grapejuice

But you know that you can't call it romanticizing unless you've seen it and examined the context itself and the development of characters in that context.

The ML starts out as a better man than his peers despite his doing some horrible things. And he improves to the point where he is drastically, very much better than other men of the era. He improves to the point where he would never repeat the same transgressions again because he knows what he did wrong, why it was wrong and what the cost was.

So, if anything is being romanticized, it's his improvement; his improving himself to the point where he became acceptable or even better than acceptable ... in any context. Not just as a good man for his era but as a good man for any era.

It's way too simple and almost destructive to say that a true redemption that models better behavior is somehow romanticizing the abuse when it is modeling and rewarding a man who would no longer abuse.

If you shut down this kind of story because you've analyzed it poorly then you'll be removing a model for positive change.

Are we sure it's even the same emperor? Or maybe it is and he's just become addicted to cricket fighting to the point where he isn't noticing other more important things ... or eunuch's who don't like JQ convinced the king not to care that he resigned. We don't really know the details yet.

I do believe we have some trolls that are here for this episode.

explain?

So, she should push the values of that bygone era instead ??? i.e. the values that subjugated, oppressed, and ill treated women in about every feasible way? I'm sure that would do well with the Project 2025 crowd but most of the rest of us wouldn't watch that kind of retrograde material.

Have you been watching or just skimmed the comments and synopses?

Apparently the ML in the source material was much much worse than the ML in the drama ...and the FL fell in love with him. So, I'm not sure what you mean when you ask "why did they change how the original source handled it"?

No one is entirely sure how MDL's rating algorithm works.

I think a lot of us rate each episode if we think it's worth the effort and some of us give a provisional rating on the whole drama as it progresses. You can rate the whole thing but, for the record, also indicate how many episodes you've actually seen. I had never done this kind of provisional rating before watching this drama but, I have been making it truly provisional. I've changed it once already and, if at the end, I change my mind about the overall score again ... I'll change it again.

There are people, however, who will rate things that they haven't even seen yet. Dramas that they aren't even watching. Episodes that haven't aired. They'll rate a whole drama without indicating the number of episodes they saw or show that they dropped it. There are also people who rate (very low) things that are running opposite to something that they like so as to make what they like stand out more, I guess.

All kinds of stuff happens with these ratings so ... don't bet your house on them. They are, sometimes, absolutely unreliable and unhelpful.

She's the only one who has had an internal monologue. And she's a play write ... so perhaps you are onto something.

For her story ... I think she's meant to be the picture of adaptability and survival. She will find a way to be happy ... or content maybe ...no matter what.

She's a Buddhist. She doesn't expect a perfect life. She's happy to be alive and not suffering. She's not demanding or prescriptive about her life. She never yearned for the grand love story or lusted after anyone or anything, really.

All she wants is to be safe, not in unnecessary peril. And she wants to be good. A good person who lives with other good people doing good things where needed and possible.

So, she'll roll with whatever punches are thrown at her and she'll just do her best.

And maybe that's the extent of her role in the story. To model that Buddhist frame of mind.

She doesn't have to be what other people want her to be. She just flows calmly through the storms doing the best that she can for herself and others.

I'm fine with the way that the time skips were done. Do I have to be the only one?

For all the people here who can't deal because they're not sure that LX loves JQ ... because she hasn't said it or thought it in an internal monologue ...

I think she has. I think we've seen lots of little things to show that she does love her husband ... including the way that she smiled at him when he arrived at her parents place in ep 39.

But I have to ask ... so what if she doesn't have some giddy romantic heart fluttering love for him ... or what if she quietly did and now they're past it and into a more mature phase of love?

So, what kind of love are we talking about anyway?

People had different ideas about love back then. It was thought to be a passing fancy that you shouldn't put too much stock in because it wouldn't last. And we've seen enough Kdramas and C-dramas to know that Western romantic love and Asian romantic love aren't exactly the same thing either. Or ... are they?

And we know that women in that day and age were lucky to end up with someone they could like or even tolerate who didn't hit them or think of them as lowly, worthless, convenient. Most were poor and struggling to do at least half the work in a world that was much tougher than ours. Many would die in childbirth. Many would starve or become widowed and then starve maybe homeless. Rape was common especially in wartime and most men would blame their wife for being a victim. Everything was stacked against women.

So what if our FL likes and doesn't hate our ML? What if she respects, and trusts our ML? What if they have a great family life, eat well and enjoy some fun now and then? What if he let's her read what she wants, sing as loud as she wants and write plays when she wants?

Do they also need to have candle lit dinners, great sex and say I love you whenever nobody is looking? What would the best love be for LanXiang and her sisters as well? Is it a sweeping love story. Is it larger than life fate and destiny?

Maybe we can use this opportunity to ask ourselves these questions - for ourselves - as well. Because I keep hearing people talk on and on and on about romance and this one being too little or not the obviously right kind. But maybe our FL isn't like each of us and her ideal love wouldn't look like our fantasy love.

Anyway, if you aren't sure and that isn't killing you, have you seen the K-drama called The Red Sleeve where the answer is even more ambiguous? It's also another extremely well written, well acted and well made drama but you'll ask all the same questions about that relationship that you're asking about this one.

I used to know a monk quite well and have some Buddhist friends who helped me with readings that have intrigued me but if I were brave enough to call myself a Buddhist, I would have to say that I"m really not a very good one. So I better not. Am very interested in Taoism, Buddhism and Humanism though so I have read a bit. And I've played around with the I-ching so I recognized the hexagrams that LanXiang showed the scholar outside the library.

Anyway, you're right about the drama being pretty consistent although I can't always match up what I'm hearing and what I know. I had never heard of the Pure Land sect so maybe that's why the prayers and prostrations don't sound or look like what I'm used to.

It's clear, though, that LanXiang follows the two-fold path pretty thoroughly: wisdom (seeing things as they are, reality and impermanence, non-attachment): along with compassion (loving kindness and the commitment to helping anyone in need, no matter their station in life -just like her mother demonstrated in the very first scene).

The fact that she talks about her 'way' and 'path' is obviously Taoist and Buddhist. And I think her entire demeanor is appropriate especially now that she's older. People read it as coldness or distance but really it's just stillness and thoughtfulness. Respectful. Deliberate. Controlled in a light way. Quiet.

I think part of the way people see her as being too perfect is also coming from the fact that she will always carefully think through and try to help people with their problems.

And some of what people see as anachronistic, 21st century values is really just Buddhist teaching; the extension of kindness and wisdom to anyone who seeks enlightenment regardless of gender or class.

And the Emperors way, is an abomination of The Way. No one can or should try to impose their will on or supersede the right natural Way of living that applies to all creatures in the world. Too many of his rights and practices are lack compassion and are often just evil. He carries a huge karmic load.

So, ... yep. It's pretty exciting to see so much of this amazing system of thought and belief in a television drama. To see it just woven through the story very naturally. But that might actually be why we Westerners are missing a few things that the drama is emphasizing.

haha I thought it looked fishy too. And well... she has a fishy smell about her overall.

If you haven't already seen The Road to Splendor, it might be what you are looking for.

I don't feel the need to argue or defend. If you are bored, find something else

Oh so what are they going to do then? The family. Lock her up. Kill her. Be mean to her. And claim that she was no good. Sorry but it's you who is missing the point. Nobody criticizes the Emperor. Not event the Lin family. So they won't be going to the King or the authorities either and they had better hope that nobody reports them. So they won't mistreat her because they don't want to become an enemy of the crown or become the object of more gossip and humiliation ... Your argument falls apart as soon as you get to ..."assuming she is a good wife" Why? because the king has already declared that she is so it doesn't matter if the facts or opinions disagree. He is always right ... Nobody says he is wrong and he won't admit it even if he is...

This is such a ridiculous criticism. You honestly think that someone would report her for slapping the groom at her wedding when it was the emperor who picked her and gave her to that groom? Are you nuts? Use logic. It's useful. Nitpicking isn't.

Of course she does. The emperor bestowed her on JQ. Who will say that it was a mistake to do so? They might wag their fingers but they won't wag their tongues for fear of losing their heads ... so ... our girl's got Teflon.

Who amongst family and friends would report it when the emperor had decreed the marriage. Could the king have made a mistake when he bestowed her on the ML? Would you stand up in a court of law and cast doubt on the king's good, divine judgment?

Buddhists don't do revenge. They expect that everyone's life is filled with loss and pain but they feel that you can turn pain into true suffering when you hold onto things too tightly. So, LX's mother had to ask her to live but she didn't have to ask her not to seek any kind of retribution. Raised as a Buddhist, it's just not something that she would have done even if someone, besides the emperor, had actually done them wrong. Experiencing loss is to be expected. Inflicting pain on others is not acceptable. It runs contrary to compassion, kindness and it just leads to the accumulation of bad karma.

When you say "I wanted to see the FL finally accept her feelings for the ML and him winning her over" ... I can only imagine something big and melo ... which doesn't fit our leads at all. They are not that kind of demonstrative couple. What we saw was the culmination of small moments where her feelings were shown after small moments where he did win her over. We saw it already. Just not on the scale you want, I guess. The point is that they are subdued in their love so, when the last barrier was removed, they marked the occasion by consummating their marriage. Simple. No fan fare needed by them or for them. What you wanted would have been out of character for them.