mysteryqueen9

I wonder why LCZ stopped Ling'er from telling Wan'er. It must be because he himself wants to reveal FX is involved in LG's death in the most impactful explosive way. Could it be he is gonna try the same thing PM did in S1? Is he gonna use Xie Bi'an to attack at the wedding, disguised as a masked assailant, to force the secret master to go out? That would explain why Cheng Ze went to the wedding without Bi'an, when he is like Second Prince's shadow.

Chrysantemum scene is indeed in ep 29 from previews

Wan'er is indeed the red herring (and nobody suspects lol)

I imagine them like Legolas and Gimli in LOTR, competing in number of killings:
Princess Royal: I killed the whole group of cooks in the manor and accountants!
CP: I killed a whole village
Second Prince: guys, I specialise in murdering people and have you forgotten what I tried to do to a lot of scholars?
Emperor: a family that share hobbies is a good and happy family. I'm equally murderous but just hide it better

For me it would not make much sense if LCZ thinks FX killed LG himself. After all, he has investigated the matter and FX so much he knew Ling'er and FX had met the day LG died. So Second Prince should have the same death exam result that came to PM: LG was killed by an excellent martial artist whose level should be a Great Master. This expelled any doubt from FX for PM since the only one in the capital with that level was Xie Bi'an. FX' skills are good, but not that good, and people knows it imo.

They're not related on the drama. In the novel they were indeed cousins, but in ancient China it was acceptable for cousins to marry, though curiously only for those who weren't from the same clan (as in name). So for example you could marry the sons of your maternal aunt, but not the sons of your paternal uncle.
I discovered this after reading a very popular chinese novel where FM had to keep her romance with ML secret for a time because ML was her cousin from same surname (although adopted) and it was considered like incest (which makes little sense when cousins from maternal side are fair game).

Cheng Ze is like a typical evil 2 FM from dramaland : telling FM is his beloved sister while secretly trying to destroy her wedding to ML, the object of his obsession lol. I laughed when Xie Bi'an was like: aren't you giving too much importance to this wedding? Xie Bi'an please keep up. What stupid questions...
Also, poor naive Ye Ling'er. The moment Second Prince was like: will you also answer me honestly? She should have known it was a trap

EP 24:
Princess YunRui: Mr.Yuan. if you don't like the food don't worry. I command all those cooks to die and be replaced with better ones!
Also Yunrui to Yuan: your biggest flaw is your kindness. I am also too kind.
Less than 30 seconds later, Princess procees to explain Mr.Yuan how she is gonna kill all the accountants and use them as fertilisiers for her roses.
This family is crazy af hahahha

Oh, I don't want to spoil but I have read some things and Eunuch Hong is gonna be so important.
I don't think we are gonna have a lot of focus on his marriage (at least I hope). Neiku is gonna be a big arch for sure.

I think I remember one scene of the books when they mentioned Second Prince was the third in order of birth.
What I don't know if Crown Prince was the one to be born before (since a CP is taken out of the order number of princes) or FX was the one born before Second Prince, but at the same time I doubt because it was also mentioned CP and FX were almost the same age.

I think FX is a big factor in some of his biggest decisions/plans, but not for pure emotional reasons:
Princess did a lot of wrongdoings and she was caught (when the director guy from Overwatch Council that worked for her was discovered). Also, it did benefit the emperor to send her away from the capital for a time.
BeiQi mission had a very clear purpose: to get Xia'en mistake FX for his grandson so he spills the beans to FX, and through FX, the emperor can reach clues from the Temple (a thing he obsesses over)
LMC died because of FX. But not because he screwed with FX: it was because LMC showed FX he was willing to colaborate with FX (his direct link with Overwatch Council) to investigate corruption and pursue justice. The emperor does not want FX to have any ties to Censors, because FX is already linked to Overwatch Council and he will very soon take charge of Neiku (Imperial Treasury). He is gonna have a lot of power, so having a good relationship with the Imperial Censors would give FX too much power. The emperor wants FX to be a lone minister, that's why.
Emperor plan against PM has the same intentions that removing LMC: PM is the most powerful minister, he has influence over all the Court. He is gonna be FX's father in law and we have seen already how much he has helped FX. FX would have too much power and connections if PM maintained his power and position after FX gets Neiku. That's why Emperor not only takes care of PM, but also forces FX to be the one that "officially" investigates and makes his own father in law resign. So the proteges and allies of PM hate FX. And that's why Emperor said that PM was an old fox that had left a trap before resigning, because PM left in FX's care Da Bao, so the faction of PM in court understands that is not that simple and PM and Fan Xian still get along well.
So imo Emperor loves FX and he tries to give him influence and power, but in a secondary way, always first his self serving reasons. FX is his favourite son but for Emperor his throne and power is more important than his sons, so Emperor is not someone to be trusted to take care of FX' wellbeing as Fan Jian is.
I think Fan Xian is beggining to see this and he will take advantage of the Emperor's emotion and subtly manipulate him into thinking he is a good loyal son (showing the Emperor exactly the type of perfect son he looks for) but working to gain real influence to pursue justice and good for the people

For me It is a key moment for FX because of this:
1) He has gotten 4 disciples that will occupy in the future good official positions and will be loyal to him and contribute to justice and the good of people
2) Most important, the examination exam has consolidated FX's reputation and increase it to the highest level among scholars and the common folk. FX is no longer the revered poet that is a genius in poetry: he is now an indisputable fair, outstanding and upright official who cares for justice and fairness. And even though the nobles and royal family act as common born are ants, the thing is that even at that times the public opinion held a lot of power. So FX will get a lot of this, and he may even be promoted by his actions in this exam.
FX is gonna start to gain a lot of power through allies and taking Neiku imo

I want it to happen but like you I also want it to happen later, in S3 would be ideal. Though I wonder if perhaps Cheng Ze will begin to put two and two together, and get suspicious of FX's real identity, since we have already had one scene where he was alarmed by the fact FX was summoned to palace in the dead of the night, pointing how high the Emperor regards him.

If I were Xie Bi'An, I would go crazy from hearing about Fan Xian all the time. Shouldn't Cheng Ze care a little more about CP (who is his real competitor in theory) and not so much about FanXian? Crazy yandere detected lol

Second Prince is like a yandere from anime, for me Cheng Ze being a crazy stalker in love with FX is canon already LOL. CP obsessed with his aunt and Cheng Ze with FanXian...it must run in the family indeed. I want to see so much his face when he discovers FX is his bro

I agree, though I think in the drama they have turned Second Prince into a mastermind himself and not a mere puppet of Eldest Princess, he just believes she is his strong supporter but she is a very cunning strong mastermind who has her own ulterior motives. In the novel both the princes were more puppets and Eldest Princess was the real big boss. I think here in the show we have more big evil bosses (Second Prince, and ofc Emperor)

I think he is searching for a certain place or places where he went with Lady Ye to recover his memories. I am also eager to see him, but It makes a lot of sense he is away a lot since 1) The prime minister would have a lot more chances to discover the truth of his son's death 2) Wu Zhu is FX' strongest trump card, people shouldn't discover he has someone so skilled around and for plot purposes FX shouldn't be too overpowered (so I guess WuZhu will appear again when FX is really in a pickle or life death situation, or at least they will wait till PM is no longer a threat to FX if he discovers the truth).

In fact I was asking, it wasn't a statement. I just kind asummed Emperor behaved like that in the novel (not favouring him too much publicly, but in private indulging him) until the secret reveal. I indeed read FX was his favourite son (though taking into account the type of person Emperor is, I still wouldn't feel too confident as a son of his).

But I thought it was because FX's real identity is still a secret. In the novel he indulged him openly in public even before the reveal? I have mostly read chapters after page 2000, when FX was just revealed a prince, so I didn't think there were significant differences in his treatment of FX till now in novel.

Loved the scene of Second Prince running in his manor while talking to Bi'An. It's hard to be confined at home, specially when he is such an energetic person. And in the previous ep throwing a fruit at Bi'An out of boredom. Even then, he is still scheming as ever.
Minister Guo is gonna cry tears of blood when the scholar exam is over!! FX is gonna rip his money and outwit him so hard!
And special mention to the parallel scene of the "emotional parents": Lord Guo slaps himself to see if he is dreaming after seeing BaoKun. Lady Fan just slaps the shit out of her son to see if it's a dream!!!! LOL