the stepmother was clearly far away from jiang li. then why did she and others blamed her? does the stepmother…
Yes. The stepmother wanted an excuse to send Jiang Li away because Jiang Li is the legitimate daughter, i.e., Jiang Li's real mother was the first legitimate wife. The legitimate daughter is usually privy to all the wonderful benefits compared to the other daughters. I'm sure all the servants who saw what happened, lied. Likely because the servants were the servants of the stepmother or they were too scared to lose their job and be sold.
The stepmother goes insane when confronted with all the evil deeds she has committed to become the 2nd legitimate wife. Her evil deeds are exposed and everyone realizes what she has done over the years. She realizes she was once a good person that became evil because her father pushed her to gain higher status for her family, like her sister, Consort Li. She couldn't come to terms with what she had done and how she became evil.
Notice Do-Yeung eating the revenge cake (haha, that's what I called it) to taste what it's like before deciding…
I wondered if he also went there to see if he would by chance see DE. It seems like when she started living with JYJ she stopped going there to eat the simple, cheap "revenge cake" or at least they didn't show her eating there anymore. When HDY ate the "revenge cake" I also thought that he was allowing himself to be at her level, meaning, their social status was probably one reason why they wouldn't work out as a couple (they live in completely different worlds). And he actually enjoyed it and appreciated it whereas he didn't before. The game of GO was another place (or way for them) where they could be themselves without social status/barriers influencing their decisions and actions, i.e., be in the same world.
I kinda like the fact that DE didn’t have to stoop to the level of her abusers. She was able to cleverly manipulate…
You know, I want to rewatch that part...when he says he'll stay in the marriage so that he can still see her again. After that point, I was hoping they would have more interactions, but there really weren't... 😢. I was hoping he wouldn't dirty his hands by killing JJ because DE didn't dirty her hands. But maybe that was why he chose to leave with his daughter? Because he knew that even though they were so similar, he couldn't be entirely clean like her.
I kinda like the fact that DE didn’t have to stoop to the level of her abusers. She was able to cleverly manipulate…
I wondered why they showed the shoes...and I didn't quite get why she gave PYJ another chance, but this helps explain it. I mean, I saw the shoes, but the respect he showed her by leaving the shoes at the entrance kinda went over my head. Thanks for clarifying that! I too shipped DE and DY...there's something about their mutual admiration and respect for each other, but showing restraint based on their current situation. I wish they explored this a bit more...
I didn’t really like that Moon Dong-eun didn’t get her hands dirty for revenge. I mean, she wanted revenge,…
I kinda like the fact that DE didn’t have to stoop to the level of her abusers. She was able to cleverly manipulate them despite their attempts to get back at her. They were her pawns in the game of Go. For me, that seems more satisfying because she knew her abusers so well that all they needed was a little push (a very well planned push) and they would do all the dirty work themselves. But that’s just me…wanting DE to get her revenge but still stay “clean”, i.e., her abusers didn’t turn her into one of them.
I think it is quite enough that, not only did she lose everything, but she is now being eff’ed up in prison…
I wondered why PYJ was re-enacting the weather forecasting and missed the reference that she’s doing what she forced DE to do (sing and dance) when she abused her. Thanks for that connection! I think it’s also that PYJ never felt the fear of being bullied since she was always the one bullying. So she’s going to endure that longer than DE had to and she can’t escape. In DE case, the people around her allowed it to happened by turning a blind eye, in PYJ case, the public thinks she deserves it so it will be a never-ending hell for her. They may not have shown bruises nor marks on her body, but I’m sure in prison, they do all sorts of horrible things there.
I dare not tell you how many times I have re-watched! 😝
I just finished it and liked it! I’ve been avoiding the discussions until I finished it, so will now head there for some interesting perspectives and analysis! Thanks for the drama recommendation!
In Episode 23, the king released the girl and her father without any solid evidence, solely based on the pleas…
IIUC, she overturned the charge that her father was a corrupt official that stole 5000 taels from the government during his 10 year career as the magistrate. The witnesses testify that he helped them out with the money he’s been stealing throughout his tenure as an official. She contrasts that with the current magistrate who has been in office for only 6 months, who has considerably more assets than her father. She asks the Grand Censor to provide the official assets seized from her father at the time of his imprisonment (no houses nor lands with a total money sum of 5000 taels) and compares it to the official assets of the current magistrate while in office (40 houses, the number of farmlands is too much to count and total assets of 200,000 taels). I think this pretty much shows that the corrupt official is really the current magistrate. The Emperor then asks another official to reinvestigate her father’s corruption case. That said, i’m in no way an expert on the laws of the government during that time period and i’m basing my understanding on English subtitles. 😅
I liked everything about this drama. It's rare for me to like both the revenge part and the romance part of a…
The current Emperor did not send her (the princess is his half-sister, same father but different mothers). The princess’ father, the previous Emperor sent her to Dai country as a hostage to keep the peace between their two countries. The princess will take revenge on her father because of what she went through as the hostage.
every time duke guided her so where is smart or strong lady, and he also used sometimes her so he is no different…
She was able to escape the convent by setting up the headmistress on her own. She manipulated Duke Su into taking her back to the capital by feigning collusion with the salt trafficker he was after. Duke Su and his guards even mentioned she had the gall to use him. At the coming of age ceremony, Duke Su’s guard asks if he should help her escape since her stepmother locked her up. Duke Su said he didn’t want to help her because he wanted to see how capable she was. As @MarkWasHere mentioned, she uses Duke Su to help her maternal family in Luyang, while Duke Su not only uses her to further drive a wedge between Chancellor Li and Grand Secretariat Jiang, but to also stop Chancellor Li from funneling funds to the Emperor’s enemies. There are more examples of these partnerships between them. I like how their individual goals put them on the same path and how their witty exchanges show their mutual attraction, trust, respect, and admiration for each other.
I dare not tell you how many times I have re-watched! 😝
I’m actually ok with brutal and violent scenes. Have you heard of the series “The Boys” on Amazon Prime? I actually liked the first season because of the premise and it was violent and gruesome. However, I felt that the brutality just kept escalating with each season, so that was one of the reasons I turned to Chinese/Korean dramas. It sounds like only the first episode sounds violent so that should be fine for me. Thanks so much for being so thoughtful!
I dare not tell you how many times I have re-watched! 😝
Ok, will definitely watch it next! I'm struggling with Destined. It was fine in the beginning, but I've been getting distracted by rewatching parts of other WXY dramas starting ep 29.
1 
1 
1 
The stepmother goes insane when confronted with all the evil deeds she has committed to become the 2nd legitimate wife. Her evil deeds are exposed and everyone realizes what she has done over the years. She realizes she was once a good person that became evil because her father pushed her to gain higher status for her family, like her sister, Consort Li. She couldn't come to terms with what she had done and how she became evil.
The bullying is based on a true story in a school in Korea. It is an interesting read, especially the writer’s comments about the story.
Love Between Fairy and Devil (not historical but fantasy)
An Ancient Love Song (historical with a twist)
Scent of Time
I like how their individual goals put them on the same path and how their witty exchanges show their mutual attraction, trust, respect, and admiration for each other.