Brennnndda

The difference is that CSS and the Empress have people supporting them. CSS isn't evil..but she is a scheming person. That's why she and LBY make a good couple. They are both righteously petty and scheming people.

Yes, CSS was neglected by her aunt and grandmother which caused her to not trust people and have abandonment issues. But in the time her parents have returned and with everything she's gone through since then, she learned that she is wholly loved. She and her mother have their differences, but she also sees how much her mother fights for her. And even though she was heavily bullied, she still obtained her own revenge.
The same for the Empress. She married a man who loved someone else, but both him and his lover defer to her and show her respect. They both also fight to protect her person and her reputation.
Does the crown prince do that? We haven't actually seen him stand up for his wife but rather, he treats her with indifference and his eyes wandered when he was in the same room as his former lover. I think that would be enough to make any spouse petty.

I stress that I'm not justifying the Crown princess' actions. She behaved atrociously and took pleasure in knowing she was causing another woman to be abused by her husband. There's no justification for that. I have no sympathy for the Crown Princess. She was no less vile than the 3rd and 5th princesses.

I'm simply stating CSS was not the right person to lecture her. They only knew each other for a short time and could barely be considered friends. I could see the Empress or Consort Yue lecturing her...but not CSS. It wasn't her place to do it.

In the future, LBY can do all the needlework while CSS is outside building their home hahaha

Personal opinion but I didn't care for CSS lecturing the crown princess. It felt out of place and unnecessary. CSS is young and an outsider, she has no right to say or pass judgment. The crown princess is wrong and deserved her punishment for slandering an innocent woman but CSS couldn't possibly understand the heartache she's endured. It's easy to spew "enlightened advice" when CSS has never experienced such a thing.
Aside from being raised by her aunt, CSS lucked out on life. Her family adores her, the imperial family dotes on her, and her fiance loves her completely...the crown princess has low self-esteem because of her poor background but that's compounded by the fact that her husband doesn't love her, she lost her child, and her own sister-in-laws don't respect her.

I do love the idea of settling grudges however...

CSS settles her grudges in a "tame/normal" manner. She only targets the people who hurt her and she only hurts them.
LBY...whoooo..implicates the whole family. When the girls pushed CSS into the water, he went after their dads and now he was willing to execute the entire Liang family because she was in danger. He's displaying a very frightening trait.

There's this constant "guilt-by-association" theme that occurs throughout the drama. There's people like CSS and Consort Yue who do not judge a family by the actions of a few members. Where does LBY draw the line?

That's what I was thinking too; like maybe he has to die to return as Ying Yuan because something is happening in the heavenly realm

I've found that that's how many novel adaptations are. TMOPB, AoL, Goodbye My Princess are all told from the female lead's perspective and (to me) the novels themselves were quite boring.
I tend to like the dramas more because we get to see different perspectives.

It truly is the asian way...ugh

I haven't read it but maybe in the novel, that's why she chose Yu Mo? Yu Mo could dedicate all of himself to her but Ying Yuan couldn't..and he probably never will.

I think their form of sacrificial/noble idiocy love is the reason why it was so important that both of them lost their memories and had a chance to find and love each other again in the human realm. If YY/TZ had remembered, he would've felt so guilty that he never would've approached her. Instead, he would've chosen to protect her from the shadows. Likewise, YD wouldn't have forgiven him. Starting on a clean slate was their only chance.

They keep fighting to claim her and she's literally right there...just ask her what she wants to do.
Honestly, I'd just walk away form them too if I were her

Yah..because they hide behind their arrogance and entitlement. The cultivators usually follow suit.

I think that's one major thing that separates YY/TZ from YD. YY/TZ has always had responsibilities while YD has always been free to do whatever she wants (hence why she only thinks of writing screenplays). She truly does not comprehend the burdens he has to bear.
He can do things secretly for her because while he holds power, he's bound by the very rules he enforces on others. All she wants is to have a free life and all he wants is to ensure she can live her life freely.
I don't think one suffers more than the other since loving someone isn't competing to see who does more for the other.

The whole "her giving him half her heart" situation is not a matter of deserve or don't deserve. She loved him and did it out of her own choice/free will. In that circumstance, there is no right to claim that he owes her anything.

No, he wasn't. They even said he was so ashamed of the matter that when he returned to the capitol, he only brought the Empress and Consort Yue and has no other consorts/concubines.

I'm not sure whether you are criticizing the character or the actress, but the comment seems unnecessary.

That's something that's scary yet interesting about LBY. He literally uses everything to his advantage and he's treating everyone like his own chess pieces. The only times he's truly gotten upset with CSS was when her interference didn't go his way, hence he couldn't react to it in a timely matter.

That's a dangerous combination

I agree, I'm not really enjoying their mortal lives like I thought I would. I just don't care for the side stories that are "needed" for him to find the 4 artifacts. I'm more interested in what'll happen once they remember and he returns to being Ying Yuan. I'd like to know how his experiences with her in the mortal realm will affect his choices later...plus his background

There are celestial/spiritual cores in the version of xianxa, right?

If so, Ying Deng's punishment should've included her core being destroyed so she can't cultivate anymore. She can no longer be a deity but that doesn't stop her from still having powers.

First of all, I do love that both CSS and LBY are petty-ass people who always settle their scores hahahha it makes them even more compatible.
Ep 37:
Damn, I'm getting frustrated with CSS again. Does she expect that she can stay the same yet everyone around her has to accommodate to her? Honey, life doesn't work that way.
I hate that when she gets defensive..her first words reflect her victim-mentality. Her whole "I wasn't raised by my parents..I won't be controlled....you were the one who brought me into the palace and put me in danger" blah blah blah...girl, be an adult and take some responsibility.
It's wonderful that CSS doesn't want to be the damsel..she wants and can definitely take care of herself, but LBY isn't looking to be her knight; just someone she can confide in. That's not a lot to ask for from someone you're going to marry.

Ep 38:
Lord, the men of the royal family playing with CSS to prove her feelings hahahaha such mean people..must be where LBY gets his weird sense of humor from hahahah
The emperor is definitely a drama-watcher before dramas were a thing hahahha his expressions are on point hahhaha
Fei (LBY's subordinate) really proves he deserved his many punishments hahaha get out of the room!!!

Same. Her being around either man should be her choice and it bothered me that both were tethering her to them.