noor1234

Apart from avoiding nosy neighbors & gossip-mongers, the other reason is to show how close & mentally attuned Scholar & FL are. Knock on the wall is a very intimate way of corresponding with a guy or girl - it's like having a secret code/ love language.

We have seen a number of ML's interactions with women: 1) with that crazy 1st wife, who was openly disrespectful towards him & he wasn't abusive towards her. 2) His cousin-sister whose life he essentially has saved by finding a loophole in family rules on 'marriage'. 3) The maids - he never looks at them or desires women (a trope, I know, main lead always has to be puritan) 4) FL who was brought in to be his 'bed warmer / child producer' and even though he started liking her, he is never shown as crossing the limit / space with her physically in any way - even when she's drunk. 5) She got her freedom because he approved it. 6) He buried Shen family & does a memorial service for them & his 'dead fiancee' annually (something we & FL will see in future episodes).

He is bound by class, his position in military & the tradition & hierarchal rules that govern not just his life, but the family & the kingdom. He also has bigger pressures than FL's simpleton life where every step means life or death.

Getting married to FL - a low-status former maid with no connections or wealth & who is of no use to his family as a commodity, who they would never approve, cannot even gloat to their social circle about this union - is probably the FIRST SELFISH THING this guy has done in his ENTIRE LIFE. He has always done what his family wanted him to do - he did leave for army, but he has followed the elders. He's going against the current to ensure his own happiness.

I don't see it as a flaw. You have to understand the time period, where women are considered chattle & barter tools, especially in noble families. ML agreed to give his 16yo cousin-sister in marriage to 32-yo widower navy cmndr without consulting his family, so in his own case, I don't know what his original plan was, because the opportunity to save crown prince came by chance, but in the end, he did what he could do in the best way possible: he made sure FL got a grand wedding, king's command, & main wife status. FL would've said no because they have a past history together as Shen&Lin betrothed (which of course, she never would've disclosed to him as a reason) but also for free life with her parents & she probably would've married Scholar.

But you are right, ML wasn't protecting FL, he liked her, wanted her, knew his mom was arranging marriage with crazy lady no.3, & Scholar was arranging a proposal, so he made sure NO ONE including FL had a chance to say no.

I think ML is a good guy, is a v. good son / cousin-brother, is fair in his dealings with strangers instead of being cruel, extremely unlucky with women, but FL doesn't really know it all that much. And it doesn't get more forced marriage than the guy saying via imperial decree no less 'you will only be my wife in this lifetime' (!) I think we all understand why he HAD to go the imperial way (running out of time & her low status). But I think he knows her well enough to realize she will adapt & thrive. Also, I've seen a scene on twitter where he simply leaves with her for capital - which will give her space to know him without his mom's nagging & grandpa's rules.

It will be interesting to see whether she respects him or not, esp. in front of maids etc. (who are also her besties) & his family, because his 1st wife was openly rude.

Also, since this is a story of 80 years of FL's life, & I've seen too many 'grandmas' in C-dramas who are good-for-nothing bosses, it will be interesting to see what FL accomplishes as leader of the Lin household.

But I've come to suspect that ML was only included in this story as a trope to show FL's life & advancement in ancient china. He's not the main thing, just carrot being dangled to get people to watch a female-centric story.

No idea. He was suspicious about the nature of the search. And he may turn grey just because he was powerless to stop his 'beloved' being snatched by ML via an imperial decree.

This drama is apparently covering 80 years of FL's life. So anything is possible.

Seems so. I just unfortunately saw a scene on twitter - he dies at 44 or 50 - was never in good health after some battle, so they have 2 kids & he's in poor health for remainder of life sitting around & then just 'slips away'!!!!
https://x.com/Kamiamg/status/2101957689609687279

She lives on for another 30 years as the female matriarch - head of household. The drama is called Story of LX so it makes sense. But it does make ML technically a filler in her life, who is just there to further her prospects! And he was a very good guy, just unlucky in love / marriage.

It's good they are not following standard tropes - besides, FL doesn't know ML likes her, & if they HAD met, she would've brought his betrothal up, & then ML would've fessed up, etc. etc. This way we get to see ML getting dejected just like FL felt when she heard the fireworks & saw the pastry-gift given on his 1st wedding.

Watch the scene where ML leaves the venue again - crown prince is being escorted out, he's behind the guy who vomits on Zheng's son. I played it twice to confirm.

Watch the scene where ML leaves the venue again - there's a fat guy behind the guy who vomits on Zheng's son & goes into the carriage undetected. That's the crown prince.

In that scene all I thought was why didn't Jier step forward & say I rescued her, she went that way - especially since after head madam got beaten up, she was certainly going to take it out on Jier. So her best chance was to speak up to her former master & introduce herself. And she isn't the timid kind to hold back. So I think it was lazy writing, done simply so that FL sets Jier free from the brothel, not ML.

Yup. Even I felt bad for ML.

Ep.23-24: What was ML's original plan on getting FL to marry him? Because it's obvious from Ep.24 & Ep.25 trailer, that the new king (of course the roly poly crown prince) granted him the decree for his service in rescuing him (& getting him in time to the palace / throne, basically). What would ML have done without this decree? Or this situation of 2 princes fighting over a crown? I mean, he's literally going to snatch FL from her parents & that Scholar & everything, so what was his original plan to get her to marry him?

Also, after that scene of (poor, angry) ML standing outside her house listening to the 2 'lovebirds' singing in tune, I'm wondering, whether FL would have married Scholar? Proposal was about to come on her dad's return, would she have married Scholar because she liked him or just to please her eager beaver adoptive parents? Maybe not right away but somewhere down the line - perhaps after Scholar had completed his education?

Yup, on all 3 points I agree with you. ML most def. collected the bodies - for a while I thought it was grandpa, but it has to be ML, for FL to see that he did not really abandon her or her family at their hour of need. I also love the way she isn't moping around thinking 'oh I was to have such a fine life' or 'all my family is dead!' - she loves the adopted parents & has accepted her life as a commoner. She knows how to survive & make the best of any situation.

I actually want her to be with Scholar - no, I'm not suffering from any SML-syndrome - I just think her life will be peaceful, everyone will be together, & comfortable, without being in the same-old dynastic politics where courtiers conspire against each other, household women have petty quarrels & king can order an entire family annihilated overnight! That is ML's life.

But I know that's not the story. What's true is that FL would be as asset to anyone who hires her, works with her or marries her. She wins for everyone, not just for herself. She shares her winnings too. She makes the world better for everyone, not just for her own 'family'.

Me too. I think he hates the fact Lins abandoned Shens. He even made a snarky 'cannot trust' comment to ML.

She knows. When FL first entered the Lin house with other maids - in the scene maids are taken to the crazy first wife & ML's sitting there - FL glanced at him knowing he is the former fiancé - that's why she peeked - & then in the next scene ML goes & sits with his mom for dinner / lunch & FL serves them & leaves in a sombre slow motion shot.

But she hasn't been shown thinking about past or her past family in Lin household except for in the 'library (wife caught red-handed) scene' she was asked by Xie Academy big scholar where she learnt the hexagonal thing & she thinks of her grandpa teaching her about it. Other than these instances, she has just done her job.

'she must be connecting him to the guy who dropped her the minute he heard they were in trouble...' - You are right - but he didn't have any choice - he had to follow elders. Have you seen the grandpa & idiotic women in Lin family? It's a wonder how they have survived this long!

Thank you, I've been saying the same thing & crucified by trolls for saying so!

Thank you for saying this!

Good grief! I think you are trolling now! Or maybe English is not your first language! It's ok to have an opinion & to not agree with someone's comment - you can read other people's comments who you agree with or who agree with you.

I know there's no chance of them ending up together. I just think they are a better fit & well-suited than FL & ML.

I said Scholar & FL are of similar status - & you guys are saying they are not because of Shen background. And all of you want her to end up with ML simply because they are of similar 'class'. That is what I'm responding to: to say that she is of noble birth is wrong. She's not. She was part of a so-called 'noble' rich family. That does NOT make her blue-blooded. Her good heart does. FL's adoptive parents are more blue-blooded & honorable than Lins, Shens & Zhaos & Zhengs combined.

You also said FL's entire education, grooming etc. was to manage a powerful household. She was raised by Shens like cattle, to fit in an arranged marriage with another powerful family. Is the purpose of education, refinement & having a good heart that she should waste it on women quarreling over petty things in rich household and be around men who decide whether any girl in the family should live or die or be in a family that arranges marriages for their only son again and again for political ends?

I sympathize with him too. But Scholar & FL have the chance to rise together peacefully surrounded by loving, supportive families. Lins & other courtier families will never have that. And ML technically can always get killed along with family over some conspiracy or slight against king / crown prince etc. Why should FL go back to that cruel world?