AleksandraSucur

1. it seems we can rule out only the leads (they've got better things to do that night, like sleeping in the same bed, lol). The Yang bull seems to be still alive when Shanbao returned to her chamber, he seemed to be standing alive behind the door, when she changed her mind and decided to go to LJL's chamber
2. The target. A) If the killer's target was Yang, than he/she must have known he was alone in the chamber. This hypothesis restricts the range of killers to those who have known she wasn't in the room. B) If the killer hasn't known this fact, then the target could have been: both Yang and Shanbao. Among all the suitors, as far as we know, only He freak had a motivation (=personal hatred) to kill them both. He could have had an accomplice among the sisters: either the 2nd (with whom he met privately in a coach) or the "blind" sister (and they've faked the scene in which he was insulting her). C) Murder wasn't premeditated but an accident.
3. The reason why Shanbao decided not to enter the chamber may be she had already instructed someone to take away the bead-bracelet belonging to Yanwan's nanny which proves she's Mrs Yang from the cold wife-murder case Lu was investigating. From RSB's talk with her maid, we know this bracelet was not found. Meaning: someone of RSB's people was looking for them. It could have been Yanwan's nanny, who entered the chamber trying to reason with her relative (probably her nephew or smth like that), he was drunk, they've fought and he ended up killed by accident. Yanwan saw her nanny entering the chamber, went into it and left her footprint in a pool of blood. In that case, the murder was C).
Another option are people around Yang, they've also known RSB wasn't in the room. And as they've known about the bracelet, they could have taken it. Eg. the Yang's servant, who was order by Yang to take the bracelet "to his family" in order to confirm it belonged to Mrs. Yang. It means his family knew their wanted relative was sheltered in the Rong mansion. Either his uncle or his twin bro could have ordered this servant to kill him or to let them in to commit the murder in order to obtain the bracelet, as the exposure of the nanny's secret would damage more the Yangs than the Rongs (the Yangs namely took over the plantations of Mrs Yang's husband, Wei). That would explain also the fact how fast they've appeared at the Rong's mansion. In that case, the murder would be A).

Did I miss smth important?

Lets' try to delude ourselves thinking Mango left us with no eps tomorrow in order to process what we've seen till this point. The main open issue at the moment is whodunit. Although we don't have forensic data like the exact time of the death, its cause etc, lets' analyse what we know...

yes, "rong" means "glory"

the boring illusion world arc finished, but I am still feeling the same as you about it... Will watch today's episodes later and then tell you again

maybe he remembered he was imperial inspector investigating a cold case for which the emperor ordered a retrial.
As for the tribute tea... I remember the old lady Rong commenting on governor's request for that very tea as a tribute to him as well and all others saying: "who does he think he is?"

Your theory is not crazy at all. Whether he remembers (fully or partiallt) or not, he'll end up solving that cold case mystery. He accidentaly ended up in the house he wanted to investigate in search of that Mrs Yang (and who's highly probably Yanwan's nanny).
I think his memory is gradually recovering and is very eager to hide that fact from the FL to avoid being ousted from the mansion. Yes, he is an excellent pretender.

I've rewatched the scene, The beads are not Yunwan's, they belong to the nanny. Who is highly probably Mrs Yang from the cold case Lu was investigating after the imperial order for its retrial (bc her husband died in prison and the Yangs took over his family plantations). A woman who wasn't murdered but sheltered in the Rong mansion.
So, this Yang bull, as a member of the nanny's birth family, recognized her beads and by showing them to the FL, he said: you must marry bc I have smth on you. The owner of this beads is a researched person

I thought the preyer beads belonged to Wan'er (I've thought the character on the beads was "wan", only rewatching it I've seen it was "Lan"). Now, I've rewatched the scene and seen the beads falling from her nanny's wrist!

So, I think your theory stands. That nanny can actually be Mrs Yang, from the same family as this Yang bull, the family which overtook her husband's family (Wei) plantations after his suicide in prison. As Mrs Yang is researched for retrial of that case, what Yang bull has on FL is the knowledge this relative of his in sheltered by the Rong family. To confirm his sus, he even sent those beads to his family for check.

But what I don't understand is why would he denounce such a thing, his own family would loose the Wei plantations and good connection the Yangs have with the Rongs (it is mentioned their family tea tree comes from the Rongs)? Such a blackmail would damage both families, but the Yangs will be damaged more. Bc the old lady Rong highly probably knows this Yang woman is sheltered in Rong mansion and would oppose such a blackmail but why the FL didn't tell her anything about it?

It's the mentally impaired sister's name "Wan"

Showing those prayer beads with the name of her sister was like saying: if you don't chose me as your groom, I'll marry your little sister. She is very protective of her sister for obvious reasons, the very idea of her sis being taken by Yang certainly terrifies her... For FL in that moment, the priority was to take away her sister from his grip and with him... she can always deal later and make him to bitterly regret this blackmale. She is in her house, she'll find the way to have those beads back
Her decision was actually very logical and expected.

I hope for them they'll both leave that vipers' nest for good. I like her doing the tea business but dislike her living in the same mansion with wicked Rong girls... But the situation will certainly change, we still have no clue in which direction it will change... Besides, he also must use the power of Rong family to take his own revenge and bring down the governor and his powerful underlings...

wow, the speed in taking off her shoes... as she had done that thousands of times 😂🎇

Despicable ungrateful humans are getting more and more annoying in this drama...

as the other vipers were better than her, lol 🤦‍♀️

neither do I..

"Mr. Yan, you've been avoiding me like the plague, as if I were some venomous creature" 😂
The correct statement would be "as if you know I am a venomous creature" 🐍🐍🐍
Although Mr Yan is smart enough to keep distance from the chief vixen jiejie, he still didn't figure out he'd better run away to his mountain and grow up his own tea, lol.

Happy New Year to you, too! 🎇

I haven't seen the two Korean dramas you've mentioned, but this story is truly great, I'm at ep 13 and certainly won't watch smth not worth watching at 23,15 in New Year's Eve...
The value of socializing and finding friends to tell us more about ourselves in this drama is pure gold.
Happy New Year!

yeah, dishonest is not the the right word, you're right about it. But as an alpha, a beholder of real power, she is the true shaper of their internal relations. She put heavy requirements and responsability on the oldest girl, deliberalty spoilt the brazen one, made a (male) grandson useless... she has seen through their collective plot against the first granddaughter (when bandits hired by them abducted Bao) but never intervened, explaining to her maid the future matron must cope with such trifles on her own... She doesn't openly encourage them to be mean towards the eldest, but doesn't discourage them either and this is not a normal thing for a person who was and still is in charge of their education. As for the manipulation, I think we still haven't seen much of the grandma. It is true, as you said, she "lets the game play out" until the outcome of that game is what she planned... will she still be a "calm control power" if the outcome of the game she activated is smth she hasn't envisaged? Doesn't she already use the power of tea-bone on her granddaughters to keep them in constant competition and isn't this power already a sort of manipulation?

Happy New Year! 🎇

How perceptions may differ... While I agree they are all shady and scheming, I perceive the grandma as the most dishonest and scheming, an alpha she-wolf who shaped that entire wolfpack of the Rong mansion according - if not to her image and likeness - at least according to her business running needs and agenda.
One word of that old lady will suffice to stop the competition between sisters as well as the competition for the matrilocal husband. Given she has already decided who'll among the sisters be the next matriarch as well as her future husband. And she'll give a hell of a time to anyone who doesn't play according to her script...