Well-constructed drama
I'm a big fan of Liu Yuning and I also like Song Zu Er. As the two leads, they both did an excellent job conveying complicated emotions with slight facial expressions and gestures. Liu Yuning is a master at portraying an emotionally repressed man trying to find his humanity in a society riddled with stultifying rules and terrifying expectations. At least he has wealth, power, and a cadre of underlings to satisfy his every whim. The FL (Xiao Qiao) played by Song Zu Er has a riskier path and has to watch her step at every turn. In fact, she was almost murdered by her suspicious husband-to-be before they'd even met. The series follows the slowly-evolving trust between these two as each navigates the treacherous waters surrounding them..
Xiao Qiao is beautiful enough to enchant her husband, but he's not a soft touch. He's suffered trauma and loss at the hands of the male members of her clan, and so he's especially wary of his new Qiao wife. But she's smart enough to weather the storm and allay most of his fears. The English title doesn’t seem accurate. The ML certainly isn't a "prisoner" of beauty--quite the contrary.
This is a slow-moving character study and a lot of drama time is given over to each minor issue as it arises. He reads her out-going letters; she soothes his silly and ignorant mother. He's annoyed that she doesn't wear the hairpin he chose for her. She worries he's interested in another woman.
Actually, all this was a little too much for me. It's true that there are more serious struggles from time to time. But the focus of this drama seems to be on all these trivial slights and misunderstandings. Did I mention that these two--though married--hadn't even kissed by Episode 22?
In THE TALE OF PEARL GIRL, Liu Yuning plays a similar character, a merchant preoccupied by revenge who becomes a more compassionate human being due to his love for a woman. But that drama, although flawed, has a more robust plot than this one, with Liu Yuning displaying different aspects of his personality in a variety of settings.
Also, why is the only fat guy in the series-he's the comic relief, naturally--matched up with the only overweight girl in the series?
Why does Son Zuer keep her mouth open so much of the time? It's quite distracting. Other than that, her character, Xiao Qiao, seems to be admirable in every way. She's a helpmate who continually spares her husband's ego, rarely makes a misstep, and almost never demands anything for herself. She's as soft and doughy as Wonder Bread. Even her calligraphy is perfect. It's true she shows some spunk in the end, but I can't help but get the impression that this woman is being presented as a model of what every young woman in China should aspire to–passively obedient. Lord help us all!
Xiao Qiao is beautiful enough to enchant her husband, but he's not a soft touch. He's suffered trauma and loss at the hands of the male members of her clan, and so he's especially wary of his new Qiao wife. But she's smart enough to weather the storm and allay most of his fears. The English title doesn’t seem accurate. The ML certainly isn't a "prisoner" of beauty--quite the contrary.
This is a slow-moving character study and a lot of drama time is given over to each minor issue as it arises. He reads her out-going letters; she soothes his silly and ignorant mother. He's annoyed that she doesn't wear the hairpin he chose for her. She worries he's interested in another woman.
Actually, all this was a little too much for me. It's true that there are more serious struggles from time to time. But the focus of this drama seems to be on all these trivial slights and misunderstandings. Did I mention that these two--though married--hadn't even kissed by Episode 22?
In THE TALE OF PEARL GIRL, Liu Yuning plays a similar character, a merchant preoccupied by revenge who becomes a more compassionate human being due to his love for a woman. But that drama, although flawed, has a more robust plot than this one, with Liu Yuning displaying different aspects of his personality in a variety of settings.
Also, why is the only fat guy in the series-he's the comic relief, naturally--matched up with the only overweight girl in the series?
Why does Son Zuer keep her mouth open so much of the time? It's quite distracting. Other than that, her character, Xiao Qiao, seems to be admirable in every way. She's a helpmate who continually spares her husband's ego, rarely makes a misstep, and almost never demands anything for herself. She's as soft and doughy as Wonder Bread. Even her calligraphy is perfect. It's true she shows some spunk in the end, but I can't help but get the impression that this woman is being presented as a model of what every young woman in China should aspire to–passively obedient. Lord help us all!
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