CKDramaddicts

The original poster is not talking about the current government though. They are referring specifically to so-called "Deep State" conspiracy theory that there is a secret network of unelected officials who operate independently of the official government that heavily influence policy and society.

Edited to remove my incorrect assumptions about OP politics. :)

Ruminating questions and thoughts:
- Am I to assume that the other girl's soul went back into the Joseon body and was the one at the end who spoke in a modern way and had no memory of the past when she met up with the prince?
- I would have liked to have learned more about how she rose to become so powerful before she was executed.
- Did we ever really find out why that extra who seemed so friendly actually hated the FL so much?
- If the FL in the past actually died/disappeared with the prince, then wouldn't that mean she didn't rise through the ranks to become powerful and therefore wasn't executed? And if so, then history would be different and that poison scene in the drama Kingdom of Women wouldn't exist and she would likely have not become such an infamous historical figure?

I'm a bit surprised by the harsh reviews. I watched this right on the heels of Perfect Crown and thought this was the much better drama in every way. I didn't feel the urge to binge Perfect Crown and it took me a while to finish. While I enjoyed it enough, it was overall pretty not particularly memorable. I inhaled this one, I found it so entertaining, especially the first few episodes. It did get heavier and a bit less original in the second half with the chaebol family drama plot and there were a few small plot holes and unanswered questions, but I found them fairly easy to over look. I also liked the backstory of the FL's soul and its origins. The lead actors did a great job and I thought had pretty good chemistry.

Fun and entertaining watch overall and some truly hilarious parts, but the villain(s) felt a bit too one-dimensional and fell a bit short for me. The last episode or two were also a bit too predictable, and yet we were still left with some unanswered questions. If you are fans of Park Eun Bin and Eun Cha Woo, definitely worth checking out. They are both immensely enjoyable to watch (even if PEB's acting is significantly better than ECW's 🫣).

Thanks for sharing the details from the novel!

I don't believe they ever show her face.

Everyone is absolutely entitled to their own opinions, but the viewer called the FL a "slut", which does seem extreme and harsh to me, especially in 2026 when I would hope we have less oppressive views of women or at least speak more respectfully about women.

As to your scenarios, none of those would ever be considered cheating in any normal and rational C drama or real life situation in my experience if the context is platonic, not romantic or sexual. So no, I do not consider it a double standard. Sexual harassment applies when the interaction is forced and unwanted, and sexual in nature. If holding a dying person is automatically considered cheating, then I am sorry, that sounds very unhealthy and even emotionally abusive, and not a relationship I would want to be a part of. (In my viewing experience of hundreds of Asian dramas, the most common types of dramas where those scenarios might be considered "cheating" are mostly the unhinged verticals with the toxic, red flag, controlling and abusive MLs.)

The Fifth Prince was problematic and repeatedly crossed the line, but he recognized his own failings, which was why he went to such extreme measures to stop himself and help the FL. But in my opinion, at no point did the FL behave inappropriately or unfaithfully.

This is such a bizarre and unfairly harsh reaction that it almost feels like trolling? I have a hard time understanding how these comments have gotten so many likes. The whole evolution and growth of her character is that the Crown Prince, Shen Xihe's family and friendships in her second life taught her love, warmth, trust, and care. The whole thing would fall flat if she remained cold and unchanged to the end.

She can still be true to the Crown Prince and their love and still care for the Fifth Prince as a *human being*, who loved her enough to sacrifice everything including his life, his reputation, be publicly labeled as a traitor to protect her future, and is literally dying in front of her. His love clearly remained unrequited, but there is nothing wrong with offering comfort at the end of his life, especially when he sacrificed everything for her. She is also allowed to be sad about the tragic end to his life, especially when she had always wished him well and had hoped that he would be able to move on. At that point in the story, they had known each other for many years. Empathy is not some unforgivable sin, nor is interacting with him.

In her first life, she didn't love him and had no care for his feelings, but she already knew the sacrifices he made to try and protect her. It was her character growth in her second life that allowed her to not be so heartless in her actions over time.

As for the ML, once she understood her feelings for him, she clearly thawed and slowly allowed him to get physically closer to her, but even then, all of that took place over the course of less than a year, so technically she warmed up pretty quickly compared to the Fifth Prince whom she has known for many years by that point.

(And to the argument in a separate reply, it would have been completely illogical and against character for her to kill her husband from her previous life. First, he's a prince, she's not stupid and reckless. Second, the only people she let "die" or be killed were those who actually committed murder; she let a lot of other people go, or gave them second chances. Third, her secret is so fantastical that she really didn't need to worry about her secret being exposed, because who would believe it?)

No, in China, it is definitely not necessarily easy for different reasons: if you have money, or if people around you with money are motivated to keep your arrest a secret; politically sensitive arrests often happen in total secret as well. In this case, it will likely be difficult to prove if either story are true (documents can be falsified) - and why I used allegedly. However, I do have trouble ignoring allegations of abuse; I doubt women in general would wish to subject themselves to the vicious public attacks and intense scrutiny and doubt that comes with accusing someone well known (however niche) unless there was truth to their accusations and they felt that the need to report outweighed the consequences to their own well-being.

I was so luke warm starting this and only tried it out because several friends really liked it. I ended up bingeing and it became one of the better dramas I've watched this year!

You completely ignore the crux of my post, but focus on things I never said. I never talked about income levels, I never talked about whether white collar or blue collar workers are making more or less, and I can certainly believe the dramatic transition to flexible work and that many make good money. That doesn't negate anything I said, which is that MANY people have found incredible success but there are ALSO people struggling like everywhere else. And people can make good money and still struggle because they have to work exhausting hours to achieve that income, or the value of their home has plunged, or because they have enormous medical bills, or because of the high cost of supplementary schooling to make sure their children can get into a good school, or all of those factors, etc. And I got my information by having conversations directly with my taxi and Didi drivers, my relatives, etc. Unless you are telling me their experiences and the experiences of the people they know don't count, these are all actual examples I hear first hand. And I certainly also know plenty of extremely successful people too, including relatives and friends of friends and family.

"Infested"??? That's a pretty racist description. And lower down in another comment, saying someone's "daughter has to marry a Black man becoz no other suitable bachelors", along with your ultra-nationalist views about China and calling those who choose to move abroad "cowards". Please. The immigrants from China and all over the world I have known throughout my life are the furthest thing from cowards. It takes incredible courage and strength to leave everything you know and love behind to try something new and start from scratch in a foreign land where you do not even speak the language and do not understand the culture. And not everyone is motivated by money.

I feel sad and pity seeing such a myopic, racist view when there is so much richness to experience and learn from in the vast world. Some people love the country they were born in, others love the country who welcomed them as immigrants. I love the country I was born and appreciate the country of my ancestral roots. I think both places have many enviable qualities and many problems as well. We can all love the place we call home the most and think it's the best, you can be proud of your country, but to do so while making generalized denigrating remarks about others and other places is prejudiced and narrow-minded at best. Those with an inferiority complex often feel the need to disparage others in order to make themselves feel superior.

(And as an aside, yes, a lot of people have found incredible success in China, but strike up a conversation with any random hard-working individual you encounter over the course of the day in any city in China (Didi driver, office worker, service industry worker, etc.) and they can also tell you about their struggles to make ends meet, exhausting and long work days, etc. -- just like everywhere else.

I also can't help but wonder if you have visited the U.S. or a developing country based on your wildly inaccurate (dare I say, propaganda-fuelled) description: "now their suburbs look like even worse than third world country.")

As far as I understand, the accusations of abuse and a prison term blew up in February of 2026. He hasn't released a new drama out in quite a few months, which speaks volumes (filming and turnaround schedules for verticals are extremely intense). The last ones were released in March, which means they were likely filmed before the allegations came out.

Either way, almost all his 2024 dramas were released in January 2024, which means they were all filmed in 2023. The likelihood that his last drama of 2024, which was released in March, was also filmed in 2023 is quite high.

Regulations and enforcement around verticals are still fairly lax in China, so even if the allegations are true, it's not surprising that they continued to release his works or that he resumed filming in 2025. And as is often the case unfortunately, it only matters to these companies if the public finds out/things blow up and gets too much attention.

Notably, the period in which he was allegedly sick with COVID overlaps pretty much exactly with the period in which he allegedly went to prison. From what I was able to find, published news that he had been sick with COVID -- and how that was the reason why he "suddenly disappeared" and stopped filming at the end of 2023 -- came out in late 2025 -- shortly before his ex wife's allegations. So either he was genuinely sick or it was a convenient cover to explain away his time in prison and a pre-emptive move to get ahead of anything the ex-wife may have been threatening to release to the public. The timing of everything is certainly ... interesting.

Finally, I am appalled that serious allegations of domestic violence are being dismissed by some commenters as merely "gossip" and "scandal" about someone's personal life. Biographies include where people went to school and who they married! We're not talking about some cheating scandal. If a crime has been committed, it is news. (And personally speaking, I would want to know because I have zero interest in supporting or watching a violent abuser on my TV.)

It's stated on this page under related content. But I've seen it also mentioned on various social media posts about this drama. They are part of the "Blue String" webtoon universe focused on the high school world (Teach You A Lesson is based on "Get Schooled"): https://blue-string-universe.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_String_Webtoon_Crossovers

Interesting article that touches on the Korean Education System: Netflix drama 'Teach You a Lesson' serves as reality check for Korea's broken education system - The Korea Times https://share.google/XbFL0IHCLQkBRtQFb

Since this is a shared universe as Study Group, does it matter what order they should be watched in or if one needs to watch the other to enrich the experience? Thanks!

Okay, I suspected as much! Good to know, thanks!

How brutal is the violence? My kids are interested in watching it together but I think one of them will be way too young based on the rating, and the older one is fairly squeamish to any kind of realistic violence. Thanks!

Why is that considered low quality? I thought it was fairly well done.

Really enjoying this drama so much despite the astoundingly awful mothers! More than anything, I am frankly bowled over and delighted to see Wang Hao Zhen playing such a wholesome (and poor!) green flag, lol. I am used to him playing super rich, Red Flag Alpha CEOs/Republican Era War Lords. 🤣😂 I also love that they went all in with the Sichuan dialect and Sichuan mandarin accent, giving it a more authentic feel. For a short-length, the setting is well done, and the cast - including the annoying characters and barely-there supporting roles - have all done a great job. No cringy acting. The whole drama is very nostalgic and took me back to the China I grew up hearing about from family.