La Gata

Good comment, but please put a spoiler in it for people who haven't finished the series yet.

Precisely. An unprotected woman of low background who has been bullied will be apprehensive and withdrawn at best, she will definitely not act as if she had been born a crown prince. The sequels of traumatic experiences don't magically disappear. Very poor writing and/or interpretation, IMO.

Given how dismissive you were in your reply, I think my tone is quite restrained. Again, have a good day.

'I don't really understand how you want her to show" she learned the hard way" her behavior'.
Easy, it's called acting. Good actors don't need a post-it note on their foreheads because they can express nuance.

'It doesn't matter that these people are above or below her, you always need to act like you're above EVERYONE. That's the idea'.
No, that's not *the* idea. That's *your* idea.

'...you might blame the writing but certainly not the actress. There's a script and a director, they're the ones who are asking her to portray her character this way'.
If that were the case there would be no difference between good and bad actors because they would be just automata doing as they are told, which is obviously absurd. Adopting masculine body language and gestures and lowering the tone of her voice is incongruous with her character, she wasn't a man in her past life.

I agree to disagree with you, have a good day.

In present time the FL is acting like she was an entitled, high ranking male in her former life. Her mannerism, gestures, body language, speech tone and facial expressions, they are all those of an emperor. The story, however, tells us she was a woman who started as a lowly servant and later on became a palace concubine. Her performance in present time doesn't make any sense.

Blimey, I'd forgotten that detail! That's even worse, an unhinged murderer. I also wonder what his intention was when he went to 'rescue' GJZ, I suspect he would have kidnapped her for himself if CYY hadn't arrived in time.

Agree that CXQ should have said something to GJZ, but only if he also refused the arranged marriage, otherwise it would be insulting to GJZ. As for telling his uncle about his feelings for her, I don't understand why he didn't, since CYY had always been very protective of him and CXQ wasn't aware of his uncle having any feelings for GJZ at the time.

CXQ going from being a mild mannered, discreet, gentle scholar to becoming an ungrateful lunatic is a very poor character development on the part of the writers IMO, it is not a credible change of personality.

Nothing got ever started between CXQ and GYZ, but even if it had, considering a woman a 'leftover' for having had a previous relationship is a disgustingly misogynistic view.

But CXQ did accept the arranged marriage knowing this would automatically put an end to any possible prospect he could have with GYZ. He could have refused and remain a bachelor for the time being, CYY made it clear he wouldn't force him into the marriage and it was up to CXQ to accept or not. As for thinking she was forced into marrying CYY, he saw with his own eyes how much they are into each other when he spied them into their private quarters, he saw them embracing, kissing, laughing and looking really happy with each other.

It is mainly the fact that he blames her for his own bad decision as if she had betrayed him that doesn't make any sense to me.

The nephew's attitude doesn't make any sense, it is against character and only cheapens an otherwise good quality, interesting plot. He's the one who made his choice, he chose the safety of an arranged marriage with a woman who knew about his parents and didn't mind.

GYZ got over him pretty fast as it was only a young girl's crush based on the misunderstanding that he was the one who saved her life when she fell in the water. Then she got closer to CYY who treated her so well and did so much for her; finding out he was the one who actually rescued her (twice) when she fell in the water was the last step to falling in love with him.

Now the nephew is acting like he's the one who got wronged and she owes him. He's gone from being a good natured, sensible, learned young man to becoming an insanely jealous, spiteful brat who blames her for marrying the man she loves. It doesn't make any sense, the plot doesn't need to turn him into the villain he'll undoubtedly become in future episodes.

GYZ took a fancy to CXQ because she thought he was the one who saved her life when she fell in the water. CXQ made his choice, i.e. going for a safe marriage with a woman who knew who his father was and didn't mind. Then GYZ started liking CYY because he treated her so well and learning he was the one who actually saved her life (twice) when she fell in the water made her fall for him.

CYY asked GYZ's mother to send her to the capital. When she moved in with the awful Gu family, GYZ stayed because she wanted to protect her mother from the jealous concubine. After her mother died, she went back to the Gu house to reclaim her mother's dowry on the instructions of her grandmother.

As for the 3 concubines you mention, I know nothing about that and it would surprise me if she did as you say, it'd be completely against character.

Yep. And it was frequently the case that those nobles were useless parasites who had lost to gambling and witless investments the fortunes they inherited, couldn't even sort themselves out, contributed nothing to society and needed to state their self-perceived superiority constantly because they were jealous of those successful merchants who had cleverly made a pile of money for themselves.

Yes, indeed. The FL should have applied for a restriction order on that massive red flag right after he whipped her, taking him as best friend just invited more violence from him as he amply proved afterwards. It is disgusting that the writers are portraying an abuser as someone who deserves empathy.

That's because they are both prejudiced, petty and stingy, but they are not clever. In fact they are both quite thick, that's why they cannot see beyond 'here and now'.

I agree, she won't. Hence, comeuppance is coming to her 😂

If she does marry the guy she's betrothed to, she may get her comeuppance. The guy is a cheater and an abuser. Her cousin tried to warn her.

Speaking for others is a breach of the most basic forum etiquette, so no, this is not nitpicking and has nothing to do with whether I agree with the OP's view or not. Furthermore, it looks like you are the one who are triggered by the fact that I called her out for her stubborn doubling down and trying to change the meaning of words just to win her argument instead of simply rectifying her mistake and moving on. I will leave this subthread now as your attitude strikes me as childish. Good bye,

Because they were an attempted bribe from her father to get her to agree to marry that Lin guy, even though he knew the guy was a lecherous abuser. Basically, those presents were her dowry, but only if she married the lecher. He tried to treat his daughter as chattel in order to build up his nasty little network. He's just a witless POS.

In this specific sub-thread we are discussing the use of the pronoun 'we' by the. OP. Unless a qualifier/specifier is added, the OP is speaking for everybody in the thread. If you want to refer to a specific group you need to say something like 'those of us who don't like...' etc. I hope this helps.