flowermoon9

This drama is airing at the perfect time for me. I can't explain it, but the overall vibe is very soothing and feels like something I didn't know I needed right now.
I'm getting the feeling that I'm going to cherish it for a long time once it's over.

I know, right?! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw those comments vehemently bashing the pure relationship between the main leads. I'm enjoying this drama a lot and absolutely love its soothing vibe.

If I hadn't come across those comments, I wouldn't have even known that some people were hating on this drama and trying to make the relationship seem weird when it really isn't. I wonder if that's one of the main reasons why the ratings here are so low...

Given how beautifully the plot is unfolding and how sweet the relationships between the characters are, I honestly think the ratings should be much higher!

This comment needs to be pinned for those trying to mislead new viewers into thinking the relationship between the main leads is immoral or tainted simply because the ML's mother was taken in and regarded as a younger sister.

If there was no legal adoption and no blood relation, then it implies that the relationship between the mothers was one of sisterly affection and friendship stemming from gratitude and mutual care—a very common thing in Asian cultures. Just because the mothers grew up together in the same home doesn't automatically make their children step-siblings. A sisterly bond between two unrelated women doesn't suddenly turn their children into relatives.

I honestly felt like I should rewatch the episodes because I thought perhaps I was missing certain details that made people claim with such conviction that this drama featured an incestuous relationship. Meanwhile, I was simply enjoying what I found to be a soothing and feel-good drama. I kept seeing a plethora of comments vehemently bashing it for supposedly glorifying an immoral relationship. Thankfully, someone took the time to clarify the situation for me.

I genuinely wonder if some of these people even know what incest means or what a pseudo-incestuous relationship actually implies. The thought never even crossed my mind when I started watching the drama. It wasn't until I came across those comments that I began questioning whether we were even watching the same drama in the first place.

Very true! While it's common in Western culture to call older people by their names, Asian cultures often address older people, even strangers, as uncle, aunt, grandma, or grandpa as a default sign of respect.

So when I see people in American shows calling their friends' parents by their first names, it always takes me aback haha. The cultural differences are so apparent.

Thank you for the deets! I kept seeing comments calling this a semi-incestuous relationship, and that didn't sit right with me. I was wondering if we were even watching the same drama lol.

I'm glad to know I wasn't misunderstanding their relationship: the ML's mother regarded the FL's mother as a sister out of affection and gratitude, not because they were related by blood.

Thanks again!

A question for novel readers:

What's the relationship between the ML's and FL's families? I keep seeing people call them step-cousins, but I thought the FL's mother and the ML's mother just had a sisterly friendship and weren't actually related.

Can someone spoil it for me?

I'm enjoying this drama so much. It's become my happy pill. Xing Wu's character is melting my heart... Looks like he's going to be one of my top favorites by the time I'm halfway through the drama haha

Right?? That whole episode felt like everything collapsed in seconds.

The Lin’an town arc was so good that I wished the drama had 60 episodes. Now, I feel they could’ve wrapped it up well within 30 if they were going to butcher the story’s quality like this. There were also many things I didn’t like in the second half, aside from what we got in Episode 39.

They focused too much on secondary characters, didn’t properly develop Changyu’s transformation from an ordinary butcher girl into a female general, and had her join the war without any formal military training. Her gang members kept interfering in her matters with her husband, repeatedly disrespecting the Marquis as if he were still the matrilocal husband they knew in their hometown.

I haven’t read the novel, but I saw a comment mentioning there was supposed to be another angst-filled scene where Xie Zheng discovers that Changyu’s father was responsible for his father’s death. His inner turmoil, torn between his sense of duty (not wanting to be an unfilial son) and his love for Changyu, was much more intense in the novel. He distances himself from her and even punishes himself with 108 floggings.

But the drama toned all of that down and had him accept her too easily. That completely diluted the pain, sorrow, and lifelong trauma he carried after witnessing his parents’ unjust deaths. I was really disappointed with how his character was portrayed. He’s supposed to be the general of generals, the great Marquis of Wu’an, but we’re never truly shown why.

And not to mention how we were bombarded with Qi Min and his intimate scenes with Qian Qian. I’ve never skipped scenes as much as I did whenever theirs came on. Meanwhile, the more I looked forward to Gongsun and the Princess’s love story, the less screen time they got. 🥲

I genuinely don’t understand what was going on in the director’s mind for the second half to fall apart this badly

Episode 39 made me wonder what was even going on in this drama. When Xie Zheng allied with his uncle to stand against Qi Min, I thought, ‘Okay, I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ But then they suddenly turned against each other, and I was like, ‘Hold on a second.’ And in the blink of an eye, the fight was over before I could even process it as a proper fight.
In the first breakup scene Yan Zheng told Changyu, ‘I have an enemy -- either he dies or I do.’ Anyone hearing that would expect an extraordinary final face-off and look forward to how he wins. But what we got instead was nothing short of a parody.

Yan Zheng had more fighting scenes while severely injured, coughing up blood at intervals, as Changyu’s matrilocal husband in Lin’an town than he did as the Marquis of Wu’an. I spent the entire second half of the drama waiting to see him in his full glory, taking down Qi Min, but all we got were a few brief moments of him riding toward the enemy, marching, glaring, and swinging his sword here and there, and that was it.

And what on earth was Episode 39? Even Changyu had more substantial fight scenes earlier than she did as a general in that so-called ‘final battle.’ Couldn’t she have stopped the arrow aimed at Xie Zheng? If she had been present, Wei Sheng wouldn’t have had to sacrifice his life to repay Xie Zheng for saving his mother.

The director really fumbled the second half, giving unnecessary screen time to Qi Min and his repulsive scenes with Qian Qian, which could have been replaced with Gongsun and Princess Qi Shu’s storyline. They deserved far more screen time and I was hoping to see more of their love story than watching Qi Min’s psychotic obsession with his wife.

The Lin’an town arc was the best part of the drama -- everything from the story to the pacing, the comedy, and the emotional beats was well balanced. I even appreciated how the struggles of ordinary people were portrayed. But the moment I thought not a single second was being wasted in this drama, everything started going downhill from there.

The FL literally said, after finding out his identity, that she wouldn’t worry about his safety anymore now that she knows he’s the marquis. Even if that was blurted out in anger, I couldn't believe she could say something like that as his wife.

She’s illiterate and dense at the same time. She can barely read beyond a handful of letters, struggles to take responsibility, and keeps creating unnecessary danger. And yet a woman like that is placed on the front lines to lead men in battle.
Only eight episodes are left, and we still haven’t seen the ML’s full glory as the marquis. I want to see his fight scenes and how ruthlessly he takes down his enemies. The time spent on those Qi Min–Qian Qian disgusting intimate scenes could have been used to showcase the ML in action.
And I don’t think she’ll stop picking up a sword. The drama has been highlighting her journey from the very beginning—her so-called ‘transformation’ from an ordinary butcher to a ‘legendary’ female general. So she’ll keep interfering where she shouldn’t and ‘fighting’ alongside the ML like they’re two bros on a battlefield. Sigh.

Apparently, it’s too much to expect the writers to let the ML handle the sword and the enemies while the FL uses a bow and arrows. Making the FL the alpha warrior and turning the ML into her sidekick has become the norm now.

I couldn’t agree more! It’s mind-boggling how seriously the ML takes this battle - planning every step and having his army stick to it - and then there’s his wife, who jumps in on a whim and acts purely on emotion without consulting anyone, as if she’s still in her hometown and not in an actual war. She relies on emotions, pure luck, and brute strength. Her decisions as a female general are almost always catastrophic. Every time luck works in her favor, it’s only because the ML is watching over her and keeping her under his protection.

And yet she has the nerve to say she won’t hide behind him when he tells her to stay back and let him face the enemy first - it clearly stings her “girlboss” ego. And look what that leads to: the ML’s right-hand man gets injured, and her friend Mandi is first hurt and then loses his life - all because she got distracted and lost in her thoughts in the middle of a battle. She was the one who told Mandi to stay close to her, so by her own words, it was her responsibility to protect him, and she failed.

She only managed to kill that enemy in two strikes because Mandi’s death fueled her anger and gave her the adrenaline to finish him off. So does that mean every time she’s in battle, she can only unlock her strength after someone close to her dies? The writers have made her fighting scenes feel like a supernatural show rather than a historical drama.

And I also hate how the ML is portrayed here. She undermines his contributions to her life and takes his love for granted. As the general of generals, he has absolutely no need to be her matrilocal husband, yet he endures her insults again and again and still runs back to her whenever she’s in danger. He owes her his life, but it feels like he’s paying for it by tolerating her harsh words and actions repeatedly. She never thinks twice before saying hurtful things or hitting him, and he’s expected to give in to her every mood.

She keeps testing him emotionally, which is why she brings up divorce papers every time he says he’ll leave, even though he never said he would divorce her. Bringing it up repeatedly is like rubbing salt in his wounds, because he never wanted to leave her in the first place and delayed it as much as he could.
In the breakup scene, he forcibly kissed her after she accused him of harassing her. He was already leaving, and she brought up divorce and even compared him to Song Yan. If she could slap him, why couldn’t he kiss her? Calling it harassment feels like an insult to his character. She can get on his nerves, insult him, and hit him but he can’t even kiss her? And people still enjoy seeing him get beaten by his wife, saying he deserves it and more.

But what about the countless times her reckless decisions put others in danger, and the ML has to clean up her mess? Where is the accountability then? If the ML had lashed out at her for hiding her identity - or worse, slapped her - the audience wouldn’t hesitate to label him a red flag and would've lost their minds. Reverse the genders, and suddenly all her actions seem justified - she can do no wrong.
Why didn’t she tell him the truth about her father when it was her turn to come clean? Hypocrisy much? And even then, the ML forgives her - her mood swings, her pushing him away, and still promises to stand by her no matter what. Reverse the situation, and she would have shut the door on him and never looked back if she found out he was connected to her father’s death. It’s all incredibly frustrating.

You have no right to raise your hand and hit your spouse. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the husband or the wife. If the person has no ill intentions, calling it harassment and resorting to physical violence to vent your anger is disrespectful. If you’re angry, step back, stop talking, or distance yourself - anything except getting physical.
It’s a different matter if the spouse turns out to be an evil person like the Sui brothers. In that case, no amount of slapping or beating would be enough. A knife would be necessary

And I agree with everything you said. She tends to make decisions on everyone’s behalf, yet hates it when someone does the same to her. That’s why she lashes out at the ML every time he does something she doesn’t approve of. But she herself dared to drug him and go to war in his place. Saying she did it because he lied about his identity and she couldn’t bear the thought of him dying doesn’t absolve her of making a wrong decision. It was a breach of military law.

She didn’t know he was the marquis, but she did know she was part of the military. Even replacing a single soldier without orders is punishable. Yet she got away with it again - and even slapped him, taking out her anger on him when she learned the truth about his identity. It often feels like she takes advantage of his weakness, knowing she can hurt him however she wants and he still won’t leave her.

As for him hiding his true identity - being the marquis, he carries the responsibility of the entire military and the lives of his people. If he concealed his identity, it was for valid reasons, including protecting her. Everyone is after the head of the Marquis of Wu’an - imagine if they found out who the marchioness is. He couldn’t risk her life.

Moreover, I was frustrated too when she knocked out Lord Li and deprived him of the chance to meet his master before his death. She questioned the ML, asking who he thought he was to act without considering her feelings - but the same can be said about her. Who does she think she is to act on others’ behalf and make decisions for them?

The writers leaned so heavily into a female-centric approach that they lost all semblance of logic in the writing. I couldn’t believe they actually thought it was commendable to have her join the army with no formal military training. She went to war based on a few techniques she picked up from a brief sparring session with her husband and her father’s friend. The rest she relied on were skills from butchering pigs and whatever she had learned years ago from her father. Is war a joke?
She gets distracted, becomes emotional in the middle of facing the enemy, and the ML’s right-hand man ends up saving her life at the risk of his own. Later, they say he might never be able to raise a sword again. If that injury had happened while taking down the enemy, it would have been an honourable sacrifice - but it happened because of her absent-mindedness in the middle of a battle. And yet she gets promoted to a high-ranking position instead of being punished. It’s farcical at this point

And when the marquis upholds order, the writers tone down the scene with comedic effect. Like when the FL saw the enemy trying to dampen the army’s morale, she decided to take matters into her own hands - and it was pure luck that saved her from being pierced by enemy arrows. That ‘luck’ was the ML ordering his men to protect her and her companions.

When she was brought in for punishment, the ML created a situation where he could fulfill both his duties as her husband and as the leader of his army. I was so annoyed that they turned that scene into comedy when it was supposed to highlight the seriousness of breaching military law and acting without orders from the marquis.
The writers seem to love turning the ML into a caricature, making every other plotline heavy and emotional - except when it comes to showing the weight of his authority as the marquis. That’s why we can barely see him fight. There are more scenes of him coughing up blood, losing consciousness, and glaring than actually fighting in the war - and he’s supposed to be the general of generals, the great Marquis of Wu’an.

Being trained by her father to protect her loved ones is very different from receiving formal military training. You don’t join a war based on what you learned years ago and a quick sparring session.
Moreover, she faces no consequences for her reckless decisions and gets away with them every time because the marquis watches over her and orders his men to guard her at the risk of their own lives. If she chose to join the war, she should bear the consequences of her actions - but instead, she gets promoted to a high-ranking position.

What irks me is that she faces no consequences for her rash actions and gets away with it every time because she’s the Marquis’s weak spot. And yet, she never fails to punish him when she thinks he’s made mistakes. If she chose to join the war, she should be held to the same risks as everyone else.

I don’t understand this current obsession among C-drama writers with creating Mary Sue FLs. They show the female lead with almost herculean strength and god-of-war-level skills, being the only woman in an entire army of men and achieving great merit with no prior formal training.
And yet the ML is constantly watching over her and protecting her, even when her reckless actions are this close to costing her own life - or the lives of her comrades. This has happened three times in a row in this drama. Every time she gets involved in war or deals with the enemy on her own, the ML orders his men to guard her and protect her life.

In war, a soldier’s mindset is to fight to the death - the priority is defeating the enemy. But here, for the FL, those rules don’t seem to apply. The ML’s right-hand man even broke his shoulder saving her when she got distracted for a second after the enemy mentioned her late father. And yet she’s still allowed to lead soldiers and become a high-ranking official despite such reckless mistakes and having no formal training.
If you say women don’t belong in the army, people will call you a misogynist. So why the double standards for this supposedly great female general, Fan Changyu? Why does the ML constantly have to risk his men’s lives to save her when their focus should be on defeating the enemy?
It could have been a great drama, but they had to mar it with unrealistic tropes.

And not to mention the FL suddenly joining the war and even leading the ML’s men with no proper military training. She learned one or two techniques in a quick sparring session from her husband and her father’s friend, and apparently that was enough. The rest comes from childhood lessons and butchering pigs 🙄

You're very kind! Thank you 🫶

​I know exactly how it feels to be bashed for speaking the truth and calling a spade a spade in drama communities -especially when your argument goes against the majority opinion. I've faced this myself in the past.

​I wasn't a frequent visitor to MDL before. I used to only check a drama’s ratings before starting it and maybe skim the comments to gauge the overall vibe. But after finishing Love Between Lines because of all the craze and hype, I couldn't help myself... I had to see if anyone else felt the way I did. When I saw your comment, I just knew I had to share my thoughts and back your take -because you told the truth!

​I hope you enjoy the dramas from my list once you’ve had a chance to watch them! 🤗