AleksandraSucur

ofc the mask guy is his marquese friend, Murong.

Lemon, he wasn't sent to guard the borders at all, he said he would join his father sent to guard the borders, which means he is substantially free to go or stay wherever he wants, as well as he was before, bc he is also that merchant who met with XJS the nightwhen Zhennan army was celebrating the victory at Pingling. He is also the person who passed that military intel between Zhuangs and XJS on Feng battalion's movements, Zhuangs were all in the capital at the time, as well as the prince who is too young, soft and brain-limited to orchestrate anything.
Even if we haven't seen all the hints, we can deduce it was the Murong guy by simple elimination of possible sus.

I've completed it with a lot of hardships not to drop and still cannot believe such a cast agreed to play in this drama. Fortunately it was short but I've never rated so low a drama I've watched till the end

watch the preview ep 11

😂😂😂

yup.
Thank you for the comment, I am also figuring out :)))

You should remember the fact he is poisoned and we do not know who is giving him antidotes.
I think there was some sort of romantic entanglement between them.
Before being shot, the FL was crying, that means "the secret" was truly shocking and she heard of it just before being shot. I think she discovered SML with a masked guy (who was maybe without a mask, Murong Yao) talking that the plan was to annihilate Feng's army, not to make them retreat. And that - at this point - SML had no choice but to shoot her and make her fall, hoping he could retrieve her personally, before she gets killed by his own men he ordered to kill her if she is still alive

One of the details which drew my attention and nobody mentioned it today. Yixiao was crying before being shot.
I think she heard or witnessed smth that shocked her

I was expecting he would propose for the prince to stay in Susha, but was so surprised how he articulated it. Susha peak diplomatic skills, I don't wonder his father lost words... I felt the same and probably every viewer.
Yes, he nailed it.

no, the empress doesn't know that much, her father haven't revealed her all his dealings, for a person like her is sufficient to know that her father works for her son to become the next emperor and that her father needs the intermarriage to happen. She will never question the reason why, bc. the reason why doesn't matter to her at all. If she cared just a bit about her stepdaughter she would have asked her father about the reason. Instead, she asks the princess and after hearing all her nonsense, she is so happy and satisfied bc the girl is willing, yippy.
She didn't bother herself with Yixiao (who is apparently her stepson's concubine, and it is of general knowledge she was the foreign prince's general and close assistant) at all, till the moment she heard Jingshi dropped the princess in a public place and took Yixiao away in his carriage and started to fear Yixiao could be a dangerous obstacle for this marriage to happen. Although she felt releaved after hearing the princess haven't had a change of heart this time, nobody can say what to expect in the future, so it's better to eliminate the peril.
She is cunning but stupid, too, how can a killer like that eliminate a top trained profi soldier...

what lessons could she have learnt from such a sneaky stepmother other than "girls having a green tea together"(chinese idiom for appearing nice but preparing a blow)? And ofc she appears stupid, she has no idea what kind of blows the FL endured in her life

she sent an assassin after FL not because of her stepdaughter but bc she fears FL could be a reason for her stepdaughter (or the foreign prince) to give up on marriage. That's why she wants FL out of the picture

her educational attitude towards her biological son is: "beware of your brother, he is from another womb"
her educational attitude towards the daughter from "another womb" is to accomodate her naivety as she can manipulate her better, while presenting herself as a caring mother.
She knows her Zhuang father orchestrated for her step daughter to be sent abroad in a marriage as a part of his plan to rule behind his grandson/her biological son and is hell bent to remove any obstacle because with his sister's life threatened in an enemy country can FSG be forced to give up his military power he tried to destroy before (while probably blackmailing the emperor himself). You've seen it yourself, PM Zhuang doesn't want foreign prince to marry matrilocally, but to send away the emperor's beloved daughter.

Why would she harm someone who is useful for her purposes and - being a girl - is out of competition with her own son?
Why wouldn't she like such a docile and naive pet she raised to serve her purposes after taking part in her mother's murder?
What ulterior motives? Seeing how stupid turned this stepdaughter, she is surely satisfied already, everything else is a bonus.

too many hands on the script is a certain path to a disaster, but this time it seems we have an exception to that rule.

I was just kidding, I've got it. What is written as "stove/灶 + horse/马" indicates a variety of cricket known in English as "camel cricket".

ofc we are all here for the leads, but leads have other admirers in most of the dramas, who may be helpful or not, complications and their resolutions are all part of the story. After many - largely tolerated - bromantic helpers and complicators, this time we've got an admirer who is a girl.
I agree with you that her character is a bit annoying, but it can't be better explained anyway, due to the censorship, that was my point.

The doctor fell in love with her, what's wrong with that?
The screenwriters can't elaborate better, bc. gay love is banned from c dramas, the authors can only use music and such apparently nonsensical scenes to hint towards special feelings she has for her

oh, why my translator says 灶 means stove or kitchen? No camels... 😂

yes, I agree. Part of their interactions is for the show (they are very alike actually), part is a genuine resentment (the case of his mother which must not be mentioned), but there's also emotional manipulation ("if you don't withdraw the marriage order, then kill me too"). His father is a ruler ofc., but his son is still a son and has means to press him... it would be wiser for the emperor to consult him before making decisions regarding the family, espc. his precious sister in order to avoid emotional blasts which hurt.

This idiom "spider web and horse tracks" - I find it fantastic. Doubt I'll forget stove horse is a cricket 😂😂😂