TaliaToo

She seems to see every drama being "parodied" here. The fact that these are common tropes (meet cute/funny servants/evil best buddy, etc) are totally ignored. Taking that logic further, then every drama she cited is a "parody" of every drama before it, ad infinitum.

I'm still not a fan of Zhou Ye, so not sure about your pick. Ryan Cheng!

It is true, especially if written by someone who knew history and poetry. An off-the-cuff insult or remark could be a quote hundreds or thousands of years old, adding layers of meaning to the dialogue. This is partly why I work so hard at understanding good dramas because I have so much to learn still!

The best scene of his "control" over the Princess was him sitting in prison sitting there knowing she would come to get him. Again, he played his role as the victim, saying he was just going to wait for death when he knew the Princess would get him out of there. He sat in prison hatching that plan on how to persuade the Princess to allow him to marry Jiang Li/XFF. At this point, it appeared as if his obsession of getting XFF back had become more important than gaining status with the Princess' backing. He was competing (or he thought he was) with a man born with everything he wasn't and in his mind, defeating XH was probably a notch for his ego. That look as they passed each other in prison was telling.

It also shows how calculating SYR was. He had "supported" Jiang Li because she was another person, so there was no taint associated with her. To marry her whose father was both the PM as well as the Emperor's tutor, he could play both sides--he could kick the Princess (who was getting to be a burden) to the side if the the rebellion didn't work out (playing victim card) AND be married to another powerful woman. Of course, his plan didn't come into fruition because of Duke Su's fish thingie LOL. That was why he started to really hate Duke Su. SYR saw himself as someone who had to claw his way up and there was this dude who just walked around and get what he wanted so easily (in this case, for the Princess to drop the marriage trap). Duke Su Didn’t have to kneel down like he did, 😂

It is implied because the man was lying on top of her when she woke up. The way she cried whenever she talked about it also suggested this.

Hahaha. You’re a true Doublet.

I have been writing about SYR and I’ve come back to this conversation numerous times. Through the various times his mother gushed about him being the Fu Ma, I suspect there had been a transaction, that SYR’s mother and sister were never in danger. The Princess was in contact with SYR’s mother enough times to order the rape and degradation. SYR did not know this part, of course, until it was too late. His “I was forced to do that to you” was not the Princess’ ultimatum, but the fact that he could not face the humiliation of having his wife tainted. His conversations about and with Jiang Li is another long post . 😆

Thank you for the link. I’m not sure whether this will suit them. I like her as dark and gritty and angry personas.

Wow. How cool is that?!

Yeah, I like her better in historicals. Can't wait to see her next one where she does some martial arts. Never seen her in that type of role before.

LOL. Song Dynasty.

Really? Where did you read this?

HAHAHAHA! It's sexy indolence, yo! I wanted to feed him grapes while his maids fan him. If this was a true wuxia, he would have two maids instead of two blades and he would be in white :).

Love your review!

He returned. watch 40.5 of their marriage bliss after his return. It's an additional five minutes.

It's really a gem of a drama, something I would return to, again and again.

LOL Well, I'm glad someone is hunting down all my crazy posts Heehee. I sometimes wonder why I feel the need to do notes and obsess over these dramas!

Yes, and another topic of discussion for historical dramas--daughters were just commodities anyway (well, in some parts of modern Chinese thought too, lol, but I digress). A di nue (eldest daughter of first wife) was as important as one could get, yet this father purposely swept her aside and left her protectionless. The emphasis of "for the good of the family" was often used to denigrade and even kill off the females of the family. Let's not forget that the Grandmother, without much thought, was willing to poison her daughter-in-law (as a death sentence) as "justice." I question whether it was for Jiang Li or for having cheated on her son and ruining the family's reputation. This reminded me of the stupid Matriarch in The Sword and the Brocade who spent 80 percent of the show mumbling "Think of the family reputation!"

That's why I advised her to stop at that time stamp and just head off to 40.5 :P