P Lam

Besides stabbing him. Consort Rou also gave him some kind of contraceptive and poison so that he did not have more children after his 2nd son and he started getting sick towards the end

Thanks for the link - so funny - 2 washboards!!! 😂 😂 😂

Yes but what she felt for SRQ at the end was not romantic love - at least not in their 2nd lifetime. He, on the other hand, did love her but not enough to give up revenge and the attempt to ensure the safety of his family and the darn corrupt nobles and this she knew full well . To me, in the end, it was was more of a love of a friend ( as you so aptly put it, mutual affection) who had accompanied her during tough times in another space, another time. She also loved PWX at the beginning of her 1st life but he ruined it for her and he admitted it and tried his best to make amends and he succeeded.

SRQ should be billed as one of the main leads

Good summary. It’s a twisted tale of power, love, hate, revenge and redemption. Li Rong and PWX redeemed themselves by learning from their mistakes and took the 2nd chance they were given to change their lives and those they love for the better by doing the right thing. Since Li Rong realized from the 2nd Ep that SRQ may have killed her, she had been wary of him and went up against him starting in Ep 16. She realized he is not on the same side as her and told him to his face that he is willing to give up conscience, righteousness even his life for the sake of Su family and the nobles supporting him. SRQ was so blinded by revenge, he make all the wrong choices resulting in revolting and going up against Li Rong and PWX.

I seem to remember that PWX was holding Concubine Qin when she was dying and LR had to lie to cover for him. She lied that she’d asked him to look in on the concubine when the guard was about to slice him. PWX also let LR think he loves concubine QIN, never disputed her conclusion that he has her in his heart. LR’s maid later asked him to explain and give her an out as others were gossiping about it and she has lost face but he refused. It was one of the things he regretted in their 2nd life and admitted that he’d let her down. I think he tries to make it up to her in their 2nd life. He made sure he reached her with umbrella in Ep 15 ahead of SRQ to makeup for his failures and to change their destiny as husband and wife. So I don’t think he was cuckold nor is hea simp. In their first life, she was initially very happy to be married to him until she found out about Qin Cheng Cheng. Being a prideful person, a Princess no less, I can see why she got pissed. She said he should have told her in the beginning.

SRQ ended up by her side because she saved him from execution and was flogged for it. SRQ was castrated and had no where to go so she asked him to stay by her side. PWX did not send SRQ to her. He was upset about it but they did no talked about it making them both miserable and lonely. Now, if she really treasured SRQ, she would not have been miserable.

Also in Ep 14, she went to PWX’s family home and gave his family hell for beating him. They tried to tell her it’s Pei family business, that she is junior there. She just showed her full force as a Princess and told them not to mess with her husband, the prince consort. If that’s not sticking up for PWX, I don’t know what is. In the last episode, she was trying to save the life of a childhood friend who saved her from utter loneliness for 17 years. She even told him she is with child and it’s clear to SRQ who’s child it is and he is happy for her. It does not mean LR is wavering. It is very clear to me she loves PWX and yes she is domineering but she is a medieval princess, used to everyone catering to her. She actually did marry beneath her by marrying PQX but for many reasons he was her best choice and she become fine with that. If you rewatch the episode with the flashback where they first got married, you will see she was initially happy with him until she learned about QCC. So I don’t think she was fickle at all if you saw every conversation they had.

I agree with you on SRQ. He is the anti hero. However, in their 1st life, Li Rong did have feelings for PWX when they first got married. She was crushed when she found out he had feelings for Qin Cheng Cheng and PWX never denied it. They were so full of pride they never talked and became estranged and lived a life of loneliness. If she really didn’t care, life would be less painful with SRQ’s companionship. In their 2nd life, she was initially so pissed at him for making her 1st life miserable, she initially gave him a hard time . She also thought mistakenly that he poisoned her.

To me, she was trying to save a friend. They were companions for 17 years in her previous lives and knew each other from childhood. She knows SRQ has feelings for her but his priority has always been his family. Li Rong loves PWX and she did also in her previous life but thought he loves someonelse. The 2 sturborne people had so much pride they did not communicate resulting in estrangement and anger.

This is her ‘past life’ where everything got twisted because of the greed of Shanguang family. And SRH was willing to play his part in helping her get pregnant and he also killed concubine Qin Cheng Cheng so that their illegitimate son would be crown prince. This resulted in Li Chuan, who is now emperor, to slaughter the Su family and SRQ being castrated. So SRH is just as bad. But in the 2nd life, they are different. Li Rong helped to stop Aya’s marriage to her brother. Aya wanted SRH to step up to take charge of the Su family and support the crown prince because she knows SRQ will revolt.

Yes, to me, this is more about palace politics and Li Rong, meaning it’s a female centric plot with a supportive and loving husband who helped her achieve her goals. I did enjoy this drama as I look forward to each episode to see how Li Rong and PWX resolve each deadly situation with SRQ working against them every step of the way.

I think it’s ok to put opinions and viewpoints out there. Once they are out there means you expect people to agree or disagree as long as it is in a respectful way. I had someone said I was stalking her when my viewpoints ran counter to hers. Her responses were really ugly and I had to call her out to stop her bullying where she suddenly deleted all her responses.

I am going to resist reading it. I heard the Chinese version of it a while ago so I know what happened. Too heart breaking.

There are ofcourse men who cooks especially if their wives don’t but those are exceptions.

What the secret? I don’t mind spoilers.

OMG! LOL. These translations can be SO very bad, they’re funny.

I enjoyed Under the Power too.

I love Fox’s summer too!

It is not a cultural norm but for many who studied abroad, they have to do a lot by themselves. Because of his wealth, HT can afford help so maybe he learned to cook the food he likes but cannot get in Germany?

I think she finally realized there is no going back with Yichen but I also think consciously or unconsciously, she had already moved on since she saw Yichen professionally but nothing happened. It’s also a shock for her that one of her best friends is in a relationship with Yichen. Though she accepted it, it still left a bad taste in her mouth . In the book, she couldn’t face going back to her apartment that night and let her emotions rule.

From the book, They broke up because he did not tell her he predicted that she would go to his competitor for the 2nd funding( he schemed and she fell into his trap) but did not tell her. She is not sure if he loves her or just used her to get even with his sister cousin. Later, when he saved her from the kidnapper, she realized how much he loves her and she told him if he does not let her see his other ( scheming) side, she cannot understand him and won’t know where he is coming from.

Definitely. I was also .thinking of her past costars in With You, the Fox’s Summer, The Eight, Under the Power, Go Ahead, Master of my Own. The sword and Brocade, Flight to you.