PeachBlossomGoddess

Nah I am down to the last legs of my vacation so I am not really prioritizing watching drama at the moment. But I hope you are right this wife beater CP has a lot of redeeming to do. Which btw I am aghast at the censors - if they let this kind of shit get through I wonder what it is that they actually cut.

Indeed love is the explanation that always works when nothing else does. It would be less lame if he didn’t beat the crap out of her (again). I want to like CP. but this character is regressing on multiple fronts. Who cares of they keep him alive at the end but assassinate his character along the way?

LOL so do I but it is not really a love triangle. She is never really that into him. But he is a real pest and he hangs out for about 10 episodes - you can just fast forward a bit. Definitely keep watching if you like the main leads.

Actually CP's actions to save her from the emperor made no sense whatsoever if he doesn't know her. When she was WX he had clear boundaries on what he was willing to do for her and drew a very clear line at his teacher's reputation. He had priorities and a sense of what is important. Then he squanders all the hard won goodwill he earned with his father after giving up the love of his life to save a lowly maid just because crown princess said to protect her? Beyond royally pissing off the emperor, this decision led to the ousterof his last remaining supporters at court. All to save a lowly servant he didn't even trust. The logic in this show is spiraling downward. I suspended disbelief in that entire episode because I assumed he figured out who she was and even then it didn't make complete sense because he had set limits on what he would do for WX. So this ending makes even less sense not more sense to me.

Wow... I didn't see that one coming. I just felt that uncle Gu was a grownup and fended all too well for himself all these years CP didn't have to go to such extreme measures to save him. How naive of CP. The guy just doesn't learn. Tragic.

That's quite disappointing. They went with the most crowd pleasing and least interesting way to end the show. This show lost me about 5-10 episodes ago - I only kept watching because I thought there were two really interesting ways to end this but it seems they went with neither.

Indeed but surely he doesn't need to take the scorched earth approach. His actions only serve to reinforce his father's suspicion that his first loyalty is to his uncle and maybe they are colluding. A dangerous and unwise idea to convey. And in any case, his plan doesn't seem to have worked that well. I can understand emperor's ongoing valid criticism of CP - he has a hard time separating personal vs professional. Maybe it is indeed true that the Gu family ought not to have so much military power. If I were the emperor I would not like anyone to have power to usurp the throne. Rebalancing power is a good and rational decision that should not be personal - it should not matter that Gu is his uncle. And CP already assumes his father will do the worst to his uncle and is trying to pre-empt him. Guilty with no opportunity to be proven innocent. There is no trust in this relationship. Emperor hates CP because when he looks at him he sees his own worst traits in the mirror and vice versa. They are so alike it is scary. CP's increasing abusiveness toward WX is yet another manifestation of their similarity.

Well she tried to kill WX over a man she has no realistic hope with (unless CP did lead her on - which is what I was wondering). WX turned around and had her killed dead instead. Very vicious of her. I am both shocked and a bit impressed at the same time... although I am not sure she knew CP would kill Chen maybe just have her dismissed.

Well AOL gave me rashes but I loved TMOPB so to me they are very different outside of being broadly xianxia romance dramas. In L&D there is definitely some history to establish the backstory of the main characters - that is unavoidable but most of the story focuses the two leads, especially the FL. There is a lot more comedy and is quite witty but if I have to find fault it is that the main characters are too good to be true and don't have a dark side. The acting by the leads was really outstanding. I would just check it out. If you don't have super high expectations you may find it quite enjoyable.

Does anyone else have a problem air-playing the new episodes from Youku? It doesn't work with every latest 4 new episodes but then the previous 4 episodes will be fine. I can't figure out how to fix it and its driving me nuts.

Its getting a bit repetitive the mulish stupidity of CP and the abusive frustration of emperor. The writing is also deteriorating and CP's latest provocation of his father seems unnecessary and doesn't make that much sense. I realize they may have cut scenes but the last 10+ episodes have just gone downhill wrt plot. If there is any hope of salvaging this relationship or ending at this point it better happen very soon. Otherwise short of the emperor dying suddenly of a stroke or being struck by lightning (which would still be lamely satisfying) there is no saving the ending.

So she was just bat shit crazy and had no hope of ever being made a concubine...I guess just another slightly unhinged character in this show... Feels like a mental ward rather than an ancient royal palace.

was it always platonic? When he was fooling around with WX in his chambers some of the other attendants implied his relationship with Chen neiren had been similar.

I wonder re: CP relationship with Chen neiren:

I wonder what it is about this latter part of the show that could be so subversive that it had to be cut like this.

I really like Luo Jin's acting in this show but have to admit that the waterworks are a bit overdone.

I suspect 5P has a hidden agenda. If he was just in love with WX he would have a much better chance to woo her if she were back with her godparents. Instead he sends her right into CP's chambers on the eve of his wedding! Her presence in the palace was risky and was almost certain to unravel in a way that could (and did) cause a lot of problems for CP. If discovered, the emperor would immediately assume CP smuggled her in to keep her by his side and broke his promise to give her up. 5P kept urging WX to reveal herself to CP because once she did, CP would be complicit in her presence in the palace. That is also why I think CP actually knows who she is he just pretends that he doesn't. It also makes no sense how knowing his nickname could possibly save her life. Instead it just made CP suspect she was allied with someone who knew him well. Finally, it was 5P idea to throw that autumn harvest party that resulted in crown princess poisoning. He is always in the thick of things. So maybe he is just a lovesick fool with terrible judgement who tries to help and makes a mess instead. Or maybe he is an ambitious forgotten prince who sees an opportunity for himself. Its what I like about this drama - so many characters with questionable motives.

I always felt that L&D is actually Mo Yuan's story. They just changed a bunch of stuff for copyright reasons. God of War comes back after 50,000 and falls in love.

Yeah I think when she passed him the gourd during his wedding ceremony he recognised her. The only question in my mind is whether she knows that he knows who she is.

Gu A'Bao is Wenxi's alias in the palace. A'Bao is also CP childhood nickname. 5th prince once told her that the name may save her life. I think it may have hurt her instead because it enraged him and reinforced his belief that there is a mastermind behind her. Someone that knows him well. I am also thinking 5th prince is a bit of a suspicious character.
As for why he let her stay I think there was more that transpired between them that they haven’t shown us yet. That and he also probably wanted to kiss her again.