NNN

*Ep 13 cont*
XQ called her to his study for something urgent; talked about the threats from the prince who's the king's brother, and said there's a letter from her family, but he said read it later. He invited her on a recon tour to see life on the mountains.

They're picking horses and he said you know quite a bit, she said what you know, I know too :D they're riding & he's giving her a tour lol and she said she's impressed, and proud of her country, and challenged him to a race. After a while she said (out of breath) "Stop! You won!" and he said nah you let me win :D [TL: so cute!]

He said they cant go back tonight so will have to sleep outside, she asked are there gonna be wolves. He said no wolf, but there's a human [LOL in case it's not clear, he's talking about himself being a "dangerous man", wink].

There's a holiday celebration by the tribe people. XQ told AW "I hear people are praising you, that you're beautiful like the moon and your smile is like honey" [ I'm paraphrasing here; he said a lot, so cheesy hahaha] she asked him "do you agree with them?" & they both smiled sweetly.

They talked a bit about the long wars between their country and these tribes, then a tribal girl asked XQ to dance with her, he said I will if she (AW) let me. AW said I can't let you sorry he's my husband. [!!!<3]

XQ explained to her that per custom if a man accepts a dance with a girl here they'll have to become lovers.
AW: what if the man already has a lover
XQ: well then he has to ask his heart who he truly loves.
AW: then ill find a man to dance with tonight!
XQ side-eyed her: you dare?
AW: of course I dare. [pulls his hand] dance with me!

The next morning they were riding and he promised one day they can leave everything behind and travel the world to see more beautiful sceneries like this. Assassins came, chased them etc. they escaped the assassins in a hut on the mountain, he said it will get cold in the mountains & tried to make a fire. She was very skeptical LOL He said making a fire is the basic for a soldier then struggled a bit, and she helped hahaha
And then kissssss <3

*Ep 13*: XQ calmly pacing (if that's a thing ?) outside of AW's room. Maid said he has been waiting outside 4 nights in a row dot dot dot ? but AW just turned off the light, she thought to herself that since she learned the truth of her marriage she doesn't know how to face him.

He sent her a special meat dish with her meal for her recovery. She was sad there was no wine lol the maid said he doesn't drink wine so they don't have any, but she'll figure it out lol then cut to XQ relieving his angst with a sword dance looool She's crying and has wine all over face so he gently wiped it and carried her to her room. She thought he was Zitan (she drunk) and told him to go away :(
He was undressing her, she got mad and said how dare you take off my clothes if you left me on the wedding night! He said I see that you are still upset about that night? But not a problem, you'll understand very soon.
She was still mad and said What are you to me? (Lol like a kdrama)
He was kinda hurt now: "What am I to you? I guess in your heart I am still the monster with three heads six arms, the one who abandoned you in an empty wedding room, and Yuzhang Prince who conspired with your dad for power" <--- I LOVE this line, btw.

TL note:3 heads 6 arms is a common Chinese idiom to describe people with unusual skills,I think it was from some sort of Buddhist deity/monster myth (i.e you can do a lot because you have 3 heads and 6 arms!).That's why in ep 2?3? His subordinate was joking about this after they met Awu at the festival and XQ said I wish I had more arms.

She said: yes! You're the bad guy! You monster! Why did you abandon me? Why? (then hits him lols)
He laughed: to me you're not the Shangyang princess, you're still that young girl I saw at the festival, the heroine who wasn't afraid of death by the bridge. Now now [pats her to sleep] Come on, listen to me. [SO GENTLE!!!]

He said her clothes are drenched with wine so he just wanted to take it off so she can go to sleep [so thankfully, no rape here!] As she fell asleep, he said "I am your husband. Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are now the Yuzhang Princess. I already acknowledged that when we at the bridge."

Hello! For those who are still waiting for the official Eng sub on Viki, I'll be posting some translations for the OTP scenes in the replies to this comment (and mark as spoilers) for ep 13-19.

there was some great lines in the new eps that are not on viki yet. I'll post some translations in my comment up top/outside of this thread :)

Those are circumstances, not personalities. By flaws I meant character flaws.bso far both of them are quite perfect as people, and that's what Mary Sue means - idealized and unrealistic (as people).

it's a poison that will make her cough up blood and die overnight, but Jin'er didn't know that. The crown princess told her this is medicine that will help Zitan forget Awu, so give one to Zitan and one to Awu. I was like....lady this logic don't work - shouldn't the medicine be given only to the one who needs to forget??

Also, I'm not talking about the romance being too perfect; I'm talking about the characters. Both of them are supremely capable strategists, we've only seen them win so far. We still have a lot of episodes left, I hope to see them stubble a bit, see what makes them tick, how their own mistakes - and not the enemy'd luck- make them reveal themselves more as human beings. That's usually the more interesting part of the story for me.

See my comment outside of this thread, but just to reiterate: I LIKE that there was no misunderstanding-fueled obstacles. But there are ways to make a character flawed without making them stupid, to make a romance more exciting with some realistic conflicts without resorting to misunderstanding or noble idiocy. Ming Lan (since we were comparing the two) did that very well I thought: no misunderstanding, just some existing prejudice at first, then lack of trust (which was a core character trait for Ming Lan), and then lack of confidence (again, a core character trait built by circumstances from the Ming Lan side AND Gu Ting Ye sides). Everything so far has been quite easy for this couple, so they fell in love quite fast - but I get it, this is not a drama about "will they won't they"; as a romance fan I was just hoping to see some push and pull for longer - maybe something like they became friends first before falling in love etc. Re: politics, good to know - I'll check out the novel if I can! Maybe they just simplified it for the drama's sake, but yes I definitely hold politics to the standards of JOL or NIF.

Really liking this drama despite myself. I couldn't help but notice the weird editing (some scenes are too long with characters repeating the same thing in different ways, some scenes are too short cutting off the emotional beat), the rather simplistic politics, the outdated storytelling. But the OTP makes me forget about all that. Top notch acting from both of them - such charisma! Such gravitas! ZZY dropped the 15-year-old girl act early on, so don't worry about that. It's fun watching main characters who are smart and capable. They're also very reasonable and honest people, so no misunderstanding-fueled obstacles here for the romance (thankfully! Though I was hoping the falling in love stage lasted a bit longer, cos that's always the most fun part of the romance). That said, maybe they are TOO capable - if they don't show some flaws or weaknesses soon (I'm at ep 19; watching with Viet sub), they will borderline Mary Sue for me :(

You're comparing two very different dramas. This one obviously goes for palace politics, the main message is about the - well- industry of being a monarch, how people compromise their families for it. Ming Lan, on the other hand, is really about family and accepting yourself. The scheming and politics in this show is so simplistic, I could ff and still get what's going on. Ming Lan doesn't have too much palace politics, more like polite society politics and family politics, but it was so clever. Super satisfying to see Ming Lan uses society constraints on women to her advantage. And both Ming Lan and Gu Ting Ye are people with flaws, which make them living breathing characters. Xiao Qi and Awu are...too perfect; they never make a wrong move, always top of their game. I love them separately and together, but I'm really waiting for them to show some kind of misstep or weakness, otherwise they'd be Mary Sue (idealized versions of self-inserts).

Wow if you think NHK, a government supported (their board is appointed by the legislative body of Japan) network is "leftist", you're saying that the Japanese government, who can't even support women in the workplace and does not allow women to become head of state, is "leftist", I shudder to imagine what you consider "not-leftist".

What a lovely drama! I understand the complaints about the main leads not spending enough time together, but even when they're apart, you can see that they're still thinking about each other, influencing/inspiring each other, and that makes their relationship that much more meaningful. Every character here is so likeable - they were able to avoid the evil SFL and clingy SML tropes entirely, while creating a compelling love rectangle. The characters have dreams and ambitions, even as those dreams are tightly connected to their romance (meaning they don't exist just to be a romantic partner to someone). Highly recommended this drama for a romantic and relaxing watch!

Last but not least!(sorry mydramalist doesn't let me edit comments and I keep remembering extra things!), anchormen and anchorwomen in Korea are "prestige" entertainment positions. I don't follow all of Korea media either, mostly just kdrama and kpop, yet I still see news about anchor people getting married or getting into scandals and whatnot. So yes, they are a legitimate category of celebrities, and suffer from the same kind of scrutiny kpop idols do (tho maybe with less intensity).

You might have heard of Super Junior's fans petitioning to expel a member for getting secretly married. That's one prime example among many. Celebrities in Korea have to "apologize and reflect" all the time about their personal life. It's not the same frame of reference as other countries (I can see Japan and China having more or less similar entertainment culture but not in, say, the US where I'm at).

Unfortunately that's the reality in Korea. Really prying and judgmental audience. Causes of distress for many celebrities :(

I really hope so! Korea, realistically, is a very status-based society. I don't know how he would get that job having not played basketball professionally at all...but let's hope!!!!

I think just an availability issue. It's not legally available on streaming sites in a lot of countries, esp the big market of the US. It's doing quite well in Korea however!

It's soooo hilarious to see him act like an old man and an equal to people twice his age and a senior to his peers.

The way he moves and talks is uncannily similar to Yoon Sang Hyun's, such a great actor!

I think there were some hints that the daughter might mistakenly think she likes her dad, but it will resolve soon. She repeatedly calls him out for acting like a dad lol so there's hope yet. In the original movie, the daughter very briefly crushed on the dad but he told her he was in love with someone else and that was over in a flash! In this drama too if you remember, Dajung said to Si Ah her first love was her dad - obviously not in the romantic way, but I think it's foreshadowing. I think this will help Si Ah come to actually like her dad as a person, which very often is the problem between parent and child: they're only tied to each other as family, but not as people who like each other.