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This drama is set loosely around the Ming Dynasty and in early Ming Dynasty, the restrictions on women were definitely stricter. But by late Ming Dynasty, there was an increase in liberal teachings and an increased access to education for women. There were women who came out of this period as poets, painters, writers, and were recognized for them.

Lanxiang as a character was set up to be from the Shen family that heavily encouraged education and knowing many different things so it did try to set up her background as unique already.

I do think her level of thinking is way ahead of this time, but I can suspend my belief to a certain degree based on the situations she went through. It is definitely not hard to think eventually that the emperor can be a terrible person, and the heaven of mandate is wrong if one's family is killed off. 🤔

I think Lanxiang was a very special case due to surviving what she survived. Not many would even dare to think about the emperor being wrong like she did in the recent episode (or at least not verbalize it).

I also think Lanxiang served as a "modern viewer's speaker" besides being a FL. She says things that the modern viewer would probably say. This drama did say it is not trying to be "realistic" though it does take references from history. It does make for an interesting viewing experience but I can see the conflicts it can cause with a period setting drama but having "modern thoughts".

It is definitely a thought provoking drama with the whole imperial decree and drugging plot because they really didn't have to do that if they just wanted an "easy romance".

These plot points have made it hard for the romance to seen as "real" and even harder to justify that Lanxiang would fall for Jinqi later. I can only say she is comfortable with him now and grateful for what he has done. But it is not truly romance in my book. In its own way, perhaps it is also interesting to explore this kind of "love". Lanxiang's world is too large and Jinqi really is just a small part of it.

The romance aspect of Jewel in the Palace was even more minimal from what I remember. It was a very full on female-ensemble drama. Min Jeongho also didn't have to go through "character development" nor had a forced marriage plot that had to be addressed in order for it to then progress into romance. He was already a good character to begin with and their meeting was able to progress into romance naturally while the leads here had a whole power imbalance dynamic.

This drama was also based on a novel with pretty much an irredeemable ML that was adjusted to make him more acceptable in this drama. As there are people who don't like this drama, there are just as many that do still enjoy the drama and can see the messages represented by these different female characters.

Some reviewers on Bilibili also spoke about these aspects. I think the reviewers would have been fine with the plot point if there was no romance even until the end. Though one can argue Jinqi understood that was wrong later on but I know many had a hard time with that plot line as this drama emphasized so much on Lanxiang's strive for freedom.

Another thing I saw C-reviewers mentioned was the situation with Ji-er which I did agreed with as it seemed it only happened to make sure the relationship between the leads can still happen. If Lanxiang really was SA-ed, it would bring up the question if Jinqi would still push for the imperial decree and what would happen if it gets out that she "worked" in a brothel and the effect that did have on the Lin's reputation.

I also saw some criticisms already over a future plot regarding what Jinqi said to Marquis Yuan.

I think they just wanted it "all". Romance for these kinds of topics is always a hard sell. Especially for someone like Lanxiang whose thoughts are so much more beyond than the time period they are in. Jinqi and Lanxiang at this point have companionship and a mutual understanding of each other and sometimes, that is enough. There is "love" but the love is not the same as the love by modern times metrics. "Love" in that time has too much other things wrapped into it especially when their marriage didn't start with consent either.

I actually would have preferred a "bad ending" where after Jinqi recognized his mistakes, they part ways (and maybe come together years later again if they truly want to push for the romance). But it is not doable in their situation as their marriage was due to an imperial decree so a divorce is pretty much not on the table.

Yes, he has a heart condition. 😔

I know not everyone is happy but I think if we see it from the perspective of Lanxiang as the main narrator, then it "makes sense". The story isn't really about Jinqi after all, it would have been nice for us to see the issues Lanxiang mentioned when he was in court and how he slowly comes to his own realization that it really is better to get away from the imperial system (but that would turn this into a ML-centric drama lol). But whether he comes to that realization or not doesn't really "matter" for this drama. Either he does and his family will live on for a long time, either he doesn't and his family will eventually be wiped out down the line.

For those who want more from the main pair though, I can see why some might be disappointed. I don't think this relationship of theirs will truly be "romantic" to the standard people wanted them to be. But they now have the same mindset to protect their family, mutual respect, companionship, etc. Jinqi had to go through a lot of mindset changes to even be on "equal footing" as Lanxiang in regards to her view of the world. That took at least a decade. This is a drama of these characters' entire life time and the "love" aspect have always been a small part, especially for that time period in which love has nothing to do with the freedom to meet someone, fall in love, and then date.

The amount of time skips in episode 39. 😂

She is hilarious. She really said no consummation until Jinqi retires from his job. 😂

Lanxiang to Jinqi basically: You broke the rules a couple of times but you are still part of the system... are you willing to truly go against the system when it truly matters?

This was one of the few S+ Tencent drama from this year so it was expected to do well. There was also a lot of marketing on C-platforms too. Clips of Du Cuique was gaining massive amount of numbers even before the drama aired. Currently though, the actress who gained the most attention from this drama is Li Meng. Her recent Douyin vids for example have way more likes than the leads'.

The heat index reached 33K for this drama but there is debate over the numbers for this drama with the viewership numbers. Tencent dramas that reached 33K heat index typically have at least 50 million views per episode (Joy of Life Season 2 for example reached over 100 million views per episode during its tracking period). ATC currently has around 21 million views per episode. It is possible that Tencent lowered its heat index threshold in general as C-dramas are being watched less and less.

Yunhe (tracks viewership numbers) have been said to be unreliable now so fandoms also use new user acquisition numbers to check whether a drama's numbers is reliable. ATC's number for that is on the lower end too.

Regardless, ATC is a good drama and deserved at least 30K heat index but popularity wise, it is not to point of surpassing some of Tencent top dramas like Joy of Life, A Dream of Splendor, Love like the Galaxy, and Lost You Forever. Those dramas absolutely blew up back in China then. But just based on current heat index, it is already above Love like the Galaxy and Lost You Forever so that's why there are debates over it.

Overall, it is definitely one of the top C-drama this year with great discussions about it but C-drama numbers are in a downward trend in general so the heat index/viewership mismatch have bigger and bigger gaps each year.

Truth! Passionate love rarely lasts for a long time either. It usually transforms into more quiet love or fading into just respect/companionship.

A FL-centric drama is done well when the romance is really not that relevant in the grand scheme of things. There are too many other relationships and feelings beyond romantic love in a woman's life time. There are enough C-dramas with romance as the center that disregard the characters as individuals so it is always nice to have dramas like this that focus on women as just women.

Some C-netz have made comments saying this drama should be called "Survival" as it is just different women surviving the situations they end up in and trying to make sense of the patriarchy as best as they could back then. 😅

MVP of episode 36 is Zhao Xingtang for sure. Good news? She learned to read. 🥲

Though Lanxiang and ZXT herself said she is not someone who repay kindness with kindness, I think deep down she IS someone who does give back double to those who gives her kindness. The way she gave all those taels to Qingxiang, went out of her way to get her, her even bothering to continue with the affair out of her love for her lover when it benefitted her way more to just drop him and commit to Jinqi, etc.

She has done terrible things for sure but if ZXT exists in modern times with more opportunities, not tied to her family, and met good friends like Lanxiang, then she could just simply be herself and not just a marriage tool thrown from the Lin to the Dai. Of course, great acting from Li Meng. She managed to convey the haughtiness yet heartache of such an interesting character.

Jinlan is so husband material. What do you mean he is considerate, sweet, gentle, smart, AND loyal. His heart condition probably plays a part into it but his little scenes here and there with Suhua are so sweet.

They are hilarious for that! 😂

They know what the viewers want! 🤣

Haha, I guess the scriptwriters are trying to show the viewers as much "miserable" scenes of his as possible to make up for some of the things he did previously against Lanxiang. It helps to soften the viewers' and Lanxiang's heart.

The set up of that scene was brilliant. 😂