PeachBlossomGoddess

So she was just bat shit crazy and had no hope of ever being made a concubine...I guess just another slightly unhinged character in this show... Feels like a mental ward rather than an ancient royal palace.

was it always platonic? When he was fooling around with WX in his chambers some of the other attendants implied his relationship with Chen neiren had been similar.

I wonder re: CP relationship with Chen neiren:

I wonder what it is about this latter part of the show that could be so subversive that it had to be cut like this.

I really like Luo Jin's acting in this show but have to admit that the waterworks are a bit overdone.

I suspect 5P has a hidden agenda. If he was just in love with WX he would have a much better chance to woo her if she were back with her godparents. Instead he sends her right into CP's chambers on the eve of his wedding! Her presence in the palace was risky and was almost certain to unravel in a way that could (and did) cause a lot of problems for CP. If discovered, the emperor would immediately assume CP smuggled her in to keep her by his side and broke his promise to give her up. 5P kept urging WX to reveal herself to CP because once she did, CP would be complicit in her presence in the palace. That is also why I think CP actually knows who she is he just pretends that he doesn't. It also makes no sense how knowing his nickname could possibly save her life. Instead it just made CP suspect she was allied with someone who knew him well. Finally, it was 5P idea to throw that autumn harvest party that resulted in crown princess poisoning. He is always in the thick of things. So maybe he is just a lovesick fool with terrible judgement who tries to help and makes a mess instead. Or maybe he is an ambitious forgotten prince who sees an opportunity for himself. Its what I like about this drama - so many characters with questionable motives.

I always felt that L&D is actually Mo Yuan's story. They just changed a bunch of stuff for copyright reasons. God of War comes back after 50,000 and falls in love.

Yeah I think when she passed him the gourd during his wedding ceremony he recognised her. The only question in my mind is whether she knows that he knows who she is.

Gu A'Bao is Wenxi's alias in the palace. A'Bao is also CP childhood nickname. 5th prince once told her that the name may save her life. I think it may have hurt her instead because it enraged him and reinforced his belief that there is a mastermind behind her. Someone that knows him well. I am also thinking 5th prince is a bit of a suspicious character.
As for why he let her stay I think there was more that transpired between them that they haven’t shown us yet. That and he also probably wanted to kiss her again.

Uhm...why relieved? How do you know this does not happen after CP dies or something?

I hope so and to @Kim MC point there has to be some point to all this. All the characters are becoming dark and CP is turning into his abusive father. I would settle for an ok end with some small victory for the good guys at this point forget about happy ending.

It won't last. This writer is seriously disturbed.
If there is any consolation to Amazon's slow upload - your holidays won't be ruined.

I also like the exploration of the father-son relationship I think it is very well done. But for it to end with the father pushing the son to kill himself is just yuck and makes the whole thing pointless. Even if everyone dies, it shouldn't be they killed themselves. I don't know why suicide endings are so popular in c-dramas - it is never logically convincing or popular with audiences. If that is how they end this they better put serious mental health warnings on this - like don't watch this if you suffer from depression or have a difficult relationship with your father. Not to mention I think the ratings will tank regardless of how well executed everything else is. It will be another ROP but worse because it is relentlessly depressing.

Ah, that would make more sense that something got lost.

I am still watching ROP and its good although I have heard the ending is bad. You may be safer with the Legends. Pillow Book hasn't aired but my guess is that it will end well.

Ni Ni is also in Rise of Phoenixes. You could also try the Legends but you need to fast forward a lot of fillers. You may also consider waiting for Pillow Book which is expected next month.

"She is mine". And holds her hand the same way he did the first time they "met" in the beginning. What a dunce he must be if he doesn't already know the she is by now.

Ep40:

Wikipedia describes all the characters as from Northern Qi which was a much earlier and short lived dynasty surrounded by enemies. I don't think however that this story is striving for much historical accuracy.

Yeah at this rate when they finally kill him off I am going to be so relieved I may have to pop champagne. Sadists.