mimi0108

It is said he disappeared for 1 year after the Huo clan massacre. So if we assume he was adopted by the emperor immediately upon his return, that is 14 years old = he is 24 years old.
So yes, he is much older than her. Afterwards, personally, I gave him 22 years old (I saw him a little older than YS).

Given the popularity of this drama, it would be a marketing error to have a delay between the two parts. But, obviously, if there are reasons beyond the channel's control, it's possible.
But I sincerely hope not.

Yes.
I think he doesn't know for sure why the parents want to reject this marriage, but he clearly understood that putting their daughter down was the way to do it. I think he also understood that was the life CSS led in her family (a mother who belittles her, humiliates her and tells her she is worthless). That's why the Emperor is so pissed off. His subject rejects a marriage he proposed (either because he doesn't want his adopted son as a son-in-law, which is an insult to the emperor, or because they really think their daughter is worthless, which is outrageous from a family point of view).

I'd like to applaud the Emperor for immediately seeing through the mother's BS. No child is as terrible as she says, let alone a child whose character he has been able to judge and who, when asked if her mother is telling the truth, politely replies, with a hurt voice, that it is right. A child such as the mother described would not have reacted thus.
And the look of disgust and anger the emperor throws at the mother after CSS's answer expresses all that. He sees CSS is hurt and broken by an unworthy mother and his look means "look at what you are doing to your child while this one doesn't fight back and, on the contrary, has lost her self-esteem so much that she believes in your words."

Oh, I like that better, thanks!

Apparently LBY was with the two men in the pagoda plotting to overthrow the Crown Prince, that's why he got there so quickly (because he was chasing the person listening to them until he realized it was CSS) and why he isn't curious about what she heard (because he knows very well what it was) but wants her to keep the secret.
Is it true ? If so, do you think the drama follows the same path as the book?

Question about episode 22, for those who have read the book:

The mother has passed the point of no return. It is impossible to overcome this. What the mother did in episode 24 is literally the end of their mother/daughter bond.
By her words, she signed the social death of her daughter (who would invite her if, in front of the royal family, she says her daughter is rude, useless and unworthy), the impossibility of CSS to marry (after such humiliation and the end of her reputation, no one would marry her if she hadn't accepted LBY) and could have simply signed her death (suicide because of a tarnished reputation was commonplace at the time).
On top of that, the mom hurt her child by showing she has no esteem, respect or love for her.

It is impossible to overcome this. What the mother did in episode 24 is literally the end of their mother/daughter bond.
By her words, she could have signed the social death of her daughter (who would invite her if, in front of the royal family, she says that her daughter is rude, useless and unworthy), the impossibility of CSS to marry (after such humiliation and the end of her reputation, no one would marry her) and could have signed her death (suicide because of a tarnished reputation was commonplace at the time).
On top of that, she hurt her daughter, showing that she has no esteem, respect or love for her. It's over.

The proposal scene was excellent in the sense that it managed to show a lot of different emotions and stakes.

We have the point of view of LBY who is in love, a little scheming and takes advantage of the occasion. We see him happy to ask for this bride, anxious to see CSS's family refuse, saddened and concerned about the humiliation CSS suffers, worried about the consequences it could have if the emperor gets angry about her father, surprised and happy to discover CSS's respect and admiration for him and, at the same time, his concern seeing her hurt by her family and possibly feeling she agreed to marry him more out of pressure than sincere liking.

We also have the point of view of CSS, completely taken aback and whose voice is muffled until the end. Her surprise, shock and apprehension upon hearing the proposal, the humiliation and pain felt when her mother belittled her in front of the entire royal family, the fear of seeing her family punished or exiled by their refusal, the astonishment and interest to learn how much LBY loves and considers her, her feeling of helplessness while her fate is being decided by others, and then her decision (not really made freely) when the Emperor finally lets her express an opinion.

The scene subtly mixes the different issues and feelings of the characters in the face of a destiny that is being played out. We feel excitement for this romantic proposal and at the same time sadness and indignation for CSS whose opinion is only taken into account at the end (when she no longer really has a choice ) while the decision concerns her life. We also feel resentment and anger for CSS' parents who show they are the ones who know nothing about etiquette, and not their daughter. We want to applaud the emperor for supporting his adopted son and letting CSS speak. And sympathy for the empress who realizes CSS' suffering.
It is both a romantic proposal, a forced marriage and the breaking of a family bond.

Thanks! x)

The problem is that the mother does nothing but belittle and criticize her daughter. Since the time she came back, she still hasn't taught her etiquette, it's scandalous! As CSS thinks when entering the palace when her mother quickly tries to teach her a few polite phrases "you didn't teach me that before, now it's too late".
I know the mother has her own demons, pain, guilt, misunderstandings about her daughter's personality and mindset (raised by her enemy) but there is a limit. The mother goes down the wrong path by ignoring her daughter, not educating her, hurting her, belittling her and lamenting that the cousin is more like the girl she hoped to find . Instead of questioning herself a little, of studying and understanding her daughter, she only hurts her and doesn't give her the slightest merit. Worse, while she keeps complaining about her daughter's lack of manners, the mother is the most rude and impolite there is: she humiliates her daughter in front of family, friends and even the emperor, she defies the Emperor's edict and speaks so badly of her daughter that after that CSS could never have married if she had not accepted LBY.
CSS sometimes questions her own attitude in front of her parents, apologizes, makes herself small and shows her real feelings. But her mother never does, she is always mean and hurtful to her child even when she is wrong simply out of pride or fear that by showing another side to her daughter, she won't listen to her anymore (as if she was listening without it...).

When LBY tells CSS what happened with the He family, the translation says "hardly any of the family's women and children survived".
However, he explains the county didn't suffer the same terrible fate as that of Hua (where CSS was in episodes 12/13). Is this a translation error and in fact almost no women and children of the clan died or does it just mean that only the He family (including women and children) and the soldiers lost their lives but that the people were spared?

I have a problem with a translation in episode 21, if someone can help me:

2 episodes per day, 3 days per week.

You're welcome x)
I think he will perform military feats not to mention the fact the emperor loves him and after 5 years things have calmed down.

LBY will take revenge on those who caused the death of his clan and slaughter them all. For this, he will be exiled by the emperor, despite his love for him.

Of all the CSS contenders, Yuan Shen is the worst, in my opinion.
He has never sought to know her, is rude, arrogant and intrusive. His pride took a hit when she rejected him and he keeps putting her down in front of others like he only sees the worst of her when deep down he wants her for himself.
He interferes in her home, forces her to take lessons with him, doesn't respect the other students and keeps bothering her. He has no respect for her, for her mind, for her talents and opinions. He constantly imposes himself in defiance of her desires and the disgust she feels for him and acts almost like a pervert. CSS' shiver of disgust in episode 18 made me want to slap him.

Happy 🙂

Even though it can be frustrating because she deserves all the information, it also shows how much he loves and respects her. He knows she wants a stable life in a stable family. His life is not stable any more than his family. He loves her enough not to offer her a prospect of a difficult life with a military husband when he thinks she has found a nice, calm and obedient boy of her age.