Okay so I've kept my sympathy intact throughout this, after the remarried empress fiasco it was really really hard but it seems to be paying off, he isn't completely stupid and if anything he was just being deceived... He himself is basically a victim to his own love, but he isn't consumed by it to the point he lost all reason which is good. +2 out of 10 points because this isn't standard in these types of stories, it's good. Unlike in the scenario with the Remarried Empress, the female lead comes into the picture later and doesn't really have an established relationship with the Emperor, he has a mistress yes but it isn't like he's cheating on the female lead and the conditioning makes it a lot less bad on his part which is the only reason I've been able to tolerate him thus far. Now some actual development is happening... This is good, this is good...