RedBear

Again, that's just your assumption here. Nowhere did they show that she knew of what that abuser was doing to his kids. You can't compare the Crown Princess's analytical skills to that of CSS. It was already shown that Crown Princess is not as smart as CSS, when she told that CSS could do her week's worth of work in just a day. CSS is also aware of, and is sensitive about parental abuse towards their children, so obviously her first concern would be the kids. So, you can't simply assume that the Crown Princess was aware of what was happening to those kids, just because CSS could deduce that.
Where did I even mention that Lingjun was trying to "keep ties" with the Crown Prince? I pointed out that she still has feelings for the CP, didn't mention anything about "keeping ties". Also, Lingjun didn't approach the CP for help because 1) She doesn't know that it was the Crown Princess who has been sending her Cp's stuff, she thought it was the CP. 2) It's obvious that he wouldn't be able to do anything to help her get away from her abusive husband. She herself saw that the CP let go of her and agreed to marry the Crown Princess, so obviously she knew that he wouldn't help her with her marriage issues. 3)It wouldn't benefit her in any way to approach him, as both are married to different people already. She knows that she would be shunned by the society for approaching a CP, who is already married to someone else, for her personal matters.
"if she had focused her attention on the Crown Prince instead of her insecurities their marriage may have stood a better chance. " -
Hard disagree. You can't blame the Crown Princess for the CP's faults. No matter how much a wife tries to "fix" the marriage, if the husband has someone else in his heart, the marriage cannot be "saved" by the wife alone. Why should the wife be blamed when it's the husband who is in love with someone else? Nobody can "make" someone love them. It's not the Crown Princess's job to "make" the CP forget about his ex and focus on her. That's on him to deal with his own feelings, have a clean break-up with his ex, and focus on his current marriage. Based on what they've shown till now, the Crown Princess tried her best to support the CP and keep their marriage going, but the CP never reciprocated. So, it's nowhere her fault. Talking about insecurities, everyone in this drama seems to be focusing on their own insecurties, so you can't blame only the Crown Princess for doing so, while justifying everyone else for doing the same.

I think you didn't read my comment properly. I said that the Crown Princess had no way to know that Lingjun's husband wanted to/was abusing his "kids", not "Lingjun". I mentioned that point because the other commenter stated that the Crown Princess knew that the kids were abused. No, I didn't skip any scene, I saw the carriage scene, and it was the Crown Princess's plan to get "Lingjun" abused, but nowhere did they show that she wanted her kids to be abused.
I'm putting forward my opinions completely based on what is shown, nowhere am I making any self-assumptions. Whereas, people seem to have conveniently overlooked the CP's and Lingjun's behaviour at the banquet. As I've already repeated many times, Lingjun DID show her affection openly towards the CP at the banquet, so I'm not sure why you think that Lingjun and CP were acting within their boundaries. They clearly crossed their boundaries and went way too far.

"she still had feelings for her ex but can you blame her"; "its okay for her to yearn for something she thinks could have been better for her" -
Hard disagree on that. That's emotional infidelity. When she is married to someone else, it's on her to wrap up her feelings towards her ex, who now is also someone else's husband, and focus on her current marriage. Her still having feeling towards the CP, even after 10 years, is unacceptable, both ethically, and especially socially during those times; while also carrying herself around as "virtuous" and lying that she doesn't have feelings for the CP, when it's evident that she does.
The Crown Princess's life was nowhere even close to good. She didn't choose to marry the CP, her family forced her to marry him. Back then, women had no say in their marriage, and couldn't go against their family's orders. If he wanted to be with his ex so much, the CP could have very well grown a spine and stoond his ground in not wanting to marry the Crown Princess, but he didn't. Or, atleast he could stop being defensive about his feelings and marry Lingjun as his cocubine, just like the Emperor did. But he was set in his ways to act all sanctimonious and lived in denial. It was his choice to let go of his ex, it's nowhere the Crown Princess's fault.
I don't understand the hypocrisy here. You're justifying Lingjun's extra-marital feelings towards the CP, but you are dismissing the Crown Princess's very valid anger and resentment.

Yes, I agree that she took it too far. I did say so in my comment that I'm not justifying her actions. I'm saying that I understand where she is coming from. I also don't think she knew that Lingjun's husband wanted to abuse his kids, there's no way she can know that because it all happened behind closed doors.
Lingjun didn't seem to be trying to set boundaries at all. It was clear in the banquet scene. She was staring at the CP as if she was romantically longing for him and the staring went for a while. She got back to her senses after her husband angrily placed his bowl on the table. Again, not saying that she deserved to be abused or anything, just saying that she is not all that innocent as she makes herself to be.

People seem to be forgetting, but it was clear as the sky that the Crown Prince and his ex were staring at each other in a romantic way and getting impatient during the Empress's birthday banquet. The CP is despicable! He shamelessly cheated on his wife emotionally for 10 years, yet he blatantly lied to her face that he never had feelings for his ex-lover after marrying her. The Crown Princess had to witness her husband and his ex openly showing their affection towards each other at the banquet. Yes, Lingjun's husband is a complete a**hole for abusing her physically and threatening her, but Lingjun is also not all that virtuous as she presents herself to be. She still had feelings for the CP(as evident from the banquet scene), even after being married to another man for 10 years and having kids with him. She isn't completely innocent either. She is also wrong for not setting clear boundaries with the CP after her marriage.
More than anything else, I understand the Crown Princess's pain. Though her methods for revenge were wrong, I understand where she is coming from. Putting myself in her shoes, it must've been very painful to be forced by her own greedy family to marry a Royal who had feelings for another woman, and continued to do so even after 10 years of marriage. Yes, they were childhood sweethearts and all that, but after being married to different people, they should have wrapped up their feelings and focused on being happy with their respective spouses.
Being with a man who shamelessly thought of another woman, every time he was with his lawfully wedded wife, is more than enough to drive any wife crazy. Let alone in those times where women had to just suck it all up, no matter what their husbands did. Worst of all, she lost her baby due to the CP's emotional affair. The fact that the CP blatantly lied to her face and acted all defensive every time, whenever confronted by the Crown Princess, must've been very agonizing for her and drove her to do what she did.
Yes, she is also crafty for trying to win the favour of CSS and others by acting pitiful, but what else could she do? She is from a poor family and is all alone in the Palace without anyone on her side, including her useless husband who likes another woman and NEVER stood up for her when she needed him the most. Not to mention, even her family members are greedy and kept asking her for favours due to her position, but never bothered about her struggles in the Palace. She was bullied by those spoiled Princesses, in the same way CSS was bullied. CSS atleast has LBY on her side, but the Crown Princess doesn't have anyone. So, it's understandable that she wants to win the favour of powerful people in order to protect herself.
She is atleast different from those evil Princesses who grabbed every chance to hurt CSS. She also seemed to be genuinely thankful to CSS, when CSS helped the CP with the gifts during the Empress's banquet. I don't think she would've hurt Lingjun, if the CP behaved properly and respected and loved her as his wife, instead of having his eyes for another woman.

Thank you SOO much for the detailed explanation😄! I learnt a lot today! I like your sense of humour🤣. I'm definitely gonna listen to the songs you recommended. Btw, Im born a rooster, haha.
Though this is not directly related to the drama, I suggest you actually post this info in the discussion/notes section above. I think it will be very useful for all the readers here. This is some good stuff here👍!

Wow! This post is so informative! Thank you for sharing this! Is your job related to dealing with snakes? It's so brave of you that you have seen so many of them. I have a serious, legit fear of snakes and I don't think I can handle seeing one or make it out alive after that.
On that note, I have a few doubts. I've always heard that snakes bite out of survival instinct if there is a commotion. That's why people generally tell you to not move or shout when you see one. But, its interesting to know that snakes actually shy away from commotion. If you don't mind, could you elaborate more on that point?
Also, if a beginner hiker encounters a snake, can they actually make it out alive without being hurt?

This!! As someone who also hates being controlled by others, I do understand her concerns, but the way she just assumes the worst about LBY's intentions, especially about his proposal to her, saying that there was no "reason" why he did so, just doesn't sit right with me.
He had very good reasons to propose that day. LBY has always been considerate of her feelings and never acted against her wishes. He backed off earlier when he learnt that she doesn't have any feelings for him, and that they both have different goals in life. He also tried to help her live the peaceful life she wanted with LY, and said that he would help LY get a good position in the government, so that they don't have to go somewhere too isolated and suffer in the middle of nowhere, in their efforts to escape their family's clutches.
Her safety and well-being has always been his priority, and that exactly is the reason he proposed in front of the King too.That day, he saw that she was literally pushed to fall on a pile of broken, sharp objects by those bullies. If he didn't come in time, she would have been dangerously hurt. Those sharp pieces could have pierced through her eyes and left her blind or pierced through her heart and caused instant death.
Honestly speaking, from the moment he rescued her in front of everybody, there was no turning back for them. Everyone saw them being physically "close" and that he had feelings for her. If he didn't pursue the matter further and left it without doing anything, CSS would have become a subject of ridicule for everyone and would be bullied relentlessly. That's the reason he took her hand and made her sit beside him. Soon after, he also saw that the Fifth Prince had dirty intentions about her. So he had no other option but to propose to her in front of the King, in order to protect her.
I am always on CSS's side, but I also hope that she gets out of her bubble and starts understanding him. It's not enough if it's only him walking towards her, she needs to walk her distance too, in order for them to meet in the middle.

Very much disagree. The placement of responsibility doesn't end with only the Xiao family being executed. Prince Xiao maybe the "devil", but HZ is the enabler who held the candle to the devil. She made it possible for him to execute his plans. She is nowhere completely innocent in whatever happened. She was already engaged with LY and things wouldn't have turned out the way they did, if she didn't go crazy for Prince Xiao out of her own selfish interests and break it off with LY.

"Simultaneously holding both parties responsible undermines the severity of the Xiao family's committed crimes." -
Again, hard disagree. The main victims here are her family members, who were only linked to Prince Xiao THROUGH HZ. There is the perpetrator, the enabler and the victim. No doubt Prince Xiao is the peretrator, but HZ is the enabler who caused the demise of the victims. Holding an enabler accountable, rightfully for their role in the demise of the victims, doesn't undermine the severity of the perpetrator's actions in any way. It's just placing the responsibility where it truly belongs.
With all that said, I will not be arguing any further regarding my stance here. I have provided enough arguments for my points, and I stand by them.

Placing responsibility where it belongs to, doesn't equate to victim-blaming. As I said, no one is telling that she "deserved" it, at the same time, it doesn't mean that she isn't "responsible" for it. Nothing changes the fact that she married Prince Xiao out of her own selfishness. Nothing changes the fact that she bullied LY all his life, to the extent that he lost all his self-esteem and felt helpless and depressed being with her.
ZH maybe technically a "victim", but saying that she is "as much" of a victim as the rest of her family, who had nothing to do with her fiance in the first place, is highly incorrect. As I said previously, she ultimately brought it all upon herself, and worse she implicated the rest of her family in the process. You reap what you sow. She is equally accountable to her family members.

Nobody is victim-blaming here. We are just pointing out facts. Nobody is saying that she "deserves" it, we are just pointing out that she is "responsible" for the tragedy of the He family. You know who truly doesn't "deserve" all this? It's the rest of the He family members. They are the true victims. They are the innocent ones here. They didn't deserve to be killed so brutally by her fiance. A fiance which she CHOSE on her own accord, while throwing away her ex-fiance after bullying him his whole life.
She called him weak, useless and all other insulting things, and was obsessed with powerful, charming men. She saw that her psycho fiance fit her criteria of being "powerful" and charming, so she immediately clinged onto him, while throwing away LY. Ultimately, her obsession with "powerful" men is what caused the tragedy of the He family.
If we start talking about "women of her times", we have a bunch of women in this drama itself(apart from the FL) who weren't crazy about marrying powerful men. The best example is SS's Third Aunt. SS's third uncle is just like LY, but his wife still chose him and even leads a happy life with him. She infact rejected her politically powerful and socially established ex-fiance and chose her present husband over him. So you can't use "women of her times" as an excuse for HZ's abusive behaviour towards LY. Her behaviour was not influenced by the times in which she was living in, but rather by her own nature.
The one who is actually victim-blaming here is you. You call LY unimpressive, weak, incompetent and other names, and completely disregard the fact that he is a VICTIM of abuse by his family and fiance since childhood. LY is the true victim here. He clearly has PTSD from the prolonged abuse he suffered at the hands of the evil First Madam and her family, and an evil fiance, and that's the reason he struggles at standing up for himself. It's called as "learnt helplessness" in psychological terms. By calling him names, YOU are victim-blaming here.
HZ could have chosen to understand him, support him and stand beside him like a pillar, just like how SS does, she would be ultimately benefitting from doing so. But she instead chastised and berated him at every chance she got. She just wanted a powerful husband to fall into her lap, without even putting in any effort from her side into being a better person herself. So yes, she is very much responsible for the tragedy of the He family.
It's funny how you say that the world does not revolve around SS's wishes, because it's pretty obvious that it's HZ who thinks so. Just because her family members suffered a tragedy(for which she is responsible), it doesn't mean that she gets to falsely accuse and mistreat SS for "stealing" her ex-fiance, whom she herself cut-off ties with on her own.

Few things which I found irrational about the writing in the last two episodes:

1. Death of Han Pu. It was so unnecessary to kill off his character. They could have shown him growing up into a wise physician saving lives after the war. It looks like his death was just a plot-device to pave way to the next ridiculous story-arc of Lanxi loosing most of his life span; which leads to my second point.

2. Bai Fenxi's impulsive act of diving straight towards the cannons. A pretty stupid move IMO. Yeah, she was grieving Han Pu's death, but that doesn't mean she should get all impulsive about revenge and not think about how Lanxi would feel if she died. Her impulsiveness caused Lanxi to loose his lifespan. This is why I feel Han Pu's death was such a stupid plot device.

3. Did the writers completely forget about the divine flower🤷‍♀️? Lanxi used just two petals of the flower, so where did the rest of the flower go? He could have very easily used another petal to save her, instead of exchanging his life for hers. Again, looks like the writers just wanted to make the ending bitter-sweet by making Lanxi live only for 10 more years. But, what about Bai-Fenxi? What is she going to do after he dies? Or, are they still trying to find a cure for him? Sorry, but I don't like the ending, tbh.

Overall, I liked the drama. Especially the first quarter of it was amazing. I'll go back and watch the first few episodes again. Can someone recommend me good romance-wuxia dramas wihich don't have a major political storyline like this one?

Oh! Well, that explains why the plot went downhill half-way.

The director left this drama in the middle of shooting😮? Could you share the whole story please? I'm all ears👂.

Me too! I really do feel sympathetic towards him, but it's hard to forget his behaviour towards the servants and common people. He mistreats people below his status as if they are disposable and inanimates. I disliked that "flaw" of his, since his introduction episode, where he abuses Feng Lanxi's maid, Miss Huan. Other than that, I love his brotherly bond with Lanxi.

Agree. I just hope they show more of the lead-character interactions and the outside world, instead of focusing on the same old political trope. They set up the storyline with seven kingdoms(6 states and one imperial state), and they don't show much of what's happening outside the ML's kingdom.

Like the writers have the whole story-base set-up, but don't utilize it. Such a waste of all the story build-up during the first few episodes. Just tell me it gets better in the latter half of the series🥺. I really started watching this with lots of hopes and had been enjoying the first quarter of the series.

I'm half-way through the series and I'm sick of the plot revolving around the spineless King, the b*tchy Queen, and their sociopathic third Son. I've had enough of the Palace politics. Can we have more of HF and BF's story already?! I want more of our HOT main leads, Huang Chao and the martial arts world. Not the usual palace politics and scheming b**ches! This started off SOOO GOOD, but has gotten boring half-way.

We share the same thoughts about QM's and YL's redemption arc😂!

Haha, yeah😂! Regarding the timing of her suicide, I was actually thinking that the Consort's suicide might have triggered her own guilt and pain, so strong that she decided to follow in her footsteps. She had been bottling up all her guilt, for all these years, and her most beloved friend's(who is also her partner-in-crime) suicide, might have left her pretty depressed and all alone to bear the weight of the truth.
So, the Consort's death might have triggered her and she ended up making that decision. But still, can't disagree that it was a sloppy filler,lol!

"She is not on the payroll." - Lol😂!!

Yeah, very much agree! And, the fact that the noble idiocy trope was pulled after wrapping up the whole story was what made it so bizarre. If they really wanted a filler, they could have actually given a sneak-peek into the MC's travelling adventures and their journey towards realizing their dream of becoming authors. But no, they just had to go and sabotage a decent ending, just for a filler, *smh*.