grapejuice

But that would have worked too. 🙂

The ML did a run not a walk to the naval base cuz its probably not too safe for two pretty young women to be there with the troops. And if you were one of those women you might not want to be shuttled off to the side with a small group of captors guarding you. It would be much safer for you to be much more visible and attract a bigger crowd (including the big boss) in a way that makes you valued. So why not tell a story and then another and another until the whole camp is listening. Couldn't be safer than that. Basically, then, this is the FL going into survival mode again. Actually I thought it was a bit over the top too but then I tried to think of any other way that our two maids could stay visible and safe in that environment ... and I couldn't think of one.

She wasn't bluffing though. She knew the cotton was going out by ship and figured that's why ML was contacting the Naval border dude. She just didn't want her supervisor to know that she had learned so much inside info that was important to the ML. No need to make the more senior maid feel left out of the loop or relatively unimportant.

I haven't learned too much in life unfortunately but I have learned that flaws and imperfections and mistakes are not consistently so.

A flaw in one context or situation is a strength in a different place. An imperfection will get you hated or doomed in one workplace, for instance, but it will be seen in an entirely different way and get you a promotion in a different setting. Is she timid or is she cautious? Is she a quick thinker or is she rash in her judgments and reckless taking too many risks? It all depends, right? There are two sides to every coin.

The timing, the other people in the room ... the overall situation ... and luck. So nobody is without flaws when a weakness can become a strength and a strength can become a weakness.

What I think you're looking for is whether the writer will create situations where the FL can't succeed or will it all be smooth sailing and, therefore, less interesting, maybe? Only you know for sure.

But maybe you will be disappointed on this because the defining characteristic of the FL (as decided by the writer) is that she is adaptable. She reads the room. She does what she needs to do in each particular situation because she detects the subtleties in each situation. She will find a way to survive in whatever place she lands in. And she's wise enough to know that you must survive before you can thrive. Don't overreach. Don't run too fast.

She's not a creature of only one environment and class. She's already had to adapt a few times and so she has learned how. Which makes her similar to the ML in some ways. He knows about adapting to survive. He went from being a pampered rich boy scholar to being a soldier on the battlefield dependent on his wife's family instead of being able to rely on the power of his own.

In fact, I finally caved and watched the trailer that aired before the series began. And in it you hear the ML saying pretty much the same thing. He calls her a weed that can grow anywhere.

So, you don't have to be perfect in life. Being able to adapt and survive is actually the perfect skill to have even if you have a lot of weaknesses as well. And that's interesting drama, really, watching a good character adapt and survive. There's a lot of excitement and thrill in that even if it makes her look more perfect than she actually is.

She always goes with her first idea, rarely asks for input from others and she almost always has luck on her side during a crunch. I'm not saying that she isn't smart and resourceful ... a good person to have around ... but not flawless or perfect

I don't think that she's so perfect. She's smart and hard working and kind but she's also timid and naive and has trouble communicating her feelings to others. At least she usually chooses not to..

And she's definitely not always right. She has a little too much faith in her instincts, ideas and decisions and she often goes with the first thing that comes to mind ... which has worked out so far because luck has also usually been on her side.

So, it's difficult to conclude that she never makes mistakes and can solve everything on her own. And I'm not sure that everyone likes her either. The maids she's close to definitely do but a part of that is because they share the same boat, and she's a leader they can rely on for assistance. Others have been jealous, or may well become so ...

So ... no ... she's not perfect. Bravery. Confidence. Being proactive. Being resourceful. And more ... ? All of these things are gradually developing from potential to actual. If you look closely, she's definitely in a state of becoming ... becoming amazing. But she didn't begin that way.

lol. I wondered the same thing. I've missed her the last few times the FL has visited with her parents.

I really appreciate this spoiler for something I haven't seen yet.

New girl (sister of the guy who saved MLs life in battle) wanted to trick a marriage proposal out of the ML or, at the very least, embarrass and make him look like a really bad dude. She gave him a flower to wear for the party knowing that people would see his wearing it as a sign of romance between them because her name is the same as the name of the flower.

She may have had a co-conspirator or two who suggested the game, deliberately noticed that hes wearing 'her' flower and teased him so he'd have to say yes or no that they're connected or that he's interested in her. Saying yes gets him an engagement. Saying no gets him a bad rep for humiliating a lady who's brother saved him. What an ungrateful cad.

Anyway, our FL put two and two together to see how bad this would look so she raised the alarm and convinced grandfather to put the flower on himself and others so that it wouldn't look like a romantic connection between ML and new girl.

I think she's great too and should have lead roles instead of being typecast but that doesn't mean she's better than the leads in this drama. Tan Songyun has played so many different roles so well ever since she was a child actor. She definitely deserves the respect and the roles she usually gets.

Same ... page doesn't load ... just a black screen ... on the my laptop/MDLwebsite but it is working ok on my phone/MDLapp.

I think she escaped because she's audacious and fierce and a bit unhinged and definitely ready to fight back with all that she has. She talked fast and her opposition wasn't quite as fierce ... at least not yet. So they hesitated and she's still alive. For now.

He may know and be worried but he's seen her be discreet and careful and loyal enough to risk her own life to save her friend. And he may have a soft spot forming but then again he may have just spotted a talent that will be useful to him in the future. We wait, wonder and will eventually see, I guess.

She' knows that she's not much more than a slave herself ... I mean if you look at the bare facts. Her family can do anything they want with her. They can beat her or beat her to death if they want to. They can use her in any manner to extract all of her worth for their own benefit. She's chattel too and she knows it. She's bought and sold and not entitled to learn or earn and keep anything that her family don't want her to have. She gets to wear nice clothes and make other people miserable too but... she has reason to hate the people who treat her like an object instead of a person. They can force her to have an abortion and then make her marry a complete stranger who isn't the person she fell in love with. There;s nothing right or fair about it and she can't change it.

Wouldn't you be bitter and want to escape? She clearly knows what she wants. She clearly wants to be independent and free but everyone around her is there to prevent her from achieving that. The world is against her and that's enough for a free spirit to become truly miserable. She knows the world is set up against women ... all women and so she fights back in her own way instead of turning over and giving up.

I think I get her. And I actually think, from what you've written, that you get her too.

From what you say, I think you are right to get off here. This is more a slice of life drama so far; slice of life for women who are slaves, stuck working for wealthy people who don't see them as being entirely human much less equal. That's not a liberating context and not light at all.

In fact, revenge is way beyond the FL's means and it's not even known who she should go after if that's what she wants. So, it's not shaping up as you were wanting and may not ever get there. This is more realistic. This is how people were treated. So who knows if it will ever get much better in your view. And you're right, none of us is entitled to get the story we want so there isn't much point in complaining . We just move on to something else that might come closer to what we enjoy.

I wonder why you would rate it though. It's not what you were hoping for but, for what it actually is ... it's worth a higher rating. For what it is, it's not a two out of five. So your rating will mislead people who would actually enjoy the drama. You're telling them, with your rating, that it's not a good drama when it's not actually a good drama for you i.e. not your cup of tea. Your words are much better though; better at directing people towards or away from the drama depending on whether they are looking for the same things that you're looking for.

She's ultra careful and reserved, even uncommunicative to the point where many people may think she's too calculating. Not too much spontaneity. Somewhat closed off. She might also be accused of not being humble about her literacy. She spoke up so clearly about her strengths; capabilities that were uncommon at the time. I bet there will be people who think she's conceited or judgemental or stuck up because she is so capable. There will be jealousy at some point. So, depending on a character's point of view ... she isn't perfect at all.

But the thing that strikes me ... that makes her seem more excellent ... is that she is just so incredibly grateful for her life and any good luck and any little thing that people do for her. Given her life so far she's a bit jaded on the one hand and a bit naive on the other. She's seen the worst that people can do and she's known some very self sacrificing people too. There aren't that many people who are as incredibly good as her parents.

I wasn't saying that Chinese viewers are inattentive or uneducated about their own history. I know that production mistakes will be attacked and, therefore, they can be incredibly costly, It's all in my first comment. It's international, mainly English speaking, viewers that know little about histories other than their own. We stand to learn a lot from the literature, cinema and television dramas coming out of many other countries especially Asian countries. And also ... interacting with people from cultures that value education and history so highly? That's a good education for us as well since we are not taught to value these things to the same extent. World history, geography, politics and even our own history, geography, politics, economics are not always well taught or well learned in our school systems.

It would be so nice to see her land a FL role. She could definitely pull it off with enough weight, power, charisma. And ... I don't think she better do another role like this one. It's too close to the role she performed in The Double ... and since she's done these two roles so well, she might just find herself getting typecast instead of being re-cast into lead roles ...

I've never seen it before either. And most international viewers are probably pretty ignorant about both modern and historical era China ... but we eventually learn some things and wise up a bit.

whoa !!! I haven't seen the trailer or the promos and I'm trying hard, this time, not to look at the previews ... so, yep, that's a spoiler fest for me. Sounds interesting though. haha. I'll look forward to finding out how much of that is misdirection and not what it seems to be ... or maybe it's exactly what it seems to be and I'm just doing wishful thinking.

Actually, it kinda feels like the FL is definitely the main protagonist in this drama and maybe the ML is just the ML and a grey character who doesn't automatically deserve any kind of hero worship from the FL or the audience. That would certainly be interesting and different.

The Red Sleeve kdrama was like that. There was a FL and a ML but the ML wasn't every little thing that the FL ever wanted (even though he was played by Junho). Theirs was a very imperfect romance and not the kind of thing a FL would have dreamed of as a young romantic. In fact, despite being king, he wasn't always so swoon-worthy like most MLs. And she was not one who wanted to be swept off of her feet either. So, perhaps this drama will be the same.

I mean in real life, love and marriage aint what films and dramas might have little girls dreaming about so maybe this will be a more realistic drama for a more realistic audience.