In 2nd life, almost the same as the princess’s mindset towards the ML, he likes her, but he doesnt feel he deserves her, she deserves more than him, thats why he didnt really make a move on her and let the ML have her, he just loves her very much and feel guilt towards her
Well, technically he didnt kill her, in fact he tried to slow down the poisoning in her body. Concubine Rou’s Daughter ending that one i forgot, either exile or killed in public execution cuz she is a part of the other side faction who tried to kill the emperor. Both of the faction will try to kill the emperor/their dad, except the grand princess (ironically for the emperor, the one who he will abandon the fastest if she ever once wasnt being useful to him, is the only one who will not kill him)
Hello all! Translator here. I will say that depending on when you read the original novel or which MTL source, the last 10 chapters and some minor details throughout the novel will be very different. I believe the author mainly changed the last chapters because of its pacing and the dark and heavy turn of events, which was rather controversial and probably in danger of being flagged. (I will eventually have to update my novel review for accuracy haha.) Feel free to hmu for spoilers, I have plenty And oh my, I'm excited for this journey. There is always so much going on and fast-paced, delivering relevant content rather than dragging arcs out. (Also plenty of Easter eggs if you reread it.) Misunderstandings that get resolved in like 10 chapters are well-appreciated--well, except the major plot points like their romance. With this novel, there is more reading between the lines and subtle, unreliable narration. Everything is written from the perspective of these characters, basically what they think, how they feel--but also essentially what they think they should be thinking and how they think they should be feeling. However, you might find that their actions will not always match up with what they say many chapters later, and that is the beauty of it :')
Spoiler: Did they love each other in the previous life? Yes. They would like to think they didn't though, *cough* something they like to emphasize a lot *cough*. "There might have once been such sentiments between them, but..." or something along those lines is always a good flag for our unreliable narrators. (I should keep a tally for the meme.) In Chapter 44, Pei Wenxuan realizes and admits that he had ever only loved Li Rong in the last life. Paraphrased from his emotional confession: she was the person he missed, the person he thought of when he saw a nice hairpin on the street, the person he wanted to have children and grow old with. Even his mother, who is introduced as a weak, naive woman, recognized it when he subtly defended Li Rong when she spoke poorly of Li Rong. His mother tells him that he had never talked specifically about Qin Zhenzhen to others or even wrote to her in the years that he was exiled to his family's hometown in the countryside, and Pei Wenxuan is stunned because she was absolutely right. Li Rong knows, of course--she's not naive. Many, many chapters later... After putting everything from the past together, Li Rong tells Pei Wenxuan that she knew he loved her because he wouldn't have been so good to her if he was only doing his duty as a husband. Likewise, she rhetorically asks him if he actually thought that someone as rational and cynical as her would do things like prepare different types of herbal soup for him based on the weather, dress up and dance at a folk festival with him, desperately tell him to behead her if necessary to save himself when she was imprisoned because of a conspiracy related to her Crown Prince brother, and decisively sever all emotional ties with him when she realized she wasn't the person in his heart if she didn't love him. Li Rong is someone who lets her actions speak for themselves and does not need to be acknowledged it for it, though oftentimes they go unnoticed. The problem is that their love wouldn't have lasted because of their personalities and who they were as people in their first life. Li Rong needed to be more empathetic and less rigid and rational, and work on opening herself up to others. Pei Wenxuan needed to sort out his feelings and work on his insecurities to be a better person for her than to let her go and hope she will be with someone better than him. Spoiler: A Contradiction Itself Li Rong says that it would be nice to have children and grow old together like normal couples and insists that that was it, but those words themselves are a contradiction. Normal couples that grow old together presumably have a love that runs deep over the years. If not for love, why would she look forward to having children and spending a lifetime with him? Contrast this to when Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan talk about her possibly marrying Lu Yu (spring banquet) or Yang Quan (arguing in the woods) in their second life. Li Rong says that it's just a marriage; she will just wait for these fateful men to die and her brother to become Emperor, then she will raise some male companions and go on with life.
First of all thank you for translating, im currently stacking up chapters to read it hehehe, cuz mtl fried my brain lol. And You know i think the first one is what she wish for but hard to achieve for her, but the second one is more realistic and easy for her. Cuz thats what i feel too, wish for a family (im still young tho), but then again single life is less complicated and easy to achieve than the other one
Thank you! I will continue to work hard :') In the meantime, I'd be happy to satisfy your curiosity with spoilers. This might end up a bit too long! Hmm, I guess I'll take back what I said about it being easily MTL-ed or Chrome page-translated. I'm quite surprised that so much development between Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan got lost in translation with the MTL. There were some very sweet moments early on and little details that built up the momentum, though the finer details are easy to get lost in MTL. I also stand corrected. Li Rong actually begins to express her feelings for Pei Wenxuan around the mid-50s chapters, though it's still subtle and indirect. There is no direct confession, but it slowly becomes more and more obvious from her actions that she genuinely cares for Pei Wenxuan. Spoiler: Li Rong isn't the type to verbally express her feelings with words or physically with gifts and favor, but she learns to do so for her loved ones. As seabreezemojito mentioned (on page 2 of this thread), her father's declarations of love for her mother and all the things he supposedly gave her--the honor of being the Empress, her son the Crown Prince, her daughter the most favored princess, and even building a pagoda in her name--her father had never wholeheartedly loved her mother. As for herself, her father might have doted on her, giving her the best and praising her ever since she was young, but he didn't hesitate to sacrifice her happiness to suppress potential political threats. Thanks to her father, Li Rong has developed a strong distrust for loving words and sweet nothings, hence Pei Wenxuan's promises and initial declarations of love all seem to go down the drain. It doesn't help that Pei Wenxuan can be very Green Tea, charming and manipulating the imperial court and even the Emperor with his silver tongue. We see this two-faced scholar side of him early on when he baits Yang Quan, gets him killed and implicates the Yang family, only to run back to the Emperor to bitterly cry injustice. In it all, Li Rong isn't the type to express her love with words or gifts. She has the best intentions in mind for her loved ones and quietly does everything, but in the second life, she learns to open up and express her love and concern. She has always loved her little brother and silently protected him, but she had always emphasized duty, power and the country to him in the previous life, causing him to misunderstand and resent her. Only in this life did she reassure him that she would stand by him no matter what because although he had his duties as the Crown Prince, he was also her little brother, and she also wanted him to be happy. This is also something she learns to does for Pei Wenxuan once she understands that he is a person that needs confirmation--proof of her love and constant reassurance, partly due to his own insecurities. (Also might just be his love language.) Around Chapter 55-58 or so, Li Rong completely abandons an opportunity to advance their political agenda, which wasn't easy to come by either, to go find Pei Wenxuan when she found out that he had been summoned to the Pei family residence, which is under his hostile second uncle's control. As a logical and level-headed person, Li Rong knows that it's not like they were going to attempt anything life-threatening, but she still went because she knew that he would get hurt in the process. She almost loses control of her emotions in front of his family and her own subordinates, abusing her authority to outright suppress the Pei family and angrily admonishing Pei Wenxuan for risking his skin like that while forbidding their subordinates to report back to her. Then, she looks at his lashed back and rests her forehead against an uninjured part of his back. She tells him that she doesn't want him to fight for control of his family and inheritance or opportunities for her political gain if it means he will be hurt. Li Rong tells him he can't do things like this anymore because she won't be able to take it. This is the most that Li Rong will say at this point, but Pei Wenxuan understands and is very touched.
Anyone can spoil me whether Li Rong had sex with Su Rongqing yet or not? Because I heard she did it with him in the first life, but didn't go to the last step so I'm wondering. Just need spoiler on this before reading because I'm not used to read FL that already loved someone before meeting ML.
No, they didn't do the deed because Su Rongqing was essentially an eunuch after Li Rong saved him from execution. Everything that might have led up to it is fair game. This also happened several years after Li Rong married Pei Wenxuan (ML), spent a brief romantic period together but then became estranged because ML almost got exposed because he saved his childhood sweetheart from a palace conspiracy. To be fair, Pei Wenxuan did it more out of responsibility. Ever since he was a child, he was told that Qin Zhenzhen (childhood sweetheart) would be his wife, and that he had to protect her and fulfill his duty as her future husband. As expected, this kind of thing was inevitably deeply ingrained into him as a child and even as an adult. As for whether Li Rong loved Su Rongqing, it's debatable. It seems like she did have feelings for him at some point, but it's hard to say if it was love or had the chance to turn into love. Even Li Rong admits that she never fully gave Su Rongqing her heart or any real power in the previous life because she knew that he could not give up on revenge. After their rebirth, Li Rong always expresses suspicions that behind Su Rongqing's actions are ulterior motives, not potential feelings, and never considered his feelings to be genuine (which is actually pretty sad). It seems like a good indicator of how Li Rong felt towards Su Rongqing in the previous life? I have yet to reread the chapters with the relevant details to answer this, tldr; it's complicated, really complicated.
Thanks for the spoiler! Tbh, because I jumped to the bonus chapter about their last life, Pei heard some moaning and Li Rong calling Su Rongqing name, so I was assumed they were doing that. Good to hear it's not really the case and I dont really trust MTL haha. I read a dammei book from the same author before so I know her portray of love in stories is really complicated, thus I expected this book to be the same case. Reading 23 chapters so far doesnt disappoint me.
There may be some inaccurate details towards the end that I've mixed up--it's been a while. Spoiler: Qin Zhenzhen in the Second Life Li Chuan met Qin Zhenzhen when he was trying to get her brother, Qin Lin's help in stabilizing the Northwest. She thought he was trespassing and beat him up quite badly, but she seemed to grow on him because of that? (LOL) Shortly afterwards, Qin Zhenzhen goes and sees Pei Wenxuan in prison. There is no dog-blooded melodrama as expected of its genre. Qin Zhenzhen is still young and does not feel very strongly about most things, such as her past engagement with Pei Wenxuan--she was ambivalent because she was only following the instructions of her elders. Qin Zhenzhen is introduced with the shadow of a typical second female lead, the fragile first love that needed to be protected, when in reality, she is an independent and self-sufficient individual who wants to rely on her own strength and has a strong sense of justice. Her family is implicated and imprisoned after she catches the Emperor's eye at Crown Prince Li Chuan's consort selection ceremony because she is from a dignified (military) family that actually has little political influence. It's hinted that even though she probably had feelings for Li Chuan, she didn't take seize that lifetime ticket of becoming his Crown Princess and knowingly sabotaged her chances. Li Rong saves a bloodied and battered Qin Zhenzhen who fought her way out after her family's residence was seized by authorities. Li Rong vows to save the Qin family and clear their name in the name of justice, but Qin Zhenzhen must make a choice: quietly disappear and return to marry into a respectable family in the future or give up her identity as "Qin Zhenzhen" and seek justice for her family. Qin Zhenzhen chooses the latter without hesitation and swears an oath of loyalty to Li Rong, vowing to repay the Princess's grace, regardless of whether her family can be saved or not. Qin Zhenzhen smashes her head in front of the Princess's mansion as part of a staged plan to fake her death and investigates the Qin family's case under the name of Xun Chuan. (Yes, it's the same 'Chuan' character as Li Chuan.) Li Rong, Qin Zhenzhen and Shangguan Ya (who was Li Chuan's Crown Princess and Empress in the previous life) develop a sense of camaraderie and end up having a cute friendship despite their supposed relationship dynamics (Li Chuan's sister vs the person he loves vs the person he's supposed to marry). After the case is resolved, Xun Chuan is prepared to leave for the Northwest when Li Chuan stops her. Xun Chuan lightly reminds him of her duty and responsibilities before bidding him farewell. After that saga, Qin Zhenzhen is presumed to be busy at work stabilizing the Northwest with her brother, and it's not until after the final battle of the Imperial Palace that she makes an appearance. Li Chuan ascends as Emperor but renounces his right to rule, citing that he is "unfit to rule" and sneaks away on the back of a horse-drawn cart headed Northwest with Qin Zhenzhen and Qin Lin. Spoiler: There is truth to Li Chuan's claim of being "unfit to rule." There was a detail I missed in my review on the novel's page--Li Chuan didn't actually do much in his reign as Emperor other than exercise his authority to punish people every now and then and practice Taoism. Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan basically controlled the imperial court and nobles, ruling from the shadows in his stead, which made them to be such big threats to anyone coveting the throne. It's also part of the reason why Li Chuan felt threatened and resentful of Li Rong--he was Emperor, but his elder sister and her husband essentially had control over the entire country in all but name. After Li Rong ascends the throne as Emperor, Qin Zhenzhen regains her identity but continues to remain in the Northwest. In the epilogue, Qin Zhenzhen and Li Chuan return to the Capital with their young son. Their storyline unfolds in the background for the most part. Although he is surnamed Li, Qin Zhenzhen and Li Chuan agree that he's not suitable to ascend to the throne and return to the Northwest where they presumably lead a quiet life. To be fair, Qin Zhenzhen has always been rather down-to-earth when it came to her and Li Chuan's "romance." She knows he likes her and acknowledges her own feelings but puts her duty before herself and only pursues a relationship when the circumstances allow for it. As far as I know, they don't have much of a high-maintenance romance--I can't recall any particularly emotional moments between her and Li Chuan either, be it tearful goodbyes or romantic vows. Yep, it was quite normal, if not mundane, and I respect that.
Thank you for the spoiler I was expecting some drama but seems like there was none with regards to Qin Zhenzhen.
Just started reading. Quick question, did they cheat on each other? (this might've been answered already but I'm afraid I might see other spoilers so I didn't check)
Spoiler: MTL Well the ML never been with any other woman actually as far as i know, while the MC with second male lead, altho she technically already “separated” from ML in first life just not divorce, but everyone knows second ML is her lover (they never did the last step, i am assuming they meant sex, so maybe they have kissed???)
Spoiler: From MTL Lets just say, in terms of political power she won in the last life. But she is not evil like evil, but yeah she is definitely not kind (but who could be kind but still won in that environment?). According to second ML explanation.Theres a plot twist in there, like when i read it “oh that really make sense now”. Spoiler: Don’t read it if you dont want the story to be spoiled Spoiler: Last warning She is the one who poisoned MC in the last life, cuz her kid is not The Emperor’s kid (its Second ML’s Brother kid with the Empress/ Shangguan Ya, because if I remembered correctly MC’s Brother refuse to sleep with the Empress). MC didnt know about it, if MC knows, theres no way in hell, would MC let that kid be on the throne. That is why MC need to be killed before she found out. And yes Second ML knows about it. Thats why he tried to slow down the poison but not really try to stop the poisoning.