Shy

I think Ci Sha is doing a really good job as Lu Jiaxue because every time he approaches Yining creepily and forcefully invades her personal space, I legit find myself internally screaming, "omg dont touch her and get away from her, you creep!" Lol 😂

Haha yeah. Maybe because of the dialogue over that scene talking about the emperor so we would assume that’s him. But the outfit he’s wearing isn’t what an emperor would wear. A duke, yes but emperor? Definitely not. Also it wouldn’t be that easy for Shenyuan to meet up with an emperor like that lol

Based off ep 21’s preview and my knowledge of the novel (as well as the cast list), Yining’s bio dad is finally gonna appear! He’s the guy Shenyuan was passing the letter to in the preview. With his introduction, I’m guessing Yining’s birth secret will be revealed to her and everyone else soon!

Ah it seems like 1st uncle was in love with his sister-in-law (Yining’s mum) and now 1st aunt has become one of the prime suspects. She must’ve poisoned Yining’s mum out of jealousy.

Also I love how warm and accepting Lin Hairu is of Shenyuan. She’s a great stepmum. In the novel, she kinda has an awkward relationship with Shenyuan lol. I’m kinda glad they changed it in the drama for them to actually have a good stepmother-son relationship. It warms my heart.

she was actually pretty young when she died. probably around 17-19 if i'm not wrong.

Only FL was reborn. Basically the timeline is like this:

- Original Luo Yining died.
- her soul went on a limbo for 20 years after her death. So throughout that 20 years, she was able to observe what is gonna happen in the future. That is how she recognises Luo Shenyuan, a young scholar who climbed his way up the rankings to eventually becoming a political rival to her ex-husband.
- After 20 years of being in a limbo, her soul got transported to the past and into the body of the other Luo Yining, who is a 7 year old kid that shares the same name as her. The past being at least a few years after original Yining's death.
- in the original timeline, the kid Luo Yining was supposed to die. But because original Yining's soul entered her body while she was dying, kid Luo Yining ended up being alive in this new timeline.
- Because Yining has 20 years of knowledge of what's going to happen in the future, she uses that to her advantage. She purposely befriended Luo Shenyuan who she found out is her 'brother' because she knows that he's gonna be a high ranking official in the future to rival with her ex.

Yeah in the original timeline when she was married to 2ML, Cheng Lang was kinda taken care of by the both of them. Cheng Lang was really close to FL. Close enough for FL to maybe consider him as a son. FL & 2ML do not have any children.

But for some weird reason in the novel, Cheng Lang grew up to have inappropriate feelings for his 'aunt' LOL

From what i remember in the novel:

FL - 14
ML - 22
2ML - in his late 30s?

The age gaps are insane lol

Tbh i dont like any of the guys in the novel. They are all red flags. All of them tried to force themselves on her. Lu Jiaxue is definitely the violent one with the amount of times he tried to physically hurt her and harm her reputation. Shenyuan isnt violent (towards her. He indeed can be violent towards others though lol) but he did forced himself on her. Although they're married at that point but still...that aint right lol she was too young for that.

Im just glad they are changing things up from the novel. It is definitely for the better.

I guess im too in love with Zhang Wanyi so the 2ML really have no effect on me hahaha 😂 but anyways i do agree to an extent that he's an interesting character. I feel like this is always true for complex antagonists/characters. But for me as of now, he's not really shown as a complex character yet...he's pretty 1 dimensional for now (we are only seeing his obsession with the FL) in comparison to ML who has more layers so i dont really have much interest in him. Thank god for the drama's writing tbh, because i find all the male leads to be 1 dimensional in the novel. I guess its understandable in a way since FL is the focus and center of the story so these male characters are just there to revolve around her.

Ahhhh it’s so good! Just wish it has more international attention. But it’s doing really well domestically, I heard.

Oops. Is that a spoiler? 😅 but yeah the sypnosis for the novel is written as that. I shall hide my post as a spoiler just in case lol

Ngl, but i'm hooked. I'm quite excited to see the journey of Luo Shenyuan becoming the Prime Minister in the story and him becoming equal rivals in power with Lu Jiaxue.

Ikr haha. But i do like how they didnt skimmed through his injury tho. Oftentimes dramas would have injuries magically heal by itself by the next episode and the character would have no side effects from said injury at all. Its so unrealistic lol

She's her stepmom. So basically her dad's 2nd wife. They have a good relationship with each other despite being a stepmom and stepdaughter. She treats Yining like her own daughter because she doesnt have any children of her own.

Probably because he looks manly and charismatic in traditional hanfu robes. But in real life or modern day clothing, he has more of a boy next door type of vibe? Either way, i find him handsome in modern looks too.

Also just wanna add that i kinda like how their scenes are being directed so far? Im not sure how else to explain it but i feel that their scenes were directed purposely in a way that it doesnt feel 'romantic' as of yet since they considered or thought themselves to be siblings. But you can tell that there's an underlying chemistry there in their interactions but it hasn't cross the 'romantic' territory. An example would be the wound dressing scene which the director decided not to linger much on it so that it doesn't give off 'romantic' vibes since they see themselves as 'siblings' in that moment. The scene is literally none of those typical trope of awkward, shy, blushing, romantic tension during a wound dressing scene at all lol. And it is a good choice too on the director's part, considering the audience would also not know the true relations beween the two and it would make it less 'uncomfortable' to watch, if you know what i mean haha

But compare it to now that Shenyuan has figured out that they're not related at all. The directing felt different, such as the lantern scene or the truth game scene where it gives off 'potential romance' vibes with shots of their lingering gazes. Its definitely done on purpose. While at the moment, there's nothing romantic going on (Shenyuan kinda still considers her a younger sister for now while Yining has no clue that they're not really related), but the directing gives off foreshadowing that he would start questioning himself later on whether him wanting to protect her was because he considers her as a sister despite not being related or if it could be something more... quite excited to see how it unfolds lol

I think most of those comments could possibly be from new cdrama watchers that still has The Double fresh in their minds since its the most recent and well-known one. But yeah, its a very commonly used trope.

Ok but its actually getting good haha. Am excited for the next eps

In the novel, she ended up adopting a different surname, her real biological father’s surname, which is Wei.