arpar

Words mean nothing, chemistry is emotion, if people don't think the emotion is there, ml may feel the same. Anyone can say nice words, just because they say they like each other, doesn't made it true. P[rople saying fl doesn't convey that she likes him onscreen, so maybe in fact the feels the same, but thats besides the point. Again to my previous point, ml has/had low self esteem it is common with such people that they focus on the negatives and jump to the worst conclusions instead of the positives. So it's very believable he would jump to the worst conclusion due to his low self esteem.

And also I added to my point above about her mental health, remember ml was told her illness was due to her leaving her loved ones in the mountain and living alone in the city, so in his mind he is actually helping her mental health by letting her return to her family and freeing her of her obligation. And not sure if she actually told him she didn't want to go back, maybe she did I can't remember, but my point is, ml was told her mental illness was due to her leaving the mountain, so by freeing her of what he thinks is obligation and letting her go back, he is helping her mental illness.

I think you might be misunderstanding that point, ml does not know she got her mental illness due to staying there, he was told by that doctor she got it due to leaving the mountain and all her family behind coming to the city alone to marry him.

Once ml learns form her senior brother it seems what the mountain is actually like, then focuses he realises his mistake and feels like an asshole, of course but before then he has no idea that the mountain is not the idyllic place he believes it is for fl.

It's funny, so many comments here say they see no chemistry and no romance between them which is fine as that type of thing is subjective after all, but now apparently it's meant to be obvious to him she likes him. This isn't directed at your personally but its one way or another, if people say they see no chemistry and romantic connection between them, can't be now saying oh its obvious she likes him. Like viewers can't see it, but ml is meant to be able to see it.

Also, it's clear since ml was disabled he had self esteem issues, so it's not hard for him to overthink. This happens all the time with people who have had/have self esteem issues, they often focus on the negatives and forget the positives.

Also he doesn't know the full extent of her mental health problems, he believes Qing shuang its there because she is lonely, so in his mind, marrying him when she didn't want to would have contributed to his, in his mind she was happy in lishan academy, leaving the mountain marrying him is what brought he loneliness. So in his mind he is also helping her. In his mind, he is helping her mental state not hurting it, I think thats what people may not understand. Remember the doctor said to ml, he said fl was suffering heartbreak and loneliness due to leaving all her family behind on the mountain to come to the city and marry him, so in his mind he is helping her mental health not hurting it.

I think many people are misunderstanding the divorce, whether you like the divorce or not, its not due to fl's mother and the edict or because he blames or is angry at fl, if you've seen the ep 32 preview it's made clear ml divorces fl because he believes she married him and is with him out of obligation. And to be fair, many comments I saw earlier in the drama said the same thing, felt like fl was with ml out of obligation and a promise not love, so if some viewers feel this way, understandable how ml might also.

So in the ep 32 preview, ml says, I cannot bear love that is charity and he says your debt is paid, no need to force yourself to stay by my side. So he's not divorcing her because he's mad at her regarding the edict or blames her or anything like that. He's doing it to free her from obligation and because he believes being married to him was not a choice made out of love but a promise to her mother.

Whether you like the divorce or not I think it's important we at least understand the reason for the divorce, it's not because he blames or is angry for her because the edict. People might not agree with the reasoning but in his mind he's doing it for her.

Also I mentioned a point below I want to add I think its important, remember what the doctor told ml about fl's mental health, he said because she left the mountain and all her family/friends behind, coming to the city alone, with the purpose being to marry him, thats what caused her hallucinations, the loneliness of leaving everyone at the mountain and being alone in the city. He doesn't know the truth, so in his mind by divorcing her and letting her return to the mountain he is actually helping her not hurting.

Hahaha thats the problem when there'a a good drama you just need to watch, we can't help ourselves

Oh my bad sorry thought you had

Hahaha no problem, I get you though sometimes I can't wait to watch the new eps even if I'm half asleep

So devastating, i feel like it's gonna be even worse when we see her back up at the mountain, going to be heartbreaking

Yeh I agree, so heart wrenching but so glad he didn't ask anything just reassured her

His look at her made my heart break you could see the pain in his eyes as like the only person right now that knows what she’s gone through and how much she’s suffered. Once again I love how he didn’t confront her on it, just supported her

It was shown in ep 25 that he is alive as well

100 percent always enjoy exchanging opinions and converging when it’s done respectfully like this

Oh no I wouldn't say wrong, stuff like this is subjective after all, we just see her differently no like right or wrong I think. I think she kind of like tried to copy her master in a way, besides with empress dowager to everyone she probs tried to appear like aloof and calm and almost otherworldly like she knew everything but I think it was just an act. But I totally get what you're saying as well, I don't think you're wrong we just saw her differently thats all.

I do agree for sure with that, like as a good person she probably should have presented it and saved prince ding, but I think all comes down to in the end she trusts her master more then anyone because he saved her life and then everything else she saw her did, so when he said to keep it secret thats what she did. But I agree for sure, the more humane and like kind thing to do would have been to save prince ding and all the other lives related.

I don't think she really put her on guard against the empress dowager, as even she said at the time she had no idea what he meant, she didn't understand his meaning at all, she simply just listened to what he said. So she wasn't on guard she followed his words that they were linked, without understanding the real meaning behind telling her to get the edict.

I think also her appearance of intelligence was actually just confidence that she knew best and that confidence came from her master and her aloofness. She trusted her master immensely and believed he could never be wrong, almost god like, like seeing him conjure rain. Thus, her belief in her master, made her confident that choosing the empress dowager was never wrong. Thus she appeared calm and calculating, but the moment her she started thinking her master may be a fraud or was wrong was, thats when her personality started changing or I think showing her true personality. I honestly never saw her as smart, she never showed herself to be that smart I think thats just a feeling people got, instead she simply stayed calm at all times and enforced loyalty to the empress dowager, she was protective of the empress dowager and thats where all her actions came from, thats what gave her the feeling of being calm and calculative.

But her core personality was also naive and someone quite innocent. She was used by the emperor from when she was quite young, and easily manipulated by the empress dowager and her master, showing in fact she was never that smart but quite innocent and young. If we look at her actions, she never really did anything to show she was that smart, she simply was constantly loyal to the empress dowager. The belief that she was smart did not come from her actions or anything she did really, it simply came from her aloofness and her appearance of confidence. Also she had no reason to question her master or ED, before she had no idea they had a connection so no previous to think he was let down by empress dowager, but again I think her core personality has always been someone naive and sheltered, which is quite common for people we see stuck in the palace or nobility, they are often naive and sheltered but put on a face of confidence.

I would also just quickly say you can absolutely use red herrings with character depictions, for instance think about characters that everyone thinks is nice and good, depicted to audiences as completely benevolent, but turn out to be the evil mastermind, thats a red herring using character depictions, this case its just in reverse. She comes of as aloof and calculating and confident, when it fact she's naive and innocent.

I do agree on the question of how did marquis and ED not know she had the edict as they would just question the ye family, I think though hopefully we'll found out in the next ep, as it seems like her and fl have a discussion so I believe or at least hope it will come out then.

Also even with the edict I'm not sure how she could save her master. Its two different crimes really, her master was in trouble for the fire at the palace, the edict would have only helped prince ding, her master would have still pretty much been screwed. And she honestly has no reason to save prince ding, could be seen as a bit ruthless or cold hearted but prince ding's affairs have nothing to do with her.

This is all just how I see it though.

No problem

Pretty much back then there was a drought, her master made it seem like he could make it rain by painting a dragon, he made it seem like by painting the dragon he summoned the rain. But fl was showing, he simply predicted it would rain and painted the dragon he had no like mystical powers or anything to summon the rain. So she exposed him as being a fraud, uncle was mad at fl because he saw how upset consort was, fl exposed him a fraud hurt consort deeply as she greatly looked up to and cared for her master.

Thats only one reason she doubted the empress let me explain the main reason, I commented this below so its a copy of my previous comment below;
In ep 25, when fl and her senior brother visited consort Qin, just before that conosrt Qin heard two scholars talking about her master, and how her master once made a poem talking about hibiscus, if you remember that scene. So when consort Qin asks empress dowager her childhood name near the end and its furong which means hibiscus, pretty much it confirmed to consort Qin that the empress dowager and her master had a relationship in the past, as the poem he made was about her, when he was saying hibiscus he was actually talking about empress dowager's childhood name furong. So the whole time her master helped her and told her to stay close to the empress dowager in the past, he was working for the empress, he did it on her orders.

So pretty much by exposing her childhood name as furong, consort Qin was able to confirm empress dowager and her master had a relationship and manipulated her in the past.

This is likely why she ends up giving the edict to fl, because she realizes she was betrayed by her master and empress dowager, the only reason her master told her to stay close to the empress dowager was because he was working for her all along.

As for the dragon, fl simply did to to show her master was a fake, her had no real special ability or anything, what he did anyone could do if they just studied the right things.

No problem and ikr I feel for her, definitely sad

I can't say it enough, the whole reveal between consort Qin, her master, empress dowager and the whole hibiscus connection was so unexpected and so well down, I love it. This is why sometimes you just have to wait and see what happens, I know some people were questioning why consort Qin kept the edict but now it makes so much sense. In the end her master knew he was just used by the empress dowager and discarded, so to ensure the same thing didn't happen to consort Qin, who I feel like he did care for in the end, he made sure she had insurance of her own.

Like I also knew fl would get he edict somehow, but I thought she would use the divination and celestial stuff to trick consort Qin and make herself seen like, for a lack of a better phrase, 'the chosen one', but instead she used tit o to expose consort Qin's master as being a fraud and also expose the connection with empress dowager, so so smart but also like a fellow commenter on here mentioned before, ruthless as well. Completely just destroyed consort Qin's image of her master and empress dowager, the two people she probably cared about most.

In ep 25, when fl and her senior brother visited consort Qin, just before that conosrt Qin heard two scholars talking about her master, and how her master once made a poem talking about hibiscus, if you remember that scene. So when consort Qin asks empress dowager her childhood name and its furong which means hibiscus, pretty much it confirmed to consort Qin that the empress dowager and her master had a relationship in the past, as the poem he made was about her, when he was saying hibiscus he was actually talking about empress dowager's childhood name furong which means hibiscus. So the whole time her master helped her and told her to stay close to the empress dowager in the past, he was working for the empress, he did it on her orders.

So pretty much by exposing her childhood name as furong, consort Qin was able to confirm empress dowager and her master had a relationship and manipulated her in the past.

This is likely why she ends up giving the edict to fl, because she realizes she was betrayed by her master and empress dowager, the only reason her master told her to stay close to the empress dowager was because he was working for her all along.