Kaihua

that Wen Can... I said his love was selfish and he's the type to blow up at a girl for ghosting his texts and that was BEFORE I saw episode 19. At this point, this mentality is already near the same level as He Xing Ming. Yet he manages to be more insufferable, because at least HXM knew he was a bastard, but WC is the truest form of Nice Guy and thinks he's the most pitiable person there. bleghhh

I think the worst part about the cousin is that he gets frustrated and upset with RSB too, as if she owes him reciprocated feelings, and as if feelings are a choice. In the modern day, there's at least a 40% chance he'd start cursing you out via text if you ghosted him or turned him down lol
His love is selfish, especially because he is so caught up in his own feelings and jealousy to try to properly understand her actions, or ask what he can do to help (when he helps her, he makes the choice on his own without consulting her). He doesn't bother to wonder how he ended up falling so far behind. When he expreiences rejection, he doesn't look inward to examine or improve himself but instead looks outward to find fault with everyone else.

it's all part of the dance~ she knows it's only a matter of time before he gets his memories back. her telling him that isn't just a message for him in the present, it's a message for him in the future when his memories return, and she will be testing him
in the future, when his memories return and he still chooses to lie to her even knowing what she told him about not telling lies to her, it shows that whatever he was here for isn't something he can trust her with, and so she can't trust him either by then. and she WILL know, because she's always been able to tell when he's not being fully honest

Agreed, plus it's established in the very earliest episodes that basically nothing gets past her, she has always been able to see through his dishonesty so obviously she'd notice now too. Honestly both actors did a great job with showing just in their expressions that she's already guessed his memories returned, he's already guessed that she guessed it, and they are now mutually pretending the relationship is unchanged while sussing each other out on the low

this is my favourite thing about the show HHAha

It's stated a few times in the show that these are sons from families that can't be offended - even if there's wrongdoing, the Rong family has to leave them a sliver of face in front of the public. There's the mentality that you have always leave your opponents room to escape, because even a mouse bites back when it's cornered. Save them a little face to the public to avoid bringing even more trouble to your door. That being said personally I think he deserves to be exiled LMAO that was diabolical on so many levels

Yes, it's revealed in the episodes leading up to 16, she is the missing Yang wife

Law as a concept is not the same as the legal process that was carried out in reality. She agrees with her father's writing on law and justice. Law is meant to uphold principles by legislative means, and this should be aspired to. Yes the government is corrupt and laws are being exploited. A system can be flawed but that doesn't mean you can't believe that it *should* be better or different, and that you shouldn't try to be that change you want to see in the world. If you can't uphold a foundational standard for moral principles a society needs to try to live up to, then it will only make things worse in ways I hope I don't need to elaborate. Personally I don't even agree with her belief, but it's not like it doesn't make sense. Anyway, the idea of law and justice is the whole thesis of the show and part of proving your narrative thesis is to have characters and situations that challenge that point of view. This is just standard story structure so of course she's going to voice her disagreement because the show is trying to make a point

Often the way information is revealed (sometomes very upfront showing who the murderer is even) and the way it's paced, it is more focused on the journey of "how did they do it" or "why did they do it" than "who did it?". Even when the culprit isn't revealed right away, as with any mystery novel, you can solve it yourself before the reveal given all the clues but the drama's priority is people being brought to justice. When you tag along for the investigations, the investment is mainly on whether or not the victim can be brought to justice, if the leads can find enough evidence to prove who did it, etc. It's not trying to be Agatha Christie

The cousin is definitely on an arc to becoming blackened, I'm counting on it

In fact, the show uses her childhood friend to showcase the difference between the ML and other men. No one else tries to understand her or put her first in the end. Whether part of his fox like schemes or not, the ML remaining calm afterwards and saying 'you must have your reasons' is the tact, understanding and cunning that she needs from a partner and a reliable confidant

I don't watch reality tv but this immense entertainment I get from watching these messy catty men compete for a bachelorette is probably the closest it gets to feeling like it

you weren't kidding, when I read this a few hours ago it was 8.3 and now it's just 8. I'll never understand people...

don't let first impressions deceive you, this drama is repeatedly hinting at the viewer to pay attention because many things are not as simple as they appear

Normally I think more stories should focus on plot and romance can be a side benefit, because romance can never be the whole plot imo. So I would normally have appreciated this show putting it off to the side. But the main thesis of the entire show, besides general women's rights, was the themes around love and what makes true, loving bonds so that you have a sincere family, lover, and home. The lack of chemistry and overall romantic moments with it made it really hard to sell me on this. A lot of melodrama focused on their love for each other yet my heart just wasn't in it...

because even though Zhen Huan gets rid of the emperor who caused so much pain and suffering, there has to always be another to take his place. Having put Hongli on the throne, she has doomed Hongli to suffer a similar lifetime as the emperor, and by extension the harem. Given that Ruyi is also about the illusion of love falling away from the sound of it, it is like a confirmation of history repeating itself, a doomed system

Going to watch this after finishing Legend of Zhen Huan, which takes place during the previous emperor's reign. Although I won't regard this show as being in the same universe, I do think there is something bitterly poetic about it:

I will never be the same

I've seen plenty of other adaptations and enjoyed them, I'm not unaware. It's that this one drops the ball on communicating the emotional beats of key narrative throughlines that badly and the characters might as well be new people. I'm just really disappointed because I was excited going into the drama. The point of my comment was I hope people will consider reading the webtoon if they like the show, or even if they feel like it's lacking the webtoon should still be given a chance. ¯\_(′ー′)_/¯

as an adaptation, this show is what you get at the end of a game of telephone. it's honestly a disservice to the webtoon because of how much depth and nuance completely gets taken out. The only thing is does well is the intimacy scenes, everything else compared to the webtoon is a joke