Dr Ghost

she has to shove one kid or two, otherwise she has no choice and court will impeach her !

but she can't give birth to male heir and in old times, failure to give birth was valid reason used by the court officials to impeach the Emperess. To save their ass, old empress use to bring in their trusted family members and aids as concubines.
Its not that she wants competition, she simply has no choice cuz failure to give birth to dragon fetus was a crime in song dynasty.

I would recommend you hold on cuz FL is a good actress and the drama will deliver after the 4th episode. She is FL from Love7times but is famous for her atrocious acting the legend of chongzi.

Why I got a feeling, that unfertile step aunt of the FL will try to install either her or Jiang Ru Yao as Emperor concubine !

You mean CHONG ZI !

Duke Su can come down a pedestal or too but dealing with him would be easy cuz FL can accuse him of harassing her, which he did !

I used to believe "Princess is sadist" too but her behaviour in today's episode and that push makes me question this diagnosis, She is not sadist but straight up Murderer. I know they will try to justify her actions and give us sobbing story about her mistreatment at the hands of the enemy nation royal family, where she was sent as hostage. But just because you were mistreated don't give you the right to another murderer or commit similar crimes against other people.
That crazy bitch is moving mad fam, and I hope someone puts that rabid bitch down !

You are braver than me cuz knowing what's about to happen, I have not watched last episodes of the TOTEM to this day.

Bro was like I am not that bad, while being her cousin !

As much as I want them to pay for their abhorrent conduct, its not in FL benefit to retaliate against jiang family right now. Father is dumb and grandma is weak but they still comes to FL rescue, whenever situation allows them too.
Jinag sister has accused FL of hurting them, so if FL do anything against them people and Jiang extended family will blame her for everything and she will lose her hard-earned respect. The best course of action for FL right now would be to convince Duke Su to give a casual passing remark to FL father (about her being stupid and wandering in the palace) after the court about her meeting with him at night in the palace.
This will clear FL name in the public (hence the entire city) and give rise to doubts regarding his wife behaviour and if Duke Su went one step further and casually remark the involvement of Eunuch, he will know for sure his wife orchestrated the whole ordeal with the help of his concubine sister.

Lol its not and even if it's, the arrow had 440N of force behind it. So it would have easily either deflected the fan or went straight through it cuz bow in question was made to kill armoured Knights 500 meters away (I mean the only problem with scene was full draw of the bow).
I am more puzzled with princess motive of pushing the FL, like what was she trying to suppose....Kill him with arrow to the heart !
Did she even like the guy or just enjoy torturing him?

Lol FL isn't that innocent either cuz target was like 20 meters and she draw the bow to its maximum limit. I don't know about the physics in that universe but that arrow from heavy draw recurved composite bow, would have went straight through the fan, Shen Yu Rong head, ML behind it and probably hit some random guard in the palace or landed on the ground.
For Context, bow in question has maximum draw of 100 IB or 440N and it can kill full armoured person 500-600 meters, FL was out trying to make sure not only he dies but also never reincarnates in another timeline.

Lol I have changed my viewpoints about her after the "Love Endures" and watched the Best Choice ever, when it was airing and will pick up LYF. When I am in mood for dramas like that and see, I am not type of the person. Who thinks he is always right and I am willing to give new things a try, if I saw enough of positive comments from people I know and respect (Like I have picked a lot of classic dramas cuz of PeachBlossom comments, she is an ancient creature dwelling in this site for a very longtime and I have seen her reviews of dramas dating from 2017-16's)
Unfortunately for me, I grew up on classics of world-renowned actors like "Al Pacino and Robert De Niro" and that's I am a harsh critic and consider everything before making any decision. I know its kind of my fault and average joe just want to be entertained and don't care about things like this.
So for me "Definition of good acting" is different and for anything to be good, person must have to look, act, talk, think, eat, behave, move, pick hobbies and subconsciously think/act like a character they are playing. Emotions and dialogue delivery, comedic timing and other stuff comes after that (here is an example, To prepare for his stalker role, the De Niro met with one of his own stalkers to better understand the mindset of someone with such an intense obsession. Moreover, the actor tried his own hand at stalking – targeting his autograph hunters).
I don't hate innocent characters cuz I have rated "When I fly towards you" 9/10 and I did that FL looks, acting, behaviour and purity was in line with the story, age, school setting (9th grade) and the essence of the drama, I am okay with anything as long its requirement of the story cuz I have watched enough of crime and other fucked up shit, while being underage.
But Go Go Squid was PURE CRINGE !

I have not watched "Ashes of Love", dropped "Go Go Squid" and put up with Oath of love. Then due to this experience I hated YZ for a longtime and stayed clear of her dramas like they are some sort of plague but in 2024 in desperation, I watched Love endures and her acting was pretty good.
I hated her cuz she has facial features of mature woman but in above mentioned dramas, she had childish behaviour and cringy acting. Which I absolutely loath in chinese dramas and I would accept there is a time and place for it but when a fully grown 29-year-old woman acts like a child.....its abhorrent !

No Jokes story of Yanxi palace is a masterpiece and although its length is a bit of an issue but after you have finished it, you would want it to go on for forever.
I recommend you to watch it cuz its your type of drama, its has top notch political plots, investigation, thriller, mystery and its not heavy on romance either. The only complain people would have about its, romance/love was overlooked in the favour of the historical accuracy and other genres (but for me it was just the right amount).
Its available free on youtube and you can check it out anytime, and although its from 2017 but its visuals are breathtaking !

Well than that's really sad cuz equality is important in everything but I wasn't trying to start any drama, especially against Bai Lu fanbase. I like them both, but I hope she gets to work with Luo Yun Xi in TOTEM like drama next.
Two of them together in serious drama with method acting......😘😘😘😘. That drama would break records !

Yes and She is the perfect example of layered character, which appear normal on first glance but beneath her silence and calculated responses is unfathomable amount of pain and misery.
But she is not overdoing it like amateurs (who overact is similar scenarios) but giving us subtle hints of her pain, and to top that off her mannerism, elegance and other subconscious acts all points to woman of great character and talent.
Its very rare to see a chinese actress practicing "method acting" in her work......I hope she gets to work with Luo Yun Xi or Allen Ren next !

I won't be surprised cuz she looked fabulous....I am just confused she can act like that but still isn't famous, while some legit "Emotionless dolls and sphinx-like" actress get to work in famous dramas !
She is working with Liu Xue Yi next and I am already sold, didn't even need to read the synopsis for that one !

I am sold !

I was talking about the old, respected judge who cursed the two fake judges.