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I don't blame the writers because nowadays on c-social media anytime a drama has a female lead act like she's very much in love with the person she's literally supposed to be in love with they get so much backlash and vitriol for portraying a woman with "love on the brain" when a male character doing the exact same thing is seen as swoonworthy. I get there's been some horrible depictions of women in a lot of dramas but it seems rn if the girlies aren't self inserting into the characters they don't want it, it's all "he's raised my standards and I want a bf like him" "I wish he was real so I could date him" and you do you but I like to watch my fiction as fiction.

I like this explanation, HZ has always shown her love with actions more than words and I think we're going to see that in how they get back together although I still think we could've seen a little more from her in this regard. Although I have no idea how she thinks YX is going to extricate himself from the emperor short of killing him because there doesn't seem to be any other way. I just really don't like the implication that because she's a woman her being as sad as YX about their breakup takes away from her as a character ( I know that's not what you're saying but I've seen a lot of this sentiment, it's so sweet that he's so sad and it's so badass that she's not *shudders*).

I hope they release the Express package tomorrow since we've only got 6 episodes left. Also this is apropos of nothing but whoever invented the block button needs a humanitarian award because I just forgot to log onto my account and got a jump-scare while reading the comments.

Exactly, being vulnerable and emotional when it comes to love does not diminish female characters and the double standard is what frustrates me because people are happy YX is jealous and pining. I don't blame the poor writers lmao just look at some of the reactions here...

Ming lan is my favorite female character of all time, one of the smartest, most well written fictional characters I've ever seen. She had completely valid reasons as to why she acted that way at first with the way her father treated her mother and her and the damage he caused but she grew and their relationship became of one of equals. She was a special case because her actions were deeply rooted in her upbringing and psychology and part her growth. But often times it's just the status quo that a ML is shown to be much more in love because that's what the masses want.

I really like her but I would've liked if she was more flawed. But my issue with this is not related to that, people seem to thinking wanting a female character to show the same vulnerability over her relationship as the male lead is some sort of shortcoming and if the roles were reversed and he seemed like he didn't care they wouldn't say oh he's got bigger fish to fry they'd criticize him heavily but such is the way of double standards. "Strong" female lead equals character who can't possibly feel heartbroken over a man because that makes her less than but I digress.

You're right about that. I've said this is one of the rare dramas where I really feel like the relationship between the leads is quite equal in terms of affection as she's always supported and protected him as much as he has her. Which is why I was thrown off by the way this was portrayed, I also feel like this is a symptom of a larger issue in romance dramas lately where the double standard is it's expected that a ML's entire personality revolves around loving the FL but if she shows even half as much care she's labeled weak and cares too much about love.

She can do those things and still show be vulnerable and sad about the end of her relationship, it's not an either/or situation. I know she cares about him as I've stated multiple times, I found issue with the way the writing is presenting the situation and if you find it's not strange than good for you.

That's another thing, she has a huge family and he has no one. I find it so weird because they've always shown us she really loves him and appreciates him. I really think it's the writers thinking she can't show vulnerability lest she be deemed "weak" because the online discourse nowadays is when it comes to love, female characters can't be show to care much but male characters need to perfect specimens madly in love. As shown by a lot of the opinions here that's considered "romance".

As she said, one of the reasons she broke up with him was for his sake as well, there's also a scene where she says she regrets it in the upcoming episodes. It's not that she doesn't care and is "bye bye ex", she's trying to hold it together because she was so much on her plate and doesn't have time to fall apart.

They seem to think that for her to be a badass business lady, she can't be heartbroken about losing the love of her life, who's gonna tell them she can be both?

Why does it seem like YX is the only one heartbroken by the break up? As if HZ hasn't shown time and again that she cares about him just as much as he does about her, what a strange writing choice...

Hua Zhi is such a rare breed of female lead. Every single romance cdrama has an utterly devoted, willing to do anything for the woman he loves male character and Yan Xi is no exception but seldom do we get female characters that are equally as dedicated as their counterparts. So it's wonderful to see someone who is intelligent, kind, independent but also loving, protective and ready to face anything for the person she cares about. There's nothing more satisfying than a love story where the two parties are just as dedicated to each other.

YX is still doing the emperor's bidding not because he's stupid or blind and needs to "wake up" but because he knows exactly how much of a monster he is. His 1st option is to say I'm not doing this anymore which he knows is equivalent to signing the death warrant of HZ, her family and even his and also would just mean someone else doing it and causing much more harm. His 2nd option is to rebel which is the biggest crime at this time and whether it works or not would have dire consequences on him, her and on the country and its people, there doesn't even seem to be a suitable replacement, if the country is unstable without leadership, countless lives would be lost. You can't just wake up and say hmm today I'm gonna commit treason and assassinate the emperor. I love HZ but she can walk away because she has that option, he doesn't.

So it seems she doesn't break up with him because life in the palace would be too stifling for her like many predicted. I had more faith in her, it looks like it's because the Emperor is using YX yet again to do his bidding but this time he might be threatening him with her and her family ( he doesn't even have to do it directly YX already understands if he goes against him he'll go after what he now knows is the person he cares about most) and HZ refuses to let him be coerced in the name of her safety/protection.

The Emperor is a monster but let's not pretend that it doesn't make complete sense that YX didn't let him die at this point, aside from the emotional aspect and how he's essentially his father who raised him lovingly. Even from a practical/logical standpoint for YX it would be a mistake right now, first of all when it comes to lord Xian while I understand his grievances against his father, he wouldn't have been a better ruler, the man was ready to murder his 9 yo brother and kidnapped multiple children in the process who are probably dead, he also most likely would've wiped out the entire Hua family for fear they were told something by 6th prince. There's also the fact that during a change like this, the country is weakened and could be subject to invasion attempts from their enemies which would cause a lot of suffering for the people. He also would've instantly killed Yan Xi and his entire family because despite their "civil" conversations, his hatred towards him coupled with YX's ability to command the biggest army this country possibly has makes him an incredibly dangerous threat.

I think he already knows, that conversation he had with lord Xian when he said who do you think was the mastermind behind the accusations against me and forced me to scar my face so couldn't vie for the throne and Lord Xian said I thought I was the only one miserable but it's both of us. But I understand where you're coming from , there really should have been a conversation about this where he explains his train of thought more clearly.

I think it's not about his moral compass, because what other option does he have? He's the emperor, at first he was away from all of it and once he was forced to come back his best option not only for his safety and his family's but also to do less damage to other people is to serve the emperor. He knows he's a horrible person, but what is he gonna do? Plot rebellion?

Novel readers, can someone tell me why they break up in the upcoming episodes ?

I agree they blew past that way too quickly but I also think the difference is he was raised by the emperor and it seems he really loved him and took care of him, basically taught him everything. His father has never treated him well even before he found out he murdered his mother and almost killed his sister to protect himself from the consequences of a rebellion he instigated and then had the gall to treat SY horribly.