Fifth Uncle is really despicable. He'd ruin his niece's reputation and her future just to topple the Grand Secretariat and he's so shameless about it. If this was older Cdramas, FL would probably stab him XD
I like that this dramas has no fillers so far. The plot moves at a brisk pace while not forgetting character development. It's too bad most Cdramas are not like this.
It seems stepmother went alone to a banquet and signed the contract. Basically FL's father is a spineless fool.
FL is not dumb. She likely has a few tricks up her sleeve but is pretending to be docile for now. Remember that this is a society where elders have total power over the children in the family so it takes some plotting for the FL to get her way.
Her father wasn't thinking with his brain when he got trapped by stepmom into marrying her XD