Sanoya

So you actually just proved my point…..instead of genuinely caring about him she made the moment about herself…….

call me a hater but I feel like certain dramas get away with writing bad characters. Youjin made the situation about her and then proceeded to cry and Minjae had to be the one to comfort her about his leg operation. What is that?

Like gurl all you had to remove was your appendix he’s literally an amputee. You’re not facing nearly as much pain as he is. This is both mentally and physically.

And of course in situation like that there’s not much she could’ve done or said to him to make him feel better but at the very least don’t cry and make the situation about you!!

He and Tang Songyun probably would've had insane chemistry in a modern drama. They need to pair them together ASAP!

I don't think you were watching with comprehension. No shade. Out of everything, the very first few episodes showed us EXACTLY why they were estranged from each other, and it was MAINLY because of a lack of communication and cause they just didn't understand each other well enough to give grace when it's due.

The first few scenes/episodes literally showed him showing up for her after only one phone call, and her choosing to call him when she was faced with a predicament instead of the police, even though they hadn't spoken in years. It showed they still had love, trust, and respect for each other.

As soon as one of them let go of their pride and decided to ask the right questions, they got back together and were good ever since. Now that they were both mature, the thing that broke them up and kept them apart was no longer there because each became more understanding of the other's situation.

It was the most straightforward thing ever.

You've dropped the drama, and I think it's wise to keep it that way. Let's leave it like that.

okay. I don't know what to tell you cause this drama was so clearly straightforward to me...idk chile

There was no "ignoring" of why they broke up. And they reconciled quickly because both were still deeply in love; neither moved on, and they’ve now become more mature and knows what their heart both wanted as opposed to when they started dating as teenagers. I’m appalled that you expect the whole backstory to be told in the first few episodes though. As I said, it’s good that you dropped it, since you don’t understand (base on what you said) either way.

I also don’t understand (genuinely, absolutely no shade) why you’re still under the comments of a drama you dropped, replying to my month-old comment. Are you picking it back up?

The first episodes especially are really quite straight forward. It has a bit of flashbacks and also shows two people reintroducing themselves to each other after several years of separation. If you found that weird I genuinely do not know what to hell you. If you couldn't get through those episodes then maybe your decision to drop it was correct.

My interpretation? The very last ending scene shows you that what I’m saying is true! This has nothing to do with my OWN interpretation. The people that worked to write and direct the show said it themselves. All I did was reiterate what was said as well as what I noticed watching. Please stfu talking to me when you’ve done no research yourself! THANK YA!

Ya’ll don’t wanna admit it but there’s quite literally only one REAL red flag here and it’s Lee Mi Do.

Don’t get me wrong ML isn’t a green flag more like beige. But red flags? Nah

They’re wasting my time if they think at the end of this Mi Do and Namgung can be anything but strangers again!

Beautifully written. You’ve even gone into much more details than I did. Everybody should read your review. There’s nothing that I could add to this to make it better you’ve said literally everything!

She quite literally received guidance when she was living in that side courtyard from the man who hired her and her family. Her plays are all based on her life experiences, as well as secondhand experiences from the people around her. In every single play, she left a hint about the massacre of the Shen family. Furthermore, she was a highly educated, well-read woman/girl; it’s not far-fetched that she was great at writing.

Her husband did not give her anything, especially not freedom. The freedom she wanted was to be with her mother and father and to freely live her life the way she intended. The moment he tied her down with a royal edict is the moment he took all her freedom. Granted, she was resilient and still found ways to do what she wanted, but that caused her to work under an alias to protect the family image, whereas if she wasn’t confined, she may have used her real name or would have been able to do some things more freely.

I don’t know what part of being forced into a marriage you never wanted and having your freedom stolen was not “bad” to you, but I digress.

Everything didn’t happen fast; you simply just weren’t watching. Cause as soon as she moved out of the Lin family and became a free citizen, she started to hone her skills to become an opera writer. It was probably not in her initial plan when she moved there, but afterwards, she saw it as an outlet to express herself and her past grievances, so it worked out perfectly.

I can see now that you’re simply being biased. What exactly was special about Zhao’s character? She was literally one-dimensional. Up until her death, she blamed Lin Jin Qi when she was the one who harshly mistreated him on his wedding night, constantly cheated on him, and even stole from his family. Nobody wronged her but her own family, and she barely showed any strength or resilience to stand against them.

In the end, she was still abusing the innocent and gave in to marrying again. She had opportunities to fight for what she really wanted, but didn’t. Nothing empowering or interesting about her. She only had strength for the weak and the wrong people, her actual enemies were her family but for some reason she was hellbent on beating maids to death and ruining Jin Qi for rightfully divorcing her!

This is literally hurting me….. I can’t reply to everyone lest they say I’m policing or bullying others, but I simply cannot, for the life of me, understand why people are so hung up on the lack of romance….

Let’s all go back to the very first episode, where she got her engagement cancelled by his family, ultimately ruining her reputation and likely turning her into a spinster without any marriage prospects had her family not been ruined. Let’s all move on to episode 27, where she was forced into marriage, losing the freedom she worked so hard to gain. I mean, it’s not like he rudely used a royal edict to control her and her parents or anything. It’s not like Lanxiang was reluctant to the point of hitting his face in front of everybody, despite the likely consequences or anything. Yeah, let’s move on to episode 30. It’s not like she repeatedly refused to go to the capital, and instead of respecting her wishes like the good ole lad he’s portraying himself to be, no, he had to have his way with her, so he made sure to drug her so she’d wake up in the middle of the ocean, far away from land, with the closest dry spot being the capital.

The point I’m trying to make is this: this is not a romance drama. Let’s all be honest with ourselves……We were dished out cards during the first 10 episodes and it didn’t give romance plot! It’s very obvious that they purposely chose NOT to develop their romance, even with all the opportunities they had. She grew to love him, but she was not IN LOVE with him. They were on the same page as husband and wife and became of one mind to protect those around them. She grew fond of him and had his children, but at the end of the day, he was never at the top of her priorities list. She had rather larger fish to fry even before marriage and had every intention of continuing with the mantle. Developing her romantic feelings towards her husband was the very least of her concerns. I’m quite stunned as to how y’all expect swoon-worthy romance in a relationship where only one party is madly in love while the other is conditioned to love.

And THIS is the part I really don’t understand: y’all keep treating the lack of romance like it was something the writers accidentally failed to deliver, when the show repeatedly and deliberately made the opposite choice. They had SO MANY opportunities to turn a lot of their moments into romantic scenes but CHOSE NOT TO. The rescue from the brothel. The rebellion. The shack. Their journey together. Their moments of vulnerability. Any one of those could have been turned into a swoon-worthy scene if romance was supposed take ANY form of priority or importance to the plot. YET……THEY DIDN’T DO IT.

That’s not an accident. That’s not the writers forgetting to develop the romance. That’s the writers deliberately deciding what these scenes were going to be ABOUT. They could have paused the plot to give us lingering looks, romantic tension, intimate conversations, physical affection, or whatever else people are apparently expecting from a romance drama. They had the characters, the circumstances, and the opportunities right there in front of them. They consciously chose to use those moments to advance the actual story instead.

The lack of romantic payoff wasn’t something that happened to the story. It was something the writers intentionally built into the story. They repeatedly gave us situations that could have easily become romantic and then refused to make romance the point of those scenes. That is a pattern. At some point, you have to recognize that the pattern itself IS the storytelling choice.

The writers weren’t trying to convince us that these two were some overwhelmingly passionate, all-consuming love story. They were showing us two people who developed love and companionship VERY DIFFERENTLY. It also showed us the FL continued to have much larger priorities, goals, and struggles outside of her marriage. The relationship existed within the larger story; the larger story was never built around the relationship or even more so to develop it since it lacked importance.

I just think we’re all missing the message and the point of the whole film, focusing on the absolute wrong thing. At one point, too, when watching the trailer, I thought maybe we were gonna get toxic heavenly romance, especially if you’ve read the book, but after like 10 episodes into the drama, it was very clear this was never gonna be that. It’s not even like we were rage-baited into expecting something and they didn’t deliver. No, they quite literally avoided every single scene that had opportunities to develop the romance plot but didn’t. That was intentionally done so as not to have you lose focus on the main plotline and the message they’re sending.

Seeing everyone miss it because of a romance the show NEVER promised to deliver is just hurting me. Cause there’s really a message in there for all of us, both women and men!

Maybe because one was quite literally madly in love while the other wasn’t? Are you slow? The romance didn’t take a front seat in development because it was intentionally not poorly done! She loved him but wasn’t in love with him. I keep saying they had several opportunities to show her being inlove or create moments that showed that through her actions but they didn’t. That shows it wasn’t an oversight it was quite literally intentional. Being loved and being INLOVE is different and that’s the contrast between how each characters romantic feelings were portrayed. YOU just went in expecting something the show NEVER planned on delivering and because of that you’re mad and calling the writers a failure.

That’s exactly what you’re saying…. Almost every drama is tagged romance once it has remotely any couple getting together, even if it’s not the main lead. Even dramas where it’s extremely slow-burn to the point that it was only hinted at. I wanna know do you expect thrillers with romance subplot to do the same you’re asking of this show? Cause this is quite literally the same situation. I’m quite confused here on what kind of swoon-worthy romance you expected when the ML trapped the FL into an unwanted marriage….

The whole fact that he forced her into marriage is a big part of the bigger story the show is telling about society and how it views women, among other things. THE SHOW IS FEMALE CENTRIC NOT ROMANCE CENTRIC. A lot of ya’ll get real confused about this since all the others pose as female centric in the first few episodes then introduce a ML and turn it into full blown romance! The show had several moments to give us those romantic idol scenes; when he went to rescue her from the brothel, when she came to rescue him during the rebellion, while they were in the shack, etc., etc…. Yet they didn’t. And that’s not some accidental oversight. You cannot repeatedly have opportunities to create romantic moments, deliberately choose NOT to do so, and then turn around and act like the show failed at romance. The writers had every opportunity to make those scenes swoon-worthy if that was what they wanted. They consciously chose to keep the focus elsewhere. The lack of romance wasn’t a failure to execute romance; it was part of the execution. They were intentionally keeping the relationship secondary so it wouldn’t overshadow the ACTUAL story they wanted to tell.

Again, the romance is mainly a subplot and mostly about romance between the supporting cast rather than the main characters. FL loved ML, had his children, and that’s that. She wasn’t deeply in love or giving him a bigger thought than her main goal. Even after his death she kept at what she intended to do even before she married. And that’s what you’re doing now, giving a barely existing romantic relationship way more importance as opposed to what the story’s main focus was.

I keep telling y’all, if you’re looking for idol romance, this is and was never for you. The ratings are this high because people actually watched the show and got the message it was giving to us women. I don’t know what else you wanted.

YEAH... it was an intense push and pull, with him forcing her into marriage while also trying to convince her that, as someone of her class, she couldn't succeed without relying on power or the powerful. I almost don't think they were referencing romance in that sense or at least not ONLY romance. But I 100% get how that could easily be misconstrued since the novel had way more "romance" compared to the drama.

The story started with a whole family of women committing mass suicide because they didn’t wanted to be sold to a government owned brothel. Everything led to FEMALE-CENTRIC instead of romance. Yes, the lead fell in love later on and had kids, but that’s literally a TEENY TINY part of the story. Even when the trailers were released, it quite literally showed more struggles than anything romance-related.

The drama is heavy and highlights the pros and cons of being a woman: how choosing the right or wrong husband can destroy your life, why women sometimes fear getting a divorce when they have kids, how divorce isn’t a death sentence, how depending on your own skills can help you build a life for yourself, how unfair the law was and is towards women, and most importantly HOW YOU SHOULD LIVE FOR YOURSELF! Even outside of the female-centric aspect, there were lessons for men to learn also. They even talk about how power destroys good people, among a lot more things I could go on and on about.

So many good lessons and things were shown, yet y’all are hellbent on romance??

Let’s get a fucking grip!

It was not promoted as a romance drama to me. Even the name doesn’t give romance film…..

NOT A ROMANCE DRAMA, NOT A ROMANCE DRAMA, NOT A ROMANCE DRAMA!!!!

Please get with it! Even when the trailers were released, it quite literally showed more struggles than anything romance-related. Furthermore, the story started with a whole family of women committing mass suicide. Everything led to FEMALE-CENTRIC instead of romance. Yes, the lead fell in love later on and had kids, but that’s literally a TEENY TINY part of the story.

The drama is heavy and highlights the pros and cons of being a woman: how choosing the right or wrong husband can destroy your life, why women sometimes fear getting a divorce when they have kids, how divorce isn’t a death sentence, how depending on your own skills can help you build a life for yourself, how unfair the law was and is towards women, and most importantly HOW YOU SHOULD LIVE FOR YOURSELF! Even outside of the female-centric aspect, there were lessons for men to learn also. They even talk about how power destroys good people, among a lot more things I could go on and on about.

So many good lessons and things were shown, yet y’all are hellbent on romance??

Let’s get a fucking grip!

This is NOT a romance drama……I wish yall would learn to understand that. So many important details in the show and you’re focusing on a sub-factor that was already established from the very beginning. The first episode is literally of her family committing mass suicide for God sakes

This is not a romance drama, nor is it a female-centric drama that shows the FL being strong in the beginning, then heavily relying on her husband/ML later to build romance. There weren't many swoon-worthy moments either! The drama shows us real-life occurrences that women from back then and even up to today have had to go through. It showed us a female lead who relied on her own skills and knowledge without having to undermine others or stoop lower than they should. There was no sugarcoating; this drama stayed true to itself until the last fleeting moment. THERE WERE A LOT OF LESSONS TO BE LEARNT!

Please, I'm begging y'all not to come and start this drama only to downvote it when you realize it's not a heavily romanticized story. Instead, I hope a lot of us young women and girls were able to watch and take a lesson or two from this show. I'm already in my late twenties, and I've learned and opened my eyes even more to so many new things through this series. I hope others are able to do the same and not be hellbent on coming here searching for romance in a drama that set the tone since episode one with the mass suicide.

I could go on and on about the dramatic aspects and events of this show, but then I think I would've missed the message the series was trying to convey. BTW, this isn't only about women's struggles; there are also takeaways for men too, especially those living in and growing up around bigoted environments.