Alysha Johnson

Do you want a spoiler?

LBY is being beaten by the emperor but he purposely made a big deal out of it, and drive home the point that it’s her fault. He want to test CSS feeling toward LBY that’s all. It’s not real and the beating was not bad but CSS lost it and treat LBY really nice afterward. Before this they had another huge fight so that’s why the emperor stepped in and did this

I know people don’t like arguments but I quite like the arguments between the leads in this drama. They all make sense. No one is being overly irrational. They make sense from their POV. We all make sense in our own head. It’s a love story and fighting is part of love too. If you’re too indifferent there’s no love. I love how our characters have solid personality and act like real people with real trauma, flaws that make them less than ideals, and maturity enough to be able to vocalize their thought and feelings. People say CSS is childish but she really well developed for a 15 years old who know what she want and to be able to clearly vocalize her thoughts. A lot of people are mad and frustrated but not know exactly why. I’m glad our leads at least say it out Ian’s fight than keep it in and hold grudges. They both so childish and mature at the same time. It’s quite endearing to see

The setting is early Han dynasty so around 2000 years ago. The specific period that this story took place was right after massive wars so life expectancy was pretty low. Like 1/3 of the population was wiped out due to the war so I’m thinking 35-40 would be the average life expectancy so marrying at 15 seem appropriate. People live till 80 now so if we do the math it’s like marrying at 30 nowadays

Very misleading… if they follow the book~ then there’s nothing to worry about. If the drama changed then who knows but I expect very sweet scenes from these 2 episodes. What we waiting for is finally coming

Yeah I agree. This was the point of the argument. Both LBY and CSS are both very strong willed people but they are willing to learn. So far CSS has been vocal on exactly what she want and how she feels and LBY have adapted.

In return, CSS learn all this etiquette and live with the queen so that she can understand and live in his world better, and some day be a responsible wife to him. They both are willing to make concessions
but they both willing to learn. These fights highlight their differences and places they still haven’t meet eye to eye. It take effort to become husband and wife who understand each other. I don’t doubt as CSS learn more about LBY she can see from his perspective better and be a better confidant to him. He need to let her first.

He never need to exploit CSS to pursue this agenda. He simply need CSS to stay out. So he did use her affection toward Empress to scare her off. What he did is a bit manipulative but it’s the truth anyway. She need to know. She didn’t help them but hurt them instead. He was wrong for not telling her ~ but now that it’s done, he have to tell her the implications.

Not to the degree that LBY don’t trust her.

CSS is scared of him but by now she trust him a lot. From the beginning she trust him enough to show him who she truly is: how calculating and manipulative she can. She told him al her flaws but he likes her anyway. She was honest with her ambitions and what she want in life, LBY never told her what he really after.

For a while CSS had doubts about LBY feeling. But gradually she learn that he truly like her. At least deep down she trust that he love her enough to never hurt her or make things difficult for her. This is so apparently that even her mother notice. She even said “you know LBY loves you so you acting spoiled.”
On the other hand LBY is still very suspicious and keeping everything close to his heart.

If he doesn’t want to share, CSS doesn’t ask. But he can’t mad if she does thing he didn’t tell her about.

Yeah Wu Lei said LBY is a “dream” guy in the drama but personally if he’s a girl, he wouldn’t choose LBY. He said LBY is too suspicious and complicated, and wouldn’t want to be with someone like that.

It possible that

1. LBY don’t trust that CSS is capable of understanding palace politics. Of course they are very complicated with a lot of nuance so she might not get everything, but he should start with a crash course. The “don’t trust anyone” thing isn’t going to help when the girl spend so much time there everyday.

2. LBY dont trust that CSS will understand him or take his side over the Empress. Since CSS is still her own person and is getting closer to the Empress, he might be afraid that she might expose him if she knew he is against the Crown Prince. It possibly tell me that LBY don’t trust CSS to love him enough and choose him. Frankly it make sense at this point because they still in their developing phrase.

3. LBY don’t trust that CSS will like him if she knew what he really like. LBY is someone with trust issues due to his upbringing, but not only that, I truly feel that “family” is LBY Achilles heel. Not only do he has a revenge to take, he didn’t grew up with a proper home and regular family relationship. He said this before to CSS, he don’t know how to treat family members or behave appropriate because he didn’t have a “normal” family. Not only that, he considered himself as blood-thirsty. He is living for revenge after all and don’t mind killing anyone in the process. I think this was LBY biggest hurdle before pursuing CSS. He may felt like he’s not good enough. So he might be afraid that she would judge him if she knew he is against Crown Prince. He is afraid she think of him as someone with no loyalty if he go against the kind Empress who took him and treated him so well. He afraid she may judge him for not knowing how to treat “family” and have doubts on how he would treat her “family”. Again this probably stemmed by the fact he knew she isn’t in love with him yet and he afraid she won’t if she knew how ruthless he is.

All of this add up. LBY may love CSS but he don’t trust her. CSS is learning to care for LBY but she’s a person with a lot of self-love. She treat you how you treat her. She is opening up to him and letting him know who she really is. She said it many times to him, and show him exactly what type of person she is. She lay it bare for him but he still has not show her. CSS can see it very clearly. To love is to be each other confidant. Despite not loving LBY, CSS trust him. Despite loving CSS, LBY do not trust her. They are not on the same page here. Love alone is not enough.

Their argument highlight 3 trust issues LBY have.

I disagree. If she just said “I’m wrong!” then it’s not character development. It’s called being a doormat.

LBY need to grow up too. He’s very suspicious which is fine. But he put her in this situation. Saying “oh don’t trust anyone!” Isn’t the help she need. He kept her in the dark like everyone else.

Okay she can learn about the palace but she has no access to the court so how would she learn what string each person hold? She doesn’t even know each person past so how does she know what is each person motivation? If LBY gave her these info she may learn faster.

CSS wasn’t trying to get involved, she was just have heart to heart conversation in regard to family relationship. LBY need to learn to trust her and not expect her to trust him blindly. LBY is the one to love her first and then expect her to do everything? She already gave up her freedom, learning etiquette she doesn’t want, try to appease powerful she wouldn’t have to if he didn’t drag her in, change her lifestyle, learn his past to fit him. She is doing a whole bunch of thing for a guy she barely like. If he get mad at her for not knowing and she just take it, she might as well roll over and let him step on her like the rag that she is. What strong female lead?

He was being 50% manipulative but 50% correct. He just emphasize something CSS didn’t know.

The fact that Crown Prince always protect his own people is well known. That is very “low” for a person in power. That’s incompetence. For once, had Crown Prince use this chance to take care of Wang General and show he capable of being able to be wise and punish/reward, it would have worked out better for him.
BUT, he couldn’t rise above his challenge. Once again he coddle his own family. The court politicians see that once again Empress and Crown Prince misused their power and coddle their incompetent relative. Had any other general did they same thing, their head would have roll. If you’re an official, how would you feel about the Empress and Crown Prince this time?

But he did manipulate her a bit - to overemphasize this issues because anger Empress and Crown Prince had been brewing for a while. So this incident is just another one added to the pile. But since CSS got involved this time, he make it a point to scare her.

The argument at the end between them is so frustrating but absolutely necessary. Neither of them is wrong. Just because there is love, doesn’t mean there is trust yet. I’m very glad they fought.

I think some viewers are too harsh on CSS. I do think her “revenge” is a little inappropriate but she knew that the 3rd princess was wearing red underneath. Beside it was the perfect timing to bring up the fake coins issues. LBY don’t seem to care.

BUT CSS is right. She knew nothing and what she did was so trivial. She simply give a simple advice about human nature to the Crown Prince. She did not meant to get involved in politics at all. She develops human relationship with the Empress - how can anyone expect her not to say anything or care? If she had known or LBY had told her then it make sense to be mad at her. But LBY didn’t tell her anything. Granted it’s a very complicated matter but CSS is right. Even if it’s complicated, do he think CSS is not capable of understanding them? Like her mother who keep saying CSS don’t “understand” but don’t try to tell her or teach her properly. CSS is right in that instance. LBY was acting exactly like her mom - try to control her, not telling her what’s going on, then get mad and blame her.

She’s not a doll with no feelings or can’t speak. Do he expect her not to say anything or developing feelings for anyone? Beside he already knew her personality. She live freely, she protect fiercely. He knew how much she has come to like the Empress who increasingly become a mother figure to her. LBY frankly isn’t being fair.

On the other hand he has his point. Palace is very complicated - but him not saying anything is not helping. CSS is right- she didn’t have to care about these things until he dragged her in.

At this point they may care about each other a lot but they have yet to understand each other or trust one another. People may love and become a couple but that doesn’t mean they cease to be their own individual. We may make compromise and be considerate of the other - but we need to FIRST understand the other, and it cannot be compromises that violate our own principle. That is the basis of a healthy relationship. Both LBY and CSS has very strong character. LBY has a million other girls who just listen to his whims he should have picked one of them but he purposely picked a strong willed girl. He knew what he gotten himself into. The ball is in his hand.

I think LBY was being very unfair for CSS. And the end, CSS felt bad for messing up. Being such a smart girl, if she had been better informed, she would have dealt with it differently. LBY dropped the ball on this one.

I've been thinking of Sound of the Desert lately too when I watch LLTG, probably due to the same time period and the main lead is also General Huo, and the FL is also "wild".

I get the same vibe. He's very mature, kind and considerate. But he is still a young boy, full of life. He doesn't seem to have experience his first heartache yet - I get that vibe from him.

This story is fictional but is loosely based on Eastern Han Dynasty and the Emperor here is based on Liu Xiu.

Since it’s not a political story we can just assume a couple things based on the history - as it only serve as backdrop. During that time there was war and chaos. Previous dynasty has fallen and there was a 16 year gap where it was just fighting between different kingdom and war lords. Current emperor is one of the many descendants of the previous dynasty. He has royal blood but the royal family has fallen and he is just one of many that try to take back the throne. So it make sense he had difficult time and was poor at certain point. That’s why the General or family clan that helped throw their support after him - if he win they get the glory, if they lost all of them would have died.

I think you are right on the money about this part: He is lashing out at her because he hate the fact he likes her more and more. So the words he said about her is because of jealousy, but also for himself to hear.

In the earlier episode, YS lamented that he don't want a marriage like his mom and dad where they don't even talk. As an "educated" person I think he would be attracted to mental stimulation, hence he answer lantern riddles every year. During the festival, CSS was able to answer his question which peak his interest. He finally find a smart lady, but then soon find out she's not the same kind of "smart" he is.

I think this is where YS will repeat his teacher's mistake. His teacher didn't appreciate his fiancé because she was plain looking, overlooking her other good qualities until it's too late. YS like CSS but like you said, she isn't "educated" enough to be a good wife that need to carry out ceremonial duties. But when he talk with her, she always give him a run for his money. He is very mentally stimulated by her.

Secondly he's a proud man, with a silver tongue and like to be in control. Remember during the LY and HZJ wedding, the other guests said that you can never get a good word out from Yuan Shan. He's smart and has little patience playing dumb or cater to anyone, not even with words. I think he is very proud and never care to say nice words to please people. When CSS tell him not to see her again, this also violate his need to control. Whenever they talk in the carriage, he can never quite control the conversation the way he likes. He couldn't anticipate her reaction or her words. It annoys him because he can't control it. BUT talking to CSS is fun because you don't know what to expect. I'm sure this confuse him greatly. He love it but he hate it at the same time.

So far I don't think YS like CSS yet. He is very very interested in her but he still calculating and measuring her other qualities, and unfortunately her "flaw" is still a big red flag to him, much like his teacher and his emphasis on his fiancé's look.

Despite not actually quite "liking" CSS yet, he still interested in her. And she has so much interests from other suitors, which would definitely annoy him greatly. "What's so great about this girl that all these guys are coming after her? Don't they see how horrible she is like I do?" In his mind, she is not yet perfect, but he can't help but pine for her anyway. So he's annoyed at other suitors but also annoyed with himself. He don't want to care for CSS but he can't help it. So he get jealous and irritated, but he hate that he's jealous. His mind is trying to reconcile that big gap by putting EXTRA emphasis on her flaws. His mind is trying to rationalize on why he shouldn't like her. That's why he ended up saying crude things about CSS. It's the same thing he's trying to tell himself. He's still in the denial phrase.

I just re-watched the scene and he did say "except... cannot marry you." If you weren't paying attention, it could easily be heard as "I cannot marry you," which I think was what CSS heard as well. So when she responded, he knew she misheard and continue teasing her.

I will explain without the spoiler.

The Emperor here wasn't King in the beginning. There was power struggle and several clan help him fight the war and secure his throne. One of the big contribution come from the Huo clan, which is LBY's uncle on his mother side. To put it simply, his mother is the sister of the Huo General. This general helped the King in many ways, gave money, gave food, gave soldiers and eventually died to help him secure the throne. This general is the King's sworn brother. Not only did he died, everyone in the Huo clan died, except for LBY and his mother. They went missing during the war and came back 1 year later. At that time, LBY's father thought his wife was dead and remarried his cousin. So when the wife came back, she went mad.
Seeing that, the Emperor took LBY into the palace and officially "adopted" him as his son. The Emperor remembered his sworn brother who helped him when others didn't, and died for him, so he felt very sorry toward Huo General. He love and trust LBY more than his own son, and desperately want LBY to have children to continue carrying the Huo bloodline since he's the only one left.
As an adopted "son", he has the same noble status as the other princes, but less than Crown Prince. However, because he is not blood related so LBY can never succeed the Emperor as the next Emperor. That's why LBY is also serving as a general. That mean he has an official rank in court, beside his rank as the son. And he has his own army as well.
LBY prove to be loyal and capable. Not only did he help the Emperor as a general in war, he's also smart in dealing with the court politics and tactful in helping the Emperor cleaning up behind the scenes messes, so the Emperor love and trust him a lot.

Lmao you and me both.
I quite like his character, he make me laugh with his stupid remarks that reeks of jealousy. I'm not personally offended for CSS and I don't think CSS care either. I'm glad he is not the ML, but CSS do have 3 guys chasing her, so one guy ending up with a silver tongue like him is normal.

I wish the show show more of them bantering, fighting. It make good comedy to me. CSS is protective toward Lou Yao, she is afraid/or conscious of LBY who is not stupid enough to say things that irritate her, so we are left with only YS who put his foot in his mouth despite his "high" education. I wish we see more of CSS giving him a lashing for speaking stupid.