Hikari Hana

The soundtrack when Tang Hao appeared brought so much memories. 😆

Maybe she did misunderstand him at first, but when they met again in the capital, the way he treated people makes it impossible for her to see him in another light. He kept forcing himself, grabbing her at her throat, using her as a bait just to get an answer, and even using her as a bait to kill Shenyuan - those are enough for Yining to see his true colours. Had he treated her with respect when he suspected her as Mei Mei, maybe Yining wouldn't so adamantly rejected him.

Too bad that some viewers don't understand that Yining hates him for the way he has been treating her and her beloved gege. Yes, she misunderstood him at first, but did she misunderstand him when he forced his way with Yining? I understand the sympathy for the character, but Lu Jiaxue burnt the bridge when he attempted to kill Shenyuan using her as bait. Had he not gotten so obsessed with her and attempted to kill Shenyuan again and again, they might at least be good friends.

I love it. It's one of the drama that I will rewatch over and over again because it's not too heavy on the plot. It can be boring for those who doesn't enjoy house politics. Especially Story of Minglan, because it's quite long, and you'll get more biatches and cray cray old women compared to The Rise of Ning.

Just like Story of Minglan and The Sword and Brocade, The Rise of Ning will be in my top show I can do a rewatch. The story is easy and not too stressful (maybe a bit because of Lu Jiaxue) as I've always enjoyed watching this genre. I'm happy with the overall story (except maybe Lu Jiaxue) and glad that I followed their journey.

At first I was frustrated that he died because I wanted him to suffer but then I realize that now Yining and Shenyuan can have a peaceful married life. Now I'm happy with his demise. Good riddance.

It's probably because Lu Jiaxue is insecure. The love of his life is attracted to his rival to the point of being willing to die for him, while she'd rather die instead of being with him. Not to mention, he has been trying to force things, probably because he knows that without it, people wouldn't listen.

His insecurities probably stem from the fact that he was nobody before and had to join hands with the bad guys to rise through the ranks, propelling Yining to leave him. So, knowing someone else did the same would show Yining that he wasn't wrong with the way he does things, and Yining should open her eyes because the guy that she loves now is not any better.

I wonder how Ting got conceived. Duke Ying doesn't seem to be a lecherous type of guy, so sleeping with a maid is quite.. odd for a person like him. And I also wonder if Ting's mom got acknowledge for bearing Ting, since usually in period drama, woman who bears the man a son would be able to rise a rank. I wonder what happened.

I'd like to think that if she told Duke Ying, that'd be the best, and if she didn't it remains consistent with her character. After all, she didn't even tell Shenyuan about Lu Jiaxue until she had to.

It was naive of her but she liked him. It's normal to give hope to someone we like. If we were to blame someone, it should be Lu Jiaxue for not being able to move on even when Yining said they were over, and worse, treating Yining like a possession.

Duke Ying and Mrs Lin does have chemistry. Their subtle rivalry about Yining was cute and fun to watch.

If only he is ruthless but not aggressive towards Yining. I would probably feel sorry for him had he treated Yining well and not forced himself on everything that comes his way. But the way he acted made my skin crawl. It's hard for me to sympathize with this character.

He caught her every time, what else can she do? While I like to agree that talking with him in private is bad, I'd like to believe that Yining has weigh the pros and cons if she runs away from him. So, she tries to act courteously by accepting the invitation (which is most of the time is in an open space or with her maid nearby) so that he would stop pester her for the time being. That's how I see she's been trying to act when it comes to him.

I'm glad she didn't. Knowing Lu Jiaxue, admitting that she's Mei Mei would only have one consequence - he forcing himself on her since he has been obsessed with Mei Mei and Yining. Even when Yining repeatedly denies his speculation, he has been this obsessed with the idea of having Mei Mei by his side. Imagine if Yining told him "Yes, I'm the girl that you've been seeing when you were blind." He'll get crazier about it.

Yining has been avoiding him, but what can she do when he threatens her? His glare alone unnerved me, I could understand if Yining felt the same way and tried her best way to navigate the situation without escalating it. And for the most part, we can see that Yining does try to avoid him, but Lu Jiaxue, being aggressive that he is, always get closer uninvited.

I'm the opposite. I'd rather the story waste its time with the biatches because at least they're not real threats. Lu Jiaxue on the other hand... *shudders*

I can see him doing that, and that compels Yining to defend her mom's memorial tablet. Plus with knowing that Yining is not his daughter anymore, giving an order to flog her seems to be plausible.

I don't think he is inconsistent. He is in fact the most consistent character - always the shallow dad that hates Yining's guts. When it comes to Yining, he always came up with "Luo family's reputation" and so quick to blame her. Remember the time Yilian got caught with a guy and what he did, compared to the time when Yining got caught with a guy? Guess who he put the blame first? So this revelation is no different. Only this time, the revelation is too big and Yining can't even defend herself.

I couldn't help imagining that Yining said "San ge, it's all in the past. Let's not talk about it anymore" and Shenyuan ended up feeling frustrated because Yining is once again withholding this information from him, hence the hands clenching together. 😅

Even if she knows that Lu Jiaxue has no involvement in killing her, but that doesn't mean she never experienced his abuse of power. The way he has been forcing himself and trying to kill her beloved brother, I doubt Yining would let her past affections cloud what she had experienced. She might get soft (by letting it go) but she won't want to have anything with him anymore, as long as he is on the opposite side of Shenyuan.