Calla

oh yes. after i responded to you, i went back to rewatch ep12 (it's been a year since i last saw it), and the wutuo invaders really did just walk right into the base in broad daylight. what a mess. 😂

in the novel, the watchtower soldiers were killed in the middle of the night by enemy scouts who arrived first, and it was snowing heavily, which muffled much of the commotion. instead of waiting for midday, the attackers stormed the base very early in the morning just as the new recruits were waking up and discovering their watchmen had been murdered. the drama definitely should've done a better job adapting this scene lol.

even so... i'm happy to see you enjoying the drama. it's one of my all-time favorites too!

i know it has been a few days since you left this comment, but to answer your question:

in the novel, many soldiers were stationed in the watchtowers, but they were all killed in the middle of the night. there was one soldier who, even after being injured, still tried to beat the drums as a final act of bravery to warn his fellow soldiers, but the enemies cut off his arm and he bled to death.

on top of that, xiao jue had received false intel requesting reinforcements elsewhere, so he took most of the seasoned soldiers with him. the only ones left were new recruits, who were too inexperienced to realize anything was amiss.

that is why the base was infiltrated so easily.

thank you for sharing. that was a fascinating, yet heartbreaking read. i guess no good deed really goes unpunished... han liang is starting to feel like such a tragic character.

i see, thank you. i am okay with no romance, but hopefully it's not too depressing. i'm also tired of that lol.

even after reading the synopsis and watching the trailer, i'm still not really sure what this drama is about. is it fantasy? is it thriller? what era is it supposed to be? i have no clue. but it looks high quality, so i'll definitely check it out. 😅

imo, xintang isn't as smart as lady du, so i can't say she'd be able to dodge all of lady du's schemes. but she isn't as patient as lanxiang either, so she probably wouldn't have given lady du enough chances to step out of line. after all, she threw a fit over a servant sharing the same surname as her, so would she really be okay with lady du openly scheming to be jinqi's concubine? she doesn't love him, but she hates people who cross her.

the moment lady du starts to get under xintang's skin, since she can't directly hurt lady du due to the lin family's protection, i'm sure she would've started plotting to have lady du married off to an outsider asap. that outsider would look like a proper husband in public, but would most likely treat lady du horribly in private. lady du would most definitely be cunning enough to escape, but the point is, i think that's what xintang would have tried to do if she were still around lol.

yes, i believe she sang one of the osts for this drama:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwmMX3cufL8

are you talking about this one?

https://wetv.vip/en/play/94jt6sxiwsjw5n6/i4101s8oype-Tan_Songyun_and_Liu_Xueyi_create_their_own_fate%2C_stroke_by_stroke

the way the grandfather, the lin patriarch, reacted to finding out about xiuwan and du zheng, along with his resolution for it, reminds me a lot of what happened to fu tingyan in the road to splendor. it doesn't matter what the truth is. as long as you are born a woman and you are no longer considered "pure" in the eyes of society, your only path out of that "disgrace" is death. it's tragic how easily a family will sacrifice you to protect themselves. if you are lucky, you will have people who cry for you; if you are not, no one will even remember you. life for women during ancient times was harsh, but it seems especially cruel during the ming dynasty, in which both of these stories take place.

ep 20. parallels between against the current and the road to splendor:

the drama itself isn't a fantasy at all. the fantasy tag is most likely due to the novel being a rebirth story, but that element doesn't exist in the drama (censorship reasons.) i would consider this as just historical fiction and slice-of-life.

i heard the ml isn't just a red flag in the novel, he's a black flag. so i'm also very thankful the drama deviates from the original source. 😅

and you're welcome! i like to research the dramas / novels i'm invested in too, so i get it lol.

i haven't read the novel myself, but from skimming the synopsis + chapter 1 of the novel and reading comments left by the readers, it is quite different from the drama. in the novel, there is a rebirth element and our fl have more than one love interest (i think 4?) also, the ml is crueler in the novel, even forceful in how he handled his obsessions of the fl. the novel has a much darker tone.

the screenwriters made a lot of changes, but they seemed to be for the betterment of the story.

two individuals who are as clueless as they are loyal. there will never be a dull moment. 😂

i love it. they balance each other out so well lol. 😂❤️

if you're interested in some drama script spoilers, i've shared a link in the comment below. be warned, they are major spoilers though.

5) Yuan Shaohui and Xurui got along well at first but as she had like 6 daughters with him, Yuan Shaohui's mother demanded him to take concubines which he did, but still no sons and only daughters (LOL, his Y chromosomes said NO). Commander Yuan later got killed by Du Cuique. It was still a good ending for Xurui as she maintained her position as the main wife and is like the First Madam holding down the marquisate household. She also killed Du Cuique and that basically was revenge for Yuan Shaohui. Her way of speaking also changed and she became a "boss lady".

- credits to @JJJ

the other day, @JJJ (a fellow mdl user) generously shared with us some major spoilers, which she got from a c-netz who read the drama script. not sure if these are the finalized plotlines for the official drama, but if you want to read the entire post, the link is here: https://kisskh.at/754367-the-story-of-xiang-lan#comment-27524136

if you only want to read the spoilers for marquis yuan and xiuru, i'll put that in the post below:

nanke and these damn butterflies. 😂

i just finished ep10... and this is the fl's dad? he's creepy af. all of his interactions with the women in his family make me feel uncomfortable. i can't believe this is the man his wives have been fighting over lol.