yllers

It was filmed phenomenaly. She was simply fantastic, the whole scene was chef's kiss and heart wrenching!!

Also, although I know traume doesnt get wiped away, if a character in the previous timeline was a perfect angel, but in this timeline is an absolute monster, should we forgive him/her just because he/she was good in the past? In my opinion no. In the same way. if someone was bad in the past timeline, but in the new one, he hasnt done evil, I am not going to condemn him/her. I will follow the specific timeline.
I will reserve judgment for later. maybe the end of the drama which I hope wont disappoint me! *fingers crossed*

Of course trauma doesnt get wiped away that easily, but neither does affection and we can probably assume that she did have feelings for him at least once - since she was presumably dependent on him, but apparently he got all twisted with jealousy and madness. Do you still love a person like that? Do you fear it or do you stand by it out of some sense of loyalty or I dont know, nostalgia? Unfortunately people tend to remember very bad and very good experiences equally, so I dont know what to assume. Too bad its a short drama and we probably wont see the past.
Thats so insightful, I didnt think of that, I actually didnt see it as a redemption arc for him and that she is his reward, I saw it as the FL actually getting stronger and being able to see past her trauma and into the new reality that dictates that you need to see what is happening right now and not get influenced by things that havent happened. I liked the fact that she got her destiny in her hands and was quite vengeful in the beginning but she healed by changing this timeline.
Of course the romance is there, but I saw it as more of a gift for the both of them, actually defying fate and at least trying to be the persons they actually wanted to be and not what the circumstances may force them to be.

I think in the past life, having spend so much time with him and fully dependent on him -since her family was dead, she developed feelings - even a kinda stockholm syndrome as another person wrote. Who knows? Too bad its a short drama and we will probably never know the full story.
I am liking this so far and it saddens me that it is not a full length drama. I want the back story and everything haha. I think it is made really well, overall. I love the cinematography and the music...

Of course it doesnt mean that she "has" to like him, just because he is nice, but it happens sometimes.
He is most certainly not the only man in the world, but I assume - though I could be wrong- that back then, people didnt always have the luxury to actually fall in love.
it was a lot of matchmaking by the parents and people were resigned to that. Of course love could also happen in that kind of planned match, but you cant deny that it must feel more exhilarating when it happens by chance.
If she actually fell in love with him in this timeline, that he hasnt done anything to her and even saved her life, it is perfectly understandable, but its not a necessity.
Thats how the screenwriter wrote it. :P
I am not condoning toxic relationships, my observation was based on what was shown up till that episode. I dont know what's gonna happen next. And I just said that we do not condemn people just for their thoughts and in this timeline he hasnt done anything irredeemably evil yet, so we cant condemn him for things he hasn't done - (not that he should, but you know what i mean.)
This is a different timeline and things could turn out differently.
In the latest episode we also saw that he has been poisoned and that messed with his head, so is he really evil?
I dont know, we will see. But he is a kinda morally gray character. It just happens i am confortable with that. I find them enjoyable, not neccesarily an example to live by! haha

Exactly because that was another life, in this life he is a different person, she has helped him become a better person because he made better choices. In this life he has not harmed her or her parents and he is not a tyrant. On the contrary, he has even saved her life during the boat incident.
He has not done anything that merits punishment from her yet.
We are punished on the basis of our actions, not our potential actions or our thoughts. If we were punished every time we had a bad or improper thought we would all be in jail! haha

Personally, I don’t think it is entirely out of nowhere.
It's gonna be a long post, but I like trying to read behind the lines.

In their past life she met him later, after he had taken throne, driven by the hatred he had accumulated due to the suffering he had to endure by the cruelty of the elder prince and possibly the neglect of his father, the emperor.
In that past life he had not met the FL - who is, presumably, the one person he grew to love and the only one who could restrain him? mitigate and hold back his anger, hatred and violence.
He simply had no one to love before, he was entirely driven by hatred and ambition.
In the first scenes of the first episode we only saw that he was extremelly jealous and obsessed with her, not willing to let her go and he was a tyrant.
But we had no idea how he got there and why he was obsessed wither her.

Was it only with her or with other consorts/concubines too?
She must have spent a lot of time with him and - remember -In that life her parents were dead and she was abandoned by her aunt/uncle and sent to serve him. She had no one else, but him to lean on for her survival and support. He could have treated her really well in the beginning, but being that jealous and possesive, he didn’t let her room to breathe and she wanted to escape.
But there could be attraction and affection too, that got twisted by his jealousy and control.

In this life, she remembers how he was in the past life and wants to torture him as well, but you have to remember that he is not the same person we left in the first life.
In this life we see how his own life was and how he suffered and how he was somewhat obligated to stay in the shadows and use dark and underhanded methods to survive and seek vengeance.
In this life he is not a tyrant or a bad person per se.
So the FL is conflicted.
Should we punish someone just with the thought that he will become bad or that he is going to break the law, do something immoral etc without him actually having done anything?
And the answer is no, we cant, because it is a matter of choice and he could choose to be better.
All people have the benefit of the doubt and choice.
So, in this life he makes better choices, because of her. She makes him a better person, though he himself admits that his nature is wicked and jealous. And how could it not be, when his own father, as well as, his own mother left for her clan and abandoned him to be mistreated and even tortured by his brother and everyone? What kind of mother leaves her child behind?
He was bullied and sent to the arena, because the Eldest Prince wanted him to die. However, he didn’t die, he just became a better fighter, more resilient and capable of using any means possible even dark ones, in order to survive.
And his resolve is so strong that for his revenge, he was willing to become a slave.
The FL humiliated him, dragging him behind her carriage in chains, she whipped him…
But in this life he hadnt done anything to merit that.

And he didn’t lash out, because right from the start he found her intriguing and he liked her.
But, having lived the life he led, he couldn’t recognize what love is and that indeed he loved her.
That feeling was so intense for him that it started to consume him.
He was never allowed to have something of his own before, everything was taken from him, so that is why I think he is so possesive and jealous of her. She is the one thing he is allowed to have and she came to him on her own. With her own free will and not with a secret agenda to use him for his title or power.
His love and her love for him is too precious to him, to risk losing her.

That is why even after he became the emperor, he was willing to kneel before her like a slave and beg for her forgiveness.
If he was too proud or ambitious he wouldn’t be willing to do that, so the FL knew that for the moment he is still pure and not corrupted.
(Although I am sure that will happen again later on, but at least we will see the progression, the explanation)

In this instance, then, the FL is moved by this narrative, this devotion that he shows her. Most women would be moved.
He even saved her life and the life of her parents, So she owes him and he has proven himself to be a decent person.
He is a different person in this life due to different choices, but there’s still hints that his nature is easily angered and corrupted, so if she doesn’t keep him in check, he will most probably devolve.

And if he fears that she will leave him or stop loving him he is going to do something drastic like imprison her or something.
But for the moment he is strong, brave, smart and charming…. Thats why I think she fell in love with him (again)?

I don't think I see the similarity between the two. In TTEOTM the ML was the devil god but he wasn't actually that bad and the FL had to kill him to save the world. In this show he is shown as evil in the previous life, but in the current one we don't really know, but no one has to kill him to save the world.
Maybe you think something else in the plot is similar?

Yes it is so consistent at least, that she still remembers and guards against his obsessive behaviour in the previous life. And it really shows that that toxicity is part of his psyche. It could go either way you are right. I am not sure she is ready/willing/capable of really killing him, but him asking her to stab him to rid himself of his supposed delusion that he has a chance of being with her, had me conflicted as well. Haha
What can I say? I find morally gray characters very interesting and at times endearing. Not him, not yet anyways

So creepy yet thrilling in ep 12 where he says that's how I like someone. With obsession, possession and jealousy and destruction. He really goes out when he is in love which is unhealthy and toxic, since he disregards, it seems, norms, feelings of the other person's etc, no matter the consequences.
Classic villain in love . He would burn the world to save you, whereas the hero would sacrifice you, to save the world ...

What on earth? I am on ep 10 and everyone agrees Yi Yenham is a candidate for Acting CEO? Really? His moral character is not in question ? Even if he is cleared from the sexuakl assault charge, there is still his plagiarism which speaks volume of his integrity etc... Thats such a plot hole

I think the head cook of the mings was secretly helping them and I dont know why. When the message that the FL's life was in danger was delivered by an unkniown someone he had long silver hair like him and throughout the competition he was shown as a person of integrity. I dont know what it means but maybe the competition and him will play a part in the later story as well?

Yeah! Exactly I mean the minute I see his face, I am like ok heres the villain haha

Does anyone know which actor actually played Xu Tian Ci? I think the name they put in the cast list is wrong. I have seen the same actor in other minis, I just cant remember where... Or maybe oit is him but the photo is very old or something?

I liked that one too. He looked fascinating in it, but th ending disappointed. Still worth a watch for him haha

Actually the ML looked good in everything haha

Ok I just finished this and wth? We waited 21 episodes for this???

I just watched the first six episodes and it looks good. I like the little twist of the last episode, because you don't seen it often in this genre. It usually happens to one lead,not both.
The leads have good chemistry and the villain is appropriately sleazy, morally grey and perhaps you can understand how he became that way.
Eager to see more

I think he was made to marry the older sister, because that was her plan. She was alreayd in the resistance group and being his wife would mean she had a better chance to spy and get a handle on things. There was no love, no prior engagement and they never even married. Under these circumstances the love with the younger sister makes sense because they were in love with each other all along. The whole arrangement was made on the spot kinda.

My thoughts exactly, Everyone was good-looking, but he was extra-charming!