Ten Months On

Q&A/ Extras

A/N: Just adding on these extras on what happens to the other characters/ after the novel ends.

What happens to Shen Yi in the First Life?
The unromantic truth is that they would never meet. Shen Yi would never want to head back to the palace and so, he would not have met her.

But on the off-chance he had to go back to the palace and happen to see Su Chen changing (for whatever reason), we would have a kidnapping and some anarchy happening 😂

Is Su Chen OP? I mean, she cooks, knows how to save lives etc.
Su Chen isn't OP. If anything, she seems OP only because she is resourceful and she believes in lifelong learning. Something like a really good secretary of a famous CEO (she makes things work out/ happen) with a mix of wanting to learn new skills when she can. So her cooking is interesting and tasty but very basic, I wouldn't call it skilled. Her self-defense is from always being on the run. Her medical skills isn't great. Just whatever she happened to learn from her benefactor.

So what is up with Su Li and Sun Rui? Are they both reincarnators?
Su Li is a reincarnator while Sun Rui simply have dreams of a past life.

They're given the typical FL/ML cheats but it all boils down to the personality of the characters themselves. Su Li was born a lady of the boudoir, and the only thing in her mind would be her comfort and her entitlement for a good life. So her second life would align to that. She only uses her father's connection after but as you can tell, she doesn't do politics very well. Sun Rui only had snippets of dreams of his past life, so he becomes obsessed with the idea of happiness with someone else, and forgetting about seeing the happiness where he is now. He also realises that Su Li knows more than him, and that is why he keeps her around.

Does Su Li really need to die so horribly at the end?
Actually if I had my way, I had hoped to see Su Li being redeemed. But she really did some horrific stuff to quite a number of people and even until the end, she would still not really understand the value of a life no matter your station. She would still see maids etc as someone beneath her. She might not be as cruel anymore but unfortunately, she had been too cruel previously, causing great anguish to relatives of the dead maids and who depended on the maids' income.

Is Shen Yi a creep?
Actually, the comment that had stumped me and made me wonder if the premise of the story was really too paedophilic was when the commentor wondered if Shen Yi peeking at a 17yr old girl was creepy.

Notwithstanding the fact that ancient chinese society finds 15 an acceptable age for marriage, the reality is yes. Yes Shen Yi is creepy. Lol.

At first I defended Shen Yi but realised... Shen Yi would be creepy if he wasn't remotely attractive to Su Chen (or anyone else tbh). But he's only creepy to Su Chen. He copes a feel and sneaks a peek when he can, and even gets their marriage registered but the weird thing with Shen Yi is that he is conservative in the sense that as long as Su Chen doesn't willingly want to snu snu, he won't. So, you have a confused Su Chen for a long while sleeping on the floor.

Why does Su Chen need to wear a veil for the times she meets the other Sects?
The first time was because Shen Yi was overbearing and didn't want anyone to see his wife's face.

The other times are cos Su Chen thought it added to her allure and mystery, making her look more intimidating.

What happens to Wurong Jian etc?
Wurong Jian and Lady Bai Lan got married. Lady Bai Lan has a huuuge crush on Wurong Jian. She somehow ends up spending the night with him after he got drunk in one of the sect meetings.

She ends up wanting to leave in embarrassment the next morning but things ended up where she asked him to take responsibility of her. To her surprise, he said yes. And there you go. Wurong Jian might have a pretty open relationship with women, but once he commits, he really commits. Plus, no other women would dare to question since they are dealing with the Poison Queen herself. They end up being a pretty enviable couple.

Why must Su Chen had a moment where she had to lose the poison in her body?
The reality is, her stepmom and stepsister are unkind. So leaving her alone was an impossibility. But with the Empress' protection, nothing could be used but slow poison. Something slight at every meal each time. Which serves to either kill her in the long run while also making her unpresentable. Of course, this merely stunts her growth first. But her height obsession is rather funny.

Any other kids?
Su Chen actually only gets a child 3 years after sleeping together due to the effect of the poison. Sun Rui, in his first life, couldn't wait that long. Shen Yi, in her second life, doesn't care as long as they get to snusnu.

On the other hand, Jun Qiang and Yuan popped out 5 kids one after the other. He became a really young nanny dad, which softened that death god feel. Hence, his slight fussy nanny nature when Shen Yi's son was born.

Shen Yi finally gets a daughter but seven years apart from his eldest son.

Why the addition of the fake Shen Yi?
I mentioned that the story moved along without realising. Initially I had wondered to allow Su Chen to reconsider Sun Rui... But as the story went along, it didn't make sense to do so haha.

So one of the "plot holes" are the several hints of a life beyond Su Chen's feelings. I compartment them all under "Shen Yi's Life". So the story doesn't end with just a baby. The story moves on with further problems the couple will face with the evil sects, the unreliable relationship between jianghu and imperial family etc.

So, all those do happen in the periphery. Like who injured Shen Yi (there isn't only one evil Sun Rui in the world) or why did the impersonator appear and sought for the role of Alliance Head? I compartmentalise as things mainly to do with Shen Yi and he needs to deal with them, not Su Chen. 

But to be honest, Shen Yi either doesn't bother too much about these issues unless they are detrimental (he doesn't give face to old fogeys, or torments those who hates to the extreme.

A/N: I hoped you enjoyed reading this story. Thank you for all your kind comments :) Do consider checking out my other novels as well!