themarchioness

Nope. He appears later in the story. He’s currently posted elsewhere for work.

The reveal of the FL's true parentage comes late in the story, but it will be revealed that her father is a military general/Duke. He will explain how he was captured and injured by enemy forces causing one of his underlings to go and kidnap the FL's mother to come treat him. The selection of the FL's mother wasn't entirely random, as the underling had observed various neighbors first before selecting her. The FL's mother was thus taken from the side estate where she'd been living after separating (technically, divorcing) from her husband without her servants knowing anything, though she did send word back that she was okay. And, indeed, she was okay. She and the Duke fell in love and she helped him escape, and then she returned to the side estate while he had to press on with his military duties causing them to separate. Meanwhile, he never knew her real identity or that she was pregnant. The mother also learned of her pregnancy after the fact and had no way to find the Duke. Thus, they went their separate ways and she returned to her original marital home passing off her child as a Luo family's child. The Duke did try to find the mother after he returned from his battles, but was unsuccessful.

This all resulted in the present day when father and daughter were reunited, and it was a good reunion. The Duke is very happy to have found her and recognize her. The FL feels a little out of sorts, initially - lost between the two families. It is not helped that her transition into the new family wasn't entirely smooth, as it ruffles the feathers of some of the existing family members. But that all gets smoothed over soon enough and eventually she gets along with everyone in her new family. They're pretty great compared to the Luo family.

The ML is a member of the Luo family, so you should know what that family is like.

Hope that helps!

No. From an early age, the FL moves out of the family home and lives at a side estate. She doesn't return until the start of the drama. In addition to that, even when they did live in the same family home as children, it's unlikely they would've mixed a lot considering the ML's birth mother and how she and the ML were considered by the father (i.e., not real members of the family). In fact, when the FL returns to the family home, she doesn't recognize the ML and the one memory she has of him from her childhood is one her cousin has to remind her of.

In other words, it's safe to say - the leads are neither biological siblings (as will be revealed through the course of the drama) nor are they raised as siblings.

There are links above under the "Where to Watch I Know I Love You" section to both WeTV and Viki. I think it's also available on YouTube with subs.

Yes!

You're drawing a distinction between ge/gege that isn't true. Both 'ge' and 'gege' mean older brother and they can be used to refer to one's older biological brother, cousin, or friend (such as a family friend's son). They can also be used interchangeably. You'll hear 'gege' used more among young children or when the relationship between the two parties is more formal. For example, I have cousins who I call 'gege' and would never think to call them 'ge,' because they are way older than me and we didn't grow up together, so our relationship is not close. Out of respect, I call them 'gege.' 'Ge' tends to be more informal, colloquial, so it's going to be used among people you're closer to (think of it as an abbreviated form of 'gege'). In LYN's case, she also uses 'ge' because it's preceded by 'san' (LSY's birth order among all the Luo children of their generation) - this is a common practice as 'san gege' would be a mouthful.

This is why I asked how you felt about the Korean's use of "oppa," which also means older brother - the concept is the same in Mandarin. Referring to someone who is older than you as "jie/jiejie" (sister) or "ge/gege" (brother), even when they're not related to you, is a form of respect. I'll concede that I don't really know anyone who calls their husband 'gege/ge' after marriage, whereas I know in Korean culture it's not uncommon for the wife to continue calling her husband oppa (if he's older). But LYN's situation is different than the norm and for that I'll repeat what I said earlier - I think it's more a familiar form of address for her and not that she thinks of LSY as her brother versus a husband. Honestly, you could even think of it as a pet name at this point, one that he can cutely pout over because she's not calling him hubby like he wants.

Do you have a problem in Kdramas when FLs continue to call the MLs oppa, even after marriage?

I don’t really have a problem with her continuing to call him San Ge. It’s just a name (something she’s used to calling him) and doesn’t necessarily mean she thinks of him as a brother/ge. But that’s just me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The leads didn't have "18ish yrs of sibling love." The FL left to live away from the Luo family when she was little, so until she returned for her grandmother's bday party in Ep 1, she had no interaction with the ML. She didn't even recognize him when they connected at the end of Ep 1 and later had to be reminded by her cousin of the one memory that she shared with the ML from their childhood. As an unfavored and unacknowledged child of the Luo family, he probably didn't mix much with the other kids when they were little.

In fact, I know most assume that the ML has been living with the Luo family all these years but I'm not certain of that. In a conversation with Grandma Luo, when he finally tells her what he's up to, she recollects that he ran away from home after he was punished for wanting to attend school with the other Luo boys. The ML confirms that's when he met his former master/teacher who gave him a new lease on life. The grandmother then guesses that he "came back" for the testimony. I don't think she would have phrased it as "came back" if he'd been living with the Luo family this entire time. That's my interpretation, at least.

Regardless of how you want to interpret where the ML's been living all these years in between, we know for certain the FL didn't have contact with the rest of the family save for maybe her grandmother and stepmom, as references were made to the latter two having visited the FL at the side estate over the years.

Given that the leads' relationship was cultivated more recently, I didn't find the shift that strange/unbelievable especially when the ML figured it out soon after they reunited.

The ML's mother was a maid (not a wife/concubine of the father's). She got him drunk on purpose and became pregnant thereafter (though not said, the implication would be that she raped the father). That is why the ML is not acknowledged by the family. The father does not like the ML's mother for what she did to him or the circumstances leading to the ML's birth.

As for the FL's mother, all that is known so far (based on where you are at) is that she was living at the side estate when she was kidnapped by bandits and returned much later pregnant. There's no indication as to the circumstances surrounding the FL's conception because when the ML met with the mother's former servant in Ep 8, that servant didn't have a lot of information. The full story of what happened to the FL's mother and how the FL came to be will be revealed once they figure out who her father is - so, stay tuned for that!

If by "the ML also has a different father as well" you mean the ML's father is different from the FL's, then yes. If you think the ML has a father different than the one we've been told is his father in the drama, then no. The ML's father is the Second Master of the Luo Family. There is no plot twist there.

If you've watched as far as the ML being included in the Luo family registry, then you already know the FL and the ML are not biologically related; she has a different father. Towards the end, her real father will be identified/found and she will leave the Luo family for his.

No, they’re not even half siblings. It will be revealed around Ep 8 or so that they are not biologically related (FL has a different father).

Because they're not actually siblings nor were they raised together.

I'm not sure how far you've watched, but LJX actually does share that information with him towards the end. It's just that by then he's convinced that ML has changed sides. (Although he does continue to test the ML at the same time.)

He was just mad. Even though he'd written/signed the divorce paper, his mom had disagreed and taken it. As a result, he didn't know that Gu Minglan had also signed the paper until the Duke presented it to him. He was caught off guard by that realization.

But because Gu Minglan did sign the divorce paper, it means that neither she nor the Duke were guilty of adultery at the time of their relations. That's what allows the Duke to now claim that Gu Minglan was his lawful wife (even though they weren't married).

Tearing up the divorce paper won't make a difference to any narrative that they now spin. Yining is biologically the Duke's daughter and he can proclaim that he was married to her mother and, as a Duke, no one's going to question that. He doesn't need the divorce paper to help him prove that. On Daddy Luo's side, it doesn't help him either - it's not as if he's going to wave it around to prove that they were divorced. Again, the Duke's word is good enough there. Daddy Luo would only need it if he was trying to prove the opposite, but he can't because it is signed by both parties.

I think your own answer supports what I said before. I acknowledged the possibility that if they had married, the Princess's son would be good to Yixiu -- whether that's because he would actually fall in love with her or whether that's because he seems like a stand-up guy who would at least honor the decision he made is beyond us to guess. But that was the whole point of Lin Mao asking this question of the Princess's son -- if I solve the initial reason for why you took notice of Yixiu, would you still feel the same about her? As you noted, he hesitated and he wasn't confident. That's why he backed down. Lin Mao was willing to fight for their love (the reason for him visiting the Princess's son), the Princess's son was not (which proves his feelings were never that deep to begin with).

You're also ignoring the fact that it wasn't just "dating" that Yixiu and the Princess's son were facing but an imminent engagement (that she definitely didn't want), so put yourself in her shoes. If someone said to you that you were going to be married to another in the next few weeks, and you were also told that other person didn't feel confident about you. Is that the kind of person you'd want to spend the rest of your life with?

Add to that question the context of how women lived back in the Song dynasty. As the FL observed on several occasions, once a woman married, their life was entirely in the hands of their husband. If they were lucky, great, but if not.... for those who ship Yixiu with the Princess's son, IMO, that's a lot of luck and chance y'all are betting on for her. Personally, I'd choose the sure thing.

When LJX called her "Mei mei," it wasn't the same characters for little sister. It was a homophone with different tones. If I remember correctly, it was this mei: 眉

He liked her like one would like a friend. He was willing to marry her and he probably would've treated her well had they married because he was a good person like that. But even he couldn't bring himself to say he loved her. He admitted as much that his primary interest in her was her ability to help him eat. But once the Uncle resolved that problem by giving him medicine to treat his anorexia, that also resolved his "need" for her and he was more than happy to step back, and to allow two people who actually cared for each other and loved each other to be together.

I Know I Love You has a happy ending.

As cute as his character was, his interest in her was only based on the fact that she helped his appetite to return. Once the appetite problem was resolved...