DramaAjumma

Much has been spoken about the beating that RY took. That was undoubtedly painful but probably not as painful for her as being ignored and misunderstood by XS which is for me a far more satisfying state of affairs between them because now the shoe is in the other foot. It's eminently fascinating that the cases that they've undertaken together have paralleled to some degree her journey to "finding true love". All of the cases have been analogous or have telegraphed their somewhat tumultuous relationship. They are morality tales of missed opportunities, obsession and lost love. In the case of the erotomaniac serial killer, the show attempts to draw a comparison between the situations faced by the couples. At least RY herself is aware of the comparison when she pontificates to the hostage taker. There is bitterness and despair in her words. She had hoped that XS' love was big enough to cover her sins but alas it was an illusion. So she thinks. It was an indirect confession tinged with bitter regret and pain. She acknowledges now that she knows what it means to love and experience all its facets.

Initially XS thinks she is referring to SF as seen in the glare he gives the other man while she monologues. But when he goes home and reflects on her words, he wonders if he's misunderstood her relationship with SF and by extension himself. From his conversation with his dad, it's clear that he still cares a great deal but he can't repeatedly allow himself to be in the position of being betrayed because he thinks that she is in love with another man. He has always respected her freedom to choose and he also has to be careful because of the larger political matters that are at stake especially if SF is persistently using her as a conduit to him. He can't be sure of her if she's trying to keep both sides happy. What's really interesting to me is that for her, she thinks she's lost his love whereas for him he believes that he's never had hers in the first place (largely because of all the contradictory signals that she sends out).

To me, she's young and inexperienced in the matters of the heart which is why I don't judge her too harshly. I have a daughter about that age. But she is learning a really important lesson here. She can't take XS for granted even if he is ultimately true to her despite appearances to the contrary. Even if she doesn't want to, she has to draw the line and be clear about who she preferences. Everyone wants certainty, XS does too. He needs it for all kinds of reasons not just emotional ones. At the end of the day with the prospect of bad stuff happening, she does have to take a side.

P.S. Toby Li gives great back hugs. (Just wanted to put it out there)

Episode 23.

I don't mind her now but I've always thought that her arrogance was part of her character journey. I certainly wouldn't blame her for all the bad things that result from the drama or for using XS as if it were her default modus operandi. This is a detective drama after all. There are a lot of people with diverse agendas doing bad things to achieve their ends. She's probably the least agenda driven person in the show.

Judging from what she's been trying to tell XS, I'd say that the pearl is still in that tooth-bone. She was going back to XS to tell him that she'd tricked the bag man. By then he'd been whipped and then he was forced to beat her.

Interesting how we all see things so differently but I don't agree with that assessment at all. I don't think it's borne out by the show itself. In fact, I think it's the opposite. RY tends to get dragged into things more often than not by circumstances and even by the two men. I will say though that with regards to XS that she doesn't always know her own heart or mind but to say that she betrays him many times is an exaggeration at best. In the last few episodes, she only went to him when she had nowhere else to turn especially when she was backed into a corner by the head of Da Li Si.

RY and XS started off having a professional quid pro quo relationship and then he fell for her first. She never intended to get emotionally entangled with him much less be drawn into a love triangle. It was XS who married her volitionally but that wasn't her original intention. Whether or not she was in love with SF in the first place I think is up for grabs now but she was certainly motivated by pity for his background... which resonated with hers.

Of course I don't say that she made the right choices all of the time but I will say that she often did the best she could under trying circumstances. Her relationship with the two men is a complex one certainly but I don't think she sets out to use anyone. Clearly she doesn't always know what is going on in the bigger picture to make the best choice.

I thought it was telling that during the final tussle with the erotomaniac artist, that XS’ instinct was to protect RY by grabbing the dagger with his bare hand and SF’s is to kill the culprit. Spoke volumes about the two men and how they see their place in the world.

Bai Yi and Sang Chen should get their comedic show on the road. I think I've lost count as to the number of times Sang Chen has done his fainting shtick.

I don't think she needs to make up her mind as much as she needs to know her mind and go with it. ;)

As I've said elsewhere, SF is something akin to a double or triple agent with multiple identities. He has connections in the royal court but he is also working for those conspiring against the throne. At least in terms of wanting to find Marquis Shui's Pearl. That's reasonably clear. As far as XS is concerned, he is a suspicious character with dubious origins but he's happy to use him when it suits and he knows that SF would never do anything to hurt RY... physically at least. That's what makes XS such a great and amazing character IMO. He is intelligent enough and logical enough to compartmentalize in this way. I often think that if these two were not serving different masters and weren't rivals in love, they could be great friends. The show is pretty clever in showing how well they work together.

XS also understands ultimately SF isn't really his biggest obstacle, it is RY's heart that he has to win. Of course he gets jealous but he doesn't actively work against SF to win the girl because ultimately it's her choice. And if she doesn't go to him willingly, well... she won't be happy and at the end of the day, he won't be happy either especially knowing that there's this elephant in the room of their relationship.

I'd agree that SF has been very intrusive in the latest episodes which has certainly added to her confusion about who/what she wants. Undoubtedly he's terrified of losing her. But if he thinks he owns her, well, he will be sorely disappointed. Honestly I don't know how she will react when she finds out that he killed her sister. They didn't get on and YM plotted against her but killing her... I'm not sure that will go down too well. There's a darkness to him that I don't think she can live with.

Let's hope that she has a few tricks up her sleeve.

To be honest, I find SF's trajectory too bleak to be that good for RY. His entire existence is shrouded in deception to the point it's hard for anyone to know who he is or where he's at... himself included. I do think he leverages his woeful backstory to get her to dance to his tune. It's very subtle but it works on her because of her anti-authoritarian streak. If she did fall in love with him at some point, she did it rather too quickly with no understanding of the kind of life that he leads or what his assassin identity entails. Of course it didn't help that he was also her betrothed as well, swooping in at key moments to save her. It's a bit like Anne Shirley who rejected the boy from home and went for Roy Gardiner because the latter fit her romantic ideals while the one who was familiar seemed too down-to-earth and unlikely.

Frankly at this point I don't even know if RY is really in love with him or whether she pities him. Despite knowing that he's in Chang'an, she has never attempted to seek him out. He's the one who's stalking her and kidnapping her etc. However, each time XS lets her go, she keeps running back to him. Why? Because, I submit that she really is in love with him. They have actually done things together. They have fun together solving crimes and catching bad guys. They've even traded insults with regularity. They have a real relationship even if the marriage is purely a cover story.

The thing now is for RY to work out what is blatantly obvious to the rest of us. :D I grant that she's young and inexperienced in the matters of the heart so it will take her time.

It looked that way to me as well. He probably did it under some duress. But yeah, he's still using her. I'm really struggling not to dislike him. However he probably really thinks she has no feelings for XS so it doesn't matter and it won't hurt her too much.

I've always liked RY and XS' chemistry but in these last few episodes, they really took it up a notch or two.

I've seen the previous lot of previews that were bundled in similar fashion. They were completely pulled out of context.. The voice overs and the videos don't really match in reality. I do think that XS and RY are in for some rough waters though. That much is certain in other previews I've seen of next week's episodes.

On YT. It's widely available except they haven't been subbed.

It's part of her journey I imagine to come to grips with those shades of grey. ;) But I've always personally thought that she can't do without him anyway. He is far more worldly wise and politically savvy. Not to mention a Sherlock Holmes knack for deductions. Anyway, I'm watching the show mainly for him. Even if they don't end up together, they are still a decent team of sorts.

Still I don't think the title is too far removed. She still helps uncover the truth even if she isn't the embodiment of it. They say the body never lies. :P Honestly, I like the title Miss Truth for the puns. Mistruth: false leading statements or miss, as it not seeing the truth.

He does. But he never gets to XY's level.

Episode 17

Yeah, Xiao Song does too good a job pushing RY's buttons. Mostly it's entertaining but I know what you're saying. ;) I know some people find it offensive but it reminds me of my kids baiting each other and getting a rise out of each other. Sometimes the other half does it to the kids too. :D

I would put it this way: She's written to be narrowly naive. A black and white type of person. While she's good at what she does and is sharp, the world out there is a foreign country that she's discovering bit by bit.

It's interesting that someone else thinks that too. She seems super judgmental about XS compared to SF. I mean she barely knew both men but she made all kinds of assumptions about both based on their status... a reverse prejudice stemming from an anti-authoritarian streak. I imagine that it's part of her development that things are seldom what they appear to be. The irony for me is that XS is actually the most upfront person she's come across so far.

But yes... I didn't like her that much in the beginning. I'm okay with her now. I tend to think it's more the writing than the actress.