He’s a misogynist and feels threatened by smart and powerful women.
And yet, on the homefront, I feel that his wife rules the roost - but then she is not an official and not lusting, so he thinks, after the emperor's power. He fears that she will be another Daji - the woman who corrupted and caused the downfall of the last Shang emperor.
How is the emperor supposed to protect her when every time he tries she bursts in to take punishments? The fml…
You are right - she is reckless but not, as you say, by bursting in and offering to take punishments. THAT behaviour is not reckless (in context) - it is de rigeur behaviour for all officials / generals / etc. Some do it to show their loyalty and others do it to pretend to show their loyalty because they know the emperor won't do anything to them.
It was established in one of the early episodes that it was against the law of the state for the emperor to have a relationship (of a certain nature) with a female official. The drama also had a reference to the real Daji who, though not an official (as far as I know) seduced and corrupted the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty which led to its collapse. If a woman who was not an official could do this (according to the pedantic and narrowminded old farts in the court) think what a low-born former beggar could do to corrupt their emperor - or so they think.
For a possible future watcher, like me, it's disappointing to read :(
I get what you mean about the other two dramas but it depends on whether you are using 'dumb' to mean stupid (which she clearly is not) or extremely foolhardy (which she clearly is - sometimes annoyingly so). As for not liking the 'having to be saved' trope - that is just your choice when it comes to your own viewing pleasure (sometimes it annoys me, too) and is irrelevant to whether or not she is stupid or reckless. P.S. As I explain to my grandchildren, there is a vast difference between someone who is actually stupid and someone who can do stupid things because the feeling of intense emotion physically prevents logical thought in neuro-typical humans.
For a possible future watcher, like me, it's disappointing to read :(
She is not 'dumb' at all but rather intelligent. She just has issues which make her reckless. Being kidnapped, forced into a life of slavery and criminal behaviour, being tortured, etc., will do that to anybody. She may not know martial arts but she is an extremely strong willed person. If you don't watch it purely because she has no martial skills, I think you'll be missing out on a good drama. There was a time when the FL was always a damsel in distress. Now many people expect every FL to be a badass fighter. Yes, she needs rescuing quite often but not because she is a typical 'damsel' as was once depicted in older dramas.
Dropped. No way any real king would've allowed his subject to speak to him like this.
How do you know? Do they all have to be the same? This is a drama and is not even based on fact so dropping it because you don't like it is understandable but because he allowed someone to be familiar? Just out of interest - which episode and scene was it in particular - I would like to have a look?
1
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Betrothal%20to%20a%20Kingdom%20episode%2017%20trailer&view=detail&mi