Like others, I was annoyed by the male characters' attempts to "control" their wives or partners. I have to remind…
i havent watched ep 5 yet but i saw someone commenting that they didnt like "the way chai an plotted and delayed rescuing the 2nd sister because it would make her more obedient and grateful to her husband, an incident that leaves her traumatised." could you expand on this? v disappointed if true
i dont blame him for being cutthroat abt his business, my main gripe is how he treats the 2nd sister and indulges his shitty cousin
1) is a jerk and no empathy for women 2) a cheater 3) an abuser and attempted-kidnapper/rapist 4) also an abuser (literally beats his wife according to teaser)
who thought this was a good idea ?? i cant root for this
I am disappointed, what was that with fist lady?!?! I am dropping this on time. Thank you for posting it. They…
There is no such thing as character development when it comes to abuse for me. Once you abuse someone, that's it. It's not a character flaw, it's a crime.
My world crushed... https://x.com/bbdongi25/status/1883478425400443008?s=46I was expecting something else from…
Bruh. I need someone to PLEASE confirm if this is the male lead for the eldest sister or some other random because if it's the main guy for her this is insane
Thank you for calling this out! And taking the time to explain it- it was infuriating to watch!Finally I want…
I must have fast forwarded those parts lmao, it was a slog to get through these eps. I agree with you about the mom not being an innocent either. She, however, is a better example of a grey complex character than the men in this story. By all rights, she could have abandoned the girl and losing your only son in a time like that meant that her and her daughters' lives would be at stake too, so I can get that she's bitter and awful about it, although I can't condone it. It's not the girl's fault after all. Kind of like how I understand Catelyn Stark disliking Jon Snow bc she thought he was an affair baby, but hating that she abused him bc he was an innocent.
Was the brother's body ever found? If not, maybe we'll get a plot twist.
jesus christ THANK YOU I thought I was going insane 😭 like okay complex characters this and that historical…
Like yes I like complex and flawed characters, but I don't like pathetic, bullying, misogynistic, would-be-rapists, serial-cheaters, looks-down-on-women-treats-them-as-lessers, characters. that's not a "character flaw." that's straight up being a horrible person and I would not wish those type of men on my WORST enemies so why do I have to sit here and watch smart, resourceful, vibrant ladies get with men who fall into that category? No amount of "character growth" will make me root for their happiness together. You want to talk about realism? Realism is that men like this DON'T change, and women who give them a chance because they've "mended" their awful cheating, philandering, assaulting, misogynistic ways, end up suffering.
I can do with toxic men who are unhinged, I can deal with possessiveness, I can deal with a wee bit of crazy, I can even deal with some rough play if both of them are kinky like that or both of them trying to kill each other if the situation is enemies to lovers and they're actual bloody enemies.
But I can't deal with inherent disregard for women because that shit is LAME.
I think some people are getting too defensive of valid criticism. I LOVE historical chinese novels to the point I've machine translated hundreds of them (yes I'm addicted) and one of the prevailing themes is always how women's lives were horrible back then and the men largely neither prioritized nor saw women as their own people worthy of respect. They were meant to be obedient, sensible, virtuous, gentle, generous, and basically never show any dissatisfaction. Their lives were easily discarded or kept imprisoned or slaving away in the women's inner house, never living for themselves.
And so yes I UNDERSTAND that the men in this drama so far show the same tendencies and are rather realistic of their time, but that doesn't mean we, the viewers, have to like it. I know that there will likely be character growth for these men, but I don't really care. No amount of character growth will make me like the second sister's pathetic, cowardly, cheating husband who tormented her to the point she chewed her mouth bloody with pebbles to cope. No amount of character growth for that noble brother law of the emperor will make me like him simply by the virtue of the fact that he tried to seize a woman like she was property and make her his concubine, and had he succeeded he would have become a proponent of female slavery and martial rape. There's no going back for me after they've already shown these parts of themselves. I don't believe in second chances for men who are like this.
The only one that I'm still on the fence for is the character played by Wang Xing Yue and that's because it does seem like there are some misunderstandings at play and it is true that he was "asked" to meddle in his cousin's affairs by his aunt and repeatedly by his cousin. It doesn't seem that he helped due to actually caring at first; the first time he helped it seemed he did it for the sake of the family's reputation and after that it was a matter of personal pride, competing with the third lady. That isn't enough of an excuse for me though; he knows how awful his cousin is and knows how he must be treating his wife for him to spiral like she does, but he still seemingly has no empathy for her. His advise is from the perspective of making things easier for his cousin, but never thinks of what his cousin's wife must be suffering. And yes, you can ask: why would he? The wife is no one to him. But that's where I think a lack of basic human empathy shines through and a lack of willingness to see the plight of women in this world. He is not an idiot, and he himself employs women in his business without having them resort to selling their bodies. He should know better.
Then there's the whole competing with the FL with their business. I get it. I get that his pride is wounded and that he's annoyed that the FL got one up on him by snatching his manager and painting. No one likes being tricked or taken advantage of. It also makes sense that he wouldn't just sit there and watch her steal his customers because that's his source of income. But again, I felt like there was a certain lack of empathy in how he employed methods. These are 5 girls and a widowed mother with barely any funds and nothing to rely on, trying to make a decent living. He knows this and he knows their difficulties, because he explains this to his mom when she's angry to calm her down. Yet he still was rather callous in how he dealt with them.
There's still room for hope in him toning down that arrogance and using some damn empathy, but what he's done has already left a sour taste in my mouth. I don't expect men in historical dramas to be feminists. But it's a valid criticism when dealing with a drama centering around women, where the audience is largely modern day women. The writer isn't from the song dynasty, the writer is from the modern day era. The reason so many historical chinese novels get popular is because they promote modern values within the historical context and it's what makes the characters stand out. Some of the most popular fictional historical MLs are popular precisely because they are a breath of fresh air for their time. If I wanted to just watch shitty guys do shitty things, I would just go outside. When 2/3 of the MLs so far seem unbearable and the 3rd one is precariously sitting on the fence, you know that the writer could have done a better job setting them up.
I am a big fan of Wang Xing Yue and was really looking forward to this drama so I'll give it a few more episodes, but yes as of now I'm rather disappointed. /End rant.
You're saying my Zhang Linghe can't act??Ever seen Xie Wei? 💀💀
for the rap song, chinese netizens guess that he was shading ding yu xi and saying he's better than him basicially. anyway, for me it has to do with microexpressions, line delivery, how natural the actor's mannerisms feel. is it overacted? underacted? does it feel seamless? is immersion broken? stuff like that
You're saying my Zhang Linghe can't act??Ever seen Xie Wei? 💀💀
actually if you check weibo rn a lot of ppl are criticizing WHD and some fans have left him too but it has more to do with the rap song he released which ppl think are shading fellow actors... he sort of shot himself in the foot bc now ppl are paying more attention to how much the drama changed from the novel to accommodate him
You're saying my Zhang Linghe can't act??Ever seen Xie Wei? 💀💀
I agree with OP Zhang Linghe has a LOT of room for improvement, his acting as Xie Wei got a lot of valid criticism for overacting and not having any nuance. His acting in Princess Royal was a lot better than Xie Wei, in fact Xie Wei is one of his worst roles for showing good acting.
1 
i dont blame him for being cutthroat abt his business, my main gripe is how he treats the 2nd sister and indulges his shitty cousin
who thought this was a good idea ?? i cant root for this
Was the brother's body ever found? If not, maybe we'll get a plot twist.
I can do with toxic men who are unhinged, I can deal with possessiveness, I can deal with a wee bit of crazy, I can even deal with some rough play if both of them are kinky like that or both of them trying to kill each other if the situation is enemies to lovers and they're actual bloody enemies.
But I can't deal with inherent disregard for women because that shit is LAME.
And so yes I UNDERSTAND that the men in this drama so far show the same tendencies and are rather realistic of their time, but that doesn't mean we, the viewers, have to like it. I know that there will likely be character growth for these men, but I don't really care. No amount of character growth will make me like the second sister's pathetic, cowardly, cheating husband who tormented her to the point she chewed her mouth bloody with pebbles to cope. No amount of character growth for that noble brother law of the emperor will make me like him simply by the virtue of the fact that he tried to seize a woman like she was property and make her his concubine, and had he succeeded he would have become a proponent of female slavery and martial rape. There's no going back for me after they've already shown these parts of themselves. I don't believe in second chances for men who are like this.
The only one that I'm still on the fence for is the character played by Wang Xing Yue and that's because it does seem like there are some misunderstandings at play and it is true that he was "asked" to meddle in his cousin's affairs by his aunt and repeatedly by his cousin. It doesn't seem that he helped due to actually caring at first; the first time he helped it seemed he did it for the sake of the family's reputation and after that it was a matter of personal pride, competing with the third lady. That isn't enough of an excuse for me though; he knows how awful his cousin is and knows how he must be treating his wife for him to spiral like she does, but he still seemingly has no empathy for her. His advise is from the perspective of making things easier for his cousin, but never thinks of what his cousin's wife must be suffering. And yes, you can ask: why would he? The wife is no one to him. But that's where I think a lack of basic human empathy shines through and a lack of willingness to see the plight of women in this world. He is not an idiot, and he himself employs women in his business without having them resort to selling their bodies. He should know better.
Then there's the whole competing with the FL with their business. I get it. I get that his pride is wounded and that he's annoyed that the FL got one up on him by snatching his manager and painting. No one likes being tricked or taken advantage of. It also makes sense that he wouldn't just sit there and watch her steal his customers because that's his source of income. But again, I felt like there was a certain lack of empathy in how he employed methods. These are 5 girls and a widowed mother with barely any funds and nothing to rely on, trying to make a decent living. He knows this and he knows their difficulties, because he explains this to his mom when she's angry to calm her down. Yet he still was rather callous in how he dealt with them.
There's still room for hope in him toning down that arrogance and using some damn empathy, but what he's done has already left a sour taste in my mouth. I don't expect men in historical dramas to be feminists. But it's a valid criticism when dealing with a drama centering around women, where the audience is largely modern day women. The writer isn't from the song dynasty, the writer is from the modern day era. The reason so many historical chinese novels get popular is because they promote modern values within the historical context and it's what makes the characters stand out. Some of the most popular fictional historical MLs are popular precisely because they are a breath of fresh air for their time. If I wanted to just watch shitty guys do shitty things, I would just go outside. When 2/3 of the MLs so far seem unbearable and the 3rd one is precariously sitting on the fence, you know that the writer could have done a better job setting them up.
I am a big fan of Wang Xing Yue and was really looking forward to this drama so I'll give it a few more episodes, but yes as of now I'm rather disappointed. /End rant.
anyway, for me it has to do with microexpressions, line delivery, how natural the actor's mannerisms feel. is it overacted? underacted? does it feel seamless? is immersion broken? stuff like that