themarchioness

I've also been wondering for a while now whether the grandmother already knows. In that episode where the mother's former maid returns to visit Yi Ning, the grandmother asked why she left all those years ago despite her request that she stay. The maid responded that she had her reasons and hoped the grandmother would understand. They spoke of something else, but eventually the grandmother sighed and suggested they not speak of the past anymore. I can't remember how the grandmother said it exactly anymore, but I do remember wondering whether the grandmother had meant it literally - given that they'd just been talking about the past - or whether she was giving a subtle hint to the maid, like, "Make sure you don't reveal the secrets of the past while you're here visiting."

As for why the grandmother might have still favored Yi Ning, if it does turn out that she's known all along that Yi Ning is not her granddaughter, the grandmother previously explained that she has always felt guilty towards Lady Gu. Lady Gu was the daughter of close family friends and someone she watched growing up. She'd always wanted Lady Gu for a daughter-in-law and basically made sure that marriage between Lady Gu and her second son happened. But she also had to have known the two children were not in love with each other, and that her son was in love with another (the concubine), so that left Lady Gu very unhappy in her marriage. I could see grandmother trying to make it up to Yi Ning, as a result.

How the aunt seemed at the beginning of the drama is the image she has spent her entire life building. But it's not how she really feels and as the drama has gone on, and we've learned more about her and the other characters around her, we can see where her bitterness comes from. It doesn't excuse her actions, obviously, but if she hadn't turned out so backstabby, she could be a sympathetic character.

Specifically, she married into a family where she's the eldest daughter-in-law (having married the elder son). Yet, because her husband has a lower job position than her husband's younger brother and is also sent for many years to work in a different place, it's the second son of the family who becomes the head of the household. That means even though she should be the mistress of the household (behind the grandmother), it's the women behind the second brother who takes on those roles -- first, the concubine (which was galling for both her and the stepmother) and now, the stepmother.

On top of that, we now know her own husband was in love with her sister-in-law (the FL's mother) so she has a poor marital relationship with her husband, and thus no support from him. And as for losing out to the stepmother in terms of who gets to be the mistress of the household now, that's also bitter pill for the aunt to swallow given that she comes from a scholarly background (and probably not one without influence, if her family was able to help get her husband's job moved back to where the live) and the stepmother comes from a merchant family background (merchants are ranked lower than scholars in the hierarchy of social classes).

She's been holding in her bitterness for all these years by focusing on her children and living with the hope that they will have better outcomes and also help her gain status in that way. (For example, witness how the minute LYS became the top scholar, the other wives started inviting the stepmother to social events.) For her son, she always knew he would be battling against the concubine's son for power, but she probably thought her son had a fighting chance against him. Unfortunately for both those boys, there was still LYS -- someone the whole family had underestimated! Now that he's swept both exams so far, she knows, in the future, LYS will become the head of the Luo family. With him in control, she loses any standing or possible backing. She also knows that LYS is close to LYN, who was already favored by the grandmother (again, it's all about what level of support you have in the family), and given that LYN has already been investigating the circumstances of her mother's death, the aunt knows that if she doesn't deal with LYN first, then her past actions will be revealed sooner or later. This is also why she's been trying to push her daughters into advantageous marriages; again, it's that whole backing/support thing. The stronger your network is, the stronger you will also be. The aunt is literally watching the small lifeboat that she had around her start to sink and it's sinking fast -- no wonder she's going nuclear now.

Not yet revealed, but it will be the Duke of Ying - there were already foreshadowing comments made in Ep 25

Previews for tomorrow's ep, Ep 27, show the FL (and her family) learning the birth secret. I'm sure she'll have to go through an adjustment period after learning the truth before the romance may begin.

Ep 25. Wei Ting was the little boy who ran over when the Luo girls were having a tea party with Lady Zhou. LYN ended up getting up to play with him.

I totally agree. The script has been so good at building its many layers.

Chemistry is subjective -- you don't think the second CP have chemistry and that their story is boring, those are your opinions (which you are, of course, entitled to). But just remember, for every person who doesn't think they have chemistry and/or thinks that their story is boring, there will be an opposite person who thinks they do and finds their story is interesting.

Given those are subjective factors, what you should be asking yourself when determining whether ANY character has an appropriate amount of screentime is whether their presence adds anything to the plot.

I've watched some dramas where the second CP added nothing to the plot and totally agree, I wished they would be off my screen.

Here, Lin Mao and Yixiu's story is actually adding to the plot -- and that's why we have been seeing more of them late. Initially, when they were just at the beginning stages of their relationship, we didn't see much of them. There were even some eps where we didn't see them at all. But right now, their relationship is bugging the heck out of her mom and THAT is why it's necessary for the plot. Her frustration over losing out on a potential connection to the royal family will make her bitter. That's bitterness on top of her son already not passing the initial exam. She will also resent the Lins even more than she already doesn't like them, which will exacerbate the conflict within the family. The angrier she gets, the more extreme her actions will become, which reveals her true nature to her family, and most importantly, will allow her to be finally caught.

Truly, it's not about just watching Lin Mao and Yixiu for the fun (or not) fun of it. It's about how their story affects the main one.

Here's a different perspective on why the second couple has been getting more screentime lately. First, as others have mentioned, it's fairly common in the dramas to have a second (or even a third couple) to share the screentime. Second, for this drama, I actually think they've done a good job of integrating their story into the main's. On its face it may seem like they're not connected, but take a look at how Yixiu's mother is reacting to the situation. For a long time the aunt has maintained a façade of one who goes about her own business, worries about her own courtyard in the Luo family estate, and isn't willing to get involved in the matters of the second family's courtyard. But LYN's return, followed by the rise of LSY, is now making her feel more desperate and she's pushing harder at her children. The more they "fail" in her eyes, the more desperate she will become. What happens when a person reaches desperation point? The cracks begin to show.

Already we're starting to see the cracks because now she's plotting - whether it's her trying to manipulate her children or plotting against LYN, these are when the missteps will occur and how she will ultimately be able to be caught.

First, when Grandmother discussed the invitation to the Duke's house with the other women in the household. There was a lot of discussions about how he has remained surprisingly single all these years without even a concubine and how he has "no daughters" since Lady Zhao isn't actually his daughter. Just wait until he finds out he has a daughter!

Second, when the young women of the Luo family arrive at the Duke's house, the concubine sister comments on how if someone was reborn into a household such as this one, they would be really fortunate (or something like that). Just wait until she finds out her most hated sister is such a person!

Was there another I'm not remembering now... I'll have to think about it. Back to work for now!

Ep 25 was full of foreshadowing comments! (Which I'll put under a spoiler cut in a reply to this post.)

Yes, people are commenting based on the book. Nothing has been stated in the drama so far (at least up until Ep 24, haven't watched today's ep (25).

Don't forget Ep 5 when he defied gravity by doing a split kick to take down 2 men. I may also have a thing for LSY's fight scenes... haha

I totally agree. The marquess may be innocent as related to the cliff incident, but it doesn't change the fact that he has not become the type of person LYN would want to be with at this point in their lives. From the minute he hitched his cart to a person who embezzled tax funds, framed an innocent man, and killed a lot of people as part of that plot, rising to power in this manner, he said bye-bye to Mei mei.

When LSY admits to LYN that he already has a person he likes, she asks if she's seen that person. He answers, "You've not only seen her, you also know her."

And she doesn't press for more information after that????

I admire her restraint. There's no way I'd be able to resist wanting to know who among my acquaintance had caught the ML's eye! :-P

I assumed the same as you until that convo in Ep 14. Grandmother said, “you wanted to enter the Luo family’s private school to study, but ended up running away from home after being punished by Second Master.”

LSY replies that’s when he met his teacher who gave him a new life.

Grandmother says she never expected him to have such an experience, and adds, “You’ve been staying in Luo’s mansion for that that testimony, haven’t you?” He answers it’s also for the two favors he owes. One of which is the testimony her husband kept.

That’s why it sounded to me like he came back after his master’s death. I suppose it could also be her saying that’s why he hasn’t moved out. Shrugs. The script is written in a way that not all the finer details are clear. And for those who’ve read the book, I don’t think it’s possible to always assume it will be the same given all the changes already made.

In a more recent conversation with the grandmother she mentions that he ran away after being scolded by his father a when he was a kid for wanting to learn. My impression since then is he’s lived mostly away from the Luo family for his entire youth, and that he only returned: 1) bc of the confession that he knew to be hidden in the house, and 2) his indebtedness to Lady Gu (FL’s mom). If he lived mostly with his teacher and other fellow disciples, he would have more freedom to set up his businesses.

It’s the quiet ones you should always suspect. Haha. Plus the comments her maidservant makes…servants take their cues from their masters/mistresses, so I often think of them as speaking the latters’ true thoughts.

You can watch them on Wetv’s website (you do not need VIP access to watch the previews). They are not subbed though. Croton Megahit’s YouTube channel normally updates with them as well, but they haven’t for the last two days. Finally, Tencent’s YouTube channel will update with them but not until way later in the day.

The teasers for 23 and 24 look good! Finally, LSY will probe LYN as to her relationship with the marquess.

I can rationalize why she hasn’t yet told him, but it still doesn’t feel logical given how hard she pressed him for the “truth” of what he’d been doing. Tit-for-tat. If she believed so much in openness and honesty, and expected that from the ML, it seems only fair that the FL should do the same with him. So I’m glad her history is finally coming to light so my brain will finally be able to stop convincing itself that maybe she hasn’t told him yet out of embarrassment or something like that. Hehe.

I found it slow until about Ep 5, if I recall correctly, so I’d definitely say give it some time.