0525

while it is true that SRQ is concerned for her safety, his understanding of her is soo deeply flawed and disregards her capabilities - i got the impression that he wants to put LR in that golden cage that PWX mentioned, which is not the way to treat LR at all :D

I am curious to see whether this really is the end of the Shangguan family's involvement with the nobles - if that was the case, i would have loved for the drama to give that more room. the master of the family looking that defeated came as quite the surprise to me

And hopefully, she also wont lose her maid this time around 🙌

I think they are going to air two episodes a day until friday, and then one per day over the weekend. Thats the airing schedule we got sofar at least

Its a mix of hurt feelings and how he was raised to deal with problems (in a "deal with it yourself" sorta way). He reacted like that bc he was hurt and didnt cave bc of his pride, but that also hurt LRs pride. Also, in this first life, ML was confused about his feelings for QZZ bc he was raised being told to treat her well so he mistakenly thought he was in love with her - it took him the 17 years of separation from FL to realize that is has always been her (and only her) he loved. He also felt guilty bc of that mess of feelings he had in his first live.

A drama that has girls supporting each other and each others choices is just such a treat! I always love to see it

Same, its very satisfying to watch how they fix these issues this time around 😊

personally, i think he does that mainly to "protect" his brothers feelings? since SRQ is the one carrying all the familial responsibilities so that he himself does not have to, he sees SRQ affection for LR, knows that for the sake of their family could not indulge in them - but being his brother and knowing how much SRQ sacrificed for their family, still wants him to pursue his affection and sincerely wishes for them to be together since it might make SRQ happy and its kinda the first (and only) time he expresses want for something that might not be entirely for the sake of their family

i dont see his behaviour contradicting SGY - she is also somewhat ambigious (at least from what we have seen in her interactions with SRH) about the relationship between LR and PWX. SRH might as well have the impression that their marriage is one of necessity without feelings (as does SRQ). so why not encourage his brother?

it all comes back to both SRQ and SRH not knowing PWX and most importantly LR not well enough.

its also completely fascinating (and to some degree even baffling) that PWX knows LR sooo much better than SRQ does, even though it was SRQ who was a companion to LR for 17 years

(this is believing those people that said that SRQ also remembers the first life, which i currently tend to agree with)

i am not a novel reader so i am also not completely sure and might lack some context, but the way I have seen novel readers talk about it, that kiss is all about LR confronting her feelings for PWX and giving in to them - as its the first time PWX demands a reply (PWX is otherwise been pretty patient with her) and she is finally overwhelmed by her feelings for him and cant quite deal with it(which is also the impression i got when i saw the description of the scene in the novel), though, my perception might be inaccurate - i am looking forward to how they are going to frame it in the drama tbh

episode 16, after visiting the ministry of justice, i love how the next scene is all about trust - LR trusts PWX enough for her to close her eyes and lets her self be led by him, they talk about her insecurities the last time they faced problems, PWX apologizes for not being "trustworthy" enough and RL proceeds to trust him with the most important task for their current dilemma. thematically, its sooo well done bc that quite simple show of trust at the beginning translates into something more, something deeper.

it is linked in the discussions :)

LR has just been girlbossing her way around these last couple of episodes and i am absolutely LOVING it

yikes

its astonishing to watch him gaslight himself and frame his selfish intentions as a wish to protect the one he loves

additionally to the misunderstanding, there are also fundamental difference on how they saw each other and themselves that made them unable to reconcile - both are prideful, PWX has the tendency to suffer by himself for the sake of others due to his late fathers influence, while LR tends to disregard (or not see /consider) other individuals emotions due to growing up at the palace where actions are supposed to rely on logic alone. a combination of this is pretty bad for communication, which PWX taking a lot upon himself and LR not seeing it. it took these misunderstandings and the twenty years they spent together to realize this (and they are also still in the process of recognizing this) and are now making a conscious effort to reflect (LR) and communicate (both LR and PWX).

but at least it was the sweet kind of angst that visible showed FL affection for ML, i loved it!

tang dynasty (later parts of it, i think?) is pretty famous for being pretty advanced in terms of women's roles - woman were allowed to hold official positions. as far as I can tell, though, this drama does not play during tang dynasty so i am pretty sure things have been modernized for the plot :)

i think she is just really naive and overly reliant on her older brother (probably due to his prodding and her upbringing). she is nothing more than a puppet for her family when she should be a proper mother or empress

ZHL looked so good wearing PWX travel clothes ~