SCPY

good on you, same here! I think it's the satisfaction the director/ script writer gets from playing tricks on audience's mind. LOL (must be some weird peeve they have) I think CY was saying his eyes are swollen from so much crying (from a vlog he made). I was thinking same here, from our end as audiences.

agree with your analysis. The ending's the sort which needs your analysis and watchful eye. But not the sort of closure for audiences that makes it satisfying.

To me, every scene there is aimed at confusing the audience, casting a shadow of doubt on the audience. It's the last game that the director can play on the audience. For the rest of the drama, the audience has been clued, we've seen the POV from the protagonists side. But this last one, I feel your analysis is right, that smile couldn't have been anything else but what we suspect.

Well in the end Qi Yan passed him the throne, so he must have proven to be good, right?

This show has a habit of not showing us the obvious. All along, there's been intrigue, scenes where what you see is not what you get. So with Qi Yan telling CRY that he dare not believe it but he's wanted it all along, that he can finally live his life with her, a life of theirs alone....and right at the end, the fact that she turns to someone and suddenly smiles. And you know that smile is only reserved for someone, i.e. QY, well, put two and two together.

You have to go beyond the obvious. Did Qi Yan really die? Considering how this show plays tricks with our mind and there's a lot more than meets the eye.

I suppose it's arguable. the ending. The skeptic can choose to say it's not a HE, that QY died. But if you watch clearly what he says, that he can't believe he will be able to lead a life with her, that they can finally be together, and look at how he has planned things all along, then you may be able to surmise a different ending. The fact that CRY smiled at the end, and the way she did was a huge clue.

Qi Yan could have planned it with the divine healer, and I suspect the Uncle knows, the Uncle ain't stupid, he would have guessed. Remember this is a game of chess, strategic, plots, intrigue. The rest doesn't have to know. Han Ding could have bowed as a matter of respect, for an Emperor who is willing to give up his throne for a simple life.

Yes, am looking forward to South Wind. Though someone put it in jest that he might jolly well be bedridden for quite a number of episodes, judging by the synopsis. So, do expect another one where he isn't quite in good health. I joked about it in another forum and said that he reminds of those olden-day dramas where the ML had tuberculosis and was weakly, was racking up blood, always on a handkerchief. In many ways, if you notice it in this drama, they do that too. Everytime he coughs up some blood, it's on his hand, handky or sleeve, and its bound to be shown to viewers. So that's still pretty consistent with the olden-day dramas (and old here is like those in the 70s or 80s).

if you read all the explanations below, yes. But it's not a very obvious one, you have to figure it out yourself.

Agree, and that's why the title was changed to Stand By Me. It was her unwavering belief in him when he was being scorned by everyone else, which gave him the strength to forge on. But in the end, she did up her ante and turned out to be pretty good in her swordsmanship. If we follow the explanations, Cheng Xi didn't really hone her craft, so she picked things up on her own after she was taught the basics. She had the potential but Cheng Xi didn't intend to make her the best at it, just to pack her off to the palace to win the Emperor's heart, then cost him grief when she had done so. Little did she expect that things would turn out to be otherwise.

Yes, you are right, for the serious period dramas, it's not uncommon to have un-HEs. Only those idol period drama which is more light-hearted do we get HEs. But I think for this drama, this ending was inevitable. Stay on and remain unhappy on the throne or give it all up to lead a life that he wants and with the person he loves, which ain't such a difficult choice for him anyway. Just that the fleeting manner they gave us closure was really far too fleeting. There's been a lot of criticism about the FL's size. But I can't imagine choosing a bigger-framed FL that would look good next to the ML. He's slight of built and putting him with a bigger-sized woman would really not look good on screen.

my thoughts exactly. Can't they just show him like from the back entering the restaurant? sigh. we don't need a face just a figure. stingy. Which is prolly why they got them back for South Wind Knows My Mood. Think of it as the equivalent to 'One and Only' and 'Forever and Ever' in the making.

Yah, that's the last scene in the palace. His supposed dying scene.
Then then next scene shows the uncle ascending the throne, the appointment of the Violet Bureau lady who can't talk as the new Sword Bearer, AND finally, CRY running a restaurant. So at this point, you must be wondering if Qi Yan is dead, must they show her? Could they not have ended with the uncle ascending the throne? And the really last scene is CRY serving food, and then her face turns towards someone she sees (but we don't get to see who it is). You can see the look of surprise on her face, then it turns into a huge joyous smile.
So interpret it as you may from that ending. :P

But it's done in a tricky manner. She overheard the conversation between two customers in the restaurant talking about how the country is going through a period of peace and she then says "Did you hear, (the part you translated)".
When I first saw it I thought she was talking to his 'spirit' like you know to the deceased. So at that point, I am wondering does she know or does she not know? And you can read it either way, that she is either talking to the deceased or that she hopes he is somewhere around and can hear what was said.
Even in the end, her smile - was it that she was happy he showed up at that point of time or that she just found out he wasn't dead after all?
So, that's the mind boggling part.

Given that the Uncle is pretty skilled in medicine, he might suspect it too. But he probably knows what his nephew wants in his heart and will stay quiet about the whole affair.

@ruffles - you know the ending is just typical of how the story has been told. It's not straightforward, It teases you, and plays tricks on your mind, and ends on a somewhat mysterious note.

Based on the smile on CRY's face, he didn't die. But I suspect it wasn't easy faking his death, coz whatever he drank/did to fake his death must have had some element of risk to it.

I support you on that!

Actually, he never wanted to be on the throne, all he did as he said was to fulfil a promise to his teacher, his brother and to the country. So, he mentions that for once he wants to live a life for himself. He tells her that he's arranged for Han Ding to bring her out of the palace to savour the sights and sounds of this world, something that he's always wanted to do but never had the chance to. So, she's supposed to do it on his behalf.
[Ah, there's that knowing grin on Han Ding's face as he glances at her, I wonder if that's another tell-tale sign. Also when the bells of his death toll, she should have headed to the palace to see him but instead she turned her horse around and left in the other direction. ]
But the way she was crying even when there was no one else in the room, makes me think that (a) she doesnt' know or (b) there is a huge element of risk in what he is doing, in faking his death, that there is a possibility he would really have died from it. I think from all the subterfuge and all the ploys/ acts they have put up in the past, she might have suspected it, but she doesn't know how successful he will be this time around.
Though, I still think it's hateful of the director to do it this way. At least show us a little of his body, a shot from behind as he enters the restaurant? Seriously, that won't have been that hard to do, right?

I know what you mean right, couldn't they have hinted a bit more? I suspect he faked his death. Because as you put it that big, bright smile on her face is only reserved for him. And somewhere in E49, he said, he harboured a thought but dared not believe that it might come true, that they would be able to spend the rest of their lives together, leading it as they liked. So, this are probably clues leading up to the ending we think it to be. He has also pathed the way for his Uncle to take over the throne. And don't forget, the tomb where he is supposed to be buried, it's designed I think for him to escape/leave it to.

@themarchioness

Good job summarising it all! Yes, entertaining watching him woo her, painful as well, watching the FL character being forced (script-wise) to push him away, not once but a few times. Though I must say the psycho in me enjoyed him being pushed away and exasperated that he turned away instead of sticking to his guns and not let her push him away, LOL.