Lodestar

@40somethingahjumma I agree that the show would have benefited from 1 or 2 more episodes. But I have to disagree that HYW released the tape because of his love for Min Young. It was the plan all along....we are shown HYW & Mr. Oh discussing how everything went according to his plan. They did a bait & switch execution....brought SY for investigation regarding the slush fund in front of the entire nation & then turned into an expose of Do Jun's murder. HYW & his family members were being followed so he sent his brother at the very end to retrieve the hidden usb. I don't think MY was aware about HYW's connection to DJ's death. HYW kept this ace in his sleeve until the very end. HYW knew that Seo Jun would explode at him having the audacity to rebel against SY...we could see this in the very 1st epi. Regarding HYW going scott free....the statutory time has already gone by. The SY family members were also not punished for the murder as Young Ki was already on death's doorstep. But they were forced to abdicate from SY's management because of it. Also it was clear from the recording that HYW had no idea about Do Jun's murder at the time when he witnessed it & he informed it immediately to his superior. People already know that SY attempted to murder him when he discovered the slush fund. So it is very natural that he would have been treathened to keep his mouth shut about the murder. I interpreted HYW living DJ's life during coma as a fantastical intervention. HYW had suppressed his memory of witnessing DJ's murder because he couldn't live with the immense guilt. So this time spent as DJ in the limbo triggered him. Plus it gave him the strength to come out of his servile mindset. He gained confidence as DJ to fight against SY as HYW. HYW was always very intelligent even without the necessary higher education....he didn't get to managerial level of SY just because he was servile towards the top brass. He took the decisions as DJ which DJ might have already made but their motivations were different. The only time that HYW actively tried to use his knowledge of future was when he wanted to prevent his father from losing his job so that his mother lived. Other times he would use his knowledge passively & most of the times he would reach a certain decision first like wanting to withdraw Miracle's US investments to have influx of money to pay off their investors & then remember that 9/11 incident would be happening so it was a good move anyway.

Just watched the finale & I personally think it was wrapped up well. The only quibble I have is the fact that the makers didn't bother to change Do Jun's face after HYW woke up. Both of them having the same face confuses the viewer that why wouldn't anyone else notice that HYW looks like Do Jun. Guess they didn't want to change Do Jun's face as we had connected with SJK playing him. It is sad that Do Jun lost his life so young. We rooted strongly for Do Jun & Grandpa winning when we actually started with a lead who was a lackey for the bad guys. The one for whom I felt even worse than Do Jun & HYW was surprisingly Seo Jun. Everyone always suspects him because he shows his feelings openly. His own father planned Do Jun's murder, planted evidence against him so that he could be the chairman & control his son. Young Ki ended up being the worst human ever....even Grandpa was a better father than him. No wonder Seo Jun was such a nut case....so much pressure from all sides. Not that I excuse any of his wrong doings just that I understand how he could have ended up this way. I am glad that they showed HYW surviving & managing to get revenge for both Do Jun & himself without having any money or status. Also plus points for not having HYW pursue romance with prosecutor Min young. That would have been the wrong step. Let all of Do Jun's family, friends & HYW's family live their own lives.

Wow my previous predictions except Grandpa wanting Do Jun as heir went haywire due to the unexpected accident. The drama still keeps me guessing whether Do Jun actually existed in previous timeline or not because all the deaths that happened before happened this time as well. So Do Jun being deceased in previous timeline doesn't seem to match the established rule of deaths being unchanged. I don't even want to speculate which family member tried to kill Grandpa & Do Jun. The eldest son & grandson are too obvious. I am going to throw out of the box guess of Grandma. She may not have liked that her husband wants his grandson from illegitimate child to inherit. Grandpa himself is also not out of my suspects list. His repeated warnings of don't trust anyone & betrayal may hint towards him betraying Do Jun.

Caught up with all the epis & I am loving it. Grandpa -Grandson chess game is delecious. I was wondering when Do Jun would take a loss because he couldn't win all the time. Good that it happened so early in the fight. I am waiting for Do Jun's counter with bated breath. I also like how they are getting SHB's prosecutor character involved in the game. Thank God it is not for romance because frankly Do Jun is not in a place to get involved in romance. We have seen the pattern of their interactions - she thinks he is trying to deliberately fool her, finds out it is not so & then she tries to improve herself to prove her worth to him. We all know as audience that the fraud tip was actually true. Do Jun is going to show her how Soonyang fooled her & that is going to naturally motivate her to take them down. So much better than some romance track. I think all the events that will happen are eventually leading to the 1st epi. Do Jun's best revenge against grandpa is going to be refusing to be his heir. That is the feeling I get that after all the chess games Grandpa will want Do Jun to run Soonyang & he will refuse it because he wants to actually buy it & end it's legacy. Hence the company will then go to the eldest son. Do Jun will continue to achieve his goal against the company & that is why the eldest grandson is going to feel the huge pressure that he is in the 1st epi.

I too liked that there is more to his revenge than finding his killer or becoming the heir. He is aiming for the ultimate kill i.e. destroying Sangyan corporation. I loved the privilege conversation because all of us in general complain about privilege of people higher than our socioeconomic backgrounds while we ourselves might do the same within our group. Nepotism is bad only when it doesn't benefit us...if it is our own family we 100% expect the support of our own family. Also DJ is not talking in the air but has experienced living a life belonging to the lower strata, so h does actually know privilege when he sees it.

So from what I have gathered so far it seems like SJK's reborn character Do Jun is an altogether new family member that didn't exist in the previous timeline. Please correct me if I am wrong. I think his goal is not limited to exacting revenge from his killer only. He wants to bring Sunyang Corporation down as even after serving the family diligently, he was still disposed off without wishing them any harm. Anyways even if the grandpa would have been alive in the previous timeline, he wouldn't have treated his employee any better. The way he treats his own children is ghastly, no expectations that he would have treated any employee better.

Yet to watch today's epi but based on epis 25-26, CSS is feeling out of control. LBY is an unknown person to her whom she doesn't know very well but she sure knows that she cannot control him in the same way as she could control LY. CSS & LBY both are strong personalities. They both will have clashes until they understand each other. Right now CSS is very suspicious of him because she is scared. She had selected LY who is the nicest guy but still fate intervened & their marriage broke. Hence she is more scared now about trusting LBY completely. But I will say that this relationship has more equality than that of CSS- LY. CSS had to be the protector in that relationship & she really couldn't unburden or criticise LY. Now she does voice out her disagreement directly to LBY. Also she holds LBY responsible for any delays or slights by his family. LY's fam was doing the same to her but she didn't mind it but she is taking everything more sensitively with LBY. I really liked how prince RY told her that equality in marriage would have been same for her as a wife to anyone whom she marries. Right now CSS is just blinded by the feeling of loss of control.

@Lynne I completely agree with you about CSS needing to separate from her parents. They are strangers trying to be a family. The people who accept you for who you are with all your faults are generally the parents because they have nurtured you & have an intrinsic understanding of you. CSS & her parents have missed these critical bonding years. It takes much more effort from both sides when you are at such a disadvantage. CSS was ready to make the effort but her mom has been just cruel to her from the 1st meeting. Instead of trying to understand her actions she just made judgements & punished her. It is as if she punishes CSS as a form of punishing the actual abusers ie grandma & aunt. She cannot separate CSS from them. I cannot understand how guilt would transform into punishment for CSS alone. CSS father though indulgent but he does not have her back & CSS knows it. She cannot trust him as well because he will always defer to her mother. Instead of firmly opposing his wife when she is in the wrong, he only tries to placate the situation. CSS finds it easy to bond with her brothers because even if strangers they are of similar age & it is almost like making friends. They all are in one category while her parents are in the separate group of elders.

@abs-oluteM Yes epi 23 was really funny with CSS 1st visiting LBY's manor & then the palace. I loved all of the interactions between the emperor, empress & CSS. CSS is adorable in her candidness & curiosity. It was as if the emperor & empress were seeing live why LBY would fall for the adorable ball of sunshine that is CSS & were in complete agreement of his choice of life partner. I love how the drama takes efforts to show CSS's continued passion for architecture & engineering. It is not a gimmick to make CSS special, it is an intrinsic part of her. Her enthusiasm about learning the foundational structures of various buildings is so good to see. CSS definitely has not agreed to the marriage because of love. But from her comments about LBY it is clear that she holds him in high regard. LBY also is under no delusion about her acceptance but he was pleasant surprised to know that she has admiration for him. LBY hurried to propose the marriage because he saw her mistreatment 1st hand, the emperor, CSS's parents & nobility were present. Plus he saw others had interest in her- be it the loser YS or the fifth prince. He will not make the same mistake twice & tried to secure her hand before anyone else could. He also knows that CSS's main motivation for marriage is independence from her family. But from the previews it looks like many people are going to try their best to break the betrothal. All the best to them because LBY will just steamroll them.

@Tofu Thanks for sharing the eng sub mv😊. The lyrics of the song are beautiful 😍. Hopefully they share this version on YT as well. Just completed the last epi & the only emotion that I am feeling is overwhelming sadness for CSS. Gosh this little girl got trampled so brutally by her own parents. It was like a train wreck that I couldn't look away from. I do not care if her mother loves her in her twisted mind. She is one of the worst parent I have had the misfortune to see on screen. She & her motherly feelings can take a hike in the Mariana trench for all I care. I do not blame CSS wanting to separate from her family at the earliest. Her father needs to step up big time to protect his child from his wife. Loving someone doesn't mean that you get the right to decimate them. I have cursed her millions of times in my mind. I do not believe her when she says that she only refuses because of the politics of LBY household because she will gladly marry off her precious YY in the same. As if that cowering girl can stand up for herself even at home. This proves that it is only how the society sees the Cheng family that bothers her. She literally takes away CSS's humanity when she tries to "protect" her. I don't think I will shed tears even if she dies saving CSS. She has reduced CSS to nothing- die you cow. She has sympathy & empathy for all other girls in the world except for her own as if being raised by her grandma & sister in law has tainted her.

I had hope that HJZ would show some maturity wrt her behaviour after the tragedy but I didn't see it. It's still all about her & her pain & tragedies regardless of what anyone else is feeling. Why the heck did she take CSS to see the execution of prince xiao other than to intimidate her? Yes what happened to her is unfair & tragic but that doesn't give her the right to act wilfully. LY & CSS had nothing to do with what happened with her. She needs to eat the humble pie. I hope LY is a calming influence on her. @40somethingahjumma& @abs-oluteMI cried watching CSS-LY talk. It felt like the rose tinted glasses of dreams were shattered by the reality. And whatever we may say about their suitability for each other, truth of the matter is that they do love each other even if not romantic. They had dreams to live a life together which have been snatched from them through no fault of their own. CSS is the leader of their team & so she had to be the one to realise their impossibility & make LY understand & accept it. I loved that CSS has no ill will towards HJZ unless she bullies LY again. She doesn't want LY to be stuck in a hellish relationship so advices him to be sincere towards HJZ & guide her. LY-CSS arc was truly meant to be a coming of age story. I love their friendship.

I have re-watched the song so many times...why doesn't it have Eng subs😌. Yes LBY is being given strikes. I think it is only the strokes & banishment to the borders- demotion for sure. I don't know if his engagement with CSS being annulled will be part of the punishment or he himself will break it because he is being banished. Doesn't look like CSS would break up the engagement when she is helping him to run away from the site of massacre & hugging him in tears while he is being punished. Emperor can only punish him for taking the law to himself. The evidence against the culprits would be present. So it is not like he did anything wrong other than executing the culprits himself. Plus the emperor loves him truly. I am wondering why hasn't anyone in the palace plotted against LBY when he is so clearly favoured by the emperor. I loved story of minglan & I am loving this show as well. I just hope we get to see CSS-LBY married life as well in the show. By the end if 1st part, it looks like their engagement has just begun.

No wonder I was feeling the similarities. But both the stories do seem to have same structure with early parts focusing on the leads & their growth as individuals.

I don't know if the novel was written by the same author as the author of story of Ming lan but I always felt both the shows are very similar. The recent epis have made it even more clear. The revenge storyline has been given to LBY in this show. The emperor - LBY relationship also reminds me of ML & her grandmother's relationship. LBY is undoubtedly the emperors fav & he constantly worries about him like a mother hen. The emperor is just too funny in his contrariness about LBY's marriage prospect. He finds no one good enough for him. The love between the emperor & LBY is genuine. I think the emperor will be regretful about not getting justice for huo clan on his own after LBY's revenge killing spree similar to how ML's grandma was after she came to know about ML's scheme to take revenge from her father's concubine. But since the situation cannot be hidden he will definitely have to punish LBY. If it were someone else they would be executed but since it's LBY, he gets banished.

Just caught up with this week's epis & so much progress between LBY & CSS😍. Though CSS's lack of reaction to LBY's efforts kept confusing the viewers about her feelings about him, no one should be in doubt anymore when she literally cried in front of him. She felt safe enough with him to let go of her facade & be openly vulnerable with him in the carriage. She really doesn't show her vulnerable side to anyone. She tried it with her mother initially but stopped after she was punished. She did share her feelings with LY but she always has to be the strong one for him. She cannot be weak in front of him. Through his actions LBY has earned her trust & she really feels comfortable to be herself with him. LBY also rescued her once more. But more interesting part was them teaming up & fooling everyone with their cliff rescue story to veer off doubts about CSS whereabouts. They literally did a rehearsal with CSS even tearing up to make it believable hahahaha 🤣. I loved the way CSS handled her break up with LY. From the moment she became aware of the HJZ situation her first thought has been about LY having to be with the girl who bullied him. She tried her best for LY's sake but again she was not going to sacrifice herself to be his concubine. CSS-LY friendship has only strengthened more due to the break up. I love how CSS adviced LY & he himself has also learnt from his experience with CSS & is not ready to allow the 1st branch or HJZ bully himself. CSS-LY are friendship goals. I am sure that LY will always be a staunch supporter of CSS in future.

I would be happy if the mother stops berating CSS in the same breath as praising YY- that is how low I have set the bar for the mother 😂. Her mother doing anything for CSS on the level of LBY is practically impossible because she is more interested in being blindly obeyed & telling I told you so than trying to salvage her relationship with CSS.

Finally caught up with the latest epis & I have lots of thoughts about the 3 suitors & CSS's feelings towards them. LY- He is a wet behind the ears guy who has never had any individual achievements nor has any authority in his life. The Lou family is heavily biased towards the primary branch ie. 1st uncle who is the grand tutor at court, 1st aunt & their children. The sons of the 1st family are employed in official positions even if they are not exceptional while the eldest son of the 2nd branch is exceptional but not allowed to take up official position. So LY & his fam is constantly degraded at home. He was engaged to the daughter of an influential officer who also constantly degraded him. So when he saw CSS one upping his fiance & defending him, he put CSS on a pedestal. He truly respects & appreciates her but he is not sensible enough to completely understand her. He is naive enough to believe that he can become independent from his family & give CSS the freedom to be herself. He himself is also changing due to CSS's influence. He wants to be a better person for her. But he is essentially a rule following individual. He doesn't have the mental or emotional maturity that will be required to handle CSS, his family or societal pressure. He is a nice guy but just not the right person for a strong woman like CSS. YS- I really do not like this character. His vain, pompous nature is off putting. In addition he constantly puts down others including CSS. He was impressed by CSS's intelligence in solving his riddle, saw that she was pretty & she refuses to be impressed by him. I don't know if he appreciates any of CSS's qualities at all because he is constantly insulting her & imposing on her. He is really intelligent & influential but too prideful. This guy is a no no for a woman like CSS who has low self esteem. Their bickering is just unpleasant to watch because of that. LBY- He is a straight shooter. He is intelligent, influential, wealthy but that is not the reason why he is the best match for CSS. An independent, progressive, strong woman like CSS requires an equally strong partner who will appreciate, encourage & go against the prevalent society to let her be herself. And LBY is that man. I really like the progression of his love for CSS. He really likes her but doesn't consider to woo her without any reciprocation from her. He is satisfied if CSS is happy even if it is with someone else. He also goes the extra mile to improve her standing in society. He has tested CSS's feelings towards him for quite a while & he has seen her not reciprocate. So that is why he doesn't initiate anything. A man who can take a no as an answer is always high in my ranking. CSS's feelings towards these suitors: LY- She feels he is a nice guy & obedient to her. He appreciates her. So what if he cannot protect her- she can protect him. She is the protector in this relationship. I don't know if CSS is underestimating the dynamics of the Lou family or if we are underestimating her ability to handle them. I am of the opinion that she can handle them based on what we have seen of her character throughout the show. She is just being too optimistic about being able to get away from under the family. But really it will never be a relationship of equals. YS- CSS really dislikes him. She disliked him since the moment she knew about him. She doesn't respect him or his intelligence & achievement because she sees him as mean & arrogant. He constantly insults her just like her mother & that is not the kind of person that she would choose as a life partner. I am totally onboard with CSS on this. LBY- I think she admires & respects him. He is a hero to her. She first saw him when he rescued her from fire. Though she does grumble about him but she does that because she sees him as an authority figure. LY is a buddy, YS is an ass who wants to dictate her but LBY is on another level. She doesn't consider herself to be a suitable partner for him. She knows herself & knows that he is a royalty. I think her emotions & feelings for him are far more involved than what she realises. She deliberately deflects anytime he shows interest in her or when her family or anyone points it out to her. I think she just doesn't want to get her hopes up. Her low self esteem doesn't allow her to even go in that direction. LY is a defence she uses against him. She has set up a plan in motion with LY & giving it her 100% because she does care for him at least platonically. I mentioned the same thing about CSS deliberately denying her feelings for her. I just cannot with her mother. Her behaviour towards CSS is deliberately mean & that I cannot accept. Yes she is right about a lot of things especially wrt her marriage with LY but she is so demeaning to CSS that I then automatically want to go against her just like CSS. I cannot understand whether the sky will fall if she appreciates CSS for once. Her preferring the docile YY is one thing but pointedly making CSS feel less than YY is just wrong on all the levels. She wants understanding & respect from CSS when she herself cannot do the same being a mature adult.

@Tofu Epis 15-16 totally confirmed that they are besties. I mean no spark of attraction at all even from Yao's side. They freely touch each other & there is like zero awareness between them. But you can always sense UST when CSS & LBY are in the same room even if they are not in close proximity of each other. Just a gaze or inane convo between them makes it seem that they are somehow connected. Epi 15 was one of the most hilarious epis with the hilarious romance text reading. The way CSS was going on about it before Yao came, I thought she was seeing something explicit & it turned out to be so innocent...ha ha... Then the epic gathering of the 3 suitors & 1 rejected fool who refuses to accept years old rejection still. Earlier I had doubts about third uncle-aunt pairing because of the hinted history between the aunt & teacher but turns out that aunt was the wronged party in every way & she still has confidence issues about her beauty & worth due to that loser. I am happy that she receives love & adoration from her husband now. I think something similar is going to happen between CSS & Yao. It would be the case of Yao being too nice & not being able to turn away his ex-fiance maybe. Hence CSS would break up as he still has feelings toward the other girl. General LBY is a very smitten man & has no shame in showing it. He confidently said he would save his fiance first if he had the difficult choice of saving only one person. He personally escorted Cheng family caravan when the city was barricaded. CSS's parents became aware of LBY's interest in CSS just by seeing them interact & no one could miss out on him making exception for her. Only CSS & Yao are naive enough to not understand it. It was sad hearing CSS's reasons for accepting Yao's proposal. Her self worth is down in the dumps so she is ready to accept the 1st guy who is nice to her. Also she wants to get away from under her parents thumb more specifically her mother's. Though her mother has right reasons to reject the proposal neither CSS nor we can wholeheartedly agree with her because she just cannot communicate clearly. Instead of calmly explaining things she always resorts to belittling CSS which makes her even more stubborn about it. I think the part 1 will probably end with the revenge massacre. That would be the high note to end the season. I am unsure whether CSS-LBY will be engaged though in this part. Their feelings for each other may grow by the end of it. But I think in the novel they get engaged, break up as LBY gets banished & get back together when he returns. Let's see what the show chooses to do. It all depends on how well they can execute the development of CSS's feelings for LBY. Right now she is willfully ignoring anything that she senses wrt LBY.

@Tofu Based on the epi spoiler you have posted of CSS & Yao reading a romance book together for the 1st time we can definitely see that both of them have no idea about love. Both of them have low self esteem & have banded together to improve themselves by each other's support. Such a relationship would have my approval anyday except for the fact that there is no attraction between them. @IpohBananaEpi 21 & 22 spoiler - Well good riddance to the doomed betrothal. Looks like LBY is moving very fast indeed to court her but I think he still hasn't cleared his intentions to her. The emperor seems to be scolding her in jest. Looks like we will get Song-Qiqi ship that I have been hoping for. No idea who to ship with YY yet. I am so glad that the sisters are not eachother 's enemies despite their mothers meddling.

Just watched epis 13 & 14 & found them bittersweet. The little girl was so brave & kind... really sad that she had to die. CSS's childhood flashbacks were so hurtful...poor baby. No wonder she is so hungry for affection & appreciation. Poor LBY had to witness CSS-LY making promises to each other....well you snooze you loose general...ha ha... Frankly I don't mind that CSS-LBY are not getting together quickly. Both of them have different priorities in life currently. LBY though likes CSS, his revenge is still his priority. I bet next time when CSS becomes available, he won't lose anytime in courting her. CSS & Yao on the other hand remind me a lot of LJJ & shou ran from go ahead. They are really friends but are mistaking it for romantic affection. As much as I continue to dislike CSS's mom, I have to agree with her that CSS has no idea about what she is doing with regards to her relationship with Yao. She has correctly surmised that CSS won't be accepted easily in the Lou family. Add to that she can clearly see that both the kiddos hardly behave like lovers - they are playmates. So sustaining this relationship will be difficult. Right now they have been in a bubble in the Hua county so all is well without any interference. Real test will be when Lou family comes into the picture. Based on the previews, seems like CSS & Yao will have a long engagement period. During this time LBY's interest in CSS would become more clear to CSS as he doesn't seem to be hiding his benevolence for her. She already has some feelings for him but they are deep within her subconscious. Also she is not even looking at him as a prospect as he is way out of her league status wise. So unless LBY tells her his feelings for her upfront she herself will wilfully ignore her own feelings towards him.

Epis 11 & 12 were all about CSS becoming more aware of the world beyond her own well. She had no idea about the larger implications of some of her actions- be it turning over her uncle in 1st epi or playing hard & fast with aristocratic brats who are above her station. This skirmish with death has brought the larger picture into stark clarity. She has also come to a realisation that the idealistic picture of her family being together without her was not as rosy as she thought - they were dealing with death most of the time. A person's true nature shows in times of adversity & CSS has emerged as a pretty good leader. She is cool headed & resourceful. She has strong protective instinct for her people. The entire sequence of events from their party being attacked on the road to their defence at the hunting manor was realistic. She dispatched LY to get help & made use of what they had to delay surrender. Once they were rescued by LBY & his soldiers she helped by treating injuries. She also has the guts to kill if necessary & watch the rebels being killed as well. She is going to be such a skilled woman when she completes her studies. These set of epis also marked her being becoming more aware of romantic interest. She till now had not seen any of the men who interact with her as real suitors but LY has made her think in that direction. She is still so naive about the idea of marriage. She has yet to learn to consider things beyond the suitor- his family, his standing in the family, etc but more importantly her own feelings for the suitor. She thinks that she would be happy with an obedient husband. She will be bored within an hour. CSS- LBY interactions were so good. She has started seeing him in a new light. She is learning how he operates as a general & the heavy responsibility that he has towards the empire. I think she can now dismiss her childish notions about him that he puts her trouble. LBY is so obvious about his feelings for her. CSS may not understand them yet but a deeper feeling for LBY is indeed taking root in her heart subconsciously. Epis 11 & 12 were all about CSS becoming more aware of the world beyond her own well. She had no idea about the larger implications of some of her actions- be it turning over her uncle in 1st epi or playing hard & fast with aristocratic brats who are above her station. This skirmish with death has brought the larger picture into stark clarity. She has also come to a realisation that the idealistic picture of her family being together without her was not as rosy as she thought - they were dealing with death most of the time. A person's true nature shows in times of adversity & CSS has emerged as a pretty good leader. She is cool headed & resourceful. She has strong protective instinct for her people. The entire sequence of events from their party being attacked on the road to their defence at the hunting manor was realistic. She dispatched LY to get help & made use of what they had to delay surrender. Once they were rescued by LBY & his soldiers she helped by treating injuries. She also has the guts to kill if necessary & watch the rebels being killed as well. She is going to be such a skilled woman when she completes her studies. These set of epis also marked her being becoming more aware of romantic interest. She till now had not seen any of the men who interact with her as real suitors but LY has made her think in that direction. She is still so naive about the idea of marriage. She has yet to learn to consider things beyond the suitor- his family, his standing in the family, etc but more importantly her own feelings for the suitor. She thinks that she would be happy with an obedient husband. She will be bored within an hour. CSS- LBY interactions were so good. She has started seeing him in a new light. She is learning how he operates as a general & the heavy responsibility that he has towards the empire. I think she can now dismiss her childish notions about him that he puts her trouble. LBY is so obvious about his feelings for her. CSS may not understand them yet but a deeper feeling for LBY is indeed taking root in her heart subconsciously.

Yes I missed the family meal time scene in the last epi. It would have been fun to see how HM has adjusted in the family dynamic at the dinner table. I would have also liked to see ZQ moving his business with the gang & family. Also LX- LJJ house hunting for their after marriage home. I will stop here. My list is never ending. :)

I just re-watched the last few epis again & I have had some change in my thoughts about the CT resolution given by the show. The show never did give CT a happy ending. Nothing was shown that indicated that the issues between LX- CT were resolved & they would play happy family in future. The show makers wanted to show that some people just never change but still they are your family member. You can only try & avoid presence of this family member who has hurt you deeply. CT remained selfish till the end. The only realisation that she had was that if she wanted to be a part of LX's life in any capacity, then she would have to let him live his own life with the people that he loves. LX himself told her that if she wants to make up for her mistakes, she will have to do it by living & making an effort to repent for the mistakes after her suicide attempt. She finally accepted defeat in this one-sided battle she was fighting to win over LX from his actual family. LX & LJJ were not shown being overtly chummy with her. They were being their kind polite self while sending her off. CT was the one who was holding LJJ's hand & speaking kindly to her in reciprocation. She has finally learnt her place in her son's life which is to love him from afar if she wants him to be happy. So I am satisfied with this end for her. But my complaints for LX not being able to overcome his guilt regarding his sister's death & less scenes of LX-LJJ still remains. I think the show would have benefited from an additional 1 or 2 epis showing their happy family life so that the ending would not have felt rushed.

Just found this LX- LJJ FMV in YT. Loved it. Great song choice.

I just re-watched epi 27. So many things happened in this episode. First of all, I wanted to Barbie Girl slap the senior's BF because he was so maliciously gleeful about causing trouble for LJJ. His joy at her misery makes me want to ask him what is his problem with LJJ. I would not have been able to tolerate such disrespectful behaviour from a person that I employed. Hats off to LJJ for bearing his nasty personality because of her friendship with Du Juan for such a long time. Both LX & ZQ were pissed off that they both had proposed relationship to LJJ. But their anger & complaint were only targeted at each other. They did not blame LJJ for hiding it from them even once. They both spoke a lot of nonsense trying to defend themselves. ZQ was hurt on learning about LX- LJJ being together. He felt that he was rejected once again by a loved one. His hurt was not related to any romantic feelings at all but because of his insecurity & abandonment issue. I liked that though LJJ felt sorry that ZQ was hurt, she never ever second guessed her choice of being with LX. There was no confusion in her mind about her own feelings towards LX & ZQ. She had explained them to each of them in the previous episodes when she rejected ZQ because he was genuinely a brother to her & accepted to be there for LX whenever he needed her thus accepting his feelings. I think a lot of viewers were confused as to when did LJJ accept being together with LX as she did not clearly say yes I accept to be your GF or I love you. But these are not the only ways in which people need to express love. Subtle actions & words also disclose the same. Then we got the scene with LX-LJJ where we were shown how LX has his own insecurity & abandonment issues with regards to LJJ. It was painful to see him being so tormented & vulnerable. He opened up to LJJ in a big way & LJJ as well as the viewers were shown that LX is not as strong as he portrays himself to be. LJJ's hurt seeing him being in pain was also heart breaking to watch. This was the moment were she truly got a glimpse of all the pain that he has been suffering & it was a turning point in their relationship. It only strengthened their relationship. LJJ was herself feeling drained out emotionally & called her dad for re-energising herself. It was so heart warming to see the dad & daughter conversation regarding recharging oneself with your loved one's encouragement. I saw many anti-LX sentiments in the comments section of YT. I felt like banging my head reading some of them. Most of them were centered around how LX is not emotionally stable & LJJ should not be in a relationship with him until he is treated for it. I agree that LX would benefit from having therapy. But the most important thing for a emotionally weak person is the understanding & love of their loved ones. His mental state is not so bad that he would harm himself or others because he knows that he is loved by his own family & LJJ. I do not agree with this line of thought that if you are not emotionally stable you are not allowed to be in a relationship. Another point against him is that he is too reliant on LJJ for his own well being. That LJJ would be burdened by his need for her. I just want to point out that the show has showed many times that even LJJ is heavily reliant on LX's love & presence in her life because of the way she behaves if they are separated for a long time. Their reliance on each other is reciprocated & not one-sided. So it is in no way an unhealthy or toxic relationship. They both just need time to be secure & assured in their relationship to reduce this over-reliance. The most nonsensical reason for disliking LX is that he is a creep & pervert who forced his feelings on LJJ. Yes, he had kissed her on forehead & cheek but he stopped himself from kissing her on lips because he knew it was wrong. He even apologised for it. I don't blame him for pursuing her actively after that incident. The cat was already out of the bag now so there was no reason for him to not be straight forward in his approach to her. This actually makes him the opposite of being a pervert or a creep because he took his cues from her reactions to him. She did not reject him with disgust or said that he was a pervert or creep for wanting to be with her even once. She has always been in love with LX but had not realised it. After LX confessed his feelings for her she started to realise her feelings for him. LX did not force her or emotionally manipulate her to be in a relationship with him.