I knew from the moment he seemed to dive into the barrel that it was all for show. And I am glad he is depicted…
Viceroy's RL sarcasm at the wonderous malaria strain that only attacked certain, cough cough people. While the imperial citizens miraculously were all fine... 😅😅😅
I knew actors and musicians (prostitutes and major criminals of the imperial court mentioned as well) were looked down upon... but did not realize that they were barred from taking the imperial examinations for 3 generations! 😬
As @Totoro888 spotted in a very early episode... For a "merchant to know how a scholar thinks vs how a merchant thinks. He's got to be a scholar before to know and describe the difference."