Platinum Fox

I think the concept they were playing out is how far will a person go for the one they love, even if their personality changes. Also, is a person the same person if his/her personality changes. Every male in this drama who had a mate had to make a decision about the woman he loved. All of them had major personality changes. In the beginning they all looked like their lovers, but had different personalities than what the male knew of them.

Yes, I also agree with you, that once he had his heir, he would kill off the king and crown prince. But this would not have affected the dowager as she was not related to them at all. The queen dowager was on her own, that is why she used the female lead to get back the power she had lost in the first place.

I hope this makes sense. Thank you for the discussion and happy drama watching.

The way it could happen is through the king granting her a status that would allow her to become the GP's main wife. Also, the marriage could be annulled as she was never able to consummate the marriage.

My biggest question is that she made it to the house, but they didn't go through a ceremony. So I am trying to figure out why she is even a concubine in the first place. But the plot is intriguing.

He is not the crown prince. He is the grand prince which means he is a member of the royal family, but not in line for the throne. He tells the 2 ml to stop calling the 1st female lead the e word because even a commoner who marries a royal as a concubine is given a royal title and is granted a certain status in which she can work her way to consort, but she can never be queen. No consort can be queen, but since he is not in line for the throne, she can become the prince's consort. There are several ranks that women can achieve within the royal harem. A concubine is the lowest with queen being the highest.

You have hit the nail on the head. It is why mom didn't want her getting married as NN isn't ready for that kind of relationship. NN has a lot of "growing up" to do as she is someone who is like a little child. That is why the LY arc is so important as it shows that NN can think of someone other than herself.

I have to disagree. The mother actually helps her daughter a great deal. While everyone thinks that the mother is being too hard on NN, she is actually quite the opposite. She disciplines NN because she understands what it means to be repatriated back into the home family (she was divorced). Since mom doesn't know what kind of family NN will marry into, she must protect her child at all cost even if that means looking like the bad guy in the end. How will the husband's family discipline her, if mom doesn't? Mom teaches NN to take responsibility for her actions. Also, what many viewers overlook is that we find out that everything sounds much worse than it actually is. Is her mother a perfect mother, no but what parent is? All parents make mistakes. The mother is actually quite progressive in her punishment of NN. She even states, if NN had been a soldier she would have been punished far more with the paddle. She only used physical discipline twice. Very progressive for that time period. In the end, I think it hurt the mom more than NN. jmo

Happy drama watching.

What a fun drama! The only thing I would complain about was that they didn't wrap up the issue with his dad and mom's death as well as her dad's death. I understand that it was long time ago, but the prosecuting attorney should have done something to clear up the false charges.

Yes, following her plan would have been the simplest. However, would you want the late king to win by allowing his son to marry your daughter and be king? The one thing the villain could guarantee is the present king was worthless and the villain could control him. Also, by keeping the deposed crown prince away from his daughter it was like taking away a monarch's lover, just like how his lover was taken away by a king who didn't love her.

I have watched the entire drama, so I must have missed it or not understood it. Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, the ancestry is quite confusing. That's why I said my take on it was that the villain killed three people in order to make sure that the present king became king.

As to why he killed Hong Nan's lover I am not sure, but I thought it was because he was someone in line for the throne. Otherwise, I don't see a reason for the villain to kill the FL's brother unless to drive the crown princess into further despair and eventual suicide.

The ancestry seems to be all over the place. But from what I gathered it was the late king who married the villain's lover. He killed the late king because the late king said that he hadn't loved his queen and she was disposable. This made the villain furious and plan his revenge.

Happy drama watching.

I get your point. However, the villain had been in love with the previous queen long before she became queen, and they were going to be married. One day the late king was out running around the market and hurt his ankle, the villain took him to his home to have his "wife" care for him. In the process the late king took a fancy to her and made her his queen. Since that time the villain has had to watch his true love be with someone who didn't love her at all. The late king even said as much when she was accused of adultery. The villain didn't have enough power to stop the late king from taking his woman. Thus, he did everything he could to gain power including killing the late king and the other people who could inherit the throne (except the deposed crown prince as he was his woman's son) until he reached someone whom he could control, the present king and his son.

Yes, the queen dowager was an evil person for doing what she did, but in the process the villain got his woman back. So in a sense the queen dowager did him a big favor. Why kill someone who actually helped you?

Why would someone automatically think that a person who looks like his dead wife would be his dead wife? We all have doppelgangers in the world. And he does thoroughly research her background, but by the time he knows for sure that she is, he has fallen in love with her new personality and identity. Park Dal I is a stronger, more confident person, a better version of herself. He is seeing a whole new side to her which then leads him to be stronger and more confident.

I understand where you are coming from and these things do seem out of wack.

Happy drama watching.

Again, I disagree. No where in the drama does the princess threaten to kill her lover's family. What purpose would it serve? It is only in his mind that if he doesn't kill XFF, the princess would if she ever married into the family. What he doesn't realize is that the princess is all about torture and pain, not killing people. The princess wanted to marry into the family, so that she could torture XFF as the princess would be considered the main wife and XFF would be the concubine.

The extra episode was for the fans, not a part of the original drama. Fans were so upset over the ending that the producer caved and made the extra five minute episode, but it has nothing to do with the drama itself. XFF's happy ending having her husband and a child goes against everything that the drama was trying to accomplish. Heroes and heroines are not always perfect and pure. This is why the ending of the drama is perfect as is. XFF must wait to see if the gods grant what she did to PW as just or not. Poetic justice at work for going too far in her revenge.

The same thing happens in Princess Wei Young. Princess Wei Young goes way over the top with her revenge. In the end she pays the price with her husband dying an early death and her left only with a child.

Happy drama watching.

No, but it is there for a good reason.

Here is my take on the relationship between all the characters. The late king's father had three sons. Since the late king would not fall into place with the LSC, the LSC killed the late king and the other brother (Hong Nan's lover), so that the current king would have to take the thrown. The LSC manipulated the present king into signing a pact or else the LSC would say that the present king had killed his brother and taken over the thrown illegitimately. The late king's son, Yi Un is the legitimate heir to the thrown. However, he was deposed because his mother, married to the late king, was "accused" of having an affair. The LSC planned all of this for power.

The queen dowager is the late king's in-law. This is why she has no real power over the king or the LSC. She is trying to regain power through Park Dal I. Presently, the king and the crown prince are people the LSC can control because of the pact that the present king and LSC made. The queen dowager could take control again if Yi Un takes the thrown as she is his grandmother on his mother side and rightfully legitimate.

Hope this helps. I was confused as well.

This is a strong trope in Korean dramas where the Left State Chancellor wants everything despite there being a king or crown prince. It seems that it is the only way the LSC can have power as they are usually not of royal descent and can't take over the throne.

This is why there is a strong push to have your daughter marry the king/cp etc. However, this is the first time that I have seen the LSC go this far that he will kill everyone king/cp when he has a grandson to take over. Now that is greedy.

I had the same thought about the body switching. However, it is like Secret Garden. The crown prince pretty much despises lowborn people. She is no exception. In order for him to truly understand his people, he needs" to walk a mile their shoes". He literally does that. I am only on episode 5 so don't really know what else as of yet.

Does anyone know why the actors change clothes for each of their awards and after the red carpet entrance? I find it highly unusual for an awards ceremony, but it seems to be the standard in China.

Yes, I agree with you. Zhao Lu Si's award meant more than Bai Li's even though it was basically the same name.

Just watched this for the first time in 2025 along with several of the other adaptations. This is by far the best of the adaptations for the romance part. The other ones have their moments, but this one is just beautiful.

Cute, but not profound. I have always wondered what happens to the monarchs when a country turns democratic as the country I come from has never had a monarchy.

Yes, many viewers have been uncomfortable with the 14 year old version of Sang Zhi. It is intentional by the writers for the message they were trying to get across while she is 14. So it is part of the other reasons why that actress was chosen. Many viewers believe this drama to be a simple, fluffy love story, but it so much more. For me, it is Zhao Lu Si's second adult role because of the adult themes this story portrays. jmo