AleksandraSucur

I think it's in her character. As a business manager she was too well trained to act aloof, to keep her calm and to hide her true plans and intentions.
Scheming and hiding the intentions are in ML's character as well, he deals with criminals, corrupted officials etc. So there are "no reasons", they can't suddenly change or invert their characters or habits and that's why their relationship looks like they are playing mind games all the time.

Yes.
But he is very special to her. I don't think she would make love just like that with just like anybody. If you think better about it, she may already be pregnant. She is just too well trained to act aloof, to keep her calm and to hide her true plans and intentions.

After you refused to use your 6th sense yesterday I've used my own "Pythian skills" and guessed correctly where was the butler, lol https://kisskh.at/772283-ming-men-shi-jia#comment-24827158

Since the 1st eps, when I saw how granny easily went along with the girls instead of punishing them severely. Being so in sync with those little criminals made her immediately the main responsible... 😏

Oh, the express is tomorrow?
Nooo... such a good story and ending so soon...😱

The English title is "Glory", translation of Chinese "Rong". The title in Mandarin is "Jade Tea Bone", so ofc the drama is about the Rong family and their tea business.
LJL's background was unknown to him (first bc of amnesia, later bc he himself didn't know), this is the last plot twist. The Rongs in the capital - being absent from the story till now as well - are highly probably related to this twist

She is indeed affectionate in putting a lifesaving pill in the mouth of her lover after stabbing or drowning him... 😁
Come on, that's an oxymoron: no Rong girl can be affectionate... if she is - that means they are feigning (eg. towards the granny) or putting on an act or show (eg. Yunxi kissing An in front of the granny). They all give deliciously heartless attitude. ❤️

Yup, along with the other missing pieces of the Rong family puzzle

I was thinking about it, but had no courage to say it 😂😂😂

It is called peripeteia in theatrical jargon. An unexpected twist when a hero discovers an unknown truth about his real origins... Peripeteia usually causes depression

yes, the wedding scene was a melodrama at its highest.

I am glad I've correctly guessed where was butler Cheng and that he would come after LJL already exposed the monk's true identity, continuing to meddle between LJL and RSB. That's why I am a bit surprised with his sudden and unexplained towel dropping. It was the first symptom of a rush in the story line, the second being the explanation what Yunxu really had done at the river and the deal she struck with RSB after the scholar left her room.

On the other hand, I've liked the whole truth exposing scene happened in front of the guests, business partners and managers finally bringing down the unbearable granny and in one melodramatically effective shot we've got the final closure of Wei-Yang case, found out the true culprit behind Yang DC's and Mrs Yang's death and witnessed a public recognition of the new tea queen. The author went a bit too easy on granny but after seeing her first son and his 2nd family in the capital I more or less understand why she kept herself and the family distant from the officialdom and was opposed to the idea of RSB marrying an official.

Now, we are in the capital. Expecting to see the reasons why LJL needs such a dominant, calculative and cold woman like RSB. An obvious turning point occurred when a person looking like a eunuch brought him an edict and he seems to be in some trouble (at least in RSB's dream) and/or in a "reversal of circumstances" plot again. Such a plot twist looks like a typical "peripeteia" of a hero after discovering a certain unknown truth connected with his origins (eg. his true parentage, as in Sophocles's Oedipus Rex). Till this point, the author used (and sometimes abused) practically all reversal narrative devices except this one. RSB is certainly hearthless ("the morning after"😱) but abandoning the bed doesn't mean she'll abandon her lover to his own trouble or misery. Or that she'll allow someone else to be heartless to him, that's her exclusive right, right?

Yup, smth like that, I expect. Biting his nails, bc LJL will expose the fake YBL first.😁

Thank you.
3. I agree with you, it's unusual... it works also on me.
4. I totally understand why it often doesn't work...
5. ❤️❤️❤️

Don't worry, RSB would never ask him to do so. She rescued him in the first place bc she knew he was "an upright official"

the male butler's name is Cheng, not Lu

Not finding any spoilers or other people's theories to answer the Q "where's butler Cheng?" (which seems to be important for the plot, given LJL asked the same... and RSB changed the subject in order to avoid the A), I've racked my brain myself where he could be, based on what we know about the characters, plotwise trajectory, logics and dynamics among different characters.

Coming to a conclusion the butler must have been sent (either by Granny or by RSB, maybe even via Madam Yan, who is from the same "Yan" family and to whom she gave a letter before Mme Yan left the mannor in order to deliver the tea to various far distant clients) to investigate better "the last man standing" at the Rongs' mannor, ie., YBL. He'll probably come with some evidences of why the person (butler Cheng greatly admired) currently in the mannor is a fraud and cannot be the real YBL. Obviously, the butler will return too late, as LJL will aready expose "the monk", having the real YBL as a proof. And ofc, being always three steps behind LJL, the butler will continue to hate the latter. 😏

P.S. I've seen many comments hating RSB bc she never tells anything to LJL and find this thing odd and assimetrical if compared to how open LJL is about his feelings. Right, RSB could have tell LJL she had "a joker" (in a person of Bai the scholar). I've also totally felt for LJL when he yesterday scolded RSB (in the ep when she finished in prison for the first time), he had every right to do it bc it seemed she put herself in a danger, risked the life of the persons working on the plantation etc... while she had actually took steps and had plans both to protect the plantation workers and to make Imperial inspector supect the governor's motives/credibility. And she gave LJL a reasonable a posteriori explanation: she knew this plan won't be sufficient. And they still didn't crack who induced Mrs Yang to commit a suicide.
Now, here are the reasons why she didn't tell LJL about her plan with Bai:
1. She couldn't be sure Bai will stick to his part of the bet he made with RSB in case YS decided what she actually decided (to drop Bai's invitation to go away with him)
2. If her people failed to rescue Bai from the water, she would have let know to LJL's aide (who is an intelligent guy she herself placed to assist LJL). But Bai was saved by her people and then left to put an act in front of the governor. She informed LJL's aide of this fact (as revealed in LJL's interrogation of his aide).
3. The romantic relationship between the leads may seem assimetrical or disproportionate in showing their emotions, but I think we can all agree this is due to the differences of their characters. A person who was prohibited to show emotions all her life (even in the moment when her mom died) will very likely behave exactly as RSB. So, this is not an issue at all. The real question here is: does LJL tell everything to RSB? And we all know the answer is: no. Not to mention his previous lies and things he didn't tell her, LJL didn't tell her when his mentor visited, and he didn't tell her anything while he is hosting the daughter of his mentor. In not telling things to each other, they seem pretty equal in my eyes.
4. For this fact (not telling things) they never blame each other, why? It is true that a sound relationship is based on an "honest communication", but an "honest lack of communication" is as good if there's a trust. Lovers can decide to hide certain things from their partners, and the relationship can often look like a poker game (when you have to hide which cards you have in your hand), but they can still be very devoted to each other. I've personally never told "all my things" to my partner(s), while always being honest, in good faith and relying on a trust we have of each other. Maybe, this is the reason I've never skipped (like I do whenever watching a C-drama) the romance in this drama: I find it very realistic and relateable.
5. Having secrets can make a relationship hotter. From the trailers for tomorrow's eps, I think you'll have your payoff. 😉

What's worse, now she is not only loosing her grip (in controlling the situation) but even that touch she had when she was younger... Her younger self would immediately saw through the monk, at the moment she noticed he had no resemblance with the lover who saved her life. I've thought she was shipping him with RSB to set her up, to make her have a taste of betrayal and fakeness men (as well as women) could inact and to obstruct RSB's own way to be happy.
She acts as she were a muddled old woman, uncapable to discern what's going on around her

I can testify you were right! 👍
But as we now have a confirmation of your 6th sense, use it to tell us were's the butler! 😂😂😂
Bai and th 5th... we've shipped them too early 🤦‍♀️

yes, it will probably turn into smth like you've said. But RSB is going there as well and today another problem popped up with tributary tea for the dowager and can be dragged into the eps in the capital.