grapejuice

I think they're seriously misdirecting us in a number of ways leading up to the finale of this drama.

There won't be a real divorce or even a big misunderstanding. Our couple are both very bright. They know each other very well at this point and they can both read the room.

There won't be a double cross from the Emperor or anyone else of consequence.

Of course, the king has left himself room to escape if things go wrong but he hasn't let ZL take a real fall yet and I doubt that he ever will. He's an incredibly smart one too and so he's upped his support for our couple every single time they've needed it (using hidden as well as public means).

Sleepy old official Tian and his daughter are formidable allies who know how to survive but are also putting their money on our couple. Not so sure about the hubby.

And then there's Concubine Wu (a spy behind enemy lines) and all the Ganglin crowd plus their military might from up north.

The one eared friend/business partner is not so certain in my book. But they might get some unexpected help from the younger Yu group; either cuz they can be counted to mess things up or maybe the original traitor will get so fed up with her useless family that she'll turn traitor again. I mean you never know.

Anyway, I've no idea what happens next and that's good cuz that's a whole lot more fun with a half dozen more episodes ... so there are bound to be ups and downs but I bet it all ends on a really triumphant note with help coming from a number of the allies that our heroes have accumulated along the way. I mean they earned all those allies because they're awesome

And the two of them won't easily forget either ... that they were fortunate enough to have married someone who is awesome.

So let's sit back and enjoy the roller coaster ride to the happy ending.

pep talk for fans ... :-)

The Yu's did something drastic and then operated without the courts permission or knowledge for three whole months ... because they knew they'd been outplayed on the mausoleum arc, they knew they were about to be caught for many years of hard, lucrative graft that robbed the state ... and they were desperate.

They tried to get ZL kicked out of court for being a bad boy and they tried to separate him from the Emperor only to have him reinstated and closer to the Emperor. So, I'd say that our two opponents are evenly matched at best with the Yu family looking a bit desperate even though they're always overly smug and overly confident.

I think it's interesting to look at the opinion of Official Tian with his many many many years of experience and survival in court. He think the upstarts have nerve and intelligence going for them and he seems to be putting his money on them over the Yu's.

So ... let's follow the smart money when placing our own bets.

I can't tell which way is up with this comment. I can't even tell if you're being serious. So, you know what the drama is all about and you think you know what's going to happen and you've decided that it's no longer worth it? You're just too tired of it and have become uninterested? Have I understood?

Agreed. And that kind of action, ... what they've just done ... is like carpet bombing. It might silence things for a while but it just makes people really dig in with passion for the long run and then they plot well for their strategic comeback.

So, the Yu family will surely regret what they've done in the end cuz they will have engineered the real beginning of their end. If you think about it, it was a fast act of desperation on their part, and it was an arrogant one because they haven't fully considered who their opposition really is and what they're really capable of too.

She's also deep into mourning right now and probably wanting peace and safety even more than usual. I'm not sure why people don't have more confidence in her though. There are things that won't be obvious to her because he life experience has/is different but she's awfully damn smart and she knows ZL very well so I think it's only a matter of minutes before she figures out why he's acting as he is and why he hasn't been sharing it with her. I mean maybe she won't get it and maybe she'll just remain pissed that he's not spilling all the tea with her. That would be reasonable. But the idea that she'll stay angry and it will split them ... I really doubt it. She's a woman of her word and she promised to stick with him for life no matter what.

Also, I totally agree that perfect people and perfect relationships are boring in a drama. Why would we want to see cartoon characters like that when we real people are riddled with our own problems. I wouldn't be able to take it. And it wouldn't be any fun. Imperfection rules !!!

love this analysis and the deep insights you draw from it ... ty for sharing your thoughts ...

If you want to binge, you should probably start in another day or so depending on how much time you have set aside for catching up. We've got one or two more days of two episodes and then the last few all at once.

Me too!!!!! The whole plot is reaching for and getting closer to it's apex and it's getting really exciting. I don't understand why people are constantly expecting fluff and fun and sweetness in the relationship when the pressure is mounting the way that it is. The writer is turning the screws to keep upping the ante so we shouldn't expect too much lightness that would just be jarringly out of place like a sudden commercial message or something.

Ooooh. Why would anybody do that? Must be trolling us ...

please excuse me. Life happened there for a bit so I had only seen ep28 and the first bit of ep29 when I wrote this comment.

Yesterday I had thought that it would be bad if anybody saw him with those beads. They'd be jealous or anxious or start planning a counter-attack or something fueled by the shock..

It hadn't even occurred to me that he would intentionally show them to people. And it really hadn't occurred to me that the Emperor may, in part, at least, have given them to him ... for that very purpose.

May have ...

The plot thickens.

And it's getting harder and harder to wait for the next episodes.

ZL is in charge of disaster/drought relief and the Salt Reform so maybe the Emperor will shorten it with some decree? Or ZL loses those positions? The Emperor really won't be pleased about this turn of events cuz both of those jobs went to ZL because they had to get done fast and well by a trusted someone who doesn't have vested interests.

That has long been the plan. And ZL has always known and agreed to it. We learned it explicitly when they discussed the Salt Reform. The Emperor gave ZL complete authority and responsibility and told him that he only needed to report to him directly at the end. That way, if ZL made a mistake of some kind or the plan backfired, the Emperor would be able to say that he didn't even know what exactly was happening. ZL filled in all the gaps and unspoken bits during that conversation so it was clear that they both understood that ZL would take the fall if there was one. And then both ZL and TY demonstrated their willingness to take the fall during the dowager/mausolium/drought relief crisis. So that cemented it further. And the Emperor gifted his personal Mala beads to ZL to further affirm and reward it. The bead bracelet was a personal object. It's not the full 108 bead mala. It's the abbreviated version but it's still a devotional/spiritual object for prayer. And to an extent it's also a talisman that people wear for protection. A very well considered gift that carries a big message of trust and responsibility I think. It should also help to focus and steady the person who uses it.

what's to criticize though? I'm honestly curious because I really don't see too much unless you're really nitpicking before it's even over. And unless there are inaccuracies to sink it, shouldn't it be received and praised as better than just ok?

I'm still convinced that she is.

If he tells her, she may want to kill papa all by herself. Or she might turn and ask him to do it. And I think he wants to spare her any possible consequences by being the only one to hold the guilt with dirty hands. She's already got enough bad stuff to carry around and he has so many deaths on his sword that one more won't add much weight. It's not, maybe, the smartest thing to do since she wants to always be in the loop but ... he can tell her in a few years or so when it's safer.

She wouldn't be able to say to do it even if she wanted to. But Papa Darling is definitely a murderer and in those days he should hang for that. Only a court case would cause a tremendous scandal that would hurt everyone right up to the Emperor and even the state itself if ZL doesn't get his homework done on time. So, it was the very prudent thing to kill the man and not ask permission first. It's reasonable to believe that he killed grandma too and who knows who his next target would have been. Certainly don't want him in the Ministry of Revenue working for the Yu family there.

I thought tY is magnolia.

Yes. A family business maybe or an offshoot of a family business. I think it was mentioned a couple of times and was a jewelry business,

The structure of the bracelet and the way that the emperor holds it suggests that it could be his imperial version of a Buddhist Mala. Which would make it a highly personal, imperial design, devotional/protective item that you just wouldn't ever expect him to give away as a gift ... unless the recipients were highly significant too.

Just think, he the almost God Emperor would have held it, worn it and used it to pray at regular intervals and important moments ... over many years. I can't even imagine that there could be many, more significant gifts than this. I mean, really ! A personal item? A spiritual item? A talisman perhaps? A sign of rank and importance?

As others are saying here, he has given ZL (and TY ) something that symbolizes a serious ongoing connection and responsibility. Such a gift could make you feel way too singled out and special. It would be a very heady thing and a very heavy thing. And god knows what other people would think if they saw and recognized it.