PeachBlossomGoddess

How does making Zhao empress stop the investigation? You mean the empress is above the law even though the emperor is not? What stops the investigation on Zhao is scapegoating WX - that is independent of whether he promotes Zhao. This is the only logic hole I am trying to point out. Agreed on all the rest.

NP - its just a minority, speculative and probably ultimately incorrect theory. Btw book readers are adamant that he doesn't know her. If I were adapting or rewriting it however, I would have done it this way or at least teased viewers with this possibility.

From memory, the two words were 貞(loyal, true, incorruptible, chaste) and 繆 (false, erroneous). In the context of his teacher, the second character implies he was complicit in the student revolt either through negligence, incompetence or outright deception. The emperor argued that if Lu Ying was not the instigator then the teacher must be to blame even if indirectly.. That is why shifu killed himself - to take responsibility. Of course CP was not going to allow his teacher to be disgraced like that so he could not save Lu Ying's family. This was my read but as a result of laziness and neglect, I am not as well versed in the deeper meanings in Chinese characters and literature as many other viewers so I am happy to be corrected in this.

He can stop the investigation on Zhao without promoting her. It just seems extreme paranoia against CP and puts Qi equally eligible to be CP. I know the plot is still unfolding but so far it seems a flimsy and poorly reasoned development in the plot.

What the emperor did is in character for him - he is utilitarian and is willing to bide his time when dealing with his enemies. What I don't understand is how promoting Zhao balances power against Gu other than it makesr Qi and 5th prince elgible to succeed him? It feels like he is once more actually balancing power against CP? I do think letting Gu Fengen go was a mistake on CP part and validates some of the father's criticism of the son.

Nope

You are probably right. Yours is the popular and much more widely held opinion. Btw - you should spoiler tag that.

The main lead is definitely ruthless, badass and not perfect. There definitely is a triangle as in three men love her and vie for her affections but she is never that into anyone other than the main lead..

I dozed off mid-38 last night, I probably have to re-watch it. You can make both cases very strongly - this drama deliberately teases you with both possibilities. Its not clear exactly when but once he realized who she was and what she had done, I think he was angry at her audacity - he once observed that she was too daring and would certainly be a troublemaker. He cannot confront her without busting her so he shows her through his actions that he means to honor his bargain, that she must be a stranger to him. Since she plays along, he accepts her presence realizing their interests are aligned wrt Lu Ying and understands her motive. He clearly doesn't treat her like an ordinary servant and he is so smart and naturally suspicious it no longer makes sense that he didn't put two and two together. Most of the time when he is speaking to his wife, I feel he is talking to her. They are soulmates it is even obvious to his wife. And as CP, he is raised to expect to have many wives it would be out of character for him to have such monogamous inhibitions (yups gives me rashes also).

It is still a guess, especially exactly what moment he figured it out. But if you watch it from the point of view that he pretty much knew all along then this show and all their interactions are so much more painful. I was a mess the whole way I mostly wished I was wrong.

I am only at 38 and I don't watch trailers/spoilers so not sure what exactly you are asking but if you open spoiler above I wrote my best guess of what is happening.

This drama leaves some things deliberately ambiguous and I wonder if it will answer that particular question. I am in the minority camp that believes that he recognized her almost right away but cannot acknowledge her or at the very least is unwilling to admit who she is even to himself. What is key (episodes 17-19) is that he traded their relationship for his teacher's posthumous reputation and Lu Ying and son's lives. It was the only way to protect WX and he did it because he loved her but it cost them their relationship. She finally understood his sacrifice when she promised that from now on they would be strangers, meaning she also intends to honor his bargain. I think they both know they know each other but pretend to be strangers. They had both already agreed to move on and give up on their relationship. When they meet again she is there to save her family and he has to make the best of his new marriage and finally win his father's approval. He is genuinely quite enamored with his new wife but I was always of the view that when he made the comment that there are many beautiful women in the palace but he only has eyes for one it was directed at WX. There is of course the possibly stronger consensus view he doesn't know who she is and hence the big surprise reunion that everyone is anticipating.
Once she had infiltrated the palace, it is also impossible for the CP to ever acknowledge her as Lu Wenxi - he would probably have to send her home and he has come to see her a possible ally in a palace where he is surrounded by enemies. And now that Lu Ying is dead and WX is out for revenge it better suits her purpose to be Gu A' Bao. That is also why he beat her - she is an obvious suspect in the murder of his wife and child - in particular if he knows she is WX she has motive, means and opportunity. All reasons why I am not exactly holding my breathe that he finally recognizes or acknowledges her anytime soon. Anyway its just my guess because I think they are both too smart to not know but I could be wrong.

You are definitely not alone.

Heheh the face hair at the end was just terrible (I sneaked a peak).
I love Ni Ni's acting in general but she lacks intensity and there is nothing much she can do about it. I feel it was the wrong pairing with someone as dominating onscreen as Chen Kun. She did a good job just wrong pairing. She was perfectly cast in L&D though.
I like the sound a lot it seems more natural and I can hear slight different accents and not the official perfect Mandarin which no one I meet in real life speaks...:)

I have a feeling you are one of the ones that will like this one (so am I). I am watching with a friend who got halfway through the book. She claims the drama has changed many things and is more interesting. She abandoned the book and I won't even try. My Chinese reading is as slow as my English reading is fast and it is a self reinforcing problem... LOL!

The CP marries Zhang Luzheng's daughter. He is quite pleased with her. New crown princess is aware of and seems to encourage his interest in WX. Hence triangle that almost becomes threesome. Arrghhs! I feel I got conned into a palace harem - my top avoid genre!!!

It is quite different from NIF, which is also my favorite. That said I liked it anyway -its definitely not filled with cliche tropes. The second half of the drama was more enjoyable for me. Its is also not something to binge - I watched it slowly.

Let me admit I was being totally superficial and my first glance impression of Chen Kun was yuck. But by episode 3 I did a 180 degree - he even de-throned my favorite Mark Chao/Ye Hua look with the long loose hair. l actually loved his crazy over-acting and the dark ruthlessness of his character. I am watching this slowly because I don't want it to end. If anything I am a bit disappointed at Ni Ni.
Btw ty for your reivew - I feel more prepared for what is to come next with this...

LMAO - (non-vip, vip, vvip, illegal)!!! I don't open spoilers unless the episode is tagged or I already watched the latest aired.

RN is riveting so far but 1) it runs into danger of overdoing the sadness and more problematic 2) it is not accessible. The plot is very intricate and needs to be re-watched to follow properly. From what I saw of the English translation it is decent but for this kind of plot it needs to be better than just decent. What I do love is that it is selectively ambiguous and open for analysis and discussion - especially when it comes to how certain events actually unfolded and the motives of many characters. I can see many people having a field day with it and as many being just frustrated and depressed.

Sigh! You probably won't need an intervention... the CP is really starting to piss me off. Not exactly good news...

Its crazy - I know that this show has issues but Chen Kun's Ning Yi is now my favorite male lead character! I am just mesmerized by that independent wandering eyebrow.