munad200 - Tumblr blog

munad200 · 2 months ago

Text

spoilers up to ruyi's royal love in the palace ep 78

i've found myself putting off finishing this drama because i don't think i'm going to enjoy the ending. not in the sense that it's bad, but in the sense that i know now that ruyi will lose. there is no triumph for her.

qianlong is so hung up on this possible affair between ruyi and ling yunche. he could have just sent ling yunche away or even just killed him. instead, he's torturing ruyi and ling yunche about it, and also pushing the blame onto ruyi.

qianlong had ling yunche castrated and stationed him to work at ruyi's manor to torture both of them. it was so petty. he went to visit ruyi all happy and shit, claimed he'd had the chefs prepare all of ruyi's favourite foods when none of them were things she liked, and then qianlong had ling yunche serve them while having their meal. qianlong's gone way beyond paranoia, he's fully believed in the affair between ling yunche and ruyi and he's trying to rub it in both of their faces.

consort ling as much as she denies it still has some feeling for ling yunche, even if it's just platonic now. she went over and blamed ruyi for what happened to ling yunche. and ruyi's like ??? you're the one who fucking told consort yu (the ke'erqinbu lady) to ask ling yunche's (now ex-) wife to accuse ling yunche of the affair which put the spotlight on him. so consort ling was also partially to blame.

the thing is, ruyi never had feelings for ling yunche beyond friendship and gratitude. qianlong's the only one who ever suspected her heart of straying. probably because he has a harem and he just doesn't know what it's like to only love one person. i don't think any single woman in the harem doubts that a woman could love the emperor only.

i feel really bad for ling yunche because he's being jerked around by the emperor. he was a guard and now he's being bullied by the other eunuchs. all he can take comfort in is his loyalty to ruyi. it's not even clear whether his feelings for her were romantic or platonic. after all, no one would question a female servant's loyalty to their mistress, or a male servant's loyalty to their master. but i guess we're supposed to take it as romantic because of that time ling yunche had picked up the flower in ruyi's hair with sentimentality. but still??? all he's done is look after her. but in the eyes of the emperor, thoughtcrimes are punishable.

which brings me to the happenings of this episode. the devil works hard but consort ling works harder. like consort jia, she stuck her finger in every pie in hopes of making room for herself.

she'd planted yunjiao in yongqi's home. she's now firmly yongqi's favourite concubine. yunjiao is guilty about misleading him, but that doesn't change the fact that she's still going to hurt him. i don't know what she's going to do. maybe she's going to poison him? she keeps talking about his leg injury.

yongqi straddles the line in terms of his loyalty. he still respects ruyi as the empress and his adoptive mother, but he's kept his distance at times in order to protect himself and his mother. but when yongji asked him about the rumours, yongqi told him that he never believed them. i think yongqi wants yongji to grow up not worrying about that kind of thing, but i think he does also believe in ruyi's loyalty to qianlong.

and then we find out consort ling had already made a move on yongji. it appeared she had bought off a eunuch who worked with yongji. first he gave him that poisonous food, and then he kept mentioning the affair rumours to yongji, so that by the time yongji saw ruyi and ling yunche in the garden, he thought he was seeing an affair. it's crazy but i guess kids see things. but also qianlong is always just looking for an excuse to keep torturing ruyi and ling yunche and this may be it. this may result in ling yunche's execution. and consort ling won't love it, but as she said to jinzhong, she'll only accept ling yunche's death if it'll bring benefit to her.

there was a scene this episode where we saw ruyi writing with the empress dowager. it seems they've grown closer. and i guess it's because they both see qianlong as an opponent of sorts. they both realize what it's like to have to strategize against someone who was once so dear to you. they realize what it's like to just want your family together, but for the emperor to be so bullheaded about it.

consort ling had given birth to another son and empress dowager had the boy sent to a consort dowager to be taken care of. consort ling was upset. since she was allowed to take care of her last baby, she thought this baby would be the same but empress dowager basically didn't want her to get too comfortable.

while hailan was always on ruyi's side, yongqi convinced her that they had to stay low profile. xiangjian was the only one who stood up for ruyi during the whole debacle. and it's because xiangjian is realizing that ruyi is in an even poorer state than her. xiangjian's fiance died early enough that she would always remember him as the dashing man who loved her truly and fully. but ruyi has to witness the transformation of qianlong from the man she loved to an absolute monster. there's a part in this episode where ruyi's remembering their old days when they were young and she starts tearing up because she'll never get those days back. it would have been easier if qianlong died and it hurts more than he's still alive and has changed this much.

my prediction is that both yongqi and yongji will die and that will break ruyi. she won't care about anything anymore. i've seen a scene where she officially breaks up with qianlong, and i'm guessing that the deaths of these two princes will have led to that. this is one of the reasons why i keep dragging out the ending. as things unfold i'm realizing that she cannot win.

the other reason that i keep dragging on the ending is that qianlong is being so fucking deplorable about this. he's just torturing ruyi and ling yunche. it's so petty and i would hate to have an emperor like that. he doesn't even solve the problem. if he's so suspicious then just send ling yunche away!!!! he did that before when he was framed for being improper towards consort jia. he won't execute ling yunche because there's not enough evidence. but then he put it on ruyi. there was a previous argument where he told ruyi that she should have had ling yunche killed in order for qianlong's suspicions to be erased and she's like ??? kill an innocent man so that YOU can feel better? wild behaviour.

don't worry i will finish this show eventually but god is it gruelling. fucking christ.

1 note · View note