grapejuice

I am learning from this one too. Life lessons and universal truths :-)

do you recommend Early Spring? i tried the first two episodes and didn't know what to think of it. couldnt quite connect with the characters but I realize that it usually takes a while. Watching it at the same time as Against the Current though ... maybe not a good idea

I think she knows its not from Yuchan and Gantang. Cuz he slipped up when he explained the gift. First he said it was from them. Then he said that he split the plant and is giving her a part of it. Then she rushes in to repeat that it was nice of her friends to send it ... but I think she rushed to say that because she was feeling awkward about it probably being from him.

I mean, this is his second visit now when it would have seemed crazy to think that he'd just start dropping by at all. And the tension between the two men needs some explaining too. Why would there be animosity between them? She's bound to wonder ...

So, our girl has been understandably oblivious up until now but maybe she's starting to get a clue because of this unexpected inexplicable behavior.

It was good to see her wasn't it? Life goes on ... and, as someone here said, she's the one who marks the passage of time for us. Season to season. Year to year. and one stage in life to the next. Very cool. Plus she's kind of wonderful and I hope we see more of her ...speaking and all.

I remember reading a good comment about this. First she tried the flower trick to provoke a proposal. Second she finds a wealthy proZhao backer who wants to end MLs investigation into Wo treason. Third, if that person calls for it, kill the Lin family on their behalf. Fourth, if that person gets caught, save the Lin family from the illness she's caused and look like a hero to the family, in case that helps to increase her worth ... basically she played both sides against the middle but got caught as did her wealthy backer.

She was watching the Du girl but felt that it was becoming too obvious so she got down below table level so that she could really stare and study her without being seen.

Haha. Beautiful !!! And kinda funny really. She collected rewards for merits to get out and he's collecting reward points for merits to get her back in again. Irony. He's definitely trying to beat her at her own game :-)

At least she won't get executed the moment people find out ... important, that, for the staying alive principal.

Haha. I'm so pissed off to come down the thread and read this. I managed to burn thru most of my brain cells to arrive at half of this and then ... somebody else made it look better and easier too. Drat. But thank you for posting it. Excellent analysis.

omg that's a riot ... what he was able to do was funny ... and the fact that he really, really, obviously didn't want to do it ... that was even more funny.
In fact, I may not stop laughing for a long while. Laughing with him of course :-)

So, by the end of ep20, our boy has decided that he needs a solid plan (enough but not too much) to defeat the butterflies and get the girl. He pretty much has to earn some major merits to get the king, his family and his unknowing lover all onside in the short term and the long term.

A marriage decree is pretty much the lynch pin because absolutely nobody can argue with it. So he has to move up the ranks to get closer to the king, win him over and then do something seriously important to help him and/or the country.

And his timing is good because the king that has hated his family is on his way out while a new crown prince is, hopefully, on his way in. The current crown prince seems to need support to achieve safety and the throne. He'll have to win over the Zhao family or come up with an effective opposition to displace them. The Zhao's are probably not in his camp, because the crown prince is out making friends with the Marquis and young master Lin.

So, objective #1 is already underway. He's getting closer to the throne and a decree. Our boy has a valuable new friend, the Marquis, he's making himself very likable and liked among his peers and he's landed a big promotion. In just six months, he's gone from Assistant Commander to Commander of a whole garrison. Not a bad place to be if you want to help the CP win the throne and get a good chunk of merit out of it too.

Double the points if he can bring the Zhao family down a notch or two which should make the Lin family a whole lot more secure and win some merit with his own family. Saviors should get what they want right?

Triple the points if your chosen wife is in on the merits earned with the King and the family but that's not strictly necessary. The main mark is the Crown Prince who will ascend the throne.

So, my theory starts here ... How does the Young Master win a decree? The CP has put him at the head of a garrison and accepted an invite to a high profile wedding where he'll be quite exposed and make a great target.

Which is important because, as we've seen in the upcoming previews ... there will be dudes in black setting up for an attack around the Marquis mansion on his wedding night ... and we're all worried for his life.

But ... wouldn't the wedding be a great trap for the Marquis and the Young Master to set ... to bring out and catch any (probably Zhao) forces planning to kill the CP or harm his friends?

Anyway, I'm betting that the dudes in black are good guys setting a trap or they're bad guys falling into one. And ... well, saving the new king's life ... will get those merits for a marriage decree :-)

At least this is how I hope it goes because I really want the 3rd sister and the Marquis to live to see the day after their wedding.

yes ! ty !! love your name :-)

Or maybe it is and we don't know ... because we can only hear what we know from wherever we know it. :-)

I've seen the teasers on WeTV but I haven't stumbled on previews for ep22 and 23. Can you link or tell me where to look? Or just explain. I'm missing it.

Yes! Live. You need hope in order to see a light but you must be alive in order to see anything. Being alive is the first order of things. Nothing follows without that ... (as far as we know for sure). And hope doesn't have to be a big thing either. It could be one person's story ... like the woman who developed techniques for using cotton. She became a beacon for everyone following. And, in the meantime, we can fill a few moments with the aroma of orchids ... if we're alive.

haha ... And I think it sounds French ... or the way the performer sings it, sounds French ... there's pain but its sophisticated pain :-)

Even if he believes that she wants to marry him and back into the Lin family, there is still a lot he'll have to plan and do before he can marry a commoner. Her parents will object. His family will object. The outside world will be scornful. So he has to elevate her but not so high that she could get willful and say no. And then he has to get around the fact that nobody wants this but him. After its done he still has to live with his family and her family and her ... so whatever he does to make it happen can't be so overbearing that it can't be smoothed over after the fact. Which means that he has to know how far to go in forcing it. Just enough and no more ... and he will gain what he's trying to win. Therefore, he needs a very well thought out, very well executed plan ...

Can't have them killer butterflies hanging around the boss :-)

They're both a bit thick aren't they? haha. She has no clue that he's interested in her because he exists outside of her world and he has no idea that she doesn't see him as a part of her world (of sisters) and the bond that will never be broken. Their life worlds have overlapped but their personal life worlds only overlap in his mind so far.

It will be very interesting to watch how that might change in the future. We anticipate that it will. But, how, exactly, will he become a person like her ... in her eyes ... and how will she become a person like him ... in her eyes.

Actually, you have to give him credit for being able to see outside of the normal boxes to even dream of including her in his life as a wife. I wanted to say as an equal but sadly that probably can't be the case.

I like to think it was just a remove from view kind of plan ...