你先前不是说夫婿下落不明吗
“Didn't you say your husband went missing?”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
不便嫁与陛下
“I cannot marry you.”
你先前 不是说 夫婿 下落不明 吗
“Didn't you say your husband went missing?”
“Your husband is practically gone anyway, so do not use him as an excuse to refuse the emperor.”
In imperial contexts, an imperial decree or the emperor's interest supersedes standard marital commitments, particularly when the previous husband cannot be found.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
previously / earlier
A formal temporal adverb used to refer to past statements or circumstances.
didn't you say that...?
A rhetorical question pattern used to confront someone with their own prior words or expose an apparent contradiction.
whereabouts unknown / missing
A common formal four-character idiom (chengyu) indicating a person's location is lost.
Marks a rhetorical question to call attention to a previously stated fact and apply pressure.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“you disappeared for many years.”
“Where is your husband now?”
“So he's the husband you were talking about?”
“My husband knows nothing about this.”
“Three Judicial Offices have investigated but many remain missing.”
“I heard your husband was also conscripted.”