Eldest Prince: a love deprived child. He had the love of his parents once and it was taken away when he was still only 5. He only wants the attention of his father as a father and not an emperor. He always looked to his past and this is where everything went wrong. Though at the end of his life he seems to have come through to his senses.

Second Prince: though he was particularly annoying at first, you'll come to love him. A sickly, sharp-mouthed, and straightforward person. Always liked to bully his eldest and third brother particularly, but a good brother nontheless as he always adviced them (though whether they took his advise or not is on their part). He was also close to the 4th princess (MC & ML's child) He's just a very fun character.

Third Prince: Another tragic character with a similar experience to the eldest prince, but he was clear headed. He is a very lonely person, with only the second prince as the person he could have heart to heart with. When the second prince died (🤧) he felt even more alone than ever. In his old age, he started to write stories and then later on a biography of the second prince. (I love their brotherhood so much im crying).

In order to avoid your misunderstanding, let me analyze it. The hero must like the heroine, but he doesn't have the concept of not touching other people if he likes the heroine. So in his worldview, he absolutely likes the heroine. Husband and wife are serious, and concubines are not worth mentioning.

The heroine's love for the hero is not in the modern meaning of love. The heroine has too many things to adapt to, so many that the fact that it is not monogamous is not too important. So love or not is really not the most important thing for Wumian, and it is even s*upid. An empress who is moved (have feelings of love) is very dangerous, and she has a heavy burden on her shoulders. Moreover, falling in love with the emperor from the bottom of her heart, isn't it a betrayal of her modern education?

I have said before that there will be no true love between people of unequal status, only when they are equal in power (could there be).

For example: the overbearing president and his little wife. Those little wives who have nothing rely on the love of men to live, is that love? At least in my opinion, that is not love, that is to support.

Similarly, Wumian and Ying Qionglou's relationship is not equal. Even if she is the Empress, she is still the lower person.

Everyone who writes a book will inevitably project some of their own personality and ideas onto the protagonist, and so do I.

So if it were me, I would not love. For me, the premise of love is equal in power. It's not just about low wealth, but at least freedom and independence from each other, and having the right to say no.

Wumian doesn't have this right, even if she is the Empress and her son is the Crown Prince.

If this love deteriorates one day, she doesn't even have the right to end it. Otherwise, how many Empress have been abolished in history? So, this is not love, but just years of companionship, affection, liking, and dependence. Life is not just about love.

Extra Chapters:

I cried on the eldest prince chapter. That f*cking wrecked me. ARGHHHHH. It's so heartbreaking to read his chapters. It f*cking wreck me that he has expectations to receive a father's love. All of his bad choices was due to him looking back to the past. Man, I can't stop crying. He's just a kid. Man, I wished for him that he reincarnated to a loving family.

Imperial Concubine... f*ck. I can't. I can't stop crying like—ARGHHHH!! Like I want to choke the Eldest Princess so bad!!!

Don't get me started with Second Princess and Third Prince. The angst on Second Princess chapter is so crispy. Third Prince? I broke down when he started to write the biography of Second Prince. And at this moment, I started to cry because wtf?? TP only have SP as a close brother. It's so tragic yet bittersweet.

To stop favoring women because she doesn't like other women giving birth to his children (though this was when they were in their 50s or so.) I guess better late than never? It was bittersweet because there was no chance of only being a couple, without other women in between. I also really liked how the Emperor gradually stopped favoring women and focusing his time on FL. It was only to the point where he spent 80% of his time with FL (Empress), though.

There are something's that I love above the novel:

A. The maids recognised that the queen was not the same.

B. The original owner was acknowledged in the final chapter. Although she was absurd, but no one had taught her to be a good queen. People were either impatient or calculating towards her. She was both absurd and pitiful and it was beautifully presented in the extras.

C. The FL was not OP but she bought small changes.

D. Multiple POVs was shown in the extras, and it gave the characters more dimension.

this point in the novel they already have a daughter and a baby boy (the emperor established him as a crown prince when he's born!) and then further down in the chapters they will have another baby boy <3