idk i think Road to Empress 2 is an extremely fantastic piece of character writing for a strong, ruthless, and morally ambiguous female character, but there is something so deeply tragic about the fact that the two men who loved her so much couldn't fully trust her
#road to empress#road to empress 2#rte2#rte2 spoilers#road to empress spoilers#li tai's route especially is very tragic because no matter what you say to him or do for him#he never truly trusts that you love him at least as much as you love yourself#he just throws himself headlong into his love#and prematurely resigns himself to unrequited love and being manipulated by her even when it isnt even necessarily true#like bro... what is going on in your head for this to happen? is there nothing that can convince him that yuanzhao would choose to#spend the last years of his life with him#she has the whole world ahead of her yes but im sure she can spare a few of those years for you wtf#for someone who was once a haughty prince he has shockingly low self esteem#or maybe its only bc its yuanzhao#and he has convinced himself that she's manipulative and all for herself and hes. hes not even fully wrong i think#and he just cant find it in himself to believe that he might be an exception#which is so sad bc we see in li zhi's route that yuanzhao is full of so much unconditional love#for rui er. gaoyang. xi xin. the way she sobbed and cried when her children passed#its also why i find li tai's route so empty in comparison bc like#yuanzhao... has no one she rly loves in there?#in li zhi's route she chooses to confine herself in the palace to stay w him#and youre telling me she wont at least do some local tourism in li tai's fief?!?!??
