AtsukoM

Lin Ting Lan was actually introduced back in Ep 8. But, no detail background and only a mention that she's a favorite of Empress Dowager.

yoooo I'm so hyped for ep 22!!!

Yes she is.

It's Feng Zhi Yao though... he knows what he need to know through him, so it definitely counts imo.

During the chess match scene, her sword move (consciously or unconsciously we don't know) surfaced by instinct and reflex when catching the bowl. So, we still can't outright rule out the fact the she's intentionally pretending.

Ep 20

The fight scene slaps ohhhh 💯💯💯

I really loved Feud's storytelling. It put a lot of emphasis on the characters, and you have to read deeper for the nuances.

So, TFJ was an easy pick for me from that perspective. This writer becomes a must follow for me.

With how these palace politics usually go, I assume so. MJL's plan for the throne is in the synopsis as well.

"The winner becomes king, the loser becomes a bandit."

If he won, Empress Dowager, Consort Dowager, and Marquis.. none would them would have it easy. So, they'll fight hard as well.

Yes, that was pretty obvious. The question is, what he gonna do next, and how his disappearance had affected Ye Li's plan that she had to go look for him.

True. But that is under the assumption that she values her friend 'that much'.

What if that wasn't the case and the edict's value outweighed everything else? Currently, we just don't have enough to fully read her character and draw such a conclusion. So, I'll let the drama cook for now.

Yes, worth the watch. I like both the novel and drama.

Yea. But, knowing or not knowing, neither could have saved her friend back then imo. But that's beside the point.

The point is, we are trying to understand this character right. So, this could potentially be a clue to understand her motives and actions.

I'll have to bring up a point about Consort Dowager Qin.

She knew about the Eastern Palace fire. It was revealed in the flashback in ep19. She was not 'in' in the plan, but overheard the ED and Marquis.

From there, it's not impossible that she doesn't feel 100% secure with her position and prepared her own backup plan.

The difference is just too big and the drama is quite unpredictable as well, so it's difficult to tell.

MJL killed Yuan Fang, a key witnesses of Marquis Muyang's weapon smuggling case.

Now, it was exposed, and he was suspected of plotting rebellion. So, Empress Dowager's faction was coming for him. Hence, he staged the fire and escaped.

It's not that Ye Li 'gain' skill. The skill has always been hers. She had trained for multiple years during her time in Lishan Academy. Just that, her martial arts skills seemed to be locked behind the Master Zhu personality. Though. it was hinted before during the chess match scene that her martial arts skill can unconsciously surface by instinct and reflex while she's still in her main personality as well.

Because Ye Li blackmailed her to participate in her scheme. The stepmom was still having an affair with her ex, and Ye Li knows about it.

Ye Li mentioned that "She has calculated an interesting event. It would happen soon."

Then, upon learning about the fire at Prince Li mansion, she was shown visibly shaken.

I suspect these two events and Prince Li's disappearance has some sort of connection, about why she would look for MJL.

He mentioned it at the scene where he killed the guy that 'It's not time to expose this matter yet'.

His plan? Not revealed yet.

Yuan Fang is the good official who was killed in the earlier part of the story, who had the evidence about weapon smuggling case.

The 'Three Obediences' has been drilled into these girls' bones from a young age. So, they genuinely might not know any alternative aside from relying on their husbands. Divorce is basically out of option unless your husband grants you one. So, it really is a case of 'endure and make it work somehow'.

Also, like the other comment said, this type of issue still largely exists even today. With Ye Ying's character, it actually make sense imo.