T.S.Johnson

By the definition laid out in the show they aren't together b/c he's actively pushing her away and hasn't confessed his feelings. Heck even Xue is like "What's taking you so long, buddy" - if the characters know they aren't together, how don't you?

lol. It's a discussion forum. I like to discuss.

You don't have to make excuses for poor writing and character development. It is a romance - they just decided to go though 50 miles worth of obstacle course before they put them together for no good reason.

lol

Also the possible demotion/house arrest allows him to still work behind the scenes with no eyeballs on him - at least that's what it looks like from one of the clips.

Well, all the sexy stuff looks like it happens *after* the divorce.

New clips out and what do we learn:

1. Looks like JCY is demoted - no gold belt.
2. House arrest?
3. Divorce
4. She's leaving town...(tho I think she ends up staying).
5. Consummation happens *after* divorce
6. Gold belt is back in scene with candles.

Those are the big things the clips seem to suggest.

Yeah looks like. He's getting demoted too. Possibly house arrest????

I think these last 9 episodes will change that. They really should have just done a 40 episode season and wrapped it up with FP.

What I want to know is how she gets away from Liu Chang? Does that stab happen early, if so does she avoid jail b/c he's now a traitor????

So someone mentioned episode 18. There's a banquet, Ning and his people attack, JCY manages to get the emperor out but gets caught in the process.

That works.

I'm gonna theorize Pei gets his this episode coming (16).

My theory before tonite's episode. JCY arrest is a setup in a setup. They knew they were coming for them (they have been following Pei) and it all gets pinned on Pei and cleans out the ministry of revenue and implicates (but doesn't take out) Ning. This leads them to speeding up their timeline for the coup which happens in ep. 18 (I think).

So where does the dancing mask scene fit - his comeback? Then we get the sexy stuff - then the coup?

Yeah. I can see that too. We *know* he's supposed to disappear and then reappear at some point. The "sacrifice" himself bit. So...

My theory is based on what ol'girl told Mudan they pin it on Pei. Like maybe JCY suspected this was gonna happen (they have been following Pei) and it's a setup within a setup.

Yeah that's what I meant - it's worded badly. So 16 (?) - 17 sexy stuff - 18 Ning - War - End.

Timeline speculation:
Ep 16 - Prison? Escape?
Ep 17 - All the sexy stuff
Ep 18 - Stabbed by Ning/Captured by Liu Chang

Ep. 18 was the guess. We know there is a separation and he comes back. Rp. 17 seems to have sexy stuff - but how does all that happen when he just got arrested.