MadelineMaureen

this isnt so much a romance that one would get from an Idol Drama. this is family and self focused. yes, there is romance, but it isnt the main focus. You will be smiling and kicking your feet as you meet the significance others to characters. Overall the show for me was a 10/10. but on a romance scale this is on the lower end of the spectrum. There is love throughout the show, but it shows up in many forms, not always romantic in nature.

Dear think piece writers in the comment section,
If you are going to yuck somebody's yum; can you at least hit that spoiler tag so we don't have to break our fingers trying to scroll by your essays with no paragraph breaks?

Okay so in case you've not started this show or you've been watching with your eyes and ears closed; this story is Buddhist in nature and will impart Buddhist teachings throughout. So, the "boring...slow...etc etc" is actually the point. This is very much a stop and smell the roses type of show...or in this case the Orcids. Just because the flower grows where no one can see it, doesn't stop it's scent from smelling sweet.
If you want all consuming romance, revenge, eye for an eye, war epic etc this is never going to be the show for you.

If you like the calm of gentle breeze, the crunch of freshly fallen leaves under your feet, and the sound of birds in the trees...this may be the show for you.

Hardships are shown, and hardships are overcome, but not at the expense of others(female characters) when it comes to the female lead's story. This isnt a soap opera, this is a slow burn story of a woman's entire life...she is the center of the story and the lense in which we see.

So I would love it if this drama helps open the door back up for longer productions like 70 episode length again. Because I think a screenwriter with this talent is capable and the director and producers on this team are examples of what kind of story needs the space to grow.
Not ALL stories need to be long epics, but I hope that we can get some prestige(S++) works produced with 70 episodes in the future.

I shouldn't have made the four weddings and a funeral joke, I fear.

yall I got a little spoiler for 41 and im in tears. (happy tears) I cant wait to watch it in the full context/edit of the episode

I love that for him

I know they will pretty much cover their entire lives...like at least her 80s(based on novel readers)
So they will cover her becoming a mother, and matriarch of the Lin family. Him discovering her true identity. How he handles that information.
Lady Du will come back on to the board for some reason yet to be determined. The two remaining sisters and brother being married. and their children growing up a bit.

I've noticed some of my favorite bits of film language within the show seem to be the most hated plot devices in the comment section. 🥹😞
I wish the show could have been a 70 episode epic but it isnt so shorthand needs to come into play.

She pauses and calculates the scenario of a Yuan chosen concubine and says no. She is not blinded by love, nor does not understand a noble family having concubines(she is after all the daught of one). She is protecting herself and her daughters futures. She was the one who first figured out the Du Siblings plot. She was the one who stepped up to marry advantageously when her cousin was still blinded by what she thought was love. Girlie is no wilting flower.
strategic retreat, gathered reinforcements and witnesses, surrender on her terms NOT her in-laws.

No. She is smart like LanXiang. She knew that if the woman chosen by her MiL as a concubine was to have a son, her and her daughters would no longer hold any standing in the family. The daughters futures would all be in danger. Now, if she trusted the loyalty of the concubine, say someone her and her family chose, her and her daughters could remain safe and properly cared for. She does not romantically love her husband, she respects him, but she is NOT blinded by emotions over a man.

This was a power move. Her first move was a strategic retreat. She gathered her reinforcements(SiL, Big Bro, and Mama bear) and witnesses, and presented her terms of surrender. Only when those terms were met did she acquiesce to her husband marrying a concubine to try and have a son. Little do they know that is the male DNA that decides the gender of a fetus...so fingers crossed he only has daughters until the day his mother kicks it.

There were multiple reasons. Buying property in the capital would keep them too close to future power struggles. It is also a reminder of her own family's downfall and how they came to reside in her family's old home...they were exterminated by the previous Emperor, just like all the owners of the properties now up for sale.

She could see how the cycle could easily repeat. How people would have spoken of the Shen property the same way they now speak of the Zhao and Dai(cant remember if that's the spelling)'s property. Being a lone bird in Jingling is better than being a vulture in the capital.

It is extremely expensive to upkeep a full household in the capital. Her sisters-in-laws are divorced, soon to be a widow of the family(LanXiang is not blind to her brother-in-law's health), and unmarried. This would be exhausting both financially, mentally/socially. What circles can a divorcee of a fallen family(her husband's family were all executed only her son was spared & she had already taken her daughter) mingle in without idle gossip. Who amongst the capital families would want to marry their daughter to a man whose children and grandchildren cant hold office? Would you want to marry your daughter to a family in the capital knowing they would just want the connection to the Lin family's power, just like your own marriage? Once again putting the women in the family in danger, far from the main family estate.

LanXiang sees the entire chessboard and is already 10 years ahead looking at their prospects. She has strong pattern recognition and sees what the others can not fathom.

The way Second Young Master wouldn't "let go" until he had LanXiang promise to protect his wife. The deep love and understanding of his wife's future struggles was heartwrenching. His trust/belief in his sister-in-law even over his own brother's promise was what he was most anxious about. This and also the previous scene of all the sisters discussing whether or not to buy property in the capital and all deferring to LanXiang; shows how important LanXiang's role in the family is to their generation and the ones below. She is already seen as the matriarch of the family by them even over their own mothers/mother-in-law/grandmother. The women, and now the men see LanXiang as their guiding light. I can not wait for the transition to actually being the head of the family that is coming soon. She has saved the literal life of every member of that family more than once and their respect shows their gratitude/reverence. Now...the new sister-in-law(3rd young master's wife) she needs to wake up and get with the program expeditiously.

What a bittersweet episode. (39)

way more than 10. closer to 15 than 10 imo. they've been married for about 4-5 years at this point. my loose estimate is 14 years. she was about 15 when her family died. 6ish years, then 2 in as maid in Lin household, then 2 as commoner, and 4-5ish married.

someone who has the patience can you do me a favor and time how long Xu Kai and Zhou were on screen for the final 5 episodes? because if it is more than 40 total for the 5 episodes I would be shocked. I swear I think max for 5 ep it was roughly 30minutes. maybe 10 minutes total screentime together that wasnt reused footage from an earlier plot point.

nope Xu Kai and Zhou Ye had great chemistry and them on screen together were the best parts of the show. But it was like they were acting in one show and everyone else was on a soap opera and doing too much all the time. honestly a bit of a waste of their time and talent.

the leads had collectively about 5 minutes of screentime in the last 4 to 5 episodes.

Spring of the Blade. I was a dialog salad with zero emotional connection to any of the characters.

I need a pallet cleanse after finishing up another show. Looking forward to tonight's episode. cause literally anything would be better than what I just forced myself to finish.