snowfallsslowly

As she said, one of the reasons she broke up with him was for his sake as well, there's also a scene where she says she regrets it in the upcoming episodes. It's not that she doesn't care and is "bye bye ex", she's trying to hold it together because she was so much on her plate and doesn't have time to fall apart.

They seem to think that for her to be a badass business lady, she can't be heartbroken about losing the love of her life, who's gonna tell them she can be both?

Why does it seem like YX is the only one heartbroken by the break up? As if HZ hasn't shown time and again that she cares about him just as much as he does about her, what a strange writing choice...

Hua Zhi is such a rare breed of female lead. Every single romance cdrama has an utterly devoted, willing to do anything for the woman he loves male character and Yan Xi is no exception but seldom do we get female characters that are equally as dedicated as their counterparts. So it's wonderful to see someone who is intelligent, kind, independent but also loving, protective and ready to face anything for the person she cares about. There's nothing more satisfying than a love story where the two parties are just as dedicated to each other.

YX is still doing the emperor's bidding not because he's stupid or blind and needs to "wake up" but because he knows exactly how much of a monster he is. His 1st option is to say I'm not doing this anymore which he knows is equivalent to signing the death warrant of HZ, her family and even his and also would just mean someone else doing it and causing much more harm. His 2nd option is to rebel which is the biggest crime at this time and whether it works or not would have dire consequences on him, her and on the country and its people, there doesn't even seem to be a suitable replacement, if the country is unstable without leadership, countless lives would be lost. You can't just wake up and say hmm today I'm gonna commit treason and assassinate the emperor. I love HZ but she can walk away because she has that option, he doesn't.

So it seems she doesn't break up with him because life in the palace would be too stifling for her like many predicted. I had more faith in her, it looks like it's because the Emperor is using YX yet again to do his bidding but this time he might be threatening him with her and her family ( he doesn't even have to do it directly YX already understands if he goes against him he'll go after what he now knows is the person he cares about most) and HZ refuses to let him be coerced in the name of her safety/protection.

The Emperor is a monster but let's not pretend that it doesn't make complete sense that YX didn't let him die at this point, aside from the emotional aspect and how he's essentially his father who raised him lovingly. Even from a practical/logical standpoint for YX it would be a mistake right now, first of all when it comes to lord Xian while I understand his grievances against his father, he wouldn't have been a better ruler, the man was ready to murder his 9 yo brother and kidnapped multiple children in the process who are probably dead, he also most likely would've wiped out the entire Hua family for fear they were told something by 6th prince. There's also the fact that during a change like this, the country is weakened and could be subject to invasion attempts from their enemies which would cause a lot of suffering for the people. He also would've instantly killed Yan Xi and his entire family because despite their "civil" conversations, his hatred towards him coupled with YX's ability to command the biggest army this country possibly has makes him an incredibly dangerous threat.

I think he already knows, that conversation he had with lord Xian when he said who do you think was the mastermind behind the accusations against me and forced me to scar my face so couldn't vie for the throne and Lord Xian said I thought I was the only one miserable but it's both of us. But I understand where you're coming from , there really should have been a conversation about this where he explains his train of thought more clearly.

I think it's not about his moral compass, because what other option does he have? He's the emperor, at first he was away from all of it and once he was forced to come back his best option not only for his safety and his family's but also to do less damage to other people is to serve the emperor. He knows he's a horrible person, but what is he gonna do? Plot rebellion?

Novel readers, can someone tell me why they break up in the upcoming episodes ?

I agree they blew past that way too quickly but I also think the difference is he was raised by the emperor and it seems he really loved him and took care of him, basically taught him everything. His father has never treated him well even before he found out he murdered his mother and almost killed his sister to protect himself from the consequences of a rebellion he instigated and then had the gall to treat SY horribly.

Is that perhaps the reason she breaks up with him? I hope it's not, they've been such a mature couple so far, I hope the reason for the breakup is some misguided attempt at protecting him. And then later they come back to face everything together like they always have.

I understand your pov, to me in terms of writing we got an entire arc about XZ losing it after her "death" doing anything he can to find her, freezing the sea, the lightning bolts, bleeding and screaming her name, it's also been years for him, taking care of her constantly in so many ways and saying the most romantic things and unless we're getting something similar to that from SL's pov in the next episodes (judging by the novel we won't) then it doesn't really feel equal because there has to be opportunities in the storytelling that showcase both of their feelings on the same level and we haven't gotten even 10% of the same emotions and actions from SL...

The comment below about XZ being more in love with SL than she is with him has gotten me thinking again about why is it that cdramas are so obsessed with relationships where the ML is the one who is more in love? It's so weird because it's not just this drama or that drama, it's most of them. Why is it so rare to get equally devoted couples where the FLs are portraying the same amount of care, sacrifice and devotion. Isn't that the beauty of watching a love story? Two people willing to do anything for each other? (This is not an insult to this drama or its writing btw just an observation regarding cdramas in general).

You really can't be both that stupid and that vile, Hae In's family should really pick a struggle.

That idiotic family better get on their knees and apologize to Hyun woo. The audacity to ask him to save them and go live with his family after they spent years humiliating him and treating him like a slave, if it wasn't for Hae In I would've wanted him to let them fend for themselves on the street.

I'm gonna need s2 to give me all the happiness for Yi Soo, after all the horrible things they've put him through it's a miracle he hasn't lost his mind. Just focus on other cases and character development we don't need a big mystery related to him this time. American procedurals do it successfully all the time.

Yes, I don't mind big spoilers.

ooh could you spoil me as to what happens?

I haven't seen the legends but Yan Hui's growth was amazing and like you said she was ready to do anything for the person she loves, if it's the same for Shen Li then I'm excited to see it happen in the second half of the drama.