Sharlotka

Episode 18

It’s amazing how, whenever it feels like the Emperor will finally be on the same page with his son, he goes on to say something to make sure that they are at odds with each other. When he said that he doesn’t want to lose his son after already losing a daughter, and then went on to speak how there’s luckily a rule that princes don’t get a say about their marriages, I felt like screaming if he can’t just shut up for once.

I don’t think he’s a bad guy and I believe that he does a lot of things, including keeping his distance and everything, for Feng Suige’s sake but he really has a skill for always saying exactly the worst thing in the moment, even if it’s true. It’s so clear that the guy is sad for what his family has become, even if he can’t outright show it just how much. He looked truly broken, realising that he can’t lose Feng Suige because that’s basically already happened long ago.

The conversation between the Empress and her father was so suspicious. I really want to see her being behind the illness, but a part of me wonders if she wouldn’t have had a better moment in the past if she wanted to do it. Then again, she could have been waiting for when the younger son is old enough, while Feng Suige is in the centre of criticism. And when he mentions that the hospital people are all theirs, I found it all the more suspicious that none of the doctors they brought can figure out what’s wrong. Then again, if that Ling doctor comes to the palace every year, it cannot be a new thing.

I’m sorry my dear Murong Yao, but you saying that the Princes can leave and everything will be fine because you are here is not convincing in the slightest. If anything, they should be all the more worried, shouldn’t they?

Damn, based on the previews, I already can’t wait for the next episodes.

Episode 17

I have to give kudos to the actress that plays the Princess. It takes a certain skill to play a character like this and make a lot of viewers hate them, and she’s certainly doing a great job with that. I obviously know little about acting but I can’t imagine it’s an easy task. That said, the character is so annoying that I actually feel sorry for Xia Jingshi, the poor guy now stuck with her.

I also couldn’t help feeling sad for Feng Suige, being betrayed by her like this. Yet another person on the list, even if her betrayal was of a different kind. When she called him out on still seeing her as his family, I was kind of hoping he would say that if those are the choices she is making, he doesn’t.

And I had a feeling Fu Yixiao had seen the words on the lantern! And I enjoy her boldness, just going for what she wants. I rarely enjoy main leads but these two are actually very enjoyable and I like watching the development of the relationship between them.

I can’t make up my mind what to think about that scene where the Emperor learns that the Princess has stolen the token, and the way Murong Yao glanced at Minister Zhuang. Did he seem surprised that the guy was kind of putting the blame for what happened on the Princess?

On to watch episode 18.

1 - In that scene where he brings Fu Yixiao to his mother’s house, Feng Suige mentions that his mother entered the palace because of his father. I think it could be that there had actually been plans for him to marry a daughter of one of the nobles, but he chose Feng Suige’s mother instead. He might even see himself in his son and kind of wants to prevent him from going through a similar experience.

2 - It would make sense for why the father wants to stay at the border but the question that arises for me in such case is why would Murong Yao be unhappy about that? It would make sense for him to express that to everyone to make them believe he doesn't want to be there, but when it’s just him and his father, there is no need for him to pretend, is there?

3 - I believe Feng Suige mentioned at one point that he joined the army in secret when he was 14. Based on the cast, which lists an actor for young Murong Yao which I assume we will see in a flashback at one point, I’d say he must have met and befriended him earlier. But I agree that Feng Suige will definitely investigate thoroughly what happened when he has a chance.

4 - Fully agreed. I do not think the Emperor is a bad guy, and I fully believe that he cares about his son and everything that he does is his very roundabout way of letting him make a name for himself, to prove his worth, maybe even hoping that he does what he himself cannot do in his position. But if he shows that Feng Suige has his approval, it might make him an even bigger target than he already is.

5 - It’s difficult to say at this point because I don’t think we’ve seen a single scene where either of the two families mention each other or have any kind of interaction but I feel like it would be more interesting if they are not working together. Messy webs of intrigue are my guilty pleasure. I even have some theories of how there might be even more to that but those are obviously nothing more than speculation at this point.

With how insistent he is about the previous empress not being so much as mentioned, I think it might have been his way of trying to make Feng Suige forget about her and move on. It appears to have worked exactly that way with the Princess.

That's a good point, I didn't think of that lol My guess is that he either "inherited" them somehow, or he just came across them at one point and rather than destroy them, he decided that it'll be more beneficial to keep them and use them to his advantage.

To be honest, I think he IS the masked man, I'm like 99% certain it's his eyes, but with the brotherhood between the characters and how fun it is to watch, I wish it's a bigger story than just him being a traitor and after all is said and done, him and Feng Suige go back to being brothers.

Every time the Princess shows up on the screen, I have a very strong urge to hit the skip button. I’d love to see less of her now that she’s finally married but with how important her husband is for the plot, it’s probably not going to happen. As much as it will probably break Feng Suige’s heart to see her suffer, I really can’t wait to see her regret her choices and be utterly miserable. At least we’re not seeing as much of the female doctor anyway, so there’s that.

It’s interesting to see that a death camp like that was apparently in Susha and nobody was any wiser. Could it be that Fu Yixiao actually came from Susha, too? That would be an interesting twist. If she had any doubts about Xia Jingshi, I think they’re all gone now though I also feel sorry for her. Everything she believed had been a lie.

And damn it! As excited as I am to watch Zuo Ye play a villain role, I enjoy Feng Suige and Murong Yao’s interactions so much that I’m almost sad for the moment when the truth is revealed. With the scene with the father, the motives seem to be offered to us as he’s clearly unsatisfied with the situation.

At the same time, I can’t help finding it a bit weird that Feng Suige seemed to have completely brushed off Fu Yixiao’s comment about being uncomfortable around his friend. And what’s with the emperor suddenly now deciding to ‘train’ Murong Yao? I still feel like there may be more to this than the obvious. I won’t complain if there isn’t and Murong Yao is truly an evil villain, but I still think he would make a good double agent. I initially thought working for Feng Suige but now I’m thinking it might actually be the Emperor. Which is probably completely incorrect but I can’t help but enjoy speculating and fangirling for Zuo Ye lol

I'm convinced too, those are totally his eyes. Though for me, it's a bit of the opposite. Zuo Ye is the main reason I'm watching this drama (though I came to enjoy it as a whole) and I'm actually excited for the idea that we might watch him in a villain role. If he does it well (and I have every faith he will), it only speaks of his acting skills that he's able to pull off both good and bad guys convincingly.

Yes, it does feel this way. My wildest, and probably most incorrect theory so far is that he might even be behind what Murong Yao is up to, using him to influence things and indirectly help ML with all that he wants him to do, and what he cannot do himself because of his position. And at the same time, all of these things will only work to show to the world that ML is the right person for a successor.

100% agreed. The few times we've seen, it's clear that he does care about his son and is simply not showing it and while sure, it could be tough love and what not, it feels like there is more to it but he has to keep up appearances. I may be of course be reading too much into things, or expecting too much, but I feel like there might be way more than meets the eye with a lot of plots, including this one, so it'll be interesting to see how this develops.

I admit I shared a similar theory a bit earlier after watching the episodes. There must be some kind of a connection between the doctor and the mother since we saw him pay respects to her, and it is one of my wilder theories that she had been taken to that place he mentioned, possibly even is still there, alive. And the emperor doesn't want anyone to talk about her because he doesn't want to take any risk that anyone will find out and Feng Suige will go looking for her.

I wonder what is a connection between Feng Suige's mother and the male doctor, how does the guy know her? Could it be that the reason why the Emperor doesn't want her mentioned is because she was actually taken to that place he mentioned and now can't leave, so he doesn't want anyone to even think of looking for her, which Feng Suige wouldn't hesitate to do for a split second if he knew? There has to be some story there and I wonder what it's going to be.

The scene in prison between Fu Yixiao, Ning Fei and Xiao Weiran was so sad, but so excellent. I think I actually felt the most sorry for Ning Fei - the guy knew nothing, and now he’s watching his family fall apart and now he will probably never see any of them again. Though he probably will know that it’s Fu Yixiao that ended up helping him out, whatever small consolation that might be.

Based on the previews, it looks like Murong Yao is going to be back in the next episodes. Now that Fu Yixiao’s web has untangled and she has her answers (mostly), are we moving on to Feng Suige starting to uncover even more betrayals of his closed ones? I already can’t wait.

Exactly! That's why I'm thinking there might be way more to this than meets the eye, and there's so many different possibilities... I agree that the Emperor is totally up to something as well, and knows more than he lets on. It's almost as if everyone is involved in some intrigue to a certain extent but it should be interesting to see it all untangle.

I thought nobody could be more annoying than the doctor, but the Princess is offering her a really good competition. By the end of the story, she will probably end up thoroughly regretting all of her choices and unless she gets a remarkably good character arc throughout the drama, I’ll be super happy to see that.

It’s interesting how they’re setting up Feng Suige and Fu Yixiao’s situations to be quite similar - betrayed by those that they are closest to, especially if Murong Yao is the one behind the mask and I can’t see any other option. But with people pointing out that Zuo Ye is actually holding a mask on posters, I can’t help feeling like it can’t be that easy because would they really show a spoiler like that on promotional materials?

I’m probably completely wrong, and thoroughly overthinking the whole thing, but right now I’m pretty convinced he’s actually Susha’s inside man in the other kingdom in whatever form. The one time we saw him, he was doing a very good job of presenting himself as a carefree lover boy and I just wonder if he was putting on an act for Feng Suige, or for the others. It’s still the best theory I have at the moment, and I can’t wait for when we get to see more of his plot develop. And to see how badly wrong I might have been lol

Yeah, I know what you mean, I've seen the trailers and even the actor's weibo post suggests there's more going on with this character. We will have to see how it develops, I'm sure looking forward to it :) I have FOF on my list too, actually, need to get to it at some point.

I've watched his scenes in MJTY so many times that it's totally the same for me. I also happened to pause the video to look better at such a frame that even the expression is similar to some of the ones he has in that drama but I started to doubt myself. I'm actually excited to see him in such a role - in my opinion, villains are much more difficult to do convincingly, so I have high hopes. If he really is a villain in the end, rather than a double agent working for the Prince after all.

This, totally! When I first saw the masked guy, my first thought was that if I were to guess from the eyes, my bet is that it's Zuo Ye behind that mask. Though I am watching this drama mainly because of him, so I thought that it might just be my wishful thinking and wanting to see more of him . Nice to see I'm not the only one thinking it's him :D