Lotus

I don't think she knows the lengths he went for her with his mom and he hasn't told her he intended to marry her. After remembering her true identity, she thought he was playing with her and using her to lure the real bandit leader out, which was his original intention.

The novel explains more clearly that he has the backing of the empress dowager, the most powerful royal in the clan. His father after all is the rightful heir to the throne and subsequently would have passed his throne to him by succession line. The dowager was about following tradition and rules for the clan. She didn't necessarily like him but he was the rightful heir.

I read the novel this drama is based on. I hope the drama is as good as the novel.

He's the only one that makes XY feels safe. The others are brutal and cunning. TSJ might be indecisive, people pleasing, and caring to a fault, but that's also his strength, that he's very forgiving and an empathetic person, willing to sacrifice his life and everything he has without hesitation for XY, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else he loves. He's not selfish but has to big a heart which includes XY and everyone he cares for.

I can't wait until this airs. I hope they release 6 episodes on the first day of airing instead of 1 or 2.

Those people obviously need a psychotherapist. It's not the drama's fault. The rest of us who can tell the difference between fantasy/fiction and real life deserves to enjoy a good riveting story. Shouldn't let a few mentally unstable people ruin it for all of us.

Throat grabbing in real life... well, I threw the guy on the floor using my Aikido skills the last time that happened. I do not support violence of abuse of women or men in real life.
Drama wise, I'm totally cool with it. It's fiction, unless some people who doesn't have the mental health balance enough to distinguish the difference.

morally ambigious characters in dramas makes for a riveting story telling. It's just fiction, not meant to be compared with real life. Most things in movies would never be done in real life like stunts and fights... unless that person is an idiot.

This drama was good until the last 6-7 episodes, which were disappointing. The ending was a flop. I hoped the director/producers wouldn't ruin the end, but apparently, they did. The main characters just changed abruptly, and character development flopped.

I think everyone would agree that this drama has nothing to do with real history because the "real" king got killed when the Khitan burned down the capital in real history while the royal household fled. The fictional characters are loosely based on real historical people but very far from the real events and people it borrowed. In the drama, Kam Chang defies the King repeatedly, going head-to-head with the king. I see that as grossed insubordination. That's not a mark of a loyal, honest, devoted servant but someone who forces the king to do things his way. I'm not impressed by that. It's still the King's kingdom, but the officials don't want that to happen; they want to share the power and control the king like a puppet. As long as the status quo remains and the lords run their lands like kings of their region, the king gets to be the king. KC sees things not much differently; the king must follow his advice, or else the king doesn't get to make mistakes and be a king. That's what the drama is communicating through the setup of these characters.

Spot on! Deep down inside, they all want him to be their puppet. He's surrounded by everyone who cares about their clan or family's interests. No one cares for the subjects who are living like slaves, shouldering all the burdens and abuses from the regional lords. I feel so bad for the king. He's completely alone.

Unfortunately, in Korean history, this practice of serfdom/ slavery got worse during the Joseon dynasty. It continued until the Joseon dynasty's end, with elements persisting until the mid-20th century.

I get frustrated watching Kam Chang butt-head with his King. They were so close during the war period, now he made himself an enemy of the King by being hard headed.

I don't want to ruin it for you. Just watch it and enjoy.

Yan Ling definitely raped JXN in last life. XW definitely raped JXN in this life when he was jealous and insecure about her meeting ZZ. XW literally tried poisoning her but couldn’t go through killing her so he did the next best thing according to his twisted mind by overpowering her, threw her in the bathtub, rip her clothes off and had punishing sex. It’s definitely not lovemaking or lust making. It’s dominance over her and demonstrating power and ownership. That’s why the book described the feeling post-coital as “empty”. No wonder JXN doesn’t want to say yes in marrying him after. She didn’t want to be owned. Like I said, the book was very dark.

The novel describes the "empty" feelings between them after the deed. It wasn't done out of desire or lust but of desperation and insecurity. The other times before... well it was pure lust. The man just couldn't repress his lust any longer around her. He could resist any other woman. In the novel, XW was a character who studied and read Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. He had a lot of interest in philosophy and was a very controlled person when it came to sensual desires or sexual relations. XW lived like a monk who was celibate until he met JXN! It was bad enough that he lost control that way. To act so desperate, was beyond his "normal" composure as a prideful person.

I'm not entirely sure the first time was raped. He pushed and she didn't resist him. The novel wasn't explicit. The time when he was jealous of ZZ, was definitely not consensual. In the novel, he almost killed her by poisoning her wine and smashing her cup on the floor before she drank it. He wasn't very nice that night. He was definitely taking his jealousy and frustration out on her sexually.

From what I understood in the novel, the next day he was so embarrassed, he avoided her, but not for a day but several days. She on the other hand wasn't about to agree to marry him after that tirade he did. She still feared him. It wasn't until she understood the root cause of all his pains (which the drama got her to know earlier than the novel timeline) and the need for revenge, that she truly fell in love with him and was not scared of him anymore.

XW in the novel was much much darker. His revenge included killing his own dad with his own hands, forcing the king to kill his mother then killing the king. XW did everything to those people that they did to him.

In the novel, Ning Er left the capital for two years. It took her two years to get over her feelings for Zhang Zhe. Also, in the novel, ZZ was the one who made the decision to break it it off. He actually remembered their last life and knew her as a queen. He didn't want to sacrifice his life and his mother's dying for the love of her (which his mom didn't die in this life. The movie script was different to the novel in that regard). Because last life ZZ had committed a sin by going against his personal values and causing his mom to die in the process. He deeply regretted his decision and therefore could not act in this life on his feelings with Ning Er.

He looks kinda awkward with her at first.

Not the first night they slept together when they were held hostage. But night after night she pretended to moan beside him, he couldn't control his sexual arousal anymore and had sex with her. Basically, she wasn't pretending anymore. I don't think any man alive can put up with the torture of hearing a woman moan every night as if she's having an orgasm beside him and not doing anything. His long-time repression of desires became unhinged and he let out all the darker side of him on her sexually going beyond the usual norm of sex in the old days.

The novel wasn't specific but you get the idea.

In the novel, Yan Lin raped her but night after night when it continued to happen, she had no choice but to give in. At first YL was doing it for revenge, then later he was so seduced by her, he was ready to take the throne and told XW he would make her his new queen. JXN didn't know this, she was traumatized and wasn't sure the outcome of her fate would be because the officials at court demanded she commit suicide to die with her late husband, the king. XW punished YL the first night he raped JXN with 30 lashes, using his status as an elder. When it continued, he couldn't stop YL so he sent the knife to JXN to get her to stop YL herself, but she used it to commit suicide instead thinking XW was forcing to die like the other officials. XW commented on that action bitterly by saying: "You couldn't protect yourself by stabbing another person. You hurt yourself instead."

If she had known that YL was going to take the throne and make her the new queen, she wouldn't have committed suicide.