I mean the MC, her sister and her husband all have memories of their first life. But this is never addressed by each of them with each other. It shouldn’t be a problem given that their positions wind up being so far apart that it’s totally unnecessary for MC to do anything because neither of them can affect her. But it’s also irritating because MC’s sister’s jealousy and bitterness and MC’s ex husband’s thoughts and regrets are mentioned a couple times throughout the book that it feels somewhat of a let down that there’s never a resolution to those emotions or to their actions.

On top of that, MC’s sister and husband are truly very very dislikable so it would be nice if MC used some of her authority to swat them down or at least confront them properly about their behavior. I mean the sister basically stole her marriage, inadvertently caused her death and probably ruined her son in her first life, continued to backstab her in the second life all the while requesting for help with her own marriage and then turning around again to spread rumors that the MC got lucky marrying the ML. The MC’s ex husband ignored his wife’s problems with his mother (basically left it all to her to handle by herself), got involved with his wife’s sister while she was pregnant, kind of caused his wife’s death by causing her emotional instability and then being absent while she was giving birth, realized he loved his wife (MC), married that bloody sister that caused his wife’s death and then turned around and ignored his son with MC until he died a useless wastrel. In his second life, he chose MC’s sister and married her but couldn’t even be bothered to treat her well, caused her miscarriage by manhandling her and didn’t bother to fix it until it was literally forced by MC. Truly. Abominable. Couple. I mean yes, both of them basically winded up in an unhappy marriage with a career that went downhill but... it doesn’t feel that satisfying given how horrible the both of them were. It would honestly be easier if the author just mentioned them and their thoughts less so they’re less revolting and them fading away would feel more justified.

ML also has a complicated relationship with his father and their relationship deteriorates towards the end of the book but the emperor just kind of dies and there’s no real feeling that either ML or the emperor had any emotional turmoil about this deteriorating relationship. It was again abit of a let down because it was portrayed in a way that both of them are not fully great but not fully bad towards each other but the emperor died without any resolution between them or any inner reflections to show their own emotions when this happened.

It's not mentioned in the novel's description, but Yujin is also flooded with "memories" of her past life in the form of dreams. While Yumo was reborn/regressed altogether, Yujin just "wakes up" from some vivid dreams. I'm a bit reluctant when such a plot point gets used, as sometimes these "memories" can be rendered pointless and have little to no effect on the plot, i.e. A character gets reborn but doesn't show signs of maturity derived from a full life already lived. Here, the effect can't be said to be small (one of the first events is Yumo confessing to her life-saving grace earlier, kickstarting the annulment) but it also can't be said to be big as from Yujin's perspective, these "memories" affect her thoughts more than her actions. Her past life serves more to provide reflection for Yujin than to compel her to make certain decisions. In this sense, the past life isn't as significant to the story's trajectory but still has an important place in the main character's personal growth.

What I'm saying is, the past life has a more emotional effect than a plot one. It's also refreshing and welcomed.

Her biological mother does not consider her as her daughter but that doesn't stop her from using the fact that she birthed our Cheng Yujin when it's useful to her. The twin sister is very useless and shallow, I can't stop thinking about the fact that if she said the truth of who was the first savior at the beginning instead of hiding it, our FL would have lived in her previous life.... it's also very clear that she is doted on, loved, but for some reason she does not see it and keeps comparing herself to Cheng Yujin, it's kind of hilarious to see considering the fact that as a reader we can even consider her to be a failed experiment, the polar opposite of our female lead. The adoptive mother is more concerned about her son, she is cold and unloving but to keep the apparences not dare to neglect the FL in terms of food, clothing, jewelry... because at the end of the day she is still her mother in name, however Cheng Yujin is not independent financially for the 1/5 of the story, she is not given money by her adoptive mother afterwards she will receive a part of her grandfather heritage and will finally be able to take further actions to protect herself. Almost the whole family is just greedy no one dotes on her, they see her as a disturbance (and those parts are actually quite hard to read, I feel really bad for our fl, when she enters a room and it becomes quiet, the fun seems to stop and she feels left out even though she doesn't show it... seeing her like this breaks my heart). The ex fiancee is completely useless and s*upid, I have nothing to say about him besides the fact that I'm very happy our FL will not marry him 😃😃 good luck to the sister though she will need it. The ninth uncle and male lead is discovered to be the Crown prince early on by the FL so there is no in*est... From the chapter I'm on the ML knows he is in love but our FL is still searching for a potential husband and hasn't thought of her feelings towards him as of now... The ML is very sweet and caring, he protects the FL very well and is always on her side☹️, during parties or family dinner.. he is taking care of our fl, discussing with her... allowing her to not feel left out and to be able to laugh truly and freely. He is very much the best for her!!!!! He is currently trying to take back his place as the crown prince as soon as possible to marry the FL (GOOD LUCK MY BABY!!). And finally our fl, ahhhh what can I say I love her.... she is truly amazing and astounding, she mastered the 4 arts perfectly, she is elegant, eloquent and intelligent, she knows when to pursue a matter or when to stop. She survived ALONE, by her talents and by pleasing the madams (even though it's merely admiration or acknowledgement of her talents and not love, but it allowed her to survive for so many years so she did what she had to do and no one can blame her for that). Because of the ML we can see the FL character developing, she always had to hide her emotion to always show the best of herself or else she will be even more despised but when she is with him she opens up (at first she was not like that but the more she stayed with him the more comfortable she became..) it's very obvious to see the difference in her behavior when she is around her family and when she is with Li Chengjing. But even though she is confident her sensibility is also shown multiple times, the mistreatment by her family as well as her previous life did and do hurt her a lot, she is not a stone, a person without emotions, she tries her very best to survive and I respect her very much for that. In all of the novel I've read this FL is one of the most human character, her arrogance and high self esteem is completely understandable considering that only her can love herself, the influence of her environment is visible, the mistreatment hurt her feelings but also changed her temperament, I can't stop thinking about the fact that if she wasn't adopted how would she turned out, would she be more care free ? Would she not research for a good husband to escape her family ? Would she finally express herself ?
Even though I haven't read the novel completely, it's still very good and I can't wait for the ML to take back his place and marry or at least became engaged to the fl, I could finally sleep knowing our baby is safe and has a high status.

Cheng Yujin, aka FL, is basically much more realistic than the reborn ladies of noble families where everyone wants their death including their fiancé and they will make them all pay 1000 fold... Bla bla bla. Maybe this is because I see this type of character often that I like FL so much despite her personality flaws (She basically only cares about the benefits for her and won't give a d*mn if her choices affect someone else as long as they are a good thing for her reputation and life).

The plot twist which usually almost never happens in these stories is that SURPRISE!! the reborn one isn't Yujin but her twin sister, Cheng Yumo, who has an inferiority complex towards her because she lived in Yujin's shadow her whole life, the contrast between her and her sister being too apparent, even after the truth of the incident (who really 'saved' Huo guy, the ex-fiancé of FL) and thus after she was reborn she immediately revealed the truth and the engagement was called off for Cheng Yujin and was switched to Cheng Yumo, which damaged FL' s reputation which is why she's looking so seriously for a new husband who could let her climb high and live well.

FL and Cheng Yuanjing's (aka Ninth uncle aka Crown prince aka Male lead) meeting was when the Cheng family had to prepare a longevity gift for the Emperor (aka ML's dad) and since the emperor knew who ML but had to keep it secret he was especially excited about that gift. The Old Madam told Cheng Yujin to make adouble sided embroidery for the emperor but she had to embroider words that Cheng Yuanjing wrote, so there was a whole meet up where she had to practice her handwriting to look exactly like his... The emperor was satisfied, she got praised and so her reputation got much better. After that it gets tricky.

So, after that, there's a whole arc of well... Just getting to know each other more, until the Old Master Cheng dies, and there's a mourning period, but Cheng Yumo and ex-fiancé get married during mourning period. Cheng Yumo is very happy but she still feels the contrast between her and Cheng Yujin, and apparently she's not the only one because ex-fiancé is starting to get feelings and memories from his previous life (calling Yujin his wife, being jealous, recalling his marriage with Cheng Yujin). Around the same time second male lead I believe appear with his bratty son and 'falls in love' with Cheng Yujin and wants her to be his Second main wife (first wife dead, with the son and FL not wanting to cause their conditions are really too unreasonable), and a good thing happens too because male lead realizes his feelings towards FL.

The part of FL knowing what was supposed to happen originally is never really explained, so I don't really understand THAT special point of the character but I prefer to believe that because of Cheng Yumo's moves Yujin just adapted without knowing anything and the future changed.

I love both FL and ML. They just suit each other so much. Also, this isn't the kind of novel where EVERY MEMBER OF HER FAMILY WANTS FL'S DEATH, no, she's actually well-respected as the Eldest miss of the Cheng manor and her twin sister (whom I believe is supposed to be the antagonist) is way to weak and overall not a match for Yujin at all.

Usually when a MC gets to know about her previous circ*ntances the novel turns into a crusade for vendetta or a quest for survival. But in this story despite that first scene where our FL snaps at her previous husband, we don't see her actively going after then... or even thinking about them that much. And later on she even comments on it during childbirth, that she only blames herself for her death, for leaving the decision over her life-and-death struggle to her previous mother in law, Huo Xue Shi. Yes, she has a bad opinion on Huo Chengyang, and yes, she is not all supportive of her sister. But there's no real hardfeelings. She is bigger than that.

Some months into their marriage, when he rejects getting a cefei and asks her to trust him. She loves herself above all but he is still hoping that Yujin warms up and trusts/loves him, and so he tells why he wishes to only have her as wife. And the reason is not primarily love, but his respect for the women in his life. First - his mother (and we get to know her parents were in a monogamous relationship, and later on when she married the Prince Kang (current emperor) he only had her as a wife in the beginning), later on he was raised by Xue Shi, a scholarly and prideful woman that also refused marriage because she couldn't stomach the thought of concubinage. And so, because of that and other minor things, he knows how important a woman presence is, and that she shouldn't be taken lightly, and so taking concubines for no reason would be an insult to his wife.