Just a heads up for those who keep asking for novel spoilers, Cdramas often change things in their adaptation so it's not guaranteed that what happened in the novel will translate into the drama itself. You might end up more disappointed.
FL isn't exactly a withering flower either. She's giving him a run for his money XD
Of course not. She's in a foreign country with no one to help. That's why she asks for his protection. A wife was totally dependent on her husband back then, unless she has a powerful family to back her up like the Legitimate Wife who Taohua rightly points out that ML can't touch.