AtsukoM

Her case was not exactly making something of herself like FTY.

She just wanted to have a bit more control of her fate. She must marry because she can't break free from her family like FTY did. But she wanted to at least have some control on it by choosing the place with better circumstances for her. She's suffering under her aunt's control, so she didn't want to jump from one hell to another.

Others don't need to scheme much. I would have died happily eating those beautiful poisoned pastries.... without knowing what struck me 🤤

LIkely, Grand Empress Dowager was not the Empress during the grandfather of current Emperor's reign. So, by custom, she was to be buried in the royal tomb for Consorts, not together with the Emperor.

But, Grand Empress Dowager wants to be buried with her husband. So, she has been asking about it since his son's (former Emperor) reign. Former Emperor didn't allow it. So, now she's pressuring her grandson, the current Emperor.

Current Emperor is son of a palace maid with low standing, so he was raised in the cold palace for safety, and only with the Grand Empress Dowager's protection that he grew up safe and sound.

So, while he doesn't want to initiate the Grand Empress Dowager's tomb project at this time due to low cash in imperial treasury and the on-going drought, the rejection can't come from him due to filial piety and Grand Empress Dowager was actually good to him. Hence, he was in a difficult place.

ZL and FTY together solved that deadlock between Emperor and Grand Empress Dowager.

And the speculations don't even come about since previews tend to be misleading as well lol

I avoid previews as much as I can partly for this reason

The first thing Miss Wu does after entering Yu household is to have a good fulfilling meal 😢.... writer is nailing all these side characters

Ep 26

Holy god damn... YJX developed into the worst possible husband a woman can get.

I know this is Yake's comeuppance, but pity outweighs schadenfreude at this point.

Ep 25 preview

This gotta be one of the most angsty weddings lol. Let's see how it actually goes.

If you mean the amount of romance within the plot, then it's either 1/5 or 2/5. There's more to the story than the romance of the leads.

If for the quality of romance, then it should be around 4/5. Well written on why these two would fall in love, and act the way they are.

Yes, exactly.

If I'm not mistaken, what Fan Yake suggested was not concubine, she used the word for 'outside mistress', waishi (外室). Which is without a proper status, and socially wayyyy worse than a proper concubine.

In Zhao Ling's case, she was planned for a concubine.
In Wei's case, she was planned for outside mistress, hence their night took place secretly.

lol yeah

Blossom's novel is the same (author's another novel)

Everyone's recommending someone from their faction anyway. Emperor is not stupid, he knew what's at stake and chose the neutral one which is most aligned with his interest.

Actually, what FL said to ML were pure facts. Accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger. Today's gold can turn shit the next instance. She was reminding him not to fully all-in on the Emperor. ML was the one who was actually losing the grip with all these chaos around him.

For example, if Zhao Ling dares to pick a candidate when the Emperor asks him to, he'll likely get suspected for forming faction and consequently lose the Emperor's favor.

Under normal circumstances, woman can't join the army, as well as the court. This fact was established right from the beginning of the story. She already said to him 'she needs a man to navigate in these waters'.

He legit got skills for him to survive in the court till old age haha

To get her parent's blessing, even if the parent is a bad one. Marrying without the approval of the parent means they truly eloped and is socially unacceptable in those times, and is even considered unfilial.

If Zhao Ling wants to continue serving in court, he can't get that label sticks on him, because whatever happens in his home directly affects his career.

Well, in the novel, her father was the one who gave permission to the Fu family to give her poison. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

EP21

Oh, they toned down FL's father a lot in the drama. Was just reading his parts the other day, and my god dude is truly a piece of work.

Madam Mo celebrated General Mo's promotion. By social custom, she should have refrained because the promotion was at the cost of Zhao Ling, who was a close friend of General Mo. Though, she had her own reasons, her kids.

So, there was that tense atmosphere between them initially, mostly from Madam Mo's side. The scene you mentioned symbolized their reconciliation.

Looks like it, official robe and ceremonial headdress

EP 19

Someone call the fire department!🚒 Someone surname Fan got burnt so hard! 🔥

iirc, it was mentioned earlier in the story that due to his father still in office at a high position, YJX can't get too high of a position.