P Lam

She also saved the Wan family and her own family from execution when she helped LBY steal the map. That’s why Grandma Wan beat her son and silently thanked LBY. She knew it was CSS and not QiQi in the room when she looked at the hand ready to receive the hairpin and deliberating said not to put the hairpin in the black box which housed the map. LBY already told her the Wan and Cheung families would be wiped out if she doesn’t get the map for him as the emperor needed it.

So I’m not sure why grandma Wan squealed on CSS regarding the bridge incident because she has so much to thank CSS for, not just LBY who could not access Grandma Wan’s quarters. There really is no proof that CSS engineered the bridge incident and if CSS’s mother and father denied it, what can anyone do? LBY was also there and helped her. Everyone in the Wan family knew the bridge was unsafe.

I’m not saying what CSS did was correct because it could be dangerous for her and her family as the mean girls were of high rank but she did think of the consequences of her behavior. After fighting with the 2 mean girls when they pushed her cousin, who cannot swim, into the water, she hit herself because she knew the consequences and made it look like they did more damage to her. Even grandma Wan said to QiQi’s mother, no use in trying to get help from elders because her mother was there and didn’t speak up for her. Grandma Wan has seen it all and is very street smart like CSS. She said she allowed her son to be friends with CSS’s dad because he has her son’s back and CSS is like her dad. Re the bridge incident, it was said that CSS had put danger signs at the bridge so that the Wan family would not be at fault. She didn’t tell the girls to go to the bridge and no one except LBY and LY actually knew it was her. She told QiQi but grandma Wan guessed and said in her day, she’d done worse.

But we have to agree to disagree because reviling the mother is seen as unfilial no matter what in many families. I think that is why the drama modified CSS’s mother from the book to make her more palatable. Maybe she will surprise me and be good to her daughter towards the end of the drama. But I think in the book, she may have regretted her treatment of CSS on her deathbed. However, I do enjoy these discussions and differences of opinions.

Yes, I figured the drama must have modified her a bit to make her more palatable but that just confuses people - is she good but misguided or is she just just as so rigid and awful like general Wan said to CSS? Now, I don’t need to be confused and look for goodness in her. So it’s possible, she never truly loved her husband.

That’s too funny. Poor ZLS. She should learn how to ride as I’m sure she will be in more historical dramas and the ability to ride would be good.

Exactly and no one has done this for her before

LBY is emperor’s foster son which means there are a lot of rules, etiquette living in the palace and among nobles and at this point, she is lacking all those things because her mother decided not to teach her. Her mother had a higher status than her father, knowledgeable in literature and martial arts. You can see some small faux pax she makes when she meets people - like when aunt Ge, in buttermilk incident, ask them to sit, and CSS runs into her mother in an attempt to sit. She is always watching others and emulating them. She did not know that the emperor and empress are benevolent, willing to teach her until it happened later. I also read somewhere that YS at first looked down on her. She had a bad reputation as being she wild and uncouth among society because everyone knew she was abandoned by her parents. At this time in her life, she is a bit intimidated by LBY’s passion, power and rank. Only LY asked for her hand in marriage and is very like her 3rd uncle. LBY was also a step behind LY in his intentions. In the novel, both know each other well with LY calling him big brother.

Mother cares more about her reputation than her daughter

Summary of the video above: The narrator said the reason why CSS’s mum left her daughter behind was because of reputation which was very important to her. She could have brought both the twins along ( see ep 4 where the husband wanted to bring both twins along and we know he knows how to deal with his mother) but she said no. In the novel, the twins were 3 years old when this happened. In the drama, it was at birth. When the couple returned, she not only did not think of compensating her daughter for the abandonment but was also ashamed of her. She was also upset when others were good to CSS and treated her cousin Yang Yang as her own daughter. I think maybe the drama tried to temper her behavior by showing how she cared by peeping from her carriage when CSS left for Hua City but I’m not sure if that’s in the book. But she had decided not to leave a son behind ( they have 3 sons besides CSS) because she knew how terrible her in laws were and leaving son behind meant having to fix him later, whereas a girl would marry and be done with. All along, she cared more about her reputation and the effort it would take her then her daughter. Quite sad. The narrator said it was the empress who showed CSS what motherly love is. I was hoping the mother would get better but apparently not because that is her personality. As an aside, in one of the episodes, CSS’s father told her that her mother had married beneath her. Something happened to her family; otherwise she wouldn’t have married him. So wondering if she actually love him at all. We always see him giving in to her and being nice to her, rarely the other way around. His opinion doesn’t count.

I’ve tried understanding CSS’s mum but failed. Spoiler alert: I saw this Chinese YouTube video explaining the mum’s behavior . Before this explanation, it just didn’t make sense to me that she continues berating CSS. It’s in Mandarin but I will give a summary in English below with spoiler alert
https://youtu.be/iZqXDbNPzzs

I think with CSS being so clever, she will have ways around Lou family’s matriarch but definitely life would be easier if she married YS or LBY whom I am rooting for. However, it is gratifying to see how well Lou Yao treats CSS when she needs it most.

Yes but going in and yelling and screaming her demands is just off putting. She should have spent time teaching CSS about lineages, noble families etc so that CSS understands what she is getting into by marrying Lou Yao. But she was focused on teaching Yang Yang instead . I don’t know if she is like this in the novel or if the drama portrays her like this for shock effect. Maybe those who has read the novel can advise.

I like this emperor too. Seems to care genuinely for LBY and brings some humor when he winces at LBY’s wounds and when questioning his underlings..

Ep 13 and 14 showed how sweet Lou Yao is. It’s clear he would do anything for CSS. He took out all his jade and money to give to her to help the common people. He has become a better person because of her. Showed his love for her by scrounging around and bought her so much good food that she put on weight. Her dad is so funny when he mentioned that she’d put on weight which made her worry.

If Lou Yao and CSS got married, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing even though Lou Yao ‘s family situation is complicated. It would be a relationship like her parents where the husband panders the wife and the wife takes the lead. But I like her with LBY better but at this time in her life, CSS is not confident she can do better and unfortunately thinks this is her best option. Again, mum could have handled it better rather than yelling and demanding.

Just go back to the YouTube site and below all the hateful comments, say ‘ Happy to unsubscribe’.

I love WRTW also but the romance between CSS and LBY hasn’t started yet. According to translated excerpts of the novel, she is still a bit intimidated by him so she has no thoughts of being with him at this time though it was love at first sight for him. We have something to look forward to hopefully….

Just rewatch past episodes in case you missed something. I rewatched episode 9 and realized why grandma Wan beat her son 😂

I doubt if Zhao Liying will be replaced. She is another great actress. Her Legend of Fei was a disappointment to me but love her in Princess Agents. Wow, for people to say they dislike this drama because of the legend of Minglan is so bizarre. Minglan is so long ago and I enjoyed that drama by the way. It’s like saying don’t like Star Wars because it’s competing with The terminator. Or don’t like Chris Pine because he’s competing with Tom Cruise. I think we can enjoy both beautiful actresses and support them in their successes. The pie is large enough for both and more. I say, as long as they entertain, ignore the background noise. I’d hate to miss a good drama because netizens are so biased against the actress. And worse, my understanding is some of them are paid to do this.

Also, I don’t think Marcus will say anything negative about this drama. It’s his style to say what he likes and don’t like about the dramas he has watched

Another letdown by Netflix. They need someone better to pick these Cdramas for them.

But that has shady ads and I’m not sure if it’s safe. Is it? I have watched o n that platform when I’m desperate but I have not in the last 6 months

I like Marcus’s reviews too. Just give the facts and I’ll decide for myself whether I like or not and he does give his opinions when he’s watched the dramas but it’s never insulting. Life’s hard enough, I don’t need more bashing and insults. Least of all, listen to someone who is so bias and ridiculous.