetence and complacency. Weak rulers, indulging in pleasures, giving power to their corrupt underlings felled many governments since the dawn of time.

1. About ML: this drama has role reversal. ML is soft and calming, FL is brash and self-destructive. If their roles were reversed and it was a typical brooding male lead with self-destructing tendencies who was saved from ruining his life by a loving female lead, you'd all be gushing and uwuing. Stop being hypocritical and accept the role reversal here.
If ML didn't stop her:
- she'd be severly punished or even executed for unlawful murder;
- killing that guy'd just fuel her self-destructive behavior.
He wants her to live, like any caring person would. Saying that it's better to burn down the world with her is just wishing she'd go down the suicidal path.

2. About the villain: read about the Tang dynasty history. One of the reasons it fell was exactly because these chancellors had too much power. They frequently plotted and caused rebellions. In the end their position was divided and abolished. The emperor couldn't just execute him because, as sad as it is, he holds so much power in court and has influential clans and factions backing him that it'd do exactly as the emperor said - cause governmental chaos and may even lead to another rebellion. It's not a coincidence that so many historical dramas have these ministers as villains, not only in China, but also in Korea, which copied a lot from China's governmental system. It's just history had many examples of these guys wrecking havoc and making official rulers their puppets.

3. About FL: FL's plan may have been rash, but she was cornered to a wall by the emperor, with all her ways to investigate further blocked. So she had to do something drastic to lure the villain out. She knew ML and her friends would object to unlawful methods, so she lured them out of the city. Can't really judge her either, she's been slowly unravelling after her master's death and having little traction in finding the villain.
She also told a lot of hurtful bs to ML on purpose to keep him away. Hopefully he realizes that it's bs before it's too late. Thankfully we have a few episodes left to make things right and this was the lowest point in the story.

Personally, I think they did the right thing by sparing the bastard, he'll still get his due, likely more painful than just a quick death. And FL was spared from herself becoming a monster she hunted. But it's also kinda naive to think that lawful justice'd be served here - all the previous cases showed that there's very little of it to be found in that place.

My take on episode 29 - it was mostly correct and in-character. The only dumb thing here was the typical villain exposition - he should have ran instead of gloating and spilling his beans.
Those of you who are bitching about ML being too soft or arguing why the villain wasn't punished more harshly, you weren't paying enough attention and didn't read much about the fall of the Tang dynasty. Even though it was all spelled out in the episode. More under spoilers:

Nah, it's not like that.

Just watch it. The romance here is very sweet and genuine, actually. It's not the main focus though. And FL here slays, very cool character.

Yea, they could have let that first girl live instead of swapping her for another samey character. I understand that the first girl paved the way for female medics to be accepted, but she could have become the first one herself. The only difference in their characters is their demeanor, the second girl is more playful and charming.

It's very gradual, there are small scenes here and there from the beginning if you're paying attention. If not, then get to around episode 16.

I'm more concerned with ML saying he's gonna go back to the Astronomers Bureau when asking for marriage. They don't let people out of there to visit their families except on the Lantern Festival day, so that they'd stay away from court politics. ML couldn't either until he was given that permissory badge to help FL solves caes. He didn't think this through if he wants to be with FL. Nobody wants an LDR 🤣.
Personally, I think the leads need to get out of that shithole that is the palace - it's a viper's nest full of schemers.

It ramps up in later episodes.