Ahjummai

Nothing as horrid as what the princess went thru in The Double. Youzhen was married off to another powerful family outside Chang'an for alliance and lost her virginity and probably a lot of familial scheming on her ex-hubby's household. Still harboring feelings for LC, he was her TOTGA. So when her hubby died, she thought she could go back and be with LC. And she's a spoiled brat.

Chuanyu told the girls outside the real story but they are not allowed to tell anyone. If JCY told MD the truth, she most likely will reject it and tell him to save it for his real wife in the future.

He even gave her the comb his mother left him for his future wife.
Mudan, Mudan... now that you reached your goals can you finally have space in your heart for romance?

Wedding attire
Something to consider: https://x.com/mvkrizzy/status/1882617698020188368

I know we can't wait for Part 2 to air, but there are several factors to consider:
- Period between seasons rule : listed under different names could be a loophole
- Satellite TV schedule : right now Part 1 is still airing. TV schedules are usually booked in advance so either they already blocked off when to air Part 2 or move around their planned dramas to give way.

It feels like the satellite tv release would be the clincher. It's doing well there tv ratings-wise, so I'm sure they also want to air the next part soon. But they might have other contractual obligations they need to fulfill in terms of broadcast. At the end of the day, cdrama caters to the chinese market first and foremost and us international viewers are secondary thoughts hahahuhu they don't need us for billions of viewership lols

They're probably waiting for the satellite tv broadcast to end before the next part will be released. For sure sat-tv will move schedules to give way for part 2 given how high their ratings are now.

I kinda like the changes they have made for the political side. It was a bit messy in the novel with Changfeng and Danniang being pulled here and there by it. In the drama, they are active participants so they can flesh it out some more.

It's because China added a newer rule where there should be a long period between part 1 and part 2. Immortal Samsara came out when the 40ep-max rule was just implemented so they just split it and aired part 2 quickly after. But people are saying that since Flourished Peony Part 2 is named differently, it might have found a loophole to air it quickly. 🤞

The subs in that part was also flying fast. In case you missed this part: Prince Ning suggested to Liu Chang's father that they can adopt a child from their distant relatives to continue their family line if they wanted. It was something done during that time by adopting still within family ties, it's not a total outsider but still not the same as a child of their "own blood". So this suggestion still mocked them so it wasn't enough to get them to sign.

Yes because Prince Ning holds the military power and have very strong political network. He is on the verge of usurping the throne so they need to cut him off before that happens.

When they took Mudan to court for falsifying her identity, Liu Chang's father told the judge to also remove her from their family registry (kick her out versus divorce so her dowry is still theirs) and pay them back the money she took (the carriage she took and left near her family's home was filled with her dowry money and items of value).
So when she became a slave, she was also without any doubt no longer married to Liu Chang.

He would not be allowed to take in other wives or concubines. In other words, with the County Princess infertile he would never have a legitimate heir and thus end their blood line.

As I said, feelings are valid. But look at the words of OP and how accusatory it is like the producers willfully and deliberately hoodwinked people. They did not.

Saying the producers tricked them isn't correct either. It doesn't need deep research. Feelings are valid but reacting poorly and wrong accusation is incorrect.

If you are the type who would not watch a drama that's split into two, then it is part of your due diligence to check. People have been talking about this before the drama started. Of course, when the drama started the discussion turned toward the episodes.

we've known before it aired.

Those are older dramas. It's a new-ish law around the time of Immortal Samsara iirc

It's legal. They have stamped concubinage papers that's why everyone knows it now. It's just that they agree that it's not "real" so they don't have husband-wife obligations to each other.

Yes. They filmed Part 1 and Part 2 together, but had to split the drama to comply to the maximum-40-episode per drama rule.

If you mean with the other concubine, it was unavoidable. JCY needed to remain in good terms with Prince Ning because of his and the emperor's plans. It's not like he didn't try to dissuade Prince Ning who was a bulldozer that could not be stopped.
JCY explained this to Mudan and she understood the situation. Him taking her as a concubine became a precedent, so JCY could no longer refuse Prince Ning. This was not the first time Prince Ning tried to tie JCY down to his side with a marriage, but he was able to refuse before. Be glad that he only push another concubine and not a legal wife. Prince Ning definitely have enough power among nobles to get him a noble daughter to marry if he wanted. So Mudan is still the higher ranking concubine being the first and being the favored one (the one JCY visits).

In the novel, there is no concubine and Mudan is the legal wife. But in the novel, there are many other families with concubines and their dramas.
With the drama's message of women helping other women and Mudan's kindness and understanding, maybe she won't become a big headache but an ally giving misinformation to Prince Ning instead of being Prince Ning's spy.
But we'll only know when Part 2 comes out.