general feihong-s wife

I wouldn't say that ZHY was fully blind to it in that moment, she was going to do whatever he said because their intentions to save the Zhuang family aligned. Although obviously for different reasons. While ZSY just wanted to save himself, ZHY only really cared about saving her mother, and I'm fairly confident that even at that moment she would've traded her father's life for her mother's life without hesitation. It does look like she was fully blind to his true nature and intentions because first of all she had no evidence or information about it as her mother didn't tell her anything, and second of all the only thing she was focusing on was finding a way to save her mother. Even if the Yama King gave her instructions to save her mother, I'm sure ZHY would follow them.

For me I was almost crying laughing at that scene, she got taught how to lie by FYX once on a random night and ran with it to become the liar extraordinaire.

When I was watching that scene I was in complete disbelief. ZYS (Zhuang Yushan) cannot seriously be trying to slander the person who saved her life so shamelessly. I would get it to some extent if ZHY (Zhuang Hanyan) only saved her mother, but she saved the whole family. Did ZYS get amnesia and forget the fact that she, her brother and her mother were all going to die if not for the brave and heroic actions of ZHY that were not obligated from her in any way? To turn around and then try to frame her act as something improper and slander her reputation just shows a complete lack of humanity and empathy.
I guess I can somehow understand where ZYS is coming from. ZHY came back at a random time and disrupted the whole family, stealing the spotlight from herself and her brother and mother. In the Taoist situation, ZHY accused ZRY (Zhou Ruyin) with seemingly little evidence, though she was accurate in her suspicion. In the smallpox situation, ZHY further exacerbated the situation by framing ZYS for something she didn't do. In the cheating situation, ZHY switched the paper that ZYC (Zhuang Yuchi) was copying from to exacerbate the situation.
If ZYS was under some delusion and somehow believed that these actions from ZHY were unprovoked (showing a complete lack of self-awareness and self-reflection), then I guess I could accept that suspending all doubt. However, her actions in this episode show a complete and utter lack of supposed brain function, and I can't understand them or her at all. The events of Episode 13/14 can be condensed into this flow chart: I'm going to be executed because of my father's actions > My half-sister drags a corpse for hours to the execution site > My half-sister clears the family's name > I do not get executed > I continue living. It is genuinely the most simple and uncomplicated process that I could think of, and I genuinely couldn't even tell you where ZYS somehow messed up in this process and decided to slander ZHY for her actions.

I get where you're coming from, I just think that if his daughter was adopted, we would know by now. they might want to keep it as a secret twist for later but it just seems kind of far-fetched in my opinion. it's an interesting theory, though, although I don't think it affects much other than keeping the fantasy that Fu Yunxi is a virgin.

it was an arranged marriage between Fu Yunxi and Zhuang Yuqin, and I'm quite sure that it's his biological child. There also some dramas that have polygamist male leads with harems and multiple children from different mothers so it's not like it will cause major outrage amongst the audience. Also, there's nothing in the drama that has hinted at the fact that she's an adopted child.

Even so, the novel is apparently extremely different from the drama, even featuring a rebirth plot. They probably removed that plot point because I think that there's regulations around it by the government (?) Either way, I like the change because I feel as though the 'historical rebirth revenge' trope is a little too oversaturated right now, and I also love that Zhuang Hanyan is smart because she is and not because she's reborn. Additionally, I believe that in the novel, the oldest half-sister Zhuang Yuqin doesn't exist and neither does Fu Lingzhi, meaning that in the novel Fu Yunxi is neither a widower nor a father. I like that they added his daughter, it's much more interesting and stands out compared to other dramas with a heavy emphasis on first love and then likely virginity.
Beyond the good writing, do you have any other thoughts about the drama? I'd love to discuss.

He's just so spineless and incapable of doing anything for himself that it really intrigues me how he's potentially the adopted son of Pei Dafu. I agree with your theory about his involvement in the Ruan family massacre. Maybe when he was younger, he was despicable and conniving to get what he wanted, but then as he aged he began to pretend to be incompetent and stupid.

to call your own daughters 'empty shells' is such a weird thing to say in general. i believe it would be more polite to humbly say 'my daughters are not worthy of such high praise' rather than literally insulting them to a higher authority in front of them. the father is so.... i honestly hope that even if the Zhuang family doesn't get executed he at least will because he's so annoying.

i know, that was actually crazy

if you're referring to the adopted son of Pei Dafu and Hanyan's father as Father-in-law Zhuang, I'm quite sure that they are the same person.

This is my interpretation of the events revealed in Episode 12:
Two years ago, Ruan Xiwen and Nanny Chen notice footprints leading towards a shelf. Nanny Chen moves the shelf and they discover a secret passage, which leads to Pei Dafu's Capital estate. Nanny Chen spreads some red powder at the exit, and then checks Zhuang Shiyang's shoes and sees the red pigment on his shoes, meaning that he used the passage and is therefore Pei Dafu's adopted son.
Then, Ruan Xiwen secretly takes Zhuang Hanyan's name off of the family register and begins to plan the downfall of the Zhuang family, aided by Yuwen Chang'an.

Anyway, I think that this plot is extremely smart because it wraps three aspects of the drama that were previously presumed unrelated: Zhuang Hanyan, Danzhou and the Zuohang (?) Gang case, together smoothly.
Danzhou is a place faraway from the jurisdiction of the imperial family with a lot of trade, meaning that it's a good place to hide a secret fortune, and therefore Pei Dafu's adopted son hid his fortune there. Hanyan grew up in Danzhou, possibly as a way for Zhuang Shiyang to easily send resources to Danzhou without suspicion. And, Hanyan's own father, Zhuang Shiyang, is the adopted son of Pei Dafu and is therefore at the centre of the Zuohang Gang case.
Very intelligent and very interesting.

When I first heard about this drama and the male lead's backstory, I was immediately reminded of The Sword and the Brocade. I only watched it last year so I can only imagine the kind of backlash it received based on what I've experienced with this drama. In fact, I would say the situation with The Sword and the Brocade is even worse because he has multiple wives, 3/4 of whom were still alive when she married him, multiple children, and she actually met and somewhat knew her older sister that ended up marrying him originally. Also another thing that reminded me was Zhuang Yunshan being played by the same actress of Qiao Lianfang. I definitely hate Zhuang Yunshan a little more than I should because of pent up anger towards Qiao Lianfang... Not to say that Qiao Lianfang is the devil but I still dislike her and that definitely carries over to this drama as their characters are somewhat similar.

mu chengyun pisses me off so badly he's always doing the absolute MOST to try (and fail) to be better than sang yan and it makes me so angry. who in their right mind, as a university student (probably nineteen) who has a crush on a woman (who's several years older) at their work, decides "hey I heard from one of our other colleagues that she's looking for a roommate, i'm going to wait outside of her house until she gets home so that I can guilt trip/force her into letting me inside her house, then I'm going to search her whole house, even the rooms where her roommate lives, all the while asserting myself as her new roommate to her current roommate (even though we've never discussed anything like that and she's obviously extremely uncomfortable when we are together) and then act surprised when she politely explains to me that my behaviour is inappropriate and asks me to leave!" like actually SHUT UPPPP this kind of idiocy, entitlement, arrogance and general dickheadedness should be illegal

fr why is he actually so entitled - he's literally 'competing' with somebody her age who's been sweethearts with her since high school for almost ten years, who lives with her, and still acts like he's the one 'winning' - he doesn't know anything about her or sang yan but wants to butt in at every opportunity. well obviously he doesn't understand what sang yan is like because it's almost as though sang yan hasn't been in love with him for ten years and it's almost like he dislikes him because he's a pretentious, bratty asshole. what right does he even have to defend yifan from him? every time he's on screen it really makes me angry and the fact that yifan also doesn't understand the meaning behind his actions is frustrating (not that i'm blaming her at all as there's basically nothing she can do abt it)

what's the problem with wanting one of the main characters and one of your favourite actors to be featured more? it's an indisputable fact that they cut many of his scenes from the novel and also degraded the character in general.

It really depends on what your view is on 'bad guys'. I kind of understand Skz16's point, but I also disagree with it. I would say that SRQ is a bad guy. yes, he has complexities and you can't consider him as a 100% awful person. but he is insufferable and part of that is his infuriating moral righteousness while standing on the wrong side. he's a noble, and he thinks he's all that because he shares some scraps with the poor and starving that he exploits. he'll do anything to achieve his goals, even use innocent children in his schemes. and he has an infuriating entitlement to the FL that's just completely annoying to watch. he doesn't, never has, and never will understand his role in the FL's life, in both the first and second ones. he does absolutely horrible things and the justification for it is just not worth it in my opinion. he doesn't really care abt his family, he just uses them as an excuse for his actions, but throws them away when they don't agree with and enable him and his disgusting behaviour.

✋😧✋ I'm not the one who claimed it was a 2024 drama that was another user. you're right, it didn't take three months it only took two, I mixed up early January and February after checking mdl. In any case whether or not TLI is a '23 or '24 drama depends on your requirements. if you think that it's the year the first episode aired then yes it's a '23 drama. if you think it's the year the last episode aired then it's a '24 drama. if you think it's simply the year in which the episodes were aired then it's both, and so it can be called both a 2023 and 2024 drama. and fyi I think along the lines of the third option.

BOO! I'm a bar of soap🧼! Did I scare you? You should use me to take a shower instead of going on the internet anonymously and hating on actors who have careers and lives and take care of their personal hygiene, unlike you!

I think Sstdrama145 means that you could technically count The Last Immortal as a 2024 drama, although the first few episodes aired in 2023 the rest of the episodes aired in January and February if my memory serves me correctly

I would choose Wang Anyu because their off screen chemistry and friendship seems really beautiful and genuine and I feel like it was wasted on their tragic love story in The Last Immortal - don't get me wrong, I love The Last Immortal, probably in my top 3 favourite dramas. I need her and Anyu in a fluffy modern drama with a happy ending, although she is leaning towards more mature roles now, which is also what I personally like. As long as their ending is good and they have happy moments I guess.