Lizzy

That one is on my watch list as well - it looks good!

But she threw him in that situation in the first place 😂 I haven’t read the novel, though.

Yes. Minglan had to rise to her status, but still had to be within the limitations for women of that time. It was so good. I finished my rewatch a couple days ago so it’s fresh in my mind lol

Yup. THE best example of how you do a female-centric drama. Minglan was AMAZING. She was allowed to have flaws, she was allowed to grow from them, she was allowed to be vulnerable and love / need her husband. And she had her TOTALLY EARNED BADASS MOMENTS. Tingye wasn’t dumbed down or made a simp, he was allowed to save her, he was allowed to cry, he was allowed to stand up to her and call her out. Ugh. They were perfect 😭

THAT DRAMA WAS THE BEST. Seriously, it was such a great example of equally developed leads who were both awesome, had flaws and growth, and balancing each other out. 🤌🏻

Yep, but I was going that the ML’s street smarts would be showcased to the FL while they were on the streets, but I ended up a bit disappointed.

I mean it’s a nice change having characters who aren’t infallible or omnipotent, but they made the ML a little dumb right there lol. As soon as he left Sen alone with them I knew that it was going to go poorly for him.

I swear it’s the poster 🤣

(just kidding it’s the trolls)

The real question though is do we get cohabitating before they get married 🥹(probably not)

This one
The Story of Ming Lan (!!!)
Legend of the Female General
The Double
Blossoms of Power
Ashes to Crown
Blossom

PS I haven’t seen them all.

I haven’t seen that one yet, but I think he’s doing great in this one! They both are. I just want to see the leads on equal footing.

I totally understand that she wants a better life for him, she doesn’t think that him continuing a life of smuggling and criminal activity will ultimately not go well for him and she’s right! Buuuuttt how she’s going about it? Nope. I hope that the purpose of this is to highlight her flaws so it can lead to good character growth in the future… but I’ve suffered through / dropped so many Girl Power dramas with ML simps in the last 8 months that I am not holding my breath.

Yeah. I was all about this drama 💯until episodes 5/6 and now it’s given me pause and I’m not sure anymore. This one now looks like it could end up disappointing just like POJ or LBTG where the ML’s are just not allowed to share the spotlight with the FLs.

Finished 6. Some stuff I like, some stuff I am on the fence about / didn’t like. I like the trust that the leads have in each other, despite their mistrust for each other at the same time 😂? Happy we got more fight scenes, and I kept thinking how much better with Zhao Ling be with some proper tutelage to refine his fight skills. It was also VERY satisfying watching Tingyun actually use Lady Yu as her stepping stone to the crown prince (and Lady Yu’s face when she realized it was priceless 👏🏻).

And yet… I’m getting Simpy vibes from the ML that I’m like “hmm” about. I am not sure how I feel about the ML consistently being outsmarted and one-upped by the FL (literally every time since the start of the show). The power differential kinda rubbed me the wrong way?? I’m already sensitive to dramas that push the Girl Boss agenda at the expense of equal ML development. Perhaps I found some of it a little frustrating and unbelievable - like we have a pampered, spoiled noble lady who grew up with a silver spoon in her hand out on the streets without any resources or connections who is outsmarting the ML who literally grew up and survived on the streets. I was really hoping that after her first impulsive mishap that she would begin to respect the ML’s perspectives and his strengths. I was hoping that the ML would have been given some opportunities to showcase his skills. But it didn’t seem that way. The woman she helped against ZL’s warning, a situation that almost got them all seriously hurt, showed up later to be her maid (and helped her escape Sen and Zhao Ling). Serious plot armor, right there. Then she essentially robs Zhao Ling’s livelihood and manages to find the crown prince, makes wild decisions on ZL’s behalf without considering him, and basically everything ends up going perfectly well for her and there was not really any fallout or consequences.

Was there no character growth? No hard lesson learned that maybe Zhao Ling might know a thing or two about what he’s doing and maybe she should heed his advice? Doesn’t ZL have anything to offer this relationship outside of being a man that she can use to climb to power? I have no problem with her being determined and smart, but the ML is also smart and cunning as well… but she has always been a step ahead of him. And now she’s kind of making decisions for him and using him at the same time, and… well, Zhao Ling is not really pushing back a whole lot. THAT is my biggest issue. Her spoiledness and naïveté I could be OK with… if the ML had more of a backbone and stood up to her more firmly. It was kind of giving me the vibes that this is going to be a drama where this perfect, privileged rich girl is going to “fix” her problematic man’s life and he’s just going to go along with it instead of pushing back or maintaining his own identity. I’ll probably rewatch the episodes with my partner, so maybe I’ll see more the second time watching that may change my perspective. But episodes 5-6 were kind of a letdown.

I kind of had the same feelings about episode 5 and episode 6 didn’t help. The ML did begin to give off Simp vibes that I wasn’t thrilled about. She’s kinda been walking all over him, making decisions for him and pushing him into situations that he doesn’t want to be in. The imbalance of power in the relationship isn’t sitting right with me now. I need some time to process and think about it.

Btw he’s 14 😀

I knooowww I am 99% sure that I’ve seen him in another drama, it’s been bothering me all day and I wish he had a MDL page so I can figure out what else I saw him in 😩

Edit Nevermind I figured it out lol. Road Home and Moonlit Reunion. Thank god I’ve been wracking my brain all day.

It’s a great show! The director did my all time favorite Cdrama, The Prisoner of Beauty, as well as another top one The Legend of Shen Li. I have faith that he can make a good story!

One of the (many) things I appreciate about this drama is that it seems like the ML actually desires to get married and have a family? When Shen suggested he go through with the marriage proposal, his response wasn’t about how he doesn’t have time or isn’t interested in marriage… but rather how he doesn’t want to marry into a family with a lot of scheming whose priority is to climb the social ladder. He said, almost sadly, that it would feel transactional. Regardless, though, I got the impression from that conversation that he kinda wants to find love and have a family, which I think is really sweet.

This drama has been living in my head all day.

Hahahaha the smiley face at the end of your sentence 😂

“Oh here’s an explanation of how women were celebrated with stone arches by the government for killing themselves in order to follow their husbands into death or for remaining chaste widows forever and then how women became severely oppressed and oftentimes starved to death, kept in isolation or outright murdered in order for the family to get more arches built for them isn’t that interesting :)”