Though not really an enemy per say, more like a petty brat, one of the noble ladies reach for the classic falling into a lake trick and the MC without any hesitation or despair literally jumps in before her to not be framed

The best example of her righteousness has to be how earlier on, someone who wronged her or the prince can be killed without a single care on her part but the moment an innocent civilian (that scholar man who likes her or her self proclaimed sister) is threatened, she would sacrifice limb and knee for them to not be unjustly punished. It's actually quite commendable. Kudos to you Yun ling

Still when she says she doesn't want to be a mere plaything in the palace aka a consort so he misunderstands slightly and after thinking gives her the elected title of crown princess

When he admits (with his stubbornness this is a miracle in itself) that in the 3 years he was away that he missed her more than he hated her

When getting jealous of the scholar guy after her firm denial he asks her again and believes in what she says instead of simply misunderstanding the MC like many ML do. It's small but cute

The best has to be all the lovey interactions between the two after the escape drama. He's always holding and embracing her figure, petting her head and pushing her onto his lap to sleep. Also he never forced her to get married to him straight away, on the contrary she actually marries him a little later, first solving her family issue

Still when she admitted she not didn't want to be his consort or his crown princess despite his belief that she did want to marry him was actually pretty funny to be honest especially when she didn't bother telling the eunuch an about it

The first half of the story was full of tense as Xie Jue does not want to acknowledge and accept that he has feelings for Yun Ling, a lowly palace maid at the time. I think it reached up to chapters 60 or so before he shows signs of accepting his feelings. The first half chapters gave me mixed feelings about him because he was really such a tsundere and would tend to say harsh words to her so it's really not obvious when he started liking her. But at the second half we do get to see his development and how he accepted that he can't live without her.

I like the part when Yun Ling ran away but it was such a short part of the story even though she was gone for 3 years. I thought the author could have given us a bit more of what happened within those 3 years just to give the feeling that she really was gone for awhile but there was just a time skip and next thing you know Xie Jue found her again.

After reuniting, they went through numerous push and pulls. Xue Jue wants her then to the point of making her the Crown Princess because she said she didn't want to be his Consort. Yun Ling finally found her family and they postponed their announcement of marriage until she's included within the family register. Her stepsis at the time was spoiled and hated her so she instigated Yun Ling which lead to her realizing how she never was honest to him and told him everything from why she worked for him and how she stayed so loyal to him, which was all just so she could survive and not really out of loyalty. They broke off for awhile before ultimately making up again and being more vocal with one another. Xue Jie wants to own her completely but Yun Ling doesn't like being forced, they made up and compromised with each other until the end.

I love the twins so much! They're so adorable! How fitting that they got their parents looks and personalities equally. I can only imagine how powerful they'd be when the grow up.

The extras when yun ling and xie jue went to a parallel world was so bittersweet! Her life there was all she had ever wanted but her husband doesn't love her. And when he finally did she needs to leave him. That departure where yun ling died really broke my heart I cant imagine it being a real world where yun ling left one xie jue for the original xie jue in her life. That would be so cruel when she loved him wholeheartedly and thinks they're both the same husband she has. At first I actually thought these extras were just a part of her powers acting up or something, but turns out it's mostly for Xie Jue to save him from his impending karmic retribution from all the lives he took and sins he committed.

Also, why is the author so mean to xie jinjia and xiao qibai. I hope the last part of their extra meant that she will be back to them someday.

I was very satisfied with the FL choices. But I decided to stop reading after the ML and FL affirmed their love for eachother (altho the female lead didn't openly say it) because while the plot for the first half was fully fresh, the second half went back to those overly convoluted "but she has a secret identity" kind of things. Which takes away from the fact that the emperor did infact take his maid from cold palace as his wife.